THE Perfection of Justification maintained against the PHARISE: THE Purity of Sanctification against the Stainers of it: THE unquestionableness of a future glorification against the SADDUCE: In several Sermons. Together with an Apologetical answer to the Ministers of the new Province of London in vindication of the Author against their aspersions. By John Simpson, an unworthy publisher of Gospel-truths in LONDON. Wisdom is justified of her children, Mat. 11.19. LONDON, Printed by M. Simmons, for Hanna Allen, and are to be sold at the Crown in Popes-head-alley, 1648. To the man truly spiritual in the knowledge of JESUS CHRIST. WHereas I intended to have presented these plain and simple Sermons, to the patronage of some of my friends, who were pleased to own and favour me in my sufferings; without any apology for myself, or any vindication of the truths which I have delivered. I am now by weighty reasons enforced to alter my resolutions: And my second thoughts do appear better unto me than my first. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) I have been lately aspersed by the hands of two and fifty who profess themselves the Ministers of Christ; as a man heterodox and unsound in my principles, concerning the the Law and Justification by free grace. Wherefore it seemeth probable unto me, that if I should bring my friends upon the Stage to patronise me in a public way, while I lie under the reproachings of so many, I should wrong those, whom I desire in thankfulness to respect and honour. And if I should venture these Sermons into the world without any Apology for myself, I might prove more injurious to myself, than these can be unto me. Besides this, I do apprehend that some tenderhearted Christians when they shall read the name of the abused Author, now made infamous unto them by the hands of so many Subscribers, may either be afraid to read what I have printed; or if they shall read it, an uncharitable prejudice may rob them of the fruit and harvest of their reading. For these and other reasons, I have ushered in these Sermons into the world with a short Apologetical answer to their Charge. And have made choice of thee as an Umpire and Judge between my accusers and myself. And truly thou art the fittest man that I could single out from the men of the world, to do me this service of love; whether I look upon myself, or my Antagonists. First, If I look upon my Antagonists, thou art not within their gunshot, or censure, and so thou canst not not be damnified by me, 1 Cor. 2.15. The spiritual man judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged by no man. Secondly, If I look unto myself, thou art the fittest, and only man for me. For thou wilt not deal rigorously with me. Thou wilt juge me by the law of love, liberty and clemency, Jam. 2.12. And when I seriously consider what weaknesses, frailties and infirmities have discovered themselves in my flesh, even in those things (whether in praying, preaching, or writing) wherein I desire to be most spiritual; I dare not think of any other Judge. Thou wilt be more favourable than the Synod at Westminster unto my way and manner of preaching and expressions, which I made use of five or six years since; considering that I then had not been many months in the School of Christ. Thou wilt be more indulgent unto this book which now showeth itself to the world, than the whole Assembly of Sion-Colledge Divines, considering, that at this time I have been but the time of an Apprenticeship in the School of my Saviour. I need not make an Apology for myself before thee, to tell thee, that these Sermons were never intended for the Press by the deliverer of them: but brought thither by the skilful hand of one professing the Art of shortwriting. Thou wilt willingly of thyself pardon the method and immethodicalnesse of them, and repetitions in them; delighting thyself with the naked truths of Christ contained in them. I need not excuse the plainness of speech and want of worldly rhetoric which is in them. In thy judgement, plain preaching 〈◊〉 not to plead for a pardon, but doth deserve commendation. The fantastical preaching of some men of our times, with 〈…〉, metaphysical 〈…〉 words, excellency of speech and 〈◊〉 cannot please thee, because they are displ●●●● to Christ, and derogate from the glory of his Cross, 1 Cor. 1.17. 1 Cor. 2.1. Thou knowest that these things are more useful for the spreading of m●sterier of ungodliness covertly and 〈…〉, the publishing of the soul saving 〈◊〉 of the Lord Jesus, And a fit dress for the whore of error and falsehood, than a clothing for the chaste Virgin of Truth. That I may speak 〈◊〉 heart to thee, I know that thou wilt in all things be so favourable unto me, that I am rather willing to humble myself at thy feet, then to justify myself before men. I do therefore willingly confess, that I who am rather confident of thy ●avour, then defirous to implore it, do look upon myself as the vilest of those who ever made any address unto thee; when I consider my sinsulnesse, before I was convinced of sin, my unrighteous righteousness before I came into the light, and my praevarications and aversions from God, since I received his light. Augustine composed a small book, which he called his Confessions: in which he doth spread forth his follies unto the world before his Conversion: But should I set down all the follies, vanities and wickedness of my youth, a great volume would not hold them: And it is easier to write large volumes of them, then to bring them within the narrow limits and borders of an Epistle. That I may therefore pass these by, as God hath passed them by in his grace, never to call them to his remembrance against meany more: I do now acknowledge, that by the reason of variety of inward temptations; since I have looked towards Religion, I have been in my own apprehension a mere Proteus in Religion. I have been zealous for the works of the Law, that I might be made a righteous man, being ignorant of him who is the end of the Law for righteousness for every one that believeth: and was then as loathsome a sinner to the eye of God, as I was a righteous man to the eyes of the world. I have suddenly leapt from Pharisaisme to the profession of the Gospel in a carnal way: and have then been ready to think that I could never be a true Gospel-professour, unless I did take some liberty beyond the allowance which I now apprehend the Gospel affordeth. I have been so ignorantly inquisitive after the knowledge of Ordinances, that I have doubted whether ever I should be saved, dying ignorant of the Ordinonces, and Church-government of the Lord Jesus. And looking for light, and finding darkness and confusion in these things, I have been afterwards as spiritually mad and foolish in the undervaluing of them. There is scarce an error to be thought of, but by the folly and curiosity of my nature, I have been tempted to reach forth my hand unto it. I have rune over the bogs of Familisme, but have not been swallowed up in them; Yet that I may not be mistaken in this relation notwithstanding all this; By the grace of God I am what I am. And though the world hath looked upon me as an Heretic, I have seen myself so fast in the arms of God, that I am confident, that neither men, Devils, Errors, sins, nor temptations, shall ever be able to pull me thence. I have been dead by the law to the law, and am alive by the Gospel. I have ceased from works, and yet am created to good works. I am not under the Law, and yet in my mind I serve the Law of GOD. I can do nothing, and yet can do all things in CHRIST which strengtheneth me. And though I can do all things, I am an unprofitable servant; I care not much what men can say of me, seeing GOD doth daily assure me in the Spirit of Christ, that I am his Son. It doth not too much afflict me if any men refuse to have fellowship with me as a SAINT, seeing I have fellowship with the Father, and his Son JESUS, and thyself, and have liberty in my Conscience to have fellowship with all SAINTS. My greatest sorrow, and most delightful grief at this present is this, That I am not more holy, being so strongly assured by truth that I am happy. I hope that thou wilt further this work of purity in me by thy spiritual prayers presented to the Throne of our FATHER'S grace for me; where I do desire that thou wouldst know me one with thyself, being one SPIRIT with JESUS, though I cannot but subscribe myself, The greatest of SINNERS, and less than then the least of all SAINTS, John Simpson. TO The two and fifty Parish-Ministers within the new Province of London, who have subscribed unto that Pamphlet, which is wickedly and unjustly called by them; A Testimony to the truth of Jesus Christ, and to our solemn League and Covenant. SIRS, WHen I read your un-scripture-like terms, which you make use of, in presenting your new modalled Government to the world, as the government of Jesus Christ; I wonder with what faces in these times of light, ye should dare to hold it forth as the unquestionable government of CHRIST by divine right, and should so uncharitably censure all men as Schismatics, or superstitious persons, who do express their dislike of it, or refuse to be conformable unto the same. Not to run fare for an instance of one of these terms; It seemeth that the strange and hidden virtue of your Presbyterian-government hath suddenly turned our famous City into a Province, and made you Ministers of this Presbyterian Province. Did ever CHRIST or his Apostles turn free Cites or Countries into Provinces by bringing in any Ecclesiastical government upon those who were converted to the faith? What is any Province to speak properly, but a Region or Country subdued by force of Arms, and kept under jurisdiction by a Lieutenant sent thither with Commission to govern; as the Schoolboys know very well, who know the meaning of that phrase in Caesare Commentaries (in provinciam redigere.) To turn such a free Country into a Province to the Romans. I know that it is the design of some to turn our Shires and Countries into Provinces; and to wrest power from the Civil Magistrate, by which they may set up their Lieutenants to enslave the Magistrates and all the people of the Kingdom to their Preabyterian Command and Dominion. But I cannot yet remember when London was turned into a Province, unless some of you did secretly and cunningly contrive the plot with some of the Army, that the Army should march throughout the City for the bringing of LONDON into the condition of a Presbyterian Province. Friends, find words in Scripture for your government, by Parochial and Classical, Presbyterial, Provincial and National Assemblies or else the people of England will not believe that your government is by divine right, until you shall make Captains over them, and enforce them to return again into Egypt; Where this shall he all the liberty of the King, Princes, Nobles, Parliament, and people of England to believe, that every thing is schism or Heresy, which doth oppose that as er●rour, which the children of the Adulterer and Whore, I mean the sons and posterity of the Pope and Popish Bishops, shall enjoin thonto receive as the truths of the Lord Jesus. But I touch now upon an unpleasing string, I shall therefore leave it with a sad Aposiopesis: and shall entreat you seriously to consider some things which I shall acquaint you with, in relation to myself, and your dealing with me, willingly acquitting those among you, and as fare as I may; who having subscribed to those Articles against me, and yet never read or heard of my name in the Book. Among whom Master Downham doth acknowledge himself to be one, who doth profess that if he had seen me there among the impeached Delinquents and Heretics, that he would rather for what he hath heard and known of me, have pleaded my excuse, then have subscribed to my censure: And shall leave it to yourselves, to inquire among yourselves concerning the miscarriage in this particular. In the first place I do suppose that some of you upon mature deliberation, may apprehend that you have been too rash in censuring me upon Master Gatakers testimony, if it shall appear unto you that I was freed by Master Martial (whom I name in thankfulness unto him for his love unto me, and to let men know that I have found more of the Spirit of Christ, sincerity, and love in him then in any who have been favourers of the Presbyterian government.) To show my willingness and readiness to free myself from misapprehensions which men had entertained concerning those things which I held. I did voluntarily go unto him, and discoursed with him concerning my judgement in the things, with which I had been charged; who did receive such f●ll satisfaction from me, that upon my request be was willing to write unto Master White the Chaire-man; that though I did differ from him in my phrases and expressions concerning the Law, Justification and free grace, yet that I held nothing, but what was maintained by many godly and faithful men concerning those points. And this was done many months before Master Gataker did fling his firebrands at me, to charge me with those things in which in his judgement I had cleared myself. And lest any should make nothing of this; uncharitably supposing that I might hold one thing in my heart, and write another thing to him. I am willing if he please, that he shall Print what I delivered unto him, and make it public. If this be considered by men of tender consciences, (if that character of a good man be not odious unto you) some of you who knew of this, may read your maliciousness, and all of you your rashness, who have condemned me by your Censures. When Constantius desired Liberius to subscribe to the Proscription and Excommunication of Athanasius, he made him this answer. O Emperor, Ecclesiastical censures are not to be passed without a great deal of justice. (O Imperator inquit judicia Ecclesiastica decet cum maximâ proferri justitiâ. Trip. Hist. l. 3. c. 17.) Let me speak plainly unto you, not to shame you, but to convince you of your fault; When I am most serious and free from all turbulence of passion, I have apprehended that I should have found more justice in the High-Commission Court, then among my Brethren. The Civilians say that we must not pass our judgement upon a law by one line of it. (De lege non judicandum ex solâ lineâ.) And Christian justice and equity, will teach us, not to censure Gospel-Sermons by one line maliciously or ignorantly taken out of it; knowing that a spiritual man now, as well as Paul formerly, may have some things hard to be understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which they who are unstable and unlearned may wrest, as they do the Scriptures to their own destruction. Secondly, Give me leave to inquire of you, whether spiritual prudence would teach you to be so violent against godly men who differ in some notions, expressions, and circumstantials from you; When there are so many Sepulchers wide open against you and them, ready to devour you both. It was the policy of some barbarous people, when Alexander came to contend with them for a Conquest, as Curtius doth relate it, to put an end of the wars and differences which were among themselves, that so they might be strengthened against the common enemy. And the like policy was used by the ancient Inhabitants of the Land, when Caesar came to invade them; & whether Christian wisdom will make us less prudent and politic for our own preservation; I shall be willing that it may be determined by the man, who liveth in the clear light and liberty of the Gospel. In the mean while I hope that you will not reject the Apostles caution, Gal. 5.16. If ye by't one another, take heed lest ye be devoured one of another. 3dly. Let me tell you one thing which hath been revealed unto me by the Lord. If ye shall deal with tenderhearted Christians (who cleave to Christ, and are part of his mystical body, though they differ from you in some opinions) in the way of Bonner and Canterbury; leaving the example of Christ and his Apostles; the Lord will blow upon you, & lay your honour, credit, and greatness in the dust; while the heavens shall rejoice, saying; Thou art righteous O Lord, who hast judged thus. 4 . Let me beseech you not to suffer your uncharitable practices, to give the lie to your zeal and professions for the maintaining the Law. Walk not contrary to love; professing yourselves to be for the law, because love is the fulfilling of the law. Labour to be such as Ruffinus doth report Gregory Nazianzen was, who did those things which he taught, and condemned not himself by doing things contrary to what he taught. (Qui fecit ea quae docuit & seipsum minime condemnavit contraria agendo, quam docebat. Ruffin in vitâ Naz.) Remember who they are, who make a man an offender for a word, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought, Isa. 29.21. And let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart, Zech. 7.10. Be not so uncharitable towards me as you have been, who do assure you that I am able to speak it to the glory of God's grace, that though I may err, I shall never be an Heretic. (Errare possum haereticus esse nolo.) Endeavour not to persuade the world, that I am a patron of Libertinism; for if you do, I hope that I shall be able by the power of grace to give you such an answer as an old man of Alexandria did to some, who said that be was no Christian, because he could work no miracles. This saith he doth prove me a Christian: That I am not moved with the injuries which ye have done unto me. (Hoc ipsum ut ijs quas insertis non moverer injurijs. Cassian.) So I hope that the free spirit of Christ will so dwell in me, that it will sufficiently prove that I am no patron of Libertinism or looseness: who at this present notwithstanding all the wrongs done unto me, am able to subscribe myself, Yours, as far as you are for Christ, his ways, and the liberty of his Saints, JOHN SIMPSON. Truth breaking forth through a mist and cloud of Slanders. Section 1. THe first Error which is charged upon me is this. That the moral law is of no use at all to a believer; no rule for him to walk by. And that Christians are free from the mandatory power of it. Delivered by Mr. Simpson, witness Mr. Gataker— This Article doth consist of four branches. The first, That the law is of no use at all to a believer. Answ. When some either through ignorance, mis-apprehending, or through malice misreporting what I had delivered in opening the Doctrine of the Law and Gospel, had spread this abroad; to wit, that I denied the use of the Law. To stop the mouth of lying fame, I preached at Algate (where I was then an unworthy Steward of the mysteries of God) upon these words of the Apostle, 1 Tim. 1.8. We know that the Law is good if a man use it lawfully: and did wholly disavow this tenet, proving the usefulness of the Law, and showing what use Believers, and the Preachers of the Gospel might make of it. A believer is a creature spiritua lie intelligent, and rational, and by the helps and light of grace can make a good use of every thing, and so consequently a good use of the Law. So that to my best remembrance I was never so much as tempted, to think that the Law is of no use unto him. And what I then delivered concerning the law, & the usefulness of it, might have prevented this charge; If my Father had not seen it good for me for a time to lie under a cloud of slanders & reproaches, that so I might be made conformable unto my head. It is usual with ignorant and malicious hearers of the Gospel, to draw wild and lose conclusions, from good premises and sound truths, which they hear from the mouths of their teachers, and then to fasten them upon them, as though they were their own tenants. Thus some did slanderously report concerning Paul, that he affirmed that men should do evil, that good might come, Rom. 3.8. And thus the Papists have charged the Protestants (and first instruments which God did make use of, to bring us from Popish and Antichristian darkness) as men who opened a gap to all looseness and licentiousness of life and conversation, because they asserted that Christians might be, and aught to be assured of their salvation; and denied the falling away from grace: and thus some have been too bold with me in this particular. And when I have proved the law to be useless unto us in many particulars, they have concluded that I did totally deny the use of the Law, which hath been the ground of this groundless aspersion: unto which I think it needless to give any larger answer. Concerning the 3. other branches in this Article, to wit, that it is no rule for a Christian to walk by, nor to examine his life by: and that Christians are free from the mandatory power of it: I can either affirm, or deny them all. I do acknowledge that in a sense we may be said to be under the rule and power of the Law, and in a sense it is true, that we are not under the rule and power of it; which if it be well weighed by the balance of right reason, whether these who have charged me with this, not stateing the question as I did when I delivered my judgement, and suppressing my meaning in their Article, may be justified in this action, I leave it to any man truly rational, and unprejudiced concerning me, yea to themselves when God shall awaken their consciences, to judge. Wherefore that the truth of God, and my meaning may be more evident, I shall present to the view of the Reader the distinctions which I made use of in the handling of this controversy. The first distinction is this, that the Law may be considered as delivered in Sinai & Zion, Gal. 4.24. As the covenant of Sinai, or as a part of the covenant of Zion, Isa 2.3. For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 2ly. As 1. delivered by the hand of Moses, 2. by the hand of Christ. And though this distinction hath been branded by some of the learned Teachers of our times in their Pulpits and Presses, with the infamous mark of Antinomianism, yet I do not doubt, but that I shall easily prove it to be a Scripture distinction. This is the meaning of that speech of John, Joh. 1.17. The law was given by Moses, but grace & truth came by Jesus Christ. By Moses, that is, by the hand of Moses? As it is plain by Leu. 26.46. These are the laws which the Lord made between him and the Children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. So grace and truth is given by the hand of Jesus Christ. Christ is styled the Mediator of the better Covenant, Heb. 8.6. And as he is the Mediator of this better Covenant, he doth give the law to the Saints by his hand in this Covenant. This distinction is frequently used by Zanchius (4. Tom. operum delege.) (Translata est lex a Mose ad Christum, e manu Mosis in manum Christi veri mediatoris: sicut et sacerdotium ab Aarone ad Christum verum aeternumque Pontificem translatum est. Translato autem sacerdotio, necesse est (inquit Apostolus) ut et legis translatio fiat.) The law (saith he) is translated from Moses to Christ, out of the hand of Moses, into the hand of Christ, the true Mediator, as the Priesthood is translated from Aaron to Christ, the true and eternal high Priest. For the Priesthood being changed, it is needful (saith the Apostle) that there be a change of the Law. And in the same book he hath afterward these words. (Dicimus legem, quatenus fuit in manu Mosis, abrogatam jam esse per Christum fidelibus: sed quatenus jam est in manu Christi confirmatam esse, & constabilitam.) We say that the Law as it was in the hand of Moses, is now abrogated to believers by Christ: but as it is in the hand of Christ, it is confirmed and established. Brethren give me an answer in the spirit of love and meekness to this question: why should you censure me to be an Antinomian for making use of this distinction, seeing ye account Zanchius to be a sound and orthodox writer, who maintaineth the same thing? Having premised these distinctions, I shall answer plainly to these several branches, and not be afraid to own what I have delivered, because I am still confident, that it is the truth of Christ. 1. The law as delivered by Moses is not the rule by which a believing Christian doth walk, but as it is delivered unto him in the covenant of grace by the hand of the Lord Jesus. I shall prove this by this argument. A covenant of works is not the rule by which a believing Christian doth walk. The law as delivered in Sinai by the hand of Moses, is a Covenant of works. Therefore the law as delivered in Sinai by the hand of Moses is not a rule by which a believing Christian doth walk. I do suppose that you will not deny the major proposition; You will not say, that a covenant of works is the rule of a Christian: for then a Christian should work, that he might live, whereas a true Christian doth work because he doth live, and hath life without works. If ye shall deny the minor or second proposition, I shall prove it by these reasons which are drawn from Scripture. Reas. 1. The Apostle doth frequently oppose the righteousness of the law, and the law to the righteousness of grace, & the covenant of grace, which he could not do if the law were a covenant of grace. 1. He opposeth the righteousness of the Law and Gospel, Rom. 10.5.6. Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the Law, that the man which doth those things shall live by them. But the gospel-righteousness is the righteousness of faith, vers. 6. Observe the Apostles words well, he doth not say that the Law requireth doing and working for justification, according to the false glosses, and interpretations of the Pharisees, as some Writers of late with the Papists of old have asserted. But Moses describeth the righteousness of the law so. 2 . He opposeth the law and the Covenant of grace, Rom. 6.14. Sin shall not have dominion over you, because ye are not under the law, but under grace. What sense can you make of these words, if ye shall assert the law to be a covenant of grace: for then this will be the meaning of the words. Sin shall not have dominion over you, because ye are not under the law or covenant of grace, but under grace. Reas. 2. The Apostle doth affirm, that no flesh shall be justified by the law, because by the law is the knowledge of sin, Rom. 3.20. But if the law were a covenant of grace, a man might be justified by it. And therefore I conclude that it is not a covenant of grace. Reas. 3. The Apostle affirmeth, that if righteousness come by the law, than Christ is dead in vain. And shall we say that that is the covenant of grace by which righteousness cannot come unto us. Reas. 4. The Apostle plainly saith, that the law is not of faith: but the man that doth them shall live in them, Gal. 3.12. From whence I frame my argument thus; That covenant which requireth works, and not faith for justification, is not a covenant of grace: but the law requireth works, and not faith for justification. And therefore the law is not a covenant of grace. But that I may not be mistaken in what I have here spoken, I shall lay down such cautions which were laid down, when I handled the point more largely. First, Though I deny the law to be a rule as it was delivered in the letter upon Mount Sinai, yet I do not deny the matter & substance of it in the spirit, as it is delivered unto us by the mighty Counsellor, and great Lawgiver, our Lord Jesus, Isa. 33.22. I do subscribe unto that as a truth, which is delivered by Zanchius: That this difference of divine laws is not so much from the various substance of the laws, or diversity of times, as from the various reasons, with which they were promulgated by God, and exhibited to the Church. (Differentia haec legum divinarum, non tam a variâ legum substantiâ, temporumve diversitate, quam a variis rationibus quibus illae fuerunt a Deo promulgatae, atque exhibitae ecclesiae.) I do acknowledge with Paul, that in the mind I myself do serve the law of God, not only by believing in the grace of God through Christ for justification: but by loving God and my brother by a sanctifying work of the spirit of grace in me. I confess that the law is old for the matter & substance of it, as it commandeth love to God and our neighbour; and yet it is new in us and to us, as it is delivered in the covenant of the Gospel. According to that of John. A new Commandment, to wit, of love, I writ unto you, which is true in him and in you, 1 John 2.8. 2 . I do not deny, but that this law written or preached, may be called the external rule of the Spirit, as the law of the Spirit in us is the internal and powerful rule. And that I may not now be censured, as I have formerly been by some, when I have spoken unto them, concerning the law of the Spirit, I shall speak in the words of another, whom you acknowledge to be sound in the faith, & not in my own. The law of the Spirit in the substance of it, is nothing else but the will of God, but imprinted in vivified hearts by the Spirit of God, by which we do not only truly know God, and piety and equity: but we are so moved to fear him, to trust in him, to love him, to worship and adore him: and to love and serve our neighbour, and to mortify ourselves, and to bear valiantly all persecutions for God, and to lead a life in Christ, that we willingly run to the doing of these things. (Ad substantiam autem quod attinet lex ista spiritus, nihil aliud est, quam voluntas Dei, sed cordibus per spiritum sanctum vivifiatis impressa, quâ non solum novimus vere Deum, pietatemque & aequitatem, sed etiam ad eum timendum, ei fidendum, eum amandum, colendum, adorandum: ad proximum item diligendum, eique inserviendum: denique ad nostri mortificationem ad mala omnia propter Deum fortiter perferenda, et ad vitam tantum in Christo traducendam, ita impellimur ut ultró accurramus, Zanc.) 3ly. I do grant, that Moses did acquaint the people with Jesus Christ, after he had delivered the law of works unto them: which is evident by that passage in Deut. 18. when the people being terrified at the giving of the Law, desired that they might hear the voice of the Lord no more; God doth affirm in the 17. vers. that they had spoken well; and in the 18. verse doth give them a promise of Christ. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their Brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him, etc. which is sufficient to wipe away the dirt and filth which is thrown upon me by some scurrilous Pamphleteers, with whose names I will not burden the page, who have asserted that I denied that there was any Gospel or covenant of grace in the times of the old Testament: and that men were then saved by the covenant of works. Though I can in truth profess, that by my best remembrance at the present, I cannot remember that ever I was tempted to think any such thing, since I received any spiritual light for the knowledge of the Gospel. And thus much in answer to the second branch of this Article. I shall not need to speak much to the third, it being easy for any rational man, to gather my meaning of it from what hath been delivered in opening of my mind concerning the second branch. The law in the new Covenant is that, by which a Christian doth examine his life: he liveth but under one Covenant for justification & sanctification, when he liveth as a spiritual man ought to live. He hath not received the spirit of bondage again to fear: but the spirit of adoption by which he cryeth Abba father, Rom. 8.15. But if he should examine his life by the law as delivered in Sinai, he would fear again, for that law worketh fear and horror in those who are under it. Suppose a man should command his son and his slave the same thing for substance; and withal should inform his son that if he should not obey his command, he should displease a loving father; but if the slave should not obey his command, he should lose his life by his disobedience; would not any man affirm that these two did examine themselves by the same rule of their obedience? Thus it is in the point in hand: God commandeth love in the first Covenant, with threaten of death and condemnation for disobedience; and in the second Covenant we are assured that we are passed from death to life, and shall not come into condemnation; and that nothing shall separate us from the love of our Father in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8. Yet this is made known unto us, that though by sin we shall not totally fall from grace, and fall under condemnation: yet we may offend our Father, and grieve his holy Spirit, by which we are sealed unto the day of redemption. Whether these two have the same rule given unto them for the examination of their lives, I will leave it to those who have spiritual eyes in their heads to judge? To whom it will be evident, that Saints do not fall from grace to the law when they examine themselves: but they examine themselves how they keep the Commandments of the new Covenant, which are summed up in few words by the Apostle John, to wit, to believe in the name of the Lord Jesus, and to love one another as he gave us Commandment. I shall now fall upon the fourth branch of this Article: and shall desire my Reader to carry in his eye those distinctions and cautions, which I have already laid down, while we shall more largely prove, that a believer is not under the mandatory power of the law of the old Covenant, but under the mandatory power of the law in the new Covenant of grace. It is impossible that a believing Christian should live under the Covenant of grace, as it is delivered unto us in the clear light of the Spirit, and should at the same time be under the mandatory power of the law as it was delivered in Sinai. It is impossible that a man should in the Spirit do good works freely, because he is justified, and yet do good works that he may be justified. But the law of Sinai doth command me to work that I may live and be justified: and in the covenant of grace I am informed that I am freely justified, & therefore it is impossible that I should be under grace, and under the mandatory power of the law, as delivered in Sinai, at the same time. Again, it is impossible that I should do good works because I see myself free from condemnation, and do good works, for fear of condemnation. But the law commandeth me to do good works for fear of condemnation, & the Gospel, because I am free from condemnation, and therefore it is impossible that I should be under the Covenant of grace in spirit, and under the mandatory power of the law as delivered in Sinai. I shall draw the strength of these arguments into a few words. God's justified children are not under the commands of a Covenant of works. But the commands of the law as delivered in Sinai, are the commands of a Covenant of works. Therefore they are not under the commands of the law as delivered in Sinai. 2ly. It is a contradiction to say that a man is under the commands of the law of Sinai, but 〈◊〉 under it for justification or condemnation. For the Law as it was there delivered, doth 〈◊〉 command without promises of life to the 〈◊〉, and threatening of death to the disobedient. 2 Cor. 3. for that it ceaseth to be the law 〈…〉 delivered, if you take from it the pro●●●● threaten. 3ly. Laws are distinguished by their rew●●● and penalties. And though the same 〈…〉 commanded in several laws, yet we say 〈◊〉 are several laws, because they have several rewards & penalties annexed to them. Suppose the punishment of death which is due to thiefs should be changed into the penalty of restoring of what he hath stolen fourfold, or working in a Gallyseven years. We should say that the old law is repealed, and that there is a new law made concerning theft: and he that after all the Gospel-light which hath broken forth, is not able to see a change of the rewards and penalties of the law of Zion from those of Sinai, doth for his wilful and affected ignorance, deserve to be more blinded. 4 . The Covenant of which the Prophet prophesied, Jer. 31.31. is new in reference to the commands of holiness which appeareth by Heb. 8.10. And therefore Christians are not under the commands of the old covenant of Sinai as they were there delivered, but under all Commandments as delivered in the new covenant of Zion. Musculus and Zanchius do both make use of this place for the proving of this point. 5ly. A believing Christian is commanded to do all good works in faith of his free justification. But the law doth not command him to do good works in faith of his free justification. And therefore a believing Christian is not commanded to do good works by the law. I suppose that the first proposition will pass without an exception. For the second, it is evident by Gal. 3.12. The law is not of faith; but the man that doth them shall live in them. 6 . The Apostle plainly saith, Gal. 3.18. That if we be led of the Spirit, we are not under the law. But if we are under the mandatory power of the law, as delivered in Sinai we are under it: according to that of the Apostle, Rom. 3.19. We know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Ye cannot put a man under the commanding power of the law as delivered in Sinai, but ye must put him under the commanding power. Reas. 7. The approved distinction between legal and evangelical obedience in point of sanctification, will be sound unsound; For all the obedience of the Saints which they yield unto God by their holy walking, will be by legal principles, and not Evangelicall, if we place them under the mandatory power of a covenant of works. I hope by this time that the judicious and spiritual Reader doth begin to see that I am no enemy to the law, by establishing it for justification by believing, and sanctification by holy walking: and that my expressions are justifiable by the Scripture of truth. And if I am to be blamed for any thing, it is because I have been so bold in these Anti-christian and Antiscripturian days, rather to keep close to Scripture-expressions, than to tie myself up to the form and methods of men in speaking of these covenants, which I hope will further appear by what shall be delivered in answer to the second article. Sect. 2. The second thing which Mr. Gataker doth charge upon me, are these exclamations in the Pulpit. Away with the law, away with the law. Is this such a strange and heretical speech to one that professeth himself a Teacher in Israel, that with all his learning and love he cannot possibly make a favourable construction of it? Might not love which thinketh no evil, but beareth all things, and hopeth all things, 1 Cor. 13.7. have suggested this unto the spirit of a conscientious Christian, that something which either preceded or followed it in my discourse, had such an influence upon it, to free it from the poison and venom of false doctrine and heresy? What an easy thing were it to gather many such speeches out of the books of Ancient and modern Writers, which may sound as harsh to a tender ear as this doth? and do yet make a delightful sound to the ear of Truth, as they lie in their books. To instance in a few: Ambrose upon the 7. of the Romans hath these words. (Nec enim legis erit adulter, sed Evangelij; qui mortuà lege vinctus Evangelio, post redit ad legem, Mortua enim lex dicitur cum cessat ejus authoritas.) He is not an adulterer by the law, but by the Gospel, who being bound to the Gospel, the law being dead, doth return unto the law: For the law is dead when its authority ceaseth. And a little after this; (Mori legi, Deo est vivere,) To die to the Law, is to live to God. Luther upon the 5. chap. of the Galatians, hath these words. (Habes pulcherimum et optimum librum omnium legum in cord tuo. Noneges ullo doctore hac in re, tantum consule tuum proprium cor, hoc satis abunde docebit te, ita diligendum esse tuum proximum, ut teipsum.) Thou hast the fairest and best book of all laws in thine own heart, thou needest no other teacher in this matter, only take counsel of thine own heart, that will sufficiently teach thee, that thou shouldst love thy neighbour asthy self. And in the same book upon the second Chapter. (Quod spectaculum valde jucundum est, proponit & producit legem velut furem, aut latronem aliquem jam damnatum & adjudicatum morti. Pingit enim per Prosopopeiam, legem captivam teneri, cui jam manus & pedes juncti sunt, omnisque potestas adempta, ita ut amplius non possit exercere tyrannidem suam, hoc est, non possit accusare et condemnare Et hac jucundissimâ dissimâ picturâ reddit eam contemptibilem in conscientîa, ut credens in Christum jam ausit legi, sanctâ quadam superbià, insultare all hunc modum: Ego sum peccator, si quid potes contra me lex facito, tantum abest, ut credenti sit lex nunc formidabilis.) It is a pleasant sight to behold, how he bringeth forth the law as a thief or a robber adjudged to death. For he painteth forth the law by a Prosopopeia, as a Captive whose hands and feet are bound, and all its power taken away, so that it cannot exercise its tyranny any more over us; that is, it cannot accuse, and condemn. And by this pleasant picture he maketh it contemptible in the conscience, so that he that believeth in Christ doth now dare to insult over the law by an holy kind of pride after this manner. I am a sinner, if law thou canst do any thing against me, do it: so far is the formidability of the law from a believer. The like speech is that of Zanchius, in his book of the law of God. (Constat legem solis Judaeis datam fuisse, non autem gentibus.) It is manifest that the law was given only to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles. A parallel place to this we have in Musculus. (Legem Mosaicam literis comprehensam non inter Christianos duntaxaat, qui ex Israele Christum filium dei ac salvatorem mundi credendo receperunt, sed et inter Judaeos admodum de lege gloriantes, reipsà abrogatam esse constat.) It is evident (saith he) that the law of Moses, written with letters is abbrogated, not among the Christians only, who by faith have received the Son of God and Saviour of the world: but among the Jews, who glory in the law. I could likewise produce specches out of the Scripture which may sound harsh to some ears, and may seem to be very dark to some, if they should be taken out of the places where they are set by the holy Spirit, from which they receive light, that they may be more easily and plainly understood by us. But leaving this, grant me liberty to prove by spiritual reason and Scripture, that in some cases it may be lawful for a Minister of the Gospel to make use of such an expression as this is; Away with the Law, etc. Reas. 1. If we speak of the law as it is (faedus legale) a legal Covenant; so I speaking unto believing Christians, may say, Away with it. Put not yourselves under the Jewish Covenant. The Apostle will justify this expression by his own, Gal. 4.30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cast out (saith he) the bond woman. Will you know what he meaneth by the bondwoman, he himself will inform you, and tell you that it is the Covenant of Sinai, vers. 24. which expression is most harsh, to compare the Law or Covenant of Sinai to a bondwoman, and to command us to cast her out, or else to say. Away with the law? Reas. 2. When we speak of the law in opposition to the Covenant of grace as the Apostle doth, Heb. 8. so I may say, Away with the old Covenant, that God may glorify himself by revealing the new Covenant of grace unto you, will not the word of truth likewise hold me guiltless in this expression, if we consider what is spoken in the last verse of that chapter, where the Apostle saith, that it waxeth old, & is ready to vanish away. From which words Mr. Dickson doth draw this conclusion: that in the times of the Prophet Jeremiah, the legal or Levitical Covenant, was near to death, and vanishing away: and by consequent after the coming of Christ, under whom all things are become new, it is expired. (Temporibus Jeremiae Prophetae, prope erat ut moreretur, & evanesceret faedus legale seu Leviticum, et per consequens post adventum Christi, sub quo nova facta sunt omnia, expiravit.) If I thus speak of the law; Is there any greater absurdity to say, Away with it, than to say that it is vanished away? Reas. 3. When justification is preached, and an experienced servant of Christ knowing that men naturally seek righteousness by the law, and the works of the law: it is necessary for the Ministers of the Gospel to persuade their hearers, not to look to that law for Justification, but to the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Paul speaking of Saints, saith, that they are dead to the law by the body of Christ, Rom. 7.4. May not a man bid people to put away the law in point of justification and salvation, as well as to inform them that they must be dead unto it, that they may live unto Christ. Luther hath many expressions higher than mine in this point, and yet you do not look upon him as an Heretic. Will not the Spirit of God teach us to be as favourable to the living, as dead servants of Christ in our Censures? will not grace teach us to be as loving to those who are present with us, as to those who are absent from us. I shall for the satisfaction of the unpreingaged Reader set down a few of his speeches. Paulus est hic haereticus omnium haereticissimus, estque haeresis ejus inaudita: quia dicit mortuum legi vivere Deo. Psuedo-apostoli docebant, nisi vixeris legi, non vixeris Deo. Paul is here the most heretical of all Heretics, his heresy is un-heard of heresy: because he saith, that he who is dead to the Law, doth live to God. The false Apostles taught, unless ye live to the Law, ye cannot live to God. And afterwards, If thou wilt live to God, it behooveth thee to die altogether to the law. Reason and humane wisdom cannot receive this, and therefore it always teacheth the contrary unto it: Si vis vivere Deo, oportet te omnino mori legi. Hanc doctrinam ratio, et sapientia humana non capit, ideo perpetuo contrarium docet. Again he hath these words. When sophisters do apprehend that the Ceremonial law is only abrogated, do thou believe that Paul and every Christian is abrogated to the whole law. Cum sophista intelligit legem abrogari, eamque ceremonialem, tu potius intellige Paulum & quemlibet Christianum universae legi abrogari. Simplicitur mortuus sum legi, hoc est, nihil plane commercij est mihi cum lege. Luth. I am dead to the law, that is, I have nothing to do with the law. (Est autem mori legi, lege non tencri, sed liberum esse a lege, et nescire eam.) To be dead unto the law, is not to be held by the law, but to be free from the law, and not to know it. Reas. 4. If we preach consolation, and do exhort people to expect comfort from God, we may bid them put away the law, and their confidence of expecting comfort by it. The law worketh wrath, Rom. 7. and therefore it doth not work joy. The spirit of joy is not received by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith. We receive the promise of the spirit through faith, Gal. 3.14. Res. 5. Though the law requireth holiness, yet it doth not make us holy. A man that will be truly fanctified, must not live under the Law, but under the Gospel. This is the argument of the Apostle, Rom. 6.14. Sin shall not have dominion over you, because ye are not under the law, but under grace. Must not the law in some sense be put away, that we may not be under it? Let my arguments be well weighed, and I am contented to be censured. In the mean while I shall comfort myself in this, that I am not the first of Saints, who have been reproached and persecuted as an enemy to the law. The false witnesses which were set up against the Proto-martyr Stephen, did bring in this against him, that he spoke blasphemous words against the law, Acts 6.13. And it is probable that some such thing was charged upon Paul by the Jews, as we may gather by his defence for himself before Festus, where he professeth, that he had not offended against the law of the Jews, Acts 25.8. His proposing and clearing objections so frequently in his Epistles, when he speaketh of the Law and Gospel, lest he should be traduced as an enemy to the law, doth sufficiently prove what was in the hearts and tongues of men who were opposers of that doctrine of free grace which he preached. I shall shut up my reply to this Artitle with the words of this chosen Vessel, spoken by him in the like case, Acts 24.14. This I confess, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my Fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the Prophets. Sect. 3. The next Article which the Subscribers do bring against me as matter of error, which they have received from the pen of the same witness, is that horrid speech of mine (as they were pleased to call it.) The law cuts off a man's legs, and then bids him walk. Reply. When these Articles were brought against me, it being demanded of me, whether I would own them as my tenants and opinions. I do well remember that I gave them this answer, after I had read them over. That I had made use of some phrases and expressions which were in that paper; and that some things which were therein being understood in a right sense (sano sensu) might pass for the blessed truths of the Lord Jesus. But as they lay in the paper which was given unto me, so I did not own them as my tenants and opinions, because those things which were in my Sermons and discourses, which held forth light for the understanding of them, were not conjoined with them in that paper. And that answer may more especially reach these particular words, I am not ashamed to acknowledge, that in a Sermon I did make use of these expressions, speaking of the impossibility of our fulfilling the law for justification, the irritating power of the law, by which sin is stirred up in us, we by accident being made worse by it, and while the law commandeth men who are under it, to yield personal and perfect obedience unto it, though it giveth us no power to do what it commandeth us. And I do not doubt but in the strength of grace, I shall free the expressions from that horridness which the Subscribers following Mr. Gataker have put upon it, or else I shall willingly acknowledge, that it was a rash, inconsiderate, yea horrid expression which fell from me. But before I come to defend the innocency of the expression, I cannot but stand still a little and pause upon it, wondering that so many men who by their profession, are tied and engaged to the study of the Scriptures should be so little acquainted with the language of the Scriptures, that they should not be able to remember one Scripture expression among so many which are like unto it, to free it from that horridness which they would put upon it. Friends, consider what you do; If ye censure my expressions as horrid, which the holy Spirit will justify by the like expressions of his own in Scripture, take heed that ye do not censure the Spirit as well as me, and strike at the truth through my sides. It is the speech of Plutark. The thick clouds do often darken the Sun and the cloud of passions the light of reason. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus I am apt to think it is with you. Your passions certainly are high, or else how could you be so low in your reasons, so unadvisedly to condemn that as an horrid speech? which by warrant from Scripture I shall prove to be harmless. But in the first place, let us inquire where this horridness doth lie. I am ready to believe that ye are not such enemies to the law, to assert the latter part of the speech hath any thing horrid in it? Ye will not say that it is horrid, to say that the law bids men to walk? The horrid treason then of the speech must lie in the former part of it (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) I have found, I have found out the horridness of it. It is horrid to affirm, that the law doth cut off a man's legs. Let us bring it to the bar of truth to be tried: and if it cannot bring speeches in Scripture, like unto it, where the Apostle is speaking of the same points, which I handled when I delivered it: let it be still branded with the hot iron of the Subscribers, and pass for an horrid error. 1. Let us compare this speech with that of Paul, 2 Cor. 3.6. The letter kinseth. Which Expositors with one consent (uno ore) do expound to be meant of the law; and which the words following of the Apostle do so plainly prove, that it is bootless, and in vain for any man to deny it; we shall take it therefore for granted, That the law killeth; and this is Paul's, or rather Gods assertion, who gave this law. Now let the indifferent Reader judge, whether it be more horrid to say, that the law killeth a man, or cutteth off his legs. Friends, I am persuaded that some of you have experimentally found, as I have done, that the law killeth. And when ye were slain and killed by the law, were you freed presently from the mandatory power of it? I am persuaded that some of you can profess in truth with me, that ye were not. The law than did command you to do, and walk. What horridness is there more in this (if I may make the comparison) to affirm, that the law cutteth off a man's legs, and then biddeth him to walk; then in this, To affirm that the law killeth a man, & doth yet bid him to do it and walk. Object. But some may say, that Paul saith, that the letter killeth, because it giveth not strength to fulfil it. (Litera occidit, nempe quia non consert vires ad praestandum.) Answ. I spoke it in this sense too, and is it not lawful for me to imitate Paul's expressions? Unless the ignorant world must be made to believe, that my speeches and exclamations are horrid and blasphemous? I might multiply arguments from this Chapter, if I should run over all the expressions of the Apostle, especially these, where he calleth the law (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) A ministration of death, a ministration of condemnation (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) and (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) a thing to be abolished, or abolished and done away. And whatsoever is spoken by any of the godly for the making good of these expressions, I might make use of the same for the justifying of mine, seeing I spoke them in the same manner as Paul did. But that it may appear that I speak not this for the reproaching of you, but the vindicating of wronged & abused truth; and knowing that a word is sufficient to a wise man, when a thousand stripes will not enter into a fool; I shall not insult over your weakness, but rather cover it, as fare as I may without injury to the truth. Let me only leave this word to your consideration, which in this place is very seasonable: to wit, That it is the mind of God that we should be as favourable in interpreting the expressions of spiritual men in their writings and speakings now, as in interpreting the expressions of those spiritual men, who are now with the Lord, knowing that they both speak by the same spirit, which spirit doth retain his liberty to speak in us, as it did in them. 2. Compare this speech with that of the Apostle, Rom. 7.5. The motions of sin which were by the law, which will sound as harsh as to affirm that the law doth cut off the legs of sinners. But if some say this is only occasionally and accidentally, men running the more into sin, by how much the more they are forbidden to commit sin. According to that of the Poet. (Tendimus in vetitum) we have a tendency in us to that which is forbidden. I answer, that the same exposition will sufficiently qualify my speech to take away from it the least appearance of evil. The law doth cut off a man's legs occasionally and accidentally. A man by reason of the corruption which is in him, findeth by experience that he is of less strength to run in the ways of God, the more he doth endeavour to get strength by the law of works. Musculus compareth it in this respect to a chaste Matron in a Brothel-house, which by her good advice doth prove an occasion to some impudent whores to be more bold and shameless in their impiety. Had the spirit of love (without which we are nothing) taught you something concerning this speech, you would have been favourable in interpreting it, and not rigidly censorious in condemning it. Oh that you who seem to he zealous for the law, would consider that this commandment, to wit, that we should love our neighhour as ourselves, is one of the great Commandments, upon which all the Law and Prophets do hang, Mat. 22.40: And then how would you dare to be so rigid and uncharitable in your censuring of your Brethren? If indeed you have received the law from Moses, may I not say as my Saviour did to the Jews, John 7.19. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth it. And then remember what the Apostle saith, Rom. 2.13. That not the hearers (or preachers) of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. Brethren, I am not such an enemy to the law, but I can with freedom of spirit make use of that pertinent portion of Scripture unto you, Jam. 2.8, 9 If ye fulfil the royal law, according to the Scripture; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, (in your censuring & judging them. And the same thing in effect, delivered by one man shall be accounted sound by you, and shall be a horrid error if delivered by another man,) ye commit since, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 3dly. Look seriously upon those words of Paul, Rom. 5.20. The law was given that the offence might abound. And then tell me whether there be not the same figure in my expression, which is in Paul's. And why may I not make use of a figurative expression, as well as Paul, expounding my meaning more plainly afterwards, as he doth, which I also did in my discourse. Calvin saith, that by these words Paul doth simply signify the increasing of the knowledge and pervicacy. (Designatur hic simpliciter incrementum notitiae et pervicaciae.) And another saith, that it it said that it aboundeth by the law, because it aboundeth in our knowledge of it (ut abundare agnoscetur.) And will not this which is usually spoken upon this place by Expositors, make our speech passeable too? And as Paul saith, that the Commandment which was to life, he found to be unto death, Rom. 7.10. So may not I say, that the law which was for holy walking. I found to cut off my legs: because being under it, I was no more able to walk in the way of it, than a man is able to walk without legs? I leave it to the spiritual man who judgeth all things, 1 Cor. 2.15. to judge of this thing between us. And that you may not any farther to the dishonour of God and your profession, the prejudicing of the work of the Lord in my Ministry, vent forth slanders and reproachas against me. I do profess that I am not conscious to myself of denying the use of the law in any way, in which it is held forth in the new Testament. But know, that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless & disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, and for man-slayers, for whoremongers, for perjured persons, and liars: and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 1 Tim. 1.9, 10. And am likewise persuaded, that he who loveth Christ, will keep his Commandments, John 14.15. and Phil. 4.8. will follow things honest, pure, lovely, and of a good report in the Spirit, desiring holiness as well as happiness by Christ, and as much longing to be in Heaven, because it is a place of holiness, as because it is a place of glory and happiness. And am also confident, that if we speak with the tongues of Angels, and have all faith, so that we could remove mountains by the name of Christ, and have not that faith which worketh by love, it will not advantage us at all, for our Justification & Salvation before that God, who doth justify us without love. To whose grace alone, let salvation be ascribed for ever, Amen. Section 4. MAster Gatakers fourth Article unto which he is brought in as a witness by the Subscribers in the 17 th'. page of their book, is this, That God doth not chastise any of his children for sin: nor is it for the sins of God's people that the Land is punished. Some few weeks for want of experimental knowledge I was a little clouded in my spirit concerning the doctrine of affliction. And though God did shine into my soul at that time to give me a wonderful light concerning the doctrine of free grace; yet I had not such a clear and truly spiritual knowledge of this point, as God did afterwards in the hour of trial, temptation, and affliction give unto me. But though there was some hay and stubble in me in this particular, and some misapprehensions concerning a place or two of Scripture, which I have publicly to my shame & Gods glory acknowledged (though my mistake was never charged upon me by my accusers) yet in my darkest and most cloudy discourses, I held forth enough to charitable and loving hearers to free me from this charge, and more fully to inform them of the difference between legal punishments, and fatherly chastisements. I than did preach that afflictions were God's furnace, in which he did take away that dross out of our lives and conversations, which he had taken away before by his grace through faith in our Justification. And afterward while I yet continued my preaching at Algate, before I was ejected from thence by the potency and prevalency of my oppposers, in the City, (that I may speak favourably of them.) To satisfy those, whom I did conceive did mis-apprehend me; I did speak from those words of our Saviour, Rev. 3. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and amend. In the handling of which words for the better clearing of my meaning, I took liberty to handle two propositions seemingly contradictory. First, That God doth not chastise his people for sin, or from sin. 2dly. That God doth chastise his people for sinew and from sin. And this was the reason of my action. Not long before this I had preached, that God doth not punish his justified people for sin; From whence some concluded that I denied fatherly chastisements to be for sin. Wherefore that it might appear unto them, that they had not drawn good consequences from my premises. I proved that these two. Propositions seemingly contradictory, might stand well together as two blessed truths of the Lord Jesus: which thing I can prove by many witnesses, and by some who did take the same Sermons verbatim in shorthand. And I shall observe the same method in clearing of this thing, which is here charged upon me for my reproach. And that my meaning may more plainly appear, this Article having two branches in it, I shall speak of them severally. The first branch is, That God doth not chastise any of his children for sin. The word which I did usually make use of, was punish, and not chastise. But if the word be taken in a large sense, as sometimes it is in Scripture, in which it signifieth as much as a legal punishment, properly so called: according to Isaiah's acception of it, Isa. 53. The chastisement of our peace is upon him. I am willing to let it pass: and in this sense hold it for a truth, That God doth not punish or chastise his people for sin; which I shall further briefly prove for the satisfaction of the Reader by these arguments. Arg. 1. The chastisements or legal punishments due unto us for our sins, cannot be laid upon us, which are laid upon Jesus Christ for us. But these chastisements or legal punishments due unto us for our sins, are laid upon Jesus Christ: and therefore they cannot be laid upon us. The first proposition is evident, because Justice doth not twice require satisfaction for the same fault, as the learned Davenant doth well prove it against the Papists in his determinations. Upon this position, that the sin being forgiven, the punishment is also forgiven. (Remissâ culpâ remittitur paena) where he affirmeth that if God should punish sin after it is pardodoned, he should not exercise an act of Justice, but severity, or his absolute power. (Is non justitiae sed saevitiae, aut saltem absolutae potentiae actum exerceret. The second proposition is plainly proved by Isa. 53.4.5. Arg. 2. God hath sworn, that he will not be wroth with us, or rebuke us, Isa. 54.9. And therefore he doth not punish us with a legal punishment. For a legal punishment or chastisement is an effect of his wrath. Arg. 3. When God doth remember sin no more, he doth not punish sin with a legal punishment properly so called. But God doth not remember our sins any more, Jer 31. Heb. 8. And therefore he doth not punish us with any legal punishment properly so called. Arg. 4. God doth not punish us for those sins, from which we are cleansed and purged by grace. But we are purged and cleansed from our sins by grace, 1 John 1.7. Heb. 1.3. Apoc. 1.5. And therefore we are not punished for our sins. Arg. 5. Believers when they are without fault, blame and reproof in the sight of God, cannot be punished with any legal punishment. But Believers are without fault, blame and reproof in the sight of God, Col. 1.22. And therefore they cannot be punished with any legal punishment. Arg. 6. Beleivers cannot be punished by God in his justice, as under the law when nothing can be charged upon them. But nothing can be charged upon them, Rom. 8.33. Therefore they cannot be punished by the justice of God, as under the law. Arg. 7. When God is fully appeased and satisfied for the sins of believers by the sacrifice of the death of Christ, he cannot then punish them with any legal chastisement properly so called. But God is fully appeased and satisfied for the sins of believers by the sacrifice of the death of Christ, Rom. 3.25. And therefore they cannot be punished with any legal punishment properly so called. Arg. 8. They for whom Christ is made a curse, and hath freed from the curse of the law, are not liable to any punishment as a curse. But for believers Christ was made a curse, and hath freed them from the curse of the law, Gal. 3.13. And therefore they are not liable unto any punishment as it is a curse. Arg. 9 Sin, the cause of legal punishments being taken away, the effects of it are taken away. But Christ hath taken away fin which is the cause of legal punishments. And therefore he hath taken away the effects which are legal punishments: and therefore one speaking of the afflictions of Saints, saith, that they are medicines, not punishments. (Medicinae non paena naturam obtinent.) The truth of this argument is built upon the known axiom. The cause being taken away, the effect is taken away. (Sublatâ causâ tollitur effectus. Arg. 10. That being taken away, which doth bind over a man to legal punishment, the legal punishment is taken away. But guilt which bindeth a man over to legal punishment is taken away. And therefore the legal punishment is taken away. Arg. 11. God doth as fully forgive us our trespasses, as he would have us to forgive the trespasses of men against us. But when we do forgive their trespasses, we are not afterward to inflict any vindicative punishment upon them. And therefore God doth so fully forgive us our trespasses, that he doth not afterward inflict any vindicative punishment. This is the argument of a learned writer, (Deus debita nostra non minus gratuito, et plene nobis dimittit quam docuit nos debitoribus nostris dimittere.) God saith he, doth no less freely and sully forgive us our debts, than he would have us to forgive our debtors. I might multiply sentences of Writers, who with one consent do underwrite to this truth. Polanus saith, That they who are temporally punished for sin here, are to be punished to eternity. (Qui temporaliter puniuntur in aeternum puniendi sunt.) And that chastisement is not so much for the purging of sins past, as to teach to avoid sin for the future. (Non adhibetur pro purgandis praeteritis peccatis, sed pro futuris vitandis, Pol. synt. l. 6. c. 4. Willet hath many speeches to this purpose in his Synopsis. Davenant writing on this point against the Papists, saith; what is it to remit the sin or the fault, than not to punish a man any more for it. (Quid aliud est peccatum sive culpam remittere quam illud ad poenam haud amplius imputare.) But I study brevity, knowing how distasteful long controversies are to the palates of men of these times. And therefore in few words to put a period to what I intent to speak concerning the first branch of this Article, I conceive that man may be considered two manner of ways: First, as he is in the first Adam, and so all afflictions are properly punishments, and curses of the law unto him. 2dly. In the second Adam: and thus the nature of afflictions and chastisements for sin are changed unto him. The sting is taken out of death, and every affliction. Afflictions are benedictions to him. (Afflictiones benedictiones, Bern.) Not curses, but blessings unto him. And therefore 2 . God will chasten his justified people in his fatherly love to them, and displeasure against sin, that they may be partakers of his holiness, Heb. 12.10. by the spirit of sanctification; as they are partakers of Christ's righteousness in their Justification; which maketh true Saints not only to bear afflictions patiently, but to glory in tribulation, Rom. 5.3. And though in a sense they are afflicted neither for sin, that it is not to satisfy God's justice, which is already satisfied by Jesus Christ, nor from sin (as some speak;) for the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Yet God doth afflict us, that in the afflictions he may pour forth his Spirit upon us, for the removing of sin out of our spirits, which doth grieve his Spirit: and out of our conversations, which doth dishonour his name. And for the preventing of sin for the future; the Prodigal will take heed how he doth run from his Father's house, when he hath been among the Swine. And the soul beloved of Christ, when she is forsaken of all lovers, and in misery, will resolve to return unto her first love, and say, for than was it better with me than now, Hos. 2.7. And thus much briefly by way of answer to the first branch of this Article. The second branch of this article is this; That the Land is not punished for the sins of God's people. What hath been spoken concerning the precedent branch of this Article for the clearing of this. As no legal punishment properly so called, can be inflicted upon the person of a believer for his sin; so no punishment can be inflicted upon the Land in which he liveth for his sins. Yet I do not deny, but that God who punisheth the unjustified persons of a land in his wrath, for their rebellions and transgressions, may chastise some of his people by a national calamity and affliction for their humiliation and reformation. But though in a national visitation, the same affliction, if it be materially considered, may be laid upon a believer, which is laid upon unbelievers; yet the affliction which is laid upon a Saint is formally distinguished from that which is inflicted upon unjustified persons; the one flowing from the love of a Father, the other from the wrath of an enemy. The least of these is properly, materially & formally a legal punishment, the other materially a judgement or punishment: but formally a fatherly chastisement, and a pledge of God's love to a Saint. Sect. 5. THere is yet one Article more which the Subscribers have taken out of Mr. Gataker, page 16. That if a man by the Spirit know himself to be in the state of grace, though he be drunk, or commit murder, God sees no sin in him. If I should but name the man who brought in this Article against me, it were enough to acquit me from the charge, in the judgement of those who know him. But I am resolved that the world shall see, that I study not revenge, but the clearing and vindication of truth in my answer. When one in the Star-chamber demanded of me, whether an Article something like unto this were my tenet, and whether I had delivered it in such words. I did reply, that I might affime of it, what Marshal did of his poem, that it was his, as made, composed, and delivered by him: but it ceased to be his, and became the repeaters, when it was evilly repeated by another. (Sed male dum recitas incipit esse tuum.) So the truth contained in this Article, to wit, That God sees no sin in his justified children in the sense in which I delivered it, it is my tenet, or rather Gods truth. But while it is repeated with some words of the accuser, to bring an odium upon the truth, and that being not mentioned which was largely laid down in my discourse to give light unto it; I do affirm that it doth begin to be the accusers own. The ground of this Article was my preaching plainly of this truth, That God doth not see any sin in his justified children; which is a truth which I hope to maintain unto death. I shall therefore acquaint the Reader with my sense of the words. 2ly. with some reasons which I have laid down to demonstrate it to be a truth. 3dly. In what sense I do conceive it to be an error, which I hope will abundantly satisfy the intelligent Reader, and cleanse me from the filth and guilt, which is cast, and charged upon me by the Subscribers. 1. When I preach that God seethe no sin in his justified children; my meaning is in reference to Justification. God seethe his sin, guilt, and punishment laid & charged upon Jesus Christ, and therefore cannot see any sin in him: according to that sweet and elegant speech of Hierom. That saith he, which is covered, is not seen; that which is not seen, is not imputed; that which is not imputed, shall not be punished. (Quod tegitur non vidertur; quod non videtur non imputatur; quod non imputatur non punietur.) And the same truth is laid down by Mr. Ward of Ipswich, whom you all will acknowledge to be a faithful & sound writer; by whose Treatise entitled The life of faith. The Lord was pleased to beam in at my first conversion, some Gospel-light into my soul, while I was endeavouring to establish my own righteousness. The words following are to be found in the 9 chap. of the life of faith, pag. 85. What saith he if God look upon the hand-writing against us: doth be not see the bills cancelld with the precious blood of his Son and our surety? which for matter of guilt, defilement and punishment, is sufficient to expunge, cover, nullify, abolish, and wholly to take away our sins in such sort, that he neither sees, will see, nor can see them as sins, and debts, bearing action against us, obliging us to any penalty. I might heap up places out of the books of the faithful which have subscribed to the same truth, in the same or the like words. There is no phrase so commonly used by Luther in his Commentary upon the Galatians, as this, that God seethe no sin in his children. But because the testimony of men to truth is of no authority with myself, considering that we should not consider so much who it is that speaketh, as what is spoken. (Non quis sed quid, etc. Salu.) I shall not burden the page with quotations out of Writers: but shall rather present unto you some grounds from Scripture; by which it will appear that in a Scripture-sence God may be said to see no sin in his children. Arg. 1. Christ hath redeemed us from all iniquity, Tit. 2.14. And therefore God seethe no sin in us, from which we are not redeemed. Arg. 2. God hath forgiven us through Christ all our trespasses, Col. 2.13. And therefore there is no trespass in us which God can see as not forgiven, Eph. 4.32. Arg. 3. He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Rev. 1.5. And therefore can see no sin in us from which we are not washed. When spots are washed out of a cloth, they do not remain in it still. God hath washed away the spots of our souls, and therefore they do not still remain upon our fowls. Arg. 4. Christ is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world: And therefore God doth not see any sin which is not taken away. Arg. 5. Christ hath made an end of our sins; And therefore God in this respect doth not any longer see them. Arg. 6. God hath removed sin as far from us as the East is from the West, Psal. 103.12. And therefore he doth not see them, or us as unjustified from them. Arg. 7. God hath blotted them out of his debt-book; And therefore he doth not see them as chargeable upon us, Isa. 43.25. I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sin. Arg. 8. God is pacified toward us for all that we have done, Ezek. 16.63. And therefore he doth not see sin in us. Ar. 9 God by his Son hath removed the iniquity of his people in one day, Zech. 3.9. And therefore he doth not see them as not removed away. Arg. 10. Christ Jesus doth save his people from their sins, Mat. 1. And therefore God doth not see any sin in them, from which they are not saved. Arg. 11. All that believe in him are justified from all things, Acts 13.39. And therefore God doth not see any sin in them from which they are not justified. Arg. 12. God hath covered the sins of his people, Rom. 4.5. And therefore God doth not see them. Arg. 13. Believers are not in their sins, 1 Cor. 15.17. And therefore God doth not see them as yet in their sins. Arg. 14. Christ is made unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 Cor. 1.30. And therefore God doth not see sin in us. Arg. 15. Christ is made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5. last. And therefore God doth not see sin in us. Arg. 16. Christ hath given himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God, and our Father, Gal. 1.4. And therefore the Father doth not see sin in us. Arg. 17. We are holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in the sight of God, Col. 1.22. And therefore he seethe no sin in us. Arg. 18. The conscience is purged from sin by the blood of Christ to serve the living God, Heb. 9.14. And therefore God doth not see sin inns. Arg. 19 Christ hath borne our sins: And therefore God doth not see them upon us, but knoweth where he hath laid them, 1 Pet. 2.24. Isa. 53. Arg. 20. We have an answer of a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. 3.21. And therefore God doth not see sin in us; For a conscience guilty of sin, is an evil conscience. Arg. 21. He that denyeth this, doth in effect deny the coming of Christ, and is an Anti-christ. For he was manifested to take away our sins, 1 John 3.5. and in him is no sin. Arg. 22. Nothing can be laid to our charge, Rom. 8.33. And therefore God seethe no sin as chargeable upon us, or to be imputed to us. For these and many other reasons which might be produced, it may be truly said, that God seethe no sin in his justified people. And therefore Christ speaking of his justified Church, saith, That his Love is all fair, and that there is no spot in her, Cant. 4.7. And the King's daughter is all glorious within, Psal. 45.13. And in these terms and expressions or the like, I have formerly acquainted those who have heard me, concerning my judgement in this point. But thirdly, Though I affirm all this, concerning Gods not seeing sin in his children: yet I do not deny but that in a sense God may be said to see sin in his justified children. God, though he seethe us perfectly justified from all sin, yet he seethe and knoweth that we are not perfectly sanctified. And in this respect he may be said to see sin in us. And I do apprehend it to be a gross error, and destructive to the power of godliness, to maintain that God in no sense may be said to see sin in his people. Reason 1. It is by the light of the Spirit, that we do behold the sin which is in our flesh, when we do believe that all our sins are pardoned, and not seen by God in reference to our justification: and therefore it is contrary to spiritual reason, Scripture, and the experience of all those who are truly faithful, to assert, That God in no sense may be said to see sin in his justified children. Reason 2. If God did not see sin in any sense, he could not help us against our sins, lusts, and corruptions, against which we go unto him in the name of Christ for strength: But he doth give us help against particular lusts and corruptions (as true Saints have found, and do find by experience.) And therefore in a sense he may be said to see sin in us. Reason 3. His Spirit doth mortify sin in us: and what an absurd thing is it for a man to affirm, that God in no sense may be said to see that sin, which he doth mortify in us by his own spirit? Arg. 4. Saints may grieve the holy Spirit of God, whereby they are sealed unto the day of redemption, Eph. 4.30. And therefore in a sense God may be said to see sin in them; for how can we imagine that the Spirit of God in a Saint should be grieved by sin: and yet that God should not see it? Arg. 5. God doth inwardly check us in the spirit for many frailties and infirmities, which will sufficiently evidence the thing to every man, who will not be captivated to error in his understanding; that God in a sense may be said to see sin. Though God doth not rebuke us in wrath as an enemy; yet he doth rebuke us in love for walking unworthy of his grace and favour in Christ Jesus. Arg. 6. God doth work in us evangelical sorrow, and humiliation for sins which we do commit after our justification through faith. And therefore it is evident that he seethe and knoweth the sins which we commit after our Justification. Arg. 7. God doth chasten his justified children for their profit, that they may be partakers of his righteousness, Heb. 12.10. And therefore it must be granted, that God in a sense doth see sin in them. Arg. 8. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit in Gods justified children, Gal. 5.17. which is a sufficient demonstration of Gods seeing of sin in a sense in his justified children. And by this you may perceive, that by making use of distinctions grounded upon plain Scripture, it is warrantable to say that God doth see sin in his children, and that he doth not see sin in his children; which if it be well weighed, may teach us not to censure our brethren in such points and controversies, until we have received their tenets from themselves; which if it had been granted unto me, it might have prevented many reproaches which I have lain under, and prevented many sins in those who have rashly censured me. I shall put a period to my reply to this answer, with acquainting you with a story which I have read concerning that renowned servant and Martyr of Christ, John Hus; who coming to the Council of Constance, to answer to what was brought against him; it is said, that by the outrageousness of the Council against him, so many interrupting him at every word, and some mocking, and making mouths at him, it was impossible for him to make a perfect answer to any thing. Let it not be reported abroad for the shame of Religion, that ever any man or men were so used in this Kingdom. But let this be known, that when I endeavoured to acquaint the Committee fully concerning my mind, I was so interrupted, that it was impossible that any man should clearly know my mind or judgement. And that this was frequently added by my Brethren, that that day was a day in which I was to hear the charge against me. And that there would be a day appointed wherein I should have liberty to bring in my answer to the Committee of Parliament: and why there is not such a day yet to be found, will be a good Quaere; when Astraea leaving the heavens, shall again return to the earth for to do justice to the oppressed. In the mean while, though I am throughly acquainted with the carriage of things against me, I shall endeavour not to overcome evil with evil; but overcome evil with good; forgiving those who have wronged me, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven me. Section 6. THus far in answer to the Subscribers of the new Province. I might here make an end, but that I find something yet behind in their witness, which they have not published, upon what grounds I know not. It may not be supposed, that they are more afraid of this testimony in these things, than in those articles they have borrowed from him, which he received from his fellow Subscribers of the Synod; which may discover what an excellent and fit witness Mr. Gataker is in this business. But to let that pass; the next thing which I shall desire you to take notice of, is that passage of his against me in the 25. page of his book, where speaking of the 40. Psalms, and the 12. and other typical prophecies, he hath these words. One thing I am sure of, that those who gresly a buse them, who taking their rise from Luther's application of them, with some harsh expressions unto Christ, strain them so fare, as to dissuade Christian people from troubling themselves about confession of their sins, as being enough for them to believe, that Christ here hath confessed them for them already. Master Simpson preaching on that Text— Sir, If God had given you grace to have seriously thought upon that place in the Proverbs, 25.18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour, is a maul, and a sword, & a sharp arrow. You would not so suddenly and rashly have come forth as a witness against me in print concerning this thing; when you yourself do presently acknowledge, that it is not so clear or certain as those others are before assedged. Do you walk according to the rules of purity, to publish flying reports against the servants of Christ, before you give them any notice of it, or inquire fully concerning the truth of them? Can you justify your practice before the Lord Jesus, before whom you and I must appear; to defame me so much in print, before you did endeavour to cure me by one word of your mouth, or line of your hand, if I had been infected with error. The Apostle commandeth us who are spiritual, That if any man be overtaken with a fault, to restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, Gal. 6.1. When the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was great and grievous, the Lord went down to see whether they had done according to the cry of it. And when this cry came unto you concerning me, you might have done well according to the will of God, to have imitated God, and to have queried whether it were according to the cry: and I could have sent you divers godly people at that time, who should have taken an oath of it, if it had been lawfully given them, that I delivered things opposite and contrary to what you have presented to the world, rather than what you affirm that I said. I shall therefore crave leave to give a true report unto the world of that which I have delivered concerning this thing; not seeking your discredit, but endeavouring to free myself and the truth from the discredit which you have brought upon us by your false relation. 1. I do acknowledge that at Wapping I spoke from these words of the Psalmist, Psal. 40.12. Innumerable evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up, they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me. And in the opening of them I did affirm that if any should ask me as the Eunuch did Philip, Acts 8.34. Of whom speaketh the Prophet this; of himself or of some other man? I should answer that it would be plain that he did prophetically speak of Jesus Christ; if the Holy-Ghost might be heard as an Expositor; and if we did interpret Scripture by Scripture, which is the best way of interpreting Scripture. The place which I made use of for the proof of this, is in Heb. 10.5. where the Apostle doth apply the precedent words unto Jesus Christ. And whereas you say that I did take my rise from Luther's application of them with some harsh expressions unto Christ. I do affirm that this is altogether false. For it was then unknown unto me, that Luther had ever expounded them so. God hath taught me better, then that I should make Luther my rule for interpreting of Scripture. I have learned to call no man master but Jesus Christ. (Nullius astrictus jurare in verba Magistri.) Luther is not of greater authority with me than Master Gataker, farther than I do apprehend that he speaketh according to the truth of God, and meaning of Scripture. If I had had a desire to have persuaded the people that I preached the truth of God unto them from the authority of Expositors, it had been an easy thing to have stuffed my discourse with quotations drawn from them, and not to have made use of Luther's only. Ancient and modern Writers have usually expounded the words, as I did. Musculus saith that all the Ancients do expound this of Christ, not that our sins are properly his, but by dispensation, as he was a Mediator between us and the Father. (Hoc veteres omnes ita de Christo exponunt, ut nostra peccata sint ipsius non proprie sed dispensatione, quâ se mediatorem inter nos et patrem obtulit.) Pomeranus saith, that iniquities take hold of Christ, not which he himself had committed, but which he had taken upon himself. (Christum comprehenderunt iniquitates suae non quas fecerat, sed quas pro nobis susceperat diluendas.) And thus I then expounded the words, according to that of Fulgentius. He that had no sin of his own, did bear ours. (Qui non habuit propria portavit aliena.) Christ did acknowledge that they were his sins, not because they were inhesively in him, but because they were imputed unto him. He was contented that they should be charged upon him, that we might be discharged from them. I am not the first who have asserted that Christ hath confessed that our sins are his, 2 Cor. 5. Isa. 53, etc. But whereas you would make your Reader believe, that upon this account I would wholly take away confession of sin, this I do deny. And I can prove that the main use of this Sermon was to teach believers how they should in an Evangelicall way confess sin over the head of the Scape-goat, Levit. 16.21. to wit, in faith, beholding them laid and charged upon Jesus Christ; that being the best confession of our sins, in which we do confess and acknowledge to the glory of God's grace, and Christ's goodness, that our si●s are laid upon Jesus Christ. But you are not the first who have endeavoured to persuade the world that I am against the confession of sin; though about the same time I preached publicly at Coleman-street upon these words, 1 John 1.9. If we confess our sins, he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And in Gracious-street and at Algate upon the same Text; which Sermons are not out of the memory of many who heard me; who therefore will not believe you, if you should get the whole Province to swear that you have spoken truth. And that I may declare myself to be no enemy to confession of sin; I do beseech you in the bowels of Christ, to confess your own sins and faults, in faith and sincerity to your own shame and God's glory. Confess them not only as Pharaoh, Exod. 9.27. who confessed his own sin, and the sin of his people. And Saul, 1 Sam. 27.17. And Judas, who went from his confession to an halter, and so to his own place. But confess them with the belief of this truth in your heart; That Christ with one offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified, Heb. 10.14 Confess them for your own humiliation, and for the elevation of free grace, Ezek. 16. last. Job 42.6. And as you do profess yourself a friend to confession of sin in your judgement, to show yourself to be a friend to confession and forsaking of sin by your practice, Prov. 28.13. Or else you may lay a stumbling block in the way of the weak, who may be apt to look upon you as one of the Pharisees, who say and do not. Section 4. SIr, I am enforced to begin again with that exhortation with which I did shut up the former Section; Beseeching you, that in the confession of your sin, you would not forget to confess this great and horrid sin of yours, in charging me for exhorting people to sin as fast as they will, (because there is a fountain open for them to wash in. I do think that if the Devil himself should get up into a Pulpit to preach, who doth often preach by his Vicars and Curates;) that he would not make use of any such exhortation. Neither did ever any man but yourself, aver the same thing against me. I do confess that this Article was brought in against me, that I should deliver in a Sermon these words; Let Believers sin as fast as they will, there is a fountain open for them to wash in. But it being demanded by some, whether I did deliver it by way of exhortation: the accuser was so ingenious to acknowledge that it was not delivered as an exhortation: And therefore it is probable that your Brethren of the new Province, have had so much grace to leave it out in their charge (though it be in the same page in which they have taken out the other Articles:) and it will be for your credit more than for mine, to leave it out in your next Edition: You may as well take out that part of a verse in Revel. 22.11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and conclude that God in Scripture exhorteth men to be unjust and filthy, as to draw out scraps and fragments out of my discourses, to persuade the world that I in my preaching exhort people to commit sin, which I do desire to destroy in myself, and those who hear me, by preaching the grace of God in Christ. Your learning, if not love, might have taught you to have put a more favourable construction upon these words. The word let, is not always used by way of exhortation, as appears by those words, Rev. 22.11. But sometimes by way of supposition, and doth frequently signify as much as the word though doth. And take it in this sense, it is as seasonable a truth, as I can in desire of your good, leave upon your spirit. Though you, who profess yourself a believer, have sinned as fast as you can in my apprehension, against the laws of love, and the Commandments of the Lord Jesus; yet there is a fountain opened, in which, if God give you faith, you may wash yourself from these sins. In the mean while I shall comfort myself, that there is nothing charged upon me, but the same hath been charged upon those who were more filled with the Spirit for preaching than I am. They were charged with the same thing by some ignorant or malicious hearers, as appeareth by Rom. 3 8. And not rather as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that good may come; whose damnation is just. You may now expect, that before I put a period to my answer, I should speak something to your reproachful & railing speeches against me. But you know who said, men have learned to reproach me, and speak evil of me, but I to suffer reproaches. (Didicerunt illi maledicere ego pati.) And I shall learn of the Angel to say this to all my defamers: The Lord rebuke you, Zech. 3.2. And shall entreat God for his Son's sake to give grace and patience, to his afflicted and oppressed servant, Amen. Man's legal righteousness, is no cause or part of his justification. EPHES. 2.8, 9 For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. THERE are two things which men ought chief to know; Their misery by sin; and their happiness by the grace of God in Christ. And by the wicked unfaithfulness of our memories we are more apt to forget these two things, then to forget any other points whatsoever. [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] Know thyself, is a lesson as difficult, as it is old and common. How hard a matter is it for a man to remember himself, as to know what he is in himself? The King of Macedonia thought it needful, that his Page should every morning put him in remembrance, that he was a mortal man. And every spiritual man doth find it necessary, that the Spirit daily should become his remembrancer, to put him in mind that he is a sinful man. So likewise it is a hard matter, without the power, & assistance of the Spirit, always to know, the rich, full, and free grace of God, as it is held forth in the Gospel to poor sinners. The last of these, as it is the most sweet and excellent lesson, so with the greater difficulty it is retained in our memories. This is a Doctrine, which if it were preached unto us every day, we should forget it every day. The daily teaching and hourly learning of it, cannot wholly free us from the ignorance of this truth. But as fare as we are carnal and fleshly, we are strangers to the knowledge of it. So that he that thinks he perfectly knows the doctrine of justification by faith alone, I dare profess to that man, that he knows nothing of this doctrine of justification as he ought to know. As long as we live upon the earth, we may be learners of this doctrine. Paul after he had been a scholar, and an aged teacher in the school of Christ many years, did then profess, that he endeavoured to forget his own works, and legal righteousness, in reference to his justification, and pressed forward to know more of the mystery of Christ, labouring to be found in the righteousness which is of God by faith, Phil. 3.10. Therefore though I have formerly spoken of the chief point that lieth in these verses; yet I know it is needful and necessary for me to speak of it again, that you that have heard it opened, may hear more of it, as well as for those, who have not heard the point so clearly & fully unfolded unto them; to whom God may make my discourse beneficial, if he accompany me with his presence. Wherefore I have pitched upon this subject at this present: in which, the sum of all divinity is comprised. For faith and love is the sum of all that we preach: Faith towards the Lord Jesus, and love towards God, and all those that are united to him in the same Spirit with ourselves. And the Apostle layeth down both these in these verses: showing first clearly the doctrine of justification through faith alone without works; and then showing that though we are justified without works, yet how in the Spirit we are carried forth to perform all good works; for, he saith, We are created the workmanship of God unto good works, ver. 10. In these words, these particulars present themselves to your best attentions. First, that salvation and justification is by grace, that is, by the free favour of God; Tee are saved by grace. Secondly, He showeth how we are saved by grace; in a way of believing, not working; Ye are saved by grace through faith. Many pretend that they look on grace, but it is through the spectacles of their own works: but he that doth truly eye grace, he looks on grace in an act of believing, and not through working. Thirdly, The Apostle discovers the nature of true faith, which is the unfeigned faith of the Elect. First, negatively he informeth us, that this faith is not of ourselves; There is not a fountain in ourselves, from whence a true and lively faith springs; it floweth not from the natural, carnal, or rational principles of the first Adam, but from the power of the Spirit of grace. Secondly, affirmatively he informeth us concerning the nature and original of it; it proceedeth from God, and is bestowed upon the creature as a free gift: It is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. Fourthly, He shows that as it is by grace, so it is not by works; as it is by believing, so it is not by working: Not of works. Fiftly, He gives the reason why it is not by works; Lest any man should boast. If a man could say, that God hath justified, and saved him for his endeavours, labours, pains, or good works, than a man might boast. When he meeteth with one that is without Christ, he may say, I have done this good work, and the other good work for Christ, I shall be saved, and thou shalt be damned. But the true child of God, if he meet with a reprobate, he sees no cause to boast; it is by the grace of God that he is saved, when the other is damned. Not by works, lest any man should boast. It is the design and intention of God, in justifying a sinner by grace without works, to keep men from pride and boasting. Man did fall from happiness by pride; there is no way to attain happiness, but by humility, and faith; the true way to humility is by believing; for believing empties the creature of all works, and righteousness, and shows that he is nothing in himself, and that all his treasure, glory, happiness, riches, and perfection, lies treasured, and laid up in another. (Fides hominem vacuum Deo adducit, ut Christi bonis impleatur) Faith bringeth a man in a poor and beggarly condition to Christ, that he may be enriched by Christ. Lastly, The Apostle declareth, that though we are saved by faith without works, yet we shall not be unfruitful, in bringing forth good works. We are the workmanship of God by a new creation. And the end of our creation in Christ, is this, that being in him we may be active to love and good works. First, I shall endeavour to prove negatively, that there is no justification by works. And then show how it is by grace; and then how it is in a way of believing; and so come to distinguish true faith, which is given by the Spirit, from the false faith of hypocrites, and Libertines, which floweth only from a principle of humane wisdom, and not from the powerful operation of the Spirit of God. At this present, I shall observe this method. First, I will show that we are not saved by works, I mean, by the works of the Law. Then I shall show, that we are not saved, and justified by works, which are the fruits of faith, or done under the Covenant of grace. Thirdly, I shall show, that we are not saved by works, in which we yield obedience to any Gospel Ordinances, though they be Ordinances appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ himself to be practised by the Saints. I take in this, because I have found in my own spirit, and in many that I have dealt with, a secret and subtle kind of Popery, by which we are apt to attribute something to the practice of Ordinances, in reference to our justification. And hence it is that people are so ready to run into every new way of worship, which is brought to light, thinking that unless they find out the right discipline, and government of Jesus Christ, the right Baptism, and Ordinances, they are not true Saints, nor sufficiently justified. Therefore I shall take in this too, to show, that as we are not justified by more inward, and spiritual works; so neither are we justified by any outward observation of Ordinances, or submitting to any command of the Lord Jesus Christ, but only by our obedience to the first and principal command of the Gospel, by which we believe justification by grace through Christ without works. For the first of these heads, I shall briefly show, how it is not by works, passing by many things that I have formerly spoken of, and I shall only lay down four or five considerations for the confirming of this, that we are saved, and justified before God, and in the Court of our own conscience, without any works whatsoever. The first consideration may be this; We cannot be justified by works, or by the Law: because there was never any man had a legal righteousness, but the man Christ Jesus. This is Paul's undeniable conclusion, laid down in Rom. 3.23. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. The devout Jew as well as the profane Gentile, is brought in, before the tribunal of God, as a guilty finner, coming short of such a glorious righteousness, which the Law doth require of him, that he may be justified under it. The Gentile never walked according to the written Law of nature, which is written in his heart, nor the Jew, according to the Law of his Maker, written in Tables of stone. All the works of the Law may be reduced to two heads. The first are those works that we do in obedience to God, to show our love to him. Secondly, The works that we do, to show our love to our neighbour. Now if we take works, in either of these two respects, I shall show, that all the men and women in the world, come short of such a legal righteousness, and perfection, that the holy, just, and pure Law of God requires. It will be clear, that no man ever loved God as he ought. God doth command us, that we should love him with all our heart, and with all our strength, with the whole stream of our affections. But what man did ever love God in that manner? Suppose a wife should entertain many thousand lovers besides her husband, could any say, that that wife loved her husband? So many fins as we have, so many lovers we have, so the Scripture calls them, Jer. 3.1. Thou hastplayed the harlot with many lovers: that is, thou hast followed many sins and lusts, base and vile corruptions. Now it is thus with all the men in the world; we have all gone a whoring from our God; so that though all men, yea even Turks and Heathens pretend to love God, the great God that made them, yet there is no man that ever loved God as he ought. That man that thinks that he ever loved God as he ought, and as the Law requires, he is very blind, and not enlightened to this day, to see the purity, and spirituality of the righteous Law of the just and high God. Suppose a Subject should always contrive rebellion, and conspire against the person of his King, as desirous to take away his life, and to pull the Crown from his head; will any say, that this Subject loves the King, Thus it is with all men; we are all traitors and rebels against the King of Heaven; if we had strength, we would take the Crown from the head of God, and set it upon the head of the Devil. If it were in our power, God should not reign, and be King in the world, but the Devil. This is in the heart of wicked flesh, it brings forth nothing else; it loves itself, and the devil, but hates, loathes, and abhors God, and had rather that the Devil should sit on the throne, than God the Father, and the Lamb at his right hand. So that a man being unable to obey the Law of God, God cannot justify him by his Law, but must pronounce him a rebel; for sin is rebellion, and spiritual high treason against God. In Ezek. 2. when God sent the Prophet to teach the people, he tells him what people he should meet with, he saith they were such as would not hear him, such as would slight him, and would not endure to hear sound and good doctrine, and calleth them rebels. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious Nation, that have rebelled against me, even to this very day. You see, sin is called rebellion in the Word of God. But some will say, certainly, I was never such a rebel as you make me; I apprehend not that I ever hated God in such a manner. Answ. If thou dost not see how thou abhorrest God, and how in the flesh thou lovest the Devil more than God, thou hast not to this day, a sight of the just and pure will of God. For it is not enough that thou abstain from gross sins and profaneness, that makes a man scandalous to the eye of the world; but thou must abstain from every sin, from every vain thought, or else the Law will pass the sentence of condemnation on thee as a rebel. If it were possible that a man could so live on earth, that he should never dishonour God in any action; that he should never dishonour God by any word of his mouth; but all his words should be to the glory of that God that made him, and to the glory of that wisdom of the Father, by which he made all things: yet if this man should have but a sinful ungodly rising in his heart against God, the Law would take no notice of all the good deeds of this man, & all the good words that he hath spoken to the glory of God, but the Law would condemn him for that sinful thought in his spirit. Therefore you shall find that not only sinful words and actions, are called traitorous words, and rebellious actions in Scripture, but evil thoughts concerning God, are treason against God; the Law of God reacheth the heart & spirit of a man, so that if there be a sinful thought, the spiritual, and holy Law of God condemns a man as a rebel for that thought. Jer. 5.23. This people hath a revolting, and rebellious heart. The Law doth not condemn a man only for rebellion in words and actions, but for rebellion in the heart. It is not enough for us outwardly to conform to what the Law requires, but we must have obedient hearts; if there be any rebellion in the heart, we are condemned, as though we had sinned against God in words and actions. The Law doth not only condemn a man for adultery, by which he defiles his neighbour's wife. A man may be an adulterer, and yet an Eunuch; if a man have but an adulterous glance with his eye at the sight of a woman, if he have but a sinful thought arising in his heart, the glorious Law of God thunders in the face of that man, and lightens in the countenance of that man, and will utterly destroy him for his sin. The Law is like the Priest and Levite, Luk. 10. that past by the man which was rob and wounded by thiefs. It is Christ alone who poureth in the oil of his Gospel into the wounds of sinners, for to heal and refresh them. The Law rightly and spiritually understood, is a Ministry of death (Languorem ostendi, non aufert, Aug.) It is the Gospel which is the Ministry of life and salvation. And if we thus look upon the Law of God, & rightly understand it, it is clear and evident, that there was never any man that loved God. Sin is a hatred of God, so many sins as thou committest, so much hatred of God thou discoverest. Our love is showed by keeping the Commandments of God; so by breaking the commandments of God, we discover and manifest that hatred that is in us against the most holy God. So that if you consider this, that you never loved God yet; you cannot comfort yourselves in your love to God; but must abase yourselves for your neglecting of the doctrine of justification. When God shall give you light to see himself, and his Son, you will find, that that which you call love to God, (in your blind ignorance,) is hatred of God, and rebellion against him. Secondly, Consider, that there is no man that ever loved his neighbour as he ought. The Law of nature, and the written Law of God require, that every man should do to others, as he would that they should do to him: But there was never any man that did so. If it were possible for a man to live so, as that he should never wrong his neighbour, or his brother, by any unjust action, or by any word spoken against his brother. But where is the man that can stand forth, and truly affirm it? yet he may be charged by the Law, if he hath had any evil thoughts against him in his heart. For the Law is spiritual, the Law reacheth the heart; and the Law will condemn this man, as a man that hates his brother; for the Law takes notice of this, in this particular: As you shall find, Zech. 7.10. Oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his brother. The Law forbids imagining evil against our brother in our hearts. So that if once in all the days of thy life, thou hast had but one uncharitable thought of any man, when thou hadst no ground at all for it, thou hast imagined evil in thy heart against thy brother, and art a transgressor of the Law; for thou walkest contrary to thy rule and light. I appeal to thee, wouldst thou have a man think evil of thee, when he hath no just cause? Thou wilt say, I would have no man think evil of me, or harbour an uncharitable thought in his breast against me: so than if thou have an uncharitable rising in thy spirit against any man or woman in the world, thou comest short of the righteousness, holiness, and perfection of the Law, and so there is no salvation for thee by the Law: If a man consider what the Law is, he shall find no comfort in the world by looking upon himself, and his best performances in the glass of the Law; but he shall find that all have sinned, are haters of God, fighters against God, haters of his children, and enemies to their neighbours. That as Christ said to the Scribes and Pharisees, Joh. 7.19. Did not Moses give you a Law, and none of you keep it? So I may speak to all men and women in the world; the just and righteous God, as the creator that may require obedience from his creature, hath given us a just and holy Law; all that he commands is consonant to reason and equity. Thou canst not deny, but that it is equal that thou shouldest do to all men, as thou wouldst that they should do to thee. But we have all sinned, and have broken this just and righteous Law of God; therefore by this it appears, that there is no justification for a man by the Law, or his own works. Thirdly, Another Consideration may be drawn from this; it is not any whit necessary, that any man should have any works at all, to bring with him unto God for his justification. There is a fullness and sufficiency in the grace of God, and in Jesus Christ, so that there is no need of any works that we should bring for our justification. The robe of Christ's righteousness, is such a complete garment, that there needs no patches of our own to be sowed to it. You shall find God speaking of his own grace in Isaiah, Isa. 43. For mine own Names sake, I will forgive thy sins, and will remember thy iniquities no more. It is not for our works sake, if it be only of his grace. He saith, His arm is mighty and strong. As the arm of God's justice, is a mighty arm, by which he crushes, and breaks in pieces all wicked, and ungodly men; so his arm is mighty to bring salvation. And he hath laid help upon one that is mighty, Psal. 89. Seeing the mightiness of God's arm is to bring salvation to his people, he is mighty to save, Zeph. 3.17. and he will save to the utmost, the worst, and chief of sinners, without any righteousness, or holiness of their own. Therefore it follows, that it is not needful, nor necessary, that a man do good works, that he may be justified, and saved. We have a rule in Philosophy, that it is vain & frivolous to do that by many things, that may be done by few; seeing God hath discovered an alsufficiency in his own grace, it is vain therefore to seek justification by many things. Psal. 130.7. There is mercy with God, and plenteous redemption: No need therefore of man's righteousness. If thou hast been a slave to many sins, to vile lusts, and base corruptions; pride, vainglory, hypocrisy, swearing, and uncleanness, etc. There is plenteous redemption. God can redeem thee from all thy sins, that thou hast been accustomed unto many years. He is able to redeem thee out of the hands of all thy corruptions, that hold thee fast in bondage and slavery. Wherefore there being such a sufficiency in grace, it is not needful or necessary, that a man do good works, that he may be justified. The fourth consideration may be this; Almighty God doth not require us to do good works that they should justify or save us. I confess in the letter of the Word, God seems to require them. When he speaks in the language of the Law, he saith, Do this, and live, etc. But in the Ministry of the Gospel, which is the only Ministry of salvation, God doth not require thee to do any thing that thou mayst be saved, or justified. The Law sets thee to work, and is never satisfied; but the Gospel bids thee do nothing at all. This is the tenor of the Gospel, Believe in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and be confident to be justified only by his Name. The Apostles when they preached, endeavoured to beat men off, from their own works and performances, in the point of justification. When the Gaoler said; What shall I do to be saved? Paul bids him not to work, but to believe in the Lord Jesus. So in Isai. 55.3. God reprehends men that spend their time for that, which is worth nothing, laying out so much time in acting, & doing, for justification, and salvation, & in the mean while, neglecting the glorious and precious Gospel of grace by his Son. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? Wherefore do ye spend the strength of your bodies & spirits in working, labouring and tiring out your days under the spirit of bondage, that ye may be justified, and saved? You spend your money for that that is not bread; you shall never have a piece of bread from the Law for this; you shall never satisfy the Law, it will not give you a crumb of comfort, work, and do what you can. Harken unto me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Foolish, and ignorant people, they take pains to satisfy their spirits, and to get comfort, by making long prayers, and observing fasting days, and giving alms to the poor, endeavouring to love God and Saints, that they may be saved; but they labour for that that will not profit, for that, that is not bread. If duties could satisfy, why did Christ die? If we could be saved by the Law, why was the Gospel made known? Therefore he points them to the Gospel; Hear, and your soul shall live. That is, hear the Word of God's grace, believe that God will pardon your sins for his Name sake, and not for any works or righteousness in yourselves. Believe that Christ came to save sinners, ungodly sinners, the worst of sinners, the chief of them: believe this, and your souls shall live. If any bid thee work, that thou mayst be justified; to get love to the brethren, to get a good conscience to God, and men; he setteth you upon a labour that will not profit you. The voice of God is, Hear, and your souls shall live; Believe that which is reported concerning this Christ, who was borne of a woman, though the eternal Son of God, and was manifested in the flesh, and hath borne the sins of sinful flesh; and hath made an end of all iniquity, and brought in, everlasting righteousness. In believing this doctrine, we are assured of his love. And this God bids us preach, and nothing else for justification, ceasing from ourselves, our works, our righteousness, our performances, resting on his love, setting foot on his grace, disclaiming our do, not coming to him in the sight of our works, and our love, but of his goodness, as it is displayed in Christ. Fifthly, It is positively forbidden, and God reproves men for it; he shows them that they undo their souls to eternity, if in a secret way they rest upon their own works. Israd which followed after the Law of righteousness, hath not attained to the Law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the Law, Rom. 9.31, 32. He doth not say, that they did directly seek salvation by the Law, but indirectly, (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sed tanquam operibus legis,) as it were by the works of the Law. Works are not only not required, but forbidden. God doth not bid us to work, but he forbids us to work for justification. It is not he that worketh, that is justified, but he that worketh not, but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, Rom. 4.5. When the Apostle presseth men to believe, and persuadeth them to entertain the doctrine of grace that he preached; in those Exhortations there is a virtual forbidding of working for life. When he bids them only to believe, Act. 16.3. it is as much as if he had bid them not to work. Consonant to that speech of his; A man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Christ, Gal. 2.16. He excludeth works, that he may establish men in the doctrine of faith, and prohibiteth working for justification. Lastly, We are not to desire the presence of good works that we may be justified. A man is not only to go thus fare, to be convinced that he is not justified by works; but he is to be convinced of this, that the presence of good works are not needful and necessary to him when he comes to God for justification. I am not only to profess, that my works have no influence into my justification, or are the cause of it, but that good works in the presence of them, are not needful and necessary to justification. Good works are inefficatious to justification, and not needful to be present, in the person that is to be justified. Here some fly off from the truth, they acknowledge that we are not justified by works, yet they require the presence of good works in the person who is to be justified. But God when he efficatiously works upon us, convinceth us, that not only our good works have no causality in justification, but likewise convinceth us, that there is no necessity for the presence of good works in us before justification. And this is clear, because when the Spirit comes, he shows us that we are to come to the throne of grace, not as men already made righteous, and holy, but as men unrighteous, and unholy, to be made holy by Jesus Christ. So that good works are not necessary as a qualification, or disposition in the person to be justified. This is that glorious Gospel, which carnal reason cannot apprehend, man's learning cannot reach, which the world's wisdom accounteth foolishness, and which the Devil and worldly men will always oppose, and persecute. What saith the zealous Pharisee, Will the God of love justify him that hates him? Will the God of justice sitting upon the throne pronounce the sinner guiltless? Yea Pharisee he will. What saith the Scripture, He justifieth the ungodly. What is an ungodly man, but he that hates God, that is an enemy to God, that doth not for the present love God? And when a man looks to his grace, he must look on himself as an unrighteous, as an unholy, ungodly man; He is not bound to come as the Pharisee, but as the Publican; He is not to come thus qualified, I love God, and the people of God, I desire to obey God, I am thus qualified, therefore I shall be justified, and no sinful man, that hath not these qualifications to fit him for justification. God bids sinners while they are in their blood to live, Ezek. 16.6. Christ cometh to call sinners to repentance, or changednesse of heart by the discoveries of grace. For God doth not command us, to come as men loving him, or loving his people, that we may be justified; but when we see ourselves sinners, ungodly, and the chief of sinners, than he commands us to come to the throne of grace, and offers justification, and salvation to us freely without works: as Paul saith; This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, 1 Tim. 1.15. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) I am the first of sinners; so it is in the Greek (Primus non tempore, sed malignitate) The first not in time, but in sin and malignity. This is the truth, which Paul preached, and which he accounted, not only worthy of acceptation, but all acceptation, for the sweetness and excellency of it. If other truths are worthy of acceptation, this is worthy of all acceptation. If a man seethe that he hath a heart that will not suffer him to love God, that he hates the people of God, yet heareth the Gospel preached, that there is grace offered to sinners, to the chief of sinners; if this man believe, if he come and trust the grace of God, he hath as good an assurauce for heaven, as heaven can give, as God gives to any that he intends to save, and make happy with himself to eternity. By this we see, that we are not to bring good works, because their presence is not necessarily required. Though we see all evil present with us, and all good absent, we may rest upon the promises of grace for justification, which is the plain direct way to true and perfect holiness. Now in the next place, I shall give you considerations, to prove that we are not justified by works that are done after conversion. This will appear as clearly as that which I have delivered concerning the needlessness of the works of the Law, for our justification before our justification. The first reason which I shall lay down is this; Those things are not the cause of justification which follow justification and true faith: but good works follow justification and true faith; therefore good works are not the causes of justification. The cause precedes the effect; good works are the effect of justification; right reason therefore will teach us, that they cannot precede justification. The work of the justification of a sinner, is done & completed, before works are done, and therefore works can have no hand in our justification. That old rule is as old as the doctrine of justification, and as true as it is old, (Bona operanon praecedunt justificandun, sed sequuntur justificatum;) Good works do not precede in the person who is to be justified, but follow the person that is justified. From which it will follow, that a man is not justified for good works that follow faith, because he is justified before he hath those good works: good works in order of nature, following true faith; true faith working by love, Gal. 5.6. I am not to love that I may believe, but I must believe God's love, that I may love God. Joh. 4.19. We love him, because he first loved us. We are first purged from dead works by believing, and then we serve the living God, Heb. 9.14. God hath sworn that justification shall go before sanctification, Luk. 1.73. He first delivereth us from our sins, our souls deadly enemies, and then we serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness, as Zachariah being filled with the holy Spirit, doth sweetly pour forth the holy water of this soule-refreshing truth. Luk. 1.74, 75. Redemption doth antecede purification: He hath redeemed us from all iniquity, to purify us to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Faith which looketh upon the grace of him who is invisible, is the mother-grace, (Radix bonorum operum fides,) Faith is the root, good works are the fruit, there must be the root before the fruit. But some man may say, may we not see the fruit before we see the root? as we see some fruit upon trees, while the root lies hid; and from the beholding of the fruit, may we not very rationally conclude, that there is a root: so from the beholding of our good works, the fruit of true faith, may we not conclude, that there is faith, though it be not in itself visible unto us. To this I answer; That this similitude proves not the thing; for though it be a truth, that good works may appear first to men, yet faith is first visible to us in our own spirits; and it is impossible that I should see the truth of good works, except I first see the truth of faith. Evident sanctification doth evidence unto us the truth of our justification, but sanctification is not evident, our justification being not evidenced to us in the first place. If it be manifested in our spirits to us, that our works are good, it will presently be manifested unto us, that we have true faith. But this is not manifested in our spirits, that our works are truly good works, and such which cannot be done by an hypocrite, until the truth of our faith be manifested unto us. I will make this evident by this reason; A man must see his good works, as done either under the Law, or under the Gospel, and look upon them, either in the glass of the Law, or the glass of the Gospel; if a man look upon them in the glass of the Law, and do rightly and spiritually understand the Law, he shall be so fare from drawing an assurance of his justification from them, that he shall behold himself cursed and damned, with all his good works. For the Law curseth every man that continueth not in the doing of all things which are commanded by God. It is indeed a divine lookingglass, in which things to be done, or avoided, are discovered. (Lex est divinum speculum in quo facienda & fugienda refulgent, Aug.) but it will sentence us to death for the least spot or wrinkle which it doth discover; so that it is impossible, that a man should see himself justified in the glass of the Law. But thou wilt say, he may look upon his love, sincerity, and works, in the glass of the Gospel. And to this I answer, that if he look upon them in the glass of the Gospel, which is Jesus Christ, than he must put himself under the Gospel, and look upon himself, as a man in Christ, that so he may see his works good by Jesus Christ; which he will never be able to see without the eye of faith, which seethe things invisible, Heb. 11. and by which we look upon Christ, 1 Joh. 2.1. dwell in Christ, Ephes. 3.17. Live in Christ, Gal. 2.19. And do living works, acceptable to God by the life of Christ in us, Heb. 11.4. By faith with open face we behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same Image, from glory to glory, 2 Cor. 3.18. and see that our good works are the effects of Christ's love, discovered in himself and in his Gospel to our souls. And therefore when John doth inform us, that we shall know that we know him, if we keep his Commandment. He doth propose believing, as the first Commandment of God, without which we cannot assure ourselves, that we are obedient to his other commands, 1 Joh. 3.23. This is his commandment, that we believe in him whom he hath sent. Good works after a man hath faith, are not the cause of justification, but the consequent; they follow a man's justification; they do not precede the act of justification; they neither precede the act of God's grace, by which he justifieth a sinner, neither do they precede justification in the Court of Conscience: But being justified by faith, we have peace (Rom. 5.1.) in our Consciences. This was the doctrine which was frequently preached by those heavenly Carpenters, which did first strike at the horns of the beast, dilectio oriatur, necesse est praecedere fidem hoc est fiducia misericordiae) It is necessary, saith Melancthon, that faith, which is a confidence of God's morcy, do precede love. And in another place, (Non nititur fides nostra dilectione, sed tantum misericordia promissa, ut constat, nec existere dilectio potest nisi sit apprehensa remissio) Faith is not grounded upon our love, but the promised mercy of God, so that it is manifest, that there cannot be true love, unless remission of sins be first apprehended. Another reason is from the imperfection of works wrought by a man after he is justified; If any man that is justified, look on his works, and do not behold them in the glass of the Gospel, he shall read his own condemnation for his works. There is an imperfection in our works, seeing we do not love God so perfectly as we should, with all our heart, all our mind, and all our spirit: but while the regenerate part, through the power of the Spirit runs after God, and loves God; the fleshly part runneth after sin, and hates God. Therefore seeing there is such imperfection in the works that we perform, that the best of us are unprofitable servants, and that the most holy amongst us, do that for which he may be damned every day, if God should not deal with us in the Gospel, but in the Law; it will follow, that a man cannot be justified by the works that he doth after he hath faith, and is converted, & doth works which are wrought by the Spirit of grace. It may here be objected, that the good works of Saints are perfect. For an answer to this, I refer the Reader to what shall be delivered from those words; That he which is borne of God sinneth not. I come now to the next Consideration, which is this; That we are not justified by the practice of any Gospel-Ordinances, which are commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some, who it may be, are convinced that they are not justified by works, yet I know not what new kind of Popery they have found out; for they think to please God by submitting to Ordinances, and finding out the true Discipline and government of Christ's Church; therefore you shall find a kind of spirit of bondage in them, if they be not satisfied concerning the true discipline, government, & Ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore I shall endeavour to demonstrate this, and show clearly, that as we are not justified by works before, or after conversion, so we are not justified, and saved, by the submitting to any Ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not in these, there is nothing to be found in these available to justification. Forms of government and Ordinances, do not make men Christians, but a lively faith in the Lord Jesus. When Caius Marius Victorinus told Simplicianus, that he was turned from Heathenism to Christianisme, and he replied, that he would not believe him, unless he saw him in the Congregation of Christians: He wittily thus reprehended the rashness of his speech, (Ergone parietes faciunt Christianos?) Do your walls then make Christians? So to those that say, men are of the world, until they are under this or that form of government, and ordinance, I may thus speak; do these things make Christians? Presbytery (all government) is nothing, Independency is nothing, dipping is nothing, but faith which worketh by love. The Apostle clearly proves this point, Gal. 5.3. I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole Law: Christ is become of none effect to you; he shall profit you nothing. We know that Paul circumcised Timothy; after he was a preacher of the Gospel, and submitted himself to many of the rites & Ceremonies of the Jews; shaved his head, & put himself under a Jewish vow, yet here he saith, if a man be circumcised, he is a debtor to the whole Law. His meaning is this; that if a man submit to circumcision, as thinking it will any whit avail him to his justisication, and salvation, that man shall not be saved by Jesus Christ, but he is a debtor to the whole Law; he is not under grace, but under the curse of the Law. Act. 15.1. When some preached that there was a necessity for men to be circumcised, and keep the Law of Moses, that they might be justified; see how the doctrine was disrelished by the Apostles; Peter calleth it a tempting of God, and laying a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which they nor their fathers were able to bear. Paul, though as a spiritual man, he could become all things to all men, to the Jew, as a Jew, to the Gentile as a Gentile, 1 Cor. 9.20, 21, 22. That by all means he might save some, yet how doth he thunder and lighten in the face of those that laid too much upon the practice of outward things, denying unto them any salvation by Christ. And as he said, If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing; so if any man be baptised, I may say, Christ shall profit him nothing. If any man to satisfy his conscience, desire one to dip him, or join himself as a member to any Congregation, thinking by pleasing God, and Christ, to further his salvation in this way, he is a stranger to Christ, and unacquainted with his Gospel. Faith is inconsistent with any thing in this sense; faith will not suffer any thing to be joined with it in point of justification; and if we will join any thing with faith for justification, that faith is nothing worth at all. If we will do one thing that we may be justified, we must do every thing. If thou wilt be a member of a Church, as they speak, that thou mayst be comforted, justified, and saved, thou art bound to fulfil the whole Law. The Law is well compared by one to a chain, which is linked together, and if we take one link of it, the weight of the whole chain will be upon us: So, if we do any thing that we may be justified, we lay ourselves under all the bondage and slavery of the Law, and are tied to do every thing in the Law, that we may be justified. He that is circumcised, is a debtor to do the whole Law, Gal. 5.3. But in Christ Jesus, neither Circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love, ver. 6. By Circumcision, he means all the outward privileges of the Jews; these do nothing avail to salvation; and by uncircumeision, the privileges of the Gentiles, Baptism, and the Supper. All outward privileges and prerogatives, do nothing avail to justification. The kingdom of Heaven is not in these things, not circumcision, or uncircumcision, or any outward Ordinances. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Another reason may be drawn from the consideration of the nature of Ordinances, & our submitting ourselves to them. There is not so much in that outward obedience that is given to outward Ordinances, as in that obedience that is given to the moral precepts of the Law, Mark. 10.19. Our Saviour commends the Young man for acknowledging that obedience to God, loving God and his neighbour, were more than all Offerings and Sacrifice; There is more in internal obedience, then in obedience to external Ordinances. From which Conclusion thus I argue; If those things that are of a more excellent nature, as, love to God, and love to our neighbour, and relieving the poor, be altogether unprofitable, inefficatious, and unavaileable to justification, and salvation; then these outward works of obedience, in submitting to outward Ordinances, are much less available. This is an argument à majore ad minus, from the greater to the less. If the greatest works advantage nothing for justification, and salvation, then certainly the doing of inferior works, the suffering a man to dip me, and to make me a member of his Church, cannot advantage me: These things are works in their own nature fare inferior to the great works of the Law, love to God, and to the people of God, and to the poor Saints of the Lord Jesus Christ: Therefore if these works be altogether unavaileable, if they can nothing further my justification; nay, if they hinder me in point of justification, if May any weight upon them; then certainly these inferior works can nothing further my justification, and salvation. And if a man do not practise them, according to the Command of Christ, through ignorance, it is no way prejudicial to his justification, and salvation. It did not prejudice the thief that he died without Baptism, that he did not receive the Supper of the Lord, that he was not admitted a member of a visible Church; it did not prejudice him that he had no fellowship with the Saints. A man may be justified and saved, not only without the works of the Law, and works after conversion, but he may be saved, though he do not submit himself to the practice of outward Ordinances. Therefore if any say unto you, you must be baptised, or you cannot be saved, I cannot look on you as a Saint, except you be baptised, you must be members of a Church, or else you cannot be members of Christ, I cannot acknowledge you as a brother, rather pity their ignorance, then yield to their exhortations. What a sad thing is it for men to place Saintship and Religion in these things, when the Scripture plainly and punctually in this respect overthroweth them? Rom. 14.15. The Kingdom of God is not in meats and drinks, (concerning which there were many controversies and janglings in those times) but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Since the Scripture requires nothing to make a man an heir with Christ, but faith. What abominable Popery is it to say, that a man cannot be a Saint, if he do not submit to outward Ordinances. I cannot but commend what I find in Luther, who was zealously carried forth against some in his time, that made a rent from him in a Legal way, because they differed from him about external things and Ordinances, which are no just ground why Saints should divide themselves from one another; who saith, That they had brought in another kind of Popery, and more dangerous than that which he bade overthrown by his preaching; for as for gross Popery, saith he, men's eyes begin to be enlightened, to see the absurdities of it. But these men come in a subtle way, and pretending a necessity of submitting to forms, institutions, and Ordinances, do pervert the pure and simple Gospel of Christ, labouring to persuade men, that if they do not submit to the Ordinances of the Lord Jesus, he would not acknowledge, and confess them before his Father, and that unless they were under his government, they should not be under him for justification. Therefore we are to be rightly informed concerning these things, and if we do submit to outward Ordinances, we should not do it from legal principles, for it were better not to practise them, then to practise them from these principles, to the ruining of our souls. And they that draw Disciples after them by such rigid and Gospel destroying principles, will find, to their shame, that those that they have brought in by these principles, will fall away from them to their shame and infamy; For God is dishonoured, Christ is rob of his Grace, and the free Spirit looseth his glory. Suffer me now to make a little use, and so I shall commend you, and what hath been delivered to the blessing of God. You have seen that we are saved by believing the Gospel, without any works going before justification, or any submission to the Ordinances of the Gospel, which may follow it. This doth bring four sorts of people under a just reproof. First, Such as are grossly Popish, maintaining justification by their own works and righteousness, or affirming that a man is not justified by faith only, but by faith and works together. These deny justification by the Grace of God, and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ through faith, and set up a justification by inherent righteousness in themselves, holding that we are then justified from sin, when it is removed out of our sight, sense, feeling, lives, spirits and conversations. The strongest Argument, which they bring for the confirming of their assertion, and in which they do most triumph, as though they had obtained a victory over the truth of God's Grace; is in the 2 Jam. 24. Ye see then bow that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Doth not James, say they, lay down our assertion in so many words, joining faith and good works as concauses of justification. Some to escape the edge of this Argument have denied this Epistle to be Canonical, like him who being unable to untie the Gordian knot, did cut it in pieces. Thus Lucius Osiander proposing this objection of his Antagonists doth think that he hath for ever cut it to pieces by their answer. But secondly, others, yea most of those, whom we call Protestant writers, for the reconciling of James to Paul, and his fellow-Apostles, with one consent give in, this answer to this objection; distinguishing of a twofold justification: First, a justification before God; secondly, a justification before men. Paul, as they apprehend, doth speak of the former of these, James of the latter; supposing this to be the genuine sense and meaning of James, that we are justified by works, that is, declaratively before men. But with respect and due reverence to the piety and learning of these men who give in this answer, give me leave, being not sworn (in verba magistri) or obliged to justify what any man, or many men, though godly and learned, have apprehended to be the meaning of a place, to show my reasons, why I descent from them; and secondly, to give in mine own answer to the place. First, I apprehend that James doth not speak of a justification before men, because his proof is from Abraham's being justified by works, when he offered up his son Isaac, as it is evident by the preceding words; which action of Abraham's would not have justified him before men. They would have looked upon him rather as a cruel malefactor, than a Saint in offering up his only Son. Secondly, This business was so transacted between God and Abraham, that it was not visible to men, that they should justify him for it; When he went to perform this act of obedience to his God, he left his servants behind him, and carried no man with him, but his Son who was to be sacrificed. Thirdly, If we view the place, Ger. 22.11, 12. out of which James doth prove his Argument, it will be evident, that it proveth not a justification towards men, but towards God. And the Angel said, Lay not thy hand upon the Lad, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. This Angel was Christ, as it doth appear by his calling of himself God; and he is justified by him, as a man that feared him. And in the 16, 17, and 18. verses; By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed. It is clear by this, that the justisication spoken of, is not a justification before men, but before God. Lastly, I shall therefore give in what I do conceive to be the meaning of the holy Spirit in these words: James doth not speak of justification, as it is taken properly, and used by Paul, but doth speak of justification as it is taken improperly. He speaketh not of it as an act by which we are reconciled, and our iniquities pardoned, but he speaketh of it as an act by which God doth approve a man to be justified by his works which he doth after his justification. Abraham was a justified man by faith, before Isaac was borne; now God doth bear witness to the works and fruits of his faith, and doth justify him by his works in this sense, that is, he doth approve him, to be a man that feareth and loveth him. And this is the Answer which is given by the learned Melancthon, [Non intelligatur verbum justificari pro reconciliari, sed ut alias saepe dicitur, pro approbari. Justificatur homo ex operibus: id est; habens justitiam operum, approbatur, placet Deo] The word justification is not to be taken for reconciliation, but approbation: man is justified by his works, that is, having a righteousness of works (or sanctification) God doth approve him, his works do please God. And as when we see good fruit upon a tree, we use to say, this is a good tree. Not that the good fruit doth make the tree good, but the tree being good doth bring forth the good fruit: So God, having made us good trees by justifying of us by his Grace, doth enable us to bring forth good fruit, and speaking (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,) after the manner of men to us men, doth approve us to be good trees, bringing forth good fruit. And thus much for the reproof of these men, and in answer to their objection. Secondly, This doth serve to discover and reprove such, who would seem to be no Papists, who yet in a more refined and subtle way, do preach forth the same doctrine which the others do maintain, and prefer some Popish books, which are wrought with a fine and curious thread, before any books which have been published, by any who have been eminent for the knowledge of God's Grace in Christ through faith for justification. These are they who, if it were possible, would deceive the very Elect; laying siege against the Gospel, and the doctrine of justification, while they pretend that they are fighters for it. And these preach that we are not to lock so much upon a Christ without us for justification, as a Christ within us. And that we are not justified by a Christ that is in heaven, but by Christ within us; which Christ of theirs is nothing else, when ye are well acquainted with him, but the workings of their own spirits in zeal and love to God, and when they have high thoughts of God, their will is conformable to the will of God, and they think the same things that God thinks, and submit to God in their ways. They look upon these workings as their perfection and justification; and this is Christ within them. Such kind of Doctrines as this is, are the first rudiments and principles by which the Politic and Civilised Familists do leaven their pupils, leading them from the plain and simple doctrine of the Gospel. The spirit of error and delusion which was in H. N. (the first father of the Familists, which have lived of late, or are yet living) did work mightily in him to pervert the Gospel, and to bring in Antichristianisme in this way of flaming zeal, love, and holiness. And if he were now alive, he would wonder at his numerous offspring, and progeny, which he hath now amongst us. But that you may avoid this first rock, before ye be engulfed into the deep and bottomless pit of Familisticall Atheism, and Antichristianisme, let what hath been spoken to reprove them, establish you in the truth of the Gospel, and look upon the best piece of Familisme but as upon refined Popery. For we are not saved by Christ working in us, and making us obedient to his Father's holy will: but we are saved by the righteousness of Christ, who hath shed his blood for us. And though we deny not, but that we have Christ within us, and the Spirit of Grace to subdue our sins. Yet this is denied, that the workings of the Spirit are our justification; for we are justified before we have these workings: which we feel within us. We are not justified because we love God and Christ, and desire to walk in sincerity to glorify God: but because we apprehend the Grace of God in Christ; and therefore we love God and Christ, and desire in sincerity, to walk in all the ways that God hath made known to us in Christ. We are not justified by the conformity of our will to Gods will, or the oneness of our will with his; but we are justified by faith, before any of those works are wrought in our hearts by the Spirit of Grace. He that denies this is ignorant of Christ and the Gospel, and is not an honourer of Christ, but a Minister of Satan and Antichrist, and a deluder of the people. Thirdly, This is for the reproof of the hypocritical Protestant, who professeth the doctrine of justification by faith without works with his tongue, but denieth it with his heart; not daring to trust his soul in the arms of a Saviour, unless he brings good works along with him to procure his welcome and entertainment. This man stumbles at the threshhold of the door of Grace, being never able to enter into the house of love; because he will not adventure his salvation upon the promises of Grace which are made to sinners, that have no works, or righteousness inherently in themselves. He will not go to God, or close with a promise of Grace, unless he have the sight of righteousness in himself in the first place. He will tell you, that good works are not the matter of our justification, and yet he will not conclude that he is a justified man, until he see good works in himself. This man following the law of righteousness, doth not attain to the law of righteousness, because he seeketh it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the Law, Rom. 9.31, 32. The Apostle speaks against this pharisaical opinion, when he saith, We are justified by Grace through believing; not through working. I am not bound to love God, and the brethren, that I may be beloved of God: but I must believe, that I may love God, and my brother. The preposterous preaching of sanctification before justification for the evidencing of justification, is that which keepeth many poor creatures in bondage for many years, and ruins many souls. How many are gone to Hell, who thought they were going to Heaven? deceiving themselves with false and unsound assurances. And fetching their comforts from the sight of their own works, and not from the Grace of God in Christ, by a pure act of believing. If this were the right path to justification, we should not be justified in believing, but in loving, and working. For I seeing my love to God, should conclude God's love to me; But, herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, 1 Joh. 4.10. And true love is wrought in us by the sight of God's free love to us, in an act of believing. Therefore if thou hast no assurance of the love of God, but that which thou hast gotten from the sight of thine own works, and from the conclusions of thine own base and deceitful heart; as the ordinary way of some hath been, thou hast no assurance at all. When thou shalt lie under a great temptation, thou wilt find no comfort in this assurance: And thou shalt find at the great day, when thou shalt appear before God and Christ, that this assurance will not be worth a Rush. This building upon thy love to God, and not upon God's free love to thee, is to build upon a sandy foundation; and not upon Christ by faith. And if the Lord convince thee of thy folly, thou wilt lay a better foundation of joy and comfort then this can be unto thee. For other foundation can no man lay then that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 3. Though a spiritual man can make a good use of marks and signs, as of love to God and Saints, when he seethe them in the light of the Spirit, as fruits proceeding from faith, as the root; yet by drawing a conclusion from the sight of such things, which we apprehend to be in ourselves, of our happiness and good estate before God, we shall not so truly comfort, as certainly deceive ourselves. Fourthly, This is for the reprehension, of blind, & ignorant Formalists, who place Religion rather in conformity to outward forms of Government, and submission to external Ordinances, then in the faith of the Gospel, which is operative by love. Justification doth not lie in our obedience to the Ordinances of Jesus Christ, but in Jesus Christ. We are not made Saints, by being made members of any Church or Congregation, but by faith in the head of the Church. Woe to him that maketh his obedience and submission to any Ordinance the ground of his comfort, as too many zealous Formalists do, who run from Congregation to Congregation, from one Ordinance to another, to get solid comfort to their souls, apprehending that they are undone creatures, and cannot be true Saints, unless they be under the true practice of all Ordinances: whereas it is a plain truth, revealed in the Gospel of truth, that neither submitting to an Ordinance can make a true Saint, nor the want of Ordinances un-saint any man that is made one with Christ in believing. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that Circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the Letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God, Rom. 2.28, 29. So he is a true Saint, who is not a visible member of a Congregation; but he whose life of faith is hidden in Jesus Christ. He is baptised, not whose body is washed with water; but, whose soul is washed in the blood of Christ, 1 Pet. 3.21. He is a good Communicant, and breaks bread, who doth not break bread outwardly, but by faith doth inwardly feed upon the bread of life. We are not justified by works of the Law done before or after justification, nor by yielding obedience to any command concerning outward Ordinances, but by our submitting in our Judgements to the truth of God's Grace in Jesus Christ for justification without these. I would not here be mistaken, as though I did speak against any Saints, or any who are spiritual and faithful in the observation of any external Ordinances; But against zealous Formalists, who do make Saintship and fellowship to depend upon these things, and are not spiritually acquainted with the truth of God's Grace, but are perverters of the Gospel. In the next place, here lieth Consolation for all that hear me this day, in that which I have delivered, if God shall give unto them believing hearts. Hast thou never done any good work? hast thou hated the ways of God, and his people? hast thou never looked after the discipline, government, and ordinances of Christ? Yet here is a ground for thee to come in unto Christ: we are justified by grace through believing, not through working. Therefore let it be supposed, that thou art without works, yet thou hast good ground to take comfort in that which hath been delivered; believe and thou art in a happy condition, though thou hast never done a good work. Thou art not to come to Jesus Christ as a righteous man: But thou are to come unto him, that thou mayst be made a righteous man. If thou seest thyself a vile sinner, cast thyself into the arms of the grace of the Father by Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. Promises of Grace are left by God upon record in the Scripture of truth for sinners, for ignorant sinners Isa. 29.24. They that erred in Spirit shall come to understanding; For sinners that murmur against him, his ways, truths, & Prophets, as it followeth in the same verse. They that murmured shall learn Doctrine. For backsliding sinners Hosea 14.4. I will heal their back fliding, I will love them freely. Him that cometh unto him he will in nowise cast out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Here are two Negatives in the Greek, which do strengthen the Negation. john 6.37. By which speech our Saviour doth assure poor sinful creatures, that if in truth they come unto him, they shall not be rejected by him; or ejected from the arms of his love and mercy. Christ's invitation is to all sinners, All that will, may lay hold of him, not only the righteous, but the unrighteous. If thou canst not love God, thou mayst look on the Grace of God, and take comfort that God loves thee, Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners, the chiefest and vilest of sinners to repentance. Therefore come as a sinner, as the chiefest of sinners, come I say, and welcome. The Lord Jesus keeps open-house for all comers, the blind, the lame, shall not find the doors shut upon them. They shall be welcome as sinners, that cannot be entertained as Saints. It is reported of Rome's first Founder, that wanting Subjects, he sent forth some, to make known his will to all people, who lived about him, that if any malefactors, or such who were oppressed in the places where they lived, did come in unto him, they should live peaceably in his Kingdom, and he would protect them against any that should pursue them, and by this means he became suddenly the King of a numerous people. So Christ doth send forth his Proclamations to assure sinners, and vile malefactors, that if they will come under his Sceptre, they shall live peaceably under his Government, and that he will safeguard them from all their enemies, which shall pursue them, and by this means his dominions are enlarged from Sea, to Sea, and sinners do rejoice in the King of Zion. This doctrine if it were received, would answer all the objections which are raised in the hearts of men, against their happiness by Jesus Christ. Is there any sad, comfortless soul, which would not be comforted if this truth were received? What canst thou object against thyself to bereave thyself of peace, which would not be removed if this were throughly believed. Art thou a sinner? Christ offereth himself to sinners. Art thou an old sinner? An old sinner is but a sinner. Hast thou been a Pharisee like Paul, persecuting Christ and the doctrine of Grace? A persecuting Pharisee is but a sinner. And Paul was received to mercy, that such might not be without hope of mercy, 1 Tim. 1.16. Art thou an Hypocrite? An Hypocrite may come as a sinner to Christ. Bring what objection thou canst, and a persuasion concerning the truth of God's grace shall answer it, and if thou dost believe, thou hast as good an assurance as any is in Heaven, & which will hold good, when the hope of the Hypocrite will come to nothing. Let no objection keep thee from comfort, but believe what thou hast heard: if thou art a sinner conclude not, that Christ belongs not to thee, because thou art a sinner: but say, I am a sinner, therefore Christ belongs to me, Christ came to save sinners. As the bright beams of the Sun dispel all mists, and clouds: so the truth of this doctrine, if thou understand it in the light of the Spirit, will dispel all thy doubts and objections of unbelief. They will vanish, and thou that camest hither under a spirit of bondage, shalt go away with a spirit of adoption, and assurance. The true Gospel believed will quickly bring true comfort to thy soul. If any of you want comfort and assurance, it is because you believe not. Christ doth knock at the door of our hearts, and if by believing the door be opened, He will feast with us. It is unbelief which doth bolt the door, doth keep him out, and doth keep joy from us. The gates of Heaven are shut upon workers, and open to believers: shut to those who come with money in their hands; but open to those who are content to enter without paying any thing for their entrance: The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. 6. ult. Whosoever will, may drink of the waters of life freely, Rev 22.21. But if we will not drink without money, we shall not drink one drop of the water of life. We see that at a playhouse they will not open the door and let people in without they give money. But it were a disgrace for a King, if none should see his Palace but such who would give money. If we think to enter into heaven by doing good works, that we may be saved by what we do, we make heaven like a playhouse: but if we look on heaven as the Palace of the great King of heaven and earth, let us know that we may enter without money. It were a disgrace to the King of heaven if he should suffer none to come within his doors, to come into his Palace, but those that would give something to come into it: if we have nothing to give for heaven, we have as much as God demands, if we do nothing, we do as much as God requires. (Manifestè beati sunt quibus sine labour, vel opere aliquo remittuntur iniquitates, et peccata teguntur. Nulla ab his requiruntur paenitentiae opera, nisi tantum ut credant, Ambrose) It is plain that they are blessed, unto whom without any labour or pains, sins are remitted, and iniquities covered. No works of repentance are required of these, this is only required of them, that they do believe. For he that worketh not, but beliveth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness Rom. 4.5. So much for this time. Salvation is only by God's grace. SERMON. II. Ephesians 1.8. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves &c. I proved the last day that there is no salvation for any man by any works, or righteousness of his own, I shall now proceed in the next place to prove; that We are saved by grace only. By grace, in this place we are to understand the free favour of God to his poor undeserving creatures. That which is translated grace here, in other places is translated ravour; So it is said that our blessed Lord and Saviour increased in wisdom, and stature. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in favour with God and men, Luke 2. ult. So it is said that Joseph found favour in the sight of Pharaoh King of Egypt, Act. 7.10. And it is said that David found favour before God, ver. 46. The grace of God is the same with his favour, This grace, or free favour of God to poor creatures, is held forth to us in Scripture. First, as it is in God; and so it is set forth to us, as that grace, and favour of his which is as eternal, as himself. And in this respect we are said to be saved from eternity, in this eternal grace, and favour of his as the Apostle sets it forth, 2 Tim. 1.9. where he saith that we are saved not according to our works; but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This grace is the primary cause of our justification. God justifies, and saves none in time; but those who were justified and saved before him from eternity. It is said of Abraham, that he was the Father of many Nations, Rom. 4.17. He was not then the father of many nations, if we look upon his progeny, & posterity: for he had not a grandchild then: but he was the Father of many Nations before him whom he believed, even God that quickenth the dead, and calleth things that are not as if they were. So we were saved before God in the eternal grace of God, before we had a being among the creatures. In the same sense that God is said to determine the times, and the bounds of all men's habitations from eternity, Act. 17.26. So we are said to be saved by the grace of God. Because God from eternity loved us in Christ, and saw us in his own eternal grace and favour. Otherwise we should make God like unto the creature, which seethe things when they are done, and are visible among the creatures: but God he foresaw things from eternity: He speaks of things as being, when indeed they have not a being among the creatures, but have a being in his own eye. And so we had a being in the grace of God, and in the eye, and sight of God, before we had a being in ourselves, and a being among the creatures. And we are in this grace of God from eternity, not for any works that God foresaw would be done by us: God did not love us from eternity because he foresaw, that we would be industrious, painful, and zealous to glorify his name. There was nothing at all in the eye of God from eternity that moved God to set his grace, and favour upon us but his grace. It is contrary to truth which is affirmed by some, that God foreseeing that some men would be industrious, painful, do good works, and live holily and righteously, did therefore make choice of them, and set his grace on them. And that foreseeing, the idleness, sloth, profaneness, ungodliness and impenitency of others, he rejected them. God, as he loves us in his grace from eternity: so this grace was placed upon us without any foresight or prevision of our own works. The Apostle doth clear this plainly to us in the forementioned place, where he saith, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace; intimating thus much to us, that it was only the eternal grace of God, which moved God to be good and gracious to us in Christ. And so the Apostle saith, Tit. 3.5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us; that is, according to his eternal mercy, and grace, he shown favour and compassion to us, and pardoned our sins. And the expression of the Apostle is worth observing, Epes. 1.4. where speaking of the eternal grace of God, he saith, That God placed his grace upon us that we should be holy, and without blame before him, in love. He doth not say that God elected us, because we would be holy, and without blame; but He elected us that we might be holy, and without blame before him in love: good works are not the cause but the consequents of Grace. Nay, I add more, that as God did not foresee our good works; so, not our faith neither: faith is not the cause of grace, but grace is the cause of faith. God therefore enables us to believe in time, because God loved us from eternity. The Apostle speaking of them of Achaia saith, that they believed through grace, and Apollo's helped them much that believed through grace Acts 18.27. It is by grace that we believe, it is not by faith that we are made partakers of Grace. Thus we are saved by grace in the purpose of God, from eternity in the eye and sight of God, who seethe all things absent as if they were present, and speaks of things before they are done, as if they were done. In the next place, grace in Scripture is considered, not only as it is in God, and as it is as eternal as God himself; but the Scripture speaks of the grace of God, as it is manifested forth to us in Jesus Christ; and so we are saved by Grace; God discovering his grace to us in his Son Jesus Christ. So the Apostle speaking of grace, 2 Tim. 1.10. saith: But now is manifested to us by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life, and immortality to light through the Gospel. He speaks first of grace, as it is in God, and as it is as eternal, as God himself: then he speaks of eternal grace, manifested to us in the Gospel of his dear Son. It is by the preaching of the Gospel that the eternal grace of the Father, in the Son, is made known to us. And this grace is called sometimes the Grace of God the Father, Rom. 1.7. Sometimes it is called the grace of Jesus Christ; and sometimes the grace of them both: because Jesus Christ is God, one God, in one divine essence with his Father. And as God in his grace is said to forgive sins, Mica. 7. who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth sin? saith the Prophet. So Jesus Christ is said to forgive sins: the Apostle bids us to forgive one another, as Christ hath forgiven us, Col. 3.13. As there is grace in the Father to forgive sins; so there is the same grace in the Son. The Apostles doubted not but that they should be saved by the grace of Christ, as well as those that were circumcised, Act. 15.7. And by this grace we are saved. God discovering now his grace to us in his Son Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the eternal Father. This grace in Scripture is made known to us, as the sole cause of our justification and salvation. Grace is so held forth for justification, that all things, besides grace are excluded. We are justified by grace, exclusively; all other things being shut out. When God justifieth a man, he eyes that man, only in his own grace: and when God justifieth a man in the Court of his own Conscience, he strips him of all his own works, of his own love to him, and to the brethren, and gives him only a sight of own grace. This grace doth exclude all merit: if there were any merit in the creature, man could not be saved by Grace; the Apostle clears it to us by that passage Rom. 4.4. To him that worketh the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If a man could work, or merit any thing toward his justification, and salvation, than it were not of grace, saith the Apostle: the reward is not of grace, but of debt. If a man work, than he expects wages as due to him, he may by right, and justice claim what he deserves: so if we did work for salvation we might require God to bestow, and give us what we had wrought for. But true grace shuts out all merit, and works in the creature: if we could bring any merit of the creature to join with his grace, grace should be no more grace, as the Apostle, Rom. 11.6. If we look upon Grace as it is in God; so, before God we were saved in his eternal thoughts; he in his own purpose and Grace, having elected us to justification, and eternal salvation in Glory by his Son Jesus Christ. Yet he never holds forth his Grace to us; but in the countenance of his Son Jesus Christ; in whom the glory of his justice shines bright, with the glory of his grace. He shows us that he hath laid all our sins on his Son: that his justice hath received full satisfaction from the sufferings of his Son for all our sins, and so comes to discover his grace to us in the pardon and forgiveness of our sins. Thus Christ, and the Apostles constantly in their preaching, discovered the grace of the Father in the Son. As our Saviour to Nicodemus: God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, Joh. 3. And the Apostle to his Corinthians; God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, 2 Cor. 5. God doth not make known his love for the forgiveness of sin, but by Jesus Christ. I confess that we are saved by grace in respect of God, before we know the Grace of God in Jeius Christ. But we cannot see this grace, until we behold it in the face of the Lord Jesus. We behold the love of God in giving the Lord Jesus to be the atonement, sacrifice, and propitiation for our sins, before we can read the everlasting love and favour of the Father to us in his Son. Eternal love is the primary cause of our salvation and justification; but it cannot be apprehended by us, until we apprehend, in the first place our Redemption in Jesus Christ. And when Christ is embraced as a Saviour in the Arms of Faith, we rise higher in our thoughts, by the power of the Spirit, and are brought to look upon the eternity of love. And have liberty to read every line in his eternal volume, which doth concern our eternal life and salvation: and are fully confirmed in the point of God's eternal election, without the prevision of good works, which should be wrought by the Creature. As the Apostle doth prove at large in the 9th to the Romans: And if any man will dispute or rather cavil against this truth: I shall say with the Apostle, Rom. 9.20. O man! who art thou that repliest against God: who hath mercy on whom be will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. And though men, unacquainted with this truth, may account this rather a shift or evasion, than an answer to their carnal objections against election, and reprobation, yet I shall not be ashamed of my answer. It is an excellent Speech of Augustine (Christ's great Champion against Antigratians in his time) Absit ut pudeat nos hoc respondere, quod respondisse videmus Apostolum. Far be it from us to be ashamed to give the same answer, which was given by the Apostle: Who art thou that repliest against God, etc. In the next place we are to consider, that in Scripture, salvation is taken either negatively or affirmatively. And take salvation in either of these acceptions. And it will be evident, that we are saved by grace. In the first place, if we take salvation negatively; as it is a deliverance or freedom from all evil; and in this sense we are freed from evil, only by grace. It is a true rule: Gratiam Christi nihil praecedit humani: Nothing in man doth precede, or prevent the Grace of God. The light and beams of Grace, do dispel the clouds of our sins. Not for our sakes, but for his Name sake, he covereth our sins. It is God's prerogative to free us from sin by Grace, and to remove them far from us, Psal. 103.12. As far as the East is from the West, so far he removed our transgressions from us. He only can remove sin against whom it is committed. He only can cast sin into the depths of the Sea, who hath an Ocean of Grace in himself, in which he swalloweth them up. Micah is spiritually transported beyond himself, in admiring this incommunicable prerogative of the God of Grace. Micah 7.18. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, & c? And who can think that he will part with this privilege, which is his delight? For so it followeth in the same verse: He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. Secondly, If we take salvation affirmatively, for the instating of men into a condition and enjoyment of all happiness, and felicity, so we are saved by grace. We are made happy, brought from a cursed condition, into a blissful condition, from horror to joy, from hell to heaven, from the state of nature, to the state of Glory, only by the grace of God. It is only by Grace that we are what we are. By Grace our sins are pardoned: by Grace we have an inheritance with the Saints: by Grace we are the high born sons of the great King of heaven and earth: by Grace we are blessed and loaded with all spiritual and temporal blessings in Jesus Christ, and are brought to the enjoyment of eternal felicity, happiness, and blissfulnesse. Thus we are saved by grace, and by grace alone. One of the Ancients doth speak excellently to this purpose; (Nemo se palpet, de suo Satanas est, de deo beatus est, quid est enim de suo nisi peccatum suum?) Let no man boast of himself, for of a man's self he is a Devil; by God a man is made happy. What is a man of himself, but sin? Ye are saved by grace. Again, salvation in Scripture is taken for salvation before God in the Court of heaven. And it is taken for the saving of a party, in his own spirit and conscience: if we take it in the first sense, a man is saved in the Court of heaven, only by grace. What is the Reason that (the accusing mouth of the Law being stopped) no Bill, no indictment can be brought against the Elect in the Court of Heaven? Is it not this, because God in his grace justifieth them? This is the Apostles argument, Rom. 8.33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect? It is God that justifieth them. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉? who can implead, or bring an action against them before God for breaking his Law? He that is the Judge of the Elect is their justifier. Grace hath cast out of Heaven the accuser of the Brethren, which accused them before God night and day, Rev. 12.10. The accuser can bring no indictment, complaint, or accusation against the Saints there. There is no sin in our consciences that can be heard to accuse us in heaven, because there is grace for our justification: God beholds his Son Jesus Christ before his eye, upon whom he hath laid all our sins. The blood of Christ doth, with powerful and undeniable arguments, plead for those for whom it was shed. The straying and straggling sheep, which are within the reach of God's eternal Grace, cannot be condemned; because the good Shepherd hath given his life for the sheep. Joh. 10.11. God knoweth that he hath received satisfaction before hand for their sins, by the hand of the Lord Jesus, who is not now to pay any thing, but hath already made payment for all their debts: and is become the Mediator of the new Covenant of Grace, which is sealed in his own blood: under which Covenant upon this consideration, there can be no remembrance of sin, Heb. 10.14. God beholding his Elect in their propitiation; and always hearing the sweet voice of their wrath-appeasing advocate, making an heavenly melody in his ears. And always beholding our happiness before himself in heaven, lying wrapped up in his own grace; doth acquaint us in his word of truth; That we are saved by grace. Secondly: If we take salvation in the other sense; for salvation in our spirits and consciences; and in this sense we are saved by grace. There can be no salvation brought home to our hearts, but by the sight of grace. If we had the sanctification of all the Saints which have lived since the fall of Man, and should look upon it all as ours, to give comfort to our souls, and to assure us that we are in a state of salvation; and should not look above it, to behold God's grace, and our sanctification in it, and from it, it would not give us any solid comfort, or assurance of our falvation. Nothing can shine in the heart to give it any comfort, but what doth shine and give light, in the light and beams of this grace. We never come to see ourselves in a condition of safety, till we see the grace of God. Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else, Isaiah 45.22. None but God can save us, and nothing but the sight of God can bring salvation to us. Still we have some objection or other against salvation, and justification, till God silence all objections by the sight of his own grace. There is that only in God, and in Jesus Christ, that will silence all objections. If our conscience fly in our faces, and tell us that we have committed many thousands of sins more than we can reckon or number up, yet when God gives us a sight of himself, his son, and grace, the mouth of conscience is stopped, and we see all our sins swallowed up in his love. Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us, saith Philip. Joh. 14.8. When God showeth us himself, our spirits are at rest. When Grace is discovered, and God's light doth shine upon the soul, Sin, death, & damnation cannot terrify the soul. But they are filled with a spirit of joy, in believing their free justification; who before through fear of death were subject to bondage, Heb. 2.15. Grace appeareth greater and stronger to bring salvation, than sin powerful to bring damnation. Our sins, & the sins of all the man of the world, being the acts of creatures are finite; but grace that justifieth us, is the grace of an infinite God, and is boundless and infinite. Men are unassured of their salvation, unless this Grace be presented to the eye of their spirits. And men and Devils cannot prevail against us, to enforce us to question our justification, and salvation, when we look upon it. That peace which the world cannot take from us, nor give unto us; that joy which neither the Law, nor the works of the Law can convery unto us, nor bereave us off: that salvation which damned Fiends can never rob us of; is communicated to us by the beholding of God's grace in the face of the Lord Jesus. The soul, when it hath a sight of this grace, it stands with boldness at the Throne of Grace, and though it feel hellish sin in itself, yet, it is able to dispute with all the Devils in Hell, and to maintain the freeness, fullness, and completeness, of its own justification from all sin, by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. If the Devil shall then suggest this to a man, that he is a sinner. The believing soul will make this answer. It is true, I am a sinner; but I am not terrified to desperation, because I am ungodly; but I rejoice in this that God justifieth the ungodly by his grace; Rom. 4.5. If the Devil shall reply: But thou art a great sinner, and there is a great damnation. The believing soul will return, I am not tormented by the great damnation prepared for great sinners, but comforted by the great salvation; (Heb. 2.3.) which is for the greatest and chiefest of sinners by God's grace in Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 1.15.) If the Devil shall still assault a man, to persuade him that he is a damned soul, having misspent his time and strength in the service of sin, having no good works to commend him unto God, that he may find favour from him. The believing soul will be easily able in the strength of God, when it is upon the mountain of his Grace, to silence the Accuser, by lying down in the lap of that God, who maketh him the object of his Grace, who worketh not for justification (Rom. 4.) but beleiveth in God who justifieth sinners in his Grace, without works. And because we are justified and comforted in the Court of our own Consciences by grace: The spirit which is given forth in the Ministry of the Gospel is called a spirit of grace: It being the work of the Spirit to reveal the grace of the Father for the comfort of his children; according to that of the Apostle, 2 Thess. 2.16, 17. Our Lord jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts. Hear the Apostle showeth us that the Saints have consolation, and that this consolation is everlasting, and that this everlasting consolation is only by grace. Go to all the true Saints in the world, and ask them how they received the Comforter, whether by the observation of moral precepts, or by the doctrine of grace, & they will inform you that they received him, by the Gospel of grace, and not by the law of works: Some Saints are able to acquaint you with their own experience, & can tell you, how they laboured for holiness, to bring them to happiness; to love God, that they might assure themselves, that they were in the love of God, and that they found darkness instead of expected light, death instead of life, horror & bondage instead of joy and liberty, until they were enabled to come unto God as sinners, without works, disclaiming their own righteousness, deserts and endeavours, and laying the headstone of their peace and happiness in the free favour of God, crying Grace, Grace, Zech: 4: 7. Exalting the free grace of God in their justification, and overthrowing & overturning their own works and legal righteousness. It is grace, and grace alone, which bringeth salvation. Tit: 2.11. and therefore not our works. Grace and works are inconsistent in this point of justification: they can no more stand together, than the Ark of God and Dagon. Let grace stand up in its glory, & works will quickly be overthrown, and set up works, and ye destroy the doctrine of grace. By eternal grace we were elected, and made vessels of mercy from eternity; by grace we were saved before God in heaven, in the presence of the Lord jesus: by grace we were saved in the person of Christ before faith. By the revelation of grace unto us through faith we are saved (in foro conscientiae) in the Court of our own consciences. By grace salvation is inchoated here, and completed, and perfected hereafter. Rom. 6. ult: The gift of God is cternall life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth a gift flowing from Grace, or free favour. In these several acceptations of the word grace, we are saved by grace. I might now lay down many reasons, for the proof of this point, but those, which I gave to prove, that we are not justified by works, will be sufficient for the confirmation of this. And when I shall handle the doctrine of believing some reasons will fall in which will more fully illustrate this truth. I shall therefore for the present only present unto you a reason or two, and hasten to the use. 1 Reason. First, it being supposed that man is a sinner, it is impossible that man should be saved by any thing, but by the knowledge of Grace. The Law in this particular, would not deal with us, considering what good hath been done by us, but what evil. And therefore when the Apostle had proved, Bom. 3.23. that devout Jews, as well as profane Gentiles, had sinned, and come short of the glory of God: he takes it for granted, as a thing undeniable and unquestionable, that we are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in jesus Christ. And if we could bring ourselves into a state of perfection, after we have once sinned, we could not be justified by that perfection in us, which is required by the Law, but should be condemned for our sins, and imperfections in breaking of the Law. If a man have done good service for the Commonwealth; and yet be found guilty of high Treason against the State, the Law will condemn him for the Treason, his good service not being available to make satisfaction, to the justice of the Law for this Treason. So if it were possible for us to keep the Law for a time, we should be condemned, if it can be proved that we have broken it at any time. Acts of obedience will not make satisfaction for acts of disobedience. We cannot satisfy the justice of the Law, by doing what the Law requires, if we have once broken it. If we could sometimes do what the Law requires us, we should not be able to free ourselves from the guilt and punishment for doing that, which it forbiddeth us at all times; because it requireth obedience from us, at all times. And it is unreasonable to think that God, if he deal with us as under the Law, and not under Grace, should give us a pardon of our disobedience, in consideration of our obedience. If a wife live honestly, as becomes a wife, some few years; if her huband find that she committed Adultery some years before the time of her honesty & obedience, the Law takes no notice at all, that she hath lived in her latter time as became a wife: but condemns her; & she must be divourced from her husband for her adulterous act committed before her obedience. So if it were possible that we could keep the Law, and do what is required in it, and live under the obedience of it, in every branch and point of it, yet if we have once broken the Law, the Law, taking no notice of our obedience would condemn us for our disobedience. What the Roman hystorian saith of the Roman Law, that it is (dura et inexorabilis) severe and inexorable, it is true of Gods Law. The Law heareth no cry or begging for mercy. No man shall find favour or pardon from the Law, by any acts of obedience to the Law, who hath once disobeyed the Law. The paying of a new debt will not make satisfaction to a man to whom an old debt is owing: so if we could pay the debt that the Law requires for the present, it makes no satisfaction at all for our breaking it before, for our old debt. By this consideration, in the first place, it will be evident to every man who hath any spiritual knowledge of the purity, and justice of the Law, that it is impossible for sinful man to find out any way, but the good old way of Grace, to happiness and salvation. Secondly, we are justified by grace; that God may have the glory of his grace. Man fell by pride, therefore God will not estate him in happiness but by humbling him, by bringing him upon his knees to the Throne of Grace, that he may have the glory of his grace. Naturally we are full of pride, and would rise by that, by which we fell: we would be made happy by works, as we are made unhappy by works. Every man that sees himself, sees how that the whole stream of corrupt nature runs this way: man will be doing, working, and acting that he may be justified. But God will not suffer sinful man to glory, before him in his own works, lest he should lose the glory of grace, Rom. 4.2. and therefore there is no salvation for us, until we lie down at the door of grace. If God enter into judgement no man living shall be justified in his sight, Psal. 143.2. God doth stop up all other ways to salvation, but the way of grace, that he may have the glory of his grace in justifing the objects and vessels of his grace. God doth not so much intent man's salvation by grace, as his own glory and praise. He formeth his people for himself, that they may be happy in himself, and with himself, and they may show forth his praise, Psal. 43.21. It is the mind and pleasure of God that every man should glory in himself; therefore he justifies and saves us only by that Grace which is in himself. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. And the Apostle when he had dicoursed of the grace of God in our election predestination, and adoption, doth sweetly acknowledge that grace doth stream forth unto us in all these particulars, that it may be to the praise of the glory of his grace, Ephes. 1.5, 6. He maketh us objects of grace that he may receive from us, and we be enabled to give unto him, the glory of his grace. All the Saints are brought forth standing before the Throne, and singing forth this truth, Rev. 7.10. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb. They ascribe salvation not to their own works, merits, deservings, or worthiness, but to the grace of God and blood of the Lamb. As earthly and gross bodies cannot mount up to Heaven, which is a place of purity and perfection, but they fall down by their own weight to the earth, unable to ascend thither. So our works, fall down to the ground, as unable to ascend up to the place of God's purity and glory to justify us in his sight; that salvation may be attributed only to his own grace. And he will not justify us in the court of our own consciences, we shall not read our names written in heaven, till he bring us from our own works, righteousness, performances, and endeavours, to rest upon the strong arm of his grace that we may give him the glory of his grace, in our free justification and salvation. Thirdly, God saves us by Grace, because if it were not by grace, it had been needless that the Lord jesus Christ should have been given to us: If it had been possible for man to have wrought out his own salvation by his own works, there had been no need that the Son of God should have disrobed himself of his glory, and been made man like us. Why should he have lived a life of sorrow, and died a death of shame, had it been possible for us to have gotten salvation by our own works? Therefore the Apostle concludes, that if righteousness had been by the Law, than Christ had died in vain. And thus have I opened to you, and shown you the reasons why we are saved by grace. In aword now to make a little use of it, and so I shall conclude for the present. In the first place, that which I have delivered concerning the eternal grace of God, sufficiently confutes that error which is in the spirits of many men, who think that works and actings of the creature is the cause of God's love to the creature. God doth not love us, because we love him, but we love God, because he first loved us from eternity. God doth not begin to love us, when we are made new creatures, but God loveth us that we may be new creatures. Faith is not the Antecedent cause, but consequent of election, Tit. 3.5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy Spirit. By this passage it is evident, that mercy doth precede regeneration, and is the cause of spiritual renovation. Vocation and justification by faith do follow predestination, if Paul speak the truth, Rom. 8.30. Whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justfied them he also glorified. God loved us when we had no beings in ourselves, or among any creatures, to assure us that he did not love us for any thing in us, there being nothing at all in us when God first loved us. The love of God is not like the love of man, man loves something which he sees lovely but God sees nothing in the object which he loves, but all the motives and arguments lie in the bosom and breast of God, which move him to love his creature. Man cannot love before he have some lovely object proposed to him, but God loves before we have either being or holiness: We believe in God, love him, and are made lovely before him in time, because he loved us before all time. The man spiritually wise doth see his happiness wrapped up in the eternal bowels of Grace, and laid up in the everlasting bosom of unchangeable love for him. Fond therefore is there conceit, shallow there apprehension, and understandings dull, who believe that any thing done, or believed by the creature in time, can be the primary cause of the creatures salvation, to whom grace was given for salvation from eternity 2 Tim. 1.2. etc. This doctrine of free grace doth overthrow and annihilate the wisdom of the wise, the learning of the learned, the righteousness of him who is most righteous, and a stranger to grace. The natural man with his best sight seethe not a righteousness beyond the righteousness of his own righteousness. As the wisdom of the spirit, is foolishness to the natural man; so the wisdom of the flesh is foolishness with God. Though there be a spirit in a man by which he may have great knowledge and understanding in the things of nature and reason, yet it is the spirit of the Almighty which giveth understanding, Job. 32.8. Until this spirit and power from above come upon us, we call light darkness, and darkness light; sinfulness purity, purity imperfection. But when this doth enter into us, all our righteousnesses appear as filthy rags, and we are made willing to rest upon that grace for righteousness, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began. 2 Tim. 1.9. Then we clearly see the wisdom of God in showing mercy on whom he will show mercy, and having compassion on whom he will have compassion: Then we cannot but acknowledge, that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Then the objections of camall reason are fully answered, the acute arguments of the worldly wise and learned, against free grace, are dissolved, the Sophisms of the Antigratians are sufficiently confuted, and we are saved and satisfied with the glorious discoveries of Gods eternal grace in Christ Jesus. Again, this should engage us all, that know this saving grace to exalt and extol this grace of our heavenly Father. Grace apprehended by us doth oblige us unto thankfulness. It is fit that they should glorify God for his grace, who see themselves glorified by grace. The Prophet Isaiah setteth forth this unto us Isa. 45. last, In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. He that is justified in the grace of Jehovah will certainly glory in the grace of Jehovah. Let us therefore glory, not in ourselves, not in our labours, sufferings, actings or endeavours, but in this grace of the Father, according to the advice of the Prophet Jeremiah, 9.23, 24. Thus saith the Lord; Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might: Let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me; that I am the Lord, which exercise loving kindness, judgement and righteousness in the earth. Let our holy boasting be in this righteousness; Let the resolution of the sweet Singer of Israel be the resolution of every one of us Psal. 71.16. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. God forbidden, saith Paul, that I should glory in any thing, save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let every good Christian say, God forbidden that I should glory save in the grace of God; Let Pharisees and Hypocriter boast of their own works and legal righteousness. But let true Saints boast only of the grace of the merciful and favourable Jebovah. What is ingenuously acknowledged concerning himself, by Paul, 1 Cor. 15.10. By the grace of God I am what I am; may be acknowledged by all Saints. By grace we are what we are, and therefore glory is to be given to grace. God's gracious love was placed upon us before we were lovely, Jer. 31.3. He loved us with an everlasting love. He loved us when we were unlovely, when he saw us polluted in our blood, then was the time of his love, Ezek. 16.6.8. His grace and love hath made us lovely: what cause then is there, that we should glory in this grace and love? It is an excellent speech of Bernard to this purpose (Tibi illibata maneat gloria, meum benè agitur si pacem habuero.) Take thou all the glory, it is enough for us, that we have the peace. In Psal. 130.3. the Psalmist professeth that if the Lord should mark iniquities, no man should be able to stand before him. If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities: O Lord who shall stand? The interrogation is equivalent to a negation, who shall stand? that is, no man shall stand. We, that should quickly fall to ruin, had we no better ground to stand upon then our own works, what reason have we to bless God for grace, who only stand by grace? If we could stand before the judgement Seat of God, standing clothed in the menstruous rags of our own works, righteousness & performances, there were some ground for us to glory in our own works: but seeing it is thus, that if God enter into Judgement, and deal with us by the Law, we cannot stand before him, therefore, let us glory only in him. With heart and tongue give him praise for what he hath done for thee by his grace, who hast cause to be ashamed for what thou hast done against his grace. A King of France thought himself bound to praise God, that God had made him a King and not a beggar. What cause have we to praise him for his grace, who of sinners hath made us Saints. If devout Bradford, when he saw a blind or a lame man, did take occasion to bless God for the use of his limbs, & eyesight, is it not consonant to reason, that we should publish forth the praises of God's grace, who hath bestowed spiritual life, light, and operations upon us. The Apostle hath an high expression to raise our spirits, to this purpose, 2 Cor. 2.14. Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. When men triumph there is great joy, rejoicing and show●ing. We are not only to rejoice, in his Grace, but we should triumph in it. A Christian may ride in a Chariott of triumph every day; he may see his sins, curse, hell, and damnation subdued, and overcome, when he beholds God, in the looking glass of his own grace. What though we have many sins? yet for all this we may triumph, because the grace of God hath saved us from our sins by Christ. What though we have no works? yet we may triumph if we know grace, there is enough for us in the fullness of grace. There is no way to peace here, or glory hereafter, but by grace. Let grace therefore be thy glory. As the Apostle doth double his exhortation when he exhorteth them to rejoice, that they might double their diligence and care in practice of their duty, Phil. 4.4. Rejoice in the Lord always: and again, I say rejoice. So suffer me to double and triple my exhortation. Ye have nothing to boast in but grace, boast therefore: and again I say boast in the grace of God. God seems, in the Prophet Isaiah, to speak to an Hypocritical proud people, and he bids them bring forth their arguments, and put him in Remembrance, if there were any thing to be brought before him, for which they should be justified, Isa. 43.26. Let us plead together, declare thou that thou mayest be justified: As if he should have said. If you have any works; bring them out? use all your arguments, skill and Rhetoric, say what you can for yourselves to plead your justification. But, to convince them that they could not stand before him with their works for justification, he puts them in mind of their sins, Thy first Father hath sinned, and thy Teachers have transgressed against me, ver. 27. to this end and purpose, that they should believe what was promised in the 25th verse, that he would blot out their sins for his own sake. So it is with us (Brethren) as we have heard. We cannot bring forth sufficient reasons and arguments to make good our salvation by our works. If we have nothing to comfort us but our own works, we shall have no comfort at all in his presence. Let us therefore as we are engaged, Trumpet out the praise of God, for the manifestation of his rich and precious grace to us in the face of Jesus, for justification and salvation. Thirdly, Let me exhort you to abide in the. profession of grace to the end of your day's Hypocrites may profess grace for a time, but true Saints shall hold fast the doctrine of grace to the end, Joh. 8.31. If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed. Paul and Barnabas exhorted the religious Proselytes of Antioch, Acts 13.43. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to continue, or abide in Grace, Look up to God for grace and power according to his promise to enable you, to hold fast the truth of his grace. Let not the wise and learned of the world, cried up for godliness, Religion, and devotion, draw you from this grace of God. We live in dangerous, in perilous times, and there were never such underminers of grace, as have appeared in these sinful days, some that deny the Lord that bought them: But let us not be discouraged, because some, who have professed grace, have fallen from their profession, to fancy frothy Notions, Antichristian absurdities, and Familisticall speculations. Consider rather what the Apostle affirmeth 1 Cor. 11.19. that there must be Hersies, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, it is needful that there should be such, that they which are approved may be made manifest. The Devil hath his Chapalines, as well as God his Ministers and Ambassadors. As some shall be sent of God to hold forth grace for the conversion of sinners, to the righteousness of the just: So some will vent there blasphemous conceits and cursed impostures to pervert men to destruction. If the good God sow good seed, the wicked one will sow Tares among the wheat. Mat. 13.24. When the Gospel is preached with, power there are multitudes come to the profession of it, but after a while many of these fall to philosophical fancies, foolish dreams, vain fables, and idle speculations, loathing the plain Gospel, the heavenly Manna, as the Israelites did the Manna that came down from Heaven, this we begin to find by experience: But let not this shake us from our steadfastness in the profession of the Gospel. God hath appointed it to be so. Paul was confident that after his departure from the Congregation in Miletus, grievous wolves would enter in among them, not sparing the flock, and that of their own selves should men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Act. 20.29. If the Apostle were confident in his time that it would be so, when he saw them under the pure Discipline and Government of Christ, under the charge of those Ministers, Teachers, and Officers, whom the Lord Jesus Christ appointed over them, filled with those gifts of the Spirit, which were the fruit of his Ascension; what wonder is it, if we meet with the Devils, Hee-Apostles, and She-Apostles in these sinful times; who vomit forth boldly to their own shame, and God's dishonour, hellish and pestiferous Doctrines; for the most high spiritual Truths of the Lord Jesus? if we consider what confusion and disorder is among the best of Saints now, and are enlightened to see our want of many spiritual gifts, and favours which they enjoyed, which for the present God doth not bestow upon us? Again, Let not the Abusers of grace cause you to dislike grace, or the Doctrine of grace. By this the Devil may take great advantage against thee for thy hurt, thou mayst have injurious thoughts of the grace of God, when thou eyest some who abuse grace: but continue thou in grace, fall not from thy profession, nor dislike the preaching of it, because thou observest some who abuse the grace of God, turning it into wantonness. Remember that in the times of the Apostle, some Gospel Professors did walk so contrary to the Gospel, that tender-eyed Paul could not speak of them without tears in his eyes, whose end was destruction, whose God was their belly, whose glory was there shame, who minded earthly things: Phil. 3. Yet these vile wretches would talk of grace, and the Doctrine of Christ, knowing nothing rightly of grace, or Christ; And Judas doth acquaint us with some in his time, that were crept in unawares, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. And he saith that they, were ordained to this condemnation, (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,) written down long before to this condemnation, so the word signifieth: for as God hath appointed some to salvation, so he hath appointed some to damnation; and these urgodly men are of the number of the damned. We wonder to see a generation of men sprung up among us, that make nothing of Christ or the Father: we wonder to see men undervaluing and vilifying the grace of God, neglecting all Christian duties, and denying the word of God to be the word of God. But it was so in the Apostles times, there were such crept into their Congregations: and why should it seem a strange thing unto us, that it is so now in these days of Babylonish confusion and Egyptian-darknesse, seeing it was so in the bright days of light, in which the Apostles lived, who Prophesied that in these latter days perilous times should come, and men should departed from the faith? That we may not stumble in our Christian race at these abusers and scandalisers of grace, let us know that grace is grace though men abuse it: think not, that grace is not grace because it is abused: but know that the true doctrine of grace may and must be abused by wicked and ungodly men. As the spider sucks poison where the Bee sucks honey: So where the Saints suck sweetness and honey, the wicked and ungodly men suck poison. Where the godly fetch all their joy and comfort, delight and refreshment, there wicked men meet with their ruin and destruction. The ways of God's truth and grace are right, and the just and faithful shall walk safely in them but the transgressors shall fall therein, Hosea. 14.9. Mark the place and what God speaketh. In the same way in which the Saint doth walk to salvation the wicked shall stumble and fall into condemnation. A Libertine hearing the doctrine of Grace sucks nothing but his bane from it. Though the word be the savour of life unto life to them that believe; yet is it the savour of death unto death to some, 2 Cor. 2.16. I remember one saith of Medicaments, that if they be given by a skilful Physician, they are the helpful hands of God (auxiliares dei manus) but if by one that is unskilful, they are poison. So the doctrine of grace, when it is skilfully applied, when the Spirit of God teacheth us to make a right use of it, it is the power of God to salvation, as the Apostle saith, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God to salvation, to every one that believeth, Rom. 1.16. But when it is unskilfully applied, when the flesh only makes use of this doctrine of grace, and there is not the spirit of God to teach us to make a right use of it, we turn it into venom and we are poisoned to our destruction. But let us not be offended at the doctrine of Christ for this. It hath been so formerly, it is so and will be so. Nevertheless let us continue in the grace of God, and look up to God that we may continue in it. I have one word now to speak unto those, who for the present are not apprehendors and partakers of this grace, and shall conclude for this present: You see it is only by grace that you are saved; it is only grace that brings salvation to the sons and daughters of men: Therefore, if God hath convinced you that you are sinners; now is the day of grace: now is the day of salvation. I will show a short and compendious but a true way to happiness, happy are all you that believe what is brought to your ears this day concerning Gods free grace. God promised to meet his people at the mercy-seat Exod. 25. which was a type of Christ, and we can never meet with God to the salvation of our souls, but by meeting with his grace in the Lord Jesus. The Law is the ministry of death, it is the Gospel of grace which is the ministry of life and salvation; Look therefore beyond the Law, which is a ministry of condemnation, 2 Cor. beyond thy own righteousness, which is impurity to the eye of Justice, beholding thee under the Law: beyond thyself, who art an object of misery, horror and confusion, and by a spiritual eye of Gods own making, behold his grace in Christ for lost and undone sinners. Harken to what God speaks to thee, he invites thee, exhorts thee, and beseecheth thee to be reconciled: he tells thee that thou canst not be justified by thine own works, but by his free grace, that thou art not to be saved by what thou hast done, but by what Christ hath done and suffered. Though thou hast broken the Law: Jesus Christ hath kept it. He is the end of the Law for righteousness, for every one that believeth in and by the grace of God. Behold God standing at the door of thy heart in the Ministry of the Gospel of grace and salvation, let the door of thy hairs fly open unto him by believing, and he will feast thy soul. As Christ said to Zacheus, so I may say to thee, who believest what I speak, this day salvation is come into thine house. God is the God of grace, therefore think not to please him by any thing but by eyeing of his grace: Christ is the Son of grace, he came to reveal the grace of his Father: If thou wouldst with Simeon take Christ and salvation in thine arms, grasp not thine own works for justification, but believe what is proclaimed forth to the world concerning salvation only by grace. The Spirit is the Spirit of grace, and if thou believe thou shalt be assured of, & sealed to redemption by grace. There is no salvation but by grace, and no apprehension of grace but by believing, which is the next thing presented in the Text to our consideration. Salvation is not by working but believing: ye are saved by grace through faith. But we must be enforced to let alone the fuller enlarging of this point, until God shall give us another opportunity. For the present I have done. * ⁎ * Salvation only by Believing. SERMON. III. Ephesians 2.8, 9 etc. For by grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. IT hath already been proved unto us; that good works cannot save us. And likewise, the grace of God, for the salvation of sinners without works hath presented itself, unto us, with the strength, sufficiency, and glory of it. It may now be questioned by some, by what means the Grace of God in Christ may be applied unto ourselves, and apprehended by us? Our Apostle doth fully satisfy us concerning this, affirming that it is not through working, but believing: Ye are saved by grace through faith. The Apostle doth not affirm that we are saved (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, propter fidem) for our faith; for the worth, merit, dignity, or excellency of it: But (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, per fidem) through faith; faith being the gift of grace, by which grace is revealed, and applied unto us. Grace is the principal cause of our justification, faith is the Organ or instrument, given unto us by God, for the discovery and application of his grace unto our own souls. As no rational man (when he readeth those words of our Saviour to the woman, who was diseased with an issue of blood, Mat. 9.22. Daughter be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole;) would conclude, that because our Saviour saith that her faith did make her whole, that therefore she was not made whole by Jesus Christ as the principal cause. So no spiritual man should conclude, that we are not saved by grace as the principal cause, because the Apostle saith, we are saved through faith. desiring therefore that that crown may stand fast, which God hath set upon the head of his own grace. I shall endeavour to show you, that we are saved by faith, or through faith. We are not saved in a way of working but believing. Thus God saved and justified, the Father of the faithful; to teach his sons in what way they are to expect salvation. God in a vision informeth Abraham that he was his shield, and exceeding great reward Gen. 15.6. And he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. This was the Oracle of truth which Habakkuk, standing upon his watch, received from the Lord, Hab. 2.4. Behold his soul, who is lifted up in him, is not upright, but the just shall live by faith. It is by believing, and not by working, that we are made just. (Fides justos ab injustis, non operum sed ipsa fidei lege, discernit. Aug.) Truth doth make a difference betwixt the just and the unjust, not by the Law of works, but by the law of faith. The natural man knoweth no righteousness but what is by his own works. The spiritual man doth see himself righteous in believing. Thus our Saviour directed the ignorant Jews to the right way of righteousness when they asked him what they should do that they might work the works of God, Io. 6.28 This is the work of God, saith he, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. If any inquire after salvation let him know it is not by works. The plain way to salvation and justification, is only by believing. Tit. 2. The grace of God bringeth salvation, teaching us to deny all ungodliness, & worldly lusts. He doth not say that grace in the first place, teaches us to deny ungodliness & worldly lusts: but in the first place it brings justification & salvation through believing, & then secondarily the same grace teacheth us, to deny ungodliness & worldly lusts. After we have believed for salvation, the holy spirit is given Ephes. 1.13. In believing we enter into our rest, Heb. 4.3. keep the year of jubilee, & see ourselves unstated in happiness, and keep a christian Sabbath. It is only in believing that we are brought to the enjoyment of that felicity, which is by the grace of God, in Jesus Christ. The Apostles, in their Epistles, do not hold forth any truth more frequently than this. Gal 5.6. In Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by Love. And Ro. 5.1. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. When the Keeper of the Prison asked Paul & Silas, what they should do to be saved, supposing salvation was only attainable by working, they did at one discover unto him, his error, & blindness; & acquainted him with the soulsaving truth of the Gospel, assuring him, that if he believed on the Lord Jesus, he should be saved Acts 16.31. We find not rest in our spirits by the sight of our works, love, sincerity, labours, & endeavours; but by the sight of God's grace in Christ Having by these places of Scripture, confirmed to you this truth: I shall now amplify it, by showing unto you more fully, how it may be in truth affirmed, that we are saved through faith. In the first place, it is by faith, and by faith alone, not by faith joined with works, but by faith without works. I deny not, but where true faith is, works will follow: yet salvation is through faith without works. When we are brought into the bosom of the Lord jesus, we enter not into the bosom of his love, by our love and faith together, but by faith which produceth Love. Our eyes are shut to the beholding all things in ourselves, and the eyes of our spirits are enlightened, to behold what is in God's Grace, and the Lord jesus. Consonant to this, is Paul's sweet and comfortable conclusion Rom. 3.28. We conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law. Love to God and his people, is a work commanded by the Law; but according to Paul's conclusion of truth, we are justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law: therefore we are justified by faith, without love to God, or his people. When God discovers his Grace to a man, for his justification, he shows him, that, as his evil works, cannot bring damnation unto him, so his good works cannot be available for his justification. That assurance of God's love, which some professors have got, by the sight of their own works, being never illuminated in their understandings, to behold God's Grace, in the light and beams of Grace; is not the true assurance of the gospel, but the deceit, and lying divination of their own spirits, concerning their own happiness; for salvation is by faith without works. God doth not require us to do good works for salvation in the conscience, but doth positively and absolutely exclude them, as things, which have no influence at all upon that first assurance, which he doth give unto his people of his love, which is by a pure simple unmixed act of faith. The spirit of Grace is never given to comfort us, until God hath stripped us of our own righteousness, works, and performances, and hath brought us to the Throne of Grace, to be justified by free Grace, without any thing in ourselves, that may make us fit for justification, and salvation. The Apostle doth lay down this, as a truth seconded by his own experience, and the experience of all true Saints, Gal. 2.16. asserting, that, a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of jesus Christ: even we (saith he) have believed in jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law, for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. It is not (as the Papists say) that faith, which hath love joined with it, which they make the form of faith, by which we are justified, but it is by faith without any works at all, by which we are justified and have peace of conscience. Augustine doth plainly lay down his judgement in this point according to truth (Noli presumere de operibus ante fidem, quia peccatorem te fides invenit: etsi te fides data, facit justum, impium invenit, quem faceret justum.) Presume not upon thy works done before faith, because faith findeth thee a sinner, faith hath made thee just, it found thee wicked, whom it should make just. The second reason why it is thus by faith alone, is, because it is by grace: unless we were justified by faith, we were not, we could not be justified by Grace This reason the Apostle lays down Rom. 4.16. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by Grace: As if he should have said, unless you hold, that there is a justification by faith alone without works, you deny Grace: if you will be justified by faith and works conjoined, you destroy Grace. Therefore it is by faith alone that it may be by Grace. When we have a true sight of Grace, we see a sufficiency in that Grace, to do us good for our justification, and salvation, so that there is nothing needful, & necessary besides grace. In which respect Luther saith, that works are not necessary to justification, but pernicious to salvation: the gospel requiring faith only; according to that of the Apostle Gal. 3.12. The Law is not of faith: the law hath nothing to do with believing, that doctrine which bids a man to believe that he may be saved, that is the doctrine of the gospel, the law biddeth us not to believe, but the man that doth it, shall live in it. The law bids us work, but the Gospel bids us believe, not work, and believe, but believe only. We confound the Covenant of works, and the Covenant of Grace, if we press an absolute necessity of doing good works for justification. This was the Divinity of the bloodsucker, Bishop Bonner, who in a Sermon propounding this quest. How grace is to be applied to us for justification, doth answer, by believing rightly, and living uprightly, joining faith and holiness, for justification by grace: whereas by the Scripture of truth, it is manifest that faith alone doth lay hold of Christ, and doth appropriate him unto us: And that holiness doth flow and stream from the apprehension of our free justification by grace, through faith alone; though faith is not alone, but is accompanied with other fruits of the Spirit which follow it. This must be well understood, or else we shall nullify the grace of God: wherefore God enableth true believers to see this truth plainly, and clearly. (Vilesceret redemptio sanguinis Christi nec miserecordiae dei humanorum operum praerogativa succumberet, si justificatio, quae sit per gratiam, meretis precedentibus deberetur. Ambros:) Redemption by the blood of Christ would be vilified, the prerogative of man's works would not stoop to God's mercy, if justification, which is by grace, were due to preceding works. A man that truly believes, he sees not any holiness, or qualification in himself, that makes him more worthy of salvation than another man, he sees that he hath deserved damnation as well as any one, who is now in the place of torment, and yet, he sees that such is the Grace, the unspeakable grace of God to his poor sou●●, that though he deserve to lie as low in hell as judas, for his sin, yet he shall be raised as high as heaven, by the grace of the father, made known to him in jesus Christ. Brethren, if upon examination, you find that your joy, comfort and assurance, have, in the first place, proceeded from any works, which you have in yourselves, which make you conclude that you shall rather be saved then another man, your assurance is not a right assurance: But if your assurance be right, it is by believing that which is reported concerning the grace of God; that so salvation may be by grace. It is possible for men to deceive themselves, in obtaining an assurance of God's love, and their happiness, (therefore I will a little digress to open this to the ignorant.) It may be thou takest comfort to thyself, by looking on works wrought by thyself, and not by looking on Christ: it may be thou conceivest, that thou lovest God, and from thence concludest, that God loveth thee, though thou hast not seen his free love to sinners, this is a bastardly assurance, brought forth by thine own lying spirit, and not the true assurance of the Spirit of grace in believing. In a true assurance by faith, God hath the glory of his grace. But in this kind of assurance, God hath not the glory of his grace, therefore it is not a true assurance. Another deceiveth his soul, and thinketh he is in a good condition, because he resteth upon a promise of God. Christ saith Mat. 11.28. Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. A man doth apprehend himself to be heavy laden, and from the sight of his burden, doth conclude he hath rest, and is in a good condition: but he deceiveth himself with a false persuasion; for the promise is not made to the qualification of weariness, but the promise is made to the comers to Jesus Christ. Cain was heavy laden with his sin, and it lay so heavy on him that he concluded that the punishment was greater than he was able to bear, or else that his sin was greater than it could be forgiven, and yet died miserable without mercy. We find that the sin of Judas lay so heavy on him, that he repent that he had shed innocent blood, yet for all this he went to his own place. Therefore if thy comfort, and assurance come from a sight of what is in thyself, and not from the discovery of grace, as it is laid forth in the Spirit of grace, thy assurance will not advantage thee in the day of wrath. Though God hath convinced thee of sin, and there may be some legal repentance, & reformetion wrought in thee, and something which thou mayst miscall a true love to God, thou canst not from the sight of these things rightly conclude that thou art in the love of God; before a discovery of free love be made forth to thee a sinner. For God doth not apply his grace or his Son to any man for justification but through believing, that justification may evidently appear to the sons of men to be by his own grace. Which will appear, if in the third place, we do more fully consider, that God doth save us through believing, that he may have the glory of his grace. God, as he is glorious in his grace, by which he justifies sinners, so he will be glorified in the hearts and consciences of those who are justified by grace, that he may have the full glory of his grace, when he hath justified them. (Non est quò gratia intret, ubi jam meritum occupavit. Bern.) There is no room for the glory of God's grace, where the worthiness of our works hath filled up the place. Where the creature may have glory in his own works; there God loseth the glory of his grace. Where God doth any thing for the creature by grace, there it is not of our works, otherwise grace is no more grace. If it be of works, than it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work. Rom. 11.6. Therefore God, will not justify us in doing the works of the Law, in giving us a sight of any thing, that may make us more worthy of justification than other men; but he makes known his grace to us in a way of believing. The property of faith is to empty the creature, and to discover the fullness of the Creator. Our own works, they puff us up, but faith empties us. It we could be justified and saved by that which we have done, we might boast and rejoice in it before God Rom. 4.2. But because God will humble us, bring us low, lay us upon our backs, and tumble us in the dust, that we may see ourselves nothing, and see his grace all in all to us for our justification, therefore God justifies us only in believing. Faith lays the creature low, and sets the grace of God on high; that we may go to heaven admiring the grace of God to such sinners, such base and vile wretches as we are: therefore God will not justify and save us in the court of our own Consciences, by the sight of our own works, but only by the sight of his own grace: thus it is said of Abraham, that he staggered not at the promise of God by unbelief, but being strong in faith, he gave glory to God Rom. 4.20. When God comes down upon us, and works faith in our hearts, and we stagger not at the promises of Grace by unbelief; but give credit to what he hath spoken and promised: God hath that glory from us, that he will have from all those, whom he intends to save. Unbelief robs man of his comfort, & God of his glory. By faith the creature is comforted, and the Creator exalted: through faith man is emptied of selfe-confidences, and filled with God and his praises; therefore for this reason are we saved through faith. Again, Fourthly it is by faith, because it is only by believing that we behold the grace that is in God, by which he forgives sin. Man's happiness for the present doth not lie in the not having of sin, but in the grace of God not imputing sin. (Nostra justicia est dei indulgentia) Gods favour and indulgence is our righteousness. Thus the Psalmist doth describe the Blessed man, Psal. 32 Blessed is the man, whose iniquities are paraoned, and whose sins are covered. Hierome doth sweetly paraphraseed upon those words (Quod tegitur non videtur, quod non videtur non imputatur, quod non imputatur non punietur) that which is covered is not seen, that which is not seen is not imputed, that which is not imputed, shall not be punished. But by what is it, that man beholdeth himself in this happiness? It is only by believing, and therefore we are saved through faith. We cannot see a nonimputation of sin by the grace of God, but by the work of the spirit, in an act of believing; by which we are assured, that it shall go well with our souls to all eternity. And the great controversy is decided and determined in the spirit of a man, whether he shall be saved, or whether he shall be damned. No other foundation can be laid, than the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord, 1 Cor. 3.11. And we cannot see this foundation, that we may be built upon it, but by believing. Moses by faith saw him that was invisible. Abraham by faith saw the day of Christ, and was glad. As by the eye of the body we see material objects; so by the eye of faith, we see spiritual objects. The Philosopher saith, that prudence is (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,) the eye of the Moral man, so faith is the eye of the spiritual man. By which alone God, and the things of God, are beheld. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Justin. Martyr.) The Sun was not changed when the blind man in the Gospel, that never saw before, received his sight, and beheld it. It was the same before, and after his blindness: so Jesus Christ, the Sun of righteousness, is the same: yesterday and to day and for ever in himself, and unchangeable in his love, in reference unto us. The change is only in us by faith, whom now we see, though formerly we beheld not his beauty, and because the righteousness and salvation of God is revealed by faith, Rom. 1.17. therefore we are saved by faith. Fiftly, we are saved by grace, through a work of believing: because if it were not only in an act of believing, the people of God could not have that firm, constant, and unquestionable assurance of their salvation which now they enjoy in a way of believing. When a man is to go unto a place by many several ways, which are not found out, without some difficulty, he doth often doubt whether he is in the right way, or whether he is out of his way; but when he is to go in one plain way, he is confident that he is not out of his way: So when a man goeth by the way of the Law, and works for justification, he is in doubt, whether he is in his right way for justification, the Law pointing out many ways, and requiring many duties of him, that would be justified under it, but the Gospel pointeth only at Christ, and faith in him, for jusification, so that those who walk in this way for justification, are confident that they are in the right way. The Apostle doth lay down this plainly, Rom. 4.16. where he saith, it is by grace, and that by faith, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the Law, but to that that is of the faith of Abraham, the Father of us all. God hath not made the promise of salvation to the seed under the Law, or that do any works of the Law: But he hath made the promise to be gracious to poor sinners, in believing without the works of the Law, to the end the promise might be sure. If there had been any thing else required beside faith, the soul would be always restless and unsatisfied. If God should tie justification to works, men would be unsatisfied, because they would doubt whether some works were not undone, and then they would doubt of their justification; Therefore God hath not promised justification to any man, who doth good works, or submitts to any outward Ordinance, but only unto him who closeth with his grace, in a pure act of believing. For God knows, that, so long as there is any thing joined with faith for justification, we shall be ready to question our justification: we may observe that such professors who are not acquainted with the Gospel, are unsettled in their spirits, when they doubt which is the true Government, or external Ordinances of the Lord Jesus. If they doubt whether they are baptised in a right way, or manner, they doubt whether they are justified; their comforts and assurance do vanish away, when they are not fully assured, that they know, and are obedient unto all the Commandments of the Lord Jesus. The cause of this legallnesse in their spirits is, because they do not see salvation firmly settled upon him that believeth. The spiritual man beholdeth justifing grace in believing, without his obedience to commands for external worship, and good works: and doth live joyfully and comfortably in the sight of his justification, though he knoweth that it is possible, that he may be ignorant of many things; which other Christians may have the knowledge of. And in these days of darkness, contention, confusion, and disorder, what man can have solid, and lasting joy, who is ignorant of free grace for justification? If it were necessary to the assurance of justification, to know whether the Episcopal, Presbyterial, or Independent Government, were the Ordinance of the Lord Jesus? whether sprinkling of Children, or dipping of professing believers, were the institution of Christ, in the Labyrinth of the controversies of our times? how few would attain to an assurance of their justification? How would poor creatures be perplexed, and disquieted in their consciences? not certainly knowing in which of these ways they should walk for their justification and salvation. But that the promise might be sure to all the seed, Rom. 4.16. to those, who lived in the times of the Law, as well as to those, who live in these times of the Gospel, salvation is promised not to workers, but believers, to all true believers in all ages, and places, to us who live in the time of the Babylonish-Apostacy, as well as to those who were hearers of the Apostles, and Members of those Congregations which were gathered and governed by them. Sixtly, By faith the grace of God in Christ, is applied unto us, and we are justified by it, as the spiritual instrument, form by God in the Spirit, for the application of Christ's benefits to our consciences. A man that lived in the time of the Law, looking upon the blood of his sacrifices, did behold himself purged, purified, and sanctified in his flesh by it, Heb. 9.13. So a sinner looking upon the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is applied unto him, and his conscience is purged from dead works, to serve the living God. ver. 14. Faith though it be called a work 2 Thess. 1.11. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,) yet we are not justified by it, as it is a work, or gracious quality, but as it is the hand of the Spirit, by which we receive, and are made partakers of those treasures of grace, which are freely given unto us in Christ Jesus. Christ bath already done, what is to be done by way of satisfaction to the justice of his Father, and hath already, made peace by the blood of his Cross Col. 1.20. what he doth in us now, is to satisfy our consciences concerning our full redemption by him, that you in believing may be filled with peace of Conscience; being persuaded that we are of the Father in the Son, who by the Father is made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, 1 Cor. 1.30. Faith being nothing but a light, coming from God & Christ, discovering God and Christ to our spirits, and uniting our spirits to God in Christ. By faith we believe what is recorded concerning the grace of God in Christ; As the Prophet, to my apprehension holdeth it forth, in those expressions of his Isa. 53.1. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? In the latter part of these words, the Prophet doth interpret the former part, he believeth the report of God, to whom the arm of God, that is, his Son Jesus, is revealed: And when a man believeth in Christ, Christ is revealed to that man; Faith being the first thing that is wrought in the spirit of a man, whom God doth justify in his own conscience, by which the grace of God in Christ, is revealed unto him for his justification: Justifying faith, when it is wrought by the powerful operation of the Spirit in the heart, doth remove prevailing doubts concerning our justification; the faithful beholding the all-righteousnesse of free grace, & applying to his conscience the cleansing virtue of the blood of the Lord Jesus. Faith is a gift of the Spirit establishing the soul, Isa. 7.9. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. The soul can never be firmly settled and quieted, but by believing. Unbelief doth question and doubt of the promises of free grace for justification: But when, in the power of faith, we are carried above it, with Abraham Rom. 4.20. we stagger not at the promise through unbelief: but the spirit is fixed, and stands immovably upon the truth of grace: God saith in the Covenant of his grace, Heb. 8.12. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins, and their iniquities will I remember no more. He that believeth doth set his Seal to the truth of God, in believing, the promise, john 3.33. He is confident that God is faithful, who hath made this promise to the children of men; and by believing the great and precious promises of grace, he is made partaker of the Divine Nature, 2 Pet. 1.4. By an heart of unbelief, we depart from the living God, Heb. 3.12. but by faith we draw near to God, and apply Christ to ourselves, (Faith being contrary to unbelief, as in the nature of it, so in its operations) An unbeliever doth not give credit to the truth of the general promises of God's grace, and so remaineth unjustified in his conscience; A believer in faith, nothing wavering James 1.6. doth give credit to what is reported. And the Gospel cometh to him not in word only, but in power, and the holy Spirit, and in much assurance, 1. Thessalonians 1.5. Object. But some may be ready here to object this, against what I have delivered, that though I do acknowledge that by faith, grace in Christ is applied unto us, yet in effect I say no more, than what I delivered before, when I proved, that by faith, the grace of God in Christ is first manifested, and made over unto us. Answ. They misapprehend me, when they conclude that I make faith, only an assurance of, because I do maintain that it is the first evidence and witness of our justification. Faith doth assure, but it doth not only assure us of Christ, but doth apply Christ, and makes a difference between assurance and application, which I illustrate by this similitude. Suppose one should lie in Prison for debt, his debts being paid and he not knowing it, and afterwards knowing that his debts were paid, he should rejoice in the news and enjoy his liberty: this man doth not by the news, which he heareth, enjoy only comfort, but his liberty: so it is with us, before we believe, we lie in prison, and yet our debts are paid by jesus Christ, when the news is brought by the spirit to the ear of the soul, we rejoice in hearing the news, but besides this presently we enjoy our liberty, and all those riches which our surety, who hath paid our debts, hath bestowed upon us, so that by faith, though we are assured of God's love in the first place, yet we are not only assured, but likewise, Christ is applied unto us, we are united unto him, and do enjoy all things in him, and receive all good things from him. Seventhly. We are saved by faith. which is so to be understood, that by the misunderstanding of it, we may not detract from the glory of God's grace, and from that everlasting righteousness which we have in jesus Christ, who is Jehovah our righteousness. jer. 23.6. Abraham when he believed, and his faith was counted unto him for righteousness, had a vision of God, and his word did inwardly appear unto him Gen. 15.1. and he beheld God as his shield and exceeding great reward, and supreme righteousness; so a believing man doth so look upon faith, as his righteousness that he doth then behold God in Christ, as his supreme righteousness, for his justification. Isa. 45.25.1 Cor: 1.30. As Adam when he was Justified by his righteousness, and true holiness, did so look upon his own righteousness for justification, that he did at the same time, behold God as his chief good and righteousness: so a believing man doth so look upon faith as his righteousness, by which he is saved, that he doth at the same time, behold God in Christ as his chief righteousness: Though he acknowledgeth faith his righteousness in its place, yet he accounteth it as nothing in comparison of that righteousness which he hath in God, and his Son Jesus Christ; And saith with the psalmist, Psal. 71.16. I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness even of thine only. He doth not by this undervalue the righteousness of faith, he prizeth it above the world and all things in it; which carnal men do value at so high a rate. But according to the mind of him whose gift faith is, he sets the gist in his heart, and esteem below him, who is the giver of it. He seethe salvation to be more from the giver of faith, than faith itself. He looketh upon faith, not as the cause of justifiing grace, but looketh upon justifiing grace through Christ, as the cause of that faith by which he is justified and saved; And doth know, that his juificaticaon is perfected by grace, and in the person of the Lord Jesus, before it is completed and effected in him by faith. He well understandeth that Christ and the soul are betrothed by faith, and yet he is not ignorant that he is betrothed to God for ever, in righteousness, and in loving kindness, and in mercy. Hosea 2.19. He is enlightened to see a reconciliation by grace in the person of Christ before God, before his reconciliation by faith in his spirit. He considereth that when he was an enemy, he was reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Rom: 5.10. Which reconciliation was before his faith, and yet denyeth not reconciliation by faith. He knoweth that what he believeth concerning Gods grace and his redemption, and justification by the blood of Christ was true before he believed it, and yet he believeth that faith is his righteousness for justification. He confoundeth not the righteousness of faith, with the righteousness of God in Christ, by whom he is justified. But giveth unto God & Christ what is to be attributed to God & Christ, for justification; & likewise attributeth to faith what is due to faith: not looking up on faith as his righteousness without the object of it, but always looketh upon faith for his justification, as it hath reference & relation to its object; which is the favour of God in Jesus Christ. And if he shall be asked, whether he be more righteous by grace and Christ, or by faith? He will acknowledge, that he is rather justified by grace, and the blood of Christ. Ro. 5.19; Seeing more righteousness for him, in the object of faith, then in faith, by which he beholdeth the object, and yet still maintaineth that faith is his righteousness for justification, according to the mind of the Apostle, We are saved by faith. Eightly, We are saved by faith, not for the purity, and holiness of it, as it is a gift of the sanctifiing spirit. For then, upon the same ground, we should take in Love, and other fruits of the spirit, which the Apostle doth shut out, as having no influence upon us, for our justification. which the Apohle doth prove in the following words, where he saith that we are saved, not of works; Because we are God's workmanship, created to good works Good works are not the causes of our new creation, and justification, but the consequents of our new creation through faith; So that it is clear, that we are justified before sanctification is wrought in us, or good works done by us. We are justified by faith without them. By which it is evident, that faith, as an holy gift or quality, doth not save us. We are saved therefore by faith, as that righteousness by which we do at the first lay hold upon his grace in his Son for justification, by which we are united unto God, and are made one with him. joh. 17.21. are purified from the guilt of sin in our hearts. Act. 15.9; And have peace with him through our Lord jesus. Rom. 5.1. Whom we see & embrace by faith, as the Apostle setteh forth the nature of faith, Heb. 12.13. And he that thus believeth, shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. Ninthly, We are saved by faith; Because by faith we are not only enabled to believe the general truth of the gospel, concerning his grace to those who believe in him; but because through faith we are enabled, to give credit to God's truth, and to rest upon it, in reference and relation to ourselves: Thus Abraham, who for the excellency and examplarinesse of his faith, is worthily styled the father of the faithful, did believe what God did speak unto him, not only as a truth which might be beneficial unto others, but he looked upon Christ in reference to himself Gen: 15. And saw his day, and seeing of it was glad: He looked upon God not only as a shield and great reward, but his shield and great reward. By true faith we receive christ, and his benefits for ourselves. Paul doth inform us, that his life in the flesh was by faith in the Lord Jesus, who loved him and gave himself for him. Faith's sweetness doth lie in this, that by it we do not believe Christ to be a Saviour, and righteousness, but our Saviour, and righteousness: Therefore Luther affirmed that the sweetness of Christianity lay in pronouns. When a man can say my Lord and my God, and my blessed jesus. This was the faith which the Apostles preached, which will be manifest unto us, if we consider their intentions, when they exhorted men to believe. They did not intent that their hearers should believe in general, that Christ was the Saviour of the world, but that he was a Saviour to them. Thus Paul preached to the keeper of the prison. Act. 16.31. Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. As when they preached the doctrine of repentance (or changednesse of the mind) their meaning was, that every man ought to be changed; so when they urge believing for salvation, their meaning is that we should believe for our own salvation in particular. The general truth of faith and repentance is to believe, by a power enabling us in particular for ourselves, to believe and repent. Lastly, We are saved through faith. Because by faith we hear the inward word of salvation. The word which soundeth to the outward ear, without this inward word, bringeth no salvation. As the Philosopher told him, who reprehended him for publishing and divulging a book of philosophy, that he had published it, and he had not published it, his meaning was this, that it was so dark and mystical, that though it were published, yet it was not published to the ignorant, and unlearned: so the Gospel in the letter is published to men, and not published; they hear, and do not hear, they see and do not see: But by faith we so hear, that our souls live by hearing, Isa. 55.3. The dead, saith our Saviour, shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live: Fidei oculi sunt spiritus, per quem spiritualia videntur, Cypr:) The Spirit is an eye to a believing man, by which he seethe, and enjoyeth spiritual things: we receive not the Spirit, by hearing the Law, or doing the works of the Law, but by the hearing of faith, Gal. 3.2. Eternal life, and Salvation is by hearing the inward word of life, salvation, and grace: God bids the Prophet Ezech: 38.5. to prophesy over the dry bones, that they might live: The Lord Jesus is the great invisible Prophet, who prophesieth over dry bones, and dead-hearted sinners, and by hearing inwardly the inward word of this Prophet, they live in hearing, and believing: And therefore it is said, that we are saved by faith. Having by these particulars, acquainted you with my Judgement, concerning our salvation, through faith; I shall now by the same assistance of God's grace, draw some useful conclusions, from the premises, and so put a period to my discourse for the present. First, this doth discover unto us the usefulness, and excellency of the unfeigned faith of the elect: As Noah was preserved from the destruction which came upon the old world, by going for his safety into the Ark, so by the foot of faith we walk into our Ark, Christ Jesus, for the Salvation of our souls. The world of sin is a dismal wilderness, full of fiery Serpents; by faith we eye Jesus Christ, as our brazen Serpent, and set footing in the heavenly Canaan of god's grace, while the sinful Sodom of the world, is destroyed with the rain of fire and brimstone; by faith like Righteous Lot, we escape out of it: when with Peter, we are ready to sink and perish in the Sea of sin, by Faith we touch the saving arm of the Lord Jesus, and are preserved, when we drink the deadly poison of sin; by faith we take in Jesus Christ, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or antidote, and the deadly poison doth not hurt us; but we are miraculously preserved. Faith beholdeth Christ crucified before us, Gal. 3.2. and evidently set forth, who hath nailed the Law of works, our sin and death to his own cross, and we who deserved damnation, are saved through grace. Christ is the man, who is an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest. Isa. 32.2. sin is a noxious and a destroying wind; as wind in the caverns of the earth, is a cause of an Earthquake; so sin is the cause of destroying Earthquakes in the earthly hearts of men, but Christ is our hiding place, in which through believing we are safe. The Devil's infernal winds and blasts destroy many a soul, with which he filleth it with hellish errors, and impieties to its destruction, Acts 5.3. Christ filleth his people, by breathing upon them in the Spirit of grace for their salvation; but Christ is a shelter from the infernal blasts of Satan: And while carnal, and unbelieving men are, as a ship under sail, and the Devil unto them, is as a powerful wind, violently blowing them to destruction, Acts 26.18. Christ by enabling his people to believe, doth blow them with the pleasant gales of his sweet spirit, to the havens of peace and safety. Though there are infectious, and destroying winds upon earth, yet there are none in Heaven, so though the men of the earth, are infected with the winds of sin, and Satan, to their ruin; yet they who live in the Heaven of God's grace by faith, Jesus Christ is a defence unto them. When darkness and tempests are in the Spirits of men, from the Law, which they have broken, Christ, who rebuked the tempests of the Sea, Mat. 8.2. doth rebuke (tempestates mentis, Hier:) the tempests of our troubled minds, and consciences; and by believing there is a great calm in the soul. Sin in the soul is like Jonah in the ship, which bringeth a tempest with it, but Christ through faith, doth cast this Tempest-raiser into the sea of his Father's grace, and the soul is quieted, and filled with joy, and peace in believing. The Philosopher saith, that Logic to a rational and learned man, is the instrument of instruments. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) without which he shall make little proficiency, in other Arts, and Sciences. So faith is the Organ, or instrument to the spiritual man, by which he is made partaker of the wisdom and spirit of the Lord, in which he is to do all things, and without which he can do nothing. Secondly, this discovers the reason, why the Devil and his agents do so much oppose the Doctrine of faith, and the preaching of it. He is an enemy to man's salvation, and therefore he is an enemy to the Doctrine of faith, through which we are saved. The Devil doth what he pleaseth to those, who are without faith, as being unable to resist him. Unbelieving men are like the Israelites, without a shield, or Spear to defend themselves. Judas 5.7. And the Devil doth lead them captive at his will, 2 Tim. 2.26. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) as wild beasts are mastered, and ruled by those, who have taken them in a snare, or net, (so the word signifieth) but when we believe to Salvation, we are furnished with power to oppose him, who seeketh our damnation; when we believe we are armed against his encounters, and fitted against his opposition. Faith is the souls defensive Shield, by which all his fiery darts are quenched, Eph. 6.16. and therefore it is that he doth always raise opposition, persecution, and reproaches against the Doctrine, and professors of Faith. Thirdly, seeing salvation is by faith, examine thyself concerning thy salvation, by trying thy faith. Men that are not in the faith, who have not Christ in them, are not approved Christians. 2 Cor. 13.5. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates; The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, except ye be unapproved. It is possible that a man may be in a state of unbelief, and yet no reprobate: But he, that cannot prove that he hath faith, cannot prove himself to be a Christian; or in a state of Salvation. Querie it in thy soul, whether thou hast such a faith, as we have spoken of. Ye have heard that we are saved through faith, which is a supernatural gift of the Spirit, by which those things, which the natural man cannot apprehend concerning salvation, are made plain to the soul. Supernatural things cannot be known, but by something which is supernatural: As the things of nature are known by the light of nature, things of reason by the light of reason: So the things of eternal life and salvation, by the supernatural gift of faith, which is the evidence, of the supernatural things of the Gospel, which are invisible, Heb 11.1. Abraham believed against hope, Rom. 4.18: So a spiritual man believeth the things of Glory, and eternal life, which the short line of natural reason cannot reach, or fathom, and which naturally he cannot hope for, or expect. Is thy faith, who dost Profess thyself a child of Abraham, such a faith as Abraham's faith was, who is the Father of the faithful. Secondly, true believers see their salvation by faith alone. Though a man have many seeds together in his hand, yet he may know the various, and divers natures of those several seeds: So though a justified man have many precious seeds of the Holy Spirit in his heart, yet he knoweth the several natures of them all. Though he hath love to God in his heart, as well as faith in God, yet he knoweth the nature of Faith, which alone is available to Justification. Try whether thou hast been enabled to fly to the strong Tower of God's grace for safety, against Hell, sin, and Devils, by the silver wings of Faith, without the help of works for Justification. Thirdly, a believer seethe justification cannot be by grace, if works and faith were to be conjoined for justification: Gratia non est gratia ullo modo, si non sit gratuita omni modo.) Grace is not Grace in any way, unless it be free and undeserved; every way Grace is not free and undeserved, unless it be reached forth, without any consideration of our own works, which is only through faith: try whether God hath taught thee this lesson of truth. Fourthly, faith doth take the glory of justistification from the creature, and giveth it unto grace. Hast thou learned to sing the new song of the Saints, and redeemed ones before the Throne; crying, Salvation only to God, who sitteth upon the Throne of grace, and to the Lamb. Fifthly, art thou fully persuaded of God's power, and faithfulness, who hath left Promises of grace upon record, for the salvation of poor sinners? Art thou with Abraham suily persuaded of the truth of Gods Promises of grace, in reference to thyself? I remember what one of the Ancients saith. That to profess Christ without assurance, is to be without faith, living in the household of faith. (Fidem in domo fidei non habere, Cypr.) A spiritual man is that which he believeth himself to be. (Id esse incipit, quod se esse credit.) He believes that he is positively and negatively righteous in Christ, freed from sin, and made a partaker of a glorious righteousness for his justification; and so he is of a Leper, by believing in an instant made whole. He believeth that he oweth nothing to his creditor, and his creditor believeth so too. Sixthly, A believing man is bone of the bone, flesh of the flesh, and one spirit with the Lord Jesus. There is a close & near union & application of Christ to the soul by faith. Dost thou in believing see thyself a member of Christ, as thy hand or foot is a part of thy body. Is Christ the quickening spirit of thy spirit? to enliven that as thy spirit, is the spirit which doth enliven thy body, 7 . Dost thou so live by faith, that thou lookest upon Christ as thy life, and righteousness more than faith? Not suffering any persuasion which thou callest thy righteousness, to sit in the uppermost room of thy heart, to the prejudice of God's glory in Christ? A spiritual heart is (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mac:) the throne of the Deity, where God in Christ is exalted as the chief righteousness of the soul, is it so in thine? john 14.1. 8 . Hast thou by faith as an instrument touched the hem of Christ's garment, for the healing of the bloody issue of thy own soul? He that is wise and good, is wise and good for himself. And if thou art truly wise and good, thou art wise in applying Christ to make thyself wise and good. Lastly, Is thy faith such a faith, through which Christ hath inwardly discovered himself unto thee, form and created himself in thee, Job 32.8? The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. If thy faith be true, it is by inward inspiration. Quer. But must we have such a faith, if we will be the children of believing Abraham? Answ. Every true believer hath such a faith, for the nature of it, though not for the perfection of the degrees of it: There is a perfect & fair copy of faith, in those who have been presented unto thee. Thou art to have the same copy written forth upon thy heart, though it may not be so fairly written forth at the first: But if it be a true copy of faith, thou hast no cause to question thy assurance, though thou dost find it very weak at the present. A palsey-shaken hand may receive a gift; and a weak faith may receive the grace of God in Jesus Christ. A Dwarf is a man as well as a Giant, though not so tall, and one who is but a dwarf, and low in Christianity, by the weakness of his faith, may be a Christian as well as those who are of a taller stature in the School of Christ. Thirdly, this which hath been delivered, may be for the strengthening of the faith, and the increasing the comforts of those who have laid hold of salvation by a lively faith on Jesus Christ. Comforts are increased by the same means, by which they are wrought at the first. And therefore the Apostle prayeth for the Romans, that the Lord would fill them with all joy and peace in believing, Rom. 15.13. Our comforts are low, because our faith is weak. Comfort floweth in, by renewed acts of faith. Satan would rob us of our comfort, by wresting faith, which is our shield from us, Ephes. 6.16. And this is one way in which he doth labour to weaken the faith of the Saints, by suggesting this unto the Saints, that Salvation is not only through faith. But against this temptation, and all his other fiery darts; we may hold forth this buckler of truth: That we are saved by grace through faith. Answer him therefore from this truth, and he will be silenced; Resist him in believing this truth, and hec will flee from thee, Jam. 4.7. And the spirit will fly into thy soul to comfort thee. So long as Abraham lived, he lived as a justified man by faith. So long as Paul lived, he lived by faith in the Son of God, Gal. 2. We die rather than live, when we are not under the power of the spirit, enabling us to believe. We lie down either in the bed of carnal security, or Familisticall Antichristianisme, or fall under the bondage of the Law, when we step aside from the plain Doctrine of salvation by faith in our Lord Jesus. And therefore the flesh and the Devil, the great enemies to a Saints comfort, do join themselves together to oppose the doctrine of faith. Satan knoweth that faith and works are inconsistent in point of justification. And when he observeth that we are in some measure convinced, that salvation is by faith; he endeavours to persuade us, that it is by faith and works. And would divide our Justification between faith and works. As the harlot cried out, 1 King. 3.26. concerning the child, Neither mine nor thine, but divide it: So the Devil would have us divide our Justification, & attribute half of it to faith, and give the other part to works. But the believing man seethe that there is salvation in Christ, and not in any other, and that no other name under heaven is given among men whereby they must be saved, Acts 4.12. And that we rest upon this name for salvation only by faith. In Christ we have boldness & access with confidence by the faith of him, Ephesians 3.12. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) We are manuduced and lead by the hand, as it were, with persuasion of Christ's goodness to us by faith in Christ. Continue in that faith by which Paul was justified, who believed that Christ loved him, and gave himself for him, and thy comforts and peace shall be continued unto the. It it Melancthons' observation, that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate faith, doth most usually signify a firm assent unto a thing (usitatissimum est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro firma ascensione dicere) doubting is that which is contrary to faith, Jam. 1.6. Believe therefore strongly, and thou shalt have a strong peace, Rom. 5. Believe that there is no remission of sin but by God's indulgence, but believe this withal, that by him thy sins are forgiven thee (said add ut credas et hoc, quod per ipsum peccata tibi donantur. Bern.) This is the faith which bringeth peace and consolation to the soul. By this we are brought from fin, to Christ's righteousness, from mount Sanai, to mount Zion, from the dominion of the Law, to the region of grace, from bondage to liberty, from death to life, from the fear of hell, to the assurance of heaven and happiness. Archimedes was so delighted in the study of the Mathematics, that when the enemy who besieged the place where he lived, broke in unto it, he heard not the noise and shouting of the soldiers, nor the cries of the people. So the soul that by faith liveth in Jesus Christ, shall be carried above the noise and troubles of the world, and shall enjoy peace in Jesus Christ. Let us therefore wait in the heavenly Jerusalem for more of the spirit by faith. This lesson will appear to be very necessary for the Saints, if we consider that the spirit of grace may be so quenched in Saints, that they may not for the present be able to go into the presence of God as Saints, but as poor sinners. And by the belief of this Doctrine a Saint doth easily get out of temptation. For he is taught of God in the Gospel, to come unto him as a sinner without works, when he cannot come as a Saint. And in this way his joy, with all the gifts of God's grace are restored unto him. And when they are restored he doth keep them, by the resting upon God, who saveth sinners by grace through faith. And therefore the Apostle Peter, when he exhorted Saints to grow in grace, doth add, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 3.18. By which he doth seem to inform them that there can be no growing in grace, unless there be a growing in faith, which is the knowledge of Christ, and the love of his Father in him. In the last place, here is a foundation of Salvation, for all that have ears to hear, and hearts to entertain the report, which you have heard of God's grace, which is manifested to sinners through faith. Let not any man go away with a heart of unbelief: but the Lord open your ears and hearts as he did Lydia's, that you may believe what is reported: For truly if you believe what I have delivered, you may go away rejoicing, and assured of God's grace, beholding your names written in the book of life. The true Gospel believed will remove all objections against your peace, and all doubtings out of your spirit. If as children of Abraham, ye believe as he did: Salvation will lie down in your bosoms, and the true God in Jesus Christ will give you an answer to whatsoever you can object & bring against your own salvation and justification. It is not the sight of sin that shall take away your comfort: but you shall rejoice that jesus Christ did die for sinners: It is not the want of works that shall send you away without assurance or justification, but you shall see, that you have good right, to lay hold upon Jesus Christ, though you have no works: because he justifies none but those that have no works before justification. The true God is not a justifier of the holy and righteous, but of the ungodly. God knoweth that the wisdom of the proud flesh, doth strongly persuade sinners, to seek salvation in themselves, and their own works. The Jailor's question, Acts 16. What shall I do to be saved: and the Rulers quaere, Luke 18.18. What shall I do to inherit eternal life; is in the heart of every natural man, who is persuaded that there is an eternal life. Man thinketh that as he became miserable by his evil works, that so he must be made happy by his good works. And therefore God hath given his Law which requireth perfection, to bring down the pride of the flesh (ad domandam Superbiam, Aug.) and confidence in our own works; and discovered his free favour to the worst of sinners in the Gospel. God hath blocked and stopped up all other ways to life, besides the way of his grace in Christ: and hath left this way open for the worst of sinners to turn in unto it for salvation. So that as good works cannot save us without Christ, (being but glittering and gilded sins) so evil works cannot prejudice the salvation of him who cometh to Jesus Christ: as David in the cave Adullam, 1 Sam. 22.2. Entertained all such who were in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, and became a Captain over them. So Jesus Christ, of whom David was a type, doth entertain all distressed consciences, indebted sinners, discontented malefactors, and becometh the Captain of their Salvation, Heb. 2. He knoweth how unwilling impurity is to come to him, who is purity: what enemies we are to our own salvation: what fools we are to run to those who cannot help us; like Ephraim, who when he saw his sickness, went to the Assyrian who could not heal him, Hos. 5.13. and therefore he publisheth proclamations of his Father's grace to poor helpless sinners: And bringeth sinne-wounded miscreants out of the wilderness of sin and misery, to the heavenly Canaan of peace and holiness through faith in his Name. He seethe that we are ready to catch hold of the Law and our own works, like unto men who are ready to sink in the water, who will get hold of rushes or straws or any thing upon the surface of the water, which cannot save them: and therefore he reacheth forth his strong arm of salvation for to help us, and bids us to hold fast by him, and assureth us of life and salvation. He keepeth open House, and inviteth all sorts of sinners so lay hold of the grace of his Father in him. He beseecheth us to be reconciled to his Father, 1 Corinthians 5.20. He assureth sinners, that whosoever will, may drink of the waters of life freely, Rev. 22.17. He compareth himself to a running River, out of which every poor Traveller may drink freely, no man demanding or requiring any thing for what he takes. He doth set Captives sree, not for price or reward, Isa. 45.13. not for their works. Though we have sold ourselves for nought, yet he assureth us that we shall be redeemed without money or price, Isa. 52.3. He having paid (a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) the price or money for our redemption: and assuring us now in his word of truth, that there is salvation for us without our merits by faith in him. Therefore let those who want joy and comfort, come to the promises, and take Christ in a promise: such who have been misled, and not set in the right way to salvation and justification; let them be convinced that this is the right way: be assured of salvation by grace, Christ dying not for the righteous, but for the ungodly: be persuaded that Jesus is not a Physician for the whole, but for the sick, Mat. 9.12. Sin is the souls sickness; thou art a sinner, art sick, and mayst come to Christ not as one that is well, but as one that is sick. Christ is a Chirurgeon that is able to cure the greatest wounds: therefore he hath set up his bills, and bids all to come, and he will reject none. We may with the woman in the Gospel, spend all that we have upon other Physicians, and be nothing profited. There is health for us, only by coming to Jesus Christ. Therefore if other Physicians have been Physicians of no value, while they have bid you seek Justification and assurance in the sight of your own works, and not in the sight of God's grace: hear this day what the Lord Christ saith to your souls, he professeth that he calleth not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Hear him: Hear I say, and thy soul shall live, Isa. 55.3. I remember that some Physicians have been highly commended that have been able to cure their Patients speedily and safely, and without any great torment. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is a most admirable Physician in these three respects. 1. He can speedily cure and heal us, whatsoever our wounds are: if there were but one wound and sore, from the crown of the head to the sole of the soot, if we were made up of nothing but sin, the Lord Jesus Christ is able to cure us speedily; he is excellent in this respect. Touch him, and the bloody issue of thy soul is immediately cured. He can say to thee as once he said to Zacheus: This day salvation is come to thy soul. If he lay the plaster of his Father's grace upon thy sinful soul, thou shalt be immediately cured. Secondly, Christ cures safely, there is no danger in taking that which Christ prescribes. If Christ tell you that his Father justifies ungodly ones; and that he is the Saviour of sinners; you may believe him, and put your life in his hand: he will not cousin and cheat as some Mountebanks, that give that which kills, when they confidently promise health. If Christ promise to heal, he will give that physic which shall effectually help us. He will not give that unto us which shall hurt us. If he had thought the doctrine of grace would have hurt men, he would never have commanded the Doctrine of grace to have been preached. If he had thought that the Doctrine of grace would only have opened a door to Libertinism and licentiousness, he would not have given his Apostles commission to preach the Gospel to every creature. Though men in their carnal apprehensions think there is danger in the medicines of Christ. Those who have had experience of him, can assure you that he is a matchless Physician: there is no danger in that which he gives: there is no way to salvation but by believing without working, Use this physic of his, apply this plaster to thy soul, & thou needest not to fear, whom he cures, he cures with abundance of safety: I dare assure thee, that he will heal thee. In the third place, Physicians are commended, that cure without tormenting their Patients much: and such a physician as Jesus Christ. He comforts our hearts with Gospel Cordials while he cures us. There is sweet comfort in the healing of the Lord Jesus Christ: he so heals thy wounds and diseases, that thou shalt have delight and comfort while he heals thy soul, and gives a plaster to thy putrified rotten spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ doth not prescribe a tormenting remedy that is worse than the disease: but when Christ heals, he comforts, he so cures, that he ravisheth the soul with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. Wherefore come to Christ, you who have spent all, and suffered much; and have lain under a spirit of bondage 20. or 30. years, here is healing, look to the Physician the Lord Jesus Christ; he will cure you speedily and safely, and with delight to you. In brief: it is an easy and compendious way to heaven, when God gives you believing hearts, and yet the hardest thing in the world to believe without him: but when God enables us, the work is easy. When Christ resolveth to be the Physician, health quickly will be given in. Some affirm that generation is (in instanti) in a moment: It is unquestionable concerning spiritual regeneration by faith in Christ. Therefore look up to the Father, and to the Son, that this work may be wrought in us. Think not that the work of faith can be wrought by any power which is in ourselves, it is given to us to believe by the grace of God communicated, and extended to us in the Lord Jesus Christ: And this is the next thing that lies in the words to be handled. Ye are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. But I must leave that to some other time. In the mean while look unto the Father of Lights, for it is his gift, we cannot bestow it upon ourselves. Faith is not from ourselves. SERMON. FOUR EPHES. 2.8. By grace ye are saved through faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. FAith is a work as difficult as it is glorious; and as much beyond the creatures strength, to work it in himself, as his merits to deserve it, of himself. Therefore the Apostle having acquainted us with the excellency of faith, through which we are saved, doth now inform us concerning the power by which it is wrought in us. It is not of ourselves, but it is the gift of God. First, he shows negatively that it is not of ourselves. And then 2ly affirmatively, that it is the gift of God. When God doth effectually work upon a man, to make him happy in his Son; he worketh two things in a man; he doth take him from himself, and confidence in his own strength, and doth carry him into his own strength, and goodness, from whence he receiveth all strength. And this is expressed here by Paul, who when he saith, that faith is not of ourselves, but that it is the gift of God. I shall by the assistance of grace, speak of the first of these, and endeavour to prove this Proposition: That true saving faith is not of ourselves. When the Apostle Peter made a glorious profession of the Lord, acknowledging him to be the Son of God; Jesus answered and said unto him: Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father which is in heaven, Mat. 16.17. Here our Saviour bears witness to the truth of his faith: and to show him that he professed not this only in word and in tongue, but that he professed it from the truth of faith which was in him: therefore he acknowledgeth that it was not from flesh and blood, but by the Father, which had revealed it to him. Where we may find our position clearly confirmed to you; that those that truly believe, who have the unfeigned faith of the people of God, it is not a faith wrought in them by themselves, it doth not flow from any natural principle: but it is the immediate work of the power of God in their hearts. As we did not, nor could not make our own hearts: so we cannot make our heart new hearts, Jerem. 13.23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, who are accustomed to do evil. By which the Prophet doth clearly hold forth this truth; that sinners can no more by their own strength make themselves saints, which is by faith, than a Blackmore can change the colour of his skin, or the Leopard his spots. An Ethiopian may be painted white, so an hypocritical sinner may be a painted Sepulchre, appearing righteous and sound to men, when he is full of rottenness within. But God alone doth change and purify our hearts by his gift of faith, which is not of ourselves. For the amplifying of this point to you. I shall lay down some subsequent considerations, by which I shall prove this to you; that he, that truly believes, doth not believe by any power, strength, or ability in himself, by which he is in any measure sitted and enabled for this great work of true justifying faith. The first consideration shall be drawn from the nature of faith, as it is held forth to us in the word of God, which faith is the work of God upon the spirit of a Saint, by which the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ is discovered to him; and by which he in his heart (Rom. 10.9.) is made willing to receive Christ, and to rest upon him and his righteousness alone for his Justification, Rom. 10.4. Thus the Scripture speaks of faith. First, it speaks of faith as it is a light of God in the understanding: so we are bid to look to the Lord Jesus, and we shall be saved, Isa. 45.22. And it is said of the faithful, that by faith they saw the promises afar off, Heb. 11.13. They saw Christ, not as we see him, who behold him as he hath been offered up as our sacrifice, and hath made an end of our sins, Dan. 9 But they beheld him as one that was to come, and was to make a propitiation for the sins of the world: And if we thus look upon faith as it is a beam from God, enlightening us in our understandings, to see God's grace in his Son; we shall find that faith is not of ourselves. Which will appear if we consider what our own understandings are, before God doth give us the true knowledge of the Lord Jesus. I shall acquaint you here with Scripture expressions, which do sufficiently and clearly hold forth this unto us. The first expression is, that men without the Lord Jesus Christ are darkened in their understandings. The Apostle speaking of the Gentiles that knew not Christ, he saith, Ephes. 4.18. That they have their understandings darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them. There is a mist, and cloud of darkness upon the understandings of all carnal and unbelieving men. As the Apostle Paul when he had scales before his eyes, was not able to behold the light of the Sun: so while the scales of natural darkness and ignorance are upon the hearts and spirits of men, they are not able to behold the sun of righteousness. They may hear Christ preached: they may hear the Doctrine of justification freely and fully handled: but they are not able to behold any thing of God or Christ, because they have their understandings darkened, being not enlightened by the spirit of Christ to see Christ. 2dly. The Scripture doth not only tell us that they are darkened in their understandings: but it tells us, that they sit in darkness, Matth. 4.16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light. Here is the condition of all men without Christ set forth to us; they are men that sit in darkness. And Zacharias in his Song, speaking of the Lord Jesus, saith, Luke 1.79. That he is the day spring from on high, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death. Though a man have eyes, yet if he sit in a dark dungeon, he can see no visible object. It will therefore be evident, that carnal men cannot see of themselves, because they are not only darkened in their understandings, but they sit in the dark dungeons of their own spirits, being not able to behold the invisible things of God's grace, which are not discovered and made visible unto us, until we believe in Jesus Christ. But in the 3d place, the holy spirit speaking of natural men without Christ, doth not only inform us, that they are darkened, and have their seats in darkness, but they love darkness, they are pleased with their present state and condition of darkness; they are unwilling to have any light break forth upon them. So our Saviour saith, John 3.19. This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world: but men love darkness. They love unbelief and ignorance: they had rather be the Devils prisoners in dungeons of darkness, then enjoy their liberty in Christ's marvellous light. They are so far from being unable to make themselves happy in believing, that they are in love with their own unhappiness. They will not come to Christ, that they may have life; they are unwilling that Christ should reign over them, though he doth offer salvation unto them. They say unto God, depart from us, for we will not have the knowledge of thy ways, Job 21.14. Like the Gadarens, they do desire Jesus to departed out of their Coasts. They are the slaves of sin, and free from righteousness, Rom. 6.20. When they are disobedient to the commands of righteousness, they do account it their liberty and freedom. As the service of Christ is liberty to a Saint (cui servire regnare est, Aug.) so the service of sin is accounted liberty by a carnal man. They are like the servant that was to be bored through the ear, upon his profession that he loved his Master, and would not go out free, Exod. 21.5. This is the condition of every man out of Christ; he professeth that he loves his Master, he loves the Devil, & the works of the flesh, are sweet and pleasing to him: he had rather live as a Swine, and wallow in the filth and mire of sin, then taste of those joys and pleasures which are at God's right hand: he had rather do the Devil's drudgery, then enjoy that perfect freedom that the Lord Jesus Christ hath purchased for the Saints. It is against his heart, and the whole bent, frame, stream, strength, and current of his spirit to be desired, entreated, and beseeched to give entertainment to Christ. He is rather contented to live as a slave with Satan, then to rule as a King with Christ. He is an evil tree, and cannot bring forth fruit to make himself good. (Homo extra Christumest mala arbour, Hier.) As an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit to make itself good, so an evil man, being an evil tree, all his thoughts, words and actions are evil fruits, by which he cannot make himself good. He cannot therefore of himself bring forth the good fruit of faith. Again, the Scripture riseth higher in spiritual expressions, to set forth unto us the sad and woeful condition of an unbelieving man. He is not only a lover of darkness, and seated in darkness: but he is darkness itself in the abstract. The Apostle speaking of the Ephesians before their conversion, saith, Ephes. 5.8. Ye were sometimes darkness. Consonant to which words is that speech of John, John 1.5. The light shined in darkness: that is, in the dark hearts of unbelieving men, but the darkness comprehended it not. There doth lie more in this expression then in the former; It is more to be darkness, then to be darkened; now we are not only darkened in our understandings, but our understandings are nothing else but darkness. Men without Christ may think that they have a great deal of knowledge & wisdom; but truly the holy Ghost tells us that all their light and understanding is nothing but darkness; There is as much contrariety between the spirit of God and the spirit of a natural man, as there is between light and darkness. By reason of which the natural mancannot of himselfeobtaine the knowledge of Christ, Rom. 8.7. The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither can be. The Apostle doth not only say that it is not subject: but he saith that it cannot (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) He maketh it a thing impossible. According to that which he himself delivereth, 1 Cor. 2.14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. The word is very emphatical in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The man that hath a soul, look upon him in his best part, in his ration all soul, which he hath as a man, and in that and by that he cannot receive the things of God. Look upon the rational man with his morality, with humane learning, Arts & Sciences: with his literal knowledge of the Law & Gospel; look upon him as he is sublimated in his intellectuals, and as he hath made the highest improvement of his learning, parts, gifts, and endowments, as he is the world's delight for his worldly wisdom, as he is admired by men for his prudence and eloquence; with all this, he is blind to the allseeing eye of God, and cannot receive or apprehend the glorious things of God's grace in Jesus Christ. He is a fool with his wisdom, & an ignorant man with his learning: a wretched sinner with all his good works & moral virtues. And no more able to open the blind eyes of his soul, that he may see the sun of the Gospel, which shineth in the spirits of the Saints; then a man who is borne blind, is able to give himself fight and bodily eyes to behold the Sun which shineth in the world. He is not able by the acuteness of his reason, the sharpness of his understanding, nor the largeness of his parts, gifts, endowments, natural or acquired, to attain unto the saving knowledge of things of the Gospel: but they are mere foolishness unto him. So that by this consideration it will be evident, that if we look on saith as it is a light in the understanding, that then a man is not able to bring this light into his own understanding: but whatsoever is in his understanding opposeth the glorious light of God's grace, and that therefore it is impossible upon this account, for a man to believe of himself. But i● the second place if we look on faith, not only as it is the light of God in the understanding: but if we look on it as it is the work of God upon the will, so we shall find that we believe not of ourselves; and that no man ever in his own power and strength, or improvement of his free will, was ever able to believe what God hath reported concerning his own grace in his Son Jesus. For as a man is darkness in his understanding, so he is nothing but rebellion in his will. As the darkness in his understanding opposeth the light of Christ, and the beams of gospel-truths; so likewise the strength, force, & prevalency of the rebellion in his will, fights against all the discoveries, that may be made of Jesus Christ to him. This is set forth most plainly to us by John, John 1.13. where speaking of the Saints, he saith, They are borne, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh: not of the will of man, but of God. It is not of the will of the rational man, spiritually & truly, to will his own regeneration. Let a man make the best use he can of his will; let him put forth himself to the best resolutions he can make; let him resolve to do nothing but seek Christ, and study to know him: yet if a man be only in the strength of his own resolutions, he shall never be able to find out the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul is plain in this point, Rom. 9.16. It is not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth: but of God that showeth mercy. A man may have some weak resolutions of himself, and to seek Christ, and the things of God's Kingdom: but unless he be carried out with a higher principle, and a greater power than his own will, to Christ, he will never be able to effect, what he seems to desireto have effected and wrought in him. In libero arbitrio nulla est libertas sed servitus) Free will is not free, but a slave; there is nofreedome, but slavery in it. It is not free to good, unless it be freed from sin by grace (si stare non potuit humana natura adhuc integra, quomedo potest resurgere, jam corrupta, Bern.) If man in the state of integrity, could not stand of himself, how shall he of himself in his state of corruption, be able to rise now he is fallen. Unless God come down with a mighty power and force us against our natural will to receive Christ, we shall never be made partakers of Christ. No man (saith Christ) can come to me except the Father draw him, Joh. 6.44. (Nolentes trahimur) you know when a man is drawn, he is drawn against his will. I need not draw a man that is willing to come after me. If we were willing to go after God in our conversion, we should stand in need of no drawing: But ye see that God must compel us to come in to Jesus, or else we will never come in unto him, nor submit unto his will. I would not here be mistaken; I do not think that when a man doth take Christ, that he is unwilling to take him: but he receiveth him willingly. Yet it is not by the strength of the natural will, that a man is made willing, but by the power of grace. (Ex nolentibus volentes facit) God maketh us, who are unwilling to entertain his Son by nature, willing to entertain him by grace: and the will acted by the strength of supernatural grace, doth act in a contrary way to itself, when it acteth in the strength of corrupt nature. By which it is plainly proved, that the will of a natural man is insufficient of itself, to bring about the salvation of a natural man. We are changed into the Image of the Lord by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Cor. 3.18. From whence one doth draw this rational conclusion; that if we are changed by the strength of the spirit, that then it is not by the strength of free will. (Simo a domini spiritu, jam non a libero arbitrio.) And we may draw the same conclusion from the words of Paul, Phil. 2.13: where he affirmeth that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do, of his own good pleasure. If God doth work in us to will what is good, than we do not work it in ourselves. By which it is clearly demonstrated, that if faith be looked upon as a work in the will, by which it is made willing to receive Christ and his righteousness for Justification; that then faith cannot be looked upon as from ourselves, but it is the gift of God. A second argument, for the confirmation of this may be drawn from the considering the disability of men, already converted, to do any good of themselves: And thus I frame my argument. If men already converted, are not able to think a good thought, or to put forth one act of faith of themselves; then men unconverted are not able to believe of themselves before conversion: But men already converted are not able to think one good thought, or to put forth one act of faith of themselves: Therefore unconverted men are not able to believe of themselves. There is that strength in the first proposition, that I suppose no man pretending to be a Scholar in the School of the spirit, will question the truth of it. For should a man question it, he should by his questioning of it, attribute a greater strength to unconverted then converted men, which is such an absurdity in Divinity, that I think no spiritual man would be guilty of it. And for the minor, or second Proposition, it is backed with such plain authority of Scripture, that it is in vain for any man to deny it. How plainly doth Paul deliver himself in this point, 2 Cor. 3.5. Where speaking of Saints, he saith, That we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God. What spiritual act is more easy then to think a good thought? It is easier to think well, then to speak well, or do well: we often think good thoughts, that never come out upon the tongue, or appear in the action. Yet holy Paul is not afraid to profess, that the best of us all cannot think any thing as of ourselves. Which may be a sufficient proof of that which followeth in the same proposition, where we say that he cannot put forth one act of faith. In believing our spirits are placed and fixed upon God, and we are filled with high thoughts of his grace in his Son, to his glory; and therefore if we cannot think well, certainly we cannot believe well. And that we cannot believe of ourselves after we do believe; will be evident by the Petition of the Apostles, Luke 17.5. Lord increase our Faith. What necessity was there, that they should have prayed to their Mr. for the increasing of their faith, if by their own strength they could have believed when they had pleased? And thus I have at once both proved my argument, and the point in hand, that true faith is not of ourselves. This argument is (a majore ad minus, as we speak in Logic) from the greater to the less: if the greater can do nothing, the less cannot; if converted men be able to do nothing toward this excellent work of faith, then unconverted men are able to do nothing. Men who have a life in Christ, can do nothing of themselves; therefore such who are dead in sins and trespasses can do nothing of themselves, but God must do all in us by his grace. The third argument may be drawn from this consideration, that if there were any thing in the reason or understanding of man which might further him in this work of faith; than it would follow, that those men who are the most acute men, the most learned men, the wisest and most rational men, would prove the best Christians, and the most faithful men: but we find it quite contrary. There are none commonly more ignorant of Christ than they who are most learned. The world's wiseman is God's fool. It were an easy matter to prove this, by running over the several ages of the world. It was the complaint of a good man long since. The unlearned (saith he) do arise and take ●eaven by force, while we learned men are cast 〈◊〉 hell, (surgunt indocti & rapiunt coelum, ●um nos docti detrudimur ad gehennam) but I snail confine myself to Scripture. This is proved, 1 Cor. 1.26, 27. You see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty. The wise men and great men of the world have not generally embraced Christ: but rather the world's fools have been made wise by the knowledge of him. The learned Pharisees did reproach Christ and his Doctrine with this, joh. 7.48. Have any of the Rulers or Pharisees believed on him? but this people who knoweth not the Law are cursed. They looked upon his followers as a cursed company of ignorant people, unacquainted with the Law, which they taught for Justification; and supposed that the Rulers and Pharisees had so much wit, wisdom and learning, that they would give no credit to his Doctrine. Therefore seeing those who are most learned, wise, and acute by rational parts, gifts, and abilities, are commonly most averse and opposite to the knowledge of the Gospel, it follows, that it is not by any thing that is in the reason, or understanding of man, by which one man is made more capable of faith then any other man; but God giveth the gift of faith freely to whom he pleaseth. The fourth may be drawn from the consideration of persons before their conversion, as they are descyphered to us, and characterized forth in the word of truth. The Scripture calls them dead men; they are rather Carcases than men; they have the shapes of living men: but they are but dead men. No more than a Carcase is a man, no more is an unconverted man a man in the scriptures sense. As a dead man is able to do nothing to regain life, so we, who are dead in sins and trespasses, are able to do nothing towards our own conversion. This phrase we have in the precedent words, Eph. 2.1. You hath he quickened that were dead in sins and trespasses. And the same Apostle saith, Coll. 2.13. That when we were dead in sins and the uncircumcision of our flesh, that then God quickened us with his Son, having forgiven us all our trespasses. A dead man hears nothing, sees nothing, there is no motion in him at all: so it is with a man that is dead in sins, he hears not the things of grace; he hears, but he hears not: he sees not the things of grace; he sees and he sees not: he is not able to move one foot by faith toward heaven and happiness. Unbelieving men are dead, if we view them in reference to the principle of life, or the faculties of a living man, or the operations of life. Christ is the principle of life, Colos. 3.3. When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, than ye also shall appear with him in glory. They are without Christ, and therefore without a principle of life. 2ly. In reference to faculties which are in living men, they are dead. Faculties are known and distinguished by their acts & operations. (Potentiae distinguuntur, et cognoscuntur per actus.) And therefore we may speak of these two jointly, and together. As in a living man there are faculties and operations of life; So there are faculties and operations of life in a man who is spiritually alive. He is nourished, 1 Pet. 2.2. groweth, Psal. 22.6. heareth, seethe, smelleth, Cant. 1.3. tasieth the sweetness of Christ, and the like: but it is not so with one dead in sin and unbelief: he hath no spiritual faculties and operations of life: he lieth rotting in the grave of sin without these. If we play upon Instruments of Music, or shoot off guns in his ears, he heareth it not. If God thunders from sin in the Law, or cometh from Zion with the music of the Gospel, he heareth it not: Refusing to live to God by faith in Christ, he is dead. (Qui titi recusat vivere mortuus est, August.) Men without Christ, take them in their best estate, and thus it is with them: with his moral embellishments, and ornaments, he is but like a dead body stuck with flowers, or an embalmed carcase. The whole world of unbelievers is but a Golgotha, or Charnel-house of dry bones. The man that wandreth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the Congregation of the dead, Pro. 2.6. Though thou art a professor of Christ, yet without Christ thou art dead, 1 Tim. 5.6. The Widow that professeth Christ, living in pleasure, is dead while she liveth. As Seneca passing by the house of an Epicure, said (Hic situs est) He that liveth here, is dead, and buried here. So we may say of all profane men, ignorant men, civilised men without Christ, formalized professors, they are there dead where they live. And being dead, who will so far lay aside his reason, to affirm, that they are able to quicken themselves to a spiritual life. Again as the Scripture sets them out to us as dead men; so the Scripture presents them to us as men that are in a sleep. We have this expression, Ephes. 5.14. Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. The knowledge that a man hath of Jesus Christ before his conversion, it is rather as the dream and fancy of a sleeping man, than the true knowledge of a waking man. A man may dream he is a King, & thinks that he hath all the riches in the world: but when he awakes he hath nothing, because he did but dream that he was rich. So it is with men that have a knowledge of Christ, but not wrought in their hearts by the operation of the spirit; they may be in a dream, and have false persuasions that Christ is theirs, & that heaven is theirs, with all the glorious things of eternity: but they are but beggars and poor slaves all the while. They are likewise compared to mad men, who may think that they are Monarches, and in a Palace, when they are miserable creatures chained in a Bedlam. So carnal men may have false persuasions concerning their happiness: but true faith is only wrought by the spirit of truth. And as men out of their wits cannot restore to themselves the use of reason, so men spiritually mad cannot bring themselves to the light of grace. By which expressioons it is plain that faith is not of ourselves. My last argument to prove that true faith is not of ourselves, is derived from the Word, in which it doth acquaint us with the wickedness and deceitfulness of man's natural heart. Our hearts are deceitful and hypocritical, and therefore unfeigned faith cannot come from them, and no credit is to be given to the persuasions of them: our spirits they will deceive us, therefore we are not to give any credit to any persuasion that comes from them; a persuasion that is a persuasion merely of our own spirit, is not a true faith or persuasion. Who will believe a common cheater, cozener, liar, or impostor, that cares not what he saith or speaks. The heart naturally is like unto such an impostor or deceiver, according to that of Jeremiah, jer. 17.9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it. That faith therefore cannot be true which proceedeth from a natural heart; and that comfort cannot be sound which springeth from such a faith. By which, and the preceding arguments, it doth appear, that the true faith of the Gospel is not of ourselves. Give me leave now in a few words to make some deductions from this, and so I shall commend what I have delivered, and you to the blessing of she Almighty. In the first place, this may confute the Doctrine of Papists, Arminians, and Popish protestants, that conceive that a man is able to do something to the furtherance of his own justification and salvation. This that hath been delivered being seriously weighed in our spirits, is sufficient to overthrow this lying Doctrine, which would attribute any thing to man, or to the strength, wisdom, understanding, will or affections of the natural man, in point of conversion, justification, and spiritual renovation. One of the Ancients, who was more enlightened by the spirit then any of his fellows, for the beholding of the truth of GOD'S grace, doth as boldly, as truly assert, that whosoever shall pull down the Doctrine of free grace, by exalting man's free will, is deceived with an haereticall spirit, (Haeretico fallitur spiritu. Aug.) And who will suffer himself to be so fare blinded, as not to see that magnifiers of freewill do overthrow the Doctrine of God's grace and mercy, which Paul preached; when they shall hear him plainly concluding against all the free willers in the world, Rom. 9.16. That it is not in him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. The free grace and mercy which the Scripture acquainteth us with, is inconsistent with man's free will to do good of himself. As Dagon was tumbled down, when the Ark, which was a type of Christ, and God's grace in him, was brought into the place where Dagon was set up; so when God's grace by the power of the spirit appeareth, it tumbleth down, and overthroweth the dagonish conceits, & Idolatrous apprehensions, which men have of the strength which is of themselves, to make themselves happy. The spirits of men truly persuaded of the strength of grace, and their own weakness, disclaim their own strength, and selfe-confidences, for the making of themselves good. And cry out with those in the Prophet, Lam. 5.2. Turn thou us unto thee O Lord, and we shall be turned. But that these men may not say that we deal unjustly with them in condemning them and not hearing what they can say for themselves; let us hear what they do usually think for themselves, that so their mouths may be stopped by the truth of God. And thus light may shine more gloriously by the dispelling those mists, fogs, and clouds of error, which would darken it. The Scripture that some of them object against this truth, is, Revel. 22.17. The spirit and the Bride say, come. And let him that heareth, say, come. And let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. From whence they conclude, that there is a power in free will to take Christ, and that if a man will he may take the water of life freely. To this I thus answer, that they draw more from the words, than the words do hold forth: The words say, whosoever will, may take the water of life freely: but the word doth not tell us, that any man is able to will this of himself. It is true, whosoever will may take the water of life freely: but it is as true, that a man of himself is not willing. God alone enabling us to be willing to take this water of life freely, Phil. 2.13. And thus ye see, that if this argument be well weighed in the balance of the Sanctuary, it will be found too light to prove that for which it is alleged. But they are ready to reply again, and to demand of us the reason why God doth find fault with men for unbelief, reproving them for not coming unto Christ, if they are not able of themselves to believe, and come to Christ? Answ. Why should these men thus cavil against the goodness of God? May not God with good reason, and without offence, inform us of our sin, though we are not able of ourselves to forsake it; It is a conclusion spiritually irrational, to say that we have power to amend our fault, because God doth reprove us for our fault. In these reproofs and the like, God showeth unto us his goodness, in reproving us for our conviction; he doth not inform us of our ability, savingly to believe for our conversion. But methinks I see them returning upon us again, and making a new assault by another argument, with which they thus oppose us, or rather the truth and power of God's grace. Why doth God command, entreat, & beseech the creature to believe, if the creature have no power of himself to believe? Ans. Passages to this purpose which we fiind in Scripture, do acquaint us with God's goodness to the creature in his revealed will, and the creatures duty towards God; they do not acquaint us with the secret, effectual, and irrectable, Rev. 9.19. will of God concerning the salvation of a creature, nor of the creatures power in himself, to believe of himself. The conclusions of these men from such precepts, exhortations, and entreaties, are very absurd and irrational; If we shall seriously weigh them in the scales of right and sanctified reason. God say they, doth command, exhort, and entreat men to believe, therefore men are able of themselves, by some power in themselves, to believe. May they not upon as good grounds conclude that a carnal man may fulfil the whole Law, and be saved by doing of the Law, seeing he is commanded in Scripture to fulfil the whole Law, and exhorted, and entreated to do it. I shall shut up this use with a sweet speech of a devout and spiritual man; seeing man without the grace of God could not keep that salvation which he received, how shall he be able without grace to regain that salvation which he hath lost. (Cum igitur sine gratiâ dei salutem non posset Custodire quam accepit, quomodo sine gratiâ dei potest reparare quam perdidit. Aug. in Epist. Secondly, It may be for the convincing of men of their disability to will their own justification and salvation. What God accounts wisdom, that when man looks on it by the eye of reason, he acccounts it nothing but folly and madness. How can a man be desirous of Christ, who apprehends that the things of Christ are nothing but foolishness? A profane Pope sporting himself, and rejoicing in the great riches he had gotten by professing the Gospel in a carnal way, uttered these words; What great riches have we gotten to ourselves by this fable of jesus Christ. (Quantus divitias lucrati sumus ex hac fabulâ Christi.) So men that are not enlightened by the spirit of truth, to behold the world of truth, do conalve the truths which men preach concerning Christ are mere fancies, fables, madness and that foolishness; and that there is no truth at all in which is spoken in the word of truth. I will instance but in one or two particulars to show you how carnal reason opposeth grace. Grace telleth us, that God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth, Rom. 9.18. Consider how carnal reason opposeth this truth of God; suppose, saith carnal reason, that a King would hate some of his Subjects, because he would hate them, and love others, because he would love them, and should give no other reason of his actions, but his own will: were not such a King more fit to live among beasts, then to reign over men. And shall we then think that the wise God doth love and elect some because he will love them, and hate and reprobate others, because he will hate them. Thus carnal men measuring the actions of God by the rule of their own reason, they see nothing but folly and madness in that, by which God discovers his greatest wisdom to those that are enlightened to behold the riches of his grace. Secondly, God in Christ doth present himself as having a sufficiency of grace for the salvation of the greatest of sinners without works: but how doth carnal reason strongly and vigorously fight against God's goodness, concluding that if there were any truth in this Doctrine, that the law and good works would presenly be destroyed. A natural man cannot believe that God is so gracious as Gospel-Ministers would persuade the world that he is. As the unbelieving Lord, when the Prophet told him of the great plenty in Samaria, said, If God should open windows in Heaven could this this thing be? 1 King. 7. So a natural man, when Christ is offered to sinners without any works (unless God give grace to believe) he is ready to say, If the windows of Heaven were opened, and all the grace and mercy in Heaven should come down upon us, if God should let out all the bowels of his pity and compassion to poor sinners, it cannot be so as you say, and speak concerning free grace to sinners, and ungodly ones. So that if a natural man should do nothing, but hear Sermons, and although Angels or Christ himself should come down from heaven to preach unto him, he would be as able of himself to keep the whole Law for justification, as to believe truly and savingly in the Lord Jesus. But some will say, that if it be thus that a man may as easily in his own strength, keep the Law as believe the Gospel; why doth not God then rather enable us to keep the Law that we may be saved, then bid us to believe the Gospel? To this I answer; that God saves us, by enabling us to believe the Gospel, and not by enabling us to keep the Law for Justification, because God will have the glory of his grace in our Salvation. God will not save us in a way of working, but in a way of believing, that all the glory may be given to him. The Apostle gives this as a reason, why it is by faith and not by works, that no man might boast, ver. 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. By which argument he proveth that the Father of the faithful was not justified by works, Rom. 4.2. If Abraham were justified by works (saith he) he hath whereof to glory. As we may observe it in some people, who are built upon legal principles like the Pharisee, Luke 18.11. They are boasting, that they are not as other men, as though their good works had made the difference between them and others. This frame of spirit doth rob God of the glory of his grace, who will not that any flesh should glory in his presence: but that he that glorieth should glory in the Lord, 1 Cor. 1.29.3. And therefore we are saved by grace through faith in the word made flesh, and not by the works of the Law. But secondly, some will object, why doth God take this pains with men in the Ministry of the Word? if they are able to do no more to their own conversion, than a dead man to his own resurrection. To this objection I have already given an answer, yet give me leave to add this to what hath been already spoken, for the fuller satisfaction of those that are weak. Though we are able to do nothing of ourselves, yet God entreats, exhorts, and beseecheth us to be reconciled to him in Jesus Christ, because in exhorting, entreating, and beseeching of us to believe, he puts forth his power and his own strength to enable us to believe; while Paul exhorted the Gaoler to believe in the Lord Jesus that he might be saved, God enabled the Gaoler to believe. Life and power is conveyed to the soul in Gospel commands and exhortations. When Christ raised the son of the Widow of Naim to life, Luke 7.14. he speaks to him; Young man I say to thee, arise. No man who hath not lost his reason, will conclude from hence, that it was by the power of the young man that was dead, by which he was raised from the dead, but by the power of the Lord Jesus, who did bid him arise. So, though God speak in the Ministry of the word to those that are dead in sins and trespasses, and bids them arise from the dead that he may give them light; yet we cannot conclude from thence, that it is by the power of men by which they do believe: but it is by the power of the spirit conveyed in the preaching of the Word. Christ commanded Lazarus to come forth, but he came not forth in his own strength, but in the power and strength of him that commanded him out of the grave; So we command men to come forth out of the grave of sin: but they come not forth in their own strength, but in the power and strength of that spirit that commands them from the grave of sin to the land of the living. While Ezekiel prophesied over the dead bones, breath came into them, and they lived, Ezek. 37.10. So while the Prophets of the Lord do preach over their sinful impenitent hearers, who are like the Prophet's dry bones; the breath of Heaven, the spirit of the most High in the Ministry of the Gospel, enters in into them, and not by working, but believing they are made new creatures, and see the Kingdom of God. In the next place, you see faith is not of ourselves, it is not in any thing in man, or in man's wisdom that man is enabled to believe what is reported concerning Gods grace in Jesus Christ. Therefore this may convince us that that faith which is of ourselves is a false faith, and not the true justifying faith of the Saints. The good fruit of faith cannot grow out of a wicked heart. And the heart of a man naturally, is wickedness, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is vanity, and only evil continually, Gen. 6.5. Psalm. 94.11. When God looks down from Heaven upon the children of the first Adam, he seethe that there are not any that do understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all become filthy, there is none that doth good, no not one, Psal. 14.2.3. And the Lord Jesus died for us when we were enemies unto him, and without strength to do any thing for our own salvation, Rom. 5.6. That faith therefore which is wrought by the strength of nature, is not that true faith of the Gospel which is only wrought by the spirit of the Gospel. According to that of the Apostle, where he affirmeth, that the Saints are justified by the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. 6.11. Therefore if thy faith be a working or persuasion of thine own spirit; If it be framed and hammered by thyself upon the anvil of thy own spirit, it is a counterfeit persuasion, and will not be able to advantage thee in the great day of the Lord Jesus. As we read in the Prophet Jeremiah of the visions of a man's own heart, and the visions of God. So there is a twofold faith; there is the faith or persuasion of a man's own heart, and a persuasion of the Spirit of God. And as the visions of a man's own heart are false dreams, lies and deceits, and are justly reprehended by the Prophet, Jerem. 23.26. So the persuasions of a man's own heart, they are false dreams and lying persuasions, we are to give no credit to them. As we should not believe a common liar: So we are not to believe the persuasions of our own hearts. The same Prophet in the 28. ver. compareth lying Prophecies to chaff, and the Prophecies of truth to wheat, what (saith he) is the chaff to the wheat. So true faith is like unto wheat, and faith of ourselves is like unto chaff. As the wind driveth away the chaff, Psalm 1.4. So the blasts of God's wrath, and the winds of temptation will blow away the chaff of a false faith, while true faith shall be preserved by God, and we through it shall be preserved unto the day of redemption. Wherefore brethren, we are to try whether or no we do truly believe. Examine yourselves saith the Apostle, 2 Cor. 13.5. Whether ye be in the Faith. As we have a touchstone to try gold, so God hath left a spiritual touchstone by which true faith may be tried. As there are counterfeit pieces of gold, which can be hardly distinguished from true gold, until they are brought to the touchstone; so there is a counterfeit faith, which can hardly be distinguished from true faith, until it be brought unto the spiritual touchstone. Therefore it will be the wisdom of every one of you, to try what faith you have. It is not enough to be persuaded that you shall be saved, and that Christ is yours, and that your names are written in heaven. Alas, there are false persuasions as well as true. There are multitudes of Libertines, who turn the grace of God into wantonness, and make their bellies their Gods, and mind earthly things, Phil. 3. And yet have strong persuasions that they are in the grace and favour of God. There are Pharisees who are persuaded that they are in the love of God the Pharisee had an assurance, and gave God thanks for it too, Luke 18.11. God I thank thee I am not as other men are. And yet he was but an hypocrite all the while, deluded with the proud conceits of his own righteousness. The unbelieving Jews professed with a great deal of boldness and confidence that God was their Father, John 8.41. We have one Father, even God. And yet our Saviour tells them plainly, that though they had these strong persuasions that God was their Father, yet in truth the Devil was their Father. Ye are (saith he) vers. 44. of your Father the Devil. A man may be persuaded that Christ will save him, and go to hell and be damned with that persuasion. We see by experience, that many Apostates, who have made a profession of Christ, & have had strong persuasions of the love of God, have fallen from the Gospel to profaneness, Arminianism, and diabolical Familisme. Our blessed Emanuel doth plainly prove this truth unto us, by acquainting us with some, who, when they shall be brought before his judgement-seate, shall be confident of their interest in him, whom nevertheless he will not own to be his, Matth. 7.21, 22. Not every on that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy Name? and in thy Name have cast out Devils? and in thy Name done many wonderful works? Yet you see what Christ will profess unto them; I never knew you, depart from me ye workers of iniquity. As if he had said, It is true, you had a strong persuasion that you should be heirs in my Kingdom; it is true, you thought that you should be saved if any in the world were saved, but I tell you for all that, I know you not, depart ye workers of iniquity. Wherefore it concerns all men to know whether their faith be a right faith. Self-ish faith is no right faith: if it arise from no higher a fountain, than our own natural reasons, wisdoms, and understandings; our faith is from ourselves; and we may carry it to hell with us, and find as good faith there in the Devils, as this is. Though this which I have spoken concerning the trial of faith, doth chief concern such who are deceived with a false faith, of their own making: yet it will be very advantageous for the true Saints likewise to try their faith. Wherefore before I press this farther upon such who are under a spirit of delusion, I shall speak a word unto the Saints unto this purpose. Consider that that man who hath true faith, may likewise have much false faith. There may be a great deal of dead faith in him, who hath a living faith. Where there is true gold, there may be much dross; and in that Professor in whom there is the golden faith of the Gospel, there may be a great deal of drossy faith, which is nothing worth. A Christian hath two contrary natures in him. He hath flesh as well as spirit. And as there are persuasions in him flowing from the spirit, so there may be persuasions flowing from the flesh. Saints sometimes, when they are in a lukewarm and back-sliding condition, are apt to please and content themselves with the workings and persuasions of their own spirits. And they may find that much of their joy and comfort doth not proceed from true faith wrought by the operation of God, but from the lying, cheating, counterfeit working, and operation of their own spirits. Will you know one principal ground and reason why some true Saints are so unfruitful, dead-hearted, formal and lukewarm in the profession of the Gospel? it is because the Devil cheats them with the workings and persuasions of their own spirits. When God persuades the heart of his love, our hearts are inflamed with an holy love to God, and are willing to do or suffer for the glory of God: but when we content ourselves with the working of our own spirits, there is idleness, sloth, neglect of Christian duties, coldness, formality, and lukewarmness; so that there is little difference between us & others. Again it concerns you all to try your persuasions: For if any of you cousin and cheat yourselves with the persuasions of your own spirits, the time will come that you, who kindle these sparks, and walk in the light of your own fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled; This shall ye receive from the hand of the Lord, ye shall lie down in sorrow, Isa. 50.11. When you expect heaven, you will be cast down to hell; when you shall be confident that Christ is yours, and shall be ready to plead the goodness of your cause in the face of Jesus, you shall find that you were deceived by the false persuasions and workings of your own humane spirits. A faith of yourselves, by which ye have been persuaded of those things, which ye have received by the relation of things to the ear, will not save you; but that faith which is wrought by the Spirit, giving an heavenly revelation of Christ to the heart. Therefore try whether your faith be from your own humane spirits and natural understandings, or whether it proceed from the power and spirit of the most high God mightily working in you for the salvation of your souls. But you will say, How shall we be resolved in our spirits that our faith hath not proceeded from our own spirits, but that it is a work of God in us? 1. When God works faith, he gives an evident light by which we see the truth of our faith: and thus the faithful are in the first place assured of salvation in believing. The just doth live by faith, Heb. 2.4. and hath his life and righteousness by faith. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, 2 Cor. 5.17. The special presence of Christ in the soul doth make a man a new creature, and by faith the new creation in us is discovered unto us, and therefore Christ is said to be form in us by faith, Gal. 4.19. So many as receive him by faith, are born not of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, and have power to be the sons of God, 1 John 12, 13. By faith we are the children of God, Gal. 3.26. and know that we are the children of God, 1 John 5.10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. By which words it appeareth how true faith differeth from a wavering opinion (unde apparet quantum differat à fide fluxa opinio; Marlor.) It is the office of faith to bear witness to the certainty of our salvation, and to give in a testimony of our happiness by Christ Jesus. The blood of Christ doth purge the conscience from dead works, Heb. 9.14. By faith we drink this blood of the Son of God, john 6.53. and look upon him who is invisible to the eye of reason, by this eye of faith which is the evidence of things not seen, Heb. 11.1. Christ is set forth as a propitiation and object of our justification by the Father, Rom. 3.25. And by faith we look upon him who is set forth unto us to be looked upon. It is life eternal to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, John 17.3. And true faith is nothing else but the true knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (Fides quid aliud est quam vera de deo cognitio? Cyr.) He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not shall not see life, John 3.36. In which words our Saviour doth seem to put a difference between a believer, and an unbeliever. The unbelieving man seethe not eternal life: but the believing man seethe eternal life, and hath eternal life abiding in him, by which he knoweth that he is freed from the death of sin, and from the temporal and eternal death for sin, and shall not come into condemnation: For when a man truly believeth, heaven is opened unto him, and he hath a spiritual discovery of Christ made unto his soul. But it is not so with a man, who hath a persuasion form in himself by himself. As John said, that what he had seen; he declared unto them, 1 John 1. so every spiritual man may say that he hath seen Jesus Christ. With Stephen by faith he seethe God, and his Son Jesus standing on his right hand. Christ is so perfectly presented to the eye of faith, that the believer doth by faith look upon a crucified Christ, as though he were present before him, Gal. 3. The Apostle to prove the effectual calling, & justification of the Thessalonians, doth affirm, that the Gospel came unto them in much assurance, 2 Thes. 1.5. Inquire now in thy own spirit, whether thy faith is such a faith as this, which the Scripture doth call the unfeigned faith of the elect; and if it be such a faith, it is not of thyself, but it is the gift of God. 2ly. The Kingdom of God being not in word, but in power, thou that dost truly believe haste found the word of salvation to come unto thee with a mighty power. This was an evidence to Paul of the truth of the conversion of the Thessalonians, because the Word came in power unto them, 1 Thes. 1.5. Thou that hast trusted to a persuasion of the grace and favour of God to thee in Christ, wrought in thee by thy own spirit, thou hast had no heavenly power in this persuasion: But he that hath faith wrought by the spirit of God, there is a mighty power of God comes down upon him when he is enabled to believe. Thou that hast a false faith apprehendest it an easy thing to believe, because thou didst never feel a power from above coming upon thee to enable thee to believe. Whereas the true believer knoweth that it is a difficult thing to believe. Because the work of faith is the work of omnipotency; According to that of our Saviour, Io. 6, 29. This is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent. Therefore if upon examination thou dost find that thou art only pertwaded concerning the mysteries of Christ, and the grace of God as thou art persuaded of natural things in a natural way, and hast not felt the power of heaven enabling thee to believe, thy faith is a false faith. For where there is true faith, a man feels the power of God enabling him to believe the testimony that God gives of his Son Christ. I will give you a plain place to confirm this, Ephes 1.19, 20. where he praying for them that they might see the mighty power, by which they were enabled to believe, doth make use of many very emphatical expressions; that ye may know saith he what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe: according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. There he speaks not only of a power, but the greatness of power, and not only the greatness of power, but the supereminent greatness of his power (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) And as though he had not spoken enough to set out the Almightiness of the power by which we are enabled to believe; he doth inform us that such an operation of the power of the virtue of God, (for so the words may be translated) by which Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and declared to be the Son of God, is put forth for the enabling of us to believe. Thou that hast not this power in thy soul, thy persuasion is wrought in thy spirit, not by the spirit of grace & truth, but it flows from thy own natural and carnal spirit; and it is a persuasion that will never do thee good: it will never bring thee true comfort: A man that hath not a better persuasion than this, shall never see the face of God with joy. 3dly. Faith which is not of ourselves, doth carry us out of ourselves. A faithful man hat his life not in himself, but in Jesus Christ. He liveth not by the principles of the first, but second Adam. He hath his spiritual being in the Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ. He is joined to the Lord, and is one spirit. He seethe the Father in the Son, and the Son in him, and the Father in him through his Son. According to the promise of our Saviour, John 14.20. Ye shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Paul speaking of the spiritual Thessalonians, affirmeth that they are in the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thes. 1.1. By faith we enjoy the glory of union. The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them, that they be one, even as we are one, John 17. Though we have not the glory of equality (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) yet we have the glory of likeness, (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) Though we are not united to the Father to immediately as Christ is, by himself, and in himself; yet we are united to him (mediante Christo) by the means and mediation of Christ Jesus. This is the honour which is given to those who trust by a lively faith, in the name of the Son of God. 4 . Faith which is not of ourselves, doth carry us beyond the world. A believer looking upon Christ overcoming the world for him, doth through faith overcome the world by him, 1 John 5.4. Whatsoever is born of God, overcommeth the world: and this is the victory that overcommeth the world, even your faith. Therefore the Saints are said to be clothed with the Sun, and to have the Moon under their feet, Rev. 12. Because being through saith clothed with the righteousness of Christ who is called the Sun of righteousness, Mal. 4.2. They trample upon all sublunary things as worth nothing in comparison of Jesus Christ. Fifthly, He that truly believeth in Christ, is anointed with the spirit of Christ, and assured of his abiding for ever in Christ, 1 John 2.27. The anointing which ye have received of him, abideth in you, and as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. God should lose his earnest if it were possible for us, to miscarry to the losing of our souls after we have this earnest from him, which bindeth him to bring us to heaven and happiness. This spirit persuades us that we are the sons of God, & that God will lose none of his sons. He that hath this spirit, knoweth that no man that hath the spirit can speak what he feels from the work of the spirit of adoption in his own heart. He admires grace when he looks on God reconciled in Christ to sinners, & looks on himself reconciled to God in believing; and when he feeleth the spirit of God witnessing with his spirit that he is the child of God: he can go boldly to the Throne of grace, knowing Christ as his elder brother, & God his Father in him. Selfe-deceiving hypocrite, dost thou not begin to be convinced, that thy faith is not the true faith of the Gospel, by that which hath been spoken concerning this faith which is not of ourselves, but the gift of God? 6. As I told you even now, There is never true faith, but true love follows it. Love is an ndividual companion of faith. Therefore such as have faith, andnever have love accompanying of it, may be confident that their persuasion concerning the grace and goodness God in Christ, is but a carnal, and not a spiritual persuasion. True faith worketh by love; therefore if mine work not by love, it is a false faith: this is an undeniable argument. Brethren, mistake me not in this point unto which I now am speaking, mis-apprehending my meaning, as if Ibid you love God, & the brethren, that you may believe, & be justified; no, but I tell you now that where true, lively, and justifying faith is, there love will follow. When we do in the light of the spirit apprehend God's love to us, and the love of Christ in giving himself for us, we cannot but love God again, and love Christ who hath loved us, and given himself for us. So that where there is no true love, there is no true faith. If it be truth, that where fire is, there will be heat: it will necessarily follow, that where there is no heat, there is no fire: So if where true faith is, love will follow, it will necessarily follow, that where true love doth not follow, there true faith did not precede, 1 John 4.19. We love him, because he first loved us. He that loveth not God, hath not apprehended God's love to him. As fare as thou believest in a spiritual way, the love of God shall constrain thee to love God. (Tantum diligimus, quantum scimus) love is answerable to the measure of our faith or knowledge. He that hath Paul's faith, shall have his love. We say that love is the load stone of love (magnes amoris amor.) So God's love doth draw forth our hearts in love to God. God in Christ, when he is presented unto us for our justhification, doth appear to us as such a lovely object, that we cannot but love him. The greek proverb is, that loving is wrought by seeing. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) so when by faith we see the love of God in Jesus, we cannot but love God. And therefore John saith, 1 John 4.8. That he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. Wherefore that faith, by which thou art persuaded of the love of God to thy soul, which carries thee not back again in love to God. I dare speak it in the presence of God, that that persuasion is not wrought by the spirit of grace, but is the work of thine own carnal and natural heart. If any man, saith the Apostle, love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha, 1 Cor. 16.22 Let him not be accounted as one (inalbo fidelium) in the list of the faithful. Let him be excommunicated, look not upon him as a true Christian. Peter though he had denied Christ not long before, yet he was confident that he loved that Christ whom he had denied, when Christ asked him, Simon, son of Ionas lovest thou me? he saith unto him, yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee, John 24.15. When Christ the second and third time proposed the same question unto him, he remained still confident of his love: And appeals to Christ the searcher of all hearts, as to one who knew the truth of his love, v. 17. He said unto him, Lord thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. I shall but add one thing more, because I shall (God willing) have an opportunity to enlarge myself in this point, when I shall prove unto you affirmatively, that true faith is the gift of God. Lastly, where the grace of the Father in the blood of his Son, is apprehended; for the covering of sin, there is a forsaking of sin. When God doth discover this, that he will heal back-sliding, love freely, and turn away his anger. Ephraim shall say, what have I to do any more with Idols, Hos. 14.8. When God pardoneth sin by his grace, he will subdue sin by his grace, Mic. 7.18, 19 That man who hath true faith wrought in his heart, he shall seel the power of grace apprehended for his justification, engaging his spirit to deny ungodliness, according to that of the Apostle, Tit. 2 11, 12. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. First, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 soberly, in reference to ourselves. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 justly, in our relation towards men. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 piously or religiously in reference to God. Grace will not suffer us to live gracelesly, because we are justified by grace: but will throughly acquaint us with our duty towards God, towards men, and towards ourselves. If the grace that thou professest teach thee not to deny ungodliness, but thou livest in a graceless way, dishonouring Christ, discrediting the Gospel by thy wicked, scandalous, and evil life, thou dost not in deed, and in truth apprehend the Gospel. If God discovers himself to Abraham as Alsufficient, he will command him to walk before him, and be upright, Gen. 17. Sin shall not have dominion over us, if we are not under the law, but under grace, Rom. 6. Christ will present himself unto us as the pattern for sanctification, if he reveal himself as the object of our justification. Every man who hath a sure and lively hope of salvation by Jesus Christ, purifieth himself as he is pure, 1 John 3.3. He that truly expects happiness hereafter, studies purity here. True Saints do desire, not only to know, but to do the will of God, Psal. 143.10. Teach me to do thy will O Lord (saith the man after Gods own heart) thy spirit is good lead me into the land of uprightness. The spirit of the Gospel will not lead us into the land of profaneness, but into the land of uprightness. God's goodness to us will make us in love with holiness. They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure unto them, saith the Lord, Jer. 33.9. The golden chain of mercy, let down from heaven to draw us up unto God, doth bind us and oblige us to the service and obedience of God. If thou art an old professor of the Gospel and doctrine of grace, and livest gracelesly, unacquainted with the sanctifying spirit, & yet hast a strong persuasion that God is thy Father, and Christ thy Saviour: thy persuasion is not worth one farthing, it will do thee no good: Where there is no desire of purity, there is no work of true faith: for when thou hast a true, and a lively faith, and thou seest God gracious, loving, and merciful, believe it, thy spirit will be carried forth in desires to be made like unto Christ in holiness. We all (saith the Apostle) with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord; are changed into the same image from glory to glory, 2 Cor. 3.18. If thou by the lively operation of the spirit hast seen the glory, grace, beauty and holiness in Christ, for thy Justification, thy spirit will be so enamoured with the beauty of holiness & perfection in Christ, thou wilt desire to see the image, and picture of holiness, & perfection which is in Christ, to be drawn forth upon thy own heart and spirit. There may be some that may think that this is strange Doctrine which I have delivered, to wit, that a man may have strong persuasions concerning his interest in God and Christ, and boast much of it, and yet be but a hypocrite and reprobate all the while. I shall therefore add one place of Scripture to those which I have delivered for the proof of this, and so for the present I shall conclude. Yes shall find it in Micah. 3.11. The heads judge for reward, and the Priests teach for hire, and the Prophet's divine for money; yet for all this will they lean upon the Lord, and say, is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. See here a base, vicious, and covetous people, that sell Justice, and the Word of God; and yet are confident that they belong to God; they would not preach without money in their hand; like many of our Priests, no penny, no pater-noster; no money in hand, no Sermon, no preaching, that will not open their mouths further than it is opened with a key of gold or silver, yet they profess they are the people of God, and make a great show of Religion, and blind the eyes of poor ignorant people that conclude they are the only zealous holy men in the world, though their covetousness, baseness, and vileness in running after Live and great preferments, may appear evidently to children. Ye see by this that people may lean upon God, desire to be accounted his people, and be confident that he is their Father, joh. 8. And yet may have no true faith, but may be self-imposters, deceiving themselves with the persuasions of their own spirits, whereas true faith is only from God, bestowed upon us by him as a free gift, which let the good God work in our hearts by his grace through Christ, Amen. SERMON. V Faith is the gift of God. EPHES. 2.8. By grace ye are saved through faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. THere is nothing doth lay the creature lower in the presence of God, than a clear apprehension of the Creator's favour, and goodness, in giving all things freely to the creature. The Apostle to beat down the pride of man in spiritual gifts, doth make use of this quaere, 1 Cor. 4.7. What hast thou, that thou hast not received. As if he had said, if thou dost but seriously consider, that thou enjoyest no spiritual gift, but it hath been freely given unto to thee, thou wilt not see any cause why thou shouldst be proud of it. And in these words, for the humbling and abasing of man, and for the exalting of God's grace in Jesus Christ, he doth set down this in the last place, That true faith is the gift of God. I shall illustrate this two manner of ways. First, I will show you that it is the gift of God's power: For this the Apostle drives at here; when he opposeth faith, as the gift of God, to what he had said before, maintaining that it was not of our seves. Man being not able to believe of himself, it will necessarily follow, that it is only the power of Almighty God, that is able to enable a man truly to believe in his grace through Christ. In the second place I shall show you, that faith is the gift of God's grace. As God alone by his almighty power is able to enable a man to believe: so God alone can give us this excellent and precious gift of faith, by which we are made partakers of the divine nature, and carried to heaven, to behold the glory of our God, in the face of Jesus Christ. First, faith is the gift of the power of God, and therefore Isaiah 53.1. we read of the arm of God, which is to be put forth, for the enabling of men to believe the Gospel. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. The strength of a man doth usually lie in his arm, wherefore God to show that few do believe, John 12.38. doth prove it by this, because his arm or strength ●s revealed to few. The arm, power, & strength of God must be put forth and revealed to men, or else men will never be able indeed, and in truth to believe what God hath related, and reported concerning his glorious grace in Jesus Christ. This will appear by some few considerations. First, it is the prerogative of God's powerful will to show mercy, by giving faith for salvation, to whom he will, and therefore it is not ●n the power of sinful man; effectually to will his own salvation, Rom. 9.18. Jam. 1.18. Of his own will he begot us. God is the God of salvation, and therefore the creature cannot be a Saviour to himself. Save me, saith the Psalmist, for thy mercy sake, Psal. 31.16. Why should the Psalmist have prayed unto God, to save him, if he had been able to save himself, by working faith in his own heart, we are all sinners, saved by obtaining a Psalm of mercy. And it is God that granteth us a psalm of mercy for the saving of our lives, and giveth us learning, by which we are enabled for to ●ead it. The will of God is the supreme ruler, and governor in all things, and therefore in this, for the giving of faith unto whom he pleaseth, for salvation. Man lies under unbelief many years, when God once comes and speaks the word to command light to shine, then presently we are enlightened. He created light by the word of his power, and made the heavens; so by the same omnipotent word, and power of his, he is pleased to create, and set up new light in the understandings of those whom he intends to save, giving to them the knowledge of the sweetness of his grace and glory in the countenance of Jesus Christ. Secondly, It is the gift of his power. His will and power cannot be resisted, Rom. 9 If there were not such an power in grace, no man could ever be made a partaker of grace. All the strength of the natural man doth fight against grace, and taketh up arms against Jesus Christ; so that if God did not work irresistably, there would never be wrought the work of grace in the heart of any man. If God will persuade Japhet he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, Gen. 9.27. will work, saith God, and who shall let it, Isa 43.13. That is, none shall let it. All the Devils in hell cannot hinder the work of faith when God intendeth to work it. As many a● are ordained unto eternal life shall believe, Acts 13.48. All Christ's sheep shall hear his voice, joh. 10.16. The gathering of the people shall be unto Shilo, Gen. 49.10. God hath determined the thing to be done, before it is done. And all his counsels of old are faithfulness and truth, Isa 25.1. He should be unfaithful, if his determinations should not come to pass. The Apostle in the Ephes. 1.11. saith, that the Saints have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of God, who worketh all things according to his own will. And if we consider the eternal Counsel and determination, forgiving faith to some particular person, we shall find, that it is impossible, that these men should not believe, in that moment in which God hath appointed to work faith in their heart, and therefore the Apostle doth acquaint us with the immutability of this counsel, Heb. 16.17. And James saith, Jam. 1.17. That with God there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. Wherefore seeing God doth dispense the gifts of his grace unto his people, according to his unalterable decrees, and unchangeable counsels, it will be evident, that he worketh upon men irresistably. God should err in his prescience or foreknowledge of things, if he should foresee and determine, that a man should believe, and that man at the same time should remain in unbelief. As an ginger would be deceived, if he should foresee and foretell, that a thing should come to pass, and the thing foretold should not come to pass. It must be granted therefore, that God's decrees are certain irrevocable, and immutable, and that God working according to these decrees, doth work irresistably, and therefore faith is his gift, because it proceedeth from his power according to that of our Apostle, It is the gift of God. Thirdly, Darkness cannot create light. Faith is a spiritual light, and therefore it cannot come from our darkness, but must have its birth and beginning from some heavenly light. And God is the powerful light, from whom faith is beamed into our hearts. Five things are required to seeing, 1. A visible object. 2. The organ of fight. 3. A light to discover this object. 4. A medium through which this object is to be seen. 5. That the organ be in a living and waking creature. And these things are likewise requisite to seeing a thing spiritually by faith, which all are from the power of God. 1. It is God doth present doth us the spiritual object, which is to be looked upon for salvation. 2. It is God giveth us spiritual organs or eyes. 3. Spiritual light to discover spiritual things. 4. A medium, jesus Christ, through whom we look upon him. 5. A spiritual life and being. It is a thing proper and peculiar to God, to create a thing out of nothing, and it is his prerogative and power in believing, to make us new creatures. By which it will appear, that true faith cannot be of ourselves, but it is the gift of God. Fourthly, That which stablisheth Saints in the faith, that power doth at the first, work faith in them: but God by his power doth establish Saints, Rom. 16.25. The Apostle doth make it a privilege proper to the power of God to establish Saints in the faith, and therefore it is proper to his power to bring us to the faith. Fifthly, The promises of God in giving Christ to open the blind eyes, Isa 42.6, 7. His engagements to teach us to know him, according to that of the Prophet, All thy children shall be taught of God. His covenant in Christ, that we shall know him, Heb. 8. doth sufficiently demonstrate, that nothing below the omnipotent power of God, insufficient for the enabling of us to rest upon his own grace for salvation. I need not spend many words in proving this, because the argument laid down to prove the negative part of the Text, will reach the affirmative. For if not of ourselves, it will unquestionably follow, that it is of God that we are enabled to believe. In the next place I shall prove, that as it is the work of his power, so it is the work of his own free grace. When he enableth a man to believe, he puts forth not only the power of his omnipotency, but the power of his grace: he doth not look upon any thing in the creature to move him to give faith to the creature: but he looks upon his own grace, and he sees no other motive or argument to move him to give faith to men, but those that lie in the bosom of his own grace from the days of eternity. I shall prove this first by Scripture, and then by some considerations. First, you have it proved by Scripture, Phil. 1.29. To you it is given not only to believe, but to suffer. Hence I gather, that it is the gift of God's grace to enable a man to believe: As it is the free gift of God's grace to call forth a man to suffer for him. So in 2 Tim. 2.25. The Apostle bids Timothy with meekeness of spirit to endeavour to recover those that opposed the doctrine and truth which he held forth and preached. If peradventure God will give them repentance for the acknowledging of the truth. You see then God must give repentance, or changednesse of mind, by which he is enabled to believe truth to the glory of God. Now as I have cleared it by Scripture, so I shall clear it by some considerations; The first shall be drawn from the promises of God. The promises as they do prove, that man cannot do any thing by his own power, but that all is done for us by the power of God, so they prove that all is done for our spiritual good by grace. For promises of the new Covenant do not only acquaint us with the power, but grace of God. If Adam had been preserved in his obedience, and never had fallen, he had been preserved by the power of God; but not by the grace of God; as grace is strictly taken in the Covenant of grace: so that as we have proved, that faith is not of ourselves, but from the power of God by leading you to the promise; so, now we shall prove, that we are saved by grace through faith, by bringing you back again, to look upon promises, as they are the stream; & flow forth of God's grace unto us. What need God promise to do that which we are able to do of ourselves? Therefore seeing we have the promise of grace for it, we may conclude that it is by grace, & not by any power in ourselves. Rom. 15.12, we have a promise for faith, In him (speaking of Christ) shall the Gentiles trust. So likewise in Jerem. 24.7. We have a promise of God, that he will give us the knowledge of himself. I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and they shall return unto me with their whole heart. Here God hath promised to give us a heart that we shall know him. Now seeing God hath promised to give us a heart to know him: therefore I conclude we are not able to give such a heart to ourselves. God hath promised to circumcise our hearts, to take away the foreskin of our spirits, therefore we are not able to circumcise ourselves. God hath promised to turn us, therefore we are not able to turns ourselves. Turn us O Lord and we shall be turned, Lam. 5.21. Intimating thus much, that we cannot come towards him, till he turn the face and countenance of his favour toward us, answering to that in Jer. 31.18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall he turned. And therefore God doth usually mix promises with exhortations, that man should not conclude from God's exhortations unto him, that there is a sufficient power in him to do what he is exhorted to do, as in Hosea 14. when he had exhorted Israel to return unto the Lord, he presently addeth, vers. 4. I will heal their backesliding. All the Prophets do subscribe to this truth, Jona 2.9. Salvation is of the Lord by promise. He will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths, saith Micab, Mic. 4.2. and Zeph. 3.12. I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. God will fill his spiritual house or Temple with glory; And I will give peace, saith the Lord of hosts, Hag. 2.9. God will be the glory in the midst of the spiritual Jerusalem, Zech. 2.9. And he will remove the iniquity of the land in one day, v. 3.9. All these promises are plain demonstrations of Gods powerful grace, and man's weakness. Secondly, we have not only the bare promise, but the Covenant of God, and this Covenant confirmed and bound by an oath, Mic. 7.20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our Fathers; therefore it is not by any power or work in ourselves. If it be the fruit of the covenant of grace, and God hath covenanted in his grace to do it for us, then certainly we are not able to do it ourselves. But God hath covenanted to do it for us; he hath covenanted to write his law in our hearts: The law of faith, as the Apostle calls it, Rom. 5. Therefore we are not able to work faith in our own spirits. Why should God tie himself in a Covenant, and bind this Covenant with an oath to do this for us: if we were able to do it ourselves, why should God do any thing for his own names sake, if the creature can do enough to make itself happy by his own strength. In vain is a Covenant of grace promulgated for man's salvation, and for discovery of this salvation; If man can find out the way of salvation by his own wisdom, why must Christ guide our feet into the ways of peace, Luke 1. if of ourselves we can find out these ways of life & peace. God hath made it his work, & therefore it is not our work wrought by our own strength. God hath promised faith as a gift freely to be bestowed upon undeserving man, therefore man by the improvement of his parts and labour, cannot purchase it as the reward of his endeavours. Thirdly, God worketh faith in time according to his eternal purpose, and decree before time. But the eternal purpose of God, is the purpose of his grace, therefore God worketh faith according to his purpose of grace. The first of these propositions hath been already proved, the second is evident from 2 Tim. 1.9. So that it is evident that faith floweth from eternal grace; and therefore it is not of ourselves, but it is the gift of God. Fourthly, There is nothing can merit or deserve faith in man, before faith is wrought, and therefore it is given as a free gift. This is plain by Rom. 9.16. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy, John 1.13. There may be as much in one that shall be damned, as in him that shall be saved before his conversion. Peter did no more to merit, or deserve his first faith, than judas did. God's grace is his rule by which he worketh, in giving faith unto any man, and therefore faith is the gift of God. Fifthly, God's design in justifying a sinner through faith, as hath been formerly proved, is the magnifying of his own free love unto the creature in Christ; and therefore he doth acquaint us, that faith is the free gift of his grace, that so he may divest the creature of glorying in himself, or in any thing from himself. If the Father should justify us by grace through faith, and we should apprehend that our faith were of ourselves, there would be some glorying in ourselves. And therefore he doth justify by grace, through faith, as a fruit, effect, and free gift of his own grace. So proud we are naturally, that though we were convinced that we were saved by grace, as a gift given unto us; (as alms unto a beggar) yet we should be proud, if we knew that of ourselves we had an hand to receive it, and therefore God doth not only in his grace give us the gift of eternal life, but the hand by which we receive it. Thus we are saved by grace through faith, which is the gift of God. Sixthly, The Apostle saith, that no man can say that Jesus is the Christ, but by the holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 12.3. But by faith we confess that Jesus is the Christ, and therefore it doth plainly follow, that it is from the holy Spirit of grace. The Spirit doth show, that all things are freely given us of God, 2 Cor. 3.12. And therefore faith is freely given us of God. If every thing, than faith. Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights, if we will believe James, Jam. 1.17. And therefore we must grant that faith is given unto us of God, or else deny it to be a good and perfect gift. Obj: But some may say, if faith be a gift, why doth our Saviour bid us to buy gold tried in the fire, that we may be clothed, that the shame of our nakedness may not appear, Rev. 3.18. Answ. This word buying is taken properly, and so it signifieth the purchasing of something, by some considerable price which is given for it. There can be no buying of a thing without some price. (Nulla exemptio sine pretio esse potest. Justinian in stit. lib. 3 Tit. 24.) And in this sense we cannot buy faith or Christ, having no considerable price to pay for Christ, before we enjoy Christ. 2 . Buying is taken improperly, Isa. 55.1. Buy wine and milk without money, and without price. And if faith be to be bought, it must be thus bought by us, we have no money or price to part with for faith. And what is thus bought by us, is freely given unto us; So that this objection is too weak to weaken the truth which hath been delivered. It standeth still unshaken, and unmoveable upon its own Basis, Faith is the gift of God. Having proved it sufficiently by these considerations, that faith is a gift, I shall draw some useful conclusions from them, and put a period to my discourse. First, This overthroweth the meritoriousness of the righteousness of our own works qualifications or preparations before faith for the deserving any thing at the hand of God to engage him to give us faith. What we receive as a free gift, cannot be given us in consideration of our merits or deservings. I shall but touch this, because I have formerly taken pains to beat down the Antichristian monster of , and merit of works: which like two twins of the same womb, do live and die in the same moment. It is the Lord Jesus must seek us, before ever we can find him. And we cannot as we ought desire faith, until faith be freely bestowed upon us. God's free grace doth prevent man's free will. And if God leave us to ourselves, and to our own labours, endeavours, actings, duties, and performances, and do not come in by the power of his grace upon us, we shall never be able truly, and spiritually to understand any thing of free grace. Away then with the foolish conceit of those who cry up the strength of man's will, and his precedent qualifications of righteousness and holiness, for the making of some men worthy to close with Christ in a promise of free grace, rather than great sinners. 2ly. This may inform us, that such shall certainly believe, whom God will enable to believe through grace, Acts 18.27. An infinite power is of such strength, that a finite power is not able to resist it: but whatsoever power there i● in the creature, by which it may resist th● work of God's grace, it is but finite, and th● grace whereby we are enabled to believe, i● infinite, therefore we are not able to resist th● infinite power of the grace of God, by which we are enabled to believe. Take the Devil and all the powers of hell, with all that is i● the heart of man, all his sins, ignorances' and corruptions, conjoining their forces t● hinder the work of faith in the spirit of man, all these together are but a finite power: but when God comes, he comes with an infinite power, to enable us to believe. Therefore I conclude, that we are not able to resist the power of God, when he is determined to give us faith. Faith being the gift of his Almighty power. But some may here object with the Arminiaus that place of Stephen, Acts 7.51. Ye stiffnecked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye have always resisted the holy Spiri. Here (say they) you see that men have resisted the holy Spirit; therefore God doth not so work upon men by the power of his grace, that he leaves them altogether unable to resist. To this I answer, that there is a twofold power that God puts forth. An ordinary power in the preaching of his Word; when by entreaties, beseeching, and promises, and the like, he allures, and enticeth men in the preaching of the Word, and knocking at the doors of their hearts for entrance. This common work of the spirit may be resisted, and so all wicked and ungodly men in this sense resist the Spirit of God, and reject the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is another power of the spirit, and that is that inward spiritual power, by which God comes on those whom he intends to save; thus he comes, not only in the preaching of the Word in the language of man, but in the power of heaven. And though the former work of the Spirit may be resisted, this latter cannot be resisted. Though we may reject the Word of God preached in the letter, and some common workings of the spirit in our own hearts, and not give entertainment to Jesus Christ when he knocks at the door of our hearts in the preaching of the Word; yet when it comes down with power to open the heart as he did Lydia's; we are not able to prevail against him, when God intends powerfully to open the door of our spirits, we are not able to keep it locked: he will sweetly force us to open the door, and by his spirit and grace brea● in upon us, and not suffer us to shut him out 〈◊〉 our hearts: and we are bound to bless Go● that it is so; for unless it were so, no man i● the world should ever be saved, no man in the world should ever receive Christ, unless God did come with an infinite power, and pleas●●●● violence force him to believe. If it were not thus that God did wor● this unresistable way in those whom he inten● to save, there must of necessity be an uncertainty whether ever any man or woman should for be saved by Jesus Christ: For if every m● and woman in the world had power to re●● grace offered, & not to believe at all, than 〈◊〉 must follow, that it might be impossible a●●● the fall, that never a man or woman in the world should ever be saved by Christ. And this absurdity will follow from it, that God after man's fall, could not be certain that any man should be saved by Christ, and so it would take away the foreknowledge of God, because he could not know, but that every man in the world might resist & reject Jefus Christ. Thirdly, This may give in some support to some trembling hearers, who are convinced by the spirit of unbelief, and are not able to believe in Jesus Christ. Thou art ready to despair, when thou apprehendest, that it is impossible for thee truly to believe of thyself, but let thy spirit be upheld with this consideration, that God is able to give thee faith while I am speaking of faith, and showing thee the worker of it. It may be thou thinkest that thou shalt never have joy, comfort, and assurance of salvation, but by believing, and yet thou are not able to believe, and therefore comfort thyself in this, though thou canst do nothing, God is able to enable thee to do all things, Phil. 4.13. As the Martyr when some told him that when he came to suffer, he would rather deny his tenets, then burn. It is true, said he, I of myself should do so: but God is able to enable me. So though thou knowest that thou of thyself canst not believe, know that God is able to enable thee presently to believe. Thou that hast had experience of thy unbelieving heart, and of that mountain of infidelity that lies upon thy spirit, and that thou art able to say, I shall never be able to believe of myself while the world stands: know that God is ablde in this momentt to give thee faith. Fourthly, This may inform us concerning the nature of true faith; by which it may be distinguished from the faith of hypocritical Formalists. The hypocrite not being acquainted with his own disability, for the working of saving faith in his own heart, doth apprehend that he can do the work of God by himself in his own strength; (like the carnal hearers of our Saviour, John 6.28. What shall we do, that we may work the work of God) And when he apprehendeth, that he doth believe he glorieth more in his own actings, labourings, and endeavours, (by which he conceiveth that he hath obtainned faith) then in the grace of the Lord Jesus; having no spiritual knowledge of that faith which is wrought by the Almightiness of God's powerful & grace. But if it is otherwise with a true son of Abraham, his faith is of another nature, having a spiritual, and heavenly tincture in it, from that spirit, by whom it ●● wrought. He prizeth not his faith of the natural spirit, but the faith of his heavenly spirit. He can set his seal to that truth, of our Saviour, John 6.65. That no man can come unto him, except it were give a unto him of his Father; he is not proud of his faith, because he looking upon it in the glass of God's free grace, doth account it rather Gods work then his own. According to that of our Saviour, John 6. This is the work of God, that ye believe. Upon which words one of the Ancients hath this observation. (Non dixit hoc est opus vestrum, sed hoc est opus Dei.) He said not, this is your work, but the work of God. Our Saviour speaking to his Disciples, Mar. 4.11. To you (saith he) it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all those things are done in parables. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus is a mystery and parable unto many, until the Lord doth give us the precious gift of faith, by which we understand these mysteries of God: so that he that truly understands the mystery of the Kingdom, doth look upon his spiritual knowledge as a gift. What is complete and perfect faith? but the gift of God, by which we believe, that all our spiritual good things, and faith itself is freely given unto us by God. (Quae est plena et perfect a fides? Quae credit ex Deo et omnia bona nostra, et ipsam fidem. Aug.) Fifthly, This may convince those of their error, who being convinced of sin, do refuse to turn into the true way of salvation by believing, supposing in the pride and ignorance of their hearts, that this is too short and near a way to Justification and happiness. These will first do good works, get strength against all their corruptions, be made holy & sanctified men, and then they think that they may safely make bold to lay hold of some promise of grace for justification and salvation. It was thus with me, when God did at first begin to awaken my conscience with the dreadful fight of my sins, and course of profaneness, in which I had lived, and some months I went in this way; never in the spirit, considering that the object of Gods justifying grace was an ungodly man and a sinner, and not knowing that spiritual regeneration is not by the works of the Law, but the doctrine of the Gospel, though I could then in a carnal way (as many blind Protestants now can) have spoken and preached more gloriously with rhetorical words and flourishing expressions of justification by faith, without works, than now I can, or will. But as God, who from all eternity, had singled me out unto salvation by Jesus Christ, was pleased to convince me of my ignorance, and to bring me to rest upon his grace in his son, as a poor wretched sinner, enabling me to believe that my sins were blotted out for his own Names sake, though my sins did testify against me. So these who are in the same condition, in which I then was, if they are in the number of those, whom God hath given unto his son Jesus Christ, shall be convinced, that by faith through Christ we have access to the Throne of grace with boldness, and that faith is not given in consideration of any preceding acts of holiness, or sanctification, but as the free gift of our heavenly Father. That they who have thus erred in spirit, Isa. 29.24. may come unto understanding, and such who have murmured against the truth of God's grace, may learn doctrine. Give me leave briefly to lay down some convincing considerations, which may bring to your remembrance those things which we have more fully handled. 1 Consi. The word and promises which we do enjoy, are free gifts of God's favour. What reason can we give, why we should enjoy the outward means of grace, rather than Americans, but his own free grace, Psalm. 147.19. He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgements unto Israel. It is the Lord that bringeth the external means and word of grace as a gift (more worth than the whole world) unto a people. According to that sweet promise's of God, Ezek. 29 21. I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them. The great and precious promises by the believing of which, we are made partakers of the divine nature, are freely given unto us, 2 Pet. 1.4. 2 Consi. The power of God doth make the difference between men who do enjoy the outward means, 2 Pe. 1.3. His divine power hath given us all things, that pertain unto life and godlinsse, through the knowledge of him who hath called us to glory and virtue. If God did put forth that omnipotent power in all, which he doth in some, who hear the Gospel, all as well as some should believe, 1 Cor. 3.7 Neither he that planteth is any thing, neither he that watereth: but God that giveth the encaease. Upon which words one giveth us this observation. As all things which are planted and watered, do not spring up, th●●●, and prosper, but those whom God doth bless; So all men who are planted in the Church of Ghrist, and watered by the preaching or the Word, do not truly believe, but those upon whom God bestoweth faith. (Nec omnium est 〈◊〉, qu● 〈◊〉 verbum, sed quibus deus part●● m●nsuram ●idei, sicut nec omnia germinant quae plantamu, ●t rigantur.) But I have touched upon this before. 3 Consi. God's good grace doth prevent man's good works in his justification. God in his grace must give us a new creation & heavenly being in his word made flesh, 1 Joh. before good works can be wrought by us. (Sicut creatore opus habemus ut essemus, sic salvatore, ut revivisceremus. Aug.) As it was necessary that we should have a Creator to give us beings, as creatures, so it is necessary that we should have a Saviour to make us new creatures through faith. 4 Consi. God's grace doth not only prevent our works, but faith itself: Faith is an effect of God's grace, and therefore God is gravious before we believe. It is a blessing of the new Covenant, and therefore in this respect it may be truly said, that we are under the new Covenant before we do believe. By which we may plainly see that faith is a free gift. Mercy is showed unto the faithful, and it is showed unto us to make us faithful. (Fideli datur quidem miserecordia, sed data est etiam, ut esset fidelis. Aug.) One saith that mercy was showed unto Paul, not only because he was faithful, but that he might be faithfufull. The Apostle to prove the freeness of grace in bestowing faith as a gift upon us, hath these three expressions within the limits of three verses, Rom. 5.15, 16, 17. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) calling faith a gift, and a gift of grace, and a gift of grace for righteousness. 5. Consi. There is no way to happiness for thee, but by grace, and no closing in any sure or comfortable way with grace, but through faith. We are all condemned by the Law, and there is no escaping for us, but by that pardon which the King of Heaven in the prerogative of his grace doth give unto us, and no way for us to be able to read our pardon, unless God teach us. And therefore God hath promised, Isa. 14.3. To give us rest from our sorrow, fear and hard bondage, with grace, Psal. 84.11. knowledge, Ezek. 29.21. Faith, Rom. 11.26. Strength and peace, Psalm. 29.11. Wherefore let us be willing to receive Christ by faith, and to receive faith as a gift. God must thee with his Son, and give thee faith to put him on. Refuse not this glorious garment, because God will give it thee freely. But be contented to be made partaker of Christ and faith, according to Gods own pleasure. Think not with Simon Magus, to buy the gifts of the Spirit, faith is a free gift. God will not sell a Diamond for dung. Faith is a precious Diamond in a Christians crown, works before faith, but dung, Phil. 3. Cease then from thinking by thine own works to purchase that faith, which God doth intent freely to give unto men, because men can give no considerable price for it. Make no more words in bargaining with God for faith. He will give unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely, Rev. 21.6. Let no man be kept back by his old age, or sins, from hoping to obtain salvation through faith. While we are in this world, no repentance is too late; there is a way to mercy. (Nec quisquam aut peccatis retardebitur aut annis ad salutem consequendam. In isto adhuc mundo manenti, paenitentia nulla sera est. Patet ad indulgentiam additus. Cyprian.) Object. But if faith be such a free gift, why doth not God give the same measure of faith unto all believers. Answ. He may do what he will with his own. He may give him the greatest measure of faith, who deserves faith lest, Ephes. 4.7. Unto every one of us is given faith, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. As a man that giveth measures of wheat freely to beggars, may give one more, and another less, without doing any wrong. So God may measure forth faith unto us largely, according to his own will, wlthout wronging those who have done more for him, and receive less. We have no cause to complain or murmur against God, because he is abundantly gracious to whom he pleaseth; but should rather admire his free grace. And seeing faith, with every act and degree of it, is a gift of unmerited grace, let us who do believe, wait for the increase of faith, as a gift, ceasing from our own works, understanding, and abilities. Yet here lest I should be mistaken, let me add this caution. That we should not neglect Gospel-duties, by hearing of Gospel-promises. Promises should not prove occasions of sloth to to the faithful, but should be arguments and incentives to spiritual activity, 2 Cor. 7.1. Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthivesse, etc. Seventhly, Let us prise faith as a gift; we prise gifts, because there is usually some preciousness and goodness in them, or else for the giver's sake. Faith is precious in itself, 1 Pet. 1.1. God's gifts have something of his own goodness in them, and faith is to be prized because it is from him. It is said of Elkanah that he gave portions to Peninnah, and her sons and daughteas: but unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loved her, 1 Sam. 1.4, 5. So God doth give portions to the men of the world, but his worthy portion of love to his Saints, through faith, and therefore prise it. Imitate those blessed souls, who have showed unto us by their good examples, how they prized faith, who were contented to part rather with their honours, pleasures, riches, preferments, yea their own lives then the faith of the glorious Gospel of Christ. They loved not their lives unto the death, Rev. 8ly. Faith is a great gift, which if thou hast it, thou knowest that thou hast freely received it. (Fides magnum aliquid est, quam si habes profecto, accepisti. Aug.) And therefore look up unto God, for wretched, unbelieving creatures think that they may rec●ve faith as a gift which they will never be able to deserve as a reward. This may strengthen faith much when we are before the Throne of grace, begging faith for poor sinners, if we consider that faith is a free gift. Jeremiah made use of such an argument to strengthen his faith, Jer. 14.7. Though our iniquities do testify against us, do for thy Names sake. O the happiness of those who are acquainted with free grace, they may expect all things for themselves and others, as free gifts to be given unto them, though they can expect nothing as deserved wages. Lastly, Give glory to God for his unspcakable grace in giving faith unto thee. My faith O Lord, saith one, hath called upon thee, which thou hast given unto me, and which thou hast inspired into me. (Invoeavit te demine, fides mea quam dedisti mihi, quam inspirasti mihi. Aug. Cons.) So bless God with that faith, and for that faith which God hath freely given thee. The Son of God hath given us an understanding to know God, 1 Joh. 5.20. And this knowledge is the gift of faith. (Quid aliud est fides, quam vera de Deo cognitio. Cyp.) And therefore bless God in the Son for this faith. Thou mightest have lain in the dark dungeon of an unbelieving heart to this day, and thou art brought into the wonderful light of the liberty of the Gospel through faith. The Son hath made thee free, and thou art free indeed by believing. Be free in rendering largely the tribute of praise to him, who through faith hath knocked off the shackles & setters of bondage from thy soul. Give thyself to him who hath given himself and his Son to thee through faith. And begin to live the heavenly life of glory, in giving glory and praise to him, who hath given thee the glory of union with himself in his Son, through faith, Joh. 17. Give praise to the King of Zion, who hath redeemed thee to God by his own blood, and made thee a King and Priest, and hath assured thee that thou shalt reign upon the earth. Say of faith, and all the gifts of his Spirit, as jacob of his children, these are children which God hath graciously given unto his servant. Ascribe nothing to thyself, but all to him from whom are all things. Cry with a loud voice; Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb; and sing in faith with all Saints who love Christ in sincerity, Revel. 6.12. Blessing, and Glory, and Wisdom, and Thanks giving, and Honour, and Power, and Might, be unto our God for ever and ever, Amen. SERMON VI. The Heaven-borne man sinneth not. 1 JOHN 3.9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. GOd in his grace hath shined into my spirit, by reading of these words, which hath inclined my spirit to speak from these words. The truths of Christ are likely to prove powerful upon the hearts of the hearers, when they are seconded with the experience of the speaker. I am therefore emboldened to acquaint you with the truth, which is wrapped up in these words: though I know that there are many adversaries and opposers of this truth, 2 Cor. 4.13. We believe, & therefore we speak, saith the Apostle. So I do in spirit believe what I shall speak, and therefore I am resolved to speak it forth plainly, and you are engaged to hear me patiently. The words are a conclusion drawn from preceding premises. In the precedent words the Apostle delivered two propositions. First, That he, that committeth sin is of the Devil. Secondly, That Christ hath appeared to destroy the works of the Devil; from whence he concludeth, that he which is born of God cannot sin, not having his being in the Devil; but in Christ, who destroyeth sin. In this verse, there are these particular observations, which at the first view may present themselves unto us. 1. A character of a true Christian. He is one who is borne of God. 2. The property of this man who is borne of God. He doth not commit sin. 3. A reason why he cannot commit sin, to wit, because his seed remaineth in him. 4. His purity. He doth not only, not commit sin, but he sinneth not at all. 5. This asserted by laying down the impossibility of his sinning, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. He cannot possibly sinne. 6. This is further proved by his excellent & glorious condition. He cannot sin, because he is borne of God. First. From the person who is here spoken of, The man who is borne of God. We may take notice of the folly and Bedlam-madnesse of some, who would be accounted professors and Preachers of a spiritual Gospel, whose Gospel and mystery of error doth make the man born of God, to be God. Confounding the glorious nature of the Father, Word, and Spirit, with the new Creature. The Apostle doth plainly overthrow this Bedlam-Divinity by these expressions. In which he doth make a difference between God, and the man who is born of him. That which is born of God, is borne in time. But God is from eternity. And therefore that which is born of God cannot be God. The place which they pervert is in the 1 Cor. 6.17. He which is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Answ. Christ, and the man joined unto him are one, not by confounding of the person of Christ, with the person of a Believer, but by the union of these two in the Spirit. As the members are one with the head, and yet the head is not the members, nor the members the head. Secondly, In this objection as they destroy the personal being of a Believer, so they destroy the personal being of Christ; as he is the Word made flesh. There Christ is nothing but God; they apprehending that Christ hath offered up his humane nature, wisdom and righteousness, as things of the first creation; and that he hath no being now but in spirit, which they call Christ in the Spirit, the spiritual man, or God. I shall therefore in few words deliver the truth of God, concerning the man who is born of God. This phrase is taken first largely, and so every Creature may be said to be of God, because every creature is the workmanship of God, and hath its being from God. And in this sense all wicked men are called the Offspring of God, Acts 17.28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly, It is taken strictly. And so it is to be understood not of those who have their being from God by creation, but by spiritual regeneration. And thus it is here taken, and in other places, John 3.5. Except a man be borne of water & the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 1 13. In this sense neither God, Christ, or the Spirit are the new man, or the man born of God. But the special and gracious presence of God through Christ by the spirit doth make a man a new Creature, 1 Cor. 1.30. John 1.13. 2 Cor. 5.17. If any man is in Christ, he is a new Creature. He doth not say that if any man is in Christ, that then he is Christ, or that Christ is the new creature, but that man who is in Christ, he is the new creature. Having showed you who the new man, or the man born of God, is, who is here spoken of, and freed the Text from famelisticall blasphemies. I shall desire that you may be acquainted with this truth. Every true Saint is a man born of God. 1 Consid. It will not advantage a man to make a profession of Christ, and to submit to all the outward Ordinances of Christ, unless a man be made a new creature by Christ, Gal. 6.15. In Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncir cumcision, but a new creature. We must be borne again, or else it had been better for us never to have been borne. Christ will not own any for his, or approve them as his Disciples, whatsoever procession they do make of him, unless he be form in them, 2 Cor. 13.5. Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be unapproved. They are the Devils children, who are not borne of God, John 8.44. 2 Consid. God hath engaged himself in the Covenant of grace, that those who are his, shall be borne of him, Ezek. 36.26. A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you an heart of flesh. As a Carver when he maketh an Image, doth begin at the outside of the Timber, and cuts & shaves and smooths that. So hypocrites do begin at the outside, and do smooth themselves in their outward conversation to men-ward. And so there is but an image instead of a new creature. But true Saints are made new inwardly. Some say that the heart is the first thing which hath life. (Cor est primum vivens.) It is true, in the new creation, God doth give unto the vessels of his grace new hearts, Rom. 10.10. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Jer. 32.39. 3. Consid. Men who are not borne of God, cannot have fellowship with God. If we say that we have fellow ship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, 1 John 1.6. But true Saints have fellowship with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, 1 John 1.3. And therefore they are borne of God. 4 Consid. God is to be known, served, and worshipped by true Saints: but we cannot truly know him, serve or worship him, so long as we are old creatures, in the state of nature, and therefore it cannot be denied, that true Saints are borne of him. An old creature is spiritually dead, and cannot see God. A dead creature cannot perform the actions of a living creature. And a sinner cannot serve the living God, and perform that spiritual worship which God doth require of those who are quickened to spiritual worship by Jesus Christ. 5. Consid. The new Heaven and the new Earth is only provided for new creatures: but it is provided for Saints, and they expect it, 2 Pet. 3.13. And therefore they are borne of God. Mat. 19.28. Our Saviour saith, that such who have followed him in the regeneration, shall sit upon Thrones. The Saints are translated out of the Kingdom of the world into the kingdom of grace, by spiritual regeneration, and therefore they shall be translated from the Kingdom of grace, into the Kingdom of glory. By these considerations it is evident, that true Saints are borne of God. Use. Let us not try our Saint-ship by our large professions of Christ, and subjection to such things which we apprehend to be his Ordinances for external worship; but by our new creation. It concerneth every man to be thoroughly assured of his heavenly birth, who would make his claim good for heaven and glory; and be assured that he shall escape the damnation of Hell. As our Saviour said of Judas, Mat. 26.24. That it had been good for him, he had not been borne. So it had been good for us that we had never been borne, if we shall live and die professors of the knowledge of God in Christ, and not die possessors of God in Christ by the new creation. Consider therefore 1. That every change or alteration which may be wrought in a man, doth not make him a Son of God by spiritual regeneration. Moral principles may make a great change in a man. And Pharisaical principles may make a man seem to be very religious, to himself and others. But the Pharisees proselyte is fare enough from a true Convert. And except our righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. We may walk fare in the way of the Law, and performance of duties, to make ourselves new creatures, and the Sons of God by our own righteousness and legal reformation, and may at last stumble at Christ, and never come to know what it is to be borne of God. 2. A man may take a long walk in the path of the Gospel, and may after a sort escape the pollutions of the world by Gospel-principles and may taste of the powers of the world to come, & in the conclusion may sit down short of a new creation here, and glory hereafter, 2 Pet. 2.20. Hebr. 6. Never truly knowing what it is to have the Spirit in him, and himself in the Spirit, God in him, and himself in God, Christ in him, and himself in Christ. Quer. But by what means is a man born of God may some one say, seeing it concerneth us to know that we are born of God, and it is so easy to be mistaken. It is not by the law, by that thou mayst have a knowledge of sin, Rom. 7. but canst never receive a new life. The law bringeth forth servants, not sons, Ishmaelites, not true Israelites, Gal. 4. Secondly, Those who are borne of God, are children of the Gospel, not by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith we are made new creatures. In this Ministry God by his Spirit through faith in his Son maketh new creatures. Nothing in nature can beethe cause of itself, so nothing in the new creation can be the cause of itself. There must be a Father before there can be a Son. God therefore through faith in his Son is the cause of this new creation. In this Ministry God doth not speak only by letters and syllables, but by his eternal Word and Spirit. Our souls are purified in the obedience of the truth of the Gospel, unto unfeigned love of the Brethren, 1 Pet. 1.22, 23. And are borne again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever. In this Ministry of life and salvation, we have an eye to see the old man crucified in the suffering of Christ, Rom. 6.6. That henceforth we should not serve sin. In this Ministry we see Christ as that new man which maketh all things new, 2 Corin. 5. The old Adam stood as a public person to bring shame, sin, and sorrow upon his posterity; so Christ the second Adam, public person, and new man, by whom we are renewed, doth bring holy boldness, righteousness, and joy. Adam communicated his sinful nature to us, so Christ doth communicate his divine nature unto us, with those fruits and effects of the spirit, which are contrary to the nature of the old man; Uniting us unto himself, and becoming a principle of life to us and in us. And as one saith of generation, that it doth not consist in the production of a new form, but in the union of the form to the matter. (Generatie non consistit in productione sed unitione formae, cummateria.) So spiritual regeneration is not by the production of a new form, but by the union of the form to the matter. By uniting Christ, who is as the form to man who is the matter of the new creature. And as we say that the generation of one thing is the corruption or destruction of another thing; so in spiritual regeneration the old man is destroyed, Gal. 5.24. They that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. O how is the man placed in the uppermost room of honour, and highest seat of happiness, who is spiritually acquainted with this truth. He overcommeth the world by believing that Jesus is the Son of God, 1 John 5.1. He admireth the inexpressible love of God, by which he is become the Son of God, 1 John 3.1. He is borne to possess the unsearchable riches of God's grace. He is born to inherit large possessions, & a golrious inheritance, being joint heir with Christ, Ro. 8.17. He is higher by his birth, than the Sons of Kings and Emperors. Christ & he are of one, & therefore he is not ashamed to call him Brother, Heb. 2.11. And now he gins to resolve to live like himself, to live answerable to his condition of glory and honour, unto which God of his grace hath brought him. He will live as one who hath hopes full of immortality. He will put on Christ in his conversation, as he hath put him on in his free justification. A King will not stoop to the earth to take up farthings, as a beggar will, nor meddle with such mean businesses and employments, in which men of mean condition do exercise themselves. So he will not stoop in spirit to the love of the things of the world, which are but as a farthing to the things of glory and eternity. He will not follow worldly business, as though he had no other employment. His conversation is in Heaven, Phil. 3. He is one of the Chosen generation, and royal Priesthood, holy Nation, and peculiar People, and therefore is resolved to show forth the praises of him who hath called him out of darkness, into his marvellous light, 1 Pet. 2.9. from impurity to holiness, from a disgraceful and reproachful condition, to honour and favour; from vassalage to a kingdom; from fear of death, to assurance of eternal life; from hell to heaven; from horror of conscience, to joy in believing; from a dunghill, to a Throne; from everlasting wrath, to never-ending glory, and immortality. I might speak more fully of this, concerning which no man can speak sufficiently. But my intention was not to speak of this, but rather of that which is principally intended in the words, to show you the sinless condition of the man which is borne of God. And therefore give me leave, to leave this point, that I may briefly open the words which follow in the Text, that so I may draw the marrow and substance of them into a short conclusion, the illustration, confirmation, and amplification of which, by the grace of God shall be the subject of my ensuing discourse. I do find that the godly-learned do not agree in their expositions of these words. I shall therefore acquaint you with their several expositions, and shall enlarge my thoughts in the amplifying of that which I do apprehend in truth, to be the meaning of the Apostle in these words. First, Some say that he cannot commit sin. That is (Non potest operam dare peceate.) He cannot make sin his work, trade, or employment, and this is a truth. The road of profaneness and wilful sinning, hath never been the way in the which the Saints have walked. Their path is the path of purity and uprightness. But this doth not seem to be the meaning of the Spirit in this place. For the Apostle doth not only say, that he cannot commit sin; but he cannot sin. Secondly, Others say, that he cannot commit sin, as a servant of sin. As though our Saviour's words were a sufficient exposition of these, Joh. 8.34. Whosoever committeth sin, is a servant of sin. (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) He doth not do sin as his work, as a servant doth work by the appointment and commandment of his Master. I question not the truth of this. Sin shall not have dominion, where Christ is Lord and Master in the soul. He taketh our souls in unto himself by conquest, and will not suffer those who commanded us before his conquest to rule over us, now he hath subdued them. As a conquering King will not suffer conquered Rebels to command his Subjects. But the Apostle doth not seem to drive only at this, because as it hath been observed, he saith afterwards, that he cannot sin. Thirdly, Some say that he cannot sinne, because he cannot commit the unpardonable sin. And these go as far as the end of the Epistle, for an exposition, Chap. 5.17.18. All iniquity is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is borne of God sinneth not, But he that is borne of God keepeth himself and the wicked one toucheth him not. Thus they affirm that he finneth not, because he sinneth not unto death. This which they say is likewise an undeniable truth in itself: but not all, that the Apostle intendeth in these words. Which will evidently appear if we look seriously upon the precedent words. Where the Apostle doth set down the Antithesis and opposition, between the man borne of God, and the natural man. And doth make this the characteristical difference between the man borne of God, and the man of the Devil, vers. 6, 7, 8. That the one doth sin, and the other doth not sin. Every one that abideth in him sinneth not; & he that sinneth hath not known him, or seen him. And as no man will say that the difference in this place between the carnal and spiritual man is this. That the one doth not commit the unpardonable sin, and the other doth. For then this absurdity will necessarily follow, that every carnal man doth commit the unpardonable sin. For the Apostle saith, that every carnal man is of the Devil, and sinneth, (that is, against the holy Ghost, if we take their exposition.) So no man may affirm that this is the meaning of these words (which are laid down in way of opposition to the precedent) that he that committeth not sin, doth not commit the unpardonable sin, for then this absurdity will follow that every man who committeth not the unpardonable sin, is born of God. And this is evident by the subsequent words, where he saith, vers. 10. That in this the children of God, and the children of the Devil are manifested. To wit, that the one doth not commit sin, and the other doth commit sin. Take the words according to their exposition, and this is the sense of them. In this the Saints and carnal men are distinguished, that the Saints do not commit the unpardonable sin, and that all carnal men do commit the unpardonable sin. Of the absurdity of which tenet, contrariety to Scripture and daily experience. I leave the spiritual man a judge. 4. Others say that he sinneth not. That is in his justified state and condition he sinneth not. Because he is free from sin, and the condemnation of the Law. And this is a truth likewise full of comfort and sweetness. That the believer or man borne of God doth not sin in reference to justification. Their meaning is, that there is no sin from which a believer is not justified. But the Apostle doth not speak only of this, for he speaketh of his working of righteousness by love, in this place, and through the whole Epistle, as well as of believing. And of such works which Saints are to do, by which they may be justified before men; as these men do grant themselves, and therefore this is not to be taken so strictly in reference to our justification through faith only. As these words do declare it sufficiently. Every one that worketh not righteousness, is not of God, and he that loveth not his brother, vers. 10. Doth he pray for such, whom he thought were not where to be found, or for all true Saints whom he did know did love the Lord Jesus in corruption. Reply. If they be considered as they ought to be done, so they are not evil: but as they be done by us. So the holy Ghost is not afraid to call them menstruous rags, even our very righteousness, not our old man only, Isa. 64.6. from the better part. And therefore the Scripture doth call us Saints, or holy men, Ephes. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because we are spiritually regenerated or made new creatures, though much of the flesh doth remain in the best of us. And this I do apprehend to be the meaning of God in this place. So Cajetan upon the words: He doth (saith he) understand it formally, that is in as much as he is borne of God; for our new creation from God doth not suffer us to sin. (Intelligit formaliter, hoc est, quatenus ex Deo natus. Nativitas enim ex Deo non dat peccare.) So likewise that faithful Martyr Tyndall speaketh in the opening of these words. God and the Devil are two contrary Fathers, two contrary fountains, two contrary causes; the one of all goodness, the other of all evil. And they that do evil are borne of the Devil, and are first evil by that birth, before they do evil. And on the other side, they that do good, are first borne of God, and receive of his nature and seed, and by the reason of that nature and seed, are first good, before they do good by the same rule. And Christ who is contrary to the Devil, came to destroy the works of the Devil in us, and to give us a new birth, a new nature, and to sow new seed in us, that we should by reason of that birth sin no more. And he hath a parallel place to this in the same exposition of this Epistle. As there is no sin (saith he) in Christ the stock, so can there be none in the quick members that live and grow in him by faith. Calvin in his instruction against the Libertines, bringing in this place of John as an argument of theirs, to prove that they do never sin, doth answer them by this exposition of the words. John's words do signify nothing else but this; That a man as fare as he is regenerated of God, cannot sin. (Johannis verba nihil aliud significant, quam hominem, quatenus regeneratus est a Deo, non peccare.) I might multiply Authors, speaking sometimes to this purpose: but for my part I do not approve this way of Preaching, or frequent quoting of Authors in Sermons (yet sometimes I am necessitated unto it: and for the hardness of hearts of hearers, do think that something may be done in this way for the gaining of them in unto truth. As Amesius doth deliver his judgement in his cases of conscience. But secondly, I must profess ingenuously, that most men whom I might bring in, to speak to this truth, do seem to contradict in other places of their writings, what they have delivered concerning this truth. And therefore I shall only bring Scripture to prove what I do desire to descend for the truth of God, knowing that Scripture is sufficient of itself for the confirmation of truth. And that the judgements and opinions of all the learned men that ever were, or shall be, are nothing at all without it. As David said of the sword of Goliath, 1 Sam. 21.9. There is none like that. So no sword or bow of men is like unto the Scripture, by which error is hewn down, and truth exalted. Wherefore I shall give you more fully my plain and naked meaning in this point, and then shall show you what Scripture will come in, to bear witness to the truth which I have received from the Lord. First, We are to take notice, that man in Scripture is considered physically, as he hath a rational spirit joined to an humane body. And when we thus speak of man, we do acknowledge that every man sinneth, Lot, David, Peter, Paul, and the like; according to that of James, Jam. 3.2. In many things we offend all. Secondly, We may look upon man theologically. And if we thus consider him, we shall find that in a spiritual sense; every Christian man hath two men in him, a new man, and and an old man: and these two of contrary natures and operations. And as sometimes we speak of a man as having two physical beings in him, and do attribute unto him what is proper to his corporal and spiritual part, as when we say a man heareth, seethe, walketh, understandeth, and the like, And then again, do distinguish these two, attributing to the body what is proper to the body, and to the soul what is proper to the soul. So sometimes the Scripture doth speak of man as having two contrary natures, and then doth again attribute that to the new or divine nature, which is proper unto that, and that unto the sinful and fleshly nature which is proper unto it. In the old and unregenerated nature there is nothing but sin, and the seed and spawn of all filthiness and uncleanness. And in the regenerated part or new man, there is nothing but purity and holiness. In this nature he doth no sin, nor cannot sin, as he cannot do good it the other nature. So that I apprehend that the man borne of God is not sinful in his nature, or in any of his actings, workings, or operations. He is light in his understanding holy in his will, pure in his thoughts, sanctified in his affections. It is well observed by Bullinger, That God doth allude to the nature of seed; the nature of which is retained by those things which spring out of it. (Alludit ad seminis naturam, quamea referunt, quae ex eo nascuntur.) The seed being holy, that which ariseth from it is likewise holy, as our Saviour doth inform us, John 3.6. That which is borne of the flesh, is flesh, and that which is borne of the spirit i● spirit. Not that the newborn man is wholly turned into the eternal spirit, and is nothing else but the spirit, as some deluded, and deluding spirits have affirmed: but the abstract is taken for the concrete, which manner of speech is very frequent in Scripture. That which is borne of the Spirit, is said to be spirit, because it is made spiritual by the presence of the holy Spirit in it. Having acquainted you with my meaning, and given you the spiritual interpretation of the words. I shall draw the marrow and substance of the particulars which I named, into one Conclusion, which I shall endeavour to make good by spiritual arguments which I shall draw from Scripture and spiritual reason. The conclusion is this. The spiritual man, or the man born of God, in his spiritual and godly nature, motions, & actings towards God in Christ, doth not, nor cannot sin. Arg. 1. His seed is holy in him, therefore his fruit is holy; this is the argument of the Apostle. His seed abideth in him, and therefore he cannot sin. Christ is the seed in us, 1 Pet. 1.23. Every true Christian can say with Paul, Gal. 2.20. That Christ liveth in him; and Christ in us doth not suffer us to live sinfully, but maketh us to live holily, he becoming the principle of an holy life and sanctification in us. A Christian is powerfully acted by an holy principle, and therefore his actings are holy. Christ is a pure fountain of holiness in us, as well to fill our souls with the streams of holiness by the Spirit, as to wash away the uncleaness of our souls in our Justification. And this sountaine cannot send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter, Jam. 3.11. The streams do retain the pure nature of the fountain from whence they flow. (Reader, I must inform thee, that since I Preached this Sermon, I received objections from my learned friend Mr. R. L. against my arguments, which I thought good to print with my Arguments.) Ob. Against this argument this is objected. The argument from the seed to the fruit will not follow, unless the soil be also answerable, otherwise sorry fruit may come from good seed. Answ. As there is good seed, so there is a good soil, the spiritual heart, and therefore the argument will follow. This I prove, Ezek. 36.26, A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you; and cause you to walk in my Statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them. The new heart of flesh is a good soil. And because God doth promise his Spirit, and a new heart, therefore see what shall follow? the good fruit spoken of: We shall keep his judgements, and do them. Arg. 2. God cannot be the Author & worker of that which is sin: but God doth profess himself to be the Author of good works wrought in the Saints, and therefore these works are not sin, Isa. 26.12. The Saints do profess that God hath wrought all their works in them. And this likewise is the argument of the Apostle, who doth prove that doing of evil is sin, because it is of the Devil; and that working of righteousness is good, because it is of God. Object. These things are not sin in their whole moral nature: but (per accidens) by accident through the defect of some circumstance. Answ. Every moral action commanded or forbidden of God, is either good or evil; If these are good, and no sin, than I have what I contend for; If evil, acquit God from being the author of evil, who doth profess himself to be the Author of these things, in opposition to Satan, and his works. If you say that they are neither good nor evil, or both good and evil, and prove it by Scripture, I shall hearken unto you: But you say they are sin by accident; and if they are so by accident, they are sin, and still you make God the Author of sin; but I affirm that they are neither sin in their nature, nor by accident, but good, and therefore until you prove what you say, I do not see but that my argument is unshaken by this objection. Object. 2. Faith and love in their whole moral abstract nature are not sin, but considered in the Concrete, and acted by us. Answ. The Apostle doth speak of them in the Concrete as acted by us, and doth bid us try ourselves by our faith, love, and working of righteousness, and saith, vers. 19 That hereby we assure ourselves before God, therefore this distinction is of no validity in this place, though some think that it will answer all our arguments. Argu. 3. The old man, and the new man are distinguished by their contrary natures and operations. But if the new man were sinful, and his operations sinful. The new man would be confounded with the old man, who is sinful in himself and his operations: but this is contrary to Scripture. The old man is corrupt according to deceitful lusts: but the new man after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Eph. 4.22.24. And speaking of these in the Concrete, as in us, Eph. 5.8, 9 he saith to them; Ye were sometimes darkness: but now are ye light in the Lord, walk as children of the light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth. Argu. 4. Those works which are commended by Jesus Christ for good works, are good works: but the works of the Saints are commended for good works, therefore they are good, Revel. 2.2. Our Saviour saith, that he knoweth the works of the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, and his labour and patience; that is, he approveth or commendeth his works, and so Rev. 3.8. It would be a disparagement to the judgement of Christ to commend sin or sinful works, for good works: And therefore I conclude, that they were good works. And by consequence that the works which are wrought by a man borne of God, are good works. Obj. They were washed from their pollution in the blood of the Lamb. Answ. When we speak of the new man and his works, we look not upon him or his works, but in Jesus Christ. And thus he is washed from all the sins of the flesh, and the works of God in us are well pleasing unto God the worker, through Jesus Christ, through whom he did work them in us. Arg. 5. Christ doth not present that which is sin or sinful to the Father to be accepted: but he presentech our works, 1 Pet. 2.5. We offer up spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. If Christ did present any work that were sinful, he might present our sinful works. It is evident therefore, that there is something which is good which is presented, as well as something in us which is sinful, which is forgiven. (Malum ex quolibet desectu.) The less defect doth make a thing evil; and if there be such a defect in the work of the man who is born of God to make it sin and evil; what reason can any man give from Scripture, why every sin should not be presented and accepted as well as those sins which they call good works. Arg. 6. The Scripture calleth the works of the man born of God neither sinful or sin: but works of righteousness. Faith is called righteousness, Rom. 4. and Rom. 5. & the last. Paul calleth the sincerity which was in him, speaking of it in the Concrete, godly sincerity, 2 Cor. 1.12. Paul prayeth that grace may be with all them who love the Lord Jesus in corruption (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) Doth he pray for such, whom he thought were not where to be found, or for all true Saints whom he did know did love the Lord Jesus in incorruption. Reply. If they be considered as they ought to be done, so they are not evil: but as they be done by us; so the holy Ghost is not afraid to call them menstruous rags, even our very righteousness, not our old man only, Isa. 64.6. Answ. The Prophet doth not speak here of the righteousness of a man under the Covenant of grace, considered under that Covenant. For in the precedent verse, he doth acknowledge that the righteousness of such a man is not as a menstruous rag. Thou meetest him that rejoyeth, and worketh righteousness. But he speaketh of men as looked upon under the old Covenant, and of their works as done under, and to be judged by that Covenant which appeareth by the following words. Our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy Name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face from us, and we are consumed because of our iniquities. We must not judge of this truth by expressions which holy men have made use of in confessing the sins of the whole nation of the Jews, in the language of the Jewish national Covenant: but by those passages of Scripture in which God doth speak of a man as under the Covenant of grace, with his works wrought by the spirit of grace. 7 Arg. God doth remember the works of his Saints, Heb. 6.10. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, saith the Apostle. He will remember the good works of men borne of God, at the great day of judgement. The good works of some are manifest beforehand, and they that are otherwise cannot be hid, 1 Tim. 5.15. They cannot for ever be hid, because God will make mention of them at that day. But he hath engaged himself by oath, to remember our sins and sinful actions, Hebr. 8. And therefore the works of the spiritual man are not sin or sinful. Arg. 8. There is no law against the works of a spiritual man, or the fruits of the spirit of grace; and therefore they are not sin, because where there is no law, there is no transgression. But there is no law against these. This is plain by that passage of the Apostle, Gal. 5.22. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. Object. They are here considered as they are precisely the fruits of the spirit, and as they ought to be done by us, and so they are no sins: but consider them as acted by us, even with the spirits assistance, and so they are defective and sinful. Answ. The Apostle doth not speak of the fruits of the spirit, as Tully of his Orator, Plato of his Commonwealth, & Moor of his Utopia, as of things no where to be found. But be speaks of the spirit as in us, and the fruits of it as in us. And doth plainly tell us, that if we are led by the spirit, we are not under the law; and that there is no law against the fruits of the spirit. But I shall have occasion hereafter to speak more fully of some places where the Apostles and servants of God, do speak plainly of these works as done in us, that so I may break the neck of this distinction, which is made as a Catholicon, or salve for every sore. Arg. 9 God doth give a testimony concerning his Saints, that they are righteous and holy, which is spoken in reference to their spiritual nature and actings; and therefore they are righteous and holy. The judgement of God is according to truth, he being the God of truth. Doth not God give this testimony of Job, Job 1.1. That he was a perfect man, and upright, one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And though man may oppose this, yet it seemeth by God's speech to Satan, that the Devil could not contradict it, Job 2.3. And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect man, & upright, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil. Did any thing which was sin or sinful procure this honourable title to David, that he was a man after Gods own heart, 1 Sam. 13.14? Doth not the Scripture of truth inform us concerning Zacharias, and Elizabeth his wife, that they were both righteous before God, walking in all the Commandments of God blameless, Luke 1.6? They did not only walk in the great Commandment of God concerning faith for Justification: but in all the Ordinances and Commandments of God. Is not Lot called a just and righteous man, who was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked, 2 Pet. 2.7? And was his sinful soul vexed with their evil deeds? or his righteous soul? speak in the language of God's Word, and ye must acknowledge that it was his righteous soul, vers. 8. God is not like unto some indulgent parents, who by their fond indulgency do account that to be a virtue, which is the fault of their children, and them to be virtuous who are vile. God calleth nothing righteousness, which is sin or sinful. Nor those to be perfect and upright, which are not so indeed; and therefore seeing God doth call his children righteous, holy, and perfect; we may not be afraid to call them so, unless we will be afraid to follow his judgement. Object. They were righteous before God by Justification, and before men by holy walking. Ans. We deny not their justification before God by faith: but with all we affirm that they were righteous before him, by their holy walkings, As these places do sufficiently prove with others, which we shall hereafter speak of. Let us not delude our souls to think that righteousness & sanctification is to the eye of men only. The purest sanctification of a Saint is not so visible to men as unto God. Pure religion, and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to visit the fatherless and Widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world; which will be further manifested by our next argument. Arg. 10. Almighty God is a God of pure eyes, who cannot behold any iniquity, any sinful thing, or sin, with an eye of approbation. But this God, who cannot approve what is sin, and sinful; this God approveth and professeth that he is well pleased with the performances of his Saints: therefore the performance of the Saints cannot be sin, or sinful. The Apostle in Philip. 4.18. Professeth that the work of the Philippians in sending to relieve his wants, was an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. God hath pure eyes, and pure nostrils, and therefore if it had been sin, or sinful, it could not have pleased his eye, nor have been an odour of a sweet smell unto his nostrils. Object. They are so, but not in their own nature. Answ. If they be not so in their own nature, they are filthy and odious in their own nature, and yet accepted by grace. If one thing which is filthy and odious in its own nature be accepted, why should not other things which are filthy and odious in their own nature be accepted for good works. If this can be made good, Whoredom and Adultery will prove good works; which hath been asserted by some who have said that the filthiness of whoredom being done away, the action is wellpleasing to Almighty God as well as any good work. Arg. 11. One end and intention of God in electing of us, was, that he might make us holy, that he might make us good trees to bring forth good fruit. Though God doth not elect us because we do believe, or because we do love; yet he hath elected us that we may believe, and that we may love. So that we frustrate one end that God hath in electing us, if we do not grant that God gives us a new nature, and new hearts. According to that of the Apostle, 2 Thes. 2 13. We are chosen unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. And in Eph 1.4. He hath chosen us in him, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love. Object. We do apprehend our election imperfectly, which is the cause of the sinfulness; of our works. Answ. By reason of that which is in the flesh, we cannot so perfectly see our election, as we shall do hereafter: Yet in the spirit for the present we do so fully apprehend it, that by God's grace in the apprehension of it, we are made unblameable, and holy before him in love, which is all that I contend for. I may add this, that if God had chosen us to love, joy, sanctification, and the like, which are sin, and sinful, that then he had chosen us to sin, or to something sinful; which conceit in my apprehension doth carry such an absurdity in the face of it, that it needeth not a Confutation. Object. They are not sin in their moral nature, as they ought to be done, but they are so as done by us. Answ. God hath not chosen us unto them as they are considered only in his command. But he hath chosen us unto them, as they are to be acted and done by us, as it is plain by the words of the Text, and therefore this objection hath no strength in it to weaken our argument. Arg. 12. If the new creature were sinful, & work his sinful or sin, it would nullify God's intention in our Justification, who doth justify us when we are unholy, that he may make us holy, Ephes. 2.10. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God bathe before ordained that we should walk in them. We are not ordained to walk in any thing which is sin or sinful; but to walk in good works. We are redeemed from sin, that we might be purified unto himself a peculiar people. And grace teacheth us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; not sinfully, but righteously. God maketh us good trees by justification, and then enables us to bring forth good fruit. There must be a root before there can be fruit: So God gives us a root, or seed of holiness, before we can bring forth holy fruit, and righteous actions. And when the good seed is sown in good ground, it cannot but bring forth good fruit, Mat. 13.23. which place may give more light for the clearing of that objection, where it was said, that there could not be good fruit, though the seed were good, because the ground is not good. Arg. 13. God doth free us from the law of works, and doth bring us under the covenant of grace, that we may by grace be enabled to do those works, which we are not able to do by virtue of moral commands. The covenant of grace and Gospel-promises should be as ineffectual for sanctification as the law, if all that were wrought in us under that covenant were sin or sinful. And therefore it will follow that a man under grace hath a purity of sanctification in him. God brings us from Moses who was the Lawgiver, and delivers us from the Covenant of works in giving us to Jesus Christ who is the giver of grace, that he may make us holy in a gracious life and conversation. The Apostle sets this forth unto us, Rom. 7.6. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held: that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. We are freed from the service of God in the law of works (under which we serve as slaves till we be brought to Christ,) that we may serve as sons in obedience to all moral commands, under the sweet, gracious, & glorious government of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is as well a Lawgiver, Isa. 33.22. to write his laws of faith and love in our hearts, Hebr. 8. As a Saviour to save us from our sins. And to cut off all objections against this argument, we may take notice, that the fruits of the spirit are not only called good and holy, as they are in the promise or command: but they are good and holy, and called fruits of righteousness, as they are wrought in us and by us, with the omnipotent help and assistance of the holy Spirit. We are called the trees of righteousness, Isa. 61.3. and fear and love are fruits of righteousness as wrought in us, Jer. 31. Hebr. 8. The 14th Argument may be drawn from the oath of God. If God should not perform this for the Saints, God should be perjured (which is blasphemy to speak.) The oath of God binds him. God in his word (which is the character of his mind) hath discovered his hatred of perjury and false swearing: we cannot think that God who hates perjury in others, should forswear himself: but we have not only the promise, but the oath of God for this; so that unless we will say that God forswears himself, we must subscribe to this truth, to wit, that God gives his Saints his Spirit, and in the Spirit, holiness and righteousness. I will give you a place for this, Lu. 1.73, 74. The oath which be swore to our Father Abraham. What hath he sworn? That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies; here is our Justification; we are delivered out of the hands of sin, death, and the Devil. But is this all? No, He hath delivered us out of the hands of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear, that is, without slavish fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. Some acknowledge that the people of God shall live holily and righteously, to men-ward, as they speak: but that the righteousness of anctification is not to God-ward. This place overthrows this distinction; he saith not that we shall walk holily and righteously before men only, as hypocrites may: but he ●aith that we shall serve in holiness and righteousness before him. We shall not do such works which Luther and others have called vices (vitia) affirming that all the works of the regenerated man are vices, nor such works which are sinfnl, (vitiata) as some others speak: bu●uch works which God who cannot lie, calls righteous works, nay righteousness in the abstract; we shall serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness: not only in the sight of men: for ofttimes they look on good works, as though they were bad, but good in the sight of God; they come from a sweet fountain, therefore the water cannot be bitter, or brackish, from the fountain of his own Spirit in his Saints. If the works of the Saints were nothing but sin or sinful, how could the Oath of God be fulfilled that they shall serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life? Object. Before him in this place, as in other places, doth mean under his protection, Gen. 17.1. Answ. Though it may be granted that sometimes before him, may signify under his protection; yet it doth not appear that it should be the meaning of the holy Ghost in this place. But he doth rather inform us how Saints do approve themselves before God by sanctification. As Paul laboured in godly sincerity, to have his conscience void of offence towards God and towards men. According to that speech of Hezekiah, Isa. 38.3. Remember O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. But suppose we should grant you this, it doth still stand true, that our service is in holiness and righteousness. And can any man be so blind, to think that a man shall serve in righteousness under God's protection, & that he should not see the righteousness which i● wrought under his protection? and if it be righteousness which he seethe, than it is righteousness before him, or in his sight. Arg. 15. To deny the purity of the man born of God, is to deny one end for which Christ died; for Christ died to bring us to be partakers of a pure & Divine nature; in which pure nature we are to live, move, and act holily. The place by which I shall confirm this, is in Heb. 9.14. The blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot God, shall purge our consciences from dead works to serve the living God. We are therefore washed from sin in our Justification, that we may serve God by Sanctification. And what spiritual man will call that the service of God, which is sin or sinful? For to do that which is sin or sinful, is to do the Devil's service, or else I am to learn that which we need not be taught, to wit, what it is to do the Devil's service. Arg. 16. The resurrection of Christ doth teach spiritual men to act purely in their new nature to the glory of their Father, Rom. 6.4. As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father; so we should walk in newness of life. To walk in newness of life, is it to walk in the oldness of that which is sin or sinful? let any Spiritual man judge. Arg. 17. We may draw another argument from the Kingly office of Christ. He as a King hath a command over his Subjects: but he hath not the command over us, when we do that which is sin or sinful, and therefore we do something good as his Subjects in obedience to his commands (bona bene.) Good things must be done well. And therefore Christ doth not only enable us to do that which is righteous, but he doth enable us to do it righteously. Why is Christ King, but that we should live under his commands? Why are we his subjects, why are we his servants, but because we are under his commands, and under his laws? You know; the Jews said they would not have Christ to be their King: but the voice of every Christian is to cry up Christ, to proclaim him King, and to own him only as their Ruler. And Christ being King, rules and reigns in the hearts of his people by laws and commandments, and precious statutes, worthy of such a King. Now Christ gives us not a law, as Moses gave a law, that was grievous to those that heard it: but Christ gives a law of love, a law● of sweetness, by which he rules in the midst of his enemies in our hearts; what is in the flesh in us, is an enemy to Jesus Christ: but Christ Jesus sitting upon his Throne as King, in our renewed, regenerated, and enlightened spirit, rules in the midst of our sins his enemies which oppose him. Christ is not such a King as other Kings; other Kings make laws, and add penalties to their laws for those that break them: but they have no power to enable their Subjects to keep them. But here is the privilege and prerogative of our King; when Christ makes laws, he doth not only give us laws, and bid us keep them: but he hath power in himself by which he enableth us to do that which he commands us to do. If Christ should command us to love, & should not enable us to do that which he commands, he should be such a Lawgiver as Moses, that gave a Law, but gave no power to do it: But Christ is not such a Lawgiver as Moses. As he is not a rigid Lawgiver, to bid Saints do it upon penalty of damnation, or to work for life, and salvation; so neither is he like Moses, who could give them no power: but there is a power and strength goes with Christ's commands, to enable us to do what Christ the King commands. Therefore if any of you give Christ the glory of his grace by believing that he hath abolished all your sins by his death, be not dismayed at the sight of your corruptions. Fight the good fight of faith. Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Christ that commands you to obey his Father, will enable you to obey his Father. Christ reigns in the hearts of his people, not only by making known to them the covenant of his own grace, but by supplying them with strength to do his will. Lord give what thou commandest said one, and command what thou wilt. Christ commands us what to do, and gives us power to do that which he commands. Such a King is Christ, that frees his people not only from the condemnation of sin, but from the power and dominion of sin in their spirits, lives, and conversations. Blessed be God (saith the Apostle) that ye were the servants of sin. Are they so still, now they are under grace? No, but being made free from sin, ye are the servants of righteousness? sin shall not have dominion over you; why? ye have a new King; ye are under grace, ye are under King Jesus. If a Tyrant should tyrannize over Subjects, and depose their lawful King; if this King afterwards should overthrow this Tyrant, and deliver his Subjects from tyranny and bondage, by overcoming the Tyrant, would he suffer this Tyrant to tyrannize over them, or his people to be under the laws of the Tyrant? We were under Satan the Tyrant, under his laws and commands, under the law of sin and concupiscence: but Christ comes, and overcomes the Tyrant that ruled tyrannically in our hearts; and will he suffer that Tyrant still to rule us by those commands, which he gave us when we were in bondage to him? No, we shall not be under the bondage of the flesh, if we understand the liberty of grace, and of the Spirit. The Apostle saith, that we do not live, nor eat, nor drink, nor do any shing to ourselves, because Christ died, and rose and revived, that he might be Lord of quick and dead, Rom. 14.8, 9 Christ died, and rose, that he might be Lord and King, and reign, and set up his Sceptre of holiness in the hearts of his people. This was prophesied in Psal. 110.3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. When Christ as King comes with power, his people shall be willing. Christ bids them believe, and they believe, he bids them love, and they do love; they run through fire and water, they lay down their honours and riches at his feet, and love not their lives unto the death. Object. The enabling of Christ in working is not of the same extent with his command. Answ. In the spiritual and regenerate part, the power of Christ is as large as his command. The failing is not from the new, but the old man. The whole man or person is under the command: so that a man, yea, every man doth sin, because he doth not do in his person as he is a man, what is commanded. Charge the fault where it is to be charged upon the flesh, which is the cause of a man's sin, and then look upon grace which hath abolished sin, and you shall find the new man conformable to the will of God, and the man good and holy in part, to wit, in his regenerated part. It is further objected, that Christ biddeth us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, which no man doth. It is granted, and therefore we deny not, but that every man sinneth, if we take him physically. But as fare as we are in the Spirit, We are cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit; so that the new man doth fulfil it, and Christ doth reign in him, though the flesh prove a Traitor, and rebellious against his commands. Arg. 18. Another argument may be brought from the consideration of the Image of Christ. If this were true, that all the works of the Saints were in their formality sin; this would follow, that the Image of Jesus Christ were an Image of unholiness, and sin. I ground my argument upon that place of the Apostle, 2 Cor. 3.18. We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same Image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Here the Apostle shows that the Saints are changed into the Image of Christ. Now if there were nothing but sin and unholiness & sinfulness in those who are looked upon as spiritual (as some conceive) it will follow that the Image of Christ into which they are changed, must be an image of unholiness. If my love be unholiness, I am changed to that image of love which is in Christ, and so it would follow, that the Image of Christ doth consist in unholiness. Object. If there be perfect sanctification in the new man, than we may be justified by it. Answ. I deny that, it doth not follow. We shall have perfect sanctification at the resurrection; and yet you will not say, that we shall be acquitted from our sins by it, which we have committed upon earth: but by the grace of God in the blood of Christ 2. We are justified before sancification, and therefore it will not follow that we are justified by it. Because that is done before the other is wrought in us. 3. That a man may be justified by his sanctification. It is necessary that a man should be so wholly sanctified, that there should be no sin in the man. Our good works will not make satisfaction for our bad works. A Traitor for an act of treason might be condemned by his Prince, though he hath done him much good service. If a man would seek justification by the law, who is sanctified in part, the law would condemn him for his sin, in his unregenerated part, taking no notice of any sufficiency in his sanctification, to free him from condemnation for his sin in the unregenerated part. Arg. 19 This opinion that the good works of the justified man are sin, or sinful, do make divers places of Scripture irreconcilable. Men shall never be well able to reconcile many places of Scripture who swallow this as a truth; that whatsoever works are now done in the Saints, are nothing but sin, or sinful. For instance in one place, we are bound to disclaim our works, and to account all our righteousnesses as filthy rags, to believe in him that justifieth the ungodly; And in another place we are said to be redeemed from all iniquity, that we might be zealous of good works, Tit. 2. And we are the work manship of God created in Christ Jesus to good works, Eph. 2. By what I have delivered, they are easily reconcileable. To wit, by distinguishing, as the Scripture doth concerning good works thus. That all the works of man under the Law, are but splendid and shining sins: and that the spiritual works of a spiritual man, are good, and not sin or sinful in their nature. Not that the Scripture makes these good works that flow from the spiritual man, the cause, or the matter of our justification: but the fruits of the Spirit, and the consequents of our justification● It is a speech of Luther's, worthy to be writte● in letters of gold, that the whole world, with all the riches of it, are of no worth in comparison of good works flowing from faith, and wrought by the Spirit of God in the hearts of his people. Which how it can be made good, I know not, if that be true, which he and some other Protestant Writers affirm, that (Omn● bonum secundum judicium dei est mortale peccatum) every good work of a regenerate man according to the judgement of God is a mortal sin. That which is morally evil, is not so good as any thing which is not morally evil. That being the greatest evil which is morally evil. I have known some professors of the Gospel who have fallen to Familisme and Atheistical opinions: and being asked why they did leave the Gospel? they have answered, that they could never reconcile the Scriptures concerning works, to other places, while they were professors of the Gospel. Their meaning is, while they were professors upon these principles, by which they were taught to look upon the works of the spirit in them as sin, and sinful. That which is frequently asserted by some (Mr. Eatoon Honycomb and others) that they are good to men-ward, will not make up the breach. The Apostle Peter speaking of a meek & quiet spirit, which is the ornament of the hidden man of the heart, saith, that it is of great price in the sight of God, 1 Pet. 3.4. The Apostle speaking of his sincerity in preaching the Gospel, is not afraid to bring it into the sight of God, 2 Cor. 2.17. And John saith, 1 Joh. 3.22. That whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his Commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. And that he doth not mean believing only, is plain by the next verse, where he saith, That this is his Commandment, that we believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. And to stop the mouth of the objection which is usually brought against this truth, to wit, that he speaketh of doing as in God's precept, or command, and not as done by us. He saith, that we receive what we ask, because we do what is pleasing in his sight. I must profess to the glory of God, that this distinction hath given me a great light in the understanding of the Scripture. And by this I am informed, that I am justified without holiness or sanctification, and yet that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12.14. Arg. 20. This opinion that the good work of a man born of God are sin, or sinful, doth overthrow the distinction which is warranted by many thousand places of Scripture between good works and bad works, and doth draw a curse upon the doer of it. Can evil be good, or good evil? Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, Isa. 5.20. What else do they do, who plainley aver that every good work is evil? Object. Do we deny the difference between white and black, because we say that in most white bodies, there is a mixture of some blackness with the whiteness, etc. Answ. If it could be proved that there were a mixture of that which is of the spirit, and that which is of the flesh, that that which is spiritual should be made fleshly by it: there would seem to be some strength in this objection. But until that such a mixture be proved by plain Scriptures, we shall think it sufficient to affirm that such similitudes which have not their foundation upon a principle of truth, do prove nothing. Arg. 21. It taketh away the difference between a sanctified and unsanctified man, which is a distinction which doth stand firm upon the basis of the Scripture of truth. The Apostle doth plainly lay down this distinction, 1 Cor. 6.11. Where he informeth us of the condition of the Corinthians, before conversion, to wit, that they were thiefs, adulteresses, and the like, such were some of you; and then setteth forth their blessed condition after conversion. But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified. And doth second this truth with his own experience, acknowledging that there was a real change wrought in himself after conversion by sanctification, 2 Tim. 1. I was (saith he) a persecuter, a blasphemer, injurious: but the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith & love, which is in Christ Jesus, not with faith only, but love also. If God hath pulled you out of the fire of sin, and drawn you as firebrands out of Hell, and brought you into the glorious kingdom of his Son, ye are able to profess the same sanctified change in yourselves. It is a dead faith which is not accompanied with sanctification and good works. As soon may a dead horse carry a man, as a dead faith save him. Object. This is a slander, we do not deny sanctification. Answ. If ye acknowledge sanctification, and a sanctified change, ye contradict yourselves. For how can that make a sanctified change in us, which is nothing else but sin or sinful. I shall be glad if you will stand to an inward change by love and sanctification. But some there are, who have affirmed that the distinction, between a regenerated an and unregenerated man, is but a legal distinction. Arg. 22. The holy Spirit which is promised to us, and dwelleth in us, doth plainly demonstrate this point. For as the Spirit is holy formally in itself, in its own nature, essence, and being: so it is effectively holy, because it makes that man holy, who was formerly sinful. If thou be nothing but darkness, if God convert thee, thou wilt have a glorious light in thine understanding: if thou have nothing but unholiness in thy will, if the Spirit of God live in thee, it will be a Spirit of holiness a Spirit that will show thee what is of the flesh, and what is of the spirit: a spirit checking thee, if thou step aside into the way of the flesh, and a spirit leading thee into the paths of holiness. As the Psalmist saith. Thy Spirit is good, lead me into the land of holiness and uprightness. Therefore those that do not find that Spirit leading them into the paths and ways of holiness, those men have received a counterfeit spirit to delude them, and not the true Spirit of the Lord Jesus. Object. The spirit is good, but our actions are evil by the adherence of sin in us. That holy things may be defiled, is plain by Exod. 28.36.38. Aaron having his plate upon his forehead, was to bear the iniquity of the holy things. Answ. 1. Though sin and holiness be in the same man, yet I deny that sin by any adhering to holiness in us, doth change holiness into the nature of it. But what is of the Spirit in us, doth retain its spiritual nature, and what is of the flesh, doth retain its fleshly nature. 2. The Scripture produced, doth prove, that in doing of holy duties, we sin, and that Jesus Christ doth bear those sins, which we have granted unto you before. But that the fruits of the Spirit in us, are those sins cannot be proved from this place of Scripture, nor from anyother Scripture which I know this still doth remain to be proved. Arg. 23. There may be another argument drawn from that place of the Apostle, when he saith, The Spirit beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God, Rom. 8.16. The Spirit cannot bear witness to our old, dark, profane spirits: for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; therefore it must be to our spirit enlightened, renewed, and filled with the Spirit of God. And therefore there is something in a Saint besides that which is sin and sinful. Object. This is true, but we are not renewed perfectly, which is the thing to be proved. Answ. Perfection in Scripture is opposed to that, which is more perfect. And in this sense we do not affirm that a man is so perfectly renewed as he shall be, 1 Cor. 13. 2. Perfection is opposed to that which is sinful, Luke 1. And in this sense we say, that he is perfectly renewed; that is, he is holily, & not sinfully renewed. Arg. 24. I do ground my next argument upon the words of the Apostle, Rom. 14. last. Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin. And therefore that which is done in faith, is not sin. If we deny this we shall take away the difference between doing good works in faith, and doing good works without faith, if both of them be alike sinful or sin. And therefore I conclude that the work of the Spirit which is done in faith, is not sin. Without faith it is impossible to please God; and therefore by faith it is possible to please him by doing good works. Arg. 25. Another argument may be drawn from that place, 2 Cor. 13. where the Apostle makes the comparison between faith, hope, and love, and prefers love before faith & hope for this reason; because love is more permanent, and of longer continuance than faith, and hope; when a man comes to heaven, he ceaseth to live the life of faith; for than he shall live the life of sight, and vision: he ceaseth to hope, for he enjoyeth that, which he hoped for: but love shall continue. Therefore he saith, that love, (that is the fruit of faith) is greater than faith in respect of its continuance. That which remains and endures after this life in the Saints in glory, is not sin: but love shall remain, and endure after this life, therefore it is not sin. Object. But some say, if you look on this place and take notice of this character and description of love, you will scarce find any man in the world that hath such a love; and by your argument no true faith. For he saith that love suffereth long, it envieth not, it vaunteth not itself, it is not puffed up, behaveth not itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth. Answ. Every man that is borne of God hath such a love as fare as he is born of God. I say not that he hath it in the flesh, in the old man, but in the new man. We have a new man, as we have an old man; and as we are sometimes acted by the new man, so sometimes by the old man. As we are acted by the old man, we do nothing but that which is contrary to this love: but as far as we are acted in the Spirit by the new man, by the power of God, and the grace of Christ; so far we have such a love as is here set down. Therefore if any man hath not such a love, and hath been persuaded that he hath true faith, I dare preach it in the name of Christ, that that man never had true faith: for true faith works by such love as the Apostle describes here. And he positively saith, that if a man have other gifts, and such a faith by which he can remove mountains, and hath not this love, that he is nothing. I would not trouble weak Christians by this, I speak not of them in the flesh, but in the spirit; as fare as thou art spiritual, and livest, and walkest in the Spirit, thou hast such a love. And if upon examination thou shalt find that thou hast not such a love, I say thou art a stranger to God: For he that knoweth God walks in love. He that saith he knoweth God, and walks not in love, he knoweth not God. God is love, and he that dwelleth in God, dwelleth in love, 1 Ep. John. If I should preach the Doctrine of Justification, and writ volumes of it, yet if I find after all this, that I am without this love, I am nothing. If I speak with the tongue of men and Angels; If I could prophesy, and had all faith to remove mountains, yet if I have not love, I am but as sounding brass, and a tinkling Cymbal. He that loves God, by apprehending God's love, he cannot but love God again, and his neighbour, yea enemy, for God's sake. Therefore if a man say, I have been a professor of the Gospel, but find not love to God & Christ, and my enemies for Christ's sake. It is as if he should say, Sir I have been a professor of grace many years, and have been looked on as one that knows Christ: but I know him not, for I have not true love that accompanies true faith. Arg. 26. God speaking of faith, love, fear, zeal, & the like, as in us, doth promise to be the worker of them in us; and therefore if these should be sin, the fault would be chargeable upon him. I would have this argument to be well weighed, because it answereth the ordinary objection, to wit, that these fruits are good, and no way faulty as in the precept of God, but not as wrought in us. God is the Author of them by promise, as they are wrought in us, which will make him the Author of sin, if they be sin or sinful. If faith and love is sin, than he hath Covenanted to work sin in thee: for he hath covenanted to work fear and love in thee. But fare be it from us to have such a thought of our holy God. If God work fear in our hearts, that fear shall not be sin, or sinful. We know the excellency of the Artificer, or workman, by the edifice or building; and do judge what workman God is by his glorious work in the spirits of the Saints: and if God work only sinful things in us, what workman would we conclude him to be? Paul saith, by the grace of God, I am what I am, 2 Cor. 15. It is by grace that I love, it is by grace that I fear with a filial fear; it is by grace that I am zealous for God: If this love were sin, if this fear were sin, if this zeal were sin, we might lay the fault upon the workman; It is God's work, not ours, but his. (Non mea, sed tua sunt.) Aug. speaking of good works, saith, They are not mine, but thine; Unless we will disparage and undervalue the grace of God, we may not look on these things as sin, or sinful, but aught to look on them with a spiritual eye, and to see them, as God doth, to be spiritual and good. Object. Our works as they are from God, are good: but as they are from us, so are they sinful and defiled. As walking, as it comes from the soul, it is upright and free from lameness: but as it is acted by a lame leg, so it is lame and halting. Answ. This objection will appear to be a lame objection, if it be made evident unto us, that the holy foot given unto us by God, is not a lame foot. Was it with a lame foot that David will run the ways of God's Commandments? Is it with a lame leg that God hath promised, we shall run, and not be weary, and walk, and not faint, Isa. 40. last. Use 1. This may be sufficient for the confutation of those, who do not distinguish between the regenerated, and unregenerated part in man (as the Scripture doth distinguish) laying the bastardly brats of the flesh at the door of the Spirit; confounding the works of the flesh, with the good and perfect gifts of the spirit, Jam. 1.17. and not considering, that though, there is the flesh, and the spirit in the same man, that yet they are distinguished in their natures, workings, and operations. The spirit, and the things of the spirit like oil swimming upon the surface of the waters, doth not change itself into the nature of the flesh. Their usual similitude doth not prove what they would maintain; to wit, that the work of the spirit is like clear water poured into a dunghill, which though it be clear and pure in the basin, yet running through the dunghill, doth become as impure and filthy as the dunghill itself. For though these two are in the same man, yet they do not mingle themselves the one with the other, that any of them should lose their own beings. But because these men are furnished as well with arguments, by which they desire to prove what they contend for, as with objections by which they endeavour to weaken the strength of the arguments, which have been laid down for the confirmation of the truth. Give me leave to give an answer to their arguments, as I have already presented unto you answers to their objections. Arg. 1. Paul was a regenerated man, yet he confesseth that he was not able to perform that which is good, Rom. 7.18. Therefore not regenerate man is able to perform that which is good. Answ. Paul doth give a sufficient answer to this objection in the preceding words of the same verse, where he saith, in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing, by which it is evident that he speaketh of himself in reference to his flesh. And this is a truth, which with all the faithful I willingly subscribe unto. But when he plainly speaketh of a man in the spirit, freed from the clouds of temptations, and power of the flesh, in the last verse of the same Chapter, he saith, With the mind I myself serve the law of God: but with the flesh the law of sin. It is good to serve the law of God: but Paul in the Spirit had attained unto this, and therefore Paul was enabled to perform that which is good. According to that of the Apostle, Phil. 2.13. It is God, who worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Arg. 2. There is none that doth good, no not one, Rom. 3.9, 10, 11. which is meant aswell of the regenerate, as unregenerate, as is evident by vers. 23, 24. because it is meant of all who are justified freely by his grace, as appears further by the instances of Abraham and David, which were regenerated, Ch. 4.2.6. Therefore no works of the regenerate are without sin. Answ. It is plain that the Apostle speaketh here of a man under the law, and of an unregenerate man, by the things which are spoken of him. He saith, that none seeketh after God; can you affirm this of a regenerated man? when the same Prophet, who in the 14. Psame doth give us a character of a wicked man: out of which this is taken in the 24. Psalm, doth give us this character of a man truly godly, that he is one of the generation of those who seek God. 2. The Apostle saith, that there is none that understandeth. But blessed be God, the son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know him, 1 John 5.20. 3. They are all gone out of the way. But we can bless God, who through Jesus Christ hath brought us into the way of salvation. 4. There is none that doth good, no not one; and there is none that is righteous. But harken unto the speech of John, 1 John 3.7. Let no man deceive you: he that doth righteousness, is righteous even as he is righteous. I might run over all the other particulars there laid down: but I shall content myself with what is spoken in the 17.18. it's said, that the way of peace have they not known; and there is no fear of God before their eyes. Is a regenerate man an enemy to the way of peace? and do not they fear God, to whom God hath sworn, Jer. 32.40. That he will put his fear in their hearts, that they shall not departed from him. Again secondly, you would prove it by this argument, because he speaketh of all those who are justified. But let me tell you, that we must distinguish of a man before and after his Justification. Every man is such a man before Justification, and in this respect he speaketh of all men: but after justification there is a charge wrought in a man, as I have formerly proved at large; unto which I refer the Reader. But thirdly you instance in David and Abraham, who were regenerated men. Answ. We are not to forget that the Scripture dosh acquaint us, that there is a twofold righteousness of a regenerate man. The righteousness of Justification, and the righteousness of sanctification. Of the first of these the Prophet speaking, saith, that a man is blessed to whom sin is not imputed, of the latter where he saith of the same verse. And in whose spirit there is no guile; which the learned Zanchius doth apprehend to be spoken in reference to that sanctification which is in the unregenerated part, understand the distinction rightly, and you cannot want an answer to this Objection. Arg. 3. We believe not so steadfastly, nor love so perfectly as we ought, therefore is our faith & love imperfect, and sinful. Ans. 1. If we should grant the antecedent, we may deny the consequence. It is true, that if a man doth not believe so steadfastly, and love so perfectly as he ought, that then the man doth sin, consider him physically. And this we have always granted: but it doth not follow, that his faith and love is sin, but that which is in the flesh is sin, which is the cause that he doth not believe so steadfastly, and love so perfectly as he ought. Amesius doth give a sufficient answer to this in answering an argument which Bellarmine doth bring against the Protestants, to wit, that sins do not please God in Christ. It is true, saith he, that sin doth not please God: but the stain of sin being done away, the good which remaineth is pleasing unto God. (Sane quidem certe, sedpeccati maculâ in Christo deletâ, bonum substratum placet. Tom. 4. l. 6. c. 8.) 2ly. We say that a regenerate man looked upon in the new Covenant, doth believe steadfastly, and love perfectly. His unbelief and hatred of God which is in the flesh, being covered with the rich mantle of God's grace and mercy: as far as he doth believe truly, he doth believe steadfastly; and as far as he doth love, he doth love perfectly. Let not this offend any man that I say he doth love perfectly. It is granted by most Protestant writers, that a regenerate man hath a perfection of parts, though not of degrees. A child may have an humane nature, and the parts of a man, as well as a man of forty years old. A spark of fire hath the true nature of fire, a drop of water hath the nature of water in it, as well as all the water in the Sea. So a spark or drop of love, hath the divine nature of love in it, as well as that which burns in the breasts of a Seraphim, and therefore is not sin or sinful. And for this reason it is said that Abraham was not weak in faith, though it is unquestionable that he had his weakness in the flesh, as well as other men, and that he staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief: but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, Rom. 4. And this is the meaning likewise of Amesius in the place formerly cited, where he saith, That the good works of the faithful are not only good by the object of them, but in reference to all the causes of them, the efficient, material, formal, and final cause. (Opera fidelium, non tantum sunt bona ex objecto, sed etiam quoad omnes causas efficientem, materiam, formam et finem.) Arg. 4. Sanctification in the fear of God is always perfecting whilst we live here in this life, 2 Cor. 7.1. and therefore it is not perfected until the life to come. Answ. Sanctification is said to be perfecting here, in reference to that which is in the flesh, which is to be put off, that sanctificaiion may come in the place of it, not in reference unto that which is already wrought, as though that sanctification were not already perfect, if we take perfection as it is opposed to that which is sinful. 2. It is said, that our Saviour increased in wisdom, Luk. 2.52. will you say that his wisdom was sinful at first, because he did increase and grow in it? You may as well say so, as conclude that our sanctification is sin or sinful, because it doth grow or increase to a greater perfection. Arg. 5. If our works be in themselves perfect, then might Paul have desired to have been found in them before God. Answ. I deny the consequence. For these good works are not wrought in us, that they may be the cause or matter of our Justification, and therefore Paul will not appear before God in them for Justification. But Paul and every true Saint being justified by faith without them, doth dare to bring them in the presence of God as secondary evidences of God's love to him. According to that of John, 1 John 3.14. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the Brethren: he that loveth not his brother abideth in death, ver. 19 And hereby wet know that we are of the truth, and shall persuade our hearts before him. Which you, maintaining them to be sin and sinful, do not do. Arg. 6. If the new man doth not sin, than he is not the man who is pronounced to be a blessed man, Psal. 32. Rom. 4. Answ. This is a plain fallacy. You take the new man here physically, whom we take according to Scripture, Spiritually and Theologically. Justification, to speak properly, is neither of the new man, nor old man, but of the person in whom there is an old man and a new man. And this man is justified from the sins of the old man, by the work of the spirit in the new man, which doth carry him to the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Arg. 7. Paul's best works were accounted by him but as dross & dung, therefore they were not perfect, Phil. 3. Answ. 1. This may be very well understood of his works done under the Law. As the preceding words do seem to hold it forth, where he speaketh of his Jewish privileges and Pharisaical righteousness. And secondly the words following will seem to carry it this way, because he saith, that he accounteth all things dung for the excellent knoweldg of Christ, by which is evident, that he speaketh of all things, as they stand in opposition to the knowledge of Christ. 3. This argument maketh nothing for you because you account this knowledge sinful. But let us take it, as you do: and an answer is presently at hand, to wit, that the Apostle doth not speak these words absolutely, but comparatively. They are all dung in comparison of Christ, and in reference to their uselessness to justification; Dung will as soon justify a man from sin, as that love which floweth from faith. Arg. 8. This, that the new man sinneth not, doth in a very high measure, if not altogether overthrow all the offices of Christ. 1. His Kingly office, as having none to rule, not the old man, for he savoureth not thet hangs of God; he is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be; not the new man, for he needs not the government of Christ, he is already perfect, and cannot sin. 2. His Priestly office, which is to make propitiation for the sins of those which shall be saved; now the new man who only shall be saved, never did, nor could not commit any sin. 3. His Prophetical office; For whom should he teach? the new man needs not his teaching, seeing he with all his works is already perfect, and can be no otherwise. The old man is not capable of his teaching. Answ. I have already detected the fallaciousness of this argument, in answering to the 6th Argument. Yet give me leave to prove in few words, that this doctrine doth magnify Christ in the glory of his spiritual offices. First, in his Kingly office, the glory of a king doth lie in subduing his enemies. And in this the glory of Christ considered as a King, doth appear that he doth vanquish the enemies of us his Subjects, by ruling in our hearts with his Sceptre of righteousness. According to that of the Psalmist, that he shall rule in the midst of his enemies. By this we see his regal power over the old man. Again, the glory of a King is wrapped up in the willing obedience of his Subjects, and this is made good in the new man. His people being made willing in the day of his power. For what is here objected, that the new man needs not the government of Christ? It is as if one should say, that a man doth make void and overthrow royal government, because he maintaineth, that the King's Subjects are willingly obedient unto him. But you say that they are perfect, and therefore his government is needless. The spirits of just men are made perfect, Heb. 12. And will you therefore conclude, that the government of Christ over them is needless? But to pass this by. 2. It will appear that the Priestly office of Christ, is not overthrown, but established rather by this doctrine; for first, we hold that no man liveth as a new man, who doth live under the guilt of sin, and therefore by the eye of the new man we are daily to look upon Christ as a Priest, in whom is no fin; who by one offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified, Heb. 10.14. Again, the Priest was to offer up the sacrifices of the people for them, and by this doctrine we establish Christ in his Priestly office, which we could not do if we should say, that there were nothing in us but what is sin and sinful in us. The people were to bring something which was good to be offered up by the Priest to God. The blind, lame, and sick were not to be offered unto God, Mal. 1.8. Neither is that which we do, that is sin or sinful, offered up by Jesus Christ to the Father, but that which is good. And thus we establish Christ in his Priestly office, by affirming that there is something good in the new man, which is the matter of acceptance. 3. We do not overthrow his Prophetical office by this truth. For he doth daily teach us in the new man. Whereas you say that he needs not his teaching; we say that the new man hath his dependence upon Christ, for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. And as a burning Lamp doth daily stand in need of oil to be poured into it for the maintaining of the light thereof; so we say that a Christian doth daily stand in need of spiritual oil to be poured into his soul by Jesus Christ, that he may shine forth in the light of truth. Will you dare to say that the souls of the Just, made perfect, have no need of the teaching of Christ, and that they have no dependence upon him, because they are perfect? Again, it is necessary in respect of the old man, who is filled with hellish darkness & ignorance, that Christ be looked upon as the great Prophet, that we may put off the ignorance which is in him, & may be more in the Spirit of Christ, which will lead us into all truth. It being the way of Gods working to shine into our dark hearts, to enlighten them with the knowledge of his grace in Jesus Christ. You may begin to see by what hath been delivered, that this doctrine doth not overthrow the offices of Jesus Christ, but doth sweetly to the glory of his Father confirm him in them. Arg. 9 If the regenerate man work perfectly, then is the wages reckoned unto him, not of grace, but of debt, Rom. 4.4. But this cannot be that the wages either of the blessings of this life, or the life to come, should be of debt unto him, and not of free grace, seeing the Apostle testifieth, that God of his free grace gives us his beloved Son, and together with him, all things, Rom. 8.32. Answ. This first place which is alleged doth not reach the point in hand, because the Apostle doth there speak of works done under the law for Justification: and doth thence conclude that if a man be justified by those works which he doth under the law, that then the reward is not of debt but grace; because the law being not of faith, Gal. 3.12. doth give nothing unto us in a way of grace. But we are speaking of works done and accepted under a Covenant of grace. The principal cause of men's error and mistake in this controversy, is, because they examine the new man and his works, by the law of works, and not by the law of sanctification, holiness and love in the new Covenant of grace. If we did examine his works by the law of holiness which is in the new covenant, we should plainly perceive that it is by the Spirit of grace that his works are freely wrought in him; and by this means all legal glorying, and carnal boasting is taken away. According to that of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 4.7. Who maketh thee to differ from another? And, what hast thou, that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it. By which you may plainly see, that the argument will not hold good; to say that if a man work perfectly under a covenant of grace, that his reward is not of grace but of debt. I shall therefore give you a short answer to the first part of this argument, by distinguishing of a twofold working, 1. under a law of works, and there it is true, that if a man work perfectly, his reward is of debt. 2. Under a covenant of grace where a man's sin is freely forgiven him, and by free grace he is enabled to work righteously: and there his reward is not of debt to speak properly, but of grace. Secondly, Though we deny that God giveth any reward to a spiritual man as a debt due unto him, for his merits and deservings; yet we affirm that God giveth rewards to a spiritual man who doth good works. And therefore it is said that Christ cometh with his reward with him, to give every man as his work shall be, Revel. 22.12. And Mose esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of reward, Hebr. 11.26. And this reward may be called a debt, not in reference to man's merit, but in reference to God's promise of grace; as a man by his promise may make himself a debtor to a beggar. And therefore the Apostle speaking unto the Saints, Hebr. 6.10. saith, That God is not unrighteous to forget the work of the Saints, and labour of love. And John exhorteth us, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward, 2 John. And in this sense something may be given unto us as a reward of that work of grace, which is given unto us before it. Our confidence in God's grace may have a great reward in this respect. According to that of the Apostle, Heb. 10.35. Cast not away your confidence which hath great recompense of reward. And this may be an answer to the second part of this argument. Arg. 10. If the works of the regenerate be not evil, because the holy Ghost worketh them. Then the works of the unregenerate, as his love and obedience to his parents are not evil. Answ. There is a general concurrence of God as the prime cause in the doing of some things by wicked men, and thus God may concur to the doing of a thing, & yet the thing as done by the wicked man may be evil, because not done in faith. And it is no solid argument to conclude from hence God did concur in the doing of this thing, and therefore it is not sin or sinful. 2ly. There is a special concurrence of God's grace and Spirit in the doing of a thing, as he is the principal agent in working good spiritually in the Saints who are under a covenant of grace. And when God doth concur with the special & powerful assistance of his grace for the effecting of a thing in a Saint, it is safe to draw a conclusion to prove the goodness of the thing, from the considering of the principal agent which did concur in the doing of the thing. As John doth in these words, maintaining that a spiritual man considered as a spiritual man, and acting as a spiritual man, cannot sin, because his seed remaineth in him. By which distinction you may see the weakness of your argument (with which you would prove the unsoundness of my arguing from God, considered as the principal agent to the effect.) And the disparity of Gods working in the regenerate and unregenerate. When God doth work in a spiritual man that which is spiritual, it is not only good substantially and materially, but formally and circumstantially by the grace of God, as I have proved at large. And therefore this argument is not strong enough to overthrow what hath been delivered. Arg. 11. Either the holy Ghost works the works of the regenerate man wholly, as the sole cause, and then it is not we but the holy Ghost that believes, that loves, that fears God, that reputes, that prays for the forgiveness of his sin, etc. which were absurd to imagine, or else we also work with him in some kind of causality to the producing of those works, that so the works may be said to be ours, our loving, our fearing, our rejoicing, our praying. If so, then are we in this working, either perfect or imperfect Agents. If perfect agents, then is there no ignorance in our understandings, no depravation in our wills, no perverseness in our affections. The contrary whereof, all the truly faithful find by experience, and the Scripture abundantly testifieth. But if we be imperfect agents, then cannot perfection come out of imperfection, no effect can be better than its cause. Ans. 1 The efficiency of the first cause, doth not take away the efficiency of the second cause. In God we live & move, yet it is not God that moveth; he, though he moveth all things, cannot be moved himself (immobilis, movens omnia. Aug.) So it is not God that repenteth, but we repent. The ignorance of which truth hath been the cause of the wicked mystery of Familisme which my soul abhorreth. And therefore we shall agree in the truth, which is implicitly laid down in the first part of your Dilemma. 2ly Whereas you say that all the faithful grant, that man is an imperfect agent. I answer, that if we take perfect here in this point, as it is opposed to that which is sinful, so many Saints do grant, and all should and will, as more light is beamed into their souls, grant it, that the sanctified and spiritual man, considered as fare forth as he is a spiritual man, doth work as a perfect Agent, not as an unholy, but an holy man. And therefore according to your rule, his action must be spiritual and holy. And this may give an answer to that argument which is brought from Job, Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, Job 14.4. 3ly Whereas you say, that no effect can be better than its cause, etc. This is not universally true. A man imperfect by the want of his arms or legs may beget a child which is perfect, and hath its limbs. But this not being much to the purpose, I shall not contend about it. Arg. 12. If the new man never sin, Christ came not to save the new man, for he came only to save sinners. Answ. The new man taken in this spiritual and theologicoll sense is not the object of salvation: but an elect person guilty and sinful in himself. And the new creation is a blessed consequent of our redemption by Christ: but I have sufficiently answered this before. Arg. 13. That which is not in its own nature agreeable to the holy law of God, is not perfect, and without sin; for sin is the transgression or disagreement with the law of God, 1 John 3.4. But the best of a regenerate man's actions are not agreeable to the law of God, being not done with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the understanding, and with all the strength, Mat. 22.37. Deut. 6.5. Ans. 1. By this argument you would bring the spiritual man to judge himself by the law or old covenant: but he is better taught by the Spirit. And as he doth not put his person under the old covenant, so doth he not judge his actions by the old covenant, but by the new covenant of grace. According to that of the Apostle, Gal. 5.18. If ye are led by the Spirit ye are not under the law. And thus looking upon what is wrought by the Spirit under the new covenant, he seethe it in its own nature agreeable to the law as it is delivered unto him in the hand of the Lord Jesus. Not that Christ doth require less holiness than is required in the old covenant: but because he giveth us more grace, enabling us to keep his Commandments; by the keeping of which, we known in the light of the Spirit that we truly know him. And the Commandments of Christ are kept by the Saints Evangelically two manner of ways. 1. By believing for justification. 2. By holy walking for sanctification; not that we can keep them by holy walking, but as we walk in the light of our justification. And thus he is as well able to keep the commandment of love, as the commandment of faith. Suppose a King should pardon a Traitor, and should give him an assurance of pardon for all future Treason which he might run into, and had power to enable him in some things, and sometimes to be obedient unto him as a loyal Subject, would you not say that this Subject were a loyal Subject; all his traitorous acts forgiven, and his loyal obedience to the command of his Sovereign being accepted? Thus it is between God and us: He forgiveth all the treasons of the flesh, and accepteth of the obedience of the spirit. God doth account that all the commands of the Law are fulfilled by us, when that which is not done is pardoned. (Omnia tunc facta deputantur, cum id quod non fit ignoscitur.) which is true in a sense in reference to sanctification as well as to justification. And a spiritual man thus looking upon himself in the glass of the covenant of grace, doth know that he is a keeper of the Commandments of God; and can say with the Psalmist, Ps. 119.10. With my whole heart I have sought thee: O let me not wander from thy Commandments. All his defects and imperfections with the committing of evil, and omitting good in the flesh are done away, and that which is good is accounted so by the law of God, as it is presented unto him in this Covenant. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty saith James, Jam. 2.12. As God doth judge our persons by the law of liberty, or the law of the new Covenant, so he doth judge our actions, and thus they are perfect. And the law of the new Covenant is not only faith for justification, but love for sanctification. And thus this place is expounded by the learned Paraeus. Arg. 14. Paul did not think himself to have fully apprehended, or to be already perfect, but strove forward, Phil. 3.12, 13. which cannot be said of the old man, but only of the new man, for the old man doth not strive forward for the prize of the high calling. Answ. Though Paul had not attained to that perfection, which he looked for at the resurrection: Yet he had attained to a perfection of parts which is opposed to sinfulness. Which doth appear by what followeth in the 15. vers. of the same Chap. where he doth acknowledge the Saints in this sense to be perfect, with which verse I shall put a period to my answers to your objections. As many as be perfect be thus minded, & if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Use 2. The lessons which God hath taught me from these meditations, have been very powerful by his grace for the convincing me of sin in a Gospel-way; and for the humbling of my soul under his mighty hand, by seeing the huge mass of corruption which is in the flesh, & that little quantity of pure gold which is in the Spirit. It was the speech of one of the Ancients, that grace in some Saints is like a spark in the Ocean. And thus I have apprehended it in myself: Yet I see that as it is wrought by grace, so it is accepted by grace, being not under the law as delivered in the first covenant, and yet not without the law to God, but under the law to Christ, 1 Cor. 9.21. And this hath been a strong motive unto me to hunger and thirst after the righteousness of sanctification, commanded and promised in the new Covenant, which doth comfort me with an assurance and confidence, that that which is perfected here in part inchoatively, shall be perfected in degrees consummatively. I can say with David, Psal. 138.8. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me, he will not forsake the works of his own hand. And seeing the strength and power of the flesh in me, I am carried up in spirit, to admire and wonder at God's omnipotent grace, by which, through faith, which worketh by love, I am preserved together with all Saints unto the day of salvation in Christ Jesus, who is over all (Rom. 9.5.) God blessed for ever, Amen. FINIS. SERMON I. ESAY 26.19. Thy dead men shall live, (together with) my dead body shall they arise, awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth her dead. THE belief of the resurrection is a present comfort in the midst of misery. Resurrectio mortuorum, fiducia Christianorun, Tertul. The resurrection of the dead is the joy, confidence, and boasting of Christians. And therefore when the people of God had made a sad complaint of their low condition, in the words preceding my Text: our Evangelicall Prophet, for their comfort, and consolation, doth from the mouth of God present them with this sweet and precious promise of a glorious resurrection of their bodies. Let poor Saints be full of complaints, let the billows of misery, and trouble be ready to overwhelm their souls; and let God but break in upon their spirits, and give them assurance of a blessed resurrection by his grace; and all their trouble, all their discomforts, all their miseries, by the light of this Sun, will presently vanish away. You may read the complaint in the precedent verse, where the Church complains that she had been like a woman with child, in great pain, verse 17. Like as a woman with Child that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord; We know the pains of a woman in travel, are the greatest pains; and the Church to set forth her trouble, compares it to the pains and pangs of a woman in travel. But that which doth heighten the trouble and misery of the Church is this, that though she were thus like a woman in travel, and pain; and expected to bring forth some great thing, and to do something in the world which might be left as a lasting monument to the praise of God: and be a refreshment to herself after her throws and languishment. She finds that all was a false conception; therefore she saith in the next verse, (vers. 18.) We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth the wind. She swollen big with expectation, and thought she should have brought forth some glorious birth into the world: but alas all that she hath brought forth, hath been but as it were wind; we see nothing but a false conception, We have not wrought any deliverance in the Earth, neither have the Inhabitants of the world fallen, ver. 18. Here we see the sad complaint of the Church. And in the words I have read to you, you may likewise read the Prophet laying down that which might comfort, and cheer the sad and drooping spirits of the people of God, in this sad, and lamentable complaint of theirs; And that is drawn from a sweet promise, that God makes to them of a resurrection: as if the Prophet had said, let it never trouble you, though you be the poorest, vilest, and miserablest creatures here upon the Earth: look beyond the Earth, look for the accomplishment of God's promise beyond this present life; and than you shall see as much cause to rejoice, as you apprehended cause of mourning before; What though you do no great thing for the present on Earth; what though your Enemies prevail over you; what though their cursed devices, Counsels, and Machinations do take effect against you: what though you fall by their hands, and can do no great things to set up Trophies of glory below? remember this, Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise, etc. Thus you see what coherence these words have with the context. In the words be pleased to take notice of these parts. First, here is a promise made to the people of God, of a blessed resurrection. Thy dead men shall live. Secondly, the confirmation of this, that is, (as some interpret it) from the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. My dead body shall rise, therefore they shall not lie long in the dust: together with my dead body shall they arise, or else thus, if we leave out [together, and with,] which are not in the Original, than this is the meaning. Thy dead men shall live, my dead body shall they arise; at the resurrection, they shall rise as my very dead body. I have consulted with the Hebrew text, and I find no more but that, I see no reason we should put in together with, seeing it is not found in the first copy. Thirdly, the nature of the resurrection is expressed to us, Awake. The Saints do (as it were) awake out of their sleep: Death is nothing but sleep to the people of God. The Prophet here to take away the sharpness and bitterness of death, compares it to a bed, wherein a man sweetly reposeth himself, and after he is refreshed riseth out again: so after the Saints have laid a while in their beds, in their graves, they awake, as the Psalmist saith, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness, Psal. 17. ult. that is, at the resurrection; when I awake, than I shall be satisfied with thy likeness; I do not enjoy so much of thee here as I desire to do: but then when I awake, I shall be satisfied with thy likeness. Fourthly, here is the great joy set forth that shall be when the Saints do arise, and that is expressed in that they are bid to Awake and sing: When the Saints are raised, they are to have a song in their mouths, of joy, and the glory of God in their hearts; awake, and sing. But it is otherwise with wicked, and ungodly ones; they must awake, and howl; they must awake, when they had rather sleep an everlasting sleep, and wish it might be a continual, and an ever enduring midnight to their poor souls: but for the Saints, they are to awake and sing. Fiftly, we have the Saints set forth to us in their low condition, before this resurrection; so they are called the Inhabitants of the dust, Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust. Sixtly, we have a further proof, that there shall be such a glorious resurrection, and that there shall be such great joy in the hearts of these Inhabitants of the dust, when they are raised by the power of Heaven from death to immortal life; and that is, from the heavenly dew, the Lord Jesus Christ, which shall be as due from the Father upon them, to quicken them to life after death: For as we see the dew of Heaven falling upon the herbs after they are withered, and almost dead by the parching heat of the Sun, they again wax green, and flourish: so when we have lain withering in the grave, the Lord Jesus Christ shall be as the dew of Heaven upon us; be shall come down in his power, and put a new life into us, and after death we shall be raised to a life of glory: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs. Then in the next place he proves it from the willingness of the Earth, to be disburdened of her charge when God calls for it, the Earth shall presently give up the carcases that she hath received in. The earth is God's Chest, in which he locks up the dust of his Saints for a short time: but when God calls for this treasure again, the earth shall presently be willing to yield what was entrusted to her bowels. And the Earth shall cast up her dead. These are the parts of this text: which is as clear a promise concerning the resurrection of the dead, as we find in all the Old-Testament, though others do otherwise expound it concerning the Jews deliverance, with whom I have not time now to contend. I did make choice of this text for these Reasons. First, because I did consider, that though there be many that make profession of Christ, and of a resurrection; yet there are few that believe in Christ, or that believe the truth of the resurrection: Durst men live in all wickedness, ungodliness, and impiety? durst they venture to carry the load of their sins with them to the grave when they come to lie on their deathbeds? and never be troubled for their sins, never be troubled for their goods unjustly gotten? were it possible that men could livethus', and die in this sottish and senseless condition, did they indeed, and in truth believe there were a resurrection? Secondly, because I have met with perverse people in the City, who do with boldness oppose the truth of the Doctrine of the resurrection. Truly we need not go to Jerusalem, we need not travel to the holy Land to find out a generation of Sadduces: the Lord knows my heart hath bled within me, when I have considered the multitude of Sadduces that are here in London; Sadduces of all sorts: Episcopal Sadduces, Presbyterian Sadduces; separated Sadduces, dipped Sadduces, seeking Sadduces; yet all agree in this notion, that it is a mere fancy of man, a notion of some idle brain, that there shall be a resurrection of bodies at the great day of the Lord Jesus. I believe that the truth of this is so generally known, that there is not one thinks that I speak an untruth in this place at this present. For impiety hath gotten such a brazen face, that it comes forth in the light, and though men have professed Christ, and Religion, and the Doctrine of the resurrection so long: yet how many are there now that deny that ever Christ came in the flesh? or that there shall be a resurrection of bodies at the great day? Therefore I thought I was bound in Conscience, (if I would deal uprightly in employing that small talon God hath given me) to manifest my dislike of these men, and to witness against them in the behalf of the Lord Jesus. Thirdly, considering the subtle practices, and indefatigable labours of these people who under a vizard of Religion, deceive poor, weak Christians; for their sakes and for the satisfying of the weak, I did resolve with myself to speak something, concerning the Doctrine of the resurrection: And seeing God hath pressed me to the handling of this point; knowing it may be for the good of divers poor weak Christians; I hope it will not be displeasing to any who are truly spiritual, and know the Lord Jesus Christ in a true and spiritual way, and wait upon him for the resurrection of their bodies. I shall therefore without any further Preface address myself to the words of the Text. Thy dead men shall live. Where we are to take notice, that though in this place here is nothing spoken concerning the resurrection of wicked men, but only of the dead men of the Lord Jesus, yet in other places it is sufficiently held forth. Those that die in the faith, are in a special manner called the dead men of God and of Christ, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: and these are called in this respect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Luc. 20.36. the sons of the Resurrection: for these are they only, who are heirs of glory, and the resurrection. It were better for others that there never were any resurrection: it were better for them that the mountains might cover them, and that they might sleep in verlasting oblivion, then to be brought forth before [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys.] the dreadful Tribunal of the Lord Jesus Christ, to give account for all their thoughts, words, and actions; yet you shall see other places clearly holding forth the resurrection of the ungodly and wicked, as well as of the Saints, though here the Prophet speaks only of the resurrection of those that die in the Lord Jesus. I will give you but one place, and that is in Joh. 5.28, 29. It is the speech of our Saviour, Marvel not at this (saith he) for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear my voice, and shall come forth; those that have done good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation, Jo. 5.29. So that there is a twofold resurrection, of life, and of damnation, though the Prophet speak only of the former in this place. Secondly, Thy dead men shall live, that is, all those Saints who die, and whose bodies are laid in the dust, all those shall rise; God hath not appointed, that all the Saints shall die: this the Apostle shows, We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed, 2 Cor. 15.51. And speaking of those that shall live when the Lord Jesus Christ shall appear from Heaven, he saith, than we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord, 2 Thess. 4.17. So that when he saith, Thy dead men shall live, that is, all those Saints that shall die, shall live again by the power of Christ, who shall be their life. Thirdly, Thy dead men shall live. The Prophet doth not speak here of a resurrection of souls: but when he saith Thy dead men, he means only the bodies of the Saints. As our age hath been fertile to bring forth all monstrous tenants and opinions that other ages have exploded; so it hath brought forth this abominable error which many Heathens by the dim light of nature have opposed, that the soul is mortal. They that are acquainted with people here in this City, will meet with some that will affirm, that the soul as well as the body is mortal; and this is one of the places that they make use of, Thy dead men. Now they say man is a compositum of soul, and body: therefore seeing dead men must live, it follows that the soul, or humane spirit as well as the body must die. But consider, this is against other places of Scripture; doth not the wise man tell us of the body returning to the dust, and the spirit returning to God that gave it? Eccles. 12.7. Doth not Paul desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ? Phil. 1 23. It is evident therefore that he had a persuasion, that as soon as his spirit did take leave of his body, his Spirit should be happy in the enjoyment of the Lord Jesus. Doth not our Saviour tell us that as soon as Lazarus died, the Angels carried him into Abraham's bosom, he came presently to the enjoyment of some happiness in the enjoyment of God. Therefore we are to know here in this place, that God speaketh unto us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the manner of men, God speaking to men, speaketh unto them in the language of men. And as we ordinarily call the carcase of the dead, a dead man: so God when he saith, thy dead men shall live, his meaning is not, that there shall be a resurrection of spirits, as though the soul of man were mortal like the soul of a beast, and did die with the body, but the meaning is, that the dead bodies of the Saints shall arise. Thy dead men shall live. For the proof of this I will present you with places taken out of the Scripture of truth, Hosea 13.14. there the Spirit by the Prophet speaks most plainly of the resurrection, I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction, etc. which the Apostle 2 Cor. 15. citys, and proves that this Promise shall be fully accomplished to the people of God at the general resurrection. So likewise God teacheth his holy servant Ezekiel this lesson in a holy vision, Ezek. 37. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about, and behold there were very many in the open valley, and lo they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophecy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Ezek. 37.1. Here the Prophet doth speak of the resurrection, and shows that a Spirit of life, and power shall come upon the dry bones and dust of the Saints, and that they shall live again in the presence of God. What was Jobs Faith and confidence in the midst of his sufferings, but in the resurrection? Job. 19.25, 26. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth; and though after my skin worms shall destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God. Here is a plain place, in which the Doctrine of the resurrection is held forth to us. He professeth that he believed the resurrection of the dead, and speaking by the Spirit of Christ, who is eternal life, the wisdom of the Father made flesh, he saith I shall see him; with what eyes? with these eyes and no other; with these very eyes. I urged this place to two men, and I had two several Answers from them. One that denied the resurrection gave this Answer, (I might tremble to speak it) Job spoke as a crazy old man, he knew not what; and therefore this was no solid place to prove the resurrection. The second said, he did not speak of the resurrection; because he saith in my flesh I shall see God, now God is not seen with fleshly eyes. But the Answer to this is easy: he speaks of Christ, as God-man: so we are said to see God when we see God in Jesus Christ, as it is Rev. 1.7. Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. With bodily eyes we may see the Lord Jesus Christ in his body, and with that spiritual eye, and in that spiritual body which we shall have given unto us at the resurrection; with that spiritual eye, and in that spiritual body, we shall be able to see that spiritual body, that the Lord Jesus Christ hath; so seeing Christ, we see God: because Christ is God manifested in the flesh as the Apostle calls him, 1 Tim. 3.16. The places are infinite almost in the New-Testament, nothing being so much preached by the Apostles as the Doctrine of the resurrection; Paul comes to Athens among the Epicures and Stoics, great Scholars, that were fools and ignorant in Religion, he preacheth the resurrection, that God would judge the world by the man Christ Jesus: so they were to be witnesses of the resurrection, and to preach Christ risen from the dead; to give evidence and assurance to men that they should rise likewise as well as the Lord Jesus. In the 1 Cor. 15. there were men crept into that Congregation, that denied the resurrection; therefore what strong Arguments doth Paul lay down to prove the resurrection? He shows that Christ died in vain, and that all Religion is in vain; that the Apostles were impostors and liars, who preached that Christ was risen, and that the Saints by the power of Christ should rise, if there were no resurrection. So in 1 Thess. 4.17. The Apostle speaks of the same subject, and shows the manner of the resurrection, and how Christ shall come from Heaven, The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and the Trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, (verse 16.) Here you see he holdeth forth this, that Christ who is that mediator between God and man, and true man now in Heaven; this Jesus Christ shall descend from Heaven, and that the Saints shall rise from the Earth to meet him in the air. So the Angels told the Apostles, Act. 1.11. when they looked up to Christ, when he ascended, this same Jesus shall so come from Heaven, as you now see him ascend into Heaven: the same Christ shall descend from Heaven, and the Apostles shall see him in the same manner with the very same eves, with which they saw him ascend into Heaven, with the same eyes they shall see him descend from Heaven. the Scripture is so full, that I need not take more pains to give you more places for the opening of it: unless you will please to take one place more out of the Old Testament, (that you may know that they had a clear knowledge of this in the days of the Law, as well as we have now in the days of the Gospel) Dan. 12.12. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the Children of thy people, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, who always stands for his people and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a Nation, even to the same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever. Here you see the same thing held forth. Though I will not trouble you with many reasons to confirm this doctrine of the resurrection: for the truth is, it is a Doctrine above Reason. I call here, not so much for reason, as for Faith, to believe what is above Reason, and what seems contrary to carnal reason: yet give me leave to give you a reason or two drawn from the sacred truth of God's word. The first is drawn from the truth of God, God is true, therefore there will be a resurrection, he should deceive, and delude his people, were there not a resurrection of bodies. Doth he not often tell us of a resurrection? And doth not our Saviour tell us that he will raise those at the last day who are drawn unto him by the Father? (Joh. 6.44.) And therefore unless we will make the great God (which is blasphemy to think) a liar; and Christ his Son a Preacher of the resurrection, the greatest impostor in the world; and all his Ministers, Servants, and Messengers, cheaters, jugglers, and deceivers of the people, we cannot but acknowledge a resurrection: for God hath spoken of it, and hath revealed this to them that there shall be such a resurrection, and they preach it in his name: therefore the God of truth should be found a liar, if there should not be a resurrection of bodies according to his word. Secondly, the justice, and mercy of God seem to call for a resurrection. If we look upon wicked, and ungodly men, so God in Justice must send his Son Jesus Christ to raise the dead, and to judge the world, or else how should the justice of God shine clear and bright before the eyes, and saces of men? This is the Argument that the Apostle lays down, 2 Thess. 1.5, 6. where he speaks of the sufferings of the Saints, and of the wickedness of their persecutors, who wrong them for making profession of the truth of the Lord Christ; which is (saith he) a manifest token of the righteous judgement of God, it is a demonstration, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an evident, infallible sign, that there will be a judgement day, and a resurrection; because else God should not be just, it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. It is just with the God of justice to punish the vessels of wrath, disobedient and wicked men, who never did flee to his grace for life, and salvation: it is just with him to pay the persecutors of his people their wages after they have done their work. Now if there were not a judgement day, if there were not a resurrection, where should God give them their wages for persecuting, and troubling them that make profession of his name? How should God that is the Judge of the world appear to be just? Here is the first Argument that God is just to wicked, and ungodly men; and God could not appear to be just, if there were no judgement day, no resnrrection, therefore there shall be a resurrection. Now the same things fall alike to the just and unjust; we see wicked, and ungodly men thrive, and prosper in the world; they live in pleasure, there are no bands in their death, as the Psalmist speaks, they spend their days in mirth, and die upon their beds without sorrow. How should God appear to be just, unless there be another day, when God will call these men to a reckoning for all the sins, and iniquities which they did commit against him when they lived upon the Earth? Secondly, if we look to the mercy of God And this is the Argument that our blessed Saviour makes use of, Matth. 22.31. When the Sadduces came to him, who said there was no resurrection, nor spirit, nor Devil, (as our Sadduces do) who say there is no Devil but our own evil thoughts, nor good Angels, but the good motions of our own spirits, nor any resurrection of the body. See what Argument he useth to prove the resurrection, as touching the resurrection, have ye not read that which was spoken to you by God saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: God professeth himself the God of dead Saints in a special manner; therefore these must live again and be made happy by this God, that professeth himself to be their God, while their bodies lie rotting and putrifying in the earth; God in his never failing faithfulness owns them in the dust, keeps their ashes in safety, by which Christ doth ascertain us that there will be a resurrection of bodies at the last day. So that you see if this truth be denied it will overthrow the Scriptures, which acquaints us that some are vessels of honour, some of dishonour, that some are vessels of grace, and some are vessels of God's fury, and indignation; if there be no judgement, day no resurrection; there cannot be vessels of wrath, and vessels of mercy: If there be no resurrection, we are of all men most miserable, etc. 1 Cor. 15. therefore a resurrection must be granted, that Saints may appear the vessels of God's mercy. 1. Use. Confut. That which hath been spoken consutes the blasphemous and Diabolical opinion of those that do oppose this Doctrine of the resurrection. There are two sorts of these, First, such who do plainly deny the resurrection, as Porphyrius and others whom we read of. And secondly, such who will not seem to deny a resurrection, but will pretend that they are risen already, spiritually risen. And they know no other resurrection. The first of these are like those that are mentioned in the 2 Cor. 15. that say there is no resurrection. The latter are like those 2 Tim. 2.18. Hymeneus and Philetus that said the resurrection was already past. The latter of these are the more dangerous. Come, and ask them, is there a resurrection? Yes, we are risen, it is past, you understand the Scripture carnally, and not spiritually; you look on the history of the word; whereas all the Scripture is mystical, and allegorical. Thus these in a more plausible way deny the truth of God, and overthrow the Doctrine of the resurrection. But these places of Scripture, and sanctified reasons drawn from the word of truth, sufficiently confute, and overthrow this damnable cursed opinion of theirs, that strikes at the very root, and raseth the foundation of all Religion. This point of the resurrection is so clearly held forth in Scripture, that those that deny it, either deny the Scripture to be the word of the Lord Jesus, or else by their allegories, and diabolical interpretation of the word, they pervert the truth of it. Now the latter of these are the most dangerous: for they seem to carry a great deal of glory, spirituality and truth with them, and make those that are not acquainted with their solecisms believe that they are very spiritual, that they have some light, and knowledge, that men have not ordinarily attained to: Whereas, when you have studied well the depth of their notions, you shall find this to be all, if they acknowledge a God: (for I know that there are some of these that absolutely deny that there is a God:) that God was from all eternity, and God shall endure to all eternity; and that being that they had in God from all eternity, that being they shall have in God to all eternity; but the body, and the humane spirit shall die, and be lost, and come to nothing. So all the happiness they have, is that eternal, and everlasting being, concludunt spiritum ad essentiam Dei redire, eique jungi ita ut unicus spiritus maneat. As Calvin reporteth of those Libertines which denied the resurrection in his time. They conclude (saith he) that the Spirit shall return to the essence of God, and shall be joined to him, so that one spirit shall only remain: as if they should say, there is a God that was for ever, and shall endure for ever, but all the creatures shall come to nothing: when the body dies it shall return to its dust never to be raised, and the spirit shall vanish away, as the soft air, as those miscreants in the book of Wisdom speaks, (Wisd. 2.3.) which if it were a truth there should be no happiness for the humane spirit of man, or for the body after this life. And I am confident that this is all their new Light affordeth to us and glorious spirituality, or rather infernal spirituality (as Calvin calleth it, Infernalem spiritualitatem,) they boast of. And this I gather by their own discourses, and words; and likewise by searching their writings, and reading their books, that have formerly been written, and that lately are brought into the world. But me thinks there is one objection for the present comes to my mind, which doth call for an answer before I proceed. Object. If there be such a generation of men as you speak of, that deny the Doctrine of the resurrection, and pervert the truth of God, than we may see by this what inconvenience would follow, if liberty should be granted to men to practise according to their own judgements, which are contrary to the judgements of the civil Magistrate in the worship of God. Therefore it seems there is a necessity laid upon Civil powers, that men may be kept from these errors, and damnable opinions, to make strict Laws, and impose them upon all people. And all sorts of professors to enforce them to come in, and profess Christ in their way, or else to confiscate their goods, to banish them out of the Country, or (if need be) to take away their lives. Answ. I answer, this doth not follow, there were such in the time of the Lord Jesus, we find him oft disputing with the Sadduces: yet we see the Lord Jesus Christ did not intent to overthrow the Sadduces (that denied the resurrection) by such means, but dealt with them only by Scripture, and reason, as we see Matth. 22. And when James and John producing the example of Elias desired Christ to command fire to come from Heaven to destroy the discourteous Samaritans that refused to entertain them; He denyeth their request with a reproof, Luk. 9.55. He rebuked them and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of: and I think it is safe for us to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the next place, let me tell you that no Laws, Statutes, constitutions or forms imposed by men, or Directories, or any thing you can think of, Discipline, or Government; can extirpate this out of the hearts of these men. For I assure you, that few that are of this judgement, will lose any thing for their Conscience. Some of them if you bring in Popery, before they will lose a hair of their head for that which they maintain, they will be professed Papists. We may see the picture of these men in Quintinus, who was the devil's Ambassador in calvin's time, to divulge Familisticall tenants, of whom he thus speaks, si hodiè Quintinus vinctus teneretur, sive à Christianis, sive à Papistis, & staretur ipsius confessioni, non multum esset anxius. Certus enim esset de suâ liberatione quod tum horum, tum illorum voluntati assentiretur. If Quintin were now imprisoned by Protestants, or Papists, and should be freed or condemned by his own confession, it would not much trouble him: for he would be confident of his freedom. Because he would assent to the will of either of them. Calv. in his Instruc: Adver: Liber: c. 8. If you threaten them that they shall suffer any thing, they will presently tell you that they were overtaken with a fault, and they will be of your mind, if you have any power to punish them for what they profess. Like him in the Comedian; Ais? aio; negas? nego. Do you assert it? I assert it too; do you deny it? I deny it too. And why should a man be so foolish as to lose any thing for that which he professeth in his Conscience, when he thinks there shall be no resurrection? He hath no reason; he were mad that would part with Earth, and earthly things, that is not sure of Heaven; he is a madman that will lay down his life, that is not persuaded there will be a life after death. Therefore I assure the Presbyterian Party if liberty of Conscience be not granted to Saints, most or all these will fall in to them: And before Liberty was thought of, there were a great many of these in the City, and they conformed to that which was then practised, and they will conform to any Government which shall be set up by the power of man. It is not any Discipline, or Government that can extirpate these cursed opinions out of the hearts of these men. And though there be Discipline, Government, and strict Laws, yet in secret ways they know how to insinuate poison into the hearts and spirits of men, to corrupt them from the truth and simplicity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know some of these that do and have preached publicly undiscovered, and some have now places, and are turned Presbyterians, who professed these tenants in the City of London, that are now gone from the City, and have Parochial Congregations, and are looked on as Presbyterians, and Orthodox men, and none speak against them, they know how to cover their opinions well enough. This mystery of iniquity is not easily discovered: so that this objection makes nothing against Liberty of Conscience. I think it were better if it were the Lords will, that these men of this wicked, ungodly spirit might be known, that so they may not draw many people into their sin, but that the truth of God may be held forth against them to overthrow their errors: for nothing will overthrow error but truth. It is not a prison, it is not the Sword, it is not the power of man that can overthrow error, and root up false opinions out of the hearts of men: it is only the power of the truth of the Lord Jesus. As Dagon fell before the Ark, so these cursed opinions must fall before the Ark of truth, by the power of the Lord Jesus. For if you threaten them that they shall suffer any thing, they will presently tell you that they were overtaken with a fault, and they will be of your mind: If you have power to punish them for what they profess. But lastly, this should not be brought as an Argument to prejudice those in the enjoyment of their Liberty, who are truly conscientious. For it will have no more force than this. Thiefs and rogues swarm and abound in the Commonwealth, while Liberty, Privileges and immunities are granted to honest men, and they are countenanced. Therefore suffer not honest men to live in the Commonwealth. Thus having removed an objection which lay in my way, which I perceived might be drawn from the licentiousness of these wicked men, to the wronging of the true Saints and children of the most High, in reference to their Liberties, I shall now come to answer the Objections of these adversaries to the resurrection. And first, they that absolutely deny the resurrection, do thus argue, Do you think that this body after it is resolved into its first elements, and that part of it is burned in the fire, a part exhaled into the air, a part converted into water, and a part of it turned into earth, that the same numerical body shall be raised again? Let a man, one that you call a Saint, be torn in pieces, let the bird have her prey out of him, let the fish have her share, let the devouring beast likewise have his belly full of his flesh, let the Cannibal come, and have his dinner out of another limb; and shall we believe after all this that this man shall rise again? What will you bereave us of reason? you profess to be rational men; how can you subscribe to such a thing, that a man should be burned in the fire, his ashes cast into the sea, And after these changes, and transmutations, that this man, this same man, the same body of this man should be raised again? how can any man that hath not put off all reason believe it? Thus they contend by their carnal reason against the truth of the resurrection. But let me answer, though I grant all this which they say, that the bodies of the Saints may be resolved into the first Elements, out of which they were made; yet for all this there shall be a resurrection of the very same numerical body. For look to God, he that hath promised to do this, he is omniscient, he knows the dust of his Saints, though it be carried into the Sea; if a piece of the body of a Saint be in the belly of a fish he knows it there, as well as he knew his servant Ionas in the belly of the Whale. If it be resolved to dust, and burned to ashes; he knows the dust of his Saints. We know the Alchemist can convert one thing to another, and afterward reduce it to the thing that formerly it was. So shall not God (though he suffer the bodies of his Saints to undergo a hundred mutations, and changes, into fire, and water) after reduce us again to the same bodies in which formerly we were? God knows where the dust of his people lies as well as the Citizens of China know where their earth lies that they lay up for some hundreds of years, that they may make the purer vessels of it. God doth but bury us a while in the earth, that at the resurrection he may bring us forth as vessels of his own praise and glory: and God knows where he hath hid and laid us. If one limb be in Africa, another in Asia, another in Europe, another in America, the Lord knows how to bring limb to limb, and bone to bone; he is an omniscient God. And as he is omniscient, and knows every part of his people, and the dust of his Saints, and treasures up the dust of his Saints, and keeps it in safety: So he is a powerful God, and able to raise the bodies of his Saints. As he knows what dust and bones belong to a body, so he is able to bring it again to the same body which it was; and to change it into a more glorious body. He is able to change that same numerical mortal body into an immortal body. And though we can find nothing in nature that can evidently prove this truth: yet we find many sweet sigures, shadows and resemblances of this in nature. Doth not the day die into night, and afterward night rise again into the day? doth not Summer die into Autumn, and Autumn into Winter, and then the Spring brings the Summer in glory to us again? Are not some creatures which lie dead in Winter, restored to life when Summer appeareth? Do we not see the seed that is buried in the earth, and put into the furrows again to spring to a new life, and to come forth with greater glory than when it was sown in the earth: If you take notice of the Goldsmith you shall find that he keeps his fyling, and his dust, and though we look on it as a heap worth nothing: yet he knoweth by the Art of the refyner to bring a choice and precious vessel out of that dust. So though the bodies of the Saints have lain as a heap of dust, and we see no glory in it; yet God the refyner of Heaven, by the power of his Arm is able to extract the filings and dust of his Saints out of the earth, and to restore their dust, to an immortal, spiritual, and glorious body; Look to the power of God, nothing will be impossible. Therefore when the Sadduces cavilled against the Doctrine of the resurrection, our Saviour strikes at the root of their error, which was this, because they questioned the power of God concerning this: Ye err, saith he, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God, (Mat. 22.) Qui potest facere potest reficere, etc. saith Tertullian, he that was able to make the body out of nothing, is able to remake it; he that was able to give a being out of no being, is able to give a being out of that that hath a being: It is easier to make a thing out of that that hath a being, then out of that that hath no being, God hath done the first, why should we distrust him concerning the second? Therefore you shall find the Apostle when he preached this Doctrine, that we shall be raised, and in our bodies made like the glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ; and knowing that there would be carnal objections, arise in the spirits of men against this Doctrine, he presently fits and shapes an answer for it, from the power of God, Phil. 3. ult. we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby he is able to subdue even all things to himself. Here that the mouth of unbelief and carnal reason may be stopped, he tells us that he will make our bodies like unto his glorious body: and question not but he will do it: for he will do it by his mighty power, by which he is able to subdue all things to himself; thus fare in answer to the first sort of Adversaries. The objections of the spiritual Enemies, or rather diabolical Enemies (though they pretend to spirituality) are drawn from Scripture. And this is no wonder, for their Father the Devil doth quote Scripture sometimes too. The first place which they allege, is in the 1 Cor. 15.50. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption: from whence they conclude that our corruptible and fleshly body shall not be raised: And therefore that there is no such resurrection to be expected which we wait for; But that the Apostle in this Chapter and all other places speaking of the resurrection, doth treat of it spiritually & allegorically; And that he never did hold forth such a carnal and gross resurrection, as we in our muddy brains do grossly apprehend he did. In answer to which objection, we shall grant that the Apostle in sundry places, doth speak of a resurrection figuratively. As in the 3. Col. 1. If ye be risen with Christ, silly those things which are above, where he speaketh of a resurrection to a new life in the spirit by faith. And in this sense we grant that Saints are already risen. There being no happiness for such at the second resurrection hereafter, who are not first raised here, and made partakers of the first resurrection. Yet this doth not weaken our assertion, nor overthrow our Faith. And therefore give me leave to put in an answer to their objection. First, It is true, flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. What doth he mean? he means, sinful flesh, and blood shall not inherit; whatsoever is sin, and flesh, in this respect, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Secondly, flesh and blood may be taken for the weaknesses, and infirmities that cleave to our bodies for the present, and flesh and blood, our bodies of flesh and blood if we look on them in their frailties, infirmities, and weaknesses, so they shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. But otherwise it is certain, these bodies which are flesh and blood, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. For as our Lord Christ is now in glory, in the same body, though it be a spiritual glorious body in Heaven, in which he suffered on the Cross, so we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be raised, go to Heaven, and enjoy God in happiness in these very bodies that we carry about us, we shall see God with these eyes and no other, we shall have the same feet, hands and members, etc. And though there shall be no sin, frailty, weakness or infirmity, no imperfection, lameness, deafness, or blindness, yet the same numerical body shall be raised again. And if God would but open their eyes to read and understand what is spoken, they shall have an answer from the pen of him whom they through their blindness do misunderstand in the 53. verse of the same chapter, This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. The same mortal body, by him who is immortal must be made immortal and incorruptible. This was the confession of the African Churches, Credimus resurrectionem carnis hujus: we believe the resurrection of this flesh: which is consonant to the truth delivered by Paul, 2 Cor. 5.10. We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. The same persons must appear, we that consist of a material body and spiritual soul, must appear in the same body and soul, or else it is not we that shall appear but some body else which shall appear, which is contrary to the mind of God, and his Apostle in this place. The second objection which they bring is this, that we that profess Christ and a resurrection by him, in this way are carnal, and know Christ after the flesh, whereas the Apostle saith in the 2 Cor. 5.16. That he is to be known so no more. To which I answer, that this is one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one of the things hard to be understood in Paul which Peter speaketh of 2 Pet. 3.16. which they being unstable, wrist as they do other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. Paul hath no such meaning, which they carnally draw from the letter of the word, which will appear, if we consider the Christ which he preached, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, Rom. 1.3. crucified in the flesh for our sins, 2. Cor. 13.4. risen from the dead for our Justification, Rom. 4.25. 1 Cor. 15.20. ascended in our humane nature in which he suffered and descended into the lower parts of the earth, 4. Eph. and in that humane nature doth make Intercession for us at his Father's right hand, as our Mediator, 1 Tim. 2.5. If he means that which they draw from his words, he knew Christ after the flesh in all his Sermons, and his Faith was a knowledge of Christ after the flesh. And therefore that which they wrist from his words is not his meaning. Secondly, Paul's meaning is this, that Christ is not to be known after the flesh. As though any men should conceive that they should have any privilege or prerogative above another in Christ, because they are his kinsmen or Countrymen according to the flesh, or of the same stock with Christ, being descended from Abraham or David according to the flesh. Thus Christ is not to be known after the flesh. It will avail men nothing that they are near to Christ in the flesh by their natural birth, unless they be near to Christ, and one with Christ by their new birth: So that the Apostle doth in this place take away the difference which some might apprehend, to be between the Jew and the Gentile. It is parallel to that place Gal. 3.28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And this is evident by the precedent verse, where he saith that Christ died for all, for Gentiles as well as for Jews, so that a Jew may as soon be saved by Christ as a Gentile, if he rest upon the grace of the Father through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus his Son for Justification and Salvation. It will likewise appear to be the plain and naked meaning of the Apostle, if we consider the subsequent words, where he doth publish forth the same thing, and explaineth his meaning, telling us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. The sinful Gentiles who are called the world in opposition to the Jews, that were Gods peculiar and selected people, gathered out of the world from other Nations. God is reconciled to this world, to sinful Gentiles, as well as to Gods own people the Jews. And therefore Christ is not to be known among Christians in any carnal or fleshly relations, as though he were a Saviour more to the Jews then to the Gentiles. This were to know Christ after the flesh, but we that know him spiritually know him so no more, for in the Spirit we see the partition wall which was between Jews and Gentiles pulled down; and know Christ the common Saviour both to Jews and Gentiles, which shall believe in his name. And thus I have given you an answer fully satisfactory to their second objection. The third place from which they frame an objection, is in Eccles. 3.19. That which befalleth unto the Sons of men, befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, yea they have all one breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast. To this I thus answer, that Solomon here doth not propose this as his own judgement, but rather doth represent unto us the opinion of carnal men, who have no greater light than the dim eye of reason. And doth acquaint us with their folly and ignorance, by communicating his own experience unto us. I said in my heart, ver. 18. He spoke this in his heart, when the darkness of his spirit did as a thick cloud hid the light of the Spirit of God from him. He doth not speak this from his heart and spirit enlightened with the truth of God. But from his heart under a mist of error, being surrounded with great temptations. And this will appear by many passages which he uttereth in this book, which do wholly contradict that which they would gather from these words, as the meaning of Solomon, for the overthrowing of the Doctrine of the resurrection and the day of judgement. For instance Ecc: 11.9. How doth he labour to draw young men from the pursuit of the world's pleasures and vanities, by putting them in mind that God will bring them unto judgement? And what a plain place is that against Sadduces, Familists and Libertines, that deny a judgement day and a resurrection, with which he doth put a period to this book, Ecc: 12. and the last. God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. I shall not trouble you with any more of their Arguments. Because they are of the same nature with those which have been brought already. And the same Answers which have been given unto these will give sufficient satisfaction to any other objections, which may be brought against this truth. 2. Use from this error. Again, since the truth of God appears so clear in Scripture, that there shall be a resurrection of body, and of the same body; let us abhor, and abandon the gross fanatical conceits of all that we meet with, that profess themselves open enemies to the Doctrine of the resurrection. Brethren, I beseech you, loath, abhor, and detest this hellish diabolical Doctrine. For as Christians are to embrace the truth of God with all zeal and affection of spirit: so we are to detest and abhor all errors that oppose the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, with all zeal, and fervency of spirit: though these are much offended with the zeal and sharpness of the Saints: supposing that such heat and holy anger is inconsistent with the spirit of meekness, and therefore, if a man (though in the Spirit) witness against these conceits, and atheistical opinions of theirs, presently they say, that though he pretend to be the servant of Christ, and to have the Spirit of Christ; yet he hath not the Spirit of Christ, because he is so sharp in his speech. But consider, how our blessed Saviour oft in his preaching, and discourses thunders, and lightens in the faces of men that opposed the truth. Did he not call the Scribes and Pharisees, a Generation of Vipers, and Adulterers to their faces? and hath not Paul, and Peter expressions to this purpose? Peter tells Simon Magus, he was in the very gall of bitterness? Did not Paul call Elymas the child of the Devil and enemy of all righteousness? Act. 13.10. and our Saviour tells the Hypocrites that he preached to, Joh. 8. Ye are of your father the Devil. Therefore know, that as Christ, (though he had the holy Spirit in him, yet) he made use of such sharp and bitter speeches, so a man may have such speeches in his mouth, and yet he may be in the spirit of God, and speak to God's glory when he thus speaks. The Angel of the Church of Ephesus is commended, that he could not bear with those that were evil. And that he hated the works of the Nicolaitans himself, and our Saviour doth profess his hatred to the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans. And why should a Christian be afraid to imitate his Saviour, though these will censure him for it? If this be to be vile and without love, to speak bitterly against such bitter enemies of Christ, should not a zealous Christian say as David said to Michal when she scoffed him for his devotion to his God, 2 Sam. 6.22. I will be yet more vile than thus? Therefore let me desire you, that you will abhor these tenants and opinions of theirs, which do overthrow the whole Doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. If this that they hold be a truth, which we deny; there is no truth in this book that we hold; if this be a truth that they profess, there is no truth in Jesus Christ that professeth himself the way, the truth and the life. And as the Apostle preacheth 1 Cor. 15. The Apostles shall be found false witnesses of God, for they preached that Christ, though he suffered on the Cross, his body was raised, and in it he ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and mediates, and intercedes as an Advocate for us. If Christ be not risen, than we are false witnesses of God, 1 Cor. 15.15. because we have testified that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up; if the dead rise not, and if they shall be found false witnesses, and Impostors, who then are the men that we must look on as Divine men, as knowing understanding men? We must look on these as a Generation of liars that have deceived us, and made us believe that Christ is risen, and that we shall rise by his power, and there is no such matter, who are to be eyed as men of truth? we must look on Lucian, that in his Dialogues and other books jeers those that expect happiness after this life, or fear misery; and calls our blessed Jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Sophister that was hanged upon a Cross. We must look on him as an Orthodox man, as a Divine writer. Pliny that writes of the soul's immortality, and denies that resurrection of the body, we must look on him as Canonical. Julian the Apostate must be admired for his wisdom. To throw away our Bibles, or burn them, as those in the 19 Acts 19 did burn their Books of curious Arts, will be a point of wisdom and discretion. It will be no impiety to deny the truths that Peter, Paul, and other servants of the Lord Jesus Christ have preached and sealed with their bloods. O Brethren take heed of this hellish, hellish Doctrine, take heed of these seducers, Beware of these Wolves that come in sheep's clothing. See how this tenant plants its Ordnance to batter down all goodness, all the hope of Christians, and strength of Christianity. 3. Use. The belief of this truth may bring in streams of joy to our souls, and spirits in the midst of the greatest troubles, and miseries that can come upon us. Therefore the Apostle when he had laid down this point, 1 Thess. 4.1. see what use he makes of it in the 18. ver. for their consolation, bidding them to comfort one another with those words. In your weaknesses and sickness consider that these bodies that are frail, mortal, and must after a while moulder into dust, shall at the resurrection be made like unto the glorious body of Christ, Phil. 3. last. Is death approaching, doth the King of fears (Job 18.14.) knock at the doors of your cottages of clay? Let the fear of death be killed by the meditation of this, that the Lord Jesus by his death and resurrection, hath abolished our death, and brought life and immortality to light through his glorious Gospel. 2 Tim. 1.10. Christ (cujus victoria nostra est) whose victory is ours, hath overcome sin, the grave, Death, Hell; and he arising as a public person, his glorious resurrection may be a pledge unto us of our future resurrection in glory. Our bodies are called in Scripture the Temples of God. Let me tell you that God will not pull down his Temples, unless he intended to build them up again: He will set up these Temples in glory, which he pulls down and lays in the dust with dishonour. I remember what a divine Poet saith, speaking of the resurrection: Pellite corde metum mea membra, & credit vosmet, Cum Christo reditura deo— — Atra sepulcra respuite— Prudentius. My limbs, drive away from you the fear of death, ye shall with Christ return to God. slight the blackness and horror of the grave: which doth sweetly accord with the divine rapture of Paul, 1 Cor. 15.55, 56, 57 O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God which giveth us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. The full persuasion of this, is that which hath filled the spirits of Christians with joy and fortitude in their sufferings. The heavenly company of Martyrs that sacrificed their lives for Christ, do deserve rather to be registered in the Catalogue of fools, then to be dignified, or ennobled as Saints with the Crown of Martyrdom, had they suffered and questioned the truth of the resurrection. This hath made their sufferings comfortable to them, and glorious to us as our pattern and example for imitation. This hath made them so willing to hazard their lives for the truth of Christ. It is this that hath made them so prodigal of their blood; that I remember it is reported of one of the heathen persecutors, that he said he thought the Christians delighted in torments, they seemed to slight all punishments and tortures, that the witty malice of their adversaries could invent, or their cruelty inflict. This carried them forth in that height of spirit, that they rejoiced in the midst of tortures. It was this that cheered the heart of a Martyr, that was troubled a little before his suffering, the Comforter coming and assuring him of happiness at the resurrection. Gregorius Nazianzenus in his third Oration tells us of Theclas and some other Martyrs that were observed by the spectators (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) to be very merry in the extremity of torments. Marcus of Arethusa when the bloody persecutors had exercised his Faith and patience with several sorts of tortures, and did afterwards draw him through draughts, and other noisome places, he accounted it (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) rather his pomp and glory, than his misery and calamity. Women have discovered masculine, and heroical spirits when they were called to suffer for the lord (Nostri pueri & mulierculae tortores suos taciti vincunt & exprimere illis gemitum nec ignis potest) Lactantius saith, that the Christian children and women did by their silence over come their tormentors, and the flames of first could not make them weep. Austin tells of a poor weak maid that went to suffer for Christ (tanquam ad epulas invitata) a● though she had been invited to a banquet. We read of some, when they came to lay down their lives, they were sorry that they had no more lives to lose for the Lord Jesus. Tertullian saith, that the Christians were so ready to suffer, that they were as willing to be devoured by the Lions, as the people were desirous of their destruction by the Lions. Eusebius tells us that when as the Proconsul exhorted Germanicus to relent, admonishing him of his tender years, praying him to pity his own case, being now in the flower of his youth: he without intermission enticed the beast to devour him. Eusebius fourth book of the Eccl. Hist. What steeled the spirits of these men, and carried them above carnal reason, and the weak principles of nature, but a strong and powerful persuasion in their spirits, that they should have a glorious and joyful resurrection at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ? This is that that the Apostle proves to us, Heb. 11.35. Some were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. He informeth us that when deliverance was offered, they would not accept of it. What was the reason? they expected a resurrection; Threaten could not terrify them from the truth, nor promises draw them to error, because they were without wavering persuaded of a resurrection. This was that that made Polycarpus the Martyr so willing todie for the Lord Jesus Christ, which appeareth by his speech when he was tied at the stake, I thank thee that thou hast graciously vouchsafed this day, to allot me a portion among the number of Martyrs, among the people of Christ unto the resurrection of the everlasting life, both of body and soul, etc. Euseb: This was that likewise that made the Saints to be so merry, and cheerful upon their deathbeds. When Hilarion lay sick, and in his flesh did feel a little fear of death, he presently reproves himself, and breaketh forth into these words. Egredere, egredere anima, go forth, go forth my soul, hast thou served Christ so many years, and now art thou afraid to die? What difference could there be between the death of Saints, and of wicked, profane, unbelieving men, if there were no resurrection of the dead at all? and therefore as you desire to live comfortably, and to die happily in the bosom of Christ, rejoicing upon your deathbeds, live constantly in the assurance of the truth of this Doctrine of the resurrection; and while others that have seduced ignorant and poor people, into Familisme with a brazen face all their days, shall tremble upon their deathbeds, being afraid of death, and dreading a judgement day which they have denied, like the Emperor Hadrian. Animula vagula, blandula,— Quae nunc abibis in loca?— Pallidula, rigida, nudula. Poor, wand'ring, pale, quivering soul, whither shalt thou go? (Platina in the lives of the Popes.) You shall call for death, and not look on death, as a way to the infernal prison, but as a passage to immortality in Heaven; ye shall see the Lion death slain, and find nothing but honey in the carcase: you shall rejoice in confidence that your bodies shall be raised while they shall tremble for fear of a resurrection. For I would have you to take notice that God seldom suffers men that are grown to this height of unbelief, and ungodliness, to deny the resurrection, and Christ's coming in the flesh, to die without galled and troubled consciences. As it is observed by some, of many that were professed Atheists, who when they came to their death beds, though they in their health, and strength, swimming in a world of pleasure and contentments, asserted that there was no god, yet when they came to lie on their deathbeds, none seemed to be more afraid of a God, and to tremble so much at his power as these men: so none are more afraid of death, Hell, and a resurrection, than some of these that have denied that there is any Hell or a resurrection. I remember the speech of Zeno the Philosopher, if I would persuade any man from Atheism, said he, I would lead him to the deathbed of an Atheist when he is gasping out his last breath. So, if I had not sufficiently persuaded you that there shall be a resurrection of the body, by what I have brought out of the word of truth, if I knew where any of these did lie sick I would carry you to their deathbeds, and you might see some of them troubled, and galled in their conscience that have blasphemously professed that there is no Christ come in the flesh, and that there shall be no resurrection of the body hereafter. I shall not need at the present to add many more words, for I hope better things of you, and such things which accompany salvation, I hope there are few such spirits as these, in this Congregation, yet I know the Devil is so subtle, that where he thinks people are most spiritual, and know God most, and are acquainted with Christ, he sends his imps, his Sadduces to trouble, and assault them: he doth not set so much upon any people to draw them away, as upon those that make profession of the Gospel of Christ. The Devil knows such whom he hath safe within his own command, and many of these are not assaulted by these imps, but when men seem to be heirs, and boast of the Lord Jesus, and profess themselves to be in the spirit of glory and adoption, and to have their names written in Heaven, and that none are able to separate them from the love of God; the Devil sends his evil Angels to such men as these. Therefore knowing that you should meet with such spirits, I thought good to speak somewhat before that being forewarned you might be fore-armed, (praemoniti praemuniti) that you may go on in the power of God, and the strength of his might: though the Devil may buffet you for a time by these wicked instruments, and cast his fiery darts into your hearts, and spirits to persuade you that there is no resurrection, and may certainly know that if there be any truth in the history of the Gospel, this is a truth, concerning the resurrection. And it is the desire of my soul that ye may live continually and constantly in the confidence and assurance of the resurrection of your bodies, which being joined with a lively Faith in Christ's death and resurrection, will sweeten your lives and crown your deaths with happiness. Death which came in upon men as a legal curse, shall be turned into a blessing unto you, it shall not be your fear, but desire, with Paul ye shall desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. But this Doctrine being laid aside as of no worth, or value, Christ will appear unto you but a shadow, fancy, and forged Chimaera of man's brain: As the wicked Pope was persuaded, who did thus glory in his riches, What great riches have we gotten by this fable of Christ! Wherefore as you desire to breath forth your souls with joy into the bosom of the Lord Jesus, live in the comforts of the resurrection through Christ. That will make you say in the midst of the pangs of death with Simeon, Lord let thy servant now departed, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Or else such music will be in your hearts, as was in Stephens when he prayed, Lord Jesus receive my spirit; ye shall have peace at the last, which shall be everlasting. The life of grace shall be lengthened out with an eternity of glory, which God and the Father grant unto you in the riches of his grace, through his son our blessed Jesus and Redeemer, Amen. Christ's Title to the dead bodies of Saints maintained. SERMON II. CHrist is a Christians shield and buckler, so that none can strike at a Christian but through the sides and loins of his Saviour; We cannot wrong Saints unless we injure the King of Saints, Christ and his people have the same Enemies. This is evident in the opposers of the resurrection, who as they are enemies to Christians, so they are to Christ; and they do not so much wrong to his people, as they offer violence unto him: as they would bereave his members of the happiness of their resurrection, so they would rob him of his limbs, members and glory. And therefore as I have pleaded against the living adversaries of dead Saints, so I shall now plead the cause of Christ against those enemies of Christ, who in denying the resurrection, deny the raising of his mystical body, which doth fight against that truth which doth next present itself unto us in the text, in these words, My dead body shall they arise. I must speak something for the exposition, something by way of amplification of that which I apprehend to be the truth of God, mainly pointed at in the words, Together with my dead body shall they rise. So it is in our translation, and those that carry it thus, they make this to be the meaning of the words, that the bodies of the Saints shall be raised together with the body of the Lord Jesus. And if the Holy Ghost did point at this, than the first thing that should be observed would be this, that Christ Jesus had a body, a natural body. If it do not clearly appear from this place, yet it doth from others: for it is said, he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. And likewise Joh. 1. The word was made flesh. And, great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh, 1 Tim. 3.16. which will overthrow that which some Familisticall spirits dare to assert in our times, that the Lord Jesus Christ never had any natural body, allegorising the whole history of the incarnation, life and death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus. But secondly, if it be thus expounded as some learned men do expound the words, the next observation will be this, that This body of Christ was a dead body. Revel. 1.18. I am he that liveth and was dead. The true Christ in his body was once dead; his body was a crucified body; He his own self (saith Peter) in his own body bore our sins upon the Cross, 1 Pet. 2.24. He was wounded for our iniquities, his body was bruised for our transgressions, Isa. 53. Thirdly, that The dead body of the Lord Jesus was raised, with my dead body they shall rise, it is supposed, that this dead body spoken of shall arise, and this is that, that is so frequently preached by the Apostles, who were witnesses appointed by God, to testify that the Lord Jesus did rise from the dead. The Devil knew what a truth this was, how much life, glory, sweetness, and power there is in it; therefore he employed his instruments the Scribes and Pharisees to do what they could to smother this truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: What lies did they not make? what stones did they, not turn? what pains did they not take that they might possess the people with this persuasion, that the Lord Jesus Christ did never rise out of the grave: but that his Disciples came and stole him away? But (brethren) Christ is risen, and those that rightly understand this, do find what sweetness, and consolation comes to their hearts, by believing this point. There is so much in it, that Paul professeth, he desired to know nothing but Christ, and him crucified, Phil. 3.10. the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings. And Peter, 1. Pet. 1.3. saith, that God hath begotten us again to a lively hope through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The hope of the Disciples was almost dead, and extinguished, when the Lord Jesus lay in the grave; but now Christ is risen, and hath discovered his power in vanquishing his, and all our enemies, now we have a lively hope in us that believe the resurrection of Christ: for in the believing of his resurrection we have a sweet, and comfortable assurance of our own resurrection from the dead. Fourthly, with my dead body shall they rise Christ (as I hinted before) did all things, and suffered all things as a public person● he died not for his own but for our sins. Q●i non habuit propria, portavit aliena, Ful● He that had no sins of his own, did beare● the sins of other men: he risen not so much for his own, as for our Justification: He died for our sins, Rom. 4. the last, and he risen for our Justification. So that when Christ did rise, we risen. And he that believes this in the spirit, sees that he himself is risen with the Lord. There is is a twofold resurrection. A resurrection by Faith, when we do believe that we are risen in Christ, our King, head, and leader; and there is a resurrection in our own persons, when we shall be raised in our own bodies. Christ did rise for the good, and in the behalf of all his people, and Christ keeps possession of Heaven after his resurrection for us, in whose person we are already risen, and in this respect it may be said, that together with his dead body we shall arise. Fiftly, with my dead body shall they rise. Some interpret it thus: by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ they shall rise, that is, there shall come at the last day, a power from the Lord Jesus Christ, to raise up the Saints to enjoy glory with the Father. But because I do not find these two words in the Hebrew, Together, nor with: therefore be pleased to let me pass by, these observations, and to give you what I do apprehend to be the plain meaning of the text; and to read the words thus. My dead body shall they rise. They are the words of the Lord Jesus, delivered by him for the comfort of his people, assuring them that they shall be raised as his body. And though some do understand them concerning the restauration of the Jews, and the bringing in of them unto Christ: yet I apprehend that this is the true, spiritual meaning of God in the words which I have opened to you this day. The point than will be this, the dead bodies of the Saints which shall be raised, are the dead bodies of Christ himself. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cadaver meum resurgent, They shall arise as my carcase or dead body: which I shall enlarge by some considerations. First consideration, Christ and his members are one: therefore the Saints shall be raised as the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The members of the body, are the members of the head: Christ Jesus he is the head of the body; therefore the bodies of the Saints being raised, they are raised as the body of the Lord Christ. Ephes. 5.30. We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. The body of a Saint is the body of the Lord Jesus, the flesh of a Saint is the flesh of the Lord Jesus; and the spirit of a Saint is one with the spirit of Jesus. Paul persecuted the Saints, and cast their bodies into prison; Christ calls to him from heaven, Why persecutest thou me? When the body of a Saint is imprisoned, Christ is then shut up in prison; so when the bodies of the Saints are raised, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ is raised: As the Animal spirits lie in the head, by which, motion is conveyed to the members: so the spirit of power lies in the Lord Jesus Christ, by which we are moved, by which we are raised; in which spirit we both in body, and spirit are made one with the Lord Christ. This Doctrine of our union with Christ is likewise set forth by Paul, 1. Cor. 6.15. Know you not (saith the Apostle) that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? As the hand or foot of a man, may be said to be part of the man, so the bodies of the Saints may be said to be part of the Lord Jesus. For as the head and all the members of the body make one natural body in that one spirit that is in them all, and acts in them all; so Christ and all believers make one in flesh and spirit, by that one spirit which dwells in the flesh of Christ; and in the flesh, and spirit of every true believer. 1. Cor. 12.12. As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many, are one body: so also is Christ: Here you see that the Apostle calls the members of Christ, Christ mystical, so also is Christ saith he, he gives the Church the name of Christ, by reason of this near union which is between Christ Jesus, and all his members. Again, the Saints they are married to the Lord Jesus, & as the body of the wise may be said to be the husbands: so the bodies of the Saints as well as their souls belong to the Lord Jesus, and are one with him. And as Adam, when Eve was brought to him, said, This is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh: so Christ when the dead bodies of the Saints shall be raised, raises his own body, and will say, This is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh, then shall be the great marriage of the Lamb; than it shall be solemnised in a most glorious manner; and than Christ shall own all those who were given to him by the Father; and there in a solemn manner shall he marry them to himself, he shall own them all for his own wife, and they all shall be looked on as one in him. Likewise, the bodies of the Saints that are raised, are the body of Christ, as the sprigs of a tree, or the branches of a vine, may be said to be part of the tree, or part of the vine. Our Saviour sets forth this simile to us, Joh. 15. where he compares himself to a vine, and all believers to branches in this vine: Christ shall be as the great vine in the resurrection, and all believers shall be branches, and sprigs sprouting out of this vine from that life, power, and spirit that God shall put forth through the body of the Lord Jesus. This union is not by the confusion of things which are united, as the ignorant Familists do fond conceive, but by the union of things which are different in their personal beings, and individual natures, which will appear by the similitudes, which God doth make use of for the illustrating of this truth unto us. As of body and members: though all the members do make but one body, yet every member doth retain its proper place, office and being in the body; so that the hand is not the foot, nor the foot the arm, or head: so it is between Christ and his people, Christ still remaineth in his own person as head, and they as several members belonging to that head. The spirit and body make one man, yet the spirit is not the body, nor the body the spirit. The vine and branches are one, yet the vine is not the branch, nor the branch the vine: The Husband and wife are one, yet the Husband is not the wife, nor the wife the Husband. The second consideration for the amplifying of this point may be this, because that whatsoever he did or suffered, was that he might bring all believers to an oneness with himself, and the Father, and this is that he prays for, Joh. 17. The glory that thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one: Christ did therefore bear our sins, Christ did therefore put himself under all the curses due to us for our enormities; he did therefore manifest himself as a conqueror over all the Enemies that opposed us, that all things that might be any hindrance to our union, or hinder our spiritual communion with God, being removed in him, Eph. 12.14. we might be brought to an oneness, and see ourselves as one body, and one spirit with him. Our happiness lieth in our oneness with Father, Word and Spirit, which are but one. Man made himself miserable by disuniting themselves from God, who is but one, Mar. 12.29. and Christ doth make him happy by bringing him back again to that oneness which he had with God. It was the office and employment of Christ, to bring all things from disunion, to union and oneness with himself, and the Father, which he hath effected for us, and therefore they shall be raised, as the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, My dead body shall they rise. The third consideration is this, they shall rise as his dead body, because they shall rise as the proper goods, possession, and inheritance of the Lord Jesus. Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession; they shall be raised as the body of Christ; because Christ shall have a right, propriety, and Interest in them. Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price, your bodies as well as your spirits are Gods, etc. 1 Cor. 6.20. the Apostle gives this reason, why Christ died, and revived, and risen again, that he might be Lord, of the quick and dead, Rom. 14.9. that as a servant is more his Masters then his own: so Christ being the Lord of the resurrection, we shall be more his then our own: we shall be raised as those in whom Christ hath a propriety, and Interest: we shall be looked on as the inheritance of the Lord Jesus, he shall be King and Lord over us all, and rule over us: His Sceptre of glory shall be set up in every heart; and his Throne shall be exalted in every spirit. Thus; My dead body they shall rise. They shall rise as mine: they are my dead men, and they shall be my living men. Here you see that Christ will own them for his when they are in the dust. There are some that shall speak to Christ at the resurrection, as though they were familiarly acquainted with him, whom he will not own, saving, Depart from me I know you not ye workers of iniquity. But Christ will own his Saints, Mal. 3.17. They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, when I make up my Jewels or special treasure, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. As men will not part with their Jewels, so Christ will not lose the bodies of his Saints, they are part of his special treasure. The fourth consideration is this; the bodies of the Saints that shall be raised may be called the body of the Lord Jesus, for this reason: because Christ in the Spirit shall be the life, soul, and form that shall give life and being to the bodies of the Saints at the resurrection. As the body is called, the body of the Spirit that dwells in it, so Christ Jesus dwelling in the bodies of his Saints by his Spirit, their bodies may be said to be his body. And as a man may say, this is my body, it belongs to that humane spirit in me: because his humane spirit moves, lives in it, and doth as a Divine power act in it: so our bodies being raised, may be said to be the bodies of Christ, because he shall act as the Spirit, form, and soul in them. Christ shall be the soul which shall give life and being to all Saints which shall be raised by him. The fifth consideration. Death cannot dissolve the union which is between Christ and a believer. The love of the Father is the urnein● which the ashes of dead Saints are preserved Rom. 8.38, 39 I am persuaded, saith Paul that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come; nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Man doth consist of a natural body and humane spirit. And death cannot make a separation between God's love and our bodies, no more than it can make a separation between his love and our souls. Among the things which God hath bestowed upon us in Christ, the Apostle doth reckon up death, 1 Cor. 3.22. which showeth that it is not a curse, but a blessing to Saints. It would be a curse unto us, did it bring an irrecoverable ruin and destruction to our bodies. Rev. 14.13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Death's disability to cast our bodies out of God's love and protection is that which doth convert death through Christ into a blessing unto us. Paul calleth Saints in respect of their bodily death, 1 Thess. 4.14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Those that sleep in Christ. As leep doth not bereave men of life, so death doth not take away from Saints their life which is in Christ. As a Philosopher told a tyrant he might kill him but not hurt him; so death may kill but cannot hurt a Saint, because the union between God and him is in dissolvible, Rom. 14.8. Whether we live or di● we are the Lords. And therefore it may be truly said, My dead body shall they arise. sixth consideration. The bodies of Saint are sanctified by Christ, and therefore he cannot but own them. Sanctification is the mark or seal of Christ. As merchant's do● set their seals and marks upon their good which they will own, so Christ will for ever own that upon which he hath set the sea● and mark of his sanctifying Spirit. The spirit of a Saint, and Christ will never cease t● own his own house, and the place which 〈◊〉 hath chosen for his habitation. God doth n●● only honour our bodies by calling them h●● 19 Know ye not that your body is the Temple 〈◊〉 the holy Spirit? It is not a paradox then in Divinity, that Christ at the resurrection should own them as his own. Seventh consideration. Christ should 〈◊〉 incomplete; A man that wanteth a member is incomplete and imperfect; so Christ should be imperfect and incomplete, were he defective in any of his members at the resurrection. And therefore all the bodies of the Saints must be raised as his body. It is an Argument that some of the Schoolmen make use of, to prove the necessity of a resurrection of bodies, from the incompleteness of the soul, when it is separated from its proper body which it did inform; and with which in union it made one compositum. So the bodies of Saints must be raised, that Christ may be complete in his mystical body, as he is in his own person. The Church is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the fullness of Christ, Eph. 1. last, because as a body is not full and complete in his being that wants a member, so Christ should not be complete if any part of him were wanting. And therefore the bodies of all Saints must be raised, that Christ may appear in his glory and completeness at the resurrection. And thus having opened this Doctrine, and illustrated it by these considerations, I shall draw some useful conclusions from it. Use 1. Seeing Christians shall be one body at the resurrection, this should teach us to be one here in the bond of love. That one member should oppose and fight against another member, is against nature. And that one Christian should fight against another, or take his fellow-member by the throat, is against the principles of grace, In the 13. of Gen. and the 8. ver. Abram doth thus speak unto his brother Lot, Let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee, for we are Brethren. Christian's should not strive, or contend one against another, because they are fellow-members. It is reported of John, that in his old age being unable by weakness to speak long unto the Congregation, he would stand up, and in stead of a long Sermon ingeminate this Precept, Diligite filioli, diligite, Little Children, love, love one another. There can be no stronger Argument to love then the consideration of our union, Col. 3.15. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body. War among members is unnatural, that love and peace may reign and rule in the hearts of Christians, God doth make them all, one body; so the Apostle in the third of the Eph. 6. doth teach us that Jews and Gentiles are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Parts of the same body. One that desired to moderate between the Calvinists and Lutherans, wishing them not to be so bitter the one against the other, made use of this Argument, telling them that Luther and Calvin were reconciled in love together in heaven. Let not strife, hatred, malice, and bitterness prevail among you Christians, for ye shall sweetly agree together as one body in one Spirit at the resurrection. Use 2. There being such a glorious union between us and Christ, it should engage the spirits of Saints to be much in the contemplation of it. As the blood and spirits do run through the body, so this Doctrine of union doth run through the whole body of Christian Religion. Our Justification in the person of Christ, & our own Justification in our own persons by Christ cannot be clearly understood, if we be totally ignorant of union with Christ. As the Philosopher saith, that all moral virtues are linked together in justice, so all the points of Christianity are concatenated and joined together in this doctrine of union. As the Star did lead the wise men to Christ, shining over the place where Christ was, so this Doctrine of our union with Christ, shining among other truths of Christ in the Scripture, doth hold forth unto us a light to direct us through the grace of God, into a perfect, and comfortable knowledge of all other truths. As it doth in an especial manner beam forth light unto us, to confirm us in the Doctrine of the resurrection. For you see that the bodies of the Saints are to be raised, because they are united to Christ, and one with him. Therefore this may strengthen the Faith of every one of us concerning the certainty of the resurrection● What saith the Apostle? No man yet ever hated his own flesh, but nourished it, and cherished it, Eph. 5.29. The Lord Jesus Christ cannot hate his own flesh, nor forget his own body, the bodies of the Saints, but in love will raise them; even while they lie in the dust they are his body. Our propriety in a thing doth draw out our affection to the thing. Our bodies belong to the Lord, and are in his heart and affections, even while they moulder in the dust; therefore let this truth pierce your understandings, and sink deep into your memories, and be fully persuaded that your bodies shall be raised: because they are not so much your bodies as the body of the Lord Jesus. The Scripture, as you have heard, speaks so gloriously of that union, which all the Saints have with Jesus Christ in that one Spirit which is in Christ, and in every Saint, that it seems to hold forth Christ as incomplete, till he have gathered all his members into one body. And certainly, Christ will not appear incomplete in his body at the resurrection, which he should do, should he not by his power command the bodies of the Saints to come out of the earth. Therefore he will not suffer any part of himself to lie in the dust, he will not appear at the general resurrection, without a limb, not without a hand; not without a finger; not without the least member. Thou that art the meanest Christian, that apprehendest thyself to be but as the toe of Christ, mayst be strongly persuaded of thy resurrection, for I tell thee when Christ shall appear at the great resurrection, he will not be without a toe; not without the lowest, and most inferior member of his body. He will appear in his fullness, and all the Saints gathered together and made one with him in body and spirit, are his fullness and completeness. The King when he rides in triumph, or to his great Counsel, he rides in his Royal Robes and in all his glory. When Christ shall appear the second time, he will ride in Triumph as a Conqueror of all Enemies, and will ride to his great Counsel or Parliament of Saints, who are to judge the Delinquents of the world. And the Saints are his glory, 2 Cor. 8.23. and therefore they must be raised that he may be in his full glory. If thou look upon thyself, and thy body, and consider how thou hast dishonoured God in thy body; (it may be) thou mayst be startled in thy spirit; and have such sad thoughts as these; Will Christ ever raise this body as his, that I have abused to sin ● shall this body be glorified which I have dishonoured by base and filthy lusts? but when thou hast any such thoughts as these, in which the Devil appears to thee as an Angel of light, to make thee question the truth of the glorious resurrection of thy body then look beyond thyself, beyond the sins that thou hast committed against God in thy body, and spirit. And think thus with thyself; This body, though I have abused it by lust and intemperance: though I have dishonoured God by the sins which I have committed, and acted as it were upon a stage in this body, and flesh of mine; yet now the property is altered; I am not now to look on it as my body, I am to look on it as the body of the Lord Jesus: it is that body, that he hath washed from all sin in his own blood; it is that body, that he died for, that he might cleanse it from filthiness, and uncleanness; it is his body, he hath right to it, and a propriety in it: it is his, and none of mine. Christ will not lose that which belongs to himself and therefore it shall be raised in glory. We see how unwilling men are to part with that which is their possession, and inheritance. We know how Naboth answered Ahab, who would have had his Vineyard, 1 King. 21.3. Should I give the inheritance of my Fathers unto thee? we are the inheritance, the possession of the Lord Jesus; and he will not lose any part of his inheritance. This Argument is of sufficient strength to silence carnal reason, if it were throughly weighed by us in the balance of the Sanctuary. For if a man look on himself as out, of himself, and the being which he hath in the first Adam, and behold himself as one with the Lord Jesus, in a spiritual oneness, seeing himself as such a part of Christ, as a hand, or a foot may be said to be a part of the body; and knowing Christ hath undertaken to provide for his body, and to own it for his own: this will establish him in an unshaken confidence, that the Lord Jesus Christ intends to raise his body, and to assure and ascertain us that he will raise us, he himself is risen in his own person: If the head be above the water, the whole body may be drawn out of the water without drowning; Christ our head is above water, above the billows that overwhelmed him; is above sin that was charged on him; is above the curses of the Law that came upon him, when he was made a sacrifice for sin; above the temptations of Satan; above the weakness of the flesh. Death could not hold him as her prisoner: and this may ascertain us, that we his members shall be drawn up out of the water; we shall be above all things that we may call sin in ourselves, above the reach of Satan's fiery darts, we shall be above Death: that will be fulfilled which is spoken in the 1 Cor. 15. Death is swallowed up in victory: Christ hath already fully conquered Death in his own person, and will conquer it, in the person of all those that are his members, enabling them to believe in him. Christ doth infuse spirit, and fortitude into all his soldiers by enabling them to look on him their General. Respice ad Ducem, Look unto your Captain, was the old Roman word of Command, to the common soldiers, to stir them up to imitate the valour and fortitude of their Commanders. And Christian soldiers are made truly valiant, by looking upon the fortitude and conquests of him who is the Captain of their salvation. Heb. 2.10. And knowing their union with him, they see their head & Captain risen, whose they are, which maketh them Conquerors of death, as his valiant soldiers by a strong persuasion from him, and in him of a future resurrection. In the next place you see, that the bodies of Saints shall be raised for heaven as his body. Therefore this may teach us to glorify God in our bodies and spirits while we are here below: If the Lord Jesus Christ will raise our bodies as his own body: it is consonant to reason, that we should use our bodies as the bodies of Christ. This consideration (if God go along with it) will be marvellous powerful to teach us to be holy, not only in our spirits, but in our bodies, considering that they are the bodies of the Lord Jesus. Christ will raise thy body at the last day as his own, it is his body, and not thine: his spirit informs it, he is owner, and possessor of it, thou art not thine own, thou art bought with a price, 1 Cor. 6.20. Thererefore glorify God in thy body and in thy Spirit, which are Gods. Seeing Christ will raise thy body as his body, when it is dead, therefore behave thyself towards thy body, as the body of Christ while thou art alive. This is that that the Apostle presseth from this consideration, 1 Cor. 6.15. Shall I take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? a Christian would not misdemeane himself toward his body, if he did consider what his body is, it is the house and Palace of the Lord Jesus, the Temple of God. It was accounted a great fault for any man to misbehave himself in the Temple of Solomon, which was a place then, by God's appointment more holy than other places. Our bodies are spiritual Temples: therefore defile not the Temple of the Lord. Bring not in, the abomination of desolation into the holy place: bring not the filth of sin into it: suffer not lust to lie in thy body: suffer not pride in thy flesh: sinne not against thy own body in any kind: take heed of riot, and drunkenness; take heed of those sins that are sins against the body: because by them thou sinnest against the Temple, and house of God, thou sinnest against that, that is not thine own, but is the Lord Jesus Christ's. Our bodies should not be like the Egyptian Temples, that were stately Edifices and buildings, but in them there was nothing, but some noisome, and filthy beasts. Thy body is a stately Edifice: O set not up thy beastly lusts as Idols to be worshipped there. Galen that great Physician, when he came to anatomize man's body, he stood in admiration of the workmanship; wondering at the skilful hand, and finger of him that was the maker of it. Thou must not only look on thy body as it is a natural Edifice: but as it is a building for the Lord Jesus, as a Temple that Christ hath made choice of; a Temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. Therefore suffer not Crocodiles, and noisome beasts to sit there: stoop not to lusts: fall not down on thy knees before thy corruptions; sacrifice not to uncleanness; Suffer not any sin to reign in thy mortal body; Rom. 6. thy body is the body of the Lord, it is under the power of Christ; therefore ●et Christ only reign in it. Sin shall not have dominion over you; because you are not under the Law, but under grace, Rom. 6.19. As ye have yielded your members servants unto uncle annesse, and to iniquity unto iniquity: even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. If men did but consider the glory of their persons; the glory that God hath put upon their spirits, in making them one spirit with his own; and the glory that God hath put upon their bodies, in making them his houses, Temples, and places of glory 〈◊〉 dwell in: through the goodness of God i● would restrain them from sin. That th● high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity should come and dwell in these humble and low cottages of ours. That the God o● glory should come and dwell in houses o● clay, in houses of mud, in houses that presently must be pulled down, and lie in the dust. O how should the serious and spiritual meditation of this, put bounds and limits, yea, a period to our corruptions. As Luther doth report of one, that being tempted to any sin by the Devil, would answer, that she was Christian. Thy body is Christ's by conquest, he hath dispossessed the Devil of the strong hold which he had in thy body, and therefore suffer not the Devil to rule there as he did when he was Lord of thee. If the Devil come, and tempt thee to commit any sin, which is a sin that thou mayst act with thy body: answer him thus; Satan away, my ears cannot be open to thy temptations, I cannot listen to thee to commit this sin, my body is not mine own, but the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when thou findest thyself in thy body, at any time unwilling for the service of Christ, consider with thyself, my body is not mine own, it belongs to the Lord Christ, he will have a care of it at the resurrection, he will not lose my earth or ashes, he will preserve my dust, and keep it as a precious Diamond in the casket of his own love. Therefore be willing to serve Christ in thy body; he owns the bodies of Saints here, and will own them hereafter; he hath a special care of the bones of his Saints, and though the limbs of their bodies be carried from one end of the world to the other, and scattered in several places and climates, yet by his power he will bring one limb to another: therefore glorify Christ in your bodies, who hath promised to quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit which he hath given unto you, Rom. 8.11. In the next place, another use may be this, to make us willing to sacrifice our bodies, for the maintaining of the truths of Christ, if Christ be pleased to call us to suffer for him. We do not know but this point may be very seasonable; we know not how soon Christ may call for our bodies to lie in prison, for some truths he hath discovered to us which he hath not made known to others; why should we be unwilling that Christ should suffer in his own body? Consider, that the body which shall lie in prison, it is not thy body, thou art not able to raise it, it is the body of Christ. Therefore if it be the mind of Christ that this body shall lie in prison, say not, My will, but thy will be done; and if Christ will lead thee further, if he will not only lead thee to be imprisoned in thy body for the profession of the truth: but if he call thee to give up thy life to lose it for him, that thou mayst find it again in him: let this consideration make thee willing to be a martyr, and sufferer for the Lord Christ; why should not he do what he will with his own? If he will lead thee to a pillory, to an hot Iron to receive a mark in thy body for him, to an halter fire, and faggot, be contented. And b● confident, that if Christ ever call the to suffer, he will give thee power, and strength, for to suffer in thy body; because he cannot forget to be mindful of his own body. We know how Christ threatneth those that are ashamed of him, and his word, in an adulterous, and sinful generation, Mark 8.38. Of him saith he, shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in the glory of the Father, with power and great glory. As Christ will no own but be ashamed of wicked, ungodly and unbelieving men, that make profession of his name in words, without his power in their hearts: so Christ will own the bodies of his Saints, and such who truly believe in him, and have laid down their lives for him, and they shall find their lives again at the resurrection of the dead. Therefore let this make us willing to suffer. I am the more willing to press this point, because I see a spirit of baseness, and cowardinesse in Christians; I find not that courage in the hearts and spirits of Christians that should be in them. The complaint of Jereniah may justly be taken up in our times; he saith, Jer. 9.3. None were valiant for the truth. There is scarce a man that appears for truth in the height of zeal. Men will rather sinne against Conscience to comply with the world, then oppose themselves against the corruptions of the world: they will rather wimme down with the tide, and stream ●f the world, then oppose the wicked stream ●f worldly corruptions. And it is to be feared, that many profes●rs have their eye so much upon the Civil magistrate, from this corruption and un●undnesse in their hearts, they will be of ●e same Religion with the Civil Magistrate, because they will not suffer any thing for ●e Lord. They look on Christ in their apprehensions, as precious: but when they are told of a crucified Christ, of a persecuted Christ, of Christ hanging on a tree; a Christ to be spit upon, condemned, and persecuted, to suffer in the world: with the young man in the Gospel, they go away sorrowful from such a Sermon; they would have Christ and the world together; but if they cannot have Christ, but they must leave the world, they had rather part with Christ then with the world. They are like Joseph of Arimathea, that took Christ, and left the Cross behind him; So, delicate Professors in our time, they will take Christ, but they will be sure to leave the Cross, they will be wise in their way, they will profess Religion no further than they may hold the world, and Religion together. One reason of this cowardice and baseness of spirit is this, because they do not consider, that the bodies of Saints are under the care and in the possession of Jesus. And that we cannot glorify God more than by lying in prison, in love to Christ; or dying for him; if it be his pleasure to call us, to seal his truths with our blood: And if we did consider, what a holy flame, and Heavenly spark was in the hearts and spirits of primitive Christians, in believing this truth, that they accounted it their greatest honour, to be dishonoured for Christ, their greatest credit to be discredited by the world for him, their Liberty to be imprisoned, their life to die at a stake, for professing this glorious truth of Christ discovered to their souls, Phil. 1.21. it would put fire and spirit into us: and this lethargy that is upon us, would speedily be cured: Indeed we are a lukewarm people; the discretion and prudence of politic professors in our times, hath swallowed up zeal; In the times of Popery, there was zeal without knowledge in this Kingdom; and now we have knowledge without Zeal. And the ground of this, is this, because either we do not meditate on this truth, or else, because we are rather cold, and formal, then truly spiritual in the meditation of it, which should engage us as we tender the glory of Christ, to be more frequent and serious in our contemplations, concerning it, for the future. I find that Christians made much use of this point in former days, (though I do not wholly justify their practice) for as it is our custom to salute one another, when we meet, so it was the custom of some Christians, when they met one another to ●●tter these words, Christus resurrexit, Christ ●●risen. They apprehended it sa a point, that came with such power on their spirits, to enable them to be willing to suffer for the Lord, that this was their salutation in the time of persecution, assuring themselves that he which was risen in his own person as head, would arise in all Saints as his members. And this was that, that made them so willing to jeopard their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus. We read of Paul, Act. 21.13. that when they exhorted him not to go to Jerusalem, because the Spirit in Agabus had made it known, that he should be persecuted and bound when he came thither, Why do you weep and break my heart, saith he? I am not only willing to be bound at Jerusalem; but to did there for the name of the Lord Jesus: It was a heart-breaking to Paul, to tell him that he should not go to suffer at Jerusalem, ● if it were his greatest suffering, not 〈◊〉 suffer for the Gospel; But we have learned this point by roate, and it is a thing few understand; we talk of it, in a Parrat-li●● way, and we have mumbled it over in o● Creed (I believe the resurrection of the body;) but few have dived into the bottom it, or sucked the sweetness and spirituali●● which lies in it, or else we should not be 〈◊〉 lukewarm in the cause of Christ, but 〈◊〉 the future, let us look up to God; that may give us spiritual and Heavenly wisdom, that so we may have a more Divine and spiritual knowledge of it. He that is the resurrection, and the life of Saints, is the only teacher of the Doctrine of the resurrection. It is reported of the Pelican, that her young being poisoned by the Serpent, she doth give them life, by her own death and blood; so Christ doth quicken us his members to a life of immortality, by his own death and blood. And doth give us the knowledge of life in the knowledge of his death, bloodshedding and resurrection, which doth enforce the necessity of our resurrection from his who is our head: And this is the persuasion of true Saints. And as it is reported of the Phoenix, that when she is to die, she brings spices into her nest, which being set on fire, she herself is burned in the fire, and turned to ashes; and out of her ashes comes a new Phoenix; so a true Christian knoweth, that though he may be burned, and turned into ashes, yet out of his own ashes, his body shall be raised again to a new life of glory, which doth arm him against the fear of death, and persecution in the cause of Christ. Again this doth discover what enemies they are to Christ his Spirit, and members, who by their wiles, subtlety and hellish Logic would destroy the Doctrine of the Resurrection: They would rob Christ of his members, who doth here lay claim to the bodies of dead Saints. They would make the Spirit a liar, who doth seal up Saints unto the day of Redemption, Eph. 5.30. And in whom they wait for the redemption of their bodies, Rom. 8.23. They would rob Saints of their comfort, which God doth give them, in the believing of the resurrection of the same body, which is committed unto the earth. I am the more earnest against these men, because I know these factors for Antichrist, are both active and subtle; as the Serpent did endeavour to beguile Eve, 2 Cor. 11.3. so these endeavour to undermine men, and to draw them from the simplicity of the Gospel. One, and a chief part of Christ's simple Gospel is the Doctrine of the resurrection of our bodies, by the power of Christ: when Paul preached this at Athens, the Stoics and Epicures did look upon him as a babbler. And this piece of the Gospel was always accounted foolishness to the learned Greeks. And as the Apostle was jealous of them, for fear they should be drawn from the simplicity of the Gospel: so am I jealous over poor Christians, knowing that you shall meet with men, that pretend to be spiritual, men of great light, wisdom, knowledge, and deep understandings; and when you have dived into the bottom of their spirits, this is all you shall find in them, which they will labour to draw you to assent unto, to wit, that there is no resurrection but in the spirit, no corporal resurrection of the body at all. These are like those, of whom the Apostle speaketh, in his time, that corrupt or deal deceitfully with the word of God. The metaphor is borrowed from cheating Vintners, or cozening Merchants that adulterate their commodities to make them vendible, as Beza doth well observe: so these, that their horrid opinions and blasphemies may be vendible, they endeavour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to sophisticate the word, and adulterate it from the plain and simple meaning of the Holy-Ghost. Therefore let me in love to your souls, once more desire you, that you would be watchful, that none of these draw you away from these truths, of God, and the Lord Jesus, which have been discovered to you, and have been sealed upon your hearts and spirits by his own blessed Spirit. The Devil doth sow the tares of Familisme in men's hearts while they sleep. But I am confident, that you shall believe them, though for a time you may be drawn to question them and the resurrection, as those in the 1 Cor. 15. and may be deluded by Familisticall fancies, and notions, as some good Christians have been, yet if God hath laid hold on you, and drawn you to him in Christ, he will not totally leave you to these damnable opinions: If it were possible, these Serpents would deceive even the Elect: but Christ intimates, that it is impossible, that they should ever deceive the Elect. And the Apostle, when he speaks of such men as these, 2 Tim. 2.19. saith that the foundation of the Lord stands sure, having this seal, of his everlasting election, the Lord knoweth who are his. Therefore let not men deceive you, but live in the light of the Gospel, and in that Spirit that is given forth in the Gospel. Take heed of these Impostors, hug not the Devil in samuel's mantle: suffer not the Devil to devour you in a sheep's skin: but walk in the plain simple path of the Gospel of the Lord Christ. And that you may do this, give me leave to give you some few directions, for the preserving you in the truth, and the securing of you from this infection of Familisme. First, I wish you to apply yourselves to the reading of the Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation, through Faith which is in Christ, 2 Tim. 5.15. When these men come unto you, it may be they will present you with books written in a strange Language, stuffed with swelling nonsense, and affected phrases that none understand, but those that are acquainted with their blasphemous, horrid, and damnable opinions. And will endeavour to lead you from the Scriptures; and if your oppose the truth of Scripture against their delusion, some of them will affirm, that Peter, and Paul, when they wrote their Epistles, had but a little light, were but children; they are enlightened men, grown up unto the stature of perfection, labouring to prove that the bright star of truth doth shine no where so gloriously as in the old Popish Authors, and new Familisticall scribblers, which they will present unto you. Therefore that you may not be drawn away by these, keep to the Scriptures; and know that there is no book in which there is more light then in the Scripture; or from which you may expect more light, if you look to God for his spirit, to open the mind of God in the reading of it. Dulcius ex ipso fonte bibuntur aquae. Waters are sweetest at the wellhead: And truths do present themselves most sweetly unto us, in the Scripture, which is the Well and Fountain, from which other Writers do fetch the truths, which we find in their writings. He that addicts himself more to the reading of men's writings then the Scriptures, is like one, that leaving the Fountain where the waters are pure, had rather drink in the channel where they are impure and muddy. Truly, if you grow in grace, you will grow in liking, and approving the holy Scripture, though it be written in a plain style, and though there be not that humane Eloquence, and Rhetoric in it, which you shall find in the preaching of some men, who preach themselves rather then the Lord Jesus, and the simplicity of the Gospel. That man is a good proficient in the School of Christ, that every day grows more, and more in love with the blessed, and holy Scripture. I remember what an Orator speaking in the commendation of Cicero faith, he is a good proficient in Oratory, that delights to read the Orations of Cicero; so he is a good proficient in Christianity, that in believing, delights in the holy Scriptures of the Old, and New Testament. Therefore you shall find, that men that fall off to these opinions, presently they slight the Scripture, and either wholly deny the word of God, or else they overthrew the truth of it by allegorising those things that have a plain, simple, historical meaning in them. That is the first Rule. Search the Scriptures, and there you shall see no such fancies, and fond notions as these men have. The second direction is this, take heed of those that preach not the Gospel in a plain familiar way, you may know some Familists by their bombastick language: they speak not in the language of Canaan, in their Sermons: but they have an affected language of their own, (that few understand, but those that have applied themselves much to the study of their writings, and are well acquainted with their opinions,) And by their chemical dark expressions, and fond notions, they delude poor souls that think they are spiritual men, and that great things are revealed to them which are not discovered to other Saints; when there is nothing but horrid Antichristianisme, or Atheism, lies at the bottom of their hearts, which shall be evident, when according to the truth of God, 2 Tim. 3.9. Their folly shall be manifest unt all men. Paul saith, when he came to preach at Corinth, 1 Cor. 2.4. That it was not in the excellency of speech, nor in the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in plainness of speech, in demonstration of the Spirit and power. And it is the command of God, that if any man speak, he should speak as the Oracles of God, 1 Pet. 4.11. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or As doth relate to the manner of speaking, as well as to the matter which is to be delivered. Men are to speak, as the Oracles of God, speaking nothing but truth; and as the Oracles of God for plainness of speech. St. Paul speaking of true Gospel-Preachers, saith, we use great plainness of speech. The Scripture is in a plain, familiar style, the Sermons of our Saviour are plain, familiar Sermons, adorned with plain similes. And the Apostles were not ashamed to imitate their Master: so should our discourses be with all plainness of speech & demonstration of the spirit & power, that the glory may be given not to the Eloquence of our tongues, but to the power of Christ in converting of souls. Therefore take heed of those, that lead you from the plainness of preaching, hiding their cursed errors in a thicket and cloud of dark works, and unscripture-like expressions, not holding fast the form of sound words according to God's precept, 2 Tim. 1.13. 2 Cor. 3.12. Look on the Scripture, and see how Paul speaks of Justification, of remission of sins, of the resurrection, and so let us preach the Lord Jesus Christ, and the truth of Christ. But those that have language not like the language of Scripture suspect them, they make a fair show, there is great glory, and outward pomp in their words: but latet anguis, there is a snake that lies under these fine green herbs: take heed of such men, and look more for the inward power and Spirit of God in the speaking of men, then for fine words, phrases, notions, and similes, that men may make use of, to win you to the approbation of their errors. The third direction which I shall present unto you is this, take heed of spiritual pride: for one reason why so many fall off from the truth to these horrid opinions, is from a principle of spiritual pride; some of these thought that they had a great deal of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and that they understood as much of the Doctrine of Christ, and mysteries of the Gospel as was necessary; that they had heard as much of the Doctrine of Justification as any could preach of it, and of the resurrection, as any could speak: they knew as they supposed what this man spoke, and what the other preached, what this man's judgement was, what Authors did write, and they knew perfectly as they imagined whatsoever lies in the Scripture to be embraced for truth. And by their pride did surfeit of their knowledge, supposing that they knew all points of the Gospel, when in deed and in truth, they knew nothing of the Gospel savingly, spiritually, or practically: so that as the people of Israel came to loath Manna, and lusted after other food: so these being puffed up with spiritual pride, begin to loathe the Heavenly Manna of the Gospel, and disesteem it for the plainness, and simplicity that is in it. And nothing now will please them but new fancies: therefore they must have Sermons dressed in another fashion, new cooked, new notions; and new conceits, and any thing that is new pleaseth them better than the old and ancient truths of the Lord Jesus. But when God teacheth a man to understand the Gospel aright, the more he knows the Gospel, the more he sees his ignorance of the Gospel ● that man sees, he never learned the Doctrine of Justification fully; that man sees that h●● hath not sufficiently learned the Doctrine o● Sanctification: this man looks not on his knowledge merely as it is speculative, but as it is practical, when he sees any unbelief in his heart, he saith within himself, I have not sufficiently learned the Doctrine of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: when he sees any hatred in his spirit, to that which is good, and any inclination to that which is evil, he wisely concludeth, I have not sufficiently learned the Doctrine of Sanctification; when he finds sadness in his spirit, O saith he, there is more in the Gospel concerning the spirit of joy, and consolation, than I have attained to; when he reads sundry enigmatical, and difficult places, of the Prophets, and in the Revelation, and hath not attained to the spiritual meaning of them, O (saith he) I am not sufficiently acquainted with the truths which lie hidden in the word: though I may have knowledge enough to carry me to Heaven, yet I am very ignorant of many truths of Christ. Thus a man that truly lives the life of Faith, he is not puffed up, as these are, that fall to these hideous, and blasphemous notions, and opinions. Hab. 2. He that is lifted up, his heart is not upright: but the just shall live by his Faith. You shall find that Familisticall spirits are puffed up with a conceit of their knowledge, notions, and speculations, when indeed they are wholly carnal, and understand not the deep things of God's grace in the face of Jesus Christ. But he that truly walks with God faithfully, that man walks humbly with his God. True Faith as it exalts us, and shows us our privileges, and honour by the grace of God in Christ; so it humbles us by the sight of what is in ourselves. The light of grace will as well discover, what we are in our fleshly part, as what we are by the grace of God in the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these that are thus enlightened shall never fall totally and finally from the pure and simple Gospel of Christ: the Spirit in them doth assure them that they shall abide in him, John 2.27. Therefore beware of pride, the bane of Angels, and the ruin of men, and the mother of Familisme. But grow in humility; conceit not that you are full when you are empty. As long as the Widow had empty vessels, the oil did still run, so, as long as there is an empty vessel in thy heart, the oil of grace shall flow in unto thee. The fourth Direction. Take heed that thou dost not embrace the Doctrines of free will, and falling away from grace, some of the Familists of the City, have been great sticklers to uphold these points, and to revive Arminian Tenets among Professors, before they did arrive to the top and height of Familisme. That man will not stand long, who hath no strength, but his own legs to uphold him. Neither will that man stand long for Christ, who stands more by the strength of his own will, then by the power of God's grace. Adam standing in his own strength, lost his happiness when he was wise and righteous; and canst thou maintain thyself in an happy condition by thine own strength, when thou art unrighteous? True Saints are kept by the power of God through Faith unto salvation, 1 Pet. 1.5. The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth a keeping of any thing as by a Guard. God's grace is a guard, by which he doth keep all his, in the way of salvation, so that it is impossible they should fall away from his grace. It is no wonder then, if they fall way from grace, to Familisme, who do maintain that Saints may fall away from grace. The fift Direction. Be not lose or licentious in life, or neglective of Sanctification under the profession of the Doctrines of Freegrace and Justification. Many of the professed Familists which we meet with have been lose Professors of the Doctrine of Grace. The Libertine doth live next door to the Familist, and Libertinism is the broad road, and highway, or beaten-path to Familisme. Lastly, take heed of vain janglings, and dispute in matters of Religion. Religion is more in practice, than Controversies or speculation. Be more conscientious to practise what thou knowest, then curious in disputing about things that thou knowest not. And let thine ear be rather open to those that will instruct thee, then to those that will dispute with thee. The Disputes and Controversies of the times have made many Atheists and Familists, in these times. Origen speaking of these words in the 21. Exod. 22. If men strive and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit departed from her, etc. doth thus allegorise them. The woman with child saith he, are weak Christians, who are with child and ready to bring forth truth. The men that strive are Professors, that with bitterness and violence do contend for their opinions, and while they strive in heat and bitterness for their opinions, the Christian miscarries, and doth not bring forth truth. How many who did seem to have Christ almost form in them, have miscarried and fallen to Familisme, by the strive and contentions of Professors; that thou mayst therefore learn wisdom by their folly, and stand more steadfastly by their fall, treasure up the truths which have been delivered, and imprint them upon your memories, and because reasons, precepts, exhortations, and Rules do little advantage us to preserve us in the Profession of the Truth, without the power of him who is truth, look unto him to preserve in the Faith of your union, with himself, and his Father in the Spirit, and to ascertain you of your resurrections as part of his body; and to enable you as his members to glorify him, and his Father, in the Spirit for evermore. Amen. The great Joy of Saints in the great Day of the Resurrection. SERMON III. Preached on a DAY. ISAIAH 26.19. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the Earth shall cast forth her dead. I Have showed unto you, that these words are a present comfort, or cordial, given by God unto his people, for the refreshment of their languishing spirits, and sad hearts in the midst of their afflictions. And have proved that the bodies of the Saints shall arise, and that they shall arise as the body of the Lord Jesus. He is their head; they shall rise as his menbers. He died to bring his people to a spiritual oneness, with himself, and his Father. They are his possession, and inheritance. And as a body may properly be called the body of that soul which doth inform it: so Christ shall be the spiritual form, and soul to those that shall be raised at the great day of the general resurrection. By these and other spiritual considerations, I did evidence this truth, that the bodies of the Saints shall he raised, as the dead body of their blessed Siviour. My dead body shall they rise. I shall now by the Assistance of God's grace, briefly open unto you, the words that follow in the Text, and make choice of one proposition from them, which may heighten your spiritual joy this day, upon which I shall enlarge myself, and so shall commend you and what I shall deliver to you, to the blessing of the Almighty. The next word which doth present itself to us in the Text, is this, Awake, which doth afford us this observation, that Death is but a sleep. It is night for a time with the Saints, while they sleep in their graves, but they shall awake at the morning of the resurrection. The grave is a bed of rest, perfumed, and made sweet to all Saints by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, who hath taken away whatsoever is bitter, and unpleasant in it. It is no longer a curse to the Saints, but rather a part of their happiness, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, Rev. 14.4.13. As the Psalmist speaks, Psal. 17. When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likeness, that is, at the great day of the resurrection; after I have had a long sleep in the dust, when the night is past, and the day of the resurrection shall shine, I shall awake, and then I shall be satisfied with thy likeness, Isa. 57.2. The Prophet hath an expression that runs this way; speaking of righteous and merciful men, (saith he) they shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds. And when Stephen was stoned to death, the Holy Ghost telleth us that he fell asleep, Act. 7.60. And the Primitive Christians called the places where they buried their dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sleeping places. The Earth to every Saint is but a sleeping place. Jesus Christ shall come down from Heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the Archangel, and with the Trump of God. And this great Trumpet being blown, the dead in Christ shall awake and rise. He that dyeth in Christ, and is one of his dead men, doth not die but sleep. And at the resurrection shall in a moment awake out of his sleep. When the Father, Word, and Spirit did make the Fabric of the world, all things were speedily, and suddenly made; for the making of any thing, there was but verbum & factum; the word spoken, and presently the thing was made Let there be Light, and there was light, let there be a firmament, and there was a firmament: so when the Lord Jesus Christ shall speak the word, and bid us awake; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, those that are dead in the Lord, shall awake out of the sleep of death. And here by the way, let me give you another observation. You see at the great day that the dead that lie in the dust shall be raised by the command of Christ, who shall bid them come out of the dust. Now, as no rational man would conclude from this place, that the dead (who it may be, have their dust lying in several places, in every part of the world a portion of their dust,) have any power to raise themselves, though they are bid to awake: even so when God speaking to soule● that hear the word preached, doth command them to believe, repent, live holily, and rejoice, we cannot conclude, that there is any power, strength, and ability in the creature to do what they are commanded to do; no more than the dead can awake of themselves, though Christ commands them to awake. As when Christ did bid Lazarus come forth of the grave, he did presently come forth; though he had not any power in himself to come forth; but that power that bid him come forth, enabled him to come forth; so, though Christ exhort us in the Gospel to believe, and to do good duties, we have no power in ourselves to do good duties, but that power that bids us do good duties, must enable us to do them, or else we are never able to do them: which moved Augustine to pray thus; Da domine quod jubes, & jube quod vis, give Lord what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt. Again, in the next place take notice, that those who shall be raised are called the inhabitants of the dust, ye that dwell in the dust, the dust for a time is a habitation for the Saints: in Eccles. 12.5. It is said, Man shall go to his long home. The grave is a home, or house for a time, which may assure us of the resurrection of the same bodies which are entrusted to the dust, that which dwelleth in the dust, and no other thing in stead of it, must be be raised out of the dust. Thirdly, here is a reason laid down in the next verse to assure us of our resurrection. Thy dew is as the dew of Herbs. The Lord Jesus, in the power of his Spirit, shall be as a heavenly dew, upon the dead bodies and dust of the Saints, to raise them up, and quicken them to a new life. Christ in the power of his Spirit may be compared to dew for three reasons; first, because as the dew coming down upon the earth, the earth bringeth forth grass without the help, and labour of man, Mich. 5.7. so, without the labour, and strength of the creature, the Lord Jesus, the dew of Heaven, coming down upon the dust and ashes of the Saints, shall quicken them to a life, and make them flourish after they have lain rotting, and moldering in the grave. Secondly, as the dew doth come down speedily, and suddenly upon the earth, as you may gather from that expression of Hushai● in that speech of his to Absalon concerning David, 2 Sam. 17.12. We will come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and light or him as the dew falleth upon the ground. As the dew falls suddenly, and unexpectedly, so w●● will surprise David. So the Lord Jesus will come in the twinkling of an eye; suddenly upon the bodies of the Saints. Therefore h●● compares his coming to the coming of a thief in the night; and to lightning, which we know is darted through the midst of Heaven with great volubility, and swiftness. In the third place; Christ shall be as dew: because as dew doth make the herbs on which it falls to be fruitful, and to wax green and flourish, after they have seemed to be dead: So the Lord Jesus Christ, shall quicken the dead carcases of his Saints, and put a life into their dust. Thus Moses, the holy servant of God, speaking of his Doctrine in reference to the flourishing of it, Deut. 32.2. (saith) that his Doctrine shall drop as the rain, and his speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. As the dew of Heaven makes the things upon which it falls, fruitful, and fertile: so the Lord Jesus Christ, falling down upon the dust, and ashes, upon the rotten bones, putrified carcases, and skulls of the Saints, shall cause them to flourish, and to spring up, and they shall have a new life put into them by his coming down upon them. Fourthly, the Prophet saith, that the ●arth shall cast out her dead; from whence we may strongly conclude, the resurrection ●f the same body which is cast into the earth, That body which was dead and buried i● the earth, shall be raised out of the earth. But I have sufficiently spoken of these points, i● my former discourses. So that if I should speal from all these particulars, I should rather repeat what I have said, then present you with new matter. The thing therefore that I shall open unto you to day, for the furtherance of your joy shall be this; to show you what great joy there shall be, at the resurrection of the dead, which is held forth in these words. Awake, and sing. I do make bold to finish this subject her among you this day, because I know no● whether I shall have an opportunity to speak to you again from these words. And seeing I have handled the two former parts in this place, I had a desire to finish my discourse from this Text among you. Another reason was, because I did find some Familisticall spirits here, that were troubled with what I delivered: being enemies to that Christ, who came in the flesh and died on the Cross, & was raised from th● dead, and enemies to the Doctrine of the resurrection, which is to be wrought by his power; and that you may see, how little I regard the speeches of these enemies of Christ, and the glorious resurrection of Saints, I would not seem for their sakes to desert my discourse: therefore I did resolve to go on with it this day. Then thirdly, I apprehend it may much further the work of the day; for if we have remembered God aright in our praises; having made mention of his goodness to the Land, and Nation, we have done it spiritually, and have more rejoiced in spiritual then temporal mercies. And if our joy should end in rejoicing only for teporal mercies, we should rejoice rather carnally then spiritually. Therefore having in the beginning of the day rejoiced for the mercies that God hath showed to the Land, I think I shall do well, if I raise you in your spirits by what I shall speak from these words, and from the sight of Nationall mercies, and temporal deliverances take occasion to draw your eyes to behold by Faith, how you and all Saints shall rejoice when you are delivered from all enemies at the resurrection: that so I may sublimate your joy, by carrying you higher in ●he spirit, to rejoice in the spiritual things spoken of in the text. Awake, and sing. Ye know we express our joy by singing, as we may gather from that place, Psal. 126.1. when the Lord turned again the captivity ●● Zion, we were like them that dream: then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Singing in Scripture, is an expression of great joy, If any be merry, let him sing, saith James. So, my Evangelicall Prophet, to show what great joy there shall b● at the resurrection, when the bodies of th● Saints shall be raised, he bids us awake and sing. So that this is the point, there will be great joy at the resurrection. For the amplifying o● which point, I shall show you what cause o● rejoicing, there will be at the resurrection. The spirits, and the bodies of the Saints will then be reunited together again, which were disunited for many years. And as the Spirit doth with some regret, grief, and unwillingness leave the body, having a natural desire, and appetite (being planted into it, by the hand of the Creator) after union with the body, so, the spirit cannot but rejoice when it is united again to the body. Therefore you shall find the spirits of Saints under the Altar, (in the Revelation 6.10.) crying How long? holy and true, intimating their desire to be reunited to their bodies. And i● 2 Cor. 5.4. The Apostle there shows us, that though the Saints be willing to live with th● Lord Jesus Christ, yet there is an unwilling nesse in them to leave their bodies: therefore they had rather have ●● mortality swallowed up of life, then to lay down their bodies in the grave, if it were the will of God. We that are in this Tabernacle (saith he) groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. There seems in these words to be held forth an unwillingness in the Saints, to be unclothed of their bodies, to put off the clothing of the flesh. We observe in Philosophy, that there is a natural appetite in the soul, or form to be united to that body that it once informed: and as it leaves the body with some unwillingness, so there is a desire of reunion when they are parted, so that reunion will be a cause of joy. For as there is joy at the meeting of friends, so the body and soul that were long together in this world, shall rejoice when they shall meet together again. This is one ground of joy from their meeting: the body and the spirit shall meet together, there shall be a reunion after there hath been a disunion between them. But in the next place, there will be a cause of great joy: because there will be an absolute perfection, both in the body, and in the soul. God shall be perfection in the Spirit in every faculty of it, and God in his glory shall dwell likewise in the body. The soul shall be full of God: here we have but an imperfect knowledge of God: there the soul shall be free from all ignorance, having the full vision of God. Here we see as in a glass, darkly, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, enigmatically, as the Apostle speaks; there we shall see face to face. Here we do but as it were see the back parts of God with Moses. As the Kings of Persia in State used to keep themselves from the sight of the people. God doth as it were hid his face here, in comparison of the full discovery which he will make of himself hereafter. We do but sip of the cup of spiritual joy here; but there we shall be filled with the rivers of the pleasures of God. Here we have, as Austin saith, guttulas but little drops of joy: but there we shall be filled with joy. Here we have a sight of God which doth not fully satisfy; but still we desire to know more of God, and more of the Lord Jesus Christ; but there we shall be satisfied with the likeness of God, as the Apostle saith Col. 3. v. 4. When Christ which is our life shall appear, than we also shall appear with him i● glory. The Apostle saith, 1 Joh. 3.2. Yet it doth not appear what we shall be; it is not evident to us what glory there shall be in o●● understandings; how our affections shall be ravished, and enamoured with the love of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ; it doth not appear what shall be in our spirits: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is. O, what tongue of Rhetoric can express this! what it is to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, to see him as he is! there is more in it then the Eloquence of Angels can set forth unto you. As they shall have such unspeakable glory in their spirits, so likewise there shall be a glory on their bodies. Alas, our bodies now are but vile bodies; weak bodies: but what saith the Apostle? Phil. 3. ult. God shall change our vile bodies and make them like his glorious body; or to his body of glory: for so it is in the original. As the body of the Lord Jesus Christ at his transfiguration was changed, and his face did shine, and his whole body did shine with heavenly brightness, and Celestial glory; so the bodies of the Saints, shall be bodies of glory: there shall be a heavenly brightness on them. Therefore Daniel speaking of the Saints at the resurrection, he saith, Dan. 12.3. that they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars of Heaven. As the Stars are glorious creatures, and the brightness of the firmament is a great glory to our eyes; so there shall be a Celestial, Starlike glory upon the bodies of the Saints; they shall not be gross, lumpish, and heavy bodies as they are now: but spiritual bodies, as swift as a Seraphim. The body is now a clog and weight to the soul, it is ergastulum animae as the Platonists say, it keepeth the spirit under, and presseth it down with the weight of it, but then the body shall be a spiritual body: so that in this body the Saints shall ascend into the air, as in a Chariot of triumph, and glory, to meet the Lord Jesus. As Elias was carried up to Heaven; so shall the Saints in these bodies of theirs rife in glory, to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. Now they are subject to diseases: then they shall be freed from all diseases; now they are subject to death; then death shall be swallowed up, and every Saint in his own person shall appear as a Conqueror of death, and of the grave; every Saint shall have this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, this song of triumph in his mouth, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law; but thanks he unto God who hath given us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our bodies then shall be incorruptible, wholly like the body of Christ; therefore the Apostle saith, that the body it must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Phil. 3. last, conformable in likeness, to the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ himself: you see what perfection there shall be in the bodies of the Saints; though they be vile now, they shall be honourable, and glorious then: though they be now as pieces of earth, they shall be then more bright than the Stars of Heaven, or the Sun in the firmament. This glory God will put upon the bodies of the Saints, and being thus made happy in their bodies and spirits, when they shall see themselves in this happy condition, filled in their bodies, and spirits with the glory of God, it cannot but cause great joy. If a man lie sick a long while, and have a weak, distempered, crazy body; when he is restored, he rejoiceth that he hath health, and strength, and is freed from the weakness that was upon him: shall not there be great joy then, when the Saints shall rise? when they that had weak, crazy, and vile, mortal bodies here, shall see themselves in bodies of glory, in bodies as glorious as the body of the Lord Jesus? Again, there will be great cause of joy to these Saints, when they shall be thus united in their bodies, and souls, and shall meet the Lord Jesus Christ, because they shall have great dignity put upon their persons they shall be raised as no mean persons As wicked, ungodly, and unbelieving men shall be raised as slaves, and vassals, and be brought forth in chains and fetters, before the dreadful tribunal of the Lord Jesus Christ: so the Saints shall all come forth a● Kings; every one of them shall be dignified with the glory, and Majesty of a King. This is that, that is spoken of, in the Revelation, where it is said, that Christ hath made 〈◊〉 Kings and Priests, and we shall reign upon earth. We shall reign in our bodies. As a● Ambassador said of the Senate of Rome, that he apprehended that there were as many Kings as Senators in the Senate-house, (Quo● Senatores tot Reges:) So, there shall be as many Kings, as Saints at the resurrection; and every one shall have Kingly glory, and Majesty; every one, together with the Lord Jesus, reigning as a King upon the earth, Rev. 5.10. Therefore if men rejoice in the enjoyment of earthly Kingdoms and Crowne● which are lined with cares, that a King professed, that if men knew the troubles, which attended upon a Crown, no man would stoop to take it up; what joy will there be, when we shall reign as spiritual, and heavenly Kings with the Lord Jesus? Again, there will be great joy: because all things that may occasion any sorrow or sadness shall be quite removed away: all tears must then be wiped from the eyes of all the Saints, Rev. 7.17. there must be no more sighing; no more grief; no more sorrow. All earthly infirmities and weaknesses, which are accompanied with grief and pain, shall be removed: for our bodies shall be Celestial bodies, (1 Cor. 15.40.) raised up in incorruption, 1 Cor. 15.42. And there shall be no more blindness or blackness upon our spirits. Here so long as we carry sin about us, though we know it is pardoned, though we know it shall be remembered no more, Heb. 8.12. though we know in point of Justification, that it may be sought for, and cannot be found, Jer. 50.20. yet so long as we feel it opposing the Spirit of glory, and holiness in us by the filthy nature of it, so long it will occasion sorrow, grief, and some trouble to the soul: but at the general resurrection, as sin is now completely taken away in our Justification to those that believe in the Lord Jesus (such being those blessed ones spoken of in the 32. Psal. whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;) So then sin shall be wholly taken away to our own sense, feeling, and apprehension, by the Spirit of Sanctification. There shall be no corner then in the soul, spirit, or body for any lust, or uncleanness, and consequently no place for sorrow. Sin is like the evil spirit that possessed Saul, that made him melancholy and sad, and afflicted him in his spirit. But when the Lord Jesus Christ shall appear, than all sin shall be done away to our sense, and feeling, as it is done away now in our Justification. Then we shall be as perfectly sanctified throughout, both in body and spirit, as we are now perfectly justified. Now the life that we live in the flesh is by Faith in the Son of God, by seeing how completely we are justified from sins, lusts, corruptions, those enemies to the Lord Jesus Christ that we carry in our bosoms: but then we shall be as perfect in respect of the life of sanctification, as we are now perfect, and complete in respect of our Justification. So that the cause of sorrow, and trouble shall quite be taken away. There shall be no place then left for Evangelicall sorrow; the sorrow that now is wrought in the Saints is Evangelicall, not Legal; but the joy, and glory which doth remain for the Saints hereafter shall be so great, that there shall be no place then left for Evangelicall grief for any sin, that we have committed. And as sin shall not then bring any sorrow upon us, so neither shall the Devil, who is the troubler of the Israel of God, be able to afflict us. Here he is permitted to afflict us, as he did Job, for the trial of our Faith and patience; and though for the present, when we look on Christ in his person, we see that we are conquerors over the Devil in him, yet we meet with the Devil, his fiery temptations, darts and arrows, which he shooteth into our spirits: so that he ofttimes causeth us to walk something sadly, occasioning troubles, which Jerome calleth (tempestates mentis) the tempests of the mind. As Paul tells us, that he was buffeted by the messenger of Satan. But then this wicked Fiend shall be so chained up, that he shall never be let lose upon us again. Then he shall be so under our feet that he shall never have any liberty given him to tempt us any more. The accuser of the Brethren is cast out of heaven, Revelation 12.10. His accusations and complaints against them cannot be heard by the ear of God, to prejudice their Justification, but he doth persecute the woman upon the earth, Rev. 12.13. He afflicts the Church and brings much trouble ofttimes to the Saints: but at the general resurrection, we shall be freed wholly from the Devil, from all temptations, from all troubles, all enemies that can be thought upon: so that then things shall be fully accomplished, and completed for our good. The Apostle though he telleth us that Christ for the present hath abolished death and sin to us, 2 Tim. 1.10. and destroyed him, who hath the power of death, who is the Devil, Heb. 2.14. yet he informeth us that the promises of God made to us in Christ are not fully accomplished, completed, and perfected till the resurrection; as we may see by that place, 1 Cor. 15.54. then shall be fulfilled that saying, speaking of the resurrection day, Death is swallowed up in victory, then if shall be said, O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Then shall it be, that is, it shall be, in the full accomplishment; we have now what is there promised, in the promise of God by Faith; then we shall have what is in the promise, in the actual fruition of the thing promised. So that in this respect, there will be great joy: because then every Saint shall ride in a Chariot of triumph, as a Conqueror of all enemies in his own person. And as Christ in his own body, and Spirit did ride to Heaven, and triumph over the power of Hell, Death, sin, curse, and condemnation; and as the life that we live for the present, is by beholding this victory of the Lord Jesus Christ with the eye of Faith: so at the general resurrection all the Saints shall imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, and in their own persons shall ride as Conquerors triumphing over all enemies, and shall live the life of vision, seeing the same thing done in their own persons, which now by Faith they see done for them in the person of Jesus. So that all cause and occasion of trouble, and sorrow being taken away, there must needs be great joy at the resurrection of those, who are raised by the Lord. In the next place, as the occasions and causes of all sorrow shall be taken away; so likewise all things, all objects that may move spiritual joy shall be presented to the Saints, to raise their spirits to a spiritual joy, who shall be raised and made happy with the Lord Jesus: whatsoever it be that can be thought upon that can make any one happy, that the Saints shall enjoy: they shall enjoy God in a full measure, and the Lord Jesus. Sweet streams of joy will flow into their spirits, because God will make himself the Author and worker of their joy. Sing O daughter os Zion, saith the Prophet, Zeph. 3.14. Be glad and rejoice O daughter of Jerusalem. But why must Zion sing and shout? behold the reason in the 15. verse, The Lord is in the midst of thee, and in the 17. ver. He will rejoice over thee with singing. There is the chief ground of their joy laid down. So the 12. of Neh. 43. it is said, the people rejoiced, for God made them rejoice with great joy. So at the resurrection, God shall make them to rejoice, they shall be always then at the Fountain, at the Wellhead, In thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right hand (saith the Psalmist, Psal. 17.11.) there are pleasures for evermore. All the Saints shall then be in the presence and at the right hand of God, where there shall be pleasures for evermore: they all shall be in the glory of the Lord Jesus. God shall empty himself, and the rivers, and streams of joy which are in himself, into their hearts and spirits; so that they shall be swallowed up, into those streams and rivers of joy, and pleasure which are in the enjoyment of a God. Macarius speaketh of (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) the ebriety of the Spirit. They then shall be inebriated with the fullness of a spiritual joy. If there be such rejoicing here in the spirit of a Saint, when he hath a light from God to see something of God in the face of Christ; what spiritual joy shall there be when our joy shall be at the full. If there be such joy in the ebbing of the Spirit here, what joy will there be when we shall enjoy the high-tyde of the Spirit in the vision of God's grace, and glory hereafter; when we shall eat of the tree of life; when we shall drink our fill of those rivers of pleasures which run in the Paradise of God? And if there be so much sweetness in spiritual joy here; what tongue can express, or heart conceive what there shall be in that joy that shall be hereafter? Great, glorious and high are the expressions by which Saints do set forth the joys that they feel here, but no Saint can tell what the joys shall be hereafter at the resurrection. Psal. 94.19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul; the delight is such here, that David had rather have the light of God's countenance, in a Spirit of joy upon him, then to enjoy all the glory and great things in the world. Thou hast put greater joy into my heart, then when the corn and wine of wicked men is increased, Psal. 4. and in Psal. 84. One day in thy house is worth a thousand. If there be such joy in the presence of God here, in the beholding of his grace, in the kisses of his mouth, in the embraces of his Son, when he doth now sprinkle us with his grace; O what joy shall there be, when God shall pour out the Spirit of grace, and sweetness into our souls? when he shall open all the treasures of his Spirit and love; when he shall more freely and fully show us the things, that neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what they are? 1 Cor. 2. We have seen great things in the world; Crowns, Sceptres, riches, worldly pomp and glory, but what are all these things? they do not shadow forth the things that we see here in the Spirit, and shall more plainly see hereafter. Our fancies, and Imaginations, work beyond our eye, we fancy greater things, than we behold: but what eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what they are, we darkly see here, and shall fully enjoy hereafter. The Poets in their fancies, have fancied golden Mountains, and great things; the earth doth not afford such things as they have fancied and minted in their poetical brains: but the things that shall then be discovered to us, go beyond the cogitation and thought, and workings of man's heart, and spirit; and these things shall be gloriously revealed to us by the Spirit of God; and the Spirit shall show us that all these things are ours. We shall see God ours, and Christ ours, and all the glory of Heaven ours, and see ourselves in the Kingdom of Heaven. So that there shall be the presence of all things that shall make us happy, the confluence of all good things that can bring any bliss, tranquillity, and joy to the spirit, and soul of man. So that it is evident there will be great joy, if we consider that there will be every thing wanting, that may make us sorrowful, and every thing present that may make us joyful: there will be the absence of all evil, and the presence of all good: there will be God himself, who is the summum bonum, the chief good; and this God will unveil himself, and show forth his love, and shine forth in his glory, beauty, and excellency on the spirits of his people; and seeing themselves in this happy, and blissful condition; they cannot but sing and rejoice at the resurrection. Here the Saints in believing do rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Pet. 1.8. How glorious then and unspeakable will be the joy of the resurrection? Again, you may take notice that there will be cause of great joy, if you consider that all the joy which we have here is but a shadow of that joy which the Saints shall have hereafter. Nay, all the joy in the world here cannot shadow forth that joy that shall be hereafter. Consider for what men do rejoice here, and you shall see that they have the same cause to rejoice for the same things in a full manner hereafter. The resurrection day is the Saints Coronation day and their wedding-day. Rev. 19.7. Let us b● glad and rejoice and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. It is Gods and their harvest day. Among men, the time of harvest i● a time of joy. They shall rejoice before thee according to the joy of harvest, Isa. 9.3. The resurrection is God's harvest for the gathering in of Saints. When a man sow's hi● seed, he sows it in expectation of a harvest. So God sows his seed, he sows the bodies of the Saints in the earth, he lays them in the furrows; he doth it in expectation of a harvest. And the people of God were commanded to rejoice before him, in the time of harvest: which did typify the spiritual joy that the Saints shall enjoy at the general resurrection, which shall be their harvest; when their bodies shall spring and come out of the dust, in their glory and excellency. Again, that I may bring you back to remember what the work of the day is, and enlarge myself upon that, at which I pointed even now; we know that we use to have great joy for great deliverances; When God hath suffered us, even to come to the brink of ruin, and destruction, and then doth pull us from it, and save us, there is joy with shouting. We know how near we were to ruin, we had almost been destroyed by the enemies that risen up against us: but the Lord hath delivered us: and seriously considering this deliverance we cannot but be thankful and joyful for the mercy. And our joy for the mercy of this day, may imperfectly shadow forth, and represent unto you the joy which shall be in Saints at the resurrection. For we that were compassed about with so many enemies in the world; that had all the Devils in hell against us, and all the wicked men in the world, holding forth their hands, to draw us and lead us into the broad way that leads to destruction: and a base malignant party that we carry about us, within ourselves joining with the Devil, the world, & wicked men against ourselves; by the power of God shall we be preserved from all these enemies, and made more than Conquerors over all our enemies through Jesus Christ, that loved us. And so shall have cause to rejoice in our preservation and deliverance. Truly we are not able fully to apprehend our deliverance here, and that is the reason that Saints rejoice so little in the God of grace and his mercies. We cannot apprehend fully what it is to be freed from sin, that hath laid the foundation of Hell. We apprehend not, what it is to be in the hands, and jaws of the Prince of darkness, and then to be pulled out of his hands, and jaws by Christ; as David recovered his Lamb out of the mouth of the Lion, 1 Sam. 17.34. We do not apprehend what it is to be by nature children of wrath, and yet to be crowned with grace, glory, and immortality, through the goodness of God; but then we shall fully apprehend our great deliverances by the grace of God, and the power of the Lamb, and shall sing for joy. In the 15. of the Rev. the 3. it is said of Saints that they sing the song of Moses, we sing it here in the spirit, in part, believing with Zacharias that we are delivered out of the hand of our enemies; but then we shall sing it fully, in the fullness of spiritual joy. It is called the song of Moses, because it shall be a song for their deliverance out of the hand of all enemies. As Moses, when the Israelites were delivered from Egypt called the people to play upon Music, and sing praise to God, so that the Heavens answered, and echoed to their singing, and the joyful noise, that they made to God for their deliverance: So when we shall apprehend that the Lord by his mighty power hath delivered us from the Egyptian Pharaoh, the Devil; from the house of bondage, the Iron furnace of Egypt; from the sting of sin, from the power of darkness, from all curses, and condemnation; from temporal, spiritual, and eternal death; being fully apprehensive of this deliverance, we cannot but be filled with joy in singing praises to him who is our deliverer. When by the cruelty of Haman, the people of Israel were appointed for slaughter and destruction; and God had given in a glorious deliverance to them; we read how they kept the day with joy, Hester 9.22. The day was called a day wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting, and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. The Devil like Haman had appointed the Israel of God to slaughter, and destruction; he thought to have swallowed them up, and to have made them as miserable to all eternity as he himself shall be: but by the goodness, and power of God they are delivered from this spiritual Haman. The Lord hath raised up a Mordecai, the Lord Jesus, who hath given us a deliverance from him. As Mordecai did speak peace to his people, Hest. 10.3. So Jesus Christ our spiritual Mordecai shall speak peace to us, bring deliverance to his people, discover the plots, and machinations of our enemies, by which they would have wrought our ruin, and destruction, and the Saints that were as sheep appointed for the slaughter, by cruel Haman the enemy of mankind, shall escape out of the hands of this bloody Lion, out of the snare of this cruel hunter; which will afford plentifully matter of great joy, and singing to the Saints. But in the next place there is cause of great joy, when people are not only delivered from their enemies, but their enemies are likewise put under their feet, (as God by his goodness seems to do ours this day: who are brought to a low and helpless condition, unless the Devil help them with a new plot, and make them as strong as formerly they were) so it will be with Saints at the resurrection; we apprehend it matter of joy to us, that God hath not only delivered us from the hands of our enemies; but hath given us the necks of our enemies likewise: so that we are Conquerors of them that hoped to conquer us; they are under our command, that thought to have made us slaves, and vassals to the commands of their imperious, and cruel lusts. So there will be rejoicing at the resurrection, because as Joshua put the enemies of God's people under their feet, so Christ shall then put all our enemies under our feet; Shall we now see cause of rejoicing, because God hath weakened the strength, & enfeebled the forces of our enemies? and shall there not be greater cause of rejoicing at the resurrection, when the Saints shall see all powers against them brought to nothing? Hell, sin, the world, men and Devils being trampled under their feet. Christ is filled with praises and joy, because his Father hath given him the necks of his enemies, that he may destroy them that hate him, Psal. 18.40. So the Saints shall be joyful in glory, because, they shall execute vengeance upon the Heathen, and punishment upon the people. Binding their Kings with chains, and their Nobles with fetters of iron, Psal. 140.7.8. For the Saints shall sit together upon the bench with the Lord Jesus to judge then that unjustly judged them upon earth. Wicked, and ungodly men, that for the profession of truth, have brought Saints before judgement-seats; and have jeered, and scoffed at them, making them their pastime and merriment, shall be brought before the Saints, and the Saints shall sit upon the Judgement seat with the Lord, and pass a sentence of condemnation upon them. When the Lord delivered the Israelites, and avenged himself upon their enemies in the time of Barak and Deborah, Judg. 5.1, 2. they sung a song o● praises unto the Lord, So the Saints shall rejoice, because God at the resurrection shall avenge himself upon the implacable enemies of his glory. Therefore when the Judgement is passed upon Babylon; the Heavens are commanded to rejoice; Rejoice over thou Heaven, Rev. 18.20. That is, ye Saints who are Inhabitants and Citizens of Heaven, for God hath avenged you on her; so that we shall have the same causes of joy, and rejoicing at the general resurrection, which we have here, this joy which we have here, in these things, being but as it were the shadow and figure of the joy which we shall have hereafter. Then in the next place; another thing that will heighten the joy of the Saints at the resurrection, will be the eternity of their joy. Eternity, is the hell of hell; there is no torment that makes hell to be such a place of torment as it is, as the eternity of the torments of Hell: so the eternity of the joys of Heaven, is the very Heaven of Heaven, and this eternity of joy is the eternal portion of Saints. The joy that the Saints shall have, is not for a moment; as our joys are here, vanishing, and transitory; Joy appears to us in the morning, and sorrow comes in the evening, that we have more cause to weep, and mourn before night, than we had to rejoice in the day. It shall not be so then, there shall be joy that shall be lengthened out to eternity; joy that shall have no period, nor end: when we have rejoiced many hundred thousands of years; we shall rejoice then, and our joys shall be so new and pleasing unto us, as though we had never rejoiced before: we shall never be weary of our joy. We find we are weary of joy and recreations here, and therefore there must be variety of joy, and recreations by the enjoyments of divers things, or else they will not give us content: but here shall always be the same joy, the same cause of joy, and the same joy always new; The song which we shall sing shall always be a new song. The Kingdom that is promised, is a Kingdom that cannot be moved, Heb. 12.28. The righteousness that shall be in it shall be an everlasting righteousness, the salvation of it shall be an everlasting salvation, Isa. 45.17. The joy of it shall be everlasting joy, Everlasting joy shall be upon their head, Isa. 51.11. The Crowns that we shall wear shall be Crowns of glory, that shall never fade away, 1 Pet. 5.4. 1 Thess. 4.17. We shall be ever with the Lord; we shall always enjoy the vision of God's glory, and so shall always have cause of joy, and rejoicing in him. The transitory, and momentany continuance of earthly joys, pleasures and contentment is that, that imbitters all the sweetness of these earthly joys, and contentments; so that, that shall sweeten the joy of the Saints at the resurrection, will be the eternity of their joy, it shall be joy that shall never have an end: so the Psalmist saith, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. They are lasting joys, everlasting joys, they shall be like God himself, they shall have no end: but the Saints that are raised in joy, shall be happy in that joy for evermore. But why do I spend so much time to set forth these joys? Truly I cannot give you a full relation of them. Sheba's Queen, when she had seen the glory of Solomon's Palace, his servants and attendance about him, and the glory, and pomp of his earthly Estate, she confessed that the fame in her own Country, was nothing to that she had seen with her eyes, 1 Kings 10.7. I believed not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and behold the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Fame commonly exceeds the thing which is reported; but Solomon's glory exceeded the fame of it. So, we hear of great and glorious things which shall be at the resurrection; the joy and glory that the Saints shall have, and we take pains to illustrate it by earthly joys and spiritual comfort, which is the best thing to shadow it. But all that can be said is far short of setting forth to the full, the glory, and joy of it. And therefore seeing that the thing fare exceeds the discourse and apprehension of any man; seeing words cannot set forth, what glory, and joy this is: I will not lay down any more considerations to shadow forth to you this joy, which I profess I want language fully to express. Wherefore give me leave to make a little use, and I shall put a period for the present of speaking of this joy which is unspeakable. In the first place, seeing there will be great joy at the resurrection, therefore we should rejoice in it beforehand: God will not fail in giving you of any thing that he hath promised: you will find the joy a hundred thousand times greater than any man on earth is able to express it to you. As God, when he promised the people of Israel the Land of Canaan, that flowed with milk and honey, he did not fail of any thing he had promised to them, all came to pass, as you have the story, Joh. 21.45. So God hath promised a heavenly Canaan of glory, an everlasting Kingdom; a City which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11.10. Palaces that shall stand fast, and firm upon their basis and foundation to the days of Eternity. He hath promised to put Sceptres into our hands, Crowns of glory upon our heads. And he that hath promised these things to his people will not fail it performance; he is just, and faithful, he i● not like man: he cannot lie, he cannot repent of the good he intends to do for his people. Therefore you that are his people rejyocein your portion, and inheritance. A the young Ward in his nonage or minority, when little i● allowed him for the present, doth rejoice in foreseeing what large possessions he shall be master of for the future, when the time of his Wardship shall be expired. So, let us who are the Heirs of Heaven, happiness and glory here, though we shall not have the fruition of it until hereafter, rejoice here as though we were in the full enjoyment, and possession of it. Suffer not any wicked, unbelieving spirits, to bereave you of your joy and comfort, by leading you into error, concerning the resurrection. O what enemies are these people to the spiritual joy of God's people, that go about to sow this seed of false Doctrine among them, by persuading them that there shall be no resurrection of the body, but only a spiritual resurrection here? How do these with specious shows of truth bereave people of that spiritual joy, comfort, and contentment that they might take in believing the Doctrine of the resurrection? Beloved, you meet with many Arguments against the resurrection that baffle carnal reason: I profess that if I should follow carnal reason, I know there are such strong Arguments against the resurrection, that I should easily yield the bucklers, and contend no more for the point; but conclude that there would be no resurrection of the body: but when I look upon the power of him that hath promised; when I consider that God hath said it; it answers all objections of carnal reason. Therefore show yourselves children of faithful Abraham, stagger not at this promise, he believed above hope and against hope. It is above hope, and against the hope of natural reason that this body should be raised: yet give God the glory of his power, God hath said that this body shall rise, and rise as the body of his Son; that we shall awake and sing, and the Earth shall cast forth her dead. (Consider a authorem & tolle dubitationem Ter.) Consider the power of the agent, and all doubting will be removed. He that hath promised it, is power, love, and faithfulness: he will do what he hath promised for his people, what they expect, and beyond their thoughts desires, and expectations; therefore 1 Thess 4. ult. Comfort yourselves with these words. There is no Doctrine that brings so much spiritual consolation to the soul as this: it is the spring of spiritual joy in the hearts of the Saints. Take away the Doctrine of the resurrection of bodies, and take away all spiritual joy, and comfort. And then look no longer upon the Saints as glorious, and happy creatures but as the most miserable abjects that you behold upon the face of the earth. If there be no resurrection of the dead, saith the Apostle, We are of all men most miserable. Saints profess themselves the most happy and joyful people in the world, and rejoice in their portion, and bless themselves in their happiness, and inheritance. But take this Doctrine away, let it be granted that there shall be no resurrection, let it be granted that Christ is not risen in his humane body, and that the Saints shall not rise in their humane bodies as Christ did, and be happy in their humane bodies: it will damp all the joy of the Saints presently, it will quench the Spirit of joy in the people of God. For there can be no cause of rejoicing to the Saints but in this assurance, that their sins are pardoned, that they are in Covenant with God, that God having loved them from eternity, will love them to eternity, and preserve them in happiness with himself. Therefore you that truly believe this Doctrine rejoice in it, and suffer not the scoffing enemies of this Doctrine to draw you from it, and so from the comfort that will flow into your hearts while you believe it. Take heed lest there be in any of you a heart of unbelief, to departed from the living God. And i● there be any poor weak Christians here that have been misled by these miscreants, and ungodly men, let them look up to God, beholding his power, and faithfulness in their Redeemer, that they may see all those objections of carnal reason (by which they have been deluded, and misled) easily answered; that so their former joy, and consolation may return to them, by believing the Doctrine and joy of the resurrection. And let me add this also, that as this is a Doctrine of great joy; so it is a Doctrine that obligeth us to great holiness. The Doctrine of Christ in every part, and branch of it leads to holiness. If thou meet with any tenant or opinion that furthereth not holiness, look on that opinion as an error: for whatsoever is the truth of the Lord, it is a truth that leads us to holiness of life, and conversation: So doth this Doctrine of the resurrection; for if we consider seriously that the body shall be raised, and we shall be happy at the resurrection in enjoying of God; will not this raise up the spirit of a man to thankfulness? and where there is true thankfulness, will not that thankfulness be legible in obedience? Therefore seeing God intends to glorify thee with himself in body, and in spirit, since thou shalt be ever happy with him, shouldest thou not glorify this God, while thou art here, in thy life and conversation? As the Apostle saith, 2 Pet. 3.13, 14. We according to his promise look for new Heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. What is the use of this? Wherefore beloved seeing ye look for such things, be diligent that ●e may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. A true assurance of salvation given by the Spirit of grace, doth not make us negligent in the performance of good duties; it doth not make us lose and licentious in our lives: but that assurance that is a right assurance, which is wrought in us by the Spirit of grace, will as well teach us to be holy as assure our hearts that we shall be happy. Lucian speaking scoffingly of the zeal of Christians and their readiness to help one another, doth give this as the reason of it, [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉]. These miserable men saith he, believe that in body and soul they shall be immortal. The scoffing Atheist did speak truth in this, and found out the true ●ause of the zeal which was in primitive Christians. There can be no holiness without a persuasion of happiness for men after this life: If there be no resurrection, saith Paul, Let us eat and drink, 1 Cor. 15. But when a man is persuaded of this, He will purify himself as Christ is pure, 1 Joh. 3.3. Again, this shows the different condition between a Saint, and a sinner; Look upon Saints, and sinners; eye them only with carnal eye in respect of the present condition, and it may be you shall apprehend a sinner in a better condition than a Saint. G●● ofttimes gives temporal blessings to them which he denies to his own people, they a● the world's happy creatures. But look o● Saints in this condition, and then you sha● see a vast difference between the condition of a believer, and of a man that is an enem● to Christ, the one shall awake, and sing. 〈◊〉 shall awake at the resurrection to be fill● with joy; to be crowned as a King, with in mortal glory. The other shall awake an howl: As Agag when he thought, and w● persuaded that the bitterness of death w● past, was hewn in pieces: so Epicures, an● profane men that sing away sorrow, fea● of Hell, and damnation, spending their day's mirth, in a moment they go down to the grav● Job. 21.13. and are raised from thence 〈◊〉 suffer torments to eternity. But the Sain● sleeping for a while in the grave are raised felicity. This is elegantly set forth in the book of Wisdom, 5. Chap. We fools thought their lives madness, and their end without honour, and behold they are become the children of God, speaking of the Saints, vers. 6. And in the 8. v. speaking of themselves, they do thus complain: What hath our pride profited us? what hath our pomp and riches brought unto us? The time will come that wicked men shall wish that they had never been, else that some mountain would be so propitious as to fall on them, that they might never come into the presence of God, and his Son Jesus Christ, that shall sit upon the Throne. O what a doleful noise will it make in the ears of wicked and ungodly men, when they shall be called forth to the resurrection of Damnation; while the Saints shall be bid to awake to the resurrection of life! Who would be envious at wicked men, that grow rich, and prosper, and flourish in the world; that get great estates, and leave their estates and houses to their heirs, if they did but consider, that at the resurrection they shall be enforced to take hell as part of their purchase, and shall be drawn and dragged as slaves to eternal torments? I remember what the Heathen said; It is a miserable thing for a man to have been happy; Fuisse faelicem miserrimum est, Both. It grieves a man when he comes to poverty, to remember that he was once rich; when a man is in a disgraceful condition, to think with himself, I was honourable; this is double misery. Remember (saith Abraham) to the rich man, that thou in thy life time didst enjoy riches, and poor Lazarus lying at thy gate was denied the crumbs falling from thy Table. This was the aggravation of the rich man's misery, to be put in mind that he had been happy, and rich upon the earth. Consider this, and you shall plainly see, that rich and great men, without Christ, though they live happily to the eye of the world, yet they are in a miserable condition; and the meanest Sain● is in a fare better condition than they. Th●● wicked rich men shall awake to howling, and screeching, to misery, and torment eternal the poor Saint to joy, rejoicing, and happ●nesse for evermore. Wicked men are like the Persians slave, wh● for a day was feasted, and had all things provided to delight him, that they used to provide for the Emperor, and at night he w● put to death. So wicked men, God fea● them as slaves here, they have furnished tabl● and servants, children, and music: b● poor wretches, night comes upon them, a● death takes off their heads, and they are miserable to eternity. Therefore James saith, They are nourished as against the day of slaughter. God doth but fat them, as men use to fat beasts for sacrifice, or slaughter; so God suffers them to swim in pleasures, to live in vanities, to get riches, to grow fat in the earth: but it is to destroy them: they are fatted for the day of damnation. In this glass, or mirror, see the difference between Saints and sinners. Then in the next place, seeing it is thus that the people of God shall be made partakers of such happiness at the resurrection, let me exhort you to wait in expectation and desire of it. A Ward that knows that when he shall live beyond the days of his wardship, he shall have his Lands and possessions in his own hands, he desires that the time may be expired that he may have all in his own hands, that now is in the hands of his Guardian, who (it may be) keeps him to a short allowance, though he be an heir to great possessions. We are Wards, as ye heard even now, and we are under a guardian; though we are rich in reversion, happiness, and heaven, and all things being ●urs, yet God keeps us low here. Let us desire that the time of our wardship may be expired, that we may come to that happiness which he hath promised; that we may awake, and sing, and be happy in a more full enjoyment of God; and this is the desire of those that are truly faithful. When Christ saith, He will come, and appear; What do the Saints answer? Even so come Lord Jesus, come quickly, Rev. 22.2. If a natural, carnal man, should speak forth that which lies at the bottom of his heart, when Christ saith, He will come; he would say; O Lord never come, I am not conformed to thine Image; I am not made a new creature by hearing of thy Gospel; O let me never see the face of Christ. But the man that knows the love of God, and truly understands the everlasting Gospel, when he hears Christ say, I come; presently there is this echo, by which he answereth the Lord Christ in his own Spirit; Even so come Lord Jesus, come quickly. When the Judges are in their circuits, malefactors tremble and quake; but an innocent man that hath a good cause, expects and desires to have it heard, and is glad that they are come: so wicked and ungodly men, who are thiefs, robbers, murderers, and malefactors, guilty of all sins, and lie in imprisoned & shackled in their own consciences when they hear that the Lord Jesus shall rid his circuit, and appear as a Judge, (unless they have seared consciences) they cannot but tremble and quake. But the other, when Christ shall be as a Judge to the wicked, he shall be as a Saviour to them, therefore they cannot but desire the coming, and appearing of the Lord. Wherefore let us desire the appearing of the Lord Jesus; let us not live as the men of the world, that are afraid, and tremble & quake, when they hear of a Judgement day, & Christ coming to judge every man according to his works: but let us continue in the assurance of God's grace, believing that our sins are pardoned. Let not the coming of Christ be our fear, but our desire; let us desire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to wait, as one doth upon one that he would speak with, for the Son who shall deliver us from the wrath to come, and shall put a Crown of glory on our heads, which he hath promised to all those that love him. Again, that I may draw to a conclusion, let this sweeten all miseries, troubles, and afflictions that we shall meet with here below. If we meet with persecution, with imprisonment, with hatred in the world, with reproaches from men, let this be sufficient to sweeten all. Consider the day is coming, it is at hand, Christ is at the door, Jam. 5.10. and you shall awake and sing, while these that now rejoice shall howl and lament. Beloved, Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy, 1 Pet. 4.13, 14. God leads his people to happiness by straits. Heaven is a Palace of glory, a spacious place; but the way to it is narrow, the gate is straight, by which we must enter in unto it. Let the joys provided for us at the end of our journey, sweeten unto us the troubles and difficulties of the way. God intended to make Job a great man, but before God brings him to his full height of greatness, God first brings him to the dunghill. So God will bring us first to the dunghill, he will lay us in the dust, and then make us such glorious creatures, as you have heard the Saints shall be at the resurrection. Joseph was to be ruler in Egypt; but first he must be laid in prison: so God lays his first in prison, he brings them to a low condition, to be nothing in the world; and afterward lays them in the prison of the grave, and then he raiseth them to be Kings, Priests, Rulers, and Judges with the Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore let this meditation of the resurrection sweeten trouble, and presume the grave unto us. And let it likewise sweeten all the comforts that we enjoy here, by looking upon them as pledges of the joy which we shall have at the resurrection: Let it sweeten the mercies of this day, which will have little relish in them without this. Alas; what is it to look on Nationall deliverances, mercies, victories, and conquests over our enemies; unless you see your happiness in the Lord Jesus? What is it if the Land have peace, if thou hast not peace of conscience by believing? What is it, if the enemies of thy body, of the State and Kingdom be wholly routed, and put under the feet of those that desire to stand for the liberties of the Subject; if in the mean while thou be a vassal, and a slave to the Prince of darkness? What is it for thee to be free from corporal enemies, and yet to be under the power, and led captive by the enemy of thy soul? What is it, if thou be a freeman in thy body, and a slave in thy soul, to all lusts, filthiness, and ungodliness? What is it, to keep such a day as this, and to rejoice in a carnal way for outward mercies, when thou dost not spiritually rejoice in the first place, that God hath freed thee from the enemies of thy eternal salvation? Rejoice not only as a Heathen may for national blessings, but rejoice as a Christian, seeing God reconciled to thee in the Son of his love; let the joy of the resurrection both sweeten thy troubles, and add spiritual fuel to the flame of thy joy for temporal mercies. Truly, we then rejoice in temporal things, and in creature-comforts and mercies aright, when we rejoice in them in a spiritual way, when we see all sweetened to us in the Lord Jesus. Therefore improve to the full this doctrine, for the heightening of your joys this day. Let there not be an evil heart of unbelief in any, to keep him from rejoicing. Though there were great plenty of Corn in Samaria, yet the Lord that would not believe what the Prophet said, though he saw it, he did not taste of it, 2 Kings 7.19. I tell you of great plenty, and happiness, I have set it before your eyes, as God hath enabled me; but unless you believe, you shall never taste of this heavenly Manna; you shall never drink of these rivers of pleasure. Here is a cup of salvation, you that have the lips of faith drink, and your souls shall be refreshed and comforted in the enjoyment of it: but if you lie in unbelief, you may want the joy, and comfort, that you might have of it here, and you may want the enjoyment of it to all eternity. Therefore believe what hath been spoken, what God hath promised, and rejoice in it here, being confident that thou shalt enjoy what God hath promised. And what thou hast (in spe,) in hope here, thou shalt hereafter have (in re,) in full fruition; serving God cheerfully, joyfully, and comfortably in the assurance of happiness by Jesus Christ at the resurrection: thou shalt be happy with God, and with Jesus Christ at the resurrection, in body, and spirit. Which God of his infinite mercy grant unto us all, Amen. A POSTSCRIPT TO THE READER. WHen one made a motion, that a Law might be made, and some great punishment inflicted upon Parricides; another objected against him and said, that such a Law would be useless; because there were no Parricides in the Commonwealth; neither would there be any here after to be punished by his Law. So some may suppose, that some passages in these Discourses are needless, which have their point directed against the faces of blaspheming Familists and licentious Libertines; apprehending, that there are none such amongst us for the present, and that there will not be any such who may come up as from hell amongst us hereafter. And none will be so ready, to lay this charge upon me, as those that are of this number themselves, and whose consciences do inwardly tell them, that they are the men who are here painted forth, and presented to the world. Wherefore that those who are unacquainted with them, may not be ensnared by them unawares, conceiving that there are none such to deceive them; And that I may decline the hatred and reproaches which these enemies of the Lord may hope to bring upon me for writing against them: I have collected and translated some few passages of Mr. calvin's book against the furious sect of Libertines, wherein their opinions and practices are largely discovered, which may persuade all men, that there are such and may be such, against whom I speak, though they know them not, and may prevent the slanders of those who are such. Chap. 1. In ancient Histories, we do never read of any heresy that was so dangerous, as the heresy of the Libertines. Chap. 2. He proveth that they are those of whom Peter speaketh in the 2 Pet. 2.12.17, 18, 19▪ who shall allure men to error by their great swelling words; and those spoken of in the 10. verse of the Epistle of Judas. And doth affirm that he had never understood the things there spoken of, unless he had seen them in those men of his time. Concerning their swelling kind of speaking (tumidum dicendi genus) he hath these expressions. When thou shalt begin to hear them, thou wilt be ready to think, that they are snatched up in an ecstasy above the clouds. For besides this, that they always speak of the Spirit, their speech is in such a strange idiom, that men when they first hear them do stand still astonished in admiration of them. He doth parallel them with some ancient Heretics; and farther enlarging himself concerning them, doth give us this account of their proceed. At the first they rejected the Scriptures, and scoffed at all the Apostles, calling Paul a broken vessel, Peter the denier of God, John a stupid young man, Matthew an usurer. But afterwards when they perceived that all men abhorred them, they concluded that they were to act more cautiously and obscurely. And then they pretended that they did not reject the Scripture, but changed it all into allegories, and wrested it by strange and unheard of interpretations: transforming an horse into a man, and (as we vulgarly speak) feigning a cloud to be the horn of a Lantern. Of their subtlety which they make use of to deceive the simple, he afterwards thus speaketh. They do not declare to men what is their judgement, but hold them in suspense a long while, and lead them about, by ambages, whom they do desire to bring to their sect, not revealing their secrets unto them, before they are so deluded and bewitched by them, that they see they can persuade them to what they shall please, etc. Whatsoever Christians do profess concerning eternal life, and a surrection, to the● s a fable. Chap. 4. He showeth the authors, and giveth his reason why he writeth against them. Should I be silent, when I see these men s● abusing the name of Christ, that pretending to be for Christ, and in his Name bring worse abomination into the world, than ever was brought into it before? Shall I speak against Papists, and spare these, who are more pernicious enemies to God than they, and do more overthrow the truth of God? Chap. 5. Where he discovereth the followers of these deluders. Some addicted to foolish curiosity, do apply their minds to vain and superfluous questions, when they should rather follow things which are profitable, and for edification; and being not contented with the simplicity of the Scripture, do run to and fro in vain and frivolous speculations, either for the satisfying of their mad and wicked lusts, or for the persuading of others, that they are more witty than other men, and do follow more sublime matters. Some are profane, who being weary of the yoke of Christ, are willing that their consciences should be rocked into a sleep, that without any Religion they may serve the Devil. Chap. 6. He wisheth men to take heed of pride, Rom. 12.3. and to rest satisfied with the pure and simple truth of the Gospel, in which are locked up the infinite treasures of God. Chap. 7. Of their idiom and manner of speaking. They use a peculiar manner of speaking, which is not understood of any but those of their own faction and fraternity, etc. I deny not but that they use common words, but they do so deprave their signification, that it is difficult to find out what they affirm, or what they deny. Chap. 8. They will sometimes deny, what at another time they affirm, and do transform themselves according to the will and pleasure of their hearts, etc. The art of dissembling is one of the chief Chapters in their Divinity. They will conform to all the superstitions of the Papists, pretending that a Christian man hath liberty in all outward things. For the justifying of their lying and dissembling, they make use of this place, that they must be as wise as serpents. Chap. 9 They account the Scriptures fables, yet they make use of such places which they can wrest to their sense: Not that they believe them, but that they may trouble and unsettle ignorant people. If any place of Scripture be brought against them, they say that we stumble at the letter, whereas we should follow the quickening spirit. Although they are more pernicious than the Papists, yet this principle is common to them both, that the Scripture is to be transformed into allegories, affecting a better and more perfect wisdom then is contained in it. Chap. 10. They have the Spirit always in their mouths, and can scarce speak two little sentences, without the repetition of it; persuading men that they are spiritual, and altogether divine. By which means it is an easy thing for them to deceive the best of Saints, until they come to understand, unto what their spirituality tendeth. And in the same chapter, he giveth a good direction for dealing with them. When they use a long ambages, or circuit of words, you are to break off their speech, and to ask what they mean. And if they go on to draw forth their tale with the same length, and circuit of words as their manner is, to darken their speech, by turning, winding, and wreathing their words, as the Serpent doth his tail, they are to be brought forth to the light, as a thief and malefactor is brought out of his lurking-hole. Chap. 11. They affirm that there is but one Spirit of God, which is, and liveth in all creatures; destroying the souls of men, and the being and essence of Angels. They affirm that Angels are nothing else but inspirations and motions, not creatures who have any being. Chap. 12. They affirm that the Devil, world and sin, is an imagination which is nothing. They affirm that Devils are nothing but vain thoughts, which as dreams are to be bu●●ried in forgetfulness. They hold that sin is nothing but an opination, conceit or fancy. Chap. 13. They hold that the Spirit doth all things not meaning what the Scripture doth when thus speaketh of him, to wit, That all thing subsist in him, are governed by him, are subject his providence, and in their order are serviceable his will. But whatsoever is done in the work they maintain it to be his work, to the d●●stroying of man's will as though he were stone: and to the taking away the different between good and evil: so that nothing can 〈◊〉 done sinfully according to their judgement, b●cause God is the Author of all things. So Quintinus, when he came into a place where o● was murdered; and being asked who did he presently replied, I have done it. Are you said the other such a wicked wretch? and th●● he answered; it is not I, but God: Thou h● done it, I have done it, God hath done it, & c● Chap. 14. They do not only confound earth and h●●ven, but God and the Devil. Chap. 15. They hold that all things being done by 〈◊〉 will, that nothing can displease him, as though God were mutable, or did contradict himself, or were a dissembler, if he should be displeased with any thing, seeing all things according to them are done with his approbation. They maintain that it is a foolish thing to be afraid, lest we should offend him, seeing we do nothing good or evil, but he doth all things in us. Chap. 16. From the same principle, they conclude that men do evil, who do blame any man for doing any thing. Chap. 17. Though they would seem to be extollers of Christ with excellent words, yet they place our whole redemption in this, that Christ was only a type, image or pattern in whom we may behold those things done which the Scripture requireth to our salvation. They imagine that every St is Jesus Christ, and that which was done in him, is done in us. When Quintin was asked how he did, he usually answered, How can Jesus Christ be sick, etc. They hold that it is blasphemy for a man to be grieved or troubled for any thing. Chap. 18. They acknowledge with us that a man cannot be the Son of God, unless he be born again. And at the first they seem to hold what we do, if we look only upon their words; and do● make use of Scripture-expressions to this purpose: But they hold that a man is regenerated when he seethe no difference between black and white, good and evil; for that say they is the sin of Adam. So that if a man be grieved i● his spirit for doing any sin, they use to say to him; O Adam thou still seest something. The old man is not yet crucified in thee (Pomi gustum habes.) Thou hast the taste and relish 〈◊〉 the apple in thy mouth still, take heed that that mouthful do not choke you. They hold that our redemption by Christ is the destruction of the conceits which me● have, by which they think that there is such thing as sin, etc. (Yew in quo constituunt benefi●cium redemptionis per Christum factae: nempe qu● opinationem illam destruxit quae Adami culpâ ●mundum ingressa erat, etc.) And for this reason, they maintain, that every regenerate ma● is without sin in him. When any man reprehendeth them for an● sin, they make use of this proverb which the● have among them, That it is not they, but 〈◊〉 ass. Although this be inconsistent with th●● which they maintain concerning the perfect state of a Christian. Chap. 19 They stretch Christian liberty to this, That they maintain all things are lawful to a man without any exception. They hold it lawful for a man to bow his knee before an Idol, to offer candles, to go in pilgrimage to the temples of the Saints, to celebrate mass, and to feign that they do consent to all the abominations of the Papists, though they do deride and laugh at them as fools. Chap. 20. Paul admonisheth Christians, 1 Cor. 7.2. That they should abide in that calling unto which they are called. These wretched men do pervert this speech: that they may persuade men, that every man ought to follow his natural inclination, and so do and live as he listeth, or as it shall seem good unto him in his own eyes; From whence approving all unlawful callings of Monks and Friars. When Quintin was present at the solemn Mass of a Cardinal, he said that he saw the glory of God. And by this pretext, they do not only approve all kind of callings which are repugnant to the truth of the holy Scripture, but those which the Heathens condemned by the light of nature. Let the Pander, say they, follow his employment; let the thief steal boldly; for it is consonant to reason, that every man should follow his calling. They allow men and women to join themselves to whom they please; and that they call spiritual Matrimony, and such men and women, new spiritual, husbands and wives, etc. Chap. 21. They hold community to be the communion of Saints, when no man possesseth any thing as his own: but when every one taketh that to himself which he can lay hold on. Chap. 22. They laugh at all hopes which men have of a resurrection, & say that men have that which they expect. If it be demanded, how they understand that: they say it is by believing his soul is an immortal Spirit always living in heaven: and that Christ by his death hath done away opination, etc. From Eccl. 12.7. they conclude, that the soul doth return to the essence of God, and is joined unto him, so that there remaineth but one Spirit. Chap. 23. They interpret that place, (Rom. 8.10. I Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness) after this manner; He justifieth us as we are the sam● spirit. Calvin saith of Pocquius, who was on● of the heads of them, that there is no sentence so excellent in Scripture, which he doth no● wrest and draw to his beastly affection. They take the word spirit not as given by the grace of regeneration, but from that imagination, that God is in us, and doth all in us. They speak of the last resurrection, as though it were now perfected and accomplished. In his Epistle. IT is usual with them as with all Libertines, to play with Scripture: to wrest it according to their own lust, and to transform it into allegories. Quintin being cast into prison for enticing many modest women unto uncleanness, used all fraud and guile to procure his freedom. For according to their Philosophy, it is lawful to dissemble, lie, deceive, and to change themselves into all forms and shapes, that they may deceive those whom they call carnal. He denied all that he had said or written, and affirmed that he was a Roman-Catholique. And being desired by the Monks and Friars, he dehorted the people in public, from reading of the Scripture, affirming that nothing was more pernicious than the reading of it. It were easy to bring many quotations out of Germane Writers against these subtle underminers of the Gospel. But some will think that I have spoken too much against them by the mouth of this witness; and most will conclude, that what I have spoken is sufficient; and those who are acquainted with some deceivers and impostors amongst us, will be ready to think that this godly Author did rather speak prophetically of some men of our times then historically of those of his own. I shall therefore take liberty to put a period to this Book, and shall desire the blessing of God upon it, and the favourable Reader, Amen. FINIS. The Order of Christ's remote, poor and despicable Churches in Wales, described by M. L. for the satisfaction of all misinformed Saints. With Christ our Lord we sup. And every Saint comes in: That is desirous with consent, For to partake therein. No honest soul's kept out, Their presence we desire: No new engagement, no new bond, Do we at all require. But welcome Saints, as Saints, Of all we make but one: Exhorting one another, more To live to Christ alone. Our bond is Christian love, Our bound our Master's word: In renting times our study is, To walk with one accord. If any Saint dissent, And Separatist be: He may see cause to blame himself, And so his Brethren free; These things we take in hand, For troubles may be near; Take time and mercies while they are, long they may be dear. FINIS. Errata. In the Apolog: answ. PAge 14: l. 22. for, r. for so. p. 16. l. 16. for commanding, r. condemning. p. 21. l. 2. for a, r.a. p. 32. l. 17. for agnoscetur, r. agnoscatur. p. 54. l. 10. leave out not. l. 11. for this, r. his. p. 60. l. 9 for to, r. so. p. 61. leave out the first out. In the Sermons of justification and sanctification. P. 12. l. 23. for ostendi, r. ostendit. p. 29 l. 18. f. he, r. they p. 31. leave out the parenthesis, p 43. l. 5. for be, r. are. p. 44. l. 28. for attain. r. attained. p. 75. for Psal. r. Isai. p. 82. for meum, r. mecum. p. 102. l. 10. for meretis r. meritis. p. 105 l. 10. for grate, r. grace. p. 113 l. 26. for alrighteousnes, r. almightiness. p. 16. l. 13. leave out of, l. 22. for should, r. would. p. 121. l. 18. for believe, r. to be believed. p. 123. l. 21. put an after as p 126. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 140. l. the last, for as, r. is. p. 144. l. 8. leave out when he. l. 29. for it is, r. have not. p. 154. l. 2. leave out and. p. 161. l. 24. for sin, r. Sinai. p. 166. l. 10. for think, r. bring. p. 169. l. 22 after in, put in that. p. 118. l: 7. r. individual. p: 201. l: 13. for forgiving, r. for giving. p: 210. for exemptio r. emotio. p: 214. l: the last, for it, r. he. for impossible, r. possible. p: 216. r. able. pa: 225. l. 9 leave out think. p. 229 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 252. l. 7. after present, put in all. p: 259. l. the last, his works. p. 272. l. the last, put in opus. p: 287. for charge, r. change. In the Sermon of Repentance. P, 5. l. the last, leave out but, p. 33. l. 2. for hearth, read earth. p. 44. l. 28. for immortality, r. mortality. p. 89. l. the last, & p. 96. l. 2. for them, r. these truths. p. 113. l. 3. for immortality, r. mortality. There are many other typographical errata, and many sentences not rightly printed, and letters turned the wrong way; which the Author by reason of engagements to other businesses & employments could not prevent: over which the courteous Reader is desired to cast the covering of his love. FINIS.