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VI. CONTENTS.

answered, 321.—6. Holiness and good works attained to only by faith, 324.—7. Slavish fear and servile hope not the springs of true obedience, 331.—8. The efficacy of faith for holiness of heart and life, 338.— 9. Use of means for strengthening of faith, 345 10. The distinction of the law of works, and law of Christ,

applied to six paradoxes, 346 11. The use of that distinction in practice, 351.—

12. That distinction a mean betwixt legalism and Antinomianism, 361.—13. How to attain to assurance, 362.—14. Marks and evidences of true faith, 365.—15. How to recover lost evidences, 366.—16. Marks and signs of uuion with Christ, 368.

Chap. IV.—Of the Heart's Happiness, or Soul's Rest. Sect. 1. No rest for the soul till it come to God, 372.-2. How the soul is kept from rest in God, 374.—3. God in Christ the only true rest for the soul, 380.

Page The Conclusion, . . .. ... ... ... ... ... ... 386

PART II.

Dedication, ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... 391

The Author to the Reader, 393

Introduction, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 397

Ignorant men confine the meaning of the ten commandments, ... ... 398

The ten commandments an epitome of the law of God, ... ... ... 400

Six rules for the right expounding of the ten commandments, ... ... ib.

The sum of the first commandment, &c. ... ... ... ... ... ib.

Wherein the first and second commandments differ, &c. ... ... ... 402

Wherein the second and third commandments differ, &c. ... ... ... 405

The difference betwixt the third and fourth commandments, &c. ... 417

The sum of the fifth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... ... 420

The sum of the sixth commandment, ... ... ... .. ... 427

The sum of the seventh commandment, ... ... ... ' ... ... 430

The sum of the eighth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... 432

The sum of the ninth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... 434

The sum of the tenth commandment, ... ... ... ... ... 436

The Lord requireth perfect obedience to all the ten commandments, ... 439

All men by nature under Bin, wrath, and eternal death, ... ... ... 436

Christ hath redeemed believers from the curse of the law, ... ... ... ib.

Every man's best actions are corrupted and defiled with sin, ... ... 440

The least sinful thought makes man liable to eternal damnation, ... ... 446

Though man cannot be justified by his obedience to the law, yet shall not his obedience be in vain, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 448

Man is naturally apt to think he must do something towards his own justification,

and act accordingly, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 450

Christ requires that believers do desire and endeavour to yield perfect obedience to

all the ten commandments, ... ... ... ... ... ... 453

Believers shall be rewarded for their obedience, and with what, ... ... 454

After what manner believers are to make confession of their sin upon a day of

humiliation, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 457

Why and to what end believers are to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, 458

The Difference bltween the Law and the Gospel, ... ... 459

CONTENTS.

THE EVERLASTING ESPOUSALS.

Page Hos. ii. 19. — I will betroth thee unlo me for ever, .. ... 491

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST IN THE FORM OF A SERVANT. Philip, ii. 7.—And took upon him the form of a servant. ... ... ... 520

THE PECULIAR MERCY AND BUSINESS OF LIFE OPENED UP AND APPLIED. Isaiah xxxviii. 19—The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day : tho father to the children shall make known thy truth ... ... ... 447

THE EVIL AND DANGER OF SCHISM. 1 Cor. i. 10.—Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together, in the same mind, and in the same judgment, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 593

THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE FOR THE BEHOOF OF POOR SINNERS, POINTED OUT AND ILLUSTRATED.

Psalm Ixxxix. 14.—Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne : mercy and truth shall go before thy face, ... ... ... ... ... 614

SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, 621

SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, 628

THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF RELIGION IN THE SOUL DISCOVERED, AND THE METHOD OF ITS CURE PRESCRIBED.

Rev. iii. 2. — Strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die. ... 636

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I

BRIEF EXPLICATION

FIRST PART

THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM.

Quest. What is the chief end of Man ?

Answ. Man's chief end is, to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

EXPLICATION.

By man's chief end is meant, the end which man was chiefly made for, and which he should chiefly seek to reach unto. It consists of two parts ; his chief duty, and his chief happiness. Man's chief duty is to glorify God: 1 Cor. x. 31, " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Man glorifies God, hy thinking, speaking, and living to his glory. And this is man's chief, and last or farthest end. Man's chief happiness is, to enjoy God as his God : Psalm lxxiii. 25, 26, 27, 28, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For lo, they that are far from thee, shall perish : thou hast destroyed all them that go a-whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God." And this is man's chief subordinate end. A sinner can never glorify God, until he first enjoy him as his God: Eph. ii. 12, "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the common-wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Gen. xvii. 1, " The Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ; Yol. YII. A

walk before me, and be thou perfect." Exod. xx. 2, 3, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the laud of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Now, the sinner can attain to the enjoyment of God, only through Jesus Christ: John xiv. 6, " Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." And one may get a saving interest in Christ, by faith. Moreover, they who enjoy God as their God, are enabled to glorify him, by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them as members of Christ: Rom. viii. 26, " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Wherefore, none that are out of Christ, reach the chief end of man: but they make themselves their chief end. HoAvbeit, believers do reach it: and they reach it, in so far as they shall, from the first moment of their believing, for ever enjoy and glorify God; imperfectly indeed here, but perfectly in heaven.

Quest. 2. JVhat rule hath God given to direct us, how we may glorify and enjoy him ?

Answ. The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, is the only Rule to direct us, how we may glorify and enjoy him.

EXPLICATION.

The end for which the Scriptures are given, is, to be a rule to direct us how we may glorify God, and come to the enjoyment of him as our God. And they are the only rule to direct us in these matters. Withall they are a certain and infallible rule; and that because they are the word of God. It appears, that they are the word of God, by the holiness efficacy of their doctrine, and the miracles wrought to confirm it. And this, although for the most part they were written by men because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 2 Tim. iii. 16. The word Scriptures signifies writings: but the church had not always the written word, till about Moses' time. Howbeit, they were supplied, while they wanted it, by extraordinary revelations: and it is the same doctrine that was then so revealed, which we have now in the Scripture. Nevertheless, the Scripture is altogether necessary for the church now; and that because extraordinary revelation of doctrine is ceased, and God hath bound us to the Scripture as the test or touchstone of doctrine : Isa. viii. 20. " To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not accord-

ing to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Neither will God ever give us another rule : for the Scripture is a testamentary word of God. Now, a testament is the last will of a dying person. So the Scripture is Christ's testament, confirmed by his death; and as a testament, it declares the last will of God concerning man's salvation and duty. Christ's testament is twofold: namely, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. The books beginning with Genesis, and ending with Malachi, are Christ's Old Testament: those beginning with Matthew, and ending with the Revelation, are Christ's New Testament. These two testaments are one and the same for substance : for in both, Jesus Christ is the testator; eternal life is the legacy; sinners of mankind are the legatees; and faith in Jesus Christ is the way of claiming and obtaining the legacy : 1 Jolin v. 11, 12, " And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life : and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life." Prov. viii. 4, " Unto you, 0 men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man." But they differ in circumstances; the new being more clear and full than the old one. Howbeit, neither the one nor the other can be savingly understood, without an inward illumination of the mind by the Spirit of Christ: 1 Cor. ii. 14, " But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

Quest. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach ?

Answ. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

EXPLICATION .

Principally to teach, is chiefly to teach. The things that the Scriptures teach chiefly, are these two; Faith, and obedience: 2 Tim. i. 13. " Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." The faith which the Scriptures teach, is, " What man is to believe concerning God :" The obedience which the Scriptures teach, is, " "What duty God requires of man." Nothing can be an article of faith, necessary to be done, but what is taught in the Scriptures. Howbeit, not only what is found in Scripture in express words, but also what ariseth therefrom, by necessary consequence, is to be reckoned taught therein : Matth. xxii. 82. " I am the God of Abraham, and the God of

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Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

Quest. 4. What is God ?

Answ. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, andu nchange-able, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness justice, goodness, and truth.

EXPLICATION.

No creature can fully comprehend what God is: Job xi. 7. " Canst thou by searching find out God ? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ?" But he has revealed so much of himself in the Scriptures, as is necessary for us to know. For his sort of being, he is a Spirit: and a Spirit is an immaterial substance, without flesh or bones. He hath not then a body nor any bodily parts : John iv. 24. " God is a Spirit." Luke xxiv. 39. " Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Then eyes, ears, and such like bodily parts, ascribed to him in Scripture, are not to be understood properly : But by them we are to understand an infinite perfection of those powers, which those members serve for in us. So the eyes of God signify his infinite power of discerning objects, as by the eye : His ears signify his infinite power of discerning voices, as by the ear. Moreover, God cannot be seen with bodily eyes; no not with the eyes of glorified bodies in heaven: hence he is said to be "invisible, and to dwell in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see," 1 Tim. i. 17. and vi. 16. But God can be seen with the eyes of the mind, enlightened with the light of grace here, and the light of glory in heaven : Eph. i. 17, 18. " That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him : the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." Finally, there is nothing which God is like unto ; Isa. xl. 18. " To whom then will ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?" So we may not form any imagination of him in our minds, as we can do of an absent man. Now, there are other spirits besides God : and these are angels and the souls of men. But the difference betwixt God and them, lies here, that God is an infinite, eternal, and unchangeable Spirit; and they are not so. The attributes of God, or perfections of the divine nature, are of two sorts ;

incommunicable, and communicable. His incommunicable attributes, whereof tbere is no vestige in tbe creature, are his infinity, eternity, and unchangeableness. God is infinite, in that he is whatsoever he is : without any bounds or measure: Job xi. 7, " Canst thou by searching find out God ? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection V He is eternal, in that he is without beginning aud without end : Psal. xc. 2. " Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world : even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." He is unchangeable in that he is, and cannot but be always the same, without any alteration whatsoever : James i. 17. " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." He is then said to repent, not in respect of the atfection of repentance, but the effect of it: Num. xxiii. 19. " God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath ho said and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good ?" in that, without any change of his own nature, mind, or will, he changeth his dispensations towards the creatines, and makes changes on them : Gen. vi. 7, " And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air : for it re-penteth me that I have made them." His communicable attributes, whereof there are some scantlings, or faint images in the creature, are his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. The difference between these perfections, as they are in God, and as they are in the creature, lies here, that they are all infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in God, but in the creature not so. The being of God is that perfection whereby he is, and is what he is: Exod. iii. 14, " And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM : and he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." His wisdom is that whereby he knows himself, and all things else, with the way how to dispose of them to the best: Psal. cxlvii. 5, " Great is our Lord, and of great power : his understanding is infinite." His power is that whereby he can do all things not inconsistent with his nature : Jer. xxxii. 17, " Ah, Lord God, behold thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." His holiness is the perfect purity of his nature, whereby he delights in his own purity, and in the resemblance of it in the creature : Hab. i. 13. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." His justice is the perfect rectitude of his nature, whereby he is just in himself, and in all his ways towards the crea-

ture : Deut. xxxii. 4. " He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." It is not consistent with his nature, to let sin pass unpunished: 2 Thess. i. 6, " It is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you." Compared with Gen. xviii. 25. " That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked; and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee : Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" His goodness is that whereby he is good in himself, and the author of all good to be found in or about the creature : Matth. xix. 17, " There is none good but one, that is God." His goodness is consistent with his severity against the wicked, in that it is the property of goodness to hate and punish sin : Exod. xxxiii. 19, " And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." Compared with chap, xxxiv. 7, " Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." And it is consistent with the afflictions laid on his own people, in that they flow from his goodness : Job v. 6, " Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground." And they tend to their good : Psal. cxix. 71, " It is good for me that I have been afflicted ; that I might learn thy statutes." His truth is that whereby he is perfectly faithful, and free from all falsehood, Tit. i. 2, " In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began."

Quest. 5. Are there more Gods than one ?

Answ. There is but one only, the living and true God.

EXPLICATION.

God is called the living God, to distinguish him from dead idols; and the true God, to distinguish him from all false gods. 1 Thess. i. 9, " Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God." He is the living God, in that all life is in him, and from him, 1 Tim. vi. 13, " God, who quickeneth all things." To be the true God, is to be God truly and really; and not in name only, or in the opinion of men. Now, there is but one true God : 1 Cor. viii. 4, " We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one." And reason teaches, that there

can be no more than one, in that there can be but one most perfect being. So the gods many, mentioned, 1 Cor. viii. 5. are gods in name only, or in the opinion of their blinded worshippers.

Quest. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead ?

Answ. There are three persons in the Godhead ; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

EXPLICATION.

By the Godhead is meant the divine nature. A person in the Godhead, is the Godhead distinguished by personal properties. The Godhead is one only in number : But the persons in the Godhead are three ; and they are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: 1 John v. 7, " For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the "Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." Jesus Christ is the second of these persons, namely, the Son. And the Father is true God: the Son is true God: and the Holy Ghost is true God. Yet they are not three Gods, but one God, 1 John v. 7, forecited. Howbeit, the Godhead neither is, nor can be divided into parts : but each of the three persons hath the one whole indivisible Godhead. They are not then of a like substance only, but the very same in substance. But they are distinguished by their personal properties. And it is the personal property of the Father, to beget the Son : Heb. i. 5, " For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ? and again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son ?" And it is the personal property of the Son, to be begotten of the Father : John i. 14, " The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth." And it is the personal property of the Holy Ghost, to proceed from the Father and the Son : John xv. 26, il But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." Gal. iv. 6, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." The Son and the Holy Ghost are not below the Father, but equal with him: They are all equally powerful and glorious. So the personal properties make no inequality among them; forasmuch as these properties are not temporary and accidental, but

eternal and necessary, and could not but be : and every one of the three persons, is the eternal, the supreme, the most high God. This appears, in that to the Son and the Holy Ghost, as well as to the Father, is ascribed the peculiar name of the true God, the Most High : Is. vi. 3, " And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." John xii. 41, " These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him." Acts xxviii. 25, 26, " And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet, unto our fathers, saying, &c." Psalm lxxxiii. 18, " That men may know, that thou whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth." And his attributes are ascribed to them : Rev. i. 8, " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Psal. cxxxix. 7, " Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ?" Likewise his works : John i. 3, " All things were made by him ; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Matth. xii. 28, " But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." And also his worship : Heb. i. 8, " But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." Matth. xxviii. 19, " Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Quest. 7. What are the decrees of God ?

Answ. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

EXPLICATION.

By the decrees of God is meant his purpose foreordaining what should come to pass. God hath foreordained in his decrees, whatsoever comes to pass : Eph. i. 11, " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Even the most free acts of the creature, and the most casual things, are foreordained of God : Prov. xxi. 1, " The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water : he turueth it whithersoever he

will." Chap. xvi. 33, " The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." Yea, evil actions, as well as good ones, fall within the ccmpass of his decree : Acts. ii. 23, " Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." But with this difference, that he decreed his effecting of good, and his permitting of ill. Now, whatsoever God hath foreordained infallibly comes to pass. And his decrees are unchangeable : Isa. xlvi. 10, " Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Yet men have no excuse for their sin, from the decree of God, Acts ii. 23, above cited : for they sin out of free choice, without the least knowledge of, or force upon them from the decree : Acts xiii. 27, " For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him." The design and end of God's decrees is his own glory : Rom. xi. 36, " For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things : to whom be glory for ever." And therefore he will certainly get glory of whatsoever comes to pass, Isa. xlvi. 10, forecited. As to sinful actions he will get either the glory of his mercy in pardoning them, or else the glory of his justice in punishing them. For the date of God's decrees, they are all eternal: and he makes no new decrees in time : Acts xv. 18, " Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." The way he decreed all things is according to the counsel of his own will, Eph. i. 11. His decrees are said to be according to his own counsel, as being all laid in the depth of wisdom, which among men is the result of counsel: Rom. xi. 33 " 0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" But taking counsel, even in himself, is not competent to God, in a proper sense; because his infinite understanding comprehends all things perfectly at once. They are said to be according to the counsel of his will, as depending on nothing without himself: Rom. xi. 34, " For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor ?"

Quest. 8. How doth God execute his decrees ? Answ. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

EXPLICATION.

God's executing his decrees, means his bringing to pass what he hath decreed : and he does that in the works of creation and providence. And nothing falls out in either of thera, but what was decreed ; nor otherwise than as it was decreed : Eph. i. 11, " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Zech. vi. 1, " And I turned, and lift up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of brass."

Quest. 9. What is the work of creation ?

Answ. The work of creation is, God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

EXPLICATION.

The world was not eternal, but had a beginning, Gen. i. 1. It will also have an end; and it will end by fire, being burnt up, 2 Pet. iii. 10; and that in virtue of the curse lying on it for man's sin: Gen. iii. 17, " And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, made the world: 1 Cor. viii. 6, " But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." John i. 3, " All things were made by him: and without him was not any thing made that was made." Psal. xxxiii. 6, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made: and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." He made it in the beginning of time, but a few thousand years ago: Gen. i. 1. " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." He then made all things: and there was no person, nor any thing before that, but God himself: Col. i. 16, "For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things were created by him, and for him." So he made them of nothing; and that by the word of his power, commanding them to be: Heb. xi. 3, " Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God ; so that things which are seen,

were not made of things which do appear." Now, all things were made in the space of six days: Exod. xx. 11, " For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." The works of the first day were, the highest heavens, Gen. i. 1. with the angels, the inhabitants thereof, Job xxxviii. 4, 7; the shapeless mass of earth and water, and the light. The works of the second day were, the firmament, and the dividing thereby the upper and lower waters. The works of the third day were, the seas, and the dry land, herbs, and trees. The works of the fourth day were, the sun, moon, and stars. The works of the fifth day were, fish, and fowl. The works of the sixth day were, first, the beasts of the earth; and then, last of all, man, male and female: Gen. i. 1. throughout. The goodness of God shines forth in this order of the creation, in that the places were prepared before the dwellers, the food before the eaters, and all necessary to the use of man before man himself. As for the case all things were made in, they were made all very good: Gen. i. 31, " And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good;" that is to say, very fit for the ends and uses for which they were made. Wherefore, the angels were all made holy and happy. And some of them did continue in that state, 1 Tim. v. 21, " I charge thee before the elect angels," &c.; but others of them sinned, and fell, and became devils, Jude 6, " And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." 2 Pet. ii. 4, " God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment."

Quest. How did God create man ?

Answ. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

EXPLICATION.

By male and female, is meant man and woman. The man was first made, and then the woman, 1 Tim. ii. 13; and the woman was made to be a help to the man, Gen. ii. 18. Adam and Eve were the first man and woman : and from them all mankind is descended : Acts xvii. 25, " God hath made of one blood, all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth." The parts whereof man

consists, are a soul and a body. The body of the man was made of the dust of the ground : Gen. ii. 7, " The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul." "Which consideration may be of use to us, to be a cure to our pride, a memorial of our death, and an emblem of our resurrection. The woman's body was made of a rib and flesh taken out of the man's side : Gen. ii. 23, " And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man ;" and that to the end they might be one flesh, ver. 24, " Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh." The soul is of a spiritual and immortal nature : Eccl. xii. 7, " Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was ; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Their souls were made within them, of nothing : Gen. ii. 7, above cited, Zech. xii. 1. " The Lord, which formeth the spirit of man within him." But Moses gives no separate account of the making of their souls, as of the making of their bodies; because their souls were not of a different make, but only their bodies. Neither are the souls of men since that time generated by the parents, but created of God within their formed bodies in the womb; hence called the Father of Spirits, Heb. xii. 9. Now, man was created in a holy and happy state ; which appears, in that he was made so far like God, that he was after his very image, Gen. i. 26. And this was not peculiar to the man, but common to the man and the woman, ver. 27, " So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him : male and female created he them." The image of God wherein man was so like him, consisted in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and dominion over the creatures: Col. iii. 10, " And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him." Eph. iv. 24, " And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Gen. i. 26, " God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness ; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." The parts of the image of God impressed on his soul, were, knowledge on his mind, righteousness on his will, and holiness on his affections. His knowledge was a sufficient understanding of what was necessary to make him completely happy, Gen. i. 26; Col. iii. 10. His righteousness was a perfect conformity of his will to the will of God: And his holiness was the perfect purity of all his affections.

Eccl. vii. 29, " God made man upright." That part of the image of God impressed on the whole man, was dominion oyer the creatures. The creatures he had dominion over, were the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, Gen. i. 26. The dominion he had over them, was a right and power soberly to use them for God's glory and his own comfort. His charter for this right to the creatures, was the covenant of works, Gen. ii. 16, 17, compared with chap. i. 28, " Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." And in these things man bore the image of God, as in him he faintly resembled God himself, who is infinitely knowing, righteous, and holy, and supreme Lord of the creatures. Now, Adam bore this image as a public person, to propagate it to his posterity : Eccl. vii. 29, " God made man upright." But it was lost to himself and all mankind, by his fall, 1 Cor. xv. 22, " In Adam all die ;" and that even to the forfeiting of the dominion over the creatures; an evidence of which is, beasts proving unruly, and hurtful to man. The only way to recover the image of God, is to unite with Jesus Christ by faith : 1 Cor. xv. 22, " In Christ shall all be made alive." For he is the image of the invisible God, and to him as a second Adam is the dominion over the creatures restored : Col. i. 15. " AYho is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. Psal. viii. 6, 7, 8, " Thou raadest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field : the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." Compared with Heb. ii. 7, 8, 9, " Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ; thou crownedst hirn with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands : thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet," &c. And he repairs this image in all that believe on him. The reparation of the lost image of God in their souls is begun in their sauctification in him, and perfected in their glorification : Col iii. 10, " And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him." Heb. xii. 23, " To the spirits of just men made perfect." The reparation of the lost dominion over the creatures, is begun in their getting a new right to them in their union with him, and perfected in their being put in full possession of the dominion at the last day : Rom. iv. 13, " For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Rev. xxi. 7, " He that overcometh, shall inherit all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be ray son." Psalm

xlix. 14, " Like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them ; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning." Their charter for this new right to the creatures, is the covenant of grace, Rom. iv. 13, forceited. But they that are out of Christ, have no covenant-right to the creatures, but only a providential right: And that is such a right, as a condemned man hath to his food, until his execution. The management that men now have over the beasts, is far short of the original dominion over them : Gen. ii. 19, " And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them : and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." But such as it is, it is owing to a new grant made after the fall, for the necessities of human life ; whieh new grant is found recorded, Gen. ix. 2, " And the fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered."

Quest. 11. What are God's xuorks of providence ? Answ. God's works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

EXPLICATION.

There is a divine providence about the creatures. That appears from their entire dependence on God as their first cause, and from the exact accomplishment of Scripture prophecies : Acts xvii. 25, " God is not worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." Yer. 28, " For in him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain, also, of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." Isa. xlvi. 9, 10, " Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."

The object which providence is employed about, is all the creatures, and all their actions, Psalm ciii. 19, " His kingdom ruleth over all." Even devils, and wicked men, are under the providence of God : Matth. viii. 31, " So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine." And evil

actions, as well as good, are within the verge of it: Gen. xlv. 7, " And God sent me before you, to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." Yea, there is not any thing whatsoever, be it ever so 3mall or casual, that falls out without the providence of God: Matth. x. 29, 30, " Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

The works of providence about the creatures, are the preserving of them, and the governing of them and their actions. Providence preserves the creatures, sustaining them in being, and providing for their support: Heb. i. 3, " Upholding all things by the word of his power." Psalm cxlv. 15, 16, " The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." No creature whatsoever could keep itself in being one moment; but upon God's withdrawing the upholding hand of his providence, it would immediately return to nothing : Heb. i. 3. Providence governs the creatures and their actions, disposing of them according to the divine purpose : Prov. xxi. 1, " The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it whithersoever he will." Eph. i. 11, " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Providence governs sinful actions, permitting them, bounding them, and overruling them to good: Acts xiv. 16, "Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways." Psalm lxxvi. 10, " Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Gen. 1. 20, " But as for you, ye thought evil against me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

The properties of the works of providence are these : They are most holy, wise, and powerful: Psal. cxlv. 17, " The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Psal. civ. 24, " 0 Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all." Dan. iv. 35, " He doth according to his own will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth : and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What dost thou ?" Wherefore, God is not the author of sin; no more than he who rides a crooked horse, is the cause of his halting: James i. 13, " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." All dispensations of providence are wisely ordered : Deut. xxxii.

4, " He is the rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment : a God of truth, and without iniquity ; just and right is he." And providence cannot miss of its designs and ends : Is. xlvi. 10, " My counsel shall stand, and 1 will do all my pleasure."

The rule of the works of providence, is the decree of God; whereof they, and the works of creation, are an exact accomplishment, Eph. i. 11, " In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."

Quest. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created ?

Answ. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience ; forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.

EXPLICATION.

The special act of providence towards man newly created, was, God's making a covenant of life and happiness with him. There are two covenants for life and happiness to man : and they are, the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace : Gal. iv. 24, " For these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."

The first covenant was the covenant of works. It was made in paradise, and before the fall. The parties contracting in it, were God and Adam: Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." But Adam represented all mankind, as the parties contracted for: Gen. ii. 17, forecited. Compared with Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." There was no mediator of this covenant; for as yet there was no breach, by sin, betwixt God and man.

The condition of the covenant of works, was perfect obedience : Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith : but, The man that doth them, shall live in them." And it was to be perfect, in respect of parts, degrees, and continuance : Gal. iii. 10, "For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Matth. xxii. 37, " Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all

thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." So the least failing in any part or degree of obedience, or for never so small a time, would have broken this covenant. The law that was the rule of this obedience, was the law of the ten commands, and the law forbidding to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil: Gal. iii. 10, and Gen. ii. 17, forecited. That tree grew in paradise, Gen. ii. 9. There was no virtue in it to improve men in knowledge, as the devil falsely suggested, Gen. iii. 5, " For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened: and ye shall be as gods, knowing good aud evil." Compared with John viii. 44, " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no trnth in him. "When he speak-eth a lie, he speaketh " of his own : for he is a liar, and the father of it." But that name was put upon this tree, to intimate, that by eating of it, man would know to his sad experience, the vast difference between good and ill: wherefore that tree with that name, was of use, to be a warning-piece to man to beware of evil. Now, Adam knew the law of the ten commands, as they were impressed on his heart in his creation : Rom. ii. 15, " Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another." He knew the law of the forbidden tree by revelation, Gen. ii. 17, forecited. And he had sufficient ability for the perfect obedience required, Eccl. vii. 29, " God made man upright."

The promise of the covenant of works, was a promise of life : Gen. ii. 17, forecited. The life promised was twofold; namely, one to be afforded him, during the course of his probationary obedience, another to be afforded him at the perfecting of it. The life to have been afforded to man during the course of his probationary obedience, was natural life continued in vigour and comfort, and spiritual life continued in favour and fellowship with God, Gen. ii. 17, forecited. This was the reward of obedience in hand. The life to have been afforded him at the perfecting of his course, was eternal life in consummate happiness: Matth. xix. 16, 17, "And behold, one came and said unto him, Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life ? And he said unto him, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And this was the reward of obedience in hope. Adam, if he had continued obedient, could have claimed that life upon his obedience; yet not in the way of proper merit; because his perfect obedience was no more than what was due from him by the law of his creation, before he entered into that covenant: Luke xvii. 9, 10, " Doth he thank that servant,

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because he did the things that were commanded him ? I trow not. So likewise ye, when y i shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants : we have done that which was our duty to do." The only way he could have claimed it, was by compact, namely, in virtue of the covenant-promise made to this work.

The penalty of the covenant of works was death, Gen. ii. 17, forecited. The death threatened was also twofold; namely, one accompanying sin at its first entrance, another following after as its full reward. The death accompanying sin at its first entrance, was temporal death, in the loss of the vigour and comfort of natural life ; and spiritual death, in the loss of the image of God with his favour and fellowship. And Adam died this death, according to the threatening, that very day he sinned : Gen. iii. 7, 8, 9, 10, " And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked : and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden : and I was afraid, because I was naked ; and I hid myself." The death following after, as the full reward of sin, was the natural death of the body with the sting in it, and eternal death in the consummate misery of soul and body for ever: 1 Cor. xv. 55, " 0 death where is thy sting ? 0 grave, where is thy victory ?" Matth. xxv. 41, " Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." And this was comprehended in the express threatening of death to accompany sin ; inasmuch as the one was a sure pledge of the other, natively issuing therein.

Quest. 13. Did our first parents continue in the state wherein they were created ?

Answ. Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

EXPLICATION.

Our first parents were Adam and Eve. The state wherein they were created, was a holy and happy state : but they fell from it; and that by their sinning against God: Gen. iii. 6, 7, 8, 10, " And

when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat," &c. The first that sinned was the woman : 1 Tim. ii. 14, " And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." And it was the devil that ensnared her : Gen. iii. 12.—" And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." The woman having sinned, in-snared Adam, ver. 6, forecited. But their being tempted to sin, did not excuse them ; because it was of their own free will that they sinned. Freedom of will is a power in the will, whereby it doth of its own accord, without it, choose or refuse what is proposed to it by the understanding. And man hath this freedom of will in whatever state he be. But this power of the will is not of the same extent in all states. In the state of innocence, it extended both to good and evil; that is to say, man had a freedom of will, whereby he could wholly turn, either to the one side or the other, to good or evil, proposed by his understanding : And that man was created thus mutable, was sutable to the state of trial. Now, the special act of providence about the fall of our first parents, was that God left them to the freedom of their own will, and the use they made of that, was, that they went freely, of their own accord, to the side of sin. But in the state of corrupt nature, the power of the will extends only to evil: Gen. vi. 5, " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." In the state of grace, it extends partly to good, and partly to evil : Rom. vii. 23. " But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." And in the state of glory it extends only to good : Heb. xii. 23. " To the spirits of just men made perfect."

Quest. 14. Wliat is Sin ?

Answ. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

EXPLICATION.

By sin is meant transgression of the law of God ; and therefore nothing can be sin but what one way or other is a transgression of some law of God : 1 John iii. 4. " "Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law : for sin is the transgression of the law." Transgression of the law of God, is any want of conformity to it

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whatsoever, 1 John iii. 4, forecited. So the least coming short of the perfection required by the law, is sin; because so far there is a want of conformity to the law : Matth. v. 48, " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect." Compared with 1 John iii. 4, above cited. Now the law of God requires a twofold conformity to it in the reasonable creatures ; namely a conformity of their natures to it, and a conformity of their lives to it: Psalm xxiv. 3, 4. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? and who shall stand in his holy place ? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." Hence there are two general kinds of sin ; namely original sin, and actual sin: and each of them is a want of conformity to the law of God. Original sin is a want of conformity of our natures to the law of God. Actual sin is a want of conformity of our lives to the law of God, whether by omission or commission. The chief evil of sin lies in the filthiness of it. The filthiness of sin is its being the quite contrary of God's holiness expressed in his law; whence it is, in the sight of God, the object of his greatest loathing and abhorrence : Jer. xliv. 4. " Howbeit, I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early, and sending them, saying, Oh do not this abominable thing that I hate!"

Quest. 15. What was the Sin whereby our first Parents fell from the estate wherein they were created ?

A nsw. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.

EXPLICATION.

The sin whereby man fell, was the eating the forbidden fruit: Gen. ii. 6, " And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." There was no evil in the fruit itself, for which it was forbidden: Gen. i. ult. " And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good." The evil of the matter lay in man's eating it against the express command of God. God forbade it to be eaten, for the trial of man's obedience. And the fitness of taking trial of man by that mean, appears in that so it was taken in an external thing, in itself indifferent, wherein man's obedience behoved to turn pre-

cisely upon the point of the will of God. This sin was then in effect, man's practical declaration that he would not be ruled by-God's will, but by his own: and therefore it was not a little sin, but a breaking of the whole law at once: Jam. ii. 10, 11, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, do not commit adultery; said also, do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law."

Quest. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression ?

Answ. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.

EXPLICATION.

Adam did not fall alone in this transgression : but all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, were involved with him in the ruins of liis fall: and these are all his posterity, except the man Christ: 1 Cor. v. 22, " In Adam all die."

Christ as man did indeed descend from Adam : Luke iii. 23, "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph." Compared with verse last, " Which was the son of Adam." Bat he did not descend from him by ordinary, but extraordinary generation. That which was extraordinary in Christ's generation, was, that he was born of a virgin; Matth. i. 18, " Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise : When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."

All the rest of Adam's posterity fell with him: they fell with him, from the state of holiness and happiness; both which they had in hand, and which they had in hope from the promise of the covenant of works: and they so fell, by his first transgression, Rom. v. 18, 19, " By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation. By one man's disobedience many were made sinners." His first transgression was his eating of the forbidden fruit. His eating of that fruit, is called his first transgression: because by it his siu and apostacy begun in his heait, was completed, Gen. iii. 6, forecited. Now, that transgression cast him and them down from these states of holiness and happiness, inasmach as by it the covenant of works was broken : Gen. ii. 17- Compared with chap. iii. 10, 11,12, forecited. The reason why they fell with him by that trans-

gression, was, that in it they sinned in him : So that sin, whereby the covenant was broken, was our sin as well as his, Rom. v. 12, 19, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For by one man's disobedience many were made sinners."

It came to be our sin, because he was our covenant head and representative in the covenant of works; and that is to say, " The covenant was made with him, not only for himself, but for his posterity : 1 Cor. xv. " And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul." The man Christ is not included in that representation which Adam made as head of the covenant of works, 1 Cor. xv. 22, 45, " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." ver. 45, " The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit;" and that because Christ came, not in virtue of the blessing of fruitfulness given while the covenant of works stood entire, but in virtue of a special promise made after it was broken : Gen. i. 28, " And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." And chap. iii. 15, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou" shalt bruise his heel." Adam's sin, then, could not be imputed to the man Christ; since Adam did not represent him in the covenant. But Adam represented all the rest of mankind in it: Rom. v. 12, forecited. It is true, we did not choose him for our representative, but God choose him for us : and he was the most fit choice for that end ; Eccl. iii. 14, " I know that whatsoever God doth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doth it, that men should fear before him." And this he was, in regard he was the natural head of mankind, endowed with sufficient ability: Acts xvii. 26, " God hath made of one blood, all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth," &c. Eccl. vii. 29, " God hath made man upright."

Now, man did not become free from the covenant of works, upon his breaking of it: For his breaking of it could never free him ; and the honour of the law barred his discharge, till the breach of it should be made up, Isa. xlii. 21, " The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake ; he will magnify the law and make it honourable." Matt. v. 18, " Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no ways pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." And man himself was utterly unable to make up the breach : Rom, v. 6,

" For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." All men then by nature are under the broken covenant of works : Rom. iii. 19, " Now we know that wliat things soever the law saitli, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God.

Quest. 17. Into xuhat estate did the fall bring mankind ?

Answ. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.

EXPLICATION.

The natural state of mankind now, under the covenant of works, is a " state of sin and misery :" And we were brought into it by the fall: Rom. v. 12, " By one sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all had sinned." We were all born or conceived in that state : Psal. li. 5, " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity : and in sin did my mother conceive me." Eph. ii. 3, " We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." There is no true holiness attainable in that our natural state ; for it is a state of sin. There is no salvation from wrath attainable in it; for it is a state of misery. The state we must be brought into, out of our natural state under the covenant of works, if we would be saved, is the state of grace in the covenant of grace: Rom. vi. 14, " For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the law, but under grace." Those that are brought out of their natural state, from under the covenant of works, into the state of grace, are all that are in Christ, converted persons : Rom. viii. 1, " There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Those that are still in their natural state, under the covenant of works, are all that are out of Christ, unconverted : Eph. ii. 12, " At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." The power that the covenant of works hath over such persons, is a commanding, cursing, and condemning power. It commands them perfect obedience under pain of the curse : It curseth and condemneth them for the very least failure : Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse : for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them, Rom. iii. 19, forecited.

Quest. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell ?

Answ. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

EXPLICATION.

The state whereinto man fell, is our natural state : and that is both a sinful, and a miserable state. Our natural state is a sinful state, in respect of original sin, and in respect of actual transgressions.

Original sin, in its full extent, is the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of the whole nature. All and every one of Adam's natural race, are born or conceived in it: Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that ail have sinned." Psalm li. 5, " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and iu sin did my mother conceive me." It is derived to us from Adam the original of mankind, Rom. v. 12, forecited. And it is conveyed to us by natural generation : Job xiv. 4, " "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one." Psalm li. 5, fore-cited. Even holy parents convey it to their children ; because they procreate their children after their own natural image : Gen. v. 3, " And Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image ; and called his name Seth." Now, our natural state is a sinful state, in respect of original sin ; inasmuch as original sin, being a fountain of sin, remains entire, in its guilt, filth, and power on every man, as long as he is in that state. Original sin, consists of three parts.

The first part of original sin, is the guilt of Adam's first sin. Adam's first sin was the eating of the forbidden fruit, whereby the covenant of works was broken. The guilt of that sin is an obligation to punishment for it. And that guilt lies on all men by nature : Rom. v. 18, " By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation." Now, this guilt of Adam's first sin, is original sin imputed. The only remedy for it is in Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. xv. 22, " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive :" and that from his blood, which removes it in justification, Eph. i. 7, " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

Rom. iii. 24, " Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ."

The second part of original sin, is the want of original righteousness. Original righteousness is that righteousness wherein man was created in the image of God. And all men by nature are under the want of that: Rom. iii. 23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Eph. iv. 18, " Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." In the want of original righteousness, is included the want of that knowledge in the understanding, the waut of that righteousness in the will, and the want of that holiness in the affections, wherewith man was endued at his creation : aud all men by nature are under these wants : Job xi. 12, " For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt." Eccles. vii. 29, " Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright ; but they have sought out many inventions." Rom. vii. 18, " For I know, that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing : for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not." Now, the want of original righteousness is a sin; forasmuch as it is a want of conformity to the law of God: Matth. v. ult., "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Compared with 1 John iii. 4, " Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law : for sin is the transgression of the law." It can be our sin, who never had that righteousness in our own persons, because we had it, and lost it in Adam, sinning in him : and we are justly left under the want of it, for our guilt of Adam's first sin : Eccles. vii. 29, forecited. Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

The third part of original sin is the corruption of the whole nature : and this is what is commonly called original sin, as being the worst part of it. The corruption of nature is that vicious quality in-bred iu us, whereby our nature is utterly disabled for, and opposite to all spiritual good, and prone to the contrary evils continually : Rom. v. 6, " For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Chap. viii. 7, " The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Gen. vi. 5, " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." And one may know his own nature to be corrupt, by the backwardness to good, and forwardness to evil he may find in himself. Now,

man's nature, in his natural state, is not corrupted in part only, but wholly corrupted in every part: Eph. ii. 1, 2, 3, "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Tit. i. 15, " Unto the pure all things are pure : but unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving, is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." For the case the understanding is in, it is utterly darkened, in point of spiritual discerning: 1 Cor. ii. 14, " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The will, it is quite opposite to the will of God : Rom. viii. 7, fore-cited. The affections, they are wholly carnal : Rom. vii. 14, " For we know that the law is spiritual : but I am carnal, sold under sin." Chap. viii. 5. " They that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh." The body and its members, they are instruments of unrighteousness, and servants to iniquity : Rom. vi. 12, 19, " Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh : for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness, unto holiness."

The want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, are original sin inherent, which the Scripture express-eth both in negative and positive terms : Eph. iv. 18, " Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." Rom. viii. 7, " The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." The only remedy for original sin inherent, is in Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. xv. 22, " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive ; and that from his Spirit; who begins the removal of it in regeneration, or quickening of the dead soul, carries it on in sanctifi-cation, and perfects it in glorification : John xi. 63, " It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." 1 Cor. vi. 11, " Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Rom. viii. 23, " And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the

Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waitiug for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."

Actual transgressions are breaches of God's law by omission or commission, in thoughts, words, or deeds. The fountain which they all proceed from in us, is the corruption of our nature : Matth. xv. 19, " For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Our natural state is a sinful state, in respect of actual transgressions, inasmuch as all the actions of a natural man are actual transgressions, and the guilt and filth of them all, and of all his omissions of duty, abide fast on him as long as he is in that state : Gen. vi. 5, " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Eph. ii. 1, " And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." A man in his natural state cannot do any thing truly good ; because his nature is wholly corrupt: Matth. vii. 18, " A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit: neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." His natural actions, such as eating and drinking, are sin : Zech. vii. 6, " And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves ?" His civil actions, such as plowing and sowing, are sin : Prov. xxi. 4, " The plowing of the wicked is sin." And his religious actions are sin, Prov. xv. 8, " The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord."

Quest. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

Answ. All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.

EXPLICATION.

Our natural state is a miserable state too. And all mankind is in that miserable state by nature. That comes to pass, by their fall in Adam : Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Our natural state is a miserable state, in respect of what loss man sustains, what he lies under, and what he is liable to, in it.

The loss which man sustains in his natural state, is the loss of communion with God. Communion with God is a friendly inter-

course between God and a soul, arising from a peculiar interest in one another: Cant. ii. 16, " My beloved is mine, and I am his." man had such communion with God before the fall; and that without a Mediator: Gal. iii. 20, " Now a mediator is not a mediator of one ; but God is one." But he lost it, by the fall: Gen. iii. 8, " And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day : and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden." And none attain to this communion again, as long as they are in their natural state, whatever duties of worship they go about: Eph. ii. 12, " At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." It is recovered only in the way of union with Jesus Christ, ver. 13, " But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off 5 are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

What man lies under in his natural state, is God's wrath and curse. The wrath of God he lies under, is revenging wrath ; and all men in their natural state are under that wrath : Eph. ii. 3, " We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." John iii. ult., " He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." The curse he lies under, is the sentence of the broken law, binding over the sinner to revenging wrath, to the full: and all men in their natural state are under it, Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."

What man is liable to in his natural state, is, all miseries in this life, death itself, and the pains of hell for ever, in virtue of the curse. The miseries in this life the natural man is liable to, are all inward and outward miseries of life, laid on in virtue of the curse : Lam. iii. 39, " Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins ?" The inward miseries of life he is so made liable to, are spiritual plagues, such as blindness of mind, hardness of heart, vileness of affections, horror of conscience, and the like : Eph. iv. 18, " Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." Rom. ii. 5, " But, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Chap. i. 26, " For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections." Isa. xxxiii. 14, " The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites: who among us

shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting hurnings ?" The outward miseries of life he is so made liable to, are such as befall the outward man, as sickness, poverty, disgrace, and the like: Deut. xxviii. 15, to the end, " But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments, and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field," &c. The death the natural man is liable to, is the dissolution of the soul and the body in virtuo of the curse: Rom. vi. 23, "The wages of sin is death." That kind of death is stinged death: 1 Cor. xv. 5, " The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." It is true, believers in Christ also are liable to miseries in this life, and to death itself; but they are not so made liable to them, not by the curse, not with the sting in them : 1 Cor. xv. 55, " 0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?" Howbeit, if man had not sinned, he would never have died: Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." The miseries in this life, and death itself, are, to believers in Christ, marks of God's displeasure with the sin in them, while yet he loves their persons in Christ: Psal. xcix. 8, "Thou answeredst them, 0 Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions." Gen. iii. 15, 17, 18, 19, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee: and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

The pains of hell, that natural men are liable to, are, the pain of loss, and the pain of sense. The pain of loss in hell, is total and final separation from God: Matth. xxv. 41, " Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." That separation from God, is not a local separation from him, as if God should not be in the place where they shall be: Psalm exxxix. 8, " If I make my led in hell, behold, thou art there." But it is a re-

lative separation, in an eternal blocking up of all comfortable communication between God and them : and the effect of that will be, a total eclipse of all light of comfort, and ease whatsoever, of body and mind, in the damned: Matth. xxii. 13, " Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Hos. ix. 12, " Wo to them when I depart from them." The pain of sense in hell, is unspeakable torment, both in soul and body, without intermission : Matth. xxv. 41, above cited. Mark ix. 43, 44, "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched : where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." And these pains of hell will never have an end with them : Matth. xxv. 41, "Depart—into everlasting fire."

Q,uest. 20. Did God leave all mankind to pensh in the estate of sin and misery ?

Answ. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.

EXFLICATION.

The state of sin and misery, is a state wherein all must perish, who are left of God in it, Eph. ii. 12, " At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world ;" because it is beyond the reach of all created help, Isa. lxiii. 5, " And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury, it upheld me." But God doth not leave all mankind to perish in it. Those whom he doth not leave to perish in it, are the elect: Rom. viii. 30, " Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called : and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

The elect are some certain persons of mankind, whom God hath chosen to everlasting life, passing by others: Acts xiii. 48, "And as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." Jude, verse 4,

" For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." This election or choice was made from eternity: Eph. i. 4, " According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, aud without blame before him in love." And it infallibly secures their eternal salvation, with all the means leading thereto: Rom. viii. 30, fore-cited. Nothing foreseen in the creature, neither faith nor good works, was the cause of election ; but only God's mere good pleasure was the cause of it: Eph. i. 6, "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Now, the way that God provided the relief, was, that he entered into a second covenant, the covenant of grace. The desigu of the covenant of grace, was, " to deliver the elect out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer."

The covenant of grace, then, was made with Jesus Christ, as the second Adam, party-contractor: Psalm lxxxix. 3, "I have made a covenant with my chosen." Compared with 1 Cor. xv. 45, " The last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Gal. iii. 16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Rom. v. 15, to the end. And Christ in this covenant represented all the elect, as his spiritual seed, the parties contracted for: Gal. iii. 16, forecited. Isa. liii. 10, 11, "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." Then the covenant of redemption, and the covenant of grace, are not two distinct covenants, but two names of one covenant, under different considerations. That appears, in that the number of the covenants in Scripture is but two, whereof the covenant of works is one : Gal. iv. 24, " For these are the two covenants ; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar." By a covenant of redemption is meant a bargain of buying and selling; and the second covenant was such a covenant to Christ only : 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, " Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; lut with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb

without blemish aud without spot." By a covenant of grace is meant a bargain, whereby all is to be had freely; and it is such a covenant to poor sinners only: Is. lv. 1, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price." The covenant of grace was made from eternity; Tit. i. 2, " In hope of eternal life, which Clod that cannot lie, promised before the world began." Yet is it the second covenant, in respect of order and manifestation to the world, though it was first in being.

The condition of the covenant of grace is Christ's fulfilling all righteousness: Matth. iii. 15, " And Jesus said, thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." That righteousness was stated from the broken covenant of works: Rom. iii. 31, "Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the law." The righteousness that the broken covenant of works insists on as the necessary condition of eternal life to a sinner, is perfect holiness of nature, righteousness of life, and satisfaction for sin : Rev. xxi. ult. " And there shall in no wise enter into any thing that defiletli, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." Matth. xix. 17, " And Jesus said unto the young man, if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Heb. ix. 22, " Without sheddiug of blood is no remission." It justly so insists for holiness of nature, because that was given to man at first, and by the condition of the covenant he was obliged to keep it: Eccl. vii. 29, " God hath made man upright." It justly so insists for righteousness of life, for that was the express condition of it: Gal. iii. 12, " and the law is not of faith: but, the man that doth them, shall live in them." And it justly so insists for satisfaction, in virtue of the penalty incurred by the breaking of it: Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." But neither Adam, nor any of his fallen offspring, was able to perform that condition of life : Rom. v. 6, " We were without strength." Therefore, there is no salvation by the covenant of works : Rom. iii. 20, " Therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Chap. viii. 3, " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh," &c. But Jesus Christ did accept of that condition, as the condition of the covenant of grace : Psalm xl. 7, " Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me." And it was made the condition of the covenant of grace, that his spiritual seed might be saved, and the covenant of works fully satisfied for them :

Rom. viii. 3, 4, " God sent his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." And Jesus Christ did fully perform it, in that, as a public person, he was born perfectly holy, lived perfectly holy, and made complete satisfaction by his death : Luke i. 35, " And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee : therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." 1 Cor. xv. 45, " The last Adam was made a quickening spirit," Phil. ii. 8, " And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, aud became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

The promise of the covenant of grace, is a promise of a glorious reward to Christ himself, and eternal life to his spiritual seed: Isa. xlix. 4—9, " Then I said, Surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God," &c. Tit. i. 2, " In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began." The eternal life promised in the covenant of grace, included in it all things necessary to make a sinner happy, in soul and body, for time and eternity : Rom. x. 5, " For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doth those things, shall live by them." Compared witli Hab. ii. 4, " The just shall live by his faith." Even the promise of eternal life to Christ's spiritual seed, was made to Christ himself immediately, and to them mediately in him : Tit. i. 2, forceited. Heb. viii. 10, " For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." 2 Tim. i. 9, " God hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began." Gal. iii. 16, " Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not And to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

It is necessary to the salvation of a sinner, that he personally enter into the covenant of grace : Eph. ii. 12, " At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Accordingly, the administration of the covenant is committed unto Jesus Christ the Head of it: Isa. xlix. 8, " Thus saith the Lord, I will give thee for a covenant of the people." And all the benefits of the covenant are lodged in his

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hand: Col. i. 19, " For it pleaseth the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell." And he is impowered to administer the covenant to sinners of mankind indefinitely : John iii. 17, " God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be saved." Prov. viii. 4, " Unto you, 0 men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man." Isa. lv. 1, 2, 3, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." That Christ is impowered to administer the covenant to sinners of mankind indefinitely, can very well be, though he represented the elect only in it; for the Father is so well pleased with the performance of the condition thereof, that Christ crucified is made the ordinance of God for salvation, to sinners of mankind indefinitely, according to the promise of the covenant to him, he being in himself sufficient thereto : John iii. 14, 15, 16, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." Matth. xxii. 4, " Again he sent forth other servants, saying, tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner : my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and and all things are ready: come unto the marriage." 1 John iv. 14, " And we have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." Compared with Isa. xlix. 6, " I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Yer. 8, " I will give thee for a covenant of the people." Accordingly, Christ actually offers the covenant of grace to sinners of mankind indefinitely, and that in the gospel: Mark xvi. 15, 16, " And he said unto them, Go ye iuto all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not, shall be damned." And a sinner is personally and savingly instated in the covenant of grace, by faith in Jesus Christ: Acts xvi. 31, " And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." The nature then of personal covenanting, in order to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, lies in taking hold of

God's covenant of grace, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ : Isa. lvi. 4, " Thns saith the Lord unto the eunucbs that—take hold of my covenant," &c. Chap. lv. 3, forecited. John x. 9, " I am the door : by me if any man euter in, he shall be saved." Eph. iii. 17, " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And believing in Christ enters us into the covenant of grace, to partake of all the benefits thereof, as it unites us to Christ the second Adam, the Head of the covenant: Eph. iii. 17, forecited. Rom. xi. 17, " And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive-tree, were graffed in amongst them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive-tree."

One cannot, in respect of the state of his soul before God, be under the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, at one and the same time: Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but under grace." Therefore, believers, that moment they enter into the covenant of grace, are fully set free from the covenant of works : Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you." Chap. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." And they are lawfully set free from it, forasmuch as faith gives it full count and reckoning, pleading and counting up to it, that righteousness which Christ fulfilled: Rom. iii. 31, " Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the law." Chap. viii. 3, 4, " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh : that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

The effects of personal entering into the covenant of grace, are, deliverance out of the state of sin and misery, and being brought into a state of salvation. The bands of our sin and misery are loosed in the covenant of grace, through our being set free from the covenant of works: Rom. vii. 5, 6, " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 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." 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57, " The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." And we are settled in a state of salvation in the covenant of grace, through our being married to Christ: Rom.

c 2

vii. 4, forecited. Col. ii. 9, 10, " For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him."

Now, God thus brings his elect out of the estate of sin and misery, into a state of salvation by a Redeemer. A Redeemer, in Scripture sense, is one who delivers another by price or by power : Lev. xxv. 51, " If there be yet many years behind; according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption, out of the money that he was bought for." Exod. vi. 6, " Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage : and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments." And such a Redeemer was necessary for the elect as should redeem them, both by price and power. It was necessary that they should be redeemed by price, because they were debtors to justice, and criminals in law : Heb. ix. 22, " Without shedding of blood is no remission." It was necessary that they should be redeemed by power, because they were in bondage to sin and Satan : Luke i. 74, " That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear." And such a Redeemer was provided for the elect, in the covenant of grace : Psal. Ixxxix. 19, " Then thou spakest in vision to thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty : I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

Quest. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God's elect ?

Answ. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continueth to be God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person for ever.

EXPLICATION.

The Redeemer of the elect is the head of the covenant of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ and there is no other Redeemer besides him, he is the only Redeemer: Acts iv. 12, "Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." The first part of his name, to wit the Lord, signifies Jehovah, the true God, the Most High: Isa. xlvii. 4, " As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel." Chap, xlviii. 17, " Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel," &c. 1 Cor. xiii. 3, ' : No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." But the titles our Lord, one Lord, and the like, denote his dominion : Acts x. 36,

" Jesus Christ is Lord of all." The second part of his name, viz Jesus, signifies a Saviour : and he is so called, because he saves his people from their sins, and consequently from wrath : Matth. i. 21, " And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins." 1 Thess. i. 10.—" Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come." The third and last part of his name, to wit, Christ, signifies anointed : and he is so called, because he was anointed by the Father, with the Holy Ghost: Acts x. 31, " God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power;" that is to say, the Father solemnly designed him, and withal furnished him, for his office, by the Holy Ghost remaining on and in him : John. i. 33, " He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which bap-tizeth with the Holy Ghost." Chap. iii. 34, " For he whom God hath sent, speaketb the words of God : for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." The true interpretation then of the name of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, is Jehovah, the Saviour, the anointed One. He was the fit person to meditate between God and man, because of his common relation to both, peculiar to himself. His relation to God, was, that he was the eternal Son of God; and that by eternal generation of Jehovah the Father : Heb. i. 5, " For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee ? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son ?" His relation to us, was, that he was our near kinsman : Heb. ii. 11, " For both he that sanctifyeth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one : for which he is not ashamed to call them brethren." He is then our kinsman-redeemer, who redeems by right of kin : Job xix. 25, " I know that my Redeemer liv-eth." Compared with Ruth iii. 12, " And now it is true, that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I." Now the eternal Son of God came to be our kinsman, inasmuch as he became man: Gal. iv. 4, " But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman." By his becoming man, he was both God and man : Matth. i. 23, " Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is, God with us." And he will continue to be God and man for ever: Heb. vii. 24, 25, " But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Our Redeemer then hath two natures; namely, the nature of

God, and the nature of man : Rom. ix. 5, " Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever." He was God from all eternity; but not man, till he came in the flesh, about the four thousandth year after the creation of the world : Mic. v. 2, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephra-tah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel : whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Matth. i. 17, " So all the generations from Abraham to David, are fourteen generations : and from David, until the carrying away into Babylon, are fourteen generations : and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ, are fourteen generations." The divine and human natures were in no ways turned into one nature, in Christ becoming man; but they remain for ever two distinct natures, having each of them their own distinct properties : 1 Pet. iii. 18, " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, (that he might bring us to God), being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." Yet are they not divided neither; but they are united in his person: Jesus Christ our Redeemer is not then two persons, but one only : Eph. iv. 5, " There is one Lord." 1 Tim. ii. 5, " There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." It was necessary, that our Redeemer should be man, that he might be capable to suffer death in our nature, who had sinned : Heb. ii. 14, " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same : that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." 1 Cor. xv. 21, " For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." It was necessary he should be God, that his sufferings might be of infinite value : 1 John i. 7, " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." It was necessary he should be God and man in one person, that what of the work was done by either of the natures, might be reckoned the deed of the person of our Redeemer: Acts xx. 28, " Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." John ii. ult., " Jesus needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man."

Q,uest. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God become man ?

Answ. Christ the Son of God became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.

explication.

Christ had a being before he was man : He was the Son of God by eternal generation: Heb. i. 4, " For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son ?" Prov. viii. 22, 23, " The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." His becoming man was a voluntary action in him, wherein himself was willingly active: Psalm, xl. 6, 7, " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened: burnt-offeriug and sin-offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is written of me." Heb. ii. 16, " He took on him the seed of Abraham." " He became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul." But he did not thereby take to himself a human person; for then should he have been two persons : but he did thereby take to himself an entire human nature ; for a soul and a body are the two parts whereof it consists.

Christ's body was not the appearance only of a body, but a real human body of flesh, blood, and bones, as our bodies are : Heb. ii. 14, " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same." Luke xxiv. 39, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." His divine nature was not instead of a soul to him; but he had also a human reasonable soul; which was a created spirit: Matth. xxvi. 38, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." In Christ then, there were two understandings, and two wills; namely, an infinite understanding and will as he was God, and a finite understanding and will as he was man : John xxi. 17—" Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." Chap. x. 28, 29, 30, " And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all: and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Mark xiii. 32, " But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not— the Son, but the Father." Luke xxii. 42, " Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done."

He was without father, as he was man: He was without mother, as he was God: Heb. iii. 3, " Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life ;

but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually." But the mother of Christ as man, was the virgin Mary, Matth. i. 18, 22, 23. She was a woman of the seed of Abraham, the tribe of Judah, and family of David: Luke iii. 23, 31, 33, 34, "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed, the son of Joseph,—which was the son of David,—which was the son of Juda,'—which was the son of Abraham." He was conceived in her womb: Luke i. 31, "And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." But his conception was altogether miraculous; and was effected by the power of the Holy Ghost: and the work of the Holy Ghost in that matter, was, that he formed the body of Christ, in the womb of his mother: Luke i. 35, " And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." The Holy Ghost formed the body of Christ not of any substance sent down from heaven; but of her substance: Gal. iv. 4, "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman." Gen. iii. 15, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed." Which was necessary, that he might be of the same human nature with us who have sinned: Heb. ii. 11, "For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Now, the forming of the body of Christ of the substance of a virgin was an act of creating power: Jer. xxxi. 22, "The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man." Compared with Gen. ii. 7, " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul." Yer. 22, " And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman." Chap. i. 27> "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him : male and female created he them." Christ was born and brought forth of the virgin, at the usual time after conception : Luke ii. 6, 7, " And so it was, that the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes," &c. But yet he was conceived and born without sin: Heb. iv. 15, " For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Chap. vii. 26, " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." For though he was a son of Adam, by his conception and birth, yet he came not of him in the way of natural generation."

Quest. 23. What offices doth. Christ execute as our Redeemer ?

Answ. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

EXPLICATION.

Christ redeems his people, by price and by power: Hos. xiii. 14, " I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death : 0 death, I will be thy plagues; 0 grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." He hath redeemed them by price, giving himself a ransom for them, in his holy birth, righteous life, and bloody death and other sufferings: 1 Tim. ii. 6, "Jesus gave himself a ransom for all." Gal. iv. 4, 5, " God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." Phil. ii. 7, 8, " [Christ Jesus] made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." But that redemption by price is, in Scripture, sometimes attributed to his blood, as the completing part of the ransom, including the rest; even as one says, he hath paid the utmost farthing: John xix. 30, " When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished : and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." He redeems them by power, rescuing them by strength of light, and by strength of hand, out of the hands of their enemies : Luke i. 68, " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people;" vers. 70, 71, " As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began; that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us." Vers. 73, 74, " The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear." That redemption by power, is begun in their conversion, and perfected in their glorious resurrection, at the last day: Col. i. 13, " [The Father] hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Rom. viii. 23, " And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." 1 Cor. xv. 26, " The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death.

To execute an office, is to do or perform what belongs to the office. And Christ, as our Redeemer, hath and executeth three offices; namely, the office of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king : Acts iii. 22, " For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. Heb. v. 6, " Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." Psal. ii. 6, " Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." The relation of these offices of Christ to the covenant of grace, is, that, in his priestly office, he performed the condition of the covenant; in his prophetical and kingly offices, he administers the covenant: Heb. vii. 20, 22, " And in as much as not without an oath he was made priest, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament." Mai. iii. 1, "The Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple : even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in." Isa. lv. 3, 4, " Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people." It is necessary for our redemption, that he should execute all these offices: and it is necessary, in respect of the ignorance, guilt, and bondage in our case : 1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."

True justfying faith receives Christ in all his offices : 1 Cor. i. 30, forecited. Compared with John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name'" But as justifying, it eyes him particularly in his priestly office : for there only can the convinced sinner see an atonement, a ransom, and a righteousness, for his justification : Rom. iii. 25, " Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins." Chap. v. 11, " We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." And the life of faith lies in a daily use-making of Christ in all his offices : Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Compare with Col. ii. 6, " As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him."

The state of our Redeemer is twofold; namely, his state of humiliation, and his state of exaltation : Phil. ii. 8, 9, " And being found

ia fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." He was in his state of humiliation when he was on the earth : he is in his state of exaltation now, when he is in heaven. He did execute all these offices in his state of humiliation when he was on earth: Rom. xv. 8, "Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." Eph. v. 2, " Christ hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour." Matth. xxi. 5, " Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." And he doth still execute them all, now when he is in heaven : Heb. xii. 25, " See that ye refuse not him that speaketh : for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven." Chap. vii. 24, 25, " But this man because he continu-eth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Luke i. 33, " And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Yea, he did execute them all, under the Old Testament, before he came in the flesh : 1 Pet. iii. 19, " By which also (the Spirit) he went and preached to spirits in prison." Zech. i. 12, " Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, 0 Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years ?" Cant. i. 4, " Draw me, W3 will run after thee : the king hath brought me into his chambers."

Quest. 24. Hoiv doth Christ execute the office of a prophet ?

Answ. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.

EXPLICATION.

The office of prophets was to reveal the will of God to men : Heb. i. 1, " God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets." And the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer, is a prophet: Acts iii. 22, " For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye h e r

in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." The difference betwixt him and the other prophets, lay here, that Christ was the fountain-head of prophecy, revealing by his own Spirit; whereas they were but instruments by whom he spake, through his Spirit coming on them at times : 1 Pet. i. 10, 11, " Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you : searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."

The office of a prophet belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer by power: Psal. ex. 2, " The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion." Compared with Isa. xi. 4, " But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." And in it he redeems or rescues by strength of light. And he executes it, by revealing to us the will of God for our salvation. By the will of God for our salvation, which Christ reveals, is meant, the whole will of God in all things concerning our edification and Salvation: John xv. 15, " Henceforth I call you not servants: for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth : but I have called you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you." Acts xx. 32, " And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." John xx. 31, " But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name." We could never of ourselves have discovered the will of God for our salvation : John i. 18, " No man hath seen God at any time : the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Chap. iii. 13, " And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." But our Redeemer was fit to reveal it to us, in that, as he was God, he was from eternity privy to the whole counsel of God, and as he was man, the Spirit, who searcheth the deep things of God, rested upon him : John i. 18, above cited. Isa. xi. 2, " And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." 1 Cor. ii. 10, " But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." He reveals to us the will of God for our salvation,

externally by his word, and internally by his Spirit : John xx. 31,

"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life

through his name." Chap. xiv. 26, " But the Comforter, which is

the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall

teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,

whatsoever I have said unto you." And by his so executing his

prophetical office, he redeems or rescues us from the power of

spiritual darkness, or ignorance: Col. i. 13, "[The Father] hath

delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us

into the kingdom of his dear Son. Acts xxvi. 18, " To open their

eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power

of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and

inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."

So Christ hath redeemed none by power, but those who are rescued

from the power of their natural darkness : Matth. iv. 16, " The

people which sat in darkness, saw great light: and to them which

sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." Eph.

v. 8, " For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the

Lord : walk as children of light." His word is the scripture of the

Old and New testament: Col. iii. 16, "Let the word of Christ dwell

in you richly in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another

in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in

your hearts to the Lord." And the Scripture in his word, in that

it was written by the inspiration of his Spirit: 2 Tim. iii. 16, " All

scripture is given by inspiration of God." 1 Pet. i. 11, " Searching

what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ was in them did

signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the

glory that should follow." He reveals to us the will of God for our

salvation, externally by the word : giving us the Scripture, wherein

we may see it, and the preaching of the word, wherein we may hear

it: John v. 39, " Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have

eternal life, and they are they which testify of me," Rom. x. 18,

" But I say, Have they not heard ? Yes, verily, their sound went

into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." We

ought then to look upon our having the Bible among us, aud the

preaching of the word to us, by his servants, as Christ's executing

his prophetical office among us , Heb. xii. 25, " See that ye refuse

not him that speaketh : for if they escaped not who refused him

that spake on earth, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away

from him that speaketh from heaven." Col. iii. 16, forecited. Luke

x. 16, " He that heareth you, heareth me : and he that despiseth

you, despiseth me: and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that

sent me." But the external revelation of the will of God for our salvation, by the word, is not sufficient to redeem or rescue us from the power of our spiritual darkness : Deut. xxix. 4, " The Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear until this day." 2 Cor. ii. 16, " To the one we are the savour of death unto death ; aud to the other, the savour of life unto life : and who is sufficient for these things ?" Chap. iii. 6, " The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Because when it is externally revealed, we cannot savingly know it, without an internal illumination : 1 Cor. ii. 14, " But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Acts xxvi. 18, forecited. Christ then doth redeem or rescue us from the power of our spiritual darkness, by joining an internal revelation by his Spirit, with the external revelation by his word : 1 Cor. ii. 10, " But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," ver. 12, " Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 2 Cor. iii. 6, " The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." Yer. 17, " Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

"We are to receive Christ as our prophet, renouncing our own wisdom, and wholly giving up ourselves to him, to be taught in things, by his word and Spirit: Matth. xvi. 24, " Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me," Acts iii. 22, " For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethern, like unto me : him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." We are to make use of him, as our prophet, daily applying and trusting to him, for light, instruction, and direction in all things : Psalm cxix. 18, " Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Prov. iii. 5, 6, " Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Quest. 25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest ?

Answ. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice, to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God ; and in making continual intercession for us.

EXPLICATION".

The office of priests was to offer sacrifice, and pray, for the people : Heb. v. 1, " For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." Num. vi. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, the Lord bless thee, and keep thee ; the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." Compared with Mai. i. 9, " .And now, I pray yon, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us : this hath been by your means : will he regard your persons ? saith the Lord of hosts." And the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer, is truly and properly a priest: Heb. viii. 3, " For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices : wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer." The difference betwixt him and the other priests lay chiefly here, that they and their priesthood were the types and shadows, whereof Christ and his priesthood were the substance, really accomplishing what they shadowed forth: Heb. x. 1, " For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect." vers. 9, 10, " Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Eph. i. 3, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Our Redeemer was qualified for such an efficacious priesthood, by the infinite dignity of his person, and his real untainted holiness : Heb. iv. 14, " We have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God." Chap. vii. 26, " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." ver. 28, " For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."

The office of a priest belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer by price : 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, " Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by traditiou from your fathers ; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and

without spot." And the parts of his priestly office, are two namely, his oblation, and his intercession. Accordingly, he executes his priestly office, in his offering a sacrifice for us, and making intercession for us.

The first part of Christ's priestly office is his oblation. His oblation is his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God. The sacrifice he offered to God was himself: Heb. ix. 14, "Christ, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God." And he himself was the sacrifice, not in his divine nature, but in his human nature: For the divine nature was not capable of sufferings properly so called: Mai. iii. 6, " I am the Lord, I change not." But his whole human nature, soul aud body, was the sacrifice: Heb. x. 10, "By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Is. liii. 10, " When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," &c. His divine nature was, in that case, the altar that sanctified the gift, to its necessary value and designed effect: Heb. ix. 14, " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" Compared with Matth. xxiii. 19, " Ye fools, and blind : for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift ?" John xvii. 19, " And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." He offered up himself to God a real sacrifice in his human nature, willingly yielding himself without any spot of sin, natural or accidental, to suffer for sin to the utmost: Heb. ix. 14, forecited. He was without any natural spot of sin in that he was born perfectly holy: he was without any accidental spot of sin, in that he lived perfectly holy : and he suffered for sin to the utmost, Rom. viii. 32, " He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all;" and that both in soul and body, Matth. xxvii. 38, " Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Chap, xxvii. 46, " And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with aloud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani? that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" ver. 40, " Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost." He did so offer himself a sacrifice only once : Heb. ix. 28, " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." And that once offering of himself a sacrifice, was begun from his incarnation in the womb, continued through his whole life, and completed on the cross, and in the grave: Heb. x. 5. " Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me." Ver. 7, " Then said I, Lo, I come

(in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, 0 God." Isa. liii. 2, 3, " For he shall grow up before hira as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he hath no form nor comeliness : and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him ; he was despised and we esteemed him not." 2 Cor. v. 21, " He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." The holiness then of his nature, and the righteousness of his life, were parts of the price of our redemption, as well as his sufferings : Gal. iv. 4, 5, " God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." And his sufferings through his whole life, lesser and greater, were parts of the price, as well as his sufferings on the cross, and his lying in the grave : 1 Pet. ii. 21, " Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps." Christ offered himself a sacrifice but once, because by that once offering, the price of our redemption was fully paid out: Heb. x. 14, " By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." And thereby he redeemed or ransomed us from guilt, and all evils following it: Heb. ix. 14, " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?"

The end wherefore Christ offered up himself a sacrifice, was " to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God: Heb. ix. 28, " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." Chap. ii. 17, " Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren; that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." There was need of reconciling us to God, because by sin we were at enmity with God: Isa. lix. 2, " Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." God had a legal enmity against us, such as a just judge hath against a malefactor, whose person he may love notwithstanding: Matth. v. 25, " Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him: lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison." We have naturally a real enmity against God, inconsistent with love to him : Col. i. 21, " You were some time alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works." And there could be no reconciliation between God and us, without a satisfaction to divine justice for our sin : Heb. ix. 22, 23, " And

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almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these ; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." We ourselves could in no wise make that satisfaction : Rom. v. 6*, " We were without strength." For we could neither make ourselves holy, nor bear the infinite punishment due to our sin. But Jesus Christ did, by offering up himself a sacrifice, make that satisfaction truly and really, Matth. xx. 28, "The Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many." Heb. ix. 14, " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" and that fully and completly: ITeb. ix. 14, forecitcd. For though Christ's sufferings were not infinite in continuance, yet they were infinite in value. What made them so, was the infinite dignity of his person, he being God, the Most High, Acts xx"28, " Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Phil. ii. 6, 7, 8, " Christ Jesus being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God : but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." The sufferings then of believers in Christ, are not laid on them, to satisfy God's justice for their sins in whole or in part: Psalm ii. ult. " Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but for a little : Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." But they are led on them for their trial and correction : 1 Pet. i. 6, 7, " Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season (if need be) ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Heb. xii. 5, " My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him." Now the state of the business of our reconciliation with God, as soon as Christ's offering up himself was over, was, that then it was purchased, the price of it fully paid : John xix. 30, " When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished : and he bowed his head, aud gave up the ghost. Col. i. 20, " And (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things on earth, or things in heaven." Actual reconciliation between God and us, is made as soon as we are justified by faith :

Rom. v. 1, " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." And we are not actually reconciled to God, until we believe in Christ, because till then we do not receive the atonement: Rom. v. 11, " We joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." Compared with John i. 12, " But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

Now, our Lord Jesus Christ cannot fall short of his design and end in offering up himself a sacrifice : Isa. liii. 11, " He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many : for he shall bear their iniquities." John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me." "Wherefore Christ hath not redeemed any by price who are not, sooner or later, actually reconciled to God : Rev. v. 9,10, " A.nd they suno- a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation • and hast made us unto our God kings and priests." John xvii. 12, " Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost." And these are all the elect, and they only: Acts xiii. 48, "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." John x. 15, "I lay down my life for the sheep." Yers. 26, 27, 28, " But ye believe not; because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand."

The second part of Christ's priestly office, is his intercession : Rom. viii. 34, " It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." By his making intercession for us, is meant his pleading our cause in the court of heaven. And none make intercession for us there, but Christ only: John xiv. 6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Rom. viii. 34, forecited. The Spirit makes intercession for us in our own hearts; and that, by helping us to pray for ourselves: Rom. viii. 26, " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered." The difference then between Christ's intercession and the Spirit's intercession, is such as is between one that draws a poor man's petition, and another that presents it to the

king, and gets it granted to him. The first of these the Spirit does for as; the last is done by Christ only.

Now, Christ intercedes for us, not as a supplicant on mere mercy, hut as an advocate pleading law and right: 1 John ii. 1, " If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." John xvii. 24, " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." The ground in law upon which be pleads for us, is the fulfilling the condition of the covenant of grace, by offering up himself a sacrifice for us : John xvii. 4, " I have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." Therefore he intercedes for those only for whom he offered up himself a sacrifice : John xvii. 9, " I pray for them : I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine." Ver. 20, " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." Yer. 24, forecited. His intercession is always effectual: John xi. 43, " I knew that thou hearest me always." And he will continue it for ever: Heb. vii. 25, " He ever liveth to make intercession for them." Accordingly, he is called a priest after the order of Melchizedec, because he will be a priest for ever : Psal. ex. 4, " The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec." Not a sacrificing priest for ever, but an interceding priest for ever: Heb. x. 14, " For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Chap. vii. 25, forecited. He will be an interceding priest even after the resurrection, for ever, eternally willing the continuance of the perfect happiness of the saints, on the ground of the eternal redemption obtained for them by the sacrifice of himself: Heb. xi. 12, " Christ by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." John xvii. 24, " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." Compared with 1 Thess. iv. 17, " Then 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 shall we be ever with the Lord."

"We are to receive Christ as our priest, renouncing our own righteousness, and wholly trusting in him, to be saved by his sacrifice of himself, and intercession : Phil. iii. 3, " For we are the circumcision, which rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Heb. x. 21, 22, " And having an high priest over the house of God :

let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." And we are to make use of him as our priest, daily applying to him, and trusting in his alone merit and intercession, for the removal of our guilt, and the supply of all our needs spiritual and temporal: 1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, righteousness, and redemption." Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ : Nevertheless I live; yet not I, hut Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Quest. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a King ?

Answ. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

EXPLICATION.

Christ hath a twofold kingdom; namely, an essential kingdom, as he is God; and a mediatory kingdom, as he is our Redeemer. His essential kingdom is the whole creation : Col. i. 15, 16, " Who (the Son) is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature: for by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him." His mediatory kingdom is the church : Col. i. 11, " And he is the head of the body, the church : who is the beginning the first-born from the dead ; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." Zech. is. 9, " Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion ; shout, 0 daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy king cometh unto thee." Now, it is his mediatory kingdom that bis kingly office relates to.

The office of kings, whom God anointed and set over his ancient people, was, to save them by strength of hand from their enemies, and to rule them as their head : 2 Sam. iii. 17,18, " And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, Ye sought for David in times past to be king over you. Now then do it; for the Lord hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies." 1 Chron. xi. 1, 2, " Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, In time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that led-dest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord thy God said unto

thee, Thou slialt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over ray people Israel." And Christ, as our Redeemer, is such a king. Isa. xxxiii. 22, " The Lord is our king, he will save us, Zech. vi. 13, " Even he (the Branch) shall sit and rule upon his throne." The difference betwixt Christ and these other kings lay here, that their kingdom was but a temporal kingdom, for the temporal safety of their people ; Christ's kingdom is a spiritual and eternal kingdom, for the eternal salvation of his : John xviii. 36, " Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world : if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." Luke i. 33, "And he (the Son of the Highest) shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Isa. xlv. 17, " Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation." Our Redeemer was qualified for such a kingdom by his infinite wisdom and power, and the Father's committing the kingdom of providence throughout the whole world into his hand : Isa. ix. 6, " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called—Counseller, The Mighty God." Eph. i. 22, « God hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church." 1 Cor. xi. 3, " The head of every man is Christ." Matth. xxviii. 18, " All power is given unto rae in heaven and in earth." Compared with ver. 19, " Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." John v. 22, 23, " The Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son : that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father." Compared with Isa. xliii. 14, 15, " Thus saith the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King." Compare 2 Sam. viii. 1, 2, " And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines and subdued them : and David took Methegammah out of the hand ot the Philistines. And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground: even with two lines measured he, to put to death ; and with one full line to keep alive : and so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts." Yer. 6, " Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts : and the Lord preserved David whithersover he went." Yers. 14, 15, " And he put garrisons in Edora ; throughout all Edora put he garrisons, and all they of Edoin

became David's servants : and the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. And David reigned over all Israel, and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people." And Psalm xviii. 43, " Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people : and thou hast made me the head of the heathen : a people whom I have not known shall serve me." Christ had a right to his mediatory kingdom, by his own purchase, and his Father's grant: Acts xx. 28, " Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Psalm ii. 6, " Yet have I set my king upon my holv hill of Zion."

The office of a king belongs to our Redeemer, as a Redeemer by power: Psalm xlv. 1, "I speak of the things which I have made touching the king." Yerse 3, " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, 0 most mighty : with thy glory and thy majesty." And in it he redeems or rescues by strength of hand: Isa. xl. 10, "Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shail rule for him." Psalm, xxiv. 8, " Who is this King of glory ? the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." Those whom he redeems or rescues by strength of hand, are they whom he hath redeemed by the price of his blood: Zech. ix. 11, " As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth_ thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." He redeems or re.'cues them from all his and their enemies : Luke i. 69, " The Lord hath raised up an horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David :" ver. 71, " That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us." His and our enemies are sin, death, the devil and the world: Heb. xii. 4, " Ye have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin." 1 Cor. xv. 26, " The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death." Matth. xiii. 30, " The enemy that sowed them, is the devil." James iv. 4, " Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God." These are Christ's enemies, in that they are opposite to his kingdom, though they can hurt him no more. They are our enemies, in that they tend to our destruction.

He begins our rescue from them, rescuing us from their bondage and dominion: Col. i. 13, "The father hath delivered us from the power of darkness," &c. "We are by nature under the bondage and dominion of sin, death, the devil, and the world : Rom. v. 21, "Sin hath reigned unto death." ver. 17, " By one man's offence, death reigned by one." Acts xxvi. 18, " To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." 1 John v. 4, 5, " Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh

the world : and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that be-lieveth that Jesus is the Son of God ?" He rescues us from their bondage and dominion, by subduing us to himself; Acts xv. 14. " Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name." Psal. ex. 3, " Thy people shall be billing in the day of thy power." There is need of his subduing us by strength of hand, because by nature we are utterly averse from coming away from them, and submitting to him : Luke xix. 14, " But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us." Prov. viii. ult. " All they that hate me, love death." He subdues us to himself, by the sword of his word in the hand of his spirit: Rev. i. 16, " Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." Eph. vi. 17, " Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," &c. The word so managed by the Spirit, operates as a sword, piercing the soul, and conquering our obstinacy, and making us willing to yield: Heb. iv. 12, " The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Psal. ex. 3, forecited. He opens the house of our bondage, and breaks their yoke from off our neck, by his Spirit applying to us his satisfaction : Zech. ix. 11, " As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." The applying of Christ's satisfaction to us, hath that effect, inasmuch as thereby the law hath full satisfaction, as to us; and the law being satisfied the strength of sin is broken; the strength of sin being broken, the sting of death is taken away; the sting of death being taken away the devil loseth his power over us; and his power over us being lost the present evil world, his kingdom loseth its power over us too: 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57, " The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Heb. ii. 14, 15, " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same: that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage." 2 Cor. iv. 4, " In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." The state, then, that all whom Christ hath redeemed by power are in, with respect to sin, death, the devil, and the world,

is, that they are rescued from the bondage and dominion of them all: Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." John v. 24, " Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Acts xxvi. 11, "To turn them from the power of Satan unto God." Gal. i. 4, " Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world." Compared with 1 John v. 19, "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness."

He secures us from going back of our own accord, to their bondage and dominion, by ruling us: Micah v. 2, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be a ruler in Israel." Yer. 4, " And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide." He so rules us, in the capacity of head of the church, Eph. v. 23, Hos. i. ult., " Then shall the children of Judah, and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land." The Church is the society of us whom he hath called unto himself, out of the world, wherein sin, death, and the devil reign: Acts xv. 14, " Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name." And the supremacy and headship over the church, is competent to no man nor angel, but Christ himself alone : Col. i. 18, " And he [the son of God] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." Eph. iv. 5, " There is one Lord." 1 Cor. viii. 6, " To us there is but one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." He rules us, as he is head of the church, both externally and internally. He rules us, as head of the church, externally, giving us laws, and ordinances, and officers to see to our observing of them. His laws are t'.ie laws of the ten commands : Isa. xxxiii. 22, " The Lord is our lawgiver," &c. compared with Exod. xx. 2, 3—17, " I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. &c." His ordinances are the ordinances of worship, and of discipline, and government: 1 Cor. xi. 2, " Now I praise you, brethren, that you keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you." Yer. 23, " I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed,

took bread," &c. Mattli. xviii. 17, 18, "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church : but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." 1 Cor. xii. 28, "God hath set in the church, governments," &c. His officers are pastors, teachers, ruling elders, and deacons: Eph. iv. 11, "And he gave some, apostles: and some, prophets: and some, evangelists: and some, pastors and teachers." 1 Tim. v. 17, " Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine." Chap. iii. 10, " Let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless." He rules us, as head of the church, internally, by his Spirit within us writing his laws in our hearts, and making us obedient: Ezek. xxxvi. 27, " And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Heb. viii. 10, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." He carries on his rule over us, in this life, graciously rewarding our obedience with his royal favours, and correcting us for our sins: Psal. xix. 11, " In keeping of them [the judgments of the Lord] there is great reward." Rev. iii. 19, " As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." He consummates his rule over us, in the life to come, by making us perfectly holy and happy, 2 Tim. iv. 8, " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

He secures us from being carried back, by the force of his and our enemies, to their bondage and dominion, again, by defending us, and resti*aining them: Psalm lxxxix. 18, "The Lord is our defence : and the holy One of Israel is our King." And lxxvi. 10, " Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." "We need his defence, because they war against us continually, and we are unable to defend ourselves against them : 1 Pet. v. 8, " Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour." 2 Cor. iii. 5, " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves so think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God." Christ's defence against them is extended to the whole church, and to every particular believer. He defends the church against them, so far that they shall never prevail so but there shall

be a church while the world stands: Matth. xvi. 18, "And I say also nnto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build ray church : and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it:" Chap, xxviii. ult., " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." He defends every particular believer against them, so far that none of them shall ever perish : John x. 28, " I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." He defends the church, and every particular believer, by the communication of his grace to them, and the working of his providence for them : 2 Cor. xii. 9, " And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Zech. iii. 9, " For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon one stone shall be seven eyes, behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that laud in one day." He restrains all his and our enemies, bounding them by his power, as to the kinds, degrees, and continuance of their attacks on us: Job ii. 6, "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, ho is in thine hand, but save his life." 1 Cor. x. 13, " There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." Rev. ii. 10, "Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days."

He completes our rescue, by conquering all his and our enemies : 1 Cor. xv. 25, "He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." They will be fully conquered at the last day : Rev. xx. 14, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." The enemy that will longest keep the field against us, is death: 1 Cor. xv. 26, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death." For when the soul is in heaven, free from sin, the devil, and the world, the body lies in the grave under death. But our King will fully rescue us from death too, by the glorious resurrection of the last day: 1 Thess. iv. 16, "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of Grod: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Cor. xv. 52, " In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, (for the trumpet shall sound), and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

We are to receive Christ as our King, renouncing the dominion of sin, death, the devil, and the world, and wholly giving up ourselves to him, to be ruled by him as our head : Isa. xxvi. 13, " 0

Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us : but by thee only will we make mention of thy name." Psalm ii. ult., " Kiss ye the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little : blessed are all they that put their trust in him." TVe are to make use of him as our King, daily applying and trusting to him, for life, strength, and defence, and victory over our enemies: 2 Tim. ii. 1, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2 Cor. i. 10, " God delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver : in whom we trust that he will deliver us."

Quest. 27. Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist ?

Answ. Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.

EXPLICATION.

Christ's humiliation belonged to the condition of the covenant of grace, performed by himself: and it was then a voluntary thing in him : Phil. ii. 7, 8, " Christ Jesus made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He humbled himself, that he might execute his offices, especially his priestly office : Luke xxiv. 26, " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory ?" And he humbled himself, putting himself in a state of humiliation, and humbling himself in that state.

Christ God-man put himself in a state of humiliation, emptying himself of his glory, and taking upon him the form of a servant: Phil. ii. 7, forecited. The form of a servant he took upon him, was the form of a bond-servant: Psalm xl. 6, " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened;" Marg. digged. Compared with Exod. xxi. 6, " Then his master shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-posts : and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever." He took upon him the form of a bond-servant, being made under the law : Gal. iv. 4, 5, " But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption

of sons." He was made under the law as a bond-servant, to redeem us that were under the law as bond-servants: Gal. iv. 4, 5, fore-cited, ver. 7, " Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." He did then transfer our state of servitude under the law upon himself: Is. xlix. 3, " Thou art my servant, 0 Israel, in whom I will be glorified." And what lay upon him as so made under the law, was, to give it that perfect obedience in holiness of nature and life, that it required of us for life, and under the curse of it to bear our punishment: Matth. iii. 15, " Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." His obedience then, as well as his sufferings, was a part of his humiliation, Phil. ii. 8, forecited ; forasmuch as he gave it in the form of a bond servant. But his state of humiliation is now over, and at an end ; and it ended at his resurrection, Rom. xiv. 9, " To this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."

Christ humbled himself in that state, performing the obedience, and bearing the punishment that it required. He humbled, performing the obedience which that state required, inasmuch as, in the form of a bond-servant, he was conceived and born of a woman, perfectly holy, and lived perfectly righteous : Psalm xl. 6, Marg. forecited, compared with Heb. x. 5, " Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me." Gal. iv. 4; Phil. ii. 7, 8, both forecited. His very being conceived and born of a woman, was a notable piece of humiliation in him; and that because he was the Son of God, Gal. iv. 4; Phil. ii. 7- He humbled himself, bearing the punishment which that state required, inasmuch as, all along from his conception to the grave, he submitted to the effects of the curse transferred from us on him, Gal. iii. 13, forecited.

He so humbled himself in his conception, being conceived of a woman of a mean and low state : Luke i. 48, " He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden." An evidence of the mean and low state of the mother of our Lord, is her being espoused to a carpenter : Matth. i. 18, " Mary was espoused to Joseph." Compared with chap. xiii. 55, " Is not this the carpenter's son ? Is not his mother called Mary.

He so humbled himself in his birth, being born in a low condition. The low condition he was born in, was, that he was born in the small town of Bethlehem, in the stable of an Inn, and laid in a manger instead of a cradle, because there was no room for them in the Inn : Mic. v. 2, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou

be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel." Luke ii. 7, " And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn."

He so humbled himself in the course of his life, undergoing the miseries of this life. The kind of life that Christ had in the world, was a poor, sorrowful, despised, tempted, and toiled life, in which he felt weariness, hunger, and thirst: 2 Cor. viii. 9, " For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." Compared with Matth. viii. 20, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Is. liii. 3, " He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Psalm xxii. 6, "lain a worm, and no man ; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." Luke iv. 13, " And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season." Acts x. 38, " Jesus of Nazareth went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with him." Compared with Mark iii. 20, " And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread." John iv. 6, " Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well." Matth. iv. 2, " And when Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards an hungered." Compared with chap. xx. 18, " Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered."

He so humbled himself to an extremity, in respect of his soul and his spiritual life, " undergoing the wrath of God:" Is. liii. 10, " Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief : when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," &c. Psalm lxix. 1, " Save me, 0 God, for the waters are come in unto my soul," and xviii. 5, " The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me." The wrath of God did operate on his soul, filling it with trouble, sore amazement, heaviness, and exceeding sorrow, and casting him into an agony, even to his sweating great drops of blood, and at length bringing over it a total eclipse of comfort, and as it were melting it within him : John xii. 27, " Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour : but for this cause came I unto this hour." Mark xiv. 33, 34, " And he taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy, and saith unto them,

My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death." Luke xxii. 44, " And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly : and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Matth. xxvii. 46, " And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a lond voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani ? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" Psalm xxii. 14, " I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels." That was a spiritual death, such as a holy soul was capable of. Now the wrath of God could justly fall upon Christ a person perfectly innocent, inasmuch as he stood surety for sinners : Ileb. vii. 22, " By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament." Compared with Prov. vi. 1, 2, " My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth." 2 Cor. v. ult, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

He humbled himself to an extremity, in respect of his body, and his natural life, undergoing the cursed death of the cross : Phil. ii. 8, " And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He did really die, and not seem to die only: Mark xv. 44, 45, " And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead : and calling nnto him the centurion, he asked whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph." His death was real, in that his soul was separated from his body : Luke xxiii. 43, " And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise." Yer. 46, " And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." Yet neither was his soul nor his body separated from his divine nature in his death : Luke xxiii. 43, forecited. John xx. 13, " And they (the angels) say unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou ? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." The death he died, was the death of the cross : Phil. ii. 8, "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." The death of the cross was a painfnl, shameful, lingering, and cursed death, Christ's death on the cross was a painful death, in that his body was fixed to the tree by nails driven through his hands and his feet: Luke xxiii. 33, " And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him." Psalm xxii. 16, " The wicked pierced my hands and my feet." It was a shameful death, in that he hung on the cross

stript of his clothing : Matth. xxvii. 35, " And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots." Heb. xii. 2, " Jesus, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame," &c. "What that shameful hanging on a tree had a particular eye to, was our naked first parents' sinning by eating the fruit of a tree. It was a lingering death, in that the wounds being in the extreme parts of the body, he was alive on the cross, from the third to the ninth hour: Mark xv. 25, " And it was the third hour, and they crucified him." Ver. 34, " And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice," &c. It was a cursed death, inasmuch as it was written in the law, " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," Gal. iii. 13, compared with Deut. xxi. 23, " He that is hanged, is accursed of God." The curse denounced in the law, on those hanged on a tree, was a ceremonial curse, not hindering the salvation of penitents : Luke xxiii. 33, " And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified—the malefactors." Ver. 43, " And Jesus said unto him, Yerily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." But the curse that lay on Christ in his humiliation, was a real and substantial one, whereof the tree of the cross was but the sign and badge : Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." The instruments of the cruel death Christ was put to, were the Jews and Romans ; Acts iv. 27, " For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together." But every point of it was determined before, in the eternal counsel between the Father and the Son, for the salvation of sinners, ver. 28, " For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." Compared with Zech. vi. 13, " Even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." Howbeit, the wicked instruments had no eye to that in what they did: Acts xiii. 27, " For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him." Neither did it excuse them from the guilt of most horrid murder in their crucifyiug the Lord of glory : Acts ii. 23, " Jesus of Nazareth being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Chap. vii. 52, " "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ? and they have

slain them which shewed before of the coming of the just One ; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers."

He so humbled himself after his death, in respect of his body being buried: 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4, " For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures: and that he was buried," &c. He was buried in a garden: John xix, 41, 42, " Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus." "What his being buried in a garden had a particular eye to, wa.3 man's first sinning in a garden.

He so humbled himself after his death, in respect to both soul and body, " continuing under the power of death for a time :" Rom. vi. 9, " Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion over him." He continued under the power of death for a time, in so far as, for a time, he continued in the state of the dead, his soul and body remaining separate: Acts ii. 31, "He [David] seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." That is expressed in the creed, in these words, " He descended into hell." The place where his soul was, during its separate state, was paradise : Luke xxiii. 43, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The time he continued under the power of death, was three days: Matth. xii. 40, " As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Yet not three days complete ; Matth. xvi. 21, "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must—be raised again the third day." Compared with John ii. 19, " Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;" but only a part of the first day, the whole second, and a part of the third; Luke xxiii. 54, " And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on." Ver. 56, " And they rested the sabbath-day, according to the commandment." Chap. xxiv. 1, " Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre." Yer. 6, " He is not here, but is risen."

The hardest and sharpest of all these steps of Christ's humiliation, was his undergoing the wrath of God in his soul: Prov. xviii. 14, " The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear ?" The lowest of them was his continuing for a time under the power of death, in the state of the dead: Psalm xxii. 15, " Thou hast brought me into the dust of death." Yol. VII. E

Quest. 28. Wherein consisteth Christ's exaltation ?

Answ. Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.

EXPLICATION.

Christ's exaltation belongs to the promise of the covenant of grace, to be performed to him by the Father : Isa. Hi. 13, " Behold, my servant shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high." And it is the reward of his humiliation for himself: Phil. ii. 8, 9, " And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." Christ's exaltation was necessary, that he might fully execute his offices, especially his kingly office : Luke xxiv. 26, "Ought not Christ to enter into his glory?" Phil. ii. 9, above cited, vers. 10, 11, " That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The first step of Christ's exaltation, was his rising again from the dead, 1 Cor. xv. 4. That Christ rose again from the dead, appears from the Scripture prophecies of it, and the testimony of hundreds, who saw him with their eyes accordingly risen: 1 Cor. xv. 3—8, " For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ rose again the third day according to the Scriptures : and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once. After that, he was seen of James ; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." The raising of Christ from the dead, is in the Scripture ascribed to the Father, to himself, and to the Holy Spirit: Eph. i. 20, " Which he (the Father of glory) wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead." John ii. 19, " Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Horn. viii. 11, " But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you : he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." It is ascribed to the Father, as the judge discharging him from prison, as having fully paid the debt he was laid up for : Acts ii. 24, " Whom

(Jesus of Nazareth) God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." 1 Tiui. iii. 16, " And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness ; God was justified in the Spirit—received up into glory." A legal evidence of his being, by the authority of heaven, discharged from the prison of the grave, was an angel's descending from heaven, and opening the prison door, by rolling away the stone : Matt, xxviii. 2, " The angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it." It is ascribed to Christ himself, forasmuch as he, by his own divine power, calling back his soul into his body, took his own life again, and came forth of the grave : John x. 18, " I have power to lay it (my life) down, and I have power to take it again." Compared with chap. ii. 19, " Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Mark xvi. 6, " Jesus of Nazareth is risen, he is not here." It is ascribed to the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as by him Christ's soul and body were reunited : 1 Pet. iii. 18, " Christ was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." He rose the third day after his death, 1 Cor. xv. 4, forecited. That day was the first day of the week : and he rose about the dawning of the day : Matth. xxviii. 1, 2, " In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week," &c. He rose in the very same body he laid down in the grave : Luke xxiv. 39, " Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have, John xx. 27, " Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands : and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be not faithless, but believing." And it had not been corrupted there in the least: Acts xiii. 37, " He whom God raised again, saw no corruption." The change made on Christ's body in its resurrection was, that it rose immortal and glorious; Rom. vi. 9, " Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." 1 Cor. xv. 20, " Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept." Ver. 43, " It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power."

The second step of Christ's exaltation, was, his ascending up into heaven, Eph. iv. 8, 10. The time of his ascension was forty days after his resurrection, Acts i. 3, "He tarried so long on earth, after his rising from the dead, to ascertain the truth of his resurrection : he ascertained it in that time, by his frequent appearing to, and conversing with his apostles, during that time : and in these conversations with them, he taught them the things concerning his

e 2

own kingdom : Acts i. 3, " To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." It was in his human nature that Christ ascended from earth into heaven; not in his divine nature, because it is always everywhere present. The place of the earth from which he ascended, was the mount of Olives, Acts i. 11, 12. It is observable concerning that place, that there Christ's humiliation began to come to an extremity, Luke xxii. 39. The heaven he ascended into, was the highest heaven, Eph. iv. 10, Christ's soul and body, then, are now no more on earth, but in the highest heavens : Acts iii. 21, " "Whom the heavens must receive, until the times of restitution of all things." Compared with Eph. iv. 10, " He that descended, is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." He ascended in a visible and triumphant manner as a conqueror: Acts i. 9, " "While they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight 1 " Psal. xlvii. 5, " God is gone up with a shout; the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." The action of the Father in that step of Christ's exaltation, was the receiving him up into heaven, Mark xvi. 19.

The third step of Christ's exaltation, is his sitting at the right hand of God the Father, Mark xvi. 19. God the Father hath neither right nor left hand, properly so called, as men have : For he is a most pure Spirit, without body or bodily parts. But by Christ's sitting at the right hand of God the Father, is meant, hi3 being, as Mediator, God-man, exalted to the highest dignity and power, over all creatures, in fulness of joy and glory : Phil. ii. 9, 10, " Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name : that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." 1 Pet. iii. 22, " Jesus Christ is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God, angels, and authorities, and powers being made subject unto him." Acts ii. 28, "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life ; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance." Compared with Psalm xvi. nit. " Thou wilt shew me the path of life : in thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." John xvii. 5, " And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me with thine ownself, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." And that his sitting at the right hand of God, will endure for ever : Heb. x. 12, " This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God." The action of the Father in this step of Christ's exaltation, w r as, his setting him at his own right hand, Eph. i. 20.

Now Christ rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, in a public character, as our head and representative, the same in which he died, was buried, and continued under the power of death for a time : Eph. ii. 6, " God hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Heb. vi. 20, Whither [heaven] the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus," &c. Eph. iv. 10, " He that descended, is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." These steps, then, of Christ's exaltation are, for his people, sure pledges of their spiritual and bodily-resurrection, their ascension into heaven, and sitting for ever with him in heavenly places: 1 Cor. xv. 22, " In Christ shall all be made alive," Eph. ii. 6, forecited.

The last step of Christ's exaltation, will be his coming to judge the world at the last day : Acts i. 11, " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Compared with chap. xvii. 31, " God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Christ will come again a second time, Heb. 9, ult. He will come the second time, in the character of judge of the world, Acts xvii. 31, forecited, John v. 22, " The Father judgeth no man ; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Yer. 27, " And he hath given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man." That coming of Christ will be at the last day: 2 Pet. iii. 10, " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and all the works therein, shall be burnt up." He will come in the full manifestation of his own and his Father's glory, Luke ix. 26. His attendants will be all the holy angels, Matth. xxv. 31. The awful sound he will descend from heaven with, will be a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, 1 Thess. iv. 16. Christ's coming to judge the world, will not discontinue or interrupt his sitting at the right hand of God, but will manifest it to all: Matth. xxvi. 64, " I [Jesus] say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." And that his coming will be a part of his exaltation, inasmuch as he will then appear and act in the fulness of his kingly power : Matth. xxv. 34, " Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the

kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The action of the Father in this step of Christ's exaltation, will be, his sending him again, in fulness of glory, clothed with his authority, to judge the world: Acts iii. 20, " The Lord shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you." Luke ix. 26, " The Son of man shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels." John v. 27, forecited.

Quest. 29. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ ?

Answ. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit.

EXPLICATION.

The redemption purchased by Christ, is deliverance from sin, death, the devil, the world, into a state of holiness and happiness for ever : Tit. ii. 14, " Jesus Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Hos. xiii. 14, " I will ransom them from the power of the grave : I will redeem them from death : 0 death, I will be thy plagues : 0 grave, I will be thy destruction ; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." Heb. ii. 14, 15, " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same : that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage." Gal. i. 4, " Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." Heb. ix. 12, " Christ by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." To be made partakers of that redemption, is, to be made sharers of it in our own persons: John xiii. 8, " Jesus answered him, if I wash thee not, thou hast not part with me." Acts xxvi. 18, " To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." And till we are in our own persons made sharers of it, we are still in a state of bondage under sin, death, the devil, and the world, though it may be purchased for us : Eph. ii. 12, "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of

promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." We are made sharers of it in our persons, by the effectual application of it to us in particular: And the application of it to us that is effectual, is the applying it to us, unto the actual delivering of us, as prisoners out of the pit, Zech. ix. 11.

The effectual application of Christ's purchase to sinners, in their own persons, belongs to the promise of the covenant of grace, made to Christ for the elect: Isa. liii. 10, 11, " When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many : for he shall bear their iniquities." And the effectual application of Christ's purchase to sinners is begun here, and perfected hereafter: Eph. i. 7, " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." ver. 14, " The Holy Spirit of promise is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." Chap. iv. 30, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." As the purchasing of redemption was the work of Christ, so the effectual application of it to us, is the work of his Holy Spirit: Tit. iii. 5, 6, " 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 Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour." And the closest application of it made to any, in the gospel-offer, without the applying work of the Spirit, will be an ineffectual application of it, that is to say, the prisoners will still remain in the pit, undelivered; John i. 11, 12, " He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

Now, the Spirit applies the redemption to all those for whom Christ hath purchased it: Eph. 13,14, " In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory," John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me." Ver. 39, " And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." And the purchase and application of redemption are of the very same extent: John x. 15,

" I lay down ray life for the slieep." Vers. 27, 28, " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand."

Quest. 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption fur-chased by Christ ?

Answ. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ, in our effectual calling.

EXPLICATION.

The applying of Christ's purchase to us, is not the work of the Spirit without us, but the work of the Spirit within us : Ezek. xxxvi. 27, " And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in ray statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Rom. viii. 9, " Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." We are made partakers of the Spirit himself, by the communication of him to us by Jesus Christ: John xx. 22, " Jesus breathed on the disciples, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 23, " Therefore beiug by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." "We come to be made partakers of so great a benefit as the Spirit himself, for applying Christ's purchase to us, because the Spirit is a part, and the leading part, of Christ's purchase, as well as the applier of it: Luke xxiv. 49, "And behold, I send the promise of ray Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endowed with power from on high." Acts ii. 33, forecited.

The Spirit entering within us, applies Christ's purchase to us, by uniting us to Christ: 1 Cor. xii. 13, "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,—and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Compared with Eph. v. 23, " Christ is the head of the church : and he is the Saviour of the body." The union we have with Jesus Christ by his Spirit in us, is that whereby, being joined to Christ as our head, we are made one with him spiritually: 1 Cor. vi. 17, " He that is joined unto the Lord, is one spirit." Eph. v. 23, above cited. Yer. 30, " We are members of Christ's body, of his flesh, and of his bones." That union is not a metaphorical, nor mere relative union, but a most real and proper union, Eph. v. 30, above cited. Yer. 32, " This is a great mystery : but I speak con-

cerning Christ and the church." Compared with Col. i. 27, "To whom [the saints] God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." John vi. 56, " He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." Chap. xv. 21, " That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us." That union being once made, it can never be dissolved: Jer. xxxii. 40, "I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." 1 Thess. iv. 14, " If we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." It extends so far, in respect of the parties united to Christ, that the whole man, body as well as soul, is united to whole Christ in his divine and human nature : 1 Cor. vi. 15, " Know ye not, that your bodies are the members of Christ?" Col. i. 27; Eph. v. 30, both forecited. Christ's purchase comes by that means to be applied to us, because, in union with Christ, we have communion with him in his purchase : Phil. iii. 9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Col. ii. 9, 10, " In Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him." And there is no effectual application of his purchase to us, without union with himself: 2 Cor. xiii. 5, "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ? Now, our union with Christ is by the Spirit, inasmuch as it is made by the communication of the Spirit to us when dead in sin, and by the agency of the Spirit in us when quickened by that communication.

The communication of the Spirit to us when dead in sin, is the Spirit from Christ the head entering into us dead sinners, as a Spirit of life: " 1 Cor. xv. 45, " The last Adam was made a quickening Spirit." Rom. viii. 2, " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death." We are united to Christ by that communication of the Spirit from him, in-asmnch as Christ thereby apprehends us, and knits with us : Phil, iii. 12, " Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." 1 John iii. 24, " He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him : and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." Gal. ii. 20, "I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless

I live; yet not I, but Christ livetli in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." We necessarily become one with Christ, by means of that communication of the Spirit from him, because so the man Christ and we do both live spiritually by the self-same Spirit indwelling in both, Rom. viii. 2, forecited. Col. iii. 3, 4, " Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." " When Christ who is our life," &c. And the distance between Christ the head in heaven, and us on earth, hinders not the indwelling of the same Spirit in both, and our union thereby; in regard the Spirit is an infinite Spirit.

The agency of the Spirit in us, when quickened by that communication, is his " working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ:" Col. ii. 12, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God. Compared with 2 Cor. iv. 13, " We having the same Spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken: we also believe, and therefore speak." Eph. iii. 17, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." It is not the habit of faith, but actual believing, by which the Spirit unites us to Christ: Gen. xv. 6, " And Abram believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name." The Spirit worketh in us that actual believing, producing it in us immediately out of the spiritual life given us by that communication of himself to us : Phil. ii. 13, " It is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure," John v. 25, " Verily, verily I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear, shall live." Compared with chap. i. 12, forecited. Yer. 13, " Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God." And by that actual believing also we are united to Christ, inasmuch as thereby we apprehend Christ, and knit with him, Phil. iii. 12; John i. 12 ; Eph. iii. 17, all forecited. But as for elect infants, idiots, and others, through want of exercise of their reason, incapable of actual believing, what comes of them in that case, is, that they are united to Christ by the communication of the Spirit to them, and Christ's purchase is effectually applied to them thereupon: Luke i. 15, " John shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." Compared with 1 Cor. xii. 13," By one Sprit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been made all to drink into one Spirit."

The bonds, then, of the spiritual union betwixt Christ and actual believers, are, the Spirit on Christ's part, and faith on their part:

1 John iii. 24, " He that keepeth his commandments, dwelleth in him, and he in him : and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." Eph. iii. 7, " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And that work of God about us, in which the Spirit works faith in us, and unites us to Christ, is our effectual calling.

Quest. 31. What is effectual calling ?

Answ. Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

EXPLICATION.

An effectual calling in the general is, when the party called comes upon the call. The call whereby sinners are invited to partake of the redemption purchased by Christ, is the call of the gospel :

2 Thess. ii. 14, " Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Even the gospel-call itself is not given to all and every one in the world : Eom. x. 14, 15, " How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed ? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? and how shall they hear without a preacher ? and how shall they preach except they be sent ? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things ;" But the gospel call is given to all to whom the word of God comes, whether written or preached : John v. 39, " Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me," Rom. x. 17, " Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Sinners are, by the gospel-call, called to come out from the world lying in wickedness: 1 John v. 19, " And we know that the whole world lieth in wickedness." Compared with 2 Cor. vi. 17, " Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing : and I will receive you." And sinners are called to come to Jesus Christ in union and communion with him: Mattth. xi. 28, ' ; Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Chap. xxii. 4, "^gain

he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are hidden, Behold, I have prepared ray dinner: ray oxen and my fatlings, are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage." By that coming to Jesus Christ, is meant, embracing him freely offered to us in the gospel." Christ offered in the gospel id embraced, by believing on him : John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." There is need of calling us to come to Christ, in union and communion with him, because, by nature, we are far from God, and fast asleep in sin : Eph. ii. 13, " But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Compared with Jam. iv. 8, " Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." Eph. v. 14, " Awake thou that sleepest, aud arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

The gospel-call, to whatever sinner of mankind it comes, is accompanied with a sufficient warrant for his coming to Christ, in union and communion with him. That warrant is the free offer of Christ to us in the gospel : Prow viii. 4, " Unto you, 0 men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man." Mark xvi. 15, 16, " And Jesus said unto the disciples, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Christ is offered in the gospel freely, to us mankind-sinners, in that any of us may, though none but truly sensible sinners will come to him, and unite with him : John iii. 16, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasing life." Rom. xx. 17, " And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth, say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come: and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Chap. iii. 19, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou raayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see."

The calling of sinners by the gospel is ineffectual on many. It is ineffectual on them, in that they come not to Christ upon the call: Prov. i. 24, " I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded." But it is effectual on the elect: Rom. viii. 30, " Whom he did predestinate, them he also called." Acts xiii. 48, "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." It is effectual on them, in that, sooner or later, they certainly come to Christ upon the call: John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me."

Our effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit: 1 Thess. i. 4, 5, " Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." John vi. 63, " It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." And thereby he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel. The Spirit renders the gospel-call effectual on us, powerfully determining us, and putting us in a capacity, to answer the call, by embracing Christ. He determines us to answer the gospel-call, by persuading us effectually to embrace Christ: Gen. ix. 27, " God shall enlarge [marg. persuade] Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem." John vi. 44, 45, " No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him : and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." Phil. ii. 13, " It is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure." He puts us in a capacity to answer the gospel-call, by enabling us to embrace Christ, John v. 44, 45 ; Phil. ii. 13, above cited. There is need of the Spirit's calling us effectually, by persuading and enabling us to come to Christ in union or communion with him ; because, being in ourselves dead in sin, we are neither willing nor able to come : John v. 25, " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear shall live." Compared with Psalm ex. 3, " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Phil. ii. 13 ; John vi. 44, forecited.

The Spirit persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel, by convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills. The work of the Spirit for persuading and enabling us to embrace Christ, is threefold ; namely, conviction, saving illumination, and the renewing of the will. But conviction is not a work of the Spirit, of the same kind with the other two.

Conviction is a work of the Spirit, acting as " a spirit of bondage upon us, Rom. viii. 15. The Spirit, acting as a Spirit of bondage, convinceth us of our sin and misery : John xvi. 8, " And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." Acts ii. 37, " Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" The effect of the Spirit's work of conviction upon us, is a sight of our sins as heinous

in the sight of God, and of his wrath due to us for them, filling us with remorse, terror and anxiety, John xvi. 8, Acts ii. 37, forecited. Chap. xvi. 20, " Then he (the jailor) called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas." The word of God by which the Spirit works that conviction, is the law: Rom, iii. 20, " By the law is the knowledge of sin." He convinceth us of our sin by it, bringing home on our consciences the commands, of the law, as of divine authority, and binding on us in particular: Rom. vii. 7, " What shall we say then ? is the law sin ? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law : for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Compared with Exod. xx. 1, " And God spake all these words," &c. He convinceth us of our misery by it, bringing home on our consciences the curse of the law, as the curse of the Lord himself, binding on us in particular: Gal. iii. 10, " As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse : for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Compared with Rom. iii. 19, " Now we know that what things soever 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." Mai. iii. 9, " Ye are cursed with a curse ; for ye have robbed me." That law-work doth not issue in faith and conversion, in all whom it is wrought upon : Matth. xxvii. 3, 4, 5, " Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed and went and hanged himself." Acts xxiv. 25, " And as Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time ; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." Neither is that law-work of the same measure in all that are converted : Luke xix. 6, " And Zaccheus made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully." Compared with Acts ix. 9, " And Saul was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink." But so much of it is necessary, as brings the soul to see an absolute need of Christ, and to despair of relief by any other way : Gal. iii. 24, " Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith," Luke vi. 48, " He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock," &c. The part this law-work of the Spirit hath in persuading and enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ, is, that it begins the persuasion. It begins the persuasion, urging us with our lost and undone

state, and our need of a Saviour : Gal. iii. 23, " But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto faith which should afterwards be revealed." Exod. xx. 18, 19, " And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking : and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear : but let not God speak with us, lest we die." But this law-work neither perfects the persuasion, nor enables us to embrace Christ: Rom. viii. 3, " For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." Heb. vii. 19, " For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did."

Saving illumination, and the renewing of the will, are works of the Spirit acting as a Spirit of life within us: 2 Cor. iv. 6, " For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus." Compared with John viii. 12, " Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world; he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27, " A new heart also 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 I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in ray statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." The Spirit of life, from Christ the head, is conveyed into us in the word: John vi. 63, " It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Not in the word of the law, but in the word of the gospel : Gal. iii. 12, " This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ?" 2 Cor. iii. 7, 8, " But if the ministration of death written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not sted-fastly behold the face of Mosss, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away: how shall not the administration of the Spirit be rather glorious ?" The gospel is the word of the glad tidings of salvation to sinners, through Jesus Christ: Acts xiii. 26, " To you is the word of this salvation sent." Luke ii. 10, 11, "And the Angel said unto the shepherds, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord."

The work of the Spirit, in effectual calling, acting as a Spirit of

life within us, is a quickening work giving life to the dead soul : Eph. ii, 5, " God, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." Compared with John vi. 63, forecited, In his saving operation, then, on the mind and will, bringing sinners to Christ, he acts irresistibly, yet without the least violence done to their will: Jer. xxxi. 18, " I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke ; turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God." Cant. i. 4, " Draw me, we will run after thee." Now, that quickening work is the same with regeneration taken strictly for the beginning of the new creature : John i. 12, 13, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Compared with chap. iii. 6, " That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit."

The quickening or regenerating work of the Spirit on our minds, is saving illumination or enlightening: John i. 4, " In him was life, and the life was the light of men." Chap. viii. 12, " Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Eph. v. 14, " Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Saving illumination is a quickening work of the Spirit, inasmuch as it is a renewing of our minds, by nature under the darkness of death, in point of saving knowledge: Rom. xii. 2, " And be ye not conformed to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." 1 John v. 22, " And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true." Matth. iv. 16, " The people which sat in darkness, saw great light: and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." Eph. iv. 18, " Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." 1 Cor. ii. 14, " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The effect of saving illumination on us, is the knowledge of Christ, by way of spiritual sight: Eph. i. 17, 18, " That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of him : the eyes of your understanding being enlightened." John vi. 40, " And this

is the will of liim that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." The sight we get of Christ by saving illumination, is a sight of him in the transcendent glory of his person and offices, offered to us in particular: 2 Cor. iv. 6, " For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." John i. 14, " And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." 1 Thess. i. 5, " For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." It is in the word of the gospel that Christ is so seen spiritually : 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord," &c. Compared with Rom. x. 6, 7, 8, " But the righteousness which is of faith, speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into 'leaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above); or, "Who shall descend into the deep ? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead): But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is the word of faith which we preach." We come to see Christ in the gospel, in the work of saving illumination, because in it the Spirit clears and demonstrates the gospel to us, for a ground of our believing in particular: 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5, " And my speech, and my preaching, was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power : that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." The Spirit clears and demonstrates unto us, the gospel to be the infallible word of God, and his word to us in particular: 1 Thess. ii. 13, " For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." Chap. i. 5, forecited. And that is an internal attestation of the word of the gospel unto us, distinct from the clearest external or ministerial attestation of it: John xv. 26, 27, " When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."

The quickening or regenerating work of the Spirit on our wills, is

the renewing of them : Ezek. xxxvi. 26, " A new heart also 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 I will give you an heart

Vol. VII. f

of flesh." The effect of the Spirit's renewing our wills, is, their being made pliable to the gospel-call, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, above cited. Psalm ex. 3, " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." The renewing of our wills is a quickening work of the Spirit, inasmuch as our will is, by nature, under the bands of death, so as it hath no power to comply with the call of the gospel: John v. 25, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear shall live." Chap. vi. 44, " No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him." Eph. ii. 1, " And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." Yer. 5, " Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ."

The part that saving illumination, and the renewing of our wills, have in the persuading and enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ, is, that thereby the persuasion is perfected, and we are enabled to embrace him accordingly : John vi. 45, " It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." Chap. i. 12, 13, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." And the persuasion being perfected, and wo enabled to embrace Christ, the Spirit infallibly produceth in us actual coming to Christ, and embracing him by faith, John vi. 45, forecited. Compared with Phil. ii. 13, " It is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

And that our coming to Christ by faith infallibly issues in conversion : 1 Pet. iii. 18, " Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Conversion is a sinner's turning again unto God, from whom he turned away in Adam : Acts xxvi. 20, " That they should repent, and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." It is brought about, through our coming to Christ by faith, in that wo come unto God by Christ, and by him only : Heb. vii. 25, " Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." John xiv. 6, " Jesus saith unto Thomas, I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.'

Quest. 32. What benefits do they that are effectually called 'partake of in this life ?

Answ. They that are effectually called, do, in this

life, partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them.

EXPLICATION".

They that are effectually called into union and communion with Christ, do, in communiou with him, partake of the rest of the benefits of his purchase : Eph. i. 3, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Howbeit, these benefits are not communicated to them in their own persons all at once. But they get some of them in this life, more at death, and the whole at the resurrection. But the root-benefit from which they all spring unto them, and on which they all depend, is their union with Christ: 1 Cor. i. 30, " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." Rev. xiv. 13, " And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, "Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." 1 Thess. iv. 14, " If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. Compared with Col. i. 27, "To whom (the saints) God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is, Christ in you, the hope of glory." The chief of these benefits, which the effectually called do, in communion with Christ, partake of, in this life, are justification, adoption, and sanctification : Rom. viii. 30, " Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified." Eph. i. 5, " Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself." 1 Cor. i. 30, forecited. And there are several other benefits, which, even in this life, do either accompany these chief ones, or flow from them. And they partake of them also accordingly in this life, 1 Cor. i. 30, forecited.

Quest. 33. What is justification ?

Answ. Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone.

f2

EXPLICATION.

All who are effectually called, are justified: Rom, viii. 30, " Whom he called, them he also justified." The justifying of a person doth never, in the Scripture sense of the word, signify, to make one righteous with inherent righteousness or holiness: but commonly and ordinarily it signifies, to declare one righteous: Exod. xxiii. 7, " Keep thee far from a false matter : and the innocent and the righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked." Compared with Rom. iv. 5," To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Prcr. xvii. 15, "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord." Isa. v. 23, " Wo unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him." The justifying of a person sometimes signifies, to shew one righteous: Job xxxiii. 32, " If thou hast any thing to say, answer me : speak, for I desire to justify thee." Chap, xxxii. 2, " Against Job was Elihu's wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God." Gen. xliv. 16, "And Judah said, How shall we clear ourselves?" &c. Luke xvi. 15, "And he said unto the Pharisees, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men ; but God knoweth your hearts." Rev. xxii. 11, " He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:—and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still." Now, since God justifying a sinner cannot be shewing him righteous in his sight, it must be declaring him righteous in his sight. Wherefore our justification is not a change of our nature, but of our state.

The state a sinner is brought out of, in his justification, is the state of condemnation : Rom. viii. 33, 34, " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth : who is he that condemneth ?" Compared with ver. 1, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." All men, before they are justified, are in a state of condemnation : John iii. 18, " He that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Compared with Rom. v. 1, " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." And they are so, in virtue of the curse of the law still lying on them : Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Compared with Rom. iii. 19, " Now we know that what things soever 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." But sinners are, in their justification, delivered from the curse : Gal. iii.

13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.'" Compared with Rom. viii. 33, 34, forecited. And the curse never returns upon them thereafter, Rom. viii. 1, forecited. Isa. liv. 9, " As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth: so have I sworn, that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee."

Justification is not a work carried on by degrees, but an act perfected in an instant: John v. 24, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life." Compared with Rom. i. 17, " The just shall live by faith." A sinner is justified in the first instant of his believing on Christ, and not before, Rom. v. 1, forecited. Chap. iii. 22, " The righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe." John iii. 18, " He that believeth on him, is not condemned : but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Justification is the act of God himself: and in it he acts in the character of a judge: Rom. viii. 33, 34, " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? it is God that justifieth : who is he that condemneth : Compared with Dent. xxv. 1, " If there be a controversy between men, and they come into judgment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked." The throne of judgment on which God justifies a sinner, is his throne of grace: Heb. iv. 16, " Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." And he is to be found on that throne only in Christ: 2 Cor. v. 19, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." The sinner is brought, for justification, unto the throne of grace, by the Spirit in effectual calling: 1 Cor. vi. 11, " And such were some of you :—but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." The poor sinner comes nnto the throne of grace, on that occasion, a guilty, self-condemned, and law-condemned creature : Ezra is. 15, "0 Lord God of Israel, behold, we are before thee in our trespasses : for we cannot stand before thee, because of this." Rom. iii. 19, forecited., vers. 23, 24, " All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ." A law-condemned sinner can be justified by a holy God there, by an act of free grace.

Our justification is an act of God's free grace : And by God's free

grace is meant, his free favour and good-will. Howbeit, it is an act of free grace, not in respect of Christ, but in respect of us, Rom. iii.

23, 14, above cited. It is purely an act of free grace to us, insomuch that we are justified before we have done any good work at all: Rom. iv. 5, " To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

The parts of the act of our justification, passed by Grod the righteous judge, are two; namely, his pardoning all our sins, and his accepting us as righteous in his sight.

Pardon of sin is the freeing of the sinner from the guilt of his sin : Matth. vi. 12, " And forgive us cur debts, as we forgive our debtors." The guilt of sin that lies upon us, till such time as we are justified, is the guilt of revenging wrath, John iii. 18, forecited, ver. 36, " He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abidetii on him." The pardon, then given to a sinner in justification, is the freeing him from the guilt of the revenging wrath of God, formerly lying on him : Job. xxxiii. 22, " Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers." Ver. 24, " Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom." John v.

24, " "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." And the sinner once justified, can never fall under the guilt of revenging wrath again : Rom. viii. 1, 33, 34; John v. 24; Isa. liv. 9, forecited. Now, in our justification God pardons us all our sins, past and present: Mic. vii. 19, " Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Col. ii. 13, "And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." Rom. iv. 7, " Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." And the state we are put into, with respect to after sins, is, that God will not impute them, as to the guilt of revenging wrath : Rom. iv. 6, " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom Grod imputeth righteousness without works." Ver. 8, *' Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." The procuring cause of the direct pardon of the one, and of the not imputing of the other, is the righteousness of Christ upon us: Rom. iii. 22, " The righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ, uuto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference." Compared with Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." The guilt which the justified do incur by their after sins, is the guilt of fatherly anger: Psalm lxxxix. 30, 31, 32, 33, " If his children forsake my law, and walk

not in ray judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." Acceptance with God in justification, is not the acceptance of our works, but of our persons: Eph. i. 6, " He hath made us accepted in the beloved." Compared with Rom. iii. 28, " Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law." No work of ours can ever be accepted of God, in point of justification : Gal. ii. 16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ: Even we 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." Nor can any work of ours be accepted in any case, till once we are justified: Ueb. xi. 6, " Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that coineth to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Gen. iv. 4, 5, " And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect." Compared with Heb. xi. 4, " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." God's acceptance of our persons in justification, is his accepting us unto eternal life, adjudging it to us: Rom. v. 17, " They which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Ver. 18, " By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Tit. iii. 7, "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." JJab. ii. 4, " The just shall live by his faith." He accepteth us unto eternal life, as persons righteous in his sight, Rom. v. 17, 18, above cited. Ver. 19, " By the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous." Ver. 21, " Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." Gal. iii. 11, "But that no mail is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, " The just shall live by faith." Compared with verse 12, "And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doth them, shall live in them." By the righteous in God's sight, is meant persons truly righteous in law, in the view of his piercing eye : Gen. vii. 1, "And the Lord said unto Noah,—Thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." 2 Cor. v. 21, " God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." And they are persons truly righteous in law, who have a righteousness fully

answering the demands of the law for righteousness: Phil. iii. 9, " And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law; hut that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Rom. viii. 3, 4, " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh : that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

As to what we are justified for ; we are justified " only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone." One coming unto the throne of grace, a law-condemned sinner, is capable of being justified there, pardoned and accepted, as truly righteous, inasmuch as uniting us with Christ there, Christ's righteousness is his, and upon him that moment: Phil. iii. 9, forecited. Rom. iii. 22, " The righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe ; for there is no difference."

That for which God justifies us, is not any thing wrought in us, or done by us : Tit. iii. 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 Ghost." Eph. i. 7, " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." But it is " the righteousness of Christ imputed to us:" Phil. iii. 9, " And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." Compared with Rom. iv. 6, " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works." And it is his righteousness only, without any mixture of righteousness inherent in us: Rom. v. 18, 19, forecited. The righteousness of Christ for which we are justified, is not his essential righteousness, which he had from eternity; but his mediatory righteousness which he fulfilled in his state of humiliation : Matth. iii. 15, " Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." The parts whereof that righteousness of Christ consists, are, the complete holiness of nature, righteousness of his life, and satisfaction of his sufferings: Heb. vii. 26, " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners." Rom. v. 19, "By the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous." Phil. ii. 7, 8, " Christ Jesus made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion

as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." And, in our justification, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, in all the parts thereof, Rom. viii. 3, 4. Compared with chap. iv. 6.

The party imputing Christ's righteousness to us is God the Judge, Rom. iv. 6, forecited. God's imputing it to us, is his reckoning it ours ; Rom. iv. 10, 11, " How was faith then reckoned to Abraham for righteousness ? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumci-sion ? not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised : that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed to them also." Chap. v. 19, fore-cited. Jer. xxiii. 6, " This is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." God can reckon Christ's righteousness ours, because it is ours before he reckon it so; Rom. ii. 2, " We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth."

The righteousness of Christ becomes ours, through faith ; Phil, iii. 9 ; Rom. iii. 22, forecited. It is ours through faith, by right of free gift, and right of communion with Christ himself. The believer possesseth it as his by right of free gift, inasmuch as Christ's righteousness being made over in the gospel, as Heaven's free gift to sinners, he hath received it by faith; Rom. i. 17, "For therein [the gospel of Christ] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith ; as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Chap. v. 17 s " They which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." He possesseth it as his by right of communion with Christ himself, inasmuch as, being united to Christ, he hath a common interest or communion with him in his righteousness; Eph. iii. 17, " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." 1 Cor. i. 9, " God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Phil. iii. 9, " And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law; but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Christ's righteousness, then, is not therefore ours, because it is imputed to us : but therefore it is imputed to us, because it is ours, Rom. ii. 2, forecited. Chap. iv. 23, 24, " Now, it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him ; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

The righteousness of Christ imputed to a law-condemned sinner,

is a good ground for his justification, pardon, and acceptance, as a person truly righteous, inasmuch as thereby the commanding and condemning law is judicially found, at the throne of grace, to be fully satisfied in all its demands for righteousness that it had upon him; Rom. iii. 31, " Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Chap. viii. 3, 4, forecited. Chap. x. 4, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Chap. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Compared with Chap. viii. 1, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

As to what we are justified by, we are justified by faith alone ; Gal. ii. 16, " Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law 5 but by the faith of Jesus Christ: Even we 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." To be justified by faith alone, is to be justified by faith, and not by works, in whole, nor in part; Rom. iii. 28, " Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Paul's doctrine, that we are justified by faith alone; and the doctrine of James, that we are justified by works, and not by faith only, Jam. ii. 24, do not disagree, (2 Pet. i. 21, " For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost"); and that, inasmuch as they speak of very different subjects. "What Paul speaks of, is God's justifying us by an act of his, declaring us to be righteous ; Rom. iv. 6—8, " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." "What James speaks of, is but our justifying ourselves, by a course of life shewing us to be righteous; Jam. ii. 18, " Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." Ver. 21, " Was not Abraham our father justified by works, Avhen he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar ?" Now, a man justifies or shews himself righteous by faith in the sight of God, by good works; Jam. ii. 21, forecited; ver. 25, "Likewise also, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?" John xv. 1J,

" Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under the law, but under grace." For though we are justified of God by faith alone, yet faith is not alone, without good works, in the justified; Jam. ii. 17, " Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." Yer. 26, " For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Rom. viii. 1, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Nevertheless, faith is alone, without good works, in justification; Rom. iv. 5, " To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." That appears, inasmuch as no man can do a good work, till once he is justified by faith. 1 Tim. i. 5, " Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." Luke vii. 47, " Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven ; for she loved much : but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." Rom. vii. 4, forecited. No man can do a good work, till once he is justified by faith, because till then he is under the curse of the law ; Rom. vii. 5, 6, " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 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." The act of believing, whereby we are justified, cannot be reckoned a good work done by us, before we are justified, forasmuch as it is the effect of a quickening or creating act of God in us, by which we pass from under the curse, into a state of justification ; Eph. i. 19, 20, " That ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power; which he wrought in Christ wiien he raised him from the dead," &c. John v. 24, " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life."

\Ye are not justified by faith, as the righteousness itself for which we are justified : Rom. v. 18, " By the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Yer. 19, " By the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous." But faith is, according to the style of the Scripture, said to be counted to us for righteousness, (Gen. xv. 6; Rom. iv. 3); not that God judgeth it to be our righteousness, but because he treats it as if it were so: Job xix. 15, " They that dwell in mine house, and my

maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight." Chap. xiii. 24, " Wherefore holdest thou me for thine enemy ?" Chap, xxxiii. 20, " Behold, he counteth me for his enemy." Compared with chap. x. 7, " Thou knowest that I am not wicked." God treats faith as if it were our righteousness in his sight, in that immediately upon our act of believing he justifies us. But we are justified by faith, as the alone instrument or mean of our justification : John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Rom. iii. 28, " Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law." Chap. v. 1, " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Faith justifies us instrumentally, as it receives the gift of righteousness, and unites us with Christ whose righteousness it is : Rom. v. 17, " They which recieve abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Phil. iii. 9, " And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law ; but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

It is in justification that we obtain reconciliation with God: 2 Cor. v. 19, " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Jam. ii. 23, " Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness : and he was called the friend of God." The state we are brought out of, in our reconciliation, is the state of wrath: Rom. v. 9, 10, " Much more then being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." The state we are brought into, is a state of peace and friendship with God through Christ: Rom. v. 1, forecited. Isa. xxxii. 17, " And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever." Jam. ii. 23, forecited.

Quest. 34. What is adoption ?

Answ. Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.

EXPLICATION.

All who are effectually called, are adopted into the family of God: 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. " Wherefore come out from among them,

and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be iny sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty." Adoption, in the general, is a legal act, whereby one doth, to all intents and purposes in law, become wholly the child of another, than him whose child he was by nature. Adoption, then, is not a change of our nature, but of our state. Neither is it a work carried on by degrees, but an act perfected in an instant: 1 John iii. 2, " Beloved, now are we the sons of God," &c. But the full enjoyment of the benefits thereby coming unto us, will not be till the last day : Rom. viii. 23, ,l And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." We are adopted into the family of God, in that instant, wherein, believing in Christ, we are justified, and reconciled to God : John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Gal. iv. 4, 5, " But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Eph. ii. 16, " And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Yer. 19, " Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God."

Our natural father, out of whose family we come, is the devil : John viii. 44, " Te are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." Matth. xiii. 38, " The tares are the children of the wicked one." Chap, xxiii. 15, " Wo unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites; for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." The devil's family is the world lying in wickedness: 1 John v. 19, " And we know that the whole world lieth in wickedness." Compared with 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18, fore-cited. Psalm xlv. 10, " Hearken, 0 daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house." The father who adopts us into his family, is God himself." 2 Cor. vi. 18, forecited. The person of the glorious Trinity, whose act in a peculiar manner our adoption is, is the first person, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Eph. i. 3, 5, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself." Chap. iii. 14, 15, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the

Father of oar Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." 1 John iii. 1, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed npon us, that we should be called the sons of God." His act of adopting us into his family, is an act of free grace : 1 John iii. 1, above cited. It is an act of free grace, in that there is nothing in us moving him thereto: Eph. i. 5, 6, " Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." But it is consistent with the honour of God, to adopt into his family us who are by nature children of the devil, in that he adopts us in Christ, as being in him: Eph. i. 5, 6, above cited. Gal. iii. 26, 27, " For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Ileb. ii. 11, " For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." It is consistent with his justice, in that he adopts us for Christ, as redeemed by him, Gal. iv. 4, 5, forecited.

We are dignified by adoption, in that we are thereby received into the number of the sons of God : Jer. iii. 19, " But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the host of nations ? and I said, Thou shalt call me, my Father, and shalt not turn away from me." John i. 12, forecited. The dignity then, which we are by it advanced to, is sonship to God, Eph. i. 5; 2 Cor. vi. 18, forecited. Those that make up that number into which we are received by adoption, are, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, the holy angels, and the saints in heaven and earth: Heb. ii. 11. forecited. Chap. xii. 22, 23, " But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." Eph. iii. 15, fore-cited. All these are the sons of God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, by eternal generation : Psalm ii. 7, " I will declare the decree : the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." John i. 14, " And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father." The holy angels are the sons of God, by creation in his image, which is confirmed on them : Job xxxviii. 7, " The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Compared with Eph. i. 10, " That in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one

all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which arc on earth, even in him." The saints arc the sous and daughters of God, by spiritual marriage with Christ, by adoption, and by regeneration : Psalra xlv. 10, " Hearken, 0 daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear: forget also thine own people, and thy father's house." Eph. i. 5, forecited. 1 John iii. 9, 10, " 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. In this the children of God are manifest." And by adoption we are made sons of God too, Eph. i. 5 ; Gal. iv. 4, 5, forecited.

The peculiar dignity of our Lord Jesus Christ among that number, is, that he is the first-born, the eldest brother, Rom. viii. 29 ; Col. i. 18. The pre-eminence he has among his brethren, as he is the first-born, is, that his is the dominion and headship of the family, the priesthood, the blessing, and the double portion : Heb. iii. 6, " Christ was faithful as a Son over his own house." Chap. ii. 17, " Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren ; that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Psalm xlv. 2, " Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips : therefore God hath blessed thee for ever." Ver. 7, " Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness : therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." The blessing is peculiarly his, though all his brethren are blessed too, inasmuch as he is the prime receptacle of the blessing, from whence it is conveyed unto his brethren, who are blessed only in him : Gen. xii. 2, 3, " And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee : and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Compared with Gal. iii. 8, " And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Eph. i. 3, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Phil. ii. 9, 10, " Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every nane: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." Compared with Eph. i. 10, " That, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him.

The advantage we have by the dignity of sonship to God, is, that

thereby we have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God : Rom. viii. 17, " And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." The pivileges of the sons of God are, access to him as a Father, his fatherly pity, protection, provision, and correction, and the eternal inheritance: Eph. iii. 12, "In Christ Jesus our Lord, we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him." Compared with Matth. vi. 9, " After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father which art in heavan, hallowed be thy name. Psalm ciii. 13, " Like as a father pitieth his children ; so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Prov. xiv. 26, " In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence : and hi3 children shall have a place of refuge." Matth. vi. 30, 31, 32, " Wherefore if God so cloth the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith ? therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or what shall we drink ? or wherewithal shall we be clothed ? for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Heb. xii. 6, •'"Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Pom. viii. 17, forecited. Our right to these privileges by adoption, is not our only right to them : We have another right to them also, by our justification : Hab. ii. 4, " The just shall live by his faith." Tit. iii. 7, " That being justified by this grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Rom. v. 1, 2, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." The difference between these two rights to these privileges lies here, That our right to them by justification is our fundamental right, our right to them by adoption is an honorary right of inheritance superadded thereto: Rom. v. 18, " By the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Ver. 19, " By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." John i. 12, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

The earnest of the eternal inheritance, which God gives to his adopted children, till they come to the full possession of it, is the spirit of adoption, Rom. viii. 15. Compared with Eph. i. 13, 14. The spirit of adoption is the spirit of his Son, sealing them with the Son's image, and working in them a son-like disposition and affection towards God : Gal. iv. 6, And because ye are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Compared with Eph. i. 13, 14, " In whom [ChristJ ye trusted after

that yo heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation : in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory? And 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But 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." And that is done, on and in them, in their sanctification: 2 Cor. i. 21, 22, " Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God : who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Chap. iii. 3, " Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written, not with inlc, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." Yer. 18, forecited.

Quest. 35. What is Sanctification ?

Answ. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man, after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.

EXPLICATION.

All who are effectually called, are sanctified : and the effect of their sanctification on them is, real holiness in their own persons:

1 Thess. v. 23, 24, " And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." Sanctification then is not a mere change of our state, but a change of our nature :

2 Cor. iii. 18, " But 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." Chap. v. 17, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new."

It is not an act done in an instant, but a work carried on by degrees: 2 Cor. iv. 16, " Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." And it is never perfected in this life: 1 John i. 10, " If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Phil. iii. 12, " Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." Sanctification then doth differ from

Von. VII. G

regeneration taken strictly for the beginning of the new creature : for regeneration so taken, being the quickening of the dead soul, is done in an instant: Eph. ii. 5, " God, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." Compared with John v. 25. But sanctification differeth not from, but is the same with regenei*ation taken largely for the forming and advancing of the new creature in all its parts: Tit. iii. 5, 6, " 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 Ghost: which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Compared with Eph. v. 26, " That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." 2 Cor. v. 17, forecited.

No man without real holiness in his own person, shall ever see the Lord, Heb. xii. 14. llowbeit, no unsanctifled person can, by any endeavours of his, work his own sanctification, or make himself holy: Jer. xiii. 23, " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." John xv. 5, 6, " I am the vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered." Tit. i. 15, 16, " Unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving, is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Our sanctification then is the work of God only, 1 Thess. v. 23, forecited.

It is a work of God's free grace: Eph. i. 4, "According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should bo holy, and without blame before him in love." And it is such a work, in that there is no personal worth in us moving him thereto, Tit. iii. 5, forecited. Wherefore the worst and vilest-of sinners may be sanctified: 1 Cor. vi. 11, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified," &c. The person of the glorious Trinity, whose work in a peculiar manner our sanctification is, is the Holy Spirit: 2 Thess. ii. 13, "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth." Tit. iii. 5, forecited.

They whom the Spirit sanctifies, are believers united to Christ, justified, reconciled, and adopted into the family of God. Our sanctification depends on our faith, in that it is by faith, as the instrumental cause, that we are sanctified: Acts xxvi. 18,—"That they may receive inheritance among them which are sanctified by

faith tliat is in me." Chap .xv. 9,—"Purifying their hearts by-faith." Our sanctification depends on our nuion with Christ, in that it is in Christ we are sanctified, as members of his body: 1 Cor. i. 2,—" To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus." Eph. ii. 10, " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Our sanctification depends on our justification, in that we are sanctified immediately, through tbe efficacy of the blood of Christ sprinkled on our consciences: Heb. ix. 14, " JJow much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" 1 Pet. i. 2, " Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." Compared with 1 John i. 7, " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." The blood of Christ sprinkled on our consciences bath a sanctifying efficacy on us, inasmuch as removing the curse of the law, and the guilt of sin, it breaks the strength of sin, and the dominion of it: 1 Cor. xv. 56, " The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." Compared with Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you: for yc are not under the law, but under grace." John xix. 34, " One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." Compared with ITcb. x. 22, " Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Gal. iii. 13, 14, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Our sanctification depends on our reconciliation, inasmuch as the sanctifying virtue of the blood of Christ springs from its atoning virtue: Heb. ix. 14, forecited. 1 Thess. v. 23, " And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly." Rom. v. 10, 11, "For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." Compared with Matth. i. 21, " And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." Our sanctification depends on our adoption, in that being adopted into the family of God, we receive the Spirit of his Son, conforming us to his image

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as our elder brother, and so sanctifying us: Rom. viii. 29, " For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be coufonned to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren." Compared with Gal. iv. 6, " And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." And 2 Cor. iii. 18, "But 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."

The work of sanctification is twofold; namely, habitual sanctifi-cation, producing in us habitual holiness; and actual sanctification, producing in us the acts and duties of holiness.

Habitual sanctification is the work of the Spirit, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God. Sanctification is not a bare amending of our life ; but it is also a renewing of our nature : Eph. iv. 23, 24, " And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." In sanctification we are renewed in the whole man; that is to say, in our whole person, soul and body: 1 Thess. v. 23, " And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, aud body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The soul is renewed, not in respect of its substance, but in respect of its qualities of the mind, will, and affections, Eph. iv. 23, 24, forecited. The body is renewed, in communion with the renewed soul, whereby its members become instruments of righteousness: 1 Thess. v. 23, forecited. Compared with Rom. vi. 13, " Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead; and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." The result of that renewing in the whole man, is the new creature, or new man of grace on us: 2 Cor. v. 17, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." Eph. ii. 10, " We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Chap. iv. 24, fore-cited.

The new creature is formed after the image of God. And the image of God restored in sanctification, consists in the new qualities, of knowledge in the mind, righteousness in the will, and holiness in the affections: Col. iii. 10, "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him." Eph. iv. 24, " And that ye put on the new man,

which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." But that restored image is expressed on us immediately, from Jesus Christ the second Adam, who is the image of the invisible God: Gal. iv. 19, " My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you." 1 Cor. xv. 49, " As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Compared with Col. i. 15, " The Son is the image of the invisible God." Compare 1 Cor. xi. 7, " Man is the image and glory of God ;" with Gen. i. 26, " And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Ver. 27, " So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him."

The difference between the renewing in effectual calling, and the renewing in sanctification, lies here, that in the former new vital powers, in the latter new qualities and habits of grace are infused into us : John v. 25, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear shall live." Compared with 1 Cor. 5, 6, <; Know ye not, that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ? Heb. viii. 10, 11, 12, " For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts : and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord : for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." These new qualities and habits of grace, are the seeds of repentance unto life, and of all other saving graces, making an entire new creature, or new man: 1 John iii. 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." Acts xi. 18, " Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 2 Cor. v. 17; Eph. iv. 24, both forecited. These new qualities and habits of grace are derived to us, from the all-fullness of grace in the man Christ: Col. i. 19, " For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell." Compared with John i. 16, " And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." And they are communicated from Christ unto us, by his Spirit: John xvi. 14, 15, " The Spirit of truth shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath, are mine : therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." The effect of that communication is, that we are sealed with

the image of Christ, receiving grace for grace in Christ, as the wax doth point for point in the seal: Eph. i. 13, " In Christ ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye helieved, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." Compared with 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But 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." And John i. 16 ; Gal. iv. 19, forecited. And by that means our union with Christ issues in our being one Spirit with Christ, as really as Eve was one flesh with Adam, being formed of him : 1 Cor. vi. 17, " He that is joined unto the Lord, is one spirit." Compared with Eph. v. 30, 31, 32, " For we are members of the Lord's body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery : but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Now, to be one Spirit with Christ, is to be of one and the same spiritual nature with him, as his spiritual seed: Heb. ii. 11, "For both he that sauctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Compared with John iii. 6, " That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit." And Isa. liii. 10, " When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed."

But though, in sanctification, we are renewed in the whole man, yet we are not renewed wholly in any part: but there are remains of corruption still indwelling in every part: Rom. vii. 18, " For I know, that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing : for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." Vers. 23, 24, " I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. 0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death !" Eph. iv. 22, " Put off concerning the former conversation, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." That is to say, there are remains of corruption still in the mind, will, and affections, and in the body byway of communion with the unrenewed part; 1 Cor. xiii, 9, " We know in part." Gal. v. 17, " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Horn, vii. 14, " I am carnal, sold under sin." Phil. iii. 21, " The Lord Jesus Christ shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body."

What ensues on these two contrary principles of grace and cor-

ruption, being together in every part of the renewed man, is, the the continual combat between the flesh and the Spirit, Gal. v. 17, forecited. The difference betwixt that combat and the struggle against sin, sometime found in the unregenerate, lies here, that in the former, the conflict is between the flesh and the Spirit in one and the same part; in the latter, it is between the flesh in one part, lusting, and the flesh in another part fearing; Rom. vii. 15, 16, " That which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law, that it is good." 2 Pet. ii. 15, " Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." Compared with Num. xxii. 18, " And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his housefull of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." The immediate issue of the combat between the flesh and the Spirit, is, that neither the one principle, nor the other, carries the action to the perfection it tends unto, Gal. v. 17, forecited. And in that combat, the remaining corruption may prevail for a time, Rom. vii. 23, forecited. But the renewed part overcomes; Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." 1 John v. 4, " Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

The state we are in, with respect to sin and righteousness, by means of the renewing in sanctification, is, a state of death unto sin, and of life unto righteousness.

The state of death unto sin, for the kind of it, is such a state of death as a crucified man is in, who being nailed to the cross, shall never come down till he breathe out his last: Rom. vi. 6, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceiorth we should not serve sin." Gal. vi. 14, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." And we are, by the renewing in sanctification, put into such a state of death unto sin, inasmuch as thereby the dominion or reigning power of the whole body of sins is destroyed, and the pollution or defilement of sin is purged away from off the whole man, though not perfectly in any part: Rom. vi. 6, 14, forecited. Tit. iii. 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 Ghost." Compared with John xiii. 10 "Jesus saith to him, He that is washed, needeth not, save to wash

his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean but not all." The dominion or reiguing power of sin is destroyed in us, by means of the renewing in sanctification, in that a contrary reigning principle of grace is thereby set in us: Rom. vi. 14, forecited. 1 John iii. 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." The pollution or defilement of sin is purged away by the same means, inasmuch as the restored image of God in us, makes us really pure and clean in the sight of God, as far as it goes: Tit. iii. 5, above cited. Compared with Col. iii. 10, " And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him." And we are in that state of death unto sin, in respect of our unrenewed part, Gal. vi. 14. Compared with Rom. vi. 6, above cited.

The state of life unto righteousness, for the kind of it, is such as a man is iu, who, being not only quickened, but risen and come forth of the grave, is in an immediate disposition for the common actions of life : Rom. vi. 4, " Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Col. iii. 1, " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." Compared with Matth. xxviii. 6, " Jesus is not here: for he is risen as he said." John xi. 44, " And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." And we are, by renewing in sanctification, put into such a state of life unto righteousness, inasmuch as thereby we are endowed with infused habits of grace, the immediate principles of gracious actions : Deut. xxx. 6, " And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Heb. viii. 10, " For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind and write thein in their hearts." 2 Pet. i. 4, " Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature,^having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." We are in that state of life unto righteousness, in respect of our renewed part: Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Compared with Rom. vii. 17, "Now, then it is no more I that do it, but that sin that dwelleth in me."

Actual sanctification is the work of the Spirit, whereby we are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. Actual holiness, proceeding from that state of death and life, consists in more and more dying unto sin, and living unto righteousness: Gal. v. 24, " And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." Rom. vi. 4, " Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Ver. 6, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Compared with Prov. iv. 18, " The path of the just is as the shinning light, that shinneth more and more unto the perfect day."

Dying unto sin more and more, lies in our mortifying sin, until it die out: Rom. viii. 13, " If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Col. iii. 5, " Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth ; fornication, &c. The sins which true mortification is aimed against, are, the whole body of the sins of the flesh, Col. ii. 11; Gal. v. 25, forecited. We mortify them, by refusing compliance with them, and acting the contrary graces: Gal. v. 16, 17, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Tit. ii. 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." They are mortified that way, because in that way they are starved, and grace is strengthened: Rom. xiii. 14, " Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Heb. v. 13, " Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Living unto righteousness more and more, lies in our practising acts of holy obedience, or good works, until we arive at perfection therein: 1 Pet. i. 1, 2, "He that hath suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." Prov. iv. 18, forecited. Phil. iii. 12, " Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." Ver. 14, " I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." And that practice of obe-

OF SANCTIFICATION.

dience extends to the whole known will of God : Acts xiii. 22, " And God said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." Col. iv. 12, " Epa-phras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect, and complete in all the will of God." Chap. i. 10, " That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."

A good work, or an act of holy obedience, is, any thought, word, or deed, agreeable to the will of God, and pleasing in his sight: Phil. iv. 8, " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Heb. xiii. 21, " Now the God of peace make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ." And such works are, those which are commanded in God's word, done in faith, and directed to his glory : Matth. xv. 2, " In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Rom. xiv. 23, " Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin." Compared with Heb. \i. 6, " "Without faith it is impossible to please God : for he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." 1 Cor. x. 31, " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Wherefore, no works whatsoever of an unsanc-tified man, are truly good, or pleasing in the sight of God : John xv. 5, " I am the vine, ye are the branches : " He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." Tit. i. 15, " Unto them that are denied and unbelieviug, is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." Rom. viii. 7, " The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." And that, because though the matter of them may be good, yet they are not done in a right manner, nor to a right end : 1 Cor. xiii. 3, " Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." Matth. vi. 2, " Therefore, when thou dost thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory of men." Zech. vii. 5, 6, " When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me ? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not

ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves ?" The good works of sanctified persons, are none of them perfectly good, or free from sinful mixture : Isa. Ixiv. 6, " All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Gal. v. 17, " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Howbeit, they are accepted of God, for the sake of Christ, being fruits of the branches in him : 1 Pet. ii. 5, " Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Gen. iv. 4, " And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering." Compared with Heb. xi. 4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." 2 Cor. ii. 15, "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish." There is a difference then between the two covenants, in the point of acceptance with God. The method of acceptance with God in the covenant of works, is, that first the work be accepted for its own perfection, and then the person for his work's sake: Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith : but, The man that doth them, shall live in them." The method of acceptance in the covenant of grace, is, that first the person be accepted for Christ's sake, in justification, and then his work, for Christ's sake too, in point of sanc-tification: Eph. i. 6, "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." Heb. xi. 4, forecited. Rev. vii. 14, " And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Wherefore God's accepting the will for the deed, or any work that is not perfect, is the peculiar privilege of those who are in the covenant of grace, by true faith: 2 Cor. viii. 12, " If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." Compared with ver. 7, " Therefore as ye abound in every thing, in faith, in utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us; see that ye abound in this grace also." And God will accept of no work at the hand of an unbeliever; and that because he is under the covenant of works, and his work is not perfect: Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse : for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Compared with Rom. iii. 19, " Now we know that what things soever 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."

Our ability for acts of mortification, and obedience, wherein we die unto sin, and live unto righteousness, is not at all of ourselves : John xv. 4, " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine : no more can ye, except ye abide in me." When we are put into a state of death unto sin, and life unto righteousness, through the habits of grace infused into us by the Spirit, even then we are not able, of ourselves, for acts of mortification or obedience : 2 Cor. iii. 4, 5, " And such trust we have through Christ to God-ward. Not " that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves : but our sufficiency is of God." Even of our gracious selves we can do nothing, or bring forth no frnit of grace : John xv. 4, above cited. Ver. 5, " I am the vine, ye are the branches : He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." But we are enabled to the several acts of mortification and obedience, by the Spirit: Rom. viii. 13, " If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Phil. ii. 13, " It is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The Spirit enables us to acts of mortification and obedience, by exciting, increasing, and strengthening our inherent graces thereto : Cant. v. 4, " My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him." Col. i. 10, " That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." Eph. iii. 16, " That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might, by his Spirit in the inner man." The Spirit excites, increases, and strengthens our inherent graces, to acts of mortification and obedience, by communicating new supplies of grace to us, from Christ our head : Col. ii. 19, " And not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God." 2 Cor. xii. 9, " My grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Phil. i. 19, " I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Ver. 11, " Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God." Compared with John xv. 4, 5, forecited. "Wherefore every gracious act, or good work, done by us, is a fruit of the Spirit, produced by him in us : Gal. v. 22, 23, " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Eph. v. 9, "The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth." Gal. v. 17, " The Spirit lusteth against the flesh." Compared with ver. 16, " "Walk

in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." Ver. 18, " If ye be led by the Spirit ye are not under the law." And Rom. viii. 26, "Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself raakelh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." And the way how we derive supplies of grace from Christ, through the Spirit, is, by faith trusting on him, in the word of promise : Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Jer. xvii. 7, 8, " Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Psalm xxviii. 7, " The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am helped." 2 Pet. i. 4, " Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature."

The spring of all grace to us, from Christ, for our sanctification habitual and actual, is, our communion with Christ, in his death and resurrection, by virtue of our union with him: Col. ii. 11, 12, " In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Rom. vi. 4, 5, 6, e: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection : knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." There is a power or virtue in the death and resurrection of Christ, for sanctifying of his members, applied to them by the Spirit: Gal. vi. 14, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Phil, iii. 10, " That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." Compared with John xvi. 15, "All things that the Father hath, are mine: therefore said I, that he [the Spirit of truth] shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." That power

or virtue is a power or virtue whereby his members are made conformable to him in his death and resurrection, to the sanctifying of them effectually, Phil. iii. 10, compared with Rom. vi. 5, 6, fore-cited. We are made conformable to him in his death, dying unto sin, as Christ died for sin, a violent death, lingering, and painful, yet voluntary, Gal. vi. 14, above cited. Compared with chap. v. 24, "And they that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." We are made conformable to him in his resurrection, rising from our sins to a new manner of life, continued during our abode in the world, and perfected in glory; as Christ rose from the dead, to a new manner of life, contiuued till his ascension : Rom. vi. 4, forecited. 2 Cor. v. 17, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." Now, in applying that power and virtue of Christ's death and resurrection unto us, there must be a communication of habitual and actual grace from him unto us: and that because without it we cannot be so conformed to him in his death and resurrection: John xv. 4, 5, " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide iu the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches : He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." The death and resurrection of Christ come to have such a conforming virtue and power on his members, inasmuch as he died and rose again as a public person, their Head, and merited this their conformation to his image : See Rom. vi. 4, to ver. 12. Wherefore, as there is in Adam's sin and death a virtue conforming his natural offspring unto him therein, to their defilement; so there is in Christ's death and resurrection a virtue conforming his members unto him in them, to their sanctification : 1 Cor. xv. 22, "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Yer. 47, 48, 49, " The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Gal. ii. 20, forecited.

Qrr.sT. 36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or fioiu from justification, adoption, and sanctification ?

Answ. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy

in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.

EXPLICATION.

These benefits accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, with this difference, That some of them may proceed on the mere reality of grace, others of them require also the evidence of grace.

Those of them that require the evidence of grace, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

The " assurance of God's love" that accompanies or flows from justification, adoption, and sanctification, is, That whereby a true believer is certainly assured of God's love of complacency in him, and that he is in the state of grace, and shall persevere therein : Rom. v. 1, 2, " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Ver. 5, " And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." 1 John iii. 14, " "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." Chap. v. 13, " These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God ; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." A believer may attain unto this assurance, in the use of ordinary means, without extraordinary revelation: 2 Pet. i. 10, " Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." Heb. vi. 11, "And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end." And the special means for that end, are close walking with God, self-examination, and the right use of the holy sacraments : John xiv. 21, " He that hath my commandments, and keep-eth them, he it is that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." 2 Cor. xiii. 5, " Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith ; prove your own selves: know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Rom. iv. 11, "And he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised." Compared with Acts viii. 39, " And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more : and he went on his way rejoicing." And 1 Cor. x. 16, " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the com-

munioii of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ?" The grounds from whence a believer may raise this assurance, are, the infallible truth of the word of grace to him in the scriptures, and the evidence of grace in his own heart: 1 John v. 13; chap. iii. 14, forecited. Yer. 18, 19, " My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed, and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." And a believer is enabled to discern these grounds of assurance, so as to be assured upon them, by the Spirit's shining in his heart, on the word of grace, and in the work of grace there : Luke xxiv. 45, " Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures." 1 Cor. ii. 12, " Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." For so the Spirit attests, and he sees the one to be the Spirit's own infallible word to him, and the other his gracious work in him ; Rom. viii. 16, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Compared witli John ii. 22, "When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them: and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said." 1 Cor. ii. 12, above cited True assurance distinguishes itself from presumption, by its humbling the soul, making the conscience tender, and the heart heavenly : Gal. ii. 20, "I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Cant. ii. 7, " I charge you, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up nor awake my love, till he please." Gal. vi. 14, " God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." And it is a necessary duty to seek true assurance : 2 Pet. i. 10, " Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." The excellency of it in the Christian life, is, that it fits men to live most usefully for God, and most comfortably for themselves: Psalm, cxix. 82, " I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart." And iv. 6, 7, " There may be many that say, Who will shew us any good ? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased." But there may be true faith, justification, adoption, and sanctification, without this assurance ;

1 John v. 13, " These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, land that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." Isa. 1. 10, " Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."

Howbeit, there is some assurance in justifying faith itself: 1 Thess. i. 5, " Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Heb. x. 22, " Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Jer. iii. 19, " But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations ? And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father, and shalt not turn away from me." Hos. ii. 23, " And I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." Rom. iv. 20—24, " Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief: but was strong in faith, giving glory to God : and being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him: but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." The assurance which is in justifying faith itself, is that whereby, in believing on Christ for salvation, the party is persuaded, in greater or lesser measure, of God's love of good-will to him, and that Christ will save him from sin and wrath : 1 John iv. 14, " And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." Ver. 16, " And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us." Chap. v. 10, 11, " He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life : and this life is in his Son." John iii. 16, 17, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world : but that the world through him might be saved." Compared with 1 Thess. i. 5, " Our gospel came not unto you in world only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Acts xv. 11, " We believe, that, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall

Vol. VII. h

be saved even as they." James i. 6, 7, " But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering : for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." The ground from whence this assurance is raised, is, the word of the gospel allenarly, demonstrated by the Spirit in the work of saving illumination : 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5, " And my speech, and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power : that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. There may be doubting of God's good-will and of salvation, where this assurance of them hath place : Matth. xiv. 31, " And immediately Jesus said unto Peter, 0 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?" And that may be, inasmuch as they are contraries capable of various degrees, the one weakened as the other gathers strength : Mark ix. 24, " And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief." 1 Thess. i. 5 ; Matth. xiv. 31, above cited. But where doubts are reigning, to the barring of any assurance of these things at all, true faith is barred too, James i. 6, 7; Is. 1. 10; 1 John v. 10, 11, forecited.

True peace of conscience is the calm that ensues in the conscience purged from guilt by the blood of Christ: Isa. xxxiii. ult. " And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein, shall be forgiven their iniquity." Heb. x. 2, " The worshippers once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins." Chap. ix. 14, " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" The ground of true peace of conscience, is peace with God : Rom. v. 1, " Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Compared with Col. iii. 15, " Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." It is discerned from false peace, in that it is strengthened by the light of the word, and not maintained without warring against sin: John iii. 20,21, "Every one that doth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." Psalm cxix. 165, " Great peace have they which love thy law : and nothing shall offend them." Compared with Gal. v. 17," The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." By joy in the Holy Ghost is meant, spiritual joy, whereof the Holy Ghost is the author: Rom. xiv. 17, "The kingdom of God is

not meat and drink, bat righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Compared with Gal. v. 22, " The fruit of the Spirit is joy." Psalm xlv. 7, " God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Compared with John iii. 34, " God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." The spring of joy in the Holy Ghost is, sense of grace received, and hope of glory: Is. lxi. 10, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorn-eth herself with her jewels." Rom. v. 2, " We rejoice in hope of the glory of God." It is discerned from the delusive joy of hypocrites, in that victory over sin, felt and hoped for, is a chief spring of it, spirituality and vigour in duties of obedience are the effects of it: 1 Pet. i. 8, 9, " Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 1 Cor. xv. 55, 56, 57, "0 death, where is thy sting ? 0 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 the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Compared with Rev. v. 9, 10, " And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." Phil. iii. 3, " We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Neh. viii. 10, " The joy of the Lord is your strength." Compared with Psalm cxix. 32, " I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart."

None can have true peace of conscience, nor joy in the Holy Ghost, but true believers: lsa. lvii. ult. " There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." And when they have attained them, they may lose them again: Psalm li. 8, " Make me to hear joy and gladness: that the bones which thou hast broken, may rejoice." But the seed of them, from whence they may be revived, cannot be lost, but abides with believers in all cases: Psalmxcvii.il, " Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Compared with 1 John iii. 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." The abiding seed of peace of conscience in believers, is, their state of peace with God: Jer. xxxii.

h2

40, " And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." The abiding seed of joy in the Holy Ghost in them, is, their saving interest in the fulness of Christ: 1 John i. 3, 4, " That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." And out of these they may recover their lost peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost, by the renewed actings of faith and repentance: Rom. xv. 13, " Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Matth. v. 4, " Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted." Compared with Psalm cxxvi. 5, " They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy." And they may maintain and preserve them, by a holy tender walk, and the daily exercise of faith and repentance : Acts xxiv. 16, "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, aud toward men." Compared with 2 Cor. i. 12, " For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-wards." John xiii. 10, " Jesus saith to Peter, He that is washed, needeth not, save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." Psalm xix. 12, " "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults."

The benefits flowing from justification, adoption, and sanctifica-tion, which may proceed on the mere reality of grace, without the evidence of it, are, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.

It is of the nature of grace, as of a seed, or the morning light, to increase or grow, till it come to perfection : 1 John iii. 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." Compared with Mark iv. 26, 27, " And Jesus said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how." Prov. iv. 18, " The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." John iv. 14, " The water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Eph. iv. 13, " Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the

stature of the fulness of Christ." And it doth grow accordingly, Prov. iv. 18, above cited. Nevertheless, it doth not therefore grow at all times, but is liable to decays : Rev. ii. 4, " I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." The actual increase or growth of it depends on supplies of grace from Christ the head, communicated to us by the Spirit: Hos. xiv. 5, " I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." Compared with Isa. xliv. 3, 4, " I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring : and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses." John xv. 5, " I am the vine, ye are the branches : He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." Howbeit, it is our duty to grow in grace : 2 Pet. iii. 18, " Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." A Christian shall grow in grace, by exercising it, and using the means of it, diligently : Matth. xxv. 29, Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath." Psalm xcii. 13, " Those that be planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the courts of our God." The graces, the exercise whereof doth especially influence the growth of all the rest, as well as their own, are, first, faith, and then love : Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, " For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead : and that he died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 1 Tim. i. 5, " Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." True spiritual growth is discerned from false growth, in that it is proportionable in all the parts of the new creature, and rests at no pitch attained till it come to perfection : Eph, iv. 15, " But speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." Philip, iii. 13, 14, " Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended : but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

By perseverance in grace to the end, is meant, a constant continu-

ance in grace, all along till death : Col. i. 23, " If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven." Matth. x. 22, " He that endureth to the end, shall be saved." All who are once endowed with true grace, shall infallibly persevere in it to the end, notwithstanding of Satan's temptations, the world's snares, and their own corruptions: John x. 28, 29, " And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all: and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." 1 Pet. i. 5, " Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." 1 John ii. 19, " They we^rt out from ns, but they were not of us : for if they had be^ii of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but 'diey went out, that they might be made manifest, that J^ey were not all of us." Chap. iii. 9, " Whosoever is born o£ God, doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot siu, because he is born of God." They may lose the evidence, and much of the measure and exercise of their grace : Isa. 1. 10, " Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." Rev. ii. 4, 5, " I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works." Cant. v. 2, 3, " I sleep, but my heart waketh : it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, open to ine, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled : for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on ? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them ?" But they can never fall away from grace finally, so as never to recover it: 1 Pet. i. 5, fore-cited. John vi. 39, " And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." Chap. viii. 35, " The servant abideth not in the house for ever ; but the Son abideth ever." Nor can they fall away from it totally, so as to lose it altogether for shorter or longer time, 1 John iii. 9, above cited. Jer. xxxii. 40, " And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good : but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." Those then who fall away totally and finally, from the faith or holiness of the gospel they sometimes seemed to have, are such as never had true grace, 1 Johu ii. 19, forecited. This perse-

verance of the saints doth not arise from the nature of grace itself implanted in them; for of itself it would wither away and die out if it were not fed: Isa. xxvii. 3, " I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." John xv. 5, 6, " I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered." But it ariseth from their inseparable union with Christ, the perpetual indwelling of his Spirit in them, the continual intercession of Christ for them, and the nature of the covenant of grace, aud decree of election: 1 Cor. i. 8, 9, " Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Compared with John xiv. 19, " Because I live ye shall live also." And ver. 16, " I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." Compared with chap. xvi. 15, " All things that the Father hath, are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Heb. vii. 25, " Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Compared with Luke xxii. 32, " I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Jer. xxxii. 40, forecited. 2 Tim. ii. 19, " The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his." The ground in law on which this privilege of perseverance is thus secured to them, is that Christ the second Adam hath perfectly fulfilled the condition of the covenant: Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith : but the man that doth them, shall live in them." Compared with Heb. x. 38, 39, " Now the just shall live by faith : but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition : but of them that believe, to the saving of the soul." And Rom. x. 4, " For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

Quest. 37, What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death ?

Answ. The souls of believers are at their death, made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory ; and their bodies being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.

OF BENEFITS AT DEATIi.

EXPLICATION.

Death came into the world by sin : Rom. y. 12, " "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." They who, being out of Christ, die in their sins, die in virtue of the curse of the broken law or covenant of works : Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Compared with Eom. iii. 19, " Now we know that what things soever 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." Chap. vi. 23, " The wages of sin is death." Compared with 1 Cor. xv. 56, " The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law." And the state their souls are in, from death until the resurrection, is, that being cast into hell, they remain there in torments and utter darkness: Luke xvi. 23, 24, "And in hell he [the rich man] lifted up his eyes being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." Jude 6, 7, " And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Soddora and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." The state their bodies are in, in the grave, is, that they are kept there as in their prison, Jude 6, 7, forecited.

They that are effectually called into union and communion with Christ, do not die in virtue of the curse of the broken law, or covenant of works; Rom. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Compared with Rev. xiv. 13, "And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, "Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours : and their works do follow them." And John viii. 51, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." But they die in conformity to Christ their head, that as death came in by sin, sin may go out by death. Rom. viii. 29, " For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate

to' be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Compared with Col. i. 18, " And he is the head of the body, the church : who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence." And 1 Cor. xv. 20, " Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept;" ver. 23, "But every man in his own order : Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming." Rom. viii. 10, " And if Christ be in you, the body is dead, because of sin; but the Spirit is life, because of righteousness." Death then doth not stop the course of their partaking of the benefits of Christ's purchase, but opens it further.

Both the souls and bodies of believers, or them that are effectually called, justified, adopted, and sanctified in their life, do receive or partake of more benefits of Christ's purchase, at their death.

The benefits of Christ's purchase that their souls receive at death, are, that then " they are made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory." Heb. xii. 23, " Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect." Luke xxiii. 43, " And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

The begun work of saDctification in the souls of believers is perfected at death ; so that their souls are, upon their separation from the body, made perfect in holiness, Heb. xii. 23, above cited. Sanctification perfected in the souls of believers at death, is the work of God's free grace, whereby they are wholly renewed in every part, after the image of God, to the utter abolishing of the remains of sin in them, and are enabled eternally to live unto righteousness in perfection ; Rev. vii. 14, 15, " And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." 2 Cor. iv. 16, "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." Compared with Heb. xii. 23, forecited. And Rev. vii. 15, above cited; compared with 1 Cor. xiii. 8, 9, 10, " Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." It is the same Spirit of Christ, who begins and carries on

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their sanctification in life, that perfects their sanctification at death ; Philip, i. 6, " Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in yon, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Psalm cxxxviii. ult., " The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." The Spirit wholly renews the souls of believers in every part, after the image of God, to the utter abolishing of the remains of sin in them, by communicating to them from Christ their head, a fulness of grace for grace in Christ, to the perfecting of his image on them ; Eph. iv. 13," Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 1 Cor. xv. 49, " As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Chap. xiii. 10, " When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." The Spirit enables them eternally to live unto righteousness in perfection, eternally communicating to them, from Christ their head, supplies of grace in full measure. Rev. vii. ult., " The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters." Compared with John xvi. 14, " He [the Spirit of truth] shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." 1 Cor. xiii. 10, above cited. It appears, that there shall be such an eternal communications of supplies of grace, from Christ, to the saints, by the Spirit, in that they continue for ever members of Christ; and members cannot act but by continued communication of influences from their head ; John xiv. 16, 17, " And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwell-eth with you, and shall be in you." Chap. xv. 4, 5, " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." The glory that the souls of believers pass into at death, is, a glorious state, a glorious place, and a glorious society. The glorious state they pass into, is, a state of shining in the perfect purity of the divine image: 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But 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 a3 by the Spirit of the Lord." Compared with Heb. xii. 23, " Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect." The glorious place they pass into, is, the highest heavens: Phil. i. 23, " I am in a strait betwixt two, having

a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." Compared with Eph. iv. 10, " He that descended, is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." And they are carried into it by angels: Luke xvi. 22, "And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." The glory of that place they are carried into, is, the glory of God and of the man Christ, shining in it: Rev. xxi. 23, " And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." But they are made perfect in holiness, before they enter there, not after they are entered : Rev. xxi. 27, " And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defil-eth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie : but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." The glorious society they pass into, is, the society of God and Christ there, and of the holy angels, and glorified saints: 2 Cor. v. 8, " We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Heb. xii. 22, 23, 24, " Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." And this their passing into glory, is immediately after death, Luke xvi. 22; chap, xxiii. 43, forecited. There is no middle state then, between believers their dying in Christ, and their passing into glory, 2 Cor. v. 8; Phil. i. 23, forecited. Rev. xiv. 13, " And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth: Tea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

The benefit of Christ's purchase that the bodies of believers receive at death, is, that being still united to Christ, they rest in their graves till the resurrection. The grave is a place of rest to the bodies of believers : and they rest in their graves, otherwise than the wicked do in theirs, in that they rest in them, as in their beds perfumed by Christ's lying in the grave: Isa. lvii. 2, " He shall enttr into peace : they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness." Compared with Rev. i. 17, 18, " And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead: and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear net; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for

evermore. Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." That the grave is such a resting place to the bodies of believers, while it is a prison to others, is from their being still united to Christ: Isa. lvii. 2, above cited. Compared with 1 Thess. iv. 14, " If we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." The dissolving of their bodies into smallest dust scattered here and there, doth not dissolve the union between Christ and their bodies in that case, 1 Thess. iv. 14, above cited: and that because the bond of their union with him, is his infinite Spirit everywhere present: Rom. viii. 11, " If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Compared with Psalm cxxxix. 7, " Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ?" And they are to rest so in their graves, till the resurrection : Job xix. 26, 27, " And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."

The dead will rise again: Acts xxiv. 16, " There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." John v. 28, 29, " The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." And the resurrection of the dead will be at the last day, when Christ comes again to judgment: 1 Thess. iv. 15,16, " For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, aud with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first." Some will be then found alive, as at this day : 1 Cor. xv. 51, " Behold, I shew you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." And they shall not die and rise again; but instead of dying and rising again, they shall be changed, 1 Cor. xv. 51, above cited. They that shall rise again, are, all the dead, small and great, just and unjust, John v. 28, forecited. Rev. xx. 12, " And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." Acts xxiv. 15, forecited. The dead will be raised by the power of God : 1 Cor. vi. 14, " And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power." God will not make them new bodies, but they shall rise agaiu with the self-same bodies that were laid in the grave : 1 Cor. xv. 53, " This corruptible must put ou incorruptiou, and this mortal must put on immortality." Job xix. 26, forecited.

The possibility of such a resurrection of the dead appears, from the omniscience and almighty power of God : Heb. iv. 13, " Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are Daked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Rev. iv. 8, " And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within; and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." The concern that the omniscience of God hath in the resurrection of the dead, is, to discern every one's dust from another's, and from the common dust of the earth. And that is all the odds, between the first forming of man's body, and the forming it anew at the resurrection : for man's body was originally dust lying here and there on the ground: Gen. ii. 7, " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." Chap. iii. 19, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." The concern that the almighty power of God hath in it, is, to bring together all the dust of the same body, form it again into a body, and reunite the soul thereto. The certainty of such a resurrection appears, from the truth and faithfulness of God, who has said it: John v. 28, 29, forecited. Dan. xii. 2 " 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." The raising of the dead, and the changing of those then alive, will be done in a moment, at the sound of the last trumpet: 1 Cor. xv. 52, " In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, (for the trumpet shall sound); and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Compared with 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17, " The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them iu the clouds to meet the Lord iu the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And the raised and the changed bodies will differ from what they were before, during this life, in their qualities, though not in their substance, 1 Cor. xv. 52, 53, forecited.

Quest. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection ?

Answ. At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

EXPLICATION.

Believers, or they that are effectually called, justified, adopted, and sanctified in their life, shall receive or partake of the whole benefits of Christ's purchase at the resurrection : And they shall then receive the whole, by these degrees ; to wit, some in the resurrection itself, more in the judgment, and the completing benefit after judgment.

The benefit of Christ's purchase they shall receive in the resurrection itself, is, that they shall be raised up in glory : 1 Cor. xv. 43, " It is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory." The way how they will be raised, is, that Christ will raise them as his own members, by his Spirit dwelling in them, even as one awaking draws his limbs to him : Rom. viii. 11, " If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you ; he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." The likeness in which their bodies shall be fashioned anew in the resurrection, is, the likeness of the glorious body of the second Adam : 1 Cor. xv. 49, " As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Compared with Philip, iii. 21, " Jesus Christ shall change our vile bodv, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." They will be raised incorruptible, glorious, strong, and spiritual bodies : 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43, 44, "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in in-corruption : it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."

But the wicked shall be raised in dishonour: and the way how they will be raised, is by the power of Christ as an offended judge: John v. 29, " And shall come forth, they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Matth. xxv. 33, " And the Son of man shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Immediately after the resurrection will follow the general judgment : Rev. xx. 13, " And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged every man according to their works.

There will be a day of general judgment; Acts xvii. 31, " God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." The man Christ will be the Judge: Acts xvii. 31, above cited; compared with Rom. xiv. 10, "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." And he will be seen with the bodily eyes of all: Job. xix. 26, 27, " And though after ray skin, worms

destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." Rev. i. 7, " Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see bim, and they also which pierced him." At his coming to judgment, the world will be going on in their ordinary course and business of life ; Luke xvii. 26, 27, 28, 30, "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Matth. xxiv. 40, 41, " Then shall two be in the field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." The parties that shall be judged, are, Men and devils ; 2 Cor. v. 10, " "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." Jude 6, " And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." The summons will be given to the quick and the dead, by the sound of the last trumpet, 1 Tbess. iv. 16, 17, forecited. The effect of that will be, that the dead shall be raised, and those that are alive changed, 1 Cor. xv. 52, forecited. They will be gathered from all airths, unto the place of the judgment, by the ministry of angels; Mark xiii. 27, " And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven." Matth. xiii. 40, 41, " As therefore the tares are gathered, and burnt in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather ont of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity." The righteous will meet the Lord Christ the Judge in the air, 1 Thess. iv. 17, fore-cited. And he will seat himself for the judgment, on a glorious throne : Matth. xxv. 31, " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." The parties will be placed before him; the righteous on his right hand, in the air ; the wicked on his left, upon the earth : Matth. xxv. 33, " And the Son of man shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." Compared with 1 Thess. iv. 17, " We which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." And Matth. xxiv. 40, " Then shall two be in the field :

the one shall be taken, and the other left." What men mnst give an account of then, is their thoughts, words and deeds done in the body: 1 Cor. iv. 5, " Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." Matth. xii. 36, 37, "But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Eccl. xii. 14, " God shall briDg every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. And judgment will be given on men, according to their works, good or bad : Rev. xx. 12, " The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." 2 Cor. v. 10, " We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done whether it he good or bad." Ilowbeit the good works of the righteous will not be considered in the judgment, as the ground of their right to heaven ; bnt as the evidences of it: Eph. ii. 8, 9, " 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." Rev. xxii. 14, " Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Compared with Mark iv. 25, " He that hath, to him shall be given : and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." And Matth. v. 45, " That ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven." But the ill works of the unrighteous will be considered in it, as the just grounds of their damnation : Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse : for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Compared with Matth. xxv. 41, " Then shall he say also unto them on she left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Sentence will be pronounced on the righteous first: Matth. xxv. 33, 34, " And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto them on the right hand, come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

The benefit of Christ's purchase they shall receive in the judgment, is, that they shall be opeuly acknowledged and acquitted. They will be acknowledged and acquitted by Jesus Christ the judge : Matth. x. 32, " Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,

him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven." Chap. xxv. 34, above cited. He will acknowledge them to be his faithful servants, and the persons whose names are written in his book of life, for whom he died: Matth. xxv. 23, " His Lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Rev. xx. 12, " And another book was opened, which is the book of life." Compared with Chap, iii. 5, " He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father, and before his angels." And he will acquit them from the guilt of all their sins : Acts iii. 19, " Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." They are really so acknowledged and acquitted by him already: John xvii. 9, 10, " I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them." Rom. viii. 33, 34, " "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." But they will be acknowledged and acquitted by him, in that day, openly; namely, before his father, angels and men : and he will do it, by a sentence pronounced and published, with his own mouth, from the throne : Rev. iii. 5, forecited. Matth. xxv. 31, 32, " "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." Yer, 34, The sentence will be, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," Matth. xxv. 34. The ground on which they will be openly acquitted in the day of judgment, will be the very same on which they are acquitted now, to wit, the righteousness of Christ upon them: Philip, iii. 9, " And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Rom. v. 21, " That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." Chap. vi. 22, 23, " But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death : but the Vol. VII. i

gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." He will so acknowledge and acquit them openly, to wipe off the aspersions now cast on them by the men of the world : Isa. lxvi. 5, " Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word, your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, let the Lord be glorified : but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed." The honour to be put upon them, immediately after that acknowledgment and acquittance, is, that they shall join with Christ, as assessors, in judging devils and wicked men : 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, " Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world ?— know ye not that we shall judge angels ?" Psal. xlix. 15, " The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning." And cxlix. 6, 7, 8, 9, " Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand ; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people ; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron ; to execute upon them the judgment written : this honour have all his saints."

It will be the lot of the wicked in the judgment, to be openly disowned and condemned by Jesus Christ. And that will be done, by sentence pronounced and published with his mouth, from the throne : Matth. vii. 23, " And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Chap. xxv. 41. That sentence will be, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matth. xxv. 41. The grouuds on which they will be condemned, are, their sins and ungodliness in their hearts, lips, and lives : Rom. ii. 16, " In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." Jude 14, 15, " Behold, the Lord cometh, with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." The evidence on which their condemnation shall proceed, will be, clear evidence, and full conviction of their own consciences : Rom. ii. 15, " Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another." Ver. 16 ; Jude 14, 15, above cited.

The particular place and time of the general judgment are not known to men : Luke xvii. 37, " And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord ? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." 1 Thess. v. 1, 2, " But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the

Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." The time of it is kept secret, that men may watch, and be always ready : Matth. xxiv. 42, «' "Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." Ver. 44, " Therefore be ye also ready : for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."

Immediately after the judgment, follows the full execution of the sentences, and the end of the world by the general conflagation: Matth. xxv. ult., " And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, " Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." Compared with 2 Pet. iii. 10, " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." But God will make new heavens and a new earth : 2 Pet. iii. 13, " Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." The party that shall go off first from the place of the judgment, is, the damned, the saints seeing all their enemies turn their backs, Matth. xxv. ult. forecited. The fearful sentence will he put in execution against them, in their being cast out from the favourable presence of God, and the glorious fellowship of Christ, his saints and angels, into hell: Rev. xx. ult. " And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." Compared with Matth. xxv. 41, " Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." And Luke xvi. 26, " And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulph fixed : so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence." And they will be punished there with unspeakable torments both of body and soul: 2 Thess. i. 7—9, " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." These their torments will never have an end : Mark ix. 43, 44, " If thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Rev. xx. 10, " And the devil that de-

i2

ceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are ; and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." And in that their miserable state, for eternity, they will have the society of the devil and his angels, Matth. xxv. 41, forecited.

The completing benefit of Christ's purchase believers shall receive after the judgment, is, that they shall be made perfectly blessed, in full enjoying of God to all eternity. They will go away with Christ, after the judgment, into heaven, the seat of the blessed : 1 Thess. iv. 17, " Then 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 shall we ever be with the Lord." Matth. xxv. ult., " The righteous shall go away into life eternal." Psal. xlv. 15, " With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace." And they will be there, in a state of perfect blessedness, or complete happiness, both in soul and body : Matth. xiii. 43, " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father." They will be made perfectly blessed, or completely happy in their being for ever freed from all sin and misery, want and imperfection, and filled to the brim with all their souls can desire : Eph. v. 25—27, " Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy, and without blemish." Rev. xxi. 4, " And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away." Ver. 7, " He that overcometh, shall inherit all things ; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." Chap. vii. 16, 17, " They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." "What shall make them perfectly blessed, or completely happy, is, full enjoying of God to all eternity : Psal. xvi. ult. " In thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." And xvii. ult., " As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness." Rev. xxi. 7, above cited. They will enjoy God in heaven, by sight of the divine glory, to the complete satisfying of their understanding; and by experience of the divine goodness, to the complete satisfying of their will: Matth. v. 8, " Blessed are the pure in heart:

for they shall see God." Compared with Psalm xvii. ult., above cited. Rev. vii. 16, 17, forecited. The sight they will have of the divine glory, is, a full and clear knowledge of God, as by seeing face to face : Exod. xxxiii. 18, " And Moses said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." Yer. 20, " And he said, thou canst not see my face : for there shall no man see me, and live." Compared with Rev. xxii. 4, " And they shall see his face." And 1 Cor. xiii. 12, " Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face : now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." The experience they will have of the divine goodness, is an unrestrained partaking of the all-fulness thereof: Psalm xxxvi. 8, 9, "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house : and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life : in thy light shall we see light." Rev. xxi. 3, " And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."

The creature's understanding and experience can never, in any case, reach all the glory and goodness that is in God ; because it is infinite : Job. xi. 7, " Canst thou by searching find out God, canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" But the glorified saints will enjoy him fully, enjoying him to the utmost of their enlarged capacities, Psal. xvi. ult. and xxxvi. 8, forecited. And they will enjoy him immediately : 1 John iii. 2, " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know, that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Not that they will ever enjoy him, otherwise than through the mediator Christ their Head : John xvii. 2, 3, " As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Rev. vii. ult., " The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters." Chap. xxi. 23, " And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." But they will enjoy him without the intervention of outward means, 1 Cor. xiii. 12, forecited. And that their full and immediate enjoyment of God will last to all eternity: 1 Thess. iv. 17, " And so shall we ever be with the Lord." Psal. xvi. ult., forecited.

The end for which the saints shall be made completely happy, in full enjoying of God, is God's glory : Prov. xvi. 4, " The Lord hath

made all things for himself." Rom. xi. ult. "For of him, and through him, and to him are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." And they being made perfectly blessed, or completely happy, in full enjoying of God to all eternity, will answer that end, in glorifying God, by loving, praising, and serving him, perfectly, to all eternity: Psalm lxxxvi. 12, 13, " I will praise thee, 0 Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." Rev. vii. 9, 10, " After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Yer. 15, " Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." Chap, xxiii. 3, "And there shall be no more curse : but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him."

MARROW

MODERN DIYINITY

THE FIRST PART.

TOUCHING BOTH THE COVENANT OF

WORKS AND THE COVENANT OF GRACE : WITH THEIR

USE AND END, BOTH IN THE TIME OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND IN THE

TIME OF THE NEW. CLEARLY DESCRIBING THE WAY TO

ETERNAL LIFE BY JESDS CHRISTs

A DIALOGUE

BETWIXT

EVANGELISTA, a minister of j ANTINOMISTA, an antinomian.

THE GOSPEL. AND AND

NOMISTA, A LEGALIST. j NEOPHITUS, A YOUNG CHRISTIAN.

BY

EDWARD FISHER, M.A.

WITH NOTES,

BY

THE LATE REV. THOMAS BOSTON.

MR. CARYL'S RECOMMENDATION AND IMPRIMATUR.

I hate perused this ensuing Dialogue, and find it tending to peace and holiness ; the author endeavouring to reconcile and heal those unhappy differences, which have lately broken out afresh amongst us, about the points therein handled and cleared: for which cause I allow it to be printed, and recommend it to the reader, as a discourse stored with many necessary and seasonable truths, confirmed by Scripture, and avowed by many approved writers; all composed in a familiar, plain, moderate style, without bitterness against, or uncomely reflections upon, others : which flies have lately corrupted many boxes of (otherwise precious) ointment.

Jos. Caryl. May 1, 1645.

The marrow of the second bone is like that of the first, sweet and good. The commandments of God are marrow to the saints, as well as the promises; and they shall never taste the marrow of the promise who distaste the commandments. This little treatise break-eth the bone, the hard part of commandments by a plain exposition, that so all, even babes in Christ, yea, such as are yet out of Christ, may suck out and feed upon the marrow by profitable meditation.

Jos. Caryl. Sept. 6, 1648.

PREFACE.

"Whosoever thou art into whose hands this book shall come, I presume to put thee in mind of the divine commaad, binding on thy conscience, Deut. i. 17, " Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but vou shall hear the small as well as the great." Reject not the book with contempt, nor with indignation neither, when thou find-est it entitled, " The Marrow of Modern Divinity," lest thou do it to thine own hurt. Remember that our blessed Lord himself was accounted " a friend of publicans and sinners," Matth. xi. 19, " Many said of him, he hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?" John x. 20, the apostle Paul was slanderously reported to be an Antinomian ; one who, by his doctrine, encouraged men to do evil, and, "made void the law,"Rom. iii. 8, 31. And the first martyr in the days of the gospel, was stoned for pretended " blasphemous words against Moses, and against the law," Acts vi. 11, 13.

The gospel method of sanctification, as well as of justification, lies so far out of the ken of natural reason, that if all the rationalists in the world, philosophers and divines, had consulted together to lay down a plan, for repairing the lost image of God in man, they had never hit upon that which the divine wisdom had pitched upon, viz., That sinners should be sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. i. 2, by faith in him, Acts xxvi. 18. Nay, being laid before them, they would have rejected it with disdain as foolishness, 1 Cor. i. 23. In all views which fallen man has, towards the means of his own recovery, the natural bent is to the way of the covenant of works. This is evident in the case of the vast multitudes throughout the world embracing Judaism, Paganism, Mahometanism, and Popery. All these agree in this one principle, " That it is by doing men must live," though they hugely differ as to the things to be done for life.

The Jews, in the time of Julian the Apostate, attempted to re-

build their temple, after it had lain many years in ruins, by the decree of heaven never to be built again : and ceased not, till, by an earthquake which shook the old foundation, and turned all down to the ground, they were forced to forbear, as Socrates the historian tells us. But the Jews were never more addicted to that temple, than mankind naturally is to the buildiug on the first covenant; and Adam's children will by no means quit it, until mount Sinai, where they desire to work what they do work, be all on a fire about them. 0 that those, who have been frightened from it, were not so ready to go back towards it!

Howbeit, that can never be the channel of sauctification, whatsoever way men prepare it, and fit it out for that purpose ; because it is not, by divine appointment, the ministration of righteousness and life, 2 Cor. iii.

And hence it is always to be observed, that as the doctrine of the gospel is corrupted, to introduce a more rational sort of religion, the flood of looseness and licentiousness swells proportionably; insomuch that morality brought in for doctrine, in room and stead of the gospel of the grace of God, never fails to be, in effect, a signal for an inundation of immorality and practice. A plain instance hereof is to be seen in the grand apostacy from the truth and holiness of the gospel, as exemplified in Popery. And on the other hand, real and thorough reformation in churches is always the effect of gospel light, breaking forth again, from under the cloud which had gone over it; and hereof the Church of Scotland, among others, has oftener than once had comfortable experience.

The real friends of true holiness then do exceedingly mistake their measures, in affording a handle, on any occasion whatsoever, for advancing the principles of legalism, for bringing under contempt the good old way, in which our fathers found rest to their souls, and for removing the ancient landmarks which they set.

It is now above fourscore years since this book made its first appearance into the world, under the title of " The Marrow of Modern Divinity," at that time, not unfitly prefixed to it: but it is too evident, it has outlived the fitness of that title. The truth is, the divinity therein taught is now no longer the modern, but the ancient divinity

as it was recovered from underneath the Antichristian darkness; and as it stood before the tools of the late refiners on the Protestant doctrine were lifted up upon it; a doctrine which, being from God, must needs be according to godliness.

It was to contribute towards the preserving of this doctrine, and the withstanding of its being run down, under the odious name of Antinomianism, in the disadvantageous situation it has in this book, whose undeserved lot it is to be everywhere spoken against, that the following notes were written.

And herein two things chiefly have had weight. One is, lest that doctrine, being put into such an ill name, should become the object of the settled aversion of sober persons, and they be thereby betrayed into legalism. The other is, lest in these days of God's indignation, so much appearing in spiritual judgments, some taking up the principles of it, from the hand of this author and ancient divines, for truths: should take the sense, scope, and design of them, from (now) common fame: and so be betrayed unto real Antinomianism.

Reader, lay aside prejudices, look and see with thine own eyes, call things by their own names, and do not reckon Anti-Baxterian-ism, or Anti-Neonomianism to be Antinomianism ; and thou shalt find no Antinomianism taught here; but thou wilt be perhaps surprised to find that that tale is told of Luther, and other famous Protestant divines, under the borrowed name of the despised Mr. Fisher author of the " Marrow of Modern Divinity."

In the notes, obsolete or ambiguous words, phrases, and things are explained; truth cleared, confirmed, and vindicated; the anno-tator making no scruple of declaring his dissent from the author, where he he saw just ground for it.

I make no question but he will be thought by some to have constructed too favourably of several passages: but as it is nothing strange that he incline to the charitable side, the book having been many years ago blessed of God to his own soul: so, if he has erred on that side, it is the safest of the two, for thee and me, judging of the words of another man, whose intentions, I believe, with Mr. Burroughs, to have been " very sincere for God, and the readers good."

However, I am satisfied he has dealt candidly in that matter, according to his light.

Be advised always to read over a lesser section of the book, before reading any of the notes thereupon, that you may have the more clear understanding of the whole.

I conclude this preface, in the words of two eminent professors of theology, deserving our serious regard:—

" I dread mightily that a rational sort of religion is coming in among us; I mean by it, a religion that consists in a bare attendance on outward duties and ordinances, without the power of godliness; and thence people shall fall into a way of serving God, which is mere deism, having no relation to Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God."—Memoirs of Mr. Halyburton's life, p. 199.

" I warn each one of you, and especially such as are to be directors of the conscience, that you exercise yourselves in study, reading, meditation and prayer, so as you may be able to instruct and comfort both your own and others consciences in the time of temptation, and to bring them back from the law to grace, from the active (or working) righteousness, to the passive (or received) righteousness; in a word, from Moses to Christ."— Luth. comment. in epist. ad Gal. p. 27.

ADVERTISEMENT.

"Whereas it has been handed about, and by some published, to diminish the credit of the ensuing book, That the author, Edward Fisher, was a poor illiterate barber, without any authority to vouch it; it is thought proper to prefix the following account of him, from "Wood's Athence Oxoniensis, "Vol. II. page 198.

" Edward Fisher, the eldest son of a knight, became a gentleman-commoner of Brasen-nose College, Aug. 25, 1627; took = on his degree in arts, and soon after left that house. Afterwards, being called home by his relations, who were then, as I have been informed, much in debt; he improved that learning, which he had obtained in the university, so much, that he became a noted person among the learned, for his great reading in ecclesiastical history, and in the fathers, and for his admirable skill in the Greek and Ilebrew languages. His works are,

I. " An appeal to the conscience, as thou wilt answer it at the great and dreadful day of Jesus Christ." Oxford, 1644. Quarto.

II. " The marrow of modern divinity." 1646. Octavo.

III. " A Christian caveat to old and new Sabbatarians." 1650.

IV. " An answer to sixteen queries, touching the rise and observation of Christmas."

RECOMMENDATIONS.

If thou wilt please to peruse this little boot, thou shalt find great worth in it. There is a line of a gracious spirit drawn through it, which has fastened many precious truths together, and presented them to thy view : according to the variety of men's spirits, the various ways of presenting known truths are profitable. The grace of God has helped this author in making his work ; if it in like manner help thee in reading, thou shalt have cause to bless God for these truths thus brought to thee, and for the labours of this good man, whose ends, I believe, are very sincere for God and thy good.

Jer. Burroughs.

Occasionally lighting upon this Dialogue, under the approbation of a learned and judicious divine; I was thereby induced to read it, and afterwards, on a serious consideration of the usefulness of it, to commend it to the people in my public ministry.

Two things in it especially took with me : First, The matter, the main substance being distinctly to discover the nature of the two covenants, upon which all the mysteries, both of the law and gospel, depend. To seethe first Adam to be primus fcederatus in the one, and the second Adam in the other; to distinguish rightly betwixt the law standing alone as a covenant, and standing in subordination to the gospel as a servant; this I assure myself to be the key which opens the hidden treasure of the gospel. As soon as God had given Luther but a glimpse hereof, he professes that he seemed to be brought into paradise again; and the whole face

of the Scripture to be changed to him; and he looked npon every truth with another eye. \

Secondly, The manner ; because it is an irenicum, and tends to an accommodation and a right understanding. Times of reformation have always been times of division: Satan will cast out a flood after the woman, as knowing that more die by the disagreement of the humours of their own bodies, than by the sword; and that, if men be once engaged, they will contend, if not for truth, yet for victory.

Now, if the difference be in things of lesser consequence, the best way to quench it were silence. But if the difference be of greater concernment than this is, the best way to decide it, is to bring in more light; which this author has done, with much evidence of Scripture, backed with the authority of most modern divines. So that whoever desires to have his judgment cleared, in the main controversy between us and the Antinomians, with a small expense, either of money or time, he may here receive ample satisfaction. This I testify upon request, professing myself a friend both to truth and peace.

W. Stbong.

This book, at first well accommodated with so valuable a testimony as Mr. Caryl's; besides its better approving itself to the choicer spirits every where, by the speedy distribution of the whole impression ; it might seem a needless or superfluous thing to add any more to the praise thereof; yet meeting with detracting language from some few, by reason of some phrases, by them either not duly pondered, or not rightly understood, it is thought meet, in this second impression, to relieve that worthy testimony, which still stands to it, with fresh supplies; not for any need the truth therein contained hath thereof, but because either the prejudice or darkness of some men's judgments doth require it: T therefore, having thoroughly perused it, cannot but testify, that, if I have any the least judgment

or relish of truth, " he that finds this book, finds a good thing," and not unworthy of its title ; and may account the saints to have obtained favour with the Lord in the ministration of it; as that which with great plainness and evidence of truth, comprises the chief (if not all) the differences that have been lately engendered about the law. It has, I must confess, not only fortified my judgment, but also warmed my heart, in the reading of it; as indeed inculcating throughout the whole dialogue, the clear and familiar notion of those things by which we live, (as Ezek. xvi. speaks in another case); and it appeareth to me to be written from much experimental knowledge of Christ, and teaching of the Spirit. Let all men, that taste the fruit of it, confess, to the glory of God, " He is no respecter of persons ;" and endeavour to know " no man henceforth after the flesh," nor envy the compiler thereof the honour to be accounted, as God has made him in this point, a healer of breaches, and a restorer of the overgrown paths of the gospel. As for my own part, I am so satisfied in this testimony I lend, that I reckon whatever credit is thus pawned, will be a glory to the name that stands by, and avows this truth, so long as the book shall endure to record it.

Joshua Sprigge.

I have, according to your desire, read over your book, and find it full of evangelical light and life; and I doubt not but the oftener I read it, the more true comfort I shall find in the knowledge of Christ thereby : the matter is pure, the method is apostolical, wherein the works of love, in the right place, after the life of faith, be effectually required. God hath endowed his Fisher with the net of a trying understanding, and discerning judgment and discretion; whereby, out of the crystaline streams of the well of life, you have taken a mess of the sweetest and wholesomest fish that the world can afford ; which if I could daily have enough of, I should not care for the flesh or the works thereof.

Samuel Puettie. Vol. VII. k

This book came to my hand by a merciful and most unexpected disposure of providence, and 1 read it with great and sweet complacence. It contains a great deal of the marrow of revealed and gospel truth, selected from authors of great note, clearly enlightened, and of most digested experience ; and some of them were honoured to do eminent and heroical services in their day. Thus the Christian reader has the flower of their labours communicated to him very briefly, yet clearly and powerfully. And the manner of conveyance, being by way of amicable conference, is not only fitted to afford delight to the judicious reader, but lays him also at the advantage of trying, through grace, his own heart the more exactly, according to what echo it gives, or how it relishes, or is displeased with the several speeches of the communers. Here we have the greatest depths, and most painted delusions of hell, in opposition to the only way of salvation, discovered with marvellous brevity and evidence, and that by the concurring suffrages of burning lights, men of the clearest experience, and honoured of Grod to do eminent service in their day, for advancing the interests of our Lord's kingdom and gospel.

The relucence of gospel light has beeu the choice mean blessed by the Lord, for the effecting of great things, in the several periods of the Church, since that light brake up in paradise, after our first sin and fall; and ever since, the balance has swayed, and will sway, according to the better or worse state of matters in that important regard. When gospel-light is clear, and attended with power, Satan's kingdom cannot stand before it; the prince and powers of darkness must fall as lightning from heaven. And upon the con-'trary, according to the recessions from thence, Christian churches went off, by degrees, from the only foundation, even from the rock Christ, until the man of sin, the great Atichrist, did mount the throne. Nevertheless, while the world is wandering after the beast, behold ! evangelical light breaks forth in the midst of papal darkness, and hereupon antichrist's throne shakes, and is at the point of falling; yet his wounds are cured, and he recovers new strength

and spirits, through a darkening of the glorious gospel, and perversion thereof, by anti-evangelical errors and heresies.

That the tares of such errors are sown in the reformed churches, and by men who profess reformed faith, is beyond debate; and these, who lay to heart the purity of gospel doctrine. Such dregs of Antichristianism do yet remain, or are brought in amongst us. Herein the words of the apostle are verified, viz. " Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them :" and as this renders the essays for a further diffusion of evangelical light the more necessary and seasonable, so there is ground to hope, that in these ways the churches of Christ will gradually get the ascendant over their enemies, until the great Antichrist shall fall, as a trophy before a gospel-dispensation. For the Lord will " destroy him by the breath of his month, and with the brightness of his coming." That this excellent and spiritual piece may be blessed to the reader, is the prayer of their sincere well-wisher and servant in the work of the gospel,

James Hog.

Carnock, December 3, 17J7.

The Act about the " Marrow" occasioned great thoughts of heart among us. I have been acquainted with that book about 18 or 19 years, and many times have admired the gracious conduct of holy Providence which brought it to my hand, having occasionally lighted upon it in a house of the parish Avhere I was first settled. As to any distinct uptakings of the doctrine of the gospel I have, such as they are, I owe them to that book.— Extract of a Letter from Mr. Boston to Mr. Hog.

I nevek read the " Marrow" with Mr. Boston's Notes, till this present time (1755); and I find, by not having read it, I have sustained a considerable loss. It is a most valuable book ; the doctrines it contains are the life of my soul, and the joy of my heart. Might my tongue or my pen be made instrumental to recommend and illustrate, to support and propagate such precious

k2

truths, I should bless the day wherein I was born. Mr. Boston's Notes on the " Marrow" are, in my opinion, some of the most, judicious and valuable that ever were penned.— Extract of a Letter from Mr. Hervey to Mr. William Hogg.

I have frequently perused, with great satisfaction, the " Marrow of Modern Divinity," first and second parts; and, as far as I can judge, it will be found, by those that read it, very useful for illustrating the difference between the law and the gospel, and preventing them from splitting, either on the rock of legality on the one hand, or that of Antinomianism on the other; and, accordingly, recommend it (by desire) as a book filled with precious, seasonable, and necessary truth, clearly founded upon the sacred oracles.

John Belfrage.

Falkirk, December 9, 1788.

HON. COLONEL JOHN DOWNES,

One of the Members of the Honourable House of Commons, fyc. t E, B . wishes the true knowledge of God in Jesus Christ.

Most Honourable Sir,

Although I do observe, that new editions, accompanied with new additions, are sometimes published with new dedications ; yet so long as he who formerly owned the subject doth yet live, and hath the same affections towards it, I conceive there is no need of a new patron, but of a new epistle.

Be pleased then, most honoured Sir, to give me leave to tell you, that your eminency of place did somewhat induce me, both now and before, to make choice of you for its patron ; but your endowments with grace did invite me to it, God having bestowed upon you special spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ : for it has been declared unto me by them that knew you, when you was but a youth, how Christ met with you then ; and, by sending his Spirit into your heart, first convinced you of sin ; as was manifest by those conflicts, which your soul then had, both with Satan and itself, whilst you did not believe in Christ; secondly, of righteousness, as was manifest by the peace and comfort which you afterwards had, by believing that Christ was gone to the Father, and appeared in his presence as your advocate and surety that had undertaken for you; thirdly, of judgment, as has been manifest ever since, in that you have been careful with the true godly man, (Psalm cxii. 5.) to " guide your affairs with judgment," in walking according to the mind of Christ.

I have not forgotten what desires you have expressed to know the true difference between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace; and experimentally to be acquainted with the doctrine of free grace, the mysteries of Christ, and the life of faith. Witness

not only your high approving of some heads of a sermon, which I once heard a godly minister preach, and repeated in your hearing, of the life of faith; but also your earnest request to me to write them out fair, and send them to you into the country; yea, witness your highly approving of this dialogue, when I first acquainted you with the contents thereof, encouraging me to expidite it to the press, and your kind acceptance, together with your cordial thanks for my love manifested in dedicating it to your honoured name.

Sith then, worthy sir, it has pleased the Lord to enable me both to amend and enlarge it, I hope your affection will also be enlarged towards the matter therein contained, considering that it tends to the clearing of those foreuamed truths, and, through the blessing of God, may be a means to root them more deeply in your heart. And truly, sir, I am confident, the more they grow and flourish in any man's heart, the more will all heart-corruptions wither and decay. 0 sir, if the truths contained in this dialogue were but as much in my heart, as they are in my head, I were a happy man; for then should I be more free from pride, vain glory, wrath, anger, self-love, and love of the world, than I am; and then should I have more humility, meekness, and love, both to God and man, than I have. Oh ! then, should I be content with Christ alone, and live above all things in the world ;—then should I experimentally know both how to abound and how to want;—and then should I be fit for any condition ; nothing could come amiss unto me. 0 that the Lord would be pleased to write them in our hearts by his blessed Spirit!

Most humbly beseeching you still to pardon my boldness, and vouchsafe to take it into your patronage and protection, I humbly take my leave of you, and remain, your obliged servant, to be commended,

Edward Fisher.

To all such Humble-hearted Readers as see any need either to knoiv themselves, or God in Christ.

V

Loving Christians,

Consider, I pray yon, that as the first Adam did, as a common person, enter into covenant with God for all mankind, and Drake it, whereby they became sinful and guilty of everlasting death and damnation ; even so Jesus Christ the second Adam, did, as a common person, enter into covenant with God his Father, for all the elect, a that is to say, all those that have, or shall believe on his name, b and for them kept it, c whereby they become righteous, and heirs of everlasting life and salvation: d and therefore it is our greatest wisdom, and ought to be our greatest care and endeavour, to come out c and from the first Adam, unto and into the second Adam :/ that so we " may have life through his name," John xx. 31. And yet alas ! there is no point in all practical divinity that we are naturally so much averse and backward to as unto this; neither does Satan strive to hinder us so much from doing any thing else as this: and hence it is, that we are all of us naturally apt to abide and continue in that sinful and miserable state that the first Adam plunged us into, without either taking any notice of it, or being at all

a " The covenant (viz. of works) being made with Adam, not only for himself but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression."— Shorter Catechism, quest. 16, *' The covenant of grace was made with Christ, as the second Adam, and in him, with all the elect, as his seed."— Larger Cat. quest. 31.

b See chap. 2. sect. 3. note 7.

c Namely, by doing and dying for them, viz. the elect.

d Thus the impetration or purchase of redemption, and the application of it, aie taught to be of the same extent; even as Adam's representation, and the ruins by his fall are : the former extending to the elect, as the latter unto all mankind.

e Of.

/Uniting with Christ by fuith.

affected with it, so far are we from coming out of it. And if the Lord be pleased by any means to open our eyes to see our misery, and we do thereupon begin to step out of it, yet, alas ! we are prone rather to go backwards towards the first Adam's pure state g, in striving and struggling to leave sin, and perform duties, and do good works; hoping thereby to make ourselves so righteous and holy, that God will let us into paradise again, to eat of the tree of life, and live for ever: and this we do, until we see the "flaming sword at Eden's gate turning every way to keep the way of the tree of life,"ft Gen. iii. 24. It is not ordinary, when the Lord convinceth a man of his sin (either by means of his word or his rod) to cry after this manner : 0 I am a sinful man ! for I have lived a very wicked life, and therefore surely the Lord is angry with me, and will damn me in hell! 0 what shall I do to save my soul ? And is there not at hand some ignorant, miserable comforter, ready to say, Yet do not despair, man, but repent of thy sins, and ask God's forgiveness, and reform your life, and doubt not but he will be merciful unto you; i

c/ That is, to the way of the covenant of works, which innocent Adam was set upon.

h That is, till we lie brought to despair of obtaining salvation in the way of the covenant of works. Mark here the spring of legalism, namely, the natural bias of man's heart towards the way of the law, as a covenant of works, and ignorance of the law, in its spirituality and vast extent. Rom. vii. 9; x. 2, 3.

i There is not one vvoid of Jesus Christ the glorious Mediator, nor of faith in his blood, in all the advice given by this causist to the afflicted ; and agreeable thereto is the effect it has upon the afflicted, who takes comfort to himself without looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ at all, as appears from the next paragraph.

Behold the Scripture pattern in such a case : Acts ii. 37, 38, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." Chap. yvi. 30, 31, " Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." And thus the Directory, title " Concerning visitation of the sick." " If it appear that he hath not a due sense of his sins, endeavours ought to be used to convince him of his sins—to make known the danger of deferring repentance, and of salvation at any time offered, to awaken the conscience, and to rouse him out of a stupid and secure condition, to apprehend the justice and wrath of God"—(here this miserable comforter finds the afflicted, and should have taught him concerning an offended God, as there immediately follows)—" before whom none can stand but he that, being lost in himself, layeth hold upon Christ by faith."

for he has promised you know, " that at time soever a sinner re-penteth him of his sins, he will forgive him." j

And does he not hereupon comfort himself, and say in his heart at least, 0 ! if the Lord will but spare my life, and lengthen out my days, I will become a new man ! I am very sorry that I have lived such a sinful life; but I will never do as I havs done for all the world ! 0 ! you shall see a great change in me ! believe it.

And hereupon he betakes himself to a new course of life ; and, it may be, becomes a zealous professor of religion, performing all Christian exercises, both public and private, and leaves off his old companions, and keeps company with religious men; and so, it may be, goes on till his dying day, and thinks himself sure of heaven and eternal happiness ; and yet. it may be, all this while is ignorant of Christ and his righteousness, and therefore established his own.

"Where is the man, or where is the woman that is truly come to Christ, that has not had some experience in themselves of such a disposition as this ? If there be any that have reformed their lives, and are become professors of religion, and have not taken notice of this in themselves more, or less, I wish they have gone beyond a legal professor, or one still under the covenant of works.

Nay, where is the man or woman, that is truly in Christ, that findeth not in themselves an aptness to withdraw their hearts from Christ, and to put some confidence in their own works and doings ? If there be any that do not find it, I wish their hearts decieve them not.

Let me confess ingenuously; I was a professor of religion at least a dozen of years before I knew any other way to eternal life, than to be sorry for my sins, and ask forgiveness, and strive and endeavour to fulfil the law, and keep the commandments, according

j This sentence, taken from tbe English service-book, is in the " Practice of Piety," p. 122. cited from Ezek. xxxiii. 14, 16, and is reckoned amongst these scriptures, an ignorant mistake of which keeps back a sinner from the practice of piety. But the truth is, it is not to be found in the Old or New Testament; and therefore it was objected against, as standing in the service-book under the name of a " Sentence of Scripture," pretended to be cited from Ezek. xviii. 21, 22.— Reasons shoiving the necessity of reformation, &c. p. 26.

as Mr. Dod and other godly men had expounded them ; and truly, I remember I was in hope I should at last attain to the perfect fulfilling of them; and, in the mean time, I conceived that God would accept the will for the deed ; or what I could not do, Christ had doue for me.

And though at last, by means of conferring with Mr. Thomas Hooker in private, the Lord was pleased to convince me that I was yet but a proud Pharisee, and to show me the \?ay of faith and salvation by Christ alone, and to give me (I hope) a heart in some measure to embrace it; yet alas ! through the weakness of my faith, I have been, and am still apt to turn aside to the covenant of works; and therefore have not attained to that joy and peace in believing, nor that measure of love to Christ, and man for Christ's sake, as I am confident many of God's saints do attain unto in the time of this life. The Lord be merciful unto me, and increase my faith !

And are there not others, though I hope but few, who being enlightened to see their misery, by reason of the guilt of sin, though not by reason of the filth of sin, and hearing of justification freely by grace, through tlie redemption which is in Jesus Christ, do applaud and magnify that doctrine, following them that do most preach and press the same, seeming to be, as it \iere, ravished with the hearing thereof, out of a conceit that they are by Christ freely justified from the guilt of sin, though still they retain the filth of sin ? a These are they that content themselves with a gospel knowledge, with mere notions in the head, but not in the heart; glorying and rejoicing in free grace and justification by faith alone ; professing faith in Christ, and yet are not possessed of Christ;— these are they that can talk like believers, and yet do not walk like believers ;—these are they that liave language like saints, and yet have conversation like devils;—these are they that are not obe-

a Mark here the spring of Antinomianism ; namely, the want of a sound conviction of the odiousness aed filthiness of sin, rendering the soul loathsome and ahorainahle in the sight of a holy God. Hence, as the sinner sees not his need of, so neither will he receive and rest on Christ for all his salvation, hut will go about to halve it, grasping at his justifying blood, neglecting his sanctifying Spirit, and so falls short of all part or lot in that matter.

dieut to the law of Christ, and therefore are justly called Antino-mians.

Now, both these paths h leading from Christ, have been justly-judged as erroneous; and, to ray knowledge, not only a matter of eighteen or twenty years ago, but also within these three or four years, there has been much ado, both by preaching, writing, and disputing, both to reduce men out of them, and to keep them from them ; and hot contentions have been on both sides, and all, I fear, to little purpose : for has not the strict professor according to the law, whilst he has striven to reduce the loose professor according to the gospel out of the Antinomian path entangled both himself and others the faster in the yoke of bondage ? Gal. v. 1. And has not the loose professor according to the gospel, whilst he has striven to reduce the strict professor according to the law out of the legal path, "by promising liberty from the law, taught others, and been himself the servant of corruption ?" 2 Pet. ii. 19.

For this cause I, though I be nothing, have by the grace of God endeavoured, in this dialogue, to walk as a middle man betwixt them both, in showing to each of them his erroneous path, with the middle path (which is Jesus Christ received truly, and walked in answerably m) as a means to bring them both unto him, and make them both one in him; and 0 ! that the Lord would be pleased so to bless it to them, that it might be a means to produce this effect!

b Namely, legalism and Antinomianism.

m A short and pithy description of the middle path, the only path-way to heaven— "Jesus Christ (the way, John xiv. 6.) received truly (by faith, John i. 12 ; this is overlooked by the legalist) and walked in answerably," by holiness of heart and life, Col. ii. 6 : this is neglected by the Antinomian. The Antinomian's faith is but pretended, and nut true faith, since he walks not in Christ answerably. The legalist's holiness is but pretended, and not true holiness, since he hath not " received Christ" truly, and therefore is incapable of walking in Christ, which is the only true holiness competent to fallen mankind. Thus, both the legalist and the Antinomian are each of them destitute of true faith and true holiness ; forasmuch as there can be no walking in Christ, without a true receiving of him ; and there cannot be a true receiving of him, without walking in him : so both of them are off the only way of salvation, and, continuing so must needs perish. Wherefore it concerns every one who has a value for his own soul, to take heed that he be found in the middle path.

TO THE READER.

I have (as you may see) gathered much of it out of known and approved authors; and yet have therein wronged no man; for I have restored it to the right owner again. Some part of it my manuscripts have afforded me; and of the rest I hope I may say, as Jacob did of his venison, Gen. xxvi. 20, " the Lord hath brought it unto me." Let me speak it without vain-glory, I have endeavoured herein to imitate the laborious bee, who out of divers flowers gathers honey and wax, and thereof makes one comb : if any soul feel any sweetness in it, let them praise God, and pray for me, who am weak in faith, and cold in love.

Edward Fisher.

A Catalogue of those writer's names, out of whom I have collected much of the matter contained in this ensuing Dialogue.

Mr. Ainsworth Dr. Ames Bishop Babington Mr. Ball Mr. Bastingius Mr. Beza Mr. Robert Bolton Mr. Samuel Bolton Mr. Bradford Mr. Bullinger Mr. Calvin Mr. Careless Mr. Caryl Mr. Cornwall Mr. Cotton Mr. Culverwell Mr. Dent Dr. Diodate Mr. D. Dixon Mr. Downham Mr. Du Plesse

Mr. Dyke

Mr. Elton

Mr. Forbes

Mr. Fox

Mr. Frith

Mr. Gibbons

Mr. Thos. Godwin

Mr. Gray,jun.

Mr. Greenham

Mr. Grotius

Bishop Hall

Mr. Thos. Hooker

Mr. Lsestanno

Mr. Lightfoot

Dr. Luther

Mr. Marbeck

Mr. Marshall

Peter Martyr

Dr. Mayer

Wolfangius Musculus

Bernardine Ochine

Mr. Wilson.

Dr. Pemble Mr. Perkins Mr. Polanus Dr. Preston Mr. Reynold Mr. Rollock Mr. Rouse Dr. Sibs Mr. Slater Dr. Smith Mr. Stock Mr. Tindal Mr. Robert Town Mr. Vaughan Mr. Vaumeth Dr. Urban Regius Dr. Ursinus Mr. Walker Mr. Ward Dr. Willet Dr. Williams

M A R K 0 Wi

MODERN DIVINITY

Evangei.ista, a Minister of the Gospel. Nomista, a Legalist. Antinomista, an Antinomian. Neophitus, a Young Christian.

INTRODUCTION.

Sect. 1. Differences about the Law 2. A threefold Law.

Nomista. Sir, my neighbour Neophitus and I having lately had some conference with this our friend and acquaintance Antinomista, about some points of religion, wherein he, differing from us both, at last said, he would be contented to be judged by our minister : therefore have we made bold to come unto you, all three of us, to pray you to hear us, and judge of our differences.

Evan. You are all of you very welcome to me; and if you please to let me hear what your differences are, I will tell you what I think.

§ 1. Nom. The truth is, sir, he and I differ in very many things ; but more especially about the law: for I say, the law ought to be a rule of life to a believer; and he says, it ought not.

Neo. And surely, sir, the greatest difference betwixt him and I, is this;—he would persuade me to believe in Christ; and bids me rejoice in the Lord, and live merrily, though I feel never so many corruptions in my heart, yea, though I be never so sinful in my life; the which I cannot do, nor, I think, ought to do; but rather to fear, and sorrow, and lament, for my sins.

Ant. The truth is, sir, the greatest difference betwixt my friend Nomista and I, is about the law ; and therefore that is the greatest matter we come to you about.

Evan. I remember the apostle Paul willeth Titus to " avoid con-teutions and strivings about the law, because they are unprofitable and vain," Tit. iii. 2; and so I fear yours have been.

Nom. Sir, for my own part, I hold it very meet, that every true Christian should be very zealous for the holy law of God; especially now, when a company of these Antinomians do set themselves against it, and do what they can quite to abolish it, and utterly to root it out of the church : surely, sir, I think it not meet they should live in a Christian commonwealth.

Evan. I pray you, neighbour Nomista, be not so hot, neither let us have such unchristian-like expressions amongst us; but let us reason together in love, and with the spirit of meekness, 1 Cor. iv. 21, as Christians ought to do. I confess with the apostle, " It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing," Gal. iv. 18. But yet, as the same apostle said of the Jews, so I fear I may say of some Christians, that "they are zealous of the law," Acts xxi. 20; yea, some would be doctors of the law, and yet neither understand " what they say, nor whereof they affirm," 1 Tim. i. 7.

Nom. Sir, I make no doubt but that 1 both know what I say, and whereof I affirm, when I say and affirm that the holy law of God ought to be a rule of life to a believer; for I dare pawn my soul on the truth of it.

Evan. But what law do yon mean ?

Nom. Why, sir, what law do you think I mean ? Is there any more laws than one ?

§ 2. Evan. Yea, in the Scriptures there is mention made of divers laws, but they may all be comprised under these three, viz.—the law of works, the law of faith, and the law of Christ;a Rom. iii.

a These terms are scriptural, as appears from the whole texts quoted by our author, namely, Rom. iii. 27, " Where is boasting then? it is excluded; by what law? of works? nay, but by the law of faith." Gal. vi. 2, " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." By the law of works is meant the law of the ten commandments, as the covenant of works. By the law of faith, the gospel, or covenant of grace ; for justification being the point upon which the apostle there states the opposition betwixt these two laws, it is evident that the former only is the law that doth not exclude boasting; and the latter only is it, by which a sinner is justified in a way that doth exclude boasting. By the law of Christ, is meant the same law of the ten commandments, as a rule of life, in the hand of a Mediator, to believers already justified, and not any one command of the law only ; for " bearing one another's burdens" is a " fulfilling of the law of Christ," as it is a loving one another; but, according to the Scripture, that love is not a fulfilling of one command only, but of the whole law of the ten commands, Roin. xiii. 8—10, " He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, thou shalt uot commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shult not steal, thou shalt uot bear false witness, thou shalt uot covet ; and if

27; Gral. vi. 2; and therefore, I pray you, tell me, when you say the law ought to be a rule of life to a believer, which of these three laws you mean.

Norn. Sir, I know not the difference betwixt them; but this I know, that the law of the ten commandments, commonly called the moral law, ought to be a rule of life to a believer.

there be smy other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." It is a fulfilling of the second table directly, and of the first table indirectly and consequentially : therefore by the law of Christ is meant, not one command only, but the whole law.

The law of works is the law to be done, that one may be saved ; the law of faith is the law to be believed, that one may be saved ; the law of Christ is the law of the Saviour, binding his saved people to all the duties of obedience, Gal. iii. 12; Acts xvi. 31.

The term law is not here used univocally ; for the law of faith is neither in the Scripture sense, nor in the sense of our author, a law, properly so called. The apostle uses that phrase only in imitation of the Jews' manner of speaking, who had the law continually in their mouths. But since the promise of the gospel proposed to faith, is called in Scripture '' the law of faith," our author was sufficiently warranted to call it so too. So the law of faith is not a proper perceptive law.

The law of works, and the law of Christ, are in substance but one law, even the law of the ten commandments—the moral law—the law which was from the beginning, continuing still the same in its own nature, but vested with different forms. And since the law is perfect, and sin " is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of it," whatever form it be vested with, whether as the law of works or as the law of Christ, all commands of God unto men must needs be comprehended under it, and particularly the command to repent, common to all mankind, pagans not excepted, who doubtless are obliged, as well as others, to turn from sin unto God; as also the command to believe in Christ, binding all to whom the gospel revelation comes, though in the meantime this law stands under different forms to those who are in a state of union with Christ by faith, and to those who are not so. The law of Christ is not a new proper preceptive law, but the old proper preceptive law, which was from the beginning, under a new accidental form.

The distinction between the law of works and the law of faith cannot be controverted, since the apostle doth so clearly distinguish them, Rom. iii. 27.

The distinction between the law of works and the law of Christ, as above explained according to the Scriptures, and the mind of our author, is the same in effect with that of the law, as a covenant of works, and as a rule of life to believers, and ought to be admitted, (Westm. Confess, chap. 19, art. b'.) For (1.) Believers aie not under, but dead to the law of works. Rom. vi. 14, " For ye are not under the law, but under grace." Chap. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law. But they are under the law to Christ; ye also are become dead to the law —that ye should be married to another, even to him who is r.iised from the dead." 1 Cor. ix. 21, " Being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." Some copies read here '' of God," and "' of Christ ;" which I mention, not out of any regard to that different reading, but that upou the occasion thereof the sense is owned by the learned to be the same either way. To be under the law to God is, without question,

Evan. But the law of the ten commandments, or moral law, may be either said to be the matter of the law of works, or the matter of the law of Christ: and therefore I pray you tell me, in whether of these senses you conceive it ought to be a rule of life to a believer ?

Nom. Sir, I must confess, I do not know what you mean by this distinction : but this I know that God requires that every Christian

to be under the law of God ; whatever it may be judged to import more, it can import no less ; therefore to be under the law to Christ, is to be under the law of Christ. This text gives a plain and descisive answer to the question, " How the believer is under the law of God ?" namely, as he is under the law to Christ. f2.) The law of Christ is an " easy yoke," and a " light burden," Matth. xi. 30 ; but the law of works, to a sinner, is an insupportable burden, requiring works as the condition of justi6cation and acceptance with God, as is clear from the whole of the apostle's reasoning, Rom. iii. (and therefore it is called the law of works, for otherwise the law of Christ requires works too) and cursing " every one that continues not in all things written in it to do them," Gal. iii. 10. The apostle assures us, that " what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law," Rom. iii. 19. The duties of the law of works, as such, are, as I conceive, called by our Lord himself, " heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne," Matth. xxiii. 4, " For they," viz. the Scribes and Pharisees, ''bind heavy burden*, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." These heavy burdens were not human traditions, and rites devised by men ; for Christ would not have commanded the observing and doing of these, as in this case he did, ver. 3, " Whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; neither were they the Mosaic rites and ceremonies, which were not then abrogated, for the Scribes and Pharisees were so far from not moving these burdens with their own fingers, that the whole of their religion was confined to them, namely to the rites and ceremonies of Moses' law, and those of their own devising. But the duties of the moral law they laid on others, binding them on with the tie of the law of works, yet made no conscience of them in their own practice : the which duties nevertheless our Lord Jesus commanded to be observed and done.

" He who hath believed on Jesus Christ, (though he be freed from the curse of the law,) is not freed from the command and obedience of the law, but tied thereunto by a new obligation, and a new command from Christ. Which new command from Christ importeth help to obey the command."— Practical Use of Saving Knowledge, title, The Third Warrant to Believe, fig. 5.

What this distinction amounts to is, that thereby a difference is constituted betwixt the ten commandments as coming from an absolute God out of Christ unto sinners, and the same ten commandments as coming from God in Christ unto them ; a difference whieh the children of God, assisting their consciences before him to " receive the law at his mouth," will value as their life, however they disagree about it in words and manner of expression. But that the original indispensable obligation of the law of the ten commandments is in any measure weakened by the believer's taking it as the law of Christ, and not a9 the law of works ; or that the sovereign authority of God the Creator, which is inseparable fiom it for the ages of eternity, in what channel soever it be conveyed unto men, is thereby laid aside.—will appear utterly groundless, uprn an iuipaitial consideration of the matter. For is not our Lord Jesus Christ, equally with the Father and the Holy Spiiit, JtHOVAH, the Sovereign, Supreme, IMost High

should frame and lead his life according to the ten commandments ; the which if he do, then may he expect the blessing of God both upon his own soul and body; and if he do not, then can he expect nothing else but his wrath and curse upon them both.

Evan. The truth is, Nomista, the law of the ten commandments, as it is the matter of the law of works, ought not to be a rule of life to a believer. But in thus saying, you have affirmed that it ought; and therefore therein you have erred from the truth. And now, Autinomista, that I may also know your judgment, when you say the law ought not to be a rule of life to a believer, pray tell me what law you mean ?

Ant. Why, I mean the law of the ten commandments.

Evan. But whether do yon mean that law, as it is the matter of the law of works, or as it is the matter of the law of Christ ?

Ant. Surely, sir, 1 do conceive, that the ten commandments are no way to be a rule of life to a believer; for Christ hath delivered him from them.

Evan. But the truth is, the law of the ten commandments, as it is the matter of the law of Christ, ought to be a rule of life to a believer; b and therefore you having affirmed the contrary, have therein also erred from the truth.

God, Creator of the world? lsa. xlvii. 4; Jer. xxiii. 6 ; with Psalm lxxxiii. 18; John i. 3 ; Rev. iii. 14. Is not the name (or sovereign authority) of God in Christ; Exod. xxiii. 21. Is not he in the Father, and the Father in him? John xiv. Nay, doth not all the fulness of the Godhead dwell in him ? Col. ii. 9. How then can the original obligation of the law of the ten commandments, arising from the authority of the Creator, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be weakened by its being issued unto the believer from and by that blessed channel, the Lord Jesus Christ)'

As for the distinction betwixt the law of faith aud the law of Christ, the latter is subordinated unto the former. All men by nature are under the law of works ; but taking the benefit of the law of faith, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are set free from the law of works, and brought under the law of Christ. Matth. xi. 28, 29, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden—take my yoke upon you."

b The law of the ten commandments, being the natural law, was written on Adam's heart on his creation ; while as yet it was neither the law of works, nor the law of Christ, in the sense wherein these terms are used in Scripture, and by our author. But after man was created, and put into the garden, this natural law, having made man liable to fall away from God, a threatening of eternal death in case of disobedience, had also a promise of eternal life annexed to it in case of obedience ; in virtue of which he, having done his work, might thereupon plead and demand the reward of eternal life. Thus it became the law of woiks, whereof the ten cemmandments were, and are still the matter. All mankind being ruined by the breach of this law, Jesus Christ obeys and dies in the room of the elect, that they might be saved ; they bei'iif united to him by faith, are, through his obedience and satisfaction imputed to thtm,

Vol. VII. h

Nom. The truth is, sir, I must confess, I never took any notice of this threefold law, which, it seems, is mentioned in the New Testament.

Ant. And I must confess, if I took any notice of them, I never understood them.

Evan. Well, give me leave to tell yon, that so far as any man comes short of the true knowledge of this threefold law, c so far he comes short both of the true knowledge of God and of himself; and therefore I wish you both to consider of it.

Nom. Sir, if it be so, you may do well to be a means to inform us, and help us to the true knowledge of this threefold law; and therefore, I pray you first tell us what is meant by the law of works.

freed from eternal death, and become heirs of everlasting life ; so that the law of works being fully satisfied, expires as to them, as it would have done of course in the case of Adam's having stood the time of his trial ; howbeit it remains in full force as to unbelievers. But the natural law of the ten commandments (which can never expire or determine, but is obligatory in all possible states of the creature, in earth, heaven, or bell) is, from the moment the law of works expires as to believers, issued forth to them (still liable to infirmities, though not to falling away like Adam) in the channel of the covenant of grace, bearing a promise of help to obey, (Ezek. xxxvi. 27,) and, agreeable to their state before the Lord, having annexed to it a promise of the tokens of God's fatherly love, for the sake of Christ, in case of that obedience ; and a threatening of God's fatherly displeasure in case of their disobedience. John xiv. 21. " He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father ; and I will love him and will manifest myself to him." Psalm lxxxix. 31—33. " If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments ; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." Thus it becomes the law of Christ to them ; of which law also the same ten commandments are likewise the matter. In the threat-enings of this law there is no revenging wrath ; and in the promises of it no proper conditionally of works j but here is the order in the covenant of grace, to which the law of Christ belongs ; a beautiful order of grace, obedience, particular favours, and chastisements for disobedience. Thus the ten commandments stand, both in the law of works and in the law of Christ at the same time, being the common matter of both ; but as they are the matter of (i. e. stand in) the law of works, they are actually a part of the law of works ; howbeit, as they are the matter of, or stand in, the law of Christ, they are actually a part, not of the law of works, but of the law of Christ. And ;is they stand in the law of Christ, our author expressly asserts, against the Antinomi.in, that they ought to be a rule of life to a believer ; but that they ought to be a rule of life to a believer, as they stand in the law of works, he justly denies, against the legalist. Even as when one and the same crime stands forbidden in the laws of different independent kingdoms, it is manifest that the rule of life to the subjects in that particular is the prohibition, as it stands in the law of that kingdom, whereof they are subjects respectively, and not as it stands in the law of that kingdom of which they are not subjects.

c Not of the terms here used to express it by, but of the things thereby meant, viz. th e covenant of works, the covenant of grace, and the law as a rule of life to believers, in whatever terms these things be expressed.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE LAW, OR COVENANT OF WORKS.

Sect. I. The nature of the Covenant of Works 2. Adam's Fall.—3. The Sinfulness and Misery of Mankind by the Fall.—4. No recovery by the Law, or Covenant of Works.—5. The Covenant of Works binding, though broken.

§ 1. Evan. The law of works, opposed to the law of faith, (Rom. iii. 27,) holds forth as much as the covenant of works; for it is manifest, says Musculns, that the word which signifies covenant, or bargain, is put for law: so that you see, the law of works is as much as to say, the covenant of works; the which covenant the Lord made with all mankind in Adam before his fall; the sum whereof was, " Do this, and thou shalt live," Lev. xviii. 5, " And if thou do it not, thou shalt die the death," Gen. ii. 17. In which covenant there was contained, first, a precept, " Do this ;" secondly, a promise joined unto it, " If thou do it thou shalt live ;" thirdly, a like threatening, " If thou do it not, thou shalt die the death." Imagine, says Musculus, that God had said to Adam, Lo, to the intent that thou mayest live, I have given thee liberty to eat, and have given thee abundantly to eat: let all the fruits of paradise be in thy power, one tree excepted, which see thou touch not, for that I keep to mine own authority : the same is " the tree of knowledge of good and evil;" if thou touch it, the meat thereof shall not be life, but death.

Norn. But, sir, you said, that the law of the ten commandments, or moral law, may be said to be the matter of the law of works; and you have also said, that the law of works is as much as to say the covenant of works; whereby it seems to me, you hold that the law of the ten commandments was the matter of the covenant of works, which God made with all mankind in Adam before his fall.

Evan. That is a truth agreed upou by all authors and interpreters that I know. And indeed the law of works (as a learned author says,) signifies the moral law; and the moral law, strictly and properly taken, signifies the covenant of works, d

d The moral law is an ambiguous term among divines. (1.) The moral law is taken for the decalogue, or ten commandments, simply. So the law in the ten commandments is owned to be commonly called the moral law, Westmin Confes. chap. six. art. 2, 3. And thus our author has hitherto used that term, reckoning the moral law not the covenant of works itself, but only the matter of it. (2.1 The moral law is taken for the ten commandments, having the promise of life, and threat, ening of death annexed to ihem ; that is for the law, or covenant, of works. Thus

l2

Nom. But, sir, what is the reason you call it but the matter of the covenant of works ?

Evan. The reason why I rather choose to call the law of the ten commandments the matter of the covenant of works, than the covenant itself, is, because I conceive that the matter of it cannot properly be called the covenant of works, except the form be put upon it; that is to say, except the Lord require, and man undertake to yield perfect obedience thereunto, upon condition of eternal life and death.

And therefore, till then, it was not a covenant of works betwixt God and all mankind in Adam; as, for example, you know, that although a servant e have an ability to do a master's work; and though a master have wages to bestow upon him for it, yet is there not a covenant betwixt them till they have thereupon agreed. Even so, though a man at the first had power to yield perfect and perpetual obedience to all the ten commandments, and God had an eternal life to bestow upon him; yet was there not a covenaut betwixt them till they were thereupon agreed.

Nom. But, sir, you know there is no mention made in the book of Genesis of this covenant of works, which, you say, was made with man at first.

the moral law is described to be, " Tbe declaration of tbc will of God to mankind, directing and binding every one to personal, perfect, and perpetual conformity and obedience thereunto, in tbe frame and disposition of the whole man, soul and body, and in performance of all tbese duties of boliness and righteousness, wbich he oweth to God and man ; promising life upon the fulfilling, and threatening death upon the breach of it."— Larger Catech. quest. 93. That this is the covenant of works, is clear from Westm. Confes. chap. xix. art. 1, " God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience ; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it." And this our author owns to be the sense of that term, strictly and properly taken ; tbe reason whereof I conceive to be, that the moral law properly signifying tbe law of manners, answers to the Sciipture term, the law of works, by which is meant the covenant of works. And if he had added, that in this sense believers are delivered from it, he had no more said than the Larger Catechism doth, in these words ; " They that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral law as a covenant of works." Quest. 97. But in the meantime it is evident, he does not here use that term in this sense ; and in the next paragraph, save one, he gives a reason why he doth not so use it.

e Not a hired servant, for there is a covenant betwixt such an one and tbe master ; but a bond-servant, bought with money, of another person, or born in the master's house ; who is obliged to serve his master, and is liable to punishment in case he do not, but cannot demand wages, since there is no covenant between them.

This was the case of mankind, with relation to the Creator, before the covenant of works was made.

V

Evan. Though we read not the word " covenant" betwixt God and man, yet have we there recorded what may amount to as much ; for God provided and promised to Adam eternal happiness, and called for perfect obedience ; which appears from God's threatening, Gen. ii. 17; for if man must die if he disobeyed, it implies strongly, that God's covenant was with him for life, if he obeyed.

Norn. But, sir, you know the word " covenant" signifies a mutual promise, bargain, and obligation betwixt two parties. Now, though it is implied, that God promised man to give him life if he obeyed, yet we read not, that man promised to be obedient.

Evan. I pray take notice, that God does not always tie man to verbal expressions, but doth often contract the covenant in real impressions in the heart and frame of the creature,/ and this was the manner of covenanting with man at the first; g for God had furnished his soul with an understanding mind, whereby he might \ discern good from evil, and right from wrong : and not only so, but also in his will was most great uprightness, Eccl. vii. 29, and his instrumental parts h were orderly framed to obedience. The truth is, God did engrave in man's soul wisdom and knowledge of his will and works, and integrity in the whole soul, and such a fitness in all the powers thereof, that neither the mind did conceive, nor the heart desire, nor the body put in execution, any thing but that which was acceptable to God; so that man, endued with these qualities, was able to serve God perfectly.

Nom. But, sir, how could the law of the ten commandments be the matter of this covenant of works, when they were not written, as you know, till the time of Moses ?

Evan. Though they were not written in tables of stone until the time of Moses, yet were they written in the tables of man's heart in the time of Adam : for we read that man was created in the image or likeness of God, Gen. i. 27. And the ten commandments are a doctrine agreeing with the eternal wisdom and justice that is

/The soul approving, embracing, and consenting to the covenant; which, without any more, is plain language, though not unto men, yet unto God, who knoweth the heart.

g The covenant being revealed to man created after God's own image, he could not but perceive the equity and benefit of it; and so heartily approve, embrace, accept, and consent to it. And this accepting is plainly intimated in Eve's words to the serpent, Gen. iii. 2, 3, " We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden ; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."

h Executive faculties and powers, whereby the good known and willed was to be done.

^

THE MARROW OF

in God; wherein he hath so painted out his own nature, that it does in a manner express the very image of God, Col. iii. 10. And does not the apostle say, (Eph. iv. 24.) that the image of God con-| sists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness ? And is not knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, the perfection of hoth the tables of the law ? And indeed, says Mr. Rollock, it could not well stand with the justice of God, to make a covenant with man, under the condition of holy and good works, and perfect obedience to his law, except he had first created man holy and pure, and engraven his law in his heart, whence those good works should proceed.

Nom. But yet I cannot but marvel that God, in making the covenant with man, did make mention of no other commandment than that of the forbidden fruit.

Evan. Do not marvel at it: for by that one species of sin, the whole genus or kind is shown; as the same law, being more clearly unfolded, doth express, Deut. xxviii. 26; Gal. iii. 10. And, indeed, in that one commandment the whole worship of God did consist; as obedience, honour, love, confidence, and religious fear; together with the outward abstinence from sin, and reverend respect to the voice of God ; yea, herein also consisted his love, and so his whole duty to his neighbour; i so that, as a learned writer says, Adam

I heard as much (of the law) in the garden, as Israel did at Sinai;

I but only in fewer words, and without thunder.

Nom. But, sir, ought not man to have yielded perfect obedience to God, though this covenant had not been made betwixt them.

Evan. Yea, indeed; perfect and perpetual obedience was due from man unto God, though God had made no promise to man; for when God created man at first, he put forth an excellency from himself into him; and therefore it was the bond and tie that lay upon man to return that again unto God; k so that man being God's creature, by the law of creation, he owed all obedience and subjection to God his creator.

Nom. Why then was it needful that the Lord should make a covenant with him, by promising him life, and threatening him with death ?

i That one commandment was in effect a summary of the whole duty of man ; the which clearly appears, if one considers that the breach of it was a transgressing of all the ten commandments at once, as our author afterwards distinctly shows.

k God having given man a being after his own image, a glorious excellency, it was his natural duty to make suitable returns thereof unto the giver, in a way of duty, being, and acting for him ; even as the waters, which originally are from the sea, do m brooks and rivtrs return to the sea again. Man, being of God as his first cause, behoved to be to him as his chief and ultimate end, Rom. xi. 36.

Evan. For answer hereunto in the first place, I pray you understand, that man was a reasonable creature; and so, out of judgment, discretion, and election, able to make choice of his way; and therefore it was meet there should be such a covenant made with him, that he might, according to God's appointment serve him after a reasonable manner. Secondly, It was meet there should be such a covenant made with him, to show that he was not such a prince on earth, but that he had a sovereign Lord ; therefore God set a punishment upon the breach of his commandment; I that man might know his inferiority, and that things betwixt him and God were not as betwixt equals. Thirdly, It was meet there should be such a covenant made with him, to show that he had nothing by personal, immediate, and underived right, but all by gift and gentleness: so that you see it was an equal covenant, m which God, out of his prerogative-royal, made with mankind in Adam before his fall.

Nam. Well, sir, I do perceive that Adam and all mankind in him were created most holy.

Evan. Yea, and most happy too : for God placed him in paradise in the midst of all delightful pleasures and contents, wherein he did enjoy most near and sweet communion with his Creator, in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures evermore, Psal. xvi. 11. So that if Adam had received of the tree of life, by taking and eating of it, while ho stood in the state of in-nocency before his fall, he had certainly been established in a happy estate for ever, and could not have been seduced and supplanted by Satan, as some learned men do think, and as God's own words seem to imply, Gen. iii. 22. n

l The punishment of death, upon the breach of his commandment touching the forbidden fruit.

m That is, an equitable covenant, fair and reasonable.

n The author says, that some learned men think so, and that the words, Gen. iii. 22, seem to imply so much; but all this amounts not to a positive determination of the point. The words are these, " Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil ; and now lest he put forth bis hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever," &c. Whether or not these words seem to imply some such things, I leave to the judgment of the reader, whom I incline not to entertain with mine own or others' conjectures upon this head ; but three things I take to be plain, and beyond conjecture, in this text, (1.) That there is no irony nor scoff here, as many thiuk there is; but on the contrary a most pathetic lamentation over fallen man. The literal version and sense of the former part of the text runs thus : " Behold the man that was one of us," &c. compare for the version, Lam. iii. 1 ; Psal. iii. 7, and

for the sense, Gen. i. 26, 27, "And God said, Let Us make man in our onn image

So God created man in his own image," &c. The latter part of the text I would read thus, " And eat that he may live for ever." Compare for this version, Exod. iv. 23 ;

§ 2. Norn. But it seemetli that Adam did not continue in that holy and happy estate.

Evan. No indeed; for he disobeyed God's express command, in eating the forbidden fruit, and so became guilty of the breach of the covenant.

Nom. But, sir, how could Adam, who had his understanding so sound, and his will so free to choose good, be so disobedient to God's express command.

Evan. Though he and his will were both good, yet were they mutably good ; so that he might stand or fall at his own election or choice.

Nom. But why then did not the Lord create him immutable? or why did he not so overrule him in that action, that he might not have eaten the forbidden fruit ? o

Evan. The reason why the Lord did not create him immutable, was because he would be obeyed out of judgment and free choice and not by fatal necessity and absolute determination; p and withal, let me tell you, it was not reasonable to restrain God to this point, to make them such an one as would not, nor could not sin at all, for it was at his choice to create him how he pleased. But why he did not uphold him with strength of stedfast continuance; that resteth hidden in God's secret council./) Howbeit, this we may certainly

] Sam. vi. 8. It is evident the sentence is broken off abruptly, tbe words, *' I wilj drive him out," being suppressed ; even as in the case of a father, with sighs, sobs, and tears, putting his son out of doors. (2.) That it was God's design, to prevent Adam's eating of the tree of life, as he had of the forbidden tree, " lest he take also of the tree of life ;" thereby mercifully taking care that our fallen father, to whom the covenant of grace was now proclaimed, might not, according to the corrupt natural inclination to fallen mankind, run back to the covenant of works for life and salvation, by partaking of the tree of life, a sacrament of that covenant, and so reject the covenant of grace, by eating of that tree now, as he had before broken the covenant of works, by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (3.) That at this time Adam did think, that by eating of the tree of life he might live for ever. Farther I dip not here in this matter.

o These are two distinct questions, both of them Datively arising from a legal temper of Spirit: and I doubt if ever the heart of a sinner shall receive a satisfying answer as to either of them, until it come to embrace the gospel-way of salvation: taking up its everlasting rest in Christ, for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

p Immutability, properly so called, or absolute unchangeableness, is an incommunicable attribute of God, Mai. iii. 6; Jam. i. 17, and mutability, or changeableness, is so of the nature of a creature, that it should cease to be a creature, or a dependant being, if it should cease to be mutable. But there is an immutability, improperly so called, which is competent to the creature, whereby it is free from beiDg actually liable to change in some respect; the which, in reference to man may be considered two ways; 1. As putting him beyond the hazard of change by another band than bis own. 2. As putting him beyond the hazard of change by hiuis. It. In the former sense, man nas indeed made immutable in point of moral goodness; for

conclude, that Adam's state was such as served to take away from him all excuse; for he received so much, that of his own will he wrought his own destruction ; q because this act of his was a wilful transgression of a law, under the precepts whereof he was most justly created; and unto the malediction whereof he was as necessarily and righteously subject, if he transgressed: for, as being God's creature, he was to be subject to his will; so by being God's prisoner, he was as justly subject to his wrath ; and that so much the more, by how much the precept was most just, the obedience more easy, the transgression more unreasonable, and the punishment more certain.

§ 3. Norn. And was Adam's sin and punishment imputed unto his whole offspring ?

Evan. Yea, indeed ; for says the apostle, Rom. v. 12, " Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;" or, in whom all have sinned, that is, in Adam. The very truth is, Adam by his fall threw down our whole nature r headlong into the same destruction, and drowned his whole offspring in the same gulf of misery, s And the reeson is, because, by God's appointment, he was not to stand or fall as a single person only, but as a common public person, representing all mankind to come of him : t therefore as all that happiness, all those gifts, and endowments, which were bestowed upon him, were not bestowed upon him alone, but also upon the whole nature of man, r and as that covenant which was made with him, was made with the whole of mankind; even so he by

lie could only be made sinful or evil by himself, and not by any other. If he had been made immutable in the latter sense, that immutability behoved either to have been woven into his very nature, or else to have arisen from confirming grace. Now God did not create man thus immutable in his nature ; which is it at the first question aims ; and that for this very good reason, viz. that, at that rate man would have obeyed by fatal necessity and absolute determination, as one not having so much as a remote power in his nature to change himself. And neither glorified saints, nor angels are thus immutable; their immutability in goodness entirely depending on confirming grace. As for immutability by confirming grace, which is it that the second question aims at, it is conferred on glorified saints and angels ; but why it was not afforded to Ailam at his creation, our author wisely declines to give any reason. "The reason, says he, why the Lord did not create him immutable was, because, &c. ; but why he i!id uphold him with strength of stedfast continuance, that resteth hidden in God's secret cuunsel.'

q That is, he received so much strength, that it was not of weakness, but wilfulness, that he destroyed himself.

r That is, all mankind. s With himself.

t By virtue of the blessing of fruitfulness given before the fall.

breaking covenant lost all, as well for us as for himself. As he received all for himself and us, so he lost all both for himself and us.

Nom. Then, sir, it seemeth, by Adam's breach of covenant, all mankind were brought into a miserable condition ?

Evan. All mankind by the fall of Adam received a twofold damage : First, A deprivation of all original goodness. Secondly, An habitual natural proneness to all kind of wickedness. For the image of God, after which they were created, was forthwith blotted out; and in place of wisdom, righteousness, and true holiness, came blindness, uncleanness, falsehood, and injustice. The very truth is, our whole nature u was thereby corrupted, defiled, deformed, depraved, infected, made infirm, frail, malignant, full of venom, contrary to God ; yea, enemies and rebels unto him. So that, says Luther, this is the title we have received from Adam : in this one thing may we glory, and in nothing else at all; namely, that every infant that is born into this world, is wholly in the power of sin, death, Satan, hell, and everlasting damnation. Nay, says Musculus, " The whirlpool of man's sin in paradise is bottomless and unsearchable."

Nom. But, sir, methinks it is a strange thing that so small an offence, as eating of the forbidden fruit seems to be, should plunge the whole of mankind into such a gulf of misery.

Evan. Though at the first glance it seems to be a small offence, yet, if we look more wistfully v upon the matter, it will appear to be an exceeding great offence ; for thereby intolerable injury was done unto God; as first, His dominion and authority in his holy command was violated. Secondly, His justice, truth and power, in his most righteous threatenings, were despised. Thirdly, His most pure and perfect image, wherein man was created in righteousness and true holiness, was utterly defaced. Fourthly, His glory, which, by an active service, the creature should have brought to him, was lost and despoiled. Nay, how could there be a greater sin committed than that, when Adam at that one clap broke all the ten commandments ?

Nom. Did he break all the commandments, say you ? Sir, I beseech you shew me wherein.

Evan. 1. He chose himself another God when he follows the devil.

2. He idolized and deified his own belly; iu as the apostle's phrase is, " He made his belly his God."

3. He took the name of God in vain, when he believed him not.

u That is, all mankind. v That is, earnestly. u' That is, as the aposlle'n, &c.

4. He kept not the rest and estate wherein God had set him.

5. He dishonoured his Father who was in heaven; and therefore his days were not prolonged in that land which the Lord his God had given him.

6. He massacred himself and all his posterity.

7. From Eve he was a virgin, but in eyes and mind he committed spiritual fornication.

8. He stole, like Achan, that which God had set aside not to be middled with; and this his stealth is that which troubles all Israel, : —the whole world.

9. He bear witness against God, when he believed the witness of the devil before him.

10. He coveted an evil covetousness, like Ammon, which cost him his life, x and all his progeny. Now, whosoever considers what a nest of evils here were committed at one blow, must needs, with Musculus, see our case to be such, that we are compelled every way to commend the justice of God, y and to condemn the sin of our first parents, saying concerning all mankind, as the prophet Hosea does concerning Israel, " 0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself," Hos. xiii. 9.

§ 4. Nom. But, sir, had it not been possible for Adam both to have holpen himself and all his posterity out of this misery, by renewing the same covenant with God, and keeping it so afterwards ?

Evan. No, by no means ; for the covenant of works was a covenant no way capable of renovation. * When he had once broke it, he was gone for ever; because it was a covenant between two friends, but now fallen man was become au enemy. And besides, it was an impossible thing for Adam to have performed the conditions which now the justice of God did necessarily require at his hands ; for he was now become liable to the payment of a double debt, viz. the debt of satisfaction for his sin committed in time past, and the debt of perfect and perpetual obedience for the time to come ; and he was utterly unable to pay either of them.

x 2 Sam. xiii. y That is, to justify God.

2 The covenant of works could by no means be renewed by fallen Adam, so as thereby to help himself and his posterity out of this misery, the which is the only hing in question here; otherwise, indeed, it might have been renewed, which is evident by this sad token, that many do actually renew it in their covenanting with God, being prompted thereto by their ignorance of the high demands of the law, their own utter inability, and the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. And from the same principle our legalist here makes no question but Adam might have renewed it, and kept it ton, for the after-time; only, he questions whether or not Adam might thereby have helped himself, and his posterity too, out of the misery they were brought iuto by his sin.

Nom. "Why was he unable to pay the debt of satisfaction for his sin committed in time past ?

Evan. Because his sin in eating the forbidden fruit (for that is the sin I mean,) a was committed against an infinite and eternal God, and therefore merited an infinite and eternal satisfaction ; which was to be either some temporal punishmeut, equivalent to eternal damnation, or eternal damnation itself. Now Adam was a finite creature, therefore, between finite and infinite there could be no proportion; so that it was impossible for Adam to have made satisfaction by any temporal punishment; and if he had undertaken to have satisfied by an eternal punishment, he should always have been satisfying, and never have satisfied, as is the case of the damned in hell.

Nom. And why was he unable to pay the debt of perfect and perpetual obedience for the time to come ?

Evan. Because his former power to obey was by his fall utterly impaired; for thereby his understanding was both enfeebled and drowned in darkness: and his will was made perverse, and utterly deprived of all power to will well; and his affections were quite set out of order; and all things belonging to the blessed life of the soul were extinguished, both in him and us; so that he was become impotent, yea, dead, and therefore not able to stand in the lowest terms to perform the meanest condition. The very truth is, our father Adam falling from God, did, by his fall, so dash him and us all in pieces, that there was no whole part left, either in him or us, fit to ground such a covenant upon. And this the apostle witness-eth, both when he says " We are of no strength;" and, " The law was made weak, because of the flesh," Rom. v. 6, and viii. 3.

Nom. But, sir, might not the Lord have pardoned Adam's sin without satisfaction ?

Evan. 0 no! for justice is essential in God, and it is a righteous thing with God, that every transgression receive a just recompense : b and if recompense be just, it is unjust to pardon sin without satisfaction. And though the Lord had pardoned and forgiven his former transgression, and so set him in his former condition of amity and friendship, yet, having no power to keep the law perfectly, he could not have continued therein, c

a That being the sin in which all mankind fell with him, Rom. v. 15.

6 2 Thess. i. 6, " Seeing it is a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you." Heb. ii. 2, "Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense."

c But would have sinned again, and so fallen under the curse anew.

Norn. And is it also impossible for any of his posterity to keep the law perfectly ?

Evan. Yea, indeed, it is impossible for any mere man in the time of this life to keep it perfectly; yea, though he be a regenerate man; for the law requireth of man that he " love the Lord with all his heart, soul, and might;" and there is not the holiest man that lives, but he is flesh as well as spirit in all parts and faculties of his soul, and therefore cannot love the Lord perfectly. Yea, and the law forbiddeth all habitual concupiscence, not only saying, " Thou shalt not consent to lust," but, " Thou shalt not lust:" it doth not only command the binding of lust, but forbids also the being of lust: and who in this case can say, My heart is clean ?

Ant. Then, Nomista, take notice, I pray, that as it was altogether impossible for Adam to return into that holy and happy estate wherein he was created by the same way went from it, d so is it for any of his posterity ; and therefore I remember one says very wittily, " The law was Adam's lease when God made him tenant of Eden ; the conditions of which bond when he kept not, he forfeited himself and all of us." God read a lecture of the law to him before he fell, to be a hedge to him to keep him in paradise; but when Adam would not keep within compass, this law is now become as the flaming sword at Eden's gate, to keep him and his posterity out.

§ 5. Norn. But, sir, you know, that when a covenant is broken, the parties that were bound are freed and released from their engagements ; and, therefore, methinks, both Adam and his posterity should have been released from the covenant of works when it was broken, especially considering they have no strength to perform tie condition of it.

Evan. Indeed it is true, in every covenant, if either party fail in his duty, and perform not his condition, the other party is thereby freed from his part, but the party failing is not freed till the other [release him ; and, therefore, though the Lord be freed from performing his condition, that is, from giving to man eternal life, yet so is not man from his part; no, though strength to obey be lost, yet man having lost it by his own default, the obligation to obedience remains still; so that Adam and his offspring are no more dis-

d Walking back by the way of the covenant of works, which he left by his sinning.

Object. " Do we then make void the law," (Rotn. iii. 31.) leaving an imputation of dishonour upon it, as a disregarded path, by pretending to return another way ? Answ. Sinners, being united to Christ by faith, return, being carried back the same way they came ; only their own feet never touch the ground, but the glorious Mediator, sustaining the persons of them all, walked every bit of the road exactly, Gal. iv. 5. Thus, in Christ, the way of free grace, and of the law, sweetly meet together ; and through faith we establish the law.

charged of their duties, because they have no strength to do them, than a debtor is quitted of his bond, because he wants money to pay it. And thus, Nomista, I have, according to your desire, endeavoured to help you to a true knowledge of the law of works.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE LAW OF FAITH, OR COVENANT OF GRACE.

Sect. 1. Of the eternal purpose of Grace 2. Of the Promise Of the performance

of the Promise.

Ant. I beseech you, sir, proceed to help us to the true knowledge of the law of faith.

Evan. The law of faith is as much as to say the covenant of grace, or the gospel, which signifies good, merry, glad, and joyfid tidings ; that is to say, that God, to whose eternal knowledge all things are present, and nothing past or to come, foreseeing man's fall, before all time purposed, e and in time promised,/and in the fulness of time performed, g the sending of his Son Jesus Christ into the world, to help and deliver fallen mankind, h

e2 Tim. i. 9, " Who had saved us according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Eph. iii. 11, " According to the eternal purpose, which be purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

/Rom, i. 1,2, " The gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy Scriptures."

g Gal. iv. 4, 5, " But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law."

h These are the good tidings, this is the law of faith i. e. the law to be believed for salvation, which the apostle plainly teacheth. Rom. i. 16, " The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ;" and, verse 17, " For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." In this last text, clouded with a great variety ef interpretations, I think there is a transposition of words to be admitted, and would read the whole verse thus : " For therein is revealed the righteousness of God by faith, unto faith ; as it is written, But the just by faith shall live." The key to this construction and reading of the words in the former part <f the verse, is, the testimony adduced by the apostle in the latter part of it, from Hab. ii. 4, where the original text appears to me to determine the version of that testimony as here offered. The sense is, the righteousness which is by faith, namely, the righteousness of Christ, the only righteousnsss in which a sinner can stand before God, is in the gospel revealed unto faith, i. e. to be believed. See a like phrase, 1 Tim iv. 3, translated after this manner.

SECT. I. OF THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OP GRACE.

Ant. I beseech you, sir, let us hear more of these things ; and first of all, show how we are to conceive of God's eternal purpose, in sending of Jesus Christ.

Evan. Why, here the learned frame a kind of conflict in God's holy attributes ; and by a liberty, which the Holy Ghost, from the language of the holy Scripture, alloweth them, they speak of God after the manner of men, as if he were reduced to some straits and difficulties, by the cross demands of his several attributes, i For Truth and Justice stood up and said, that man had sinned, and therefore man must die ; and so called for a condemnation of a sinful, and therefore worthily a cursed creature ; or else they must be violated : for thou saidst, (said they to God) " In that day that thou eatest of the tree of the knowlege of good and evil, thou shalt die the death." Mercy, on the other side, pleaded for favour, and appeals to the great court in heaven : and there it pleads, saying, "Wisdom and power, and goodness, have been all manifest in the creation : and anger and justice, have been maguified in man's misery that he is now plunged into by his fall: but I have not yet been manifested, j 0 let favour and compassion be shown towards man, wofully seduced and overthrown by Satan! 0 ! said they k unto God, it is a royal thing to relieve the distressed ; and the greater any one is, the more placable and gentle he ought to be. But Justice replied, If I be offended, I must be satisfied and have my right: and therefore I require, that man, who hath lost himself by his disobedience, should, for remedy, set obedience against it, and so satisfy the judgment of God. Therefore the wisdom of God became an umpire, and devised a way to reconcile them: concluding, that before there could be reconciliation made, there must be two things effected : (1.) A satisfaction of God's justice. (2.) A reparation of man's nature : which two things, must needs be effected by such a middle and common person that had both zeal towards God, that he might be satisfied; and compassion towards man, that he might be repaired : such a person, as having man's guilt and punishment translated on him, might satisfy the justice of God, and as having a fulness of God's Spirit and holiness in him, sanctify and

i " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? How shall I deliver thee Israel ? How Bhall 1 make thee as Admah ? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together." Hos. xi. 8.

j Mercy requires an object in misery.

A Favour and compassion.

repair the nature of man. I And this could be none other but Jesus Christ, one of the three persons of the blessed Trinity; therefore he, by his Father's ordination, his own voluntary offering, and the Holy Spirit's sanctification, was fitted for the business. Whereupon there was a special covenant, or mutual agreement made between God and Christ, as is expressed, Isa. liii. 10, that if Christ would make himself a sacrifice for sin, then he should " see his seed, he should prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper by him." So in Psalm Ixxxix. 19, the mercies of this covenant between God and Christ, under the type of God's covenant with David, are set forth : " Thou speakest in vision to thy holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon One that is mighty :" or, as the Chaldee expounds it, " One mighty in the law." As if God had said concerning his elect, I know that these will break, and never be able to satisfy me; but thou art a mighty and substantial person, able to pay me, therefore I will look for my debt of thee, m As Pareus well observes, God did, as it were, say to Christ, What they owe me I require all at thy hands. Then said Christ, " Lo I come to do thy will ? in the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will, 0 my God ! yea thy law is in my heart," Psalm xi. 7, 8. Thus Christ assented, and from everlasting struck hands with God, to put upon him man's person, and to take upon him his name, and to enter in his stead in obeying his Father, and to do all for man that he should require, and to yield in man's flesh the price of the satisfaction of the just judgment of God, and,

l As man lay in ruins by the fall, guilty and unclean, there stood in the way of his salvation by mercy designed, 1. The justice of God, which could not admit the guilty creature ; and, 2. The holiness of God, which could not admit the unclean and unholy creature to communion with him. Therefore, in the contrivance of his salvation, it was necessary that provision should be made for the satisfaction of God's justice, by payment of the double debt mentioned above ; namely, the debt of punishment, and the debt of perfect obedience. It was also necessary that provision should be made for the sanctification of the sinner, the repairing of the lost image of God in him. And man being as unable to sanctify himself, as to satisfy justice, (a truth which proud nature cannot digest,) the Saviour behoved, not only to obey and suffer in his stead, but also to have a fulness of the Spirit of holiness in him to communicate to the sinner, that his nature might be repaired through sanctification of the Spirit. Thus was the gioundwork of man's salvation laid in the eternal counsel; the sanctification of the sinner, according to our author, being as necessary to his salvation as the satisfaction of justice; for indeed the necessity of the former, as well as of the latter, ariseth from the nature of God, and therefore is an absolute necessity.

m That is, the debt which the elect owe to me. Thus was the covenant made betwixt the Father and the Son for the elect, that he should obey for them and die fur thom.

in the same flesh, to suffer the punishment that man had deserved; and this he undertook under the penalty that lay upon man to have undergone, n And thus was justice satisfied, and mercy by the Lord Jesus Christ; and so God took Christ's single bond; whence Christ is not only called the " surety of the covenant for us," Heb. vii. 22, but the covenant itself, Isa. xlix. 8. And God laid all upon him, that he might be sure of satisfaction; protesting that he would not deal with us, nor so much as expect any payment from us; such was his grace. And thus did our Lord Jesus Christ enter into the same covenant of works that Adam did to deliver believers from it: o he was contented to be under all that commanding, revenging authority, which that covenant had over them, to free them from the penalty of it; and in that respect, Adam is said to be a type of Christ, as you have it, Rom. v, 14, " "Who was the type of him that was to come." To which purpose, the titles which the apostle gives these two, Christ and Adam, are exceeding observable : he calls Adam the " first man," and Christ our Lord the " second man," 1 Cor. xv. 47: speaking of them as if there never had been any more men in the world besides these two; thereby making them the

n The Son of God consented to put himself in man's stead, in obeying his Father, and so to do all for man that his Father should require, that satisfaction should be made : farther he consented in man's nature, to satisfy and suffer the deserved punishment : that the same nature that sinned might satisfy: and yet farther, he undertook to bear the very same penalty that lay upon man, by virtue of the covenant of works, to have undergone ; so sisting himself a property sure for them, who as the author observes, must pay the same sum of money that the debtor oweth. This I take to be the author's meaning; but the expression of "Christ's undertaking under the penalty," &c. is harsh and unguarded.

o Our Lord Jesus Christ became surety for the elect in the second covenant, Heb. viii. 22; and in virtue of that suretyship, whereby he put himself in the room of the principal debtors, he came under the same covenant of works that Adam did; in so far as the fulfilling of that covenant in their stead was- the very condition required of him as the second Adam in the second covenant. Gal. iv. 4, 5, " God sent forth his Son—made under the law to redeem them that were under the law." Thus Christ put his neck uuder the yoke of the law as a covenant of works, to redeem them who were under it as such. Hence he is said to be the " end of the law for righte T ousness to every one that believeth," Rom. x. 4; namely the end for consummation, or perfect fulfilling of it by his obedi ence and death, which pre-supposeth his coming under it. And thus the law as a covenant of works was magnified and made honourable ; and it clearly appears how " by faith we establish the law," Rom. iii. 31. How then is the second covenant a covenant of grace? In respect of Christ, it was most properly and strictly a covenant of works, in that he made a proper, real, and full satisfaction in behalf of the elect ; but, in respect of them, it is purely a covenant of richest grace, in as much as God accepted the satisfaction from a surety, which he might have demanded of them ; provided the surety himself, and gives all to them lreely for his sake.

Vol. VII. m

head and root of all mankind, they having, as it were, the rest of the sons of men included in them. The first man is called the "earthy man;" the second man, Christ, is called the " Lord from heaven," 1 Cor. xv. 47. The earthy man had all the sons of men born into the world included in him, and is so called, in conformity unto them, the " first man ;"p the second man, Christ, is called the " Lord from heaven," who had all the elect included in him, who are said to be the " first-born," and to have their " names written in heaven," Heb. xii. 23, and therefore are oppositely called "heavenly men :" so that these two, in God's account, stood for all the rest, q And thus you see, that the Lord, willing to show mercy to the fallen creature, and withal to maintain the authority of his law, took such a course as might best manifest his clemency and severity. Christ entered into covenant, and became surety for man, and so became liable to man's engagements : for he that answers as a surety must pay the same sum of money that the debtor oweth.

And thus have I endeavoured to show you, how we are to conceive of God's eternal purpose in sending of Jesus Christ to help and deliver fallen mankind. «,

SECT. II.—OF THE PROMISE.

Sect. 1. The Promise made to Adam.—2. The Promise renewed to Abraham.—3. The law, as the Covenant of Works, added to the Promise.—4. The Promise and Covenant with Abraham renewed with the Israelites.—5. The Covenant of Grace

under the Mosaic dispensation 6. The natural bias towards the Covenant of

Works.—7. The Antinomian faith rejected.—8. The evil of Legalism.

Sect. 1. Ant. I beseech you, sir, proceed also to the second thing; and first tell us, when the Lord began to make a promise to help and deliver fallen mankind.

Evan. Even the same day that he sinned, r which, as I suppose

p And so in relation to them, is called the "first man."

q Thus Adam represented all mankind in the first covenant, and Christ represented all the elect in the second covenant.—See the first note on the Preface.

r This our author does here positively assert, and afterwards confirm. And there is plain evidence for it from the holy Scriptures, which determines the time of the Lord's calling our guilty first parents before him, at the which time he gave them the promise. Gen. iii. 8, "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day ;" (Heb. " At the wind of that day," as Junius and Tremellius, Piscator, and Picherellus read it) ; the which, as soon as it began to blow, might convince them that their aprons of fig-leaves were not fit covers for their nakedness.

was the very same day he was created, s For Adam, by his sin, being become the child of wrath, and both in body and in soul subject to the curse, and seeing nothing due to him but the wrath and vengeance of God, he was " afraid, and sought to hide himself from the presence of God," Gen. iii. 10; whereupon the Lord promised Christ unto him, saying to the serpent, " I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;" he (that is to say, the seed of the woman, for so is the Hebrew text), " shall break thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This promise of Christ, the woman's seed, (ver. 15,) was the gospel; and the only comfort of Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, and the rest of the godly fathers, until the time of Abraham, t

s Our author is far from being singular in this opinion. The learned Gataker (upud Pol. Synop. Crit. in Gen. iii. 23,) owns it to be the common opinion, though he himself is of another mind, " That man fell, and was cast out of paradise, the same day in which he was created." And he tells us, (Ibid, in Psalm xlix. ]3,) that " Broughton does most confidently assert Adam not to have stood in his integrity so much as one day , and that he saith, out of Maimonides, This is held by all the Jews, as also by the Greek fathers." That this opinion is less received than formerly, is, if 1 mistake not, not a little owing to the cavils of the Dei->ts; who, to weaken the credit of the inspired history, allege it to be incredible that the events recorded Gen. i. 24—26; and ii. 7, 18, to the end of the third chapter, could all be crowded into

one day (See Nichol's Conference with a Theist.) The reasons to support it,

take from the learned Sharp, one of the six ministers banished in the year 1606. (Curs. Theol. Loc. de Peccato.) "Because of the devil's envy, who, it is likely could not long endure to see man in a happy state. 2. If man had stood more days, the blessing of marriage would have taken place, Adam would have known his wife, and begot a child without original sin. 3. The Sabbath was not so much appointed for meditating on the works of creation, as on the work of redemption. 4. It appears from the words of the serpent, and of the woman, that she had not yet tasted any fruit. 5. When the Holy Ghost speaks of the sixth day, Gen. i. and of the day of the fall, it is with He emphatic. (Compare Gen. i. ult. and iii. 8.) 6. He fell so soon, that the work of redemption might be the more illustrious, since man could not stand one day without the Mediator's help." How the Sabbath was broken by Adam's sin, though committed the day before, may be learned from the Larger Cate-chism, on the fourth commandment, which teaches, that " The Sabbath is to be sanctified—and to that end we are to prepare our hearts—that we may be the more fit for the duties of that day;" and that "the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment, are all omissions of the duties required," &c.

t In this promise was revealed, 1. Man's restoration unto the favour of God, and his salvation ; not to be effected by man himself, and his own works, but by another. For our first parents, standing condemned for breaking of the covenant of works, are not sent back to it, to essay the mending of the matter, which they had marred before; but a new covenant is purposed,—a Saviour promised as their only hope. 2. That this Saviour was to be incarnate, to become man, " the seed of the woman."

3. That he behoved to suffer; his heel, namely, his humanity, to be bruised to death.

4. That by his death he should make a full conquest over the devil, and destroy his

m2

Norn. I pray you, sir, what ground have you to think that Adam fell the same day he was created?

Evan. My ground for this opinion is Psalm xlix. 12; which text Mr. Ainsworth makes to be the 13th verse, and reads it thus, "But man in honour doth not lodge a night; he is likened unto beasts that are silenced." w That maybe minded, says he, both for the first man Adam, who continued not in his dignity, and for all his children.

Ant. But, sir, do you think that Adam and those others did understand that promised seed to be meant of Christ ?

works, who had now overcome and destroyed mankind ; and so recover the captives out of his hand: "he shall bruise thy head, viz. while thou bruisest his heel." This encounter was on the cross: there Christ treading on the serpent, it bruised his heel, but he bruised its head. 5. That he should not be held by death, but Satan's power should be broken irrecoverably; the Saviour being only bruised in the heel, but the serpent in the head. 6. That the saving interest in him, and his salvation, is by faith alone, believing tfce promise with particular application to one's self, and so receiving him, forasmuch as these things are revealed by way of a simple promise.

w " From this text the Hebrew doctors, also in Bereshit Rabba, do gather, that the glory of the first man did not night with him, and that in the beginning of the Sabbath his splendour was taken away from him, and he was driven out of Eden."— (Cartioright apud Pol. Synops. Crit. in Loc.) The learned Leigh, (in his Crit. Facr. in voc. Lun,~) citing this text, says, " Adam lodged not one night in honour, for so are the words, if they be properly translated." He repeats the same in his annotations on the book of Psalms, and points his reader to Ainsworth, whose version does evidently favour this opinion, and is here faithfully cited by our author, though without the marks of composition—" lodge a night," there being no such marks in my copy of Ainsworth's version or annotations, printed at London 1G39. However the word /are may signify, to abide or continue, it is certain the proper and primary signification of it is, to-night, (at, in, or with.) T must be allowed the use of this word to express the true import of the original one. Thus we have it rendered, Gen. xxviii. 11, "tarried all night." Judg. xix. 9, 10, 13, " Tarry all night—tarry that night— lodged all night." And since this is the proper and primary signification of the word, it is not to be receded from, without necessity; the which I cannot discover here. The text seems to me to stand thus, word for word, the propriety of the tenses also observed : " Yet Adam in honour could not night; he became like as the beasts, they were alke." Compare the Septuagint, and the vulgar Latin; with which, according to Pool, (in St/nop. Crit.') the Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic, do agree, though unhappy in not observing the difference between this and the last verse of the Psalm. Nothing can be more agreeable to the scope and context. Worldly men boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, verse 6, as if their houses should continue for ever, verse 1 1 ; and yet Adam, as happy as he was in paradise, continued not one night in his honour; it quickly left him; yea, he died, and in that respect became like the beasts; compare verse 14, " Like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed upon them." And after showing that the worldly man shall die, notwithstanding of his worldly wealth and honour, verse 19, this suitable memorial tor Adam's sons is repeated with a very small variation, verse 20, 21, " Adam was i n honour, but could not understand ; ho became," &c.

Evan. Who can make doubt, but that the Lord had acquainted Adam with Christ, betwixt the time of his sinning and the time of his sacrificing, though both on one day ?

Ant. But did Adam offer sacrifice ?

Evan. Can you make any question, but that the bodies of those beasts, whose skins went for a covering for his body, were immediately before offered in sacrifice for his soul ? Surely these skins could be none other but of beasts slain, and offered in sacrifice; for before Adam fell, beasts were not subject to mortality nor slaying. And God's clothing of Adam and his wife with skins signified, that their sin and shame was covered with Christ's righteousness. And, questionless, the Lord had taught him, that his sacrifice did signify his acknowledgment of his sin, and that he looked for the seed of the woman, promised to be slain in the evening of the world, thereby to appease the wrath of God for his offence ; the which, undoubtedly, he acquainted his sons Cain and Abel with, when he taught them also to offer sacrifice.

Ant. But how doth it appear that this his sacrificing was the very same day that he sinned ?

Evan. It is said, John vii. 3, concerning Christ, " That they sought to take him, yet no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come ;" but after that, when the time of his suffering was at hand, he himself said, John xii. 23, " The hour is come ;" which day is expressly set down by the Evangelist Mark to be the sixth day, and ninth hour of that day, when "Christ through the eternal Spirit offered up himself without spot to God," Mark xv. 34, 42. Now, if you compare this with Exod. xii. 6; you shall find that the paschal lamb, a most lively type of Christ was offered the very same day and hour, even the sixth day, and ninth hour of the day, which was at three of the clock in the afternoon : and the Scripture testifies, that Adam was created the very same sixth day; and gives us ground to think that he sinned the same day. And do not the before alleged Scriptures afford us warrant to believe that it was the very same hour of that day, Gen. i. 26 ; when Christ entered mystically and typically upon the work of redemption, in being offered as a sacrifice for Adam's sin ? x And surely we may

x That the promise was given the same day that Adam sinned, was evinced before: and from the history, Gen. iii. and the nature of the thing itself, one may reasonably conclude, that the sacrifices were annexed to the promise. And since the hour of Christ's death was all along the time of the evening sacrifice, it is very natural to reckon that it was also the hour of the first sacrifice ; even as the place on which the temple stood was at first designed by an extraordinory sacrifice on that spot, 1 Chron. xx. 18—28. and xxii, 1, "At three o'clock in the afternoon, Christ yielded up the

suppose, that the covenant (as you heard) being broken between God and Adam, justice would not have admitted of one hour's respite, before it had proceeded to execution, to the destruction both of Adam and the whole creation, had not Christ, at that very time, stood as the ram (or rather the lamb) in the bush, and stepped in to perform the work of the covenant. And hence I conceive it is, that Saint?/ John calls him the " Lamb slain" from the beginning of the world, z Rev. xiii. 8. For as the first state of creation was confirmed by the covenant which God made with man, and all creatures were to be upheld by means of observing the law and condition of that covenant; so that covenant being broken by man, the world should have come to ruin, had it not been as it were created anew, and upheld by the covenant of grace in Christ. Ant. Then, sir, you do think that Adam was saved ? Evan. The Hebrew doctors hold that Adam was a repentant sinner, and say, that he was by wisdom (that is to say by faith in Christ,) brought out of his fall; yea, and the Church of God doth hold, and that for necessary causes, that he was saved by the death of Christ; yea, says Mr. Vaughan, it is certain he believed the promise concerning Christ, in whose commemoration he offered continual sacrifice ; and in the assurance thereof he named his wife Hevah, that is to say, life, a and he called his son Seth, settled, or persuaded in Christ.

Ghost, (Mark xv. 34.) the very time when Adam had received the promise of this his passion for his redemption."— Liylitfoot on Acts ii. I.

y This word might well have been spared here ; notwithstanding that we so read in the title of the hook of the Revelation in our English Bibles ; and in like manner, in the titles of other books of the Testament, St. (J., e. Saint) Matthew, St. Luke, &c. ; it is evident, there is not such a word to be found in the titles of these books in the original Greek : and the Dutch translators have justly discarded it out of their translations. If it is to be retained, because John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, &c, were, without controversy, saints, why not on the same grounnd, Saint Moses, Saint Aaron, (expressly called " the Saint of the Lord ?" Psalm cvi. 16.) &c. No reason can he given of the difference made in this point, but that it pleased Antichrist to canonize these New Testament saints, but not the Old Testament ones. Canonizing is an act or sentence of the Pope, decreeing religious worship aud honours to such men or women departed, as he sees meet to confer the honour of saintship on. These honours are seven, and the first of them is, " That they are inrolled in the catalogue of saints, and must be accounted and called saints by all."— Billarmin Disp. torn. 1. Col. 1496. z The benefits thereof (viz, of Christ's redemption) " were communicated unto the elect from the beginning of the world in and by those promises, types, and sacrifices, wherein he was revealed, and signified to be the Seed of the woman which should bruise the serpent's head, and the Lamb slain from the banning of the world."— West. Confess, chap. 8. art. 6.

a So the Septuagint expounds it. Others, an enlivener, not doubting but Adam, in giving her this name, had the promised life-giving Seed, our Lord Jesus Christ, particularly in view, amongst the all living she was to be mother of.

Ant. Well, I am peasuaded that Adam did understand this seed of the woman to be meant of Christ.

Evan. Assure yourself, that not only Adam, but all the rest of the godly fathers did so understand it, as is manifest in the Thar-gum, or Chaldee Bible, which is the ancient translation of Jerusalem, has it thus: "Between thy son and her son :" adding further by way of comment, " So long, 0 serpent, as the woman's children keep the law, they kill thee ! and when they cease to do so, thou stingest them in the heel, and hast power to hurt them much ; but whereas for their harm there is a sure remedy, for thee there is none ; for in the last days they shall crush thee all to pieces, by means of Christ their king." And this was it which did support and uphold their faith until the time of Abraham. § 2. Ant. What followed then ?

Evan. Why, then, the promise was turned into a covenant with Abraham and his seed, and oftentimes repeated, that in his seed all nations should be blessed, b (Gen. xii. 3; xviii. 18; and xxii. 18.) which promise and covenant was the very voice itself of the gospel, it being a true testimony of Jesus Christ; as the apostle Paul beareth witness, saying, the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, (Gal. iii. 8.) saying, " In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And the better to confirm Abraham's faith in this promise of Christ, it is said, (Gen. xiv. 19,) that Melchisedec came forth and met him, and blessed him. Now, says the apostle, (Ileb. vii. 1—3, and vi. 20,) " This Melchisedec was a priest of the most high God, and king of righteousness, and king of peace, without father and without mother, and so like unto the Son of God, who is a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec ;" and both king of righte-

b The ancient promise given to Adam was the first gospel, the covenant of grace ; for man, by his fall, " having made himself incapable of life by the covenant of works, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant jof grace,'' Gen. iii. 15.— IVestm. Confess, chap. 7, art. 3. When that promise or covenant, in which the persons it respected were not expressly designed, was renewed, Abraham and his seed were designed exprsssly therein ; and so it became a covenant with Abraham and his seed. And the promise being still the same as to the substance of it, was often repeated, and in the repitition more fully and clearly opened. So Jesus Christ, revealed to Adam only as the seed of the woman, was thereafter revealed to Abraham as Abraham's own seed ; and thus was it believed and embraced unto salvation in the various revelations thereof. " God did seek Adam again, call upon him, rebuke his sin, convict him of the same; and, in the end, made unto him a most joyful promise, viz. that the seed of the woman should break down the serpent's head; that is, he should destroy the works of the devil; which promise, as it was repeated, and made more clear from time to time, so was it embraced with joy, and may con-

ousness and king of peace, (Jer. xxiii. 6; Isa. ix. 6); yea, and without father as touching his manhood, and without mother as touching his godhead. Whereby we are given to understand, that it was the purpose of God that Melchisedec should in these particulars, resemble the person and office of Jesus Christ the Son of God ; and so, by God's own appointment, be a type of him to Abraham, to ratify and confirm the promise made to him and his seed, in respect of the eternal covenant, c namely, that he and his believing seed should be so blessed in Christ, as Melchisedec had blessed him. d Nay, let me tell you more, some have thought it most probable, yea, and have said, if we search out this truth without partiality, we shall find that this Melchisedec, which appeared unto Abraham, was none other than the Son of God, manifest by a special dispensation and privilege unto Abraham in the flesh, who is therefore said to have " seen his day and rejoiced," e John viii. 56. Moreover, in Gen. xv. we read that the Lord did again confirm this covenant with Abraham; for when Abraham had divided the beasts, God came between the parts like a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, which,/as some have thought, did primarily typify the torment and rending of Christ; and the furnace and fiery lamp did typify the wrath of God running between, and yet did not consume the rent and torn nature. And the blood of circumcision did typify the blood of Christ; g and the resolved sacrificing of Isaac on Mount Moriah, by God's appointment, did prefigure aud foreshow, that by the offering up of Christ, the promised seed, in the very same place all nations should be saved. Now, this covenant thus made and confirmed with Abraham, was renewed with Isaac, (Gen. xxvi. 4,)

stantly {i. e. most stedfastly) be received of all the faithful, from Adam to Noe, and from Noe to Abraham, from Abraham to David, and so forth to the incarnation of Christ Jesus."— Old Confess, art. 4.

c That passed betwixt the Father and the Son from everlasting.

d Melchisedec was unto Abraham a type, to confirm him in the faith, that he and bis believing seed should be as really blessed in Christ, as he was by Melchisedec.

e This seems to me to be a more than groundless opinion, as being inconsistent with the Scripture account of Melchisedec, Gen. xiv. 18; Heb. vii. 1—4; howbeit it wants no patrons among the learned; the declaring of which is no just ground to fix it on our author, especially after his speaking so plainly of Christ and Melchisedec as two different persons a little before. The text, (John viii. 56,) alleged by the patrons of that opinion, makes nothing for their purpose: " for all (we mean the faithful fathers under the law) did see (viz. by faith) the joyful day of Christ Jesus, and did rejoice." Old Confess, art. 4.

f Namely, the passing of the furnace and burning Ian lp between the pieces.

g Heb. ix. 2'2, " And almost all things are by the law purged with blood : and without shedding of blood is no remission." Compare Gen. xvii. 14, " The uncir-cumciscd man-child shall be cut off from his people : he hath broken my covenant."

and made known unto Jesns Christ himself; for that man which wrestled with Jacob was none other but the man Christ Jesus; for himself said, that Jacob should be called Israel, a wrestler and pre-vailer with God; and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, because he had " seen God face to face." Gen. xxxii. 28, 30. And Jacob left it by his last will unto his children in these words, " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, till Shiloh come," Gen. xlix. 10; that is to say, of Judah shall kings come one after another, and many in number, till at last the Lord Jesus come, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords; or, as the Targum of Jerusalem and Onkelos do translate it, until Christ the anointed come.

Nom. But, sir, are you sure that this promised seed was meant of Christ ?

Evan. The apostle puts that out of doubt, Gal. iii. 16, saying, " Now unto Abraham and to his seed were these promises made, h He says not—and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and thy seed which is Christ." i And so no doubt but these godly patriarchs did understand it. w

Ant. But, sir, the great promise that was made to them, as I conceive, and which they seemed to have most regard to, was the land of Canaan.

Evan. There is no doubt but these godly patriarchs did see their heavenly inheritance (by Christ) through the promise of the land of Canaan, as the apostle testifies of Abraham, (Heb. xi. 9, 10,) saying, " He sojourned in a strange country, and looked for a city having foundations, whose builder is God." " "Whereby it is evident," says Calvin, (Instit. p. 204,) " that the height and eminency of Abraham's faith was the looking for an everlasting life in heaven." The like testimony he gives of Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, " All these died in the faith, j Heb. xi. 13; implying that they did not expect to receive the fruit of the promise till after death. And, therefore, in all their travels they had before their eyes the blessedness of the life to come ; and which caused old Jacob to say at his

h Namely of the promises of the everlasting inheritance, typifyed by the land of Canaan : the which promises see Gen. xii, 7 ; and xiii. 15.

i That is, Christ mystical, Christ and the Church, the head and the members ; vet so as the dignity of the head being still reserved—he is to be understood here primarily, which is sufficient for our author's purposes; and his members secondarily only.

j That these three, together with Abraham, are here meant by the apostle, and not these mentioned in the first seven verses of the chapter, if it is considered, that of them he spnke last, vers. 9, II. To none before them was the promise of Canaan given ; and they were the persons who had opportunity to have returned to the country whence they came out, ver. 15.

death, " Lord, I have waited for thy salvation," Gen. xlix. 18. The which speech the Chaldee paraphrase expounds thus, " Our father Jacob said not, I expect the salvation of Gideon, son of Joash, which is a temporal salvation, nor the salvation of Saiuson, son of Manoah, which is a transitory salvation, hut the salvation of Christ the Son of David, who shall come, and bring unto himself the sons of Israel, whose salvation my soul desireth." And so you see that this covenant, made with Abraham in Christ, was the comfort and support of these and the rest of the godly fathers, until their departure out of Egypt.

Ant. And what followed then ?

Evan. Why, then, Christ Jesus was most clearly manifested unto them in the passover lamb; for, as that lamb was to be without spot or blemish, (Exod. xii. 5.) even so was Christ, (1 Pet. i. 19.) And as that lamb was taken up the tenth day of the first new moon in March, even so on the very same day of the same month came Christ to Jerusalem to suffer his passion. And as that lamb was killed on the fourteenth day at even, just then, on the same day, and at the same hour, did Christ give up the ghost; and as the blood of that lamb was to be sprinkled on the Israelites' doors, (Exod. xii. 7-) even so is the blood of Christ sprinkled on believers' hearts by faith. 1 Pet. i. 2. And their deliverance out of Egypt was a figure of their redemption by Christ, k their passiug through the Red Sea was a type of baptism, I when Christ should come in the flesh, and their manna in the wilderness, and water out of the rock, did resemble the sacrament of the Lord's supper; and hence it is that the apostle says, (1 Cor. x. 2—4.) " They did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of

k That is, the deliverance of the Israelites oat of Egypt was a figure of the redemption of believers by Christ.

I Not that it prefigured or represented baptism as a proper and prophetical type thereof, though some orthodox divines seem to be of that mind ; but that (as the author expresses himself, in the case of the manna and the water out of the rock) it resembled baptism, being a like figure (or type) thereunto, as the apostle Peter determines, concerning Noah's ark with the waters of the deluge, (1 Pet. iii. 21.) even as the printer's types are types of the letters impressed on the paper, both signifying one and the same word. For the ancient church is expressly said to have been " baptized in the sea," (1 Cor. x. 1, 2.) and as the rock, with the waters flowing from it, did not signify the Lord's Supper, but the thing signified by that New Testament Sacrament, namely, Christ, (ver. 4.) so their baptism in the sea did not signify our baptism itself, but the thing represented thereby. And thus it was a type or figure answering to and resembling the baptism of the New Testament church; the one being an extraordinary sacrament of the Old Testament, and the other an ordinary sacrament of the New, both representing the same thing.

that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ." And when they were come to Mount Sinai, the Lord delivered the ten commandments unto them.

§ 3. Ant. But whether were the ten commandments, as they were delivered to them on Mount Sinai, the covenant of works or no ?

Evan. They were delivered to them as the covenant of works, m

Nom. But, by your favour, sir, you know that these people were the posterity of Abraham, and therefore under that covenant of grace which God made with their father ; and therefore I do not think that they were delivered to them as the covenant of works; for you know the Lord never delivers the covenant of works to any that are under the covenant of grace.

Evan. Indeed it is true, the Lord did manifest so much love to the body of this nation, that all the natural seed of Abraham were externally, and by profession under the covenant of grace made with their father Abraham ; though, it is to be feared, many of

m As to this point, there are different sentiments among orthodox divines ; though all of them do not agree, that the way of salvation was the same under the Old and New Testament, and that the Sinai covenant, whatever it was, carried no prejudice to the promise made unto Abraham, and the way of salvation therein revealed, but served to lead men to Jesus Christ. Our Author is far from being singular in this decision of this question. I adduce only the testimonies of three late learned writers. " That God made such a covenant (viz. the covenant of works) with our first parents, is confirmed by several parts of Scripture, Hos. vi. 7 Gal. iv. 24."— Willisons Sacr.

Cat. p. 3. The words of the text last quoted are these : " For these are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage." Hence it appears, that in the judgment of this author, the covenant from Mount Sinai was the covenant of works, otherwise there is no shadow of reason from this text for what it is adduced to prove. The Rev. Messrs Flint and M'Claren, in their elaborate and seasonable treatises against Professor Simpson's doctrine, (for which I make no question but their names will be in honour with posterity,) speak to the same purpose. The former having adduced the forecited text, Gal. iv. 24. says, Jam dua fozdera, Sfc. that is, " Now here are two covenants mentioned, the first the legal one, by sin rendered ineffectual, entered into with Adam, and now again promulgate." (Exam. Doctr. D. Job. Simp. p. 125.) And afterwards, speaking of the law of works, he adds, Atque hoc est Mud fcedus, Sfc. that is, " And this is that covenant promulgate on Mount Sinai, which is called one of the covenants," Gal. iv. 24. Ibid. p. 131. The words of the latter, speaking of the covenant of works, are these, " Yea, it is expressly called a covenant," Hos. vi. and Gal. iv. And Mr. Gillespie proves strongly, that Gal. iv. is understood of the covenant of works and grace. See his Ark of the Testament, part 1. chap. 5. p. 180. The New scheme examined, p. 176. The delivering of the ten commandments on Mount Sinai as the covenant of works, necessarily includes in it the delivering of them as a perfect rule of righteousness; forasmuch as that covenant did always contain in it such a rule, the true knowledge of which the Israelites were at that time in great want of, as our author afterwards teaches.

them were still under the covenant of works made with their father Adam, n

Norn. But, sir, you know, in the preface to the ten commandments the Lord calls himself by the name of their God in general; and therefore it should seem that they were all of them the people of God. o

Evan. That is nothing to the purpose : p for many wicked and

n The strength of the objection in the preceding paragraph lies here, namely, that at this rate, the same persons, at one and the same time, were both under the covenant of works, and under the covenant of grace, which is absurd. Answ. The unbelieving Israelites were under the covenant of grace made with their father Abraham extenally and by profession, in respect of their visible .church state ; but under the covenant of works made with their father Adam internally and really, in respect of the state of their souls before the Lord. Herein there is no absurdity ; for to this day many in the visible church are thus, in these different respects, under both covenants. Farther, as to believers among them, they were internally and really, as well as externally, under the covenant of grace; and only externally under the covenant of works, and that, not as a covenant co-ordinate with, but subordinate and subservient unto, the covenant of grace : and in this there is no more inconsistency than in the former.

o As delivered from the covenant of works, by virtue of the covenant of grace.

p That will not, indeed, prove them all to have been the people of God in the sense before given, for the reason here adduced by our author.

Howbeit, the preface to the ten commandments deserves a particular notice, in the matter, of the Sinai transaction, Exod. xx. 2, " 1 am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Hence it is evident to me, that the covenant of grace was delivered to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. For the Son of God, the messenger of the covenant of grace, spoke these words to a select people, the natural seed of Abraham, typical of his whole spiritual seed. He avoucheth himself to be their God ; namely, in virtue of the promise, or covenant made with Abraham, Gen. xvii. 7, " I will establish my covenant—to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee : and their God, which brought them out of the land of Egypt ; according to the promise made to Abraham at the most solemn renewal of the covenant with him, Gen. xv. 14, " Afterward shall they come out with great substance." And he first declares himself their God, and then requires obedience, according to the manner of the covenant with Abraham, Gen. xvii. 1, " 1 am the Almighty God (i e. in the language of the covenant, The almighty God to thee, to make thee for ever blessed through the promised seed) walk thou before me, and be thou perfect."

But that the covenant of works was also, for special ends, repeated and delivered to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, I cannot refuse, 1. Because of the apostle's testimony, Gal. iv. 24, " These are the two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai, which gen-dereth to bondage." For the children of this Sinai covenant the apostle here treats of, are excluded from the eternal inheritance, as Ishmael was from Canaan, the type of it, ver. 30, " Cast out the bond-woman and her son ; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman ;" but this could never be said of the children of the covenant of grace under any dispensation, though both the law and covenant from Sinai itself, and its children, were even before the coming of Christ under a sentence of exclusion, to be execute on them respectively in due time. 2. The Da-

ungodly men, being in the visible church, and under the external covenant, are called the chosen of God, and the people of God, though they be not so. In like manner were many of these

ture of the covenant of works is most expressly in the New Testament brought in, propounded, and explained, from the Mosaical dispensation. The commands of it from Exod. xx. by our blessed Saviour, Matth. xix. 17—19, " If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which ? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery," &c. The promise of it, Rom. x. 5, " Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doth these things shall live by them." The commands and promise of it together, see Luke x. 25—28. The terrible sanction of it, Gal. iii. 10, " For it is written, (viz. Deut. xxvii. 26,) Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." 3. To this may be added the opposition betwixt the law and grace so frequently inculcated in the New Testament, especially in Paul's epistles. See one text for all, Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them." 4. The law from Mount Sinai was a covenant, Gal. iv. 24, " These are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai ;" and such a covenant as had a semblance of disannuling the covenant of grace, Gal. iii. 17, " The covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was 430 years after, cannot disannul ;" yea, such a one as did, in his own nature, bear a method of obtaining the inheritance, >o far different from that of the promise, that it was inconsistent with it ; " For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise," Gal. iii. 18, wherefore the covenant of the law from Mount Sinai could not be the covenant of grace, unless one will make this last not only a covenant seeming to destroy itself, but really inconsistent ; but it was the covenant of works, which indeed had such a semblance, anil in its own nature did bear such a method as before noted ; howbeit, as Ainswoith says, " The covenant of the law now given could not disannul the covenant of grace," Gal. iii. 17.— Annot. on Exod. xix. I.

Wherefore I conceive the two covenants to have been both delivered on Mount Sinai to the Israelites. First, The covenant of grace made with Abraham, contained in the preface, repeated and promulgate there unto Israel, to be believed and embraced by faith, that they might be saved ; to which were annexed the ten commandments, given by the Mediator Christ, the head of the covenant, as a rule of life to his covenant people. Secondly, The covenant of works made with Adam, contained in the same ten commands, delivered with thunderings and lightnings, the meaning of which was afterwards cleared by Moses, describing the righteousness of the law aud sanction thereof, repeated and promulgate to the Israelites there, as the original perfect rule of righteousness, to be obeyed ; and yet were they no more bound hereby to seek righteousness by the law than the young man was by our Saviour's saying to him, Mat. xix. 17, 18, '' If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments—Thou shalt do no murdur," &c. The latter was a repetition of the former.

Thus there is no confounding of the two covenants of grace and works ; but the latter was added to the former as subservient unto it, to turn their eyes towards the promise, or covenant of grace: "God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law ? it was added, because of transgressions, till the Seed should come," Gal. iii. lo, 19. So it was unto the promise given to Abraham, that this subservient covenant was added ; and that promise we have found in the preface to the ten commands. To it, then, was the subservient covenant, according to the apostle, added, put, or set to, as the word properly signifies. So that it was no part

Israelites called the people of God, though indeed they were not so.

Nam. But, sir, was the same covenant of works made with them that was made with Adam ?

Evan. For the general substance of the duty, the law delivered on Mount Sinai, and formerly engraven in man's heart, was one and the same ; so that at Mount Sinai the Lord delivered no new thing, only it came more gently to Adam before his fall, but after his fall came thunder with it.

Nom. Ay, sir, but yourself said, the ten commandments, as they were written in Adam's heart, were but the matter of the covenant of works, and not the covenant itself, till the form was annexed to them, that is to say, till God and man were thereupon agreed : now we do not find that God and these people did agree upon such terms at mount Sinai.

Evan. No ; q say you so ? do you not remember that the Lord

of the covenant of grace, the which was entire to the fathers, before the time that it was set to it; and yet is, to the New Testament church, after that it is taken away from it: for, says the apostle, " It was added till the Seed should come." Hence it appears, that the covenant of grace wa9, both in itself, and in God's intention, the principal part of the Sinai transaction : nevertheless the covenant of works was the most conspicuous part of it, and lay most open to the view of the people.

According to this account of the Sinai transaction, the ten commands, there delivered, must come under a twofold notion or consideration; namely, as the law of Christ, and as the law of works : and this is not strange, if it is considered, that they were twice written on tables of stone, by the Lord himself,—the first tables the work of God, Exod. xxxii. 16, which were broken in pieces, verse 19, called the tables of the covenant, Deut. ix. 11, 15,—the second tables the work of Mose9, the typical Mediator, Exod. xxxiv. 1 ; deposited at first (it would seem) in the tabernacle, mentioned chap, xxxiii. 7, afterward, at the rearing of the tabernacle with all its furniture, laid up in the ark within the tabernacle, chap. xxv. 16 ; and whether or not some such thing is intimated, by the double accentuation of the decalogue, let the learned determine ; but to the ocular inspection it is evident, that the preface to the ten commands, Exod. xx. 2, and Deut. v. 6, stands in the original, both as a part of a sentence joined to the first command, and also as an entire sentence separated from it, and shut up by itself.

Upon the whole, one may compare with this the first promulgation of the covenant of grace, by the messenger of the covenant in paradise, Gen. iii. 15, and the flaming sword placed there by the same hand, " turning every way to keep the way of the Tree of Life."

q Here there is a large aJdition in the 9th edition of this book, London, 1699. It well deserves a place, and is as follows; " I do not say, God made the covenant of works with them, that they might obtain life and salvation thereby ; no, the law was become weak through the flesh, as to any such purpose, Rom. viii. 3. But he repeated, or gave a new edition of the law, and that as a covenant of works, for their humbling and conviction; and so do his ministers preach the law to unconverted sinners still, that they who " desire to be under the law may hear what the law says, Gal. iv. 21. And as to what you say of their not agreeing to this covenant, I pray

consented and agreed, when he said, (Lev. xviii. 5.) " Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them ;" and in Dent, xxvii. 26, when he said, " Cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this law, to do them ?" And do you not remember that the people consented, (Exod. xix. 8.) and agreed, when they said, " All that the Lord hath spoken we will do ?" And doth not the apostle Paul give evidence that these words were the form of the covenant of works, when he says, (Rom. x. 5.) " Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doeth these things shall live in them ;" and when he says, (Gal. iii. 10.) " For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them." r And in Deut. iv. 13, Moses in express terms calls it a covenant, saying, *' And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments, and he wrote them upon tables of stone." Now, this was not the covenant of grace ; for Moses afterwards, (Deut. v. 3.) speaking of this covenant, says, " God made not this covenant with your fathers, but with you;" and by " fathers" all the patriarchs unto Adam may be meant, (says Mr. Ainsworth,) who had the promise of the covenant of Christ, s Therefore, if it had been the covenant of grace,

take notice, that the covenant of works was made with Adam, not for himself only, but as he was a public person representing all his posterity, and so that covenant was made with the whole nature of man in him, as appears by Adam's sin and curse coming upon all, Rom. v. 12, &c.; Gai. iii. 10. Hence all men are born under that covenant, whether they agree to it or no ; though indeed there is by nature such a proneness in all to desire to be under that covenant, and to work for life, that if natural men's consent were asked, they would readily (though ignorantly) take upon them to do all that the Lord requireth ; for do you not remember," &c.

r That the conditional promise, Lev. xviii. 5. (to which agrees Exod. xix. 8, and the dreadful threatening, Deut. xxvii. 26.) were both given to the Israelites, as well as the ten commands, is beyond question ; and that according to the apostle, Rom. x. 5. Gal. iii. 10, they were the form of the covenant of works, is as evident as the repeating of the words, and expounding them so, can make it. How then one can refuse the covenant of works to have been given to the Israelites, I cannot see. Mark the Westminster Confession upon the head of the covenant of works : " The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience." And this account of the being and nature of that covenant is there proven from these very texts among others, Rom. x. 5. Gal. iii. 10. chap. 7. art. 2.

s " But the covenant of the law (adds he) came after, as the apostle observeth,

Gen. iii. 17 They had a greater benefit than their fathers ; for though the law could

not give them life, yet is was a school master unto (i. e.) to bring them unto Christ, Gal. iii. 21—24." Unsworth on Deut. v. 3.

he would have said, God did make this covenant with them, rather than that he did not. t

Norn. And do any of our godly and modern writers agree with you on this point?

Evan. Yes, indeed. Polanus says, " The covenant of works is that in which God promiseth everlasting life unto a man that in all respects performeth perfect obebience to the law of works, adding thereunto threatenings of eternal death, if he shall not perform perfect obedience thereto. God made this covenant in the beginning with the first man Adam, whilst he was in the first estate of integrity : the same covenant God did repeat and make again by Moses with the people of Israel." And Dr. Preston, on the New Covenant, (p. 317-) says, "The covenant of works runs iu these terms, " Do this aud thou shalt live, and I will be thy God." This was the covenant which was made with Adam, and the covenant that is expressed by Moses in the moral law." And Mr. Pemble (Yind. Fid. p. 152.) says, " By the covenant of works we understand what we call in one word, "the law," namely, that means of bringing man to salvation, which is by perfect obedience unto the will of God. Hereof there are also two several administrations: the first is with Adam before his fall, when immortality and happiness was promised to man, and confirmed by an external symbol of the tree of life, upon condition that he continued obedient to God, as well in all other things, as in that particular commandment of not eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The second administration of this covenant was the renewing thereof with the Israelites at Mount Sinai: where, after the light of nature began to grow darker and corruption had in time worn out the characters of religion aud virtue first graven in man's heart, u God revived the law by a compendious and full declaration of all duties required of man towards

t The transaction at Sinai or Horeb (for they are but one mountain) was a mixed dispensation ; there was the promise or covenant of grace, and also the law ; the one a covenant to be believed, the otber a covenant to be done, and thus the apostle states the difference betwixt these two, Gal. iii. 12, " And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. As to the former, viz. the covenant to be believed it was given to their fathers as well as to them. Of the latter, viz. the covenant to be done. Moses speaks expressly, Deut. iv. 12, 13. '* The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire, and he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform (<>r do) even ten commandments." And chap. v. 3, he tells the people no less expressly, that " The Lord made not this covenant with their fathers."

it That is, had worn them out, in the same measure and degree as the light of nature was darkened ; but neither the one nor the other was ever fully done, Rom. ii. 14, 15.

MODERN DIVINITY.

201

God or his neighbour, expressed in the decalogue ; according to the tenor of which law God entered into covenant with the Israelites, promising to be their God in bestowing upon them all blessings of life and happiness, upon condition that they would be his people, obeying all things that he had commanded; which condition they accepted of, promising an absolute obedience, (Exod. xix. 8.) "All thiugs which the Lord hath said we will do;" and also submitting themselves to all punishment in case they disobeyed, saying 'Amen' to the curse of the law, 'cursed is every one that confirmeth not all the words of the law; and all the people shall say Amen.'" And Mr. "Walker on the covenant, (p. 128.) says, that " the first part of the covenant, which God made with Israel at Horeb, was nothing else but a renewing of the old covenant of works v which God made with Adam in paradise." And it is generally laid down by our divines, that we are by Christ delivered from the law as it is a covenant, w

Norn. But, sir, were the children of Israel at this time better able to perform the condition of the covenant of works, than either Adam or any of the old patriarchs were, that God renewed it now with them, rather than before ?

Evan. No, indeed ; God did not renew it with them now, and not before, because they were better able to keep it, but because they had more need to be made acquainted what the covenant of works is, than those before. For though it is true the ten commandments, which were at first perfectly written in Adam's heart, were much obliterated x by his fall, yet some impressions and relics thereof still remained ; y and Adam himself was very sensible of his fall, and the rest of the fathers were holpen by tradition; z and, says

v Wherein 1 differ from this learned author as to this point, and for what reasons mav be seen, p. 196, note p.

w But not as it is a rule of life, which is the other member of that distinction.

x Both in the heart of Adam himself, and of his descendants in the first ages of the world.

y Both with him and them.

z The doctrine of the fall, with whatsoever other doctrine was necessary to salvation, was handed down from Adam, the fathers communicating the same to their children and children's children. There were but eleven patriarchs before the flood; 1. Adam, 2. Seth, 3. Enos, 4. Cainan, 5. Mahalaleel, 6. Jared, 7. Enoch, 8. Methuselah, 9. Lamech, JO. Noah, 11. Shem. Adam having lived 930 years, Gen. v. 5, wag known to Lamech, Noah's father, with whom he lived 66 years, and much longer with the rest of the fathers before him ; so that Lamech, and those before him, might have the doctrine from Adam's own mouth. Methuselah lived with Adam 243 years, and with Shem 98 years before the deluge. See Gen. v. And what Shem (who after the deluge, lived 502 years, Gen. xi. 10, 11,) had learned from Methuselah, he had occasion to teach Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Gen. xxi. 5, and Jacob, to whose 51st year he (viz. Shem) reached, Gen. xi.

Vol. VII. n

Cameron, " God did speak to the patriarchs from heaven, yea, and he spake unto them hy his angels :"« but now, by this time, sin had almost obliterated and defaced the impressions of the law written in their hearts ; b and by their being so long in Egypt, they were so corrupted, that the instructions and ordinances of their fathers were almost worn out of mind ; and their fall in Adam was almost forgotten, as the apostle testifies, Rom. v. 13, 14. saying, "Before the time of the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Nay, in that long course of time betwixt Adam and Moses, men had forgotten what was sin ; so, although God had made a promise of blessing to Abraham, and to all his seed, that would plead interest in it, c yet these people at this time were proud and secure, and heedless of their estate; and though " sin was in them, and death reigned over them," yet they being without a law to evidence this sin and death unto ther consciences, d they did not impute it unto themselves, they would not own it, nor charge themselves with it; and so by consequence found no need of pleading the promise made to Abraham ; e Rom. v. 20. therefore, " the law entered," that Adam's offeuce and their own actual transgression might abound, so that now the Lord saw it needful, that there should be a new edition and publication of the covenant of works, the sooner to compel the elect unbelievers to come to Christ the promised seed, and that the grace of God in Christ to the elect believers might appear the more exceeding glorious. So that you see the Lord's intention therein was, that they, by looking upon this covenant, might be put in mind what was their duty of old, when they were in Adam's loins; yea and what was their duty still, if they would stand to that covenant, and so go the old and natural

10; and xxi. 5; and xxv. 26, compared, (Vid. Bail. Op. Hist. Chrou. p. 2, 3.) Thus one may perceive, how the nature of the law and covenant of works given to Adam, might be far better known to them, than to the Israelites after their long bondage in Egypt.

a That is, and besides all this, God spake to the patriarchs immediately and by angels. But neither of these do we find during the time of the bondage in Egypt until the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the bush, and ordered him to go and bring the people out of Egypt, Exod. iii.

b The remaining impressions of the law on the hearts of the Israelites.

c By faith ; believing, embracing, and appropriating it to themselves, Heb. xi. 13 ; Jer. iii. 4.

d Inasmuch as the remaining impressions of the law on their hearts were so weak, that they were not sufficient for the purpose.

e By faith proponing it as their only defence, and opponing it to the demands of the law or covenant of works, as their only plea.

way to work ; yea, and hereby they were also to see what was their present infirmity in not doing their duty :/ that so they seeing an impossibility of obtaining life by that way of works, first appointed in Paradise, they might be humbled, and more heedfully mind the promise made to their father Abraham, and hasten to lay hold on the Messiah, or promised seed.

Nom. Then, sir, it seems that the Lord did not renew the covenant of works with them, to the intent that they should obtain eternal life by their yielding obedience to it?

Evan. No, indeed; God never made the covenant of works with any man since the fall, either with expectation that he should fulfil it, g or to give him life by it; for God never appoints any thing to an end, to the which it is utterly unsuitable and improper. Now the law, as it is the covenant of works, is become weak and unprofitable to the purpose of salvation;A and therefore God never appointed it to man, since the fall, to that end. And besides, it is manifest that the purpose of God, in the covenant made with Abraham, was to give life and salvation by grace and promise ; and therefore his purpose in renewing the covenant of works, was not, neither could be, to give life and salvation by working; for then there would have been contradictions in the covenants, and instability in him that made them. Wherefore let no man imagine that God published the covenant of works on Mount Sinai, as though he had been mutable, and so changed his determination in that covenant made with Abraham ; neither yet let any man suppose, that God now in process of time had found out a better way for man's salvation than he knew before; for as the covenant of grace made with Abraham had been needless, if the covenant of works made with Adam would have given him and his believing seed life; so, after the covenant of grace was once made, it was needless to renew the covenant of works, to the end that righteousness and life should be had by the observation of it. The which will yet more evidently appear, if we consider, that the apostle, speaking of the covenant of works as it was given on Mount Sinai, says, " It was added because of transgressions," Gal. iii. 19. It was not set up as a solid rule of righteousness, as it was given to

y^How far they came short of, aod could not reach unto the obedience they owed unto God, according to the perfection of the holy law.

<7 Nor before the fall neither, properly speaking ; but the expression is agreeable to Scripture style, Isa. v. 4, " Wherefore when I looked it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?"

h Rom. viii. 3, " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh; God sending his own Son," &c.

N 2

Adam in paradise, but was added or put to; i it was not set up as a thing in gross by itself.

Norn. Then, sir, it would seem that the covenant of works was added to the covenant of grace, to make it more complete ?

Evan. 0, no! you are not so to understand the apostle, as though it were added by way of ingrediency as a part of the covenant of grace, as if that covenant had been incomplete without the covenant of works; for then the same covenant should have consisted of contradictory materials, and so it should have overthrown itself; for, says the apostle, " If it be by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace: but if it be of works, then it is no more of grace ; otherwise work is no more work," Rom. xi. 6. But it was added by way of subserviency and attendance, the better to advance and make effectual the covenant of grace; so that although the same covenant that was made with Adam was renewed on Mount Sinai, yet I say still, it was not for the same purpose. For this was it that God aimed at, in making the covenant of works with man in innocency, to have that which was his due from man :j but God made it with the Israelites for no other end, than that man being thereby convinced of his weakness, might flee to Christ. .So that it was renewed only to help forward and introduce another and a better covenant; and so to be a manuduction unto Christ, viz. to discover sin, to waken the conscience, and to convince them of their own impotency, and so to drive them out of themselves to Christ. Know it then, I beseech you, that all this while there was no other way of life given, either in whole or in part, than the covenant of grace. All this while God did but pursue the design of his own grace; and therefore was there no inconsistency either in God's will or acts ; only such was his mercy, that he subordinated the covenant of works, and made it subservient to the covenant of grace, and so to tend to evangelical purposes. Nom. But yet, sir, raethinks it is somewhat strange that the Lord

i It was not set up by itself as an entire rule of righteousness, to which alone they were to look who desired righteousness and salvation, as it was in the case of upright Adam, " For no man, since the fall, can attain to righteousness and life by the moral law," Lar. Cat. ques. 94. But it was added to the covenant of grace, that by looking at it men might see what kind of righteousness it is by which they can be justified in the sight of God ; and that by means thereof, finding themselves destitute of that righteousness, they might be moved to embrace the covenant of grace, in which that righteousness is held forth to be received by faith.

;' This was the end of the work, namely, of making the covenant of works with Adam, but not of the repeating of it at Sinai; it was also the end or design of the worker, namely of God, who made that covenant with Adam, to have his due from man, and he got it from the Man Christ Jesus.

should put them upon doing the law, and also promise them life for doing, and yet never intend it.

Evan. Though he did so, yet did he neither require of them that which was unjust, nor yet dissemble with them in the promise; for the Lord may justly require perfect obedience at all men's hands, by virtue of that covenant which was made with them in Adam; and if any man could yield perfect obedience to the law, both in doing and suffering, he should have eternal life; for we may not deny (says Calvin) but that the reward of eternal salvation belongeth to the upright obedience of the law. k But God knew well enough that the Israelites were never able to yield such an obedience ; and yet he saw it meet to propound eternal life to them upon these terms; that so he might speak to them in their own humour, as indeed it was meet: for they swelled with mad assurance in themselves, saying, " All that the Lord commandeth we will do," and be obedient, Exod. xix. 8. Well, said the Lord, if ycu will needs be doing, why here is a law to be kept; and if you can fully observe the righteousness of it, you shall be saved : sending them of purpose to the law, to awaken and convince them, to sentence and humble them, and to make them see their own folly in seeking for life that way; in short, to make them see the terms under which they stood, that so they might be brought out of themselves, and expect nothing from the law, in relation to life, but all from Christ. For how should a man see his need of life by Christ, if he do not first see that he is fallen from the way of life ? and how should he understand how far he had strayed from the way of life, unless he do first find what is that way of life ? therefore it was needful that the Lord should deal with them after such a manner to drive them out of themselves, and from all confidence in the works of the law; that so, by faith in Christ, they might obtain righteousness and life. And just so did our Saviour also deal with that young expounder of the law, Matth. xix. 16, who, it seems, was sick of the same disease, " Good Master," says he, " what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ?" He doth not, says Calvin, simply ask, which way, or by what means he should come to eternal life, but what good he should do to get it; whereby it appears, that he was a proud justiciary, one that swelled in fleshly opinion that he could keep the law and be saved by it; therefore he is worthily sent to the law to work himself weary, and so see need to come to Christ for rest. And thus you see the Lord, to the former promises made to the fathers,

A That is, the perfect obedience of the law, as it is saiil, Eccl, vii. 29, " God made man upright."

added a fiery law, which he gave from Mount Sinai, in thundering and lightning, and with a terrible voice, to the stubborn and stiff-necked Israel; whereby to break and tame them, and to make them sigh and long for the promised Redeemer.

§ 4. Ant. And, sir, did the law produce this effect in them ? Evan. Yea, indeed, it did ; as will appear if you consider, that although, before the publishing of this covenant, they were exceeding proud and confident of their own strength to do all that the Lord would have them do; yet when the Lord came to deal with them as men under the covenant of works, in showiug himself a terrible judge sitting on the throne of justice, like a mountain burning with fire, summoning them to come before him by the sound of a trumpet (yet not to touch the mountain without a mediator,) Heb. xii. 19, 20, they were not able to endure the voice of words, nor yet to abide that which was commanded, insomuch as Moses himself did fear and quake; and they did all of them so fear, and shake, and shiver, that their peacock-feathers were now pulled down. This terrible show wherein God gave his law on Mount Sinai, says Luther, did represent the use of the law: there was in the people of Israel that came out of Egypt a singular holiness ; they gloried, and said, " We are the people of God, we will do all that the Lord commandeth." Moreover, Moses sanctified them, and bade them wash their garments, and purify themselves, and prepare themselves against the third day : there was not one of them but was full of holiness. The third day Moses briugeth the people out of their tents to the mountain in the sight of the Lord, that they might hear his voice. What followed then ? why, when they beheld the horrible sight of the mountain smoking and burning, the black clouds, and the lightnings flashing up and down in this horrible darkness, and heard the sound of the trumpet blowing long, and waxing louder and louder, they were afraid, and standing afar off, they said not to Moses as before, " All that the Lord commandeth we will do; but talk thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God talk with ns lest we die." So that now they saw that they were sinners, and had offended God; and therefore stood in need of a mediator to negociate peace, and entreat for reconciliation between God and them ; and the Lord highly approved of their words, as you may see, (Deut. v. 28,) where Moses repeating what they had said, adds further " The Lord heard the voice of your word, when ye spake to me, and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee, they have well said, all that they have spoken," viz. in desiring a mediator. Wherefore I pray you take notice, that they

were not commended for saying, " All that the Lord commandeth we will do." "No," says a godly writer, "they were not praised for any other thing, than for desiring a mediator;" I whereupon the Lord promised Christ unto them, even as Moses testifies, saying, " The Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee a Prophet like unto me, from among you, even of your brethren: unto him shall you hearken, according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, when thou saidst, " Let me hear the voice of the Lord my God no more, nor see this great fire any more, that I die not: and the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken, I will raise them up a Pophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I command him;" and to assure us that Christ was the prophet here spoken of, he himself says unto the Jews, John v. 46, " If you had believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote of me;" and this was it which he wrote of him, the apostle Peter witnesses, Acts iii. 22; and so doth the martyr Stephen, Acts vii. 37- Thus you see, when the Lord had, by means of the covenant of works made with Adam, humbled them, and made them sigh for Christ the promised seed, he renewed the promise with them, yea, and the covenant of grace made with Abraham, m

l I see no warrant for restraining the sense of this text to their desiring of a mediator. The universal term, "all that they have spoken," includes also their engaging to receive the law at the mouth of the mediator, which is joined with that their desire, ver. 27, " Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say ; and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear and do." ver. 28, " And the Lord said, They have well said all that they have spoken." But there is a palpable difference between what they spoke, (Exod. xix. 8,) and what they spoke here, relative to their own practice. The former runs thus, " All that the Lord hath spoken we will do;" the latter thus, " And we will hear and do;" the original text bears no more. The one relates to obedience only, the other to faith also, —" We will hear," i.e. believe, Isa. lv. 3 ; John ix. 27. Hence the object of faith. that which is to be believed, is called a report, properly a hearing, Isa. liii. 1 ; Rom. x. 16. The former speaks much blind self-confidence ; the latter a sense of duty and a willing mind, but with all a sense of weakness, and fear of mismanagement.

w Making a promise of Christ to them, not only as " the seed of the woman," but as "the seed of Abraham," and yet more particularly, "as the seed of Israel: the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy bre-thren," Deut. xviii. 15. And here it is to be observed, that this renewing of the promise and covenant of grace with them was immediately upon the back of the giving of the law on mount Sinai, fur at that time was their speech which the Lord commended as well spoken : this appears from Exod. xx. 18, 19, compared with Deut. v. 23—28, and upon that speech of theirs was that renewal made, which is clear from Deut. xviii. 17, 18.

Ant. I pray, sir, how doth it appear that the Lord renewed that covenant with them ?

Evan. It plainly appears in this, that the Lord gave them by Moses the Levitical laws, and ordained the tabernacle, the ark, and the mercy-seat, which were all types of Christ. Moreover, (Lev. i. 1,) " The Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle," n and commanded him to write the Levitical laws, and the tabernacle ordinances; telling him withal, Exod. xxxiv. 27, " That after the tenor of these words, he had made a covenant with him, and with Israel." o So Moses wrote those laws, (Exod. xxiy. 4,) not in tables of stone, but in authentical book,^ says Ainsworth, called the Book of the Covenant, which book Moses read in the audience of the people, (Exod xxiv. 7,) and the people consented unto it. Then Moses having before sent young men of the children

n From the mercy seat, which was within the tabernacle. The tabernacle was an eminent type of Christ, (Heb ix. 11.) as the temple also was, John ii. 19, 21. So this represented God's speaking in a Mediator, in Jesus Christ. Here was a change agreeable to the people's desire on Mount Sinai. God speaks, not from a burning mountain as before, but out of the tabernacle ; not with terrible thunderings as at Sinai, but in a still small voice, intimated to us, and intimated by the extraordinary smallness of one letter in the original word rendered called, as the Hebrew doctors do account for that irregularity of writing in that word.

o Moses exceedingly feared and quaked (Heb. xxii. 21,) while he stood amongst the rest of the Israelites at Mount Sinai during the giving of the law, Exod. xix. 25, with chap. xx. 21. But here he is represented as Israel's federal head in this covenant, he being the typical mediator; which plainly intimates the covenant of grace to have been made with Christ, and in him with all the elect; " I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel," says the text.—See the first note on the preface, in the Larger Catechism, quest. 31,

p Moses was twice on the monnt with God forty days. In the time of the second forty days he recived the order to write, mentioned, Exod. xxxiv. 27, as appears by comparing ver. 27, with 28. This comprehended his writings of the Levitical laws, but not of the decalogue or ten commandments ; for these last God himself wrote on tables of stone, ver. 28, compared with ver. 1. This peremptory divine order, Moses no doubt did obey ; understanding it of writing in a book since he was not commanded So, in a like case, before he went up into the Mount for the first forty days, he wrote Levitical laws in a book called the Book of the Covenant. Exod. xxxiv. 4. 7, " And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord.—And he took the book of the covenant and read." Compare verse 18. This writing also comprehended Levitical laws, but not the ten commandments. For all the words of the Lord which Moses wrote, were all the words of the Lord which Moses told the people. And what these were, appears from his commissiou received for that effect, chap. xx. 21, 22. "And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was; and the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel," &c. So all the words were these which follow to the end of the 23d chapter.

of Israel, who were first-born, q and therefore priests until the time of the Levites, to offer sacrifies of burnt-offerings and peace-offerings unto the Lord, " he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning these things;" whereby they are taught, that by virtue of blood, this covenant betwixt God and them was confirmed, and that Christ, by his blood shed, should satisfy for their sins; for indeed the covenant of grace was, before the coming of Christ, sealed by his blood in types and figures, r

§ 5. Ant. But, sir, was this every way the same covenant that was made with Abraham ?

Evan. Surely I do believe, that reverend Bullinger spake very truly, when he said that God gave unto these people no other religion, in nature, substance, and matter itself, differing from the laws of their fathers ; though, for some respects, he added thereunto many ceremonies and certain ordinances ; the which he did to keep their minds in expectation of the coming of Christ, whom he had promised unto them; and to confirm them in looking for him, lest they should wax faint. And as the Lord did thus by the ceremonies, as it were, lead them by the hand to Christ; so did he make them a promise of the land of Canaan, and outward prosperity in it, as a type of heaven, and eternal happiness; so that the Lord dealt with them as with children in their infancy and underage, leading them on by the help of earthly things, to heavenly and spiritual, because they were but young and tender, s and had not that measure and abundance of the Spirit which he had bestowed upon his people now under the gospel.

Ant. And, sir, do you think that these Israelites at this time did see Christ and salvation by him in these types and shadows ?

Evan. Yes; there is no doubt but Moses and the rest of the be-believers among the Jews did see Christ in them, " For," says Tindal, " though all the sacrifices and ceremonies had a star-light of Christ, yet some of them had the light of the broad day, a little before the sun rising;" and did express him, with the circumstances and virtue of his death, as plainly as if his passion had been acted upon a scaffold : " Insomuch," says he, " that I am fully persuaded, and cannot but believe, that God had showed Moses the secrets of

q In the original text, (verse 5.) they are called emphatically the young men for ministers, or servants, 1 Sam. ii. 13, 15. Esth. ii. 2.) of the children of Israel, to signify that they were first-born. And so Onkelos reads it " the first-born of the children of Israel.

r The blood of the sacrifices representing the precious blood of Christ.

s The church was in her minority under the law. Gal. iv. 1—3.

Christ, and the very manner of his death aforehand :" and therefore, no doubt but that they offered their sacrifices by faith in the Messiah, as the apostle testifies of Abel, Heb. xi. 4. I say, there is no question but every spiritual believing Jew, when he brought his sacrifice to be offered, and according to the Lord's command laid his hands upon it whilst it was yet alive, (Lev. i. 4.) he did, from his heart acknowledge that he himself had deserved to die ; but by the mercy of God he was saved, t and his desert laid upon the beast; u and as that beast was to die, and be offered in sacrifice for him, so did he believe that the Messiah should come and die for him, upon whom he put his hands, that is, laid all his iniquities by the hand of faith, v So that, as Beza on Job i. says, " The sacrifices were to them holy mysteries, in which, as in certain glasses, they did both see themselves to their own condemnation before God, w and also beheld the mercy of God in the promised Messiah, in time to be exhibited :" "And therefore," says Calvin, Instit. p. 239, " the satisfactory offerings were called Ashemoth, which word properly sig-niges sin itself, to show that Jesus Christ was to come and perform a perfect expiation, by giving his own soul to be an asham, that is, a satisfactory oblation"

Wherefore you may assure yourself, that as Christ was always set before the fathers in the Old Testament, to whom they might direct their faith, and as God never put them in hope of any grace or mercy, nor ever showed himself good unto them without Christ: x even so the godly in the Old Testament knew Christ by whom they did enjoy these promises of God, and were joined to him. y And, indeed, the promise of salvation never stood firm till it came to Christ, z And there was their comfort in all their troubles and distresses, according as it is said of Moses, Heb. xi. 26, 27, " He en-

t From the death he had deserved by his sin.

u Typically.

v " The mystical signification of the sacrifices, and especially this rite, some think the apostle means by the doctrine of ' laying on of hands,' (Heb. vi. 2.) which typified evangelical faith." Henry on Lev. i. 4. It is evident that the offerer, by laying his hand on the head of the sacrifice, did legally unite it ; laid his sin, or transferred his guilt upon it, in a typical or ceremonial way, (Lev. xvi. 21.) ; the substance and truth of which ceremonial action plainly appears to be faith, or believing on Jesus Christ, which is the soul's assenting, for its own part, to and acquiescing in the glorious device of " the Lord's laying on him the iniquities of us all," Isa. liii. 6.

w That is, they saw themselves, as in themselves condemned by the holy law.

x That is. as an absolute God out of Christ, but always as a God in Christ.

;/ To Christ, by faith.

2 It stood, at first, on man's own obedience : which ground quickly failed : then it came to Christ, where it stood firm. Gen. iii. 15. It (namely, "the seed of the tvmuan) shall bruise thy head,'' viz. the serpent's head.

dured as seeing liim who is invisibles esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect to the recompense of reward."

And so (as Ignatius says) the prophets were Christ's servants, who, foreseeing him in spirit, both waited for him as their master, and looked for him as their Lord and Saviour, saying, "He shall come and save us."

And so says Calvin, (Institut. p. 207) " So oft as the prophets speak of the blessedness of the faithful, the perfect image that they have painted t'tereof was such as would ravish men's minds out of the earth, and of necessity raise them up to the consideration of the felicity of the life to come ;" so that we may assuredly conclude, with Luther, that all the fathers, prophets, and holy kings, were righteous, and saved by faith in Christ to come; and so indeed, as Calvin says, (Institut. p. 198.) " were partakers of all one salvation with us."

Ant. But, sir, the Scriptures seem to hold forth as though they were saved one way, and we another way; for you know the prophet Jeremiah makes mention of a twofold covenant; therefore it is somewhat strange to me, that they should be partakers of one way of salvation with us.

Evan. Indeed it is true, the Lord did bequeath unto the fathers, righteousness, life, and eternal salvation, in and through Christ the Mediator, being not yet come in the flesh, but promised : and unto us in the New Testament he gives and bequeaths them to us in and through Christ, being already come, and having actually purchased them for us; and the covenant of grace was, before the coming of Christ, sealed by his blood in types and figure?; and at his death, in his flesh, b it was sealed and ratified b y his very blo od, actually and in verydeed shed for our sins. And the old covenant, in respect of the outward form and manner of sealing, was temporary and changeable ; and therefore the types ceased, and only the substance remains firm; but the seals of the new are unchangeable, being commemorative, and shall show the Lord's death until his coming again. And their covenant did first and chiefly promise eaithly blessings c and in and under these it did signify and promise all spiritual blessings and salvation ; but our covenant promises

a " Faith presenting to his view at all times the great angel of the covenant, God the Son, the Redeemer of him and Israel."— Suppl. Poole's Annot. on the Text.

b " Christ—being put to death in the flesh," 1 Pet. iii. 18.

c Chiefly ; in so far as, in that dispensation of the covenant of grace, the promises of earthly blessings were chiefly insisted on ; and the promises of spiritual blessings and salvation more sparingly.

Christ and his blessings in the first place, and after them earthly blessings.

These, and other circumstantial differences in regard to administration, there was betwixt their way of salvation, or covenant of grace, and ours; which moved the author to the Hebrews, (Heb. viii. 8.) to call theirs old, and ours new; but in regard to substance they were all one and the very same ; d for in all covenants this is a certain rule, " If the subject matter, the fruit and the conditions, be the same, then is the covenant the same :" but in these covenants Jesus Christ is the subject matter of both, salvation the fruit of both, and faith the condition of both : e therefore I say, though they be called two, yet they are but one ; the which is confirmed by two faithful witnesses; the one is the apostle Peter, who says, Acts xv. 11, " We believe, that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they ;" meaning the fathers in the Old Testament, as is evident in the verse next before. The other is the apostle Paul, who says, Gal. iii. 6, 7, " Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness ; know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham :" by which testimony, says Luther on the Galatians, p. 116, " we may see that the faith of our fathers in the Old Testament, and ours in the New, is all one in substance."

Ant. But could they that lived so long before Christ apprehend his righteousness by faith for their justification and salvation ?

Evan. Yea, indeed; for as Mr. Forbes, on Justification, p. 90,

d " There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance ; but one an<i the same under various dispensations."— Westm. Confess, chap. 7. art. 6. And their covenant of grace, confirmed by the sprinkling of blood, Exod. xxiv ; Heb. ix. 19, 20, (the which covenant they brake, by their unbelief frustrating the manner in which it was administered to them) was given to them when the Lord had led them cut of Egypt, and at Sinai too, as well as the ten commandments delivered to them, as the covenant of works. This is evident from Exod. xx. 1—17; compared with Deut. v. 2—22 ; and Exod. xx. 20, 21 ; compared with chap. xxiv. 3—8. See page, 208 note/).

e Not in a strict and proper sense, as that, upon the performance of which the right and title to the benefits of the covenant are founded and pleadable ; as perfect obedience was the condition of the covenant of works. Christ's fulfilling of the law, by his obeditnce and death, is the only condition of the covenant of grace, in that sense. But in a large and improper sense, as that whereby one accepts and embraces the covenant and the proper condition thereof, and is savingly interested in Jesus Christ, the head of the covenant. " The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners a Mediator, and life and salvation by him ; and requireth faith as the condition to interest them in him," &c. Larg. Cat. quest. 32.

truly says, it is as easy for faith to apprehend righteousness to come, as it is to apprehend righteousness that is past: wherefore as Christ's birth, obedience, and death, were in the Old Testament as effectual to save sinners, as they are now; so all the faithful forefathers, from the beginning, did partake of the same grace with us, by believing in the same Jesus Christ; and so were justified by his righteousness, and saved eternally by faith in him. It was by virtue of the death of Christ, that Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and Elias was taken up into heaven by virtue of Christ's resurrection and ascension. So that from the world's beginning to the end thereof, the salvation of sinners is only by Jesus Christ; as it is written, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," Heb. xiii. 8.

Ant. Why then, sir, it seems that those who were saved amongst the Jews were not saved by the works of the law ?

Evan. No, indeed; they were neither justified nor saved, either by the works of the moral law, or the ceremonial law. For, as you heard before, the moral law being delivered unto them with great terror, and under most dreadful penalties, they did find in themselves an impossibility of keeping it: and so were driven to seek help of a Mediator, even Jesus Christ, of whom Moses was to them a typical mediator:/ so that the moral law did drive them to the ceremonial law, which was their gospel, and their Christ in a figure; for that the ceremonies did prefigure Christ, direct unto him, and require faith in him, is a thing acknowledged and confessed by all men.

Nom. But, sir, I suppose, thongh believers among the Jews were not justified and saved by the works of the law, yet was it a rule of their obedience ?

Evan. It is very true indeed; the law of the ten commandments was a rule for their obedience; g yet not as it came from Mount Sinai; h but rather as it came from Mount Zion ; nor as it was the law or covenant of works, but as it was the law of Christ. The which will appear, if you consider, that after the Lord had renewed with them the covenant of grace, as you heard before, (Exod. xxiv. at the beginning) the Lord said unto Moses, verse 12, " Come up to me into the mount, and be there, and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law that thou mayest teach them;" and after the Lord

/That is, a type, he heing to them a typical Mediator.

g The obedience of the believing Jews.

h That is, in the sense of our author, not as the covenant of works, but of the twofold notion or consideration under which the ten commandments were delivered from Mount Sinai. See page 196, note p.

had thus written them the second time with his own finger, he delivered them to Moses, commanding him to provide an ark to put them into; which was not only for the safe keeping of them, (Deut. ix. 10; x. 5.) but also to cover the form of the covenant of works that was formerly upon them, that believers might not perceive it; for the ark was a notable type of Christ; and therefore the putting of them therein did show that they were perfectly fulfilled in him, Christ being " the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," Rom. x. 4. The which was yet more clearly manifest, in that the book of the law was placed between the cherubim, and upon the mercy-seat, to assure believers that the law now came to them from the mercy-seat ;i for there the Lord promised to meet Moses, and to commune with him of all things which he would give him in commandment to them, Exod. xxv. 22.

Ant. But, sir, was the form quite taken away, so as the ten commandments were no more the covenant of works ?

Evan. Oh no ! you are not so to understand it. For the form of the covenant of works, j as well as the matter (on God's part, A:) came immediately from God himself, and so consequently it is eternal, like himself; whence it is that our Saviour says, Matth. v. 18, " Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no ways pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." So that either man himself, or some other for him, must perform or fulfil the condition of the law, as it is the covenant of works, or else he remains still under it in a damnable condition : but now Christ hath fulfilled it for all believers ; and therefore, T said, the form of the covenant of works was covered or taken away, as touching the believing Jews; but yet it was neither taken away in itself, nor yet as touching the unbelieving Jews.

i From an atoned God in Christ, binding them to obedience with the strongest ties, arising from their creation and redemption jointly; but not with the bond of the curse, binding them over to eternal death in case of transgression, as the law or covenant of works does with them who are under it, Gal. iii. 10. The mercy-seat was the cover of the ark, and both the one and the other types of Christ. Within the ark, under the cover of it, were the tables of the law laid up. Thus was the throne of grace, which could not have stood on mere mercy, firmly established in Jesus Christ; according to Psalm lxxxix. 14, '* Justice and judgment are the habitation [marg. "establishment"] of thy throne." The word properly signifies a base, supporter, stay, or foundation, on which a thing stands firm, Ezra ii. 68, and iii. 3 ; Psalm civ. 5. The sense is, O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Psalm lxxxix. 19,) justice satisfied, and judgment fully executed in the person of the Mediator, are the foundation and base which thy throne of grace stands upon.

j Namely the promissory and penal sanction of eternal life and death in which God's truth was engaged.

h Man's part was lii> consenting to the terms set before him by his Creator.

Xom. Was the law then still of use to thera, as it was the covenant of works?

Evan. Yea, indeed.

Ant. I pray yon, sir, show of what u. e it was to them.

Evan. I remember Luther, (on the Gal. p. 171,) says, "There be two sorts of unrighteous persons or unbelievers ; the one to be justified, and the other not to be justified : even so was there among the Jews." Now to them that were to be justified, as yon have heard, it was still of use to bring them to Christ, as the apostle says, Gal. iii. 24, " The law was our schoolmaster until Christ, I that we might be made righteous by faith :" that is to say, the moral lawm did teach and show them what they should do, and so what they did not; and this made thera go to the ceremonial law; n and by that they were taught that Christ had done it for them; o the which they believing, p were made righteous by faith in him. And to the second sort it was of use, to show them what was good, and what was evil; and to be as a bridle to them, to restrain them from evil, and as a motive to move them to good, for fear of punishment, q or hope of reward in this life ; which, though it was but a forced and constrained obedience, yet was it necessary for the public commonwealth, the quiet thereof being thereby the better maintained. And though thereby they could neither escape death, uor yet obtain eternal life, for want of perfect obedience, yet the more obedience they yielded thereunto, the more they were freed from temporal calamities, and possessed with temporal blessings, according as the Lord promised and threatened, Deut. xxviii.

Ant. But, sir, in that place the Lord seeraeth to speak to his own people, aud yet to speak according to the tenor of the covenant of works, which has made me think, that believers in the Old Testament were partly under the covenant of works.

Evan. Do you not remember how I told you before, that the Lord did manifest so much love to the body of that nation, that the

l That is, to bring us unto Christ, as we read it with the supplement.

m As the covenant of works, so the author uses that terra here, as it is used. — Larg. Cat. quest. 93, above cited.

n Broken under the sense of guilt, the curse of the law, and their utter ioabilitv to help themselves by doing or suffering.

o Christ's satisfying the law for sinners by his obedience and death, being the great lesson taught by the ceremonial law, which was the gospel written in plain characters, to those whose eyes were opened.

p Appropriating and applying to themselves by faith Christ's satisfaction held forth and exhibited to them in these divine ordinances.

</ Both in time and eternity.

whole posterity of Abraham r were brought under a state-covenant or national church : so that for the believer's sakes he infolded unbelievers in the compact, whereupon the Lord was pleased to call them all by the name of his people, as well unbelievers as believers, and to be called their God ? And though the Lord did there speak according to the tenor of the covenant of works, yet I see no reason why he might not direct and intend his speech to believers also, and yet they remain only under the covenant of grace.

Ant. "Why, sir, you said that the Lord did speak to them out of the tabernacle, and from the mercy-seat; and that, doubtless, was according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, and not according to the tenor of the covenant of works.

Evan. I pray you take notice, that after the Lord had pronounced all those blessings and curses, Deut. xxviii. in the beginning of the 29th chapter, it is said, " These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb." Whereby it doth appear to me, that this was not the covenant of works which was delivered to them on mount Sinai; s for the form of that covenant was eternal blessings and curses, t but the form of this covenant was temporal blessings and curses, u So that this rather seems to be the pedagogy of the law, than the covenant of works; for at that time these people seemed to be carried by temporal promises in the way of obedience, and de-

r Wh ; ch were of tbat nation, according to Gen. xxi. 12, " In Isaac shall thy seed be called." And chap, xxviii. 13, " I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac ; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed."

s The author does not make the covenant at Horeb distinct from that at Sinai: for he takes Horeb and Sinai for one and the same mountain, according to the Holy Scriptures, (Exod. xix. 20, compared with Deut. v. 2.) and therefore, because the text speaks of this covenant in the land of Moab as another covenant beside that in Horeb, he infers that it was not the same ; not the covenant of works delivered on Mount Sinai, otherwise called Horeb. And howbeit there are but two covenants containing the only two ways to happiness, the author cannot, on that accouut, be justly blamed for distinguishing this covenant from them both, unless temporal blessings do make men happy ; the which blessings, with curses of the same kind, he takes to be the form of this covenant.

t Deut. xxvii. 26, " Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." Compare Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse ;" for it is written, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.

w See Deut. xxviii. throughout. Chap. xxix. 9, " Keep, therefore, the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do." And here ends a great section of the law.

terred by temporal threatenings from the ways of disobedience, God dealing with them as in their infancy and under age, and so leads them on, and allures them, and fears them, by such respects as these, because they had but a small measure of the Spirit.

Nom. But, sir, was not the matter of that covenant and this all one ?

Evan. Yea, indeed ; the ten commandments were the matter of both covenants, only they differed in the forms.

Ant. Then, sir, it seems that the promises and threatenings contained in the Old Testament were but temporary and terrestrial, only concerning the good and evil things of this life ?

Evan. This we are to know, that like as the Lord by his prophets gave the people in the Old Testament many exhortations to be obedient to his commandments, and many dehortations from disobedience thereunto; even so did he back them with many promises and threatenings, concerning things temporal, as these and the like Scriptures do witness, Isa. i. 10, "Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah;" ver. 19, 20, " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good things of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." And Jer. vii. 3, 9, 20, " Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. "Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely by my name ? Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place." And surely there be two reasons why the Lord did so: first, because as all men are born under the covenant of works, they are naturally prone to conceive, that the favour of God and all good things, do depend and follow upon their obedience to the law, v and that the wrath of God, and all evil things do depend upon and follow their disobedience to it, w and that man's chief happiness is to be had and found in terrestrial paradise, even in the good things of this life. So the people of the Old Testament being nearest to Adam's covenant and paradise, were most prone to such conceits. And secondly, because the covenant of grace and celestial paradise were but little mentioned in the Old Testament, they, for the most part, x had but a glimmering knowledge of them, and so could not yield obedience freely as

v Not a saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.

w Not considering the great sin of unbelief; and that the wrath of God, due to them for disobedienee, may be averted by their fleeing to Christ for refuse.

x For the more eminent saints in the Old Testament times are to be excepted, such as David and others.

Vol. VII. o

sons.?/ Therefore the Lord saw it meet to move them to yield obedience to his laws by their own motives, z and as servants or children nnder age. a

Ant. And were both believers and unbelievers, that is, such as were under the covenant of grace, and such as were under the covenant of works, equally and alike subject, as well to have the calamities of this life inflicted npon them for their disobedience, as the blessings of this life conferred upon them for their obedience ?

Evan. Surely the words of the preacher do take place here, when he says, (Eccl. ix. 2,) " All things come alike to all; there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked." Were not Moses and Aaron, for their disobedience, hindered from entering into the land of Canaan, as well as others? Num. xx. 12. And was not Josiah, for his disobedience to God's command, slain in the valley of Me-giddo? 2 Chron. xxxv. 21, 22. Therefore assure yourself, that when believers in the Old Testament did transgress God's commandments, God's temporal wrath g went out against them, and was manifest in temporal calamities that befel them as well as others, (Num. xvi. 46.) Only here was the difference, the believers' temporal calamities had no eternal calamities included in them, nor following of them, and their temporal blessings had eternal blessings included in them, and following of them; h and the unbelievers' temporal blessings had no eternal blessings included in them, and their temporal calamities had eternal calamities included in them, and following of them, i

Ant. Then, sir, it seems that all obedience that any of the Jews did yield to God's commandments, was for fear of temporal punishment, and in hope of temporal reward?

Evan. Surely the Scriptures seem to hold forth, that there were

d Having but a small measure of knowledge of the celestial paradise, the eternal inheritance, and of the covenant of grace, (the divine disposition containing their right to do it,) they could not yield obedience freely, in the measure that sons do, wbo are come of age, and know well their own privileges ; but only as little children, who in some measure yield obedience freely, namely, in proportion to the knowledge of these things, but (that measure being very small) must be drawn also to obedience

bv motives of a lower kind. And this the apostle plainly teaches, Gal. iv. 1 5.

Compare Westm. Confess, chap. 20, art. I, "The liberty of Christians is further enlarged, in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.

x Promises and threatenings concerning things temporal.

a By fear of punishment and hope of reward.

b That is, God's fatherly anger, whereby temporal judgments fall on his own people.

c By virtue of the covenant of grace which they were under.

d By virtuo of the covenant of works which they were under.

three several sorts of people among the Jews, who endeavoured to keep the law of God, and they did all of them differ in their ends.

The first of them were true believers, who, according to the measure of their faith, did believe the resurrection of their bodies after death, and eternal life in glory, and that it was to be obtained, not by the works of the law, but by faith in the Messiah or promised seed; and answerably as they believed this, answerably they yielded obedience to the law freely, without fear of punishment or hope of reward : but, alas ! the spirit of faith was very weak in most of them, and the spirit of bondage very strong, and therefore they stood in need to be induced and constrained to obedience, by fear of punishment and hope of reward, e

The second sort of them were the Sadducees and their sect, and these did not believe that there was any resurrection, (Matt. xxii. 23.) nor any life but the life of this world; and yet they endeavoured to keep the law, that God might bless them here, and that it might go well with them in this present life.

The third sort, and indeed the greatest number of them in the future ages after Moses, were the Scribes and Pharisees, and their sects; and they held and maintained, that there was a resurrection to be looked for, and an eternal life after death, and therefore they

e The Author does not say, of believers under the Old Testament, simply, and without any qualification, that they " yield obedience to the law, without fear of punishment or hope of reward," as if he minded to assert, that they were not at all moved to their obedience by these ; the scope of these words is to teach just the contrary. Compare page 218. But on good grounds he affirms, that " answerable to their faith, their obedience was yielded freely, without fear of punishment or hope of reward." And thus, the freeness of their obedience always bearing proportion to the measure of their faith ; the greater measure of faith any Old Testament saint had attained unto, his obedience was the less influenced by fear of punishment or hope of reward, and the smaller his measure of faith was, his obedience was the more influenced by these ; accordingly, such as had no saving faith at all, were moved to obedience only by fear of punishment or hope of reward ; and the meanest saint's faith, being once perfected by the beatific vision in heaven, these ceased altogether to be motives of obedience to him, though he aeases not to obey from the strongest and most powerful motives. And thus the apostle John teaches concerning love which flows from faith. 1 John v. 18, " Perfect love casteth out fear, because fear doth torment : he that feareth, is not erfect in love." The more there is of the one, there is still less of the other. In the meantime, according to our author, the measure of faith in the most part of believers under the Old Testament was very small, (and the strongest faith was imperfect,) and the servile aed childish disposition, which moves to obedience from fear of punishment and hope of reward, was very strong in them, (Gal. iv. 1—5.) and therefore, as they stood in need of such inducement and constraint, there could not fail to be a great mixture of the influence of fear of punishment and hope of reward in their obedience

o2

endeavoured to keep the law, not only to obtain temporal happiness, but eternal also. For though it had pleased the Lord to make known unto his people, by the ministry of Moses, that the law was given, not to retain men in the confidence of their own works, but to drive them out of themselves, and to lead them to Christ the promised seed; yet after that time, the priests and the Levites, who were the expounders of the law, and to whom the Scribes and Pharisees succeeded, did so conceive and teach of God's intention in giving the law, as though it had been, that they, by their obedience to it, should obtain righteousness and eternal life ; and this opinion was so confidently maintained, and so generally embraced amongst them, that in their book Mechilta, they say and affirm, that there is no other covenant than the law: and so, in very deed, they conceived that there was no other way to eternal life than the covenant of works.

Ant. Surely, then, it seems they did not understand and consider that the law, as it is the covenant of works, does not only bind the outward man, but also the inward man, even the soul and spirit; and requires all holy thoughts, motions, and dispositions of the heart and soul ?

Evan. 0, no; they neither taught it nor understood it so spiritually ; neither could they be persuaded that the law requires so much at man's hands. For they first laid this down for a certain truth, that God gave the law for man to be justified and saved by his obedience to it; and that therefore there must needs be a power in man to do all that it requires, or else God would never have required it; and therefore, whereas they should have first considered what a straight rule the law of God is, and then have brought man's heart, and have laid it to it, they, contrariwise, first considered what a crooked rule man's heart is, and then sought to make the law like it: and so indeed they expounded the law literally, teaching and holding, that the righteousness which the law required was but an external righteousness, consisting in the outward observation of the law, as you may see by the testimony of our Saviour, Matt, v; so that, according to their exposition, it was possible for a man to fulfil the law perfectly, and so to be justified and saved by his obedience to it.

Ant. But, sir, do you thiuk the Scribes and Pharisees, and their sect, did yield perfect obedience to the law, according to their own exposition ?

Evan. No, indeed, I think very few of them, if any at all. Ant. Why, what hopes could they then have to be justified and saved, when they transgressed any of the commandments ?

Evan. Peter Martyr tells us, that when they chanced to transgress any of the ten commandments,/ they had their sacrifices to make satisfaction, (as they conceived;) for they looked upon their sacrifices without their significations, and so had a false faith in them, thinking that the bare work was a sacrifice acceptable unto God: in a word, they conceived the blood of bulls and goats would take away sin; and so what they wanted of fulfilling the moral law, they thought to make up in the ceremonial law. And thus they separated Christ from their sacrifices, thinking they had discharged their duty very well, when they had sacrificed and offered their offerings; not considering that the imperfectiou of the typical law, which, as the apostle says, made nothing perfect, should have led them to find perfection in Christ, Heb. vii. 19; but they generally rested in the work done in the ceremonial law, even as they had done in the moral law, though they themselves were unable to do the one, g and the other was as insufficient to help them. And thus, " Israel, which followed the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law of righteousness, because they sought it not by faith," but, as it were, by the works of the law. For they being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and going about to establish their own righteousness, did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God; Rom. ix. 31 ; and x. 3.

Ant. Then, sir, it seems there were but very few of them h that had a clear sight and knowledge of Christ ?

Evan. It is very true indeed; for generally there was such a vail of ignorance over their hearts, or such a vail of blindness over their minds, that it made their spiritual eyesight so weak and dim, that they were no more able to see Christ, the son of righteousness, as the end of the law, i (Mai. iv. 2,) than the weak eye of man is able to behold the bright sun which shineth in its full strength. And therefore we read, Exod. xxxiv. 30, that when Moses' face did shine, by reason of the Lord's talking with him, and telling him of the glorious riches of his free grace in Jesus Christ, and giving unto him the ten commandments, written in tables of stone, as the covenant of works ;j to drive the people out of confidence in themselves,

/That is, according to tbeir own exposition.

y To do any work of the mural law aright.

h Namely, of the Jews in general.

i That is, having in himself a fulness of righteousness, answering the law to the utmost extent of its demands ; as the sun has a fulness of light.

j Therefore they are called by the apostle, the "ministration of death, written and engraven on stones,'' 2 Cor. iii. 7. Now, it is evident, the ten commandments are not the ministration of death, but as they are the covenant of works. And as such, they were given to Moses to be laid up in the ark, to signify the fulfilling of them by Jesus Christ alone, and the removing of that covenant-form from them, as to believers ; and so they served to drive sinners out of themselves to Christ.

and their own legal righteousness, unto Jesus Christ and his righteousness, the people were not able to behold his face; that is to say, k by reason of the weakness and dimness of their spiritual eyesight, they were not able to see and understand the spiritual sense of the law; namely that the Lord's end or intent in giving them the law as a covenant of works, and as the apostle calk, it " the ministration and condemnation and death," 2 Cor. iii. 7, 9, was to drive them out of themselves to Christ, and that then I it was to be abolished to them, as it was the covenant of works, ver. 13, and therefore Moses put the vail of shadowing ceremonies over his face, Exod. xxxiv. 35, that they might be the better able to behold it; that is to say, that they might be the better able to see through them, and understand that " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," Rom. x. 4. For Moses' face, says godly Tindal, ! is the law rightly understood. And yet alas ! by reason that the priests and Levites in former times, and the Scribes and Pharisees in after times, " were the blind leaders of the blind," (Matth. xv. 14,) the generality of them were addicted to the letter of the law, (and that botli moral m and ceremonial) that they used it not as a pedagogy to Christ, but terminated their eye in the letter and shadow, and did not see through them to the spiritual substance, which is Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. iii. 13, especially in the future ages after Moses : for at the time of Christ's coming in the flesh, I remember but two, namely, Simeon and Anna, that desired him, or looked for him as a spiritual Saviour to save them from sin and wrath. For though all of them had in their mouths the Messiah, (says Calvin) and the blessed state of the kingdom of David; yet they dreamed that this Messiah should be some great monarch that should come in outward pomp and power, and save and deliver them from that bondage which they were in under the Romans,of which bondage they were sensible and weary; but as for their spiritual bondage under the law, sin, and wrath, they were not at all sensible; and all because their blind guides had turned the whole law into a covenant of works, to be done for justification and salvation ; n yea, and such a covenant as they were able to keep and fulfil, if not by the doing of the moral law, yet by their offering sacrifices in the ceremonial law. And for this cause, our Saviour, in his sermon upon the mount, took occasion to expound the moral law truly and spiritually, removing that false literal gloss which the

k That is, this is the mystery of that typical event.

/ When they should be driven out of themselves to Jesus Christ.

m As the covenant of works.

n And so they quite perverted the great end of the giving of the law to them.

Scribes and Pharisees had put upon it, that men might see how impossible it is for any mere man to fulfil it, and so consequently to have justification and salvation by it. And at the death of Christ, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, to show, says Tindal, " that the shadows of Moses' law should now vanish away at the flourishing light of the gospel," Matth. xxvii. 51. And after the death of Christ, his apostles did, both by their preaching and writing, labour to make men understand, that all the sacrifices and ceremonies were but types of Christ; and therefore he being now come, they were of no futher use : witness that divine and spiritual epistle written to the Hebrews. Yet, notwithstanding, we may say of the Jews at this day, as the apostle did in his time, " even until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of Moses." The Lord in mercy remove it in his due time." o

o The history of the vail on Moses' face is famous in the Old Testament, and the mystery of it in the New. The former, as I gather it from the words of the inspired penman, Exod. xxxiv. stands thus briefly. Theie was a shining glory on the face of Moses in the mount; but be himself knew it not while God spake with him there, ver. 29, and that by reason of the excelling divine glory, 2 Cor. iii. 10; {.Or.) even as the light of a candle is darkened before the shining sun : but when " Moses, being come forth from the excelling glory, was coming down from the mount, with the tables in his hand, his face shone so as to send forth rays like horns," Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30, so that he could not but be conscious of it. " Aaron and all the people perceiving Moses returning to them, went to meet him; but seeing an astonishing glory, in his countenance, which they were not able to look at, they were afraid, and retired," ver. 30, 31, "But Moses called to them to return, and goes into the tabernacle; whereupon the multitude not daring to return for all this, Aaron and the princes alone return to him, being now in the tabernacle. Ver. 41, the middle part of which, I think, is to be read thus, " And Aaron and all the princes returned unto him in the testimony," i.e. in the tabernacle of the testimony, as it is called, chap, xxxviii. 21 ; Rev. xv. 5. From out of the tabernacle Moses speaks to them, ordering (it would seem) the people to be gathered together unto that place, ver. 31, 32. The people being convened at the tabernacle, he preached to them all that he had received of the Lord on the mount, ver. 32. But in the mean time, none of them saw his face, forasmuch as the tabernacle, within which he was, served instead of a vail to it. Having done speaking, he puts a vail over his face, and comes out to them, ver. 33. Marg. Heb. " And Moses ceased from speaking with them, and put a vail on his face." Compare ver. 34, " But when Moes went in before the Lord to speak with them, he took the vail off until he came out."

The mystery of this typical event the apostle treats of, 2 Cor. iii. The shining glory of Moses'face did not prefigure nor signify the glory of Christ ; for " the glory of the Lord Christ," ver. 18, is evidently opposed to the glory of Moses' countenance, ver. 7, and the open (or uncovered) face of the former, ver. 18, as Vetablus seems to me rightly to understand it) to the vailed face of the latter, ver. 13. The glory of the one is beheld as in a glass, ver. 18, the sight of the face itself being reserved for heaven: but the glory of the face of the other was not to be beheld at all, being vailed-

§ 6. Ant. Well, sir, I had thought that God's covenant with the Jews had been a mixt covenant, and that they had been partly under the covenant of works; but now I perceive there was little difference betwixt their covenant of grace and ours.

Evan. Truly the opposition between the Jews' covenant of grace and ours was chiefly of their own making. They should have been driven to Christ by the law: but they expected life in obedience to it, and this was their great error and mistake.

Ant. And surely, sir, it is no great marvel, though they in this point did so much err and mistake, who had the covenant of grace made known to them so darkly ; when many amongst us, who have it more clearly manifested, do the like.

Evan. And, truly, it is no marvel, though all men naturally do so: for man naturally doth apprehend God to be the great Master of heaven, and himself to be his servant; and that therefore he must do his work before he can have his wages; and the more work he doth, the better wages he shall have. And hence it was, that when Aristotle came to speak of blessedness, and to pitch upon the next means to that end, he said, " It was operation and working ;" with whom also agrees Pythagoras, when he says, " It is man's felicity to be like unto God, (as how ?) by becoming righteous and holy." And let us not marvel that these men did so err, who never heard of Christ, nor of the covenant of grace, when those to whom it was made known by the apostles of Christ did the like; witness those to whom the apostle Paul wrote his epistles, and especially

But that glory signified the law given to the Israelites, as the covenant of works, the glory of the ministration of death, ver. 7, agreeable to what the author tells us from Tindal, namely, that Moses face is the law rightly understood. This Mosaic glory while it was most fresh, was darkened by the excelling glory of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, ver. 18, compared with Exod, xxxiv. 29, howbeit, the discovery of it to sinners makes their hearts to tremble, they are not able to bear it. That glorious form of the law must be hid in Christ the true tabernacle, and from theuce only must the law come to them, or else they are not able to receive it ; though before that discovery is made to them they are ready to embrace the law under that form, as the people were to receive Moses with the tables in his hand, till they found themselves unable to bear the shining glory of his face. The vail which Moses put on his face, keeping the Israelites from beholding the glory of it, signifies that their minds were t blinded, ver. 14, not perceiving the glory of the law given them as a covenant of works. And hence it was " that the children of Israel fastened not their eyes, (Luke iv. 20; Acts iii. 4,) on (Christ) the end of that which is abolished," 2 Cor. iii. 13, (Gr.} for had they seen that glory to purpose, they would have fastened their eyes on him, as a malefactor at the stake would fix his eyes on the face of one bringing a remission. And that is the vail that is upon Moses's face, and their hearts, unto this day, ver. 14, 15, which nevertheless, in the Lord's appointed time, shall be taken away, ver. 16.

the Galatians: for although he had by his preaching, when he was present with them, made known nnto them the covenant of grace ; yet after his departure, through the seducement of false teachers, they were soon turned to the covenant of works, and sought to be justified, either in whole or in part by it; as you may see if you seriously consider that epistle. Nay, what says Luther? It is, says he, the general opinion of man's reason throughout the whole world, that righteousness is gotten by the works of the law; and the reason is, because the covenant was engendered in the minds of men in the very creation, p so that man naturally can judge no otherwise of the law than as of a covenant of works, which was given to make righteous, and to give life and salvation. This pernicious opinion of the law, that it justifieth and maketh righteous before God, (says Luther again) " is so deeply rooted in man's reason, and all mankind so wrapped in it, that they can hardly get out; yea, I myself, says he, have now preached the gospel nearly twenty years, and have been exercised in the same daily, by reading and writing, so that I may well seem to be rid of this wicked opinion; yet notwithstanding, I now and then feel this old filth cleave to my heart, whereby it cometh to pass that I would willingly have so to do with God, that I would bring something with myself, because of which he should give me his grace." Nay, it is to be feared, that, as you said, many amongst us, (who have more means of light ordinarily, than ever Luther, or any before him had, q yet notwithstanding) do either wholly, or in part, expect justification and acceptation by the works of the law.

Ant. Sir, I am verily persuaded, that there be very many in the city of London that are carried with a blind preposterous zeal after their own good works and well-doings, secretly seeking to become holy, just, and righteous, before God, by their diligent keeping, and careful walking in all God's commandments; r and yet no man can

p This is not to be understood strictly of the very moment of man's creation, in which the natural law was impressed on his heart, but with some latitude, the covenant of works being made with man newly created ; and so divines call it the covenant of nature—See Dickson's Therap. Sacr. book 1. chap. 5, p. 116.

q This is not to insinuate, that Luther had arrived but to a small measure of the knowledge of the doctrine of justification and acceptation of a sinner before God, in comparison with those of later times; I make no question but he understood that doctrine as well as any man has done since ; and doubt not but our author was of the same mind anent him : but it is to show, that that great man of God, and others who went before him, found their way out of the midnight darkness of Popery in that point, with less means of light by far than men now have, who notwithstanding cannot hold off from it.

r By which means they put their own works in the room of Christ, " who of God is

persuade them that they do so : and truly, sir, I am verily persuaded that this our neighbour aud friend, Noniista, is one of them.

Evan. Alas! there are a thousand in the world that make a Christ of their works; and here is their undoing, &c. They look for righteousness and acceptation more in the precept than in the promise, in the law than in the gospel, in working than in believing ; and so miscarry. Many poor ignorant souls amongst us, when we bid them obey and do duties, they can think of nothing but working themselves to life; when they are troubled, they must lick themselves whole, when wounded, they must run to the salve of duties, and stream of performances, and neglect Christ. Nay, it is to be feared that there be divers who in words are able to distinguish between the law and gospel, and in their judgments hold and maintain, that man is justified by faith without the works of the law; and yet in effect and practice, that is to say, in heart and conscience, do otherwise, s And there is some touch of this in us all; otherwise we should not be so up and down in our comforts and believing as we are still, and cast down with every weakness, as we are. t But what say you, neighbour Nomista, are you guilty of these things, think you ?

Norn. Truly, sir, I must needs confess, I begin to be somewhat jealous of myself that I am so ; and because I desire your judgment touching my condition, I would entreat you to give me leave to relate it unto you.

Evan. With great good will.

Nom. Sir, I have been born and brought up in a country where there was very little preaching, the Lord knoweth I lived a great while in ignorance and blindness, and yet, because I did often repeat the Lord's prayer, the apostle's creed, and the ten commandments, and in that I came sometimes to divine service, as they call it, and at Easter received the communion, I thought my condition to be good. But at last, by means of hearing a zealous and godly mi-made unto us righteousness and sanctification," 1 Cor. i. 30. According to the

Scripture plan of justification and sanctification, a sinner is justified by his blood, Rom. v. 9, sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. i. 2, through sanctification of the Spirit, 2 Thess. ii. 13, sanctified by faith, Acts xxvi. 18.

s It is indeed the practice of every unregenerate man, whatever be his knowledge or professed principles ; for the contrary practice is the practice of the saints, and of them only, Mat. v. 3, " Blessed are the poor in spirit." Phil. iii. 3, " We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in flesh.

t For these flow from our building so much on something in ourselves, which is always very variable ; and so little on the " grace that is in Christ Jesus," (2 Tim. ii. 1.) which is an immoveable foundation.

nister in this city, not long after my coming hither, I was convinced that my present condition was not good, and therefore I went to the same minister, and told him what I thought of myself; so he told me that I must frequent the hearing of sermons, and keep the Sabbath very strictly, and leave off swearing by my faith and troth, and such like oaths, and beware of lying, and all idle words and communication ; yea, and said he, you must get good books to read on, as Mr. Dodd on the Commandments, Mr. Bolton's Directions for Comfortable Walking with God, Mr. Brinsley's True Watch, and such like ; and many similar exhortations and directions he gave me, the which I liked very well, and therefore endeavoured ray-self to follow them. So I fell to the hearing of the most godly, zealous, and powerful preachers that were in the city, and wrote their sermons after them ; and when God gave me a family, I prayed with them, and instructed them, and repeated sermons to them, and spent the Lord's day in public and private exercises, and left off swearing, and lying, and idle talking ; and, according to exhortation, in few words, I did so reform myself and my life, that whereas before I had been only careful to perform the duties of the second table of the law, and that to the end I might gain favour and respect from civil honest men, and to avoid the penalties of man's law, or temporal punishment, now I was also careful to perform the duties required in the first table of the law, and that to gain favour and respect from religious honest men, and to avoid the penalty of God's law, even eternal torments in hell. Xow, when professors of religion observed this change in me, they came to my house, and gave unto me the right hand of fellowship, and counted me one of that number; and then I invited godly ministers to my table, and made much of them; and then, with that same Micah mentioned in the book of Judges, I was persuaded the Lord would be merciful unto me, bacause I had gotten a Levite to be my priest, Judges xvii. 13. In a word, I did now yield such an outward obedience and conformity to both tables of the law, that all godly ministers and religious honest men who knew me, did think very well of me, counting me to be a very honest man, and a good Christian ; and indeed I thought so myself, especially because I had their approbation. And thus I went on bravely a great while, even until I read in Mr. Bolton's works, the outward righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was famous in those times, for, besides their forbearing and protesting against gross sins, as murder, theft, adultery, idolatry, and the like, they were frequent and constant in prayer, fasting, and alras-deeds, so that, without question, many of thera were persuaded that their doing would purchase heaven and happiness. Whereupon I concluded, that I had as yet done no

more than they; and withal I considered, that our Saviour says, " Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God, Matth. v. 20; yea, and I also considered that the apostle says, " He is not a Jew that is one outwardly, but he that is one inwardly, whose praise not of men, but of God," Rom. ii. 28, 29. Then did I conclude that as I was not yet a true Christian; for, said I in my heart, I have contented myself with the praise of men, and so have lost all my labour and pains in performing duties; for they have been no better than outside performances, and therefore they must all fall down in a moment. I have not served God with all my heart, and therefore I see I must either go further, or else I shall never be happy. Whereupon I set about the keeping of the law in good earnest, and laboured to perform duties, not only outwardly, but also inwardly from my heart; I heard, and read, and prayed, and laboured, to bring my heart, and forced my soul to every duty ; I called upon the Lord in good earnest, and told him, that whatsoever he would have me to do, I would do it with all my heart, if he would but save my soul. And then I also took notice of the inward corruptions of my heart, the which I had not formerly done, and was careful to govern my thoughts, to moderate my passions, and to suppress the motions and risings of lusts, to banish pride and speculative wantonness, and all vain and sinful desires of my heart; and then I thought myself not only an outside Christian, bnt also an inside Christian, and therefore a true Christian indeed. And so I went on comfortably a good while till I considered that the law of God requires passive obedience as well as active; and therefore I must be a sufferer as well as a doer, or else I could not be a Christian indeed ; whereupon I began to bo troubled at my impatience under God's correcting hand, and at those inward murmurings and discontents which I found in my spirit in time of any outward calamity that befel me ; and then I laboured to bridle my passions, and to submit myself quietly to the will of God in every condition ; and then did I also, as it were, begin to take penance upon myself, by abstinence, fasting, and afflicting my soul; and made pitiful lamentations in my prayers, which were sometimes also accompanied with tears, the which I was persuaded the LoM did take notice of, and would reward me for it; and then I was persuaded that I did keep the law, in yielding obedience both actively and passively. And then was I confident I was a true Christian, until I considered, that those Jews, of whom the Lord complains, Isa. Iviii. did so much as I; and that caused me to fear that all was not right with me as yet. Whereupon I went to another minister, and told him that though I had

done thus and thus, and suffered thus and thus ; yet was I persuaded I was in no better condition than those Jews. 0 yes ! said he; you are in a better condition than they : for they were hypocrites, and served not God with all their hearts as you do. Then I went home contentedly, and so went on in my wonted course of doing and suffering, and thought all was well with me, until I bethought myself, that before the time of my conversion, I had been a transgressor from the womb; yea, in the womb, in that I was guilty of Adam's transgression : so that I considered that although I kept even with God for the time present and to come, yet that would not free me from the guiltiness of that which was done before ; whereupon I was much troubled and disquieted in my mind. Then I went to a third minister of God's holy word, and told how the case stood with me, and what I thought of my state and condition. He cheered me up, bidding me be of good comfort: for however my obedience since my conversion would not satisfy for my former sins ; yet, inasmuch as, at my conversion, I had confessed, lamented, deplored, bewailed, and forsaken them, God, according to his rich mercy and gracious promise, had mercifully pardoned and forgiven them. Then I returned home to my house again, and went to God by earnest prayer and supplication, and besought him to give me assurance of the pardon and forgiveness of ray guiltiness of Adam's sin, and all my actual transgressions before my conversion; and as I had endeavoured myself to be a good servant before, so I would still continue in doing my duty most exactly; and so, being assured that the Lord had granted this my request, I fell to my business according to my promise; I heard, I read, I prayed, I fasted, I mourned, I sighed, and groaned; and watched over ray heart, my tongue, and ways, in all my doings, actions^ and dealings, both with God and man. But after a while, I growing better acquainted with the spiritualuess of the law and the inward corruptions of my own heart, I perceived that I had deceived myself, in thinking that I had kept the law perfectly ; for, do what I could, I found many imperfections in my obedience ; for I had been, and was still subject to sleepiness, drowsiness, and heaviness, in prayers and hearing, and so in other duties ; I failed in the manner of performance of them, and in the end why I performed them, seeking myself in every thing I did : and my conscience told me I failed in my duty to God in this, and in my duty to my neighbour in that. And then I was much troubled again : for I considered that the law of God requires, and is not satisfied without, an exact and perfect obedience. And then I weut to the same minister again and told him how I had purposed, promised, striven and endea-

vonred, as much as possible I could, to keep the law of God perfectly ; and yet by woful experience I had found, that I had, and did still transgress in many ways ; and therefore I feared hell and damnation. " Oh ! but," said he, " do not fear, for the best of Christians have their failings, and no man keepeth the law of God perfectly; and therefore go on, and do as you have done, in striving to keep the law perfectly; and in what you cannot do, God will accept the will for the deed ; and wherein you come short, Christ will help you out." And this satisfied and contented me very much. So I returned home again, and fell to prayer, and told the Lord, that now I saw I could not yield perfect obedience to his law, and yet I would not despair, because I did believe, that what I could not do Christ had done for me : and then I did certainly conclude, that I was now a Christian indeed, though I was not so before : and so have I been persuaded ever since. And thus, sir, you see I have declared unto you, both how it hath been with me formerly and how it is with me for the present; wherefore I would entreat you to tell me plainly and truly what you think of my condition, u

Evan. Why, truly, I must tell you, it appears to me by this relation, that you have gone as far in the way of the covenant of works as the apostle Paul did before his conversion; but yet, for aught I see, you have not gone the right way to the truth of the gospel; and therefore I question whether you be as yet truly come to Christ.

u It is not necessary, for saving this account of Nomista's case from the odious charge of forgery, that the particulars therein mentioned should have heen real facts; more than (not to speak of scripture parables,) it is necessary to save the whole book from the same imputation, that the speeches therein contained should have passed, at a certain time, in a real conference of four men, called Evangelista, Nomista, Antino-mista, and Neophetus ; yet I make no question but it is grounded on matters of fact, falling out by some casuist's inadvertency, excess of charity to, or shifting converse with the afflicted, as to their soul-exercise, or by means of corrupt principles. And as the former are incident to good men of sound principles at any time, which calls ministers on such occasions to take heed to the frame of their own spirits, and to be much in the exercise of dependence on the Lord, lest they do hurt to souls instead of doing them good ; so the latter is at no time to be thought strange, since there were found, even in the primitive apostolical churches, some who were reputed godly zealous gospel ministers, especially by such as had little savour of Christ on their own souls, who nevertheless, in their zeal for the law, perverted the gospel of Christ, Gal. i. 6, 7, and iv. 17. Whether Nomista was of opinion, that the covenant of works was still in force or not, our Lord Jesus Christ taught that it was, Luke x. 25—28, and so does the apostle, Gal. iii. 10; and unbelievers will find it so to their everlasting ruin. For, " our Lord Jesus, who now offers to be Mediator for them who believe on him, shall, at the last day, come armed with flaming fire, to judge, condemn, and destroy all them who have not believed God, have not received the offer of grace made in the gospel nor obeyed the doctrine thereof, but remain in their natural state under the law or covenant of works."— Practical use of Saving Knowledge, tit. For convincing a man of Judgment by the Law, part. 2.

Neoph. Good sir, give me leave to speak a few words. By the hearing of your discourse concerning the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace, I was moved to fear that I was out of the right way; but now having heard my neighbour Nomista make such an excellent relation, and yet you to question whether he truly be come to Christ or no, makes me conclude absolutely that I am far from Christ. Surely if he, upon whom the Lord hath bestowed such excellent gifts and graces, and who hath lived such a godly life as I am sure he hath done, be not right, then woe be unto me.

Evan. Truly, for aught I know, you may be in Christ before him.

Nom. But, I pray you, sir, consider, that though I am now thoroughly convinced, that till of late I went on in the way of the covenant of works; yet seeing that I at last came to see my need of Christ, and have verily believed that in what I come short of fulfilling the law he will help me out, methinks I should be truly come to Christ.

Evan. Yerily, I do conceive that this gives you no surer evidence of your being truly come to Christ, than some of your strict Papists have. For it is the doctrine of the Church of Rome, that if a man exercise his power, and do his best to fulfil the law, then God for Christ's sake, will pardon all his infirmities, and save his soul. And therefore you shall see many of your Papists strict and zealous in the performance of duties, morning and evening, so many Ave Maries and so many Pater Nosters; yea, and many of them do great deeds of charity, and great works of hospitality; and all upon such grounds and to such ends as these. The Papists (says Calvin) cannot abide this saying, " By faith alone ;" for they think that their own works are in a part a cause of their salvation, and so they make a hotchpotch and mingle-mangle, that is neither fish nor flesh as men say.

Nom. But stay, sir, I pray; you are mistaken in me; for though I hold that God doth accept of my doing my best to fulfil the law, yet I do not hold with the Papists, that my doings are meritorious; for I believe that God accepts not what I do, either for the work or worker's sake, but only for Christ's sake.

Evan. Yet do you but still go hand in hand with the Papists; for though they do hold that their works are not meritorious, yet they say it is by the merit of Christ that they become meritorious; or as some of the moderate sort of them say, " Our works, sprinkled with the blood of Christ, become meritorious." But this you are to know that as the justice of God requires a perfect obedience, so does it require that this perfect obedience be a personal one ; viz. it must be the obedience of one person only; the obedience of two must not be

put together, to make up a perfect obedience ; v so that, if you desire to be justified before God, you must either bring him to a perfect righteousness of your own, and wholly renounce Christ; or else you must bring the perfect righteousness of Christ, and wholly renounce your own.

Ant. But believe me, sir, I would advise him to bring Christ's, and wholly renounce his own, as, I thank the Lord, I have done.

Evan. You say very well; for, indeed, the covenant of grace terminates itself only on Christ and his righteousness; God will have none to have a hand in the justification and salvation of a siu-ner, but Christ only. And to say as the thing is, neighbour Nomista, Christ Jesus will either be a whole Saviour, or no Saviour; he will either save you alone, or not save you at all. Acts iv. 12. "For among men there is given no other name under heaven, whereby we must be saved," says the apostle Peter ; and Jesus Christ himself says, John xiv. 6. " I am the way, the truth, and the life ; and no man cometh to the father but by me." So that, as Luther truly says, " besides this way Christ, there is no way but wandering, no verity but hypocrisy, no life but eternal death." And verily says another godly writer , " we can neither come to God the Father, be reconciled unto him, nor have anything to do with him, by any other way or means, but only by Jesus Christ; for we shall not any where find the favour of God, true innocency, righteousness, satisfaction for sin, help, comfort, life, or salvation, any where but only in Jesus Christ; he is the sum and centre of all divine and evangelical truths : and therefore as there is no knowledge or wisdom so excellent, necessary, or heavenly, as the knowledge of Christ, as the apostle plainly gives us to understand, 1 Cor. ii. 2, that he " determined to know nothing amongst them, but only Jesus Christ and him crucified ;" so there is nothing to be preached unto men, as an object of their faith, or necessary element of their salvation which doth not in some way or other, either meet in Christ, or refer unto him."ru

§ 7- -Ant. 0, sir, you please me wondrous well in thus attributing all to Christ: and surely, though of late you have not been so evangelical in your teaching as some others in this city, which has caused me to leave off hearing you to hear them, yet I have formerly

v For in that case, the obedience both of the one and of the other is imperfect, and so is not conform to the law ; therefore it can in nowise be accepted for righteousness; but according to justice proceeding upon it, the soul that hath it must die, because a sinful soul, Ezek. xviii. 4.

w Eph. iv. 20, 21. " Bot ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus."

perceived, and now also perceive, that you have more knowledge of the doctrine of free grace than any other ministers of this city have; and, to tell you the truth, sir, it was hy your means that 1 was first brought to renounce mine own righteousness, and cleave only to the righteousness of Jesus Christ.* And thus it was : after that I had been a good while a legal professor, just like my friend Nomista, and heard none but your legal preachers, who built me up in works and doings, as they did him, aud as their manner is; at last, a familiar acquaintance of mine, who had some knowledge of the doctrine of free grace, did commend you for an excellent preacher; and at last prevailed with me to go with him and hear you ; and your text that day, I well remember, was Tit. iii. 5, " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us;" whence you observed, and plainly proved, that man's own righteousness had no hand in his justification and salvation ; whereupon you dehorted us from putting any confidence in our own works and doings, and exhorted us by faith to lay hold upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ only; at the hearing whereof it pleased the Lord so to work upon me, that I plainly perceived that there was no need at all of my works and doings, nor any thing else, but only to believe in Jesus Christ, y And indeed my

x What this is, in the sense of the speaker, he himself immediately explains at large —in a word, in his sense, it is to be an Antinomian indeed. The sum of his compliment made to Evangelista, or the author, which you please, lies here ; namely, that he had left off htaring him, because he did not preach the gospel so purely as some others in the place ; yet in his opinion, he understood it better than many others ; and (to carry the compliment to the highest pitch) it was by his means he turned down-Tight Antinomian. One would think, that whatever was the measure of our author's pride or humility, self-denial, or self-seeking, he had as much common sense as would render this address not very taking with him, or at least would teach him, that the publishing of it was none of the most proper means for commending himself. So that the publishing of it may rather be imputed to the author's self-denial than to the want thereof; though I presume the considering reader will neither impute it to the one nor to the other.

y The preacher taught, according to his text, The man's own righteousness had no hand in his justification and salvation; he dehorted from putting confidence in good works ; and exhorted by faith to lay hold on Christ's righteousness only. And this hearer thence inferred, that there was no need at all of good works ; as if one should conclude, that because it is the eye only that seeth, therefore there is no need at all of hand or foot. So the apostle Paul's doctrine was misconstrued ; Rom. iii. 8, " Some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that good may come." Yea, in the apostles' days, the doctrine of free grace was actually thus abused to Antinomianism, by some " turning the grace of God into lasciviousness," Ju'le 4. The apostle was aware of the danger on that side through the corruption of the hearts of men; Gal. v. 13, " Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty ; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh." And ministers of Christ (who himself was accounted "a friend of publi-

Vol. VII. P

heart assented to it immediately, so that I went home with abundance of peace and joy in believing, and gave thanks to the Lord for that he had set my soul at liberty from such a sore bondage as I had been under. And I told all my acquaintance what a slavish life I lived in, being under the law ; for if I did commit any sin, I was presently troubled and disquieted in my conscience, and could have no peace till I made humble confession thereof unto God, craved pardon and forgiveness, and promised amendment. But now I told them, that whatsoever sins I committed, I was no whit troubled at them, nor indeed am I at this day; for I do verily believe that God, for Christ's sake, has freely and fully pardoned all my sins, both past, present and to come; so that I am confident, that whatsoever sin or sins I commit, they shall never be laid to my charge, being very well assured, that I am so perfectly clothed with the robes of Christ's righteousness, that God can see no sin in me at all. And therefore now I can rejoice evermore in Christ, as the apostle exhorts me, and live merrily, though I be never so vile or sinful a creature ; and indeed I pity them that are in the same slavish condition I was in ; and would have them to believe as I have done, that so they may rejoice with me in Christ, z And thus, sir, you see I have declared unto you my condition ; and therefore I entreat you to tell me what you think of me.

Evan. There is in this city, at this day, much talk about Antino-mian3; and though I hope there be but few that do justly deserve that title, yet, I pray, give me leave to tell you, that I fear I may say unto you in this case, as it was once said unto Peter in another case, " Surely thou art one of them, for thy speech bewrayeth thee," Matth. xxvi. 73. And therefore, to tell you truly, I make some question whether you have truly believed in Christ, for all your confidence; and indeed I am the rather moved to question it,

cans and sinners," &c. Matth, xi. 19,) followers of Paul's doctrine, which, in the eyes of carnal men, had a show and semblance of favouring sinful liberty, ought to set the apostle'3 example in this matter before them in a special manner ; with fear and trembling, keeping a jealous eye on the danger from that part ; especially in this day, wherein the Lord's indignation is visibly going out in spiritual strokes, for a despised gospel; knowing that the gospel of Christ is to some " the savour of death unto death," 2 Cor. ii. 16, and that " there are who wrest the Scriptures (themselves,) unto their own destruction," 2 Pet. ii. 17.

z How easy is the passage from legalism to Antinomianism ! Had this poor man, under his trouble and disquiet of conscience, fled to Jesus Christ, for the purging of his conscience from guilt by his blood, and the sanctifying of bis Dature by his Spirit; and not put his own confessions of sins, prayers for pardon, and promises of amendment, in the room of Christ's atoning blood ; and his blind and faithless resolutions to amend, in the room of the sanctifying spirit of Christ; he had escaped this snare of the devil, Heb. ix. 14 ; Rom. vii. 4—6.

by calling to mind, that, as I have heard, " your conversation is not such as becometh the gospel of Christ," Phil. i. 27-

Ant. Why, sir, do you think it is possible for a man to have such peace and joy in Christ as I have had, and I thank the Lord have still, and not to have truly believed in Christ?

Evan. Yes, indeed, I think it is possible; for does not our Saviour tell us, that those hearers, to whom he resembles the " stony ground,—immediately received the word with joy, and yet had no root in themselves," (Mark iv. 16, 17,) and so indeed were not true believers? and does not the apostle give us to understand, that as there is a form of godliness without the power of godliness, (2 Tim. iii. 5.) so there is a form of faith without the power of faith; and therefore he prays that God would grant unto the Thes-salonians "the work of faith with power," 2 Thess. i. 11. And as the same apostle gives us to understand, " there is a faith that is not feigned," 1 Tim. i. 5; so, doubtless, there is a faith that is feigned. And surely when our Saviour says, Mark iv. 26—28, " the kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear;" he giveth us to understand, that true faith is produced by the secret power of God, by little and little; so that sometimes a true believer himself neither knows the time when, nor the manner how, it was wrought. So that we may perceive, that true faith is not ordinarily begun, increased, and finished, all in a moment, as it seems yours was, but grows by degrees, according to that of the apostle, Rom. i. 17, " The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith," that is, from one degree of faith to another; a from a weak faith to a strong faith, and from faith beginning to faith increasing towards perfection; or from faith of adherence to faith of evidence ; but so was not yours. And again, true faith, according to the measure of it, produces holiness of life; but it seems yours does not so; and therefore, though you have had, and have still much peace and joy, yet that is no infallible sign that your faith is true; for a man may have great raptures, yea, he may have great joy, as if he were lifted up into the third heaven, and have a great and strong persuasion that his state is good, and yet be but a hypocrite for all that. And therefore, I beseech you, in the words of the apostle, " examine yourself, whether you be in the faith, prove your own self: know you not your own self, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be a reprobate ?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5, " And if Christ is in you, the body

a See note h, page 182.

p2

is dead because of sin, bnt the spirit is life because of righteousness, b Rom. viii. 10.

Ant. But, sir, if my friend Nomista went wrong in seeking to be justified by the works of the law, then, methinks, I should have gone right in seeking to be justified by faith; and yet you speak as if we had both gone wrong.

Evan. I remember Luther says, that in his time, if they taught in a sermon, that salvation consisted not in our works or life, but in the gift of God, some men took occasion thence to be slow to good works, and to live a dishonest life. And if they preached of a godly and honest life, others did by and by attempt to build ladders to heaven, c And moreover, he says, that in the year 1525, there were some fantastical spirits that stirred up the rustical people to sedition, saying, That the freedom of the gospel giveth liberty to all men from all manner of laws; and there were others that did attribute the force of justification to the law. Now, says he, both these sorts offend against the law; the one on the right hand, who would be justified by the law, and the other on the left hand, who would be clean delivered from the law. Now, I suppose, this saying of Lather's may be fitly applied to you too ; for it appears to me, friend Antinoraista, that you have offended on the left hand, in not walking according to the matter of the law ; and it is evident to me, neighbour Nomista, that you have offended on the right hand, in seeking to be justified by your obedience to it. d

§ 8. Nom. But, sir, if seeking justification by the works of the law be an error, yet it seems, that, by Luther's own confession it is but an error on the right hand.

Evan. But yet I tell you, it is such an error, that, by the apostle

b This doctrine of our author is far from cherishing of presumption, or opening of a gap to licentiousness.

c That is, to scale and get into it bv their own good works.

d The offences of these men here taxed, were both against the law, (or covenant) of works ; for they must need* have been against that law which they were under, and not another; and both of them were as yet under the law, or covenant of works, as being both unbelievers, the which was told Antinomista, page 234, as it was to Nomista, page 235 ; wherefore it is manifest, that by the matter of the law here, is not meant the law of Christ, but the matter of the law of works, that is, the ten commandments, as they stand in the covenant of works, which Antinomista had no regard to in his conversation, though they had all the authority and binding force upon him found in that covenant. And as he offended against the matter of it, so did Nomista against the form, in seeking to be justified by his obedience; for the covenant of works never bound a sinner to seek to be justified by his obedience to it; but, on the contrary, always condemned that as presumption, staking down the guilty under the curse, without remedy, till satisfaction be made bv another hand.

Paul's own confession, so far forth as any man is guilty of it, he makes his services his saviours, and rejects the grace of God, and makes the death of Christ of none effect, and perverteth the Lord's intention, both in giving the law and in giving the gospel; and keeps himself under the curse of the law, and maketh himself the son of a bond-woman, a servant, yea, and a slave, and hinders hi in-self in the course of well-doing," Gal. v. 4; iii. 19 ; i. 7; iii- 10: iv. 25; v. 7, and ii. 11; and in short, he goeth about an impossible thing, and so loseth all his labour.

Nom. Why then, sir, it would seem that all my seeking to please God by my good works, all my strict walking, according to the law, and all my honest course of life, has rather done me hurt than good ?

Evan. The apostle says, that " without faith it is impossible to please God," Heb. xi. 6; that is, says Calvin, (Instit. p. 370.) " Whatsoever a man thinketh, purposeth, or doeth, before he be reconciled to God by faith in Christ, it is accursed, and not only of no value to righteousness, but of certain deserving to damnation." So that, says Luther on Gal. p. 63, " Whosoever goeth about to please God with works going before faith, goeth about to please God with sin; which is nothing else but to heap sin upon sin, to mock God, and to provoke him to wrath.—Nay, (says the same Luther, on the Galatians, p. 23.) " if thou be without Christ, thy wisdom is double foolishness, thy righteousness is double sin and iniquity." And therefore, though you have walked very strictly according to the law, and led an honest life, yet if you have rested and put confidence therein, and so come short of Christ, then hath it indeed rather done you hurt than good. For, says a godly writer, a virtuous life according to the light of nature, turneth a man further off from God, if he add not thereto the effectual working of his Spirit. And, says Luther, " they which have respect only to an honest life, it were better for them to be adulterers and adulteresses, and to wallow in the mire." e And surely for this cause it is, that our Saviour tells the strict Scribes and Pharisees, who sought justification by works, and rejected Christ, that " publicans and harlots should enter into the kingdom of God before them," Matt. xxi. 31. And

e This comparison is not stated betwixt these too, considered simply, as to their different manner of life ; but in point ot pliableness to receive conviction, wherein the latter hath the advantage of the former ; which the Scripture oftener than once takes notice of, Matt. xxi. 31, quoted in the following sentence, " I would thou wert cold or hot," Rev. iii. 15. The passage is to be found in his sermon upon the Hymn of Zacharias, page 50.

for this cause it was that I said, For aught I know, my neighbour Neophitus might be in Christ before you.

Norn. But how can that be, when, as you know, he hath confessed that he is ignorant and full of corruption, and comes far short of me in gifts and graces ?

Evan. Because, as the Pharisee bad more to do before he could come at Christ than the Publican had, so I conceive you have more to do than be hath.

Nom. Why, sir, I pray you, what have I to do, or what would you advise me to do ? for truly I would be contented to be ruled by you.

Evan. Why, that which you have to do, before you can come to Christ, is to undo all that ever you have done already; that is to say, whereas you have endeavoured to travel towards heaven by the way of the covenant of works, and so have gone a wrong way; you must go quite back again all the way you have gone, before you cau tread one step in the right way. And whereas you have attempted to build up the ruins of old Adam, and that upon yourself, and so, like a foolish builder, to build a tottering house upon the sands,— you must throw down and utterly demolish all that building, and not leave a stone upon a stone, before you can begin to build anew. And whereas you have conceived that there is some sufficiency in yourself, to help to justify and to save yourself, you must conclude, that in that case there is not only in you an insufficiency, but also a non-sufficiency ; / yea, and that sufficiency that seemed to be in you, to be your loss. In plain terms, you must deny yourself, as our Saviour says, Matth. xvi. 24, that is, " you must utterly renounce all that ever you are, and all that ever you have done ;" all your knowledge and gifts all your hearing, reading, praying, fasting, weeping, and mourning; all your wandering in the way of works, and strict walking, must fall to the ground in a moment: briefly, whatsoever you have counted gain to you in the case of justification, you must now, with the apostle Pa*ul, Philip iii. 7—9, " count loss for Christ," and judge it to be " dung, that you may win Christ, and be found in him, not having your own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

f That is, you are not only unable to do enough, but also, that you are not able to Ho any thing. " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves." 2 Cor. iii. 5,

SECT. III.—OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PROMISE.

Sect. 1.—Christ's fulfilling of the law in the room of the elect 2. Believers dead to

the law as the covenant of works.—3. The warrant to helieve in Christ.—4. Evangelical repentance a consequent of faith 5. The spiritual marriage with Jesus

Christ 6. Justification before faith refuted 7. Believers freed from the commanding and condemning power of the covenant of works.

Neo. But, sir, what would you advise me to do ?

Evan. Why, man, what aileth you?

Neo. Why, sir, as you have been pleased to hear those two declare their condition unto you, so I beseech you to give rae leave to do the same : and then you will perceive how it is with me. Sir, not long since, it pleased the Lord to visit me with a great fit of sickness; so that, indeed, both in mine own judgment, and in the judgment of all that came to visit me, I was sick unto death. Whereupon I began to consider whither my soul was to go after its departure out of my body: and I thought with myself, that there were but two places, heaven and hell; and therefore it must needs go to one of them. Then my wicked and sinful life, which indeed I had lived, came into my mind, which caused me to conclude, that hell was the place provided for it; the which caused me to be very fearful, and to be very sorry that I had so lived; and I desired of the Lord to let me live a little longer, and I would not fail to reform my life, and amend my ways ; and the Lord was pleased to grant me my desire. Since which time, though indeed it is true I have not lived so wickedly as formerly I had done, yet, alas! I have come far short of that godly and religious life which I see other men live, and especially my neighbour Nomista; and yet you seem to conceive that he is not in a good condition, and therefore surely I must needs be in a miserable condition. Alas, sir, what do you think will become of me ?

§ 1. Evan. I do now perceive that it is time for me to show how God, in the fulness of time performed that which he purposed before all time, and promised in time, concerning the help and delivering of fallen mankind. And touching this point, the Scripture testifies, that God " did, in the fulness of time, send forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law," &c, Gal. iv. 1. That is to say, look how mankind by nature are under the law, as it is the covenant of works; so was Christ, as man's surety, contented to be; so that now, according to that eternal and mutual agreement that was betwixt God the Father and

him, lie put himself in the room and place of all the faithful, <jr Isa. liii. 6, " And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Then came the law as it is the covenant of works, and said, " I find him a sinner, h yea, such an one as hath taken upon him the sins of all men,i therefore let him die upon the cross." Then said

g That is, all those who have, or shall believe, or all the elect, which is one and the same in reality, and in the judgment of our author, expressly declared in the first sentence of his preface.

h By imputation and law-reckoning ; no otherwise, as a sinner believing in him is righteous before God. (Thus Isaac Ambrose, speaking of justification, says, " This righteousness makes a sinner sinless ;" i. e. as to guilt.) This must be owned to be the meaning of this expression, unless one will shut one's eyes to the immediately foregoing and following words,—I find him a sinner, said the law ; such an one as hath taken sin upon him. They are the words of Luther, and he was not the first who spoke so ) " He made him who was righteous to be made a sinner, that he might make sinners righteous," says Chrysostom; on 2 Cor. v; Horn. 11 cit. Owen on Justification, p 39. Famous Protestant divines have also used the expression after him. " When our divines," says Rutherford, " say, Christ took our place, and we have his condition,—Christ was made us, and made the sinner; it is true, only in a legal sense. He (Christ) was debitor /actus, —a sinner, a debtor by imputation, a debtor by law, by place, by office."— Trial and Triumph of Faith, p. 245, 257. Charnock argues the point thus; " How could he die, if he were not a reputed sinner '! Had he not first have had a relation to our sin, he could not in justice have undergone our punishment. He must, in the order of justice, be supposed a sinner really, or by imputation. Really, he was not; by imputation then he was."— Vol. ii. p. 547, Serm. on

1 Cor. v. 7. " Though personally he was no sinner, yet by imputation he was," says the Contin. of Poole's Annot. on 2 Cor. v. 21. " What lllyricus wrote, (says Rivet,) that Christ might most truly be called a sinner, Bellaimine calls blasphemy and cursed impudence. Wow Bellarmine himself contends, that Christ might attribute our sins to himself, therefore he might also truly call himself a sinner, while in himself innocent, he did represent our person. What blasphemy, what impiety is here?' — Comment on P&ahn xxii. I. The Scripture phrase to this purpose is more forcible,

2 Cor. v. 21, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." For as it is more to say we are made righteousness, than to say we are made righteous, since the former plainly imports a perfection of righteousness, if I may be allowed the phrase, righteousness not being propeily capable of degrees; so it is more to say, Christ was made sin for the elect world, than to say he was made a sinner, since the first of these doth accordingly point at the universality and complete tale of the elect's sins, from the first to the last of them laid on our spotless Redeemer. Compare Lev. xvi. 21, 22, " And Aaron shall confess over him, (viz. the scape-goat, which the apostle hath an eye to here) all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities." Isa. liii. 6, " And the Lord (marg.) hath made the iniquity of us all to meet on (Heb. in) him." These two texts give the just notion of the true import of that phrase, " He was made sin for us."

i Our Lord Jesus Ch ist died not for, nor took upon him the sins of all and every individual man, but he died for, and took upon him the sins of all the elect, John x. 15. and xv. 13 ; Acts xx 28 ; Eph. v. 25 ; Tit. ii. 14, and no other doctrine i> here

Christ, " Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me ; in burnt-offeriugs and sacrifices for sin thou hast no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 Lord !"

taught by our author touching the extent of the death of Christ. In the preceediug paragraph, where was the proper place fur giving his judgment on that head, he purposely declares it. He had before taught, that Jesus Christ did from eternity become man's surety in the covenant that passed betwixt him and the Father, p. 22—24. A surety puts himself in the place of those for whom he becomes surety, to pay their debt, Gen. xliv. 32, 33. Prov. xxii. 26, 27. And our author tells us, that now, when the prefixed time of Christ's fulfilling the eternal covenant, paying the debt he had taken on him, and purchasing man's redemption by his sufferings, was come, he did, according to the tenor of that covenant, which stated the extent of his suretiship, put himself iu the room and place,—he says not, of all men, but—of all the faithful, or elect of God ; (see note g. ) Jesus Christ thus standing in their room and place, actually to take on the burden. " The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all ;" the which Scripture text can bear no other sense in the connexion of it here, than what is the genuine sense of it, as it stands in the Holy Scripture, namely, that the Father laid on Christ the iniquities of all the spiritual Israel of God, of all nations, ranks, and conditions ; for no iniquities could be laid on him but theirs in whose room and place he sisted himself to receive the buideu, according to the eternal and mutual agreement. These iniquities being thus laid on the Mediator, the law came and said, 1 find him such an one as had taken on him the sins of all men. This is but an incident expression on the head of the extent of Christ's death, and it is a scriptural one too. 1 Tim. ii. 6. " Who gave himself a ransom for all," i. e. tor all sorts of men, not ior all of every sort. Heb. ii. 9. " That he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man," i. e. for every man of those whom the apostle is there treating of, namely sons brought or to be brought unio glory, verse 10 ; those who are sanctified, Christ's brethren, verse 11 ; given to him, verse 13; and the sense of the phrase, as used here by the author, can be no other ; for the sins, which the law found that he had taken on him, could be no other but the sins that the Lord had laid on him ; and the sins the Lord had laid on him were the sins of all the faithful or elect, according to the author ; wherefore, in the author's sense, the sins of all men which the law lound in Christ were the sins of all the elect, according to the genuine sense of the Scripture phraseology on that head. And an incident expression, in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, and determined in its connexion to the orthodox scriptural meaning, can never import any prejudice to his sentiment upon that point purposely declared before in its proper place. It is true, the author, when speaking ol those in whose room Christ puts himself, useth not the word aloue ; and iu the holy Scripture it is not used neither on that subject. And it may be observed, that the Spirit ol God in the word, doth not open the doctrine of election and reprobation, but upon man'« rejecting or embracing the gospel offer; the which different events are then seasonably accounted for, from the depths of the eternal counsel of God. See Luke x. 17—22; Matt. xxii. 1—14 ; Rom. ix. throughout ; Eph. i. 3—5. To every thing there is a season. The author hitherto hath been dealing with the parties, to bring them to Christ : and particularly here, he is speaking for the instruction and direction of a convinced trembling sinner, namely, Neophitus ; and therefore, like a wise and tender man in such a case, he useth a manner of speaking, which being warranted by the word, was fitted to evite the awakening of the ordinary scruples in that case, namely, " It may be 1 am not elected,—it may be Christ died nut for me ;" and which pointed at the duty of all,

Heb. x. 5—7. And so the law proceeding in full scope against him, set upon him, and killed him: and by this means, was the justice of God fully satisfied, his wrath appeased, and all true believers acquitted from all their sins, both past, present, and to come.j

and the encouragement that all have to come to Christ. And all this, after he had, in his very first words to the reader, sufficiently provided for his using such a manner of expression, without prejudice to the truth. Further, the law adds, " Therefore let him die upon the cross." Wherefore ? For their sins, of the laying of which upon him there is no mention made ; or for the sins of those in whose room he is expressly said to have put himself, according to the eternal agreement betwixt the Father and him. Then said Christ, " Lo ! I come ;" viz. actually to pay the debt for which I have become surety in the eternal compact; the which, whose it was, according to our author, is already sufficiently declared. The law then set upon him, and killed him ; for whom, according to our author? For these, surely, in whose room and place he put himself, and so stood. If one considers his account of the effect of all this, one does not find it to be, as Arminians say, " That Christ, by the merit of his death, hath so far forth reconciled God the Father to all mankind, that the Father, by reason of the Son's merit, both could and would, and did enter and establish, a new and gracious covenant with sinful man, liable to condemnation." (Examination ofTilenus, p. 164, art. 2, sect. 2.) " And obtained for all and every man a restoration into a state of grace and salvation ; so that none will be condemned, nor are liable to condemnation for original sin, but all are free from the guilt of that sin." (Teste Turret, loc. 14, ques. 14, th. 5.) Neither does he tell us, that Christ died to "render sin remissible to all persons, and them savable," as the Continuator of Pool's Annotations on Hebrews, (chapter ii. 9,) says, with other Universalists. By this means, says our author, " was the justice of God fully satisfied, his wrath appeased, and all true believers acquitted." Compare Westm. Confess, chap. 8. art. 4, 5, " This office (viz. of a surety) the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfil it, endured most grievous torments, &c.—The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience, and sacrifice of himself—hath fully satisfied the justice of his Father; and purchased not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto him.—Christ by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified." Chap. xi. art. 3. Wherefore the author does not here teach an universal redemption or atonement. Of this more afterward.

j Pardon is the removing of the guilt of sin. Guilt is twofold : I, The guilt of eternal wrath, by which the sinner is bound over to the eternal revenging wrath of God ; and this, by orthodox divines, is called the guilt of sin by way of emiuency. 2. The guilt of fatherly anger, whereby the sinner is bound over to God's fatherly anger and chastisements for sin. Accordingly there is twofold pardon ; the one is the removal of the guilt of eternal wrath, and is called legal pardon ; the other, the removal of the guilt of fatherly anger, and is called gospel pardon. As to the latter, the believer is daily to sue out his pardon, since he is daily contracting new guilt of that kind ; and this the author plainly teaches afterwards in its proper place. As to the former, of which only he speaks here, all the sins of a believer, past, present and to come, are pardoned together, and at once, in the first instance of his believing ; that is to say, the guilt of eternal wrath for sin then past and present is actually and for-

So that the law, as it is the covenant of works, hath not anything to say to any true believer, k for indeed they are dead to it, and it is dead to them.

Nom. But, sir, how could the sufferings of Christ, which in

mally done away ; the obligation to that wrath which he was lying under for these sins is dissolved, and the guilt of eternal wrath for sins then to come is effectually prevented from that moment for ever, so that he can never come under that kind of guilt any more; and this pardon as it relates to these sins, is but a pardon improperly so called, being rather a not imputing of them, than a formal remission, forasmuch as a formal remission being a dissolution of guilt actually contracted, agrees only to sins already committed. Therefore our author here uses the word acquitted, which is of a more extensive signification. All pardon of sin is an acquittance, but all acquittance of sin is not a formal pardon of it: " For at the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment. Short. Cat. But they will not then be formally pardoned. Now this is the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, Rom. iv. 48, " Even as David also descriheth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth rigteousuess without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Chap. viii. 1. " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." That is, not only they shall never be actually damned, i.e. sent to hell, as that phrase is ordinarily taken, for that is the privilege of all the elect, even before they believe, while yet they are under condemnation according to the Scripture ; but there is no binding over of them that are in Christ to eternal wrath v no guilt of that kind to them. Compare John iii. 18, " He that believeth on him is not condemmned ; but he that believeth not is condemned already." " The one (viz. justification) doth equally free all believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation." Larg. Cat. quest. 77. "Albeit sin remain, and continually abide in these our mortal bodies, yet it is not imputed unto us, but is remitted and covered with Christ's justice," {i.e. righteousness.) Old Confess, art. 25. Q. " What then is our only joy in life and death ? A. That all our sins, by-past, present, and to come, are buried ; and Christ only is our wisdom, justification, sanctificatiou, and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30, Craig's Cat. quest, 43, "The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers, under the gospel, consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law." Westmin. Confess, chap. xx. art. 1. See chap. xi. art. 5. chap. xvii. art. 3, "They (the Arminians) so utterly deny, that no sins of the faithful, how great and grievous soever thpy be, are imputed unto them, or that all their sins present and future are forgiven them." Exam, of Tilen. p. 226. art. 5. sect. 5.

It " What things soever it saith, it saith to them that are under it," Rom. iii. 19. But believers are not under it, not under the law of the covenant of works, (chap. vi. 14.) therefore it saith nothing to them. As such, it said all to Christ in their room and place; and, without the Mediator's dishonour, it cannot repeat its demands on them which it made upon him as their surety. Meanwhile the law, as a rule of life to believers, saith to them all, in the name and authority of God the Creator and Redeemer, (Matt. v. 48.) " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Howbeit, they are under a covenant, under which though no lean is required, yet less is accepted, for the sake of Christ their cuvenant-head.

respect of time were but finite, make full satisfaction to the justice of God, which is infinite ?

Evan. Though the sufferings of Christ, in respect of time, were but finite, yet in respect of the person that suffered, his sufferings came to be of infinite value ; for Christ was God and man in one person, and therefore his sufferings were a sufficient and full ransom for man's soul, being of more value than the death and destruction of all creatures.

Nom. But, sir, you know that the covenant of works requires man's own obedience or punishment, when it says, " He that doeth these things shall live in them;" and, " Cursed is every one that coutinueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them:" how then, could believers be acquitted from their sins by the death of Christ?

Evan. For answer, I pray you consider, that though the covenant of works requires man's ov?n obedience or punishment, yet it nowhere disallows or excludes that which is done or suffered by another in his behalf; neither is it repugnant to the justice of God for so there be a satisfaction performed by man, through a sufficient punishment for the disobedience of man, the law is satisfied, and the justice of God permitteth that the offending party be received into favour; and God acknowledges him, after such satisfaction made, as a just man, and no transgressor of the law ; and though the satisfaction be made by a surety, yet when it is done, the principal is, by the law, acquitted. But yt t for the further proof and confirmation of this point, we are to consider, that as Jesus Christ, the second Adam, entered into the same covenant that the first Adam did, I so by him was done whatsoever the first Adam had undone. So the case stands thus,—that as whatsoever the first Adam did, or befel him, was reckoned as done by all mankind, and to have befallen them, even so, whatsoever Christ did, or befel him, is to be reckoned as to have been done by all believers, and to have befallen them. So that as sin cometh from Adam alone to all mankind, as he in whom all have sinned ; so from Jesus Christ alone cometh righteousness unto all that are in him, as he in whom they all have satisfied the justice of God ; for as being in Adam, and one with him, all did, in him and with him, transgress the commandment of God; even so, in respect of faith, whereby believers are ingrafted into Christ, and spiritually made one with him, they did all, in him, and with him, satisfy the justice of God, in his death and sufferings, m And whosoever reckons thus, reckons according

l See the note n t page 196.

>n Namely, in the sense of the law; for in the law-reckoning, as to the payment of

to Scripture; for in Rom. v. 12. all are said to have sinned in Adam's sin; in whom all have sinned, says the text, namely, in Adam as in a public person: all men's acts were iucluded in his, because their persons were included in his. So likewise in the same chapter it is said, ' ; that death passed upon all men;" namely for this, that Adam's sin was reckoned for theirs. Even so (Rom. vi. 10.) the apostle, speaking of Christ, says, " In that he died, he died unto sin ; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto

a debt, and fulfilling of a covenant, or any the like purpo-es, tbe surety and the original debtor, the federal head or the representative, and the represented, are but one person. And thus the Scripture, determining Adam to be the figure (or type) of Christ, (Rom. v. 14.) teaches upon the one hand, that all mankind sinned in Adam (verse 12.) and died in him, (l Cor. xv. 22) ; and on the other hand, that believers were crucified with Christ, (Gal. ii. 20.) and raised up in him. Eph. ii. 6, " The

covenant (of works) being made with Adam as a public person—all mankind sinned

in him."— Lar. Cat. Quest. 22. " The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam," Quest. 31. " He—satisfied Divine justice—the which he did as a public person, the head of his Churcb," {quest. 52.) "that the righteousness of the law," says the apostle, " might be fulfilled in us," (Rom. viii. 4) ; so believers satis-tied in him, as they sinned in Adam. "The threatening of death (Gen. ii. 17.) is fulfilled in the elect, so that they die, and yet their lives are spared: they die, and yet they live, for they are reckoned in law to have died when Christ their surety died for them."— Ferguson on Gal. ii. 20. " Although thou," says Beza, " hast satisfied for the pain of thy sins in the person of Jesus Christ."— Bezds Confess, point. 4.

art. 12. " What challenges Satan or conscience can make against the believer

hear an answer; I was condemned, I was judged, I was crucified for sin when my surety Christ was condemned, judged, and crucified for my sins.—I have paid all, because my surety has paid all."— Rutherford's Trial and Triumph of Faith, serm. xix. p. 268. " As in Christ we satisfied, so likewise in Adam we sinned."— Flint. Exam, p. 144. This doctrine, and the doctrine of the formal imputation of Christ's righteousness to believers stand and fall together. For if believers be reckoned in law to have satisfied in Christ, then his righteousness, which is the result of his satisfaction, must needs be accounted theirs, but if there be no such law-reckoning, Christ's righteousness cannot be imputed to them otherwise than as to the effects of it, for the judgment of God is always according to truth." Rom. ii. 2. This the Neonomians are aware of, and deny both, reckoning them Antinomian principles, as they do many other Protestant doctrines. Hear Mr. Gibbons : " They, (viz. the Antinomians) are dangerously mistaken in thinking that a believer is righteous in the sight of God with the self-fame active and passive righteousness wherewith Christ was righteous, as though believers suffered in Christ, and obeyed in Christ."— Morn. Exer. Method, ser. 19. p. 423. On the other hand, the Westminster divines teach both as sound and orthodox principles, affirming Christ's righteousness, obedience, and satisfaction, themselves, to be imputed to believers, or reckoned their righteousness, obedience, and satisfaction. "Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us."— Short. Cut. " Onlv for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ by God imputed to them."— Larg. Cut. quest. 70. '' By imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them. — Westmin. Confess, chap. xi. ait. 1.

God:" so likewise, says he in the next verse, " Reckon ye yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." And so, as touching the resurrection of Christ, the apostle argues, (1 Cor. xv. 20.) that all believers must and shall arise, because " Christ is risen, and is become the first fruits of them that sleep." Christ, as the first-fruits, arises, and that in the name and stead of all believers ; and so they rise in him and with him for Christ did not rise as a private person, but he arose as the public head of the church ; so that in his arising all believers did virtually arise. And as Christ, at his resurrection, was justified and quitted from all the sins of all believers by God his father, as having now fully satisfied for them, even so were they, n And thus you see obedience of Christ being imputed unto believers by God for their righteousness, it puts them into the same estate and case, touching righteousness unto life before God, o wherein they should have been, if they had perfectly performed the perfect obedience of the covenant of works, " Do this, and thou shalt live." p

Sect. 2. Norn. But, sir, are all believers dead to the law, and the law dead to them, say you ?

Evan. Believe it, as the law is the covenant of works, all true be-

n Virtually justified, not actually, in his justification, even as in his resurrection they did virtually arise. That this is the author's meaning is evident from his own words, when, speaking of Neophitus, he says expressly, " He was justified meritoriously in the death and resurrectiou of Christ, but yet he was not justified actually, till he did actually believe in Christ.

o So called to distinguish it from inherent righteousness, which is righteousness from life.

p This is a weighty point, the plan and native result of what is said, namely, that since Jesus Christ hath fully accomplished what was to have been done by man himself for life according to the covenant of works, and that the same is imputed to believers ; therefore believers are in the same state, as to righteousness unto life, that they would have been in if man himself had stood the whole time appointed for his trial. And here is the true ground in law of the infalible perseverance of the saints, their time of trial for life is over in their Head the second Adam—the prize is wonj! Hence the just by faith are entitled to the same benefit which Adam by his perfect obedience would have been entitled to. Compare Rom. x. 5, " The man that doth these things shall live," with Hab. ii. 4, " The just by his faith shall live ;" the which is the true reading according to the original. And here, for clearing of the following purpose of the believer's freedom from the law, as it is the covenant of works, let it be considered, that if Adam had stood till the time of his trial had been expired, the covenant of works would indeed from that time have remained his everlasting security for eternal life, like a contract held fulfilled by the one party ; but, as in the same case it could have no longer remained to be the rule of his obedience ! namely, in the state of confirmation. The reason is obvious, viz. that the subjecting of him still to the covenant of works as the rule of his obqrfieuce, would have been a reducing him to

lievers are dead unto it, and it is dead unto them ; q for they being incorporated into Christ, what the law or covenant of works did to him, it did the same to them ; so that when Christ hanged on the cross, all believers, after a sort, hanged there with him. And therefore the apostle Paul having said, Gal. ii. 10, " I through the law am dead to the law," adds in the next verse, "I am crucified with Christ;" which words the apostle brings as an argument to prove that he was dead to the law, for the law had crucified him with Christ. Upon which text Luther on the Galatians, (p. 81.) says, " I likewise am crucified and dead to the law, forasmuch as I am crucified and dead with Christ. .And again, "I believing in Christ, am also crucified with Christ." In like manner, the apostle says to the believing Romans, " So ye, my brethren, are dead also to the law by the body of Christ," Rom. vii. 4. Now, by the body of Christ, is meant the passion of Christ upon the cross, or which is all one, the suffering of Christ in his human nature. And, therefore certainly we may conclude with Tindal on the text, that all such are dead concerning the law, as by faith crucified with Christ.

Nom. But, I pray you, sir, how do you prove that the law is dead to a believer ?

Evan. Why, as I conceive, the apostle confirms it, Rom. vii. 1—6.

Nom. Surely, sir, you do mistake ; for I remember the words of the first verse are, " how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ;" and the words of the sixth verse are, " but now arewe delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were holden," &c.

the state of trial he was in before, and the setting him anew to work for what was already his own, in virtue of his (supposed) fulfilling of that covenant. Nevertheless it is absolutely impossible but the creature, in any state whatsoever, must be bound to and owe obedience unto the Creator ; and being still bound to obedience, (>f necessity he behoved to have had a rule of that obedience ; as to which rule, since the covenant of works could not be it, what remains but that the rule of obedience, in the state of confirmation, would have been the law of nature, suited to man's state of immutability, improperly so called, and so divested of the form of the covenant of works, namely, in promise of eternal life, and threatening of eternal death, as it is, and will be in heaven, for ever. The application is easy, making always as the rule of believers' obedience, suitable reserves for the imperfection of their state, in respect of inherent righteousness ; the which imperfection, as it leaves room for promises of fatherly smiles, and threatenings of fatherly chastisements, so it makes them necessary ; but these also shall be doue away in heaven, when their real estate shall be perfect as their relative state is now.

q Rom. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also become dead to the law." Gal. ii. 19, "I through the law am dead to the law." And this, acording to the nature, of correlates, concludes the law, as it is the covenant of works ; to be dead also to believers. Col. ii. 14, " Nailing it to his cross."

Evan. I know right well, that in our last translation the words are so rendered ; but the learned Tindal renders it thus, " Remember ye not, brethren, that the law hath dominion over a man as long as it eudureth ?" And Bishop Hall paraphrases upon it thus, " Know ye not, brethren, that the Mosaical law hath dominion over a man that is not subject unto it, so long as the said law is in force ?" So likewise Origen, Ambrose, and Erasmus, do all agree, that, by these words, while " he" or " it" liveth, we are to understand, as long as the law remaineth. And Peter Martyr is of opinion, that these words, while " he" or " it" liveth, are differently referred, either to the law, or to the man; for says he, " the man is said to be dead," ver. 4. " and the law is said to be dead," ver. 6. Even so because the word " he" or " it" mentioned verse 1. signifies both sexes in the Greek, Chrysostom thinks, that the death both of the law and the man is insinuated. And Theophylact, Erasmus, Bucer, and Calvin, do all understand the sixth verse, of the law beinw dead. And as the death of a believer to the law was accomplished by the death of Christ, even so also was the law's death to him ; as Mr. Fox in his sermon of Christ crucified, testifies, saying, " Here have we upon one cross two crucifixes, two of the most excellent potentates that ever were, the Son of God and the law of God, wrestling together about man's salvation—both cast down and both slain upon one cross; howbeit, not after a like sort. First, the Son of God was cast doTn, and took the fall, not for any weakness in himself, but was content to take it for our victory. By this fall, the law of God, in casting him down was caught in his own trip, and so was fast nailed hand and foot to the cross, according as we read in St. Paul's words, Col. ii. 14." And so Luther on the Galatians, (p. 184.) speaking to the same point, says, " This was a a wonderful combat, where the law, being a creature, giveth such assault to his Creator, iu practising his whole tyranny upon the Son of God. Now, therefore, because the law did so horribly and cursedly sin against his God, it is accused and arraigned, and, as a thief and cursed murderer of the Son of God, loses all its right, and deserves to be condemned. The law therefore is bound, dead, and crucified to me. It is not only overcome, condemned, and slain unto Christ, but also to me, believing in him unto whom he hath freely given this victory." r Now, then, although according to the

r This is cited from Luther on the epistle to the Galatians, according to the English translation, and is to be found there, fol. 114. p. 1, 2. fol. 185. p. 1. fol. 82. p. 1. His own words from the Latin original, after he had lectured on that epistle a second time, as I find them in my copy, printed at Frankfort 1563, are here subjoined. " Hoc profecto mirabile duellum est, ulji lex creatura cum Creatore sic congreditur,

apostle's intimation, (Roin. vii. at the baginning,) the covenant of works, and man by nature, be mutually engaged each to other, so long as they both live ; yet if, when the wife be dead, the husband be free, then much more when he is dead also.

et praeter omne jus, omnem tyrannidem suam in Filio Dei exercet, qnam in nobis fil-liis, irae exercuit." Luth Comment, in Gal. iv. 4,5. p. 598. " Ideo lex, tanquam letro et sacrileijus hornicida Filii Dei, amittit jus, et meretur damnari," lb. p. 600. " Ergo lex, est mihi surda, ligata, mortua et crucifixa." lb. cap ii. 20. p. 280. " Conscientia apprenendens hoc apostoli verbum, Christus a lege nos redemit—sancta quadam subt-rbia insultat legi, dicens—nunc in posterum non solum Christo victa et strangulata es, sed etiam mihi credenti in eum, cui donavit banc victoriam," Page 600. That great man of Go'l, a third Elias, and a second Paul, (if I may venture the expression,) though he was no inspired teacher, was endued with a great measure of the spirit of them both, being raised up of God for the extraordinary work of the Reformation of religion from Popery, while all the world wondered after the Beast. The lively savour he had of the truths of the gospel in his own soul, and the fervour of his spirit in delivering them, did indeed carry him as far from the modern politeness of expression, as the admiration and affectation of this last is like to carry us off from the former. What he designed by all this triumph of faith is summed up in a few words, immediately following these last cited : " This, the law, (viz. as it is the covenant of works) is gone for ever as to us, providing we abide in Christ." This he chose to express in such figurative terms, that that great gospel truth might be the more impressed on his own heart, and the hearts of his scholars, being prompted thereto by his experience of the necessity, and withal of the difficulty of applying it by faith to his own case, in his frequent deep soul exercises and conflicts of conscience. " Therefore (says he) feeling thy terrors and threatening, O law ! I dip my conscience over head and ears, into the wounds, blood, death, resurrection, and victory of Christ; besides him I will see and hear nothing at all. This faith is our victory, whereby we overcome the terrors of the law, sin, death, and all evils, but not without a great conflict." Ibid. p. 597. And speaking on the same subject elsewhere, he has these remarkable words, " It is easy to speak these things, but happy he that could know them aright in the conflict of conscience."— Comment, on Gal. ii. 19. p. 259. Now, to turn outward the wrong side of the picture of his discourse, to make it false, horrid, profane and blasphemous, is hard. At this rate, many scripture texts must suffer, not to speak of approven human writers. I instance only that of Elias, 1 Kings xviii. 27. " He (Baal) is a god ; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." Yet 1 compare not Luther's commentary to the inspired writing; only where the holy Scripture goes before, one would think he might be allowed to follow. Here is an irony, a rhetorical figure, and there is a prosopopoeia, or feigning of a person, another rhetorical figure ; and the learned and holy man tells us withal, that Paul used it before him on the same subject, representing the law " as a most potent personage, who condemned and killed Christ, whom he (having overcome death) did in the like manner conquer, condemn, and kill;" for which he cites Eph. ii. iv.

epistles to the Rom Cor. Col. p. 599. Now, albeit the law, as it is the covenant

of works, not being a person indeed, but a most holy law of God, was incapable of real arraignment, sin, theft, or murder ; yet one being allowed to speak figuratively of it, as such a person before mentioned ; and finding the Spirit of God to teach that it was crucified, Jesus Christ " nailing it to his cross," Col. ii. 14. What impiety

Vol. VII. q

Nom. But, sir, what are we to understand by this double death, or wherein does this freedom from the law consist?

Evan. Death is nothing else but a dissolution, or untying of a compound, or a separation between matter and form ; and, therefore, when the soul and body of man is separated, we say he is dead : so that, by this double death, we are to understand nothing else, but that the bargain, or covenant, which was made between God and man at first, is dissolved or untied ; or that the matter and form of the covenant of works is separated to a believer. So that the law of the ten commandments neither promises eternal life, nor threatens eternal death to a believer, upon condition of his obedience or disobedience to it; s neither does a believer, as he is a believer, either

what blasphemy is there in assigning crimes to it for which it was crucified, crimes of the same nature with its crucifixion, that is, not really ami literally so, but figuratively only ? And the crucifying of a person, as it presupposeth his arraignment, accusation, and condemnation, so it implies his binding and death ; all which the decency of the parable requires. And the same decency requiring the rhetorical feigning of crimes as the causes of that crucifixion, they could be no other but these tbat are assigned ; forasmuch as Jesus Christ is here considered, not as a sinner by imputation, but as absolutely without guilt, though in the meantime the sins of all the elect were really to him, the which in reality justified the holy law's procedure against him. Moreover, upon the crucifixion, it may be remembered how the apostle proves Christ to have been " made a curse for us ;" for, says he, it is written, " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," Gal. iii. 13 ; the which if any should apply to the law as the covenant of works in a figurative manner, as its crucifixion must be understood, it could import no more, by reason of the nature of the thing, than an utter abolition of it with respect to believers, which is a great gospel truth. And here one may call to mind the Scripture phrases, Rom. vii 5, " The motions of sin which were by the law ;"—chap. viii. 2, " The law of sin and death ;"—" The covenant of works, called the law of sin and death," Confess, p. 382, fiff. 3. '' The strength of sin is the law," 1 Cor. xv. 56.

After all, for my part, I would neither use some of these expressions of Luther's, nor dare I so much as in my heart condemn them in him ; the reason is one ; because of the want of that measure of the influences of grace which I conceive he had when he uttered these words. And the same I would say of the several expressions of the great Rutherford, and of many eminent ministers, in their day signally countenanced of God in their administrations. Here Luther himself, in his preface to that book, page {mihi) 10, " These our thoughts," says he, " on this epistle do come forth, not so much against those, (viz. the church's enemies) as for the sake of our own, (viz. her friends) who will either thank me for my diligence, or will pardon my weakness and rashness." It is a pity the just expectation of one, whose name will be in honour in the church of Christ while the memory of the Reformation from Popery is kept up, should be frustrated.

s The law of the ten commandments given to Adam, as the covenant of works, promised eternal life, upon condition of obedience, and threatened eternal death in case of disobedience ; and this was it that made it the covenant of works. Now, this covenant frame of the law of the ten commandments being dissolvod as to believers, it can

hope for eternal life, or fear eternal death, upon any such terms, t No; " we may assure ourselves, that whatsoever the law saith," on any such terms, it " saith to them who are under the law," (Rom. iii. 19.); but believers " are not under the law, but under grace," (Rom. vi. 14.) and so have escaped eternal death, and obtained eternal life, only by faith in Jesus Christ; u " for by him all that be-no more promise nor threaten them at any rate. The Scripture indeed testifies, that " godliness hath the promise, not only of the life that now is, but also of that which is to come," (1 Tim. iv. 8,) there being an infallible connexion between godliness and the glorious life in heaven established by promise in the covenant of grace ; but in the meantime, it is the obedience and satisfaction of Christ apprehended by faith, and not our godliness, that is the condition upon which that life is promised, and upon which a real Christian in a dying hour will venture to plead for a share in that life. It is likewise certain that not only are believers, in virtue of the covenant of works which they remain under, liable to et rnal death as the just reward of sin, but there is by that covenant a twofold connexion established, the one betwixt a state of unbelief ir-regeneracy, impenitency, and unholiness, and eternal death ; the other, betwixt acts of disobedience and eternal death. The former is absolutely indissoluble, and cannot but eternally remain ; so that whosoever are in that state of sin, while they are in it they must needs be in a state of death, bound over to the wratb of God bv virtue of the threatening of the law ; but then it is impossible that believers in Christ can be in that state of sin. So these and the like sentences,—" He that believeth shall not be damned," Mark xvi. 16. "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish," Luke xiii. 3. " If ye live after the flesh ye shall die," Rom. viii. 3 ; do indeed bind over unbelievers to eternal death ; but they do no otherwise concern believers than as they set before them a certain connexion of two events, neither of which can ever be found in their case; and yet the serious consideration of them is of great and manifold use to believers, as a serious view of every part of the covenant of works is, particularly to move them to grow up more and more into Christ, and to make their calling and election sure As to the latter connexion, viz. betwixt acts of disobedience and eternal death, it is dissoluble, and in the case of the believer, actually dissolved ; so that none have warrant to say to a believer, If thou sin, thou shalt die eternally ; forasmuch as the threatening of eternal death, as to the believer, being already satisfied in the satisfaction of Christ, by faith apprehended and imputed of God to him, it cannot be renewed on him, more than one debt can be twice charged, namely, for double payment.

t But on the having, or wanting of a saving interest in Christ.

u This is a full proof of the whole matter. For how can the law of the ten commandments promise eternal life, or threaten eternal death, upon condition of obedience or disobedience, to those who have already escaped eternal death, and obtained eternal life by faith in Christ V The words which the Holy Ghost teaches, are so far from restraining the notion of eternal life to glorification, and of eternal death to the misery of the damned in hell, that they declare the soul upon its union with Christ to be as really possessed of eternal life as the saints in heaven are ; and without that state of union, to be as really under death, and the wrath of God, as the damned in hell are, though not in that measure. (The term " eternal death" is not, as far as I remember, used in Scripture.) And this agreeable to the nature of the things ; for as here is no mids betwixt life and death in a subjrct capable of either, so it is evident,

q2

lieve are justified from all tilings, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses." Acts xiii. 39. " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." John iii. 16.

And this is that covenant of grace which, as I told you, was made with the fathers by way of promise, and so but darkly; but now the fulness of time being come, it was more fully opened and promulgated.

Ant. "Well, sir, you have made it evident and plain, that Christ hath delivered all believers from the law, as it is the covenant of works ; and that therefore they have nothing at all to do with it.

Evan. No, indeed ; none of Christ's are to have any thing to do with the covenant of works, but Christ only. For although in the making of the covenant of works at first, God was one party, and man another, yet, in making it the second time, God was on both sides:—God, simply considered in his essence, was the party opposed to man ; and God, the second person, having taken upon him to be incarnate, and to work man's redemption, was on man's side, and takes part with man, that he may reconcile him to God, by bearing man's sins, aud satisfying God's justice for them. And Christ paid God v till he said be had enough ; he was fully satisfied, fully contented, (Matth. iii. 17.) "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Yea, God the Father was well pleased, and fully satisfied from all eternity, by virtue of that covenant that was made betwixt them. And thereupou all Christ's people were given to them in their election. Eph. i. 4, " Thine they were," w says Christ, " and thou gavest them me," John xvii. 6. And

the life communicated to the sou], in its union with Christ the quickening Head, can never be extinguished for the ages of eternity, (John xiv. 19.) ; and the sinner's death under the guilt and power of sin, is in its own nature eternal, and can never end hut by a work of Almighty power, which raiseth the dead, and calleth things that are not, to he as if they were. 1 Thess. i. 10, " Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come.' 1 John iii. 14, " We know that we have passed from death unto life." John iii. 36, " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not on the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Chap, v. 24, " He that believeth—hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." Chap. vi. 47, " He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Verse 54, " Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life." 1 John v 12, 13, " He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life." See Rom. viii. J ; John iii. 16—18, aud xvii. 3.

v All the demands of the covenant of works on the elect world.

w That he taking on their nature, might answer the demands of the covenant of woiks for them, (Eph. i. 14.) *' According as he has chosen us in him." We are

agaiu, says he, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands," (John iii. 35.); that is, he hath intrusted him with the economic and actual administration of that power in the Church, which originally belonged unto himself. And hence it is that Christ also says, " The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." John v. 22. So that all the covenant that believers are to have regard to, for life and salvation, is the free and gracious covenant that is betwixt Christ (or God in Christ) and them, x And in this covenant there is not any condition or law to be performed on man's part, by himself; y no,

said to be chosen in Christ, not that Christ is the cause of election, but that electing love, flowing immediately from God to all the objects of it, the Father did, in one and the same degree of election, choose the head and the members of the happy body ; yet Christ the head first, (in the order of nature,) then all those who make up this body, who were thereby given to him, to be redeemed and saved, by his obedience and death; the which, being by him accepted, he, as Elect-Mediator and Head of elect-men, had full power and furniture for the work made over to him. And thus may we conceive the second covenant to have been concluded, agreeably to the Scripture account of that mystery. This, the author says, was done thereupon, not upon the Father's being well pleased and fully satisfied, by virtue of the covenant made ; the which is the effect of the covenant, whereas this is one of the transactions or parts of the covenant, as all the following words brought to illustrate it do plainly carry it; but upon God the Son, being on the other side in making the second covenant, the which is the principal purpose in this paragraph, the explication whereof was interrupted by the adding of a sentence concerning the execution and effect of the glorious contrivance. In making of the second covenant, the second person of the ever blessed Trinity, considered simply as such, is one of the parties. Thereupon, in the decree of election, designing, as is said, both head and members, he is chosen Mediator and head of the election, to be their incarnate Redeemer; the which headship accepted, he, as Mediator aud Head of the election, took upon him to be incarnate, and in their nature to satisfy the demands of the covenant of works for them. Isa. xlii. 1 ; Eph. i. 4 ; Psal. xl. 6, Westmin. Confess, chap. viii. art. 1. "It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Sun, to be the Mediator between God and man—the Head and Saviour of his church—unto whom he did, from all eternity, give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed," &c. chap. iii. art. 5. " Those of mankiud that are predestinated unto life—God hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love." Compare what the author writes on this subject, p. 21—25.

x That is, the covenant of grace only, not the covenaut of works.

y Namely, for life and salvation ; the same being already performed by Jesus Christ; he, having in the second covenant, undertaken to satisfy all the demands of the covenant of works, did do all that was to be done or wrought for our life and salvation. And if it had not been so, life and salvation had remained eternally without our reach ; for how is it possible we should perform, do, or work, until we get life and salvation ? what condition or law are we fit for performing while we are dead, and not saved from, hut lying under sin, the wrath and curse of God? See the following note.

there 13 no more for him to do, but only to know and believe that Christ hath done all for him. z

Wherefore, my dear Neophitus, to turn my speech particularly

2 Namely, all that was to be done for life and salvation. And neither repentance, nor sincere (imperfect) obedience, nay, nor yet believing itself, is of that sort: though all of these are indispensably necessary in subjects capable of them. This expression bears a kind of imitation, usual in conversation, and used by our blessed Saviour on this subject, John vi. 28, 29, " Th%n said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe." The design of it plainly is, to confront the humour that is naturally in all men, for doing and working for life and salvation, when once they begin to lay these things to heart; there is no more, says the author, for him to do, but only to know and believe that Christ hath done all for him; and therefore the expression is not to be strained besides its scope. However, this is true faith, according to the Scripture, whether all saving faith be such a knowledge and believing or not ; and that knowledge and believing are capable of decrees of certainty, and may be mixed with doubting, without overturning the reality of them. Isa. liii. 11, " By his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many." John xvii. 3, " This is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Gal. ii. 20, " I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Rom. x. 9, " If thou shalt believe in thine hfart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." To believe that God hath raised him from the dead is to believe that he has perfected the work, and done all that was to be done for life and salvation to sinners: but is this enough to constitute saving faith? Surely it is not; for devils may believe that: therefore it must be believed with particular application to oneself, intimated in the phrase, " Believing in thine heart;" and this is what devils and reprobates never reach unto, howbeit these last may pretend to know and believe, that Christ is raised from the dead for them, and so hath done all for them, even as they also may pretend to receive and rest on him alone for salvation. But in all this, one who truly believes may yet have ground to say with tears, " Lord, I believe ! help thou mine unbelief," Mark ix. 24.

Nevertheless, under this covenant there is much to do; a law to be performed and obeyed, though not for life and salvation, but from, life and salvation received; even the law of the ten commandments in the full extent thereof, as the author doth at large expressly teach, in its proper place, in this and the second part.

This is the good old wav, (according to the Scriptures, Acts xvi. 30, 31 ; Matt. xi. 28 29; Tit. ii. 11, 12.) if the famous Mr. John Davidson understood the Protestant doctrine. Q. "Then the salvation of man" says he, "is so fully wrought and perfectly accomplished by Christ in his own person, that nothing is left to be done or wrought by us in our persons, to be any cause of the least part thereof? A. That is most certain."— Mr. John Davidson s Catechism, Edin. Edit. 1708. p. 15. "So we are perfectly saved by the works which Christ did for us in his own person, and no ways by the good works which he works in us, with and after faith. (Marg. Here is the main point and ground of our disagreement with the Papists.) Rests then anything for us to do after that we are perfectly justified in God's sight by faith in Christ ? Disciple. Yes, very much, albeit no ways to merit salvation ; but only to witnesB, by the effects of thankfulness, that we are truly saved." — Ibid. p. 46, 48, 49.

MODERN DIVINITY.

255

to you, (because I see you are in heaviness,) I beseech yon to be persuaded that here you are to work nothing, here you are to do nothing, here you are to render nothing unto God, but only to receive the treasure, which is Jesus Christ, and apprehend him in your heart by faith, although you be never so great a sinner; a and so shall you obtain forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and eternal happiness, not as an agent, but as a patient, not by doing but by receiving, b Nothing here comes betwixt but faith only, apprehending Christ in the promise, c This then is perfect righteousness, to hear nothing, to know nothing, to do nothing of the law of works, but only to know and believe that Jesus Christ is now gone to the Father, and sitteth at his right hand, not as a judge, but is made unto you of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, d Wherefore, as Paul and Silas said to the jailor, so say I unto you, " Beliave on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved:" that is, be verily persuaded in your heart that Jesus Christ is yours, and that you shall have life and salvation by him; that whatsoever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for you. e

a See the two foregoing notes. And hear another passage from the same book whence this is taken, namely, the English translation of Luther's Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, fol. 75, " Good works ought to be done—the example of Christ is to be followed.—Well, all these things will I gladly do. What th>.-n follow-eth ? Thou shalt then be saved, and obtain everlasting life. Nay, not so I grant indeed, that I ought to do good works, patieutlv to suffer troubles and afflictions, and to shed my blood also, if need be, for Christ's cause; but yet am I not justified neither do I obtain salvation thereby."

b This is the style of the same Luther, who useth to distinguish betwixt active and passive righteousness, i.e. the righteousness of the law, and the righteousness of faith ; agreeable to Rom. iv. 5, " But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

c The passage at more length is this : " The marriage is made up without all pomp and solemnity ; that is to say, nothing at all comes between ; no law nor work is here required. — Here is nothing else but the Father promising—and I receiving—but these things, without experience and practice, cannot be understood."—Luther, ubi sup. fol. 194.

d These words also are Luther's, in his argument on the epistle to the Galatians, p. 24, of the Latin copy, and fol. 7 of the translation ; but what our author reads, " Nothing of the law of works," is, in Luther's own words, "Nothing of the law, or of works;" the sense is the same. What concerns the assurance in the nature of faith, which these words seem to bear, we will meet with anon.

e In this definition of saving faith, there is the general nature or kind of it, viz. a real persuasion, agreeing to all sorts of faith, divine and human,—" Be verily persuaded ;" the more special nature of it, an appropriating persuasion, or special application to oneself, agreeing to a convinced sinner's faith or belief of the law's curse, (Gal. iii. 10.) as well as to it—"Be verily persuaded in your heart;" thus, Rom. x. 9, " If thou shalt believe in thine heart, that God, &c. thou shalt be Baved ;" and

finally the most special nature of it, whereby it is distinguished from all other, namely, an appropriating persuasion of Christ being yours, &c. And as one's believing in one's heart, or appropriating persuasion of the dreadful tidings of tbe law, imports not only an assent to them as true, but an honor of them as evil; so believing in the heart, or an appropriating persuasion of the glad tidings of the gospel, bears not only an assent to them as true, but a relish of them as good.

The parts of this appropriating persuasion, according to our author, are, ), " That Jesus Christ is yours," viz. by the deed of gift and grant made to mankind lost, or (which is the same thing in other words,) by the authentic gospel offer, in the Lord's own word ; the which offer is the foundation of faith, and the ground and warrant of the ministerial offer, without wljich it could avail nothing. That this is the meaning appears from the answer to the question immediately following, touching the warrant to believe. By this offer, or deed of gift and grant, Christ is ours before we believe, not that we have a saving interest in him, or are in a state of grace, but that we have a common interest in him and the common salvation, which fallen angels have not, Jude 3; so that it is lawful and warrantable for us, not for them, to take possession of Christ and his salvation. Even as when one presents a piece of gold to a poor man, saying, " Take it, it is yours;" the offer makes the piece really his in the sense and to the effect before declared ; nevertheless, while the poor man does not accept or receive it; whether apprehending the offer too great to be real, or that he has no liking of the necessary consequents of the accepting; it is not his in possession, nor hath he the benefit of it; but, on the contrary, must starve for it all, and that so much the more miserably, that he hath slighted the offer and refused the gift. So this act of faith is nothing else but to "believe God," 1 John v. 10; " to believe the Son," John iii. 36 ; "to believe the report" concerning Christ, Isa. liii. 1 ; "or to believe the gospel," Mark i. 15 ; not as devils believe the same, knowing Christ to be Jesus a Saviour, but not their Saviour, but with an appropriating persuasion, or special application, believing him to be our Saviour. Now, what this gospel report, record, or testimony of God, to be believed by all, is, the inspired penman expressly declares, '' This is the Tecord, that God bath given to us eternal life ; and this life is in his Son," John v. 11. The giving here mentioned, is not giving in possession in greater or lesser measure, but giving by way of grant, whereupon one may take possession. And the party to whom, is not the election only, but mankind lost. For this record is the gospel, the foundation of faith, and warrant to all, to believe in the Son of God and lay hold on eternal life in him ; but that God hath given eternal life to the elect can be no such foundation nor warrant; for that a gift is made to certain select men, can never be a foundation or warrant for all men to accept and take it. The great sin of unbelief lies in not believing this record or testimony, and so making God a liar; " He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record," &c. 1 John v. 10, II. On the other hand, " He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true," John iii. 33. But the great sin of unbelief lies, not in nut believing that God hath given eternal life to the elect—for the most desperate unbelievers such as Judas and Spira, believe that, and the belief of it adds to their anguish and torment of spirit ; yet they do not set to their seal that God is true—but, on the contrary, they make God a liar, in not believing that to lost mankind, and to themselves in particular, God hath given eternal life in the way of grant, so as they, as well as others, are warranted and welcome to take possession of it, so fleeing in the face of God's record and testimony in the gospel. Isa. ix. 6; John iii. 16; Acts iv. 12; Prov. viii. 4 ; Rev. xxii. 17. In believing this, not in believing the former,

lies the difficulty, in tbe agonies of conscience; the which, nevertheless,'till one do in a greater or lesser measure surmount, one can never believe on Christ, receive and rest upon him for salvation. The truth is, the receiving of Christ doth necessarily pre-suppose this giving of him. There may indeed be a giving where there is no receiving, for a gift may be refused; and there may be a taking where there is no giving, the which is a presumptuous action without warrant; but there can be no place for receiving Christ where there is not a giving of him before. ' In the matter of faith, (says Rollock, Lect. x. on Thess. p. 126,) there are two things—first there is a giver, and next there is a receiver. God gives, and the soul receives." The Scripture is express to this purpose: " A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven," John iii. 27.

2. " And that you shall have life and salvation by him ;" namely, a life of holiness, as well as of happiness,—salvation from sin as well as from wrath,—not in heaven only, but begun here and completed hereafter. That this is the author's notion of life and salvation, agreeably to the Scripture, we have had sufficient evidence already, and will find more in our progress. Wherefore, this persuasion of faith is inconsistent with an unwillingness to part with sin, a bent or purpose of heart to continue in sin, even as receiving and resting on Christ for salvation is. One finds it expressed almost in so many words, Acts xv. II," We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved." It is fitly placed after the former, for it cannot go before it, but follows upon it. The former is a believing of God, or believing the Son : this is a believing on the Son, and so is the same with receiving of Christ, as that receiving is explained, John i. 2, " But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." It doth also evidently bear tbe soul's resting on Christ for salvation, for it is nof possible to conceive a soul resting on Christ for salvation, without a persuasion that it shall have life and salvation by him ; namely, a persuasion which is of the same measure and degree as the resting is. And thus it appears, that there can be no saving faith without this persuasion in greater or lesser measure. But withal it is to be remembered, as to what concerns the habit, actings, exercise, strength, weakness, and intermitting of the exercise of saving faith, the same is to be said of this persuasion in all points.

3. " That whatsoever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for you.—" I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20. This comes in tbe last place ; and I think none will question, but whosoever believes in the manner before explained, may and ought to believe this, in this order. And it is believed, if not explicitly, yet virtually, by all who receive and rest on Christ for salvation.

From what is said, it appears that this definition of faith is the same, for substance and matter, though in different words, with that of the Shorter Catechism, which defines it, by " receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the Gospel." In which, though the offer to us is mentioned last, yet it is evident it is to be believed first.

Object. But the author's definition makes assurance to be of the essence of faith ?

Answ. Be it so : however, he uses not the word assurance or assured in his definition ; nor will any thing contained in it amount to the idea now commonly affixed to that word, or to what is now in our days commonly understood by assurance. And, (1.) He doth not here teach that assurance of faith whereby believers are certainly assured that they are in the state of giace, the which is founded upon the evidence of grace, of which kind of assurance the Westminster Confession expressly treats, chop.

18, art. 1—3 ; but an assurance which is in faith, in the direct acts theroof, founded upon the word allenarly, Mark xvi. 15, 16 ; John iii. 16 ; and this is nothing else but a fiducial appropriating persuasion. (2.) He doth not determine this assurance or persuasion to be full, or to exclude doubting: he sa^s not, be fully persuaded, but, be verily persuaded, which speaks only the reality of the persuasion, and doth not at all concern the degree of it. And it is manifest, from his distinguishing between faith of adherence, and faith of evidence, (p. 79,) that, according to him, saving faith may be without evidence. And so one may have this assurance or persuasion, and yet not know assuredly that he hath it, but need marks to discover it by ; for though a man cannot but be conscious of an act of his own soul as to the substance of the act, yet he may be in the dark as to the specific nature of it, than which nothing is more ordi-dary among serious Christians. And thus, as a real saint is conscious of his own heart's moving in affection towards God, yet sometimes doth not assuredly know it to be the true love of God in him, but fears it be an hypocritical flash of affection ; so he may be conscious of his persuasion, and yet doubt if it is the true persuasion of faith, and not that of the hypocrite.

This notion of assurance, or persuasion in faith, is so agreeable to the nature of the thing called believing, and to the style of the holy Scripture, that sometimes where the original text reads—faith or believing, we read—assurance, according to the genuine sense of the original phrase: Acts xvii. 31, " Whereof he hath given assurance ;" orig. " faith," as is noted in the margin of our Bibles. Deut. xxviii. 66, " Thou shalt have none assurance of thy life ;" orig. " Thou shalt not believe in thy life." This observation shows, that to believe, in the style of the Holy Scripture, as well as in the common usage of mankind in all other matters, is to be assured or persuaded, namely, according to the measure of one's believing.

And the doctrine of assurance, or an appropriating persuasion in saving faith, as it is the doctrine of the Holy Scripture, (Rom. x. 9; Acts xv. 11 ; Gal. ii. 20,) so it is a Protestant doctrine, taught by Protestant divines against the Papists, sealed with the blood of martyrs in Popish flames ; it is the doctrine of reformed Churches abroad, and the doctrine of the Church of Scotland.

The nature of this work will not allow multiplying testimonies on all these heads. Upon the first, it shall suffice to adduce the testimony of Essenius, in his Compendium Theologies, the system of divinity taught the students in the College of Edinburgh by Professor Campbell. " There is therefore," says he, '' in saving faith, a special application of gospel benefits. This is proved against the Papists, (1.) From the profession of believers, Gal. ii. 20, ' I live by that faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Psalm xxiii. 1, ' The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; in cotes of budding grass he makes me to lie down, &c. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear evil; for thou art with me,' &c. And Job xix. 25; Phil. i. 21—23 ; Rom. viii. 33—39; x. 9, 10; 2 Cor. v. 1—6; with 2 Cor. iv. 13, &c."— Essen. Comp. Theol. chap. ii. sect. 12. And speaking of the method of faith, he says, it is, " 4. That according to the promises of the gospel, out of that spiritual desire, the Holy Spirit also bearing witness in us, we acknowledge Christ to be our Saviour, and so receive and apply him, every one to ourselves, apprehending him again, who first apprehended us ; 2 Cor. iv. 13; Rom. viii. 16; John i. 12 ; 2 Tim. i. 12 ; Gal. ii. 20; Phil. iii. 12. The which is the formal act of saving faith. 5. Furthermore, that we acknowledge ourselves to be in communion with Christ, partakers of all and every one of his benefits.—The which is the latter act of saving faith, yet also a proper and elicit act of it.—7. That we observe all these acts above mentioned, and the sincerity of them in us; and

thence gather, that we are true believers, brought into the state of grace," &c. Ibid. sect. 2 I. Observe here the two kinds of assurance before distinguished.

Peter Burlie, burnt at Tournay, anno 1545, when he was sent for out of prison to be examined, the friars interrogating him before the magistrate, he answered,— " How it is faith that bringeth unto us salvation ; that is, when we trust unto God's promises, and believe stedfastly, that for Christ his Son's sake our sins are forgiven us."— Skid. Comment, in English, book 16. fol. 217.

Mr. Patrick Hamilton, burnt at St. Andrews about the year 1527. " Faith," say9 he, " is a sureness ; faith is a sure confidence of things which are hoped for, and a certaiuty of things which are not seen. The faith of Christ is to believe in him, that is, to believe in his word, and to believe that he will help thee in all thy need, and deliver thee from all evil."— Mr. Patrick's Articles, Knox's History, Ato. p. 9.

For the doctrine of foreign churches on this point, I shall instance only in that of the Church of Holland, and the Reformed Church of France.—" Q. What is a sincere faith ? A. It is a sure knowledge of God and his promises revealed to us in the Gospel, and a hearty confidence that all my sins are forgiven me for Christ's sake."— Dutch Brief Compend. of Christian Religion, Vra. 19. bound up with the Dutch Bible.

" Minister. Since we have the foundation upon which the faith is grounded, can we rightly from thence conclude what the true faith is? Child. Yes ; namely, a certain and steady knowledge of the love of God towards us, according as, by his Gospel, he declares himself to be our Father and Saviour, by the means of Jesus Christ. '— Catechism of the Reformed Church of France, bound vp with the French Bible, Dimanche 18. To obviate a common prejudice, whereby this is taken for an easy effort of fancy and imagination, it will not be amiss to subjoin the question immediately following there.

" M. Can we have it of ourselves, or cometh it from God ? C. The Scripture teacheth us that it is a singular gift of the Holy Spirit, and experience also showeth it."— Ibid.

Follows the doctrine of the Church of Scotland on this head.

" Regeneration is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost, working in the hearts of the elect of God an assured faith in the promise of God, revealed to us in his word ; by which faith we apprehend Christ Jesus, with the graces and benefits promised in him."— Old Confess, art. 3.

" This our faith, and the assurance of the same, proceeds not from flesh and blood, that is to say, from no natural powers within U9, but is the inspiration of the Holy Ghost."— Ibid. art. 12.

For the better understanding of this, take the words of that eminent servant of Christ, Mr. John Davidson, minister of Salt-Preston, alias Prestonpans (of whom see the Fulfilling of the Scripture, p. 361.) in his Catechism, p. 20. as follows,—"And certain it is, that both the enlightening of the mind to acknowledge the truth of the promise of salvation to us in Christ, and the sealing up of the certainty thereof in our hearts and minds, (of the which two parts, as it were, faith consists) are the works and effects of the Spirit of God, and neither of nature nor art."

The Old Confession above mentioned is, " The Confession of Faith, professed and believed by the Protestants within the realm of Scotland, published by them in Parliament, and by the estates thereof ratified and approved, as wholesome and sound doctrine, grounded upon the infallible truth of God."— Knox's Hist. lib. 3. p. 263. It was ratified at Edinburgh, July 17, 1560. Ibid. p. 279. And this is the Confession of our Faith, mentioned and sworn to in the national covenant, framed about twenty years after it.

In the same national covenant, with relation to this particular head (if doctrine, we have these words following, viz. " We detest and refuse the usurped authority of that Roman antichrist—his general and doubtsome faith." However the general and doubt-some faith of the Papists may be clouded, one may, without much ado, draw these two plain conclusions from these words : 1. That since the Popish faith adjured is a doubtsome faith, the Protestant faith, sworn to be maintained, is an assured faith, as we heard before from the Old Confession, to which the covenant refers. 2. That since the Popish faith is a general one, the Protestant faith must needs be an appropriating persuasion, or a faith of special application, which, we heard already from Essenius, the Papists do deny. As for a belief and persuasion of the mercy of God in Christ, and of Christ's ability and willingness to save all that come unto him, as it is altogether general, and had nothing of appropriation or special application in it, so I doubt if the Papists will refuse it. Sure, the Council of Trent, which fixed and established the abominations of Popery, affirms, that no pious man ought to doubt of the mercy of God, of the merits of Christ, nor of the virtue and efficacy of the sacraments." Concil. trid. cap. 9. I hope none will think the council allows impious men to doubt of these ; but withal they tell us, " It is not to be affirmed, that no man is absolved from sin and justified, but he who assuredly believes, that he himself is absolved and justified." Here they overturn the assurance and appropriation, or special application of saving faith maintained by the Protestants; and they thunder their anathemas against those who hold these in opposition to their general and doubtsome faith. " If any shall say, that justifying faith is nothing else but a confidence of the mercy of God pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that that confidence is it alone by which they are justified, let him be accursed." Ibid. cap. 13. can. 12. " If any shall say, that a man is absolved from sin, and justified by that, that he assuredly believes himself to be absolved and justified—let him be accursed."— Ibid. can. 14.

Moreover, in the national covenant, as it was renewed in the year 1 638 and 1639, mention is made of public catechisms, in which the true religion, as expressed in the Confession of Faith (there) above written, (i. e. the national covenant, otherwise called the Confession of Faith and former Larger Confession, (viz. the Old Confession,) is said to be set down. The doctrine on this head, contained in these catechisms, is here subjoined.

" M. Which is the first point ? C To put our whole confidence in God. M. How may that be? C. When we have an assured knowledge that he is almighty, and perfectly good. M. And is that sufficient? C. No. M. What is then further required ? C. That every one of us be fully assured in his conscience, that he is beloved of God, and that he will be both his Father and Saviour." Calvin's Cat. used by the Kiik of Scotland, and approved by first book of discipline, quest. 8—12. This is the catechism of the Reformed Church of France, mentioned before. " M. Since we have the foundation whereupon our faith is builded, we may well gather hereof what is the right faith 'i C. Yea, verily ; that is to say, it is a sure persuasion and stedfast knowledge of God's tender love towards us, according as he hath plainly uttered in his gospel, that he will be both a Father and a Saviour to us, through the means of Jesus Christ."— Ibid, quest. 111.

" M. By what means may we attain unto him there V C. By faith, which God's Spirit worketh in our heart*, assuring us of God's promises made to us in his holy

gospel The manner to examine children before they be admitted to the supper of the

Lord, quest. 16. This is called the Little Catechism, Assembly 1592, sess. 10. Q. " What is true faith?" A. It is not only a knowledge, by which I do stedfastly assent to all things which Cod hath revealed unto us in his word ; but also an assured

affiance, kindled in my heart by the Holy Ghost, by which 1 rest upon God, making sure account, that forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness, and life, is bestowed, not only upon others, but also upon me, and that freely by the mercy of God, for the merit and desert of Christ alone."— The Palatine Catechism, printed by public authority , for the use of Scotland. This famous Catechism is used in most of the Reformed Churches and schools; particularly in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands, and is bound up with the Dutch Bible. " As for the Church of Scotland, the Palatine Catechism," says Mr. Wodrow in the dedication of his History, " was adopted by us, till we had the happiness to join with the venerable Assembly at Westminster. Then indeed it gave place to the Larger and Shorter Catechisms in the Church ; nevertheless it continued to be taught in grammar schools."

" Q. What thing is faith in Christ? A. A sure persuasion that he is the only Saviour of the world, but ours in special, who believe in him."— Craig's Catechism, approven by the General Assembly, 1592.

To these may be added the three following testimonies. " Q. What is faith ? A. When I am persuaded that God loves me and all bis saints, and freely giveth us Christ, with all his benefits."— Sammula Catechismi, still annexed to the Rudiments of the Latin tongue, and taught in grammar schools to this day, (172fi) since the Reformation.

" What is thy faith ? My sure belief that God both may and will save me in the blood of Jesus Christ, because he is almighty, and has promised so to do."— Mr. James Melvil's Catechism in his propine of a Pastor to his People, p 44, published in the year 1598.

" Q. What is this faith, that is the only instrument of this strait conjunction between Christ crucified and us ? D. It is the sure persuasion of the heart, that Christ by his death and resurrection hath taken away our sins, and clothing us with his own righteousness, has thoroughly restored us to the favour of God."— Mr. John Davidson's Catechism, p. 46.

In the same national covenant, as it was renewed 1638 and 1639, is expressed an agreement and resolution to labour to recover the purity of the gospel, as it was established and professed before the (there) foresaid novations ; the which, in the time of Prelacy, then cast out, had been corrupted by a set of men in Scotland addicted to the faction of Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. In the year 1640, Mr. Robert Baily, then minister of Kilwinning, afterwards one of the Commissioners from Scotland to the Westminster Assembly, wrote against that faction, proving them guilty of Popery, Arminianism, &c. and on the head of Popery, thus represents their doctrine concerning the nature of faith, viz. " That faith is only a bare assent, and requires no application, no personal confidence; and that that personal application is mere presumption, and the fiction of a crazy brain."— Hist. Motuum in Regno Scotia, p. 517. Thus, as above declared, stood the doctrine of the church of Scotland, in this point, in her confessions, and in public catechisms, confirmed by the renewing of the national Covenant, when in the year 1643, it was anew confirmed by the first article of the Solemn League and Covenant, binding to (not the Reformation, but) the preservation of the Reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, &c. and that before the Westminster Confession, Larger and Shorter Catechism, were in being.

When the Westminster Confession was received, anno 1647, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, anno 1648, the General Assembly did, in their three acts, respectively approving them, expressly declare them to be in nothing contrary to the received doctrine of this Kirk. And put the case they were contrary thereto in any point, they could not in that point be reckoned the judgment of the Church of Scot-

§ 3. Neo. But, sir, hath such a one as I any warrant to believe in Christ ?

Evan. I beseech you consider, that God the Father, as he is in his Son Jesus Christ, moved with nothing but with his free love to mankind lost, hath made a deed of gift and grant unto them all, that whosoever of them all shall believe in this his Son, shall not perish, but have eternal life./ And hence it was, that Jesus Christ himself

land, since they were received by her, as in nothing contrary to previous standards of doctrine, to which she stands bound by the covenants aforesaid. But the truth is, the doctrine is the same in them all.

" This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong ;— growing in many to the attainment of a full assurance."— Westmin. Confess, chap. 14, art. 3. Now, how faith can grow in any to a full assurance, if there be no assurance in the nature of it, I cannot comprehend.

" Faith justifies a sinner—only as it is an instrument, by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness."— Larg. Cat. Q. 73. " By faith they receive and apply unto themselves Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death."— Ibid. Q. 170.

" Q. When do we by faith receive and apply to ourselves the body of Christ crucified ? A. While we are persuaded, that the death and crucifixion of Christ do no less belong to us, than if we ourselves had been crucified for our own sins ; now this persuasion is that of true faith."— Sum. Cutech.

" Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for savation, as he is offered to us in the gospel."— Sltort. Cat.

Now, to perceive the entire harmony between this and the old definitions of faith, compare with it, as to the receiving therein mentioned, the definition above cited from the Old Confession, art. 3, viz. " An assured faith in the promise—by which—they apprehend Christ, &c. Mr. John Davidson joins them thus: Q, What is faith ? A. It is a hearty assurance, that our sins are freely forgiven us in Christ. Or after this manner: It is the hearty receiving of Christ offered in the preaching of the word and sacraments, by the working of the Holy Spirit, for the remission of sins, whereby,he becomes one with us, and we one with him, he our head, and we his members."— Mr. John Davidson s Catechism, p. 24. As to the resting mentioned in the Westminster definition, compare the definition above cited from the Palatine Catecliism, viz. '' A sure confidence—whereby I rest in God, assuredly concluding, that—to me—is giveu forgiveness," &c. quest. 21. See also Larger Catechism quest, last. " We by faith are emboldened to plead with him that he-would, and quietly to rely upon him that he will, fulfil our request ; and to testify this our desire and assurance, we say. Amen" In which words, it is manifest, that quietly to rely upon him that he will, &c. (the same with resting on him for, &c.) is assurance, in the sense of the Westminster divines.

_/*Mr. Culverwell's words, here cited, stand thus at large.—" The matter to be believed unto salvation is this, that God the Father, moved by nothing but his free love to mankind lost, hath made a deed of gift and grant of his Son Christ Jesus unto mankind, that whosoever of all mankind shall receive this gift, by a true and lively faith, he shaM not perish, but have everlasting life." Dr. Gouge, in his preface to this treatise of that author, has these remarkable words concerning him, ''Never any took such piins to so good purpose, in and about the foundation of faith, as he hath done."

said unto his disciples, Mark xvi. 15, " Go and preach the gospel to every creature under heaven : g that is, Go and tell every man, without exception, that here is good news for him ! Christ is dead for him ! and if he will take him, and accept of his righteousness, he shall have him. h Therefore, says a godly writer, " Forasmuch

This deed of gift and grant, or authentic gospel-offer (of which see the preceding notee,) is expressed in so many words, John iii. 16, " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Where the gospel comes, this grant is published, and the ministerial offer made; and there is no exception of any of all mankind in the grant. If there was, no ministerial offer of Christ could be warrantably made to the party excepted, more than to the fallen angels : and, without question, the publishing and proclaiming of heaven's grant unto any, by way of ministerial offer, pre-supposeth the grant, in the first place, to be made to them : otherwise, it would be of no more value than the crier's offering of the king's pardon to one who is not comprehended in it. This is the good old way of discovering to sinners their warrant to believe in Christ ; and it doth indeed bear the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ for all, and that Christ crucified is the ordinance of God for salvation unto all mankind, in the use-making of which only they can be saved ; but not an universal atonement or redemption. " What is thy faith? My sure belief that God both may and will save me, &c. Tell me the promise whereon thou leanest assuredly? ' Whoever (says God) will believe in the death of my Son Jesus, shall not perish, but get eternal life.' "— Mr. James Melvil's Cat. ubi. sup. " He freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved. Mark xvi. 15, 16 ; John iii. 16."— Westm. Confess, chap. 7. art. 3. '' The visible church hath the privilege—of enjoying— offers of grace by Christ to all the members of it in the ministry of the gospel, testifying, that whosoever believes in him shall be saved."— Larger Catechism, quest 63. " This general offer, in substance, is equivalent to a special offer made to every one in particular, as appears by the apostle making use of it, Acts. xvi. 31. The reason of which offer is given, John iii. 16."— Praci. Use of Sav. Knowledge: Confess, p. 380. The Synod of Dort may be heard without prejudice on this head. " It is the promise of the gospel (say they,) that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified should not perish, but have life everlasting : which promise, together with the injunction of repentance and faith, ought promiscuously, and without distinction, to be declared, and published to all men and people, to whom God in his pleasure sends the gospel."— Chap. 2, art. 5. But forasmuch as manv, being called by the gospel, do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in their infidelity, this comes not.to pass for want of, or by any other insufficiency, of the sacrifice of Christ offered upon the cross, but by their own defaults," art. 6.

g That is, from this deed of gift and grant it was that the ministerial offer was appointed to be made in the most extensive terms.

h That the reader may have a more clear view of this passage, which is taken from Dr. Preston's treatise of faith, I shall transcribe the whole paragraph in which it is found. That eminent divine, speaking of that righteousness by which alone we can be saved, and having shown that it is communicated by gift, says, " But when vou hear this righteousness is given, the next question will be, to whom is it given? If it be only given to some, what comfort is this to me? But, (which is the ground of all comfort,) it is given to every man,—there is not a man excepted ; for which we have

as the Holy Scripture speaketh to all in general, none of us ought to distrust himself, but believe that it doth belong particularly to

the sure word of God, which will not fail. When you have the charter of a king well confirmed, you reckon it a matter of great moment: what is it then when you have the charter of God himself, which you shall evidently see in those two places, Mark xvi. 15, ' Go and preach the gospel to every creature under heaven.' What is that? Go and tell every man, without exception, that here is good news for him, Christ is dead for him; and if he will take him, and accept of his righteousness, he shall have it; restraint is not; but go tell every man under heaven. The other text is, Rev. xxii. 17 ' Whosoever will, let him come, and take of the water of life freely.' There is a qnicunqne vult, whosoever will come (none excepted) may have life, and it shall cost him nothing. Many other places of Scripture there be to prove the generality of the offer ; and having a sure word for it, consider it."— p. 7, 8. The words " under hpa-ven" are taken from Col. i. 23. The scope here is the same with that of our author, not to determine concerning the extent of Christ's death, but to discover the warrant sinners have to believe in Christ, namely, that the offer of Chri?t is general, the deed of gift or grant is to every man. This necessarily supposeth Christ crucified to be the ordinance of God for salvation, to which lost mankind is allowed access and not fallen angels, for whom there is none provided : even as the city of refuge was the ordinance of God for the safety of the man-slayer, who had killed any person unawares, Numb. xxxv. 16 ; and the brazen serpent for the cure of those bitten by a serpent, chap. xxi. 8. Therefore he says not, '* Tell every man Christ died for him ;" but, Tell every man " Christ is dead for him :" that is, for him to come to, and believe on ; a Saviour is provided for him ; there is a crucified Christ for him, the ordinance of heaven for salvation for lost mau, iu the use-making of which he may be saved ; even as one had said of old, tell every man that hath slain any person unawares, that the city of refuge is prepared for him, namely, to flee to, that he may be safe ; and every one bitten with a serpent, that the brazen serpent is set up on a pole for him, namely, to look unto, that he may be healed. Both these were eminent types of Christ; and upon the latter, the Scripture is full and clear in this very point. Num. xxi. 8, " And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. John iii. 14—16, ''And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever," &c.

Thus, what (according to Dr. Presti n and our author) is to be told every man, is no more than what ministers of the gospel have in commission from their great Master. Matt. xxii. 4, " Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fadings are killed, and all things are ready, come unto the marriage." There is a crucified Saviour, with all saving benefits, for them to come to, feed upon, and partake of freely. See also Luke ii. 30, 31 ; Prov. ix. 2—4; Isa. xxv. 6.

To confirm this to be the true and designed sense of the phrase in question, compare the following three passages, of the same treatise, giving the import of the same text, Mark xvi. " Christ hath provided a righteousness and salvation, that is his work that he hath done already. Now, if ye will believe, and take him upon these terms that he is offered, you shall be saved. This, I say, belongs to all men. This you have expressed in the gospel in many places: 'If you believe, you shall be

himself, i And to the end, that this point, wherein lies and consists the whole mystery of our holy faith, may be understood the better, let us put the case, that some good and holy king should cause a

saved ;" as it is Mark xvi. ' Go and preach the gospel to every creature under heaven ; he that will believe shall be saved.' "— Preston on Faith, p. 32. " You must first have Christ himself, before you can partake of those benefits by him : and that I take to be the meaning of that in Mai k xvi. ' Go and preach the gospel to every creature under heaven ; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;' that is, that he will believe, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and that he is offered to mankind for a Saviour, and will be baptized; that will give up himself to him, that will take his mark upon him,—shall be saved."— Ibid. p. 46. " Go and preach the gospel to every creature ; go and tell every man under heaven, that Christ is offered to him, he is freely given to him by God the Father ; and there is nothing required of you but that you marry him, nothing but to accept of him."— Ibid. p. 75.

Thus it appears, that universal atonement, or redemption, is not taught here, neither by our author. But that the candid reader may be satisfied as to his sentiments touching the question,—" for whom Christ died ?" let him weigh these two things :

1. Our author puts a man's being persuaded that Christ died for him in particular, in the definition of saving faith, and that as the last and highest step of it. But Arminians, and other Universalists, might as well put there a man's being persuaded that he was created, or is preserved by Jesus Christ; since in being persuaded that Christ died for him, he applies no more to himself than what, according to their principles, is common to all mankind, as in the case of creation and preservation. Hear Grotius upon this head: " Some," says he, "have here interpreted faith to bo persuasion, whereby a man believes that Jesus died for him in particular, and to purchase salvation all manner of ways for him, or (what with them is the same thine;) that he is elected; when, on the contrary, Paul in many places teacheth, ' that Christ died for all men ;' and such a faith as they talk of, has not in it any thing true or profitable."— Grotius apudpol. Si/nop. Those whom this learned adversary here taxes, are Protestant anti-Arminian divines. Those were they who defined faith by such a persuasion, and not the Universalists. On the contrary, he argues against that definition of faith from the doctrine of universal atonement or redemption. He rejects that definition of it, as in his opinion having nothing in it true, namely, according to the principles of those who gave it, viz. that Christ died, not for all and every man in particular, but for the elect only, and as having nothing in it profitable ; that being, according to his principles, the common privilege of all mankind.

2. He teaches plainly throughout the book, that they were the elect, the chosen, or believers, whom Christ represented, and obeyed, and suffered for. See among others, pages 23, 24, 56, 89. I shall repeat only two passages ; the one, page 84 : " According to that eternal and mutual agreement that was betwixt God the Father and him, be put himself in the room and place of all the faithful." The other in the first sentence of his own preface, viz. "Jesus Christ, the second Adam, did, as a common person, enter into covenant with God his Father for all the elect, (that is to say, all those that have or shall believe on his name) and for them kept it." What can be more plain than that, in the judgment of our author, they were the elect whom Jesus Christ the second Adam entered into covenant with God for ; that it was in the elect's room he put himself when he came actually to obey and suffer, and that it was for the elect he kept that covenant, by doing and suffering what was required of him as

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proclamation to be made through his whole kingdom by the sound of a trumpet, that all rebels and banished men shall safely return home to their houses; because that, at the suit and desert of some dear friend of theirs, it had pleased the king to pardon them ; certainly, none of these rebels ought to doubt, but that he shall obtaiu true pardon for his rebellion ; and so return home, and live under the shadow of that gracious king. Even so, our good King, the Lord of heaven and earth, has, for the obedience and desert of our good Brother Jesus Christ, pardoned all our sins, j and made a proclama-

our Redeemer ? As for the description, or character he gives of the elect, viz. that by the elect he understands all that have or shall believe in it, he follows our Lord himself, (John xvii. 20.) "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me;" and so doing, he is accompanied with orthodox divines. " Thus did the sins of all God's elect, or all true believers, (for of such, and only such, he there, viz. Isa. liii. 6. speaks) meet together upon the head of their common surety, the Lord Christ."— Brinsley's Meshes, p. 64. " The Father is well satisfied with the undertakings of the Son, who entered Redeemer and Surety to pay the ransom of believers."— Pract. Use of Saving Kit owl. tit. 4. "The invisible church is the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head."— Larg. Cat. quest. 64, " Christ's Church, wherein standeth only remission of sins, purchased by Christ'3 blood to all them that believe."— The Confess, of Faith used in Geneva, approven by the Church of Scotland, sect. 4. § ult. But Arminians neither will nor can, in consistency with their principles touching election and the falling away of believers, admit that descripton or character of the elect, else they are widely mistaken by one of their own, who tells us, that, " Upon the consideration of his (viz. Christ's) blood, as shed, he (viz. God, decreed that all those who should believe in that Redeemer, and persevere in that faith, should, through mercy and grace, by him be made partakers of salvation."— Exam, of Tilen. p. 139. " Brought into faith, and persevere therein ; this being the condition required in every one that is to be elected unto eternal life."— Ibid. p. 139. Behold the Armiuian election : " They do utterly deny that God did destine, by an absolute decree, to give Christ a Mediator only to the elect, and to give faith to them alone." — Ibid. p. 149. As for Universalists, not Arminians, " They contend, that the decree of the death of Christ did go before the decree of election, aod that God, in sending of Christ, had no respect unto some, more than others, but destined Christ for a Saviour to all men alike. This account of their principles is given us by Turretine, loc. 14. q. 14. th. 6. I leave it to the impartial reader to judge of the evident contrariety betwixt this and our author's words above repeated.

i Namely, the deed of gift and grant, or the offer of Christ in the word, of which our author is all along speaking. And if there be any man to whom it doth not belong particularly, that man hath no warrant to believe on Jesus Christ : and whosoever pretends to believe on him, without believing that the grant or offer belongs to himself particularly, does but act presumptuously, as seeing no warrant he has to believe on Christ, whatever others may have.

j So far as he hath made the deed of gift and grant, or authentic gospel-offer of the pardon of all our sins, as of all other saving benefits in Christ. Such a thing, among men, is called the king's pardon, though, in the meantime, none have the benefit of it but such as come in upon its being proclaimed, and accept of it ; and why may not

tion throughout the whole world, k that every one of us may safely return to God in Jesus Christ: wherefore, I beseech you, make no doubt of it, but " draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," I Heb. x. 22.

Neo. 0, but, sir, in this similitude the case is not alike. For when the earthly king sends forth such a proclamation, it may be thought, that he indeed intends to pardon all; but it cannot be thought that the King of heaven does so : for do not the Scriptures say, that" some men are ordained before to condemation ?" Jude 4. And does not Christ himself say, that " many are called, but few

it be called the King of heaven's pardon ? The Holy Scripture warrants this manner of expression. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life," (l John v. 11); in which life, without question, the pardon of all onr sins is included : " Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins," Acts xiii. 38. The preaching of the gospel is the proclaiming of pardon to condemned sinners. But pardon of sin cannot be preached or proclaimed, unless, in the first place, it be granted, even as the king's pardon must be, before one can proclaim it to the rebels.

That this is all that is meant by pardon here, and not a formal personal pardon, is evident from the whole strain of the author's discourse upon it. In the proposal of the simile, whereof this passage is the application, he tells us, that after it hath pleased the king (thus) to pardon the rebels, they ought not to doubt but they shall obtain pardon ; and in the following paragraph he brings in Neophitus objecting, that in such a case an earthly king doth indeed intend to pardon all, but the King of heaven doth Dot so ; the which Evangelistain his answer grants. So that, for all this general pardon, the formal personal pardon remains to be obtained by the sinner, namely, by his accepting of the pardon offered. And in the foresaid answer, he expounds the pardon in question, of the Lord's offering pardon generally to all. This, one would think, may well be admitted as a fruit of Christ's obedience and desert, without supposing an universal atonement or redemption. And to restrain it to any set of men whatsoever under heaven, is to restrain the authentic gospel-offer :—of which before.

k Col. i. 23, " The gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven."

I Make uo doubt of the pardon offered, or of the proclamation, bearing, that every one of us may safely return to God in Christ ; but thereupon draw near to him in full assurance of faith. That there can be no saving faith, no acceptance with God, where there is any doubting, is what can hardly enter into the head of any sober Christian, if he is not under a grievous temptatiou, in his own soul's case, nor is it in the least insinuated here. Nevertheless, the doubting mixed with faith is sin, and dishonour-eth God, and believers have ground to be humbled for it, and ashamed of it, before the Lord ; and therefore the full assurance of faith is duty. The Papists indeed contend earnestly for doubting, and they know very well wherefore they so do ; for doubting being removed, and the assurance of faith in the promise of the gospel brought into its room, their market is marred, their gain by indulgences, masses, pilgrimages, &c. is gone, and the fire of purgatory extinguished. But, as Protestant divines prove against them, the Holy Scripture condemns it. Matth. xiv. 31, " O thou of little faith! wherefore didst thou doubt?" Luke xii. 29, "Neither be ye of doubtful mind." 1 Tim. ii. 8, " Lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."

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are chosen?" Matth. xxii. 14. And therefore it may be, I am one of them that are ordained to condemnation ; and therefore, though I be called, I shall never be chosen, and so shall not be saved.

Evan. I beseech you to consider, that although some men be ordained to condemnation, yet so long as the Lord has concealed their names, and not set a mark upon any man in particular, but offers the pardon generally to all, without having any respect either to election or reprobation, surely it is great folly in any man to say,— It may be I am not elected, and therefore shall not have benefit by it; and therefore I will not accept of it, nor come in : m for it should rather move every man to give diligence " to make his calling and election sure," by believing it, (2 Pet. i. 10,) for fear we come short of it, n according to that of the apostle, " let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should seem to come short of it," Heb. iv. 1. Wherefore, I beseech you, do not you say, it maybe I am not elected, and therefore I will not believe in Christ; but rather say, I do believe in Christ, and therefore I am sure I am elected, o And check your own heart for meddling with God's secrets, and prying into his hidden counsel, and go no more beyond your bounds, as you have done, in this point: for election and reprobation is a secret; and the Scripture tells us, " that secret things belong unto God, but those things that are revealed belong unto us," Dent. xxix. 29. Now this is God's revealed will, for indeed it is his express command, " That you should believe on the name of his Son," 1 John iii. 23 ; and it is his promise, " That if you believe, you shall not perish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 16. Wherefore, you having so good a warrant as God's command, and so great an encouragement as his promise, do your duty ; p and by the doing thereof you may put itq out of question, and be sure that you are also one of God's elect. Say, theu, I beseech you. with a firm faith, The righteousness of Jesus Christ belongs to all that believe; but I believe, r and therefore it belongs to me. Yea, say with Paul, " I live by the

m Had the author once dreamt of an universal pardon, otherwise than that God offers the pardon generally to all, all this had been needless ; it would have furnished him with a short answer, viz. That God hath parduned all already.

n By believing the offered pardon, with particular application to himself; without which one can never accept of it, but will undoubtedly come short of it.

o Like that man, mentioned Mark is. 24. who at once did and said.

p Believe on the name of Christ.

q Namely, your believing.

r This is what is commonly called the reflex act of faith, which pre-supposes, and here concludes the direct act, namely, a man's doing of his dutv, in obedience to the command to believe on Christ; by reflecting on which, he m.iv put it out of question

faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20. "He saw in me (says Luther on the text,) nothing but wickedness, going astray, and fleeing from him. Yet this good Lord had mercy on me, and of his mere mercy he loved me, yea so loved me, that he gave himself for me. Who is this me ? Even I, a wretched and damnable sinner, was so dearly beloved of the Son of God, that he gave himself for me."

0! print this word "me" in your heart, and apply it to your own self, not doubting but that you are one of those to whom this " me" belongs. 5

Neo. But may such a vile and sinful wretch as I am be persuaded that God commands me to believe, and that he hath made a promise to me ? t

Evan. Why do you make a question, where there is none to be made? "Go," says Christ, "and preach the gospel to every creature under heaven," that is, go tell every man without exception, whatsoever his sins be, whatsoever his rebellions be, go and tell him these glad tidings, that if he will come in, I will accept of him, his sins shall be forgiven him, and he shall be saved; if he will come in and take me, and receive me, I will be his loving husband and he shall be mine own dear spouse. Let me therefore say unto you, in the words of the apostle, " Now then, I as an ambassador for Christ, as though God did beseech you by me, I pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled unto God; for he hath made him to be sin for you, who knew no sin, t'.iat you might be made the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 20, 21.

Neo. But do you say, sir, that if I believe I shall be espoused unto Christ ?

Evan. Yea, indeed shall you : for faith coupleth the soul with Christ, even as the spouse with her husband; by which means Christ and the soul are made one : for as, in corporal marriage, man and wife are made one flesh, even so in this spiritual and mystical marriage, Christ and his spouse are made one spirit. And this marriage, of all others, is most perfect, and absolutely

that he is a believer, one of God's elsct, and one of those for whom Christ died ; the which he insists upon in the following words. See the foregoing notey. This passage is taken out of Dr Preston's Treatise of Faith, p. 8.

« " This manner of applying," says Luther, " is the very true force and power of faith."

t He had told him, that for his warrant to believe on Christ, he had God's command, 1 John iii. 23. And for his encouragement, God's promise, John iii. 16. Thereupon this question is moved ; the particular application to oneself being a matter of no small difficulty, in the experience of many who lay salvation to heart.

accomplished between them; for the marriage between man and wife is but a slender figure of tlm union; wherefore, I beseech you to believe it, and then you shall be sure to enjoy it. u

Neo. But, sir, if David said, " Seemeth it to you a light thing to be an earthly king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?" 1 Sam. xviii. 23; then surely 1 have much more cause to say, Seemeth it a light thing to be a heavenly king's daughter-in-law, seeing that I am such a poor sinful wretch ? surely, sir, I cannot be persuaded to believe it.

Evan. Alas, man, how much are you mistaken ! for you look upon God, and upon yourself, with the eye of reason; and so as standing in relation to each other, according to the tenor of the covenant of works; whereas you being now in the case of justification and reconciliation, you are to look both upon God and upon yourself with the eye of faith; and so standing in relation to each other, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace. For, says the apostle, " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their sins unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19; as if he had said, Because as God stands in relation to man, according to the tenor of the covenant of works, and so out of Christ, he could not, without prejudice to his justice, he reconciled unto them, nor have anything to do with them, otherwise than in wrath and indignation; therefore to the intent that Justice and Mercy might meet together, and Righteousness and peace might embrace each other, and so God stand in relation to man, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace; he put himself into his Son Jesus Christ, and shrouded himself there, that so he might speak peace to his people, Psalm Ixxxv. 8—10. Sweetly says Luther, " Because the nature of God was otherwise higher than that we are able to attain unto it, therefore hath he humbled himself for us, and taken our nature upon him, and so put himself into Christ. Here he looketh for us, here he will receive us, and he that seeketh him here shall find him." v " This," says God

u Believe the word of promise, the offer of the spiritual marriage, which is Christ's declared consent to be yours. Believe that it is made to you in particular, and that it shall be made out to you ; the which is, to embrace the offer, to receive Christ, as the evangelist teaches, John i. 12, (which was adverted to before ;) so shall you be indeed married or espoused to Christ. Thus the Holy Scripture proposes this matter, lsa. lv. 3, " Hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you;" to persuade us of the reality of the covenant betwixt God and the believer of his word, "the Father hath made a fourfold gift," &c.— Pract. Use of Sav. Knowl. tit. Warrant to Believe, fig. 7. Compare lsa. liii. 1; Heb. iv. 1, 2.

v An eminent type of this glorious mystery was that tabernacle so often mentioned in the Old Testament under the name of the tabernacle of the con^rega'ion, or ra-

the Father, " is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Matt, iii. 17; whereupon the same Luther says in another place, "We must not think and persuade ourselves that this voice came from heaven for Christ's own sake, but for our sakes, even as Christ himself says, John xii. 30, ' This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.' The truth is, Christ had no need that it should be said unto him, ' This is my beloved Son,' he knew that from all eternity, and that he should still so remain, though these words had not been spoken from heaven ; therefore, by these words, God the Father, in Christ his Son, cheers the hearts of poor sinners, and greatly delights them with singular comfort and heavenly sweetness, assuring them, that whosoever is married unto Christ, and so in him by faith, he is as acceptable to God the Father as Christ himself; w according to that of the apostle, " He hath made us acceptable in his beloved," Eph. i. 6. Wherefore, if you would be acceptable to God and be made his dear child, then by faith cleave unto his beloved Son Christ, and hang about his neck, yea, and creep into his bosom; and so shall the love and favour of God be as deeply insinuated into you as it is into Christ himself; w and so shall God the Father, together with his beloved Son, wholly possess you, and be possessed of you; and so God and Christ, and you, shall become one entire thing, according to Christ's prayer, ,: that they may be one in us, as thou and I are one," John s.vii. 21. x

ther the tabernacle of meeting, as the original word bears ; and the Lord himself seems to give the reason of the name, Exod. xxx. 36, " In the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee;" or, "in the tabernacle of meeting, where I will be met with by thee." Chap, xxxiii. 7, " And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord, went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation," or meeting.

w The acceptation, love, and favour of God here treated of, do not refer to the real state of believers, but to the relative slate, to their justification, reconciliation, and adoption: and so they have no respect to any qualities inherent in them, good or evil, to be increased by the one, or diminished by the other ; but they proceed purely upon the righteousness of Christ, which is theirs in virtue of their union with him and is imputed to them ; the which righteousness is the self-same righteousness wherewith Christ, as the Mediator and Surety for elect sinners, pleased the Father. And therefore, says one, whom nobody suspects of Antinomianism, " We are as perfctly righteous as Christ the righteous," citing 1 John iii. 7, " He that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous," Isaac Ambrose's Media, chap. J. sect. 2. p. 4. This I take to be the true meaning of these passages of our author and Isaac Ambrose, expressed in terms stronger than 1 would desire to use. There is a danger in expressing concerning God even what is true.

x The original word, here rendered " one," indeed signifies " one thing." And it is evident from the text, that believers are united to God as well as to Christ. '' Faith is that grace by which we are united to, and made one with God in Christ," says the author of the supplement to Pool's Annot. on the place. Sec 1 John iv. 16 ; Cor.

And by tliia means you may have sufficient ground and warrant to say, (in the matter of reconciliation with God, at any time, whensoever you are disputing with yourself, how God is to be found, that justifies and saves sinners) I know no other God, neither will I know any other God, besides this God, that came down from heaven and clothed himself with my flesh, y unto " whom all power is given, both in heaven and in earth," who is my judge ; " for the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son," John v. 22. So that Christ may do with me whatsoever he liketh, and determine of me according to his own mind: and I am sure he hath said, " he came not to judge the world, but to save the world," John xii. 47. And therefore I do believe that he will save me. z

iv. 16, compared with Eph. iii. 17. And whosoever owns Jesus Christ to be one with the Father, must needs grant this, or else deny believers to be united to Christ. This derogates nothing from the prerogative of our Lord Jesus, who is one with the Father ; for he is one with him, as the Holy Ghost also is, by the adorable substantial union ; but believers are so only by mystical union. Neither does it intrench upon God's supremacy, more than their confessed union with Christ does ; who notwithstanding of believers' union with him, remains to be, with the Father and Holy Spirit, the only supreme, and most high God.

" Whosoever therefore cleaveth to Christ through faith, he abideth in the favour of God, he also shall be made beloved and acceptable as Christ is, and shall have fellowship with the father and the Son."— Luther's Chosen Sermons, Sermon of the appearing of Christ, p. 23. " Here I will abide in the arms of Christ, cleaving inseparably about his neck, and creeping into his bosom, whatsoever the law shall say, and my heart shall feel." Ibid. Sermon of the lost sheep, p. 81. " Seeing therefore that Christ the beloved Son, being in so great favour with God in all things that he does, is, thine.—without doubt, thou art in the same favour and love of God that Christ himself is in." And again, " the favour and love of God are insinuated to thee as deeply as to Christ, that now God, together with his beloved Son, does wholly possess thee, and thou hast him again wholly ; that so God, Christ, and thou, do become as one certain thing,—that they may be one in us, as thou and I are one, John xvii."— Ibid. Sermon of the appearing of Christ, p. 25.

y Luther from whom this is taken in the place quoted by our author, confirms it thus: " For he that is a searcher of God's majesty, shall be overwhelmed of his glory, I know (adds he) by experience, nhat I say. But these vain spirits, which so deal with God, that they exclude the Mediator, do not believe me." And on Psal. cxxx. he has these remarkable words, " Ego s<epe, et libenter hoc inculco, ut extra Christum, oculus et aures claudatis, et dicatis nullum vos scire Deum ni?i qui fuit in gremio Mariae, et suxit ubera ejus :" that is, " Often and willingly do 1 inculcate this, that you should shut your eyes and your ears, and say, you know no God out of Christ, none but he that was in the lap of Mary, and suckled her breasts." He means none out of him Burroughs on Hos. iii. 5. (p. 729.)

2 This is the conclusion of that which one, " by faith cleaving unto Christ, and and hanging about his neck," has by that means warrant to say, according to our author. Whether or not there is sufficient warrant for it, according to the Scripture, let the reader judge: what shadow of the doctrine of universal atonement, or universal pardon, is in it, I see not.

Neo. Indeed, sir, if I were so holy and so righteous as some men are, and had such power over my sins and corruptions as some men have, then I could easily believe it; but alas ! I am so sinful and so unworthy a wretch, that I dare not presume to believe that Christ will accept of me, so as to justify and save me.

Evan. Alas ! man, in thus saying, you seem to contradict and gainsay both the apostle Paul, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself; and that against your own soul : for whereas the apostle Paul says, " that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," (1 Tim. i. 15.) and doth justify the ungodly, (Rom. iv. 5.) why, you seem to hold, and do in effect say, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save the righteous, and to justify the godly. And whereas our Saviour says, the whole need not a physician, but the sick; and that he cqppe not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, (Matth. ix. 12.); why, yon seem to hold, and do in effect say, that the sick need not a physician, but the whole : and that he came not to call sinners but the righteous to repentance. And indeed, in so saying, you seem to conceive, that Christ's spouse must be purified, washed, and cleansed from all her filthiness, and adorned with a rich robe of righteousness, before lie will accept of her; whereas he himself said unto her, Ezek. xvi. 4—8, " As for thy nativity, in the day that thou wast born, thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed with water to supple thee; thou wast not swaddled at all, nor salted at all. No eye pitied thee to do any of these things unto thee; but when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold thy time was a time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness; yea, and I sware unto thee, and entered into covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine." Hos. ii. 19, " And I will marry thee unto me for ever; yea, I will marry thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in mercy, and compassion."

Wherefore, I beseech you, revoke this yonr erroneous opinion, and contradict the word of truth no longer : but conclude for a certainty, that it is not the righteous and godly man, but the sinful and ungodly man a that Christ came to call, justify, and save; so that if you were a righteous and godly man, you were neither capable of calling, justifying, or saving by Christ: but being a sinful and ungodly man, I will be bold to say unto you, as the people said unto blind Bartimeus, Mark x. 49, " Be of good comfort; arise, he calleth thee," and will justify and save thee, b Go then unto him,

a That is, such as are really so, and not in their own opinion, only respectively. b As the people, observing Christ's call to Bartimeus, bid him be of good comfort, (or be confident) and arise ; intimating, that upon his going so unto Christ, he would

I beseech you; and if he come and meet thee (as his manner is) then do not you unadvisedly say, with Peter, " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord !" Luke v. 8; but say, in plain terms, 0 come unto me ! for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord ! Yea, go on further, and say, as Luther bids you, Most gracious Jesus and sweet Christ, I am a miserable poor sinner, and therefore do judge myself unworthy of thy grace; but yet T, having learned from thy word that thy salvation belongs unto such a one, therefore do I come unto thee, to claim that right which, through thy gracious promise belongs unto me. c Assure yourself, man, that Jesus Christ requires no portion with his spouse ; no, verily, he requires nothing with her but mere poverty : " the rich he sends empty away," Luke i. 53; but the poor are by him enriched. And indeed, says Luther, " the more miserable, sinful, and distressed a man doth feel himself, and judge himself to be, the more willing is Christ to receive him and relieve him." So that, says he, in judging thyself unworthy, thou dost thereby become truly worthy; and so indeed hast gotten a greater occasion of coming to him. Wherefore, then, in the words of the apostle, I do exhort and beseech you to " come boldly unto the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," Heb. iv. 16.

Neo. But, truly, sir, my heart, as it were, trembles within me, to think of coming to Christ after such a bold manner; and surely, sir, if I should so come unto him, it would argue much pride and presumption in me.

Evan. Indeed, if yon should be encouraged to come unto Christ, and to speak thus unto him, because of any godliness, righteousness, or worthiness, that you conceive to be in you ; that, I confess, were proud presumption in you. But to come to Christ, by believing that he will accept of you, justify and save you freely by his grace, according to his gracious promise, this is neither pride nor presumption : d for Christ having tendered and offered it to you freely, believe it, it is true humility of heart to take what Christ offers you.

Norn. But, by your favour, sir, I pray you give me leave to speak

cure him ; so one, observing the gospel call, may with all boldness bid a sinner comply with it confidently ; assuring him that thereupon Christ will justify and save him.

c See the note on the Definition of Faith, fig. 1.

d It is to believe the offer of the gospel, with particular application; to embrace it, and therein to receive Christ. And no man can ever receive and rest on Christ for salvation, without believing, in greater or lesser measure, that Christ will accept of him to justification and salvation. Remove that gospel-truth, that Christ will accept of hitn, and his faith has no ground left to stand upon. See the noie on the Definition of Faith, notes U, v.

a word by the way. I know my neighbour Neophitus, it may be, better than you do; yet I do not intend to charge him with any sin, otherwise than by way of supposition (as thus :) suppose he has been guilty of the committing of gross and grievous sins, will Christ accept of him, and justify and save him for all that ?

Evan. Yes, indeed ; for there is no limitation of God's grace in Jesus Christ, except the sin against the Holy Ghost, e Christ " stands at the door and knocks," Rev. iii. 20. And if any murdering Manasseh, or any persecuting and blaspheming Saul, (1 Tim. i. 13,) or any adulterous Mary Magdalene, " will open unto him, he will come in," and bring comfort with him, " and will sup with him." " Seek from the one end of the heavens to the other," says Hooker ; " turn all the Bible over, and see if the words of Christ be not true, ' Him that cometh unto me, I will in no ways cast out,' " John vi. 37.

Norn. Why then, sir, it seems you hold, that the vilest siuner in the world ought not to be discouraged from coming unto Christ, and believing in him, by reason of his sins.

Evan. Surely, if " Christ carao into the world to seek, and call, and save sinners, and to justify the nngodly," as you have heard ; and if the more sinful, miserable, and distressed a man judge himself to be, the more willing Christ is to receive him and relieve him ; then I see no reason why the vilest sinner should be discouraged from believing on the name of Jesus Christ by reason of his sins. Nay, let me say more; the greater any man's sins are, either in number or nature, the more haste he should make to come unto Christ, and to say with David, " For thy name's sake, 0 Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great; Psalm xxv. 11.

Ant. Surely, sir, if my friend Neophitus did rightly consider these things, and were assuredly persuaded of the truth of them, me-

e 1 doubt if the sin against the Holy Ghost can justly be said to Le a limitation of God's grace in Jesus Christ. For in the original authentic gospel-offer, in which is the proper place for such a limitation (if there was any) that grace is so laid open to all men without exception, that no man is excluded ; but there is free access to it for every man in the way of believing, John iii. 15, 16 ; Rev. xxii. 17 ; and this offer is sometime intimated to these reprobates who fall into that sin, else they should not be capable of it. It is true, that sin is a bar in the way of the guilty, so as they can never partake of the grace of God in Christ ; for it shall never be forgiven, Matth. xii. 31 ; Mark iii. 29; and any further ministerial application of the offer to them seems to cease to be lawful or warranted, 1 John v. 16. But all this arises from their own wilful, obstinate, despiteful, and malicious rejecting of the offer ; and fighting against the Holy Ghost, whose office it is to apply the grace of Christ; and not from any limitation or exclusive clause in the offer, for still it remains true, " Whosoever shall believe, shall not perish."

thinks lie should not be so backward from coining to Christ, by believing on his name, as he is ; for if the greatness of his sins should be so far from hindering his coming to Christ, that they should further his coming, then I know not what should hinder him.

Evan. You speak very truly indeed. And therefore, I beseech you, neighbour Neophitus, consider seriously of it; and neither let your own accusing conscience, nor Satan the accuser of the brethren, hinder you any longer from Christ. For what though they should accuse you of pride, infidelity, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, and hypocrisy ? yea, what though they should accuse you of whoredom, theft, drunkenness, and such like ? yea, do what they can, they can make no worse a man of you than a sinner, or the chief of sinners, or an ungodly person; and so, consequently, such an one Christ came to justify and save ; so that in very deed, if you do rightly consider of it, they do you more good than hurt by their accusations. / And therefore, I beseech you, in all such cases or conflicts, take the counsel of Luther, who, on the Galatians, (p 20,) says, " "When thy conscience is thorougly afraid with the remembrance of thy sins past, and the devil assaileth thee with great violence, going about to overwhelm thee with heaps, floods, and whole seas of sins to terrify thee, and to draw thee from Christ; then arm thyself with such sentences as these:—Christ the Son of God was given, not for the holy, righteous, worthy, and such as were his friends ; but for the wicked sinners, for the unworthy, and for his enemies. Wherefore, if the devil say, Thou art a sinner, and therefore must be damned, then answer thou, and say, Because thou say-est I am a sinner, therefore will I be righteous and saved. And if he reply, Nay, sinners must be damned; then answer thou and say, No, for I flee to Christ, who hath given himself for my sins; and therefore, Satan, in that thou sayest I am a sinner, thou givest me armour and weapons against thyself, that with thine own sword I may cut thy throat, and tread thee under my feet." g And thus you see it is the counsel of Luther, that your sins should rather drive you to Christ than keep you from him.

Nom. But, sir, suppose he hath not as yet truly repented of his

/Which may put you in mind that you are one of that sort which " Christ Jesus came into the world to save," 1 Tim. i. 15, and in pleading for mercy, may furnish you with such an argument as David used, Psalm xxv. 11, and the woman of Canaan, Matt. xv. 27. "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs," &c.

g He adds, in the place quoted, these weighty words, " I say not this for nought, for I have oftentimes proved by experience, and I daily find what an hard matter it is, to believe (especially in the conflict of conscience) that Christ was given, not for the holy, righteous, worthy, and such as were his friends ; but for wicked sinners, for the unworthy, and for his enemies."

many and great sins, hath he any warrant to come unto Christ by believing, till he has done so ?

Evan. I tell you truly, that whatsoever a man is, or whatsoever he hath done or not done, he hath warrant enough to come unto Christ by believing, if he can; h for Christ makes a general proclamation, saying, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money, and without price." This, you see, is the condition, " buy wine and milk," that is, grace and salvation, " without money," that is, without any sufficiency of your

h It is not in vain added, "if he can ;" for there is, in this matter, a great difference betwixt what a sinner may do, in point of warrant, and what he will or can do, in point of the event. " If we say to a mau, the physician is ready to heal you ; before you will be healed, you must have a sense of your sickness: this sense is not required by the physician, (for the physician is ready to heal him) ; but if be be not sick, and have a sense of it, he will uut come to the physician."— Preston on Faith, p. 12. I make no question, but before a sinner will come to Christ by believing, he must be an awakened, convinced, sensible sinner; pricked in his heart with a sense of his siu and misery ; made to groan under his buiden, to despair of relief from the law himself, or any other creature, and to desire and thirst after Christ and his righteousness; and this our author teaches afterwards on this subject. (These things also are required of the sinner in point of duty.) And therefore the law must be preached by all those who would preach Christ aright. But that these, or any other things in the sinner, are required to warrant him, that he may come to Christ by believing, is what I conceive the Scripture teaches not; but the general offer of the gospel, of which before, warrants every man that he may come. And in practice, it will be found, that requiring of such and such qualifications in sinners, to warrant them to believe in Christ, is no great help to them in their way towards bim; forasmuch as it engages them ic a doubtful disputation, as to the being, kind, measure, and degree of their qualifications for coming to Christ; the time spent in which might be better improved in their going forward to Christ for all, by believing. And since no man can ever believe in Christ, without knowing that he has a warrant for believing in him, otherwise he can but act presumptuously : to tell sinners, that none may come to Christ, or have warrant to believe, but such as have a true repentance, must needs, in a special manner, entangle distressed consciences, so as they dare not believe, until they know their repentance to be true repentance. This must inevitably be the issue in that case ; unless they do either reject that principle, or else venture to believe without seeing their warrant. For, howbeit they hear of Christ and his salvation offered in the gospel, these will be to them as forbidden fruit, which they are not allowed to touch, till once they are persuaded, that the) have true repentance. And before they can attain to this, it must be made out to their consciences, that their repentance is not legal but evangelical, having such characters as distinguish it from the repentance of the Ninevites, Judas, and many reprobates. So that, one would think, the suggesting of this principle is but a bad office done to a soul brought to " the place of the breaking forth of children." Let no man say, that, arguing at this rate, one must know also the truth of his faith, before he can come to Christ; for faith is not a qualification for coming to Christ, but the coming itself, which will have its saving effects on the sinner, whether he knows the truth of it or not.

own; i only " incline your ear and hear, and your souls shall live ;" yea, live by hearing that " Christ will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."

§ 4. Nom. But yet, sir, you, see that Christ requires a thirsting, before a man come unto him, the which, I conceive, cannot be without true repentance.

Evan. In the last chapter of the Revelations, verse 17, Christ makes the same general proclamation, saying, " Let him that is athirst come;" and as if the Holy Grhost had so long since answered the same objection that yours is, it follows in the next words, " And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely," even without thirsting, if he will; for "him that cometh unto me, I will in nowise cast out,",; John vi. 37- But because it seems you conceive he ought to repent before he believe, I pray tell me what you do conceive repentance to be, or wherein does it consist ?

Nom. Why, I conceive that repentance consists in a man's humbling himself before God, aud sorrowing and grieving for offending him by his sins, and in turning from them all to the Lord.

Evan. And would you have a man to do all this truly k before he come to Christ by believing ?

i Take them freely, and possess them; which every one sees to be no proper condition.

j That gospel-offer, Isa. lv. 1. is the most solemn one to be found in all the Old Testament: and that recorded, Rev. xxii. 17, is the parting offer made to sinners by Jesus Christ, at the closing of the canon of the Scripture, and manifestly looks to the former ; in the which I can see no ground to think, that the thirsting therein mentioned does any way restrict the offer ; or that the thirsty there invited, are convinced, sensible sinners, who are thirsting after Christ and his righteousness; the which would leave without the compass of this solemn invitation, not only the far greater part of mankind, but even of the visible church. The context seems decisive in this point; for the thirsting ones invited, are such as are "spending money for that which is not bread, aud their labour for that which satisfieth not," (verses 1, 2 ;) but convinced, sensible sinners who are thirsting after Christ and his righteousness, are not spending their labour and money at that rate ; but on the contrary, for that which is bread and satisfieth, namely, for Christ. Wherefore the thirsting there mentioned, must be more extensive, comprehending, yea, and principally aiming at that thirst after happiness and satisfaction, which, being natural, is common to all mankind. Wen pained with this thirst (or hunger) are naturally running, for quenching thereof to the empty creation, and their fulsome lusts ; " so spending money for that which is not bread, and their labour for that which satisfieth not," their hungry souls find no food, but what is meagre and lean, bad and unwholesome, and cannot satisfy their appetite. Compare Luke xv. 16. In this wretched case Adam left all mankind, and Christ finds them. Whereupon the gospel-proclamation is issued forth, inviting them to come away from the broken cisterns, filthy puddles, to the waters of life, even to Jesus Christ, where they may have bread, fatness, what is good, and will satisfy that their painful thirst, John iv. 14, and vi. 35.

k That is, in such a manner as it shall be true evangelical repentance, a gracious

Nom. Yea, indeed, I think it is very meet he should.

Evan. Why,' then, I tell you truly, you would have him to do that which is impossible. I

For, first of all, godly humiliation, in true penitents, proceed? from the love of God their good Father, and so from the hatred of that sin which has displeased him ; and this cannot be without faith. m

Idly, Sorrow and grief for displeasing God by sin, necessarily argue the love of God; and it is impossible we should ever love God, till by faith we know ourselves loved of God. n

humiliation, sorrow, and turning, acceptable in the sight of God. This question (grounded on Nomista's pretending that Neophitus had no warrant to believe, unless he had truly repented) supposes that there is a kind of repentance, humiliation, sorrow for sin, and turning from it, which goes before faith, but that they are not " after a godly sort," as the apostle's phrase is, 2 Cor. viii. 11.

II think it nothing strange to find the author so very peremptory in this point, which is of greater weight than many are aware of True repentance is a turning unto God, a corning back to him again ; a returning even unto the Lord, according to an usual Old Testament phrase, fuund, Hos. xiv. 1, and rightly so translated, Isa. six. 22. But no man can come unto God " but by Christ," Heb. vii. 2a. " He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him," John xiv. 6. " No man cometh unto the Father but by me." We must take Christ in our way to the Father, else it is impossible that we guilty creatures can reach unto him. And no man can come unto Christ, but by believing in him, (John vi. 35.) therefore it is impossible that a man can truly repent before he believe in Christ. " Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince (or Leader} and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins," Acts v. 31. One would think this to be a sufficient intimation, that sinners not only may, but ought to go to him for true repentance ; and not stand off from him until they get it to bring along with them ; especially since repentance, as well as remission of sin, is a part of that salvation, which he as a Saviour is exalted to give, and consequently, which sinners are to receive and rest upon him for ; and likewise that it is that by which he, as a leader, doth lead back sinners even unto God, from whom they were lead away in the first Adam, the head of the apostacy. And if one inquires anent the way of his giving repentance to Israel, the prophet Zechariah showed it before to be by faith. Zech. xii. 10. " And they shall look upon me whom they have have pierced, and they shall mourn."

to This the Scripture teacheth, determining in the general, that without faith one can do nothing acceptable in the sight of God, John xv. 5. " Without me," i. e. separate from me, " ye can do nothing." Heb. xi. 6. " Without faith it is impossible to please him:" and particularly with respect to this case, Luke vii. 37—47. " And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat, stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet—And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon,—Her sins which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much ; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." " It is an argument gathered of the effect following, whereby any thing is proved by signs ensuing." — Calvin. Inst. lib. 3 cap. 4, sect. 37.

n There is a knowledge in faith, as our divines teach against the Papists, and the

'idly, No man can turn to God, except lie be first turned of God; and after he is turned, he repents ; so Ephraim says, " After I was converted, I repented," o Jer. xxxi. 19. The truth is, a repentant sinner first believes that God will do that which he promiseth, namely, pardon his sin, and take away his iniquity; then he rests in the hope of it; and from that, and for it, he leaves sin, and will forsake his old course, p because it is displeasing to God; and will

Scripture maketh manifest. Isa. Hi. 11, " By his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many." Heb. xi. 3, " Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God." Now, saving faith, being a persuasion that we shall have life and salvation by Christ, or a receiving and resting on him for salvation, includes in it a knowledge of our being beloved of God : the former cannot be without the latter. In the meantime, such as the strength or weakness of that persuasion is, the steadiness or unsteadiness of that receiving and resting, just so is this knowledge, clear, or unclear, free of, or accompanied with doubtings. They are still of the same measure and decree. So that this is no more in effect, but that faith in Christ is the spring of true love to God; the which, how it is attained by a guilty sou], men will the better know, if they consider well what it is. The true love of God is not a love to him only for his benefits, and for our own sake, but a love to him for himself, for his own sake ; a liking of, and complacency in, his glorious attributes and perfections, his infinite, eternal, and unchangeable being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodnpss, and truth. If a convinced sinner is void of any of the least measure of persuasion of life and salvation by Christ, and of the love of this God to him ; but apprehends, as he cannot miss to do in this case, that he hates him, is the enemy, and will prove so at last; this cannot fail of filling his whole soul with slavish fear of God ; and how then shall this love of God spring up in one's heart, in such a case for slavish fear and true love are so opposite the one to the other, that, according to the measure in which the one prevails, the other cannot have access. 2 Tim. i. 7, " God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind." 1 John iv. 18, " There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment." But when once life and salvation, and remission of sin, is with application believed by the convinced sinner, and thereby the love of God towards him is known ; then according to the measure of that faith and knowledge, slavish fear of God is expelled, and the heart is kindly drawn to love him, not only for his benefits, but for himself, having a complacency in his glorious perfections. " We love him, because he first loved us," I John iv. 19, The love of God to us is the inducement of our love to him : but love utterly unknown to the party beloved can never be an inducement to him to love again. Now, in consequence hereof, the sinner's bands are loosed, and his heart, which before was still hard as a stone, though broken in pieces by legal terrors, is broken in another manner, softened and kindly melted in sorrow for displeasing this gracious God.

a God's turning a sinner first brings him to Christ. John vi. 44, 45, " No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." And then he comes to God by Christ : John. xiv. 26, " No man cometh unto the Father but bv me."

p In a right manner, in the manner immediately after mentioned.

do that which is pleasing and acceptable to him. q So that first of all, God's favour is apprehended, and remission of sins believed; r then upon that cometh alteration of life and conversation, s

q Faith cometh of the word of God ; hope cometh of faith ; and charity springeth of them both. Faith believes that word ; hope trusteth after that which is promised by the word; and charity doth good unto her neighbour.— Mr. Patrick Hamilton's Articles in Knox's Hist. p. 11.

r Not as that they are pardoned already ; but that one must so apprehend the favour of God, as to believe that God will pardon—his Bin, as the author speaks expressly in the premises from whence this conclusion is drawn ; or that God doth pardon his sin in the present time. See note, chap. 3. sec. 6. Now, remission of sin is a part of that salvation which faith receives and rests on Christ for. See the note on the Definition of faith. As for the phrase the author uses to express this, it is most agreeable to the Scripture phrase, " Remission of sins preached," Luke xxiv. 47 ; Acts xiii. 38.

s Namely, such an alteration as is pleasing and acceptable in the sight or God, the which he has described in the preceding sentence. Otherwise, he has already taught us, that there are notable alterations of life and conversation which do not proceed from faith; and therefore are not accepted of God. And of these we shall hear more anon.

Tt will not be amiss here to observe how our author, in his account of the relation betwixt faith and repentance, treads in the ancient paths, according to his manner.

" It ought to be out of question," says Calvin, " that repentance doth not only immediately follow faith, but also spring out of it.—As for them that think that repentance doth rather go before faith, than flow or spring forth of it, as a fruit out of a tree, they never knew the force thereof, and are moved with too weak an argument, to think so. Christ and John, (say they) in their preachings, first exhort the people to repentance, &c.—A man cannot earnestly apply himself to repentance, unless he know himself to be of God : but no man is truly persuaded that he is of God but he that hath first received his grace.—No man shall ever reverently fear God, but he that trusteth that God is merciful to him : no man will willingly prepare himself to the keeping of the law, but he that is persuaded that his services please him."— Instit. b. 3. chap. 3. sec. 1, 2.

" How soon that ever the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, which God's elect children receive by true faith, takes possession in the heart of any man, so soon doth he regenerate and renew the same man. So that he begins to hate that which before he loved, and begins to love that which before he hated ; and from thence comes that continual battle which is betwixt the flesh and the spirit."— Old Confess, art. 13.

" Being in Christ, we must be new creatures—so that we must hate and flee that which before we loved and embraced, and we must love and follow that which before we hated aud abhorred.—All which is impossible to them that have no faith, and have but a dead faith."— Mr. John Davidson's Cat. p. 29.

" Quest. When I shall ask you then what is craved of us, after that we are joined to Christ by faith, and made truly righteous in him? ye shall answer, A. We must repent and become new persons, that we may show forth the virtues of him that hath called us."— Ibid. p. 35.

" What is thy repentance ? The effect of this faith, working a sorrow for my sins by-past, and purpose to amend in time to come."— Mr. James Melvil's Cat. in his Propine, &c. p. 44.

Vol. VII. s

Norn. But, sir, as I conceive, the Scripture holds forth, that the Lord has appointed repentance to go before faith ; for is it not said, Mark i. 15, " Repent and believe the gospel ?"

Evan. To the intent that you may have a true and satisfactory answer to this your objection, I would pray you to consider two things :

First, That the word "repent" in the original, signifies a change of our minds from false ways to the right, and of our hearts from evil to good ; as that son in the gospel said, " He would not go" work in his father's vineyard ; yet afterwards, says the text, " he repented and went," Matth. xxi. 29; that is, he changed his mind and went.

Secondly, That in those days, when John the Baptist and our Saviour preached, their hearers were most of them erroneous in their minds and judgments; for they being leavened with the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, of which our Saviour bade his disciples take heed and beware, (Matth. xvi. 6, 12.) the most of them were of opinion, that the Messiah whom they looked for should be some great and mighty monarch, who should deliver them from their temporal bondage, as I showed before. And many of them were of the opinion of the Pharisees, who held, that as an outward conformity to the letter of the law was sufficient to gain favour and

" Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of the true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief and hatred of sin, turn from it unto God."— Shorter Cat.

" M. This is then thy saying, That unto the time that God hath received us to mercy, and regenerate us by his Spirit, we can do nothing but sin ; even as an evil tree can bring forth no fruit but that which is evil, Matth. vii. 17. C. Even so it ]<." Calvin's Cat. quest. 117. " He doth receive us into his favour, of his bountiful mercy, through the merits of our Saviour Christ, accounting his righteousness to be ours, and for his sake imputeth not our faults unto us."— Ibid, quest. 118.

" Quest. What is the first fruit of this union?" (namely of union with Christ by-faith.) A. A remission of our sins, and imputation of justice. Q. What is the next fruit of our union with him? A. Our sanctification and regeneration to the image of God."— Craig's Cat. q, 24, 25. " Q. What is sanctification ? A. Sanctification is a work af God's grace, whereby they—are—renewed in the whole man, after the ituage of God, having the seeds of repentance unto life, and of all other saving graces, put into their hearts."— Larger Cat. quest, lb.

" We would beware of Mr. Baxter's order of setting repentance and works of new obedience before justification, which is indeed a new covenant of works."— Rutherford's Influences of the Life of Grace, p. 346.

t This is taken word for word out of the English Annotations on Matt. iii. 12; which are cited for it by our author under the name of the Last Annotations, because they were printed in the year 1645, about which time this book also was first published. How the author applies it, will appear anon.

estimation from men, so it was sufficient for their justification and acceptation before God, and so, consequently, to bring them to heaven and eternal happiness: and therefore, for these ends, they were very diligent in fasting and prayer, (Luke xviii. 12—14.) and very careful to pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, and yet did omit the weightier matters of the law, as judgment, mercy, faith, and the love of God. Matth. xxiii. 23; Luke xi. 42. And so as our Saviour told them, Matth. xxiii. 25. " they made clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they were full of extortion and excess."

And divers of them were of the opinion of the Sadducees, Acts xxiii. 8. who held " that there was no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit;" and so had all their hopes and comfort in the things of this life, not believing any other.

Now our Saviour, preaching to these people, said, " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel." As if he had said, the time set by the prophets for the manifestation of the Messiah is fully come; and his kingdom, which is a spiritual and heavenly kingdom, is at hand; therefore change your minds from false ways to right, and your hearts from evil to good; u and do not any longer imagine, that the Messiah you look for, shall be one that shall save and deliver you from your temporal enemies ; but from your spiritual, that is, from your sins, and from the wrath of God, and from eternal damnation; and therefore put your confidence no longer in your own righteousness, though you walk never so exactly according to the letter of the law ; but believe the glad tidings that are now brought to you, namely, that this Messiah shall save you from sin, wrath, death, the devil, and hell, and bring you to eternal life and glory. Neither let any of you any longer imagine, that there is to be no resurrection of the dead, and so have your hopes only in this life : but believe these glad tidings, that are now brought unto you, concerning the Messiah; and he shall raise you up at the last day, and give you an eternal life. Now, with submission to better judgments, I do conceive, that if there be in the book of God any repentance exhorted unto, before faith in Christ; or if any repentance go, either in order of nature or time, before faith in Christ, it is only such a like repentance as this, v

u The word rendered repent, is, " To change one's mind, and to lay aside false opinions, which they had drunk in, whether from the Pharisees, concerning the righteousness of works, traditions, worship, &c.; or from the Sadducees, concerning the resurrection," &c Lucus Brugensis, apud. Pol. St/nop. Crit. Matt. iii. 2.

v That the reader may further see how little weight there is in the objection raised

«9.

Xom. But, sir, do you think that there is such a like repentance that goes before faith in Christ, in men now-a-days ?

Evan. Tea, indeed, I think there is. As for example, when a profane sensual man (who lives as though, with the Sadducees, he did not believe any resurrection of the dead, neither hell nor heaven,) is convinced in his conscience, that if he go on in making a god of his belly, and in minding only earthly things, his end shall be damnation ; sometimes such a man thereupon changes his mind, and of a profane man, becomes a strict Pharisee, or (as some call them) a legal professor; but being convinced, that all his own righteousness will avail him nothing, in the case of justification, and that it is only the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is available in that case, then he changes his mind, and, with the apostle, " desires to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, even the righteousness which is of God through faith," Phil. iii. 9. Now, I conceive, that a man that does this, changes his mind from false ways to the right way, and his heart from evil to good; and so, consequently, doth truly repent, w

Nom. But, sir, do not you hold, that although repentance, according to my definition, goes not before faith in Christ, yet it follows after ?

Evan. Yes, indeed; I hold,-that although it go not before, as an antecedent of faith, yet it follows as a consequent. For when a man believes the love of God to him in Christ, then he loves God because he loved him first; and that love constrains him to humble himself at the Lord's footstool, and to acknowledge himself to be less than the least of all his mercies; yea, and then will he " remember his own evil ways and doings, that were not good, and will

from Mark i. 15. I subjoin the words of two learned commentators on the text " Repent ye, turn from the wickedness of your ways and believe.—There is a repentance that must go before faith, that is, the applicative of the promise of pardoning mercy to the soul; though true evangelical repetance, which is sorrow for sin, flowing from the sense of the love of God in Christ, be the fruit and effect of faith."— Coutin. of Poole's Annot. on the place. " Faith or believing, in order of the work of grace, is before repentance, that being the first and mother grace of all others ; yet is here and in other places, named the latter : first, because though faith be first wrought, yet repentance is first seen and evidenced," &c.— Lightfoot's Harmony, part. 3. p. 164. 4/o.

w That is, his repentance is true in its kind, though not saving. There is a change of his mind and heart, in that, upon a conviction, he turns from profanity to strictness of life, and upon farther conviction, from a conceit of his own righteousness to a desire after the righteousness of Christ: nevertheless, all this is but selfish, and cannot please God while the man is void of faith. Heb. xi. 6.

loathe himself in his own sight for his iniquities, and for his abominations," Ezek. xxxvi. 31; yea, and then he will also cleanse himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, having respect unto all God's commandments." x 2 Cor. vii. 1; Psalm cxix. 6.

Nom. "Well, sir, I am answered.

§ 5. Neo. And truly, sir, you have so declared and set forth Christ's disposition towards poor sinners, and so answered all my doubts and objections, that I am now verily persuaded that Christ is willing to entertain me; and surely I am willing to come unto him, and receive him; but, alas! I want power.

Evan. But tell me truly, are you resolved to put forth all your power to believe, and so to take Christ ?y

Neo. Truly, sir, methinks my resolution is much like the resolution of the four lepers, who sat at the gate of Samaria; for as they said, " If we enter into the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also; now, therefore, let us fall into the host of tho Syrians ; if they save us, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die," 2 Kings vii. 4; even so say I in mine heart, if I go back to the covenant of works to seek justification thereby, I shall die there; and if I sit still and seek it no way, I shall die also; now therefore, though I be somewhat fearful, yet am I resolved to go unto Christ; and if I perish, I perish, z

x See note k, p. 279.

y His conviction of his lost and undone state was before represented in its proper place. After much disputing whether such a vile and sinful wretch as he had any warrant to come to Christ, he appears, in his immediately foregoing speech, to be so far enlightened in the knowledge of Christ, that he is verily persuaded that Christ is willing to entertain him ; and to have his heart and will so overcome by divine grace that he is willing to come unto Christ: yet after all, he, through weakness of judgment, apprehends himself to want power to believe; whereas it is by these very means that a soul is persuaded, and enabled too, to believe in Jesus Christ. Hereupon the author waiving the dispute anent his power to believe, wisely asks him, If he was resolved to put forth the power he had? forasmuch as it was evident from the account given of the present condition of his soul, that it had felt " a day of power," Psalm ex. 3. and that he was " drawn of the Father, and therefore could come to Christ," John vi. 44. For " effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ."— Short. Cut. " Savingly enlightening their minds, renewing, and powerfully determining their wills, so as they—are hereby made willing and able."— Larg. Cat. quest. 67.

z See the foregoing note. This is the concluding point in this matter : the man being drawn by efficacious grace, though he is not without doubts and fears as to the event, yet is no more in doubt, whether to embrace the offer or not. And the inward motion of his heart breaking through the remaining doubts and fears, after a long

Evan. "Why, now I tell you, the match is made; Christ is yours, a and you are his, " this day is salvation come to your house," (your soul I mean:) for what though you have not that power to come so fast to Christ, and lay such firm hold on him, as you desire; y e * coming with such a resolution to take Christ, as you do, you need nor care for power to do it, inasmuch as Christ will enable you to do it; b for is it not said, John i. 12, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name ?" c 0 therefore, I beseech you, stand no longer disputing; but be peremptory and resolute in your faith, and in casting yourself upon Grod in Christ for mercy; and let the issue be what it will. Yet let me tell you, to your comfort, that such a resolution shall never go to hell, d Nay, I will say more ; if any soul have room in heaven, such a soul shall; for God cannot find in his heart to damn such a one. I might then, with as much true confidence say unto you, as John Careless said to John Bradford, in a letter to him, " Hearken, 0 heavens, and thou 0 earth, give ear, and bear me witness, at the great day, that I do here faithfully and truly declare the Lord's message unto his dear servant and singularly beloved John Bradford, saying, ' John Bradford, thou man so specially beloved of God, I do pronounce and testify unto thee, in the word and name of the Lord Jehovah, that all thy sins, whatsoever they be, though never so many, grievous, or great, be fully and freely pardoned, released, and forgiven thee, by the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, the only Lord and sweet Saviour, in whom thou dost undoubtedly believe; as truly as the Lord liveth, he will not

struggle, unto Jesus Christ in the free promise, being in itself indiscernible, but to God and one's own soul, it is agreeably enough to one's way in that case : discovered in that expression of a conquered soul, Now am I resolved to go unto Christ, now am I determined to believe ; the which cannot but represent to him who deals with the exercised person, the whole soul going out unto Jesus Christ. Hence the match may justly thereupon be declared to be made, as our author does in the words immediately following. Thus, Job in his distress expresseth his faith, Job xiii. 15, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Compare Acts xi. 33, " That with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."

a In possession.

b That is, you need not, holding back your hand, stand disputing with yourself how you will get power; but with the power given, stretch forth the withered hand, and Christ will strengthen it, and enable you to take a firm hold. John xii. 32, " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Isa. zl. 29., " He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

c The power here mentioned, seems rather to denote right or privilege (as the original word is rendered in the margin of our Bibles,) than strength or ability.

d See the preceding note, 6

have tliee die the death ; but hath verily purposed, determined, and decreed, that thou shalt live with him for ever.'"

Neo. 0, sir, if I have as good warrant to apply this saying to myself as Mr. Bradford had to himself, then I am a happy man !

Evan. I tell you from Christ, and under the hand of the Spirit, that your person is accepted, your sins are done away, and you shall be saved; and if an angel from heaven should tell you otherwise, let him be accursed. Therefore you may (without doubt) conclude that you are a happy man; for by means of this your matching with Christ, you are become one with him, and one in him, you " dwell in him, and he in you," 1 John iv. 13. He is " your well-beloved, and you are his," Cant. ii. 16. So that the marriage-union betwixt Christ and you is more than a bare notion or apprehension of your mind ; for it is a special, spiritual, and real union : it is an union betwixt the nature of Christ, God and man, and you ; e it is a knitting and closing, not only of your apprehension with a Saviour, but also of your soul with a Saviour. Whence it must needs follow that you cannot be condemned, except Christ be condemned with you; neither can Christ be saved, except you be saved with him./ And as by means of corporal marriage all things become common betwixt man and wife; even so, by means of this spiritual marriage, all things become common betwixt Christ and you; for when Christ hath married his spouse unto himself he pas-seth over all his estate unto her; so that whatsoever Christ is, or hath, you may boldly challenge as your own, " He is made unto

e That is, an union with whole Christ, God-Man; 1 Cor. vi. 17, " He that is joined to the Lord, is one Spirit." Eph. v. 38, "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."

/"Jesus Christ and the believer, being one person in the eye of the law, there is no separating of them in law, in point of life and death. John xiv. 19, " Because I live, ye shall live also." I have adventured this once to add one syllable to the text of the author, and so to read " condemned" for " damned." The words are of the same signification ; only, the latter has an idea of horror affixed to it, which the former has not; and which perhaps it had not neither, in the days of our forefathers, when godly Tindal used the expression, as our author informs us. And I take this liberty, the rather that a like expression of John Careless, in a letter to William Tyms, seems to me t o run more smooth, by means of the same addition, though I doubt if the word stood so in the original copy, " Christ (says he) is made unto us holiness, righteousness, and justification ; he hath clothed us in all his merits—and taken to himself all our sin—so that, if any should be now condemned for the same, it must needs be Jesus Christ, who hath taken them upon him."— The Offerer's Mirror, p. G6. And the Old Confession of Faith, art. 9, according to the ancient copies, it is said, " The clean innocent Lamb of God was damned in the presence of au earthly judge, that we should be absolved before the tribunal-seat of our God." But in the copy standing in Knox's History, reprinted at Edinburgh, anno. 1644, it is read " condemned."

you, of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," 1 Cor. i. 30. And surely, by virtue of this near union it is, that as Christ is called " the Lord our righteousness," (Jer. xxxiii. 6,) even so is the church called, " The Lord our righteonsnes," (ver. 16,) I tell you, you may by virtue of this union, boldly take upon yourself as your own, Christ's watching, abstinence, travails, prayers, persecutions, and slanders; yea, his tears, his sweat, his blood, and all that ever he did and suffered in the space of three and thirty years, with his passion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension ; for they are all yours. And as Christ passes over all his estate unto his spouse, so does he require that she should pass over all unto him. Wherefore, you being now married unto Christ, you must give all that you have of your own unto him; and truly you have nothing of your own but sin, and therefore you must give him that. I beseech you, then, say unto Christ with bold confidence, I give unto thee, my dear husband, my unbelief, my mistrust, my pride, my ar-rogancy, my ambition, my wrath, and anger, my envy, my covetous-ness, my evil thoughts, affections, and desires; I make one bundle of these and all my other offences, and give them unto thee, g And

g This gift would indeed be a very unsuitable return for all' the benefits received from Christ by virtue of the spiritual marriage, if he did not deal with us in the way of free grace ; like unto a physician, who desires nothing of a poor man full of sores, but that he will employ him in the cure of them. But this gift, such as it is, as it is all we have of our own to give, so one needs make no question but it will be very acceptable. Ptalm lv. 22, " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee," not only thy burden of duty, suffering, and success, but of sin too, wherewith thou art heavy laden, Matt. si. 2S. We are allowed, not only to give him our burden, but to cast it upon him. He knows very well that all these evils mentioned, and many more, are in the heart of the best: yet doth he say, Prov. xxiii. 26, " My son, give me thine heart;' notwithstanding of the wretched stuff he knows to be in it. In the language of the Holy Ghost, these things, as black as they are, are a gift by divine appointment to be given. Lev. xvi. 21, speaking of the scape-goat, an eminent type of Christ, he says, " And Aaron shall—confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins : and he shall give them upon the head of the goat." Thus the original expresses what we read, " putting them," &c. View ugain, note v, p. 210.

Now, the end for which the sinner is to give these to Christ is twofold ; (l.) For removing the guilt of them. (2.) For the mortifying of them. And though this is not an easy way of mortification, since the way of believing is not easy, but more difficult than all the Popish austerites, forasmuch as these last are more agreeable to nature, yet indeed it is the short way to mortification, because it is the only way ; without which, the practice of all other directions will be but as so many cyphers, without a figure standing at their head, signifying nothing, for true Christian mortification. Acts xv. 9, " Purifying their hearts by faith " Rom. vi. 6, " Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him." And viii. 13, '' If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Gal. v. 24, " And they that are Christ's have

thus was Christ made " sin for us, that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," h 2 Cor. v. 21. " Now then," says Luther, " Let us compare these things together, and we shall find inestimable treasure. Christ is full of grace, life, and saving health; and the soul is freight-full of all sin, death and damnation ; but let faith come betwixt these two, and it shall come to pass, that Christ shall be laden with sin, death, and hell; and unto the soul shall be imputed grace, life and salvation. Who then is able to value the royalty of this marriage accordingly ? who is able to comprehend the glorious riches of his grace, where this rich and righteous husband, Christ, doth take unto wife this poor and wicked harlot, redeeming her from all devils, and garnishing her with all his own jewels? So that you, through the assuredness of your faith in Christ your husband, are delivered from all sins, made safe from death, guarded from hell, and endowed with the everlasting righteousness, life, and saving health of this your husband Christ." And therefore you are now under the covenant of grace, and freed from the law, as it is the covenant of works; for (as Mr. Ball truly says) at one and the same time, a man canuot be under the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.

Neo. Sir, I do not yet well know how to conceive of this freedom from the law, as it is the covenant of works ; and therefore I pray you make it as plain to me as you can.

Evan. For the true and clear understanding of this point, you are to consider, that when Jesus Christ the second Adam, had, in the behalf of his chosen, perfectly fulfilled the law, as it is the covenant of works ; i divine justice delivered that bond in to Christ, who utterly cancelled that hand-writing, Col. ii. 14; so that none of his chosen were to have any more to do with it, nor it with them. And now, you, by your believing in Christ, having manifested that you are one, who was chosen in him " before the foundation of the world," (Eph. i. 4.) his fulfilling of that covenant, and cancelling that hand-writing, is imputed unto you; and so yon are acquitted and absolved from all your transactions against that covenant,

crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts ;" namely, nailing them to the cross of Christ by faith.

h Thus, namely, by the giving of our sins to him, not by believers, but by his Father, as says the text, " He (not we) made him to be sin for us." Nevertheless, the Lord's laying our iniquities upon Christ is good warrant for every believer to lay his sins in particular upon him ; the latter being a cordial falling in with, a practical approbation, and taking the benefit of the former.

i Namely, by doing perfectly what it demanded to be done, by virtue of its commanding power, and suffering completely what it demanded to be borne, by virtue of its condemning power.

either past, present, or to come; j and so you are justified, as the the apostle says, " freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ," Rom. iii. 24.

8 6. Ant. I pray you, sir, give me leave to speak a word by the way ; was not he justified before this time ?

Evan. If he did not believe in Christ before this time, as I conceive he did not, then certainly he was not justified before this time.

Ant. But, sir, you know, as the apostle says, " it is God that justified ;" and God is eternal; and as you have shown, Christ may be said to have fulfilled the covenant of works from all eternity, and if he be Christ's now, then he was Christ's from all eternity. And therefore, as I conceive, he was justified from all eternity.

Evan. Indeed, God is from all eternity, and in respect of God's accepting of Christ's undertaking to fulfil the covenant of works, he fulfilled it from all eternity; and in respect of God's electing of him he was Christ's from all eternity. And therefore it is true, in respect of God's decree, he was justified from all eternity : k and he

j Although believers in the first moment of their union with Christ by faith, are delivered from the law, as it is the covenant of works, and therefore their after sins neither are, nor can be formally transgressions of that covenant; yet they are inter-pretatively so, giving a plain proof of what they would have done against that covenant had they been under it still. And forasmuch as they could never have been freed from it, had not the glorious Mediator wrought their deliverance, by fulfilling it in their room and stead ; all their sins whatsoever, from their birth to their death, after as well as before their union with Christ, were charged upon him, as transgressions against that covenant; and such as are pardoned to them in their justification. Even as he who redeems a slave must pay in proportion to the service which it i3 supposed he would have done his master during life ; and the slave is loosed from all obligation so these several pieces of service, unto that master, upon the ransom paid, in compensation of all and every one of them. And thus our author says, that a believer, in his justification, is acquitted from all his transgressions against the covenant of works, not only past and present, but to come. So that he leaves no ground to question, but Christ satisfied for all the sins of believers whatsoever, whether in their state of regen-eracy or irregeneracy. Nor does he make the least insinuation, that the sins of believers, after their union with Chribt, are not properly transgressions of that law which was (yea, and to unbelievers still is) in the covenant of works : but, on the contrary expressly teaches, that it is the very same law of the ten commands which is the law of Christ, and which the believer transgresseth, that was, and is in the covenant of works. And although the revenging wrath of God, and eternal death, are nut threatened against the sins of believers after their union with Christ; and that for this one reason, That that wrath, and that death (the eternity whereof rose not from the nature of the thing, but the infirmity of the sufferer, and therefore could have no place in the Son of God) were not only threatened before, but executed too upon their surety Jesus Christ, to whom they are united : it is manifest, that there was great need of Christ's being made a curse for these sins of believers, as well as for those preceding their union with him.

/. " The sentence of justification war. as it were, conceived iu the mind of God bjf

was justified meritoriously in the death and resurrection of Christ; I but yet he was not justified actually, till he did actually believe in Christ; for, says the apostle, Acts xiii. 39, "By him all that believe are justified." m So that in the act of justifying, faith and Christ must have a mutual relation, and must always concur and meet together; faith as the action which apprehendeth, and Christ the object which is apprehended; for neither doth Christ justify without faith, neither doth faith, except it be in Christ.

Ant. Truly, sir, you have indifferently well satisfied me in this

the decree of justifying, Gal. iii. 8, " The Scripture foreseeing tbat God would justify the heathen through faith,"— Ames. Med. cap. xxxvii. sec, 9. " In which sense

grace is said to be given us in Christ before the world began," 2 Tim. i. 9 Turret.

loc. 16. q. 9. th. 11. " Sins were pardoned from eternity in the mind of God." Rutherford's E.ver. Apolog ex. 1. cap. 2. sec. 21. p. 53. The same Rutherford adds, " It is one thing for a man to be justified in Christ, and that from eternity ; and another for a man to be justified in Christ in time, according to the gospel covenant.— Faith is not so much as the instrument of the eternal and immanent justification and remission of sins."— Ibid. p. 55.

/" Justification may be considered as to the execution of it in time; and that again, either as to the purchase of it, which was made by the death of Christ on the cross, concerning which it is said, Rom. v. 9, 10, " That we are justified and reconciled to God by the blood of Christ; and that Christ reconciled all things unto God by the blood of the cross," Col. i. 20. And elsewhere Christ is said to be " raised again for our justification," Rom. iv. 25. Because, as in him dying, "we died, so in him raised again and justified, we are justified ; that is, we have a certain and undoubted pledge and foundation of our justification.—Or as to the application of it," &c.— Turret, ubi. sup. " The sentence of justification was pronounced in Christ our head, risen from the dead," 2 Cor. v. 19.— Ames, ubi sup. " We were virtually justified, especially when Christ having finished the purchase of our salvation, was justified, and we in him as our head," 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; 2 Cor. v. 19."— Essen. Comp. cap. xv. sect. 25.

m " Actual justification is done in time, and follows faith."— Turret, loc. 16. q. 7. th. 3. "Justification is done formally, when an elect man, effectually called, and so apprehended of Christ, apprehends Christ again, Rom. viii. 30.— Essen, ubi supra. " The sentence of justification is pronounced virtually from that first relation which ariseth from faith," Rom. viii. 1.— Ames, ubi supra.

Upon the whole, it is evident our author keeps the path trodden by orthodox divines on the subject: and though, in order to answer the objections of his adversary, he uses the school terms, of being justified in respect of God's decree, meritoriously, and actually, agreeably to the practice of other sound divines-; yet otherwise he begins and ends his decision of this controversy, by asserting in plain and simple terms, without any distinction at all, " That a man is not justified before he believe, or without faith." So his answer amounts just to this, " That God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect; and Christ did, in the fulness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification : nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy Spirit duth in due time actually apply Christ unto them."— Westmin. Confess, chap. 1 1. art. 4.

point; and surely I like it marvellously well, that you conclude no faith justifies, hut that whose object is Christ.

Evan. The very truth is, though a man believe that God is merciful and true to his promise, and that he has his elect number from the beginning, and that he himself is one of that number, yet if this faith do not eye Christ, if it be not in God as he is in Christ, it will not serve the turn; for God cannot be comfortably thought upon out of Christ our Mediator; "for if we find not God in Christ," says Calvin, (Instit. p. 155.) " salvation cannot be known." Wherefore, Neophitus, I will say unto you, as Mr. Bradford said unto a gentlewoman in your case, " Thus, then, if you would be quiet, and certain in conscience, then let your faith burst forth through all things, not only that you have within you, but also whatsoever is in heaven, earth, and hell; and never rest until it come to Christ crucified, and the eternal sweet mercy and goodness of God in Christ."

§ 7- Neo. But, sir, I am not satisfied concerning the point you touched before; and therefore, I pray you, proceed to show me how far forth I am delivered from the law, as it is the covenant of works.

Evan. Truly, as it is the covenant of works, you are wholly and altogether delivered and set free from it; you are dead to it, and it is dead to you; and if it be dead to you, then it can do you neither good nor hurt; and if you be dead to it, you can expect neither good nor hurt from it. n Consider, man, I pray you, that, as I said

n Concerning the deliverance from the law, which, according to the Scripture, is the privilege of believers purchased unto them by Jesus Christ, there are two opinions equally contrary to the word of God, and to one another. The one of the Legalist, That believers are under the law, even as it is the covenant of works ; the other of the Antinomian, That believers are not at all unJer the law, no, not as it is a rule of life. Betwixt these extremes, both of them destructive of true holiness and gospel-obedience, our author, with other orthodox divines, holds the middle path ; asserting (and in the proper place proving) that believers are under the law, as a rule of life, but free from it as it is the covenant of works. To be delivered from the law as it is the covenant of works, is no more but to be delivered from the covenant of works. And the asserting, that believers are delivered from the law as it is the covenant of works, doth necessarily import, that they are under the law, in some other respect thereto contra-distinguished. And forasmuch as the author teaches, that believers are under the law, as it is the law of Christ, and a rule of life to them, it is reasonable to conclude that to be it. He must needs, under the term, " the covenant of works," understand and comprehend the law of the ten commandments ; because no man, understanding what the covenant of works is, can speak of it, but he must, under that term, understand and comprehend the ten commandments, even as none can speak of a man, with knowledge of a sense of that word, but under that term must understand and comprehend an organic body, as well as a soul. But it is manifest, that the law

before, you are now under another covenant, viz. the covenant of grace; and you cannot bo under two covenants at once, neither wholly nor partly; and therefore, as, before you believed, you were

of the ten commandments, without the form of the covenant of works upon it, is not the thing he understands by that term, " the covenant of works." Neither is the form of the covenant of works (which is no more the covenant itself, than the soul without the body is the man) essential to the ten commandments, so that they cannot be without it. See note b, p. 169. If it be said, that the author, by the covenant of works, understands the moral law, as it is denned, (Lar. Cat. q. 92.) it is granted; but then it amounts to no more, but that, by the covenant of works, he understands the covenant of works; for by the moral law there, is understood the covenant of works, as has been already evinced See note a, p. 166.

The doctrine of believers' freedom from the covenant of works, or from the law as that covenant, is of the greatest importance, and is expressly taught.— Lar. Cat. q. 97. "They that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral law, as a covenant of works," Rom. vi. 14; Rom. vii. 4, 6; Gal. iv. 4, 5. — Westmin. Confess, chap. xix. art. 6. "True believers be not under the law as a covenant of works." To these I subjoin one testimony, from the Pract. Use of Saving Knowledge, tit, " For strengthening the Man's Faith," &c. Rom. viii. (note k, p. 290,) " Albeit the apostle himself (brought in here for example's cause) and all other true believers in Christ, be by nature under the law of sin and death, or under the covenant of works (called the law of sin and death, because it bindeth sin and death upon us, till Christ set us free) yet the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, or the covenant of grace, (so called because it doth enable and quicken a man to a spiritual life through Christ) doth set the apostle, and all true believers, free from the covenant of works, or the law of sin and death." See note I, p. 291. As also tit. " For convincing a man of judgment by the law," par. 2. and last. And tit. " Evidences of true fuith. And tit. " For the first," &c.—note to, Ibid.

Now, delivering from a covenant being the dissolution of a relation which admits not of degrees, believers being delivered from the covenant of works, must be wholly and altogether set free from it.

This appears also from the believer's being dead to it, and it dead to him, of which before at large.

There is a twofold death competent to a believer, with respect to the law, as it is the covenant of works; and so to the law as such, with respect to the believer. (1.) The believer is dead to it really, and in point of duty, while he carries himself as one who is dead to it. And this I take to be comprehended in that saying of the apostle, Gal. ii. 19, " I through the law am dead to the law." In the best of the children of God here, there are such remains of the legal disposition and inclination of heart to the way of the covenant of works, that as they are never quite free of it in their best duties, so at sometimes their services smell so rank of it, as if they were alive to the law, and still dead to Christ. And sometimes the Lord for their correction, trial, and exercise of faith, suffers the ghost of the dead husband, the law, as a covenant of works, to come in upon their souls and make demands on them, command, threaten, and affright them, as if they were alive to it, and it to them. And it is one of the hardest pieces of practical religion, to be dead to the law in such cases. This death to it admits of degrees, is not alike in all believers, and is perfect in none till the death of the body. But of this kind of death to the law, the question proceeds not here. (2.) The believer is dead to it relatively, and in point of privilege ; the relation be-

wholly under the covenant of works, as Adam left both you and all his posterity after his fall; so now, since you have believed, you are wholly under the covenant of grace. Assure yourself then, that no minister, or preacher of God's word has any warrant to say unto you hereafter, " Either do this and that duty contained in the law, and avoid this and that sin forbidden in the law, and God will justify thee and save thy soul: or do it not, and he will condemn thee and damn thee ?" o No, no, you are now set free both from the commanding and condemning power of the covenant of works, p So that I will say unto you, as the apostle says unto the believing

twist him and it is dissolved, even as the relation between a husband and wife is dissolved by death; Rom vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law, by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another." This can admit of no degrees, but is perfect in all believers ; so that they are wholly and altogether set free from it, in point of privilege, upon which the question here proceeds, and in this respect they can expect neither good nor hurt from it.

o See p. 250, note s. " Believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned."— Westmin. Confess, chap. xix. art. 6.

p From the general conclusion already laid down and proven, namely, That believers are wholly and altogether set free from the covenant of works, or from the law as it is that covenant, this necessarily follows. But to consider particulars, for further clearing this weighty point, (I.) That the covenant of works hath no" power to justify a sinner, in regard to his utter inability to pay the penalty, and to fulfil the condition of it, is clear from the apostle's testimony, Rom. viii. 3, " What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son," &c. (2.) That the believer is not under the condemning power of it, appears from Gal. iii. 23, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Rom. viii. 1, " There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Verse 33, 34, " It is God that justifieth ; who is he that condemn-eth ?" (3.) As to its commanding power, believers are not under it neither; for, 1. Its commanding and condemning power, in case of transgression, are inseparable ; for, by the sentence of that covenant, every breaker of its commands is bound over to death. Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." " And whatsoever it saith, it saith to them that are under it," Rom. iii. 19. Therefore, if believers be under its commanding power, they must needs be under its condemning power, yea, and actually bound over to death ; forasmuch as they are, without question, breakers of its command, if they be indeed under its commanding power.

2. If, as to any set of men, the justifying and condemning power be removed from that law which God gave to Adam as a covenant of works, and to all mankind in him, than the covenant-form of that law is done away as to them ; so that there is not a covenant of works in being unto them, to have a commanding power over them ; but such is the case of believers, that law can neither justify them, nor condemn them; therefore, there is no covenant of works in being betwixt God and them, to have a commanding power over them; our Lord Jesus " blotted out the hand-writing, took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross," Col. ii. 14.

3. Believers are dead to the law, as it is the covenant of works, and " married to

Hebrews, Heb. xii. 18, 22, 24, " You are not come to Mount Sinai that might not be touched, and that burned with fire; nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempests ; but you are come unto Mount Zion, the city of the living God : and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenaut." So that (to speak with holy reverence) God cannot, by virtue of the covenant of works, either require of you any obedience, or punish you for any disobedience; no, he cannot, by virtue of that covenant, so much as threaten you, or give you an angry word, or show you an angry look ; for indeed he can see no sin in you, as a transgression of that covenant; for, says the apostle, " Where there is no law, there is no transgression," Rom. iv. 15. q And therefore, though hereafter you do through frailty transgress any of all the ten commandments, r yet do you not

another," Rom. vii. 4. Therefore they are set free from the commanding power of the first husband, the covenant of works.

4. They are not under it; Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but under grace :" how then can it have a commanding power ever them ?

5. The consideration of the nature of the commands of the covenant of works may sufficiently clear this point. Its commands bind to perfect obedience, under the pain of the curse, which on every slip, is bound upon the transgressor. Gal. iii. 10. " Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things," &c. But Christ hath redeemed believers from the curse, verse 13 ; and the law they are under speaks in softer terms, Psalm lxxxix. 31, 32. " If they break my statutes—then will I visit their transgression with my rod," &c. Moreover, it commands obedience upon the ground of the strength to perform, given to mankind in Adam, which is now gone, and affords no new strength; for there is no promise of strength for duty belonging to the covenant of works ; and to state believers under the covenant of works, to receive commands for their duty, and under the covenant of grace, for the promise of strength to perform, looks very unlike to the beautiful order of the dispensation of grace, held forth to us in the word ; Rom. vi. 14. " Ye are not under the law, but under grace."

Lastly, Our Lord Jesus put himself under the commanding power of the covenant of works, and gave it perfect obedience, to deliver his people from under it; Gal. iv. 4, 5, " God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem tbem that were under the law." That they then should put their necks under that yoke again, cannot but be highly dishonouring " to this crucified Christ, who disarmed the law of its thunders, defaced the obligation of it as a covenant, and, as it were, grinded the stones upon which it was wrought to powder."— Cliarnock, vol. 2. q. 531.

q And therefore since there is no covenant of works (or law of works, as it is called, Rom. iii. 27.) betwixt God and the believer, it is manifest there can be no transgressing of it, in their case. God requires obedience of believers, and not only threatens them, gives them angry words and looks, but brings heavy judgments on them for their disobedience ; but the promise of strength, and penalty of fatherly wrath only, annexed to the commands requiring obedience of them, and the anger of God against them, purged of the curse, do evidently discover, that none of these come to them, in the channel of the covenant of works.

r And though all the sins of believers are not sins of daily infirmity, yet they are all

thereby transgress the covenant of works: there is no such covenant now betwixt God and you. s

And therefore, though hereafter you shall hear such a voice as this, " If thou wilt be saved, keep the commandments :" or " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them ;" nay, though you hear the voice of thunder and a fearful noise; nay, though you see blackness and darkness, and feel a great tempest; that is to say, though you hear us that are preachers, according to our commission, (Isa. lviii. 1,) " lift up our voice like a trumpet," in threatening hell and damnation to sinners and transgressors of the law; though these be the words of Grod, yet are you not to think that they are spoken to you. t No, no; the apostle assures you that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, Rom. viii. 1. Believe it, God never threatens eternal death, after he has given to a man eternal life, u Nay, the truth is, God never speaks to a believer out of Christ; and in Christ he speaks not a word in the terms of the covenant of works, v And if the law, of itself should presume to come into your conscience, and say, " Herein and herein thou hast transgressed, and broken me, and therefore thou owest so much and so much to Divine justice, which must be satisfied, or else I will take hold on thee; then answer you and say, " 0 law ! be it known unto thee, that I am now married unto Christ, and so I am under covert; and therefore if thou charge me with any debt, thou must enter thine action against my husband Christ, for the wife is not sueable at the law, but the husband. But the truth is, I through him am dead to thee, 0 law! and thou art dead to me; and therefore justice hath nothing to do with me, for it judgeth according to the law." w And

sins of frailty; Gal. v. 17. " For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh—so that ye cannot do the things that ye would ;" Rom. vii. 19. " The evil which I would not, that I do."—See chap. v. 15, 17, and vi. 12.

s Thus far of the believer's complete deliverance from the covenant of works, or from the law, namely, as it is the covenant of works. Follows the practical use to be made of it by the believer. And, 1. In the hearing of the word.

t Though they are God's own sayings, found in his written word, and spoken by his servants, as having commission from him for that effect; yet, forasmuch as they are the lano-ua^e of the law, as it is his covenant of works, they are directed only to those who are under that covenant, Rom. iii. 19, and not to believers, who are not under it.

u And to believers he hath given eternal life already, according to the Scripture. See p. 251, note u.

v Follows, II. The use of it, in conflicts of conscience with the law in its demands, sin in its guilt, Satan in his accusations, death in its terrors.

w He begins with the conflict with the law ; for as the apostle teaches, " the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law," 1 Cor. xv. 56. While the law retains its power over a man, death has its sting, and sin its strength against him ; but

if it yet reply, and say, " Ay, bat good works must be done and the commandments must be kept, if thou wilt obtain salvation ;" x then

if once he is dead to the law, wholly and altogether set free from it, as it is the covenant of works ; then sin hath lost its strength, death its sting, and Satan his plea against him. That the author still speaks of the law as it is the covenant of works, from the commanding and condemning power of which believers are delivered, and no otherwise, cannot reasonably be questioned, since he is still pursuing the practical use of the ductrine anent it as such ; and having before spoken of it as acting by commission from God, he treats of it here, as acting (as it were) of its own proper motion, and not by any such commission. To those who are under the law, the law speaks its demands and terrors, as sent from God : but to believers, who are not under it, it cannot so speak, but of itself. Rom. viii. 15, " For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear." See p. 292, note n, fig. 1.

Now, in the conflict the believer has with the law or covenant of works, the author puts two cases ; in the which the conscience needs to be soundly directed, as in cases of the utmost weight.

The first case is this, The law attempting to exercise its condemning power over him, accuses him of transgression, demands of him satisfaction to the justice of God for his sin, and threatens to hale him to execution. In this case the author dare not advise the afflicted to say with the servant in the parable, Matth. xviii 26, " Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all ;" but he teaches him to devolve his burden wholly upon his Surety : he bids him plead, that since he is " married to Christ," whatever action the law may pretend to be competent to it, for the satisfaction of justice, upou the account of his sin, it must lie betwixt the law and Christ, the husband ; but that in very deed, there remains no place for such action, forasmuch as, through Jesus Christ's suffering and satisfying to the full, he is set free from the law, and owes nothing to justice nor to the law, upon that score. If any man will venture to deal in other terms with the law in this case, his experience will at length sufficiently discover his mistake. Now it is manifest that this relates to the case of justification.

x Here is the second case, namely the law attempting to exercise its commanding power over the believer requires him to do good works, and to keep the commandments, if he will obtain salvation. This comes in natively in the second place. The author could not, reasonably rest satisfied with the believer's being delivered from the curse of the covenant of works, from the debt owing to Divine Justice, according to the penal sanction : if he had ; he would have left the afflicted still in the lurch, in the point of justification, and of inheriting eternal life ; he would have proposed Christ to him only as a half Saviour, and left as much of the law's plea behind without an answer as would have concluded him incapable of being justified before God, and made an heir of eternal life : for the law, as it is the covenant of works, being broken, has a twofold demand on the sinner, each of which must be answered, before he can be justified. The one is a demand of satisfaction for sin, arising from, and according to its penal sanction ; this demand was made in the preceding case, and solidly answered. But there remains yet another, namely, the demand of perfect obedience, arisin" from, and according to the settled condition of that covenant ; and the afflicted must have wherewith to answer it also ; otherwise he shall still sink in the deep mire, where there is no standing. For as no judge can absolve a man, merely on his having paid the penalty of a broken contract, to which he was obliged, by and attour the fulfilling of the condition, so no man can be justified before God, nor have a right to life, till this demand of the law be also satisfied in his case. Then, and not till then,

Vol. VII. t

is the law's mouth stopped, in point of his justification. Thus Adam, before his fall, was free from the curse ; yet neither wa3, nor could be justified and entitled to life, until he had run the course of his obedience, prescribed by him by the law as a covenant of works. Accordingly, we are taught that " God justifies sinners, not only by imputing the satisfaction, but also the obedience of Christ unto them."— Westm. Confess, chap. 11, art. I. And that " justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he not only pardoneth all our sins, but accepteth us as righteous in his sight," Short. Catech.

Here then is the second demand of the law, namely, the demand of perfect obedience, respecting the case of justification, no less than the demand of satisfaction for sin. And it is proposed in such terms as the Scripture uses to express the self-same thing by, Luke x. 28, "This do and thou shalt live." Mat. xix. 17, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." In both which passages our Lord proposeth this demand of the covenant of works, for the conviction of the proud legalists with whom he there had to do. And the truth is, that the terms in which this demand stands here conceived are so very agreeable to the style and language of the covenant of works, expressed in these texts and elsewhere, that the law, without receding in the least from the propriety of expression, might have addressed innocent Adam in the ver" same terms; changing only the word salvation into life, because he was not yet miserable; and so saying to him, Good works must he done, and the commandments must be kept, if thou wilt obtain life. What impropriety there could have been in this saying, while as yet there was no covenant known in the world, but the covenant of works, I see not. Even innocent Adam was not, by his works, to obtain life, in the way of proper merit ; but in virtue of compact only.

Now, this being the case, one may plainly perceive, that in the true answer to it, there can be no place for bringing in any holiness, righteousness, good works, and keeping of the commandments, but Christ's only ; for nothing else can satisfy this demand of the law. And if a believer should acknowledge the necessity of his own holiness and good works, in this point, and so set about them, in order to answer this demand ; then he should grossly and abominably pervert the end for which the Lord requires them of him; putting his own holiness and obedience in the room of Christ's imputed obedience ; and so should he fix himself in the mire, out of which he could never escape, until he gave over that way and betook himself again to what Christ alone has done for satisfying this demand of the law. But that the excluding of our holiness, good works, and keeping of the commandments, from any part in this matter, militates nothing against the absolute necessity of holiness in its proper place, (without which, in men's own persons, no man shall see the Lord,) is a point too clear among sound Protestant divines, to be here insisted upon.

And hence our author could not instruct Neophitus to say, in this conflict with the law or covenant of works, " It is my sincere resolution, in the strength of grace, to follow peace with all men, and holiness." Neither would any sound Protestant divine have put such an answer into the mouth of the afflicted in this case; knowing that our evangelical holiness and good works, (suppose we could attain unto them before justification) would be rejected by the law, as filthy rags : forasmuch as the law acknowledges no holiness, no good works, no keeping of the commandments, but what is everv way perfect, and will never be satisfied with sincere resolutions, to do, in the strength of grace to be given; but requires doing in perfection, in the strength of grace given already, Gal. iii. 10. Therefore our author sends the afflicted unto Jesus Christ, the surety for all that is demanded of him by the law or covenant of works: and teaches him in this case, to plead Christ's works, and keeping of the

answer you and say, " I ara already saved before thou earnest; y

commands: and this is the only safe way, which all true Christians will find themselves obliged to take at long-run, in this conflict.

The difficulty raised on this head is owing to that anti-scriptural principle, " That believers are under the commanding power of the covenant of works;" which is overthrown before.

The case itself, and the answer to it at large, is taken from Luther's Sermon of the Lost Sheep, p. 77, 78, and Sermon upon the Hymn of Zacharias, p. 50.

y Saved, namely, really, though not perfectly; even as a drowning man is saved, when his head is got above the water, and he, leaning on his deliverer, is making towards the shore; in this case, the believer has no more need of the law, or covenant of works, than such a man has of one, who, to save him, would lay a weight upon him, that would make him sink again beneath the stream. Observe the manner of speaking and reasoning used on this head. Tit. iii. 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 Ghost." Eph. ii. 8—10, "For by grace are ye saved, through faith—not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works." Heref'l.) It is undeniable, especially according to the original words, that the apostle asserts believers to be saved already. (2.) Denying that we are saved by works which we have done, he plainly enough intimates, that we are saved by the works which Christ has done. (3.) He argues against salvation by our works, upon this very ground, that our good works are the fruit following our being saved, and the end for which we are saved. Thus he at once overthrows the doctrine of salvation by our good works, and establishes the necessity of them, as of breathings and other actions of life to a man saved from death. (4.) He shows, that inherent holiness is an essential part of salvation, without which it can no more consist, than a man without a reasonable soul; for. according to the apostle, " We are saved by oui being regenerated, renewed, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works." And so is our justification also, with all the privileges depending thereupon. In one word, the salvation bestowed on believers, comprehends both holiness and happiness. Thus the apostle Peter disproves that principle, (Acts xv. 1, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved,") from his own observation of the contrary, namely, that God purified the hearts of the Gentiles by faith, (ver 9.) adding for the part of the Jews, who were circumcised, (ver. 11.) " We believe, that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they;" that is, even as they were saved, namely, by faith without the works of the law. And the apostle Paul, encountering the same error, carries on the dispute in these terms, that a man is not justified by works, Gal. ii. and iii. From whence one may conclude, that justification does no further differ from salvation, in the Scripture sense, than an essential part from the whole.

This is the doctriue of holy Luther, and of our author after him, upon this head, here and elsewhere. And the disuse of this manner of speaking, and the setting of salvation so far from justification, as heaven is from earth, are not without danger, as leaving room for works to obtain salvation thereby.

" They that believe, have already everlasting life, and therefore undoubtedly are justified and holy, without all their own labour."— Luther's Chos. Sermons, serin. 10. page {mihi) 133. " How has God, then, remedied thy misery V He has forgiven all my sins, and freed mc from the reward thereof, and made me righteous, holy, and

T 2

and therefore I have no need of thy presence, z for in Christ I have all things at once; neither need I any thing more that is necessary a

happy, to live for ever, and that of his free grace alone, by the merits of Jesus Christ, and workiog of the Holy Ghost."— (Mr. James Melvil's Cat. Propine of a Pastor, p. 44.) " Now, being made truly and really partakers of Christ, and his righteousness, by faith only, and so justified, saved, and counted truly righteous—we are to see, what God craveth of us in our own part, to witness our thankfulness."— (Mr. John Davidson's Cat. p. 27.)—(See Patat. Cat. q. 86.) "God delivereth his elect out of it (viz. the estate of sin and misery) and bringeth them into an estate of salvation by the second covenant."— (Lar. Cat. q. 30.) And surely one cannot be in a state of salvation who is not really saved ; more than one can be in a state of health and liberty, who is not really saved from sickness and slavery. " Those whom God hatb predestinated unto life, and those only he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation—effectually drawing them to Jesus

Christ." (JFestm. Confess, chap. 10. art. 1.) Whence one may easily perceive,

that a sinner drawn to Jesus Christ, is saved; though not yet carried to heaven.

z A good reason why a soul united to Jesus Christ, and already saved by him really, though not perfectly, hath no need of the presence of her first husband the law, or covenant of works : namely, because she hath in Christ her head and present husband, all things necessary to save her perfectly, that is> to make her completely holy and happy. If it were not so, believers might yet despair of attaining to it : since Christ shareth his office of Saviour with none; neither is there salvation in any other, whether in whole or in part, Acts iv. 12. But surely believers have all that is necessary to complete this salvation, in Jesus Christ: forasmuch as he " of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption;' in the compass of which, there is sufficient provision for all the wants of all his people. It is the great ground of their comfort, that "it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell," Col. i. 19. And it becomes them, with their whole hearts to approve of the design and end of that glorious and happy constitution, namely, that "he that glorieth, glory in the Lord," 1 Cor. i. 31. It is true, that fulness is so far from being actually conveyed, in the measure of every part, into the persons of believers at once ; that the stream of conveyance will run through all the ages of eternity, in heaven as well as on earth. Nevertheless, whole Christ, with all his fulness, is given to them at once, and therefore they have all necessary for them at once, in him as their head. I Cor. iii. 21, "All things are yours." Phil. iv. 18, "I have all, and abound." 2 Cor. vi. 10, " As having nothing, yet possessing all things." Col. ii. 10 " And ye are complete in him, which is the Head."

a But are not personal holiness, and godliness, good works, and perseverance in holy obedience, jostled out at this rate as unnecessary? No, by no means. For Christ is the onlv fountain of holiness, and the cause of good works, in those who are united to him ; so that, where union with Christ is, there is personal holiness infallibly ; there they do good works (if capable of them) and persevere therein ; and where it is not, all pretences to these things are utterly vain. Therefore are ministers directed to prosecute such doctriues, and make choice of such uses especially, '' as may most draw souls to Christ, the fountain of light, holiness and comfort."— Directory tit. " Of the preaching of the word." "As we willingly spoil ourselves of all honour and glory of our own creation and redemption, so do we also of our regeneration and sanctification ; for of ourstlves we are not sufficient to think one good thought; but he who has begun

to salvation. He is my righteousness, my treasure and my work : 6

the work in us, is only he that continues us in the same, to the praise and glory of his undeserved grace. So that the cause of good works, we confess to be, not our free will but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, who, dwelling in our hearts by true faith, brin«eth forth such works, as God has prepared for us to walk in. For this we must boldly affirm, that blasphemy it is to say, that Christ abideth in the hearts of such, as in whom there is no spirit of sanctification."— Old Confess, art. 12, 13. " M. What is the effect of thy faith? C. That Jesus Christ his Son came down into this world, and accomplished all things which were necessary for our salvation."—The manner to examine children, &c. quest. 3. " Whether we look to our justification or sanctification, they are wholly wrought and perfected by Christ, in whom we are complete, howbeit after a divers sort."— Mr. John Davidsons Cat. p. 34. The truth is, personal holiness, godliness, and perseverance, are parts of the salvation already bestowed on the believer, and good works begun, the necessary fruit thereof. See the preceding note, and p. 250. note s. And he hath, in Christ his head, what infallibly secures the conversation of his personal holiness and godliness : his bringing forth of good works still, and perseverance in holy obedience, and the bringing of the whole to perfection in another life, and so completing the begun salvation. If men will, without warrant from the word, restrain the term salvation to happiness in heaveu, then all these, according to the doctrine here taught, are necessary to salvation, as what of necessity must go before it, in subjects capable; since, in a salvation carried on by degrees, what is by the unalterable order of the covenant first conferred on a man, must necessarily go before that which, by the same unalterable order, is conferred on him in the last place. But, in the sense of Luther and our author, all these are comprehended in the salvation itself. For justifying of which, one may observe, that when the salvation is completed, they are perfected ; and the saints in glory work perfectly good works, without interruption, throughout all eternity ; for they were the great end God designed to bring about by the means of salvation. To the Scripture texts adduced, in the preceding note, add 2 Tim. ii. 10, " I endure all things, for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." Here is a spiritual salvation, plainly distinguished from eternal glory. Compare 1 Pet. i. 8, 9, " Believing, ye rejoice—Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." This receiving of salvation, in the present time, is but the accomplishment of that promise, in part; Acts xvi. 31, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ;" which, 1 make no question, bears a great deal of salvation, communicated on this side death, as well as beyond it; Matt. i. 21, "He shall save his people from their sins." Thus, salvation comprehends personal holiness and godliness. And the Scripture holds out good works, as things that accompany salvation, (Heb. vi. 9,) and as the fruit of it, Luke i. 71—75, " That we should be saved from our enemies—being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." For it is an everlasting salvation, (Isa. xlv. 17,) importing a perseverance in holy obedience to the end.

b i\Jy righteousness, upon which I am justified, my treasure, out of which all my debt to the law, or covenant of works, is paid, and my work, whence my righteousness arises, and which I can, with safety and comfort, oppose to the law-demand of work. " The law of God we confess and acknowledge most just, most equal, most holy, most perfect, commanding these things, which being wrought in perfection, were able to give life, and able to bring man to eternal felicity. But our nature is so corrupt, so weak,

I confess, 0 law! that I am neither godly, nor righteous, c but yet this I am sure of, that he is godly and righteous for me. d And to tell the truth, 0 law! I am now with him in the bride-chamber, where it maketh no matter what I am, e or what I have done; but what Cbrist my sweet husband is, has done, and does for me:/ and therefore leave off, law, to dispute with me, for by faith " I apprehend him who hath apprehended me," and put me into his bosom. Wherefore I will be bold to bid Moses with his tables, and all lawyers with their books, and all men with their works, hold their peace and give place: g so that I say unto thee, 0 law ! be gone."

and so imperfect, that we are never able to fulfil the works of the law in perfection,— and therefore it behoves us to apprehend Christ Jesus, with his justice (i. e. righteousness) and satisfaction, who is the end and accomplishment of the law."— Old Confess, art. 15.

c Namely, in the eye of the law, which acknowledgeth no godliness nor righteousness, but what is everv way perfect; (Rom. iv. 5.) " Believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly." And to plead any other sort of godliness or righteousness, in the conflict of conscience with the law, is vain. Gal. iii. 10.

d That is, Christ hath perfect purity of nature and life, which is all that the law can demand in point of conformity and obedience to its commandments ; he was born holy, and he lived holy in perfection. Now, both these are imputed to believers, not in point of sanctification, but of justification ; for without the imputation of them both, no flesh could be justified before God, because the law demands of every man purity of nature, as well as purity of life, and both of them in perfection; and since we have neither the one nor the other in ourselves, we must have both by imputation, else we must remain under the coudemnation of the law. So the Palatine Catechism. —" Q. How art thou righteous before God? A. The perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, is imputed and given unto me, as if I had neither committed any sin, neither were there any blot or corruption cleaving unto me. Q. 60. The use—if Satan yet lay to my charge, although in Christ Jesus thou hast satisfied the punishment which thy sins deserved, and hast put on his righteousness by faith, yet thou canst not deny, but that thy nature is corrupt, so that thou art prone to all ill, and thou hast in thee the 6eed of all vices. Against this temptation this answer is sufficient, that by the goodness of God, not only perfect righteousness, but even the holiness of Christ also, is imputed and given unto me," &c.— Ibid. " The satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Cbrist alone is my righteousness, in the sight of God." — Ibid, quest. 61.

e Namely, to the law or covenant of works, which has no power over me, who am now married to another.

/Luther expresses it thus, " What am I, or what ought I to do, and what not to do ; but what Christ himself is, ought to do, and doth."

g Moses with his tables, here, is no more, in the sense of Luther and our author, but the law, as it is the covenant of works; the which, whoso in the conflict of conscience with it, can treat at this rate, he is strong in faith, and happy is he. Consider the Scripture phrase, John v. 45, " There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." Compare Rom. ii. 17, "Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law." By Moses here, is not meant the person of Moses, but Moses' law, which the carnal Jews trusted to be saved and justified by ; that is plainly, by the

And if it will not be gone, then thrust it out by force, says Luther. h And if sin offer to take hold of you, as David said his did on him, Psal. xl. 12; then say you unto it, "Thy strength 0 sin, is the law, (1 Cor. xv. 56.) and the law is dead to me. So that, 0 sin, thy strength is gone ; and therefore be sure thou shalt never be able to prevail against me, nor do mo any hurt at all." i

And if Satan take you by the throat, and by violence draw you before God's judgment-seat, then call to your husband Christ, and say, " Lord, I suffer violence, make answer for me, and help me." And by this help you shall be enabled to plead for yourself, after this manner: 0 God the Father! I am thy Son Christ's; thou gavest me unto him, and thou hast given unto him "all power, both

law, as it is the covenant of works. And in our author's judgment, the law was given on Mount Sinai as the covenant of works. And he shows, that although Luther, and Calvin too, do thus exempt a believer from the law, in the case of justification, and as it is the covenant of works, yet do they not so out of the case of justification, and a s it is the law of Christ — p. 164—166. And so, at once, clears them and himself from that odious charge which some might find in their hearts to fix upon them from such expressions.

h Luther's words are, " Then it is time to send it (the law) away, and if it will not give place," &c. See the preceding note.

i Here is the use to be made of the same former doctrine, in the conflict of conscience with sin. Guilt, even the guilt of revenging wrath is the handle by which, in this conflict, sin offers to take hold of the believer, as it did of David, Psalm xl. 12 ; who, in that Psalm, speaks as a type of Christ, on whom the guilt of the elects' sin was laid. Now, in respect of that guilt, the strength of sin is the law, or covenant of works, with its cursing and condemning power, from which, since believers are delivered, that strength of sin is gone as to them ; they are free from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God."— Westm. Confess, chap. 20, art. 1. "The revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life."— Larg. Cut. quest. 11. Whence it necessarily follows, that sin, in this attack, can never prevail nor really hurt them in this point, since there neither is, nor can be. any such guilt remaining upon them. How sin may otherwise prevail against a believer, and what hurt it may do him in other respects, the author expressly teaches here and elsewhere. In the manner of expression, he follows famous divines, whose names are in honour in the church of Christ. " God saith unto me, I will forgive thee thy sin, neither shall thy sins hurt thee '— Luther, Clios. Serm. p. 40. " Forasmuch as Jesus Christ hath, by one infinite obedience, made satisfaction to the infinite majesty of God, it followeth, that my iniquities can no more fray nor trouble me, my accounts being assuredly razed by the precious blood of Christ."— Beza, Confess, point 4, art. 10. ''Even as the viper that was upon Paul's hand, though the nature of it was to kill presently, yet when God had charmed it, you see it hurt him not; so it is with sin, though it be in us, and though it hang upon us, yet the venom of it is taken away, it hurts us not, it condemns us not."— Dr. Preston on Faith, p. 51. Hear the language of the Spirit of God. (Luke x. 19.) " And nothing shall by any means hurt you." " Nothing shall hurt their souls, as to the favour of God, and their eternal happiness,," says the author of the Supplement to Poole's Annot, on the Text.

in heaven and in earth, and hast committed all judgment to him;" and therefore I will stand to his judgment, who says, " he came not to judge the world, but to save it;" and therefore he will save me, according to his office. And if the jury j should k bring in their verdict that they have found you guilty, then speak to the Judge, and say, in case any must be condemned for my transgresions, it must needs be Christ, and not I; I for albeit I have committed them, yet he hath undertaken and bound himself to answer for them, and that by the consent and good-will of God his Father : and indeed he hath fully satisfied for them. And if all this will not serve the turn to acquit you, then add, moreover, and say, " As a woman, that is conceived with child, must not suffer death because of the child that is within her, no more must I, because I have conceived Christ in my heart, though I have committed all the sins in the world." m

And if death creep upon you, and attempt to devour you; then say, " Thy sting, 0 death, is sin; and Christ my husband has fully vanquished sin, and so deprived thee of thy sting; and therefore do I not fear any hurt that thou, 0 death! canst do unto me." And thus you may triumph with the apostle, saying, " Thanks be unto God, who hath given me the victory, through oar Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57.

And thus have I also declared unto you how Christ, in the fulness of time, performed that which God before all time purposed, and in time promised, touching the helping and delivering of fallen mankind.

And so have I also done with the " Law of Faith."

The ten commandments. h By your own conscience. I See page 287, note g.

m Gal. iv. 19, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed iu you." (Col. i. 27.) " Christ, in you, the hope of glory."

CHAPTER III.

OF THE LAW OF CHRIST.

Sec. 1. The nature of the law of Christ.—2. The law of the ten commandments a rule of life to believers.—3. Antinomian objections answered.—4.—The necessity of marks and signs of grace.—5. Antinomian objections answered.—6. Holiness and good works attained to only by faith.—7. Slavish fear and servile hope not the springs of true obedience.—8. The efficacy of faith for holiness of heart and

life.—9. Use of means for strengthening of faith 10. The distinction of the law

of works, and law of Christ, applied to six paradoxes.—11. The use of that distinction in practice 12. That distinction a mean betwixt Legalism and Antinomian-

ism.—13. How to attain to assurance.—14. Marks and evidences of true faith.— 15. How to recover lost evidences.—16. Marks and signs of union with Christ.

§ 1. Nom. Then, sir, I pray you proceed to speak of the law of Christ; and first let us hear what the law of Christ is.

Evan. The law of Christ, in regard of substance and matter, is all one with the law of works, or covenant of works. Which matter is scattered through the whole Bible, and summed up in the decalogue, or ten commandments, commonly called the moral law, containing such things as are agreeable to the mind and will of God, that is, piety towards God, charity towards our neighbour, and sobriety towards ourselves. And therefore was it given of God to be a true and eternal rule of righteousness, for all men, of all nations, and at all times. So that evangelical grace directs a man to no other obedience than that whereof the law of the ten commandments is to be the rule, n

n The author here teaches, that the matter of the law of works and of the law of Christ, is one, namely, the ten commandments, commonly called the moral law.—See page 171, note d. And that this law of the ten commandments was given of God, and so of Divine authority, to be a rule of righteousness for men to walk by ; a true rule, agreeable in all things to the Divine nature and will; an eternal rule, indispensable, ever to continue, without interruption for any one moment; and that for all men, good and bad, saints and sinners, of all nations, Jews and Gentiles, and at all times, in all ages, from the moment of man's creation, before the fall, and after the fall; before the covenant of works, under the covenant of works, and under the covenant of grace, in its several periods. Thus he asserts this great truth, in terms used by orthodox divines, but with a greater variety of expression than is generally used upon this head, the which serves to inculcate it the more. And speaking of the ten commandments, he declares in these words, " That neither hath Christ delivered believers any otherwise from them, than as they are the covenant of works." The scope of this part of the book, is to show that believers ought to receive them as the law of Christ, whom we believe to be with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, the eternal Jehovah, the Supreme, the most High God ; and consequently as a law having a commanding

Nom. But yet, sir, I conceive, that though (as you say) the law of Christ, in regard of substance and matter, be all one with the law of works, yet their forms do differ.

Evan. True, indeed; for (as you have heard) the law of works speaks on this wise, "Do this and thou shalt live; and if thou do it not, then thou shalt die the death :" but the law of Christ speak-eth on this wise, Ezek. xvi. 6, " And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live." John xi. 2b', " And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die." o Eph. v. 1, 2, " Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children : and walk in love, as Christ hath

power, and binding force, upon the believer, from the authority of God, and not as a simple passive rule, like a workman's rule, that hath no authority over him, to command and bind him to follow its direction. Nay, our author owns the ten commandments to be a law to believers, as well as others, again and again commanding, requiring forbidding, reproving, condemning sin, to which believers must yield ole-dience, and fenced with a penalty, which transgressing believers are not to fear, as being under the law to Christ. These things are so manifest, that it is quite beyond my reach to conceive how, from the author's doctrine on this head, and especially from the passage we are now upon, it can be inferred that he teaches, that the believer is not under the law as a rule of life ; or can be affirmed that he does not acknowledge the laws commanding power and binding force upon the believer, but makes it a simple passive rule to him ; unless the meaning be, that the author teaches, " That the believer is not under the covenant of works as a rule of life r" or, " That the law, as it is the covenant of works, is not a rule of life to the believer ; and that he does not acknowledge the commanding piwer, and binding force of the covenant of works, upon the believer ; nor that obedience is commanded him upon the pain of the curse, and bound upon him with the cords of the threatening of eternal death in hell." For, otherwise, it is evident that he teaches the law of the ten commandments to be a rule of life to a believer, and to have a commanding and binding power over him. Now, if these bs errors, the author is undoubtedly guilty ; and if his sentiments on these heads were proposed in those terms, as the thing itself doth require, no wrong would be done him therein ; but that these are gospel-trutlis, appears from what is already said : and the contrary doctrines do all issue out of the womb of that dangerous position, " That the believer is not set free both from the commanding and condemning power of the covenant of works,"—of which before. See p. 166. note a, and p. 169. note b.

o These texts are adduced to show, that they to whom the law of the ten commandments is given, as the law of Christ, are those who have already received life, even life that shall never end ; and that of God's free gift, before they were capable of doing good works; who therefore need not to work for life, but from life. " The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, that because God is the lord, and our god, and redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments." Luke i. 74, " That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear." 1 Pet. i. 15, " As he that hath called you is holy, so be ye holy ; because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. Forasmuch as ye know, that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things—but with the precious blood of Christ."— Short. Cat. with the Scriptures at large.

loved us." And "if ye love me, keep my commandments," John xiv. 15. And " if they break my statues, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes; nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take away from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail," Psal. Ixxxix. 31—23. Thus, you see, that both these laws agree in saying, " Do this." But here is the difference ; the one saith, " Do this, and live ;" and the other saith, " Live, and do this ;" the one saith, Do this for life; the other saith, Do this from life: the one saith, " If thou do it not, thou shalt die ;" the other saith, " If thou do it not, I will chastise thee with the rod."p The one is to be delivered by God as he is Creator out of Christ, only to such as are out of Christ; the other is to be delivered by God, as he is a Redeemer in Christ, only to such as are in Christ, q Wherefore, neighbour

p See pages 250, 251, notes s, u. —Of this penalty of the law of Christ, the auihor t teats afterwards.

q To direct the believer how to receive the law of the ten commandments with application to himself, he assigns this difference betwixt the law of works and the law of Christ. The one, namely, the law of works, is the law of the ten commandments, but supposed to be delivered by God as he is Creator out of Christ; and so standing in relation to man, ODly as Creator, not as Redeemer; the other, namely, the law of Christ, is the same law of the ten commandments, but supposed to be delivered by God, as he is not only Creator but Redeemer in Christ. And although the notion of Creator doth not imply that of Redeemer, yet the latter implies the former; as he is Redeemer he is Sovereign Lord Creator, else we are yet in our sins, for none of inferior dignity could remove our offence or guilt; but the word of truth secures this foundation of believers' safety and comfort ; Isa. xliv. 6, 24, " Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the First, and I am the Last, and besides me there is no God. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcb-eth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." Chap. liv. 5, " Thy Maker is thine Husband."

Now, the law of the ten commandments is given, the former way, only to unbelievers, or such as are out of Christ, the latter way to believers, or such as are in Chrsit. And to prove whether this be a vain distinction or not, one needs but to consult the conscience, when thoroughly awakened, whether it is all a case to it, to receive the law of the ten commandments in the thunders from Mount Sinai, or in the still small voice, out of the tabernacle, that is, from an absolute God, or from a God in Christ.

It is true, unbelievers are not under the law, as it is the law of Christ ; and that is their misery, even as it is the misery of the slaves, that the commands of the master of the family, though the matter of them be the very same to them, and to the children, yet they are not fatherly commands to them, as they are to the children, but purely masterly. And they are not hereby freed from any duty, within the compass of the perfect law of the ten commandments ; for these commands are the matter of the law of works, as well as of the law of Christ. Neither are they thereby exempted fiom Christ's authority and jurisdiction, since the law of works is his law, as he is with the Father and Holy Ghost, the Sovereign Lord Creator ; yea, and even as Mediator, he rules in the midst of his enemies, and over them, with a rod of iron.

Neophitus, seeing that ye are now in Christ, beware that you receive not the ten commandments at the hands of God out of Christ, nor yet at the hands of Moses, but only at the hands of Christ; and so shall you be sure to receive them as the law of Christ, r

Nom. But, sir, may not God out of Christ deliver the ten commandments, as the law of Christ ?

Evan. 0 no ! for God out of Christ stands in relation to man, according to the tenor of the law as it is the covenant of works; and therefore can speak to man upon no other terms than the terms of that covenant, s

§ 2. Nom. But, sir, why may not believers amongst the Gentiles receive the ten commandments as a rule of life, at the hands of Moses, as well as the believers amongst the Jews did.

Evan. For answer hereunto, I pray you consider, that the ten commandments being the substance of the law of nature t engraven

r The receiving of the ten commandments at the hands of Christ, is here opposed (I.) To the receiving of them at the hands of God out of Christ. (2 ) To the receiving of them at the hands of Moses namely, as our lawgiver. The first is a receiving of them immediately from God, without a Mediator ; and so receiving them as the law of works. The second is a receiving of them from Christ, the true Mediator, yet immediately by the intervention of a typical one, and so is a receiving of them as the law of Moses, the typical Mediator, who delivered them from the ark or tabernacle-To this it is, and not to the delivering of them from Mount Sinai, that the author doth here look, as is evident from his own words.—Page 310. The former manner of receiving them is not agreeable to the state of real believers, since they never were, nor are given in that manner to believers in Christ, but only to unbelievers, whether under the Old or New Testament. The latter is not agreeable to the state of New Testament believers, since the true Mediator is come, and is sealed of the Father, as

the great prophet, to whom Moses must give place, Matth. xvii. 5 ; Acts iii. 22

See Turret, loc. 11. q. 24. th. 15. However, the not receiving of Moses as the lawgiver of the Christian church, carries no prejudice to the honour of that faithful servant ; nor to the receiving of his writings, as the word of God, they being of divine inspiration, yea, and the fundamental divine revelation.

s This plainly concludes, that to receive the law of the ten commandments from God, as Creator out of Christ, is to receive them as the law (or covenant) of works ; unless men will fancy, that after God hath made two covenants, the one of works, the other of grace, he will yet deal with them neither in the way of the one, nor of the other.

t Calling the ten commandments but the substance of the law of nature, he plainly intimates, that they were not the whole of that law, but that the law of nature had a penal sanction. Compare his speaking of the same ten commands, still as the substance of th« law of works, and of the law of Clirist.—Page 305. Indeed, he is not of opinion, that a penal sanction is inseparable from the law of nature. That would put the glorified saints, and confirmed angels in heaven, (to say nothing more) under a penal sanction too ; for without question, they are, and will remain for ever,

in the heart of man in iunocency, and the express idea, or representation of God's own image, even a beam of his own holiness, they were to have been a rule of life both to Adam and his posterity, though they never had been the covenant of works ; u but being become the covenant of works, they were to have been a rule of life to them, as a covenant of works, v And then, being as it were razed out of man's heart by his fall, they were made known to Adam, and the rest of his believing fathers, by visions and revelations, and so were a rule of life to him ;iv yet not as the covenant

under the law of nature. The truth is, the law of nature is suited both to the nature of God, and to the nature of the creature ; and there is no place for a penal sanction, where there is no possibility of transgression.

u The ten commands being the substance of the law of nature, a representation of God's image, and a beam of his holiness, behoved for ever unalterably to be a rule of life to mankind, in all possible states, conditions, and circumstances ; nothing but the utter destruction of human nature, and its ceasing to be, could divest them of that office, since God is unchanging in his image and holiness. Hence, their being a rule of life to Adam and his posterity, had no dependance on their becoming the covenant of works ; but they would have been that rule, though there never had been any such covenant: yea, whatever covenant was introduced, whether of works or of grace, whatever form might be put upon them, they behoved still to remain the rule of life ; no covenant, no form whatsoever, could ever prejudice this their royal dignity. Now, whether this state of the matter, or their being the covenant of works, which was merely accessory to them, and might never have been at all, is the firmer foundation, upon which to erect them into a rule of life, is no hard question to determine.

v And would have been so always to them all, till they had perfectly fulfilled that covenant, had they not been divested of that form, unto believers, through Christ Jesus their surety. To them they remain to be a rule of life, but not under the form of the covenant of works ; but to unbelievers they are, and still will be, a rule of life under that form.

w And to them. One will not think strange to hear, that the ten commands were as it were, razed out of man's heart by the fall, if one considers the spirituality and vast extent of them, and that they were, in their perfection, engraven on the heart of man, in his crention, and doth withal take notice of the ruin brought on man by the fall. Hereby he indeed lost the very knowledge of the law of nature, if the ten commands are to be reckoned, as certainly they are, the substance and matter of that law ; although he lost it not totally, but some remains thereof were left with him. Concerning these the apostle speaks, Rom. i. 19, 20, and ii. 14, 15. And our author teaches expressly, that the law is partly known by nature, that is, in its corrupt state. —See page 313. And here he says, not simply, that the ten commandments were razed, though in another case (page 186 ) he speaks after that manner, where yet it is evident he means not a razing quite; but he says, " They were as it were razed.' But what are these remains of them in comparison with that body of natural laws, fairly written, and deeply engraven, on the heart of innocent Adam ? If they were not, as it were razed, what need is there of writing a new copy of them in the hearts of the elect, according to the promise of the new covenant ? " 1 will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them," Heb. x. 16, and viii. 10; Jer.

of works, as they were before his fall, and so continued until the time of Moses. And as they were delivered by Moses unto the believing Jews from the ark, and so as from Christ, they were a rule of life to them, until the time of Christ's coming in the flesh, x And since Christ's coming in the flesh, they have been, and are to be, a rule of life both to the believing Jews and believing Gentiles, unto the end of the world ; not as they are delivered by Moses, but as they are delivered by Christ: for when Christ the Son comes and speaks himself, then Moses the servant must keep silence; according as Moses himself foretold, (Acts iii. 22.) saying, " A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear in all things which he shall say unto you."?/ And therefore, when the disciples seemed to desire to hear Moses and Elias^ speak on the mountain Tabor, they wore presently taken away ; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him," Matt. xvii. 4, 5. As if the Lord had said, you are not now to hear either Moses or Elias, but my " well-beloved Son ;" and therefore I say unto you, Hear him. a And is it not said (Heb. i. 2.) " That in these last days God hath spoken to us by his Son ?" and doth not the apostle say, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; and whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." The wife must be subject unto the husband, as unto Christ; b the child must yield obedience to his parents, as unto Christ; and the believing servant must do his master's business, as Christ's business; for says the apostle, "Ye serve the Lord Christ." Col. iii. 16—24. Yea, says he to the

xxxi. 33. What need was there of writing them in the Book of the Lord, the Bible, in which they were made known again to us, as they were to Adam and the believing fathers, the author speaks of, by visions and revelations ? the latter being as necessary to them as the former is to us, for that end, since these supplied to them the want of the Scriptures. As for those, who neither had these visions and revelations given to themselves, nor the doctrine thereby taught communicated to them by others, it is manifest they could have no more knowledge of those laws, than was to be found among the ruins of mankind in the fall.

x As to the deliveiing of the ten commandments from the avk, or the tabernacle, see the sense of it, and the Scripture ground for it. Page 214, note i, and page 223, note o.

y See page 308, note r.

z The former, the giver of the law, the latter the restorer of it.

a " Which words establish Christ as the only doctor and teacher of his church ; the only one whom he had intrusted to deliver his truths and will to his people ; the only one to whom Christians are to hearken."— Sup. to Poole's Annot. on Matth. xvii. 5.

b " Wives submit yourselves unto your husbands as unto the Lord." Eph. v. 22.

Galatians, " Bear ye one aaother's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ," Gal. vi. 2.

Ant. Sir, I like it very well, that you say, Christ should be a Christian's teacher, and not Moses ; but yet I question whether the ten commandments may be called the law of Christ; for where can you find them repeated, either by our Saviour, or his apostles, in the whole New Testament.

Evan. Though we find not that they are repeated in such a method as they are set down in Exodus and Deuteronomy, yet so long as we find that Christ and his apostles did require and command these things, that are therein commanded, and reprove and condemn those things that are therein forbidden, and that both by their lives and doctrines, it is sufficient to prove them to be the law of Christ, c

Ant. I think, indeed, they have done so, touching some of the commandments, but not touching all.

Evan Because you say so, I intreat you to consider,

1st, "Whether the true knowledge of God required, (John iii. 19.); aud the want of it condemned, (2 Thess. i. 8.); and the true love of God required, (Matt. xxii. 37.); and the want of it reproved, (John v. 42.); and the true fear of God required, (1 Pet. ii. 17. Heb. xii. 28.); and the want of it condemned, (Rom. iii. 18.); and the true trusting in God required, and the trusting in the creature forbidden (2 Cor. i. 9; 1 Tim. vi. 17.); be not the substance of the first commandment.

And consider, 2d?y, Whether the " hearing and reading of God's word," commended, John v. 39 ; Rev. i. 3 ; and "prayer," required, Rom. xii. 12; 1 Thess. v. 17; and "singing of psalms," required, Col. iii. 16 ; Jam. v. 13; and whether " idolatry," forbidden 1 Cor.

c Whether or not this be sufficient to prove them to be the law of Christ, having a divine, authoritative, binding power on men's consciences, notwithstanding of the term, doctrines, here used by the author, one may judge from these texts : Matth. vii. 29, 29, " The people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribfs." John vii. 16, " My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me." Heb. i. 1—3, " God who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers, by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds ; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person," &c. Matth. xxviii. 18—20, " All power is given unto me in heaven and earth: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations—to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." The original word, in the Old Testament, rendered law, doth properly signify a doctrine. Hence, Matth. xv. 9, " Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men," i.e. the laws and commands of men, for the laws aud commands of God. Compare verses 4—6.

x. 14; 1 John v. 21, be not the substance of the second commandment ?

And consider, 3c%, Whether " worshipping of God in vain," condemned, Matth. xv. 9 ; and " using vain repetitions in prayer," forbidden, Matth. vi. 7; and " hearing of the word only, and not doing," forbidden, James i. 22 ; whether " worshipping God in spirit and truth," commanded, John iv. 24; and " praying with the spirit and with understanding also," and " singing with the spirit" and with understanding also," commended 1 Cor. xiv. 15; and " taking heed what we hear," Mark iv. 24; be not the substance of the third commandment ?

Consider, fahly, Whether Christ's rising from the dead the first day of the week, (Mark xvi. 2, 9); the disciples assembling, and Christ's appearing unto them, two several first days of the week, (John xx. 19, 26) and the disciples coming together and breaking bread, and preaching afterwards on that day, (Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 2); and John's being in the Spirit on the Lord's day, (Rev. i. 10); I say, consider whether these things do not prove, that the first day of the week is to be kept as the Christian Sabbath ?

Consider, bthly, Whether the apostle's saying, " Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right: Honour thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment, with promise," (Eph. vi. 1, 2,) and all these other exhortations, given by him and the apostle Peter, both to inferiors and superiors, to do their duty to each other, (Eph. v. 22, 25 ; Eph. vi. 4, 5, 9 ; Col. iii. 18—22; Tit. iii. 1 ; 1 Pet. iii. 1; 1 Pet. ii. 18); I say, consider whether all these places do not prove that the duties of the fifth commandment are required in the New Testament ?

Here you see are five of the ten commandments; and as for the other five, the apostle reckons them up altogether, saying, " Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet," Horn. xiii. 9. Now, judge you whether the ten commandments be not repeated in the New Testament; and so consequently whether they be not the law of Christ, and whether a believer be not under the law of Christ, or " in the law through Christ," as the apostle's phrase is, 1 Cor. ix. 21.

§ 3. Ant. But yet, sir, as I remember, both Luther and Calvin do speak as though a believer were so quite freed from the law by Christ, as that he need not make any conscience at all of yielding obedience to it.

Evan. I know right well that Luther on the Galatians, p. 59, says, " The conscience hath nothing to do with the law or works;"

and that Calvin, in his Instit. p. 403, says, " The conscience of the faithful, when the affiance of their justification before God is to be sought, must raise and advance themselves above the law, and forget the whole righteousness of the law, and lay aside all thinking upon works." Now, for the true understanding of these two worthy servants of Christ, two things are to be considered and concluded. First, That when they speak thus of the law, it is evident they mean only in the case of justification. Secondly, That when the conscience hath to do with the law in the case of justification, it hath to do with it only as it is the covenant of works ; for as the law is the law of Christ, it neither justifies nor condemns. d And

d That is, the law of the ten commandments, commonly called the moral law, as it is the law of Christ, neither justifies nor condemns men's persons in the sight of God. How can it do either the one or the other as such, since to be under it, as it is the law of Christ, is the peculiar privilege of believers, already justified bv grace, and set beyond the reach of condemnation; according to that of the apostle, Rom. viii. 1, " There is therefore now no condemnation, to them which are in Christ Jesus." But to say that this makes the law of Christ despicable, is to forget the sovereign authority of God iu him, his matchless love in dying for sinners, the endearing relations wherein he stands to his people, and upon the one hand, the enjoyment of actual communion and fellowship with God, and the many precious tokens of his love, to be conferred on them, in the way of close walking with God ; and upon the other hand, the want of that communion and fellowship, and the many fearful tokens against them for their sins—(See sec. 11.) All these belong to the law of Christ, and will never be despicable in the eyes of any gracious soul; though I doubt if ever hell and damnation were more despised in the eyes of others, than they are at this day, wherein believers and unbelievers are set so much on a level with respect to these awful things.

As to the point of condemnation, it is evident from Scripture, that no law can condemn those " who are in Christ Jesus," Rom. viii. 1, 33, 34. And the law, as it is the covenant of works, condemns all those who are not in Christ, but under the law, Gal. iii. 10 ; Rom. iii. 19. And particularly, it condemns every unbeliever, whose condemnation will be fearfully aggravated by his rejection of the gospel offer ; the which rejected offer will be a witness against him in the judgment; in respect whereof our Lord says, John xii. 48, " The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." Compare chap. xv. 22, " If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not sin ; but now they have no cloak for their sin." Therefore the law which unbelievers still remain under, as a covenant of works, will condemn them with a double condemnation. John iii. 18, " He that believeth not is condemned afreadv because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." And hence it appears that there is as little need of, as there is warrant for, a condemning Gospel. The holy Scripture states it as the difference betwixt the law and the fos-pel,.—that the former is the ministration of condemnation and death, the latter the ministration of righteousness and life, 2 Cor. iii. 6—9. Compare John xii. 47 "If any man hear my words, and believe not, 1 judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world."

As to the point of justification : no man is, nor can be justified by the law. It is true, the Neonomians or Baxterians, to wind in a righteousness of our own into the case

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so, if yon understand it of the law, as it is the covenant of works, according to their meaning, then it is most true what they say ; for why should a man let the law come into his conscience ? That is, why should a man make any conscience of doing the law, to be justified thereby, considering it as a thing impossible ? Nay, what need hath a man to make conscience of doing the law to be justified thereby, when he knows he is already justified another way? Nay, what need hath a man to make conscience of doing that law, which is dead to him, and he to it ? Hath a woman any need to make conscience of doing her duty to her husband when he is dead, nay when she herself is dead also ? or, hath a debtor any need to make any conscience of paying that debt which is already fully discharged by his surety ? "Will any man be afraid of that obligation which is made void, the seal torn off, the writing defaced, nay, not only cancelled and crossed , but torn in pieces, e I remember the apostle

of justification, do turn the gospel into a law, properly so called ; and do tell us, that the gospel justifieth as a law ; and roundly own what is the necessary consequent of that doctrine, namely, that faith justifieth, as it is our evangelical righteousness, or

our keeping the gospel law, which runs thus,—He that believeth shall not perish

(Gibbon's Ser. Morn. Ex. Metb. p. 418—421.) But the Holy Scripture teaches that we are justified by grace, and by no law nor deed, (or work of a law, properly so called), call it the law of Christ, or the gospel law, or what law one pleaseth ; and thereby faith itself, considered as a deed or work of a law, is excluded from the justification of a sinner, and hath place therein, only as an instrument. Gal. iii. 11, " That no man is justified by a law in the sight of God, it is evident." Chap. v. 4, " Whosoever of you are justified by a law, ye are fallen from grace." Rom. iii. 28, " Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without deeds of a law." Gal. ii. 16, " Knowing that a man is not justified by works of a law." 1 read, a law deeds, works, simply ; because so the original words, used in these texts, do undeniably signify.

To this agrees West. Confess, chap. xi. art. 1, " These whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth—not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience, to them as their righteousness; but," &c..— Lurg. Cat. quest. 73, " Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not—as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification ; but only as it is an instrument by which he received and applieth Christ and his righteousness."— Westm. Confess, chap. six. art. 6, " Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them, as well as to others, in that, as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly." From this last passage of the confession, two important points offer themselves. (1.) That the law is a rule of life to believers, directing and binding them to duty, though they are neither justified nor Condemned by it. (2.) That ueither justifying nor condemning belong unto the law, as a rule of life simply, but as a covenant of works. And these are the very points here taught by our author.

t Col. ii. 14, " Blotting out the hand-writting—nailing it to the crois."

says, Heb. x. 1, 2, that if the sacrifices which were offered in the Old Testament " conld have made the comers thereunto perfect, and have purged the worshippers, then should they have had no more conscience of sin ;" that is, their conscience would not have accused them of beiug guilty of sins. Now, the " blood of Christ" hath " purged the conscience" of a believer from his sins, (chap. ix. 14.) as they are transgressions against the covenant of works ; and, therefore, what needs his conscience to be troubled about that covenant ? But now, I pray you, observe and take notice, that although Luther and Calvin do thus exempt a believer from the law, in the case of justification, and as it is the law or covenant of works, yet they do not so, out of the case of justification, and as it is the law of Christ.

For thus saith Luther, on the Galatians, p. 182. " Out of the matter of justification, we ought, with Paul, (Rom. vii. 12, 14.) to think reverently of the law, to commend it highly, to call it holy, righteous, just, good, spiritual and divine. Yea, out of the case of justification, we ought to make a god of it."/ And in another place, says he, on the Galatians, p. 5. " There is a civil righteousness, and a ceremonial righteousness; yea, and besides these, there is another righteousness, which is the righteousness of the law, or of the ten commandments, which Moses teacheth ; this also we teach after the doctrine of faith." And in another place, he having showed that believers, through Christ, are far above the law, adds, " Howbeit, I will not deny but Moses showeth to them their duties, in which respect they are to be admonished and urged; wherefore such doctrines and admonitions ought to be among Christians, as it is certain there was among the apostles, whereby every man may be admonished of his estate and office.

And Calvin, having said, as I told you before, " That Christians, in the case of justification, must raise and advance themselves above the law, adds, " Neither can any man thereby gather that the law is superfluous to the faithful, whom notwithstanding, it doth not cease to teach, exhort, and prick forward to goodness, although before God's judgment-seat it hath no place in their conscience."

Ant. But, sir, if I forget not, Musculus says, " That the law is utterly abrogated."

Evan. Indeed, Musculus, speaking of the ten commandments, says, if they be weak, if they be the letter, if they do work trans-

/ That is, raise our esteem of it to the highest pitch, and give it illimited obedience. Compare this with what is cited from the same Luther concerning the law, pnge 248.

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gresssion, anger, curse, and death : and if Christ, by the law of the Spirit of life, delivered them that believed in him from the law of the letter, which was weak to justiy, and strong to condemn, and from the curse, being made a curse for us, surely, they be abrogated. Now, this is most certain, that the ten commandments do no way work transgression, anger, curse, and death, but only as they are the covenant of works, g Neither hath Christ delivered believers any otherwise from them, than as they are the covenant of works. And therefore we may assuredly conclude, that they are no otherwise abrogated, than as they are the covenant of works, h Neither

g According to the Holy Scripture, it is certain, that the law of the ten commandments has an irritating effect, whereby they increase sin; and a condemning and killing effect, so that they work curse, death, and wrath, called anger (it would seem) in the language of our forefathers, when Musculus' common places were Englished. And it is no less certain, that Jesus Christ hath delivered believers from the law as it hath these effects, Rom. xiv. 15, " For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect, because the law worketh wrath." Chap. vii. 5, 6, " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law—that we should serve in newness of spirit," &c. Chap. viii. 2 " For the law of the spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, has made me free from the law of sin and death." Gal. iii. 13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us." If then the ten commandments have these effects, not only as they are the covenant of works, but as they are the law of Christ, or a rule of life, then believers are altogether delivered from them, which is absurd and abominable doctrine. Therefore it evidently follows, that the ten commandments have these effects, only as they are the covenant of works. The truth is, uuto a gracious soul, the strongest possible temptation to Antinomianism, or casting off the ten commandments for good and all, would be to labour to persuade him, that they have these effects, not only as they are the covenant of works, but as they are the law of Christ; so that, take them what way he will, he shall find they have not only a cursing condemning, and killing power, but also an irritating effect, increasing sin in him. Nevertheless, a Christian man's doing against them (which is the reverend Musculus' phrase, as cited by the author in the following page) may be a transgression, for a man may transgress the law, though the motions of his sins be not by the law. And how such a man's sinning is more outrageous than an ungodly man's will convincingly appear, if one measures the outrageousness of sinning, by the obligations to duty lying on the sinner, and not by his personal hazard, which is a measure more becoming a slave than a son.

h Thus our author has proven, that the law of the ten commandments is a rule of life to believers; and hath vindicated Luther and Calvin from the opposite Antinomian error, as he does Musculus also, in the following words: and that from their express declarations, in their own words. And here is the conclusion of the whole matter. To show the judgment of other orthodox Protestant divines, on this head, against the Antinomians, it will not be amiss to adduce a passage out of a system of divinity, commonly put into the hands of students not very many years ago, I am sure. " It is one thing (says Turretine, disputing against the Antinomians) to be under the law as a

did Musculus intend any otherwise ; for says he, in the words following, it must not be understood, that the points of the substance of Moses' covenent are utterly brought to nothing ; i God forbid. For a Christian man is not at liberty to do those things that are ungodly and wicked ; and if the doing of those things the law forbids, do not displease Christ; if they be not much different,^ yea contrary ; if they be not repugnant to the righteousness which we received of him ; let it be lawful for a Christian man to do them ; or else not. k But a Christian man doing against those things which are commanded in the decalogue, doth sin more outrageously than he that should so do, being under the law ; I so far off is he from being free from those things that be there commanded.

covenant; another tiling, not to be under the law as a rule of life. In the former sense, Paul says, ' That we are not under the law, but under grace,' (Rom. vi. 14.) as to its covenant-relation, curse, and rigour : but in tbe latter sense we always remain bound unto it, though for a different end ; for in the first covenant, man was to do this, to the end that he might live ; but in the other, he is bound to perform tbe same thing, not that he may live, but because he lives."— Turret, loc. 11. quest. 24. thes. 7. View again, Westm. Confess, chap. 19. art. 6. the words whereof are cited page 314, note d. Hereunto, agreetb our author's conclusion, viz. That believers are no otherwise, not any otherwise delivered from the law of the ten commandments, but as they are the covenant of works. Now, how can those who oppose Antinomianism, on this head, contradict the author thereupon, but by asserting, " That believers are not delivered from the law, as it is the covenant of works, but that they are still under the power of the covenant of works?" The which are principles as opposite to the received doctrine of orthodox Protestant divines, and to tbe Confession of Faith, as they are to the doctrine of our author.

i That is, that the particular precepts of the law of the ten commandments, called by Musculus the substance of the law-covenant, are disannulled, and no more to be regarded,

j That is, very unsuitable.

k That is, or if they be, as certainly they are, displeasing to Christ ; most unsuitable, contrary and repugnant to the righteousness which the believer hath received from Christ, then they are by no means to be done.

I These are the words of Musculus still, adduced by the author to show, that that famous divine was no Antinomian; and if they will not serve to clear him, but he must still be on that side, I apprehend orthodox Protestants will be sorry for their loss of that great man. But though it be observed, that he speaks of doing against the things commanded in the law, but not against the law itself, there is no hazard : for it is evident, that by the law, Musculus understands the covenant of works, or, in his style, Moses' covenant; and since he was not of the opinion that believers are under the covenant of works, no, nor under the commanding power of that covenant, he could not say that they sinned against it. However, he still looks on the ten commandments, the substance of that covenant, to be also the law of Christ, binding the Christian man to obedience. From his saying, that a Christian doing against these things, sins more outrageously than one who is under the law ; it does indeed follow, that a Christian's sin is more displeasing to God, and deserves a heavier curse

§ 4. Wherefore, friend 'Antinomista, if either you, or any man else, shall, under a pretence of your being in Christ, exempt yourselves from being under the law of the ten commands, as they are the law of Christ, I tell you truly, it is a shrewd sign you are not yet in Christ; for if you were, then Christ were in you ; and if Christ were in you, then would he govern you, and you would be subject unto him. I am sure the prophet Isaiah tells us, that the same Lord, who is our Saviour, " is also our King and Lawgiver," Isa. xxxiii. 22; and, truly, he will not be Jesus a Saviour to any but only those unto whom he is Christ a Lord; for the very truth is, wheresoever he is Jesus a Saviour, he is also Christ a Lord; and therefore, I beseech you, examine yourself whether he be so to you or no.

Ant. "Why then, sir, it seems that you stand upon marks and signs ?

Evan. Yea, indeed, I stand so much upon marks and signs, that I say unto you in the words of the apostle John, 1 John iii. 10, " In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil ; whosoever does not righteousness, is not of God." For says Luther, " He that is truly baptized, is become a new man, and has a new nature, and is endowed with new dispositions ; and loveth, liveth, speaketh, and does far otherwise than he was wont, or could before." For says godly Tindal, " God worketh with his word, and in his word; and bringeth faith into the hearts of his elect, and looseth the heart from sin, and knitteth it to God, and gives a man power to do that which was before impossible for him to do, and turneth him into a new nature." m And therefore, says Luther in another place, "Herein works are to be extolled and commended, in that they are fruits and signs of faith ; and therefore he that hath no regard how he leadeth his life, that he may stop the mouths of all blamers, and accusers, and clear himself before all, and testify that he has lived, spoken, and done well, is not yet a Christian." How then, says Tindal again, " Dare any man think that

in itself, though in the mean time, the law of Christ has no curse annexed unto the transgressions of it. For, sins deserving a curse, arises not from the threatening, but from its contrariety to the precept, and consequently, to the holy nature of God ; since it is manifest that sin does not therefore deserve a curse, because a curse is threatened ; but a curse is threatened, because sin deserves it. And the sins of believers do in themselves deserve a heavier curse than the sins of others. Yet the law of Christ has not a curse annexed to the transgressions of it; because the heavy curse, deserved by the sins of believers, was already laid on Christ, to whom they are united, and he bare it for them, and bore it away from them ; so that they cannot be threatened with it, over again, after their union with him. m That is, makes him a new man.

God's favour is ou him, and God's Spirit within him, when he feels not the working of his Spirit, nor himself disposed to any good thing ?"n

Ant. But, hy your favour, sir, I am persuaded that many a man deceives his own soul by these marks and signs.

Evan. Indeed, I must needs confess with Mr. Bolton and Mr. Dyke, that in tliese times of Christianity, a reprobate may make a glorious profession of the gospel, and perform all the duties and exercises of religion, and that in outward appearance, with as great spirit and zeal as a true believer; yea, he may be made partaker of some measure of inward illumination, and have a shadow of true regeneration; there being no grace effectually wrought in the faithful, a resemblance whereof may not be found in the unregenerate. And therefore, I say, if any man pitch upon the sign, without the thing signified by the sign, o that is, if he pitch upon his graces (or gifts rather) and duties, and conclude assurance from them, as they are in him, and come from him, without having reference to Jesus Christ, as the root and fountain of them; then are they deceitful marks and signs : p but if he look upon them with reference to Jesus Christ, then are they not deceitful, but true evidences and demonstrations of faith in Christ. And this a man does, when he looks upon his outward actions as flowing from the inward actions of his mind, and upon the inward actions of his mind as flowing from the habits of grace within him, and upon the habits of grace within him as flowing from his justification, and upon his justification as flowing from his faith, and upon his faith as given by, and embracing Jesus Christ: thus, I say, if he rests not till he comes to Christ, his marks and signs are not deceitful but true, q

n Namely, habitually. o Namely, Christ in the heart.

p Because all true grace and acceptable duty flow from Jesus Christ, dwelling in one's heart by his Spirit; and whatsoever comes not that way, is but a show and semblance of these things. Rom. viii. 9, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." John xv. 5, l< Without me ye can do dothing." Chap. i. 16, " And of his fulness have we all received, and grace for grace." Gal. ii. 20, " I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." " The cause of good works we confess to be, not our freewill, but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, who, dwelling in our hearts, by true faith, bringeth forth such works as God has prepared for us to walk in." Old Con. fess. a*t. 13, " So good works follow as effects of Christ in us possessed by faith." — Mr. John Davidson s Catech. p. 30.

q Here is a chain, serving to lead a child of God unto assurance, that he is in the state of grace; wherein duties and graces, being run up unto their true spring, do so shine after trial of them, as one may conclude assurance from them, as the author phrases it. And here it is to be observed, that these words, " outward actions—actions of the mind—habits of grace—justification—faith—embracing of Christ," are in the progress of the trial, to be taken in their general notion, agreeing both to what

Ant. But, sir, if an unbeliever may have a resemblance of every grace that is wrought in a believer, then it must be an hard matter to find out the difference ; and therefore I conceive it is best for a man not to trouble himself at all about marks and signs.

is true, and what is false, in each particular ; as faith feigned and unfeigned, justification real and imaginary, grace common and saving, &c. For the special nature of these is still supposed to be undetermined to the person under trial, until he come to the end of the trial. This is evident from the nature of the thing: and from the author's words too, in the sentence immediately preceding, where he says, " If he pitch upon his graces, or gifts rather ;" the which correction he makes, because the former word is ordinarily restricted to saving grace, the latter not so. And hence it appears, that the author was far from imagining that a man must have the assurance he speaks of, before he can conclude it from his graces or duties.

The links of this chain are five. The first, Outward actions, or works materially good, flowing from the inward actions of the mind ; otherwise they are but pieces of gross dissimulation, as was the respect and honour put upon Christ by the Herodians and others, when they asked him, " If it was lawful to give tribute unto Caesar ?" Mat. xxii. 16—18, The second, These actions of the mind, flowing from the habits of grace, within the man: otherwise they are but fair flowers, which, "because they have no root wither away," (Matt. xiii. 6;) like the Israelites, their seeking, returning, inquiring after, and remembering God, when he slew them. Psalm lxxviii* 34—37. The third, Those habits of grace within the man, flowing from his justification ; otherwise they are but the habits of common grace, or of mere moral virtues, to be found in hypocritical professors, and sober heathens. The fourth, The man s justification, flowing from his faith ; otherwise it is but as the imaginary justification of Pharisees, Papist9, and legalists, who are they which justify themselves, Luke xvi. 15. The fifth, His faith given by Christ, and embracing Christ: otherwise it is but feigned faith, which never knits the soul to Christ, but leaves the man in the case of the fruitless branch, which is to be " taken away," John xv. 2.

This chain is not of our author's framing, but is a Scriptural one. 1 Tim. i. 5, " Now (1.) the end of the commandment is charity, (2.) out of a pure heart, (3.) and of a good conscience, (4.) and of faith, (5.) unfeigned." " Wherein the apostle teacheth, that the obedience of the law must flow from love, and love from a pure heart, and a pure heart from a good conscience, and a good conscience from faith unfeigned ; thus he only maketh the right channel of good works." Practical Use of Saving Knowledge; tit. "The third thing requisite to evidence ttue faith, is, that obedience to the law runs in the right channel, that is through faith in Christ."

If one examines himself by this infallible rule, he cannot take his obedience for a mark or evidence of his being in the state of grace, until he run it up unto his faith, embracing Christ. But then finding that his faith made him a good conscience, and his good conscience a pure heart, and his pure heart produced love, from whence his obedience flowed ; in that case, his obedience is a true mark of the unfeignedness of his faith ; from whence he may assuredly conclude, that he is in the state of grace. Our author's method being a copy of this, the objections against it must affect both.

Let us suppose two men to put themselves on a trial of their state, according to this method, and to pitch upon some external duties of theirs, or some graces which they seem to discern in themselves, as to the substance thereof; though, as yet, they know not the specific nature of the same, namely, whether they he true or false.

Evan. Give me leave to deal plainly with you in telling you, that although we cannot say, every one that hath a form of godliness hath also the power of godliness, yet we may truly say, that he who hath not the form of godliness, hath not the power of godliness; for though all be not gold that glitters, yet all gold doth glitter. And therefore, I tell you truly, if you have no regard to make the law of Christ your rule, by endeavouring to do what is required in the ten commandments, and to avoid what is there forbidden, it is a very evil sign: and, therefore, I pray you consider of it.

§ 5. Ant. But, sir, you know the Lord hath promised to write his law in a believer's heart, and to give him his Spirit to lead him into all truth: and therefore he hath no need of the law, written with

The one finds, that his external duties proceeded not from the inward actions of his mind ; or if they did, that yet these actions of his mind did not proceed from habits of grace in him ; or if they did proceed from these, yet these flowed not from his justification, or, which is the same, followed not upon the purging of his conscience ; or if they did, that yet his justification, or good conscience, such as they are, proceeded not from his faith ; or if they did proceed from it, that yet that faith of his did not embrace Christ, and consequently was not of the special operation of God, or given him by Christ in him, by his Spirit. In all, or any of these cases, it is plain that the external duties, or the (so called) graces, which he pitched upon, can be no true marks from which he may conclude himself to be in a state of grace.

The other finds that his external duties did indeed flow from the inward actions of his mind, and these from habits of grace in him, and these again from his justification or good conscience, and that from his faith, and that his faith embraced Christ. Here two things are observable: (1.) That neither the duties nor graces pitched upon, could be sure marks to him, before he came to the last point; in regard of the flaw that possibly might still be found in the immediate or mediate springs of them. And therefore the looking, mentioned by the author, is indeed a progressive knowledge and discovery, but still unclear and uncertain, till one comes to the end, and the whole evidence is put together; even as it is in searching out some abstruse point, by observation of the dependence and connexion things have one with another. Wherefore our author does by no means suppose, that 1 must know certainly that 1 am in Christ and justified, and that my faith is given me by Christ, before these duties or graces cau be true marks or evidences to me. (2.) That the man perceiving his embracing of Christ, as to the substance of the action, is assured of the saving nature of it, (namely, that it is a faith uniting him to Christ, and given him by Christ in him) by the train of effects he sees to have followed it, according to the established order in the covenant of grace: 1 Tim. i. 5. From which effects of his faith embracing Christ, that which might have deceived him, was all along gradually removed in the progress. Thus he is indeed sent back to the fruits of his faith, for true marks and evidences of it; but he is sent beck to them, as standing clear now in his regress, though they were not so in his progress. And at this rate he is not left to run in a circle, but has a comfortable end of his self-examination, being assured by his duties and graces, the fruits of his faith that his faith is unfeigned, and himself in the state of grace.

paper and ink, to be a rule of life to him; neither hath he any need to endeavour to be obedient thereunto, as you say.

Evan. Indeed, says Luther, the matter would even so fare as you say, if we were perfectly and altogether the inward and spiritual men, which cannot be in any wise before the last day at the rising again from the dead: r so long as we be clothed with this mortal flesh, we do but begin and proceed onwards in our course towards perfection, which will be consummated in the life to come : and for this cause the apostle, (Rom. viii.) doth call this the " first fruits of the Spirit," which we do enjoy in this life, the truth and fulness of which we shall receive in the life to come. And therefore (says he in another place) it is necessary so to preach to them that have received the doctrine of faith, that they might be stirred up to go on in good life, which they have embraced; and that they suffer not themselves to be overcome by the assaults of the raging flesh ; for we will not so presume of the doctrine of faith, as if, that being had, every man might do what he listed: no, we must earnestly endeavour ourselves, that we may be without blame ; and when we cannot attain thereunto, we must flee to prayer, and say before God and man. " Forgive us our trespasses." And, says Calvin, Instit. p. 162, one proper use and end of the law, concerning the faithful, 5 in whose hearts liveth and reigneth the Spirit of God, is this: namely, although they have the law written and engraven in their hearts by the finger of God yet is the* law to them a very good means, whereby they may daily, better and more assuredly, learn what is the will of the Lord: and let none of us exempt himself from this need, for no man hath hitherto attained to so great wisdom, but that he hath need to be daily instructed by the law. And herein Christ differeth from us, that the Father hath poured out upon him the infinite abundance of his Spirit; but whatsoever we do receive, it is so by measure, that we have need one of another.

Now mind it, I pray you, if believers have the Spirit but in measure, and know but in part, then have they the " law written in

r We would have no need for the law written without us, if, as we are spiritual in part, in respect of sanctification begun in us, we were perfectly and altogether spiritual, both in body and soul. But that is not to be expected till the resurrection ; when that which is now "sown a natural body, is raised a spiritual body," 1 Cor. xv. 44; being re-united to the spirit or soul "made perfect at death:" Heb. xii. 23; the which doth therefore no more, from the moment of death, need the law written without it.

s That is, respucting believers.

t Written.

their hearts" but in measure and in part,u (1 Cor. xiii. 9 ;) and if they have the law written in their hearts hut in measure and in part, then have they not a perfect rule within them; and if they have not a perfect rule within them, then they have need to have a rule without them. And therefore, doubtless, the strongest believer of us all, had need to hearken to the advice of Tindal, who says, " Seek the word of God in all things, and without the word of God do nothing." And says another godly and evangelical writer, " My brethren, let us do our whole endeavour to do the will of God as it becometh good children, and beware that we sin not, as near as we can."

Ant. Well, sir, I cannot tell what to say, but, methinks, when a man is perfectly justified by faith, it is a very needless thing for him to endeavour to keep the law, and to do good works, v

Evan. I remember Luther says, that in his time there were some that did reason after the like manner : " If faith," say they, " do accomplish all things, and if faith be only and alone sufficient unto righteousness, to what end are we commanded to do good deeds ? we may go play then, and work no working at all." To whom he makes an answer, saying, " Not so, ye ungodly ! not so." And there were others that said, " If the law do not justify, then it is in vain, and of none effect." " Yet it is not therefore true," says he; " for like as this consequence is nothing worth, money doth not justify or make a man righteous, therefore it is unprofitable ; the eyes do not justify, therefore they must be plucked out; the hands make not a man righteous, therefore they must be cut off; so is this naught also, The law doth not justify, therefore it is unprofitable. "We do not therefore destroy and condemn the law, because we say it doth not justify ; but we say with Paul, (1 Tim. i. 8,) ' the law is good, if a man do rightly use it.' And that is a faithful saying, that they ' which have believed in God might be careful to maintain

« They have not the law written completely and perfectly in their hearts.

v The Antinoraian principle, That it is needless for a man, perfectly justified by faith, to endeavour to keep the law and do good works, is a glaring evidence that legality is so engrained in man's corrupt nature, that until a man truly come to Christ, by faith, the legal disposition will still be reigning in him ; let him turn himself into what shape, or be of what principles he will in religion; though he run into Antinomianism, he will carry along with him"his legal spirit, which will always be a slavish and unholy spirit. He is constrained, as the author observes, to do all that he does for fear of punishment, and hope of reward ; and if it is once fixed in his mind that these are ceased in his case, he stands still like a clock, when the weights that made her go are removed, or like a slave, when he is in no hazard of the whip ; than which there cannot be a greater evidence of loathsome legality.

good works; these things are good and profitable onto men,' " Tit. iii. 8.

§ 6. Neo. Truly, sir, for mine own part, I do much marvel that this my friend Antinomista should be so confident of his faith in Christ, and yet so little regard holiness of life, and keeping of Christ's commandments, as it seems he does. For I give the Lord thanks, I do now, in some small measure, believe that I am, by Christ, freely and fully justified and acquitted from all my sins, and therefore have no need either to eschew evil or do good, for fear of punishment or hope of reward ; and yet, methinks, I find my heart more willing and desirous to do what the Lord commands, and to avoid what he forbids, than ever it was before I did thus believe. w Surely, sir, I do perceive that faith in Christ is no hindrance to holiness of life, as I once thought it was.

w It is not the scope or design of Neophitus here, to show wherein the essence of faith consists, or to give a definition to it. But suppose it was so, his definition falls considerably short of some given by famous orthodox Protestant divines, yea, and churches too. See the note on the definition of faith. I repeat here Mr. John Davidson's definition only, viz., '' Faith is an hearty assurance that our sins are freely forgiven us in Christ." From whence one may clearly see, that some time a-day, it was reckoned no absurdity that one's justification was made the object of one's belief. For the understanding of which ancient Protestant doctrine, grown almost quite out of ken with unlearned readers, I shall adduce a passage out of Wendeline's Christ. Theol. lib. 1, cap. 24, p. 542, 543. He proposes the Popish objection thus, "Justifying faith must go before justification ; but the faith of special mercy doth not go before justification, if it did, it were false ; for at that rate, a man should believe that his sins are forgiven, which are not forgiven, since they are not forgiven but by justification ; therefore the faith of special mercy is not justifying faith." In answer to which, he denies the second of these propositions, with the proofs thereof, and concludes in these words: "Justifying faith, therefore, hath for the special object of it, forgiveness of sins, future, present, and past." He explains it thus, " By the faith of special mercy, as it goeth before justification, a man doth not believe that his sins are forgiven him already, before the act of believing." This, by the by, is the Anti-nomian faith, justifying only declaratively ; follows the true doctrine of faith, " But that he shall have forgiveness of sins ; in the very act of justification, he believes his sins are forgiven him, and so receives forgiveness, after justification, he believes the past application," viz. forgiveness, that is, that his sins are now already forgiven him.

But the design of Neophitus is, to make a profession of his faith, and, by an argument drawn from Christian experience, to refute the Antinomian pretended faith, wherebv a sinner, at first brush, believes his sins to be already forgiven him, before the act of believing, and thereafter hath no regard to holiness of life ; a plain evidence that that persuasion is not of God. And in opposition to it, is this profession made, which consists of three parts :

(l.) He professes that he believes himself to be justified and acquitted from all his sins; and this is the belief of the past application, after justification, which we heard before from Wendeline. For we have alreadv found Neophitus brought unto faith in Christ, and the match betwixt Christ and him declared to be made, though his

Evan. Neighbour Neophitus, if our friend Antinomista, do content himself with a mere gospel knowledge, in a notionary way, and have run out to fetch in notions from Christ, and yet is not fetched in by the power of Christ, let us pity him, and pray for him. And in the mean time, I pray you, know that true faith in Christ x is so far from being a hinderance from holiness of life and good works, that it is the only furtherance; for only by faith in Christ, a man is enabled to exercise all Christian graces aright, and to perform all Christian duties aright, which before he could not. As, for example, before a man believe God's love to him in Christ,?/ though he may have a kind of love to God, as he is his Creator and Preserver, and gives him many good things for this present life, yet if God do but open his eyes, to see what condition his soul is in, that is, if he do but let him see that relation that is betwixt God and him,

faith was accompanied with fears. And now he finds his faith grown up in some small measure unto the height which Antinomista pretended his faith to be at, namelv, unto believing himself to be already justified; but withal he intimates, that his faith had not come to this pitch all of a 6udden, as Antinomista's had done, but that it was sometime after he believed, ere he did tbus believe. And now, indeed, his believing thus, only in some small measure, was his sin, and argued the weakness of his faith ; but such a man's believing, in any measure, great or small, that he was justified and acquitted from all his sins, must be commended and ap-proven, unless we will bring back the Popish doctrine of doubting.

(2.) He professes, That therefore, namely, since he was justified, and believed himself to be so, he had no need to eschew evil, or do good for fear of punishment or hope of reward ; the which Antinomista pretending to likewise, had cast off all care of keeping the law, or doing good works, having no other principle of obedience within him. This does not at all look to punishments and rewards, improperly so called, that is, fatherly chastisements and favours, of which the author afterwards treats expressly ; but it is plainly meant of rewards and punishments taken in a proper sense, as flowing from the justice of God, remunerative and vindictive, and proceeding upon our works, good and evil; and particularly it is meant of heaven and hell. This is the sense in which that phrase is commonly used by divines ; and that it is so to be taken here, is evident from its being inferred from his justification, which indeed leaves no place for fear of punishment and hope of reward in the latter sense; but not so in the former sense. And thus, it appears, Nomista understood it, as shall appear afterwards.

(3.) He professes, That he was so far from being the less inclined to duty, that he believed himself to be fully justified, and that the fear of punishment and hope of reward were ceased in his case ; that, on the contrary, he found, as his faith grew, his love to and readiness for holiness of life, grew: he was more willing, and more desirous to do the Lord's commandments than he had been before his faith was advanced to that pitch. And herein, I conceive, the experience of the saints will not contradict him. Thus he gives a plain testimony against the Antinomian faith.

x Namely, the faith of special mercy, or a faith of particular application, without which, in greater or lesser measure, it is not saving faith.

y See page 279, note k.

according to the tenor of the covenant of works, then he conceives of him as an angry Jndge, armed with justice against him, and must be pacified by the works of the law, wherennto he finds his nature opposite and contrary; and therefore he hates both God and his law, and doth secretly wish and desire there were neither God nor law. And though God should now give unto him ever so many temporary blessings, yet could he not love him ; for what malefactor could love that judge or his law, from whom he expected the sentence of condemnation, though he should feast him at his table with ever so many dainties ? " But after that the kindness and love of God his Saviour hath appeared, not by works of righteousness that he hath done, but according to his mercy he saved him," (Titus iii. 4, 5.); that is, when as by the eye of faith, he sees himself to stand in relation to God, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, z then he conceives of God as a most merciful and loving Father to him in Christ, that hath freely pardoned and forgiven him all his sins, and quite released him from the covenant of works;" a and by this means " the love of God is shed abroad in his heart through the Holy Ghost which is given to him," and then "he loves God because he first loved him," Rom. v. 5; 1 John iv. 19. For as a man seeth and feeleth by faith the love and favour of God towards him, in Christ his Son, so doth he love again God and his law; and indeed it is impossible for any man to love God, till by faith he know himself beloved of God. b

Secondly, Though a man, before he believe God's love to him in Christ, may have a great measure of legal humiliation, compunction, sorrow and grief, and be brought down, as it were, to the very gate of hell, and feel the very flashing of hell-fire in his conscience for his sins, yet it is not because he hath thereby offended God, but rather because he hath thereby offended himself, that is, because he hath thereby brought himself into the danger of eternal death and condemnation, c But when once he believes the love of God to him in Christ, in pardoning his iniquity, and passing by his transgressions, d then he sorrows and grieves for the offence of God by the

z His soul resting on Christ, whom he hath received for salvation.

a Thus he conceives of God according to the measure of his faith, or of his soul's resting on Christ, which admits of various decrees.

b See page 279, note k.

c A man's believing God's love to him, is woven into the very nature of saving faith, as hath been already shown. Wherefore, whatsoever humiliation, compunction, sorrow, and grief for sin, go before it, they must needs be but legal, being before faith, " without which it is impossible to please God," Heb. xi. 6.

d The belief of which in some measure, is included in the nature of faith.—See the note on the definition of faith, and p. 324, note w.

Bin; reasoning thus with himself: And is it so indeed? Hath the Lord given his own son to death for me who have been such a vile sinful wretch ! and hath Christ borne all thy sins! and was he wounded for thy transgressions ! 0 then, the working of his bowels ! the stirring of his affections, the melting, and relenting of his repenting heart! " Then he remembers his own evil ways, and his doings that were not good, and loathes himself in his own eyes for all his abominations;" and looking upon Christ," whom he hath pierced, he mourns bitterly for him, as one raourneth for his only son." Ezek. xxxvi. 31; Zech. xii. 10. Thus, when faith has bathed a man's heart in the blood of Christ, it is so molified that it quickly dissolves into tears of godly sorrow; so that if Christ do but turn and look upon him, 0 then, with Peter, he goes out and weeps bitterly! And this is true gospel mourning; and this is right evangelical repenting, e

Thirdly, Though, before a man do truly believe in Christ, he may so reform his life and amend his ways, that as " touching the righteousness which is of the law," he may be, with the apostle, blameless, (Phil. iii. 6); yet, being under the covenant of works, all the obedience that he yields to the law, all his leaving off sin, and performance of duties, all his avoiding of what the law forbids, and all his doing of what the law commands, is begotten by the law of works, of Hagar the bond-woman, by the force of self-love; and so indeed they are the fruit and works of a bond-servant, that is moved and constrained to do all that he doth, for fear of punishment and hope of reward./ " For," says Luther on the Galatians

e This is the springing up of the "seeds of repentance put into the heart in sanc-tification," (Larg. Cat. q. 75,) a work of sanctifying grace, acceptable to God ; the curse being taken off the sinner, and his person accepted in the Beloved, and like to the mourning and repenting of that woman, (Luke vii. 47,) " who, having mnch forgiven her, loved much." Betwixt which repentance and pardon of sin, there is an inseparable connexion, so that it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it.— Westm. Confess, chap. 15, art. 3. See also p. 281, note s.

f This can have no reference at all to the motives of a believer's obedience, unless believers, as well as unbelievers, are to be reckoned to be under the covenant of works ; for it is manifest, that the author speaks here of such only as are under that covenant. But, on the contrary, if a man is under the covenant of works called the law, in the style of the Holy Ghost, he is not a believer, but an unbeliever. Rom. vi. 14, " Sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are are not under the law, but under grace." This reasoning proceeds upon this principle, viz. those who are under the covenant of works, and they only, are under the dominion or reigning power of sin. And if men, being under the covenant of works, are under the dominion of sin, it is evident that they are not believers, but bond-servants, that the love of God dwelleth not in them, but corrupt self-love reigns in them ; and, therefore,

p. 218, " the law given on Mount Sinai, which the Arabians call Agar, begetteth none but servants." And so indeed all that such a man doth is but hypocrisy ; for he pretends the serving of God, whereas, indeed, he intends the serving of himself. And how can he do otherwise ? for whilst he wants faith, he wants all things : he is an empty vine, and therefore must needs bring forth fruit unto himself: (Hos. x. 1.) Till a man be served himself, he will not serve the Lord Christ, g Nay, while he wants faith, he wants the love of Christ, and therefore he lives not to Christ, but to himself because he loves himself. And hence, surely, we may conceive it is that Dr. Preston says, " All that a man doeth, and not out of love, is out of hypocrisy. Wheresoever love is not, there is nothing but hypocrisy in such a man's heart."

But when a man, through the "hearing of faith, receives the Spirit of Christ," (Gal. iii. 2,) that Spirit, according to the measure of faith, writes the lively law of love in his heart, (as Tindal sweetly says) whereby he is enabled to work freely and of his own accord, without the co-action or compulsion of the law. h For that

unto the good they do, they are constrained, by fear of punishment and hope of reward, agreeable to threatening and promise of the broken covenant of works they are under ; that their obedience, conform to their state and condition, is but servile ; no better than it is here described to be, having only the letter, but not the Spirit of true obedience, the which, before any man can attain unto, he must be set free from the covenant of works, as the apostle teaches; Rom. vii. 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 :" and finally, that as is the condition and the obedience of those under the covenant of works, so shall their end be. Gal. iv. 30, " Cast out the bond-woman and her son ; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman."

g That is, till the empty vine be filled with the Spirit from Jesus Christ it will never bring forth fruit unto him. Till a man do once eat by faith he will never work aright. The conscience must be purged from dead works, else one is not in case " to serve the living God," Heb. ix. 14. The covenant of works says to the sinner, who is yet without strength, " Work, and then ye shall be filled ;" but the covenant of grace says to him, " Be filled, and then thou must work." And until the yoke of the covenant of works be taken off a man's jaws, and meat be laid unto him, he will never take on and bear the yoke of Christ acceptably.

h The words co-action and compulsion signify one and the same thing, viz. forcing ; so that to work without the co-action or compulsion of the law, is to work without being forced thereto by the law.

One would think it so very plain and obvious, that the way how the law forceth men to work, is by the terror of the dreadful punishment which it threatens in case of not workino, that does but darken the matter to say, The co-action or compulsion of the law consists in its commanding and binding power or force ; the which must needs be meant of the commanding and binding power of the covenant of works, or of the law, as it is the covenant of works. For it cannot be meant (as these words seem to

love wherewith Christ, or God in Christ, hath loved him, and which by faith is apprehended of him, will constrain him to do so; accord-bear) of that power which the law of the ten commandments, as a rule of life, hath over men, to bind thein to obedience, under which, I think, the impartial reader is by this time convinced that the author denies not believers still to be ; for to call that co-action or compulsion, is contrary to the common understanding and usage of these words in society. At this rate one must say, That the glorified saints and angels, (to ascend no higher) being, as creatures of God, under the commanding and binding power of the eternal rule of righteousness, are compelled and forced to their obedience too ; and that when we pray, " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we pray to be enabled to obey the will of God, as the angels do in heaven, by co-action and compulsion in the height thereof; for surely the angels have the sense of the commanding anil binding power of the eternal rule of righteousness upon them in a degree far beyond what any believer on earth has. Wherefore that exposition of the co-action or compulsion of the law, and so putting believer's under the law's co-action cr compulsion, amount just to what we met with before, namely, That believers are under the commanding power (at least) of the covenant of works, having obedience bound upon them with the coids of hell, or under the pain of the curse. Accordingly, the compulsion of the law is more plainly described to be its binding power and moral force, which it derives from the awful authority of the sovereign Lawgiver, commanding obedience to his law, and threatening disobedience with wrath, or with death, or hell. And so our author is blamed for not subjecting believers to this compulsion of the law.

In the preceding paragraph he had shown, that the obedience of unbelievers to the law of the ten commandments is produced by the influence of the law (or covenant) of works upon them, forcing or constraining them thereto by the fear of the punishment which it threatens. Thus, they work by the co-action or compulsion of the law, or covenant of works, being destitute of the love of God. Here he affirms, that when once a man is brought unto Christ, he having the sanctifying Spirit of Christ dwelling in him, and being endowed with faith that purifies the heart, and with love that is strong as death, is enabled to work freely, and of his own accord, without that co-action or compulsion.

This is the doctrine of the Holy Scripture. Psalm li. 12, " Uphold me with thy free Spirit." Compare Gal. v. 18, " But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law." So Psalm ex. 3, " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Compare 1 Pet. v. 2, "Not by constraint, but willingly." And believers are declared to be " not under the law," Rom. vi. 14. " To be made free from the law of death. Not to have received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption," chap. viii. 2, 15. How then can they still be under the co-active and compulsive power of the law, frightening and forcing them to obedience by its threa-tenings of the second death, or eternal wrath?

And it is evident that this is the received doctrine of orthodox divines, which might be attested by a cloud of witnesses, if the nature of this work did permit. " Not to be under the law," says Luther, "is to do good things, and abstain from wicked things, not through compulsion of the law, but_by free love, and with pleasure.' — Chos. Ser. xx. p. 232.

" The second part (viz. of Christian liberty) is," says Calvin, " that consciences obey the law, not as compelled by the necessity of the law, but being free from the

Yon. VII. x

ing to that of the apostle, 2 Cor. v. 14. " The love of Christ con-straineth us." That is, it will make him do so, whether he will or no ; he cannot choose, but do it. i I tell you truly, answerably as the love of Christ is shed abroad in the heart of any man, it is such a strong impulsion, that it carries him on to serve and please the Lord in all things, according to the saying of an evangelical man :j

yoke of the law itself, of their own accord they obey the will of God."— Instit. book iii. chap. 19. sec. 4.

" We would distinguish betwixt the law, considered as a law and as a covenant. A law doth necessarily imply uo more than, (I.) To direct. (2.) To command, enforcing that obedience by authority. A covenant doth further necessarily imply promises made upon some condition, or threatenings added, if such a condition be not performed. The first two are essential to the law, the last two, to believers, are made void through Christ; in which sense it is said, that by him we are freed from the law as a covenant; so that believers' lives depend not on the promises annexed to the law, nor are they in danger by the threatenings adjoined to it."— Durham on the Commands, p 4.

" What a new creature doth, in observance of the law, is from natural freedom, choice, and judgment, and not by the force of any threatenings annexed to it."— Charnock, vol. ii. p. 59.

See Westminster Confession, chap. 20. art. 1. of which afterwards. And thus is that text, 1 Tim. i. 9. " The law is not made for a righteous man," generally understood by divines, critics, and commentators,—the law, threatening, compelling, condemning, is not made for a righteous man, because he is pushed forward to duty of his own accord, and is no more led by the spirit of bondage, and fear of punishment."— Turret, loc. 2. q. 24. th. 8. " By the law is to be understood the moral law, a9 it is armed in stings and terrors, to restrain rebellious sinners. By the righteous man is meant one in whom a principle of divine grace is planted, and, who from the knowledge and love of God, chooses the things that are pleasing to him. As the law has annexed so many severe threatenings to the transgressors of it, it is evident that it is directed to the wicked, who will only he compelled by fear from an outrageous breaking of it."— Continuation of Poole's Annot. on the text. " The law is not for him, as a master to command him, to constrain him as a bond-man."— Lodovic de Dieu. " The law doth not compel, press on, fright, lie heavy upon, and punish a righteous man."— Strigelins. " It lies not on him as a heavy burden, compelling a man against his will, violently pressing him on, and pushing him forward ; it doth not draw him to obedience, but leads him, being willing."— Scultelus. " For of his own accord he doth right."— Castalio, apud Pol. Synop. in Loc.

i " It is a metonymy from the effect, that is, love makes me to do it in that manner, as a man that is compelled ; that is the meaning of it. So it has the same effect that compulsion hath, though there be nothing more different from compulsion than love."— Dr. Preston, ibid. p. 29.

j If one considers that the drift and scope of this whole discourse, from p. 176, is to discover the naughtiness of Antinomista's faith, observed by Neophitus, one may perceive, that by the author's quoting Towne, the Antinomian, upon that head, he gives no more ground to suspect himself of Antinomianism, though he calls him an evangelical man, than a Protestant gives in point of Popery, by quoting Cardinal Bel'.armine against a Papist, though withal he call him a Catholic. And the epithet

" The will and affection of a believer, according to the measure of faith and the spirit received, sweetly quickens and bends, to choose, affect, and delight in whatever is good and acceptable to God, or a good man; the spirit freely and cheerfully moving and inclining him to keep the law, without fear of hell or hope of heaven." k For a Christian man, says sweet Tindal, worketh only because it is the will of his Father; for after that he is overcome with love and kindness, he seeks to do the will of God, which is indeed a Christian man's nature; and what he doth, he doth it freely, after the example of Christ. As a natural son, ask him why he does such a thing ? Why, says he, it is the will of my Father, and I do it, that I I may please him ; for indeed love desireth no wages, it is wages enough to itself, it hath sweetness enough in itself, it desires no addition, it pays its own wages. And therefore it is the true childlike obedience, being begotten by faith, of Sarah the free-woman, by the force of God's love. And so it is indeed the only true and sincere obedience : for, says Dr. Preston, " To do a thing in love, is to do it in sincerity; and, indeed, there is no other definition of sincerity ; that is the best way to know it by."

§ 7. Nom. But stay, sir, I pray you, would you not have believers to eschew evil and do good, for fear of hell or for hope of heaven?

Evan. No, indeed, I would not have any believer to do either the one or the other; for so far forth as they do so, their obedience is but slavish. I And therefore though, when they were first awak-

given to Towne, is so far from being a high commendation, that, really, it is none at all; for though both these epithets, the latter as well as the former, are in themselves honourable, yet, in these cases, a man speaking in the language of his adversary, they are nothing so. Evangelista could not but remember that Antinomista had told him roundly, p. 232, " That he had not been so evangelical as some others in the city, which caused him to leave hearing him, to hear them," viz. those evangelical men : and why might not he give him a sound note from one of these Evangelical men, even under that character, so acceptable to him, without ranking himself with them ?

k See the preceding note a, and the following one.

/ As for what concerns the hope of heaven, the author purposely explains that matter, (p. 335.) that he would not have any believer to eschew evil or do good for fear of hell ; the meaning thereof plainly is this, you being a believer in Christ, ought not to eschew evil and do good, for fear you be condemned, and cast into hell. So far as a believer doth so, the author justly reckons his obedience accordingly slavish. This is the common understanding and sense of such a phrase, as when we say, The slave works for fear of the whip : Some men abstain from stealing, robbing, and the like, for fear of the gallows ; they eschew evil, not from love of virtue, but for fear of punishment, as the heathen poet says of his pretender to virtue,

Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore, Tu nihil admittes in te formidine pcense.

Horat. Epist. 16.

x2

ened and convinced of tlieir misery, and set foot forward to go on in'the way of life, they, with the prodigal, would be hired servants ; yet when by the eye of faith they see the mercy and indulgence of

Which may be thus Englished :

Hatred of vice, in gen'rous souls, From love of virtue flows, While nothing vicious minds controls, But servile fear of blows.

This is quite another thing than to say, that a believer in doing good, or eschewing evil, ought not to regard threatening 1 ;, nor be influenced by the threatening of death. For thi-ugh believers ought never to fear that they shall be condemned and cast into hell, yet they both may and ought awfully to regard the threatenings of the holy law : and how they ought to regard them, one may learn from the JFcstmin. Confess, chap. xix. art. 6. in these words, " The threatenings of it (viz. the law) serve to show what even their sins deserve ; and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law." Thus they are to regard them, not as denunciations of their doom, in case of sinning, but as a looking-glass wherein to behold the fearful demerit of their sin ; the unspeakable love of Hod in freeing them from bearing it, his fatherly displeasure against his own for their sin, and the tokens of his anger to be expected by them in that case. So will they be influenced to eschew evil and do good, being thereby filled with hatred and horror of sin, thankfulness to God, and fear of the displeasure and frowns of their Father, though not with a fear that he will condemn them, and destroy them in hell ; this glass represents no such thing.

Such a fear in a believer is groundless. For, (1.) He is not under the threatening of hell, or liable to the curse.—See p. 2o0, 251, notes s. u. If he were, he behoved that moment he sinneth to fall under the curse. For since the curse is the sentence of the law, passing on the sinner, according to the threatening, adjudging, and binding him over to the punishment threatened ; if the law say to a man, before he sinneth " In the day thou catest thereof, thou shalt surely die," it says unto him, in the moment he sinneth, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the law, to do them." And forasmuch as believers sin in every thing they do, their very believing and repenting being always attended with sinful imperfections, it is not possible, at this rate, that they can be one moment from under the curse ; but it must be continually wreathed about their necks. To distinguish in this case, betwixt gross sins and lesser sins, is vain ; for as every sin, even the least, deserves God s wrath and curse, (Short. Cut.') so, against whomsoever the curse takes place, (and by virtue of God's truth, it takes place against all those who are threatened with hell or eternal death) they are cursed for all sins, smaller or greater : " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things:" though still there is a difference made betwixt greater and lesser sins, in respect of the degree of punishment, yet there is none in respect of the kind. But now believers are set free from the curse. Gal. iii. 13, '* Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. (2.) By the redemption of Christ already applied to the believer, and by the oath of God, he is perfectly secured from the return of the curse upon him, Gal. iii. 13. (see before) compared with Isa. liii. and liv. 9, " For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : for, as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." Therefore he is perfectly

their heavenly Father in Christ, running to meet them, and embrace them; I would have them, with him, to talk no more of being hired servants, Luke xvi. I would have them so to wrestle against doubt-secured from being made liable any more to bell or eternal deatb. For a man, being " under tbe curse, is so made liable to—the pains of hell for ever."— Short. Cat. (3.) He is justified by faith, and so adjudged to live eternally in heaven. This is unalterable, " for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance," Rom. xi. 29. And a man can never stand adjudged to eternal life, and to eternal death, at one and the same time. (4.) One great difference betwixt believers and unbelievers lies here that the latter are bound over to hell and wrath, the former are not: John iii. 18, " He that believeth is not condemned : but he that believeth not is condemned already ;" not that he is in hell already, but bound over to it. Now, a believer is still a believer, from the first moment of liis believing; and therefore it remains true concerning him, from that moment for ever, that he is not condemned or bound over to hell and wrath, he is expressly secured against it for all time to come, from that moment. John v. 24, " He shall not come into condemnation." And the apostle cuts off all evasious by distinctions of condemnation here, while he tells us in express terms " There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," Rom. viii. 1. (5.) The believer's union with Christ is never dissolved Hos. ii. 19, " I will betroth thee unto me for ever :" and being in Christ, he is set beyond the reach of condemnation, Rom. viii. 1. Yea, and being in Christ, he is perfectly righteous for ever; for he is never again stript of the white raiment of Christ's imputed righteousness ; while the union remains it cannot be lost: but to be perfectly righteous, and yet liable to condemnation before a just Judge, is inconsistent.

Neither is such a fear in a believer acceptable to God ; for, (1.) It is not from the Spirit of God, but from one's own spirit, or a worse ; Rom. viii. 15, " Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ;" namely, to fear death or hell. Heb. ii. 15, " Who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (2.) It was the design of the sending of Christ, that believers in him might 9erve God without that fear, Luke i. 74. That, " we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear." Compare 1 Cor. xv. 26, " The last enemv that shall be destroyed is death." And for this very cause Jesus Christ came, " That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them, who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime," namely, before their deliverance by Christ, ''subject to bondage," Heb. ii. 14, 15.

(3.) Though it is indeed consistent with, yet it is contrary to faith ; Matt. viii. 26, " Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith !" And to love too ; 1 John iv. 18, "Perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment." 2 Tim. i. 17, "God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind."

(4.) As it is not agreeable to the character of a father, who is not a revenging judge to his own family, to threaten to kill his children, though he threaten to chastise them : so such a fear is no more agreeable to the spirit of adoption, nor becoming the state of sonship to God, than for a child to fear that his father, being such a one as will kill him. And therefore, "the spirit of bondage to fear" is opposed to "the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father," Rom, viii. 15.

'' Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, the Spirit of his Son given to them, (receive the Spirit of adoption, lVestm. Confess, chap. 12.) are under his fatherly care and dispensation, admitted to all the liberties and privilege!

ing, and so to exercise their faith as to believe, that they are by Christ " delivered from the hands of their enemies," both the law, sin, wrath, death, the devil, and hell, " that they may serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the days of their lives," Luke i. 74, 75. I would have them so to believe God's love to them in Christ, as that thereby they may be constrained to obedience, m

Nom. But, sir, you know that our Saviour says, " Fear him that is able to destroy both soul and body in hell," Matth. x. 28. And the apostle says, " We shall receive of the Lord the reward of the inheritance," Col. iii. 24. And is it not said, that " Moses had respect unto the recompence of reward ?" Heb. xi. 26.

Evan. Surely, the intent of our blessed Saviour, in that first Scripture, is to teach all believers, that when God commands one thing, and man another, they should obey God, and not man, rather than to exhort them to eschew evil for fear of hell, n And as for

of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow heirs with Christ in glory."— Larg. Cat. q. 74.

" The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel, consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law—as also in their free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind. All which were common also to believers under the law."— IVestm. Confess, chap. 20, art. 1. By the guilt of sin, here, must needs be understood obligation to eternal wrath. See p. 250, note t.

" The end of Christian liberty is, that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might " serve the Lord without fear."— Ibid. art. 3.

" The one (viz. justification) doth equally free all believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation." Larg. Cat. q. 77.

" Though a soul be justified and freed from the guilt of eternal punishment, and so the spirit is no more to be afraid and disquieted for eternal wrath and hell."— Rutherford's Trial and Triumph, &c. Ser. 19, p. 261.

" The believer bath no conscience of sins ; that is, he in conscience is not to fear everlasting condemnation, that is most true."— Ibid. p. 266.

See more to this purpose, p. 246, note p; 250, note s ; 328, note h.

m And no marvel one would have them do so, since that is what all the children of God with one mouth do daily pray for, saying, " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

n There is a great difference betwixt a believer's eschewing evil for fear of hell, and his eschewing it from the fear of God, "as able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The former respects the event as to his eternal state, the latter doth not. To this purpose the variation of the phrase in the text is observable,—"fear not them that kill the body :" this notes tbe event, as to temporal death by the hands of men which our Lord would have his people to lay their account with ; but with respect to eternal d»ath, he says not, fear him which destroys, but, '' which is nhle to destroy

those other Scriptures by you alleged, if you mean reward, and the means to obtain that reward, in the Scripture sense, then it is another matter : but I had thought you had meant in our common sense, and not in Scripture sense.

Norn. Why, sir, I pray you, what difference is there betwixt reward, and the means to obtain the reward, in our common sense, and in the Scripture sense ?

Evan. "Why, reward, in our common sense, is that which is conceived to come from God, or to be given by God; which is a fancying of heaven under carnal notions, beholding it as a place where there is freedom from all misery, and fulness of all pleasure and happiness, and to be obtained by our own works and doings, o But re-

both soul and body in hell." Moreover the former is a slavish fear of God as a revenging judge ; the believer eschewing sin for fear he be damned ; the latter is a re-vential fear of God as of a father with whom is awful dominion and power. The former carries in it a doubtfulness and uncertainty as to the event, plainly contrary to the remedy prescribed in this same case : Prov. xxix. 25, " The fear of man bringeth a snare ; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.' The latter is consistent with the most full assurance of one's being put be) ond all hazard of hell. Heb. Heb. xii. 28, 29, '' Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." A believer by fixing his eyes on God, as able to destroy both soul and body in hell, may be so filled with the reverential fear of God, his dreadful power and wrath against sin, as to be fenced against the slavish fear of the most cruel tyrants, tempting him to sin ; though in the meantime he most firmly believes that he is past that gulf, can never fall into it, nor be bound over unto it. For, so he hath a lively representation of the just deserving of sin, even of that sin in particular into which he is tempted ; and so must tremble at the thought of it, as an evil greater than death. And as a child, when he seeth his father lashing his slaves cannot but tremble, and fear to offend him, so a believer's turning his eyes on the miseries of the damned, mu>t raise in him an awful apprehension of the severity of his Father against sin, even in his own; and cause him to say in his heart, "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments," Psalm cxix. 120, Thus also he hath a view the frightful danger he has escaped ; the looking back to which must make one's heart shiver, and conceive a horror of sin ; as in the case of a pardoned criminal, looking back to a dreadful precipice from which he was to have been thrown headlong, had not a pardon seasonably prevented his ruin ; Eph. ii. 3, " We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

o Thus, to eschew evil and do good for hope of heaven, is to do so in hope of ub-taining heaven by our own works. And certainly " that hope shall be cut off, and be a spider's web," (Job viii. 14,) for a sinner shall never obtain heaven but in the way of free grace : " But if it be of works, then it is no more grace," Rom. xi. 6. But that a believer may be animated to obedience by eyeing the reward already obtained for him by the works of Christ, our author no where denies. So indeed the apostle exhorts believers to run their Christian race, " looking unto Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him, (to be obtained by his own works, in the way of most proper merits) endured the cross," fftb. xii. 1.2.

ward in the Scripture sense, is not so much that which comes from God, or is given by God, as that which lies in God, even the full fruition of God himself in Christ. " I am," says God to Abraham, " thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward," Gen. xv. 1 ; and " Whom have I in heaven but thee ?" says David; " and there is none on earth that I desire besides thee," Psal. lxxiii. 25; and " I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness,"p Psal. xvii. 15. And the means to obtain this reward is, not by doing, but by believing ; even by " drawing near with a true heart, in the full assurance of faith," Heb. x. 22; and so indeed it is freely given.*/ And therefore you are not to conceive of that reward which the Scripture speaks of, as if it were the wages of a servant, but as it is the inheritance of sons, r And when the Scripture seemeth to induce believers to obedience, by promising this reward, you are to conceive that the Lord speaks to believers as a father does to his young son, Do this or that, and then I will love thee ; whereas we know, that the father loveth the son first, and so does God; and therefore this is the voice of believers, " We love him, because he first loved us," 1 John iv. 19. The Lord doth pay them, or at least gives them a sure earnest of their wages, before he bid them work ;s

" Papists," says Dr. PrestoD, " tell of escaping damnation, and of getting into Leaven. But Scripture gives other motives, (viz. to good works) : Thou art in Christ, and Christ is thine ; consider what he has done for thee, what thou hast by him, what thou hast been without him, and thus stir up thyself to do for him what he requireth." — Abridg. of his Works, p. 394.

p " Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever."— Short- Cat. " Believers—shall he—made perfectly hlessed in the full enjoyment of God to all nity."— Ibid.

q Rom. iv. 16, '• Therefore it is of faith, that it might he by grace ; to the end the promise (viz. of the inheritance, vers. 13, 14,) might be sure to all the seed." Otherwise it is not given freely ; for " to him that wurketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt," ver. 4.

r The apostle's decision in this case seems to be pretty clear : Rom. vi. 23, " For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life :" he will not have us to look upon it as the wages of a seivant too. The joining together of both these notions of the reward was, it seems, the doctrine of the Pharisees ; Mark x. 17, " Good Master, what shall 1 do, that I may inherit eternal life?" And how unacceptable it was to our blessed Saviour, may be learned from his answer to that question. " The Papists confess that life is merited by Christ, and is made ours by the right of inheritance : so fa- .ve go with them. Yea, touching words, they hold many things with us; (!.". inat no works of themselves can merit life everlasting. (2.) That works done belore conversion can merit nothing at God's hand. (3.) That there is no merit at God's hand, without his mercy, no exact merit as often there is amongst men. 1 be ),oint whereabout we dissent is, that with the merit of Christ and free promise, they will have the merit of works joined, as done by them who are adopted children. — Bayne on Eph. ii. 8. "

s Namely, in the way of the covenant of grace.

and therefore the contest of a believer (according to the measure of his faith) is not, What will God give ine ? but, What shall I give God ? " What shall I render unto the Lord for all his goodness ? For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes, and I have walked in thy truth." Psal. cxvi. 12 ; and xxvi. 3.

Nom. Then, sir, it seems that holiness of life, and good works, are not the cause of eternal happiness, but only the way thither ?

Evan. Do you not remember that our Lord Jesus himself says, " I am the way, the truth, and the life ?" John xiv. 6; and doth not the apostle say to the believing Colossians, " As ye have received Jesus Christ the Lord, so walk in him ?" Col. ii. 6 ; that is, as ye have received him by faith, so go on in your faith, and by his power walk in his commandments. So that good works, as I conceive, may rather be called a believer's walking in the way of eternal happiness, than the way itself; but, however, this we may assuredly conclude, that the sum and substance both of the way, and walking in the way, consists in the receiving of Jesus Christ by faith, and in yielding obedience to his law, according to the measure of that receiving, t

t Our author, remembering Nomista's bias toward good works, as separated from Christ, puts him in miud, that Christ is the way ; and that the soul's motion heavenward is in Christ; that is, a man being once united to Christ by faith, moveth heavenward, making progress in believing, and, by influences derived from Jesus Christ, walking in his holy commandments. The Scripture acknowledges no other holiness of life, or good works; and concerning the necessity of these the author moves no debate. But as to the propriety of expression, since good works are the keeping of the commandments, in the way of which we are to go, he conceives they may, with greater propriety, be called the walking in the way, than the way itself. It is certain that the Scripture speaks of" walking in Christ," Col. ii. 6. " Walking in his commandments," 2 Chron. xvii. 4, and " walking in good works," Eph. ii. 10; and that as these terms signify but one and the same thing, so they are all metaphorical. But one would think the calling of good works the way to be walked in, is further removed from the propriety ot expression, than the catling them the walking in the way. But tin- author, waiviug this, as a matter of phraseology, or maimer of speakiug only, tells us, that assuredly the sum and substance, both of the way to eternal happiness, and of the walking in the way to it, consists in the receiving Jesus Christ by faith, and in yielding obedience to his law, according to the measure of that receiving. Herein is comprehended, Christ and holiness, faith and obedience; which are inseparable. And no narrower is the compass of the wav and walking mentioned, Isa. xxxv. 8, 9, " It shall be called the way of holiness—the redeemed shall walk there." "The way of holiness, or the holy way, (according to an u-ual Hebraism) as it is generally understood by interpreters, is the way leading to heaven, says Piscator ; namely, Christ, faith,—and the doctrine of a holy life."— Fererius apud Pol. synop. in loc. And now that our author, though he conceives good works are not so properly called the way, as the walking, yet does not say, that in no sense they may be called the way, but does expressly ass.-rt them to be the soul's walking in the- way of eternal happiness ; he cannot justly be charged here (more than anywhere else in this book) with

§ 8. Neo. Sir, I am persuaded, that through my neighbour Nomista's asking you these questions, you have been interrupted in your discourse, in showing how faith enables a man to exercise his Christian graces, and perform his Christian duties aright; and therefore I pray you go on.

Evan. "What should I say more ? for the time would fail me to tell, how that, according to the measure of any man's faith, is his true peace of conscience ; for, says the apostle, " being justified by faith, we have peace with God," Rom. v. 1. Yea, says the prophet Isaiah, " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee," Isa. xxvi. 3. Here there is a sure and true grounded peace : " Therefore it is of faith," says the apostle, " that it might be by grace, and that the promise might be sure to all the seed," Rom. iv. 16. And answerable to a man's believing that he is "justified freely by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ," u (Rom. iv. 3, 24.) is his true humility of spirit. So that, although ho be endowed with excellent gifts and graces, and though he perform never so many duties, he denies himself in all; he does not make them as ladders for him to ascend up into heaven by, but desires to " be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ," Phil. iii. 9. He does not think himself to be one step nearer to heaven, for all his works and performances. And if he hear any man praise him for his gifts and graces, he will not conceive that he has obtained the same by his own industry and pains-taking, as some men have proudly thought; neither will he speak it out, as some have done, saying, These gifts and graces have cost me something—I have taken much pains to obtain them; but he says, " By the grace of God I am what I am ; and not I, but the grace of God that was with me," 1 Cor. xv. 10. And if he behold an ignorant man, or a wicked liver, he will not call him " Carnal wretch !" or " Profane fellow !" nor say, " Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou," (Isa. lxv. 5.) as some have said; but he pities such a man, and prays for him ; and in his heart he says concerning himself, " Who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou hast not received ?" 1 Cor. iv. 7.

And thus I might go on, and show you how, acccording to any man's faith, is his true joy in God, and his true thankfulness to

teaching, that holiness is not necessary to salvation, unless one will in the first place

say, that though the way itself, to eternal happiness, is necessary to salvation, y»t the

walking in the way is not necessary to it; which would be Antioomian with a witness.

u And not for anything wrought in himself, or done by himself. See p. 324, note w.

God, and his patience in all troubles and afflictions, and his con-tentedness in any condition, and his willingness to suffer, and his cheerfulness in suffering, and his contentedness to part with any-earthly thing. Yea, according to any man's faith, is his ability to pray aright, Rom. x. 14; to hear or read the word of God aright; to receive the sacrament with profit and comfort; and to do any duty either to God or man after a right manner, and to a right end, Heb. iv. 2. Yea, according to the measure of any man's faith, is his love to Christ, and so to man for Christ's sake; and so, consequently, his readiness and willingness to forgive an injury; yea, to forgive an enemy, and to do good to them that hate him; and the more faith any man has, the less love he has to the world or the things that are in the world. To conclude, the greater any man's faith is, the more fit he is to die, and the more willing he is to die.

Neo. Well, sir, now I do perceive that faith is a most excellent grace, and happy is that man who has a great measure of it.

Evan. The truth is, faith is the chief grace that Christians are to be exhorted to get and exercise; and therefore, when the people asked our Lord Christ, " what they should do to work the works of God ?" he answered and said, " This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent," John vi. 29 ; speaking as if there were no other duty at all required, but only believing ; for indeed, to say as the thing is, believing includes all other duties in it, and they spring all from it; and therefore says one, " Preach faith, and preach all." "Whilst I bid man believe," says learned Rollock, "I bid him do all good things;" for, says Dr. Preston, "Truth of belief will bring forth truth of holiness; if a man believe, works of sanctification will follow; for faith draws after it inherent righteousness and sanctification." Wherefore, says he, "if a man will go about this great work, to change his life, to get victory over any sin, that it may not have dominion over him, to have his conscience purged from dead works, and to be made partaker of the Divine nature, let him not go about it as a moral man;" that is, let him not consider what commandments there are, what the rectitude is which the law requires, and how to bring his heart to it; but " let him go about it as a Christian, that is, let him believe the promise of pardon, in the blood of Christ; and the very believing the promise will be able to cleanse his heart from dead works." v

v The sum thereof is, that no considerations, no endeavours whatsoever, will truly sanctify a man, without faith. Honbeit, such considerations and endeavours are necessary to promote and advance the sanctiticntion of the soul by faith.

Neo. But, 1 pray you sir, whence has faith its power aud virtue to do all this ?

Evan. Even from our Lord Jesus Christ; for faith doth ingraft a man, who is by nature a wild olive branch, into Christ as into the natural olive; and fetches sap from the root Christ, and thereby makes the tree bring forth fruit in its kind ; yea, faith fetcheth a supernatural efficacy from the death and life of Christ; by virtue whereof it metamorphoses w the heart of a believer, and creates and infuses into him new principles of action, x So that, what a treasure

to That is, transforms or changes. Rom. xii. 2, " Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."

x Namely, instrumentally. It cannot be denied that our author places faith before the new principles of actions in this passage, and before the habits of grace, and yet it will not follow, that, in his opinion, there can be no gracious change in the soul before faith. What he does indeed teach, in this matter, is warranted by the plain testimony of the apostle, Eph. i. 13, " After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." And what this sealing is, at least as to the chief part of it, may be learned from John i. 16, " And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." For as sealing is the impression of the image of the seal on the wax, so that it thereby receives upon it point for point on the seal, so, believers being sealed with the Spirit of Christ, receive grace for grace in Christ, whereby they are made like him, and bear his image. And as it is warranted by the word, so it is agreeable to the old Protestant doctrine, that we are regenerate by faith ; which is the title of the 3d chap, of the 3d book of Calvin's Instit. and is taught in the Old Confess, art. 3. in these words: "Regeneration is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost, working in the hearts of the elect of God an assured faith ;" and art. 13. in these words: " So soon as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus (which God's elect children receive by true faith) takes possession in the heart of any man, so soon does he regenerate and renew the same man."

Nevertheless, I am not of the mind, that, either iu truth, or in the judgment of our reformers, or of our author, the first act of faith is an act of an irregenerate, that is to say, a dead soul. But to understand this matter aright, I conceive one must distinguish betwixt regeneration taken strictly, and taken largely ; and betwixt new powers and new habits or principles of action. Regeneration, strictly so called, is the quickening of the dead soul, by the Spirit of Christ passively received, and goes before faith, according to John i. 12, 13, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born not of blood—but of God." This is called by Amesius, the first regeneration, Medul. lib. 1. cap. 29. sect. 6. see cap. 26. sect. 19. And it belongs to, or is the same with effectual calling; in the description of which, in the Shorter Catechism, one finds a renewing mentioned, whereby sinners are enabled to embrace Jesus Christ; and says the Larger Catech. on the same subject, " They, although in themselves dead in sin, are hereby made able to answer his call." Regeneration, largelytaken, presupposing the former, is the same with sanctification, wrought in the soul by the Spirit of Christ, actively received by faith, and so follows faith. Acts xxvi. 18, " Among them which are sanctified by faith, that is in Me :" the subjects (of which) " are the redeemed, c.dh:d and justified."— Essen. Com. cap. 16. sect. 3. And accordingly, in the description thereof iu the Shorter Catechism, mention is made of the second

of all graces Christ liath stored up in him, faith draiueth, and draw-eth them out to the use of a believer; being as a conduit-cock, that watereth all the herbs of the garden. Yea, faith does apply the blood of Christ to a believer's heart; and the blood of Christ has in it, not only a power to wash from the guilt of sin, but to cleanse and purge likewise from the power and stain of sin ; and therefore, says godly Hooker, " If you would have grace, you must first of all get faith, and that will bring all the rest; let faith go to Christ, and there is meekness, patience, humility, and wisdom, and faith will fetch all them to the soul ; therefore, (says he) you must not look for sanctification till you come to Christ in vocation."

Norn. Truly, sir, I do now plainly see that I have been deceived, and have gone a wrong way to work ; for I verily thought that holiness of life must go before faith, and so be the ground of it, and produce and bring it forth : whereas I do now plainly see, that faith must go before, and so produce and bring forth holiness of life.

Evan. I remember a man, who was much enlightened in the knowledge of the gospel,?/ who says, "There may be many that think,

renewing, namely, Whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, anil are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. And thus I conceive regeneration to be taken in the above passages of the Old Confession. The which is confirmed by the following testimonies. " Being in Christ we must be new creatures, not in substance, but in qualities and disposition of our minds, and change of the action of our lives—all which is impossible to them that have no faith." — Mr. John Davidson's Catechism, page 29. " So good works follow as effects of Christ in us, possessed by faith, who—beginneth to work in us regeneration and a renewing of the whole parts and powers of the soul and body. Which begun sanctification and holiness he never ceases to accomplish."— Ibid. p. 30. " The effect (viz. of justification) inherent in us, as in a subject, is that new quality which is called inherent righteousness or regeneration. — Grounds of Christian Religion, by the renowned Beza and Fains, 1586, chap. 29, sect. 11. " That new quality, then called inherent righteousness and regeneration, testified by good works, is a necessary effect of true faith."— Ibid. chap. 31, sect. 13.

Now in regeneration taken in the fomer sense, new powers are put into the soul, whereby the sinner, who is dead in sin, is able to discern Christ in his glory, and to embrace him by faith. But it is in regeneration taken in the latter sense, that new habits of grace, or immediate principles of actions are given ; namely, upon the soul's uniting with Christ by faith. So Essenius, having defined regeneration to be, the putting of spiritual life in a man spiritually dead, (compare chap. 14, sect. 11.) afterwards says, " As by regeneration new powers were put into the man, so by sanctification are given new spiritual habits."— Theological Virtues, ib. cap. 16, sect. 5. And as the Scriptures are express, that men are " sanctified by faith," (Acts. xxvi. 18,) so is the Larger Catechism that it is in sanctification they are " Renewed in their whole man, having the seeds of repentance unto life, and of all other saving graces, put into their hearts."— quest. 75.

y This man, Bernardine Ochine, an infamous apostate, was at first a monk; but as our author says, being much enlightened in the knowledge of the gospel, he not only made profession of the Protestant religion, but, together with the renowned Peter

that as a man chooses to serve a prince, so men choose to serve God. So likewise they think, that as those who do best service, do obtain most favour of their lord: and as those that have lost it, the more they humble themselves, the sooner they recover it; even so they think the case stands between God and them : whereas, (says he) it is not so, but clean contrary, for he himself says, ' Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,' John xv. 16. And not for that we repent and humble ourselves, and do good works, he gives us his free grace; but we repent, and humble ourselves, do good works, and become holy, because he gives us his grace." The good thief on the cross was not illuminated, because he did confess Christ: but he did confess Christ, because he was illuminated. For says Luther on Gal. (p. 124,)" The tree must first be, and then the fruit; for the apples make not the tree, but the tree makes the apples. So faith first maketh the person, which afterwards brings forth works. Therefore to do the law without faith, is to make the apples of wood and earth without the tree, which is not to make apples, but mere phantasies." Wherefore, neighbour Nomista, let me entreat you, that whereas before you have reformed your life that you might believe, why, now believe that you may reform your life ; and do not any longer work to get an interest in Christ, but believe your interest in Christ, that so you may work, z And then you will not make the change of your life the ground of your faith, as you have done, and as Mr. Culverwell says, many do, who being asked, What caused them to believe ? they answer, " Because they have truly repented, and changed their course of life." a

Martyr, was esteemed a most famous preacher of the gospel, throughout Italy Being in danger on the account of religion, he left Italy by Martyr's advice ; and being much assisted by the Duchess of Ferrara in his escape, he went first to Geneva, and then to Zurich, and was admitted a minister in that city. But discovering himself there, (a9 Simon Magus did, after he had joined himself to the church of Samari;i")he was banished ; and is justly reckoned among the forerunners of the execrable Socinus — See Hornbeck. appar. ad. contr. Soc. page 47. Hence one may plainly see how there are sermons of his which might safely and to good purpose be quoted. And as for the character given him by the author here, if one is in hazard of reckoning it an applause, one must remember that it is no greater than what the apostle gives to those guilty of 6in against the Holy Ghost, Heb. vi. 6, '' Those who were once enlightened, and have lasted of the heavenly gift," &c. which I make no question but our author had his eye upon, in giving this man this character very pertinently.

z That is, by believing, get a saving interest in Christ; whereas, before, you have set yourself, as it were, to work it. See the note on the Definition of Faith.

a " Which (adds he) if it proceed not fron faith, is not so much as a sound proof of faith, much less can it be any cause to draw them to believe. " The only firm ground of saving faith is God's truth, revealed in his word ; as is plainly taught, Rom. x. \1."—Ibid. p. 20, 21.

Ant. Sir, what think you of a preacher that, in my hearing, said, he durst not exhort nor persuade sinners to believe their sins were pardoned, before he saw their lives reformed, for fear they should take more liberty to sin ?

Evan. Why, what should I say but that I think that preacher was ignorant of the mystery of faith ? 6

For it c is of the nature of sovereign waters, which so wash off the corruption of the ulcer, that they cool the heat, and stay the spreading of the infection, and so by degrees heal the same. Neither did he know that it is of the nature of cordials, which so comfort the heart and ease it, that they also expel the noxious humours, and strengthen nature against them, d

Ant. And I am acquainted with a professor, though (God knows, e a very weak one) that says, if he should believe before his life bo reformed, then he might believe, and yet walk on in his sins :—I pray you, sir, what would you say to such a man ?

Evan. Why, I could say, with Dr. Preston, let him, if he can, believe truly, and do this; but it is impossible : let him believe, and the other will follow ; truth of belief will bring forth truth of holiness : for who, if he ponder it well, can fear a fleshly licentiousness, where the believing soul is united and married to Christ?/ The law, as it is the covenant of works, and Christ, are set in opposition,

6 This censure, as it natively follows upon the overthrowing of that doctrine, viz. " That holiness of life must go before faith, and so be the ground of it, and produce and bring it forth ;" so it is founded on these two ancient Protestant principles : (1.) That the belief of the remission of sin is comprehended in saving, justifying faith ; of which see page 324, note w. and the note on the Definition of Faith. (2.) That true repentance, and acceptable reformation of life, do necessarily flow from, but go not before saving faith. Hence it necessarily follows, that remission of sin must be believed, before there can be any acceptable reformation of life ; and that that preacher's fear was groundless, reformation of life being so caused by the faith of remission of sin, that it is inseparable from it ; as our author teaches in the following passages. Calvin's censure in this case is fully as severe. " As for them (says he) that think that repentance does rather go before faith, than flow or spring forth of it, as a fruit out of a tree, they never knew the force thereof." Instit. book 3. chnp. 3. sec. 1. "Yet when we refer the beginning of repentance to faith, we do not dream a certain mean space of time, wherein it brings out ; but we mean to show, that a man cannot earnestly apply himself to repentance, unless he know himself to be of God."— Ibid. sec. 2.

c Namely, Faith.

dEven so, faith not only justifies a sinner, but sanctifies him in heart and life.

e I think this expresMon might very well have been spared here.

_/"" Q. Does not this doctrine (viz. of justification by faith without works) make men secure and profane V A. No, for it cannot be, but they who are ingrafted into Christ by faith, should bring forth fruits of thankfulness." Palat. Catech. q. 64.

as two husbands to one wife successively, (Rom. vi. 4;) whilst the law was alive in the conscience, all the fruits were deadly, (ver. 5.); but Christ, taking the spouse to himself (the law being dead) by his quickening Spirit doth make her fruitful to God, (ver. 6.); and so raises up seed to the former husband; for materially these <are the works of the law, though produced by the Spirit of Christ in the gospel, g

Ant. And yet, sir, I am verily persuaded, that there be many, both preachers and professors, in this city, of the very same opinion, that these two are of.

Evan. The truth is, many preachers stand upon the praise of some moral virtue, and do enveigh against some vice of the times, more than upon pressing men to believe. But, says a learned writer, " It will be our condemnation, if we love darkness, rather than light, and desire still to be groping in the twilight of morality, the precepts of moral men. than to walk in the light of divinity, which is the doctrine of Jesus Christ; and I pity the preposterous care and unhappy travel of many well-affected, who study this and that virtue, neglecting this cardinal and radical virtue; as if a man should water all the tree, and not the root. Fain would they shine in patience, meekness, and zeal, and yet are not careful to establish and root themselves in faith, which should maintain all the rest; and therefore all their labour has been in vain and to no purpose."

Nom. Indeed, sir, this which you have now said, I have found true by my own experience ; for I have A laboured and endeavoured to get victory over such corruptions, as to overcome my dullness, and to perform duties with cheerfulness, and all in vain.

Evan. And no marvel; for to pray, to meditate, to keep a Sabbath cheerfully, to have your conversation in heaven, is as impossible for you yourself to do, as for iron to swim or for stones to ascend upwards ; but yet nothing is impossible to faith; it can naturalize these things unto you; it can make a mole of the earth a soul of heaven. Wherefore, though you have tried all moral conclusions

g As a woman married to a second husband, after the death of the first, does the same work for subsistence in the family, that was required of her by the first husband ; yet does it not to, nor as under the dead husband, but the living one ; so the good works of believers, are materially, and but materially, the works of the law, (as a covenant) the first husband, now dead to the believer. In this sense only the law is here treated of: and to make the good works of believers formally the works of the law, as a covenant and husband, is to contradict the apostle Rom. viii. 4—6. to " make them deadly fruits, dishonourable to Christ the second husband, and unacceptable to God."

h After that manner.

of purposing, promising, resolving, vowing, fasting, watching, and self-revenge ; yet get you to Christ, and with the finger of faith touch but the hem of his garment; and you shall feel virtue come from him, for the curing of all your diseases. Wherefore I beseech you, come out of yourself unto Jesus Christ, and apprehend him by faith, as (blessed be God) you see your neighbour Neophitus has done ; and then shall you find the like loathing of sin, and love to the law of Christ, as he now does ; yea, then shall you find your corruptions dying and decaying daily, more and more i as I am confident he shall.

Neo. Ay, but, sir, shall I not have power quite to overcome all my corruptions, and to yield perfect obedience to the law of Christ, as (the Lord knows) I much desire ?

Evan. If you could believe perfectly, then should it be even according to your desire; according to that of Luther, (on the Gala-tians, p. 173.) " If we could perfectly apprehend Christ, then should we be free from sin :" but alas! whilst we are here, we know but in part, and so believe but in part, and so receive Christ but in part, 1 Cor. xiii. 9, and so, consequently, are holy but in part; witness James the Just, including himself when he says, " In many things we sin all," Jam. iii. 2. John the faithful and loving disciple, when he says, " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," 1 John i. 8. Yea, and witness Luther, when he says, on the Galatians, (p. 144.) " A Christian man hath a body, in whose members," as Paul says, " sin dwelleth and war- . reth," Rom. vii. 15. And although he fall not into outward and gross ! sins as murder, adultery, theft, and such like, yet is he not free from . impatience and murmuring against God; yea, (says he) I feel in my-j self covetousness, lust, anger, pride, and arrogancy, also the fear of; death, heaviness, hatred, murmurings, impatience." So that you must not look to be quite without sin, whilst you remain in this life; yet this I dare promise you, that as you grow from faith to faith, so shall you grow from strength to strength in all other graces. " Wherefore," says Hooker, " strengthen this grace of faith, and strengthen all; nourish this, and nourish all." So that if you can attain to a great measure of faith, you shall be sure to attain to a great measure of holiness; according to the saying of Dr. Preston, " He that hath the strongest faith, he that believeth in the greatest degree the promise of pardon and remission of sins, I dare boldly say, he hath the holiest heart, and t'.ie holiest life. And therefore I beseech you labour to grow strong in the faith of the gospel," Phil. i. 27. § 9. Neo. 0, sir, I desire it with all my heart; and therefore I

i After that manner.

Vol. VII. t

pray you tell me, what you would have me to do, that I may grow more strong.

Evan. Why, surely, the hest advice and counsel that I can give you, is to exercise that faith which you have, and wrestle against doubtings, and be earnest in prayer for the increase of it. " Forasmuch," says Luther, " as the gift is in the hands of God only, who bestoweth when, and on whom he pleaseth, thou must resort unto him by prayer, and say with the apostles, " Lord, increase our faith," Luke xvii. 5. And you must also be diligent in hearing the word preached ; for as " faith cometh by hearing," (Rom. x. 17-) so is it also increased by hearing. And you must also read the word, and meditate upon the free and gracious promises of God; for the promise is the immortal seed, whereby the Spirit of Christ begets and increases faith in the hearts of all his. And lastly, you must frequent the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and receive it as often as conveniently you can.

Ant. But by your favour, sir, if faith be the gift of God, and he give it when and to whom he pleases, then I conceive that a man's using such means will not procure any greater measure of it than God is pleased to give.

Evan. I confess it is not the means that will either beget or increase faith; but it is the Spirit of God in the use of means that doth it: so that as the means will not do it without the Spirit, neither will the Spirit do without the means, where the means may be had. "Wherefore, I pray you, do not you hinder him from using the means.

Neo. Sir, for my own part, let him say what he will, I am resolved by the assistance of God, to be careful and diligent in the use of these means which you have now prescribed; that so by the increasing of my faith, I may be the better enabled to be subject to the will of the Lord, and so walk as that I may please him.

§ 10. But forasmuch as heretofore he hath endeavoured to persuade me to believe divers points, which then I could not see to be true, and therefore could not assent unto them, methinks I do now begin to see some show of truth in them ; therefore, sir, if you please to give me leave, I will tell you what points they are to the intent I may have your jugdment and direction therein. Evan. Do so, I pray you.

Neo. 1. Why, first of all, he hath endeavoured to persuade me that a believer is not under the law, but is altogether delivered from it.

2. That a believer does not commit sin.

3. That the Lord can see no sin in a believer.

4. That the Lord is not angry with a believer for his sins.

5. That the Lord doth not chastise a believer for his sins.

6. Lastly, That a believer hath no cause neither to confess his sins, nor to crave a pardon at the hands of God for them, neither yet to fast, nor mourn, nor humble himself before the Lord for them.

Evan. These points which you have now mentioned have occasioned many needless and fruitless disputes; and that because men have either not understood what they have said, or else not declared whereof they have affirmed ; for in one sense they may all of them be truly affirmed, and in another sense they may all of them be truly denied wherefore if we would clearly understand the truth, we must distinguish betwixt the law as it is the law of works, and as it is the law of Christ.^'

j The Antinomian sense of all these positions is, no doubt, erroneous and detestable and is opposed and disproven by our author. The posisions themselves are parodoxes bearing a precious gospel truth, which he maintains against the legalist; but I doubt it is too much to call them all Antinomian paradoxes. Eut to call them simply, and by the lump, Antinomian errors, is shocking: one might as good say, it is a Popish or Lutheran error, '• That the bread in the sacrament is Christ's body;" and that it is a Socinian, Arminian, or Baxterian error, " That a sinner is justified by faith;" for the first four of the paradoxes are as directly scriptural as these are ; though the Antinomian sense of the former is antiscriptural, as is the Popish, Lutheran, Socinian, Arminian, and Baxterian sense of the latter, respectively. At this rate, one might subvert the very foundations of Christianity, as might easily be instructed, if there were sufficient cause to exemplify it here. How few^doctrines of the Bible are there that have not been wrested to an erroneous sense by some corrupt men or other? yet will not their corrupt glosses warrant the condemning of the scriptural positions themselves as erroneous.

The first four of these paradoxes are found in the following texts of Scripture, viz.

1st, Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but under grace." Chap. vii. 6, "Now we are delivered from the law."

2d, 1 John iii. 6, " Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not." Ver. 9, " Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin—and he cannot sin."

3c?, Num. xxiii. 21, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel." Cant. iv. 7, " Thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee."

4th, Isa. liv. 9, " So have 1 sworn, that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee."

The case standing thus, these paradoxes must needs be sensed one way or other agreeable to the analogy of faith, and so defended by all who own the divine authority of the Holy Scripture. And as an orthodox divine would not condemn the two propositions above mentioned, brought in for illustration of this matter, but clear the same by giving a sound sense of them, and rejecting the unsound sense, as that it is true that the bread is Christ's body sacramentally ; false, that it is so by transubstan-tiation, or consubstantiation ; that it is true, sinners are justified by faith as an instrument, apprehending and applying Christ's righteousness ; false, that they are justified by it as a work, fulfilling the pretented new proper gospel law : so our author gives

Y 2

Now, as it is the law of works, it may be truly said, that a believer is not under the law, but is delivered from it, k according to that of the apostle, Rom. vi. 14, " Ye are not under the law, but under grace;" and Rom. vii. 6, " But now we are delivered from the law." And if believers be not under the law, but are delivered from the law, as it is a law of works, then, though they sin, yet do they not transgress the law of works ; for " where no law is, there is no transgression," Rom. vi. 15. And therefore, says the apostle John, " Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not," 1 John iii. 6; that is, as I conceive, whosoever abideth in Christ by faith, sinneth not against the law of works. I And if a believer sin not against the law of works, then can God see no sin in a believer, as a transgression of that law;m and therefore it is said, Num. xsiii. 21, "He

a safe and sound sense of these Scriptural paradoxes, and rejects the unsound sense put upon them by Antinomians ; and this he does, by applying to them the distinction of the law, as it is the law of works, i.e. the covenant of works, and as it is the law of Christ, i e. a rule of life, in the hand of a Mediator, to believers. Now, if this distinction be admitted here, neither in these Dor equivalent terms, but the law of Christ, and law of works, must be reckoned one and the same thing; then believers in Christ, whom none but Antinomians will deny to be under the law, as it is the law of Christ, or a rule of life, are evidently staked down under the covenant of works still, forasmuch, as, in the sense of the Holy Scripture, as well as in the sense of our author, the law of works is the covenant of works. And since it is plain from the Holy Scripture, and from the Westminster Confession, that believers are not under the law as a covenant of works ; a way which, by this distinction, our author had blocked up, is, by rejecting of it, and confounding the law of works and law of Chnst, opened for Antinomians to cast off the law for guod and all.

The two last of these paradoxes are consequently scriptural, as necessarily following upon the former, being understood in the same sense as they are, and as our author explains them.

k " True believers be not under the law as a covenant of works."— We strain. Confess, chap. 19. sec. 6. " The law of works," says our author, " is as much to say, as the covenant of works."

I "As the world is altogether set upon sin, and can do nothing but sin, so they that are born of God sin not ; not that their sins of themselves are not deadly, but because their persons are so lively in Christ, that the deadliness of sin cannot prevail against them."— Mr. John Davidson's Cat. p. 32. What he means by the deadliness of sin, appears from these words a little after : " Howbeit the condemnation of sin be removed from the faithful altogether," &c. The penalty which the law of works threatens, says our author to Neophitus, (page 351) is " condemnation and eternal death ; and this you have no cause at all to fear."

m Mr. James Melvil to the same purpose expresses it thus,

But God into his daughter dear sees nane iniquitie, Nor in his chosen Israel will spy enormitie : Not luking in hir bowk, whilk is with ferntickles repleit, But ever into Christ her face, whilk pleasand is and sweet.

Morning Vision, dedicated to James VI. p. 85.

hath not beheld iniquity in Jacoh, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel :" and again it is said, Jer. I. 20, " At that time the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found :" and in Cant. iv. 7, Christ says concerning his spouse, " Behold thou art all fair, ray love, and there is no spot in thee." And if God can see no sin in a believer, then assuredly he is neither angry nor doth chastise a believer for his sins, as a transgression of that law; n and hence it is, that the Lord says concerning his own people that were believers, Isa. xxvii. 4, "Anger is not in me :" and again, Isa. liv. 9, the Lord speaking comfortably to his spouse the Church, says, " As I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that 1 will no more be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." Now, if the Lord be not angry with a believer, neither doth chastise him for his sins, as they are any transgression of the law of works, then hath a believer neither need to confess his sins unto God, nor to crave pardon for them, nor yet to fast, nor mourn, nor humble himself for them, as conceiving them to be any transgression of the law, as it is the law of works, o Thus you see,

n Such anger is revenging wrath, and such chastisement is proper punishment inflicted for satisfying offended justice; in which sense it is said, Isa. liii. 5, " The chastisement of our peace was upon him,'' namely, on Jesus Christ; and therefore it cannot he on believers themselves.

o Our author does not indeed here refute the Antinomian error, that the believer ought not to mourn for his sins : he does that effectually in the next paragraph. But here he refutes the legalist, who will needs have the believer still to be under the law, as it is the covenant of works; and therefore to confess and mourn,' &c. for his sins, as still committed against the covenant of works. But it is evident as the light, that believers are not under the covenant of works, or, in other terms, under the law, as that covenant; and that principle being once fixed, the whole chain of consequences, which our author has here made, does necessarily follow thereupon. It is strange that nothing can be allowed in believers to be mourning for sin, unless they mourn for it as unbelievers, as persons under the covenant of works, who doubtless are under the curse and condemnation for their sin. Gal. iii. 10. But "as our obedience now is not the performance, so our sinning is not the violation of the condition of the old covenant. Believers— their sins now, though transgressions of the law, are not counted violations of the conditions of the covenant of works, under which they are not."— Brown on Justification, chap. 15, p. 224. " If sense of sin be taken for the unbelieving feeling of, and judging myself cast out of bis sight, and condemned ; whereas yet I am in Christ, and it is God that justifies (me) ; who is he that shall condemn?" (Rom. viii. 23,34.) we shall agree with Antinomiaos. This is indeed the hasty sense of unbelief. Psalm xxxi. 22 ; John ii. 4. Hence let them be rebuked, who say not that Christ in the gospel hath taken away this sense of sin."— Rutherford on the Covenant, p. 222.

that if you consider the law in this sense, then all these points follow : according as you say our friend Antinomista hath endeavoured to persuade you.

But if you consider the law, as it is the law of Christ, then they do not so, but quite contrary. For as the law is the law of Christ, it may be truly said, that a believer is under the law, and not delivered from it; according to that of the apostle, 1 Cor. ix. 21, " Being not without law to Grod, but under the law to Christ;" and according to that of the same apostle, Rom. iii. 31, " Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid ! yea, (by faith) we establish the law." And if a believer be under the law, and not delivered from it, as it is the law of Christ, then if he sin, he doth thereby transgress the law of Christ; and hence I conceive it is that the apostle John says, both concerning himself and other believers, 1 John i. 8, " If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us :" and so says the apostle James, chap. iii. 2, " In many things we offend all." And if a believer transgress the law of Christ, then doubtless he seeth it: for it is said, Prov. v. 21, " That the ways of man are before the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings :" and in Heb. iv. 13, it is said, " All things are naked and opeu unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." And if the Lord see the sins that a believer commits against the law, as it is the law of Christ, then doubtless he is angry with them; for it is said, Psalm cvi. 40, that because the people " went a whoring after their own inventions, therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance;" and in Deut. i. 37- Moses says concerning himself, " The Lord was angry with him." And if the Lord be angry with a believer for his transgressing the law of Christ, then assuredly (if need be) he will chastise him for it: for it is said, (Psalm lxxxix. 30—32.) concerning the seed and children of Jesus Christ, " If they forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes." And in 1 Cor. xi. 30, it is said concerning believers, for this cause," namely, their unworthy receiving 6f the sacrament, " many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." And if the Lord be angry with believers, and chastise them for their sins, as they are a transgression of the law of Christ, then hath a believer cause to confess his sins unto the Lord, and to crave pardon for them, as conceiving them to be a transgression of the law fc of Christ, p

p Thus our author hath solidly refuted in this paragraph the Antinomian sense of all the six positions above-mentioned.

§ 11. And now, my loving neighbour, Neophitus, I pray you, consider seriously of these things, and learn to distinguish aright betwixt the law, as it is the law of works, and as it is the law of Christ, and that in effect and practice : I mean, in heart and conscience.

Neo. Sir, It is the unfeigned desire of my heart so to do; and therefore, I pray you, give me some direction therein, q

Evan. Surely the best direction that I can give you is, to labour truly to know, and firmly to believe, that you are not now under the law, as it is the law of works ; and that you are now under the law as it is the law of Christ; and that therefore you must neither hope for what the law of works promises, in case of your most exact obedience ; nor fear what it threatens, in case of your most imperfect and defective obedience : and yet you may both hope for what the law of Christ promises, in case of your obedience, and are to fear what it threatens, in case of your disobedience.

Neo. But, Sir, what are these promises and threatenings ? and, first, I pray you, tell me what it is the law of works promises.

Evan. The law of works, or, which is all one, (as I have told you) the covenant of works, promises justification and eternal life to all that yield perfect obedience thereunto : and this you are not to hope for, because of your obedience. And indeed, to say as the thing is, you being dead to the law of works, can yield no obedience at all unto it; for how can a dead wife yield any obedienee to her husband ? And if you can yield no obedience at all unto it, what hope can you have of any reward for your obedience ? Nay, let me tell you more, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hath purchased both justification and eternal life by his perfect obedience to the law of works, and hath freely given it to you, as it is written, Acts xiii. 39, " By him all that believe are justified for all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses:" and, " Verily, verily," says our Saviour, " he that believeth in me hath everlasting life," John vi. 47.

Neo. And I pray you, sir, what does the law of works threaten, in case of man's disobedience unto it ?

Evan. Why, the penalty which the law of works, in that case, threatens, is condemnation and death eternal: and this you have no cause at all to fear, in case of your most defective obedience ; for no man hath any cause to fear the penalty of that law which he

q Namely, how to improve these points of doctrine in my practice. There lies the great difficulty ; and according as unbelief or faith has the ascendant, so will the soul in practice carry itself; confessing, begging pardon, fasting, mourning, and humbling itself either as a condemned malefactor, or as an offending child.

lives not under. Surely a man that lives under the laws of England, has no cause to fear the penalties of the laws of Spain or France: Even so you, that now live under the law of Christ, have cause to fear the penalties of the law of works, r Nay, the lawof works is dead to you ; and therefore you have no more cause to fear the threats thereof, than a living wife has to fear the threats of her dead husband; nay, than a dead wife has to fear the threats of a dead husband, s Nay, let me say yet more, Jesus Christ, by his condemation and death upon the cross, has delivered you and set you free from condemnation and eternal death ; as it is written, Rom. viii. 1. " There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." And, says Christ himself, John xi. 26, " Whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die."

And thus you see your freedom and liberty from the law, as it is the law of works. And that you may be the better enabled to " stand fast in this liberty, wherewith Christ has made you free ;" beware of conceiving that the Lord now stands in any relation to you, or will any deal with you as a man under that law. So that if the Lord shall be pleased hereafter to bestow upon you a great measure of faith, whereby you shall be enabled to yield an exact and perfect obedience to the mind and will of God; t then beware of conceiving that the Lord looks upon it as obedience to the law of works, or will in any measure reward you for it, according to the promises of that law. And if in case at any time hereafter, you be, by reason of weakness of your faith, and strength of temptation, drawn aside, and prevailed with to swerve from the mind and Avill of the Lord, then beware of conceiving that the Lord sees it as any transgression of the law of works. For if you cannot transgress that law, then it is impossible the Lord should see that which is not: and if the Lord can see no sin in you, as a transgression of the law of works, then it is impossible that he should either be angry with you, or correct you for any sin, as it is a transgression of that law. No, to speak with holy reverence, as I said before,

r See pages 250, note s, and 251, note u. " The law, as it condemneth and curseth, is to the believer a mere passive and a naked stander-by, and has no activity, nor can it act in that power upon any in Christ ; as the law of Spain is merely passive in condemning a free-born man in Scotland."— Rutherford's Spirit Antichrist,p. 87. " The law being fully satisfied by Christ, it neither condemueth, nor can it condemn, to eternal sufferings, for that is removed from the law to all that are in Christ."— Ibid.

s For, according to the Scripture, the believer is dead to the law, and the law is dead to the believer; namely, as it is the law of the covenant of works. See page 24 7, note k, and pages 248, 249.

* Exact and perfect, comparatively, not absolutely. See pages 344, 345.

the Lord cannot, by virtue of the covenant of works, either require any obedience of you, or give you an angry look, or an angry word; much less threaten and afflict you for any disobedience to that covenant, u And therefore, whensoever your conscience shall tell you, that you have broken any of the ten commandments, do not conceive that the Lord looks upon you as an angry Judge, armed with justice against you ; much less do you fear that he will execute his justice upon you, according to the penalty of that covenant, in un-justifying of you, or depriving you of your heavenly inheritance, and giving you your portion in hell fire. No, assure yourself that your God iu Christ will never unson you, nor unspouse you : no, nor yet, as touching your justification and eternal salvation, will he love you ever a whit the less, though you commit ever so many or great sins; for this is a certain truth, that as no good either in you, or done by you, did move him to justify you, and give you eternal life, so no evil in you, or done by you, can move him to take it away from you, being once given, v And therefore believe it whilst

u See page 295, note q.

v The author speaks expressly of the love of God, touching believers' justification, and eternal salvation, which, according to the Scripture, he reckons to be given theua already. And he asserts, That as no good in them, or done by them, did move him to love them, so as to justify them, and give them eternal life, so no evil in them, or done by them, shall lessen that love, as to their justification and eternal salvation; that is, as himself explains it, move bun to take eternal life (which includes justification) away from them, being once given. This is most firm truth : howbeit, the more and the greater the sins of a believer are, he may lay his account with the more and the greater effects of God's fatherly indignation against him ; and the corruption of "u-man nature makes the adding of such a clause in such a case very necessary. What our author here advances, is evident from the holy Scripture. Psal. lxxxix. 30—24, " If bis children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes : nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I utterly take from him ; nor suffer my faithfulness to fail ; my covenant will I not break; nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." And to deny it, is in effect to affirm that God loves believers, as touching their justification and eternal salvation, for their holiness ; contrary to Tit. iii. 5, " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us." Rom. vi. 23, " The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." And that that love of his to them changeth according to the variations of their frame and walk ; contrary to Rom. xi. 29, " The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." But while the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints stands, viz. That true believers can neither fall away totally, nor finally, neither from relative grace, nor from inherent grace, our author's doctrine on this point must stand also ; and the sins of believers how great or many soever they be, can never be of that kind which is inconsistent with a state of grace, nor of another than that of infirmities. See p. 300, note z. And how low soever grace is brought in the soul of a believer at any time, through the prevalence of temptation, yet can he never altogether lose his inherent holiness, nor can be at any

you live, that as the Lord first loved you freely, so will he hereafter " heal your backslidings, and still love you freely," Hos. xiv. 4. Yea, " he will love you unto the end," John xiii. 1. And although the Lord does express the fruits of his anger towards you, in chastising and afflicting of you, yet do not imagine that your afflictions are penal, proceeding from hatred, and vindictive justice ; and so as payments and satisfaction for sins ; and so as the beginning of eternal tormeuts in hell; for you being, as you have heard, freed from the law of works, and so consequently from sinning against it, must needs likewise be freed from all wrath, anger, miseries, calamities, afflictions, yea, and from death itself, a.siu fruits and effects of any transgression against that covenant.

And therefore you are never to confess your sins nnto the Lord, as though you conceived them to have been committed against the law of works : and so making you liable to God's everlasting wrath, and hell-fire ; neither must you crave pardon and forgiveness for them, that thereupon you may escape that penalty ; neither do you either fast, or weep, or mourn, or humble yourself, from any belief that you shall thereby satisfy the justice of God, and appease his wrath, either in whole or in part, and so escape his everlasting vengeance. For if you be not under the law of works, and if the Lord

time " live after the flesh." For, according to the Scripture, that is not the spot of God's children ; but he who so lives, neither is, nor ever was, one or them. Rom. vi. 2, 14, " How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?—Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law but under grace." Chap, viii. 1, " Them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." See ver. 4 ; 1 John iii. 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 foresaw what infirmities thou wouldst have, before he gave Christ this commission ; and Christ forsaw them before his acceptance of the charge. If their prescience could not stop God in his gift, nor cool Christ in his acceptance—why should it now? While they do continue, the love of God to thee is not hindered by them." — Charnock, vol. ii. p. 749. m

" Observe a twofold distinction : 1st. Between God's love in itself, and the manifestation of it to us. That is perpetual and one—without change, increase, or lessening ;—but the manifestation of this love—is variable, according to—our more or less careful exercise of piety. 2d, Between God's love to our persons, and God's love to our qualities and actions. A distinction which God well knows how to make.—Parents, I am sure, are well skilled in putting this difference between the vices and persons of their children ; those they hate, these they love ;—The case is alike between God and the elect ; his love to their persons is from everlasting the same. Nor doth their sinfulness lessen it, nor their sanctity increase it; because God in loving their persons, never considered them otherwise than as most perfectly holy and unblameable in Christ."— Pemble's Works, p. 23.

w Thev are.

see no sin in you as a transgression of that law, aud be neither angry with you, nor afflict you for any sin, as it is a transgression of that law, then consequently you have no need either to confess your sins, or crave pardon for them, or fast, or weep, or mourn, or humble yourself for your sins, as conceiving them to be any transgression of the law of works, x

Neo. Well, sir, you have fully satisfied me on this point; and therefore I pray yon proceed to show what is that reward which the law of Christ promises, which you said I might hope for, in case of my obedience thereunto ?

Evan. "Why, the reward which (I conceive) the law of Christ promises to believers, aud which they may hope for, answerably to their obedience to it,?/ is a comfortable being in the enjoyment of sweet communion with God and Christ, even in the time of this life, and a freedom from afflictions both spiritual and corporal, so far forth as they are fruits and effects of sin, as it is any transgression of the law of Christ, z For you know that so long as a child does yield obedience to his father's commands, and does nothing that is displeasing to him, if he love his child, he will carry himself lovingly and kindly towards him, and suffer him to be familiar with him, and will not whip and scourge him for his disobedience. Even so, if you unfeiguedly desire and endeavour to be obedient unto the will and mind of your Father in Christ; in doing that which he commands, and avoiding that which he forbids, both in your general aud particular calling; and to the end that you may please him; theu answerably as you do so, your Father will smile upon you, when you shall draw near to him in prayer, or any other of his own ordinances ; and manifest his sweet presence and loving favour towards you; and exempt you from all outward calamities, except in case of trial of your faith and patience, or the like; as it is written, 2 Chron. xv. 2. " The Lord is with you, while ye are with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you." And so the apostle James says, Jam. iv. 8, " Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." And 0, says the Lord, " that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! he should have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and with the honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee," Psal. Ixxxi. 13, 16. And this

.r See page 349, note o.

y Though not for their obedience, but for Christ's obedience.

z I read the last word of this sentence, Christ, not works, judging it plain, that the latter is a press error. See the last clause of Neophitus's speech above, and the reason here immediately following, with the first paragraph, page 357.

may suffice to have shown you what you may hope for, answerably to your obedience to the law of Christ.

Neo. Then, sir, I pray you proceed to show what i3 the penalty which the law of Christ threatens, and which I am to fear, if I transgress that law ?

Evan. The penalty which the law of Christ threatens to you, if you transgress the law of Christ, and which you are to fear, is the want of near and sweet communion with God in Christ, even in the time of this life, and a liableness to all temporal afflictions, as fruits and effects of the transgressing of that law. a

a An awful penalty, if rightly understood ! as comprehending all manner of strokes and afflictions on the outward and inner man, called by our author "temporal and spiritual afflictions on the outward man ;" not to speak of the reproach, disgrace, and contempt, successless labour and toil, poverty, misery, want, and the like, which the believer is liable to for his disobedience, as well as others. His sins lay him open to the whole train of maladies, pains, torments, sores, diseases, and plagues, incident to sinful flesh ; by which he may become a burden to himself and others. Aud these may be inflicted on him. not only by the hand of God, but by the hand of the devil ; as appears in the case of Job. Yea, and the Lord may, in virtue of this penalty annexed to the law, pursue the controversy with the offending believer even to death ; so that his natural life may go in the cause of his transgression, 1 Cor. xi. 30, 32. To this may be added the marks of God's indignation against his sin, set upon his relations; witness the disorders, mischiefs, and strokes on David's family, for his 6in in the matter of Uriah, more bitter than death, 2 Sain. xii. 10—14. chap. xiii. and xv. In the inner man, by virtue of the same penalty, he is liable for his transgression, to be deprived of the comfort, sense, exercise, and some measure of his graces ; of his sense of God's love, his peace, joy, actual communion with God, and access to him in duties; to be brought under desertion, hiding of God's face, withdrawing of the light of the Lord's countenance ; and left to walk in darkness, to go mourning without the sun, and to cry and shout, while the Lord shutteth out his prayer ; to be thrown into agonies of conscience, pierced with the arrows of the Almighty in his spirit, compassed about and distracted with the terrors of God, seized with the fearful apprehensions of God's revenging wrath against him, anil thereby brought unto the brink of absolute despair. Besides all this, he is liable to the buffet-ings of Satan, and horrid temptations; and, for the punishment of one sin, to be suffered to fall into another. And all these may, in virtue of the penalty annexed to the law in the hand of Christ, meet in the case of the offending believer, together and at once. Thus, howbeit God nowhere threatens to cast believers in Christ into hell, yet he both threatens and often executes the casting of a hell into them, for their provocations.

Only, the revenging wrath and curse of God are no part of the penalty to believers in Christ, according to the truth and our author. But whether or not this penalty, as it is without these, leaves the most holy and awful law of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, most base and despicable, the sober minded reader will easily judge for himself.

" The one, (viz. justification) doth equally free all believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life."— Larger Cat. q. 77. " They can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God's

Wherefore, when you shall hereafter transgress any of the ten commandments, you are to know that you have thereby transgressed the law of Christ, and that the Lord sees it, and is angry with it, with a fatherly anger; and, if need be, will chastise you, (1 Pet. i. 6.) either with temporal or spiritual afflictions, or both. And this your heavenly Father will do in love to you ; eithe" to bring your sins to remembrance, as he did the sins of Joseph's brethren, (Gen. xlii. 21.) and as the widow of Zarephath confesseth concerning herself, (1 Kings xvii. 18.) or else " to purge or take away your sins," according to that which the Lord says, Isa. xxvii. 9, "By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, even the taking away of sin." " For indeed," says Mr. Cul-verwell, " afflictions, through God's blessing, are made special means to purge out that sinful curruption which is still in the nature of believers; and therefore are they, in Scripture, most aptly compared to medicines, for so they are indeed to all God's children, most sovereign medicines to cure all their spiritual diseases. And indeed we have all of us great need thereof; for as Luther, on the Galatians, p. 66, truly says, " We are not yet perfectly righteous ; for whilst we remain in this life, sin dwells still in the flesh, and this remnant of sin God purgeth." " Wherefore," says the sarao Luther in another place, b " When God hath remitted sins, and received a man into the bosom of grace, then doth he lay on him all kind of afflictions, and doth scour and renew him from day to day." And to the same purpose, Tindal truly says, " If we look on the flesh, and into the law, there is no man so perfect that is not found a sinner; nor no man so pure, that hath not need to be purged. And thus doth the Lord chastise believers to heal their natures, by purging out the corruption that remains therein."

And therefore, whensoever you shall hereafter feel the Lord's chastening hand upon you, let it move you to take the prophet Jeremiah's counsel, that is, to " search and try your ways, and turn

fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance. '— JFest. Confess, chap. xi. art. v. " They may—fall into grievous sins, aud for a time continue therein, whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve his holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comfort.-, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded ; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves."— lb. chap. 17. art. 3. " The threatenings serve to show what even^their sins deserve ; and what afflictions, in this life, they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law."— lb. chap. 19. art. 6. See page 331, note k.

b Chos. Sermons, Serm. Of the Kingdom of God, page 120.

unto the Lord," (Lam. iii. 40,) and confess your sins unto him, saying, with the prodigal, (Luke xv. 21,) " Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son ;" and beg pardon and forgiveness at his hands, as you are taught in the fifth petition of the Lord's prayer, Matth. vi. 12. Yet do not you crave pardon and forgiveness at the hands of the Lord, as a malefactor doth at the hands of a judge, that feareth condemnation and death, as though you had sinned against the law of works, and therefore feared hell and damnation ; but do you beg pardon and forgiveness as a child doth at the hands of his loving father ; as feeling the fruits of his fatherly anger, in his chastising hand upon you : and as fearing the continuance and augmentation of the same : c if your sin be not both pardoned and subdued : and therefore do you also beseech your loving Father to subdue your iniquities, according to his promise, Micah vii. 19. And if you find not that the Lord hath heard your prayers, by your feeling your iniquities subdued, d then join with your prayers, fasting and weeping, if you can ; that so you may be the more seriously humbled before the Lord, and more fervent in prayer. And this, I hope, may be sufficient to have showed you what is the penalty Avhich the law of Christ threatens.

Neo. 0, but, sir, I should think myself a happy man, if I could be so obedient to the law of Christ, that he might have no need to inflict this penalty upon me.

Evan. You say very well; but yet, whilst you carry this body of sin about you, do the best you can, there will be need that the Lord should, now and then, give you some fatherly corrections: but yet, this let me tell you, the more perfect your obedience is, the fewer lashes you shall have ; " for the Lord doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men," Lam. iii. 33. And therefore, according to my former exhortation, and your resolution, be careful to exercise your faith, and use all means to increase it; that so it may become effectual e working by love. 1 Thess. i. 3; Gal. v. 6. For, according to the measure of your faith, will be your true love to Christ and to his commandments; and according to your love to them, will be your delight in them, and your aptness and readiness to do them. And hence it is that Christ himself says, John xiv. 15, " If ye love me, keep my commandments :" and this is the love of

c Matt. vi. 9, 12, " After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

d The subduing of sin is the mark of God's hearing prayer for the pardon of it; if one feels not his iniquity subdued, he cannot find that God hath heard his prayers for pardon.

e To the producing of holy obedience, according to the measure and degree of it.

God, says that loving disciple, " that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous;" 1 John v. 3. Nay, the truth is, if you have this love in your hearts, it will be grievous unto you, that you cannot keep them as you would. 0, if this love do abound in your heart, it will cause you to say with godly Joseph, in case you be tempted as he was, " How can I do this great wickedness, and so sin against God ?" How can I do that which I know ■will displease so gracious a Father, and so merciful a Saviour ? No, I will not do it; no, I cannot do it: no, you will rather say with the Psalmist, " I delight to do thy will, 0 my God ! yea thy law is within my heart," Psalm xl. 8.

Nay, let me tell you more, if this love of God in Christ be truly, and in any good measure rooted in your heart; then, though the chastising hand of the Lord be not upon you, nay, though the Lord do no way express any anger towards you, yet if you but consider the Lord's ways towards you, and your ways towards him, you will mourn with a gospel-mourning, reasoning with yourself after this manner: And was I under the law or works by nature, and so, for every transgression against any of the ten commandments, made liable to everlasting damnation ? and I am now, through the free mercy and love of God in Christ, brought under the law of Christ, and so subject to no other penalty for my transgressions, but fatherly and loving chastisements, which tend to the purging out of that sinful corruption that is in me ? 0 what a loving Father is this ! 0 what a gracious Saviour is this ! 0 what a wretched man am I, to transgress the laws of such a good God, as he hath been to me ! 0 the due consideration of this will even, as it were, melt your heart, and cause your eyes to drop with the tears of godly sorrow ! yea, the due consideration of these things will cause you to " lothe yourself in your own sight for yoar transgressions," (Ezek. xxxvi.- 31.) yea, not only to lothe yourself for them, but also to leave them, saying with Ephraim, " What have I to do any more with idols?" (Hos. xiv. 8.) and to " cast them away as a menstruous cloth, saying unto them, get ye hence," Isa. xxx. 22. And truly you will desire nothing more, than that you might so live, as that you might never sin against the Lord any more. And this is that " goodness of God which," as the apostle says, " leadeth to repentance ;" yea, this is that goodness of God which will lead you to a free obedience. So that if you do but apply the goodness of God in Christ to your soul, in any good measure, then will you answerably yield obedience to the law of Christ, not only without having respect either to what the law of works either promiseth or threateneth; but also without having respect to what the law of Christ either pro-

miseth or threateneth ; you will do that which the Lord command-eth, only because he commandeth it, and to the end that you may please him ; and you will forbear when he forbids, only because he forbids it, to the end that you may not displease him./ And this

f The author doth here no otherwise exhort the believer to yield free obedience, without respect to what either the law of works, or the law of Christ, promises or threatens, than he exhorts him to perfection of obedience, which, in the beginning of this answer, he told him not to be attainable in this life. And the truth is, neither the one nor the other is the design of these words. But he had exhorted him before, to use all means to increase his faith ; and for his encouragement, he tells him here, that if he by faith applied the goodness of God in Christ to his own soul, in any good measure, then he would, answerably, yield obedience, without respect to what either the law of works, or the law of Christ promises or threatens, and only because God commands or forbids. The freeness of obedience is of very different degrees ; and believers' obedience is never absolutely free, till it be absolutely perfect in heaven ; but the freeness of their obedience will always bear proportion to the measure of their faith which is never perfect in this life: thus, the more faith, the more freeness of obedience, and the less faith, the less of that freeness. See page 219, note e.

" The believer obeys with an angel-like obedience; then the Spirit seems to exhaust all the commanding awsomness of the law, and supplies the law's imperious power, with the strength and power of love."— Rutherford's Spirit. Antichrist, p. 318. " The more of the Spirit (because the Spirit is essentially free, Psalm li. 12 ; 2 Cor. iii. 17.) the more freeness; and the more freeness, the more renewed will in the obedience; and the more renewed will, the less constraint, because freeness exhausteth constraint."— Ibid.

" When Christ's blood is seen by faith to quiet justice, then the conscience becomes quiet also, and will not suffer the heart to entertain the love of sin, but sets the man on work to fear God for his mercy, and obey all his commandments, out of love to God, for his free gift of justification, by grace bestowed upon him ; for '' this is the end of the law" indeed, whereby it obtaineth of a man more obedience than any other way." Pract. Use of Sav. Knowledge, tit. The Third Thing Requisite, iS'c.fig. 7.

Promises and threatenings are not, by this doctrine, annexed to the holy law in vain, even with respect to believers; for the law of God is, in his infinite wisdom, suited to the state of the creature, to whom it is given : and therefore, howbeit the believer's eternal happiness is unalterably secured from the moment of his union with Christ by faith ; yet, since sin dwells in hiro still while in this world, the promises of fatherly smiles, and threatenings of fatherly chastisements, are still necessary. But it is evident that this necessity is entirely founded on the believer's imperfection; as in case of a child under age. And therefore, although his being influenced to obedience by the promises and threatenings of the law of Christ, is not indeed slavish, yet it is plainly childish, not agreeing to the state of a perfect man, of one come unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. And, in the state of perfection, he shall yield such free obedience as the angels do in heaven, without being moved thereto by any promises or threatenings at all: and the nearer he comes in his progress to that state of peifection, the more will his obedience be of that nature. So by the doctrine here advanced, the author dotb no more disown the necessity of promises to influence and encourage the believer's obedience, nor say, that he ought not to have regard to promises and threatenings, than one is to be reckoned to say, that a

obedience is like unto that which our Saviour exhorts his disciples unto, (Matt. x. 8.) saying, "Freely you have received, freely give." And this is to " serve the Lord without fear" of any penalty, which either the law of works or the law of Christ threateneth, " in holiness and righteousness all the days of your life," according to that saying of Zacharias, g Luke i. 74, 7-3. And this is to " pass the time of your sojourning here, in fear" to offend the Lord, by sinning against him; as the apostle Peter exhorts, 1 Pet. i. 17- Yea, and this is to "serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear;" as the author to the Hebrews exhorts, Heb. xii. 28. And thus, my dear friend Neophitus, I have endeavoured, according to your desire, to give you ray judgment and direction in these points.

Neo. And truly, sir, your have done it very effectually; the Lord enable me to practise according to your direction !

§ 12. Nom. Sir, in this your answer to his question, you have also answered me, and given me full satisfaction in divers points, about which my friend Antinomista and I have had many a wrangling fit. For I used to affirm with tooth and nail, (as men use to say) that believers are under the law, and not delivered from it; and that they do sin, and that Grod sees it, and is angry with them, and doth afflict them for it, and that therefore they ought to humble themselves, and mourn for their sins, and confess them, and crave pardon for them ; and yet truly, I must confess, I did not understand what I said, nor whereof I affirmed; and the reason was, because I did not know the difference betwixt the law, as it is the law of works, and as it is the law of Christ.

Ant. And believe me, sir, I used to affirm, as earnestly as he, that believers are delivered from the law, and therefore do not sin ; and therefore God can see no sin in them ; and therefore is neither angry with them, nor does afflict them for sin: and therefore they have no need either to humble themselves, or mourn, or confess their sins, or beg pardon for them; the which I believing to be true, could not conceive how the contrary could be true also. But now I plainly see that by means of your distinguishing betwixt the law, as it is the law of works, and as it is the law of Christ, there is a truth in both. And therefore, friend Nomista, whensoever either you, or any man else, shall hereafter affirm, that believers are under the law, and do sin; and God sees it, and is angry with them, and does chastise them for it; and that they humble themselves, mourn,

lame man has no need of, and should not have regard unto the crutches provided for him; when he only says, That the stronger his limbs grow, he will have the less need of them, and will lean the less on them. g See the preceding note.

Vol. VII. z

weep, and confess their sins, and beg pardon for them : if you mean only, as they are under the law of Christ, I will agree with you, and never contradict you again.

Nom. And, truly friend Antinomista, if either you, or any man else, shall hereafter affirm, that believers are delivered from the law, and do not sin, and God sees no sin in them, nor is angry with them, nor afflicts them for their sins, and that they have no need either to humble themselves, mourn, confess, or crave pardon for their sins, if you mean it only as they are not under the law of works, I will agree with you, and never contradict you again.

Evan. I rejoice to hear you speak these words each to other : and truly, now I am in hope that you two will come back from both your extremes, and meet my neighbour Neophitus in the golden mean; having, as the apostle says, " the same love, being of one accord, and of one mind."

Nom. Sir, for my own part, I thank the Lord I do now plainly see, that I have erred exceedingly, in seeking to be justified, " as it were, by the works of the law." h And yet could I never be persuaded to it before this day ; and indeed should not have been persuaded to it now, had not you so plainly and fully handled this threefold law. And truly, sir, I do now unfeignedly desire to renounce myself, and all that ever I have done, and by faith to adhere only to Jesus Christ; for now I see that he is all in all. 0 that the Lord would enable me so to do ! And I beseech you, sir, pray for me.

Ant. And truly, sir, I must needs confess, that I have erred as much on the other hand; for I have been so far from seeking to be justified by the works of the law, that I have neither regarded law nor works. But now I see mine error ; I purpose (God willing) to reform it.

Evan. The Lord grant that you may.

§ 13. But how do you, neighbour Neophitus ? for methinks you look very heavily.

Neo. Truly, sir, I was thinking of that place of Scripture, where the apostle exhorts us " to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith, or no," 2 Cor. xiii. 5; whereby it seems to me, that a man

h This Scriptural phrase is here aptly used, to intimate how men deceive themselves, thinking they are far from seeking to be justified by the works of the law, because they are convinced they cannot do good works in the perfection which the law requires : meanwhile, since God is merciful, and Christ hath died, they look for the pardon of their sins, and acceptance with God, upon the account of their own works, though attended with some imperfections ; that is, " as it were, by the works of the law, Rom. ix. 32.

may think he is in the faith, when lie is not. Therefore, sir, I would gladly hear how I may be sure that I am in the faith.

Evan. I would not have you to make any question of it, since you have grounded your faith upon such a firm foundation as will never fail you; for the promise of God in Christ is of a tried truth, and never yet failed any man, nor ever will, i Therefore I would have you to close with Christ in the promise, without making any question whether you are in the faith or no; for there is an assurance which rises from the exercise of faith by a direct act, and that is, when a man, by faith, directly lays hold upon Christ, and concludes assur-from thence, k

Neo. Sir, I know that the foundation whereon I am to ground my faith remains sure; and I think I have already built thereon ; but yet, because I conceive a man may think he has done so, when he has not, therefore would I fain know how I may be assured that I have so done ? I

i This answer proceeds upon taking Neophitus to speak, not of the grace, but of the doctrine of faith ; namely, the foundation of faith, or ground of believing; as if he had desired to know whether the foundation of his faith was the true foundation of faith, or not. This is plain from the two following paragraphs : And upon the supposition that he had grounded his faith on the promise of the gospel, the tried foundation of faith, the author tells him, he would not have him make a question of that, having handled that question already at great length, and answered all his and Nomista's objections on the head, from p. 254, to 284, where Neophitus declared himself satisfied. And there is no inconsistency betwixt the author's advice in this case given to Neophitus, and the advice given in the text last cited unto the Corinthians, unreasonably and peevishly demanding a proof of Christ speaking in the apostle. Whether, with several judicious critics and commentators, we understand that text concerning the doctrine of faith, as if the apostle put them to try whether they retained the true doctrine or not; or, which is the common and (I think) the true understanding of it, concerning the grace of faith; I see nothing here determining our author's opinion, as to the sense of it; but whether he seems here to be against self-examination, especially after he had urged that duty on Antinomista, and answered his objections against it, let the candid reader judge.

h See the note on the Definition of faith.

" The assurance of Christ's righteousness is a direct act of faith, apprehending imputed righteousness : the evidence of our justification we now speak of is the reflex light, not by which we are justified, but by which we know that we are justified."— Rutherford's Christ Dying and drawing, p. 111. "We had never a question with Antinomians touching the first assurance of justification, such as is proper to the light of faith. He might have spared all his arguments to prove, that we are first assured of our justification by faith, not by good works, for we graut the arguments of one sort of assurance, which is proper to faith ; and they prove nothing against another sort of assurance, by signs and effects, which is also divine."— Ibid. p. 110.

I A good reason why this assurance, in or by'the direct act of faith, is to be tried by marks and signs. There is certainly a persuasion that " cometh not of him that called us ;" which obliges men to examine their persuasion, whether it be of the right sort or not.

z2

Evan. Well, now I understand you what you mean ; it seems you do not want a ground for your believing, but for your believing that you have believed, m Neo. Yea, Indeed, that is the thing I want.

Evan. Why, the next way to find out and know this is to look back and reflect upon your own heart, and consider what actions have passed through there ; for indeed this is the benefit that a reasonable soul has, that it is able to return upon itself, to see what it has done ; which the soul of the beast cannot do. Consider, then, I pray you, that you have been convinced in your spirit that you are a sinful man, and therefore have feared the Lord's wrath and eternal damnation in hell; and you have been convinced that there is no help for you at all in yourself, by any thing that you can do; and you heard it plainly proved, that " Jesus Christ alone is an all-sufficient help; and the free and full promise of God in Christ has been made so plain and clear to you, that you had nothing to object why Christ did not belong to you in particular; n and you have perceived a willingness in Christ to receive you, and embrace you as his beloved spouse ; and you have thereupon consented and resolved to take Christ, and give yourself unto him, whatsoever betides you; and I am persuaded you have thereupon felt a secret persuasion in your heart, that God in Christ doth bear a love to you; o and answerably your heart hath been inflamed towards him in love again, manifesting itself in an unfeigned desire to be obedient and subject to his will in all things, and never to displease him in any thing. Now tell me, I pray you, (and truly) whether you have not found these things in you, as I have said ? Neo. Yea, indeed, I hope I have in some measure. Evan. Then I tell you truly, you have a sure ground to lay your believing that you have believed upon ; and, as the apostle John says, "Hereby you may know that you are of the truth, and may assure your heart thereof before God." 1 John iii. 19.

Neo. Surely, sir, this I can truly say, that heretofore, when I have thought upon my sins, I have conceived of God and Christ, as of a wrathful judge that would condemn all unrighteous men to eternal death, and therefore, wfien I have thought upon the day of judgment, and hell torments, I have even trembled for fear, and have, as it were, even hated God. And though I have laboured to become righteous, that I might escape his wrath, yet all that I did,

m This is called assurance by a reflex act.

n In virtue of the deed of gift and grant. See the note on the Definition of Faith.

o See page 279, note k.

I did it unwillingly. But since I have heard you make it so plain, that a sinner that sees and feels his sins is to conceive of God, as of a merciful, loving, and forgiving father in Christ, that hath committed all judgment to his Son, who came not to condemn men but to save them ; methinks I do not now fear his wrath, but do rather apprehend his love towards me ; whereupon my heart is inflamed towards him, with such love, that, methinks, I would willingly do or suffer any thing that I knew would please him; and would rather choose to suffer any misery than I would do any thing that I knew were displeasing to him.

Evan. We read in the seventh chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, that when that sinful yet believing woman did manifest her faith in Christ by her love to him, in " washing his feet with her tears, and wiping them with the hairs of her head, (verse 38.) he said unto Simon the Pharasee, (verse 47.) " I say unto thee, her sins, which are so many, are forgiven her, for she loved much ;" even so I may say unto you, Nomista, in the same words, concerning our neighbour Neophitus. And to you yourself, Neophitus, I say, as Christ said unto the woman, (verses 48—50.) " Thy sins are forgiven thee, thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace."

Ant. But I pray you, sir, is not this his reflecting upon himself to find out a ground to lay his believing that he hath believed upon, a turning back from the covenant of grace to the covenant of works, and from Christ to himself?

Evan. Indeed, if he should look upon these things in himself, and thereon conclude, that because he has done this, God had accepted of him, and justified him, and will save him, and so make them the ground of his believing; this were to turn back from the covenant of grace to the covenant of works, and from Christ to himsolf. But if he looks upon these things in himself, and thereupon conclude, that because these things are in his heart, Christ dwells there by faith, and therefore he is accepted of God, and justified, and shall certainly be saved, and so make them an evidence of his believing, or the ground of his believing that he has believed; this is neither to turn back from the covenant of grace to the covenant of works, nor from Christ to himself. So that these things in his heart being the daughters of faith, and the offspring of Christ, though they cannot at first produce, or bring forth their mother, yet they may in time of need nourish her.

§ 14. Nom. But, I pray you, sir, are there not other things besides these, that he says he finds in himself, that a man may look upon as evidences of his believing, or, as you call them, as grounds to believe that he has believed ?

Evan. Yea, indeed, there are divers other effects of faith, which if a man have in him truly, he may look upon them as evidences that he hath truly believed; and I will name three of them unto you:

"Whereof the first is, when a man truly loves the word of God, and makes a right use of it; and this a man does, 1st, when he lfungers and thirsts after the word, as after the food of his soul, desiring it at all times, even as he does his " appointed p food," Job xxiii. 12. Secondly when he desires and delights to exercise himself therein day and night, that is, constantly, Psalm i. 2. Thirdly, When he receives the word of God as the word of God, and not as the word of man, 1 Thess. ii. 13 : setting his heart, in the time of hearing or reading it, as in God's presence ; and being affected with it, as if the Lord himself should speak unto him ; being most affected with that ministry, or that portion of God's word, which shows him his sins, and searches out his most secret corruptions ; denying his own reason and affections; yea, and his profits and pleasures, in any thing, when the Lord shall require it of him. Fourthly, This a man does, when he makes the word of God to be his chief comfort in the time of his afflictions ; finding it, at that time, to be the main stay and solace of his heart, Psalm cxix. 49, 50.

The second evidence is, when a man truly loves the children of God, 1 John v. 1; that is, all godly and religious persons, above all other sorts of men ; and that is, when he loves them not for carnal respects, but for the graces of God which he sees in them, 2 John 1, 2 ; 3 John 1. And when he delights in their society and company, aud makes them his only companions, (Psalm cxix. 63.) and when his well-doing (to his power) extends itself to them, Psalm xvi. 3. In being pitiful and tender-hearted towards them, and in gladly receiving of them, and communicating to their necessities with a ready mind, (Philem. 7; 1 John iii. 17.) And when he has not the glorious faith of Christ in " respect of persons," (James ii. 1, 2,) but can make himself equal to them of the lower sort, (Rom. xii. 16); and when he loves them at all times, even when they are in adversity, as poverty, disgrace, sickness, or otherwise in misery.

The third evidence is, when a man can truly love his enemies, Matth. vi. 14. And that he does, when he can pray heartily for them, and forgive them their particular trespasses against him; being more grieved for that they have sinned against God than for that they have wronged him ; and when he can forbear them, and yet could be revenged of them, either by bringing shame and misery upon

p So the margent reads it.

tliem, (1 Pet. iii. 9 ; Rom. xii. 14,) and when he strives to overcome their evil with goodness, being willing to help them, and relieve them in their misery, and do them any good in soul or body; and, lastly, when he can freely and willingly acknowledge his enemy's just praise, even as if he were his dearest friend.

§ 15. Neo. But, sir, I pray you, let me ask you one question more touching this point; and that is, suppose that hereafter I should see no outward evidences, and question whether I had ever any true inward evidences, and so whether ever I did truly believe or no, what must I do then ?

Evan. Indeed it is possible you may come to such a condition ; and therefore you do well to provide beforehand for it. Now, then, if ever it shall please the Lord to give you over to such a condition, first, let me warn you to take heed of forcing or constraining yourself to yield obedience to God's commandments, to the end you may so get an evidence of faith again, or a ground to lay your believing, that you have believed, upon ; and so forcibly to hasten your assurance before the time :p for although this be not to turn quite back to the covenant of works, (for that you shall never do,) yet it is to turn aside towards that covenant, as Abraham did, who, after that he had long waited for the promised seed, though he was before justified by believing the free promise, yet, for the more speedy satisfying of his faith, he turned aside to go unto Hagar, who was, as you have heard, a type of the covenant of works. So that you see, this is not the right way; but the right way for you, in this case, to get your assurance again, is, when all other things fail, to look to Christ; that is, go to the word and promise, and leave off and cease a while to reason about the truth of your faith; and set your heart on work to believe, as if you had never yet done it; saying, "Well, Satan, suppose my faith has not been true hitherto, yet now will I begin to endeavour after true faith; and therefore, 0 Lord, here I cast myself upon thy mercy afresh, for in thee the fatherless find mercy, Hos. xiv. 3. Thus, I say, hold to the word; go not away, but keep you here, and you shall bring forth fruit with patience, g Luke viii. 15.

p This forcing one's self to yield obedience, which the author warns Christians against, when they have lost sight of their evidences, and would fain recover them, is, by pressing to yield obedience, without believing, till once by their obedience they have recovered the evidence of their having faith. To advise a Christian to beware of taking this course, in this case, is not to favour laxness, but to guard him against beginning his work at the wrong end, and so labouring in vain ; for obeying, indeed, must still spring from believing, since " without faith it is impossible to please God," Heb. xi. 6. And " whatsoever is not of faith, is sin," Rom. xiv. 23. The following advice sets the matter in full light.

q Namely, obedience, whereby you shall recover your evidence.

§ 16. Neo. "Well, sir, you have fully satisfied me concerning that point: but as I remember, it follows in the same verse, " Kuow ye not your own selves, how that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5. "Wherfore, I desire to hear how a man may know that Jesus Christ is in him.

Evan. Why, if Christ be in a man, he lives in him : as says the apostle, " I live not, but Christ liveth in me."

Neo. But, how then, shall a man know, that Christ lives in him ?

Evan. Why, in what man soever Christ lives, according to the measure of his faith, he executes his threefold office in him, viz. his prophetical, priestly, and kingly office.

Neo, I desire to hear more of this threefold office of Christ; and therefore, I pray ybu, sir, tell me, first, how a man may know that Christ executes his prophetical office in him ?

Evan. Why, so far forth as any man hears and knows that there was a covenant made betwixt God and all mankind in Adam; and that it was an equal covenant, r and that God's justice must needs enter, s upon the breach of it: and that all mankind, for that cause, were liable to eternal death and damnation; so that if God had condemned all mankind, yet had it but been the sentence of an equal and just judge, seeking rather the execution of his justice, than man's ruin and destruction ; and thereupon takes it home and applies it particularly to himself, (Job. v. 27,) and so is convinced that he is a miserable, lost, and helpless man ; I say, so far forth as a man does this, Christ executes his prophetical office in him, in teaching him, and revealing unto him the covenant of works. And so far forth as any man hears and knows that God made a covenant with Abraham, and all his believing seed in Jesus Christ, offering him freely to all to whom the sound of the gospel comes, and giving him freely to all that receive him by faith; and so justifies them and saves them eternally ; and thereupon has his heart opened to receive this truth, not as a man takes an object or a theological point into his head, whereby he is only made able to discourse ; but as an habitual and practical point, receiving it into his " heart by the faith of the gospel," Phil. i. 27, and applying it to himself, and laying his eternal state upon it, and so setting to his seal, that God is true: I say, so far forth as a man does this, Christ executes his prophetical office in him, in teaching him, and revealing to him the covenant of grace. And so far forth as any man hears and knows, that " this is the will of God, even his sanctification," 1 Thess. iv. 3, and thereupon concludes, that it is his duty to endeavour after it;

r See page 175, note m. s Demanding satisfaction.

I say, so far forth as a man does this, Christ executes his prophetical office in him, in teaching and revealing his law to him. And this I hope is sufficient for answer to your first question.

Neo. I pray you, sir, in the second place, tell me, how a man may know that Christ executes his priestly office in him ?

Evan. Why, so far forth as any man hears and knows that Christ has given himself, as that only absolute and perfect sacrifice for the sins of believers, (Heb. ix. 26,) and joined them unto himself by faith, and himself unto them by his Spirit, and so made them one with him; and is now " entered into heaven itself, to appear in the presence of God for them," Heb. ix. 24; and hereupon is emboldened to go immediately to t God in prayer, as to a father, and meet him in Christ, and present him with Christ himself, as with a sacrifice without spot or blemish: I say, so far forth as any man does this, Christ executes his priestly office in him.

Neo. But, sir, vrould you have a believer to go immediately unto God ? How then does Christ make intercession for us at God's right hand, as the apostle says he does ? Rom. viii. 34.

Evan. It is true indeed, Christ as a public person, representing all believers, appears before God his father; and willeth according to both his natures, and desires as he is a man, that God would for his satisfaction's sake, grant unto them whatsoever " they ask according to his will." But yet you must go immediately to God in prayer for all that, u

You must not pitch your prayers upon Christ, and terminate them there, as if he were to take them, and present them to his Father; v but the very presenting place of your prayers mnst be God himself in Christ. Neither must you conceive, as though Christ the Son were more willing to grant your request than God the Father, for whatsoever Christ willeth, the same also the Father (being well pleased with him) willeth. In Christ, therefore, I say, and nowhere else, must you expect to have your petitions granted ; and as in Christ and no place else, so for Christ's sake, and nothing else. And therefore I beseech you to beware you forget not Christ when you go unto the Father to beg any thing you desire, either for yourself or others; especially when you desire to have any pardon for sin, you are not to think, that when you join with your prayers, fasting, weeping, and afflicting of yourself, that for so doing you shall prevail with God to hear you, and grant your petitions; no,

t That is, even unto. u That is to say.

v But you yourself were not to come near unto hiro, nay, we must " corne unto God by Christ," Heb. vii. 25.

no, you must meet God in Christ, and present him with his sufferings ; your eye, your mind, and all your confidence, must be therein ; and in that be as confident as possible you can; yea, expostulate the matter, as it were, with God the Father, and say, " Lo! here is the person that has well deserved it; here is the person that wills and desires it; in whom thou hast said thou art well pleased; yea, here is the person that has paid the debt, and discharged the bond for all my sius; and therefore, 0 Lord! now it stands with thy justice to forgive me." And thus, if you do, why, then you may be assured that Christ executes his priestly office in you.

Neo. I pray you, sir, in the third place, show me how a man may know that Christ executes his kingly office in him ?

Evan. "Why, so far forth as any man hears and knows " that all power is given unto Christ, both in heaven and on earth," Matt. xxviii. 18; both to vanquish and overcome all the lusts and corruptions of believers, and to write his law in their hearts; and hereupon takes occasions to go unto Christ for the doing of both in him; I say, so far forth as he does this, why, Christ executes his kingly-office in him.

Neo. "Why then, sir, it seems that the place where Christ executes his kingly office, is in the hearts of believers ?

Evan. It is true indeed; for Christ's kingdom is not temporal or secular over the natural lives or civil negociations of men ; but his kingdom is spiritual and heavenly, over the souls of men, to awe and over-rule the hearts, to captivate the affections, to bring into obedience the thoughts, and to subdue and pull down strong holds. For when our father Adam transgressed, he and we, all of us, forsook God, and chose the devil for our Lord and king; so that every mother's child of us are, by nature, under the government of Satan; and he rules over us, till Christ come unto our hearts, and dispossesses him; according to the saying of Christ himself, Luke xi. 21, 22, " When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:" that is, says Calvin, Satan holds them that are in subjection to him in such bonds and quiet possession, that he rules over them without resistance; but when Christ comes to dwell in any man's heart by faith ; according to the measure of faith, he dispossesses him, and seats himself in the heart, and roots out, and pulls down all that withstands his government there: and, as a valiant captain, he stands upon his guai'd, and enables the soul to gather together all its forces and powers, to resist and withstand all its and his enemies, and so set itself in good earnest against them, when they at any time offer to return again ; and he doth especially enable the soul to resist, and set itself against the princi-

pal enemy, even that which does most oppose Christ in his government; so that whatsoever lust or corruption is in a believer's heart or soul as most predominant, Christ enables him to take that into his mind, and to have most revengeful thoughts against it, and to make complaints to him against it, and to desire power and strength from him against it, and all because it most withstands the government of Christ, and is the rankest traitor to Christ; so that he uses all the means he can to bring it before the judgment-seat of Christ, and there he calls for justice against it, saying, " 0 Lord Jesus Christ, here is a rebel and a traitor, that does withstand thy government in me, wherefore, I pray thee, come and execute thy kingly office in me, and subdue it; yea, vanquish and overcome it." "Whereupon Christ gives the same answer that he gave to the centurion, " Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee,"w Matt. viii. 13.

And as Christ doth thus suppress all other governors but himself in the heart of a believer, so doth he raze out and deface all other laws, and writes his own there, according to his promise, (Jer. xxx. 33.) and makes tliem pliable and willing to do and suffer his will; and that because it is his will. So that the mind and will of Christ, laid down in his word, and manifested in his works, is not only the rule of a believer's obedience, but also the reason of it, as I once'heard a godly minister say in the pulpit; so that he does not only do that which is Christ's will, but he does it because it is his will.

0 that man, which hath the law of Christ written in his heart ! according to the measure of it, he reads, he hears, he prays, he receives the sacrament, he keeps tho Lord's day holy, he exhorts, he instructs, he confers, and does all the duties that belong to him in his general calling, because he knows it is the mind and will of Christ he should do so ! yea, he patiently suffers and willingly undergoes afflictions for tho cause of Christ, because he knows it is the will of Christ; yea, such a man does not only yield obedience, and perform the duties of the first table of the law, by virtue of Christ's command, but of the second also. 0 that husband, parent, master, or magistrate, that has the law of Christ written in his heart! he does his duty to his wife, child, servant, or subject, willingly and uprightly, because Christ requires it and commands it. And so that wife, child, servant, or subject, that has the law of Christ written in his or her heart, they do their duties to husband,

w Namely, believed the promise of sanetification, Ezek. xxxvi. 27; Micah vii. 19. which belief brings always along with it the use of the means, that are of divine institution, for that end.

parent, master, or governor, freely and cheerfully, because their Lord Christ commands it. Now, then, if you find these things in your heart, you may conclude that Christ rules and reigns there, as Lord and King.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE HEART'S HAPPINESS, OR SOUL'S REST.

Sec. 1. No rest for tbe soul till it come to God.—2. How the soul is kept from rest in God 3. God in Christ the only true rest for the soul.

Sec. 1. Neo. Sir, be pleased to give me leave to tell you some part of my mind, and then I will cease to trouble you any more at this time. The truth is, I have, ever since I could remember, felt a kind of restless discontentedness in my spirit, and for many years together, I fed myself with hopes of finding rest and content in persons and things here below, scarce thinking of the state and condition of my soul, or of any condition beyond this life, until (as I told you before) the Lord was pleased to visit me with a fit of sickness ; and then I began to bethink myself of death, judgment, hell, and heaven, and to take care and seek rest for my soul, as well as for my body: but, alas ! I could never find rest for it before this day; because, indeed, I sought it not by faith, but, as it were, by the works of the law, or, in plain terms, because I sought it not in Christ but in myself. But now I bless God I see that Christ is all in all; and therefore, by the grace of God, I am resolved no longer to seek rest aud content, neither in any earthly thing, nor in mine own righteousness, but only in the free love aud favour of God, as he is in his Son Jesus Christ; and, God willing, there shall be my soul's rest. And I beseech you, sir, pray for me, that it may be so; and I have done.

Evan. This point, concerning the heart's happiness, or soul's rest, is a point very needful for us to know; and indeed, it is a point that I have formerly thought upon ; and therefore, though my occasions do now begin to call me away from you, yet, nevertheless, since, you have begun to speak of it, I shall, if you please, proceed on, if you shall, or any of you, give occasion, and as the Lord shall enable me.

Ant. With a very good will, sir ; for indeed it is a point that I much desire to hear of.

Evan. First, then, I would entreat you to consider with me, that when God at first gave man an elementish body x, he did also infuse'in'o him an immortal soul of a spiritual substance ; and though he gave his soul a local being in his body, yet he gave it a spiritual well-being in himself; so that the soul was in the body by location, and at rest in God by union and communication; and this being of the sonl in God at first, was man's true being, and his true happiness. Now man falling from God, God in his justice left man, so that the actual union and communion that the soul of man had with God at first is broken off; God and man's soul are parted; and it is in a restless condition. Howbeit, the Lord having seated in man's soul a certain character of himself, the soul is thereby made to re-aspire towards that summum bonum, that chief good, even God himself, and can find rest nowhere, till it come to him.y

Nom. But stay, sir, I pray yon; how can it be said that man's soul doth re-aspire towards God the Creator, when it is evident that every man's soul naturally is bent towards the creature, to seek a rest there ?

Evan. For answer hereunto I pray you consider, that naturally man's understanding is dark and blind; and therefore is ignorant what his own soul does desire and strongly aspire unto. It know-eth, indeed, that there is a want in the soul; but till it be enlightened, it knoweth not what it is which the soul wanteth. For indeed the case standeth with the soul as with a child new born, which child, by natural instinct, doth gape and cry for nutriment; yea, for such nutriment as may agree with its tender condition; and if

x That is, an elementary body, made up (as it were) of tbe four elements, as they are called, namely, fire, air, earth, and water.

y The soul of man has a natural desire of happiness: nothing can make it happy but what is commensurable to its desires, or capable of affording it a full satisfaction. Nothing less than an infinite good is such : and God himself only is an infinite good, in the enjoyment of which the soul can rest, as fully satisfied, desiring no more. Now, since by reason of the vast capacity of the soul, nothing but God himself can indeed satisfy this its desire of happiness, the which is so woven into the very nature of the soul, that nothing but the destruction of the very being of the soul can remove it; it is evident, that it is impossible the soul of man can ever find true rest, until it return to God, and take up its rest with him ; but must still be in quest of, or desiring its chief good and happiness, wherein it may rest, and this in reality is God himself only ; though the practical understanding being blinded, knows not that, and the perverse will and affections carry away the soul from him, seeking the desired good and happiness in other things. This is what the author calls the soul's re-aspiring towards the chief good, even God himself; and it is so consistent with the total depravation of man's nature, that it will remain for ever in the damned in hell ; a chief part of whose misery will lie in that this desire shall ever be rampant in them, but never in

the nurse, through negligence or ignorance, either give it no meat at all, or else such as it is not capable of receiving, the child refuses it, and still cries, in strength of desire, after the dug; yet does not the child, in this estate, know by any intellectual power and understanding what itself desires. Even so man's poor soul doth cry to God as for its proper nourishment; z but his understanding, like a blind io-norani nurse, not knowing what it cries for, offers to the heart a creature instead of a Creator ; thus, by reason of the blindness of the understanding, together with the corruption of the will, and disorder of the affections, man's soul is kept by violence a from its proper centre, even God himself.

§ 2. 0 how many souls are there in the world that are hindered, if not quite kept, from rest in God, by reason that their blind understanding presents unto their sensual appetites varieties of sensual objects!

Is there not many a luxurious person's soul hindered, if not quite kept, from true rest in God, by that beauty which nature hath placed in feminine faces, b especially when Satan secretly suggests into such feminine hearts a desire of an artificial dressing, from the head to the foot; yea, and sometimes painting the face, like their mother Jezebel ?

And is there not many a voluptuous Epicure's soul hindered, if not quite kept, from rest in God, by beholding the colour, and tasting the sweetness of dainty delicate dishes, his wine red in the cup, and his beer of amber colour in the glass. In the Scripture we read of a " certain man that fared deliciously every day," as if there had been no more than one so ill disposed ; but in our times, there are certain hundreds, both of men and women, that do not only fare deliciously but voluptuously, twice every day, if not more.

And is there not many a proud person's soul hindered, if not quite kept, from rest in God, by the harmonious sound of popular praise which, like a loadstone, draws the vain-glorious heart to hunt

the least satisfied; they shall never be freed from this scorching thirst there, nor vet get a drop of water to cool the tongue.

z Man's poor soul, before it is enlightened, naturally cries to God, as the " young ravens cry to him," (Job xxxviii. 11,) not knowing to whom: and it cries for him as its proper nourishment, as the new-born infant for the breast, not knowing for wbat. Only it feels a want, desires supply proper for filling it up, and can never get kindly rest till it be supplied accordingly, that is, till it come to the enjoyment of God ; then it rests, as the infant set to the full breast. Isa. lxvi. 11, " That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations."

a Namely, violence done to its natural make and constitution (if I may so express it) by the blindness, corruption, and disorder, that have seized its faculties.

b That is, women's faces.

so much the more eagerly, to augment the echo of such vain windy reputation ?

And is there not many a covetous person's soul hindered, if not quite kept, from rest in God, by the cry of great abundance, the words of wealth, and the glory of gain ?

And is there not many a musical mind hindered, if not quite kept, from sweet comfort in God, by the harmony of artificial concord upon musical instruments ?

And how many perfumed fools are there in the world, who, by smelling their sweet apparel, and their sweet nosegays, are kept from soul sweetness in Christ ? And thus does Satan, like a cunning fisher, bait his hook with a sensual object, to catch men with ; and having gotten it into their jaws, he draws them up and down in sensual contentments, till he has so drowned them therein, that the peace and rest of their souls in God is almost forgotten. And hence it is that the greatest part of man's life, and in mauy their whole life, is spent in seeking satisfaction to the sensual appetite.

Nom. Indeed, sir, this which you have said, we may see truly verified in many men, who spend their days about these vanities, and will afford no time for religious exercises; no, not upon the Lord's-day, by their good will.

Evan. You say the truth ; and yet let me tell you withal, that a man by the power of natural conscience, may be forced to confess that his hopes of happiness are in God alone, and not in these things; yea, and to forsake profits and pleasures, and all sensual objects, as unable to give his soul any true contentment, and fall to the performance of religious exercises, and yet rest there, and never come to God for rest. And if we consider it, either in the rude multitude of sensual livers, or in the more seemingly religious, we shall perceive that the religious exercises of men do strongly deceive, and strangely delude many men of their heart's happiness in God.

For the first sort, c though they be such as make their belly their best God, and do no sacrifice but to Bacchus, Apollo, or Yenus; d though their conscience do accuse them that these things are naught, yet in that they have the name of Christians put upon them in their baptism, and forasmuch as they do often repeat the Lord's prayer, the apostle's creed, and the ten commandments, and in that, it may be, they have lately accustomed themselves to go to church, to hear divine service, and a preaching now and then, and in that they have

c Namely, sensual livers, who yet perform religious exercises.

d That is, give up themselves to drunkenness, music, and lasciviousness.

divers times received the sacrament; they will not be persuaded but that God is well pleased with them ; and a man may as well persuade them that they are not men and women, as that they are not in a good condition.

And for the second sort, e that ordinarily have more human wisdom and human learning than the former sort, and seem to be more holy and devout than the former sort of sensual ignorant people ; vet how many are there of this sort, that never pass further than the outward court of bodily performances; feeding and feasting themselves, as men in a dream : supposing themselves to have all things, and yet indeed have nothing but only a bladder full, or rather a brain full, of wind and worldly conceptions ?

Are there not some who give themselves to more especial searching and seeking ont for knowledge in scripture-learnedness and clerk-like skill, in this art, and that language, till they come to be able to repeat all the historical places in the Bible ; yea, and all those texts of Scripture that they conceive do make for some private opinion of theirs, concerning ceremonies, church-government, or other circumstantial points of religion, touching which points they are very able to reason and dispute, and to put forth such curious questions as are not easily answered ?

Are not some of these men / called sect-makers, and begetters or devisers of new opinions in religion; especially in the matter of worshipping God, as they use to call it, wherein they find a beginning, but hardly an end? For this religious knowledge is so variable, through the multiplicity of curious wits and contentious spirits that the life of man may seem too short to take a full view of this variety; for though all sects say they will be guided by the word of truth, and all seem to bring Scripture, which indeed is but one, as God is but one; yet by reason of their several constructions and interpretations of Scripture, and conceits of their own human wisdom, they are many. *

And are there not others of this sort of men that are ready to embrace any new way of worship, especially if it come under the cloak of Scripture-learning, and have a show of truth, founded upon the letter of the Bible, and seem to be more zealous and devout than the former way; especially, if the teacher of that uew way can but frame a sad and demure countenance, and with a grace lift up his head and his eyes towards heaven, with some strong groan, in de-

e Namely, the more seemingly religious.

/ Namely, of those spoken of in the paragraph immediately preceding, whom he begins to distribute here into three classes or sorts; all belonging to the second sort, viz, ihe more seemingly religious.

claring his newly conceived opinion; and that he frequently use this phrase— the glory of God! 0 then, these men are, by-and-by, of another opinion ! supposing to themselves that God has made known some further truth to them ; for, by reason of the blindness of their understanding, they are not able to reach any supernatural truth, although they do, by literal learning, and clerk-like cunning dive ever so deep into the Scriptures; and therefore they are ready to entertain any form of religious exercises, as shall be suggested unto them.

And are there not a third sort, much like to these men, that are excessive and mutable in the performance of religious exercises ? Surely St. Paul perceived that this was the very God of some men in his time, and therefore he willeth Timothy to instruct others, that " bodily exercise profiteth little," or, as some read it, " nothing at all;" and doth oppose thereunto " godliness" as being another thing than "bodily exercise," and says that it " is profitable," &c.

And do not you think that there are some men at this day that know none other good than bodily exercise, and can hardly distinguish betwixt it and godliness ? Now these bodily exercises are mutable and variable, according to their conceits and opinions ; for all sects have their several services, as they call them, yet all bodily, and for the most part, only bodily ; the which they perform to establish a rest to their souls, because they want rest in God. And hence it is that their peace and rest is up and down, according to their working better or worse. So many chapters must be read, and so many sermons must be heard, and so many times they must pray in one day; and so many diys in the week, or in the year they must fast, &c. or else their souls can have no rest. But mistake me not, I pray, in imagining that I speak against the doing of these things, for I do them all myself, but. against resting in the doing of them, the which I desire not to do.

And thus you see that men's blind understanding doth not only present unto the sensual appetite sensual objects, but also to the rational appetite rational objects ; so that man's poor soul is not only kept from rest in God by means of sensuality, but also by means of formality. If Satan cannot keep us from rest in God by feeding our senses with our mother Eve's apple, then he attempts to do it by blinding our eyes, and so hindering us from seeing the paths of the gospel. If he cannot keep us in Egypt by the flesh-pots of sensuality, then will he make us wander in the wilderness of religious and rational formality : so that if he cannot hinder us more grossly, then he attempts to do it more closely.

Nom. But, sir, I am persuaded that there be many men that are Vol. VII. 2 a

so religiously exercised, and do perform such duties as you have mentioned, and yet rest not in them but in God.

Evan. Questionless there be some Christians that look upon such exercises as means ordained of God both to beget and increase faith, and all other graces of his Spirit, in the hearts of his people ; and therefore, to the intent that their faith, and love, and other graces, may increase, they are careful to wait upon God, in taking all convenient opportunities to exercise themselves therein, and yet have their soul's rest in God, and not in such exercises.

But, alas! I fear the number of such men are very few, in comparison of them that do otherwise. For do not the most part of men that are religiously exercised, rather conceive, that as they have offended and displeased God by their former disobedience, so they must pacify and appease him by their future obedience ? And therefore they are careful to exercise themselves in this way of duty, and that way of worship, and all to that end ; yea, and they conceiving that they have corrupted, and defiled, and polluted themselves, by their falling into sin, they must also purge, cleanse, and purify themselves, by rising out of sin, and walking in new obedience : g and so all the good they do, and all the evil they eschew, is to pacify God, and appease their own consciences. And if they seek rest to their souls this way, why, it is the way of the covenant, of works, where they shall never be able to reach God ; nay, it is the way to come to God out of Christ, where they shall never be able to come near him, he being a " consuming fire."

Nom. But, sir, I pray you, would you not have our senses to be any longer exercised about any of their objects ? would you have us no longer to take comfort in the good things of this life ?

Evan. I pray you, do not mistake me ; I do not speak as though I would have you stoically to refuse the lawful use of any of the Lord's good creatures, which he shall be pleased to afford you, neither do I prohibit you from all comfort therein; but this is it which I do desire, namely, that you would endeavour to attain to such a peace, rest and content in God, as he is in Christ; that the violent cry of the heart may be restrained, and that your appetites may not be so forcible, nor so unruly as they are naturally, but that the uuruliness thereof may be brought unto a very comely decorum and order : so that your sensual appetites may, with much

g Neglecting to wash, by faith, in the blood of Christ, the " Fountain opened for sin, and for uncleanness," Zech. xiii. 1. " The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, clean-seth us from all sin," I John i. 17. " How much more shall the blood of Christ— purge your conscience from dead works?" Heb. ix. 14. " Purifying their hearts by faith," Acts xv. 9.

more easiness and contentedness, be denied the objects of their desires, yea, aud contented (if occasion be) with that which is most repugnant to them, as with hunger, cold, nakedness, yea, and with death itself. For such is the wonderful working of the heart's quiet and rest in God, that although a man's senses be still exercised in and upon their proper objects, yet may it be truly said, that such a man's life is not sensual. For indeed his heart taketh little contentment in any such exercises, it being for the most part exercised in a more transcendent communion with God, as he is in Christ. So that indeed the man that has this peace and rest in God may be truly said to " use this world as though he used it not," in that he receives any cordial contentment from any sensual exercise whatsoever, and that because his heart is withdrawn from them. "Which withdrawing of the heart is not unaptly pointed at, in the speech of the spouse, (Cant. v. 2,) " I sleep," says she, " but my heart wak-eth." Even so may it be said, that such a man is sleeping, looking, hearing, tasting, smelling, eating, drinking, feasting, &c, but his heart is withdrawn from the creature, and rejoicing in God his Saviour, and his soul is magnifying his Lord ; so that, in the midst of all his sensual delights, his heart secretly says, Ay, but my happiness is not here.

Norn. But, sir, I pray you, why do you call rational and religious exercises a wilderness ?

Evan. For two reasons; first, Because that as the children of Israel, when they were got out of Egypt, did yet wander many years in the wilderness before they came into the land of Canaan; even so do many men wander long in rational and religious exercises, after they had left a sensual life, before they come to rest in God, whereof the land of Canaan was a type, h

Secondly, Because, as in a wilderness men often lose themselves, and can find no way out, but supposing, after long travel, that they are nearer the place whither they would go, are in truth farther off; even so fareth it with many, yea, with all such as walk in the way of reason; i they lose themselves in the woods and bushes of their works and doings; so that the longer they travel, the farther they are from God, and true rest in him.

Nom. But, sir, you know that the Lord hath endowed us with rea-

h Such a wanderer our author himself had been, for a dozen of years, See his Preface, page 161, and compare that heavy word,Eccl. x. 15, " The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he hnoweth not how to go to the city."

i Namely, of reastn, as the judge and rule in religion. The Holy Scripture is the rule, and the Spirit of God therein speaking is the judge ; it is the business of our reason to discern what they teach, and to submit thereto, without reserve.

2 a2

sonable souls ; would you not then have us to make use of our reason?

Evan. I pray you, do not mistake me : I do not contemn nor despise the use of reason ; only I would not have you to establish it toj the chief good; but I would have you to keep it under ; so that, if with Hagar, it attempt to bear rule, and lord it over your faith, then would I have you, in the wisdom of God, like Sarah, to cast it out from having dominion. In few words, I would have you more strong in desire than curious in speculation, and to long more to feel communion with God, than to be able to dispute of the genus or species of any question, either human or divine; and press hard to know God by powerful experience. And though your knowledge be great, and your obedience surpassing many, yet would I have you to be truly nullified, annihilated, and made nothing, and become fools in all fleshly wisdom ; and glory in nothing, but only in the Lord, k And I would have you, with the eye of faith, sweetly to behold all things extracted out of one thing; and in one to see all. I In a word, I would have in you a most profound silence, contemning all curious questions and discourses; and to ponder much in your heart, but prat little with your tongue. " Be swift to hear," but " slow to speak," and " slow to wrath," as the apostle James advises you, (James i. 19); and by this means will your reason be subdued, and become one with your faith, for then is reason one with faith, when it is subjugated unto faith ; and then will reason keep its true lists and limits, and you will become ten times more reasonable than you were before. So that I hope you now see that the heart's farewell from the sensual and rational life is not to be considered absolutely, but respectively; it does not consist in a going out of either, but in a right U3e of both.

§ 3. Nom. Then, sir, it seems to me, that God in Christ, apprehended by faith, is the only true rest for man's soul.

Evan. There is the true rest indeed; there is the rest which David invites his soul unto, when he says, " Return unto thy rest, 0 my soul ! for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee," Psalm cxvi. 7, " For we which have believed," says the author to the Hebrews, " have entered into his rest," m Heb. iv. 3. And " Come unto me," says Christ, " all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I

,;' That is, for, or to be.

k 2 Cor. xii. II, " Though 1 be nothing." " 1 Cor. iii. 18, " Let him become a fool, that he may be wise." Chap. i. 31, " He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

I According to that saying of our Lord, Matth. xix. 17, " There is none good but one, that is God."

7n " Do enter into rest," or that rest, viz. " his rest." He means, that we even now enter into that rest by faith. Compare verse 10.

will give you rest,"« Matth. xi. 28. And truly, my neighbours and friends, believe it, we shall never find a heart's happiness, and true soul's rest, until we find it here. For howsoever a man may think, if he had this man's wit and that man's wealth, this man's honour and that man's pleasure, this wife, or that husband, such children, and such servants, his heart would be satisfied, and his soul would be contented ; yet which of us hath not, by our own experience, found the contrary ? For, not long after that we have obtained the thing we did so much desire, and wherein we promised ourselves so much happiness, rest, and content, we have found nothing but vanity and emptiness in it. Let a man but deal plainly with his own heart, and he shall find, that, notwithstanding he hath many things, yet there is ever one thing wanting : for indeed man's soul cannot be satisfied with any creature, no, not with a world of creatures. And the reason is, because the desires of man's soul are infinite, according to that infinite goodness which it once lost in

n This is one of the most solemn gospel-offers to be found in all the New Testament ; and our author seems here to point at what I conceive to be the true and genuine sense of it. The words " labour and heavy laden," do not restrict the invitation and offer to such as are insensible of their sins, and longing to be rid of them, though indeed none but such will really accept; but they denote the restlessness of the sinful soul of man ; a qualification (if it is so called) to be found in all that are out of Christ, whether they have, or have not, any notable law work on their consciences.

I say notable, to distinguish it from that which is common to all men, even to heathens, Rom. xi. 15. Our father Adam led his whole family away out of their rest in God ; and so left them with a conscience full of guilt, and a heart full of unsatisfied desires. Hence his children soon find themselves like the horse-leech, having " two daughters, crying, Give, give;" namely, a restless conscience, and a restless heart; and to each of these the poor soul must needs say, as Naomi said to Ruth, "My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee ?" so the blinded soul falls a labouring for rest to them. And it labours in the barren region of the fiery law for a rest to the conscience, and in the empty creation, for a rest to the heart ; but, after all, the conscience is still heavy laden with guilt, whether it has any lively feeling thereof, or not; and the heart is still under a load of unsatisfied desires ; so neither the one nor the other can find rest indeed. This is the natural case of all men. And to souls thus labouring, and laden, Jesus Christ here calls, that they may " come to him, and he will give them rest;" namely, a rest for their consciences, under the covert of his blood; and a rest to their hearts, in the enjoyment of God through him.

This is most agreeable to the Scripture phraseology, Eccl. x. 15, " The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knows not how to go to the city." Heb. ii. 13, " The people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity.' Isa. lv. 2, " Wherefore do ye spend—your labour for that which satisfieth uot ?" See page 278, note /. The prophet laments over a people more insensible than the ox or the ass, saying, " Ah, sinful nation I a people laden with iniquity," Isa. i. 3, 4. And the apostle speaks of " silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth," 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7.

losing God. Yea, and man's soul is a Spirit; and therefore cannot communicate with any corporal thing; so that all creatures, not being that infinite and spiritual fulness which our hearts have lost, and towards which they do still re-aspire; they cannot give it full contentment.

Nay, let me say more; howsoever a man may, in the midst of his sensual fulness, be convinced in his conscience that he is at enmity with God, and therefore in danger of his wrath and eternal damnation ; and be thereupon moved to reform his life and amend his ways, and endeavour to seek peace and rest to his soul; o yet this being in the way of works, it is impossible that he should find it; for his conscience will ever be accusing him, that this good duty he ought to have done, and has not done it; and this evil he ought to have forborne, and yet he has done it; and in the performance of this duty he was remiss, and in that duty very defective ; and many such ways will his soul be disquieted.

But when a man once comes to believe, that all his sins, both past, present, and to come, are freely and fully pardoned, p and God in Christ graciously reconciled unto him, the Lord doth thereupon so reveal his fatherly face unto him in Christ, and so make known that incredible union betwixt him and the believing soul, that his heart becomes quietly contented in God, who is the proper element of its being; for hereupon there comes into the soul such peace, flowing from the God of peace, that it fills the emptiness of the soul with true fulness, in the fulness of God, so that now the heart ceases to molest the understanding and reason, in seeking either variety of objects, or augmentation of degrees, in any comprehensible thing; and that because the restless longing of the mind which did before cause unquietness and disorder, both in the variety of mental projects, and also in the sensual and beastly exercises of the corporal and external members, is satisfied and truly quieted. For when a man's heart is at peace in God, and is become truly full in that peace and joy passing understanding, then the devil hath not that hope to prevail against his soul, as he had before : he knows right well that it is in vain to bait his hook with profits, pleasures, honour, or any other such like seeming good, to catch such a soul that is thus at quiet in God; for he hath all fulness in God, and what can be added to fulness but it runneth over ? Indeed, empty hearts, like empty hogsheads, are fit to receive any matter which shall be put into them ; but the heart of the believer being filled

o There.

p Namely, in respect of the guilt of eternal wrath. See page 242, note;'.

with joy and peace in believing, doth abhor all such base allurements; for it hath uo room in itself to receive any such seeming contentments. So that, to speak as the truth is, there is nothing that doth truly and unfeignedly root wickedness out of the heart of man, but only the true tranquillity of the mind, or the rest of the soul in God. And, to say as the thing is, this is such a peace, and such a rest to the creature in the Creator, that, according to the measure of its establishment by faith, no created comprehensible thing can either add to it, or detract from it; the increase of a kingdom cannot augment it, the greatest losses and crosses in worldly things cannot diminish it; a believer's good works do all flow from it, and ought not to return to it; q neither ought human frailties to molest it. r However, this is most certain, neither sin nor Satan, law nor conscience, hell nor grave, cau quite extinguish it; for it is the Lord alone that gives and maintains it. " Whom have I in heaven but thee ?" says David, " and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee," Psalm lxxiii. 25. It is the pleasant face of God in Christ that puts gladness into his heart, Psalm iv. 7. And when that face is hid, then he is troubled, Psalm xxx. 7. But, to speak more plainly, though the peace and joy of true believers may be extenuated or diminished, yet doth the testimony of their being in nature s remain so strong, that they could skill to say, yea, even when they have felt God to be withdrawing himself from them,— "My God! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psalm xxii. 1); yea, and in the night of God's absence to remain confident, that though sorrow be over night, yet joy will come in the morning, (Psalm xxx. 5,) nay, though the Lord should seem to kill them with unkindness, " yet they will put their trust in him," (Job xiii. 15); knowing that for all this " their Redeemer liveth," (Job xix. 25); so strong is " the joy of their Lord," Nehem. viii. 10. These are tiie people that are kept in perfect peace, because their minds are stayed in the Lord. (Isa. xxvi. 3.)

Wherefore, my dear friends and loving neighbours, I beseech you

q Namely to any part of the fountain of it, for the time to come : as the rivers return unto the sea, whence they came, making a part of the store for their own fresh supply ; nay, it is the Lord alone that gives and maintains it, as our author afterwards expresses it.

r For these we are never free from in this life. And true repentance, and gospel mourniug for sin, are so consistent with it, that they flow from it, accordiug to the measure thereof. Psal. lxv. 3, " Iniquities prevail against me : as for our transgressions thou shalt purge them away." Zech. xii. 10, " They shall look upon me, whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn."

s That is, the evidence, that they (viz. the peace and joy of believer") are still in being, (in rerum natura) and not quite extinct.

take heed of deeming any estate happy, until you come to find this true peace and rest to your souls in God. 0 beware last any of you do content yourselves with a peace rather of speculation than of power ! 0 be not satisfied with such a peace as consists either in the act of oblivion, or neglect of examination! nor yet in any brainsick supposition of knowledge, theological or divine ; and so frame rational conclusions, to protract time and still the cries of an accusing conscience. But let your hearts take their last farewell of false felicities, wherewith they have been, all of them, more or less, detained and kept from their true rest. 0 be strong in resolution ! and bid them all farewell; for what have your souls to do any longer among gross, thick, and bodily things here below, that you should set your love upon them, or see happiness in them ? your souls are of a higher and purer nature ; and therefore their well-being must be sought in something higher and purer than they, even in God himself.

True it is, that we are all of us, indeed, too unclean to touch God in immediate unity : but yet there is a pure counterpart of our natures, t and that pure humanity is immediately knit to the purest Deity; and by that immediate union you may come to a mediate union ; for the Deity and that humanity being united, make one Saviour, Head, and Husband of souls. And so you being married to him, that is, God, in him you come also to be one with God: he one by a personal union, and you one by a mystical. Clear up, then, your eye, and fix it on him, as on the fairest of men, the perfection of a spiritual beauty, the treasure of heavenly joy, the true object of most fervent love. Let your spirits look, and long, and seek after this Lord; let your souls cleave to him, let them hang about him, and never leave him, till he be brought into the chambers of your souls ; yea, tell him resolutely, you will not leave him, till you hear his voice in your souls, saying, " My well-beloved is mine, and I am his :" yea, and tell him you are " sick of love." Let your souls go, as it were, out of your bodies and out of the world, by heavenly contemplations; and treading upon the earth with the bottom of your feet, stretch your souls up, to look over the world, into that upper world, where her treasure is, u and where her Beloved dwelleth.

And when any of your souls shall thus forget her own people, and her father's house, Christ her King shall so desire her beauty (Psalm xlv. 10, 11,) and be so much in love with her, that like a loadstone, this love of his shall draw the soul in pure desire to him

l Namely, the pure and spotless human nature of Christ. u Your soul's.

again; and then, "as the heart panteth after the rivers of water, so will your soul pant after God," Psalin xlii. 1.

And then, according to the measure of your faith, your souls shall come to have a real rest in God, and be filled with joy unspeakable and glorious.

Wherefore, I beseech you, set your mouths to this fountain Christ, aud so shall your souls be filled with the water of life, with the oil of gladness, and with the new wine of the kingdom of God ; from him you shall have weighty joys, sweet embracements, and ravishing consolations. And how can it be otherwise, when your souls shall really communicate with God, and by faith have a true taste, and by the spirit have a sure earnest of all heavenly preferments ; having as it were, one foot in heaven, whilst you live upon earth ? 0 then, what an eucharistical love v will arise from your thankful hearts extending itself first towards God, and then towards man for God's sake ! and then, according to the measure of your faith, will be your willing obedience to God, and also to man for God's sake; for obedience being the kindly fruit of love, a loving soul bringeth forth this fruit, as kindly as a good tree bringeth forth her fruit; for the soul, having tasted Christ in a heavenly communion, so loves him, that to please him is a pleasure and delight to herself: and the more Christ Jesus comes into the soul by his Spirit, the more spiritual he make? her; and turns her will into his will, making her of oue heart, mind, and will, with him.

So that, for a conclusion, this I say, that if the everlasting love of God in Jesus Christ be truly made known to your souls, according to the measure thereof, you shall have no need to frame and force yourselves to love and do good works, for your souls will ever stand bound w to love God, and to keep his commandments, and it will be your meat and drink to do his will. And truly this love of God will cut down self-love and love of the world, for the sweetness of Christ's Spirit will turn the sweetness of the flesh into bitterness, and the sweetness of the world into contempt. And if you can behold Christ with open face, you shall see and feel things unutterable, and be changed from beauty to beauty, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of this Lord, and so be happy in this life, in your union with happiness, and happy hereafter in the full fruition of happiness: as whither the Lord Jesus Christ bring us all in his due time. Amen.

v A love of thanksgiving, bearing thankfulness in its nature. w Or constrained by the force of that love, .r That is, of God himself in Christ.

CONCLUSION.

" And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to bnild you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified," Acts. xx. 32.

Neo. "Well sir, at this time I will say no more, but that it was a happy hour wherein I came to you, and a happy conference that we have had together. Surely, sir, I never knew Christ before this day. 0 what cause have 1 to thank the Lord for my coming hither, and my two friends as a means of it! and, sir, for the pains that you have taken with me, I pray the Lord to requite you; and so beseeching you to pray the Lord to increase my faith, and to help my unbelief, I humbly take my leave of you, praying "the God of love and peace to be with you."

Norn. And truly, sir, I do believe that I have cause to speak as much in that case as he has; for though I have outstript him in knowledge, and it may be also in strict walking, yet do I now see, that my actions were neither from a right principle, nor to a right end ; and therefore have I been in no better a condition than he. And truly, sir, I must needs confess, I never heard so much of Christ and the covenant of grace, as I have done this day. y The Lord make it profitable to me; and I beseech you, sir, pray for me.

Ant. And truly, sir, I am now fully convinced that I have gone out of the right way, in that I have not had regard to the law, and the works thereof, as I should ; but, God willing, I shall hereafter (if the Lord prolong my days) be more careful how I lead my life, seeing the ten commandments are the law of Christ; and I beseech you, sir, remember me in your prayers. And so, with many thanks to you for your pains, I take my leave of you, beseeching the " grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to be with your spirit." Amen.

Evan. " Now, the very God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen." Heb. xiii. 20, 21. John viii. 36, "If the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed." Gal. v. 1, 13, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Only use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one

y This is here fitly put into the mouth of Nomista, the prevailing of legal principles and practices among professors being much owing to legal preaching ; the success whereof is not to he wondered at, since it is rowing with the stream of nature.

another." Chap. vi. 16, " And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." Matt. xi. 25, " I thank thee 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes." 1 Cor. xv. 10, " I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." Psalm xxxvi. 11, "Let not the foot of pride come against me."

THE

MARROW

MODERN DIVINITY.

PART SECOND.

RIGHT HON. JOHN WARNER,

LORD MAYOR OF THE MOST RENOWNED CITY OF LONDON,

E. F. luisheth a most plentiful increase of Spiritual wisdom, and all necessary graces for the discharge of his duty, to the glory of God, and the good of his people.

Right Honourable,

The rod of God's judgments hath been now long upon us, which we by our manifold sins have procured, according as it is said concerning Jerusalem, Jer. iy. 18. " Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee." And have we any just ground to hope, that till the cause be taken away, the effect will cease ? Can we expect that the Lord will turn away his judgments, till we turn away from our sins ? And can we turn away from our sins before we know them ? And can we come to know our sins any otherwise than by the law ? Doth not one apostle say, that " sin is the transgression of the law ?" 1 John iii. 4: And doth not another apostle therefore say, that " by the law is the knowledge of sin ?" Rom. iii. 20. Surely, then, a treatise, wherein is shown what is required, and what is forbidden, in every commandment of the law, and so consequently what is sin, must needs be for this cause, and at this time, very seasonable. But yet, alas ! that although there be ever so many treatises written, or ever so many sermons preached upon this subject, yet do they either remain wilfully ignorant of their sins, or else though they know them, yet will they not forego them, but rather choose wilfully to wallow on in the mire of iniquity, so sweet and dear are their sins unto them. But what, then, must they be suffered so to go on without restraint ? No ; God forbid. Such persons as the law and love of God will not constrain, such must the execution of justice

restrain ; upon such must the penalty of the laws of the land (being grounded upon God's laws) be by the civil magistrate inflicted. And for this cause it is that the king is required, " when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, to write him a copy of the law of God in a book," Deut. xvii. 18. And for this cause it is that the civil magistrate is called " the keeper of both tables;" for says Luther, (on Gal. p. 151.) "God hath ordained magistrates, and other superiors, and appointed laws, bounds, and all civil ordinances, that, if they can do no more, yet at least they may bind the devil's hands, that he rage not in his bond slaves after his own lusts." And hence it is that the apostle, speaking of the civil magistrate, says, " If thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain," Rom. xiii. 4. Wherefore, Right Honourable, God having called you to wield the sword of authority in the most famous city of this kingdom, I, a poor inhabitant thereof, the author of the ensuing Dialogue, have, through the advice and persuasion of some godly ministers, and through the consideration of the suitableness of the subject with our place, been moved to take the boldness to offer this work to your worthy name and patronage ; not that I do conceive your honour is ignorant of your duty, nor yet that I see you to neglect you duty, for your Christian integrity in your place, and your zealous forwardness to reform things amiss, by punishing of evil doers, doth to me witness the contrary ; but rather to encourage your Honour to continue your godly course in the ways of well-doing, and to advance forward in paths of piety, being more swift in your motion now towards the end of your race—your year I mean, that so your Master, Christ, may have cause to say concerning you, as he once did concerning the church of Thyatira, " I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first," Rev. ii. 19. Yea, and that it also may be said concerning you,—" Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee rnler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," Matt. xxv. 21.

And so most humbly begging of your Honour that these my poor

labours may be accepted, and that under your Honour's name, they go forth into the world, and praying the Lord of power, and the God of all grace, to multiply his Spirit upon your Honour, with all the blessed fruits of the same, I take my leave, and rest your Honour's most humble servant to be commanded,

Edward Fishek.

Vol. VII. 2 b

The Author to the Well-affected Reader

Good Reader,

I do confess there are so many godly and learned expositions upon the ten commandments already extant, that it may seem needless to add any more unto that number. Nevertheless, I pray thee, do not think it impossible but that God may by such a weak instrument as I myself am, show his power in doing somethiug more, touching this subject, than hath yet been done. I do confess, I have had good helps from the labours of others, and have made much use thereof, especially for matter, yet have I not cpnfined my discourse within the compass of what I have found in other books, but have from the warrant of the word of God, taken the boldness to enlarge it, both as touching the matter and manner, and especially touching the application, wherein I have endeavoured to give both believers and unbelievers their distinct proportion, by distinguishing betwixt the ten commandments, as they are the law of works, having the promise of eternal life, and the threatening of eternal death annexed to them, and so applying them to the unbeliever; and as they are the law of Christ, having the promise of eternal life, and the threatening of eternal death separated from them, and so applying them to the believer. I have not denied, but acknowledg3d, yea, and proved, that the law of the ten commandments, truly expounded, is to be a perpetual rule of life to all mankind, yea, to believers themselves; for though the Spirit of Jesus Christ do, according to his promise, write this law in their hearts, as their inward rule, yet, in regard that whilst they live in this world, it is done but in part, they have need of the ten commandments to be unto them as an outward rule: for though the Spirit have begotten in them a love to this law, and wrought in them a willing disposition to yield obedience thereunto, yet have they need of the law to be unto them as a glass, wherein they may

see what the will of God is, and as a rule to direct them how to actuate their love and willingness, so that, as a precious godly minister of Jesus Christ truly says, the Spirit within, and the law without, " is a lamp unto their feet, and a light unto their paths," Psalm cxix. 105.

But yet I do conceive, that expositors on the commandments should not only endeavour to drive on their designs to that end, and there terminate their endeavours, as if there were no further use to be made of the law, neither in believers nor in unbelievers; but they should aim at a further end—an end beyond this, especially in unbelievers, and that is, to discover to them how far short tbey come of doing that which the law requireth, that so they may not take up their rest in themselves, but hasten out of themselves to Jesus Christ; and that believers, by beholding their own imperfections, should take occasion to humble themselves, and cleave the more close unto him by faith.

For when, by way of exposition, it is only declared what is required, and what is forbidden in every commandment, with exhortations, motives, and means to do thereafter, it has been observed, that clivers both profane and mere civil honest people, upon the hearing or reading of the same, have concluded with themselves, that they must either alter their course of life, and strive and endeavour to do more than they have done, and better than they have done, or else they shall never be sared, and hereupon they have taken up a form of godliness, in hearing, reading, and praying, and the like, and so have become formal professors, and therein have rested, coming far short of Jesus Christ, yea, and believers themselves have sometimes taken occasion thereby, to conceive that they must do something towards their own justification and salvation.

Wherefore I, yet not I by any power of my own, but by the grace of God that is with me, have endeavoured not only to show what is required, and what is forbidden in every commandment, but also, that it is impossible for any man, whether he be an unbeliever or a believer, to keep any one commandment perfectly, yea, or to do any one action or duty perfectly, that so by the working of

2b2

God's Spirit in the reading of the same, men may be moved; not only to turn from being profane, or mere civil honest men, to be formal professors, but that they may be driven out of all their own works and performances unto Jesus Christ, and so become Christians indeed, and that those who are Christians indeed, may thereby be moved to prize Jesus Christ the more : and if the Lord shall but be pleased to enable either myself or any other man or woman to make this use of this ensuing Dialogue, then shall not my labour, be in vain : But my heart's desire and prayer to God shall be, that many may receive as much good by the " Marrow" which is contained in this second bone, as they say they have done by that which is contained in the first; that so God may be glorified and their souls edified, and then have I my reward. Only let me beg of thee, that for what good thou receivest thereby, thou wilt beg at the throne of grace for me, thatniy faith may be increased, and so my love inflamed towards God, and towards man for God's sake, and then I am sure I shall keep the law more perfectly than I have yet done. The which that we may all do, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all our spirits. Amen.

Thine in the Lord Jesus Christ,

E. F.

September 21, 1648.

PART SE COND

Evangelista, a Minister of the Gospel. Nomologists, a Pratler of the Law. Neophitus, a Young Christian.

Neo. Sir, here is our neighbour Nomologista, who, as I suppose, is much mistaken, as touching a point that he and I have had some conference about; and because I have fouud you so ready and willing to inform and instruct me, when I came to you with my neighbours Nomista and Antinomista, I have presumed to entreat liim to come along with me to you: assuring both myself and him that we shall be welcome to you, and that you will make it appear he is deceived.

Evan. You are both of you very kindly welcome to me, and as I have been willing to give you the best instruction, Avhen you were formerly with me ; even so, God willing, shall I be now; wherefore, I pray you, let me understand what the point is, wherein you do conceive he is mistaken.

Neo. Why, sir, this is the thing : he tells me, he is persuaded that he goes very near the perfect fulfilling of the law of God ; but I cannot be persuaded to it.

Evan. "What say you neighbour Nomologista, are you so persuaded ?

Norn. i. Yea, indeed sir, I am so persuaded; for whereas you know the first commandment is, " I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have none other God before my face." I am confident I have the only true God for my God, and none other.

ii. And whereas the second commandment is, " Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image," &c. I tell you truly, I do defy all graven images, and do count it a great folly in any man, either to make them, or worship them.

in. And whereas the third commandment is, " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," it is well known that I am no swearer, neither can 1 abide to hear others swear by the name of God.

iv. And whereas the fourth commandment is, " Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day," I am sure I do very seldom either work or travel on that day ; but do go to the church both forenoon

and afternoon; and do both read, and hear the word of God read, when I come home.

v. And whereas the fifth commandment is, " Honour thy father and mother," &c. I thank God I was very careful to do my duty to my parents when I was a child.

vi. And whereas the sixth commandment is, " Thou shalt not kill," I thank God, I never yet either murdered man, woman, or child ; and I hope never shall.

vn. And whereas the seventh commandment is, " Thou shalt not commit adultery," I thank God I was never given to women, God has hitherto kept me from committing that sin, and so I hope he will do whilst I live.

vni. And whereas the eighth commandment is, " Thou shalt not steal," I do not remember that ever I took the worth of twelve-pence of any man's goods in all my life.

ix. And whereas the ninth commandment is, " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour," I thank God, I do abhor that sin, and was never guilty of it in all my life.

x. And whereas the tenth commandment is, " Thou shalt not covet," I thank God, I never coveted any thing but what was miue own, in all my life.

Evan. Alas! neighbour Nomologista, the commandments of God have a larger extent thau it seems you are aware of; for it seems you do imagine that the whole moral law is confined within the compass of what you have now repeated; as though there were no more required or forbidden, than what is expressed in the words of the ten commandments; as though God required no more but the bare external, or actual performance of a duty: and as though ho did forbid no more than the bare abstinence and gross acting of sin. The very same conceit of the law of God, the Scribes and Pharisees had; and therefore, it is no marvel though you imagine you keep all the commandments even as they did.

Nom. Well, sir, if I have been deceived, you may do well to instruct me better.

Evan. I shall endeavour to do it with all my heart, as the Lord shall be pleased to enable me. And because I begin to fear that it is not your case alone to be thus ignorant of the large extent, and the true sense and meaning of the law of God, I also begin to blame myself for that I have not taken occasion to expound the commandments in my public ministry since I came amongst you; and theri -fore I do now resolve, by the help of God, very speedily to fall about that work; and I hope I shall then make it appear unto you that the ten commandments are but an epitome or an abridgment

of the law of God, and that the full exposition thereof is to be found in the books of the prophets and apostles, called the Old and New Testament.

Neo. Indeed, sir, I have told hira that we must not stick upon the bare words of any of the ten commandments, nor rest satisfied with the bare literal sense, but labour to find out the full exposition and true spiritual meaning of every one of them, according to other places of Scripture.

Evan. If you told him so, you told him that which is most true; for he that would truly understand and expound the commandments, must do it according to these six rules.

First, He must consider that every commandment has both a negative and affirmative part contained in it; that is to say, where any evil is forbidden, the contrary good is commanded ; aud where any good is commanded, the contrary evil is forbidden; for, says Ur-sinus' Catechism, page 329, " The lawgiver does in an affirmative commandment comprehend the negative; and contrariwise, in a negative he comprehends the affirmative."

Secondly, He must consider that under one good action commanded, or one evil action forbidden, all of the same kind or nature are comprehended, yea, all occasions and means leading thereunto; according to the saying of judicious Virel, " The Lord minding to forbid divers evils of the same kind, he comprehendeth them under the name of the greatest."

Thirdly, He must consider that the law of God is spiritual, reaching to the very heart or soul, and all the powers thereof, for it charges the understanding to know the will of God; it charges the memory to retain, and the will to choose the better, and to leave the worse; it charges the affections to love the things that are to be loved, and to hate the things that are to be hated, and so binds all the powers of the soul to obedience, as well as the words, thoughts, and gestures.

Fourthly, He must consider, that the law of God must not only be the rule of our obedience, but it must also be the reason of it: we must not only do that which is there commanded, and avoid that which is there forbidden, but we must also do the good, because the Lord requires it, and avoid the evil, because the Lord forbids it; yea, and we must do all that is delivered and prescribed in the law, for the love we bear to God, though love of God must be the fountain, the impulsive and efficient cause of all our obedience to the law.

Fifthly, He must consider, that as our obedience to the law must arise from a right fountain, so must it be directed to a right end,

and that is, that God alone may be glorified by us; for otherwise it is not the worship of God, but hypocrisy, says TJrsinus' Catehchism ; so that according to the saying of another godly writer, the final cause or end of all our obedience must be, God's glory, (1 Cor. x. 13); or, which is all one, that we may please him, for in seeking to please God, we glorify him, and these two things are always co-incident.

Sixthly, He must consider, that the Lord does not only take notice of what we do in obedience to his law, but also after what manner we do it; and therefore we must be careful to do all our actions after a right manner, viz. humbly, reverently, willingly, and zealously,

Neo. I beseech you, sir, if you can spare so much time, let us have some brief exposition of some, if not of all the ten commandments before we go hence, according to these rules.

Evan. "What say you, neighbour Nomologista, do you desire the same ?

Nom. Tea, sir, with all my heart, if yon please. Evan. Well then, although my occasions at this time might justly plead excuse for me; yet seeing that you do both of you desire it, I will for the present dispense with all my other business, and endeavour to accomplish your desires, according as the Lord shall be pleased to enable me : and therefore, I pray you understand and consider, That in the first commandment there is a negative part expressed in these words : " Thou shalt have none other gods before ray face." And an affirmative part included in these words: "But thou shalt have rae only for thy God;" for if we must have none other for our God, it implies strongly, that we must have the Lord for our God.

Neo. I pray you, sir, begin with the affirmative part, and first tell us what the Lord requireth of us in this commandment?

COMMANDMENT I.

Evan. In this first commandment, " the Lord requireth the duty of our hearts or souls," Prov. xxiii. 26 ; that is to say, of our understandings, wills, and affections, and the effects of them.

Neo. And what is the duty of our understandings ?

Evan. The duty of our understandings is to know God, 2 Chron. xxviii. 9. Now the end of knowledge is but the fulness of persuasion, even a settled belief, which is called faith, so that the duty of our understandings is, so to know God, as to believe him to be according as he has revealed himself to us in his word and worts; chap. xi. 6.

Neo. And how has the Lord revealed himself to us in his word ?

Evan. Why, he has revealed himself to be " most wise," Rom. xvi. 27; " most mighty," Deut. vii. 21; " most true," Deut. xxxii. 4; " most just," Neh. ix. 33; and " most merciful," Psalm cxlv. 8.

Neo. And how has he revealed himself to us in his works ?

Evan, he has revealed himself in his works to be " the Creator of all things," Exod. xx. 11; and " the Preserver of all things," Psalm xxvi. 6; and " the Governor of all things," Psalm cxxxv. 6; and " the Giver of every good gift." Jas. i. 17.

Neo. And how must our knowledge of God, and our belief in him, be expressed by their effects ?

Evan. We must express, that we know and believe God to be according as he lias revealed himself in his word and works, by our remembering and acknowledging him whensoever there is occasion for us so to do.

As for example ; when we read or hear those judgments that the Lord in his word has threatened to bring upon us for our sins, (Deut. xxviii. 16.) we are to express that we do remember and acknowledge him to be most mighty, true, and just, by our fearing and trembling thereat, Psalm cxix. 120. Hab. iii. 15. And when we read or hear of blessings, that the Lord in his word has promised to bestow upon us for our obedience, (Deut. xxviii. 2.) then we are to express, that we do remember and acknowledge him to be most true, and merciful, by our obedience uuto him, and by our trusting in him, and relying upon him, Gen. xxxii. 9. And when we behold the excellent frame of heaven and earth, and the creatures contained therein, then we are to express, that we do remember and acknowledge the Lord to be the Creator and Maker of them all, by our praising and magnifying his name, Psalm cvi. 5. and cxxxix. 14. And when the Lord does actually inflict any judgment upon us, then we are to express that we do remember and acknowledge him to be the Governor of all things, and most mighty, wise, and just, by humbling ourselves under his mighty hand, 1 Pet. v. 6. And by judging ourselves worthy to be destroyed, for our iniquities, Ezek. xxxvi. 31. And by bearing the punishment thereof, (Lev. xxvi. 41.) with willing, patient, contented submission to his will and pleasure, Psalm xxxix. 9. And when the Lord does actually bestow any blessing upon us, then we are to express, that we do remember, and acknowledge him to be the most merciful Giver of every good gift, by our humble acknowledging that we are unworthy of the least of his mercies, Gen. xxxii. 10; and " in giving hira thanks for all things," 1 Thess. v. 18. And thus have I showed unto you what is the duly of our understandings.

Neo. I pray you, sir, let us, iu the next place, hear what is the duty of our wills.

Evan. The duty of our wills is to choose the Lord alone for our our portion, Psalm xyi. 5. and cxix. 47.

Neo. And how must we express that we have chosen the Lord for our portion ?

Evan. " By our loving him with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our might," Deut. v. 6.

Neo. And how must we express that we do thus love the Lord ?

Evan. We must express that we do thus love the Lord, by the acting of our other affections, as by our desire of most near communion with him, Phil. i. 23. and by our delighting most in him, Psalm xxxvii. 4; and by our rejoicing most in him, Phil. iv. 4: and by our rearing most to offend him, Matt. x. 28; and by our sorrowing most for offending him, Luke xxii. 62 ; and by being most zealous against sin, aud for the glory of God, Rev. iii. 19. And thus have I showed you what the Lord requires in the affirmative part of this commandment.

Neo. I pray you, sir, proceed to the negative part, and show us what the Lord forbids in this commandment.

Evan. In this first commandment is forbidden " ignorance of God," Jer. iv. 22; so also is unbelief, or doubting of the truth of God's word, Isa. vii. 9. And so also is the want of fearing the threaten-ings of God, Deut. xxviii. 58, and the fearing the threatenings of men, either more, or as much as the threatenings of God, Isa. li. 12, 13 ; and so also is the want of trusting unto or relying upon the promises of God, Luke xii. 29, and the trusting or relying upon ourselves, men's promises, or any other thing, either more, or as much as we do upon God, Jer. xvii. 5 ; Luke xii. 20. And so also is the want of acknowledging the hand of God, in the time of affliction, Isa. xxvi. 11 ; and acknowledging that the rod can smite without the hand of God, Job xix. 11 ; and so also is the want of humbling ourselves before the Lord, Dan. v. 22; and pride of heart, Prov. xvi. 5. And so also is impatience and discontentedness under the chastising hand of God, Exod. xvii. 2 ; and not returning unto him that smiteth us, Isa. ix. 13; and so also is our forgetfulness of God in not acknowledging his merciful and bountiful hand in reaching forth all good things unto us in the time of prosperity, Psalm Ixxviii. 11; Deut. xxxii. 18; and so also is our sacrificing to our own nets, (Hab. i. 10,) in ascribiug the coming in of our riches to our own care, pains, and diligence in our callings, Deut. viii. 17; and so also is unthankfulness to the Lord for his mercies, Rom. i. 21; and so also is our want of love to God, 1 Cor. xvi. 22; and our

loving any creature either more than God, or equal with God, Matt. x. 37: and so also is our want of desiring his presence, Job xxi. 14; and our desiring the presence of any creature either more or so much as God, Prov. vi. 25; and so also is our want of rejoicing in God, Deut. xxviii. 47; and our rejoicing either more, or as much in any thing as in God, Luke x. 20; and so also is our want of fearing to offend God, Jer. v. 22; and our fearing to offend any mortal man, either more or as much as to offend God, Prov. xxix. 25; and so also is our want of sorrow and grief for offending God, 1 Cor. v. 2 ; and our sorrowing more, or as much, for any worldly loss or cross, as for our sinning against God, 1 Thess. iv. 15 ; and so also is our want of zeal, or our lukewarmness in the cause of God and his truth, Rev. iii. 16 ; and our corrupt, blind, and indiscreet zeal, Luke ix. 55. And thus have I showed unto you what the Lord requires, and what he forbids in this commandment. And now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you, tell me whether you think you keep it perfectly or no ?

Norn. Sir, before I tell you that, I pray you tell me how you prove that the Lord in this commandment requires all these duties, and forbids all these sins ?

Evan. First, I know that the Lord in this commandment requires all these duties, because no man can truly have the Lord for his God, except he have chosen him for his portion ; and no man can truly choose the Lord for his portion, before he truly know him : and he that does truly know God, does truly believe both his threatenings and his promises ; and he that does truly believe the Lord's threatenings, must needs fear and tremble at them; and he that does believe the Lord's promises, must needs truly love him, for faith always produces and brings forth love ; and whosoever does truly love God, must needs desire near communion with him; yea, and rejoice in communion with him ; yea, and fear to offend him ; yea, and sorrow for offending him ; yea, and be zealous for his glory. ,

Secondly, I know that all these sins are forbidden in this commandment, because that whatsoever the mind, will, and affections of men are set upon, or carried after, either more or as much as after God, that is another god unto him ; and therefore, if a man stand in fear of any creature, or fear the loss of any creature, either more than God, or equal with God, he makes that creature his god : and if he trust unto, and put confidence in any creature, either more than in God, or equal with God, that creature is his god; and hence it is that the covetous man is called an idolater, Eph. v. 5, for that he makes his gold his hope, and says to the fine gold, " Thou art

my confidence," Job xxxi. 24. And if any man be proud of any good thing he has, and do not acknowledge God to be the free giver and bestower of the" same, or if he be impatient and discontented under the Lord's correcting hand, he makes himself a god; and if a man so love any creature as that he desires it being absent, or delights in it being present, either more than God, or equal with God, that creature is another god unto him. And hence it is, that voluptuous men are said to make their belly their god, Phil. iii. 19. In a word, whatsoever the mind of man is carried after, or his heart and affections set upon, either more, or as much as upon God, that he makes his god. And therefore we may undoubtedly conclude, that all the sins before mentioned, are forbidden in this commandment.

Nom. Then believe me, sir, I must confess that I come far short of keeping this commandment perfectly.

Evan. Yea, and so we do all of us, I am confident; for have not every one of us sometimes questioned in our hearts, whether there be a God or no? And as touching the knowledge of God, may not we all three of us truly say with the apostle, 1 Cor. xiii. 9, " "We know in part." And which of us has so feared and trembled at the threatenings of God, and at the shaking of his rod, as we ought ? Nay, have we not feared the frowns, threats, and power of some mortal man, more than the frowns, threats, and power of God? It is well if it have not appeared by our choosing to obey man rather than God: and which of us has so trusted unto, and relied upon the promises of God in time of need, as he ought? nay, have we not rather trusted unto and relied upon men and means, than upon God? Has it not been manifested by our fearing of poverty, and want of outward things, when friends, trading, and means begin to fail us; though God has said, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee "? Heb. xiii. 5. And which of us has so humbled ourselves under the chastening and correcting hand of God as we ought: nay, have we not rather expressed abundance of pride, by our impatience and discontentedness, and want of submitting to the will of God; and by our quarrelling and contending with his rod. And which of us has so acknowledged God in the time of prosperity, and been so thankful unto him for his blessings, as we ought ? Nay, have we not rather at such times forgotten God, and sacrificed to our own nets, saying in our hearts, if not also with our mouths, " I may thank mine own diligence, care and pains-taking, or else it had not been with me as it is ?" And which of us hath so manifested our love to God, by our desire of near communion with him in his ordinances and by our desire to be dissolved and to be with

liim, as we ought ? Nay, have we not rather expressed our great want of love to him, hy onr backwardness to prayer, reading, and hearing his word, and receiving the sacrament, and by our little delight therein, and by our unwillingness to die? Nay, have we not manifested our greater love to the world, by our greater desires after the profits, pleasures, and honours of the world, and by our greater delight therein than in God ? Or which of us have so manifested our love to God, by our sorrow and grief for offending him, as we ought ? Nay, have we not rather manifested our greater love to the world, by our sorrowing and grieving more for some worldly loss or cross, than for offending God by our sins ? Or which of us have so manifested our love to God, by being so zealous for his glory as we ought? Nay, have we not rather expressed greater love to ourselves, in being more hot and fiery in our own cause than in God's cause ? And thus have I endeavoured to satisfy your desires concerning the first commandment.

Neo. I beseech you, sir, proceed to do the like concerning the second commandment, and first tell us how the first and second commandments differ the one from the other.

COMMANDMENT II.

Evan. Why, as the first commandment teaches us to have the true God for our God, and none other; so the second commandment requireth that we worship this true God alone, with true worship : and in this commandment likewise, there is a negative part expressed in these words, " Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image," &c. And an affirmative part included in these words, "But thou shalt worship me only and purely, according to my will, revealed in my word."

Neo. I pray you then, sir, begin with the affirmative part, and tell us what be the means of God's worship, prescribed in his word.

Evan. If we look into the word of God, we shall find that the ordinary means and parts of God's worship, are invocations upon the name of God, ministry and hearing of the word of God, administration and receiving the sacraments, with all helps and furtherances to the right performance of the same.

But to declare this more particularly, First of all, prayer both public and private is required in God's word, as you may see, 1 Tim. ii. 8; Acts ii. 21, 22; Dan. vi. 10. Secondly, Beading the word, or hearing it read, both publicly and privately, is required in God's word, as you may see, Bev. i. 3; Deut. v. 6. Thirdly. Preaching, and hearing of the word preached, is required in the word of God, as you may see, 2 Kings iv. 2; 1 Thess. ii. 13.

Fourthly, The administration and receiving the sacrament is required in the word of God, as you may see, Matt. iii. 6. and xxvi. 26; 1 Cor. x. 16. Fifthly, Praising of God, in singing of psalms, both publicly and privately, is required in the word of God, as you may see, Col. iii. 16; James v. 13. Sixthly, Meditation on the word of God is required in the word of God, as you may see, Psalm i. 2; Acts xvii. 11. Seventhly, Conference about the word of God is required in the word of God, as you may see, Mai. iii. 16. And, Lastly, For the better fitting and stirring us up to the right performance of these duties, religious fasting, both in public and in private, is required in the word of God, as you may see, Joel i. 14, and ii. 15. Aud so also is a religious vow or free promise made to God, to perform some outward work, or bodily exercise for some end, as you may see, Eccl. v. 3, 4. And thus have I shown you what be the means of God's worship which he has prescribed in his word.

Neo. I pray you, sir, then proceed to the negative part, aud tell us what the Lord forbiddeth in this commandment ?

Evan. Well then, I pray you understand, that in this commandment is forbidden, neglecting of prayer, as you may see, Psalm xiv. 4. And so also is absenting ourselves from the hearing of the word preached, or any other ordinance of God, when the Lord calls us thereunto, as you may see, Luke xiv. 18—20. And so also is our rejecting the sacrament of baptism, as you may see, Luke vii. 30. And so also is our slighting the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, as you may see, 2 Chron. xxx. 10. And so also is the slighting and omitting any of the other forenamed duties, as you may see, Psalm x. 4 ; John iii. 31 ; Isa. xxii. 12—14. And so also is praying to saints and angels, as you may see, Isa. lxiii. 16; Rev. xix. 10. And so also is the making of images for religious uses, as you may see, Lev. xix. 4. And so also is the representing God by an image, as you may see, Exod. xxxii. 8, 9. Aud so also is all carnal imaginations of God in his worship, as you may see, Acts xvii. 29. And so also is all will worship, or the worshipping of God according to our own fancy, as you may see, 1 Sam. ix. 10,13 ; Col. ii. 23. And thus have I shown unto you both what the Lord requireth, and what he forbiddeth in this commandment, and now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you, tell me whether you keep it perfectly or no ?

Nom. Yea, sir, I am persuaded that I go very near it. But, I pray you, sir, tell me how you prove that all these duties are required, and all these sins forbidden in this commandment ?

Evan. For the proof of this, I pray you consider, that the worshipping of false gods is flatly forbidden in the negative part of this

commandment, in these words, " Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, nor worship them," Exod. xx. 5. And the worshipping of the true God is implied and expressed in these words, Matth. iv. 10, " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

Nom. But sir, how do you prove that these duties which you have named are parts of God's Arorship ?

Evan. For answer hereunto, I pray you consider, that to worship God, is to render up that homage and respect that is due from a creature to a Creator; now, in prayer we are said to render up this homage unto him, and to manifest our profession of dependence upon him for all the good we have, and acknowledge him to be the Author of all good; and indeed prayer is such a great part of God's worship, that sometimes in Scripture it is put for the whole worship of God. " He that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," Rom. x. 13 ; that is, he that worships God aright; Jer. x. 25, " Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that know thee not, and on the families that call not upon thy name," that do not pray, that do not worship God.

And that hearing the word is a part of God's worship is manifest ; because that in hearing we do manifest our dependence upon him, for knowing his mind, and the way to eternal life, every time we come to hear the word of God, if we know what we do, we do thus much, we profess that we depend upon the Lord God for the knowing of his mind, and the way and rule to eternal life ; and besides, herein we also come to wait upon God in the way of an ordinance, to have that good conveyed unto us by way of an ordinance, beyond what the thing itself is able to do, and therefore this is worship. And that the receiving the sacrament is a part of God's worship, is manifest, in that when we come to receive these holy signs and seals, we come to present ourselves before God, and come to God for a blessing in communicating unto us some higher good than possibly those creatures that we have to deal with are able of themselves to convey to us ; we come to God to have communion with him, and that we might have the blessing of the covenant of grace conveyed unto us through these things; and therefore when we come to be exercised in them, we come to worship God. The like we might say of the rest of the duties before mentioned, but I hope this may suffice to satisfy you that they are parts of God's worship.

Nom. But, sir, you know that in this commandment there is nothing expressly forbidden but the making and worshipping of ima ges, and therefore I question whether all those other sins that you have named be likewise forbidden.

Evan. Bat you must know, that when the Lord condemneth the chief, or greatest and most evident kind of false worship, namely, the worship of God at, or by images, it is manifest that he forbids also the other kinds of false worship, seeing this is the head and fountain of all the rest; wherefore, whatsoever worships are instituted by men, or do any way hinder God's true worship, they are contrary to this commandment.

Norn. Well, sir, though that these things be so, yet for all that I am persuaded I go very near the keeping of this commandment j for I do constantly perform the most of these duties, and am not guilty of doing the contrary.

Evan. But thou must know, that for the worshipping of God aright it is not only required that we do the good which he commands, and avoid the evil which he forbids, but also, that we do it in obedience to God, to show that we acknowledge him alone to be the true God, who has willed this worship to be thus done unto him; so that, as I told you before, the word of God must not only be the rule of our actions, but also the reason of them : we must do all things which are delivered and prescribed in the ten commandments, even for the love we bear to God, and for the desire we have to worship him ; for except we so do them, we do them not according to the sentence and prescript of the law, neither do we please God therein. Wherefore, though you have prayed and heard the word of God and received the sacrament, and done all the rest of the forenamed duties, yea, and though you have not done the contrary, yet if all this has been either because the laws of the kingdom require it, or in mere obedience to any superior, or to gain the praise and esteem of men, or if you have any way made yourself your highest end, you have not obeyed nor worshipped God therein; for, says a judicious writer, " If any man shall observe these things in mere obedience to the king's laws, or thereby to please holy men, and not through an immediate reverence of that heavenly Majesty who has commanded them, that man's obedience is non-obedience ; his keeping of these laws is no keeping them ;" because the main thing here intended is neglected, which is the setting up God in his heart; and that which is most of all abhorred is practised, viz. the " fear of God taught by the precepts of men," Isa. xxix. 13. And to this purpose that worthy man of God has this saying, " Take heed, (says he) that the praises of men be not the highest end that thou aimest at; for if it be, thou worshippest men, thou dost make the praise of men to be thy god ; for whatsoever thou dost lift up in the highest place, that is thy god, whatsoever it be ; wherefore, if thou liftest up the praise of men, and makest that thy end, thou makest that thy god, and so thou art a worshipper of men, but not a worshipper of God."

Again, says he, " Take heed of making self thy end. That is, take heed of aiming at thine own peace, and satisfying thine own conscience in the performance of duties." It is true, says he, when we perform duties of God's worship we may be encouraged thereunto by the expectations of good to ourselves, yet we must look higher, we must look at the honour and praise of God ; it is not enough to do it, merely to satisfy conscience; thy main end must be, that thou mayst, by the performance of the duty be fitted to honour the name of God, otherwise we do them not for God but for ourselves, which the Lord condemns, Zech. vii. 5, 6. And now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you, let me ask you once again, whether you think you keep this commandment perfectly or no?

Nom. No, believe me, sir, I do now begin to fear I do not.

Evan. If you make any question of it, I would intreat you to consider with yourself, whether you have not gone to the church on the Lord's day to hear the word of God, and to receive the sacrament, and do other duties, because the laws of the kingdom require it, or because your parents and masters have required it, or because it is a custom to do so, or because you conceive it to be a credit for you to do so. And I pray you also consider, whether you have not abstained from worshipping images, and other such idolatrous and superstitious actions which the Papists use, merely because the laws of the land wherein you live do condemn such things. And I pray you also consider whether you have not been sometimes zealous in prayer in the presence and company of others, to gain their praise and approbation ; have you not desired that they should think you to be a man of good gifts and parts ? And have you not in that regard endeavoured to enlarge yourself ? And have you not sometimes performed duties merely because otherwise conscience would not let you be quiet ? And have you not sometimes fasted and prayed, merely or chiefly in hopes that the Lord would, for your so doing, prevent or remove some judgment from you, or grant you some good thing which you desire. Now, I beseech you, answer me truly and plainly, whether you do not think you have done so ?

Nom. Yea, believe me, sir, I think I have.

Evan Then have you in all these things honoured and worshipped your parents, your masters, your magistrates, your neighbours, your friends, and yourself, as so many false gods, instead of the true God; and therein have been guilty of a breach of the second commandment.

Neo. I pray you, sir, proceed to speak of the third commandment, as you have done of the first and second ; and first, tell us how the second and third commandment differ.

Vol. VII. 2 c

COMMANDMENT III.

Evan. Why, as the Lord in the second commandment doth require that we worship him alone by true means, so does he in the third commandment require that we use the means of his worship after a right manner, that so they may not be used in vain, Matt. xv. 9. And in this commandment likewise, there is a negative part expressed in these words, " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." And that is, Thou shalt not profane it, by using my titles, attributes, ordinances, or works, ignorantly, irrevently, or after a formal, superstitious manner. And an affirmative part, included in these words, " But thou shalt sanctify my name, Isa. viii. 13;—by using my titles, attributes, ordinances, works, and religion, with knowledge, reverence, and after a spiritual manner, John iv. 24.

Neo. I pray you, sir, begin with the affirmative part, and first tell us what the Lord requires in this commandment.

Evan. The Lord in his commandment doth require, that we sanctify his name in our hearts, with our tongues, and in our lives, by thinking, conceiving, speaking, writing, and walking, so as becomes the excellency of his titles, attributes, ordinances, works, and religion.

Neo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord in regard of his titles §

Evan. By thinking, conceiving, speaking, and writing holily, reverently, and spiritually of his titles, Lord and God, Deut. xxviii. 58. And this we do when we meditate on them, and use them in our speeches and writings with an inward spiritual fear and trembling, to the glory of God and good of men, Jer. v. 22.

Neo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord, in regard of his attributes ?

Evan. By thinking, conceiving, speaking, and writing holily, reverently, and spiritually of his power, wisdom, justice, mercy, and patience, Psalm civ. 1, and ciii. 6, 8. And this we do when we think, speak, and write of them after a careful, reverent, and spiritual manner, and apply them to such good uses for which the Lord has made them known, Psalm xxxvii. 30.

Neo. And in which of God's ordinances are we to sanctify his name ?

Evan. In every one of his ordinances, and especially in the three great ordinances, prayer, preaching, and bearing the word, and administering and receiving the sacraments.

Neo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord in prayer ?

Evan. In prayer we are to sanctify the name of the Lord in onr hearts, and with our tongues, in calling upon his name after a holy, reverent, and spiritual manner; and this we do when our prayers are the speech of our souls, and not of our mouths only ; and that is, when in prayer we lift up our hearts unto God, Psalm xxv. 1; and pour them out unto him, Psalm lxii. 8; and when we pray with spirit, and with understanding also, 1 Cor. viv. 15; and with humility, Gen. xviii. 27; and xxxii. 10; Luke xviii. 13; and with fervency of spirit, James v. 16; and out of a sense of our own wants, James i. 5; and with a special faith in the promises of God, Matt. xxi. 22.

Neo. And how are your ministers to sanctify the name of the Lord in preaching his word ?

Evan. "We are to sanctify the name of the Lord in our hearts, and with our tongues, in preaching after a holy, reverent, and spi-tual manner; and this we do when the word is preached, not only outwardly, by the body, but also inwardly with the heart and soul; and when the heart and soul preaches, then is the ministry of the word, ou the minister's part, used after an holy and spiritual manner, and that is, when we preach in demonstration of the Spirit, 1 Cor. iii. 27; and in sincerity, 2 Cor. ii. 17; and faithfully without respect of persons, Deut. xxxiii. 9 ; and with judgment and discretion, Matt. xxiv. 49 ; and with authority and power, Matt. vii. 29 ; and with zeal to God's glory, John vii. 18; and with a desire of the people's salvation, 2 Cor. xi. 2.

Neo. And how are we hearers to sanctify the name of the Lord in hearing his word ?

Eaan. In hearing it after an holy, reverent, and spiritual manner ; and this you do when your heart and soul hears the word of God; and that is when you set yourself in the presence of God, Acts x. 33 ; and when you look upon the minister as God's messenger or ambassador, 2 Cor. v. 20, and so hear the word as the word of God, and not as the word of man, 1 Thess. ii. 13 ; with reverence and fear, Isa. lxvi. 2; and with a ready desire to learn, Acts xvii. 11 ; and with attention, Acts viii. 6 ; and with alacrity without wcarisome-ness or sleepiness, Acts xx. 9.

Neo. And how are you ministers to sanctify tho name of the Lord in administering the sacraments ?

Evan. By administering them after an holy, reverent, and spiritual manner; and that is, when we administer them with our hearts or souls, according to Christ's institution, Matt. xxvi. 26; to the faithful in profession at least, 1 Cor. x. 16 ; and with a hearty desire that may become profitable to the receivers.

c2 2

Neo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord in receiving the sacraments ?

Evan. This we do when we rightly and seriously examine ourselves aforehand. 1 Cor. xi; and rightly and seriously mind and consider of the sacramental union of the sign, and the thing signified, and do in our hearts perform those inward actions which are signified by the outward actions. Acts viii. 37, 38; 1 Cor. x. 6.

Neo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord in regard of his works ?

Evan. In thinking and speaking of them after a wise, reverent, and spiritual manner; and this we do when we meditate and make mention in our speeches and writings of the inward works of God's eternal election and reprobation, with wonderful admiration of the unsearchable depths thereof, Rom. xi. 33, 34; and when we meditate in our hearts of the works of God's creation and administration, and make mention of them in our words and writings, so as that we acknowledge therein his wisdom, power, and goodness, Rom. i. 19, 20 ; Psalm xix. 1; and acknowledging the workmanship of God therein, do speak honourably of the same, Psalm cxxxix 14; Gen. i. 31.

Neo. And how are we to sanctify the name of the Lord in regard of his religion ?

Evan. By holy profession of his true religion, and a conversation answerable thereunto, to the glory of God, the good of ourselves and others, Matt. v. 16 ; 1 Pet. ii. 12.

Neo. And, sir, are we not also to sanctify the name of God by swearing thereby ?

Evan. Yea, indeed, that was well remembered ; we are to sanctify the name of the Lord in our hearts, and with our tongues in swearing thereby, after a holy, religious, and spiritual manner ; and this we do when the magistrate requires an oath of us by the order of justice, that is, not against piety or charity, Gen. xliii. 3; 1 Sam. xxiv. 21, 22; and when we swear in truth, (Jer. iv. 2.); that is, when we are persuaded in our conscience the thing we swear is truth, and swear simply and plainly, without fraud or deceit, Psalm xv. 4; and xxiv. 4 ; and when we swear in judgment, that is, when we swear with deliberation, well considering both the nature and greatness of an oath, viz. that God is thereby called to witness the truth, and judge and punish us if we swear falsely, Gal. i. 20; 2 Cor. i. 23 ; and when we swear in righteousness, that is, when the thing we swear is lawful and just, and when our swearing is that God may be glorified, Josh. vii. 19; our neighbour satisfied, controversies ended, Heb. vi. 16 ; our own innocency cleared, Exod. xxii. 11; and our duty discharged, 1 Kings viii. 31.

Neo. "Well, sir, now I pray yon, proceed to the negative part, and tell us what the Lord forbiddeth in this commandment.

Evan. As the Lord in the affirmative part of this commandment doth require that we sanctify his name in our hearts, with our tongues, and in our lives, by thinking, conceiving, speaking, writing, and walking, so as becomes the excellency of his titles, attributes, ordinances, and religion ; so doth he in the negative part thereof forbid the profanation of his name, by doing the contrary.

Neo. Well then, sir, I pray you first tell us how the titles of God are profanely abused.

Evan. They are profanely abused divers ways; as first, by thinking irreverently of them, or using them in our common talk, or in our writings, after a rash, careless, and irreverent manner, Psalm. 1. 22; Rom. i. 21 ; as when in foolish admiration we say, Good God ! Good Lord ! Lord have mercy on us, what a thing is this ! and the like ; or when by way of idle wishes for imprecations we say, " The Lord be my judge!" (Gen. xvi. 5.) or, I pray God I may never stir, if such a thing be not so ! and the like; or when by way of vain swearing, we mingle our speeches, and fill up our sentences with needless oaths, as, Not so, by my faith ! and the like, (Matt. v. 34; James v. 12;) or when by way of jesting, or after a formal manner we say, God be thanked, God speed, God's name be praised, and the like. 2 Sam. xxiii. 21.

Neo. And I pray you, sir, how are the attributes of God profanely abused?

Evan. The attribute of God's power is profanely abused, either by calling into question, (2 Kings vii. 2.) or by thinking, speaking or writing of it carnally, carelessly, or contemptuously. Psalm xii. 4; Exod. v. 2. And the attribute of God's providence is abused either by murmuring thereat in our hearts, (Deut. xv. 9.) or by speaking grudgingly against it under the name of fortune or chance, in saying, "What a misfortune was that! What a mischance was that! and the like. Deut. i. 27; 1 Sam. vi. 9. And the attribute of God's justice is profanely abused, either by thinking or saying, that God likes sin or wicked sinners. Psalm 1. 21; Mai. iii. 15. And the attribute of God's mercy is profanely abused, either in presuming to sin, upon hopes that God will be merciful, or by speaking basely and contemptuously thereof, as when we say, speaking of some trifling thing, It is not worth God a mercy. And the attribute of God's patience is profanely abused by thinking or saying upon occasion of his forbearance to punish for a time, that he will neither call us to an account, nor punish us for our sins. Rom. ii. 4.

Neo. Now, sir, I pray you proceed to show how God's name is profanely abused in his ordinances; and first of all begin with prayer.

Evan. God's name is profanely abused in prayer, either by praying ignorantly, without the true knowledge of God and his will, Acts xvii. 23 ; Matt; xx. 22; or when we pray with the mouth only, and not with the desires of our hearts agreeing with our words, Hos. iii. 14; Psalm Ixxviii. 36; and when we pray drowisily and heavily without fervency of spirit, Matt. xxvi. 41; and when we pray with wandering worldly thoughts, Rom. xii. 12; and when we pray with any conceit of our own worthiness, Luke xviii. 9, 11 ; and when we pray without faith in the promises of God, James i. 6.

Neo. And how is God's name profanely abused in hearing or reading his word ?

Evan. God's name is hereby abused, when we hear it or read it, and do not understand it, Acts viii. 30; and when we hear it only with the outward ears of our bodies, and not also with the inward ears of our heart and soul; and this we do when we read it or hear it with our hearts full of wandering thoughts, Ezek. xxxiii. 30; and when we read it, or hear it with dull, drowsy, and sleepy spirits; and when in hearing of it we rather conceive it to be the word of a mortal man that delivers it, than the word of the great God of heaven and earth, 1 Thess. ii. 13; and when we do not with our hearts believe every part and portion of that word which we read or hear, Heb. iv. 2; and when we do not humbly and heartily subject ourselves to what we read or hear, 2 Kings xxii. 19 ; Isa. Ixii. 2.

Neo. And how is the Lord's name profanely abused in receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper ?

Evan. This we do when we either through want of knowledge cannot examine ourselves, or through our own negligence do not examine ourselves, before we eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, 1 Cor. xi. 28; and when we in the act of receiving, do not mind the spiritual signification of the sacrament, but do either terminate our thoughts in the elements themselves, or else suffer them to rove and run out to some other object, Luke xxii. 19; and when after receiving we do not examine ourselves what communion we have had with Christ in that ordinance, nor what virtue we have found flowing out from Christ into our own souls, by means of that ordinance, 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

Neo. And how is the name of the Lord profanely abused in taking of an oath ?

Evan. This we do, when we call the Lord to be a witness of vain

aud frivolous things, by our usual swearing in our common talk, Hos. iv. 2; Jer. xxiii. 10 ; and when we call God to be a witness of our furious anger and wicked purpose, as when we swear we will be revenged on such a man, and the like, 1 Sam. xiv. 39, and xxv. 34 ; and when we call God to be a witness to our swearing falsely, Lev. xix. 12; Zech. v. 4; and when" we swear by the mass, or by our faith, or troth, or by the rood, or by any thing else that is not good Jer. v. 7 ; Matt. 34—37.

Neo. And how is the name of God profanely abused as touching his works ?

Evan. When we either take no notice of his works at all, or when we think and speak otherwise of them than we have warrant from his word to do; as when we do not speak of the inward works of God's election and reprobation, and are called thereunto, and when we murmur and cavil thereat, Rom. ix. 20 ; and when we either do not at all mind the works of his creation and administration, or do not take occasion thereby to glorify the name of God, Psalm xix. 1 ; Rom. i. 21<

Norn. And how is the name of God profanely abused in respect of his religion ?

Evan. When our conversation is not agreeable to our profession, 2 Tim. iii. 5; and that is either when in respect of God it is but hypocrisy, or in respect of men we walk oifensively; for if we live scandalously in the profession of religion, we cause the name of God to be profaned by them that are without, (Rom. ii. 24,) and become stumbling blocks to our weak brethren, Rom. xiv. 13.

And now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you, tell me whether yeu think you keep this commandment perfectly or no ?

Norn. Sir, to tell you the truth, I had not thought that the name of God had signified any more than his titles, Lord and God.

Evan. Ay, but you are to know that the name of God in Scripture signifies all those things that are affirmed of God, or any thing whatsoever it is, whereby the Lord makes himself known to men.

Nom. Then believe me, sir, I have come far short of keeping this commandment perfectly, and so does every man else, I am persuaded.

Evan. I am of your mind, for where is the man that hath and doth so meditate on God's titles, and use them in his speeches and writings, with such reverence, fear, and trembling as he ought? Or what man is he that can truly say, he never in all his life thought on them, or used them in his common talk, either rashly, carelessly, or irreverently? I am sure, for my own part, I cannot say so, for, alas ! in the time of mine ignorance, I used many times

to say, by way of foolish admiration, Good Lord ! Good God ! Lord have mercy on me, what a thing is this ! Tea, and I also many times used to say, I pray God I may never stir if such a thing be not so ! Yea, and I have divers times said, The Lord be with you, and speed you, and the Lord's name be praised! after a formal cursory manner, my thoughts being exercised about something else all the while.

And where is the man that has always thought, conceived, spoken, and written so holily, reverently, and spiritually, of the Lord's power, wisdom, justice, mercy, and patience, as he ought ? Nay, what man is he that can truly say, he never in all his life called the attribute of the Lord's power into question, nor ever murmured at any act or passage of God's providence, nor ever presumed to sin, upon hopes that God would be merciful unto him ? I am sure I cannot truly say so.

And where can we find the man that can truly say, he has always read and heard the word of God after a holy, reverent, and spiritual manner? Nay, where is the man that has not sometimes both heard it and read it after a formal, cursory, and unprofitable manner ? Is there any man that can truly say he has always perfectly understood whatsoever he has read and heard ? and that has not sometimes heard more with the outward ears of his body, than with the inward ears of his heart and soul, and that was never dull and drowsy, if not sleepy, in the time of hearing and reading, and that had never a worldly, nor wandering thought to come in at that time, and that never had the least doubting or questioning the truth of what he had read or heard ? I am sure, for my own part, I have been faulty many of these ways. »

And is it possible to find a man that can truly say, he has always called upon the name of the Lord after a holy, reverent, and spiritual manner, or has not many times prayed after a carnal, unholy, or sinful manner ? Where is the man that has always had a perfect knowledge of God and of his will in prayer, and whose heart has always gone along with his words in prayer, and that never was drowsy nor heavy, never had wandering thoughts in prayer, and that never had the least conceit that God would grant him any thing for his prayer's sake, and that never had the least doubting or questioning in his heart, whether God would grant him the thing he asked in prayer? I am sure, for my own part, I can scarce clear myself from any of these.

And can any man truly say he has always received the sacrament after a holy, reverent, and spiritual manner ? Nay, has not every man rather cause to acknowledge the contrary ? Is there a

man to be found that lias always seriously and rightly examined himself before-hand, and that has al way sprightly, with his heart, performed all those inward actions that are signified by the outward; or has not every man and woman rather cause to confess, that either for want of knowlege, or through their own negligence, they have not so examined themselves as they ought, nor so actuated their faith, nor minded the spiritual signification of the outward elements, in the time of receiving the sacrament as they ought, nor so examined themselves, after receiving, what benefit they have got to their soul thereby ? I am sure I have cause to confess all this.

And where shall we find a man that has always sanctified the name of the Lord in his heart, and with his tongue, by swearing after a holy, religious, and spiritual manner; or rather, have not most men that have been called to take an oath, profaned the name of the Lord, either by swearing ignorantly, falsely, maliciously, or from some base and wicked end ? And I think it is somewhat hard to find a man that never in all his life did swear, either by his faith, or by his troth, by the mass, or by the rood, I am sure I am not the man; and he is a rare man that can truly say, he has always sanctified the name of God in his heart, and with his tongue, by admiring and acknowledging the wisdom, power, and goodness of God manifested in his works, for it is to be feared that most men do either take no notice at all of the works of God, or else do think and speak of them otherwise than the word of God warrants them to do. I am sure I am one of these most.

And he is a precious man that has always so sanctified the name of the Lord by a holy and unblameable conversation as he ought; for, alas ! many professors of religion, by their fruitless and offensive walking, do either cause the enemies of God to speak evil of the ways of God, or else do thereby cause their weak brother to stumble ; it is well if I never did so; and thus have I also endeavoured to satisfy your desires concerning the third commandment.

Neo. I beseech you, sir, proceed to speak of the fourth commandment as you have done of the other three.

COMMANDMENT IV.

Evan. Well, then, I pray you consider, that, as the Lord in the third comandment doth prescribe the right manner how he will be worshipped, so doth he in the fourth commandment, set down the time when he will be most solemnly worshipped, after the right manner ; and in this commandment there is an affirmative part expressed in these words, " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy," &c. That is, remember that the seventh day in every week be set

apart from worldly things and businesses, and be consecrated to God by holy and heavenly employments ; and a negative part expressed also in these words, " In it thou shalt not do any work," &c. That is, thou shalt not on that day do any such thing or work as doth any way hinder thee from keeping an holy rest unto God.

Neo. I pray you, sir, begin with the affirmative part, and first tell us what the Lord requires of us in this commandment.

Evan. In this fourth commandment the Lord requires that we finish all our works in the space of six days, (Deut. v. 13.) and think on the seventh day before it come, and prepare for it, (Luke xxiii. 54.) and rise early on that day in the morning, Psalm xcii. 2. Mark i. 35, 38, 39. Yea, and the Lord requires that we fit ourselves for the public exercises by prayer, reading, and meditation, Eccl. v. 1; Isa. vii. 10; and that we join with the minister and people publicly assembled, with assent of mind, and fervency of affection in prayer, Acts ii. 42; in hearing the word read and preached, Acts xiii. 14, 15, 44; in singing of psalms, 1 Cor. xiv. 15, 16; Col. iii. 16; in the sacrament of baptism, Luke i. 58, 59; and in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, so often as it shall be administered in that congregation whereof we are members, 1 Cor. xi. 26.

Then afterwards, when we come home, the Lord requires that we seriously meditate on that portion of the word of which we have heard, (Acts xvii. 11.) and repeat it to our families, (Deut. vi. 7-) and confer of it with others, if there be occasion, (Luke xxiv. 14, 17,) and that we crave his blessing when we have done all this, John xvii. 17.

Neo. And is this all that the Lord requires us to do on that day ?

Evan. No; the Lord requires us that we do works of mercy on that day, as to visit the sick, and do them what good we can. (Neh. viii. 12; Mark iii. 3—5,) and relieve the poor and needy, and such as be in prison, (Luke xiii. 16,) and labour to reconcile those that be at variance and discord, Matth. v. 9.

And the Lord doth permit us to do works of instant necessity, on that day, as to travel to the places of God's worship, 2 Kings iv. 23; to heal the diseased, Hos. vi. 6; Matth. xli. 7, 12; to dress food for the necessary preservation of our temporal lives, Exod. i. 1; to tend and feed cattle, Matth. xii. 11; and such like.

Neo. I pray you, sir, proceed to the negative part, and tell us what the Lord forbiddeth in this commandment.

Evan. In this commandment the Lord forbiddeth idleness or sleeping more on the Lord's day in the morning, than is of necessity Matth. xx. 6 ; and he also forbiddeth us to labour in our particular callings, Exod. xvi. 28—30; and he also forbiddeth us to talk

about our worldly affairs and business on that day, Amos viii. 5; Isa. Iviii. 13; and lie also forbiddeth us to travel any journey about our worldly business on that day, Matth. xxiv. 20; or keep any fairs or markets on that day, Neh. xiii. 16, 17; or to labour in seed time and harvest on that day. In a word, the Lord on that day forbiddeth all worldly works and labours, except works of mercy and instant necessity, which were mentioned before. And thus have I also declared, both what the Lord requires and what he forbids in the fourth commandment. And now, neighbour Nornologista I pray you tell me, whether you think you keep it perfectly or no?

Norn. Indeed, sir, I must confess, there is more both required and forbidden in this commandment than I was aware of; but yet I hope I go very near the observiug and doing of all.

Neo. But, sir, is the bare observiug and doing of these things sufficient for keeping of tins commandment perfectly?

Evan. 0 no! the first commandment must be understood in all the rest, that is, the obedience to the first commandment must be the motive and final cause of our obedience to the rest of the commandments, othetwise it is not the worship of God, but hypocrisy ; as I touched before; wherefore, neighbour Nomologista, though you have done all the duties the Lord requires in this commandment, and avoided all the sins which he forbids, yet, if all this has been from such grounds, and to such ends, as I told you of in the conclusion of the second commandment, and not for the love you bear to God, and the desire you have to please him, you come short of keeping this commandment perfectly.

Neo. Sir, whatsoever he does, I am sure I come far short not only in this point, but in divers others ; for though it is true, indeed I am careful to finish all my worldly business in the space of six days, yet, alas ! I do not so seriously think on and prepare for the seventh day as I ought; neither do I many times rise so early on that day as I ought; neither do I so thoroughly fit and prepare myself by prayer and other exercises before-hand as I ought; neither do I so heartily join with the minister and people, when I come to the assembly, as I ought, but am subject to many wandering worldly thoughts and cares even at that time. And when I come home, if I do either meditate, repeat, pray, or confer, yet, alas ! I do none of these with such delight or comfort as I ought; neither have I been so mindful nor careful to visit the sick, and relieve the poor as I ought; neither can I clear myself from being guilty of doing more worldly works or labours on that day, than the works of mercy and instant necessity. The Lord be merciful unto me. I pray you, sir, proceed to speak of the fifth com-

mandment, as you have done of the rest. But first of all, I pray you, tell us what is meant by father and mother.

COMMANDMENT V.

Evan. By father and mother is meant, not only natural parents, but others also that are our superiors, either in age, in place, or in gifts, 2 Kings v. 13 ; and vi. 21 ; and xiii. 14.

Neo. And why did the Lord use the name of father and mother to signify and comprehend all other superiors ?

Evan. Because the government of fathers is the first and most ancient of all others ; and because the society of father and mother is that from whom all other societies do come.

Neo. And are the duties of inferiors towards their superiors only here intended ?

Evan. No, but also of superiors towards their inferiors, and of equals amongst themselves ; so that the general duty required in the affirmative part of this fifth commandment, " Honour thy father and mother," &c. is, that every man, woman, and child, be careful to carry themselves as becomes them in regard to that order God hath appointed amongst men, and that relation they have to others either as inferior, superior, or equal.

Neo. I pray you, sir, proceed to the particular handling of these things; and first tell us what is the duty of children towards their parents.

Evan. Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require that children do reverence their parents, by thinking and esteeming highly of them, Gen. xxxi. 35; and by loving them dearly, Gen. xlvi. 29; and by fearing them in regard of their authority over them, Lev. xix. 3. And this inward reverent esteem of them is to be expressed by their outward reverent behaviour towards them, Gen. xlviii. 12. And this outward reverent behaviour is to be expressed in giving them reverent titles, (Gen. xxxi. 35,) and by bowing their bodies before them, (1 Kings ii. 19,) and by embracing their instructions, (Prov. i. 8,) and by submitting patiently to their corrections, (Heb. xii. 9,) and by their succouring and relieving of them in case of want and necessity, (Gen. xlvii. 12,) and by making their prayers unto God for them, 1 Tim. ii. 12.

Neo. And, sir, what be the duties of parents towards their children ?

Evan. Why, t'.ie Lord in this commandment does require that parents be careful to bring their children, with all convenient speed, in duo order, to be admitted into the visible church of God by baptism, Luke i. 59 ; and that they, according to their ability, do yield

and give unto their children such competent food, clothing, and other necessaries, as are fit for them, Matt. vii. 9, 12; 1 Tim v. 8.

And that they train them up in learning, instruct them in religion, and endeavour to sow the seeds of godliness in their hearts, so soon as they he able to speak, and have the use of reason and understanding, Deut. iv. 10, and vi. 7, 20, 21. And that they he careful to check and rebuke them when they do amiss, Prov. xxxi. 2 ; and that they be careful seasonably to correct their faults, Prov. xiii. 24, and xix. 18; and that they be careful in time, to train them up in some honest calling, Gen. iv. 2 ; and that they be careful to bestow them in marriage in due time, Jer. xxix. 6; 1 Cor. vii. 36, 38 ; and that they be careful to lay up something for them, as their ability will suffer, Prov. xix. 14; 2 Cor. xii. 14; and that they be earnest with God in prayer, for a blessing upon their children's souls and bodies, Gen. xlviii. 15, 16.

Neo. And what be the duties of servants towards their masters ?

Evan. Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require that servants have an inward, high, and reverent esteem of their masters, Eph. vi. 5—7; yea, and that they have in their hearts a reverent awe and fear of them, 1 Pet. ii. 18; and this reverence and fear they are to express by their outward reverent behaviour towards them both in word and deed, as by giving them reverent titles, 2 Kings v. 23, 25, and by an humble, submissive countenance and carriage, either when their masters speak to them, or they speak to their masters, Gen. xxiv. 9; Acts x. 7; and by yielding of sincere, faithful, willing, painful, and single-hearted service to their masters in all they go about, Col. iii. 22; Tit. ii. 10; and by a meek and patient bearing of those checks, rebukes, and corrections which are given to them, or laid upon them by their masters, without grudging stomach, or sullen countenance, though the master do it without just cause, or exceed in the measure, 1 Pet. ii. 18, 20 ; and by being careful to maintain their master's good name, in keeping secret those honest intents which he would not have disclosed; and, as much as may be, to hide and cover their master's wants and infirmities, not blazing them abroad, 2 Sam. xv. 13; 2 Kings vi. 11.

Neo. And what is the duty of a master towards their servants ?

Evan. Why, the Lord in his commandment doth require that masters be careful to choose unto themselves religions servants, Psalm ci. 6; and that they do instruct them in religion and the ways of godliness, Gen. xviii. 10; and that they be careful to bring them to the public exercises, Josh. xxiv. 15; and that they do daily pray with them and for them, Jer. x. 24; and that they do yield and give unto them meat, drink, and apparel fitting for them, Deut.

xxiv. 14, 15; and that they see to them that they follow the works of their callings with diligence, Prov. xxxi. 22; and that they be careful to instruct them, and give them direction therein, Exod. xxxy. 34; and that they be careful to give them just reproof and correction for their faults, Prov. xxix. 29 ; and xix. 29 ; and that they look carefully nnto them when they are sick, Matt. viii. 5, 6.

Neo. And what is the duty of wives towards their husbands ?

Evan. "Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require that wives do carry in their hearts an inward opinion and esteem for their husbands, Eph. v. 23; the which they are to express in their speeches, by giving them reverent titles and terms, 1 Pet. iii. 6 ; and in their countenance and behaviour, by their modesty, shame-facedness, and sobriety, 1 Tim. ii. 9 ; and in being willing to yield themselves to be commanded, governed, and directed by their husbands in all things honest and lawful, Gen. xxxi. 4,16,17; 2 Kings iv. 22 ; and they are also required to love their husbands, Tit. ii. 4. and to express their love by their chastity and faithfulness to their husbands, both in body and mind, Tit. ii. 5; 1 Tim. iii. 11; and by their using the best means they can to keep their husband's bodies in health, Gen. xxvii. 9. They are also required to be helpful to them in the government of the family, and to be provident for their estate, by exercising themselves in some profitable employment, Prov. xxxi. 13, 15, 19; and they are also required to stir up their husbands to good duties, and join with them in the performance of them, 2 Kings iv. 9, 10; and to pray for them, 1 Tim. ii. 12.

Neo. And what is the duty of husbands towards their wives ?

Evan. "Why, the Lord in this commandment requires that husbands be careful to choose religious wives, 2 Cor. vi. 14; and that they dwell with them as men of knowledge, 1 Pet. iii. 7 ; and that they cleave unto them with true love and affection of heart, Col. iii. 19 ; yea, and that they content themselves only with the love of their own wives, and keep themselves only to them both in mind and body, Prov. v. 19, 20: they are also to be careful to maintain their authority over them, Eph. v. 23 ; and to live cheerfully and familiarly with them, Prov. v. 19 ; and to be careful to provide all things needful and fitting for their maintenance, 1 Tim. v. 8; and to teach, instruct, and admonish them, as touching the best thing, 1 Sara. i. 8; and to pray with them and for them, 1 Pet. iii. 7; and to endeavour to reform and amend what they see amiss in them, by seasonable and loving admonition and reproof, Gen. xxx. 2 ; and wisely and patiently to bear with their natural infirmities, Gal. vi. 2.

Neo. And what is the duty of subjects towards their magistrates ?

Evan. Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require, that subjects do think and esteem reverently of their magistrates, 2 Sam. x. 16, 17; and that they carry in their hearts a reverent awe and fear of them, Prov. xxiv. 21; the which they are to express by their outward reverent behaviour towards them, both in word and deed, 2 Sam. ix. 6, 8; and by an humble, ready, and willing submitting of themselves to their commands, either to do, or to suffer, 1 Pet. ii. 13; and by yielding a loyal and sound-hearted love to them, in not shrinking from them when they have need, but defending them with their goods, bodies, and lives, if occasion require, 2 Sam. xvii. 3, and xxi. 27; also they are required to make their prayers unto God for them, 1 Tim. ii. 12.

Neo. And what is the duty of magistrates towards their subjects?

Evan. Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require, that magistrates be careful to establish good laws in their kingdoms, and good order among their subjects, 2 Kings xviii. 4; Rom. xii. 11 ; and that they be careful to see them duly and impartially executed, Jer. xxxviii. 4, 6; Pom. xiii. 3, 4; and that they be careful to provide for the peace, safety, quietness, and outward welfare of their subjects, Rom. xiii. 4; 1 Tim. ii. 2; and not to oppress them with taxations and grievances, 1 Kings xii. 14.

Neo. And what duties are people to perform towards their minister ?

Evan. Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require that people have their minister in reverent account and estimation, 1 Cor. iv. 1: and that they humbly and willingly yield themselves to be taught and directed in their spiritual affairs by him, Heb. xiii. 17; and that they pray for him, that the Lord would enable him to do his duty, Rom. xv. 30, 31, and that they do their best to defend him against the wrongs of wicked men, Rom. xvi. 4; and that they yield unto him double honour, that is both singular love for their work's sake, and sufficient maintenance, both in regard of his person and calling, 1 Tim. v. 17, 18; Gal. iv. 15.

Neo. And what is the duty of a minister towards the people ?

Evan. Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require, that ministers do diligently and faithfully preach the pure word of God unto their people, both in season and out of season, 1 Cor. ix. 16; 2 Kings iv. 2; and that they do so truly and plainly expound the same, that the people may understand it, and that they pour out their souls to God in prayer for the spiritual good of the people, 1 Thess. i. 2; and that they go before the people, as a pattern of imitation to them, in all holiness of conversation, Phil. iv. 9.

Neo. And what is the duty of equals ?

Evan. Why, the Lord in this commandment doth require, that equals regard the dignity and worth of each other, and carry themselves modestly one towards another, and in giving honour to one before another, Eph. v. 21 ; Rom. xii. 10. And thus having showed you the duties required in this commandment, I pray you, Noniolo-gista, tell me whether you think you have kept it perfectly or no ?

Nam. Sir, though I have not kept it perfectly, yet I am persuaded I have gone very near it; for when I was a child, I loved and reverenced my parents, and was obedient unto them ; and when I was a servant, I reverenced and feared my master, and did him faithful service; and since I became a man, I have, I hope, carried myself well towards my wife, and towards my servants; yea, and done my duty both to magistrates and ministers.

Evan. Ay, but I must tell you, the Lord doth not only require that you do them, but also that you do them in obedience unto him; that is, in conscience to God's commandment, or for his sake, even because he requires it. Therefore, although you did your duty to your parents when you were a child, and to your master when you were a servant, yet if you did it either for the praise of men, or for fear of their corrections, or to procure the greater portion, or greater wages, and not because the Lord says, Eph. vi. 4, " Children obey your parents in the Lord," and because he says to servants, " Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men," you have not in so doing kept this commandment; and though you have loved your wife, and every way carried yourself well towards her, yet if it have been either because she is come of rich parents, or because she is beautiful, or because she brought you a good portion, or because she some way serves and pleases you after the flesh, and not because the Lord says, Eph. v. 25, " Husbands, love your wives;" you have not therein kept this commandment : and though you have carried yourself ever so well towards your servants ; yet if it had been that they might praise you, or to make them follow your business more diligently and faithfully, and not because the Lord says, " Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal," you have not therein kept this commandment : and though you have done your duty ever so well towards your magistrate, yet if it has been for fear of bis wrath, and not for conscience' sake, viz. because the Lord says, " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers," you have not therein kept this commandment: and though you have given your minister his due maintenance, and invited him often to your table, and carried yourself ever so well towards him, yet if it have been that he or others might think you a good Christian, and a kind man,

and not because the Lord says, Gal. vi. 6. " Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth, in all good things," you have not therein kept this commandment.

Neo. Well, sir, I cannot tell what ray neighbour Nomologista hath done, but for mine own part, I am sure, I have come far short of doing my duty in any relation I have had to others; for when I was a child, I remember that I was many times stubborn and disobedient to ray parents, and vexed if I might not have ray will, and slighted their admonitions, and was impatient at their corrections, and sometimes despised and contemned them in my heart, because of some infirmity, especially when they grew old ; neither did I pray for them, as it seems I ought to have done; and the truth is, if I did yield any obedience to them at all, it was for fear of their corrections, or some such bye respects, and not for conscience towards God. And when I was a servant, I did not think so reverently, nor esteem so highly my master and mistress as I should have done, but was apt to slight and despise them, and did not yield such humble, reverent, and cheerful obedience as I should have done ; neither did I patiently and contentedly bear their checks and rebukes, but had divers times risings and swellings in my heart against them ; neither was I so careful to maintain their good name and credit as I ought to have been ; neither did I pray unto the Lord for them as I ought to have done : and the very truth is, all the obedience and subjection which I yielded unto them, was for fear of their reproofs and corrections, or for the praise of men, rather than in conscience to the Lord's commandment.

And when I entered into the married estate, I was not careful to choose a religious wife ; no, I aimed at beauty more than piety; and I have not dwelt with my wife as a man of knowledge ; no, I have expressed much ignorance and folly in my carriage towards her : neither have I loved her so as a husband ought to love his wife, for though it be true I have had much fond affection towards her, yet I have had but little true affection, as it hath been evident in that I have been easily provoked to anger and wrath against her, and have not carried myself patiently towards her; neither have I been careful to maintain mine authority over her, but have lost it by ray childish and indiscreet carriage towards her; neither have I lived so cheerfully and delightfully with her as I ought to have done, but very heavily, discontentedly, and uncomfortably have I carried myself towards her; neither have I been careful to instruct and admonish her as I ought; and though I have now and then reproved her, yet for the most part it has been in a passion, and not with the spirit of meekness, pity, and compassion: neither have I prayed for her

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either so often or so fervently as I ought; and whatsoever I have done, that has been well done, I have been moved thereunto, in former times especially, rather by something in her, or done by her, than by the commandment of God. And since I became a father and a master, I have neither done any duty to my children nor servants as I ought, for I have not had such care, nor taken such pains for their eternal good, as I have done for their temporal. I have had more care, and taken more pains to provide food and raiment for them, than I have to admonish, instruct, teach, and catechize them; and if I have reproved or corrected them, it has been rather because they have some way offended me, than because they have offended God; and truly, I have neither prayed for them so often, nor so fervently as I ought. In a word, whatsoever I have done by way of discharging my duty to them, I fear me, it has been rather out of natural affection, or to avoid the blame, and gain the good opinion of men, than out of conscience to the Lord's will and commandment.

And if I have at any time carried myself well, or done my duty either to magistrate or minister, it has rather been for fear or praise of men, than for conscience' sake towards God; so far have I been from keeping this commandment perfectly: the Lord be merciful to me!

Evan. Assure yourself, neighbour Neophitus, this is not your case alone, but the case of every man that has stood in all these relations to others, as it seems you have done, as I am confident any man that truly knows his heart will confess; yea, and any woman that is well acquainted with her own heart, I am persuaded, will confess, that she has not had such a reverent esteem and opinion of her husband as she ought, nor so willingly yielded herself to be commanded, governed, and directed by him as she ought, nor loved him so truly as she ought, nor been so helpful to him any way as she ought; r nor prayed either so oft or so fervently for him as she ought; and I fear me, most women do all that they do rather for fear of their husband's frowns, or to gain his favour, than for conscience to the Lord's will and command.

And where is the magistrate that is so careful to establish in his dominious such good and wholesome laws as he ought, or to see them executed or put in practice as he ought, or that is so careful to uphold and maintain the truth of religion as he ought, or that is so careful to provide for the peace, safety, and welfare of his people, as he ought? or where is the magistrate that does not do what he does for some other cause, or to some other end, rather than because God commands them, or to the end he may please him ?

And where is the minister that does his duty so in his place as he ought? I am sure for mine own part, I hare neither so diligently nor faithfully preached the pure word of God as I ought, nor so fully nor truly expounded it and applied it to my hearers as I ought; nor so poured out my soul to God for them in prayer as I ought, neither have I gone before them as a pattern of imitation in holiness of life and conversation, as I ought: the Lord be merciful to me !

Neo. Well, sir, now I would entreat you to proceed to speak of the sixth commandment as you have doue of the rest.

COMMANDMENT VI.

Evan. Well, then, I pray you consider, that in the sixth commandment there is a negative part expressed in these words, " Thou shalt do no murder." That, is, thou shalt neither in heart, tongue, nor hand, impeach or hurt either the life of thine own soul or body, or the life of any other man's soul or body. And an affirmative part included in these words, " But thou shalt every way, by all good means, seek to preserve them both."

Neo. I pray you, sir, speak of these things in order, and first tell us what is forbidden in this commandment, as tending to the murdering of our own souls.

Evan. That we may not be guilty of the murdering of our own souls, in this commandment is forbidden all sinning against God, Prow vi. 2; and so also is the careless neglecting and wilful rejecting of the means that God has ordained to salvation, Heb. ii. 3.

Neo. And what is forbidden in this commandment, as tending to the murdering of others' souls ?

Evan. That we may not be guilty of murdering the souls of others, in this commandment is forbidden all giving occasion to others to sin against God, either by provoking them, (1 Kings xxi. 25,) or by counselling them, (2 Sara. xvi. 21,) or by evil example, Rom. xiv. 15.

Neo. And what is forbidden in this commandment, as tending to the murdering of our own bodies ?

Evan. That we may not be guilty of murdering our own bodies, in this commandment is forbidden excessive worldly sorrow, 1 Cor. vii. 10; Prov. xvii. 22; and so also is f ,he neglect of meat, drink, apparel, recreation, physic, or any such refreshments, Eccl. v. 19; vi. 2; and so also is excessive eating and drinking, Prov. xxiii. 29, 30 ; Hos. vii. 5; and so also is laying violent hands upon ourselves, 1 Sam. iii. 14; Acts xvi. 28.

Neo. Well, sir, now I pray you, tell us what is forbidden in this

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commandment, as tending to the murdering of others' bodies ; and, first, what is forbidden in respect of the heart ?

Evan. That we may not be guilty of murdering others with our hearts, in this commandment is forbidden all hasty, rash, and unjust anger, Matth. v. 22; and so also is malice or hatred, Lev. xix. 19; 1 John iii. 15 ; and so also is envy, Psalin xxxvii. 1; Prov. xxiv. 1; and so also is desire of revenge, Lev. xix. 18.

Norn. And what is forbidden in respect of the tongue ?

Evan. That we may not be guilty of murdering others with our tongues, in this commandment is forbidden all bitter and provoking terms, Eph. iv. 31; and so also are all wrangling and contentious speeches, Prov. xv. 1; and so also is crying and unseemly lifting up of the voice, Eph. iv. 31; and so also is railing or scolding, Prov. xvii. 19 ; 1 Pet. iii. 19 ; and so also are all reviling and threatening speeches, Matth. v. 22; and so also are all mocking, scoffing, and deriding speeches, 2 Kings ii. 28; John xix. 3.

Neo.- And what is forbidden in respect of the whole body, and more especially of the hand ?

Evan. That we may not be guilty of murdering others with our hands, in respect of the other parts of the body, in this commandment is forbidden all disdainful, proud, and scornful carriage, Gen. iv. 5; Prov. vi. 17; and so also is all provoking gestures, as nodding of the head, gnashing with the teeth, and the like, Matth. xxvii. 29 ; Acts vii. 45 ; and so also is all fro ward and churlish behaviour, 1 Sara. xxv. 17; and so also is brawling and quarrelling, Tit. iii. 2. And more especially in respect of the hand is forbidden striking and wounding, Exod. xxi. 18, 22; and so also is all taking away of life, otherwise than in ca3e of public justice, just war, and necessary defence, Exod. xxi. 12; Gen. ix. 6.

Neo. I pray you, sir, proceed to the affirmative part of this commandment, and first tell us what is required of us in respect of the life of our own souls ?

Evan. In respect of the preservation of the life of our own souls is required a careful avoiding of all sorts of sin, Prov. xi. 19 ; and so also is a careful use of all means of grace, and spiritual life in our souls, 1 Pet. ii. 2.

Neo. And what is required of us in respect of the preservation of the life of others' souls ?

Evan. In respect of the preservation of the life of the souls of others is required that according to our place and calling, and as present occasion is offered, we teach and instruct others to know God and his will, Gen. xviii. 19 ; Deut. vi. 7 : and so also that we do our best to comfort others that are in distress of conscience,

1 Thess. v. 14; and that we pray for the welfare and comfort cf other souls, Gen. xliii. 29 ; and that we give others good examples by our Christian-like walking, Matth. v. 16.

Neo. And what is required of us in respect of the preservation of the life of our own bodies ?

Evan. In respect of the preservation of the life of our own bodies, is required, in this commandment, that we be careful to procure unto ourselves the use of wholesome food, clothing, and lodging, and physic, when there is occasion, 1 Tim. v. 23 ; Eccl. x. 17; 2 Kings xx. 7; and also that we use honest and lawful mirth, rejoicing in a holy manner, Prov. xvii. 22 ; Eccl. iii. 4.

Neo. And what i3 required of us in respect of the preservation of the life of the bodies of others ?

Evan. In respect of the preservation of the life of the bodies of others, in this commandment is required a kind and loving disposition, with tenderness of heart towards them, Eph. iv. 31, 32; and so also is a patient bearing of wrongs and injuries, Col. iii. 12, 13 ; and so also is the taking of all things in the best sense, 1 Cor. xiii. 5, 7; and so also is the avoiding of all occasions of strife, and parting with our own right sometimes for peace' sake, Gen. xiii. 8,9 ; and so also is all such looks and gestures of the body as do express meekness and kindness, Gen. xxxiii. 10; and so also is the relieving of the poor and needy, Jobxxxi. 16; and so also is the visiting of the sick, Matth. xxv. 36. And now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you tell me, whether you think you keep this commandment perfectly or not ?

Norn. No, indeed, sir, I do not think I keep it perfectly, nor any man else, as you have expounded it.

Evan. Assure yourself, neighbour Nomologista, that I have expounded it according to the mind and will of God revealed in his word, for you see I have proved all by Scripture: I told you at the beginning, that the law is spiritual, and binds the very heart and soul to obedience; and that under one vice expressly forbidden, all of the same kind, with all occasions and means leading thereunto, are likewise forbidden ; and according to these rules have I expounded it. Wherefore, I pray you, consider, that so many sins as you have committed, and so many times as you have carelessly neglected, and wilfully rejected the means of salvation so many wouuds you have given your own soul.

And so many times as you have given occasion to others to sin, so many wounds you have given to their souls.

And so many fits of worldly sorrow as you have had, and so many times as you neglected the moderate use either of meat, drink, apparel, recreation, or physic, when need hath required, bo many wounds have you given your own body.

And so many times as you have been either unadvisedly angry with any, or have borne any malice or hatred towards any, or have secretly in your heart wished evil unto any, or borne envy in your heart towards any, or desired to be revenged upon any, then have you been guilty of murdering them in your heart. And if you have given others any wrangling and contentious speeches, or any reviling and threatening speeches, or have carried yourself frowardly and churishly towards others, and have not borne injuries and wrongs patiently, and expressed pity and compassion towards others, then have you been guilty of murdering them with your tongue. And if you have quarrelled with any man, or stricken or wounded any man, then have you murdered them with your hand, though you have not taken away their lives. And thus have I endeavoured to satisfy your desires concerning the sixth commandment.

Neo. I beseech you, sir, proceed to speak of the seventh commandment as you have done of the rest.

COMMANDMENT VII.

Evan. Well, then, I pray you, consider that in the seventh commandment there is a negative part expressed in these words, " Thou shalt not commit adultery ;" that is, thou shalt not think, will, speak, or do any thing whereby thine own chastity, or the chastity of others, may be hurt or hindered. And an affirmative part included in these words, " But thou shalt every way, and by all good means, preserve and keep the same."

Neo. I pray you, sir, begin with the negative part, and first tell us what is that inward uncleanness that is forbidden in this commandment.

Evan. That we may not be guilty of the inward uncleanness of the heart, in this commandment is forbidden all filthy imaginations, unchaste thoughts, and inward desires and motions of the heart to uncleanness, Matt. v. 28 ; Col. iii. 5 ; with all causes and occasions of stirring up and nourishing of these in the heart.

Neo. And what be the causes and occasions of stirring up and nourishing these things in the heart which we are to avoid ?

Evan. That we may not stir up and nourish inward uncleanness in our hearts, is forbidden in this commandment gluttony, or excess in eating aud pampering the belly with meats, Jer. v. 8 ; and so also is drunkenness, or excess in drinking, Prov. xxiii. 30, 31, 33; and so also is idleness, 2 Sam. xi. 12; and so also is the wearing of lascivious, garish, and new-fangled attire, Prov. vii. 10; 1 Tim. ii. 9 ; and so also is keeping company with lascivious, wanton, and fleshly persons, Gen. xxxix. 10; and so also is immodest, unchaste, and

filthy speaking, Eph. iv. 29; and so also is idle and curious looking of" men on women, or women on men, Gen. vi. 2, xxxix. 7; and so also is the beholding of love matters, and light behaviour of men and women represented in stage plays, Jizek. xxiii. 14; Eph. v. iii 4; and so also is immoderate and wanton dancing of men and women together, Job xxi. 11, 12; Mark vi. 21, 22; and so also is wanton kissing and embracing, with all unchaste touching and dalliance, Prov. vii. 13.

Neo. And what is that outward actual uncleanness which is forbidden in this commandment ?

Evan. The actual uncleanness forbidden in this commandment is fornication, which is a fleshly defilement of the body, committed between man and woman, being both of them single and unmarried persons, 1 Cor. x. 8; and so also is adultery, which is a defilement of the body, committed between man and woman, being either one or both of them married persons, or at least contracted, 1 Cor. vi. 9. 18 ; Hos. xiii. 4.

Neo. I pray you, sir, proceed to the affirmative part, and tell us what the Lord requires in this commandment ?

Evan. The Lord in this commandment requires purity of heart 1 Thess. iv. 5; and he also requires speeches savouring of sobriety and chastity, Col. iv. 6 ; Gen. iv. 1; and he also requires that we keep our eyes from beholding vanity and lustful objects, Psal. cxix. 37; Job xxxi. 1; and he also requires that we be temperate in our diet, in our sleep, and in our recreations, Luke xxxi. 34 ; and he also requires that we possess our vessels in holiness and honour 1 Thess. iv. 9 ; and if we have not the gift of chastity, he requires that we take the benefit of holy marriage, 1 Cor. vii. 29 ; and that the man and wife do in that estate render due benevolence towards each other, 1 Cor. vii. 5. Thus have I also endeavoured to satisfy your desires concerning the seventh commandment; and now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you tell me whether you think you keep it perfectly or no ?

Nom. Sir, I thank the Lord I am free from actual uncleanness, so that I am neither fornicator nor adulterer.

Evan. Well but though you be free from the outward act, yet if you have had in your heart filty imaginations, unchaste thoughts, or inward desires, or motions of the heart to uncleanness, you have notwithstanding transgressed this commandment; or if you have been guilty of gluttony, or drunkenness, or idleness, or delighted to keep company with lascivious and wanton persons, or have with your tongue uttered any unchaste or corrupt communication, or have been a frequenter of stage-plays, or have used immoderate dancing

with women, or have used wanton dalliance with kissing and era-bracing, then have yon broken this commandment.

Neo. I beseech you, sir, proceed to speak of the eighth commandment as you have done of the rest.

COMMANDMENT VIII.

Evan. "Well, then, I pray you, consider, that in the eighth commandment there is a negative part expressed in these words, " Thou shalt not steal ;" that is, thou shalt by no unlawful way or means hurt or hinder the wealth and outward estate either of thyself or others; and an affirmative part included in these words, " But thou shalt by all good means preserve and further them both."

Neo. I pray you, sir, begin with the negative part, and first tell us what is forbidden in this commandment, as a hurt or hinderance of our own outward estate ?

Evan. That *ve may not hurt or hinder our own outward estate, in this commandment is forbidden idleness, sloth, and inordinate walking, Prov. xviii. 9 ; 2 Thess. iii. 11; and so also is unthrifti-ness, and carelessness, either in spending our goods, or iu ordering our affairs and businesses, Prov. xxi. 17; 1 Tim. v. 8; and so also is unadvised suretyship, Prov. xi. 15.

Neo. And what is forbidden in this commandment as tending to the hurt or hinderance of our neighbour's estate ?

Evan. That we may not hurt or hinder our neighbour's outward estate, in this commandment is forbidden covetousness and discon-tentedness with our estate, Heb. xiii. 5 ; and so also is enviousness at the prosperity of others; Prov. xxiv. 1; and so also is resolutions or hastening to be rich, as it were, whether the Lord afforded means or not, 1 Tim. vi. 9 ; Prov. xvii. 28 ; and so also is borrowing and not paying again, we being able, Psalm xxxvii. 21 ; and so also is lending upon usury, Exod. xxii. 25; and so also the not restoring of things borrowed, Psal. xxxvii. 21; and so also is cruelty in requiring all our debts, without compassion or mercy, Isa. lviii. 3; and so also is the praising of any commodity we sell, contrary to our own knowledge, or the debasing of any thing we buy, against our own conscience, Isa. v. 20; Prov. xx. 14 ; and so also is the hoarding up, or withholding the selling of corn and other necessary commodities when we may spare them, and others have need of them, Prov. xi. 26; and so also is the retaining of hireling's wages, Jam. v. 4; and so also is uncharitable inclosure, Isa. v. 8; and so also is the selling of any commodity by false weights or false measures, Lev. xix. 35, and so also is the concealing of things found, and witholding them from the right owners when they are known •

and so also is robbery, or the laying of violent and strong bands on any part of the wealth that belongs unto another, Zech. iv. 3, 4; and so also is pilfering and secret carrying away of the wealth that belongs to another, John vii. 21; and so also is the consenting to the taking away the goods of another, Psalm xc. 18; and so also is the receiving or harbouring of stolen goods, Prov. xxvii. 24.

Neo. "Well, now, sir, I pray you proceed to the affirmative part of this commandment, and tell us what the Lord therein requires.

Evan. In this commandment is required contentedness of mind with that part and portion of wealth and outward good things which God in his providence has allotted unto us, Heb. xiii. 5 ; 1 Tim. vi. 6—8; and so also in resting by faith upon the promise of God, and depending upon his providence, without distrustful care, Matt. vi. 20, 26; and so also is a moderate desire of such things as are convenient and necessary for us, Matth. vi. 21 ; Prov. xxx. 8; and so also is a moderate care to provide those things which are needful for us, Gen. xxx. 30; 1 Tim. v. 8; and so also is an honest calling, Gen. iv. 2; and so also is diligence, painfulness, aud faithful labouring therein, Gen. iii. 19 ; and so also is frugality or thriftiness, Prov. xxvii. 23, 24 ; John vi. 12: and so also is borrowing for need and good ends, what we are able to repay, and making payment with thanks and cheerfulnesss, Exod. xxii. 14; and so also is lending freely without compounding for gain, Deut. xv. 8; Luke vi. 35; and so giving, or communicating outward things unto others, according to our ability and their necessity, Luke ix. 41; so also is the using of truth, simplicity, and plainness in buying and selling, in hiring and letting, Lev. xxv. 14; Deut. xxv. 13—15; and so also is the restoring of things found, Deut. xxii. 2, 3; and so also is the restoring of things committed to our trust, Ezek. xviii. 7- And thus have I endeavoured to satisfy your desire concerning the eighth commandment; and now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you, tell me whether you think you keep it perfectly or not ?

Nora. I can say this truly, that I never in all my life took away, or consented to the taking away, of so much us a penny-worth of any other man's goods.

Evan. Though you did not, yet if ever there have been in your heart any discontentedness with your own estate, or auy envious thoughts towards others in regard of their prosperity in the world, or any resolution to be rich, otherwise than by the moderate use of lawful means, or if ever you borrowed and paid not again, to the utmost of your ability, or if ever you lent upon usury, or if ever you did cruelly require any debt above the ability of your debtor, or if ever you praised any thing you had to sell above the known

worth of it, or if ever you did undervalue any thing you were to buy contrary to your owu thoughts of it, or if ever you hoarded up corn in the time of dearth, or if ever you retained the hireling's wages in your hands, to his loss or hinderance, or if ever you did conceal any thing found from the right owner, when you knew him ; then have you been guilty of theft, and so have been a transgressor of this commandment.

And though you never have done any of these things, (and it is strange if you have not), yet if ever you were guilty of idleness, sloth, or any way unwarrantably neglected your calling, or if ever you did unthriftily misspend any of your own goods, or ever were negligent and careless in ordering your own affairs and business, or if ever you sustained any loss by your unadvised suretyship, or if ever you borrowed upon usury, except in case of extreme necessity, then have you been guilty of robbing yourself, and so have been a transgressor of this commandment.

Neo. Now, I pray you, sir, proceed to speak of the ninth commandment, as you have done of the rest.

COMMANDMENT IX.

Evan. Well then, I pray you consider, that in the ninth commandment there is a negative part expressed in these words; " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour;" that is, thou shalt not think or speak any thing contrary to truth, or that may tend to the hurt or hinderance either of thine own or thy neigbour's good name. And an affirmative part included in these words, " But thou shalt by all good means seek to maintain them both, according to truth and a good conscience."

Neo. Well, sir, I pray you begin with the negative part; and first tell us what is forbidden in this commandment, in respect of our own good name.

Evan. That we may not be guilty of bearing false witness against ourselves, either by overvaluing or undervaluing ourselves, in this commandment is forbidden too high a conceit or esteem of ourselves, Luke xviii. 9—11 ; and so also is too mean a conceit, in under-weening the good things that be in ourselves, Exod. iv. 10, 13; and so also is the procuring of ourselves, an evil name, by walking indiscreetly and offensively, Com. ii. 24 ; and so also is the unjust accusing of ourselves, when we, in a way of proud humility, say, " We have no grace, no wit, no wealth," &c. Prov. xiii. 7; and so also is the excusing of our faults, by way of lying, Lev. xix. 11.

Neo. And what is forbidden in this commandment, in respect of our neighbour's good name ?

Evan. That we may not be guilty of not bearing false witness against any other man, in this commandment is forbidden contemning or thinking basely of others, 2 Sam. vi. 16; and so also is wrongful suspicion, or evil surmisings, 2 Sam. x. 3 ; and so also is rash, uncharitable, unjust judging and condemning of others, Matt, vii. 1 ; and so also is foolish admiring of others, Acts vii. 22; and so also is the unjust reviving the memory of our neighbour's crimes, which were in tract of time forgotten, Prov. xvii. 9 ; and so also is the forbearing to speak in the cause and for the credit of our neighbours, Prov. viii. 9 ; and also is all flattering speeches, Job xxxii. 21, 22; and so also is tale-bearing, backbiting, and slanderous speeches, Lev. xix. 16 ; Prov. xx. 19 ; and so also is listening to tale-bearers, Prov. xxvi. 20, and xxv. 23 ; and so also is falsely charging some ill upon another before some magistrate, or in some open court, Amos vii. 10; Acts xxv. 2.

Neo. I pray you, sir, proceed to the affirmative part of this commandment, and first tell us what the Lord requires of us for the maintenance of our own good name.

Evan. For the maintenance of our own good name, the Lord in this commandment requires a right judgment of ourselves, 2 Cor. xiii. 5; with a love to, and a care of our own good name, Prov. xxii. 1.

Neo. And what does the Lord in this commandment require of us for the maintenance of our neighbour's good name ?

Evan. For the maintenance of our neighbour's good name, in this commandment is required a charitable opinion and estimation of others, 1 Cor. xiii. 7; and so also is a desire of, and rejoicing in the good name of others, Rom. i. 8; Gal. i. 24; and so also is sorrowing and grieving for their infirmities, Psalm cxix. 136; and so also is the covering of others' infirmities in love, Prov. xvii. 9; 1 Pet. iv. 8; and so also is the hoping and judging the best of others, 1 Cor. xiii. 5—7; and so is the admonishing of others before we bewray their faults, Prov. xxv. 9; and so also is speaking of the truth from our heart simply and plainly, upon any just occasion, Psalm xv. 2; Zech. viii. 16; and so also is the giving of sound and seasonable reproofs for known faults, in love and with wisdom, Lev. xix. 17; and so also is the praising and commending of those that do well, Rev. ii. 23; and so also is the defending of the good name of others, if need so require. Aud thus have I also endeavoured to satisfy your desires concerning the ninth commandment: and now, neighbour Nomologista, I pray you, tell me whether you think you keep it perfectly or not ?

Nom. The truth is, sir, I did conceive that there was nothing tending to the breaking of this commandment, but falsely charging

some ill upon another before some magistrate, or in some open court of justice ; and that, thank God, I am not guilty of.

Evan. Though you have not been guilty of that, yet, if you have contemned or thought too basely of any person, or have had wrongful suspicions, or evil surmisiugs concerning them, or have rashly and unjustly judged aud condemned them, or if you have foolishly admired them, or unjustly revived the memory of any forgotten crime, or have given them any flattering speeches, or have been a tale-bearer, or a backbiter, or a slanderer, or a listener to talebearers, you, have borne false witness against your neighbour, and so have been guilty of the breach of this commandment.

Or if you have not had a charitable opinion of others, or have not desired and rejoiced in the good name of others, or have not sorrowed and grieved for their sinful infirmities, or have not covered them in love, or have not hoped and judged the best of them, or have not admonished them before you have discovered their faults to others, or have not given to others sound and seasonable reproof, or have not praised them that do well, then have you also been guilty of false witness-bearing against your neighbour, and so have transgressed this commandment. And though you never have done any of these things (and it is strange if you have not) yet if you have had too high a conceit of yourself, or have after a proud humble manner, unjustly accused yourself, or have procured yourself an evil name, by walking indiscreetly and offensively, or have excused any fault by way of lying, then have you borne false witness against yourself, and thereby have transgressed this commandment.

JVeo. T beseech you, sir, proceed to speak of the last commandment as you have done of the rest.

COMMANDMENT X.

Evan. "Well then, I pray you consider, that in the tenth commandment there is a negative part expressed in these words, " Thou shalt not covet," &c.; that is, thou shalt not inwardly think on, nor long after, that which belongs to another, though it be without consent of will, or purpose of heart to seek after it. And an affirmative part included in these words, "But thou shalt be well contented with thine own outward condition, and heartily desire the good of thy neighbours."

Neo. Well, sir, I pray you begin with the negative part; and first tell us what the Lord forbids in this commandment ?

Evan. I pray you take notice, and consider, that this tenth commandment was given to be a rule and level, according to which

we must take and measure our inward obedience to all the other commandments contained in the second table of God's law. For the Lawgiver having in the rest of the commandments dealt with those sins especially which stand in deeds, and are done of purpose, or with an advised consent of will, (although there is no doubt but that the law of restraining concupiscence is implied and included in all the former commandments.) Now last of all, in this last commandment he deals with those sins which are called only concupiscences, and do contain all inward stirring and conceit in the understanding and affections against every commandment of the law, and are, as it were, rivers boiling out of the fountain of that original sin ; for to covet, in this place, signifies to have a motion of the heart without any settled consent. Briefly, then, in this commandment is forbidden, not only the evil act and evil thought settled, and with full and deliberate consent of will, as in the former commandments, but here also is forbidden the very first motions and inclinations to every evil that is forbidden in any of the former commandments, as it is evident, Rom. vii. 7; and xiii. 9 ; for it is not said in this commandment, Thou shalt not consent to lust, but, " Thou shalt not lust." It does not only command the the binding of lust, but it also forbids the being of lust; which being so, who sees not that in this commandment is contained the perfect obedience to the whole law ? for how comes it to pass, that we sin against every commandment, but because this corrupt concupiscence is in us, without which we should of our accord, with our whole mind and body, be apt to do the only good without any thought or desire at all to the contrary? And this is all I have to say touching the negative part of this commandment.

Neo. "Well then, sir, I pray you to proceed to the affirmative, and tell us what the Lord requires in this commandment?

Evan. Why, original justice or righteousness is required in this commandment, which is a disposition and an inclination and a desire to perform unto God, and to our neighbour, for God's sake, all the duties which are contained both in the first and second table of the law; whence it does evidently appear, that it is not sufficient, though we forbear the evil, and do the good which is contained in every commandment, except we do it readily and willingly, and for the Lord's sake. As for example, to give you a few instances, it is not sufficient though we abstain from making images, or worshipping God by an image ; no, though we perform all the parts of his true worship, as praying, reading, hearing, receiving the sacraments, and the like, if we do it unwillingly or in obedience to any law or commandment of man, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither

is it sufficient thongh we abstain from the works of our callings on the Lord's day, and perform never so many religious exercises, if it be unwillingly, and for form and custom's sake, or in mere obedience to any superior, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient, though a child show never so much honour, love and respect to his parents, if he do it by constraint and unwillingly, or to gain the praise of men, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient though a servant do his duty, and carry himself never so well, if it be for fear of correction, or for his own profit and gain, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient though a wife carry herself never so dutifully and respectfully towards her husband, both in word and deed, if it be unwillingly for fear of his frowns, or to gain the applause of them that behold it, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient, thongh a husband show much love and respect to his wife, if it be because she is amiable or profitable, or to gain the praise of men, and not for the Lord's sake. In a word, it is not sufficient, though any man or woman do all their duties, in all their relations, if they do them merely for their own sake, and not for the Lord's sake.

Neither is it sufficient, though a man abstain from killing, yea, and from striking, if it be for fear of the law, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient, though he bridle his anger, and abstain from speaking any wrath, if it be because he would be counted a patient man, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient, though a man visit the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, or in never so many ways seek to preserve the life of his neighour, if it be for the praise of men, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient, though a man abstain from committing adultery, if it be for fear of the shame or punishment that will follow, and not for the Lord's sake. Nor though he also abstain from idleness, gluttony, and drunkenness, if it be for our own gain's sake, and not for the Lord's sake. Neither is it sufficient, though we abstain from stealing, and labour dilligently in our callings, if it be for fear of shame or punishment, or for the praise of men. Neither is it sufficient, though we have abstained from false witness-bearing, and have spoken the truth, if it have been for fear of shame, or merely to do our neighbour a curtsey, and not because the Lord requires it.

Thus might I have instanced in divers other particulars, wherein, though we have done that which is required, and avoided that which is forbidden, yet if it have been for our own ends, in any of the particulars before mentioned ; yea, or if it have been merely or chiefly to escape hell and to obtain heaven, and not for the love we bear to God, and for the desire we have to please him, we have therein

transgressed the Lord's commandments. And now, neighbour No-raologista, I pray you consider, whether you have gone near to the keeping of all the commandments perfectly or no ?

Norn. But, sir, are you sure that the Lord requires that every man should keep all the ten commandments according as you have now expounded them ?

THE USE OF THE LAW.

Evan. Yea, indeed he does; and if you make any question of it, I pray you, consider further, that one asking our Saviour, which is the " great commandment in the law ?" he answered, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." "This," says he, "is the first and great commandment; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," Matt. xxii. 6—9.

Whereupon, says a famous spiritual expositor, " God will have the whole heart;" all the powers of our souls must be bent towards him, he will have himself to be acknowledged and reckoned as our sovereign and supreme good; our love to-him must be perfect and absolute: he requires, that there be hot found in us the least thought, inclination, or appetite of any thing which may displease him ; and that we direct all our actions to this very end, that he alone may be glorified by us: and that for the love we bear unto God, we must do well unto our neighbour, according to the commandments of God. Consider also, I pray you, that it is said, Deut. xxvii. 26; Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Now, if you do consider these things well, you shall perceive that the Lord requires that every man do keep all the ten commandments perfectly according as I have expounded them, and concludes all those under the curse that do not so keep them.

Nom. Surely, sir, you did mistake in saying that the Lord requires that every mau do keep the law of the ten commandments perfectly ; for I suppose you would have said, the Lord requires that every man do endeavour to keep them perfectly.

Evan. No, neighbour Nomologista, I did not mistake, for I say it again, that the Lord requires of every man, perfect obedience to all the ten commandments, and concludes all those under the curse that do not yield it; for it is not said, Cursed is every man that does not endeavour to continue in all things, but, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all thiugs," &c.

Nom. But, sir, do you think that any man continues in all things as you have expounded them ?

Evan. No, no; it is impossible that any mau should.

Norn. And, sir, what is it to be under a curse?

Evan. To be under the curse, as Luther and Perkins do well agree, is to be under sin, the wrath of (rod, and everlasting death.

Nom. But, sir, I pray you, how can this stand with the justice of God, to require man to do that which is impossible, and yet to conclude him under the curse for not doing it ?

Evan. You shall perceive that it does well stand with the justice of God, to deal so with man, if you consider, that this law of God, or these ten commandments, which we have now expounded, are, as Ili-sinus' Catechism truly says, " A doctrine agreeing with the eternal and immortal wisdom and justice that is in God ;" wherein says Calvin, "God hath so painted out his own nature, that it doth in a manner express the very image of God." And we read, Gen. i. 27. that man at the first was created in the image or likeness of God; wheuce it must needs follow that this law was written in his heart, that is to say, God did engrave in man's heart such wisdom and knowledge of his will and works, and such integrity in his soul, and such a fitness in all the powers thereof, that his mind was able to conceive, and his heart was able to desire, and his body was able to put in execution, any thing that was acceptable to God ; so that in very deed he was able to keep all the ten commandments perfectly.

And therefore though God do require of man impossible things, yet is he not unjust, neither does he injure us in so doing, because he commanded them when they were possible, and though we have now lost our ability of performance, yet it being by our voluntary falling from the state of innocence in which we were at first created, God has not lost his right of requiring that of us which he once gave us.

Nom. But, sir, you know it was our first parents only that did fall away from God in eating the forbidden fruit, and none of their posterity; how then can it be truly said, that we have lost that power through our own default?

Evan. For answer to this, I pray you consider that Adam by God's appointment, was not to stand or fall as a single person only, but as a common public person, representing all mankind which were to come to him ; and therefore, as in case if he had been obedient, and not eaten the forbidden fruit, he had retained and kept that power which he had by creation, as well for all mankind as for himself; even so by disobedience in eating that forbidden fruit, lie was disrobed of God's image, and so lost that power, as well for all mankind as for himself.

Nom. Why then, sir, it should seem that all mankind are under sin, wrath, and eternal death ?

Evan. Yea, indeed by nature they are so, " for we know," says the apostle, " that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God," Rom. iii. 19; and again says he, " We have proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin," Rom. iii. 9. And in another place he says, " We were by nature children of wrath even as well as others," Eph. ii. 3 ; and, lastly, he says, " So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Rom. v. 12.

Nom. But, sir, I pray you tell me whether you think that any regenerate man keeps the commandments perfectly, according as you have expounded them ?

Evan. No, not the most sanctified man in the world. Nom. Why then, sir, it should seem, that not only natural men, but regenerate men also, are under the curse of the law. For if every one that keepeth not the law perfectly be concluded under the curse, and if regenerate men do not keep the law perfectly, then they also must needs be under the curse.

Evan. The conclusion of your argumeut is not true ; for if by regenerate meu you mean true believers, then they have fulfilled the law perfectly in Christ, or rather Christ has perfectly fulfilled the law in them, and was made a curse for them, and so has redeemed them from the curse of the law, as you may see, Gal. iii. 13.

Nom. Well, sir, now I understand you, and have ever been of your judgment in that point, for I have ever concluded this, that either a man himself, or Christ for him, must keep the law perfectly, or else God will not accept of him, and therefore have I endeavoured to do the best I could to keep the law perfectly, and wherein I have failed and come short, I have believed that Christ has done it for me.

Evan. The apostle says, Gal. iii. 10. " So many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse." And truly, neighbour No-mologista, if I may speak it without offence, I fear me you are still of the works of the law, and therefore still under the curse.

Nom. Why, sir, I pray you what is it to be of the works of the law?

Evan. To be of the works of the law, is for a man to look for, or hope to be justified or accepted in the sight of God, for his own obedience to the law.

Nom. But surely, sir, I never did so; for though by reason of ray being ignorant of what is required and forbidden in every commandment, I had a conceit that I came very near the perfect fulfilling of the lew, yet I never thought I did do all things that are contained Vol. VII. 2 k

therein ; and therefore I never looked for, nor hoped that God would accept me for mine own obedience, without Christ's being joined

with it.

Evan. Then it seems that you did conceive, that your obedience and Christ's obedience must be joined together, and so God would accept you for that.

Norn. Yea, indeed, sir, there have been ray hopes, and indeed there are still my hopes.

Evan. Ay, but neighbour Nomologista, as I told my neighbour Neophitus and others not long since, so I tell you now, that as the justice of God requires a perfect obedience, so does it require that this perfect obedience be a personal obedience, that is, it must be the obedience of one person only. The obedience of two must not be put together to make up a perfect obedience : and indeed, to say as the thing is, God will have none to have a hand in the justification and salvation of any man, but Christ only, for, says the apostle Peter, Acts iv. 12, " neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Believe it then, I beseech you, that Christ Jesus will either be a whole Saviour, or no Saviour, he will either save you alone, or not save you at all.

Nom. But, sir, if man's obedience to the law do not help to procure justification and acceptance with God, then why did God give the law to the Israelites upon Mount Sinai, and why is it read and expounded by you that are ministers? I would gladly know of what use it is ?

Evan. The apostle says, Gal. iii. 19, " That the law was added because of transgression." That is, (as Luther expounds it,) " That transgressions might increase and be more known, and seen ;" or as Perkins expounds it, " For the revealing of sin, and the punishment thereof; for by the law comes the knowledge of sin," as the same apostle says, Bom. iii. 20; and therefore when the children of Israel conceived that they were righteous, and could keep all God's commandments perfectly, as it is manifest by their saying, Exod. xix. 8, " All that the Lord commandeth we will do, and be obedient," the Lord gave them this law to the intent they might see how far short they came of yielding that obedience which is therein required, aud so consequently how sinful they were. And just so did our Saviour also deal with the young expounder of the law Mat. xix. 16, who it seems was sick of the same disease, " Good Master," says he, " what shall 1 do that I may inherit eternal life ?" "He does not (says Calvin) simply ask, which way, or by what means ho should come to eternal life, but what good he should do to

get it." Whereby it appears, that he was a proud justicary, one that swelled in fleshly opinion that he could keep the law, and be saved by it; therefore he is worthily sent to the law to work himself weary, and to see his need to come to Christ for remedy.

Now then, if you would know of what use the law is, why first, let me tell you, it is of special use to all such as have a conceit that they themselves can do anything for the procuring of their own justification and acceptation in the sight of God, to let them see, as in a glass, that in that case they can do nothing. And therefore, seeing that you yourself have such a conceit, I beseech you, labour, to make that use of it, that so you may be hereby quite driven out of yourself unto Jesus Christ.

Norn. Believe me, sir, I should be glad I could make such a good use of it, and therefore, I pray you give me some directions how I may do it.

Evan. "Why, first of all I would desire you to consider, that in regard that all mankind were first created in such an estate as I have declared unto you, the law and justice of God requires that the man who undertakes by his obedience to procure his justification and acception in the sight of God, either in whole, or in part, be as completely furnished with the habit of righteousness and true holiness and as free from all corruption of nature, as Adam was in the state of innocency, that so there may not be the least corruption mingled with any of those good actions which he does, nor the least motion of heart or inclination of will towards any of those evil actions which he does not do.

Secondly, I would desire you to consider, that neither you nor any man else, whilst you live upon the earth, shall be so furnished with perfect righteousness and true holiness, nor so free from all corruptions of nature, as Adam was in the state of innocency ; so that no good action which you do shall be free from having some corruption mingled with it: nor any evil action which you do not do, free from some motion of heart or inclination of will towards it; and that therefore you can do nothing towards the procuring of your justification and acceptation in the sight of God ; which the prophet David well considering, cries out, Psalm cxliii. 2, " Enter not into judgment with thy servant, 0 Lord ! for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." Yea, and this made the apostle cry out, " 0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death !" Rom. vii. 24. Yea, and this made him desire to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, Phil. iii. 9.

Nom. But, sir, I am persuaded there be some good actions which

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I do, that are free from having any corruption at all mixed with them; and some evil actions which I do not do, towards which I have no motion of heart, or inclination of will at all.

Evan. Surely, neighbour Nomologista, you do not truly know yourself, for I am confident, that any man who truly knows himself, sees such secret corruptions of heart in every duty he performs, as causes him uufeignedly to confess, that wliatever good action he does, it is but a polluted stream of a more corrupt fountain. And whatsoever you or any man else do conceive of yourselves, it is most certain, that whatsoever sin is forbidden in the word, or has been practised in the world, that sin every man carries in his bosom, for all have equally sinned in Adam, and therefore original lust is equally in all.

Norn. Sir, I can hardly be persuaded to this. Evan. "Well, neighbour Nomologista, I cannot so well tell how it is with you, but for mine own part, I tell you truly, I find my knowledge corrupted and defiled with ignorance and blindness, and my faith corrupted and defiled with doubting and distrust, and my love to God very much corrupted, and defiled with sinful self-love and love to the world ; and my joy in God much corrupted and defiled with carnal joy; and my godly sorrow very much corrupted and defiled with worldly sorrow.

And I find my prayers, my hearing, my reading, my receiving the sacrament, and such like duties, very much corrupted and defiled with dulness, drowsiness, sleepiness, wandering and worldly thoughts, and the like.

And I find my sanctifying of the Lord's name very much corrupted and defiled, by thinking and speaking lightly and irreverently of his titles ; and by thinking, if not by speaking, grudgingly against some acts of his providence.

And I find my sanctifying of the Lord's day very much corrupted and defiled, by sleeping too long in the morning, and by worldly thoughts and words, if not by worldly works.

And I find that all the duties that I have performed, either towards my superiors or inferiors, have been corrupted and defiled either with too much indulgence, or with too much severity, or with base fears, or base hopes, or some self-end and by-respect.

And I find that all my duties that I have performed, either for the preservation of mine own, or other's life, chastity, goods, or good name, have been very much corrupted and defiled, either with a desire of mine own praise, and mine own profit here, or to escape hell, and to obtain heaven hereafter; so that I see no good action which I have ever done free from having some corruption mixed with it.

And as for motion of heart, and inclination of will towards that evil which I have done, it is also manifest, for though I have not been guilty of idolatry, either in making or worshipping images, yet have I not been free from carnal imaginations of God in the time of his worship, nor from will-worship.

And though I have not been so guilty of profaning the name of the Lord, after such a gross manner as some others have been, yet have I not been free from an inclination of heart, and disposition of will thereunto: for I have both thought and spoken irreverently both of his titles, attributes, word, and works, yea, and many times do so to this day.

And though I do not now so grossly profane the Lord's day as it may be others have done, and do still, yet have I formerly done it grossly, yea and do still, find an inward disposition of heart, and inclination of will, both to omit those duties which tend to the sanctifying of it, and to do those worldly actions which tend to the profanation of it.

And though when I was a child and young, I did not so grossly dishonour and disobey my parents and other superiors, as some others did, yet I had an inclination of heart and disposition of will thereunto, as it was manifest by my stubbornness, and by my not yielding willing obedience to their commands, nor submitting patiently to their reproofs and corrections.

And though it may be, I have done more of my duty to my inferiors than some others have done, yet have I found an inclination of heart, and a disposition of will, many times to omit those duties which I have performed, so that I have, as it were, been fain to constrain myself to do that which I have done.

And though I have not been guilty of the gross act of murder, yet have I had, and have still an inclination of heart and disposition of will thereunto, in that I have been, and am still, many times subject to rash, unadvised, and excessive anger; yea, I have been and still am divers times wrathful and envious towards others that offend me.

And though I never was guilty of the foul and gross act of fornication or adultery, yet have I had an inclination of heart, and disposition of will thereunto, in that I have not been free from filthy imaginations, unchaste thoughts, and inward motions and desires to uncleanness.

And though I was never guilty of the gross act of stealing, yet have I had an inclination of heart, and a disposition of will thereunto, in that I have neither been free from discontentedness with mine own estate, nor from covetous desires after that which belongs to another.

And tbough I never did bear false witness against any man, yet have I had an inclination of heart and disposition of will thereunto, in that I have not been free from contemning, despising, and thinking too basely of others; neither yet have I been free from evil sur-misings, groundless suspicions, and rashly judging others.

And now, neighbour Noniologista, I pray you tell me whether you do think that some of these corruptions are in you, which you hear are in me ?

Nom. Yea, believe me, sir, I must needs confess that some of them are.

Evan. Well, though you have but only one of them in you, yet I pray you consider, that you do thereby transgress one of the ten commandments; and the apostle James says, that " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all," James ii. 10. And call to mind, I also pray you, that a curse is denounced against all those that continue not in "all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Mind it, I pray you, " that doth not continue in all things ;" so that although you could for a time do all that the law requires, and avoid all that it forbids, and that never so exactly, yet if you do not continue so doing, but transgress the law once in all your life, and that only in one thought, you are thereby become subject to the curse, which, as you have heard, is eternal damnation in hell.

Nay, let me tell you more, although you never yet had transges-sed the law in your life hitherto, not so much as in the least thought nor never should do whilst you live, yet should you thereby become far short of the perfect fulfilling of the law, and so consequently of your justification and acceptation in the sight of God.

Nom. That is very strange to me, sir, for what can be required more, or what can be done more, than yielding perfect and perpetual obedience ?

Evan. That is true indeed; there is no more required, neither can there be more done ; but yet you must understand that the law does as well require passive obedience as active, suffering as well as doing; for our common bond entered into for us all, by God's benefits towards the first man, is by his disobedience become forfeited, both in respect of himself and all mankind; and therefore, ever since the fall of man, the law and justice of God does not only require the payment of the debt, but also of the forfeiture ; there is not only required of him perfect doing, but also perfect suffering. " In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die the death," says the Lord, Gen. ii. 17- Nay, let me tell you yet more : in order of justice, the forfeiture ought to be paid before the debt; perfect suf-

fering should go before perfect doiiig, because all mankind, by reason of that first and great transgression, are at odds and enmity with God; they are all of them children of his wrath, and therefore God (as we may speak with holy reverence,) cannot be reconciled unto any man, before a full satisfaction be made to his justice by a perfect suffering, (Col. i. 21): perfect suffering, then, is required for the reconciling of man unto God, (Eph. ii. 3,) and setting him in the same condition he was in before his fall, and perfect doing is required for the keeping of him in that condition.

Nom. And, sir, is man as unable to pay the forfeiture as he is to pay the debt? I mean, is he as unable to suffer perfectly, as to do perfectly?

Evan. Yea, indeed, every whit as unable; forasmuch as man's sin in eating the forbidden fruit was committed against God, and God is infinite and eternal, and the offence is always multiplied according to the dignity of the person against whom it is committed : man's offence must needs be an infinite offence, and the punishment must needs be proportionable to the fault; therefore an infinite and eternal punishment is required at man's hands, or else such a temporal punishmeut, as is equal and answerable to eternal. Now, eternal punishment man cannot sustain, because then he should never be delivered—he should ever be satisfying, and never have satisfied ; which satisfaction is such as is the punishment of the devils and damned men in hell, which never shall have an end. And for temporal punishment, which should be equivalent to eternal, that cannot be neither, because the power and vigour of no creature is such that it may sustain a finite and temporal punishment, equivalent to an infinite and eternal; for sooner should the creature be wasted, consumed, and brought to nothing, than it could satisfy the justice of God by this means ; wherefore we may certainly conclude, that no man can satisfy the law and justice of God, neither by active nor by passive obedience, and so consequently no man shall be justified and accepted in the sight of God by his own doings or sufferings.

Nom. Sir, I see it clearly, and am therein fully convinced, and I hope I shall make that use of it. But, sir, is there no other use to be made of the law than this ?

Evan. Tea, neighbour Nomologista, you must not only labour thereby to see your own insufficiency to procure your own justification and acceptance in the sight of God, (though that* indeed be the chief use that any unjustified person ought to endeavour to make of it,) but you must also endeavour to make it a rule of direction to you in your life and conversation.

Nom. But, sir, if I cannot by my obedience to the law do any thing towards the procuring of mine own justification, and acceptation in the sight of God, or, (which as I do conceive is all one) if T can do nothing towards the procuring of mine own eternal salvation, then methinks all that I do should be in vain, for I cannot see any good I shall get thereby.

Evan. No, neighbour Nomologista, it shall not be in vain ; for though you cannot by your obedience to the law, do any thing towards the procuring of your own justification or eternal salvation ; yea, and though you should never make such a use of it, as to be thereby driven out of yourself unto Jesus Christ for justification and eternal salvation, but should be everlastingly condemned; yet, this let me tell you, the more obedience you yield unto the law, the more easy shall your condemnation be ; for although no man (walk he ever so exactly and strictly according to the law) shall thereby either escape the torments of hell, or obtain the joys of heaven, yet the more exactly and strictly any man walks according to the law, the easier shall his torments be, Matt. xi. 22. So that although you by your obedience to the law cannot obtain the uneasiest place in heaveu, yet may you thereby obtain the most easy place in hell; and therefore your obedience shall not be in vain. Nay, let me tell you more, although you by your obedience to the law can neither escape that hell, nor enjoy that heaven that is in the world to come, yet you may thereby escape that hell, and enjoy that heaven which is to be had in this present world ; for the Lord dealeth so equally and justly with all men, that every man shall be sure to receive his due at his hands: so that as every man who is truly justified in the sight of God by faith in Christ's blood, shall for that blood's sake be sure of the joys of heaven, though his life may even after his believing be in many respects unconformable to the law; yet the more unconformable his life is thereunto, the more crosses and afflictions he shall be sure to meet withal in this life, Psalm Ixxxix. 30—32. Even so, though no man that is not justified by faith in Christ's blood shall either escape the torments of hell, or attain the joys of heaven, be his life never so conformable to the law, yet the more conformable his life is thereunto, the less of the miseries and the more of the blessings of this life he shall have ; for it is not to men unjustified, though I suppose not only to them, that the Lord speak-eth, Isa. i. 19, saying, " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good things of the land." And does not the Lord in the fifth commandment promise the blessing of long life to all inferiors that are obedient to their superiors ? And may we not observe, and is it not found true by experience, that those children who are

most careful of doing their duties to their parents, are commonly more free both from their parent's corrections and the Lord's corrections ; and are likewise blessed with obedient children themselves, and do also taste of their parent's bounty and the Lord's bounty, as touching the blessings of this life, more than others that are disobedient ? And may we not observe, and is it not found true by experience, that those servants that are most faithful and diligent in their places are commonly more free either from the Lord's or their master's corrections, and are likewise rewarded with such servants themselves, and with other temporal blessings both from their masters and from the Lord, than others that are not so ? And may we not observe, and is it not found true by experience,., that those wives that are obedient and subject to their husbands, are commonly more free from their frowns, checks, or rebukes; at least, they are more blessed with peace of conscience, and a good name amongst men, than others that are not so ? And may we not observe, that our mere honest men, who for the most part live without committing any gross sin against the law, are commonly more exempted from the sword of the magistrate, and have many earthly blessings more in abundance than such as are gross sinners ? And the Scribes and Pharisees, who were strict observers of the law, in regard of the outward man, were no losers by it, " Verily," says our Saviour, " I say unto you, they have their reward," Matt. vi. 2. So that still, you see, your obedience to the law shall not be in vain; wherefore, I pray you, do your best to keep the ten commandments as perfectly as you can. But above all, I beseech you, be careful to consider of that which has been said touching the special use of the law to you, that so through the powerful working of God's Spirit, it may become an effectual means to drive you out of yourself unto Jesus Christ.

0 consider, in the first place, what a great number of duties are required, and what a great number of sins are forbidden in every one of the ten commandments ! And in the second place, consider, how many of those duties you have omitted, and how many of those sins you have committed. And in the third place, consider, that there has been much corruption mixed with every good duty which you have done, so that you have sinned in doing that which in itself is good; and that you have had an inclination of heart and disposition of will to every sin you have not committed, and so have been guilty of all those sins which you have not done. And in the fourth place, consider, that the law denounceth a curse unto every one which continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. And then, in the fifth place, make

application of tlie curse unto yourself, by saying in your heart, if every one be cursed which continueth not in all things, then surely I am cursed that have continued in nothing. And then, in the sixth place, consider, that before you can be delivered from the curse, the law and justice of God requires that there be a perfect satisfaction made both by paying the debt and the forfeiture to the very utmost farthing; perfect doing and perfect suffering are both of them required. And then, in the last place, consider, that you are so far from being able to make a perfect satisfaction, that you can do nothing at all towards it, and that therefore as of yourself, you are in a most miserable and helpless condition.

Nom. Well, sir, I do now plainly see that I have been deceived, for I verily thought that the only reason why the Lord gave the law, and why you that are ministers do show us what is required and forbidden in the law, had been, that all men might thereby come to see what the mind and will of the Lord is, and be exhorted, and persuaded to lead their lives thereafter. And I also verily thought that the more any man did strive and endeavour to reform his life and do thereafter, the more he procured the love and favour of God towards him, and the more God would bless him, and do him good, both in this world and the world to come; yea, and I also verily thought, that it had been in man's power to have come very near the perfect fulfilling of the law, for I never read nor heard any minister show how impossible it is for any man to keep the law, nor ever make any mention of any such use of the law, as you have done this day.

Evan. Surely, neighbour Nomologista, these have not only been your thoughts, but also the thoughts of many other men : for it is natural for every man to think that he must and can procure God's favour and eternal happiness by his obedience to the law, at the least, to think he can do something towards it; for naturally men think that the law requires no more but the external act, and that therefore it is in man's power to keep it perfectly. Is it not an ordinary and common thing for men when they hear or read that there is more required and forbidden in the law than they were aware of, to think with themselves, Surely I am not right, I have transgressed the law more than I thought I had done, and therefore God is more angry with me, than I had thought he had been; and therefore to pacify his anger, and procure his favour towards me, I must repent, amend, and do better ; I must reform my life according to the law, and so by my future obedience make amends for my former disobedience; and if thereupon they do attain to any good measure of outward conformity, then they think they come near the

perfect fulfilling of the law; and if it were not that the doctriue of the Church of England is, that no man can fulfil the law perfectly, and that none but Papists do say the contrary, they would both think and say they did, or hoped they should keep all the commandments perfectly. And upon occasion of this their outward reformation according to the law, they think, yea, and sometimes say, they are regenerate men and true converts, and that the beginning of this their reformation was the time of their new-birth and conversion unto God. And if these men do confess themselves to be sinners, it is rather because they hear all others confess themselves so to be, than out of any true sight and knowledge, sense, or feeling they have of any inward heart-corruption. And if they acknowledge, that a man is not to be justified by the works ot the law, but by faith in Christ, it is rather because they have heard it so preached, or because they have read it in the Bible, or some other book, than because of any imperfection which they see in their own works, or any need they see of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And if they do see any imperfection in their own works, and any need of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, then they imagine that so long as their hearts are upright and sincere, and they do desire and endeavour to do their best to fulfil the law, God will accept of what they do, and make up their imperfect obedience with Christ's perfect obedience, and so will justify and save them; but all this while, their own works must have a hand in their justification and salvation, and so they are still of the works of the law, and therefore under the curse ; the Lord be merciful both to you and them, and bring you under the blessing of Abraham !

Norn. Sir, I thank you for your good wishes towards me, and for your great pains which you have now taken with me, and so I will for this time take my leave of you; only, sir, I could wish, if it might not be too much trouble to you, that you would be pleased at your leisure, to give me in writing a copy of what you have this day said concerning the law.

Evan. Well, neighbour Nomologista, though I can hardly spare so much time, yet because you do desire it, and in hope you may receive good by it, I will, ere long, find some time to accomplish your desire.

Neo. I pray you, neighbour Nomologista, tarry a little longer, and I will go with you.

Nom. No, I must needs be gone ; I can stay no longer.

Evan. Then fare you well, neighbour Nomologista, and the Lord make you to see your sins ?

Nom. The Lord be with you, sir.

Neo. Well, sir, now I hope you have fully convinced him that he

comes far short of keeping all the commandments perfectly: I hope he will no longer be so well conceited of his own righteousness as he has formerly been. But now, sir, I pray you tell me before I depart, whether you would have me to endeavour to make the same use of the law which you have advised him to make.

Evan. No, neighbour Neophitus, I look not upon you as an unbeliever, as I did upon him, but I look upon you as one who has already been by the law driven out of yourself unto Jesus Christ; I look upon you as a true believer, and as a person already justified in the sight of God by faith in Christ, and so as one who is neither to question your inheritance in heaven, nor fear your portion in hell. And therefore I will not persuade you to labour to yield obedience to the law, by telling you, that the more obedient you are thereunto, the easier torments you shall have in hell, as I did him ; neither would I have you to make application of the curse of the law to yourself, as I advised him to do; for if you do truly and thoroughly believe (as God requires you) that Jesus Christ (1 John iii. 23.) the Son of God and your Surety, has, by his active and passive obedience, fully discharged and paid both the debt and the forfeiture which the law and justice of God obliged you to pay, then will not you yield obedience to the law, to pay that which you do truly believe is fully paid and discharged already ; and if you do not yield obedience to the law to discharge that, then do you not yield obedience to the law, in hopes to be thereby made just, or justified in the sight of God ; and if you yield not obedience to the law, in hopes to be thereby made just, or justified in the sight of God, then are you not of the works of the law; and if you are not of the works of the law, then are you not under the curse of the law ; and if you be not under the curse of the law, then must you not make application of the curse unto yourself. And therefore, whensoever you shall either hear or read these words, " Cursed is every one which continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them," and your conscience tells you that you have not, and do not continue in all things, and that therefore you are accursed; then do you make so much use of the curse, as thereby to take occasion by faith to cleave more close unto Christ, and say, 0 law, thy curse is not to come into my conscience ! my conscience is freed from it ! for though it is true 1 have not continued " in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them," yet this my Surety Jesus Christ has continued in all things for me, so that although I am unable to pay either the debt or the forfeiture, yet he has paid them both for me, and so has discharged me from the curse; and therefore I fear it not.

Neo. But, sir, though I be a believer, and so be set free from the curse of the law, yet I suppose I ought to endeavour to do somewhat that is required, and to avoid whatsoever is forbidden in the law.

Evan. Yea, neighbour Neophitus, that you ought indeed, for mind it, I pray you, thus stauds the case; so soon as any man does truly believe, and so is justified in the sight of God, theu, as the Holy Ghost, from the testimony of holy writ, does warrant us to conceive, Jesus Christ, or, which is all one, God in Christ, does deliver unto him whatsoever is required and forbidden in the ten commandments, saying, (Col. ii. 14; Eph. ii. 15,) " This hand-writing, even this law of commandments which was agaiust thee, and contrary to thee, whilst it was in the hands of my Father, as he stood in relation to thee as a Judge, and was not cancelled, but had the curse or penalty annexed to it, (Isa. xxxviii. 14,) and so had power to convince, (Heb. vii. 22,) accuse, condemn, and bind thee over to punishment; I, who undertook for thee, and became thy Surety, have paid the principal debt, and have also answered the forfeiture which did lie against thee for the breach of that bond; and my Father has delivered it into miue hands, and I have blotted out the curse or penalty, so that one letter or tittle remains not for thee to see; yea, I have taken it out of thy way, and fastened it to my cross, yea, and torn it in pieces with the nails of my cross, so that it is altogether frustrate, and has no force at all against thee. Yet notwithstanding the matter contained iu this law, even those precepts and prohibitions which I have now delivered unto thee, being the mind and will of my Father, and the eternal and unchangeable rule of righteousness, and that which is in my heart, Psalm xl. 8; yea, and that which I have promised to write in the hearts of all those that are mine, Jer. xxxi. 33: yea, and that which I have promised to make them yield willing obedience unto, Psalm ex. 8; I and ray father do command it unto thee, as that rule of obedience whereby thou art to express thy love and thankfulness unto us for what we have done for thee. And therefore I will say no more unto thee but this, " If thou love me, keep my commandments," John xiv. 15. And thou art my friend, " If thou do whatsoever I command thee," John xv. 14.

Neo. But, sir, does God in Christ require me to yield perfect obedience to all the ten commandments, according as you have this day expounded them?

Evan. I answer, yea, for though God in Christ do not require of you, or any true believer, any obedience to the law at all by way of satisfaction to his justice, for that Christ has fully done already ; yet does he require, that every true believer do purpose, desire, and

endeavour to do their best to keep all the ten commandments perfectly, according as I have this day expounded them; witness the saying of Christ himself, (Matt. v. 48.) "Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

Neo. But, sir, do you think it possible, that either I, or any believer else, should keep the commandments perfectly, according as you have this day expounded them ?

Evan. 0 no! both you, and I, and every believer else, have, and shall have cause to say with the apostle, (Phil. iii. 12.) " Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect."

Neo. But will God in Christ accept of obedience, if it be not perfect ?

Evan. Yea, neighbour Neophitus, you being a justified person, and so it not being in the case of justification, but in the case of child-like obedience, I may without fear of danger, say unto you, God will accept the word for the deed, and " will spare you as a man spares his son that serves him," Mai. iii. 18. Yea, like as a father pities his children, so the Lord will pity you, " for he knoweth your frame, he remembereth that you are dust," Psalm ciii. 13, 14. Nay, he will not only spare you and pity you for what you do not, but he will also reward you for what you do.

Neo. Say you so, sir ? then I beseech you tell me what this reward shall be.

Evan. Why, if there be degrees of glory in heaven, as some, both godly and learned, have conceived there is, then I tell you that the more obedient you are unto the law, the more shall be your glory in heaven; but because degrees of glory are disputable, I cannot assure you of that. Howbeit, this you may assure yourself, that the more obedience you yield unto the ten commandments, the more you please your most gracious God and loving Father in Christ, 1 Sam. xv. 22; and the more your conscience witnesseth that you please God, the more quiet you shall feel it to be, and the more inward peace you shall have, according to that of the Psalmist, " Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them." For though faith in the blood of Christ has made your peace with God as a Judge, yet obedience must keep your peace with him as a Father; yea, the more your conscience witnesseth that you do that which pleases God, the more encouragement you will have, and the more confidently you will approach towards God in prayer. " Beloved," says the loving apostle, " if our hearts condemn us not, then have we boldness towards God," John iii. 21; for though faith in the blood of Christ takes away that guilt which subjects you to the legal curse, yet obedience must take away that guilt which subjects

you to a fatherly displeasure. Furthermore, you are to know, that the more obedience you yield unto the ten commandments, the more temporal blessings, outward prosperity, and comfort of this life (in the ordinary course of God's dealing) you shall have: " 0 !" says the Lord, " that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways, he should soon have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee." Besides, the more obedience you yield unto the ten commandments, the more glory you will bring to God, according to that of our Saviour, John xv. 8, "Herein is my Father giorified, that ye bear much fruit." To conclude, the more obedience you yield unto the ten commandments, the more good you will do unto others, according to that of the apostle, Tit. iii. 8, " This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in Christ might be careful to maintain good works; these things are good and profitable unto men."

Neo. But, sir, what if I should not purpose, desire, and endeavour to yield obedience to all the ten commandments, as you say the Lord requires ; what then ?

Evan. Why then, although it is true you have no cause to fear that God will proceed against you, as a wrathful judge proceeds against a malefactor, yet have you cause to fear that he will proceed against you as a displeased father does against an offending child ; that is to say, although you have no cause to fear that he will unjustify you, and unson you, and deprive you of your heavenly inheritance, and inflict the penalty of the law of works upon you, and so condemn you, for says the apostle, " There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," Rom. viii. 1 ; yet have you cause to fear that he will hide his fatherly face and withdraw the light of his countenance from you; and that your conscience will be ever accusing and disquieting of you, which if it do, then will you draw back, and be afraid to ask any of God in prayer; for even as a child whose conscience tells him that he has angered and displeased his father, will be unwilling to come into his father's presence, especially to ask of him any thing that he wants, even so it will be with you; and besides, you shall be sure to be whipped and scourged with many bodily and temporal chastisements and corrections, according to that which is said concerning Jesus Christ and his seed, even true believers, and justified persons, Psal. Ixxxix. 31—33, " If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, and walk not in my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail."

Wherefore, neighbour Neophitus, to apply these things a little more closely to you, and so to conclude, let me exhort you, when you come home, call to mind and consider every commandment according as you have heard them this day expounded, and resolve to endeavour yourself to do thereafter; and always take notice how and wherein you fail and come short of doing what is required, and of avoiding what is forbidden ; and especially be careful to do this when you are called to humble yourself before the Lord in fasting and prayer, and upon occasion of going to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and so shall you make a right use of the law.

Neo. And, sir, why would you have me more especially to take notice of my sins when I am called to humble myself before the Lord in fasting and prayer ?

Evan. Because the more sinful you see yourself to be, the more humble will your heart be ; and the more humble your heart is, the more fit you will be to pray, and the more the Lord will regard your prayers : wherefore when upon occasion of some heavy and sore affliction, either felt, or feared to come upon yourself, or some sore judgment and calamity either felt, or feared to come upon the nation or place where you live, the Lord calls you to humble yourself in fasting and prayer, then do you hereupon take occasion to meditate, and consider seriously what duties are required, and what sins are forbidden in every one of the ten commandmeuts, and then consider how many of those duties you have omitted, and how many of those sins you have committed; consider also the sinful manner of performing those duties you have performed, and the base and sinful self ends which you have had in the performance of them : consider also how many sinful corruptions there are in your heart, which break not forth in your life, and the disposition of heart which you have naturally to every sin which yon do not commit; and then consider, that although the sins which you do now commit are not a transgression of the law of works, because you are not now under the law, Rom. vi. 14; yet are they a transgression of the law of Christ, because you are still under the law, 1 Cor. ix. 31. And though they be not committed against God as standing in relation to you as a wrathful Judge, yet have they been committed against him as he stands in relation to you as a merciful loving Father; and though they subject you not to the wrath of a Judge, nor to the penalty of the law of works, yet they subject you to the anger and displeasure of a loving Father, and to the penalty of the law of Christ.

Whereupon, do you draw near unto God by prayer, saying unto him after this manner:

" 0 merciful and loving Father ! I do acknowledge that the sins which I did commit before I was a believer, were a transgression of the law of works, because I was then under that law; yea, and that they were committed against thee, as thou stoodst in relation to me as a Judge, and that therefore thou mightst most justly have inflicted the curse or penalty of the law of works upon me, and so have cast me into hell; but seeing that thou hast enabled me to believe the gospel, viz. that thou hast been pleased to give thine own Son Jesus Christ to undertake for me, to become my Surety, to take my nature upon him, and to be made under the law, to redeem me from under the law, (Gal. iv. 4. and iii. 13; Rom. v. 10); and to be made a curse for me, to redeem me from the curse, and to reconcile me unto thee by his death. Now I know it stands not with thy justice to proceed against me by virtue of the law of works, and so cast me into hell. Nevertheless, Father, I know that the sins which I have committed since I did believe have been a transgression of the law of Christ, because I am still under that law: yea, and I do acknowledge, that they have been committed against thee, even against thee, my most gracious, merciful, and loving Father in Jesus Christ, and that it is therefore meet thou shouldst express thy fatherly anger and displeasure towards me, for these sins which thy law has discovered unto me, in bringing this affliction upon me, or this judgment upon the place or nation wherein I live: howbeit, Father, I, knowing that thy fatherly anger towards thy children is never mixed with hatred, but always with love, and that in afflicting of them thou never intendest any satisfaction to thine own justice, but their amendment, even the purging out of the remainder of those sinful corruptions which are still in them, and the conforming of them to thine own image: I therefore come unto thee this day, to humble myself before thee, and to call upon thy name, not for auy need, or power that I do conceive I have to satisfy thy justice, or to appease thy eternal wrath, and to free my soul from hell; for that I do believe Christ has fully done for me already; but I do it in hopes thereby to pacify thy fatherly anger and displeasure towards me, and to obtain the removal of this affliction or judgment which I feel or fear; wherefore I beseech thee to pardon and forgive these my sins, which have been the procuring cause thereof; yea, I pray thee not only to pardon them, but also to purge them, that so this may be all the fruit, even the taking away of sin, and making me partaker of thy holiness; and then, Lord, remove this affliction and judgment when thy will and pleasure is."

And thus have I showed you the reason why I would have you

Vol. V 2 f

more especially to take notice of your sins, when you come to humble yourself before the Lord in fasting and prayer.

Neo. And, sir, why would you have me to take notice of my sins, upon occasion of my going to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper ?

Evan. Because the more sinful you see yourself to be, the more need you will see yourself to have of Christ; and the more need you see yourself to have of Christ, the more will you prize him; and the more you prize Christ, the more you will desire him; and the more you desire Christ, the more fit and worthy receiver you will be.

Wherefore when you are determined to receive the sacrament, then take occasion to examine yourself as the apostle exhorts you, behold the face of your soul in the glass of the law, lay your heart and life to that rule, as I directed you before ; then think with yourself, and commune with your own heart, saying in your heart after this manner, " Though I do believe that all these my sins are for Christ's sake freely and fully pardoned and forgiven, so as that I shall never be condemned for them, yet do I not so fully and comfortably believe it as I ought, but am sometimes apt to question it: and, besides, though my sins have not dominion over me, yet I feel them too prevalent in me, and I would fain have more power and strength against them ; I would fain have my graces stronger and my corruptions weaker; wherefore I, knowing that Christ in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper seals up unto me the assurance of the pardon and forgiveness of all my sins; yea, and knowing that the death and bloodshed of Jesus Christ, which is there represented, has in it both a pardoning and purging virtue; yea, and knowing that the more fully I do apprehend Christ by faith, the more strength of grace, and power against corruptions I shall feel;— wherefore I will go to partake of that ordinance, in hope that I shall there meet with Jesus Christ, and apprehend him more fully by faith, and so obtain both more assurances of the pardon of my sins, and the more power and strength against them;" which the Lord grant you for Christ's sake. And thus having also showed you the reason why I would have you more especially to take notice of your sins before you come to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Snpper, I will now take my leave of you, for my other occasions do call me away.

Neo. Well, sir, I do acknowledge, that you have taken great pains both with my neighbour and me this day, for the which I do give you many thanks. And yet I must entreat you to do the like courtesy for me which you promised my neighbour Nomologista, and

that is, at your leisure, to write me out a copy of the conference we have had this day.

Evan. Well, neighbour Neophitus, I shall think of it, and it may be, accomplish your desire.—And so the God of peace be with you !

Neo. The Lord be with you, sir.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL.

There is little more in all this, (viz. " The Marrow,") to be attributed to me thau the very gathering and composing of it. That which I aim at, and intend therein, is to show unto myself, and others that shall read it, the difference betwixt the Law and the Gospel,—a point, as I conceive, very needful for us to be well instructed in, and that for those reasons :—

First, Because, if we be ignorant thereof, we shall be very apt to mix and mingle them together, and so to confound the one with the other; which, as Luther on the Galatians, p. 31, truly says, "doth more mischief than man's reason can conceive;" and therefore he doth advise all Christians, in the case of justification, to separate the Law and the Gospel as far asunder as heaven and earth are separated.

Secondly, Because if we know right how to distinguish betwixt them, the knowledge thereof will afford us no small light towards the true understanding of the Scripture, and will help us to reconcile all such places, both in the Old and New Testament, as seem to be repugnant; yea, and it will help us to judge aright of cases of conscience, and quiet our own conscience in time of trouble and distress ; yea, and we shall thereby be enabled to try the truth and falsehood of all doctrines: wherefore, for our better instruction in this point, we are first of all to consider and take notice what the law is, and what the gospel is.

Now, the law is a doctrine partly known by nature, teaching us that there is a God, and what God is, and what he requires us to do, binding all reasonable creatures to perfect obedience, both internal and external, promising the favour of God, and everlasting life to all those who yield perfect obedience thereunto, and denouncing the curse of God and everlasting damnation to all those who are not perfectly correspondent thereunto.

But the gospel is a doctrine revealed from heaven by the Son of God, presently after the fall of mankind into sin and death, and

2f2

afterwards manifested more clearly and fully to the patriarchs and prophets, to the evangelists and apostles, and by them spread abroad to others ; wherein freedom from sin, the curse of the law, the wrath of God, death, and hell, is freely promised for Christ's sake unto all who truly believe on his Dame.

2dly, We are to consider what the nature and office of the law is, and what the nature and office of the gospel is.

Now, the nature and office of the law is to show unto us our sin, (Rom. iii. 20,) our condemnation, our death, Rom. ii. 1 ; vii. 10. But the nature and office of the gospel is to show unto us, that Christ has taken away our sin, (John i. 29,) and that he also is our redemption and life, Col. i. 14 ; iii. 4. So that the law is a word of wrath, Rom. iv. 14; but the gospel is a word of peace, Eph. ii. 17.

2>dly, We are to consider where we may find the law written, and where we may find the gospel written.

Now, we shall find this law and this gospel written and recorded in the writings of the prophets, evangelists, and apostles, namely, in the books called the Old and New Testament, or the Scriptures. For, indeed, the law and the gospel are the chief general heads which comprehend all the doctrine of the Scriptures; yet we are not to think that these two doctrines are to be distinguished by the books and leaves of the Scriptures, but by the diversity of God's Spirit speaking in them: we are not to take and understand whatsoever is contained in the compass of the Old Testament to be only and merely the word and voice of the law ; neither are we to think that whatsoever is contained within the compass of the books called the New Testament is only and merely the voice of the cospel; for sometimes in the Old Testament God does speak comfort, as he comforted Adam, with the voice of the gospel; sometimes also in the New Testament he does threaten and terrify, as when Christ terrified the Pharisees. In some places, again, Moses and the prophets do play the evangelists ; inasmuch that Hierom doubts whether he should call Isaiah a prophet or an evangelist. In some places, likewise, Christ and the apostles supply the part of Moses: Christ himself, until his death, was under the law, which law he came not to break, but to fulfil; so his sermons made to the Jews, for the most part, run all upon the perfect doctrine and works of the law, showing and teaching what we ought to do by the right law of justice, and what danger ensues in the non-performance of the same. All which places, though they be contained in the book of the New Testament, yet are they to be referred to the doctrine of the law, ever having included in them a privy exception of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. As for example, where Christ thus

preaches, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," Matt. v. 8. Again, " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matt, xviii. 3. And again, " He that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matt. vii. 22. And again, the parable of the wicked servant cast into prison, for not forgiving his fellow, Matth. xviii. 30 ; the casting of the rich glutton into hell, Luke xvi. 23. And again, " He that denieth me before men, I will deny him before my Father which is in heaven," Luke xii. 9 ; with divers such other places, all which, I say, do appertain to the doctrine of the law.

Wherefore, in the fourth place, we are to take heed, when we read the Scriptures, we do not take the gospel for the law, nor the law for the gospel, but labour to discern and distinguish the voice of the one from the voice of the other : and if we would know when the law speaks, and when the gospel speaks, let us consider and take this for a note, That when in Scripture there is any moral work commanded to be done, either for eschewing of punishment, or upon promise of any reward, temporal or eternal; or else when any promise is made, with the condition of any work to be done, which is commanded in the law, there is to be understood the voice of the law.

Contrariwise, where the promise of life and salvation is offered unto us freely, without any condition of any law, either natural, ceremonial, or moral, or any work done by us, all those places, whether we read them in the Old Testament, or in the New, are to be referred to the voice and doctrine of the gospel; yea, and all those promises of Christ coming in the flesh, which we read in the Old Testament, yea, and all those promises in the New Testament, which offer Christ upon condition of our believing on his name, are properly called the voice of the gospel, because they have no condition of our mortifying annexed unto them, but only faith to apprehend and receive Jesus Christ; as it is written, (Rom. iii. 22,) " For the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all that believe," &c.

Briefly, then, if we would know when the law speaks, and when the gospel speaks, either in reading the word, or in hearing it preached ; and if we would skilfully distinguish the voice of the one from the voice of the other, we must consider,

Law. The law says, " Thou art a sinner, and therefore them shalt be damned ;" Ron vii. 2 ; 2 Thess. ii. 12.

Gos. But the go\ I says, No ; " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;" aLd therefore "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," 1 Tim. i. 15; Acts xvi. 31.

Law. Again the law says, " Knowest thou not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God; be not deceived," &c. 1 Cor. vi. 9. And therefore thou being a sinner, and not righteous, shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Gos. But the gospel says, " God has made Clirist to be sin for thee, who knew no sin ; that thou mightest be made the righteousness of God in him, who is the Lord thy righteousness," Jer. xxiii. 6.

Law. Again the law says, " Pay me that thou owest me, or else I will cast thee into prison," Matt, xviii. 28, 30.

Gos. But the gospel says, " Christ gave himself a ransom for thee," 1 Tim. ii. 6; " and so is made redemption unto thee," 1 Cor. i. 30.

Law. Again the law says, " Thou hast not continued in all that I require of thee, and therefore thou art accursed," Deut. xxvii. 6.

Gos. But the gospel says, " Christ hath redeemed thee from the curse of the law, being made a curse for thee," Gal. iii. 13.

Law. Again the law says, " Thou art become guilty before God, and therefore shalt not escape the judgment of God," Rom. iii. 29 ; ii. 3.

Gos. But the gospel says, " The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son," John v. 12.

And now, knowing rightly how to distinguish between the law and the gospel, we must, in the fifth place, take heed that we break not the orders between these two in applying the law where the gospel is to be applied, either to ourselves or to others; for albeit the law and gospel, in order of doctrine, are many times to be joined together, yet, in the case of justification, the law must be utterly separated from the gospel.

Therefore, whensoever, or wheresoever, any doubt or question arises of salvation, or our justification before God, there the law and all good works must be utterly excluded and stand apart, that grace may appear free, and that the promise and faith may stand alone : which faith alone, without law or works, brings thee in particular to thy justification and salvation, through the mere promise and free grace of God in Christ; so that I say, in the action and office of justification, both law and works are to be utterly excluded and exempted, as things which have nothing to do in that behalf. The reason is this; for, seeing that all our redemption springs out from the body of the Son of God crucified, then is there nothing that can stand us in stead, but that only wherewith the body of Christ is apprehended. Now, forasmuch as neither the law nor works, but faith only is the thing which apprehendeth the body and

passion of Christ, therefore faith only is that matter which justifies a man before God, through the strength of that object Jesus Christ, which it apprehends; like as the brazen serpent was the object only of the Israelites' looking, and not of their hands' working; by the strength of which object, through the promise of God, immediately proceeded health to the beholders : so the body of Christ being the object of our faith, strikes righteousness to our souls, not through working, but through believing.

Wherefore, when any person, or persons, do feel themselves oppressed and terrified with the burden of their sins, and feel themselves with the majesty of the law and judgment of God terrified and oppressed, outweighed and thrown down into utter discomfort, almost to the pit of hell, as happens sometimes to God's own dear servants, who have soft and timorous consciences; when such souls, I say, do read or hear any such place of Scripture which appertains to the law, let them then think and assure themselves that such places do not appertain or belong to them ; nay, let not such only who are thus deeply humbled and terrified do this, but also let every one that does but make any doubt or question of their own salvation, through the sight and sense of their sin, do the like.

And to this end and purpose, let them consider and mark well the end why the law was given, which was not to bring us to salvation, nor to make us good, and so to procure God's love and favour towards us: but rather to declare and convict our wickedness, and make us feel the danger thereof; to this end and purpose, that we seeing our condemnation, and being in ourselves confounded, may be driven thereby to have our refuge in the Son of God, in whom alone is to be found our remedy. And when this is wrought in us, then the law has accomplished its end in us; and therefore it is now to give place unto Jesus Christ, who, as the apostle says, " is the end of the law," Rom. x. 3. Let every true convicted person, then, who fears the wrath of God, death, and hell, when they hear or read any such places of Scripture as do appertain to the law, not think the same to belong to them, no more than a mourning weed belongs to a marriage feast; and therefore removing utterly out of their minds all cogitations of the law, all fear of judgment and condemnation, let them only set before their eyes the gospel, viz. the glad and joyful tidings of Christ, the sweet comforts of God's promises, free forgiveness of sins in Christ, grace, redemption, liberty, psalms, thanks, singing a paradise of spiritual jocundity, and nothing else : thinking thus within themselves, the law hath now done its office in me, and therefore must now give place to its better; that is, it must needs give place to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is my Lord and Master, the fulfiller and accomplisher of the law.

Lastly, As we must take heed and beware that we apply not the law where the gospel is applied, so must we also take heed and beware, that we apply not the gospel where the law is to be applied. Let us not apply the gospel instead of the law; for, as before, the other was even as much as to put on a mourning-gown at a marriage feast, so this is but even the casting of pearls before swine, wherein is great abuse amongst many; for commonly it is seen, that these proud self-conceited and unhumbled persons, these worldly epicures and secure mammonists, to whom the doctrine of the law does properly appertain, do yet notwithstanding put it away from them, and bless themselves with the sweet promises of the gospel, saying, " They hope they have as good a share in Christ as the best of them all, for God is merciful and the like." And contrariwise, the other contrite and bruised hearts, to whom belongs not the law, but the joyful tidings of the gospel, for the most part receive and apply to themselves the terrible voice and sentence of the law. Whereby it comes to pass, that many do rejoice when they should mourn; and on the other side, many do fear and mourn when they should rejoice. "Wherefore, to conclude, in private use of life, let every person discreetly discern between the law and the gospel, and apply to himself that which belongs to him. Let the man or the woman, who did never yet to any purpose (especially in the time of health and prosperity) think of, or consider their latter end, that did never yet fear the wrath of God, nor death, nor devil, nor hell, but have lived and do still live a jocund merry life ; let them apply the curse of the law to themselves, for to them it belongs: yea, and let all your civil honest men and women, who it may be, do sometimes think of their latter end, and have had some kind of fear of the wrath of God, death, and hell, in their hearts, and yet have salved up the sore, with a plaister made of their own civil righteousness, with a salve compounded of their outward conformity to the duties contained in the law, their freedom from gross sins, and their upright and just dealing with men; let these hearken to the voice of the law, when it says, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them;" but let all self-denying, fearful, trembling souls, apply the gracious and sweet promises of God in Christ unto themselves, and rejoice because their names are written in the Book of Life.

APPENDIX.

The Occasion of the " Marrow" Controversy, stated by the late Rev. John Brown of

Haddington.

While the Church of Scotland was clear and exact in her standards, and many of her preachers truly evangelical, a flood of legal doctrine filled many pulpits about the time of the Revolution.

The Arminian errors of Professor Simpson were also prevalent after this time ; but the Assembly used him with great tenderness. However, they were far from being equally kind to such as earnestly endeavoured a clear illustration of the doctrines of God's free grace reigning through the righteousness of Christ. Mr Hamilton of Airth having published a catechetical treatise concerning the covenant of works und grace, and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper, in a more evangelical strain than some wished, the Assembly 1710, prohibited all ministers or members of this church to print, or disperse in writ, any catechism, without the allowance of the Presbytery of the bounds, or the Commission. The Presbytery of Auchterarder having begun to require candidates for license, to acknowledge it unsound to teach that men must forsake their sins in order to come to Christ, the Assembly 1717, on the same day they had dealt so gently with Professor Simpson, declared their abhorrence of that principle as unsound and most detestable —as if men ought only to come to Christ, the alone Saviour from sins, after they have got rid of them by repentance. Mr. James Hogg, one of the holiest ministers in the kingdom, having published or recommended a celebrated and edifying tract of the Cromwellian age, called The Marrow of Modern Divinity, the Assembly 1720, fell upon it with great fury, as if it had been replete with Autino-mian errors, though it is believed many of these zealots never read it, at least had never perused it, in connexion with the Second Part of it, which is wholly taken up in manifestation of the obligation, meaning, and advantage of observing the law of God. They condemned the offering of Christ as a Saviour to all men, or to sinners as such, and the doctrine of believers' full deliverance from under the law as a broken covenant of works, they asserted men's holiness to be a federal or conditional mean of their obtaining eternal happiness. They condemned those almost express declarations of Scripture, that believers are not under the law,—that they do not commit sin,— that the Lord sees no sin in them, and cannot be angry with them, as Antinomian paradoxes, —and condemned the distinction of the Moral law as a covenant of works, and as a binding rule of duty in the hand of Christ. In order to explain these expressions, Messrs James Hogg, Thomas Boston, Ebenezer and Ralph Erskines, Gabriel Watson, and seven others, remonstrated to the next Assembly against these decisions as injurious to the doctrine of God's grace. And in their answers to the Commission's Twelve Queries, they illustrated these doctrines with no small clearness and evidence. Perhaps influenced by this as well as by the wide spread detestation of their acts 1720 on that point, the Assembly 1722, re-considered the same, and made an act explaining and confirming them. This was less gross and erroneous. Nevertheless the twelve representee protested against it as injurious to truth ; but this protest was not allowed to be marked. The Moderator, by the Assembly's appointment, rebuked them for their reflections on the Assembly 1720, in their representation, and admon-Uhffld them to beware of the time coming; against which they protested.

Queries agreed unto by the commission of the general Assembly, and put to those Ministers who gave in a Representation and Petition against the bth and 8th Acts of Assembly 172U, with the answers given by these Ministers to the said Queries.*

Adhering to, and holding, as here repeated, our subscribed Answer given in to the Reverend commission, when by them called to receive these Queries, we come to adventure, under the conduct of the faithful and true Witness, who has promised the Spirit of truth to lead his people into truth, to make answer to the said Queries. To the which, before we proceed, we crave leave to represent, that the title thereto prefixed, viz. " Queries to be put to Mr. James Hog, and other Ministers who gave in a representation in favours of the Marrow, to the general Assembly 1721," as well as that prefixed to the Commission's overture anent this affair, has a native tendency to divert and bemist the reader, to expose us, and to turn the matter off its proper hinge, by giving a wrong colour to our representation, as if the chief design of it was to plead not for the precious truths of the gospel, which we conceived to be wounded by the condemnatory act, but for " The Marrow of Modern Divinity," the which, though we value for a good and useful book, and doubt not but the Church of God may be much edified by it, as we ourselves have been, yet came it never into our minds to hold it, or any other private writing, faultless, nor to put it on a level with our approved standards of doctrine.

Query 1.— Whether are there any precepts in the gospel that were not actually given before the gospel was revealed ?

Answer. —The passages in our representation, marked out to us for the grounds of this query, are these :—" The gospel doctrine, known only by a new revelation after the fall. Of the same dismal tendency we apprehend to be the declaring of that distinction of the law, as it is the law of works, and as it is the law of Christ, as the author applies to it, to be altogether groundless. The erroneous doctrine of justification, for something wrought in, or done by the sinner, as his righteousness, or keeping the new and gospel-law." Now, leaving it to others to judge if these passages gave any just occasion to this question, we answer,

\st, In the gospel, taken strictly, and as contradistinct from the law. for a doctrine of grace, or good news from heaven, of help in God through Jesus Christ, to lost self-destroying creatures of Adam's race, or the glad tidings of a Saviour, with life and salvation in him to the chief of sinners, there are no precepts ; all these, the command to believe, and repent, not excepted, belonging to, and flowing from the law, which fastens the new duty on us, the same moment the gospel reveals the new object.

That in the gospel, taken strictly, there are no precepts, to us seems evident from the holy Scriptures. In the first revelation of it, made in these words,—" The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent," we find no precept, but a promise containing glad tidings of a Saviour, with grace, mercy, life, and salvation in him, to lost sinners of Adam's family. And the gospel preached unto Abraham, namely, 41 In thee," i.e. in thy seed, which is Christ, " shall all nations be blessed," is of the same nature. The good tidings of great joy to all people of a Saviour born in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord, brought and proclaimed from heaven by the angels, we take to have been the gospel, strictly and properly so called ; yet is there no pre-

* " A masterly production," says the judicious Mr. FraSer of Kennoway, *' which has undergone many impressions, and which discusses the points at issue with a perspicuity and energy thai has commanded the esteem and admiration of Mr James Hervoy, and many others who had no immediate concern in the controversy."

cept in these tidings. We find, likewise, the gospel of peace and glad tidings of good things are in Scripture convertible terms; and the word of the gospel, which Peter spoke to the Gentiles, that they might believe, was no other than peace by Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and exalted, to be Judge of quick and dead, with remission of sins through his name, to be received by every one believing in him. Much more might be added on this head, which, that we be not tedious, we pass. Of the same mind, as to this point, we find the body of reformed divines, as to instance in a few, Calvin, Chamier, Pemble, Wendelin, Alting, the professors of Lej-den, Witzius, Mastrick, Maresius, Troughton, Essenius.

That all precepts (these of faith and repentance not excepted,) belong to, and are of the law, is no less evident to us ; for the law of creation, or of the ten commandments, which was given to Adam in paradise, in the form of a covenant of works, requiring us to believe whatever God should reveal or promise, and to obey whatever he should command ; all precepts whatsoever must be virtually and really included in it. So that there never was, nor can be, an instance of duty owing by the creature to God, not commanded in the moral law, if not directly and expressly, yet indirectly, and by consequence. The same first commandment, for instance, which requires us to take the Lord for our God, to acknowledge his essential verity, and sovereign authority ; to love, fear, and trust in Jehovah, after what manner soever he shall be pleased to reveal himself to us, and likewise to grieve and mourn for his dishonour or displeasure, requires believing in Jehovah, our righteousness, as soon as ever he is revealed to us as such, and sorrowing after a godly sort for the transgression of his holy law, whether by one's self or by others. It is true, Adam was not actually obliged to believe in a Saviour, till, being lost and undone, a Saviour was revealed to him ; but the same commandment that bound him to trust and depend on and to believe the promises of God Creator, no doubt obliged her to believe in God Redeemer, when revealed. Nor was Adam obliged to sorrow for sin ere it was committed. But this same law that bound him to have a sense of the evil of sin in its nature and effects, to hate, lothe, and flee from sin, and to resolve against it, and for all holy obedience, and to have a due apprehension of the goodness of God, obliged him also to mourn for it, whenever it should fall out. And we cannot see how the contrary doctrine is consistent with the perfection of the law ; for if the law be a complete rule of all moral, internal, and spiritual, as well as external and ritual obedience, it must require faith and repentance, as well as it does all other good works. And that it does indeed require them, we can have no doubt of, when we consider, that without them all other religious performances are, in God's account, as good as nothing ; and that sin being, as the Scripture and our own standard tell us, any want of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God, unbelief and impenitency must be so too. And if they be so, then must faith and repentance be obedience and conformity to the same law, which the former are a transgression of, or an inconformity unto; unbelief particularly being a departing from the living God, is, for certain, forbidden in the first commandment ; therefore faith must needs be required in the same commandment according to a known rule. But what need we more, after our Lord has told us, that faith is one of the weightier matters of the law ? and that it is not a second table duty which is there meant, is evident to us, by comparing the paralel place in Luke, where, in place of faith, we have the love of God. As for repentance, in case of sin against God, it becomes naturally a duty ; and though neither the covenant of works nor of grace admit of it, as any expiation of sin, or federal condition giving right to life, it is a duty included in every commandment, on the supposal of a transgression.

What moves us to be the more concerned for this point of doctrine is, that if the

law does not bind sinners to believe and repent, then we see not how faith and repentance, considered as works, are excluded from our justification before God, since in that case, they are not works of the law, under which character all works are in Scripture excluded from the use of justifying iu the'sight of God. And we call to mind that, on the contrary doctrine, Arminius laid the foundation of his rotten principles, touching sufficient grace, or rather natural power. " Adam," says he, "had not power to believe in Jesus Christ, because he needed him not; nor was he bound so to believe, because the law required it not. Therefore, since Adam by his fall did not lose it, God is bound to give every man power to believe in Jesus Christ." And Socinians, Armi-nians, Papists, and Baxterians, by holding the gospel to be a new, proper, perceptive law, with sanction, and thereby turning it into a real, though milder covenant of works, have confounded the law and the gospel, and brought works into the matter and cause of a sinner's justification before God. And, we reckon, we are the rather called to be on our guard here, that the clause in our representation, making mention of the new, or gospel-law, is marked out to us, as one of the grounds of this query, which we own to be somewhat alarming. Besides all this, the teaching that faith and repentance are gospel commandments, may yet again open the door to Antinomianism, as it sometimes did already, if we may believe Mr. Cross, who says, " History tells us that it sprung from such a mistake, that faith and repentance were taught and commanded by the gospel only, and that as they contained all necessary to salvation, so the law was needless.

On this head also, namely, that all precepts belong to the law, we might likewise adduce a cloud of witness beyond exception, such as Pemble, Essenius, Anth, Burges, Rutherford, Owen, Witzius, Dickson, Fergusson, Troughton, Larger Catechism on the duties required, and sins forbidden in the first commandment. But, without insisting farther, we answer,

2dly, In the gospel, taken largely for the whole doctrine of Christ and the apostles, contained in the New Testament, or for a system of all the promises, precepts, threa-tenings, doctrines, histories, that any way concern man's recovery and salvation, in which respect, not only all the ten commandments, but the doctrine of the covenant of works belong to it, but, in this sense, the gospel is not contradistinct from the law ;— in the gospel, taken thus at large, we say, there are doubtless many precepts that were not actually given (that is, particularly and expressly promulgate or required^ before the gospel was revealed. Love to our enemies, to instance in a few of many, mercy to the miserable, bearing of the cross, hope and joy in tribulations, in prospect of their having a desired issue, love, thankfulness, prayer, and obedience to a God Redeemer, zealous witnessing against sin, and for truth, in case of defection from the faith or holiness of the gospel, confessing our faults to and forgiving one another. All the ceremonial precepts under the Old Testament, together with the institutions of Christ under the New, faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance unto life, with many more, to say nothing of particular precepts, were not actually given before the gospel was revealed ; all which are nevertheless reducible to the law of the ten commandments, many or them being plain duties of the law of nature, though they had no due and proper objects, nor occasions of being exercised in an innocent state. It is true, there are many of them we have never heard of, without the gospel had been revealed ; yet are they not, therefore, in any proper sense, precepts of the gospel, but of the law, which is exceeding broad, extending to new objects, occasions, and circumstances. The law says one thing to the person unmarried, and another thing to the same person when married ; one thing to him when a child, and another thing to him as a parent, &c. yet is it the same law still. The law of God being perfect ; and like unto its Author,

must reach to every condition of the creature ; but if for every new duty or new object of faith there behoved to be a new law, how strangely must laws be multiplied? The law itself (even as in the case of a man) may meet with many changes, and yet remain the same as to its essence. Now, as to faith and repentance, though ability to exercise them, and acceptance of them, be by the gospel, yet it is evident they must be regulated by the same law, the transgression of which made them necessary. The essence of repentance, it is plain, lies in repeating and renewing, with a suitable frame of spirit, the duties omitted, or in observing the law one had formerly violated. For an the divine perfections are the rule and pattern of God's image in man, as well in his regeneration as in his creation, so the holy law of God is the rule of our repentance, as well as of our primitive obedience. And why faith, when it has God Mediator or God Redeemer, for its object, may not be from the same law as when it had God Creator, or God Preserver for its object, we cannot see.

Query II.— Is not the believer now bound, by the authority of the Creator, to personal obedience to the moral law, though not in order to justification ?

Ans. —What is given us for the ground of this query, is the following clause of our representation, viz—" Since believers are not unde>- it, to be thereby justified or condemned, we cannot comprehend how it continues any longer a covenant of works to them, or as such to have a commanding power over them, that covenant form of it being done away in Christ with respect to believers." This clause of the representation being so much one, even in words, with our Confession, we could never have expected the Reverend Commission would have moved a query upon it; but since they have been pleased to think otherwise, we answer affirmatively :—

The believer, since he ceases not to be a creature by being made a new creature, is, and must ever be bound to personal obedience to the law of the ten commandments, by the authority of the Father. Son, and Holy Ghost, his Creator. But this authority is, as to him, issued by and from the Lord Jesus Christ, at whose mouth he receives the law, being as well as his Lord God Creator, as his Lord God Redeemer, and having all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him ; nor can nor will the sinful creature ever apply himself to obedience acceptable to God, or comfortable to himself, without the Creator's anthority come to him in that channel.

We are clear and full of the same mind with our Confession, that the moral law of the ten commandments does for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof, not only in regard of the matters contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator who gave it, and that Christ does not in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation ; for how can it lose any thing of its original authority, by being conveyed to the believer in such a sweet and blessed channel as the hand of Christ, since both he himself is the supreme God and Creator and since the authority, majesty, and sovereignty of the Father is in his Son, he being the same in substance, equal in power and glory ? " Beware of Him," says the Lord unto Israel, concerning Christ the angel of the covenant, " and obey his voice, provoke him not: for my name is in him." That is, as we understand it, my authority sovereignty, and other adorable excellencies, yea, the whole fulness of the Godhead is in him, and in him only will I be served and obeyed. And then it follows, " But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak." The name of the Father is so in him ; he is so of the same nature with his Father, that his voice is the Father's voice : "If thou obey his voice, and do all that I speak."

We desire to think and speak honourably of him, whose name is " Wonderful

Counsellor, the Migbty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace." And it cannot but exceedingly grate our ears, and grieve our spirits, to find such doctrines or positions vented in this church, especially at a time when the Arian heresy is so prevalent in our neighbour nations, as have an obvious tendency to darken and disparage his divine glory and authority, as that, if a believer ought not to receive the law of the ten commandments at the hand of God, as he is Creator out of Christ, then he is not under its obligation, as it was delivered by God the Creator, but is loosed from all to it, as it was enacted by the authority of the Lord Creator ; and that it is injurious to the infinite majesty of the Sovereign Lord Creator, and to the honour of his holy law, to restrict the believer to receive the ten commandments only at the hand of Christ. What can be more injurious to the infinite majesty of the sovereign Lord Redeemer, by whom all things were created that are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers, than to speak as if the Creator's authority was not in him, or as if the receiving the Creator's law from Christ did loose men from obedience to it, as enacted by the authority of the Father ? Wo unto us, if this doctrine be the truth, for so should we be brought back to consuming fire indeed ; for, out of Christ, " He that made us will have no mercy upon us ; nor will he that formed'us show us any favour." We humbly conceive, the Father does not reckon himself glorified, but contemned by Christians offering obedience to him as Creator out of Christ Nor does the offering to deal with him after this sort, or to teach others so, discover a due regard to the mystery of Christ revealed in the gospel ; for it is the will of the Father, the Sovereign Lord Creator, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour himself; and that at (or in) the name of Jesus every knee should bow ; and that every tongue should confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, who having in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, by whom also he made the worlds, and with an audible voice from heaven has said, " This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him." Were it not we would be thought tedious, Perkins, Durham, Owen, and others, might have been heard on this head. But we proceed to

Query III.— Doth the annexing of a promise of life, and a threatening of death to a precept, make it a covenant of works ?

We answer, as in our representation, That the promise of life, and threatening of death, superadded to the law of the Creator, made it a covenant of works to our first parents, proposed ; and their own consent, which sinless creatures could not refuse, made it a covenant of works accepted. " A law (says the judicious Durham) doth necessarily imply no more than, first, to direct; secondly, to command, enforcing that obedience by authority. A covenant doth further necessarily imply promises made upon some conditions, or threatenings added if such a condition be not performed. Now, (says he) this law may be considered without the consideration of a covenant; for it was free to God to have added or not to have added promises; and the threatenings, upon supposition the law had been kept, might never have taken effect.' From whence it is plain, in the judgment of this great divine, the law of nature was turned into a covenant by the addition of a promise of life and a threatening of death. Of the same mind is Burgess and the London ministers, ( Vindicice Legis, page 61.) " There are only two things which go to the essence of a law, and that is—1st, direction ; 2d, obligation. First, direction : therefore a law is a rule : hence the law of God is compared to light. Second, obligation ; for therein lieth the essence of sin

tint it breaketh this law, which supposes the obligatory force of it. In the next place, there are two consequents of the law, which are ad bene esse, that the law may be the better obeyed ; and this indeed turneth the law into a covenant. First, the sanction of it by way of promise ; that is a mere free thing: God, by reason of that dominion which he had over man, might have commanded his obedience, and yet never made a promise of eternal life unto him. And, secondly, as for the other consequent act of the law, to curse and punish, this is but an accidental act ; not necessary to a law, for it comes in upon supposition of transgression.—A law is a complete law, obliging, though it do not actually curse ; as in the confirmed angels it never laid any more than obligatory and mandatory acts upon them ; for that they were under a law is plain, because otherwise they could not have sinned, for where there is no law, there is no transgression."

Though there is no ground from our representation to add more on this head, yet we may say, that a promise of life made to a precept of doing, —that is, in consideration or upon condition of one's doing, (be the doing more or less, it is all one, the Divine will in the precept being the rule in this case) is a covenant of works. And as to believers in Christ, though in the gospel, largely taken, we owu there are promises of life, and threatenings of death, as well as precepts; and that godliness hath the promise, not only of this life, but of that which is to come, annexed to it, in the order of the covenant; yet we are clear no promise of life is made to the performance of precepts, nor eternal death threatened in case of their failings whatsoever in performing, else should their title to life be founded not entirely on Christ, and his righteousness imputed to them, but on something in or done by themselves ; and their after sins should again actually bring them under vindictive wrath and the curse of the law ; which, upon their union with Christ who was made a curse for them, to redeem them from under it, they are, according to Scripture and our Confession, for ever delivered from. Hence we know of no sanction the law (standing in the covenant of grace) hath with respect to believers besides gracious rewards, all of them freely promised on Christ's account, for their encouragement in obedience, and fatherly chastisement and displeasure, in case of their not walking in his commandments: which to a believer are no less awful and much more powerful restraints from sin than the prospect of the curse and hell itself would be. The Reverend Commission will not, we hope, grudge to hear that eminent divine Mr. Perkins, in a few words, on this head, who having put the objection, " In the gospel there are promises of life upon condition of our obedience, as Rom. viii. 13, ' If ye through the Spirit,' &c. ;" answers, " The promises of the gospel are not made to the work, but to the worker ; and to the worker, not for his work, but for Christ's sake according to his work : e. g. The promise of life is not made to the work of mortification, but to him that mortifies his flesh ; and that not for his mortification, but because he is in Christ, and his mortification is the token and evidence thereof." This, as it is the old Protestant doctrine, so we take it to be the truth. And as to the believers' total and final freedom from the curse of the law upon his union with Christ, Protestant divines, particularly Rutherford and Owen, throughout their writings, are full and clear upon this head.

Query IV.— If the moral law, antecedent to its receiving the form of the covenant of works, had a threatening of hell annexed?

Ans. —Since the law of God never was, nor will ever in this world be the stated rule, either of man's duty towards God, or of God's dealing with man, but as it stands in one of the two covenants of works and grace, we are at a loss to discover the real usefulness of this query, as well as what foundation it has in our representation.

A9 to the intrin>ical demerit of sin. we are clear, whether there had ever been any covenant of works or not, it deserves hell, even all that an infinitely holy and ju*t God ever has or shall inflict for it; yet what behoved to have been the Creator's disposal of the creature, in the supposed event of sin's entering, without a covenant being made, we incline not here to dip into ; but we reckon it is not possible to prove a threatening of hell to be inseparable from the law of creation, the obligation of which, because resulting from the nature of God, and of the creature, is eternal and immutable : for confirmed angels, glorified saints, yea, and the human nature of Christ, are all of them naturally, necessarily, and eternally obliged to love, obev, depend on, and submit unto God, and to make him their blessedness and ultimate end ; but none, we conceive, will be peremptory in saying, they have a threatening of hell annexed to the law they are under. And we can by no means allow, that a believer, delivered by Christ from the covenant of works, i« still obnoxious, upon every new transgression, to the threatening of hell, supposed to be inseparably annexed to the law of creation, or of the ten commandments ; which law every reasonable crearure must for ever be under, since this would, in effect, be no other than, after he is delivered from hell in one respect, to bind him over to it in another. Whatever threatening one may suppose belonged to the moral law of the ten commandments, antecedently to its receiving a covenant form, all was, for certain, included in the sanction of the covenant of works : So that Christ, in bearing the curse of it, redeemed believers from the hell, vindictive wrath and curse, their sins in any sort deserved; the hand-writing that was against them he cancelled, tore to pieces, and nailed to his cross. Hence the threatening of hell and the curse are actually separated from the law of the ten commandments, which believers are under as a rule of life: and to hold otherwise is the leading error, yea, the very spring and fountain-head of Antinomianism ; on all which, Burgess, Rutherford, and others, may be heard.

Query V.—// it be peculiar to believers to be free of the commanding power of the luxe, as a covenant of works ?

Though our saying we cannot comprehend how the covenant of works, as such, continues to have a commanding po«er over believers, that covenant form of it being done away in Christ with respect to them, gives no sufficient foundation to this querv, since we affirm nothing concerning any but believers, whose freedom from the commanding power of that covenant, the query seems, as much as we do, to allow of; we answer affirmatively : for, since it is only to believers the Spirit of God in Scripture says, " Ye are not under the law," (the main import of which phrase is, subjection to the commanding power of it, as a covenant,) " but under grace ;" and since they only are, by virtue of their union with Christ, actually freed from being under the law, by Christ's being made under it, ( i. e. under its command, as above, as well as under its curse) for them ; and since, according to our Confession, it is the peculiar prvilege of believers, which, therefore, believers have no interest in, not to be under the law, as a covenant of works, to be justified or condemned thereby, we can allow no other, besides believers, to be invested with that immunity.

All unbelievers within, as well as without, the pale of the visible church, since they seek righteousness only by the works of the law, and are strangers to the covenant of grace, we always took to be debtors to the whole law, in their own persons. And this their obligation under the do, or commanding power of that covenant, we took to be invariably firm, till such time as by faith they had recourse to him who is

" the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth ;" else we thought, and do still think, if their obligation to the command of that covenant be dissolved, merely by their living under an external gospel-dispensation, they would be cast quite loose from being under any covenant at all, contrary to the common received doctrine of the Protestant churches, namely, that every person whatsoever is in and under one or other of the two covenants of works and grace : nor could they, unless they be under the commanding power of the covenant of works, be ever found transgressors of the law of that covenant, by any actual sin of their own, nor be bound over anew under the covenant-curse thereby.

The covenant of works, it is true, is, by the fall, weak and ineffectual, as a covenant, to give us life, by reason of our weakness and disability to ful61 it, being antecedently sinners, and obnoxious to its curse, which no person can be, and jet at the same time have a right unto its promise. Hence, for any to seek life and salvation by it now, is no other thin to labour after an impossibility ; yet does it nevertheless continue in full force, as a law requiring of all sinners, while they continue in their natural state, without taking hold, by faith, of Christ and the grace of the new covenant ; requiring of them, we say, personal and absolutely perfect obedience, and threatening death upon every the least transgression. From the commanding power of which law, requiring universal holiness in such rigour, as that, on the least failure in sub-s'ance, circumstance, or degree, all is rejected, and we are determined transgressors of the whole law ; believers, and they only, are freed, as we said above. " But to suppose a person," says Dr. Owen, "by any means freed from the curse due unto sin, and then to deny that, upon the performance of the perfect sinless obedience which the law requires, he should have right to the promise of life thereby, is to deny the truth of God, and to reflect dishonour upon his justice. Our Lord himself was justified by the law; and it is immutably true, that he who does the things of it, shall live in them." " It is true," adds the same author, " that God did never formally and absolutely renew, or give again this law, as a covenant of works, a second time ; nor was there any need that so he should do, unless it were declaratively only. And so it was renewed at Sinai; for the whole of it being an emanation of eternal right aud truth, it abides, and must abide in full force for ever. Wherefore, it is only so far broke as a covenant, that all mankind having sinned against the command of it, and so by guilt, with the impotency to obedience, which ensued thereupon, defeated themselves of any interest in its promise, and possibility of attaining any such interest, they cannot have any benefit of it. But as to its power to oblige all mankind unto obedience, and the unchangeable truths of its promises and threatenings, it abides the same as it was from the beginning. The introducing of another covenant, (adds he again on the same head,) inconsistent with, and contrary to it, does not instantly free men from the law as a covenant ; for, though a new law abrogates a former law inconsitent with it, and frees all from obedience, it is not so in a covenant, which operates not bv soveregin authority, but becomes a covenant by consent of them with whom it is made. So there is no freedom from the old covenant by the constitution of the new, till it be actually complied with. In Adam's covenant we must abide under obligation to duty and punishment, till by faith we be interested in the new.

From all which it appears to be no cogent reasoning to say, if the unbeliever be under the commanding power of the covenant of works, then would he be under two opposite commands at once, viz to seek a perfect righteousness in his own person, and to seek it also by faith in a surety; for, though the law requires of us now, both active and passive righteousness in our own persons, and likewise, upon the revelation of Jesus Christ in the gospel, as Jehovah our righteousness, obliges us to believe in Vol. VII. 2 G

and submit to hiin as such, yet, as it is in many other cases of duties, the law requires botli these of us, not in sensu composite, as they say, but in sensu diviso. The law is content to sustain and hold for good the payment of a reasonable surety, though itself provides none ; and wills us, being insolvent of ourselves, cheerfully, thankfully and without delay, to accept of the non-such favour offered unto us. But till the sinner convinced of his undonness otherwise, accept of, use and plead this benefit in bis own behalf, the law will, and does go on in its just demands and diligence against him. Having never had pleasure in the sinful creature, by reason of our unfaithfulness it can easily admit of the marriage to another husband, upon a lawful divorce, after fair count and reckoning, and full satisfaction and reparation made for all the invasions upon, and violations of the first husband's honour; but when the sinner, unwilling to hear of any such motion, still cleaves to the law its first husband, what wonder the law, in that case, go on to use the sinner as he deserves ? In short, this pretended absurdity, at worst, amounts to no more than this,—IVIake full payment yourself or find me good and sufficient payment by a surety, till which time I will continue to proceed against you, without migitation or mercy. Wherefore, the unbeliever is justly condemned by the law, both because he did not coutinue in all things written in the book of the law to do them, and because he did not believe on the name of the Son of God.

Query VI.— Tf a sinner, being justified, has all things at once that is necessary for salvation ? And if personal holiness, and progress in holy obedience, is not necessary to a justified person s possession of glory, in case of his continuing in life after his justification ?

Ans. —The ground of this query, marked out to us, is, in these words of holy Lu

ther, " For in Christ I have all things at once, neither need I any thing more, that

is necessary unto salvation." And to us it is evident, that this is the believer's plea, viz. Christ's most perfect obedience to the law for him, in answer unto its demand of good works for obtaining salvation, according to the tenor of the first covenant, which plea the representation alleges to be cut off and condemned by the Act of Assembly. But, without saying anything of the old Popish reflection on the doctrine of free justification by faith without works, as it was taught by Luther and other reformers, or the hardship of having this question put to us, as if we had given ground of being suspected for enemies to gospel-holiness, which our consciences bear us witness, is our great desire to have advanced in ourselves and others, as being fully persuaded, that without it neither they nor we shall see the Lord ; we answer to the first part of the query,

That, since a justified person, being passed from death to life, translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son and blest with all spiritual blessings in Christ, is, by virtue of his union with him, brought into and secured in a state of salvation ; and therefore in the language of the Holy Ghost, actually, though not completely saved already ; and since, in him, he has particularly a most perfect, law-binding, and law-magnifying righteousness, redemption in his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, access, acceptance, wisdom, sanctification, everlasting strength, and, in one word, an over-flowing, ever-flowing fulness, from which, according to the order of the covenant, he does, and shall receive whatever he wants ; hence, according to the Scripture, in Christ all things are his, and in him he is complete. Considering, we say, these things, we think a justified person has in Christ at once all things necessary to salvation, though of himself he has nothing.

To the second part of the query we answer, that personal holiness, and justification being inseparable to the believer, we are unwilling, so much as the query does, to suppose their separation. Personal holiness we reckon so necessary to the possession of glory, or to a state of perfect holiness and happiness, as is the morning light to the noon-day warmth and brightness,—as is a reasonable soul to a wise, healthy, strong, and full grown man,—as an antecedent is to its consequent,—as a part is to the nhole ; for the difference betwixt a state of grace and of glory, we take to be gradual only, according to the usual saying, " Grace is glory begun, and glory grace in perfection." So necessary, again, as motion is to evidence life, or in order to walking, not only habitual, but actual holiness, and progress in holy obedience, one continuing in life, we are clear are so necessary, that without the same none can see the Lord. And as it is not only the believer's interest, but his necessary and indispensable duty, to be still going on "from strength to strength, until he appear before the Lord in Zion ;" so the righteous, who believe, " will hold on his way, and he who is of clean hands will grow stronger and stronger : for though the believer's progress in holy obedience, by reason of the many stops, interruptions, and assaults he frequently meets with from Satan, the world, and in-dwelling corruption, is far from being alike at all times, yet "the path of the just," though he frequently fall, will be "as the shinning light, that shinneth more and more unto the perfect." Though he at many times "become weary and faint in his mind," yet shall he. by waiting on the Lord, " renew his strength, and mount up as with eagles' wings," &c. But still the believer has all this in and from Christ: for whence can our progress in holiness come, but from the supply of his Spirit? Our walking in holy obedience, and every good motion of ours, must be in him, and from him, who is the Way and the Life, who is our head of influences, and the fountain of our strength, and " who works in us both to will and to do." " Abide in me," says he, "and I in you: For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered."

But if the meaning of the query be, of such a necessity of holy obedience, in order to the possession of glory, as imports any kind of casualty, we date not answer in the affirmative; for we cannot look on personal holiness, or good works, as properly fe-detal and conditional means of obtaining the possession of heaven, though we own they are necessary to make us meet for it.

Query VII — Is preaching the necessity of a holy life, in order to the obtaining of eternal happiness, of dangerous consequence to the doctrine of free grace ?

/4ns.— The last of the two clauses of the eighth act of Assembly, being complained of in the representation, is the first and main ground of this query. And ere »e make answer to it, we crave leave to explain ourselves more fully as to the offence we conceive to be given by that act; namely, that, in opposition to, and in place of the believer's plea of Christ's active righteousness, in answer to the law, demanding good works, for obtaining salvation according to the tenor of the first covenant, cut off, as we apprehend, by the fifth act ; ministers are ordered, in the eigth act, to preach the necessity of our own personal holiness, in order to the obtaining of everlasting happiness. As also that our inherent holiness seems to be put too much upon the same foot, in point of necessity, for obtaining everlasting happiness, with justification by the surety ; which the frame of the words, being as follows, will well admit, viz. "of free justification through our blessed Surety the Lord Jesus Christ, received by faith alone ; and of the necessity of an holy life, in order to the obtaining of everlasting happiness." Moreover, that the great fundamental of justification is laid down

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in such general terms, as adversaries will easily agree to,without mention of the surety'9 righteousness, active or passive, or the imputation of either; especially since a motion in open Assembly for adding the few, but momentous words,— imputed righteousness was slighted. And finally, that that act is so little adapted to the end it is now given out to have been designed for, viz.—a testimony to the supreme Godhead of our glorious God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and against Arianism, especially since not the least intimation or warning against that damnable heresy is to be found in the act itself nor was made to that Assembly, in passing it.

To the query we answer, that we cordially and sincerely own a holy life, or good works, necessary, as an acknowledgment of God's sovereignty, and in obedience to his command; for this is the will of God, even our sanctification ; and by a special ordination, he has appointed believers to walk in them ; necessary, for glorifying God before the world, and showing the virtues of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light: necessary, as being the end of our election, or redemption, effectual calling, and regeneration; for "the Father chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy ; the Son gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works;" and by the Holy Spirit are we created in Christ Jesus into them : necessary, as expressions of our gratitude to our great Benefactor; for being bought with a price, we are no more our own, but henceforth, in a most peculiar manner, bound in our bodies and in our spirits, which are his, to glorify, and by all possible ways, to testify our thanksgiving to our Lord Redeemer and Ransomer ; to him " who spared not his own Son, but gave him up to the death for us all;" to him " who humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, for us:" necessary, as being the design, not only of the world, but of all ordinances and providences ; even that as " he who has called us is holy, so we should be holy in all manner of conversation:" necessary, again, for evidencing and confirming our faith, good works being the breath, the native offspring and issue of it : necessary, for making our calling and election sure ; for they are, though no plea, yet a good evidence for heaven, or an argument confirming our assurance and hope of salvation : necessary, to the maintaining of inward peace and comfort, though not as the ground and foundation, yet as effects, fruits, and concomitants of faith : necessary, in order to our entertaining communion with God even in this life; for, "if we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth :" necessary, to the escao-ing of judgments, and to the enjoyments of many promised blissings ; particularly there is a necessity of order and method, that one be holy before he can be admitted to see and enjoy God in heaven ; that being a disposing mean, preparing for the salvation of it, and the king's high-way chalked out for the Redeemer to walk into the city : necessary, to adorn the gospel and grace our holy calling and profession : necessary, further, for the edification, good, and comfort, of fellow-believers : necessary, to prevent offence, and to stop the mouths of the wicked ; to win likewise the unbelieving, and to commend Christ and his ways to the consciences ; necessary, finally, for the establishment, security, and glory of churches and nations. Though we firmly believe holiuess necessary upon all these and more accounts, and that the Christian ought to live in the continued exercise of gospel repentance, which is one main constituent of gospel holiness, yet we dare not say a holy life is necessary in order to the obtaining of eternal happiness ; for, to say nothing of the more gross sense of these words, (manifestly injurious to the free grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith in whose righteousness alone we are appointed to obtain salvation, from first to last,) which yet is obvious enough, though we are far from imputing it to the As-

embly ; we cannot, however they may be explained into an orthodox meaning, look upon them as wholesome words, since they have at least an appearance of evil, being i.uch a way of expression as Protestant churches and divines, knowing the strong natural bias in all men towards seeking salvation, not by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, but by works of righteousness done by themselves, and the danger of symbolizing with Papists and other enemies of the grace of the gospel, have industriously shunned *o use on that head ; they choosing rather to call holiness and good works necessary duties of the persons justified and saved, than conditions of salvation ; consequents and effects of salvation already obtained, or antecedents, disposing and preparing the sub. ject for the salvation to be obtained, than any sort of causes, or proper means of obtaining the possession of salvation ; which last hone ur, the Scripture, for the high praise and glory of sovereign grace, seems to have reserved peculiarly unto faith ; and rather to say, that holiness is necesary in them that shall be saved, than necessary to salvation ; that we are saveJ, not by good works, but rather to them, as fruits and effects of 6aving grace ; or that holiness is necessary unto salvation, not so much as a meau to the end, as a part of the end itself; which part of our salvation is necessary, to make us meet for the other that is yet behind.

Wherefore, since this way of speaking of holiness with respect to salvation, is, we conceive, without warrant in the Holy Scripture, dissonant from the doctrinal standards of our own and other reformed Churches, as well as from the chosen and deliberate speech of reformed divines treating on these heads; and since it being at best but propositio male sonans, may easily be mistaken, and afterwards improved, as a shade or vehicle, for conveying corrupt sentiments, anent the influence of works upon salvation ; we cannot but reckon preaching the necessity of holiness in such terms to be of some dangerous consequence to the doctrine of free grace. In which apprehension we are the more confirmed, that at this day the doctrine of Christ and his free grace, both as to the purity and efficacy of the same, seems to be much on the wane, and Popery, with other dangerous errors and heresies destructive of it, on the waxing; which certainly calls aloud to the churches of Christ, and to his ministers in particular, for the more zeal, watchfulness, and caution, with reference to the interests of truth ; and that especially at such a time, cum hereticis nee nomina habeamus communia, neeorum errori favere videamur.

If in any case, certainly in framing acts and standards of doctrine, there is great need of delicacy in the choice of words ; for the words of the Holy Ghost in Scripture, under which we include such as in meaning and import are equivalent to them, being an ordinance of divine institution, for preserving the truth of the gospel, if these be once altered or varied, all the wisdom and vigilance of men will be ineffectual to that end. And it is well known, by costly experience to the churches of Christ, that their falling in with the language or phrase of corrupt teachers, instead of serving the interest of truth, which never looks so well as in its own native simplicity, does but grieve the stable and judicious, stagger the weak, betray the ignorant, and, instead of gaining, harden and open the mouths of adversaries. And that it is said in a text, " They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible," will not warrant the manner of speech in the query : for the word, in the original, signifies only to receive or apprehend, being accordingly rendered in all Latin versions we have seen, and in our own translation in the verse immediately preceding, viz. " One receiveth the prize ;" and though the word did signify to obtain, in the most strict and proper sense, it could not make for the purpose, unless it were meant of the believer's obtaining the incorruptible crown, not by faith, but by works. And that an ill chosen word in a standard may prove more dangerous to the truth, than one not so

justly rendered in a translation, with several other things on this head, might he made very evident, were it not that we have been, we fear, tedious on it already.

Qoery VIII. Is knowledge, belief, and persuasion that Christ died for me, and that he is mine, and that whatever he did and suffered, lie did and suffered for me, the direct act of faith, whereby a sinner is united to Christ, interested in him, instated in God's covenant of grace ? Or, is that knowledge a persuasion included in the very essence of that justifying act of faith ?

Ans. The query, it is evident, exceedingly narrows the import and design of the representation in the place referred to ; for there we assert nothing positively concerning the passages relating to faith, but remonstrate against condemning them, as what to us seemed to hurt the appropriating act of faith, and to fix a blot upon the reformation, reformed churches and divines, who had generally taught concerning faith, as in the condemned passages ; all which we might say, without determining whether the persuasion spoke of in the query was the very direct and formal act of justifying faith, yea or no. But now, since the query is put so close, and since the matter in question is no other than the old Protestant doctrine on that head, as we shall endeavour to make appear, the Reverend Commission, we humbly conceive, cannot take it amiss, we, in the first place, inquire into the true sense and meaning of this way of speaking of faith, that we are now questioned about.

The main of the condemned passages the query refers to, runs not in the order therein set down, but as follows: " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ;" that is, "Be verily persuaded in your heart that Christ Jesus is yours, and that you shall have life and salvation by him ; that whatever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for you :"—being in matter the same with what has been commonly taught in the protestant churches, and, in the words of the renowned Mr. John Rogers of Dodham, (a man so noted for orthodoxy, holiness, and the Lord's countenancing of his ministry, that no sound Protestants in Britain or Ireland, of what denomination soever, would, in the age wherein he lived, have taken upon them to condemn as erroneous) definition of faith, which we have as follows : " A particular persuasion of my heart that Jesus Christ is mine, and that I shall have life and salvation by his means; that whatsoever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for me :" Where one may see, though the difference in words be almost none at all, yet it runs rather stronger with him than in the Marrow.

In which account of saving faith, we have, first, the general nature of it; viz. :—a real persuasion, agreeing to all sorts of faith whatsoever; for it is certain, whatever one believes, he is verily persuaded of. More particularly, it is a persuasion in the heart, whereby it is distinguished from a general, dead, and naked assent in the head, which one gives to things that no way affect him, because he reckons they do not concern him. But with the heart man believes here; " If thou believest with all thine heart," says the Scripture. For as a man's believing in his heart the dreadful tidings of the law, or its curse, imports not only an assent to them as true, but a horror of them as evil ; so here, the being persuaded in one's heart of the glad tidings of the gospel, bears not only an assent unto them as true, but a relish of them as good.

Then we have the most special nature of it, viz. an appropriating persuasion, or a persuasion, with application to a person s self, that Christ is his, &c. The particulars whereof are, first, that Christ is yours ; the ground of which persuasion is the offer and grant of Christ as a Saviour in the word, to be believed in for salvation, by all to whom the gospel is made known. By which offer and setting forth of Christ as a Saviour, though before we believe, we wanting union with him, have no actual or

saving interest, yet he is in some sense ours, namely, so ? it is lawful and warrantable for us, not for fallen angels, to take possession of him by faith ; without which, our common interest in him as a Saviour, by virtue of the offer and grant in the word, will avail us nothing. But though the call and offer of the gospel, being really particular, every one, both in point of duty and in point of interest, ought to appropriate, apply, or make his own the thing offered by believing, they having good and sufficient ground and warrant in the word so to do; yet is it either neglected and despised or the truth and sincerity of it suspected and called in question, until the Holy Spirit, by setting home the word of the gospel, with such a measure of evidence and power as is effectual, satisfies the convinced sinner, that, with application to himself in particular, " it is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came to save sinners," and enables him to believe it. Thus the persuasion of faith is begot, which is nlways proportioned to the measure of evidence and power from above that sovereign grace is pleased to put forth for working of it.

The next branch of the persuasion is, " That you shall have life and salvation by him, namely the life of holiness as well as of happiness ; salvation from sin as well as from wrath, not in heaven only, but begun, carried on here, and completed hereafter ;— the true notion of life and salvation, according to the Scriptures, and as Protestant ilivines are wont to explain it. Wherefore this persuasion of faith is inconsistant with an unwillingness to part with sin, a bent or purpose of heart to continue in it. There cnn be little question, we apprehend, whether this branch of the persuasion belongs to the nature of justifying faith ; for salvation being above all things in a sensible sinner's eye, he can never believe any thing to his satisfaction, without he sees ground to believe comfortably concerning it. Few therefore will, we conceive, differ from Dr. Collins' laying it down as a conclusion on this very head, namely, that " a Christian cannot have true, saving, justifying faith, unless he doth, (I do not say, unless he think he doth, or unless he saith he doth, but, unless he doth) believe, and is persuaded that God will pardon his sins." Further, this being a believing on the Son for life and salvation, is the same with receiving of him, (as this last is explained by the Holy Spirit himself, John i. 12.) and likewise evidently bears the soul's resting on Christ for salvation; for it is not possible to conceive a soul resting on Christ for salvation, without a persuasion that it shall have life and salvation by him namely, a persuasion of the same measure and degree as resting is.

The third btanch of the persuasion, " that whatsoever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for you,"—being much the same, in other words, with these of the apostle—" Who loved me, and gave himself for me ;" and coming in the last place, we think none will question but whosoever believes in the manner before explained, may and ought to believe this in the like measure and in the same order. And it is certain, all who receive and rest on Christ for salvation, believe it, if not explicitly, yet virtually and really.

Now, as this account of justifying faith runs in terms much less strong than those of many eminent divines, who used to define it by a persuasion of God's love,—of his special mercy to one's self,—of the remission of his sins, &c. ; so it is the same for substance and matter, though the words be uot the same with that of our Shorter Catechism, viz. " A receiving and resting upon Christ alone lor salvation, as he is i.ffered to us in the Gospel :" where it is evident the offer of Christ to us, though mentioned in the last place, is to be believed first; for till the soul be persuaded that Christ crucified is in the Gospel set forth, offered, and exhibited to it as if expressed by name, there can be no believing on him. And when the offer is brought home to a person by the Holy Ghost, there will be a measure of persuasion that Christ is his

as above explained. And that receiving, or believing in, and resting on him for salvation, cannot be without some measure of persuasion that one shall have life and salvation by him, was said already. But more directly to the query,

We answer, 1st, Since our reformers and their successors, such as Luther, Calvin, Melanctkon, Beza, BulliDger, Bucer, Knox, Craig, Melvil, Bruce, Davidson, Forbes, &c.—men eminently endowed with the Spirit of truth, and who fetch their notions of it immediately from the fountain of the holy scripture ; the most eminent doctors and professors of theology that have been in the Protestant churches, such as Ursinas, Zanchius, Junius, Piscator, Rollock, Dnna?us, Wendelinus, Chamierus, Sharpius, Bodius, Pareus, Altingius, Triglandii, (Gisbertus and Jacobus) Arnoldus, Maresius; the four professors of Leyden, viz. Wallzeus, Rivetus, Polyander, Thysius; Wollebius, Heidegerus, Essenius, Turretinus, &c. ; with many eminent British divines, such as Perkins, Pemble, Willet, Gouge, Roberts, Burgess, Owen, &c. ; the churches themselves of Helvetia, the Palatinate, France, Holland, England, Ireland, Scotland, in their standards of doctrine ; all the Lutheran churches, who, in point of orthodoxy on the head of justification and faith, are second to none; 'the renowDed synod of Dort, made up of eminent divines, called and commissionate from seven reformed states and kingdoms, besides those of the several provinces of the Netherlands;—since these, we say, all of them stand for that special Jiducia, confidence, or appropriating persuasion of faith spoken of in the condemned passages of the Marrow, upon which this query is raised ; the synod of Dort, besides the minds of the several delegates on this head, in their several suffrages anent the Five Articles, declaring themselves plainly both in their final decisions concerning the said articles, and in their solemn and ample approbation of the Palatine Catechism, as agreeable to the word of God in all things, and as containing nothing that ought to be either altered or amended ; which Catechism being full and phin as to this persuasion of faith, has been commented upon by many great divines, received by most of all the reformed Churches as a most excellent com-pend of the orthodox Christian doctrine, and particularly by the Church of Scotland, as the Rev. Mr. Robert Wodrow lately told his Majesty King George, in the dedication of his history : and since we, with this whole church and nation are, by virtue of the awful tie of the oath of God iu our national covenant, bound ever to abhor and detest the Popish general and doubtsome faith, with all the erroneous decrees of Trent; among which, in opposition to the special jiducia of faith therein condemned) this is established ; being by Protestants, so called, mainly for their denying and opposing the confidence and persuasion of faith, with application to one's self, now in question ; by which renunciation our forefathers, no doubt, pointed at, and asserted to be held and professed as God's undoubted truth and verity, that particular and confident, or assured faith, then commonly known and maintained in this Church, as standing plain and express in her standards, to the profession and defence of which they in the same covenant promising and swearing by the great name of the Lord our God, bound themselves and us: and since the same persuasion of faith, however the way of speaking on that head is come to be somewhat altered, was never by any judicatory of a reformed Church, until now, denied or condemned :—considering all these things, we say, and of what dangerous consequence such a judicial alteration may be, we cannot—we dare not consent unto the condemnation of that point of doctrine ; for we cannot think of charging error and delusion in a matter of such importance upon so many Protestant divines, eminent for holiness and learning; upon the Protestant churches; and upon our own forefathers, so signally owned of the Lord ; and also on the standards of Protestant doctrine, in this Church, for nigh an hundred years after her teformation: else, if we should thus speak, we are persuaded we would offend

against the generation of bis children. Nor can it ever enter into our minds, that the famous Assembly of Westminster had it so much as once in their thought, to depart in this point from the doctrine of their own, and of this Church, which they were all of them by the strongest ties bound to maintain ; or to go off from the Synod of Dort, which had but so lately before them settled the Protestant principles as to doctrine ; and by so doing yield up to Socinians, Arminians, and Papists, what all of them have a mortal aversion to, namely, the special fiducia, or appropriating persuasion of faith, which Protestant divines before and since that time contended for to the utmost, as being not only a precious truth, but a point of vast consequence to religion. And we are sure, the Assemblies of this church understood, and received their confession and catechisms, larger and shorter, as entirely consistent with our confessions and catechisms before that time, as we have already made evident in our representation, from the acts of Assembly receiving and approving the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.

Answer 2d, It is to be considered, that most of the words of the Holy Ghost makes use of in the Old and New Testament, for expressing the nature of faith and believing, do import the confidence or persuasion in question ; and that confidence and trust in the Old Testament are expounded by faith and believing in the New ; and the same things attributed to the latter, as were wont to be attributed to the former; that diffidence and doubting are in their nature acts and effects contrary to faith ; that peace and joy are the native effects of believing ; that the promises of the Gospel, and Christ in his priestly office therein held forth, are the proper object of justifying faith; that, faithfulness in God, and faith in the believer being relatives, and the former the ground of the latter, our faith should answer to his faithfulness, by trusting his good word of promise for the sake of it; that it is certain a believer in the exercise of justifying faith does believe something with reference to his own salvation, upon the ground of God's faithfulness in the promise, that no other person whatsoever does or can believe ; which if it be not to this purpose, that now Christ is and will be a Saviour to him, that he shall have life and salvation by him, we are utterly at a loss to conceive what it can be ; that persuasion, confidence, and assuredness, are so much attributed to faith in the Scripture, and the saints in Scripture ordinarily express themselves in their addresses to God in words of appropriation-; and finally, that according to our Larger Catechism, faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, as an instrument, receiving and applying Christ, and his righteousness held forth in the promise of the gospel, and resteth thereupon for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting one's person righteous before God for salvation ; the which, how faith can do without some measure of the confidence, or appropriating persuasion we are now upon, seems extreme bard to conceive. Upon these considerations, and others too long to be here inserted, we cannot but think, that confidence, or trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and the free grace and mercy of God in him as crucified, offered to us in the gospel for salvation (including justification, sanctification, and future glory) upon the ground and security of the divine faithfulness plighted in the gospel promise ; and upon the warrant of the divine call and command to believe in the name of the Son of God ; or, which is the same, in other words, a persuasion of life and salvation, from the free love and mercy of God, in and through Jesus Christ, a crucified Saviour offered to us, upon the security and warrant aforesaid, is the very direct, uniting, justifying, and appropriating act of faith, whereby the convinced sinner becomes possessed of Christ and his saving benefits, instated in God's covenant and family ; taking this always along, as supposed, that all is set home and wrought by the Holy Spirit, who brings Christ, his righteousness, salvation, and whole fulness,

nigh to us in the promise and offer of the gospel; clearing at the same time our right and warrant to intermeddle with all, without fear of vitious intromission, encouraging and enabling to a measure of confident application, and taking home of all to ourselves freely, without money and without price.

This confidence, persuasion, or whatever other name it may be called by, we take to be the very same with what our Confession and Catechisms call accepting, receiving, and resting on Christ offered in the gospel for salvation ; and with what polemic and practical divines call " Fiducia specialis misericordice," " fiducial application," "■ fiducial apprehension," " fiducial adherence," " recumbence," " affiance," " fiducial acquiescence," "appropriating persuasion," &c. All which, if duly explained, would issue in a measure of this confidence or persuasion we have been speaking of. However, we are fully satisfied that this is what our fathers and the body of Protestant divines, speaking with the Scriptures, called "the assurance of faith." That once burning and shining light of the church, Mr. John Davidson, though in his Catechism he defines faith by a " hearty assurance" that our sins are freely forgiven us in Christ ; or, a sure persuasion of the heart that Christ by his death and resurrection hath taken away our sins, and clothing us with his own perfect righteousness, has thoroughly restored us to the favour of God ; which he reckoned all one with a " hearty receiving of Christ offered in the gospel for the remission of sins ;" yet in a former part of the same Catechism he gives us to understand what sort of assurance and persuasion it was he meant, as follows—" And certain it is," he says, " that both the enlightening of the mind to acknowledge the truth of the promise of salvation to us in Christ, and the sealing up of the certainty thereof in our hearts and minds (of the which two parts, as it were, faith consists,) are the works and effects of the Spirit of God." In like manner, in our first Confession of Faith, {art. 3, 12,) it is called, " An assured faith in the promise of God, revealed to us in his word ; by which faith we apprehend Christ Jesus with the graces and benefits promised in him." " This faith, and the assurance of the same, proceeds not from flesh aud blood." And in our first Catechism, commonly called Calvin's Catechim, faith is defined by a " sure persuasion" and sted-fast knowledge of God's tender love towards us, according as he has plainly uttered in his gospel, that he will be a Father and Saviour to us, through the means of Jesus Christ. And again, faith which God's Spirit worketh in our hearts, assuring of God's promises made to us in his holy gospel. In the Summula Catechhmi, or Rudimenta Pie.talis, to the question, " Quid est fides ?" the answer is, " Cum milii persuadio deum me omnesque sanctos amare, nobisque Christum cum omnibus suis bonis gratis donare ;" and in the margin, " Nam in fide duplexpersuasio, 1. De amare Dei erga, nos ; 2. De Dei beneficiis quce examore fluunt, Christo nimirum, cum omnibus sui bonis," 8fc. And to that question, " Quomodo fide percipimus, el nobis applicamus corpus Christi crucfixi?" the answer is, " Dum nobis persuademus Christi mortem et crucifixionem non minus ad nos pertinere quam si ipsi nos pro pecutis nostris cruci-fixi essemus. Persuasio autem hac est vera fidei." From «11 which it is evident, they held, that a belief of the promises of the gospel, with application to oneself, or a confidence in a crucified Saviour, for a man's own salvation, is the very essence of justifying faith ; or, that we become actually possessed of Christ, remission of sins, &c. in and by the act of believing, or confidence in him, as above explained. And this with them was the assurance of faith, which widely differs from the Antinomian sense of the assurance or persusion of faith, which is, that Christ, and pardon of sin, are ours, no less before believing than after ; a sense which we heartily disclaim.

Whether these words in the query, viz. "Or, is that knowledge a persuasion included in the very essence of that justifyfng act of faith ;" be exegetic of the former

part ol it, or a new branch of the query ; we answer, that we have already explained the persuasion of faith by us held, and do think, that in the language of faith, though not in the language of philosophy, knowledge and persusion, relating to the same object, go hand in hand in the same measure and degree.

It is evident that the confidence or persuasion of faith for which we plead, includes, or necessarily and infallibly infers consent and renting, together with all the blessed fruits and effects of faith, in proportion to the measure of it. And that we have mentioned consent, we cannot but be the more confirmed in this matter, when we consider, that such a noted person as Mr. Baxter, though he had made the marriage consent to Christ, as King and Lord, the formal act of justifying faith, as being an epitome of all gospel obedience, including and binding to all thedvties of the married state, and so giving right to all the privileges ; and had thereby, as well as by his other dangerous notions about justification, and other points connected therewith, scattered through his works, corrupted the fountain, and endangered the faiih of many ; yet, after all, came to be of another mind, and had the humility to tell the world so much ; for Mr. Cross informs us (Serm. on Rom. iv. 2. p. 148 ) that Mr. Baxter, in his little book against Dr. Crisp's errors, says, " I formerly believed theformal nature of faith to lie in consent; but now I recant it. I believe," says he, " it lies in trust: this makes the right to lie in the object; for it is,—I depend on Christ as the matter or merit of my pardon, my life, my crown, my glory."

There are two things further, concerning this persuasion of faith, that would be adverted to : One is, that it is not axiomatical, but real ; that is, the sinner has not always, at his first closing with Christ, nor afterwards, such a clear, steady, and full persuasion that Christ is his,—that his sius are forgiven,—and he eventually shall be saved, as that he dare profess the same to others, or even positively assert it within himself; yet, upon the first saving manifestation of Christ to him, such a persuasion and humble confidence is begotten, as is real and relieving, and particular as to himself and his own salvation, and which works a proportionable hope as to the issue ; though, through the humbling impressions he has of himself and his own guilt at the time, the awe of God's majesty, justice, and holiness on his spirit, and his indistinct knowledge of the doctrine of the Gospel, with the grounds and warrants of believing therein contained, he fears to express it directly and particularly of himself. The other is, that whatever is said of the habit, actings, strength, weakness, and ititer-mittings of the exercise of saving faith, the same is to be said of this persuasion in all points. From all which it is evident, the doubts, fears, and darkness, so frequently to be found in true believers, can very well consist with this persuasion in the same subject; for though these may be, and often are in the believer, yet they are not of his faith, which in its nature and exercise is as opposite to them as light is to darkness, the flesh to the Spirit; which though they be in the same subject, yet are contrary the one to the other, Gal. v. 17. And therefore faith wrestles against them, though with various success, it being sometimes so far overcome and brought under by the main force and much superior strength of prevailing unbelief, that it cannot be discerned more than the fire is when covered with ashes, or the sun when wrapt up in thick clouds. The confidence and persuasion of faith being in many, at first especially, but as the grain of mustard-seed cast into the ground, or like a spark amidst the troubled sea of all manner of corruption and lusts, where the rolling wave9 of unbelieving doubts and fears, hellish temptations and suggestions, and the like, moving on the face of that depth, are every row and then going over it; and, were there not a Divine hand and care engaged for its preservation, would effectually extinguish and bury it. What wonder that in such a case it many times cannot be dis-

cerned ! yet will it still hold so much of the exercise of justifying faith, so much of persuasion. Yea, not only may a believer have this persuasion and not know of it for the time, (as say Collins, Roberts, Amesius, and others, who distinguish the persuasion from the sense of it,) but he, being under the power of temptation and confusion of mind, may resolutely deny he has any such persuasion or conscience; while it is evident to others at the same time, by its effects, that he really has it: for which, one may, among others, see the holy and learned Haliburton, in his " Inquiry into the Nature of God's Act of Justification," p. 27. And if one would see the consistence of faith's persuasion with doubting, well discoursed and illustrated, he may consult Downham's " Christian Warfare,"—But we

Answer, 3dly, There is a full persuasion and assurance, by reflection, spiritual argumentation, or inward sensation, which we are far from holding to be of the essence of faith ; but this last, being mediate, and collected by inference, as we gather the cause from such signs and effects as give evidence of it, is very different from that confidence or persuasion, by divines called the assurance of faith. " Sanctification," says Rutherford, " does not evidence justification, as faith doth evidence it, with such a sort of clearness, as light evidenceth colours, though it be no sign or evident mark of them ; but as smoke evinces fire, and as the morning star in the east evinces the sun will shortly rise, or as the streams prove there is a head-spring whence they issue, though none of these make what they evidence visible to the eye ; so doth sanctification give evidence of justification, only as marks, signs, effects give evidence to the cause." He calls it a light of arguing and of heavenly logic, by which we know that we know God, by the light of faith, because we keep his commandments. " In effect, (says he,) we know rather the person must be justified, in whom these gracious evidences are, by hearsay report or consequence, than that we know or see justification, or faith itself, in abstracto ; but the light of faith, the testimony of the Spirit bv the operation of free grace, will cause us, as it were, with our eyes, see justification and faith, not by report, but as we see the sun-light." Again he says, " We never had a question with Antinomians touching the first assurance of justification, such as is proper to the light of faith. He (Cornwall) might have spared all his arguments to prove that we are first assured of our justification by faith, not by good works, for we grant the arguments of one sort of assurance, which is proper to faith, and they prove nothing against another sort of assurance, by signs and effects, which is also divine." Further, as to the difference between these two kinds of assurance: the assurance of faith has its object and foundation without the man, but that of sense has them within him. The assurance of faith looks to Christ, the promise and covenant of God, and says, " This is all my salvation; God has spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice :" but the assurance of sense looks inward at the works of God, such as the person's own graces, attainments, experiences, and the like. The assurance of faith giving an evidence to things not seen, can claim an interest in, and plead a saving relation to a hiding, withdrawing God. Zion said, "My Lord hath forgotten me ;" and the spouse, " I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone." So he may be a forgetting and withdrawing God to my feeling, "and yet to my faith, my God and my Lord still," says holy Rutherford; " even as the wife may believe the angry and forsaking husband is still her husband." But, on the other hand, the assurance of sense is the evidence of things seen and felt. The one says, " I take him for mine ;" the other says, " I feel he is mine." The one says with the Church, " My God, though he cover himself with a cloud, that my prayer cannot pass through, yet will hear me ;" the other, " My God has heard me." The one says, " He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righte-

ousness; the other, " He has brought me forth to the light, and I do behold his righteousness," The one says, " Though he should kill me, yet will I trust in him ;" the other, " He smiles and shines on me, therefore will I love him and trust in him."

Upon the whole, we humbly conceive, were the nature and grounds of faith's persuasion more narrowly and impartially under the guidance of the Spirit of truth searched into and laid open, it would, instead of discouraging weak Christians, exceedingly tend to the strengthening and increase of faith, and consequently have a mighty influence on spiritual comfort, and true gospel-holiness, which will always be found to bear proportion to faith, as effects do to the efficacy and' influence of their causes.

Query IX.— What is that act of faith, by which a sinner appropriates Christ and his saving benefits to himself?

Ans. This question being plainly and fully answered in what is said on the immediately foregoing, we refer thereto, and proceed to the tenth.

Query X.— Whether the revelation of the Divine will in the word, affording a warrant to offer Christ unto all, and a warrant to all to receive him, can be said to be the Father's making a deed of gift and grant of Christ unto all mankind ? Is this grant made to all mankind by sovereign grace ? And whether is it absolute or conditional ?

Ans Here we are directed to that part of our representation where we complain

that the following passage is condemned, viz. " The Father hath made a deed of gift or grant unto all mankind, that whosoever of them shall believe in his Son, shall not perish ;" and where we say, " That this treatment of the said passage seems to encroach on the warrants aforesaid, and also upon sovereign grace, which hath made this grant, not to devils, but to men, in terms than which none can be imagined more extensive;" agreeable to what we have already said in our representation. We answer to the first part of the question, that by the " deed of gift or grant unto all mankind," we understand no more that the revelation of the Divine will in the word, affording warrant to offer Christ to all, and a warrant to all to receive him; for although we believe the purchase and application of redemption to be peculiar to the elect, who were given by the Father to Christ in the couusel of peace, yet the warrant to receive him is common to all. Ministers, by virtue of the commission they have received from their great Lord and Master, are authorized and instructed to go preach the gospel to every creature, i. e. to make a full, free, and unhampered offer of him, his grace, righteousness, and salvation, to every rational soul to whom they may in providence have access to speak. And though we had a voice like a trumpet, that could reach all the corners of the earth, we think we would be bound, by virtue of our commission, to lift it up, and say, " To you, O men, do we call, and our voice is to the sons of men. God hath so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him, should uot perish, but have everlasting life." And though this " deed of gift and grant, that whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish," &c. is, neither in our representation, nor in the passages of the book condemned on that head, called a " deed of gift, and grant of Christ," yet, being required to give our judgment in this point, we think, that agreeable to the Holy Scripture, it may be so called, as particularly appears from the text last cited, John iii. 16. where, by the giving of Christ, we understand not only his eternal destination by the Father to be the Redeemer of an elect world, and his giving him unto tha

death for them, in the fulness of time, but more especially a giving of him in the word unto all, to be received and believed in. The giving here cannot be a giving in possession, which is peculiar only unto them who actually believe, but it must be such a giving, granting, or offering, as warrants a man to believe or receive the gift, and must therefore be anterior to actual believing. This is evident enough from the text itself: he gave him, "that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish," &c. The context also, to us, puts it beyond controversy : the brazen serpent was given, and lifted up as a common good to the whole camp of Israel, that whosoever in all the camp, being stung by the fiery serpents, looked thereunto, might not die, but live. So here Christ is given to a lost world, in the word, " that whosoever believes in him should not perish," &c. And in this respect, we think, Christ is a common Saviour, and his salvation is a common salvation ; and it is " glad tidings of great joy unto all people," that unto us (not to angels that fell,) this Son is given, and this Child is born, whose name is called Wonderful, &c. Isa. ix. 6.

We have a scripture also to this purpose, John vi. 32, where Christ speaking to a promiscuous multitude, makes a comparison between himself and the manna that fell about the tents of Israel in the wilderness, says, " My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." As the simple raining of the manna about their camp is called a giving of it, (ver. 31,) before it was tasted, or fed upon; so the very revelation and offer of Christ is called (according to the judicious Calvin on the place) a giving of him, ere he be received and believed on.

Of this giving of Christ to mankind lost, we read also, 1 John v. 11, " And this is the record that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." This giving in the text is not, we conceive, a giving in possession, in greater or lesser measure, but a giving by way of giant and offer, whereupon one may warrantably take possession, and the party to whom is not the election only, but lost mankind ; for the record of God here must be such a thing as warrants all to believe on the Son of God. But it can be no such warrant to tell, " that God hath given eternal life to the elect ;" for the making of a gift to a certain select company of persons, can never be a warrant for all men to receive or take possession of it. This will he further evident, if we consider that the great sin of unbelief lies in not believing this record of God,— " He that believes not hath made God a liar," says the apostle, ver. 10, "because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son;" and then it followeth, ver. 11, " And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life," &c. Now, are we to think that the rejecting of the record of God is a bare disbelieving of this proposition, that God hath given eternal life unto the elect ?" No, surely : for the most desperate unbelievers, such as Judas and others, believe this; and their belief of it adds to their anguish and torment. Or do they, by believing this, set to their seal that God is true? No ; they still continue, notwithstanding of all this, to make him a liar, in " not believing this record of God," that to lost mankind, and to themselves in particular, God hath given eternal life by way of grant, so as they as well as others, are warranted and welcome ; and every one to whom it comes, on their peril, required by faith to receive or take possession of it. By not receiving this gifted and offered remedy, with application and appropriation, they fly in the face of God s record and testimony ; and therefore do justly and deservedly perish, seeing the righteousness, salvation, and kingdom of God, was brought so near to them, in the free offer of the gospel, and yet they would not take it. The great pinch and strait, we think r of an awakened conscience, does not lie in believing that God hath given eternal life to the elect, but in believing or receiving Christ offered to us in the gospel, with particular application to the man himself, in Scripture called " an eating the flesh, and

ilnnking the blood of the Son of man." And yet, till this difficulty be surmounted in greater or lesser measure, he can never be said to believe in Christ, or receive and rest upon him for salvation. The very taking or receiving must needs presuppose a giving of Christ; and this giving may be, and is, for the most part, where there is no receiving; but there can be no receiving of Christ for salvation where there is not revelation of Christ in the word of the gospel, affording warrant to receive him, and then, by the effectual operation of the Spirit, persuading and enabling the sinner to embrace him upon this warrant and offer. " A man," says the Spirit of God, John iii. 27, " can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." Hence Mr. Rutherford, in his "Christ Dying and Drawing," &c. page 442, says, that "reprobates have as fair a warrant to believe as the elect have."

As to the second part of this question, i.e. " Is this grant made to all mankind by sovereign grace ? and, Whether is it absolute or conditional?" we answer, that this grant, made in common to lost mankind, is from sovereign grace only ; and it being ministers' warrant to offer Christ unto all, and peoples' warrant to receive him, it cannot fail to be absolutely free ; yet so as none can be possessed of Christ and his benefits, till by faith they receive him.

Query XI.— Is the division of the law, as explained and applied in the Marrow to be justified, and which cannot be rejected without burying several gospel truths?

Ans. —We humbly judge the tripartite division of the law, if rightly undertood, may be admitted as orthodox ; yet, seeing that which we are concerned with, as contained in our representation, is only the division of the law into the law of works and the law of Christ, we say, that we are still of opinion, that this distinction of the law is carefully to be maintained ; in regard that by the law of works we, according to the Scripture, understand the covenant of works, which believers are wholly and altogether delivered from, although they are certainly under the law of the ten commandments in the hand of a Mediator. And if this distinction of the law, thus applied, be overthrown and declared groundless, several sweet gospel truths must unavoidably fall in the ruins of it. For instance, if there be no difference put between the law as a covenant and the law as a rule of life to believers, in the hand of Christ, it must needs follow, that the law still retains its covenant form with respect to believers, and tbwt they are still under the law in this formality, contrary to Scripture, Rom. vi. 14 and vii. 1—3, and to the Confession of Faith, chap. xix. § 6. It would also follow, that the sins of believers are still to be looked upon as breaches of the covenant of works and consequently that their sins not only deserve the wrath and curse of God, (which is a most certain truth) but also makes them actually liable to the wrath of God, and the pains of hell for ever, which is true only of them that are in a state of black nature ; Less. Cat. quest. 19, and contrary to Confess, of Faith, chap. xix. § 1. It will likewise follow, that believers are still to eye God as a vindictive and wrathful Judge, though his justice be fully satisfied in the death and blood of their blessed Surety, apprehended by faith. These and many other sweet gospel truths, we think fall in the ruins of the foresaid distinction condemned as groundless.

Query XII.— Is the hope of heaven and fear of hell to be excluded from the motives of the believer's obedience ? And if not, how can the Marrow be defended, that expressly excludes them, though it should allow of other motives ?

Ans. —Here we are referred to the third particular head, wherein we think the Marrow injured by the Assembly's act, which for brevity's sake we do not transcribe ;

but agreeable both to our representation and the scope of the Marrow, we answer, That taking heaven for a state of endless felicity in the enjoyment of God in Christ, we are so far from thinking that this is to be excluded from being a motive of the believer's obedience, that we think it the chief end of man, next to the glory of God ; Psalm lxxxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee?" &c. Heaven, instead of being a reward to the believer, would be a desolate wilderness to him, without the enjoyment of a God in Christ. The Lord and the Lamb are the light of that place. God himself is the portion of his people; he is their shield and exceeding great reward. The very cope-stone of the happiness of heaven lies iu " being for ever with the Lord, and in beholding of his glory;" and this indeed the believer is to have in his eye, as the recompense of reward, and a noble motive of obedience. But to form conceptions of heaven as a place of pleasure and happiness without the former views of it, and to fancy that heaven is to be obtained by our own works and doings, is unworthy of a believer, a child of God, in regard it is slavish, legal, mercenary, and carnal.

As for the fear of hell being a motive of the believer's obedience, we reckon it one of the special branches of that glorious liberty wherewith Christ hath made his people free, that they yield obedience to the Lord, not out of slavish fear of hell and wrath, but out of a child-like love and willing mind; Confess, chap. xx. § 6, " Clirist hath delivered us out of the hands of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our lives," Luke i. .74, 75. A filial fear of God and of his fatherly displeasure, is worthy of the believer, being a fruit of faith, and of the Spirit of adoption ; but a slavish fear of hell and wrath, from which he is delivered by Christ, is not a fruit of faith, but of unbelief. And in so far as a believer is not drawn with love, but driven on in his obedience with a slavish fear of hell, we think him, in so far, under a spirit of bondage. And judging this to be the Marrow's sense of rewards and punishments with respect to a believer, we think it may and ought to be defended.

And this doctrine, which we apprehend to be the truth, stands supported not only by Scripture and our Confession of Faith, but also by the suffrages of some of our soundest divines; for instance Mr. Rutherford :—" Believers," says he, " are to be sad for their sins, as offensive to the authority of the Lawgiver and the love of Christ, though they be not to fear the eternal punishment of them;" for sorrow.for sin, and fear for sin, are most different to us. Again, says the same author, " servile obedience, under apprehension of legal terror, was never commanded in the spiritual law of God to the Jews, more than to us." Durham, (loco citato) " The believer (says he) being freed from the law as a covenant, his life depends not on the promise annexed to the law, nor is he in danger by the threatenings adjoined to it, both these to believers being made void through Christ." And to conclude, we are clearly of Dr. Owen's mind anent the use of the threatenings of everlasting wrath with reference unto believers, who, though he owns them to be declarative of God's hatred of sin, and his will to punish it, yet in regard the execution of them is inconsistent with the covenant, and God's faithfulness therein, says, " The use of them cannot be to beget in believers an anxious, doubting, solicitous fear about the punishment threatened, grounded on a supposition that the person feariDg shall be overtaken with it, or a perplexing fear of hell-fire ; which though it ofttimes be a consequence of some of God's dispensations towards us of our own sins, or the weakness of our faith, is not any where prescribed unto us as a duty, nor is the ingenerating of it in us the design of any of the threatenings of God." His reasons, together with the nature of that fear, which the threatening of eternal wrath ought to beget in believers, may be viewed among the rest of the authorities.

These are some thoughts that have offered to us upon the queries, which we lay before the Reverend Commission with all becoming deference, humbly craving, that charity, which thinketh no evil, may procure a favourable construing of our words, so as no sense may be put upon, nor inference drawn from them, which we never intended. And in regard the tenor of our doctrine, and our aims in conversation, have (though with a mixture of much sinful weakness) been sincerely pointed at the honour of the Lord Jesus as our king as well as priest, as our sanctification as well as our righteousness, we cannot but regret our being aspersed, as turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and casting off the obligation of the holy law of the ten commands ; being persuaded that the damnation of such as either do or teach so, is just and unavoidable, if mercy prevent it not. But now if, after this plain and ingenuous declaration of our principles, we must still lie under the same load of reproach, it is our comfort, that we have the testimony of our conscience clearing us in that matter, and doubt not the Lord will in due time bring forth our righteousness as the light, and our judgment as the noon-day. We only add, that we adhere to our representation and petition in all points ; and so much the rather that we have already observed the sad fruits, and bad improvement made of the Assembly's deed, therein complained of.

These answers, contained in this and the preceding pages, ('viz. of the manuscript given in) are subscribed at Edinburgh, March 12th, 1722 years, by us,

Messrs. JAMES HOG, Carnock.

THOMAS BOSTON, Ettrick. JOHN WILLIAMSON, Inveresk. JAMES KID, Queensferry. GABRIEL WILSON, Maxton. EBENEZER ERSKINE, Portmoack. RALPH ERSKINE, Dunfermline. JAMES WARDLAW, Dunfermline. HENRY DAVIDSON, Galashiels. JAMES BATHGATE, Orwel. WILLIAM HUNTER, Lilliesleaf.

Vol. VI I. 2 h

EVERLASTING ESPOUSALS;

Being a Sermon preached at tbe administration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, August, 1714.

Hos. ii. 19,

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever.

This solemn ordinance we are called to partake of, is the feast of the espousals betwixt Jesus Christ and believers, as also the seal thereof; wherefore it is necessary the guests be such as are espoused to Christ, being brought " into the bond of the marriage covenant," otherwise the seal is but profaned. The text shows us, that all is ready for these espousals on Christ's part; there is nothing to hinder the happy match, if sinners be willing. Our eyes do see this day, that even the seal of the covenant, the holy sacrament is ready for us; and thus we have a fair occasion to advance our eternal interest. There is such affinity betwixt marriage and death, that every marriage-contract amongst men has a clause of death in it. Our marriage-vows run in these terms, " Till God shall separate us by death :" so that the dying day must needs stare the parties in the face on their marriage-day; and the marriage-bed is but a preamble to the death-bed. But, behold, here is a marriage-contract without that shocking clause, nay, plainly excluding it; " I will betroth thee unto me for ever."

I have already explained these words; but I shall put you in remembrance of the nature of betrothing or espousing, as it was used amongst the Jews, seeing it gives light into the text. Betrothing or espousing was the bridegroom's taking the bride into a marriage-covenant. It was done publicly before witnesses, under a canopy or tent set up for that purpose : and hereunto it is thought the Psalmist alludes, Psalm xix. 4, 5, " In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun : which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber." Some competent time intervened betwixt the espousals and the solemnizing and consummating of the marriage. Nevertheless, by the espousals, they were truly husband and wife, as apperrs from

Matth. i. 18, 19, 20, where, while Mary was yet but espoused to Joseph, lie is called her husband, and she his wife : and therefore, if a betrothed virgin was defiled in the city, both the man and woman were to be stoned to death : " the damsel because she cried not, being in the city," (and therefore held consenting), " and the man because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife," Deut. xxii. 23, 24. So they were reputed and punished as adulterers.

Thus you see the covenant our God proposeth is a marriage-covenant, that our Maker may be our Husband. However men, in the height of their corrupt wisdom, may think it unbecoming the gravity and weight of the matter, to speak of the great, transaction betwixt a Saviour and lost sinners, under the notion of a marriage ; it is sufficient to us, that the infinitely wise God has not thought it unbecoming, but sees it to be a condescension necessary for our weakness. And it must needs be dangerous to mock at that manner of speaking the Lord's word warrants the use of; "I will betroth thee unto me," saith the Lord in our text.

The parties in this marriage-covenant, are Jesus Christ the Son of God, and the captive daughter of Zion, lost sinners. The Father hath made this marriage for his Son, Matth. xxii. 2. And the apostle tells us, it is Christ whom sinners are espoused to; "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ," 2 Cor. xi. 2. It is the glorious Bridegroom himself that proposeth, advanceth, and effectuateth the marriage-treaty; " I will betroth thee." It is the peculiar quality of this marriage-covenant, that it is for ever. The Lord brought Israel into a visible church state by the Sinai covenant; but that covenant did not last, Israel was put away: here he promiseth to bring them back by the new covenant, the gospel-covenant from Mount Zion ; and that this covenant shall be perpetual, to continue while the world stands. But, as these words look to the spiritual Israel, the elect ones both of Jews and Gentiles, the covenant is declared to be everlasting, scorning to be confined within the narrow boundaries of time, but reaching forward through all the ages of eternity.

Doct. I. The way laid down in the wisdom of God, and pursued in the gospel, for reinstating lost sinners in the favour of God, is the espousing of them to Jesus Christ.

I have already spoken to this doctrine at large, and therein explained the nature of a sinner's espousals to Jesus Christ in several particulars. There are two points yet remaining, which I shall propose together in a second doctrine.

Doctrine II. As sinners may be espoused to Christ, so whomsoever he espouseth to himself, he espouseth for ever, never to part with them.

In handling this doctrine,

I. I shall shew, that sinners may be espoused to Christ.

II. I shall consider the perpetuity and everlastingness of this marriage-covenant; and then apply it.

But, before I enter on these things, it will be necessary to resume some particulars touching the nature of the espousals betwixt Christ and sinners : to give you a view thereof in few words.

Our Lord Jesus Christ comes, by his messengers, into the bride's mother's house, (the public ordinances), and courts her consent: but words alone will never prevail in that case; he comes forward, by his Spirit, into the inner chamber of her heart, and there proposeth the marriage-treaty, and brings it to a happy issue. We may take up this in three things; (1.) Christ, by his Spirit, enters the inner room of the heart, with the fiery law going before him as his harbinger; and so terrible is the sight, that the sinner begins exceedingly to fear and quake ; but yet has no kindness for the bridegroom, no heart to the match. So a tribunal is erected within his own breast; he is accused, convicted, and condemned as a breaker of the law, and then beholds his absolute need of a Saviour, Acts xvi. 29, 30. (2.) God reveals his Son in the broken, bruised, sensible sinner, by the light of the gospel shining into his heart, Gal. i. 16. The royal bridegroom is manifested unto the soul in his glorious excellencies, and absolute suitableness to its case; and withal, in his willingness to betroth the wretched creature to himself. (3.) The Spirit of Christ powerfully touches the heart of the sinner, who is thereby made willing to embrace Christ and join hands with him in the marriage-covenant, Psalm ex. 3. Thus the treaty of espousals comes to be concluded, which we may sum up in these three particulars.

First, The parties are pleased with one another; Christ is pleased with the sinner, and the sinner is pleased with him. And then the language of the bride's heart is, 1st, I am pleased with his person. 1 have been long seeking a match for this soul of mine, a rest to this restless heart; but, whatever I cast mine eyes upon, I still perceived something about it that was shocking; something it had, I could never love; something it lacked, which I could not want: but here is a covering of mine eyes; " he is altogether lovely," Cant. v. 16. 2<%, I am pleased with all his offices. There is a glorious suitableness in each of them to my case, 1 Cor. i. 24, 30. I am weak, foolish, and ignorant; it is good he is a Prophet. I am la-

den with guilt, I cannot remove it; it is good he is a Priest: the sight of his precious blood revives my fainting soul. My lusts are strong, too strong for me; it is good he is " a King mighty in battle," Psalm xxiv. 8. 3dly, I am pleased with the marriage covenant; it is well drawn ; there is nothing to be added to it, nothing to be altered in it, 2 Sam. xxii. 5. Stilly, I am pleased with the mariage duties ; the laws of the royal bridegroom, Psalm cxix. 128. Lastly, I am pleased with the cross, content to take part with him in all conditions, to cleave to him for better and worse, Luke xiv. 26.

Secondly, As Christ left his Father's house for her, she gives up with her own people and her father's house for him. Her heart parts with all other lovers, that she may be his only. She renoun-ceth the first husband, namely, the law, as a covenant of works, never to look for her living by it, nor her comfort from it any more, Rom. vii. 4. She renounceth all her lusts and idols, gives up with them for ever; and sets a particular mark of disgrace on the beloved lust she had a particular fondness for, Job xxxiv. 32.

Lastly, The glorious bridegroom's consent to be her head and husband she finds in the word, which the Spirit applies to her, and she by faith applies to herself. Her soul consents to take him as he offers himself: so Christ gives himself to her, she receives him, and gives herself to him, John i. 12: 2 Cor. viii. 5, and from that blessed moment she may say, " My beloved is mine, and I am his," Cant. ii. 16.

Thus she is unite! to Christ, joined unto the Lord, and made one spirit with him, 1 Cor. vi. 17- And from this union results a communion betwixt the parties, agreeable to the nature of the spiritual marriage.

Now having given this short account of the nature of the espousals,

I. I shall evince, that sinners may be espoused to the Son of God. " Behold, we bring you glad tidings of great joy;" if ye be willing to be espoused to Christ, he is willing; all is ready to the bride's consent. To clear this, consider these following particulars, which may be as so many motives to stir you up to accept of Christ in the marriage-covenant.

First, This match was from eternity projected and concluded, in the cabinet council of the Trinity, Jer. xxxi. 3, " I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." God, from eternity, foreseeing that all mankind would be ruined by the fall of Adam, and not willing that the whole kind should be lost, set on foot this project, a proper project for recovering lost sinners, and securing them when recovered.

Man being joined to God at first in a simple covenant of friendship, that covenant was found too slender a bond for such an unstable creature : wherefore a marriage covenant is devised; for that will separate betwixt friends, under the strictest bonds of friendship, which cannot separate betwixt husband and wife. Now, the King's friend turning to be his enemy by the breach of the first covenant; to bring the criminal out of prison to court again, and restore her to favour, it is concluded,, that she be espoused to the King's Son, and so united to him in such sort, as there should never be such a fatal breach betwixt God and the sinner again.

Secondly, The bridegroom and all his relations are well pleased with the match. We have his own mind in the text, " I will betroth thee unto me for ever." But will he indeed betroth me ? may the sinner say. " Yea, I will betroth thee," saith our Lord in the following words, twice in one verse, and a third time again in the verse immediately following. "Why, truly, it is hard for sensible sinners to believe it; yea, this speaks him to be peremptory in it, he will not be diverted from it. If ye would know how it agrees with his Father's mind, Isaiah will tell you, " The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake," Isa. xlii. 21. Yea, he becomes a suitor to you in favour of his Son, he solicits for him, Matth. xvii. 5, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." It is very agreeable to the mind of his Spirit; for the words he puts in the mouths of all his servants, in reference to it, are full of good-will to the match ; " All things are ready : come unto the marriage," Matth. xxii. 4. The angels, these glorious inhabitants of the upper house, when first the bridegroom came in person into the bride's country, in pursuance of the blessed project, sung to his arrival, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men," Luke ii. 13, 14. Yea, there is a full satisfaction with it through all the bridegroom's country: joy appears there in every face, upon the success of it. " Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," Luke xv. 7-

I might here tell you, that the mighty stir made about this match in the bride's country, to hinder it, is a plain evidence of the reality of it. All her relations are against it. When the royal Bridegroom was going forth to pursue his design of love to lost sinners, their father, the devil, addressed him, and offered him " all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them," if he would give over the suit, Matth. iv. 8, 9. When that did not take, he assaulted him and murdered him, by his hellish agents, that so the designed match might be marred : but the blessed Jesus having overcome death and the grave, and sat down at the right hand of the Father,

so that he can reach him no more; he turns his rage against the bride, and employs his power to the utmost against her to stop it. No sooner does she begin to lay to heart the offered espousals, than she finds her own people and her father's house violently set against it, and must lay her account with vehement tossing she was not acquainted with before. Her father, the devil, misrepresents Christ, . as a husband she can never have a comfortable life with: if that prevail not to make her lay aside the thoughts of it, he rages and threatens : if she will proceed in it, he shall cause her repent that ever she entertained the motion, and bring her back again from her new husband, to her great confusion; and that therefore it is better for her to draw back in time, and take second thoughts of the offers made her by other hands. Her friends, even the world that lieth in wickedness, use all methods to discourage her: they cry out, she will stain the reputation of their family, and disgrace them all: and, be sure, they will make her the fool of the company at least, if their hands be bound that they cannot imbrue them in her blood. And, to crown the difficulty, the hungry children she was wont to feed, (namely), her lusts, and in a special manner, the fondling, the beloved lust, hang about her weeping, because they must be starved if the match go on. All this evi-denceth, that sinners may be espoused to Christ.

Thirdly, The lawful impediments of this match are all removed, at the Bridegroom's expenses and pains. When the purpose of this match was declared, there stood up to object against it, parties concerned, whose mouths could not be stopt with fair words. Justice says, The bride is my debtor, and I will not forgive her; and, forasmuch as she hath not to pay, she must be sold into the hand of vengeance, to satisfy the debt, Matth. xviii. 25. She is my criminal, saith the law, and I will not pardon her; sentence of death is passed on her, Gal. iii. 10.; and whithersoever one may go to pick out a spouse for himself, he must not go into a prison, and bring forth at his pleasure a condemned woman to be espoused to him; for though marriage break term of service, it must not break law : therefore there must be an execution-day before there can be a marriage-day. She is my lawful prisoner, says the devil, and I will not give her up : " Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered ?" Is. xlix. 24. These were lawful impediments indeed, which, unremoved, would have put an effectual stop for ever to the marriage betwixt Christ and sinners ; but his heart was intent upon the match, and therefore he set himself to remove them out of the way. Accordingly, he became surety to justice for her debt, and paid it to the last farthing; laid down his own life for the criminal:

and now that the ransom is paid, the jailor must needs let his prisoner go.

Fourthly, The marriage-contract is drawn up already, and signed by the Bridegroom, bearing his consent to match with the captive daughter of Zion : ye have it in this Bible, ye have it in our text, and the words following, " I will betroth thee unto me for ever, yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." This is his word, this is his writ, which he hath sealed with his precious blood. He cannot, he will not deny it; and he hath sent it to you, that ye for your part may consent to it, and so the blessed match is made betwixt Christ and you.

Question, " But why is this marriage-contract drawn up before the bride's consent be obtained, yea, and without consulting her at all ?" Answer, This is highly reasonable, we have no ground to complain of it; for we have nothing to contract on our part. "We have nothing to bring with us, no, not so much as to cover our nakedness ; for all our father's house go in rags, Bev. iii. 17- Nay, we are worse than nothing; our father Adam left us with a burden of debt, poverty, and wants, yea, and a burden of the curse besides, Gal. iii. 10. And well may we increase the debts, we can never pay one farthing of the old or new accounts. But our Lord seeks no portion with us, whatever our case be, he is willing to betroth us to himself, Isa. lv. 1, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money." Nay, he will have nothing with us, nor have we any thing worth his taking off our hands. And if we do not come to Christ conteut to receive all freely, without presuming to give for what we are to get, we may fear we meet with Simon's entertainment, " Thy money perish with thee," Acts viii. 20. "Were a prince to marry a beggar's daughter, and she should present herself to the marriage in her beggarly attire, patched up after the best fashion of her father's house ; would he not say, Take her away, and strip her of these garments, she shall bring none of them to me : they are suitable to the quality of her father's house, bat not of my spouse ; they would be a stain to my honour : clothe her with change of raiment on my own expense ? The application is easy : we are nothing, we can do nothing, we have nothing to commend us to Christ; and if we pretend to any thing of that kind, we dishonour the Royal Bridegroom. There is no reason then we should have any thing ado in the marriage-contract, but to bless God that it is brought to our hand, and sign it with our whole hearts.

Besides, had our advice been taken to the framing of it, we see so

little into our own true interest, we would certainly hare marred it, inserting some clause that would at length have ruined us. Finally, It is one of the articles of the covenant, that Christ shall gain the sinner's consent, John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me." And so saith our text, " I will betroth thee unto me."

It may be, some are saying in their hearts, " 0 that I knew my name were in that marriage-contract, how joyfully would I then sign it! but I fear it is not to be found there." In answer to this, consider there are (if I may speak so) two copies of it, the one close sealed, and the other opened. 1. There is a sealed copy thereof laid up in heaven, under the custody of the Bridegroom and his Father: in this are to be found the names and sirnames of all that already are, or ever shall be, espoused to Christ; and behold the seal thereof, 2 Tim. ii. 19, " The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his." 2. There is an open copy thereof, let down to earth, and lodged in the bride's hand : this ye have in the Bible, which is the book of the covenant. It bears not the names of those that are to be espoused to Christ, but runs (as it were) in that form, " We, under subscribers," &c. Now, the Royal Bridegroom has signed this, and it is incumbent on you to sign it likewise, consenting to take Christ as he is offered to you in the gospel; and so the espousals are made, Isa. xliv. 5, " One shall say, I am the Lord's: and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob : and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord." Now, upon this, I offer these two things.

1st, A view of the sealed copy is the peculiar privilege of those that are espoused to Christ, by subscribing to the open copy ; " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him : and he will shew them his covenant," Psalm xxv. 14. And to require a sight of that which is laid up in heaven, before ye have by faith complied with the design of that which is lodged in your own hands, is to endeavour to overturn the settled order and method of grace. But, " Shall the earth be forsaken for thee ? and shall the rock be removed out of his place ?" Job xviii. 4. Even these that aro espoused to Christ, though they shall get a full view of it in heaven, where it is laid up; yet it is but a slender view they get of it now: at best, sometimes, the Lord opens it a little to the believer, so as he can see to read his own name in it, but cannot see the name ot his wife or child therein, though their names be really in it, as well as his own. And it may be, some of the saints never see so much as their own names in it, till they come to glory, being, " through fear of death, all their lifetime subject to bondage," Heb. ii. 15.

2dly, Though your name be not in the open copy, yet we can say,

it is indorsed and directed to you, and every one of you : therefore ye have a sufficient warrant to sign it for yourselves. What is your name ? "Wilt thou answer to the name of thirsty sinners ? Then read your name, and see how it is directed to you, Isa. lv. 1. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price." Wilt thou answer to the name of willing sinner ? Then it is directed to you, Rev. xxii. 17, " Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Art thou called heavy-laden sinner ? Arise then, the Master calleth thee, Matth. xi. 28, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Is thy name whorish backslider? " Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again unto me, saith the Lord," Jer. iii. 1. Art thou a lost sinner? "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," Luke xix. 10. Nay, art thou the chief of sinners ? Even to thee is the word of this salvation sent; " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief," 1 Tim. i. 15. But, whatsoever artifice ye may use to disown these, or any of these to be your name; surely ye are men, sons of men; ye cannot deny that to be your name : therefore it is directed to you, and every one of you; " Unto you, 0 men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men," Prov. viii. 4. But to proceed,

Fifthly, The proxies for the bridegroom are sent forth to make suit for sinners their consent to be espoused to him ; " Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us," 2 Cor. v. 20. And surely this must be glad tidings to those who are willing to be espoused to our Lord, Isa. Iii. 7, &. We are impowered to treat with you, in his name, for this blessed match ; to declare unto you that he is willing to be yours; and we call unto you, according to the tenor of our commission, Matth. xxii. 4, " All things are ready; come unto the marriage." Despise not our call: for he is great who hath said, " He that heareth you, heareth me : and he that despiseth you, despiseth me," Luke x. 16. And, by the refusal of his word in our mouths, ye run the dreadful risk of eternal ruin, Mark xvi. 15, 16, " Go preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved : but he that believeth not, shall be damned."

Sixthly, The bridegroom has already put on his marriage-robes : the Son of God hath clothed himself with the robes of humanity, that he might be a suitable match for the children of men : " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same," Heb. ii. 14. Such was

the distance betwixt God and his guilty creature, that the sinner could never have joined hands with a God, but with an incarnate God. The bride could never have been able to look on the glorious bridegoom, in his unveiled divine glory and majesty, without being confounded at the sight: therefore was his wedding-garment taken off on earth, namely, the veil of his flesh, wherewith he hath covered himself, in view of the marriage. Look on it with joy, 0 captive daughter of Zion. Behold ! it is a dyed garment, and of the right colour for a marriage robe ; which, in this case is only red, blood-red, Isa. lxiii. 1, " Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat?" Let thy soul then say unto him, as Ruth said to Boaz, Ruth iii. 9, " Spread thy skirt over thine handmaid," (that is, make me thy spouse) " for thou art a near kinsman." It was an ancient ceremony in marriage for the man to throw the skirt of his garment over the woman's head, in token of his appropriating her unto himself, her subjection to him, and the protection he owed her : it is applied to the spiritual marriage, Ezek. xvi. 8, " I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness : yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becaraest mine ;" or, " thou wast to me," i. e. married to me; for so marriage is expressed in the Old Testament language, Lev. xxi. 3; Deut. xxiv. 2; and xxv. 5. And thence that phrase is brought into the New Testament, Rom. vii. 4.

Now, no skirt but a bloody skirt could serve this gracious purpose. The bride is a criminal, and without shedding of blood is no remission," Heb. ix. 22. Therefore there can be no marriage with the Son of God but under a covert of blood. The rays of divine wrath would pierce through any other covert, and separate the parties. And therefore the chariot, (of the marriage covenant) wherein Christ's spouse is carried to his Father's house, hath a covering of purple, Cant. iii. 10. Now, this purple covering is no other than the blood of our slain Redeemer, which covers the soul from the storm of God's wrath, as the covering of a chariot defends from storms that come from above. Behold then a crucified Saviour, meet to espouse guilty sinners to himself.

Seventhly, The wedding-garment for the bride is ready, being purchased at the expense of the bridegroom. It is the white raiment of Christ's righteousness, which, with the espousals, is offered unto all that hear the gospel, Rev. iii. 18. It is Christ's active and passive obedience to the law, imputed to every believing soul, upon its espousals to Christ. This is that glorious raiment which beautifies

the soul in the sight of God, wherewith Christ's spouse is arrayed, as the lilies, with that which they toil not, neither do they spin for, though there were sore toil and bloody sweat at the making of it. Thus her wedding-garment is taken off in heaven, even as his was taken off on earth : a blessed evidence of a design of perfect peace betwixt heaven and earth in the way of a marriage covenant.

Eighthly, The tent for the espousals is set up, even the church. The tabernacle of the Most High God has mercifully visited our ends of the earth, and therein erected a church, which is the tabernacle he has set for the Son of righteousness, as a bridegroom, there to espouse sinners to himself. This tabernacle, which has stood long amongst us, God hath been threatening to pull down, because of our misimproving the preached gospel; which calls us to tremble, and to comply in time with the espousals offered: and indeed several of the cords thereof are broken already ; but had not the Lord been on our side it had been lying all along on the ground by this time. Thanks to our gracious God, it is yet standing : but woe to those who shall not be espoused to Christ before the tabernacle be removed.

Ninthly, The feast and seal of the espousals, namely the holy sacrament we are now to partake of at his table, is ready, that the espoused bride may feast and rejoice in her Lord and husband. Though the table be not in heaven, yet the provision given to the believing communicant at the table is from heaven, even the flesh of Christ, which is meat indeed, and his blood, which is drink indeed; Jesus Christ, with all his benefits, being represented, sealed, and applied to believers by this ordinance. This holy feast is the seal of the marriage covenant, whereby Christ seals the covenant to us, 1 Cor. xi. 25, " This cup is the New Testament in my blood." The bridegroom's seal is a red, bloody seal, like his marriage-robe.

Question. But what need is there of a seal to the Lord's covenant ? Answer. God's naked word is as good security as his writ, and his writ as good as his seal: but the difficulty sinuers find in believing requires them all: and therefore the Lord has graciously condescended to give us all we could require of the most faithless man on earth, that we may believe him; his word, his writ, his seal, yea, and his oath too, Heb. vi. 17, 18. Some of you find no difficulty in believing the covenant, and your welcome to Christ. I dare not commend unbelief, or the least doubt of God's word : it is very dishonouring to God, though Christ's spouse is often found slow of heart to believe. But I fear the unacquaintedness of many with the difficulty of believing the covenant, and their welcome to Christ, proceeds rather from a spirit of pride and blindness, than

from the spirit of faith. The marriage covenant betwixt the son of God, and a vile unworthy sinful creature, is such a great thing, so very unlike to our condition, that it is a great matter to believe it. And truly nothing but the testimony of God himself, and " the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead," will make a sensible sinner really believe it, Eph. i. 16, 20. If a prince should send a writ to a beggar womau, wherein, having heard of her miserable condition, he appoints her a free house, and a few pence weekly, to maintain her while she lives, there would be no great difficulty in believing this, it is so like her condition, being but a small thing: but, suppose him to send an ambassador to espouse her unto him ; in this case, if she were so frantic and mad, as to believe her lodge to be a palace, her nasty covering a cloth of gold, and her rags precious jewels, it is likely she would have little or no difficulty to believe the reality of the great proposal made to her ; but if she were truly sober, she would hang down her head, and say, Do not mock a poor woman. And if, upon the producing the marriage contract, confirmed with the prince's oath and seal, she began to believe it, and rose up to subscribe it; it would be no great marvel, if, looking to her rags and nastiness, she suddenly halted, and said, I am a fool to believe this; till considering the words of grace in the marriage contract, the nature of the prince's oath and seal, her heart were overcome into a belief of it. The application is easy; there is great need of the seal of the marriage covenant betwixt Christ and sinners, and it is ready for you.

Tcnthly, Here are witnesses enow. Here are the friends of the bridegroom, to bear witness to the espousals. Te may be witnesses each one for another; yea, as Joshua saith, Josh. xxiv. 27, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us." And they will surely witness something in this case, either for us, or against us. They will at least bear witness to the offer of the espousals made here this day.

Lastly, Here is the bridegroom, and here is the bride ; the eternal Son of God, and a company of wretched lost sinners gathered together in this place. He has given his consent already in the words of the text read in your hearing, " I will betroth thee unto me for ever." "What would you have more ? would ye have him to declare it by a voice from heaven ? Nay, but this is a more sure word of prophecy, 2 Pet. i. 19. Bear witness then, ye friends of the bridegroom; witness all, and every one of you here present; witness ye stones of the place, that the eternal purpose of this match is declared, the bridegroom and all his relations are pleased with it, the lawful

impediments of it are removed, the contract is drawn np, the proxies for the bridegroom are sent forth ; he hath put on his marriage-robes, and the wedding-garment for the bride is ready, the tent for the espousals is set up, the feast and the seal are ready, the bridegroom and the bride are both present: and, as for the bridegroom he hath given his consent already; and therefore there is nothing wanting to make up the espousals betwixt the Son of God and sinners here present, but their consent.

And shall it be wanting I 0 ! are not ye saying, ye friends of the bridegrom, ye neighbours, ye stones of the place, bear witness for me, that my heart is overcome, and I consent to take him as he offers himself in the marriage covenant, for my head and husband ; renouncing the first husband, the law, as a covenant of works ; renouncing all my lusts; giving up myself, soul and body, to be his, and for him ; to be his wholly, his only, and his for ever \

II. VTe proceed now to speak of the perpetuity and everlasting-f this marriage-covenant. And here I shall only enquire, in what respects the espousals betwixt Christ and the soul are for ever.

First, They are for ever in design. ndfy, They are for ever in fact.

First. They are for ever in the design of parties. In espousals amongst men it is not so : the design is only for term of life ; for the parties know one another to be mortal, and that death will separate them if nothing else do it. But in the spiritual espousals the parties join hands never to part; they both look upon it as a contract for eternity.

First, Christ takes the sinner with a design to be that sinner's husband from the moment of the espousals for ever; and his designs are immoveable as mountains of brass ; they cannot be broken ; he knows perfectly before the espousals, whatsoever will fall out betwixt him and his spouse in the course of the marriage: and with a full view of all future events, he takes her for ever with a fixed purpose, 1st, Never to put her away while she desires to abide with him. Xay, 2dfy, Never to part with her, though she should desire to go away ; never to put her away, never to let her go, Jer. xxxii. 40, " And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me."

8eoondfy t The soul consenting to the espousals, takes Christ, with a design to be his spouse for ever, never to separate. Howsoever hypocrites deal with him, whatsoever secret reserves they have in

their pretended embracing of the marriage covenant, the believer takes Christ with a sincere purpose never to leave him, never to part with him.

1. The believer takes Christ with a sincere purpose never to leave him, nor go away from him, whatsoever hardships he may-meet with in the world for cleaving to him, and following of him : his resolution is, " So will not we go back from thee," Psalm Ixxx. 18. He may indeed fear that he will leave Christ; nevertheless he can appeal to God's omniscience, he has no such design, but his soul loathes it. He has counted the cost, he has weighed in the balance father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and 6isters, yea, and his own life also ; and finds that the royal Bridegroom downweighs them all; they are all light in comparison with Christ; and therefore he is peremptorily resolved, whatever becomes of them, he will never leave him, Luke xiv. 26.

2. The believer takes Christ with a sincere purpose, never to part with him, nor to be put away, howsoever unkindly his Lord may seem to carry himself towards him ; " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," Job xiii. 15. This is his design, although he may be very hardly bestead in keeping his ground in a time of trial: but in the day of espousals, the soul sees there is no help in any other, therefore says, " Lord, to whom shall I go," but unto thee ? and resolves, that if it die, it shall die at his door.

And thus, in the spiritual espousals, the voice of the bride, like an echo, sweetly answers the voice of the bridegroom ; "I will betroth thee," saith he, " unto me for ever." " Amen," says the bride, " for ever, ever, ever."

Allow me here to distinguish this eternity, this " for ever" of the bride, in three parts, each of which she has in view, in her closing with the marriage covenant. In the espousals,

1. She has in view the beginning of that eternity, which is from the very moment wherein she is espoused. So she is to be altogether his, from that moment, thenceforth not to go back. Christ says, " To-day if ye will hear my voice ;" she dare not, she will not say, to-morrow; no, not the next hour; for that would be a day or an hour kept back of that eternity, covenanted away to him, and now no more her own.

2. She has in view the remaining time-piece (if I may call it so) of that eternity, which lies on this side death, Psalm cxix. 112, " I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end." She foresees there will be many difficult steps in her way through that piece of it: but now, that we have once met, saith her soul, on this side death, we shall never part. What Ruth said

to Naomi, is the soul's language here to the Lord Christ, " "Whither thou goest, I will go," (as long as I am going on the earth); " and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God, Ruth i. 16. The consideration of these difficulties stirs up the soul to take hold of Christ for that part of the ever, Psalm xlviii. 14, " This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death."

3. In the espousals the soul has a view to death, the entrance of proper eternity, and so forward for ever and ever. The work we we have in hand is weighty work indeed : it is work for eternity. I think I may say, there will not be a soul espoused to Christ, nor a worthy communicant at the table of the Lord, in this place this day, who will not do their death-bed work here, as really as if they were fully persuaded they should never go from the place they sit upon, but in their coffins. If they take Christ, surely they take him for ever.

There are two things, which, how long soever men may shift and put off, yet they will find necessary to do them on their death-beds, when they perceive they must quickly leave the world ; one is, to dispose of their souls for eternity; the other is, to dispose of their effects, whatsoever they have in world : both these will be done by the worthy communicant at the Lord's table, or wheresoever any shall be espoused to Christ this day.

(1.) "Whosoever shall here be espoused to Christ, will dispose of his soul for eternity here, as if he were on his death-bed. Observe how the Psalmist, resigning himself to the Lord, speaks, as if he had been about to draw his last breath, Psalm xxxi. 5, " Into thine hand I commit my spirit." So consenting to the covenant now, is but doing our death-bed work betimes. And there is good reason to do it now; for we know not at what hour our Lord will come; and whether we shall ever rise up from our seats, or not. They who manage this work aright, will surely act for eternity, which they have in their view.

(2.) "Whosoever shall here be espoused to Christ, will here dispose of all that he has, as if he were lying on his death-bed. And indeed, the soul's joining with Christ, in the marriage covenant, is a dying after a sort: therefore it is very natural the man make his will, seeing he is a-dying. It is a dying unto sin; and so he will solemnly give up with sin, leaving all his guilt to be cast into the depths of the sea of the Redeemer's blood; leaving all his lusts to be broken and destroyed by the Redeemer's sanctifying Spirit. It is a dying to the world; and so he will give up all his earthly comforts and enjoyments to Jesus Christ, to be disposed of at his

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pleasure, pleading no more right to dispose of them himself hereafter, than a dead man can claim to. Whoso give themselves to the Lord, will make a tender of their relations to him also, that they likewise may be his ; and will lay down at his feet their houses and lands, liberty and life, and whatsoever is dear to them in the world.

Thus, in the espousals, the believer disposeth of his all, as on a death-bed, leaving all to the Lord, or upon him; taking him for all, and instead of all, as he oifers himself, for ever. For the espousals are for ever in design, in the design of both parties.

Secondly, The espousals betwixt Christ and the soul are for ever in fact. As this match is designed to be everlasting, so it is everlasting indeed. It shall never end, but last it shall, from the moment it is made, through all the ages of eternity.

1. It is everlasting, without interruption.

2. It is everlasting, without expiring.

First, It is everlasting, without interruption: it shall never be broken. The marriage covenant betwixt Christ and his spouse, is not like Adam's covenant, where man might be in this day, and out to-morrow ; to-day the friend of God, to-morrow his enemy : nay, it is a bond of peace with God, which the believer shall never be shaken out of, though devils do their worst. The spouse of Christ receives a kingdom which cannot be moved, Heb. xii. 28. Marriage covenants amongst men may be broken, yea, and made null on just grounds, before the time come wherein they would expire of course: but the marriage-covenant betwixt Christ and believers is not liable to such uncertainties. If it could be broken, or the relation become extinct in any case, it would certainly come to pass in one or all of these four; 1. In the case of the adversity of either party. 2. In the case of the advancement of either party. 3. In the case of desertion. Or, 4. In the case of the spouse's unchastity. But in none of these cases is the covenant broken, or the relation extinguished ; in all of them the fatal breach is still avoided.

1st, The espousals betwixt Christ and the believer stands firm, the covenant remains sure, in the case of the adversity of either party. This case is fatal to many covenants among men, of whom there are many who, as Nineveh's captains, Nah. iii. 17, are like the " great grashoppers which camp in the hedges in the cold day: but when the sun ariseth, they fly away." They stick close in a time of prosperity, but adversity drives them off; and they remember not, but renounce the brotherly covenant. But, in this covenant, the parties will never break with one another, how low soever either of them be brought.

(1.) Christ will not break with his spouse, though she be brought

Tery low; lie will cleave to her in her greatest adversity, having taken her for ever, and for all conditions. If thon be espoused to Christ, though thy worldly comforts fail, thy reputation sink, thy substance decay, poverty and want overtake thee; yea, though thou be brought so low by sickness and distress, as to be unable to do any thing for thyself, or any thing for thy Lord and Husband : yet know, that even in that case the covenant stands firm, and all is yours in right and title. Our Lord will not disown his spouse though she be going in rags. Job was very low every way, before that God turned his captivity; but as low as he was, the Lord owns his relation to him, and seems to take a pleasure in owning it, Job xlii. 7, 8, " Te have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Go to my servant Job,—and my servant Job shall pray for you, for him will I accept: ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job." Four times in these two verses, the Lord calls him his servant Job. And thus the covenant sweetens what is bitter in the believer's lot, and makes his thorny crown of afflictions better than a crown of gold.

(2.) Christ's spouse will not break with him when he is in adversity. The apostle speaks of the afflictions of Christ, to wit, in his members, the members of his mystical body, Col. i. 24. These offend hypocritical professors; and in such a time many of them fall off; but they that are indeed espoused to Christ, follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth, Rev. xiv. 4. Christ with the cross will be as dear to them as with the crown. Though enemies should prevail to lay Jerusalem on heaps, they will favour the very dust thereof for his sake. If he go to the wilderness, they will follow him thither. They will take part with him, whosoever do oppose him, and side with him, though all the world should side against him ; they will never break with their Lord and Husband, upon the account of the most bitter cup his enemies can fill up to them.

Idly, The espousals stand firm, and the covenant remains sure, in the case of the advancement of either party. This case has been fatal to some matches amongst men : but here lordship does not change manners. The bride now makes choice of Christ for her head and husband, while the world generally despises and rejects him. The day approacheth wherein she shall see him come in the clouds ot heaven, in the glory of his Father, with all his holy angels, sit down on his throne, judge the world, and put all his enemies under his feet: but will he then forget the marriage covenant? will he then overlook the soul that is now espoused to him ? nay, he will not. When "our God shall come, and shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people ;" behold

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how the marriage covenant is remembered, and the espoused graciously noticed! " Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice," Psalm 1. 3, 4, 5. On the other hand, howbeit the prosperity of fools shall destroy them, yet the spouse of Christ will never change her Lord and Husband, whatever prosperous turn her outward condition in the world may take. As the world's frowns will not frighten a believer from cleaving to Christ, so the world's smiles will not entice him from it. He will contemn its bribes as well as its boasts, Cant. viii. 7, " If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned."

3e%, The espousals stand firm, and the covenant remains sure, even in the case of desertion on either side. And this is a case which often falls out in the present state and course of the spiritual marriage.

(1.) Sometimes the Lord, in his sovereign wisdom, for his own holy ends, deserts his spouse in great measure : then the soul, that was dandled on the knee, is cast down ; she, that had ready access to her Lord, is held at the back of the door; she, that was crowned with loving-kindness, has the crown kicked off" her head : but though the marriage covenant is laid up out of her sight, yet it is not torn in pieces: though he in his anger shuts up himself (as it were) in his chamber, yet he never leaves the house : still the relation stands, and there is no total desertion in the case, Jer. xxxii. 40, " And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good."

(2.) Sometimes the foolish creature deserts her espoused Husband, ceaseth to entertain actual communion and fellowship with Christ: then is she found pursuing this and that other vanity, gadding about among created things, as if she were not espoused, but had her choice yet to make : and she begins to nestle in some forbidden place. But her Lord will not so part with her; he will set fire to her nest wherever it is, and graciously bring her back again, as the Psalmist prays, Psalm cxix. last verse, " I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant." Christ's spouse never totally forsakes him ; for so runs the everlasting covenant with respect to her part, " I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me," Jer. xxxii. 40.

Lastly, But what shall we say in the case of the unchastity of the spouse of Christ? We must not speak wickedly even for God, nor talk deceitfully for him, Job xiii. 7. It'is evident from the Lord's word, that even in that case, the espousals stand firm, and the covenant remains sure, Jer. iii. 13, 14, " Thou—hast scattered thy ways to the strangers, under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my

voice, saith the Lord. Turn, 0 backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you." Wo unto us, our case is desperate, if the infirmities of Christ's spouse make void the marriage covenant. But they do not make it void : surely our Lord will put a difference betwixt weakness and wickedness; and we know no sin a believer falls into but sins of infirmity, (I say, not daily infirmity), " For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace," Rom. vi. 14. There is a clause in the covenant touching the miscarriages of believers : but it is not an irritant clause : " If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments: then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterlv take from him, uor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break," Psalm lxxxix. 30—34.

Look not on this doctrine as a pillow for carnal security : for, although those who are espoused to Christ need not fear putting away, there remains enough to frighten them from sin, while their sins may be pursued with all manner of strokes upon their bodies, even to death itself; and with terrible strokes on their souls, even to the arrows of the Almighty being within them, " the poison whereof drinketh up the spirit," Job vi. 4. Yea, one sin in them may be punished with suffering them to fall into another, as David's sloth was punished with suffering him to fall into other sins of a far more gross nature, 2 Sam. xi. And so a believer has that to fear which is more to be feared than hell, if of all evils sin be the greatest. And he spoke right who said, " That if on the one side were presented unto him the evil of sin, and on the other side the torments of hell, he would rather choose to fall into hell, than to fall into sin."

The sum of the matter is this : Our Lord has brought his spouse, by the marriage covenant, into a paradise on earth, while the rebellious dwell in a dry land; and of the tree of life she may freely eat; but under the pain of her Lord's displeasure, she must not taste of the forbidden fruit. Nevertheless, the day she eats thereof, is not the term-day of the covenant, that she must remove ; nay, but he will chastise her, and bruise her, till she vomit up the sweet morsel. And he may so bruise her in his hot displeasure, as her faith and hope may be brought to the very point of expiring; yea, her natural life may go for it, she may lose her life in the cause ; only the covenant stands sure, the espousals are not disannulled. The believing Corinthians provoked the Lord by unworthy communicating ; and for this cause (says the apostle, 1 Cor. xi. 30.)

many sleep, viz. the sleep of death, which they shall not awake out of till the resurrection. They profaned the sacrament of his body and blood, which many do, and yet prolong their lives : but he made their bodies to fall, and their blood to go for it; he would not so wink at it in them. But when God sent their bodies to the grave for this cause, did he send their souls to hell for it likewise ? No; they were within the bond of the covenant, and that cause could not break it; but God pursued them so hard for it in this world, because they were not to bo pursued for it in another world ; ver. 31, "But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." So that the marriage covenant betwixt Christ and believers is everlasting, without interruption. Secondly, It is everlasting, without expiring. "When a man has a lease or tack of houses or lands, though the tack be not broken, yet at length the years thereof run out, and it expires of course : when a man marries a woman, though there be neither adultery nor wilful desertion in the case, yet the marriage bond is dissolved at length ; on the death of either party the marriage expires : but the years of this covenant will run on through the ages of eteruity, but never run out; the marriage betwixt Christ and believers will never expire.

1st, It does not expire at death. Our exalted Redeemer dieth no more : the espoused bride must die indeed; but the marriage covenant shall not die with her. The time comes at length, that the believer's last pulse beats, his eyes are set, bis breath goes, and the silver cord, that tied his soul and body together, is loosed; but even then the golden cord of the marriage-covenant, which knits him to Christ, remains as fast as ever. The children begotten of his body are no more his; the wife of his bosom, who was one flesh with him, is then free : but the espousals betwixt Christ and his soul continueth firm ; he is still joined to the Lord, and one spirit with him. He is carried to the land of forgetfulness; but if his dust could speak in the house of silence, it might say, on as good grounds as ever, " My Beloved is mine, and I am his ;" for the believer's death is but a sleep, which cannot dissolve the relation, John xi. 11, " Our friend Lazarus sleepeth :" though dead, yet still our friend. Nay, when his dust is scattered here and there, and the steams of his dead body are flying through the air, they are well wrapt up in the bond of the covenant, which insures the believer's resurrection : as our Lord himself teacheth, while he proves it from Moses' calling the Lord, " the God of Abraham," Luke xx. 37.

2dly, It does not expire with the world's ending. This world will have an end: but the marriage covenant betwixt Christ and

believers will outlive the world, and never end. This world's ending shall be by fire; the day will come that this earth, and the works that are therein, shall go up in flames, 2 Pet. iii. 10, " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." What will then become of the lands and estates, the farms and merchandise, the worldly substance great or small, which now keep back many from the marriage of the King's Son they are bidden to, and leave them no appetite for the gospel feast ? But these who now come into the marriage covenant, shall lay up something for themselves this day, which the fire of that dreadful day shall not reach ; for though that fire shall burn up mountains, castles, and palaces, break through charter-chests, and destroy the rights and evidences of lands and honours, handed down from father to sou, for many generations; yet it shall not be able to burn the marriage contract betwixt Christ and believers: " For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee," Isa. liv. 10.

But why do I speak of the expiring of that marriage, when the world ends ? For, when the last day is come, the marriage of the Lamb is come ; the marriage betwixt Christ and his spouse shall then be solemnized and consummated.

Letus take a view of the solemnizing and consummation of the marriage betwixt Christ and believers; it is within the compass of that clause in the text, for ever. I shall give it in these seven particulars.

1. At the last day the royal Bridegroom shall come out of his Father's house, his ivory palaces, the highest heavens, in the robes of his glory, attended with all his holy angels, Matth. xxv. 31.

2. The bride shall c>me out of her mother's house, the house of mother-earth, Job i. 21, the grave, that darksome, narrow, louely house. (These are accepted, who shall be found alive at his coming). But it shall be a joyful outgoing : never bride had the like. Hear the mirth that will be at that outgoing, Isa. xxvi. 19, " Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise : awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust" This is a prophecy, which will not till then have its full accomplishment. Behold the glorious traiu sent to attend her, and bring her along to the bridegroom, a train of angels, whom " he shall send to gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," Matth. xxiv. 31. And all shall rejoice together, for, " with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought," Psalm xlv. 15.

3. The bride shall be presented to the bridegroom: she shall " meet the Lord in the air," 1 Thess. iv. 17- She sees how his lovely picture, as it is drawn by the pencil of the Holy Spirit, in the word of the everlasting gospel; and she contracts with him : but then she shall see him in person, and be solemnly married unto him. She is presented " as a chaste virgin to Christ," 2 Cor. xi. 2. Look on her as presented that day; where are all her former deformities ? she is presented, " not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," Eph. v. 27. Where is all her former blackness? she " shines forth as the sun," Matth. xiii. 43. Where are all her rags, which so ofteu clothed her with shame ? " She is brought unto the King, in raiment of needle-work," Psalm xlv. 14.

4. The witnesses are present; the whole congregation of heaven and earth, to be witnesses to the marriage. There is the glorious company of holy angels : there is the black company of the wicked, of whom many were wont to satisfy themselves to be only spectators of the espousals; and now, to their eternal confusion and anguish, they shall be spectators of the marriage, and but spectators.

5. Then the royal Bridegroom, being on his throne, shall solemnly take his espoused bride in marriage, before the world, angels and men, saying, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," Matth. xxv. 34. And in token thereof, he shall put a crown on her head, 2 Tim. iv. 8, and set her down with himself on his throne : " To him that overcoraeth will I grant to sit with me in my throne," Rev. iii. 21.

6. There shall be a glorious triumph, to grace the solemnity of the day ; a triumph over the enemies of Christ and his spouse. All the wicked world shall stand trembling before them, and be adjudged to everlasting fire, and driven from before the throne, in consequence of that fearful sentence, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matth. xxv. 41.

Lastly, Christ and his spouse shall be the last on the field; and when they have seen the backs of all their enemies, (while they depart into everlasting punishment), they shall go away attended with angels, and enter into the King's palace, where they shall sit down to the marriage supper of the Lamb, at a table that shall never be drawn.

So the marriage expires not with the world's ending, but is then solemnized and consummated.

Shall we proceed any further in quest of that, which we are sure we shall never find ? We have looked into death, and we find

the marriage expires not there; we have looked to tli3 world's ending, and we find it is so far from expiring then, that then it is solemnized and consummated: if we attempt to go further, we lose ourselves in a boundless ocean of eternity, where we can see nothing more to take our mark by. Let us stop then, and conclude, that the blessed espousals are for ever; that the spiritual marriage betwixt Christ and believers never expires; never, never, never.

I proceed to the Application. And the only use I shall make of this doctrine is to exhort you, that, seeing sinners may be espoused to Christ for ever, ye would therefore consent to the offer, and be espoused to him for ever. Christ makes offer of himself unto every soul here this day; and we are come in his name to propose unto you a marriage with the Son of God, that we may gain your consent thereto. 0 come into this blessed match : accept of Jesus Christ, your Maker, to be your Husband for ever. Shall we not prevail with you, in a treaty so very suitable to your case, so very much for your advantage ? Howsoever it be entertained, we must make the offer in his name, proclaim the royal Bridegroom's will and pleasure, and make suit for your hearts. Therefore " hearken unto me, that God may hearken unto you."

First, Are there any in all this company who have an unstable, false, and fickle heart, that they can never get fixed, but still it breaks all bounds? No doubt there are. To such I say, Here is a suitable match for you. Come into the marriage covenant, put that heart in Christ's hand: these whom he espouseth, he espouseth for ever. If ye cannot keep the covenant, the covenant will keep you. The covenant of works could never keep an unstable heart, the condition of it being perfect and complete obedience, without the least failure or wavering; a condition ye cannot pretend to fulfil, and therefore ye can have no hope from the way of that covenant. I know the sorry shifts that some make to delude themselves, by patching up a bastard covenant of works, wherein they engage not with Jesus Christ as a Head and Husband, to live by him, being united to him, (which they could certainly do, if they took the way of the covenant of grace), but they covenant with him only as a master, to give him their work for wages. Surely this covenant of your own making will never keep you: your hearts, howsoever ye watch them, will leap out and break it; but the marriage covenant will secure the most unstable heart that is to be found amongst us; so that it shall be as the tree whose root remains fixed in the earth, howbeit the branches thereof are shaken by the wind. Though the spouse of Christ may be tossed to and fro by the blasts of temptation, yet the root of the righteous shall not be moved, Prov- xii. 3.

Secondly, Are there any in this company that are mourning for the loss of their deceased relations ? or any that are afraid of such a mournful occasion abiding them ? Here is a suitable match for such persons, the King immortal offers to betroth you unto him for ever. Ye cannot think of the death of your friends, of parting with your dear relations, but with greatest sorrow of heart. Truly ye that are of that disposition will never find a relative suitable to your mind, but by coming into this marriage covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ will take you into the nearest relation with himself; he is willing to espouse you, and being once espoused, ye shall never part. Death, that inexorable messenger, who snatcheth the husband from the wife, and the wife from the husband, the child from the parent, and the parent from the child, cannot prevail here, and shall never be able to separate betwixt Christ and these that are espoused to him, Rom. viii. 38, 39, " Neither death nor life—shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Thirdly, Are there any who know not how to get safe through the world in the evil day ? Here is a suitable match for you : be espoused to Christ; he will go betwixt you and all hazards. How bad soever the times be, they will still be within the compass of that sweet clause in the text, "for ever." And therefore I infer, that our Lord offers himself to be a head and husband to us for the evil day, the day of trial. Take him for your husband for ever. If it be a dark day, he will be for a light to you, and guide you ; if it be a day of war, he will cover your head ; if it be a day of searching of corners, he will hide you either under heaven, or in heaven. Embrace the covenant, and then, although ye sing the triumph before the victory, ye shall not be ashamed, Psalm xlix. 5, ''"Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil ?"

Fourthly, Are there any who have none to provide for them ? or any under fears, that, ere long, they will be in a destitute and helpless condition ? Come ye into this match, and ye shall never want a provisor, who will surely furnish you all that you shall need, and that is enough; " Verily thou shalt be fed :" yea, " in the days of famine they shall be satisfied," Psalm xxxvii. 3, 19. What time ye are espoused to Chi'ist, even your daily bread is secured to you by the covenant, Isa. xxxiii. 16, "Bread shall be given him, bis waters shall be sure." The carnal world will laugh at this, and bid us sit down and dine upon it; but they cannot laugh the people of God out of their experience, whose consciences do bear them witness, that they have dined sometimes more sweetly upon a promise of the covenant, than it is possible for carnal men to do at their most plentiful tables.

Fifthly, Are there any here that have been ranging through the creation, seeking a match for their souls, soinethiug commensurable to the desires of their immortal spirits, but could never yet find it ? Ye have not failed to meet with disappointments, even where your hopes have been most raised : ye have found some one thorn of uneasiness or another, wheresoever you have essayed to take up your rest; and whithersoever ye have turned yourselves, ye have still come away dissatisfied ; ye have tried many methods to attain to satisfaction, and none of them has answered your design. Be persuaded at length to make trial of this ; embrace Christ in the marriage covenant, and be assured he will be to you what no created person or thing can be, a complete covering of the eyes, and a rest to your heart for ever, Psalm lxxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee."

Sixthly, Are there any whom nobody cares for, who are rejected by all, and cast at every door ? Our Lord will receive you, even you; for " he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel," Psalm cxlvii. 2. His family, so far as it is made up of the children of men, is made up of foundlings : Israel was a poor foundling; Egypt would lodge them no louger; Canaan would not take them in: but when they were cast at all hands, the Lord took them up, Deut. xxxii. 10, " He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness : he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." So, however forlorn your case be, he will take you up, and bring you into the bond of the covenant, even the marriage covenant.

Ye have a Scripture full to this purpose, representing the case of the Jews, whom the Lord took into covenant with himself, but applicable to every soul whom Christ espouseth, Ezek. xvi. 5, " Thou wast cast out into the open field, to the loathing of thy person." Ver. 8, " I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness : yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine." It is evident there is an allusion here to the inhuman custom of exposing of infants, very usual among several heathen nations. The Lord shews Israel and all these whom he has espoused, what a miserable case he found them in, and how graciously he dealt with them when they were in that case.

Thou wast cast out into the open field ; thy case was as ill as that of exposed outcast infants. Now, that barbarous custom we find was, to take out the infants, and leave them in some place where they might perish, if some body did not find them, and take them up, as Pharaoh's daughter did Moses when he was exposed,

Exod. ii. Such was thy case, hopeless and helpless, being abandoned of all, and unable to help thyself. This barbarity was exercised on these infants that were lame or deformed, and who they judged were not like to be useful to the commonwealth. So Christ's bride is altogether unsightly, and has nothing promising about her in the day he begins to manifest herself unto her ; no beauty for which she is to be desired. Sometimes they exposed infants to perish by the waters, the sea, rivers, or lakes; sometimes they laid them down in woods or desert places, where they might be a prey to ravenous birds aud beasts : accordingly thou wast cast out in the open field, even the waste howling wilderness, Deut. xxxi. 10. Thus the sinner lay a ready prey for the devourer, and so thy case was as ill as that of exposed infants.

But that is not all; it was worse than theirs usually was : they were laid out, but thou wast cast out; not laid down warily, but violently thrown away, to, or in, the lothing of thy person, as some abominable thing men cannot endure to look at. When they were exposed, they were put either in a kind of close basket, or in an earthen pot; but so much kindness was not shown to thee, thou wast cast out in the open field, or (as the word is) " to the face of the field;" thrown to, and left upon the bare ground without the least shelter.

But it was yet worse : when infants were exposed, they were swathed and adorned, yea, and precious things, as gold, jewels, rings, were laid down with them for the charges either of their education or burial, if any that found them should be at the pains to do either of these unto them. " But I covered thy nakedness," saith our Lord. As for those whom he takes up, there is nothing to be got by them ; it is of mere grace, absolutely free grace, that he takes notice of them to help them. They have not so much as to cover their nakedness.

Now, behold how grace abounds to the foundling ; " I entered into a covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine," i. e. my spouse, as I showed before. If one free-born had been exposed, he lost his freedom, and passed into a servile state; but those whom our Lord takes up, he does not enslave, but espouse unto himself.

Finally, Observe, that the first covering the Lord casts upon the naked foundling, is the marriage-robe, the robe of his own righteousness. He does not delay the espousals till the bride be brought into a better and more honourable condition than he found her in, but takes her as she is in her miserable condition, and, espousing her, covers her nakedness ; " I spread my skirt over thee, (betrothed thee unto me), and so covered thy nakedness."

0 the riches and freedom of grace ! Let those that are espoused

to Christ already be humble; and the worst of sinners, who are willing now to take him, be encouraged to come forward unto the marriage.

Seventhly, Are there any amongst us, who are difficulted in these weighty points of greatest concernment, to wit, How they shall safely die, and go into another world ; how they shall stand before the great tribunal ? Hearken ye to this offer, Jesus Christ, the Lord of the other world, who sits upon the tribunal, is willing to betroth you unto himself for ever. 0 blessed device for eternity! Can there be such a proper expedient for the business of another world, as to be espoused unto the Lord of that world ? Can there be such a proper expedient for a comfortable standing before the tribunal, as to be joined now, in a marriage covenant, to the Judge that sits upon that tribunal ?

Lastly, Are there here any of the children of apostate Adam, who have fallen off from God, fallen out of his favour, and are under his wrath ? the gate of heaven is shut upon you; the pit has enlarged her mouth for you; the earth groaneth under you; and ye are in danger of perishing for ever: Come ye into this covenant, accept of Jesus Christ for your Head and Husband ; so shall ye be re-instated into the favour of God, and made happy for over and ever. " For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

This offer is made unto you all without exception. Christ is willing to be yours, Rev. xxii. 17, " Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." The Bridegroom is stretching out his hand, in order to join hands with you in the marriage covenant; and will not ye stretch out your hand unto God? Psalm lxviii. 31. What will ye do ? will ye not give your consent to the Son of God, to be espoused unto him for eA T er ? Before ye adventure to refuse, there are three things I would beg of you as rational creatures.

1. Before ye refuse to be espoused to Christ, consider how ye will dispose of yourselves to greater advantage. Will a full swing in your lusts be to your greater advantage ? Will your betaking yourselves into the devil's fields to feed his swine, (to feed insatiable lusts), be to your greater advantage, than to partake of Christ and the benefits of his covenant ? If ye reckon so, ye will at length find, to your eternal loss, ye have reckoned amiss.

2. Before ye refuse it, consider how ye will do without it. Possibly you may make some silly shift to live at ease in the world, without being espoused to Christ: but I pray you consider, how will ye die without it? how will ye stand before the tribunal of God without it ?

Lastly, Before ye refuse this offer of the espousals, make it sure,

(in case of repenting of the refusal afterwards), that ye shall have another offer thereof; and that upon this refusal, the sentence shall not pass against you, which is written, Luke xiv. 24, " For I say unto you, that none of those men, which were bidden, shall taste of ray supper." If it do pass against you, ye are for ever ruined ; but ye can have no such assurance : therefore do not adventure to " refuse him that speaketh from heaven ;" but give yourselves away to him in the everlasting marriage covenant.

Let none raise objections against themselves, to hold them off from embracing the covenant. There is as much in the very proposal of it, as may take off all your objections, on whatsoever ground ye state them ; " I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord."

But necessity has no law. In vain do we stand to dispute whether or not we shall take that way, which we must needs take, or inevitably perish. Ye must be espoused to Christ, or God will be your enemy through the ages of eternity : there is no other way for sinners to be re-instated in the favour of God. Ye must either be espoused to Christ for ever, or ye must be damned for ever. The case is already judged, Mark xvi. 16, " He that believeth not, shall be damned." If ye reject the marriage covenant, ye must die in your sins ; for so doing, ye reject the remedy of sin. But why will ye judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, and reject the counsel of God against yourselves ? Will ye fly in the face of the grand device of the wisdom of God for the salvation of sinners, and wilfully die of your disease, when the Physician is come to your bed-side ? There is no salvation out of this covenant, strangers to it have no hope, Eph. ii. 12. Wherefore, ye must either join yourselves to the Lord in the covenant of peace, or he will have war with you for ever.

This covenant is drawn with blood, the precious blood of the royal Bridegroom: it is the new testament in his blood. Behold how he loved his bride, in whom there was nothing lovely ! 0 trample not upon " the blood of the everlasting covenant!"

Now, let your hearts give an answer, before the Lord, unto these few questions.

First, Are ye pleased with the Bridegroom ? His Father is pleased with him, all the holy angels and saints are pleased with him ; and are not ye pleased with him ? I assure you, he is so far pleased with you, even the worst of you, as to take you for his spouse ; " I will betroth thee unto me for ever." Are you pleased to take him for your Husband ?

Secondly, Are ye willing to renounce all your former lovers, and to part with all your lusts for ever ? Assure yourselves, if ye take him ye must let these go away. God's covenant is a holy covenant; and ye will hring a curse upon yourself, instead of a blessing, if ye come to seek a shelter to any one lust under it.

Thirdly, Are ye content to take Christ for all, and instead of all ? will, ye receive him in all Lis offices ? will ye receive him as your Prophet, to teach you, renouncing your own wisdom ? as your Priest, to save you by his death and sufferings, renouncing your own righteousness ? as your King, to reign and rule over you, renouncing all your idols? Art thou content to give up thine own will to him, and that " thy desire shall be to thy husband," to grant it, or withhold it, as he seeth meet; so that thou shalt be no more master of thyself, or at thine own disposal, but wholly at his disposal?

Lastly, Will ye take him for ever, from this moment, for prosperity and adversity, for life and death, for time and eternity ?

If it be so with you indeed, then ye are espoused to the Lord Jesus Christ for ever; and welcome to the feast of the espousals at his table : but, if not, ye will get a long eternity to repent this refusal, unless you change your mind, and repent of it in time.

THE

MYSTERY OF CHRIST

IN

THE FORM OF A SERVANT.

A Sermou preached at the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Philip, ii. 7.

And took upon hhn the form of a servant.

Our holy religion, which hath its denomination from Jesus Christ, is a religion of mysteries ; mysteries of faith, and mysteries of practice, neither of which can one he let into, in a saving manner, without supernatural grace. The mysteries of faith, mysteries to be believed, do, all of them, lead unto practice : yea, even these of them which are most sublime, the more they are truly believed, the more do they influence men to holiness of heart and life. Wherefore the apostle, in the contest, to press the Philippians unto the practice of moral duties, particularly to love their neighbour as themselves", to lay out themselves to be beneficial to mankind, and for that end to deny themselves, and condescend to others for their good; lays before them, to be believed, that constellation of mysteries appearing in the incarnation of the Son of God : a motive to good works, unknown to the Jewish Rabbies, and Greek moralists; but sealed in the experience of believers, as the most powerful incentive to universal holiness.

In this verse, whereof the text is a part, are three of these mysteries. The first, which is the leading one, is, that " Christ Jesus being in the form of God, not thinking it robbery to be equal with God, yet made himself of no reputation," viz. for us. To be in the form of God, is to be very God, having the very nature and essence of God; the form being that which essentially distinguished things, and makes a thing to be precisely that which it is. And forasmuch as this form is, according to the apostle, the foundation of his equality with God his Father; it can denote no less than his being very God: for no excellency whatsoever, really different from the divine

essence, can found an equality with God; but still there would remain as great a disproportion as betwixt finite and infinite. Here then is a wonderful mystery : Christ being very God, the supreme, the Most High God, equal with the Father, emptied himself of his divine glory, laying it aside, namely, in point of manifestation, casting a veil, a thick veil, over it, for a time. The second mystery is, " He took upon him the form of a servant." Thus it was that he emptied himself. This form, to wit, of a servant, was the veil he drew over his divine glory: for so the original words run, "But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." The third mystery is, " He was made in the likeness of men." In regard of the sinfulness cleaving to men's nature, which he was absolutely free of, he is said to have been made, not in a sameness with, but in the likeness of, men ; truly man in substance and nature, but without sin, however like to sinful flesh he appeared, Rom. viii. 3, "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." This was it that was prerequisite unto, and qualified him for, taking upon him the form of a servant: for so stand the words in the original, " Taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men."

It is the second of these mysteries, "And took npon him the form of a servant," which I am to insist upon. And two things here are to be opened; namely, "What the form of a servant is." And, " What Christ's taking it upon him bears." I begin with the latter of these.

Whatever is more particularly meant by the form of a servant, it is plain, that in the general it must denote a mean and low condition. And our Lord's taking it upon him, imports two things; 1. That he voluntarily and of his own free choice submitted to it, for the sake of poor sinners. He was not originally in the form of a servant, as some men have been, who were born in a state of servitude; nay, he was from eternity the Son of God, his Father's equal: but he, being Lord of heaven and earth, came, of his own accord, under the form of a servant. It was not laid upon him against his will; but he freely took it on himself, and became bound, when he might have continued free. 2. It imports, that what he was before, namely, very God, equal with the Father, he still continued to be, notwithstanding of his submitting to the form of a servant. He took upon him the form of a servant; that is, continuing in the form of God, he took upon him the form of a servant.

By the form of a servant, is not understood the likeness of a guilty man. That exposition weakens the force of the apostle's argument, and the forc6 of that important term, the form of God; though indeed the thing itself is truth, and is taught in the last clause of the Vol. VII. 2 k

verse. Neither is it to be understood of man's nature, which in respect of God is servile : because Christ's emptying of himself, consisting according to the text, in his taking on the form of a servant was surely over, and at an end, in his exaltation, and the full manifestation of his divine glory ; while yet his human nature remains. Neither doth that mean, low, and servile kind of condition, into which he was brought in his sufferings, seem to explain sufficiently the form of a servant, which he took upon himself.

The plain and literal sense of these words I take to be the true sense of them, viz. That the Son of God, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, really became a servant, as really as ever man did, who served for his bread. He voluntarily took upon himself, that wherein the essence of that relation, on the servant's part, doth consist; and so was formally constituted a servant, to all intents and purposes of the bargain with him whose servant he became. As this is the literal sense of the words, from which we are never to depart without necessity ; so it is confirmed to be the genuine sense, by the true import of that phrase, Being in the form of God. His being in the form of God, denotes his being very God ; therefore his taking upon him the form of a servant, must denote his becoming really a servant.

Now, the scripture represents Jesus Christ, (1.) As a servant in his state of humiliation, and so he is called, a servant of rulers, Isa. xlix. 7- (2.) As a servant in his state of exaltation, Isa. liii. 11, " By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." Compare Acts v. 31, " Him hath God exalted, with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." It can hardly be a question with any who reads the text and context, whether the form of a humbled servant, or of an exalted servant, is meant here ? Our Lord Jesus did take on both, the one in his humiliation, and the other in his exaltation; but it is evident, the former, and not the latter, is here meant; and they are vastly different. The form of a humbled servant he submitted to ; the form of an exalted servaut was conferred on him, as the reward of that submission, Philip, ii. 9. In this form of a servant, he has a most exalted and glorious honorary ministry ; being a servant, for whose law the isles shall wait, Isa. xlii. 1, 4, " For the Father —hath committed all judgment unto the Son," John v. 22, hath " set him king upon his holy hill of Zion," Psalm ii. 6, and "given him all power in heaven and in earth." Matth. xxviii. 18. But in that form, whereof the text speaks, he had a service low and humble, onerous and heavy, a surety-service, a servitude ; and so the form was the form of a bond-servant. In both the one and the other

Joseph was a shining type of him, being first sold for a servant, and then exalted to be ruler over all Egypt under Pharaoh.

Here then is a stupendous mystery: Christ Jesus, very God, the Father's equal, Lord of heaven and earth, became a servant for us, a bond-man or bond-servant; for so the word properly signifies, and therefore is the word that is constantly used iu that New Testament phrase which we read bond or free, or bond and free, 1 Cor. xii. 13, Gal. iii. 28, Eph. vi. 8, Col iii. 11, Rev. xiii. 16, and xix. 18. The greatest inequality found in any relation among men, is in that betwixt the master and the servant, the bond-servant: so the lowest levelling among them is that whereof mention is made, Isa. xxiv. 2, " It shall be—as with the servant, so with his master." Then, what unparallelled condescension, wonderlul emptying was this ! God's equal becoming a servant, a boud-servant, for poor sinners ! Both these characters, the highest and the lowest, met together in Christ, in his state of humiliation, Zech. xiii. 7, " Awake, 0 sword,—against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord." Isa. xiii. 1, "Behold my servant;" the very same word that is rendered bond-man and bond-servant, Lev. xxv. 39, 42, 44.

Doctrine. Our Lord Jesus Christ, continuing to be his Father's equal, humbled himself into a state of servitude, and became his servaTTt, his bond-servant, iu man's nature, for poor sinners of Adam's race. This was a step lower than his becoming man ; but the lower it was, the higher did his free love to man appear.

I am aware, that some in the height of their own wisdom, measuring gospel mysteries by their carnal reason, may be apt to say here, " This is an hard saying, who can hear it?" But it is undeniable, that Christ is expressly called God's servant in the holy Scripture; as Isa. xiii. 1," Behold my servant whom I uphold," &c. compared with Matth. xii. 18, where that text is directly applied to him, Zech. iii. 8, " I will bring forth my servant the Branch." But what kind of a servant unto his Father was he ? did he become a bond-man, a bond-servant? Yea, he did. Hear his own decision in that point, Psal. xl. 6, " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened." The word here rendered opened, properly signifies digged, as you may see in the margin : and so the words are, " Mine ears thou diggedst through ;" that is, boredst, as it is well expressed in our paraphrase of the Psalms in metre, " Mine ears thou bored." This plainly hath a view to that law concerning the bond-servant, Exod. xxi. 6, " Then his master shall bring him unto the judges, he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door-post: and his master shall bore his ear through with

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an awl; and be shall serve him for ever." This is confirmed from Hos. iii. 2, " So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver," which was the half of the stated price of a bond-woman. In the original it is, " So I digged her thorough to me," &c, the same word being here used, as Psalm, xl. 6. It is a pregnant word, which is virtually two in signification: and the sense is, I bought her, and bored her ear to my door-post, to be my bond-woman, according to the law, Deut. xv. 17, " Thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear into the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever : and also unto thy maid servant thou shalt do likewise." The boring of her ear as a bond-woman, was noways inconsistent with the prophet's betrothing of her to himself, Hos. iii. 3, see Exod. xxi. 8.

I shall only add, that, accordingly, his most precious life, which was the ransom for the lives of the whole elect world, was sold by Judas for thirty pieces of silver, the stated price of the life of a bond-servant, Exod. xxi. 32, " If the ox shall push a man-servant, or maid-servant, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned." And the death he was put to, namely, to die on a cross, was a Roman punishment, called by them the servile punishment, or punishment of bond-servants : because it was the death that bond-men malefactors were ordinarily doomed unto ; free men seldom, if ever, according to law. And it is plain, that " Joseph who was sold for a servant," (Psalm cv. 17,) was therein a type of Christ.

Now, for the opening of this mystery of the state of servitude the Lord of glory put himself into for wretched sinners of Adam's race, we shall briefly consider the following particulars. (1.) To whom he became a servant. (2.) For whom. (3.) The necessity of it. (4.) The contract of service. (5.) His fulfilling of it. (6.) Wherefore he engaged in it.

I. To whom he became a servant. The Son of God, in our nature, became a servant to man's great Lord and Master. He put himself in a state of servitude to hia Father, who said unto him, '• Thou art my servant," Isa. xlix. 3. It was with his Father he entered into the contract of service : he it was that bored his ears, Psalm xl. 6. It was his Father's business he was employed in, Luke ii. 49, and to him he behoved to work, John ix. 4, " I must work the work of him that sent me." So, howbeit our Lord Jesus was and is, in respect of his divine nature, the Father's equal; yet, in that respect, he acknowledgeth the Father greater than he, as the lord is greater than the servant, John xiv. 28, " My Father is greater than I." Compare chap. xiii. 16, " The servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him."

Christ is indeed called a servant of rnlers, Isa. xlix. 7. But not in respect of the prime servile relation he stood in : that relation he bore to his Father only : but in regard of a secondary occasional relation ; as when a master obligeth his servant to serve another man in a particular piece of business. Thus our Lord Jesus was, by his Father, subjected to the Jewish and Roman rulers ; ho paid tribute, and was by them both treated as a servant. But heroin he was still about his Father's business.

II. For whom he became a servant. Our blessed Lord Jesus took on the service for and instead of others, who were bound to it, but utterly unable for it. The cup is found in Benjamin's sack ; therefore poor Benjamin, his father's darling, must be kept a bond-man in Egypt: Nay, says Judah, " Let me abide instead of the lad, a bond-man to my lord, and let Benjamin go," Gen. xliv. 33. An elect world is found guilty before tho Lord ; they must therefore be bond-men for ever, as well as the rest of mankind : Nay, Father, saith our Lord, who sprang out of Judah, that yoke will be utterly insupportable to them, they will undoubtedly be ruined and perish for ever under it: I will take their state of servitude upon me, let that yoke be laid on my neck, let me be thy bond-man in their stead; and let them go free. So be it, said God, who had set his electing love on them from eternity, I am well pleased with the exchange : thou then " art my servant, 0 Israel, in whom I will be glorified," Isa. xlix. 3. As to which words, it is evident from the context, that Christ is the party therein spoke to. By Israel is meant the spiritual Israel, to wit, the elect of mankind. Compare Rom. ix. 6, " They are not all Israel who are of Israel." The former text stands thus precisely in the original, " Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will glorify myself." As if the Father had said to Christ, Sou, these are utterly unable to make out their service; for, their work-arm being broken by the fall, I cannot expect a good turn of their hand : be it known then, that it is agreed, that I take thee in their room and place, to perform the service due in virtue of the original contract; thou in their stead art my servant, from whose hand I will look for that service : thou art Israel's representative in whom I will glorify myself, and make all mine attributes illustrious ; as I was dishonoured, and they darkened, by Israel the collective body of the elect. So, it was for the elect Christ became a servant.

III. The necessity of his becoming a servant for their salvation. No doubt all mankind might have been left to perish, even as the fallen angels, without any the least imputation of injustice, either on the Father, or on the Son. The saving of any of the lost

race of Adam, was not a necessary act which could not have been left undone ; but an act of sovereign free grace. Ilowbeit, on the supposition that God would have an elect company saved, there was a necessity of Christ's taking upon himself the state of servitude for them. This will appear from the following particulars jointly considered.

1. The elect of Grod were, with the rest of mankind, constituted God's hired servants by the first covenant, the covenant of works; and actually entered to that their service, in their head the first Adam. And in token of this, we are all naturally inclined in that character to deal with God; though by the fall we are rendered incapable to perform the duty of it, Luke xv. 19, " Make me as one of thy hired servants." The work they were to work was perfect obedience to the holy law; the hire they were to have for their work was life ; " The man which doth those things, shall live by them," Rom. x. 1. The penalty of breaking away from their master was perpetual bondage under the curse, Gal. iii. 10, •' Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."

2. Ilowbeit they never made out their service: but,' by the time they were well entered home, they, through the solicitation of the great runaway servant the devil, violated their covenant of service, and brake away from their Lord and Master. So they lost all plea for the hire ; and justly became bond-men under the curse of the broken covenant of works, liable to be whipt to their work, and, for their malefices, to die the death of slaves, Gal. iv. 24, " These are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage." Their falling under the curse inferred the loss of their liberty, and constituted them bond-men for ever ; as is evident from the nature of the thing, and instances of the cursed iu other cases, as Gen. ix. 25, " Cursed bo Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be." Josh. ix. 23, " Now therefore ye (the Gibeonites) are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bond-men." The very ground being cursed, (Gen. iii. 17,) falls under bondage, according to the scripture, Rom. viii. 21. Compare Gal. iii. 13, •' Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree;" which hath a special respect to dying on a cross, the capital punishment for bond-men.

3. By the breaking of that covenant, they lost all their ability for their service, and were left without strength, Rom.'v. 6. They had no suffering strength to bear the punishment of their breaking away from their service ; but they must have for ever perished under it. Thay had no doing or working strength left them ; their work-arm, once sufficient for their service, was now quite broken,

so that they could work none at all to any good purpose: nay, they had neither hand nor heart for their work again, Roin. viii. 7, " The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." So it was not possible for them to make out their service, Josh. xxiv. 19, " Te cannot serve the Lord."

4. Howbeit, the punishment due unto them, for breaking away, from their service, behoved to be borne; and the service itself behoved to be made out, according to the original contract, the covenant of works; else they could never have life and salvation. The truth of God insured this, Gen. ii. 17, " Iu the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." The honour of God's holy law and covenant required it, Tsa. xlii. 21, " He will maguify the law, aud make it honourable." And his exact justice confirmed it, Gen. xxviii. 15, " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

Lastly, Since all this behoved to be done, aud they could not do it; the misery of servitude behoved to be borne, and they were not able to bear it; the service behoved to be fulfilled, and they could by no means work it out: it was therefore absolutely necessary for their life and salvation, that Jesus Christ should come under the curse due to them, take on himself their form, put himself in the room of the poor bond-man, enter home to the service in then-stead, and fully serve it out for them, transferring on himself their state of servitude, Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Chap. iii. 3, 4, 5, " We— were in bondage under the elements of the world : But—God sent forth his Son—made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law."

IV. The contract of the service. It is the covenaut of grace, made between the Father aud Christ, the second Adam, representing all the elect his spiritual seed. The covenant of grace is justly looked upon as a covenaut of service, strictly aud properly so called; wherein so much work is to be done for so much wages. But it is a lamentable abuse of the covenant of grace, by legalists in their principles, and many of the communicants in their practice, that they put the work, for earning of the wages, in the wrong hand; namely, that they shall be the workers, and eternal life the hire of their work. This is to trample under foot God's covenant of grace, and to make a new one of our own, which he will never approve of. Heaven's device in this case was, that Christ should be the worker for life and salvation to poor sinners; and that they should get life and salvation, through him, by free grace; and so work from life and salvation received, as sons entitled to the in-

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

heritance antecedently to all their working, Rom. vi. 23, " For the wages of sin is death : but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Chap. iv. 4, 5, " Now to him that work-eth, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." So the covenant of grace was, in respect of Christ, a covenant of service in the strictest sense ; and the reward is of debt to him, and him only, as the servant that worked for it, according to the covenant: and none but he was fit for that service.

Here consider, 1. This contract of service was enteredinto from eter-nity,Tit. i. 2, " In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began." The covenant by which salvation is to be had, is not a covenant of yesterday, or of to-day, now to be made by us: it was made in every point thereof before the world was. What remains for us is to take hold of it by faith. 2. The design of it was, (1.) To illustrate the divine glory, much darkened by the hired servants of God's own house. There was, by sin, an invasion made upon God's declarative glory aud honour, and Jesus Christ was chosen to make the reparation. So, whatever wrong was done to the sovereignty, justice, holiness, and goodness of God, or any other the divine perfections, by the sin of those in whose room he stood, it is laid upon him to repair it, Isa. xlix. 3. (2.) To save lost sinners; to restore the Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, to life and favour, Isa. xlix. 6. God had set his love from eternity on a select company of mankind: they were lost, ruined, and undone, and they must be saved : and Jesos Christ enters into his Father's service for that effect. 3. The service, which in this contract he undertook to perform, was, to fulfil the whole law for them; fully to answer in their room and stead, the demauds which the broken covenant of works, the original contract had upon them, Heb. x. 9, " Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." Thus the parts of the service were these two; (1.) Hi3 bearing the punishment which they, as the breakers of the law, were bound to underly in virtue of the penalty of the covenant of works. And hereby he was to satisfy the penalty of that covenant, the law's sanction of death. (2.) His performing the obedience which they were still bound to fulfil, by the same covenant of works, though broken. And hereby he was to satisfy the commanding part of that covenant, requiring perfect obedience for life, Gal. iv. 4, 5, " God sent forth his Son—made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." Chap. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,"

Mattli. iii. 15, "Thus it becometh as to fulfil all righteousness." 4. The covenanted reward of the service was a glorious exaltation to himself, and eternal life for them. Of the former the apostle makes mention, Philip, ii. 2, " Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him." Of the latter, Tit. i. 2, " In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began."

V. The fulfilling of the service, according to his contract. It was a hard service ; but he went through with it, " became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Philip, ii. 8. And herein three things are to be considered.

1. He entered to his service, in his being conceived and born holy for them ; so bringing a holy human nature into the world with him, which he retained unspotted to the end. Thus he answered the demand which the law had on them, for original holiness, holiness of nature, as a condition of life, Isa. ix. 6, " Unto us (or for us, chap. vi. 8,) a child is born :" even that holy thing, Luke i. 35. That this was a piece of the service he performed for them, and was indeed his entering to his service, appears by comparing Psalm xl. 6, " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened," (Heb.) digged through ; with Heb. x. 5, " Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me." Where the digging through, or boring of his ears to God's door-post, in the room and stead of the elect, is expounded of preparing him a body, a human nature.

2. He went on in his service in the righteousness of his life, being " obedient even unto death," Philip, ii. 8. All that he did in the space of about thirty-three years he lived upon earth, was working the work of bis service, to the fulfilling of the whole law in its commands ; which was that work wherein the first Adam failed, and so ruined all mankind. And thus the great Surety servant answered the demand which the law had on the elect, for perfect righteousness of conversation, as the condition of life, John xvi. 4, "I-have glorified thee on the earth , I have finished the work thou gavest me to do."

Lastly, Having suffered all his life long, in which he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, he completed and finished his service in his death and burial; thus answering for them the law's demand of satisfaction for sin, John xix. 30, " When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." The term of his coutinu-ance in this state of servitude was, according to the covenant, till death, but no longer. This accouut of the matter he himself gives us, John ix. 4, " I must work the works of him that sent me, while

it is day : the night (viz. of death) cometh when no man can work." He was to serve during all the days of his life ; that is, in the language of tlie law, for ever, Exod. xxi. 6, " His master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever," i. e. till death. In common cases, the law made an exception here of a jubilee intervening: but in the case of the great bond-servant, the Lord of glory, there was no such exception : nor could there be, in regard the true jubilee was to be brought about by his death. Howbeit, in the grave " the servant is free from his master," Job iii. 19 : so, having served out his full time, there he put off the form of a servant: and he rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living," Horn. xiv. 9.

VI. And Lastly, Wherefore he put himself into, and took on him, this state of servitude.

1. Love to his Father, and the love he had to his designed spouse, the captive daughter of Zion, and to his childreu the spiritual seed, engaged him to undertake it; as in the case of the servant under the law, Exod. xxi. 5, " I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free." He saw that his Father would entirely lose his service from all mankind, if he did not in their nature take the service on himself; the whole tribe of Adam, from the least to the greatest, being utterly disabled for it. Wherefore, for his Father's glory, the honour of his holy law, his justice and his mercy, he " took on him the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men." The captive daughter of Zion, his Father's choice, and his own choice, for a spouse to him, he could not have, but, as Jacob had Rachel, by serving for her, as unlovely and unsightly as she was. But he loved her freely, he loved her infinitely ; and, because he so loved, he took on the form of a servant for her, and, as the true Israel, served for a wife, Hos. xii. 12. He loved his children, the spiritual seed, the elect given him of his Father : notwithstanding of all the burden cleaving to them, he would not quit them : he saw they would be lost, if he should go out from them free ; therefore he consented to the boring of his ears, to serve all the days of his life upon the earth.

2. He took it on him, for releasing them from that state of servitude or bondage which their father Adam, by his mismanagement, had brought himself and all mankind into. What Judah offered to do, in the case of Benjamin his brother, Gen. xliv. 33, Christ really performed in the case of his brethren, becoming a bondman in their stead, that they might be free. They were in bondage under the law, under the curse of the broken covenant of works : and they could never, by all their own doings and sufferings, have worked themselves out of their bondage ; but had perished in it, had not he put himself into their room and stead.

3. He did it for paying their debt. The law, in some cases, allowed parents to sell their children for paying their debt. Hence the Lord saith unto Israel, " Which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ?" Isa. 1. 1. Thereby showing, that it was not to him, but to themselves their ruin was owing. We have a story to this purpose of one of the sons of the prophets, who was a holy man, but had died in debt: it is thus related by his poor widow, 2 Kings iv. 1, "Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bond-men." Thus stood the case with the elect. Their father Adam, who ruined his own family, had brought a burden of debt on them, as well as on the rest of his children ; he had left them under a double debt, a debt of obedience, and a debt of punishment, which they were utterly unable to pay. And Justice, as the creditor, was come to take them away for bondmen, and force them to serve for payment of the debt, never to be released till the last farthing of it was fully served for: but Christ said, 0 Justice, allow them to stay, and take me for a bond-man in their stead ; if the service for payment of the debt lie on tlrem, they will perish under it, and the debt will never be paid out: but I will serve for them. It was accepted: and the Lord Jesus took their room, and went away with the creditor for a bond-man in their stead.

Lastly, He took on him the form of a servant, to bring them into a state of adoption in the family of God. He became a bondservant, that they might become sons and daughters. This the apostle plainly teacheth, Gal. iv. 1, "The heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant,"—ver. 3, " Even so we— were in bondage."—ver. 4, " But God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," ver. 5, " To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

Use I. What is said may serve for convincing, awakening, and alarming sinners who are strangers to Jesus Christ, whether they be profane persons, or formal hypocrites. Being yet in your natural state, not united to Christ; ye are in a state of bondage, there is a terrible and heavy yoke wreathed about your necks, from which ye are not able to deliver yourselves. Ye are bond-men under the law : and so,

1. It lies upon you, to perform and fulfil the service which man was bound to by the covenant of works, even to give perfect obedience to the law, under the pain of the curse : for to you it saith, Kom. iii. 19, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Now, ye are utterly

unable for this, and shall as soon remove these mountains as perform it: therefore ye can never be saved, while ye are out of Christ. Behold, in Christ's taking on him the form of a servant, how that service behoved of necessity to be performed, according to the law, ere one sinner could be saved. And if God did so stand upon the honour of his law with his own Son, that he behoved completely to fulfil that service for those whom he should save ; it is vain for you to slight Christ, and think that God will grant an abatement of that service to you. Nay, as matters stand betwixt God and you, if you obey not perfectly, you do nothing to purpose : no less can be accepted off your hand, since ye are not in Christ by faith.

2. It lies upon you to bear the punishment due to yon for breaking away from God your Lord and Master ; according to the threatening, Gen. ii. 17, " In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." All that ye can suffer in this world, will not be a sufficient compensation for the wrong thereby done to the honour of an infinite God : nay, ye shall never be able, through the ages of eternity, to exhaust that punishment, and ge/w°roin under it. None less thai* he, who was in the form of God, and equal with God, was able to go through it: therefore the Son of God took on him the form of a servant, that therein he might bear it, and bear it away from all that believe. A certain proof that none out of Christ shall escape it.

Consider then, I beseech you, what ye are doing : and see here, how precisely God stands to his having the service, owing him in virtue of the first covenant, fully made out; that, rather than any should be saved without its being fulfilled, he would have his own Son to take on him the form of a servant, and fulfil it for them.

Use II. Let all be exhorted to flee to the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith to embrace him, and the service performed by him, as their only plea for life and salvation. Here is a mystery of faith ; " Christ took upon him the form of a servant," proposed to be believed and applied by each one in particular to himself, for salvation. And surely it will be good tidings.

1. To the poor broken-hearted sinner, who sees he cannot serve the Lord according to the demand of the law, but one way or other mars every piece of work he takes in hand ; who is out of conceit with his own best doings, because they are so ill done. There is a service performed by the Mediator for sinners, that is perfect even in the eye of the law. It is done, it is completed, and life and salvation is thereby gained for all that shall believe.

2. To such as are under the terror of the threatenings and cnrse of the holy law, for their running away from God's service, and

the dishonour they have done to the great Master. Here is the way of peace and reconciliation, by which ye may return to him as a Father; even through his own Son, who, for sinners, "took upon him the form of a servant," and finished his work.

Jesus Christ, with his service, and all the benefits thereof, is offered unto you this day: refuse him not, but take him as exhibited uuto you in the gospel-offer. Take him for your righteousuess, in which you will stand before the Lord; take him for your treasure, out of which all your debt shall be paid; take him for your work, from whence alone your righteousness shall arise for your justification before the Lord ; take him for your Husband, Head, and Lord : take him for your all in all. Take himself, and his service shall be imputed to you ; his state of servitude, which is now over, shall make thee a son or daughter of God's family: in him thou shalt be " received for ever, not now as a servant, but above a servant;" as Paul speaks in the case of Ouesimus, a runaway bond-servant, Phil. 15, 16. So shall you get both heart and hand for working good works, works truly good ; as children working to their Father, having the inheritance secured to them before, by the works 1 of their elder Brother.

Object. 1. " But will ever Christ make me partaker of the benefits of this service, who have served my lusts, instead of serving him ?" Answ. Christ became not a bond-servant, but for those who were in bondage to sin and Satan : and it was the very end for which he took on him the form of a servant, that, by communicating to them the benefits of his service, he might deliver them from the service of sin, and cause them to serve him, Luke i. 74, " That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him." Doubt not then, but that, coming to him, ye shall be partakers of the benefits of his service, to all intents and purposes of salvation: and particularly, that ye may be no more bond-servants under sin, but honorary servants to himself, whatever ye have been heretofore. " For we ourselves also were sometimes—serving divers lusts and pleasures," Tit. iii. 3, " And such were some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

Object. 2. " I fear I am none of these in whose room and stead Christ took on him the form of a servant: how then can I embrace him, and apply his service to me, by believing ?" Answ. Your right to take him, and apply his service to yourself by believing, doth not at all depend on that matter, which is a secret not to be known by you till ye do believe ; but it depends on the offer of Christ, his service which he served, and righteousness which he

thereby wrought, made to you in the gospel of God, Rev. xxii. 1.7, " "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Howbeit Christ took on him the form of a servant, only in the name and stead of the elect; yet a slain Saviour, a crucified Jesus, having fulfilled the bond-service, is the ordinance of God for life and salvation unto all ; that whosoever of all Adam's race " believeth in hira, should not perish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 16. And his service or righteousness is a gift made over in the gospel to all the hearers of it; so as it is lawful for them, and every one of them, to take possession of it by believing. Hence, according to the apostle, to believe, is to " receive the abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness," Rom. v. 17- And this is so certain, that ye must either receive it and be saved ; or be held, in the court of heaven, refusers of heaven's gift of righteousness made to you, and so perish for ever with a double destruction, Mark xvi. 16, " He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved : but he that believeth not, shall be damned."

Use last, 0 Christians, communicants, come to the Lord's table with the faith and admiration of this stupendous mystery, " Christ in the form of a bond-servant for you." See it in the exact justice of God, the invaluable price of your salvation from sin and wrath, and the strongest motive to the obedience of sons. And let the faith of it fill your hearts with love to him, who so loved us ; with repentance and kiudly sorrow for your sin, which brought God's equal so very low ; with thankfulness for this unspeakable benefit; and with holy purposes of uew obedience.

The continuation of the improvement.

This doctrine of Christ's state of servitude is too fruitful, both in point of faith and practice, to be dismissed without further improvement : therefore I shall now endeavour to improve it for your further instruction, and for exciting to the practice of holiness.

First, This doctrine discovers the ground and reason of several other gospel truths, which spring from it as a root-principle. And, among these, I shall take notice of the following particulars.

1. Here is a clear ground, upon which the dead elect, incapable by any work or doing of their own, to make themselves to differ from others, are, in a consistency with God's impartial justice, quickened, an I endowed with saving faith, while others remain dead about them ; quickening grace coming on them as a dew from the Lord, as showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men," Micah v. 7- Our Lord Jesus having, in their name, taken on him the form of a bond-servant, did, in their

room and stead, perform the service required of tliem by the broken covenant of works, the original contract of service ; but he did not perform that service in the room and stead of others. Hence, though not to others, yet to them is given life, as the reward of the service performed for them by the second Adam ; even as their life was lost through the marring of that service in the hands of the first Adam. " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," 1 Cor. xv. 22, i. e., as all Adam's natural seed die, by his breaking off from the service ; so all Christ's spiritual seed shall be made alive by his fulfilling it for them. And now that the Lord Jesus, having fiuished his service by his death and burial, is risen again to be Lord of the dead and of the living ; how can they miss of being quickened, each one in his time, since he lives, to see that the life, for which he served a hard service, be made forthcoming to them, according to the contract of service he eutered into with his Father ? " Because he lives, they shall live also."

2. Here is a clear ground, upon which the obeJience of the man Christ may be imputed to believers for righteousness, as well as his satisfaction by suffering : notwithstanding obedience was due from the human nature of Christ as a creature. For it is evident that Christ's obeying his Father in the character of a bond-servant (which is it that is imputed to us for righteousness) could no more be due, antecedently to his contract of service, than his satisfaction by suffering.

3. Here is the ground upon which believers in Christ come to be justified before God ; not upon the account of any thing wrought in them, or any work or deed done by them, whether the grace of faith itself, their act of believing, or any gospel obedience of theirs whatsoever, imputed to them for righteousness, but upon the account of Christ's service allenarly, imputed to them for their whole and only righteousness in the sight of God, according to the apostle's desire that he might " be found in him, not having his own righteousness—but that which is through the faith of Christ," Philip, iii. 9. For in the second covenant there was a transferring on him their state of servitude, under which they stood bound to make out the service, which was the condition of life : accordingly be wrought the work, and fulfilled the service for life, in their name and stead, both in the doing and suffering part of it. Now, they being united to him by faith, his righteousness arising from that service becomes theirs, and so is justly imputed to them. And since a holy, just God insisted to have his service, according to the original contract fulfilled for life and salvation to poor sinners, and Jesus Christ was the servant who did that work, not they ; it cannot be, that any

tiling else whatsoever should be imputed to them for righteousness, but Christ's service, which he himself served, and for the performing of which he took upon him the form of a bond-servant, Rom. iii. 22, 24, " Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe.—Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. v. 21, " For he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of Ctod in him." It is to his bearing the punishment due to the runaway servants, we owe the pardon of all our sins ; and to the obedience giveu by him only, we owe our acceptance, as positively righteous in the sight of God.

4. Here is a clear and solid ground upon which believers in Christ are delivered from the covenant of works; or delivered from the law, considered as that covenant. For that broken covenant being so far ingrossed in the covenant with the second Adam, as that from it the service he was to perform in their room and stead was stated in all the parts thereof, it plainly follows, that the service being fully performed by him accordingly for them, and being really become theirs by faith, they are wholly delivered from that covenant; so that it can demand no more service of them, than a master can demand of a servant, who, in the person of another by him accepted, has served out his time, and so hath a right to the full hire, Rom. vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ." John viii. 36, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

5. Here is the ground upon which believers are no more bond-servants, to work for life and salvation, to get it by their own works; but advanced to the dignity of sons, and to serve as sons, to whom the inheritance belongs in virtue of their relation to their Father. For since the Lord Jesus Christ took on him the form of a bond-servant for them : and, having finished that service in their stead, became free again ; they, being united to Christ by faith, can no longer remain bond-servants; it being the very end of Christ's becoming a bond-servant to set them free. This is their right and privilege before the Lord; howbeit, through the weakeness of their faith they often serve the Lord as bond-men. And since it was the Son of God, the Father's equal, who served in the character of a bondservant for them, they are, by the merit of that service, advanced to be sons of the house of heaven. From this ground it is that the apostle draws that conclusion concerning every believer, Gal. iv. 7, " Wherefore thou art no more a servant, (i. e. a bond-servant), but a son." Compare the preceding six verses of that chapter.

6. Here is the ground upon which believers are set beyond the reach of the curse, are freed from the guilt of eternal or revenging wrath, and can never for shorter or longer time fall under condemnation ; howbeit their sins make them liable to all the effects of God's fatherly anger. For Christ taking on him the form of a bond-servant for them, bore all the curse, revenging wrath, and condemnation due to them for all their sins, whether before or after their union with him: the which service done for them is imputed to them, upon their believing in him; and from that moment is ever upon them, never again disimputed. The truth is, the curse would reduce them into the state of bond-servants again, and so uu-son them; as condemnation, and the guilt of eternal wrath, speak the sinner on whom they fall to be a bond-servant, and not a son. Thus teach the holy scriptures, Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Chap. iv. 7» " Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son." Rom. viii. 1, " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Isa. liv. 9, " For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : (which waters were a type of the flood of wrath, wherewith Chrisi the true ark was tossed, 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21,) " For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." Psalm Ixxxix. 31, 32, " If they break my statutes :—Then will I visit their transgression with the rod."

7. Here is the fountain-head of sanctification through faith in Christ; which is the only true sanctification competent to fallen Adam's children, the spring of all holy obedience and good works to be found amongst them. A sinful creature, in a state of servitude or bondage, under the law or covenant of works, is a bond-servant to sin : for " the strength of sin is the law," 1 Cor. xv. 56, binding over the sinner to death, yea, binding him down under death. And, being a bond-servant to sin, he is in bondage to Satan too ; since the power of sin is his sceptre, whereby he rules over the children of fallen Adam. Hence, while the sinful man continues in bondage under that covenant, sin retains its full force and sway over him; even as the vermin doth over the dead corpse in the grave ; so that he can neither be truly good, nor do any thing truly good. But the holy Jesus becoming a bond-servant under the law, in the room and stead of the sinful creature, answered all the demands thereof; and having finished the service, was, of course, freed from its yoke, which he had voluntarily taken on himself. Now, the sinner uniting with him by faith, Christ's service is imputed to him. Hence his bondage under the law as the

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covenant of works is done away ; and he partakes more abundantly of the promised life of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus: so the reigning power of sin and Satan over him is broken, and he dies unto sin and lives unto righteousness, in holy obedience to the law of the ten commandments, as a rule of life to him in the hand of the Prince of life. Thus unholy creatures are sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. i. 2. sanctified by faith, Acts xxvi. 18. And this the apostle plainly teacheth, Rom. vii. o, G, " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, aud not in the oldness of the letter."

8. Here is the ground in law, for the perseverance of the saints ; that they shall never fall away totally nor finally, but the life given them, in their union with Christ, must needs be eternal, never to die out, from the moment it is given, through the ages of eternity. For the service upon which their life depends, is completely performed by Jesus Christ: and the life, which was the promised reward of that service, is actually bestowed on them in some measure : which life, therefore, can never totally nor finally fail, without the failure of the promise, the true and proper condition of which is already fulfilled. Wherefore, the time of trial (in the sense of the first covenant) for life and salvation to believers, being now over, in the second Adam their head engaging in the service ; their perseverance is as sure as the faithfulness of God can make it. And thus the apostle proves the perseverance of the saints, Heb. x. 38, from the testimony of the prophet, Hab. iv. 4. For, as the law saith, " He that doth these things shall live :" so the gospel saith, " The just by faith shall live :" as some valuable interpreters read this text, and, I think, rightly.

Lastly, Here is the only ground of their right to, and upon which they are put in possession of, complete life and salvation in heaven, namely, Christ's works and service performed for them, and pleaded by them in the way of believing. For what plea can one have for the hire or reward, either as to the right to it, or the possession of it, but the performance of the service upon the account of which it was promised ? Now, Christ alone performed that service : therefore we cannot found our plea before the Lord for heaven's happiness, on any other ground but Christ's works and service. Paul re-nounceth all other grounds, and thinks himself very safe upon this alone, while he desires to " be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness,—but that which is through the faith of Christ," Phil, iii. 9. For " they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ," Rom. v.

17. And the great design of the contrivance of salvation was, " That grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by-Jesus Christ our Lord," ver. 21. There is a glorious recompense of reward, that follows the saints' work and labour of love: but the truth is, it is (properly and strictly speaking) the reward of the service of their head, not of the service of their hands.

Secondly, This doctrine of Christ's state of servitude, is a most powerful incentive to gospel-obedience ; and, being applied to one's self by faith, will be found to be a spring of holiness of heart and life. And thus it may be improven. (1.) More generally. (2.) More particularly.

First, More generally, in two branches.

I. If ye have any part or lot in this matter of Christ's service, let it be the business of your life to serve the Lord Christ: say peremptorily and resolutely, " As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," Josh. xxiv. 15. And devote yourselves to the service of God in Christ, which is your reasonable service. Serve him in the duties of worship, external and internal; serve him in secret, in your families, in the congregations of his people : serve him in first-table duties, and in second-table duties : serve him in your civil actions, and in your natural actions; " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God :" serve him in the several stations and relations wherein he has placed you : serve him in doing for him, and suffering for him, as he calls you. Set his holy law before you, in its spirituality and vast extent; and know that it is the rule and measure of the service ye owe him. Look upon the service Christ performed for you, and let it excite and animate you to serve him.

Here is a powerful motive, to engage you to serve him. And that it may have its due influence upon you to that effect, consider,

1. He was in the form of God, and God's equal, who served for you : ye were born in bondage, under the law, bond-servants to sin and Satan, the worst of masters. If you " look to the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged;" and withal look unto the Son of God, leaving the Father's bosom, descending from his throne of majesty, laying aside the robes of his glory, and taking on the form of a servant, therein to serve for you ; ye must needs be haled to his service by the overcoming force of his believed humiliation, 2 Cor. v. 14, " For the love of Christ con-straineth us."

2. He has no need of your service to him, but ye were in absolute need of his service for you. Though ye had remained bond-slaves to Satan for ever, the want of your service, and all the disservice

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ye could have done the Lord of glory, could not have hurt him ; nor can your service add any thing to his happiness, Joh xxxv. 7, 8. But, without his service for you, ye had perished for ever, ye had been bound hand and foot in utter darkness, for your breaking the first covenant of service. Are not ye and your service then wholly his ? And, if ye believe ye had perished eternally unless he had served for you, can ye refuse him your service ?

3. The service he performed for you was hard service ; the yoke he puts upon you is easy, and the burden light, Matth. xi. 30. He served as a bond-servant for you; he requires you to serve him as a son serveth his father, Mai. iii. 17- If his people make their own service harder, they owe it not to his Spirit, but to their own spirit, or a worse, Rom. viii. 15, " For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear." No less than obedience, every way perfect, could be accepted at his hand : but he will graciously accept sincere obedience, attended with many imperfections, at your hand. He had a hot service, a hot working service, a hot fighting service for you, in the fire of the wrath of God, which burnt against him, as standing in your room. Behold him in the garden, in a cold niglit, sweating great drops of blood at his service ! behold him on the cross, at once grappling with the Father's wrath, the rage and power of devils and men ! and hear him calling for your service on that very score, Cant. v. 2, " Open to me :—for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night."

4. His service being finished, he is now, in consequence thereof, exalted to be Lord of all, Phil. ii. 9, 10, " Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." He is now crowned King in Zion ; and all are solemnly commanded by the authority of Heaven to submit to him, and serve him, to kiss the Son, Psalm ii. 12. Our Joseph, who was sold for a servant, is now brought forth of the dungeon, and made ruler over all the land : he rides in the second chariot, and it is cried before him, " Bow the knee." His sheaf now stands upright: let all his brethren bow down before him, even to the earth. Behold him, 0 believer, who served for thee in the character of a bond-servant, now highly exalted, all power given unto him in heaven and in earth : behold him sitting on the right hand of the throne of majesty, commending thee to the broad law of the ten commands, the eternal rule of righteousness ; and strictly binding thee to obedience thereto, by the authority of God thy Creator and Preserver; and with the additional tie of his mediatory authority, his right of redemption over thee, and his dying love to thee, which may well supply the place

of the bond of the covenant of works, and the curse, the only tie unto obedience which he hath taken from off thee by his service.

5. Christ served his hard and sore service for you, to this very end, that ye, being delivered from your bondage and slavery under sin and the curse, " might serve him in holiness and righteousness," Luke i. 74, 75. It was for this end the Lord Jesus undertook his service for you : why would ye then go about to frustrate the end of your Redeemer's undertaking for you ? is this your kindness to your frieud ? It is unthankfulness with a witness, to refuse him your service, to which ye are bound by the strongest ties of gratitude for the greatest favour from your best friend.

6. Your service is dear bought; grudge it not. It is the price of blood, the blood of the Son of God, " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works," Tit. ii. 14. Serving the Lord is a precious privilege, as well as a duty; for it is a part of heaven's happiness, Rev. xxii. 3. " His servants shall serve him." Ye were in bondage to sin and Satan, which would not permit you to serve the Lord ; until Christ, by his service, took their yoke from off your necks. Ye were in bondage under the curse, that no service to God could be accepted at your hand ; till ye were relieved through Christ's becoming a curse for you. Ye were bound hand and foot, yea, dead in trespasses and sins, that ye could not serve the Lord ; until his precious blood set you free, and his death gave you life and strength. And shall your service, the purchase of blood, be withheld from the glorious Purchaser ? So far as it is so, it is doubtless owing to unbelief. 0 believer, look to the cross of Christ, and behold how he paid for every good work, every good word, yea, every good thought of thine. There is not one of these found, or that shall be found with thee, through the ages of eternity, but it springs from the merit and never-failing efficacy of Christ's service. And, had not the Lord Jesus taken on him the form of a servant for us, there had never been one piece of acceptable service to God, one good work, word, or thought, found among the children of men, after the breach of the first covenant.

7. There is a glorious and full reward, gained by Christ's service, awaiting all his servants at the end of their course ; even the full enjoyment of God in the other world : in which ye shall be completely happy to all eternity, 1 Thess. iv. 17, " So shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 John iii. 27, "We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Our Lord Jesus having run in the name and on the head of the blessed company, the designed heirs of glory, and having won the prize for them all; now sits on a throne at the

end of the race, with the prize in his hand, calling you to make haste and follow him, and to run so, in faith and obedience, that you may obtain, 1 Cor. ix. 24. Have " respect to the recompense of reward," Heb. xi. 26. Set and keep your eye upon it, all along in your service, as a won prize, and won for you, by the great Servant: and let the hope of it excite, animate, and encourage you to the hardest pieces of service in your way towards it. The time is but short: wherefore, though your service be difficult, it will not be longsome. And the glorious reward will more than counterbalance all your toil. And remember, that according to your works in his service, so will your share of the reward be, greater or smaller, 2 Cor. ix. 6, " He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." The reason is, because both our service to God, and our reward, are purely and equally the fruits of Christ's service for us ; and so they are proportioned to the efficacy of it in us ; wherefore, according to the efficacy of Christ's service in us, so will our service be, and so will our reward be ; and so the greater service, the greater reward.

8. If ye do indeed belong to Christ, as these for whom he served, ye shall certainly serve him. For, if he was crucified for you, your old man was nailed to the same cross with him, that sin might be destroyed in you, and you might serve him ; Rom. vi. 6, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." And your service is a part of the reward of his service, which he cannot lose; for he has his Father's faithfulness engaged for it, in the promise of the covenant made to him, Psalm xxii. 30, "A seed shall serve him;" they shall serve him sincerely here, and perfectly hereafter. So that heaven and earth shall be overturned, and the whole frame and course of nature reversed, rather than one soul, for which Christ served, be left in bondage to its lusts.

Take heed then to yourselves; for your deliverance from the bondage of your lusts, and your serving the Lord, is the necessary decisive evidence of your part in Christ, of any saving interest in him and his service. If ye serve him in truth, his service is yours, imputed to you for all the purposes of life and salvation. If ye serve him not, ye have neither part nor lot in that matter, but must perish for ever, Luke xiii. 3, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Horn. viii. 13, " If ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye bhall live." If ye be not his servants, to serve him, ye are slaves to the devil and your lusts; and ye shall die the death of slaves

for your trausgressions: ye shall die a cursed death, under the curse of the law, staking you down under eternal wrath, from which ye shall never be able to lift your head: ye shall die a shameful death, stripped of all covering whatsoever, the whole world beholding your shame ; ye shall die a death painful beyond expression, through revenging wrath, like nails and spears, piercing into your very souls : and ye shall die a lingering death, spun out through all the ages of eternity.

Lastly, By Christ's service there is strength purchased, wherewith ye may serve him; and it lies open to you, to be improved in the way of believing, for enabling you to your work, Isa. xlv. 24, " Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." The service which the Lord Jesus took off our hand upon himself, namely, the bond-service, was what we neither had nor could have strength for. Strength for the suffering part of it man never had ; strength for the working part of it man once indeed had, but now it is lost. Hence these who continue in the bondservice still, under the law or covenant of works, can work none at all; they can work no work truly good and acceptable in the sight of God. And it is vain, upon that view, to bid them work, without directing them, in the first place, to get in to Jesus Christ from under that covenant. But now the Mediator has purchased a new stock of strength, for the new service which he puts in our hand; and it is lodged in himself, treasured up in him as the head of influences : and in the faith of it we are to set about our work, 2 Tim. ii. 1, " Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." So shall we be enabled for the hardest service required of us, Philip, iv. 13, " I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Come then, and resolutely ply the service he calls you to.

II. If ye have any part or lot in Christ's service, serve him as sons and daughters; serve him as a son serveth his father, not as a bond-servant serveth his master. If thou art in Christ, " thou art no more a servant, (i. e. a bond-servant), but a son." Gal. iv. 7-Serve him then agreeable to the character ye bear before him. As it is your duty, so it is your high privilege, that ye have access to serve him in that manner. It is the price of Christ's blood ; slight it not. He served as a bond-man, that ye might serve as sons. Ye had been bond-servants for ever, had not the Son of God become a bond-servant for you, being " made under the law, that ye might receive the adoption of sons," Gal. iv. 4, 5. And indeed he only was fit to serve God in that character: none else was able to have managed it acceptably. Wherefore,

1. Serve him out of love to him ; let your work and labour be a " work and labour of love," Heb. vi. 10. Behold the Son of God serving a hard service in your stead, from love to his Father, and love to you who were altogether unlovely ; and let the love of Christ constrain you to obedience. Believing views of Christ in the form of a servant will produce this constraining love, 2 Cor. v. 14, " For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all," &c. They will also prevent your acting from a slavish fear of punishment, and a servile hope of reward, both of them unbecoming the state of sonship, 2 Tim. i. 7, " For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." As, on the other hand, they will fill you with a filial fear of God's fatherly anger, and a son-like hope of the purchased and promised reward.

2. Serve him universally, so as ye may " stand perftct and complete in all the will of God," Col. iv. 12. The Spirit of adoption brings men unto this evangelical perfection: but a sinner serving God in the state of bondage will never comply with the whole will of God; but there will still be exceptions lying in the heart of such a one against some one or other piece of commanded service. This is evident from the Psalmist's testimony, Psalm cxix. 3, "Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy command-meuts." Serve ye the Lord then as sons, sticking at no piece of service commanded you, however painful, costly, or dangerous; for at this rate Christ served for you, sparing neither pains nor cost, and sticking at no danger.

Lastly, Serve him constantly, even to the end, Psalm, cxix. 112, " I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end." It argues the spirit of a sinner in the state of bondage, to ply the work no longer than the whip is held over one's head, or than one has something to gain to himself by his work, Job xxvii. 10, " Will he delight himself in the Almighty ? will he always call upon God ?" Shew yourselves sons of God, by cleaving to his service continually, and never going back again to your old masters. Remember him who was obedient even unto death.

Secondly, And more particularly, If ye have any part or lot in this matter, let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, who for you took on him the form of a servant.

1. Be of a loving and charitable disposition towards your brethren the sons of men. Be concerned for the good of others, as well as for your own. Lay aside all hatred, malice and revenge, envy and grudge, at the good of others, as ever ye would shew yourselves

partakers of the Spirit of Christ. Love your neighbour as yourselves. Let the love that Christ shewed to his Father and to mankind, in taking on the form of a servant in man's nature, inspire you with this love.

2. " As ye have opportunity, do good," and be serviceable " unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith," Gal. vi. 10. "Whether they be good or bad, withhold not ye the good that is in the power of your hand to do them. The Father set his love on a select company of mankind : but they behoved to be redeemed, to be bought from destruction with a price : and no sooner was it proposed to the Son to do this for them, but he consented to it, and to take on him the form of a servant for that effect. If the same mind be in you that was in Christ, it will not divert you from doing good to men, though you are nothing obliged to them, they are unworthy of kindness, have done wrong to you, and ye cannot expect compensation from them. Could any or all of these arguments have prevailed with the Son of God to withhold his helping hand from us, we had been all under bondage to this day, without hope of relief. And let it move you to do good to the saints in a special manner, that they are the persons in particular for whom Christ took on him the form of a servant.

3. Put on bowels of humanity, mercies, and compassion towards those who are in distress, Col. iii. 12. A selfish and untender disposition, void of sympathy with those in misery, is most unlike that mind which was in Christ Jesus, who, in his pity towards miserable sinners, laid aside the robes of his glory, and took on him the form of a servant, that he might relieve them. But " he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy," James, ii. 13.

4. Shew a strict regard to justice in your dealings; and be conscientious in giving every one his due. It was from regard to justice and that the service due uuto God from the elect, in virtue of the original contract, might be performed, that Jesus Christ took on him the form of a servant, and made out the service.

5. Be humble, and condescend to low things necessary for the good of others. For this we have the example of God's equal, taking on him the form of a servant: which may fill the faces of the proud and selfish with shame and blushing, John xiii. 14, 15, " If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you."

Lastly, Be mortified to the ease, pomp and splendour of the world. Be ready at God's call, to forego the comforts of a present life, in

the believing prospect of a better ; " looking unto Jesus, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame :" and sit down contented, though the world should neither give you its good word, nor its kind look. All the time that our blessed Lord Jesus Christ was in the world, from his birth to his burial, he was in it in the character of a bond-servant: and accordingly had but coarse entertainment, hard lodging, being held in no reputation, and at length buffeted, scourged, and crucified.

THE

PECULIAR MERCY

AND

BUSINESS OF LIFE,

OPENED UP, AND APPLIED.

Several Sermons preached at Ettrick. in the year 1727.

Isaiah xxxviii. 19.

The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

It is much to be desired, that men would consider the great business of their life : but few do it, till it is just going, or gone out of their hands. Hezekiah had been at the brink of the grave, and learned those just thoughts of life, which he gives us with much concern in the text. Wherein we have,

1. The mercy of life : " The living, the living, he shall praise thee," &c. Yer. 18, he had been speaking of the dead, the inhabitants of the gloomy mansions of the grave : and in opposition to these he here speaks of the living, and in a triumphant manner pro-poseth to speak of them, as seeing the mercy of life. A serious view of death is the way to get just thoughts of the mercy of life.

2. Wherein the mercy of life, the peculiar mercy of it consists. And the decision of this is in a vein of thought peculiar to the spiritual man, in a spiritual frame.

1st, Ask the carnal man, where lies the mercy of life ? And, (1.) If he is in prosperity, with health and wealth, he reckons the mercy of life lies, in that the living man may enjoy the pleasures of sense, mirth, and jollity, and may lay up wealth for him and his; all which stern death robs a man of. But there is not one word of this here.

(2.) If he is in adversity, poverty, and sore sickuess, he either caunot see the mercy of life at all, but thinks they are well that are away, that are out of poverty and pain, and lie at ease in the dust.

So crosses make him wish to be away. At best, he reckons it the mercy of life, that he is not there where it may be he would be worse, viz. in hell. But there is not a word of all this neither in the text.

2dly, Ask the renewed man in an ill frame of spirit, where lies the mercy of life ? If he is in outward prosperity, he will be ready to reckon it lies in the comforts of this life. If he is in adversity, the troubles of life are so great, that the mercy of it is small in his view; only heaven bulks in his eyes, and that as a place of rest from trouble. But there is nothing of this neither in the text.

The decision is, The mercy of life lies in the business of life, to wit, being serviceable for God in the world : " The living, the living, he shall praise thee," &c. Hezekiah counts that the great mercy of life, to have access to be useful for God in the world. "Which speaks (1.) A high esteem of God and his service, as men count it a favour to be allowed to serve their prince. (2 ) An ardent love to him, as men delight to serve the interests of those they dearly love. This will be to a spiritual man in a spiritual frame the most desirable thing in life : Phil. i. 20, 21, " According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This is a just endearment of life. Now, the business of life for which it is desirable, is twofold.

1. To praise or glorify God in the world ; to speak of the perfections of his nature, and show forth the praises of him who hath called ns, among men, to the advancement of his kingdom here under the sun : to strike up beams of his glory in a dark world, and commend him and his way before and to others. Now, here consider,

1st, "Whose is this privilege: "The living, the living," i. e. the living all along in a succession of generations to the end of the world. That is the import of the doubling of this word. This access to the praising of God in the world, is peculiar to the living. And,

(1.) It is not those that are now dead, but those that are now living, that have access to shew forth his praise, and glorify him, in a world where he is so much dishonoured ; to side with him, and take his part against his enemies. It is true, the souls of dead saints are praising God in heaven in the loftiest strains : but what the better is the world of these praises ? No more than they that are sitting in the dark room down stairs, are the better of a glorious lamp shining in the upper room. Is there ever a poor sinner brought

acquainted and to fall in love with Christ by their meaus ? No ; their praises of God are to sinners here as if they were not; they hear them not. Is the kingdom of Christ in the world advanced by these praises ? No. It is the living, the living only, that have access to those pieces of service to God. The living man that sits in a cote-house has the access to glorify God in the world that no saint in heaven has.

(2.) If those that are now living were once dead, they will have no more access to praise him in the world; but those that will be then living: and so on to the end. Men will go off the stage one after another, but they will not carry that work with them ; but it will still be left in the hands of the living, and no other, whatever they make of it. There are heads, tongues, and hands of ministers and Christians lying in the grave, that have contrived, spoken, and acted well for God in the world : but now, if the cause of God and religion, which is very low, were at the last gasp, there is no more help to be had from those heads, tongues, and hands. The living only must speak and act for it, or it must lie.

2c%, An instance of it: " As I do this day." Hezekiah was recovered from sickness, and he gives God the praise of it. He looked on it as his bounden duty to fall closely again to that business of life, which was likely to have been taken out of his hands by death. What time of life the Lord lengthens out to us, after threatening a removal, we should be careful to use for the honour of God.

2. To propagate his name and praise : " The father to the children shall make known thy truth." It is the special business of life, to endeavour that the name of God may live and be glorified in the world, when we are dead. It is a black mark for persons not to care what come of the world if they were out of it. A child of God will be concerned, that religion may be kept up and propagated in it: and while he is living, he has access to contribute to it. And here consider,

1st, What he has access to do for that end; namely, to praise God to the younger sort, that are likely to live after he is gone ; especially to his own family, and particularly his own children. (Heb.) " The father to the children ;" q.d. The father [" shall praise thee"] to the children. They may shew to them how lovely God is, and how desirable his way : and when they have children, they may do the same to them ; and so on, God's praise will be kept up in the world.

Now observe, he is still speaking of the living, for these are the subject expressly proposed to be spoken of. Q. d. As for the living, the living father may praise thee to the living sons. It imports,

(1.) If the father die, though the children live, he can do God no

more honour, and them no more service that way. If he has neglected his duty to his family in his life, he cannot come back again to mend the matter. If he left them ignorant of God, and strangers to him, though one word from him again could save their souls from the pit, he has no more access to give them it.

(2.) If the children die, though the father live, he can do God no more honour, and them no more service that way. He may take care of their dust, to bury it: but he can do no more for their souls : " As the tree falls it must lie." While they are both standing and living together, he has access to serve their souls : but when one of them falls, that work is at an end.

Idly, How he may do it, how he may commend him to them; namely, by making him known to them as an object worthy of their faith, trust and confidence: " Shall make known thy truth." The expression in the Hebrew is concise, " He may make known, unto thy truth." The word rendered to hope, ver. 18, properly signifying intensely to look, Neh. ii. 13, 15, is understood. Q. d. That they may look unto thy truth or faithfulness. So in it are two things to be considered.

(1.) The proper method of praising or commending God to the rising generation ; and that is, by making him known. The more he is known, the more lovely will he appear. " God is light." The best way to commend the sun to one sitting in a dark room, is to open the windows, and let in its light, and bid him look to it with his eyes : the best way to commend God and religion to the generation rising, is to labour that they may know and understand them, by teaching.

(2.) The great thing we are to have in view in that work. It is, that they may look intensely unto his truth ; that they may look away from the lies and vanities the world is holding out to them, to be embraced as their portion: and that they may look unto the truth of God in Christ, in the promise of the gospel, by an eye of faith, trust, and confidence, fixed on it, and hold by that as their portion, their sure portion.

This is what men may do for the rising generation, and the view they should do it on : but God only can give it efficacy. No doubt Hezekiah did as he said, coirmended God, and made him known to Manasseh his son : but how unsuccessful all he did that way was, is notour from the wicked life his son led. Yet Hezekiah's work was accepted, and his prayers heard in the end; and perhaps his words were minded too, in Manasseh's conversion at long run.

Three doctrines are deducible from the words.

Doct. I. It is the peculiar mercy of life, that the living only are, and all along will be, those that have access to praise and glorify God in the world.

Doct. II. It is the special business and privilege of life, to propagate religion, God's name and praise, the standing generation to the rising generation, the fathers to the children, all along.

Doct. III. The true way of propagating religion, the standing to the rising generation, is, That the former make God known to the latter, so as they may betake themselves unto him, his truth and faithfulness, by faith and trust.

We shall handle each of these doctrines in order.

Doct. I. It is the peculiar mercy of life, that the living only are, and all along will be, those that have access to praise and glorify God in the world.

In prosecuting this doctrine, we shall,

I. Consider the praising or glorifying God in the world.

II. Shew how it is a valuable mercy and privilege of the living, that they have access to praise God in the world.

III. How this access to praise God in the world is and will be the peculiar mercy of the living.

IV. Lastly, Apply.

1. We shall consider the praising or glorifying God in the world. And here we shall shew,

1. What praising of God is.

2. What are the peculiarities of the praises of the living.

First, What praising of God is. It is the acknowledging and declaring of the glorious excellencies of God, as he has manifested himself in his word and works ; and imports,

1. The belief of the being of God: Heb. xi. 6. " He that cometh to God, must believe that he is." Atheism wholly cuts off the the praises of God ; for who can praise that which he does not believe to be ? The works of creation and providence proclaim his being : but such is the natural enmity of man against God, and his addictedness to his lusts, that he secretly wisheth there were not a God, and so is disposed to believe so, if he could get any footing for it: Psalm xiv. 1, " The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God :" and that is at the root of men's living to a contrary end to his praise. Tit. i. ult. " They profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."

2. The knowledge of God. To whom he is an unknown God, he will be an unpraised God. Hence ignorance is ruining : Hos. iv. 6,

" My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Isa. xxvii. 11, " It is a people of no understanding : therefore he that made them, will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them, will show them no favour." To live to the praising of God requires,

1st, The knowledge of who he is, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God, 1 John v. 7. In the name of the three persons, we are baptized by divine appointment: if we know him not so, we know not the God to whom we are engaged in baptism ; and so cannot praise him.

2c%, The knowledge of what he is : the discerning of his glorious perfections, which are the matter of his praise. We must know him to be the greatest and best of beings, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth ; more excellent than any creatures, or all of them together, as being the fountain of all excellency in them.

Zdly, The knowledge of what he has done. His works are glorious—creation, providence, and redemption. By them he shews what he is, (Psalm xix. 1, " The heavens declare the glory of God : and the firmament sheweth his handiwork)," and affords us matter of praise : and we are to think on them for that end, that we may from thence praise him, Psalm cxi. 2, " The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." And it is highly offensive not to regard them : Psalm xxvii. 5, " Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up." That is to deny him his praise.

3. The love of God. Love is the mother of praise, and natively brings it forth, they that do not love God, can never kindly or acceptably praise him. 1 John iv. 16, " God is love," not only subjectively, infinitely loving ; but objectively, wholly lovely. And so he is in tho eyes of all who live to his praise. To them the Father is lovely, the Son lovely, the Holy Spirit lovely. Every attribute of God is lovely. The holiness and purity of his nature, the great eye-sore of carnal men, is most lovely to them : Exod. xv. 11, " Who is like unto thee, 0 Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ?" Psalm xxx. 4, " Sing unto the Lord, 0 ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." His works are lovely. The creation of the world is a lovely work; the guiding of it by providence a lovely work; but the most lovely is the redemption of the world by the blood of Christ.

4. The admiration of God; which is, love and esteem raised to a high pitch. This is the nearest cause of praise ; for it is the heart swelling with admiration of the object, that bursts forth in praises,

Exod. xv. 11, above cited. They that live to God's praise, are ad-rah'ers of hira : they see all excellencies in hira to be transcendant— nothing comparable to them in the whole creation, and believe there are infinite treasures of excellency in him, which they cannot comprehend. So their heart saith, with the Psalmist, " "Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee," Psalm lxxiii. 25. Launching into the ocean of the glories of his nature and works, they see it is shoreless; Psalm cvi. 2, " "Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord ? who can shew forth all his praise?"

5. Lastly, The expressing that love to, and admiration of him: Exod. xv. 11, forecited. Micah vii. 18, "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy." This is it in which the essence of praising God consists, and is the great end tor which man was made : and it is the native becoming return the creature is to make to its Creator, from whom it has received all, and to whom it can give nothing, but only commend him, and set forth his glory. And this not being confined to words, is twofold.

1st, Vocal, by words. It is called " the calves of our lips," Hos. xiv. 2; and the "the fruit of our lips," Heb. xiii. 15. Man's tongue is called his glory, Psalm xvi. 9, as being a prime instrument wherewith he is furnished for praising and glorifying God. And thus we are to praise him, solemnly and statedly, in the duties of worship, singing his praises; and occasionally, in speaking to his praise, as we have occasion offered.

2dly, Real, by deed or actions, though it be not accompanied with words : for as there is a practical atheism, Tit. i. ult.; so there is a practical praising or glorifying God. And this is the main thing in that praise which is the end of life, without which vocal praise avails not. It is twofold.

(1.) In heart: 1 Cor. vi. 20, " Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God—in your spirit, which is God's." Men's praise of men from the teeth outwaixl may pass, but God knows the heart; and if the heart harmonize not with the tongue, it cannot be accepted of him, Isa. xxix. 13. He must be praised in our understanding, thinking and esteeming him above all, Psalm lxxiii. 25 ; in our will, choosing him above all, for our portion, Psalm cxlii. 5: and in our affections, loving, rejoicing, and delighting in him above all, Psalm xxxvii. 4.

(2.) In life and conversation: Matth. v. 16, " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify Vol. VII. 2 m

your Father which is in heaven." A holy life is a shining light, to let a blind world see the glory of God; for as God has expressed his nature in his word, so his word is expressed again in a holy life, Phil, ii. 15, 16. The study of holiness says, God is holy; mourning for every sin proclaims him spotless; and horror of secret, as well as of open sins, is a testimony of his omnipresence and omniscience.

Secondly, What are the peculiarities of the praises of the living? The praises of living saints have these peculiarities, which the dead have no access to.

1. They are the praises of the whole man, in soul and body too: 1 Cor. vi. 20, " Ye are bought with a price : therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Those of the dead are of their souls only ; but the living have access to praise God, soul and body in concert. Even the clay body hath, for the time of life, access to join in this honourable work : but death breaks it in pieces, that it can no more bear a part in God's praise.

2. They are praises which may spread among the living, as in their land, from whence the dead are cut off: Col. iii. 16, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The voice of the praises of living saints, may be heard under this vault of the heavens ; but the praises above, as high a strain as they are in, reach not hither, to this our native earth.

3. They are praises raised by the way to the heavenly kingdom, which the dead have no more access to join in. The living are upon the road, the dead are at their journey's end. There is a song of praise raised in the house of our pilgrimage, Psalm cxix. 54; but there is a deep silence in the grave. The wilderness-song is peculiar to the living.

4. They are praises of faith, not of sight: 2 Cor. v. 7, " For we walk by faith, not by sight." The saints in glory raise a song of praise to God, upon their seeing and enjoying ; the living saints, upon their believing what their eye hath not seen, 1 Pet. i. 8. Praising God on what one sees of him, is more comfortable to the party himself: but praising him, upon what one believes of him, if other circumstances be alike, is more to the honour of God: John xx. 29, " Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Rom. iv. 20, 21, " Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God : and being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform."

5. Lastly, They are praises to God amidst a deal of dishonours doue to him. David takes notice of God's covering a table to him in the midst of his enemies, Psalm xxiii. 5; and God will take notice of praises given him in the midst of those that dishonour him : Rev. ii. 13, " I know thy works," [writing to the angel of the church in Pergamos], and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is : and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." The saints in glory praise him, there being none to open a mouth to his dishonour : but living saints praise him, in the face of contradiction by a wicked world : Prov. xxviii. 4,—" Such as keep the law, contend with the wicked."

II. The second general head is, to shew how it is a valuable mercy and privilege of the living, that they have access to praise God in the world. The living should value this as their privilege.

1. In regard that they might justly ere now have been put beyond all possibility of praising God at all; but might have beeu blaspheming in hell, through extreme anguish and despair : Lam. iii. 22, " It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not cousumed, because his compassions fail not." The rich man in hell, tormented in the flame, had no access to praise God : the burden of wrath lying on the damned there, will hold down for ever their praises, and change them to bowlings.

2. In regard of the honour thereby to be brought to God in the world ; which in itself is most valuable, and therefore is man's chief end : 1 Cor. x. 31, " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Compared with Psalm 1. 23, " Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me." He lives to good purpose, that lives to the honour of God ; and he that doth not so live, doth at best but trifle away a life, never reaching the main end of it. Nothing should be so dear to us as God's honour; and therefore our all must be laid out on it as he calls for it, Luke xiv. 26. Aud it is the mercy of life, that we have access to honour him in the world.

3. In regard of the good to be thereby done to others. The view of this made Paul content to abide out of heaven for some time ; as you may see, Phil. i. 23, 24, " I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ ; which is far better : nevertheless, to abide in the flesh, is more needful for you." 0 what a satisfying thought must it be, to be instrumental towards the saving of a soul from hell, and bringing it to acquaintance with Christ! Nobody knows what a good word, or a good example, at a time may do : and to this the living have access only; but once

2 m 2

dead, men can be no more serviceable to the world of mankind Eccl. ix. 10.—" For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest."

4. It is an honour to serve and honour God in the world. This makes a man truly worthy and honourable. The dignity of the master, and the work, reflects an honour on the servant that does it. Therefore says the Psalmist, Psalm lxxxiv. 10, "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand ; I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." And since no master is so honourable as God is, it must be then a peculiar honour to be serviceable to him, Heb. xi.

5. This is the only true balance of that meanness, misery, and trouble, that attends this life. Considering the spiritual original, make, and vast capacity, of the soul of man ; it will appear but a very mean thing to be taken up in eating, drinking, decking; yea, in building, planting, working, &c. on this cursed earth. From the seat of the blessed could we take our prospect, men so employed here would appear but as a company of emmets busy in a hillock. The troubles that attend this life are innumerable, and they fly about us as the midges do on a hot summer day. All which, viewed by the soul, are apt to make a noble mind sick of this life, in its best appearances ; as a bird would be of the cage. The only balance for all this is, that in it there is access to praise God in the world. Hereby the meanest things are ennobled, and the hardest things softened, that God is to be honoured in these.

6. As men have access to praise God in this world, they have access to raise their reward in another world. Men think it a great matter to have access to raise an estate for themselves and theirs : but we have access, by our honouring of God in this world, to raise our reward in the other. For though the Lord doth not give eternal glory for our works, he gives it according to them : 2 Cor. ix. 6, " He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly : and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." And they that have shined here in usefulness most, will shine there in glory most: Han. xii. 3, " 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." Compared with 1 Cor. xv. 41, " There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; for one star differeth from another star in glory."

7. Lastly, The praising of God carri s a reward in its bosom, to be enjoyed in time: Psalm xix. 11,—"In keeping of them [the judgments of the Lord] there is great reward." It is good, pleasant,

and comely, Psalm cxlvii. 1. There is a secret satisfaction in one's having done his duty, endeavouring to live to the honour of God, 2 Cor. i. 12. And particularly it makes a pleasant reflection, when one is come to the end of his course : as in the case of Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 7, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." Compared with what our Lord says, John xvii. 4, " I have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." And he that praiseth God to others, is himself partaker of the fruits.

III. The third general head is, to shew how this access to praise God in the world is and will be the peculiar mercy of the living.

1. It is the peculiar mercy of us who are now living on the faco of the earth : it is peculiar, I gay, to us at this time. They who are yet unborn, can do nothing, since as yet they are not: they who are now dead, though yet they are in being, have no access more to praise God in this world, Psalm cxv. 17- There have been many generations on earth before us ; and millions of men and women are gone by death from hence into another world, who sometimes had their turn of access to this praise: but now, though they are, yet not one of them all has access to join us in praising God.

2. In all time to come, to the end of the world, this privilege will be confined to those who for the time shall be on the stage. There will be generations after us, as there have been before us; and the work will be devolved on the next generation for their time; witli whom we, being gone off the stage, will have no more access to join, than those already dead have to join with us. And then they will go, and another rise up in their stead, and get the work put into their hands, none of the former to meddle with it: and so on to the end. The reasons are,

1st, There is no returning to this world when once gone. Death is a flitting for good and all, never to come back, Job vii. 9, 10. Job was sensible of this, chap. x. 21, when he said—" I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death." We must praise him before we lie down in the grave, or never; for there is no rising out of it to that work, Psalm lxxxvii. 10. We cannot come back, and God will not bring us back.

2c%, The state and business of the two worlds are, by an unalterable purpose, made quite different. Here men are in a state of trial; there in a settled state for ever, according to their management in the trial. Here is the place of working at the command and for the honour of the Master; there is the place of the reward of their works. If the sun should come back over from west to east, and so make night day the ordinance of heaven would be quite

altered; so nobody expects it. As little is the access of any but the living, to praise God in the world, to be expected or looked for.

3<%, This world is under a peculiar mark of divine indignation, as defiled by sin, Gen. iii. 17 ; and should have been destroyed when it was first defiled, had not the Mediator interposed to keep up the tottering fabric for some time for the elect's sake, Isa. xlix. 8. So men are hastened through it, as through a defiled place, and have an opportunity of praising God by the way. And therefore it cannot be expected that ever that opportunity shall be repeated.

Lastly, When the dead shall live again, this world shall be destroyed, and be no more. As long as we shall lie in our graves, incapable to praise, this world will last: but wheu we shall live again at the resurrection, it shall be consumed by the general conflagration, and be no more. So there is no access to praise God in the world, but for those that now live, and those that shall live to the end : Rev. xx. 12,—" The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Chap. xxi. 1 " And I saw a new heaven, and a new earth : for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." In the new heavens and earth, no doubt God will be praised, 2 Pet. iii. 13 : but he will have no more praises here off the hand of any, when once they are gone off the stage, which will fall down under the last generation to be on it.

Use 1. Of information. Hence learn,

1. That the business of life is to honour God in the world. And if that be so, many have been many years in it, that have never yet fallen to their business, nay, nor once seriously laid to heart what their business is. 0 hear the great Master saying to you, Matth. xx. 6, " Why stand ye here all the day idle ?" and see how ye will answer that question. Ye are busy doing nothing, worse than nothing: but what have ye done, are you doing, will ye do, for God ? Ye are living: but what praise, what honour comes to God by your living? What more honour comes to God by your living, than ye would do him if ye were in the grave ? I beseech you, consider this, as ye will answer it to God, who hath said, Mai. i. 6, " A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master : if then I be a father, where is mine honour ? and if I be a master, where is my fear ?"

Object. 1. Some I fear will think, though not say, that they have other business to fill their heads and hands with, how to get a through-bearing in the world for them and theirs. Answ. Ah, is another world not worth your consideration ? Or can ye think that ever ye shall enjoy God in that world, who are not careful to

honour him here ? Consider what the Lord says, 1 Sam. ii. 30,— •'Them that honour me, I will honour; and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed." To spend all the time you live in wrestling with this world for a through-bearing, and after ye are dead to wrestle with the wrath of God for ever, is a sad tryst; better ye had never been born. Be concerned to honour God while ye live : and God will see to your provision while ye live, and make you happy after.

Object. 2. But I have no access to do any thing for the honour of God, in respect of my circumstances in the world : worldly business is by providence laid to my hand for the business of my life.

Answ. 1st, It is a common mistake in point of practice, that there are any who have no access to honour God in the world. Though some are placed in higher and more extensive spheres of activity for God, yet there is no station so low in the world but it is a sphere wherein people may honour God, if they have a heart for it. This you may see verified in the parable of the talents, Matth. xxv. 14, 15, " The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods: and unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to every man according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey." If one is in life, though never so low, according to the text, he may honour God. If one is a magistrate, or a church officer, he has access to honour God among those over whom he is set. Though he be neither, if he is a person of weight and consideration in the place where he lives; as far as that weight goes, so far goes the sphere of his activity for God, which he is to fill up by honouring God. If he is a master of a family, there is a sphere of activity for God he is put in. If he is a single member of a family, he has a sphere of activity among other single members of it. To this purpose speaks the apostle, 1 Cor. vii. 24, "Brethren, let every man wherein he is called, therein abide with God."

2dly, It is the honouring of God in our several stations that is the true honouriug of him, 1 Cor. vii. 24, just now cited. That we cannot do for the honour of God what does not belong to our station, is so far from being our sin, that it would be a dishonouring of him to attempt it. The moon is useful to the world, though it shines not by day; the stars too, though they shine not so bright as the moon. The hands are useful to the body, though one does not walk on them ; the feet, though one does not see with them, &c. Are you a child of a family ? your business of life as such is to be an obedient, dutiful, pliable child : are you a servant ? yours is to be a faithful, honest, dutiful servant. Whatever relation you stand

in ye are to honour God by a conscientious practice of the duties of your relation.

Sdly, Whatever business God has laid to your hand, follow it as duty from God laid upon you; so ye will live to his honour. Hence is that exhortation of the apostle, Col. iii. 17, " Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." And ver. 23, " Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord." Set about your business as commanded you of God, acting in it as under the eye of God, and looking to his word as your rule, and to the merit of Christ for God's acceptance of it. Whatever trials and sufferings the Lord lays on you, bear them patiently, because it is his will; and bear them for the sake of Christ that bare greater for us; and look for the acceptance of your bearing them through Christ. So shall the honouring of God be the business of your life whatever your circumstances are, high or low.

2. The business of honouring God in the world, formerly in the hands of the former generation, is now devolved on you. See what ye will do with it. To this purpose prophesies the Psalmist David, Psalm cxlv. 4, " One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." The former generation of the righteous, by keeping the law, contended with the wicked, and maintained the honour of God in the world ; they rowed against the stream of an ungodly crew, in the face of persecution, fining, confining, banishment, violent death, till they fell by death, holding up the standard for the honour of God : and then they gave it to you, saying, " The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day ; the father to the children shall make known thy truth." On this I would say,

1st, Ye must answer for the standard now. If it go now while ye live, your life shall go for ever for it, though ye were left alone to hold it up : Psalm lx. 4, " Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee: that it may be displayed because of the truth." Mark viii. ult., " Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of ray words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." Take heed then, there is a sacred trust committed into your hands ; the generations of martyrs all along have conveyed it to you at the expense of their blood, it having been set up first at the expense of the blood of Christ.

Idly, Ye must either hold it up, or treacherously desert into the enemies' camp, formed to dishonour God. Hence says our Lord, Matth. xii. 30, "He that is not with me, is against me : and he that

gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." Many set np for neutralists; they go not into all excess with the openly profane, but they are as far from making it the business of their life to honour God. God will rank such with his enemies : Psalm cxxv. ult., "As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity."

Sdly, The saints of former generations will condemn you, as a spurious brood of treacherous men, that made so little account of what they wared their all on to transmit to you: 1 Cor. vi. 2, " Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" Ye do by your ungodly lives, dishonouring God, declare them fools: the day will come, that they will declare you fools, worthy to perish for ever, though ye have come out of their loins : Rev. xix. 3, " And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever."

3. The business of honouring God in the world ye are to transmit to the succeeding generation, since it is the living, all along in a succession of generations to the end of the world, that have access to the praising of God. Hence says the Psalmist, Psalm lxxviii. 2, 3, 4, " I will open my mouth in a parable : I will utter dark sayings of old: which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come, the praises of the Lord; and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done." As ye have received the standard from the former, ye are to hand it down to the succeeding generation ; that when ye are gone, instead of the fathers, there may be the children. See to it then, what ye do, that God may be honoured when ye are in the dust.

1st, It lies on every one of you to do it for something : Rom. xiv. 7, " For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Love to God and your neighbour binds it on you; and none of you can want occasion for it, while ye live among persons, some of whom may live after you; and have a tongue to speak, and hands to act.

2dly, If ye do it not, the honour of God is far from your heart. They that have nothing of God to communicate to others succeeding them, have nothing of God within themselves. Grace is a fire, and fire will go about to set on fire whatever is next it; so that if it do not burn, it is because it is not combustible. In the creation of plants, every tree was made with its seed in itself: so it is in the new creation of the trees of righteousness, John iv. 29.

3c%, If ye do it not, ye lay a stumbling-block before the succeeding generation, which they may be ruined by. The generation of Jews in Christ's time rejecting the gospel, as they murdered Christ, they have murdered sixteen or seventeen generations of their off-

spring since. What will come of the succeeding generation that looks to you, that live not to the honour of God ? When God calls for the standard for his honour at their hand, they will say, they never saw it; though that will not excuse them, it will aggravate your condemnation.

4. Know that ye must honour God in the world now or never, Eccl. ix. 10, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest." Now is the accepted time, wherein ye may act for your own salvation; miss this time, and the door will be shut on you never to be opened again, Prov. i. 24, &c. Now is the working time for the honour of God, wherein ye may do something for God ; miss it, and the occasion you will never more have. I would ask you,

1st, Does it concern you to honour God ? or is it none of your business? If the Father created you, certainly ye are bound to live for his honour, Rom. xi. ult. If the Son redeemed you, there is a double tie on you to live for him who died for you, Philip, i. 21. If the Holy Ghost has sanctified you, he has dedicated, fitted, and disposed you for it.

2c%, When will ye lay out yourself for it then ? It is not a work to be done at any time, but confined to one time, the time of life. Hence said our Saviour, John ix. 4, " I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." Now the glass is set up to you : there is much of it run, as ye may see by looking to the lower end, the time ye have lived: the upper end ye cannot see, what time ye have yet to live; how soon it may run out then, ye know not. But it will never be turned for you. When the last sand runs out, the word is given, The Master allows no more time for his work to you, Give account of your stewardship.

5. Lastly, Life is valuable, as giving access to honour God in the world. Hence says Hezekiah in the text and context, Isa. xxxviii. 18, 19, " The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day; the father to the children shall make known thy truth." There are many impressions of vanity on life. In itself by sin it is become a puff of wind, that passeth away ; a vapour suddenly vanishing: it is like a post for swift passage, a dream for vanity, and a dung-hill for vileness. It is the place of rendezvous for inuummerable troubles and afflictions; and is a low station for an immortal soul, with much meanness about it. There are only two things which it is valuable for, viz. that there is access in it,

1st, To act for eternal salvation to ourselves, which the dead can no more do ; 2 Cor. vi. 2,—" Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." And in this respect an hour's life may be worth a thousand worlds, because eternity may depend on it, and heaven be secured.

2dly, To act for the honour of God in the world, John ix. 4, fore-cited, which the dead have no more access to. To a good man an opportunity of doing good is valuable, as to an ill man to do mischief. What folk love, they will value access to serve : so the sinner values access to serve his lusts ; and the saint to serve his Lord, aud his neighbour. So, on this consideration,

(1.) Life is carefully and honourably to be preserved, as a valuable thing; and not to be thrown away, by neglect of the means of its preservation, or exposing it wilfully to means of destruction : Exod. xx. 13, " Thou shalt not kill."

(2.) The access to honour God in life, is to be laid in balance with the troubles of life, that the former may downweigh the latter, by that overweight that God's honour bears to our ease : Phil. i. 20, "According to my earnest expectation, and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death."

(3.) It is nicely to be improved to its proper ends, as a precious non-such, passing opportunity ; every filing of it is to be gathered up as gold-sparkling. Hence Paul exhorts to " redeem the time, because the days are evil," Eph. v. 16.

Use 2. Of reproof to several sorts of persons.

1. To those who look on the business of praising and honouring God in the world as a burden. In itself it is the mercy of life; but they treat it as the plague of life. They are, as Doeg, detained before the Lord; and any holy exercise is a weariness to them; as was the case with Israel, Amos viii. 5, " When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn ? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?" The Lord takes notice of this temper of spirit, Mai. i. 13, " Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts." 0 how would ye take with heaven ? but be sure that ye will never get there in that case, as not being " made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light," Col. i. 12. Ye will be eased of that burden, but for a heavier one, Rev. xvi. ult.

2. To those who look on it as none of their business, whoever else be concerned in it. They make no profession of living to the honour of God, and their practice is conformable. This says you

neither to look on God as your Master, nor yet as your Father, Mai. i. 6. And if so, doubtless, ye cannot look for his reward; nor for the eternal inheritance of his children : where then will lie the gain of this liberty which you take to yourselves ?

3. To those who spend their life without consideration of the chief business of life. They " spend their years as a tale that is told," Psalm xc. 9. 0 how many are dreaming away a lifetime, out of which they are not like to awake till death awake them ! They can consider any thing but their soul's state : but the thought of that they cannot dwell on. They that cannot consider the great business of life, will certainly lose the opportunity of that business, and it will speak to them in the end : Prov. xx. 4, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold ; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing."

4. To those who do delay the business of honouring God, till they shall be near death. Many such off-putters are there, who can never find the time'to begin their work, though they do not want thoughts'of it; as was the case with Felix, Acts xxiv. 25, who said to Paul, " Go thy way for this time : when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." When they are young, they put off till they be old ; then, till they be going to die ; when sickness takes them, they put off still in hopes of recovery ; when they are past hopes, they are not capable for it; and so the soul is lost. Meanwhile, all they are concerned for at best, is but their own safety, not God's honour ; and being regardless of this latter, no wonder they fall short of the former.

5. Lastly, To those whose life is a life of dishonouring God, by secret and open wickedness and untenderness. And this seems to be the general case of this generation, by which we appear to be a generation of God's wrath : Micah vii. 2, 4, " The good man is perished out of the earth : and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood : they hunt every man his brother with a net. The best of them is as a brier : the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge : the day of thy watchmen, and thy visitation cometh ; now shall be their perplexity." Corruption of life and manners is become universal, so that people are become shameless in their sin, and proof against conviction from the word, being so hardened under the softening means of grace, that the case is grown hopeless ; all which cannot miss, soon or late, to bring down some rousing stroke, Jer. vi. 15, " Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination ? nay, they weie not at all ashamed, neither could they blush ; therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord."

Use 3. Of exhortation. Make it the business of your life to live to the honour of God.

Quest. How shall we do that?

Answ. 1. Honour him by faith : Rom. iv. 20, "Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." Faith gives God the honour of all his glorious perfections as manifested in the word; and without faith there is no acceptable honouring of him. Therefore the Christian life is a life of faith, Gal. ii. 20. And honour him,

1st, By believing on his Son for salvation, receiving and resting on him as your Saviour, to save you from sin and wrath : 1 John iii. 23, " This is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ." If ye honour not God this way, ye honour him not at all, John v. 23. God has sent his Son in the character of Saviour of the world, 1 John iv. 14: put your case in his hand, that ye may be saved from your sin, and sanctified by him, and saved from wrath through him. If ye live in your sins, and will not be healed; if ye do not believe him able and willing to save you, ye dishonour God egregiously in a most tender point: 1 John v. 10, 11, —" He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life : and this life is in his Son."

2dlt/, By trusting God in Christ in all times and cases: Isa. xxvi. 4, " Trust ye in the Lord for ever." The established way of communication with heaven, is by trust in God : and faith is productive of hope, which is the anchor of the soul, keeping the soul safe and spiritually at rest, in all storms public or private, Psalm xxxvii. 7. Trusting in the creature, is a putting it in God's place; and hence bearing such a weight, it bows under it, and fails. But God is honoured by trusting him.

3c%, By believing his word in all the parts of it. Hence is that exhortation of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 20—"Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established ; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." God is to be honoured by faith's acting on every part of the word; on the commands, believing the divine authority, equity, and goodness of them, as a transcript of the divine nature, Psalm cxix. 128 ; on the promises, believing the certain accomplishment of them, however unlikely, Horn. iv. 20, 21; on the threaten-ings, believing the justice and truth of them, Isa. xxxix. ult, and lxvi. 2.

2. Honour him by the practice of holiness: 1 Pet. ii. 9, " Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar

people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." To lead a holy, tender life, is the way to honour God, conforming to him, and labouring to be like him in all conversation, 1 Pet. i. 15, 16. If ye be not uniform and universal in your obedience, that part ye are deficient in may bring a blot on all the rest; as Judas' covetous-ness and treachery wiped out all his good deeds. And if ye would live to the honour of God, I would recommend to you particularly,

1st, Diligent and reverent worshipping of God : Matth. iv. 10, " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Psalm lxxxix. 7, " God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints : and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him." "Worship him in your families, morning and evening ; worship him in secret by yourselves ; worship him in the public assemblies; set up for his honour in the world; make conscience of joining therein for the honour of God. And be reverent in the frame of yonr heart, and in your outward gesture, as knowing that he is a great God with whom ye have to do: and there can be no reverence in their hearts, who behave irreverently.

Idly, Be nice and exact, in point of justice, in your dealings; shaking your hands of all gain of unrighteousness, as in the sight of a holy, just God. Isa. xxxiii. 15, 16, " He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil: he shall dwell on high," &c. That baseness of spirit, disposing to pick and steal, cheat, and catch any little advantage they can get of their neighbour without being discovered, that one can trust them no farther than they see, is most dishonouring to God, as if either he did not see, or else did approve of their wicked practices, Psalm 1. 21, 22.

2>dly, Be readily disposed to the duties of humanity, doing good to your neighbour, being kind, merciful, and compassionate to them that are in distress and need : Col. iii. 12, " Put on therefore (as the elect of God, holy and beloved) bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering." This honours God in a very particular manner : Luke vi. 35, 36, " But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again : and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful, and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." And it has much encouragement by promise : Prov. iii. 9,10," Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase.

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." Psalm xli. 1, 2, 3, " Blessed is he that considered the poor ; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth ; and thou wilt not deliver trim into the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing : thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness." A selfish, unkind, unsympathiziug, narrow spirit, is a great stain on an otherwise fair character.

Aihly, Be the same in secret when no eye sees yon, that you would be in public. This will much honour God, when the conscience of his eye being on you, is as forcible to restrain you from evil, as the eyes of the world would be ; as was the case with Joseph, Gen. xxxix. 9, when he said to his lewd mistress, " IIow can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ?" 0 what do the practisers of secret mischief think of God ! They can do a mischief unseen, and then cover it with a lie. But alas ! is there not a God in heaven, that sees himself dishonoured by such practices ? See Prov. xxvi. 26. Open shame, or else a secret stroke, will be the consequence, Job xx. 26.

bthly, Shew yourselves on God's side, in the midst of the dishonours done to him in the world. For ye must either join issue with the dishonourers of his name, or else testify against them : hence says our Saviour, Matth. xii. 30, " he that is not with me, is against me : and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." If you have no heart nor brow to appear for God, while ye see him dishonoured, remember what God accounts of that, and how he will treat it: Mark viii. ult., " "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." Beware of being partakers with other men's sins ; but set yourselves to be a check upon sin in others, and witnesses against it, else ye honour not God.

6thly, Commend the way of God and religion to others, and encourage good motions where ye can perceive them. Grace is communicative for the honour of God ; and every gracious person is disposed to propagate religion. Hence said the Lord of Abraham, Gen. xviii. 19, " I know him, that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment," &c. The wearing out of that so much now, from what it was in former years, is one of the black symptoms of the decay of religion at this day.

7thli/, Learn to bear troubles in the world with a Christian pa-

tience, meekness, resignation, and holy cheerfulness. This doth exceedingly tend to the honour of God ; as you see exemplified in the worthies mentioned, Heb. xi. There is a despising of the chastening of the Lord, wherein the proud and foolish scorn to be lowered by the rebukes of Providence, wherein the atheism of the heart, and contempt of God appears. There is a fainting under the rebukes of Providence, wherein unbelief appears. Both are dishonourable to God, and to be guarded against, Heb. xii. 5. The middle course is to God's honour.

Lastly, Walk with God in a conscientious performance of the duties of your station. Hence is that exhortation of the apostle's, 1 Cor. vii. 24, " Brethren, let every man wherein he is called, therein abide with God." That is the sphere wherein ye are set to honour God : and God is much honoured that way. It is exemplified in the case of the priests, Mai. ii. 6, in that of wives, 1 Pet. iii. 5, and in that of servants, Tit. ii. 10. No man can live to the honour of God, who does not carefully notice, and diligently pursue the duties of his station, to the honour of God.

I shall give you a few motives to live to the honour of God.

Mot. 1. God is the author of thy life. The life and being thou hast, thou hast from God : Pom. xi. ult., " For of him, and through him, and to him are all things : to whom be glory for ever. Amen." Therefore, " remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth," Eccl. xii. 1. And since he is your first cause, is it not reasonable that he be your chief end ? The life which you had from him, will ye not improve for him ?

Mot. 2. God is the preserver of thy life. Hence says David, Psalm xxxvi. 6, " 0 Lord, thou preservest man and beast." For every moment's life thou hast had, thou art his debtor. Thy life is continually in his hand, to prolong it, or take it away, as seems good in his sight. If he should but withdraw his upholding hand, thy life would presently go. Every moment there must be a new out-letting of influence from him for preservation of thy life. How unaccountable must it be then not to live to his honour ? This was a grievous charge against Belshazzar, Dan. v. 23—" The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified."

Mot. 3. God is the giver of all thou hast whereby thou mayest honour him. Hast thou a tongue whereby thou art capable to speak for God, aud hands to act for him ? he gave them to thee. Hast thou any health, strength, wealth, and reputation, whereby thou art in capacity to honour him ? all is from him : and shall not his own be used for him ? Hence saith David, 1 Chron. xxix. 14,—

" All things come of tliee, and of thine own have we given thee." Is it not sacrilegious to do otherwise ?

Mot. 4. God puts opportunities in thine hand for honouring him. As he has given thee means whereby thou mayest honour him, so his providence lays to thy hand opportunities calling thee to use them, Luke xix. 13. Every opportunity is a providential call, to lay out what the Lord has put in thy hand for his service. And it will be found dangerous to hide one's talents in the earth, and not lay them out for God.

Mot. 5. There are some who are deprived of those abilities or occasions ye have to honour Go 1. So the whole Pagan world is deprived of gospel-light, which we all have; the sick of those which the healthy have. The not improving of them then will aggravate your condemnation, Matth. xi. 21. It is sad to be cumberers of the ground in God's vineyard, taking up room in it uselessly, which others might improve to good advantage.

Mot. 6. Ye have forfeited by sin all your abilities, opportunities, and your very life. God might justly have taken them all from us and made us as incapable to speak or act for his honour, as we have been unwilling to it. But his patience has suffered us long, and he has done us good though unthankful and evil, if peradventure these might lead us to repentance. Shall not this engage us to live to his honour ?

Mot. 7- This was the design of the redemption purchased by Christ, Tit. ii. 14, " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Man was made at first for the honour of God: sin entering rendered him unfit for that his great work. Therefore Christ died that they might be again brought to live to God's honour, Eph. v. 25—27. If then ye are not so liviug, it is an evidence Christ's redemption is not applied to you as yet: and if ye continue so, it will evidence that ye are none of the redeemed ones.

Mot. 8. It is the design of the sanctificatiou of the Spirit. Hence says the apostle, 1 Pet. ii. 9," Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." "When God puts his Spirit into a man it is that he may walk in his way, Ezek. xxxvi. 27. So that if ye live not to the honour of God, it is an evidence that ye have not the Spirit, but are dead while ye live.

Mot. 9. Lastly, It is a lost life that is not lived to the honour of God, lost in death, eternal death. Hence says our Lord, Matth. xvi. 25, 26, " Whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever

Yon. VII. 2 N

will lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Consider, this life is short, it is soon away; it is uncertain, none knows how soon : but such as it is, eternity depends on it: Eccl. ix 10—" For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest." If ye live not to the honour of God here, never expect to live with him hereafter in heaven. Remember the end of the slothful servant, Matth. xxv. 30, " Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." For your help to live to the honour of God, take these following directions :—

1. Allow yourselves the justice once seriously to consider, now that ye are living, and must die, what will be the best way for you to spend that bit of life. It is a pity that people should not propose to themselves a design of living, and consider what is that design of life that will come to the best account at length. Sure if ye do, ye will find no design so reasonable and advantageous as this.

2. Then take him for your God in Christ, that ye may live to his honour; and do not think that it is by your living to his honour that he must become your God. Faith must go before obedience, if ever the obedience be kindly. Faith, first embracing salvation in the free offer of the gospel, natively engages the heart to honour God, as a son doth his father.

3. Labour to keep up the love of God in the heart, by believing his love ; and that will be a strong band. Hence says the apostle, 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, " The love of Christ constraiueth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead : and that he died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

4. Lastly, Firmly believe that there is a reward of grace for the righteous ; and that not a good word or good work, spoke or done for God, shall want a reward. Hence is that exhortation of the apostle's, 1 Cor. xv. ult, " Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

Doot. II. It is the special business and privilege of life, to propagate religion, God's name and praise, the standing generation to the risiug generation, the fathers to the children, all along.

In discoursing this doctrine, I shall shew,

1. What it is to propagate religion, God's name and praise, to the rising generation.

II. Who are the standing and rising generation, the fathers and the children, among whom this propagation of religion is to pass.

III. In what respects it is the special business of life.

IV. In what respect it is the special privilege of life.

V. Lastly, Apply.

1. I shall shew what it is to propagate religion, God's name and praise, to the rising generation. It implies these four things :—

1. The having of religion ourselves. None can propagate what they have not. If men have not the knowledge and love of God themselves, how can they praise him to others ? Men are sensible, that if they gain not a competent portion of the world to themselves, they can leave none to their children : so if they be idle or wasters, they are unjust to their families, 1 Tim. v. 8. Even so if ye are not religious, ye not only dishonour God, and destroy your own souls, but ye are unjust to the rising generations, and destructive to their souls too.

2. The profession of religion. Hence says the apostle, Rom. x. 10, " With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Men may have a profession without the practice of religion; but the practice requires the profession of it. And no man will ever propagate religion that is not himself a professor of it. And the profession must be such as is not visibly contradicted by the practice : for if example destroy what precept builds up, there is no propagating religion to others by that means. So a credible profession of religion is a debt owing to the rising generation.

3. A desire to continue and spread religion in the world. Without this none will propagate it : for what men have no desire of the continuance or spreading of, they will be loath to propagate. And it is the want of concern for the continuance and spreading of religion, that makes men so careless about the propagating thereof. They have no due concern for their own souls : therefore they have none either for God's honour, or the good of those that come after them.

4. Lastly, Contributing our endeavours to bring others, and particularly the rising generation, to the knowledge and practice of religion. Hence says the Psalmist, Psalm Ixxxviii. 2—4, " 1 will open my mouth in a parable : I will utter dark sayings of old : which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come, the praises of the Lord ; and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done." Man is born like a wild ass's colt, wanting both knowledge and experience. We see such as come into

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our world, come in naked among ns ; and we judge ourselves obliged to clothe tliem, feed them, and teach them how to do for themselves. But withal they can have and can do as little for their souls, as for their bodies ; and shall we leave them destitute in that point? How will we answer that to God ? Now, to contribute endeavours to bring them to religion, lies in endeavouring,

1st, To bring them to faith in Jesus Christ, which is the foundation of all religion : Psalm Ixxviii. 7, " That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God ; but keep his commandments." They come into the world lost sons and daughters of Adam, under God's wrath and curse. There is a Saviour provided ; but they know it not, till the standing generation tell them of it. They are averse naturally to come to that Saviour, and are not aware of the danger of slighting him : it is justice and charity then to deal with them, in order to convince and bring them in.

Idly, To bring them to holiness of life; as did Abraham, Gen. xviii. 19, " I know him, (says the Lord), that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." "When they come into our world, they bring a corrupt nature with them, which begins early to sprout. Satan will begin his temptations with them as soon as they are capable, losing no time. The longer sin continues in them uncurbed, the stronger does it grow. It nearly concerns the standing generation then to contribute their endeavours to quench the hellish flame, and to turn the stream and course of their life from sin to holiness. And this,

(1.) By precept and counsel, Gen. xviii. 19, forecited. Thus we are to praise God to them, by word of mouth. We should shew them what we have to say in God's behalf, commend religion to them, disparage the way of sin and of the world to them; bind duty on their conscience, by shewing them the tie of the word, and oblige them thereto by any authority we have over them.

(2.) By example. Let ns write out religion in our own walk before them, that they may be brought to copy after us. Those precepts that are illuminated with example, are most ready to take. Beware of casting an ill example before their eyes ; for the corruption of nature lies that way; and he that sins before a child, sins twice ; for his sin lies fair to be repeated by the young spectator.

(3.) By dependence on the Lord for a blessing on the means used for their good. Hence says the apostle, 2 Cor. x. 4, " The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." "Whoever he be that plants, if God give not the increase, there will be none, 1 Cor. iii. 6. That is a

a great truth in all cases, in spiritual as well as worldly things, 1 Sam. ii. 9,—" By strength shall no man prevail." If a man should use the best arguments, the strongest motives, the most feasible measures, for bringing others into the way of religion; and upon the suitableness of the means promise himself success, he takes the way most likely to render them ineffectual. The word spoken needs to be mixed with faith in the speaker. And he is most likely to succeed that uses the means of God's appointment for doing good, with entire dependence on the Lord for success.

(4.) Lastly, By prayer for them. Thus it is promised concerning Christ, Psalm Ixxii. 15, that prayer shall be made for him continually, viz. that his kingdom may come, by the daily comiug in of new subjects to him. Since the success of all that we can do for the good of the rising generation depends on the Lord's blessing, it is necessary that we plead for them at the throne of grace, quickening ourselves thereto, by consideration of the honour of God, and their eternal welfare, that depend upon it.

II. The second general head was to show, Who are the standing and rising generation, the fathers and the children, among whom this propagation of religion is to pass. And this must be stated according to the language of the Holy Ghost, and the analogy oi other parts of scripture, if we would rightly see whose is this duty. In general I shall premise,

1. All superiors and inferiors are in scripture-style comprehended under fathers and children. This is plain from the fifth commandment, which, under the name of father and mother, whose relatives children are, prescribes the mutual duties of superiors and inferiors. Therefore every one is to propagate religion to his inferiors.

2. Forasmuch as there is no perfect and absolute equality among men, but some who are inferior in one respect to others, may be superior to them in another respect; it is the duty of equals and inferiors to propagate religion among themselves, and to their superiors, mutually communicating their light and warmth.

3. Some may belong to the standing generation in one respect, who belong to the rising one in another ; as a person who is inferior to some, and superior to others. So they are to have it propagated to them, and they are to propagate it to others again.

4. Lastly, The same command of God that binds the standiug generation and fathers to propagate religion, binds the rising generation and children to receive it. God, by binding parents to instruct binds the children to receive instruction. And they that are the rising generation now, will be the standing in a little. But more particularly,

1. Fathers of the state; magistrates, supreme or subordinate, are to propagate religion to their political children, their subjects. They are God's vicegerents on earth, clothed with dominion and authority over others, to be employed for God in whose name they act. Hence is that promise, Isa. xlix. 23, " Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their queens thy nursing-mothers." And it is one of the blackest symptoms of the corruption of the world, that oft-times they are found set to extirpate religion.

2. Fathers in the church, ministers and other ruling church-officers, to their ecclesiastical children, the people whom they are set over, 2 Kings ii. 12. It is for this very end they are put in office. Hence says the apostle, Heb. xiii. 17, " Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account: that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." Jesus Christ brought this religion from heaven, employed his apostles to propagate it: to them they succeed in the office of propagating religion ; and must see to make it their business, as they will be answerable.

3. Fathers of families to their children. For every family ought to be a church, wherein holy worship, doctrine, discipline, and government ought to be maintained, by the heads thereof. And particularly,

1st, Fathers and mothers to the children procreated of their bodies. This is the chief thing in the text, " The father to the children shall make known thy truth." Compared with Gen. xviii. 19, " I know him, that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." It is but an inferior part of your charge, to provide meat and clothes for your children, and to put them in a way of living : the chief part is to see to their souls, that they may be recovered out of the lost state they are in by nature. It will be but a sorry kindness, to be concerned for their provision in time, if ye neglect them as to their eternal concerns. It is by them your name is to be propagated, and you are to propagate God's name to them, in point of gratitude to God, justice and natural affection to them.

'Idly, They are to do it also to all others in their family, whether they be servants, or whatever they be, if they be members of the family for shorter or longer time. Being in your family, ye are instead of fathers and mothers to them, and owe them that benefit. Hence masters are called fathers, 2 Kings v. 13 ; and the duty of propagating religion is expressly extended to one's household, Gen. xviii. 19, forecited. And whosoever have the chief authority in a

family, though they be servants themselves, are the fathers of it in this sense.

4. Fathers in gifts or grace, to those who are children in these respects in comparison of them, 1 John ii. 12, 13. So Joseph was a father to Pharaoh, Gen. xlv. 8. If God has bestowed on you more gifts or grace than on others; mind ye are thereby made fathers to those that are weaker than you, and are obliged to communicate your light to them, 1 Cor. xii. 7. So teachers are called fathers, Gen. iv. 22 ; and the Spirit of God the common Father, 1 Sam. x. 12. It will then make a dreadful reckoning, for men to have gifts, and not lay them out for the benefit of others ; to use their gifts just for ostentation, and instead of helping, to brangle and confound, and perplex the weaker with them.

5. Fathers in years, to those who are children in respect of age to them, 1 Tim. v. 1, 2. It is Elihu's observation, Job xxxii. 7, that " days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom." The more days the more experience, the more access to improve in knowledge: and so to be the more useful to the younger. Mind, then, that your superiority in years constitutes you fathers to those younger than you. Te will not forget it in point of the regard ye expect from them, and God allows you it, 1 Pet. v. 5 ; but then ye should make conscience of the duty too—propagating religion to them.

Thus ye see the rising and standing generation. And if these fathers would set themselves to the propagating of religion to their respective children, the work would go on.

III. The third general head was, to shew in what respects it is the special business of life. The business of life appointed by the great Master is manifold : but the sum of it is to honour God, Rom. xi. ult.: and the chief branch thereof, the special business of life, is to propagate religion, the standing to the rising generation. This will appear in the following particulars :—

1. It is the business of life, that would have been the business of it though sin had never entered into the world. The business of the lawyer, and physician, and many handicrafts now in the world, owe their original and necessity to sin's entrance. Nay, the very business of our own salvation does so too; for if Adam had stood the time of trial, all his posterity's eternal happiness would have been thereby secured to their hand. But God having settled the manner of the propagation of mankind, as Gen. i. 28, it was an evidence that the succeeding generations were not to be created in their prime as Adam was ; but to be born infants, and grow up by degrees, in knowledge of religion, and other things, as appears from Luke ii. ult. Aud this would have afforded this business.

2. It is the business of life, that most singly looks to the honour of God. God is honoured by our working out our own salvation : but tlien our own advantage bears great weight in it allowably, as well as his honour; but this is a business carried on not for ourselves, but for God allenarly ; and in that respect is the more noble. Hence we find the apostle willing, for the great end of the propagation of religion, either to live or die, to put off his own eternal happiness for a time, Phil. i. 26, downwards. And he prefers one's edifying the church, to his own comfort, 1 Cor. xiv. 4, 5. He edifies the church that edifies his house, Neh. iii. 28, 30.

3. It is the business of life, that is the end of life and salvation given to the elect, and all their comforts and enjoyments. Hence said our Lord to Peter, Luke xxii. 32, " I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." We get life and salvation by believing in Christ; and are as really possessed of eternal life that we can never lose, upon our first believing, as the saints in heaven are, though not in that measure, 1 Johu v. 11, 12. When the Lord had a mind to honour Paul to propagate religion, he reached his own heart first by his grace : and then having so furnished him, he set him to work. Is not that the special business of life, for which God brings people into a state of salvation?

4. It is the business of life, that the new creature as natively falls to, as the new-born infant falls a-breathing. Hence it is said, Psalm xxii. 30, 31, "A seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this." So the woman of Samaria, John iv. 29, " Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?" Paul, as soon as he was converted, fell a propagating the religion that before he persecuted. Grace makes people communicative ; and there is never a soul in which the leaven of grace is received, but would, if it could, leaven the whole world with the same.

5. It is the business of life, that is most useful to mankind. .And we should remember, that both conscieuce and interest requires us to live so as to be useful to our fellow-creatures : Rom. xiv. 7, "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Some have been great blessings to mankind by their usefulness, in propagating arts and sciences, in relieving the oppressed, and helping the needy : but none so useful as those who have propagated religion among them; as extending not only to their good in this, but the other world, Isa. xix. 24, 25. And a disposition to be useful to mankind would prompt men to this duty.

6. It is tlie business of life of the most diffusive usefulness. It brings honour to God, comfort to one's self, and advantage to others; it brings advantage to their souls, tends to make them holy here, and happy hereafter. It reaches not only to the present generation, but to the generations yet unborn : in so far as, you propagating religion to your children, they will propagate it again to theirs, and theirs to theirs, and so on. It is to be lamented, that some children follow not the steps of their religious parents. But every body may observe, that there are some families wherein one generation after another appears for God ; others wherein, generation after generation, religion can never get place among them. Trace these back, and ye may come to one that was careful to propagate religion to his children, and his children propagated it again to theirs, and so on; and to another that had no care that way about his children, and his children had as little again about theirs, and so on.

7- Lastly, It is the business of life that is the most valuable, most worthy of the dignity of an immortal soul, and likest the life that Christ led in the world. The business of most men is nothing but laborious trifling : their thoughts, cares, and time, are wholly spent on things pertaining to this life ; as if they had souls of no other constitution than their bodies. It is nothing like the life of Christ, who went about doing good, propagating religion: 1 Pet. ii. 21, " Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps." Compared with 1 John ii. 6, " He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."

IY. The fourth thing proposed was, to shew in what respect it is the special privilege of life.

1. It is that whereby we may honour God most, and so answer the end of our creation most. Iu our own embracing of religion we receive the light, in propagating it we diffuse the light received to the greater glory of God: 1 Pet. ii. 9, " Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people ; that ye should shew forth the praises of him, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." Hence among those who turn from sin unto righteousness, those who turn most of others to it will have the greatest glory ; Dan. xii. 3, " 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."

2. It is that whereby we may be most useful in the world to others. No benefit done to our fellow-creatures is comparable to it. We have indeed access to do for their temporal advantage, but this

is for their eternal. And when the opportunity of life is over, there is no more doing that way, Luke xvi. 27, downwards. Use 1. Of reproof to several sorts of persons. And,

1. To those who make no conscience of propagating religion to their families, among their children and servants. Every man is, by divine appointment, the prophet of his o-wn family to teach them, the priest to worship God with them, and the king to rule them. Each will maintain his own authority to his power; but family worship with many is not so closely stuck to, but family teaching least of all, which is yet commanded of God: Deut. vi. 6, 7, " These words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." The want of this makes ministerial teaching in preaching and examination so unsuccessful. How will men answer this neglect of the special business of life?

2. To those who are backward and averse to receive family instruction, or submit to family discipline, checks and reproofs for their miscarriages. They will get away from family catechising on Sabbath nights, shift family-exercise, and cannot endure to be checked for their miscarriages : and therefore they like best to be in those families where least of these is to be found. But if it is the duty of others to propagate religion to you, it is on the peril of your souls ye refuse to receive it. It will aggravate your condemnation, John iii. 10.

3. To those who set an ill example before those that are younger than they. Much of the corruption of children is owing to the ill examples set them by parents, servants, and others whom they are near. This lets them see much ill which they would otherwise be ignorant of; and the bias of their nature lying that way, they are by that means carried down the stream. So a wo is brought on themselves, and them that set them the copy : Matth. xviii. 7, " Wo unto the world because of offences : for it must needs be that offences come : but wo to that man by whom the offence cometh." Oh that men would consider, that they do in effect teach that which they do or say before the younger sort; for childhood is the imitating age.

4. To those who do not check the outbreakings of corrupt nature in those of the younger sort, especially parents to their children. 0 the cruelty of some parents, who, by their ceasing to nip sin in the bud in their children, betray them into such habits of sin, as afterwards is too late to correct. They will neglect prayer, profane the Sabbath, swear, lie, and meet with no check : they will steal little things, and

the parents will make them welcome. And thus, by their parents' means, some are so accustomed to sin, that as they grow, it grows, till it brings some to an ill end. Remember the children of Bethel, 2 Kings ii. 23, 24.

5. To those who propagate irreligion to the rising generation ; who teach a young generation to despise serious godliness, to contemn the ordinances of God, and to lead loose and licentious lives, impatient of restraint. Do they not propagate irreligion, who keep up their minced oaths, Haith, Faith, &c. which would die out of their language, were it not that they were propagated from father to son, from the old to the young ; who keep up the observation of superstitious times and customs, Yule, Fastens-even, &c, the relics of Popery and Paganism, which might be razed out of memory, were it not that they are carefully propagated from one generation to another?

6. To those that go about to debauch a young generation, by instilling into them loose and licentious principles, which youth is ready to fall in with ; by taking a liberty with tliem in obscene filthy speaking, making youthful lusts the subject of their mirth and sport, leading them into drunkenness, an inlet to all other vices ; tempting them to the commission of the sin of uncleanness with them, which will be bitterness in the end to the seducer and the seduced ; encouraging them to acts of dishonesty, cheating and stealing from their parents or masters. These are factors for hell, who do what in them lies to destroy souls Christ died for.

7. To those that are ready to hide and cloke the scandalous sins of others, working that they may not be brought to light. How many poor souls of the younger sort, whom Satan has got led aside into the ways of sin, might have been recovered out of the snare of the devil, if it had not been the cruel kindness of some, who bestirred themselves to cover their sin ? But thereby they have been hardened in their sin, and have gone from evil to worse, till at length they have been ruined altogether. See what an awful threatening there is pronounced against such, Lev. v. 1, " If a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity."

8. Lastly, To those who cannot see themselves under any obligation to propagate religion, and concern themselves as little about it. They think that may be the business of ministers, and possibly of fathers to their own children ; but not theirs. As soon as the Spirit of God touches your hearts in earnest about your own salvation, ye

will change your mind; ye will find a natural concern for the ad-

vancing of the kingdom of Christ: John iv. 29, " Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" The love of God, and of your neighbour, planted in the heart, will create a concern this way : and not daring to be against him, and scatter, ye will be for Christ, and gather with him.

Use 2. Of exhortation. Make it the special business of your lives to propagate religion to the rising generation.

Mot. 1. There is the strongest obligations on you for it. Ye are in that point under the tie of,

1st, Divine authority. God commands you to do it, requires it of you. It is commanded to all to edify one another, 1 Thess. v. 11; yea, all things must be done for that end, 1 Cor. xiv. 26. And the reason is plain, that God has placed men in society, and in Christian society for that end, Rom. xiv. 7. And the elder sort are made tutors and teachers to the younger for that end, Deut. iv. 10, and xi. 19.

2dly, Gratitude to God. Is not God your Creator, Preserver, and Sustainer ? And what can ye do for him, for all the goodness bestowed on you, if ye do not propagate his name and praise, and strive to stir up the love and fear of him in the rising generation ? If ye have any share in the redemption of Christ, ye cannot but find yourselves under the strongest ties of gratitude for redeeming love, to labour that his name may be transmitted from generation to generation. Hence says the Psalmist, Psalm lxxii. 17, " His name shall endnre for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun : and men shall be blessed in him ; all nations shall call him blessed."

3c%, Justice to former generations, who have propagated religion to us. What case had we been in this day, if it had not been for the sufferings of confessors, and the blood of martyrs, which they underwent, that religion might be transmitted to us, and by us to succeeding generations ? Had they given up with it, it had been lost as to us. Now, they have an interest in succeeding generations : and if we propagate it not to them, we betray our trust, and are unjust to them, and denude the succeeding generation of the inheritance of their fathers. "We should, like those spoken of, Psalm lxxviii. 3, 4, " utter the things which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us; not hiding them from our children, shewing to the generation to come, the praises of the Lord ; and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done."

-if.JJ)/, Our own interest. That maxim, Prov. xi. 24,"there is that scattereUi, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tcndeth to poverty, 1 ' holds in this, as much a.;

in aiiy thing. Religion is a fire, which, heing smothered, goes out, but, getting a vent, increaseth. It is like the widow's oil, that increased in the pouring out; and like the bread that increased in the breaking. Were men more set on propagating religion to others, they would have more to themselves.

btldy, Charity to the rising generation. Their eternal state, as to well or wo, depends on their embracing or continuing strangers to religion. They need your help : for the bias of their nature lies the wrong way ; the devil and an evil world cease not to ply them to walk according to that bias; and if their spiritual enemies gain their point, they are ruined.

Mot. 2. This is the chief part of your generation-work. The work of our own salvation must be seen to, Philip, ii. 12; but that is not all we have to do. "We are to do that for ourselves ; but then for the honour of God, and the good of our fellow-creatures, we are to ply our generation-work, Acts xiii. 36 ; and that mainly lies here: Psalm cxlv. 4, "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts:" Ye are all doing: but what are ye doing for the honour of God, for the service of your generation ? Ye have a room in this generation ; and God who set you in it, will call you to account how ye fill it up.

Mot. 3. As ye carry yourselves in this matter, your sin or your good works will be going on, after ye are dead and gone, in this world-The last judgment we must undergo, is not without reason delayed to the end of the world ; for the sins of wicked men, and the good works of the godly, will then be hugely increased beyond what they are at their death. Good Abel is useful to this day : Ileb. xi. 4,— " He being dead yet speaketh." Haman, in his life, set a mischief agoing which continued after he was gone, Esth. viii. 3 ; and the sin of Jeroboam the first king of Israel, continued till that kingdom was at an end, 2 Kings xvii. 22, 23. If ye propagate religion to the rising generation, that good work will survive you ; and if ye neglect it, your criminal omission may live and destroy souls long after ye are gone, which will be laid to your charge at the great day.

Mot. 4. It is a noble and beneficial work. Hence says the apostle James, chap. v. 19, 20, " Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him ; let him know, that he which con-verteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." To save a soul from perishing, is such noble work, that it is an honourable working to be aiming at it, and using means to compass it.

Mot. 5, Lastly, The doom of unprofitable servants is dreadful :

Matth. xxv. 30, " Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." No man can profit God, but every man may and ought to profit others, Job xxxv. 7, 8, laying out their talents for the good of others : and if they do it not, they will be cast into outer darkness, as those who would not work when they had the light.

Object. But they are froward, and will not receive instruction, nor take advice. Answ. That is a part of their natural disease, Job xi. 12. Men take pains to break young beasts, till they make them tractable : and shall they not be at pains with those of their own kind? The waters wear the stones; and what has often slipped off, may at length come to stick. And a word spoken to them for their good, may lie long under the clod, but spring up at length. But our success is not the rule of our duty ; we must do our part.

But more particularly, let heads of families be exhorted to propagate religion to their children and families.

Mot. 1. Consider ye have a charge of their souls from God who has committed them to you. Hence the fourth commandment, the bond of all religion, is directed to heads of families. And in Abraham's example their duty is laid before them : Gen. xviii. 19, " I know him, (says the Lord), that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment."

Mot. 2. They are born like wild asses' colts, and have a natural bent to the way of sin and destruction : Psalm lviii. 3, " The wicked are estranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." It is too fond and blind a love to your children, that makes you take no notice of the corruption of their nature. And if they are naturally corrupt, what can ye expect but that they will run to their own ruin, if ye are not at pains with them for their souls' good ? Hence says Solomon, Prov. xxix. 15, " The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself, bringeth his mother to shame."

Mot. 3. Parents propagate that corruption of nature to them, by natural generation. The sinful nature of children is a glass wherein the parents may get a humbling view of their own : Gen. v. 3, " Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth." Compared with Job xiv. 4, " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one." Have ye been instrumental in conveying the poison to them, and will ye not be thereby stirred up to minister the antidote to them ?

Mot. 4. They are in the midst of many snares, entered into a world wherein offences abound, Matth. xviii. 7. Their youth makes

them raw and unexperienced, and disposes them to be rash and heedless. They have need of a monitor, and instructor and guide. How shall they learn if they are not taught ?

Mot. 5. Ye must die ; and it is like will die before them, and leave them in this evil world. "Will ye not be concerned for them, that it may be well with them when ye are away? Your concern for their temporal provision will not make it well with them, while ye are not concerned to sow the seeds of religion in their hearts. That will be but to give much sail to an empty ship without ballast, that may sink her in the deep sea, as is seen in the sad experience of many.

Mot. 6. They must die; and it may be they may die before you, and leave you; and then they will have no use for all the temporal provision ye have laboured for, for them. But religion propagated, by you to them, will then appear a precious treasure. But if ye have neglected that duty to them, that will then appear a criminal neglect which ye will never more be capable to mend ; and it will leave a galling sting in your conscience, if ye be not quite stupid.

Mot. 7, Lastly, What comfort can ye have in their case, while ye can have no comfortable prospect of their eternal happiness ? If they were to be lords and ladies in this world, but to perish eternally in another world, what comfort can be there ? The barren womb and dry breasts are preferable to the bringing forth children to the murderers ; much more to the bringing forth children for hell-fire.

Let these things work upon your consciences, and on your natural affection, to bestir yourselves towards the propagating of religion to the rising generation. If ye have any conscience of duty towards God, any humanity towards your fellow-creatures, neglect it no more. For particular directions, I propose,

Doct. III. ult. The true way of propagating religion, the standing to the rising generation, is, That the former make God known to the latter, so as they may betake themselves unto him, his truth and faithfulness, by faith and trust. This is the sense of the words of the text, and agreeable to the matter, Hezekiah's life being prolonged in virtue of that promise, 1 Kings viii. 25,—" There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me." So this notification is not a matter of speculation, but a practical thing, that the rising generation may be brought to God.

In discoursing this doctrine, we shall consider,

I. The end to be aimed at in our teaching the rising generation.

II. The means to be used with them for that end.

III. Give the reasons why this is the true way of propagatiug religion, the standing to the rising generation.

IV. Lastly, Apply.

1. We shall consider the end to be aimed at in our teaching the rising generation. And that is, that they may be brought to betake themselves unto the truth of God by faith and hope. This is expressly taught, Psalm lxxviii. 6, 7, " That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born : who should arise, and declare them to their children : that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God ; but keep his commandments." Now, here we are to consider,

1. What is this truth of God we are to endeavour to bring the rising generation to. 2. How one betakes himself unto God's truth, which is that we should aim to bring the rising generation to.

First, What is this truth of God we are to endeavour to bring the rising generation to ? The truth of God may be considered three ways.

1. In the divine doctrine in general. And thus whatever the Lord teaches in his word, is true to a tittle. Hence says David, Psalm cxix. 160, " Thy word is true." All the discoveries made to us therein, are to be relied on as most firm truth. But that truth of doctrine is not here meaut; for it belongs to the means, the object to be made known.

2. In the divine threatenings. They are not mere scarecrows, as the wicked world looks on them, and disregards them, Deut. xxix. 19 ; but shall have a certain accomplishment in their true meaning and intention : for which cause believers of God's word tremble at them, Isa. lxvi. 2. But neither is this here meant; since it is not the object of hope, but of fear.

3. In the divine promises. These are of two sorts.

(1.) Law-promises; as, "He that doth them, shall live in them." This cannot be here meant neither; for no man can be happy that way, Bom. viii. 3. (2.) The gospel-promises ; such as, John iii. 16, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." Heb. viii. 10, " This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." The belief of these is more difficult; but it is by them a soul can only be made happy, 2 Pet. i. 4. Therefore it is the truth or faithfulness of

God in the promise of the gospel that is here meant. That is it we are to endeavour to bring the rising generation to.

Now, the promise of the gospel is held forth under the notion of God's truth, on these accounts.

1. In respect of the weight of the things promised therein. They are so great and weighty, that were not the infallible truth of God impawned for them, they could not be believed by sensible guilty creatures : 2 Pet. i. 4, " Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature." Compared with Luke xxiv. 25, 26, " Then Jesus said unto them, 0 fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory ?" That the eternal Son of God should take on man's nature, and suffer the most ignominious death therein, for sinners—who could have believed on another than God's own testimony ? That God freely gives eternal life in him to siu-ners, as 1 John v. 11, who otherwise could believe ?

2. The foundation of believing it, is in God only. A true believer " receives the kingdom of God as a little child," Mark x. 15, on the mere testimony of his Father. There is nothing in nature's light to bring us to the belief of the gospel. So faith is called " the evidence of things not seen," Heb. xi. 1. The threatening of death in the law, a natural conscience prompts men to believe, Rom. i. ult. and ii. 15. But the promise of life in the gospel, depending alle-naily on revelation, the belief of it rests on the truth of God only ; yea, nature rises up against it. The corrupt mindlooks on it as foolishness; the corrupt will rejects it; the corrupt affections muster themselves up against it; and the natural conscience, the more it is awakened, the more hard it makes the belief of it. So the truth of God has all these to drive over, and pull down. Hence says the apostle, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, " The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

3. In opposition to the falsehood, vanity, and lies of the world, which sinners naturally betake themselves to.

1**, The world swarms with lies, and has always since Satan hatched the first lie in it. The things of the world are lies, 1 John ii. 16; the men of the world are liars, Rom. iii. 4; yea the best of them a lie, Psalm Ixii. 9. There is no trusting of them, Jer. xvii. 5, 6.

2dly, The world itself is one great lie, Eccl. i. 2. Its appearauces are unfair and deceitful ; it appeirs to vain man quite another

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thing than it is ; its shadows appear substantial, and so catch the unwary heart, Eos. xii. 1, 8. Yet it is that which is not, Prov. xxiii. 5. It is not what it seems to be. Its promises are false, it never performs them : the good thiugs of it are always greater in expectation than fruition ; they disappoint, which is lying in scripture style, Hab. iii. 17-

Secondly, How one betakes himself unto God's truth, which is that we should aim to bring the rising generation to. It lies in these five things,

1. In a conviction of the vanity of the world, and its deceitful lusts. Hence says David, Psalm cxix. 96, " I have seen an end of all perfection ; but thy commandment is exceeding broad." The false and vain world offers itself as a satisfying portion to the rising generation, as soon as reason begins to dawn in them. To the infant it makes its court by the lust of the flesh in meat and drink ; to the child by that and the pride of life in clothing ; and it is long ere they know there is any thing better than these. To the youth it spreads out its all, " the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life ;" and whatever notions of religion they may have in their heads, till grace open their eyes, they will never truly see any thing to be better. Now, we should labour to convince them of the vanity of the world, that it will never satisfy, nor afford a rest to the heart; that its lusts are deceitful, and there is a running hook hid under that bait.

2. In renouncing the world for a portion, and its lusts for our way, as being a broken reed, that will not only not bear our weight, but run through the baud that leans on it. Hence it is said, Jer. xvi. 19,—" The Gentiles shall come unto the Lord from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." It is natural to man, and therefore to the rising generation, to stick by it, and not to give over the pursuit; but after a thousand disappointments still to hope for better from it, Isa. lvii. 10. And the little experience youth has, makes them the more ready to do so. But we should endeavour to bring them to part with it, as a hopeless thing they will never mend themselves of, Psalm iv. 2.

3. In believing that there is an upmaking portion held forth in the promise of the gospel. This is the finding of the treasure hid in the field, Matth. xiii. 44. The carnal mind looks on the promise of the gospel but as idle tales; it is a treasure hid in a field, which men go over without noticing what is in it, because they see it not. But Christ is there, and in him the fulness of the Godhead, and with him all things, enough to satisfy the boundless desires of a soul.

And could we bring the rising generation really to believe this, we would do a great thing.

4. In trusting to the promise of the gospel allenarly for life and happiness, and a rest to the heart, upon the ground of God's faithfulness. Here is the nature of faith, a betaking one's.-«elf uuto God's truth, by trusting to him in his word of promise for all, Ruth ii. 12. It implies these three things. The soul, seeing there is in the promise what is not in all the creation—enough to answer all its needs, and to make it completely happy,

1st, Believes its own common interest in the promise, that itself, as well as others, has access to claim it with all that is in it, and to rely on it as held out to him iu particular to trust upon for his upmak-ing in time and eternity, Heb. iv. 1, 2. For no man can embrace the promise of the gospel, that does not first see himself warranted so to do. And the nature of the promise warrants all, John iii. 13, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth iu him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

2dli/, The man thereupon lays the weight of his happiness wholly ou it, trusting that it shall be made out to him, and expecting all happiness from it. Thus he buys the field, takes possession of it, and the treasure hid therein, Matth. xiii. 44. This is the embracing of the promise, Heb. xi. 13, as one takes an honest man's word for his security, rests there, and looks no farther. So what trust was before placed in the vain world, is now placed in the promise.

2>dbj, The ground on which he bottoms this his trust in the promise, is not any thing in himself, but the truth and faithfulness of God, Tit. i. 2. The man sees the promise is not yea and nay, as the promises of fickle men are : but that it is the word of God, which is surer than heaven and earth, Heb. xi. 11, and yea in Christ, 2 Cor. i. 20. And to this trust we should labour to bring the rising generation, which is to bring them unto a rest for their restless hearts, by bringing them to Christ, and by him to God. "When we see hungry infants moving about with their mouths for something to suck, natural affection teaches to set them on the breast: but as they grow up, ye might observe their hungry souls moving up and down among the creatures for a fill, and still restless because they cannot get it. It would be as great charity in that case, to endeavour to bring them to the breasts of divine consolations from the promise of the gospel.

5, Lastly, In hoping and waiting for their happiness from the promise of the gospel. Hence says the apostle, Rom. viii. 24, 25, " We are saved by hope : but hope that is seen, is not hope : for what a

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man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." There is much got out of the promise, for the present in hand ; but still there is more in hope, to be got on the other side of death. The natural cry is, "Who will shew us any good ?" It is hard to make children wait even for temporal good things : they would ay have all presently, whenever they take it in their head: but it is harder to get them to wait in the matter of a portion for their hearts. So they greedily embrace the present world. But we should labour to get them off that, and wait for happiness in another world.

II. The means to be used with them for that end. That is, to make God known to them. He is to many of the aged among men an unknown God, as to any saving acquaintance with him : but to young ones, lie is an unknown God, so much as by report or hearsay, till the aged do tell them of him. The saving knowledge of himself God only can give : but there is a doctrinal way of making him known to the rising generation : and that is our duty, Psalm xxii. ult., " They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this."

Now, ye are to make him known to the rising generation, as a God in Christ, John xiv. 2: for as such only he is the object of a guilty creature's trust for salvation, 2 Cor. v. 19. The blind world pretend to trust in God as an absolute God, not eyeing him as in Christ: but so he is a " consuming fire," Heb. xii. ult. And he is not honoured, but dishonoured by such a trust, John v. 23. In Christ he appears,

1. As a God of majesty and glory, 2 Cor. iv. 6. There is no glass in which ye can represent to the rising generation the glory and majesty of God so lively as in Christ. The creating a world of nothing, the deluge, and the destruction of Sodom, are but dim glasses, in comparison of the mystery of Christ. Here the glory of his infinite holiness, and infinite hatred of sin, his exact justice, his precise and unalterable truth, his unsearchable wisdom, most fully appear.

2. As the God of grace, 1 Pet. v. 10. The former view of God is apt to fill the soul with the honour, awe, and reverence of him, fit ballast for the vain heart: this view of God is apt to fill the soul with faith and love, whereby the heart may be disengaged from the the vain world, and knit to him as the alone upmaking portion of thy soul. In Christ ye can let them see majesty vailed with mercy, righteousness and peace kissing mutually, a crystal wall to go between them and the consuming fire.

ill. The third thing is, to give the reasons why this is the true way of propagating religion to the rising generation.

1. Because all true religion begins with the knowledge of God in Christ. Hence our Lord says, John xvii. 3, " This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." As long as ignorance of God continues in the soul, the prince of darkness rules there, the works of darkness go on there, and the party is on the way to everlasting darkness, Hos. iv. 6 ; Isa. xxvii. 11. Therefore cruel are they that bring up young ones, whether children or servants, in ignorance ; especially considering that it is the learning age, which season missed, the loss is seldom retrieved.

2. Because vain is that religion and knowledge that brings not the soul to betake itself to God's truth for a portion, and to renounce the world and its way, 1 Cor. viii. 1. Our aim in all our teaching should be to affect the heart, to bring sinners to God, to be his only, wholly and for ever. To satisfy ourselves with filling their heads with notions of religion, while we are careless of getting their hearts to Christ, is sorry service.

3. Because the right discerning of the glory of God in Christ is the true way to bring a sinner to faith in him : Psalm ix. 10, " They that know thy name will put their trust in thee." John iv. 10, " Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." All who are brought acquainted with him, cannot choose but tako up their soul's rest in him : and whoever do not betake themselves to him, it is because they know him not. For his glorious excellency truly discerned, cannot miss to captivate the heart.

Use. Make God known to the rising generation, so that they may be stirred up to give up with the vain and false world, and to betake themselves to the promise of the gospel, therein to take God for their portion. I have given motives already, I will now give directions how to manage the work.

1. A general direction. Aim at that particularly, and keep it always in your visw, to teach them to know God in Christ. Never satisfy yourselves with letting them know what God is in himself out of Christ; for that may strike them with terror, but it will never bring them to him in faith and love. But labour to discover to them the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Shew them Christ, and ye shew them the Father; for in him the fulness of the Godhead dwells. In his person, you may let them see God's willingness to take mankind into union and communion with himself; in his offices, how willing he is to teach them, justify them, and sanctify them ; in his holy birth, what a nature is pleasing to him ; in his

righteous life, what a conversation he requires : in his satisfactory death, how dreadful his wrath is against sin ; and in a word, how they may be made holy and happy for ever. Therefore inculcate on them the knowledge of Christ. I urge this for three reasons.

1st, Do this, and ye do all to them. Hence says the apostle, 1 Cor. ii. 2, " I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." When the darkness of the night sits down on the face of the earth, as many candles as are burning abroad, so many spots of the earth will be enlightened : but let the sun arise, and there will be light over all; for the one sun will do more than millions of lighted candles. So, whenever Christ the Sun of Righteousness ariseth, that gross darkness which covers the mind will suddenly be dispelled. There is more of the glory of God to be seen in the face of Jesns, than throughout the whole compass of the heavens and the earth, which yet were made to declare the glory of God. Life, eternal life, is in the knowledge of him, John xvii. 3.

2dly, Neglect this, and ye do nothing to them to purpose. Hence says Christ, John viii. 24, " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." That light that is without him is but darkness, and the sparks of knowledge and religion that is without illumination in the knowledge of Christ, will leave those that walk in the light of them to lie down in sorrow at length, John i. 9. Not one truth is rightly learned, that is not learned as it centres in Jesus, Eph. iv. 20, 21.

3c%, Because the rising generation is in extreme hazard in this point at this time, beyond what they have been for many years. A religion is like to come in among them, that has no relation to Christ and his Spirit, which is in effect but refined Paganism. "With some Christ is almost dropt out of their practical divinity, and morality in doctrine is justling out the gospel of the grace of God ; and hence immorality in practice comes in like a flood; and principles are vented highly injurious to his glorious Godhead.

2. Particular directions are these :—

1st, Acquaint them with God's word. Let your children be learned to read ; and your servants that cannot read, be so charitable as to teach them. And ye servants, secure that in your hiring yourselves. And press them, and stir them up to read the scriptures ordinarily when they can do it. It is recorded of Timothy, to his honour, that " from a child he had known the holy scriptures, which are able to make men wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus," 2 Tim. iii. 15.

2c%, Neglect not family catechising. Oblige them to get the

Shorter Catechism, and labour to make them understand it by examining them. For which purpose ye have many good helps laid to your hand.

dotty, Often inculcate on them their sinful and miserable state by nature, and the salvation for them in Jesus Christ.

4thly, Join a practical exhortation with your catechising. It might be profitable to close the catechising on every question of the Catechism upon a particular head, with a short admonition to them by way of use. Ex. gr. on the first, Well, mind that the great thing ye have to do in the world is, to glorify God; and that the great thing ye have to seek, is the enjoyment ol him.

bthly, Inculcate upon them, and train them up in a reverence and esteem of the ministry of the gospel, as an ordinance of Christ for the salvation of sinners. And oblige your family to a conscientious attendance ; none of them to sit at home that are capable of profiting by the word, without a reason that will bear weight before God, 1 Cor. i. 21. I urge this the rather, that some are trained up in a neglect, or in a contempt of it, to the ensnaring of their poor souls. Mind the children of Bethel.

Qthly, Inculcate and labour to impress them with the belief of the vanity of the world, and the impossibility of finding a rest to their heart in any creature. Tell it them from the word, your own and their experience.

Ithly, Inculcate and labour to impress them with the belief of the full happiness to be found in a God in Christ, held forth to them in the promise of the gospel. Solemnly assure them, that there they may find a rest to their heart; and that God is offering himself to them as such.

8thly, Make it known to them how good a master God is ; how pleasant the way of holiness is : what an ill master Satan is ; how contrary and odious sin is to God; how dear it stood Christ; how bitter it will be to the siuner here or hereafter.

9thly, Put them on praying by any means, and teach them to pray, and inculcate on them the necessity of it.

lQthly, Make known to them how God is a God of exact justice, and purest truth : and from thence, as ye love their souls, endeavour often to inculcate on them, and impress them with a horror of injustice in the least things, and of lying in any case. The sad way some are brought up in those points, leave them without any conscience of common honesty or truth.

And mind that " precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little," Isa. xxviii. 10.

And be not discouraged though ye see not the fruit. The fruit may come when ye are in your grave. Mind Manasseh's conversion when his godly father was dead and gone.

Now, ye young folk, and young ones, for whose cause so much has been said, I will leave this text, with three words to you, and a great offer.

1. Christ and the devil are striving about you. Christ is striving for you by his ministers, your parents, and masters, that shew a concern for your soul, and by your own consciences. The devil is striving to hold you, by his temptations, a vain world and wicked, and your own lusts. But the devil is a murderer, the world is false, and your lusts are deceitful, which ye will find if ye trust them.

2. Ye are between the losing and the winning now. If Christ get you when ye are young, ye will serve him with life and spirit: if the devil prevail, the elder ye grow, ye will go the farther from God ; for youth goes with a great swing, right or wrong.

3. Eternity is at stake with you; eternal well or eternal wo, according to the side ye shall choose.

I offer Christ to you, and declare that he is willing to be yours, and to make you happy for ever, and be a rest to your hearts : Matth. xxii. 4, " Tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready : come unto the marriage." Prov. viii. 17, " I love them that love me ; and those that seek me early shall find me," Remember this, and say, Amen.

EVIL AND DANGER OF SCHISM.

A Sermon preached at Ettrick in the Year 1708.

1 Cor. i. 10, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together, in the same mind, and in the same judgment.

The church of Corinth was now lying bleeding of her wounds, given her not by open and avowed enemies, but by her own children, some saying they were of Paul, others that they were of Apollos, &c. The apostle applies himself to the curing of this rent and broken church, in the words of the text, which is a most pathetical exhortation to unity. In the words we have three things.

1. The compellation, " Brethren :" it is a kindly compellation, whereby he insinuates himself into their affections, or endeavours so to do ; for it is hard for faithful ministers to get peoples' affections kept where once divisions enter. In this compellation there is an argument for unity : he minds them that they are brethren; and it is a shameful thing for brethren to fall out by the ears, Gen. xiii. 8, " Let there be no strife, I pray thee," says Abraham to Lot, " betwixt me and thee," &c, " for we be brethren;" and Gen. xlv. 24, Joseph says to his brethren, " See that ye fall not out by the way."

2. There is a most pithy obsecration, " I beseech you, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Paul turns a petitioner to them for the church's peace, and begs of them, as he did of the jailor, Acts xvi. 28, that they would do themselves no harm, but lay by the sword of contention; and that it might have the more weight with their consciences, he interposeth the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, " I beseech you," says he, " by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that," &c. It implies two things, I. It is as much as if he had said, As ye have any regard to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, who hath so often enjoined peace, unity, and brotherly love to his followers,

beware of divisions. It is not I, (as if lie had said), but Christ, the Prince of peace, that requires this of you. 2. It is as much as if be had said, As ye love the Lord Jesus, as ye tender his honour and glory, speak the same thing, and let there be no divisions among you; for the name of Christ sadly suffers by your contentions, factions, and divisions. The apostle's beseeching of them notes his gentleness, but withal his vehemency of spirit, entreating with them for the peace and unity of the church ; he handles their wounds tenderly, yet so as they might see he was in good earnest to have them healed. It imports also how heavy their contentions were to him, how grateful it would be to him if they would unite, and how grevious, if they should continue their divisions still; therefore he obtests them, and after a short adjures them by the name of the Lord, that they would all speak the same thing, and let no divisions be among them : If I cannot obtain this of you, says he, for my own sake, yet let me obtain it of you for Christ's sake. This is the manner of his exhortation.

3. We have the matter of his exhortation, which lies in three things.

1st, He exhorts them to unity of principles, " that ye all speak the same thing;" he beseecheth them, that they would not vent principles contrary to the truth, and to one another ; for now, instead of unity, some were crying one thing, some another, like that confused multitude, Acts xxi. 34, there was nothing but contention and contradiction among them, till some of them came at length to deny the resurrection, 1 Cor. xv.

Idly, He dehorts them from divisions; the word in the Greek is schisms, as ye may see in the margins of some of your Bibles : the word properly signifies a cutting or section in a solid body, as in the cleaving of wood, when the parts of it before united are rent asunder. Thus the one church of Corinth was rent asunder into divers parties and factions, some following one minister, some following another ; therefore says the apostle, 1 Cor. i. 13, " Is Christ divided ?" As if he should say, Why, seeing there is but one Christ, are there so many bodies ? Where will you get a Christ to head your different and divided party ? Through these divisions among them, it would seem, from 1 Cor. xi. 33, they had separate communions, they would not tarry for one another. The apostle also taxeth their divisions, 1 Cor. iii. 3, " For whereas there is among you envying, strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal ?" Where the word translated " divisions" properly signifies separate standing, where one party stand upon one side, and another party on au-other side. It denotes such dissension, wherein men separate one from another.

'idly, He exhorts them to amend what was amiss already among them in that matter, to he perfectly joined together, in opposition to their contentions and divisions. The word in the original is very emphatic, and signifies two things, 1. To restore disjointed members into their proper places again, Gal. vi. 1, " Restore snch an one." It is a metaphor from chirurgeons setting members or joints again ; as if he had said, Set such an one in joint again : so it aims at healing the church of her rents, restoring such as had separated and withdrawn. 2. It signifies to perfect and establish in the state to which a person or thing is restored ; and so it denotes a firm union betwixt the members of that church ; he would have them compacted together as a body, in which all the parts do fitly cleave together, each of them in its proper place ; and withal he adds here the bonds of this union, the same mind, that is, the same heart, will, and affections, as the word mind is taken, Horn. vii. 25, and the same judgment or opinion anent matters ; if the last canuot be got, yet the first may. From the words, we draw these following doctrines :—

Doct. I. That schism and division is an evil incident to the churches of Christ while in this world.

Doct. II. That professors ought to beware of schism and division, as they tender the authority and honour of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Doct. III. Where schism and division enter into a church, there will be great heats, diversity, yea, contrariety of opiuions, people contradicting one another in matters of religion, " That ye all speak the same things," &c.

Doct. IV. That however hard it be, yet it is possible to get a rent church healed.

Doct. V. That it is the duty of all church members to endeavour the unity of the church, and the cure of schisms : and particularly, it is the duty of disjointed members to take their own places in the body again.

Lastly, that schisms and divisions, as they are grievous to all the sons of peace, so they are in a special manner heavy and afflicting to faithful ministers of the gospel of peace.

Here is work shapen out for many days, but I design not to insist.

As to the first of these doctrines, to wit, That schism and division is an evil incident to the churches of Christ in this world ; I. I shall illustrate the truth of this doctrine. II. I shall give you some observations, as to the rise and way of carrying on this sad plague in churches. And I challenge your attention, and beseech you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, without prejudice, ye will hear

and consider what I am to say ; and if I say any thing contrary to the word of God, reject it; but what I may say, as agreeable to God's word, I require it may have place in, and weight with your consciences. I shall endeavour to hold off personal reflections, but must take liberty freely to handle the cause.

I. Then, I shall illustrate this sad doctrine. Alas ! it is written, I may say, in letters of the blood of our mother, who cries out, " She is wounded in the house of her friends." This broken, bleeding church, exposed to the laughter of Papists and malignants by her divisions, is a sad instance of it. Now, seeing some are apt to stumble at all religion, by reason of our divisions, and others are apt to pride themselves in them, I shall, for the sake of both, shew, that these things are uncouth, strange, or new things. For which consider,

1. These things are foretold in the scriptures. Our Lord Christ has given us fair warning, Matth. x. 34, 35, 36, " Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother," and so forth. Not that this is the kindly and native effect of the gospel of peace, but so it proves, by reason of the corruptions of men. The apostle tells the church of Ephesus, Acts xx. 30, "Also of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." I shall only add another scripture, 2 Tim. iv. 3, 4, " After their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: and they shall turn away their ears from the truth," &c. From all which we may see, that church-renders shall not be wanting, nor shall they want success.

2. Consider the sad experience of the church in several ages; I shall give you two instances out of the Old Testament; the first you have, Num. xvi. Even when the church had a Moses and Aaron in it, there was a violent schism set a-foot in it by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. That this business was not so much a sedition in the state, as a schism in the church, (though I deny not but there was something of sedition in it, for schism and sedition go often together), is clear from the great cause of the quarrel, which was about the priesthood, as is clear from Nnmb. xvi. 3—9, which ye may read at your leisure, but consider especially the 10th and 11th verses, where Moses says, " And seek ye the priesthood also ? For which cause both thou, and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?" Compare with this Jude 11, where the seducers, the disturbers of the church, are said to perish in the gainsaying of Core. Many were

led aside into this schism, Numb. xvi. 19, " And Korah gathered all the congregation against them," viz. against Moses and Aaron. Two of the heads of it, being called to come before Moses, sent him a declinature, stuffed with scandalous defamations against him, Numb. xvi. 12, 13, 14, "And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up. Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness?" &c. Yea, when God himself had inflicted the censure on them, the people would not quit their good opinion of them ; but as it is in the 41st verse, " They murmured agaiust Moses and Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord." Another notable schism was that made by the ten tribes, 1 Kings xii., where two things are very remarkable, 1st, The rise of it, their dissatisfaction with the civil government whereupon they refused to own Rehoboam as their king, and also separated from the church of Jerusalem, who owned his authority, though he was very far degenerate from the piety and wisdom of David and Solomon. 2d Thing remarkable in it, is the way how it was maintained, viz. by priests that were not of the sons of Levi ver. 31, of that chapter, that is, men who had no right to the priestly office. The New Testament is so full of dismal accounts this way, that there is not almost an epistle written, wherein we have not something of church rents and divisions, exhortations to unity, or some one thing or another of that kind. See Rom. xvi. 17,18, " Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned ; and avoid them. For they that are such, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; aud by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." From the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, read our text, and downwards. See the x. xi. and xii. chapters of the 2d Epistle to the Corinthians, throughout, where Paul is put to defend himself against the slanders cast on him by false teachers, and to compare himself with them. As to the Epistle to the Galatians, I need not cite chapter and verse, the body of that espistle being against them that troubled the churches of Galatia. Eph. iv. ye have a pathe-tical exhortation to unity, from ver. 1 to 17- Phil. ii. 1, and downwards, " If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies ; fulfil ye my joy that ye be like-minded." Col. ii. 18, and downwards, " Let no man beguile you of your reward.—Wherefore are ye subject to ordinances? touch not, taste not, handle not; which things have indeed a shew of wisdom," &c. The Thessalonians are exhorted, 1 Thess. v. 14, to " warn them that are unruly." In the 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians

■—chap. ii. 2, there are some troubling the church, and shaking them in their minds by their doctrine, 1 Tim. vi. 3, 4, " If any man teach otherwise,—he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words," &c, and chap. i. 6, 7, " From which some having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." 2 Tim. iii. 6, the apostle speaks of some " that creep into houses, and lead captive silly women :—and that resist the truth, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses," ver. 8. Tit. i. 11, he tells him, " he must stop the mouths of some that subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not." The Epistle to Philemon, a single person, is to unite him and Onesimus. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the apostle taxeth some that forsook the church assemblies, Heb. x. 25, " Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is." James iii. 14, and downwards, " But if ye have bitter envying" (in the Greek it is bitter zeal) " and strife in your hearts, glory not—This wisdom de-scendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.—But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable," &c. " And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." 1 Pet. iii. 8, " Finally, brethren, be ye all of one mind." 2 Pet. ii. read throughout the whole, which treats altogether of false teachers. 1 John ii. 19, " They went out from us, but they were not of us." In the second Epistle of John, 10, " If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed." In the 3d Epistle of John, 9th and 10th verses, we find a Diotrephes prating against the apostle " with malicious words." Read the whole Epistle of Jude, for I need not cite a verse or two of it to onr purpose. See also the 2d and 3d chapters of Revelation. The church of Ephesus had tried those that said they were apostles, and were not, Rev. ii. 2, Smyrna was troubled with those that said they were Jews, and were not, but were the synagogue of Satan, ver. 9 ; so was Philadelphia, chap. iii. 9. The church of Pergamus had them that held the doctrine of Balaam, Rev. ii. 14. In Thyatira was Jezebel, teaching and seducing, ver. 20.

Here is a cloud of witnesses from whom we may clearly learn two lessons,

1st, That though the apostles themselves were alive to guide and govern the churches, yet they would not be able to prevent schisms, divisions, and rending of churches.

A second lesson we may learn from them is, That those who had most of the Spirit of Go<?, were of the most peaceable temper, most

tender of the peace of the church, most careful to preserve it where it was entire, and most careful to restore it where it was lost.

If we take a view of after-times, we shall find schism and division infecting the church. "When the Pagan persecution was over, the fire of contention burnt up the church. Then was that in the Rev. viii. 5, accomplished, " Fire from the altar was cast into the earth." When Constantine the Great had restored peace unto the church, she was miserably defaced by the schism of the Donatists, who separated from the church, at first, to eschew the impurity of promiscuous communion. This schism lasted more than two hundred years. They held, that men were defiled with the corruptions of those with whom they kept church communion, and that there was no other true church but their own. That which led them to these extravagancies, was, that the church kept in ministerial communion with her one Cecilian, whom the Donatists would have had deposed; because, as they alleged, that when he was a deacon, he had hindered some people to assist some that were in prison for the cause of Chiist, and that he had been ordained by those that were traitors, that is, who had delivered up the Bible to the persecutors: so, thinking the whole church polluted with the fellowship of this man and his fellows, they separated.

When the Lord raised up Luther to reform the church from Popery, then came in the Anabaptists, who rebelled against the magistrate, and taught sedition : and withal pretended that Luther had made but a half reformation, that he had only cut oft" the branches of Popery, but they would strike at the root. Hence complained that holy man thus, " It cost us ten years' pains to erect a little church, and then comes one that knows nothing, but to rail on faithful ministers, and he in one moment overturns all." And elsewhere he says, " They that received the doctrine of the gospel from us, even they persecute us most bitterly." How our own church was thus troubled in the time of former Presbytery, is evident from the writings of worthy men of that time, against separation: so we find an Act of the Assembly, 1643, appointing to search for books tending to separation. T cannot but particularly remark an Act of the Assembly, 1641, sess. 10, against impiety and schism, wherein they charge " all ministers and members of this kirk, to endeavour to suppress all impiety, and mocking of religious exercises." And upon the other part, " That, in the fear of God, they be aware, that under the pretext of religious exercises, otherwise lawful and necessary, they fall not into error, heresy, schism, scandal, self-conceit, and despising of others, pressing above the common calling of Christians, aud usurping that which is proper to the pastoral vocation,

contempt or disregard of the public means," &c. This I take plainly to be meant of what we call fellowship meetings, which have been so much mocked by wicked men on the one hand, and abused on the other hand to schism, &c. But the Assembly, 1647, sess. 19, in their directions for secret and private worship, and mutual edification, for cherishing piety, for maintaining unity, and avoiding schism and division, which are ordinarily bound in with the Confession of Faith, towards the latter end of the book, they discharge these meetings altogether, as you may see in the seventh direction, where they say, " Whatever hath been the fruits and effects of meetings of persons of divers families, in the times of corruption and trouble, yet such meetings of persons of divers families, (except in the cases mentioned in the directions), are to be disapproved, as tending to the prejudice of the public ministry, to the rending of the families of particular congregations, and (in progress of time) of the whole kirk." I bring not in this to shew my own judgment anent these meetings, but to let you see there was a spirit of separation going in these days as well as now : and how the fire of division left not this church till she was cast into the fire of persecution, is too well known. 0 that it had from that time left us !

II. I come now to the second thing proposed, to give you a few observations, as to the rise and way of carrying on this sad plague in churches. And,

1. I say, God has his own holy ends in these things. By these he tries his people, 1 Cor. xi. 18, 19 ; and thereby he punisheth men for the contempt of the gospel, and not receiving the truth in love, 2 Thess. ii.

2. We find schisms and divisions raised in the church, under the plausible pretext of strictness. This was the way how the churches of Galatia were rent in pieces. The corrupt teachers would needs add the observation of Moses' law to the gospel, as if that were a more perfect and strict way. Thus the corrupt teachers among the Colossians, pretending great strictness, cry, " Touch not, taste not, handle not," Col. ii. 21. This, in part, seems to have been the rise of the schism in Corinth, which the apostle points at in the matter of the Lord's supper, while he says, " Let a man examine himself," 1 Cor. xi. 28. This was the schism of the Novatians and Donatists brought in of old—that discipline was not exercised, as they would have had, against those that fell in time of persecution.

3. There are ordinarily some, (I hope I am not speaking to those with whom the very scripture text will be accounted treason); there are some, I say, who are at great pains going hither and thither to spread the flame, that compass sea and land to make proselytes,

Thus we find some travelling from Jerusalem to Antioch through Syria and Cilicia, to make disciples, and disturb the churches, Acts xv. 23, 24, " Unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia : Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls," &c.

4. We may always observe, that one main thing church renders aim at, is to discredit the ministers of the gospel, as if the word were, Fight neither with small nor great but the ministers ; for Satan knows, if once the ministry be made contemptible, and their credit sunk, then they will be useless; and if once they were laid by as useless, his kingdom were in a fair way of thriving. These are the wolves, who, though they be in sheep's clothing, yet discover themselves by barking at the shepherds: so did Korah. Look the Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians, and see how the renders of these churches railed upon and discredited the apostle Paul; they said he was no lawful apostle ; hence he is so oft put to clear his call, 1 Cor. ix. 1, 2 ; Gal. i. and ii. chap.; they sought a proof of Christ speaking in him, 2 Cor. xiii. 3; they charged him with levity and inconstancy, as if his words were not to be regarded, 2 Cor. i. 17 ; they charged him with walking after the flesh, 2 Cor. xi. 2; they held him out to be a vain-glorious person, and a very contemptible man, 2 Cor. xi. 9, 10; see the four last chapters of 2 Cor.

5. We often find they have great pretences to holiness, and attainments above ordinary ; so they are said to go in sheep's clothing, and to transform themselves into apostles of Christ: and no marvel ; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, 2 Cor. xi. 13, 14. And it doth not a little favour their design, that men who have suffered for the cause of Christ, are sometimes engaged in it, which is clear from what the apostle says, comparing himself with the renders of the church of Corinth, 2 Cor. xi. 23, " Are they ministers of Christ ? I am more : in prisons more frequent ;" which clearly holds forth, that they had been sufferers and prisoners for the cause as well as he : yea, really godly persons may be engaged in it, Rev. ii. 20, where we find Jezebel seducing Christ's servants; for sometimes even good men may run the devil's errands, and yet be saved at last.

Lastly, We may observe what characters the scriptures give such, 2 Pet. ii. 10, " Presumptuous are they, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities." 1 Tim. vi. 4, " Proud, (for only by pride cometh contention), knowing nothing, but doting about questions," &c. Rom. xvi. 17,18, they are said to be " such as serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly," &c. They are en-

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G02 THE EVIL AND DANGER OF SCHISM.

tertained by those " that have itching ears," 2 Tim. iv. 3. See how the apostle strikes at the root of division, Phil. ii. 3, " Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves." Men that are irritated by a church, vain-glorious and conceity, esteeming themselves better than others, are dangerous men, and fit wedges to cleave the church of Christ asunder.

Now I shall name the second doctrine, and then apply.

Doct. II. That professors ought to beware of schism and division, as they tender the authority and honour of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me apply it in the words of our text, " Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment." Dearly beloved, as ye tender the authority and honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, beware of this schism and division that is now troubling this church. I foresee it will be needless for me to offer to press this exhortation with motives, till I have removed three prejudices out of the way. The first is, that they are the strictest party: the second is, that the church has given them just ground to separate: the third is, that their principles are the principles of our covenanted reformation. Some, it may be, will be amazed to hear us offer to question these things; but I beseech you consider what I say.

The first prejudice then is, That those who dissent and separate from us are the strictest party. In answer to this, consider there is a twofold strictness : a strictness in practice, and a strictness in opinion. As for strictness in the point of a holy practice, life and conversation ; though they seem in a late printed paper to appropriate the name of the godly to their own party, yet God forbid I should appropriate it to ours. Only I shall say, that among those that conscientiously attend the ordinances this day in our church, there are people as eminent for holiness of life, and close walking with God, that have as much of the exercise of godliness upon their spirits and acquaintance and communion with God, as any in the nation; so far as I can discern. I could say more to this purpose, but that I desire not to give offence. As for the ministry, whatever defects be among them ; and though there are many of them with whom I have no acquaintance ; yet there are among them, of whom I could say, (if it were lawful to say it of any man), 0 that my soul were in their soul's stead ! and at whose feet I would willingly sit down and learn the knowledge of Christ and practical godliness : this I declare to be my opinion of them, however low thoughts many have of them. As for strictness of opinions, as to government and church

communion, if we measure strictness according to the dictates of men's own spirits, we will yield to them for strictness ; and so would our Lord to the Pharisees, and the apostles to the false teachers. But if we measure strictness according to the word of God, we deny they are strictest, but they are indeed widest from the rule. I will follow Christ to the synagogue of the Jews, (1 hope some of you at least may understand what I say), and in so doiug I will be more strict than those that scruple to follow Christ's example, for fear they be involved in the guilt of the corruptions among them; for the nearer I follow Christ, the more strict I am, if strictness be measured according to the word of God. However, this is but an assertion ; but it brings me to the second thing, where I shall prove it. The second prejudice is, That the church has given them just ground to separate ; and therefore they cry out on the Commission of the General Assembly, for representing them to the world as schismatics. To this I answer, That it is plain they have made a total separation from us, and refuse communion with us in ordinances, unless it be at some times to serve a turn. If this their separation from us be a sin, then their separation is a schism : but so it is, that their separation from us is sinful, which I shall prove by one argument, not to multiply words. The argument is this, Those who reject communion in the ordinances of Christ with a true church, and separate from her, because of corruptions in her, while in the meantime they might keep communion with her without sin, are guilty of schism and sinful separation : this I think will not be denied, for if our thus keeping communion be not our sin, it must be our duty; surely it is not left indifferent. But so it is, that our dissenters do thus reject communion with us, and separate from us, while, in the meantime, they might keep communion with this church without sin : therefore their separation is schism, and they are schismatics. That they might keep communion with us without sin, that is, without involving themselves in the guilt of the corruptions of the church, will appear, if ye consider, that there are no corruptions amongst us, whether real or pretended, which the church obligeth them to approve or join in the practice of, as terms of communion with her : nor is there any real or pretended truth which they own, that the church obligeth them to renounce, as a term of communion with her. This holdeth absolutely as to the .people for laick-communiou, as they call it; and I am sure it has been offered to seme of them, that they should be allowed to exonerate their own consciences, by protesting against these things which they look upon as corruptions amongst us, if they would but come and join with us. As for ministerial communion, it must be remembered

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that the ministers of this Church are obliged to own the Confession of Faith, as the confession of their faith, which is very just; and if we will believe the leaders of that party, they own it as well as we; so that herein they will move no debate. It remains then that they may keep communion with ns without sin, unless mere joining in communion with a church, wherein there are many corruptions, be a sin, and defile a man. To this narrow point, I think, the controversy betwixt them and us is brought: this I take to be the very foundation of the separation, which if it fall, all falls together with it: and that this is a gross untruth, I shall evince by two argument?. The first argument is from Rev. ii. 24, 25, " But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, As many as have not this doctrine,—I will put upon you none other burden ; but that which ye have already, hold fast till I come." In the church of Thyatira, Jezebel was suffered to teach and seduce Christ's servants ; for suffering of her the angel is reproved, and consequently called to amend this fault. The party that kept themselves pure are not required to separate ; nay, in effect, are commanded to continue in the communion of that church; while the Lord expressly tells them, " He will lay no other burden upon them," but commands them " to hold fast," and yet there is not one word anent their separating to keep themselves pure. This could not have been, if their keeping communion with the church of Thyatira, in which there were such gross corruptions, and corrupt members, had been a sin.

The second argument is from our Lord's example, Luke iv. 16, " And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read." What corruptions were in the Jewish church in Christ's day, ye may find by reading the Gospels, as great, I daresay, as can in any measure of modesty be pretended to be in the Church of Scotland; and ye would remember they were a covenanted land as well a3 we; yet our Lord keeps church communion with them in the ordinances of God; though he joined not with them in their corruptions, he joined with them in the ordinances, and consequently it was no sin; and people may keep themselves from the guilt of corruptions in a church, and yet keep communion with a church wherein these corruptions are. Mark, that it was his custom to go to the synagogue in the place where he was brought up, for it plainly relates to his custom which he had while he lived a private man in Nazareth, seeing it appears from the context that this was the first time he was in Nazareth, after he had entered upon the public exercise of his ministry ; which cuts off that exception, that Christ went thither only to preach to them. Nay, afterwards,

did he not go to their solemn feasts ? This he did also before, and we have plain scripture for his hearing their teachers, Luke ii. 42, " And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, after the custom of the feast;" and in the verse immediately preceding, it is said of holy Joseph and Mary, "they went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover," so far were they from separating. And in the 46th verse of that chapter, " They found hira in the temple, in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." They that would find this point more largely proved, let them consult Rutherford's " Peaceable Plea for Presbytery," and Durham on Scandal, and on the Revelation, both proving this point against the separatists of their time.

I come now to the third prejudice ; and I beseech you bear with me, for if I were to handle this point in an ordinary, ye should not hear so much of it at once. Our great business is to preach Christ, if we could get leave to do it for our divisions. The third prejudice, I say, is, That their principles wherein they differ from us, are the principles of our covenanted reformation, and that their practices, in the points of difference, are agreeable thereto : and so they give out that they adhere to our National, and solemn League and Covenants, Confession of Faith, Directory, &c. But we will examine their pretensions in these matters.

First, then, As to the National Covenant, I shall take notice of two things. 1. I find these words in the National Covenant, " This true reformed kirk, to the which we join ourselves willingly, in doctrine, faith, religion, discipline, and use of the holy sacraments, as lively members of the same, in Christ our Head, promising and swearing by the great name of the Lord onr God, that we shall continue in the obedience of the doctrine and discipline of this kirk." Let any compare with this, the Assembly 1638, their explanation of the National Covenant, as ye have it sess. 16, of that Assembly, where, repeating these foresaid words of the National Covenant, they subjoin, " But so it is, that Episcopal government is abhorred and detested, and the government by ministers and elders, in assemblies general and provincial, and presbyteries, was sworn to, and subscribed, in subscribing that Confession, and ought to be holden by us, if we adhere to the meaning of the kirk, when that Confession was framed, sworn to, and subscribed, unto which we are obliged by the national oath and subscription of this kirk, as is evident by," &c. Now, I would appeal to the conscience of any separatist who hath knowledge to discern things that differ, whether or not we have the same doctrine and discipline that they had, when that covenant was first taken; and the same doctrine and dis-

cipline which the Assembly 1638 declares to be the doctriue and discipline meant in that covenant, unto which we are obliged by the national oath. Seeing then we have the same doctrine and discipline, they are, by the National Covenant, obliged to join themselves to this kirk, and to continue in the obedience of the doctrine and discipline thereof; and, by their separating, they make themselves plainly guilty of the breach of this substantial part of the covenant. And hence, by the bye, appears the unreasonableness of speaking so slightly of these days, the doctrine and discipline of that time being that which the National Covenant still binds to. 2. I find, that at the first taking of the covenant, they swear to maintain the king's authority: as also, when, with additions, it was renewed in the year 1638, they swear to stand to the defence of his majesty's person and authority. How agrees our dissenters' principle, rejecting the authority of the queen, with this part of the covenant ? 0, say they, " she is not a covenanted qneen, and therefore cannot be queen of a covenanted laud." Strange prejudices ! "Was not Scotland a covenanted land long ere the solemn League and Covenant was heard tell of? Was not king Charles I. king of a covenanted land at that time when the covenant was renewed, and his authority sworn to be defended? But was he a covenanted king? Did he own their covenant ? No, no ; upon the contrary ; he obliged some of their nobles at London* to abjure it, declared the covenanters rebels, and brought down an army against them to force them from it.

As for the solemn League and Covenant, we find them guilty the same way. It binds us expressly against schism, as well as Prelacy, superstition, and heresy. And that they are guilty of schism has been proven before. It also bound to the maintaining of the king's authority, it being far from the mind of the covenanters to cast off the authority of the magistrate, though it was entered into without the king's consent. Was it ever the mind of the covenanters that they would own no king, but one that had taken this covenant ? I am sure the Parliament of Scotland thought not so, when in the year 1649 they proclaimed and declared to all the world, That Charles II. was king of Great Britain, &c, their sovereign lord and king; and this was a full year before he took the covenant: for which see the Apologetical Relation, pp. 64, 65. Nor did the General Assembly 1649 think so, when in their letter to the king's majesty, (to be found amongst the printed Acts of the Assembly, in their last session), before he was come home, or had

* Apol. Rel,, p. 53.

taken the covenant, they call him most gracious sovereign ; and subscribe the letter thus, Your majesty's most loyal subjects, and humble servants, the ministers and elders convened in this national Assembly of the kirk of Scotland: while in the meantime they tell him, in the same letter, That he had settled a peace with the Irish Papists, the murderers of so many thousands of his Protestant subjects, and granted to them (contrary to the standing laws of his royal progenitors) a full liberty of their abominable idolatry; which, say they, cannot be otherwise judged, but a giving of your royal power to the Beast; and they exhort him to lay aside the service-book. And several other things may be there found, that may make men blnsh to talk of their agreeing with the Church of Scotland in her principles in these times, and yet rejecting the authority of the present queen. And, which is most lamentable, even those worthies that laid down their lives for the covenants, whose testimonies are recorded in Naphtali,* having owned the king's authority, and prayed for him on the scaffolds, must by this new doctrine be reputed to die as fools, who understood not the covenants they were laying down their precious lives for. As to the Confession of Faith,

1. How does their refusing to pray for the queen, to pay her cess, and to own her authority, because she is not a covenanted queen, agree with the Confession of Faith, chap. 23, § 4, " It is the duty of people to pray for magistrates, to pay them tribute and other dues, and to be subject to their authority for conscience sake: infidelity, or difference in religion, doth not make void the magistrate's just and legal authority ?" I know they will say, that article is meant of lands not covenanted: there had been some shadow of force in this perhaps, if this Confession of Faith had been framed before the covenant: but upon the contrary it was long after, and was the product of the solemn League and Covenant, as appears from the first article of the Covenant, in these words, " And shall endeavour to bring the churches of God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, confession of faith," &c. The solemn League and Covenant was sworn in the year 1643, the Confession of Faith was sent hither and approven by the Assembly not till the year 1647, for which see the Act of Assembly, printed before the Confession. And can we think, that those who, in pursuance of the covenant, framed this Confession of Faith, to declare to the world the faith of covenanters, would so juggle, as to put in articles of faith which would bind others, but not themselves?

• See the testimonies of the Marquis of Argyle, Warriston, the Teu. These, witb T. Paterson, R. Shields, Mr. Robinson, G. Crawford, Mr. M'Kait.

2. How does their reckoning the taking the oath of allegiance to the queen, one of the steps of the Church's defection, consist with Confession, chap. 22, § 2, " A lawful oath, being imposed by lawful authority, in such matters ought to be taken ;'' and § 3, of the same chapter, " Yet it is a sin to refuse an oath, touching any thing that is good and just, being imposed by lawful authority?" It is true, they reckon her no lawful queen ; but one error will not atone for another. The famous author of the Apologetical Relation was not of our dissenters' mind, (nay, he thought there had been no Christian of their mind, and for ought I know there were none in these days), for, speaking of the reasons why the oath of supremacy, called then, though falsely, the oath of allegiance, should be refused, and answering this objection, viz. such as refuse this oath of allegiance, declare that they are not dutiful and loyal subjects, he saith, It hath been shown what difference there is betwixt this oath and the oath of allegiance; and there is no minister or Christian should scruple at the taking the pure oath of allegiance, Apol. Kel. p. 259. If it was this author's mind, that no minister or Christian should have scrupled the oath of allegiance to king Charles II. when he had taken the covenant, broken it, and overturned the work of reformation, sure, he would far less have thought it a sin to take the oath of allegiance to the present queen.

3. How doth their separating from this Church, lest they be involved in the guilt of the corruptions amongst us, by keeping communion with us, agree with Conf. chap. 26, § 2, " Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God;—which communion, as God otfereth opportunity, is to be extended to all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus ?"

4. How doth that priuciple of theirs, sometime at least owned by them, though left out in their last paper, against the power of the magistrate to call assemblies, agree with Conf. chap. 31, § 2, " As magistrates may lawfully call a synod of ministers, and other fit persons to consult and advise with about matters of religion ?" and with Act of Assembly 1638, sess. 26, concerning yearly General Assemblies, where they say, " If, in the meantime, it shall please the king's majesty to indite a General Assembly, ordaineth all presbyteries, universities, and burghs, to send their commissioners, for keeping the time and place which shall be appointed by his majesty's proclamation ?" They cry out on- the encroachment of the magistrates in dissolving Assemblies; but as our Assemblies are constituted in the name of Christ, so are they dissolved in his name. What dissolution the magistrate makes, is looked upon as the dis-

missing of the members. There have indeed been encroachments made by the magistrate in dissolving Assemblies before they had done their business, and there have been protestations made against this. And though, iu the late paper, they charge the Church for not protesting against the encroachments, and recording the same ; yet that protestations have not been made against them, is an untruth : but where the magistrate's deed is not recorded, neither are the protestations recorded. I was eye and ear-witness to the magistrate's dissolving the Assembly in the midst of business; and protestations were made against it, and for the Church's intrinsic power; and, from every corner of the house, members adhering thereto. And this protesting is recorded in the Acts of Assembly; so that, from my certain knowledge, I can say they speak an untruth in that charge in the declinature; yea, I have the Acts of the Assembly by me, where they, or any that question the truth of what I say, may read it with their own eyes.

5. How doth their rejecting and despising the testimony of the Commission of the General Assembly against the Union, and reproaching them for it, because it was given into the Parliament by way of humble address, and not by way of protestation, agree with Confession, chap. 31, § 5, " Synods and councils are to handle and conclude nothing but that which is ecclesiastical, and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs, which concern the commonwealth, unless, by way of humble petition, in cases extraordinary, or by way of advice, for satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate ?"

Lastly, How does their crying out on the magistrate's occasionally appointing fasts and thanksgivings, agree with the Confession of Faith, allowing the magistrate to call Assemblies ? This I spoke to formerly in another sermon. And further, how agrees it with the last paragraph of the Directory concerning public solemn fasting, where we have these words, " Besides solemn and general fasts enjoined by authority, we judge," &c. It may be observed how frequently the apostles enjoin obedience to magistrates, and honouring of them, as 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, " 1 exhort therefore, that prayers be made for kings, and for all that are in authority." Rom. xiii. 1, " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers," &c. Tit. iii. 1, " Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates." 1 Pet. ii. 13, and downwards. All which may shew us, that we have no more right to take away the fifth command out of the decalogue, that requires obedience to magistrates, than the Papists have to take away the second, which condemns their idolatry. I think there is a strange inclination amongst some

that profess religion, not only amongst dissenters, but others, to speak evil of dignities, and to embrace every thing that may make against the magistrate ; so that the murdering of king Charles I., ■wherewith Presbyterians are slandered by Papists and malignants, is owned and adopted by some, as if it had been a laudable action. "Wo's me ! that ignorance, and an inclination to vilify magistrates, should give such an handle to the enemy against us. If it was such a glorious action, the sectaries must have the glory of it; for it was they, and not Presbyterians, that did the deed, and it was protested against by the commissioners both from the Church and state of Scotland, for which they were hardly used at London ; for which see Apol. Rel. p. 64. Yea, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1649, gave their testimony against it in their seasonable warning, sess. 27, they say, " That prevailing party of sectaries in England, who have broken the covenant—and taken away the king's life, look upon us with an evil eye." And in their exhortation to their brethren in England, " "We have obtained this mercy, to be stedfast to our old principles, in bearing free and faithful testimony against their proceedings, both in reference to the toleration and government, and the taking away the king's life." And in their letter to the king, " We do from our hearts abominate and detest that horrid fact of the sectaries, against the life of your royal father our sovereign." Both which are to be found in the last session of that Assembly.

Let me now renew my exhortation and press it. " I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you." Beware of division yourselves, and give your help to recover, in all tenderness, those that have withdrawn, and encourage them not in their way. I am persuaded, that if they were not so much countenanced aud encouraged by those that are the hearers, the number of such would not be so great as it is. Let not that itching ear get place with you, so as to run away to their meetings, whenever ye have opportunity, and so to cast yourselves into a snare, and to do what in you lies to strengthen the division, and trample on the grave authority of the church, whereby one of their preachers is deposed from the ministry, and the other, who never was a minister, his license to preach is declared null and void ; and both are certified, that if they repent not, and amend their ways, they shall be excommunicated. I know it is said, that it is thought strange, the Cora-mission threateneth to censure these men with the highest censures of the Church, while yet they declare them to be none of their communion. But I think it more strange to find men amused with this,

who though some curates, and others who have been censured by this Church, who were as little of our communion as these men, yet are dissatisfied that the Church does not censure more of them, and that more severely. Beware then of this division, I beseech you,

1. For their sakes that have withdrawn, that ye may not confirm them in their course, tending so much to the disadvantage of their souls, in withdrawing from the means of grace and knowledge, which they stand in need of, as well as others. 0 Sirs, be concerned this way ; the Lord's people are of an uniting and gathering spirit, lsa. lxvi. 20, " And they shall bring all yonr brethren tor an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters,—to my holy mountain." They shall bring them not by force, but by gospel-motives. But some of them are far off; what then ? yet they shall bring them; may be they cannot walk, then shall they bring them on horses ; may b3 they are so weak they cannot ride on horses, then they shall get chariots ; some may be so sickly they cannot come in chariots, then they shall come in litters that are for carrying of sick folk : But by all means they will endeavour to bring them to the mountain of the Lord. Some will not concern themselves this way, but let every one do as they please in these matters. But 0 for this gathering spirit !

2. I beseech you for the sake of those, both amongst them and us, that have no religion. 0 Sirs, what should come of the many perishing souls up and down Scotland, that are strangers to Christ and their own soul's state, if, as these men would have it, all should leave us, and we be left to preach to the empty walls, or hold our tongues ? "Will they be able for the whole kingdom ?

3. I beseech you, for your own sakes, have pity on your souls, cast not away your spiritual food; yield not so to Satan, who, if he could, would set you at variance with the ordinances, because he well knows that men in that case may get greater ease in their lusts, lor it will be long ere a reproof be reached from the pulpit to the fields, or their firesides. 1 am very apprehensive, that the preaching of the word, as being levelled at peoples' state, and case of their souls before the Lord, has been over hot for some, that has made them withdraw from ministers, as men that tormented them that dwell upon the earth.

4. I beseech you for the Church's sake, whose beauty is marred with division, Caut. i. 6, " Look not upon me, because I am black :— my mother's children were angry with me." There is no danger from enemies without, like that from divisions within. The unity of the Church would be the stability of it, lsa. xxxiii. 20, " Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall

not be taken down, not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken." Though the kingdoms of the world be built on mountains, yet they shall fall; but the Church, when she is a quiet habitation, though but a tent, she shall stand; and though that tent be but fixed with stakes, yet they shall not be removed: though it be fixed but with cords, not with great ropes, yet none of them shall be broken. Division mars retormation in a church. It is very remarkable how discipline was weakened in the church of Corinth ; divisions were so hot there, the incestuous man was tolerated amongst them, they could not get that work minded or plied for the contentions among them. Zeph. iii. 9, " For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." There is a reforming time, and then they will serve the Lord with one consent, so we read it; but in the first language, it is one shoulder; they shall, as it were, all set one shoulder to the Lord's work, and then the work cannot but prosper.

5. I beseech you for ministers' sakes. Ministers are made very odious this day by the dividers of the Church; but we hope they have not made such impressions on you, but that you, at least some of you, will do something for our sake. Our request then is, that ye would not burden our spirits with division, that ye would not mar the Lord's work in our hands, and make our work a burden to us ; ye see that in other things we are not mere ignorants more than yourselves; that in other things we are not men of prostitute consciences more than yourselves ; must a man then be accounted quite ignorant of his duty, or one that will go over the belly of his own light, in things properly belonging to his office, just because he is a member of this Church at this day ? Be astonished at this, 0 ye heavens, be horribly afraid, 0 earth ! I am sure it is a changed world with some, to whom it may be said in the words of the apostle, Gal. iv. 14—17, " And my temptation which was in my flesh, ye despised not;—but received me as an angel of God.—Where is then the blessedness you spake oi ? For I bear you record, that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth ? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that you might affect them."

Lastly, I beseech you, for Christ's sake, that ye beware of division. I beseech you for the sake of the Prince of peace, who in his solemn prayer prayed for the uniting of his people, and lays an astonishing weight on it, John xvii. 21, " That they all may be one ; —that the world may believe that thou hast sent me :" for his sake

who, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his supper, to seal our union and communion with God, and with one another : for his sake who laid down his life to procure our peace with God, and shed his precious blood to unite his elect, Eph. ii. 14, " For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." As ye tender the authority, as ye tender the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, beware of division. As ye would have his presence with, and blessing upon the Church, and upon the parish, beware of division : Psalm cxxxiii. 1, 3, " Behold, how good and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." And so I close with the apostle, 2 Cor. xiii. 11, " Finally, brethren, farewell: be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace ; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." Now to the God of peace, even to the Father, the fountain of peace; to the Son, the purchaser of peace; to the Holy Ghost the worker of peace, be glory and praise, for ever and ever. Amen.

NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS

OF A

THRONE OF GRACE

FOR THE BEHOOF OF POOR SINNERS, POINTED OUT AND ILLUSTRATED.

The substance of three Sermons, preached upon Sacramental occasions. The first at Maxton, Saturday, July 4, 17)9.

Psalm lxxxix. 14,

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

A most solemn and awful approach is before us, we have on our hand business of the greatest import, business with a king, a king on his throne, not a mortal king, but the King immortal, the King of the world, the king of the church, God himself. And whether we consider our business or our party, we have no need to trifle. Our business is for eternity, if we come speed at the throne, we are made for ever; if not, we are undone. Our party is God on his throne, a throne where we see a glorious mixture of majesty and mercy, which requires management with the utmost seriousness.

In the words we have a glorious view the Psalmist takes of Zion's God and King, in two things.

1. The throne he sits in, and appears on, which is most glorious, " Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne." Where let us consider,

(1.) The person sitting on the throne, it is he to whom the Psalmist speaks, even God himself, ver. 8, and particularly the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ver. 19, " Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty."

THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE, &C. 615

And he is here represented as actually upon the throne ; for so " mercy and truth going before his face," does require it to be understood.

(2.) The throne itself. I think this text wronged, by expounding the throne of the throne of providence, and God's government of the world in general ; the ushers that go before this enthroned King oblige us to understand it of the throne of grace, Heb. iv. 16, since truth joined with mercy, as here, is always understood of faithfulness in fulfilling promises; and the ushers in the kingdom of providence are justice as well as mercy.

(3.) The habitation of this throne, "justice and judgment," (raarg.) " the establishment" or " place." So that the habitation is not to be taken actively, for that which inhabits the throne ; but passively, for that in which the throne abides or inhabits. The word is of such a frame as denotes an instrument of something, and it properly signifies a base, a support, or stay, or foundation, on which a thing stands firm, Ezra ii. 68, and iii. 3 ; Psalm civ. 5. Now justice and judgment are the base or foundation of this throne, i. e. say some, just judgment is the stability of God's throne, namely, in his government of the world. I am not clear of that sense being safe, far less genuine : for though just judgment is the stability of a creature's throne, who is capable to do unjustly ; I see not how it can be thought to be the stability of his throne of providence, who can do no wrong, whose dominion is founded on his having created all things, and is absolutely, and in itself unalterable.

By justice then I understand God's justice proceeding on a righteousness : by judgment, the execution of justice against sin ; which done, justice gives what is due. These are bases, supporters, or stays or foundations the throne of grace stands on: and you may easily perceive they relate to Christ, the Mediator, who became justice's party, and on whom judgment was executed for the satisfaction of justice. The throne of grace could not have been set up but on these bases; and were it possible they could fail, that moment they failed, the throne would tumble down.

2. The harbingers which go before him, " Mercy and truth shall go before thy face." Here is,

(1.) Something expressed, viz. that mercy and truth go before this enthroned King, as kings have their ushers who go before them. The one is mercy, i. e. loving-kindness, bounty, clemency, good-will towards poor sinners. The other is truth, viz. faithfulness in performing all the promises made to the Mediator in favour of those that are his. A glorious reviving sight to a sensible lost world !

(2.) Something supposed, namely, that the throne is a portable

616 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE.

throne. For these go before his face sitting on his throne. God has a throne of glory in heaven, of justice in hell, of providence through the whole world, of grace in the church, Jer. iii. 17. And wherever the gospel comes, there God comes sitting on this throne of grace, with mercy and truth going before his face, managing the treaty of peace with poor rebel sinners, and allowing all his people access to him, 2 Cor. v. 13, 18, " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, &c.

Doct. The throne of grace, which God sits upon for the behoof of poor sinners, is founded and stands upon justice, and on judgment executed against sin, in the person of Christ the Mediator.

In discoursing this doctrine,

I. I shall shew the necessity there was of a throne of grace, for the behoof of poor sinners.

II. I will shew the necessity of these foundations and stays of justice and judgment against sin, for the throne of grace to stand on.

III. We shall consider the laying of these foundations, and the erecting of the throne of grace upon them.

IV. Apply.

I shall shew the necessity there was of a throne of grace, for the behoof of poor sinners. There was an absolute necessity of it for the salvation of any of the posterity of fallen Adam. For,

1. Sin having entered, they could have no more benefit by the throne of law-goodness, which run in that channel, "Do this and live." Gen. iii. 22, 24, " And the Lord God said,—And now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever :—So he drove out the man," &c. The whole tribe of Adam turning rebels against the throne of heaven, the promised life and favour was forfeited, their claim was cut off by that one blow of the first sin, at the rate that they, with the help of angels, could never have been able to recover it, Eom. viii. 3.

2. They were bound over to answer at the throne of strict justice ; for so was the law-treaty related and determined, Gen. ii. 17, " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." This made them liable to eternal death for the least transgression, Gal. iii. 10. Taste but of the forbidden fruit, an 1 lo ! they must die. This made our guilty father, when he heard the voice of God, rnn and hide himself, when he looked to have the summons to that awful tribunal put into his hand.

In this case, there was the utmost necessity for a throne of grace.

A throne of grace, might the criminals cry, else we die, we all die ! we perish, we perish ! For,

1st, They could have no claim to law-goodness and bounty, but upon perfect obedience, Gal. iii. 12. And that was put beyond their reach by their sin, which both broke the law, aud wasted entirely their strength for such obedience in time to come. So the Mediator found them without strength, fallen down in their race, and not able to go a step farther, Rom. v. 6 ; nay, " dead in their sins," Eph. ii. 1.

2cJh/, They were utterly unable to stand before the tribunal of justice, Psalm cxxx. 3, and cxliii. 2. If their process be led there, the sinner falls, he is a condemned man without remedy. No plea can do there, but Not guilty ; and that the sinner cannot plead. The Judge is omniscient, and the criminal can never out-wit him, nor deceive him, nor keep the truth from him. And in that court there is no advocate, intercessor, nor mercy; but the sentence passed must needs be executed, and the criminal fall a sacrifice to justice : for the Judge is just and omnipotent, there is no moving him with cries aud tears in prejudice of justice, no out-braving of him, or making head against the Judge or the law.

Sdli/, The criminal once falling under the weight of the sentence a sacrifice to justice, there is no rising again, he is cut off for ever, Psalm xciv. ult. Were it thousands of rams, or the fruit of one's body, would satisfy for the sin of the soul, the sinner possibly might make shift ; yea, were finite sufferings so, though for millions of years, they would have an end : but the olfence against au infinite God cannot be expiated but by infinite sufferings, which lay the criminal's head so on the block, that he can never raise it up again.

4thli/, Justice had determined the execution-day to be the same with the sinning-day, Gen. ii. 17- And had it not been that the throne of grace was erected the same day to which the process was by appeal carried from the throne of strict justice, the sentence had been fully executed that day. When man was fallen, justice lays hand on the criminal, and binds him for execution. Everlasting love minds a throne of grace, to rescue a ruined world : but where shall a foundation be had to set up the white throne on for the pale criminal ? angels nor men could furnish nothing which could bear the weight of it. Then said the Son of God, Psalm xl. 7, " Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is written of me." Let my blood, the blood of God, be the base of the throne, that will bear it; so it was done. Hence ye read, Gen. iii. 8, " They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day : and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." Ver. 15, " And the Lord God

Von. VII. 2 q

618 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THUONE OF GRACE

said unto the serpent,—I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." And ver. 21, " Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

Lastly, Ye may see the necessity of a throne of grace for the behoof of poor sinners, in the hopeless case of the fallen angels. They were the first that ventured to break over the hedge of the law, and no throne of grace being provided for their behoof, they were ruined beyond all remedy, 2 Pet. ii. 4. For at the throne of strict justice they must answer, and they have no access to the throne of grace; Heb. ii. 16, " For verily he took not on him the nature of angels." The same had been our case, if a throne of grace had not been provided for us.

II. I will shew the necessity of these foundations and stays of justice and judgment against sin, for the throne of grace to stand on. Blind sinners, who never saw so much of the ill of sin as to make them question whether the saving of such wretches was consistent with the honour of God or not, are apt to think the throne of grace might have been set up on mere mercy. Nay, but it would stand on no other but justice and judgment against sin.

1. The justice of God could not suffer it to be erected but on these bases, Gen. xviii. 25, " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" 1 Thess. i. 6, " It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you." Sinners, by the dictates of their own consciences, know themselves to be worthy of death, and that God has a right to punish them, Rom. i. ult. And shall not a just God give sin its due ? "Who can expect mercy over the belly of justice, or that a throne of grace should have been set up on the ruins of the justice of God ?

2. The holiness of God, and his hatred of sin, would not suffer it. Hence says the Psalmist, Psalm v. 5, " The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity." And says the prophet, Hab. i. 13, " Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." When God does but spare sinners a while, they are apt to think he is like themselves, in which he shews he will vindicate his own honour, Psalm 1. 21, " I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." How then could the honour of his holiness have been supported, in letting out the fountain of his mercy and grace upon the sinner, without taking due vengeance upon the sin ?

3. The truth of God was a bar in the way of emanations of mercy and grace without satisfaction to justice. He said, Gen. ii. 17, " In

the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." "What should have come of the truth of God, had not death followed sin, according to the threatening. True, if one will die for the criminal, he may have life with the good leave of justice and truth, the surety's death satisfying justice. But no mercy without satisfaction, either by the party or the cautioner.

4. The honour of the holy law, the eternal rule of righteousness, stood in the way of erecting a throne of grace but on these foundations ; it behoved to be " magnified, and made honourable," Isa. xlii. 21. The law's hedge was broken down by the sinner, it was the fair transcript of God's holy nature ; and therefore it was impossible this gap should always stand open, never be made up, and they that made it not only escape free, but be received into favour.

Lastly, If there had not been an absolute necessity of these foundations for a throne of grace to stand on, they had never been laid at the cost of the blood of the Son of God, Rom. iii. 25. How can we believe that an infinitely good and wise God would have given his own Son, the Son of his love, to a most cruel and cursed death, to found his throne of grace to sinners on, if there had been no necessity of such foundations, John iii. 16, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." If there had not been a necessity for it, this love had not appeared.

Use of exhortation. And hence I would direct an exhortation to two sorts of persons.

First, Secure sinners, going on in your sins, fall in with the fair occasion of grace and mercy, now put in your hands, while the Lord is come among you appearing on a throne of grace, and offering you his grace and favour through Jesus Christ. Give up with your sins, submit yourselves to this glorious King, and slight not gospel-grace any more.

Mot. 1. Look to him that sits on this throne of grace, that is the great King, and you will see two things may move you.

1. He is one whose favour ye must have, else ye are ruined; for in his favour only is life, Psalm xsx. 5. He is the best of friends, and of all enemies the most dreadful. How can ye live without his favour, since ye live on his ground, and live at his cost ? Acts xvii. 25. How can ye die without it; will ye be able to face the king of terrors without peace with the King of heaven ? The throne is among you, then make your address.

2. His favour ye may have, for he is on a throne of grace ; come and fall down before him on that throne, and make peace, Isa. xxvii. 5. The golden sceptre is stretched out, come forward, and let not

2q2

620 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GEACE

the occasion slip, 2 Cor. vi. 2, " Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." The proclamation of grace is issued out for peace and pardon to rebels, stand not off lest the day of grace go over with you, and that be pronounced, Luke xiv. 24, " I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden, shall taste of ray supper."

Mot. 2. Look to those that go before this enthroned King, and you will see two things may overcome your hearts to comply.

1. Mercy goes before it to embrace you, and give you a complete remedy for your misery; slip not the golden season, Isa. lv. 3, 7, " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." And it is sure mercy, ye may well trust to it; precious mercy, it is most dangerous to slight, since it issues out from a throne established on justice satisfied by the obedience and death of Christ.

2. Truth goes before it, to secure unto all that submit to the King on this throne all the promises of the everlasting covenant; they shall all be yours in Christ, 2 Cor. i. 20. They will begin to be accomplished in this life, but they will serve to tell out through the ages of eternity.

Mot. ult. Look to the foundations this throne stands on, and you will see two things may determine you.

1. That it is costly grace and mercy that is offered you. This whito throne had never appeared amongst us, if Christ had not, by his obedience and death, made a foundation for it to stand on. Has he been at the expense of his precious blood to rear it up, and will ye slight the grace purchased at such a rate ? Ye cannot do it but ye trample under foot the blood of the Son of God.

2. "What ye must lay your account with, if ye continue in your sins, and slight the offers of grace from the throne, even justice and judgment on your own souls for evermore, Heb. ii. 3. Will ye look for mercy, yet not take God's way of mercy in Christ. Justice will step in betwixt you and mercy, and part you for ever. If this was done in the green tree, much more will it in the dry. If God spared not his own Son, how shall the slighters of him expect to be spared ? Nay, another throne shall be set up against you, where the flaming sword to devour the adversaries shall go for ever before the face of the dreadful Judge, 2 Thess. i. 9.

Secondly, Poor trembling sinners, pressed with the sense of sin and unworthiness, come forward with humble boldness to the throne of grace, that ye may " obtain mercy, and lind grace to help in time of need," Ileb. iv. 1G.

Look to him that sits on the throne : it is not an absolute God, but a God in Christ, 2 Cor. v. 19, whose rays of majesty shoot not forth immediately to you, unveiled ; these indeed would confound the poor guilty creature ; but they shoot forth through the veil of the flesh of Christ ; so thou may look on them, and be refreshed with them.

Look to the ushers which go before him : these are not justice and judgment with the flaming sword; these would destroy the guilty sinner at his first approach ; they are mercy and truth, mercy to spare and pardon, truth to enrich thee with the King's favours.

Look to the stays that support the throne, justice fully satisfied, judgment executed against sin, in the person of Christ: hence the waters of mercy flow out, say then, " Spring up, 0 well, sing ye to it." Look to these, and ye will see an answer to all the questions that perplex your souls.

1. Will ever the Lord look favourably on the like of me ? Answ. Yes, he is on a throne of grace, erected on purpose for his lookiug favourably on the guilty.

2. But I am laden with chains of guilt, can ever I have access to the throne ? Answ. Mercy and truth go before his face, to cause all these fall off, and bring thee in before him.

3. But is it consistent with the honour of God to pardon such sins as mine are, against so much light, love, &c.; to put me among his children, who am the very worst of sinners ? Answ. Yes, very consistent, his justice, holiness, truth, law, his honour shall suffer nothing by it; Christ has laid a foundation, that equally bears up God's honour, and thy salvation, even thine.

Maxton, Sabbath, July 5, 1719.

Psalm lxxxix. 14,

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

(The second sermon on this text.)

III. We shall consider the laying of these foundations, and the erecting of the throne of grace upon them. Here consider,

1. The general ends of this new erection.

2. The necessary foundations of this throne.

3. How these foundations were laid.

622 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE

First, The general ends of this new erection. For what ends was it to be made and set up ? The particular ends are as many as the needs of lost sinners were, but they may be, and are by the apostle, reduced unto two heads, Heb. iv. ult.

1. The saving of sinners from the wrath of God due to them for their sins; " Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy." Sin entering into the world made a gap, at which the flood of wrath following might enter, and would certainly enter and sweep away all before it into the pit, if the gap was not made up. This throne then was to be erected, that mercy might fill up the gap, rejoice over judgment, and save the sinner from perishing; that the sinner might be pardoned, his guilt of eternal wrath be taken away, and he taken out of the jaws of devouring death.

2. The making of sinners positively happy in the favour of God for evermore; "And find grace to help." By sin's entering into the world, their right to heaven was forfeited and razed, they could not come thither. They could have no commnniou with God here nor hereafter. Justice had drawn a bar betwixt them and it, and shut the door never to be opened, but on answering such demands of its own, which the sinner never could do. The throne of grace then was to be erected, that grace might open that door, and let in the sinner to the forfeited inheritance again; not only that the rebel might get his pardon, but might be restored to his Prince's favour, and loaded with benefits to his everlasting and complete happiness.

Secondly, The necessary foundations of this throne. The text says, these are justice and judgment.

1. Justice, as distinguished from judgment, whereby God gives good unto any, agreeably to the laws of righteousness, which the justice of his nature requires to be observed in his government of the world, Gen. xviii. 25, " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" This justice annexeth his favour and good-will to the obedience, the perfect obedience of his law; secures the delivery of a purchase upon the payment of a valuable price for it; and cannot admit of the keeping back of any good that is due. This is justice, this is what is right, which the Judge of all the earth cannot but do, in so far as he cannot but be just.

This answers the end of making the creature happy, upon due obedience to the great Lawgiver, during the course of such obedience. And though there was grace in the first covenant, in so far as the obedience of innocent Adam was not proportionable to the great reward promised therein : yet as it was not comparable to

FOR THE BEHOOF OF rOOR SINNERS POINTED OUT. C23

gospel-grace, it might have stood upon this single foot of justice. But supposing this foundation laid, it could not have supported a throne of grace in favour of sinners; it could not have stood on this single foot, unatoned guilt would have undermined it. Therefore there is,

2d, Namely, Judgment, whereby vindictive justice is satisfied for sin, for the breaking of the holy law ; vengeance is taken upon it in proportion to the offence, which in a sort is an infinite offence. Hereby,

(1.) Sin is condemned, Rom. viii. 3. Sentence is passed from tlie throne of revenging justice against it, whereby, according to the law, the curse is pronounced against it, wrath ordained to pursue it in full measure, where it is found; and never to leave it, till full satisfaction be had of the party, who, by the appointment of God, stands answerable for it.

(2.) The sentence is executed, revenging justice is let loose upon it; floods of wrath overflow the party answerable for it; the fire kindled by the breath of an angry God preys upon him, till the vengeance is complete, and infinite justice has enough, that it can demand no more.

This answers the end of saving sinners from the wrath of God, and this foundation could not be laid without them.

Thirdly, How these foundations were laid. The whole creation could not furnish materials for them.

1. Man himself could not, for he was quite unable to obey the law perfectly; he had lost all his strength, for obedience by the fall, Rom. v. 6. He could no moro do it than he could reach the stars with his hand. Besides, he was quite unable to satisfy the justice of God for his sin, by suffering; for the punishment required behoved either to be infinite in value, or in duration. The first he could not be capable of, being a mere creature ; the last would leave him for ever ruined.

2. Angels could not neither; for though they were capable to obey the law perfectly, yet they owed that obedience for themselves, and therefore could not perform it for a fellow-creature. Neither could they, being but finite beings, bear infinite punishment, so as to satisfy infinite justice; and they were not of the same nature with those who had sinned, and for whom the throne of grace was to be erected.

Thus there being no help among the creatures, God laid help on his own Son, Psalm lxxxix. 19. When the poor criminals stood hopeless and helpless before the justice of God, he undertakes for them, to provide for the laying of these foundations of justice and judgment, a throne of grace might stand firm on.

621 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GP.Ae'E

In order to this the Son of God was incarnate, he becomes man, John i. 14. For this he did strike hands with the Father from eternity ; and seeing it was impossible that covenant could be broken, upon the virtue of what he was to do and suffer in the fulness of time, the foundation was laid, and the throne of grace stood firm thereon in Old Testament times.

Behold now how he was fitted to make provision for these foundations of the throne of grace to stand on. (1.) He was a true man, " flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones; a son of Adam," Luke iii. " made of a woman," a daughter of Adam, Gal. iv. 4. Having a true human soul, of which he says, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Thus obedience was to be performed to the law; and justice satisfied with suffering, in the same nature that had sinned, Heb. ii. 14.

(2.) He was true God too, 1 John y. 20, and so God and man in one person, which was necessary to make his obedience and death of infinite value, in order to the full satisfaction of justice and the law. In this respect his preeiona blood was the blood of God, Acts xx. 28. And from thence did arise its virtue to support the throne of grace, for all the gracious purposes God had designed it for. Hence is that of the apostle, 1 John i. 7, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." And that, Heb. ix. 14, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" Thus he made provision,

1. For the first foundation of the throne of grace, namely, justice, by his obeying the law completely in the sinner's room, observing exactly and giving obedience to its commands. And this for laying the foundation of justice to the throne of grace, Matth. iii. 15, "Thus it becometh us (saith Jesus himself) to fulfil all righteousness." He was holy in his birth, life, and death ; Heb. vii. 26, " Holy, harmless, uudefiled, separated from sinners." And liis obedience was,

1st, Universal, 1 Pet. ii. 22, " who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." He stuck at none of the law's commands. The hardest of them he complied with, he loved his enemies, denied himself. And all his enemies were bid defiance to convince him of the least sin, " Which of you convinceth me of sin ?" says lie, John viii. 46. And he was justified from heaven, by his resurrection from the dead.

2<tty, It was perfect in degrees: John xv. 13. Says Christ, " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life

for his friends." He screwed up love, which is the fulfilling of the law, to its highest possible pitch. So that the law could not but say, It had enough of work.

3dly, It was constant, Phil. ii. 8, says the apostle, " He became obedient unto death." The temptations of Satan, the reproaches of his enemies, the treachery of his friends, could not make him make the least halt in his course, 1 Pet. ii. 23, " "When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not." The first Adam broke off fairly, but quickly sat up, the second endured to the end.

^tldy, It was voluntary : Psalm xl. 8, " I delight to do thy will, 0 my God : yea, thy law is within my l;eart," says he. The doing of God's will was his meat, John iv. 34. Though he was a man of sorrows, yet he was never discouraged, Isa. xlii. 4.

2. He made provision for the other foundation, namely, judgment, by suffering in the sinner's stead. Hence says the apostle, Gal. iii. 13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." He set himself up for the mark at which the law might shoot all the poisoned arrows, which should have stuck in the souls of the elect for ever. The fountains of the great deep, and the windows of heaven were opened against him; the flood of wrath pursuing the sins of the elect finding him in the gap, disburdened itself wholly into him. Justice put such a load of wrath on him, as made him in the open air, in a cold night, sweat drops of blood. And his sufferings were,

(1.) Most exquisite, judgment executed upon him to the utmost rigour, Rom. viii. 32, " He spared not his own Son." Justice pursued him from his birth to his burial, and never left him, till it brought him to the dust of death. His cup was pure unmixed vengeance, was filled to the brim, and he drank out the bitter dregs of it. In his greatest extremity, he could not have a cup of cold water to driuk, but vinegar mingled with gall; nay, not so much as the light of the sun to shine on him, but it hid its head, then, because " light is sweet to the eyes, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the sun."

(2.) Nevertheless they were voluntary, John xviii. 11; Isa. liii. 7, without the least murmuring, that so justice might have complete satisfaction. He stood and answered all the demands justice and judgment could have of the sinner, in order to his finding grace in the sight of the Lord.

Use. I would drop a word to two sorts of persons.

First, To spectators of this solemn ordinance. And,

1. Unconcerned spectators, who have no part in, but look lightly on this solemn approach here made to the throne of grace. (1.)

626 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OP A THRONE OF GKACE

Had ye no business at the throne of grace, that ye satisfied yourselves with mere onlooking? Is not eternity at stake with you as well as others ? Or is it possible for you to be saved, without application to the throne of grace in the Lord's own way ? Acts iv. 12, says the apostle Peter," Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." And if ye value God's grace and favour, is it possible for you to undervalue the seal of it ? (2.) How deep must the guilt of slighting a throne of grace be, which cost so dear to set it up ? Is it not a trampling the Father's love, and the Son's blood under foot? (3.) Ye will not get leave to be mere spectators too at the throne of judgment, but must come out of your graves with others, and receive your sentence, which will be dreadful, if ye do not timely make your application for peace with God while on the throne of grace.

2. Spectators duly concerned, whatever has kept you back from this ordinance, do ye not prize the throne of grace ? Are ye notTe-solved to ply it, for the interest of eternity ? if ye do not, ye are not concerned spectators. If ye do, I tell you, though the communion be over, the throne of grace stands, and there is access to it for you; yet there is room. Therefore go away resolved to settle your business there for eternity while it is day.

Secondly, Communicants, ye have been professing to approach this throne, how went the matter ? how managed ye your business there ?

1. It is to be feared some have quite mismanaged it. These are they that have been careless, formal, and hypocritical in their management, who have retained some underhand management with some one lust or other, whose hearts have not opened to receive Christ with his whole yoke, and have not given themselves honestly to the Lord. (1.) Ye have lost a fair occasion of settling your matters for eternity, and God only knows if ever ye will have such another : repent, and with all speed manage better, and do in secret what ye should have done at the table, as ye would prevent a curse on your treachery. (2.) It is a stout heart that could trifle in such a solemn approach to such a throne, founded on justice and judgment : surely ye have not looked to the bottom it stands on, else it would have commanded dread, reverence, and utmost jealousy, as it did in Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 17, " How dreadful is this place !" said he ; " this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

2. Some have been sincere in their management, whose consciences cannot but witness for them, they have been upright in the main, whatever mismanagements there have been. Yet,

1. Some such may be drooping for that the King on the throne has hid his face from them, and that they have no token of acceptance from the throne; so they fear they have quite mismanaged. Answ. (1.) If sincere in the main, whatever mismanagements there have been, remember it is a throne of grace, where sincerity is accepted, and acceptance is not marred by unallowed infirmities and miscarriages, 2 Cor. viii. 12, " For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." (2.) If sin has been made more hideous and frightful to thee by this ordinance, the glorious basis the throne stands on has not been quite hid. If thy desire after a God in Christ be more enlarged, neither has he that sits on the throne quite hid himself from thee. If thou hast got a kiudly melting of heart for sin, mercy and truth have darted their beams on thee. (3.) Be as it will, the throne stands, abide ye by .it; and what ye have not got, ye shall get in God's time, as did the spouse, Cant. iii. 4, " It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth." And ye shall be made to say, Grace times its visits well.

2. Others may have had sensible reviving and refreshing from the throne. All I say, is, remember that the least kind glance from the throne is precious; it is not the price of your pains, preparation, tears; it is the price of blood, of the Son of God. Not a smile from heaven but comes through the wounds of a Redeemer, nor a pardon but is written with his blood. Therefore walk softly, and quench not the Spirit.

Lastly, To all whose hope and expectation is all from this throne.

1. Look on sin as the most frightful evil, and stand at a distance from it, Rom. xii. 9," Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good." Oppose to temptations to your former lusts the remembrance of justice and judgment the throne of grace stands on.

2. Never entertain cheap thoughts of pardon ; leave it to them that know not God, his law, nor his gospel, to think it is but to ask mercy, and have it. There is no pardon of the least sin, without the good leave of justice, Exod. xxxiv. 7.

3. Love the Lord Jesus, and remember his love, to whose obedience and death we owe the throne of grace. Grieve not his Spirit by untender walking; but let his love constrain you to live henceforth not unto yourselves, but unto him which died for you, and rose again.

4. If at any time ye be obliged either to sin or suffer, choose rather the greatest suffering than the least sin. And to animate you thereto, consider what Christ suffered, in order to lay a foundation for the throne of grace.

628 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE

5. Having settled your matters at the throne by a sincere embracing of the covenant from thence offered, strengthen yonr faith, and confirm your confidence of grace and salvation, by looking to the firm foundations the throne stands on.

Lastly, Be much at the throne by prayer and supplication, in the name of Christ.

Morebattle, Saturday, July 18, 1719.

Psalm: lxxxix. 14,

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth

shall go before thy face.

(The third sermon on this text.)

I come more particularly to consider, How these foundations of justice and judgment were laid. When a throne of grace was to be erected for the behoof of poor criminal sinners, justice and judgment stand up in the behalf of a holy, but broken law, and require to be satisfied of the sinner, before there could be a throne of grace erected in his favour. And Christ answers for the sinner,

First, Justice requires of the sinner, in behalf of the holy law, perfect obedience to its commands, pleading the truth of God, Isa. xlii. 21. Otherwise tliere can be no throne of grace erected in his favour, since it cannot be set up on the ruins of the holy law. Therefore justice says to the sinner, Matth. xix. 17, " If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." But this sinful man could not do; and if the throne of grace cannot stand but on this foundation, he must lose the benefit of it for ever. Alas ! then, must all perish ? No, Christ answers for bis own; what they could not, he did. He presents himself, and whatever justice has to demand of them for laying this foundation of the throne of grace, he affords. Hear the demands.

1st, Demand. Thy nature must be absolutely pure and holy ; for if the fountain be poisoned with sin, how can the streams be otherwise ? Hence says Job, chap. xiv. 4, " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? Not one." And says the apostle John, Rev. xxi. ult. " There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth." Without the law's being satisfied in this point, there is no grace nor mercy for thee. Alas, the sinner can never answer this. He has a corrupt nature, he cannot purify it, Prov. xx. 9. He was born in

sin; cau he enter again into his mother's belly, and be born over again without sin ?

But Christ answers this demand for his people ; the law shall have all its asking. Therefore the Son of God takes to himself a true body and soul, both sinless. The Ancient of days becomes an infant of days. He is conceived without spot by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and in due time born without sin, Luke i. 35. Heb. vii. 26. His nature was not in the least tainted, but absolutely free of the least seed of sin. Here is now such a birth, such a nature, as the law exacted ; so that demand is answered, that bar in the sinner's way drawn.

2d. Demand. Thou must obey every command of the broad law. Thy obedience must be as broad as the law. If some, not all, a curse shall come on thee, and not a blessing, according to that, Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Alas, what can the sinner do with this ! He has lost much of the knowledge of the law ; many of these commands he does not know, yet ignorance of the law excuses no man; many quite against the grain with him, " Love your enemies," &c.; many that, if his life were a thousand times lying on them, and he would set himself to the utmost diligence and watchfulness, he will break sometimes, as by vain thoughts, &c.

Christ answers this. He obeyed all: " fulfiled all righteousness ;" Matth. iii. 15 ; " did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," 1 Pet. ii. 22. He made the law, he could not but know it in every point. It was the transcript of his own holy nature, he fulfils it in every jot. Hence says he, Matth. v. 17, " Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." He gave it external and internal obedience, in heart and life. Its hardest commands he baulked not, loved his enemies, denied himself. Never an idle word dropt from the holy mouth, never a vain thought could run through his holy heart.

3d Demand. Every part of thy obedience must be screwed up to the highest pitch and degree the law requires : Matth. xxii. 37, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." If any thing of the due measure be wanting there can be no favour. To be sincere, to desire to do better, and to be sorry at the heart thou canst not, will not be accepted here, Gal. iii. 10, forecited. Alas ! the sinner shall as soon reach the clouds with his hands, as this perfection of degrees the law requires. Let him do his best, corruption clogs him so as he can never mount to the top; let him be praying never so fervently,

630 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE

there is some coldrifeness about him, his faith is mixed with unbelief, his very sincerity is not without a mixture of hypocrisy.

Christ answers this. His love to his Father was most seraphic, most ardent and intense, it flamed in his holy breast to the utmost point the law could require. His love to men was incomparable, John xv. 13. He went to the utmost boundaries of love with them. Every action of his was absolutely spotless, perfectly refined, and without the least mixture of imperfection.

Last Demand. All this must be continued to the end, without the least trip in one jot, Gal. iii. 10. Shouldst thou live all thy days in a course of perfect obedience, but at the hour of death one vain thought run through thy heart, all is gone. Alas ! the sinner can never answer this. He cannot keep perfectly right one year, day, hour, minute, if a thousand hells were upon it.

Christ satisfied this demand too, Phil. ii. 8, " He became obedient unto death." The first Adam broke fair off, but he tripped quickly; the second continued to the end. The law could never, in its greatest rigour, challenge him of the least sin from the womb to the grave, by day or night, alone or in company. His heart and life shone in holiness, before his Father and the world, in its meridian brightness, without the least cloud or spot to stain it. Thus the first foundation of the throne, namely, justice, was laid. But,

Secondly, Ere the throne can stand for all this, judgment, in behalf of the broken law, requires of the sinner satisfaction for the wrong done to the honour and law of God. Just judgment, taking the sinner by the throat, says, " Pay what thou owest." Thou art in debt to the justice of God for sins committed, thou must satisfy the just threats of the law, and bear the curse ; and without this satisfaction there can be no grace nor mercy shown.

0 then, might the sinner say, " "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ?" Mic. vi. 7- No, these are too mean to satisfy here, Psalm xl. 6, " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire : —burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required." But, 0 ye crowned heads, mighty monarchs, may not ye be cautioners for this debt ? No, they cannot; if they would sell their crowns, kingdoms, and dig up all the gold in the bowels of the earth, and lay it down, it will not pay their own debt; themselves must have a cautioner, else they are ruined. 0 mighty angels, may not ye rather undertake for their debt, than that your fellow-creatures be ruined ? Alas, they cannot, they are not able, they would be broken with thV payment of the thousandth part of it, and it would never be paid for

them. 0 high demands of just judgment, no creature in heaven or earth can answer ! Then said the Mediator, Psalm xl. 7, " Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is written of me." "What are just judgments ? demands the sinner ?

1st Demand. Sinner, thou must suffer for the breaking of the holy law, die the death, for the word is gone out of the Lord's mouth, Gen. ii. 17, " In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Alas, how shall this be answered? If the sinner's life go for it, what has he more ? and if death, armed with law-vengeance, once get him down, it will hold him down for ever. 0, may not bearing crosses do it ? No, just judgment requires bearing of curses, not crosses. May not tears for sin do it ? No, it is shedding of blood, not pouring out of water, it requires, Heb. ix. 22, " Without shedding of blood is no remission."

But Christ satisfies the demand. He presents himself to the sword of justice, and judgment is executed on him, Zech. xiii. 7, "Awake, 0 sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts." Death armed with its sting, and all the force a broken law gave it, falls on him, sheds his precious blood, wounds him to the heart, separates soul and body, carries him prisoner to the grave, and lays him in the dust of death. Death gave him the first fall, but because he was God, he riseth again; and death having got its due, he brings away the keys of hell and death with him.

2d Demand, more particular. Sinner, thy sufferings must be universal in the whole man : that is just judgment, for so has thy sinning been. That body of thine, as the instrument of sin, must suffer : that head, that contrived the mischief against the law, must be wounded : that heart, the spring of all, must be pierced ; these feet, that have carried thee so many black gates ; these hands, that have wrought so much iniquity, &c. And thy soul must suffer chiefly, as being the principal actor in all thou hast done against a holy God. Ah, who can endure this ! it is a thousand deaths in one.

Christ satisfies this demand too. He suffers in his body : his head is crowned with thorns, and his heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of his bowels, Psalm xxii. 14. His feet, his hands are pierced, his tongue cleaves to his jaws, his bones are out of joint. His body has nothing but shame to cover it, his strength is dried up. The wrath of God fell on his soul, it was troubled, amazed, in an agony; the arrows dipt in the curse were shot into it, till the law had no more to require ; Gal. iii. 13, says the apostle, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."

3d Demand. Thy sufferings, 0 sinner, must be most exquisite,

632 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE

thou shalt have no pity, no sparing, but judgment without mercy. This is just judgment. Ah ! who is able to abide this ? " Who can dwell with the devouring fire ? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

But Christ satisfied this too. So God spared him not, Rom, viii. 32. Though his body was of a most refined temperature, and so his senses most exquisite, his death was a most tormenting death. .And in his death he was denied what benefits are not refused to malefactors. His eyes were denied the light of the sun, his ears were grated with mooters and cruel insults. He got vinegar to drink, mingled with gall. He was in travailing pangs, soul-travail; he had no help in it, and he died in it.

4th Demand. Thy sufferings, 0 sinner, must be infinite. It is just judgment, for it is infinite justice thou hast offended. Ah ! who is able to abide this ? This is killing, saddest of all, a thousand times. Universal, exquisite, yet infinite ! " Who can dwell with everlasting burnings ?" It is the hell of hell, and must fill a finite being brimfull of despair.

But Christ answers this too. He was God, and therefore infinite; so his sufferings, though not infinite in duration, yet were so in value. And what the creature could not have borne but by piecemeal without end, he bears altogether.

Last Demand. Thy sufferings must be voluntary ; God hates robbery for burnt-offering, Lev. i. 3. If thou at all murmur under all thy sufferings, it will be new sin, and mar the acceptance of the sacrifice, for which just judgment will repeat its demands. Ah ! what man can perform this ? The weight of wrath makes the devils and damned to roar. The man cannot bear a fit of the gout or gravel, nay, nor a stitch in his side, but he is in hazard of impatience.

Christ satisfies this too, Isa. liii. 7, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." In all his sufferings he never had the least wrong or unbecoming thought of God, Psalm xxii. 1, 2, 3. Never the least murmuring. He willingly underwent what he was to suffer. "When his hour came, though he was able to have rescued himself, he would not. He meekly prays for his murderers, even when he was in his extremity, Luke xxiii. 3L Thus the demand of judgment is satisfied.

And thus weie the foundations of justice and judgment laid, for the throne of grace to stand on. And on these it was erected, aiul stands for the behoof of poor sinners.

Use 1. 0 sinners, come to God, through Jesus Christ; and while

God is on a throne of grace to you, settle your business for eternity at this throne.

First, "What is your business at the throne of grace ?

1st, More generally, your great and comprehensive business at the throne is, to get God to be your God by a special covenant relation. Sinners, do not ye know ye have lost God? that ye are " without God in the world"? Eph. ii. 12. Sin has dissolved all saving relation betwixt God and Adam's lost posterity : and his wrath abides on the rebels and traitors, while in that state, John iii. ult. But hear good news from a throne of grace to you, who stand condemned at tne bar of justice, Heb. viii. 10, " This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord;—I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." Isa. lv. 3, " Incline your ear, aud come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." And if ye had that secured, your business for eternity is secured.

Quest. How shall we manage that business at the throne ?

1. Believe with application to yourselves, that this covenant is offered to you from the throne. You have the Lord's word for it carrying the offer of it to all to whom the gospel comes, Isa. lv. 1—3. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness," &c. If you had a voice from heaven calling, and offering it to you by name, would ye not believe it ? Te have a more sure word of prophecy, which reaches you among whomsoever you rank yourselves, Rev. iii. 20, " Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." And chap. xxii. 17, " Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." If ye do not believe it thus, in greater or lesser measure, ye cannot accept of ihe covenant, and so ye perish without remedy.

Object. But how can I believe that ever God will be my God, who am such a monstrous vile sinner ? Answ. Look to the foundations of the throne, aud you will see a perfect righteousness, and a complete satisfaction for the sins of all, that will take the benefit of the throne of grace erected thereon. This truth is written in characters of the precious blood of the Son of God, the which, to what purpose was it shed, if it could not secure the business of any poor sinner at the

Vol. VII. 2 r

634 THE NECESSITY AND FOUNDATIONS OF A THRONE OF GRACE

throne ? 1 John i. 7, " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

2. Consent sincerely and honestly to the covenant, and your business is done, according to that, Isa. xliv. 5, " One shall say, I am the Lord's : and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob : and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and sirname himself by the name of Israel." Let your souls and hearts open this day to the offer, and consent that from henceforth God shall be your God in Christ, and ye shall be his. And if ye be sincere in taking him for your God, you will let your other gods go : the devil, the world, any lust and idol, whatever fondness ye have had for it, shall be no more your god; but cast it to the bats, and to the moles. You will consent to be his only, wholly, and for ever, to take part with him and his people, for better and worse.

2dhj, More particularly, it is to get supply to all your wants, in that God through Christ. Hence says the apostle, Heb. iv. 16, " Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Here is the place of supply; and think not strange of that, for here is the price of all our mercies, the obedience and death of Christ. It is your business to get,

1. Pardon and peace with God, Eom. v. 1. "Weighty business that can be done no where else. Every where else, but at the throne of grace, you will meet the flaming sword staving you off from pardon and peace. Unpardoned sin will be a sinking weight to your soul; want of the peace of God will hide peace from your eyes for ever; if once they are opened, come then, and ply your business.

2. The sanctifying Spirit, and his grace, to make you holy, Luke xi. 13. "Without holiness no happiness, Heb. xii. 14; without the Spirit no holiness, 2 Thess. ii. 13. And as the fire that bnrnt the incense was fetched from the altar of burnt-offering; so the Spirit comes to us from a crucified Christ.

3. Right to heaven, aud eternal life, that you may be happy in another world, 2 Cor, v. 1. This is business absolutely necessary ; leave it not till ye be a-dying; do it now, and it will be a death-bed comfort to you, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.

Lastly, A settled communication betwixt the Lord and yon, that ye may have recourse to in all the exigencies of your life, Eph. ii_ 18 ; 1 John i. 3. Ye have an ill world to go through : ye will need both for life and godliness ; and here ye are to make the settlement for both. Ye may come to see sad days of public calamity, wherein they that cannot draw comfort from heaven, must want it for altogether. Settle the communication for that.

Secondly, Motives to press this.

1. God is oil a throne of grace to transact with you in this place ; for there the throne is wherever gospel-ordinances are set up, Jer. iii. 17. He has trysted once more with you here. What shall be the issue; shall the business betwixt Heaven aud you now be brought to a period? If not, ye will give a new slight to the enthroned King ; and what will be the end of that ?

2. It cost the Redeemer his precious blood to erect this throne. If he had not died, we should have had no throne of grace to come to more than devils have. 0 slight not the glorious and costly erection.

3. Your business at the throne is most weighty, and necessary. It is soul-business; business for eternity ; business that can be done no where else. If it be slighted or mismanaged here, it is gone; and if so, nothing can make up the loss, Matth. xvi. 26, " For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give iu exchange for his soul ?"

Lastly, It is a moveable throne ; see the text. It will not stand always for you. It has stood in some places, where now it is no more ; but the sometimes churches are unchurched. However, at death, ye will have no more access to it, if slighted now. And how soon the Lord may remove it, ye know not.

Use 2. 0 Christians, communicants, ye have heard your business, that is your business specially at a communion table. Learn here your communion-frame, and fetch it from a view of the throne.

1. Come believingly, aud with expectation of good at the Lord's hand. Faith has here the most firm foundation ; justice and judgment executed against sin, in the person of Christ the Mediator. Has he answered all the demands ? Then are the children free; free from wrath, free to the benefits of his purchase.

2. Come with the repenting, broken, bleeding hearts for sin, and filled with hatred of it. See what Christ suffered for your sins, and see the malignant nature of it.

3. Come with love, remembering his love more than wine. Behold how the Redeemer purchased the throne for you with his precious blood; and when none in heaven nor earth was to prevent your ruin, he stepped in.

Lastly, Come with thankfulness for, and admiration of, the glorious work of redemption. Behold justice satisfied, truth preserved inviolate ; yet mercy and free love magnified, by wisdom finding out this way.

2 r2

EVIDENCES AND CAUSES

OF THE

DECAY OF EELIGION IN THE SOUL

DISCOVERED, AND THE METHOD OF ITS CURE PRESCRIBED.

Two sermons preached at Morebattle, at the celebration of the Lord's supper there. The first upon Sabbath, July 19, 1719.

Rev. iii. 2, Strengthen the things ivhich remain, that are ready to die.

"Whoso looks on the face of the generation this day, in respect of religion, may behold a lamentable decay in spirituals therein. Great things has God done for us again and again, not only of old, but of late : but alas ! amidst all our repeated deliverances, wo are like to pine away under spiritual plagues. 0 that on such solemn occasions we were stirred up to " strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die."

This is a direction given to the church of Sardis, which had a name to live, and yet was dead. A church which had as much as made those about her to reckon her in a good condition ; but God knew, and themselves might know, they were far from it; death had got up into their windows, and was making havock of the spiritual case of all sorts. The directions for a recovery in this verse are two. (1.) Be watchful. Carelessness had ruined all with them; they are called to bestir themselves to habitual watchfulness. (2.) " Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die." In which you may notice two things.

1. The decaying and declining condition of this church. " The things which remain, that were ready to die." In which two things are to be observed,

(I.) Religion among them was brought to a very low ebb ; they had some remains of it with them, but it was but remains. Their former stock was much spent, the holy fire was become very weak. There is no necessity of restraining this to the really godly among tliem : it is spoken to the body of that church. Time was when there was another face upon them ; some had life-like stirrings by common operations of the Spirit, some by saving ones : but alas I both sorts had quenched the Spirit, and were not now what sometimes they had been.

(2.) That which was among them was like to die out; they were every day growing worse and worse ; their light was growing dimmer and dimmer; their lamp like to go out.

2. A seasonable duty pressed on them for their recovering; " Strengthen the things which remain," &c. Hold hand to what is left, that it do not go too. Under-prop the tottering building, that it fall not down for altogether. Repair the breaches that are mado in it. Add new fuel to the dying spark, that it may not be extinguished, but nourished and cherished, till it break out into a flame again.

Doct. When religion with a person or people is brought to dying remains, it is high time for them to bestir themselves, and strengthen these remains, in order to a recovery.

In handling this doctrine, I shall shew,

I. When one's religion is decayed to dying remains.

II. What are the causes that bring one's religion to dying remains.

III. Wherein lies the strengthening of things that remain, and are ready to die.

IV. Lastly, Apply,

I. When one's religion is decayed to dying remains. This is a weighty point; and in speaking to it, I shall shew,

1. Some things from whence one's religion may seem to be brought to dying remains, while really it is not so.

2. Some things that will evince one's religion to be brought to dying remains, whether they think it or not.

First, I shall shew some things, from whence one's religion may seem to be brought to dying remains, while really it is not so.

1. The wearing away of violent affections and commotions of heart in religion, or the settling of flashes of affection. It is true, some never had more of religion ; in that case, indeed, when these are gone, all is gone, Matth. xiii. 5, 6. But even the true convert may have more glistering affections than are true ones, when religion is

new to him : and when these settle, and he gets more solidity of religion, that is not dying remains. James and John could have fired whole towns for Christ, Luke ix. 54; but when they had more of the Spirit, they were not so fiery. See that prayer of the apostle's ; Philip, i. 9, " And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment."

Some think, 0 the love they had to Christ! sometimes they could not have prayed with dry cheeks, &c. But how like ye Christ now ; would ye not rather part with all than with him ? are ye tender of grieving his Spirit? do ye pray oppressed with a sense of your sinfulness and unworthiness ? These are not dying remains, as you may learn from what the apostle says, Rom. viii. 26, " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." And 1 John v. 3, " This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous."

2. One's not being able to go through with duties with that ease that sometimes they have done before. Hezekiah says, Isa. xxxviii. 15, " I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul." Self-confidence mixing itself with grace, may give more ease in the performance of duties than is welcome ; the which when it is broken, so much of that ease is removed. One may have more temptations than formerly : the wind blowing harder in his face, travelling is not so easy; but the horse may retain his metal, though he go not so cleverly, carrying double, as when single. But he who in the course of his way is striving, wrestling, and pressing forward to perfection, whether with less or more ease than formerly, is not come down to dying remains.

3. The marks of the decay of natural vigour left on religious duties. Christ says for his disciples, Matth. xxvi. 41, "The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Though the being of religion does not depend on the case of the body; yet there is such a close union betwixt the soul and body, that the body may sometimes be a clog to the soul in religious duties, which is yet going forward in the way of Grod, not backward. It is not dying remains with old professors, who, in the way of believing and holy tenderness, are pressing towaids the mark; that sometimes they could have remembered much of sermons, continued long in prayers, and holy exercises, heard or prayed not with dry cheeks; but now it is not so. Why, natural vigour is gone, moisture is dried up, memory is failed, &c. Was David's courage gone, when Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, having succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him, his

men sware unto him, saying, " Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel ?" 2 Sam. xxi. 17. The man may have as great love to God, hatred of sin, desire to remember the word as much as ever : and the impressions abide, though the expressions slip from him, as much as ever. But he cannot make so good music as he did ; not because the skill is failed, but the instrument is cracked.

Lastly, More felt stirring of corruption than before. The apostle Paul says, Rom. vii. 21, "I find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me." And ver. 24, he cries, " 0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" This did not speak him under a decay, because the struggle was kept up. Corruption may stir more than it did, when it has less strength than before ; as when death strikes to the heart of the patient, there are greater fightings than formerly, not because he has more strength, but that then what he has is put forth to the utmost.

Secondly, I shall shew some things that will evince one's religion to be brought to dying remains, whether they think it or not.

1. When the conscience boggles not but at gross outbreakings. That speaks very little tenderness left with the man, that conscience has little of God's bonds on it; it has so little feeling, that it is very near to being past feeling, Jude ver. 23. It is not so with thriving Christians; Psalm cxix. 113, the Psalmist says, "I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love." The conscience is the first thing that is awakened, and becomes lively, when the Lord is at work with the soul; and when it becomes untender, it is an evidence little is left.

The untender conscience is an unfaithful watch in the soul, which may quickly involve it in ruin. (1.) It easily lets pieces of one's religion go, one after another. (2.) It easily admits into one's practice, things that have not the King's stamp on them, one after another. And thus churches, and particular professors, hasten to ruin, the spiritual building being taken down piecemeal, by growing unteuderness, Prov. xxv. uit., " He that hath no rule over his own spirit, (says Solomon), is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."

2. When one's conscience is strait in the circumstantials of religion, but lax and wide in the substantial of it, as in the case of the scribes and Pharisees, Matth. xxiii. 23, 24, where Christ says, " Wo unto, you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe ot mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weighter matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith," &c. These are come to dying remains; for alas ! the main channel wherein tenderness ought

640 THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF KELIGION

to run is dry, or shamefully shallow. Where lies the main of religion ? in holiness of heart and life, that is, in moral duty to God and our neighbour, according to the ten commands. All the ordinances of church communion and society are hut means to that end; and therefore they shall be laid by, when this is fully attained; and they avail nothing when they do not advance holiness. "Wherefore we ought to be tender of both, Matth. xxiii. 23, " These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." And whether one make bold with the one or the other, his religion is like the legs of the lame, not equal; and what he has of it, is but dying remains.

3. When there is any one thing lacking to the perfection of one's religion in parts; see the text. That religion is in a ruinous condition, that is not entire, Jam. i. 4; like the house that stands wanting the cope-stone. The parts of religion are so necessarily to be joined together, that if one part be lacking, the rest cannot but moulder away, Mark x. 21. So the whole of what the man has, is but dying remains, in regard of what is wanting. And hence it comes to pass, as one may bleed to death at a neglected wound, while all the rest are taken care of: so one allowed lust will eat out the life of the soul, whatever execution seem to be made on the rest.

4. When folks' strength against sin and temptation is abated : that is a plain indication of a decay, for " the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more uuto the perfect day," Prov. iv. 18. This is a sad case, for one the longer he lives, to grow the weaker; to be the easier ensnared by a subtle devil, and deceitful world ; that says the communication betwixt Christ and the soul is much stopped, if there be any at all; that corruptions wax stronger, as the nails grow in decaying folk. Maybe ye think ye can pray as well as ere ye did: but indeed ye are not so patient, so humble, denied to the world, self-denied, ye are easier led aside to sin. Then thou art come to dying remains.

5. When the work of mortification is at a stand; the man's not watching his heart, and noticing the lusts rising there, and setting himself to mortify them, Rom. viii. 13. A Christian, if he be not going forward, is going backward; if not adding to his stock, he is losing. The garden will quickly be overgrown with weeds, if one be not daily working at them to pluck them up. The leaking ship is drawing water, if one be not busy at the pump, it may quickly be swallowed up. The thriving Christian never wants Avork. Hence says the apostle, Phil. iii. 13, 14, " Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended : but this one thing I do, forgetting those things

which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesns."

6. When though the duties of religion be kept tip, yet spiritually in duties is gone. Then what is left is but dying remains; for says our Lord, John iv. 24, " God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in truth :" and says the apostle, Phil. iii. 3, " We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit." The sense of God's command does not stir up the man to duty; love to the Lord does not draw him to it; God's honour is not in his eye. He goes out in his duty in the power of his gifts, but no panting for the blowings of the Spirit. The spirit of the man goes not along with his body; his bodily worship, actions, and gestures, are but naked, yea, false signs; he closes his eyes, but his heart is not fixed on God; bows his knees, but his heart is not humbled; he aims not at the enjoyment of God; but all his duties run into the dead sea of self.

Lastly, When one is become a stranger to the life of faith in Christ Jesus, what is left is but dying remains. The soul, if it have any life in that case, is in a swoon ; for " the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God," Gal. ii. 20. The thriving soul is employing him daily, as a Prophet, a Priest, a King; growing into him, coming out of itself more and more, believing his word, prizing his imputed righteousness as its only hope, and labouring to subject the whole soul unto him in his commands, and the disposals of his providence. Where this is not, and the soul never grows more self-denied, more humble, resigned to the will of the Lord, what is there but dying remains ?

II. I shall shew, What are the causes that brings one's religion to dying remains.

1. Unwatchfulness, Rev. iii. 2. Carelessness about one's body is oft-times fatal to it; about oue's substance, breeds a consumption in their estate; and unwatchfulness over the heart breeds a spiritual decay. How many this day have little or nothing left them in religion, who were once in a fair way of thriving, had they but watched their hearts ? Alas ! there are too many enemies waiting to ensnare the soul, from without and within, for any to think they will get their attainments kept, if they do not watch.

2. Spiritual sloth, Eccl. x. 18. This is a bewitching sin; and if once Satan get men asleep on this enchanted ground, be sure they shall be robbed and spoiled there. Thus the spouse will rather let Christ go, thau set her foot on the cold and wet ground, Cant. v. 3. Every one has a devil's agent within him, buzzing in his ear, Master, spare thyself; and when men sleep, the tares are sown.

642 THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OP THE DECAY OF EELIOION

3. Quenching of the Spirit, 1 Thess. v. 19. When the Spirit goes as he goes, so liveliness goes. Some cast water on this holy fire, by sinning against light, which wastes the conscience, defiles the soul, fills it with darkness and deadness. Some ruin themselves by their not nourishing and cherishing this fire, to give fuel to it, but they bring themselves into darkness and deadness by neglecting it. Some smother it, by taking part with some one lust or other against it, and so resist and rebel against the Spirit, to their own wreck.

Use. I shall drop a word to two sorts of persons.

First, To those with whom nothing remains, but all is died out. Time was ye had convictions and awakenings at a sermon, on a sick-bed, or otherwise : but now of all that ever they got at all the communions, sermons, afflictions, &c. nothing remains, but they are just where they were before that time, if not worse. To stir you up to see to yourselves in time, I would pose your consciences with the following queries :—

1. When ye had your awakening, would ye not have given all the world to have had that undone ye had done ? Why then turn back to the same courses ?

2. Did ye not resolve never to be so unconcerned about your soul, as ye have been ? What have ye done with these resolutions ? were ye fools to make them?«or were ye fools to break them?

3. Did ye think God's wrath against sin a mere scarecrow then ? why look ye on it so now? Could you sleep sound this night, if God should send you home with his arrows again in your conscience ? They have need of strong armour, that have God for their party.

4. Was not death very terrible then ? and is the turning back to your old courses the way to make it pleasant now? Is there any more sand in your glass now ? It may be farther from your mind, but sure it is nearer your heels than then.

Secondly, To those with whom something remains, though ready to die. This is the prevailing case of the generation, which is in a decaying, dying condition, whereof there are several sad symptoms.

1. The stomach for our spiritual food is gone. Ordinances are not prized, but despised. We look as we had got a surfeit of the gospel. Farms and merchandize go nearer the heart than occasions of communion with God. A sign we may come to fast till we find our stomach.

2. Zion's children have generally lost their colour, their beauty gone. That heavenliuess, spirituality, tenderness, favour of godliness, sometimes about them, is much away. And self-conceit, pride, formality, worldly-mindedness, and untenderness, has made them the colour of the earth.

Lastly, Death is working powerfully amongst us by the most horrid ingratitude of the generation, for most signal repeated deliverances, under which the generation i3 nothing bettered; and by the many melancholy divisions whereby we are crumbled into many pieces ; all foreboding ruin !

Stir up yourselves to strengthen what remains with you, and is ready to die. Improve this ordinance, communicants, for strengthening the dying remains, and follow on with any little you have, in order to a recovery.

Mot. 1. The longer ye be a beginning, it will be the harder to recover.

2. If ye do not, ye may come to lose more, yea, some may lose all that they have, the remaining spark die out.

Lastly, You may and shall get a recovery, if ye will ply the means, Hos. vi. 3 ; says the prophet, " Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; aud he shall come uuto us as the rain ; as the latter and former rain unto the earth."

Object. I meet with many disappointments, I think I will never recover. Answ. Consider the case of Job, chap, xxiii. and the case of the spouse, Cant. iii. Disappointments sharpen the appetite, teach honourable thoughts of sovereignty, and make the enjoyment sweeter when it comes.

Object. But I grow worse and worse. Answ. The darkest time of the night may be before day-break. See Mark ix. 20—26.

Morebattle, Monday, July 20, 1719.

Rev. iii. 2,

Strengthen the things which remain, that arc ready to die.

(The second Sermon on this text.)

I proceed to enquire into the causes that bring one's religion to dying remains.

4. Slacking in diligence about the duties of religion; Prov. xix. 15, says the wise man, " Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." The heart touched with the finger of God, is like a watch, which will stand if it be uot duly rolled up. Thomas having missed one occasion of communion with Christ,

644 THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OF THE DECAY OP RELIGION

his heart was overgone with the power of unbelief. If one be not diligent in the means of soul-thriving, how can he think his soul will prosper ? It will be owned, that religion, among the professors of it, is not this day as it has been : but is it not as sure, folks are not so diligent now as they were in the thriving times of religion ?

5. Doing any thing with a doubting conscience, doubting whether the practice be lawful or not, Rom. xiv. alt. Venturing forward, though they are not persuaded in their own minds but it is forbidden ground. This is such " a casting of God behind one's back," as the phrase is, Ezek. xxiii. 35, that it cannot miss to give one's soul's case a frem'd cast. It quenches the Spirit, gives the conscience a throw, wounds faith and confidence in the Lord, casts the soul into a kind of spiritual palsy, wherein the whole spiritual case is loosed, nothing firm, and the man decays daily, till recovered by repentance.

But here beware of confounding a doubting and a scrupling conscience. The former hangs in suspense betwixt the two parts of the question, lawful or not, assenting to neither of them. The latter assents to one part ot it; but there is a certain uneasiness, arising from some difficulties in the matter, inclining the conscience to the other side. In this last case, one should endeavour to have his conscience well informed from the word, that the scruples may evanish : but if after all they remain, in case one be sure from the word, that there is no sin on the side to which the scruples tend, they may forbear the action. But otherwise they should throw them by, or act even against them; because the conscience has light on the other side, and they are but the weaknesses of conscience, and without solid foundation. If it were not so, folk might scruple themselves out of all religion. For it is certain some have been so tossed by the wiles of the tempter, striking in with a weak conscience, that they have scrupled even to pray any more, or eat any more. Though God's express command for praying, and the sixth commandment, gave light for praying and eating; yet they had such scruples against these things, that they could not answer, and made the light dim. Yet to have followed these would have been but to gratify the tempter, and dishonour God, and foster the weakness of the conscience. The case is the same in other duties of reading, hearing, communicating, &c.; all which might be shovelled away with scrupling. There is a case, Deut. xiii. 1—4, " If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee saying, Let us go after other gods, (which thou hast not known), and let us serve them ; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams : for the Lord your God proveth you, to

know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave unto him." The sign's coming to pass could hardly miss to raise scruples in favour of his doctrine, yet they were not to be regarded so as to be complied with.

6. Worldliness and carnality, Jam. i. ult. When one goes aside from God to the world, he lies down among the lions' dens, and the mountains of the leopards : and how can he come away without loss ? Therefore says Christ to the church, Cant. iv. 8, " Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon : look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards." The world has given many up their foot in religion for altogether; witness Demas. And many a good stock of grace it has brought down to little. And,

1st, The cares of the world, Luke viii. 14. When the heart is set on the tenter-pins for getting and keeping the world, good motives evanish. One cannot hold the gripe of religion, while he takes such a greedy gripe of other things ; more thau one can grasp heaven and earth at once. They are Beelzebub's flies and wasps, that he sends to buzz about the soul, and disturb its rest in the Lord. Hence many, while they are young, and without care of the world, how blooming and lively are they in religion ! but when once they come to get a family, they enter into a cloud of cares, and their religion melts away like snow before the sun.

Idly, The drenching of the heart in worldly ease, comforts, and pleasures, Luke xxi. 34. Troublous times kept the people of God waking; but now, they find ease sweet, put their hand in their bosom, and it grieveth them to bring it again to their mouth. The warm sun of worldly ease has caused many cast the cloak from them, which they held fast in spite of the boisterous wind of persecution. 0 deceitful world, that with silken cords draws souls into perdition ! Even lawful things may prove ruining. A very gourd stole away the heart of Jonah, and cast him into a decay; two graceless sons, the heart of good Eli.

Lastly, The entertaining of any one lust, or idol of jealousy, Psalm lxvi. 18. While Samson lay in Deliah's lap, he lost his locks and strength ; and God departed from him. How many have tampered with some bosom lust, till it has given them a deadly wound? like the fly, flying about th9 candle till its wings are burnt, and it falls down. Gideon had seventy sons by his wives, but one by his Shecht-mite concubine ; but that one destroyed all the seventy but one. So one sin indulged destroyeth much good.

646 THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF RELIGION

III. Wherein lies the strengthening of things which remain, that are ready to die ? It lies in two things.

1. In blowing up the remaining spark that is ready to die out, 2 Tim. i. 6, ""Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God, " which is in thee by the putting on of my hands." It is weak in itself, stir it up, that it may act more vigorously. May be ye have nothing but a conviction of sinfulness, and that very weak; hold hand to it, press it forward, till it be deeper, and more lively. If conscience has got the first touch, the heart may get the next. If sin is become uneasy to the conscience, it may become a burden to the heart next, and the sweet morsel be vomited up. May be hearing, or joining in prayer, to purpose is gone : but praying alone remains, though ready to die: why, stir up that, when alone, pray more believiugly, fervently, &c, so shall you " strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die."

2. In adding to the remains, 2 Pet. i. 5—7, " And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance ; and to temperance, patience, and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity." Is there a remaining coal, put to another; that will strengthen the dying remains. 0 decaying Christians, look about you, and you will see several gaps in your religion; make up these gaps, fill up the void spaces, if ever ye would strengthen the dying remains. Many a one's religion this day is like a city-wall, wherein there are many fearful slaps, and at these the enemy brings in, and carries out, to the ruin of the city : and ay the longer the gaps are not made up, they grow the wider; and the enemy has the easier access. If ye would strengthen the dying remains, ye must repair the wall, and fill up what is the gap; and so what remains will stand firm. Make up what is wanting in external duties, in internal duties and graces.

Use. 0 decayed Christians, professors, all ye with whom it is come to dying remains, stir up yourselves to " strengthen the thiugs which remain, that are ready to die." And as for you with whom it is better, who are in a thriving case, what is said to them, may be of use to you, to look to yourselves, that ye come not to that pass.

Mot. 1. Dying remains are not for the work a Christian has to do in the world. Ye have much work, much opposition from the devil, the world, and the flesh, and ye have little time to do it in; ye have need of strength ; they that have most grace will have enough ado with it.

1. Salvation-work is on your hand; hence is that exhortation of the apostle's, Phil. ii. 12, " Wherefore, my beloved,—work out your

own salvation with fear and trembling." How will that be done with dying remains ? Faint wishes and languishing endeavours will not work that work. The garden will grow over with weeds, if there be not plying in earnest.

2. Generation-work is on your hands, namely, to be useful for God in the world; and not to take up room there for no good purpose, according as it is said of David, Acts xiii. 36, that " after he had served his own generation by the will of God, he fell on sleep." But will ever your dying remains make you useful for God ? Eccl. ix. 10. I will say two things.

1. Dying remains are very unfit for any time, the best of times, there are difficulties in the way to heaven that will be enough to try the strength of the most grown Christian. There is holy violence to be used, Matth. xi. 12. There will be striving to enter in at the strait gate, Luke xiii. 24 ; wrestling with principalities and powers; a race to be run ; a good fight to be fought, and victory to be obtained. How will dying remains suit these ?

2. They are especially very unfit for our time we live in; the stream of profanity and wickedness runs violently among many of this generation; the stream of formality, deadness, and untender-ness among professors, that it may be hard to keep what remains from dying out, if not strengthened, Rev. iii. 4. And the Lord is threatening the generation, as a generation of his wrath, so that we are very like to see suffering times, which our dying remains make us very unfit for; hence is that, Jer. xii. 5, " If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses ? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan ?"

Mot. 2. If ye do not stir up yourselves to " strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die," and recover, it will be bitterness in the end. Sleeping, decaying Christians, if they awake not at the Lord's call, will readily get a sad awakening. If ye hold on, take heed ye get not,

1. Jonah's awakening, being plunged into a deep sea ere ye are aware, getting a whale's belly to seek strengthening in, for the things that remain. Consider the case of Joseph's brethren. The Lord will not let a people he has any kindness for decay on and on, till what remains die quite out. But a midnight-cry they will get; and what the word does not, his heavy hand will perform ; Rev. iii. 3, " Remember therefore how thou has received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."

648 THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF RELIGION

2. David's awakening, over head and ears in a deep mire, ere ye are aware. A fall into some scandalous sin, that will make you go halting to the grave. It is a fearful threatening against Laodicea, Rev. iii. 16, " So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Many keep up the carcase of religion, but the soul and life of it is gone ; and God even lets them fall, so as the world may see they -were never sound at the heart. " Wherefore let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall."

Mot. ult. It is hard work, but must be done. The fire almost out is ill to kindle. Ye have all to undo ye have been doing since ye went back from God. Ye have been weaving a net to entangle your own feet; building a partition-wall betwixt Gcd and you; setting up idols of jealousy in every corner of thy heart and life; ye must open out the net, demolish the wall, sacrifice the idols to the jealousy of an angry God. But it must be done, else ye will repent it bitterly in time, or in eternity, according as your state is.

What shall we do to recover from a decay, to strengthen the dying remains ?

1. Labour to work on your hearts a deep sense of the ill of this decaying case. Hear God saying to thee as to Adam, Where art thou ? Consider how ye are robbed and spoiled, and snared and taken. How it mars all ye do, your praying, hearing, communicating, &c. And try to bring meat out of the eater, and sweet out of the strong, when ye observe it. (1.) Humiliation of soul before the Lord, saying with Asaph, Psalm lxxiii. 22, {; So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee." (2.) Sense of the need of grace, while ye see what sad work ye make in your decaying condition, crying out with the apostle, Rom. vii. 24, " 0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death !"

2. Be sensible of your inability to recover yourself, saying, with Ephraim, Jer. xxxi. 18, " Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God." Sometimes grace prevents the decaying Christian, and puts him in a fair way of recovery: but all is marred by self-confidence, and turning in to strength of resolution instead of going out of one's self to Christ. And so the resolution breaks and gives way, and he is where he was before.

3. Believe, accept, or renew your acceptance of Christ offered in the gospel-covenant, as if ye had never done it before. And look to him for quickening influences, depend on him for them ; to him the Father sends you for quickening, Rev. iii. 1. And believe the promise suited to your case, and that with application to yourself; Hos. xiv. 7, " They that dwell under his shadow shall return, they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine : the scent

DISCOVERED, AND THE METHOD OF ITS (JURE. C19

thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." Mai. iv. 2, " But unto you that fear my name, shall the Suu of righteousness arise with healing in his wings : and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall."

4. Reflect on former experiences, muse on the days when it was better with you, Hos. ii. 7. Recal to mind the particular times and places where ye had something of God ye have not now. God says to Jacob, Gen. xxxi. 13, " I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, aud where thou vowedst a vow unto me." Old experiences sometimes give a fresh smell when handled auew, as in Jacob's case, Gen. xxxv. 3, " Let us arise, (says he), and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went." They help to fill the face with holy shame. Every one of them comes out with that inscription, Jer. ii. 31, "0 generation, see ye the word of the Lord: have I been a wilderness unto Israel ? a land of darkness ? wherefore say my people, we are lords, we will come no more unto thee ?" They strengthen faith, according to that, Isa. Ii. 9, "Awake, awake, put on strength, 0 arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon ?"

5. Repent, or renew your repentance, Rev. iii. 3. Search your ways, take a review of your decay in the several steps of it, in the doleful effects of it on your heart and life. Trace it to the source thereof; aud let your eye affect your heart with indignation against sin, and self-loathing. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and lament your backslidings, with sincere purposes to endeavour to return to your first love.

6. Begin forthwith, and watch, Rev. iii. 2. Satisfy not yourselves to be affected with your decay on a Sabbath, or at a communion season, and to stuff your prayers with dry unactive complaints of deadness and decay: but forthwith set your watch, and call in your heart from its wandering. Watch heart, life, the whole man; watch the beginnings of a revival, and blow the coal, Hos. vi. 3.

7. Consider the signs of the times, as did Noah, Heb. xi. 7, who ' ; by faith being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." Behold how the harvest ripens for the sickle of wrath. Look over your bed, and see how the house is like to go up in a fire about our heads, that ye may bend to your feet. Concern about the public, not improved for the behoof of one's soul is little worth.

8. Make use of godly conference. It is said, Luke xxiv. 15, " While the two disciples communed together, and reasoned, Jesus

650 THE EVIDENCES AND CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF RELIGION, &C.

himself drew near and went with them." Conversation with lively Christians is very animating, Prov. xiii. 20. These are rare, ye may say : but ye that ever had any experience of religion, tell your case one to another, and though you and your fellow be both alike, two cold flint-stones struck together may produce fire. See Prov. xxvii. 17; Eccl. iv. 9, 10, 11. Christ sent out his disciples by pairs.

9. Fix your eyes on the particular ills of your heart, and pursue them with the knife of mortification, Gal. v. 24. These are the suckers that draw away the sap from thy soul, and have made it wither. And be sure, as any of them thrives, ye will decay. And beguile not yourself with what you call your weak side; for if ever ye see heaven, ye must get above it, Matth. v. 29. Remember what is written, Mark x. 21, "Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure iu heaven ; and come, take up the cross, and follow me."

Lastly, Be much in prayer; fervent in it, Rom. xii. 11. If your hearts be dead, yet impel them to liveliness, if I may so say. One benumbed with cold, walking he becomes capable to run, and running he gathers heat. Stint not yourselves to morning and evening prayers; but take occasions between hands, if ye would thrive, and can get them. Use secret fasting and prayer ; a most proper remedy for the worst of decays; for some devils are not cast out but by prayer and fasting.

END OF VOLUME SEVENTH.

riUNTEll BY

GEORGE AND ROBERT KING,

28, ST. NICHOLAS STKEET, ABERDEEN.

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