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<DATE>2013-01-17</DATE>
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<NAME>Leah Yurasek</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<PB REF="1">
<HEAD>Clarke Mayor.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Martis <HI>primo die</HI> Decembr. 1696. <HI>Anno&abque; R. R.</HI> Will. <HI>Tertii</HI> Angliae, <HI>&amp;c. Octavo.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis Court doth de&s;ire Mr. <HI>Black|burn</HI> to Print his Sermon Preached on <HI>Sunday</HI> la&s;t, before the Right Honour|able the Lord Mayor, and the Aldermen of this City, at the <HI>Guild-Hall</HI> Chappel.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Goodfellow.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P><HI>The Love of God manife&s;ted in giving our Saviour for the Redemption of Mankind.</HI></P>
<P>A SERMON Preach'd before the Lord Mayor AND Court of ALDERMEN, ON <HI>Nov.</HI> the <HI>29th</HI> 1696. Being the Fir&s;t <HI>Sunday</HI> in <HI>Advent.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>L. BLACKB&V;RNE,</HI> Chaplain in Ordinary to His Maje&s;ty.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>Tho. Warren</HI> for <HI>Thomas Bennet,</HI> at the <HI>Half-Moon</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-Yard, 1697.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="by the same author">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>Publi&s;hed by the &s;ame Author.</HEAD>
<P><HI>THE &V;nrea&s;onablene&s;s of Anger:</HI> A Sermon Preached before the Late Queen at <HI>White-Hall, July</HI> the <HI>29th</HI> 1694.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>PAge 3. line 19. for <HI>to</HI> read <HI>&s;o,</HI> p. 4. l. 18. for <HI>not</HI> r. <HI>to &V;s,</HI> for <HI>Difference</HI> r. <HI>different,</HI> p. 16. l. 20. for <HI>and</HI> r. <HI>an,</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>A SERMON Preach'd, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>John III. 16.</HI></BIBL>
<P>For God &s;o lov'd the World, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that who&s;oever believeth in Him &s;hou'd not peri&s;h, but have Everla&s;ting Life.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THat a Being infinitely Perfect &s;hou'd delight in the work of its own hands; that Goodne&s;s it &s;elf &s;hou'd have Incli|nations of Tenderne&s;s and Love for a Creature made after its own Image, Ju&s;t and Upright; is but what that Creature might rea&s;onably ex|pect from the con&s;ideration of God's Nature, and of its own. But that a rea&s;onable Crea|ture, fall'n willfully from that Uprightne&s;s,
<PB N="2" REF="3" MS="y">given over to Sin, and polluted with Wicked|ne&s;s, &s;hou'd with all tho&s;e &s;pots and &s;tains about it be the Object of God's Love, to &s;uch a degree, as that he &s;hou'd give His Only Son a ran&s;om for it; the Son of his Love, for a Mi&s;erable Wretch, the greate&s;t contradiction to his Infinite Purity, and the hopele&s;ly devo|ted Sacrifice to his Everla&s;ting Vengence. This were enough to &s;tartle a forward Faith, were it not that he has &s;aid it who cannot fail, he has &s;poken it who cannot be deceiv'd, who is him&s;elf both the <HI>Gift</HI> and the <HI>A&s;&s;urance of it:</HI> who to the manifold expre&s;&s;ions of his Good|ne&s;s to us has added, That of even this oppor|tunity of reviving the dying Images of our &s;hatter'd, and on every &s;ide a&s;&s;aulted Faith; and inflaming our Hearts with a warm and pe|netrating &s;en&s;e of his a&s;toni&s;hing and unboun|ded Love, with a &s;en&s;e which is not to be had but by the means of <HI>Faith,</HI> the only proper In|&s;trument for exciting it: as it is the only con|dition of attaining that <HI>Everla&s;ting Life,</HI> which is thus offer'd to our acceptance. <HI>For God &s;o lov'd the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who&s;oever believeth in him &s;hou'd not peri&s;h, but have Everla&s;ting Life.</HI></P>
<P>There are two things eminently remarkable in the&s;e words, The <HI>Gift</HI> God gave to the
<PB N="3" REF="3" MS="y">World, <HI>His Only Begotten Son;</HI> and the <HI>End</HI> for which he gave it, that <HI>who&s;oever believeth in Him &s;hou'd not peri&s;h, but have Everla&s;ting Life:</HI> And if we duly reflect upon the <HI>Principle</HI> from which that Gift proceeded, and the <HI>Means</HI> appointed for applying it to the End; there will ari&s;e from thence &s;ome noble and u&s;eful con&s;iderations towards the right acknowledge|ment of the One, and the full attainment of the Other.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t place it will concern us to in|quire how Our Saviour is the <HI>Gift of God?</HI> For The <HI>Three</HI> Divine Per&s;ons, in the adora|ble Trinity, being <HI>Coeternal</HI> and <HI>Coequal,</HI> it may &s;eem incon&s;i&s;tent with that <HI>Equality,</HI> that <HI>One</HI> of 'em &s;hou'd have <HI>Power</HI> or <HI>Authority</HI> over the <HI>O|ther.</HI> For equal Powers will be in a capacity of making equal Re&s;i&s;tance, and Powers Eternally to will be for that Rea&s;on ever above all Force from each other. Yet there is nothing more common in Holy Scripture than the Expre&s;|&s;ions of this <HI>&s;ubordination,</HI> and <HI>Dependance,</HI> this <HI>Mi&s;&s;ion,</HI> and <HI>Gift</HI> of the <HI>Son</HI> by the <HI>Father. The &s;pirit of the Lord is upon me,</HI> &s;ays he, <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 61.1. (for he applies that Text to him&s;elf in the <HI>4th</HI> of St. <HI>Luke</HI> ver. the <HI>18th</HI>) <HI>The &s;pirit of the Lord is upon me, becau&s;e the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the Meek, he hath</HI> &s;ent <HI>me
<PB N="4" REF="4" MS="y">to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the Pri&s;on to them that are bound.</HI> So the Author of the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Hebrews</HI> &s;ays (<HI>Heb.</HI> 5.5.) That <HI>Chri&s;t glorify'd not him&s;elf to be made an High-Prie&s;t: but he that &s;aid unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.</HI></P>
<P>On this account it is nece&s;&s;ary for us to di|&s;tingui&s;h between their <HI>Natural</HI> and their <HI>Oeco|nomical State;</HI> for there is a very great diffe|rence between the one and the other, and a <HI>Subordination</HI> and <HI>Inequality</HI> induc'd by the <HI>vo|luntary acceptance of Offices</HI> Mini&s;terial to the great work of Our Redemption, which is not found|ed in the <HI>Divine Nature,</HI> con&s;ider'd <HI>&s;imply</HI> and <HI>ab&s;o|lutely</HI> in it &s;elf; but in the <HI>Relation</HI> only which their <HI>Per&s;onal Properties</HI> bear to each other, and not with re&s;pect to the differen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> and unequal <HI>Charges</HI> they have graciou&s;ly been pleas'd to <HI>take upon 'em,</HI> for the compa&s;&s;ing that End.</P>
<P>Con&s;ider'd in their <HI>Natural State,</HI> they are all <HI>equally God,</HI> Infinite in Being, Power and Per|fections; and being equal in E&s;&s;ential Power and Dominion, are <HI>as &s;uch</HI> by con&s;equence, not <HI>&s;ubject</HI> or <HI>&s;ubordinate</HI> to one another: from whence St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;ays of Our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour; that, <HI>being in the form of God, he thought it no rob|bery to be equal with God.</HI> But in the <HI>Di&s;pen|&s;ation</HI>
<PB N="5" REF="4">of our Redemption they have <HI>voluntarily</HI> taken upon 'em the Admin&s;tration of <HI>&V;nequal Offices.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Father</HI> being the Fountain of the God|head, and in Relation to the Eternal Generati|on of the Son, Fir&s;t in <HI>Order of Nature;</HI> took upon him the Office of the <HI>&s;upreme Governour</HI> of the World. The Protector of his Laws, and the fir&s;t Director in the work of our Salvation. In his Infinite Wi&s;dom and Mercy he laid the Plan of our Redemption, and de&s;ign'd that in|e&s;timable Victim for us, which alone cou'd &s;atisfy his offended Ju&s;tice. And the <HI>Office of the Fa|ther</HI> being thus, by the very Nature of its Fun|ctions, more excellent in the Pre-eminence of Power and Dignity, it was fit that <HI>the Son,</HI> who was to be the <HI>Mediator</HI> between <HI>God</HI> and <HI>Man,</HI> &s;hou'd receive his <HI>Commi&s;&s;ion</HI> for that Office from the <HI>Father,</HI> upon who&s;e <HI>good plea&s;ure</HI> only, the receiving &s;atisfaction to infinite Ju&s;tice from any other hands, than tho&s;e of the offenders them|&s;elves, intirely did depend.</P>
<P>So that in re&s;pect of that <HI>De&s;ignation</HI> and that <HI>Commi&s;&s;ion</HI> from the Father, our Saviour may be &s;aid to be his <HI>Gift,</HI> though fully equal to him in all the inherent and e&s;&s;ential perfections of the Godhead: He may truly on that &s;core be &s;aid to be <HI>&s;ent</HI> by him, though he <HI>voluntarily</HI>
<PB N="6" REF="5">enter'd into that Covenant, and accepted of that Office; though <HI>He gave Him&s;elf a Ran&s;om for all.</HI></P>
<P>Now a <HI>Gift</HI> in its own Nature mu&s;t be <HI>free,</HI> independent on any Law that may oblige to it, or any Merit that may de&s;erve it: and &s;uch in all re&s;pects was this of our Mighty Deli|verer.</P>
<P>In vain do we &s;earch for any thing in <HI>God's Nature,</HI> or <HI>our own,</HI> for any Laws or Principles of <HI>Nature</HI> or <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> that might oblige him to it on <HI>his part,</HI> or incline him on <HI>ours.</HI></P>
<P>There was not any tye upon him to this Gift, in re&s;pect of his <HI>own Nature;</HI> from any <HI>Natural,</HI> from any <HI>Moral,</HI> or <HI>Political Nece&s;&s;ity.</HI> For of all the Operations of the Ble&s;&s;ed Trinity, the Eternal <HI>Generation</HI> of the Son, and the Eter|nal <HI>Proce&s;&s;ion</HI> of the Holy Gho&s;t alone, have in 'em any proper and <HI>natural nece&s;&s;ity:</HI> All other extra|neous things are the Works of God's <HI>Free Plea&s;ure,</HI> which he orders according to the <HI>Coun&s;el of his Will;</HI> that is, &s;o as it was free for him from all Eternity not &s;o to order 'em as he does. There can be no <HI>natural nece&s;&s;ity</HI> in God to pro|duce or order any thing <HI>without him;</HI> for then that Production, and that Order, mu&s;t nece&s;|&s;arily have been from all Eternity, mu&s;t have been as Eternal as him&s;elf.</P>
<PB N="7" REF="5">
<P>There is a <HI>Moral Nece&s;&s;ity</HI> indeed in God, ac|cording to which his External Actions, though <HI>free</HI> in them&s;elves, are determin'd, as to their Qualities, by the &s;tanding and unchangeable Rule of his <HI>Infinite Perfections.</HI> But he was not a Debtor to Man on account of any of the&s;e, to find a ran&s;om for <HI>his Sins,</HI> who had made him&s;elf a contradiction to all tho&s;e Perfections, and the natural Object of God's hatred and wrath. His Power and Goodne&s;s he had &s;hewn in Creating him; it was now time to vindicate his Ju&s;tice and Truth in awarding his Puni&s;h|ment, and verifying his Sentence. He had po&s;|&s;e&s;s'd him with Integrity, and left him free in his Choice, had &s;et Life or Death before him, Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery equally proportionable; and when the fatal Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion had deter|min'd our Lot, God had been Eternally and Infinitely Good as well as Ju&s;t, though he had pa&s;s'd us by in our Sins unregarded and una&s;|&s;i&s;ted, and left us to the de&s;erv'd I&s;&s;ues of his Everla&s;ting Indignation. For his <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> can no more de&s;troy his <HI>Goodne&s;s,</HI> than his Good|ne&s;s can defeat or di&s;arm his Ju&s;tice. What the Ca&s;e may be as to a <HI>Political Nece&s;&s;ity,</HI> &s;eems at fir&s;t &s;ight indeed of a &s;omething diffe|rent con&s;ideration; and vain pre&s;umptuous Man naturally affecting independency in all
<PB N="8" REF="6">things, will be apt to flatter him&s;elf with Ar|guments drawn from the <HI>Nature of Government,</HI> that this <HI>Gift</HI> of God is not &s;o free as we pre|tend; and that he being the &s;upreme Magi&s;trate and Governour of the World, was bound for that rea&s;on, not to give up the whole body of his Subjects to the &s;everity of His Laws, which demanded their final and univer&s;al De&s;truction: But that by the very <HI>Nature of his Office</HI> he was oblig'd to find &s;ome way of pre&s;erving <HI>them</HI> with whom that Relation of Government might &s;till &s;ub&s;i&s;t and continue.</P>
<P>For the End of all Laws and Government being the Pre&s;ervation of the Society to be go|vern'd by 'em, though the &s;afety of that may well be provided for in the De&s;truction of &s;uch <HI>Private Men,</HI> as by their crimes intrench upon it: Yet in the Ca&s;e of an univeral Defection of <HI>all his &s;ubjects,</HI> when the Lives of the <HI>Whole</HI> are forfeited to the Laws; it wou'd be con|trary to the End of tho&s;e Laws, for a <HI>Prince</HI> to take the forfeiture; and the rea&s;on and in|tere&s;t of Government, as well as his own Good Nature wou'd force him to a Pardon.</P>
<P>But the vanity of this imagination in Relati|on to God's Government, will manife&s;tly ap|pear if we con&s;ider the very great difference there is between <HI>Divine</HI> and <HI>Humane Laws;</HI> and
<PB N="9" REF="6">the va&s;t di&s;proportion between the Nature of the <HI>Sovereignty of God,</HI> and that of the <HI>Mightie&s;t Princes</HI> upon Earth.</P>
<P>The <HI>Laws of Men</HI> 'tis true are made for the <HI>benefit of Society;</HI> and 'tis but ju&s;t therefore that <HI>they</HI> &s;hou'd give way to the good of it whenever they happen to come in competition. But the <HI>Laws of God</HI> were not made <HI>for the &s;ake of Men;</HI> on the contrary the whole Society of <HI>Men</HI> was made for <HI>tho&s;e Laws.</HI> The <HI>Glory of God</HI> was the End for which Man was made, and that Glory con&s;i&s;ts in the ob&s;ervation of his Laws, which are founded on the e&s;&s;ential and immutable Perfecti|ons of his Nature, and which ju&s;tly and nece&s;&s;a|rily call for the Ruin of a Society that has broke 'em, when it was made on purpo&s;e for their ob|&s;ervation.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, there is a va&s;t di&s;proportion between the <HI>Sovereignty of God</HI> and that of <HI>Earthly Princes and Magi&s;trates.</HI></P>
<P>A King cannot de&s;troy the whole Body of his Subjects however Criminal, but at the &s;ame time he mu&s;t extingui&s;h his own Sovereignty and Dominion, and be him&s;elf, by that means, reduc'd to a <HI>private</HI> Capacity.</P>
<P>But the Sovereignty of God depends not up|on Men, that it &s;hou'd be extingui&s;h'd, even with the whole race of 'em, <HI>Thou&s;ands of An|gels
<PB N="10" REF="7">wou'd &s;till &s;tand before him, and ten thou&s;and times ten thou&s;and mini&s;ter unto him. The Heavens wou'd &s;till declare the Glory of God, and the Firma|ment &s;hew his handy-work.</HI> Or if he &s;hou'd de|&s;troy the whole Creation, it were &s;till in his Power to make a <HI>new one,</HI> and re-e&s;tabli&s;h that External Glory and Sovereignty which is nei|ther any way nece&s;&s;ary to his Being, nor does add in the lea&s;t to the internal and e&s;&s;ential &s;plendour and Maje&s;ty of a God that is infinite|ly happy, and &s;elf-&s;ufficient.</P>
<P>It is plain therefore, that a God of infinite Holine&s;s and Ju&s;tice (though it was free for him to make, or not make, &s;uch a Creature as Man, capable of choo&s;ing Good or Evil, yet as he was pleas'd to make him &s;uch) cou'd not in con&s;equence of tho&s;e Attributes but e&s;tabli&s;h an inviolable Relation between that Good or Evil, and rewards or puni&s;hments, and that not any Natural Powers, not any Moral Perfections, or Political Capacity of his own, cou'd lay a|ny nece&s;&s;ity upon him not to accompli&s;h that e&s;tabli&s;hment in the De&s;truction of the Mi&s;era|ble Offenders.</P>
<P>But it was his good plea&s;ure to provide a Ran&s;om for us; and if it appear farther, That there was nothing in <HI>Man</HI> which cou'd <HI>de&s;erve</HI> it from him, there will every circum&s;tance be
<PB N="11" REF="7">found to concur, which is nece&s;&s;ary to make a <HI>Gift</HI> intirely and ab&s;olutely <HI>Free.</HI></P>
<P>And what was there in Man that cou'd de|&s;erve any thing from his Maker? <HI>If we were righteous, what give we to him, or what receiveth he at our hands? Can a Man be profitable unto God, as his righteou&s;ne&s;s may profit the Son of Man?</HI> There is too great a <HI>di&s;tance</HI> between God and his Creatures, too great a dependance and debt on the one &s;ide, to allow of any capacity of de|&s;erving from the other. The very be&s;t u&s;e Man makes of the Gifts of God, cannot di&s;charge the Debts with which tho&s;e very Gifts have loaded him: How then can he po&s;&s;ibly bring any thing to the account of Merit, who is at be&s;t &s;o far &s;hort of a ju&s;t Payment? But alas! This Argument turns upon a &s;uppo&s;ition by much too favourable! For he was &s;o far from de&s;erving any <HI>Good</HI> from God, that his Merit was <HI>Hell,</HI> and his De&s;ert <HI>Damnation:</HI> He had &s;old him&s;elf to Sin, and given him&s;elf up to Vanity; his ways were perver&s;e before the Lord; Paradi&s;e it &s;elf cou'd not tempt him to be hone&s;t a little while, but he wou'd needs &s;erve the Devil as &s;oon as God had made him. This was the condition of lo&s;t Man, when yet <HI>God &s;o lov'd the World, that he gave his only be|gotten Son, to the end that who&s;oever believeth in
<PB N="12" REF="8">him, &s;hould not peri&s;h, but have Everla&s;ting Life.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. An <HI>End</HI> truly worthy of God! Worthy his Infinite and Almighty Beneficence! Men in Pri&s;on are &s;ometimes unexpectedly &s;et free; but often free only to &s;tarve abroad in the open Air. Men &s;unk in Debt have their bonds of|ten cancell'd by the Compa&s;&s;ion of Government; but are many times only by that Means at li|berty to contract new ones, without any pro|bable condition of &s;upport. But Man by this Gift was not only re&s;cu'd from <HI>peri&s;hing Ever|la&s;tingly,</HI> but Eternal <HI>Glory and Happine&s;s</HI> was purchas'd for him. For the End God propos'd in giving his Son was not narrow and &s;hort, ac|cording to the weak mea&s;ures and imperfect Projects of humane Benefactors: It was not li|mited barely to the freeing us from <HI>Puni&s;hment,</HI> it extended to the en&s;tating us in <HI>Life Everla&s;ting;</HI> and however the&s;e two are commonly mi&s;taken or confounded, one for, or with another; yet they are <HI>di&s;tinct Effects,</HI> in different regards de|pending equally on the &s;ame <HI>Gift,</HI> and both to|gether making up the great <HI>End</HI> of it, the Sal|vation of our Souls.</P>
<P>The <HI>Pardon</HI> of our &s;ins, and deliverance from Death, was due to our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour's Infinite <HI>Satisfaction:</HI> But our claim to <HI>Eternal Life</HI> de|pends wholly on his <HI>Merit,</HI> as all tho&s;e Gifts
<PB N="13" REF="8">and Graces do, which conduce to our obtaining it. For to frame an exact Notion of the E&s;&s;ential Parts, of the Cau&s;es and Principles of our Sal|vation; the Sacrifice of Chri&s;t is to be con&s;ider'd in two re&s;pects; either as a <HI>puni&s;hment</HI> inflicted by divine Ju&s;tice on that Victim which was offer'd in our &s;tead; or as a <HI>Voluntary Oblation</HI> which Chri&s;t made of him&s;elf to purcha&s;e for us an inheritance in the highe&s;t Heavens, by Vertue of that Covenant which he made with the Father as Mediator between God and Man, it is his <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> which re&s;pects the <HI>Guilt</HI> of our &s;ins, and the <HI>Divine Ju&s;tice</HI> naturally and nece&s;&s;arily demanding their Puni&s;hment; and the con&s;equence of <HI>that</HI> can reach no farther than putting us in a &s;tate of <HI>Impunity.</HI> But it is the <HI>Merit</HI> of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour which re&s;pects our Natural want and incapacity of <HI>Eternal Hap|pine&s;s;</HI> and the Formal Effect of that is, not the Delivering us from <HI>Hell,</HI> which the <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> has perform'd already; but the acqui&s;ition of <HI>Heaven</HI> for us, which is an End above and beyond what that <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> was determin'd to. Not that the Merit or Satisfaction in the Sacrifice of Chri&s;t can any way be &s;eparated or divided from it (it cou'd not &s;atisfy if it were not Meri|torious; it cou'd not Merit if it did not &s;atisfy) but &s;till when we &s;peak properly and clearly
<PB N="14" REF="9">they are two di&s;tinct and different things, and produce di&s;tinct and different effects.</P>
<P>For though God having made Man at fir&s;t Ju&s;t and Innocent, and put him in Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of that <HI>Happine&s;s</HI> which he lo&s;t by <HI>Sin,</HI> it may &s;eem probable, that the <HI>Satisfaction</HI> made for that <HI>Sin</HI> &s;hou'd of it &s;elf re-in&s;tate him in that <HI>Hap|pine&s;s,</HI> and &s;uper&s;ede by that means all manner of nece&s;&s;ity of any <HI>farther purchace</HI> to be made for him. Yet if we con&s;ider well the nature of the <HI>Happine&s;s</HI> which the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> directs us to aim at and expect; it will be found to be &s;uch as Man cou'd lay no claim to from any <HI>natural right,</HI> and therefore &s;uch as cou'd not any way be due to him upon and from his re&s;titution to his <HI>natural State.</HI></P>
<P>For his <HI>natural State</HI> con&s;i&s;ted in the enjoy|ment of an <HI>Earthly Paradi&s;e,</HI> and depended, as to its <HI>duration,</HI> on his continuance in <HI>Innocence.</HI> But the Life Eternal of the Go&s;pel is a <HI>&s;uperna|tural Gift,</HI> not an <HI>animal felicity</HI> in its own Na|ture capable of change, however conditionally la&s;ting. 'Tis a happine&s;s which will make us like the Angels of God, in a &s;tate unchange|able and indefea&s;ible, giving Immortality to our Bodies, and impeccability to our Souls; and requiring therefore a <HI>new right</HI> (beyond the &s;imple pardoning of our Sins, on account
<PB N="15" REF="9">of the ran&s;om paid for us, beyond the re&s;toring us to the State from which we were fallen) which might acquire to us an Everla&s;ting Inhe|ritance in the Kingdom of God, by the infinite Merits of the voluntary oblation which our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour made of him&s;elf, uncon&s;train'd by any Power, unoblig'd by any Law, un|engag'd by any Merit of ours that cou'd de|&s;erve it.</P>
<P N="3">3. Which leads us to the con&s;ideration of the <HI>Principle,</HI> upon which God was pleas'd to be|&s;tow this Gift, his Infinite and unbounded <HI>Love</HI> and Compa&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>Infinite</HI> and <HI>&V;nbounded</HI> indeed had that <HI>Good|ne&s;s</HI> need to be, which cou'd extend it &s;elf to the World in that condition which it was &s;unk in|to! For <HI>Sin</HI> is a State of <HI>Rebellion</HI> and <HI>Defiance</HI> again&s;t God; and he that has once put off and renounc'd his Allegiance, cannot rationally ex|pect or hope for the benefits of that Government which he refu&s;es to &s;ubmit to, how mild and compa&s;&s;ionate &s;oever the nature of the Power may be, or however good and beneficent the So|vereign Admini&s;tration of it. A Love only without limits cou'd pur&s;ue us &s;o far as effectu|ally to overtake us, when we were &s;et at a wider di&s;tance from him by our <HI>Sins,</HI> than we were by our <HI>Nature;</HI> when all the Characters
<PB N="16" REF="10" MS="y">of his Perfections in us were blotted, or eras'd; all the Faculties of our Souls di&s;order'd and re|vers'd; and the whole Body of Sin reign'd in triumph over us.</P>
<P>But though his Almighty Love reach'd us in this <HI>State of Sin</HI> and <HI>Wickedne&s;s,</HI> it was not un|der <HI>this con&s;ideration</HI> that it did &s;o. Such an imagination wou'd be abu&s;ive and unworthy of God; incon&s;i&s;tent with his Infinite <HI>Holine&s;s and Purity,</HI> and irreconcileable to his <HI>Ju&s;tice,</HI> which demanded their Vindication. It was the <HI>Mi&s;ery</HI> of Man alone which mov'd the <HI>Divine Compa&s;&s;ion;</HI> a Mi&s;ery too great for any Natural Powers to redeem him from, too inten&s;e for a|ny Creatures Pity to abate or relieve. For <HI>no Man can by any means redeem his Brother, nor give to God a ran&s;om for him: for it co&s;t more to redeem their Souls; &s;o that they mu&s;t let that alone for ever.</HI> And <HI>Mi&s;ery</HI> indeed is the proper object of <HI>Pity,</HI> and <HI>helple&s;s</HI> Mi&s;ery of a <HI>Divine Beneficence,</HI> a Mi&s;ery <HI>hopele&s;ly</HI> &s;uch of an <HI>Almighty</HI> one! On <HI>this account,</HI> notwith&s;tanding we were dead in our tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, and on that &s;core the wretched Objects of Divine Ju&s;tice; it was not incon&s;i|&s;tent with the inviolable Maje&s;ty of God's Laws, and his immutable Decree of puni&s;hing Sin, that God &s;hou'd have inclinations of rendring him&s;elf <HI>placable</HI> to Mankind; that he &s;hou'd be
<PB N="17" REF="10">mov'd with compa&s;&s;ion to &s;uch a degree as to procure us the means of <HI>Reconciliation;</HI> &s;ince even tho&s;e means, by the &s;atisfaction given, &s;erv'd but yet more to rai&s;e the Glory and Ho|nour of his Government, as well as to purcha&s;e for us Everla&s;ting Happine&s;s and Communion with him, by the mo&s;t exalted flight of ine&s;ti|mable Love. A Love worthy our warme&s;t attention to all the endearing circum&s;tances of it! worthy our utmo&s;t acknowledgments and gratitude for &s;o infinite an Obligation!</P>
<P>To <HI>make us out of nothing</HI> was an Act of kind|ne&s;s, to which God had on him no antecedent Obligation; but to redeem us from what was wor&s;e than nothing, out of <HI>Eternal Slavery to Sin and Death;</HI> how wonderfully does it in|crea&s;e and indear the Benefaction!</P>
<P><HI>Life</HI> it &s;elf was a favour which we had no title to; it cou'd not be our due, when we had not a being to claim it in, we cou'd not expect it when we were not &s;o much as even in ex|pectation. How enlarg'd then and unexhau&s;ted is that bounty which gives us <HI>Life Eternal</HI> in <HI>Hap|pine&s;s Everla&s;ting!</HI></P>
<P>The Infinite <HI>Maje&s;ty</HI> of God, and our own <HI>&V;nworthine&s;s,</HI> had &s;et him at a di&s;tance from us wholly in&s;urmountable; his <HI>brightne&s;s</HI> forbad all approach, and his <HI>anger</HI> all hopes of acce&s;s:
<PB N="18" REF="11">yet he gave his Son, his only begotten, to take upon him our Nature, that he might draw it into an intimate, an endle&s;s and in&s;eparable Union with his own.</P>
<P>He gave the Son of his Love for <HI>Rebels and Enemies;</HI> from the Throne of his Glory, above the Heavens, to be born among Bea&s;ts, and to die among Thieves: He gave him for <HI>&V;s,</HI> when he pa&s;s'd by the fall'n Angels: Tho&s;e once Ble&s;&s;ed Spirits that fill'd his Pre&s;ence, and left 'em bani&s;ht for ever from the Joys of it, bound up in Chains of Everla&s;ting Darkne&s;s. <HI>For verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels, but he took on him the &s;eed of</HI> Abraham, Heb. 2.16. <HI>That in him all the Nations of the earth might be ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P>So univer&s;al and unconfin'd was the good|ne&s;s of God, as unlimited in the reach of it, as inten&s;e in degree! It was not re&s;train'd to one <HI>Family</HI> or <HI>People;</HI> within the private Enclo&s;ure of the Hou&s;e of <HI>Judah,</HI> or the narrow bounds of the Land of <HI>Canaan:</HI> It &s;pread it &s;elf wide among the Nations, <HI>The Inhabitants of the I&s;les may be glad thereof.</HI> It took in all <HI>Kindred, Tongues and People;</HI> it extended to the <HI>uttermo&s;t parts of the Earth.</HI> For God is no narrow &s;elfi&s;h Being, with partial regards and contracted Bounty; no Arbitrary Di&s;pen&s;er of a groundle&s;s Choice, but an ab&s;olutely Free and general Benefactor.
<PB N="19" REF="11">The World which <HI>God &s;o lov'd</HI> comprehends <HI>all Mankind,</HI> and the value of the ran&s;om he gave for it is &s;ufficient to &s;atisfy for as many Worlds as the wantone&s;t Philo&s;opher can imagine, or the gaye&s;t Conquerour can wi&s;h for. <HI>He wou'd that all Men &s;hou'd be &s;av'd and come to the knowledge of the truth:</HI> 'Tis <HI>Infidelity</HI> alone which fru&s;trates and makes u&s;ele&s;s to us all the graci|ous offers of Infinite Compa&s;&s;ion. <HI>For God &s;o lov'd the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that</HI> who&s;oever believeth in him, <HI>&s;hou'd not peri&s;h, but have Everla&s;ting Life.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Which brings me to the <HI>condition</HI> appointed for making this Gift of any u&s;e or advantage to us, even <HI>Our faith in Chri&s;t;</HI> without which it is impo&s;&s;ible for us to attain to that Salvation which he came to purcha&s;e.</P>
<P>For we mu&s;t not dream of a Covenant with|out a condition, or expect the benefit of the one without performing the other. God did not <HI>&s;o love the world</HI> as to &s;end his Son to carry Men to Heaven again&s;t their wills: But he &s;ent him to make Men capable of going thither, and to en|able 'em to perform what he requires of 'em in order to it. And he requires nothing but what was fit for him to propo&s;e, nothing but what is nece&s;&s;ary for us to perform. Shou'd God have propos'd <HI>&s;evere</HI> and <HI>arbitrary Terms</HI> to
<PB N="20" REF="12">us, in order to our Deliverance from the Mi&s;ery we were fallen into, we mu&s;t have had very &s;hallow apprehen&s;ions of that Mi&s;ery, to have been capable of thinking any po&s;&s;ible means of e&s;caping it in&s;upportable; but when the condi|tion he enjoins is &s;uitable to <HI>his Nature and to ours;</HI> agreeable to his Divine Perfections, and in its own Nature nece&s;&s;ary to our Happine&s;s, we have rea&s;on, with Joy, to accept the gracious offer, and with a grateful alacrity to perform the Condition.</P>
<P>Now it is very &s;uitable to God's Nature, that he &s;hould make our <HI>Faith</HI> in his Son this <HI>Condi|tion;</HI> for it is an acknowledgment of many of his Divine Perfections, and a homage naturally due to 'em, when they are once di&s;cover'd to our Minds. Men may attempt to <HI>per&s;wade</HI> our Belief, but God alone has a right to <HI>command it.</HI> He has an ab&s;olute Authority over our Souls and all their Faculties, over our Thoughts and Under&s;tandings, <HI>to pull down &s;trong holds, and ca&s;t down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it &s;elf again&s;t the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought into the obedience of Chri&s;t.</HI> So that we are to believe what he teaches us of him&s;elf, and what he promi&s;es to us, with|out demanding <HI>other proofs or farther rea&s;ons:</HI> our judgments are no longer at our own com|mand,
<PB N="21" REF="12">we have no right to examine and can|va&s;s the <HI>natural grounds</HI> or <HI>modes</HI> of tho&s;e <HI>Myste|ries</HI> he requires us to believe; but our Minds are led Captive, and given ab&s;olutely up to the Power and Force of his <HI>Authority</HI> alone.</P>
<P>It is an acknowledgment of his <HI>Goodne&s;s</HI> which a&s;&s;ures us he will withhold nothing from us that he in his Wi&s;dom &s;ees nece&s;&s;ary, or even <HI>fit</HI> for our <HI>knowledge;</HI> and an acknowledg|ment of his <HI>Infallibility,</HI> as well as of his <HI>Truth;</HI> that he is as uncapable of deceiving us, as of de|&s;igning to do &s;o.</P>
<P>Thus our Faith gives to our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour the due Honour of the&s;e Perfections in the God|head; <HI>and whatever action of ours contributes mo&s;t to the &s;etting out the Glory of the Divine Attributes, it is mo&s;t &s;uitable to the Divine Nature to require it of us.</HI></P>
<P>But it is not only agreeable to the <HI>Nature of God;</HI> it is farther in its own Nature, that is, by the <HI>natural tendency of the act it &s;elf,</HI> ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to our Happine&s;s.</P>
<P>For it is a mi&s;take to think this an <HI>Arbitrary</HI> condition, or means of applying to us the Fruit of this Gift, which God might indifferently have cho&s;en, or left for any other; and that it is only <HI>nece&s;&s;ary,</HI> becau&s;e God was pleas'd to make it &s;o. It was <HI>nece&s;&s;ary</HI> to the <HI>very nature of the
<PB N="22" REF="13">tran&s;action,</HI> by which our Saviour was to be|come our <HI>Pledge</HI> and our <HI>Ran&s;om,</HI> and to repre|&s;ent our Per&s;ons in &s;atisfying for our Sins. For our Saviour taking upon him the Office of a <HI>Mediator,</HI> between God and Man, to make up the great difference between our Maker and his Creatures, by bearing the puni&s;hment of our Sins, in his own Per&s;on. It was not only ne|ce&s;&s;ary, that he &s;hou'd be authoriz'd on <HI>God's part,</HI> who&s;e con&s;ent was requir'd to the Tran|&s;lation of the Puni&s;hment from our Per&s;ons to his; but that <HI>we al&s;o,</HI> on <HI>our part,</HI> by our Faith, &s;hou'd accept him as our Mediator; that by that con&s;ent of ours to his acting for us we might have &s;ome Title to the Divine Mercy and Fa|vour from the &s;atisfaction and Merit of that Mediation with the Father. It is a vain Me|diation between Two, where the con&s;ent of one Party is wanting, and there is no po&s;&s;ible way of expre&s;&s;ing ours, but by re&s;igning our Faith, our Tru&s;t and Confidence, by giving our &s;elves up intirely to the Direction and Obedi|ence of the Son of God, who had the goodne&s;s for our &s;akes, to &s;ubmit him&s;elf to that Office and Employment.</P>
<P>And what has he not done to e&s;tabli&s;h that Faith? And what has he left unattempted to engage our affections? If <HI>Objects of &s;en&s;e</HI> alone
<PB N="23" REF="13">can gain our <HI>attention,</HI> he made him&s;elf &s;o to the World in the <HI>Veil</HI> of his <HI>Fle&s;h.</HI> If <HI>&s;igns from Hea|ven</HI> and a&s;toni&s;hing <HI>Miracles</HI> can a&s;&s;ert the Divi|nity of his Per&s;on and of his Doctrine, his Life was full of &s;uch arguments and a&s;&s;urances; and his <HI>re&s;urrection from the Dead</HI> was an evidence as undeniable in the Fact, as convincing in the Proof.</P>
<P>If <HI>dark and ob&s;cure My&s;teries</HI> &s;eem to &s;hock this <HI>Faith,</HI> the Evidence of their Truth is founded upon <HI>Facts</HI> as unconte&s;table as the commands for receiving 'em are po&s;itive and expre&s;s.</P>
<P>If <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> or <HI>Intere&s;t</HI> can incline our Belief, it is by its own proper <HI>tendency</HI> and by the Law of the <HI>New Covenant,</HI> a nece&s;&s;ary Condition of our Happine&s;s.</P>
<P>And when our Faith in Chri&s;t is thus enli|ven'd and actuated; when it is enforc'd with &s;uch Tyes, and &s;upported with &s;uch Evidence; we mu&s;t be utterly lo&s;t to all that is tender or &s;en|&s;ible, to all that is hone&s;t or gratefull in hu|man Nature, if we are able to re&s;i&s;t &s;uch amaz|ing in&s;tances of the Love of God and of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour, as have flame enough in 'em to rai&s;e and to tran&s;port the mo&s;t degenerate and obdurate Natures.</P>
<P>At the returns of a generous Deliverer from our <HI>Temporal Enemies,</HI> an univer&s;al Joy and ac|knowledgement
<PB N="24" REF="14">ju&s;tly &s;preads it &s;elf through his People: it breaks through the wi&s;e Mans firme&s;t compos'dne&s;s, for a Joy that is &s;en&s;ible will be &s;een; it tran&s;ports the full Crouds into loud Acclamations, for acknowledgments that are real will be heard; even the rumours of fre&s;h Enemies di&s;turb not their chearfulne&s;s; &s;o full are they of his Pre&s;ence, and &s;ecure in his Conduct.</P>
<P>What bounds then can confine the exce&s;s of our tran&s;ports at the coming of this Conquerour of our <HI>&s;piritual Adver&s;aries!</HI> At the coming of a Conquerour a&s;&s;ur'd of his Victory <HI>over Principa|lities, over Powers, over the Rulers of the darkne&s;s of this World, over &s;piritual Wickedne&s;&s;es in high Places.</HI> The very Angels them&s;elves will join in the tuneful con&s;ort, and break out in|to Heavenly Songs and Hallelujahs. <HI>Glory be to God on High, on Earth Peace, Good will towards Men! For God &s;o lov'd the World that he gave his Only begotten Son, that who&s;oever believeth in him, &s;hou'd not peri&s;h, but have Everla&s;ting Life.</HI> To Him, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, Three Per&s;ons and one God, be all Glory, Ho|nour, Power, Might, Maje&s;ty and Dominion, from this time forth for evermore! <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
