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<NAME>Zev Berger</NAME>
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<P>Divine Characters: OR, <HI>The True Chri&s;tian Di&s;covered,</HI> AND The Hypocrite Detected. <HI>In Three Treati&s;es.</HI> The fir&s;t Treati&s;e &s;hewing, That both Saints and Unconverted Sinners ought daily to go to God in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for Pardon of their &s;ins, becau&s;e they are many and great. The Second Treati&s;e &s;hewing, How we are to expect Salvation, not from any Righteou&s;ne&s;s of our own, but by the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the alone Mediator, JESUS CHRIST; how we &s;hall be made Partakers thereof, and Eviden|ces of the Truth of it. The Third Treati&s;e &s;hewing, The Go&s;pel-Evi|dences of a True Chri&s;tian, as they are ex|perienced by tho&s;e who are truly Believers, and the fal&s;e Appearances thereof plainly refuted.</P>
<P>To which is added <HI>The Summe and Sub&s;tance of the Chri&s;tian Re|ligion,</HI> in a SHORT CATECHISE.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed in the Year 1695.</P>
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<HEAD>Divine Characters. <HI>In Three Treati&s;es.</HI></HEAD>
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<HEAD>The Fir&s;t Treati&s;e. Shewing that both Saints and Unconverted Sinners ought daily to go to God in Je|&s;us Chri&s;t for Pardon of their Sins, becau&s;e they are many and great.</HEAD>
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<Q><BIBL><HI>PSAL. XXV. 11.</HI></BIBL>
<P>For thy Names &s;ake, O Lord, pardon mine Ini|quity, for it is great.</P></Q>
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<P>IN this P&s;alm, you have <HI>David</HI>'s &s;ins laid in with weight upon his Con&s;cience, and in the deep &s;en&s;e of their guilt, pleading with God about mercy and pardon; The &s;en&s;e of that one great &s;in, in the matter of <HI>&V;riah,</HI> (meant e&s;pecially in the Text) brought in the &s;en&s;e of other &s;ins of his youth upon him, as is u&s;ually Gods way in humbling a &s;inner, and at <HI>ver.</HI> 7. you have him at the feet of God, begging as for his life, as to the remi&s;&s;ion of them all; <HI>Remember not the &s;ins of my youth, nor my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions: According to thy mer|cy, remember thou me, for thy Goodne&s;s, O Lord:</HI> And
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here at the Text, <HI>for thy Names &s;ake, O Lord,</HI> &amp;c That which I de&s;ign to lay before you from the words, is to open to you, and pre&s;s upon you, the weight, and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of a pardoned condition, that you may be awakened to it, while the day of mercy la&s;ts, and may indeed be in very good earne&s;t about it, till, through infinite grace, you may ob|tain it, and live and dye in the &s;weet and ble&s;&s;ed peace and comfort of it, through our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>That which I intend to give out from hence (through the &s;pirit of grace a&s;&s;i&s;ting) is but as previous and preparatory to the opening of a ju&s;tifi|ed e&s;tate, and the New Creature in Chri&s;t; that (if God will) your con&s;ciences may be brought to a thorough a wakening, a &s;piritual &s;ight and convicti|on of &s;in, and a &s;elf-emptyne&s;s, which is the good and &s;afe way of a Soul to Je&s;us Chri&s;t; which from this Scripture take, in the&s;e plain Ob&s;ervations.</P>
<P>Ob&s;. 1. <HI>That great and weighty concernment that &s;hould mo&s;t of all take up the thoughts of the hearts of poor &s;inners, is that their &s;ins may be</HI> pardoned.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Such who come to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to have their &s;ins pardoned, they look upon them as great &s;ins.</HI> &mdash; for it is Great.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>The great rea&s;on of Gods pardoning a &s;inner, and the Plea that a poor &s;inner hath with God, is, that God will pardon for his own Names &s;ake.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. To begin with the fir&s;t propo&s;ition, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P><Q>That great and weighty thing that &s;hould mo&s;t of all take up the thoughts of the hearts of all the Children of men, is, that their &s;ins may be pardoned.</Q></P>
<P>This may be evinced from the frame of ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Da|vid's</HI> &s;pirit, and other the pardoned ones of the Lord
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up and down the holy Scriptures, exerci&s;ed with &s;uch a violence and importunity with the Lord, in this matter of the <HI>Pardon of their &s;ins,</HI> as if they had no other thing, be&s;ides what conduced thereunto, to beg of God in the world, and all that God gave them in the world (as indeed it is not) were nothing without it, therefore you have them thus wre&s;tling with God about it. <HI>According to the mul|titude of thy tender mercies, blot out my trangre&s;&s;ions, P&s;al.</HI> 51.1. If there be any mercy in Heaven, let a poor guilty &s;oul have a drop of it; yea, <HI>David</HI> layeth a kind of violence upon God, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 65.2.&mdash; As for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, thou <HI>&s;halt</HI> purge them away, thou <HI>&s;halt</HI> do it, <HI>I cannot, mu&s;t not, will not</HI> be denyed this, thou <HI>&s;halt</HI> do it for me. So <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> interceding for the people, <HI>Exod.</HI> 39.9. If I have found grace in thy &s;ight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among&s;t us, (for it is a &s;tiff-necked people) and pardon our iniquity and our &s;in, and take us for thine Inheritance; with what vehemency of heart doth <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> cry, if I have any favour with thee, let it be laid out this way, <HI>Oh Lord, let my Lord,</HI> &amp;c. Otherwhiles, when the ble&s;&s;ed &s;en&s;e of a pardoned condition is upon their hearts; <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he who&s;e trangre&s;&s;ions is forgiven. Ble&s;&s;ed</HI> man, or woman, as e|ver he was born! Ble&s;&s;ed <HI>He,</HI> and <HI>only</HI> ble&s;&s;ed, and <HI>fully</HI> ble&s;&s;ed, and <HI>for ever</HI> ble&s;&s;ed, who&s;e &s;ins are pardoned! And then admiring the ble&s;&s;ed God in &s;uch riches of Grace, as to <HI>pardon</HI> &s;inners; <HI>Who is like to thee, a God pardoning iniquity?</HI> Mic. 7.18. <HI>Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,</HI> &amp;c. Neh. 9.17. P&s;al. 103.1, 2, 3, 10. <HI>Ble&s;s the Lord, oh my &s;oul, and all that is within me, ble&s;s his holy name!</HI> why? what had the Lord done? <HI>&s;ee ver&s;e</HI> 3. Oh, <HI>who forgiveth all thine iniquities;</HI> who <HI>forgiveth,</HI> and
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forgiveth <HI>All great</HI> &s;ins a well as <HI>le&s;s;</HI> &s;ins of <HI>nature</HI> as well as <HI>life;</HI> &s;ins before conver&s;ion, and &s;ins <HI>&s;ince</HI> conver&s;ion; &s;ins of knowlege, as well as of igno|rance; for <HI>David</HI> was under all the&s;e, yet <HI>All, All, All,</HI> forgiven, and that <HI>freely</HI> too, only becau&s;e the Lord is <HI>gracious, ver&s;e</HI> 8. and &s;o <HI>forgiven</HI> them as ne|ver to come before him <HI>any more. As far as the Ea&s;t is from the We&s;t, &s;o far hath he removed our trangre&s;|&s;ions from us,</HI> ver&s;e 12.</P>
<P>I &s;hall hint &s;ome Rea&s;ons of the Truth, why it is, that the pardon of &s;ins doth, or &s;hould, &s;o greatly take up the hearts of &s;inful creatures.</P>
<P>Rea&s;on 1. The pardon of &s;in &s;hould thus greatly take up the hearts of all that indeed expect pardon, <HI>becau&s;e 'twas the greate&s;t thing</HI> (if I may &s;o &s;peak) <HI>that ever took up Gods heart, how a &s;inner might be pardon|ed.</HI> He laid forth more of his <HI>wi&s;dom</HI> and <HI>goodne&s;s</HI> about it, than in the making of the Heavens and the Earth: The framing of the New Covenant, the giving out of his eternal Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, God mani|fe&s;ted in the fle&s;h, &s;uch a Glorious way of reconci|ling ju&s;tice and mercy through the death of Chri&s;t, (the choice&s;t piece of divine Wi&s;dom that ever was brought forth) they were all conver&s;ant about, and their proper tendency was about this great and weighty concernment, <HI>how,</HI> and that a &s;inner <HI>might</HI> be pardoned; when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had that ble&s;&s;ed enter|view and parley with the Lord, <HI>Exod.</HI> 33. &amp; 34. and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> getting nearer and nearer to God, who was glimp&s;ing out a ray of glory upon him, breaks out, <HI>Show me thy glory: I will,</HI> &s;aith God, I will &s;hew thee what way of Glory I mo&s;t de&s;ign to my &s;elf among the Sons of men,&mdash;<HI>I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will &s;hew mercy on whom I will &s;hew mercy.</HI> And as if this had not been enough (the heart
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of the ble&s;&s;ed God was &s;o infinitely taken with it) <HI>Chap.</HI> 34.5, 6. The Lord comes nearer to him, <HI>de|&s;cended in a Cloud, and &s;tood with him there;</HI> and as if meerly to have &s;poken what he had before &s;aid to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> Namely, <HI>That he &s;hould have mercy,</HI> had not been enough, at <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 6. He <HI>proclaims</HI> it, and makes it as his proper <HI>Name</HI> and mo&s;t glorious <HI>Title, The Lord, the Lord God, Merciful and Gracious,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 7. <HI>forgiving iniquity,</HI> &amp;c. As if <HI>forgiving iniquity</HI> were the great de&s;ign of glory he had upon the world; his heart mo&s;t affected and taken up with it; this is the fir&s;t rea&s;on; poor &s;inners &s;hould have their hearts mo&s;t taken up about the pardon of &s;ins, becau&s;e the heart of the infinite wi&s;e and ble&s;&s;ed God is mo&s;t ta|ken up about it.</P>
<P N="2">2. The pardon of &s;in &s;hould &s;o greatly take up the heart of a poor guilty &s;inner, becau&s;e <HI>Nothing is a Ble&s;&s;ing to a man till his &s;ins are pardoned, but All a cur&s;e.</HI> The Scripture is well known that proves it, among many, <HI>Deut.</HI> 28.15, 16. <Q>If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to ob&s;erve to do all his Commandments, and his Statutes which I command thee this day, that all tho&s;e cur&s;es &s;hall come upon thee and overtake thee, Cur&s;ed &s;halt thou be in the City, and cur&s;ed &s;halt thou be in the field; Cur&s;ed &s;hall be thy basket and thy Store; Cur&s;ed &s;hall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy Land, the encrea&s;e of thy kine, and the flocks of thy &s;heep; Cur&s;ed &s;halt thou be when thou come&s;t in, and cur&s;ed &s;halt thou be when thou goe&s;t out, the Lord &s;hall &s;end upon thee cur&s;ing, vexation, and rebuke in all that thou &s;ette&s;t thine hand for to do, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></Q> Now that Soul that doth not hearken to the voice of God, according to the tenour of the New Cove|nant, to come unto Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to have his &s;ins pardoned, to have the &s;pirit given him to walk be|fore
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God in all his ways, is in an unpardoned condi|tion, and &s;o liable to all the&s;e cur&s;es; now, under the old Te&s;tament God did more u&s;ually come forth in vi&s;ible &s;troaks of puni&s;hment upon outward mercies: But under the New Te&s;tament, his judgments (e&s;pecially upon &s;uch as are under the Go&s;pel) are more &s;piritual, (as ble&s;&s;ings to his peo|ple run in a more &s;piritual way) as in cur&s;ing them with <HI>hardne&s;s</HI> and <HI>blindne&s;s of heart,</HI> having <HI>re&s;i&s;ted</HI> the truth, but yet though &s;uch outward cur&s;es are not &s;o vi&s;ibly and frequently executed, (though &s;ome|times they are) yet unpardoned unconverted &s;inners enjoy not their outward good things as a <HI>ble&s;&s;ing,</HI> but they &s;erve but to further their damnation, if their hearts are not (through infinite grace) made <HI>&s;oft,</HI> and turn unto the Lord, that they may be par|doned. Now, to have outward mercies, and be hardened in an impenitent e&s;tate under them, is a far greater cur&s;e than to have them &s;mitten or im|bittered from the Lord, though with the heavie&s;t hand. This is the 2d. Rea&s;on of the point: Every thing is a cur&s;e, (while &s;uch) to an unpardoned &s;inner; therefore 'tis of the greate&s;t weight to have his heart taken up about it.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>The per&s;on of an unpardoned &s;inner is hated of the Lord,</HI> therefore the weight of it is very great, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 5.5. <HI>Thou hate&s;t all workers of iniquity. All,</HI> be they what they will, high or low, rich or poor, God <HI>hates</HI> them; and while they are workers of iniquity, they are certainly unpardoned; what they may be in the de|cree of God, is nothing to that &s;inner in this condi|tion: While he is a worker of iniquity, he hath no ground for any other apprehen&s;ion of God, unle&s;s he turn in unto him; now, what a dreadful thing is it, to be hated of that great and righteous God, a
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drop of who&s;e wrath is able to &s;cortch the Soul with u&s;peakable torment; yet &s;uch is the condition of a wretched unpardoned &s;inner; therefore 'tis his great concernment to look to it, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>While a &s;inner is unpardoned, he is under the Law.</HI> What that is, I &s;hall, if God will, further di&s;cover; he &s;tands bound over to the mo&s;t exact fulfilling of it, under the penalty of Hell, bound to make God &s;a|tisfaction to the utmo&s;t, upon the lea&s;t breach; and being under tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of it, is under wrath and condemnation, if he abide &s;o, without Remedy. <HI>There is no condemnation to them that are in Chri&s;t Je|&s;us,</HI> but <HI>All condemnation</HI> to tho&s;e that are out of Chri&s;t Je&s;us, as all unpardoned &s;inners are; therefore 'tis a condition above all others to be weighed and con&s;idered, and not to be re&s;ted in one mo|ment.</P>
<P N="5">5. <HI>Neither the Prayers, nor Alms, nor any other duty of an unpardoned &s;inner, are at all accepted with the Lord.</HI> This wretched &s;inners will not admit of, but think if they perform any duty to God, he accepts of it, and that indeed it makes an <HI>attonement</HI> for their &s;ins; take that one eminent place in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.15. <HI>Though you make many prayers, yet I will not hear you;</HI> mark it, you that think becau&s;e you <HI>make,</HI> or <HI>&s;ay,</HI> as you &s;tyle it, many good prayers, &s;ure God hears you; No, &s;aith God, <HI>I will not hear;</HI> why? <HI>&s;ee ver&s;e</HI> 16. they were not <HI>wa&s;hed</HI> from their &s;ins, therefore the Prophet calls them to come to the Lord, that they might be <HI>pardoned, ver&s;e</HI> 38. 'Tis true, when a poor &s;inner hath his heart &s;mitten for &s;in, and comes to the Lord, upon the account of promi&s;es of grace and pardon through Je&s;us Chri&s;t, with full purpo&s;e of heart to cleave unto the Lord, and &s;o begs for par|don, and all things that do accompany pardon and
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&s;alvation, then God hears his cryes at the very fir&s;t <HI>breathing</HI> of his &s;oul, <HI>Lam.</HI> 3.56. but not till then doth God regard the multitude of his Prayers, Alms, Wor&s;hip, Keeping con&s;cience to men; therefore cer|tainly if nothing be accepted with God, till in a par|doned condition, &s;uch an e&s;tate requires great and deep thoughts of heart of it.</P>
<P N="6">6. Upon all this, it will follow, <HI>That an un|pardoned &s;inner will have no other word from the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t at his coming, but go ye cur&s;ed;</HI> E|verla&s;ting darkne&s;s, and wrath, and woes, and all mi&s;ery mu&s;t be his portion for ever. <HI>If he dye in his &s;ins,</HI> Joh. 8.29. his &s;oul mu&s;t be eternally damned, without all remedy; Live and dye unpardoned, and be damned unpardoned: When Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hall come, neither he him&s;elf, nor Saint, nor Angel, will or can &s;peak one word, for a &s;oul that dyes unpar|doned; though the &s;oul &s;creek out for a drop of mer|cy, it will be an&s;wered with nothing but the Ec|choes of the &s;creekings of other de&s;perate &s;ouls, rea|dy to be hurled with it into the &s;ame everla&s;ting burnings; no eye to pitty there, though Mini&s;ters and Saints did warn, invite, weep, mourn, pity, when on this &s;ide the grave, yet at the great Judgment it will not be &s;o. No, nothing but upbraiding of De|vils, for neglecting Go&s;pel-Grace, and refu&s;ing the terms of pardon, and for gro&s;s &s;ecurity; this will be the portion of every unpardoned &s;inner, that neg|lects the <HI>day</HI> of his &s;alvation; therefore the pardon of &s;ins requires the deepe&s;t thoughts of heart, and can never be made too &s;ure to a poor &s;inful Crea|ture.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. I&s; the pardon of &s;in be of &s;o great and in|finite weight, how doth this meet with the wret|ched deplorable carele&s;nefs of a world of &s;ouls in
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this day, that think of nothing le&s;s than <HI>whether their &s;ins are pardoned,</HI> that will hear of nothing that may call this great matter into que&s;tion, or <HI>may</HI> awaken them to it, Oh how many poor &s;ouls, I fear too ma|ny of <HI>you,</HI> (though &s;o often and earne&s;tly pre&s;t to it) that were never before the Lord <HI>mourning</HI> after the pardon of your &s;ins? What a <HI>light</HI> matter would it be to be pardoned, if there &s;hould be no more in it, nor care about it, than mo&s;t &s;inners, that call them|&s;elves Chri&s;tians, make about it: Ah &s;inners, why do you make no more adoe, no more matter of it? why &s;o &s;en&s;le&s;s of that, which is alone worthy all the thoughts of thy heart? if thou &s;hould&s;t live a million of years to di&s;patch this one thing, to get thy &s;ins all pardoned. You that are <HI>Elderly</HI> people have a large reckoning, e&s;pecially upon your account of &s;inning again&s;t Go&s;pel-light and grace; make ha&s;te, what you do, do <HI>quickly, lay hold</HI> on eternal life, the &s;un is ready to &s;et upon you, and wo with you, as ever you were men and women, if you fail of a good and &s;ure di&s;|patch of this one concernable thing, that your &s;ins are pardoned; And you that are <HI>younger,</HI> take heed lea&s;t the day of grace <HI>&s;et</HI> upon you, and you be <HI>given up</HI> to your own hearts lu&s;ts, and no word that is &s;po|ken from God or Man &s;hall ever <HI>reach</HI> you: Oh, tremble at trifling with convictions and light, but begin to honour the Lord Je&s;us, and bow unto him, and wait for the promi&s;ed effu&s;ion of his &s;pirit, and the joy of the Lord &s;hall be the joy of your youth, and the Love of the Lord will be very &s;weet and precious to you.</P>
<P N="2">2d. <HI>Exhort.</HI> Oh then let every &s;oul of us be <HI>deeply</HI> affected with this weighty matter; let your &s;ouls &s;ay within you, Oh the dreadfulne&s;s of an un|pardoned condition! what tongue can expre&s;s it? to
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have all my &s;tore, (little or much,) hou&s;e, corn, cat|tle, <HI>trade,</HI> all under a <HI>cur&s;e,</HI> and enjoy it as a cur&s;e, and only to further my eternal damnation! to be <HI>hated</HI> of the great God, and not loved, to be under all the condemnation of the Law! wherever I read of wrath and wo, it belongs to me; to have not one of my prayers, nor any thing el&s;e, accepted of the Lord! to be in a condition of expecting nothing from Je|&s;us Chri&s;t at his coming, but go <HI>go ye cur&s;ed;</HI> when I &s;hall &s;ee &s;o many ble&s;&s;ed &s;ouls that took pains for Heaven, enter into the Kingdom, and my &s;elf &s;hut out! Wo is me, if I &s;peak peace to my &s;oul in &s;uch an e&s;tate one moment more; <HI>Awake</HI> my &s;oul, <HI>Awake!</HI> Away, in to the ble&s;&s;ed God, for mercy, par|don, grace, Chri&s;t, his blood, &s;pirit, holine&s;s, eternal life; I will go, (the Lord helping me) and cry in the bitterne&s;s of my &s;oul for them all; and if 'twere po&s;|&s;ibe to weary the Lord with the cryes of my poor &s;oul, I will do it, till he have mercy upon me, and bid me go in peace; the Gracious God &s;hall as hardly deny me, as ever he did any poor &s;inner that lay bleeding at his feet for mercy and grace from Heaven, to heal a poor condemned &s;oul; Oh what have I been doing in the world all this while? get a little &s;omething, and my &s;ins unpardoned; in daily dan|ger of dying in them, and &s;o be lo&s;t without all re|medy for ever; Oh! &s;uch will be the <HI>great thoughts</HI> of heart about the pardon of &s;ins, when the Lord &s;hall &s;peak to a poor &s;inner, and the Con&s;cience &s;hall be throughly <HI>awake</HI> about it.</P>
<P>Oh! let me yet in the name of the Lord, argue out this matter with thee. Be <HI>&s;erious</HI> for once, and <HI>ponder</HI> it in thy heart, what is health or wealth? what is it to have &s;omething about thee in the world, and lay up yearly, and thou go deeper in debt with the
<PB N="11" REF="7">
ju&s;t God every day? What if all the world be at Peace with thee, and God thy enemy, and hate thee, as thou ha&s;t been &s;hewed? What if all the world &s;ay of thee, Ble&s;&s;ed, if God, and his holy Word of truth, pronounce thee Cur&s;ed, becau&s;e thy &s;ins lye upon thy &s;oul, and the Spirit of grace is not upon thee? Ah! poor Creature, do not, do not let thy &s;ins lye upon thy precious &s;oul any longer, do not be con|tented to be a child of Gods wrath any longer; Oh! do not thou, poor carele&s;s &s;oul, if there be a &s;park of pity in thee; <HI>Do not,</HI> as the Devil flatters, re&s;t in this, and &s;ay I <HI>hope</HI> better, and I <HI>hope</HI> 'tis better with me, and I <HI>hope</HI> I am or &s;hall be pardoned, and &s;o fall a&s;leep till thou drop into Hell. You that think it an ea&s;ie common matter to be pardoned, know not what it is, you have yet no part in this <HI>ble&s;&s;edne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Saith a poor convicted &s;oul, 1. 'Tis a great mat|ter that any &s;inner in the world is pardoned, much more &s;uch a one as I, if ever I attain to it.</P>
<P N="2">2. Souls that get pardon, do make it their greate&s;t care to be <HI>a&s;&s;ured</HI> of it, they do not leave the matter at &s;ixes and &s;evens, and put it off with bidding the heart <HI>hope well,</HI> but they labour after a Go&s;pel-<HI>a&s;&s;u|rance</HI> of it.</P>
<P N="3">3. Such Souls will labour to &s;ee that nothing be wanting that mu&s;t accompany pardon of &s;in, and a &s;tate of &s;alvation, <HI>Heb.</HI> 6.9.</P>
<P N="4">4. They <HI>try</HI> all their pretenees to pardon and grace over and over; and will take nothing <HI>upon tru&s;t</HI> from their hearts, or the Devils flatteries, or the flat|teries of carnal Mini&s;ters; but <HI>&s;earch</HI> and <HI>prove,</HI> and lay their hearts under the Word and Spirit, till it be &s;ealed by the Holy Gho&s;t, and that they are <HI>wrought of God for this &s;elf &s;ame thing, and that he hath given them the Earne&s;t of the Spirit,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.5. Well there|fore
<PB N="12" REF="8">
&s;ay in thy heart, in good earne&s;t, Oh! it hath not been &s;o with me, I have been carele&s;s, I thought well of my &s;elf, I ne're que&s;tioned this weighty mat|ter to purpo&s;e. Oh! the Lord give me grace, to take pains in the u&s;e of means, to be <HI>violent</HI> for Heaven. Oh! I will not re&s;t (Oh! let me not) till I am a&s;&s;u|red indeed that <HI>my, my</HI> &s;ins are done away, and Chri&s;t is <HI>mine:</HI> Go, and &s;ay, and do it, and the God of all grace and might be with thee in it.</P>
<P>But yet further to pre&s;s the weight of this matter upon thy Con&s;cience, that thou maye&s;t go off tho|roughly <HI>convinced,</HI> and re&s;olved to pur&s;ue effectual|ly the compa&s;&s;ing of this &s;o great a ble&s;&s;ing, of get|ting thy &s;oul in a pardoned e&s;tate, Do but weigh with me the <HI>matchle&s;s ble&s;&s;edne&s;s</HI> of &s;uch a condition, and methinks thy heart &s;hould not but be taken with it.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t is, <HI>Peace with God,</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t ha|ving made <HI>Peace,</HI> Rom. 5.1. Col. 1.20.</P>
<P N="2">2. Con&s;ider, <HI>Pardoned &s;ouls become the dear Chil|dren of God,</HI> &s;ee <HI>Eph.</HI> 1.5. &amp;c. <HI>Having prede&s;tinated us unto the Adoption of Children by Je&s;us Chri&s;t unto him&s;elf, according to the good plea&s;ure of his Will, to the prai&s;e of the glory of his Grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved; in whom we have Redemption through his blood, the forgivene&s;s of &s;ins,</HI> &amp;c. The glorious grace of <HI>Adoption</HI> comes in upon the <HI>forgive|ne&s;s of &s;ins;</HI> therefore <HI>Chap.</HI> 5.1. the Apo&s;tle further hints this &s;o ble&s;&s;ed a priviledge; <HI>Be ye fol|lowers of God, as dear Children;</HI> and <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.5. the Apo&s;tle gives it out as the great and ble&s;&s;ed fruit of Redemption, &mdash; that <HI>we might receive the Adoption of Sons.</HI> Oh! to be tran&s;lated from being among&s;t the children of wrath, to be numbered among the <HI>dear</HI> Children of God, to come under the protection,
<PB N="13" REF="8">
care, tender love of God, as a <HI>Father,</HI> What &s;oul would not be re&s;tle&s;s till he attain unto it?</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Pardoned &s;ouls have acce&s;s to God,</HI> Eph. 2.18, 12. <HI>In whom we have boldne&s;s and acce&s;s, with con|fidence, by the faith of him,</HI> Heb. 4.16. <HI>Let us there|fore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.</HI> This is the ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of <HI>pardoned</HI> &s;ouls, they have <HI>free acce&s;s</HI> to God, as a Child to a Father, to &s;peak, and plead with the Lord: As &s;oon as ever they come before the Lord, they are admitted into his pre&s;ence, and God's <HI>eye</HI> and <HI>ear</HI> is towards them, and they have their reque&s;ts, either in kind, or a better thing given to them. This is another ine&s;timable good of ble&s;&s;ed pardoned &s;ouls.</P>
<P N="4">4. As they are Gods dear Children, and have free acce&s;s to him; &s;o when once he hath freely and ful|ly pardoned them, <HI>he loves them with an infinite,</HI> un|mixt, <HI>unchangeable Love: Behold what manner of love is this,</HI> &amp;c. 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.1. The Lord doth freely let out love, full love, to his pardoned ones, as if they had never &s;inned, becau&s;e he never looks upon them out of Chri&s;t; when God takes a poor &s;inner to him&s;elf, he doth not barely and meerly pardon him, and &s;ave him from wrath, and no more, (as earthly Princes pardon many whom they <HI>love not</HI>) but God &s;ets his <HI>Love</HI> upon them, as it can never enter into his heart to hate them: <HI>He that loveth me,</HI> &s;aith Chri&s;t, <HI>&s;hall be loved of my Father, Joh.</HI> 14.21. And if God afflict them, 'tis to make them bet|ter, more like unto him&s;elf, to be&s;tow more grace upon them, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.10. and Gods Love to his ble&s;&s;ed children is like him&s;elf, <HI>infinite, unmixt, ever|la&s;ting.</HI> This is another infinite ble&s;&s;ing of pardon|ed &s;ouls, to be thus <HI>loved</HI> by their God.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="14" REF="9">5. <HI>Pardoned &s;ouls are brought into a ju&s;tified &s;tate, from which they &s;hall never fall.</HI> Thus runs the tenour of the new Covenant, the bottom of all this ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s; <HI>I will remember their &s;ins no more,</HI> Heb. 8.12. &mdash;<HI>No more,</HI> Words of a &s;weet and ble&s;&s;ed &s;ound to whom they are &s;poken by the Holy Gho&s;t, that when poor &s;ouls that have come to Je&s;us Chri&s;t in a Go&s;pel way, for <HI>pardon,</HI> and have pleaded, and ta|ken hold of promi&s;es of grace for that end, and yet &s;ometimes unbelief is &s;tirring. Oh! will not God, one time or other, call back to remembrance all my former iniquities, and charge them upon me? No, &s;aith the Lord, it &s;hall never enter into my heart, I will remember them <HI>No More;</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed words, and ble&s;t condition indeed. Ah! who would be without it?</P>
<P N="6">6. <HI>Pardoned &s;ouls &s;hall be kept in the hand of the Lord in all their ways,</HI> 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.5. His Love, Fear, Laws, Power, Spirit, &s;hall be in their hearts, that they &s;hall not fall from him, <HI>Jer.</HI> 82.40. <HI>And I will make an everla&s;ting 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 &s;hall not depart from me; He pre&s;erveth the &s;ouls of his Saints, he keepeth the feet of his Saints, P&s;al.</HI> 97.10. 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 2.9. <HI>for their good, Rom.</HI> 1.28. And if they fall, the Lord humbles them, heals them, takes them up again, puts new &s;trength into them, and his kindne&s;s mu&s;t not de|part from them, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7. <HI>Pardoned &s;ouls are Gods Heirs;</HI> Gal. 4.7. Rom. 8.15. &amp;c. <HI>Heirs of God through Chri&s;t, and joynt-heirs with Chri&s;t; Heirs</HI> of all his Promi&s;es of an in|corruptible inheritance that never fadeth away, re|&s;erved in Heaven for them. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.9. Though the Lord give them no inheritance of earthly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions,
<PB N="15" REF="9">
yet they are his &s;pecial <HI>Heirs</HI> of the heavenly inhe|ritance. Not the poore&s;t believer in the world, but may &s;ay with a heart full of ble&s;&s;ed and humble re|joycing, Though I am worthle&s;s in my &s;elf, and am &s;o accounted in the world, yet through infinite grace, I am one of the riche&s;t Heirs in the world, a Co-heir with Chri&s;t, of an exeeeding eternal weight of glory.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. If &s;uch, and more than <HI>is</HI> or <HI>can</HI> be named, be the ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of pardoned &s;ouls, Ah! what poor &s;ecure &s;inner (that mu&s;t al&s;o be everla&s;tingly dam|ned without it) would <HI>mi&s;s</HI> of it? Say, &s;inner, in&s;tead of being cur&s;ed, hated, damned, and that for ever, (for as is mercy and love to pardoned ones, &s;o is to &s;uch as mi&s;s of it, for ever) I &s;ay, in&s;tead of that, which any heart but what is plagued with hardne&s;s, would melt and tremble at, to become a dear child of God, and have free acce&s;s to God, be loved of God, for ever ju&s;tified, no &s;in for ever re|membred again&s;t thee, every thing befall thee for good, and be an Heir of God, and be even as ble&s;&s;ed as God can make thee, and that for ever. Ah! where's the &s;inner that would be without this? Who would &s;light that word of the Lord that would teach you, and lead you to this ble&s;&s;edne&s;s? Who would de&s;pi&s;e, or neglect the <HI>day</HI> of grace, now while within the reach of it? who would run a dreadful hazard of being given up of God, if you thus trifle with Go|&s;pel-&s;alvation? Ah! the good Lord pity you that do thus; you are fit to be mourned over, had we hearts to do it, with tears of blood. Yet once more, <HI>Awake, awake,</HI> you carele&s;s ones, before your bodies drop into the grave, and &s;ouls into hell. Oh! do not, do not take plea&s;ure in &s;oul-murder; do not put off the one, only, main, nece&s;&s;ary work, and leave it undone,
<PB N="16" REF="10">
till it may be impo&s;&s;ible to have it done. Tell me in good earne&s;t, can&s;t thou well be without the pardon of thy &s;ins here and for ever? Soul, thou may'&s;t well enough be without much Land, and much Mo|ney, and many great friends, and yet be well, exceed|ing well contented, nay, better, if thou ha&s;t Chri&s;t and Grace, than with them. But &s;ay, can&s;t thou, can&s;t thou well be without the pardon of thy &s;ins? Can&s;t thou well <HI>live</HI> and <HI>dye</HI> hated by the great and righteous God? Can&s;t thou well be where the fire it never quenched, and the worm never dyes? Say, can&s;t thou well mi&s;s the pre&s;ence of the ever ble&s;&s;ed God to all eternity? Are damned &s;creeking Spirits good company for ever and ever? Away, away &s;inner to the ble&s;&s;ed God, betake thy &s;elf (put it not off an hour longer) to crying, repenting, mourn|ing to God for free pardon, for Chri&s;t, for the Spirit, and look up to the Lord to give thee a heart to do it, wait humbly, and carefully on the Go&s;pel of Grace preached; and yet though thou ha&s;t hitherto been <HI>idle,</HI> thou maye&s;t attain unto this ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, as well as the ble&s;&s;ed&s;t Saint in the world, if thou wilt be <HI>&s;erious, diligent, earne&s;t,</HI> (as &s;o weighty a matter requires) about it. The good Lord give thee a heart to do it.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Do not re&s;t in fal&s;e Evidences, fal&s;e hopes of pardon.</HI> Many &s;inners might &s;eem to have got pardon, and gone well to Heaven, if they had not vainly and fooli&s;hly hoped &s;o. Oh re&s;t in nothing, and never re&s;t without it (as I have pre&s;&s;ed thee in love) till thou can&s;t &s;ay, from a well grounded Go&s;pel-evi|dence, wrought forth with fear and trembling. Now I have the ble&s;&s;edne&s;s that accompanies pardoned &s;ouls: Now, oh <HI>now</HI> (rejoyce with me ble&s;&s;ed &s;ouls) <HI>I am, I am</HI> a Child of God, I <HI>have</HI> acce&s;s to the ble&s;|&s;ed
<PB N="17" REF="10">
God, and my &s;oul pleads with him every day. Ah, now God, my God <HI>doth</HI> love me: Now I am ju&s;ti|fied, in a &s;tate of Ju&s;tification, from which my God will never let me fall. Ah, my &s;ins, though great, &s;hall be remembred <HI>no more, no more;</HI> I &s;hall be kept, <HI>&s;afely</HI> kept, in all my ways; if I fall, the Lord will take me up, and I &s;hall not utterly fall; how|ever it is, or may be with me as to the world, and the things of it, I am <HI>rich</HI> (though poor, worth|le&s;s, nothing in my &s;elf,) with all the riches, un|&s;earchable riches of my Chri&s;t, I am an Heir of God, I need nothing, Oh, the &s;weetne&s;s, peace, joy, con|tentment, Heaven of &s;uch a ble&s;t, and for ever ble&s;t condition! Now tell me &s;inner, (and let it &s;tick with thee till thou art got well to Heaven) is not, is not the pardon of thy &s;ins the work of the greate&s;t weight before thee on this &s;ide the grave? which is that I fir&s;t promi&s;ed thee to prove to thy Con&s;ci|ence from the fir&s;t Ob&s;ervation.</P>
<P N="3">3. I might hence in&s;i&s;t to &s;tir up poor &s;ouls, who have been awake for Heaven, and have been, and are crying and waiting for the pardon of your &s;ins, to be in this matter with <HI>all your might,</HI> becau&s;e you &s;ee 'tis wonderfully weighty and concernable to you, beyond all imaginations; get your <HI>doubts,</HI> and <HI>fears,</HI> and <HI>mi&s;givings of heart</HI> well removed; &s;ee from whence your doubts do ari&s;e, and follow them home to your hearts, and then be with the Lord much, and in his Word and Ordinances, till the Lord make it <HI>clear day</HI> in thy Soul, and thou walk in a &s;weet &s;pirit of Adoption before him.</P>
<P N="4">4. Let <HI>pardoned ones,</HI> whom it doth co&s;t much, as to means to get it made good to you, make much of your comfort, and do not Tri&s;&s;e it, nor &s;in it away; and keep the &s;en&s;e of a pardoned condition <HI>warm</HI>
<PB N="18" REF="11">
and <HI>lively</HI> upon your &s;pirits, and then you will <HI>love</HI> the Lord much, <HI>Luke</HI> 7.47. Lord, thou ha&s;t forgiven much, as much as to any; Oh, let me, let me love, love much, very much.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Conviction of &s;in and &s;elf-emptine&s;s.</HEAD>
<P>THe &s;econd Con&s;ideration we ob&s;erved from the words, and propo&s;ed to be opened, was this;</P>
<P><Q>Ob&s;. 2. Such who come to God to have their &s;ins pardoned, they look upon them as great &s;ins.</Q></P>
<P><HI>Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great,</HI> &amp;c. The Ori|ginal word as well &s;ignifies <HI>Many,</HI> as <HI>Great,</HI> my &s;ins are <HI>great</HI> and <HI>many; many great</HI> &s;ins lye upon me, par|don, Oh pardon them, Oh Lord, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Thus you have this ble&s;&s;ed man <HI>David</HI> in &s;everal <HI>P&s;alms,</HI> aggravating his &s;in, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 38.4. <HI>Mine ini|quities are gone over my head, and are a burden too hea|vy for me to bear; again&s;t thee only have I &s;inned,</HI> P&s;al. 51. So ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Paul, Je&s;us Chri&s;t came into the world to &s;ave &s;inners, whereof I am the chief; that &s;in by the commandment might become exceeding &s;inful,</HI> Rom. 7.13. So <HI>Peter</HI> at the fir&s;t Glimp&s;e of Chri&s;t, and a word from him, falls upon his knees, crys out, <HI>Depart from me, for I am a &s;inful man,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Luke</HI> 5.8. So the Pub|lican, <HI>God be merciful to me a &s;inner, agreat, vile &s;in|ner, nothing el&s;e</HI> but a &s;inner: So the Prodigal, <HI>Fa|ther, I have &s;inned again&s;t Heaven, and in thy &s;ight,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Luke</HI> 18.13. <HI>&amp;</HI> 15.21.</P>
<P>In the opening of this Point, fir&s;t I would &s;hew, <HI>Why,</HI> &s;uch as come in a right way for pardon, do look upon their &s;ins as <HI>great</HI> &s;ins.</P>
<P N="1">1. How they come to &s;ee them &s;o.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="19" REF="11">2. <HI>When</HI> a &s;inner may be &s;aid to have &s;een his &s;ins &s;o great as a pardoned &s;oul &s;hould do.</P>
<P N="1">1. Sinners that come to God for pardon and find it, do look upon their &s;ins as <HI>great</HI> &s;ins, <HI>becau&s;e again&s;t a great God, great</HI> in power, <HI>great</HI> in ju&s;tice, <HI>great</HI> in holine&s;s; I am a worm, and yet &s;in, and that boldly, again&s;t a God &s;o <HI>great;</HI> for a worm to lift up him&s;elf again&s;t a great and infinite God; Oh this makes every little &s;in <HI>great,</HI> and calls for <HI>great</HI> venge|ance from &s;o great a God.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Becau&s;e they have &s;inned again&s;t great patience,</HI> de&s;pi&s;ing the goodne&s;s, forbearance, and long-&s;uffe|ring of God, which is call'd <HI>trea&s;uring up of wrath, Rom.</HI> 2.4, 5. Oh, &s;aith a poor aba&s;ed &s;inner at Gods feet, How have I wearied the patience of God! <HI>I have not wearied thee,</HI> &s;aith God, <HI>but thou ha&s;t been wea|ry of me, and ha&s;t made me to &s;erve with thy &s;ins, and wearied me with thine iniquities,</HI> I&s;a. 43.23, 24. Oh, this is an <HI>humbling</HI> and heart-breaking word to a poor &s;oul before the Lord; this makes his &s;in appear <HI>great</HI> indeed. I have wearied the ble&s;&s;ed God with my &s;in, and yet he calls upon me that he may pardon me, <HI>ver.</HI> 25. of the &s;ame Chapter. This greatens &s;in to purpo&s;e, to a poor &s;oul that hath abu&s;ed much patience.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Sins do appear great, becau&s;e again&s;t great mer|cies.</HI> Oh, again&s;t how many mercies and kindne&s;&s;es do &s;inners &s;in again&s;t, and turn all the mercies of God into &s;in! Oh, &s;aith a poor &s;oul, drawing near to God, I turned all the mercies of the Lord again&s;t him, took his mercies and fought again&s;t him with them, and &s;erved the Devil and my lu&s;ts with them; if God will come and account with me for them, how &s;hall I an&s;wer him?</P>
<P N="4">4. That which <HI>greatens</HI> &s;in in the eyes of poor
<PB N="20" REF="12">
&s;inners that cry for pardon, is, <HI>that they have &s;inned a|gain&s;t great light,</HI> light in the Con&s;cience; this heigh|tens &s;in exceedingly, e&s;pecially to &s;uch as are under Go&s;pel-means, and is indeed the &s;in of all in this Nation; there's nothing more aba&s;eth a &s;oul than this, nothing makes it more difficult to believe par|don, when humbled for it; therefore 'tis, that ma|ny poor &s;ouls fear that they have &s;inn'd the unpardo|nable &s;in again&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t, becau&s;e they have &s;inned again&s;t knowledge and light, which though while they are humbled before the Lord, it cannot be that they have &s;o &s;inned <HI>unpardonably;</HI> yet in as much as 'tis the &s;in that borders next upon the &s;in a|gain&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t, it much <HI>greatens</HI> &s;in to a poor &s;oul under the &s;en&s;e of it. Such a &s;inner is &s;aid to <HI>reproach the Lord,</HI> Numb. 15.30, 31. <HI>Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is &s;in; James</HI> 4. la&s;t. To him it is <HI>&s;in,</HI> that is <HI>great &s;in,</HI> of which God will take the &s;evere&s;t account: There|fore &s;uch as have the Profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tianity, and the knowledge of the Word in &s;ome mea&s;ure, and yet go on impenitently in &s;in, they are the greate&s;t &s;inners in the world, and will have the greate&s;t dam|nation; and this circum&s;tance in &s;in makes, or &s;hould do &s;o, &s;uch &s;ouls that never lived in notorious &s;ins, be under deep aba&s;ement, becau&s;e, though their Sins were not &s;o gro&s;s as many others, yet they were a|gain&s;t <HI>great light</HI> and knowledge, which makes eve|ry <HI>little</HI> &s;in continued in <HI>great</HI> in the account of God, and great in the account of the &s;inner, when he comes before the Lord in the &s;en&s;e of it. Oh, I plea&s;|ed my &s;elf in &s;ins that I <HI>knew</HI> to be &s;ins, and was convinced by the Word of God of them, yet I went on, and loved them.</P>
<P N="5">5. <HI>Continuance in &s;in, much greatens &s;in to a poor &s;oul,
<PB N="21" REF="12">
that is, after pardon;</HI> e&s;pecially &s;uch as are not very ear|ly converted. <HI>God will wound the hairy &s;calp of &s;uch a one that goeth on &s;till in his tre&s;pa&s;&s;es,</HI> P&s;al. 68.21. Oh, I added &s;in unto &s;in, &s;aith a poor &s;oul, &s;pending the choice time of my youth in &s;in, when I might have been getting the knowledge of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and honouring of God. This lay clo&s;e upon <HI>David's</HI> &s;pi|rit, as appears in this 25th. P&s;al. 7. <HI>Oh remember not the &s;ins of youth,</HI> &amp;c. Yet we do not find that <HI>Da|vid's</HI> youth was notoriou&s;ly &s;inful; but in as much as he &s;pent not his youth to get knowledge, and to &s;erve the Lord fully, 'twas his burden and complaint before the Lord; much more &s;uch who&s;e youth was &s;pent in nothing but vanity, prophanene&s;s, lying, &s;wearing, prophaning of the Sabbath, &s;ports, pa&s;t-times, exce&s;s of riot, and the like, when God lays it in upon their Con&s;ciences, mu&s;t be greivous and abo|minable to their &s;ouls.</P>
<P N="6">6. <HI>Multitudes of &s;ins do make &s;in appear great,</HI> this made <HI>David</HI> cry out for <HI>multitude of mercies,</HI> P&s;al. 51. and <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 40.12. <HI>Innumerable evils have com|pa&s;&s;ed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, &s;o that I am not able to look; they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me.</HI> One &s;in, but a &s;inful thought, is worthy of a thou&s;and Hells, much more, multiplyed, numberle&s;s, infinite &s;ins, in thought, words, walkings, calling, wor&s;hip, in all I have done, I did nothing el&s;e but &s;in: There|fore the lea&s;t &s;inner in the world is a great &s;inner, when God lays his <HI>account</HI> before him.</P>
<P N="7">7. Another thing that <HI>greatens</HI> &s;in is, <HI>that it was again&s;t purpo&s;es and re&s;olutions of for&s;aking &s;uch and &s;uch &s;ins;</HI> and yet all broken, &s;ometimes again&s;t &s;o|lemn vows, again&s;t prayers: This con&s;ideration up|on many a poor &s;oul &s;ticks hard, and lays low, and
<PB N="22" REF="13">
makes his &s;in grievous indeed, that again&s;t purpo|&s;es, vows, prayers, he &s;hould return to his &s;in; this makes him cry out, Oh my &s;in is <HI>great, great</HI> indeed; Doth, will the Lord pardon &s;uch a Wretch? <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="8">8. Sin appears <HI>great,</HI> when &s;een by a poor &s;oul, <HI>be|cau&s;e it was reigning &s;in,</HI> Rom. 5. &amp; 6. <HI>Sin reigned to death, &amp;c.</HI> Oh, &s;aith a poor humbled &s;inner, I did not only <HI>commit</HI> &s;in, but I was the <HI>&s;ervant</HI> and <HI>&s;lave</HI> of &s;in, I obey'd &s;in as a Lord, and that <HI>willingly,</HI> I obey'd it in the lu&s;ts thereof; where God, Chri&s;t, his Spirit, Word, Law, &s;hould have dwelt and reigned, there &s;in and lu&s;ts bore &s;way, and had the command of my &s;oul. A little &s;in when a <HI>reigning</HI> &s;in, is a great &s;in. All that &s;in can do, is but to rule the &s;inner, and &s;o it doth the lea&s;t &s;inner that is under it, though it break not forth into gro&s;s notorious actings again&s;t the Lord, and this doth much greaten it.</P>
<P N="9">9. <HI>Sin in the fountain makes it great:</HI> As it may be &s;aid, there is more water in the fountain, than in the pools and &s;treams it makes; becau&s;e there is a conti|nual i&s;&s;uing and flowing out of it, which is able to make far greater &s;treams: So in the nature, in the heart, is there as in the <HI>fountain,</HI> and therefore 'tis more there than in the breakings forth of it in the outward man; &s;o that, though a &s;inner in his youth hath been re&s;trained from many great &s;ins, yet in as much as &s;in in the fountain was as full as in any &s;in|ner in the world, though re&s;trained and pent in (which the &s;inner was not beholding to his own heart for) it renders him a <HI>great</HI> &s;inner before the Lord, when &s;avingly enlightned. The want of this con&s;ideration makes outwardly righteous per|&s;ons not look upon them&s;elves as great &s;inners; they &s;ee and feel not &s;in infinite in the fountain of it, which mo&s;tly greatens it, above all the actings of it in this life.</P>
<P N="10"><PB N="23" REF="13">10. A &s;inner drawing nigh to God for pardon, &s;ees his &s;in as <HI>great, becau&s;e thereby he was led captive by the Devil at his will: He that committeth &s;in is of the Devil,</HI> 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.8. <HI>committeth</HI> &s;in, &s;o as in a &s;tate of &s;in, under the power of &s;in, and not born of God, why &s;uch a one <HI>is of the Devil,</HI> under the power of the Devil, of the Devil and not of God; and this becau&s;e of &s;in, which gives this dominion to the De|vil. Oh, &s;aith a poor Creature, I that was the crea|ture of God, and &s;hould have lived to him, lived to the Devil, and the &s;ervice of him; and took part with him, again&s;t Chri&s;t, his Word, his Saints, and was an enemy to them: This greatens my &s;in before the Lord.</P>
<P N="11">11. Sin appears <HI>great, becau&s;e great is the wrath of God again&s;t &s;in;</HI> &s;inners are &s;aid <HI>to heap up wrath,</HI> Rom. 2. and they are called the <HI>Children of wrath.</HI> God to manife&s;t his di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t &s;in, pours out ever|la&s;ting wrath upon an unpardoned &s;inner, to leave the &s;inner under endle&s;s torment of &s;oul and body. God hates nothing but &s;in, and for &s;in, and &s;o hates it, that infinite endle&s;s wrath mu&s;t be the vengeance of it. Oh, when God gives a &s;inner a glimp&s;e of this! Oh the greatne&s;s of every little &s;in to de&s;erve &s;uch wrath! How &s;hall I flee from and e&s;cape the wrath to come? who can &s;tand before &s;uch wrath, who can bear it?</P>
<P N="12">12. The way of any &s;inner's deliverance from &s;uch wrath, &s;hews &s;in to be exceeding <HI>great, in the price and ran&s;om that is paid for the &s;alvation of him from his &s;ins,</HI> the price of the blood of the eternal Son of God. How great was &s;in, how &s;inful and dam|nable the nature of it in the eye of the righteous God, when ju&s;tice could not be &s;atisfied but by &s;uch a way? Oh, &s;aith a poor &s;oul that comes for pardon,
<PB N="24" REF="14">
what a damnable thing is &s;in, which was once no|thing to me, that redemption from it is at &s;uch a rate! God had no greater a price to give, than what he laid down to &s;ave a wretched &s;inner from his &s;in. Oh, 'twas great &s;in that mu&s;t crucifie the Lord of life and glory, therefore doth my &s;oul hate it.</P>
<P N="13">13. La&s;tly, This con&s;ideration al&s;o <HI>greatens</HI> &s;in, in as much as a poor creature hath drawn and tempted others to &s;in with him, e&s;pecially &s;uch as have lived more vainly and loo&s;ly, and it lies hard upon many a poor &s;oul after thorough conviction. Oh, how many have I drawn to &s;in, not only by my example, but encouragement and per&s;wa&s;ion, that may be now in Hell for &s;uch &s;ins, or are under a &s;tate of impeni|tency, and hardened by me. Oh, this is an aba&s;ing con&s;ideration to a poor, convinced, humbled &s;inner, when God &s;mites his heart with it.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. Before we go further, let us labour to ap|ply this to the con&s;ciences of all. I have &s;hewed you, the matter we are upon is the weightie&s;t that ever took up God's heart, the pardoning of a &s;inner; and therefore, how &s;hould it &s;wallow up the hearts of poor undone &s;ouls, that are &s;o infinitely concern'd in it. I be&s;eech you therefore, lay to your hearts what hath been &s;poken as to the <HI>greatne&s;s</HI> of &s;in; and con|&s;ider, If &s;ouls that come to God by Chri&s;t for par|don, &s;ee their &s;ins as <HI>great</HI> &s;ins, and 'tis their great trouble they cannot &s;ee them greater;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t then, This may &s;erve to take off that woful deceit of heart, and delu&s;ion of the Devil, of poor carele&s;s &s;ouls that dream of pardon, and yet never in any mea&s;ure thus &s;aw their &s;ins as great; this &s;hews the heart was never touched of God, never &s;mitten for &s;in as yet; this is the way indeed of unpardon|ed
<PB N="25" REF="14">
&s;inners, they are <HI>le&s;&s;ening</HI> their &s;ins to God and them&s;elves, finding out circum&s;tances to <HI>le&s;&s;en</HI> them, of others tempting them, and the Devil, and the like; and many or mo&s;t of Men or Women allow them&s;elves in the &s;ame, or they were overtaken, or the like; they think they can ea&s;ily pacifie God a|gain, and that God makes not &s;o great a matter of it; thus a deceitful heart and a cheating Devil juggle together, and &s;ooth Con&s;cience in a damnable peace: And &s;uch &s;ouls call their great reigning &s;ins their <HI>infirmity,</HI> and God will not be &s;o exact as &s;ome of the Preachers make him; here's a &s;inner rivetted in a cur&s;ed e&s;tate. But now take a Soul whom God (as I &s;hall &s;hew) hath made &s;en&s;ible of &s;in, and the weight of pardon, and comes to the feet of the Lord for it, 'tis quite otherwi&s;e. Oh, my &s;ins, Wretch that I was and am, were little &s;ins to me before, but now they are great &s;ins; I called it my <HI>infirmity</HI> to lye, &s;wear, prophane the Sabbath, allow my &s;elf in any exce&s;s; but now I &s;ee 'twas reigning &s;in, &s;oul-damning &s;in, great, oh great &s;in; Oh that I am out of Hell! Oh the patience of God! Is there mercy for &s;uch a wretch? What a wonder will it be if I get to Heaven? How great will that mercy be that pardons me?</P>
<P N="2">2. Therefore in the &s;econd place, <HI>Examine how it is with you?</HI> and whether you have had &s;ome &s;uch workings of heart; Have you been before the Lord in <HI>David</HI>'s po&s;ture, Oh, <HI>mine iniquity is great!</HI> Oh, I I have &s;inned again&s;t a great God, wearied great pati|ence, turned great mercies into &s;in. Oh I have &s;in|ned again&s;t great light, How &s;hall I be pardoned? Sins continued in, and multiplied from my youth up, and the&s;e again&s;t &s;erious purpo&s;es, under the reign of it; there's an infinite fountain of all evil
<PB N="26" REF="15">
within me. If I have been any way re&s;trained, no thanks to my own heart for it. Oh, &s;aith a poor &s;oul, I was led by the Devil, befool'd by the Devil, &s;erved the Devil again&s;t God; and now, what can I challenge at the Hands of God? What belongs to me but wrath, great wrath, everla&s;ting wrath, in|finite Wrath? If one &s;in de&s;erves a thou&s;and Hells, what do innumerable tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions do? If Mer|cy be not infinite, How &s;hall I look up to God, or how &s;hall God look down upon me? Oh, I &s;ay, let your Con&s;cience an&s;wer, hath it been thus, in &s;ome good and <HI>real</HI> mea&s;ure, though not &s;o <HI>deep</HI> as your &s;oul de&s;ires. I know there are degrees, and I al&s;o know till God come to let out him&s;elf in &s;uch a way as &rindx; this, that &s;in is <HI>great,</HI> and greater in mine eye then ever, we make but &s;light work of it in our &s;pi|rits; want of this makes many in the&s;e days run a|way with plea&s;ant notions of Grace, Chri&s;t, Light, (though ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord for ever, for the more glorious Revelation of all the&s;e, but I &s;peak of abu&s;es) but <HI>&s;in</HI> was never <HI>great</HI> by the appearance of God, and &s;o they wanton with &s;uch <HI>Notions</HI> which at la&s;t wear off, and &s;o they come to nothing but a re|proach to the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P N="3">3. In the third place, therefore, let it &s;erve to <HI>ex|hort</HI> &s;inners to look back upon your lives, even from your youth up: You may find one more of the di&s;|coveries mentioned of the <HI>greatne&s;s</HI> of &s;in, that you will fall under; e&s;pecially &s;uch as have been given to the prophane&s;s and vanities of the age you live in, lying, &s;wearing, prophaning of the Sabbath, to riot, ungodly pa&s;times and &s;ports, reviling the Godly, or other more &s;ecret wickedne&s;&s;es and pollutions; any of which may be&s;peak thee in a &s;tate of &s;in and wrath, joyned with thy living in the neglect of
<PB N="27" REF="15">
known duties, upon which neglect God hath pro|nounced a <HI>cur&s;e,</HI> as the neglect of &s;ecret or Family-prayer, <HI>Jer.</HI> 10. <HI>ult.</HI></P>
<P>Or if thou ha&s;t not been engaged in gro&s;s &s;ins, but ha&s;t been &s;ober and well carriaged from thy youth up, yet thou may&s;t be &s;till in a <HI>&s;tate</HI> of &s;in, but go a little more &s;oberly to Hell, and in more danger of being damned in thy civil &s;ober carriage than great &s;inners, with which thou art apt to compare thy &s;elf, and &s;eeing thy &s;elf not &s;o bad as them, think|e&s;t all is well; but remember well what hath been proved, that &s;in is greater in the Fountain than the &s;treams, though it make a greater noi&s;e or &s;hew to others in the &s;tream of ones life; thou ha&s;t a Hell in thy nature, an infinite fountain of any wicked|ne&s;s, that ever any of the Sons or Daughters of men did commit, an Idolater, an Adulterer, a Murderer, a Sodomite, a Devil in thy Heart and whole frame of thy Nature. In a word, one &s;in, which thou calle&s;t little, reigning but in thy heart, and cheri&s;hed there, is enough to &s;end thee to Hell, as if thou wert the verie&s;t Reprobate living. Remem|ber, the &s;ame <HI>Paul</HI> that thought him&s;elf a blamele&s;s man, <HI>Philip.</HI> 3.6. afterwards cries out of <HI>exceeding &s;infulne&s;s, Rom.</HI> 7.13. yea, the greate&s;t, the <HI>chief of &s;inners,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.15. But I hope to meet with thee, and with thy con&s;cience, as to this conviction, more hereafter.</P>
<P>The next inquiry will be, <HI>when</HI> a poor &s;oul may be &s;aid to be under &s;uch a di&s;covery of the <HI>greatne&s;s</HI> of &s;in, as may lead him to get pardon through Je|&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="1">1. One di&s;covery I have named already; which is, <HI>&s;uch a &s;oul doth not go about to le&s;&s;en his &s;in, but greeaten it to his greater aba&s;ement;</HI> 'tis his fear he doth
<PB N="28" REF="16">
not &s;ee his &s;ins <HI>great</HI> enough, to lay him low enough before the Lord.</P>
<P N="2">2. When &s;uch a &s;ight and di&s;covery of &s;in, <HI>it be|gets trouble upon the &s;pirit:</HI> In <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 28. you have <HI>David</HI> under a great di&s;covery of &s;in, and he cries out, <HI>there is no re&s;t in my bones, becau&s;e of my &s;in; I am troubled, I am bowed down, I go mourning all the day;</HI> &s;uch a trouble, that will not admit of peace and healing, but from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, till it can take hold of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in a promi&s;e of Grace and Par|don, and come to him, and clo&s;e with him to be ju|&s;tified and Sanctified by him and in him; as I am at large to &s;hew, if God will. I &s;peak this, be|cau&s;e there is a trouble for &s;in, that often ends in a more dangerous peace: Many poor creatures have for a time been troubled for &s;in, and they have made one &s;hift or other to quiet them&s;elves, it may be leave their &s;ins, and do a little &s;omething more, but never come in a Go&s;pel-way to Chri&s;t; which I am al&s;o (through grace) to evidence in the di&s;covery of a fal&s;e Conver&s;ion. However, &s;o it is, that e|very &s;oul that is unbottomed from a fal&s;e peace, a peace in &s;in, or re&s;ting in his duties, he comes un|der trouble, more or le&s;s, in and for his &s;in, as he gets to pardon.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>God &s;mites a &s;oul for &s;ome &s;pecial particular &s;in;</HI> Jer. 3.13. <HI>Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou ha&s;t tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed again&s;t the Lord thy God, and ha&s;t &s;cattered thy ways under every green tree,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>General</HI> acknowledgment of Sins comes to nothing, 'tis the note of a Hypocrite; but <HI>particular</HI> Sins lying upon the &s;oul, &s;peak forth &s;piritual convictions, when joyned, I mean with other workings of heart we are now &s;etting forth. So Chri&s;t dealt with the wo|man of <HI>Samaria, Joh.</HI> 4.16.29. Found her at,
<PB N="29" REF="16">
and &s;mote her in her particular Sin.</P>
<P N="4">4. As God &s;mites, <HI>&s;o the &s;inner is in particular con|fe&s;&s;ion before the Lord,</HI> loads his heart with Sin, till it breaks.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> But who will not <HI>confe&s;s</HI> him&s;elf a Sinner, you will &s;ay?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Truly few, in a Scripture &s;aving &s;en&s;e. A word or two more to this; That <HI>confe&s;&s;ion</HI> of &s;in before the Lord, is a duty, and &s;uch as hath the pro|mi&s;e of forgivene&s;s of Sin, &s;uch places of Scripture will clear, P&s;al. 32. <HI>I acknowledge my &s;in unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid; I &s;aid I will confe&s;s my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions unto the Lord, and thou forgave&s;t the ini|quity of my &s;in;</HI> Prov. 28.13. <HI>He that covereth his &s;ins &s;hall not pro&s;per, but he that confe&s;&s;eth and for&s;aketh them, &s;hall find mercy; If we confe&s;s our &s;ins he is faithful and ju&s;t, to forgive us our &s;ins,</HI> 1 John 1.9. This being a duty to which &s;o ble&s;&s;ed promi&s;es are annexed, 'tis of much concernment to &s;ouls that are very &s;e|rious about <HI>forgivene&s;s,</HI> to have it &s;tated aright, ac|cording to Scripture and &s;aving Experience.</P>
<P>There is a <HI>confe&s;&s;ion</HI> of &s;in, that doth not entitle to the promi&s;e, which a <HI>hypocrite</HI> may reach to; &s;o <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> Exod. 9.27. <HI>I have &s;inned this time, the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked;</HI> here's confe&s;&s;ion, but no pardon; &s;o <HI>Judas,</HI> Matth. 27.3, 4. <HI>I have &s;inned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood;</HI> &s;o <HI>Saul,</HI> 1 Sam. 15.29. <HI>I have &s;inned, for I have tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ed the Commandment of the Lord;</HI> Here are ver|bal inforced confe&s;&s;ions, when the hand of God was upon them, and yet did not end in mercy.</P>
<P>The confe&s;&s;ion of a <HI>Hypocrite</HI> proceeds only from judgment felt or feared; but that which is <HI>&s;incere</HI> and ends in mercy and pardon, goes upon better grounds.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="30" REF="17">1. As fir&s;t, <HI>Confe&s;&s;ion that hath the promi&s;e of par|don, is accompanied with hatred of &s;in.</HI> So in that ble&s;|&s;ed draught of the New Covenant Ezek. 36. <HI>I will &s;ave you from your uncleanne&s;&s;es,</HI> &amp;c. ver&s;e 29. and ver&s;e 31. <HI>Then &s;hall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and &s;hall loath your &s;elves in your own &s;ight for your iniquities, and for you abomi|nations. Then,</HI> when God comes in a way of mer|cy and pardon, then God will make them <HI>remember</HI> their wickedne&s;&s;es, that they had even forgotten, and had thought that God had forgotten them al&s;o: They thought they were <HI>good</HI> ways before, but now the Lord &s;hews them they were <HI>not good,</HI> and they <HI>loath</HI> them&s;elves: Sin is not only a <HI>terror,</HI> but a <HI>loath&s;om</HI> thing to them, <HI>hateful</HI> to the &s;oul that is under this conviction.</P>
<P N="2">2. Whence, <HI>&s;econdly, Saving confe&s;&s;ion re&s;pects the pollution of &s;in. They &s;hall loath them&s;elves,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>That thou maye&s;t remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, becau&s;e of thy &s;hame, when I am pacified toward thee;</HI> In that 38th. <HI>P&s;al. David</HI> is in &s;elf-loathing; this doth ari&s;e (as pre&s;ently I &s;hall &s;hew) from a glimp&s;e of Gods holine&s;s, which I humbly conceive, no reprobate in the World doth reach to, to loath &s;in, becau&s;e it makes him an unho|ly Creature.</P>
<P N="3">3. It follows therefore that &s;uch <HI>confe&s;&s;ion follows &s;in to the root, to the fountain,</HI> there &s;ees it mo&s;t abo|minable, odious, infinite. So <HI>David P&s;al.</HI> 51.5. <HI>I was &s;hapen in iniquity,</HI> &amp;c. A Hypocrites confe&s;&s;ion ends in outward gro&s;s &s;ins, from terror only, and reacheth not to heart-&s;in, pollution of nature; and if he can reach to reform &s;uch outward gro&s;s &s;ins, he hath done, as he thinks, the utmo&s;t, but never comes to loath (and &s;o to mortifie, through the
<PB N="31" REF="17">
&s;pirit) &s;in at the root: But &s;incere &s;ouls, touched by the Holy Gho&s;t, with a &s;aving &s;en&s;e of &s;in, do drive &s;in home to its original, to its root, in the uni|ver&s;al corruption of heart and nature, and there the &s;evere&s;t edge and indignation again&s;t it is let forth.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Brokenne&s;s of heart for &s;in, is an effect of &s;uch con|fe&s;&s;ion,</HI> P&s;al. 51.17. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61.1. <HI>&amp;</HI> 57.15. And this ari|&s;eth upon &s;en&s;e of Gods patience, goodne&s;s, love; as hatred of the pollution of &s;in, ari&s;eth from a &s;ight of Gods Holine&s;s; <HI>Pharaoh</HI> crys out, he had &s;inned, when he &s;marted with puni&s;hment, but was &s;till under the plague of his hard heart, <HI>Ex.</HI> 9.27. <HI>&amp;</HI> 34. There is indeed a kind of brokenne&s;s, that the hammerings of terrour, by puni&s;hments, or by the Word, may work, which may a little wear and rough-hew the heart, and yet go no further, but yet leave the heart under its natural <HI>hardne&s;s,</HI> but now that which is the Spirits &s;aving work kindly melts the heart, makes it &s;oft, and &s;o it can <HI>pour</HI> out it &s;elf to God in heart-melting confe&s;&s;ions; at lea&s;t, the poor &s;oul mourns over the hardne&s;s of its heart, oh that I have thus &s;inned, and yet my heart will not break? ble&s;&s;ed be every &s;troak, and every word of God, and every Ordinance, that through grace breaks my heart more. A &s;incere &s;oul &s;ets a high price upon <HI>brokenne&s;s,</HI> and yet re&s;ts not in it, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. <HI>Such confe&s;&s;ion that hath the promi&s;e, is accom|panied with &s;oul aba&s;ement; He that humbleth him|&s;elf, &s;hall be exalted,</HI> Luke 18.14. &s;poken upon the Publicans acceptance with God in his Confe&s;&s;ion, <HI>&s;miting upon his brea&s;t,</HI> in a deep aba&s;ement, <HI>not lifting up his eyes to Heaven:</HI> So that great promi&s;e, 2 Chron. 7.14. <HI>If my people &s;hall humble them&s;elves, and pray, and
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&s;eek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their &s;ins:</HI> This is a work of the narrowe&s;t &s;earch of any other. I intend, if the Lord will, to &s;peak to this more di&s;tinctly and fully, only now a word of Humiliation, as is joyned with &s;uch confe&s;&s;ion, that hath the promi&s;e of par|don, which is the &s;cope we drive at.</P>
<P N="1">1. When the Soul is in confe&s;&s;ion, and under the Lords <HI>humblings</HI> in order to pardon, <HI>The poor Crea|ture acknowledgeth him&s;elf infinitely unworthy that ever the Lord &s;hould ca&s;t a look upon him, or give out mercy and pardon to him:</HI> This Conclu&s;ion is fixed upon the &s;oul, and the Soul falls down aba&s;ed in the &s;en&s;e of it, whatever the Lord do with me, I will lay my mouth in the du&s;t, I am worthy of <HI>nothing</HI> from the Lord, but a thou&s;and Hells; this <HI>quiets the heart</HI> in &s;ome mea&s;ure, whatever the plea&s;ure of the Lord be towards him.</P>
<P N="2">2. As the poor &s;inful Creature is worthy of no|thing, <HI>&s;o he will give glory to God, if God never pardon;</HI> God is never the le&s;s righteous or holy, if he never let out one drop of mercy upon &s;o vile a Creature: <HI>Thou art holy,</HI> &s;aith <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 22.3. <HI>But I am a worm, and no man,</HI> ver&s;e 6. A worm, fit for God and man to tread upon, and yet mu&s;t not ri&s;e up again&s;t God, nor &s;ay to him, what doe&s;t thou? <HI>No Man:</HI> I have unman'd my &s;elf with &s;in, I am du&s;t and vani|ty it &s;elf, <HI>vile</HI> du&s;t; that's my make, my frame: Oh, I mu&s;t give glory to his ju&s;tice, though I peri&s;h for ever.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>The poor Creature hath no good, no, not the lea&s;t, to procure pardon, or to move God to pardon,</HI> P&s;al. 14.3. Saith a poor humbled &s;oul, treating for pardon, if mercy and pardon mu&s;t come forth upon terms of my good, having or doing any thing, but what hath
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infinitely Sin enough in it to damn me for ever; a&s;|&s;uredly to Hell I mu&s;t: No, Sin enough to &s;end a world of &s;ouls to Hell, but not a drop of good to move the Lord to mercy. If God give out mer|cy upon a Sight of good, I expect not a drop from him.</P>
<P N="4">4. It follows from hence, when a &s;inner comes humbled, <HI>he comes as nothing el&s;e but a &s;inner:</HI> Luke 18.13. <HI>God be merciful to me a &s;inner:</HI> One, that's <HI>nothing el&s;e</HI> but a wretched Sinner, for &s;o the Publi|can means it, as in a contrary frame to the Phari&s;ee, who thanks God <HI>that he was not &s;o bad as many were,</HI> though the Phari&s;ee no doubt would acknowledge &s;ome Sin, but now the Publican is <HI>All a &s;inner,</HI> in as bad a condition as any Sinner in the World: Poor Souls in the&s;e days, they hope they have not &s;o much need of Chri&s;t as many great &s;inners, they be not <HI>nothing el&s;e</HI> but Sinners, they have or do &s;ome good: The di&s;cu&s;&s;ion of this will be the next di&s;cour&s;e, on|ly now a word more: Know Sinner, that one Sin &s;trikes off all thy pretended good, as &s;hall at large through mercy be proved to thee: Stick to one drop of good in thee or from thee, when thou come&s;t for mercy and pardon, and thou lo&s;e&s;t all: Oh, to be <HI>wholly</HI> condemned, <HI>wholly</HI> unrighteous, <HI>wholly</HI> a &s;inner, is a great work; 'tis the mo&s;t di&s;tin|gui&s;hing conviction of any other. While a man hath any thing to live upon, he is not fit to beg; &s;o while a &s;oul hath a drop of any thing, that in his own &s;en&s;e, may the more admit him to pardon, he cannot have it. Take it thus, If one come to your doors and beg, and he hath good Cloaths on his Back, and he &s;hould &s;ay, I have good Cloaths on my back, I have &s;ome|thing of my own, therefore I pray give me: Would you not an&s;wer, if you have &s;omething of your own,
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and are pretty well cloathed, why &s;hould you beg; 'tis not for you come and ask alms? But if a poor naked wretch come, and &s;ay, and cry, Oh, I am a poor Creature, a poor naked de&s;titute creature, I have nothing, all's gone, I have lo&s;t all, pray cover me, pray feed me; out of great pity you will look upon &s;uch a poor Wretch, and do &s;omething for him, if you have any bowels: So, if a Sinner (as that Phari&s;ee did) come and &s;ay, Lord I have done this and this, I have not been &s;o wicked as many, I do &s;ome good, therefore pardon, that <HI>therefore</HI> will make the Lord &s;end thee away without mercy: No, &s;aith God, live upon what thou ha&s;t, if thou ha&s;t any thing: Oh Sinner, thou art not fit to beg, (to beg mercy and pardon) till thou ha&s;t ju&s;t nothing of thy own, which the natural pride of thy heart will very hardly come off to.</P>
<P N="5">5. In the way of Mens Tribunals of Ju&s;tice, and Courts of Life and Death: If a Malefactor be con|demned by the Law, and he yet plead, Though I am proved a Thief or a Murderer, yet I have kept the re&s;t of the Law, I have broken no Law of the Nation that de&s;erves death be&s;ide, &s;hall not this rather ju&s;ti|fie me, than this crime condemn me; No, &s;aith the Judge, That's nothing to us, though thou ha&s;t kept the Law in other things, thou mu&s;t dye by the Law, as a Tran&s;gre&s;&s;or of it, for this thou ha&s;t done: Why then, &s;aith the condemned per&s;on, I mu&s;t plead all mercy. Ju&s;t &s;o it is at the Tribunal of God, comes a poor Soul that is convinced he hath &s;inn'd, Oh, but &s;aith he in his heart, I have kept the Law in many or mo&s;t things, will not that commend me to God? Will not God look upon my good more than my e|vil? No, &s;aith God in his word, thou ha&s;t broken the Law, and thou art cur&s;ed, therefore the Law can
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&s;hew thee no mercy. I can take no notice of any of thy pretended keeping of it in any other thing; Oh, then mu&s;t a poor Sinner &s;ay, then it mu&s;t be all, all of mercy, if I am ever pardoned; this may be e|nough to di&s;cover &s;uch a <HI>humiliation</HI> that follows confe&s;&s;ion that hath the promi&s;e of pardon.</P>
<P N="6">6. One thing more, which I &s;hall but mention; &s;uch a <HI>confe&s;&s;ion</HI> of &s;in as hath the promi&s;e of <HI>mercy,</HI> is accompanied with a firm re&s;olution, through grace, to <HI>for&s;ake</HI> Sin, every Sin, in heart and life; <HI>He that confe&s;&s;eth and for&s;aketh his &s;ins, &s;hall find mercy,</HI> Prov. 28. <HI>as before.</HI> Mark well that famous promi&s;e, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 55.7. <HI>Let the wicked for&s;ake his way, and the unrighte|ous 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:</HI> Here's for&s;aking ways and thoughts; Sins of Heart and Life, and not a for&s;aking or leaving of &s;ome great Sins, but for&s;aking and war|ring again&s;t a &s;inful di&s;po&s;ition, &s;inful thoughts; and not only a meer leaving of &s;in, but a <HI>returning</HI> to the Lord, which he cannot do, if held under the love of but one Sin; and a turning to God only upon the account of free mercy, and then God <HI>abundantly</HI> par|dons: A good word &s;uited to a poor &s;oul, under the &s;en&s;e of &s;inning <HI>abundantly,</HI> therefore need of <HI>abun|dance</HI> of mercy and pardon.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 4. Therefore the next U&s;e will be of Exami|nation: Have you been under &s;uch a <HI>trouble,</HI> as before opened, about Sin, and the pardon of it? Such a trou|ble that would not be quietted but by cla&s;ping about Je&s;us Chri&s;t; hath the Lord &s;mitten you with the deep &s;en&s;e of a particular Sin, your bo&s;ome Sin, and thereby been brought to a <HI>deep</HI> &s;en&s;e of the evil of <HI>all</HI> Sin? Have you been upon your knees, your fa|ces
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in as <HI>peculiar</HI> a confe&s;&s;ion as you could, <HI>hating, loathing,</HI> Sin and your &s;elves in it? Oh, have you driven Sin to the root, the fountain! Oh, there's a Hell of it within? Say, do you know what it is to gave broken hearts under the weight of Sin, and the &s;en&s;e of the Patience, Grace and Love of God, held forth to you in Je&s;us Chri&s;t? Do you know what <HI>&s;oul-aba&s;ement</HI> is, acknowledging in confu&s;ion of face, that you are worthy of nothing from the Lord for ever? not &s;o much as a glimp&s;e of mercy, a good look from him, becau&s;e you have &s;o &s;inned a|gain&s;t him? Have you glorified God, though he ne|ver pardon you? and is he holy and ble&s;&s;ed, though you are bani&s;hed from him for ever? Have you been &s;o reduced to &s;ee that there's not the lea&s;t attom of good to commend you to the Lord, and &s;o lain down as <HI>nothing el&s;e</HI> but a Sinner before him; thou|&s;ands of Sins to damn thee, but not a drop of righ|teou&s;ne&s;s to cover thee; and &s;o creep to the &s;eat of mercy, infinite, free mercy? yea, ha&s;t thou &s;een and felt the difficulty of &s;uch a <HI>&s;elf-emptine&s;s,</HI> that thou would&s;t rather part with all thy Sin than thy &s;elf-righteou&s;ne&s;s: &rindx; A poor &s;oul would take up from Sin, upon conviction of the damnablene&s;s of it, and be more righteous and holy, but to be reduced fir&s;t to nothing, nothing el&s;e but a poor, vile, unrighteous, weak, empty creature, and &s;o to Chri&s;t; here the pride of heart &s;ticks. Now &s;oul, be narrow and clo&s;e in the &s;earch of this; for fail here, and fail in all.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 5. Let it exhort you that have never been under any <HI>trouble</HI> about your Sin, and the pardon of it, that you do not <HI>ward</HI> off, and get from under &s;uch convincing, &s;earching words, that may trouble you:
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Many poor &s;inful Creatures re&s;olve they will never hearken to &s;uch a word as &s;hall <HI>trouble</HI> them, and cannot bear &s;uch preaching as would <HI>trouble</HI> their Con&s;ciences: One word with you, Why &s;oul, Ha&s;t thou been di&s;honouring God, abu&s;ing his patience and mercy, tran&s;gre&s;&s;ing his Holy Commands, &s;lighting his Grace, and yet thou mu&s;t not be <HI>troubled</HI> for it? Wilt thou have thou&s;ands of Sins upon thy Soul unpardoned, and tread upon the brink of Hell every &s;tep thou goe&s;t, and not be <HI>troubled</HI> about it? It &s;eems then thou re&s;olve&s;t not to trouble thy &s;elf much about that petty bu&s;ine&s;s (as thou make&s;t it) of being damned for ever, or &s;aved for ever? No, nothing about Sin, Guilt, Pardon, Heaven and Hell, mu&s;t trouble thee? Alas, poor deluded creature, what care it there to get to Hell peaceably; for ne|ver any one got to Heaven &s;o, that was never <HI>troubled</HI> about getting his Sins pardoned: Away, away with &s;uch a cur&s;ed peace, and let it now trouble thee that thou ha&s;t put off this work &s;o long, that Sin and thy Soul have been at &s;uch a peace &s;o long. Be now at a profe&s;&s;ed war again&s;t it, and take part with the Lord and his word, that it teaching thee how yet to arive at the ble&s;&s;ed Haven of Peace, not with Sin, but with the ble&s;&s;ed God, again&s;t whom thou ha&s;t &s;o greatly Sinned; Oh look unto him to &s;mite a hard &s;ecure heart, to &s;trike a Bo&s;ome Helli&s;h Lu&s;t, for who&s;e peace thou ha&s;t &s;o long, and &s;o fooli&s;hly contended; yea, go in &s;ecret, and fall down before the great God, parcitularly confe&s;&s;ing and &s;haming thy &s;elf, hating, loathing, humbling, till thou cry out, as <HI>Da|vid</HI> here, Oh pardon; what a great matter 'tis for any poor &s;oul to be pardoned? Now, great mercy for a great Sinner, or I am lo&s;t for ever. Out-&s;inned pardon thou ha&s;t not, if thou come&s;t in this po&s;ture to God for it.</P>
<P><PB N="38" REF="21">But you may further enquire, how doth God bring a poor Soul to this pa&s;s, to &s;uch a deep &s;en&s;e of Sin, &s;uch a fight of him&s;elf, &s;o as to be thus before the Lord in &s;elf loathing and aba&s;ement. Only now a Word; (1.) When a Soul is brought to this pa&s;s, God lets out an <HI>appearance</HI> of him&s;elf in mea|&s;ure, upon a poor creature, &s;uch a glimp&s;e of light and purity, that makes the creature fall down, and cry out, Oh I am vile, vile as the du&s;t I tread on? (2.) God gives out the <HI>Spirit</HI> in the word, which <HI>convinceth</HI> and &s;earchech the &s;oul, &s;hews its conditi|on, &s;tate, &s;in, the damnablene&s;s and pollution of it, the greatne&s;s of it, as was &s;hewed: The &s;pirit opens the <HI>holine&s;s</HI> and <HI>&s;pirituallity</HI> of the Law, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7.9. and &s;hews the Sinner, as in a gla&s;s, what he is: The &s;pirit gives a Sight of Je&s;us Chri&s;t pierced with the Sins of &s;uch as come unto him, <HI>Zach.</HI> 12.10. The&s;e do cau&s;e loathing and bitterne&s;s upon the Soul of a poor Sinner, drawing near to the Lord for par|don.</P>
<P>Therefore 'tis great wi&s;dom to be where God &s;peaks, where God appears, where God gives out his &s;pirit, which is u&s;ually in the word preached power|fully, and &s;etting thy &s;elf in &s;ecret to mu&s;e and ponder about an eternal condition; or when the afflicting Hand of God is upon thee, do not &s;ay, I am <HI>not &s;o great</HI> a Sinner as to make &s;o much ado about Pardon or Heaven, if that be thy temper, thou art the mo&s;t likely to be in the road-way to Hell, in peace that will end in woes and &s;orrows, of any Soul in the world. Oh, wait for Gods appearance, and every little Sin will be great, a Hell of Sin within thee, though outwardly civil and &s;ober; wait for the Spirit in the Word, and go and pray for it. 'Tis one thing to know Sin by the Letter of the Law,
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which commands this, and forbids that, and ano|ther thing to know, &s;ee, feel Sin, and the infinite evil of it, the exceeding Sinfulne&s;s and Pollution of it, by the conviction of the Spirit; &s;o as to &s;ee it mo&s;t in the fountain, in thy nature, and there loath and bewail it, becau&s;e it makes thee unclean and unholy, and unlike God, and unfit for God, or holy communion with him: Which is the way and mo&s;t certain evidence of the Spirits &s;aving convicti|on of Sin, (as di&s;tingui&s;hing from that which a hy|pocrite may have) and carries a &s;oul to the <HI>foun|tain opened, Zach.</HI> 13.1. that its iniquity may be throughly <HI>clean&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 6. If Sinners that come to God for mercy and pardon, &s;ee their Sin as <HI>great,</HI> then it will follow, that <HI>great</HI> Sinners may be pardoned and &s;aved: You that are great Sinners, old Sinners, Oh hearken to this, you that are yet within the reach of Grace, and Mercy, and Pardon, if you will come to Je&s;us Chri&s;t for it, the greatne&s;s of your Sin is no bar to you, but, if you fail of pardon, 'tis becau&s;e you will not come to Chri&s;t for it, and accept it upon Go&s;pel-terms; you will not have pardon with a <HI>new heart</HI> and <HI>new life,</HI> or you make a &s;light matter of pardon, or you think 'twill come of cour&s;e; or you are afraid to enter into a &s;e|rious review and debate with your &s;elves, becau&s;e your Sins are &s;o <HI>great,</HI> they will terrifie you, or take you off your plea&s;ure and peace of your minds, and joy in the world: Away, away with any of the&s;e pleas; though thou ha&s;t &s;inned much, greatly, long, with all thy might, come to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and tho&s;e great Sins are no more before his blood to wa&s;h them away than the lea&s;t Sin (if any be little) that ever was committed and pardoned, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.18.
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Do not hence &s;ay &s;ecurely, Oh 'tis well, that great Sinners may be pardoned, I ever thought &s;o, what need &s;o much ado? Do not thus harden thy &s;elf, and make &s;uch a cur&s;ed u&s;e of &s;o Ble&s;&s;ed a Truth; but therefore come in, lay down thy weapons, with which thou ha&s;t been fighting again&s;t God; wilt thou hold up rebellion, and yet cry pardon? Is it equitable thou &s;hould&s;t expect it? No, fall down at the feet of that God again&s;t whom thou ha&s;t &s;o <HI>greatly</HI> &s;inned, in the po&s;ture hath been &s;hewed thee; and then though <HI>&s;in hath abounded, yet grace doth much more abound,</HI> Rom. 5. la&s;t. <HI>Great</HI> Sinners have become <HI>great</HI> Saints, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.11. <HI>Such were &s;ome of you?</HI> Who were they? Idolaters, Adulterers, Revilers, Sodo|mites, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and &s;uch like. You that have been &s;uch like, God may have as much Glory in your pardon as he hath had di&s;honour by your Sin: Only be not &s;uch a <HI>Devil</HI> to thy &s;elf, as to turn thy back upon it, and when thou ha&s;t thus long rebelled, to tell God, he mu&s;t &s;tay thy lei&s;ure for thy acceptance of his pardon, thy Sins are too &s;weet to leave as yet; I tell thee, Soul, and I have &s;hew'd it, that Gods pardons co&s;t him dear, and are precious; and if thou deal thus, they may be lockt up in Heaven from thy wretched Soul to all Eternity. Who but a de&s;pe|rate wretch, but would take mercy and grace from Heaven, that may make him ble&s;&s;ed for ever, when God offers it by his dear Son, let thy Sins be never &s;o great? why, wretched Man or Woman, Ha&s;t thou not done God wrong enough already! but mu&s;t thou &s;tay yet longer in thy cur&s;ed Sin, and wrong him yet more? Ha&s;t not done enough alrea|dy to damn a thou&s;and Souls, but would&s;t do more, and make as &s;ure of Hell as thou can&s;t? I be&s;eech thee, Sinner, great Sinner, young or old, do not put
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me off, nay, do not put the Lord off with a pardon in his hand, a promi&s;e of Grace ready to be &s;ealed by the Holy Gho&s;t, if thou wilt now, from thy Soul, readily &s;ay, why then be it &s;o, Lord Je&s;us I come to thee; if the terms be leaving all this deceitful Sin, and to be made like unto thee, be it &s;o, I accept of it, tear my lu&s;ts from my heart, I have &s;erved them long enough, too long; Oh now, if there be any mercy in Heaven, let me have it, &s;ave me, (not in) but <HI>from</HI> my Sins, Oh Lord, for they are <HI>great, great</HI> indeed; <HI>I will, &s;aith the Lord,</HI> and he &s;peaks it in <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.29. <HI>I will &s;ave you from all your uncleanne&s;&s;es;</HI> 'tis as much as if the Lord &s;hould have now &s;po|ken it from Heaven, Mark every tittle in &s;uch a pro|mi&s;e! Now thou crye&s;t, Oh, <HI>will, will</HI> the Lord &s;ave? <HI>I will,</HI> &s;aith the Lord; Oh but, will he &s;ave me <HI>from</HI> &s;uch <HI>uncleanne&s;&s;es,</HI> yea, from uncleanne&s;&s;es; what from <HI>All?</HI> yea, from <HI>All</HI> thy uncleanne&s;&s;es; fall down and Adore, and cry out, Oh grace, free, rich, infinite, glorious grace; admire, Angels, Saints, Sinners, Be|hold one of Gods wonders, <HI>A great &s;inner &s;aved.</HI></P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> 7. And &s;o &s;eventhly, it may &s;erve to exhort <HI>ble&s;&s;ed</HI> &s;ouls brought into a &s;tate of peace and pardon, &s;till to keep an eye upon the <HI>greatne&s;s</HI> of mercy: If mercy were not great, how could any Sin be forgi|ven? Thus this ble&s;&s;ed man <HI>David,</HI> is breathing forth, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he who&s;e iniquities are forgiven!</HI> Oh ble&s;s the Lord, Oh my &s;oul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities; <HI>Oh how great is thy mercy towards me, and thou ha&s;t delivered my &s;oul from the lowe&s;t hell:</HI> So &s;hould pardoned, called, redeemed &s;ouls, &s;ee them&s;elves call'd and taken out of Hell it &s;elf: Out of a Hell of abominations, pollutions, wrath, under which they were fa&s;t held by the power of darkne&s;s. Say, did
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ever &s;uch a &s;oul get to Heaven? &s;hall I not be the wonder of Heaven and Hell, how I got to Heaven, and e&s;caped that wrath into which thou&s;ands, that were better than I, are now plunged? there's no o|ther rea&s;on, but becau&s;e mercy is great, greater than the greatne&s;&s;es of Sin, with which I &s;hall conclude the &s;econd Point, namely, When Sinners come on to find pardon, they &s;ee their Sins <HI>great.</HI></P>
<P>Ob&s;. 3. <HI>The great rea&s;on of Gods pardoning a &s;inner; and the plea that a poor convinced &s;inner hath with God, is, that he will pardon for his own Names &s;ake.</HI></P>
<P>For thy <HI>Names &s;ake,</HI> Oh Lord, pardon, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>That is, not for any worth that is in a poor crea|ture, not for <HI>my</HI> &s;ake, but for thy <HI>own</HI> glories &s;ake, thy mercy &s;ake; grace and mercy will be hereby glorified. God gets him&s;elf a Name by the par|doning of a poor Sinner, that <HI>Name</HI> which he pro|claims to <HI>Mo&s;es, Exod.</HI> 34.6. The Lord merciful and gracious, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now, God hath given forth the ground of this plea in the <HI>New Covenant,</HI> where his Name is thus made mo&s;t glorious. And when he had given forth a brief and ble&s;&s;ed draught of the tenor of the <HI>New Covenant, Ezek.</HI> 36.21. The Lord gives out this as the great rea&s;on often mentioned, why he would take &s;uch a way of making another Cove|nant, wherein he <HI>wills</HI> all, <HI>undertakes</HI> all, <HI>does</HI> all, <HI>works</HI> all, as re&s;olved it &s;hould be a Covenant, and a way of grace that &s;urely &s;hould hold: He gives out this, I &s;ay, as the ground of all, <HI>I had pitty for my own holy Name,</HI> ver. 21. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord God, I do not this for your &s;akes, but for mine holy Names &s;ake,</HI> ver. 22. <HI>I will &s;anctifie my great Name,</HI> ver. 23. And when the Lord had &s;hewed what he would do for the poor
<PB N="43" REF="23">
Jews in &s;pecial, and &s;o for all Sinners taken into Co|venant with him, that he would <HI>&s;prinkle clean water upon them, clean&s;e them from their Sins, give them a new heart, put his Spirit upon them, write his Laws in their hearts,</HI> and &s;o take them to be <HI>his people,</HI> he again concludes with the &s;ame ground as before, that all this was &s;till for his own <HI>Name,</HI> ver. 32. <HI>Not for your &s;akes I do this, be it known unto you, &amp;c.</HI> And yet, that he would as certainly and fully do it, as if all the engagements from man in the world had been upon him, as <HI>undoubtedly</HI> make good every part and arti|cle of the Covenant, he adds, ver. 36. <HI>I the Lord have &s;poken it, and I will do it;</HI> you may &s;afely abide by it: Neither &s;hould his grace and power come hardly from him (as poor doubting &s;ouls &s;ur|mi&s;e) as if 'twere as much as ever the Lord could do, to give out mercy and grace to poor Sinners; but, &s;aith the ble&s;&s;ed God, in ano|ther place upon the &s;ame account, having given out the promi&s;es of Grace in the New Covenant, <HI>Jer.</HI> 32.37. and &s;o on, He &s;ubjoyns, &mdash; <HI>I will do it with my whole heart and my whole &s;oul;</HI> mark it, poor &s;ouls, <HI>with my whole &s;oul,</HI> will I pardon you, love you, never turn away from you to do you good, and never &s;uffer you to turn away from me. If poor &s;ouls (for who&s;e &s;ake I put it) &s;hould here ask, what is this Covenant, what do you mean by it? only a word here. God at fir&s;t, when he made man, agreed with man to be his God, to give him life for ever, upon the&s;e terms that man would keep the Law that God gave him, and 'twas a Law that would have given all glory to the Creator, pre&s;erved the creature in a holy and ble&s;&s;ed order, and been a ble&s;&s;ing to the whole Creation; but man tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ing here, the ble&s;&s;ed God from his own good plea|&s;ure,
<PB N="44" REF="24">
<HI>for his names &s;ake,</HI> gives out another Covenant, provides in it terms of reconciliation, for the fir&s;t breach of the fir&s;t Covenant, &s;ends his eternal ble&s;&s;ed Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be a mediator of this new Co|venant, gives him commi&s;&s;ion to <HI>offer</HI> it to all, and that freely; and to let the World know, that if any Sinner in the World, never &s;o great, come and put up his plea, make his claim, enter his claim, accept of this Covenant and new agreement with God, accept of the terms of it, give up him&s;elf mutually to God back again; then will God be his God, and that up|on better terms than before with <HI>Adam,</HI> pardon, own, love, ble&s;s, unite to him&s;elf, never &s;uffer him to fall; mercy built upon an unmoveable foundation, <HI>The foundation of God &s;tandeth &s;ure,</HI> 2 Tim. 2.19.</P>
<P>This briefly is the meaning of the New Covenant, upon which all our mercy is built; now from fir&s;t to la&s;t, from the fir&s;t to the top-&s;tone of it, from Electi|on to Glory, all is done and made good for the Lords own glorious Names &s;ake. Souls elected, the Covenant tran&s;acted between God and Chri&s;t, Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;ent, the Sinner called, forgiven, ju&s;tified, &s;anctified, adopted, kept, glorified, All for his Names &s;ake; See the promi&s;es running thus, in mo&s;t places, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 43.25. <HI>I, even I am he that blotteth out thy tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions.</HI> Why? <HI>for my own &s;ake; Purge away our &s;ins for thy Names &s;ake,</HI> P&s;al. 79.9. This is the bot|tom of all. This name he hath revealed in Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Exod.</HI> 23.21.</P>
<P>Now, becau&s;e the further clearing of this ble&s;&s;ed truth is my de&s;ign, through Grace in the next di&s;|cour&s;e, I &s;hall &s;peak but a word more by the way of u&s;e only.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. If it be thus, that whatever God gives out
<PB N="45" REF="24">
to poor &s;ouls, is for his <HI>own Names &s;ake,</HI> that this is the plea a poor Sinner hath; let it then be for your information and in&s;truction, that you have no other plea to be heard in Heaven but this, (the plea of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t being upon the &s;ame bottom) Don't make a &s;orry pile of carnal duties and works, and &s;ay, for the &s;ake of the&s;e, Lord do me good, and pardon where I have failed; the Lord may &s;end fire from Heaven to con&s;ume thee and them, becau&s;e of their pollution, and that 'tis a cur&s;ed offering, but never hear thee, and ble&s;s thee upon &s;uch a plea; No, no, &s;ay in thy &s;oul, and that from full conviction, If ever I have any thing from God on this &s;ide Hell, it mu&s;t be for his own Names &s;ake; I expect, I plead, I wait, upon no other ground.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2. If the Lord's Names &s;ake be the only plea for grace, then let poor Sinners drawing near to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, be per&s;waded that 'tis a <HI>good</HI> plea, and mo&s;t acceptable before the Lord. Now this is the way of the heart of poor creatures, from rooted &s;elf-love and pride, we think, if God could give out good unto us for our &s;akes, it were &s;omething; if there were any thing to be beheld in us that were commendable to the Lord, I could go with &s;ome confidence; but &s;eeing 'tis thus, that I am nothing el&s;e but vile before him, how can I go to him? with what face? or, how can he give out unto me? Sin|ner; be as low as thou wilt or can&s;t; but rea&s;on not &s;o with thy &s;elf. If God can as freely, as fully do thee good, all good, for his own Names &s;ake, and hath thereby the more glory by it; why &s;houlde&s;t thou &s;o &s;tand upon thy terms with God, and not be as willing, as contented, to accept of Mercy, all mer|cy, for Gods own Names &s;ake, as well as for <HI>thy</HI> &s;ake?
<PB N="46" REF="25">
'Tis thy pride, be it known unto thee Sinner, as thou thinke&s;t thou art, and not thy lowline&s;s; know, for thy comfort, God can more readily, ea&s;ily, do thy &s;oul good, upon the terms he now is, for his own &s;ake; and &s;o the thing be done, thy &s;oul pardoned, ble&s;&s;ed, &s;aved, and all &s;hall end in everla&s;ting love upon thee, let the Lord have all the Glory, though thou ha&s;t nothing to boa&s;t of for thy own &s;ake. And yet al&s;o know, that when the Lord &s;aith, he doth it for his own &s;ake, he doth not exclude that he hath <HI>no</HI> re&s;pect and love unto thee; but that the great and highe&s;t motive with God was, and is, his own Name, his own glorious grace, why he ever had a thought of good to an undone creature; that there was no motive in the creature, unle&s;s mi&s;ery, which is no glory; but all is done, given, e&s;tated upon &s;ouls, undone, poor Sinners freely, for his own &s;ake.</P>
<P N="3">3. Let it exhort &s;ouls to make u&s;e of this plea, therefore, and that with great, though humble <HI>confi|dence;</HI> It never failed poor Souls &s;ince the world was, that made u&s;e of it when they were low and help|le&s;s, and eyed and pleaded mercy for mercies &s;ake, they had it, and never went away but ble&s;&s;ed.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="47" REF="25">
<HEAD>The Second Treati&s;e. Shewing how we are to expect Salvation, not from any Righteou&s;ne&s;s of our own, but by the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the alone Me|diator, JESUS CHRIST; how we &s;hall be made Partakers thereof, and Evidences of the Truth of it.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>ROM. 3.19, 20.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Now we know, that what things &s;oever the Law &s;aith, it &s;aith to them who are under the Law, that every mouth may be &s;topped, and all the world may become guilty before God.</P>
<P>Therefore by the deeds of the Law &s;hall no fle&s;h be ju&s;tified in his &s;ight, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>HAving &s;poken, as the Lord hath helped me, as to the weight of the pardon of &s;in, and the way to it; I now come to open the compleating this mercy in a poor &s;ouls compleat <HI>ju&s;tification</HI> be|fore God. So it hath plea&s;ed the <HI>Wi&s;dom</HI> of God to order the way of his glorious mercy to poor Sinners that &s;hall be &s;aved, that he doth not only let forth free grace for the remi&s;&s;ion of their &s;ins, and meerly pardon them, but hath &s;o ble&s;&s;edly ordered the mat|ter, to bring them in a &s;tate of <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> a com|pleat and perfect righteou&s;ne&s;s, as <HI>Adam</HI> in his per|fect
<PB N="48" REF="26">
e&s;tate was in, not by making the Sinner per&s;o|nally holy and righteous in him&s;elf, in his own na|ture, but by giving out his eternal Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to fulfill all righteou&s;ne&s;s in their &s;tead, by &s;atisfying and keeping the perfect Law of righteou&s;ne&s;s, which is <HI>imputed</HI> to the Believer as if he had ful|filled it, and were wholly righteous in his own per|&s;on; in which lies the great my&s;tery of the Go&s;pel. I am not a&s;hamed of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, &s;aith <HI>Paul,</HI> &amp;c. for <HI>therein is the righteou&s;ne&s;s of God revealed from faith to faith,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.16. namely&punc; that righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t whereby God will ju|&s;tifie, put in a &s;tate of righteou&s;ne&s;s, made over to them by faith that &s;hall be pardoned and &s;aved.</P>
<P>To endeavour to evince and di&s;cover the <HI>nece&s;&s;ity</HI> of &s;uch a <HI>ju&s;tification,</HI> and the <HI>nature</HI> of it, and how a poor &s;oul comes to be <HI>inve&s;ted</HI> in it, to have a <HI>right</HI> unto it, is my de&s;ign, as the Lord &s;hall graciou&s;ly a&s;|&s;i&s;t in this en&s;uing di&s;cour&s;e. Oh that I might do it in the &s;implicity of the Go&s;pel, plainly, convincing|ly, &s;piritually, as I ought to &s;peak.</P>
<P>In the pro&s;ecuting hereof, I &s;hall fir&s;t &s;hew that righteou&s;ne&s;s is not to be attained any other way, not by the exacte&s;t keeping of the Law, &s;o as to com|mend us to God; not by &s;etting our &s;elves to keep the Law of God as well as we can, and &s;o we hope God will accept of it; which being naturally rooted in the hearts of all, I find it the harde&s;t piece of conviction, and mo&s;t hardly received of any other; &s;ouls are a thou&s;and times more ea&s;ily beaten off gro&s;s &s;ins, than beaten off the confidence of the good they think they do, and &s;o come as <HI>Nothing el&s;e</HI> but &s;inners to Je&s;us Chri&s;t; want of this conviction makes all the Hypocrites in the world. This is that part therefore I &s;hall fir&s;t begin
<PB N="49" REF="26">
with, according to the Apo&s;tles Method in this Epi&s;tle.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle lays down his Doctrine, which he was to prove in the 17th. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> of the 1&s;t. <HI>Chapter, The ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith;</HI> to make way for which, he fir&s;t proves in the remaining part of the fir&s;t <HI>Chap.</HI> that the Gentiles knowledge of God, which they had by <HI>the things that are made.</HI> The Creation and Pro|vidence of God over the world, left them in unrigh|teou&s;ne&s;s becau&s;e they <HI>held the truth</HI> (of the being of a God) <HI>in unrighteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> even the wi&s;e&s;t and learn|ed&s;t of them, &s;uch as <HI>profe&s;&s;ed them&s;elves to be wi&s;e,</HI> ver&s;e 22. and brake forth into Idolatry and all abo|minations, <HI>for which cau&s;e God gave them up,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 26, 28. At the 17th. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> of the 2d. <HI>Chap.</HI> The Apo&s;tle undertakes the Jew, &s;trikes off all his pri|viledges, and at the 9th. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> of the 3d. <HI>Chapter,</HI> concludes both Jew and Gentile, in the &s;ame con|dition, as to the obtaining of &s;uch a righteou&s;ne&s;s by the Law, that might commend either to God; <HI>What then are we,</HI> (who are Jews) <HI>better than they,</HI> (who are Gentiles?) <HI>No, in no wi&s;e, for we have pro|ved that Jews and Gentiles are all under &s;in; As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one:</HI> Which he further proves by &s;everal Scriptures to the words of the text.</P>
<P>In which the Apo&s;tle prevents an objection, namely, that &s;ome might urge, The Scriptures ur|ged may concern &s;ome few and gro&s;ly wicked per|&s;ons, and not all mankind in general: No &s;uch matter; <HI>whatever the Law &s;aith, it &s;aith to them that are under the law,</HI> which are all the Sons and Daugh|ters of <HI>Adam,</HI> as in their natural corrupt e&s;tate; All under the Law, from whence the Apo&s;tle infers, (1.) That therefore <HI>every mouth is &s;topped,</HI> (2.) All
<PB N="50" REF="27">
the world is guilty before God. (3.) That no fle&s;h, within or without the Church, can be ju&s;tified by the Law. From whence I draw the&s;e four plain ob|&s;ervations, to prove what is my main de&s;ign, <HI>viz.</HI> That no man can attain to &s;uch a mea&s;ure of righ|teou&s;ne&s;s by all that ever he can do, in his be&s;t keeping the Law, as may commend him to God; which four are the&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Every Son and Daughter of</HI> Adam <HI>in their natu|ral e&s;tate are under the Law.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>That a Tran&s;gre&s;&s;or of the Law hath nothing to boa&s;t in, nor to excu&s;e him&s;elf from his &s;in, or the righte|ous judgment of God due unto him.</HI> [That every mouth may be &s;topped.]</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Every Soul in the world is under guilt and condem|nation:</HI> [That all the world may be guilty before God.]</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Every &s;oul lies under an impo&s;&s;ibility of reaching to &s;uch a Ju&s;tification, by the be&s;t keeping of the Law, as for God thereby to accept of him.</HI></P>
<P>I intend briefne&s;s in the opening of the&s;e, and what <HI>plainne&s;s</HI> al&s;o the Lord &s;hall help me with: This is a principle <HI>rooted</HI> in the hearts of all the Chil|dren of men: That &s;till there is a &s;ufficiency in them to keep the Law of God, in &s;uch a mea&s;ure as God will accept them for it; This being heightened, by the ignorance of times, and darkne&s;s of Go&s;pel light, and of the New Covenant of Grace, upon the &s;pirits of this Generation, they are mo&s;t hardly beaten off it; &s;ay poor &s;ouls, If I keep Gods law as well as I can, and wor&s;hip God, and do not harm my Neighbour, God will accept me, and pardon where I fail; but to be convinced that all that keeping of the law is made void by one &s;in, and &s;o &s;ee an ab&s;o|lute nece&s;&s;ity of righteou&s;ne&s;s, another way and out
<PB N="51" REF="27">
of them&s;elves by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, though it be preacht by many good men, yet few, very few, in this Gene|ration live in the practical &s;en&s;e and &s;ight of it; yea, how many profe&s;&s;ors (not hereby to reproach any) have confe&s;&s;ed to the Glory of God, and their own aba&s;ement, that &s;ince the breaking forth of a fuller light of the nature of the New Covenant, Go&s;pel Grace, the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, they have been &s;haken in their bottoms, being legal, and thought if they took up from their &s;ins, and had a kind of &s;orrow for them, and then &s;et them&s;elves to obey the law &s;trictly, be clo&s;e in the Sabbath, and &s;ome &s;uch duties, that God would accept them, be|ing &s;till ignorant, at lea&s;t practically, that when they were convinced of &s;in, they were to &s;ee where to have a <HI>righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and how to get into Chri&s;t, and have life and &s;trength in and from him for their new Obedicence; which is that I drive at in this, and my afterwards di&s;cour&s;e in opening the New Crea|ture, as <HI>in</HI> Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Having premi&s;ed this, I come to &s;peak to the fir&s;t particular laid down, namely,</P>
<P>Ob&s;erv. 1. <HI>Every &s;on and daughter of</HI> Adam in <HI>their natural e&s;tate are under the Law.</HI></P>
<P>By the Law, I do not mean the Mo&s;aical or old Te&s;tament way of wor&s;hip: But by the law, I under|&s;tand that which we &s;tile the moral law, the law of the ten Commandments, that was written in <HI>A|dams</HI> heart, and afterwards given out by God un|to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> at Mount <HI>Sinai;</HI> and promi&s;ed in the New Covenant to be written again in the hearts of all that are really called into the grace of ihe Cove|nant, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.27.</P>
<P>To be <HI>under the Law,</HI> is an Expre&s;&s;ion familiar to
<PB N="52" REF="28">
you, you know what it is to live under a law: To be under this law of God then be&s;peaks the&s;e things.</P>
<P N="1">1. To be <HI>under it,</HI> is to be bound over to the <HI>ex|act</HI> fulfilling it: See <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.15. <HI>For</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>de&s;cri|beth the righteou&s;ne&s;s which is of the Law, that the man which doth the&s;e things &s;hall live by them;</HI> that is it, to be bound over to the fulfilling and doing of the law, which if done exactly, without the lea&s;t devia|tion, there is life promi&s;ed to it: But upon the lea&s;t tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of it, to be liable to the penalty which God hath pronounced again&s;t the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors of it.</P>
<P N="2">2. It follows thence, that to be <HI>under the Law,</HI> is to be bound over <HI>to the whole Law,</HI> in its full and <HI>perfect</HI> latitude, as it reacheth the whole Man. <HI>Cur&s;ed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them:</HI> Mark well the tenour of the&s;e words: Here is re|quired of <HI>every one</HI> an exact <HI>doing</HI> (not only <HI>pur|po&s;ing</HI> and <HI>thinking</HI> to do;) and that not only of &s;ome or the mo&s;t of the Law, <HI>but in all things;</HI> and that not only for a time, but a <HI>Continuance</HI> of doing &s;o, or el&s;e under the cur&s;e: One &s;inful thought hath a cur&s;e belonging to it, as well as the breach of the whole Law, if under the Law. <HI>Who&s;o|ever committeth &s;in, tran&s;gre&s;&s;eth al&s;o the Law,</HI> 1 John 3.4.</P>
<P N="3">3. To be <HI>under the Law,</HI> is to be <HI>&s;ubject to, and to be under</HI> all the cur&s;es, threatnings, judgments, wrath, that it threateneth to the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors of it, here and for ever: What&s;oever the Law &s;aith, in point al&s;o of judgment and wrath, it &s;aith to all that are under it.</P>
<P N="4">4. To be <HI>under it,</HI> is to be bound to <HI>make God &s;a|tisfaction</HI>
<PB N="53" REF="28">
in our own per&s;ons for the breach of it; I mean, while under it, every &s;oul is &s;o obliged to make &s;atisfaction, to the ju&s;tice of God: If a poor &s;oul be in his natural e&s;tate, and &s;o under the Law; he mu&s;t &s;tand or fall to the Law: God expects per&s;o|nal &s;atisfaction from every &s;oul that &s;inneth again&s;t it, that will &s;tand to his keeping the Law, in whole or in part, and God in his ju&s;tice can bate nothing of what he hath &s;poken.</P>
<P>Now, That all Men and Women are by nature, as of and in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> thus under the Law, to wit, to be bound up to it, and to have life only upon the exact and perfect fulfilling of it, to be bound up to the whole Law, &s;ubject to the cur&s;e of it, upon the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of <HI>one part,</HI> bound to make God <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> in his own per&s;on for any breach there|of, I briefly prove.</P>
<P>Saith <HI>Paul,</HI> Rom. 6.14. <HI>Ye are not under the Law, but under grace;</HI> Implying, till a &s;oul is brought under grace, the Covenant of grace, ju&s;tifying and &s;anctifying grace, in and by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, he is <HI>under the</HI> Law, who&s;oever he be; &s;o <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.5. &mdash; <HI>To redeem them that were under the law,</HI> &amp;c. implying al&s;o that all mankind are naturally under it, till under the power and efficacy and priviledge of Chri&s;t's Re|demption.</P>
<P>The main rea&s;ons of it are,</P>
<P>All are under this law, becau&s;e all Mankind were bound up under the &s;ame Covenant with <HI>Adam,</HI> who was a publick per&s;on, repre&s;enting all mankind, as a man may bind up him&s;elf and his po&s;terity to &s;uch and &s;uch Conditions; and &s;uch a Covenant, de|cree, or obligation binds his po&s;terity in Law, &s;o was <HI>Adam</HI> bound up to God; See <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.12. the &s;peci|al Scripture that proves this truth; <HI>Wherefore as by
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one man &s;in entred into the world, and death by &s;in, &s;o death pa&s;&s;ed upon all men, for that all have &s;inned:</HI> So <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 16, 17, 18, 19. <HI>by one that &s;inned,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>by one mans offence death reigned by one; by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation: By one mans di&s;obedience many were made &s;inners:</HI> Implying clearly, that the guilt of <HI>Adam,</HI> as repre&s;enting all his po&s;terity, was and is imputed to all; <HI>and therefore all were, and are bound over to the &s;ame Law;</HI> bottomed upon that word of the Lord to <HI>Adam,</HI> by which God put the Covenant upon him, <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.17. <HI>For in the day that thou eate&s;t thereof thou &s;halt &s;urely dye&punc; Adam</HI> had the law of Holine&s;s and Righteou&s;ne&s;s, the Moral Law, written in his heart before, and his nature perfect, which bound him o|ver to obey every command of his God; now God gave out that external law unto him by way of tri|al, in which the form of the Covenant was implied; but &s;inning again&s;t that, he tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed the Moral law, written in his heart al&s;o, which bound him o|ver to obey God in all things; &s;o that the &s;in of <HI>A|dam</HI> was (at lea&s;t virtually) a tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of the moral law, now abiding and obliging mankind; which law we all brake in him, as it was given to all in him, and being written in <HI>Adam's</HI> heart, it was as much as if it had been actually written in the hearts of all mankind; which doth al&s;o appear by the remnants of the Law, (as that there is a God, and man &s;hould be ju&s;t,) and remaining in the hearts of all: Therefore by nature we are all bound up to, and are under this law.</P>
<P N="2">2. It doth appear that <HI>all</HI> do &s;in and tran&s;gre&s;s this law of <HI>God,</HI> therefore <HI>they are under</HI> the penalty and condemnation of it: This Argument the Apo&s;tle brings to prove the &s;ame thing, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 9. of this 3d.
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of the <HI>Rom.&mdash; For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under &s;in:</HI> And ver&s;e 12. <HI>They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doth good, no not one;</HI> Thefore &s;eeing all do &s;in, they are bound to an|&s;wer the law (as you u&s;e to phra&s;e it,) and are &s;ub|ject to what&s;oever the Law pronounceth again&s;t the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors of it.</P>
<P N="3">3. All the <HI>partial</HI> keeping of the Law, will not de|liver a Soul from that penalty that belongs to the breach of the whole: Keep me all or none, as to your deliverance from the cur&s;e, &s;aith the law. But this I am further to prove, when I &s;peak to the next ver&s;e, The impo&s;&s;ibility of a &s;inners being accepted by his be&s;t keeping of the law.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. Are all Men and Women in the World, young and old, naturally under the law, <HI>bound over to the mo&s;t exact and rigorous fulfilling it under a cur&s;e,</HI> and are indeed under all the cur&s;es and threatnings it pronounceth, and bound to make God &s;atisfacti|on in your per&s;ons, while you are under it? Oh! let every poor Sinner be convinced of it, what a &s;tate is this for any poor &s;oul to re&s;t it &s;elf &s;atisfied in? who is the man or woman that is not a tran&s;gre&s;&s;or of it? and therefore &s;ee to it, and that before the exe|cution of judgment come upon thee without reme|dy. Sinner, if thou wa&s;t condemned by the Law, and under a &s;en&s;e of death, how would&s;t beg for a reprieve? and beg of all thy friends to interpo&s;e for thee; what an amazing word would it be to thee? <HI>Thou art condemned to dye.</HI> Ah &s;inner, 'tis the ca&s;e of thy precious &s;oul, Thou art condemn'd to eternal death, by the law of God, the &s;entence is pronounc'd from the righteous Judge of Heaven; Away Sinner,
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with all &s;peed to a <HI>Mercy &s;eat.</HI> Acknowledge thy condemation ju&s;t by the Law, go to the great and potent <HI>Advocate</HI> of Heaven, Je&s;us Chri&s;t the righte|ous; put thy ca&s;e into his hand, tell him thou ba&s;t none el&s;e to make to, and that thou ha&s;t heard he hath helped many a condemned Sinner, in the &s;ame ca&s;e as thou art; and that thou ha&s;t heard he hath laid down a price for &s;uch as thou art to redeem them from the cur&s;e of the Law: Follow him, and if he &s;peak but a word to the ju&s;t and great God for thee, the &s;entence of the law is remitted, a pardon of grace comes forth, and at la&s;t the Holy Gho&s;t &s;hall be &s;ent from the Father, and the Son to <HI>witne&s;s</HI> it, <HI>and &s;eal</HI> it in thy own Con&s;cience; and that ble&s;|&s;ed word &s;hall be thine, <HI>Therefore there is now no condemnation,</HI> &amp;c. who &s;hall condemn me, &s;ince Je|&s;us Chri&s;t hath cleared me? and hath made the Court of Heaven for me? Go and ponder in thy &s;oul every day; and &s;ay, Is't nothing to be under a Cur&s;e? condemned by a Law to be damned for ever? &s;hall I let my poor &s;oul lie in &s;uch a ca&s;e one hour longer, e&s;pecially when a way I hear is open'd to me to get from under it? Say, what &s;atisfaction can I, wretched creature, make to the righteous God? None, but by &s;uffering what infinite ju&s;tice will lay upon me, which is no le&s;s than infinite puni&s;hment. Oh! get in upon thy con&s;cience, what it is to be <HI>condemned</HI> by the great <HI>God,</HI> to lye under guilt, to have <HI>no plea</HI> or <HI>excu&s;e</HI> by the Law left thee; which I will labour to prove to thy con&s;cience, and then fur|ther urge thee, which is the import of the next point.</P>
<P>Ob&s;er. 2. <HI>A tran&s;gre&s;&s;or of the law, as he hath no|thing to boa&s;t in, &s;o he hath nothing to excu&s;e him&s;elf for
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his &s;in, or from the righteous judgment of God due unto him;</HI> which is drawn from the&s;e words &mdash;<HI>That every mouth may be &s;topped,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>This the Apo&s;tle intimates, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2.1. <HI>Therefore thou art inexcu&s;able, O man,</HI> &amp;c. &s;peaking to the <HI>Jew</HI> who went about to free him&s;elf. And <HI>the judgment of God is according to truth, again&s;t them which do &s;uch things,</HI> ver&s;e. 2.</P>
<P><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 1. A poor &s;inner hath nothing to excu&s;e him&s;elf for &s;inning again&s;t the law of God, <HI>becau&s;e the law is good and righteous,</HI> Rom. 7.12. <HI>Therefore the law is holy, and the Commandment holy, ju&s;t, and good,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Paul,</HI> when he was under &s;uch a Convicti|on of &s;inning again&s;t it as we are pre&s;&s;ing; So 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.8. <HI>But we know that the law is good,</HI> &amp;c. 'Tis a Law that gives glory to the Creator, and all good and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s (as in it &s;elf) to the Creature&punc; A Law that's full of all wi&s;dom and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, takes care for the good, ble&s;&s;ing, peace, order of the whole Creation, that man might not &s;in again&s;t his Maker, nor, in the lea&s;t, harm (nor think to do &s;o) his fellow creature, &s;o that its proper end is good|ne&s;s, pre&s;ervation to all; Now what excu&s;e for a creature, mo&s;t concern'd in the good of it, for &s;in|ning again&s;t &s;uch a Law? what hath a creature to &s;ay for him&s;elf? how inexcu&s;able is he before God, An|gels, and Men?</P>
<P N="2">2. God writ this holy and ble&s;&s;ed Law in the heart of <HI>Adam,</HI> as he was a publick per&s;on, whereby he, and in him all mankind, had <HI>power</HI> to keep it, there|fore the &s;inner hath no excu&s;e before God; He gave man a power, though he did not lay a nece&s;&s;ity upon his will, but left them to the liberty of it, but man corrupted him&s;elf, <HI>Gen.</HI> 6.12. Whereby he di&s;abled him&s;elf from keeping the Law: Now if a man di&s;|able
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him&s;elf, it can be no rational excu&s;e for neglect|ing the duty, &s;o that his Mouth is &s;topped as to any plea or excu&s;e before the Lord.</P>
<P N="3">3. Though man had blurred and defaced the fair and original Copy of this holy and good law writ|ten in his heart, yet God gave it forth again by <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> in Legible Characters, one end whereof was to leave all Mankind without excu&s;e; therefore this &s;trikes off all plea for the &s;inner, e&s;pecially to &s;uch to whom it is revealed.</P>
<P N="4">4. There is a remnant of this Law yet in the heart of <HI>Adam,</HI> which though not &s;ufficient to enable him to an exact performance of it, yet enough to leave him without excu&s;e; &s;o <HI>Paul, Rom.</HI> 2.15. to prove this point we are now upon, &s;peaking of the Gentiles, &mdash; <HI>Which &s;hew the works of the Law written in their hearts, their Con&s;cience al&s;o bearing witne&s;s, and their thoughts the mean while accu&s;ing, or el&s;e excu&s;ing one another.</HI> There is enough of the law remaining in every mans heart to accu&s;e him, when he doth evil; and excu&s;e him &s;o far as he doth right, though man by habitual &s;inning, doth much &s;tifle it; &s;o that this al&s;o helps to aggravate his &s;in, and to leave him without all plea or excu&s;e.</P>
<P N="5">5. There is that to be known of God, in the crea|tures, that may and doth leave a &s;inner without all excu&s;e for &s;inning again&s;t him; this the Apo&s;tle ar|gues as to this very purpo&s;e, <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.20. <HI>For the in|vi&s;ible things of him from the Creation of the World, are clearly &s;een, being under&s;tood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and god head, &s;o that they are without excu&s;e,</HI> &amp;c. The creatures could not &s;ay, we will make our &s;elves thus and thus, and &s;ub|&s;i&s;t in &s;uch an order and harmony; therefore there was one fir&s;t Infinite Being, who made all things, and
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by the &s;ame power doth uphold them, to which <HI>fir&s;t Being,</HI> all the creatures mu&s;t owe their homage and conformity: Now though &s;uch a glimmering of light can never &s;uffice to lead a &s;oul to the true wor&s;hipping of God, as the Apo&s;tle there argues, yet it leaves the creature without excu&s;e, which is that I am proving from it.</P>
<P N="6">6. All the Children of men do &s;in <HI>pre&s;umptuou&s;ly, wilfully,</HI> and <HI>ob&s;tinately,</HI> again&s;t the Law of God; mans &s;in being not &s;o much from his weakne&s;s to obey the law, (though weak he is) but from the re|bellion of his will again&s;t God and his law; as it is in the ca&s;e of di&s;obeying the call of the Go&s;pel al&s;o: Now what&s;oever a man doth pre&s;umptuou&s;ly and wilfully, it leaves him without all excu&s;e; and this is it that is charged upon the Children of men, by the holy Gho&s;t in the word, that their &s;in was ob&s;ti|nate rebellion again&s;t the great God.</P>
<P>From all the&s;e, the truth of the A&s;&s;ertion doth ap|pear, that every Tran&s;gre&s;&s;or of the Law is without all excu&s;e before God.</P>
<P N="7">7. As the Creature hath no excu&s;e for his &s;in, &s;o it follows he hath no pretence again&s;t the righteous judgment of God; <HI>We are &s;ure the judgment of God is according to truth,</HI> Rom. 2.2. and Chap. 3.4. That thou may'&s;t be ju&s;tified in thy &s;avings, and clear when thou art judged; that is, whatever any &s;in|ner may di&s;pute to the contrary, God is righteous when he judgeth; if the Law be ju&s;t, and holy, and good, once written in his his heart, and had a power to have kept it, that God hath given out this law again to him, the remnants of it in his heart, &s;o much to be known of God in the Creatures, and that he &s;ins pre&s;umptuou&s;ly and wilfully again&s;t God, and &s;o ble&s;&s;ed a law, made for his own good, certain|ly
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mu&s;t every &s;inner conclude, the Lord is righte|ous when he judgeth, and every mouth mu&s;t be &s;topped.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. If it be &s;o, that no &s;inner in the world hath any ju&s;tifiable excu&s;e for his &s;in, then let this truth come in into your con&s;ciences, and &s;trike off all vain pretences, and wretched excu&s;es, when you have &s;inned again&s;t the Lord; which u&s;ually are &s;uch as the&s;e, when &s;inners break forth into this or that rebellious way, they cry, Oh! 'tis my nature, my natural di&s;po&s;ition; and then they think that excu|&s;eth or allayeth the matter, whereas it aggravates, for we our &s;elves corrupted our natures. Saith a|nother, I have been &s;o accu&s;tomed to &s;uch a way, to drink to exce&s;s, &s;ometimes to &s;wear, to u&s;e the Lords name vainly, and as a by-word; whereas the cu&s;tom of &s;inning is the greate&s;t and mo&s;t grievous aggrava|tion of it. Saith another, 'tis my company that draws me, or the example of others, or 'tis my temp|tation, when they are under the Spirit that worketh in the children of di&s;obedience: Or, that they do keep the Law as well as they can, and think this will excu&s;e: Whereas nothing, no plea that ever a &s;inful deceitful heart put up, or that the Devil &s;ugge&s;ts, can before God excu&s;e any &s;inner in the world, rich or poor, knowing or ignorant, from the exact and perfect keeeping of the Law, (if they are under the Law) but upon one tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of it, the law doth mo&s;t ju&s;tly condemn and cur&s;e them.</P>
<P>Nothing is more natural to fallen man, under &s;in, than when having &s;inned, to devi&s;e an excu&s;e, and thinks and &s;urmi&s;eth, that becau&s;e &s;uch an excu&s;e will be taken by his own blinded Con&s;cience, there|fore God will al&s;o accept of it, and &s;o <HI>flatters him&s;elf
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in his own eyes, till his iniquity be found to be hateful,</HI> P&s;al. 36.2. Thus <HI>Adam</HI> as &s;oon as he had &s;inn'd, he thought how to excu&s;e the matter, puts it off to the woman, and the woman to the Devil, which trade &s;inners have well learnt, and have driven it on ever &s;ince to their own damnation: Ob&s;erve this, if every &s;in|ner, yet under the law, and the power of &s;in, had not &s;ome vain pretence and excu&s;e to en&s;ilence con&s;ci|ence, and fooli&s;hly thinks to in&s;inuate unto God, he or &s;he, mu&s;t needs fall down before the Lord, &s;ee all their pretences and coverts to be damnable flatte|ries, and &s;oul-cheatings, and &s;o <HI>Judge</HI> them&s;elves, and pronounce God mo&s;t righteous, if he damn them for ever.</P>
<P>Oh therefore, Sinners, Away with all your pre|tences, no more excu&s;ing, but judging, and go to the great God, and fall down at his feet, crying out, Oh, I am a Tran&s;gre&s;&s;or, the Law condemns me, no ex|cu&s;e will be taken, my mouth is now &s;topped; what|ever God do with me, he is mo&s;t holy and righteous. If I were going to Hell I mu&s;t ju&s;tifie God, and can|not &s;ay unto him, why doe&s;t thou thus? Thus 'tis with a poor &s;oul, when the Lord by his word and &s;pirit di&s;covers &s;in, reveals the law, lays it in upon the con&s;cience, di&s;covers the Holine&s;s and Ex|actne&s;s of his Ju&s;tice, that the law &s;hews no mer|cy, but crys out for fulfilling, or pronounceth ab|&s;olute condemnation, then I &s;ay, a &s;inner crys out, Oh I am ca&s;t by the Law, I am gone by the Law, All my Pleas are found too light, All my endeavours to keep it is worth nothing, if guilty in the lea&s;t, while I am under the law. I mu&s;t find out a righte|ou&s;ne&s;s el&s;ewhere, another way, or Condemna|tion, ju&s;t condemnation is my portion for ever; Here's the fir&s;t &s;troak of a convinced &s;inner, when
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<HI>God</HI> is outing him from him&s;elf, and all his Co|verts or Excu&s;es, and brings him naked to put on the righteou&s;ne&s;s of his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, freely held out in the Go&s;pel; which is the work in hand.</P>
<P N="2">2. If no excu&s;e can be heard or taken, for the the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of the Law, for but one breach of it, but every mouth is &s;topped; how much le&s;s will a|ny excu&s;e be taken, for with&s;tanding the Go&s;pel of grace by Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Saith our ble&s;&s;ed Lord, <HI>If I had not come and &s;poken unto them, they had not had &s;in,</HI> (that is not &s;o great &s;in and comdemnation) <HI>but now they have no cloak</HI> (nor excu&s;e) <HI>for their &s;in;</HI> If a righ|teous law leave all the world without excu&s;e, much more a Go&s;pel that offers free grace, and pardon, and righteou&s;ne&s;s, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t to any &s;inner, condem|ned by the Law, that will come in, as &s;o condemn'd, and accept of the free gift of Righteou&s;ne&s;s by him.</P>
<P>But that I may yet a little further labour to bring in the &s;en&s;e of Guilt upon the &s;oul, I &s;hall prove eve|ry &s;oul <HI>guilty before God</HI> of the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of the Law, and &s;hew what the &s;en&s;e of guilt is, which few there are that have, in a &s;aving way.</P>
<P>Ob&s;erv. 3. <HI>Every &s;oul in the world is guilty before God of the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of the Law.</HI> &mdash; And all the world may become guilty before God.</P>
<P>This hath been proved, where we have &s;hew'd that <HI>All have &s;inned, and come &s;hort of the glory of God.</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>guilt</HI> is threefold, which is &s;et home upon every &s;inners heart, when convinc'd of &s;in by the &s;pirit.</P>
<P N="1">1. The <HI>guilt</HI> of <HI>Adams</HI> &s;in, which &s;tands charg'd upon every &s;inner in the world, while under the law, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.18.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="63" REF="33">2. The guilt of the <HI>corruption of our natures,</HI> &s;in in the fountain, as I have &s;hewed, which is likewi&s;e up|on every Son or Daughter of <HI>Adam, they are all cor|rupt,</HI> P&s;al. 14.1. wherein lies the exceeding &s;infulne&s;s of &s;in.</P>
<P N="3">3. The guilt of <HI>actual rebellion</HI> again&s;t God, &s;in brought forth, and acted in the outward man again&s;t God.</P>
<P>Now under this threefold guilt is every &s;inner in the world, while under the Law, the effect of which, if not reconciled, is puni&s;hment &s;uitable to the guilt; which is &mdash; Thou &s;halt &s;urely dye, And <HI>The wages of &s;in is death,</HI> Eternal Death, <HI>Rom.</HI> 6. <HI>la&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. This may therefore <HI>inform</HI> and <HI>convince,</HI> that every &s;in brings <HI>guilt</HI> upon the &s;oul, and &s;o de&s;erves death and everla&s;ting wrath from God; you that make light of &s;in, to lye, to prophane the Name of the Lord, be in worldly di&s;cour&s;es on the Lords day, in any way of &s;in what&s;oever, weigh this in thy con&s;cience, there's not the lea&s;t &s;in but makes thee <HI>guilty</HI> before the Tribunal of God; God, the Law, Angels, Con&s;cience, are all witne&s;&s;es again&s;t thee; where's the &s;oul that will think to avoid this charge? &s;hall I prove every &s;oul of you guilty, and that before God? If this were proved by the power of the word in the con&s;cience, I know what (and I &s;hall &s;hew it you) will be the effect of it; lay your Con&s;ciences to the Word, and if thou art found <HI>guilty</HI> before the Lord this day, go home with the &s;en&s;e of it upon thy &s;oul, and do as a <HI>guilty</HI> &s;inner &s;hould do.</P>
<P N="1">1. Con&s;ider fir&s;t, as to what concerns God, im|mediately; the Law requires, thou &s;hould&s;t have
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no other Gods but him, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20. which Je&s;us Chri&s;t interprets, is, to love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, with all thy Soul: Now, hath God had thy whole Heart and Soul, dare&s;t thou &s;ay &s;o? Hath not the world had more of thy Heart than God? Do&s;t not thou love the World, and the things of it? Do not thy Affections, Thoughts, De&s;ires of thy Heart, even day and night, go after it? Yea, you cannot but grant, that 'tis &s;o? Then God and An|gels are witne&s;s, that thou art guilty of the damna|ble &s;in of Idolatry. And &s;uch a one &s;hall not, as &s;uch, enter into the Kingdom of God, <HI>Eph.</HI> 5.5. Know by that Scripture, A covetous heart may &s;end thee to Hell, as well as any &s;in in the World: &mdash; <HI>No Covetous man who is an Idolater, &s;hall enter into the kingdom of God.</HI> Read over the place every day, and tremble at it: Here's guilt already enough to damn thee.</P>
<P N="2">2. Thou ha&s;t wor&s;hipped God &s;uper&s;titiou&s;ly and idolatrou&s;ly, after the <HI>Traditions</HI> and <HI>Commandments</HI> of Men: You that are elderly people, are all guilty here in a grevious manner in the time of your igno|rance and &s;uper&s;tition, coming to Sacraments with &s;ins upon your Souls, from which &s;ins your are not converted, and changed to this day, which the Apo&s;tle calls <HI>eating and drinking damnation,</HI> or judg|ment; under which guilt you &s;till lye, and would heap up more of this guilt, were not &s;ome more tender of your Souls than your &s;elves? Art thou not now ready to cry out, Oh hold, hold, you need go no further, my Con&s;cience is &s;mitten: Oh! guilt, great guilt lyes upon me! Oh that 'twere the cry of ma|ny Souls before the Lord, how might it end in mer|cy that &s;hall be for ever!</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="49" REF="34">3. But yet further to pur&s;ue thy Con&s;cience, (for that's the nature of guilt) doth not the Lord require in his law, that thou <HI>&s;hould&s;t not take his Name in vain, Exod.</HI> 20.7. Now &s;inner, &s;tave off this guilt if thou can&s;t: How oft ha&s;t thou abu&s;ed and profaned this great and dreadful Name, the Lord thy God, by &s;wearing, or in thy by words, crying, <HI>Oh Lord, Oh God, for God's &s;ake, for Chri&s;t's &s;ake,</HI> upon every fooli&s;h vain occa&s;ion, with no more reverence of His Name, than the mo&s;t common name in the World? And &s;ome of you have, as many days as you have lived &s;ince your Child-hood, been frequently guilty of this great evil, which thou ha&s;t made a &s;mall matter of, which if ever God pardon it, it will appear to be odious guilt, from the height of thy Heart-Athei&s;m. How oft ha&s;t thou heard the Word, and thy Heart been after the World, and thine eyes gazing up and down, that 'tis ea&s;ie to di&s;cern thou regarde&s;t not what is &s;poken from God to thee? and the &s;ame in Prayer: How oft ha&s;t thou babled over the Lords Prayer like a Charm, with no reverence of Gods Maje&s;ty upon thy Soul: In thy bed, it may be in a drow&s;ie manner, or if otherwi&s;e, not under|&s;tanding the Words thou &s;peake&s;t, much le&s;s thy Heart affected with them; or, it may be, &s;aying over the Creed, and the Commandments, or &s;ome Book of Prayers, as abundance do, grievou&s;ly prophaning God's Name, and offering Lip-labour, which his &s;oul abhorreth; yea, know, what hath been often proved, that thy prayers, and all thy wor&s;hip, and good deeds, (as thou calle&s;t them) are an <HI>abomination</HI> to the Lord, while thou art in thy &s;in, an unconver|ted and unholy per&s;on; yea, the way of thy wor&s;hip, in which thou place&s;t thy greate&s;t confidence, hath been the highe&s;t aggravations of thy &s;in, in offering
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up to God that which his &s;oul hateth; <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.11, 12, 13, 14, 15. &mdash; <HI>When you make many prayers</HI> (&s;aith the Lord) I will not hear you, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>And as to the &s;anctifying the Sabbath, which thou &s;hould&s;t make a <HI>holy</HI> re&s;t unto God, thou ha&s;t made it a meer <HI>fle&s;hly</HI> re&s;t, con&s;uming the day upon thy lu&s;ts, in vanity, idlene&s;s, carnal and worldly di&s;|cour&s;es in families, in the &s;treets, to the high di&s;honour of the Name of God, and hardening of thy heart again&s;t the truths of God, rendering thereby the preaching of the Go&s;pel wholly unpro|fitable to thy &s;oul: A carriage far unlike a man that hath the grace of God upon him, and a mo&s;t invinci|ble argument to thy Con&s;cience, that thou make&s;t not God, his word, ordinances &s;abbaths, a holy de|light, and knowe&s;t not the excellency and &s;weetne&s;s of Communion with him; &s;ay, &s;inner, and lay thy Con&s;cience to this conviction, is hearing and that with love, praying, prai&s;ing, meditating, conferring of holy things, the very Heaven of thy &s;oul, and &s;o longe&s;t for &s;uch Exerci&s;es, as the joy and &s;trength of thy heart? Nothing le&s;s! Thy own Con&s;cience being Judge; but hear drow&s;ily and negligently, it may be de&s;pi&s;ingly; revile the Preacher, &s;peak evil of the word, out of thy gro&s;s ignorance, and ha|tred to be reformed, &s;peak vainly, carnally, worldly, with &s;uch as are like thy &s;elf. Here's guilt enough to &s;end thee to a thou&s;and Hells, if <HI>God</HI> &s;mite not thy heart for it, and thou turn not unto him for par|don and a better heart to be given to thee.</P>
<P>Add to all this, an unthankful and unholy u&s;e of <HI>Gods</HI> good Creatures; it may be thou ha&s;t been be|tray'd by the devil, and thy own ready heart to &s;ome &s;ecret &s;ins, which thou thinke&s;t enough if thou can&s;t hide from man, not con&s;idering the judgment of
<PB N="67" REF="35">
<HI>God</HI> that hangs over thee. But if not &s;o, yet a heart full of uncleanne&s;s, envy, wrath, malice; which our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in his opening the Law in its &s;pirituali|ty, <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.21, 22, 27, 28. convinceth to be mur|der and adultery, which it may be, thou ha&s;t ne|ver con&s;idered of, &s;o thou ha&s;t not been an actual adulterer, or murderer. In a word, There's not a vain thought in thy heart, the fir&s;t ri&s;ing of it, but brings thee under the guilt of condemation of the Law, and as thou art under the Law, as if a tran&s;|gre&s;&s;or in thought, word, and deed of the whole Law; This may &s;eem &s;trange to thee, but &s;ee it proved, <HI>Jam.</HI> 2.10. <HI>For who&s;oever &s;hall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point is guilty of all.</HI></P>
<P>But it hath been proved that thou art <HI>guilty</HI> of the breach of every Commandment of God, from thy youth up.</P>
<P>But &s;ee further, &s;inner, (that &s;ome word of God or other may hit thee) this Law could not condemn thee; would&s;t thou have been convinc'd of guilt, and made in to grace by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, but thou art un|der the guilt of Go&s;pel-contempt; Come &s;inner, &s;aith Je&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;ee what I can and will do for thee, I'll &s;ave thee from this condemning Law, I'll take away the cur&s;e, I'll remove all thy guilt, blot out all the charge that is again&s;t thee, I'll put a righteou&s;ne&s;s upon thee, I'll be&s;tow my &s;pirit upon thee, I'll give thee a heart to love God and his Law, and in the inward man to delight to walk in it, and then take thee to Heaven, and fill thee with glory for ever. All this Heaven of mercy and free grace thou ha&s;t &s;leighted and &s;inned again&s;t, and brought thy &s;elf under greater condemnation, than by the law: And yet, by the way, Je&s;us Chri&s;t will do as much for thee &s;till as I have &s;poken of, and more:
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Though thou ha&s;t thus &s;inned again&s;t Law and Go|&s;pel, if thou wilt come a poor, undone, guilty &s;oul, un|to him, which is that I aim at in thus pre&s;&s;ing upon thee; and were the &s;en&s;e of guilt indeed upon thy &s;oul, thou would&s;t &s;eriou&s;ly hearken to me.</P>
<P>Therefore yet further bear with me, Take home this guilt to thy Con&s;cience, and &s;ay, Oh <HI>guilty, guilty,</HI> of all that hath been this day charged from the righteous God upon me! Oh may the Lord find thee out this day, and lay in the fre&s;h &s;en&s;e of the guilt of &s;ins, even of &s;uch thou ha&s;t long &s;ince com|mitted! do not <HI>ju&s;tifie</HI> nor <HI>excu&s;e</HI> thy &s;elf any lon|ger; for that's the natural way of thy heart, as thou ha&s;t been &s;hewed. Never did guilty pri&s;oner at the bar find more &s;hifts, more &s;ubtle pleas, than the proud and &s;hamele&s;s heart of a &s;inner will do, till God him&s;elf pronounce guilt in the con&s;cience, and then the guilt of one &s;in laid in, brings in the guilt of all other, and they &s;ometimes come in like waves and billows upon thy &s;oul; Oh, let the &s;en&s;e of thy lying, &s;wearing, prophaning the Sabbath, &s;lighting the word, refu&s;ing Je&s;us Chri&s;t, out of thy &s;ecret hatred of holine&s;s, reproaching the people of God, becau&s;e in their practice they condemn thee, Oh let this, any, all, &s;eize upon thee, go and lye low before the great God, judging, charging, condemning thy &s;elf, and &s;ay; God and his Word hath found me out this day, and I go home with at arrow of God in my con&s;cience, I am the Man or Woman, that am found the guiltie&s;t &s;oul in the Congregation; how to be delivered and &s;aved from it, that's my bu&s;ine&s;s now. Ble&s;&s;ed be the advice and coun&s;el now, (which formerly I de&s;pi&s;ed) of any good man that &s;peaks in the Name of the Lord unto me, and will &s;how me there is yet hope for &s;o wretched a creature as I am.</P>
<P><PB N="53" REF="36">Particularly, the&s;e are the effects of the &s;en&s;e of the guilt of &s;in, wrought by the Holy Gho&s;t upon the con&s;cience of a poor &s;oul, in order to his &s;alvation.</P>
<P N="1">1. Fear of wrath to come, more or le&s;s, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth the heart; can a man be guilty and not fear, if truly &s;en&s;ible of it? This was upon <HI>Adam,</HI> after he had &s;inned, and heard Gods voice, which &s;truck him with &s;en&s;e of guilt, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.10. <HI>I heard thy voice and was afraid;</HI> &s;o when guilt came upon <HI>Bel&s;hazzar, his thoughts troubled him,</HI> Dan. 5.6. <HI>Felix</HI> trembled, <HI>Acts</HI> 24.25. The <HI>Jaylor</HI> came <HI>trembling,</HI> Acts 16.29. The fear of wrath, the fear of a mi&s;carrying &s;oul, the fear of eternity, &s;eizeth upon the &s;pirit of a poor crea|ture; and then 'tis an infinite weighty matter with a poor &s;oul to be &s;aved.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Shame</HI> is another effect of <HI>guilt</HI> brought in up|on the con&s;cience: So <HI>Adam</HI> likewe&s;e was a&s;hamed, and <HI>hid him&s;elf,</HI> becau&s;e he <HI>was naked,</HI> Gen. 3. <HI>What fruit had you in tho&s;e things whereof you are now a&s;hamed;</HI> Rom. 6.21. <HI>So</HI> Ezek. 16. <HI>la&s;t. That thou maye&s;t remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, becau&s;e of thy &s;hame, when I am paci|fied towards thee, for all that thou ha&s;t done, &s;aith the Lord;</HI> See al&s;o <HI>Ezek.</HI> 43.10, 11. Oh how is a &s;en&s;ible guilty &s;oul a&s;hamed before God, Angels and men, of &s;uch ways and carriages, in which he im|pudently before delighted him&s;elf? and lies down in his &s;hame and confu&s;ion of face, even covering his face before God, and a&s;hamed to look up unto him.</P>
<P N="3">3. The &s;oul walks up and down with a <HI>burthened</HI> &s;pirit, tho&s;e creature-comforts, delights, content|ments, which before would &s;till the &s;pirit, now will not; &s;en&s;e of guilt eats out the hearts of them, the &s;oul mu&s;t now have &s;omething el&s;e than wind and
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vanity, (for &s;o are creatures become to &s;uch a poor &s;oul:) It may be the deceitful heart carries a poor creature to this thing and that, but finds no &s;atis|faction there, the burden &s;till remains, the arrow that God hath &s;hot &s;ticks fa&s;t, till Je&s;us Chri&s;t pluck it forth, and heals all with his Blood and Spi|rit.</P>
<P N="4">4. Guilty &s;ouls make out for deliverence, &s;ue to Heaven, are enquiring how the law may be &s;atisfied, how guilt may be removed, how attonement may be had, how bondage taken off; in a word, how he may come to &s;ee the face of a ble&s;&s;ed <HI>God,</HI> reconciled in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and &s;o love him, and ble&s;s him to e|ternity.</P>
<P>Why now, carele&s;s &s;inner, Is't not better be thus, than be hardening for Hell? and have the guilt of &s;in as nothing to thee, till the books &s;hall be opened? all thy &s;ins written in Letters of Blood again&s;t thee, Con&s;cience accu&s;ed, charged, and witne&s;&s;ing again&s;t thee, and &s;o away &s;creeking to Hell without all re|medy, and can&s;t not be heard a word for thy &s;elf, nor any one, Saint, or Angel for thee? Now thou may&s;t be heard, if thou wilt &s;peedily acknowledge thy guilt, not <HI>cover thy tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion</HI> nor <HI>hide thy iniqui|ty in thy bo&s;om,</HI> Job 31.33. but come with fear, and &s;hame, burthen'd with thy guilt, to him who&s;e arms are yet open to receive thee, and is ready to take a|way iniquity off thee, and take off thy burthens, put his hand under thy &s;oul: And if thou would&s;t know who it is, 'tis that ble&s;&s;ed Je&s;us who loves to &s;ave &s;uch a &s;inner, as he loves his life; therefore away to him.</P>
<P>But the heart of a guilty &s;inner will now urge; Well, if it be &s;o, that &s;ome guilt is upon me, yet I have done many things well, or as well I could,
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will not that take off my guilt, and will not <HI>God</HI> im|pute the good to me, and pa&s;s by the evil? Or will not <HI>God</HI> acept of the will for the deed? Or if I &s;et my &s;elf for the time to come, to keep the law as well as I can, will not that make <HI>God</HI> amends? Alas, poor &s;oul, the&s;e refuges will undo thee, if thou get not out of them; No, No; Thy good &s;hall not be im|puted, nor thy will accepted, nor thy obedience for time to come &s;atisfie; I mean, &s;till as thou art under the law, <HI>As well as thou can&s;t,</HI> will not be heard here; If thou indeed gets ju&s;tified in Chri&s;t, and rooted in him, and &s;o from a new principle of life in thy &s;oul, thou bring forth new and holy obedience, then thy will is accepted, and thy new obedience, but not upon this account, as to ju&s;tifie thee before <HI>God;</HI> or as to expiate and take off guilt from the &s;oul.</P>
<P>This therefore is the next thing I am to prove to thy Con&s;cience, if <HI>God</HI> will, Namely,</P>
<P>Ob&s;erv. 4. <HI>No man or woman under Heaven, can ever arrive at &s;uch a keeping of the law, as to be accepted with God, for and by &s;uch a keeping of it.</HI></P>
<P>I would pre&s;s this as plainly as I may, for till this conviction be thoroughly and practically received into the Con&s;cience, a &s;oul cannot make a &s;aving clo&s;e with Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>What I mean by the&s;e deeds of the Law, is, I pre|&s;ume, under&s;tood; I mean, The profe&s;&s;ed owning the true God, and frequenting his ordained wor&s;hip and ordinances, ob&s;erving the Sabbath, making good prayers, doing &s;ome good, as to helping thy Neigh|bour, and giving of Alms, making con&s;cience of wronging or defrauding any man, and refraining many gro&s;s &s;ins; I mention the&s;e things, becau&s;e mo&s;t
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men that go thus far, as your more civil &s;ort of people, think that it is impo&s;&s;ible, but God mu&s;t ac|cept them in and for all this; that 'tis for great &s;in|ners to be damned, they thank God they are not &s;o; by the way, &s;oul, I &s;hall not doubt to prove, that there's more hope of the vile&s;t drunkard in the Country, than of &s;uch a one; and that this thy good keeping of the law, and that as well as thou can&s;t, will &s;tand thee in no &s;tead at all; and God looks upon thee no more for it, than if thou wert the greate&s;t &s;inner in the world; How &s;aye&s;t thou &s;oul to this?</P>
<P N="1">1. From clear Scriptures I &s;hall demon&s;trate it, and Scriptural rea&s;ons, and examples of &s;uch kind of per&s;ons rejected of God, and &s;o labour to drive this nail home upon thy con&s;cience.</P>
<P>What need we go further than the words of my Text; <HI>By the deeds of the law &s;hall no fle&s;h be ju&s;tified in his &s;ight?</HI> The Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of &s;uch who pro|fe&s;&s;ed to own and make con&s;cience of keeping the law, as well as they could, &s;uch as were within (as you call it) the pale of the Church, and frequented the wor&s;hip of God, and were &s;ober people: See Act. 13.39; &mdash; <HI>From which</HI> (meaning their &s;ins) <HI>they could not be ju&s;tified by the Law of</HI> Mo&s;es: They <HI>could</HI> not! an utter impo&s;&s;ibility of it, though they kept the law of God as well as they were able, and hoped for pardon thereby, yet &s;aith <HI>Paul</HI> (which exceed|ingly troubled them) they could not be <HI>ju&s;tified</HI> thereby; Rom. 9.31. <HI>But</HI> I&s;rael <HI>which followed after the law of righteou&s;ne&s;s, hath not attained to the law of righteou&s;ne&s;s;</HI> Though they followed after it, and laboured to keep the Law of God to their utmo&s;t yet they fail'd of their purpo&s;e, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.10, 11. &amp;c, <HI>For as ma|ny as are of the works of the Law, are under the cur&s;e,</HI> that is, &s;uch as in&s;i&s;t upon works of the Law, they are &s;o far
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from being the more accepted for all the good they did, and all the evil they refrained, that they were under the cur&s;e, as well as any &s;inners in the world be&s;ides.</P>
<P>Briefly, <HI>Paul</HI> who well knew the experience of this, it having been his own ca&s;e, as I &s;hall &s;hew, &s;pends two Epi&s;tles, of the <HI>Romans</HI> and <HI>Galathians,</HI> to con|vince chiefly what I am now upon; therefore peru&s;e them over and over.</P>
<P>Now the Rea&s;ons of it are the&s;e, namely, why a|ny &s;inners keeping of the Law to his be&s;t power, can not ju&s;tifie him, or make him the better, or at all accepted with God for it.</P>
<P><Q>This doctrine goes to the quick, and I know naturally you do not love it, and 'tis irk&s;om, and di&s;quieting;</Q> the Lord make it di&s;quieting and un&s;ettling to purpo&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 1. The be&s;t keeping of the Law cannot make a &s;oul more accepted with God, (while under the Law, and not in Chri&s;t) <HI>becau&s;e of the holine&s;s of Gods Ju&s;tice,</HI> which being violated by &s;in, (it being al&s;o proved that <HI>all</HI> do &s;in) cannot again be made up by any act of the Creature, the &s;everity of his ju&s;tice cannot admit of it, therefore if the Law be tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ed, the &s;inner mu&s;t dye, as he is under the law, and &s;tands to the law, or God is not righteous, which to a&s;&s;ert is execrable bla&s;phemy. And if your thoughts &s;hould prevent me, with a general notion of mercy, know, and con&s;ider it well, that the law &s;hews no mercy, but calls for ju&s;tice, and ju&s;tice it &s;hall have upon every tran&s;gre&s;&s;or who&s;oever, if he <HI>&s;tand</HI> to his endeavour to keep the Law; <HI>The &s;oul that &s;inneth, it &s;hall dye.</HI> From whence, by the law, I &s;ay, by the law, there's no appeal: What you may do when you renounce the Law, for righteou&s;nes, and fly
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wholly to a mercy-&s;eat, is another ca&s;e. This is the fir&s;t rea&s;on.</P>
<P N="2">2. The be&s;t keeping of the Law will not accepted, <HI>becau&s;e of the exactne&s;s of the Law;</HI> it requires <HI>full, en|tire, perfect</HI> fulfilling and obedience, or all &s;tands for nothing; If this were throughly weighed and laid to heart, we &s;hould come to an i&s;&s;ue in the point. Mark that Word, Gal. 3.12. <HI>Cur&s;ed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the law to do them:</HI> I think I opened this place lately, but mark it well; the Law requires of every one, and therefore of thee, whoever thou art, a <HI>continu|ance</HI> (without intermi&s;&s;ion) of <HI>doing</HI> (not only pur|po&s;ing and endeavouring) <HI>All things,</HI> not keeping nine, and breaking one Commandment; not keeping it outwardly, and breaking it in thy <HI>thoughts</HI> of &s;in, but in <HI>All things,</HI> or <HI>Cur&s;ed,</HI> without remedy, by the law, the Law can give you no remedy; &s;ee Rom. 10.5. <HI>For</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>de&s;cribeth the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the law; The man that doth the&s;e things &s;hall live by them;</HI> If he <HI>doth</HI> all things of the Law, not purpo&s;eth them only, but doth them, he &s;hall <HI>live</HI> by them, but not otherwi&s;e, but &s;hall dye, and that for ever, by the law: Now mark you, The &s;ame Law can't at once ju&s;tifie and condemn, ble&s;s and cur&s;e, quit and judge, &s;ave and condemn, if it therefore condemn in the lea&s;t, it cannot quit by all that ever a &s;oul hath done, or may do, towards fufilling it. I in&s;tanced before, if a man that lives under the law of <HI>England,</HI> all the laws of it, and he be found a tran&s;gre&s;&s;or of one law, that is to be puni&s;hed with death; it will not be a good plea for him that he never brake any other law that de&s;erves death: No, &s;aith the Judge, you mu&s;t dye for this; &s;o as I have &s;hew'd, the law pronounceth death to the breach of any <HI>one</HI> Com|mandment,
<PB N="75" REF="39">
any part of one, as well as to the breach of the whole. Therefore he that pleads, as the Phari|&s;ee did, (and was never the more accepted,) that he is no murtherer, no bla&s;phemer, no thief, no adul|terer; 'tis all one, as if thou ha&s;t ever had an unholy thought in thy heart, (as thou ha&s;t had thou&s;ands) as thou art under the Law, thou art condemned; if this indeed had been the tenour of the law, as it was a Covenant between God and the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> that if thou and thy po&s;terity &s;hall <HI>endeavour</HI> to keep the law as well as you can, though you &s;ail in &s;ome part, yet you &s;hall be accepted; then this had been a good plea before God, that you have &s;o endeavour'd to keep it; but 'tis not &s;o, the Covenant doth not run &s;o, but, as hath been &s;hewed, it runs thus; Here's a ho|ly and righteous law, &s;aith God, the matter of the Covenant between us, if you break it in any one lea&s;t part of it, and but once, you are condemn'd, and all your other righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall not be imputed to you. This hath been proved from &s;everal Scriptures; and I think 'tis the harde&s;t thing in the World to be &s;piritually and practically convinced of it; &s;uch is the exactne&s;s of the Law, that it admits of no bar|tering, of no terms what&s;oever; it &s;till crys, fulfill me to the utmo&s;t, or dye.</P>
<P N="3">3. The third Rea&s;on, which &s;trikes off all hope of acceptance with God, by keeping the Law as well as you can, is taken <HI>from the &s;infulne&s;s of tho&s;e very duties and works which you place &s;uch acceptance in;</HI> There is a &s;infulne&s;s in every &s;uch duty, though the matter of the duty be good, yet the manner of per|forming it by any natural man is wholly &s;inful; yea, there's a mixture of &s;in in the mo&s;t holy performan|ces of any regenerate &s;oul in the world, which he is &s;en&s;ible of; but I am dealing with the natural man,
<PB N="60" REF="40">
as to his opinion of his good keeping the law; I &s;ay there's nothing but &s;in in their performances, the principle they proceed from is wholly &s;inful, <HI>viz.</HI> a corrupted, polluted heart and nature: Can a cor|rupt tree bring forth good fruit? <HI>Mat.</HI> 7.18. Can a corrupt fountain &s;end forth &s;weet waters? <HI>James</HI> 3.11. No more can a corrupt defiled heart bring forth any duty or work, but what is loath&s;ome to God, full of all impurity: This a natural man is not able to &s;ee, nor con&s;ider of, till convinc'd by the Holy Gho&s;t, and therefore 'tis that he re&s;ts only in performing the matters and bulk of duties to God and his Neighbour; but with what heart, and the unholine&s;s of it, he weighs not. Upon this account it is, that the Scriptures &s;peak at &s;uch a rate of natural Men, that they are an <HI>abomination</HI> to the Lord, <HI>Prov.</HI> 15.8. That his <HI>&s;oul hates them,</HI> he <HI>cannot away with them, they are iniquity, they are a trouble to him,</HI> I&s;a. 1. And that he ca&s;ts them back, <HI>as dung upon their faces,</HI> Mal. 2.3. Therefore if there be more than &s;in enough, in that be&s;t keeping of the Law, towards God or Man, to damn a &s;oul for ever; Certainly a &s;oul &s;hall be never the better, nor at all accepted for &s;uch a keeping of it. That which in it &s;elf hath &s;in, nothing but &s;in in the manner of it, cannot be a means to quit a &s;oul from other &s;in, by which he hath brought guilt upon him&s;elf, let this be well con&s;idered, and (nothing but a Chri&s;t) would be your cry to purpo&s;e indeed.</P>
<P N="4">4. The fourth Rea&s;on or Convincement of this truth, that the be&s;t endeavour to keep the law, will not give you more acceptance with God, nor take away any guilt from off thy &s;oul, is becau&s;e <HI>&s;uch du|ties, and keeping the</HI> Law, <HI>are but of the outward man,</HI> which is far from reaching the Compa&s;s of the
<PB N="61" REF="40">
law: <HI>The law is &s;piritual,</HI> Rom. 7.14. that is, it reacheth to the inwards parts, to the motions of the heart, as hath been before hinted, and not only to the outward man; therefore our ble&s;&s;ed Lord, &s;ee|ing the <HI>Jews</HI> in&s;i&s;ting &s;o much that they were out|wardly blamele&s;s, &s;pends a large di&s;cour&s;e <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.6, <HI>&amp;</HI> 7. to beat them off their confidence, in being outwardly righteous, and proves a man a murderer by the Law, for one wrathful thought in his heart, <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.21, 22. Upon this conviction you have him, as oft as he &s;pake to the <HI>Jews,</HI> (that we may &s;ee the weight of this Doctrine:) See Luke 16.19, 15. <HI>And the Phari&s;ees al&s;o, who were covetuous, heard all the&s;e things, and they derided him, And he &s;aid unto them, ye are they which ju&s;tifie your &s;elves before men, but God knoweth your hearts, for that which is highly e&s;teemed among&s;t men is an abomination in the &s;ight of God;</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t was convincing the wickedne&s;s of a covet|ous heart, the <HI>Jews,</HI> who were carnal and formal, made a &s;light matter of this, &s;eeing they were out|wardly blamele&s;s, and wronged no body; Ay, but, &s;aith Chri&s;t, <HI>God knoweth your hearts,</HI> and his eye is mo&s;t upon them, and though you are outwardly righteous before men, and this is a matter highly e&s;teemed of among men, that you are righteous and blamele&s;s, yet 'tis an abomination to God; &s;ee how &s;evere the Lord is in pre&s;&s;ing of this, (it being the great let of his Mini&s;tery, and of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;tumbling at the Go&s;pel, as it is with us) <HI>Mat.</HI> 23. his la&s;t Sermon I conceive he preacht to them, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 25. <HI>Woe unto you Scribes and Phari&s;ees, Hypocrites, for ye make clean the out&s;ide of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortion and exce&s;s;</HI> &s;o with the &s;ame woe pronounced <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 27. <HI>Ye are like unto whited &s;e|pulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but
<PB N="79" REF="41">
are within full of dead mens bones, and of all uncleanne&s;s;</HI> ver&s;e 28. <HI>Even &s;o al&s;o ye outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of Hypocri&s;ie, and iniqui|ty:</HI> Mark the Lords words, <HI>within</HI> ye are thus, and thus, as if the Lord &s;hould &s;ay, God regards not what you are <HI>outwardly,</HI> and your ob&s;erving the law with the <HI>outward</HI> man; &s;eeing you have abundance of all iniquity <HI>within,</HI> which every unregenerate &s;oul in the world hath; &s;o you may &s;ee that an <HI>outward</HI> keep|ing of the law, &s;tands for nothing in the account of God, whatever it do with men and your &s;elves which you hear Je&s;us Chri&s;t gives forth, as the mark of an <HI>Hypocrite.</HI> Now you have heard, the law re|quires inward as well as outward perfection, perfect holine&s;s <HI>within,</HI> as well as righteou&s;ne&s;s in the outward man; I verily believe, want of this convicti|on upon the &s;oul, &s;ends more &s;ouls to Hell than any other thing in the world be&s;ides; how confident are poor Creatures if they are a little con&s;ciencious in dealing, and &s;ober, and blamele&s;s to men? this you may be, and be no better than Devils (as in your &s;elves) in Gods account, and thy be&s;t Character from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Mat.</HI> 23.26. is, a <HI>Blind Phari&s;ee.</HI> Every place, I fear, abounds with them, therefore this inveterate cur&s;ed plea of being outwardly blamele&s;s in keeping the Law, will not in the lea&s;t render you more accepted with God, but 'tis at the be&s;t but painted Hypocri&s;ie: And yet, wretched &s;ouls that you are, none &s;o well per&s;waded of them&s;elves as the&s;e. This is the fourth Rea&s;on.</P>
<P N="5">5. All the be&s;t keeping of the Law, <HI>doth not, can|not, make &s;atisfaction to God for one &s;in of thy &s;oul,</HI> therefore 'tis worth nothing; Gods Ju&s;tice is wrong|ed, and if the &s;inner be remitted, God mu&s;t be &s;a|tisfied by the &s;inner him&s;elf, or by another; Now all
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the obedience of a &s;inner cannot make &s;atisfaction to God in the lea&s;t; if he had the whole world to offer up to God, it could not &s;atisfie him for the wrong of one Sin; See that known place, <HI>Micah</HI> 6.6, 7. <HI>Wherewith &s;hall I come before the Lord, and bow my &s;elf before the high God? &s;hall I come before him with burnt offerings, with Calves of a year old? will the Lord be plea&s;ed with thou&s;ands of Rams, or with ten thou|&s;ands of Rivers of Oyl? &s;hall I give my fir&s;t born for my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, the fruit of my body for the &s;in of my &s;oul?</HI> Implying that there is nothing that a poor &s;inner of him&s;elf can offer up to God, to make atonement of &s;atisfaction to God, for the lea&s;t &s;in of his &s;oul; &s;hould he offer up thou&s;ands of prayers, rivers of tears, whole ages &s;pent in &s;ervices to God, take up to a &s;e|vere new obedience, if you &s;hould &s;o take to a new cour&s;e as never to &s;in more all your days, it would not make God &s;atisfaction or atonement for one evil thought of thy &s;oul: Now ob&s;erve this, (for if thou art not rightly convinced of this thing, thou art lo&s;t for ever) 'Tis naturally upon every man and womans heart, that hath &s;inned, to imagine that when they have &s;inned, they can put off God, as to his di&s;plea&s;ure, with &s;omething or other, they will reckon what good they have done, gone to Church, (as you &s;tyle it) given Alms, been ju&s;t to Men, or &s;ome &s;uch thing; and the poor blind Creature ima|gines and plea&s;eth him&s;elf in it, that this good thus done will well enough <HI>pacifie God</HI> for his &s;ins, or at lea&s;t he will go over &s;ome prayers, and be &s;trict for a little while, and then they doubt not but <HI>God</HI> (be|cau&s;e al&s;o he pre&s;ently &s;mites not with judgment) is well enough appayed, and he need no more trou|ble him&s;elf. Is not this the very way of your hearts, hath not the word found you out?</P>
<P><PB N="80" REF="42"><HI>Object.</HI> But you will &s;ay; <HI>why</HI> cannot the&s;e duties and this obedience <HI>&s;atisfie</HI> and <HI>pacifie</HI> God well enough for &s;in?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. Becau&s;e there <HI>is &s;in mixt in them,</HI> they come from a prophane heart, as is &s;hew'd in the la&s;t rea&s;on, (thou thou ignorantly, becau&s;e thou know|e&s;t not thy heart, call'&s;t it a good heart:) Now that which is in it &s;elf &s;inful, cannot &s;ure <HI>&s;atisfie</HI> for &s;in.</P>
<P N="2">2. Becau&s;e of the <HI>infinitene&s;s</HI> of God's ju&s;tice, as well as purity of it; a <HI>finite</HI> creature cannot offer up a <HI>pro|portionable</HI> attonement to an infinite God. Suppo&s;e a poor man were under the guilt of trea&s;on, and con|demn'd to dye, and he &s;hould go and offer up a little cour&s;e broken bread to the Prince, would any one think that this would &s;atisfie the Prince for his trea|&s;on? So, poor deceived creature, thou art guilty of trea&s;on and rebellion again&s;t the great and mo&s;t high God, and thou come&s;t and offere&s;t up to him thy poor polluted broked obedience and duties, and think|e&s;t he will be &s;atisfied with this; whereas God may in the &s;ame moment ju&s;tly &s;end thee to Hell for the iniquity of them. A poor &s;inful &s;oul thinks, that becau&s;e &s;uch doings and &s;ervices do &s;atisfie him&s;elf, his own con&s;cience, therefore he thinks they will &s;atisfie God al&s;o; becau&s;e they quiet him upon any trouble for guilt, he thinks they will al&s;o quiet God, and take off his anger and ju&s;tice from puni&s;hing him: Poor Creature, this thy way is thy folly, and the ready way to come under the &s;evere ju&s;tice of the Almighty, who will not thus be dealt with, nor be thus bribed with thy cur&s;ed &s;acrifices; this is a further convincement of the point; all the creature can do, cannot pacifie God for one &s;in, and there|fore all his be&s;t keeping of the law cannot ju&s;tifie a
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poor &s;inner before God, nor give him acceptance in the lea&s;t with him; till he &s;ees pacification another way, and takes up obedience from another principle, and to another end, as we are to &s;hew.</P>
<P N="6">6. All a mans endeavour in &s;etting him&s;elf to keep the law to the utmo&s;t, cannot give him acceptance with God, <HI>becau&s;e it cannot give life to the &s;oul;</HI> Gal. 3.21. <HI>For if there had been a law, which would have given life, verily righteou&s;ne&s;s had come by the law:</HI> Man hath procured death and weakne&s;s upon his &s;oul, and the law cannot give life, nor &s;trength to o|bey it. All that righteou&s;ne&s;s which leaves the &s;oul dead, comes to nothing; while a &s;oul is under the law, and upon the fulfilling of it, (as he hopes in a good mea&s;ure) &s;till the &s;oul is as dead as &s;in left it, and void of the life of God: True, a poor &s;oul thinks him&s;elf alive by his legal performances, as <HI>Paul</HI> thought, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7.9. but he is <HI>dead</HI> in &s;in, and under the &s;entence of death by the Law, and all the perfor|mances towards the keeping of it, can never give a drop of life to &s;uch a poor &s;oul: They are dead works, and there's no life in them, or from them, therefore they &s;tand no &s;oul in&s;tead, while under the law, as under it he is, whiles he goes upon this account.</P>
<P N="7">7. The main rea&s;on of all, which is now but to be touched, is this: If a &s;oul endeavouring to keep the law of God as well as he can, may be accepted of God thereby, what need Je&s;us Chri&s;t to have dyed: 'Tis <HI>Pauls</HI> great argument, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.3, 4. <HI>For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the fle&s;h, God &s;ending his own &s;on, in the likene&s;s of &s;in|ful fle&s;h, condemned &s;in in the fle&s;h, that the righteou&s;|ne&s;s of the law might be fulfilled in us,</HI> &amp;c. Mark ye, what the law <HI>could not</HI> do, that it could not give us a righ|teou&s;ne&s;s
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whereby God might accept us, therefore God &s;ent his Son in the fle&s;h, and condemned &s;in upon him, which otherwi&s;e had been condemned upon the &s;inner him&s;elf: Another place to this pur|po&s;e is, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2. <HI>la&s;t. I do not fru&s;trate the grace of God; for if righteou&s;ne&s;s come by the law, then Chri&s;t is dead in vain.</HI> If there were a po&s;&s;ibility of a Crea|tures attaining to &s;uch a degree of keeping the law as well as he can, that might render him accepted with God, and procure pardon wherein he failed, then the dying of Je&s;us Chri&s;t was <HI>in vain,</HI> to no pur|po&s;e at all. Take heed you that are outwardly righte|ous, that you do not fru&s;trate the grace of God, and the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t for ever, to your own &s;ouls, by thinking you endeavour to keep Gods law as well as you can, and make &s;ome con&s;cience of it, and there fix your hope wholly or in part, and &s;o be un|done for ever. Another place in the &s;ame Epi&s;tle, <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.4, 5. &s;peaks out the &s;ame truth. <HI>But when the fulne&s;s of time was come, God &s;ent forth his &s;on made of a woman, made under the law; to redeem them that were under the law; that we might receive the Adop|tion of Sons.</HI> What need Je&s;us Chri&s;t to have dyed, to redeem the elect from under the law, if they had been able to reach forth to &s;uch a keeping of it, that God might be well plea&s;ed with, and with them in it?</P>
<P>Now Je&s;us Chri&s;t's <HI>being made under the Law,</HI> implies the&s;e things, which I now but hint forth.</P>
<P N="1">1. His being under the <HI>puni&s;hment</HI> of the Law, which was due to &s;uch as were under it; what ever the Law pronounced to the Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors of it, Je&s;us Chri&s;t in effect did undergo it, See <HI>Gal.</HI> 3. <HI>Chri&s;t hath redeemed us from the Cur&s;e of the law, being made
<PB N="83" REF="43">
a cur&s;e for us:</HI> If good prayers, making a con&s;cience in dealing, outward &s;obriety, harming no body, gi|ving of Alms to poor people, could have taken away the cur&s;e, did the wi&s;e and ble&s;&s;ed God do well in giving out his Son to be made a cur&s;e? were prayers, righteou&s;ne&s;s, good deeds made a Cur&s;e? They will be indeed, in another &s;en&s;e, if thou thinke&s;t to be ac|cepted by them.</P>
<P N="2">2. Je&s;us Chri&s;t being made under the Law, was <HI>to &s;atisfie Gods offended ju&s;tice</HI> for the breach of the Law, for &s;uch as &s;hall be &s;aved, <HI>to make attonement for God,</HI> Rom. 5.11. If now all that thou ha&s;t done, or &s;halt ever do, could make the lea&s;t &s;atisfaction or at|tonement to God, in thy good keeping the Com|mandments as well as thou can&s;t, (as hath been &s;hew'd) God might have kept his Son in Heaven, and not &s;ent him to make <HI>attonement</HI> for any &s;inners.</P>
<P N="3">3. To <HI>reconcile</HI> &s;inners unto God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.10. <HI>When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,</HI> &amp;c. If reconciliation to God can be had no other way, but by the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, will thy good endeavours for the time to come to keep the Law of God as well as thou can&s;t, and take up from a loo&s;e cour&s;e, will tho&s;e, I &s;ay, reconcile thee to God? See, poor creature, how little need thou thinke&s;t thou ha&s;t of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and what a meer notion a Saviour is to thee, when it comes to the Tryal!</P>
<P N="4">4. Je&s;us Chri&s;t died to <HI>work out Righteou&s;ne&s;s</HI> for all that &s;hall be &s;aved: Now if thou could'&s;t come up to &s;uch a degree of being righteous, by thy fair and good carriage, as thou thinke&s;t, to God and Man, this righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t was to little pur|po&s;e, <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.4. <HI>Chri&s;t is the end of the Law for
<PB N="84" REF="44">
Righteou&s;ne&s;s, to every one that believeth.</HI></P>
<P>Now &s;ee, mi&s;taken Soul, how they hope to plea&s;e God well enough, and make him amends for thy &s;in, by thy good endeavours to &s;erve him in his Law, as well as thou may'&s;t, makes void the whole de&s;ign of God, in the glorious gift of his eternal Son, (as much as in thee lyeth) and robs him of the Glory of his Grace; and makes thy Salvation (if it might be had in &s;uch a way) not of Grace, but of Debt, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4.4. <HI>Now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of debt but of grace;</HI> and thus thou in effect become&s;t thy own Saviour.</P>
<P>Yet bear with me a little further, (becau&s;e a &s;in|ner can never be too thoroughly convinced of this matter) let me &s;hew you &s;ome <HI>examples</HI> in the Scriptures, of &s;uch that thought as you do, and as all men naturally do, that they by their hone&s;t and con&s;cionable endeavour to wor&s;hip God, and harm no body, they &s;hould be &s;aved; and yet were found light in the ballance.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is that Phari&s;ee, <HI>Luke</HI> 18.11. He thanks God, <HI>he was not as other men are, Extortioners, &V;n|ju&s;t, Adulterers,</HI> &amp;c. Here was hope for his ac|ceptance with God, He was not &s;o bad as <HI>others,</HI> as many riotous prophane per&s;ons were, not <HI>unju&s;t</HI> in his dealings, no <HI>Adulterer,</HI> and &s;hould any one que|&s;tion his Salvation and going to Heaven? Enough for great &s;inners to mi&s;s of Heaven, and not &s;uch as he was, reputed a good and hone&s;t man in his Coun|try, and among&s;t his Neighbours well thought of by mo&s;t. And yet for all this confidence and &s;ecurity, a great &s;inner was accepted before him, and he not ju&s;tified in the &s;ight of the God, though he was in his own &s;ight, and the &s;ight of others.</P>
<P>See another, <HI>Mat.</HI> 19.20. (which place hath
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been at large opened to you) There came a young man, a man of parts, with the &s;ame confidence to rea&s;on with Je&s;us Chri&s;t about his condition, the man conceived he wanted nothing that a man &s;hould have or do for Heaven; <HI>All the&s;e things,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>I have kept from my youth up;</HI> meaning e&s;pecially the &s;e|cond Table of the Law, which Chri&s;t gave out, not as thereby to put him upon the Law, but to find him out, and di&s;cover him under the Law. When Je|&s;us Chri&s;t &s;earched the mans heart, and finds him under the power of the love of the world, as a reign|ing Soul damning Sin, (for all his outward blamele&s;|ne&s;s) and &s;o to di&s;cover his heart to him&s;elf, puts him upon tryal of Self-denial; away the man packs as mute as a fi&s;h, and would hear no more, (as world|lings now) of &s;uch Doctrine; unle&s;s he could be a Di&s;ciple, and part with nothing, lo&s;e or venture no|thing, he would re&s;t as he was, and hope his being an hone&s;t &s;ober man, and well thought of, would bring him to Heaven; and &s;o, for ought appears, cheated his Soul to Hell.</P>
<P>The ca&s;e of <HI>Paul</HI> hath been often &s;hew'd you; he was, as many of you think your &s;elves, <HI>blamele&s;s, Phil.</HI> 3.6. lived in no known &s;in outwardly again&s;t the Law, frequented the publick Wor&s;hip, made Con&s;cience of his dealings, was zealous of the tradi|tions and cu&s;toms of his Fathers, and yet do you not hear him crying out of it all <HI>as lo&s;s,</HI> ver. 7. and 8. He thought it was his <HI>gain</HI> before, that it would have gained him Heaven, but now tis all lo&s;s, his keeping the Church, his outward blamele&s;ne&s;s &s;tands him not in the lea&s;t &s;tead, but cryes out, 'tis <HI>All, all lo&s;s for Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> the &s;ame <HI>Paul</HI> that before boa&s;ted, and thought very well of him&s;elf, and was in much peace, and per&s;ecuted all beyond his for|mal
<PB N="86" REF="45">
Profe&s;&s;ion, now cryes out, away with this fig|leaf-righteou&s;ne&s;s of mine own, 'tis as <HI>dung,</HI> I tread it under my feet for Je&s;us Chri&s;t; he that thought him&s;elf &s;o <HI>blamele&s;s</HI> before, now cryes out, <HI>I am the Chief of &s;inners,</HI> 1 Tim. 1.15. <HI>And I am carnal, &s;old under &s;in, Wretched man that I am, who &s;hall deliver me from the body of this death?</HI> A marvellous Change indeed, and &s;uch that is made upon every Soul, that is really brought off from the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law to that which is of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Now to bring what hath been &s;poken to this point to a more particular Application.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. If it be &s;o, that the be&s;t endeavour of any mortal creature to keep the Law of God as well as they can, will not give them acceptance with God; then you that have &s;o imagined, and thereby &s;poken peace to your &s;elves, namely, that you hope if you keep the Church (as you u&s;e to &s;peak) and harm no body, and do any body any good you can, live not in gro&s;s &s;ins, be well thought of by your neighbours, you &s;hall do well enough for Heaven, and you mu&s;t <HI>hope well.</HI> Ah poor creature, thou erre&s;t, not know|ing the way of the Lord, nor of thy own heart; how art thou befooling thy &s;elf, and deceiving thy own &s;oul. No &s;inner in &s;o ready a way to Hell as thou, if thou continue thus, and let not go thy hold, and get a new bottom for thy naked Soul, which I am to &s;hew thee.</P>
<P>Con&s;ider, man or woman, young or old, whoever thou art, thou ha&s;t been proved <HI>guilty</HI> of the breach of the whole Law of God, thou ha&s;t been &s;hewed of the exactne&s;s of the Ju&s;tice of God, and the &s;piritua|lity of the Law, how it reacheth the inmo&s;t motions of the heart, thou ha&s;t been &s;hewed the Tenour of it,
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as it was given forth as a Covenant; that the Law will not admit of the lea&s;t breach, though but in thought, but it condemns as if the whole Law were tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed, even every &s;oul that is under it; here is the rigor of it; and thou ha&s;t been &s;hewed that the Law admits not of endeavours, nor of the Will for the Deed, (if thou wert once in Chri&s;t indeed, it would be &s;o, but not as now thou art) thou ha&s;t been &s;hew'd that there's &s;in enough in every one of thy be&s;t performances to damn thee for ever; that thy Righteou&s;ne&s;s reacheth but the outward Man; within (did&s;t thou &s;ee it) thou art full of iniquity, that whatever thou ha&s;t done, cannot make God the lea&s;t &s;atisfaction (as thou flattere&s;t thy &s;elf) for the lea&s;t &s;in: All thy obedience and duties cannot give life to thy &s;oul, but &s;till leave thee as a dead tree, dead in thy &s;in, that by this vain confidence thou do&s;t utterly make void the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as to any vertue or effect to thy own Soul; here is thy ve|ry ca&s;e plainly &s;et forth, a thou&s;and thou&s;and &s;ins to damn thee, and that righteou&s;ne&s;s, obedience, good, thou hope&s;t thou ha&s;t done towards God and Man, not in the lea&s;t able to re&s;cue thee, cover thee, deliver thee from the guilt of one of the lea&s;t of the&s;e &s;ins; nor &s;ave thee from wrath to come, but leave thy &s;oul as &s;inful, guilty, naked, wretched, condem|ned, as if thou had&s;t been nothing el&s;e but &s;inning all thy days: Oh wretched condition, that the Devil and thy own heart have flattered thee in!</P>
<P>Oh, let this &s;erve to <HI>convince, unbottom legal Pro|fe&s;&s;ors,</HI> who have &s;poken peace to them&s;elves in be|ing as good as they can, and obeying the Law as well as they can, and &s;o hope God pardons where they fail: Oh, you are <HI>ignorant of the righteou&s;ne&s;s of God, Rom.</HI> 10.3. Either what <HI>righteou&s;ne&s;s</HI> God requires
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in the Law, as to be ju&s;tified by it; or what is the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Go&s;pel, which is of Je&s;us Chri&s;t by Faith.</P>
<P>Oh you, who like that young man, have been righ|teous <HI>from your youth up,</HI> brought up religiou&s;ly, look to this, whether you make not this your confidence, but (though under &s;ome kind of &s;orrowings for &s;in, and walking exactly) yet never emptied of your &s;elves, and renouncing your &s;elves, and all that was of you, and come poor and nothing to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be found in him; who have not trembled as much at being found in your own righteou&s;ne&s;s, which is of the Law, as at living in the greate&s;t &s;in what&s;o|ever.</P>
<P>You who have taken up from gro&s;&s;er &s;ins of your life, your youth, and now think you are &s;afe, and bottom your hope upon your <HI>new outward obedience,</HI> but have not the experience of your clo&s;ing with Je|&s;us Chri&s;t for <HI>righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> in which alone you could &s;tand before God, nor rooted into Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the carrying on of your new obedience, (which I am al&s;o further to open:) Alas, poor &s;oul, thou art yet to &s;eek for a bottom, for thy peace, and for Hea|ven, as much as the greate&s;t &s;inner in the world, and if you go no further, you will certainly peri&s;h for ever.</P>
<P>I be&s;eech you, Souls, Admit of this Conviction into your Con&s;ciences; &s;aith the fir&s;t Covenant of the law, <HI>A whole law kept, or nothing;</HI> &s;aith the Go|&s;pel-Covenant, which you are now to look after, <HI>A whole Chri&s;t clo&s;ed with, or nothing.</HI></P>
<P>Mind it mo&s;t &s;eriou&s;ly, you that &s;tand upon your terms, and will not endure any thing that may &s;hake you, and di&s;turb your peace; there's more danger of your righteou&s;ne&s;s than your &s;in; your &s;in, it may be,
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you would leave, becau&s;e it may damn you, if conti|nued in, but your righteou&s;ne&s;s, your confidence in it, you would not leave, becau&s;e you hope that &s;hall &s;ave you, and pacifie God for you; and this will be your ru|ine, if you &s;tick here.</P>
<P>But fir&s;t to &s;trike of &s;ome Objections, that the heart of &s;uch a legal profe&s;&s;or doth put forth.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> 1. But you will object, <Q>Why do I &s;peak thus? would I beat people off a <HI>good cover&s;ation?</HI> Is not a blamele&s;s conver&s;ation, and hone&s;t walk|ing, a good &s;ign, and ground for ones hope for Heaven?</Q></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> I an&s;wer, not &s;uch a Conver&s;ation as you mean; the formal <HI>Jews,</HI> which Chri&s;t preacht to, were outwardly righteous, and yet 'twas not a &s;afe ground of Hope unto them, as you have been &s;hew'd; a good conver&s;ation that witne&s;&s;eth a hope for Hea|ven, mu&s;t be, fir&s;t, of a &s;oul that doth utterly renounce it, as to commend him to God, that when he looks up to God for his acceptance, his ju&s;tification, he looks upon him&s;elf as <HI>nothing el&s;e</HI> but a &s;inner in that re&s;pect, which, poor &s;oul, thou doe&s;t not. (2.) A good conver&s;ation, that witne&s;&s;eth a hope of Heaven, is al&s;o a <HI>holy</HI> conver&s;ation, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.15. To be inward|ly holy as well as outwardly righteous. Now thy care lyeth mo&s;tly about thy outward blamele&s;ne&s;s, and not thy <HI>inward holine&s;s,</HI> therefore thy conver&s;ation, which thou calle&s;t good, is not a ground of hope to thee. (3.) Or if thou do&s;t pretend to a little outward holine&s;s, and thinke&s;t thou ha&s;t a good heart, yet thou doe&s;t not <HI>walk in Chri&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e thou ha&s;t not, as a poor &s;elf-emptied &s;inner, <HI>received</HI> him, <HI>Col.</HI> 2.6. Now thou mu&s;t fir&s;t be <HI>rooted in Chri&s;t,</HI> ver&s;e 7. be|fore thou can&s;t <HI>walk in Chri&s;t,</HI> that is, fetch all thy life
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and power for any &s;piritual duty, or thy walking be|fore God, from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by vertue of union with him, <HI>John</HI> 15.5. the experience of which thou art ig|norant of; (4.) 'Tis to walk in the &s;pirit, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.16. And thou ha&s;t not the &s;pirit of God dwelling in thee, quickening, renewing, mortifying, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which every gracious pardoned &s;oul hath. In a word, a good conver&s;ation is a <HI>Go&s;pel</HI>-conver&s;ation, grounded up|on Go&s;pel-principles, and for Go&s;pel-ends; now thou goe&s;t no further, but looke&s;t upon the law, as to be obeyed as well as thou can&s;t, and in thy own endea|vours, and thy own &s;trength, from &s;ome conviction of the law, thou &s;et'&s;t about it, and &s;o hope&s;t God and Chri&s;t will &s;ave thee; Is it not &s;o with thee?</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> 2. <Q>But would you then have me do no|thing, leave off to do well? If you &s;ay, my good keeping of the law as well as I can, doth neither ju&s;tifie me before God, nor is &s;o much as an evi|dence of God's accepting me, to what purpo&s;e then is it?</Q> how ought I then do it? or may I not leave it off?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> I an&s;wer, Truly, &s;oul, I mu&s;t needs deal plainly with thee, 'tis to <HI>no purpo&s;e</HI> as yet, if this be thy condition, that thou ha&s;t done any thing, as to the &s;aving of thy own &s;oul; and yet thou mu&s;t not leave off, as if thou mighte&s;t live as thou li&s;t: No, Thou mu&s;t begin anew, (as thou wilt be fur|ther more at large directed;) fir&s;t, &s;ee all thy for|mer doings, either towards God or Man, to be <HI>lo&s;s,</HI> becau&s;e thou ha&s;t done them by meer natural or legal principles, and wrong ends, and &s;o it &s;tands for no|thing; and then fall down before Je&s;us Chri&s;t, Oh 'tis <HI>thy</HI> righteou&s;ne&s;s now, Lord, I come for; 'tis <HI>thy</HI> &s;pirit, I mu&s;t have to quicken and &s;trengthen me in
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the way of my obedience; and &s;o pray and hear, upon other grounds, to be taught of God, to receive the Spirit, to have communion with God, but not thereby in the lea&s;t to be accepted. But this I &s;hall open further, when I &s;hew why and how a Soul mu&s;t obey God, though he be not thereby ju&s;tified. So this Objection is removed.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> 3. <Q>But, you will &s;ay, I hope I do not <HI>re&s;t</HI> upon my own doings, no more than others, I think no body doth &s;o, will you &s;hew me whe|ther the heart is apt to do &s;o?</Q></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> I will, and &s;hall di&s;cover to you, that <HI>the heart of man is mo&s;t naturally apt to re&s;t upon an out|ward keeping of the law, and to build a hope and confi|dence for Heaven upon it;</HI> this I mu&s;t a little in&s;i&s;t on, as much conducing to help on the conviction I am pre&s;&s;ing, if the Lord by his power &s;trike in with it.</P>
<P>If it were not <HI>natural,</HI> (nothing more) for a &s;oul to <HI>bottom</HI> upon its keeping the Law, though fallen and unable to it; the Apo&s;tle would never have &s;pent time in the <HI>Conviction</HI> of it, which he &s;o indu&s;tri|ou&s;ly doth in this and the former <HI>Chap.</HI> It hath been the great evil upon the hearts of the Sons of Men, in all ages of the Church: One of the fir&s;t Sons of <HI>Adam</HI> was under it; <HI>Cain,</HI> when he re&s;ted upon the bare &s;acrifice: 'Tis that the Prophets of God are repro|ving, convincing the Church of the <HI>Jews</HI> of, more than of any one thing what&s;oever; See <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1. <HI>throughout;</HI> I&s;a. 66. Jer. 7. Ezek. 33.31. <HI>The Pro|phecy of</HI> Ho&s;ea, <HI>in the main bent of it,</HI> is to convince the formality of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and their fal&s;e confidence in re&s;ting in their heartle&s;s doings and performan|ces.</P>
<P><PB N="92" REF="48">In this ca&s;e Je&s;us Chri&s;t finds the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Church in, at his fir&s;t coming, in re&s;ting in &s;ome heartle&s;s per|formances in God's wor&s;hip, and outward righteou&s;|ne&s;s towards men, which he &s;harply rebuketh, and convinceth them of the vanity of it, <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 18, 21, 23, 25. <HI>Chapters</HI> of <HI>Matthew,</HI> with which you may compare the other Evangeli&s;ts, and &s;ee how much ado the Lord Je&s;us had to beat them off from this confidence, and how few of them were beaten off it: And <HI>Paul</HI> witne&s;&s;eth, that upon this ve|ry ground they were rejected of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9.32. Not upon the account of gro&s;s outward &s;in, but for their being conceited of their good condition for Heaven, becau&s;e of their frequenting publick wor&s;hip, and being blamele&s;s in the &s;ight of men; yea, from this natural principle (joyned with the delu&s;ion of the Tempter) did the Church of God de|generate into the Synagogue of Satan, as Antichri&s;t ro&s;e in the world, fir&s;t tru&s;ting in the performance of their wor&s;hip and works, which brought in pe|nances, and &s;uch kind of Sacriledge again&s;t Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and all other Trumperies, to build fallen men upon his own bottom, and to devi&s;e a way of &s;a|tisfaction to God, wherein they failed; to which the hearts of Men are mo&s;t naturally carried, which made that Doctrine &s;o ea&s;ily and generally over-run the world. Again&s;t which accur&s;ed Doctrine, that famous Witne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Luther</HI> began his main battery; and though the Doctrine of Ju&s;tifica|tion by Je&s;us Chri&s;t be known to the Prote&s;tant World, yet practically to be brought over to it, by an Union with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, is but (we may fear) thin|ly known or under&s;tood, yea, not only by the com|mon &s;pirits of <HI>England,</HI> that re&s;t in a Notion of being <HI>Prote&s;tants,</HI> but even among&s;t many who have pro|fe&s;t
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&s;omething beyond it, as I before have hinted; yea, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t profe&s;&s;eth to expect to find multitudes of Profe&s;&s;ors at his coming under this &s;oul-damning &s;nare, of <HI>being found in them&s;elves,</HI> and in their own righteou&s;ne&s;s, and not in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Mat.</HI> 7. <HI>&amp;</HI> 25, &amp;c. By all which it may am|ply appear how <HI>ea&s;ie,</HI> how <HI>natural</HI> a thing it is for the hearts of the Children of Men, to bottom their confidence in what they <HI>do</HI> towards God and Man, in their <HI>obedience</HI> of the Law, as to place their <HI>ac|ceptance</HI> in it.</P>
<P>Add to this the rea&s;ons of it, why the hearts of all the &s;ons and daughters of <HI>Adam,</HI> are naturally apt to re&s;t upon the law, and their own doings, and to hope for peace by it.</P>
<P N="1">1. Every natural man, hath &s;omething of the <HI>re|mains</HI> of the Law, which God at fir&s;t wrote in the heart of our common Father <HI>Adam, Rom.</HI> 2.14, 15. which being a little drawn forth by the Letter of the Law, it makes a poor creature &s;et him&s;elf to en|deavour to keep the law, and hopes to attain to &s;uch a degree as to be accepted with God for it: Now there is no &s;uch thing in the heart to come to Chri&s;t, or to have righteou&s;ne&s;s in another; therefore a &s;oul &s;ets him&s;elf to the Law, and endeavours more or le&s;s, the keeping of it naturally.</P>
<P N="2">2. Man would fain make up the breach he hath made with God, <HI>upon his own account:</HI> As a Man had naturally rather do a thing him&s;elf, than be behold|ing to another; therefore upon Conviction of guilt he &s;ets him&s;elf to make up the breach, to <HI>&s;atisfie</HI> God by &s;ome attonement or other, that his own heart can contrive; his &s;orrowing and repenting he hopes may pacifie God, or &s;ome new &s;acrifice of more performances, or being better for the time to come:
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Thus the heart works &s;ecretly, and upon his own account; God letting forth &s;ome mercy (as he thinks) where he fails, he hopes to make up any breach that &s;in hath made between God and his &s;oul; and thus he is &s;till upon the Old Covenant, under the law.</P>
<P N="3">3. A Sinner is more apt to keep to the Law, than go to Chri&s;t, <HI>from a &s;ecret pride of heart;</HI> he would not be found at a <HI>total lo&s;s</HI> with God, to be wholly <HI>undone,</HI> and <HI>unable</HI> to do any thing towards his own peace and &s;alvation: A &s;oul naturally had rather part with all &s;in, and have his nature made perfectly holy, than be quite undone in him&s;elf, and come to have all his righteou&s;ne&s;s in another, in Je&s;us Chri&s;t. And here it is, that mo&s;t &s;ouls &s;tick in the coming off their own bottoms, to be ju&s;tified in Je&s;us Chri&s;t. In a word, Man had rather do any thing, than come a poor de&s;titute &s;inner to Je&s;us Chri&s;t for all.</P>
<P N="4">4. Becau&s;e 'tis not &s;uitable to the Light of natural rea&s;on, that a &s;oul &s;hould &s;atisfie God, or become righteous any other way, than by his own endea|vour; to be righteous in another, is of Divine Re|velation, which till a Soul hath, he cannot let go the principle of &s;elf-ju&s;tification.</P>
<P>The next thing to be con&s;idered will be this, if all men are under the Law, and the cur&s;e of it, under the guilt of the whole law, without all excu&s;e before God, under an impo&s;&s;ibility of attaining righteou&s;|ne&s;s or acceptance with God, by the be&s;t keeping of the Law, and yet a natural and &s;trong aptitude to re&s;t upon the law, and that a &s;oul may reform and take up, be &s;trict in obedience, and yet &s;till be under the law, how then may a &s;oul know whether in the way of his Obedience, he be yet under the Law, and not under Grace? Some Di&s;coveries I &s;hall lay down at
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pre&s;ent, re&s;olving a fuller di&s;cu&s;&s;ion of this.</P>
<P>And by the way, know and con&s;ider, that though thou art under the the profe&s;&s;ion of the Name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and pretende&s;t Salvation by him, yet practi|cally and really thou may'&s;t be &s;till under the Law.</P>
<P N="1">1. If thou ha&s;t never been convinc'd of this clo&s;e evil in thy heart, of re&s;ting on thy praying, and re|penting, and endeavouring to keep the Law as well as thou can&s;t, I &s;ay, if the Spirit of the Lord hath not convinced thee of it, and of the great danger of it, and &s;o humbled thee, and brought thee off it, thou art certainly under the Law as yet.</P>
<P N="2">2. If thou do&s;t not <HI>watch again&s;t</HI> this evil, and do&s;t not find a great <HI>difficulty,</HI> not to re&s;t upon a perform|ance of any duty to God, thou do&s;t then certainly <HI>re&s;t</HI> upon it.</P>
<P N="3">3. If thou art well &s;atisfied, that thou art kept from <HI>outward</HI> gro&s;s &s;ins; and the &s;in of thy <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> is not thy <HI>greate&s;t burthen,</HI> mourning under the weight of it, then thou mu&s;t know that thou art yet under the law.</P>
<P N="4">4. If thou thinke&s;t God will accept of the <HI>will</HI> for the <HI>deed,</HI> if thou do&s;t as well as thou can&s;t in every du|ty, &s;o as to <HI>accept</HI> thee <HI>thereby,</HI> as if it had been done perfectly; this al&s;o be&s;peaks thee under the Law.</P>
<P N="5">5. If thou can&s;t not <HI>experience,</HI> how the Lord by the light and working of his word and &s;pirit hath brought thee off thy legal foundation thou wa&s;t building upon, and &s;hew'd thee, that &s;uch things as thou did&s;t account <HI>gain,</HI> became but <HI>lo&s;s</HI> unto thee, <HI>for Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Phil. 3.7.</P>
<P N="6">6. If thou art not troubled about the <HI>Hypocri&s;ie</HI> of thy heart, and not aba&s;ed for it, even in thy be&s;t per|formances;
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then thou art yet upon the bottom of the Law, and re&s;te&s;t in it.</P>
<P N="7">7. If thou art not mo&s;tly troubled about <HI>believing,</HI> and do&s;t not find it the mo&s;t difficult work of thy &s;oul, if no complaint to God of an unbelieving heart, then thou art indeed a Hypocrite, and under the Law.</P>
<P N="8">8. If thou art not humbled to God for the <HI>&s;inful mixtures</HI> of thy duties, the deadne&s;s, di&s;traction of them, and &s;o &s;ee&s;t thy acceptance cannot be in them, but in Je&s;us Chri&s;t; then thou re&s;te&s;t in them.</P>
<P N="9">9. If thou do&s;t not give up thy &s;elf to the <HI>leadings</HI> of the Spirit, and doe&s;t not find, that in the main of thy cour&s;e, thou art <HI>led</HI> by the Spirit, then thou art under the Law, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.18. <HI>But if ye are led by the &s;pirit, ye are not under the Law.</HI></P>
<P N="10">10. If thou art not troubled about thy <HI>inward growth,</HI> in mortification of all &s;in, and more holy Communion with God, then thou art al&s;o un|der the Law: One under the Law, that is &s;ome|what &s;trict and con&s;cientious, may grow in the bulk of <HI>outward Duties,</HI> but not in <HI>inward Holi|ne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P N="11">11. If thy care be not to live in the &s;en&s;e of thy Ju&s;tification by grace through Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and to pre&s;erve the light and peace of a <HI>ju&s;tified &s;tate,</HI> which thou ha&s;t been called to by grace; then thou live&s;t in &s;elf-ju&s;tification.</P>
<P N="12">12. If thy <HI>great care</HI> be not, if thou finde&s;t it not thy <HI>greate&s;t difficulty,</HI> to be kept a poor empty creature in thy &s;elf, and live in the fulne&s;s of Chri&s;t, if &s;elf-fulne&s;s, &s;elf-exaltation, be not the great evils thou watche&s;t again&s;t, (at lea&s;t in &s;ome mea&s;ure, thou art &s;en&s;ible of the roots of them) then thou art yet
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under all I have been proving, the law, guilt, and a cur&s;e; and all thy duties and doings, as I have &s;hew'd; abhorred of God.</P>
<P>Examine thy heart by the&s;e particulars over and over, and if by the&s;e thou can&s;t not make out that thou ha&s;t been through rich grace, brought off from thy own foundation upon the law, and &s;o come, with much difficulty, to the Go&s;pel-grace, and righ|teou&s;ne&s;s by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and that if thou had&s;t been let alone in peace in thy former &s;tate, thou had&s;t been certainly damned; &s;ure thou art then as yet void of any intere&s;t in the Go&s;pel &s;aving righteou&s;ne&s;s; thy pretended faith, and hope, and duties, and works, and con&s;cience, all's in vain.</P>
<P>Now the &s;oul that hath the ble&s;&s;ed experience of all the&s;e, and can &s;ay, I have through infinite mercy been brought off my own foundation, and I have found the difficulty of it, I find my heart apt to &s;et|tle upon my own performances, and 'tis that I would watch again&s;t; and I can experience the &s;in of my Nature the greate&s;t burthen, and cry out of it daily before the Lord; the Hypocri&s;ie of my heart is an abhorring to me, I do find believing the harde&s;t work of my &s;oul, I do mourn under the &s;inful mix|ture of my duties, I do give up my &s;elf to the &s;pi|rits leadings, I am troubled about my inward growth, and humbled for the &s;hortne&s;s of it, I would learn more and more to live out of my &s;elf for my Ju&s;tification, and to be kept a poor empty nothing for ever before the Lord; if this, I &s;ay, be thy experience, then thou &s;halt have peace and joy in the Holy Gho&s;t; thou may'&s;t rejoyce in a ju&s;tified e&s;tate, Chri&s;t, his Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Grace, Spirit, Hea|ven are thine.</P>
<P>Having now laid open the Sinner, as under the
<PB N="98" REF="51">
Law, excu&s;ele&s;s, guilty and under Condemnation, under an impo&s;&s;ibility of obtaining righteou&s;ne&s;s and acceptance with God, by the be&s;t endeavours to keep the Law; I would now &s;et upon the opening the Go&s;pel-Righteou&s;ne&s;s by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, through which only a poor condemned Sinner can find acceptance; but that I conceive it fir&s;t needful to &s;peak a word to tho&s;e words in the clo&s;e of the 22th. <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> (viz.) <HI>For there is no difference;</HI> which may further help on the conviction we have been upon.</P>
<P>The <HI>Jew</HI> might object to the Apo&s;tle thus; you by your Doctrine &s;eem to conclude <HI>all</HI> under the Law equally, and under guilt; you make no difference between us <HI>Jews</HI> who have the Law, and endeavour to keep it, and the open prophane Gentiles and Sin|ners; in this, you do us wrong; No, &s;aith the A|po&s;tle, <HI>There's no difference,</HI> you who <HI>in part</HI> keep the Law, are under the &s;ame condemnation as others; that which I &s;hall lay down, will be this.</P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;erv.</HI> There is no difference between the mo&s;t prophane per&s;on, and the righteous and &s;ober, as to ju&s;tification or condemnation by the Law.</P>
<P>I mean this; the ju&s;t &s;ober man, as to his keep|ing of the Law outwardly or in part, is in as dam|nable e&s;tate as the profane&s;t wretch in the world: This will hardly go down, but 'tis mo&s;t clear from the Apo&s;tles words read unto you, and hath been in part proved, by &s;hewing all the Sons and Daugh|ters of <HI>Adam,</HI> Jews and Gentiles, &s;ober and ungod|ly, all under the Law.</P>
<P>But a little further to pro&s;ecute this Doctrine; for, where a man or woman, who hath lived hone&s;t|ly or &s;oberly in the eye of the world (but yet out of Chri&s;t) convinced that he or &s;he were in as bad and damnable a condition as any great &s;inner in the
<PB N="99" REF="51">
world, it might be a &s;tartling to them, and a means, through the Spirit's working, to bring them off their vain confidence, and to lead them to Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Now that I may clear this, let us fir&s;t con&s;ider, what it was that might difference the &s;ober <HI>Jew</HI> from the prophane idolatrous Gentile; it being the &s;ame, which, &s;uch as conceive them&s;elves &s;ober harmle&s;s people in this day, do put confidence in.</P>
<P N="1">1. The <HI>Jew</HI> was <HI>Circumci&s;ed,</HI> which was the fir&s;t Ordinance of the Old Te&s;tament-Church, as Bap|ti&s;m is of the New, and it doth appear this was much in&s;i&s;ted on by the <HI>Jew,</HI> by what the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 18, 19. For <HI>he is not a</HI> Jew <HI>who is one outwardly, neither is that Circumci&s;ion which is outward in the fle&s;h, but he is a</HI> Jew <HI>which is one in|wardly, and Circumci&s;ion is that of the heart, in the &s;pi|rit, and not in the letter, who&s;e prai&s;e is not of men but of God.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. They had the Scriptures of God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.2. <HI>&V;nto them were committed the Oracles of God;</HI> which indeed the Apo&s;tle calls an <HI>Advantage,</HI> (in the &s;ame place) as it might be a means to lead them to the knowledge of God, and to the Promi&s;e of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, but no advantage at all, (as to the meer having them read and opened, and in a general Faith, believing them) as the more to <HI>ju&s;tifie</HI> them in the &s;ight of God.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Jews were under the <HI>publick Service</HI> of God, &s;uch as was ordained by God him&s;elf, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9.4, 5.</P>
<P N="4">4. They were for the mo&s;t part righteous to Men, and &s;ober, and blamele&s;s in the outward man; <HI>Ye indeed are they which are righteous before men;</HI> as the Lord often &s;peaks of them: Now 'tis mo&s;t clear, that the&s;e things did not difference the Jew, as to ac|ceptation
<PB N="100" REF="52">
with God and Je&s;us Chri&s;t, from the mo&s;t profane &s;inner; for the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t re|jected the&s;e, and call'd to him&s;elf Publicans and Harlots, and tells the Jews that &s;uch &s;hould <HI>enter into the Kingdom of God before them,</HI> Matth. 21.31. As might be further in&s;tanc'd in the ca&s;e of the Phari&s;ee and Publican, <HI>Luke</HI> 18.9.</P>
<P>Now the Rea&s;ons of this point have been before hinted, namely, that a meer &s;ober Man under Chri|&s;tian Priviledges, is no more accepted with Chri&s;t, nor in any nearer capacity to come to Chri&s;t, than the greate&s;t &s;inner; becau&s;e one &s;in puts a man un|der the condemnation of the Law, as well as a mil|lion of &s;ins again&s;t it; one fellony condemns a man as well as a thou&s;and, and the Malefactor mu&s;t dye by the Law for it. All the good a man doth, will not be <HI>imputed</HI> to him, if he be found a tran&s;gre&s;&s;or in one part of the Law, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 18.24. All men come &s;hort of the glory of God, in the fulfilling of the Law, and he that falls &s;hort but in one mile is in as bad a ca&s;e as he that falls &s;hort twenty miles: Je&s;us Chri&s;t accepts of no man for his righteou&s;ne&s;s, but as a Sinner, nothing el&s;e but a Sinner; &s;o that &s;till the ca&s;e of a ju&s;t man in reference to the Law, is as dan|gerous as the greate&s;t &s;inners in the world.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> A little further to pre&s;s this; you who are baptized, have a general belief of the <HI>Scriptures,</HI> are under part of the publick &s;ervice of God, are ju&s;t and harmle&s;s as to men; but yet are under the <HI>pow|er</HI> of <HI>&V;nbelief,</HI> and &s;ee it not, are not born again of the Spirit, are not in Chri&s;t Je&s;us: You who re&s;t &s;a|tisfied in &s;uch a condition, and think your hope for Heaven well-grounded, and will not be beaten off it, I mu&s;t tell you, and 'tis proved unto your Con&s;cien|ces from the Word of the Lord, that <HI>there's no dif|ference</HI>
<PB N="101" REF="52">
between you and the vile&s;t &s;inners in the Country, as to your acceptance with God: Though it be thus with you, yet, as you have been &s;hewed, you may be under the Law, condemned for one tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion; and what can you be more, than be condemned? Neither doth all this, as in it &s;elf, any more prepare you for Je&s;us Chri&s;t; and therefore let all the Convictions, Arguments, Demon&s;trations, we have produced from the clear light of the Word of the Lord, at la&s;t prevail with you, that you who thus <HI>&s;atisfie</HI> your &s;elves, becau&s;e you are baptized, believe the Scriptures, frequent the &s;ervice of God, are ju&s;t and &s;ober, therefore it is well with you, and you will trouble your &s;elves no further in the matter of your Salvation, that the e&s;tate of your Souls is as un&s;afe and de&s;perate, how &s;ecure &s;oever, as the vile&s;t Drunkard in the Country.</P>
<P>Therefore, let this Conviction have force upon your Con&s;cience, that you mu&s;t come anew to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as a <HI>meer &s;inner,</HI> having nothing to commend you to him.</P>
<P>Say, from the Light of the Word, though I have thus &s;atisfied my &s;elf, pleas'd my &s;elf, in the&s;e Du|ties and outward Priviledges, yet <HI>there's no difference</HI> between me and the vile&s;t &s;inner, in order to my ac|ceptance with Je&s;us Chri&s;t: Nay, if this Conviction take upon thee, thou wilt &s;ay to the glory of God, and thy own Confu&s;ion; If there be any difference, 'tis that thou art the greate&s;t &s;inner, having mock'd the Lord, re&s;ted in out-&s;ide &s;ervice, dealt hypocriti|cally with the jealous God, offered him abominable &s;acrifice, and therefore fit to be abhorred of the Lord for ever: Oh! that this might be the po&s;ture of thy Soul! and &s;o thou may'&s;t come and lye pro&s;trate at the feet of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, crying, Oh! no more, no
<PB N="102" REF="53">
more, a righteous per&s;on! but a &s;inner, a guilty &s;in|ner, a condemned &s;inner, a poor, blind, naked &s;inner; nothing el&s;e but a &s;inner! Away with all my former confidences, tear them from my heart, Lord. Now Lord Je&s;us, I ca&s;t my &s;elf upon thee! Oh! let me creep unto thy ble&s;&s;ed feet! Oh! I come to thee; not becau&s;e I am righteous, (for I would abhor my &s;elf for ever in the thought of it) but as a poor peri&s;h|ing &s;inner, the wor&s;t of &s;inners, an hypocritical &s;in|ner: Oh! that I could take hold of thy <HI>righteou&s;|ne&s;s,</HI> to cover my naked Soul; I expect it only upon the account of thy <HI>Free-Grace;</HI> Oh Lord, I come un|to thee, do not, do not reject me.</P>
<P>And thus I have been endeavouring to lay the &s;inner before Je&s;us Chri&s;t in &s;uch a po&s;ture, having proved him under the Law, excu&s;ele&s;s in his tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ing of it, guilty before God, under an impo&s;&s;ibi|lity of reaching to an acceptance with God, by the be&s;t keeping of the Law; laboured to beat him off &s;uch props and confidences that the Heart naturally cleaves to, and &s;tript him of all, naked as <HI>Adam,</HI> when he had &s;inned before the Lord, as <HI>nothing el&s;e but a Sinner,</HI> which is that I have driven at. I now come to &s;peak of the way of a poor Souls ju&s;tification, and acceptance with God, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as the Lord &s;hall a&s;&s;i&s;t, to the capacity of the weake&s;t.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<PB N="103" REF="53">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>ROM. 3.24.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Being ju&s;tified freely by his Grace, through the Redemption that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>I Am now come to open the Go&s;pel-righteou&s;|ne&s;s, wherein a poor &s;inner finds acceptance with God; which in <HI>ver.</HI> 21. of this third of the <HI>Romans,</HI> is &s;aid to be <HI>now manife&s;ted;</HI> that is, more fully manife&s;ted by the Revelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the Go&s;pel, being witne&s;&s;ed (before) by the Law and the Prophets, <HI>Even the righteou&s;ne&s;s of God, which is by the Faith of Je&s;us Chri&s;t unto all, and upon all them that believe,</HI> ver. 22. called the righ|teou&s;ne&s;s of God; <HI>namely,</HI> that whereby God doth only ju&s;tifie and accept of a Sinner, wrought forth by the obedience of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and made over and <HI>imputed</HI> to a poor Soul that doth embrace it by <HI>Faith,</HI> whether Jew or Gentile, outwardly righte|ous or profane: All that ever come to God, mu&s;t come this way, and &s;tand before him in this <HI>Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> or peri&s;h for ever; which I &s;hall begin to open from <HI>ver.</HI> 24, 25.</P>
<Q><P N="1">1. <HI>Being ju&s;tified freely by his grace, through the Redemption that is in Je&s;us Chei&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Whom God hath &s;et forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood,</HI> &amp;c.</P></Q>
<P>We have endeavoured, in the former Di&s;cour&s;e, to go along with the Apo&s;tle, in proving, that by all the Deeds of the Law, all the be&s;t Obedience that a &s;inner can reach unto, he cannot be ju&s;tified before
<PB N="104" REF="54">
God, neither in part, nor in whole, that your good deeds will not procure pardon, nor poi&s;e down your &s;ins, but all, by the Law, equally under condemna|tion.</P>
<P>Of what importance then is it for poor condem|ned &s;ouls to be well acquainted with, and really and practically inve&s;ted in that way of ju&s;tification, that God in infinite wi&s;dom, mercy and love, hath &s;et forth in the Go&s;pel, which is that I now de|&s;ign.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tles arguing is thus: If all fall &s;hort of righteou&s;ne&s;s, and acceptance with God, by their own obedience; if all have &s;inned, and come &s;hort of the glory of God, then are all, and that equally, condemned: If &s;o condemned, then acceptance with God, and ju&s;tification, and remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, mu&s;t come in another way: The Ri&s;e and Foun|tain of which, mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily be Gods free mercy and grace: If made righteous, it mu&s;t be in the <HI>righteou&s;ne&s;s</HI> of another, wrought forth by <HI>another:</HI> Ju&s;tice mu&s;t be &s;atisfied by <HI>another,</HI> a price paid to God for a &s;inners redemption by <HI>another,</HI> which is Je&s;us Chri&s;t, ble&s;&s;ed for ever.</P>
<P>From the words then, I &s;hall fir&s;t lay down this plain Ob&s;ervation, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P>Ob&s;erv. <HI>Gods free mercy and grace is the fir&s;t Foun|tain of any &s;inners &s;alvation;</HI> or, <HI>'Tis upon the account of Gods free grace that any &s;inner is &s;aved.</HI></P>
<P>Thus runs the current of the whole Go&s;pel, the main de&s;ign of the Go&s;pel being to glorifie the riches of Gods Free-grace by Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Among many other Scriptures the Apo&s;tle doth mo&s;t convincingly di&s;cour&s;e in <HI>Rom.</HI> 5. from the 15th. to the end; &s;et|ting the Free-grace of God unto Ju&s;tification, in op|po&s;ition
<PB N="105" REF="54">
to a &s;inners condemnation; <HI>But not as the offence, &s;o al&s;o is the free gift; for if through the of|fence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Je&s;us Chri&s;t, hath abounded unto many.</HI> To the &s;ame import runs the re&s;t of the ver&s;es, <HI>The free gift of many unto Ju&s;ti|fication, much more they which receive abundance of grace, and the gift of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;hall reign in life by one Je|&s;us Chri&s;t:</HI> All of <HI>Grace,</HI> and of <HI>Free-gift, abundance of Grace,</HI> from fir&s;t to la&s;t; <HI>That as &s;in reigned unto death, &s;o might Grace reign through Righteou&s;ne&s;s unto eternal life, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord,</HI> ver&s;e la&s;t. So the Apo&s;tle in that Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Ephe&s;ians,</HI> wherein the Doctrine of Grace is ble&s;&s;edly given forth, drives all the <HI>&s;piritual ble&s;&s;ings in heavenly things in Chri&s;t,</HI> mentioned <HI>Chap.</HI> 1.3. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to this ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Foun|tain,</HI> Chap. 2.4. &amp;c. <HI>But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in &s;ins hath quickned us together with Chri&s;t, (for by Grace ye are &s;aved;)</HI> &s;o ver&s;e 7. <HI>That in the Ages to come, he might &s;hew the exceeding riches of his Grace;</HI> and ver. 8. <HI>For by grace ye are &s;aved, it is the gift of God.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore the invitation of the Go&s;pel to &s;inners runs upon this &s;core; <HI>Ho, Every one that thir&s;teth, come to the Waters of Life,</HI> I&s;a. 55.1. And, <HI>Who&s;oever will, let him come to the Water of life freely,</HI> Revel. 22.17.</P>
<P>I might illu&s;trate this in all the particulars of a &s;inners &s;alvation, God's fore-ordaining and choo|&s;ing any to &s;alvation, 'twas <HI>to the prai&s;e of the glory of his grace,</HI> Eph. 1, 5, 6. The gift of his Eternal Son Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, from free love and grace, <HI>John</HI> 3.16. The New Covenant, and all the Promi&s;es of it, freely gi|ven
<PB N="106" REF="55">
out for his <HI>own Names</HI> &s;ake, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36. Effectual Calling, from free grace, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.9. The gift of Faith, actual Ju&s;tification, <HI>Tit.</HI> 3.7. Sanctification, Per&s;everance, Eternal Life and Glory, all flowing from the &s;ame fountain of Free-grace: Some Rea|&s;ons of the De&s;ign of the Ble&s;&s;ed God in this, may be gathered from the Scriptures:</P>
<P>The Free-grace of God is the Fountain of all, in any &s;inners &s;alvation;</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e, <HI>There is nothing in the Creature that may move God to &s;ave him:</HI> Nothing at all, all we know or do, could not move God to mercy, <HI>Deut.</HI> 7.7, 8. <HI>The Lord did not &s;et his love upon you, becau&s;e you were more in number than any people, but becau&s;e he freely loved you,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Not for your &s;ake do I do this,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.32.</P>
<P N="2">2. As God &s;aw nothing in him, &s;o the &s;inner is <HI>able to bring nothing to God,</HI> to draw out mercy of his own, therefore &s;aith the Lord, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 55.1. let him come without his price: As the &s;inner lo&s;t all his good, &s;o he can procure none anew to bring to God, that may in the lea&s;t move the heart of God to give out more to him.</P>
<P N="3">3. If it were not all of Grace, <HI>then the Creature would have occa&s;ion of boa&s;ting;</HI> but the Lord in infi|nite wi&s;dom, &s;o laid the Project of a &s;inners Salva|tion, that no Creature &s;hould have the lea&s;t ground of boa&s;ting: So the Apo&s;tle having given out the Doctrine of Grace in this Scripture we are upon, draws this conclu&s;ion, <HI>ver.</HI> 27. <HI>Where is boa&s;ting then? It is excluded,</HI> &amp;c. So in the 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.29. the Ho|ly Gho&s;t lays down this as the main &s;cope of God in the Go&s;pel: That, <HI>No fle&s;h &s;hould glory in his pre&s;ence,</HI> Therefore Salvation is all of Grace, of Free-grace.</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="107" REF="55">4. If it were not &s;o, <HI>The glory of God would not be &s;o great in the Salvation of a &s;inner.</HI> 'Tis now &s;o laid, that all might be, <HI>to the prai&s;e of the glory of his Grace,</HI> Ephe&s;. 1.6. It being the highe&s;t piece of glo|ry, that the Wi&s;e and Ble&s;&s;ed God did ever de&s;ign unto him&s;elf, that his free, rich, abundant, infinite grace might be made known in the Salvation of a Sinner: <HI>That he might make known the riches of his glory on the Ve&s;&s;els of Mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,</HI> Rom. 9.23.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. If God's Free-grace be the Fountain of all in a poor Sinners Salvation, then let it e&s;tabli&s;h our judgments in this Doctrine: Therefore God had no re&s;pect to any fore-&s;ight of Faith or Works in the Creature; God had no re&s;pect to the freene&s;s of his Will, for he knew he had none: God had no re&s;pect to any conditions to be wrought in us; but all he did, and doth, was from ab&s;olute Independing Grace: Nothing moved him but his own Free-grace. The &s;ame Free-grace that pardons, <HI>gives</HI> and <HI>works,</HI> all in us; all from the &s;ame Fountain.</P>
<P N="2">2. If all be of Free-grace, then there is no <HI>meri|torious procuring</HI> Cau&s;e in us, that <HI>moves</HI> the Lord to mercy: Now the contrary is naturally rooted in our hearts, poor Souls are mo&s;t apt to conceive, that if they can grieve for their &s;ins, repent, and re|form, this will &s;ure <HI>move</HI> God to mercy and pardon. A mo&s;t dangerous &s;nare, from which a Soul, after much conviction, is hardly wrought off: Now, though God in the way of a &s;inners Salvation, hath promi|&s;ed to give Repentance, <HI>Act.</HI> 5.31. and a <HI>Spirit of mourning for &s;in:</HI> Yet a poor &s;oul mu&s;t take heed that he make not this a <HI>procuring</HI> cau&s;e of Pardon:
<PB N="108" REF="56">
Many a Soul &s;ticks here, before <HI>emptied</HI> of him&s;elf, even of his very repenting, and &s;o come for grace and mercy, upon the account of the Free-promi&s;e only: How many a Sinner might have been &s;aved, if he would have been &s;aved <HI>freely?</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. If God hath &s;o laid the De&s;ign to &s;ave a Sinner freely, then how great, how ju&s;t is the Condemnation of guilty &s;inners, that will not ha&s;ten in unto it; how could the Lord have laid it more <HI>freely</HI> than he hath? Oh that any &s;inner, for ever condemned to Hell without it, &s;hould with&s;tand it! Why &s;inner? Shall the ble&s;&s;ed God, that might have much glory in condemning thee to all Eternity, be willing to &s;ave thee freely; and wilt thou not come and bow unto him, and accept of it? All the contempt of God in all his holy Commands, is not like this, to turn the back upon <HI>Free</HI>-Mercy, <HI>Free</HI>-Salvation: This will be the Worm that never dies, to any of your Souls that &s;hall not come into, and rightly accept of Go|&s;pel-Salvation, that you might have been &s;aved free|ly, have had grace, remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Spirit, Eternal Life freely, and yet turned your backs upon it? But you may demand, How is it that any &s;inner doth &s;o? What is it that cau&s;eth any Soul to forego Free-grace and Mercy, when held out unto him, that we may beware of &s;uch hinderances?</P>
<P>I will therefore &s;hew you &s;uch Hinderances, that keep Souls from accepting of God's Free-grace in Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, when held out unto them.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Wilful Ob&s;tinacy,</HI> Joh. 5.40. <HI>Ye will not come unto me, that you might have life: Ye will not;</HI> &s;uch is the &s;tubborne&s;s and rebellion of the heart of a &s;in|ner, that he will not, as we &s;peak, becau&s;e he will not; to &s;uch a height hath &s;in rai&s;ed the heart of the re|bellious
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children of men; for every natural man, till made &s;en&s;ible of unbelief, thinks he hath power of him&s;elf, (though he hath not) but his Rebellion lies in his Will: <HI>I would have gathered you, and you would not,</HI> Mat. 33. la&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. A &s;inner doth not accept of Free-grace, <HI>becau&s;e he &s;tands upon his &s;elf-ju&s;tification;</HI> he will not be per|&s;waded he hath &s;o much need of all Free-grace, as the Go&s;pel di&s;covers; as hath been &s;hewed at large, though he hath &s;inned, yet al&s;o he hath obeyed, and &s;o he puts one again&s;t the other, his obedience again&s;t his &s;in, and &s;o hopes to get that mercy he hath need of. And upon this ground, more &s;inners, even that profe&s;s the Name of God, do mi&s;s of Hea|ven, than any other in the World: 'Tis not &s;o ea&s;ie a matter to &s;ubmit to God's Free-grace alone, as many do imagine: Upon this Snare, many of the Jewi&s;h Profe&s;&s;ors of Chri&s;t fell &s;hort, as 'tis clear from the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Galathians,</HI> and did fru&s;trate the grace of God.</P>
<P N="3">3. A Sinner hath a &s;ecret thought of <HI>making God &s;atisfaction,</HI> by his &s;orrow and amendment, and &s;o makes void the Free-grace of God: 'Tis the ea&s;ie&s;t thing in the World to put up legal &s;orrow, and amendment of life to God, as that which may make God amends; yea, to make an <HI>attonement</HI> of every Duty, which is the clo&s;e&s;t and mo&s;t de&s;perate evil of the heart: So did the Jew by his &s;acrifices and obedi|ence, which cau&s;ed the Lord to pronounce them, <HI>That his &s;oul loathed them,</HI> I&s;a. 1.</P>
<P N="4">4. A Sinner doth not &s;avingly clo&s;e with free grace, <HI>from &s;ecret pride of heart,</HI> he would not be
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found &s;o poor and helple&s;s, &s;o unrighteous and ungra|cious, as to be beholden to free mercy for all; ma|ny per&s;ons will rather &s;tarve than beg, than live up|on another mans mercy: 'Tis &s;o between a &s;inner and the Lord, till God humble him, he'd rather venture Hell, than come and acknowledge utter Condemna|tion, nothing but &s;in upon him, and &s;o &s;toop to free mercy.</P>
<P N="5">5. The &s;inner &s;tands off from Free-grace, <HI>becau&s;e he will make his own terms:</HI> He will <HI>condition</HI> for his carnal ca&s;e, his &s;elf-intere&s;t, his bo&s;om lu&s;t, the love of the World, and hopes God will allow him his terms, which he propo&s;eth to him&s;elf; and herein he is ruined. Now God hath drawn up the tenour of his free-grace in the way of a Covenant, and though there are no conditions left to the crea|ture to make good on his part, by his own power, (for that will ea&s;ily imply a &s;elf-&s;ufficiency in him, and is ab&s;olutely derogatory from the grace of God in the Go&s;pel-Covenant) yet God hath drawn up (as I may &s;o &s;peak) what other good things he will be|&s;tow on the &s;ubjects of his free-grace, Namely, The Law to be new written in their hearts, the gift of the Spirit, Newne&s;s of heart, with the making good of all tho&s;e promi&s;es, in a degree, that hold forth Holine&s;s and new Obedience, which mu&s;t ac|company the free pardon of &s;ins, and make indeed the free grace of God more glorious: Ina&s;much as when he pardons them he will &s;ave them from the &s;ervice of &s;in, work his Image upon them, bring them to a ble&s;&s;ed conformity to him&s;elf, which con&s;i|der'd aright, &s;weetens and heightens the free-grace of God, and makes the terms of it more ble&s;&s;ed. In a word, Mercy and Holine&s;s mu&s;t go together, a Savi|our
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and Sanctifier, which a &s;inner from the cur&s;ed love of ea&s;e and &s;atisfaction to his lu&s;t &s;ticks at, and &s;o comes not up to Gods terms, (which are ble&s;&s;ed and holy) and &s;o mi&s;&s;eth of grace and mercy for e|ver, becau&s;e he choo&s;eth Sin rather than Holi|ne&s;s.</P>
<P N="6">6. Yea, a &s;inner (and I &s;peak all this while of &s;uch as pretend to an intere&s;t in free mercy) mi&s;&s;eth of this grace, <HI>becau&s;e he takes up the terms of God in his Covenant-grace in his own &s;trength,</HI> will repent and come up to new obedience before he comes to the promi&s;e, to the free grace of God for it; which is al&s;o a dangerous &s;nare. A Sinners fir&s;t work (be|ing convinced as we have opened) is to throw him|&s;elf upon the free grace of God for all, to give all, to work all, and to follow God by vertue of Promi|&s;es, of &s;uch good and Grace as the tenour of the Co|venant holds forth: 'Tis an u&s;ual thing for poor Souls fir&s;t to think to convert them&s;elves, make them&s;elves holy, and then come to God, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t, this is an indirect cour&s;e, Oh! a poor Soul mu&s;t begin at the Foundation of Gods free Grace, for Chri&s;t, for Pardon, for the Spirit, for Conver&s;ion, for Holine&s;s, for all, as held out in Promi&s;es, and then the work will be &s;ure, and pro&s;per, and nought &s;hall hinder it.</P>
<P N="7">7. Sinners fail of this free Grace of God, from a neglect and a &s;leighting of it, <HI>Heb.</HI> 2.3. <HI>How &s;hall you e&s;cape, if you neglect &s;o great &s;alvation?</HI> Sinners do hear that, though they are &s;inners and condemned, in a damnable e&s;tate, yet Je&s;us Chri&s;t will &s;ave them; if they will come unto him, &s;it them for Heaven, and do it him&s;elf for them, and in them; yet
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through a de&s;perate folly, &s;ecurity and carele&s;s tem|per, the heart being in a dead &s;leep, they wretched|ly neglect it.</P>
<P N="8">8. From the power of Unbelief, which they are under, and &s;ee it not.</P>
<P>Thus have I &s;hewed tho&s;e &s;pecial hindrances that cau&s;e poor Souls that hear of Go&s;pel-grace to with|&s;tand it, and for ever to mi&s;s of it.</P>
<P>Oh that this word of the Lord might find you out, and might be as a gla&s;s to &s;hew you your own hearts; you who by a wilful ob&s;tinacy have with|&s;tood the Go&s;pel-calls hitherto, Oh, now fall down before the Lord, and cry, I yield, I yield, thou ble&s;|&s;ed <HI>God,</HI> thy Patience, thy free&s;t Grace hath over|come me; Lord, take away a rebellious ob&s;tinate heart from me! Ah Lord! Thou ha&s;t waited to be gracious, and Chri&s;t, and Mercy, and Heaven have been offered to &s;o vile a Wretch freely: Now, Lord, I throw my &s;elf at thy feet, a thou&s;and Hells are too good for me: But if grace, infinite grace, be free, there's yet hope for me. If there be not grace enough in Heaven for me, let me go to the depth of Hell But Lord, I take hold of thee, I de&s;ire to do it Oh, do thou take hold of me, and I &s;hall not peri&s;h.</P>
<P>You who have &s;tood upon your terms, and hoped you had righteou&s;ne&s;s enough to cover you, and <HI>God</HI> would look upon that, and not upon your &s;in, you are the mo&s;t abominable in God's &s;ight: You, who &s;ecretly in your hearts think your &s;orrowing and reforming, makes God amends: You who have wrapt your &s;elves in the&s;e Cobwebs, and through pride of heart, will not lay them down; Oh, if thou wilt have mercy, thou mu&s;t have all in a way of
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mercy and grace, all freely, or nothing at all; &s;ee all thy righteou&s;ne&s;s made void by one &s;in again&s;t the Law, and therefore cur&s;ed and condemned by it; therefore thou ha&s;t no Plea but free mercy and grace: Oh lay down all thy other Pleas, they will never be heard in Heaven! and now cry out, Oh 'tis of grace! Proud &s;elfi&s;h Wretch that I have been; 'tis all of free grace, if ever I am &s;aved: If God can|not pardon freely, be&s;tow Je&s;us Chri&s;t freely, I am undone for ever: Oh the wicked ca&s;tings of my heart this way and that way! Oh there's nothing, nothing but infinite mi&s;ery to move mercy! All my goodne&s;s is an accur&s;ed thing as from my &s;elf: There's an infinite Fountain of &s;in and &s;elf-righteou&s;|ne&s;s in men: Oh could I come to an infinite Foun|tain of grace! Thus thou wilt come to God, when he &s;hall &s;mite thy heart, which now look up unto him to do.</P>
<P>You who have been making your own terms of ea&s;e, and lu&s;ts, and world: Oh render up your hearts to the gracious, ble&s;&s;ed, holy terms, that God pro|po&s;eth: Why &s;hould&s;t thou not be willing to be made holy? Why &s;hould not the Lord rather rule thee than &s;in and the Devil? What more beautiful and glorious than the Image of God? Oh accept of Holine&s;s with Mercy, through the Lord Je|&s;us Chri&s;t! Come unto him for both; be willing to be &s;et apart for God, a Ve&s;&s;el purged and &s;anctified for his u&s;e, and thou &s;halt behold the face of God &s;hining upon thee; and whatever is laid up in Chri&s;t, in Promi&s;es, in Heaven and Glory, &s;hall be thine.</P>
<P>You who have thought to make your &s;elves holy, and then come to Chri&s;t to be ju&s;tified; be convin|ced of your great Error, and now come as <HI>&s;inners</HI> to
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Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be ju&s;tified and &s;anctified in him, and &s;ee all grace laid up in Je&s;us Chri&s;t for &s;uch as come unto him. Say, Oh ble&s;&s;ed Lord Je&s;us, I cannot fit my &s;elf for thee! If thou can&s;t not accept me as a poor undone helple&s;s &s;inner, coming unto thee, I ne|ver expect a ble&s;&s;ing from thee.</P>
<P>And you who have &s;leighted this free, rich and glorious grace, &s;ee what you have done, and be aba|&s;ed for it; &s;ee how you ca&s;t back mercy upon the face of God, who would freely be reconciled with you, pa&s;s by all the grievous injuries you have done him, enter into a Covenant with you, be&s;tow his Chri&s;t upon you, fit you for communion with him|&s;elf here and for ever: And all this you have &s;leigh|ted, and yet mu&s;t unavoidably be for ever damned without it. Sinner, who can plead for thee, when thou &s;halt go on to de&s;pi&s;e, neglect, &s;light &s;uch grace? To Hell, without pity of God, Angels or Men, when free&s;t mercy and grace &s;hall be &s;lighted.</P>
<P>I do therefore &s;tand this day in the Name of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, to acquaint you, that he will &s;ave you freely, if you will come unto him, be your &s;ins what they will, &s;o you come not as righteous, but as &s;inners to him; &s;o you take his Righteou&s;ne&s;s to cover you, and his Spirit of grace to unite you to him, and make you holy, and will give up your &s;elves unto him: All which he will help, if you will come and cry to him, yea, if you cannot come, he will draw you; if you are unwilling, he will make you willing, if you have no heart, he will <HI>give you heart:</HI> What more? Wretch|ed man or woman, that &s;hall &s;tand off one moment longer! Is not Hell too good for thee, if thou &s;hal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> now turn thy back upon &s;uch grace? Let me have your An&s;wers this day: Let me know that &s;inner that will go home re&s;olved to be as <HI>carele&s;s</HI> as he for|merly
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hath been, as well-opinioned of him&s;elf, as much re&s;olved again&s;t Holine&s;s, as thoughtle&s;s of be|ing damned, if he with&s;tand the Lord in his Free-grace one day more? Oh! Will not your hearts &s;tir? dead, &s;tupid Souls! Shall God's Free-grace, his Chri&s;t, go a begging this day, and will not a &s;in|ner come up to his terms? Old &s;inners, that are go|ing into the grave, and Hell too, will not you accept of Free-grace, of Chri&s;t, the Spirit, this day? that are upon the brink of the grave and everla&s;ting burnings, and have many a thou&s;and &s;ins yet unpar|doned? Is all this nothing to you? but re&s;t in a blind hope of mercy, without coming to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, without care of being made holy, and fit for Heaven: Oh, you have been fa&s;t a&s;leep in &s;in, deceived by your own hearts, abu&s;ed by the Devil, forty, fifty, &s;ixty years, Is't not time for you to bethink your &s;elves, to go and cry to the Ble&s;&s;ed God; Oh, Grace, Par|don, Chri&s;t, Heaven, upon any Terms! My righte|ou&s;ne&s;s I have tru&s;ted in are poor Cobwebs, my Confidences vain; Oh, for a drop of Free-mercy and grace, from that Ocean that is in God, and 'twere better than all I have done for Heaven yet: Oh Lord! Now, now I come to thee: Is there free-mercy and grace for one that hath &s;lighted it? Yea, though thou ha&s;t gone on frowardly in thy own heart, yet he can heal thee, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 57.17, 18.</P>
<P>And you that are younger, 'tis a de&s;perate thing now in times of Go&s;pel-Light, when it glares upon your faces, to &s;hut your eyes, to go on in the way of your own hearts, to &s;light Go&s;pel-Grace, to harden your &s;elves, and cry, hereafter, hereafter. Alas! thou knowe&s;t not what &s;hall be on the morrow; the Thread of thy life is quickly cut with a &s;troak from God. Be&s;ide, to go on long, from year to year, again&s;t
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the loud and frequent Call of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, again&s;t Convictions, that thou &s;hould&s;t do otherwi&s;e, is the way to be given up to utter hardne&s;s, and the Lord to move upon thy heart no more. There's a day of grace to every Soul, which if he &s;uffer to &s;et and go down upon him, he is irrecoverably lo&s;t for ever: Look to it, you younger men and maidens, that have yet no work upon you; that are the &s;ame you were, under the means you have lived; that have not the Spirit of grace and mourning upon you, when others are praying and wre&s;tling with the Lord, and taking the Kingdom of Heaven by violence. Oh up, and be &s;tirring, the day of grace hath &s;hined long upon you: Hold out no longer, <HI>Come, Come, Come,</HI> you carele&s;s Sons and Daughters, and the way is open to you: The door of Free-grace is open, Chri&s;ts Arms are open; you may be &s;aved and ble&s;&s;ed for ever, if you come in, now you are invited; I can take no excu&s;e: <HI>Come,</HI> or &s;ay, I am re&s;olved for Hell, and to venture the utmo&s;t in the condition I am in: Oh, bold and fearle&s;s Athei&s;m! What &s;hall I &s;ay to thee, if that be thy Re&s;olution? But I cannot be &s;o an&s;we|red: Say, you Sinners, as if I &s;hould name you; are you for Heaven, or Hell; for Free-grace, or your own patch'd-up righteou&s;ne&s;s; for carnal ea&s;e, or any Pains for Heaven; for your Lu&s;ts, or for Holine&s;s; for Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or the Devil? let thy heart an&s;wer in good earne&s;t this day.</P>
<P>Now &s;hall I at lea&s;t have this An&s;wer: Hold! I am re&s;olved for the Free-grace of God, for the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; If all the &s;inners in the Congregation, yea, in the World, &s;hould turn their backs upon him; The Word of the Lord hath overcome, Oh Lord Je|&s;us, may I come? &s;uch a Wretch as I come? Yea, &s;aith the Lord Je&s;us, <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.17. <HI>Who&s;oever will, let
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him come.</HI> Grace is as free as ever it was: Say then, Oh Lord, I come; draw me, and I will come: Into the Arms of Free-grace I throw my &s;elf, my Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s is an abominable thing: Ah! a Chri&s;t upon any terms; Oh let, let me creep unto thy Ble&s;&s;ed Feet; let me have the lowe&s;t Room in thy Heart: Take what way thou wilt to purge me, &s;o I may but get well unto thee. Now Lord, as much Holine&s;s as thou wilt, let thy precious blood wa&s;h me all over. Well, go thus, and acquaint the Lord Je&s;us with it from day to day; wait, he will &s;peak to thee, love to hear more from him, and of him in his Go|&s;pel, and thou bidde&s;t fair for Heaven; yea, there will pre&s;ently be joy in Heaven for thee.</P>
<P>In a word, I prote&s;t again&s;t you in the Name and Authority of God, and the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who hath &s;ent me, if you &s;hall with&s;tand the grace of God in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, freely, mo&s;t freely offered you, I &s;hall be a Witne&s;s again&s;t you: And if any &s;inners in the World &s;hall be certainly damned, you are they, who neglect this great Salvation: 'Tis come to this, I would, &s;aith Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and ye will not. What ado to have a &s;inner that's &s;inking to Hell, to come to the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be freely &s;aved? What &s;hould a guilty &s;inner do, but come to a free Saviour to be &s;aved, and accept of his terms (which are &s;o ble&s;&s;ed) with a thou&s;and hearts if he had them? Now &s;ay, how am I &s;traightned, till I get to him; I would go and weep my heart out to him, had I a heart to do it.</P>
<P>Now I leave what hath been &s;poken to the good plea&s;ure of God, and the work of his Power, who is able to &s;end away every Soul trembling and re&s;ign|ing up them&s;elves to him.</P>
<P>Only a word to any poor humbled doubting
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&s;oul, that thinks infinitely well of all this, but &s;aith in his heart, all this grace is too good for me, I have &s;inned again&s;t it, and &s;lighted it; I fear, whether ever I may be accepted. Oh remember, and con&s;i|der, that <HI>Grace</HI> were not <HI>Grace,</HI> if 'twere not free; God can &s;ave a &s;inner <HI>freely;</HI> that's enough to &s;tay thee; yea, though thou ha&s;t &s;lighted grace, (as where is the Saint but did &s;o, before effectually called?) yea God <HI>will</HI> &s;ave a &s;inner freely, that will come by Je&s;us Chri&s;t unto him. <HI>He will:</HI> What would'&s;t have more? Do not &s;tand rea&s;oning thus; but, if thou art a &s;inner, undone without him, ca&s;t off from thy own Confidences, go to him in the Name of God, and believe him upon his own Word: Say, I take thee, Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, upon thy own Word; thou &s;ay|e&s;t, <HI>Who&s;oever will, let him come:</HI> And Lord, therefore I come; I dur&s;t not come, were I not invited freely; and if I mu&s;t be &s;aved freely, if ever, then thou art to be&s;tow all, work all, begin and perfect all; Oh ble&s;&s;ed Lord, I come unto thee for it; go and do thus, and thou &s;halt be comforted, and rejoice in his Salva|tion.</P>
<P>I might al&s;o here pre&s;s ble&s;&s;ed Souls, who have been drawn to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and overcome by Free-grace to do it, to live in the Admiration of that grace, and to be low, and poor, and emptied in your &s;elves, in the abundant &s;en&s;e of it all your days. Let your enjoyments and attainments be what they will, be it known unto you, that by grace ye are &s;a|ved; and you had, and have as much need of it, as any &s;inner in the World. God's De&s;ign in &s;aving you, was to glorifie Grace, and it mu&s;t be your De&s;ign al&s;o here, and for ever.</P>
<P>Having thus opened, in &s;ome mea&s;ure, the grace of God, to be the Fountain of a &s;inner's Salvation, I
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&s;hall now proceed to di&s;cover the way of the con|veyance of this grace, which is by Je&s;us Chri&s;t: <HI>(Be|ing ju&s;tified freely by his grace, through the Redemp|tion that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t.)</HI> Though God re&s;olved to be&s;tow grace upon &s;uch as &s;hall be &s;aved freely, yet in a way of his own mo&s;t wi&s;e and ble&s;&s;ed De|&s;igning, by his Eternal Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to whom this Di&s;pen&s;ation of Grace was committed; which I &s;hall further open in this Doctrine: Namely,</P>
<P><HI>Doct.</HI> All that Grace and Mercy which <HI>GOD</HI> gives out freely to &s;inners, is conveyed to them by his Eternal Son, Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>I might be abundant in the proof of this: See in that 5th. of the <HI>Rom. v.</HI> 17, 21. &mdash; <HI>Much more they which receive abundance of Grace, and of the gift of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;hall reign in life by one Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> And ver&s;. 21. <HI>That as &s;in hath reigned unto death, even &s;o might Grace through Righteou&s;ne&s;s unto Eter|nal Life, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord:</HI> All the Grace that &s;hould reign unto Life is given out by one <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t. The Law was given by</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>but Grace and Truth came by Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Joh. 1.17. All the Trea|&s;ures of Grace were laid up in him; and therefore he &s;aith of him&s;elf, <HI>Matth.</HI> 11.27. <HI>All things are de|livered unto me of my Father, and none can come unto the Father but by me;</HI> which he makes as the great Argument why &s;inners &s;hould come unto him, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 28. Now, &s;o far as the Lord hath revealed the wi&s;e and holy Coun&s;els of his heart in his Word unto us, let us enquire into the Rea&s;ons why he took &s;uch a way to give all his grace to the children of men.</P>
<P><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 1. The fir&s;t is this, That as Mankind lo&s;t all in the Fall of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> as he was a publick
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per&s;on, repre&s;enting all that came of him: So it was the Wi&s;dom of God in the recovery of lo&s;t-man to bring forth another per&s;on, that &s;hould be fully &s;tockt with Grace and Righteou&s;ne&s;s, as a publique per|&s;on to repre&s;ent all the Elect unto the Father; upon which account Je&s;us Chri&s;t is called the <HI>Second A|dam,</HI> 1 Cor. 15. And the Apo&s;tle &s;ets the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> in his offence unto Death, and the Grace and Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as the Second <HI>Adam,</HI> one again&s;t the other, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.15, 16, &amp;c. <HI>For as by one mans Di&s;obedience many were made &s;inners; &s;o by the Obedience of one &s;hall many be made righteous:</HI> And &s;o the Apo&s;tle &s;ets the Life, Grace, Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as the <HI>Second Adam,</HI> again&s;t the Death, Condemnation, Di&s;obedience of the fir&s;t man that &s;inned in the &s;even la&s;t Ver&s;es of that Chapter. And herein the Wi&s;dom of the Father is mo&s;t excellently &s;et forth, and the ground of Con&s;olation to Believers laid upon a mo&s;t &s;ure Foundation: That what&s;oe|ver they lo&s;t in the <HI>Fir&s;t Adam,</HI> they recover with <HI>much more</HI> abundance in Je&s;us Chri&s;t; for &s;o the Apo&s;tle hath [that <HI>much more</HI>] in the Scrip|ture mentioned, three or four times; that Saints may &s;ee how abundantly compleat they are in Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 2. All Grace is conveyed by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, be|cau&s;e there needed a per&s;on to &s;tand between GOD and Sinners, as a <HI>Mediator</HI> to work forth Reconcilia|tion between them. Now who was meet but the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t to undertake this? He being the Eternal Son of God, equal with God, was near unto God. A meer creature was infinitely unfit for &s;uch an undertaking, and he being al&s;o the Son of man, cloathed in the nature of man; he thus partaking of the nature of God, who was to be appea&s;ed; and of
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the nature of Man, who was to be reconciled, he be|came a mo&s;t meet Undertaker of &s;o glorious a <HI>Work;</HI> Whence he hath that ble&s;&s;ed Title given him of <HI>Me|diator: Je&s;us the Mediator of a New Covenant,</HI> Heb. 12.24. <HI>There is one God, and one Mediator be|tween God and Man, the Man Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> 1 Tim. 2.5.</P>
<P N="3">3. God re&s;olved that his ble&s;&s;ed Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hould have the <HI>Honour</HI> in this ble&s;&s;ed Tran&s;action, to convey his Grace to lo&s;t Sinners, <HI>James</HI> 5.22, 23. <HI>That all men &s;hould honour the Son:</HI> So the Apo&s;tle fully, <HI>Col.</HI> 1.16, 17, 18, 19, 20. <HI>All things were for him:</HI> And <HI>that in all things he might have the preheminence,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>For by him, and to him, and for him are all things.</HI> This Honour the Father committed to the Son, to bring about this great Contrivance of bringing Man back again unto God.</P>
<P N="4">4. God letting out his Grace by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, ren|ders his love more <HI>abundant</HI> and <HI>acceptable</HI> to poor Sinners, <HI>John</HI> 3.16. <HI>God &s;o loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son,</HI> &amp;c. So loved it, that he could not give forth a greater manife&s;tation of his love. Now the Father purpo&s;ed to render his love to &s;inners, by the gift of his Son, mo&s;t full and glo|rious; and therefore gave him out of his Bo&s;om, and all the Riches of his Love and Grace by him.</P>
<P N="5">5. This way of the Father's Di&s;pen&s;ation of Grace by his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, hath rendered the Grace of God mo&s;t <HI>&s;ure and unchangeable</HI> to his own. The Co|venant of Grace being now e&s;tabli&s;hed between the Father and Je&s;us Chri&s;t; Je&s;us Chri&s;t being the Un|dertaker in it for all the Father gave him, it is cer|tainly founded upon a &s;ure Bottom: This was the Fathers Promi&s;e, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 42.6. &mdash; <HI>I will give him for a Covenant to the People.</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as a common
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per&s;on, did repre&s;ent all the Elect in the Covenant, as the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> in the fir&s;t Covenant did repre&s;ent all his; and Je&s;us Chri&s;t did undertake to bring them to God, to bring them into the Covenant, and &s;o to e&s;tate them in all the grace, and Mercy, and Ble&s;&s;ing of it; Therefore the Mercies of the Covenant are &s;ti|led, <HI>The &s;ure mercies of David,</HI> I&s;a, 55.3. As a Type of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, coming of the Seed of <HI>David,</HI> where|in is &s;et forth the excellency of the New Covenant, the whole Tran&s;action of it entru&s;ted in the hands of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and therefore not one drop of the Mercy of it, can ever fail tho&s;e that are taken in|to it.</P>
<P N="6">6. By the giving forth of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the whole of Go&s;pel-Salvation is rendered more glorious: The Wi&s;dom, Ju&s;tice, Holine&s;s of God, as well as Mercy and Love, do &s;hine forth in Je&s;us Chri&s;t: And there|fore the Go&s;pel-My&s;tery is &s;tyled, <HI>The manifold Wi&s;dom of God,</HI> Ephe&s;. 3.10. Every Attribute of God is glorified in the giving out of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="7">7. Yea, had not God taken this way of making out him&s;elf by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the world had dwelt in gro&s;s darkne&s;s of him; therefore Je&s;us Chri&s;t is &s;ty|led, <HI>The Image of the Invi&s;ible God,</HI> Col. 1.15. <HI>The ex|pre&s;s Image of the Father; The brightne&s;s of his glory,</HI> Heb. 1. And in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.6. <HI>The light of the knowledge of the Glory of God,</HI> is &s;aid, <HI>to &s;hine in the face of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> The Creation is but a dark &s;hadow of the glo|ry of <HI>God,</HI> as to what is revealed of <HI>God</HI> in the mani|fe&s;tation of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> There are the <HI>Foot&s;teps</HI> of <HI>God</HI> in the Creatures, but his Character and Image in his Ble&s;&s;ed Son <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="8">8. There could not have been acce&s;s to <HI>God,</HI> but by <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t; for through him we both have acce&s;s by one
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Spirit unto the Father,</HI> Eph. 1.18. How could polluted Du&s;t draw nigh to the ab&s;olute Maje&s;ty and Glory of <HI>God,</HI> had not he let forth him&s;elf in <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> as in our own Nature, and &s;o makes way for a poor &s;inner to come before him.</P>
<P N="9">9. Had <HI>God</HI> let forth Mercy to Sinners, and not given out his Son <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t, his ju&s;tice mu&s;t have been violated,</HI> which is the main of all. The word of the Lord was ab&s;olute; <HI>In the day that thou eate&s;t thereof thou &s;halt dye,</HI> Gen. 2.17. which was meant of the Eternal Death of the Soul, in its &s;eparation from the life of <HI>God;</HI> as is clear in <HI>Rom.</HI> 5. la&s;t. where grace unto eternal life by <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> is put in oppo&s;ition to that death which was by &s;in, which mu&s;t therefore needs be meant of Eternal Death. So <HI>Rom.</HI> 6. <HI>ver.</HI> la&s;t. Now this Death mu&s;t be executed upon all the Po|&s;terity of <HI>Adam,</HI> or el&s;e God mu&s;t take &s;ome other way to &s;atisfie his Ju&s;tice, he will &s;ave the Sinner, which was upon his own Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t; as will further be evidenced in the following Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P N="10">10. The ble&s;&s;ed <HI>God</HI> took this way of letting out him&s;elf, his Grace, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that thereby <HI>Saints might have &V;nion with him,</HI> which was a holy De&s;ign of the Father in &s;aving them; &mdash; <HI>That they may be one in us,</HI> John 17.21. The deepe&s;t and mo&s;t unconceiv|able My&s;tery in our Salvation: Now Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as the Eternal Son of <HI>God,</HI> taking upon him our natures, we became capable of being united to him, through the Spirit, and made one with the humane nature of Chri&s;t, whereby we are al&s;o united to the <HI>God-head,</HI> and &s;o become one with the Father and the Son, which is the top of the Saints perfection.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. Now what hath been &s;aid, as to the grounds and rea&s;ons of God, in giving out his eternal Son, and letting forth all grace by him, may &s;erve to ac|quaint
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us with this rich and glorious My&s;tery, as it is &s;tyled, <HI>Col.</HI> 1.27. Namely, <HI>God reconciling the world by Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> letting forth the knowledge of him&s;elf, glorifying all his Attributes, making &s;uch di&s;cove|ries of his Glory, providing &s;uch a way of Mediati|on, &s;uch a glorious Mediator, laying the ble&s;&s;ed pro|ject of a &s;inners glorious Salvation &s;o &s;ure, rendring his love &s;o acceptable and glorious, making way for free acce&s;s unto him&s;elf, and how we might become one with him: Oh! the depths of the Wi&s;dom and Love of God; which of them may we ad|mire mo&s;t? Well may Angels pry into this Holy My&s;tery, well may it be the a&s;toni&s;hment of Hea|ven and Earth, of the whole Creation: How much more of a &s;inner, for who&s;e &s;ake it was thus ordered! Oh, that we might fall upon our faces, and adore the Wi&s;dom and Grace of God, in &s;uch a contrivance as this, Oh, unmea&s;urable Goodne&s;s! unfathomed Wi&s;|dom! Eternity is but enough to admire it! To be|hold God in Chri&s;t, will be the vi&s;ion which the &s;ouls of ble&s;&s;ed Saints will be wrapt up into, to all Eter|nity.</P>
<P N="2">2. Oh! therefore what infinite Mercy is it to be brought forth in the New-Te&s;tament-times, when the My&s;tery hid in God, hid from ages, <HI>kept &s;ecret &s;ince the world began,</HI> 1 Cor. 16.25. is brought to light, and &s;parkling upon the darkne&s;s of the world; when the glory of God is ri&s;en upon the World: Now if <HI>this Go&s;pel be hid, 'tis hid to them that are lo&s;t,</HI> 2 Cor. 4.3. Wo unto them that clo&s;e their eyes, when the light &s;hines round about them; Oh, you that yet &s;it in darkne&s;s, and the &s;hadow of death, Ari&s;e, Awake, look up, that Go&s;pel-light may &s;hine into you; Oh cry, and wait that your eyes may be open|ed to behold God coming forth, in the Revelation of
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Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the glorious Go&s;pel, wait for the Spirit, and that the Go&s;pel in the preaching of it may become <HI>the mini&s;tration of the Spirit,</HI> 2 Cor. 3.8. Oh guilty world, that &s;o &s;light the Knowledge of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and contemn the Mini&s;tration of it; wo unto them.</P>
<P N="3">3. If God doth let forth no Grace and Mercy, but by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, it may &s;erve to <HI>unbottom poor &s;ouls</HI> from a general carnal hope of Mercy, not being ac|quainted with the way of Grace by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, nor coming as lo&s;t &s;inners in them&s;elves to be found in Chri&s;t, and ju&s;tified by Je&s;us Chri&s;t; this they ut|terly neglect, having an empty notion of Chri&s;t's dy|ing, but know not for what; and upon what grounds and how a &s;inner gets to God by him; Oh! let this reprove you for this gro&s;s and damnable neglect, and convince you that all your pretended hopes of Mercy will vani&s;h, unle&s;s you learn the Knowledge of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="4">4. And therefore, If no way to the Father, no In|tere&s;t in Mercy, no acce&s;s to God? but by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, let it &s;erve to teach poor ignorant &s;inners, yea all of us, how to get to God, to Mercy, into his Covenant; Oh! No way but by Je&s;us Chri&s;t; Oh! I can never come to the pre&s;ence of God's Maje&s;ty, but by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who is appointed Mediator to bring a poor &s;inner to him&s;elf, to make way for him into the pre&s;ence of God, to conveigh Mercy and Grace to a poor &s;inner; Oh, &s;ay, that I could ac|quaint my &s;elf with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, take hold of his skirts, and he will bring me into the favour, love, co|venant, vi&s;ion, union of God; this is the <HI>way</HI> for a &s;inner to come unto him, <HI>John</HI> 14.6.</P>
<P N="5">5. Let it call upon Saints that know Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the Spirit, that they do not grow <HI>&s;trangers</HI> to him,
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that they <HI>neglect</HI> not Je&s;us Chri&s;t: Oh! Neglect him not in his ble&s;&s;ed Mediation, Grace, Love, Fel|low&s;hip, Appearance, Ordinances: 'Tis a grievous thing, and very apt are Saints to it, to neglect Je&s;us Chri&s;t; Oh! &s;till know and con&s;ider, that as your acce&s;s to God was by him at fir&s;t, &s;o it is &s;till; His Mediation for you, his love and grace, and fellow&s;hip, is as good as ever, as precious as it ever was; there|fore have high and precious thoughts of him, of your ble&s;&s;ed acce&s;s to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The next thing that I come to open is, how Je&s;us Chri&s;t wrought forth Salvation and Ju&s;tification for a Sinner, &s;o that the free grace of God might by him be freely let out upon a &s;inner, namely, the work of his <HI>Redemption, [through the Redemption that is in Je|&s;us Chri&s;t,]</HI> ver&s;e 24.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not in&s;i&s;t upon the many difficulties that the wi&s;dom of the fle&s;h hath &s;tarted about the <HI>word</HI> or <HI>work</HI> of our Redemption, but endeavour, as I have promi&s;ed, to give it out in a plain, Scriptural, practical manner, for the u&s;e of poor &s;inners.</P>
<P>Redemption &s;ignifies a deliverance from Captivi|ty, by a price or ran&s;om laid down.</P>
<P>Man had &s;inn'd him&s;elf into captivity, and a ju&s;t condemnation; God from his own free Mercy, was willing he &s;hould be &s;et at Liberty, but this &s;hould not be done but by a <HI>price</HI> or <HI>ran&s;om</HI> being paid to God, which was the intervening <HI>death</HI> of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who being the eternal Son of God, came down from Heaven, took upon him the nature of man, was wil|ling to &s;tand in the room of &s;inners, bearing their &s;ins, in the undergoing the puni&s;hment for them, whereby God <HI>laid upon</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t <HI>the Iniquities of all</HI> that &s;hall be &s;aved, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 53.6. proceeded again&s;t him as if he had been the &s;inner, in a way of Ju&s;tice,
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executed his wrath upon him; Thus he is &s;aid to dye <HI>for</HI> the &s;ins of his own, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.15. <HI>Heb.</HI> 9.15. and to give him&s;elf <HI>for us,</HI> and to give his life a ran|&s;om <HI>for</HI> many, which death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t is &s;tyled an <HI>expiatory Sacrifice, an attonement and Propitiation,</HI> all which, do imply, that by the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> was made to the infinite Ju&s;tice of God, as if the &s;inners that are &s;aved by it, had &s;uffe|red the utmo&s;t of Divine Ju&s;tice in their own per&s;ons; Thus much may &s;erve briefly, to open the nature of Chri&s;t's Redemption.</P>
<P>The Doctrine I &s;hall lay down from the words will be this.</P>
<P>Doct. <HI>To the Salvation and Ju&s;tification of a &s;inner, (in order to God's letting out his free grace upon him) there was required the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as a price laid down to the ju&s;tice of God for his Redemption.</HI></P>
<P>I might urge many more Texts be&s;ides what have been named, As 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.18, 19. &mdash; <HI>Re|deemed not with &s;ilver and gold,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>but with the pre|cious blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Eph. 1.7. Col. 1.14. <HI>In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgivene&s;s of our &s;ins:</HI> This was it which was typi|fied by all the Sacrifices in the Old-Te&s;tament-Di&s;|pen&s;ation, as in the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Hebrews</HI> at large; e&s;pecially in the 9th. Chapter, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 12, 13, 14, 22. &mdash; <HI>And almo&s;t all things are by the Law purged with blood, and without &s;hedding of blood is no remi&s;|&s;ion.</HI></P>
<P>From hence the Rea&s;ons of Divine Wi&s;dom, thus proceeding, &s;o far as revealed in the Word, will be clear.</P>
<P><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 1. That the <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> of God might be glo|rified
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in the Salvation of &s;inners, as well as <HI>Mercy.</HI> Now there being <HI>attonement</HI> made to <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> by the <HI>death</HI> of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God hath a &s;hare in the glory of mans Salvation, with the Grace and Mercy of God.</P>
<P N="2">2. The <HI>Purity</HI> and <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> of God's ju&s;tice did re|quire it, which being violated by the &s;in of Man, it was mo&s;t equal that &s;atisfaction be made, which no meer creature was able to do; and therefore the eternal Son of God, ble&s;&s;ed for ever, was appoint|ed of the Father to it: Therefore 'tis &s;aid <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 25. of this third of the <HI>Romans. &mdash; That he might be ju&s;t, and the ju&s;tifier of them that believe in Je&s;us;</HI> given as a rea&s;on of God's &s;etting forth his Son to be a <HI>pro|pitiation.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. The expre&s;s word of the Lord did require it, who <HI>pronounced</HI> to all mankind in <HI>Adam,</HI> that the tran&s;gre&s;&s;or &s;hould <HI>&s;urely die,</HI> Gen. 2.17. Therefore upon his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, the &s;inner mu&s;t either die in his own per&s;on, or another in his &s;tead, which God in his infinite wi&s;dom might order as he pleas'd; Now God being willing to glorifie his mercy, cho&s;e to lay this puni&s;hment on his own Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and not on the condemned Sinner, which Je&s;us Chri&s;t al&s;o voluntarily undertaking, the word of the Lord was fully made good, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t dying for the &s;inner, (being made a cur&s;e for him) 'twas all one as if the &s;inner him&s;elf had died.</P>
<P N="4">4. God gave out a holy and righteous Law, written in the heart of <HI>Adam;</HI> which Law was <HI>ju&s;t,</HI> and <HI>holy,</HI> and <HI>good,</HI> Rom. 7. Now this Law being broken, God would not di&s;pence with it, in &s;hew|ing mercy to the &s;inner, unle&s;s his Law was <HI>&s;atis|fied,</HI> which Je&s;us Chri&s;t undertook, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.3. <HI>For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak
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through the fle&s;h, God &s;ending his own Son in the like|ne&s;s of &s;inful fle&s;h, and for &s;in condemned &s;in in the fle&s;h, that the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law might be fulfill'd in us,</HI> &amp;c. Gal. 4.4. <HI>But when the fulne&s;s of time was come, God &s;ent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the Law,</HI> &amp;c. So that the Law was fulfilled by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as if the &s;inner had kept it fully in his own per&s;on, by Chri&s;t's becoming <HI>obedient</HI> to the death of the Cro&s;s, and &s;o &s;uffering the puni&s;hment of the Law, (&s;till in the &s;tead and name of the &s;inner) and by his keeping the Law, in the pure original righteou&s;ne&s;s of his nature, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.21. and <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.26, 27. and by his actual obedience to it, in the <HI>perfect</HI> ob&s;erving of it, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.19. <HI>For as by one mans di&s;obedience many were made &s;inners, &s;o by the obedience of one many were made righteous:</HI> Namely, by the <HI>obedience</HI> of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which he gave unto the Law: Now all &s;inners being condemned by the Law, the Law could not remit them, till it was &s;atisfied, it call'd for <HI>puni&s;hment,</HI> and full <HI>obedience,</HI> which Je&s;us Chri&s;t gave unto it.</P>
<P N="5">5. God could not &s;o <HI>freely</HI> (to &s;peak after the man|ner of men) let out grace and mercy, unle&s;s &s;uch &s;a|tisfaction had been given by Je&s;us Chri&s;t: Now it can come ea&s;ily, delightfully, chearfully from the righ|teous and gracious God, &s;eeing his ju&s;tice will not plead again&s;t it, but for it, being ble&s;&s;edly &s;atisfied, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t by his death did fully <HI>merit</HI> it and <HI>de&s;erve</HI> it at the hands of God, and laid down as much as God in infinite ju&s;tice would require, there|fore 'tis now as well <HI>ju&s;tice</HI> as <HI>mercy,</HI> for God to re|mit a Sinner that comes to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t. 1 <HI>John</HI> 1.7. <HI>God is ju&s;t to forgive us our &s;ins.</HI></P>
<P>Now, hereupon, God having <HI>ordained</HI> and <HI>accep|ted</HI>
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of &s;uch a way of <HI>attonement,</HI> his ju&s;tice glorified and &s;atisfied, his word (that the &s;inner &s;hould die) made good, his Law to the utmo&s;t &s;atisfied; what remains, but that the ble&s;&s;ed God can <HI>remit</HI> the <HI>bondage, guilt, condemnation</HI> of the &s;inner, having thus accepted of &s;atisfaction? what remains, but that he &s;hould pronounce, as he doth, <HI>Job</HI> 33.24. <HI>Deliver him, for I have found a Ran&s;om;</HI> God can now pardon the &s;inner that comes believingly by Je&s;us Chri&s;t to him for it, without any regret, his ju&s;tice &s;hall be glorified by it, as well as his mercy; God hath charg'd all upon another, and accepted of full payment, call'd him&s;elf to witne&s;s of it, and will never repent of it.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If any &s;hould Object, Wherein is <HI>free-grace</HI> glorified, if God hath received full &s;atisfaction to his ju&s;tice?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> I an&s;wer,</P>
<P N="1">1. 'Twas infinite free grace for God, to give out his ble&s;&s;ed Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when there was <HI>no obli|gation</HI> upon him; he gave him, and &s;ent him free|ly, <HI>John</HI> 3.16. from his own free love; there|fore there's infinite of free grace in Man's &s;alvati|on.</P>
<P N="2">2. 'Twas infinite grace towards the &s;inner, <HI>to ac|cept of &s;atisfaction by a &s;urety,</HI> Heb. 5. and not on the &s;inner, the party offending, him&s;elf; what abundant grace and love, to lay the &s;ins and guilt upon ano|ther, e&s;pecially the only Son of his bo&s;om, who was without all &s;in, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.21. and not to con|demn the poor helple&s;s &s;inner for ever.</P>
<P N="3">3. 'Twas infinite free grace, for <HI>God him&s;elf to contrive the way of &s;uch a Redemption:</HI> Had it been left to &s;inful man to have found out a way, how ju&s;tice might be &s;atisfied, he could never have done it: It
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could never have entred into the heart of Man or Angels, to have offered to God a &s;atisfactory way for the making up of his wronged ju&s;tice, but he mu&s;t have peri&s;hed for ever.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Father was at Liberty to <HI>impute</HI> this Re|demption of Chri&s;t to whom he would, to this &s;in|ner, and not to another, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9. <HI>He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy,</HI> &amp;c. So that 'tis indeed a <HI>debt</HI> to Chri&s;t; but all of free mercy and grace, to any &s;inner that is &s;aved.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. If then Salvation and remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins came in this way, by the death and blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, then it may di&s;cover to us the infinite hatred that God bears to &s;in, that, to make expiation and attone|ment to his ju&s;tice, there could no &s;acrifice be found but the death of his eternal Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t; Oh! that ever a &s;inner &s;hould delight in that, which the holy God &s;o much hates and abhors?</P>
<P N="2">2. Let it be for convincement to poor &s;inners <HI>of the infinite nece&s;&s;ity</HI> of this way of <HI>Redemption</HI> by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in laying down his life to &s;atisfie the ju&s;tice of <HI>God,</HI> and of getting their part in it; you have heard the ca&s;e of a Sinner, condemn'd by the Law, liable to eternal death, &s;ubject to the rigour of divine Ju&s;tice, no way able or in a capacity to make &s;atisfaction to God, mercy as it were bound up by ju&s;tice; Oh! therefore what nece&s;&s;ity of a Medi|ator, of a Redeemer, to work forth deliverance; to lay down a Ran&s;om for &s;inners, dye and undergo the cur&s;e and wrath of the great and dreadful God, ful|fill the Law, make &s;atisfaction to the wronged ju|&s;tice of <HI>God</HI> to the utmo&s;t; this Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath done for mi&s;erable &s;inners that will come unto him. Now the mo&s;t of poor &s;ouls, have but a Notion of
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Chri&s;t's dying, but know not what is meant by <HI>Chri&s;t dying for me,</HI> though &s;ometimes in their Mouths; Oh! &s;inner for Chri&s;t to die for thee, (if thou gette&s;t a part in his Death) is to undergo the puni&s;hment, and cur&s;e, and death, that thy &s;oul was liable to, which otherwi&s;e mu&s;t have come upon thee to the utmo&s;t; it was to be made &s;in and a cur&s;e, for thee, to bear thy Sins, and &s;tand in them; Oh! that thou could&s;t really be convinc'd of <HI>the nece&s;&s;ity of this Redemption,</HI> that thou could&s;t never come to <HI>God</HI> without it, and therefore to get thy poor &s;oul &s;tated in it!</P>
<P N="3">3. If <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> to <HI>Gods</HI> ju&s;tice can only be by the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, then let me again pre&s;s you, that you take heed of performing your duties and repentings as if thereby you did <HI>&s;atisfie</HI> and <HI>paci|fie</HI> God for the &s;in of your &s;ouls. This is the mo&s;t dangerous &s;nare upon poor &s;ouls, that though they have &s;inned, yet they hope God will be pacified with &s;ome praying, and &s;orrowing, and amendment: Now, though this &s;hall be in a &s;piritual manner, upon every pardoned &s;inner, and 'tis a capacity <HI>God</HI> puts the &s;inner into, when he applies the death of his Son, and &s;o gives out mercy and pardon, yet you mu&s;t mo&s;t carefully take heed, that you offer not up &s;uch duties, as if they did make <HI>God</HI> amends, and pacifie him for your &s;ins; but look above and be|yond them, as if they were not, and &s;o to ca&s;t your eye to the great &s;acrifice of the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which <HI>Alone</HI> makes attonement to <HI>God,</HI> and makes way for a poor &s;inner to come to him.</P>
<P N="4">4. That as &s;inners would learn the ble&s;&s;ed My&s;te|ry of this Redemption, and the nece&s;&s;ity of it, and how it makes attonement, merits mercy and par|don, procures peace and reconciliation with <HI>God,</HI>
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&s;o they would come and <HI>accept</HI> of it, and fall down before the righteous <HI>God,</HI> and <HI>plead</HI> it to him; Thou ha&s;t heard the way of <HI>God</HI>'s letting out mercy to &s;in|ners, and no mercy but in that way, but by ju&s;tice being &s;atisfied by the death and blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, whereby he becomes the Saviour of &s;inners; now this blood is offered up to <HI>God,</HI> the price is paid and accepted with <HI>God,</HI> and in the Go&s;pel of <HI>God</HI> 'tis revealed and preach't to the guilty world, and 'tis <HI>freely offered</HI> to any poor &s;inner, that will come and accept of it, and make claim to it, and plead for mercy and forgivene&s;s upon the account of it, and will come to the <HI>terms</HI> of it, which is to be accepted and pardoned alone by vertue of it, to be wa&s;hed and &s;anctified, and actually deliver'd, not only from the guilt and condemnation of &s;in, but the power, and reign, and pollution of it.</P>
<P>Oh Sinner! be awakened and &s;tirred up by the word of the Lord, to get actual deliverance from the <HI>guilt, bondage, reign, &s;ervice,</HI> of thy &s;in; go and cry to <HI>God,</HI> offer him up the blood of his own eter|nal Son, tell him thou &s;ee&s;t he may let out ju&s;tice upon thee to de&s;troy thee, and damn thee for ever; of thy &s;elf thou ha&s;t no plea again&s;t it: But ask the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>God,</HI> if it may not be more glory to him, and his grace and mercy glorified by it, if he will ac|cept of &s;atisfaction by his own Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t? plead to him, that thou heare&s;t he died in the room of guil|ty, condemned &s;innners, <HI>&s;uch as thou art, ungodly,</HI> Rom. 5.6. yea, tell him, with an humble adoration of his mercy and love in it, that thou heare&s;t in his ble&s;&s;ed Go&s;pel, that 'tis offered to any &s;inner that will come and accept it, and that 'tis proclamed from Heaven, and there's &s;atisfaction made by the blood of a Je&s;us for the greate&s;t Sinner, &s;uch as thou art; Oh! cry
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unto him, that therefore thou come&s;t and begg'&s;t to be heard in thy plea, and that it may be entred in Heaven, that thou come&s;t for all the ends of his death, thou art weary of the &s;ervice of thy lu&s;ts, and the pollution of thy nature, and therefore thou would&s;t have thy nature clean&s;ed, thy con&s;cience purged, all which thou finde&s;t the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t is able to do; yea, tell him, and plead it with &s;ome humble boldne&s;s, that thou art acquainted that Je&s;us Chri&s;t prays in Heaven, for &s;uch &s;inners that come and plead his blood to thee, and that he is heard in what he prays, and that therefore for|givene&s;s mu&s;t be had; yea, &s;ay, thou wilt hold on thy plea, thou ha&s;t no other, and art re&s;olved again&s;t any other: If thou &s;halt to Hell pleading the blood of a Saviour, be it &s;o, but I am re&s;olved to plead it to the utmo&s;t; yea, tell him, and cry to him, that it can|not <HI>repent</HI> him, that he hath ordained the &s;acrifice of the blood of his own Son, and therefore why &s;hould'&s;t thou be rejected? Yea, Come to this I&s;&s;ue, through the Spirit of Faith upon thee, that if it can be, that a Sinner crying out for pardon, upon the account of the death and blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and for &s;anctifi|cation, may go to Hell, then thou wilt willingly lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and open it no more, but &s;ink under Divine Vengeance to Eterni|ty.</P>
<P>Oh! That every poor &s;inner might go home with this plea in his heart, written there by the Holy Gho&s;t; and peirce Heaven with his or her crys and groans, and put the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t before him, and plead for mercy and holine&s;s, to be par|doned and &s;anctified, till God &s;ay, Go in peace, thou art pardoned, redeemed, and ble&s;&s;ed for ever.</P>
<P><PB N="135" REF="69">Yet a little to excite a poor drow&s;ie &s;inner to this eternal Concernment.</P>
<P N="1">1. Con&s;ider, thou art under the guilt of thou&s;ands of Sins, one whereof is enough to &s;ink thee to Hell: Guilt, if continued, is Hell begun, and wants nothing but the execution of Vengeance upon thee. Oh what &s;hould a guilty &s;inner do, but clo&s;e with a Saviour, and get an intere&s;t in Redemption from it!</P>
<P N="2">2. E&s;pecially con&s;idering that all the Duties and Obedience thou ha&s;t performed towards God, or ever &s;hall, have not made (nor ever will) the lea&s;t payment to God for thy &s;ins, thou art as much in debt to God as ever thou wa&s;t, as much behind with him: All the <HI>Items</HI> for the &s;in of thy Nature, thy thoughts, words, and actual Wickedne&s;s, and thy &s;inful neg|lects, &s;tand uncancelled, all ready to be charged up|on thee, and nought will be accepted for payment but the Death of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> the only price that God will hearken to: Nothing will cancel the <HI>Book</HI> where all thy &s;ins are recorded: Nothing will <HI>blot out the Hand-writing</HI> that is again&s;t thee, but the Blood of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Col. 2.13, 14.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>God</HI> is re&s;olved never to forgive you the Debt, till you have put in this Plea, and it be recorded in Heaven, and you have it in a Go&s;pel-way: No forgivene&s;s of Sins, but by <HI>Redemption pleaded, claim|ed, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed,</HI> and <HI>&s;ealed by the Holy Spirit,</HI> Ephe&s;. 1.7, 14.</P>
<P N="4">4. Thou art yet under the <HI>Bondage</HI> and <HI>Reign</HI> of thy &s;in, and therefore under condemnation; the Law is gone out again&s;t thee, thy Sentence pronounced; <HI>Cur&s;ed is every one that tran&s;gre&s;&s;eth,</HI> &amp;c. &s;aith the Law; and thou art in bondage yet, and ha&s;t not procured actual deliverance from it. If a Pri&s;oner be condemned, and lye in Fetters in a Dungeon, and
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hears of a Ran&s;om paid for him, what's this to him, till he have Liberty. So for a Sinner to be in the Fetters of his Lu&s;ts, held fa&s;t by them, a Bond-man to the Devil, and hear of a Chri&s;t laying down a Ran&s;om, what is this to him? unle&s;s he &s;ue it out, and get actual deliverance and liberty, the liberty of the Sons and Daughters of God, and have a <HI>Spi|rit of Adoption,</HI> to cry <HI>Abba</HI> Father, <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.4, 5. <HI>That being made free from &s;in,</HI> (the Reign and Power of it, by the Power of the Lord Je&s;us revealed in him) <HI>you may become &s;ervants to God, and have your fruit unto Holine&s;s, and the end everla&s;ting Life,</HI> Rom. 6.</P>
<P N="5">5. Con&s;ider, as thou &s;tande&s;t in thy filth and un|cleanne&s;s of thy Sins, thou art unfit for God, either to plea&s;e him in any thing thou doe&s;t, or to be with him in Heaven hereafter; thy per&s;on and &s;ervices are loath&s;om to the Soul of God; therefore get wa&s;hed and purified in the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; Go on to cry, and wait, (and beg a heart to do it, and that in Faith) till thou &s;halt feel Peace coming in, by thy con&s;tant Plea of the blood of Chri&s;t, till thou &s;halt feel clean&s;ing vertue of it upon thy Soul, till thou &s;halt experience the power of his death de&s;troying Sin in thee, and &s;o &s;halt find, thou ha&s;t fellow&s;hip with him, and &s;o a part in this ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Redemption</HI> we have been treating of.</P>
<P N="6">6. Now to encourage a poor Sinner to this coming to God, with the Plea of Chri&s;t's blood in his heart and mouth, and to draw forth the Faith of a poor humbled doubting Soul.</P>
<P>Con&s;ider the <HI>All-&s;ufficiency</HI> and <HI>worth</HI> of the price of the Death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to &s;atisfie the ju&s;tice of God, and <HI>procure</HI> Pardon and Sanctification for a poor Sinner; which may appear from &s;uch like Scrip|tures.
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The Apo&s;tle in the 7th. of the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> having been opening the excellency of Chri&s;t's Prie&s;thood, which is chiefly conver&s;ant in this Work of Redemp|tion, in the offering up of him&s;elf a <HI>Sacrifice,</HI> con|cludes, <HI>ver.</HI> 25. of that Chapter. <HI>Wherefore he is able to &s;ave them to the utmo&s;t that come to God by him.</HI> To the utmo&s;t, that is, with a perfect Salvation, that no|thing more can be de&s;ired to it. So in the 9th. Chap. <HI>ver.</HI> 11, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The Apo&s;tle rea&s;oning from the Levitical Sacrifices, to this of the blood of Chri&s;t, argueth the full perfection of it. &mdash; <HI>By his own blood he entred in once into the holy place,</HI> (namely, into Heaven) <HI>ha|ving obtained eternal Redemption for us;</HI> and thence concludeth, ver. 14. <HI>How much more &s;hall the blood of Chri&s;t purge the Con&s;cience?</HI> &amp;c. A <HI>much more</HI> upon that, above all the Sacrifices that were offered up to God; which will appear,</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e of the eternal Godhead of Chri&s;t's Per&s;on, by which he offer'd up his blood unto his Fa|ther, <HI>Heb.</HI> 9.14. &mdash; <HI>Who through the eternal Spi|rit offered up him&s;elf without &s;pot to God.</HI> Which put an infinite value and efficacy upon the offering of his blood, ina&s;much as Je&s;us Chri&s;t was God as well as Man; though he could only dye in his humane na|ture, yet the efficacy of his Godhead had an influ|ence upon the price of his dying, which put an infi|nite worth upon it, and &s;o renders it full and perfect Redemption.</P>
<P N="2">2. The price of the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, did not only give a bare Satisfaction to the ju&s;tice of God, but it had an infinite <HI>Merit</HI> in it, a <HI>redundancy of Merit,</HI> whereby it de&s;erved at the hands of God, that Sinners that are intere&s;&s;ed in it, &s;hould have re|mi&s;&s;ion of Sins, grace, the love of God, and glory to come, &s;piritual ble&s;&s;ings, which the death of Chri&s;t
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<HI>purcha&s;ed</HI> for the elect; which being al&s;o by the free purpo&s;e and compact of <HI>God,</HI> there mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily ari&s;e an infinite <HI>Merit</HI> in it.</P>
<P N="3">3. The All-&s;ufficiency of the price of Chri&s;t's blood is evidenced by his <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> and A&s;cen&s;ion into Glory, implying that he wrought forth full and per|fect Redemption by his Death, therefore he is &s;aid <HI>to ri&s;e again for our Ju&s;tification,</HI> Rom. 4. <HI>la&s;t.</HI> and to be <HI>ju&s;tified in the &s;pirit,</HI> 1 Tim. 3. <HI>la&s;t.</HI> that is, <HI>God</HI> by rai|&s;ing him from the dead, ju&s;tified him in the attone|ment he had made by his Death, and that he did chearfully accept of &s;atisfaction by it.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Blood of Chri&s;t procures <HI>boldne&s;s of acce&s;s to God,</HI> therefore there is an infinite worth in the price of it; <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.19. <HI>Having therefore, Bre|thren, Boldne&s;s to enter into the Holie&s;t, by the blood of Je&s;us;</HI> which <HI>boldne&s;s</HI> doth ari&s;e from the full &s;atisfaction that is made to Divine Ju&s;tice, in as much as God, upon the Acceptance of it, hath nothing to charge upon the Sinner him&s;elf, no quar|rel again&s;t him, having charged his &s;ins upon Chri&s;t, and therefore the poor &s;inner may come with an humble boldne&s;s into the Pre&s;ence of God; and this is that which puts boldne&s;s into the Con|&s;cience of a Believer, when he appears before God.</P>
<P N="5">5. From the Experience of it; the &s;oule&s;t Sin|ners that have come unto it, have been wa&s;hed from their &s;ins by it, as 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.11. Idolaters, Adul|terers, Sodomites, Drunkards, Revilers, have been wa&s;hed, and ju&s;tified, and &s;anctified by it. The <HI>blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t his Son clean&s;eth from all &s;in,</HI> 1 John 1.7.</P>
<P N="6">6. It clean&s;eth and perfects them <HI>for ever,</HI> there|fore called <HI>eternal Redemption; once for all, and for ever,</HI>
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Heb. 10.10, 19. <HI>For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are &s;anctified;</HI> once ju&s;tified, and for ever.</P>
<P>Now from this <HI>Satisfaction, Merit, All-&s;ufficiency</HI> of the Sacrifice of the blood of Je&s;us, to clean&s;e a &s;inner, to commend him to God, how &s;afely may a &s;inner <HI>venture</HI> his Soul upon it, (which is the fir&s;t act of Faith?) A poor &s;inner when under conviction, and the terror of the Lord hath taken hold of him, lies trembling before the Lord, whether God will let out <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> or <HI>Mercy</HI> upon him; he is ready to give glory to the ju&s;tice of the Lord, if he reject him for ever. But now if a poor &s;oul get a &s;ight of the blood of Chri&s;t, how it deals with the ju&s;tice of God, what full and all-&s;ufficient Satisfaction it hath made to God, for the &s;ins of &s;uch as plead it to him, how God more delights in it, than in the condem|ning of the &s;inner, what a &s;tay is this to the waver|ing, doubtful &s;pirit of a poor &s;inner? when he can come to &s;ee ju&s;tice to have its due, and &s;o God can freely let out Remi&s;&s;ion to a poor Soul, upon the ve|ry fir&s;t Act of a poor &s;inners clo&s;ing with it, though not pre&s;ently evidenced in his Con&s;cience; Oh, &s;in|ner, <HI>venture</HI> the I&s;&s;ue of all upon this price of the Blood of Je&s;us, thou may'&s;t &s;ee thou ha&s;t the greate&s;t rea&s;on in the world to do &s;o, thou wilt never come to have a &s;afe bottom for thy Soul, till thou come&s;t thus to deal with the ju&s;tice of God, as fully &s;atis|fied by the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, thou wilt &s;till be off and on about Free-Mercy, till thou come to fix here, and be in &s;ome good mea&s;ure e&s;tabli&s;hed in it: Be daily in exerci&s;ing thy Soul in &s;uch ventures and ca&s;tings upon it, and the Spirit will at la&s;t witne&s;s Peace and Reconciliation to thy Con&s;cience.</P>
<P>In a word, Sinners you that have had no &s;tay to
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your &s;pirits for the forgivene&s;s of your &s;ins, but a blind hope of Mercy, look up, look up to the ju&s;tice of God, and &s;ee this way of acce&s;s to God for you, by the blood of Je&s;us: Oh! let not any prophane &s;in|ner trample it under foot, ca&s;t it back upon the ble&s;|&s;ed face of God; &s;ay not in thy heart, Let God take the blood of his Son to him&s;elf, I'le not be wa&s;hed from my Sins, I'le not be &s;anctified, I'le re&s;t as I am! De&s;perate Sinner, of how much &s;orer puni&s;hment &s;halt thou be thought worthy, than any Sinner under Heaven, who rejecte&s;t the <HI>only worthy</HI> price of a Sin|ners Salvation? Know, the great God will let out all his ju&s;tice upon thee to the utmo&s;t, and Oceans of his Wrath &s;hall fall upon thee, if thou thus abu&s;e the blood of his Son; a greater guilt than all thy Ungodline&s;s thou ha&s;t hitherto been wallowing in from thy youth up; Oh! come thou de&s;pi&s;er, and ca&s;t thy &s;oul under the droppings of this blood, and it &s;hall clean&s;e thee, though thy &s;oul were as black as Hell, <HI>Zach.</HI> 13.1.</P>
<P>And thou poor formal out-&s;ide Profe&s;&s;or, who never did&s;t feel the <HI>vertue, healing life</HI> and <HI>warmth</HI> of the blood of Chri&s;t upon thy heart: Oh, re&s;t not in good thoughts of it only, but come believingly to it, as thou ha&s;t been exhorted: Say, and that with thy heart, Now, Lord, I would know the power and efficacy of this <HI>Redemption</HI> upon my poor &s;oul: Wa&s;h me, Lord, wa&s;h me; I renounce all but the blood of this Chri&s;t, as to making way to God for me: Oh! let it <HI>pacifie</HI> my Con&s;cience, and <HI>purge</HI> my Con&s;cience, and I &s;hall be clean.</P>
<P>If the Spirit of the Lord &s;hall work thy heart to come as a guilty, helple&s;s, unholy &s;inner in thy &s;elf, to this blood of Je&s;us, and make thy approaches to God daily, and argue for Grace and Remi&s;&s;ion upon
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it, and purging thy Soul; the&s;e ine&s;timable ble&s;&s;ings will be the i&s;&s;ue of it, which I will but name to thee.</P>
<P N="1">1. Thou &s;halt certainly find <HI>forgivene&s;s</HI> of thy &s;ins; <HI>In whom we have Redemption through his blood, the for|givene&s;s of our &s;ins,</HI> Ephe&s;. 1.7. God will remember them <HI>no more</HI> again&s;t thee; and thou &s;halt have peace with thy God for ever.</P>
<P N="2">2. God will let forth an <HI>infinite unchangeable love upon thee,</HI> Rom. 5.5. which love he bore thee from Eternity, but will now manife&s;t it to thee, and e&s;tate thee in it for ever.</P>
<P N="3">3. Thou &s;halt have boldne&s;s of <HI>acce&s;s</HI> to <HI>God,</HI> Rom. 5.2. even into his intimate pre&s;ence, to &s;peak with <HI>God</HI> face to face, and ask of <HI>God</HI> what thou wilt, ac|cording to his will, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.</P>
<P N="4">4. All the <HI>Promi&s;es</HI> of Mercy, Grace, and all ble&s;|&s;ings here and for ever, &s;hall be thine; made over, &s;ealed in the blood of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="5">5. Thou &s;halt <HI>rejoyce in the hope of the Glory of God,</HI> Rom. 5.2. with all <HI>Saints,</HI> and &s;ee thy &s;elf an <HI>heir</HI> of Heaven.</P>
<P N="6">6. Thou &s;halt be &s;till a <HI>wa&s;hing,</HI> and <HI>purifying,</HI> and <HI>fating</HI> for Heaven, till thou &s;halt be taken up unto <HI>God,</HI> and live in the Ocean of his Love to all Eter|nity.</P>
<P>Now if ea&s;e in thy &s;in and the world can do bet|ter for thee, than this that I have named, then keep in; but if not, (as mo&s;t certain it cannot) Ari&s;e, and come, to this ble&s;&s;ed Redemption, and get thy part and portion in it; and thou &s;halt &s;ay, Ble&s;&s;ed be thy coun&s;el and advice for evermore.</P>
<P>But now upon this Redemption of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, how is a &s;inner &s;aid to be <HI>ju&s;tified;</HI> that is, to be put into an <HI>actual Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion,</HI> of the Redemption of Je&s;us
<PB N="142" REF="73">
Chri&s;t, through the Free-Grace of <HI>God?</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. When the compact was made between God the Father and Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as to the Salvation of tho&s;e that the Father gave to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t undertook the fulfilling of the Condition of the Covenant, <HI>God</HI> did <HI>purpo&s;e</HI> in him&s;elf to ju&s;ti|fie them from Eternity, and look'd upon them as in Chri&s;t, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.9. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.4. So they were ju&s;tified as to the purpo&s;e of <HI>God</HI> from all Eter|nity.</P>
<P N="2">2. When Je&s;us Chri&s;t performed the Condition of Obedience in his dying, and paid unto God what he required at his hands, for the &s;inners redemption, then did <HI>God,</HI> as in the Court of Heaven, di&s;charge the &s;inner, (though not in the Court of Con&s;cience) and when Chri&s;t aro&s;e and came to Heaven, the Fa|ther gave him in an ab&s;olution of them all, from the guilt of &s;in, and obligation to death; and &s;o at the death of Chri&s;t all the Elect were <HI>meritoriou&s;ly</HI> ju&s;tifi|ed, ina&s;much as the price was paid and accepted of the Father, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.10.</P>
<P N="3">3. When according to the purpo&s;e of God, through the <HI>purcha&s;e</HI> of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, a Sinner is <HI>called</HI> by grace, hath <HI>Faith</HI> given him, (as purcha&s;ed al&s;o for him) to embrace Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the Promi&s;e, to receive him as offer'd in the Go&s;pel, and with him all &s;piri|tual ble&s;&s;ings; then is the Soul put into the <HI>actual po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion</HI> of what God, in his purpo&s;e and love, de|termined to give him, and Je&s;us Chri&s;t by the pur|cha&s;e of his blood gave him a right to before, and &s;o there is an <HI>Act</HI> of God's pardoning Mercy pa&s;&s;eth upon the &s;innner, he hath an actual di&s;charge given in unto his Con&s;cience, hath the Obedience of Je&s;us Chri&s;t imputed to him, and &s;o is look'd upon by God not as a Sinner under guilt, but as righteous
<PB N="143" REF="73">
in the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, which be&s;peaks him <HI>ju&s;tified,</HI> that is, made ju&s;t and righteous be|fore God, by the imputation and making over Chri&s;ts Righteou&s;ne&s;s to him, as if righteous in his own per&s;on: Upon which Act of God there is a full Remi&s;&s;ion of &s;in, as in the Text, and the believ|er is put into another State, a State of ju&s;tificati|on unto life through <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Rom. 8.1. who before was in a State of Death and Condemna|tion.</P>
<P>Before I &s;peak of that Faith which, through Grace, puts a Soul in his pardoned and ju&s;tified State, I will briefly apply this to the capacity of the weak.</P>
<P N="1">1. It may inform and in&s;truct you in this great <HI>My&s;tery,</HI> that any &s;inner that is &s;aved mu&s;t be thus <HI>ju&s;tified,</HI> made righteous by the Obedience of <HI>Je|&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> he mu&s;t come to &s;ee the ju&s;tice of God made up, a price paid unto God, and this to be actu|ally made over to him: As we &s;hall pre&s;ently &s;hew; mo&s;t of &s;inners, 'tis to be feared, do not con&s;ider this, that &s;peak of mercy, and pretend they hope in mer|cy, but are never convinc'd of the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and what it is to pa&s;s from a &s;tate of guilt to a &s;tate of righteou&s;ne&s;s by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, from a &s;tate of condemnation, to a &s;tate of ju&s;tificati|on without which, there can be no Salvation.</P>
<P>Oh be convinced, &s;inners, of this great matter of the nece&s;&s;ity of the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, his obe|dience in fulfilling the Law to be made over to you, to be brought into a ju&s;tified &s;tate, or you can never have pardon of &s;in, and be accepted with God; you can never &s;tand before God, but in the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Say, If I do not get the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t made mine: If I do not get thus ju&s;tified,
<PB N="144" REF="74">
I mu&s;t never expect pardon of my &s;in, and accep|tance of my poor &s;oul at the great day of the Lord. This is the Work of the <HI>Spirit,</HI> to be &s;avingly convin|ced of this, <HI>John</HI> 16.8. Oh look up to the Father for the Spirit thus to convince you, not only of &s;in, and the damnablene&s;s and &s;infulne&s;s thereof, but of your infinite need to get, not only &s;ome general hope of Mercy and Pardon, but the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Son of God, to bring you into a &s;tate of Pardon, Reconciliation, Peace with God.</P>
<P N="2">2. It may further clear unto you, that your ju&s;ti|fication before God is not <HI>within</HI> you, but <HI>without</HI> you, wrought forth by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for &s;uch as are, or &s;hall be called by grace, and <HI>imputed</HI> to them, not <HI>in|herent,</HI> or wrought in them: 'Tis not grace in you, that doth or can ju&s;tifie you, though renewing grace &s;hall be wrought in all that are &s;o pardoned and ju|&s;tified. Therefore, though thou mu&s;t be changed in thy &s;elf, pray and be holy, and obey God in all things, yet thou can&s;t not be hereby ju&s;tified, but &s;till thy ju|&s;tifying righteou&s;ne&s;s is in Chri&s;t, and not in thy &s;elf, as the only procuring meritorious cau&s;e of Pardon, and Peace with God, <HI>Jeremiah</HI> 33.16. <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 54. la&s;t.</P>
<P N="3">3. The great que&s;tion therefore that &s;hould come upon thy heart, is, Whether thou art in a <HI>&s;tate</HI> of con|demnation or ju&s;tification? If not ju&s;tified, thou art &s;till, as I have &s;hewed, under the condemna|tion of the whole Law: Nothing thou ha&s;t yet done or &s;halt ever be able to do, will &s;tand between Wrath, and Hell, and thy poor &s;oul, till thou come&s;t to be ju&s;tified in the blood and righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t. Oh &s;inners! ponder of this great thing that is now laid before you? Can you &s;ay from a Te&s;timony within you? Oh! I <HI>was</HI> thus and thus
<PB N="145" REF="74">
once under the reign, power, guilt, condemnation of &s;in; but now, now, (ble&s;&s;ed be rich and free grace) I am <HI>wa&s;hed, ju&s;tified,</HI> in the Name of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t: See that Word, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.10, 11. <HI>And &s;uch were &s;ome of you, but ye are wa&s;hed, but ye are &s;anctified, but ye are ju|&s;tified in the name of our Lord Je&s;us, and by the Spirit of our God.</HI></P>
<P>Or at lea&s;t, that I may &s;peak to poor, weak, willing, trembling &s;ouls: Is this it that your &s;ouls are re&s;t|le&s;s after? Oh that I were, that I were, in &s;uch a ble&s;&s;ed &s;tate! Oh that I could but believingly &s;ay, the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t were mine, and that now I am, I am ju&s;tified! Oh what peace, and &s;weet|ne&s;s, and joy, would fill my heart! Why Soul! If this be indeed the breathing of thy Soul, Je&s;us Chri&s;t is thine, and thou art ju&s;tified and pardoned, and <HI>God</HI> will at la&s;t give in unto thee (if thou continue to fol|low him) the &s;en&s;e and comfort of it in thy poor Soul: Only by the way take a Di&s;covery or two of the <HI>reality</HI> of thy Heart in this matter.</P>
<P N="1">1. If thou Soul, from a Spiritual Conviction, be un|der a real making out after ju&s;tification by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, then thou would&s;t al&s;o be as <HI>really</HI> &s;anctified, be made holy. 'Twas as much in the purpo&s;e of <HI>God</HI> to call thee out of a &s;tate of &s;in, and to &s;ancti|fie thee, as to pardon and ju&s;tifie thee, 1 Ep. <HI>John</HI> 5.6.</P>
<P N="2">2. If thou art brought into a ju&s;tified &s;tate, thy &s;oul making out after it, thou art made alive in the Spirit, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.1. Thou art in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and would&s;t walk no more after the fle&s;h and the lu&s;ts thereof, but after the Spirit, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.18. <HI>If ye are led by the Spi|rit, ye are not under the Law;</HI> namely, to condemn you, but are free from the cur&s;e of it: And <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 23. <HI>Again&s;t &s;uch there is no Law;</HI> that is, &s;uch as would
<PB N="146" REF="75">
walk after the Spirit, be led by the Spirit; and &s;hew forth the fruit of the Spirit: And this is that which the Apo&s;tle intimateth, 1 Ep. <HI>John</HI> 5.10. <HI>He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the Witne&s;s in him&s;elf,</HI> namely, of the Spirit: So that every ju&s;tified per&s;on hath the Spirit of Chri&s;t (according to the mea&s;ure of the grace of God) dwelling in him, is quickened in the Spirit, being once dead; prays in the Spirit, mortifies &s;in through the Spirit, is taught by the Spirit, and &s;o in all other &s;aving and &s;anctifying vertues of it: If it be not thus with thee, thou, as yet, ha&s;t no part in this ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, but art under condemnation unto death. And therefore, &s;inner, come before God in the &s;ence of thy condemned e|&s;tate, and give up thy &s;elf to Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be wa&s;hed, ju&s;tified, &s;anctified; and then ble&s;&s;ed for ever.</P>
<P N="3">3. Let called and &s;anctified Believers labour to live in the &s;en&s;e of a pardoned, ju&s;tified &s;tate, that God is not <HI>off</HI> and <HI>on</HI> with them, in the matter of ju|&s;tification, though it may be &s;ometimes darkned and clouded, as to the evidence of it. Oh! do you la|bour to pre&s;erve the &s;en&s;e, and &s;weet and ble&s;|&s;ed peace of it in your &s;ouls, and give glory to the riches of grace; for, now there is <HI>No, No,</HI> condemna|tion to you; you are pa&s;&s;ed from Death to Life, and the Ble&s;&s;ed God imputes no &s;in unto you: Let this be the highe&s;t and &s;tronge&s;t Argument to Holine&s;s, and love to the glory that po&s;&s;ibly may be; and if indeed you walk in the comfort of it, it will be &s;o un|to you.</P>
<P>Only let me give caution here to young Con|verts, who&s;e hearts, at the fir&s;t di&s;covery of the free and glorious grace of the Go&s;pel, and of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, are wonderfully taken and affected with it, but af|ter
<PB N="147" REF="75">
a time, are apt to wanton with it, (unle&s;s the fir&s;t humiliation be the deeper) and to wax &s;leight in Duties, and &s;o their Lu&s;ts recover &s;trength again, and return upon them; and either they fall, or are near unto it, to the fre&s;h wounding of their Souls. This hath been the condition of many; there|fore be well caution'd in it, and walk with fear in the mid&s;t of your joyous apprehen&s;ions of the &s;weet|ne&s;s of grace, and the endearing love of the Lord Je&s;us to you.</P>
<P>Having briefly &s;hewed what the nature of ju&s;tifi|cation is, what it is to be in a ju&s;tified &s;tate before God, I now come to open more particularly how a Soul comes to be partaker of this ju&s;tification, through the Redemption of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; namely <HI>Through Eaith in his blood,</HI> ver. 25. of this 3d. of <HI>Rom.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;erv.</HI> As God, through Free-grace, hath &s;et forth Je&s;us Chri&s;t to work forth Redemption for &s;inners; &s;o there mu&s;t be a &s;pecial believing on, and applying the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for the forgive|ne&s;s of &s;ins, by every one that is &s;aved.</P>
<P>Therefore ju&s;tification is attributed to Faith, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.1. <HI>Therefore being ju&s;tified by Faith, we have peace with God by our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> So <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.16. and 3.11. In all which places. Faith is put in op|po&s;ition to the works of the Law. And &s;o the righ|teou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t is called the <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Faith, Rom.</HI> 9.30. and 10.6. in oppo&s;ition to the righteou&s;|ne&s;s by Works: Not as if Faith were the matter of our ju&s;tification, that it did, as an Act or Work in the Soul, ju&s;tifie before God; but that God doth thus make over the blood and righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us
<PB N="148" REF="76">
Chri&s;t to a Soul, by enabling the Soul to come unto to take hold of, to apply to it &s;elf, to appropriate the merit of the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t for its own Re|demption and Salvation, which may afford us a plain De&s;cription of <HI>ju&s;tifying Faith,</HI> preci&s;ely con&s;i|dered; Namely,</P>
<P>Faith is a Work of the Holy Gho&s;t in the Soul, enabling it to appropriate, or apply to it &s;elf the blood and righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for the Remi&s;&s;ion of &s;in, and its ju&s;tification unto eternal Life.</P>
<P>So it is called <HI>the work of Faith with power,</HI> 2 The&s;. 1.11. and 'tis expre&s;&s;ed by <HI>receiving</HI> of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Joh.</HI> 1. and <HI>believing</HI> on his Name, <HI>coming</HI> unto him, <HI>re&s;ting</HI> upon him: So that, plainly, Faith is a going out to, believing in, tru&s;ting on another; namely, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t: For what it can never be able to find or bring about in or by it &s;elf, which may lead us to the more particular way of the Holy Gho&s;t's working this power in the Soul, in the &s;aved ones of God.</P>
<P N="1">1. In the working of Faith in the Soul, it is fir&s;t brought to &s;ee an impo&s;&s;ibility of coming to God, as <HI>in its &s;elf,</HI> or <HI>by its &s;elf,</HI> concluded under an utter una|bility to pacifie God, or make up a righteou&s;ne&s;s in it &s;elf, to get acce&s;s to God. The &s;oul is emptied from ve&s;&s;el to ve&s;&s;el, till all the things that it counted gain before, become lo&s;s for Je&s;us Chri&s;t; this is the fir&s;t work of the Spirit, it empties a poor &s;inful Creature of all its refuges, all its dependencies, all its &s;ufficiencies, and &s;o becomes naked in its guilt before God, and therefore is brought to this, that its acceptance to God, (if ever it be accepted) mu&s;t be out of its &s;elf; what ever become of him, he mu&s;t peri&s;h as in him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="149" REF="76">2. In the work of Faith, the Soul is brought to &s;ee that this was the end of the Revelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, of God's <HI>&s;etting him forth</HI> to be a <HI>propitiation,</HI> that he might work forth Redemption and Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, that this is a way of God's own ordaining, Je&s;us Chri&s;t was &s;et forth for this very end, even by God him&s;elf, and therefore the &s;oul is brought to this conclu&s;ion, to venture the I&s;&s;ue of its life, and eternal &s;alvation upon it; and &s;o throws it &s;elf, as in a &s;inking condition, upon the grace, blood, righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;ink or &s;wim, live or peri&s;h, &s;aved or dam|ned; there the &s;oul ca&s;ts Anchor, there it pitcheth, to this it will &s;tand or fall before the righteous God; if there be not enough in the blood of Je&s;us, to give it acceptance with God, the Soul re&s;olves, to Hell it mu&s;t. There &s;aith a poor &s;elf-emptied Soul, I ca&s;t even away my &s;elf (if it might be) upon it, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.9.</P>
<P N="3">3. The &s;oul is brought on to <HI>believe the report,</HI> that God in his word makes concerning his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and of the <HI>price, value, merit,</HI> and <HI>all-&s;ufficiency</HI> of his blood to &s;ave a poor &s;inner, even to the ut|mo&s;t, that comes to God by him, <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.25. to an&s;wer all the wants and di&s;tre&s;&s;es of a poor &s;oul, namely, in pacifying the Ju&s;tice of God, fulfilling the Law, ma|king attonement, removing guilt, procuring remi&s;&s;i|on of &s;ins, reconciling to God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.9, 10. <HI>Much more being now ju&s;tified by his blood, we &s;hall be &s;aved 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 &s;hall be &s;aved by his Life:</HI> In all which things, the &s;oul is enabled to believe the <HI>report</HI> of the Go&s;pel, that the blood and death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t <HI>can</HI> do all this for poor &s;inners that &s;hall pitch upon it.</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="150" REF="77">4. In this working of faith, the &s;oul comes to &s;ee and fa&s;ten upon an ab&s;olue, unlimited <HI>Free pro|mi&s;e,</HI> where <HI>any</HI> &s;inner that <HI>will,</HI> may come to Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, and &s;o have the vertue of his death and blood applied to it; and therefore that he as well as any other &s;inner in the world may come to him, and make claim to his blood, and plead it before God; <HI>who&s;oever will, let him come!</HI> Rev. 22. Now &s;aith a poor &s;elf-emptied &s;inner, I do not find that I am any where excluded, but invited and called upon, to come to the Lord Je&s;us, and claim an intere&s;t in his blood, and that I may plead it even at the throne of his Ju&s;tice, and that I may warrantably, &s;afely, upon good grounds, given out from the mouth of God him&s;elf, take hold of the Lord Je&s;us in &s;uch a Promi&s;e, and there is no &s;in or unworthine&s;s can ex|clude me, unle&s;s I will frowardly and wretchedly ex|clude my &s;elf: I do not find, &s;aith the poor &s;oul, that any &s;in is too great for the Sacrifice of that blood of Je&s;us, &s;o the &s;inner will come to it, yea, that 'tis the greate&s;t &s;in, and the top of condemnation, not to come to it; that I more injure God, by &s;tand|ing off from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, than by all the filthine&s;s, bla&s;phemies, ungodline&s;&s;es, my Soul ever wallow|ed in, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.29. The Blood of Chri&s;t is a price &s;ufficient for the &s;ins of the whole World, therefore, &s;aith a poor &s;oul, for mine; He is the Lamb of God, that taketh away the &s;ins of the world, and therefore he can take away mine; and I am freely called and invited to it, and 'tis my Rebelli|on not to come, what can I have more? And &s;o &s;en&s;e of Peace, and Reconciliation falls in upon the Soul.</P>
<P N="5">5. The Soul by its often renewing of &s;uch Acts of Believing, comes at la&s;t to &s;ee the blood of Je&s;us
<PB N="151" REF="77">
Chri&s;t appropriated to him; now it can &s;tay it &s;elf upon the word of promi&s;e; and can &s;ometimes re|joyce in believing. If I roll my &s;elf upon the blood of Je&s;us, I have the Word of God for it, that I <HI>&s;hall be</HI> &s;aved, <HI>we &s;hall be &s;aved from Wrath</HI> through him; not, it <HI>may be,</HI> but, we <HI>&s;hall be</HI> &s;aved, and all upon the account of being ju&s;tified by his blood, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.9. which ju&s;tification ari&s;eth upon this believing we have mentioned.</P>
<P>Thus have I opened the nature of Faith, as it is <HI>preci&s;ely</HI> ju&s;tifying, as it applies and appropriates the blood and righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Lord Je&s;us, for Re|mi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, and Ju&s;tification unto eternal Life; I might in&s;i&s;t upon the di&s;covery of the effectual o|perations of Faith in the Soul, as may di&s;tingui&s;h it from a meer belief of the Hi&s;tory of the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; take two or three.</P>
<P N="1">1. When the Soul by Faith doth act upon the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t for ju&s;tification, it doth al&s;o bring the power and efficacy of it, for purging of the Soul, <HI>Heb.</HI> 9.14. <HI>How much more &s;hall the blood of Chri&s;t, who through the eternal Spirit, offer'd him&s;elf without &s;pot to God, purge your Con&s;cience from dead works, to &s;erve the living God;</HI> So <HI>Acts</HI> 15.9. <HI>Puri|fying your hearts by faith.</HI> There is a purifying vertue in the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t upon the &s;ouls of Believ|ers; they are for the <HI>purging</HI> away the <HI>filth,</HI> as well as the <HI>guilt</HI> of &s;in; there's no believing &s;oul but crys out, Purge me, Oh Lord, purge me, and throughly, from my filth.</P>
<P N="2">2. The &s;oul hath a &s;ecret, yet real fellow&s;hip with the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to crucifie and de&s;troy the body of &s;in in a ju&s;tified believer which ari&s;eth from its union with Chri&s;t, <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.5, 6. <HI>For if we have been planted together in the likene&s;s of his death, we &s;hall be
<PB N="152" REF="78">
al&s;o in the likene&s;s of his Re&s;urrection; knowing that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of &s;in might be de&s;troyed, that henceforth we &s;hould not &s;erve &s;in.</HI> Eve|ry true believer can really &s;ay, <HI>I am,</HI> or I would be, <HI>Crucified with Chri&s;t,</HI> Gal. 2.20. Which the Apo|&s;tle there brings in as an effect of Ju&s;tification by Faith.</P>
<P N="3">3. Every ju&s;tified believer looks upon this as one great end of his Ju&s;tification, <HI>that he might live to God,</HI> Gal. 2.19. <HI>That I might live unto God. Like|wi&s;e reckon ye your &s;elves to be dead indeed unto him, but alive unto God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord,</HI> Rom. 6.11. Every ju&s;tified Believer doth thus reckon of him|&s;elf, I am to be dead to &s;in, but alive to God, I am to yield my &s;elf to God, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 13. To have my fruit unto <HI>Holine&s;s, ver&s;e</HI> 22.</P>
<P N="4">4. Faith that ju&s;tifies, doth through the Spirit work the Soul to Go&s;pel-obedience, to all the Laws and Ordinances of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which &s;hall be re|vealed to be the Will of Chri&s;t, from the Command of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and from a principle of love to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>John</HI> 15.10.</P>
<P N="5">5. A ju&s;tifi'd believer will <HI>deny him&s;elf for Chri&s;t,</HI> take up his cro&s;s and follow him; let any &s;ufferings be propo&s;ed to a called believer, and let him know it is for Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and that &s;oul (unle&s;s under a temporary de&s;ertion or temptation) will choo&s;e and embrace tho&s;e &s;ufferings, and undergo them with &s;ome chearfulne&s;s, <HI>Luke</HI> 14.26, 27.</P>
<P N="7">7. Every ju&s;tified believer hath a <HI>Marriage &V;nion with Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> Ephe&s;. 5.25, 26, 32. The &s;oul hath cho&s;en Je&s;us Chri&s;t, having broken off from all o|ther lovers, hath betrothed it &s;elf unto Chri&s;t, in an everla&s;ting Bond and Covenant, hath given it &s;elf to Chri&s;t; as Je&s;us Chri&s;t be&s;tows him&s;elf and all he
<PB N="153" REF="78">
hath upon the &s;oul, &s;o doth the &s;oul be&s;tow it &s;elf, and all it hath, upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and having &s;o done, re&s;olves to be contented with him in every conditi|on; <HI>whom have I in Heaven but thee? and none on earth in compari&s;on of thee;</HI> &s;aith every gracious Be|liever.</P>
<P N="7">7. Every ju&s;tified Believer <HI>lives by his Faith;</HI> Gal. 2.20. lives upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t for all, and fetcheth all from him, &s;ees him as a Trea&s;ury of all Grace, hath recour&s;e unto him, this being the mo&s;t pro|per act of Faith, to make the &s;oul live out of it &s;elf, upon another, Namely, Je&s;us Chri&s;t for all.</P>
<P N="8">8. Faith that entitles the Soul to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>works by love to all Saints,</HI> Gal. 5.6. When the Soul clo&s;eth with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, it will al&s;o clo&s;e with his Di&s;ciples, as di&s;tingui&s;hed from carnal, un&s;avoury, dead Profe&s;&s;ors. What makes the living among the dead? a living Soul, alive in Chri&s;t, highly pri&s;eth fellow&s;hip with &s;uch as are alive.</P>
<P>I might name many more particulars, but the&s;e may &s;uffice, as the mo&s;t di&s;tingui&s;hing.</P>
<P N="1">1. Let what hath been &s;poken &s;erve to di&s;cover to you, Whether you have Faith that doth entitle you to the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the forgivene&s;s of your &s;ins. Can you &s;ay, Your Souls are carried out after more purging, and 'tis your daily cry to Heaven? Can you &s;ay, that you are often crucifi|ing with <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</HI> And Oh that I were, that I were but crucifi'd with <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> that I might rec|kon of my &s;elf as dead to &s;in! and oh that I might live to God, and might walk in Go&s;pel-obedience! That I might throughly deny my &s;elf for Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and choo&s;e to &s;uffer with him and for him. Oh I would more clearly &s;ee the Marriage-union between Chri&s;t
<PB N="154" REF="79">
and my poor Soul! I would, I do, be&s;tow my &s;elf upon him, and all that's mine; I do give my &s;elf to him! I will be content with him here, and for ever: Whom have I, whom have I, but him? Oh, have you found, in &s;ome good degree, &s;uch Workings of heart towards Je&s;us Chri&s;t! And do you live by your Faith, upon Chri&s;t, upon Promi&s;es? and do you maintain your Souls this way: And do you love, and delight in the Fellow&s;hip of living Souls, &s;avoury Souls; or do you, at lea&s;t, long that you may have &s;ome opportunity to do &s;o? If you can|not, in &s;ome mea&s;ure, experience the&s;e things, your Faith is a dead empty Speculation; &s;uch a Faith that is &s;o far from uniting you to Chri&s;t, that indeed it keeps you on this &s;ide Je&s;us Chri&s;t: And therefore &s;ay of it, 'tis a Faith that <HI>is in vain,</HI> that keeps me dead in my &s;ins: Oh therefore, &s;ay in thy heart, I will now wait on the Word, the Mini&s;tration of it, that is ordained of God to beget Faith; I will go and pray the Father to draw me to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and that my Soul may be united to him, that I may have Fellow|&s;hip in his Death and Re&s;urrection; that I may be made alive unto God; that I may feel the pacifying, purging vertue of the blood of the Lord Je&s;us upon my poor Soul.</P>
<P>By what hath been &s;aid, Believers may try their Faith; and if they find their Souls to have experien|ced the&s;e things, they may take comfort that they are ju&s;tified by Faith in the blood of Je&s;us, and there|fore <HI>&s;hall</HI> be &s;aved by his Life.</P>
<P>To wind up all in a word of Exhortation.</P>
<P N="1">1. God hath <HI>&s;et forth</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be a <HI>Propiti|ation,</HI> that through <HI>Faith in his blood,</HI> a &s;inner may become <HI>ju&s;tified</HI> from his &s;in, then what encourage|ment is there for &s;inners to come to him, and believe
<PB N="155" REF="79">
on his Name, to venture the I&s;&s;ue of Eternal Salva|tion upon him, &s;ince God him&s;elf hath <HI>&s;et him forth</HI> for that end and purpo&s;e, that &s;inners might come unto him, and be wa&s;hed, ju&s;tified, &s;aved from their &s;ins. 'Tis not then to be doubted but that God as he hath therein taken care for the Salvation of the &s;inner, &s;o for the glory of his own righteou&s;ne&s;s: So that the &s;inner hath no rea&s;on to doubt, that comes to Je&s;us in the way propo&s;ed but that God can take plea&s;ure to accept of him through the blood of Je&s;us. 'Twas the mo&s;t <HI>deliberate</HI> Act that ever the Wi&s;dom of God was taken up about the &s;etting forth of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be the Saviour of Sinners through his Blood: 'Twas the fir&s;t Foundation that God laid from all Eternity; and after he had promi&s;ed Je&s;us Chri&s;t, it was &s;ome thou&s;ands of years before he &s;et him forth to the world: And therefore God cannot repent nor change his mind and purpo&s;e as to ac|cepting, pardoning, ju&s;tifying, &s;anctifying poor &s;in|ners, that ca&s;t their Souls upon it, by the Blood of his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Upon which it is, that ble&s;&s;ed Souls are brought in, in the Scriptures, magnifying the grace of God for their clean&s;ing by the blood of Je&s;us, 1 <HI>John</HI> 1.7. <HI>The blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t clean&s;eth us from all &s;in:</HI> So are the Saints brought forth <HI>tri|umphing,</HI> Revel. 5.9. <HI>Thou wa&s;t &s;lain, and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood:</HI> And Chap. 7.14. <HI>The&s;e are they who have wa&s;hed their Robes, and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.</HI> Therefore, I &s;ay, with what boldne&s;s may poor &s;inners come unto it? and how certainly are they in God's way to Salvation? in which way ble&s;&s;ed Souls have been ever found, and none did ever mi&s;s of this end, the Salvation of their Souls.</P>
<P>I have now di&s;patcht what I &s;hall &s;peak at this
<PB N="156" REF="80">
time, as to the Doctrine of Ju&s;tification, by the Free-grace of God, through the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and of &s;aving Faith therein, and &s;hall com|mit it to the Lord to work it upon the Con&s;cience; I &s;hall a little in&s;i&s;t upon the la&s;t ver&s;e, in the remo|val of that Objection which the heart puts up again&s;t this ble&s;&s;ed Truth.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>ROM. 3.</HI> la&s;t.</BIBL>
<P>Do we then make void the Law through Faith? God forbid; yea, we e&s;tabli&s;h the Law.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THE former Ver&s;es intermitted, might have afforded us much choice matter, in the opening the Doctrine of Grace, and the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; Namely, that God is ju&s;t in the remi&s;&s;ion of a Believer, upon Faith in the Blood of Je&s;us, from <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 26. And that the Do|ctrine of Grace excludes all boa&s;ting from the Crea|ture, from <HI>ver.</HI> 27. That Jew and Gentile, all that are &s;aved, mu&s;t come to God, and be ju&s;tified in this way, and no other, from <HI>ver.</HI> 29, 30. But I mu&s;t contract my &s;elf. I come now to the Objection, that the Heart, &s;o far as it is carnal, doth naturally make again&s;t this Doctrine: Namely, If a Soul be only ju|&s;tified by Grace, through the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, doth not this then make void the Law, and all Obedience to it? What need then of our Obe|dience? <HI>God forbid,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Paul, we e&s;tabli&s;h it,</HI> that is, the Doctrine of Ju&s;tification by Faith, doth rather e&s;tabli&s;h it. The Law doth &s;tand e&s;tabli&s;ht in a three|fold &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath e&s;tabli&s;ht it by <HI>fulfilling</HI> it,
<PB N="157" REF="80">
whereby the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law is fufilled upon us, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.4. Je&s;us Chri&s;t perfectly fulfilled the Law, and kept it, and &s;o makes over the righteou&s;|ne&s;s of it to Believers, as hath been &s;hewed; and &s;o the Law &s;tands e&s;tabli&s;ht.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> The Law &s;tands e&s;tabli&s;ht as a means, through the Spirit, to <HI>convince</HI> of &s;in, and of our &s;hort|ne&s;s of the righteou&s;ne&s;s of it; as <HI>ver.</HI> 20. And &s;o Chri&s;t often made u&s;e of it for &s;uch ends.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> The Law &s;tands e&s;tabli&s;ht as an Everla&s;t|ing Rule of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s, promi&s;ed in the New Covenant to be written in the Heart, <HI>Heb.</HI> 8.</P>
<P>So that, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in ju&s;tifying by his blood, hath quit the &s;inner from all guilt and con|demnation by the Law; yet he hath not given the Believer a di&s;charge from all obedience of it: And therefore to evince this, I &s;hall lay down this Po&s;i|tion, that</P>
<P><HI>Ob&s;erv.</HI> Though all a Believer hath done, or can do, cannot ju&s;tifie him before God; yet there are other ble&s;&s;ed ends, why he &s;hould obey God, and de|light in his Law.</P>
<P N="1">1. Obedience to God is placed as the great End of our redemption, <HI>Luke</HI> 1.74, 75. &mdash; <HI>That we might &s;erve him without fear,</HI> (a &s;ear of bondage) <HI>in ho|line&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s before him all the days of our life.</HI> God hath not only in his purpo&s;e the remi&s;&s;i|on and &s;alvation of the Sinner, but that thereby he would have all that are called into this grace to <HI>&s;erve him in Holine&s;s.</HI> And this end is to be upon the heart of the Believer, when ju&s;tified by Faith: The purpo&s;e of God in this, is, that I &s;hould &s;erve
<PB N="158" REF="81">
him in holine&s;s, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.9. That I &s;hould live to God <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.11. as hath been &s;hewed.</P>
<P N="2">2. From the <HI>Sovereign Command of God,</HI> who &s;aith, <HI>Be ye holy,</HI> 1 Pet. 1.15, 16. This is enough to a Believer, that God hath commanded it, though there &s;hould be no other end in it.</P>
<P N="3">3. Holine&s;s and Righteou&s;ne&s;s is the Soul's <HI>con|formity unto God;</HI> it is a Beam of God, an Image of God, which he de&s;igns to be renewed upon all that &s;hall be &s;aved; as &s;hall be further &s;hewed.</P>
<P N="4">4. Ju&s;tified Believers do &s;ee an equity, goodne&s;s, and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s in the Law of God, in all his holy and righteous Precepts, though they were not com|manded. The Law is holy, ju&s;t and good, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7. &s;aith <HI>Paul,</HI> &s;peaking after the regenerate part. So <HI>Da|vid,</HI> P&s;al. 119. often, <HI>Thy Commandmeats which I have loved.</HI> They give God his due, and the Crea|ture his due; and therefore to be walkt in, though not thereby ju&s;tified.</P>
<P N="5">5. There is a principle of <HI>love to God, &s;hed abroad in the heart</HI> of every ju&s;tified Believer, from the &s;en&s;e of his rich, pardoning grace, the freene&s;s of his love which acts and con&s;trains a Soul to take delight &s;o far as it is regenerated, in every Command of God <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.5. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14, 15. <HI>For the Love of Chri&s;t con&s;traineth us, becau&s;e we thus judge that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live &s;hould not live to them&s;elves, but to him that di|ed for them.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. Called and ju&s;tified Believers have <HI>ble&s;&s;ed &s;ights</HI> of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that wonderfully take their hearts: They have glimp&s;es of the Beauty of his Holine&s;s and would therefore be made like unto him, 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.2, 3. They would obey the Will of the Father, as Je&s;us Chri&s;t did: They would be holy and righteous, and
<PB N="159" REF="81">
wi&s;e, and patient, and Heavenly, as Je&s;us Chri&s;t was.</P>
<P N="7">7. Believers, in the way of their Duty and Obe|dience, have ble&s;&s;ed Fellow&s;hip and Communion with God: Saith God of his Ordinances, <HI>Exod.</HI> 25.22. <HI>There will I meet thee, and commune with thee:</HI> And <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.24. &mdash; <HI>In all places where I record my Name, there will I come unto thee, and ble&s;s thee.</HI> They are everla&s;ting Promi&s;es to all the ways of obe|dience, wherein the people of God do walk before him in. They pray, they read, hear, they partake of the Supper in Chri&s;ts way, and there they have life and ble&s;&s;ing to their Souls, and many a &s;weet inti|mation of love and mercy they have whi&s;pered into them; they &s;et them&s;elves to walk with God in his fear and coun&s;el, and God walks with them; and their lives, if they keep clo&s;e to God, are &s;weet and comfortable to them. And this is even as much to them, as if they were thereby ju&s;tified: They would not mi&s;s the &s;weetne&s;s they meet with in &s;uch ways of Duty for all the World.</P>
<P N="8">8. By their Sanctification and Obedience, their ju&s;tification is comfortably evidenced to them, <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.16. <HI>Know ye not, that to whom ye yield your &s;elves &s;ervants to obey, his &s;ervants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of &s;in unto Death, or of obedience unto Righteou&s;|ne&s;s:</HI> And &mdash; <HI>Ye know that every one that doth righteou&s;ne&s;s is born of him,</HI> 1 John 2.29. <HI>We know that we have pa&s;&s;ed from Death to Life, becau&s;e we love the Brethren.</HI> So that, no doubt, Believers may come to a &s;weet and ble&s;&s;ed Evidence of their good e&s;tate, and of their ju&s;tification by the work of Sancti|fication in them, and their willing obedience to <HI>God,</HI> though a Believer doth not always, and at all times, fetch in his evidence of Believing, and of comfort,
<PB N="160" REF="82">
this way; but &s;ometimes from the Promi&s;e, and from the more immediate Te&s;timony of the Spirit. But though a Believer doth not, and it may be can|not always fetch in his con&s;olation and peace from Sanctification and Obedience: Yet that &s;oul that wholly neglects it, and &s;lights Evidences from Hu|miliation, Sanctification, and Obedience, had be&s;t timely look to it, that the Witne&s;s in him&s;elf he pre|tends to, be not from imagination of his own heart, from the wicked ones delu&s;ion, and from &s;ome over|ly notions of grace that may affect his heart, but leave him on this &s;ide Regeneration.</P>
<P N="9">9. Believers do perform their Duties, as <HI>returns</HI> to God: Every called Believer &s;aith in his heart, as <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 116.12. Oh! <HI>What &s;hall I render to thee?</HI> How gracious hath God been? and now how holy &s;hould I be? Who &s;hall love the Lord, and fear before him, and prai&s;e him, If I &s;hall not? To whom &s;hall his Name, Laws, Ordinances, be preci|ous, if not unto me? Who is more bound to love the ble&s;&s;ed God than I? and how &s;hall I love him but by obeying him? Thus doth a Believer perform his obedience, as a Te&s;timony of a thankful return to God; though I do not &s;ay, that this is all his mo|tive.</P>
<P N="10">10. By the Obedience and Holine&s;s of Believ|ers, God is much glorified in the World; 'tis the greate&s;t glory that God de&s;igns to him&s;elf in the World, even by the holine&s;s, and willing, gracious obedience of his people to him. When the World lies in wickedne&s;s, and makes war again&s;t the great and Holy God, this is that which honours God, that he hath a people, called by his grace, that &s;et forth the glory of holine&s;s in the world, that are witne&s;&s;es to the holine&s;s of God, the holine&s;s of his Wor&s;hip,
<PB N="161" REF="82">
and all his ways, and profe&s;s and endeavour to walk in them! and by this, others are brought on to glo|rifie God on their behalf, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.12.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. It may &s;erve for in&s;truction and informa|tion of your Judgments and Con&s;ciences, that there are other ble&s;&s;ed, and nece&s;&s;ary, and holy Ends, in the Sanctification and Obedience of a Believer, though they do not pacifie God, nor ju&s;tifie the Believer, nor procure mercy by way of worthine&s;s, to a poor Soul called thereunto, which may therefore &s;erve to di&s;|cover the damnablene&s;s of &s;uch kind of Doctrines, that teach and cry in this day, Grace is free, Chri&s;t hath done all; what need you pray, and have Ordi|nances, and be holy? This is of the wicked one, and comes from his In&s;truments and Factors, who are &s;ent abroad to damn Souls: You may &s;ee, that not one of tho&s;e Ends mentioned, but is of weight enough to convince a Soul of the nece&s;&s;ity of Holi|ne&s;s, Duties and Obedience; and &s;uch mens preten|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">es, are not a Scripture-way of Free grace.</P>
<P N="2">2. If there are ble&s;&s;ed and holy Ends of a Believ|ers Duties and Obedience, though he is not there|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">y ju&s;tified, it may &s;erve to take off that prejudice of heart, through mi&s;under&s;tanding and Ignorance, that is apt to be upon the hearts of &s;uch as are Car|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">al, when they hear that all their Duties, Sobriety, and Righteou&s;ne&s;s, is to be accounted as lo&s;s for Chri&s;t. You &s;ee there are good and nece&s;&s;ary Ends of all Duties of Obedience; only &s;till take this with you, and to your Con&s;ciences, that <HI>till</HI> you come as poor and naked to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for your ju&s;tifying Righ|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">ou&s;ne&s;s, and &s;o get life in and from him, and &s;o are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">rried on in a way of Duty; el&s;e your Duties &s;erve <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">u for no end and purpo&s;e, unle&s;s for a le&s;&s;er degree
<PB N="162" REF="83">
of Torment in Hell, only be encouraged to wait upon the means for the receiving of the Spirit, for the Knowldge of Je&s;us Chri&s;t: And the&s;e things I have &s;poken may be your Experience.</P>
<P N="3">3. It may further direct Believers, what ends they are to propo&s;e to them&s;elves in the way of their Duties and Obedience, to be carried on in them through the Grace of GOD, and the daily &s;upply of the Spirit, as one great end of your Re|demption, that you &s;hould &s;erve the Lord in Ho|line&s;s, to eye the Soveraign and Ab&s;olute Command of God over you; that thereby you are made con|formable to God, and &s;hew forth his Image, and to the Death and Re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that there is an equity and goodne&s;s in all the Holy and Righteous Ways of God.</P>
<P>And &s;ee that the Love of God be &s;hed abroad in your hearts, to draw out your love to him, and &s;o be acted in your Obedience. Get your hearts taken with the beauty and glory of the Lord Je&s;us, and &s;o long after likene&s;s to him: See that you look after Communion with God in your Duties, and that you do not neglect your Evidence for the Pardon of your &s;ins, by the &s;ight of your &s;anctification, and your Univer&s;al Obedience: And perform them not as to procure mercy, by any proportion thereunto is your Duties, but as Returns to God, and con&s;ider how much God is glorified in the World by the O|bedience of his people.</P>
<P>And thus may you carry on your progre&s;s in Holi|ne&s;s, and a &s;weet and co&s;cientious performance of Duties, and walking with God; and yet live by your Faith for your ju&s;tification, by the rich and Free grace of God, through the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as if you had never obeyed at all.</P>
<P><PB N="163" REF="83">In a word, If thou ha&s;t felt the power and vertue of the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t upon thy &s;oul, coming as a poor, naked, polluted, guilty Soul unto it (as thou ha&s;t been &s;hewed) and ha&s;t received life from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by a believing clo&s;ing with him; and art waiting for a &s;ight and &s;en&s;e of thy ju&s;tification, but doe&s;t yet want it; remember &s;till, that in the performance of thy Duties, thy Heart (which it is ve|ry apt to do) lays no &s;tre&s;s upon them, as in them to appear before God, and to procure the favour of God, but &s;till go forth to the grace, blood, righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, promi&s;es of Chri&s;t, and there fix for thy ac|ceptance with God, and be much in renewing of Acts of Faith; that is, ca&s;ting thy Soul upon them, and Evidence will come in; yet go on in humbling, praying, waiting, reforming, &s;anctifying, obeying, as to the ends mentioned; and the peace of God fill thy heart.</P>
<P N="2">2. Believers, that have &s;ome &s;en&s;e of your ju&s;tifi|cation, do you remember that you obey God, not that thereby you were, are, or ever may be ju&s;tified; <HI>but becau&s;e you are ju&s;tified:</HI> Therefore you obey the Lord, and delight in his ways; keep this in your eye, and 'twill keep the heart from going to bottom upon your &s;elves, as gracious, and partly righteous, which mixtures render Duties uncomfor|table, and keep &s;ouls from A&s;&s;urance: No Believer per|forms his Duties &s;o &s;piritually, &s;weetly and com|tably, as that &s;oul that labours to keep the &s;ight of his Ju&s;tification, &s;till upon the Account of Free-grace, and out of him&s;elf, that &s;oul enjoys &s;weete&s;t Com|munion with God in the way of his Duties, and gets to Heaven with mo&s;t comfort and a&s;&s;urance, <HI>AMEN.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="164" REF="84">
<HEAD>The Third Treati&s;e. Shewing the Go&s;pel-Evidences of a True Chri&s;tian, as they are experienced by the&s;e who are truly Believers, and the fal&s;e Appearances thereof plainly refuted.</HEAD>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>2 COR. 5.17.</HI></BIBL>
<P>If any man be in Chri&s;t, he is a New Creature.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>I Have been opening the difference between the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Law and the Go&s;pel, &s;hewing the Nece&s;&s;ity, Nature, and Way of ob|taining Go&s;pel-ju&s;tification by the Blood of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, and have di&s;covered a Soul e&s;tated therein; I &s;hall now endeavour to open the <HI>Go&s;pel New Creature,</HI> peculiarly, as di&s;tingui&s;ht from that which is called (in appearance) a Legal-New-Crea|ture, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Now let a &s;oul fail in either of the&s;e, and lo&s;t for ever, fail of a &s;aving clo&s;e with Je&s;us Chri&s;t for righteou&s;ne&s;s, or being a New Creature in Chri&s;t, and you peri&s;h in your &s;ins, and the wrath of God will overtake you.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not now take up time in opening the cohe|rence of the words, nor will it much be de&s;ired, as to our de&s;ign: I &s;hall therefore draw this plain con|clu&s;ion from them. Namely,</P>
<P><PB N="165" REF="84">Ob&s;erv. <HI>There's an ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity, in order to the Salvation of every &s;oul, to become a New Crea|ture in Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Having proved it, we &s;hall open the way of being a New Creature, and how in Chri&s;t: Then how di|&s;tingui&s;ht from an appearing New Creature, (but not &s;o indeed) and &s;o give forth the Evidences of it. Tho&s;e Scriptures that &s;peak of the nece&s;&s;ity of being <HI>born again of the Spirit,</HI> John 3.3, 5. And of being <HI>converted,</HI> Mat. 8.3. do evince the &s;ame truth, <HI>Gal.</HI> 6.15. <HI>Neither Circumci&s;ion, nor &V;ncircumci&s;ion, avail any thing, but a New Creature. For we are his Work|man&s;hip created unto Chri&s;t Je&s;us, &amp;c.</HI> Ephe&s;. 2.10. <HI>He that hath wrought us for the &s;elf &s;ame thing is God, and hath given us the earne&s;t of his Spirit,</HI> 2 Cor. 5.5.</P>
<P>The nece&s;&s;ity of this New-Creature doth ari&s;e,</P>
<P N="1">1. From the <HI>tenour of the New Covenant,</HI> in which way God hath obliged him&s;elf to give out mercy; and in no other. Now thus runs the <HI>New-Cove|nant,</HI> this is the great Article of it; <HI>Make you a new heart, and a new Spirit,</HI> Ezek. 11.31. Which God promi&s;eth to give to all he takes into a Covenant of mercy and peace with him&s;elf; <HI>I will put a new Spi|rit within you, and a new heart will I give unto you,</HI> Ezek. 11.19. And to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.26. Wherein, as we &s;hall &s;hew, lies the &s;pecial part of the New-Creature.</P>
<P N="2">2. Becau&s;e the Old man, all that is of the Fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> the whole frame thereof is corrupted and polluted; therefore it mu&s;t be repaired, renewed, be made new, if ever it enter into glory, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.22. <HI>That ye put off concerning the Former Conver&s;ation, the
<PB N="166" REF="85">
Old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful Lu&s;ts, and be renewed in the &s;pirit of your mind; and that ye put on the New man, that after God is created in Righteou&s;ne&s;s and true Holine&s;s.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Who&s;oever &s;hall be &s;aved, &s;hall be a New-Crea|ture, from the great de&s;ign of God in giving out his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which was, that all the Elect &s;hould be made conformable to the <HI>Image of his Son, Rom.</HI> 8.29. <HI>For whom he did foreknow, he al&s;o did prede&s;tinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the fir&s;t born among many Brethren.</HI> Je|&s;us Chri&s;t is called the <HI>expre&s;s Image of the Father, Heb.</HI> 1. And to that <HI>Image</HI> all Believers &s;hall be conformed: Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the fir&s;t-born, and all his Brethren, to be made conformable unto him. God was infinitely plea&s;ed with &s;uch a <HI>Pattern,</HI> and re&s;olved all that he gave to him, and de&s;igned for glory, &s;hould be conformed to his likene&s;s.</P>
<P N="4">4. All the &s;ervices that a &s;inner offers to God, are not accepted, till a <HI>New Creature;</HI> till a Soul &s;hall act from a new, living, holy principle, towards God, Pray, and hear, and give Alms, God regards it not, till a New-Creature: So the Word of the Lord of|ten ca&s;ts back the &s;ervices of unregenerate men up|on their faces, as loath&s;om to the Lord, becau&s;e they proceed from the old corrupt <HI>Adam,</HI> from un|changed Natures, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.15. <HI>When you cry, I will not hear you;</HI> Why? You are in your uncleanne&s;s, there|fore <HI>Wa&s;h you, make you clean.</HI></P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> Oh let this make for your In&s;truction and Conviction, that if ever you come to God in glory, you mu&s;t fir&s;t be New-Creatures: If you will have mercy, you mu&s;t have it in the way of the New-Co|venant, and if &s;o, you mu&s;t be made new: While you
<PB N="167" REF="85">
have nothing but the <HI>Old Adam,</HI> you are corrupt, and polluted, and abominable. If you &s;hall become the Brethren of the fir&s;t-born, Je&s;us Chri&s;t, you mu&s;t bear his Image, and have it renewed upon you. Oh, you that are yet in your <HI>old &s;ins,</HI> and walk after your <HI>Old Lu&s;ts,</HI> you are not New Creatures: You will not think &s;o, thefore &s;it down with this conviction, That as yet you have no part in this ble&s;&s;edne&s;s. Oh! All of you who are the <HI>&s;ame</HI> that ever you were, whether living in gro&s;s &s;ins, or &s;ober and civil from your youth up, you are yet of the Old <HI>Adam,</HI> no|thing but corrupt nature upon you: Your hope is vain, and you are blinded in your &s;ins, and the Grace of God is not in you.</P>
<P N="2">2. Oh! Let me before I go further, put this to tryal, and &s;uffer the word of the Lord which &s;hall one day judge you; can you &s;ay in good earne&s;t, <HI>Old things are pa&s;t away, and all things are become new in me?</HI> Now I am a Ve&s;&s;el in the hand of God, wrought by his Spirit, and there is through infinite grace a new <HI>workman&s;hip</HI> upon my Soul? I &s;hall lay down rules for the particular di&s;covery of this, only at pre&s;ent yield up your con&s;cience to the power of the Word, do not &s;link from under it; if it find you out in your &s;in, in nature, the &s;ame that ever you were, give glory to God, and &s;ay, the word of the Lord is quick and powerful, and go off with this conviction in power upon thy &s;oul, I never expect to go to Heaven and glory, if I become not (through Grace) a New Creature.</P>
<P>But before I go further, I would open, that every &s;oul that is a New Creature, mu&s;t <HI>be in Chri&s;t;</HI> and why.</P>
<P>So &s;aith the Apo&s;tle to the&s;e <HI>Corinths,</HI> in this
<PB N="168" REF="86">
Epi&s;tle, 13. <HI>Chap.</HI> 5. <HI>Examine your &s;elves, prove your own &s;elves, know you not that Je&s;us Chri&s;t is in you, except ye be reprobates?</HI> ye are <HI>created into Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> Ephe&s;. 2.10.</P>
<P>If a man abide not in me, he is ca&s;t out as a Branch, and is withered, <HI>John</HI> 15.6.</P>
<P>Now herein lies the great My&s;tery of Godline&s;s, unto which all our Evidences for Heaven are re&s;olv|ed, and therefore this is a weighty enquiry. I am to &s;peak of it, e&s;pecially as it relates to the making and forming the New-Creature.</P>
<P>This being <HI>in Chri&s;t</HI> is expre&s;&s;ed by being <HI>rooted in|to Chri&s;t,</HI> Col. 2.7. <HI>Planted into him,</HI> Rom. 6. <HI>Built up in him.</HI> Col. 2. All which be&s;peaks a real <HI>union</HI> with him; that this is not a meer imaginary thing, but as true and real as the union between the root and the branches, <HI>John</HI> 15. and the foundation, and the building, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2. which is wrought by the Spirit of the Lord Je&s;us, drawing and uniting true believ|ers unto him; the &s;ame Spirit dwelling in them; <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.9, 10, 11. &mdash; <HI>By his Spirit that dwelleth in you.</HI></P>
<P>Now to con&s;ider, Why all that are New Crea|tures, according to the Go&s;pel, mu&s;t be &s;o <HI>in Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. Such as are Go&s;pel <HI>New Creatures</HI> mu&s;t be <HI>in Chri&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e if they be <HI>New Creatures,</HI> they mu&s;t be <HI>Living</HI> Creatures. Now God hath laid up all <HI>life,</HI> that &s;hall be di&s;penced forth, in his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>John</HI> 5.21, 26. &mdash; <HI>The Son quickneth whom he will;</HI> for as the Father hath life in him&s;elf, <HI>So he hath given to the Son to have Life in him&s;elf; Becau&s;e I live, ye &s;hall live al&s;o,</HI> John 14.19. Now naturally all &s;inners are <HI>dead</HI> in the old <HI>Adam,</HI> and utterly unable to beget life in them&s;elves: Who can make
<PB N="169" REF="86">
alive his own &s;oul? but when they were New-born, as new Creatures, they are &s;aid to be quickned in Chri&s;t, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.5. As God breathed life into man at fir&s;t, and &s;o he became a living &s;oul; &s;o in the <HI>new Creation,</HI> the &s;oul is &s;aid to be <HI>created into Chri&s;t,</HI> Ephe&s;. 2.10. and to be made <HI>Alive in him,</HI> Rom. 6.11.</P>
<P N="2">2. If there were not a real union of the &s;oul with Chri&s;t, life (if it &s;hould be given without it) would not be pre&s;erved in the &s;oul, <HI>Thou holde&s;t our Soul in life,</HI> P&s;al. 66.9. As the branch, though it was once quickned, cannot pre&s;erve its life, if cut off from the root; and therefore a continued &s;upply of life from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to the &s;oul, is nece&s;&s;ary, as to all its &s;pi|ritual actings as a new Creature.</P>
<P N="3">3. By being in Chri&s;t, the Soul is made <HI>partaker of the divine nature,</HI> 2 Pet. 1.4. by which the rege|nerate part, all gracious habits are infu&s;ed in the &s;oul, whereby the New Creature is formed up in believers. Hence it is, that all grace and holine&s;s is infu&s;ed into the Soul, as di&s;tingui&s;h'd from Com|mon grace, that at la&s;t withereth, <HI>John</HI> 15.6. <HI>If a man abide not in me, he he is ca&s;t forth as a branch, and is withered,</HI> &amp;c. therefore a nece&s;&s;ity of being in Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="4">4. Without being in Chri&s;t, the power and reign of &s;in, the body of &s;in, will not be de&s;troyed; no de&s;troying the body of &s;in, by any po&s;&s;ible endeavours, but by the influence of the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and a real fellow&s;hip therewith, which cannot be at|tained but by being planted into Chri&s;t, <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.5, 6. <HI>For if we have been planted together in the likene&s;s of his death, we &s;hall be al&s;o in the likene&s;s of his re&s;ur|rection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of &s;in might be de&s;troyed, that hence|forth
<PB N="170" REF="87">
we might not &s;erve &s;in:</HI> All the proper morti|fying power that Believers have of the body of &s;in, is drawn from fellow&s;hip with the death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which fellow&s;hip ari&s;eth only from being one with him.</P>
<P N="5">5. The Image of God cannot be renewed upon us, but in Chri&s;t: <HI>As we have born the images of the Earthly, we &s;hall al&s;o bear the Image of the heavenly;</HI> 1 Cor. 15.19. So Rom. 8.29. &mdash; we are <HI>made con|formable to the Image of his Son;</HI> by union a Soul is made partaker of the fulne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as all grace is laid up in him, and of that fulne&s;s partakes by mea&s;ure of every grace from him, <HI>John</HI> 1.16. <HI>And of his fulne&s;s have all we recieved, and grace for grace;</HI> that is, Grace according to the pattern of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, partaking of every grace in him accord|ing to the mea&s;ure allowed to every Member and Branch in him.</P>
<P N="6">6. Without being in Chri&s;t, no duty is accepted with God; by being in Chri&s;t, we are accepted in the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, whereby all the duties of a child of God are accepted with the Father, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.5. as performed by a Principle of life from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and offered up to God in the name and Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t; otherwi&s;e let praying and all o|ther duties be never &s;o &s;trictly, frequently, devout|ly performed, they find no accptance with God, and the Soul is not bettered by them: <HI>Without me ye can do nothing,</HI> John 15. &s;aith Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="7">7. Without being in Je&s;us Chri&s;t there can be no holy fruit in conver&s;ation brought forth to God, John 15.5. <HI>He that abideth in me, and I in him, the &s;ame bringeth forth much fruit:</HI> All the fruit that is of our own &s;tock, comes to nought; but the fruit that is brought forth in Chri&s;t, from implantation into
<PB N="171" REF="87">
him, is precious fruit unto Repentance. Reforma|tion, Holine&s;s and Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and doing of any good, unle&s;s it proceed from the life we have in Chri&s;t, is Phari&s;aical, and comes to nothing, and will be burnt up in the day of the Lord; wherefore &s;an|ctified believers are call'd the trees of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61. as planted, engrafted into Je&s;us Chri&s;t, where|by they bring forth all their &s;avoury fruit unto God.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> See now the great, and weighty, and indi&s;pen|&s;able nece&s;&s;ity of getting into Chri&s;t, of having union with him, the main pillar, upon which hangs all your comfort; do what ye will, and be out of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, and 'tis an accur&s;ed, loathed &s;acrifice; do what thou wilt from thy own &s;tock, and 'tis bitter fruit: A dram of what is performed in Chri&s;t, is of more worth than a mighty, daily bulk of duties without it; not hereby to le&s;&s;en a believer, as to muchne&s;s of duty, but to &s;hew the unacceptablene&s;s of all duties, though never &s;o <HI>many, long, devout,</HI> till a poor &s;oul performs all from a new principle, and power of life in the &s;oul from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and &s;o a New-Creature.</P>
<P>Oh! that poor &s;ouls were throughly convinc'd of this, who, &s;o they perform duties, never con&s;i|der this. Oh! lay to heart thy <HI>dead</HI> condition, and the infinite nece&s;&s;ity of getting into Chri&s;t: No life in thy &s;oul, no pre&s;erving of life, till in Je&s;us Chri&s;t; nothing of the divine nature upon thee, no de&s;troy|ing of &s;in, nothing of the Image of God upon thee that is &s;aving, no duty accepted, no fruit unto God in thy conver&s;ation, till thou ha&s;t the real experi|ence of this ble&s;&s;ed My&s;tery in thy &s;oul, of being one in Chri&s;t, through the &s;pirit, till thy &s;oul know|eth what union and fellow&s;hip with the Son of God meaneth: Therefore &s;ouls that fall &s;hort here,
<PB N="172" REF="88">
their knowledge, profe&s;&s;ion, conver&s;ation, is lo&s;t labor, as to the great matter of eternal life and &s;alvation.</P>
<P N="2">2. If all that are truly and &s;avingly <HI>New-Crea|tures are in Chri&s;t,</HI> then a New Creature any other way, is but a &s;emblance and appearance of it, and not &s;o indeed and reallity; if from our &s;elves, from the power of the Law upon the Con&s;cience, or upon any other account what&s;oever.</P>
<P>And therefore, I &s;till &s;ay, the more we con&s;ider of this matter, of the more narrow enquiry do we find it to be.</P>
<P>There is a &s;emblance and likene&s;s of being New-Creatures, which is not really &s;o, a &s;emblance of Holine&s;s, a holy fruit, which is not truly &s;o, but will at la&s;t <HI>wither;</HI> and hence, all the withered Profe&s;&s;ors in this day, as we &s;hall pre&s;ently &s;hew.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not here &s;peak of &s;uch, as pretend to no manner of change inward or outward, &s;uch as are in all things, the &s;ame they ever were, as &s;uch as live in known gro&s;s &s;ins, they have no appearance or pretence of claim to the Title and Character of the New Creature; by their own conce&s;&s;ion and acknowledgment they are &s;till the &s;ame as ever they were, therefore, not &s;o much as pretend to be made new; to &s;uch I &s;hall, if God will, apply a further word before we have done.</P>
<P>Only now of the <HI>Semblance of the New Creature</HI> (fal&s;ly &s;o called) but not really &s;o.</P>
<P N="1">1. A &s;oul being convinc'd of the damnablene&s;s of &s;uch and &s;uch a &s;in, from the Law, and the power of the Word upon the Con&s;cience, that a &s;oul living, continuing in it, &s;hall never enter into the Kingdom of God: As from &s;uch a place, as 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.9, 10. <HI>Know ye not that the unrighteous &s;hall not enter into the
<PB N="173" REF="88">
Kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither Fornicators, Adulterers, Idolaters, nor Effeminate, nor Abu&s;ers of them&s;elves with Mankind, nor Thieves, nor Covetous, nor Drunkards, nor Revilers, nor Extortioners, &s;hall in|herit the Kingdom of God. And &s;uch were &s;ome of you,</HI> &amp;c. I &s;ay, from this or the like Scripture, a &s;oul may be convinced, that if he continued in any of the&s;e gro&s;s wickedne&s;&s;es, he &s;hall never &s;ee the face of God, and &s;o may take up from the gro&s;s outward Acts of them, or at lea&s;t, from a frequent commiting them; now this per&s;on may go no fur|ther, and becau&s;e he hath left &s;ome &s;pecial gro&s;s &s;in, he thinks him&s;elf a true Convert, and a New-man, and may flatter him&s;elf with the conceit of being the New-Creature we are to &s;et forth; but no New <HI>in|ward</HI> man, no coming to Chri&s;t, not being in Chri&s;t; and it may be feared, many Souls are under this dreadful &s;nare.</P>
<P N="2">2. Such a kind of outward Reformation may ari&s;e from &s;pecial Judgment and Affliction upon a &s;inner, trembling that God bath &s;mitten him for &s;uch a &s;in, and &s;o may take up from it; and this al&s;o often pa&s;|&s;eth for conver&s;ion; not but that &s;ometimes God be|gins the fir&s;t &s;troke by laying his hand upon a &s;inner, but I &s;peak of a meer taking up from a prophane cour&s;e, and never getting into Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which many re&s;t them&s;elves in.</P>
<P N="3">3. A &s;inner may leave &s;ome &s;ins of youth, as in|con&s;i&s;tent with riper years; and upon that may take him&s;elf to be a Convert, or a kind of New-Creature, to be changed and turned from what he was; but no for&s;aking this &s;in with loathing of it, as again&s;t God, no brokenne&s;s of heart for it, and the root of it &s;till un&s;ubdued in his heart.</P>
<P N="4">4. A &s;inner may take up from &s;ome gro&s;s &s;ins, as
<PB N="174" REF="89">
incon&s;i&s;tent with reputation, <HI>credit</HI> in the World, or his <HI>profit</HI> and wordly advantage; &s;o many debaucht per&s;ons turn to be great worldlings, and yet take them&s;elves to be good Converts, when they have turned from a &s;in that would wa&s;te their E&s;tates, to be wretched worldlings; yet the&s;e go away with a good opinion of them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="5">5. Sinners may take up and reform, to get the fa|vour of &s;ome Religious Friend or great Per&s;on that doth countenance Religion, in hope of &s;ome &s;pecial preferment or honour by them; and &s;o get a form of Profe&s;&s;ion, an Ability to &s;peak of good things, own the be&s;t people, hear good men, and yet all this proceed from a rotten heart, as it was with <HI>Simon Magus,</HI> Acts 1. Hoping after great gain by the gift of the Holy Gho&s;t, the gift of Miracles, and yet was <HI>in the Gall of Bitterne&s;s and bond of Ini|quity.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. Souls may have a kind of Conviction, and ta|king up to &s;ome new duties, in the &s;inful neglect of which they have long lived; as to a kind of &s;e|cret Prayer, in ob&s;erving the Sabbath more &s;trictly, read more, hear more, (things good in them&s;elves, when u&s;ed as means to find Je&s;us Chri&s;t in) and yet may continue long in the&s;e, and not a Go&s;pel New-Creature in Chri&s;t; never humbled &s;o as to be emptied of them&s;elves, and come to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as for Righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;o for life and &s;trength for the performance of all duties, and &s;ubduing of all Sin, and therein chiefly the Legal New-Creature (&s;o called) doth con&s;i&s;t, in taking up to mo&s;t known outward duties, &s;omething &s;trictly, and make Con|&s;cience of them, as of gro&s;s outward &s;ins, and yet no Go&s;pel New-Creature. I wi&s;h there are not too many &s;uch.</P>
<P N="7"><PB N="175" REF="89">7. A Soul may take him&s;elf to be a New-Crea|ture, from &s;ome good liking that he hath of &s;uch as are better than him&s;elf, and &s;ome <HI>purpo&s;es and re&s;olu|tions</HI> to be better, which purpo&s;es for a time carry a man forth, till new Temptations, and then they will not bear a man forth: Thus you &s;hall find ma|ny &s;inners purpo&s;ing and &s;trongly re&s;olving to take up, to avoid &s;uch cour&s;es they have found to end in trouble, and yet fall back again, becau&s;e purpo&s;ing in them&s;elves, and not getting into Chri&s;t for &s;trength, and the&s;e think them&s;elves to be a kind of New-Creatures.</P>
<P N="8">8, Yea further, a Soul may be under &s;ome ter|rors of Con&s;cience for a time, and yet heal and re|lieve him&s;elf by leaving the &s;in outwardly that oc|ca&s;ioned &s;uch terror, and taking up to a greater bulk and formal cour&s;e and round of &s;et duties, under which &s;uch Souls en&s;afe them&s;elves and &s;ettle in a kind of peace, and take them&s;elves to be New-Crea|tures, becau&s;e they were under terrors, and for&s;ake &s;ome &s;ins, and perform more duties, and yet never healed by the Blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, nor have taken root in him.</P>
<P>Before I go any further, let me bring home, if the Lord will, the&s;e things to your Con&s;ciences, and let it be a word to find out &s;uch who&s;e conditions have been opened.</P>
<P>Such then of you, who haply have left &s;ome gro&s;s &s;ins, &s;ome open prophane cour&s;es, becau&s;e the Word of God hath glared upon your Con&s;ciences, and you could not commit &s;uch &s;ins in Peace, that upon &s;ome &s;pecial affliction have taken up to a little &s;tricter cour&s;e, that have left the &s;ins of your youth, only becau&s;e they were youthful &s;ins, not &s;uitable to riper age, or have cea&s;ed from Lewd Cour&s;es, be|cau&s;e
<PB N="176" REF="90">
of your credit among men, or your worldly profits, &s;ins in which you could not thrive in your E&s;tates: If this be all, know it, that you are not the New-Creatures we are &s;peaking of, you are far from the Kingdom of God; and if you come no farther, even to &s;ee your &s;elves wholly at a lo&s;s, and &s;o get to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, you are damned for ever.</P>
<P>Yea, if any for the Favour of Men, or &s;ome out|ward advantage, have taken up a &s;eeming profe&s;&s;i|on of Religion above the ordinary rate, and this be your main principle; know, thou art &s;even times the Child of the Devil more than thou wa&s;t, to deal thus Athei&s;tically and Hypocritically with the great God, who will one day lay thee open to all the world, and thou &s;halt be confounded in thy &s;elf, be|cau&s;e of this thy abominable iniquity.</P>
<P>And &s;uch as have come a little further, that from &s;ome conviction of your &s;hortne&s;s of what you &s;hould be, have betaken your &s;elves to a greater bulk of du|ties, make Con&s;cience of many &s;ins and many du|ties, and &s;o you have &s;etled your &s;elves in your cour&s;e; know you al&s;o, this you may do, and be far from Go|&s;pel-New-Creatures.</P>
<P>Such al&s;o as re&s;t in purpo&s;es and re&s;olutions, wi&s;h|ings and &s;ome wouldings to be better, this will not do, if it be no more; or &s;uch as have heal'd your &s;elves, and have not been healed by coming to the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by a more exact way of &s;ome outward duties; know it, and be convinc'd, that the core will break out again, and you are yet to &s;eek for a well grounded peace, and are none of the Go|&s;pel-New-Creatures.</P>
<P>Now another degree of Mi&s;takes of the New-Crea|ture, doth ari&s;e from the taking of <HI>Common Grace,</HI>
<PB N="177" REF="90">
(which a Hypocrite may reach to) for truth of <HI>renew|ing,</HI> &s;anctifying <HI>Grace;</HI> and know, that every Hy|pocrite doth not know him&s;elf to be &s;uch, but a Hy|pocrite is one that appears to him&s;elf and others, to be what he is not; he takes him&s;elf to be a good Chri&s;tian, a Believer, a New Creature, and is not &s;o. The ground of &s;ome of the&s;e great Mi&s;takes I &s;hall mention.</P>
<P>As fir&s;t, A poor Creature thinks him&s;elf &s;afe, be|cau&s;e what he doth, he thinks he doth it all with a <HI>good heart.</HI> No one &s;o confident of the goodne&s;s of his heart as a Hypocrite, becau&s;e he knows not his own heart; in that great Reformation in <HI>Jo&s;iahs</HI> time <HI>Jeremiah</HI> &s;peaks of, <HI>Chap.</HI> 3.10. that <HI>Judah turned</HI> to the Lord but <HI>feignedly, not with the whole Heart:</HI> Yet the people thought otherwi&s;e with them&s;elves, as 'tis likely, when they entred into a Covenant with God, with good <HI>Jo&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P>This is that mo&s;t poor &s;inful Creatures do bol&s;ter up them&s;elves with, in their Ignorance and Securi|ty, that they do all to God and Men with good hearts; whereas a renewed Soul doubts of the good|ne&s;s of his heart, and hath matter of humbling for it in every duty.</P>
<P N="2">2. Another mi&s;take of poor &s;ouls is, (as to the Go&s;pel-New-Creature) from a <HI>mi&s;pri&s;ion of &s;ins of in|firmities,</HI> for &s;uch as are indeed <HI>reigning, damning &s;ins;</HI> As to in&s;tance, to lye for advantage, to &s;wear petty Oaths &s;ometimes, by Faith and Troth, by the Ma&s;s, to mention God's Name frequently, as a by-word, crying, Oh Lord, Oh God, &s;lightly, vain|ly, or &s;ometimes to drink to exce&s;s, or the like evils: 'Tis common to hear wretched Souls, when convinc'd of them, to excu&s;e the matter: Why, 'tis their <HI>infirmity,</HI> whereas it proceeds from a heart
<PB N="178" REF="91">
wholly unregenerate, and under the power and reign of &s;in.</P>
<P>Infirmities of the Children of God are not allow|ed by them, but humbled, mourned for, every day watch'd again&s;t, the root of them they endeavour to mortifie through the Spirit; which the common profe&s;&s;or that calls all his &s;ins his infirmities, doth not; Oh! Souls, there's a va&s;t difference between the infirmities of &s;uch as are indeed <HI>New-Creatures,</HI> and between the reigning &s;ins of natural men; &s;in reigns in its peace, power, habit, in the heart, no &s;ubdu|ing, crucifying, purging, which a New-Creature doth and hath.</P>
<P N="3">3. This mi&s;take of the New-Creature doth ari&s;e from a mi&s;concieving of the reluctancy of a natural con&s;cience, before or in the committing of &s;in; ta|king it for the <HI>Conflict</HI> that is in a truly regenerate Soul, between the Regenerate and Carnal part; which mi&s;take u&s;ually is bottomed upon a mi&s;|under&s;tanding of that place of <HI>Paul,</HI> Rom. 7.15. <HI>For that which I do, I allow not,</HI> &amp;c. Hence, &s;ay many un|regenerate, gracele&s;s per&s;ons, Why though they do break out into &s;uch and &s;uch things, and omit &s;uch and &s;uch duties, yet they do not allow them&s;elves in it; that is, their Con&s;cience is not wholly &s;eared, and &s;o make &s;ome re&s;i&s;tance, and this they take to be &s;aving grace; a gro&s;s and mo&s;t dangerous mi&s;take; now take &s;uch a per&s;on, and he hath <HI>not a delight in the Law of God in the inward man,</HI> as <HI>Paul</HI> had, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 22. doth not cry out as inwardly burthen'd, <HI>wretch|ed man that I am, who &s;hall deliver me from the body of this death?</HI> No &s;uch daily complaints and groan|ings under the weight of it, No eying God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t for deliverance from it, No &s;erving the Law of God with a <HI>Renewed</HI> inward Man, No
<PB N="179" REF="91">
<HI>walking after the Spirit;</HI> &s;o that unle&s;s it be &s;o with you, that no allowance in the con&s;cience, and yet do it, it comes to nothing; and an Hypocrite may and doth as much, till given up to a &s;eared con&s;cience, pa&s;t feeling.</P>
<P N="4">4. From a mi&s;take of <HI>Faith,</HI> taking that for &s;ound and &s;aving which is common to a Reprobate; &s;uch as <HI>James</HI> de&s;cribes in his Epi&s;tle; &s;peaking of Men who &s;ay <HI>they have faith,</HI> and have not really; a Faith that believes God is; the Scriptures; the dying and ri&s;ing of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and all other Go&s;|pel truths, as it pretends; yea, that he believes on Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and hopes to be &s;aved by him, as well as the holie&s;t; and upon this they have a kind of peace. I have &s;poken before of ju&s;tifying Faith, only a word as to the New-Creature, know therefore, that Faith that doth not teach a &s;oul to <HI>deny it &s;elf,</HI> that doth not <HI>purifie</HI> the heart, that doth not <HI>live</HI> upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and &s;o <HI>created into him,</HI> is not the faith of the New-Creature, but a common, dead, putrifying faith, that &s;uffers the &s;oul to putrifie in &s;in, and works not to the clean&s;ing of it.</P>
<P N="5">5. To in&s;tance in &s;ome other graces; as namely, <HI>Repentance,</HI> which &s;ouls do take to be only a wi&s;h|ing the &s;in had not been committed with a little fear and &s;orrow after it, and this they think to be true re|pentance; which when true, is accompanied with loathing of the &s;in, and our &s;elves, and our corrupt natures, brokenne&s;s of heart for it, and from it, and turning to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and eyes the honour, patience, holine&s;s, love of God, in its &s;orrowing, more than his wrath; and hath for its effects, <HI>care|fulne&s;s, indignation</HI> again&s;t it &s;elf, <HI>vehement de&s;ire</HI> after more holine&s;s by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.11.</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="180" REF="92">6. A fal&s;e and carnal <HI>hope</HI> of Heaven, mi&s;taken for a gracious <HI>&s;aving hope,</HI> deceives the &s;oul in this matter: Many poor &s;ouls, yea, it may be feared, the mo&s;t, think they &s;hall go to Heaven, becau&s;e they <HI>hope</HI> &s;o, and think they ought to hope: Now a &s;a|ving hope of pardon and Heaven is rightly bot|tom'd, namely upon the riches of Gods Grace, <HI>Titus</HI> 3.7. Upon the righteou&s;ne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.5. Upon &s;ome &s;pecial promi&s;e of God; Upon <HI>ex|perience of God,</HI> Rom. 5. And <HI>purifying the &s;oul,</HI> 1 John 3.3. as I may have occa&s;ion more at large to &s;peak.</P>
<P>Oh! this fal&s;e and carnal, cur&s;ed hope, that is not thus bottom'd, &s;erves only to &s;hut up the heart a|gain&s;t the power of the Word, and a &s;aving clo&s;ing with Je&s;us Chri&s;t; till a Soul is da&s;ht in this hope, it will never get a better.</P>
<P N="7">7. A <HI>form of knowledge,</HI> e&s;pecially if <HI>increas'd</HI> un|der the Mini&s;try of the Word, may much deceive a &s;oul in this great and weighty concernment; &s;o <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks of the Jews, <HI>Rom.</HI> 2.20. having <HI>a form of knowledge, and of the truth of the law:</HI> Many have a Catechi&s;tical form of Knowledge, they can de&s;cribe what Faith, and Repentance, and Regeneration is, and then think they have it them&s;elves, becau&s;e they can <HI>tell</HI> what it is, and do believe it to be &s;uch: There may be much knowledge in the head, and yet no renewing grace in the heart: That knowledge that is &s;aving, brings with it a power upon the Soul, to love, delight in, to experience the goodne&s;s, ver|tue, &s;weetne&s;s of what it knows: It transforms the &s;oul into the image of what is known, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3. <HI>la&s;t.</HI> It is &s;piritual, and it makes the heart, the affe|ctions &s;piritual.</P>
<P N="8">8. A Mi&s;conceit of the <HI>grace of love,</HI> is al&s;o a fal&s;e
<PB N="181" REF="92">
ground in this matter: As that a poor &s;oul will think that he loves God, when he hath no knowledge of him, nor delight in him, nor communion with him; nor doth love his Image, which is holine&s;s; and that he loves all, every one, whereas much en|vy and malice reigns in the heart, if but a little provoked; and for the people of God truly &s;o called, they hate them for Hypocrites, Schi&s;maticks, and what not; or if a little better thoughts of them, 'tis not love to Chri&s;t, and his Image in them, that acts them, which is the nature of the grace of love. But yet are ju&s;tified in their con&s;cience to be the people of God.</P>
<P N="9">9. So is patience, humility, meekne&s;s, mi&s;taken; &s;ome natural di&s;po&s;itions are mo&s;t patient and meek, and the&s;e poor Creatures are apt to mi&s;take for grace, when 'tis nothing but meer nature, and more candid di&s;po&s;ition; and &s;uch Souls, from na|tural temper can bear much, and it hath an appear|ance of of grace; but yet here may be no work of the Spirit all this while, humbling, meekning the &s;oul in its own vilene&s;s, no mortification of contrary lu&s;ts, no humbling for pride of heart, without which no true gracious humility; no meekning by the Go&s;|pel, and the power of Chri&s;ts love upon their Spi|rits; and yet upon this account, you &s;hall have poor carnal &s;ouls pretend much (as I have often heard it urged by them) to the fruits of the Spirit, mention'd <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22. of love, joy, peace, goodne&s;s, patience, temperance, when tis nothing but di&s;po&s;ition, inge|nuity, or from civil education.</P>
<P N="10">10. As great a deceit there is about the <HI>fear of God;</HI> many poor &s;ouls do fear the puni&s;hment and wrath of God, which is all they do, and then they think this is the fear of his Servant; the fear of the
<PB N="182" REF="93">
Lord, which God promi&s;eth to put into the hearts of his own people, <HI>Jer.</HI> 32.40. is a fear of God, be|cau&s;e he is holy, becau&s;e he is gracious, becau&s;e he hath pardoned iniquity; <HI>They &s;hall fear the Lord and his goodne&s;s,</HI> Ho&s;. 3. <HI>la&s;t.</HI> which fear is mixt with a &s;weet and ble&s;&s;ed love to God, and con&s;ola|tion of the Spirit, at lea&s;t a waiting for it.</P>
<P N="11">11. A <HI>mi&s;apprehen&s;ion of good works,</HI> cau&s;eth a mi&s;take of the New-Creature; many are convinc'd that works of Mercy, and Charity, and Ju&s;tice, are to be done, and &s;o from a pittiful nature, or from vain-glory, or from a &s;ecret thought to appe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e God, or from Legal conviction at lea&s;t, they will be ready to do Charitable works, (things good in them|&s;elves) and this they think di&s;covers their Faith: And herein lies a common deceit in the vulgar pro|fe&s;&s;ors of the people of <HI>England:</HI> Now all the good works (fal&s;ly &s;o called) done out of Chri&s;t, are fle&s;h|ly, and not accepted with God: A Papi&s;t, and ma|ny a carnal Prote&s;tant, (even al&s;o for the &s;in of his &s;oul) doth much this way; but good works, pro|perly &s;o called, do flow from a living Faith, from love to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and de&s;ign not a &s;elf-ju&s;tifi|cation, but the glory of God: And gracious Souls do find it very hard to perform them, with holy ends.</P>
<P N="12">12. Mi&s;take of a <HI>good conver&s;ation;</HI> which may only be a moral conver&s;ation, civil, &s;ober, righte|ous as to Men, but minds not <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> to God, which is the &s;pecial part of a Go&s;pel-Conver&s;ation: And yet the mo&s;t of people go away with this, that they are believers, and in a good &s;tate for Heaven, becau&s;e they have a good conver&s;ation, which they greatly mi&s;take. That which the word of God calls
<PB N="183" REF="93">
a good conver&s;ation, as an evidence of Faith, is not only a meer outward blamele&s;ne&s;s, (which the Phari&s;ees had), but to walk with God from a Go&s;|pel-principle, from Go&s;pel Grace, and the love of God in the heart, chiefly re&s;pecting holine&s;s to the Lord, and the fear of the Lord upon the heart; now a &s;oul that hath nothing of this may be outwardly blamele&s;s, a Jew and Heathen may be &s;o, and nothing of the grace of God upon them.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> Now the Lord make this to be a convincing &s;earching Word to you; you that have left &s;ome gro&s;s &s;ins, from the word upon your con&s;ciences, from afflictions, from worldly advantages, from age; be it known unto you, this you may do, and more, and be &s;till the Children of Wrath, in an unpar|doned condition, and not the New-Creatures we are &s;peaking of; yea, though thou ha&s;t taken up to New-duties, and make&s;t con&s;cience of many &s;ins and many duties, thou may'&s;t &s;till be out of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>And you that call your daily &s;ins (which have <HI>dominion</HI> over you, your infirmities, when not hum|bled, nor mourn for them, nor cry for &s;trength a|gain&s;t them, this your way is your folly, and the Devil and your own hearts greatly deceive you, yea, you call &s;uch &s;ins your infirmites, (meaning, as if they were the infirmities of the children of God) that cannot con&s;i&s;t with truth of grace, &s;uch as com|mon lying, and common prophaning the Lords Name in your mouths, and neglecting to &s;anctifie his Sab|baths, and living in the neglect of &s;ecret &s;piritual Prayer.</P>
<P><PB N="184" REF="94">And &s;uch of you that have &s;ome &s;triving in you con&s;ciences, before and after the &s;in, know it, i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> may be &s;o, and yet not a drop of &s;aving grace in you, no regenerate part wrought forth in you; and yet how many bear up them&s;elves upon this &s;core, and think thence they allow not them&s;elves in the &s;ins they commit, in <HI>Paul</HI>'s &s;en&s;e, look to this, or you may for ever peri&s;h in this &s;nare; I have given &s;ome marks how you may know it.</P>
<P>Take you heed al&s;o, that you take not that which is called <HI>Common-Grace,</HI> which is common to Repro|bates, for true grace. There's a fal&s;e Faith, a fal&s;e Repentance, a fal&s;e Hope, and &s;o of the re&s;t, in which you may a&s;&s;uredly go to Hell, you may have a harm|le&s;s conver&s;ation, and do &s;ome good works of Charity, and yet peri&s;h for ever, you may have no|thing of the New-Creature in you; and yet give all your goods to the poor.</P>
<P>In a word, you may leave outward gro&s;s &s;ins, have convictions of wrath to come, have purpo&s;es (&s;uch as they are) to be better, take up to New Du|ties, have common grace, think you have Faith, Re|pentance, hope that you are humble, patient, have a good conver&s;ation, and do good works, and yet not be New-creatures in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as we &s;hall further evince.</P>
<P>I have yet one more deceit to di&s;cover, and that is the Mi&s;take of a Scripture <HI>good con&s;cience:</HI> It is true, that the Apo&s;tle in 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.5, 19. puts <HI>Faith and a good con&s;cience</HI> as the great comprehen&s;ive Du|ties, but there is not any one thing more mi&s;taken, than what this <HI>good con&s;cience</HI> is; too many Preach|ers pre&s;s this carnally, and carnal people go away with it, that they have Faith, yea, they never doubt it, and for a good con&s;cience they di&s;charge it; I have
<PB N="185" REF="94">
&s;poken of Faith already, but now that which &s;uch poor &s;educed &s;ouls take to be a good Con&s;cience, is only to wrong no body, to be ju&s;t to all, not to purloin others goods, to take and keep nothing but their own; they take it to be chiefly conver&s;ant about the duties of the &s;econd Table, concerning their Neighbour; a little to rectifie this &s;oul-dam|ning mi&s;take.</P>
<P N="1">1. A <HI>Scripture Con&s;cience</HI> is an <HI>Enlightned Con|&s;cience,</HI> which before was &s;hut up in darkne&s;s, <HI>Eph.</HI> 1.18. The light of the Word of God is &s;et up in the con&s;cience, whereby it di&s;covers tho&s;e truths in their power and worth which before it was dark unto.</P>
<P N="2">2. A good Con&s;cience is a <HI>Con&s;cience &s;earcht</HI> by the power of the Word, <HI>convinc'd</HI> to be under &s;in, and guilt, and pollution, whereby trouble doth ari&s;e in it; God laying in the weight of guilt, the damnablene&s;s of &s;in, the pollution of it, upon the Con&s;cience, &s;o that the &s;oul cries out, what &s;hall I do? How &s;hall God be pacified, and the &s;oul &s;aved?</P>
<P N="3">3. And hence it is an <HI>awakened Con&s;cience,</HI> which before was a&s;leep; <HI>Awake thou that &s;leepe&s;t,</HI> Ephe&s;. 5. The voice of the Spirit doth awake that Con&s;cience that before was a&s;leep in &s;inful &s;ecurity.</P>
<P N="4">4. A good Con&s;cience is convinced that all the keepings of the Law, and keeping a Con&s;cience to men, cannot ju&s;tifie the &s;oul before God, cannot commend it to God, which a Second Table-Con|&s;cience imagines it will, and &s;o in peace: <HI>Paul</HI> kept a Con&s;cience as to many things, <HI>Acts</HI> 23.1. <HI>I have lived in all good Con&s;cience before God unto this day;</HI> meaning, I conceive, from his youth up, when he was a Phari&s;ee; but when his Con&s;cience was con|vinced
<PB N="186" REF="95">
and awakened, and came to &s;ee Je&s;us Chri&s;t, he &s;aw that all his keeping a Con&s;cience, as to many &s;ins and Duties, could not in the lea&s;t commend him to God.</P>
<P>A good Con&s;cience is &s;prinkled with the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.22. <HI>Let us draw near with a true heart, in full a&s;&s;urance of Faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con&s;cience. How much more &s;hall the blood of Chri&s;t, who through the Eternal Spirit offe|red him&s;elf to God, purge your con&s;cience from dead works to &s;erve the living God,</HI> Heb. 9.14. So that this is the efficacy of the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t upon the Con|&s;cience of a Believer, it pacifies it in the &s;en&s;e of the forgivene&s;s of &s;ins towards God, &s;o as it can draw near to God; and it <HI>purgeth</HI> it from dead works, &s;in, and pollution, to &s;erve God acceptably. This is a good Con&s;cience indeed.</P>
<P N="6">6. <HI>A good Con&s;cience re&s;pects all the Precepts of God,</HI> as well of <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> to God as Goodne&s;s to Men; which the Con&s;cience we have been &s;peaking of, doth not. Such a one makes not con&s;cience of this great and ab&s;olute Precept, <HI>Be ye holy,</HI> 1 Pet. 1. It makes not con&s;cience of purging the heart of &s;ecret mourn|ing to God, of the purity of God's Wor&s;hip: It makes no Con&s;cience of le&s;&s;er &s;ins, as we have &s;hew|ed, not of <HI>all</HI> &s;in, as <HI>Herod</HI> heard the Word gladly, but made no con&s;cience of per&s;ecuting <HI>John</HI> to death, when he &s;tood in the way of his Lu&s;ts: Now, I &s;ay, a good Con&s;cience re&s;pects Precepts of Ho|line&s;s, <HI>&s;ecret</HI> as well as publick Duties, inward as well as outward Sins, le&s;&s;er &s;ins as well as great|er.</P>
<P N="7">7. A Scripture good Con&s;cience <HI>is much taken up about godly &s;incerity.</HI> So <HI>Paul,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.12. <HI>For our rejoycing is this, the Te&s;timony of our Con&s;cience, that with
<PB N="187" REF="95">
&s;implicity and godly &s;incerity, not with fle&s;hly wi&s;dom, but with the grace of God, we have had our Conver&s;ation in the world,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Thus a &s;oul that walks with a good Con&s;cience towards God, labours to approve it &s;elf in all things, with a godly &s;incerity, to do all as unto God.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, a good Con&s;cience labours to keep it &s;elf pure and undefiled, it is accompanied with a <HI>pure heart,</HI> 1 Tim. 1.5. <HI>Now the end of the Commandment is love, out of a pure heart, and of a good Con&s;cience, and of Faith unfeigned.</HI> A Soul that would keep the Con|&s;cience good, would keep it pure, and the whole in|ward man pure, as a Temple unto God.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> Now &s;ee how many ingredients go to make up a <HI>good Con&s;cience</HI> in a Scripttre-&s;en&s;e, and what a great mi&s;take is in this weighty matter, and how far abundance of people that make con&s;cience of their dealings with men, conclude thence they have a Scripture-good-Con&s;cience to God, when they are not &s;avingly enlightned, their Con&s;cience never &s;earch'd by the power of the Word, and throughly awakened out of a natural condition, never hum|bled for re&s;ting in them&s;elves and their Duties, not having their Con&s;cience &s;prinkled with the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and purged thereby, not having a tender re&s;pect to all the Precepts of God, not to walk before him in godly &s;incerity, nor with a pure heart: You then that are &s;hort of the&s;e things, you are wholly to &s;eek in that which you &s;o much pre|tend to, and &s;peak peace to your &s;elves in, the ha|ving or keeping a good Con&s;cience; you have as yet no part in this matter.</P>
<P N="2">2. What hath been &s;poken of a good Cnn&s;cience, may be for in&s;truction and direction to the Called
<PB N="188" REF="96">
Ones of Chri&s;t; how to pre&s;erve the Con&s;cience good and peaceable, and &s;o to live and dye in the peace and comfort of it, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord. Get it &s;prinkled with the Blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t every day, and under the &s;earching of the Word, and awake unto God, and pure and undefiled, re&s;pe|cting all the Holy Precepts of God, as binding to your con&s;cience, &s;o will the con&s;cience be tender, and peaceable, and God will witne&s;s in your con|ences your acceptance with him in his Son Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>I would give out further &s;ome Notes of Tryal, Whether you re&s;t in fal&s;e common grace or not, as to what we have already &s;poken in &s;o weighty a matter.</P>
<P N="1">1. By your <HI>never &s;u&s;pecting the truth of your grace,</HI> but taking all upon tru&s;t, never doubting but you have Faith, and do repent, and &s;o of all the re&s;t; that &s;oul that never &s;u&s;pected his grace, may well fear that his pretended grace, is no more than what a Hypocrite may reach unto: The poor called chil|dren of God, are exceedingly jealous their Faith is not &s;ound; that they are &s;hort in every grace, be|cau&s;e of the woful mixtures that they find; more Unbelief than Faith, more hardne&s;s of heart than &s;oftne&s;s, more Pride than Humiliation; and &s;o of all. Now that &s;oul that goes away with an un|&s;u&s;pected confidence of every Grace, &s;ure flat|ters him&s;elf, and his way will be found to be de|ceitful.</P>
<P N="2">2. That Soul that draws back his con&s;cience from the &s;earching power of the Word, when it gives out ways of trial of Sincerity and truth of grace, and puts it off, as if not concerned in it; this may well be &s;peak a fal&s;e heart. A gracious heart would
<PB N="189" REF="96">
bring the Work over and over to the Touch-&s;tone of the Word, delivers up it &s;elf unto it; yea, is much with God to &s;earch him, in point of a firm Work upon his Spirit, as to any prevailing Iniquity in his heart; as <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 139. When he was be|fore the Lord, appealing to him, and opening his heart to him, &s;peaks thus, <HI>ver.</HI> 1. <HI>Oh Lord thou ha&s;t &s;earched me,</HI> &amp;c. thou ha&s;t: And yet, <HI>ver.</HI> 23.24. begs of God yet further to &s;earch him: <HI>Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and &s;ee if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me into the way everla&s;ting.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Fal&s;e Grace is di&s;covered by its <HI>ea&s;ie acting,</HI> When you can ea&s;ily believe, ea&s;ily repent, ea&s;ily be humble, and &s;o of all others. Certainly, 'tis all naught. There is great contradiction within, and from the Tempter, as to act Grace begun in a &s;oul; yea, a daily &s;upply from Je&s;us Chri&s;t mu&s;t be, to act any Grace livelily; which the common, pretending, ea&s;ie Believers are not &s;en&s;ible of. It cannot be but every act of Grace mu&s;t find more or le&s;s re&s;i&s;tance from fle&s;h and blood, which is &s;o vigorou&s;ly op|po&s;ite to the nature and acting of real grace in the Soul.</P>
<P N="4">4. Such as are never humbled for the &s;piritual wickedne&s;&s;es of their hearts; (I call them &s;o in op|po&s;ition to the more gro&s;s and fle&s;hly wickedne&s;&s;es) now the&s;e are <HI>Hypocri&s;ie, &s;elfi&s;hne&s;s, &s;piritual pride, vain-glory, unbelief;</HI> many that have had trouble for &s;ome gro&s;s &s;ins, and will with&s;tand &s;ome gro&s;s corrupt|tions, through common grace, never come to be aba&s;ed for the&s;e depths of the heart, which are more hardly di&s;cerned; I may well enough call that &s;oul as yet a Hypocrite, that is never humbled for the Hypocri&s;ie of his heart, for &s;elfi&s;hne&s;s, and the re&s;t.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="190" REF="97">5. Common-grace mea&s;ures the &s;oul chiefly by <HI>Negatives,</HI> what it is <HI>not,</HI> rather than what really <HI>it is,</HI> as the Phari&s;ee, <HI>Luke</HI> 18. &mdash; <HI>I am not as other men are;</HI> plea&s;eth him&s;elf rather in what he is not than what he is: I am not thus and thus, as abun|dance of debaucht per&s;ons are; but whether he be called of God, emptied of his own righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;anctified in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, a New Creature in him, he puts off the Examination.</P>
<P N="6">6. Common grace doth at be&s;t <HI>re&s;pect a mans &s;elf</HI> in all it does, and not the glory of God, which it &s;ees not; let others be as wicked as they will, it is not much to &s;uch a &s;oul, let every one look to him&s;elf, &s;uch a &s;oul doth not avoid &s;in as &s;in, but only for fear it &s;hould damn him; whereas the proper na|ture of Grace is to re&s;pect God, his Holine&s;s, Name, and Glory.</P>
<P>Thus have I laid down &s;ome plain Di&s;coveries of the pretended New-Creature, that which I have &s;tiled a <HI>Legal New-Creature.</HI> I &s;hall now proceed a little further to make di&s;covery of a more &s;eeming Go&s;pel New-Creature, yet but &s;eeming.</P>
<P>That which hath the neare&s;t re&s;emblance of the New-Creature, is, when from &s;ome <HI>common enlight|nings</HI> of the Go&s;pel of Grace, and &s;ome <HI>overly ta&s;tings</HI> of the good Word, the <HI>affections</HI> being &s;omething &s;tirred therewith, there is &s;ome affection expre&s;&s;ed to the Go&s;pel, and &s;ome outward Reformation upon it, and a Profe&s;&s;ion above the common formal rate taken up, joyned al&s;o with <HI>common gifts</HI> of Praying, or Prophe&s;ying, knowledge, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now all this may make &s;o great a <HI>blaze</HI> and flouri&s;h, that it &s;hall be hardly di&s;cerned by &s;uch a Profe&s;&s;or him&s;elf, or others that are &s;piritual; that all this may be, 'tis clear from &s;everal Scriptures, <HI>Heb.</HI> 6.4, 5. where
<PB N="191" REF="97">
mention is made of <HI>enlightning, ta&s;ting, gifts of the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> and yet &s;uch to <HI>fall away,</HI> and <HI>never to re|new them&s;elves again;</HI> and <HI>to be nigh unto cur&s;ing,</HI> ver&s;e 8. <HI>and</HI> ver&s;e 9. <HI>Beloved we are per&s;waded bet|ter things of you, and things that accompany Salvati|on,</HI> &amp;c. Implying, that the&s;e things may be, but do not always accompany Salvation: So the Apo&s;tle <HI>Peter,</HI> 2 Pet. 2.20. &s;peaks of &s;uch who had <HI>e&s;caped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and yet again entangled therein, and overcome, and their latter end wor&s;e than the begin|ning.</HI></P>
<P>They &s;hall e&s;cape many gro&s;s pollutions, and that through a kind of knowledge of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and yet be again overcome, and return wholly to them. So <HI>Matth.</HI> 12.45. Our Lord Je&s;us &s;peaks of the <HI>hou&s;e &s;wept,</HI> and <HI>garni&s;hed,</HI> the <HI>unclean &s;pirit ca&s;t out for a time;</HI> &s;ome outward reformation, a damp upon the lu&s;ts of the heart, and knowledge, and common gifts, and yet the unclean &s;pirit returning again.</P>
<P>Examples might be produced of &s;uch Profe&s;&s;ors in the Go&s;pel, as that of <HI>Judas,</HI> an eminent Profe&s;|&s;or, a forward follower of Chri&s;t, &s;uffered &s;ome per|&s;ecution, and gifted, and yet proves a Reprobate. <HI>Si|mon Magus,</HI> baptized by <HI>Philip,</HI> renounced his Sor|ceries, took upon him a forward Profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t, accompanied <HI>Philip,</HI> and yet <HI>his heart not right in the &s;ight of God,</HI> Acts 8.13, 21.</P>
<P>It may be more than feared, this age (to the high &s;candal of Sinners and Saints) hath produced many &s;uch, that have been much taken with the glorious grace of the Go&s;pel, their Con&s;ciences &s;omething a|wakened for Heaven, the affections &s;tirr'd, have at|tained to flouri&s;hing gifts, and yet returned to their
<PB N="192" REF="98">
fir&s;t nothing, turn'd bla&s;phemers, and profe&s;&s;ed <HI>Athei&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P>And no doubt there is &s;uch a Maje&s;ty, Excellency, Sweetne&s;s in the Go&s;pel of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that may for a time much affect a carnal heart, and may be re|cieved <HI>with joy,</HI> Matth. 13.20. The very Hi&s;tory of Je&s;us Chri&s;t dying for &s;inners may much affect; that he will freely &s;ave Sinners, the glory he hath provided for his own, the&s;e and the like things may much take the affections for a time, make a &s;oul a|&s;hamed of gro&s;s pollutions, and yet no New-Crea|ture all this while: And of &s;uch as the&s;e it is that Chri&s;t doth prophe&s;ie of, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25. who &s;hall have Lamps, Light and Profe&s;&s;ion, go along with the wi&s;e Virgins, wi&s;e and truly gracious Profe&s;&s;ors, not be di&s;covered (many of them) till the Lords appear|ing, and yet kept out of the Kingdom of Hea|ven.</P>
<P>Now of all others, the&s;e have the mo&s;t re&s;emblance of a real New-Creature, and yet fall &s;hort, and peri&s;h for ever.</P>
<P>I &s;hould prevent my &s;elf, &s;hould I at large di&s;cover wherein &s;uch Profe&s;&s;ors are &s;hort, only a word or two.</P>
<P N="1">1. Such Souls are never emptied of them&s;elves, and humbled, and &s;o come poor and nothing to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, though happily they may be able to &s;peak of it, as many Souls have a form of Go&s;pel-Know|ledge, and can &s;ay, <HI>We are nothing,</HI> and yet never had the &s;aving experience of it upon their own hearts.</P>
<P N="2">2. Such Souls have no <HI>true brokenne&s;s of heart for &s;in,</HI> they much &s;light it; yea, &s;ay many, 'tis Legal; brokenne&s;s for &s;in is a low di&s;pen&s;ation, as they will &s;tile it; without which (in &s;ome mea&s;ure) no &s;aving
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repentance, which is as nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation, as be|lieving on Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and Free-Grace.</P>
<P N="3">3. Though &s;uch &s;ouls may reform many things, yet there is &s;ome <HI>un&s;ubdued lu&s;t</HI> in the heart, that at la&s;t breaks out, and carries an end the heart, as with <HI>Simon Magus</HI> and <HI>Demas.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Under all &s;uch enlightnings and ta&s;tings which may for a time affect the heart, the heart &s;till re|mains <HI>unchanged,</HI> and &s;o no New-Creature.</P>
<P N="5">5. They are not rooted into Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which we have &s;hewed is the root of the New-creature; not <HI>rooted and built up in him,</HI> Col. 2.7. Therefore 'tis &s;aid of the Hearers with joy for a time, that they had <HI>no root,</HI> Mat. 13.</P>
<P>What hath been &s;poken as to this, may put the more forward Profe&s;&s;ors upon a clo&s;e and diligent &s;earch, and to &s;ee if their Attainments in enlightning, ta&s;ting, knowledge, gifts, reformation, be no more than what a Reprobate may attain to, and to lay their hearts under the &s;earching Power of the Word, and to open their hearts to God, and cry unto him, and keep a godly jealou&s;ie over their &s;pirits: And re&s;t not till you get poor and emptied, and humble your &s;elves, your hearts broken for &s;in, every lu&s;t &s;ubdued and crucified, the heart changed, and your Souls rooted into Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by a &s;aving union with him; yea, to give up your hearts to what we &s;hall further &s;ay, through grace, as to the plain opening the real Go&s;pel-New-Creature.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 TYPE="section">
<PB N="194" REF="99">
<HEAD>The Go&s;pel New-Creature po&s;itively opened.</HEAD>
<P>I Might here &s;hew you how every faculty of the Soul is <HI>renewed,</HI> as the under&s;tanding, by the infu|&s;ion of new and divine light into it, which is &s;tiled the <HI>Enlightning the eyes of the under&s;tanding,</HI> Ephe&s;. 1.18. and to be <HI>renewed in the Spirit of the Mind,</HI> Eph. 4.23. How the will is altered and changed, the affections made new, the con&s;cience purged and &s;anctified, with all the powers of the Soul, but I &s;hall not take this Method, but rather pur&s;ue a more familiar way, more particularly &s;hewing the make of the New-Creature, in reference &s;till to its being &s;o in Chri&s;t, which is our principal &s;cope. Fir&s;t, then:</P>
<P N="1">1. To the making and framing the <HI>New-Creature</HI> there mu&s;t be a <HI>New-Nature;</HI> if there be a New-Crea|ture formed, there mu&s;t be a <HI>New-Nature</HI> to make it &s;o; hence believers that are in Chri&s;t, are &s;aid to be <HI>partakers of the divine nature,</HI> 2 Pet. 1.4. Which is wrought by <HI>the incorruptible &s;eed of the word,</HI> 1 Pet. 1.22. Whereby we are &s;aid to be <HI>born again:</HI> And <HI>Jam.</HI> 1.18. <HI>Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,</HI> &amp;c. Which &s;eed is the &s;eed of God in be|lievers, the &s;eed of every grace in the &s;oul, which is &s;omething of the likene&s;s of God wrought in the &s;oul, and &s;o acts the &s;oul towards God, which is &s;tiled the infu&s;ed habits of every grace in the &s;oul; this New-Nature works contrary to the old cor|rupt nature, and it is &s;tiled the regenerate part, <HI>the
<PB N="195" REF="99">
new inward man,</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.24. and as &s;oon as it is wrought and formed in the &s;oul, it works again&s;t the &s;inful di&s;po&s;itions of the old <HI>Adam</HI> in us, and there is a new war or conflict begun within us, (which is &s;omething more than the re&s;i&s;tance of a natural con&s;cience, as we have &s;hewed) <HI>I &s;ee ano|ther Law in my members, warring again&s;t the Law of my mind,</HI> Rom. 7.23. <HI>&amp;c. The fle&s;h lu&s;teth again&s;t the Spirit, and the Spirit again&s;t the Fle&s;h, and the&s;e two are contrary to each other,</HI> Gal. 5.17. And under this daily conflict and war within is every New-Crea|ture, while we abide in the fle&s;hly Tabernacle. This is the fir&s;t peculiar di&s;tingui&s;hing Workman&s;hip of the New-Creatures, there's a new &s;eed, a new di|vine nature infu&s;ed into the &s;oul.</P>
<P N="2">2. As there is a New-Nature, &s;o it follows that this New-Creature hath a <HI>new life,</HI> it is a <HI>Living</HI> New-Creature; &s;o regenerate per&s;ons are &s;aid to be <HI>quickned in Chri&s;t,</HI> who were before <HI>dead in &s;ins and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es,</HI> Eph. 2.1, 5. And <HI>The dead &s;hall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live,</HI> John 5. And they are &s;aid to <HI>be alive unto God,</HI> Rom. 6.11. <HI>Chri&s;t liveth in me,</HI> Gal. 20. Which new life mu&s;t nece&s;|&s;arily be, becau&s;e,</P>
<P N="1">1. Every natural man, (as hath been already hin|ted) is dead in &s;in, and is &s;aid to be <HI>without this life of God,</HI> Eph. 4.18. The life of God departed from the &s;oul, whereby it had Communion with God, upon our fall in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam;</HI> therefore, if we are recovered, we mu&s;t have a new Life from God in|fu&s;ed into us.</P>
<P N="2">2. If there be not a <HI>new life</HI> breathed in us, we can put forth no &s;piritual vigour in any duty towards God, and &s;o all our duties, &s;ervices, wor&s;hip would he dead fle&s;hly duties; this I have al&s;o hinted in
<PB N="196" REF="100">
&s;hewing the nece&s;&s;ity of being <HI>in Chri&s;t,</HI> if a New-Creature.</P>
<P N="3">3. As there is a new nature, and a new life, to begin the New-Creature; &s;o, thence there's a <HI>new breathing:</HI> The Soul falls a breathing after God, and after Je&s;us Chri&s;t: As the Life which God breath|ed into Man at his fir&s;t Creation, is call'd the <HI>breath of life,</HI> Gen. 2.7. And as &s;oon as ever there is life, this new life breath'd by the Holy Gho&s;t in the New-Creature, there's pre&s;ently a <HI>breathing</HI> of this life, as indeed one of the fir&s;t di&s;coveries of it, (as breath is the mo&s;t immediate acting of Life) the Soul <HI>breaths,</HI> and <HI>pants,</HI> and crys after God him&s;elf, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 42.1. <HI>As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks, &s;o pant|eth my &s;oul after thee, Oh God: I opened my mouth and panted,</HI> P&s;al. 119.131. So that Prayer that is &s;piritu|al, it is <HI>the breath of a living</HI> &s;oul; <HI>Paul</HI> that breath'd out cruelties again&s;t the Saints, when converted, and made alive, he falls a breathing after God; <HI>Acts</HI> 9. &mdash; <HI>Behold he prayeth.</HI> And this doth indeed ari&s;e from the very nature of &s;aving grace, which is to carry a &s;oul to God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to &s;et it a longing not only after mercy, and pardon, and peace, but after God him&s;elf, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 63.1. <HI>My &s;oul is athir&s;t for God, the living God,</HI> &amp;c. As al&s;o from the di&s;&s;atis|faction and emptine&s;s the &s;oul begins to find in all Creature-enjoyments, which now it cannot (having had a view of Chri&s;t) be &s;atisfied and contented with, but the &s;oul mu&s;t have God, mu&s;t have Je&s;us Chri&s;t, mu&s;t have the likene&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and &s;o it breaths, crys, pants after God, and the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of him, and communion with him, as the Souls highe&s;t perfection.</P>
<P N="1">1. Now, therefore, before I go any further, let this be well weighed: Have you this <HI>breathing</HI> in you,
<PB N="197" REF="100">
which when you were dead in &s;in you had not? This is the lea&s;t degree of Grace, if the Soul be not thus breathing, panting, thir&s;ting, longing after Je&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;o that you cannot, mu&s;t not be &s;atisfied, but in the enjoyment of him; verily you are dead, and the grace of God is not in you; &s;o that it may be for a true di&s;covery of your &s;tates, Con&s;ider what your hearts do mo&s;t breath after, what they mo&s;t ear|ne&s;tly Pant for: Oh! Is it for Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf? The hearts of Carnal Worldlings are &s;aid <HI>to pant af|ter the du&s;t of the Earth,</HI> Amos 2.7. That is it the carnal mans heart thir&s;ts after, but a &s;oul in Chri&s;t breaths upward, the Trea&s;ures of Heaven it pants after, and will never be at re&s;t, till &s;atisfied with them.</P>
<P N="2">2. This may &s;erve to di&s;tingui&s;h formal praying from that which is of the Spirit, in the Children of God. There's no &s;uch thing as the breathing, pant|ing, crying, longing of the Soul after God, and Ho|line&s;s, and Communion with him, in formal <HI>&s;aying</HI> of prayers, the thing done quiets the Con&s;cience; but for God him&s;elf the Soul thir&s;ts not for. There|fore you that pray in forms in &s;ecret, and content your &s;elves in &s;aying and repeating &s;uch a form of words, &s;ure you have little or no breathing for Je&s;us Chri&s;t in &s;uch Duties, the Heart is not exerci&s;ed in longings and pantings for God; ye Souls that pray out of forms, upon terrours, and no more upon the Con&s;cience, but you thir&s;t not, breath not after God him&s;elf, you may be &s;hort of the life of God in you.</P>
<P N="3">3. This may al&s;o encourage weak Souls, that have but broken words to expre&s;s them&s;elves to God, yet your very Souls do breath and pant after the Lord, verily the life of Chri&s;t is in you, if it be
<PB N="198" REF="101">
indeed &s;o with you, and God will hear tho&s;e breath|ings in you, <HI>Lam.</HI> 3.56. <HI>Hide not thine ear at my breathings.</HI> The ble&s;&s;ed God will not hide his Ear from the breathings of his poor Children.</P>
<P>Only let crying, panting Souls, take heed, that this breath be not &s;topt nor intermitted; 'tis a mo&s;t dangerous thing to intermit the breath of Prayer, that it grows weaker and fainter; it will be a &s;ign un|to you, and a &s;ad one too, that the New-Creature is rather decaying, than encrea&s;ing in you.</P>
<P>Be not contented with no more praying than will ju&s;t, as we &s;ay, hold Life and Soul togerher; that is to live at a very low rate, but ju&s;t to live, if that. As breathing takes in the Air, revives, enlar|geth the Natural Spirits, renders the whole man lively and light&s;om, and vigorous, &s;o doth this con|&s;tant Spiritual breathing with God, and after God; it enlargeth the Heart, revives the Soul, keeps fre&s;h|ne&s;s and vigour of Spirit in the way of God; when God comes in with a full gale upon the &s;oul, how &s;weetly is it refre&s;hed, how doth faintne&s;s, weari|ne&s;s, indi&s;po&s;ition, go off, and the Spirit of a poor Creature is chearful with God, and ble&s;&s;edly de|lights it &s;elf in him. Oh, delight to be every where, in every way, where God breaths upon the hearts of his people, and where they breath after him.</P>
<P>And let new living Souls take heed by the way, how their hearts do pant after the Earth and World, and the contentments of it: This will as much damp Spiritual Life, and breath in the Soul, as any evil what&s;oever: Lay your hearts to the fulne&s;s and &s;weetne&s;s of the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and breath &s;trongly for them, and tho&s;e things will be but wind and vanity.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="199" REF="101">1. But I mu&s;t proceed: I come now to &s;peak of the next di&s;covery of the New-Creature, and that is, it hath <HI>new &s;en&s;es;</HI> That you may &s;ee how fully it an&s;wers the frame of man, as a Living Creature, and what a New-Creation this is: As the New-Crea|ture hath a New-Nature, a new inward life, and hath a new breathing, &s;o it hath new Spiritual Sen&s;es: So the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Heb.</HI> 5.14. &s;peaks of the <HI>Exerci&s;e of Spi|ritual Sen&s;es.</HI> And as the Natural Life is exerci&s;ed and pre&s;erved by Sen&s;es, &s;o is al&s;o this new Spiritual Life of the New Creature, which I &s;hall mention par|ticularly.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> There is a <HI>New Ear</HI> given to this New-Creature: This Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath frequently promi|&s;ed, that he would <HI>open the deaf Ear:</HI> So <HI>Job</HI> 36.10. <HI>He openeth al&s;o their Ear to Di&s;cipline, and command|eth that they return from iniquity. The hearing Ear, and the &s;eeing Eye, the Lord hath made even both of them,</HI> Prov. 20.12. By this opening the Ear, is meant the opening of the Heart; as 'tis &s;aid of <HI>Lydia, Act.</HI> 16. <HI>Who&s;e heart the Lord opened:</HI> The heart is &s;hut up naturally, and naturally cannot hear the <HI>voice of the Spirit,</HI> till the Lord him&s;elf open it. A natural man hears no more than the voice of a man, and the Let|ter of the Word, but when this <HI>New-Creature</HI> is formed, he is ennabled to hear the voice of Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf, the voice of the Spirit, <HI>Joh.</HI> 10.27. <HI>My &s;heep hear my voiee.</HI> A Soul can then &s;ay, This the Lord &s;peaks to <HI>me</HI> in &s;pecial; This is the voice of Chri&s;t that calls <HI>me,</HI> to come to him, and that Soul comes; Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;peaks with a convincing, par|ticular, powerful Word, and the Heart being opened to receive it, obeys it as <HI>his</HI> voice: And &s;o in every Ordinance, 'tis the voice of the Spirit of Chri&s;t the <HI>New-Creature</HI> waits for; <HI>He that hath an ear to
<PB N="200" REF="102">
hear, let him hear what the Spirit &s;aith unto the Church|es,</HI> Rev. 3. la&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> The <HI>New-Creature</HI> hath a <HI>new &s;eeing eye:</HI> The eyes of the Under&s;tanding opened, to &s;ee into the ble&s;&s;ed and hidden my&s;teries of the Go&s;pel of <HI>Je&s;us</HI> Chri&s;t; &s;aith the Apo&s;tle of the Natural man, <HI>Eye hath not &s;een,</HI> 1 Cor. 2.9. And, <HI>&s;eeing, they &s;ee not,</HI> Matth. 13. But Chri&s;t &s;peaking of called Di&s;ci|ples, &s;aith, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are your eyes, for they &s;ee,</HI> &amp;c. They have a new &s;ight of God in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which &s;ight doth <HI>aba&s;e</HI> them, and al&s;o <HI>draw</HI> them to Je&s;us Chri&s;t. The Vail being in part taken away, they can look into the things of God which they &s;aw not before, the Scriptures begin to be unveiled, and they &s;ee be|yond the Letter of them, into the Life and Spiritua|lity of them. And thus the Lord Je&s;us promi&s;ed of old, e&s;pecially as to New-Te&s;tament-days, <HI>I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkne&s;s light before them, and crooked things &s;traight,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 42.16.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> There is a <HI>new power of ta&s;ting</HI> given to the Soul, as another <HI>Spiritual Sen&s;e,</HI> which before the Soul had to no purpo&s;e. A new and ble&s;&s;ed ta&s;ting of the good Word of Life, <HI>Thy word is &s;weeter than the Honey-Comb,</HI> P&s;al. 19. <HI>How &s;weet are thy words unto my mouth,</HI> P&s;al. 119.103. <HI>If &s;o be ye have ta&s;ted that the Lord is gracious,</HI> 1 Pet. 2.2. there is a <HI>new ta&s;t</HI> of the bitterne&s;s of &s;in: <HI>The heart knows its own bitterne&s;s,</HI> &s;aith the Wi&s;e-man: A <HI>Ta&s;ting</HI> of the &s;pecial, free, and precious love of Chri&s;t: A <HI>ta&s;ting</HI> of the goodne&s;s of God in mercies. And thus there is a <HI>&s;avoury &s;pirit</HI> given to the New-Creature, where|by he doth delightfully &s;avour the things of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, and can &s;peak &s;avourly of them to others.</P>
<P><PB N="201" REF="102"><HI>Fourthly,</HI> Add to this a <HI>new &s;melling,</HI> to which the Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t often alludes in <HI>Solomon's Songs, Becau&s;e of the &s;avour of thy good Ointments,</HI> Chap. 1.3. &s;peaking of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who is a new and preci|ous Perfume to the Soul: <HI>Who is this that cometh out of the Wilderne&s;s, perfumed with Myrrh and Frankin|cen&s;e?</HI> Chap. 3.6. &s;o &s;aith the word of the promi&s;e, Chap. 4.6. &mdash; <HI>His &s;mell &s;hall be as Lebanon:</HI> And when Je&s;us Chri&s;t breaths in his Ordinances upon ble&s;&s;ed Souls, it is as &s;weet and delight&s;om Perfume to them.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> There is a <HI>new feeling</HI> wrought as an effect of this new life, which the Soul hath in Chri&s;t, when a new Creature is in him. The natural man is <HI>with|out feeling,</HI> as a dead man is; let never &s;o great a weight lie on a dead man, and he feels not, but now take a Soul created into Chri&s;t, and he feels a new <HI>weight</HI> within him, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.1. Sin is not only a burden, as to the weight of Guilt, but every corrup|tion (even when the &s;en&s;e of guilt is removed by Je|&s;us Chri&s;t) is a <HI>Weight</HI> to the Soul, under which the Soul crys out, mourns, groans to be delivered, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7.24. <HI>Oh wretched man that I am, who &s;hall deliver me from the body of this death?</HI> Sin hangs like a dead body about him.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> If the Go&s;pel-New-Creature is a living new-Creature, and doth exerci&s;e <HI>Spiritual</HI> Life, and hath <HI>new &s;piritual &s;en&s;es,</HI> Let this then be a word of Try|al, to di&s;cover the &s;tate of your Souls. Can you &s;ay, I that was dead, am alive? I was once &s;piritually dead, without feeling, did neither &s;ee nor hear nor ta&s;t in a &s;piritual way; but now the Lord, in rich grace, hath opened my deaf ear, and my blind eyes, now I have heard the Lord him&s;elf &s;peak to my &s;oul; now I have &s;een the Lord, and my heart is taken
<PB N="202" REF="103">
with him: Now I &s;avour&punc; the Word of Grace, and the Mini&s;tration of the Go&s;pel is a &s;weet &s;avour in Chri&s;t to me, the Name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t is as <HI>good Ointment</HI> to me: Now I feel a body of &s;in, and groan under it, and pre&s;s after the de&s;troying and crucify|ing of it. Souls, If this be not your Experience, you are dead; your are without the Life of God, and Chri&s;t in you.</P>
<P>Oh! Go to God, Sinner, as you have been exhort|ed, and cry to him to <HI>open</HI> your ear to hear, and your eye to &s;ee: Be convinced, that as yet your Ear hath been &s;topt, as to hearing the Lord him&s;elf &s;peak to you. Oh &s;ay, Wo is me, that I am where the Lord u&s;eth to &s;peak, under the Mini&s;tration of his Go&s;pel, and yet he never &s;pake to my Soul. Doth the Lord love me, and never &s;peak to me?</P>
<P>Pity, Lord, Pity a poor, deaf, blind, &s;tupid, un&s;a|voury Wretch, and breath life into me; and then wait for the Lords Voice in his Word. Now let the Spirit him&s;elf &s;peak unto me, and unveil my heart, that I may &s;ee into the My&s;teries of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and may &s;avour them upon my poor Soul.</P>
<P N="2">2. Let living Souls in Chri&s;t <HI>exerci&s;e</HI> their Spiri|tual Sen&s;es, keep the <HI>Ear open</HI> to, and waiting for the Spirits Voice, be prying into the My&s;tery of God in Chri&s;t, and all Go&s;pel-Truth, get a clearer &s;ight of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, till you &s;hall be infinitely taken with him, and love him for him&s;elf: And keep the heart &s;avoury, and the precious &s;cent of Go&s;pel-grace up|on your Spirits, and labour &s;o to feel the weight of the body of &s;in, how it poi&s;eth, polluteth, cloudeth the Soul, that you may come to that frame, to cry out to be delivered from it. And let it be abundant matter of Prai&s;e to the Riches of Grace, that God hath given life and &s;en&s;es to your Souls, which he
<PB N="203" REF="103">
might have left under the death of &s;in, to all Eter|nity.</P>
<P N="5">5. The next Di&s;covery of our Go&s;pel-New-Crea|ture is this, namely, He hath a <HI>new heart.</HI> So <HI>E|zek.</HI> Chap. 18.31. &mdash; <HI>Make you a new heart, and a new &s;pirit,</HI> which the Lord hath in Free-grace pro|mi&s;ed in the New-Covenant, <HI>Chap.</HI> 36.26. <HI>A new heart will I give you:</HI> Which I &s;hall preci&s;ely con&s;i|der, and &s;hew particularly wherein the heart is made new.</P>
<P N="1">1. The heart naturally in its old, corrupt frame, is a <HI>Rebellious heart;</HI> Jer. 5.23. <HI>This people have a re|bellious heart:</HI> The u&s;ual complaint of the Prophets. Now when the Lord makes the heart new, he be|gins to take away the <HI>Rebellion</HI> of heart, as it natural|ly oppo&s;eth the Word, Power, and Spirit of God, and the heart is made obedient and pliable to the Power of the Word, the Spirit's Teachings, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.19. <HI>If ye be willing and obedient, you &s;hall eat the good of the Land; but if you refu&s;e and rebel, ye &s;hall be devoured,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>My people &s;hall be willing in the day of my power,</HI> P&s;al. 110. The heart of it &s;elf is &s;tubborn, ob&s;tinate, unwilling to &s;toop to the power of Truth, to yield to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, but when it is made new, it becomes of a yieldable frame, to the practical Obedience of Go&s;pel-Truths.</P>
<P N="2">2. The heart, as an effect of the former, is natural|ly <HI>hard</HI> and <HI>impenitent,</HI> Rom. 2.5. cannot mourn for &s;in: But when 'tis made new, God makes it &s;oft, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.27. <HI>I will take away the &s;toney heart out of your fle&s;h, and I will give you a heart of fle&s;h;</HI> which is a &s;oft and tender heart, whereby a Soul can pour out its complaints to God: Yea, the <HI>heart will pour out it &s;elf like water to the Lord,</HI> Lam. 2.19. The heart re|ceives impre&s;&s;ions of truth, as by its &s;oftne&s;s 'tis more
<PB N="204" REF="104">
and more wrought to a new frame, as in the hand of the Lord.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Heart is naturally <HI>proud,</HI> and makes the &s;inner <HI>&s;elf-conceited,</HI> and well opinioned of his own condition, and will not &s;uffer the &s;inner to aba&s;e him&s;elf to God, and to take &s;hame to him&s;elf: But, when a new work of God is upon it, the &s;inner hum|bles him&s;elf under the mighty hand of God, bears his reproach before him, and crys out, Oh! What &s;hall I do for an humble heart? Lord, take away, &s;ubdue pride in a wretched Creature, <HI>James</HI> 4.10. Now he becomes a poor &s;elf-emptied Creature, undone, helple&s;s, and to a full Chri&s;t he at la&s;t goes.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Heart is naturally <HI>Hypocritical: The Hy|pocrite in heart heaps up wrath,</HI> Job 36.13. Now when God makes the Heart new, then it begins to be <HI>&s;in|cere,</HI> in &s;ome good mea&s;ure, for God; before the poor deceived &s;inner thought he did all with a good heart, that he did bear much upon, that he did all with a good heart; but when God &s;hews him his heart by the Candle of his Word and Spirit, then the poor Creature &s;ees what a Hell of Hypocri&s;ie was, and is within him; that he acted in all his Duties, as from him&s;elf, &s;o to him&s;elf, and not uprightly unto God: But when the Lord new frames the heart, then the Soul is after new, &s;incere, holy aims for God in all it does, is mo&s;t aba&s;ed for &s;elfi&s;h and hypocritical mixtures, and would account nothing well done, but as God is de&s;igned in it, and labours to walk in <HI>&s;implicity</HI> of heart, and <HI>godly &s;incerity, as of God, and in the &s;ight of God,</HI> &amp;c. 2 Cor. 1.12.</P>
<P N="5">5. The old heart is full of <HI>all uncleanne&s;s</HI> and <HI>im|purity,</HI> and cares not to be clean&s;ed: So &s;aith Chri&s;t to the Jews, <HI>Matth.</HI> 23.27. <HI>Within you are full of dead
<PB N="205" REF="104">
mens bones, (rottenne&s;s) and of all uncleanne&s;s.</HI> But now when the New-Creature is forming up, then the heart is after purifying; <HI>Purifie your hearts, ye double minded,</HI> James 4.8. Then what a ble&s;&s;edne&s;s would a pure heart be, &s;aith a poor creature? Oh! that my heart were clean&s;ed! <HI>Wa&s;h thine heart,</HI> &s;aith God, <HI>Jer.</HI> 4.14. Oh! that it were wa&s;hed, &s;aith the New-Creature! And this is one of the mo&s;t &s;pecial works a New-Creature will be after, as he is more formed up in Holine&s;s, to keep the heart pure, as a Temple for God.</P>
<P N="6">6. The Heart naturally is <HI>dead,</HI> as already hinted, and <HI>feels</HI> not its own <HI>deadne&s;s;</HI> but when renewed, then the <HI>heart doth live that &s;eeks God,</HI> P&s;alm 22.26. It feels, and mourns over its own deadne&s;s, and crys out, Quicken, Oh quicken me, Oh God! No Duty is well performed then, but as the Heart lives, in &s;ome mea&s;ure in that Duty. Now it feels its own burdens, pollutions, lu&s;ts, corruptions, carnality, earthine&s;s, and bewails it before the Lord.</P>
<P N="7">7. The Heart is naturally divided between Chri&s;t and the World, Chri&s;t and Lu&s;ts, <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 10.2. <HI>Their heart is divided:</HI> But under its renewings, the heart, as to the main bent of it, makes a <HI>whole</HI> clo&s;e with Chri&s;t; the great bu&s;ine&s;s of a Soul then is, to give the whole heart up to Chri&s;t, and fears he can never do it fully and &s;ingly enough; and when the heart lu&s;t|eth after other things, &s;o far as it is renewed, it is fetcht in again to Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="8">8. The heart of it &s;elf is <HI>unbelieving:</HI> Take heed <HI>le&s;t there be in you an heart of unbelief,</HI> Hebr. 3. Now when the heart is made New, there is a <HI>Work of Faith with power,</HI> 2 The&s;&s;. 1.11. And then the &s;oul is made &s;en&s;ible of that bitter root of Unbelief, that is natu|rally in their hearts, and they find it the harde&s;t work
<PB N="206" REF="105">
in the world, to believe on the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t for the remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, to fix on Promi&s;es, and that a believing heart is a &s;pecial gift of God, and a work of the Spirit; which while a poor &s;inner was &s;hut up under Unbelief, he felt not.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. To <HI>unchanged</HI> per&s;ons, who are the <HI>&s;ame in heart</HI> as ever they were; Oh, learn by what hath been opened, what is the natural make and frame of them: There is in you a Rebellious heart again&s;t the Lord, and wilful ob&s;tidacy again&s;t his Word and Spi|rit, and therefore 'tis that you ca&s;t the Word of the Lord from you, and in your hearts de&s;pi&s;e it, and &s;ay, This is not the Word of the Lord, and we will not obey it: You have hard and impenitent hearts, and therefore you do not mourn for &s;in; you have proud hearts, and are well-conceited of your condition, though damnable, and therefore you do not humble your &s;elves to God; you have Hypocritical Hearts, and &s;ee it not full of Hell, of Uncleanne&s;s, dead in &s;in, and without feeling, a heart divided between Chri&s;t and the World, unbelieving, and yet &s;ay, you have Faith: If thou can&s;t not make out a Newne&s;s upon thy heart, as we have &s;hewed, thou ha&s;t &s;till thine old heart, with its lu&s;ts, and thy e&s;tate is as yet dam|nable, let thy Knowledge, Profe&s;&s;ion, Outward-blamele&s;sne&s;s, be what it will.</P>
<P N="2">2. Oh, therefore, let this Word be yet for further Tryal of your E&s;tate. Can you &s;ay to the prai&s;e of free and rich Grace, that God hath in &s;ome mea&s;ure taken away your <HI>Rebellious Heart</HI> from you, and you can &s;toop and yield to the power of Truth, and re|joyce in it, that God hath made your heart &s;oft in &s;ome mea&s;ure, and the Pride of your hearts, in the fal&s;e conceit you had of your &s;elves, hath a &s;troak
<PB N="207" REF="105">
from God upon it, that God hath &s;hewed you your deep and cur&s;ed Hypocri&s;ie, and how your heart was divided, and was wholly unbelieving; and that the Remnants of the&s;e wickedne&s;&s;es in you, of heart re|bellion, hardne&s;s, pride, hypocri&s;ie, pollution, un|belief, are your greate&s;t burden, and you mourn over them daily.</P>
<P>If this be not your Experience, let that man or woman know, he or &s;he is a Hypocrite and Unbeliev|er, and &s;ees it not, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Therefore, let it convince you, and exhort you to go and fall down before the Lord, and beg him to open your hearts (which naturally are &s;hut up in Darkne&s;s) and to aba&s;e you in the &s;en&s;e of your Re|bellion, and that he would even do this for you in much Mercy, to take away a rebellious, hard, proud heart from you, and would make your hearts plia|ble to the Word, and make them &s;oft and humble before him, and to clo&s;e with the whole heart with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, through a work of Faith upon you. Do this in the fear of the Lord, and through his Grace coming upon you, and &s;ee what God will do for you; and you will be your own wonders, that ever &s;uch abominations &s;hould lye hid in your hearts, and yet you not be confounded in your &s;elves in the &s;en&s;e of them.</P>
<P N="4">4. Let Souls that are through infinite grace, un|der &s;ome heart-renewings, know that they have ne|ver done with this Work, till they come to Glory: Yea, Soul, thou ha&s;t depths of <HI>rebellion, pride, hypocri|&s;ie, pollution, unbelief,</HI> which yet thou ha&s;t not reach'd to; and therefore as thou mu&s;t a&s;cribe all to Grace, for what the Lord hath done upon thee, and remem|ber, to thy greater humbling, how much adoe the Lord had with thee, to bring thy heart under &s;o
<PB N="208" REF="106">
much as it is; &s;o to con&s;ider, that the Candle of the Lord mu&s;t more and more &s;earch thy dark and deep heart, and 'tis to be thy daily work, or el&s;e all the&s;e evils will again much prevail upon thee.</P>
<P>Love therefore a &s;earching Word from the Ser|vants of Chri&s;t that are over you.</P>
<P N="6">6. The next Di&s;covery of the Go&s;pel New-Crea|ture is this; namely, <HI>The Go&s;pel New-Creature hath New Affections.</HI></P>
<P>Briefly to in&s;tance in &s;ome of the chief.</P>
<P N="1">1. The New-Creature hath <HI>new fear:</HI> The fear of an eternal Condition, that fir&s;t u&s;ually &s;eizeth upon a convinced &s;inner; the fear of a ju&s;t and angry God again&s;t &s;in; and, at la&s;t, upon its renewing, a holy, awful fear of God, as great, and holy, and good; a fear of &s;inning again&s;t him, and that becau&s;e he is gracious. Naturally this affection of fear in a carnal heart is conver&s;ant about the lo&s;s of outward things, about &s;hame in the World, and the like; and &s;o far as it re&s;pects God, his Soul, 'tis a &s;lavi&s;h fear of break|ing out of &s;ome gro&s;&s;er &s;ins only, le&s;t God &s;hould damn him; but not fearing the Lord with a graci|ous Son-like fear, a fear that purifies the Heart, a fear that is mixt with a ble&s;&s;ed <HI>love</HI> of God, and delight in his ways.</P>
<P N="2">2. The Heart is exerci&s;ed with <HI>new Sorrow:</HI> A godly &s;orrowing for &s;in, &s;uch &s;ins which were once the delight of the Heart; &s;uch a &s;orrowing that works an <HI>Indignation</HI> again&s;t the Darling &s;ins, a ta|king of a kind of <HI>Revenge</HI> of our &s;elves for it, a vehe|ment <HI>de&s;ire</HI> after plea&s;ing of God and Holine&s;s, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.11. There is a &s;orrowing over a crucified Chri&s;t, and a &s;orrowing after him; and well is a poor &s;oul, when it can go in &s;ecret, and have this affection mo&s;t exer|ci&s;ed
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with &s;ighs, and groans, and tears, and &s;ad com|plaints again&s;t it &s;elf.</P>
<P N="3">3. There is a <HI>new joy</HI> by degrees in&s;tilled in the Soul, of which though there are various mea&s;ures; to the Children of God, yet every New-Creature can go thus far, though not in that vigour of Spirit he would do, that (when the Spirit is free from great di&s;tempers) it can &s;ay, he hath &s;ome joy that he is deliver'd from the dominion and thraldom of lu&s;ts, that 'tis its joy to go before God; <HI>I will go unto God my exceeding joy,</HI> P&s;al. 43.4. Even when under &s;ome di&s;quietne&s;s of Spirit; as ver&s;e 2. <HI>Why do&s;t thou ca&s;t me off?</HI></P>
<P>Yea, will a poor &s;oul &s;ay, God and Communion with him, (could I &s;ee his face) would be my great|e&s;t joy. And the carnal joy of the heart, when it breaks forth, leaves the &s;oul but more in heavine&s;s, and the New-Creature would have his joy run &s;pi|ritual.</P>
<P N="4">4. Upon this the New-Creature hath <HI>New de|lights:</HI> The Word of God becomes his delight, &s;eek|ing the face of God and the People of God; <HI>Delight thy &s;elf in God,</HI> P&s;al. 37. And <HI>his chief delight is in the Saints,</HI> P&s;al. 16.3. The heart cannot, as it could formerly, delight it &s;elf in folly, and in vanity, and in vain carnal ways and people, but is rather bur|thened with them.</P>
<P N="5">5. The Soul is rai&s;ed and engaged <HI>in a new Love:</HI> The Heart is taken with Je&s;us Chri&s;t above all things, and loves him mo&s;t; and loves God becau&s;e he is Holy, loves his Word, and loves tho&s;e that love him mo&s;t: Every New-Creature can &s;ay, as <HI>David,</HI> I love the Lord, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 18.1. and 116.1. Yea, the &s;oul is brought to love Je&s;us Chri&s;t for him|&s;elf; He is the beloved of the Soul, and not only
<PB N="210" REF="107">
the grace, and peace, and ble&s;&s;ing, and Heaven that he gives. And to Love Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and to expre&s;s it to the utmo&s;t, is the frame of &s;oul that a Convert pre&s;&s;eth mo&s;t after, and he would get the heart more purged, mortified, &s;pirituallized, that it might go forth in Love to Chri&s;t more &s;trongly and &s;weet|ly, and enjoy the precious perfumes of his Love more con&s;tantly.</P>
<P N="6">6. The Soul is rai&s;ed to a <HI>New hope;</HI> a new hope of Heaven and Glory, which before was feigned and deceitful: Now the Soul is after a well-bottom'd, real, lively hope of Heaven: <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be the God and Father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope,</HI> &amp;c. Oh! the new and ble&s;&s;ed hopes that a &s;oul doth more and more reach to (when di&s;tempers and darkne&s;s is not upon it) of &s;eeing Je&s;us Chri&s;t as he is, living with him for ever, of being perfect|ly &s;inle&s;s and holy, of Joys that &s;hall be endle&s;s, of being &s;wallowed up with divine Glory, when the Spirit of the Father doth breath mo&s;t &s;weet|ly, and mo&s;tly rai&s;es the heart to glimp&s;es of Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> As we go along, we would put things to try|al; therefore &s;ay in good earne&s;t, Soul, Ha&s;t thou had new fears upon thy Soul, as to an eternal con|dition? and is the fear of &s;in, and of the living God, upon thy heart? and doth this fear keep thy Heart awful and watchful? &s;ay, ha&s;t thou had new &s;orrows for &s;in, and 'tis thy Trouble they are no more abundant? Can'&s;t thou joy in going to God, and in the Word of his grace, and are &s;piritual things thy delight? Doe&s;t thou find a heart-clo&s;ing Love to Je&s;us Chri&s;t above all, and can&s;t thou love God,
<PB N="211" REF="107">
becau&s;e he is Holy, and thou would&s;t be like un|to him; and ha&s;t thou new experienc'd hopes of Heaven?</P>
<P>Say, &s;oul, Do all thy affections run in a <HI>new Chan|nel,</HI> and the &s;tream of them, in the main, turned from world and vanity, to the Ocean of God in Chri&s;t, his fulne&s;s, goodne&s;s, love, grace and glory? and that when thy affections, or any one of them are diverted and turned a&s;ide, thou can&s;t and doe&s;t go to God to have them fetcht in again, and thou would&s;t have all the affections of thy Soul run freely, clearly, &s;piritually, fully, &s;trongly upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t? and thou art humbled, that they are carnal and worldly in any mea&s;ure?</P>
<P>If this be not thy ca&s;e, but the affections of thy heart are wholly fle&s;hly and worldly; thy fears, thy &s;orrows are about worldly things, thy joys, thy de|lights about carnal plea&s;ures, and worldly increa&s;e, thy love goeth after the world in an uninterrupted, unmortified cour&s;e, thy hopes going forth about great things for thy &s;elf, and thy hopes for Heaven lye at all uncertainty, and thou do&s;t &s;uffer it to be &s;o; verily thou art unchanged, and ha&s;t no part as yet in New-Creature-ble&s;&s;edne&s;s.</P>
<P>Only let me add this Caution, that in this matter of the New creature, you take the whole frame to|gether; and therefore do not re&s;t only in this, that you have had your <HI>affections</HI> &s;omething &s;tirred in hearing the Go&s;pel, &s;ome fears, and &s;ometimes the heart a little melted, and &s;ome joy for a time in the Word; which affections may &s;ometime &s;tir in a &s;oul, who&s;e heart is not &s;ubdued and changed, and &s;o it wears off again, but carry your &s;elves back to what I have &s;aid, that you mainly look to the Rebellion, Pollution, Hypocri&s;ie, Unbelief of the
<PB N="212" REF="108">
heart; that the&s;e be in good earne&s;t, &s;till a &s;ubdu|ing you.</P>
<P N="3">3. And &s;o al&s;o for real Converts, though you &s;hould labour to pre&s;erve your affections, lively, &s;a|voury, yet look mo&s;tly to the &s;incerity and &s;piritua|lity of them, or el&s;e when they wax faint again (as that may be) you be at a great lo&s;s of your Con|&s;olation; neither do you always mea&s;ure your &s;elves by the &s;tirring and overflowing of affections, but ra|ther by the aba&s;ement of your &s;pirits, hearts, purity, and &s;incerity, and the holine&s;s of your affections, and your acting faith in all your duties, which will pro|cure a more la&s;ting way of peace and comfort; though when thus rectified, the going out of &s;trong and tender affections is exceeding &s;weet and precious, and mo&s;t de&s;irable by all Saints.</P>
<P N="7">(7.) The next di&s;covery of the New-Creature is this, (which I may con&s;ider with &s;ome di&s;tinction from the former) <HI>The Go&s;pel New-Creature hath new thoughts.</HI></P>
<P>By the <HI>Thoughts</HI> I under&s;tand the pondering, mu|&s;ing part of the Mind, (that I may &s;peak plainly to all) the imaginations, fancies, purpo&s;es, medita|tings, mu&s;ings of the Mind of man, which are very much altered, where there is a <HI>new</HI> and divine work and power in the Soul.</P>
<P>To this the Prophet &s;peaks, as to &s;aving conver|&s;ion, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 55.7. <HI>Let the wicked man for&s;ake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord,</HI> &amp;c. So that a Soul returning to the Lord, for&s;akes his vile thoughts, and doth not give way to them, and feed them as before. So <HI>Jer.</HI> 4.14. How long &s;hall <HI>thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?</HI> And P&s;alm 119.113. <HI>I hate vain thoughts, but thy Law do I love.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="213" REF="108">To &s;hew a little, why the thoughts of the heart &s;hall be changed, and then more particularly, how.</P>
<P>In a natural heart, <HI>All the imaginations of it are evil continually,</HI> Gen. 5.6. <HI>They became vain in their ima|ginations, and their fooli&s;h heart was darkned,</HI> Rom. 1.21. Where the thoughts, as i&s;&s;ues of the lu&s;ts, do rove to and fro at full liberty, without any effe|ctual controul.</P>
<P N="1">1. As fir&s;t, <HI>Athei&s;tical thoughts;</HI> &s;ecretly deny|ing God, his Ju&s;tice, Holine&s;s, Word, or that God will not judge &s;inners according to the rigour of his Word; <HI>Thou thoughte&s;t</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>I was al|together &s;uch a one as thy &s;elf;</HI> and P&s;alm 50.21. <HI>The Fool hath &s;aid in his heart there is no God,</HI> P&s;alm 14.1. For when he &s;ins again&s;t him pre&s;umptu|ou&s;ly, he doth &s;trike at his very Being, Ju&s;tice, and Holine&s;s, and either &s;aith in his heart, There is no God to judge him, or &s;ecretly wi&s;heth there were none.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Prophane thoughts,</HI> according to the mo&s;t pre|dominant lu&s;tings of the heart, do act a natural heart; as vain, unclean, proud, worldly thoughts, which are in contrivance to make <HI>provi&s;ion for the lu&s;ts</HI> of it, the heart even continually exercis'd with unclean, proud, wrathful, revengful, or cove|tous practices; therefore &s;aith the Wi&s;dom of God, <HI>Prov.</HI> 15.26. <HI>The thoughts of the wicked are an abo|mination to the Lord: Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, Adulteries, Murders, Thefts,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Matth.</HI> 15.19. The evil thoughts get up and act over wickedne&s;s, and then they purpo&s;e and contrive for the acting of it, and &s;et the whole man on work to make provi&s;ion, and to effect it; which though s being drawn forth by &s;inful objects, or the working
<PB N="214" REF="109">
of the fancy, and the Devil working by both, do break forth into abominable practices, unle&s;s re&s;train|ed by the Lord; for indeed the Fancy, the imagi|native Faculty is the very Forge of the Devil, where he frames all the wickedne&s;s that is brought forth.</P>
<P>Now the&s;e being the natural actings of the thoughts of the heart as unchanged, there mu&s;t ne|ce&s;&s;arily en&s;ue a new working of thoughts upon the change <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"></P>
<P>O<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">y ob&s;erve by the way, by this any &s;inner may know how it &s;tands with his Soul: If Athei&s;tical, prophane, unclean, worldly thoughts, carry the heart an end, and rove up and down at liberty, and the heart even delightfully feeds on them, without going to God, and mourning over them, for their purging and mortifying, or no; or but an unwil|ling re&s;i&s;tance of them, how dwelleth then the grace of God in thee? verily not at all, and therefore re|flect upon thy &s;elf, for by this thou may&s;t know the &s;tate of thy heart, and thy lu&s;ts are yet in their &s;trength, and rule in thee, and will po&s;t thee to Hell, if the Lord meet not with thee.</P>
<P>A gracious heart hath bubling up of &s;uch thoughts, and the Devil ca&s;ts in &s;ugge&s;tions to &s;et them a work, but they lodge not there long, but they are re&s;i&s;ted and purged.</P>
<P>Take therefore the&s;e Notes of a carnal unchanged heart.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Such a &s;oul makes little or no con&s;cience of thoughts: Thoughts are free, &s;ay wretched &s;ouls, but that's a Proverb &s;ugge&s;ted by the Devil. (2.) Such a &s;oul is not humbled, doth not mourn for wicked thoughts, but only looks to the outward man a little. (3.) Such a &s;oul doth not bring them to
<PB N="215" REF="109">
the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be purged. (4.) He doth not conflict with them, re&s;i&s;t, check, hate them. (5.) He doth not watch the thoughts of the heart, nor labour to &s;et them upon holy Objects: If it be thus with thee &s;inner, thy heart works wickedne&s;s, and thou art loath&s;om in the &s;ight of the holy God, who knoweth and ob&s;erveth all thy thoughts afar off, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 139. and will one day reckon with thee for them: What do&s;t thou but even deny God to be the great &s;earcher of hearts, the All-&s;eeing God, who care&s;t not how vain, vile, wicked, unclean, pro|phane, loath&s;om, devili&s;h, the thoughts of thy heart are?</P>
<P>But wherein doth this newne&s;s of thoughts &s;hew it &s;elf.</P>
<P N="1">1. The New-Creatures Thoughts are changed, as to him&s;elf; who thought well of him&s;elf, as to Heaven and Happine&s;s before, but now &s;eeth him|&s;elf vile, and hath wor&s;e thoughts of him&s;elf than any one in the world can have of him.</P>
<P N="2">2. He hath <HI>new thoughts of</HI> God: New thoughts of his Holine&s;s, and Ju&s;tice, and Greatne&s;s, and Glory; Oh! how great is God, how holy, how ju&s;t; and &s;o is greatly aba&s;ed before him. He hath new thoughts of his goodne&s;s, grace, and love to poor &s;inners, upon which the thoughts do much work, thoughts of admiration and prai&s;e, and the &s;oul delights in holy and gracious mu&s;ings of it.</P>
<P>He hath <HI>New Thoughts</HI> of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, of his Per&s;on, Grace, Blood, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Spirit, Word, People. Before he had poor, low, empty, carnal, un&s;a|voury thoughts of Chri&s;t, but the heart being chang|ed, and the Mind enlightned by the Holy Gho&s;t, the Thoughts work towards Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Soul
<PB N="216" REF="110">
hath deep and &s;erious thoughts of his grace and love, precious thoughts of him.</P>
<P N="4">4. He hath <HI>new thoughts of Eternity,</HI> of an Eter|nal condition, which much po&s;&s;e&s;s the Heart what may become of his Soul: What will it profit to gain the World, and lo&s;e his &s;oul? How he may trea&s;ure up for Heaven, make &s;ure work for Heaven, what|ever be his condition in this world; and the &s;erious and frequent thoughts of this, do much poize the Spi|rit of a Believer.</P>
<P N="5">5. He hath new thoughts of the ways of God, and Holine&s;s; before he thought ba&s;ely, or notionally of them, now he hath <HI>real</HI> thoughts of Holine&s;s, and of the ways of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, he doth believe, and finds a reallity in them, and hath good thoughts of them, as to engage his &s;oul to them.</P>
<P N="6">6. He hath <HI>New Thoughts</HI> of Holy People, whom before he e&s;teemed Hypocrites, and Phari&s;ees, Facti|ous, and the like; that their &s;trictne&s;s was their Pride and Hypocri&s;ie; but now he honoureth them mo&s;t, is humbled greatly for &s;uch thoughts of them, and prizeth them as the Excellent of the Earth, and their company will be mo&s;t de&s;irable, and mo&s;t de|lightful to him, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 16.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. To &s;inners, that you do go to God, and get your hearts po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with &s;uch thoughts of God as the&s;e are, how great, how ju&s;t, how holy he is; and this will make you tremble at going on in your pol|lutions any more. <HI>Bethink</HI> your &s;elves of the &s;tate of your &s;ouls, and of an eternal condition: Saith <HI>Da|vid, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy te&s;timonies,</HI> P&s;al. 119.59. Bethink your &s;elves how &s;hort a time it is e're an eternal condition &s;hall pa&s;s upon you, and how long the ble&s;&s;ed God hath wait|ed
<PB N="217" REF="110">
to be gracious to you; and get new thoughts of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and get to his feet, and make a re&s;ign|ment of your &s;elves to him; and then your thoughts will go after more excellent, and &s;oul-quieting, and &s;oul-delighting Objects, than hitherto you have been exerci&s;ed with.</P>
<P N="2">2. To &s;uch as are New-Creatures in Chri&s;t, and have <HI>New Thoughts</HI> of them&s;elves, of God, his Ju|&s;tice, Holine&s;s, Greatne&s;s, Graciou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, of Eternity, of the ways and people of the Lord, let this be a word of Exhortarion to you, to look to your Thoughts; &s;aith the Wi&s;dom of God, <HI>Prov.</HI> 23.7. <HI>As he thinketh in his heart, &s;o is he.</HI> A Soul is before the Lord, according to the thoughts of his heart. Oh take heed of giving way to, and feeding vain, unclean, unholy thoughts of any kind, and let me pre&s;s it upon you with the&s;e Motives.</P>
<P N="1">1. Con&s;ider, that <HI>&s;uch thoughts are your &s;ins,</HI> lay that to heart. God may ju&s;tly damn a &s;oul for unho|ly Thoughts: Know, thou may'&s;t commit Adultery, or Murder, in thy Heart, though it break not forth actually. <HI>If thou ha&s;t done fooli&s;hly, in lifting up thy &s;elf, or if thou ha&s;t thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth,</HI> Prov. 30.32. This will help to keep thy heart in awe.</P>
<P N="2">2. That God's Eye is &s;trictly and continually up|on the Thoughts of thine Heart, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 139.2. and therefore <HI>David</HI> cries out to God, to &s;earch his heart for them. Oh, did a gracious Soul &s;till con&s;ider this, that the jealous Eye of God is upon every thought and motion of his heart to &s;in, it would make him look clo&s;ely to the Thoughts of his Heart.</P>
<P N="3">3. Con&s;ider, that evil thoughts and mu&s;ings of &s;in, are the beginning of all open wickedne&s;s, <HI>Jam.</HI> 1.
<PB N="218" REF="111">
15. <HI>Then when lu&s;t hath conceived, it bringeth forth &s;in,</HI> and &s;uch thoughts are u&s;ually &s;et on fire by the Devil.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>They do defile the &s;oul,</HI> Mat. 15.20. <HI>Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>The&s;e are the things which defile a man:</HI> Which defilements unfits the &s;oul for communion with God; they make a filthy pud|dle in the Soul and what a ca&s;e is a poor Creature in to come to God, in Duty, in &s;uch a pickle.</P>
<P N="5">5. Evil Thoughts do <HI>pervert the Heart</HI> from God, which &s;hould be <HI>fixed</HI> upon him; they draw away the &s;trength of the heart from God; they &s;uck up the juice and marrow of the heart, which &s;hould be &s;pent in &s;piritual things in Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="6">6. Such Thoughts do <HI>grieve the Spirit:</HI> Nothing more; the Spirit cannot delight to teach and com|fort, when the heart is mo&s;tly acted by fooli&s;h and unholy Thoughts.</P>
<P N="7">7. When &s;uch Thoughts are acted in the Soul, God may <HI>leave you to the power of them,</HI> to break out to &s;ome grievous fall, and &s;o may &s;hip-wrack your peace and comforts for a great while, and go with broken bones, and it may co&s;t you much bitterne&s;s, before you are healed.</P>
<P N="8">8. If vain, carnal Thoughts, are not re&s;i&s;ted at fir&s;t, but given way to, they are <HI>hardly</HI> check't and &s;ubdued, and turned upon other Objects, and there|fore to watch the fir&s;t Ri&s;ings of them.</P>
<P>Now, not one of the&s;e Con&s;iderations, but may make a Child of God to tremble, how he lets forth his heart into vain, carnal, idle, defiling thoughts and mu&s;ings, which do &s;o much wa&s;t a gracious Spirit, and lay him open to &s;uch woful dangers as the&s;e are.</P>
<P>To help a Child of God in this &s;piritual Work of looking to, and a holy ordering the Thoughts of his Heart.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="219" REF="111">1. <HI>Be deeply humbled to God,</HI> with abhorring and loathing for Athei&s;tical, unclean, proud, vain, foo|li&s;h, worldly thoughts, that croud in upon you; when you make them your Burden, you will be the &s;ooner ea&s;ed.</P>
<P N="2">2. Delight thy &s;elf much in the Word of God, not only in Publick Hearing, but Daily Reading; and not only Reading, but <HI>getting &s;ome good word upon thy heart,</HI> that may <HI>&s;ea&s;on</HI> thy thoughts and affe|ctions: Saith <HI>David, I hate vain thoughts, but thy Law do I love,</HI> P&s;al. 119.113. The love of the Word of God made him be &s;o far from cheri&s;hing vain Thoughts, that he did <HI>hate</HI> them. It doth appear this was a &s;pecial part of <HI>David</HI>'s exerci&s;e of Spirit, to get &s;ome ble&s;&s;ed Word upon his heart, and he thinking of it, and &s;o it did turn into the &s;weet and whole&s;om nouri&s;hment of the New-creature: <HI>Oh how I love thy Law, it is my meditation all the day:</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed and holy practice, worthy a gracious Saint indeed; you have one word e&s;pecially that <HI>David</HI> had much on his heart, out of the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> (for we know not whether any other Scripture were then exant) 'tis that of <HI>Exod.</HI> 34.6. where the Lord &s;aith, he will proclaim his Name and Glory: <HI>The Lord God merciful and gracious, long-&s;uffering, abun|dant in goodne&s;s and truth,</HI> which you have in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 103.8. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 86.15. and 145.8. Happily one of tho&s;e &s;weet words which he often magnifies: How hath a &s;ingle word dwelt upon the heart of a Child of God, and hath kept the heart &s;avoury for Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="3">3. The next Remedy again&s;t &s;uch Thoughts, is, <HI>Much Prayer,</HI> diligence, fervency, pouring out the heart to God, till the heart melts, and runs forth &s;weetly, &s;piritually, and is engaged with God, and
<PB N="220" REF="112">
hath a &s;ight of him, and a divine impre&s;&s;ion of God's Maje&s;ty left upon the &s;oul.</P>
<P N="4">4. Get more and more <HI>brokenne&s;s of heart for &s;in;</HI> when the Heart hath been broken, 'twill not &s;o ea|&s;ily get into Vanity again: At lea&s;t, a Child of God &s;hould take care that it &s;hould not; when the heart is broken and mourning, the Spirit doth wonderful|ly in that work refine the heart: All the &s;leight|ne&s;s, vanity, defilement, di&s;traction, that comes upon the New-Creature, is mo&s;tly for want of this.</P>
<P N="5">5. <HI>Mortification of that Corruption</HI> that is mo&s;t apt to &s;tir, doth much cure our thoughts: Inor|dinate Affections are the Saints greate&s;t Evils, and do be&s;peak an unmortified heart, as to what a Child of God &s;hould &s;till be pre&s;&s;ing after, even to be dead, and crucified with Chri&s;t. <HI>Tho&s;e that are Chri&s;ts, have crucified their Affections and Lu&s;ts,</HI> Gal. 5.22.</P>
<P N="6">6. Contending for a <HI>Spiritual Heart:</HI> So far as the Heart is &s;piritual, it acts &s;piritually: 'Tis the carnality of Heart that works up all tho&s;e frothy di|&s;tempers that defile us. <HI>Paul</HI>'s corruption was much let out upon him, when he cries out of the carnali|ty of his Heart, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7. which &s;hould be the daily complaint of God's poor Children.</P>
<P N="7">7. A great help to the pre&s;erving the Thoughts of the Heart, according to the New-Creature, will be to con&s;ider, <HI>How precious the thoughts of God are to his people,</HI> P&s;al. 139.17. <HI>How precious al&s;o are thy thoughts, O God, unto me? How great is the &s;um of them? If I &s;hould count them, they are more in num|ber than the &s;ands,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>David</HI> in <HI>v.</HI> 2. was con&s;idering how God's Eye was upon his Thoughts, and 'twas a means to rectifie them, and then <HI>David</HI>'s Thoughts
<PB N="221" REF="112">
run forth in the &s;weet and ble&s;&s;ed apprehen&s;ion of the preciou&s;ne&s;s of Gods thoughts in him, from all Eternity, and in the ways of his Covenant towards him: If Gods thoughts to us be holy, and preci|ous, and ever towards us, the thoughts of his Ser|vants &s;hould be &s;o al&s;o, and as little common and un&s;avoury as may be.</P>
<P>More particularly, let us yet con&s;ider what ble&s;|&s;ed, and excellent, and glorious things, &s;uch as are New-Creatures in Chri&s;t have, to exerci&s;e their thoughts about.</P>
<P N="1">1. Gracious Souls have the Attributes of God to exerci&s;e the thoughts of their Hearts in; the In|finitene&s;s of God, his Greatne&s;s, Holine&s;s, Glory, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> A ble&s;&s;ed Exerci&s;e for Saints indeed! So we find the Scripture-Saints &s;weetly taken up with contem|plation and admiration of the Excellencies of God him&s;elf; <HI>Thou art glorious in Holine&s;s,</HI> Exod. 15.11. &s;aith <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> But <HI>Thou art holy,</HI> &s;aith David, P&s;al. 22. <HI>Oh how great is thy Goodne&s;s!</HI> P&s;alm 8.31. as might be abundantly &s;hewed; and the exerci&s;e of the thoughts this way, hath a powerful influence up|on the Heart, as to its <HI>aba&s;ement, purity, &s;inceri|ty.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Saints have the <HI>riches</HI> and <HI>freene&s;s</HI> of the grace of God in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, towards poor &s;inners, <HI>to be taken up</HI> withal: Oh, the free, rich, di&s;tingui&s;hing Grace of God to a poor Creature, that was po&s;ting to Hell, that was a Rebellious Wretch, a vile Hypocrite, the wor&s;t of &s;inners, the mo&s;t unlikely to be converted of any &s;inner in the world. We have <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI>'s hearts &s;wallowed up in this above any other; as <HI>David</HI> in many P&s;alms is in the admiration of grace, and <HI>Paul</HI> in mo&s;t of his Epi&s;tles makes it his great &s;cope, as the great Argument, to be not on|ly
<PB N="222" REF="113">
believing, but humble and holy, and heavenly, all their days, e&s;pecially <HI>Col.</HI> 1. and <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1&s;t. 2d. and 3d. Chapters.</P>
<P N="3">3. Saints have the un&s;earchable Riches of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to take up their thoughts with, the Excellen|cies and Dignities of his Per&s;on, the Beauty and Glo|ry that is in him, the depths of his love, the match|le&s;s price of his blood, his bowels to &s;inners, his care of his Churches: Oh the&s;e are things worthy the thoughts of Saints indeed!</P>
<P N="4">4. They have to take up their thoughts, the glo|rious ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of the forgivene&s;s of their &s;ins: What a ble&s;&s;ed &s;tate, a &s;tate of forgivene&s;s in the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t is! <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> Oh ble&s;&s;ed for ever, <HI>are they who&s;e iniquities are forgiven! Ble&s;s the Lord, O my &s;oul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities,</HI> &amp;c. P&s;al. 103. <HI>God hath not appointed me to wrath, but to obtain &s;alvation through my Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> 1 The&s;. 5. Oh ble&s;&s;ed exta&s;ie, for a poor, called, pardoned Be|liever to be in!</P>
<P N="5">5. Such as are New-Creatures in Chri&s;t, they have <HI>the My&s;tery of the New-Covenant,</HI> the everla&s;tingne&s;s of it to bring their hearts to, and <HI>to work the Promi|&s;es</HI> thereof upon their hearts, to mu&s;e on the returns of their Prayers, to behold the continual Providen|ces of God towards them, and his ways of mercy and kindne&s;s to them.</P>
<P N="6">6. They have the &s;hortne&s;s of their time, the va|nity of their lives, the certainty of Death to mu&s;e on; <HI>Lord, make me to know the number of my days, that I may know how frail I am:</HI> Yea, they have a future and eternal &s;tate of Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s and Glory to have their thoughts &s;wallowed up into: That they &s;hall one day &s;ee Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as he is in all his glo|ry, and never look off him any more: They &s;hall do
<PB N="223" REF="113">
nothing el&s;e but love him, enjoy perpetual commu|nion of Saints, be prai&s;ing, admiring, adoring the ble&s;&s;ed Maje&s;ty of God for ever and ever.</P>
<P>Oh! If there are &s;uch excellent and ble&s;&s;ed things, for the thoughts of the holy-ones of God to be ex|erci&s;ed in; Oh! what ba&s;e Dunghil hearts have &s;uch that pore upon nothing but earth and filth. Let it not be &s;o with &s;uch that have ta&s;ted the good and &s;weetne&s;s of tho&s;e things, that have real &s;ub&s;tan|tial &s;oul-filling goodne&s;s in them: What matter of Complaint to God's poor Children, who&s;e hearts are too too apt to &s;ink earthwards, pois'd with weights that they cannot keep them up in the vi|&s;ion of God, his Chri&s;t, and what ever is ble&s;&s;ed in him; Oh! when the thoughts of your hearts mu&s;t be taken up with your Callings, which cannot be done without it, keep a Watch over them, let them not run forth to &s;inful di&s;tempers, but that you may be fit to go to God, and conver&s;e with him, and get the ble&s;&s;ed &s;avour of the&s;e things upon your hearts, and do not let out your thoughts to idlene&s;s, and &s;oul-defiling vanity, and feed upon vanity, when there are &s;uch &s;olid glorious things to feed upon, which you expect to be taken up with, in an infinite unwearied delight to all eternity.</P>
<P>And do not &s;uffer the Devil to take up his abode, by his &s;ubtle and &s;udden &s;ugge&s;tions, or more clo&s;e in&s;inuations upon you. If he make his Inroads, re|&s;i&s;t, check, defie with abhorrency his fir&s;t At|tempts, before he work up corruption in you: And remember &s;till, your &s;pirits and bodies are the Tem|ples of God, and <HI>the Temple of God mu&s;t be holy,</HI> 1 Cor. 6.19, 20. <HI>What, know ye not, that your body is the Temple of the Holy Gho&s;t that is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought
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with a price, therefore glorifie God with your &s;pirits and bodies, which are Gods:</HI> And thus much of this &s;pecial evidence of the New-Creature, in the new|ne&s;s of his thoughts, and the acting of them.</P>
<P N="8">8. The Eighth Di&s;covery of the New-Creature is this,</P>
<P>The New-Creature hath a <HI>new Lip,</HI> a <HI>new Tongue,</HI> let loo&s;e to &s;peak of God, and for God: And this al|&s;o I &s;hall a little in&s;i&s;t upon: Saith our ble&s;&s;ed Lord, <HI>A good man out of the good Trea&s;ure of his heart bring|eth forth good things,</HI> Matthew 12.35. Good, and whol&s;om, and &s;avoury Words: To this we find the Holy Gho&s;t in the Scriptures often pre&s;&s;ing; &s;aith the wi&s;e man, <HI>Prov.</HI> 20.15. <HI>The Lips of knowledge are a precious Jewel; The mouth of a righteous man is a well of Life; The lips of the righteous feed ma|ny,</HI> Prov. 10.11, 12. So the Apo&s;tle; <HI>Let no cor|rupt communication proceed out of your Mouth, but that which is good, to the u&s;e of Edifying, that it may mi|ni&s;ter grace to the hearers,</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.29. <HI>Let your &s;peech be always with grace, &s;ea&s;oned with &s;alt,</HI> &amp;c. Col. 4.6. By which places 'tis evident that a &s;pe|cial di&s;covery of the New-Creature is herein mani|fe&s;ted.</P>
<P N="1">1. The New-Creature hath a <HI>New Tongue</HI> to &s;peak <HI>Savourly</HI> and <HI>Experimentally</HI> of the things of Chri&s;t, and the work of the Spirit, Becau&s;e that which the heart is exerci&s;ed with, it will be bring|ing forth. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth &s;peaketh; an evil man out of the abundance of evil in his heart bringeth forth evil things, as a good man doth good things, <HI>Matth.</HI> 12.25, 28. If the heart and affections be &s;piritually exerci&s;ed, the Tongue will be &s;peaking forth.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="225" REF="114">2. Becau&s;e thereby a New-Created Soul doth give glory to God; they &s;peak of the Te&s;timonies, works, goodne&s;s, grace, and the wonders of the Love of God to poor &s;inful Creatures: And hereby God is much glorified; <HI>Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell what he hath done for my Soul,</HI> P&s;al. 66.16.</P>
<P N="3">3. Gracious hearts <HI>do</HI> hereby <HI>&s;tir up the Grace of Chri&s;t in them;</HI> 'tis like the blowing of a &s;park, and makes the heart to glow e're it is aware; gracious Conference is the very breath of the Spirit, which kindles all our Graces afre&s;h; as it was with the Di&s;ciples going to <HI>Emaus,</HI> Luke 24.32. <HI>Did not our hearts burn within, while he talked with us by the way.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Good Souls do not only profit them&s;elves, in receiving good, but they profit others; one of the be&s;t ways that we do good, is in profiting weak Saints or Sinners; how hath a word &s;poken from a &s;avoury per&s;on, humbly and wi&s;ely, dropt in upon the Soul of a &s;inner, which hath been its fir&s;t awakening. And &s;o upon a poor weak tempted Child of God, how &s;ea&s;onably hath God ordered a word for a poor &s;oul from conference with another!</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> If a New-Creature in Chri&s;t hath a <HI>New Tongue</HI> as well as a new heart, then let it be for Conviction of &s;inners, who&s;e Tongues as well as hearts are exerci&s;ed in vanity, altogether in pro|phane, or vain, or carnal, or worldly Di&s;cour&s;es; this &s;hews there is no good trea&s;ure in the heart: The Apo&s;tle <HI>James</HI> follows this Conviction very clo&s;ely, and makes it the Character of a carnal pretending
<PB N="226" REF="115">
Believer, or fal&s;e and dead Faith, <HI>James</HI> 1.26. <HI>If any man among you &s;eem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this mans reli|gion is vain.</HI> 'Tis but a <HI>&s;eeming</HI> to be religious, a <HI>vain</HI> Religion, where the tongue hath a carnal Liberty; and he calleth the Tongue <HI>a world of iniquity, &s;et on fire of Hell,</HI> Jam. 3.6. <HI>an unruly evil, full of deadly poi|&s;on,</HI> ver. 8. The evils of the Tongue that be&s;peak a &s;inner unregenerate, are the&s;e; and they are fre|quent among this generation.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Speaking evil of the Spirit of God,</HI> and ways of God, and People of God: Oh, &s;uch, &s;ay they, have the Spirit, that they be Holy, and they are &s;o &s;trict that they will not do &s;uch and &s;uch things as others do: This is a degree of Bla&s;phemy, and borders up|on the brink of the unpardonable Sin. The&s;e are &s;ti|led by the Apo&s;tle <HI>Revilers,</HI> 1 Cor. 5.11. &amp; 6.11. and they, as &s;uch, <HI>&s;hall not enter into the Kingdom of Hea|ven.</HI> The giving out of the Spirit upon plain mean|ing people, in the mea&s;ure it now is, <HI>is a new thing,</HI> but not therefore to be de&s;pi&s;ed and reviled.</P>
<P>Every Town and Family almo&s;t doth abound with this wickedne&s;s and dreadful provocation, and 'tis the &s;adde&s;t &s;ign upon the generality of people what|&s;oever; only, 'tis to be hoped, they do it through <HI>Ignorance,</HI> as <HI>Paul</HI> did, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.13. and God, as he hath done, may humble and convert many of them, to the prai&s;e of his Grace; only let &s;inners that have been frequently &s;hewed the de&s;perate wickedne&s;s of &s;uch &s;peeches, of &s;coffing at the Spirit and Holine&s;s, and call it Hypocri&s;ie, tremble le&s;t God give them up, when they &s;in again&s;t Conviction, and the clear light of the word in this matter.</P>
<P>Had I time to rea&s;on a little in the power of the
<PB N="227" REF="115">
Lord, with &s;uch &s;ouls; why, Con&s;ider &s;eriou&s;ly and in good earne&s;t, Can you be &s;o &s;otti&s;h, and &s;o wilfully blinded, that have heard or read the Scrip|tures, to imagine that you are God's and Chri&s;t's, and <HI>have not the Spirit,</HI> and are not made <HI>Holy,</HI> nor crying to God that you may be holy? <HI>He that hath not the Spirit of Chri&s;t is none of his;</HI> And, <HI>without Holine&s;s you &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord;</HI> How dare you then, in the A|thei&s;m and devili&s;h wickedne&s;s of your hearts, &s;coff at the very Name of the Spirit and Holine&s;s! The lowe&s;t place in Hell will be yours, that have been &s;o often admoni&s;hed of this, unle&s;s God &s;mite you to the Earth for it: True Converts have the &s;adde&s;t Humiliation for this &s;in, as they have been more or le&s;s guilty of it.</P>
<P N="2">2. Or you that are not &s;o de&s;perately carried forth in this open ungodline&s;s, of &s;peaking evil of what you know not, but yet make little Con&s;cience of lying for your profit, or in excu&s;ing a matter, &s;o you may do it covertly, and count, it a venial &s;mall &s;in; or you, that when provoked, &s;wear prophanely, and de&s;perately, tearing the Name of the great and dreadful God, wreaking your anger and wrath upon the Name of God, and the blood of Chri&s;t; your Tongues are &s;et on fire on Hell, and the Spirit of Di&s;|obedience, the Devil worketh in you; not a drop of the Grace of God in you.</P>
<P N="3">3. Or you who have your <HI>petty Oaths,</HI> by your Faith, by your Lady, and by Creatures, or make mention of the Name of God, and Lord, in your ordinary Di&s;cour&s;e, vainly, and as a by-word, cry|ing, Oh Lord, upon every &s;light occa&s;ion, and for <HI>God's &s;ake,</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;t's &s;ake</HI> do this, and this, in poor trivial matters; verily there is nothing of the New-Creature in you: And yet the&s;e great Pro|phane&s;&s;es
<PB N="228" REF="116">
you call your infirmities, and 'tis your infirmity to &s;wear, when angry and provoked, and you &s;ay you forget your &s;elves, when you menti|on the Name of the Lord God &s;leightly, or through Ignorance plead for it, that you may do &s;o; I tell you, Souls, they are your reigning, damning &s;ins, who are frequent in them: And in carnal prayer|le&s;s families, as mo&s;t are, how oft in a day may the&s;e ungodly &s;peeches be heard, by men, women and children? If the fear of God were upon you, or any work of Grace, you dur&s;t not do it, nor indeed could do: Therefore do but ob&s;erve your &s;elves a day, and &s;ee how often you are here guilty, and tremble before God, and go and humble your &s;elves at his feet, that you may find mercy, and have ano|ther heart and mouth given unto you: Pray, and cry, and wait for the good trea&s;ure of the Word of Grace in your hearts, and 'twill be otherwi&s;e with you.</P>
<P N="4">4. Yea, you who are engaged in <HI>worldly Di&s;cour|&s;es</HI> on the <HI>Sabbath</HI>-day, in your families, at your doors, in the &s;treets, in idle and vain je&s;ting; you are not of God, born again by his Spirit, you take no delight in the Word of God, the meditation of your heart is not in it, you &s;peak little of it, be|cau&s;e you &s;avour it not. Tremble you Worldlings, who &s;hew it this way, at that Word, 1 <HI>John</HI> 5.5. <HI>They are of the world, therefore &s;peak they of the world, and the world heareth them:</HI> If ye are of the world, you are not, as yet, of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the power, love, of this pre&s;ent World ruleth in you, and that may damn you for ever.</P>
<P>Know, &s;inners, you that make little Con&s;cience of vain, prophane words, (though you pretend to make &s;ome con&s;cience of your word of promi&s;e to Men, for
<PB N="229" REF="116">
your credits &s;ake, and &s;o think you have grace, (all which a <HI>Turk</HI> will do) that by your words you &s;hall be judged; and of <HI>idle words you &s;halt give an account at the day of Judgment; and by thy words thou &s;hall be condemned,</HI> Mat. 12.36, 37. Such words as we have opened, to be damning &s;ins. And therefore, do not put off this guilt from you, in &s;aying, 'tis your in|firmity, and &s;o make light of it; but know, 'tis guilt which will &s;end you to Hell, if the Lord humble you not, and change you.</P>
<P>'Tis a certain Rule, a prophane heart, and a pro|phane mouth, a carnal heart, a carnal tongue, a world|ly heart, a worldly (yea Sabbath-days) tongue: Therefore, you are not New-Creatures in the lea&s;t; and therefore begin with the heart, that the heart may be &s;mitten of God for this &s;in, and changed, and &s;ea|&s;oned with the word and grace of Chri&s;t upon you; and it will be better with you, and you will have a tongue to &s;peak well of the Spirit, and the things of God, and his People; and to &s;peak for God, and re|verently of his Name, and delight your &s;elves in it.</P>
<P N="2">2. Let this be a word to &s;uch, as through grace are become New-Creatures in Chri&s;t, that you would &s;hew it in this di&s;covery, in a <HI>new Tongue,</HI> that you give not your &s;elves that liberty of vain, carnal, much le&s;s prophane Di&s;cour&s;es, as formerly; as in|deed you will not, if you be new Creatures. Men's Conver&s;e do either lye among &s;uch as are wholly carnal and worldly, or &s;uch as &s;avour that which is good.</P>
<P>As to the former; as in all our carriage, &s;o e&s;peci|ally in our Words, there is great caution to be had.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="230" REF="117">1. Not to mix our &s;elves with them unnece&s;&s;ari|ly, unle&s;s we find we have &s;trength enough, through a dependency on the Lord, to avoid their &s;nares, and do it with a purpo&s;e of heart to do them good, by reproving or coun&s;elling them. Many a good &s;oul hath been &s;adly wor&s;ted by mixing unnece&s;&s;arily with vain, prophane or frothy company.</P>
<P N="2">2. If Providence ca&s;t thee among&s;t them, &s;ome|times it may be the Wi&s;dom of a Child of God to <HI>keep &s;ilence;</HI> as <HI>David,</HI> P&s;al. 39.1. <HI>I &s;aid I will take heed to my ways, that I &s;in not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, when the wicked is before me:</HI> I &s;ay, it may be &s;ometimes be&s;t for a Child of God to do &s;o; there's a &s;ecret conviction goes forth, by the &s;ilence of a &s;ervant of God oftentimes, and to have them as &s;oon as we can, &s;o it be not done &s;cornfully, but humbly and civilly: I do not mean a total &s;ilence, but a wearine&s;s.</P>
<P>When you are ca&s;t among carnal per&s;ons, as to your Callings, nece&s;&s;arily, Take heed of giving your &s;elves a full liberty, multiplying of words unnece&s;|&s;arily, but be re&s;erved and watchful; that by any thing you &s;ay, or indeed any other carriage, the per|&s;on you conver&s;e with, be more hardned in his car|nal cour&s;e, or be offended more again&s;t the ways of Godline&s;s; which, indeed, a Child of God &s;hould mo&s;t heedfully con&s;ider in all his ways: Oh, 'tis a ble&s;&s;ed and gracious de&s;ign, rather to better than wor&s;t all we conver&s;e with.</P>
<P N="3">3. If you have a heart (as you are to look up to God for a heart) to reprove what may be reprovable, (as often it may be your duty) or to commend the ways of God unto them, to render them acceptable and precious, and comfortable, or any good word of
<PB N="231" REF="117">
the Lord to mention to them, or of an etetnal con|dition; let this be done,</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Sea&s;onably:</HI> 'Tis a great matter for a &s;ervant of God to &s;peak fitly, to wind off another from a carnal Di&s;cour&s;e into good things; to in&s;inuate them di&s;|creetly; here is much Wi&s;dom, and 'tis to be ask'd of God.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>With meekne&s;s:</HI> Not &s;harply, nor ra&s;hly, nor proudly, nor cen&s;oriou&s;ly, but with a <HI>meek</HI> and <HI>gen|tle</HI> &s;pirit, &mdash; <HI>&s;hewing all meekne&s;s to all men,</HI> 2 Tit. 2. That they may perceive you do it, not to cen&s;ure them, nor with vain o&s;tentation, but that it proceeds from an hone&s;t heart, and unfeigned love to them: This is to be done, when we find mens &s;pirits in the mo&s;t &s;erious capacity; and we having endeavoured to <HI>&s;weeten</HI> them, and to get &s;ome room and re&s;pect in their Affections.</P>
<P N="3">3. That it be done <HI>&s;avourly,</HI> and <HI>feelingly,</HI> not &s;lightly, that it may appear what we give out to them is upon our own hearts, and what we do really feel and enjoy, which carries much convincement with it.</P>
<P N="2">2. If Providence ca&s;t you among God's People, (as this indeed &s;hould be our choice) 'tis not well to part from each other without &s;omething of God, his Word, Grace, Goodne&s;s, Providence, People, their own Hearts, Temptations, Comforts, according to what is upon their Hearts, or what they conceive may be of be&s;t u&s;e to tho&s;e we &s;peak to, con&s;idering their condition, or temptations, or falling &s;hort, or in what, if &s;tronger Chri&s;tians, we may our &s;elves be helped and encouraged; and not to give way to in|di&s;po&s;ition or temptation, or fear we &s;hall &s;peak as Hypocrites, (which is &s;ometimes a &s;nare) but to have a <HI>ready mind</HI> and chearful delight to do it: Not but
<PB N="232" REF="118">
the people of God may in due &s;ea&s;on &s;peak of their Callings, and of Affairs and Occurences in the World; yea, and &s;ometimes that which may beget chearfulne&s;s, &s;o we watch our hearts in it, and take heed of an uncomely inordinatene&s;s in it.</P>
<P>But do you tremble at ob&s;cene Words, wrathful words, to be &s;uddainly provok'd to &s;peak pa&s;&s;ionate|ly, at taunting, jeering words, reproaching others, or cen&s;orious of others, vain-glorious words; of which much might be &s;poken to every particular.</P>
<P N="3">3. As this may humble the people of God for the &s;ins of the <HI>Tongue,</HI> their vanity and unprofitable|ne&s;s, &s;o let it &s;tir them up to look for grace, &s;uita|ble in this &s;o weighty a matter: That our <HI>Lips</HI> may be as a Well of Life, and may &s;avour of what is holy and good in God's &s;ight: Some Directions yet as to this Duty.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Get in much good Trea&s;ure in the Heart:</HI> As our Saviour &s;peaks, <HI>Mat.</HI> 12. The more good Trea&s;ure of the Word, of Grace, of Experiences, of &s;weetne&s;s, of comfort, the more ready we &s;hall be to give forth and al&s;o receive in from others.</P>
<P N="2">2. Do not follow <HI>your fancy,</HI> in &s;peaking what it &s;till dictates, but <HI>your judgment:</HI> Many good men too too much follow a working fancy, though there may be a &s;ober chearful Exerci&s;e of it in &s;ea&s;on; but we are too apt to run forth to exce&s;s: The Devil will kindle Squibs upon the Fancy, which we mu&s;t rather quench than feed and bring forth.</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Keep &s;ome good thing upon the Heart;</HI> &s;ome good Word you daily take in, as was directed as to your Thoughts, &s;ome comfortable Experience of God, the &s;en&s;e of what you received in an Ordinance,
<PB N="233" REF="118">
that you may di&s;cour&s;e of the Word la&s;t heard, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 45.1. <HI>My heart is enditing of a good matter, my Tongue is the Pen of a ready Writer:</HI> Oh ble&s;&s;ed, when 'tis &s;o with gracious Souls: <HI>I mu&s;e on the works of thy hands,</HI> P&s;al. 143. <HI>My meditation of God &s;hall be &s;weet,</HI> P&s;al. 104.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Pray for a good frame of heart, and keep it &s;o:</HI> Pray till the heart be made tender, &s;avoury, quickned, en|larged with the &s;en&s;e of God's Maje&s;ty, Holine&s;s and Goodne&s;s upon your Spirits, and then watch to keep them &s;o; a &s;avoury Heart, and a &s;avoury Mouth.</P>
<P N="5">5. Be not provoked by the vain and frothy Lan|guage of others, though they may be good men, to comply with it: We are too apt to take encourage|ment to that which may be evil, becau&s;e 'tis the li|berty another good man takes, which is often a &s;nare.</P>
<P N="6">6. Keep the fear of the Lord upon thy Heart, a holy awe of God and his Pre&s;ence, one of the choi|ce&s;t Duties of a Saint, e&s;pecially in this matter. The fear of God makes the Spirit &s;erious, and yet mixt with comfort and a comely chearfulne&s;s, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 4.4. <HI>Stand in awe of God, and &s;in not.</HI></P>
<P>I might al&s;o lay down Motives to this choice Du|ty: It doth much plea&s;e and delight the Spirit of God; it brings in much good to the &s;oul: Gracious conference is an Ordinance of God, and ble&s;t to the quickning, e&s;tabli&s;hing, &s;uccouring, and refre&s;hing the hearts of Saints. Accu&s;tom your &s;elves to it, and you will find indi&s;po&s;itions wear off, and you will do it out of a ready mind, and gracious delight: Only, be not only a talker, from Notions in the Head, nor affect a di&s;puting, wrangling Knowledge,
<PB N="234" REF="119">
(u&s;ually the effect of Pride) but do it from Heart-experience in &s;ome mea&s;ure; or what you would fain get more upon your hearts: And let it not be only a talking-knowledge, but an humble walking-knowledge.</P>
<P>Remember, to thy continual aba&s;ement, how ma|ny &s;inners thou ha&s;t helped Hell-ward, by thy lewd, vain, prophane &s;peeches, by thy reviling at the Lords ways and people, and how thou ha&s;t encouraged and hardened them this way in &s;in. Oh, now let thy work be, through infinite grace, to tell &s;inners, that there is more good infinitely in Je&s;us Chri&s;t than in the way of folly. Now draw as many as thou may'&s;t, according to thy mea&s;ure of grace, to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and Heaven-ward.</P>
<P>And thus much be &s;poken of this Di&s;covery of the <HI>New-Creature,</HI> in its &s;hewing it &s;elf in a new Lip.</P>
<P N="9">9. The 9th. Di&s;covery of the New-Creature.</P>
<P>Such as are New-Creatures in Chri&s;t, they will have <HI>New-Company.</HI> As &s;oon as a &s;oul is new forming up in Chri&s;t, he &s;aith, as <HI>David, Depart from me ye evil doers, for I will keep the Commandments of my God,</HI> P&s;al. 119.115. <HI>Depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping,</HI> P&s;al. 6.8. <HI>I am a Companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy Precepts,</HI> P&s;al. 119.63. So the primi|tive Saints, as &s;oon as converted, they become <HI>Com|panions</HI> of the reproached Ones of the Lord, and <HI>took joyfully the &s;poiling of their Goods</HI> with them, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.34. And &s;o <HI>Mo&s;es cho&s;e affliction with the people of God,</HI> before Riches and Honour with the Prophane, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.26.</P>
<P>Now this real Converts do:</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="235" REF="119">1. Becau&s;e wicked and carnal men will act and &s;peak wickedly again&s;t God, and his ways and people; which a heart broken, and made tender, cannot en|dure to hear and ob&s;erve: <HI>David</HI> &s;aid, it was like a <HI>&s;word in his bones,</HI> P&s;al. 42.10. when wicked men re|proached the Lord and his &s;ervants.</P>
<P N="2">2. Converts are <HI>in great danger to be tempted to &s;in,</HI> as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> in <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s hou&s;e, by the company of wic|ked and carnal per&s;ons; the Devil will lay &s;nares, e&s;pecially for weak Souls: It will be hard for weak &s;ouls to pa&s;s without guilt, by mixing with them.</P>
<P N="3">3. Saints <HI>will contract deadne&s;s and indi&s;po&s;ition</HI> by their company; it cau&s;eth old Lu&s;ts to &s;tir, and other &s;ins of heart to be working. The carnal part will be too ready for complyance with them; how hard to come off from them, not wor&s;ted.</P>
<P N="4">4. Such as are New-Creatures in Chri&s;t, have quite <HI>different Spirits</HI> from wicked and carnal men, <HI>different principles, different ends,</HI> and therefore they mu&s;t needs avoid them, and cannot take &s;atisfacti|on and contentment with them, unle&s;s under great temptation.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. To &s;inners unconverted, who take plea|&s;ure in your carnal, merry company, but are burthen|ed with the company of godly, and you &s;ecretly di&s;|dain them, and the Devil &s;ugge&s;ts to you, that they are Hypocrites; know this, and be a&s;&s;ured of it, and your Con&s;ciences mu&s;t acknowledge it, that ye are yet in your &s;ins, and haters of Holine&s;s, and you love not the appearance of it: Certainly, you are none of the&s;e New-Creatures, and you cannot know your &s;elves by a better Character, than by the company you mo&s;t delight in. You do not make choice of your mo&s;t intimate company by their Godline&s;s, but
<PB N="236" REF="120">
from wordly ends, or mirth, or good fellow&s;hip, as you &s;tile it, or genero&s;ity, or &s;ome &s;uch carnal end; verily, the grace of God is not in you, and your con|dition is damnable.</P>
<P N="2">2. As ever you would find mercy, look up to the Lord to turn your hearts to him&s;elf, and then to tho&s;e that fear him: Break off from your vain com|pany, who engage your hearts to vanity: What &s;aith the Wi&s;dom of God, <HI>A Companion of fools &s;hall be de&s;troyed,</HI> Prov. 13. No &s;uch fools (how witty, or prudent, or civil &s;oever otherwi&s;e) as carnal &s;ouls, that delight in vanity; Oh hearken to the in&s;tru|ction of the wi&s;e, and your &s;oul &s;hall live. I con|fe&s;s this is the harde&s;t pluck in conver&s;ion, but yet it mu&s;t be done, with a vigorous re&s;olution, through grace; when once the bands are broken, and you come to find, as you will, abundant more &s;weetne&s;s in the Lords ways, verily you &s;hall never repent your &s;o doing.</P>
<P>And &s;uch as have &s;ome de&s;ires towards goodne&s;s, and have &s;ome better thoughts than you have had formerly of good people, you will make little pro|gre&s;s in grace, and peace, and comfort to your own &s;ouls, till you do this; till you can abhor your &s;elves for your vanity and prophane&s;s among carnal men, and can with full purpo&s;e of heart cleave to the Lord, and overcome fear or &s;hame, or whatever &s;uch cur&s;ed evils that are in your way, and all your rocks of offence, you will make little of it as to evidence any &s;ound work in your hearts, and peace with God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t; one days accompanying with car|nal men, will &s;et you more backward in the matter of godline&s;s, than many days after will help on.</P>
<P N="3">3. Let &s;uch as would evidence the New-Creature, be very watchful in this matter, and not to touch
<PB N="237" REF="120">
pitch, le&s;t they be defiled; mix not your &s;elves un|nece&s;&s;arily, as hath been exhorted in the la&s;t head, among carnal men, unle&s;s you have a good and holy end in it; &s;o as Je&s;us Chri&s;t did, going among great &s;inners to do them good, which indeed be|&s;peaks a great &s;trength of grace, and a Chri&s;t-like &s;pirit, and Saints &s;hould be much with <HI>God</HI> for it.</P>
<P>And among your &s;elves, that Saints do &s;till better and not wor&s;t one anothers Spirits, when they come together; the more you are with Saints, the more you love them, and delight in them: Have a com|pa&s;&s;ionate healing &s;pirit to one anothers infirmities, and be not offended, but look upon, and love the appearance of God in each other: And remember, that receiving and doing of good is your great bu&s;i|ne&s;s till you come to Heaven.</P>
<P>Yea, let all that have a new work upon them, di|ligently find out the Company of Saints, &s;uch as are vi&s;ibly joined to the Lord, and to each other, to en|joy Ordinances holily, and to help one another Hea|ven-ward; <HI>Woe to him that is alone,</HI> &s;aith the wi&s;|dom of God: Let not gracious Souls content them&s;elves in pollutions of wor&s;hip, and without the company of the godly; &s;uch do decay, wither, make a poor &s;hift to hold out in their profe&s;&s;ion, grow worldly, or are overtaken with the Errours of the times; as for the mo&s;t part, they are the &s;olitary profe&s;&s;ors who are drawn a&s;ide from Go&s;pel-truth, and not &s;uch (as it hath been unduly charg'd) who are in the fellow&s;hip of the Go&s;pel, for that end and pur|po&s;e, to help, &s;trengthen, pray for, watch over each other.</P>
<P N="10">10. Such as are New-Creatures in Chri&s;t, they have (if I may &s;o &s;peak) <HI>new feet,</HI> namely, to <HI>walk with
<PB N="238" REF="121">
God</HI> in <HI>a new conver&s;ation: The &s;teps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way,</HI> P&s;al. 37.23. <HI>I have</HI> (&s;aith <HI>David) refrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep thy word.</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>New-walk</HI> of a Saint, of a New-Creature, is a large field; that I may hint the mo&s;t material things of it,</P>
<P N="1">1. A New-Creature doth more and more &s;et him|&s;elf to <HI>walk with God;</HI> (1.) As <HI>under the eye of God,</HI> con&s;idering that the jealous eye of the Lord is &s;till upon him: <HI>Thou compa&s;&s;e&s;t my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways,</HI> P&s;al. 133.3. (2.) To <HI>keep Communion with God;</HI> to be con|ver&s;ing with God, &s;peaking with God, and unto God, and waiting to hear God &s;peak unto him. (3.) <HI>To walk in Je&s;us Chri&s;t. As ye have received Chri&s;t Je|&s;us the Lord, &s;o walk ye in him,</HI> Col. 2.6. which is, to walk in the <HI>Life</HI> of Chri&s;t, in the <HI>Light</HI> of Chri&s;t, in the <HI>Love</HI> of Chri&s;t, in the <HI>Strength</HI> of Chri&s;t, in the <HI>wi&s;dom</HI> and <HI>patience</HI> of Chri&s;t, and &s;o in all: This 'tis to have fellow&s;hip with Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and to walk in him; to do all in Chri&s;t, and through Chri&s;t, is the main work of the New-Crea|ture, as 'twas hinted in di&s;covering the nece&s;&s;ity of the New-Creature's being in Chri&s;t. (4.) The Walk of the New-Creature is <HI>to walk in the Spirit,</HI> Gal. 5.25. <HI>If we live in the Spirit, let us al&s;o walk in the Spirit. There's no condemnation to them which are in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who walk not after the fle&s;h, but af|ter the Spirit,</HI> Rom. 8.1. To walk in the Spirit, is, (1.) Not <HI>to fulfill the Lu&s;ts of the Fle&s;h,</HI> Gal. 5.16. Not to be under the power of them, or to make provi&s;ion for them; not to feed them, but to <HI>crucifie</HI> them; <HI>They that are Chri&s;t's, have crucified the fle&s;h, with the Affections and Lu&s;ts,</HI> Gal. 5.14. which is put
<PB N="239" REF="121">
as an evidence of walking after the Spirit. (2.) 'Tis to be <HI>led by the Spirit,</HI> Gal. 5.18. to give up our &s;elves to the <HI>leadings</HI> and teachings of the Spirit, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 143.10. <HI>Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God, thy &s;pirit is good; lead me into the land of upright|ne&s;s;</HI> is the cry of every true Convert in Chri&s;t; who would not be led by his own Spirit in any thing, nor by any other mens &s;pirits, but waits for the Leading of the &s;pirit in every work and way, wherein he would walk before God.</P>
<P N="5">5. The New-Creature <HI>walks after the revealed will of God: And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be upon them,</HI> Gal. 5.16. &s;peaking of the New-Creature, who walks after a rule: <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the Law of the Lord,</HI> P&s;al. 119.1. He &s;ets him&s;elf to walk in <HI>all</HI> the precepts of God, and e&s;teemed them all holy and righteous.</P>
<P N="6">6. The New-Creature <HI>walks in his integrity: Let integrity and uprightne&s;s pre&s;erve me,</HI> P&s;al. 25.21. <HI>As for me, I will walk in mine integrity,</HI> P&s;al. 26.11. <HI>And as for me, thou upholde&s;t me in mine integrity, and &s;ette&s;t me before thy face for ever,</HI> P&s;al. 41.12. This is the gracious re&s;olution of every Convert, to walk in his integrity, through which God will pre&s;erve and uphold him in all his ways, and when the World reproacheth him, God will &s;et him before his face, and that for ever.</P>
<P N="7">7. The New-Creature, &s;o far as he is a New-Creature, <HI>walks humbly: This is that the Lord doth re|quire of thee, walk humbly with thy God,</HI> Micah 6.8. To walk humbly before the Lord, toward &s;inners, and towards Saints: The &s;oul that walks mo&s;t with God, walks mo&s;t humbly towards men.</P>
<P N="8">8. The New-Creature <HI>walks in love; And walk in
<PB N="240" REF="122">
love, as Chri&s;t al&s;o hath loved us,</HI> Ephe&s;. 5.2. In <HI>love</HI> to all Saints, as Saints, a &s;pecial part of the Go&s;pel-walk: Not in love to &s;uch or &s;uch a party of Saints, which is but &s;elf-love, but in love to all that walk with God.</P>
<P N="9">9. More Particulars might I mention, as <HI>walk|ing hone&s;tly</HI> towards all men, not oppre&s;&s;ing, defraud|ing, but <HI>righteou&s;ly, charitably, compa&s;&s;ionately:</HI> So far, I &s;ay, as he is a New-Creature, he walks thus: Only let me add this, that the New-Creature <HI>walks by Faith,</HI> 2 Cor. 5.7. <HI>and not by &s;ight:</HI> He is ever learn|ing a life of dependency, lives upon the All-&s;uffici|ency of God, the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, the ful|ne&s;s of his Grace, the word of his Promi&s;e, and &s;o lives out of him&s;elf, upon the fulne&s;s of God in Chri&s;t, and his truth in his Promi&s;e, even when he feels not his pre&s;ence. And herein briefly con&s;i&s;ts the Life of Faith, to live out of our &s;elves, upon an|other, even the fulne&s;s of an infinite God, manife&s;t|ed in Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>In a word, The New-Creature in Chri&s;t, as he is called of God, through infinite Free-Grace: So is he to walk in all things, <HI>Worthy of his vocation,</HI> E|phe&s;. 4.1. To walk worthy of the Lord, even to <HI>walk</HI> as Je&s;us Chri&s;t <HI>him&s;elf walked,</HI> 1 John 2.6. To walk in this pre&s;ent world, how he might expre&s;s the vertues of Chri&s;t, the Grace and Love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;o freely revealed to him, to walk &s;elf-deny|ingly, holily, patiently, harmle&s;ly, profitably, heaven|ly, as one that is called from Darkne&s;s to Light, from the power of Satan to God, called out of the world, <HI>to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> 2 The&s;. 2.14.</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. If this be the Walk of the New-Creature,
<PB N="241" REF="122">
then &s;uch who walk not as in the Eye of God, but after the Athei&s;m of their Hearts, con&s;ider not, that God &s;ees them in their mo&s;t hidden ways, that walk after their lu&s;ts to fulfil them; that walk not in the Spirit, that mind not Holine&s;s, &s;o they keep a kind of Con&s;cience to men: Verily, the Spirit of God dwelleth not in you, you have no Evidence for Heaven as yet; you are of the World, and you walk after the cour&s;e of <HI>the World,</HI> Eph. 2.2. You walk Hell-ward, and are held by the Cords of your Lu&s;ts, and your Paths lead unto de&s;truction. And there|fore turn in to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who&s;e Paths are Wi&s;|dom and Safety, and lead in the way of Life, and Peace, and Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, even all that choo&s;e them, and delight in them.</P>
<P N="2">2. Let &s;uch as have the New-Creature formed in them, approve them&s;elves to God, to Saints, and to the World, in this their <HI>New-Walk:</HI> Oh &s;ee! you are called to walk with God; and therefore be as in his Eye continually; make Communion with him your chiefe&s;t joy. Walk in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, in his Life, Light, Power, Love, Wi&s;dom, and fetch your daily &s;upplies from him: Walk in the Spirit, after the Spirit, as much as may be; and &s;ee that you keep clo&s;e to Rule, to the revealed Will of God, and not to Delu&s;ions; be able to appeal to God, <HI>Judge me, Oh God, according to mine integrity,</HI> P&s;al. 26.1. that you may have this Peace and Comfort in all your ways; <HI>Thou upholde&s;t me, Oh Lord, in mine Integrity.</HI> And &s;ee you walk <HI>humbly</HI> before God and Men, and in love to all that profe&s;s love to Chri&s;t; and they do, in &s;ome mea&s;ure <HI>really</HI> expre&s;s it, and carry it ju&s;tly and compa&s;&s;ionately towards all men.</P>
<P>Learn above all, the Experience of the Life of
<PB N="242" REF="123">
Faith; live not in, or upon what you have received, but live out of it, upon the Fulne&s;s of the Lord, as if you had received nothing. Oh ply the Throne of Grace, that you may be filled with the Spirit of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and to walk in this pre&s;ent World, as near as may be, after the Holine&s;s, Patience, Meek|ne&s;s, Wi&s;dom, and Love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which he &s;hewed towards all men, having your hearts and Conver&s;ations in Heaven, where your trea&s;ure is.</P>
<P N="11">11. The New-Creature doth in all things labour its own perfection, and is therefore &s;till in conflict|ing with, de&s;troying, crucifying, purging out the old Creature, the old man, all of the old <HI>Adam,</HI> till it &s;its down in Victory, in a full perfection of Holine&s;s and Glory, which it &s;hall have (and not till then) at the appearing of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.22. &mdash; <HI>That ye put off concerning the former Conver&s;ation, the Old Man, which is corrupt, accord|ing to the deceitful Lu&s;ts, and be renewed,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Knowing this, that our Old Man is crucified with him, that the body of &s;in might be de&s;troyed,</HI> Rom. 6.6.</P>
<P>This is the main Work of the New-Creature, where it is really formed in Chri&s;t, to de&s;troy and purge out the Defilements and Dregs of the Old Man, of Sin, Self, Corruption, that it may be as a <HI>new Lump,</HI> as a Ve&s;&s;el made meet for the Lord's u&s;e, as <HI>formed up, &s;et apart, anointed, &s;anctified</HI> for God, and his u&s;e, here and for ever, <HI>AMEN.</HI></P>
<P><HI>To the Ble&s;&s;ed God Alone be all the Glory.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="123">
<P><HI>Childrens Bread:</HI> OR, The Fir&s;t Principles of the Know|ledge of GOD.</P>
<P>To Sea&s;on the Heads and Hearts of Young Ones betimes.</P>
<P>By way of QUESTION and ANSWER.</P>
<Q><P>Train up a Child in the way he &s;hould go, and when he is old he will not depart from it, <BIBL><HI>Prov. 22.6.</HI></BIBL></P>
<P>And that from a Child thou ha&s;t known the Holy Scriptures, <BIBL><HI>2 Tim. 3.15.</HI></BIBL></P></Q>
<P>By <HI>A. P.</HI> late Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed in the Year 1695.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="catechism">
<PB REF="124">
<PB N="1" REF="124">
<HEAD>Childrens Bread: or the fir&s;t Prin|ciples of the Knowledge of GOD, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>WHo made you a living Soul?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> God, who made all things, made me a living Soul, <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.7. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 139.14.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Who is God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> God is a Spirit, the great, and holy, and good God, <HI>Joh.</HI> 4.24. <HI>Jer.</HI> 32.18.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Is there but one God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> There is but one true and living God, in three Per&s;ons, the Father, Son, and Spirit, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.9. 1 <HI>Ep. Joh.</HI> 5.7.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How is God known?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> God is known by his works, and by his holy Word, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 102.24. <HI>Prov.</HI> 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 5.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Why did God give you &s;uch a Soul?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> God gave me a Soul to know him, and glo|rifie him, <HI>Col.</HI> 3.10. <HI>Rev.</HI> 15.4.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What will become of your Soul when you dye?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> My Soul mu&s;t go to God in Heaven, or el&s;e be damned in Hell Fire for ever, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25. <HI>la&s;t. Joh.</HI> 5.29.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How came your Soul to be in danger of Hell-fire?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Becau&s;e I have &s;inned again&s;t God, I de&s;erv|ed eternal Damnation, <HI>P&s;a.</HI> 9.17. <HI>Rom.</HI> 2.9.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How came you to &s;in again&s;t God?</HI></P>
<P><PB N="2" REF="125"><HI>A.</HI> The fir&s;t Man <HI>Adam</HI> &s;inned, and brake the Covenant of God, and I in him, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.18, 19. <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.17.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the &s;in of your Nature?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> My Nature is corrupted with &s;in, and hath the &s;eed of all &s;in, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 14.1. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 51.5.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is &s;in?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Sin is the breaking of God's Commandments, <HI>Deut.</HI> 11.27, 28. 1 <HI>Ep. Joh.</HI> 3.4.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How many are the Commandments of the Law?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> The Law of God contains ten Command|ments, written in <HI>Exod.</HI> 20. <HI>Deut.</HI> 5.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the fir&s;t Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt have none other Gods but me, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.3.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What doth the fir&s;t Commandment require?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To have one God for my God, and to love him above all things, <HI>Deut.</HI> 6.4, 5. <HI>Mat.</HI> 22.37.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the &s;econd Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt not make to thy &s;elf any graven Image, <HI>&amp;c. Exod.</HI> 20.4, 5.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is required in this Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To Wor&s;hip God according to his own Word, and not after mens Inventions, <HI>Mat.</HI> 15.10. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 29.13.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the third Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.7.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What doth the third Commandment require?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To think and &s;peak of God with reverence and fear, and not to take his Name in vain, <HI>Deut.</HI> 28.58. <HI>Prov.</HI> 1.7.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the fourth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day, <HI>&amp;c. Exod.</HI> 20.8.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What doth this Commandment teach you?</HI></P>
<P><PB N="3" REF="125"><HI>A.</HI> To keep the Lords day holy, and not to &s;pend it in vain &s;ports and idle words, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 58.13. <HI>Rev.</HI> 1.10.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the fifth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Honour thy Father and thy Mother, that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.12.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What doth this Commandment of God teach you?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To give Honour to all to whom it is due, and to obey my Parents in the Lord, <HI>Tit.</HI> 3.1. <HI>Eph.</HI> 6.1, 2.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the &s;ixth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt do no Murther, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.13.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is required in the &s;ixth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To do good to every one, and not to have angry thoughts or angry words, <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.21, 22. <HI>Prov.</HI> 19.11.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the &s;eventh Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt not commit Adultery, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.14.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the meaning of this Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To keep my &s;elf from all Uncleanne&s;s, and to be Cha&s;t in my thoughts and words, <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.27, 28. <HI>Eph.</HI> 4.19.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the eighth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt not Steal, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.15.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What doth this Commandment forbid?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> It forbids me to take any thing that is ano|thers, or to &s;pend what is mine own vainly, <HI>Eph.</HI> 4.28. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.10.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the ninth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt not bear fal&s;e witne&s;s again&s;t thy Neighbours, <HI>Exod.</HI> 20.16.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the duty of the ninth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> It requires the &s;peaking truth to others, and forbids lying, <HI>Zach.</HI> 8.16. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.25.</P>
<P><PB N="4" REF="126">Q. <HI>What is the tenth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Thou &s;halt not Covet, <HI>&amp;c. Exod.</HI> 20.17.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is required in the tenth Commandment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To be content with tho&s;e things that I have, and not to have a covetous heart, <HI>Luk.</HI> 12.32. <HI>Heb.</HI> 13.5.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Have you kept the&s;e Commandments of God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> No: I have &s;inned by evil thoughts, and words, and deeds; and come &s;hort of fulfilling the Law of God, <HI>Mat.</HI> 15.19. <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.23.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is due to you for &s;in?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Sin hath brought the cur&s;e of God upon my Soul, and made me a Child of Wrath by Nature, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.10. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.3.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How may you e&s;cape the wrath and anger of God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> God in his rich mercy hath revealed Salvation from &s;in by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.4. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.15.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Who is Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t is the Son of God the Father, and he took our Nature upon him, and became God and Man in one Per&s;on, <HI>Heb.</HI> 2.16. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.16.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Why was Je&s;us Chri&s;t made Man?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t was made Man, that he might dye for our &s;ins, and was rai&s;ed from the dead, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.8. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.3.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Why did Je&s;us Chr&s;t dye for us?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t dyed to redeem us from the Cur&s;e of the Law, and to work out Righteou&s;ne&s;s for us, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.13. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Where is Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t is &s;ate down at the right hand of God in Heaven, <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.3. <HI>Heb.</HI> 8.3.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What does Je&s;us Chri&s;t do for us in Heaven?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> 1. Je&s;us Chri&s;t is our High Prie&s;t in Heaven, to plead the &s;hedding of his blood for us, and to pray
<PB N="5" REF="126">
for us, 1 <HI>Ep. Joh.</HI> 2.1, 2. <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.25.</P>
<P N="2">2. Je&s;us Chri&s;t is our Prophet, to teach us by his Word and Spirit, <HI>Mat.</HI> 17.5. <HI>Acts</HI> 3.22.</P>
<P N="3">3. Je&s;us Chri&s;t is a King, to Reign over us, <HI>Acts</HI> 3.35. <HI>Rev.</HI> 15.3.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How may you come to be partakers of this Salvation?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> I may become partaker of Salvation, by com|ing to Je&s;us Chri&s;t as a poor lo&s;t &s;inner, to be wa&s;h|ed from my &s;ins in his blood, and to be ju&s;tified by him, <HI>Rev.</HI> 1.5. <HI>Acts</HI> 13.38, 39.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How doth God ju&s;tifie a &s;inner?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> God in his free Grace forgives a poor &s;inner for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, and imputes Chri&s;ts Righteou&s;ne&s;s to a Believer, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.24, 25. <HI>Rom.</HI> 4.6.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How may you come to believe on Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> God works faith in dead &s;inners by his Spirit, in hearing of the Go&s;pel Preached, <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.17. 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2.13.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>In what manner doth God work faith in the Soul?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> 1. By convincing me of &s;in, and revealing Chri&s;t in the promi&s;e, <HI>Luk.</HI> 7.37. <HI>Joh.</HI> 6.37.</P>
<P N="2">2. I mu&s;t pray unto God to work faith in me, and to reveal Chri&s;t to my poor &s;oul, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.11. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.17, 18.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How may you come to pray?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> I mu&s;t beg of God to give me his holy Spi|rit, to help me to Pray, <HI>Luk.</HI> 11.13. <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.26.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How may you know the Spirit helpeth you in Prayer?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> When I confe&s;s my &s;ins, and humble my &s;elf to the Mercy and Grace of God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and beg all Mercy and Grace, for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, 1 <HI>Ep. Joh.</HI> 1.9. <HI>Joh.</HI> 14.13.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>How mu&s;t you be found a Praying Child of God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> 1. I mu&s;t Pray to my Heavenly Father, every Morning and Evening in &s;ecret, <HI>Mat.</HI> 6.6. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 45.17.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="6" REF="127">2. I mu&s;t al&s;o read &s;ome part of the Word of God, and pray that God will teach me by it, <HI>Prov.</HI> 6.21, 22. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.15.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the work of the Spirit of God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> I mu&s;t be born again of the Spirit, or never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.3. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.13.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the fruit of being born again?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> 1. I mu&s;t be in Chri&s;t, and a new Creature in him, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.17. <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.10.</P>
<P N="2">2. I mu&s;t pre&s;s after all holine&s;s in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, in heart and life, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.14. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.15.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is required of &s;ouls that thir&s;t after more of Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> It is the duty of &s;uch as would have more of Chri&s;t, to join them&s;elves to a particular Church of Chri&s;t, <HI>Acts</HI> 2. <HI>la&s;t.</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 8.5.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is a Church of Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> A Church of Chri&s;t is a Congregation of Saints by profe&s;&s;ion, gathered by the Go&s;pel, and joyned together to enjoy all Ordinances, and to Edifie one another in forbearance and love, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.2. 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.11.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the Covenant of Grace?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> The Covenant of Grace is, Gods taking us to be his peculiar people, and our giving up our &s;elves to him, that he may be our God for ever by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.7. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 56.6.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What be the Ordinances of the Covenant?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> Bapti&s;m and the Lords Supper.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is Bapti&s;m?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> In Bapti&s;m, by the wa&s;hing with Water, we are delivered up to the Name and Profe&s;&s;ion of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Mat.</HI> 28. <HI>la&s;t. Gal.</HI> 3.27.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the Lords Supper?</HI></P>
<P><PB N="7" REF="127"><HI>A.</HI> The Lords Supper is the &s;hewing forth of the Death of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and our Communion with his Body and Blood by Faith, in which forgivene&s;s of &s;ins is &s;ealed to Believers, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.36. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.16.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>When are you fit to pattake of the Lords Supper?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> When I can give up my &s;elf to Chri&s;t, and my heart is drawn after him, though I am weak in Faith, <HI>Rom.</HI> 14.1. <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.17.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What priviledg is there more in being of a Church of Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> When I am in a Church, I am in a &s;pecial man|ner in the Prayers of Saints, and to partake of all help and comfort from them, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 5.15, 16. <HI>Rom.</HI> 15.1, 2.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the further comfort of new-born Souls?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> 1. If I am new born of the Spirit, I am a Child of God, and Heir of Heaven, <HI>John</HI> 1.12, 13. <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.16, 17.</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;hall be kept by the power of God unto Salva|tion, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5. 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.23.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What further great priviledge have you, if you be a Child of God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> If I become a Child of God, God will love me for ever, and is my Father, and will hear my poor Prayers to him, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13, 14. 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 5, 15.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the further duty of a Child of God?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> 1. I am to grow in Grace, and the Knowledge of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, under the Word and Ordinances, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25.30. 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.18.</P>
<P N="2">2. I ought to love all Saints, as Saints, though they differ from me in Judgment, 1 <HI>Ep. Joh.</HI> 3.14. <HI>Col.</HI> 3.12.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What is the great Work God will do in the World?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> To encrea&s;e the Kingdom of his Son Je&s;us
<PB N="8" REF="128">
Chri&s;t, and to &s;ubdue the Nations unto him, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 9.7. <HI>Revel.</HI> 11.15.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>Shall there be a Re&s;urrection of the Bodies of all from the dead?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> When Chri&s;t comes to Judgment all &s;hall be rai&s;ed from the dead, and &s;hall &s;tand before his Judg|ment-Seat, <HI>Heb.</HI> 6.2. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.10.</P>
<P>Q. <HI>What &s;hall the reward of all be at the la&s;t Judgment?</HI></P>
<P><HI>A.</HI> They who be in Chri&s;t, and have done good, &s;hall have Everla&s;ting Life; but &s;uch as have done evil, Everla&s;ting Damnation, <HI>Mat.</HI> 24. la&s;t. <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.29.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="128">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</GROUP>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
