Anti-sozzo, sive, Sherlocismus enervatus in vindication of some great truths opposed, and opposition to some great errors maintained by Mr. William Sherlock.

ANTI-SOZZO , SIVE Sherlocismus Eneyvatus : IN VINDICATION OF SOME Great TRUTHS Opposed , AND OPPOSITION TO SOME Great ERRORS Maintained BY Mr. WILLIAM SHERLOCK .

1 Cor. 16. 22.

If any Man love not the Lord Iesus Christ , let him be Anathema Maranatha .

LONDON , Printed for Nathaniel Ponder at the Sign of the Peacock in the Poultry near Corn-Hill , and in Chancery Lane near Fleetstreet , 1676.

The PREFACE . Christian Reader ,

SInce the Great Tyrant Custom , has made every one that shall dare to Write , a Debtor to every one that shall please to Read , and obliged him under no less penalty than the forfeiture of his Readers Candour , and falling foul upon his severe displeasure , 〈◊〉 render a Reason of his Scripturiency ; that I may not seem to stem the violent Current of this inveterate and prevailing Humour , by a sullen moroseness , I shall suffer my self silently to be carryed down with the stream , so far as to give thee this short Account of those Motives which won me over to this Undertaking .

In the Printed Catalogue of Books , 1674. I met with One , wearing the glorious Superscription of A Discourse concerning the Knowledge of Iesus Christ , and our Union and Communion with him : By W. S. And I did seriously rejoyce , to see those who are Adorned with the Honourable Name of Ministers of the Gospel , so profitably employ those Hours which they borrow from Publick Service , as to travel in so necessary a Subject . Now as this was the onely Reason of my first Ambition to be found amongst his Readers ; so perhaps I am not the first that has been decoyed by a specious glittering Title , to place out precious Time upon Disappointments ; for I must freely confess , how ashamed I was of my ill-spent pains , when I found pro Thesauro , Carbones ; not many Barley-Corns , but not one Iewel in all that Dunghill .

I was willing at first to suspect , that happily through some Oversight , either in the Collator , or Binder , a wrong Title-page had been praefixt to the Book ; so irreconcileable did the Enmity seem between them ; but second thoughts informed me , that the Title did not oblige the Book to Treat of the True Knowledge of Christ , nor to acquaint us wherein our Union to , and Communion with him , did really consist ; for , provided , The Discourse was managed concerning these things , though in Reproach of them , or in Opposition to them , yet it was enough to justifie its Harmony with , and make good whatever was explicitly promised in The Bill of Fare .

But whatever my Apprehensions were about that , I found many difficulties to remove , and great discouragements to get over , before I could perswade my self , to give the Author the Contentment , or the World the Trouble , of this Answer .

The first and greatest that presented it self , was , from my own Inexperience and want of skill , dexterously to handle the Polemical Saw : But yet I was help'd over that Block by a temptation , that softly whisper'd , I must never hope for a more encouraging Piece to enter a Novice , or flesh a junior Disputant . For though it be not the Priviledge of every one , with the great Hercules , to strangle Serpents in his Cradle , yet a Child may serve to kill Flies , as well as the Mighty Domitian . But I was more daunted at that Huffing Confidence , wherewith he Hectors his low-spirited Readers into Obsequiousness , challenging the whole World , at all Weapons , from the Spanish Needle to the long Pike and upwards ; and yet amongst them all , I felt not the weight of Goliah's Weavers Beam . His discourse indeed proceeds in Cavalcade , like the Ceremonious Train of Bernice , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with glorious Pomp and Gallantry , but when I had rallyed up so much Courage , as might make me once dare to look his Arguments in the Face , truly I found nothing but a Gyants skin stuft with straw , or the Guts of an old Warr-Saddle ; such as might well affright any , but would kill no living thing : Methought I saw how the poor terrified Frogs trembled at the first Appearance of Iupiters Viceroy Log , but when they had retrieved their scattered spirits , and came to examine the Reasons of their Consternation , they soon made that the Object of their Scorn , which had been so lately the Cause of their Terrour . It minded me too of that little Policy of the great Alexander , who , to impress the Dread of his Name and Arms upon the Indians , formed such a Camp , that none but the widestradling Rhodian Colossus could look over the Breast-works ; and left such exalted Mangers behind him , as would have sterved his own Bucephalus , such as must presume every Horse in the Army to have been a Pegasus . But yet my poor Labours might well plead a Writ of Ease , from the weakness of his Reasonings , which would hardly proselyte any , but those who were half-curdled ; nor infect any with that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but such who were already in Latitudine Morbi : But I consider'd withall , that weak persons are mortally strong when they encounter weaker constitutions , and there are not many who ( with Mithridates ) carry Antidotes in their Complexion . This last Age has given us plain demonstration , that Noyse , Clamour and Confidence , with a small sprinckling of Rhetorick , are Charms able to over-sett ductile and sequacious Natures ; and the Eagles complaint has taught us , that the Beetles enmity ought not to be despised . But I was superseded a while by a more weighty Consideration ; That they who superintend Ecclesiastical Affairs , would doubtless interpose , and bestow a deserved Trimming upon the Book , and make it doe Penance in its own sheets , which had so openly defiled its own Mother , exposed her avowed Principles ; but withall it was my Duty to consider , that Non vacat exiguis rebus adesse — Greatness and Smallness , are two Circumstances of Beings , which render them less Visible : Thus we cannot take a view of the World , because it 's too Bulky ; nor of an Atome , because it 's too Minute an Object for the sight : And possibly from one of these Accidents it was , that his Book walks invisible , and ( as under the Protection of Gyges his Ring ) has hitherto escaped the Cognizance of Authority .

Such were my Remora's ; but now whether those Inducements which lay before me , might out-weigh these Discouragements , and be sufficient to turn the scale of an aequipoiz'd Iudgement ; I must leave to the better judgement of the impartial Reader .

And , (1) The Comprehensiveness of many of his Errours , called aloud for Preservatives : I saw the Offices of Christ , so confounded , ravelled , and mangled , that it was impossible to discern the Acts of the Prophetical , from those of the Regal ; and the proper Employment of either of them , from that of the Sacerdotal ; I saw the great and glorious Ends of the Death of Christ , vacated and cashiered ; I saw the Work of the Holy Spirit in Regeneration scorned and denyed : Now the Historian tells us , There were in uno Caesare decem Marii ; the Ambition of ten such as Marius in One Caesar : And others tell us , that Serpens cùm Serpentem devorat , sit Draco ; when a Serpent swallows a Serpent , he becomes a Dragon : What then could we expect less than Legion from the Teeming Womb of such Big-bellied Monsters ? For though in point of Argument , his Mountain is often delivered of a Mouse ; yet in point of Errour , his Mouse alwayes brings forth a Mountain .

(2) It was a Spur to my duller Temper , to Observe how he had raked all the Kennels and common Sewers of Friendly Debates , Ecclesiastical Polities , ( which , with Martial Law , and Civil War , make up the Four great Soloecismes of this last Age ) and borrowed Auxiliaries from the Scavinger , to compose an Oleo , to throw in the Faces of the Innocent ; some of the particulars the Reader will find wiped off by these Papers , and returned with that Correction and Chastisement , which it became me to give them , though not with what they deserved to Receive : but for fouling my fingers with them all , I must beg Excuse ; it had been a work no less irksome and tedious , than the cleansing of Augaea's Stable , and no otherwise to be effected , than by Letting in the Thames from Billings-gate through Buttolph-lane . Yet one Instance of the Many omitted ( and one is too much for a Taste ) I shall here give the Reader , hoping it may not turn his stomach against the Rest : Dr. Owen , Com. p. 177. has said : By the Obedience of Christ , I intend the universal Conformity of the Lord Iesus Christ ( as he was or is in his being Mediator ) to the whole Will of God , &c. Now this Obedience of Christ , ( N. B. as Mediator ) may be considered two ways . 1. As to the habitual Root and Fountain of it . 2. As to the Actual parts and Duties of it . 1. The habitual Righteousness of Christ as Mediator , ( N. B. p. 178. ) in his Humane Nature , was the absolute , complete , exact Conformity of the Soul of Christ to the Will , Mind , or Law of God . 2. The Actual Obedience of Christ , was his willing , chearful , obediential Performance of every Thing , Duty or Command , that God by vertue of any Law whereto we were subject , did require ; and , Moreover , to the Peculiar Law of the Mediator : Hereof there are two parts : 1. That whatever was required of us , by the Law of Nature , &c. He did it all . 2. There was the Peculiar Law of the Mediator , which respected himself Merely , and contained all those Acts and Duties which are not for our Imitation : Thus far the Doctor . But now what a world of wit has our Author shewn upon this Occasion , or rather no Occasion ? Declaiming for four , five , or six pages together , upon the Trite and Common Theme of his own Ignorance ; pag. 298 , 299 , 300 , 301 , 302 , 303. So that by the Law of Mediation ( sayes he ) He understands whatever Christ was bound to doe as our Mediator , whatever was proper to his Mediatory Office ; All this is not imputed to us , as though we had done it ; I hope we shall find something at last to be imputed to us ; but there 's nothing left now , but ( thirdly ) that which concerns him in a Private Capacity , as a Man , subject to the Law . Now had this Gentleman been pleased to have understood the Doctor a little before he had pretended to Confute him , he might have seen , that He supposes , 1. A general Law of the Mediator , whereby he gave Obedience to the Law of Nature , &c. in our stead : 2. The peculiar Law of the Mediator , which respected himself merely ; to this he gave not Obedience in our stead : But still , whatever Obedience he performed , 't was as Mediator , though not according to the peculiar Law of the Mediator : But alas , this would have spoyled a great deal of excellent Wit , and dear Drollery , which no man , engaged in a Design of Raillery and Scolding , would willingly lose for a World ; especially when he was practising ( like the great Balsac , in some of his Letters , ) to make an Experiment , what The Height of forced Fancy can produce out of a barren and dry Subject , or placing his Draining Engines to Recover the Boggs and Fenns upon New-Market Heath .

(3) His Subtle and Politick Method of venting Blasphemies , was that which mainly pressed me to this Service : For it 's now grown the solemn Mode of this Tribe of Men , to vomit out the most opprobrious Language against the Lord and his Christ , and then to wash their hands in Pilate's Innocency , by saying , These are the Consequences of other Mens Opinions : And herein lies this Authors singular Excellency , and proper Talent . Thus when some affirm , That God is a Holy God , a Righteous Governour , a Iust Iudge , who will by no means clear the Guilty , one that will not fail to recompense to every man according to his Works ; and yet in infinite Wisdom and Mercy has made Provision in the Death of his Son , for securing the Glory , both of his Essential and Rectoral Righteousness ; that he may be ( and appear to be ) just , and the Iustifier of him that Believes in Iesus . You shall now guess at the Lyon by his Claw , and see what nasty , dirty , filthy stuffe , he can extract out of this Doctrine . Pag. 46. The Iustice of God hath glutted it self with Revenge in the Death of Christ , and so henceforward we may be sure he will be very kind , as a Revengefull man is , when his Passion is over . And pag. 47. The summe of which is this ; That God is all Love and Patience , when he has taken his fill of Revenge , as others use to say , the Devil is very good when he is pleased . Again , whereas the Church of England , Art. 17. has express'd her Conceptions about Predestination , in these words : Predestination to life is the everlasting Purpose of God , whereby , before the Foundation of the World was laid , he hath constantly decreed by his Councel , secret to us , to deliver from Curse and Damnation , those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of Mankind , and to bring them by Christ to Everlasting Salvation : Our Author is pleased to droll upon this Tremendous Mystery at this pleasant Rate . Pag. 57. This falls hard upon those miserable Wretches , whose ill Fortune it was , without any fault of theirs , to be left out of the Roll of Election . Thus when one had ventured to say , by Warrant from Christs own Mouth , John 3. 14. That Christ was compared to the Brazen Serpent , &c. he comes in with this snearing Droll , p. 115. Who can forbear being smitten with so lovely a Person ? In all which , and a hundred times more , we are bound to suppose , That there is , Nihil bonis moribus contrarium quò minùs cum publicâ . Utilitate Imprimatur . Now if no Reverence of the Majesty of God , no Regard to the Authority of the Holy Scriptures , no Respect to the Harmonious Confessions of Faith of All Protestant Churches , could oblige his Pen to observe a due Temperament , yet methinks , Civility to that Church whereof He is a Member , which has not been Uncivil to him , and may exercise more kindness to to him , might have commanded more becoming Language , about those things wherein she has declared her Judgement : And I will not conceal it , This was one thing that quickned me to undertake this Province ; when I saw how readily some men could snatch the Pen to under-write , what with the same Hand , and Pen , and Breath , they intended to Confute ; or if not to Confute , yet however to Deride . Upon a serious Reflection on these things , Remembring ( somewhere ) a Passage of Austin , That he would have every man that can hold a Pen , write against Pelagius , that sworn Enemy to the Free , Discriminating and Effectual Grace of God ; and Remembring also the Command of the Apostle Iude , v. 3. To contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints ; I thought we had as good a License to plead for Christ , and his Truth , here at the Footstool , who pleads for us , according to his Truth , upon the Throne ; as any man can pretend to plead against them . And therefore to deal Freely with my Reader , I judg'd it my Duty , rather to lament than imitate that Deep and Dead Silence of those who are equally concern'd with , and better qualified for the Work , than my self ; to give some Check to this growing Petulancy , and sawcy Humour , of daily encroaching Prophaneness : A poor Man came once to a Learned Physician for Advice ; but first he would know , Whether it was safe to take Physick in Dog-dayes ? His Physician replyed no more but this : If it be lawfull to be sick , it 's lawfull to be well at any time of the Year . I shall apply it no further than this : If this Author be qualified to Oppose , every true Christian is qualified to Defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ : For the Dispute is not now about Decency and Order , about Fringes and Philacteries , about the tything of Mint , Anise , or Cummine ; nor about a Pin or Peg in the Superstructure of the Churches Polity ; nor about the three Innocent Ceremonies ; but about The Influence of the Righteousness of Christs Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death upon our Acceptance with God ; about the Interest of the Blessed Spirit in the glorious Work of the New Creation ; Whether Christ be a proper Priest or no ? Whether as a Priest he Offer'd himself as a proper Sacrifice to God or no ? Whether God and Man are Reconciled , and we Redeemed from the Curse of the Law by the Blood of Iesus or no ? Whether we are Iustified , before the Just and Holy God , by our own Righteousness , or by the Righteousness of a Mediator ? And in a word , Whether the Death of Christ be the proper and immediate Cause of any one single Blessing , great or small , of the Covenant of Grace ? In which , the Concerns , all the Eternal Hopes of every Christian , are wrapt up ; and wherein that he may not mistake , and so Finally miscarry , as 't is the unseigned Design of these Papers , so 't is the Earnest Prayer of

READER , Thy Servant in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour IESUS CHRIST , N. N.

CHAP. I. Containing an Answer to the First Chapter , concerning the Name Christ , The Offices of Christ , &c.

IT was a Question stated by the Curious , Why Homer should begin his Iliads with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ? and the Answer had a spice of the same vanity , because ( forsooth ) Anger is blind . Let none be so Hypercritical , as to enquire , Why our Author commences his Discourse , w●…th , ALL ERROUR ? nor any so hasty to Reply ; Because he intends to continue the Metaphor , and carry on the Humour proportionably to the End ; but hear him out , All ●…rour hath some Appearance of Truth ; to which if you shall adde , and — All Truth may have some Appearance of Errour . You have then his Syllabus Capitum ; the Marrow and Contents of Five long Chapters , with their Sections , Paragraphs , and goodly Periods spun out into Four hundred thirty and two Pages . The whole dividing it self into these two general Heads , Blanching of Heresie , and smutting of Truth .

The Gentleman Alwayes took it for granted , that Christ and his Religion were very well agreed , and he is still of the same Mind , that his Person is not at Oddes with his Gospel ; but it seems there are some , who have made as irreconcileable a difference betwixt the Religion of Christs Person , and of his Gospel , as between the Law and Grace , p. 3. It was no smaller a Name than that of the great Socrates , who curst the Man , whoever he was , that first distinguisht between Bonum Utile , and Honestum ; and I must confess , I have no small Pike against that Generation of Men , who have made Two Religions of one , and then set them both together by the Ears ; Whether there be any such on this side Utopia , I shall not determine ; but this I will ; 'T is highly expedient , nay absolutely necessary , that some such there should be , for else what will become of all that heavy Dinne , our Author has raised upon that one Supposition ? and with what a ruefull Clutter will the Superstructure fall upon the Head of the Architect , who has rear'd it full five stories high , upon that single Hypothesis ? To prevent which fatal Inconvenience , I would humbly Advise the Persons concern'd in the Charge , to plead Guilty to the Indictment , ( if they may do it with a good Conscience ) and not to be so uncivil and disingenuous as to render an Exce●…lent Author , Ridiculous : And yet if what he tells us be true , That the Gospel of Christ be as severe a Dispensation as the Law , I see not what Great Disparagement it can prove to the Religion of his Person and his Gospel , to be at as great a Feud , as the Law and Grace . A mistake then there is somewhere or other , which though we poor , dull Mort●…ls could not discover , our Authors piercing Eye had soon observ'd the ground of it , viz. That some men , wherever they meet the word [ Christ ] alwayes understand by it the Person of Christ , p. 4. That was the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it seems , the Spring of all this mischief ; And if they do not so understand , and misunderstand to boot , there 's no way to Deliver His Discourse , from two little , silly Scapes of Impertinency and Superfluity ; nor any warrant to justifie the reviling of those Men , for expounding , Faith in Christ , and Hope in Christ , of a fiducial Relyance and Recumbency on Christs Person , in contradistinction to Obedience to his Laws . For the very truth is ( as I shall acquaint my Reader privately betwixt him and me , ) Those Persons whom he reflects upon with so much s●…ornfull Indignation , do not in the least urge Faith in Christ , in opposition to Obedience ; onely they judge , That an Evangelical Obedience to the Commands of the Gospel , must as indispensibly follow Faith in Christs Person , as it must necessarily precede Eternal Life and Salvation , revealed , promised and purchased by Christ : It 's no Question then with Them , Whether Obedience to the Gospel , shall have a Place ; a great Place ; but what is the Proper place of that Obedience ? But this I speak onely under the Rose , being loath to nip the blossoming hopes I have conceived of his Abilities , in the Bud , or to Blemish so promising a Work in the Frontispiece .

Our Author having once oblig'd us , by discovering the Origen of this Mistake , is resolv'd to load us with a second obligation , by rectifying it . For which purpose , though he has many wayes to the Wood , yet the very best way of All is , to Examine the various significations of this Name [ Christ ] in Scripture .

First he assures us , that [ Christ ] is Originally the Name of an Office . The Name of an Office , and Originally the Name of an Office too ! To which I on●…y whisper softly in his Ear ; It 's neither the one nor the other ; not the Name , much less Originally the Name of an Office . The Hebrew word Messiah ( to which the Greek 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 exactly answers ) denotes a Person Anoynt●…d , and thereby set apart for some special work or service . And I dare be judg'd by this Gentleman himself , if it be not so : For in the same sentence , with the same breath wherewith he had told us , that Christ is Originally the Name of an Office , he immediately addes , which the Iews call the Messias , or one Anoynted by God . And now sure the Controversie will be brought into a narrow compass : Whether He whom the Iews call the Messias , or one Anoynted of God , be a Person or an Office ? that is , Whether a Person be a Person or no ? but it 's not for me to determine so weighty a Point . And therefore the Gentleman himself , who is a fair Disputer , and no imperious Dictator , shall give you a Reason why he contradicts his own Assertion ; wherein he is the rather to be believed , because he speaks with so becoming a proof of credibility , that to confirm a Truth he confutes himself : For ( saith he ) under the Law , their Prophets , Priests , and Kings , were invested in their several Offices by the Ceremony of Anoynting them with Oyl . Not to mention what a profound Observation he has made , becoming his Good Learning ; nor how little need he had to Transcribe it from Volkelius , lib. 3. de ver â Relig. c. 2. p. 41. Propte●…eà quod Olim , tum Sacerdotes , Vatésque , tum Reges per Unctionis Religionem , ●…tque Ceremoniam muneribus suis initiabant●…r . All Ordin●…ry People would conclude , that Kings , Priests , and Prophets , signifie , not Offices in the Abstract , but Persons , very Persons , real , errant Persons , as any are under the Sun , vested with their several and respective Offices , in the Concr●…te , as your systematical men love to speak . And therefore if our Authors Reason reaches the Thing it pretends to evince ; Christ , the Messiah will not signifie an Office , but a Person authorised by his Office , for the discharge of those Employments , his Eternal Father had anoynted and appointed him unto .

But how shall we know whom or what the Iews called the Messiah ? The very best way that I know , is to single out those Places in the Old Testament , where Messiah , or the Anoynted one , is found , and let the Gentleman practise upon them , with all the critical skill and cunning he is guilty of , and see how he can wire-draw Office out of them , Ps. 2. 2. The Rulers take Counsel against the Lord , and against his Anoynted , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Against his Messias , or against his Christ : It would be harsh to Render it , against his Office . Whatever it was , it is called Gods King , v. 6. and Gods Son , v. 7. and whether it was a Person or an Office that will bear those Titles , I shall referre to his determination . Dan. 9. 25. Messiah the Prince , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : V. 26. The Messiah shall be cut off , but not for himself ; was it an Office that was cut off ? though not for Himself ? So that this New Notion , dwindles away into a fine New-Nothing , which is a thousand pities : It would doubtless have served his turn at many a dead lift in the ensuing debates ; however it was advisedly done , and upon mature deliberation , that he favour'd us not with one single Text , to prove that wherein the Scripture professes a deep silence .

It has been accounted very ominous to stumble at the Threshold , and whilest he layes it down as a superliminary Maxim , That All Errour has some , yet to instance in One which has No , Appearance of Truth . But because our Author has so court●…ously discover'd to us , the Ground of that dreadfull mistake , That Christ will save some whom his Gospel condemnes ; and as you know , One good Turn deserves another , that we may not be behind hand in returns of Civility , I look upon my self engaged in all the bonds of honesty and Ingenuity , to shew him the Ground of his gross Mistake ; That Christ is Originally the Name of an Office . The Man had seen or read somewhere , an Hebrew word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 which is something more a kin , to 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , than Chalk is to Cheese , or Milk to Mustard ; and because that word signifies Unctio , an Anoynting , and so perhaps at two or three removes , an Office , the Good-man dream't , that Messiah must needs be of the same import ; Quod miserè volumus , id facilè credimus ; and this might possibly Trepan him into that critical Soloecisme ; yet if I have not hit the Nail on the head , he has the liberty to assign the True ground of his Mistake , and in the mean time I shall live as well as I doe .

But having given us such a Notable Specimen of his Charity , he is as willing to improve this gratefull Occasion to Bless us with his Admirable Divinity , and to Illuminate our Understandings ( as Dionysius the supposed Areopagite expresses it ) with a Beam of Darkness .

Two things he is resolved we shall be his Debtors for . First , to inform us of the precise time of Christs Anoynting to his Offices . Secondly , of the Nature of the Offices themselves .

(1) For the Time , he tells us , Jesus received the Divine Unction at his Baptism , when the Spirit of God descended on him like a Dove . Well , seeing 't was no sooner , I am glad it was no later ; and if it will not be allow'd from his Birth , and Incarnation , it 's some Comfort that it was before his Death , or Crucifixion . But in good earnest , was not Jesus The Christ before then ? I see , All wise men are not of one mind . For those three of the East , Matth. 2. 2. came to seek and worship , One Born King of the Iews . And the Angels preacht other Doctrine to the plain Shepherds , Luke 2. 11. Unto you is Born this day , in the City of David , a Saviour , which is Christ , the Lord ; and v. 46. at Twelve years of Age we find him engaged in his Fathers business ; and we are loth to censure , that he ran before he was sent , or acted before he had a Call , or executed his work before he had a Commission , because we cannot tell ( as times goe ) what ill use some might make on 't . But now , to give some Appearance of Truth ( though never so little ) to this Errour , we are turn ▪ d over to Acts 10. 38. How God Anoynted Iesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power ; which proves indeed that he was Anoynted , and that with the Holy Ghost , but not the Time when he was Anoynted , onely we are Assured , that after the Baptism of Iohn it was openly Preach'd , and Published , v. 37. I have met with some of your systematical Divines , that would have scorn'd to talk so crudely and loosely of these matters ; and they tell us , 1. That Christ was Anoynted by the Holy Ghost with an All-fulness of Gifts and Graces from his Incarnation , and that there was no Moment , wherein Christ was , and yet was not anoynted with the Oyl of gladness above his fellowes . 2. That he was declaratively Anoynted at his Baptism , when the Spirit descended on him like a Dove ; And therefore they can grant , that Christ was then Anoynted ; according to that known Rule , Multa tunc fieri dicuntur , quando facta esse manifestantur : Thus the Resurrection of Christ , is said to be a fulfilling of the Psalmist , Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee , Act. 13. 33. when yet the same Apostle understood well his own meaning ▪ that Christ was then Declared to be the Son of God with power by the Resurrection from the dead , Rom. 1. 3 , 4. But because our Authors Mistake herein , seems to be more speculative and notional , to carry a more innocent Aspect with it , than some others of his , which like blazing Comets , dart their malignant Influences upon the very Vitals and Essentials of Christianity , it may plead for a more gentle Treatment ; and accordingly I shall dismiss it without more severe . Animadversions than what it carries along with it .

(2) He proceeds in the next place to inform us in the true Nature of Christs Offices , and that first in General , p. 5. His Consecration to the Mediatory Function , Virtually contained all those Offices of the Prophet , Priest , and King , which are not properly distinct Offices in Christ , but the several parts and different Administrations of his Mediatory Kingdom . I shall take little notice , what Poyson may lurk under that fair word [ Virtually ] it sounds somewhat oddely , that Christ should be Actually consecrated to a ▪ Mediatory Function , and yet his Offices reside in him onely Virtually ; a Function in Act , without an Office in Act , is ●…ust like an Office in Act without a Function ; I know no difference , nor they that are wiser than I : Christs Offices it seems lay dormant in his Function , till time should serve for them to emerge into Act ; They were in Abeyance , that is , when he should ascend to Heaven , he should then become a Priest ; We know very well in what Shop this Tool was forged . Nor shall I stay upon that Expression wherein he so much delights , of Christs Mediatory Kingdom , as if all the Offices of Christ were to be reduced to that of the Regal Power ; that which he plainly speaks out is , That the Offices of King , Priest and Prophet , are not properly distinct Offices in Christ . It has been the Interest and therefore the unwearied endeavour of the Socinians to confound the Offices of Christ , which else they were well aware would confound their Heterodoxies ; so Volkelius , lib. 3. de verâ Relig. cap. 37. de Sacerdotio Christi . Iam ut de Pontificio Christi munere explicemus , primo loco animadvertendum est , illud ab ejusdem officio Regio , si in rem ipsam mentem intendas non multum differre . Now that we may speak of the Priestly Office of Christ , we must in the first place observe , that it differs not much from his Kingly Office , if we narrowly attend the Nature of the Thing : and his fellow Crellius to the same purpose . Duo ista Munera , Regium nempe & Pontificium , in sacris Literis apertè a se invicem disjuncta , & ut in Scholis loquuntur , contradistincta , nuspiam cernas , sed potiùs alterum in altero quodammodò comprehensum videas . Those two Offices , viz. the Kingly and the Sacerdotal , you shall never observe in the Scriptures to be separated , or ( as the School men speak ) contradistinguished , but rather the one included after a sort in the other : And our Authors Notion is the very Pallas hammer'd out of their Brains ; the Falshood whereof we shall endeavour to lay open in a few words . And , 1. The Names which express the Offices of Christ , signifie things properly distinct amongst men , and yet these very Names , by which God knew we understand properly distinct Offices , was he pleased to Use to express the Offices of Christ by : They were not Names or Terms coyned by the Holy Ghost , and then a signification stampt upon them by Divine Authority , but they were first used in common speech , and past currant in the world ; never any question'd but a Priest , a Prophet , a King , were distinct Officers , and it were more than strange the Spirit of God should translate the words to signifie Religious matters , and never give us the least intimation that the Significations of the words were changed . 2. They were Properly distinct Persons who Typified our Lord Jesus Christ in his Offices : Aaron was onely a Priest , had a Priesthood in him distinct from the Kingly and Prophetical Office ; and it were really an astonishing thing , that Aaron should be a real proper High-priest , and bear that Office distinct from all others , to typifie him , who had the Office but in an improper , and that a confused manner in himself ; Nay those Persons in whom two of these Offices did meet , yet kept the Offices in them distinct ; Melchizedek acted otherwise when he enacted Laws at Salem , than he did when he stood besides the Altar ; though both those Offices center'd in his Person , yet they remained really and truly distinct ; 3. The special Acts of all these Offices are properly distinct in Christ . As the Kings Crown , is really another thing from the Bishops Mitre , the Scepter really distinct from the Censor ; so are Teaching , Governing , Sacrificing , Properly distinct things . As I cannot imagine how to drag , foretelling things to come , into the Kingly Office ; nor conquering of Enemies , and trampling them under his feet , to the Prophetical Office : so neither how to force offering up a Sacrifice to God upon an Altar , to be an Act of either of the other two offices . 4. The Objects of these Offices are distinct : For as the Kingly and Prophetical , have Men for their Objects ; Men are to be governed and instructed ; so the Sacerdotal hath God for its Object . Sacrifices are for Men , but unto God . Heb. 5. 1. For every High-Priest taken from amongst men , is ordained for men , in things pertaining to God , that he may offer both Gifts and Sacrifices for sins . And we may admire the wisdom of God in ordering matters with such exactness , in every punctilio , that our Lord Jesus should so exactly and closely answer this description , that no room for cavil might be left , nor any creep-hole for a witty evasion : He was taken from amongst men , ordained for men , in things pertaining to God , he offered Gifts and Sacrifices , and for sins too : And yet in all this we deny not , but that the offices of Christ however really distinct , yet do all meet together in one Person ; Moses his Prophetical Office was really distinct from his Regal Power , and yet both met in Moses his Person ; and secondly we own , that all these did meet in their general and common end , the salvation of all Believers , yet there are next and special ends very distinct ; enlightning the mind , subduing the will , and reconciling us to God , do really differ in themselves ; and thirdly , we grant that it was the same God , who by one and the same Call invested our Lord Jesus Christ in all his Offices , and as there was no moment wherein he was Iesus , and not the Christ , A Saviour , and yet not authorized to be so ; so we conceive , that there was no moment in which he was a half , or two thirds of a Christ , and not a whole Christ ; his Offices being conferred upon him at the same time . Hebr. 5. 4 , 5. No man taketh this Honour to himself but he that is called of God , as was Aaron .

Thus have I considered our Authors general Account of Christs Offices ; and proceed now to what he informs us , concerning them in particular . And first let us see what work he will make with Christs Prophetical Office . His preaching the Gospel , ( which we commonly call his Prophetical Office ) was the Exercise of his Regal Power , in publishing his Laws . Which we commonly call ? Yes indeed the vulgar and common Herd of Divines , that are not emerged from under Systems , and the prejudices they have contracted from gross Bodies of Divinity , may be allowed to talk in the old Dialect ; but the common trite road is much below the gallantry of a rational Divine , who is manumitted from that drudgery ; and therefore let the Volge call Preaching an Act of the Prophetical Office , it is now determined , and concluded for ever , that henceforward it be an act of the Kingly Office : But stay ; perhaps our Author wrongs this Vulgar Tribe : I confess I am not sure but some of them may have spoken Non-sence , in one place or another ; but I am sure I have not read this Non-sence in any of their works , That Preaching the Gospel , is called the Prophetical Office . They do indeed call it the Exercise of that Office , or an Act of that Office , but should they call it an Office , they would miscall it miserably ; but if Preaching the Gospel , be onely commonly and not truely called ( an Act of ) his Prophetical Office ; what may we then call it safely for the future , . and escape a chiding ? Why you may securely venture to call it the Exercise of his Regal Power . In good Time ! but how long shall this Protection be in force ? Just till you come to pag. 18. For there Preaching the Gospel is grown to be an Employment belonging to the Prophetical Office again ; he came to be our Prophet and our Guide , to teach us by his Precepts and his Life . But his proof is most admirable : 1. Because , the Gospel is called the Kingdome of Heaven : Nay , it 's often called the Kingdom of Heaven , which our Author thinks hugely considerable ; but if it were call'd so but once , it 's enough to command our Faith to what it asserts ; but the strength of the consequence is that I most am at a loss for . The Gospel is called the Kingdom of Heaven , Ergo , Preaching the Gospel belongs to Christs Kingly Office . That the state of the Gospel , or the Church is called the Kingdom of Heaven , or a Heavenly kingdome , is out of Question ; That Christ is the Sovereign Lord and Ruler thereof , that his Precepts are the Laws whereby he governs it , is as little questioned ; but that there is no proper distinct Employment for a Prophet in this state or Kingdome , is flatly denyed . Christ was not onely a King to make Laws , but a Prophet to declare , promulgate , and reveal those Laws . Nay , there is other work for Christ to doe besides making of Laws or promulgating of them ; there are many choyse discoveries of Gods Grace and favour to Sinners , to be revealed ; Reconciliation and Attonement through the Sacrifice of Christ , were to be made , and to be made known ; and with what Engines he will hook these into the Regal Office , I cannot Prophesie . The Doctrine of the Gospel may be considered , 1. As a Revelation or discovery ; and this is the work of Christ as a Teacher or Prophet , the great Praeco , or publick Officer of Heaven , who having been in the Bosome of the Father from Eternity , came from thence to reveal Gods Will to us , Ioh. 1. 18. 2. It may be considered as powerfully yet sweetly prevailing over , and subduing of our Hearts to that revealed Truth , and this indeed is the work of Christ as a King ; but this is a Notion for which our Author will give me little thanks ; for not being willing to allow any more power to Christ , than that of the Evidence of Truth ; and yet seeing a Necessity to assign some Employment or other to Christ as a King , he thought it the safest course , to Allott it this Task rather than none at all , and to make the Regal go shares with the Prophetical office , rather than be quite cashiered , and shut out of Dores . His next Proof is from Iohn 18. 37. where ( as our Author tells us ) Christ tells Pilate , that he was born to be a King , and the principal Exercise of his Kingly power in this World , consists in bearing witness to the Truth . But they must have other Bibles than we have , or however be well skill'd in the New Device of variae Lectiones , that can see any such matter there : Christ asserts himseif to be a King , he was so , he was born so , but that he was born to be a King , he tells not Pilate ; all the strength of his Argument lyes in a little obvious piece of Knavery , joyning the first words of the latter sentence , to the last words of the former sentence , which are clearly distinguished by a full Period . Nor does he tell Pilate or us , that the exercise , much less , that the principal exercise , of his Kingly Power lay in bearing witness to the Truth , but that he was born and came into the world to bear witness to the Truth ; which great Truth was , the Promises made to the Fathers , of sending the Messiah ; Rom. 15. 8. Iesus Christ a Minister of the Circumcision for the Truth of God , to confirm the Promises made to the Fathers . And indeed , according to those apprehensions all Mankind have of Things , Witness-bearing has nothing in it peculiar to the Royal Power ; but when he raised the Dead , rebuked winds , and waves , and Devils , fed Multitudes with a few loaves and fishes , these look like Acts of Regality ; so like , that the People were ready to come and take him by force to make him a King , Ioh. 6. 15. upon that very occasion . And this he did even in This world , though our Author would fain reserve that for Another . The short of the Business lyes here ; Our Lord Jesus Christ , by his Resurrection , Ascension into Heaven , and sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty on high , is visibly exalted to more Dignity and Honour , he exercises his Regal power in a way more glorious , and agreeable to his exalted state ; yet was he truely a King from his Incarnation , and all along in this world , and gave such Proofs of his Royal greatness and Power , that the Devils had not Impudence enough to out-face them . And now to conclude all with this excellent Gloss upon the whole matter . It was an Act of his Regal Power to conquer Error and Ignorance , to destroy the Kingdom of Darkness , by the Brightness of his Appearing ; to erect his Throne in the Hearts and Consciences of Men. These Metaphors of conquering , destroying , erecting a Throne , came in as luckily as the heart of man could wish , to prove a Royal Power ; for what man will now be so refractory but he will confess ; and so senseless and stupid but he may smell a Kingdom in the wind , when he hears such language ? but now if you strip these Metaphors to their bare skins , and uncase them of all our Authors Bombast and Fustian , they shrink into a mere declaration of Truth , leaving the matter to the umpirage of an habitually prejudiced and prepossessed Will ; and some think , here 's no great Kingship in all this ; for all this is done by the Power and evidence of Truth ; which argues a Prophet teaching , an Oratour pleading , or a Disputant arguing ; but little of a King commanding , conquering , and subduing the heart to himself , and there erecting a Throne , in opposition to all the force that Satan and Hel●… can make against him : We do freely own , that to conquer and destroy the Kingdom of Darkness , to erect a Throne in the Hearts of Men , are proper Acts of Christs Kingly Office ; but then there goes a little more to the business than the bare Evidence of Truth ; the Arm of a King must be revealed , as well as the Mouth of a Prophet opened ; a Power to deal with the enslaved and obstinate Will , as well as a Light to shine into the darkened understanding ; which Light yet requires something of the Kingly energie , to render it savingly enlightning to the mind and understanding . And now our Author has made the kingly Office to swallow up the Prophetical , have but patience till he has made it ●…at up the Priestly Office too , and then ●…e day is his own for ever .

Secondly , He comes to Attacque the Sacerdotal Office of Christ . He was ( saith he ) a Kingly Priest . Well! so he was , and so he might be , and yet though both the Offices center'd in his Person , they might be formally distinct in their Acts , special Ends , and proper Objects ; Nay , we will allow , that All his Offices conspiring in the same general Ends , their Acts might have mutual respect , and give reciprocal assistance each to other . And he could not have chosen a fitter Instance than that of Melchizedek , who being King of Salem , and Priest of the most high God , Heb. 7. yet would it savour of too gross Absurdity to say , that when he offered sacrifice , or blessed Abraham , he appeared in the Quality of a King , or when he enacted Civil Laws , he bore the Character of a Priest ; but our Authors Proofs are as Pertinent as his Doctrine True : His Doctrine is , When he offered himself a Sacrifice for sin , he acted like a King , p. 6. Really one would think he acted as like a Priest as we could reasonably desire . For , 1. Here is a Sacerdotal Act : he offer'd . 2. A Sacrifice : Himself . And , 3. This was for sin . And what of a King do we spell out of all this ? The truth is , there 's nothing in all this , but a pitifull Socinian Iuggle , who having resolved not to own Christ as a true and proper Priest at all , and yet not daring to deny express phrases of Scripture , found out this Expedient , to own the thing in words , and then to shuffle it off with a Metaphor . The Proof of his Doctrine is of the same Leaven ; Ioh. 10. 18. No man took his Life from him ; he had power to lay it down , and he had power to take it up again . Our Author had told us , p. 2. of a crafty sort of Men in the World , that consider nothing but the sound of words , and from thence form such uncouth Idaea's of Religion as are fitted to the meanness of their understanding ; and will tell us further , p. 102. of some , who Interpret Scripture by the Sound and Clink of Words and Phrases . And it seems the Contagion of this vanity , infected his own intellectuals ; he found the word Power in the Text , and he runs away with a full crye , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ! but the Mischief on 't is , it 's not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , not a Physical , but a Moral Power that Christ owns there ; a Power which is common to all his Offices , he had Power , or Commission to Preach ; Power or Authority to Rule and govern ; Power or warrant from his Father to lay down his Life , for the great End that was agreed on between them both , — For he explains himself in the same Verse ; Not , this Strength , but This Commandement I received from my Father . Nor yet is it denyed , that Christ made use of his Kingly might in laying down his Life , and taking it up again , all we plead for is , that the Offices and their peculiar Acts may not be jumbled and confounded together .

Thirdly , Having dispatch'd out of the way the two great Eye-sores of the Prophetical , and Priestly Office ; he thought it not amiss to send the third after them : And that to which we commonly appropriate the Name of Regal Power ( that Authority he is vested with to govern his Church , to send his Spirit , to forgive sins , to dispense grace , and supernatural assistances , to answer Prayers , and raise the dead , and judge the World , ) All this is the reward of his Death and Sufferings . I confess I wondre'd why he should make the Regal Office of Christ so over-top all the rest ; but I soon satisfied my self from Volkelius , lib. 3. de verâ Relig. p. 41. Maximè Regibus id habebatur honoris , ut Christi , sive uncti appellarentur , ita ut cum Christum dici audis , Regem imprimis dici intelligas . Kings had chiefly that Honour , that they should be called Christs , or Anoynted ones , so that when you hear the Name Christ mention'd , you must understand , that a King is especially intended . This I confess quieted me ; but why our Author should be so zealous , to set up a King of his own making , and then all o' th' sudden to pluck him down again , to enthrone and dethrone at pleasure , is at present to me unaccountable ; for I observe , he has removed these great Things from his Kingly Office , and placed them upon another Foundation , viz. the reward of his death and sufferings . Now take away Preaching the Gospel , from his Prophetical Office ; subtract offering himself a Sacrifice , from his Sacerdotal Office ; and then Governing the Church , raising the Dead , and judging the World , &c. from his Regal Office ; and when you have done , compute the clear Remainder , and I suppose at the foot of the Account , you will have three great Cyphers , without one poor figure to give them the least significancy or value . I know he will say ; He does but onely place them upon other Bottomes , and so long as we find them , what 's matter where they are found . But then ( say I ) they will have but a praecarious station in any other place , and he that removes them from their proper and true grounds , can with a wet finger jostle them from that false Basis whereon , out of meer good Nature , he had for a season set them . But to come closer home to our Author : There are two small faults I charge this Discourse with ; Confusion and Falshood : First , Here 's a great deal of Confusion ; As your old dull Philosophers use to tell us , that Cold did congregare Heterogenea , Unite things that were of differing Names and Natures ; so has our Author glazed over his discourse with Ice , which has so united things of various Natures , that its hard to find sure footing in his Expressions : Christ pardons sin upon one Account , governs his Church , and raises the Dead upon another : The former he does by his Sacrifice , the other by his almighty power . And yet some of these things , in one respect , belong to one Office of Christ , and some of them to another : he purchases Grace as a Priest , he dispenses and gives forth that Grace as a King ; he offers Sacrifice for sin as our High-priest ; yet he applyes the pardon of sin to us , as a King : But , Secondly , I find as much Falshood as Confusion in these Expressions ; and that , 1. In denying that these are truely appropriated to Christs kingly Office . For if Governing the Church , raising the Dead , Iudging the World , do not speak a king , never talk more of a Kingly Office in Christ , but make that Metaphorical too , as you make the rest , and so the Tree is cut up by the roots . 2. In that these are assigned only as the Reward of his Death and Suf ferings . For we find Christ invested with an Authority to execute , and actually executing these Powers before his Death , saving in one or two particulars , where the Nature of the Thing did exclude the perfect and compleat exercise of them at that time . It may be worth the while to run over the particulars . (1) For governing the Church ; he gave Laws to it , set up new Institutions of Worship for it ; Baptism and the Lords Supper , to continue to the end of the World ; sent out his Apostles to preach the Gospel , and we have good and sufficient warrant for it , under our Authors own hand , just on the other side of the Leaf , That his preaching the Gospel , was the exercise of his Regal Power and Authority in publishing his Laws . (2) For sending his Spirit , that is , in an extraordinary way pouring out the gifts of Miracles ; 't is true , the full and abundant effusion of these Gifts was reserved for the day , when the Son of Man should be glorified : Yet it is clear beyond Contradiction , that Christ had the Power , and delegated the Power too before his death ; The Gift of speaking with Tongues there was no need of , and Christ never used to bestow extraordinary Gifts without an extraordinary and pressing Reason ; The Apostles were sent to their own Countrey-men , and could dispatch their Errand , and deliver their Message in their Vernacular and Mother-tongue , Math. 10. 5. Goe ye not into the way of the Gentiles , and into any of the Cities of the Samaritans enter ye not ; but goe rather to the lost Sheep of the house of Israel : But as to other miraculous Operations of the Holy Spirit , he had Authority to make it over to others , v. 8. Heal the sick , cleanse the Lepers , raise the Dead , cast out Devils ; Nay the Seventy Disciples had an extraordinary power in their Commission , as it appears , Luke 10. 17. And the Seventy returned again with joy , saying , Even the Devils are subject to us through thy Name . That is , We produced thy warrant and authority , and the very Devils could not resist it . (3) As to forgiveness of sins , there needs no other proof that Christ had the power , than that he exercis'd it . Matth. 9. 2. Son be of good cheer thy sins be forgiven thee . I know there are some who will allow Christ a Power to forgive sins , even here on Earth ; but then it 's such an odde kind of Forgiveness as never was heard of ; Volkel . lib. 3. de verâ Relig. cap. 21. Non diffitemur quidem eum ( viz. Christum ) cùm in terris degerit , divinissimâ potentiâ praeditum fuisse , quam ipse peccatorum in terrâ condonandorum , id est , terrena ab hominibus supplicia , propulsandi potestatem appellat . We deny not that Christ even when he was upon Earth , had a most divine power , which he calls a Power to forgive sins , that is , to drive away from men temporal and bodily punishments . A very liberal concession truly ; to cure a Fever or an Ague , must be pardon of sin , when these mens Necessities require it should be so . (4) That Christ did dispense Grace and supernatural assistances , at any time , we are glad to hear owned , and as sorry that they vanish again into smoke , and nothing , when our Author is out of the good Mood ; but let them signifie what he will , for once , he dispensed them before his death , he conquered Errour and Ignorance , destroy'd the Kingdom of darkness by the brightness of his Appearing , erected a Throne in the Hearts and Consciences of men , by the power and evidence of Truth . And I suppose he will allow Christ to do no more now he is risen from the dead . (5) That Christ raised the Dead , needs no other Confirmation , than to call over the Instances of Lazarus , the Widows Son of Naim , the daughter of Iairus ; but whether he did it with , or without Authority , I list not to dispute till I hear the Gentleman endeavour to disprove it . (6) That he answer'd Prayers will need no proof ; I think it would puzzle the most froward Caviller to instance in one Case , where-ever he denyed Mercy to any , that with Faith or Importunity craved it for themselves or others : (7) That the power to judge the World , was committed to him , we have his own words , Ioh. 5. 27. The Father hath given him authority to execute judgement , because he is the Son of Man . And the ground of this Power entrusted with him , is not assigned because he had merited it by his death and sufferings , but because he was the Son of Man . And though it be true , that the General Judgement be yet to come , yet Christ was furnisht with ample Power to execute it , whenever it should come . Say the same of his bestowing immortal Life on all his Disciples : Now concerning all these , it is acknowledged once for all , that though he had the Original and Radical Power , the plenary Commission to put in Execution all these matters , during the state of his Humiliation , and in some pregnant particulars did accordingly exert and put forth that Authority , yet the way and manner , the degree and measure of his Acting therein , was in much wisdom suited to that dispensation wherein he was to appear in the form of a Servant ; The more illustrious , august , and solemn exercising thereof being reserved for the State of Exaltation , when he should Appear like himself , cast off the Cloud which had eclipsed the rayes of his Deity , and sit down on the right hand of the Majesty on high .

But 3ly , I must repeat my charge of Falshood against his Doctrine , in that he sayes , All this is called his Intercession , p. 6. That Government of the Church , Raising the Dead , Judging the world , &c. should be called Christs Intercession , looks as like Non-sence , as ever I saw any thing in my life . For Intercession has God for its Object ; as Intercessor he deals with his Father , though on the behalf of Men , 1 Ioh. 2. 1. We have an Advocate with the Father , and he is the propitiation for our sins . I should wonder to hear , that an Advocates Office should be to plead with his Clyent , and not with and before the Iudge , on the behalf of his Clyent : but because Intercession is the other great Branch of the Sacerdotal Office , and some are deeply concerned , that he should not offer up a Proper sacrifice to God , they judge it Reason , that one part of the same Office should not fare better than the other : The High-Priest under the Law , when he had offered Sacrifice upon the Altar , upon the Feast of Expiation , he goes into the Holy place , with the blood , carrying on his Breast and on his shoulders the Names of the twelve Tribes , to signifie that he went in to intercede with God for the whole Church ; what He did typically , Christ has done really , Hebr. 9. 12. for when he had obtained eternal Redemption for us by his blood , he goes to Heaven , there to Appear before his Father and our Father , his God , and our God , on our behalf , and this is indeed called his Intercession ; the benefits we have thereby , comprize some or all of those things before mention'd ; but I think it 's reasonable to distinguish between a thing and its proper effects and fruits : but these are nothing but the Socinian Coleworts , twenty times ●…oyled till they are rank poyson ; So Volkel . lib. 3. de verâ Relig. p. 148. Primò illud occurrit , quod seipsum pro nobis in Coelo offert , vel quod idem reipsa est , pro nobis coram Deo asta●… , seu apparet , atque interpellat , quae omnia verba ad Christi Regnum translata sunt , per similitudinem ab illorum Pontificum Officio ductam , quod erat omnia modò enumerata in terrestri illo Sanctuario propriè verèque perficere . This we take notice of in the first place , that Christ offers himself for us in Heaven , which is all one , stands , or appears , and intercedes for us before God ; all which words are applyed to the kingdom of Christ , by a Metaphor taken from the Office of those High-priests , which was properly and really to perform the things fore-mentioned in that Earthly Sanctuary So that now according to this mans Sentiments , the typical , umbratile Priests under the Law , did that really and properly , which Christ the onely True and proper High-priest performs but in a shadow . And I do the more wonder at the Confidence of the Man , who could to this purpose quote Hebr. 7. which Chapter , plainly sets Christ's ever living to make Intercession for us , upon this bottome , that he hath an unchangeable Priesthood . But p. 149. he comes close up to our Authors apprehensions . Itaque consequens est , Interpellationem , nequaquam propriè , sed per translationem quandam Christo tribui , nihilque reverà aliud ejusmodi loquendi formis significari , quam Christum divinitùs sibi concessâ potentiâ , omnia quae ad salutis nostrae Rationem pertinent , summo studio perficere . Hence it followes that Intercession is not at all properly , but by Allusion ascribed to Christ ; and that nothing else is signified by those forms of speech , but that Christ by a Power granted him from God , doth very earnestly perform all things that belong to the Business of our Salvation . And how sweetly does our Author syncretise with him ; Government of the Church , sending the Spirit , are called his Intercession : And his Reason is as pretty as his Doctrine : — because like the Intercession of the High priest under the Law , it 's founded on his Expiation and Sacrifice . The strength of this Argument , ( if it has any ) will be easily seen ; If Christs Intercession be founded on his Expiation , then his Governing the Church , is called his Intercession ; But the former is as true as what 's most so , Ergo , the latter is True also : The Assumption is but a meer Presumption , one part of Christ's Priesthood is not founded upon another , but both are equally founded in his Unction , and that Authority which he received from his Father ; but it 's the Consequence of the former Proposition , which I would see a little more clear ; for methinks they hang untowardly together . Suppose Christs Intercession were founded upon his Sacrifice ; for what I can discover , his governing the Church , sending his Spirit , raising the dead , may be Acts of his Kingly Power , as they have alwayes been .

Let this whole matter be layd even with the type : Aaron did not only offer Sacrifice to God upon his Altar , but he went into the most holy pl●…ce to make intercession for the people ; Was his Intercession founded on his Oblation ? or both his Power to Offer and Intercercede , grounded upon his Office , that he was High-priest ? Intercession then signifies not the Administration of a Mediatory Kingdome , which has Men for its immediate and proper Object , but the Administration of an everlasting Priesthood , which has God for its Object , though managed on the behalf of Men ; so it has signified this sixteen hundred years , and so it is like to doe , till we see stronger Engines to unfix the Notion of it . Hitherto of the Nature of Christs Offices , which he sayes is a true Account of his Mediatory kingdome ; but , I say , it 's the most false , absurd , and Idle account that ever was given by any but our Author and his partizans of the Socinian misbelief , and is neither reconcileable with the Truth , nor with it self , one instance whereof we have in this last Paragraph . That ( sayes he ) to which we commonly appropriate the Name of Regal power , is his Intercession : Commonly indeed , but not truely so called ; and yet in the close , he tells you , that Intercession signifies the Administration of a Kingdom , which how it should doe , and not pertain to his kingly Office , I cannot make out .

And now from the Nature of Christs Kingdome , he proceeds to the method of erecting it . 1. He conquers the minds of men by the power of his Word and Spirit , and reduces them to subjection to God . 2. Then he pardons their sin : 3. He raiseth them to Immortal Life : 4. This is done by the Expiation of his Sacrifice , and that Power and Authority that is founded on it . Of which supposed Order and Method of Christs procedure , because abundant occasion will be offered for its Consideration in the ensuing Discourse , I shall supersede any further Disquisition at present .

I hope the Reader does not forget whereabouts he is , and what our Authors operofe Endeavours have design'd ; it is to prove , That Christ is Originally the Name of an Office , and fearing that none would bestow the pains to confute him , he is willing to save the world that Labour , and confute himself . And this is the Interpretation of the Name Christ , which signifies a mediatory King , immediately appointed by God to that Office , p. 7. Be it therefore Reported to the Judgements of all to determine , Whether a Mediatory King , be a Person or a Thing : an Office , or an Officer ? So large a Dose of Milk had he given us , and now has kickt it all fairly down again with his foot : Indeed we had complained before that he favour'd us not with one Text of Scripture to establish his Notion ; But 't was not out of Penury , but Plenty , and that it seems made him Poor , For thus ( sayes he ) the Name Christ signifies in those places of Scripture where Iesus is said to be the Christ , i. e. that Messias whom God promis'd to send . So that all the further trouble the Reader is like to have from me in this matter , is to advise with himself , Whether , He , the Messias whom God promised to send , be the one or the other ; i. e. Whether God promised an Office , which like the Popish Accidents of Bread and Wine should hang in the Aire without their proper Subjects , or Mahomets Tombe ; or else a real person even Iesus the Mediator between God and Man , furnished with those Offices of Prophet , Priest , and King , to save us in turning away every one of us from our Iniquities .

Secondly , Though Christ is Originally the Name of an Office , yet it is used in Scripture to signifie the Person who is invested with this Office . It would tempt a man to enquire , what that original use of the word is , which is opposed to the Scripture use . In some Original or other it 's the Name of an Office ; and that can be no other but the Originals of Socinus , Volkelius , Crellius , and other of the same bran ; however we are infinitely his Debtors for the Concession , that the Scripture Use of the word is wheel'd about to our side ; though ju●…t now , The places were so many and so obvious that he needed not name them , for the other use of the word . But I see it 's not wisdom to be too hasty to own a kindness before we be sure on●…t , for no man more reall when he offers an Injury , nor more complemental in his Courtesies ; for he 's just now standing upon a Tack . Before his Designation to this Office was publickly owned , he was onely called Iesus , the Name given him by the Angel , before he was born , yet when by his Resurrection from the Dead he was declared with power to be the Son , and the Christ of God , Christ became his Proper Name , as Iesus was before . It may create a suspicion in some jealous heads , that our Author does insinuate Jesus to become the Son of God , as he became the Christ of God ; which latter bears date in our Authors Chronology , from After the Resurrection , but Suspicions ought to prejudice no man . To his confident Assertion , I answer :

1. That this blessed Person of whom we speak , was called Christ , without any reference to mens owning or not owning of him ; nor could he claim to be owned by men as the Christ of God , unless he had been so , even the Christ , before such claim ; he was therefore owned , because he was Antecedently so , and not subsequently called Christ because Men had owned him : It were strange indeed that he should hold his Name upon so ticklish a Tenure as that , Advoluntatem Populi .

2. That he was owned to be the Christ of God before his Rsurrection from the dead , not so generally and universally , but yet as really and truly ; Nay , all that owned him to be Iesus , a Saviour from sin , owned him be to the Christ Anointed of God , that he might be a Saviour : They that deny'd him to be the Christ , deny'd him to be a Iesus ; for what firm Footing could Faith have to believe him to be a Saviour , had he not brought his Credentials along with him , that he was sent of God , for that End , a Terme of the same Import with that of Christ .

3. The Christ of God was as truly his Proper Name , as Iesus : These with many others , denonoting still the same Person , though under divers Considerations : Jesus was his Name , expressing the General end for which he came into the World : Immanuel was his Name , denoting the Union of God and Man , in one and the same Person : Mediator was his Name , as signifying the two Parties between whom he was to stand , and whom he was to Reconcile ; and Christ was his Name too , as Intimating the Authority he had from his Father , to Accomplish the Work of Saving , which he undertook .

4. The Angels foretelling his Name to be Jesus , makes not that to have the Advantage of the other Appellations of Christ : Seeing he was made The Christ , by the Father Himself , and yet we have the Suffrage of an Angel too , that he was Born the Christ , Luke 2. 11. Unto you is Born this day a Saviour , in the City of David , which is Christ the Lord .

5. As sadly out is our Author to say , that in the Gospels he is alwayes called Iesus : Which , whether you take it Exclusively , as shutting out the Name of Christ , or Inclusively , taking in the Name of Iesus , is apparently False , and needs nothing but a Common pair of Spectacles for its Confutation : But the stress of all this Pother lying here , that he was not called Christ as by his Proper Name , till after the Resurrection , we shall call over a few of many places in the New Testament to Evince the Contrary , Iohn 4. 25. The Woman of Samaria went upon Common Fame , and a generally received Maxim , that he that should acquaiut them with the Will of God , was to be called Christ . I know that Mesiah cometh , which is called Christ , and when he is come , he will tell us all things . And our Saviour would not suffer her to hang in Suspense about the Person , who was so well Satisfied about his Name , and Employment , but presently Answers , v. 26. I that speak to thee , am He : The poor Woman glad at the News , and loth to Rejoyce alone , Proclaims it in the Streets , and speaking in their own known Dialect , says she : Is not this the Christ ? ver. 29. John 1. 40. Andrew findeth his own Brother Simon , and saith unto him , we have found the Messiah , which is being Interpreted , the Christ . A Person then there was who under the Title of Christ , was alwayes laid before the Faith and Expectancies of the People of God . And of so great Concernment was this Name , that Peter joyns it with the Son of God , Matth. 16. 15. Whom do ye say that I am ? Simon Peter answered ( in the Name of the rest ) Thou art Christ , the Son of the Living God . I shall not urge the Testimony of the Devils , Luke 5. 41. Thou art Christ , the Son of the Living God : For he is a Lyar from the Beginning , and would not have owned the Truth , but to Disparage it by his Testimony ; yet it s somewhat sad , there should be greater Heresies on Earth , than in Hell : Nor shall I insist upon that of the Souldiers , who took it for granted that he was commonly Distinguisht by the Name Christ , Mat. 16. 68. Prophesie unto us , thou Christ , who it is that smote thee . But Christs own Testimony must pass , Matth. 23. 8. 10. Be not ye called Rabbi , for one is your Master even Christ , and all ye are Brethren ; neither be ye called Master , for one is your Master , even Christ . A huge Bussle there has been about this place , and our Authors Evidence had it been Subpoened in , would have struck the Business dead , One is your Master , even an Office : And now will you hear a Facetious and Merry Reason , why He is alwayes called Iesus in the Gospels , which contain the History of his Life and Death , p. 8. Because ( forsooth ) all this time it was Disputed , whether He were the Christ or not .

Great Disputes indeed the Devil has raised about the Lord Jesus , some will dare to Dispute it , whether He be very God or not , others whether He be the Christ of God or not ? And not a few , whether he offered himself a Propitiatory Sacrifice upon the Cross , to an offended God for sin ; so that if Christ must never be owned till all Disputes be ended , we must Prorogue his Naming , till the coming of Elias : The World was then as 't is now ; which would alwayes be Disputing things in themselves Indisputable , Disputed then his Name was before his Resurrection , and so has been ever since , by Infidels ; and by those who Believed , neither Disputed before nor after . I have heard of a great Dispute of late amongst Persons of great Learning , about the Reason of an Appearance in Philosophy , when one of the Company , wiser it seems than his Neighbours , gravely Counselled them , to Examine more Narrowly , whether indeed the Thing were so in Fact or no ; before they did beat their Brains about giving a Reason why it should be so : His Advice was hearkned to , and upon severe Scrutiny , they had been Arguing about a Non-entity . Thus it had become our Authors Excellencie to have shewn that it is , before he came to flie so high , at the Why it is ? But it seems the Matter was not weighty , whether he were the Christ or not ; it being determined by our Authors own Licenser , that whatever is Disputable is inconsiderable .

Thirdly , Christ signifies the Gospel and Religion of Christ : As Moses signifies the Writings , and Law of Moses , and the Prophets the Writings of the Prophets . Hold , good Sir , Create your self no further Trouble , we will grant you more than you con Prove , even as much as you Demand , that we may purchase our Peace . And that , in Common Speech , Christ may signifie his Laws by much stronger Reasons , than Moses can signifie his Laws : For Moses was but a Servant in His Masters House , but Christ a Son in and over his own House ; Christ was the Law Maker , Moses only an Instrument for their Promulgation , and Execution . But then it must be Remembred withal , 1. That the Name Moses signifies Originally , Properly , and Primarily the Person of Moses , the very Man Moses , and only Obliquely , Secondarily , Figuratively , or ( as your great Friend Vol. has it ) Analogico , Figuratoque dicendi genere ; the Doctrine , Writings , Laws of Moses . 2. That when we meet with a word that has a Proper , and an Improper ; a First and a Second ; a Plain and a Tropical signification , we always let that Proper , Plain , and Primary signification take the Wall , and have the Upper hand of the Improper , Tropical , and Second-hand sence ; all ways provided , that no Cogent Inexorable Reason taken from the Circumstances of the Place , do Oblige to the Contrary . 3. We must well understand what our Author Claims , and what we Grant : That it's usual , nothing more usual , in Common Speech , than to call any Laws or Religion , by the Name of the first Authors : In Common Speech then this holds ; for if he will lay the Weight or Stress of any Disputable Point upon it , that the word is so used in Scripture , we must beg his Pardon , and desire him to hold us Excused , unless he can Prove it by Convincing Arguments ; and we lay down this Protestation before-hand , that we shall not take High mounted Confidence , nor Imperious Dictates , nor Hungry jejune Glosses for Apodictick in the Case : The rather , because we are ascertained that the Name Christ does Properly , Primarily , Frequently , nay , Generally express a Person in Office ; and if our Author will needs have it signifie , or Office , or Church , or Gospel , or any Living thing else in all the World●… , merely to evade the force of Truth , or to hedge in any Whimsical Notions of his own ; he shall get his Ground by Inches , and force his Way through the main Rocks , for we shall part with nothing that we can Fairly and Honestly keep . But we attend his Evidence , Gal. 6. 15. In Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing , nor Uncircumcision , but a new Creature . That is , in the Gospel , and Religion of Christ , nothing is of any Value to Recommend as to the favour of God , but a new Nature , a Holy , and vertuous Life , p. 9.

To which Gloss , I oppose two small Incoveniencies : First , The Uncertainty . Secondly , The Apparent falshood of it . First , If there were nothing else to Disparage it , its Uncertainty is enough ; for its merely Precarious , that Christ must signifie so here : If any has the Confidence to deny it , though never so faintly , the Cause is utterly blown up ; our Negative upon him , puts him to Eternal silence . When our Author is hard beset at any time , he has one Answer ready Cut and Dried , which serves for every Text in the Scripture : as pag. 261. It is a sufficient Answer to this , to say , they need not signifie so . If that will suffice him , which others must be glad to be sufficed with , he 's Answer'd : But why not the Common Gloss ? In the Account of Jesus Christ , Circumcision , nor Uncircumcision avail nothing , but , &c. And the strongest Probabilities lie on this side : First , The foregoing words , whereof this Verse is rendred as a Reason , do unquestionably speak of a Person , ver . 14. The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . And now comes in this Verse as a Reason or Proof thereof : For in Christ Jesus , &c. Did the Apostles Premises speak of one thing , and his Conclusion of another ? 2. Here 's this lies in the way , that no Cogent Reason can be assigned why we should depart from the Plain , Ordinary , Primary acceptation of the Word Christ , for a Figurative , Improper and Secondary acceptation , but only to humour our Author ; for which at present I am not in the Mood . 3. He is miserably short in his Foundation ; for after all his pains to prove that Christ signifies an Office , a Doctrine , a Church ; he must go over with all this again , and prove that Jesus signifies a Doctrine , and Jesus a Church , or else he 's just in Statu quo . For he had told us before , that ( though Christ was an Homonymous word , a Name , of Desuetory , Lubricous , and Versatile sound ) Jesus was his Proper Name , given him by the Angel before he was Born ; and therefore surely that has not been Warped , and Twisted , and Scrued , at that Rate that this other poor Name has been ; for as it falls out unhappily . Here 's Jesus joyned with Christ , and that perswades us almost , that a very Person is intended .

But yet secondly , The apparent Falshood of it sticks more with me than all this , I could easily down with a few Absurdities : For I think , and believe according to the Scripture , That there is something besides a Vertuous Life of value to Recommend us to the Favour of God ; nay , something more of Value ( and I shall not be Hector'd out of it by Blustering words : ) 'T is the Righteousness of Jesus which I mean , and we have the Apostles Warrant for it , Ephes. 1. 6. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved . If God should enter into Judgment with us according to the Exactest of our Obedience , perhaps we should be willing to accept of Christ's Recommendation to the favour of God , notwithstanding our most vertuous Lives , but secondly , I indite it of Falshood , that he makes a new Creature , and a vertuous Life , equivalent Expressions : For I had thought that a vertuous Life is but the Fruit that Grows on the Tree , but the Tree must be made good , e're the Fruit can be so ; A vertuous Life the Streams , that flow from the Spring of the new Creature , and the Fountain must be cleansed e're the Streams will be so : In plain Terms , the vertuous Life is but the Result of a new Heart , the product of a Renewed Nature ; without which Principle of a vertuous Life , and without Christ to Recommend both to God , there is no hope to find favour in his sight .

His second place is , Col. 2. 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain Deceit , after the Traditions of Men , after the Rudiments of the World , and not after Christ . Where ( says he ) after Christ is oppos'd to the Traditions of Men , and Rudiments of the World , and therefore must signifie , not the Person , but the Religion or Gospel of Christ . Must ! And what necessity of that ? I can see none from the Text : But if our Author has impos'd upon himself an absolute and indispensible necessity of being Baptiz'd into Volkelius , then indeed it must be so Interpreted , no remedy : Lib. 5. c. 10. p. 437 , 438. Divinitatis Nomine , nec Dei nec Christi Natura , sed Divinae voluntatis notitia , Deique colendi ratio Intelligi porest , atque ideo debet . By the name Deity , not the Nature of God , or of Christ , but the knowledge of the Divine Will , and the manner of Worshipping God , May be , and therefore Must be understood . The Reader is now satisfi'd why it must be so ? 1. It may be so , and therefore necessarily it must be so . 2. Volkelius says it must be , and therefore it must . But let us be Judg'd by the words following ; Not after Christ , for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily , ver. 9. Does the fulness , the all fulness of the Godhead dwell bodily in the Doctrine , or in the Person of Christ , ver. 10. And ye are compleat in him , who is the Head of Principality and Power●… Is i●… Christs Person that is that Head of Angels , or his Doctrine ? and so the Apostle runs it on , till he comes to the Cross of Christ , ver. 14. Must we now , to Gratifie these Gentlemen , renounce our Reasons , and say , that a Doctrine is the Head of ●…roncipality and Power ? A Doctrine is rais'd from the Dead ? That we are Buried in a Doctrine ? That the Hand-writing of Ordinances , was Nailed to the Cross of a Doctrine ? I confess I would go as far as another for Peace-sake , but here I must fairly shake hands and leave my Author , and his Masters to their own ways : But though the words following the Text do frown severely upon them and their Cause , yet they promise themselves much from the foregoing , ver. 6. As you have therefore received Iesus Christ the Lord , so walk ye in him : i. e. Obey the Doctrine of Christ , as you have been taught it by us . It must be remembred what our Author is endeavouring to prove still , I hope he has not forgot it , and I hope we shall not , viz. That the Name [ Christ ] signifies the Gospel : Now it is easily granted , that though the Name [ Christ ] do Immediately signifie the Person of Christ ; yet Mediarely it may imply the Doctrine ; and yet all this while the Name , or Word Christ ; stand in its Original posture , and Purport . As the name King does primarily signifie the Person of a Supreme Magistrate , and yet that Treason which is committed against the Person of a King is against his Law , and yet none will say that because Treason against the King is Treason against the Law , that therefore , the name King , signifies Law . To violate the Commands of the Gospel , reflects upon Christs Person ; and he that sins against the one , sins against the other , because of that Privity of Interest that is betwixt a King and his Laws , a Prophet , and his Revelations , a Priest , and his Sacrifice ; yet it were harsh to say , that Prophet , does signifie Revelation ; or Priest , Sacrifice ; or King , signifie Laws : Those things may have Relation one to another , one be Inferred from another , and not the one signifie the other : As , 1 Cor. 7. 12. When ye sin against the Brethren , and wound their weak consciences , ye sin against Christ : To sin against the Brethren , is by consequence to sin against Christ . Yet none will say that the Name Christ signifies Brethren . But more particularly I answer , 1. That Christ Jesus the Lord , does signifie in the first place a Person ; And secondly , That consequently it Includes the Promises , the Precepts , the Revelations , the Death , Sufferings , the Intercession and the whole of Jesus . But his main strength lies here : That after , Christ is opposed to the Traditions of Men , and the Rudiments of the World , and therefore must not signifie the Person , but the Religion or Gospel of Christ . So argues Volk Lib. 3. de verâ Relig. p. 125. His mundi Rudimentis , omnem Divinitatis Plenitudinem in Christo sanctissimâque ejus Disciplinâ , corporaliter , h. e. reipsa , non umbratili quadam ratione , ut in Lege , habitantem opponit . Unto these Rudiments of the World , the Apostle opposeth all the fulness of the Divinity , which dwelt Bodily , ( that is , Really , not after a Typical faction as in the Law ) in Christ , and his most holy Discipline . And yet this crafty Knave had a reach far beyond what I hope our Author is guilty of , namely to cut in sunder the N●…rves and Sinews of this Text as it asserts the Deity of Christ , and therefore very subtlely , he turns Deity into Divinity , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , into 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : And that we may see how Eagerly and Zealously he is Concerned for such a signification of Christ , as much as our Author can be for the heart of him . Consult . 3 Lib. dé verâ Relig. cap. 5. p. 47. Quâ de causâ Divinis monitis incitamur , ut omnibus aliis Disciplinis Posthabitis , uni Christo adhaereamus , in quo , id est , in cujus Doctrinâ , omnis Divinitatis plenitudo continetur . For with Reason we are call'd upon by the Counsel of the Scriptur●… , to leave all other Religions , and to cleave to Christ alone , in whom , that is , in whose Doctrine , all the Fulness of the Divinity is contain'd . And so perfect a Mime is our Author of this Volk ▪ that he borrows his very id ests of him : But to these things I return . 1. That the opposition lies Visibly in the first place between , Men , and Christ , secondly between Mens Tarditions , and Christs Institutions . 2. That the Person of Christ as the only Law-giver of the Church , is directly oppos'd to the Traditions of Men : For as the Popes Laws , if set on foot in England , would not only cross the Laws of the Land , but strike at our Sovereign Lord the King , his Crown and Dignity ; so the Traditions of Men , do not only thwart Christs Institutions , but mainly and chiefly Christ himself , who is the Author of them . 3. From the All fulness of the Deity which dwells in Christ , it 's Obvious to an ordinary Capacity to inferre , that there is a Perfection in his Doctrine , a compleatness in his Institutions , that there needs no Supply from Mens Traditions , no Relief from Philosophy , or Rudiments of the World ; but if , because the Perfection of his Doctrine may be concluded from the Excellency of his Person , he will conclude that his Person signifies his Doctrine , we must desire to be excused , for no such thing will thence follow . His last place is , Ephes. 4. 20 , 21. But you have not so Learn't Christ , if so be you have heard him , and been taught by him , as the Truth is in Iesus . Before our Author can make his best Markets of this Text , he found it expedient to bestow a little of his critical Excellency upon us , in Correcting the Translation of the Church of England , presuming he has equal Authority over it , with the Thirty nine Articles . And ,

1. He tells us to our great Illumination , that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , signifies not as our Translator renders it , being Taught , but Instructed : A blessed Discovery ! Reserved no doubt for the Glory of these last Ages . Poor dull Translators ! that could not see the difference between being Taught , and Instructed . But that is the Priviledge only , of a Rational Divine , as we shall hear anon , to discern the Essential differences of things ; but that none may ever Rob him of the Honour of the Discovery , which is equal to that of the Perpetual Motion , Squaring the Circle , or Doubling the Cube , let it be Written on his Tomb , Hic jacet primus Author hujus subtilitatis , &c.

2. He informs us that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifies not by him , but in him : Well let him make his best of that ; for I think he has lost Ground by it : For whereas his Pinching Question is , How could the Ephesians who never saw Christ in the flesh , be said to ●…ear him ? he might have added , or to be i●…structed by him ? Now it will be answered wit●… ease as to the latter clause , O yes , they may be i●…structed in him , in his Natures , and Person , in hi●… Offices , in the End of his Death and Sufferings , i●… in the fruits and benefits of his Intercession with 〈◊〉 Father for them ; Ay , and they might be said to hea●… him too , when they heard the Apostles discourse and preach of Him , open to them the excellency of hi●… Divine Person , the meaning of his holy Precepti●… the Latitude of the precious Promises ; especially i●… the Rest of the Apostles were ( and no doubt they were ) of the same mind with Paul , who desired t●… know nothing but Iesus Christ , and him crucified ; to Preach Christ , a crucified Christ , and to glor●… in nothing but in the Cross of the same Iesus ; and after all , here 's not the least invitation to interpret Christ to signifie Religion , Gospel , upon this pretended difficulty , that they could not hear Him , no●… be instructed by him : It 's the Delight of some me●… to make easie things difficult : let the place be interpreted of the Person of Christ , and it will tak●… in the Gospel , both in its Precepts and Promises , an●… whatever Discoveries are therein ▪ made of his Person , Offices , Doctrine , Laws , Government , Deat●… Resurrection , Ascension , and sitting at the right han●… of God , where he makes intercession for us .

Fourthly , It is acknowledged by All ( says ou●… Author ) that Christ signifies the Church of Christ And if he would receive it as an Almes , pure cha●…ity , perhaps it would be granted , but if he wi●… dispute a right and title to the thing in question , i●… may go the harder with him . The union betwee●… Christ and his true Church is so near and strict , tha●… ●…ey both come under one and the same Appellation ; ●…enominated from the most excellent part , the Head ●…f that Body . Hence is the Chur●…h called the body ●…f Christ , and his fulness ; Eph. 1. 23. Not his in●…rinsick fulness , to supply any personal defects of his , ●…ut his outward fulness , relatively considered , as ●…erving to magnifie his Grace and Mercy ; As the ●…ultitude of Subjects is the Kings Honour , Prov. ●…4 . 28. As a vertuous Wife is the Crown of her ●…usband , Prov. 12. 4. so is the Church the Glory ●…f Iesus Christ , and he is pleased not to look upon ●…imself as compleat without Her : But that the ●…ame Christ signifies Church , exclusive of his Per●…on , or any otherwayes than as Christ and his ●…hurch make one body , I crave leave to 〈◊〉 my ●…issent , and wait for his Proof .

The Inference therefore which he draws from this ●…upposition is weak and feeble : And thus must we ●…nderstand those phrases of Being in Christ , En●…rafted into Christ , and United to Christ ; which ●…ignifie no more than to be a Christian , one wh●… be●…ongs to that Body whereof Christ is the Head and ●…overnour , p. 11. We must ? what necessity I ask ●…gain of that ? why the very same that I observed ●…efore ; one that he has first created to himself , and ●…hen pleads against us ; which is to Lacquey it after ●…olkelius ▪ For so he , lib. de verâ Relig. cap. 10. p. ●…38 . Christum autem saepenumerò , non Christi Per●…onam , aut Naturam , sed per Metonymicam dicen●…di figuram , àliud quippiam , vel ad Christum respi●…iens , vel ab illo profectum designare ; ex illis locis ●…erspicuum est , ubi Christum accepisse , Christum di●… ; Christum induere debere ; aut eundem 〈◊〉 ; in Christo esse ; in Christo denique 〈◊〉 ; dicimur . That Christ oftentimes signifies 〈◊〉 the Person or Nature of Christ , but something 〈◊〉 either relating to him , or proceeding from him 〈◊〉 a Metonymie ; is plain from those places , whe●… we are said to have received Christ ; to have lea●… Christ ; that we ought to put on Christ ; and 〈◊〉 have put him on ; to be in Christ ; and lastly , to 〈◊〉 in Christ : And at this rate , in a while , the Pers●…nality of Christ shall lye at the mercy of these me●… there being no place of Scripture left that shall ●…cessarily prove him to be a Person ; but with o●… of these evasions they can enervate , and with a 〈◊〉 dash of a wanton pen strike him clear out of 〈◊〉 Writ . But let us a little examine his Consequenc●… Christ sometimes signifies the Church , therefore 〈◊〉 be in Christ , to be united to Christ , must be so ●…derstood . From May be in the premises , to must 〈◊〉 in the conclusion ; is a high leap , let our Author 〈◊〉 a care he do not break his Neck , for my part , I 〈◊〉 not be too sollicitous to answer such Inferences .

But I had almost forgotten , that under the 〈◊〉 Head , he interpreted In Christ , to signifie in 〈◊〉 Doctrine ; and now to serve the present Turn , it 〈◊〉 signifie to be in the Church : To which I onely sa●… If they be one thing , this Head is needless , and 〈◊〉 they be two , they make a contradiction .

In the mean time , our Author is the most unha●…py man I have met withall , that having perhaps 〈◊〉 place or two of Scripture , where possibly the 〈◊〉 Christ may signifie , the Church mystically considered●… as it takes in the Head and Members , the Fou●…dation and Building , the root and branches , the 〈◊〉 and Subjects , the Husband and Spouse ; yet shoul●… so unhappily fix upon those Texts which would ●…empt a rigid Antagonist , to put him to the proof ●…f what in a sober sence will not be denyed . Let us ●…hen attend to his Quotations , Rom. 12. 5. We be●…ng many are one Body in Christ . All true Christi●…ns , how many soever they be , constitute but one Body ; but how come they to be One , what is that Center wherein they meet ; that common Bond or Ligament , which ties them together ? who is the Corner-stone that couples together the parts of this Building ? The Apostle tells us t is Christ ; He is the Head in whom the members are united , the corner-stone in whom the sides of the building are joyned , ●…he Center in whom , as in a point , all the Faith of Individual Believers does meet ; now cannot they be thus One , but the Name Christ must needs signifie Church ? Well , let us hear one of his Id ests , i. e. saith he , We are all but one Christian Society , which is the Body of Christ . Very good ! according to our Authors Fancy , it must run thus , We are all one Christian Society , which is the Body of the Church . But whatever truth there is in the Notion , it never grew upon this root ; all the Apostle asserts is this , that Particular Christians are compared to the particular members of the natural body , the whole Church collectively taken , is compared to the natural body , and that he might shew , how the particular Members of this Mystical Body are united , and become One , he tells us , it is in Christ . Again , Col. 1. 2. To the Saints and faithfull Brethren in Christ . Ergo , what ? Why they are Christian Brethren : True , but how come they to be so ? That is indeed the Question ; to which our Author speaks Ne gry quidem .

His last proof is from 2 Cor. 5. 17. He that is in Christ is a New Creature . It seems somew●… strange to me , that the word Christ should signi●… otherwise in this Verse than it had done v. 14. 1●… and must do again v. 18. Before the Text , v. 1●… The love of Christ constrains us , — And that 〈◊〉 dyed for all . Was it a Person who out of pure Lo●… dyed for his Church ? who offered himself a Sac●…fice to God for it ? and is it all o th' sudden gro●… a Church ? The Church I had thought was the Oject , and not the Subject of that Love mentione●… After the Text , v. 18. we read that God hath reco●…ciled us to himself by Iesus Christ : And how do●… our Author wedge in Church instead of Christ , in th●… 17th verse ? Must the blessed Apostle be made 〈◊〉 speak Non-sence , argue impertinently , conclude a●…surdly , to gratifie one of his forced and wreste●… Notions ? Well , for once , that we may not purchas●… his displeasure , let him paraphrase the eighteent●… verse thus ; God hath reconcil'd the Church to hi●…self by the Church . What remains in this particular , is onely that descant which he gives upon hi●… Text , i. e. Every sincere Christian is a New Creature : Agreed ; To be in Christ , and to be a sincere Christian , do explain one another . But the descan●… upon his descant , is the Life of all ; Whoever professeth the Faith of Christ , and lives in society with the Christian Church , hath obliged himself to live 〈◊〉 new Life : Better and better still : What is it to be in Christ ? Ans. To be a sincere Christian. Qu. An●… what is it to be a sincere Christian ? Ans. To profess the Faith of Christ , and live in society with the christian Church . Most admirable : The clearest , fullest , and exactest Definition without all peradventure , that ever was in the world , of a sincere Christian ; and out-vies all that Mr. Shepheard's Sincere Convert , or Sound Believer can afford us . The onely fault that I find with it is , that the lewdest , and vilest Hypocrite that ever was in the world , may be one of our Authors Sincere Christians . You have heard what a Sincere Christian is , to your unspeakable comfort no doubt : Will you but hear what the New creature is , and you are made for ever . Qu. What is it to be a New creature ? Ans. To oblige himself to live a New life . Nay , if an Obligation , nay a voluntary Obligation to live a New life , will render a Man a New Creature , I am sure God has obliged all men so to live , and most men have superadded a voluntary Obligation of their own so to live ; and then what a sad rout of New Creatures is the world pester'd withall ?

The Reader has seen by this time , that his first Notion of Christ is false , his second onely necessarily True , his third very questionable , and the fourth unproved , and if it had been proved would not have done his work ; and now it 's high time to draw with him towards a Conclusion . Our Author is beginning to make an end , but he must first discharge his stomach of a little froth , and gall , and spit up some venome that lies in his chest , in the face of his Adversaries , without which he could not possibly conclude his Chapter . He tells you summarily what great feats he has done , and what greater Atchievements he will adventure on : What he has done amounts to this ; he has discovered great Mistakes in other mens Divinity , but cannot espy any in his own : he can spy a Mote in his Neighbours eye , but considers not his own Beam : He has also discover'd the rise of these Mistakes , to be from the various usage of the Name Christ in the Writing●… of the Apostles . The more excusable ( it seems ) they are , if they had occasion from thence to erre ; which they might the more easily doe , because ( as he observes well ) the Writings of Paul are obscure . He has also discover'd to us the temper and humour of those Mistaken men : They are zealous to advance Christs Person , to the prejudice and reproach of his Religion , which yet our Author himself , when a Qualm of sweet Nature comes over his Heart , thinks to be Impossible , p. 17. The greater Opinion we have of his Wisdom , and Reverence for his Person , the more sacred Regard we have for his Lawes . He has also discovered a horrid Plot , to introduce a fancifull Application of Christ to our selves , instead of the substantial Duties of the love of God and Men , and an universal Holiness of Life . But this is but a plot of his own making , unless he had some supernatural Assistances from Beneath . He has also for ever discharged the world upon his Blessing , from closing with Christ , getting into Christ , and above all from overloving Christ , and admiring his Excellencies , and Perfections , his Fulness , Beauty , Loveliness , and Riches . Wherein if he prevail to his mind , he has for ever Obliged the Prince of Darkness to him , and done more service to his black Kingdom , than he with his Legions hath been able to effect these Sixteen hundred years . What he intends further to doe , he has reduced to four heads , to which I referre the Reader ; and upon the whole Matter doe onely make this one Observation ; That through this whole Chapter , he has cheated and tormented us with a sorry , old , Threadbare fallacy , A benè compositis ad malè divisa : The Persons whom he reviles , dare not put asunder those things which God hath joyned together . They love the Person of Christ , and not therefore break , but keep his Commandements . They think that Faith in our Lord Iesus Christ , and Repentance from dead works are very consistent ; may and must sweetly meet together , and Kiss each other . They would be glad to see those who revile them , to love and admire Christs Person , and shall be content to be reproved so far as they neglect , and undervalue his Precepts ; but they are not to be frighted out of their Love to Him , who loved them , and gave himself for them : They do freely confess , that they admire at the Love of the Father in sending his onely begotten Son into the World upon such a design as to save Sinners , and they do equally admire the Love of the Lord Jesus Christ , that he was so willing to come into the world , to be tempted , persecuted , reproached , and at last to dye , and give his Life a Ransome for many : And though they have heard many Reproaches and Blasphemies uttered against their Saviour , yet they have not met with one solid concluding Argument why they should not love him : And therefore if they must be vile upon these Accounts , they resolve in the strength of Christ to be vile , more vile still ; and shall bind all the Ignominy that is cast upon them for Christs sake , unto their Temples as a Crown and Diadem : For indeed they do persist in that perswasion with some Obstinacy , that it was the Person of Christ who dyed for them ; it was He upon whom the Chastisement of their Peace did lye ; it was He whose Soul was made an Offering for sin , and upon whom God laid the Iniquities of us All. And therefore our Author must bear with them , if they love him as much as they can , because they have reason to fear they shall not love him as much as He has deserved . They remember a Dreadfull word , If any man love not the Lord Iesus Christ , let him be Anathema Maranatha , and would not for all the world fall under the weight of it . Their love to his person makes them studious to please him , fearfull to offend him , zealous to glorifie him , and ( if the will of God be so ) humbly content to suffer for him : They have not met with any Author that has , till of late , endeavoured a Confutation of Christs personal Excellencies , perfections , fulness , beauty , loveliness and riches ; and they that have made the Attempt , have exposed themselves to the universal censure of all that wear the Name of Christian ; and therefore they do ingenuously acknowledge , that they doe admire and honour them , and do humbly hope , Christ at his coming will not rebuke them for it ; And when they are invidiously traduced as setting the Person of Christ at oddes with his Gospel , they are satisfied that they have not done it in Principle , and lament that they have in any the least degree done it in Practice : And as they know that the Charge , as apply'd to them , is a pure , impure slander ; so they conceive it 's vey difficult , if not impossible in it self , nor can they apprehend how any can really and truely maintain a due esteem of Christ in their hearts , but they must have a proportionable value and regard for all his Commandments and Injunctions : That these things are become Riddles to any professing the Name of Christ , they tremble at , as a sad symptome that the Gospel is hid to them , and from them . They do also in the general approve of any Labours managed with a due regard to the Majesty of God and the Lord Jesus Christ , in order to the discovery of any Expressions in their Writings or Discourses , which might in the least be misinterpreted to degrade and thrust down Holiness from its Throne ; but withall they are unwilling to be railed out of a good Opinion of Christs Person , seeing that however they may have sinned in breaking his Laws , it will not mend the matter to lessen the honour they justly have for Himself ; and had rather be severely chidden for their sin , than scoffed out of their Duty . But of these Matters thus far .

CHAP. II. Of what use the Consideration of Christs Person is , in the Christian Religion .

IN the Entrance of this Chapter , I observe our Author is feelingly concern'd to amove from himself the sinister suspition of a Design to render Christ useless . And he makes a solemn Protestation , not onely of his own Innocency , but is ready to become Surety and Compurgator for all his Accomplices . A design ( sayes he ) which I confess I am wholly a stranger to , as I believe all those are , who are so much charged with it . When we hear a man zealously purging himself of some Notorious Crime , noysed abroad onely in the general , without praevious Accusation ; it 's apt to fly-blow our Heads with jealousie he may be Tardy ; an over-forward Vindication being reputed more than half an Accusation . But I dare be one of his Twelve-Godfathers in this matter , that he does not make Christ useless ; but will allow him to be of some use , that is to say , that Christ is good for something , and in effect , a little Better than , though next to Nothing ; and I can with more security become Bound for Him , because he has given me good Counter-security , that I shall not forfeit my Recognizance . P. 330. I could never perswade my self ( no not for your heart , though you had attempted it ) that the perfect Obèdience and Righteousness of His Life was wholly excluded . So that whatever rendred Christ beloved of God , contributed something to our Acceptation . P. 331. We ought not to think that we receive No Benefit by the Righteousness of Christ . And I hope something is better than Nothing . Nay , ( such is his Charity ) he can be content to Allow , that God was somewhat more pleased with the Obedience of Christ , than the Faith of Abraham . ibid. And that his Sacrifice was of greater value , than the Blood of Bulls and Goats , p. 19. Naughty men are they then , that wrong Him and Them so , as to insinuate that they design'd to make Christ useless , the rather because they proceed upon so bad a Ground . We are charg'd with making Christ useless , onely because we dare not make his Laws so ; And thus it seems they have unhandsomely payd him in his own Coyn , who charges them with making his Laws Useless , onely because they dare not make his Person so . And yet to deal plainly with Him , for all this , I find a Double charge upon the File against him .

(1) That though he has not made Christ altogether Useless , yet he has made him Needless . Though he can use Him , yet he could have spared him ; though he can make a shift with him , he could have made a Rubbing shift without Him . Ut tecum possum vivere , sic sine te . So p. 46. I should rather have thought that Gods requiring such a sacrifice as the Death of Christ , was not because he could not do otherwise . And if Gods Iustice could be contented without that sacrifice , I may presume it shall not stick at our Authors good Nature , p. 43. Had Christ never appeared in the World , yet we had Reason to believe that God is thus Wise and Good , viz. to Pardon sinners . And ( as he labours to Prove ) Enoch , Noah , Iews and Gentiles , who knew nothing at all of Christ , p. 44. yet understood God to be a God pardoning iniquity without him : And surely if the World jogg'd on for four thousand years without Christ , it might have worn out the Remainder without him too .

(2) I find a second Charge against him : That though he make not Christ useless , as to some common , ordinary and general Ends , which might have been attain'd , and reach'd without him ; yet he renders him wholly Useless as to those special , those main and glorious purposes for which he came into the World : The making satisfaction to Divine Iustice , the Imputation of his Righteousness to Believers , his powerfull and effectual sanctifying them by his Spirit for whom he undertook . Whereof we shall meet with abundant Evidence in the progress of his Discourse . So that a Declaration contrary to the Fact , is of small weight with considering Readers , and sinks it self below all consideration . But to return : Two things fill up this Chapter .

First , That the Person of Christ is of some Consideration ; and Secondly , That the consideration of his Person is of some use ▪ onely the difficulty to be assoyled by His Abilities , is , Of what use , the consideration of his Person should be ?

[ 1. ] Then , the Person of Christ is of some consideration ; but e're he ventures upon that Province , he bethought Himself it would be a Task worthy his great Parts , to indoctrinate our Plumbeous Cerebrosities in the Nice Point , What the Person of Christ is ? P. 15. By the Person of Christ I mean , what all men ought to mean , ( nay there 's no doubt of that ; All men at their utmost Peril ought to mean , to a hairs breadth , just as our Author means ) Christ Himself . Had it not been a Prodigy as great as ever was in the World , if by Christs Person had been meant any body else ? Such then is Christ's Person . The Consideration thereof follows : And ( as he assures us ) the onely proper consideration here is the Greatness of his Person ; This is the onely , or however , The onely Proper , or at least the onely Proper consideration here ; whatever other improper considerations of it there may be in other places , or cases , upon other accounts , or occasions , at other times , it skills not ; for Here , at this Time , and in this place , the onely Proper Consideration is the Greatness of his Person . And yet methinks , the exceeding loveliness of his Person , standing betwixt God and lost Sinners ; his laying down his Life as a Ransome payd to God , his standing as a Surety in our stead , his bearing our sins in his Body on the Cross , might have claimed a Place , and come in for a share in our consideration of his Person . But thus much for that .

[2] The Use of this consideration follows . And some good Use he has assign'd it .

(1) And first , it 's a plain demonstration of Gods love to Mankind , that he sent so dear , and so great a Person into the World , as his onely begotten Son , to save Sinners . It is so indeed , but a very weak demonstration of Gods Love to his own Son , to send him into the World , to grapple with all those Miseries he met withall in his Soul , in his Body , from Enemies , from Friends , from Men , from Devils ; nay , from himself , whom it pleased to bruise him , and lay upon him the Iniquities of us all , to make his soul an Offering for sin , nay , to be made sin for them , who himself knew none , to Die a cursed Death , and all this without any Absolute , or Indispensible necessity : Contrary to all the Rules of Decorum ; Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice Nodus inciderit . And it would be of use to consider also the Love of Christ , his Willingness to Accept the Terms of being a Redeemer , though He knew well they were severe , and would cost him Sweat , and Blood , and yet He cheerfully Undertook , Underwent , and went through with them . He voluntarily assumed a Body , that He might become a Sacrifice , Heb. 10. He was willingly for a little while , made lower than the Angels by Dispensation , who was above them by Nature , for the suffering of Death , Heb. 2. 9. He understood well the Debtor was Insolvent , and yet he became Surety ; He knew well the Righteousness of God , and yet He was ready to put in sufficient Caution , to Declare his Righteousness , to Clear , and Vindicate it , that God might be Iust , and the Iustifier of them that should believe in Him , Rom. 3. 25 , 26. These things would have had their Use ; but alas , this Head was brought in by the Shoulders , only to make way for more of our Authors excellent Theology . Religion is the Theam he has singled out to practise upon ; and he considers it first in General , and then in its particular Species .

( 1. ) For Religion in General . 'T is founded ( says he ) on a belief that God is , and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him , Heb. 11. 6. That this is a Postulatum , somewhat to be presupposed in all Religion , is easily granted ; and and no more can be necessarily inferred from the Place . All Religion does suppose the Existence of God , and that it is not in vain to seek Him : But if hence our Author would conclude , that nothing more is required as a Foundation for Sinners to Build their hopes of Acceptation with God , in their Approaches to him , and Service of him ; he gathers what the Apostle strewed not , and Reaps what , &c. where he Sowed not . There are no Infidels in Hell , the Devils believe God to Be , and Tremble at their own Belief , wishing they could perswade themselves , what they have perswaded others , that there is no God : They know too that God is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him , and yet they have no Foundation to come to God . A despairing Cain , a self-condemned Iudas may know this to be a Truth , and yet not seeing a Mediator , through whom they may securely come , and find Acceptation in their seeking of Him , they dare not , they have no ground to come ; but if this be in very Deed the Foundation of all Religion , why durst not our Author Trust to it , but flie ( as Bellarmine to his Tutissimum est ) to the Lord Jesus Christ : For , pag. 15. He freely tells us , That the Foundation of his Hope , is that which is the Foundation of the Christian Religion , the Sacrifice and Intercession , of our Lord Iesus Christ .

( 2. ) For the Sorts , and particular Kinds of Religion , he is pleas'd to Instance only in three , but he might as well , would he have Created himself the trouble , have named Threescore . A various Mode , or Circumstance , does not Constitute a new Religion : It may appear in various Garbs and Dresses , be represented under other Oeconomies , and Forms , and yet continue the same for Substance . The Ocean as it salutes differing Shoars , falls under divers Denominations , yet is but the same vast Body of the Sea : There may be many false Religions ( Errour is Multiform , Truth is Uniform ) but as to any that can plead for acceptance with God , there never were but Two : That of Integrous and upright Innocent Persons in Paradice ; and that other of Sinners retrieved and brought back to God by a Mediatour . But I attend his Motions .

First , Natural Religion ( as he says ) is founded on the natural Evidences of the Divine Bounty and goodness , in making , and Governing the World . I now see my Errour , and it 's well it is not too late . He had told us , pag. 14. That Religion in its first Natural Estate , knew no Priest nor Sacrifice nor Mediatour . Whence I innocently concluded , that he spoke of a State of Pure and uncorrupt Nature , which indeed knew none of these ; but I see I was but Choust ; for here we have a Natural state of Religion , on this side the general Revolt from God , below the common Apostacy of Mankind , a Sublapsarian Posture of Affairs , which yet is a meer stranger to Priest , Sacrifice , and Mediatour , founded on Natural Evidences of Divine Bounty and Goodness . To which I humbly offer : That these Natural Evidences were not , could not be a Foundation firm enough to bear the weight of the Religion of sinners in their Return to God , so as to render them secure of Acceptation with him . For , 1. Those natural Evidences could not assure the guilty World that God would enter into a new Covenant with them , nor Treat with them upon other Terms , or upon another Account ; and as to the old Terms , they were Lost as to any hope by them . This we see plainly in Adam ; Who when he had sinned , and Guilt Recoyled upon his Conscience , in stead of Returning to God , he became Vain in his Imaginations , thinking to flie from him that is Omnipresent , or to Abscond from him that is Omniscient , he takes Covert in the Trees of the Garden ; and he gives this Reason , He heard the Voice of God , and was afraid : And yet I see not but 't was as Rational acourse , as to think of Returning to God , when in that Covenant wherein he had stood , and now had broken , there was no provision for an After-game , or salving Matters by Repentance : The Law he had Violated in the Sanction thereof , tells him he must Die . Natural Evidences from Creation or Providence , or present Patience , and Reprieve , spoke nothing , till Supernatural Evidence came in , in that Protevangelium , the Oare and Bullion of Evangelical Discoveries , The Seed of the Woman , shall break the Serpents Head , Gen. 3. 8 , 9 , 10. 15. But , 2. I say that Natural Evidence would discover only common Goodness , and general Bounty , which God might afford the sinner , without any security that he should not Perish eternally . 3. Whatever Evidences man might have that God made the World , which were Pregnant enough , yet the Evidences that God did Govern the World would afford him but cold comfort : Seeing that the Righteous Governour of the World could not be supposed by any other Laws or Rules to Administer it , than those he had given at first ; which being now broken , and the Creature withdrawn from Gods Order by Disobedience , what could Natural Light discover , but that God would Reduce the Creature again into Order by Punishment ? 4. Nor could the Evidences of Gods making the World , give any Glimps of Assurance , that first or last he would not destroy it ( though at present he suspended the Execution , upon a Secret Design of Grace lodged in his own Bosom ) unless a Mediatour had Interpos'd , and that Interposition Accepted , and both Revealed to those Consciences which were fill'd with hideous Apprehensions about the Holiness of God .

Secondly , The Mosaick Religion was founded on those Miraculous deliverances which God wrought for Israel , and that particular Providence which watched over them . To which I return : 1. The Mosaick and the Christian , are not different Religions , but one and the same for Substance , differing in Ceremony and Circumstance . What they foresaw , that we enjoy : They had Christ in Sacrifices , and we have all their Sacrifices in Christ : What they had at sundry times , and in divers manners , that have we in one Uniform way by Christ : They had scattered Particulars , we have them all summ'd up in one , Heb. 13. 8. Iesus Christ yesterday , to day , and the same for ever . 2. The Miraculous deliverances which God wrought for Israel , were indeed Cogent Motives , super-added to those many others vouchsafed them , but not the Foundation of their Religion under any Notion : When God gave the Law upon Mount Sinai , He Prefaces it with this strong Inducement ; I am the Lord thy God , which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt , out of the House of Bondage . — Thou shalt have no other Gods before me . May we now upon our Authors Warrant , say , That Gods delivering them out of Egypt , was the Foundation of their Religion in Worshipping the true God , and none besides Him ; or rather that it was an Additional Enforcement to command Obedience to that Law , which yet Antecedent to such particular Obligation , approved its Authority to their Consciences ? But that these Deliverances and Providences , were no Foundation for the Mosaick Religion , I shall endeavour to prove .

1. In that God himself declares , that he had laid another Foundation , Isa. 28. 16. Behold , I lay in Zion a sure Foundation : And this is not constitutive of what was New , but declarative of what was Old ; not only a Prophesie of what he would do , but a clearer Discovery of what he had done ; that he might lead them into stronger Expectations of that Messiah , which from time to time was promised would come , and in fulness of Time should come ; and this Foundation God laid in Zion : Which though it may express the Gospel-Church , yet surely must not exclude the Iewish , to which the Name Primarily appertains .

2. In that God had actually laid another Foundation , from the Foundation of the World , for sinners to Build their Hopes upon in their addresses to God . Thus was Christ the Lamb , slain from the Foundation of the World , Apoc. 13. 8. Slain particularly in the Sacrifices , which commencing with the New Covenant , ran a Line parallel with the Old World , to the one great Sacrifice of Christ our High Priest upon the Cross. In that first Promise then made to our first Parents , and afterwards Amplified to Abraham , was the Foundation of all acceptable Religion , and Worship , Gen. 12. 2 , 3. God promises to Abraham : In thee shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed ; which promise that it contained Christ , the Apostle assures us , Gal. 3. 8●… The Scripture fore-seeing that God would justifie t●… Heathen through Faith , Preacht before the Gosp●… to Abraham : In thee shall all the Nations of t●… Earth be blessed , ver. 16. Now to Abraham a●… his Seed , were the Promises made ; he saith not t●… Seeds , as of many , but as of one , and to thy See●… which is Christ . Now unless we will find out ●… Quintum Evangelium , that has nothing of Chri●… in it , Abraham had Christ , for he had the Gosp●… Preacht to him ; and I do not understand what Gosp●… signifies without Christ . Our Author , I me sure , ( of all the Men under Heaven ) has Reason to allo●… it ; for he would have Christ signifie Gospel , an●… therefore cannot blame us who would have Gosp●… to include Christ , because we are loth his Perso●… should be quite shut out of it . And again , Th●… Promises were made to Abraham ; And is it not strange that Promises should be made to him , and he not understand one word of them ? What wa●… the Foundation of Abraham's , was the Foundation of the Iewish Religion : Nothing at all in their Service or Worship , could plead for Acceptation , b●… as it came under the Influence of those Types which were of no value in themselves , but upon the Account of Christ . In Levit. 6. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. If ●… Soul sin , and commit a Trespass against the Lord , &c. I cannot but give the Reader , a Breviate of some Remarkables in this Scripture . 1. That the Sins here mention'd , were not ceremonial Pollutions , legal Defilements , but such Wickednesses as were discoverable by the Light , and condemned by the Law of Nature : Lying , Cozening , False-swearing , Unfaithfulness in Trust , &c. 2. That these sins did bring a proper Guilt upon the Conscience , as being committed against the Lord ; and therefore the Sinner was guilty before God , that is , Obnoxious and liable to his Displeasure , and bound over in conscience to answer it at Gods Tribunal ; ver. 1. If a Soul sin , and commit a Trespass against the Lord , ver. 4. Then it shall be because he hath sinned and is guilty . 3. That for that part of his Fact which was Injurious to his Neighbour , that which he violently took away , or the thing he hath deceitfully gotten , or that which was delivered him to keep , or the lost thing which he found ; he was to restore the principal in Specie , and to add a fifth part more , because of the Damnum emergens . 4. That notwithstanding he had thus compounded with man , he must bring his Trespass-offering to the Lord , a Ram without blemish , ver. 6. 5. The Priest was to receive the Trespass-offering at his hand , and offer it up to the Lord . 6. The design of this Offering was Attonement , procuring Favour from God . 7. Here 's a Promise of the full Pardon of sin , annexed unto this Sacrifice , ver. 7. It shall be forgiven him , for any thing of all that he hath done in Trespassing therein : Now upon the whole Matter , we observe here was Pardon of sin annext to a Sacrifice ; and yet their Reasons could tell them , as Paul has told us , Heb. 10. 4. It 's not possible that the blood of Bulls and Goats , should take away sin : And I think we may venture to say the same of the blood of Rams too . How shall these then be Reconciled ? I know no other way , but by owning the Respect which they bore to the Lord Iesus Christ , who was from the Foundation of , and all along the World the only Lamb slain , of value for these ends , in Gods Account .

Thirdly , The Christian Religion [ is founded ] on the Incarnation , Death and Resurrection , of the Son of God . Our Author had founded his own , and the Christian Religion on the Sacrifice , and Intercession of Christ , p. 15. But perhaps , fearing or finding the Foundation too narrow , has here widened it at the bottome , and taken in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ . But I hope now the Storm will blow over , and the Indignation conceived against those Persons who Love , Honour , and admire Christs Person , a little Slake ; for if their Religion , the Acceptation of their Persons and Services be built upon Him , as Sacrificed for them on the Cross , and Interceding for them on the Throne , they do judge it their duty to love him against the World . Nay , what will you say if our Author himself should become a Convert ; his own Hope , and that 's his All ( he says ) is Built on the Sacrifice , and Intercession of Christ : And can you imagine but he should Admire , and Adore his Person ? And then may there not arise a danger that he should set up a Religion of Christs Person ? However that goes , This I know , it was Christs blessed Person , that endured the Shock , and abode the Storm of that Displeasure which was due to our sin ; and no Reason can be assigned , why a Person should endure all the Sorrow , and not have also the Love , Honour , and Admiration of them for whom he endured it : And if some few Holy men be a little Transported with the Love of Christ , methinks it 's easily pardonable ; very few die of that Disease ; no danger this Age should be Hot in the fourth Degree of Love to a Redeemer , that our Author should be necessitated to Write a Book for fear it should Poyson us : For my part I meet with no such Paroxisms of Divine Love , that his Iulip should be so much cry'd up ; but I would fain please my self with this , that whilst he seems Frigidam suffundere , his Real Design is to make us all more in Love with Christ by a Spiritual Antiperistasis .

( 2. ) This gives great Reverence and Authority to his Gospel , that it was Preacht by so Great a Person as the Son of God . And therefore whilst he is in the good Humour , let him Retract those Severe and Toothed Satyrs , wherewith he has Torn and Lasht those poor Honest Men for loving his Person , but Neglecting his Laws ; when he tells us here , The greater Reverence we have for his Person , the more sacred Regard we have for his Laws . Perhaps he was then under an Accession of Gout , Stone , or Cholick , or some of the peevish Distempers , which made him so Testy , and Teachy , with his best Friends ; but now he 's a little come home to himself , he 's in as Sweet , Treatable , and Debonaire a Humour as one could wish , if it would but last . I confess , some may think that All this is nothing but a Complement which he passes upon Christ's Person , or a little Holy-water he sprinkles in his Face ; and that there Lurks a Snake under these fair Flowers . — For he plainly makes Laws and Gospel , Edaequate , and Commensurate Terms . This gives Reverence to the Gospel , [ for ] Laws always partake of the Fate , and condition of the Law-giver : The Gospel as Contradistinguisht to the Covenant of Works , denotes the glad Tidings of Salvation by a Mediatour , or the joyful News that there was Forgiveness with God , that He might be feared . As contradistinguisht to the Old Testament-state , it is the glad Tidings of the Son of God sent into the World , that taking upon him our Nature , he might therein become a Curse for us , and by his perfect Obedience to the Law , might Purchase and Procure Eternal Life : And are Christs Laws and His Gospel become Convertible ? Is there no Revelation ? No Promise ? Nothing done for us , which cannot come under the Nature of a Law ? The Laws of Christ then are Holy , and Just , and Good ; that the Greatness of his Person Consiliates Reverence , and due Regard to them we acknowledge ; that Law and Gospel are words of equal Extent , we deny , and do think our Author will be harder put to it to prove Christ to signifie Law , than to signifie Gospel : Much less are we satisfied in his Comparison . Numa pretended he received his Laws from the Goddess Aegeria , to procure a greater Veneration to them . Thus God , &c. Say you so ? Did God procure Veneration for his Laws with such a cunning Trick , a Pia fraus , as Politick Numa did ? Or is Christ grown an Instrument of Government , as he tells us hereafter Gods Justice is ? Well , I hope he Meant honestly , or else it will be somewhat hard to be tied to Mean just as he Means .

( 3. ) The Greatness of his Person gives great Authority to his Example , for he came to be our Prophet , and our Guide , to Teach us by his Precepts and his Life . Believe it , this is something like ? The World is well amended since pag. 5. For then Preaching the Gospel was the Exercise of his Regal Power . And now here he has brought it into Decorum again , and at present is under a Pang of Modern Orthodoxy . But his Example gives us an Evident Demonstration , wherein the Perfection of Humane Nature consists ; for he lived up to the Perfection of Humane Nature , and the only way to be Perfect is to Live as he Lived . Why then , I doubt , we must never be in any sence Perfect all the days of our Lives ; for in the very next Page , he proves , That Christs becoming Poor , though he was Rich ; a Servant , though he was Lord of Life , are such Expressions of Love as we can never fully Imitate ; and so Adieu to all Perfection to the Worlds end . It was , indeed , Prudently done to Imitate the Wisdome of Nature , to Plant his Antidote so near his Poyson , that if he scatter'd Infection in one Page , to fortifie our feeble Spirits against the Impressions of it in another . A little Observation will Dismiss this Period . And ,

1. One would think that to live as Christ lived , was not so much the way to Perfection , as Perfection it self . Your dull Syntagmatical Divines use to distinguish between the Means and the End ; or the way to the Wood , and the Wood it self ; but great Spirits are above Pedantick Laws , and therefore to please all Parties , for once let the way to be Perfect , be to be Perfect .

2. I observe that the Scripture owns some to be Perfect who never lived , all out , nay , nothing near so well as Christ lived , 1 Chron. 15. 17. The heart of Asa was perfect all his days ; and yet we read , that In his Disease he sought not to the Lord , but to the Physitian ; he took not away the High places ; he was wroth with the Prophet Hanani , and put him in Prison ; and yet perhaps our Author can Evade , That notwithstanding this , he might come up to his Pattern ; for Christ himself , once or twice , put on the Person of a Iewish Zealot . There was then a time when a man might have been perfect , and yet not Live up to the absolute Perfection of Christ , but I perceive it s lost , and is to be numbered amongst the Resperditae of Pancirol . To conclude , How far Christ is to be Imitated , is a Question of greater Difficulty , than at first sight may be Imagined . Some Works he performed as God , others as Mediatour , and others as a Man . Those which he performed as God , the Miraculous Operations of the Deity , none need be disswaded from Imitation of ; for no stronger a Reason , than because 't is Impossible : To Raise the Dead , cast out Devils , Cure Diseases with a Word , or Touch , are Matter of our Admiration , not Imitation . I know , indeed , some of our Modern Schoolmen , will tell us , That though we cannot Imitate Christ herein to the height , yet we may imitate him as far as we can . Thus though Raising the Dead , be a little too Many for you , yet you may come to the Grave of your dead Friend , command him to come forth ; but if he be Sullen , and will not stir hand nor foot , let him take his Course , and lie there still like his Grace in cold Clay clad : You have done your Duty , and may satisfie your Conscience , that you have Imitated Christ as far as you can , by as Useful a Figure as any is in Rhethorick , called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . The Works which Christ performed as Mediatour , though we cannot Imitate them for those special Ends which Christ had in His Eye ; yet must we Imitate that Moral principle from which , and the General End unto which , he Levelled those Actions : Thus we cannot Die for that end for which Christ Died , especially to Attone sin , yet may we , must we Conform our Souls to that Love which carried him out to the Work , and Eye the general Advantage of the Church , in laying down our Lives when called to it , 1 John 3. 16. Herein perceive we the Love of God , that he laid down his Life for us , and we ought to lay down our Lives for the Brethren . And the Argument concludes strongly : If Christ [ a Person so great ] laid down his Life , [ a Life so precious ] for us [ so unworthy ] and in such a way to be a Propitiation for our sins ; how much more , ought we [ Inconsiderable Creatures ] to lay down our Lives [ so useless ] for the Brethren , [ so dear to God ] when our single Death , may by the Providence of God , prevent some Impending danger , or notable Ruine , that Threatens the Community ? So again , Col. 3. 13. As Christ forgave you , so also do ye . We are to forgive , as Christ forgave : And yet the [ As ] is a Note of Similitude , not of Equality : Christ's forgiveness is one thing , ours another ; they differ Specifically , yet there 's a Moral equity which holds , that if Christ freely pardons our sins , much more ought we ( in our way ) to pass by , and not Rigidly exact those Trespasses committed against us . But the Actions of Christ , as a Man Living in Obedience to the Moral Law , and especially that Frame of Cheerfulness , Readiness , Sincerity therein , these call for our Imitation .

(4) This assures us of the Infinite value of his Sacrifice , and the power of his Intercession . I have heard some Travellers , when they have met with a spot of good way , after long tedious laping in the Dirt , say , they could be tempted to ride it over again , but the consideration , how long they have been , and how soon again they must be engaged in wayes of the same difficulty , has reformed the vanity of that Crotchet . I could gladly dwell upon some pleasant passages in this Chapter , ( which prove undenyably that there 's no such thing as summum malum in the world , ) but that I am importun'd by the approaching foul way to make haste into it , that I may get the sooner through it . Sun-shine is pleasant , but it often proves a breed-storm ; and a Dead calm in our Master Aristotles Philosophy is the Prognostick and Prodrome of an Earth-quake . But yet why should we kill our selves for fear of dying , and make our selves miserable for fear another should do it for us ? We will then make the best we can of the present Halcyon tranquillity : This assures us of the Infinite value of his Sacrifice , and the Power of his Intercession , 'T is so indeed ; for though the Manhood onely was the Sacrifice , yet the Person God-Man was the Priest ; and though the Sacrifice was not God , yet was it the Sacrifice of him who was God ; none can therefore wonder that our Author calls it of Infinite value . Nor on the other hand let any surmise , that he uses the Term Infinite to impose upon us ; though some perhaps may carry a jealous Eye over him , because he has dropt an odde word or two elsewhere which seem to warp the sence of Infinite to Finite , or Indefinite ; In p. 208. he denyes that the Divine Nature it self hath endless , boundless , bottomless Grace in it ; Though God be rich in Grace , he hath no where told us , that his Mercy was bottomless and boundless , ( which yet is that Notion of Infinite that we have ever Received ) and yet the same Author , in the same Page , will allow Grace to be Infinite . A world of sin is somewhat , though it bear no Proportion to infinite Grace . Hence I perceive some would inferre , that if the Grace of the Father may be infinite , and yet not boundless , the Blood of the Son may be so too , of Infinite value , that is , of a great uncertain worth , in which sence Vorstius will allow God to be Infinite : They do also foment their own suspicion from what here follows , as it were by way of Exegesis : His Sacrifice was of greater value than the Blood of Bulls and Goats . Nay then , if there was onely a Magis and a Minùs in the case , all this might be , and yet Christs Sacrifice come infinitely short of Infinite . These things may be objected , but for my own part , ( though he be angry at it in other places , when he is not concerned ) I shall interpret his words according to their Chime and clink , and charitably expound his meaning by the sound of words .

That which follows is Truely excellent . God cannot but be pleas'd , when his own Son undertakes to be a Ransome , and to make an Attonement for sinners , which is so great a Vindication of Gods Dominion and Sovereignty , of the Authority of his Laws , the Wisdom and Iustice of his Providence , that he may securely pardon humble and penitent sinners , without reproaching any of his Attributes . What pity 't is a single word should here be lost .

1. God will not , indeed cannot , pardon any sin to the reproach of his Attributes . The hopes of sinners are small , if these be their hopes , that to pardon them God will destroy Himself : It would be the reproach of pardoning Mercy it self , should we conceive it ready to pardon without respect to the Interest of other Attributes . As therefore God is ready to pardon , a way must be contrived that he may securely pardon ; and when 't is said [ he cannot ] 't is no Impeachment of His Omnipotency ; He is therefore Omnipotent because he cannot Doe some things , the Doing whereof would imply want of Power . He cannot Dye , and is therefore the rather Omnipotent , because he cannot : He cannot Deny himself , and therefore he can doe all things , because he cannot doe that ; for he that can Deny Himself , his Word , Promise , or Threatning , may be presumed Able to doe very little : Thus therefore God cannot pardon sin , without security that his Attributes be not reproached , for so to doe , would argue a Remisseness , and languid easiness in a Governour which is a weakness , and no perfection .

2. We gather from our Author , That even humble and penitent sinners need the Interposition of Christ , that God may securely pardon them : for besides that even they are but imperfectly such , and that sin still cleaves to their Repentance and Humiliation , and further that the displicency of God against sin , as it is sin , small or great , is essential to Him ; besides all this , those however humble and penitent ones , turning from sin for the future , have yet old scores to discharge , former Reckonings to clear , and have need of Christ to cross the Book for old Arrears , though for the time to come they should reach the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; which yet it 's much to a little , they will not doe : but when Christ undertakes to be a Ransome , God may securely pardon humble and penitent sinners , and not till then .

3. In pardoning of these humble and penitent sinners , Gods Dominion , Sovereignty , and the Authority of his Laws must be vindicated ; for God being the Righteous Iudge of all the Earth , should he discover a facile Indulgence , and indifferent connivence at Sin , the Authority of his Lawes were gone in a moment , and the sinews of Government cut asunder ; God then must be declared to be a Righteous God ; the Sanction of the Law , as to Promise running thus ; Doe this and live : Doe this personally , doe this exactly , doe this constantly and perpetually , and then live ; and as to Threatning thus : Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to doe them , Gal. 3. 10. And of the same mind with our Author is , ( as I remember ) one Dr. I. O. who is very peremptory , that the Iustice of God may have its actings assigned to the full ; which is not done by Any that ever yet was heard of , but the Lord Jesus Christ : Now whilest I see the sweet Agreement of these two at present , I fancy my self with Aeneas in the Elysian fields , pleasing himself with the Amicable correspondence held between Caesar and Pompey ; and yet his delight mixt with another passion , even grief in the foresight of their Civil Wars and Friendly Debates .

Illae autem , Paribus quas fulgere cernis in Armis , Concordes Animae nunc , & dum nocte Premuntur , Heu ! quantum inter se bellum , si Lumina Vitae Attigerint , quantas Acies stragémque ciebunt ▪ ? Aeneid . lib. 6.

4. Jesus Christ having undertaken to be a Ransome , and to make Attonement for Sinners , and his blood being of Infinite value , the oldest , greatest , and stubbornest Sinners , through Faith may possibly come to be concern'd in Christs Ransome , and Attonement , and so may be saved with a Notwithstanding their sins ; for seeing Gods Dominion , S●…vereignty , the Authority of his Laws , the Wisdom and Iustice of his Providence , are all vindicated by this Means , and security given that none of his Attributes shall be reproached , what can Now hinder repenting sinners from coming to God ? and what can hinder God from rewarding those that so come , and diligently seek him ? Nay ,

5. God cannot but be well pleased when his own Son undertakes to be a Ransome , and to make Attonement for sinners . And the Reason is evident , The price being of Infinite value , and payd into God●… hands , he cannot but be satisfied with it . Nay further , We can Reasonably desire no greater security for the Performance of the Gospel-Covenant , than that it was sealed with the Blood of Christ , the surety of a better Testament , Heb. 7. 22. who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , one that undertakes for the Performance of it . I could willingly lose my self , my Reader , and my Time in the Throng of these good words . Say not ; This is only the Sealing of a Covenant on Gods part , undertaking for him whose veracity needs none to undertake for it ; but not for us , whose guilt and weakness needs an undertaker . The Covenant being mutual , the undertaking must be supposed Reciprocal also ; and so I hope our Author intends it ; that as Christ undertakes for God , with Man , so he undertakes with Man unto God . Perhaps you will say , A word or two might have been added , to have put matters out of dispute ; why so there might in any bodies Writings besides his , and as many spared , hanc veniam petimúsque damúsque . As 1. It 's likely you would have had him say , The Vertue of Christs Sacrifice depends not onely very much on the Greatness of his Person , but Altogether , and the Acceptation thereof with God depends on the Compact between them both ; seeing that which depends altogether , does depend very much on the Greatness of his Person ; and therefore pray let that break no squares . 2. Whereas he sayes , The Blood of the Son of God , is such a Confirmation of the Covenant , as the World never had before . Perhaps you would add Actually , because the World had it before Virtually exhibited in Sacrifices , and accepted as already Performed : But set your hearts at Rest , whether he meant well or ill in this Chapter , I 'le engage you shall not be prejudiced , if he happens to discover an ill meaning in the next Chapter ; and in the mean time , let us go seek all over Pauls Church-yard , Little-Britain and Duk-lane , for an old Treatise , De modo tenendi Anguillam Aequivocationis per Caudam .

(5) The Person of Christ is of no other Consideration in the Christian Religion , than as it has an influence upon the great Ends of his Undertaking . I confess , I had thought , our Author had not been upon the Head , What Consideration the Person of Christ is of ? but , Of what Use the Consideration of his Person is ? but let that pass . I had thought too , that the former four particulars had shewn us , What influence Christs Person has upon the great Ends of his Undertaking ; and therefore this seems not to be a fifth Particular , but the total summe of the other four , but I wave that too . The Lord Jesus Christ undertook both with God and with Man ; for God , and for Man , and he had special Ends of his undertaking in both . He undertook for God , that he should be willing to pardo●… sinners ; and for man , that he should return and come back to God : He undertook to God , that his Attributes should not be reproached , but all secured , his Righteousness cleared , his Holiness vindicated ; he undertook to man that God should make every word and letter of the Promises good ; as they stand in the Covenant of Grace : He undertook that God●… Iustice , should not break out upon the believing , repenting creature , to consume him ; and he undertook that Man should not break in upon Gods glory , nor break away from Gods Wayes , in a manner inconsistent with a New Covenant . What a horrid Absurdity then must it be , to imagine that his Person will destroy these Ends , or to expect more from the excellency of his Person , than his Gospel has promised Most wretchedly therefore doe they deceive themselves , and wrong the Redeemer , who Trusting to the goodness of his Nature , Renounce his Mediation ; that trust in his Person without a Promise , nay in contradiction to the Terms of that Covenant which he hath seal'd with his Blood ; that quit hi●… Promise , to rely and rowl on his Person : For should he acquit those men whom his Gospel condemns , wilfull and incorrigible sinners , this would flatly disannull the Covenant : Though he may absolve such sinners as the Covenant of Works condemns , through the Intervention of Christs Sacrifice .

But I perceive we are besides the Cushion all this while , nay besides the Book , for he knows none tha●… will in so many words own it , nor does he , dares he charge any man with it ; but yet it 's the natural I●…terpretation of Trusting in the Person of Christ . That is , It 's impossible to Trust in Christs Person , but you doe ipso facto Renounce his Mediation : or to Trust in his Blood , but you must ●…o Nomine doe it in Contradiction to the Terms of the Covenant sealed therewith ; or which is all one , it 's impossible but that things subordinate should be opposite ; The blood of Christ and the Covenant of Christ are perfectly 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; The Person of the Mediator , and his Mediatory work cannot be conceived , but they involve the thoughts in a thousand Contradictions ; Positio unius , est Remotio Alterius ; Nay soft sayes he , I onely mean , in case they understand any more by these things , than expecting to be saved according to the Terms of the Gospel-Covenant . I do not think they doe . And as our Author gave his word for those that are suspected to make Christs Person useless ; if my word would go as far as his , I would readily engage it for them who are suspected to make his Laws useless . And so once again , all is Husht and still ; and the fearfull skirmish that was towards , is at present stinted , Pulveris exigui jactû .

Let me therefore in the Close , give our Author one wholsome Caution : That he would not be too rash and peremptory in drawing , or wracking Conclusions from other mens Expressions . Some will think , he has mistaken in his own , and may with more ease in others Principles , and the Conclusions from thence . A Ladder of Deductions and Inferences forty Rounds long , is not easily master'd : A Sorites or Climax may quickly impose upon us ; we are never sooner cheated than in a Chain of many links , the smallest interruption may secr●…tly and insensibly discompose the whole series and concatenation of Dependencies , wherein we fancy an infallible Connexion ; I would not anticipate 〈◊〉 Hericano ; ill weather comes unsent for ; and is alwayes too soon , and unwelcome when it comes the latest ; let us therefore keep our selves well , whilest we are well .

Thus smoothly we conclude ; and say , Here ends your Worships Chapter for the Day .

CHAP. III.

Section 1. Of the Knowledge of Christ .

THis Section allures the Eye of the Reader with the specious Frontispiece of the knowledge of Christ , but proves a mere MockBeggar-Hall , and Fools Expectation , like a Fair Porch to no House , or a great Mountain without a Mouse ; just like the Guilded Titles of Apothecaries Boxes , which pretend to Lodge the rich Drugs of Pontus , and both the Indies ; but are Inhabited often by the Poysonous Spider , and Hung with Cobweb-Tapistry , Spun out of her own Bowels , and Woven with her curious Fingers : Or like those gawdy Signs which Encounter us upon the Road , whose promising Motto first Invites the Traveller with Hopes of Horse-meat , and Mans-meat , and then Baffles his hopes with Entertainment that would sterve a Dog : To see our Author heaving for a far-fetcht Blow , you would verily think he Design'd to Knock the Business stone-dead for ever ; whilst he does but Imitate the Black-smith , that would needs Use the great Sledge - Hammer to Kill a Flie on his Childs Fore-head , and very Discreetly dasht out the poor Infants Brains . Leave we him therefore to the Satisfaction of his own private Thoughts a while , and let ours give the Readers Patience a small Exercise .

The Happiness of Man consists in the Knowing and Enjoying the True God , blessed for ever ; and therefore He , who is never wanting to his own Glory , nor to His Creatures Happiness ( in such ways as best Comply with His own Unsearchable Wisdom ) first Created Man , and then gave him an Understanding to Know , a Heart to Love and Enjoy His Creator : Admirably proportioning his Faculties to his Employment ; and as he made it his Work and Wages to Love and Serve , he furnisht him with a Soul qualifi'd to Love and Serve his God : But when Man had sinned , and thereby lost his Fitness for that blessed Service ; it pleas'd God to enter into a New and better Covenant with him , Establisht upon that Promise , Gen. 3. 15. The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents Head . God would not suffer Satan to rejoyce too much in his success , and glory in his greater hopes , that he should sweep the World before him , and draw the rational Creation into the same Ruine , into which he found himself Irrecoverably Plunged . The Father had Divided to the Redeemer a Portion with the Great , and Promised He should Divide the Spoyl with the strong , and Wrest out of his hands that Advantage he had gotten over Man by sin , and the Curse inseparably annext to it : In the Faith of this Promise , had guilty Man encouragement to Return to God , and not sinck down in black Despaire , to which , the Reflexions he must needs make upon that Cursed state he had so cheaply brought himself into , could not but Expose him . And though the Generality of the Sons of Men through their own sinful Neg●…ect , Lost the Faith of that first and precious Promise ; yet the Gracious God took Effectual Care , that his Service and Worship should be carried down in a chosen Seed and holy Line , from our first Parents , by righteous Abel , heavenly Enoch , upright Noah and others , to believing Abraham , to whom he was Graciously pleas'd to vouchsafe a more Distinct and Explicit Revelation of the Promised Seed : And whereas before , all Families of the Earth might equally pretend to the hopes of it , Now God Clears and Secures it to his Faith , that in his Seed ( by the Line of Isaac ) should all the Nations of the Earth be Blessed . In pursuance of this Promise , and the glorious Design managed thereupon , he Renews in a more Solemn , Ample , and full Manner , the Covenant of Grace with him , the Epitome , and Abstract whereof was this , Gen. 17. 7. I will be thy God . And for the greater Security , adds Circumcision , a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith , Rom. 4. 11. As the Family of Abraham was branched out into two ; so we observe how the vigilant Eye of Providence Traces that Line , by which He had fore-appointed to Conveigh so Rich a Mercy as a Redeemer , down to the following Generations : And accordingly he Hedges it about with special Care , Waters it with extraordinary Blessings , Impales it from the Common and Wild of the World , by distinguishing Ordinances , that it might get a fixed Root in the Earth . Hence was Ishmael waved , and Isaac taken into special Protection ; Esau excluded , and Jacob comes under the peculiar Cognizance of God ; just as the Stream and Current of the Promise found its proper Channel , and the other Old ones grew either Shallow and Inconsiderable , or quite Dried up . For the better Securing , and more prosperous Managing this great Project , God was also pleased to cast the Posterity of Iacob into a visible Church-frame , and Political Model , appointing to them a Ceremonial Law as an Appendice to the former ; and the Iudicial Law as an Appendice to the latter Table of the Moral Law , accommodating so the whole , that all might lead to Him who was indeed the whole life and Soul of that Administration ; An High-priest and other inferiour ones he also instituted , with great variety of Sacrifices and operose services , ( arising from the beggarliness and poverty of all Types ) fully to represent the Messiah , in whom they did more abundantly meet ; yet herein might they ( as in a Glass ) eye a Redeemer , and in him , God appeased , sin pardoned , and their Persons justified , and accepted ; The satisfactory Reason whereof lay onely in him , who was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World , in Gods Acceptation , and representation to the Faith of Believers . Now whilest God did thus Train up the Jewish Church , in the hopes , and expectation of a Deliverer ; he offered also to others of the World , ( though forfeiting Gods especial Notice by the general revolt , and common Apostacy , ) a joynt Interest in those priviledges stated and settled upon the Iudaical Church as her Dowry , provided they would come under the bond of the Covenant , and joyn themselves to the people of God , and thereby attend the great Ends and reach of Divine Grace , to save sinners by the Intervention of the seed of the Woman . And further , to leave some standing hints upon Record , that in due time he intended to throw open the bedge , and let the Gentiles into the Priviledges of the Iews , ( who seem'd the Monopolizers of all true Religion , and Worship ) it has graciously pleas'd the same God to reveal to some few others out of the Purlieus of that Body , as to Iob , the Doctrine of a Redeemer , as early pledges to the World , that those favours should not alwayes lye under Sequestration ; How miraculously God preserved this Church and State , is needless to insist on ; but remarkable was his Care over Iudah , that though she had justifi'd her sister Samaria , and out-done those in sin , whom she had out-gone in Mercy , yet when the ten Tribes were hurried away into Captivity ; God remembred that ancient Promise , that Scepter and Law-giver were not to depart from Iudah , till he that should come , was come : and therefore notwithstanding as heynous provocations ( all Circumstances considered , ) and proportionable dangers , as ever yet exposed a people to utter ruine , still Iudah lived : And though the Holy God in Vindication of his wronged Honour before the world , was concern'd to visit their Iniquities with a Seventy years Captivity in Babylon , yet still he kept a fixed Eye upon the Tribe of Iudah , and especially the Family of David , to which ( e're this ) the producing of the Messiah had been entai●…ed . And it was not for Nothing , that after their Return , they were so precise and punctual in their Genealogies , that there might no scruple arise in after-times , when Christ should come , but that he was of the Stock of Abraham , of the Tribe of Iudah , of the seed of David according to the flesh : In contemplation of which stupendious design , the wisdom of its management , his Arm made bare , to second and back the work , how the Great God preserved the Iewish Polity from utter dissolution , till it had done its work , and teem'd the Messiah into the World ; and when that was done , how all things conspired for its dissolution ; how the greatest Convulsions and Earthquakes , which would have unhinged other Kingdoms , and have thrown them from their Consistency , yet made that Common-wealth take deeper root , whilest God would serve himself thereof , and when he had no more service for that Tribe , how it was scatter'd ; How Providence marvellously secured the Vessel ( in the midst of those waves which the Malice of Hell endeavoured to lift up as high as Heaven ) wherein the Salvation of the World was embarqued , and when it had once safely landed a Saviour in the habitable parts of the Earth , where his delights had been , how the Ship sprung a leak , and sunk of it self : These things make me ( with the Divine Herbert ) pause , and say ,

How dear to me , O God , thy Councels are ! Who may with thee compare ?

But our Authors lips doe not like these Lettuces : Two things he industriously sweats at in this Section : First , To shew us , Wherein Happiness consists , and then to inform us in the Way and Means to reach that Happiness ; A glorious Undertaking indeed ; wherein though he should founder , yet an Attempt has its praise , and may at least plead for Phaëtons Epitaph ,

Quem si non tenuit , Magnis tamen excidit Ausis .

It was Austins Censure of the Platonists , Patriam viderunt , Viam ignorârunt : They were convinc'd that true Happiness must needs consist in enjoying the True God . The chiefest Good , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . A Being , Self-being , Essential being ; but they were wretchedly bewildred in finding out the way to the enjoyment of him ; and for all their skill could never double the Cape of good Hope . Where Plato ended , our Author begins , Ubi desinit Philosophus , incipit Theologus ; and wherein he fail'd , he undertakes to write his Supplement .

[1] Then ( though there be less need of that ) would you know wherein true happiness consists ? you are answer'd , In the Knowledge and Love of God , who is the greatest and best Being . If he means the utmost happiness Mans Nature is capable of , it wants a word or two ; This Knowledge must be a perfect Knowledge , and this Love , a perfect Love ; and to this Knowledge , and Love of Man to God , you must adde the Sense of Gods Love to , and delight in Man , and Mans reciprocal satisfaction and complacency in God as his Portion . It 's a tedious Question bandyed amongst the School-men , wherein the Formale of Blessedness lyes ; some contend for the Vision , others for the Love of God : but he seems to me to have determin'd best , who has joyn'd both ; Faelicitas hominis consistit quidem in Visione , sed Charitativâ ; & in Amore , sed Oculatissimo . The Happiness of Man consists in the most Loving Sight , and in the most Seeing Love of God ; but the Controversie will not lye here .

[2] For the Means of Reaching this Happiness , he assigns this ; God hath made known himself and will to the World . Our Author is now obliging Posterity with a Discovery of the North-east Passage to China , and the Indies ; the old way round about Africa is tedious , and dangerous , and therefore let him not want the Trade-wind of your Prayers , that he meet not with Sir Hugh Willoughbies Fate , whilest he attempts to make out a shorter Cutt. Now concerning this , you must understand ; That God who is never wanting to his own Glory , and the Happiness of his Creatures , hath taken care in all Ages , by one Means or other to make known himself , and his Will to the World . Our Author presumes he has penn'd this Discourse with much Artifice , and laid a train of fallacies for us , which if not timely discovered , and prevented , will irrecoverably blow us and our Cause up into the Aire , in the next Section : But indeed the best part of his Policy is the confounding of things , and involving them in such Intricacies and Perplexities , that it 's much harder to discover his Errors , than to confute them being once discovered ; like what Physicians tell us of the Hectick Fever , that in its first Rise it 's hardly discerned , but otherwise easily cured ; and at length easily discovered , but then impossible to be removed ; according to the French Proverb , Toutes les maladies , termines en Ique , font aux Medecins la Nique . And therefore , e re things are gone too far , and we be given over by Aesculapius himself , as those whom safety it self cannot save , let us try if we may prevent a growing evil .

And (1) it stumbles some I perceive , that he layes the Happiness of Mankind in the Knowledge and Love of God , and then the Means to that End in making known himself , and his will ; which looks as if the Means and the End were coincident , and the knowledge of God , were the way to know God .

(2) He supposes that God has by one Means or other made himself known : by which Means , if he understand no more than the lowest Agents , and subordinate Instruments , it will not doe his work , and we can grant what will not serve his Cause ; but if he exclude the Son of God , who is the Sovereign Revealer of the Fathers Counsels in all Ages ; that we shall not grant , and that he cannot prove .

(3) We are more dissatisfied about this one point , that he makes the Revelation of Gods Will a sufficient Means for Happiness , to all Ages : for though it were granted to have been so , in the state of primitive Integrity ; yet it 's not so in those Ages when the whole world lay in wickedness . The Spirit of God describes the state of Sin , to be a state of Impotency . Rom. 5. 6. When ye were yet without strength , in due time Christ dyed for the ungodly : There must goe something more ( then ) to make the Means sufficient to attain that End , than a Naked discovery of what God would have Sinners doe , even strength and ability to doe it ; for the Will of God was , and is the same ; Doe this and live ; and if strength be not afforded to fulfill this Law exactly ( which none could ever yet find ) nor a Substitute allowed , ( which some will not accept , ) Man may , and must perish as well with , as without the discovery of Gods Will ; with this onely difference , that he sees now his sin going before him unto Iudgement .

(4) It 's very vain to talk of Mans tampering about doeing the Will of God , in Order to Eternal Life , till some means be found out to take up the old Controversie ; and make a peace betwixt God , and his Creature , that they may treat upon other Terms ▪ We are sure Adam thought it so ; And the first in its kind may well be allow'd the just measure of all after Attempts ; who when he had sinn'd , went and hid himself ; at once discovering both his Rational fear , which was to stand before God ; and his foolish contrivance , which was , to hide himself from God in the Covert of the Trees , under which ( nay under Rocks and Mountains ) it had been more comfortable for him ever to have shrowded his guilty Face , had not God revealed the postliminary means of conversing with him .

(5) We think our Authors Reason is as lame , as his Assertion , viz. Because God is never wanting to his Creatures happiness : To which I return ,

1. God will not have his Goodness impeached , because he exerts it such a Way , Method , and Measure , as seemed good to his own infinite wisdom , and sovereign pleasure : If any shall dare to charge God foolishly , I doubt not he will acquit himself well enough ; but if he will plead his Prerogative , he can demur to the Iurisdiction of the Court , and refuse before the Barr of Imperious and sawcy Reason , to give an Account of any of his matters , Job 33. 13. But ,

2. God did create man upright at first , and if he departs from the Law of his Creation . I know not whether an Action will lye against his Goodness , should he leave him to perish in his Apostacy ; A Father is not bound to set up his Son , as oft as he will shut up shop and become Bankrupt .

3. God was not wanting to the Happiness of his Creature when fallen ; but did provide a remedy for him , and remembred him in his law , in his lost Estate ▪ because his mercy endured for ever : but then 't is upon another Account than this Assign'd by our Author : for he supposes , That Gods not being wanting to his own Glory , and not being wanting to his Creatures happiness , stand upon one and the same level , in equal terms of Necessity : but I suppose quite another thing ; God had not been wanting to his own Glory , could have secur'd that well enough , though Man had perished , though he had never revealed a Mediator betwixt God and Man : And that he has done it , is to be ascribed to a Sovereign Act of Grace . But I see what things are vereing to : Deus non erit Deus , nisi homini placuerit : God shall not be God , unless he approve himself to every Caprice of a Rational Divine ; who has two peculiar Priviledges , and incommunicable Properties ; one , that he may call whom he will Irrational ; and the other , that he may canonize what he will for Reason .

4. I 'le throw him in a little one . Although he tells us , God is not wanting to the happiness of his Creatures , and therefore by one means or other he revealed himself to the World : yet he also acquaints us , p. 30. Long and sad experience proved all these wayes ineffectual : And as good never a whit , as never the near ; For all this was but rubbing a Brickbatt , and putting a Blackmore into a Lather , and so we are but just as we were ; for though he was not wanting to them , yet it seems , wisdom was wanting to Him , whose Contrivances did not attain their Ends ; and thus our Author has spun a fair thred ; I 'le onely mind him of the Epigram :

Turpe est difficiles habere Nugas , Et stultus labor est Ineptiarum .

Having discoursed these things in general , it 's a fine sight to stand by , whilest our Author is dividing the World into Provinces ; and its several Appartments : And you shall hear him ( not ●…ispute , but ) with the Cartesian ; Provincias dare Atomis , or split a single Cummin-seed into four and twenty equal parts .

(1) For the state of Integrity ; How God was not wanting to his Creatures Happiness therein , he informs you at large . He left such visible Impresses of his own Wisdom and Power on the works of Nature , and planted in the Mind of Man such a Natural Knowledge of himself , that it was as easie to discover the first Author of all things , as it 's now for a well disposed Eye to see the Sun when it shines , and while Man preserved his Innocency , God Himself did not disdeign to converse with him . And so I hope Adam is well provided for : Some may think , that we are here less agreed , and others that we are more of a Mind than indeed we really are . I shall not take notice of that Phrase of conversing with God , it looks as if it were neer a kin to , and well nigh as bad , as that of holding Communion with God , which he afterwards throwes up his Nose so scornfully at : Some other matters may have a Room in our Consideration : As ,

[1] That this Knowledge of God was Natural , had need be a little better trimmed than ordinary : Natural , either imports what is constitutive of our Beings , or flows immediately from the Principles of Nature ; or else what is congruous , and agreeable to our Natures , as designed for such an Employment as is proper to them : If he take Natural in the first sence , I softly deny that , The Knowledge of God which made or would have made Adam happy , was Natural to him : And my Reason is , that what does so constitute Nature , or flow immediately from the Principles thereof , cannot possibly be separated from that Being , but withall , the very Being is destroy'd ; but we see damned Souls and Devils retain all that knowledge of God , which did constitute their Essences , and yet have lost all that knowledge of God , which is or may be a Means to their happiness ; they retain their Beings , are not physically stript of them , though they are Morally devested of all the Comfort of their Beings : but then if by Natural Knowledge , no more be intended , but that upon supposition , God would create man to serve , love , and enjoy him , it was due to a Being so posited , to be so qualified : If man must serve his Maker , and in that service enjoy him , and in that enjoyment be Happy in him , then indeed is it natural , such a Knowledge , such a Will , such a Heart , should be bestow'd upon him ; but I would have this Bush soundly beaten by a better Huntsman than my self , and ten to one , he may from under it start a Pelagian .

[2] It would be enquired , whether this Natural Knowledge was a sufficient means for Adams Happiness ? Our Author seems clearly to assert it , but I confess I cannot joyn with him , as believing that much more was required of , and indeed bestow'd upon him than a Natural Knowledge of God . He was made in the Image , and likeness of God , Gen. 1. 26 , 27. A main part of that Image lay in Righteousness , Eccles. 7. 29. God made man upright , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Rectum ; there was a Rectitude of all the Powers and Faculties ; an exact conformity of them to one another ; and of all to the Revealed Will of God ; And this appears , In that the Image of God restored by Grace , assures us what that Image was which he once had , but since has lost , Eph. 4. 24. And that ye put on the New Man which after God is created in Righteousness , and True Holiness : And indeed , the first man not being capable of a forreign Righteousness , whereby he might be justifi'd , ( that Covenant either not needing it , supposing he had stood , or not admitting it , on supposition of a Fall ) he must necessarily have a Righteousness inherent , one of his own , to qualifie him to hold Communion , or ( to speak warrantably with our Author ) converse with God .

[3] I question much that Expression of Innocence , as not very Innocent ; it has been taken upon suspicion many a time , and sometime could not give a good Account of it self . Casta quidem sed non credita : And it has been the more narrowly observed , since a Generation of Men arose in the world who would perswade us , That the Perfection of Man in his first Creation , lay not in any positive Qualities of Holiness , Righteousness , and Truth , but in a bare Freedom from sin ; That is , they would fancy Man to have been created as pure white and Innocent as a sucking Lamb ; but not so much as the first preparative blue towards the tincture of any Vertues ; but whether this one word in our Author , may be iuterpreted so high , time must discover . And hitherto of the State wherein God created Man .

( 2. ) A second Period of Time into which our Author has Thrown the World , is that from Adam to Abraham , inclusively . Upon which Interval he Philosophizes even to our wonderment . In after-Ages as Mankind grew more corrupt , and declined to Idolatry . Here I want our Authors Accuracy , or must complain of a Fallacy ; for methinks it 's a deadly long stride , to step from Adam to after-Ages , without the Bridge of some Neat Transition ; he might have made two steps of this : just now , we found Man in the state of Innocency , and now we find him corrupt , and declined to Idolatry , and yet none can imagine how this evil of Sin and Misery invaded the world : The Heathens were at their wits-ends about it ; the Manichees could not invent a way to assoyl it , but by assigning a double Eternal Cause , or Principle , the one of Good , the other of Evil : And now when we expected great matters from this Gentleman , to be left in the lurch , and fobb'd off with a blind account , that this was done in after-Ages ; In after-Ages as Mankind grew more corrupt : Oh! it seems they were Corrupt before , and enclined to Idolatry , but in these villanous after-Ages they grew more Corrupt ; Religion pass'd through many hands , and in long Tract of time gathered Moss and Furre ; Men sliding insensibly , none ever knew how , into this degeneracy ; and Trace it up as high as you can , yet Nilus hides his Head beyond the Mountains of the Moon : That Men are corrupt and stark naught we see , but how they became so , or when first turn'd out of the way , that 's hid in darkness and perpetual Night . But there is one St. Paul ( as obscure an Author as some would represent him ) that would have spoken a thousand times more to our satisfaction than this Gentleman . Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin entred into the World , and Death by Sin , and so Death pass'd upon all men , in that ( or in whom , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ) all have sinned . V. 17. By one Mans Offence Death reigned by one . V. 18. By the Offence of one , Iudgement came upon all to Condemnation : That the evil that we experience in the world ( and that 's abundance ) may be reduced to two heads , it 's either Malum Culpae , or Malum Poenae : Either the Evil of Sin , or the Evil of Punishment for sin . Now this Excellent Author tells us , that both these Evils came from one root , one spring , and that was one Man , and that one Man was Adam ; This seems to have a probable face of the Origine of Evil , but he was a dark Writer . There is therefore another Author , that wrote a Book called , The Catholick Doctrine believed and professed in the Church of England ; one with whom our Author has some Reason to be acquainted , for a Reason or two that I know of ; now this Author tells us , Art. 9. Of Original or Birth-sin , That ▪ Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam ( as the Pelagians vainly talk , N. B. ) but it is the Fault and Corruption of the Nature of every Man , that Naturally is ingendred of the Off-spring of Adam , whereby Man is very far gone from Original Righteousness , and is enclined to evil , so that the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit , and therefore in every person born into the world , it deserveth Gods wrath and damnation . I promise you here are a great many terrible words , that would not be dofft of with a Flim-flam of Mens growing corrupt in after-Ages ; for this Article is positive , that All that are naturally engendred of Adam have a corrupt and faulty Nature ; Abel as well as Cain ; Iacob as well as Esau ; and Isaac as well as Ishmael ; Such however then was their State : Now what Means did God afford the Men of this Generation , that he might not be wanting to his own Glory and their Happiness ? Why you must know in the first place , that some of the Men of this Age were good Men ; others were corrupt , declined to Idolatry , and degenerate : Very good ; but then one would long to know , how the Good became so ; for how the evil became evil , we are satisfied ; every one engendred of Adam brought with him a corrupt and faulty Nature ; but for the other sort , these good men , our Author leaves us as much in the dark how they became good , as he did before how those other became evil : Let us consult that excellent Author last Named , Art. 10. The Condition of Man after the Fall of Adam , is such , that he cannot Turn , and prepare himself by his own Natural Strength and good Works , to Faith and Calling upon God ; wherefore we have no power to do good Works , pleasant and Acceptable to God , without the Grace of God preventing us , that we may have a good Will , and working with us when we have that Good Will. But let us goe on . God afforded Good Men the frequent Apparitions of Angels , who were the great Ministers of his Providence . Carry this one thing in your heads as you goe Along with my Author and me , viz. That he is demonstrating , That God in all ages was not wanting to his Creatures happiness ; but by one means or other made himself , and his will known to them . Now then , what did these Angels appear to these good Men for ? to acquaint them with his Will ? why it 's supposed they knew that before ; else how became they good ? for such they could not be , without the Knowledge of Gods Will , antecedent to their Obedience , though perhaps they might have stumbled upon some Act materially the Command of God ; as a Blind Man by Chance may catch a Hare : what then ? to protect them ? Protection required not Apparition : what then ? to carry some occasional Errand from God , wherein they were concern'd to be instructed , upon the emergency of some extraordinary Providence ? Very true ; but not at all to his purpose : but I shall have no more Concern herein than to move a few Quaeries .

1. It may be enquired , what Angel it was that Ordinarily appeared to the Patriarchs of old ? the rather because he is peremptorily called Iehovah , the Essential Name of the True God : And I find some have pleaded that the Second Person of the Trinity , by way of Praeludium to his future Incarnation , to shew that his delights were with the Sons of men , and how ready he was to do the Will of his Father in the Redemption of the World , when in the fulness of time , a Body should be offer'd him ; and their Pleas have not been removed , and they are somewhat confident cannot be . And as I remember amongst many other , they insist upon Hosea 12. 3 , 4 , 5. He took his Brother by the heel , and by his strength he had power with God , he had power over the Angel ▪ and prevailed , he wept and made supplication to him , The Lord God of Hosts , the Lord is his Memorial ▪ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : If this was not the True God blessed for ever , that wrestled with Iacob , an Atheist will bid you prove there 's a Better than the Lord God of Hosts , whose Memorial is Iehovah ; if it be ; then he was also the Angel that appeared , and who could that be but the Second Person ?

2. It may be asked I hope without offence , ( supposing that Created Angels did ( as sometimes they did , ) appear to good Men , and that their Message was the Mind of God concerning their Happiness , and Blessedness in the Enjoyment of God ; ) whether they preach'd any other Gospel than they preach'd to the Shepherds at Bethlehem : because it would seem , that these inferiour Angels could not employ their Tongues upon a more welcome Theme , than Him , who was their Head , and under whose Obedience they were Ranged by Creation , and to whom he was also a Mediator of Confirmation .

3. It might deserve Consideration , How far Angels are the Ministers of Gods Providence ? That they are Ministring Spirits sent out to minister unto them who shall be Heirs of Salvation , ( Hebr. 1. last , ) we thankfully believe and own ; yet God has not left his Inspection into , or oversight of this lower World : This looks like some New Divinity , new vamped up from the old Epicurean Philosophy , which represents God as living at ease and enjoyingly in Heaven , and not concerning Himself , ( for that would they think disturbs his Peace , ) with the Brangles and Contrastoes of Men , but Rules all by the Court of Delegates . For the Good men , we shall not need to be too sollicitous how they did , doubtless they would shift well enough in the world : All the difficulty is , about the Degenerate , how God carryed it towards them , that he might not be wanting to their Happiness ? Now here indeed our Author helps at a dead lift . Two Expedients he used :

First , The Preaching of some eminent Persons , such as Enoch , Noah , and Abraham : And herein we cannot but admire the wisdom of God in the Old World , that he sent none but Righteous Men to preach Righteousness , to an unrighteous generation . To vapour against sin , and then to wallow in it ; to forbid our Patients that Food which is often found upon our own Trenchers , will not gain much credit to our Doctrine , and therefore Christ , Acts 1. 1. is said first to Doe , and then to Teach : Otherwise Ministers words are look'd on as things of Course , to while out one Glass , that they may be readier for another : Such Preachers being like him in the Comoedian , Qui alterâ manu fert lapidem , panem ostentat alterâ , that is , he feeds his Auditors like Apes , with a Bitt and a Knock : but here are a few things upon this head , that we cannot pass by , for our Author is as full of Excellencies as an Egge is full of Meat .

(1) Here has been good Provision made for Good men , and pretty good too for the more degenerate part of Mankind ; but there 's a midling size of Men , all this while , that have no care taken of them , sink or swim : Men , that your Papists will tell you , are too good for Hell , and too bad for Heaven , but of a just Gage for Purgatory : Now these men did not need such extraordinary Helps as Noahs , and Abrahams Sermons ; nor could deserve the apparitions of Angels , and therefore they must be content to drudge through the work in their own strength , whereof having a sufficiency , enough is as good as a feast , & Frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora .

(2) What Righteousness was it that these Men preach'd ? Surely it would have been a hard Venture to have preached to them Their own ; for if Mans Nature be Corrupted , and he lyable to Gods Wrath , and Damnation , as the Church of England determines ; it will be very difficult at least , to bring such a Righteousness to God out of so vitiated a Nature by its own mere strength , as may plead acceptance with him : That Righteousness which is the Result of our utmost Obedience , has some flaws in it , that make it very improbable to justifie any person in the world under our Circumstances , that is , Sinners . 1. That Obedience which we may plead and abide by before God , for Justification and Eternal Life , must be entirely our own ; performed in our own strength : it were idle presumption to come to God , for Acceptation and a Reward for that which we are beholden to his Grace and strength to help us to perform . 2. That which is not absolutely perfect cannot justifie in the face of a perfectly holy Law , and an infinitely perfect holy God . For if any thing short of Gods demands , would serve to justifie a Sinner , what should hinder but that , seeing God is infinite and absolute in Mercy , he might abate the whole ? Nay indeed , if God can abate , and come down from his first Terms , who shall set the Dice upon his Grace and goodness , and say , Thus far shall Mercy goe in Abating , and no further ? And in a little while , no doubt , this Doctrine will be so well improved , that we shall have it made as plain to us , How God may justifie all the Debauches of the World , as a Repenting Sinner ; if no respect be had to the Satisfaction and Interpoposition of Another . But of these things abundant occasion will be administred for Debate in the following Papers .

But then Secondly , there 's another Expedient , which God used to reclaim the more Degenerate part of Mankind , and that he tells us was the good Examples of good men ; how they lived , and how well they sped by Holy Living , and how they were rewarded , and how happily they dyed , and how much God delighted in them : All this is True in it self , Enoch's Translation , Noah's Preservation , Abraham's Exaltation , and Lott's Ereption , were convincing Arguments how dear these good Men were to God : But first I would say , it was a more Convincing Argument to me , that God was Good to them , who made them so , who call'd Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees , from the Idols which his Family had worshipt on the other side the Flood : It was Gods Grace that raised up the Righteous Man from the East , and call'd him to his foot , Isa. 41. 2. And then secondly , I would say too , that there wanted something more than outward Examples to make that Age happy , even an inward Operation of Gods Grace ; for the Church of England has excellently resolved , Art. 10. The Condition of Man is such after the Fall of Adam , that he cannot turn — without the Grace of God preventing him , that he may have a Good Will.

( 3. ) We are now arrived at a third Division of Time , stretching it self from Abraham untill Christ came in the Flesh. For when the World would not be reformed by single Examples , ( as ye know one Swallow will not make a Summer , ) what did God doe then ? why he chose the Posterity of Abraham to be a publick and constant demonstration of his Power , and Providence , and Care of Good Men. Our Author fancies that God had been trying Conclusions , and casting matters in his thoughts , how he might reform the rugged World ; and that he might be sure to hit o' th' right way at last , he ventur'd first upon single Experiments , and then upon Experiments in Consort ( just like my Lord Verulams ) and yet none of them would come up to the designed End . I have heard of one that would needs trye how to make a dead body stand upright , he set him upon his feet , and placed him i●… his true perpendicular , yet still he crinckled i' th ●…ams , or one mischief or another , he would not stand ; at last tyred out with his fruitless labour , he gave it over , concluding all was not right within , there was some wheel or pulley , some spring , or string broken . Just such a process does our Author modestly ascribe to the great and wise God . He supposes God was not wanting to his Creatures Happiness ; and I may suppose God knew well , what would serve to answer his Creatures Happiness , in the present posture he was in ; and yet all came to little or nothing , surely there 's something wanting somewhere or other . But there never comes better on 't , when men will proceed upon a false ground , and tyle over one Absurdity with another , that their Errours may not rain through : Therefore ,

1. God was never disappointed in the Counsels and purposes of his heart ; whatever he undertakes according to the good pleasure of his will , he goes through with it ; If he will work , none shall let ; If he sayes it , he will doe it , and his word shall not return to him in vain , but accomplish the thing for which he sent it : Thus Enoch's , Noah's , Abraham's Ministry atchieved whatever his hand and Counsel fore-ordained by them should be done : And if any be angry hereat without a Cause , they must be pleas'd again without amends .

2. Gods varying the dispensation was not because he found it ineffectual , contrary to his hopes , but because he would make all these Providences comply with his grand Purpose of conveying the Messiah to the World at last . He takes this Family , the Posterity of Abraham , to be his Peculiar , and as any bra●…ch of that Family lay out of the Road of Christ , he left it to take its lott in his more general oversight and cure of his Creatures ; That branch of this Root , which was to bear the Messiah , alwayes was kept alive , and the rest , in process of time wither'd , and fell off , of themselves . But there was an odde word dropt from his Pen at unawares , that had like infinitely to have ravel'd all his Affairs , and to have quite marred the Musick of this Paragraph ; had he not been aware of it in due time : He had said , That God chose the Posterity of Abraham . Now you know that the World is wide enough ; and Choosing in its first Notion implies , the taking of one , and leaving another ; and , how to make that fadge with some other Cross-Capers he has in ▪ s Head , was a Matter worthy his thoughts , and timously to be reconciled , which he has thus done : When God chose the Posterity of Abraham , he did not design to exclude the rest of the World from his Care and Providence , and all possible Means of Salvation . That God did exclude the rest , or any part of the World from his Care and Providence , I suppose none are concern'd to affirm , but they who are for God's governing the World by his Courtiers onely , and great Ministers of State : That God excluded the World from all possible Means of Salvation , is an Id●…e Dream , when indeed they excluded themselves . When God gave the Promise to the Common Parent of Mankind , there was a Possibility in the Thing , that that Means of Salvation might have been derived to all those Rivulets into which his Posterity should be subdivided ; and if it was not , I conceive the fault was theirs , not Gods ▪ and all that I know will be proved hence is , That it 's marvellous dangerous to venture the Concerns of another World upon the Credit of Oral Tradition ; for if it proved treacherous when the Lives of men were drawn out to such a length , what may We expect from it , whose dayes are but as a shadow : But if indeed the World lost that Promise , its Encouragement and Warrant in drawing nigh to God , I doe not , cannot see that God was bound to repeat and renew it every Thirty or Forty years , to every particular Kingdom , Nation , Countrey , and the Individuals therein , for fear of being wanting to his Creatures happiness : and I have some hopes that our Authour will shew himself friendly in this business , for he tells us , p. 33. That Now , the only true Medium of knowing God is the Knowledge of Christ , who came into the World to declare God to us . Has God then excluded the rest of the World from all possible means of Salvation ? or , Did the Gospel of Christ come into every Nation , in every Age , and to every individual Man and Woman of that Age , or else must we say that God is wanting to his Creatures in not affording to them , but excluding them from all possible Means of Salvation ? But further , God hath maintain'd a Church in all Ages of the World , where the Means of Salvation have been enjoy'd , and there was a possibility of being interessed in the Priviledges and Advantages of that Church ; for so sayes our Author , p. 29. The rest of the world when they pleased , might fetch the best Rules of Life from Israel : And in all probability , if it was possible to fetch any thing from them , it was as easie to come to , and joyn with them : and then again , it was as easie every jot , to fetch other means of Salvation as the best Rules of Life . But I am afraid , we do not discourse ad idem all this while , perhaps he may reckon upon those to be sufficient Means of Salvation which we think insufficient to Man under his present Circumstances : Let him therefore set up for himself , and prove if he be Able , That the knowledge of so much of the will of God as may be known from the works of Creation and Providence , is a sufficient means for the saving of Mankind ( in any Age he will pick out ) considered as represented by the Church of England , in her Ninth Article , and he shall either have a just Confutation , or a speedy Recantation .

One Text of Scripture he judges will doe his work : Rom. 3. 29. Is he the God of the Iews onely ? is he not also of the Gentiles ? Yes of the Gentiles also : It will be convenient to remember here , what he is proving , least his Argument should be sick of an old Disease which some call Ignoratio Elenchi . And that was , That God did not design by choosing Abrahams Posterity , to exclude the rest of the world from all possible means of Salvation , much less from his Care and Providence : And we will readily own , that all that the Apostle had been excluding from Iustification and Salvation , was onely an importunate Thing , which has ever give●… the world trouble in this matter , call'd Boasting : So that , shut out but that , and take in what you will or can ; God is resolved to justifie none , Iew or Gentile , but in such a way as shall solidly ascribe all the Glory to Himself . So that our Author may sleep on both ears in this matter . The Gentiles were never excluded all possibility of Salvation , if they excluded not themselves by Neglecting that Justification by Faith which he had proclaimed ; for so saith the Apostle , v. 30. It is one God which shall justifie the Circumcision by Faith , and the Uncircumcision through Faith . There is one God alwayes the same , and one Faith ever uniform ; and what need had our Author then to fancy , That Enoch and Noah were justifi'd one way , Abraham another , and Believers since the coming of Christ , a third way : For the same Apostle , Hebr. 4. 2. proves that the Gospel was preached to the Iews from of Old , as well as unto others , since his Appearing in the flesh ; the same Gospel , For unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them ; and he proves also that the same Gospel was also preached to Abraham , that was preached to the Iews ; Galat. 3. 8. The Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith , preached before the Gospel unto Abraham ; To Abraham in the state of Uncircumcision , and therefore under the Notion of a Gentile , and not a Circumcised Iew. But I would not hinder our Author from making the very best improvement he can of the Text. Which Argument ( saith he ) ( if it have any force in it ) must prove Gods respect to the Gentiles before the preaching of the Gospel , as well as since ; because it is founded on that Natural Relation God owns to all Mankind , as their mercifull Creator and Governour . If it have any force in it ! why do you Question that ? He speaks of St. Paul's way of Arguing sometimes , as if a man might draw Cutts , whether it should have any strength in it or no ; or as if it were an even lay , one way or t'other : No but that [ If ] is not dubitantis , but arguentis , If it have , as undoubtedly it hath ; what then ? Why it must prove : Must ! There 's the singular Happiness of the Man ; who is one of Pauls familiar Acquaintances , and privy to all the Cryptick wayes of his Argumentation : but what must it prove ? why that before the preaching of the Gospel God had respect to the Gentiles as well as since : Have a little Patience . 1. I would fain know when that time was before the preaching of the Gospel ; for we have heard that the Gospel was preached to Abraham , to the Iews in the Wilderness , and I think that was Gospel too that was preached to Adam , That the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head . Indeed there was a time when the Gospel was more clearly , publickly and eminently preached , call'd therefore 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the times of the Gospel ; but I do not know of any , of which it could be said simply and absolutely the Gospel was not preached . 2. I would very gladly learn also what that respect was , God had for the Gentiles : A respect there might be upon Common Accounts ; he was their mercifull Creator and Governour , but that respect is short of what our Author designs : And he might have a respect for the future ; there being good Evidences of Gods intentions to bring in the Gentiles more universally to the knowledge of the Gospel and Salvation by Christ , when time should serve . 3. It would be cleared , what he means by , as well as since ; aequè , but not aequaliter , sure : not so much as since , but as truely and really as since . But because his Reason is to be the Measure of his Assertion , let us attend to it with diligence ; This Respect is founded on that Natural Relation God owns to Mankind : To which I answer , Whatever respect God had to the Gentiles , so as to afford them at any time the Means of Salvation , it was not founded on Natural Relation , as their Creator ; but on a Relation Voluntary , and of pure and mere Grace ; and we will joyn issue with him upon this point when he pleases . But I shall endeavour to set the Apostles Argument upon its own Legs : What he drove at , he shews you , v. 28. That a Man is justifi'd by Faith , without the deeds of the Law : he had proved this in the foregoing Verse , thus : The way that God takes in the Iustifying of a Person , is such a one as shuts out of dores Boasting ; But Justification by Faith , onely excludes Boasting , and the way of Justifying by works would not exclude it , and therefore God takes that way to justifie the Sons of Men : In this 29th verse , he proceeds to another Argument to evince the same Thing . If Justification come by the works of the Law , then never any Gentile could be justifi'd , but some Gentiles have been justifi'd , Therefore Justification comes not by the works of the Law . That some Gentiles had been justified , he proves in the Instance of Abraham , who was justifi'd , not in Circumcision , but in Uncircumcision , as he sayes , ch. 4. v. 10.

Now it 's evident , that Circumcision and Uncircumcision are Terms of equal wideness with Iew and Gentile : For that which he calls v. 29. of the third Chapter , Iew and Gentile ; Verse the 30th he expresses by Circumcision and Uncircumcision : It is one God that shall justifie the Circumcision ( the Jews ) by Faith , and the Uncircumcision ( the Gentiles ) ●…hrough Faith ; and this he brings as a proof of his foregoing Assertion , Seeing it is one God , &c. And therefore Abraham , though he were an Hebrew by Birth ( whether so denominated as coming from the Race of Heber , or from his passing over Euphrates , as some will have it , it makes no matter , ) yet being uncircumcised , he fills the room ( in Gods account ) of a Gentile , or one of the Nations . Now for the proof of the sequel of the first Proposition ; That if Iustification comes by the works of the Law , then never any Gentile could be justified : he takes special care to put that out of Question , v. 30. Seeing it is one God that justifies . There is but one God that justifies , and therefore but one way of Justification ; as he is alwayes the same , so is his Method alwayes the same ; One God , one Christ , one Faith ; and therefore if ever any Gentile were justifi'd without the works of the Law , never any Jew could be justifi'd by it ; for that would be to suppose two wayes of justifying sinners ( and such were Jews and Gentiles , both under sin , both guilty before God , ) and then that would prove , that God were not the same one God , which the Apostle throws out of dores . Let our Author now cast up his Accounts , and see what he has gain'd by this place ; God is the God of the Gentiles : Such a God as has justified Gentiles , [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ▪ ] for instance , Abraham ; and that as his God in a Covenant of Grace , I will be thy God ; and therefore it follows , that Jews are not , were not , could not be justified by the works of the Law ; and then no such thing will be inferred , that God as a Creator had such a respect to every Individual Person in the World , being fallen sinners , 〈◊〉 to give them the Means of Salvation : But to proceed .

This plainly evinces ( saith he ) that all those particular favours which God bestowed on Israel , were not owing to any partial fondness , and respect to that People . Methinks I hear our Author speak like the Great Pompey , when he had got Caesar into Lobs-pound . Non recusare se quin nullius usûs Imperator existimaretur , si sine maximo detrimento , Legiones Caesaris sese recepissent inde , quo temerè essent progressae . De Bell. Civ . lib. 3. Let our Author never be reputed a Man at Arms more , if he has not got us into such a Cramp and Purse-nett , that we shall never escape without loss of Bag and Baggage : For thus he assaults us . Had God a Partial Fondness and respect for Israel ? Answer Yea or No. I see we are quite undone : If we say No , he has us on the Hip , and comes over us with a Why not ? what , no respect for Israel ? no favour for his Beloved People ? Why Psal. 147. 20. He has not dealt so with any Nation ; he shew'd his Word unto Iacob , his Statutes and his Iudgements unto Israel : and where are we now ? If we say , Yes : Then he fetches us over the Coles ; What , partial fondness in God! one Law for Titius , another for Sempronius ? Fish of one , and Flesh of another ? I see we must fall upon one of the horns of this Dilemma , and both are equally mortal : And never was there more need of the Curat 's Collect , to be deliver'd from the great Pain and Peril of Cowgoring : We have got a Wolf by the Ears , and dare neither keep , nor slip our hold for our own . When I read this and some other like passages in his Book , surely thought I , this man takes us all for Widgeons and Woodcocks , and that to Scrible with him , is 〈◊〉 thing but the Recreation of catching Dottrels , h●… could never else hope to Impose upon us with so Childish , and obvious a Sophism . In short , 't is nothing but Fallacia plurium interrogationum : As 〈◊〉 you should ask our Author , Whether he were 〈◊〉 London with a Feather in 's Cap ? He would not scruple to answer , He is indeed at London , in the Parish of St. George , but he has no Feather in'●… Cap : Well , Good for one , good for another . God had a respect for Israel , but no partial Fondness . Two things then would be a little cleared , that God had , and upon wh at account he had a particular respect to Israel .

[ 1. ] God had a special respect to Israel above all the People in the World , Rom. 3. 1. What advantage then hath the Iew ? and what profit is there of Circumcision ? Much every way ! 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Upon all accounts they carried it ; But chiefly , that unto them were committed the Oracles of God . Rom. 9. 4. To whom pertaineth , the Adoption , and the Glory , and the Covenants , and the giving of the Law , and the Services of God , and the Promises , whose are the Fathers , and of whom , as concerning the Flesh , Christ came : As whereas God chose Abrahams Posterity , and committed His Laws to them , from whence ( as our Author thinks ) all the rest of the World might when they please fetch the Rules of Good Life , this very thing argues a particular respect , otherwise God might have made them fetch the Rules of Good Life from others : He might have made them the Borrowers , and others the Lenders ; some respect above others , God then had undoubtedly for them .

[ 2. ] Upon what account , had God this particular respect for them ? And here we agree with our Author in the Negative ; It was not out of partial Fondness : We would deliver him from that fear , that he may sleep the better , and that for these Reasons . 1. Partiallity and Fondness are words of a harsh sound , they grate upon our Ears with such unpleasingness , that they can be no ways ascribed to the Glorious God : For God stands not in that Place , or Relation to his Creatures that he can be Partial : In matters of mere Grace and Favour , due to neither ( and therefore without Injustice may be denied to either or both as we please ) Partiality has no place . If two Persons be equally worthy , I may give that to one which I will not to the other ; In two Persons justly condemned , the pardoning of the one is no Impeachment of Royal Justice , though the other suffer under his Sentence : If God gave any thing more to the Iew than the Gentile ; The former could not boast , it was Grace ; the latter could not murmur , they had no wrong . If God denied the Gentiles his Gospel , He was not their Debtor ; they owed him more for their Beings than they could ever pay , and it might have been expected they should have cleared their old Obligations , before they desired to be Trusted for more , and run into new Arrears . 2. Then it was upon a most glorious Project , that he might secure to the World the Promised Seed , and have him forth-coming in the fulness of time . Hence is it , that when that People seem'd to be at the brink of final Ruine , to be swallowed up of Destruction , Gods great Cordial was the Reminding them of this , That the Messiah was not yet come , but he must assuredly come ; and therefore no possibility of Internecion , and utter Extirpation of that Nation , Root and Branch ; to which Design of God had they attended by Faith , they had Lived more above slavish fears than they did , Isa. 7. 1 , 2. When Rezin King of Syria , and Pekah King of Israel were in Confederacy against Iudah ; the News discomposed them , The Heart of Ahaz was moved as the Trees of the Wood are moved with the Wind ; and what way Does the Lord take to calm his Tumultnating Spirit ? ver. 14. A Virgin shall Conceive and Bear a Son , and shall call his Name Immanuel . Why but may not we be all Dead and Rotten by that time ? No , if Christ must come of the Tribe of Iudah , of the Family of David : That Tribe , that Family cannot perish , till they have served Gods Design and Glorious Ends , in handing down a Messiah , and then they shall be thrown into the Common Box , and retreat to the Gross of the World , under the ordinary Care of Gods general Providence : Till then , they might say with Him : Fear not , Caesarem vehis , & fortunam Caesaris ; Christ , and the Concerns of Christ , are all Ventured in this Bottome . But our Author I perceive does by no means like this Reason : But The Design of all was to Encourage the whole World to Worship the God of Israel . This was a Design indeed , but not the only Design ; He himself assures us of that , p. 28. It was one great and principal Design : And then we must not strain things too far , for fear they break . Our Author must have it Encouraging the whole World , or Nothing ; every Nation upon the face of the Earth : But I doubt the sound of the Jewish Deliverances did not reach the whole Creation , and Habitable World ; we see Sounds grow faint and languish by degrees , and at last Expire : It 's evident that the Gentiles had Inoculated what they heard of the Iews great Salvations , into their own Stock ; and all was involved in Fables , and Superstitions . What they heard of Moses and Mount Sinai , some turn'd into their Bacchus , and his Mount Nysa ; Sampson was grown Hercules , and Noah became Deucalion ; so that Converts to God upon the account of the Fame of these things were very rare , one Naaman in an Age or so , perhaps an Urija●… , or a few more :

Totidem tibi sunt Numero , quot Thebarum Portae , vel divitis Ostia Nili .

What then our Author Quotes Psal. 98. 2. for , I cannot tell , unless to prove that Jesus Christ should come into the World , to the unspeakable Rejoycing , and Reviving of the rational Creature : Of which this Psalm is a plain Prophesie : And so is Psal. 102. 15. The Heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord , and all the Kings of the Earth thy Glory : And his Practice upon the place is Visible , turning [ shall ] into [ might ] which needs no trouble to discover . The 96. Psal. 4 , 5. shews the Excellency of Jacobs God above all the Idols of the Heathen , and all within the Call of this Psalm , are Invited to come to Joyn themselves to Gods People and Church , ver. 8. Bring an Offering , and come into his Courts ; and both this Psalm , and the 98th . very evidently have their Completion in the Saviour of the World ; both concluding thus , For he cometh , for he cometh , to Judge the Earth ; Verified in Him whose Title was , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and who affirms of Himself , John 9.39 . For Judgment am I come into the World . But let us hear more : As God set up the People of Israel as a visible Demonstration to all the World , of his Power and Providence , so he committed his Laws and Oracles to them , from whence the rest of the World , when they pleas d , might fetch the best Rules of Life , and the most certain Notices of the Divine Will . Fair and softly : 1. These other Nations are supposed by our Author , to have had already good Rules of Life , though not the very best , and certain Notices of the Divine Will , though not the most certain : He tells us p. 29. God instructed them by the Light of Nature ; and then , Quid quaeram foris cum domi habeam ? No need to look out , if they had sufficient at Home , they might save Shooe-leather , and spare their pains . 2. But what if these best Rules of Life were not so easily fetcht , as he imagines ? It was a huge way for men to Travel from the Remotest parts of the Habitable world , to Traverse from the Tropicks and beyond , to Ierusalem , and when they came there , had no assurance they should not come of a Sleeveless Errand , and lose their Labour , or at best have nothing but their Labour for their Pains ; For I do not find that they were under any Command of God to deliver a Copy of the Law to every one that would Whistle for it , or hold up the finger : It Border'd pretty near upon Christs Time , e're the Pentateuch was Translated into Greek by the Septuagint ; and Ptolomy with all his Interest , had enough to do to make the thing Practicable and Feasible . And besides the Jews were so Superstitiously exact in Examining every Copy of the Law , so many Ordels and Examinations it must pass through , before it could pass Muster , that I do not think that the rest of the World could , when they pleas'd , fetch the best Rules of Life : And yet there may be a cunning Truth in 't too : They might fetch it when they pleas'd , because they never pleas'd to fetch it . But , 3. As the Noise of the Jews Deliverances , and Miraculous preservations might reach the Neighbour Countries , ( though that also with much uncertainty , and mixture ) so a general Rumour also might Ring in their Ears about their Ceremonial , Typical Worship , their Feasts , Jubilees , Temple , High Priest , which were things that made a Noise , but that the World ever believed they had a better Law in Stone , than they had in their Hearts ; I cannot conceive , though I am loath to make my narrow ones the Measure of our Authors Conceptions .

( 4. ) After a tedious Maze in the Labyrinths of former Ages , we are at length safely Conducted to the more happy Times of the Gospel . For , When long and sad Experience had proved , all those [ former ] ways Ineffectual to reform the World , at last God sent his Son , &c. Two things we are here Instructed in : First , Upon what necessity God sent his Son into the World . Secondly , What was his Employment when He was come into the World .

And [1] It may seem that the Son of God had never exchanged the Throne , for the Footstool ; nor the King of Glory , taken on Him the form of a Servant , nor He that was Rich to a Miracle , have become Poor to a Proverb , without some Cogent Reason , and pressing Necessity ; which our Author will just now favour us withal : And here I sorely suspected it would go very hard with him : For whereas at other times , no necessity of Christ at all could be found ; for both Iews and Gentiles who knew nothing at all of what Christ was to do in Order to their Recovery , did believe God to be Gracious and Merciful to sinners , pag. 44. And what could they desire more ? Yet now when it will better serve the Turn , and subserve the present Occasion , that Christ may be brought into the World with some Pomp and State , there must be an indispensible necessity of his coming , for all other means that had been tried , proved ineffectual . What our Author supposes , may I hope without offence , admit a modest Examination . Two things are here by our Author supposed : (1) That the means which God had formerly used , proved Ineffectual to Reform the World . To which I shall Calmly return , 1. That he had done much better to have proved that they were Designed by God to reform the World , before he asserted that they were Ineffectual for that end ; For it seems strange that God so Wise to know what Means would reach the end , and to Choose such as would do it , should pitch upon Means that he knew would never reach their Designed ends . 2. If the end of Christs coming into the World was to reform it , upon an Experiment that all other Means proved Ineffectual : Must not God be forced to Try another Conclusion at least , and once more to Venture upon other means , because even now the World is unreformed ? 3. The Means that God then used , ( he will confess ) were sufficient for that end , Or else how were they Means ? And the Means which God now uses proves not Effectual to Reform the World ▪ And what have we got by the Bargain ? 4. I hope our Author will be better advised than to talk of Effectual Means of Grace , which shall Infallibly reach their ends , for that would bear the Face of Irresistable Grace . 5. The ways and means which God now uses to reform the World , are Effectual to reform as far as He in his wise Counsels did Bless them , and so were they then : And the ways and means He formerly used for the reforming the World , reacht not every Individual person then ; nor have they any higher effect now . The Purpose and Counsel of God then are the true Measure of the Success and Efficacy of the Means of Grace , before and since the coming of Jesus Christ . (2) He supposes that God had tried other Means to reform the World , but upon proof found them Ineffectual . A supposition extremely Scandalous to those apprehensions which both Natural Light and Scripture , teach us to entertain of the Blessed and Glorious Majesty .

1. They are Reproachful , and Scandalous to that which may be known of God by Natural Reason . Which , if ever it taught us one Letter of Gods Name , will teach us this : That God must needs foreknow what will be the Issues of things ; seeing nothing can be supposed Contingent to him , without another Supposition that he is Ignorant of what is so Eventual and Contingent to him . If we know any thing of God , it is that he knows all things ; but according to our Authors Notions of things , we have God drest up like an Emperick , that must try his prescriptions upon his patients , before he can tell how they will work : And yet it s some comfort , they purchase their Skill only at the peril of mens Lives ( which yet are too precious to be so cheaply prostituted to blind Experiment ) but God ( who in our Authors Divinity had been practising upon the World for Four thousand years , before he saw his mistake ) bought his skill with the Blood of many millions of Souls , who perished under his hands by ineffectual Remedies ; and now he must be forced either to study , and find out some more effectual Means , or else give up the World as desperate and irrecoverable : And now , whether his Expressions do not more than squint that way , let the impartial Reader determine .

2. Scandalous , even to Blasphemy , to the general Current of Scripture-Revelation ; which fully and frequently assures us , that God well knew what success his Methods and Wayes of Reformation would have , and what entertainment they would meet with in the World from Sinners , where he pleased not to second and back them with his effectual Power ; and yet still he used them as Means to reach his own Ends. Exod. 3. 19. I am sure the King of Egypt will not let you goe , no not with a strong hand . Exod. 7. 3. I will multiply my Signs , and my wonders in Egypt , but Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you .

[2] For the Employment and Work which our Author is pleased to assign unto Christ upon his Coming into the World , he tells us , that was , To make a full and perfect Declaration of Gods will ; to give us the best Rules of Life , and to encourage our Obedience with the most express Promises of a blessed Immortality . And if this be all the Business our Author has shaped out for him , I shall the less wonder , that he can see no Necessity of Christs Coming into the World ; and as little , that others can see no Necessity that he should be the Eternal Son of God : But whatever the Matter is , in these and the following lines , I observe our Author falls short of his wonted Accuracy and Confidence : He hesitates and staggers , and goes backwards and forwards , and strangely bewilders himself in Contradictions .

Pag. 30. he tells us , The secret Purposes of Gods Counsels were conceal'd from Ages ; and yet before he takes off his Pen , he tells us , The Prophets did not so fully understand them : Understand them then it seems they did ; and fully understand them too , but not so fully understand them . It would tempt one to turn Questionist , and humbly ask ; If they were conceal'd before , how were they understood ? And if the Prophets did understand them , how were they conceal'd ? Again , p. 29. he had let us know , that the Israelites had the best Rules of Life ; and yet p. 30. That God sent his Son into the World to give us the best Rules of Life . Whence we see how easily our Author could have saved him that perilous Journey into this mischievous World . Again p. 30. he supposes , That before Christ's coming , the World had Promises , and express Promises too , of a blessed Immortality , though indeed not so express : And yet for all that , p. 34. That Christ onely brought to light Immortality ; which has a greater Truth in 't than perhaps our Author is aware of : Again p. 33. he acquaints us , That God was formerly known by the Light of Nature , the Works of Creation and Providence , and occasional Revelations ; and p. 44. That those Natural Notions the Heathens had of God , and the discoveries God made of himself in the works of Creation and Providence , did assure them that God is very good , and that it is impossible to understand what Goodness is , without pardoning Grace ; and yet p. 33. he would fain perswade us , That NOW , ( since Christs coming ) The onely true Medium of knowing God , is the Knowledge of Christ , who came to declare God to us . A discovery indeed very surprizing : For if Natural Light , without Christ , could reveal it then , why can it not doe it still ? how comes it to pass that Creation and Providence cannot perform the same Office now ? If Christ be the onely true Medium now , it would make one suspect he was so then . The Light of Christ has not weakned the Light of Nature , but improved and sublimated it ; he came not to be an Extinguisher to the Candle of the Lord , but a Candlestick ; not to put out the Eye of Reason , but to provide an Eye-salve for it . Did Creation and Providence , preach God to be a sin-pardoning God then , and are they suspended ab officio , & beneficio , in the Court-Christian , and become silenc'd Ministers ? And yet he seems to Retract this , p. 30. Nor have we any other certain way of knowing this [ the secret Purposes of Gods Counsel concerning the Salvation of Mankind ] but by the Revelation Christ hath made to us . Other wayes there may be still , if any will run the Risque , and venture upon them , but none so certain as this . And here comes in the fine Expedient for the Salvation of the Terra incognita , without the Revelation of Christ . And yet once again , p. 30. he assigns the work of Christ , coming in the flesh , to be , To make a full and perfect Declaration of Gods Will , and yet by and by , as if he had forgot , or over shot himself , he confesses , it was but One main end of Christs appearing in the World , to reveal God to us : And so there may yet be some little room left for his Priestly Office , his Sacrifice and Interposition with God , on the behalf of Sinners . And lastly , as I remember , p. 5. he tells us , that Christs Preaching the Gospel was the Exercise of his Regal Power , and indeed all along through that Chapter , the Kingly Office carried it hard-born from the rest , and ran them sheer out of distance , and yet the wind is vered about , p. 34. When we speak of the knowledge of Christ , we must consider him as our Prophet . But really if this be all the work Christ had to doe in the world , Two third parts of Christs Mediatory Employment are cashiered , and the other lyes at mercy , whenever he shall please to revive the Commission of Natural Light , to reveal God's sin-pardoning Mercy , and the best Rules of Life unto the World .

Now that he may give the better countenance to his Sentiments herein , he thought it meet to lay violent hands upon some Texts of Scripture , which else would have frowardly and perversly hung back from abetting his Fancies , and so might have spoyled the Game . A taste of his Excellencies , in perswading or forceing Scripture to warrant his Notions , he will give us in his Learned Gloss upon Joh. 14. 6. I am the Way , the Truth , and the Life , no man cometh unto the Father but by me . But never was Comment so pestered , so thwack'd with a Lirry of id est's , one clambring on the back of another , a third mounted o' th top of that , a fourth bestriding that , a fifth in the neck of that , and so on : I am the Way , id est , I declare the way . No man comes to the Father but by me ; id est , None can throughly understand the will of God , but by learning of me . Whoever knows me , id est , is acquainted with the Doctrine I preach ; Knowes my Father , id est , Is Instructed in Gods Mind and Will . Gods Will , id est , the Gospel . Caetera desiderantur .

Now the very truth is , all this is nothing but a trifling Imitation of his old Friend Volkelius , de verâ Relig. lib. 4. c. 2. p. 173. Et hoc quidem illud est , quod ipse Christus ait , Joh. 14. 6. Neminem nisi per ipsum ad patrem pervenire , id est , Neminem Dei Patris Cognitionem assequi nisi per Christum posse ; Which shall never be spoyled by my bungling English , our Author having saved me the labour , and so clearly translated it to my hands . But is it so indeed ? Does Coming to God imply and import no more than the bare knowing of God ? Surely there 's some other , some more excellent Act of the Soul denoted by it : God may be known by , and yet the Soul never come to God : The Devils know him , and yet fly away from him : It supposes indeed the knowledge of God ; none can come to an unknown God ; but yet it further denotes the Souls address to God in Faith and Love by Jesus Christ ; for though it were revealed , that God is a sin-pardoning God in himself , yet still the Sinner has need of an Advocate with him , even Jesus Christ the Righteous , who is a Propitiation for its sins , 1 Joh. 2. 1. In whose Name , and through the Power of whose prevailing Blood , the guilty Creature may come and treat with God about his Pardon and Acceptation . In the next Section we shall find our Author as ingenuous and plain-hearted as one could almost wish , he opens a Casement in his Breast , and lets us see how the pulse of his Soul beats , freely owns where he borrowed his Divinity ; but here I want that Candor . For , not content to glean amongst Volkelius his Sheaves , ( which an honest man may doe ) he steals the very Shocks , and never so much as once owns his Benefactor . Lib. 3. de verâ Relig. p. 173. Deus non nisi per Christum cognosci potest , ut qui Dei inconspicui Imago est , 2 Cor. 4. 4. eúmque id est ejus voluntatem nobis enarravit : Now will you have our Authors Translation in Masquerade ; Christ hath made a True representation of the Divine Nature , and Will , and it 's plain , that in this Sence Christ is called the Image of God , 2 Cor. 4. 4 : It 's Plain ! yes , wondrous plain , that Volkelius is of that Opinion , and for any other plainness we are to seek . For so he . Ibid. Quâ de causâ splendor gloriae Dei & character substantiae ejus appellatur , Hebr. 1. 3. utpote clarissimè perfectissiméque Divinam voluntatem nobis explanans : But here I perceive our Author will compound willingly with him , and fairly part stakes with him . Upon which account ( sayes he ) ( as well as with respect to his Divine Nature ) he is call'd , The Brightness of his Fathers Glory , and the express Image of his Person . And when our Author has yielded him , The May be so , we remember his Excellency in concluding it Must be so .

I confess , I have neither list nor leisure , to follow our Author through the tedious Ramble of his Repetitions , because I see he loves no bodies Tautologies but his own ; nor shall I be much concern'd to enquire after that odd generation of Men , who ( if our Author may be believed ) clamour most unmercifully , that Christ is never Preach'd , unless he be Named in every Sentence : For I know well it 's easie to make a Man of Clouts , and then to arraign , condemn , and execute in Effigie the Creature o●… our own Making : Thus did the Barbarous Heathens cloath the Primitive Christians in Bears-skins , and then expose them to be torn in pieces by the Dogs : And thus are Christians dress'd up by the bloody Papists in the Sambenit , or Devils-Coat , and then committed as Hereticks to the greater Mercy of the devouring flames . I know it 's an easie thing with our Author to Name Christ a hundred times , and yet to speak as very little of Gospel , as he has done . But one thing I must , and desire the Reader , that he will not fail to take special Notice of : I find our Author over the shooes in Love , and most desperately doting upon his own Critical Learning ; for having observed to us , Ch. 1. that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ▪ Eph. 4. 20. signifies not Taught , ( as our English Translation jejunely renders it ) but instructed , emphatically Instructed : And suspecting least by this time , in a dust of words , and hurry of Business , we might have quite forgot it , he very charitably rubs up our Memory , and referrs us to the place of its Birth , where that happy Criticisme first drew its breath , and appeared in the World . 'T is Chapter the First , ( Reader , ) Oh! never forget Chapter the First ; Happy Chapter the First , that first teem'd so precious a Notion , for the Benefit of succeeding Ages : Now because these Papers of mine and his are like to be long-lived , and perhaps not to survive the year of their Birth ; and yet to be deprived of the Observation , would be a loss Irreparable ; let me begg of our Author to send this enclosed Note to Mr. P. which I have left open , that he may have the Honour of Letters Patents .

TO THE Reverend Author of the Synopsis Criticorum aliorumque S. S. Interpretum . SIR ,

BEing a great Admirer of , and a small subscriber to your learned Labours , I was also Ambitious to contribute something to their Intrinsick Value ; Be pleased therefore , when Ephes. 4. 20. shall call for your Industry , to take special Notice of the lat●… Observation of Mr. W. S. and instead of Taught , to read Instructed ; and as you will thereby enrich your Work , and doe right to the Author , so will you Oblige Posterity , and particularly ,

Your humble Servant , N. N.

Having thus fairly rid my hands of the Encumbrance of our Author , I might honestly wind up this Section , did I not think it might be acceptable to the Reader to receive a B●…eviate of some of the True Reasons , why it was Necessary Christ should come into the world , the main Work he had to do here , and the special Design of that Work in reference to God and Man .

( 1. ) The Causes rendering it Necessary that the Son of God should once appear in this lower World , are such as these . 1. The first Cause lay deep 〈◊〉 the Bosom , Counsel and Decree of God ; who 〈◊〉 he viewed the Fall and Revolt of Man , from 〈◊〉 the world was , so did he purpose effectually to recover again to himself his Elect by Christ : Therefore is God said , 1 Tit. 1. 2. to promise 〈◊〉 Life before the World began ; that the Faith of 〈◊〉 Elect eyes this Promise , that the Ministers of 〈◊〉 Gospel do preach this Promise , all of which 〈◊〉 onely Yea and Amen in Christ ▪ 2. The Complyance of the Son of God in pursuance of this Eternal Purpose , is very considerable , who was aut●…ritatively sent , and voluntarily came , to speed the Decree and Counsel of God , Heb. 10. 7. Lo I 〈◊〉 to do thy Will , O God . 3. The Early Promise of a Redeemer , almost from the Foundation of the World , made God a Debtor , not to Man , bu●… to his own Truth , to send him in the Fulness of ti●… into the World , who before all Time was purpose●… and in the first dawnings of Time was promised Heb. 10. 7. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . I●… the Beginning of the Scripture , in the Head of the Book , it is written , viz. Gen. 3. 15. That the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head . 4. The renewed and frequently repeated , and gradually ●…nlarged Promises and Prophe●…ies of a Redeemer once to be actually exhibited , whereby God kept alive the drooping Hope , and languishing Faith of his Church , as Candidates in a state of Expectancy , superadded another Cause of the Necessity of Christs coming in the Flesh ; Gen. 49. 10. The Scepter shall not depart from Judah , nor a Law-giver from between his feet , till Shiloh come . Isa. 9. 6. Unto us a Child is born , unto us a Son is given , and his Name shall be called Wonderfull , Counsellor , the Mighty God , the Everlasting Father , the Prince of Peace . 5. The Types and Shadowes which from the Beginning represented him to the Faith of Believers , had all their Strength , Vertue , and Efficacy from Him ; and that also made it Necessary , that Christ the Substance should come to answer them : for what could the blood of Bulls and Goats signifie to the appeasing of Gods Anger , the removing of Guilt , and the making peace betwixt God and Man , which the Scripture frequently assures us they did doe , and yet the same Scripture as clearly assures us in their own Nature they could not doe , otherwise than with respect to that Sacrifice once for all to be offer'd up to God for that end ? 6. And it was Necessary , that the gracious God who had trusted the World so long with Pardon , Peace , and Life , should at last be satisfied , and not alwayes be put off without due Compensation to his Justice and Truth . 7. The Case and Condition of the Elect of God , made by the common Apostacy Enemies to God , and under the Curse annex'd to the Violation of the Law ; upon this one Supposition , that God would pursue his Original Love and Purposes of Grace to them , that a due Compensation should be provided for his wronged Justice : Sin had perplexed matters , and involved things in such Intricacies , that Humane Wisdom could not find out an Expedient , How God might be Just , and yet the Justifier of him that believes ; how Mercy and Truth should meet together , how Righteousness and Peace should kiss each other : Many Salvo's have been propounded to the World , many Expedients set on foot , but upon severer scrutiny , have been found Physicians of no value , not able to heal the wounds of an inquisitive Conscience , awaken'd with the sense of the Souls worth , and Gods wrath in the Judgement to come : All these things does the Lord Christ alone compromise , adjust all these Accounts , and reconcile these Intrests : The Justice of God is satisfied , the Law fulfilled , the Truth of God secured , his Holiness vindicated , and all his Attributes unreproached : 'T is true indeed , God is a free Agent , and absolutely consider'd might have left the world to perish under the Curse , but seeing it pleased him to carry on his design of Love still , notwithstanding the intervention of sin ; what others may pretend , I know not ; but to our Apprehensions , as there is but one God the Father , of whom are all things , and we in him ; so , there is one Lord Jesus Christ , by whom are all things , and we by him , 2 Cor. 8. 6.

( 2. ) The Work of Christ whilest in the World , was the discharge of his whole Mediatory Undertaking , as Prophet , Priest and King ; To divide Christ , is to destroy him . As half a Heart is no Heart in Gods Acceptation , so half a Christ is no Christ , as to any saving advantage the Soul can possibly reap from him . He was therefore ,

1. A Prophet , to acquaint us fully with the Preceptive will of God , in which rank we must place that great Command of Faith in Christ , 1 John 3. 23. And this is his Commandement , that we should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ . He acquainted us also with the Promissory Will of God , as the great Encouragement of our Souls in walking resolvedly with God in wayes of New Obedience ; He acquainted us also with the Purposes of God , which should follow his Promises , and Precepts to invigorate them with Efficacy and Success : And this he does by the Ministry of his Word , but more especially by the Holy Spirit , inwardly and powerfully , and yet sweetly , not offering violence to our Faculties , but making us a willing People in the day of his Power .

2. He was a Priest , and as such he offer'd himself a true and proper Sacrifice to God , thereby answering the Sacrifices of the Old Testament , which though they were Typical , yet in their way were true and Real Sacrifices , and all this in pursuit of the Fathers Love , and his own . 1 Joh. 4. 10. Herein is love , not that we loved God , but that he loved us , and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins ; what Intercessions as a Priest he made for those the Father had given him , we need no other pattern of , than that Prayer , John 17. per totum .

3. His Kingly Office , he exercised in gathering , governing , defending , protecting his Church ; abolishing those Laws which were accommodated to that other Dispensation , and would not fit its present posture , and instituting New Ordinances of Worship agreeable to the oeconomy of the New Testament : which Office yet he exercised in such a way , that little of Glory and Majesty appeared therein to a Carnal Eye , the Grandeur thereof being vailed under the form of a Servant .

( 3. ) The general Design of this Work we may assure our selves was exceeding Glorious , nothing but admirable could be the Product of such an undertaking ; with what Joy and Triumph was it entertain'd by the Angels , who were less concern'd therein than poor fallen Man . Luke 2. Glory be to God on high , on Earth peace , good will towards men . 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithfull saying , and worthy of all acceptation , that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners ; the chiefest of Sinners : Which Great End that he might attain , he dealt with God as a Priest , to reconcile him to us ; with Us he dealt as a Prophet , enlightning our Minds in the Knowledge of God , and our selves ; and as a King subduing our hearts by his Spirit of Grace , to accept of those Terms which might secure the Glory of God , in our Eternal Salvation : But the main Design I shall express no otherwise than in the words of the Church of England , Art. 2. — who suffered , and was crucified , dead and buried , to reconcile his Father to us , and to be a Sacrifice , not only for Original , but all Actual sins of Men. From whence we learn ,

1. That Reconciling and Sacrificing Work is onely proper for a state of Humiliation ; it 's annex'd to his Death , Sufferings , Sacrifice . 2. That the Death of Christ ( according to the mind of this Article ) supposes God to be incensed against , and angry with Sinners , and therefore he suffered to Reconcile God to us . 3. That the Death and Sufferings of Christ are of sufficient value to secure Gods Honour , and appease his Anger . 4. That Original Sin , how small a mote soever it may seem in some mens eyes , is yet such a troublesome Beam in Gods eyes , that it requires the same Blood of Christ to be a Sacrifice for it . 5. That all Actual sins ( even the smallest , if any may be called small ) need the Blood of Christ to reconcile God to the Sinner , without which they will infallibly destroy the Soul . Thus far the Church of England ; of whose Doctrine our Author has great Reason to be very tender , if not for the Truths sake , yet for his Credits sake , having subscribed it ; and above all for St. Georges sake Buttolphs-lane ; for otherwise it may be easie for some poching , prolling Fellows , to dismount George-a-horse-b●…k , and get into our Authors Saddle .

CHAP. III. Sect. 2. Of Acquaintance with the Person of Christ .

INterest is beholden to the Eagle for two of its greatest Excellencies , a quick Eye to discover , and sharp Pounces to seize the Quarry . When once it had appeared in some pregnant Instances , that the High-road to Preferment lay in the way of exposing Religion under the Persons of the Non-Conformists , it 's incredible how soon sagacious Interest discern'd , and made her advantage ; The old dull Methods of Marrying the Chamber-maid , or Trucking with the young Gentleman , grew as Obsolete as Systematical Divinity ; An unhappy happy Wit or two , had successefully managed the grand Project of Self-Advancement by these Artifices , and this new and blessed mode of Simony had Wealth and Honour came Trolling in amain , and then Interest , which ever spies peep of day at a Narrow Cranny , soon struck into the practice of it : But there was a small inconvenience which attended the Design , and may possibly ( if not timously prevented ) spoyl its Expectations : For when every Pedlingwit would be pecking at the Trade , the Commodity stuck most miserably upon their hands , became a very Drug ; and even scoffing at Religion turn'd to as little Account , as the more common and trite way of Whipping and Spurring for the first Occupancy of a Presentation . It 's usually , and easily observed , that the first Authors of great Inventions commonly grow Rich by their Novel Discoveries ; but when ordinary Abilities will be tampering and dabling with what they want Brains to manage , they fall wondrously short of their wide Hopes , and hugeous Expectancies : And just so has it proved in the Case before us . They who first taught this too docile Age to Travesteere serious matters , had indeed the Vogue , and engross'd the Benefit of their Inventions to their own proper Use and Behoof , but Pretenders soon clapt in ( as you know if one Dog has a Bone , all the rest will be about his Ears ) and now the multitude of Candidates has so brought down the Market , that it will quit for Cost little better than the plain Dunstable high-way of Favour , Alliance , and Bribery . The best Advice therefore I shall ever be capable of giving our Author and his Co-partners in this Trade , will be ; That they improve their Friends to procure a special Priviledge , or golden Bull from his Holiness , That none presume to Preach , Print , or otherwise to publish , any Invectives , Sarcasms , Satyrs , Drollery , or Raillery whatsoever , whether with Wit , or without Wit , against J. O. T. J. W. B. and the rest of the Nonconformists , nor against the Christian Religion under their Names , during the space of One and Twenty Years , now next and immediately ensuing the date hereof , without the special Leave , and express Licence of them the said S. P. and W. S. or their Assigns .

Some I perceive who are less knowing in this Mystery , have given themselves causeless trouble to enquire , Why our Author should single out these Persons and their Writings for his Enemies , when he might with the same Ease and Modesty have combated the first Reformers of our Church , reproached the Reverend Bishops , and most eminent Divines ; and above all , duelled the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of Eugland ; and either with Franciscus à S. Clarâ , have reconciled them to his own Notions , or if they were stomackfull and stubborn , and would not bend , most stoutly have confuted them : But these Persons do not consider , that such a Procedure had been both Dangerous and Scandalous ; Dangerous , because that Doctrine is Armed with Law , and fenced with Secular Power ; and Scandalous , because it would have looked with an ugly face , first to subscribe them , to gratifie a mans Convenience , and then to confute them to satisfie his Conscience : And therefore this other way was judged more eligible , which might secure , if not reward the Author , and yet as effectually destroy the Doctrine : That he fixt upon this Course therefore as more adviseable , never created my wonder , but one thing I confess did ; That the Governours of the Church should appear so tender in a Ceremony , and yet seem so little concern'd for the Substance of the established Religion ; that they should so severely Animadvert upon them who meddle with a Pin , and yet take so little notice of those who are digging up the Foundation of the Building . But hence we may learn , That some may with more safety steal a Horse , than others look over the Hedge ; so strangely does the same thing vary from its self , when done by differing hands , that as one informs us , from Livy , Papyrius slighted the Pullarii handsomely , and was well rewarded ; when Appius Pulcher for doing the same thing slovenly and rudely , was disgraced .

But it 's high time to consider our Author . There are Two Praeliminaries which usher in the Body of his Discourse in this Section . First , an Account what notable Feats he has done in the former ; and Secondly , a modest account of his own Ingenuity in this Section : What he has atchieved in the former , he summes up in few words . After this plain Account , wherein the Knowledge of Christ consists , the summe of which is this , that to understand Christ , is to understand his Gospel ; which contains all those Revelations he made of Gods Will . I must needs say , I could have been content he had called it a learned Account , an unparallel'd Account , a witty , gentile , or indeed almost any other Account in the world besides a Plain one ; for though there be but little of Truth , yet there 's nothing at all of Plainness in it : I had alwayes thought , ( and Thoughts are as free for me as another ) that the Formale of the Knowledge of Christ lay in knowing his Person , that he is God and Man , two Natures united in one Person ; his Offices , that he is our Prophet , our King , our High-Priest ; and that the understanding of the Gospel , is the onely proper Means to come to the understanding and knowledge of Christ , Who he is , What he is , in Himself , and to us ; But that the knowledge of Christ should consist in understanding the Gospel , is an uncouth way of Praedication wherewith I am not yet acquainted . Jesus Christ is understood in and by the Gospel : True ; he that understands the Gospel , must needs understand Jesus Christ : Very good ; but still as a Means leading to that End , and not the very thing it self : Much less is it true , That the Knowledge of Christ consists in understanding the Gospel , as it contains all the Revelations of Gods will . For this was but a part , and the least part too of Christs Employment and Undertaking ; Christ had something more to doe than revealing to us Gods Will : Suffering the Displeasure , was a harder task than Revealing the Will of God ; It was one thing to Preach a Sermon , and another to sweat drops of Blood ; to have his Soul made an Offering for sin ; to have the Iniquities of us all to meet upon him : Christ had many things to doe , and command as our Lord and Governour ; many things to suffer as our Sacrifice , many to offer as our Priest ; and what he had thus done , and suffer'd , to Reveal to us as our Prophet and Teacher . But supposing all this to be true , That the knowledge of Christ consists in the knowledge of the Gospel ; and suppose also further , that the Gospel contains no more than a Revelation of Gods Will , concerning us and our Obedience ; what use can he make of it ? Why hence he will take a happy occasion to reproach some body or other , who have formed Another Notion of the Knowledge of Christ , very distinct from this , which contains a greater secret than one would at first imagine , and that is , an Acquaintance with Christs Person , which , if we will believe some men , is the onely Fountain of saving Knowledge : And is it grown such an unpardonable Crime in England to be acquainted with , or to have any Knowledge of Christs Person by his Gospel ? Are these things grown so inconsistent all o th' sudden ? It 's not so very long since , that our Author could allow , that the Greatness of his Person as 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God-man , was of some Consideration , and that Consideration of some good use too ; we were told what Credit his Person gave to his Laws , what repute it brought to his Doctrine , what value it procured to his Sacrifice , and what Influence it had upon the great Ends of Religion ; and are his Person and Gospel so fallen out of late , that there 's no hopes of an Accommodation ? What our Author may doe , I know not ; but other men I am sure , have learn'd to distinguish betwixt a King and his Laws , though they do not oppose them ; and to put a difference between a Prophet , and his Revelations , without creating differences between them ; they can look upon a Priest and his Sacrifice as two things , and yet not as contrary things ; to consider Christ and his Gospel under distinct , and yet not under inconsistent Notions . Oh! but the Quarrel lyes a great deal deeper ; That they make the Person of Christ the onely Fountain of saving Knowledge : I confess , I could not expect that they should scape without a Chiding , who say , Christ's Person is the Fountain of saving Knowledge , when the Apostle himself could not escape a Nip for calling him the onely Foundation , p. 105. And yet as it has been accounted discretion not to throw away our foul Water till we have got fair ; so some I perceive are resolved not to leave their Confidence in Christ till our Author can show them a stronger bottom for Faith , nor to despise Christ as the Fountain of Knowledge , till he has discovered them one both fuller and freer of that which concerns their Salvation : They will own the Gospel to be the Conduit which Conveighs to us the Knowledge of God , but they are somewhat bold to assert Christ to be the Fountain that fills it : They own the Gospel to be the next immediate Cause which Derives saving Knowledge to us , but yet Christ is the Original Spring whence all true saving Knowledge of God is Derived ; and they are the more confirmed in it , because Christ himself spoke a word , John 1. 18. That no man had seen God at any time , the only Begotten Son who was in the Bosome of the Father , He hath revealed Him .

But yet say what you will or can , There is another Notion of the Knowledge of Christ very distinct from our Authors : The true meaning whereof is no more than this ; That it 's better so Excellent a Book had been Written upon a false Ground , than none at all , and that it 's more desireable to run upon a sleeveless Errand than to sit still .

And this is enough to stay any mans Stomach by way of Repetition , what gallant Feats our Author has done in the former Section : A Taste of his Modesty , and Ingenuity follows : For , he will not envy the Author the glory of the Discovery , and will therefore honestly confess where he had it : For he who would be loath that any should Rob him of the glory of his rare Discoveries upon Ephes. 4. 20. is as unwilling to be accounted a pilfering Plagiary , one that Filches his Notions from others , and will not own his Benefactors .

Now the great Grievance lies against a Book , Intitled , Communion with God the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost distinctly , Written by John Owen , D. D. And here I must openly profess , that I have no Commission either from this Gentleman , or those others Concern'd in the Reproaches of our Author , to Vindicate their Names , or Interpose in their Concerns , they need not my Defence and Vindication ; they are of Age to answer for themselves : and would certainly do it , but that they are Discouraged by an Old French Diverb : Le jeune vault pas La chandelle . The Game will not pay for the Candle . And perhaps they may be of his Temper , who could not be perswaded to wrest that dull Creature that is sometimes free of his Hoof. What I therefore write is by vertue of a general Warrant : In a Common Invasion , every one is supposed to be Listed against the Common Enemy ; and a charitable Bucket will not be refused towards the Quenching of a general Fire . Every Christian has his Concerns in Truth ; and if it be lawful to Oppose it , it may be presumed lawful too to Defend it : Not waiting therefore till I receive express Order , nor fearing the Fate of that noble Person who was Sentenced to Death by his own Father , because he Fought ( though he Routed ) the Enemy without Command ; I shall Impartially consider what his loud Clamour against these Persons fignifies , and whether the Fleece do answer the Cry of his Hog-shearing .

Our Author begins with Doctor Owen , and from amongst all the Books that he has Publisht , he has singled out that Practical piece of Communion with God : This some think was most absurdy , and disingenuously done , to wave his Pol●…mical writings , wherein he has of set purpose Stated and Handled these very Points , and fall Foul upon a Practical one which meant him no Harm ▪ But they that so Judge , must Excuse me if I think otherwise , and that it was most Politickly and Advisedly done ; for surely might he think , if ever I take the Doctor Napping , and Trip up his Heels , it must be where he never Dreamt of an Enemy . And yet so unluckily has it fallen out , that as if he had been aware of After-claps , and written his Book by Prophesie ; he has so warily Exprest himself , that none need fear to be his Second , or despair of his Faire , and clear Vindication .

His first and great Quarrel is against these words . Commun . p. 88. Christ is not only the Wisdom of God , but made Wisdom to us , not only by Teaching us Wisdom , as He is the Great Prophet of the Church ; but also because by the Knowledge of Him , we become Acquainted with the Wisdom of God , which is our Wisdom : The summe of which is asserted in Terms , Col. 2. 3. In Him dwell all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge . The Reader is bound to presume that some great Mischief must needs Lurk in these words , if one could find it out , though as to us poor Dim-sighted Mortals , there 's nothing but what might have Travelled safely upon the Road , without a Hue and Cry , and raising the Posse Comitatus against ●…t . That Christ is the Wisdom of God , and made Wisdom to us , is the express Language of the Apostle , 1 Cor. 1. 24. 30. That He Teaches us Wisdom , carrys the same Scripture Credentials along with it . That He is the great Prophet of the Church , is Voucht by the same Authority , that by our knowing of Him , we become acquainted with the Wisdom of God ▪ Any man living might have said , but this Doctor Owen , and a very few more , and have thought no great Harm neither ; What ails then our Author thus dismally to Paratragediate ? whence comes all this Clutterand Din ? Had Medaea Torn her Children piece-meal , and scattered their reeking Entrails , and bleeding Limbs about the fields ? Or had our Author been Invited to Thyestes his Banquet , at the Honour whereof the amazed Sun muffled his face in Clouds ? Or had he perhaps ( at least in a Play , ) seen Hippolytus drawn in Pieces with his own Coach-Horses ? Or Hercules stark Raging Mad , with the Centaures poysoned Jerkin ? No , not a Syllable of all this : But one Doctor Owen had unadvisedly Quoted , Col. 2. 3. In Him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom , and Knowledge , to prove that Christ is our Wisdom , &c. All this while the Honest Reader stands wondering what should be the Cause of this high Ferment , and where the Lye should be , that deserves this Stab . But I shall satisfie him : The Doctor thinks these words are true of the Person of Christ ; and our Author will needs have them applied to the Doctrine of Christ : The Text ( says he ) speaks of the Doctrines , and Revelations of Christ . Shall it then be Compounded by indifferent Arbitrators ? If our Author will not exclude Christs Person , I dare undertake the Doctor shall not exclude his Revelations : and so the Controversie shall be all Husht , and Quiet . Two things I shall modestly offer to the Reader . ( 1. ) That in this Text , the Person of Christ must necessarily be Included . And I shall assign these two Reasons .

Reason 1. It 's dangerous to Interpret Scripture at that Rate , as may destroy the Design of it : and if this Course be taken , I know nothing but that the Person of Christ may be Distinguisht , and Interpreted out of the whole Bible : If it stand not here necessarily , it stands in all other places but precariously ; and when he sees good , can show us a way how a Doctrine or a Revelation , may be Born of the Virgin Mary , and suffer also under Pontius Pilate .

Reason 2. The second Verse leads us plainly to a Person ; The Mystery of God , and of the Father , and of Christ . Hence I am apt to believe , That since the Father , and the Son , are equally Con●…ern'd in the Argument , are joyn'd together in one Sentence , are Linckt in one even Tenour , and Current of Discourse ; if the Father signifie a Litteral proper Father , the Son also will prove a Litteral and proper Son : And if the Son must be a Figurative , Tropical Son , the Father likewise in the Issue , will be a Figurative and Tropical Father ; either let both be Real , or both Figurative , since the Apostle has given us no Reason to think otherwise of the one than of the other .

Reason , 3. How harsh would it sound in our Ears , to say that God is the Father of a Doctrine , an Office , and whatever else our Author pleases , and yet it 's plain , that of that Son to whom God is a Father , the Apostle affirms ; In Him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge .

Reason 4. It 's not conceivable how all the fulness of Wisdom and Knowledge can dwell in Christs Doctrines , and Revelations , without first conceiving them to dwell in his Person . Commonly , mens Writing●… are not fuller of Wisdom than their Heads ; whereas therefore our Author would In●…er , that the Text is not to be understood of his Perso●… because it is so of his Doctrines : I should the ●…ther conclude it tru●… of His Doctrine , because it is first so , and most absolutely so of His Person ▪ 〈◊〉 were a strange way of Arguing , that the Fountain cannot possibly be full , because the Vessel is so ; when it is therefore true , that the Vessel is full in its limited Capacity , because the Fountain is full ●…out such limitation .

Reason 5. The whole Current of the Chapter empties it self into a Person . Thât Person or Thing , ( be it who , o●… what it will ) in which , or in 〈◊〉 the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are said to be hid , ver . 2. Is the same , in which , or in whom , ver. 9. All the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily . Who , or which , v. 10. is the Head of all Pri●…cipalitie and Power ; in which , or in whom they were Circumcised . Who , or which , ver. 12. ●…as raised from the Dead , to whose Cross , ver. 14 The Hand-writing of Ordinances was Nailed . And who , or which , ver. 15. Spoiled Principalities and Powers , triumphing over them in it .

Reason 6. Because our Author sometimes , when his Ingenuity works , can be content to divide the Matter . Thus , pag. 32. Christ ( says he ) is called , Heb. 1. 2. the Brightness of his Fathers Glory , and express Image of his Person ; as the Will of God was fully declared to the World by Him , as well as with respect to his Divine Nature . And pray why may we not be allowed the same Liberty here to say : All the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are hid in Christ , as well with respect to his Person as to his Doctrine . (2) If this will not do , I have one thing more to acquaint him with : Let him leave that Imperious way of perpetual Dictatorship , and fall to Proving , and Arguing , as hard as he can , for it 's past that time of day with the World that has its Eyes open , to receive Confident assertions , for Demonstrations .

Before I dismiss this Period , I must a little further Examine our Authors Connexions , and Dependencies of things , and the rather because they seem to hang together with no better Friendship , than so many Pebbles in a Halter , nor to maintain a stronger Correspondency each with other , than the parts of a Thumb-rope made of Sand.

And , 1. He tells us , That he may not do the Doctor wrong , he must tell us what he means by acquaintance with Christs Person : And then Quotes the words which we have just now discharged from our Consideration : But say I , this could not be , that he might not wrong him , but the contrary , that he might be sure not to do him right . For ( not to Insist upon so small a Matter , that he Mutilates and Mangles the Doctors words ) it 's very plain that the Doctor does not there describe our Acquaintance with Christs Person , but the Effect of it : That in a Crucified Christ , we behold the Glory of God , pag. 78.

2. I cannot but observe , what a Mad and Frantick Inference , he draws from the Doctors words : So that our acquaintance with Christs Person , signifies in this man's Divinity : such a Knowledge of what Christ is , hath Done and Suffered for us , from whence we may learn those Greater , Deeper , and more saving Mysteries of the Gospel , which Christ hath not expresly revealed to us . Now this is sure an excellent Invention , and whereof our Author deserves the Patent , to Slander , Revile , and Calumniate a Person , that he may not do him wrong ; to Cut a mans Throat , for fear you should hurt him ; to Pick his Pocket out of mere tenderness of Conscience , lest you should do him an Injury . Our acquaintance with Christs Person , teaches us no new Doctrine , but only acquaints us with the Reason of the Old ones : We learn from the Gospel that God pardons Iniquity , Transgression , and Sin , and from the same Gospel we understand what Influence the Personal Sufferings of Christ have upon our forgiveness with God . We learn from the Scriptures , That God heareth the Prayers of his People offer'd in the Name of Christ : And from the same Gospel we learn what the Intercession of Christ at the right Hand of the Father , does contribute to the answer of our prayers . The Person of Christ reveals no other , much less greater , and deeper Mysteries than are revealed in the Gospel ; only that upon the account of Christs Person , his Offices , his Undertaking , we have a satisfactory account , how those things which the Gospel reveals , should be Possible and Feasible . Thus Rom. 3. 26. we find that God is the Iustifier of him that believes : And Faith that Resolves all its acts into the Veracity and Authority of the Revealer , is ready to assent to , and acquiesce in that Revelation : But suppose God will gratifie the Inquisitiveness of our Spirits , and clear up Matters to the satisfaction of our Trembling , because guilty Souls ; the Gospel reveals all this to be in Christ : He is set for●…h to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood , Rom. 3. 25. In him is the Righteousness of God declared : Upon His account God appears to be Iust , even then when He is the most Gracious , free , and soveraign Iustifier of a Sinner . If then at any time our Faith shall stagger , how the Blood of Christ could be a Propitiation 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a Pacification with God for us ; we are presently Relieved from the Consideration of that Person whose Blood it was , viz. The Blood of Him that is God , Acts 20. 28. and therefore of infinite Value . But because this will hardly pass when we tender it in Payment , we have one to be our Voucher , whose Word will go further than the Doctors Bond , and it is our Authors own dear self . Pag. 19. This assures us of the Infinite value of Christs Sacrifice ; God cannot but be well pleased , when his Son undertakes to be a Ransome . The clear and full account therefore of the deep Mysteries , and great Difficulties in our Religion , are to be Salved from a due Consideration of the Person , Natures , Offices , Undertaking , Active and Passive Obedience of Christ ; but the Revelations of all these things are Wholly , Only , and Entirely due to the Gospel . There is one thing which I shall touch upon by the way : That for any Doctrine , or Proposition which his Adversaries do Abett , he exacts Rigorously , and they are bound to produce express Revelations , Scripture to a Letter , a Tittle ; but for any of his own phancies , A feeble Conjecture , some far-fetcht Consequence shall serve the turn well enough : Such Laws did his Master Volkelius , Lib. 3. de ver â Relig. Cap. 11. p. 62 , once Impose upon the world : That whosoever should bring a Text to prove , that the Church of Old , had the Promises of Eternal Life , must bring one that did assert it ; Apertis Luculentissimisque verbis : In plain express Terms . Ay , no doubt , it must be written with a Sun-beam , that will enlighten their minds who have no mind to see ; but if it be drawn with a Charcoal , it will do , when it s pressed to serve their Hypothesis . Now though I much Question whether we be Obliged to abide by these new Laws of Disputation , yet thus much is out of Question , that our Blessed Saviour thought he quoted Scripture , when he only drew an Inference from it , Iohn 7. 38. He that believeth on me ( as the Scripture hath said ) out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Waters .

But , 3. As I am dissatisfied with our Authors Inference from the Doctors words , so I am much more with the Reason that he assigns to make good his Inference : His Inference is , That the Doctor , from Christs Person , learns greater , deeper Mysteries , than Christ hath Revealed in his Gospel . The Proof is this : For so he adds soon after , That these properties of God ( his pardoning Mercy ) Christ hath revealed in his Doctrin , in that revelation he hath made of God and his Will. The Sinews and Nerves of which Argument , lie visible . The Doctor asserts , That these properties of God are revealed in the Gospel : Ergo , It 's plain , that He asserts they are not revealed in the Gospel : That is , in broad English , he denies , because he affirms : Or he says the Snow is Black , because he proves , as well as he can , that it 's White . Let none ever hereafter despair of the greatest Impossibilities ; this is one of the most hopeful Essays towards the Squaring of the Circle , the Doubling of the Cube , and setting on Foot a perpetual Motion : And what cannot that Wit be able to do , that can prove the Doctor affirms these Mysteries are not , because he says they are in the Gospel . I confess when first I read this Passage in our Author , I examin'd the Doctors words with all possible care ; nay , I wrested them almost in pieces , and wrackt them most cruelly , to try if with my weak strength I could extort any such conclusion from them , and when I had tired my self , was forced to sit down by this Determination , that either our Author , or all his Readers , are certainly Frighted out of their Wits : But yet there 's , something follows in the Doctors , that will yield matter of Cavil : But the Life of this Knowledge lies in an acquaintance with Ghrists Person , wherein the express Image and Beams of this Glory of his Father doth shine forth : That is ( as our Author pretends to Gloss it from the Doctor ) These things are clearly , eminently and savingly , only to be discovered in Jesus Christ . I was apt to think at first sight , that he might have some dreadful Pick at those words : In his Person the express Image and Beams of this Glory of his Father , shine forth . But I soon Cured my self of that Suspition , by remembring that pag. 32. Our Author himself was pretty well contented , Christ should be so called , upon the account of his Divine Nature , although to please all Parties , he had found out a Temper , that he should be so called in respect of his Doctrines and Revelations : And therefore without more ado , I was satisfied that the Grudge lay against those other words ; The Life of this Knowledge lies in an acquaintance with Christs Person . Now if I might presume so far upon my Acquaintance with the Doctors meaning , as I think any one may , it 's no more but this : That whereas the Scripture every where reveals to us , that God is a God pardoning Iniquity , Transgression , and Sin , Exod. 34. 6. Yet the Matter is Clog'd with considerable Difficulties , and attended with great Objections ; for the same Text assures us , that He will by no means clear the Guilty : Both the parts of this Scripture are equally revealed , both equally claim a share in Gods Veracity , and till we can be resolved to Satisfaction , how God may be such a one as pardons Iniquity , and yet will by no means clear the Guilty , till we can see how this seeming Contradiction may be Reconciled , we shall either have none , or but a faint , and Dying knowledge of it . But now Christ he is the very Life of this Knowledge , for in his Death and Sufferings we see , and know clearly , that Gods Justice is satisfied upon Christ , and his pardoning Mercy Magnified upon the Repenting and Believing sinner ; and thus to know God to be a Sin-pardoning God , has indeed Life in 't . For thus , to use the words of the Learned Bishop Reynolds , upon Psal. 110. A Way is found out that things may be all one in respect of Man , as if the Law had been utterly Abrogated ; and that they may be all one in respect of God , as if the Creature had been utterly Condemned , pag. 500. This is all the Doctor here intends , wherein though he should be mistaken , yet has he not discovered a Fellonious Intention , and so I hope it will not prove a Hanging Matter . But yet our Author with his prying Eyes , can see further into a Milstone , than he that Pecks it : And as our Critical Scholiasts upon the Poets , discover Elegancies , Figures , and great Rarities which the poor man never Dreamt of ; so can our Author discover Errors , multitudes of hideous Errors in the Doctor , which he neither Sleeping nor Waking was ever aware of . For , says he , He explains himself thus : These things are Clearly , Eminently , and Savingly , only to be discovered in Iesus Christ . Whether the Doctor say any such thing or no , we shall take the Boldness to Catechise our Author by and by ; and make him produce his Chapter , Paragraph , and Page , e're we have done , or abide by the shame that is due to a Malicious Slanderer . At present I only ask which of these Terms it is that he will Duel , or will he throw down the Gantlet to them all , that we may have Battle Royal ?

(1) These things are only clearly to be discovered in Iesus Christ : I see the most Innocent things may give Offence , But who would have suspected that in this place ? For suppose that Sun , Moon , and Stars , Gods general Goodness to , his Patience with , and Forbearance of Sinners , might Intimate some such thing , that there was Forgiveness with God ; yet surely there 's a more clear account given of it in Christs Person , who was made sin for us , 2 Cor. 5. 21. which the Prophet Isaiah , Chap. 53. v. 10. calls making his Soul an Offering for sin : And that , methinks , clears it up a little more , than if we had been put to spell out the meaning of Patience and Forbearance , with the Fescue of our own understanding . And though the Scripture abundantly reveals Pardon of Sin , yet the Manner how , the Reason why , which are the very Life and Soul of all Knowledge , is revealed to be from the Mercy of God , through the Blood of Christ , Ephes. 1. 7. In whom we have Redemption through his Blood , the Forgiveness of Sins , according to the Riches of his Grace . And the rather may we be bold to say , that the pardon of Sin is cleared up in the Person of Christ ; because so Authentick , so Infallible an Author as ours is , has given us leave to believe , pag. 20. that the Gospel-Covenant is sealed with the Blood of Christ , and therefore we can desire no greater Security . And this I am sure of , from Heb. 8. 10. that the Summe and Substance of that Covenant , is , I will be their God , and they shall be my People ; and a main Branch of that Covenant , I will be Merciful to their Iniquities , and Remember their Sins no more . If then we could but clear this one Poynt , that the Bliod which Sealed this Covenant , was not the Blood of a Doctrine , nor of an Office , nor of the Church , but the precious Blood of Iesus Christ , the Son of God , even the Blood of a Person ; it would then be clear also , that God's pardoning Mercy is only clearly ( or so clearly however ) to be discovered in Iesus Christ .

(2) For the Term [ Eminently ] if the Bluster be against that , I shall not much trouble my self , I am no great Friend to , because poorly skilled in Metaphysical Notions ; but as it stands here in Conjunction with other honest words , I see no harm in 't . To me it denotes no more , but that the Pardon of sin , is Notably , Chiefly , Gloriously , and in a most Special and Excellent manner , discovered in the Personal Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ : But if our Author after all this be not satisfied , but finds himself Aggrieved , the Law is open , I plead no Protection , let him take his Course , and the Remedy the Law has given him .

(3) Therefore it must needs be that last word Savingly , that is guilty of all , and therefore must bear the Charge brought in against the whole Sentence : That pardon of sin is only savingly discovered in Iesus Christ . I cannot tell , but I do shrewdly conjecture that our Author has spoken as dangerous a thing as this comes to , and has given us sufficient warrant to distinguish between a vain , empty , Insignificant Knowledge , and an Useful , Profitable , and Saving Knowledge , pag. 36. There is ( says he ) a larger Notion of the Knowledge of Christ , which includes the Vertue and Efficacy of this Knowledge . — For how true soever our Speculations be , the Scripture brands all those as Ignorant of God , who do not love , Reverence and Obey Him . Now if the Doctors Book had had but the Happiness to have seen the World after our Authors , he might have Explained himself so as to come off with a dry Head : Notwithstanding what I have said of Gods Sin-pardoning mercy , and the Knowledge thereof as in Him ; yet there is another Knowledge thereof , which Includes and takes in the knowledge of this God to be our God , and pardoning our sins , which God is , only in and through the Lord Iesus Christ ; and therefore the Scripture brands all those as Ignorant of God , and his pardoning Mercy , who know him not as their God , in a Covenant of Grace whereof Christ is the Mediator , and therefore without Him we can have no Saving-knowledge of , or Interest in God , or his Sin-pardoning Goodness , whatever our Speculations may be of Mercy and Grace , and Pardon to be in God .

But after all this Trouble our Author has put me to , and just as much that I have put the Reader to ; the Mischief on 't all is this : The Doctor says not one Word , Syllable , Letter , Jot , or Tittle of all this , but the contrary . I am sure the Reader is startled , and his Hair begins to stand an end : What , no Truth on Earth ? Is Astraea more than in a Fable gone to Heaven ? Well Reader , when thou art come to thy self , and art a little more Cool and Composed , Consult the Doctors Book , pag. 90. Sect. 6. There are some of the most eminent Properties of God , that there is not the least Glimps to be attained of out of the Lord Jesus Christ , but only by and in Him ; and some that comparatively we have no Light of but in Him , and of all the rest no true Light but by Him . In which words , the Doctor evidently sorts all Gods Properties under three Heads . 1. Such whereof there is not the least glimps to be attained out of Christ , and under this Head he reckons Gods Love , his pardoning Mercy or Grace to sinners . 2. Such whereof we have comparatively no Light but in Christ ; and to this Head he refers , Gods Vindictive Justice in punishing Sin , &c. 3. Of all the rest he affirms we have no true Light but by Him : Now concerning the second sort , he says , pag. 92. Sect. 10. Secondly , There are other Properties of God , which though also otherways discovered , yet are so clearly , eminently , and savingly , only in Iesus Christ . Now Reader , for a tolerable pair of Eyes : Our Author would make the Doctor say , that Gods pardoning Mercy is clearly , eminently , and savingly , only discovered in Christ : But the Doctor himself says , Sin-pardoning-mercy is not at all known , there 's not the least glimps of it but in Christ . So pag. 91. Out of Christ there 's not the least Conjecture of it , not the least Morsel to be tasted of it out of Christ : That is , God has not any way , any where , at any time , discovered that he will pardon a Sinner but upon the Account of his Son . And now Reader , I hope I may fairly protest against our Authors Bills for the future , or however carry a very suspicious Eye over him , as being in his Quotations either sick of sapine Negligence , thick Ignorance , or transparent Malice ; and let all men know by these presents , that henceforwards I shall not take his Word for a single Farthing .

But how false or impertinent soever this be , I knew he did not raise all this dust , and make such a heavy adoe for Nothing ; whatever the Doctors Principles and Assertions were , he was resolved to pay him home , and load him soundly with ill-favour'd Inferences , and mishapen Conclusions , and in that one Knack lies our Authors Master-piece . So that ( sayes he ) it seems the Gospel of Christ makes a very imperfect and obscure Discovery , of the Nature , Attributes and Will of God , and the Methods of our Recovery ; we may throughly understand whatever is revealed in the Gospel , and yet not have a clear , and saving knowledge of these things , untill we get a more intimate Acquaintance with Christs Person . There was never any Man that made better use of id est's , and that 's , than our Authour . So that ! The Doctor had said , That Christ hath revealed the Properties of God in his Doctrine , &c. and what would you now think follows from hence ? Why surely , one would think ; That therefore the Gospel of Christ makes a perfect and clear discovery of the Nature , Attributes , and Will of God : Nay , there you are out ( sayes our Author ) for hence it followes , that the Gospel makes a very imperfect and obscure discovery of them : But what Necessity may there be to draw such a Conclusion from such a Doctrine ? I will tell thee Reader in thy Ear , Sub Sigillo Concessionis , as a great Secret ; Otherwise as excellent a piece as ever blessed the World with New Divinity , had got a knock in its Cradle , and would have retain'd a soft place in its head all the dayes of its life : Now that which he would fain fasten upon the Doctor , is a piece of the greatest Foolery Imaginable : As if he made the Person of Christ , no part of Gospel-Revelation ; whereas 't is indeed his great Principle , that Christ is the summe and substance of it : He could never once fancy it possible to have a through understanding of the Gospel , but we must ipso facto have also a through understanding of Christs Person ; nor to have a through understanding of the Gospel , and Christ the Subject of it , but we must have also a through understanding of Gods Nature , Attributes and Will , and of the Methods of our Recovery by Iesus Christ : But this is the Product of our Authors So that ; which alwayes agrees with his Premises just like Brains and Stairs , Harp and Harrow .

If therefore any one will do the Doctor Justice , he must read our Authors words backwards , with a pair of Hebrew Spectacles , and that will give him a truer Account of the Doctors Sentiments . The Gospel of Christ makes a very perfect , and clear discovery of the Nature , Attributes , and Will of God , and of the Methods of our Recovery , but we can never throughly understand what is there revealed , unless we understand the Person of Christ , who is so considerable a part , and indeed the whole of Gospel Revelation . And by such a knowledge of Christ revealed in the Gospel , will the Person of Christ be justly advanced , and the Gospel which reveals him greatly recommended : Shall we then smile at , or lament our Authors simple Conclusion ? This sets up a New Rule of Faith , viz. Acquaintance with Christs Person , in whom dwells all the Treasures of wisdom and knowledge . And here a vein of his old thredbare Fallacy discovers it self , which I now perceive ( like the poysonous string in the Lamprey , ) he resolves shall run through his whole Discourse ; Dividing those things which God has joyned , and supposing those things inconsistent , which are indeed subservient one to the other . Christs Person is Revealed by the Doctrine of the Gospel , and not opposed to it ; Christ as a Prophet reveals himself to our Faith as God-man , as Mediator and Redeemer , and as vested with all those Offices for the discharge of his whole Mediatory Employment . To advance his Person is not to degrade his Gospel ; the Magnifying of a Prophet is no disparagement to his Prophesie : The Honouring of a King is no reproach to his Law : The Gospel is therefore Excellent , because it reveals to us so Excellent a Person as the Word made flesh , the Person of Redeemer : New Rule of Faith therefore we own none , and wish heartily that they who condemn us , whilest they pretend to abhorre Idols , did not commit downright Sacriledge ; that they set not up New Rules of Faith , upon a pretence that the Scripture is not sufficient to direct our Faith and Obedience in things pertaining to God ; but it 's Common for some to exclaim against feeding on the Devils flesh , who yet will sup soundly of the Broth that he is boyl'd in : But these things our Author has been told so often of , that I see it to no purpose to tell him a story , unless I could find him Ears .

But these are but Velitations and light Skirmishes , our Author is preparing for a most terrible Charge upon the Doctor : These whiffling ▪ Slanders do but make way for the Show , like the Turkish Spabi , good for nothing but to fill up the Trenches , or blunt the edge of his Enemies Weapons , we are now waiting to receive the formidable Impression of his Ianizaries .

Two things he will Confound us all with ; First , by shewing what Additions , This Dr. O. and some others make to the Gospel : And then Secondly , what an unsafe way of Arguing they use :

And , [1] He will shew us , What Additions these men make to the Gospel , from an Acquaintance with Christs Person . I must needs say , I was extremely startled to hear a Charge of Additions to the Gospel brought in against any Man ; I presently expected either unwritten Traditions , or immediate Revelations , or I know not what African Monster should stare me in the face : And I know nothing at which my Nature more recoyls , nothing more abhorring to my Temper , than such sawcy Additions ; and the rather , because I presently remembred that dreadfull Curse , Rev. 22. 18. If any one shall adde unto these things , God shall adde to him all the Plagues that are written in this Book : If Men will be Adding , God will be Adding ; if Men will adde their whimsical Inventions , God will adde his Righteous Iudgements ; And for that Reason I never liked , either the Addition of Officers to those Christ has commanded to govern his Church , nor the Addition of Canons to those by which he has appointed his Church to be governed ; I alwayes thought it safest , to leave the Doctrine , Worship , and Government of Christ as we found them ; we may be chidden for adding , or substracting , but never for being no wiser than the Gospel ; and when we have done our Best , and chopt and changed , we shall hardly ever make better than those Christ made for us : If therefore our Author can but prove his Declaration as he has layd it , I am his absolute Creature , his prepared Man , and shall be sure to find for him against the Doctor , and a thousand more Innovators : But at last I perceive , all this is but the old stratagem of his Neighbours of Billings-gate , where the crafty Slut calls her Opponent Whore first , lest she should be prevented with as bad language , and better Proof .

But there are no less than Three Additions that this one single Doctor has made to the Gospel . In which ( as he sayes ) is summ'd up all true Wisdom and Knowledge , and not any one of them to any purpose to be obtained , or is manifested , but only in , and by the Lord Christ ; Now though our Author had almost pored his eyes out with seeking for these things in the Gospel to no purpose , yet still he was so perspicacious as to espy one sorry , single , little word [ by ] which the Doctor had fallaciously added , to include the Revelations made by the Gospel . Whether that little word was added fallaciously or no , I shall not at present determine ; but this I will say , that it was as mischievously and enviously added , as ever any word of that Bigness was added in the world ; of set purpose no doubt , and propense Malice , to spight our Authors design , and most inhumanely and barbarously , to cross all his Projects : For it 's plain , that the Particle [ in ] referres to [ obtaining , ] and this other Particle [ by ] to [ Manifesting , ] which by resolving the Doctors words into their distinct Propositions , is more than evident .

1. The things mentioned are not to be Obtained but In Christ . And , 2. The things mentioned are not Manifested but By Christ .

[ Obtained in him , ] that is , Through his Merit , Mediation , Intercession or Procurement : And , [ Manifested by him , ] that is , By his Preaching , and the Preachings and Writings of his Evangelists and Apostles . Now had but the Doctor left out that one word [ by ] as a good Natur'd man would have done , our Author would have had a fair Ear of advantage to lay hold on , for reviling him , as excluding the Revelations of the Gospel ; and therefore I must say it again , it was not so Civilly done of the Doctor , nor so like a Gentleman , as might have been expected from him , to insert that one word , to the apparent prejudice , hazard , if not utter disherison of our Author , his Cause , Learning , Rhetorick and Reputation : But yet he thinks it was fallaciously Added , because his first undertaking was , to shew how impossible it is to understand these things savingly and clearly , notwithstanding all those Revelations God hath made of himself , and his Will , by Moses and the Prophets , and by Christ himself , without an Acquaintance with Christs Person : He that cheats me once proves himself a Knave , but if he over-reaches me a second time , he proves me a Fool ; Remembring therefore how Matters stood between our Author and my self , and that I was under bond never to trust him more , I took down the Doctors Book , and with the best Eyes and Spectacles I had , viewed the place , and what I find there the Reader shall have as cheap as I had it : P. 87. Com. All true wisdom is laid up in , and onely to be obtained from and by the Lord Iesus Christ . So thought I , hitherto we are safe , and the Person of Christ and his Gospel are very good Friends . Again p. 88. All that wisdom which God layeth out for the discovery and Manifestation of himself , is in Christ crucified , held out in him , by him , and onely to be obtained from him : Very good , there we have [ by ] again , and Gospel Revelations are not shut out of dores . Yet again p. 90. There are some Properties of God , ( as pardoning Mercy ) the least glympse whereof is not to be obtaine●… out of the Lord Iesus Christ , but onely In him , and By him . Hitherto we are alive , and alive's like . Once more , p. 98. The Riches of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God , are onely hid in , and revealed by Christ : And to give our Author his full Dose , p. 88. God is not known upon any other Account ( to Salvation ) but onely the Revelation of the Son . And now instead of disparaging the Doctor , I doubt we shall erre on the other hand , and too much magnifie him , as having written by Revelation , who twenty years before could foresee the Objections that would be levell'd against his Writings . Well , ( sayes our Author ) let that pass ; Oh the Charity of the Man , that will not ruine his Enemy all at once ! and indeed it 's not good Husbandry to eat up a Man at one Meal : Polyphemus himself would reserve Ulysses for a Breakfast , when he supped so liberally over night with picking the Bones of his Mates ; and yet there was as much Discretion in the Case , as Frugality , not to shew his Teeth when he could not Bite , or however not to fasten them where it might break his Fangs . But it will be seasonable to examine the particular Additions .

(1) The first is , concerning the knowledge of God , his Nature , and Properties . And here the Doctor has made a great Addition , viz. that The Love of God to sinners , could never have entred into the heart of Man but by Christ , p. 90. Now our Author promises us , that he will not examine particularly every thing the Doctor sayes : Of which we have had good proof all along ; for 't is not his Genius to trouble himself with any more than what may conveniently serve his purpose , but without considering either Antecedents or Consequents , to Nibble at some Expression , that seems most lyable to Exception ; but herein we begge not his favour , onely demand Iustice ; That he may not Usurp a Liberty to suppose , that the Doctor asserts Revelation to be wholly silent in this Matter . Revelatition silent ! Alas , it rings loud with the continual sound of Gods pardoning Mercy to Sinners , onely the Doctor judges , that Revelation directs us to this Mercy of God through a Mediator , for the obtaining of it : When therefore our Author asks fo pertly , whether the Doctor be not a confident Man to lay down such a Position : I onely teturn , that I have known our Author far more confident upon far less Grounds ; when the Doctor has a Foundation for his Confidence , let him be so and spare not : A great deal less Confidence may be sinfull when it wants a Basis proportionable to beare its weight ; and a great deal more Justifiable , when it 's born up with sufficient Warrant : Tell not me of the Doctors Confidence , but examine his Reasons for it , and let us see what our Author can do to dismount it . Truely he offers us but one thing , but I assure you , it 's a knocker : The Experence ( says he ) of the whole World confutes him : Never was Man so confuted and confounded as he that stems the Experience of the whole World ; for though I ever look'd upon Experience as a very ticklish way of Confutation ; and the best way of employing them is to Experience in our own Souls the Virtue and Efficacy of certainly revealed Truths , and not to make them the Umpires of questionable Doctrines , yet I should be loth to run counter to the universal Sentiments of Mankind , and the Experience of the whole World shall carry a mighty stroke in my Judgement ; but has our Author taken their Experiences by the Pole ? and do they one and all give in their Suffrages against the Doctor ? Yes , Both Iews and Gentiles , who knew nothing of what Christ was to doe in order to our Recovery , did believe God to be gracious and mercifull to sinners . I must own it , That Jews and Gentiles are a sufficient enumeration of particulars ; they did once divide the World betwixt them , and if they both agree in their Verdict against the Doctor , Nemine contradicente , he is gone for ever , being over-born with Epidemical Experience .

1. For the Iews , the Day is like to goe for our Author , if it be true , what he tells us , That God assured them he was a Gracious and Mercifull God , pardoning iniquity , transgression and sin , which certainly he is ; and then that They knew nothing at all of what Christ was to doe for our Recovery ; but all the stick lyes there , and we must enter a Friendly Debate with him upon the issue . For , 1. Whatever Manifestation of Gods Sin-pardoning Mercy was given to the Church of Old , it had reference to the Blood of Christ , who was as really sacrificed to their Faith , as he was crucified to the Faith of the 〈◊〉 , Galat. 3. 1. The Jewish Sacrifices were Types designed , and appointed by God , to represent that one Sacrifice , which Christ should once offer upon the Cross to God ; and without reference to the Expiation of Sin , Atonement and Propitiation of God made by him , and manifested by them , it would have puzzled the Faith of any particular person , that God would pardon sin , notwithstanding that Revelation , Exod. 34. 6. for is it not immediately added , — And that will by no means clear the guilty ? God in that place , reveals to Moses his Name , that is his Nature ; and if we consult particulars , we shall find , that it 's as fair a Letter in Gods Name , not to clear the Guilty ( under which Character all the world stand before God , Rom. 3. 19. ) as to pardon iniquity ; but all this was cleared up , and made easie by a believing attendance to those bloody Sacrifices , which though weak in themselves , yet receiv●…d a Sacrament al strength from Him , who travelled in the greatness of his , to reconcile God and Man by the Blood of his Cro●…s . 2. There 's nothing more vain and idle , than to 〈◊〉 that the Iews knew nothing at all of what Christ was to doe , in order to our Recovery . For , 1. It was sufficient for that Dispensation , that God had Revealed a Mediator , who should take up the Controversie between God and sinners , and this he did , when it was early day with the world , to Adam , when received into a Covenant of Grace : ▪ T is true , the more minute Circumstances of when , and how He should come , in what manner he should accomplish his work , might be veyled with some Obscurities , and perplexed with some difficulties at the first ; yet still they had a Promise in the Lump , that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Head of the Serpent , which the Apostle interprets , Heb. 2. 14. by destroying him that had the Power of Death , even the Devil : And as it seemed good to the Wisdom of God to give forth the Promise at first in gross , so in process of time to graduate and heighten the discovery of the Messias : That there should come a deliverer out of Sion , to turn away ungodliness from Iacob , Isa. 59. 20. was evidently laid before their Faith ; to these Revelations did true Believers attend , and by this Key did they open the difficultie , how God should be a God pardoning Iniquity , and yet by no means clear the Guilty : And as the prefixed time of Christs appearing in the World drew nearer , so the Prophesies , and Promises of his Person , Nature , Work , and Design thereof , with the Circumstances attending it , were multiplyed , and more explicitely made out to them ; that so as they were growing up out of the State of Childhood , and emerging from under their Bondage , the discoveries of a Saviour might enlarge their Hearts and Minds in Knowledge , Joy , Love and Peace : By Isaiah it was revealed , that he should be born of a Virgin , Isa. 7. 14. that he should be Immanuel , God with us , therein discovering both his Natures in one Person , and his design to bring God and Man into one Covenant : By the fame Prophet was it distinctly revealed , what should be his Work , and Employment , his Dignity and Authority , and the Success of all . Isa. 9. 6. For unto us a Child is born , unto us a Son is given , and the Government shall be upon his shoulders , and his Name shall be called Wonderfull ; Counsellor , the Mighty God , the Everlasting Father , the Prince of Peace , of the encrease of his Government and Peace there shall be no end : By the fame Prophet it was revealed , Chap. 53. by what means mainly he should accomplish the Ends of his coming into the World ; by being wounded for our Transgressions , bruised for our Iniquities , healing us by his stripes ; by Gods laying upon him the Iniquities of us all ; that it pleased the Father to bruise him , to make his Soul an Offering for sin ; by the travel of his Soul , by pouring it out to death , being numbred amongst the Transgressors , and making Intercession for them ; Vers. 6. 10 , 11 , 12. By the Prophet Daniel was revealed , his Death , the precise Time of it , and for what he dyed , Dan. 9. 24 , 25 , 26. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people , and upon thy Holy City , to finish the Transgression , to make an end of sin , to make Reconciliation for Iniquity , to bring in everlasting Righteousness , — And after sixty two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off , but not for himself : And is all this Nothing ? just Nothing in our Authors Arithmetick ? If this be his Nothing , for Charities sake ▪ let him tell us what is one of his somethings : No ; all this while the Iews knew nothing at all of what Christ was to doe , in order to our Recovery ; But it became our Author , who was to assign little work , very little to Christ when he was come , to allow just nothing to be known of him before he came . But then it seems the Apostle Paul was besides the Book , as well as the Doctor , for he protests , Acts 26. 22 , 23. That he spoke none other things than those which Moses and the Prophets did say should come , that Christ should suffer , and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead : Upon our Authors Principles , it were easie to prove , that Paul never spoke one word of Truth in the whole Course of his Ministry ; and the Apostle Peter was as lamentably mistaken as he : 1 Pet. 1. 10. Of which Salvation the Prophets have enquired , and searched diligently , who prophesied of the Grace that should come unto you ; searching what , and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ , that was in them did signifie , when it testified before-hand the sufferings of Christ , and the Glory that should follow : And yet we have the testimony of Christ himself , a witness greater than all Exception . Luke 24. 25 , 26 , 27. O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken , ought not Christ to have suffered these things , and to enter into his Glory ? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets , he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself : No doubt many lazy and drowsie Iews , not duely attending to the Concernment of their Souls in these matters , knew little , or to little purpose , of what God spoke to them by Sacrifices and Types , what that oeconomy pointed at ; they might not possibly regard the Prophesies or Promises of a Messiah , nor is it any wonder , when we consider how little sleepy Formalists , dreaming Professors , and sottish Hearers understand of him at this day , who know no more of Christ , his Person , Office , Work and Design than that ignorant Papist who being asked , Who Christ was ? answer'd , he believed he was as good a man as St. Patrick ; Or that other who concluded that Christ was something that was good , or else they would never have put it into the Creed : But then there were diligent Enquirers , and Conscientious Searchers , whose Faith engaged them in the pursuit of Eternal Life , and these saw the day of Christ , and rejoyced in the Sight . But , 2. It s an odde and perverse way to take the measure of the Jewish knowledge of Christ , from our own clearer Light : We see clearer than they , yet will it not follow that they were stark blind ; though it be Mid-day with us , it was not Mid-night with them ; and for my part , I more wonder that they at the Break of day saw so much , and we at Noon comparatively see so little ; and if some mens Designs take place , we shall in a short time see less than they , and what to the Jews was a difficulty , must be to us a Crime , viz. to have any Acquaintance with the Person of Christ .

2. And if indeed the Iews knew nothing at all of Christ , they could not then mock the Gentiles , who could not well be in a worse case , nor come under a more dismal Character than to be without Christ . But to come a little nearer to our Author . 1. What if some of the Gentiles also knew something , and something very considerable of a Redeemer ? I take Iob to have been in that number , and yet he knew that his Redeemer lived , and that he should stand at the latter day upon the Earth ; Job 19. 25. Which place our Author cannot question referres to Christ , seeing the Liturgy of the Church of England , in the Office of Burial , applies it so ; and I hope it shall never be said , that as they Subscribe the Articles in Jest , so they Worship God in Jest too : But to purchase his Favour , let it be supposed that the Gentiles knew nothing at all of Christ ; yet are we sure they knew God to be a sin-pardoning God ? For our Authors Discourse alwayes halts of one Leg at least , and wears a Crutch , if it be not like Homers Vulcan , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , foundred of all four . 2. The Iews , they understood the Doctrine of the Pardon of sin to be in God , but then they understood by Promises , Prophecies , Types , Sacrifices , and the Tenor of the Covenant of Grace , that God had provided a Redeemer ; the Gentiles , they knew Nothing of a Redeemer , but then they knew as little of the Pardon of Sin : But here our Author will knock the Matter Dead by an Argument . Those Natural Notions the Heathens had of God , and all those discoveries God made of himself in the works of Creation and Providence , did assure them that God is very good , and it 's not possible to understand what Goodness is , without pardoning Grace . Not possible ? that 's a thousand pities ! I have sometimes sat admiring our Authors singular Happiness , in defining to an inch so precisely , Necessaries and Impossibles , which are the two extremes of the Modes of Being : And yet our Author can at one stride or jump , pass from Necessity to utter Impossibility : Some did but venture to say , that God could not pardon sin , without some intervening security to his Iustice : And there grew such a Hubbub , and Out-cry upon 't , as if the Turks and Tartars had over-run all Christendome ; and yet our Author , who can climb up all the stairs , from easie to difficult , from difficult to impossible , has resolved upon the Question , that from henceforth all shall adjudge it impossible to understand what Goodness is , without pardoning Grace . But is there indeed such a close Connexion , so inseparable a glewing together of these two , that we cannot prescind them with the sharpest act of the Understanding ? Is it easier to cleave a Hair , or divide an Indivisible , than to part Goodness and pardoning Grace ? I question not when he shall be at leisure , he can slit a thinner matter a great deal than this is : But yet , 1. The Apostle Paul , Acts 14. 16 , 17. assures us , That God left not himself without a witness , in that he did good , and gave them rain from Heaven , and fruitfull Seasons . It was more than he owed to Condemned Sinners , to afford them any kind of Goodness ; he might have rained Fire from Heaven , and showres of Brimstone upon their heads , and it was goodness that he did it not ; in stead of those fruitfull seasons , he might have sent Famine and Cleanness of Teeth , and there was much Goodness in that ; yet whether they could from hence bless themselves with a well-grounded Hope that he would pardon their Iniquities , I much question . And , 2. The Servant in the Parable , Math. 18. 26. could understand the difference between forbearance , and acquittance : Have patience with me , and I will pay thee all . Time and Day were considerable Favours in his Judgement , though his Master did not throw him in the Bond. 3. I am sure God himself understood the difference between a Reprieve and a Pardon ; between that Goodness which he shews in forbearing , and that which he manifests in forgiving , Rom. 9. 22. He endured with much long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath , fitted to destruction : A presumptuous Conclusion therefore had it been , from Gods general Goodness , and indulgent Patience , to argue his Forgiveness , and pardoning-Grace . 4. Adam in the state of Integrity understood very well , God to be good , he could not look besides a Demonstration of it ; and yet no Notion of Gods ▪ Pardoning Grace was concreated with him , whereof he could have no use in his worship of , and walking with God : A threatning against sin he had , but not the least intimation that God would pardon it , till it was revealed upon another Account .

We are not here enquiring ▪ what presumptuous and vain hopes secure sinners might form to themselves of Indempnity ; nor how their hearts might be fully set in them to do evil , because judgement against an evil work was not speedily executed ; nor what flattering thoughts might tickle their breasts , that God was such a one as themselves , because he kept silence at their proceedings , and spoke not his Fury in Thunder and Lightning ; nor do we enquire what Natural earnest desires they might express , to obtain the Favour of God ; what projects , plotts , and contrivances they invented to relieve their guilty Consciences , wounded with apprehensions of wrath ; how they skin'd over their Sores with some Services , and lickt themselves whole with their Sacrifices and Oblations : But the Enquiry is this ; What solid Ground they had from Gods common , and general Goodness , his Governing the World , his Patience , Forbearance , and long-sufferance with , his Bounty to Sinners ; to conclude from thence , that he was a Sin-pardoning God ? When I seriously consider into what inextricable Labyrinths and Mazes those poor Heathens did run themselves , how they were bewildred in their own Inventions ; how they tyred themselves off their Leggs in their own wayes , and spent themselves to their skins with Sacrifices , if by any means it might be possible to purchase the good will of a Deity ; I presently conclude , they had no settled fixed Apprehension of any such thing in God . For though they might hear a rumour , that there were a people in the World , towards whom God shew'd himself propitious and favourable , and that the way of the peoples part to reconcile this God to them , was by killing of Beasts , and offering up them to him in Sacrifice , and might therefore hence fall upon this practice of Sacrifices , yet not understanding the true use of them , what reference they had to a promised Mediator , they must needs fluctuate , and toss up and down in uncertainties about so weighty a Concern . Hence was it , that least they should not hit upon the True God , in that Crowd and Throng of Deities wherewith they had overstockt the Commons , they set up an Altar To the unknown God ; and least they should miss the right Sacrifice , and most acceptable Offering , sometimes they Sacrificed the worst , sometimes the best of Men ; and sometimes to please their God the better , they would let him choose by Lot which he would have : They tryed Conclusions with almost all sorts of Creatures , and all to answer the demands of an importunate Conscience , which as Gods Officer was alwayes haling and dragging them before the Barr of Gods Justice , to answer for their Delinquencies : Either then they had no Notices of Sin-pardoning Mercy , or what they had came not in from the Works of Creation and Providence , but were some scattered Beams , and broken Splinters of Traditional Knowledge , derived Originally to them from the People of God , who themselves had received it by pure Revelation , in and through a Redeemer .

All this while our Author sits fretting himself like Gumm'd-Taffata , that when he has been , for two whole pages together , preparing his Reader to swallow his Pills , yet we should cunningly pass it over with a dry Foot , and never bestow the least Consideration of it : That he may not therefore think himself neglected , we shall give him a full and a fair hearing . The Light of Nature ( says he ) and the Works of Creation and Providence , and those manifold Revelations God hath made of himself to the World , especially that last and most perfect Revelation by Iesus Christ , assure us that God is infinite in all his Perfections : They do so , let him make his best of that . And therefore that he is Powerfull , and can doe whatever he pleases . Very good , goe on : So Wife that he knows how to order every thing for the best . Better and better ; and yet p. 30. he tells us , Long and sad Experience proved that all the Means he used to reform the World , proved ineffectual : So Good that he designs , and desires the Happiness of all his Creatures , according to the Capacity of their Natures . Stick a Pin there . So Holy that he hath a Natural Love to all good Men ; ( And so Gracious too , that he made them Good , else they never had been so . ) but he hates all Sin and Wickedness ; ( It 's well Gods Hatred of Sin is as Natural to him as his Love of Good Men. ) And will as certainly punish all Obstinate and Incorrigible Sinners ; but yet that he is patient and long-suffering towards the worst of Men , and uses various Methods to reclaim them , and is as ready to pardon them when they return to their Duty , as a kind Father is to receive an humble and penitent Prodigal . Where there are some things that wound our Authors Cause to the Heart , and nothing prejudicial to the Truth which he opposes . For , 1. He grants , that Gods Love to good Men , and his Hatred of Sin , are both equally Natural , and therefore I suppose Essential to him . 2. That Gods punishing obstinate Sinners , is equally Natural to him with his rewarding Good men ▪ But , 3. The Fallacy of all is , that lapsed Man stands related to God as a Father ; whereas he should have proved , and not supposed , that the Light of Nature of Scripture discovers any other Relation of a Revolted Sinner unto God , than that of a Creature to his Creator , and a Subject to his Governour ; before he be taken into that special Relation of a Son to a Father , by Adoption in Christ . 4. A Supposition that God is ready to pardon Sinners when they return to their Duty , is ambiguous , vain , and ( as he takes it ) false ▪ Ambiguous , for who can prophesie whether he means an entire ▪ perfect , and universal return to Duty according to the first Covenant , or no ? And Vain ; for admitting that God is ready to pardon Sinners upon their Return , Man is but where he was , till he be enabled by Grace to return : And as False as Vain and Ambiguous ; for we find no Revelation that God will pardon past sins upon our Return for the future , without reference to that Compensation which he has provided for his wronged Governing Iustice by Jesus Christ . 5. There 's a great Cheat put upon us in those words , The Light ▪ of Nature , the works of Creation and Providence , those manifold Revelations God hath made of himself , especially that last and most perfect Revelation by Iesus Christ , assure us , &c. If he supposes that any one of these singly considered , will assure us of all that followes , especially that God is thus ready to pardon Sinners , i't s the very thing in Question , and ought to have been strongly proved , and not weakly supposed ; but if he take them joyntly , including the Revelation made by , and through Jesus Christ , we grant it ; but then the misery on 't is , this is the thing he should have fought against ; the Doctors own Assertion , at which he has such an aking tooth ; That Gods pardoning Mercy could never have entred into the Heart of Man but by Iesus Christ ; but now see how neatly he would shuffle off the business . These Properties of God are plainly revealed in the Scripture without any further acquaintance with the Person of Christ . But this will not doe his work : For , 1. What 's now become of the Light of Nature , if after all , we must be beholden to the Light of Scripture ? But thus the poor Gentiles after all his zealous stickle in their Cause , are left in the lurch , to shift for themselves as well as they can . 2. That these Properties of God are plainly revealed in the Scripture , is very true , but then the plainness of their Revelation lyes in this , that God will pardon Sinners upon the Account of a Mediator ; Perhaps he would put a trick upon us by that word [ Further ] and therefore to content him , let him understand , that we own all these Properties of God to be plainly revealed in Scripture , without any further Acquaintance with Christs Person than what is therein Revealed . But our Author joggs on still . Had Christ never appeared in the World , yet we had Reason to believe , that God is thus wise and good , [ viz. to pardon Sinners , ] and holy and mercifull , not onely because the Works of Nature and Providence , but the Word of God assures us he is so ; but let me wedge in a word for all his Haste . 1. The Word of God assures us not he is so without reference to a Mediator : And if Christ had never appeared in the World first or last , perhaps we had had no Word of God ; and if we had , there would not have been one syllable in that Word of the Pardon of Sin , but of the Wrath ▪ and just Vengeance of God due to it . 2. Jesus Christ was once to appear in the World , to reconcile God and Man ; and as without Revelation we had never known , so without his Interposition we had never enjoy'd the Pardon of Sin . The truth is , Christ was a Teacher and a Prophet , to reveal the Nature and Will of God , before his Appearance in the flesh ; The Spirit of Christ signified before-hand the Sufferings of Christ , and the Glory that should follow , 1 Pet. 1. 11. and those Sufferings had a Virtue and Efficacy to procure the Pardon of Sin long before they were actually undergone ; for in Gods Acceptation he was a Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World ; yet still our Authors Larum is not run down : The appearance of Christ did not first discover the Nature of God to us : No sure ; God had revealed himself to be such a God long before , yet still upon the Account of that Propitiation and Atonement which in infinite Wisdom and Grace he had provided . Acts 10. 43 To him give all the Prophets witness , that through his Name , whosoever believeth on him , shall receive Remission of sins : It 's much to a little , that our Author will flam off all this with a fine Tale of a Tub , that it 's not the Person of Christ , but a Doctrine , a Gospel , a Church , an Office , or something , or nothing , provided it be not Christ himself , that is here intended ; but the Apostle has hedged out that Evasion , v. 39. It 's he that was slain , and hang'd on a Tree , he that was raised again the third day , and v. 42. he that is ordained of God to judge the quick and the dead : And yet perhaps our Author with one Cast of his Office , can make it out how a Doctrine , a Church may be stain , and hanged on a Tree too ; and if they be no better than some that have troubled the world , as no great matter if they were ; however I shall not concern my self in its Confutation . For ought then that I can see , the Doctor may keep his Principles to himself , and his Confidence too , that Gods pardoning Grace could never have enter'd into the heart of man , but by Christ ; that is , that none could have had any security ( whatever God is in his own Nature ) that ever God would or could have pardoned Sinners without some Provision made for the vindicating the Honour of his Justice , as Ruler of the World , by a Mediator ; which onely could be the Lord Jesus Christ . And to shut up this matter , we will stand to the Determination of the Church of England , Art. 7. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New , for both in the Old and the New Testament , everlasting Life is offer'd to Mankind by Christ , who is the onely Mediator between God and Man ; wherefore they are not to be heard , which feign , that the Old Fathers did look onely for transitory Promises . Again , Art. 18. They are also to be held Accursed that presume to say , that every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect that he professeth , provided he be diligent to frame his Life according to the Light and Law of Nature ; for , Holy Scripture doth set out unto us onely the Name of Jesus , whereby men must be saved : But this Anathema is become to our young Fry , Brutum Fulmen .

Now after all this Lirry of our Authors , he finds it seems , that he and his Antagonists , have not discoursed ad idem : The Question has been about the Sun in the Firmament , and the Answer was concerning the Staffe that stood in the Chimney-corner ; For ( says he ) considering what these men make of Gods Love , pardoning Mercy , Iustice , Patience , &c. these Properties could never have been discover'd but by a too familiar Acquaintance with Christ's Person , for Nature and Revelation say Nothing of them . But why then did he not fix the true Notions of these things in the first place , and never torment his Reader with a wild , rambling , impertinent Story , which he now confesses was not one word to the purpose ? For that which they call pardoning Mercy ( he sayes ) is not to be seen in Scripture-Revelation , and perhaps that which he calls so , may be seen in the Discoveries of Nature , and found growing upon every Hedge : We shall go near to entertain more Charitable thoughts of the Schoolmen , and the old Systematical Divines hereafter ; for they would have set the Terms of a Question to rights , and stated the due bounds of the Meaning of words , before they had made a noyse and blunder about the Confutation of their Adversaries : what our Author means by these things , we must leave in the Clouds as we found it , what others mean we are pretty well secured : But we are not so secure of our Authors Honesty in this matter , who jumbles together those things which the Doctor had separated , and puts them all ( Pell Mell ) into the common Box , as if he had asserted , That the Love of God to Sinners , his Justice against Sinners , his Patience with , and Long-suffering of Sinners , were none of them discoverable but by Christ ; whereas the Doctor plainly and in terms asserts that Gods Iustice , Patience , Long-sufferance , may be otherwise known , as we have heard before , and shall see again by and by : The Rise of our Authors Fury and Indignation against the Doctor , is from these words , p. 93. Com. God hath manifested the Naturalness of his Righteousness unto him , in that it was impossible that it should be diverted from Sinners , without the interposing of a Propitiation . Now ( says he ) this is such a Notion of Iustice as is perfectly New , which neither Scripture nor Nature acquaint us with : And if it be so , I could heartily wish it underwent the Deleatur of an Expurgatory Index : but how strangely is our Author wheel'd about ! it was but p. 42. that he deliver'd it with as much Confidence as most men are guilty of , That the Light of Nature , the Works of Creation and Providence , besides Revelation , doe assure us that God hath a Natural Love for all good men , but that he hates sin , and will certainly punish incorrigible sinners ; from whence we might have been prone enough to have dropt into such an Error , that if Hatred of Sin , be as Natural to God , as his Love to good Men , he cannot but hate the one , and love the other : for God cannot act against his Nature , and must act according to his Nature . Nay , we should have concluded , that it holds more strongly a great deal , for his hatred of the one , than for his love of the other ; seeing there 's something of sin in good men , in the best of Men , which may allay his Love towards them , consider'd in their single and Personal Capacities , but there 's nothing at all in sin , not the least that may qualifie his Indignation against sin : And had we not been snib'd , we should have ventur'd further to say , that as God has a Natural Love to good Men , and will not fail to reward them ; so he has a Natural displicency against sin , and therefore will not fail to reward it according to its demerits : And then because we are assured from a surer hand , Rom. 6. 23. That the wages of sin is death ; which by the opposition , clearly intends eternal death ; we could not much doubt , that a righteous and holy God will give to every one their wages , without the interposition of that Propitiation , whereof our Author makes so light : Thus I say we had concluded , but that our Author limits the Certainty of punishment to incorrigible , and obstinate Sinners : but this is but a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and will not much mend the matter ; both because those corrigible ones are not so wholly corrected , but that still some remaining sins lodge in them , which are the Object of Divine abhorrency , and also because those Corrigible ones are onely pardoned , and received to Grace through the Interest which they have in the Sufferings of Christ ; hence 1 Iohn 1. 9. If we confess our sins , he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins : which Faithfulness of God , has the Foundation of its Exercise in the satisfaction of his Vindictive Iustice , which being once answer'd , God that cannot lye , promises the pardon of Sin through Christ , which because he is faithfull and just , he will make it good to the truely penitent Sinner : But what Reason will our Author favour us with of his Blunt Negative ? Why , All Mankind have accounted it an act of Goodness ( without the least suspicion of Injustice in it ) to remit Injuries and Offences , without exacting any punishment . I much doubt whether our Author was ever Principal Secretary of State to all Mankind , that he should be so privy to their Sentiments ; his own daring Fancies , and crude Conceptions are no just Standard of their Apprehensions ; and I am well assured that some of Mankind , and such whose Learning and Judgement may vye with his , and may be supposed to know Mankind as well as himself , yet think not with him in this business ; but I shall lay a few things in his way , let him remove them .

( 1. ) The Strength of his Argument lyes in a most gross and palpable Absurdity : viz. That there is the same Reason for Gods pardoning sin against his most holy Law , that there is for a private Persons charitable remitting a trespass against himself . That God as he is the Governour of the World , may wave the Execution of the Sentence threatned against , and due to the violation of his Rules of Government , because a private Person may depart from his Right in a Six-penny matter ; but these things are wonderfully mistaken : For , 1. Our Author confesses , that God will certainly punish all obstinate and incorrigible Offenders : but if sin be consider'd onely as an injury against a private Person , God may pardon even Impenitency and Incorrigibility it self : And if it be an act of Goodness to remitt such an Injury without the least suspition of Injustice ; the greater the Offence is , the greater will that Goodness triumph in remitting the greater Injury . The degree of sin alters not the Case : He that can pardon a Penny justly , may also a pound , who shall set limits to him how far he shall depart from his Right ? 2. That the Case is not the same between God and Man , is evident from hence . Man may depart from his Right to his Servant , may Manumitt him , and release him from all dependance ▪ on him , from performance of all duty to him , as his Master ; but it 's impossible to ▪ suppose that God should discharge and acquitt a Creature from its dependance on , and its subjection to himself . 3. God is to be considered , not only as our Proprietor and Owner , but as our Governour and Ruler : Now the end of Government being the good and welfare of the Community , every violation of the Law claims , either that Judgement and Execution pass upon the Offender , according to it ; or if not , that good Security be put in , that neither the Honour of the Legislator suffer , Offenders be encouraged , nor the Common good damnified , which was certainly done by Jesus Christ : And God himself has declared how odious such an Indifferency of spirit is in a Magistrate , Prov. 17. 15. They who justifie the wicked , and condemn the Righteous , are both an abomination to the Lord .

( 2. ) There 's a great suspition , nay clear evidence of injustice in a private Persons departing from his right in some Cases ; we will suppose a summe of Money , which is all the Livelyhood of a Personand his Numerous Family ; shall he not grievously sin , who shall depart from his Right , so far as to forgive this Debt . and turn all his Family a grazing upon the bare Common of Charity , which might have been plentifully provided for in a way of Righteousness and Justice ? But still he prosecutes the Comparison : He is so far from being Iust , that he is Cruel and Savage , who will remit no offence , till he hath satisfied his Revenge : Which were true , 1. If spoken of a private Person ; Vengeance belongs not to any in that state , it 's a flowre of the Crown ; we are not to avenge our selves , we may prosecute our own Right lawfully , and yet even that managed with a revengefull Spirit , is sinfull . 2. A publick Person in punishing according to Law , ought not to be called cruel and savage , but just and righteous ; when the holy God executes the Penalty of his holy Law , he does not satisfie his Revenge , but vindicate his righteous Laws from Contempt ; he will not have them trodden under foot , to please every sawcy and malapert Caviller , that shall tax him with savage Cruelty : And surely , there are Terms more becoming the Majesty of a holy God , which our Author might have bestow'd upon the righteous Iudge of all the Earth , in his Process against Sinners . That he is holy in all his wayes , righteous in all his works ; that the same Law , which is the Rule of Duty and Obedience , is also the Rule of Punishing the Delinquent . But still he will be importunate : That part of Iustice which consists in punishing Offenders , was alwayes look'd upon as an Instrument of Government , and therefore the exacting or remitting Punishment was referred to the Wisdom of Governours , &c. What he means by an Instrument of Government , I cannot well tell ; but this I know , that Atheism will have God too to be an Instrument of Government , a politick Engine ▪ to bridle the many-headed Multitude , and keep the Herd of the Vulgar in some awe : And I have learnt it from our Authors great Friend also , that the Articles of the Church are an Instrument of Peace , and no matter whether they be an Instrument of Truth ; but I would gladly be satisfied in a few things 1. Who they are that call Gods punitive Iustice an Instrument of Government , and what warrant they have so to call it ? I have read indeed that the Law is an Instrument of Government , but that the Righteousness and Justice of the Law-giver , in giving to every one his due , should be an Instrument of Government , seems to me an Arbitrary Term , onely invented that men might seem to say something , when indeed they say just nothing . 2. I would have a satisfactory Reason , why That part of Iustice which consists in Punishing Offenders , should be an Instrument of Government ; and yet the other part which consists in rewarding the Complyant and Tractable , should not be such ; and why God may not as well choose whether he will reward the Righteous , as whether he will punish the Wicked . And then , 3. Whether this will be an Instrument of Goverment , or of Anarchy and Confusion ; for if after all Obedience , and Disobedience , the Law be not the Rule of dispensing Rewards and Punishments , Good night to both ; If Laws be not executed , both they and the Law-giver will be despised ; and this great Instrument of Government will be like Iupiters Log , which made a noyse without execution ; and the wicked will be tempted to doe evil , the Righteous discouraged in their Obedience ▪ But let his Antecedent sink or swim , I am as little satisfied with his Consequent ; That therefore the exacting or remitting of Punishment was referred to the Wisdom of Governours , who might spare or punish as they saw Reason , without being unjust in either : For , 1. God has not left it to the Wisdom of Governours , whether they shall secure the Ends of Government or no ; Nay , we are assured that the Iews under their Theocracy , were tyed up ( in many Cases especially ) and not left to their discretion , Numb. 35. 33. Thou shalt take no satisfaction for the Life of a Murderer , he shall surely be put to death . 2. What if God has obliged himself to the contrary , that he will not remitt Punishment , but has made his holy Law the Rule of his dealing with us , as well as of our walking with him ? Numb. 14. 6. 18. The Lord is long-suffering , and of great Mercy ; and by no means clearing the guilty . Nay , what if this be the immediate result of Gods Nature , supposing an Offender ? the Text makes this as essential to God as any of his other Attributes , and if our Author can exclude one , another when it shall serve the Scene , will exclude all the rest , and then we shall have a God to our Authors hearts desire .

In the Conclusion of this Point , our Author unbosoms himself to us , and ingenuously discovers the bottom of his heart ; namely , that the Reason why he is so zealously engaged against the Vindicative Iustice of God , is because he was well aware , that it would put in strongly for the Necessity of Christs Death : And he understood his Interest well enough ; for the Iustice of God once admitted , enforces the Necessity of Christs Death , if it be supposed , that God will declare himself just in the pardoning of a Sinner ; and the Death of Christ also reciprocally will prove the holy peremptoriness of Gods Iustice against Transgressors : For , what else could call for the Death of the Lord Jesus Christ ? The Lord Jesus Christ was the onely begotten , and dearly beloved of the Father ; free from Sin , in whom no guile was found , 1 Pet. 2. 22. and not onely voyd of Sin , but full of Grace , exact in his Obedience , Matth. 3. 16. he fulfill'd all Righteousness , and he durst avow it , Iohn 8. 29. That he alwayes did those things that pleased his Father ; so that his Eternal Father , in the view and Prospect of these things , declares that he was well-pleased with him , Math. 17. 5. Now let us consider , how the Father dealt with this Dear , this Holy , this onely Son , Isa. 53. 10. It pleased the Father to bruise him , he hath put him to grief , he laid upon him the Iniquities of us all ; what shall we say to these things ? the Father was well-pleased with his Person , with his Obedience , and yet well-pleased with his sufferings also ; he was made a Curse , who was blessed for ever , Gal. 3. 13. he dyed a poenal Death , who had no Guilt , Rom. 8. 32. God spared not his own Son ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 he spared him not in exacting Punishment ; Death came into the World by sin , and yet Christ dyed , who never sinned , Rom. 5. 12. The Law in its Penalty had nothing to do with him , who had not offended the Law in its Rule : So that I profess , I know no greater wonder in the world , than that the Father would have him suffer , and that he should be Capable of Sufferings ; till the wonder be removed by viewing Christ in the stead of others ; and thus the Scripture assoyls the difficulty , Isa. 53. 10. His Soul was made an Offering for sin ; Nay , he was made sin for us , though he knew no sin , that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him , 2 Cor. 5. 21. He so loved the Church , that he gave himself for it : And appearing in this Quality ; Death , the Officer of Gods violated Law might justly arrest him , and the Father be pleased to bruise him , delighted in his Sufferings upon one account , who was so infinitely satisfied in his Person upon another : And yet all this while our Author can see no necessity of Christs Death . I should rather have thought ( sayes he ) that Gods requiring such a Sacrifice as the Death of Christ , was not because he could not do otherwise , but because his infinite Wisdom judged it the most effectual way of dispensing his Grace . Then , 1. It seems though Gods infinite Wisdom saw this the best way , yet it might have consisted with his Wisdom to have pitch'd upon a worse ; and then it will be a Question , whether that had been Wisdom or no : For we are told , p. 48. That Wisdom consists in the choyce of the fittest and best Means to attain an End , when there are more wayes than one of doing it : If then Wisdom consist in choosing the fittest and best Means , and the Death of Christ was the best Means for dispensing of Gods Grace , either it was impossible for God to choose any other way than this , or it is possible for God to act in a way not consisting with Wisdom . But , 2. Our Author had highly obliged the World , had he discovered how sin might otherwise have been expiated than by the Sacrifice of Christs Death . The Iews have pitch'd upon a Cock , and at last upon their own Death : But it 's twenty to one , when our Author shall substitute any in the room of the perfect Sacrifice of Christ , we shall find as many real Inconveniences in it , as he has found imaginary absurdities in the Necessity of Gods requiring satisfaction to his Justice , and Christs Tendring it upon the Cross. But , 3. Who ever asserted simply that God could doe no otherwise than to require the Sacrifice of Christs Death ? Alas , our Author is wide the whole Heavens in this Matter ; It must first be supposed , that God will treat with the sinner , and that Christ will accept the Terms of being a Mediator between God and Man ; The Necessity proceeds upon a presupposed Voluntariness , both in the Father and in the Son ; and when you have supposed them , there are who will dispute it with our Author when he pleases , that upon supposition God will accept and justifie a sinner , a just Compensation must be made to wronged Iustice .

I find our Author and his Confederates now and then speaking a good word of Mr. R. B. and I doe the more wonder at it , because I did not think they had had a good word for any man but themselves ; I shall therefore give him a taste out of his learned Labours , and if he likes it , he may have more at the same rate . 'T is in his Reasons of the Christian Religion , Part 2. Chap. 4. Sect. 6. No Religion doth so wonderfully open , and magnifie , and reconcile Gods Iustice and Mercy to Mankind , as Christianity doth . It sheweth how his Iustice is founded in his Holiness , and his Governing Relation ; It justifieth it by opening the Purity of his Nature , the Evil of Sin , and the use of Punishment to the right Government of the World ; and it magnifieth it , by opening the Dreadfulness , and Certainty of his Penalties , and the Sufferings of our Redeemer , when he made himself a Sacrifice for our Sins .

But the storm is not yet over , nor our Authors Fury quite spent . Dr. O. had said , Com. pag. 94 , 95. That there are many Glympses of the Patience of God towards Sinners , shining out in the Works of his Providence ; but all exceedingly beneath that discovery which we have of it in Christ ; for in him the very Nature of God is discovered to be Love and Kindness ; whatever discoveries were made of the Patience and Lenity of God to us , yet if it were not withall revealed , that his other Attributes , his Iustice and Revenge for Sin , had their actings assigned them to the full , there could be little Consolation gather'd from his Patience and Lenity : It were very hard if a Spider could suck no poyson out of these words , and I should conclude she had renounced her Nature ; but what was there in all this that could exasperate a sweet natur'd Gentleman ? Whilest a sinner hangs by the meer forbearance of God , he hangs but over Hell-fire by a single Thread , and if that breaks , he falls irrecoverably into Everlasting Burnings ; and it can be little Consolation ( the Doctor was gentle , he might have used a harsher word , and said just none at all , ) to an awakened Conscience , to have a place in Gods forbearance , when he has none in his Forgiveness , or to depend upon mere patience , without an interest in Gods pardoning Mercy : God may have patience with , when he has no pardon for a sinner ; he had so for the Old World , for Sodom , for Ierusalem , which yet perisht under his just displeasure : A sensible Soul will be apt to argue thus , I am reprieved , but is my Pardon sealed ? God visits not my Iniquities upon me , but will he remember them no more ? Those that are the familiar Acquaintances of Nature , and of the Cabal to Common Reason , have told me , that Forbearance is no Acquittance ; that Patience abused , turns into Fury ; Nay perhaps it may be in Judgement that a Sinner is forborn ; for God hath sometimes suffered the Nations to walk in their own wayes , Acts 14. 16. And endured with much long-sufferance the Vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction : But now through Christ the Nature of God is discover'd to be Love and Kindness ; for seeing Provision is made for , and regard had of all his other Attributes and Essential Perfections , God can secure to himself the Glory of them all , and yet the Sinner escape wrath to come : And indeed it 's altogether as unaccountable why God should be mercifull to the reproach of his Holiness , as why he should be severe to the disparagement of his Mercy ; As the Goodness of God naturally discovers it self in doing good , ( where all due requisites are found ) so does Justice as readily exert it self upon the Sinner , where a Propitiation doth not interpose ; And if Conscience were rightly instructed in its Office from the Word , it would mind the Sinner , that God can be just in destroying , without the least Impeachment of his Mercy and Goodness ; since Mercy it self is not obliged to plead for the Sinner , without respect had to the other Properties of that God who is Essentially what he is : But has our Author never a Stone to throw at the head of this Truth ? Two things he offers , most lamentable Ignorance , and horrid Blasphemy .

(1) Here 's most wretched Ignorance . A happy Change ( sayes he ) this , from all Iustice , to all Love . No Sir , don't trouble your self , here 's no Change at all , happy or unhappy : God is the same holy , just , righteous , gracious and loving God that ever he was , onely , ( sayes the Doctor ) he 's otherwise discovered : Justice and Mercy are not contrary things in God ; he can be all Love and Mercy , and yet punish the Sinner that cannot plead the Death of Christ for his Discharge ; and he can be all Iustice too , and yet pardon the believing , repenting Sinner through Jesus Christ : The Change is not made in God , with whom is no ▪ variableness nor shadow of turning , but the Change is made in the State and Condition of the Creature , who once standing upon his own bottom , and so considered by a holy and righteous God , was the Object of just displeasure , but now being found in Christ , and so eyed by God , is in another Capacity , and meet to enjoy the benefit of that Grace and Love , to which before such Qualification he had no right , and whereof he was utterly incapable .

(2) I wish Ignorance had been the worst that might be charg'd upon his Discourse ; for certainly here 's a vein of the most unparallel'd Blasphemous Drollery , that ever faced the World with an Imprimatur ; except Friendly Debates , Ecclesiastical Policies , and some few others of the same Kidney : And first he will represent the Holy God in his taking Vengeance , or requiring Satisfaction , like an angry passionate Man ; and the Grace of God upon the Account of Christ's Death and Sufferings , to the Kindness of a revengefull Man when he has glutted himself with Revenge , and his Passion is over . I think it might become our Author , or the proudest Worm on Earth , to have spoken more reverently of the way of Gods dealing with repenting Sinners through our Lord Jesus Christ : That discomposure and perturbation of Mind to which frail man is obnoxious , falls not upon the great God ; he can turn the wicked into Hell , and all those that forget God , without Passion ; Fury is not in me , saith God , Isa. 27. 4. An earthly Judge in his private Capacity , may weep when he pronounces Sentence of Death against a Malefactor , and yet remember that he is a Iudge ; and cut off from the City of God the wicked of the Land : Nihil minùs quam irasci punientem decet : Nothing is more uncomely in him that punisheth than Passion : And though we read of Gods Anger , Wrath , and Fury ; yet it becomes us to conceive of God according to his Dignity , even when he represents himself to our Capacity ; Though God humble himself , we have no warrant to abase him ; whatever things are attributed to God which are common to Men , it 's our Duty to garble out all the Imperfections and Frailties that those Qualities are mixed and attended with in Men , before we ascribe them to God .

But this is not the worst , he will strain his impious Drollery a few Notes higher : The summe of which is , that God is all Love and Patience when he has taken his fill of Revenge , as others use to say , the Devil is good when he is pleased . This is indeed the summe of all our Authors blasphemous Froth , but neither the total summe , nor any particular of what the Doctor has ever asserted : The summe of the Doctors words is this : That God is the righteous Iudge of all the Earth , and that it 's a righteous thing with him to render to every Man according to his Works , and yet he has pleased to admit of Satisfaction to be made by his Son Iesus Christ , who most willingly offer'd himself a Propitiatory Sacrifice to God ; In which Son of his , whoever shall believe , God is ready to pardon and forgive him : And now must the plain Truth of the Gospel be thus muffled up , and disguised in ugly Expressions , to render it lyable to scorn and contempt ? Thus have the Papists array'd the Martyrs of Jesus in the Sambenit or Devils-Coat , first shewing them as Hereticks , and then sacrificing them to the flames . I see he has furnish'd himself with a Creep-hole , It 's not as he , but as others say ;

Sed malè dum recitas , incipit esse tuus .

As 't is applyed it 's his own , and yet it hits not neither : For the Devil is never so pleased as to become Good , nor God ever so displeased as to become Evil : Nay , the Devil is then worst when he is pleas'd , for the greatest evil pleaseth him best , and God is gloriously excellent when he is displeased , for the greatest Evil is the Cause of his displeasure . But let this pass for an Ornament of our Authors style , which is indeed embellished with Figures , but none more beautifies it than this , which we may well call a Satanismus .

He has not yet done , he has not loaded the Truth with Reproach to his mind , and therefore one id est will doe it . That is , he would not believe God himself , should he make never so many Promises of being good and gracious to Sinners , unless he were sure he had first satisfi'd his Revenge . But let him not be angry : We believe every Promise that God has made of being gracious to Sinners , but we say , we cannot find one such , without Provision first made for the securing Gods Righteousness . Shew us a Promise that is , Yea and Amen , and not in Christ . Produce that Promise wherein God is engaged to justifie a Sinner , and not be just himself ; quote us the place from whence we may flatter our selves , that God will destroy any of his Attributes to save a Sinner . However therefore our Author has represented God , he has thus represented himself . 1. That he is a Holy God , A God of purer eyes than to behold evil , and that he cannot ( which is the Word so displeases the Man ) look on iniquity ; he cannot but see it wherever it is , as he is omniscient ; and yet he cannot see it , cannot look on it , wherever it is , without Abhorrency : He is a holy God , and from his Natural and Essential Holiness does it arise , that he cannot behold sin with Approbation , and therefore must and will punish it : Thus has he represented himself , Psal. 5. 4 , 5 , 6. Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness , neither shall evil dwell with thee ; The foolish shall not stand in thy sight , thou hatest all the workers of Iniquity . 2. God further testifies of himself , that he is the righteous Iudge of all the Earth , Governing and Judging the World according to his own holy Nature , and the Rules of his holy Law ; and not according to our Authors good Nature , and the Rules that he shall prescribe to him ; and therefore , 3. Agreeable to his holy Nature , and holy Law ; it shall not be with the Righteous after the way of the Wicked , nor with the Wicked after the way of the Righteous , for the Iudge of the whole Earth must do right ; This God has revealed , and we believe , and as much more as shall be made known to us to be of his Revelation . But that God is so indifferent about Sin , as these men would perswade us , that those Scoffers , Zeph. 1. 12. The Lord will not doe good , neither will he doe evil , did charge God wisely , we do not believe ; but that he insists upon the Honour of his Attributes , the Credit of his Laws , the Vindication of his Authority ; which Ends if they may be otherwise attained than by Christ , and his Sacrifice , yet our Author has not yet discover'd to us the Way ; and however he has confessed that Christ is the best and most effectual Means of attaining them .

There are a few drops which follow this Storm , yet behind . The Doctor had said , p. 96 , 97. That God does sometimes bear with Sinners , and forbear them long , and yet there may be no special design of Mercy in it neither : But now evidently and directly , the End of the Patience and Forbearance of God which is exercised in Christ , and discovered in him to us , is the saving , and bringing unto God those towards whom he is pleased to exercise them ; God is now taking a Course in his infinite Wisdom and Goodness , that we may not be destroyed , notwithstanding our sins : which a little before , p. 97. sect. 15. he explains to be , by leading us to Repentance . Now I knew it would be no difficult task to a willing Mind , to put an ugly Vizor upon the fairest Face , which thus he has done . As before , the least Sin could not escape without a just Punishment , &c. so now the Iustice of God being satisfied by the Death of Christ , the greatest Sins can do us no harm , but we shall be saved notwithstanding our sins . But I doubt our Author will be miserably disappointed in his Markets , and lose Money by his dirty Ware . 1. The least Sin cannot escape without Punishment . Very true , we own it ; The wages of Sin is Death : the Threatning is level'd at Sin , as Sin , and therefore against all sin : A quatenus ad Omne valet Consequentia : and therefore go scold with the Apostle , that which will bring him off , will bring off the Doctor . 2. The Justice of God is Natural and Essential to him . Well , let him mend himself how he can , we are of the same mind still , and are like to be so . 3. He cannot forgive sin , without punishing it : Goe on ; somewhere or other the Punishment must lye , which amounts to no more but this , that God cannot forgive sin , but in such a way as may secure his Glory . 4. The Iustice of God is satisfied by the Death of Christ : It is so ; but that Satisfaction is applyed to particular persons , in that way that God has appointed , that no other of his Attributes may be damnified . 5. Now the greatest sins can doe us no hurt . Nay , there our Author is quite out : For Unbelief , Impenitency , Unregeneracy , obstruct the Sinners having any share in the Satisfaction of Christ , or the Benefits procured by it : But , 6. The Doctor had said , We shall be saved notwithstanding our sins ; He does say , we shall not be destroyed ; and let that amount ( if he pleases ) to We shall be saved . That is , 1. Former Sins repented of , shall not be charged upon the Sinner to Condemnation . 2. Such sins as are consistent with the state of Grace , the Power , and Predominancy of Godliness shall not eventually ruine the repenting Sinner ; and for those that are inconsistent with that state , he that undertook to satisfie for them , will also take care they shall not commit them , that he may not lose the Fruit of his Death and Sufferings , and therefore he has promised that he will put his Fear into their hearts , that they shall never depart from him . And now I think our Author has either lost Money by his Discourse , or got it over the Shoulders : All his hopes were to perswade us , That the Doctor design'd to assert , that the satisfaction of Christ would save sinners , notwithstanding their sins lived in , continued in , delighted in , and dyed in ; in sensu composito : but let an ordinary Understanding , with ordinary diligence read over that Paragraph , and he shall find all conspiring with that great Truth , Without Holiness no man shall see God : And thus he has talk'd his pleasure about Mercy and Iustice .

As to Gods Wisdom , which most gloriously appears in this design of Saving sinners by Christ , the Doctor had said , Com. 98. That Gods Wisdom in managing things for his own Glory , is clearly discovered in Christ : And if Wisdom display it self in the works of Creation and Providence , and in his holy Law , yet still Wisdom is most eminently revealed in a Mediator ; and he was the more emboldened thus to speak , because he had encouragement from the Apostle , 1 Cor. 1. 24. We preach Christ crucified , to the Iews a stumbling-block , and to the Greeks foolishness , but to them who are saved , both Iews and Greeks , the Power of God , and the Wisdom of God : And here I confess our Author had just Cause of Complaint , That the Apostle should so unluckily place this Wisdom in a crucifyed Christ , to the utter undoing that laudable Invention of Christ for an Office , a Church , a Doctrine ; and this might well vex every vein of his heart : But still the Doctor proceeds ( and for ought I can see , minds our Author no more , than you would be concern'd about that peevish thing that infests your skins as you walk the streets with impotent Noyse , ) shewing , That this Wisdom of God is such a Mystery , such hidden Wisdom , such manyfold , variegated , curiously wrought Wisdom , that the Angels desire to pry into it , and the Wisdom thereof lyes much in this ; That by Christ , things are recovered into such a state , after the Confusion wherein they were involved by the Curse , as shall be exceedingly to the advantage of Gods glory . P. 98 , 99. This indeed was pungent , and galled that tender part , which cannot endure to hear too much Good spoken at once of Christs Person : For , ( says he ) if Justice be so Natural to God , that Nothing could satisfie him but the Death of his own Son , this may discover his Justice , but not his Wisdom . Why so ? Oh the Reason is plain : Wisdom consists in the choyce of the best and fittest Means to attain an End , where there are more wayes than one of doing it , but it requires no great wisdom where there is but one possible Way . Where I am stumbled at our Authors Philosophy , as much as at his Divinity . For , 1. Saving to our Author his good Learning ; Wisdom lyes also in Managing fit Means in such a Way as may reach their Ends effectually , that there be no disappointment in the Issue by male Administration ; and herein is Gods Wisdom seen , that he carries on , as well as layes the Design of saving Sinners , with admirable Success , maugre all the Counterminings , Projects and Contrivances of Hell ; One way that reaches the End effectually , is worth a thousand , that prove addle , and bring forth nothing but Wind ; and he might have learnt so much from the Fable , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 2. Wisdom lyes in reconciling differing Interests , in adjusting the various Pretensions and Claims of the concerned Parties ; these Contrasto's of bandying Parties clashing one with another , render Healing designs difficult : The Iustice of God demands Satisfaction , the holy Law of God abetts that Demand , the Truth of God backs both their Claims ; and before Grace and Mercy can be actually exercised towards the Sinner , some Expedient must be found out to content those Demands ; and all this God hath done in Christ , in whom Mercy and Truth have met together , Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other , Psal. 85. 10. 3. It s Wisdom to find out a Means to reach an End , though there be but that one Mean to be found in the whole Circle and compass of Beings . We should not much reproach that Physician that should discover to his dying Patient an effectual Remedy , though it prove the onely one in the world ; and we will own him for an Aesculapius , that will prescribe to our Author a good round dose of Hellebore , and yet it 's more than probable , it 's the onely Drug upon Earth that can purge out that frantick , insulting , petulant humour which in his Writings fills both Pages : At length seeing there is no other Remedy , our Author will allow some small Wisdom to appear in the Design , but then the Knowledge of it all is owing to the Revelations of the Gospel , and not to any fanciful Acquaintance with Christ . Still we are haunted with that old Fallacy , which by this time I had hoped had been quite worn out at the Elbowes ; That because the knowledge of this Wisdom is owing to the Gospel Revelations , therefore nothing is due to him , who is the Reason and Ground of this wise and happy Contrivance : And so this Bolt also is soon shot .

(2) The second Addition the Doctor is charged with , is : That a great part of our Wisdom lyes in the knowledge of our selves , and that both in respect of Sin , and Righteousness , and that we cannot attain to these but in and by Christ .

And , [1] For Sin , the Doctor had said , p. 110. Com. That our disability to answer the Mind and Will of God , in any of that Obedience which he requireth , is in Christ onely to be discovered . And the Doctor has herein asserted two things : 1. That there is in every man a Natural Impotency to answer the Will of God : And he seems not to be so peremptory in it as the Scripture , 2 Cor. 3. 5. Not that we are sufficient of our selves , to think any thing as of our selves , all our sufficiency is of God : It 's God that works in us to will and to doe of his own good pleasure ; and if we be deceived by these and many other such Testimonies , the Church of England was misled by them as well as we : Art. 10. The Condition of Man after the Fall of Adam , is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own Natural strength . Our Author durst once appeal to the Experience of the whole world ; will he stand before the same Tribunal , and be judged in this Case ? There are such universal Complaints about this very thing , and such dismal stories all men tell of their Impotency , and disability to answer Gods Laws , that that Man should labour under insupportable prejudices that will controle all mens Experiences ; I know They talk most of the Easiness of keeping Gods Law , who never tryed it , and perhaps if they were well pump'd , they mean nothing but how easie it is to break it : Let any man set himself in his own strength to discharge one single Command of God in its full extent and latitude , keeping it with his whole heart , laying out his whole strength and might therein , which that holy Law challenges , let him attend to the Purity and Perfection of that , and severely compare himself thereby , dress himself in that Glass ; and when he has made some fruitless Essayes , and been foyled and baffled with vain attempts , he may then perhaps see more need of Christ than before , and may spare the Experience of the whole World ; for his own singly will convince him of his disability to answer the Law of God , in all or any of that Obedience which he therein requireth . 2. The Doctor conceives , That this Impotency of ours is discovered clearly in the Death of Christ , wherein he is warranted by the Apostle , Rom. 5. 6. For when we were yet without strength , in due time Christ dyed for the ungodly . In his Divinity we see , a Sinner , and one without strength , are convertible terms , and that the Death of Christ supposed it . All the difficulty here will be , How our Author shall expose this Truth , and represent it to its greatest disadvantage ; but he has a singular Talent that way , and whereof we need never to despair . That is , ( sayes he ) It 's impossible for us to do any thing that is good , but we must be Acted like Machines by an external Force , by the irresistible Grace and Power of God ; And the business is done :

But , 1. Our Author is hugely out , in supposing the Doctor to assert that , It 's impossible to doe any thing that 's good . Some good thing a Man may do , and yet not doe all that 's required in doing it ; the Material part of a Duty he may doe , and yet not perform it in such a way that it may answer Gods Law , or be acceptable to him . Bonum oritur ex integris , there must be a right Principle , a right End , and all circumstances must concurre to make it entirely good : I think there are none that deserve the Name of Christians , who do not pray to God for his Grace to enable them to do their Duty ; but if indeed they could perform it in their own strength , I see not what that Prayer would signifie more than a Complement ; Quid foris quaeram cùm domi habeam ? Why should a rich Man turn a Beggar ? And indeed the Heathens Principles hung together with more Consistency , who would not trouble their Gods for what they had in their own Power , nor thank them for that which they had earned with their own fingers-ends . Quia unusquisque sibi virtutem acquirit , nemo sapientum de eâ gratias Deo egit . Since every man is the Procurer of his own Vertue , no wise man ever gave thanks to the Gods for it .

2. He is no less mistaken , if he presumes upon his Power to tye the Doctor to use what Expressions he pleases in signifying his own Thoughts ; it may be he will not use that term of irresistable , it will satisfie him , if Grace work efficaciously in determining the Will : And if by irresistable Grace no more be meant than a powerfull and effectual production of the principle of Grace in the Soul , it 's no more than what God has promised in the New Covenant , Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart also will I give them , and I will take away the heart of Stone out of their flesh , and I will give them an heart of Flesh : And he that removes the onely resisting Principle in the Soul , [ the Heart of Stone , ] may be said well enough to act irresistably in the working of Grace : Nor can I see any danger in ascribing such a way of working to the Holy Spirit ; nor did the Apostle , Eph. 1. 19 , 20. — who believe according to the working of his mighty power , which he wrought in Christ when he raised him up from the dead : where the Apostle is not afraid , nor ashamed to ascribe the working of Faith to the same Power that raised up Christ from the dead ; and he that had a mind to make a fluster with Greek like our Author , could take a fair Opportunity to tell him , what 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , doe signifie , and then to rub him up with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And whether these denote not the Creatures Impotency , and Gods Efficacious Power , let the Reader judge .

3. Our Author is much mistaken , if he thinks , that the work of Gods Grace and Spirit in Conversion of a Soul to God , may be compared to the moveing of a Machine : Perhaps he had seen about Billingsgate , the Maugeing of a Crane , where a lusty Fellow with a Mastiffe-Dog in a Wheel , will take you up an incredible weight , otherwise unmanagable , and he being taken with the Omnipotency of the Engine , knew not how to bestow his pleasure better than upon the Operation of the Holy . Spirit . But Gods Spirit knows how to act effectually , and yet not offer violence to any of the Faculties of the Soul : He can lead the Creature powerfully , and yet in a way agreeable to its Frame and Constitution ; He that has engaged , Ioh. 6. 37. That all that the Father has given him , shall come unto him , knows well how to bring them in without committing a rape upon their own wills ; he can make them willing , and yield by surrender , and not need to take them by storm ; he can powerfully , and yet gently and sweetly lead his Creature ; he makes no Assault and Battery upon it . When then the Psalmist prayes , and we with him , Psal. 119. 36. That God would encline his heart to his Statutes , there 's enough in his Prayer to imply his own disability , and Gods Power , and yet enough in the Souls Inclination to exclude all Force and Violence .

But still he presseth upon the Doctor , who p. 106. had said : There are Four things in sin , that clearly shine forth in the Death of Christ , 1. The Desert of it . 2. Mans Impotency by reason of it . 3 The Death of it . 4. A New end put unto it . Against the two former , he has sufficiently Discovered his feeble Passion , the third he waves , and now against the fourth he Rises up with incredible Zeal and Fury . For , says the Doctor , Sin in its own Nature tends merely to the Dishonour of God , the Ruine of the Creature ; but now in the Lord Iesus Christ there is the Manifestation of another , and more Glorious end , viz. The praise of Gods glorious Grace , in the pardon and forgiveness of it , God having taken order in Christ , that that thing which tended merely to his Dishonour , should be managed to his Infinite Glory . And here our Author has need of all his Machines and Engines , that he may disorder things so as to serve his turn of them , and therefore upon good advise no doubt reserved them all for this place .

1. One Machine which he plies , is that old Rotten Engine , called Invidious Representation ; and this will do good Service still for want of a better . That is ( says he ) lest Gods Iustice and Mercy should never be known , to the World , he appoints and Ordains sins to this end , that is Decrees that Men shall sin , that he may make some of them Vessels of Wrath , and others the Vessels of his Mercy , to the praise of his Grace in Chris . It 's a sad Drudgery to satisfie wilfully blind Malice : For what more plain from the Doctors words , than that he speaks not Hot or Cold of Gods Ordaining men to sin , but of his putting a New end to sin , upon supposition that it is already in the World . Cannot God bring Good out of Evil , but our Author must go Mad ? It 's a very Ruful cause that needs such Subsidies to maintain it . Let any one Read the Doctor again , pag. 112. Sin in its own Nature tends merely to Gods Dishonour . In the Lord Iesus Christ , there is the Manifestation of another end : And as he said before , pag. 106. There 's a New end put to it : of Gods Ordaining , and Appointing , and Decreeing men to sin not a word , not a syllable , only he says , that supposing sin to be already in the World , carrying on its fatal Designs of Dishonouring God , Damning Souls , God has in Infinite Wisdom , Curb'd and Restrained its Natural Tendency , Over-rul'd its native malice against , and thirst after the blood of souls , and made it Comply with his own Glory . So said Austin : God is so Good that He would never suffer sin to be in the World , if He were not also Omnipotent , to bring Good out of the Evil.

2. Another Machine which our Author plies upon those words , is , That famous Engine of Archimedes , of which he used to boast , that Give him but a place out of the World where to fix his Engine , and he would undertake to Unhinge the Earth from its Center . The same Confidence has our Author in this Machine , which indeed never failed him : And no less truly , than commonly called a Down-right falsehood . Let the Reader mark it well ; he charges the Doctor for saying , pag. 112. Com. That the glorious end whereunto sin is appointed , and ordained , is discovered in Christ for the Demonstration of Gods Vindictive Iustice , in Measuring out to it a meet recompence of Reward . Now remember the old Caveat , Hic nervus est sapientiae nihil fidere : Take the Book and read with all the Eyes you have , and can borrow , and there you shall find the clear contrary . The Comminations , and Threatnings of the Law , do manifest one other end of sin , even the Demonstration of Gods Vindictive Iustice , in measuring out to it , a meet recompence of Reward ; but here the Law stays , with it all other Light , and discovers no other use or end of it at all ; but in the Lord Iesus Christ , there is the Manifestation of another , and more Glorious end , &c. And now after all this sorrow , we shall have a fine Scene of Mirth for our Divertisment . Nature ( says he ) would teach us , that so Infinitely glorious a Being as God is , needs not sin , and misery to recommend his Glory , and Perfections : What Nature will teach us , so great a Darling of hers , the Privado to all her Mysteries cannot be Ignorant of ; but in my Judgment he fetches a huge Blow to do Nothing : We believe God was perfectly happy from all Eternity in the Enjoyment of his own Self and Infinite Perfections , and needed not have recommended his Glory to his Creatures ; he made not the World because he needed it , but by our Authors good leave , or without it ; supposing that God will recommend his Glory , he must have something out of himself , to which he may recommend it : And on like Supposition that He will Manifest his pardoning Grace and Mercy , there must be a fit Object capable of that Grace and Mercy , unless our Author from his too much familiarity with Nature , can tell us how God can Pardon one that is no sinner , or forgive him that is not guilty . Though every sinner be not an Object qualified to receive Mercy , yet he must be a sinner upon whom pardoning Mercy is exercised ; though all Misery be not a fit Object of pity , yet Pity supposes Misery ; some of Gods Attributes create their Objects , as Omnipotency , but others do suppose them as Sin pardoning Grace ; and so God may be said to need Sins and Misery to recommend some of his Perfections , I am sure supposing sin and misery to exist , God has recommended his Son to us , in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us , Rom. 5. 8. Of the same bran is that which follows : God would not Truckle and Barter with the Devil and Sin for his Glory . It 's like he would not , but when the Devil and Sin had confederated against God , I know not why God might not Over-reach them in their Designs , and as he has made the wrath of Man , so he might also the policy of Satan to serve and praise Him ; and thus he fixes a New end upon sin , which the Devil never dreamt on , or however did not design : But I perceive our Author is wondrously pleased with the fine Notion of Trucking and Bartering , and that we might not loose the beauty of it , he warns us amongst the Errata , ( I would there were no worse ) that for Truckle , we read Truck . Oh be sure ( Courteous Readers ) you do not mistake , for there 's some weighty Controversie depends upon it , which the Coffee-house , and the Inch of Candle must determine . But further Nature teaches him , That God had much rather be Glorious in the Happiness and Perfection and Obedience of his Creatures , than in their sin and misery . Nature is an excellent School Mistress I see , and this is one of her highest Mysteries , that God delights in Obedience more than Sin : But what now if Sin and Disobedience have got in ? for my part I question whether Nature will teach him that God had rather , much rather , or however how much rather he had be more Glorious in exacting one Attribute than another ; or whether God may not equally glorifie himself in the Execution of his just Displeasure against Sin obstinately pursued , as in the glorifying the Penitent and Reformed sinner ; but this I know , that the former has more deserved Eternal Punishment , than the other can pretend to merit Eternal Life : But perhaps he has Ballances that will turn with the Twentieth part of a Grain , and in these he knows how to weigh which of Gods Attributes weigh heaviest : And that he can do , for he tells us , That pardoning Mercy , and vindictive Iustice are but secondary Attributes : What warrant he has to marshal Gods Attributes in this order , I dare not enquire ; which are first rate , which second rate Attributes is a Nice enquiry ; but I expected a Dish of Coleworts before he had done , for these have been served up to us in the Racovian Catechism : Let these things be as they will , I observe , 1. That vindictive Justice , and pardoning Mercy are both equally Gods Attributes . 2. They are not the less Essential and primary Attributes , because they were not Eternally exercised , for then neither would Omnipotency be such : God was Eternally Omnipotent though he Created not the World from Eternity , and he was also Eternally a God of pardoning Mercy , and a God of punitive Justice , though to the Exerting the outward Acts proper to those Eternal excellencies there was required an Object capable of receiving them : This , Nature and Scripture teaches us , and we are not much concern'd in our Authors Theologie ; but to close up all , he gives us an Inference from his Doctrine , and a Reason of that Inference ; His Doctrine was this : Vindictive Iustice , and Pardoning Mercy are not Primary but Secondary Attributes . His Inference is this : Therefore God cannot Primarily design the glorifying of them : His Reason is this : For that cannot be , without Primarily designing the sin ▪ and misery of his Creatures . That is , God cannot Primarily design one thing , except he Primarily designs another ; and so we shall have two Firsts , without a Second . This is very thin Stuff , it shines through .

[ 2. ] The Reader has heard to his great Contentment , how admirably he has acquitted himself in the Matter of sin , if he can but play his part as well in the Matter of our Righteousness too ▪ he will deserve the Whetstone , and that may save him the Labour of going to the Counter-door . As it is with your Artificial Fencers , that never knew further than the Discipline of the School ; they have all the Terms of Art , know their Postures , and with good Credit can play a Prize upon the Stage ; yet when these men come to Sharpe , when the Point of a real Enemies Sword is ready prest at the heart , it puts them often out of their forms , their School-play , and Systematical skill : Thus possibly it may fare with our confident Bravo's , who can talk very confidently of appearing before God in their own Duties , and a Righteousness finely Composed out of those Materials , yet possibly their Blood may freeze in their Veins , and the Colour forsake their bold Cheeks , when God shews himself in his glorious Majesty , and they must be in a moment , as they must be for ever : None ever Ranted higher than Bellarmin , nor Hector'd the World with Arguments against Imputed Righteousness , yet when he saw Death was in good Earnest , he was glad to Lower his Top-sail , and cry out , Precor ut inter sanctos suos , non estimator meriti , sed veniae largitor me admittat : And in his very Ruff against that Doctrine , retreated to his Tutissimum est , li●… . 5. de justificatione . What Doctor Owen asserts herein , is briefly thus much , Com. pag. 113. All men are perswaded that God is a most Righteous God , Hab. 1. 13. and therefore the Ungodly cannot stand in the Judgment . Hence the enquiry of every one convinc't of Immortality , and the Judgment to come is , concerning the Righteousness to appear before this Righteous God : The first thing that offers it self for Direction and Assistance is [ the Law ] which hath many fair Pleas to prevail with a Soul to close with it for a Righteousness : It was given out by God himself for that end , it contains the whole Obedience that God requires of the Sons of Men : It has the promise of Eternal Life annext to it : [ Do this and Live . ] But there are two things that discover the Vanity of seeking Righteousness in this Path , 1. That they have already sinned , and come short of the Glory of God , Rom. 3. 23. So that though they should for the time to come , fulfil the whole Law , yet there is a Score upon them already , they know not how to answer for . 2. That if former Debts were blotted out , yet they are no way able to fulfil the Law for the future ; many other Devices men have found out , but in the Issue the matter comes to this . They look upon themselves , 1. As sinners obnoxious to the Law of God , and the Curse thereof , so that unless that be satisfied , it 's in vain from thence to seek after an appearance before God . 2. As Creatures made to a Super-natural end , and therefore bound to answer the whole Mind and Will of God . Now both these being beyond the Compass of their own endeavours , it 's their wisdom to find out a Righteousness that may answer both these to the utmost ; now both these are to be had only in the Lord Christ , who is our Righteousness : Who , 1. Expiates former Iniquities . 2. Fulfils the whole Law by his active Obedience , Rom. 5. 10. We are saved by his Life . And now the Doctor has told you the short of his Story : But our Author confutes him much shorter , and without Cicumlocution replies : This is a mighty comfortable Discovery , how we may be Righteous without doing any thing that is good or Righteous . I 'le warrant you a whole Cart-load of Books hath been Written of this Subject , all which with Laconick Brevity our Author has blown away with one Puff : And is not this a Compendious way of Dispatching Controversies out of the World ? It is a Truth that none is Righteous but he that doth righteousness , and as great a Truth , that None is righteous before God , because he doth righteousness : Without Holiness no man shall see God ; and without something more than his own holiness no man shall see God , or it were better he had never seen him . But more distinctly : 1. It 's seasonable to enquire what is the Mind of the Church of England in this Matter , and She speaks freely , Art. 11. We are accounted righteous before God , only for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ ; by Faith , and not for our own Works . Pray ask her then , Whether we may be Righteous without doing any thing that is Righteous ▪ for which we are so accounted in the sight of God ? And whereas he says with a Scoff , This is a mighty comfortable Doctrine : The Church in that very Article determines in earnest : Wherefore that we are justified by Faith only , is a most whole some Doctrine , and full of Comfort . Either then that Article Confutes his Assertion , or his Assertion confutes the Article . Again , Art. 13. Works done before the Grace of Christ , and the Inspiration of the Spirit , are not pleasant to God , for as much as they spring not of Faith in Chris . — And for that they are not done as God hath Commanded them to be done , no doubt but they have the Nature of sin . Hence it were easie to argue against our Author : Those works which are not pleasant to God , which have the Nature of sin , cannot justifie the doer of them : But all works done before the Grace of Christ , the Inspiration of his Spirit , which spring not from Faith are such ▪ therefore they cannot justifie the doer of them before God . Either then we must never be justified , or else we must be justified without good Works , as that for which we are justified at least ; though the Article would conclude something more . It 's very uncomely to see ill taught Children to spit in their Mothers face ; and we account that an evil Bird that defiles its own Nest. 2 It will be no less seasonable to enquire into the mind of the Spirit also : And the Apostle Paul seems to speak high , Rom. 4. 5. To him that worketh not , but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly , his faith is counted for righteousness : And more modesty would become him than to quip the Apostle , and tell him This is a comfortable discovery how a man may be righteous , without doing any thing that is righteous . Again , In the business of Election , the Apostle argues thus , Rom. 11. 6. If it be by Grace , then it is not of Works , otherwise Grace is no more Grace ; but if it be of Works , then it is no more Grace , otherwise Work is no more Work . 3. It 's seasonable to enquire whether our Author had not better have understood the Doctor better , before he had undertaken to answer him : For when he asserts that we are justified by Christ , he excludes not the way and means that God hath appointed to make the righteousness of Christ to become ours . He that saith we are justified by Christ , doth not deny we are justified by Faith , and therefore not without doing something that is good : Nay , he excludes not Inherent righteousness from the Soul , nor Gospel obedience from the Life , only he excludes them as too defective and imperfect to make us stand before God in the judgment . And herein he seems a more dutiful Son of the Church of England than our Author , let the 12th . Art. judge : Albeit Works which are the fruits of Faith , and follow after Iustification cannot put away our sins , and endures the severity of Gods judgment , yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ , and do spring out ( necessarily ) of a true and lively faith , insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known , as a Tree discerned by the fruit . Whence it is obvious : That if our good Works which are the fruits of Faith , which follow Iustification , cannot endure the severity of Gods judgment , What shall become of those that are only the fruits of Nature , and go before Iustification ? Again , If those Works which are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ , yet cannot endure the severity of Gods Iudgment ; Where then shall those appear , that being done before Iustification , have the Nature of sin , and are not pleasant to God ? As the 13th . Art. determines ; To whomsoever then this is comfortable Doctrine , I am sure it was once so to our Author , who by Subscribing these very Doctrines , got a Living of very comfortable Importance , and might have had the Civility with them of Ephesus to have owned ; By this Craft we get our Living . But if our Author like not the Doctors way , let him prescribe his own , only let him be sure it be a better , and safer way ; That he will : The Scripture tells us expresly , he is righteous that doth righteousness , and without Holiness no man shall see God ; that the only way to obtain the pardon of our sins is to repent of them , and forsake them , and the only thing that gives a right to the promises of Future glory , is to obey the Laws , and imitate the Example of our Saviour , and to be transformed into the Nature and Likeness of God . We must crave his leave to take his words in pieces , that we may the better deal with them .

( 1. ) The Gospel ( says he ) makes a different Representation of it , tells us expresly that he is righteous that doth righteousness . But say I , This is no representation of our justification different from what the Doctor has assigned . And let the words be Interpreted how he will , they make nothing against the Doctors assertions . 1. Let these words [ He is Righteous ] signifie [ He is Inherently righteous , or holy ] and then the plain Sence is ; that he that doth righteousness , that practises an Uniform , and Universal conformity in his Life to the Gospel , may - charitably be judged by others , and certainly known by his own Conscience to be such a one ; as a Tree is known by its fruits : For so are we warranted by our Saviour to make a Judgment , Mat. 7. 16. And the same warrant we have from the Church of England : Art . 12. — Insomuch that by them [ good Works , that necessarily spring of a true and lively faith , ] a lively Faith may be as evidently known , as a Tree discerned by the Fruit. 2. Let the words be interpreted of that Righteousness by which , in which , and for which we stand accepted as Righteous before God ; yet it meets in the same point ; he that from an honest and good heart brings forth holy Fruit , most certainly justified in the sight of God , and is accepted of him ; we may argue ●… hope ( without Offence ) from the Effect to the Cause , and yet the Cause and the Effect are two things . He that is sanctified , is justified ; and yet Sanctification is not Justification : we may safely conclude an imputed Righteousness from an imparted Righteousness , and yet that Righteousness which we have in Christ may be another thing from that Righteousness which we have by influence from Christ , as our Head .

( 2. ) Sayes he , The Gospel tells us , that without Holiness no man shall see God . It does so indeed ; but does it tell us , that Holiness is inconsistent with our Iustification by the Righteousness of Christ ? Or does it tell us , that upon the account of our own Holiness , we shall be justified before God ?

( 3. ) The onely way to obtain the Pardon of Sins , is to repent of them , and forsake them . That without Repentance there 's no possibility of obtaining Pardon of Sin , we freely grant ; they must be Sinners that need a Pardon , and they must be penitent Sinners that are qualified to receive one : The Gospel has annex'd by express Promise the Pardon of Sin to Repentance . 1 Ioh. 1. 9. If we confess our sins , he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . But what an absurd way of procedure is this , to jumble and confound things together , which ought to have their several Apartments , and distinct Interests allotted to them in one and the same Effect : The Grace of God as the great Spring and Fountain of all Mercy , must have a place in the Pardon of a Sinner ; and the blood of Iesus Christ , as the Meritorious Cause , justly challenges a great room therein . Eph. 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood , even the remission of sins , according to the riches of his grace ; and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ , will come in for a share too , as it gives us an Interest in what he has suffered by way of Atonement to God , and Expiation of our sins ; and godly sorrow for , hatred of , and turning from sin in Purpose and Resolution , at least must have its proper Concern therein too : But to assert , that Repentance is the onely way of procuring Pardon , excluding Faith , and the Propitiation made in the Blood of Christ , needs more grains of Allowance than he will afford to any he deals with , to make it justifiable . But the vanity of this Fallacy lyes in this : That he opposes the Righteousness of Christ , and the Means whereby it 's applyed to our Persons : As if one would stiffly contend that we are justified by Faith alone , and therefore not by the Righteousness of Christ ; whereas we are therefore justified by Faith , because we are justified by Christ ; we are justified by the Righteousness of Christ alone , as that which God onely considers in the Justification of a Sinner , to answer his Law , his Justice : and we are justified by Faith alone , as that which makes Christ ours . Say the same here : Repentance is a Means to qualifie us for the receiving the pardon of Sin , God will never give forth a Pardon to that Sinner that is not brought upon his knees , throughly humbled for his Transgressions , yet still that which God respects in the pardon of a Sinner , is the Blood of his Son ; without shedding of which , there is not , there cannot be any Remission , Hebr. 9. 22. But no man shall perswade our Author to distinguish betwixt Christs procurement of so great a Mercy , and the Way of the Gospel appointment for the Applying it to our selves .

( 4. ) The onely thing that gives us a right to the Promises of future Glory , is to obey the Laws , and imitate the Example of our Saviour , and to be transformed into the Nature and Likeness of God . For my part , I conceive far otherwise ; That though our Holiness give us a Meetness and Fitness to partake of the Inheritance of the Saints in light , yet it was the Lord Jesus Christ that procured our right and title to it , and the Promise of it . The Church of England was of the same Opinion , when it decreed , Art. 13. That works done before the Grace of Christ , and the Inspiration of the Spirit , are not pleasant to God , neither do they make men meet to receive Grace , &c. And then we may presume , will not make us meet to receive Glory , much less give us a right and title to the Promises of it : And Art. 12. That the works which follow after Iustistification , are those that are pleasing and acceptable to God ; and I think we may equally take it for granted , that upon our justification with God , we have a right to the Promises of future Glory : But , if this be true , that the onely thing that gives us this right , be Obedience to , Imitation of Christ , and Conformity to the Nature of God ; we may have a Right to , when we have actual Possession of Glory ; for till then , it will hardly be true , that we have obeyed all Christs Laws .

But our Author had Wit in his Anger , and was aware of an Objection that was coming against him , and wisely layes in for it as well as he could . It might be returned to all that he had said , How can so imperfect an Obedience as ours is , so every wayes lame and defective , and short of the exact Law of God , ever give us a right to the Promises of future Glory ? Yes , ( sayes he ) for though it be not exact , and perfect in every thing , yet if it be sincere , we shall be accepted for the sake of Christ , by vertue of the Covenant that he hath Sealed with his Blood : But I am afraid , he has conjured up a Spirit that he cannot lay again with so sorry a Charm . For , ( 1. ) I do not find that God has abated any thing of his Law , but is as peremptory as ever ; for , [ Do this and live , ] Nothing will please God less than exact and perfect Obedience , though in the Covenant of Grace he is pleased to admit Another , a Mediator to doe it for Believers . I had rather he would hear the Reverend and Learned Bishop Reynolds , upon Psal. 110. p. 492. In point of Validity or Invalidity , there can be but Five things said of the Law : 1. Either it must be Obeyed , and that it is not ; for , all have sinn'd , and come short of the Glory of God , Rom. 3. 23. Or , 2. it must be Executed upon Men , and the Curse and Penalty thereof inflicted , and that it is not neither ; for , there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ J●…sus , Rom. 8. 1. Or , 3. it must be Abrogated or extinguish'd , and that it is not neither ; for , Heaven and Earth shall sooner pass away . If there were no Law , there would be no Sin , for sin is the Transgréssion of the Law : And if there were no Law , there would be no Iudgement , for the World must be judged by the Law : Or , 4. it must be Moderated , and favourably interpreted by Rules of Equity , and that it cannot be neither ; for it 's inflexible , and one jot or tittle must not be abated . Or , lastly , the Law it self remaining , the Obligation thereof notwithstanding , must , towards such or such Persons , be so far forth dispensed withall , as that a Surety shall be admitted , ( upon a Concurrence of all their Wills who are therein interested ; God willing to Allow , Christ willing to Perform , Man willing to Enjoy , ) both to doe all the Duties , and to suffer all the Curses of the Law , in behalf of that Person , who in Rigor should have done or suffer'd all , so that the Law , nor one jott or tittle thereof is abrogated in regard of the Obligation therein contained , but they are all reconciled in Christ , Thus far he . But , ( 2. ) That Sincerity which he talks of , is indeed allow'd in the Gospel , in the Matter of Inherent Righteousness and Sanctification , there it has a proper and excellent place , but comes not into the business of Iustification at all : And ( 3. ) This Sincerity will be but a Cover-slut for the Omission and Neglect of our Duty ; for if Sincerity will do the work without Universality and Integrity of Obedience , the best way will be to shrowd our selves under a profound Ignorance of Gods Commandements , and then the less we know of Gods Will , the safer we are under the shelter of Sincerity . And , ( 4. ) The Question will be , How much shortness of Obedience will this Sincerity compound for ? It may be our Author will prescribe a Drachm of Sincerity to a Scruple of Disobedience , but then Another will make a Grain of Sincerity , a very little upon a knifes point , serve to sweeten a whole Pound of Defect in Duty ; and thus every Mountebank , with a dose of his Electuary of Sincerity , will pretend to heal mens Consciences of those wounds that Sin has given them . ( 5. ) Whereas our Author addes , that we shall be accepted for the sake of Christ , it 's a meer Iuggle ; for when he comes to enquire , What Influence the Righteousness and Death of Christ have upon our acceptation with God ; he professes he can find nothing in the world , but that God will pardon us , if we believe and obey the Gospel , p. 320. which doubtless he would have done without him : But this is onely to make the same use of Christ , that Politicians doe of the Foxes Case , to piece the Lyons skin when it 's too short ; just so must Christ serve to eke out the shortness of their Obedience with his own , and when they have stretcht their own Righteousness upon the Tenters as far as it will hold , to be beholden to Christ for the Rest : God for Christs sake does indeed accept our imperfect Duty , Obedience , Service , and pardon the shortness of it , according to the Tenour of the Covenant of Grace , but not that it should thereby stand for our Iustification , which we have onely upon the Account of what he has done and suffered for us , made ours by accepting him upon his own Terms .

( 3. ) We are come with much adoe to the third and last Addition , that these men make , or are supposed to make to the Gospel , Viz. Concerning our Wisdom to walk with God . To which ( thinks Doctor Owen , ) there is required Agreement , Acquaintance , Way , Strength , Boldness , and aiming at the same End , and all these , with the Wisdom of them , are hid in the Lord Iesus . It were worth the while to transcribe the Doctors discourse upon all these Heads , but our Author has saved me the Labour ; The summe of all is this : That Christ having expiated our sins , and fulfilled all Righteousness for us , though we have no Personal Righteousness of our own , but are as contrary to God as Darkness is to Light , and Death to Life , and an universal Pollution and Defilement , to an universal and glorious Holiness , and Hatred to Love ; yet the Righteousness of Christ is a sufficient , nay the onely Foundation of our Agreement , and ( upon that ) of our walking with God . Now without doubt our Author would have his Reader believe , that the Doctor has said all this , and that he intends we may have Communion with God , whilest we continue thus : I confess , at the reading hereof , I was amazed , knew not what to think . Have I been all this while so narrowly watching the Doctor , that a false Print , much less a false Doctrine , could not escape me , and is our Author come after me , and findes all this filth and abominable stuffe ? Once again therefore ( because I durst not trust my own Eyes or Ears , and am under a Vow never to trust our Authors Tongue or Pen , speaking evil of the Doctor , ) I took down the Book , and what I find I will transcribe , and let all the world judge . Com. p. 119. The Prophet tells us , that two cannot walk together unless they be agreed , Amos 3. 3. Untill Agreement be made , there is no Communion ; God and Man by Nature , ( or whilest Man is in the state of Nature ) are at the greatest Enmity ; He declares nothing to us but wrath ; neither do we come short of him , yea we first began it , and continue longest in it : In this state , the wisdom of walking with God , must needs be most remote from the Soul : He is Light , and in him is no Darkness at all ; we are Darkness , and in us is no Light at all ; he is Life , a living God ; we are dead Sinners , dead in Trespasses and sins ; he is Holiness , and glorious in it ; we wholly defiled , and an abominable thing ; he is Love , we Hatred , hating and being hated ; Surely , this is no Foundation for Agreement , or ( upon that ) of Walking with God ; Nothing can be more remote than this Frame from such a Condition . Let now the Reader ( and it 's no great matter whether he be ingenuous or disingenuous , partial or impartial ) compare what the Doctor has written , with what is fixt upon him : The Doctor sayes , Whilest we are such and such , we can have no Communion with God , cannot walk with him . Nay ( says our Author ) the Doctor sayes the clean contrary ; that though we are as contrary to God as Light is to Darkness , &c. yet the Righteousness of Christ is a sufficient Foundation for Agreement : So again , p. 121 , 122. Com. There must be moreover a Way wherein we must walk with God ; and Christ is that way , Isa. 35. 8. an High-way , a Way of Holiness . No ( sayes our Author ) though we be as contrary to God , as universal Pollution to universal Holiness , yet the Righteousness of Christ is a sufficient Foundation , &c. As the Doctor sayes . The Error then of the Doctor being so gross , the Confutation must needs be as easie ; for I observe , our Author is very kind to himself , and will not set himself a hard Task : One Text will easily doe it ; 1 Iohn 1. 6 , 7. If we say , we have fellowship with him , and walk in darkness ; we lye , and do not the Truth : but if we walk in the light , as God is in the light , then have we fellowship one with another , and [ then ] the blood of Iesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sins . Where he has fallaciously foysted in a little word [ then ] though somewhat bigger than the Doctors [ by ] to seduce the unwary Reader into a Conceit ; then when we have walk'd in the light as God is in the light , for some competent time , at last we shall have some benefit by the blood of Christ to cleanse us from sin . And now he falls to please himself in his old Humour of either ignorantly mistaking , or maliciously abusing the Doctors words : Our onely acquaintance with God , and knowledge of him , is hid in Christ , which his Word and Works could not discover , as you heard above : It is very true , we have heard our Author bespatter him thus above , and shall do so again beneath , before , and behind , on the right hand , and the left ; but that the Doctor ever spoke a syllable that opposes the Person of Christ , and the Revelations of the Gospel ; that he supposes any Mysteries learnt from an Acquaintance with Christs Person , wherein the Gospel is deeply silent , is a shameless Falshood ; which because we would give it a more gentle Name than it deserves , may be called a Sherlocisme .

One blow more he must give the Doctor for a parting blow , and then he will give us leave to take a little breath . The Doctor it seems had said ; That in Christ we design the same End that God doth , which is , the Advancement of his Glory . And is he a Christian that denyes it ? Ought not all that wear the Livery of a Redeemer , to pursue the great End of Advancing Gods glory ? If the Doctor had affirmed twice Two to make Four , our Author is bound in Conscience to deny it ; but is there never a Paraphrase that may dress them up in some ugly hew ? O yes , one of his id est's will do the feat : That is , ( sayes he ) by trusting to the Expiation and Righteousness of Christ for salvation , without doing any thing our selves , we take care that God shall not be robbed of the Glory of his Free-grace , by a Competition of any Merits , and Deserts of our own . That little policy there is in these words , lyes in that short Parenthesis , which with more cunning than honesty he has wedg'd into his own gloss , [ Without doing any thing our selves . ] But where , when , in what Book , Chapter , Section , Page , or Paragraph , has the Doctor encouraged any to look for salvation by Christ , without doing anything our selves ? Cannot we design the Glory of God , trusting to the Expiation and Righteousness of Christ , but all Obedience must presently be excluded ? And yet his Parenthesis is capable of a double sence : 1. As excluding Obedience simply and absolutely , and so they are none of the Doctors words , but a crafty Insinuation of our Authors , to mislead us into this Opinion , that the Doctor has quite cashiered Obedience from having any place in our Salvation ; a thing so abhorred by all his Principles , so contrary to all his Writings , that nothing could have been either more unjustly forged against , or basely fixed upon him : 2. They may be construed as excluding Obedience in some respects , for some Ends and Purposes ; and thus though the Doctor has not said it in that place , yet I suppose he will say it , and maintain it when he has done : That Believers may , and ought to expect Salvation from the Expiation , and Righteousness of Christ , without doing any thing themselves , for those special and particular ends for which Christ Suffered . We do nothing ( in Comparison of our Duty and those Obligations that are laid upon us ) yet whatsoever we do , 't is not to satisfie Gods Iustice , to appease his Anger , to Iustifie our selves , to Purchase and Merit eternal Life : And hereby God has taken Care that he be not Robb●…dof the Glory of his Free-grace , nor Christ of the Glory of his Sufferings , by a Competition of any Merits , and Deserts of our own : And let all the Sons of Men take Care also at their utmost Peril how they do it .

Some men , I see , are wonderfully pleased with their own unsavoury Eructations , though they offend their Neighbours with their Onyons and Garlick ; and accordingly our Author is so highly taken with his own Crudities , and undigested Notions , that he is resolved to give us them over again in a Scheme of Religion ; ( for this is all the Mode , since Systematical Divinity grew out of Fashion , and that some do begin to affect the Title of Schematical Divines : ) In which admirable Product of his Wit and Phancy , he brings nothing New , his Rayling faculty like an old Skrub-broom , being worn to the Stumps , and offers as little Proof as Novelty , and therefore gratis Negatum might serve for an answer to gratis Dictum ; yet that he may not Complain that we Overlook his Excellencies , I shall Sprinkle a few soft Drops upon him as he goes along .

1. In the entrance of his Scheme , he stumbles at the same Block he once broke his Shins at ; supposing these men to assert : That God appointed and ordained sin for the glory of his Vindictive Iustice , and Pardoning Grace . A Charge so Idle , Vain , and False , that nothing can attone , but his pleading invincible Ignorance : God did not appoint and ordain sin , that he might glorifie his Mercy and Justice thereby , but upon Supposition that sin had been Introduced , he Over-rules it , he appoints it to another End , orders it to another Purpose , than in its own Nature it could ever have reacht . And this the Doctor calls Putting a New end to sin , p. 106. And was God ever denied the Liberty , before t'other day , to bring Good out of Evil ?

2. He lays it down as their Doctrine : It pleased God that man should sin , but when he hath sinned He is displeased with it . This seems to be a piece of Wit , designed to make the Devil Merry ; but all the Humour of it lies in the Ambiguity of one poor word . It pleased God to permit sin , and yet when man had sinned he was justly displeased with it . Gods permission had no Influence upon mans Transgression . But how would he have Insulted over that man that should openly Preach and Write : That against the Holy Child Iesus , whom God anointed , both Herod , and Pontius Pilate , and the People of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever Gods Hand , and Gods Counsel determined before to be done , and yet when it was done according to the Determination of his own Hand and Counsel , he was extreamly displeased with it ? And yet I could tell him of one that has so said , who Scorns his most scornful Censure : It may please God that a thing may be done , and take no pleasure in the thing done , nor in the Instruments that did it . It pleased him to suffer his own People to be afflicted by the Heathen , and yet he was sore displeased with the Heathen that helped forward the Affliction , Zech. 1. 15. It pleased the Father to bruise his Son , and yet he was displeased with the Instruments that bruised him : God can do the same thing Righteously , which Men and Devils do unrighteously . Judas delivered up Christ out of Covetousness , the Iews out of Envie , Pilate out of Fear , or to pick a Thank from Caesar , but God Delivered him for our Offences .

3. He charges them with this Doctrine : That nothing can withstand the Decrees of God . We have scarce another Instance wherein he has Candidly represented their Judgment , and was not able to throw some Dirt upon it .

4. He proceeds to play the Lucian , and Scoff at Gods Justice ; It 's impossible ( says he ) for God to forgive the least sin without a compleat and perfect Satisfaction : Let him but grant that God cannot forgive the greatest sin without compleat and perfect Satisfaction , and they will undertake to prove from thence , that none is so small but needs a Satisfaction .

5. He proceeds : This falls hard upon those miserable Wretches , whose ill fortune it was to be left out of the Roll of Election , without any fault of theirs : To be left out of the Ro●…l of Election by Fortune , is a piece of prophane Nonsence , which at once discovers the depth of his Intellectuals , and the height of his Boldness . What more Desultory , than that which Heathens call Fortune ? What more stable and fixed , than that which the Word of God calls Election ? The Old Church of England would have Taught him to have Spoken otherwise of that Tremendous Mysterie . Art. 17●… ▪ Election to Life is the everlasting purpose of God , whereby , before the Foundation of the World was laid , He hath constantly Decreed by his Counsel secret to us , to deliver from Curse and Damnation , those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of Mankind , and to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation , &c. Now though he believes little of all this , yet he might remember he had Subscribed the whole , and considered also t is the Doctrine of that Church whereof he is a Member , and therefore might have Covered their Nakedness , and at least Perfum'd them with a few good Cheap words against their Burial : It were tedious to pursue the particulars , I only say : If this Scheme of Religion as it stands here upon Record , be the Subject of his Scorn and Reproach , I hope we may read it backwards , and then 't will be his own Creed ; some few Slanders indeed which were inserted as a Haut ▪ goust , to giue it the better Grace , we may Omit , but for the rest no doubt he will own it to be the Standard of his Belief .

God from the Beginning never Designed to Glorifie either his Iustice , or Mercy , and because there would have been Occasion abundantly Administred both to Punish and Pardon too , though man had never sinned , therefore he never concern'd himself how things would go . And indeed it had been to no purpose , for God to Decree any thing , since if he had , all his Decrees , and Appointments had been easi●…y withstood : And therefore man sinned whether God would or no , and full sore against his Will ; for if he could have prevented it , we may be sure he would ; but when man had sinned God was not much displeased with it , for you must know that his Justice is so Facile , and Easie an Attribute ( and if it be one at all , it 's but a Secondary one ) that he can easily forgive the greatest sin without Satisfaction made to it . This is very good News [ if it be true ] to all the World , especially seeing there 's no such thing as the Roll of Election , and by Consequence no preterition neither , but all men stand upon even Ground , and every one upon his own Legs , which they may the better do because they have many ways left ( if need were ) to pacifie Gods anger , in case he should happen to be a little displeased with sin , viz. By their own Temporal sufferings , Repentance , and Obedience , which though they answer not Gods Law , yet being sincere , it s well enough : By this it appears that God is not Essentially Just and Righteous , seeing He can Pardon the greatest sin , and serve his own Glory , without any regard to the Death of Christ , or Inflicting upon sinners Eternal Sufferings . But now this is but one part of the Glory of God , that He can pardon sin without Propitiation made by Christ , the other is that he can reward the sinner too , without the Righteousness of Christ : And therefore there 's more ado than needs about a pretended Difficulty how to Reconcile Gods Iustice and Mercy . For neither is Iustice so severe as to require Satisfaction , and the Merit of our own Obedience is so Considerable , that we need not much be beholden to Mercy . And to speak in a word , the Demerit of sin is short of Infinite , and therefore the Creature may Expiate its own sins by enduring Finite , that is Temporary Torments ; whereas then men Talk that to Unite these two Extreams , and reconcile such Contradictions was a work of Infinite Wisdome , as well as Goodness ; they Talk Idly ; for ( as I said before ) whatever there was of Goodness in it , there could be no great Wisdom ; and therefore it 's vainly said , that to Effect it God should send his Son into the World to satisfie all Righteousness in his Life , and to make a full satisfaction for sin by his Death ; for neither could his Blood be of Infinite value ( though for Fashion sake , we call it the Blood of the Son of God ) nor Expiate an Infinite guilt , or make satisfaction to Gods Justice ( if so be he had stood upon 't : ) And therefore to Instruct you aright in these Matters , sin had no such Infinite guilt in 't as Christians speak of , nor did Gods Justice exact such Satisfaction : For he is more Glorified by Conniving at , and Indulging of sin at cheap Rates , ( for the Naturalness of Gods Iustice to him is a Position to be abhorred ) without any Security given , or Compensation made to it ; that is , he is so Merciful that whereas sin may possibly have some Grains of Evil in it , yet in God there are not only Drams , but Ounces of such Mercy which he will freely dispense , without regarding what becomes of his other Attributes ; which you will confess to be a glorious kind of Mercy , and such , as Impenitent sinners cannot wish for a better . And since as I have often said , and must Inculcate it again , the Justice and Vengeance of God ( if they should prove more than Names ) yet require no Consideration to be had of them , but that their Claims may be easily waved or slighted , or slubber'd over by general Mercy without reference to Christ , his Death or Sufferings , and God can Pardon as many and as great sins as He pleases , without fear of being reputed a Remiss Governor : Hereupon a most glorious and comfortable Scene of Affairs appears to sinners , for now God can embrace sinners as a kind Father , and account them Righteous without any Adoption through Christ ; nay , as we told you above , though Christ had never appeared in the World . And this is enough in all Reason to make sinners Transported with Joy : But yet I have better News than this ; For as God never required that his Iustice should be satisfied , so he is not so Punctual and Strict that his Laws should be Obeyed : For if we be but Innocent once by Pardon , what 's matter for a Righteousness by keeping the Law ( or any other way ) to make us accepted with God , for the former will deliver us from Hell , and that 's all that we need care for ? But indeed you cannot well conceive what 't is to be Pardoned , but must presently be flusht up with a Conceit of Eternal reward . There is one thing I would acquaint you with , but 't is a great Secret : If Christ has Satisfied at all , it s for sins of Omission , as well as Commission ; that is , though we never Repent , Believe , Turn from sin to God , yet if there be any thing at all in 't , I 'me enclin'd to this , that the very Neglect of the Terms of the Covenant , shall not hurt us ; but we may be Reputed by God to have done all , and never regarded to keep any : And now God , and sinners may very well agree together ( for though Communion be an ill favoured word , yet I allow they may Converse ) For what should hinder them ? Original sin they have none , and for Actual sin , there 's no such Demerit in it as should necessarily enforce Gods Justice to Insist upon a Reparation of its Honour , and therefore let none trouble themselves with those Mormo's , some have made of Iustice to affright Children ; nor on the other hand make such a doe to be cloathed with the white and spotless Robes of Christs Righteousness ; for though I cannot deny God to be Holy , yet his Iustice sleeps like a Sword of State in a Velvet Scabbard . Let all therefore set their hearts at rest ; do but repent as well as you can , and you shall be Saved with a notwithstanding Gods Iustice , and notwithstanding you have no Interest in the Satisfaction of Christ .

These may reasonably be supposed some of our Authors Fundamental Doctrines , seeing he so vehemently Persecutes their Contraries , which for Distinction-sake , may well be called , The Religion of his own Itching Noddle .

Our Author had promised ●…s a Discovery of what Additions some men had made to the Gospel ; and he has now saved his Recognizance , and shew'd himself Master of his word , at as wild a Rate as ever was Indited from Bedlam . There is but one thing more calls for his Abilities , and that is to Render the Practice of it as ridiculous as he has done the Principles , and then perhaps we may obtain a short Cessation from this hot Service . Now the Practice hereof ( he says ) consists in accepting of Christ , and coming to Him , and applying his Merits , and Satisfaction and Righteousness to our selves for Pardon , and Iustification , and in those Duties which are consequent upon such an Union and closure with Christ . And is it possible that these things should hear ill with them who would pass for Christians ? Or must we Renounce the Scriptures to Gratisie a few Raving Men , who are fallen out with all the World and their own Understandings ? Accepting of Christ must be Reviled ; and yet to this are we directed , that we may become the Sons of God , John 1. 12. As many as received him , to them he gave power to become the Sons of God . Coming to Christ , must be loaded with Scorn ; and yet our Saviour has expresly encouraged All that labour , and are heavy laden , to come to him that he may give them rest , Mat. 11. 28. If these Phrases be not rightly understood , let us be Instructed in the Spirit of Meekness ; but by no means let the very Expressions of Scripture , be the Theam for every conceited Buffoon to exercise his Railing Faculties upon . The first thing that offers it self , is a gross Self-contradiction : For whereas he had Confessed , that The Practice of these mens Religion consists in accepting of Christ , &c. And in those Duties which are consequent upon such an Union , and closure with Christ ; yet in the very next words , before he had finisht his Period , or made a Pause , he represents it thus . Christ having satisfied for our sins , it 's a plain and necessary Consequence that we have nothing to do , but to get an Interest in the Satisfaction and Righteousness of Christ , that they may be Imputed to us ; for he is very Ignorant of Christ , that hopes any thing else will avail him to Salvation . Nothing to do ? Yes : We have those consequential Duties to do , which follow upon our Union and closing with Christ . Nothing to do ? Why , we have enough to do for Time and Eternity ; enough to fill up every corner of our Hearts , every Moment of our Time , with Service , and Obedience to Him who hath Reconciled us to God , by the Blood of his Cross : If Malice were not sometimes blind , there would be no Living by it in the World . Now ( says he ) that we may thus come to Christ , it s absolutely necessary that we be sensible of our Lost and Undone condition . And dares he prescribe it as a safer way to keep up an Insensibility of it ? A sensless regard to our Sin , and Misery thereupon , is no very hopeful way to put a sinner upon a serious enquiry after the proper Remedy : I wish we were sure of our Authors Thoughts herein , and whether he does indeed own that All men are by Nature in such a Lost and Undone condition . The Church of Englands Thoughts are Evident , Art. 9. [ Of Original , or Birth-sin : ] Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam ( as the Pelagians vainly talk ) but it is the corruption of the Nature of every Man , whereby Man is very fa●… gone from Original Righteousness , and is enclined to Evil. — So that in every Person born into the World , it deserveth Gods Wrath and Damnation . Surely here 's something that deserves our most serious Thoughts : That which deserves Damnation at Gods Hands , deserves consideration at ours . He that can carry about with him daily a depraved Nature , enclined to evil , running counter to Gods Will , and not lament it with a bitter Lamentation , has taken some of our Authors Hypnoticks ; and how to bewail it without being sensible of it , is a Mysterie perhaps as deep as any of those we owe to his Discovery . And is not this to Reproach Christ himself ? Mat. 9. 12 , 13. They that be whole have no need of the Physitian , but they that are sick : Ay ( says he ) these are Metaphors , and I will Rail them out of Credit and Countenance immediately . Well , you shall not fall out with Christ for a Metaphor , if I can help it : Read the Next words ; I come not to call the Righteous , but Sinners to Repentance : And they must be sensible sinners that will regard the Call of Christ , or think they need Repentance . Another Quarrel he has against the Practice of their Religion , is : That they hold it absolutely necessary , that we be sensible how Impossible it is for us to Attone the Wrath of God , to have any righteousness of our own , that can bear the severe Scrutiny of his Iustice . Be it so , if there be no Remedy ; It seems then if we could work up our Imagination into a Presumption , that Gods Anger against sin is very small , and our Righteousness very great , so great as to endure the severe Scrutiny of Gods Iustice , we might purchase this Gentlemans favour : But the Gospel has taught us otherwise , Rom. 3. 10. That there is none righteous , no not one : That by the deeds of the Law , shall no flesh be justified in Gods sight , ver. 20. But he lays about him , and Reproaches the Spirit of Bondage , the Spirit of Adoption , and at last falls a Reviling Christs own Words . We shall ( says he in his fleering way ) never Value , and Prize Christ , and go to him for Salvation , till we are Convinc'd of the necessity of him , and driven to him by the Threatnings of the Law ; and the Promise of Ease and Rest is made only to the weary and heavy Laden , and those only shall be satisfied , who Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness . Really , this Doctor Owen , and his Fellows , are dangerous Persons , I wonder not now that some think it not fit they should live a day ; That ever they should be so bold to read , or quote Matth. 5. 6. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness , for they shall be filled ; or that other place , Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden , and I will give you rest ; or to mention , Galat. 3. 24. Wherefore the Law was our School-master to bring us unto Christ : But did they make the Scriptures ? or coin , and invent these words of their own heads ? or has our Author a License to expose the Expressions of the Holy Spirit , as well as the Doctors ? Surely , an awfull regard to the Authority of Jesus Christ speaking in them , might have commanded some Reverence to them , and controlled this unbridled liberty of prostituting Sacred Matters . But thus much , and too much of what they make of Conviction . And now ( says he ) being thus stung with Sin , it is time for us to look up to Christ , as the Israelites did on the Brazen Serpent that we may be healed : But is this Gentleman indeed a Minister , a Teacher of others , the Rector of St. George Buttolphs-lane , and knows not that he reproaches Christ himself ? Ioh. 3. 15. And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness , even so must the Son of Man be lifted up , that whosoever believeth in him , should not perish , but have Eternal Life : And does not Christ himself authorize the Parallel ? That as none were healed in the Wilderness , but those onely who sensible of pain , looked up to the Brazen Serpent , as Gods own Institution , to which a Promise of healing was annexed ; so neither can we receive any benefit by Christ , till under a deep sense of our sin and misery , we accept of , and close with a Redeemer , whom the Father has held forth to be a Propitiation , through Faith in his Blood , for the Remission of sins . But this is not all : Now we must begin to see his fulness , and perfection , and suitableness to the wants and necessities of our Souls , that he is our Attonement , our Wisdom , our Righteousness , and all that we can desire or need . Well ; and if they do conceive Christ to have both fulness and suitableness of all Grace and Mercy in him , I hope it 's neither Felony nor Treason neither : We have an Assurance , Heb. 4. 15. That Christ is such a Priest as is touched with a feeling of our Infirmities , and was in all points tempted like unto us , yet without sin ; ( there 's great suitableness , ) and we are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of Grace , that we may obtain Mercy , and find Grace to help in time of need , ( and there 's fulness ) : And surely our Author does sometimes pray to Christ , ( at least he is enjoyn'd by the Litany to say , ) O God the Son , Redeemer of the World , have mercy upon us miserable Sinners : Now if he can indeed discover no suitableness , no fulness of Grace in Christ , to answer the needs and wants of those miserable Sinners , he had better save his Breath to cool his Pottage .

It is further charged upon them , That when the sense of their sins and unworthiness makes them afraid to come to Christ , they have recourse to their Acquaintance with Christs Person , to answer their Doubts , and quiet their Consciences . Which charge ( though it has a Tincture and dash of our Authors good Nature in it ) they can easily bear , and do confess , that when the sense of their sins , and Unworworthiness , at any time discourages them from Comeing to God for the Pardon of sins , they do relieve themselves from the Gospel , which has spoken great things of the Ability , and Readiness of a Mediator , to save humble and repenting Sinners , that are willing to receive him as God has offer'd him in the Covenant of Grace ; They do there find that Christ came into the World , to save the chiefest of Sinners , such as had been Blasphemers , Persecutors , and Injurious , and yet have obtained Mercy , that Christ in them might shew forth all long-suffering , for a Pattern to them that should afterwards believe on him to Everlasting Life , 1 Tim. 1. 15 , 16 , 17. And do further believe , that to deny this , is at once to renounce the whole Gospel ; and if it be not a Fruit of down-right Infidelity and Atheisme , yet most apparently leads thither .

Our Author having destroy'd the Living , begins to prey upon the Dead ; and has therefore raked Mr. Shepheard out of his Grave , to shew us that he has some skill in Necromancy : We read of one that had his dwelling amongst the Tombs , possest with an unclean Spirit , but so outragious that none could tame him , no Chains would hold him , so fierce that none durst pass by the way : And as I remember , Q. Curtius , tells us of the Hyaena , That her great delight is to dig up Carcases , and insult over them ; And what was the Character of a great Prince , that he never spared Man in his Anger , nor Woman in his Lust ; may be accommodated to him whose Ambition would Triumph over the quick and the dead . I know well ▪ that a few of our Authors Squibs and Crackers will pass for a Confutation of the clearest Truth , with them who are of the same distempered Spleen with himself ; but with those holy and pious Souls , to whose Conversion , Consolation and Establishment in the Gospel , God has blessed the Labours of that worthy Person , their Repute is not to be shaken by the feeble Attempts of grinning Malice and Envy , whose onely Reason for their hatred of things excellent , is because they are Excellent .

I think there cannot a more proper defence of wronged Innocency be found out , than to repeat the foul-mouth'd language of Detraction : Hear therefore what our Author sayes . The Reason of all this is very plain from our Acquaintance with Christ , for he is our Physician , and therefore we must not think of healing our selves , but must goe to him with all our diseases and sores about us , that he Alone may have the Honour of healing us . Mock on : He is a Fountain set open for sin and for uncleanness , and therefore we must goe to him with all our Filthiness , to be cleansed and washed ; for if we be first clean , there 's no need of a Fountain . He is all Fulness , and therefore it is not fit that we should carry any thing to him , as if he needed any thing from us : He is our Righteousness , and therefore if we have any , we must leave all behind us when we goe to him , &c. So that all we have to doe in this great work , is to goe to Christ weary , and sick , and filthy , and naked , stript of every thing but our sins and impurities , to receive Ease , and Health , and Fulness , and Beauty from him . Were we worthy to know how much of this our Author does deny , he should soon understand how much of it we own ; but to serve us up a Medley , an Oleo of Truth and Errour , reproached Truth , and falsely imputed Errour , this I must needs say , ( if he were the best Friend I have ) is Intolerable ; and yet in this Mist of Aequivocations he hobbles on ; Will he deny Christ to be a Physician , a Fountain , that he hath in him a Fulness , that he is Righteousness to Believers ; that it is the Duty and Interest of the weary , heavy laden Sinner to make Addresses to him ? Socinus , Volkelius , will allow it lawfull to pray to Christ , though they indeed deny it to be a Duty so to doe . If our Author can heal himself , and need not Christ to be his Physician ; if he can cleanse himself , and need not that Fountain which God has set open for Sin and for Uncleanness ; if he be full , and needs not be beholden to Christ for a supply ; and has a righteousness of his own , which will cover his Nakedness , he has then a happy turn on 't ; onely let him not be angry with those poorer sort of Creatures that are willing to take Christs Counsel , Rev. 3. 18. I counsel thee to buy of me Gold tryed in the fire , that thou mayst be rich , and white Rayment that thou mayst be cloathed , and that the shame of thy Nakedness do not appear : But I cannot sufficiently admire the Contradiction of his Conclusion : — And thus we must apply Christ to our Souls , and then what a blessed Change and Metamorphosis is there presently made in us ; for though we continue as we were , we have all in Christ . A change made in us , and yet to continue as we were ; A change and no change , to be as we were , and yet not what we were , is somewhat surprizing : They were just now charged that they went filthy to Christ , that they might be cleansed ; nak●…d to Christ , that they might be cloathed ; empty to Christ , that they might be filled ; sick to Christ , that they might be healed ; and yet after all , here 's a Metamorphosis , a change made in them , and still they continue as they were ; which has out-done , I dare say , all Ovid , who never durst , ( and yet Poets and Painters dare doe almost any thing , ) feign poor Daphne to be changed into a Lawrel , and yet to continue fair Daphne still . As to my own thoughts , I have been taught from the Scriptures , to own Christ as my Physician , but I never had such a Crotchet in my head , That a blind man should have his Eyes open'd , and yet his Eyes continue as they were ; that the dead should be raised , the Lepers cleansed , the deaf made to hear , and yet all be in statu quo ; as they were . Nature is much delighted with Variety , and therefore that he may not alwayes scrape upon one string , our Author will find or take Occasion to fall upon one Mr. Watson ; who it seems illustrating Christs entering into Covenant with a Soul , by the Manner of making a Marriage-Covenant amongst men , has introduced Christ and a Believer thus mutually engaging each to other : Christ saith to a Believer , With my Body , yea with my Blood I endow thee ; and a Believer saith to Christ , With my Soul I thee worship . That Christ does really endow Believers with his Body and Blood , and all the Benefits procured by his Sacrifice , is out of doubt to all that are not Infidels . Iohn 6. 51. The Bread that I will give , is my flesh , that I will give for the life of the World . V. 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man , and drink his Blood , ye have no life in you . V. 54. Whose eateth my flesh , and drinketh my Blood , hath Eternal Life . That Believers do enter into a mutual Covenant with Christ , to give up themselves in Spirits , Souls and Bodies , to love , serve , honour their Redeemer , is also evident , from Eph. 5. 24. Christ is the head of the Church , and the Saviour of the Body , and therefore the Church is subject to Christ : Now what a a pitifull flam does he return to this ? As if ( says he ) Christ and a Believer were marryed by the Liturgy : The form of the Marriage-Covenant in the Liturgy is not so absurd as he would render it , but that it may with decency express the Process of Christ and a Believers joyning in Covenant : But I fear , if we should sift the business a little more narrowly , we shall find our Author as far to seek in the Liturgy , as he is cross to the Articles of the Church of England ; for Mr. Watson brings in the Spouse saying to Christ , With my Soul I thee worship ; but the Liturgy teaches the Man to use those words to his Spouse , With my Body I thee worship : So that I see no great Danger that ever Christ and a Believer should be marryed by the Liturgy .

Again he cites Mr. Watson : A Soul in Christ is actually united to him , and one with him , and being so , no sentence can fall on him , but the same must light upon Christ himself : That true Believers are one with Christ , is very clear from the Gospel ; and it would be much our Concern to clear up this one point , that we are true Believers ; for the other is clear ; 1 Cor. 12. 12. As the Body is one , and hath many members , even so is Christ ; and therefore , there 's no condemnation to them that a●…e in Christ Iesus , who walk not after the Flesh , but after the Spirit , Rom. 8. 1. A silly Jerk he has at this too . And who would desire to be more secure than Christ is ? Why none that I know of . And so a short Horse is soon curried . What Mr. Watson had said before , in the Apostles words , that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ ; that he illustrates by this similitude : As a Woman in Marriage , though she owe never so many Debts , yet the Arrest doth not light upon her , but upon her Husband : And it has been owned as a Maxim in the Law , Uxo●…i lis non intenditur : But let that be as it will ; If the Main Fort hold out , we can spare him the Out-works ; let it be acknowledged a Truth , that There is no C ondemnation to them that are in Christ , and let the Metaphor scape as well as it can : O blessed Priviledge ! ( says he ) who would be afraid of running into debt with God , when he hath such a kind Husband to discharge all ? Any one surely that has an ingenuous spirit , as they all have who stand in that Relation to Christ : Jesus Christ does not onely take the Soul into a Conjugal Relation , but qualifies it that it may fill up the Dutyes of that Relation , with Love , desire to please , f●…ar to offend , readiness to obey , with a spirit of thankefulness and fruitfulness , with a Heart studying , What shall I render to the Lord for all his Benefits ? Who would be afraid ? O vile , and abominable heart that could form such a Conclusion of Sin , out of the premises of abounding Grace ; Who would be afraid ? Nay , who would not tremble at the heart , to think least it should be drawn into sin , to the wounding of him afresh , that was wounded for me on the Cross : How shall I doe this wickedness , and sin against my Redeemer ? Shall he be crucifyed by me , that was crucified for me ? There 's no such Argument in all the world against sin , as the Consideration of what I owe to him who loved me , and gave himself for me . I deny not but the Doctrine of Grace may be turned into lasciviousness , by them that never came under the Authority and soul-subduing Power of it ; but when a self-condemned , self-abhorred Sinner , comes to see what Christ has done and suffered for him , what he is to him , what he has wrought in him , the Result whereof is Justification before a holy God , and Sanctification of Soul , such a one will retort upon the Tempter his own Temptation , with the greatest Abhorrency ; Shall I continue in sin that Gr●…ce may abound ? God forbid ! Rom. 6. 1 , 2.

Still Mr. Watson prosecutes the Priviledges of the Saints . — This is their glorious Priviledge , Christs beauty and loveliness shall be put upon them . Ay , ( says our Author snearing , ) How vile and impure soever they are : The old Crambe again : They shall have Christs beauty put upon them , and yet continue ugly still ; they shall have Christs whiteness on them , and yet be as sooty and swarthy as before ; but this is none of Mr. Watsons sence , but our Authors Non-sence , who durst tell the World as the Purport of these mens Expressions , That upon receiving Christ , there 's a blessed Change made , and yet we continue as we were . But Mr. W. proceeds in the Priviledges of those that are engraffed into Christ , and made members of his Body . Nothing that ever was a member of Christ can be lost to Eternity . Can he lose a Member of his Body ? then his Body is not perfect . No , fear not ye Saints , neither Sin nor Satan can dissolve your Union with Christ . Our Author is now turning Catechist , and asks this wise Question : But what if Sin should make them no Saints , would not that endanger the dissolving the Union ? Yes indeed , it would endanger it , as much as a Man is in danger of dying , when his Head is chopt off ; but I hope we may ask one Question for another : What if Christ will preserve them so effectually , that they shall not sin to that height , as to become no Saints ? why then the Union is not dissolved ; and so there 's a Pot-lid for our Authors Pot. But Mr. Watson Reasons further , ( our Author says sweetly , but I say it 's no great matter for that , if he does it but strongly , ) If any branch be pluckt away from Christ , it 's either because Christ is not able to keep it , or because he is willing to lose it . And our Author Queries again , Why not because it will not stay ? And I will tell him why , Because he has given it a will , and desire above all things in the world to stay with Christ . All Mr. Watsons unhappiness is , that he had a good Cause , but not the Luck to hit upon our Authors convincing Argument ; who p. 184. assures us , That this New Life , wherein our Conformity to the Resurrection of Christ consists , is an immortal Principle of Life , which can no more die , then Christ can die again , now he is risen from the dead . And to shut up all , Mr. Shepheards Sincere Convert is brought upon the Stage , p. 77. though I could not meet with it till p. 113. Weaknesses do not debarre us from God's Mercy : The Husband is bound to bear with the Wife as the weaker vessel , and can we think , that God will exempt himself from his own Rule , and not bear with his weak Spouse ? It would have been something difficult to have made sport with such Innocent Expressions , but he had an id est left in his Budget , that never fails him : Weakness ( says he ) that is , no strength , no grace , no nor so much as a sense of Poverty : How false this is , Mr. Shepheard will satisfie any one that will but consult the next Question , p. 116. Upon what Conditions may Christ be had ? and he answers : Give away thy self to him , give away thy Sins to him , give away thy Honour , Pleasure , Profit , Life to him , give away thy Rags , thy own Righteousness : You will say , you will have Christ with all your heart ; but will you have him upon these Tearms , upon these four Conditions ? And now the total summe , the result of all that these men mean by Accepting of Christ , our Author gives us , with his wonted Candour . It is to be content to be saved by Christ , without being either humble , or holy , or fair , or beautifull , any otherwise than as he is pleased to make us so by his Satisfaction for our Sins , and the Imputation of his Righteousness to us . Nay , that 's a Rapper ; let him but look up to what he quoted from Mr. Shepheard : Christ hath t●…ken upon him to purge his Spouse , and make her fit for himself ; and that she can never be , without being holy , humble , beautifull , by inherent Grace . Shall I but entreat the Readers patience a very little , to lay his finger upon these words : The result of all that they mean by coming to Christ , is to be content to be saved by him , without being holy , humble , or beautifull , &c. and I will promise him , for his Patience and Pains , he shall within a Page or two hear our Author most effectually confute his own Slander , and raise a Mighty Blister upon his own forgetfull Clapper .

And now our Author comes to consider what Duties are consequent upon such an Union and closure with Christ . As first , A mighty love of the Soul , for her Saviour , Head and Husband ; and Another is , Obedience to our spiritual Husband . And now Reader , where didst thou lay thy finger ? Are these the Men that are content to be saved by Christ , without being holy , humble , & c ? Are these they that were charged , p. 56. with trusting to the Expiation of Christ for Salvation , without doing any thing themselves ? Or are they the same men that were reproached , p. 62. as saying , They had Nothing to ●…oe , but to get an Interest in the Satisfaction and Righteousness of Christ ; and yet now are so hot for loving of Christ , that their great Crime is , that they over-love him , and are sick of love for him , and are all for Obedience to Christ too , resigning up themselves to his Will , to be govern'd by his Laws , and in all things to glorifie him in New Obedience ? Yes , but then it 's very hard to find a proper place for Obedience in this New Religion : Well , but if we can find a proper place for it in the Old Religion , it 's no great matter what place it has in the New : And indeed I would not have it Controverted , what place in Religion they will allow to Obedience , who are of no Religion , who are open Scoffers at Christ , the Holy Spirit , the Scriptures , and all Religion . Ay , but it 's very hard to deduce it from an Acquaintance with Christ's Person : Very Hard ! what a word was that ? why it 's simply impossible to deduce any Religion at all from an Acquaintance with his Person ; for all the acquaintance we have with him , is by an acquaintance with his Gospel , from whence we understand him to be God and Man ; from thence we learn him to be King , Priest and Prophet ; thence we learn what he has done and suffer'd for us ; and what he is now doing for us at the Right hand of the Father . But why should it be so very hard to find a proper place for Obedience in these mens Religion ? Why ? Reason will tell you , that if there be any room at all for it , it must be either before our closing with Christ , or after it : Now indeed he argues close and home , and pursues his business as snug as you can desire . 1. Then this ( Obedience ) is not necessary at all to our coming to Christ , and closing with him : Not necessary ? that 's very strange ! Coming to Christ , is with them a Main part of Obedience , and to Obey without Obedience , is not so easie as he imagines . He that answers that Call of Christ [ Come unto me ] therein obeyes him : and believing in Christ , has been reputed a considerabe part of Gospel-Duty , 1 Ioh. 3. 23. This is his Commandement , that we should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ : That there are several Duties which flow from Faith , the Scripture , Church of England , and all men living doe acknwowledge , but that this Believing is also a Duty , they must equally acknowledge . So that here 's one proper place , or at least a Corner of a place , where he may wedge in Obedience , if he pleases . 2. ( Sayes he ) When the Marriage is consummated , there 's less need of it than before : Nay , there his Non-sence is too open ; He supposes them to own consequential Duties , such as follow the Marriage-covenant , and yet now he would perswade us , that there 's less need of them , than before the Marriage-Covenant . If he can invent a way how consequential Duties should goe before the Marriage Covenant , by my consent he shall have the sole honour of the Discovery : In my poor Judgment , ( and I am perswaded most men are of my Judgement ) consequential Duties doe follow , or to humour him , following Duties ought to be consequential . There was once a Learned and Friendly Debate betwixt a Mayor and his Brethren , what the Question was , I am not very certain , but one wiser than the rest , had reduced the Matter to this Head : That if they could but make it out , that Edward the third reigned before Edward the first , they should carry the Cause : And if our Author can find any place , proper or improper , for consequential Duties , before that thing to which they are consequential , he shall be Registred amongst the great Benefactors to our understandings . But yet in spight of Fate , he will not allow any place for Consequential Duties after Marriage , for then we have less need of them than before . A fine Argument if well Improved , to satisfie men in the Lawfulness of committing Adultery : But why not ? 1. Then we are adorned with the Beauty of Christ : Ergo , we need no Inherent beauty . Then we are Iustified : Ergo , we need not be Sanctified . 2. Then we are Holy with Christs Holiness : Ergo , we need not be Holy . 3. Then we are delivered from the Guilt of sin by his Expiation : Ergo , we need not be delivered from the filth of sin . 4. Christ must look to see the Debt discharged [ to God ] which he hath taken upon him : Ergo , we owe no Debt of Gratitude to the Father for his Son , to the Son for his Love . 5. We are then righteous with his Righteousness , which gives us an actual right to Glory : Ergo , we need no Inherent righteousness to make us meet for Glory , and to partake of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light . All I shall say is this , If men may Argue at this Rate , they are the most formidable Disputants ; we may cast our Caps at them ; and it 's as safe to handle the Torpedo , as to touch them with a long Pole . But such Merriment he is pleased to Divert his we aried Reader withal , and sometimes for Variety it may be Grateful , but really too much Nonsence in a Discourse is very odious .

For the Place ( or rather no Place ) of Obedience thus far : An enquiry in the Reasons of it , seems also necessary . And for that , he says , It 's concluded on all hands , that this ( Obedience ) is but a Consequential Duty , that which ought to follow the Espousals . But the Reason of it is not Evident : The Reason of the thing not Evident ? Why , the thing it self is not evident : Would he have an evident Reason of Nothing ? A Foundation for a Castle in the Air ? Can he find no place for Obedience , and yet would he have a Reason for it ? But for all this Ranting , his Conscience tells him that they do allow a place for it , and can produce a Reason for it too , and perhaps a more proper place , and stronger Reason than our Author is able to show .

[ 1. ] Some tell us ( says he ) it 's due upon the account of Gratitude , and thankfulness to our Saviour . And methinks , a great deal of Obedience will rest upon that Basis : Has he come into this World ( whither none that loved his ease would come ? ) Has he taken our Nature upon him , and ( as if that were a light Matter ) our sins ? Has he endured the Displeasure of men , and ( as if that were little ) did it please God himself to put him to Grief ? Did he Die for sinners ? Does he Intercede for them ? Has he revealed the whole Counsel of God to them concerning their Salvation ? Has he given them the Holiest Laws , and the best Encouragement to Obey them ? Did he Promise , and has he sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in their Hearts ? Is it he through whom their Duties are accepted , and shall not these Obey ? Here 's enough , and yet there 's much more to Engage all the Love , Service , Obedience , of Redeemed ones for ever : And so the thing is ( at least ) a hairs breadth longer than 't is broad . But here our Author is at a Loss ; he cannot so well understand this : But whose fault is that ? Must the Truth suffer because he cannot see it ? The truth is , he has Puzzled , and Perp●…exed himself with an Idle scruple in his Head , and Vulcan must come with the great Hammer to deliver his Brain of a Minerva ; though I know no Obligation lies upon me to cut the Rope , as often as he will Snickle himself : Yet hower , let 's here the Difficulty : — Unless our Obedience be due to Christ , in thankfulness to him for saving us without Obedience . This is a Knot becoming the Sword of Alexder : Christ never engaged to save us without Obedience , and therefore he might have spared his pains to enquire how it should be due upon that Account : We therefore owe him all our Obedience , because 't is through him that such Imperfect Obedience may find acceptance with God : Which is nothing more difficult than this ; We live to him , because he Died for us , and rose again .

Yet there is a more fomidable Objection in the reare , against the grounding Obedience upon the bottom of Gratitude . This is ( says he ) Hardly reconcileable with that Essential Condition of accepting Christ , wherein those Spiritual espousals consists . Well , though it be hardly , yet if it be reconcileable at all , we shall not create him the Trouble of being a Conciliator . There are rational Divines enough in the World , for whose Heads this Province may be reserved . Two things we must here find out if we can : 1. What is the Essential condition of our accepting Christ . 2. How Obedience due upon the account of Gratitude , comes to be so hardly reconcilable to that Essential condition . ( 〈◊〉 ) What is the Essential condition of our 〈◊〉 Christ . For here lies the Intrigue , and h●… 〈◊〉 so disguised Matters , and Inck't himself ( like 〈◊〉 ) in Confusion , that it will be hard to 〈◊〉 . Now for that he quotes plain I. O. Com. pag. 63. viz. That the Soul consents to take Christ on his own Terms : This is the Essential condition , that has Created all the Pother : The Souls consenting to take Christ , is the Essential condition of taking . But now ( 2. ) How is Obedience upon the account of Gratitude , irreconcileable to its consent to take Christ on his own Terms ? Davus has made a diffity , but where 's an Oedipus to resolve it . Christs Terms are , that the Soul shall give it self in Love and Obidence for ever : He requires that the Soul should be wholly and entirely his , and not for another ; and this is so far from being Irreconcileable to ( what he calls ridiculously ) the Essential condition of accepting Christ , that it 's directly Included in it . And this he might have been Taught from the Doctor , had he not been too Proud to Learn . Ibid. This accepting Christ by the will , as the Souls only Husband , Lord and Saviour , is called receiving Christ , John 1. 12. and is not intended for that Solemn Act only , whereby at first entrance we close with him , but also for that constant frame of abiding with him , and owning him as such . So that it would have been an Impossible task to part them , but very easie to reconcile them . Obedience is so far from being excluded by the Souls accepting Christ upon his Terms , that its simply impossible to accept him upon his own Terms ; but we must Cordially , and with an Evangelical Universality obey him all our days . It 's something late ( I confess ) yet let us hear what he further quotes from the Doctor : The Soul consents to take Christ on his own Terms , to save save him in his own way , and saith , Lord I would have had Thee , and Salvation , in my way , that it might have been partly of my Endeavours , and as it were by the Works of the Law ; but I am now willing to receive Thee , and to be saved in thy Way , merely by Grace . We have already seen that what he has Quoted and Summon'd in these words for , was marvellously Impertinent to the pretended purpose ; But that which will not make á Shaft , will make a Bolt . Never did our Author meet that thing , but he could make some use on 't : As they that study the Philosophers Stone , though they miss of the main Design , yet stumble upon some pretty Experiments by the way , that makes them flatter themselves they have not quite lost their Oyl and Labour . Thus , however our Author may be Frustrated in his primary Project , which was Confuting the Truth , yet probably he may find or make some advantage to slur the Doctor : You may see him here like the great Hanibal , making his way over the Alps with Fire and Vinegar . If there be Matter for a Slander above Ground he will have it , and if not , Acheronta movebit . That is ( says he ) without doing any thing , without obeying thee : If to receive Christ upon his own Terms , as a King , and abiding with him in that relation , giving up it self to Christ as a King to obey him , be doing nothing , I cannot help it ; but let our Author do but thus much , and he shall receive a Testimony from God that he has done all . 'T is true , the Doctor excludes all his own Obedience for those ends , to which a proud Ignorant Iew might have abused them , viz. To exclude the Free-Grace of God , and the reconciliation made by Christ : And this we ought to be Jealous of , lest we ascribe any more Interest and concern to our own Duties , than the Gofpel allows : The Question then shall never be stated by me thus : Whether we must Obey or no ? Keep the Commandments of Christ or no ? And that upon Peril of Eternal Damnation ? But whether out of this Obedience of ours , may be gathered that righteousness in which we may safely venture to appear before the Iudge of all the Earth in the great day ; as that which we resolve to stand and abide by , venturing our all upon it ? This is that the Doctor thinks the Apostle reproved , Rom. 9. 31 , 32. Israel which followed after the Law of righteousness , hath not attained to the Law of righteousness , because they sought it not by Faith , but as it were by the Works of the Law . Where the Apostle Intimates , that though we do not directly seek a righteousness by the Works of the Law , yet to do it Obliquely and Indirectly , is destructive ; and that the Doctor intends no more , no other than this , is evident from the words our Author calls in ; And though I would have walkt according to my own mind , yet now I give up my self to be wholly guided by thy Spirit . This Netled our Authors Conscience , and he takes Sanctuary in the most wretched Subterfuge that ever betrayed it's Confider ; What a pretty Complement does the Soul make to Christ ? We are now sheer gone from the Truth of the Principle , to the Truth of the Heart in receiving it . If it proves a Complement in the Mouth of an Hypocrite , yet in Thesi its a Truth ; That whoever receives Christ upon his own Terms , does ( renouncing his own will and way ) give up himself wholly to be ruled by the Spirit , speaking in the Scriptures . At this wi●…d rate I have often heard a silly Quaker answer this Proposition : Iesus Christ that Died at Jerusalem , is the Saviour of the World : Ay ( says he ) but doest thou witness that from the Light within ?

[ 2. ] Others make Obedience necessary upon the account of Christs Fulness : But this ( he says ) makes it no otherwise necessary , then as we are necessarily passive in it . However , if it be necessary upon any account , it 's enough to make him blush that flatly Charges it upon them , to say it 's not necessary : But to be passive in our Obedience , is all the Soul means , in giving up it self to be ruled by the Spirit of Christ . Then the Soul means Nonsence : For to give it self to be ruled by the Spirit , has something of Activity in it : Our help and asistance to give up our selves is from the Spirit , but the giving up is an an act of the Souls . 'T is the Believer that obeys , and yet the ability to obey is from the Holy Ghost : It 's the Creature that works , and yet its God that works in him , to will and to do of his own good Pleasure , Phil. 2. 13. It 's the man that believes , and yet he believes according to the working of Gods mighty Power , Ephes. 1. 19 , 20. What is it else that he prays to the Spirit for ? O God the Holy Ghost , proceeding from the Father and the Son , have Mercy upon us miserable sinners ? But all this might have been Superseded , had our Author duly Recollected what he has Subscribed , and openly given his Assent and Consent to , in the 10th . Art . of the Church of England . We have no power to do Good works acceptable to God , without the Grace of God preventing us , that we may have a good Will and Working with us when we have that good Will. Allow but the Doctor the Benefit of the Clergie , and he will need no more to bring him off , though that very Article would prove our Authors Neck-verse . In the Work of Grace , the Spirit Acts according to the Nature of the Subject , which is here the Rational Creature ; He gives not new Natural Powers , but a new Moral ability to Exercise them ; he bestows not a new Will Physically , but enlarges it from its Fetters , discharges it from its Slavery , and powerfully ( though Gently ) enclines it to Gods Testimonies , not destroying its radical self-determining Power ; and hence I conclude our Author is but sorrily Skilled in the true meaning of souls , when they Profess a subjection to Christ . The Soul meant honestly , she had no Mental reservation , none of these Quirks and Tricks , but plainly and sincerely Designed to give up her self in all Obedience to her Lord and Saviour ; She in her Text intended very singly , but our Author has Commented upon it Knavishly : I said so indeed in haste , another would have said perhaps Foolishly ; for what more Idle Chat could he have Learn't from the good Women his Neighbours at Billings-gate , than a willingness to obey against ones Will .

This is all our Author is willing to own of the Grounds of our Obedience , but I shall help his weak and frail Memory a little , though to his great Regret . Doctor O. Com. pag. 212. Obedience ( says the Doctor ) is necessary as a Means to the End . N. B. God hath appointed that Holiness shall be the Means , the Way to that Eternal Life , which as in it self , and Originally , is his Gift by Jesus Christ , so with regard to his Constitution of our Obedience , as the Means of attaining it , is a Reward , and God in bestowing of it a Rewarder ; though it be neither the Cause , Matter , nor Condition of our Justification , yet it is the Way appointed of God for us to walk in for the obtaining of Salvation . And therefore he that hath hope of Eternal Life , Purifies himself as he is Pure , and none shall ever come to that End , who walketh not in that Way ; for without Holiness it is impossible to see God . The bare Repitition of which words are as plain , and full a Rebuke to all our Authors Dirty , Nasty Reflections , as a reasonable Creature can desire . But these things we shall meet withall anon , and therefore here they shall lie ready in Banco , till our Authors Leisure shall call for them .

I had now eased my self and my Reader , of any further Vexation in this Section , had I not unhappily overseen one Passage in Mr. Watson , from which our Author thinks he has some Advantage . The words are these : Evangelical Truths , will not down with a Natural Heart , such a one had rather hear some quaint Point , of some Vertue or Vice stood upon , than any thing in Christ , &c. Which he thus Canvasses : Such sanctified Souls , and Ears , loath all Dull , Insipid , Moral Discourses , which are perpetually Inculcating their Duty on them , and Troubling them with a great many Rules and Directions for a good Life , which he is pleased to call the Quaint Points of Vertue and Vice . Good Sir , be not angry , have but a little Patience and all will be well to your Hearts Content . Mr. Watson does not Inveigh against your Poynant Invictives against the one , or your most Elaborate Encomiums of the other . Run down sin at the highest rate of Zeal and Fervency you can ; render Prophaneness as Odious , and expose her for a Fulsomè s●…urvy Baggage ; if you please , Invent new Names for her , with that Reverend Divine , and tell her to her Teeth she is a Tatter-de-mallion , and a Rapscallion ; And let Vertue , Duty , and a good Life , be Urged and Pressed upon the Conscience with the most Cogent Arguments , that Reason and Scripture will afford you . Mr. Watson will Live , and Sleep , and Love you : They are only these Quaint , Nice , Finical points of Vice and Vertue , which he and all Judicious Christians ( who had rather have their Hearts and Lives better'd , than their Ears tickled ) do Disgust . A Quaint point of Vice , at which your Jesuites are so Excellent , that they have acquainted the World with more Sublimated and Speculatives Rogueries , than perhaps else the Devil himself had ever thought of : Such we meet with in their Books of Casuistical Divinity ; where men are Taught an Art of sinning , to be Villanous in Mood and Figure ; and as some have reacht the perfection of Poysoning by Smells at a distance , so have these Infected the World with their Theories of Monstrous Debaucheries : They have started Game for unclean hearts to Hunt down , and set unsanctified Nature agog ▪ for those Pollutions of which it had else lived in a blessed Ignorance . There are Quaint points of Vertue too , which will not down with any sanctified Souls and Ears , who desire to hear of their Redeemer , and their Obligations to him , upon the Account of what he has Purchased and Procured for them . When one that supp●…ies the place of the Minister , but more fit to fill up the room of the Ideot , shall with a starched Gravity , Dress you up a Vertue A-la-mode , like a Morice-dancer with a comely Feather in her Cap , Ribands at her Ears , and Tuneable Bells at her Heels , and then come off with a Flourish ; Oh what a goodly thing is this Madam Vertue ! Let him that speaks , speak as becomes the Oracles of God ; let him without affected Quaintness , with a serious Spirit , in the Words which the Holy Ghost teacheth , open the Excellency , demonstrate the Necessity of any Vertue , and Mr. Watson is very well contented . Having now made an Essay towards the Reconciling Mr. W. and our Author , I hope I may without Offence proceed . Before our Author takes his leave of his Reader , ( which he does with much Civility ) he lets him know what he has had for his Money . First , ( he tells him ) He has given him an entire Scheme of a New Religion , resulting from an acquaintance with Christs Person . But we crave leave to Demur to that . It 's neither a Scheme , much less an entire Scheme of any Religion New or Old , only a Wispe , that he set up to himself to Scold at : Next he lifts up his Masque , that we may see the full Face of his Design , for hitherto he has been in Masquerade , and that he tells us was to Expose these Mens Principles to Scorn : But that we saw through his Vizor , and needed not his Gazet to give us an Advertisment , that his chiefest Talent lies in Misrepresenting mens Persons , their Expressions and Intentions , in casting Dirt upon the the sincerest Actions , and Invidiously traducing the greatest Truth of the Gospel . Thirdly , He tells us ▪ That every considering Person cannot but discover how Inconsistent the Religion of Christs Person and of his Gospel are . But this Distinction was but the Superfoetation of his own Parturient Brain ; we own one God , and one Mediator between God and man , one holy Spirit , one Faith , one Baptism , delivered to us in the Scriptures of Truth : And further than the Scriptures have a Tongue to Speak , we have no Ear to Hear . Whereas therefore a certain Vagrant Principle [ concerning the difference betwixt the Religion of the Person , and Gospel of Christ ] has been taken Begging at our Doors , and would have Father'd it self upon us : Now know all men whom it may Concern , that we have Executed the Law upon it , have Stript and Whipt it , and do hereby send it from Constable to Constable , till it shall come at the Parish of St. George ButtolphsLane , and the Rectory there , where the Brat was Born and Bred , and there 't is most fitting it should be Maintained .

The Reader cannot but Observe , that ( how Hotly soever our Author is Engaged in the Pursuit of his Design , yet ) he can always find leisure to have a Fling at the Acquaintance of Christs Person . If there were but two things in all the World to Rail at , one of them should be Acquaintance of Christs Person . Hence it is that he has not got a finer Nick-name , for those he would Vilifie than , the Acquaintances of Christ . Thus , pag. 56. As these bold acquaintance and familiars of Christ use to speak , p. 68. As another great acquaintance of Christ speaks , which though it be perfect Nonsence , yet serves to express his Scolding Humour well enough : Now I confess I cannot Divine what should thus give Fire to his Choler , and enflame his Passion against acquaintance with Christ . It must be either the Name , or the thing it self , that I am satisfied in . ( 1. ) Then , Is it that Term that disliks him ? Alas poor Word ! What harm had it ever done him ? I could wish that to prevent Quarrels , and keep the Peace , he may have liberty to make some other word its Substitute and Surrogate . Let it be the Knowledge of Christ , the Understanding of Christ , or what ever other Synonima his Sylva will furnish him with ; rather than to have such a continual Peal rung in our Ears with this Acquaintance . And yet he might have known , that the Word is no worse than what the Learned Translators of our English Bible saw , ( or thought they saw ) Reason to employ : It has now lain so long Mellowing in that Version , that it might be presumed to have lost the Austerity of its Nature , and to have been Sweetned to his Curious and Judicious Palate . In Iob 22. 21. Acquaint now thy self with him , and be at peace 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : And the word signifies to Familiarize our selves to a Thing , or Person . And the same word is used to express Gods own Knowledge of , and Acquaintance with his Creatures , and all their ways , Psal. 139. 3. Thou art acquainted with all my ways , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And it s opposed to a strange , over●…y Carriage ; when we live at a distance from another , as if there was no good and clear Correspondence between us ; and the truth is , it implies a thing called Communion , and therein lies its Guilt . But , 2. I suspect that it is acquaintance with Christs Person , that has provoked all this Rage : Acquaintance with any Thing , or Person , else might have scaped a Scouring ; and yet under Correction . 1. The Scripture presses it as our Duty to Study , Understand , and get a through Knowledge of the Personof Christ , 2 Pet. 3. 18. But grow in Grace , and in the Knowledg of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ , to him be Glory , both now and for ever , Amen . And ▪ 2. We find holy Men to have made it their business to get an acquaintance with Christs Person , which this Gentleman makes it his business to Reproach , 1 Cor. 2. 2. I determined not to know any thing amongst you , save Iesus Christ , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , even him Crucified . The Person of Christ under that consideration , as Crucified ; and the Reasons are as Cogent , as the thing is clear . For , 1. In the Knowledge of Christ ( that very Christ whom the Father sent into the World ) consists Eternal Life : This is Life Eternal to know thee , the only true God , and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent . 2. We are Commanded to love this Iesus , ( another great fault our Author finds with these Men ) but how to love him and not to be acquainted with him , may be reckoned amongst the Impossibilities , 1 Pet. 1. 7. At the appearing of Iesus Christ , whom having not seen ye love ; in whom ( though now ye see him not ) yet believing ye rejoyce with Ioy unspeakable , and full of Glo●…y . The Apostle commends their love to , and faith in an unseen Saviour ; whence it 's easie to conclude , that it was the Person of Christ they loved ; ) for the Scriptures they had seen , the Gospel , the Church they had seen , ( an Office I confess they could not very well see ) and yet they are praised for loving him that was not seen . 3. We are commanded to Worship this Jesus , to give Divine Honour to Him , Iohn 5. 23. That all should Honour the Son , even as they Honour the Father : And accordingly we read that the Disciples did Worship Him , Luke 24. 52. Nay , the Command is given to the Angelical Nature , Heb. 1. 6. Let all the Angels of God Worship Him : But it 's a strange kind of Worship that we give Darklings . One of the smartest Rebukes Christ gave the Samaritans , was , that they Worshipped they knew not what , but We ( says Christ ) know what we Worship , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . We must not only know who He is , but what He is whom we worship . 4. It 's our plain duty to acquaint our selves with God , that we may be at peace , Iob 22. 21. But Christ is true God , very God ; witness the Athanasian , and Nicene Symbols . 5. We are in particular commanded to believe in Him , John 14. 1. Ye believe in God , believe also in me . And it concerns us to know , by what authority he Imposes his Commands upon us , what is his Varacity that we may depend upon his Promises , and what is his Power to carry us through the difficulties that ever attend conscientious Duties , to Eternal Life : I am the more for acquaintance with Christs Person , because it 's so great a Venture to trust the unknown . This Prudence all men will be sure to exercise in Common affairs , much more where Souls and Eternal Life lie at stake ; and such did the Apostle Practise , 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have believed . 6. The whole Design of the Scripture leads us to an acquaintance with the Father , Son , and blessed Spirit . Hence was the Apostle so Zealous , that the Colossians might come unto all Riches of the full assurance of Understanding , to the acknowledgment of the Mysterie of God , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Even of the Father , and of Christ , in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge : Which are those Provoking words that have so often Ruffled our Authors thoughts into Disorder 7. The whole of the Scripture is an unaccountable Riddle , without the Knowledge of Jesus Christ : We are told there , how God has been atoned by the Sacrifice of Oxen , Sheep ; what a sweet smelling savour he has sented in the burned Flesh of the Holocaust ; which without Consideration of the Person of Christ , and Reference to Him , is Irrational . To speak of the Death of Christ himself , as reconciling God and man , is also wholly Unintelligible , without due regard to Him as Mediator , what Office he bore , what Place he filled , in whose Stead he stood , what that Covenant was , that between the Father and his Son was agreed upon : For according to our common apprehension of Things , God should rather have Destroyed the World for Crucifying his Son , than have been Reconciled and Propitiated by his Death .

Now I know well our Author will Reply , that he ( good Man ) is no Enemy to acquaintance with Christs Person , provided always we do not Wiredraw New Doctrines from it , and Extract greater and deeper Mysteries thence , than are to be found out in the Gospel . To which we Rejoyn : That it 's not Christs Person that teaches us the Doctrine ; but the Doctrine that Acquaints us with his Person . We study not the Person of Christ , to find out G●…spel Mysteries , but to resolve them : Not to Discover the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of New Truths ▪ but to Demonstrate to us the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Old . But if ▪ after all that can be said , our Author will be Clamorous , we must be Content , and Satisfie our selves with this , that it 's the Nature of the Creature ; and some things we know are so untractable by their Constitution , that though you Bray them in a Morter amongst Wheat with a Pestle , yet their Crabbed , Froward , Awkward Tempers will not depart from them .

CHAP. III. Sect. 3. How unsafe it is to found Religion upon a Pretended Acquaintance with Christs Person .

I Foresee this Section will certainly prove Unanswerable ; the Comfort is , it 's the onely one that appears to be such in the whole Book . The Reader will judge with me , that he must needs have a hard Task on 't , ( and perhaps equal to any of Hercu●…es his Labours , ) that shall maintain it safe , To found Religion upon Hypocrisie ; and yet this must be his lot , who will defend , That it 's safe to build Religion upon a pretended Acquaintance with Christs Person . Some report , that that Goodly Beast , which for Honours sake we will call a Porcupine , keeps alwayes Two Avenues to her Cell , that let the Wind sit where it will , it shall never blow full in the Dore ; and let her Enemies besiege her how they can , she has a secret Sally-port , to creep out at . With the same wisdom has our Author provided for his own Retreat in this Section : For if any shall be so fool-hardy as to assault him with an Argument , That it 's our Duty to be acquainted with Christs Person , and for that end to search the Scriptures , which testifie of him , direct , and lead us to him ; that so upon the Person of our Redeemer we may build our Faith , as upon that Rock against which the Gates of Hell shall not prevail ; he can readily reply upon you , True ; but it 's onely a Pretended Acquaintance with Christs Person , that I so zealo●…sly declaim against . I perceive , it 's no small advantage in all Disputes , to have the Priviledge to state the Question to our own good liking ; and he that has once got a Faculty for it , is out of Gun-shot ; unless he be so incorrigible a Coxcomb as not to be aware of his own Interest . That the Religion of Sinners is built upon a Mediator , ( as the Religion of the Innocent was upon the Being of a God ; ) That this Mediator is the Lord Iesus Christ , who has by the Sacrifice of Himself reconciled God to Man , and Man to God ; has received some Light and Confirmation from these Papers . That our Author has opposed any thing that may stagger the Faith of Christians , tolerably exercised in the Word of Righteousness , I do not see : but that it 's easie to erect a Castle in the Aire , and when we have so done , to draw a formal siege about it , to batter , storm , rase , and utterly demolish it , not to leave one stone upon another ; this I grant he has satisfied me in to satiety . For , having all along laid it for the ground-work of his most accomplisht Raillery , That some men found all their Religion upon the Person of Christ , exclusive of the Scriptures , he is now resolved to destroy that Hypothesis , to give it no Quarter , but even to Internecion plow up the Foundation , and sow it with Salt , that After-ages may sing goodly Ballads of his Atchievement , Iam seges est ubi Troja fuit . Thus when the Creative Power of the Imagination has given Life to a Chim●…ra , the same Power , with the same ease can stop it ▪ s breath , annihilate it , and calcine it to it 's primitive Nothing . There are Two parts of his present Discourse ; First , a false Supposition ; Secondly , a most unmercifull Confutation of that Supposition .

( 1. ) That which he supposes , ( and is resolved to suppose in spight of Fate , ) is , that These men you wot of , Pretend to learn their Religion from an Acquaintance with Christs Person , ( to which he often addes , and alwayes understands ) without Gospel Revelation . A Supposition so idle , absurd , and palpably false , that none can possibly believe it of those Persons upon whom 't is fixt ; but those ( and some such there are ) that have accustomed themselves to tell a Lye so often , till at length they begin to be pretty well perswaded that they speak Truth : Happy men , that have found an Expedient , so far to mitigate their Guilt , that what was before a formal Lye , becomes now onely a material Untruth ! That Iesus Christ is God and Man , that he dyed for our Sins , and rose again for our Iustification , that he was set forth by God to be a Propitiation for sin , to declare Gods Righteousness for the Pardon of it ; that he is our High-Priest , our Advocate with the Father , with whatever else comes within the compass of their Creed , they do solemnly profess to have learnt from the Gospel onely ; and surther than as Scripture has been Liberal herein , they protest in so many Letters and Syllables , they know nothing less or more ; these things are owing purely to Revelation ; and they are ready , when or wheresoever cited before their competent Iudges , to give it under their Hands and Seals , attested with all the Good men and True , of the Vicinage . The plain Truth is , Their Principles lie in it , their Writings witness to it , and at other times they are reproach'd by these very same unreasonable men , that they so tenaciously , and pertinaciously adhere to the written Word , that they make it the Rule of their Faith , the Rubrick of their Worship , the Directory of their Prayers , the Square of their Obedience , the Treasury of their Hopes , and the grand Cynosure whereby they steer , or desire to steer the whole Course of their Conversation to Eternal Life .

( 2. ) The Confutation of this Hypothesis ( which is his second Travel ) must therefore needs be very easie . And to this purpose , he brings us in two pompous Reasons mounted like St. George himself on horse-back , armed Cap-a-pe , with his Trusty Morglay by his side , his Launce ready couch ▪ d ; but all this while , where 's the Dragon ? Or like a Champion of State , who upon the Coronation of some Great Prince , presents himself in rigid Steel , throws down his Gantlet , defies all Men , Women and Children , in defence of the Princes Title , when he knows well enough before-hand , that none will Take it up . Now his Reasons are drawn , the former from the uncertainty of such a Way , and the Second ( which is as strong as the other ) from the uncertainty of such a Way . Reader do not smile ; It was no less a Piece than the Great Demos●…henes , who being ask'd , What were the Main Qualifications of a Good Oratour , answer'd , The first is Pronunciation , the second Pronunciation , and the third ( forsooth ) was Pronunciation : But stay awhile , and you will see our Author come off well enough .

[1] His first Argument is taken from the uncertainty of such a procedure ; This is at best to build Religion upon uncertain Conjectures ; we agr●…e to it ; and whatever I could be content to be at a loose end in , it should not be my Religion : but yet for more sureness he lines his Argument with an under-reason , ( and had he faced it with Bayes , it would have worn like Steel ; ) Had we seen Christ in the flesh , and been witnesses of the many Miracles he wrought , of his Death upon the Cross , and his Resurrection from the Dead , had he not acquainted us with the End and Design of all this , we might have ghess'd , and ghess'd till we had been weary , but it's odds we had never ghess'd right . Nay , yet further to overwhelm all Opponents with Reason upon Reason , he addes ; Because there 's no natural and necessary connexion between the Person of Christ , and what he did and suffer'd , and the Salvation of Mankind ; for these things are available for those Ends to which God design'd them , the virtue and efficacy of them , depends upon God's Institution and Appointment , and therefore can be known onely by Revelation . So that his Conclusion is this : Whoever would learn the Religion of our Saviour , must learn it from his Doctrine , and not from his Person . To say the Truth , the greatest fault I find with all this is , that he betrayes the Truth he contends for ; and does not understand , that his Clyent had better have given him a Double Fee to say Nothing , than a single one to Destroy the Cause he pretends to plead . I shall therefore only burden his Margin with a few asterisks , and fairly dismiss him .

1. Let the Reader carefully enquire who those We are , that if they had seen Christ in the flesh , his Miracles , Death and Resurrection , yet without He had acquainted them with the End and Design of all this , might have ghess'd themselves weary , e're they had ghess'd aright ? And for the clearing of that , let him know , that he speaks not here in his own Person , but in the Person of others , who have not the knack , or if they had , are not fortified with a Priviledge to conclude Quidlibet ex Quolibet , or to demonstrate Godwin-Sands from TenterdonSteeple ; for as to Himself , you may be pleased to understand , that he can infallibly prove all this and more , from as little as that comes to , and less . Admire his Abilities , pag. 84. When We remember that Christ died as a Sacrifice and Propitiation for Sin , this gives Us a great Demonstration of Gods good will to us , how ready he is to pass by all our former sins , in that he hath appointed an Atonement for us , and given no less Person than his own Son for our Ransome . The Reader cannot but observe , that he is there giving us Another Scheme of Religion from an Acquaintance with Christs Person , without Scripture ; and then when he comes to take the Matter in hand , he can from the Person of Christ , demonstrate Gods good Will , his pardoning Mercy , and what not ? when others indeed venture upon Conclusions without Scripture , they give some uncertain conjectures , get some feeble hints , some dim appearances and smattering I●…cklings of the Matter ; but to Us it speaks nothing less than Apodictical , and great Demonstration .

2. The Reader will observe , how perfectly he Overthrows the very design he would exalt ; for undertaking to prove , How unsafe it is , to found Religion upon a Pretended acquaintance with Christs Person ; and assigning this for a Reason , that this is to build Religion upon uncertain Conjectures , which we acknowledge to be Cogent ; When he comes to wind up his bottomes , he tells us , Though we had seen Christ in the flesh , we could never have ghess'd at the End and Design of it , had not he [ Christ ] Acquainted us with it . So that the short and long of this great Demonstration , is this ; That it 's uncertain to found our Religion upon Christ's Person , because we could have known nothing of Religion , unless we had been Acquainted with him : He will lift himself off this flatt , by replying , that he means nothing but Christs acquainting us in and from his Gospel ; and we rejoyn , that that which will bring him off , will bring off his Neighbours ; for who ever affirm'd any more ?

3. He has herein at unawares stabb'd his main Cause to the heart ; For if there be no necessary connexion between the Person of Christ , his Death and Suffering , and the Salvation of Mankind , but that ( as he assures us ) the End and Design of Christ in dying , must be known onely by Revelation ; then it will unavoidably follow , that Christ dyed for some greater Ends than to give us an Example of Patience , and Submission to the Will of God , to Confirm what he Preach'd ; seeing we needed no Revelation to acquaint us , that a holy man is to be imitated in all holy things , living or dying ; and that he thought ( at least ) his Doctrine was true , or else he would never have exposed , and layd down his Life to justifie it . Now it 's plain , however our Author does now and then humour us with Propitiation , Ransom , Atonement , Expiation , these are all reducible by his Engine , to Christs confirming what he preach'd ; Pag. 320. All that I can find in Scripture , concerning the Influence that the Sacrifice of Christ's Death hath upon our Acceptation with God , is , that to this we owe the Covenant of Grace ; which is Nothing else in his sence , but God's Promise of saving us , if we obey his Laws .

4. He is slipt into the very same guilt with which he loads ( though unjustly ) his Adversaries , viz. The Dividing the Person and Gospel of Christ . He was of a good Mind once , p. 3. if he could have kept him in 't : That the Person of Christ is not at oddes with his Gospel , and that Christ and his Religion were well agreed ; but he has quitted his Post , and dogmatically asserts : That whosoever would understand the Religion of our Saviour , must learn it from his Doctrine , and not from his Person . And why not from his Person , in or by his Doctrine ? It 's a harder matter than our Author is aware , to hear a Sermon preach'd without a Preacher ; and almost as difficult to believe it , without good warranty , that the Preacher has good Authority for what he delivers : All the Authority of the Scripture , is resolved into the Authority of Christ , and therefore it concerns us to fetch our Religion from Christ , by his Word .

5. I must needs observe to the Reader one piece of cleanly conveyance and Legerdemain , which our Author is forced frequently at a standing pull to serve himself of ▪ to draw Dun out o' th' Mire ; and that is , to shew you a fair round Tester , and then fob you off with a Counter ; to shew you a Horse in the Premises , and pass to an Asse in the Conclusion . He has pasted , and posted it up in the Title of this Section ; How unsafe it is , to found Religion upon a Pretended acquaintance with Christs Person ; but when he addresses himself to prove his Thesis , he falls a persecuting the old thing of Learning Religion from an Acquaintance with Christs Person . He who has the famous Art of Arguing from the essential Differences of things , can he find no accidental difference at least betwixt Principium essendi and Cognoscendi ? Betwixt the Foundation of our Religion , and the Means of conveying the Knowledge thereof unto us ? A thing may be first in Knowledge , which is last in Being ; there has been some such Distinction in former Ages . There was a time when the old World learnt it's Religion from Angels , ( as our Author thinks ) from Prophets , from the Government of the World ; will he say that the Religion of those dayes was founded upon any thing short of God , upon Angels , Men , Sun , Moon , Stars ? Say the same in our Case ; Jesus Christ has revealed what we are to know and believe of the Father , Son , and Spirit , ( in his Word he has reveal'd it ) yet our Faith , Hope , Love , Obedience is founded on , and ultimately terminated in God alone by Christ : He that believes a Promise , obeyes a Precept , does believe the veracity of Christ in that Promise , and obey the Authority of Christ in that Precept : That Credit we give to Letters Patents praemunited with the Royal Seal , is resolved ultimately into the Kings 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; That Obedience we give to a Law , is founded upon the Authority of the Legislator : We learn our Duty from a printed Act of Parliament , from a Proclamation , but that which is the formal Reason of our Duty , is the Relation wherein we stand to our Prince : So childish is our Author in his Reasonings , he begins to make a Cauldron , and tinckers up a sorry kettle ; Amphora coepit institui , currente rotâ cur urceus exit ? He undertook to prove the unsafeness of the Foundation of our Religion , but he 's glad to come down a button-hole lower , and prove onely the danger of learning of our Religion from a pretended acquaintance with Christs Person ▪ without Scripture-Revelation .

6. He tells us , there is not a Natural and Necessary connexion between the Person of Christ , his Death , &c. and the Salvation of Mankind . Very discreetly worded : Not a natural , and necessary connexion ! What 's matter if it be not Natural , if it be Necessary ? Let it be owned Necessary any way that 's fair and honest , and let him choose whether it shall be necessary by Nature , or no. If our Author understands himself here , it 's very well ; I am sure some others do not : Does he mean therefore of all Mankind ? that there 's no natural connexion betwixt Christs Person , his Death , &c. and the Salvation of all Mankind ? I presume , the man 's either unborn , or long agoe dead , that ever asserted that there was any Connexion either Natural or Necessary , between Christs Death and the Salvation of every individual Person that should be upon the Earth : Does he mean any one of all Mankind ? I then do affirm , and will abide by it , that upon supposition the Son of God was incarnate , took our Nature upon him , and in that Nature dyed a cursed Death , there is a Necessary connexion betwixt the Death of the Son of God , and the Salvation of some , at least , of Mankind : It 's very unconceivable , that Christ should submit to such a Dispensation , and have no fruit of his Labour . But to put him out of fear , that he may sleep at hearts ease , we do not fancy any natural connexion of these things ; that Bond that tyes them together , is the compact betwixt the Father and the Son , that upon his Souls being made an Offering for Sin , he should see his seed , and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand , Isa. 53. 10. The Total is this , The Concurrence of the Sons Will , with the Fathers good Pleasure , gave the Death of Christ a necessary Connexion with the Salvation of some , at least , of Mankind . But to talk at this loose Rambling rate is tedious .

All this while , you see but very little into our Authors Design : For as your great Politicians have their Causae justificae , which they Hang out to view , but the Causae suasoriae lie deep , and are not to be Exposed to , and Prophan'd by common Eyes ▪ Thus however our Author makes a Flourish , and Vapour , about the Connexion of Necessary causes and Necessary effects , as if we see Fire , we know it burns something ; and if we see Smoak , we may safely conclude there is some Fire : Which poor Reynards Experiment would have Confuted . Notwithstanding I say all this Ostentation of Mysterious Philosophy , there was something lay nearer his heart , than this Bombaste , and how to bring it upon the Stage handsomely , required good Deliberation . In plain Terms , it was nothing but to state a Parallel betwixt the Rational , and your Systematical Divine , and to Demonstrate the excellency of himself and those of his exalted Intellectuals , above those low Spirited , Phlegmatick , Tigurine Doctors , who Trade all in gross Bodies , and unweildy Systems of Divinity : For these latter , they ( Dull-men ) shape all Religion , according to their Phancies and Humours , and stuff it with an infinite Number of Orthodox Propositions , ( such as the 39 ▪ Articles . ) But now for your Rational Men : They Argue the Nature of God , his Works and Providences , from the Nature of Mankind . and those eternal Notions of Good and Evil , from the Essential differences of Things , from plain Principles , which have an Immutable and unchangeable Nature , and so can bear the weight and stress , of a just Consequence : Which singular Happiness may sooner be Envyed than Mistated . Indeed it would do any man good at Heart , to hear with what Nerves and Sinews of Brawny Reason , they will Argue ; how they Drive all before them ; how they will Trounce a poor amazed Auditor into As. and Con. and force the most Obstinate herds of Contumacious Animals , into good Behiavour by Duress . In a word , all their Discourses are Muscle , and Cartilage : And in one of these you shall have the Marrow ▪ and Pith , the Quintessence and Elixir of your Profound , Irrefragable , Subtile , Angelical , Seraphical Doctors : But I Chide my self for comparing them to the School-men , who are Systematical Theölogues . Let the Reader content himself with a short Specimen of their Abilities . And , 1. They argue from the Nature of God : How Facile is he to Pardon sin , all sin without any Compensation , or Satisfaction made to his Justice : For seeing Justice is but a secondary Attribute , a mere Instrument or Tool of Government ; He may spare or punish as he sees Reason for it without being unjust in either : For though the Scripture has told us , Iosh ▪ 24. 19. That God is a jealous God , who will not forgive Transgression , nor sin ; and that He is of purer Eyes than to behold Evil , and cannot look upon Iniquity , Hab. 1. 13. And also that the wages of sin is Death , which is the Religion of the Scripture , yet now one of these familiar acquaintance of Gods Nature , can inform you better ; that there was there was no necessity of Christs Death to declare the Righteousness of God , that he might be Iust , but that as he Pardoned the Old World for Four Thousand Years together , who knew nothing of Christ ; 〈◊〉 he might have done for one poor Sixteen Hundred Years more , and as much longer as it shall continue . That Caution which he Hints to others , pag. 76. he has as much need of himself ; That we be wary in drawing conclusions from Gods Nature , since 't is so seldom we have any good Assurance , those Inferences are Genuine . Thus when he argues , pag. 43 , from Gods Long-suffering and Patience towards the World , and the various Methods God uses to reclaim them , that therefore he is as ready to Pardon sinners , as a kind Father is to receive a penitent Prodigal . I would have him Cautious lest he should over-run the Constable , for God stands not related to sinners , in the state of lapsed Nature , as a Father , but as an Enemy ; and our Son-ship and Adoption , comes in by Jesus Christ , and this may perhaps a little disturbe the Connexion of his Antecedents and Consequents : And this for distinction-sake , may be called his New Religion of Gods Nature , from whence we learn those greater and deeper Mysteries whereof the Scripture is so silent . And then , 2. They argue with marvellous Success from the Works and Providence of God . As how ? pag. 44. Those Natural Notions the Heathens had of God , and the Discoveries God made of Himself in the Works of Creation and Providence , did assure them that God is very Good , and that 't is not possible to understand what Goodness is without Pardoning-Grace . For you may be sure they cloud not see the Sun shine , but presently they must conclude that the Light of Gods Countenance would shine upon them also ; nor have a showre of Rain , but it did Demonstrate that God would wash away their sins ; nor forbear them a day , but He would acquit them for ever . But then , 3. From the Nature of Mankind , they Reason with incomparable Judgment : As for Instance , That because Man was Created upright , therefore he is so still ; how Vegete , Sprightly , and active mans Nature is , that without the Subsidiary assistance of effectual Grace , working both to will and to do , it can fulfil all Gods Commandments ; and that to talk of our own Impotency to Spiritual performances , is to suppose us to be acted like Machines by an External force , and the irresistable Grace and Spirit of God . And further , 4. They make admirable work from the eternal Notions of Good and Evil : That God may punish sin if he pleases , and if he sees good he may let it alone ; sin it seems , is one of those Adiaphorous Trifles , that it needs not the Blood of Christ to satisfie for it ; for our own repentance , without any respect to the Death of Christ , will stop that Gap : Wherein , I confess , I as little admire his Divinity , as he does other mens Philosophy . But , 5. They argue from the Essential differences of Things , and what rare Feats they can do from hence is Incredible : For whereas other poor Sneaks only deal with the Rinde and Bark of Beings , as they are cloathed with Circumstances , and crusted over with Accidents ; these Gyants of Reason will strip your . Nature stark naked , and show her for a Sight at Bartholomew-Fair , in her first callous Principles . Thus our Author tells us , pag. 94. That Christ came not to distract us with the Inexorableness of Gods Iustice ; and yet p. 95. He assures us that God is an Irreconcileable Enemy to all sin : For he could pry out an Essential difference between the Inexorableness of his Iustice , and his Irreconcileableness to sin . And pag. 82. He can shew us the difference between being astonisht , and surprised with wonder ; which though any other might have stumbled on : Yet to shew you just to a Hairs breadth where Wonder ends , and Astonishment begins , this was reserved for the Acumen of a Rational Divine . It were tedious , though useful , no doubt , to Instance with what Dexterity they Wire ▪ draw Discoveries out of Immutable , and Unchangeable Natures ; how they call Fire out of Smoak , but never steams out of Light : At what Killing undoing Rates they Syllogize , how they run their Enemies all on Heaps , and perplex their Discourses all into Snicksnarles , but every one would Live as long as he can . This ( though the better half ) is but one part of that Design which he is driving on Incognito : The other is , to Besmear a sort of pittiful Fellows he has often , but never with respect , mentioned . For it 's a very great Question whether he be a greater admirer of his own Excellencies , than a dispiser of other Mens Imperfections : But what is their Crime ? Why they Cry down Reason for such a Prophane and Carnal thing , as must not presume to Intemeddle in Holy Matters . I have met with some who decry Carnal Reason , but never with one that affirmed Reason was Carnal : I know none that are very ambitious to put on Brute , and put off Man ; and for those who are so Pelted with empty clamour , I have ever found them as much in love with , and as great Improvers of Reason as their Neighbours , only their unhappiness is , they have not so vast a Stock to set up with , and sometimes may be out of Sorts : However they are not ashamed to own , or disown that Thing , which many vend for reason , as it behaves it self , and for what I understand in this Matter , I shall freely confess where I had it , viz. From the Ninth Article of the Church of England , of Original or Birth-sin . This Infection of Nature doth remain , yea , in them that are Regenerated , whereby the Lust of the Flesh called in Greek , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which some do Expound the Wisdom , some the Sensuality , some the Desire of the Flesh , is not subject to the Law of God . I have met also with others , who will not scruple to own , 1. That Reason is the sole and proper Iudge within her own Iurisdiction , and that as we must give unto Faith the things that are Faiths , so must we yield to Reason the things that are Reasons ; let her move within her own Sphere , and they will not Iostle her , nor Enterfere with her Motions . 2. They are earnest that the best Reason that can be got for Love or Money , be employed in Spinning conclusions out of those Premises which are of pure revelation , though for scanning the Truth of some propositions may be , she 's not so good at it . 3. They say , that our Service and Worship of God ought to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a reasonable Service ; that in all our Worship of God , our Actions be under the Conduct of Reason . So Idle is our Authors reproach , that they will not allow Reason to Intermeddle in Holy Matters : Can she not meddle , but she must be Lady Paramount ? Can she not look into the Temple , but she must peep into the Holy of Holies ? 4. They say they never affirmed , Hot nor Cold , that Reason was Carnal , but that there is some Carnal Reason : That [ Carnal ] is not Epitheton generis , as if all Reason were Carnal ; but only Specie●… , that there is such a thing as Carnal Reason ; and they bring the Church of England for their Voucher . On the other side they do affirm , 1. That the Reasonings of Men as they are found in all the Sons of Adam are Vitiated and Corrupted ; they cannot see how Reason scaped better in the common Shipwrack , than the other powers of the Soul . 2. Hence they put a difference betwixt Reason in the abstract , as it is in it self , and as it is found Immerst in Matter , and Drencht in Hyle ; betwixt Reason as it ran clear at first , and as it now tastes of the Cask : And when the Apostle Paul ( who passes now-a-days for an Obscure writer ) could give us the Hint of this Difference , Rom. 1. 21. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : They became vain in their own Reasonings or Argumentations , and their fool-heart was darkned . Methinks they that Trade in the Essential differences of things , should not have over-lookt it ; but Bernardus Non vidit omnia . 3. Therefore where the Infallible Word of God has clearly revealed any Doctrine , and propounded it to their Belief , they look upon 't as their business to Believe , not Dispute ; as owning the Reason of the Scripture , to be the Supreme and Sovereign reason , which is nothing but the Authority of an Infallible Revealer : When therefore they cannot Grasp how some things should be , with Consistence to their apprehensions , they trouble not themselves much , but are satisfied that Thus they are . 4. That there are some Doctrines in the Scripture fairly laid down to be Faith , which yet are above the most Exalted reason to give an account of any other way , than by Faith's Old answer to all New Objections : The Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it . 5. These men are not aminded that those great Masters of Wit , should have their reason to be the common standard and Assize of the Reason of all Men , unless they can bring better Evidence that they are Clerks of the Market , to seal all measures of Truth and Error , Good and Evil ; then their new Lights hang out in Dark-Lanthorns . If it come once to this , that God must not be God , unless he please their Humours : If Scriptures must pass the Ordeal of their reasons before it be Canonical , we humbly desire to be Excused , if we rather chuse to Walk alone in the Ways of Truth , than for companies-sake ( as well as we love them ) to be Seduced into their Misprisions .

This is the grand Crime of these men , there are others not to be despised . As that they argue from Fancies and Imaginations , from some pretty Allusions , Similitudes , and Allegories , which have no certain shape : Yet I am well assured , that no man was ever more firmly bounden , and indebted to an Allegory , than our Author , unless I saw him clapt up for one upon Execution in the Kings-Bench . pag. 6. He did but meet with the word Salem upon the Road , and he presently spies the New Ierusalem coming down from Heaven , in it : pag. 161. He had heard , that Eve was taken out of Adams side , and he sets his Allegorical Machine awork , and hales , [ the Church taken out of Christs crucified Body ] Out on 't . Though to Qualifie the Matter , he says it was but with a Quasi , as it were , or if he might so say ; but by and by , he grows more flesht with Success , and Peremptorily concludes : That the Church is taken out of the crucified Body of Christ , which ( says he ) in the Mystical sence , answers to the Womans being taken out of the Man ; and from this pretty Allusion , grounds his Interpretation of Ephes. 5. 30. 1 Col. 21. 22. Although the state of Innocency had no proper instituted Types ; however the passages of Gods Providence therein may be accommodated by the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures Infallibly inspired , to Illustrate Evangelical Verities . But let a taste of these things stay the Readers Stomach a while , and if his Mouth waters at such Theology , he shall have his Belly full , even to Surfeit of such Luscious Allegories in due time . Thus much to his first Argument , taken from the uncertainty of this way of arguing .

( 2. ) His second Reason follows , drawn also from the uncertainty of this way of arguing . For thus his Argument runs : This way of reasoning will serve any mans turn : Which is nothing but the uncertainty of it , and had not our Author ( who alway argues as occasion serves from the Essential differences of things ) told us it was another reason , it might have Militated under the colours of the former : But he puts in a Caveat against all the World but himself and his Brethren . For though it will serve any mans turn , yet you must always Interpret it with this restriction , who have any Quickness and Vigour of Fancy , which clearly cuts out all the rest of Mankind , as shall appear from the Fag end of this Section .

What remains of this Discourse , is laid out upon the Equipping of another Scheme of Religion , from an acquaintance with Christs Person : Where in the Quickness and Vigour of his Fancy , doe Triumph . The World shall now see ( I that they shall ) what other-guise work our Author can make on 't , when he comes to the Trimming of this Matter , than those clumzy Fellows ever could , who have attempted that way ; and shall see that Scanderbags Sword and Arm together , can work Wonders . It 's ordinary to find the Physitians Trencher loaden with that Meat , which he Prohibits his Patient upon pain of Death . If any else had presum'd to have finger'd this Theme , he had got a rap o th' Knuckles , and yet here we find our Author up to the Elbows in 't . Great Spirits know how to give Laws to others , and yet themselves to Live above them . I have openly owned it , that this Section is unanswerable , and that my Reader may not Censure me for a Dictator ; I am Obliged to give him an Account of the Impregnableness of it . The Scheme which he here presents us withal , is not supposed to be his own Iudgment , but meerly an Imitation of other Mens way , though the Copy out-doe the Original : If therefore any one shall Essay to Answer it , he comes over you : I did but play the Fool , because I supposed others had done so , and I was willing to let you see , I could do it as neatly as another . To meddle therefore with the substrate Matter , and main Doctrine thereof , would be lost Labour ; to Examine whether it be stufft with Orthodox , or Heterodox propositions , shall be all one to me ; but one thing ( I confess ) I am tempted to search into ( because he Boasts so highly of his Skill in it ; how easie it is to present us with many more Schemes , with fair Colours , Exact and regular Proportions , and artificial Connexions ! ) viz. Whether there be that regular proportion betwixt his Confidence and his Performance ; whether he has put such fair Colours upon things , but that the Morphew of the skin shines through the Ceruss ; whether his Matters be Linckt together with such artificial connexions ? Or whether the Sun in the Firmament , and as the Battoon in the Chimney co●…ner do not as well shake hands ; that is , whether the Wind-Mill be not alive for all Don Quixot ?

( 1. ) He tells us , Since we see Christ come in the Nature and Likeness of a Man , nothing dreadful in his Countenance , having all the sweetness of Innocency , his Miracles Great and Glorious , but not Frightful and Astonishing ; his Almighty Power displai'd in Methods of Love and Kindness , healing the Sick , dispossessing Devils , &c. From all this we may safely Conclude , He came upon an Embassy of Peace , to assure the World of Gods good Will to them , and to Reconcile the Differences betwixt God and Man . Now for my own part , my Eyes are not a whit Dazled with the fairness of his colours , nor my Thoughts much ravisht with the exactness of the Symmetry of this Piece . For , 1. It 's very Disproportionable to his main assertion : How unsafe and dangerous it is , to found Religion upon an acquaintance with Christs Person : Whereas in this Period , he assures us , We may safely conclude thence , that Christ was an Ambassador of Peace , that he came to reconcile the Differences betwixt God and Man . Which ( I promise you ) makes a shrewd Hole in Religion . 2. It bears no better proportion to its self ; for I hope the Reader has not forgotten how he is Erecting a Scheme of Religion from an acquaintance with Christs Person , not taking in Gospel Revelation : Now here he supposes Christ to have been the Eternal Son of God , leaving his Fathers Throne , coming into the World ; which he could never have concluded from his Person ; had he seen him in the flesh , unless the Mystery of it had been revealed to him from above , Math. 16. 16 , 17. Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God : Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Iona , for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee , but my Father which is in Heaven . 3. He pretends to gather Christs design in coming into the World , from his Person , Miracles , Behaviour , and sweet demeano●… towards men ; yet here we want Proportion , if we may believe himself , pag. 76. Had we seen Christ in the flesh , and been witnesses of the many Miracles he wrought , of his Death upon the Cross , and his Resurrection from the dead , had he not acquainted us with the End and Design of all this , we might have ghess'd our selves weary , and never have hit upon the right . But Now what a happy change is here ? we may safely Conclude now , who could not sorrily Ghesse before : And here 's a long stride made from one of the Poles of Impossibility , to the other of Certainty and Necessity .

( 2. ) And when we consider , that this Heavenly Ambassadour and Mediator is no less than the Eternal Son of God , by whom the worlds were made , we may reasonably conclude , that he came upon no less Design than of universal Goodness ; for he can have no temptation to partiality , as being equally concern'd in the Happiness of all men ; And we cannot imagine , why he should lay a narrower Design of Love in the Redemption , than in the Creation of Mankind , &c. Here are proportions indeed , but whether justifiable by the Rules of Vitruvius , or the Propositions of Euclide , is more dubious : The proportion fancied here is , betwixt Christs coming , his manner of coming , and universal Redemption . Now to justifie the regularity of his Superstructure upon its Foundation , he offers us several things . As , 1. That Christ came upon a design of Universal Goodness : Well , but it must be equal Goodness to do his Business . 2. He says , Christ can have no temptation to Partiality : True , but differing Kindnesses where none are due , may consist very well with Impartiality : That he shewed Kindness to any , was more than he owed them , that he vouchsafed more to some than others , was no wrong to the rest . They who have the benefit , must ascribe all to his Grace ; they who are left in the same plight their own sins had brought them into , have no cause to complain . 3. He goes a step higher in his Proportions : Christ was equally concerned in the Happiness of all men . And this he gathers reasonably from the Behaviour of Christ towards the World . But I doubt he has taken false measures of Christs concernment for mens Happiness : The best way , I should think , would be to view how he carried it towards them with whom he did converse ; and there are some shrewd suspitions , that he was not so equally concern'd , for we read Ioh. 17. 9 that there were some he prayed for , and others for whom he prayed not ; some to whom he immediately dispatcht his saving Gospel , others to whom he at present suspended that Favour , Matth. 10. 5. Goe not into the way of the Gentiles , and into any City of the Samaritans enter ye not , but goe rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel : Nay in Fact it 's clear , 〈◊〉 not his Gospel to all places of the habitable World equally , to some sooner , to others later : with some it continued longer , with other Nations less while ; to some it was preach'd in more purity , clearness and power , to others with less : And if he sent it not at the same minute to every individual Person , it will not argue an equal Concernment in the Salvation of all men ; for it 's possible thousands might , and certain thousands , and ten thousands dyed in Ignorance , or ( as our Author expresses it , pag. 30. ) under Gods ineffectual Wayes , before the Gospel came unto them : and if this Gospel stayed a day longer in one Nation than another , still here 's no equal concernment for the Salvation of all ; for what becomes then of those poor Wretches , who without any fault of theirs ( let me borrow an Expression from our Author ) were left out of Gospel times , because their Fathers had eaten sowre Grapes , and now the childrens teeth are set on edge . 4. But he assigns a Reason of all this , wherein we hope to find more exact Proportions : We cannot imagine why he should lay a Narrower design of Love in the Redemption , than in the Creation of Mankind . That when in the first Creation he design'd all men for Happiness , in this New and Second Creation he should design onely the Happiness of some few , which is to make him less good in Redeeming than in Creating Mankind . The summe of it is thus much : Christ Redeemed all that he Created ; but he Created all men , therefore he Redeemed all men : And he cannot Imagine how it should be otherwise . But , 1. Leave out that one word [ Mankind , ] and let the Proposition reach all rational and intellectual Creatures , made capable of Everlasting Happiness , and then let him try how his Proportions will fadge : We cannot Imagine how Creating Love , and Redeeming Love should be of different Latitudes ; why in the first Creation he should design the Happiness of all his Creatures capable thereof , and yet in the Second and New Creation , leave out some , and take others into his favour . The Creating Love of Christ was extended to Angels , he made them glorious Spirits , and had Christ been tempted to Partiality , was he less concerned for their Happiness , than that of poor men ? Did he lay a Narrower design of Love in Redeeming his capable Creatures , than in their Creation ? Or why in the first and Old Creation did he design Angels for Happiness , and yet in the Second and New Creation design the Happiness only of Mankind ? One Angel might have done Christ more Service , brought him more glory , than a thousand such wretched Worms as Man : And yet not one Angel recovered , not one fallen Spirit raised , redeem'd , and brought back to its Original Happiness . 2. What he therefore addes , is most Vain , that this would make him less good in Redeeming than in Creating , though Creation cost him no more than the Exercise of his Power , but Redemption the Expence of his Blood . For , 1. One Soul redeemed argues more Love than many created , which is proved by that very Reason which our Author has brought to overthrow it ; because , to Redeem one Soul , cost more than to create many . But , 2. What warrant he has to measure betwixt Redeeming Love , and Creating Love , I cannot tell ; This I know , they are both beyond our reach ; yet I think , that the Blood of Christ as a Man , separated from that consideration of it as satisfactory to Gods Iustice , cannot be said to be of more worth or dignity than the Creating Power of God . But to conclude , God made Man righteous , there was his Creating Love ; he qualified him thus made , for the Service and Enjoyment of his Maker ; If now he shall voluntarily loose his fitness , and leave his relation to God , and thereby make himself lyable to the Curse , whenever this Creator shall please to undertake a Recovery , I suppose he may ( without impeachment of Partiality ) do with his own Grace what he pleases , and bestow it where he pleases , and not fear to be called to Account by every Malapert Caviller : And Now he clenches the Nayl with a sure stroke . No sure , his Goodness did not become less infinite and boundless , when he became Man . This is indeed somewhat Amazing , for how to find out the Proportion , the exact and regular proportion betwixt a greater and lesser Infinite , may puzzle our brains as much as to find out the just proportion betwixt finite and infinite ; which when it shall be made out , will doubtless equal the invention of that Prosipotion in Euclide which deserved a Hecatombe . In pag. 208. he tells us , Though God be rich in Mercy , yet he never told us that he was bottomless and boundless . And if God be not a God of bottomless and boundless Mercy , it will not bear a regular proportion to enquire , Whether Christs Goodness became less Infinite and boundless than it was before .

( 3. ) He considers , The Holiness and Innocence of Christs Life , that he was a great Example of unaffected Piety towards God , &c. Hence does he reasonably conclude , that he came to restore the Practice of Piety , &c. which had been banisht out of the world by the hypocritical pretences of a more Refined Sanctity , in washing of Hands and Dishes , in tything Mint and Cummin , ( as he calls it . ) Now this is to be fear'd , is not very regular and exa●… ; for some would conclude , as if Christ came to destroy the Ius Divinum of Tythes ; but we are to understand , that the Venome and Villany of this Hypocrisie did not lye in Tything Egges , or Pigs , Chickens , Ducks , or Goslings , Apples , Pears , or Plumbs , much less those fatter Praedial Revenues of the Church ; but only in those uncanonical things , Mint , Annise , Cummine ; and bate but those two or three , and Tythes are Sacred out of all things , from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hyssop upon the Wall .

( 4. ) Our Saviour by his Example as well as Laws , taught us Another Lesson , that as we lost our Happiness at first by Sin , so the way to regain the Favour of God , and an Immortal Life , is by the practice of a Sincere and Universal Righteousness . I must freely confess , I would never desire any man to be more ridiculous whilest I live , than our Author in these few words : If he has forgot his design , or lost himself in a Wood , yet does he presume the Reader also has his wits gone after him a Wool-gathering : He has pretended over and over ▪ that he would give us Another Scheme of Religion from acquaintance with Christs Person , more beautifull for Colour , more exact for Proportion than what all other men have been able to shew , and all this without Gospel-Revelation ; And yet here contrary to all the Laws of Proportion , he takes in Christs Laws , from which we must learn this other Lesson ; but though his Laws came in by an Anomaly , surely his Example is Regular ; and that teaches us ▪ that The way to regain Gods Favour , is by the practice of a sincere and universal Righteousness . Now if Christ has taught us this by his Example ; we must suppose that He had once lost God●… Favour , but happily regain'd it by this Expedient of a sincere and universal Righteousness : Whether this be a Truth or no in it self , is out of our Charter to examine ; for we are obliged onely to consider the Regularity of his Proportions , and the self-consistency of his Notions .

( 5. ) When We remember that Christ died as a Sacrifice , and Propitiation for sin , this gives Us a great demonstration of Gods good will to us , how ready he is to pardon former sins , in that he hath appointed an Atonement for us , and given no less a Person than his own Son for our Ransome . It 's very strange , that none else may be allowed to gather all this from the Revelation of the Gospel ; and yet our Author , with his Scrues of Artificial Connexions and Regular Proportions , can draw it , every Letter and Syllable , from an Acquaintance with Christs Person : But by what secret wayes he became Master of this Mystery , is to me a greater mystery : How the Person of Christ , the Death of Christ , should teach us the proper Ends and Designs of his Death , unless he had Acquainted us with them , I am yet to seek , and so was our Author himself within these few leaves , pag. 78. The Incarnation , and Life , and Death , and Resurrection of Christ , were available to those Ends for which God designed them , but the Virtue and Efficacy of them doth depend upon Gods Institution and Appointment , and therefore can be known onely by Revelation .

( 6. ) He assures us , That the Death of Christ assures him of the Desert of Sin , and what it is . And I a●… heartily glad to hear the News , and wish it had been attended with Proof from Scripture , which is pregnant in it , and not shuffled off with that which is next dore to none . Surely then there was somewhat in the Death of Christ which Answer'd the Demerit of it , which was , Gods Anger and Displeasure against it ; or it will be impossible from Christs Death to learn Sins Demerit , without a Scripture-Comment upon the Text of his Crosse and Sufferings .

( 7. ) Christs Death seals the irrevocable Decree of Reprobation . That 's as terrible News as the other was comfortable ; but I fear he must be beholden to the Gospel for his Intelligence , or he will never learn it from a bare acquaintance with Christs Person . And now we may fairly presume there is such a Decree , so irrevocable ▪ so immutable , else how does the Death of Christ seal it ? It 's supposed ever , that the Decree is made , e ▪ re it be sealed ; but the vigour and quickness of our Authors Fancy is incredible ; and so at length , those poor wretches whose hard Fortune it was ( in our Authors phrase ) to be left out of the Roll of Election , without any fault of theirs , are in the same Predicament they were in before .

Our Author has reserved one thing for the shutting up of this Section , which being a matter of very great importance , and yet so easie and accountable , we may not doubt but he has handled it with much Exactness : It is the True Method of a Sinners Recovery by Christ . From hence ( says he ) it 's easie to understand what is the True Method of a Sinners Recovery by Christ . And there are two parts of his Undertaking . 1. The Erecting of his own regular and exact Method . 2. The demolishing the confused Method of others .

And , ( First , ) For his own Method , ( for so he is pleas'd to Nick-name it , for divers good and valuable Considerations him thereunto especially moving , ) it is no more but this : When we are so affected with all the powerfull Arguments to a New Life , which are contained in his [ Christs ] Incarnation , and Life , and Doctrine , and Example , and Miracles , and Death , and Resurrection , and Ascension into Heaven , and his Intercession for us , as to be sensible of the Shame and Folly of Sin , and to be reconciled to the Love and Practice of true Piety and Holiness ; Then — What then ? O then , we partake in the Merits of His Sacrifice , and find the benefit of his Intercession , and have A Title to all the Blessings and Promises of the Gospel . This is the True Method of a Sinners Recovery : But still I doe not see the Regular Proportion of it to his Design ; for , as has been oft observed , he pretends to give us a Scheme of Religion from the Person of Christ , never medling with his Doctrine ; and yet now when he thinks it so easie to give us from thence , a Method of a Sinners Recovery , he is glad to be beholden to the Doctrine of Christ ; for he sayes , When we are so affected with all the Arguments to a New Life , which are contained in Christs Incarnation , and Life , and Doctrine , &c. It seems there are not Arguments enough in his Person , but we must run to his Doctrine for a Recruit , and what 's become then of his specious Promise , that he would out-throw all that ever tryed before him , in making Schemes of Religion from Acquaintance with his Person : The veriest Bungler on Earth could but have contradicted himself ; but I wish that were the worst on●…t . For , 1. Some cannot see any Method at all in it . But to be recovered is the Method of being Recovered ; to be converted , is the way to be converted ; and that 's a very sure way , I promise you ; for , Omne quod est in quantum est , Necesse est esse : But this one of his peculiar Excellencies : p. 18. The way to be perfect , is to live as Christ lived ; or which is all one , The way to be perfect , is to be perfect : If any one can make any better of this , he shall have my free leave : When we are so affected with all the powerfull Arguments contained in Christs Incarnation , &c. as to be sensible of the shame and folly of sin , and to be reconciled to the love and practice of true Piety , and Holiness ; Then — The English of which is this : When we are once holy , then we are holy . And this is his New way or Method of a Sinners Recovery by Christ . But , 2. We have been made to believe hitherto , That Method , is a convenient sorting and marshalling of Matters which relate each to other , into such an Order , as may tend best to the reaching the End in practical Disciplines , and making out the Truth in Theories : But herein our Author is wretchedly out of the way : For first he tells us , we must be so affected with all the powerfull Arguments contained in Christs Intercession , &c. and then we partake in the Merits of his Sacrifice , and find the Benefit of his Intercession for us . That is , we must set the Cart before the Horses , which is an excellent Method ; Seeing we cannot partake of the Fruit of Christs Intercession , before we partake of the Fruits of his Sacrifice ; for it is unquestionable , that the Intercession of Christ is available by virtue of , and operates by his Sacrifice . 3. His Method is very lame upon this Account , that he tells us we must be affected with all the powerfull Arguments contained in Christs Incarnation , &c. and yet never tells us , how these Arguments become effectual to affect us , which is a main thing in this Method . A Method he supposes , and yet never informs us , whether it be onely a way that God prescribes us to recover our selves by , using the best of our own Natural strength , or whether it be Gods Way and Method which he proceeds in , for the effectual recovery of a Sinner to himself . 4. Here 's a Method pretended , how a Sinner is recovered , and yet no Consideration had , what part and share the Holy Spirit bears in it , which must needs be marvellously ridiculous to him that considers , Iohn 3. 5 , 6. Except a man be born again , of Water and of the Spirit , he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven . Our Saviour had said , v. 3. Except a man be born again , he cannot see the Kingdom of God ; but not contenting himself to have shew'd , how absolutely necessary Regeneration is to Salvation ; v. 5. he shews the Spirits concernment in that work , and that all other Endeavours after Conversion without his powerfull Operation , will amount to no more than flesh ; The streams will not rise higher than the Spring . V. 6. That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh , and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit : But yet , 5. It 's equally absurd to speak of a Sinners Recovery , and never shew from what he is recovered : As if he should promise to Open to us the Nature of Motion , and yet never shew us from whence the Motion takes its rise , nor whither it tends : Sinners are here talk'd of , to be recovered , but whether there be a state of corrupt and sinfull Nature , a state of Enmity against God , a state of blindness and darkness of Mind , from which this Recovery must move ; we are not honoured with half a word . 6. Here 's a recovery to Acts of Obedience , love , and practice of Piety , but nothing of a New Heart , a New Nature , which the Scripture makes the Vital Principle of all New Obedience : Here we are told a little of the Fruit the Tree brings forth , but nothing how the Tree was made good , that it might bring forth good Fruit. 7. He assigns a sensibleness of the Shame and Folly of Sin , as the Means to get a Title to the Promises of the Gospel , and yet some of those Promises contain an Engagement of God to give that New heart , new spirit , which he makes the Condition of obtaining a Title to the Promises . Ezek. 36. 26. I will take away the heart of Stone out of your flesh , and I will give you a heart of Flesh. I am perswaded that if we should all study seven years to be Impertinent and Ridiculous , there are not many that could reach , or equallize our Authors Attainments .

( Secondly , ) The other part of his Task , wherein he is always most Admirable , is , To pluck down those Methods which others have , or are supposed to have Built . And 't is certainly an easier province to find faults , than to amend them . Now first , he enlightens us with this Doctrine : That the design of Christs coming into the World , was not to distract mens minds with the Terrors of the Law , and the Inexorable Iustice of God , not to bring us under a Legal Despensation of Fear and Bondage : Now all the Colour of this trifling Sophistry lies in two things . 1. In putting in the word [ Distract ] to make his Negative seem Tenable : For though Christ came to Humble , to Abase , to Awaken the guilty Consciences of sinners , yet it would be hard to say , he came to fright men out of their Wits , to prepare men for Bedlam , and the slipping in such an useful word , will make a Negative justifiable upon any of the Designs of Christ : But can sinners be more Mad than they are , who go on securely in a state of Impenitency , and Rebellion against God ? No sure : That which some call distracting of sinners , is but really a step towards the helping of them to their Wits . 2. The Design of Christs coming into the World is either Subordinate , which relates still to some further end and design of Christ , or Ultimate to which all others do submit , and give deference . Now 't is true , To awaken guilty Consciences with the Terrors of Gods Iustice , to bring the Soul into a spirit of Bondage , were not that which Christ did aim at as his great End , but that he aimed at these things also in the way to his farthest End : That is , he used the Law to rowse the sleepy sinner to see his danger , and provide for his safety : He wounded men that they might seek after healing ; and laid load upon their guilty minds , that they might be content to take his Yoke upon them . And that this is so : 1. We have an Argument , which is , Instar omnium , a Thousand Reasons by it self : That is what our Author says ; That we must be affected with all the Arguments of Christs Incarnation , &c. so as to be sensible of the shame and folly of our sins . Now how a man should be ashamed of sin , till he sees its vileness and baseness ; and how he should see its vileness and filthiness , till it s brought to the Test of Gods Holy Law , which is the Rule of righteousness , the Measure of Good and Evil ; is past my Conjecture . Nay further , that shame which fills a Soul , does not merely arise from a sence of the Souls vileness ; but as compared with Gods Holiness , who is a God so Pure , so Holy , &c. that the Soul may well be ashamed , and filled with Confusion of face , to appear before him . Now shame upon the account of the filthiness ; and dread upon the account of the guilt of sin , are very near Neighbours : Shame expresses the Souls sence of its own unworthiness to appear before God , upon the score of its baseness and deformity ; and Fear expresses but the sence of Gods Authority , which he hath Impressed , and Stampt upon his Holy Law , with the Souls reflection upon it self , that it has violated that Law , and thereby become liable to that Penalty which his own guilt has bound him over to . And this was clear in Adams case : He was Naked , and therefore ashamed ; he was guilty , and therefore feared to appear before this Holy God , and Iust Iudge . Now our Author will allow it lawful to fetch Arguments from Christs Incarnation , Life , Doctrine , Death , and what you please , to make us ashamed of sin , but by no means to be afraid of the Great God : But the very truth is , none say , that it is the duty of Men to be Distracted , and Unhinged in mind with slavish fears , and Hellish apprehensions of Gods Justice : But that this Dread may possibly run up some poor Creatures so high , as to a literal distraction , when the apprehensions of the Curse due to the Transgression of a righteous Law , of a Holy , and Jealous God , shall overset a weak Judgement , and dark Mind , that sees its danger , but no way to escape ; sees its Disease , but not its Cure ; its sin with the demerits thereof , but not a Saviour with his Merits , and at once considers that Wrath of God which it concludes to be unavoidable , and knows to be Intollerable . 3. That our Saviour did use the Law , and it's Terrors , to awaken the Souls of men to a due apprehension of their sin , and their danger thereupon , the whole Tenour of the New Testament prove : It was the Method of his Precurser , Iohn the Baptist , he laid this Ax to the Root of the Tree , Mat. 3. 10. denouncing against them , That every Tree that brought not forth good Fruit , should be hewen down , and cast into the fire . And where-ever the Pharisees got it , yet a warning they had got to flie from wrath to come . The Apostle Paul both felt it , and Preacht the use of the Law for Conviction of sin , with all its Consequents , and leading the sinner to Christ : He felt it , Rom. 7. 9. When the Commandment came , sin revived , and I died ; he saw himself a dead and lost man , He Preacht also the Use of the Law , Gal. 3. 24. to be a Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ . What use our Saviour in his own Person made of the Law , may be seen from Matth. 5. and also chap. 23. where he thunders upon the dead and secure Consciences of Sinners , with Arguments taken from the Law of God , and the dreadfull Curse annex'd to the violation of it . And though our Author will allow no more than an Awfull regard and reverence for God , who is a holy and righteous Iudge , and an irreconcileable Enemy to all Sin ; yet when a Sinner shall be throughly convinc'd that he is so , and shall know that the wages of Sin is Death , and that he that gave forth this Law , and must sit in Iudgement upon him , is both a Holy and a Righteous Iudge , and an Irreconcileable Enemy to all Sin , there will be more than an awfull regard and reverence for this God ; unless he have the faculty to tell a Sinner how he may stand guilty before his Judgement-Seat , and not be filled with horror and unspeakable amazement . But I see our Author can be both more severe than Christ , where his severity is not due , and more mercifull too at other times , when his Clemency will destroy : He will dawb over the chinks of their Consciences with untemper'd Mortar , and skin over their wounds very smoothly ; he will not have men feel the workings of the Law , nor any amazing terrours of Gods wrath . Though it be hard to conceive how a Soul should see Sin , and not see Gods wrath ; or seeing it , not be terrified , and amazed with it : But such was not the Way and Method , nor such the End and Design of Christs coming ; He never preach'd Peace , when Destruction was nigh ; he accommodated not his Doctrine to the Lusts and Tempers of Sinners , but Acted according to his Commission , Isa. 61. 1 , 2. Preaching the Acceptable year of the Lord , and the day of vengeance of our God . But our Author has imposed it upon himself , as his constant Method , to discourse pro re natâ , to fit the present purpose ; for pag. 3. of this excellent Piece , he had told us , That the Gospel of Christ is as severe a Dispensation as the Law , which dooms men to Eternal misery , that live not very vertuous and innocent Lives : And they must be very vertuous and innocent ones indeed , who escape that doom , for just now he assures us , That God is a righteous Iudge , and an irreconcileable Enemy to all sin .

After all this storm , there are yet a few drops behind , which we may do well to shelter our selves from , if we can : He falls into some heat against our having Christ offer'd to us to be our Saviour ; against the Beseechings of Christ ; against Covenanting with Christ ; which is well express'd by Contract and Espousal : And for this there is good warrant , 2 Cor. 5. 20. As though God did beseech you by us , we pray you ( in Christs stead ) be ye reconciled to God . This was Scripture before he was born , and will be so when he is gone ; and therefore he may speak his pleasure against Christ , and his Gospel ; But he has a License , and let him make the best on 't : for our parts , we hope we shall not be Scoffed out of the Concernments of our Souls , and Salvation ; and if that must Anger him , let him repeat over the Alphabet , or which will do as well , Turn the Knot of his Girdle behind him .

To conclude ; the Persons whom our Authors lot is fallen out to reproach , Doe build their Faith , Hope , and Expectations upon God through Christ ; The Knowledge of all which , they owe alone to the Scriptures , given forth by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost : The supposition therefore that our Author has proceedeed upon all this while , is a meer Falshood ; yet had it been True what he charges them with , he had very weakly overthrown their Errour ; and none can doe greater disservice to the Truth , than by a weak and feeble defence of it , or a weak Opposition to the contrary ; it 's enough to tempt some men to take up what he opposes , and to presume there are no better Arguments one way or other , because so confident a Designer could give no better : For all the Misadventures in his Tedious Scheme , he will make us believe hee 's not bound to answer for them ; for if the Proportions be but regular , let the Doctrine be what it will , he does but personate the Mode of others : But yet we have discover'd here many of his own dear Notions , sent abroad in Masquerade , which will appear more bare-faced in the following sheets ; Imitating herein the famous Limner , who would stand behind his Exposed Piece , to Eaves-drop the Censure of the Critical Spectator ; Just thus does our Author skulk behind his New Model of Divinity , and if it meets with an Imprimatur , he will play a more Overt Game ; but if otherwise , he can quickly pluck in his Horns .

CHAP. III. Sect. 4. How Men Pervert the Scriptures , to make it Comply with their own Fancies .

IT 's storied of Messa la Corvinus , ( once a Famous Orator ) that he got such a Crack in his Pericranium , that he quite forgot his own Name ; the most unhappy man , certainly , in all the World , to have been Employed in the Management of a Lye ; the Mystery whereof consists mainly in Tying both the Ends so handsomely together , that it may not Ravel out into Thrums . Our Author has Managed a severe Charge against some , that they Deduce all their Religion from an acquaintance with Christs Person , without consulting the Scriptures : And yet now , The truth is ( says he ) if you consult their Writings , you will find them stuffed with Scriptures . These things did not Cotten very Lovingly , and he was as much put to his Trumps to make both ends meet ; as the Gentleman , who told it with great Confidence , That he shot a Deer with one Arrow through the right Ear , and the left Foot behind . But he has an old Friend , that never fails his Servants at a Pinch , and he lifted him over the Style with this : They do but accommodate Scriptures to their own Fancies . Their Crime then in the last Result , is this : That they are not so happy Interpreters of Scripture as himself : They have the same Text , but they want his Head-piece to Comment on 't : They have the same Materials to work upon , but they want his Tools : Or ( as one of his Friends expres'd it ) they have his Fiddle , but cannot get his Fiddle-stick . But to reproach them upon this Account , is to reproach ( by far ) the greatest part of Mankind . All were not Born under his smiling Stars , nor had the same benign Aspects of the Planets in their Nativity : It 's not every mans happiness , to have the Bees swarm about his Cradle , or to be entranced upon the Top of Parnassus : However ( after all the Scuffle ) we have gain'd this Point , that we may joyn Issue with him upon the Question , and modestly Debate it , Whether he or they do best understand the Scriptures ?

Two great Faults ( and they are great ones indeed ) he finds in their Writings : First , That they Expound Scripture by the sound of Words : And secondly , That they reason about the Sence of Scripture , from their own preconceived Notions .

[ 1. ] They Expound Scripture by the sound of words . Our Author had discovered to us , p. 80. the Danger of using a way of Reasoning that would serve any Mans turn , that had but any Quickness and Vigour of Fancy . What a dangerous way then must this be , that will serve any Mans turn , though he be not blessed with his Quickness and Vigour of Fancy ! For though his Antagonists Pulse toll as heavily as Tom of Lincoln , though he never drew his Breath but in Boetia , nor ever had his Temples crown'd with the Ignis Lambens , yet he can with as much ease , and more truth , Retort all his Rhetorick . When mens Fancies are so possessed with Schemes and Idaea's of Religion , what ever they look upon , appears of the same shape and colour , where with their Minds are already Tinctur'd ; like a Man sick of the Iaundies , or that looks through painted Glass , who seeth every thing of the same colour that his Eye or the Glass gives it . Some such Medium , the poor Priest used to Prove , that the Virgin Mary was Prophesied of , from the beginning of the World ; because he had made a shift to read , Gen. 1. 10. Congregationem aquarum vocavit Maria : And with the same learned skill did the Rector of — Convince his obstinate Parishioners , that it was their Duty to Pave his Chancel for him ; from Paveant illi , ego non Pavebo . And let me tell our Author , for all his Vapouring , and that he looks so goodly on 't , he has not a more serviceable Engine than this one , in all his Arsenal . For having once double-dyed his Fancy with a strong Conceit , that the word [ Christ ] signifies a Church , an Office , a Doctrine ; you cannot Quote that Text , where the Word occurs , but his Fancy Chimes all in ; just as Imagination thinks , so Scripture clinks ; and every thing he sees , turns round to that Crotchet , when all the while the Wind-Mill is in his own Head . If you should but venture to say , that for an Orator , our Author is truly excellent ; but for a Logician , he is but Ordinary . I l'e undertake from the sound of that one word , he shall conceit himself at first Dash , to be a Bishop . So easie it is for a French Cook to make Suffolk-street Soupe , of a Stool-foot ; and most Ravishing Minc't - Pies , of an Old Boot-top , or a Leather Doublet .

As it is a Ridiculous procedure , to make the sound of words the Measure of our Interpretation , so is it no less perverse a Method , to Expound Scripture by the Ranverse , and go just cross to the sound of words . The Plain and Literal sence commands our Reception ; unless the Context and Coherence , Evident contradiction to some other plain Scripture , or some gross Absurdity , and insuperable Difficulty , compell us to Recede from it . But now according to our Authors Rule ( which he has most Religiously observed throughout his Book ) the further any Interpretation departs from the sound of words , the better it is , that is to say , for his own purpose . As suppose you should meet with this word [ Heaven , ] let not the Chiming , and Tinckling of your Fancy , betray you into a Notion of some Glorious place , where the spirits of Iust men made perfect , are Blessed in the enjoyment of God ; for that would be but to Gratifie your Tinctured Imagination , with the sound of a word that Rhimes pretty well to your own Conceits : But rather work up your Imagination to the prospect of some dreadful Dungeon , where nothing but Ratling of Chains , Blowing of Bellows , Hissing of Serpents , and the Yellings of Griesly-people strike a Horror into your Mind ; and then to be sure you shall purchase our Authors good word , and never be Taxed for Interpreting by the Sound and Clink of words . Thus if you meet with that Expression [ the Son of God , ] be sure you do not understand a Person , but a Thing ; and if at the long Run , you should chance to Interpret it into No thing , it will do best of all ; For then you may lay your Life on 't , you have not Interpreted Scripture by the sound of words .

Now as much as our Author pleases himself with his Humour in this thing , the truth is , he did but Steal , ( or to make the best on 't ) Borrow it from one of those he hopes to wound with it : And well might the Eagle sigh , to see her self shot through with a Dart , which had borrowed its Feathers from her own Wing . I will only burden him with one Passage : The Papists having hatched that monstrous Figment of Transubstantiation , upon the discovery of any Expressions amongst the Antients , ( though made use of to another end ) cry out , and Triumph , as if they had found the whole Fardel of the Mass , in its perfect Dress , and their Breaden God in the midst of it : Iust so ( says he ) it is in the case of Episcopacy , Men of these latter Generations , from what they saw in being , and the usefulness of it to their Desires and Interests , searching Antiquity , not to Instruct them in the Truth , but to Establish their Opinion , whatever Expressions they find that fall in as to the sound of Words , with what is now Insisted on , instantly they cry out , Vicimus Iö Poean . And now either our Authors guilty Conscience , or his Acumen , will tell him to whom he stands Indebted , for Observing to him the Danger of Interpreting by the sound of words : And let him take this Caution along with him , to forbear using that way of Reasoning , which serves any mans turn as well as ( and most mens better than ) his own .

It will be now time to descend to Particulars , that we may reduce his Rule into Practice : And he has singled out these Expressions , of knowing Christ , Christ's being made Wisdom to us . Having the Son . To give us an Experiment what Wonders his Rule will work .

And , ( 1. ) For the Knowing of Christ . They that Interpret Scripture by the sound of words , Interpret the Phrase ; of Knowing his Person , and all his Personal Excellencies , and Beauties , Fulness , and Preciousness , &c. And so has the Expression been used , Iohn 17. 3. This is Life eternal to know thee , the only True God , and Iesus Christ , whom thou hast sent . Where the Person of the Messiah , under that Personal Excellency of being sent of God , Anointed , and Appointed by him to Reveal , and procure Eternal Life , is made the Object of our Knowledge , Again , Iohn 1. 33. I knew him not , but he that sent me to Baptize with Water , the same said unto me , upon whom thoushalt see the Spirit descending , the same is He ; and I saw , and bare Record , that [ this is the Son of God . ] Where to Know Christ , is Interpreted by knowing Him to be the Son of God : And all the fault of this Interpretation is , that it comes a little too near the sound of words . But that Learned Doctors practical Interpretations , who interpreted Iesus by Iudas , would have pleased our Author infinitly , because it was more modest , and durst not come so near the sound of the word . Well , But how does the Man himself expound the Phrase ? Nay , as to that , he is in a brown study , and says never a word ; and that I assure you is a safe way to avoid the Odium of Expounding it , by the sound of words .

But , ( 2. ) Christ is said , 1 Cor. 1. 30. To be made Wisdom to us . And amongst many others , I find Beza thus expounding it : Datus est nobis a Deo , ut in ipso omnem sapientiam consequeremur ( quae quidem eo nomine verè digna sit ) quum in Uno , possumus Deum , & ejus Arcana contemplari , quae ne suspicari quidem unquam cautissimi homines potuerunt . He is given to us of God , that in him we might attain Wisdom ( that truly deserves the Name ) seeing that in Him alone , we may behold God , and his Secrets , which the most discerning Men otherwise could never have Ghessed at . Let this Interpretation ( because it comes too near the sound of words ) only serve for a Foyle , to set off the Lustre of our Author : Some duller men ( says he ) can understand no more by it , than the Wisdom of those Revelations Christ hath made of Gods Will to the World . But I fear it 's more their Sullenness than their Dulness , that they can see no more of Wisdom in Christ , than a meer Ravelation of Gods Will . For had they not worn Racovian Spectacles , they might have seen Satisfaction to Divine Justice in his Death , as well as a Declaration of Gods Will to us , issuing from his Mouth .

But then , ( 3. ) Here 's another great Controversie , What [ having of the Son ] should signifie ? But before we fall upon that , we must deliver our selves from an Ambuscado , secretly laid for our utter Ruine : When men have Learnt ( says he ) from an acquaintance with Christ , to place all their hopes of Salvation in a Personal Union with Christ , &c. He might for his Credits-sake , have produced his Vouchers , to make good his Charge : I do indeed believe , that as the Person of the Husband is related to the Person of the Wife , and yet there is no personal Union made , though they are one Flesh , yet they continue two distinct Persons , or Subsistences ; so Christ and Believers are Personally related each to other in the Covenant of Grace , and are one Mystical Body , one Spirit ; and yet they are not taken into Personal Union with Christ . Nay , our Authors Conscience was fast asleep , when he wrote this Twang : For , pag. 198. He Quotes these words from Doctor Iacomb ; This Mystical Union is an Union of Persons , but yet no Personal Union ; And if our Author know not how to Distinguish these two Expressions , he 's sadly Accoutred to Manage this Controversie . And being now freed from all Danger in the Rear , let us Advance to the Question . What this [ having of the Son ] should mean ? 1 Iohn 5. 12. He that hath the Son hath Life , and he that hath not the Son hath not Life . Now the clearest way to resolve this Doubt that I can think on at present , is to Examine , who , or what , is meant by the Son ; and when we have Settled and well Fixt the Notion of that , to try what further Light we may get into the Phrase of Having the Son : For the former , Who or what the Son is ? I know no more Hopeful and Promising way , than to look into the Chapter , to see if peradventure the Apostle has fixt the Notion for us . And ver. 5. we read , Who is he that overcometh the World , but he that believeth that [ Jesus is the Son of God ? ] And , ver. 6. This is he that came by Water , and by Blood , even Iesus Christ . Ver. 9. This is the Witness of God , which he hath Testified of his Son . And , ver. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God , hath the Witness in himself . And , ver. 11. This is the Record , that God hath given to us Eternal Life , and this Life is in his Son . And then follows the words under Examination : He that hath the Son hath Life . I conclude then , that if by [ Son , ] ver. 5 , 6 , 9 , 10. &c. he meant the very Son of God , our Lord Iesus Christ ; then by Son , in ver. 12. is meant the very self same Person . And I am the more Confirm'd in my Opinion , because our Author , p. 101. will not allow any to separate a single Sentence from the Body of the Discourse , to make the Scripture speak their own sence . Though I confess he intended it as a Caution to others that they may avoid it , but a Canon to himself , that he might observe it : What to others was set up for a Buoy , to discover a Rock ; to himself is hung out for a Lanthorn , to discover his way : But I shall take his Caution , and charitably believe so well of the Apostles sincerity and judiciousness in Discourse , that he would not speak of one thing in one Verse , and another in the next , under the same words , without sufficient intimation of his Intention . But now for [ having the Son of God ] that is the remaining enquiry : Now in this our Author speaks more Truth than he is aware of : What can [ having the Son ] signifie ( says he ) but having an Interest in Him ? Being made one with Him , especially when we remember , that it is called [ being in Christ ] and [ abiding in him ] which must signifie a very near Union between Christs Person and ours ? It must so ! If [ the Son ] signifie the very Son of God , we must have Him , as he is capable of being had ; and that 's only by Interest and Propriety , through Compact agreement , and the Constitution of God in a Gospel Covenant . Ay , but ( says our Author ) Some will be so Perverse as to understand it of believing , and Obeying his Gospel . Well , and if they will be so Perverse without a Reason , we shall take the freedom to be as Perverse as they can be , and believe no more than we have proof for . But let us practise with his Gloss a little : By the Son , he understands the Gospel , and then his Paraphrase of v. 5. will run thus smoothly : Who is he that overcometh the World , but he that believeth that Jesus is the Gospel ; that is , he that believes a Lye , he is the man that overcomes the World . Ay but we must remember that by Iesus , he has understood the Gosple also ; and then indeed you will have a Paraphrase compleat in all Points : Who is he that overcomes the World , but he that believeth that the Gospel , is the Gospel . And sure he must be a Dull thing indeed that cannot , and a Perverse one too , that will not believe , and Subscribe so Self-evident a Proposition . But the World is full of perverse People , and therefore no wonder if some will so understand it . And amongst many others , one Volkelius , lib. 3. de verâ Relig , p. 37. in John 1. 4. In him was Life . Hoc est , Ipsi commissa est vitae Eternae & viae ad eam ducentis Anunciatio , quâ Hominum animos mirificè collustravit , & Ignorantiae tenebras ( quantum in ipsa fuit ) ab iis depulit , quod idem alio in loco edisserit , 1 Joh. 5. 10. dum ait . Hoc est Testimonium , quod Deus Testatus est de filio suo , quod vitam Eternam nobis dedit Deus , & haec in filio ejus est . That is , to him was committed the Declaration of Eternal Life , and of the Way that leads thither , whereby he wonderfully enlightened the Minds of Men , and scattered the Darkness of Ignorance from them ( as much as in him lay ) which he Discourses also in another place , 1 Iohn 5. 10. &c. The Reader cannot but observe the Parenthesis , That Christ enlightned men , [ as much as in him lay ] if he could have done more , he would : But what would they expect from a Man ? Now , when I observe our Author , in this very place , Deriding the Hopes of them , who expect to receive free Comunications of Pardon and Grace , Righteousness and Salvation , from our Lord Iesus Christ ; Methinks I see , [ Quantum in ipso fuit , ] and whether he filled his Vessel from that Cistern or no , is not so clear ; but this is certain , that all came from the same Fountain . To conclude this Head , the Gloss of this Text according to the Proportion and Analogy of our Authors Faith , must be this : He that believeth and obeyeth the Gospel , believeth and obeyeth Life ; and he that believeth not , and obeyeth not the Gospel , believeth not , obeyeth not Life : But our Gloss is this , He that hath an Interest in Christ , hath an Interest in Life , and he that hath not in the one , hath not in the other , but the Wrath of God abides on him ; there being no means discovered whereby we can escape it , but by Jesus Christ .

It would have been small Satisfaction to our Author to pervert the Sence , unless he might be allowed also to pour Contempt upon the Phrase of the Scripture ; which he has carried on to that height of Daring-provocation , that I am certain he never met with his Superiour , and do hope he may never find an Equal . He is at last grown almost weary of Reproaching the Expressions of Men , too mean a Quarry for one of his Wing to stoop at ; and now the Expressions of the Holy Ghost must find him Game , that he may appear truly Great , by great Enmities . Erostratus was resolved to Eternize his Name , though by Firing the Temple of Diana at Ephesus : And Nero conceived great hopes from the Burning of Rome , and his unsampled Butcheries , to Inoculate his Name into History , that he might upon any Terms survive his Funeral . It 's some Alleviation to them who Groan under the burden of Obloquy , that they meet with no harder Measure than their Lord and Master : And it might quiet the grieved Spirit of a righteous Lot , when his words are wrested ; when the holy Spirit of God is grieved with the Affronts put upon his Expressions : The Disciple is not ( ought not expect to be ) above his Master , nor the Servant above his Lord : It 's enough that the Disciple be as his Master , and the Servant as his Lord : If they have called the Master of the House Beelzebub , how much more shall they call them of the Houshold ? Mat. 10. 24. Let them therefore possess their Souls in patience , and comfort one another with these words . And thus our Author enters upon his Business : It 's Self-evident , that before we can be United to Christ , we must [ go to Him ] : And therefore Faith , which is the Instrument of this Union , is very Luckily called [ coming to Christ , ] from whence it is very evident , that to [ believe in Christ ] is to [ go to Him ] for Salvation : Which Metaphors [ of coming , and going ] are a very Intelligible Explication of Believing . But does this Gentleman think we have not sins enough of our own to answer for , but we must be Responsible for all the faults the Black-Jaundies of Malice can find in Scripture ? Or does he Fancy that we Penn'd the Scriptures , and therefore must lie at Stake for all the Incongruous expressions that he is able to suppose in them ? Well , thanks be unto God , that the Scriptures never yet found a Match able to Cope with them . For , 1. It 's apparently false which he says , These Metaphors of coming , and going , are a very Intelligible explication of Believing : Whenas indeed , Believing is that which Explicates those Metaphors of [ Coming , and Going . ] With the same Fore-head he might have reviled Christ , for Interpreting the Preaching of the Word , by the Sower Sowing his Seed ; whereas the Sower sowing his Seed , is explicated by the Preaching the Word . 2. Faith ( says he ) is very Luckily called coming to Christ . I shall spare him that Ignorant Expression , that Faith is called coming to Christ : No Sir , not Faith , but Believing ; not the Peace , but the Acting of that Grace is so called . But I shall not wave his blasphemous Flirtings of the holy Spirit : What ever Expressions he has used to express Faith , or its Acts by , were upon advice with his own wisdom , who will not learn of him how to guide the Heads , and Hearts , and Tongues , and Pens of his Amanuenses , in revealing to us the Mind and Will of God . He has better Authority to Justifie Quod scripsi , scripsi , than either Pilate who once really Crucified Christ : Or that other who has often Crucified him in Essigie . It was advisedly so called , but unluckily reproached . 3. Those Metaphors of coming , and going , do very aptly , and Intelligibly express the Motion of the Soul in its turning from sin to God , by Faith in Jesus Christ : For as in all Local Motions , there is a Term from which , and a Term unto which we move ; so in this Spiritual Motion , there is a State , or Term from which we pass , that of Sin and Enmity against God ; and another to which we pass , that of Holiness and Peace with God . Our Saviour thought meet , and we are to Acquiesce in his Sovereign Wisdom , sometimes to employ a Metaphor in the Explicating of a Metaphor , Mat. 13. 19. Then comes the wicked one , and catcheth away the word that was sown in his heart , ver. 21. Yet hath he not Root in himself , ver. 22. — The deceitfulness of Riches Choak the Word : and yet till of late he was never branded for unintelligible explicating of his Notions .

If now the Reader would have an Instance , to what Height encouraged Prophaneness may rise , let him read what follows . But when the Soul is come to Christ , is this enough ? No sure : the Soul then must receive Christ , as St. Iohn tells us , 1 Ioh. 12. To as many as received him , to them he gave power to become the Sons of God : That faith which serves us for Leggs to goe to Christ , must be a Hand to Receive him , and to apply all his Merits , and Fulness , and Righteousness to our Souls : And now when we have Received him , we must embrace him in our Arms too , as good old Simeon did , when he found him in the Temple , which is a little nearer Union , as plainly appears from the Example of the Patriarchs , who saw the Promises afar off , and embraced them ▪ Heb. 11. 13. and now we have Christ , we must trust and lean upon Him , as we are often commanded to doe : which signifies that Act of Faith , whereby feeling our own weakness , as unable to support our selves , we do lean , and rest on Christ , and if leaning be not enough , we may make a little more bold , and Roll on him , as appears from Psal. 37. 5. Roll thy wayes on the Lord , as the Original [ Gal ] signifies ; which is that Act of Faith , whereby we being weary , and heavy laden with sin , and seeking Ease , at last discharge our load , and cast it on Christ , and this is plain , from the phrase of Believing in Christ , and on him ; for what can that signifie , but leaning and rolling on him , laying and building our selves on him as on a Foundation . And now we have thus brought our Souls to Christ , we must commit them to his trust , to take charge of them , and if they perish , it shall be his fault , he must give an account of it : Thus St. Paul did , 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have believed , and I am perswaded , that he is able to keep that I have committed unto him against that day : and Now we must hide our selves in Christ , from the fierce wrath of God , as the Dove in the Rocks . But this is not enough yet , for we must be cloathed with the Righteousness of Christ — And when we are thus united to Christ , and made one with him , then All Christ is ours , as the Apostle tells us , All is yours , and ye are Christs , and Christ is Gods . The Merit of his Death is ours , to free us from the Guilt and Punishment of sin ; and his Active Obedience to the will of God , his Righteousness is ours , for our Justification , as is plain in that he is called , The Lord our Righteousness , and as I. O. well observes , we are reconciled to God by the Death of his Son , and saved by his Life , Rom. 5. 10.

And now I hope there 's none needs question but our Author is laid in with a Competency of those Endowments , that may enable him to Deride the whole Bible , from the first of Genesis to the last of the Revelations : If our Author does not judge with others about the Meaning of these phrases and Expressions of Scripture , he had the liberty ( for ought I know ) to discover , and ( if he must needs ) to expose their Mistakes ; but to droll upon the very Expressions of Scripture , without reference to any Interpretation , and ( if to any ) to that which is most evidently the True , is a Degree above the superlative of Blasphemy . Let others admire which of his Talents they see good ; for my own part , I read more of Ignorance in it , than of all his other Characters . 1. One gross piece of Ignorance is , that he makes the Patriarchs embracing of the Promises , explain Simeon's embracing Christ in the Temple . 2. That in his goodly supposed Method of the Souls coming to Christ ; he fancies , first that we have Christ , and trust and lean upon him , and yet after a while ( as if it were a new degree of Faith ) he tells us , we must commit our Souls to him . 3. He fancies , that to come to Christ , to receive him , to embrace him , are several Acts of Faith , distinguished by some Intervals of time : But let us hear the guilt of these Scriptures , and his little Glosses : Why they offend against his great standing Rule , Interpreting things by the sound of words . For ( says he ) what better proof can you desire for all this , than Express words ? Really , the Laws upon which we must be permitted to discourse with our Author , are very severe ; for , p. 78. he laid it down as a Law of the Medes and Persians , that none must dare to Draw one Conclusion from the Person of Christ , which his Gospel hath not expressely taught : Well , we accepted the Tearms , and have brought him expresse , and expressely express words , and do speak as Volkelius commands us , dilectis luculentissimisque verbis , and yet we are never the nearer ; for now we offend in trusting to the sound of words . Just thus did Procrustes entertain his Guests , wracking out them that were too short , and lopping off their feet that were too long for his Bed : All men I perceive are awake to their Concerns in this Rule , as well as our Vigilant Author : When it is urged , that Christ is called expressely God , the True God , He that was in the beginning , by whom were all things made ; who upholds all things by the Word of his Power ; the Socinians have now a compendious Answer . Ay , this is to interpret Scripture by the sound of words : And the Atheist has an inckling of it too ; he can subscribe all the Scriptures as True , but when you urge him that God created all things out of Nothing ; that he is the Owner , Governour , Iudge of the whole World ; they are provided with a short Answer : Yes , this is interpreting Scripture by the sound of words : And whether every Drunkard , Swearer , Adulterer , all the Rakehells and Rakeshames upon Earth , may not in time make their advantage of it , I cannot tell ; That Ministers do but fright them with a sound of words : Thus have some dealt with the Sacerdotal Office of Christ ; He is a Priest ( they confess , ) he offer'd a Sacrifice , was a Propitiation , made an Atonement , did expiate sin ; but have a care you do not interpret these things as the words sound : he did indeed something like a Priest , offer'd something like a Sacrifice , but truely and properly he was nothing , did nothing of All this . It had been therefore more plain-heartedly and ingenuously done , had our Author written a Confutation of the Scripture , proving that the Spirit did not speak intelligibly ; but All in good time , he has Materials ready for the work . P. 100. The wildest , and most extravagant Opinions that were ever yet vented under the Name of Religion , have pretended the Authority of Scripture for their Patronage : And yet he knew , how first to break its head , and then make it a Playster .

This famous Rule of our Authors , may be applyed to all things under the Sun ; but there are two Principles onely that he will examine by it at present .

( 1. ) The spiritual Impotency of all men without grace to perform that which is Acceptable to God : This ( says he ) they prove wonderfully from our being dead in trespasses and sins ; and therefore , as a Dead man can contribute nothing to his own Resurrection , no more can we towards our Conversion . I wonder when the Scripture will be able to speak so plain , that deaf men will understand it ? One would have thought , the Spirit of God should never have chosen that Expression of being Dead in trespasses and sins , to signifie , what mighty power and abilities the Creature has to Obey : But we are instructed better from this usefull Caveat ; not to interpret Him , by the sound of his words ; for now we must understand by [ Being dead ] [ Being Alive , ] and proportionably by [ Sins and Trespasses , ] we must understand [ Duty , and Obedience , ] and then to keep close to our Instructions , and far enough from the sound of words , To be Dead in Sins and Trespasses , is to be Alive to all Duty and Obedience . And thus that other vexing place , Rom. 5. When we were without strength , in due time , Christ dyed for the ungodly ; must be Paraphrased , When we were strong and Active , and had no need of Christ , he dyed for the godly . And this I think ( if that be good for ought , ) is very remote from grating our Ears with the unpleasant sound of words . Ay , but ( says our Author ) This is true of Natural Death , but will be hard to prove of a Moral Death . Hard to prove ! Methinks we want his wonted out-facing Confidence : But why so hard to prove ? Has not the Spirit of God selected those words borrowed from the Condition of one Naturally dead , to instruct us in the true Condition of one Morally dead ? It 's true of a Natural , and therefore not of a Moral Death . Nay , it 's therefore true of a Moral Death , because it is so of a Natural Death . What wild Similitudes would he impose upon the Holy Scriptures ? Even as one that 's Naturally dead can contribute Nothing to his Resurrection , just so , one that 's Morally dead can contribute something to his Conversion . This is the great Illustrator of dark Metaphors . But wherein doth this Morall Death consist ? Oh ( says he ) In the prevalency of vicious habits contracted by long Custom , ( which was the Case of the Heathens whom the Apostle there speaks of ) which do so enslave the Will , that it 's very difficult , though not impossible , for such Persons to return to the love and practice of Vertue . But who can tell , whether by [ enslaving the Will ] which is a Luscious Metaphor , our Author would not have us understand , [ enfranchising the Will , ] lest we should border too near upon a sound of words ? But I am not illuminated with our Authors Reasonings : For , (1) Moral Death doth not consist in the prevalency of vicious Habits , it is the general Condition of all men born into the world ; who are privatively Dead in respect of that Life we all once had in the first Adam ; and Negatively Dead , in respect of that Life which is attainable by the second Adam . And in those dayes , when men studyed not Aequivocations to subscribe every thing , and believe Nothing , it was not question'd in the Church of England : Art. 10. The Condition of Man since the Fall is such , that he cannot Turn and prepare himself , by his Own Natural Strength , and good Works , to Faith , and calling upon God ; wherefore we have no power to doe good works , pleasant and acceptable to God , without his Grace preventing us , that we may have a good Will , and working with us when we have that Will . But , (2) Supposing that this Moral Death did consist in the Prevalency of vicious Habits , contracted by long Custom , yet such may be the prevalency of them , into such a slavery may the Will be brought , that it may be not onely di●…ficult but impossible ( without the effectual assistance of the Spirit , ) for the Sinner to return to God . Ier. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin , or the Leopard his spots ? then may ye also doe good , that are accustomed to doe evil : Whence the Prophet shews , that such is the prevalency of a vicious Habit , contracted by long Custom , that it 's as possible for the Black-Moore to wash himself white , ( which is the Embleme of Labour in Vain ) or the Leopard to rub out his Dapples , as for such a one , so enslaved , to doe good . And if difficulty onely be designed in the Comparison , there 's great danger of seduction , to have the Case of habituated sinners thus described . (3) Our Author is much mistaken , to say , That the Apostle speaks of the Case of the Heathens : The place is , Eph. 2. 1. And you hath he quickened , who were Dead , in Trespasses , and Sins , &c. And these things are exceeding clear : 1. That to be dead in Trespasses and Sins , ( let it signifie what it will ) is a Condition common to Iew and Gentile . v. 3. Amongst whom also we all had our Conversation in times past , in the lusts of the flesh , fulfilling the desires of the Mind , and of the Flesh , and were by Nature the Children of wrath , even as others . v. 5. When we were dead in sins . 2. That the same Power and Grace was required to Quickening of the one , as the other . v. 4. God who is rich in Mercy , for his great Love wherewith he loved us , quickned us , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . (4) It 's very ridiculous to express some strength by None : As if you should say , A dead man will hardly walk above five miles a day , and then he must rest himself too at every miles end . It 's true , a Natural Death does not deny a Resurrection by Divine Power , nor a Moral Death exclude the efficacious Power of him that raised up Iesus from the dead , yet both exclude all Ability in the subject , or we must despair of ever understanding one Syllable of Scripture to the Worlds end .

( 2. ) There is Another Doctrine he will examine by this Rule , viz. the Manner of Gods Working in Regeneration . Concerning which , the Apostle Eph. 2. 10. ( when he had before shewed all to be dead in Trespasses and Sins , ) thus expresses himself : For we are his workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good works ; and 2 Cor. 5. 17. He that is in Christ is [ a New Creature . ] Wherein the Apostle does instruct us in three very material points . 1. Here is the Product of Gods Grace . A real Effect , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Something brought forth ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a New Creature , a New Creation ; Another , a better , though a lesser World . 2. The End of this Work , or Product of Gods powerfull Grace ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ▪ it was to good works , which God ordained they should walk in . The End of the New Heart , New Creature , and New Nature , is New Obedience . 3. The Manner of Gods producing this work ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ▪ ye were Created to that End ; so that as God at the first by his Creating Power exerted , brought forth the Creature , and gave it power to bring forth fruit after its Kind : So in this New Creation , there is something that Answers both the created Effect , the Creating Power , and the End of this Creation . This would have done pretty well , had it not chimed too near the words ; and therefore our Author shall expound it himself , and then ( if ever ) he will be in the good Humour . This were true ( says he ) if our being created to good works did signifie the Manner and Method of our Conversion , and not the Nature of the New Creature . But what if it signifies both ? Here 's a Workmanship ; and here 's the Manner of working : We are his Workmanship created . The work , called a New Creature , shews the Thing ; and its being said to be done by Creation , shews the Manner . All the Apostles Metaphor will else be very lame ; The Manner of Gods producing the Old Creation expressed , but Nothing to answer it in the New Creation ; and yet this was the Main of his design : v. 5. Even when we were dead in sins and trespasses , he hath quickened us ; v. 8. By Grace ye are saved , not of your selves , it 's the Gift of God . But let us hear his Paraphrase : That as in the first Creation we were created after the Image of God ; so we are renewed after his Image in the second , which is therefore expressely called Renewing , and Renovation : An excellent Similitude ; just as God wrought All in the first Creation , so ( for all the world ) he does Nothing in the second : That is , in plain Terms , The New Creation is no Creation ; and the Apostle could not more unluckily have express'd the Doctrine of our own Ability to good Works , than by saying , we were created by God in Christ Iesus , to the Performance of them : To conclude , That the Image of God restored , should answer the Image in which God created Man at first , I can be content ; onely , to fill up the Pàrallel , What is that act of God in the New , which answers to Gods creating Act in the first Creation ? And that the New Creation should be called a Renovation , I can very well digest ; but then we must take in Gods Renewing Power , as well as the Renewed Effect ; but that this is called so , expressely in other places , I do not very well approve , ( nor will our Author , when he thinks better upon 't , ) for that will discredit the whole Paraphrase , because it chimes too harmoniously to the sound of words .

Hitherto we have heard a very learned Declamation against interpreting Scripture by the sound of words ; and now we shall have another Oration against Metaphors , Similitudes , Allegories , Types , Figures , and all this under the same Head . If they say , Christ is our Righteousness , our Wisdom , &c. then they interpret all by the sound of words ; and if they say , the Pearl , the Manna , the Rock , &c. signified Christ , which seems to be very remote from , yet that is interpreting Scripture by , the sound of words also ; so that we are in a Fork , Snick or Snee ; and both wayes equally undone : Mr. Watson thinks that The Pearl in the Parable , Math. 13. 46. may be accommodated to Christ ; for , as the Pearl is there said to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 so Christ is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 1 Pet. 2. 7. That he was praefigured by the Manna , upon the onely Credit of Christs own Interpretation : Joh. 6. 48. I am the Bread of Life ; your Fathers did eat Manna in the Wilderness , and are dead : This is the bread that cometh down from Heaven , that a man may eat thereof , and not dye . That the Rock also did typifie Christ ; from the Apostles warrant , 1 Cor. 10. 3. They drank of the Rock that followed them , and that Rock was Christ : That Christ was also Resembled by the Brazen Serpent , upon Christs own Authority , Ioh. 3. 14 , 15. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness , even so must the Son of Man be lifted up : and that Christ is compared to a Vine , Joh. 15. 1. I am the True Vine : He proves also , ( or thinks he proves ) That Christ has very lovely and excellent Titles given him in the Scriptures . He is the Desire of all Nations , Hag. 2. 7. The Prince of Peace , Isa. 9. 6. The Holy One of Israel , Isa. 41. 14. Elect and precious , 1 Pet. 2. 6. That he was also typified by most excellent and glorious Persons and Things : By Moses , David , Solomon ; by the Pillar of Cloud , by the Rose of Sharon . In the pursuit of which Metaphors and Types , perhaps he has a little overshot himself ; and alas , how easie a matter is that ? It 's very hard to stop at a point , when we are upon the full speed . St. George himself straining for a blow at the Dragon , had like to have come over : These are Human Errours , and I wish our Authors were of no worse Consequence . But , 1. Our Author forgets himself to say , that Mr. W. uses these Metaphors to prove , when all the Service they doe him , is to illustrate his Doctrine , sufficiently otherwise confirmed from innumerable Scriptures : If our Author will not allow the Pearl to signifie Christs Preciousness , yet it 's very clear that Christ is precious . If he boggle , that the circular Figure of Manna should denote Christs Perfection , yet that he is Perfect , is undenyable . 2. Whatever was a Type of Christ , represented some of his Personal Excellencies , Actions , or Sufferings , &c. If then we single out the most eminent of their Natural Excellencies , and then consider which of Christs spiritual Excellencies syncretize with them , all the hurt that s in it is , that those Types are more beholden to Christ , than he to them . And , 3. We ought to consider , that there 's a greater latitude of Expression allowed in Open handed Discourses ad Populum , than in your Double-fisted Disputations in the Schools : Our blessed Saviour does accommodate his Discourses to his Disciples , and preach as they were able to hear him ; and Mr. Watson does not alwayes preach or write , to such long-ear'd People as our Author is . And thus after all , Mr. Watson may be very Innocent ; but whosoever is in the the Right , our Author will be sure to be in the Wrong ; for when all that Discourse had spent it self to perswade us , that Christ is excellent , that he deserves our Love , our Service and Obedience ; our Author could make no better use on 't , than to throw a Flout upon the very Person of our Redeemer : Who ( says he ) can forbear being smitten with so lovely a Person ? Really he may do well to consider , whether his License will justifie him to Scoffe at Christs Person , toties quoties he meets with any that shall dare to give him a good word : I have known some so prodigal of their Friends , that they would sell the best they had for a sorry frothy Iest : but should our Author forfeit the Favour of Christ , when he shall most need it , for a poor half-witted Conceit , it would be more than he would ever get by it . But hence we learn , how difficult it is , for any to have a little more Wit than his Neighbours , and not to discover it ; though it had been more comely to have been facetious any where , than against A Saviour ; and may he in time come to himself , least he be smitten with Christ in a fence not to his good liking .

[2] The Second Way whereby these men Pervert the Scripture is , that they argue from their own preconceived Notions and Opinions , about the sence of Scripture . And ( to have sav'd charges ) both these might have been mustered for one , but then it would not have born such a Port , nor carryed so much state and Majesty in its looks : The first way was , When they find any words in Scripture which chime to the Tune of their private Conceits , they interpret them by the sound of words : And this ▪ second way is the first way , in other words ; when they Argue from their own pre-conceived Notions : But perhaps there may be some subtle Essential difference , between [ their own Conceits , ] and their [ own preconceived Notions , ] which though he can , every one cannot discover : Now of this first , or second , or same , or New , or no Way , ( call it which he pleases ) he will give us some few Instances .

( 1. ) There are ( says he ) a great many places , which expressely tell us , we are justified by Faith , have Remission of sins by Faith , &c. Now the difficulty will be , how we shall Reconcile these Scriptures to their Notion of being justified by Christs Righteousness . For ( as he acutely observes ) Faith certainly is not the Righteousness of Christ in their Notion of it : ( No nor in his neither , if he rightly understands himself . ) Now those other men have a way to Reconcile our being Iustified by the Righteousness of Christ onely , and our being justified by Faith onely ; and it is this : When Faith is said to justifie , they understand not this Absolutely , as if Faith did justifie , either as it is a Work wrought iin us , or an Act performed by us ; but relatively , as t makes us one with Christ , by whom we are justified : And they assign this Reason for it : Because , had Iustification been promised to any thing wrought in us , or done by us , it had been by Works : And this Conciliation of the true Interest of Faith , and Christ , in the business of Justification , is justified by the Doctrine of the Church of England : Art. 11. We are accounted Righteous before God , onely for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ , by Faith , and not for our own Works or Deservings ; wherefore , that we are justified by Faith onely , is a most wholsom Doctrine . Now our Author might with great Applause have placed out his Reconciling skill upon this Article : How we can be Justified [ for the Merit of Christ onely , ] and yet [ by Faith onely ] ? And again : How we can be Justified [ by Faith onely , ] or indeed at all , and yet [ not for our own Works ? ] we find in Scripture , that the same Effects are attributed to Faith , which are attributed to Christ : Iustified by Christ , Isa. 53. 11. and justified by Faith , Rom. 3. 28. We live by Christ , Joh. 6. 57. and we live by Faith , Gal. 2. 20. Are pardon'd by Christ , Act. 13. 38. are pardon'd also by Faith , Act. 26. 18. Have peace with God by Christ , Col. 1. 20. have peace with him also by Faith , Rom. 5. 2. Have Access to God by Christ , Eph. 2. 18. have Access also by Faith , Eph. 3. 12. Are sanctified by Christ , Heb. 10. 14. and sanctified by Faith , Act. 15. 9. Overcome the World by Christ , Joh. 16. 33. and so also by Faith , 1 Joh. 5. 4 , 5. The Sons of God by Christ , Eph. 1. 5. and so by Faith , Gal. 3. 26.

These things being thus , it seems to be a worthy Enquiry , what Part and Share Christ may Challenge , and what Faith may claim in the Justification of a Soul before God ; that so we may give unto Christ the things that are Christs , and unto Faith the things that are Faiths . And , 1 It 's very evident , that their Concerns are really Distinct ; Christ Justifies in one respect , Faith ●…in another : It 's possible that some ( ver. 9. Infants ) may be Justified without Fāith in Christ , but impossible that any should be Justified without Gods respect to Christ ; for herein the Scripture is Peremptory , and God is at a point with all the World , Acts 4. 12. There 's no other Name under Heaven given by which we must be saved , neither is there Salvation in any other . 2. It 's evident from those very Places where the Concerns of Christ , and of Faith , are joyntly mentioned , not only that they have really distinct Interests , but that Christ carries the Supremacy , and that Faith has only a subservient Concernment therein , Rom. 5. 1. Therefore being justified by Faith , we have peace with God , through our Lord Iesus Christ . Whence it 's plain , that whatever Faith contributes to our peace with God , yet even that Operates through Jesus Christ , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . So Gal. 3. 16. Ye are all the Children of God , by Faith in Iesus Christ : It 's the Redeemer as made a Curse for us , ver. 13. that gives Faith all it 's Vertue and Efficacy . And , Gal. 2. 20. The life which I now live in the Flesh , I live by the Faith of the Son of God , who loved me , and gave Himself for me : Where such a Concernment is ascribed to Christ , in the Soùls life , that Faith is not at all Capable of ; He loved me , and gave himself for me . 3. It 's no loss evident , that Christ by his Death and Sufferings , has removed those insuperable Impediments , which lay in the way of a sinners Justification , Reconciliation with God , Expiation of sin , which Faith could not possibly Undertake , and Atchieve . 4. That what ever Parts Christ and Faith have in this Glorious work , yet no more must be Ascribed to either , than can consist with a Free , and Gratuitous Iustification , Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his Grace , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And , 5. It 's evident that the Sacrifice , Sufferings , &c. of Christ , and that Reconciliation and Atonement procured by them , do not in the least Enterfere with Justification by Free-Grace ; for Christ himself is Free-gift , and that God would admit a Mediator , to Interpose on our behalf , that he would accept a Propitiation for us , is all due to Free-Grace ; and therefore Free-Grace and Jesus Christ are joyned together , Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his Grace , through the Redemption that is in Iesus Christ . 6. It is also as evident , that to ascribe Justification to Faith as it is our Work , or Act , will take off just so much from the freedom of Grace , as is ascribed to it , as a work in us , or done by us ; and therefore Faith must needs Justifie us by vertue of that respect that it carries towards a Redeemer ; and to assign it any other Interest , is to Entrench upon that free Justification , which the Gospel does so abundantly Preach : Now what Title to give to Faith as it Justifies , whether that of an Instrument , or a Condition , I dispute not ; let the proper Concerns of Faith and Christ be secured , and their distinct Actings kept Inviolable , and Sacred , and if any can find more apposite , and significant Terms , than Protestants have used , I shall be very well content : But now our Author will favour us with a Reason , why Iustification by Faith as it is our own Act , may consist with Iustification by Free-Grace . Modest men ( says he ) who dream not of Meriting by every thing they do , would have thought , that Free-Grace and Faith , might have been easily reconciled , though 〈◊〉 had justified as our own Act , since the Reward and Recompence , does so infinitely exceed the Work that there can be no suspition of Merit ; and where there is no Merit , the reward is of Grace , and not of Debt , what ever the Condition of the Promise be . But , 1. Gods Free-Grace will not be beholden to , nor stand to the Courtesie of Mans Modesty ; and besides , all men are not so Modest as our Author is ; and if they were , it would be hard Trusting them : Man is indeed , a very Proud and Haughty Creature , till Free Grace tames him , loth to stoop to those Methods of Gods Wisdom for the abasing the Creature , that Grace may be magnified in his Mercies . And I see plainly , that God has Contrived the way of shewing favour to a lost Sinner , in such Wisdom that every Mouth shall be stopped , that Boasting shall be excluded , and that no Flesh shall glory in his presence , 1 Cor. 1. 29. 2. It 's not what men will do out of their sweet Natures , that comes here into Consideration ; but what they may do , God has taken a Course they shall not , cannot have cause to Glory ; but if the sinner be justified by his own Act , as 't is his , he has whereof to boast , Rom. 4. 2. If Abraham were justified by Works , he hath whereof to boast ; though it may be some Virtuoso's would be so Modest and Civil , as not to lay it in the Dish of Free-Grace . 3. It 's precariously supposed , that Grace in the justification of a sinner , is only opposed to Merit : The Scripture has opposed it to Works , and set them as Inconsistent in the dealings out of Mercy from God to men , whether there be such a proportion between the Work and the Reward , or no , Rom. 11. 6. And if by Grace , then it 's no more of Works , otherwise Grace is no more Grace . 4. They may be very Immodest men , and yet want the Confidence to dream of Merit by every thing they do ; and yet there are those that dream to this day of Meriting Heaven by that , for which they a thousand times better merit a Halter .

Protestant Divines in the explicating the Concerns of Faith in our Justification , that they might Accommodate their Discourses to the Capacity of them with whom they deal , have found out certain Similitudes , which do well express their own Intentions , when they say : Faith justifies us not as our own Act , but by vertue of its Relation to Christ , who is our Righteousness . Thus we say , the Ring stanches Blood , and yet we intend no more than that the Haematites set in it , has that Vertue : That our Hand relieves us , and yet perhaps it contributes no more towards it , than that it receives the Charity of another : That a Bucket quenches our Thirst , yet all it does , is to bring us the Water from the Fountain , which quenches it . And many others they have Invented , the best they could find , none so mean but is above Contempt , yet none so excellent to be above Malice . The use they make of them is ( as I said ) to cloath their Conceptions , and give some Light into the Thing , but by no means to prove the Truth , when it is drawn into Controversie . But from hence , our Author is taking another Ramble , and going to run his old Wild-Goose Chase of Prophaneness , and Scurrility ; the easiest way of Confutation certainly , that ever was Invented : But let his own Folly chastise him , or if not , delight him ; and in the mean time excuse me from bearing him Company .

( 2. ) Another Instance , and but another , he will give us : How Men argue from their preconceived Notions , and that is about the Necessity of Good Works . For ( says he ) when they are pressed with those Scriptures that urge the Necessity of Good Works . — What do they then ? Nay , that he could not tell , but carries on a suspended Sence , for almost two whole Pages , and in the end leaves it unintelligible Nonsence . But however , let us hear those Texts that are so pressing for Good works , and a holy Life . Why ? Without Holiness , no Man shall see God : The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Unrighteousness and Ungodliness of Men. Truly , these Scriptures do press upon our Consciences , and Practices , but not upon our Principles : Well , then there are others that assert , Our Acceptation with God , depends upon a Holy and Vertuous life . I promise you that presses indeed ! But it does not press me : Our Acceptation with God , depends upon a Holy life , as the Qualification , but it depends upon Christ for Procurement : But the places are , Acts 10. 35. God is no Respecter of Persons , but in every Nation he that feareth God , and worketh Righteousness , is accepted of him . Well , let us examine whom this Text does press most ? The Apostle Peter in that excellent Discourse , ver. 43. tells us : To him [ Christ ] give all the Prophets witness , that through his Name , whosoever believeth in Him , should receive Remission of sins . Whatsoever of acceptation with God then , they that fear God , and work Righteousness do obtain , still it 's through the Name of Christ . The Text then presses not us , he must call for more weight , if he designs to Press us to Death : But as I remember , pag. 44. our Author with much Confidence would bear us down , that the Iews who knew nothing at all of Christ , yet unde●…stood God to be a Sin-pardoning God . And yet the Apostle assures us , 1. That all the Prophets gave witness to Christ . 2. That their Testimony was this , That they were to expect Remission of sins , through the Name of Christ . 3. That the Means of acquiring the Remission of sins through Christ , was by believing in Him . And now let him ask his own Shoulders , whether this Text does not press him ; But there is another Scripture that will break their bones , Mat. 5. 20. Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees , ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven . And what was their Righteousness ? Why he tells us : They were a company of Immoral Hypocrites , who placed all their Righteousness in observing the Ceremonies of the Law , without the purity of their Hearts and Lives . Well , and we think a Man may Travel a great many Leagues beyond such Debauches , and never come near the Kingdom of Heaven . Let them then Groan under the weight of it , who place their Religion in Ceremony , and prophane Drollery ; it presses not them , who professing Faith in our Lord Iesus Christ , and Repentance from Dead works , subject themselves to his Gospel . Well , but there is one more that will Grind them to Powder , ver. 19. He that breaks the least of these Commandments , and teaches men so , shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven . And this will certainly press them , who Renouncing their part in the Satisfaction given to God by Christ , trust to their own Imperfect repentance , wherein there are so many Flaws , as will amount to the breach of some Commandment , and then our Author has quite shut them out of the Kingdom of Heaven .

To conclude this Section , our Author has one round Fling at Doctor Owen , and it is ex Officio , no doubt : I suppose he may hold some fair Estate by this Tenure , That he Persecute the Doctor with Fire and Faggot , as far as a pair of Shooes of a great price will carry him . The Question is , What necessity there is of Obedience ? The Doctor had said , That Universal Obedience and good Works , are Indispensibly necessary to Salvation ; by the sovereign appointment and Will of God . To this our Author answers : This is not one syllable to the purpose ! Why then , It 's the end of the Fathers electing Love . That 's not one syllable to the purpose ! It 's the end of the Sons redeeming Love . That 's not one syllable to the purpose ! It 's the end of the Spirits sanctifying Love . That 's not one syllable to the purpose ! Well , but it 's necessary to the Glory of the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost . That 's not one syllable to the purpose neither . If neither the Sovereignty of God over us , the Love of God to us , nor the Glorifying of God by Us , be to the purpose of Obedience ; let our Author speak to the purpose . So he will : God hath commanded Obedience , but where 's the Sanction of the Law ? Will he Damn all that will not Obey for their Disobedience ? Where 's the Sanction of the Law ? I am sure that Question is very little to the purpose . It 's the Command it self that makes a Duty , that creates a necessity : The Authority of the Law-giver , lays the Obligation upon the Subject . It 's our Interest to Obey , upon the account of the Sanction ; but it 's our duty to Obey upon the Command it self : But not to hold him in suspense , God will Damn all those that will not Obey , for their Disobedience .

Our Author has now quite run himself a Ground , and is Pumpt dry of his Drollery , and therefore turns Catechist , and Persecutes us with Impertinent Queries . I have heard some say , that an Ideot may tye more Knots in an Hour , than a Wise-man can untye in a day . But however , though we might plead it's Coram non Iudice , yet for once , let him suppose himself in his Desk , and his poor Catechumens humbly waiting upon his Foot-stool .

Quest. Will God Damn those who do not Obey for their disobedience ? Answ. Yes , and it please you Sir . Qu. But will he save , and reward those who do Obey for their Obedience ? An. He will reward their Obedience , but not save them for their Obedience . Qu. But will the Father Elect none but those that are Holy ? An. Yes , and it like your good Learning , he Elects them that they may be Holy , but not because they are Holy , Ephes. 1. 4. Ephes. 2. 10. Qu. But wil the Son Redeem none but those that are holy ? An. Yes , indeed Sir , a great many ; for a Redeemer supposes them to be sinners , and Captives under sin . Qu. But will he reject and Reprobate all that are not Holy ? An. God has not Reprobated all that were , or are not holy ; for then he had Reprobated all the World , but he will reject all that continue unholy to the Death . Qu. But tell me , Doth this Election , and Redemption , suppose Holiness in us , or is it without any regard to it ? An. Neither the one nor the other : It 's Fallacia plurium Interrogationum : They neither presuppose Holiness in us , nor are they without all regard to Holiness ; it is a necessary Effect but not a Cause of Election and Redemption . Qu. Dost thou stand chopping Logick with thy Betters ? If we be Elected and Redeemed without regard to our being Holy , our Election and Redemption is secure , whether we be Holy or no. An. Good Sir excuse me , we are Elected to Grace , as well as to Glory , and he that appoints to the end , appoints to the necessary means leading to the end . Qu. But is holyness necessary on our parts ? An. Yes , indeed Sir , that we be so , but it 's necessary also that Grace make us so , unless we can make our selves so . Qu. But how can Obedience be for the Glory of the Father , Son , and Spirit , when the necessity of Holiness is so destructive to free Grace ? An. Obedience in its proper place , and for its proper end , is not destructive to free Grace : But when Hypocrites will assign it a room which God has not appointed , as to justifie us before a righteous Iudge , and give us a proper right to Heaven , then it crosses the design of free Grace . Qu. But how can Holiness be for our honour , in making us like God , when the perfect Righteousness of Christ would be more for our honour ? An. Good , Sir , be not angry , and I l'e tell you : Inherent Righteousness is much for our honour , being compleat in its kind ; but Imputed righteousness is more for our honour , being absolutely compleat . Qu. But you say , Holiness is for our Peace ; Must we then at last fetch our peace from our Duties and Graces , is not this to renounce Christ ? An. Pray , Sir , be not so hasty , we have our Reconciliation with God , and Security from his Wrath , by the Blood of Christ ; but we have our inward peace in the Conscience , from the evidence of our Sanctification . Qu. But does not Doctor O. say , That we must not set about correcting our Lives ; for by the deeds of the Law , no man is Justified , and that if God should mark what is done amiss , there 's no standing before him ? An. Yes indeed does he , That we must not set about correcting our Lives , in order to Justification before the Righteous Judge of all the Earth . Qu. But how can Holiness serve for the Conviction of Enemies , when it is not Essentially necessary to his Friends ? An. Indeed , Sir , if you will believe me , it 's Essentially necessary to all his Friends ; and I pray it may prove more serviceable to the Conviction of his Enemies . Qu. Wilt thou dare to Contradict me ? I tell thee , I am resolved , they shall hold , that Holiness is not necessary to Salvation . An. Nay , pray Sir , do not force them to that : And if you can make any shift , Rail at them upon some other account . Qu. But how can Holiness be necessary to the Conversion of others , when men may be Converted without it ? An. Ay , indeed , if your Worship can Inform us how to conceive of Conversion without Holiness , you shall be owned for the Wisest man in all the Parish . Qu. But why cannot the Righteousness of Christ keep the Judgments of God from others , more effectually than the Holiness of men ? An. Because visible Holiness honours God most before men and therefore he will honour it most with visible Mercies . Qu. But how can Obedience be necessary to the state of justified Persons , when they are cloathed with the Robes of Christs righteousness , which is the only Foundation of our Communion with God ? An. Very well , Sir , for though Christs righteousness be the Foundation of our Communion , yet Holiness and Obedience , give us a meetness and fitness for the exercise of that Communion . Qu. But how can Holiness be ne●…essary to Sanctification ? An. Holy Obedience is necessary to Sanctification , because the new Creature is Nourisht by suitable Acts of Obedience ; even as all other things are fed by those things of which they are made . Qu. But is not this Idem per Idem ? An. No , I assure you Sir , for the Vital Principle of Obedience , and the Living Fruits of it are really two distinct things . Qu. But yet I cannot see any necessary Obligation to Holiness , from those mens Principles , what should be the Reason ? An. I can soon tell you that , Sir , do younot remember , you almost Pored out your Eyes , in the second Section . Qu. I have one question more , answer me that , and take all : Is Holiness necessary to Salvation , as a means to an End ? Now speak to the purpose . An. Really , Sir , it is absolutely and indispensibly necessary . Qu. This is indeed , Home , Pertinent , and somewhat to the purpose ; bút yet I have a question or two more , I am sure will Choak you : Come on your ways , young Man : What say you ? What , Holiness necessary to Eternal Life , and yet neither the Cause , Matter , nor Condition ? An. Sir , I perceive you have a frail Memory , for you quoted the Doctor just before , saying , It was neither Matter , Cause , nor Condition , of our Iustification : And now you put the question about its being the Cause , Matter , or Condition , of Eternal Salvation . Qu. Did you spie that ? An. Do you think your Readers have all pored their Eyes out , as well as your self ? Quest. Well , hold your peace , I will now Irrefragably prove , Holiness to be a Cause , at least Causa sine quâ non , of Eternal Life : What say you to that ? An. Pray spare your pains , lest you spoil the Cause ; for if you can prove it no better a Cause , you had as good let it alone , for Causa sine quâ non , non est Causa ; we allow it to be both the Condition and the Matter also of Eternal Life : It 's the Condition , for the Doctor has owned expresly , That none shall come to the end , who walks not in the way : And it 's the Matter too , for Grace is Glory begun , and Happiness is Holiness perfected . Qu. Well , I will not Dispute about words , I am content it should only be a necessary way to Eternal Life : But what becomes of Christ then , who is the only way ? An. Take you no care for that , Christ is the only way of Merit , Purchase , and Procurement ; but Holiness is a way of Means , preparatory Meetness , and Fitness for Eternal Life . I suppose you sometimes read the 11th . A●…t . of the Church of England , which acquaints you , that we are Justified only for Christs Merits , and yet justified by Faith only . There may be several Only's in the same Effect , and yet each the Only one , in suo genere . Qu. But is not the Righteousness of Christ able to save us , without an additional righteousness of our own ? An. No , Sir , for the Righteousness of Christ being made ours , by the appointment , constitution , and free Gift of God , we must enjoy the benefits of it , in that Method it pleases the Donour to Ordain . It 's reason the Giver should dispose of his own Gift : And yet it 's true , the Righteousness of Christ is able to save us without any of our own , employed for that special end for which the righteousness of Christ is used . Qu. But do the Active and Passive Righteousness of Christ both free us from Guilt and Punishment , and give us an actual Right and Title to Glory , and yet can we not be saved without walking in the ways of God ? An. Concerning Active and Passive righteousness , I shall say little ; but , never flatter your self , without walking in the Ways of God you can never be saved . For it 's plain , That no Thieves , nor Covetous , nor Drunkards , nor Revilers , nor Extortioners , shall Inherit the Kingdom of God . Qu. But what then becomes of Free-Grace ? An. It 's quite shut out of some mens Principles ; but as to us , we own it the great Spring of all our present enjoyments , and future Expectations . Qu. But is not this to Eke out the righteousness of Christ with our own ? An. I have told you , our Holiness is no Patch to Christs Righteousness , but has its Distinct concerns , Peculiar uses , and Proper employment , in the Salvation of Believers . Qu. Say you so ? I protest thou art the most Pertinacious , Refractory , and Obstinate Creature that ever I Catechised in my life : But I let thee know , I am resolved , that they shall hold , in spight of their teeth , that Holiness and Obedience , are not necessary to Salvation .

Now the short of all this long Discourse , our Author gives us in these words : That to know Christ , is not to be thus acquainted with his Person , but to understand his Gospel in its full Latitude and Extent : It 's not the Person of Christ , but the Gospel of Christ , which is the Way , the Truth , and the Life . To which I only say , 1. It 's a strange Definition of the Knowledge of Christ , that it is , not to know Him : To know , is to be Ignorant ; to see , is to be Blind . 2. It 's impossible to understand the Gospel in its Latitude , but we must thus know Christs Person ; he has Learnt little that has not Learnt the reconciliation made in the Blood of Christs Cross. 3. Though the Scriptures be the way and Means , yet the Person of Christ is the way of Mediation , whereby we come to the Father : And though we have Direction , Instruction , Encouragements from the Scripture , to walk in the way of Holiness , yet we have Grace and Ability from the Lord Jesus Christ , who is a Head of Influence , as well as Authority , to all that are in Covenant with him , to walk in that Way .

At length , the Gentleman having Discharged the Office of a Catechist , will let us know how terrible he is for an Exorcist : He falls a Raving , and Conjuring at the acquaintance with Christ , that the Candles seem to burn blew , the Ground to tremble ; and in this Sulphureous Vehicle , we shall see him Raise his Spirit . Acquaintance with Christs Person is only a work of Fancy , teaches the Arts of Hypocrisie , undermines the Fundamental Design of the Gospel , makes Men incurably Ignorant , endless Talkers , insolent Censurers , and every Boy learns to Despise the Ignorance of his Teachers . Our Author is Whistling over to himself his wild Notes , just like a Black-Bird in the latter end of February , that he may not be to seek in March : So here he gives us a Synopsis of Scolding ; the brief Heads of things upon any of which he can Write a Book as long as this : But what is the Matter ? Why , Boys despise the Ignorance of their Teachers . I had rather they should despise their Ignorance than their Knowledge : Ay , but they despise them for not knowing Christ , and the Mystery of the Gospel : Alas ! you do not pretend to know him , but have described the Knowledge of Christ by Ignorance of him : Oh! but the Laws of Christ will not down with them . At this rate ( I believe ) they never will : All Reverence to his Laws must cease , when his Person is exposed to Contempt : He that Teaches men to Mock at the Personal Excellencies , Beauty , Loveliness , Fulness of the Law-giver , does more surely , though more slowly undermine the Foundation of Gospel-Obedience , than he that brings his Mattocks to the Commandment itself . The Reader perhaps is not aware what design our Author has upon him : Why , He hopes that good People will hereafter have better thoughts of him , and his Fellows , that they are not such Strangers to Christ , as they may Imagine ; for he has a greater Reverence for him , than to be so Rude and Unmannerly , than to make bold with his Person , and with his Laws . I could heartily wish , indeed , our Author were no stranger to Christ , ( but it 's better so than worse ) to be Ignorant of Him , may perhaps prove his best Plea for Enmity against Him : For his Boldness , I cannot tell how more unmannerly he could well be ; he has divided his chiefest and most glorious Titles , whereby the Spirit of God has Recommended him to our best Affections , the Gospel Portraitures of Christs Loveliness , &c. he calls Romantick Descriptions ; he has Overthrown and Confounded , all his Offices , Cancel'd the main Ends of Christ's coming into the World , turn'd all that 's Sacred into Drollery , and yet he thinks he has not made bold enough with Christ .

From hence he takes occasion to fall into some admiration of the Church Catechisme , and the Wisdom of the Church in feeding her Children there with wholsome and substantial Food . It will be long enough before he commends the Wisdom of the Church in her Articles , put forth to be the Standard of the Faith of all that are to instruct the Churches Children : I shall entreat our Author , seeing he is so passionately in love with the Catechism , to practise it more ; to keep his Hands from Picking and Stealing ; ( for Volkelius , Shlictingius , &c. complain heavily of him ; ) and his Tongue from evil speaking , lying , and slandering ; ( and herein another sort of men make lamentable Complaints . )

There is but one thing more , whereof he will take Notice ; and I am heartily glad on 't , for I feared when his hand was in , there would have been no End of this rayling Humour : But why he should call it one thing more , I cannot imagine , when 't is but the same strain of Prophane Scoffing at the Concerns of Religion . But let us hear that one Thing : When the Scripture speaks of the Knowledge of Christ , it includes not onely the speculative part of Knowledge , which consists in true Notions ; but the Virtue and Efficacy of it in the Government of our Lives . Surely , this is not the one thing he would speak to : No , no ; These men talk of an Experimental Knowledge of Christ : Now he comes to it : The meaning of which is , that this Acquaintance with Christs Person , warms and heats their Fancies , moves their Passions ; sometimes they find great breakings of heart , they melt and dissolve into tears for their sins , when they remember their Lord suffered for them ; They see him hang upon the Cross , &c. It requires no great Wit to be Prophane ; common Abilities will serve to represent the Truth to disadvantage ; he that presumes his Tongue is his own , may let it run ryot without Truth or Honesty .

1. This Acquaintance with Christs Person ( says he ) heats their Fancies . Thus he has told us before , p. 95. That the workings of the Law , the Offers of Christ , and our entering into Covenant with him , is but the working of heated Fancy , and Religious Distraction ; that to speak of Christs beauty , loveliness , fulness and preciousness , are but Romantick Descriptions of him : That is , All is Fancy , that comports not with his own extravagant Whims●…y . The Knowledge of Christ , informs our Judgements , affects our Hearts , reforms our Lives ; and it will argue little love to our Redeemer , if we entertain meaner thoughts of him , by loud Clamour , and impotent Reflections upon him .

2. It moves their Passions ; and if we be a little passionately affected with the love of our Redeemer , it 's a pardonable Errour : When our Author would curry favour with his Reader , and perswade him , that for all his scandalous Expressions , he was no Enemy to Christ , he could say as much as that came to , p. 184 , 185. This is a Sacrament wherein we celebrate the Love of our dying Lord , and express our most passionate Love to him : Here is Love , passionate , and most passionate Love ; and yet others Passions must not be moved , for fear they set the Town on fire .

3. They find great breakings of heart . I would we experienc'd them more , upon Condition we were ten times more reviled for them : but I cannot well conceive , how the Heart should be broken from sin , that is not broken for sin ; and though this is grown so despicable a Matter in his eyes , yet we have this Relief , that a broken and contrite heart God will not despise .

4. But they melt , and dissolve into Tears , when they remember what their Lord suffer'd for them : They are content he should be called their Lord ; if others renounce him , they are willing to own him ; It 's better to be reproached in this World , that they have a Saviour , than condemned in the next World , because they have none : and let it be their , and all our Cares , that Men may not hate us for professing Christ ; and God too , because we do but profess him . But is it so heynous a Crime , to weep at the remembrance of what Christ suffer'd for us ? We pray that God would fulfill upon us that Promise , Zech. 12. 10. That he would pour out his Spirit upon us , that we may look upon him whom we have pierced , and mourn over him , and for him , as one mourns for an onely Son ; and we say with Holy Herbert ,

If thou hast no Sighs nor Tears , Would thou hadst no Sins nor Fears ; Who hath These , Those ill forbears .

But , 5. They see him hang upon the Cross , and have all his Agonies , and dying groans in their ears . Well , if Faith represents to us a crucifyed Christ , the Galatians were not called foolish upon that Account : When we read that Christ was amazed , and sore troubled , that his Soul was exceeding sorrowfull , even to death , that it express'd from his Body clods of Blood ; all the Question is , whether we ought to Read these things between sleeping and waking ; or get the most lively and powerfull Impressions of them upon our Souls ? The Primitive Church used to pray , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 libera nos Domine : And the Present Church of England ; By thine Agony and bloody Sweat , by thy Cross and Passion , good Lord deliver us .

6. They Curse their Sins that nayled him there . The truth is , they do not bless their Sins for crucifying Christ ; though he was a Person above our Authors scorn , that used that Hyperbole , Foelix Peccatum quod peperit Christum : But sin has proved so dishonourable to our God , so wounding to Christ , so grievous to the Spirit , so bitter to the Conscience , that we would say the worst by it we can , on this side Cursing . And this we have good Authority for , pag. 185. The Memory of what Christ has done and suffered , excites in us a just Hatred of our sins . So that , were we but Masters of his Regular Proportions , could we but find the just Measure of the Hatred of sin , and Nick it exactly ; betwixt too much , and too little hatred of sin , we might escape the severity of his Censure : Hitherto we have been taught , That the just Measure of loving Christ , is to love him without Measure ; and the just Measure of the Hatred of sin , is to hate it without Measure ; but our Author ( good Man ) is very solicitous least we should over-love Christ , or over-hate our iniquities .

7. They tremble at the Thoughts of the Naturalness of Gods vindictive Iustice to him . And if they doe consider God , as one of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity ; if they do view his Holiness , and in the sense of their own vileness , cry out , Woe is me , for I am undone , because I am a Man of unclean lips : As good as they , or he , have trembled at 〈◊〉 sight of this Glorious , Holy , and Righteous Judge .

8. But they feel all the Horrors and Agonies of damned Spirits : I knew we should have a Rapper before we had done . Is this the Fruit of Acquaintance with Christ ? I question not but a Cain , a Iudas , a Spira , may have felt in this Life , something of the horrours of the Damned : The Apostle denounces some such dreadfull vengeance against Renegadoes from the Christian Faith ; Heb. 10. That there remains no more Sacrifice for sin , but a certain fearfull looking for of Iudgement , and fiery Indignation , to devour the Adversaries , v. 26 , 27. But these despairing horrours proceed not from an experimental Knowledge of Christ ( as our Author either ignorantly dreams , or maliciously calumniates , ) but from an Ignorance of him , the true design of his Death , in Reconciling God and Man : This is one of their Extreams ; for at other times they are ravish'd with his Love , charm'd and captivated with his Beauty , refresht and ravisht with his Comforts , &c. It is easie to observe , that our Author alwayes writes pro re natâ , just as the present occasion invites him ; for he will tell you , p. 396. That the Soul many times feels such great and Ravishing delights in all the Acts of Religion , as infinitely excell all the pleasures of Sense ; they relish great Pleasure and Satisfaction in the sense of Gods Goodness . P. 397. They must needs feel sometimes such divine Touches , and Impressions , as are the Effects ( if I may so speak ) of a mutual Love and Sympathy . And had these men but the Happiness to have express'd themselves in his very words , and Syllables , they might have said either the worst or best of Religion , they had pleased , without Rebuke .

But all this ( he tells us ) may be no more than the working of a warm and Enthusiastick Fancy ; but then if it should prove the work of the Holy and Blessed Spirit , which he ascribes to Fancy and Conceit , how near it may come to the sin of those who ascribed that to Beelzebub , which was effected by the Finger of God , I must leave to his serious Consideration . Enthusiasm is much reproached , and little understood . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Enthusiasme is , when the Mind is wholly enlightned by God : In which sence I pray God make us all Enthusiasts . And let the End of all that Ioy and Satisfaction that we have in Christ , be improved for Obedience ; That his Love to us may so powerfully constrain our hearts , that we may wholly live to him that dyed for us , and rose again , who is also at the right hand of God , making Intercession for us . To him be Glory . Amen .

CHAP. IV.

Sect. 1. Of our Union to Christ , and Communion with him .

OUR Author will not in Courtesie , or cannot for Shame deny , that the Scripture does mention such a Relation between Christ and Christians , as may be express'd by an Union ; and that these Phrases of [ Being in Christ , ] and [ Abiding in Christ , ] can signifie no less . Now this Union to Christ being a very suspicious Phrase , he is deeply concern'd , to mollifie it with some such Healing Explication , that it may not prejudice , or however not utterly destroy his main design . To interpret it according to the sound of words , is to blow up himsels , with his whole Cause ; and therefore it is judg'd a safer way , to accommodate the Expression , if it will be tractable , or to force it , if it proves obstinate , to a Complyance with his own espoused Notions , and preconceived Opinions : And now we see , that the True Reason why he so zealously declaimed against that way of Interpreting Scripture in the last Section , was that he might without suspition serve himself of it in this . Some do not like his Tottering and Staggering way of wording his Matters : It may be express'd by an Union , and it can signifie no less than an Union : A form of speech invented doubtless to let us know , how unable he is to deny , and yet how loath he is to confess the plainest Truth . I have not forgot that he told us , p. 108. That the Scripture describes the Profession of Christianity , a sincere Belief and Obedience to the Gospel , by [ Having Christ , and Being in Christ ; ] but now he is graciously pleased to Mount them a little higher , and is gently content , that they should signifie no less than an Union with Christ .

Four Notable Observations he makes to us in this one Section .

[1] That those Metaphors which describe the Relation between Christ and Christians , do primarily referre to the Christian Church , and not to every Individual Christian. I am sorry that it must still be my great unhappiness to dissent from him , but seeing all Accommodation is desperate , we must bear the shock of his Reasonings as well as we can : Christ ( says he ) is called a Head , but he is the Head of his Church , which is his Body , as the Husband is the Head of his Wife ; No particular Christian is the Body of Christ , but onely a Member in this Body . This indeed would do pretty well , but that it wants two small Circumstances , Truth and Pertinency ; which being so inconsiderable , we may well spare in any of His Writings . And ,

1. Methinks I want that sorry circumstance of Truth in his Argument . Christ is the Head of his Church , as the Husband is Head of his Wife ; but the Headship of the Husband over the Wife , will not exactly measure the Headship of Christ over Believers ; we must call in assistance from another Similitude , that of the Head in the Natural Body over the Members : Christ is a Head of Influence , as well as Authority ; he communicates Grace to Obey , as well as commands Obedience . And this is that the Apostle would teach us , Eph. 4. 15 , 16. — The head , even Christ , from whom all the Body fitly joyned together and compact , by that which every joynt supplyeth , according to the effectual working , in the measure of every part , maketh increase of the Body , to the edifying of it sel●… in love . Here 's an effectual Operation in every part , the Growth and Increase of every individual Member , by virtue of that Influence which the Head communicates to it : And now to make the Husbands headship over the Wife , to represent the whole of Christs Headship , is craftily to seduce us from the Consideration of that Grace which from Christ we receive , to help us in time of need . The Holy Ghost has singled out the most per , and perspicuous Metaphors , that outward things would afford , to instruct us in the Nature of that Union , and Relation that Believers have to Christ , the Priviledges and Advantages which they receive thereby , and those Duties which indispensably arise from thence ; and yet such is the incorrigible and untractable Nature of all outward things , such is their shortness , poverty , and narrowness , that they do not yield a Similitude that will adaequately , and commensurately express the total of Christs Grace , Mercy and Authority , or of our mutual Obligations and Duty . Much of the Poverty and Beggarliness of the Mosaical Types , lay in this , ( those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Gal. 4. 9. ) that they could not represent Jesus Christ to the life , whom yet it was their design in some measure to shadow out . And when I have named a shadow , I have given a sufficient Reason of my Assertion ; for though a shadow may describe the general Lineaments of its Body , yet it will not paraphrase upon the Complexion : To supply this defect , it has pleased the Wisdom of God to institute that numerous train of Types , that so what could not be express'd by any one , might yet in parcels be described by Another . Hence is it , that one Type represents the Death of Christ as a Sacrifice for Sin ; as the Goat of the Sin-offering , Lev. 16. 15. Another , the Intercession of Christ at the right hand of the Father ; as Aarons appearing in the Most Holy place upon the Feast of Expiation : The same Wisdom has it pleased the Spirit of God to exe●…cise , in describing to us the Union and Relation betwixt Christ and Believers ; for , seeing that no one single Metaphor , however borrowed from the nearest , and most intimous Relation upon Earth , could possibly convey to our understandings all that Mercy , Grace and Love , which from Christ issues to all that are in Covenant with him ; nor all that Reverence , Love and Duty , which from Believers is due to a Redeemer ; therefore has he chosen out many , that so by putting together the Mercy and Duty which is comprehended in each , we might spell out the Meaning of what is wrapt up in that Relation wherein we stand to him . But ,

2. It wants Pertinency as well as Truth : For , what if no particular Christian be the Body of Christ . yet is he a Member of that Body ; and Christ , as Head of that Body , is related in particular to him , without the Intervention of the Body . A Body is nothing else but the result of all the Integral parts put together in their due Scite , and proper Order : and the Church is nothing else but the aggregate of many Christians united under their proper Pastor : And as the Head in the Natural Body is immediately related to all the parts , so is Christ immediately related to every true Christian. If then he will argue thus , No particular Christian is the Body , therefore Christ is primarily related to the Body ; any one with as much honesty may inferre , Every particular Christian is a Member of Christ , therefore , Christ is primarily related to every particular Christian : And thus the Conclusion will be as far to seek as ever ; Whether this Metaphor of a Head does primarily referre to the whole Body , or particular Members . But let us go on : Christ is called a Husband , ( says he ) but then the whole Church , not every particular Christian , is his Spouse , as St. Paul tells the Church of Corinth , 2 Cor. 11. 2. I have espoused you to one Husband , that I may present you a chaste Virgin to Christ . To which renowned Argument , I have many things to oppose . 1. If the Church of Corinth was the Spouse of Christ , then the Church of Ephesus , that of Coloss , that at Philippi , and to be sure the Church of Rome , will put in their claims with equal right to that Title ; and then what becomes of what he asserts , p. 14●… . Christ is a great Enemy to Poligamy , and has but one Spouse . Is it not great pity a Conceit so ingenious , should have its Neck broken at the first Encounter ? And , 2. If Christ hath but one Spouse , and yet every particular Church be his Spouse ; it ▪ s but crumbling the Metaphor into more minute particles , and then he may be a Husband to every individual Believer . 3. The Text proves not that Christ has but one Spouse , but that the Church hath but one Husband ; I have espoused you to one Husband . 4. Though the Metaphor may perhaps more fitly express Christs Relation to particular Churches , than particular Believers ; yet this hinders not , but that Christ may be primarily related to particular Believers : For the Metaphor does not express the Order of Christs Relation , but the Relation it self . The word Church is onely a Term of Art , which expresses the same Persons collectively , who distributively taken , are each immediately related to Christ . Again , Christ ( says he ) is a Shepheard , and the Christian Church is his Flock , for the Relation between Shepheard and Sheep , doth primarily concern the whole Flock . This is but one Doctors opinion at most , and will hardly mount it up to the Credit of Probability . For , 1. A Shepheard may be related to one single Sheep ; and that one is enough to keep alive , and maintain the Relation ; one Sheep will denominate him a Shepheard , though there must be more than one to constitute a Flock . As there was a first Man , related to God , as a Creature to his Creator , before there was A Church ; so there was a first Disciple , a first Believer , or Convert , and that one under the Pastoral Charge and care of Christ the great Shepheard , ipso facto , as a sincere Convert , and sound Believer , and yet that Individual would not make a Society under Bishops or Pastors . 2. A Flock is made up of many Sheep ; now that which constitutes , is at least in order of Nature before the thing constituted : The whole is made up of parts ; and I have been taught to presume , that the parts are in order of Nature before the whole : A Shepheard does not muster a company of howling Wolves , and roaring Lyons , and then by that Collection make them a Flock of Sheep ; but he gathers particular Sheep together , unites them into one Fold , and thereby they become a Flock . The way of Christ is not , to amass a Medley of debauched Varlets and Scoundrels , and by making them a Church , make them Christians ; but he seeks out for his own Service , particular Christians , and out of these Materials he forms his Church . Again : Christ ( says he ) is the Rock upon which his Church is built , and the Christian Church is a Holy Temple . Let him take it ●…or granted , if it will do him any service ; but is this Rock , this Foundation , this Corner-stone , related primarily to the Building , or to the particular Stones ? The Apostle Peter , who was a wise Master-builder in Church-work , understood the Method much better : 1 Pet. 2. 5. To whom coming as to a Living Stone ; ye also as lively Stones , are built up a spiritual House : Hence ordinary understandings would conclude , that the building did not make the materials , but the materials made the building ; the Spiritual House did not make the Lively Stones , but the Lively Stones made the Spiritual House : Such Language the Apostle durst use ; these lively Stones were first united to the living Corner-stone , and the product of all was , a beautifull Fabrick : And thus was Solomon's Temple built ; the materials were exactly fitted , and squared for their respective uses and places , and there was nothing to doe but to joyn them together , and out of those ( after seven years Labour ) there grew up a Holy Temple : Had He built of Bricks , the Edifice would never have converted them into hewen Stones ; and had he used onely Sycamores , they had never been turned into Cedars by being Sleepers in the wall . I must therefore abate him an Ace or two of his general Conclusion : All these Metaphors in their first , and most proper use , referre to the whole Society of Christians . In Isa. 9. 6. Christ is called the Everlasting Father , which Metaphor ( if it be a Metaphor ) does primarily express the Relation of Christ to every adopted child , and not the Relation of Christ to Children in gross , and in the Lump : A Father is as really so to one child , as to Twenty ; he may be a Father to more , but not more a Father . It will sound harshly in the Ears of any that have not lost them under the Cataracts of Nilus : to say , That Father does not primarily describe the Relation of Philip ( v. g. ) to Alexander , Iohn , &c. but to children , in the first place , and then at second hand , and through a remove or two , to Alexander and Iohn . Thus is the Everlasting Father primarily related to every childe , by virtue of his Adoption , and Regeneration ; and secondarily to them all as brethren , related to one another , living under the same Discipline , and Laws of the Family .

[2] He observes further to us for our Learning : That the Union of particular Christians to Christ , is by Means of their Union to the Christian Church : Which he as Learnedly proves from 1 Cor. 12. 27. Ye are the Body of Christ , and Members in Particular . Where the strength of this Argument lies , I confess , I see not : That the Church of Corinth was the Body of Christ , That I plainly see : That every particular Member of that Church , was a Member of Christ ; I think I see that too : But that it was therefore a Member of Christ , because it was United to that Body of the Church of Corinth ; I own my Dulness , that I cannot see : And I have some scruples that makes me Halt , and not so Nimbly go on both Feet into our Authors Opinion . For , 1. If particular Christians by being United to the Body , become the Members of Christ , then what Medium of Union have these particular Churches to Unite them to Christ ? We poor Folks of the Laity have an Expedient found out to Unite us to Christ , namely , by Uniting us to the Church under the Bishops , and Pastors : But what shall become of the Bishops and Pastors themselves ? What Provision is made for them ? Which way shall they be United to Christ ? Some ( indeed ) talk of Uniting them by their Metropolitans , and them again by their Patriarchs , and then these by the Pope : But who shall Unite him , poor man ? I see here 's a Design laid to prove the Pope to be Antichrist . 2. When a Church is first Collected , I am perplexing my self how the first Convert , the first Believer comes to be United to Christ , when there is never a Church existing by which he should be United : And it troubles me to think , what a long while that unhappy Creature may be Holy , and very Religious , and yet cannot be united to Christ , because others will not consent to become a Church ; and thus he must necessarily perish , though he be thus Holy , and Devout , because others will not go to Heaven with him . But , 3. We must suppose , that Baptism Unites us to the Visible Church : Now , either this single Person was United to Christ before his Baptism , or not : If he was , then the Cause is lost ; for then Union with the Visible Church , is not the only Means of our Union to Christ . If not , then , 1. What a sad Generation of Wretches must be the Ingredients of a Church ? And some will define it , as others have made it ; A Cage of unclean Birds , and a Hold of every filthy and unclean Spirit . And then , 2. It will be the unquestionable Duty of the Pastors of the Church , to admit into the Society , the most Profligate Rascals , that offer themselves : For what would you have them do ? Shall they be so Barbarous and Inhumane , such bloody Murtherers of Souls , to deny them the only Means of their Union to Christ ? And what would you have the poor wicked wretches do ? Repent , and believe , and turn from their sins ? Alas ! all 's to no purpose , they can never be United to Christ , without the only Means of Union ; were they as Meek as Moses , as Patient as Iob , as Believing as Abraham , they are never the nearer Christ ; and therefore as good come Loaden with all their Villanies , and Triumphing in their Rogueries , and be but united to the Church , and all in good time , they may come to be United to Christ : But surely the Church of England has Instructed her Children otherwise . I shall not press our Author with the Articles , because he 's no great admirer of them ; but because he so adores the Catechism , I shall remit him thither for Satisfaction . Qu. What is required of Persons to be Baptised ? Ans. Repentance , whereby they forsake sin ; and Faith , whereby they stedfastly believe the Promises of God made to them in that Sacrament . If now such a Faith , such a Repentance , as are here described , must qualifie a Person for Baptism , that he may be United thereby to the Church , and so to Christ ; I would gladly learn , whether such a faith , and such a repentance , will not serve to Unite him to Christ , antecedent to his Baptism ? And if not , whether the Church can contribute any more to his Union with him ? Another Reason of our Authors , proceeds thus : The Church is Christs Flock , and every Christian who is of this Fold , is one of Christs Sheep . In good time ! but is he therefore , and onely therefore , one of Christs Sheep because he is one of this Fold ? Or rather taken into the Fold , because he was first one of Christs Sheep ? But if indeed this be the real way to Create sheep , by taking any thing that has four Legs into the Fold , it will be a Noble piece of Charity to revive the Tribute of Wolves ; and if the Breed should be worn out in England , we know from whence to recruite the Sheepfold ; but still he proceeds , and I perceive he has a mind to prove something if he knew what . The Church is Christs Spouse , every Christian is a Member of that Society , which Christ owns for his Spouse , but every Christian is not Christs Spouse . No ? Why not ? Now comes the Knocking-argument : He is a great enemy to Poligamy , and hath but one Spouse . Wonderful ! So is Christ a great Enemy to Monsters , and Prodigies , and has but one Body : And yet for all this , our Author could allow the Church of Corinth , to be his Spouse , to be his Body , and then I will allow the Church of Smyrna , to have been his Body , and his Spouse , and others ( as their affections lead them ) will no doubt allow other particular Churches to be his Body , his Spouse ; and then Christ shall have as many particular Bodies , and Spouses , as there are particular Churches upon the Face of the Earth ; and so this Doughty argument Vanishes into Smoak , and nothing : and in lieu of it , I will offer him another . It 's impossible to be United to Christ , without the only Means of Union , but it 's possible to be United to Christ , without being United to a particular Church , therefore to be United to a particular Church , is not the only Means of Uniting us to Christ . The former Proposition we will for once humbly beg at his hands , and do not doubt but he will charitably grant it ; the second is Evidenced from hence : When particular Churches are broken in pieces by Persecution , or otherwise , yet the true believing Members are not thereby separated from Christ ; they cease not to be Christs Friends , because the World is their Enemy : Yea indeed ( says our Author , pag. 165. ) If there be no Visible Society ( as it may happen in time of Persecution ) it must of necessity alter the Case . That is in plain English ; his Discourse had been Strong , if it had not been Weak ; and our Union to the Church had been the only Means of our Union to Christ , but for one ill favoured Business , that there is another Means of our union to him , and we may be united to him without it . I grant ( indeed ) with much readiness , that it is our unquestionable Duty , and when all Circumstances concur , our Indispensible Duty for every Christian to joyn himself to some particular Church ; the Command of Christ has made it so : The Edifying our own Souls in Faith , Love , Comfort , adds to that necessity ; the Glorifying of our God , and our Redeemer , in a visible Profession of , and Subjection to all his Ordinances , heightens that Necessity ; the enjoyment of many Gospel Ordinances which presuppose a Church-state , add more weight to the Necessity , and that our Union with Christ has more Bonds laid upon it , by this means , I freely own ; but that our Union with the Church , is the only means to Unite us to Christ , I must see better Arguments to prove it , before I know how to believe it : Our Union with Christ , is by Invisible and Internal Ligaments , and if there were no other , than what a Visible Church can afford , I do not see , but all Christians are Obliged to be Hypocrites . The great Promises of the Gospel , those of Justification , Adoption , and Sanctification , are made to Individuals , and how to apply them to whole Churches , otherwise than by the Individuals , is unconceivable : They are single Persons , that are Justified , Sanctified , Adopted , Pardoned , and Saved , and not a Complex Notion , which is only an Operation of the Mind conceiving of singular things , as they relate one to another .

There is yet one Text of Scripture , which our Author has reserved as the Triarij to the main Battle ; and though his Jelites be Cut off , and his Body shaken , yet so long as his Reserves are entire , and unbroken , he cannot be totally Routed . The place is , Iohn 15. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. I am the true Vine , and my Father is the Husbandman . — Abide in me , and I in you . As the Branch cannot bear Fruit except it abide in the Vine , no more can ye except ye abide in me . Now because he lays such a Stress upon , and places all his Hopes and Confidence in this place , I shall particularly Examine , 1. His Interpretation . 2. His Reasons for that Interpretation . 3. The Use he makes of this Interpretation .

( 1. ) For his Interpretation , it has more Faces than Ianus ; and more Colours than the Rainbow . I am the true Vine : Where [ I ] signifies Christ together with his Church : There 's one Face . But pag. 146. He repents that ever he took the Person of Christ into the Paraphrase , for fear some ill disposed persons should make an ill use on ▪ t , and therefore he Glosses it thus : I am the true Vine , that is the Church : So [ I ] is grown a Church . But yet that neither will not answer all his Occasions , nor stop all Gaps , and therefore it must put on another shape : pag. 147. When Christ speaks in the first Person [ I ] he cannot mean this of his own Person , but of his Church , Doctrine , and Religion : And yet for all this it will not do the Feat , but it must pass through one Metamorphosis more , and it signifies , a sincere and hearty Belief of the Gospel . So here we have got the Act and the Object Married together in this one word [ I : ] A man would conclude he had found at last Aristotles Materia Prima , it 's Omnium formarum capax : Nothing in Act , but every thing in Power , a piece of soft Wax , that 's plyable to any Impression , a mere blanck Paper , you may Write down your own Conditions : But what is meant by the Vine ? Why that 's the Church too , pag. 146. That is , the Church , which is founded on the belief of my Gospel , is the only true Church : Or , I am the Vine , that is , the Church is the Church ; but let us proceed . He that abideth in me : [ In me ] that is , the Christian Church : [ I in him , ] that is , the Christian Doctrine ; For without me , you can do uothing : That is , without a sincere belief of my Gospel . And now he presumes he has laid his Matters so Closely , Evenly , and Regularly together , that he may defie the Cunning of the most expert Caviller to disturb them . And yet to deal openly with him , he has not lead me Captive by his fair Colours and regular Proportions . For , 1. I find his way of Interpretation meerly Arbitrary , such as has no other Foundation but the Soveraign will of the Commentator ; he deals with Scripture as if it were his perfect Vassal , and he the absolute Monarch of the Word of God ; and that his Paraphrase knew no other Language than his Car tel est nostre plaisir : For such is our Will and Pleasure ▪ Let the Reader take but a taste : He that abideth in me , and I in him . Where [ Me ] must signifie the Christian Church , and [ I ] the Christian Doctrine . For we must know for our Learning , that [ Me ] in the Ablative case , must always signifie a Church ; but [ I ] in the Nominative case , that 's the Christian Doctrine . And if any peevish Fellow shall Object that it 's a huge Wonder that such a slight Variation of the Case , should alter the Signification . Every puisny Shool-Boy will inform him , that the varying the Case , does wonderfully alter the Case . Now had it been Referred to a Hundred Systematical , Heavy-headed Divines , they would have concluded , One and All ; that if [ I ] signifie a Doctrine , [ Me ] will signifie the same : And if [ Me [ signifie a Church , [ I ] will signifie neither better nor worse , but a Church too ; but when a Zaphnath Paaneah , a Revealer of Secrets , shall take the Matter in hand , he will shew you the difference . 2. Another Exception I have against this Interpretation , is , That Christ has often spoke in the first Person , He has compared himself to many other things , and yet never intended any thing by [ I ] but his own Self , Iohn 10. 11. I am the good Shepherd . And besides that , we have had our Authours Suffrage to it , the thing it self makes it evident that Christ speakes there neither of Church , nor Doctrine . The Fold , must signifie the Church : The Pasture , will answer the Doctrine , and Christians they are the Sheep , but Christ himself is the Shepherd . And yet one signification more for this poor [ I ] will do the business , let it signifie the Pastors and Bishops , and that will heal all . And I do not doubt when he has need of them , he can fi●…d a Dozen more significations of that one word , that one Letter [ I. ] Again , Iohn 10. 7. Christ says , I am the Door . Now the Church is evidently the House , or Temple , and so [ I ] will not do very well for Church , in that place : And the Doctrine , is the Orders , and Rules for Government of the House ; and therefore we had not best make [ I ] signifie Doctrine neither , in this place : Oh! but then ( and it was well thought on ) Baptism is a Sacrament of Admission into the Church , and then it will run as Glib upon the Tongue as may be , I am the Door ; that is , Baptism is the Door . But what shall we say to Iohn 6. 48. I am the Bread of Life . Oh! that is wondrous easie , and the Interpretation natural , and without straining ; that is , My Doctrine is the Bread of Life , which answers the Manna . But then Christ tells us , ver. 51. That the Bread which he will give is his Flesh , which he will give for the Life of the World . What shall become of us now ? Why our Author must take advice with his Pillow about this Difficulty , and let it signifie any thing in the World ; Black or Blew , provided it do not signifie the Person of Christ , and the Interpretation is authentick , and by to Morrow-morning , shall shine with it's own Light . 3. This Interpretation avows false Doctrine . He had told us : That by He that abideth in me , is meant , he that abideth in the Christian Church . And our Saviour assures us , ver. 5. That without [ Me ] ye can do nothing . Now in just proportion to his Interpretation , the sence must run thus : Without you be in the Christian Church , it 's impossible ye should do any th●…ng that is good . And how notoriously false this is of a particular Church , is evident , how many particular Churches have been dissolved ; The Shepheard smitten , and the Sheep scattered , and yet the Indivi●…uals have brought forth Fruit in patience . Our Author should have considered this a little better : Why so he has . Without me ye can do nothing ; that is , Without such a sincere and hearty belief of my Gospel . Well , but we were told , that by [ Me ] was meant the Church : And we took it for granted , that if we met with it in the Ablative case , it ought to signifie the Church ; And must it now signifie the Doctrine ? How often has the Wind turned in half an hour ? Oh! but you are to understand , that , then it was in the 4th . ver. Abide in me : But this is in the 5th . verse , Without me . And so the Rule will be this ; That whensoever you find it in the Ablative case , in the 4th . verse of any Chapter , then it signifies the Church ; but if it fall out to be the Ablative case , and the 5th . verse , then believe it , you shall do well to Interpret it by Gospel or Doctrine : But still here 's an odd Scruple behind ; For what will become of ver. 4 ? Abide in Me , and and I in you : As the Branch cannot bear Fruit of it self , except it abide in the Vine , no more can ye , except ye abide in Me. Now our Authors Gloss is this , [ abide in Me , ] continue in the Church ; and [ I in you , ] let my Doctrine continue in you . And then the following words must be thus Paraphrased : As the Branch cannot bear Fruit of it self , except it abide in the Vine , no more can ye except ye [ abide in the Church : ] Which spoken of a particular Church , is utterly false ; and there 's no help left , but only this standing Rule : That [ Me ] in the beginning of a verse , signifies a Church ; but in the latter end of a verse , it always signifies a Doctrine . And then the 5th . verse too , will be as plain as a Pike-staff : He that abideth in me , that is , in the Church ; and I in him , that is , the Doctrine in him ; the same bringeth forth much Fruit : for without me ; that is , without a sincere and hearty belief of my Doctrine ( or to disguise it a little , say Gospel ) it 's impossible you should do any thing that is good : And surely , never was a small piece of Armour better placed , nor to better purpose , by the Wit of Man . I have done with his Interpretation , but that I cannot forbear to give the Reader the Summe of what he has said : That Church which owns my Doctrine , is the true Vine : and all you who make a publick profession of Fait●…o in me , ( i. e. of a belief of my Gospel ) and live in Communion with one another , are the Branches of this Vine ; and whoever of you continue stedfast in this Profession , and Communion , and do not only make a visible profession of Faith in me , but suffer my Doctrine and Precepts to dwell and abide in you too , to Govern your Wills and Affections , and direct your Conversations in the World , all such of you will be very Fruitful in good Works . And it 's very likely to be true , for it would be a great wonder if they whose Wills , and Affections , and Conversations , are Govern'd by the Word of Christ , should do nothing that 's good ; because most things in the World , are what they are , excepting only Christs Person , which shall signifie , Many , Divers , Contrary Things , and in short , any Thing besides Himself .

( 2. ) His Interpretation being so Arbitrary , Precarious , Self-Inconsistent , and Ridiculously false , I need not much trouble my self with his Reasons ; nor should I , but that they also discover its ●…ness . Reason 1. The Iewish Church is frequently in the Old Testament called a Vine , Isa. 5. 1. I will sing to my Beloved a Song concerning his Vineyard . My Beloved had a Vineyard : Iudge between me and my Vineyard . And now he must be very blind , that does not see the Church is compared to a Vine ; though some will be so Peevish , as to fancy some small difference between a Vine , and a Vineyard . But yet it is called a Vine , Jer. 2. 21. Very true : Ergo , What ? Why therefore Christ is not compared to a Vine , in the New Testament . And therefore it must signifie Doctrine , Gospel , Religion , and Twenty things more . But , 1. Tell me seriously : Did God , or any of the Prophets , ever say , I am the Vine ; and then teach the Iews to discant thus upon it ? That is , The Church which is founded on the belief of Moses his Doctrine , is the only true Church . When the Prophet will describe the Church by a Vine , he tells you expresly what he intends ; and there 's an end of all Controversie : And so would our Saviour if ever he intended to be understood , till a happy Head should , after Sixteen Hundred Years , light upon the Mystery . Ay , but the Christian Church is expresly called an Olive Tree , and the Members of it called Branches , Rom. 11. 17 , 18. Expresly ? And must we then split against that Rock , and Interpret the place , by the express the sound of words ? Two things let him consider at his Leisure , 1. Whether it be the Christian Church that is there compared to the Olive-Tree . 2. Whether it be said , that Christ is the Olive-Tree : Which expression if he can produce , and then make it out , that [ I ] am the Olive-Tree , signifies the Church is so ; we will then freely confess he has bidden fair towards a probability for the truth of his Interpretation . 2. Because God is called the Husbandman , who takes care to Dress this Vine , which cannot be understood of Christ , but of the Church . This Reason seems to carry some civility towards Jesus Christ , and therefore deserves a fairer Treatment than the strength of it can challenge . Let this suffice : The Father is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Husbandmand , in respect of the Branches of the Vine , ver. 2. Every branch that beareth Fruit he purgeth , that it may bring forth more Fruit ; and every branch that beareth not Fruit , he taketh away . 3. Christ speaks of such branches in him as bear no fruit : Now there can be no such branches in the Person of Christ , for our very Union to Him will make us Fruitful . Ans. Many things are said to be , which only seem to be . There 's nothing more ordinary than for appearances , to wear the Livery of Realityes : Hypocrites are said to be in Christ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , who are not so 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Acts 8. 15 , 16. Simon Magus is said to believe , who yet was in the Gall of Bitterness , and in the bond of Iniquity : Rotten , Dead Branches may have a visible station in the Vine , and yet derive no nourishment from the Vine ; and visible Professors may be said to be in Christ , in a judgment of Charity , which thinks no evil where none appears ; and hopeth all things , where there is ground of hope . Our Saviour prescribes a Rule how we must judge , who have no direct Cognizance of the heart ; when he himself takes other Measures of Men , and needeth not that any should testifie of Man , for he knows what is in Man . 4. To confirm all this , and prevent Objections , It 's evident ( says he ) from the Chapter , that Christ when he speaks in the First Person [ I , ] and [ in Me , ] cannot mean this of his own Person , but of his Church , Doctrine , and Religion . But where lies the Evidence of this great Demonstration ? Why Christ says , I am the true Vine , and ye are the Branches ; He that abideth in me , and I in him , bringeth forth much Fruit , for without me you can do nothing . Well , what of all this ? Why , our Author would willingly Learn what sence can be made of all this , if we understand it of the Person of Christ : And I will as willingly Teach him , if he be not too proud to Learn , I Iesus Christ , the Mediator of the New Covenant , am very fitly compared to a Vine ; and ye my Disciples are as fitly compared to the Branches of a Vine . Now he that really abideth in me by a true lively faith , and I in him by the Quickening Operations of my Spirit , the same bringeth forth much Fruit of holy Obedience ; for without derivation of Grace from Me your Root , you can do nothing that is truly good , and acceptable to God . Oh! but he has two or three formidable Objections against this Interpretation . 1. It 's not very Intelligible , How we can be , or abide in Christs Person ? No more it is : If we bring Capernaitical understandings along with us , who Puzled their Heads with a gross Notion of Carnal eating the Flesh , and drinking the Blood of Christ . If by [ being in Christ ] were understood , a Local , Physical , or Natural being in Him , it were somewhat Unintelligible , but when no more is meant by it , but that every true Believer is by Constitution of the Covenant of Grace , one Person morally with Christ ; so considered and dealt with by God , there 's no more insuperable Difficulty , than what unbelief will create in the clearest Truths of the Gospel . But , 2. It 's more unintelligible still ; How we can be in the Person of Christ , and the Person of Christ at the same time be in us ; Which is a new piece of Philosophy , called Penetration of Dimensions . But there 's no great danger in that : Christ may dwell in us by his Spirit , and we in him by Faith , and yet Faith and the Spirit , never disturb each other in their Motions ; but what the Dimensions of the Soul , in its actings of Faith , or of the Spirit in it's working of Grace are , this I confess , is to me unintelligible : And that a Christian should be in the Church , and the Church at the same time be in a Christian , had been equally Unintelligible , and as much danger of the Penetration of Dimensions : But that our Author stumbled upon a happy Expedient ; that [ I ] should signifie a Doctrine , and [ Me ] a Church , to heal the Contradiction . 3. That our Fruitfulness should depend on our Union to Christ , is as hard to my understanding . Truly , I cannot help that , I have no Medicine to cure Crazed Intellectuals : He that cannot understand that Believers do receive Actual assistance from Christ by his Spirit , to help them in the way of their Duty , and to encourage them against the Difficulties they meet withal in their Duties , cannot ( I presume ) understand very many Lines in the Gospel .

( 3. ) Our last Task is , to Examine what improvement he has made of this Interpretation , and in short it is this : That the Union of particular Christians to Christ , consists in their Union to the Christian Church . And now I am abundantly satisfied , that our Author is a very Philomel , Vox & praeterea nihil ; One , whose Volubility of Tongue , and Pen , supplies the place of Argument , and Demonstration : I hope our Author will not meet with many Readers , who have so far parted with their Memories , as not to remember what that was he Propounded to himself to Evince , viz. That the Union of particular Christians to Christ , is by means of their Union with the Christian Church : And yet now when he comes to cast up his Accounts , we have gotten another Conclusion ; That the Union of particular Christians to Christ , consists in their Union to the Christian Church . Surely , the Purblind will espie some small difference : Eating is a means to Living , yet none but a Swine of Epicurus his Stye , will say , that Living consists in Eating . The High-road is a means to bring the Traveller Home ; yet it will be hard to perswade us , that being at Home , consists in Travelling : Trading is a mean to Riches , yet Riches do not formally consist in Trading : The end may possibly be separated from the Means , but nothing can be separated from that thing wherein it consists . But let that pass : If he has proved either the one , or the other , I am content he be reputed an Artist . The thing he has a good will to prove , is : That the Union of particular Christians to Christ , is either by means of their Union to the Christian Church ; or else that it consists in it . Now for the Proof of this : He has told us , That the Church is the Body of Christ : The Church is the Temple of Christ : The Church is the Spouse of Christ : The Church is the Flock of Christ . And had it been referred to a thousand Persons , not one but would have thought , that , that Christ who is the Head of that Body , is a Person : He that is the Husband of that Spouse , is a Person : He that is the Shepheard of the Flock , is a Person : and He that Dwells in that Temple , is a Person : But things are not so far gone , but our Author shall have his Opinion , and choose what he will abide by ; for my part I am much unconcern'd , let him please himself , he shall not displease me at all . Say then : Shall it be Christs Doctrinal , or Christs Ecclesiastical , that is the Head of this Body ? The Husband of this Spouse ? The Shepheard of this Flock ? I can rest satisfied . But then the Sence runs thus : A Doctrine , or a Church , is the Head of the Church : A Doctrine , or a Church , is the Husband of the Church : A Doctrine , or a Church , is the Shepheard of the Church . If this does not please him , let him try the other way , and allow it to be a Person that is all these . A Person , that is the Head , Husband , and Shepheard of the Church : And now I must plainly acquaint him , That he has Entangled his Affairs in such confusion , that he will never be able to Extricate them . For , 1. If the Person of Christ be here intended , then it seems at last , whatever the means be of that Union , yet there is an Union to the Person of Christ ; and whereinsoever that Union consists , yet such an Uunion there is : How absurd would it be , to enquire whether our Union to Christ's Person , consists in our Union with a particular Church ? If , Union to Christs Person be a Non-entity ? Or , Whether our Union with a particular Church , be the means to our Union with Christ ? If there be no such thing ? And then , 2. He is as much concern'd , as his poor Neighbours , to salve the Difficulties of being in Christs Person ; and yet at the same time , Christs Person being in us ; of the depending of our Fruitfulness upon that Union , with whatever other Incongruities a strong Fancy may impute to it . And then 3. If the Person of Christ be intended in the Question , then his last and tedious Argument from Iohn 15. 1. which he has managed with so much Industry , upon which he has bestowed so much Cost , and in which he places so much Confidence , concludes something very near to Nothing : For the Abstract of his Medium is this , that Christians are in the Church ; which will never conclude , that therefore our Union to a particular Church is the Means of our Union to Christ , much less , that our Union to Christ consists in it .

From the Scriptures we are posted over to the Ancient Fathers ; who ( if we may believe him ) Interpret all those Metaphors which decypher the Union between Christ and Christians to signifie , the Love and Unity of Christians among themselves . He that will reproach his own Mother , will not much Reverence the Fathers : They do indeed argue from the Unity between Christ and Christians , to an absolute Necessity of Unity between Christians themselves , they are members of one body , under one common Head , and therefore it presses sore upon them , that there be no intestine Broyls among themselves : they are Sheep of the same Fold , under one Shepheard , and it were unnatural for Sheep to devour one another , which is the Province of Wolves ; they are subjects in the same spiritual Kingdom , under Christ the Sovereign Monarch of the Church , and therefore all heats and animosities , all seuds and broyls , are alien from that place and Relation they fill up towards Christ , and each other : So the Fathers , so the Scriptures argue : Mal. 2. 10. Have we not all one Father ? hath not one God created us ? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother ? The Process of the Argument is very clear , if we be Children of one Father , we ought to love our Brethren ; but to conclude from thence , that A Childs Relation to his Father consists in the Love and Unity of the Children among themselves , is somewhat more than ridiculous . Thus from the Union between Christ and Christians , there is an unanswerable Argument drawn for the Unity of Christians amongst themselves ; but that the Union of Christians with Christ , does formally consist in their mutual Agreement and Concord each with other , is a piece of Logick for which we are indebted to our Author ; but thus Chrysostom expounds Eph. 2. 19 , 20 , 21. where the Apostle speaks of that spiritual building which is erected on the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles , Iesus Christ [ himself 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . ] being the chief Corner-stone , to signifie the Unity of the Church in all Ages , that both the Iewish , and the Christian Church are united in Christ , as the several parts of the building are kept together by the Corner-stone . Now though Chrysostom be little beholden to our Author for traducing his honest meaning , yet we are all beholden to Chrysostom . For then , 1. There have not been so many sorts of Churches in the World , as he would perswade us , but both Iews and Christians constitute one universal catholick Church , though differing in the Oeconomy , and some variety of Administration ; both the Jewish and Christian Church are the several parts of one and the same Building . And then , 2. The Iews , we may presume knew something at least of Christ , what he was to be to them , what he was to doe for them , if they and we , Jews and Gentiles in all Ages are United in him . To the same purpose St. Ambrose : ( Yes I believe it ; as little to our Authors purpose as St. Chrysostom : ) Duos Populos in se suscepit Christus Salvator , & fecit unum in Domino , sicut Lapis Angularis duas parietes continet in Unitate Domûs firmatas : which our Author Englishes thus : Christ united two People , in himself , and made them one in the Lord , as the Corner-stone unites two Walls in a building , and makes it but one house . Now if we cannot agree about the Construing a piece of familiar Latine , we shall strangely differ in the Interpretation of its design and tendency : And here Ambrose is less beholden to our Author than Chrysostom ; for , that he may not cross our Authors sence , he is made to speak Non-sence . Christ united two people , and made them one : That is , he made them one , and made them one ; or he united them , and united them ; for , what uniting should be , but making one , I cannot divine . But Ambrose his Latine runs thus : Duos populos in se suscepit , & fecit unum in Domino . He took two people upon himself , and ( so ) made them one in the Lord : He bore their Iniquities , carryed their sins in his body upon the Cross , and thereby reconciled them to God , and then their reconciliation to one Another would be easie : but our Author , ( who is never wanting to his Concerns ) was not at leisure to take notice of that : However ( says he ) this is the plain design of the place , to prove , that Christ hath taken away the enmity which was between Iew and Gentile , and hath reconciled them both to God . Well , I can be content it should be the Plain design , but not the Main design , not the whole design of the place : Some men think themselves wondrous witty in the Contrivance , that they have found out some Reconciling work for Christs Death : But then it must not be , to reconcile God and Sinners , but to remove an old grudge between Iew and Gentile ; ( which is an Invention of the latter dayes , utterly unknown to the Ancient Fathers , and the whole Catholick Church , ) that they might not seem to say , there 's no Reconciliation by the Blood of Christ : I would turn over our Author for satisfaction in this point to the Reason , not the Authority of Dr. E. Stillingfl . against Crellius , p. 558. A Difference being supposed between God and Man , on the account of sin , no reconciliation can be imagined but what is mutual : For , did Man only fall out with God , and had not God just reason to be displeased with Men , for their Apostacy from him ? If not , what made him so severely punish the Old World , for their Impieties , by a Deluge ? what made him leave such Monuments of his Anger against the Sins of the World , in succeeding Ages , & c ? Well then , supposing God to be averse from men by reason of their sins ; shall this displeasure alwayes continue , or not ? If it alwayes continues , men must certainly suffer the desert of their sin : If it doth not alwayes continue , then God may be said to be reconciled , in the same sence that an offended party is capable of being reconciled to him who hath provoked him . Now there are two wayes , whereby a party justly offended , may be said to be reconciled to him that hath offended him : First , when he is not onely willing to admit of Terms of Agreement , but doth declare his Acceptance of the Mediation of a third Person , and that he is so well satisfied with what he hath done in order to it , that he appoints it to be published to all the world , to assure the Offender , that if the Breach continues , the fault lyes wholly upon himself : The Second is , when the Offender doth accept the Terms of the Agreement offer'd : And these two we assert , must necessarily be distinguished in the Reconciliation between God and us : For , upon the Death and Sufferings of Christ , God declares to the World , that he is so well satisfied with what Christ hath done and suffer'd , in order to the Reconciliation between himself and us , that now be publishes Remission of sins to the World , upon those Terms which the Mediator hath declared by his own Doctrine ; but because Remission of sins doth not immediately follow upon the Death of Christ , without supposition of any act on our part , therefore the state of Favour doth commence from the performance of those Conditions that are required of us , &c. And now let the Authority of the Church of England interpose : Art. 31. [ Of the one Oblation of Christ , finished upon the Cross : ] The Offering of Christ once made , is that perfect Redemption , Propitiation and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World , both Original and Actual , and there is none other Satisfaction for sin but that alone . But we shall be soundly pelted with the Fathers , and therefore he cites a great many more from Chrysostom , and from all concludes : That according to the sence of this Holy man , particular Christians are united to Christ by Means of their Union to the Christian Church ; otherwise I cannot understand how our Union to Christ , can be an Argument to Union and Concord among our selves . But if that be the worst on 't , that he cannot understand it , Charity commands me to relieve his labouring understanding : It 's a good Argument , that Children should entirely love one another , because they are Children of the same Father ; and yet for all that , they become not Children to their Father , by means of their Union one to another as Brethren ; but they are therefore Brethren , because they are Children of the same Father . It 's an Argument , that Subjects should study and follow the things that make for Peace among themselves , because they are all Subjects to the same Prince , aud his honour , the strength , and security of his Kingdom , lyes much in it ; and yet their Union among themselves is not the Means whereby they become related to their Prince ; but because they are all Subjects to him , they become fellow-subjects each with other . And now methinks , a very ordinary pair of Brains might have understood , how our Union to Christ is an Argument to Christians to unite amongst themselves , though by their union amongst themselves they had not been united to Christ : And thus he might as well have quoted the Ancient Father Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus , as either Ambrose or Chrysostom ; but that we are all mightily concerned to know , that he reads the Fathers , to very little purpose .

But from hence he will give us a very seasonable word of Exhortation : That they would seriously consider it , who boast of their Union to Christ , and yet rend his Church into a thousand little Factions : I am glad however that they are not great Factions : And I would have them seriously consider it also , who broach such Doctrines , so contrary to the main design of the Gospel , that if owned by any Church , must necessitate an absolute and total separation , if we will be true to Christ . There have been many sad Controversies amongst us , but they have been about Mint , Anise , and Cummin , in comparison of the great and weighty things of the Gospel ; but the Question now must be , Whether Christ be a true and proper High-priest , whether 〈◊〉 death upon the Cross be a proper Sacrifice offer'd unto God , to reconcile him to sinners ? The Question is now , Whether we must hold Communion with God in Prayer or no ? Whether Faith and Repentance will unite us to Christ ? Nay , whether there be any such thing as an Union with Christs Person or no ? Nay , upon the Matter , whether there be a Person of Christ or no ? or that all must not be interpreted into Doctrine , Church , Office , and I cannot tell what ? Some I perceive are hugely afraid , least differences should be accommodated ; they dread The tombe of Controversies almost as much as their Own ; they are more solicitous how Quarrels may live , than about their own Deaths ; and therefore fearing those smaller Bones of Contention would not set the World together by the ears long , they have thrown more considerable ones before us ; to entail Contentions upon Posterity , and propagate Divisions to Eternity . It 's the Interest of some men , to make loud clamours against Divisions , variety of Opinions , difference in Judgements , and yet to take special care that there shall never want matter for them ; to complain of the Fire , and yet pour in Oyl to quench it ; and if they may but warm their own hands , can sing over the flames which they have kindled , and do still foment . It has been the Policy of Rome , to build partition-walls of Separation , and then to rail at all that cannot leap over them ; to thresh the Wheat out of the Floor , and then rage at it for Dividing from the Chaffe ; to beat their Servants out of doors , and then send Huy-and-cry after them , with all the Marks and Descriptions of Run-awayes . Thus far our Author has led us out of the way , and it will be high time to return .

The Fathers may now go to bed , and sleep , our Author will give them no further trouble : Authority is but an inartificial Argument , and now have at us with down-right Demonstration , and Club-law . Those Sacraments our Saviour hath instituted , are a plain demonstration , that our Union with Christ consists in our union with the Christian Church .

1. For Baptism . Baptisme is the Sacrament of our Admission into the Visible Church ; but in Baptisme we make a publick Profession of our Faith in Christ ; Therefore the Union of particular Christians to Christ , is by Means of their Union with the Church . This is that plain Demonstration we are threatned with ; and in a while , if our Author does but eat a dish of Beans and Bacon , it will be a plain Demonstration : In Baptism we make a visible Profession of our Faith in Christ ; and if this Profession be true , such a one as the Church of England requires as prerequisite to Baptism , we are thereby United to Christ antecedently to our Baptism . If Baptism finds us not in Christ , it puts us not into Christ : If it finds us not qualified for a Church state , it makes us not so ; it is a Symbol , but it supposes the thing signified , and conferrs it not : It is a Seal , but presupposes a Covenant : But that we are admitted into the visible Church by it , he will prove ; and indeed he is excellent at proving what none deny ; and very untoward at proving the thing in Question ; but hear his proof ; 1 Cor. 12. 13. By one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body . In which ( says he ) the Apostle seems to allude to Baptism ; which conferres the same Holy Spirit on us All , and thereby makes us all Members of that one Body , which is his Church . I think he is resolved never to produce a pertinent Scripture , to prove the plainest Truth : For , 1. here 's but an Allusion at most ; and has he scolded all this while against Allusions , Allegories , and must he lay the main stress of his Argument upon an Allusion ? 2. It but seems to Allude neither , and that weakens the Credit of it exceedingly : An Allusion , a seeming Allusion ; A shadow , the dream of a shadow : Any thing or Nothing will serve his turn for plain demonstration ; when a Mans Name is up for a demonstrative Man , he may lye in bed till noon . 3. This Baptisme ( says he ) conferres the same Holy Spirit upon us all : But the Apostle sayes no such matter , but the contrary ; by the Spirit we are baptized ; and not by Baptism receive the Spirit : Thus the Spirit Unites us to Christ ; then comes Baptism , which looks backward as a Seal of what we have received , and forward to our visible state in the Church ; and hence it appears , that our Union to Christ , is the Reason of our Union to the Church ; and not our Union to the Church , the Means to unite us to Christ . 4. Baptism admitts not into a particular Church , but the visible Church at large , and then it will be harder still for our Author to prove from thence , that the Union of particular Christians to Christ , is by Means of their union with a particular Church under the Bishops and Pastors : But if Allusions will not pass currant ; Then ( sayes he ) more expressely in Eph. 4. 4 , 5. There is one Body , and one Spirit , as you are called in one hope of your Calling , one Lord , one Faith , one Baptism : That is , the Christian Baptism is but one ; and is A Sacrament of Union ; making us all the Members of that one Body of Christ ; this is called being Baptized into Christ : i. e. Admitted into the Christian Church by a visible Profession of our Faith in Christ : Now for a small matter I could grant him all this , and yet despair of seeing his Conclusion : Baptism is but one ; be it so : It 's a Sacrament of Union ; take it for granted : It makes us all Members of that one Body of Christ , which is his visible Church ; let it be supposed : But still I wait for proof of this , That by Baptism we are all really united to Christ . But here are some things very pretty : 1. Baptism is but one , and is a Sacrament of Union : Very good ; and so is the Spirit but one , and therefore he is the Means of Union . 2. By Baptism we are made Members of the one Body of Christ ; that is , of the Visible Church : but is there no means to make us Members of the Invisible Church ? 3. This is called , being Baptized into Christ . But is there no other way of uniting us to Christ , but by Baptism . 4. We are admitted into the Christian Church by a publick Profession of our Faith in Christ : Very true ; we are solemnly admitted into a Visible Station in the Visible Church , thereby alwayes supposing Repentance , whereby we forsake sin ; and Faith , whereby we steadfastly believe the Promises of God made to us in that Sacrament , which has already united us to Christ .

2. The Lords Supper is a Sacrament of Union , and signifies that neer Conjunction between Christ and Christians : Signifies it ? It presupposes an Union both with Christ , and a particular Church : All are supposed , in one sence or other , to be in the Church , to be in Christ , that are admitted to it : Read over the Exhortation in the Liturgy at your best leisure . My duty is , to exhort you to consider the Dignity of this Mystery . — And so to search and examine your Consciences , that you should come holy and clean , to a most Holy Feast : for otherwise , receiving of the Holy Communion doth nothing else but encrease your Damnation . Again , in the other Exhortation : For as the benefit is great , if with a true penitent heart , and lively Faith , we receive that holy Sacrament , ( for Then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ , and drink his blood , Then we dwell in Christ , and he in us , ) so the danger is great , &c. and therefore , if any of you be a Blasphemer of God , N. B. an hinderer , or a slanderer of his Word , N. B. an Adulterer , or be in Malice , N. B. or Envy , or any other grievous crime , bewail your sins , and come not to this holy Table , least the Devil enter into you , as he did into Iudas . But what can be more evident ? our Author supposes we are united to the Church , united to Christ by Baptism ; and therefore surely this other Sacrament confirms our Union , and does not first Create it .

I have long waited for an Argument to enforce his Conclusion , and now we shall have it : The Intention of our Lord and Saviour in what he did and suffer'd for us , was not to reform and save some single Persons , but to erect a Church , and to combine all his Disciples into a publick Society . A fairer Truth never dropt from his Pen , which some will like the better , because it is so handsom and proper a Confutation of the whole Section : For , if this be Christs design to combine all his Disciples into a publick Society , then sure they were his Disciples , related to him as their Lord and Master before such combination : Now to be a true Disciple of Christ , is no such slighty and trivial matter , that we may be such a one , and yet not united really to Christ : It implyes Self-denyal , taking up the Cross , and following Christ ; and that will go a great way to an Union with Christ ; and yet of such as these it 's granted , the Christian Society must be composed : But he copes up all this with a little Reason : And therefore our Saviour does not own any Relation to particular men , as such , but as they are Members of his Body . As such ? Now for an Explication of the Quà : He owns no Relation to particular men as such ; that is , as particular men : No , I am very well satisfied of that ; for then he should own a Relation to all particular men ; for , à quatenus ad omne valet consequentia : But does he own a Relation to particular Believers , as Believers ? will he own a Relation to a Disciple , as a Disciple ? I am sure he has promis'd to own those , that own them as Disciples ; and I am as sure , that if a particular Church be a combination of Disciples , he will own his Disciples wherever he finds them ; so that I was just a concluding the clear contrary , if our Author had not given me timely Notice , That because Christ does combine all his Disciples into publick Societies , that therefore he does own , and is so related to , united with , and will have a special care of , his Disciples , as they are such : and he has evidenced his owning of them , and care for them ; that he unites them into such Societies , wherein they may mutually discharge all Christian Offices to each other ; edifie one another in Love , and be meet helps to one anothers Salvation . That Christ therefore owns a Relation to particular men , though not as men , but as holy men , is evident , Heb. 2. 11. Both he that sanctifieth , and they that are sanctified , are all of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them Brethren : Nor was he ashamed to own Paul to be a chosen Vessel to himself , upon his particular Conversion , nor to bestow the Holy Ghost upon him , and yet all this before Baptism , before his publick profession of the Christian Religion , and admission into the Visible Church .

At length we are assaulted with a kind of Argument from 1 Iohn 1. 1 , 2 , 3. That which we have seen and heard , declare we unto you , that ye also may have fellowship with us , and truely our fellowship is with the Father , and with his Son Iesus Christ . Here are so many sad misadventures in this one Argument , that I know not where to begin ; and having begun , it will be as difficult to know where to make an end of pointing at them .

1. His Gloss is very Notable : That which we have seen and heard : That is , ( says he ) The whole Doctrine , and History of the Gospel . And thus we have gained one signification more of Christ , that we never heard of before : Christ is now not onely a Doctrine , a Church , an Office , but a History too , and ere long he will cut him short by an Aphaeresis , and and make him a Story .

2. That his Gloss might pass without suspicion , he has concealed the Apostles words , v. 1. That which was from the beginning , which we have heard , and seen with our eyes , which we have looken upon , and our hands have handled of the Word of Life : This was certainly the same Person , of whom the same Apostle , Ioh. 1. 1. affirms , That he was in the beginning with God ; whom being made flesh , he saw , and looked upon with his eyes ; whom he touched with his hands : the same Person who lay in the Bosom of the Father , and manifested that Eternal Life that was in the Father : And yet as he has handled the Matter , it shall be the handling of a History , the handling of a Doctrine . Really the Socinians are well-bred Gentlemen to our Author : for though they contend hotly about the Beginning , in which Christ is said to be , yet they confess it was the Person of Christ who was in the beginning . But ,

3. Our Author has quite lost his Question ; however it gave him the slip , I cannot tell , but gone it is to Iamaica : For the Question was about the Means of our Union to Christ ? and the Answer is , about the Means of our Fellowship with Christ : The Enquiry was , Which way we are related to Christ ? and he answers very gravely , to the Way of our enjoying the Priviledges that flow from that Relation : Alas , if he had but once asked it , we would , for a word of his Mouth , have granted his Petition ; That our Union with a particular Church , is a Means to let us into Communion and Fellowship with Iesus Christ ; to admit us into many glorious Priviledges , and happy advantages , which cannot possibly otherwise be obtained ; only we would say , there must be a previous Union , an antecedent Relation to Christ , as the Foundation of our Enfranchisement in that Church , whereby we are enstated , and installed in all those Priviledges .

4. The Communion we enjoy with the Church , will not prove that we are united to Christ thereby , any more than it will prove , that a Servant becomes related to his Master by Means of his Relation to his Fellow-servants , because they eat , and drink , and work together ; which is no tremendous Demonstration .

5. Those words , That ye may have Fellowship with us , are very ill glossed : That is , become members of the Church of Christ ; for the Apostle writes unto them as Members of the Christian Church actually ; otherwise the whole Epistle is unintelligible : chap. 2. 12. I write unto you little Children , because your sins are forgiven you for his Names sake : I write unto you Fathers , because ye have known him that is from the beginning : I write unto you young men , because ye have overcome the wicked one .

6. Those words , That ye may have fellowship with us , doe not denote , that the Fellowship of particular Believers must of necessity be with the Church immediately , and then with the Father and Christ , at the second hand ; but that the Fellowship of the Apostle and all Believers , is joyntly and equally with the Father , and with Christ : His desire was , that others might enjoy the same Communion with both , that he enjoyed . And now the Reader will easily see the dreadfull Mischief of not stating the Question , and distinguishing its Terms at the first : It was obvious to every Man , ( and I was aware of it ) into what Confusions he would lead us , by the Ambiguity of Church , Union , Means , Communion ; but I resolved he should run his Trundle , and when he had tyred himself in a Labyrinth of Errour , it would be a more seasonable time to talk with him .

His last Argument ( which is therefore the best , because it is last ) is taken from Excommunication .

Now , This ( says he ) is a plain Demonstration : That our Union to Christ , is not an Union to his Person , but consists in the Spiritual communion with the Christian Church : Otherwise this External communion with the Church , could be no visible signification of our Union to Christ ; nor could our Excision from the visible Church , signifie our Separation from him . This is another plain Demonstration , if you will take his word for it . Two things call for our Consideration : 1. What he would prove . 2. How he proves it .

(1) What he would prove : And I assure you , that is grown a great Secret of late : One while he would prove , That our Union with a particular Church , was the means of our Union to Christ ; and within an hour after , he would prove : That our Union with Christ , consists in our union with the Christian Church : And now he will prove ( or it shall cost him a fall ) that our Union to Christ , is not an Union to his Person . And thus here 's another Hare risen up before us , which whilst we pursue , it 's ten to one we shall lose them all . If I might counsel our Author , before I would be Tormented with a Fugitive , Vagabond , Protean Question , that 's never two Hours in one mind , nor ever tarries two Hours in one place , I would clap it in Irons , and Chain it to a Post. For if the Reader will give me Credit in so small a Matter , I verily thought for some while , that he had been Hammering out a Proof ; That our Union to Christ , is by means of our union to the Church . At last , I perceived another Conclusion just Peep out of the shell ; That our Union to Christ , consists in our union with the Church : And all along , I Dream't , that , that Christ about whom the Question was ; He that was the Shepheard , to whom the Sheep are United ; the Husband , to whom the Spause is United ; the King of the Church , to whom all Christians are United ; had been a real , and very Person , and that it had been supposed that Christians are some way or other , United to him ; Only all the Question was , Whether they were so United by Means of the Church , or no ? For if we are not united to Christ at all , it s a needless Enquiry , How , or by what means we are United to him ? Or , wherein that Union consists ? For this takes away the Subject of the Question : What is it then , wherein this Union with Christ consists ? Why , It consists in a sincere and Spirituall communion with the Christian Church . And now the Question must be Trimed over again : Whether our Union with the Church , consists in a sincere communion with the Church ? That is , this Face of the Question will do best in this place ; for I always observe , our Author Writes just from Hand to Mouth ; and if he can but make a Rubbing shift for the present Page , let the next take care for it self .

(2) And now let us hear his plain Demonstration . Otherwise ( says he ) this External communion with the Church , could be no visible signification of our Union to Christ . A notable Argument ( no doubt ) if any Living-body understood it . In the words fore-going , he tells us : He means by Union with Christ , a sincere and Spiritual communion with the Church : And then the old question would have stood thus : Whether our union with a particular Church , be the means of our sincere and spiritual communion with the Church : And if he had thus spoke out , I am assured he had met with no Opposition : But he intended another thing then , and entertain'd new Councels upon new Successes , and greater hopes from atchieved Victories . But still the Reader is Importunate for the Demonstration : Then take it , and make your best on 't : External communion with the Church , is a visible signification of our Union to the Church ; ( that he means by Christ ) and therefore our Union to Christ , consists in a sincere and Spiritual communion with the Christian Church . And if he had told us plainly , that there is no such thing as Union with Christ ; but that the Phrase of Union with Christ is an empty Name , and has no more in it , than union with a Church ; it had been easie to have understood the strength of his Will , and the weakness of his Reason , without half this Circumlocntion .

[ 3. ] His next Observation is ; That the Union between Christ , and the Christian Church , is not a Natural , but a Political Union : That is ( says he ) such an union as is between a Prince and his Subjects . It was but just now , that he told us , That our Union with Christ , is not an union with his Person ; and yet now he will explain the Nature of this Union , between Christ and the Church . And indeed , he has so Bewildred himself , that it needs a great deal of Explication , and I doubt , all will be too little to deliver it from Non-sence : For his Explication must be this : The Union between the Church and the Christian Church , is not a Natural , but a Political Union ; such an union as is between a Prince and his Subjects . Now this has two Faults in it : First , That if it were true , it would Over-turn his whole Design ; which I can be very well content withall . And , Secondly , ( which is the Misery on 't ) its False , and therefore will neither Overthrow , nor Support his Design : And therefore his Interest will lie in this one ●…hing , ( if he could but see it ) to Prove his Assertion to be False , that there may be some hopes left of his conclusion .

( 1. ) As it stands , it apparently Overthrows his whole Design . For if this Politick Union be such a one as is between a Prince , and his Subjects : Then , 1. There is such a thing alive again in the World , as Union with , and Relation to Christs Person : For surely , Subjects are Related to , and united with the Person of their Prince . 2. Then this Union to Christ , denotes Primarily a Relation to , and Union with the Person of Christ ; and only Secondarily , an Union with , and Relation to his Laws and Commands , and the rest of our fellow Subjects . For I think , the Reason why Subjects give Obedience to any Laws , is , because they are the Laws of him who is the Legislator : The Reason why the Sheep are subject to Pastoral Orders , is , because they are the Orders , and Instituted by him who is their Shepheard , and has a right to Enjoyn them : And the Reason why the Wife subjects her self to the Commands of her Husband , is , because she is united to him , upon those Terms in the Marriage-covenant . All Duty is founded in Relation ; It 's impossible to conceive Conjugal Duty , without a Preconception of Conjugal Relation : If therefore such be our Relation to Christ ; such our union to Him ; as of Sheep to Shepheard , Wife to Husband , Subjects to a Prince ; then are we first Related to his Person , and as far as such Relation will Unite , united to his Person ; and then his Negative is blown up : That our Union to Christ is not an union to his Person , but consists in our communion with his Church . Which is , as if he should say , Our Relation to our Prince , is no Relation to his Person ; but consists in our Union to the Common-wealth ; which is a neat Engine to hook in Democracy .

But (2) It s False , which is the worst on 't ; our uuion to Christ is not fully explain'd by a Political union . It 's true , It is not a Natural union ; but yet it 's well Explain'd by , and bears a full Analogy with a Natural union : The Relation is not Natural , but Spiritual ; and yet it has pleased the Holy Ghost to express the Spiritual Relation , by the Natural . The Relation between a Prince and his Subjects , expresses something of that Relation that is between Christ and Believers , but not the whole : All the Similitudes used in Scripture , to Illustrate the Relation between Christ and Christians , have something in common with each other . All imply absolute Soveraignty , and Authority , contempered with tenderness of Affection on Christs part ; and all imply an absolute Subjection to be given to Him , with delight and complacency on our parts ; yet some of them express a nearer union , and more endeared Affections than others : That of a Master , Lord , and King , express Authority , and Power , yet not that Intimacy , and union , which is expressed by that of Husband , and Wife : That of a King , implies Christ to be a Head of Government ; but that of the Head in the Natural Body , implies the Communications of Grace , of Strength , Counsel , and Power to Obey ; and withal , that there 's such an Intimate union between Christ and true Believers , that the Members in the Natural are not more ( though in another way ) united to the Head , and one to another , than Christ and Christians are in this , which may be called a Mystical union ; for Christ and Believers are hereupon called , One Christ , 1 Cor. 12. 12. As the Body is one , and hath many Members , even so is Christ : That is , so is the Lord Christ and his Church . When therefore ( he says ) That Christ is called a Head , and the Church his Body ; a Husband , and the Church his Spouse ; which two Metaphors signifie the same thing , and are both of them Names of Power and Authority : It is something of the Truth , but not the whole Truth , nor nothing else but the Truth . Something of truth there is in it : Christs Headship , denotes Authority : But then it 's not the entire Truth : Christs Headship denotes more than bare Authority : And then there 's something more than the Truth : Those two Metaphors do not denote the same thing : That of the Husband over the Wife , denotes Power mixed , and sweetly tempered with Love , and Pity : But that of the Head over the Members , denotes a continual Influx of all saving Grace into his Members . I wish therefore , he would leave Trifling with his Hackney Fallacy ; That because Christ is a Head of Authority , He is not an Head of Influence : For he that can assert , that the Union and Relation between Christ and Christians , has no Spiritual correspondency with a Natural Union ; ( which yet is Explicated by it ) may when he sees his own time , deny , That the Union between Christ and Christians , has any Analogi●…with a Political union , though he has ( Pro hâc vice ) Explicated the Union by it .

There is one thing more , wherein our Author shows himself a great Divine , and a mighty Statesman ; for the very sound of Political Union , is enough to Inspire a Man that is prepared for such Impulses . Our Union to Christ ( says he ) consists in our Belief of his Revelations , Obedience to his Laws , and Subjection to his Authority : As Obedience to our Prince , is the strongest Bond of a Political Union , which is Dissolved and Broken by Rebellion and Disobedience . But this is neither truly Asserted , nor wisely Explained . 1. Not truly asserted : For our Union to Christ , does not consist in that Obedience , which we give him as our Lord , our Shepheard , our Husband ; but in that Act of Obedience whereby at first we take him for our Lord , Shepheard , and Husband ; and give up our selves sincerely to him again , to be his Sheep , Subjects , Spouse . 2. Nor wisely Explicated : For if Relation to a Prince , does formally consist in Obedience , and that Union be dissolved by Rebellion ; then whenever a Rebel shakes hands with Actual subjection , he absolves himself from the duty to Obey , which would save the horrible Charges of the Popes Bull. Our Author has acquainted the World with a very fine way , how to live a Traytor Twenty years , and yet never commit but one single sin at first , but all the after acts will be Regular : For if Rebellion dissolve , and break in pieces the Union between Prince and Subject , then he ceases any longer to be a Subject ; and by consequence whatever sins he commits , must be called by other Names , for it can be no Rebellion : When the Relation ceases , Duty ceases ; Obedience is a conserving cause of Union , but the Union lies not in it : He that does not perform his Duty , yet is under an Obligation to perform his Duty ; the Union continues , though many acts unsuitable to the Union are committed . But should we be so charitable as to grant him all this , he will be weary on 't in a while ; as little Children , that make a heavy and piteous moan for a Gewgaw , and when they have it , throw it away .

Thus after all his Rodomontade , That this Union is a Political union , such as is between Prince , and Subjects ; as if his Book could never have been Licensed , if he had talk'd of any thing below Crowns and Diadems , and the Roman Empire : Yet pag. 162. he tells us , That God has laid aside , in a great Measure , that severe Name of a King , and calls himself our Father , to signifie that Liberty we enjoy under the Gospel , in Opposition to the Bondage , and Servitude of the Law of Moses . Well , whatever opinion he has of Monarchy , the severity of it's Name , the Bondage and Servitude that it brings Men under ; I know many , who if they might choose , had rather come under that severe Name of King , as to their Religious concerns , than feel the more smooth , and Debonair Treatment , of some Spiritual Fathers .

It 's very Tiresome to Travel out of the way , for the further we go on , the further we have to come back ; and yet thus has our Author seduced his Reader , but now we shall come to a vein of Matter ; for having reduced all the benefit Believers have from Christ as their Head , to Political Government , there is but one thing more , which if he can cleverly compass , the day is his own ; and this is to strip Christ of that little Power and Authority he had left him : To this end we must observe further : That though Christ be our Lord and Governour , he does not Govern us immediately by Himself , for he is Ascended into Heaven , where he powerfully Intercedes for his Church , and by a Vigilent Providence , superintends the affairs of it ; but he has left the Visible and External conduct and Government of it , to Bishops and Pastors , who preside in his Name , and by his Authority . To which I answer :

1. That Christs committing the External conduct of his Churches to his own Officers , may very well consist with his own Internal and Invisible conduct of his Peoples Souls , and their Spiritual concerns .

2. Whatever Authority Christ has vested his Officers with , he has Devested himself of none , he continues sole Head of the Church still ; All Power is committed to him in Heaven , and in Earth : And though there are some that would ease him of the Trouble , yet I have not heard that he has laid down his Commission , nor taken any into joynt Commission with himself .

3. Christ has given an Authority in the Churches to all his own Officers , but he has not given to any of them his Authority : And indeed , unless he could Communicate to them his Power , as well as his Authority , it would signifie little . But , I hope , they know their places better than so ; they are Servants of Jesus Christ , tied up to their Instructions , as all Ambassadors are , though they come in the Name of their Prince ; and their Commission runs , to teach us to Observe whatsoever Christ has Commanded in the Scripture .

4. As to the External Conduct of the Church , Christ has left it as much to Princes , as to Bishops , and more ; for several Reasons that I know of , but one is this : That every Supreme Magistrate is next and immediately under Christ , Supreme Head and Governour of the Church , within his own Dominions . Well , but what Reason does he favour us with ? Why Christ doth not immediately Govern us Himself .

1. He is ascended into Heaven : Well : Yet he knows how to be present with all and every one of his , to the end of the World : And , Where two or three meet together in his Name , he will be in the midst of them : He has sent Vicariam vim Spiritus sancti , who does Manage for him a Spiritual Government in the Souls of all the Elect : And since I have named two such dangerous words , as Sanctification , and Election , I had best bethink my self of good Security ; and that I have from the Church Catechism . Quest. What dost thou learn chiefly in these Articles of thy Belief ? Answ. — I learn to believe in God the Holy Ghost , who Sanctifieth me , and all the Elect People of God .

2. He powerfully Intercedes for his Church . Why sure Intercession with the Father , is not Inconsistent with immediate Rule and Government over his Saints . But ,

3. By his vigilant Providence , he Superintends all the Affairs of it : Why then he Governs it : Nay , Soft a-while : He will allow Christ a Transmarine Superintendency , but no proper Episcopal Iurisdiction : That is , he may be a Spectator , or a By-stander , and look on to see how Squares go , but must not meddle with the Immediate Government of us ; for he has put that out of his Hands , and left it to the Bishops and Pastors : Which I confess , is the worst News that I have heard this Seven years . But now for the Conclusion : This is ( says he ) a plain Demonstration , That the Union of particular Christians to Christ , is by union with the Christian Church . Shortly , If our Author does but give a grave Nod , it will amount to a Demonstration ; but if he should please to give a Lusty Hum , it will be a plain Demonstration : Though others are so perverse , they will not own it for a probable Conjecture ; for the Spiritual subjection of the Soul and Conscience , is immediately to Christ : As the Emperour once said , Non tibi sed Petro ; so may every Christian , Non tibi sed Christo. Whatever Command the Officers of Christ bring us in his Name , their Commission is Patent , and we must search the Scriptures to see whether it be so or no ; if it carrys the Signature of Christs Authority , we Obey him in hearing them ; and if they have , or pretend to have any private Instructions , or Cabala , we may fairly demur to them , or bring a Quo Warranto against them .

And now at last , he will leave his Imperious Dictates , and come to Disputation : If our Union to Christ , consist in our Subjection to him as our Lord and Master , Head and Husband , it follows that we cannot be United to Christ , ( that is , cannot own his Authority ) till we Unite our selves to the publick Societies of Christians . But the former is true . Ergo , &c. To the Consequence of the former Proposition , all I say , is , It 's Feeble and very Sick . Our union to Christ may consist in our subjection to him as King , Lord , and Husband , and yet we may be united to him thus , before our Actual union to a particular Society . Well , he will prove it thus : This Authority of Christ is not Exercised immediately by Himself , but by the Bishops , and Pastours of the Church . To which I return :

1. If he means that only Christ exercises not a Visible Authority by himself , but by the Guides and Pastors of the Church , it may be true ; but then it will prove no more than this . That we are visible Professors of Christs Name , by our Uniting to a particular Church , under the Guides and Officers thereof , which is not the thing in Question .

2. If he means that Christ exercises not any inward Authority over the Soul , immediately by Himself ; I must return to my former Answer , which is a peremptory denial .

3. Whether this Authority be exercised immediately by Christ , or not ? Our Union with Christ may be immediate : For our acceptation of Christ as Lord , King , and Husband , is the Bond of our Union , and the Exercise of all Authority of a Superiour in those Relations , must still of necessity presuppose the Union , and Relation . But as to our Antecedent : That our Union to Christ , consists in our Subjection to him as our Lord , Head , and Husband : Which is very true , of that Act of Subjection whereby at first we accept of him to be all these to us , and give up our selves to be all the other to him ; but very false of those subsequent Acts of Obedience which flow from , but do not Constitute the Relation : And therefore it was prudently done , to Explain Union to Christ , by owning his Authority . For however it be false , yet every one will not spie that , who Rides on a Trotting Horse ; and it will serve to make a Semblance of saying something . It 's true , we cannot own Christs Authority , if we Derogate from his Commands ; but yet our union with Christ , and our relation to him ▪ must precede our owning his Authority over us . And for this , our Author has fitted us with a Similitude , which may befriend Us as well as it's owner . As no man can be said to submit himself to his Prince , who denies Subjection to Subordinate Magistrates , who Act by his Commission : For the union of Bodies Politick , consists in Order and Government , when all the Members keep their proper places , and are knit together by a faithful Discharge of their Duties . I could not hope for more Weakness in an Adversary , than I shall be sure to find in this Similitude .

First , None can be said to submit to his Prince , who denies Subjection to Subordinate Magistrates : And thus none can be said to submit himself to Christ , who denies Obedience to his Officers , who act in his Name .

Secondly , As Submission to Subordinate Magistrates , is not that wherein our Relation to our Prince con●…ists , but an effect of it ; so a due subjection to our spiritual Guides , is not that wherein our Union to Christ consists , but a Consequent of it : We first owe a subjection to Christ , and from thence to them who Command us in his Name . Thus the Apostle , 2 Cor. 8. 5. They first gave themselves to the Lord , and to us , by the Will of God .

Thirdly , No man can be said to Submit , who Rebels . ( A weighty truth : ) But he may be said to owe submission , though he rebells : His Prince has not lost his right to Command , though he ( like a Villain ) want●… Grace to Obey .

Fourthly , It 's very Childish , and spoken like a Green headed Statesman , That the union of Bodies Politick , consists in Order and Government . For , Order and Government , are for the preservation of the Union , and not the first union of these Bodies Politick . The union of Prince and People , consists in their first relation to one another as such ; and the exercise of Government , is to secure that union , and the advantages of it : If union consists in Order and Government , then Disorder and ill Government would dissolve the union , and relation , and by consequence discharge all Subjects from a Conscience of their Duty ; which is very dangerous Doctrine , and a wide Gap to all Rebellion : What a pitiful plight were Princes in , if the Foundations of Government , the Essential reasons of the Peoples subjection , were to be Discanted upon by every Churchman . The Childs relation to his Father , does not consist in his filial Obedience , but is the reason of it : The Subjects relation to his Prince , does not consist in Subjection , but is the true Ground of it : The Wife , her relation to her Husband , does not consist in her submission to her Husband , but is the Spring of it : A disobedient Child is a Child still , he cannot shake off the relation ; a rebellious person , though he deserves not the honourable Title of a Subject , yet he is a Subject , and cannot put off that relation : An untoward Wife , is a Wife still ; and every act , nay , many acts of Disobedience cannot dissolve the Copula : For otherwise , the way to be rid of a relation , would be to Violate the Duties of it ; and then all future Disobedience would be no sin : Because , when the union is once Null , and the relation dissolved , there 's no Foundation upon which the Superiour can build a claim to Duty ; and this would be a short Cut , and save abundance of time and Charges , in sueing out a Divorce : For , let but the Wife disobey , and the union which consists in Obedience , Vanishes .

A little Divertisment will now be seasonable , both for our Author and his Readers ; and therefore he will give us a plain Account of the only cause that can justifie Separation . In the mean time it seems , there is a Cause , though but one only Cause that will justifie it ; and separation will not always argue S●…hism : And now all you that would know the one , the only one Cause in all the World , that can justifie a Separation from a true Church , draw near and give your attention .

1. When any Church prevaricates in the Laws of Christ . Prevaricates ? How many thousands of Schismaticks will shrowd themselves under the Covert of that one Word ? He has opened a Gate , at which three Coachful of Separatists , may Drive all-a-Brest . If then a Church shall pretend to give us the Laws of Christ in Scriptis , ( such was the Knavery of a Cardinal in the Consistory , before the Conventicle of Trent ) and yet by Preaching and Practice , destroy those very Laws , or the Ends of them ; if the Church of Rome shall talk Big words of Holy Mother Church , and yet embrace in her arms as her Children , the vilest Varlets , and shut out none but the Good , unless now and then an old Fornicator , or some such like Vermine , that want Money to Buy off , or Commute for Penance ; this is an unworthy Prevarication , and if it shall certainly appear , will justifie a separation .

2. When it corrupts Religion : And this will go a great way ( I promise you ) in some particular Churches . Corruption may be by Addition , Substraction , Multiplication , or Division : The end of the Keys may be perverted , those shut out whom Christ would receive : and they admitted whom Christ would exclude : It may strike with the back of the spiritual Sword when it should use the edge , and wound with the edge when it should sleep in the Scabbard ; Christs Religion may be corrupted by mingling our own inventions , with this pure and plain institutions : and then we have a cause , or a piece of a cause that paves our way for separation , as broad as that by which Israel departed out of Egypt , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 five in a rank .

3. When it undermines the fundamental design of Religion which is to make men good , and vertuoùs . So that though they do not openly assault it by battery , and escalado , yet if they shall secretly undermine Godliness , by denying the office of the holy spirit in Creating men to good , and vertuous works , and teach men to trust to their own natural strength , and shall craftily oppose the Doctrine of the Scriptures and the Church of England : That the condition of man after the fall is such , that he cannot turn by his own natural strength , without the Grace of God preventing him , that he may have a good will : or if they shall disown the satisfaction of Christs death upon the cross to Gods holiness , and his justice founded thereon , which is the bottom of our return to God and of our holy walking with him , why then farewell ! as far as the shooes of the Gospel will carry you .

4. When we cannot obey our spiritual rulers without disobeying the Laws of Christ : when Christs commands , and they forbid ; when he forbids , and they command ; then we have our pasport to be gone , and travel to the utmost ends of the Earth : These are those four things , all in one that will justifie a separation from a particular society , and if our Authour would preach this Doctrine to his Parishoners , he might leave it to them to make the Application .

But now on the otherside , if the Church we live in acknowledges the Authority , and submits to the Laws of Christ , we are bound to live in Communion with it . Very true , but not true for our Authors Reason , because this Unites us to Christ , which is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but go on ! when nothing is made the condition of our Communion , which is expressely forbidden by the Laws of the supreme Lord , we acknowledge his Authority in our subjection to our spiritual guides . Now here are many things might be opposed .

1. Let it be considered whether an implicite prohibition from the supreme Lord be not sufficient to make a condition of Communion unlawful ? and I cannot but wonder that our Authour in this case is all for an expresse prohibition , when perhaps that may signifie a Command if he follows but his own rule , not to interpret phrases by the sound of words . But ,

2. In submitting to such conditions of Communion as are not expressely forbidden , the Question is , whether herein we submit to Christs authority ? and this I confesse I stick at : And the Reason of my doubtful hesitation is this . Because it supposes an acknowledgment of Christs Authority , where he has not interposed his Authority : supposes him to speak , where he is silent , and to Command obedience where he commands nothing ; nay where he has forbidden , though not expressely forbidden that condition : Now as I am not bound to obey an inferiour Magistrate , unlesse his particular command be warranted by his Commission , though it be not forbidden in his Commission ▪ so it seems I am not bound to Obey a particular Church , in a particular imposed condition , if not authorised by Christs instructions , though it be not forbidden there , at least no such refusal of obedience can be interpreted to be a disowning of Christs Authority , because he is supposed to have determined neither Pro nor Con. If we turn back to p. 164. Our Authour has these words : No man can be said to submit himself to his prince , who denies subjection to those subordinate Magistrates who act by his Commission : so no man can be said to resist his Prince who gives subjection to all inferiour officers in all things wherein they act by his Commission ; for he may passe for a very tolerable good Subject who does all things that are commanded him , so in this case ; no man can be said to Obey Christ who denies subjection to the Pastors of the Church who act according to their instructions from the supreme Lord of the Church : nor any be said to resist Christs authority , though they refuse complyance in those things to the Officers of the Church , wherein they act besides their Commission . But let us a while wholly set aside the consideration of the lawfulness or unlawfullness of these new conditions of Communion : yet still me thinks there 's a great deal of disingenuity in the Pastors of a Church , to make new Terms of Communion with them , for if it be so necessary as is pretended , to our Union with Christ , that we be United to the Church : and then again so necessary to our Salvation to be United to Christ : and then further so necessary to our Union with the Church , to submit to those conditions that the Pastors shall appoint , every new condition is a Bar to , and a Clog upon our Salvation . We must come up to the condition e're we can be United to the Church , and we must be United to the Church , e're we can be United to Christ , and we must be United to Christ , e're we can be saved : That condition therefore how small soever it be in it self , how indifferent soever in its own Nature is thereby made necessary to Salvation , because indispensably required to that which is so : Now I will not clamour , and make a noise at this as an evil thing , but yet methinks it does not look as if it had over much good Nature in 't , for a Church to deal thus with the people . The Church received a Religion from Christ at first , that had no incumbrance upon it , and that the Church should leave it deeplyer engaged than she found it , I think is not very handsome : if the Church found the door wide open ; why does shee set it on half-charrs : when she could march in with a full body , why should others be forced to crowd in and wedge themselves through a narrow wicket sidelings ? why should the Pastors bind heavy burdens on others fhoulders , when Christ laid none upon theirs ? or why should they raise the Markets so high in the latter age , when they had it so cheap in the primitive times ? It was a good plain saying of King Iames to the pragmatical Spalatensis , when he would be new modelling affairs at Winsor . Extraneus es ! Relinque res sicut eas invenisti . Come Reader , there 's no false Latine in 't , had former Ages heard and taken the advice , we could have been content with the Primitive light , though we had wanted sumptuous Candlesticks ; the power of Religion , had made amends for its plainnesse ; and golden Officers , recompensed woodden chalices : Thus far at our Authors invitation we have step't out of the way , and are now ready to return with him into it .

The next thing considerable wherein he ingages , is a description of the New nature , whereof the Holy Ghost makes frequent mention , as that from which all new Obedience must proceed .

This New Nature , ( says he ) the Scripture represents under several Notions .

1. By the subjection of our minds and Spirits to Christ . 2. By a participation of the same Nature , which is the necessary effect of the subjection of our minds to him .

If a man would study to be cross all his days , and resolve to trade in no figure but Hysteron Proteron , he might hardly hope to equalize our Author in this discourse . For ,

1. What subjection of mind , and Spirit , can be given to Christ , without a new Nature , from whence that Act of subjection should proceed ? the most inward Acts of Obedience are yet but Acts : the most spiritual and refined workings of the soul are still but works , and have alwayes for their root and principal , a good and an honest ; a new , and a renewed heart and Nature . Thus we see 't is in Nature : there must be a principle of motion , before there can be natural motion , all the rest is violent , and against the hair . And this order our Saviour has described in the most plain , and familiar way to gratifie our understandings that they could desire . Math. 12. 33. Either make the tree good and the fruit good ; or the evil and the fruit evil , and Math. 7. 17. 18. Do men gather Grapes of thornes , or Figs of Thistles . Even so every good Tree bringeth forth good Fruit , and a corrupt Tree brings forth evil fruit : But our Authour has found out a way called Transmutation of species : to make a Thorn become a Vine , and to Transubstantiate a Thistle into a Figtree : I know the Reader has a grudging of the old curiosity to see the experiment : The operation therefore is this , teach a Thistle to produce Figs for one seven years , and you shall see it become as very a Fig-tree as any is in the world , thus let the natural and unregenerate man perform multiplyed Acts of the best obedience he can , and without any efficacious working of the Holy Ghost he shal acquire a new heart , which I shall believe at the same time , when I see a thousand Cyphers give themselves the significancy of one figure . Our Blessed Saviour has long ago determined this to our hand . John 3. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh . Let the Egyptian Pollinctors practise upon it , let them sweeten perfume , and season it with the spicery of India , and all the balm of Gilead , it will be but flesh still , all its operations carnal .

2. It will be of good use in this matter to enquire , wherein lay the Image of God in Adam , what relation it had to his obedience , and thence perhaps we may get some light what order the Image of God in us observes : That it mainly consists in righteousness and true holinesse , no man can doubt that reads the Apostles description , Eph. 4. 24. but now it is evident that Adam did not procure this Image of God , by repeated Acts of obedience , it was not the result of many particular duties , it was no acquired habit , but it was concreated with him , as a condition due and meet for a Creature made to such sublime , and glorious ends as the enjoyment of his God , and from this Nature , this Image of God , proceeded all that Obedience which he payed , all that which God required , and accepted . And if this be so , it 's evident that all who are renewed , who are born again , who are Created unto good works go through the same method . So the Apostle Col. 3. 10. And have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him , that Created him : The order of Gods working is conformable to his promise , we may be sure he will do both what , and how he has promised , Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart also will I give you , and a new Spirit will I put within you , and I will take away the stony heart out of your Flesh , and give you an heart of Flesh ; and I will put my Spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my Statutes , and ye shall keep my judgments , and do them : where the order and method of God in this great work is laid down , with such a convincing evidence that he must have no eyes or shut those he has who does not see it . And ,

1. God promises that he will remove the great principle of resistance , that which makes head , and opposition to the Commands of God : the stony , hard , inflexible-Heart .

2 , That he will bestow another , a better , a new heart , a soft Spirit , a heart of Flesh : that may comply and close in with Gods Commands .

3. That from this new heart , all new obedience , all service acceptable to God must proceed as from its spring or root . I will put my Spirit into you , and cause you to walk in my Statutes , and ye shall keep my judgments ,

4. That all obedience , inward and outward obedience : keeping the Commandements of God with the heart , and doing them in the practice of our lives , yet all must proceed from this new heart , this new Spirit , which God promised , to put within them .

But he comes to close Argument , we are exhorted that the same mind be in us that was in Christ , Phil. 2. 5. And to be his disciples is to learn of him , who was meek , and lowly in spirit , Math. 11. 29. We question not that , it s our duty to imitate Christ ; to copy out all his imitable excellencies , and if he can prove that we can do this , viz. imitate Christ in Acts of self denyal , taking up the Crosse , bearing reproach , forgiving enemies , without a better heart , and Nature , than we brought into the world with us , he will then begin to speak to the purpose : But ( says our Authour ) Christ transcribed his own nature into his Laws , and therefore a sincere obedience to his Laws is a conformity to his Nature , To which I answer ,

1. He that transcribed his Nature into his own Laws , must yet transcribe it once more , even into the heart of a son of Adam , e're he can give to him that new Obedience which is acceptable to him : It was not enough that God wrote his Lawes in Stone , unless they be written upon the Tables of the heart with the finger of God .

2. Obedience to the Laws of Christ does increase our conformity to the Nature of Christ , but still there must be a renewed heart and Nature , upon which all progressive conformity to Christ in obedience must proceed .

3. Transcribing of Christs Nature into his Lawes is a Metaphorical expression , which our Authour may explain how he pleases , but I observe alwayes , when he can cloath an Argument with Metaphors , he is then secure : yet still he presses upon ▪ us from , Rom. 8. 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his . That is ( says he ) Unlesse he have the same Temper , and disposition of mind that Christ had : Now let the Reader look well about him , and he shall see rare sights : we do all remember that to be United to Christ , or to be one of Christs , signifie to be United to a particular Church : And now we are told : That by having the Spirit of Christ , is meant being of the same temper and disposition : and now from hence we have these consectaries .

1. That if any man be not of the same Temper with Christ , that is be not holy , as he is holy : he cannot be United to a particular Church : And our Saviour has vouched for it , John 3. 5. Except a man be regenerate and born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God . We must be like minded with Christ , and thereby become one of his : and what is now become of the great Proposition that has filled so many pages . That the only means of Uniting as to Christ is by our Union with a particular Church .

2. He tells us that Union to Christ is described by having the Spirit : and then having the Spirit is interpreted by being of the same Temper with Christ : so now we have got another Doctrine : That our Union to Christ consists in being of the same Temper , and disposition with him . But ,

3. We have here an excellent expedient to discharge the World both of the Person of Christ , and of the Spirit too : For as he can interpret Christs Person into Doctrine , office Church , Religion , Bishops , Baptism ; so he has interpreted the Spirit into Temper , disposition ; and when an exigency calls for it , he may explicate it by a strong wind , or a vapour , and then his work is done . But ,

3. For the explicating of the new Nature , he tells us there is a closer Union which results from this , which consists in a mutual , and reciprocal love , which I am glad of , amongst other Reasons for this ; that now it will be lawfull to Love Christ , without persecution , provided alwayes we do not over love him , nor be passionately in love with him : but yet there are a few inconveniences which attend this explication . For ,

1. If we be United , and closely United to Christ by Love , then a Political Union , is not the onely one betwixt Christ and Christians . And ,

2. Then it seems ( for all the sorrow ) a Christian may be United to Christ without being United to a particular Church : for we therefore love Christians because we love Christ , and are taken with the imperfect holiness which is copied out into their Natures , and lives , because we are surprized first with a delightful admiration of Him who is the grand exemplar of all perfect Holinesse , 1 John 5. 1. He that loveth him that begat , loveth him also that is begotten of him . 3. Why may not this Union with Christ signifie an Union with the Church as well as the other ? and then to love Christ signifies no more than to love his Church , and so we are but where we were .

4. It s very strange , that our Love should result from our obedience , and subjection , whereas its hard to conceive how the soul should give subjection without Love , and if it should give any , a forced subjection without its principle of Love , would find as cold a well-come in Christs heart , as that cold heart it came from : our Saviour had described obedience as the result of love . John 14. 15. If ye Love me keep my Commandements . No ( says our Authour ) keep my Commandements , and then you will fall in Love with me : but let him give light to his own Notions : when we are transformed into the Image of Christ , he loves Us as being like him ; and we love him too , as partaking of his Nature . He loves us , as the price of his blood , as his own workmanship created to good works , and we love him , as our Saviour , and Redeemer , now love is the great Cement of Union which unites interest , and thereby does more firmly unite hearts . It is not then quite so bad as was pretended , to Love the Lord Jesus Christ , provided we have but our Authours license to love him : but now the Question will be this : whether our Union to Christ consists in a mutual and reciprocal love ? And if our Authour ▪ had been judge a little while since , he would have resolved it in the Negative , That our Union to Christ consists in our Union to a particular Church : and that it is a political union , such a one as is between Prince , and Subject , and consists in a belief of his revelations , obedience to his Laws , and subjection to his Authority . I shall only note a few things , and dismisse it .

1. That there is a love of Benevolence and good Will , a designing , purposing love in Christ towards us , before we bear his Image and Superscription : this love he bears towards those that are unlike him , Rom. 5 ▪ 8. God Commendeth his love to us , that when we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us : verse 10. When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son .

2. There must of necessity be the intervention of an Union , a likenesse , a Conformity of Natures , before there can be supposed a love of mutual complacency , and reciprocal delight in each other , for this love , this delight , must have something to work upon . As there must be a Conjugal Relation , before the Husband can take delight in his Wife , as his Wife ; and the Wife in her Husband as her Husband .

3. That this love of good will in Christ , is the Original Reason of our transformation into the Image of Christ ; whereby we become meet objects for that other love of Complacency .

4. It s true that we love him , as partaking of his Nature ; but then it s also as true that those Acts of love to , and delight in Christ , proceed from that New Nature which we derive from him .

5. The Love wherewith Christ Loves us , as the price of his blood , is a differing love from that wherewith he loves us as his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to good works .

6. I rejoyce however that we are owned to be Christs workmanship Created to good works : which it were not so , we had more reason to love our selves , to admire and deifie our own natural Abilities , which effected that glorious workmanship : And I see of late our Authour , takes to the Church Catechism ; which had he attended to in time , had saved him half the Labour of his Book : - My good Child ! know that thou art not able to do these things of thy self ( to love God , to believe in him , to fear him , with all thy heart with all thy mind , withal thy strength , to worship him to give him thankes to put thy whole Trust in him , &c. ) nor to walk in the Commandements of God and serve him without his special Grace , which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer .

7. The more we exercise our selves in the Love of Christ , the more like him we grow ; and the stronger bonds are layd upon our Souls , to maintain the Union inviolable ; but still there must precede an Union , which is the true Foundation of the Exercise of this Love of Delight and mutual Complacency . Ay but ( says he ) Love is the great Cement of Union , which unites Interests , and thereby more firmly unites hearts . Let him call it the Cement , or the Soder , or the Glew , it 's all one to me ; I conceive that Interest is the Cement of Love , and not Love the Cement of Interest : Men love because it 's their Interest so to doe ; but whether that Love that flutters up and down the world , a thing so unstable and desultory that we cannot tell where to have it , be a fit Pattern for the heigths , and lengths , and depths , and breadth of the Love of Christ , ora just Measure of it , I very much question .

Many things we meet with that are full of delight , but one may take a Surfeit of Sweet-meats , and therefore I shall onely trouble the Reader with his Concluding Argument , taken from the Sacraments : Which are ( says he ) the Instruments and Symbols of our Union with Christ . And if by Christ he understands the Church , it 's not worth the while to make a Controversie on 't ; we will grant , That Union with the Church consists in Union with it ; and the surest Means to be United to the Church , is to be United to it ; and this way seldom fails : But if he had a mind to conclude something else , he had done like a Neighbour to have informed us ; for I must needs confess , I am in the dark : But yet we shall not lose all our labour : For these Sacraments represent both our external and real Union with him . And it 's worth all our pains and patience , to hear one of his Lectures upon this Subject :

First , for our External Union ; Baptism is a publick Profession of the Christian Religion , that we believe the Gospel , own his Authority , and submit to his Government :

Secondly , These Sacraments signifie our Reall Union to Christ : Thus Baptism signifies our Profession of becoming New men , our profession of Conformity to Christ in his Death and Resurrection . Now look how much Conformity to Christs Death and Resurrection , is better than owning his Authority , and submitting to his Government , just so much is our Real Union , better than our external , which if one so exactly versed in the essential differences of things as our Author ▪ had not told us other wise , ordinary Capacities had judged to be both one : That little advantage there is , the External Union carries it : For as to our External Union , Baptism ( he tells us ) is a Profession of it ; but as to our Real Union , Baptism onely signifies a profession of it ; and then it will be somewhat better to make a Profession of submission to Christs Government , than to make a signification of a Profession of Conformity to his Death . I shall therefore rather acquiesce in the Judgement of the Catechism about the Signification of Baptism , than in our Authors ; which makes this Question : What is the inward and spiritual Grace ? Ans. A death unto sin , and a New Birth unto Righteousness ; for being by Nature born in sin , and the children of wrath , we are hereby made the children of Grace .

[4] His last , and most famous Observation is : That Fellowship and Communion with God signifies , what he calls a Political Union : And would we knew what that was : why it is this : To be in fellowship with God and Christ signifies to be of that Society which puts us into a peculiar Relation to God ; that God is our Father , and we his Children , that Christ is our Head and Husband , and Lord , and Master ; and we his Disciples , and followers , his Spouse , and Body . It 's below the generosity of the Eagle , to catch Flies ; an Employment more suitable to the impertinent humour of Domitian ; and therefore it may be expected , that our Author should scorn to play so mean a Game , as to impose upon our weakness with the Ambiguity of a poor word . [ To be in Fellowship , ] carries a sound to a mere English Ear very like to [ Union , ] but if we examine either the Synonymous word [ Communion , ] or the Greek words , [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] which are rendred Fellowship and Communion ; and how those words are used in Scripture , we may abundantly satisfie our selves , that they signifie something very distinct from , Union or Relation . Fellowship , and Communion , are words of the same import ; and the Greek 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is indifferently render'd by either of them : 1 Ioh. 1. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : And truely our Fellowship , &c. And v. 6. If we say , that we have fellowship with him . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : 2 Cor. 3. 14. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : The Communion of the Holy Ghost ; and the Greek word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is once translated Fellowship : 2 Cor. 6. 14. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; For what Fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? Now , what the general Nature of Fellowship , Communion , or Participation , and Communication , is ; the Apostle will clear up to us , Phil. 4. 15. Now ye Philippians know ; That no Church communicated with me , as concerning Giving , and Receiving , but ye onely ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; which he explains , ( if there be need of that , ) v. 16. Ye sent once and again unto my necessity . Communion therefore , or Communication , is the Mutual bestowing of those good things which are in each others power , grounded upon some Union , and Relation between the Parties . And this is more fully expressed by that Scripture phrase , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : To have , hold , exercise , or maintain Communion , or Communication of all those good things which may be expected from each other in a Relation : 1 Ioh. 1. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . I must profess my self therefore wholly dissatisfied with our Authors New Notion of Communion , That it signifies the same thing with Union : That 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , are Terms adequately Measuring each other : There must be first a Relation , before there can be a communicating of those good things which presuppose the Relation . Thus the Love of a Father to his Child , his Care over him , his Bounty to him , is founded in his Relation to him , as his Son ; and the Childs filial Love , Duty , Fear , are all b●…tomed upon the Relation which he holds to his Father . Thus we conceive first a Real Union between the Head and the Members , before we can conceive the Head should communicate spirits to all the parts , to quicken them to Motion . And this the Apostle expresses , Col. 2. 19. That they who do not , Hold the Head , [ that are not united to Christ , ] can never receive from him those supplies , or Communications of Spiritual Nourishment , that they may encrease with the encrease of God . And thus must there be an Union between the Husband and the Wife , before there can be a Communication of what is in each others power : That is , they must give what they are , before they can give what they have : And this Order and Method is well observed in the Liturgy , ( though our Author is pleased to make himself very merry with it ) where the Man first takes the Woman to be his wedded Wife ; and then assigns , or makes over what he has to her Use ; with all my worldly Goods I thee endow : For he that gives Himself , will never stick at a'l the Rest. And thus the first thing that God gives to his in Covenant , is Himself : Heb. 8. 10. I will be their God ; and then follows the Communication of all his Covenant Mercies . v. 12. I will be mercifull to their Iniquities , and remember their sins no more : And in the same Order the Soul proceeds in its Restipulation with God : 2 Cor. 8. 5. First gave their ●…wn selves to the Lord . Now as the Union , or Relation is for kind , so also are the Communications that flow from , or follow upon the Relation and Union . If the Union be a more general Union , the Relation a more common Relation , the Communications in due proportion will be more general , and Common ; we are Related to all men , none are so remote , but they are our Neighbours ; but yet we have a more special and peculiar Relation to all Christians : And hence is it , that the Apostle apportions out to us , the Nature of those good things that we ought to commuicate to both , Gal. 6. 10. Doe good to all , but especially to them that are of the houshold of Faith . The great God as Creator , is Related to all ; and therefore does good to all . Psal. 36. 6. Thou preservest Man and Beast : Yet , as he stands more nearly related as a Father to some , than others , so he commnicates more choyse and peculiar Favours to them : Hence is that Prayer of David , Psal. 106. 4. Remember me , O Lord , with the favour thou bearest to thine own People ; O visit me with thy Salvation ; that I may see the Good of thy Elect ones . And because the Electing Love of the Father , and the Redeeming Love of the Son , are exactly parallel , therefore has Christ a general 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as well as a special 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ▪ 1 Tim. 4. 10. He is the Saviour of all men , specially of them that Believe : It was never doubted , but the Relation of a Master to his Servant ought to produce suitable Communications to that Relation : And yet those of a Fathe●… to his Child , are of another and sweeter Nature , those of the Husband to the Wife , yet more endearing ; and those of the Head to the Members still more intimous and intrinsecal : Now that Communion is a Communication of Good things flowing from Union , the Apostle will not suffer us to doubt ; Gal. 6. 6. Let him that is taught in the Word , communicate unto him that teacheth in All Good things : Where the Relation between the Teacher and the Disciple , is the Foundation of that Communication of all good things ; but if indeed our Author will abide by his Notion , That Union and Communion are both one ; Then if his Parishioners do but hear him preach , they may spare the Impertinency of Tythes , it is but Actum Agere , and Commu●…ion is satisfied in the Notion of Union ; so that they have here a general Release of all Minute and Praedial Tythes , under his own hand , from the beginning of the World to this Day .

The Sophistry of our Authors Argument from 1 Joh. 1. 3. we have already considered and discovered : He leads us now to 1 Cor. 1. 9. God is faithfull , by whom ye are called into the Fellowship of his Son Jesus : All the advantage he can expect from these words , is upon a presumption of his Readers Simplicity , that he will not spye small faults ; to be called into fellowship with Christ , cajouls the Ear into a Conceit of Union : But that which spoyls all is , our Translation reads unto the Fellowship , or Communication , or Participation of his Son , and the Mischief on 't is , the Greek reads , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : But let us see however , how he will improve it : Where ( says he ) the Fellowship of Christ can signifie no more than fellowship with the Church , because the Apostle addes in the next Verse , [ I beseech you brethren , that you all speak the same thing , that there be no Divisions among you . ] I confess he has a heavy hand at Reasoning , and it goes hard with us that must continually feel the weight of it : But yet ,

1. The Apostles Argument will conclude as strongly from the Communications of Grace from Christ , unto Peace among our selves , as from Union , q. d. You have all been made partakers of the Communications of Grace and Peace from Christ ; you have many mercies in hand , and more in hope , much in possession , but infinitely more in Reversion , and will you run into Factions among your selves ? But ,

2. The very plain Truth is : The Apostle argues neither the one way nor the other ; Verse 9. has no such Influence upon Verse 10. but the Rise of his Discourse is from Verse 3. Grace be unto you , and Peace from God our Father , and the Lord Jesus Christ . Where you have :

First , The Union and Relation . God our Father : Our Lord and Saviour .

Secondly , The Communion that flows from that Relation : 〈◊〉 and Peace , i. e. All new Covenant-Mercies : And because whatever Grace , or Peace , comes from the Father as the Fountain and Spring , from the Son in a way of Purchase and Procurement , comes also from the Holy Ghost , by way of Immediate Efficiency ; therefore it 's called also , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 2 Cor. 13. 14. The Grace of our Lord Jesus , the Love of God , and the Communion , or Communication of the Holy Ghost , be with you all . You all , that is , The Church of God at Corinth , with all the Saints in Achaia , Chap. 1. ver. 1. who are supposed to be already United to Christ , both in our Authors false Notion , and in the true . Now this Communication , he calls , The Grace of God given them , or Communicated to them by Jesus Christ , Verse 4. And shews the Measure of it , Verse 5. Ye are enriched in every thing by Him . And Verse 8. He shews that God would confirm them in , as well as enrich them with his Grace to the end : And for a Proof of this , he minds them of the Faithfulness , and Steddiness of God in his Covenant . Verse 9. God is Faithful , by whom ye are called unto the Communication of our Lord Jesus Christ . The end of your Effectual calling to an Union with Christ , is a Communication of this Grace and Peace from Christ . And then ,

Thirdly , Our Authors Memory is very Treacherous . For first he observes : That Communion with God , signifies a Political Union ; and that Political Union , was such a one as is between a Prince and his Subjects , pag. 156. And that , certainly , has the Persons of both , for the Terms of the Relation . And pag. 185. He observes , That our Fellowship with the Father and the Son , is founded on our Fellowship with the Christian Church , and therefore fellowship with the Father and the Son ; and fellowship with the Christian Church , are two things really distinct , for it would be harsh to say , a thing is founded on it self . And yet after all this : Fellowship with Christ can signifie no more than Fellowship with the Church . And thus , the short and long of the Business , is this , Union with Christ , is Union with the Church : And Communion with Christ , is Communion with the Church : And Union with the Church , is Communion with the Church . Quod erat Demonstrandum .

But we are terribly Threatned with an Argument , from 2 Cor. 6. 14. Be ye not unequally Yoaked together with Unbelievers , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Where the Apostle refers to a Levitical Ordinance , Deut. 22. 10. Thou shalt not Plow with an Ox , and an Ass. In proportion to which , the Apostle forbids Believers to joyn in the same special League and Covenant , with Unbelievers . Now the Reason why he disswades them from such an unequal union , is , because the end of all union , is a Communion , or Communication , each to , and with other in that Union . But to be sure , where there are such Contrarieties of Interests and Inclinations , in the Persons joyned together , there can be no assistance to the same common Work : The Cedar in Lebanon , and the Thistle in Lebanon , are not qualified for a Match , for they will never serve and accommodate each other in the Duties of the Relation . When the Wise God chose a Wife for Adam , he provided one that was Homogeneous with him , Bone of his Bone , and Flesh of his Flesh , that she might be a Meet-help for him . But now ( says the Apostle ) If you joyn your selves with Unbelievers ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : What participation of good things can you expect from them , whose Religion is as contrary to yours , as Righteousness is to Unrighteousness ? And 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; What Communication can there be between Light and Darkness ? Pagans can Communicate nothing to you but their uncleanness , and I would not have you communicate with the unfruitful Works of Darkness , Ephes. 5. 11. Again , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : What Concord hath Christ with Belial ? What Symphony or Harmony , can there be in your Conversations ? You will be always Jarring ? There will be no Melody or Musick in your Converses : When you would be praising to their Idols : so that never was there greater Confusion of Tongues at Babel , than there will be in your Society . And then , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; what Portion can a Believer have with an Unbeliever ? He will not , ought not partake of the Lords Table with you ; and you will not , ought not partake of the Table of Devils with him . For , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; what Consent , or Suffrage will the one give to the other ? The living God will not vote for dead and dumb Idols : The Arke will never endure Dagon : How absurd therefore must it be , to enter into a Relation with them , with whom you can enjoy no Fellowship in that Relation ?

One Reserve he has still left from the Lords Supper , whereby our Fellowship with God and Christ , are expressed , 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of Blessing which we bless , is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ ?

Now ( says he ) it 's called a Communion , because it signifies ,

1. A Communion of Christians with each other . 2. A Fellowship with God .

That is , it 's called a Communion because it 's no Communion , but onely the sign of a Communion . There is indeed an outward and visible sign ; and there is also an inward and invisible Grace , really exhibited and communicated from Christ by the Ordinance , to the worthy Receiver . And thus much he might have learn'd from the Church Catechism :

Qu. What is the inward part , or thing signified ?

Ans. The Body and Blood of Christ , which are verily and indeed taken , and received of the Faithfull in the Lords Supper .

Qu. What are the Benefits whereof we are partakers Thereby ?

Ans. The strengthning and refreshing of our Souls , by the Body and Blood of Christ ; As our Bodies are by the Bread and Wine .

And the Liturgy in the Office of the Supper , expresses , not onely a Communication of reall Nourishment from Christ , to our Souls ; but a mutual communication of our Praise and Thanksgiving to God for Christ , and to Christ for his Flesh and Blood ; which compleats the Communion : The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for Thee , preserve thy Body and Soul into Everlasting Life ; and Take , and Eat this , in remembrance that Christ dyed for thee ; and feed on him in thy Heart by Faith , and be Thankfull .

But to put this out of doubt , That all Communion is grounded upon Union , I will quote our Author to our Author ; for Nothing cuts the Diamond like it self . God ( says he ) entertains us at his Table as his own children . Why then , let it be referred to the Man that comes next ; Whether sitting at Gods Table , does not presuppose us to be Children ? Surely , we are not therefore Children because we sit at the Table ; but we therefore sit at the Table , because we are Children . Again , p. 152. Our Author ( whose word ought to go far with himself ) assures us , That Baptism is the Sacrament of our Admission into the Church . There 's our Union then however ; and the Lords Supper finding us already united , affords us a communion , or a participation of those Priviledges , which flow from that Union . So that , whether our Union to Christ , consist in our Union to the Church , or no ; yet still there must be an Union to the Church , before we can hold Communion with it , in those Mercies and Blessings which Christ has entailed upon it .

And thus has our Author made a quick dispatch of Communion with Christ in the Lords Supper ; could he but as fairly dispatch it out of all other Exercises of Religion , he might seriously Triumph , that he had cut off the Neck of all Religion at one Blow : Well , success waits upon the Bold Undertaker , and there 's no hurt in a daring Attempt . Prayer ( says he ) and Meditation , and such like Acts of Devotion , are no where called Communion with God . Our Author is just now turning Quaker . Thou man , where dost thou read , that the People of God put off their Hats , or wore Ribbands and Lace ? But to satisfie him , Prayer and Meditation are not called , nor are they Communion with God ; but Means whereby , and Wayes of Gods appointment wherein , we hold Communion with him : In these and other Ordinances we communicate to him the Actings of our Faith , Fear , Love , delight , Praise , &c. and by these he communicates to us of his Grace , Strength , Favour , Mercy , to help us in the time of our Need. In Prayer we pour out our hearts before him , Psal. 62. 8. In Prayer and Meditation , We lift up our Souls to the Lord , Psal. 25. 1. Hence that frequent Expression of the Ancient Christians , Sursum Corda , continued in the Liturgy : Lift up your hearts : Ans. We lift them up to the Lord : But a few dribling Objections he has against this also .

1 Object . Communion does not consist in Transient Acts.

Ans. 1. Communion does consist in those permanent Effects conveyed by transient Acts ; the Effect of Prayer abides , when the Act is over .

2. The Lords Supper is a Transient Act , both in opposition to Permanent and Immanent , and yet there is a real Communion between Christ and Believers therein .

2 Object . You will not say , a poor Man has Communion with his Prince , when he puts up a Petition to him , to begg his Charity .

Ans. It 's more than our Author can tell , whether we will say so or no. If a Prince commands his Subjects , to make their Addresses to him , in all their streights ; promising , that the great distance between them shall not prejudice their Supplications , and shall appoint a Person near and dear to himself , to receive from them , and present to him all their Petitions , that in his Name they may find Acceptation and Answer ; if now his poor Subjects shall give faith to his Promises , make use of his Indulgence , own their Relation to him , and improve the Mediation of that Master of Requests , and upon the Relief of their Wants , Redress of their Grievances , shall return their humble and hearty thanks ; and learn to love their Prince more , to serve him better , to become more loyal Subjects ; methinks here 's that which may be called Communion grounded upon Union .

3 Obj. To Pray to God , is an Act of Homage which we owe to him as our Creator and Father .

Ans. I looked every moment when he should Confute himself ; for now he will not deny , that Relation to God as our Creator and Father , precedes this Communion : It 's a Duty ( says he ) that results from Relation . Therefore , ( say I ) It 's not the Relation it self : And therefore I shall still conclude , that Communion does properly denote the Communication of good things , bottom'd upon that Union and Relation we have to and with each other ; and that our Author has most wretchedly abused his Time , and his Reader , in a weak Endeavour to prove , That Communion consists in Union ; and has merited the Character of Hanno the Carthaginian ( given him by the great Historian , ) That he was a Person very skilfull in the Art of seeming Reverend .

SECT. 2. Of our Union to the Person of Christ .

THis Section may well be called , Our Author's Lamentations ; wherein he most passionately bewails , how some men have obscured Plain things , to his no small trouble ( I assure you ) to vindicate them to their Primitive Clearness . We ( who are not privy to his Nocturnal Elucubrations ) do little think what pains it cost him to scowre off all that Rust , which ( in so long a tract of time as Sixteen hundred years , through the Sleepin●…ss of the Ancient Fathers , and the Sluttishness of all the Christian Churches ) Religion had contracted , to the day of the date of his Reformation . But there are others too that whisper out their Complaints , How Christ in the beginning of his Gospel , bequeathed to us a Religion Decent , but not Gawdy ; Plain , but yet Powerful ; not courting Proselytes with Meretricious Gallantry ; but Matron-like Modesty : Whose Attire was indeed more coarse , and home-spun , yet withall very warm , and fitted to its end : But now-a-days all is trim'd up with Ribbands and Lace , and set off with Fan and Feather . It was a Complaint as old as Austin , That men loaded Religion with servile Burdens , which God in mercy would have left free : So that the condition of the Jews was m●…re tolrable , that were subject to Legal Sacraments , and n t to the Presumptions of men . Thus ev●…ry one co●…plains of faults , but very few that I can fee will mond ny .

I suppose our Author will be content , that the Reformation of Worship be committed to the Churches care ; but for reducing the Doctrine , that 's a Burden he has reserved for his own shoulders : And methinks I see him ( like the sign of the Atlas , supporting the Globe ) chearfully heaving at the weight , and yet never so much as once crinkle in the Hams .

God ( says he ) was pleas'd to institute a great many Ceremonies , and many of them of very obscure Signification , i●… the Iewish Worship , to aw their Childish Minds into a greater Veneration of his Majesty . Now let the Reader substract A many , out of A great many , and the Remainder will inform him , just How many of God's Institutions , had Any light in them . Had this Divinity faln into some mens fingers , they would perhaps have made desperate work with it : For , 1. Some might say , Nay then , if God's own Ceremonies were invented to aw Childish Minds , we can never hope for better from Humane Ceremonies , but that they should fright the Churches Children out of their wits . 2. Others would censure it as guilty of horrid Prophaneness , to assign such a Reason for God's sacred Institutions , as must imply , That he was forced to go subtly to work with his people , and to use the Artifice of Mormo's and Scarce-crows to fright them into Reverence ; as women terrifie their children with Robin — with the Raw-head and Bloody-bones . And 3. Some would not stick to say , That surely some prying pate or other would have discovered the design , and then instead of conciliating more Reverence , it would certainly have exposed his Ordinances , if not the Author of them , to contempt . But they who had seen Mount Sinai all on flame , and smoak ; they who had heard the sound of that dreadful Trumpet , who felt the Earth-quake without , and a greater Heart-quake within at the presence of the Almighty God , were convinced that God needed not to have recourse to those little slights of Ceremonies to aw their Childish Minds into a Veneration of his Majesty . 4. Others expect when our Author should make God himself a Ceremony , contrived to manage this bulky and unruly World with more ease : For some it seems , have got it by the the end , that Primus in Orbe Deos fecit Timor . 5. But all agree in this , That this Doctrine argues our Authors gross ignorance in the true end of those Ceremonies : All which had a fair and clear Prospect towards a Redeemer , Col. 2. 17. They were a shadow of good things to come , but the body was of Christ . But men may speak their pleasure , our Author has determined against them , That God's Institutions were to fright Children : But now ( says he ) in these last days , God sent his Son to make a plain , easie , and perfect Revelation of his Will ; to publish such a Religion as may approve it self to our Reason . Well! whatever we have gained , I am sure Religion has got no great matt●…r by the Bargain : For then their Reason was to crowch to God's Religion , though in an obscure Ceremony ; but now poor Religion must stoop to Reason , must appear before the Tribunal of Reason ; and if it does not acquit it self well , and give a Rational and Satisfactory account of its Tendries , it must be bored through the Tongue with a red-●…ot Iron , for an Heretick : And which is the worst on 't , this Reason holds its Consistory in our Authors brain , so that if he be but 〈◊〉 with a Rheumatism , the droppings of his Nose must be imposed upon us for Twice distilled Reason . Nor yet can I perceive , wherein Religion does more approve it self to our Reason , than formerly to theirs : For , 1. As to the Moral part of Religion , that was as agreeable to Natural Light then , as 't now ; Murder , Adultery , Stealing , were equally condemned by the Sentiments of all Mankind in all Ages . 2. For the Ceremonial part , which depends upon the mere Authority and Sovereign pleasure of the Legislator , they had as good Reason for their obedience , as we can claim for ours . There was as fair Reason pleadable for Circumcision , as for Baptism ; for the Passover , as the Supper ; the first Reason from which all instituted Worship springs , being the Will , and the last Reason into which all is resolved , being the Glory of the Supreme Law-giver . 3. The Perfection of Christ's Revelation , above that of God to the Iews , lies not in giving us a new Moral Law , or adding any thing to it ; but in exhibiting Himself ▪ as the Substance of their Ceremonial Law , who was revealed ( though less clearly revealed ) to them in Types and Figures .

And now Dr. Owen shall have a short truce and respite from Persecution , whilst the storm falls upon Dr. Iacomb . Some cavilling spirits have made a Q●…estion , How the Air and Earth could afford sufficient Matter for Rain to make an Universal Deluge ? But I more wonder , whence our Author could furnish himself with such a vast stock of s●…olding Materials and Utensils , as might maintain such a constant Tenor of Fury and Rage against these men ? What Cistern or Receptacle is able to hold such a body of Rancor , as may feed that stream which perpetually turns his Mill ? Some thought , surely these Doctors had a great hand in burning the City ; or have rob'd the Temple at Delphos ; or however that of Tholouse . But I relieved my self against that Suspicion , by a seasonable Consideration , That it 's not the custom to hear ill , but for doing well : And therefore my thoughts began to reel to the other side ; Whether possibly they had not club'd together , to build , or endow some Hospital , or Colledg ; or had bought in all the Impropriations , and laid them to the Church , because it must be some glorious Work , that could purchase our Author's Indignation ; and at no lower rates could they entitle themselves to his severe displeasure . At last with much beating about , I found that they had both zealously and strongly engaged against the Socinians , for the Doctrine of the Church of England ; and then no Penance shall ever expiate their Guilt , or procure an Indulgence for such Delinquen●…y . But then the Difficulty recurred upon me , Why he should slip his Hold of the one , and fasten upon the other ? Yet I considered , that Nature is much delighted with Variety : And I have heard some that pretend to know something in those matters , say , That it 's not Policy to fight long with one Enemy ; for in a while , they will understand ▪ our manner of fighting , and become as good at our Weapon as our selves . But now attend !

When we enquire ( says he ) what this Union between Christ and Believers is ? They answer , It 's a Mystical Union through the Spirit and Faith . And truly they answer pretty well ! For that it is a Mystical Union , they produce the Apostle Paul for their Voucher , Ephes. 5. 32. This is a great Mystery , but I speak concerning Christ and his Church . The Apostle is there discoursing of that intimous Oneness , ( good Sir be not angry ! ) that is between the Husband and the Wife : That the Wife is the Husbands own self , vers. 28. He that loveth his wife , loveth himself . Now covertly , the Apostle , with one and the same labour , will shew us how mystical and intimous that Union is , which is between Christ and his Church , v. 29. No man ever hated his own flesh , but nourisheth and cherisheth it , even as the Lord the Church : For we are members of his body , and of his flesh , and of his bones . And for this cause ( says the Apostle , vers. 31. ) a man shall leave Father and Mother , and cleave to his Wife , and they two shall be one flesh : But now ( says he ) that which I have discoursed to you will seem very abstruse ; and , as some will phrase it , mystical non-sense , and unintelligible Drollery ; but , I speak concerning Christ and his Church : For however this be true , That the Husband and Wife are but one flesh , in the eye and consideration of the Law ; yet it 's more eminently true concerning Christ and his Church , who in the consideration and eye of God , are but one Spirit . All Metaphors and Similitudes taken from outward things , come infinitely short , and cannot decypher that mystical Union , which is between Christ , and all true Believers . Your Political Union , is but a new-invented Bawble ; your Natural Union , is lean , and hungry ; your Civil Union is low , and flat ; it is a Mystical Union ! Ay , but this Paul was an obscure Author and writes very darkly : But yet he may comfort himself the better under this hard Censure , since God himself cannot escape the Lash of Virulent Pe●…s , emboldned with an Imprimatur ; whose Institutions are reproached , to be of Obscure Signification , to aw the Childish Minds of men into Veneration . And then , that the internal Ligaments of this Union , are the Spirit and Faith ; as the Scripture is free in affirming , so our Author is shy in denying ; only he throws away a little scornful Drivel upon 't . This Mystical is a hard word ! Let it be so ! Dr. Iacomb shall explain it , on Rom. 8. p. 42. And first ( says the Doctor ) There is an Union of three Persons in one Nature . 2. There 's the Union of two Natures in one Person . 3. There 's an Union of Persons , where yet Persons and Natures are distinct . Concerning which he observes , 1. Here 's an Union , but no Transmutation , Commixtion , or Confusion . Here 's an Union of Persons , but no Personal Union . Say you so Doctor ? then I promise you , here 's one has made bold with some of your names ; for page 103. he tells his Reader , and me amongst the rest , That these men place all their hopes of Salvation in a personal Union with Christ . But pray Dr. go on ! The Person of Christ is united to the Person of a Believer , and the Person of a Believer to the Person of Christ : But for this our Author has a dry flam ; As it must needs be where the Person of Christ , is united to the Person of a Believer ! Silly Man ! the Doctor observes , that Christ is united to a Believer by the Spirit ; and a Believer united to Christ by Faith . Though the Terms of the Relation are the same in Christ's Union with a Believer , and a Believer's Union with Christ , the Bond that unites them is Distinct. A Father is related to his Son , and a Son to his Father , yet Paternity is one thing , and Filiation another ; and the Foundations of these Relations differ : The Foundation of the one , is to beget ; of the other , to be begotten . But ( says the Doctor ) Faith is the uniting Grace ; and this Faith receiving Christ , 1 John 13. it must also unite us to the Person of Christ : But of this our Author doubts , because men are not united to every thing they receive . Alas-a-day ! yet when a Master receives any one to be his Servant , that Reception is the bottom of his Relation . If a Woman receives a person to be her Husband , that Reception creates an Union . But I had rather the Reader would give himself the satisfaction to peruse the Doctors Book , where he shall find these things laid down with Modesty , backed with strength of Reason ; Scripture , and the suffrage of Learned Christians : And if our Author thinks , that a few Squirts and Flashes ( which he is resolved to call Wit ) be a sufficient Confutation , he shall enjoy the Contentment of admiring his own Excellencies , without any Rival . Again ; This Union ( says the Doctor ) may be thus described , ' T is that Supernatural , Spiritual , Intimous Oneness , and Conjunction between the Person of Christ , and the Persons of Believers , through the Bonds of the Spirit and Faith ; upon which there follows mutual and reciprocal Communion each with other . I will not conceal from the Reader my thoughts ; I really expected , that our Author should have highly commended the Doctors Modesty , who in a subject so Sublime , as might well exercise the Tongues of Angels , should draw his Description with a Peut estre , it [ may be described : ] And the rather , because by that means he has not excluded our Authors greater Abilities from travelling in the subject , but left room enough for his Defining Faculty : But instead of that , I s●…e he 's Angry still , though impotent . This Oneness and Conjunction are hard words ! So they are indeed ! It 's hard to say , Whether they will prove Arabic , or Syriac , or Welsh or Wild-Irish : But to be sure , they came but lately into England , and are not yet made Denizons to purchase our Author's favour . The great danger is , lest we should mistake this Conjunction , for one of the Eight parts of Speech . Oh Sirs ! what inextricable perplexities has this one lewd word involved the Nation in , since it landed ? The old Shiboleth was an innocent Chrysom to it . Political Union and Machine , are sorry Sneaks to it : Indeed Tetrachymagogon , and Syncategorematical come pretty near : But Oh Conjunction ! This Conjunction is not to be tolerated in a Land professing the Seven Liberal Sciences . And yet after all this , I dare venture an even Wager , That as many understand Conjunction , as Opposition , and more than know what to make of Antithesis ; and yet that never choak'd our Author , but he could swallow it without making any Bones of it , or a Vespasian - face at it , p. 264. But if some small splinter should stick in his throat , the Doctor will be that charitable Crane to pluck it out ; for he adds , Believers are said to be joyned to the Lord , 1 Cor. 6. 17. Now if no words will down with him but such as melt in the mouth , let him substitute Ioyning for Conjunction , and that will serve for a Vehicle , with a spoonful of Syrrup of Mulberries to supple the passage .

Our Author finding that the Doctor has bewildred himself , will endeavour to help him out . It 's a plain case ( says he ) if Christ and Believers are united , their Persons are united too ; for the Person of Christ , is Christ himself , and the Persons of Believers , are Believers themselves ; and I cannot understand how they should be united without their Persons ; but then they are united by mutual Relations , as the Person of a Prince and his Subjects , of a Husband and his Wife , are united by mutual affections . This I confess a surpassing kindness ; and therefore that frequent reckonings may make us long Friends , I shall call some small Follies to account , ere they be forgotten . 1. I am more confirm'd in my old Observation , That our Author writes only from hand to month . He has told us , p. 157. That our Union to Christ , is not an Union to his Person , but confists in a sincere Union to his Church . And so again , p. 151. and yet now , If Christ and Believers are united , their Persons are united too ; for he cannot understand ( no not for his heart , I warrant you ) how they should be united without their Persons . 2. He charges the Doctor with owning an Adhesion , nay a Natural Adhesion of Persons . I confess , I never admired any mans Confidence more ; that in the face of the Doctors words , which he himself had quoted , directly affirming the contrary , should charge him with asserting , a Natural Adhesion of Persons : Thus he reports the Doctors words , The Person of Christ and Believers are united , and yet it 's no Personal Union . Again , the Doctor thus , It 's a Spiritual , and Supernatural Conjunction . Our Author had need tell nothing but Truth ; for he is the poorliest qualified for a Lyar , that I have met withal : And now let it be referred to the Groom-Porter , Whether Adhesion be not as like to choak narrow throats , as Conjunction . 3. He says , Christ and Believers are united by mutual Relations : And then makes a Quaere upon 't , Whether all the Absurdities he would fasten upon the Doctors words , will not recoyl upon his own : For it signifies no more , than if he had said , Christ and Believers are united by their Union , and related by their Relation ; and thus Christ , is Christ ; and Believers , are Believers ; and Union , is Union .

The Truce is now expired , and he is once again falling upon Dr. Owen : For as the Serpents in Africa lay aside their Poyson whilest they drink , and then presently suck it up again ; so I was pretty secure , our Author would lick up that vomit again , which he had cast in Dr. Iacomb's face , that he might serve the other with the same sawce . But whilst I am considering his Extravagances , there comes to my hand an Answer from the Doctor , wherein since he has condescended to chastise our Author in person , it may justly supersede any further attempt of mine in his Vindication .

At p. 243. I meet again with our Author , where he falls upon that weighty point of Justification : In his exposing of which Truth , he takes occasion from a passage in Dr. O. ( I see I must mention him again ) Com. p. 55. There is no man whatever , that hath any wants , in reference to the things of God , but Christ will be to him that which he wants : ( I speak of those [ N. B. ] who are given him of the Father . ) Is he Dead ? Christ is Life ! Is he weak ? Christ is the Power of God! Hath he a Sense of Sin upon him ? Christ is Compleat Righteousness ! Jer. 23. 6. The Lord our Righteousness . Which words being fortified with express Scripture , it concerned our Author to take good advice , and to go gingerly to work in perverting of them . Two Artifices he uses , which like Fire and Water , will make the strongest Cloth shrink . And , 1. He lops off one whole Sentence , p. 214. and then exclaims . This sounds like Universal Redemption ! What , down-right Arminianism ? Really I am sorry for 't ! Is the Doctor sheer gone over to the Remoustrants ? Come ! come Sir ! you have a Card in your Sleeve ; pray produce it ! I speak ( says the Doctor ) of those who are given him of the Father . Now where are your ears ? Does this chink like Universal Redemption ? But so true is the old Observation , He that is prepossest with an Opinion , finds it in all he reads . 2. If that way fails , another will hit : What Comfort is this to us ( says he ) that Christ was Righteous , if we continue wilful , and incorrigible sinners ? Yes , says the Doctor , hast thou a sense of sin upon thee ? Christ is Compleat Righteousness . Fie upon it ! put on a Mask for shame ! Is the Soul that labours under the sense of some particular sin , a wilful and incorrigible sinner ? It 's the repenting , the broken , and the sorrowful sinner , that the Doctor directs to Christ . Our blessed Saviour has invited those that labour , and are heavy-laden , to come unto him ; promising , that he will give them rest . I wonder our Author could forbear twitting him , that he encouraged wilful and incorrigible sinners ? But , pray , what would our Author say to a Soul that has the sense of sin upon him ? without peradventure , Repent of thy sin , forsake thy sin , &c. And does he think that Repentance will save a wilful and incorrigible sinner ? one that Repents and sins , and sins and Repents again , and goes on in a circle of sinning , and halfrepentance ? Say but the same for the Doctor : He Counsels the Soul , under the sense of sin , to believe ; but then it 's only the Repenting sinner that will , that can , that ought to make his Address to Christ , that he may find rest to his Soul .

For our Author's Method in prosecuting this great Point , I dare not warrant it . Such as it is , Reader shall have it as cheap as I had it , my duty is to Follow , and not to Dispute .

[ 1. ] His first enquiry will be , In what sense Christ is called our Righteousness ? and what the Scripture intends by those Phrases of , The Righteousness of God ; the Righteousness of Faith ; or , The Righteousness of God by Faith ? He begins with that famous place , Jer. 23. 6. where Christ is expresly called the Lord our Righteousness . To which our Author returns three things ; A pitiful Scoff , a woful Evasion , and a wretched Answer , worse than both . 1. He begins with a Scoff : A very express place to prove that Christ is our Righteousness ; that is , that the only Righteousness , wherewith we must appear before God , is the Righteousness of Christ imputed to us . Who these men should be that thus expound it , I cannot Divine , unless it be the first Reformers of this Church ? and they do indeed tell us , Artic. 11. That we are accountted Righteous before God , only for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ , and not for our own Works and Deservings : Wherefore that we are justified by Faith only , is a most wholesome Doctrine , and full of comfort . And I believe our Author experienced it to be a most sweet and comfortable Doctrine , when he subscribed it for a fat Benefice : But in the mean time , these men ( whoever they be ) have a very hard task on ▪ t. For one while they must not draw one Conclusion from the Person of Christ , which his Gospel has not expresly taught ; to use their own Reasons to deduce one single Inference from Gospel-premises , is present Death . But what now if they produce express Scripture , that Christ is our Righteousness ? Why , that 's as bad ! for this is to interpret Scripture by the sound of words . 2. He retreats to a most woful Evasion , Is there no other possible sense to be made of this Phrase ? If it be possible to procure another Sense for Love or Money , it shall never go thus : The Cause looks with a very desperate face , when once it comes to this ; when men are ready to shoot the Pit , and only watch for the Creep-hole of a bare Possibility . If they intended honestly , they would lay things together as well as they can ; labour to find out the meaning of God's Spirit , with Sobriety and Humility , and never strain their Wits , and vex and torture the Scripture with utmost Possibilities : The Text tells us , that the nam●… whereby Christ shall be called , is the Lord our Righteousness . Now it 's granted , that this was not designed to be his Praenomen , or Cognomen , that which should distinguish him in Common Discourse from other persons ; and therefore , He shall be called , is no less than , He shall Really be our Righteousness : Thus , 1 Iohn 3. 1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us , that we should be called ( that is , that we should become ) the sons of God : Isa. 9. 6. His name shall be called ( i. e. he shall Really be ) Wonderful , Counsellor , The Mighty God , the Everlasting Father , The Prince of Peace . The true intent and meaning of which place , I know how some have attempted to elude , by this fine device of the Possibility of another meaning ; and whether our Author sharpned his weapon at their forge , he knows best . But , 3. He returns an Answer worse than both the other : Righteousness in Scripture is a word of a very large sense , and sometimes signifies no more than Mercy , Kindness , Beneficence ; and so the Lord our Righteousness , is the Lord who does us good . But , 1. Is it not vainly supposed , That for Christ to do us good , is inconsistent with being our Righteousness ? 2. Though Christ be a Redeemer of Mercy , Kindness , and Beneficence ; yet he is no-where called , The Lord our Mercy , The Lord our Kindness , The Lord our Beneficence : Which clearly proves , that when he is called , and really is , The Lord our Righteousness , the expression implies more than an Imparting , or Communication of good things to us . Hence some would say , That if our Author's Conscience were not larger than the sense of this word , he had never given so stretching an Answer . But ( says he ) Righteousness signifies that part of Iustice , which consists in relieving the oppressed . Isa. 54. 17. Their Righteousness is of me , saith the Lord , which is a parallel expression to , The Lord our Righteousness , and signifies no more , than that the Lord would avenge their Cause , and deliver them from all their Enemies : So that all the benefit we are to expect from Christ , is Temporal Salvation and Deliverance . To which I answer : 2. That the Reason of Christ's glorious Name , The Lord our Righteousness , assigned by the Prophet , that in his days Iudah shall be saved , and Israel shall dwell safely , is interpreted by the Angel , Matth. 1. 21. to be this , He shall be called Iesus , for he shall save his people from their sins . And the end why God raised up his Son Jesus in the World , is expresly assigned to be , To bless his people , in turning away every one of them from their iniquities , Acts 3. 26. Thus Rom. 11. 26. Out of Zion shall come the Deliverer , and he shall turn away ungodliness from Iacob . To turn away iniquity from us ; and to turn us away from iniquity , is I hope something of a more useful import , than to relieve the injured and oppressed , and deliver them from their Enemies . I do not at all envy our Author therefore the glory of his discovery , that for God to justifie good men , is to deliver them from the violence and injuries of their Enemies : And I would gladly hope , that all good men have something better wherein to glory . In Ier. 33. 16. the Church is called , The Lord our Righteousness ; because she only glories in the Righteousness of Christ , her Head and Husband ; to whom being so nearly related , and with whom being so closely united , his Righteousness , is her Righteousness ; and therefore she , who upon the account of the imperfection of her Inherent Righteousness , can find , no , not the least , matter of boasting before God , yet has whereof to Triumph in Christ her Saviour ; Isa. 45. 24. Surely , shall one say , In the Lord have I Righteousness : In the Lord shall all the seed of Iacob be justified , and shall glory . Now the Apostle , whom I take to be a competent Interpreter of Scripture , assures us , that God has taken special care , that in his dispensing of Grace to sinners , No flesh shall glory in his presence , 1 Cor. 1. 29. which he has well provided ; for ver. 30. since Christ is made unto us of God for Righteousness ; and therefore he that glorieth , let him glory in the Lord : Which is exactly parallel to that of Isa. 45. 24. In the Lord shall all the seed of Iacob be justified , and shall glory . Come we now to our Author's Interpretation of Isa. 61. 11. which is of the same leaven with the former : I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord , my soul shall be joyful in my God : For he hath clothed me with the garments of Salvation , and covered me with the robe of Righteousness , &c. This Text one may perceive struck cold to his heart , and he gives us as cold an Answer , that 's ready to freeze between his lips . The Garments of Salvation ( says he ) and the Robe of Righteousness , signifie those great Deliverances God promised to Israel . Signifie ! I would our Author would write a Dictionary of the Signification of words . We use to say , A bad Answer , is better than none : Reform the Proverb for shame ; for such an one is worse than none . 1. It 's evident , that the Triumph of the Church was upon the view of Jesus Christ , vers. 1. Anointed to preach Good-Tidings to the meek , to bind up the broken-hearted , to proclaim liberty to the Captives , and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound : To proclaim the acceptable Year of the Lord : Which our Saviour Christ applies to himself , Luk. 4. 18 , 19. when he was far from working out for the Iews those great Deliverances by improbable means , which should make them glorious in the eyes of men . 2. The Virgin Mary quotes this very place , Luke 1. 46 , 47. My soul doth magnifie the Lord , and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour ; where the joy of her heart broke out at her lips , in Contemplation of that Eternal Redemption wrought out by him , in whom she could more seriously glory as her Saviour , than as her Son : And it 's a wonder to me then , men can patter over their Magnificat every day , and not observe it . 3. It 's observable , that the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which we render [ Decketh ] signifies to Adorn as a Priest ; and implies , that Christ as our High-Priest , shall present us acceptable to God upon his Account . 4. There 's nothing more familiar with the Spirit of God , than to clothe Evangelical Mercies , in a Mosaical Dress ; and to express New-Testament Salvation , in Old-Testament Phrase : Thus Gospel-Believers , are understood by Israel ; the Church , by the Temple ; Evangelical Ministers , by the Legal Priests ; and the covering of Sin , by the covering of Nakedness ; and by the decking with Ornaments , and a●…dorning with Iewels , the representing true Believers , accepted with God through a better Righteousness than their own .

[ 2. ] The Reader would admire to hear these glorious Gospel-Promises recorded in the Old-Testament , thus interpreted to bare skin and bone : But our Author confesses , he swarms with prejudices against the Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness . When Prejudice sits upon the Bench , it 's like to go very ill with poor Truth that stands at the Bar. As a Bribed Fancy will admit the most feeble Appearances , for plain Demonstrations of what it longs should be True ; so a mind fore-stalled with prejudice , will despise the clearest evidence , for what it desires to be false . And we need no other instance of all this , than our Author 's great Indisposition and Averseness to receive the present Truth .

And , 1. I perceive he is very much stumbled at one thing ; That in all our Sa●…iour's Sermons , there 's no mention of his Imputed Righteousness . Now because the same Charity that commands me , not to lay a stumbling-block in the way of my Neighbour , enjoyns me also to remo●…e it out of his way , or however , to help him over it ; the ensuing Considerations will afford him that Civility , if he please to accept it . 1. If our Saviour had mentioned the Imputation of his Righteousness a thousand times over , he could easily have evaded it at his rate of answering ; for he might have said , This is but to interpret Scripture by the sound of words ; or if that had been too frigid , that it 's sufficient to say , The words may possibly have another meaning , though he could not tell what that should be ; or , that by the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness , no more is meant , but the Accepting of our own Righteousness , which Christ has commanded in the Gospel . 2. It may be of good use to him to consider , Whether Christ's Silence raised his prejudice against the Doctrine ; or his own prejudice against the Doctrine , raised the conceit that Christ was silent in it ? Whether it was the want of an Object to be seen ; or the want of eyes to see the Object ? For most men are deaf , when they have no mind to hear ; and blind , when they have no will to see . For , 3. Christ in his Sermons has plainly revealed the case to be such between God and man , that without a better Righteousness than their own , they are all lost for ever , Matth. 5. 19. He that breaks the least of these Commandments , shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven , that is , shall never come there . Now the universal Suffrage of all mens Consciences is , That there is no man that lives , and sins not ; and therefore Christ has determined upon him , that he shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven . I never yet heard , that God has dispenced with one jot or tittle of the Moral Law ; but , Do this and live , is as strictly exacted as ever : So that unless a Surety be admitted , and the Righteousness of another owned , the case of all the Sons of Adam is deplorable and desperate . To deny then the Righteousness where in the believing sinner may stand before this Righteous and Holy God , is to affirm the Eternal Damnation of all the World . 4. Christ has plainly discovered to us such ends of his Death and Sufferings , as evidently prove the impossibility of being justified by our own Righteousness , Matth. 20. 28. He gave , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his Life , [ or Soul , ] a Ransome , [ a Rede●…ption-price , ] for [ instead of ] many : Which is no whit less than that of the Apostle , 2 Cor. 5. 21. He was made sin for us ( who knew no sin ) that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him ; And the same with Isa. 53. 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise him , when he shall make his Soul an Offering for sin , &c. Again , Matth. 26. 28. This is the Blood of the New-Testament , which is shed for the Remission of the sins of many . Whence it 's plain , that God in pardoning sin , in justifying and accepting the sinner , has such a respect to the Satisfaction of Christ in our stead , as may properly be called , the Imputation thereof to us . 5. Though Christ mention not the Imputation of his Righteousness , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , yet has he mentioned that Righteousness , which it's certain from the Scriptures , must be imputed to Believers , or they can have none of that benefit by it , which they are said to have , Matth. 3. 15. Christ fulfilled all Righteousness ; and vers. 17. In him ( or upon his account ) God is well pleased , comes to delight in Believers , whom he accepts in the Beloved , Ephes. 1. 6. ' 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; He hath graciously accepted us in his Beloved one . Hence it is the Holy Ambition of all the Saints , 2 Cor. 5. 9. to be accepted of him , or in him , ' 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : That regard then which God has to the Obedience of Christ , as the Reason for which he accounts a Believer righteous , we judg , may commodiously be called , the Imputing of Christ's Righteousness to them , without the Leave , License , or Faculty of our Author .

A second Prejudice that is deep-rooted in our Author's breast against this Doctrine , is , That Christ exacts from men a Righteousness of their own , if they would find mercy with God . A Righteousness of their own ? Ay , but let them be sure they come honestly by it . The Righteousness of Christ must be made ours , or else we shall never find mercy with God : We must also have another Righteousness of our own , an Inherent Righteousness , if ever we expect to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven , and find mercy with God in his great Day . But what is that Righteousness for which we are just and accepted with God ? But for the removing of this small prejudice , may he please to consider : 1. How easie it is to vapour and make a flourish with those Texts that require an Inherent Righteousness , as a necessary Qualification for Eternal Salvation ; and yet how hard to produce one place that mentions our own Inherent Righteousness , as that which answers God's holy Law , makes Reconciliation with God , and constistutes the sinner spotless and blameless before God , the Holy , Righteous Judg ; yet such a Righteousness we want , and such a one we must have . 2. Our own Righteousness is very pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ , being the fruit of Faith , and following after Iustification . So says the Church of England , Artic. 12. But ( says She ) Works done before the Grace of God , and the Inspiration of the Spirit , are not pleasing to God , for as much as they spring not out of Faith in Christ , Artic. 13. Which two Articles I shall leave to our Author to confute , at his best leisure .

A third Block which I perceive lies in his way is , That our Saviour should never once warn his Hearers , to beware of trusting to their own Righteousness . But , 1. Christ preach'd to the Iews , who had had warnings ●…now to beware of splitting upon that Rock : They might have taken warning from the Churches Confession , Isa. 64. 6. We are all as an unclean thing , and all our Righteousnesses are as filthy rags . All the warning in the World signifies nothing to them that are resolved to interpret , Our own Righteousness , by Ceremony and Hypocrisie . Had Christ inculcated the danger , even to Tautology , all may be evaded by that happy Gloss , which he keeps Leiger by him : True indeed , he warns us to beware of our own Righteousness , but he intends no more hereby , than the works of the Ceremonial , and external acts of the Moral Law . 3. Christ had indeed given them fair warning , but if they will not take it , the sin must lie at their own doors , and the Condemnation upon their own heads , Luke 18. 9. He spake a Parable to them that trusted in themselves , that they were righteous , and despised others , &c. Now it may seasonably be here remembred : 1. What was the design of this Parable ? And that the Evangelist tells us , was to meet with them that trusted in themselves , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , men that presumed very highly upon their own Abilities , to answer the Law of God ; and therefore despised others , who made such a stir about their own Impotency to keep it ; and kept such a coyl about the shortness of their obedience to it ; like the poor Publican , who being conscious to himself of both , makes his retreat to , and shelters himself in the free Grace , and rich Mercy of God to miserable sinners . 2. It will be seasonable to enquire , What that Righteousness was , upon which the Pharisee in the Parable so stiffly insisted , as that in which he durst adventure to appear before God ? And that ( as our Saviour puts the case ) was a Righteousness made up of obedience to Gods Commands : And those both Prohibitory , he was no Extortioner , no Adulterer , no Unjust Person ; and Affirmatively , he paid his Tythes exactly , ( which will go a great way ) and fasted twice a-week . 3. Let it be considered , that however many of the Pharisees of those days were Hypocrites , yet our Saviour frames his Parable of a Pharisee , not according to what many of them were , but what they seemed to be , and were reputed for amongst men , who admired their Sanctity , and reverenced their Devotions ; and therefore he describes not a Person acting his part well upon the Stage , but living up to very high Attainments of Nature . For , 1. The duties instanced in , are only some particulars , in the name of all the rest : He instances in his praying to , and praising of God , which comprehend all the duties of the First Table : His freedom from Adultery , Extortion ; and in a word , from Injustice , which is the whole of the Second Table . Again , He instances in duties of the Iudicial Law , paying Tythes ; and of the Ceremonial , Fasting ; with a little touch perhaps of Supereragation , [ Twice in the week . ] 2. When Christ introduces a person , saying , he was no Adulterer , we may reasonably suppose , he taught him to speak in the proper sense of the word which Christ himself allows . Now in Christ's Dialect , to be no Adulterer , is not to commit it with the heart , Mat. 5. still abating for Humane Frailties . And , 3. This is evident , because our Savióur describes not this Pharisee , as praying in the corners of the streets , or in the Synagogues , to be seen of men ; but in obedience to God's Command , Going up to the Temple to pray ; and there praying to God , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in his own heart , between God , and his own Soul : All which evidently prove , that our Saviour puts not the case of a stinking Hypocrite , but of one who went as far as Natures legs would carry him . But , 4. The miscarriage of this Pharisee lay not in this , that he was , what he pretended he was not ; or was not , what he pretended he was ; but that he trusted to himself for a Righteousness , to be compounded out of all these Ingredients , wherein he would dare to stand before God , and in despising others , which is the natural Product of Self-Righteousness : And yet upon our Author's Principles , I see not why he might not trust to himself , that he was Righteous , if Righteousness be to be made out of Obedience ; and despise others too , since his own free-will exerted , and natural strength improved , had made him differ from another , even from that Publican .

But yet , 4. There 's one Prejudice more remaining , which perhaps may stick more with him than all the rest : He is apt to admire our Saviour's Sermons in the first place , before the Writings of the Apostles , though inspired men . I should be loth to weaken his Admiration of our Saviours Sermons : But he may do well to examine , Whether his Aptness to admire them before other Sermons given forth by the same Spirit , may not proceed from great Ignorance , or a worse Principle ? For though our Saviour's Person had more Authority than the Persons of the Apostles ; yet the Writings of the Apostles are of equal Authority with those of the Evangelists , to command our Faith and Obedience . The Epistles of S. Iohn are indited by the same Spirit by which hepenned the Gospel : 'T is the Authority of Christ in both ; the Infallible Spirit speaking in both , which are the Reason of our Belief of both : All Scripture is given by Divine Inspiration , 2 Tim. 3. 18. The same Spirit of Christ that spake in the Prophets of the Old-Testament , and the Apostles in the New , 1 Pet. 1. 11. And such Comparisons must needs be very odious , where the Spirit of God has made none .

But the total sum of all these Prejudices , we shall have in one Dilemma ; Did not our Saviour instruct his Hearers in all things necessary to Salvation ? or have the Evangelists given us an imperfect account of his Doctrine ? If the first ; then our Saviour was not faithful in the discharge of his Prophetical Office : If the latter ; you overthrow the Credit of the Gospel . Well! I hope we may out-live this horned-Argument , for all the terrour of its looks : 1. Christ was faithful in his Prophetical Office ; he instructed his Hearers in all things necessary to Salvation : But then there are some great and weighty Doctrines , which it was necessary to the Salvation of the Gentile World to know , wherein the Iewish Church had been sufficiently instructed already . The Doctrine of Atoning God , making Reconciliation for sin , expiating Transgressions , was abundantly clear from their Sacrifices : The Theory of God's justifying a sinner , was evident from thence ; they knew what Imputation signified , by the transferring of the guilt of the sinner , upon the head of the Sacrifice : And therefore when Christ came , his main business with the Jews , was to convince them , that he was the Messiah promised of old , and typified in their Sacrifices : His Work they knew , all the Question was , Whether he was the Person ? Matth. 11. 3. Art thou he that should come ? or do we look for another ? Joh. 10. 24. If thou beest the Christ , tell us plainly . Christ's Sermons therefore suppose them instructed in the Doctrine of Iustification : But when the Apostle Paul , who is called , The Apostle of the Uncircumcision , comes to preach and write to the Gentiles , he must be more express ; they knew little of God , and nothing at all of a Redeemer , they must be taught their Catechism , and the first Rudiments of Christianity ; and therefore do we find these great Points more explicitely handled in his Discourses , which are more sparingly and more covertly delivered by the Evangelists . 2. The Evangelists have given us a perfect account of Christ's Doctrine ; but then the perfectness of that account , is not to be measured by what Christ preached , but by what they were commanded to record and transmit to Posterity . S. Iohn was faithful in giving us a perfect account of Christ's Sermons ; but his faithfulness , and the entireness of the account he gives us thereof , is not to be taken from every Miracle Christ wrought , or every Sermon he preach'd ; for he omits that whole famous Sermon preach'd by Christ in the Mount , recorded by Matthew . And S. Matthew was also faithful in his account , and yet he omits the excellent Prayer recorded by Iohn , Chap. 17. and yet both of them , and both the other , have conveyed down to us , whatsoever , was delivered to them , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from above , Luke 1. What strange work would our Author's Dilemma make amongst the four Evangelists , if it were discharged at them ? Did Christ instruct his Hearers in all things necessary to Salvation ? or , Was the Evangelist John short in giving us a perfect account of his Doctrine ? If the first ; then Christ was not faithful in his Prophetical Office : If the latter ; then you overthrow the credit of the Gospel . And therefore , unless you can prove every Article of the Christian Faith , from express words , in that one single Book of his Gospel ; and particularly , The Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness , our Author will retain his inveterate prejudices against it . Nay , we may fly a great deal higher ; Christ was faithful in the discharge of his Prophetical Office , and therefore no doubt , whenever he preach'd a single Sermon , he acquainted his Hearers with all things necessary to Salvation , and the Evangelists have delivered us a perfect account of every such Sermon ; and therefore unless you can prove every Article of your Creed , from every single Sermon of Christ , our Author is like Thomas , he will not believe but upoń his own terms ; but will justifie his prejudices against it , That the Doctrine is certainly to be found no-where , because he finds it not every-where . Christ preach'd so much of necessary Truth in every Sermon , as he judg'd necessary ; the full account of his preaching must be gathered from the rest : And every Evangelist has registred so much of Christ's Miracles , Sermons , and the passages of his Life , as he had in charge ; and what is omitted in one , must be supplied from others . And all the Evangelists have delivered so much of what Christ taught the Iews , as is needful for us to know ; and what is further necessary for Gentiles to know , is abundantly , and explicitely made up from other holy Persons , divinely inspired for that very end . The whole will of God , necessary for us to know for salvation , is not so explicitely revealed in any one Book of the Sacred Oracles , but we have need to receive Information from the whole . Nor were the Writings of any one Prophet , Evangelist or Apostle , design'd to complete the Canon of our Faith , but the whole Scripture . I say not this , as if I at all questioned , much less denied , that the Doctrine of Christ's Righteousness imputed , is laid down by the Evangelists , though some mens prejudices will not permit them to see it , either there , or any-where else ; but that it is there spoken to more implicitly , our Saviour doing another thing , & touching upon it by the way , as supposing them already instructed in it : And that the Writings of the Apostles , qualified to preach to the Gentiles , by the pouring forth of the Holy Spirit upon them , have more clearly commented upon that , and other important Doctrines , and beaten out that Gold which was before in the Lump ; and though of equal weight , yet not so dilated : So that there remains no more just cause of Dispute about these matters , with them who believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God : And as for others , they can never want Objections , whilst their Corruptions and Unbelief continue in full force , strength and power .

But , 5. There is another Prejudice which extremely gravels him ; That in all the New-Testament , there 's no such expression as the Righteousness of Christ : And this ( he says ) is worth our observing . A Learned Observation it is ! but I think the whole New-Testament is but one great expression of the Righteousness of Christ , or else it is but one great blot . However , I am glad that he will own , that the New-Testament mentions the Righteousness of God , the Righteousness of Faith , and the Righteousness which is by the Faith of Iesus Christ . For the Righteousness of Christ , is the Righteousness of that Person who is God . They who crucified Christ , are said to crucifie the Lord of Glory , 1 Cor. 2. 8. and that Blood by which the Church is purchased , is called , the Blood of God , Acts 20. 28. that is , the Blood of that Person who is God , though not as God : Thus the Righteousness of Christ , the Righteousness of God , the Righteousness of Faith , are expressions of the same import . They describe the same Righteousness , under various Considerations ; being called the Righteousness of God , because it was the Righteousness of him that is God ; the Righteousness of Christ , because it was fulfilled in his own Person ; and the Righteousness of Faith , because Faith makes Him , and thereby his Righteousness , to become ours . However , we desire to plead for no more of Christ's Righteousness to be imputed to us , than we can evidently prove , was inherent in him , and fulfilled by him : And if after all , our Author be so passionately fond of his Prejudices , he may keep them to himself . But now he will examine these expressions more distinctly .

( 1. ) For the Righteousness of God : He confesses , That in the New-Testament , most commonly it signifies , that Righteousness which God approves , and commands , and which he will accept for the Iustification of a sinner . That was well jumbled ! God approves , and commands a Righteousness in a Believer , which he will not accept for the Iustification of a sinner : That Righteousness which God will accept , he has commanded us to seek in Christ ; but that Righteousness which he has commanded us to find in our selves , is not that Righteousness which he will accept for our Iustification . Inherent Righteousness , may be called the Righteousness of God , because he commands it , but especially , because he works and creates it : But the true Reason of the expression is , because it is the Righteousness of him who is God , and only discovered by the Wisdom of God , and accepted by God , in the Justification of a believing sinner . But though I agree not with him in the Reason of the Name , let him make the best of it : Now ( says he ) this Righteousness consists in a sincere and universal obedience to the Commands of God : That 's Magisterially dictated however . But where may we find this Righteousness ? It 's contained ( says he ) in the Terms of the Gospel . We are as wise as we were before : Why then we are posted over to Rom. 1. 17. The Righteousness of God is revealed from Faith to Faith . Evident it is hence , That the Gospel reveals that Righteousness by which we are justified , and as evident , that the Righteousness of God , and of Faith , are the same thing , under divers Considerations ; but that the Righteousness of God , consists in an universal obedience to Commands ; or that these are the Terms of Iustification , it speaks not one syllable ; only it speaks aloud that our Author had a very loving Inclination it should be so . Then we are turned over to Matth. 6. 33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God , and his Righteousness . What then ? Why ; It is called the Righteousness of God . It is called ! What is called ? without all peradventure the Righteousness of God , is called the Righteousness of God , not only there , but where-ever else we meet with the Expression : But what are we the nearer ? Why , this is the same with the Righteousness of his Kingdom ? But what Kingdom ? and upon what account ? and in what place is the Righteousness of God , called the Righteousness of the Kingdom ? But go on ! Now the Kingdom of God signifies , the state of the Gospel . Well , proceed ! And the Righteousness of God , or of his Kingdom ( signifies ) that that Righteousness which the Gospel prescribes , which is contained in the Sermons and Parables of Christ : Ergo , &c. Quod erat Demonstrandum ! Round-about our Coal-fire ! And now who can be so hard-hearted , as not to allow our Author rarely qualified , to Reform the Religion of Christendom ? What man would not be content to be argued out of his Seven Senses , with such potent Demonstration ?

( 2. ) We must observe farther ( if at least it be farther ) that this Righteousness of God ( which he commands and rewards ) ●…is the Righteousness of Faith , or Righteousness by the Faith of Christ . We have heard so : The Gospel commands us to believe in Christ for Justification ; for he is our Righteousness . This will not undo us yet : But Faith is often taken objectively , for the Gospel of Christ . Faith is sometimes so used ; but that [ Faith in Christ ] is so used , we wait for evidence . He produces it from Acts 24. 24. Felix sent for Paul , and heard him concerning the Faith of Christ , that is , concerning Righteousness , Temperance , and the Iudgment to come . But here our Author is taken napping . 1. He corrupts both the Original , and the Translation ( unless he has other Bibles than are come to our hands ) for neither the Greek nor the English say , He heard him concerning the Faith of Christ : ( which words are more liable to a perverse insinuation , ) but , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , concerning that Faith which is in , or upon Christ . 2. He prevaricates with his Reader most palpably , in making those words , [ concerning Righteousness , Temperance , and Iudgment to come ] to be an Exegesis of the foregoing words [ The Faith that is in Christ : ] Whereas the Apostle argued with Felix about the Nature of these things ; wherein he knew he was Defective , to awaken his secure and sleepy Conscience , to consider what need he had by Faith to fly to Christ for a better Righteousness than his own . The Apostle took the true Method of Gods Spirit , to insist upon Righteousness , to convince him of his Injustice , Bribery ; upon Temperance or Continence , to convince him of his Adultery ; and upon Iudgment to come , to alarum him with the righteous Judgment of God ; that so being terrified by the Law , he might more gladly entertain the Doctrine of Faith in Christ for Righteousness , wherein he might stand before God ; which otherwise his proud unhumbled heart would never have brook'd , and submitted to .

[ 3. ] His Next step is , towards the deciding the Controversie about the way of Abraham ' s being justified before God : And a great and weighty Question it is ; for Abraham being called , The Father of the Faithful , it might seem strange , that the Father should be justified one way , and his Children another ; when Believers are therefore , and only therefore , his Children , because they walk in the steps of his Faith , Rom. 4. 12. And seeing ( as our Author Confesses ) he was set forth as a Patern of our Iustification ; It were to be admired , If the Exemplar , and the Copy ; the Archetype , and Ectype , were of Divers kinds . It will be of good use therefore to enquire , What way Abraham was justified ? Though the best way to resolve it , is to enquire , What way Believers under the Gospel are justified ? Now the Apostle is very punctual herein , Rom. 4. 11. Abraham received the sign of Circumcision ; a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith , which he had yet being uncircumcised , that he might be the Father of all them that believe , though they be not circumcised , that Righteousness might be imputed to them also . Look what way Abraham was justified , the same way are all true Believers justified ( for he is Father of the faithful ; and they his Children only , because they tread in the steps of the same Faith : ) but Abraham was justified by Faith , by the Righteousness of Faith , and in a way of Imputation ( whatever these Expressions signifie ; ) therefore Believers under the Gospel are justified by Faith , by the Righteousness of Faith , and in a way of Imputation . Again , Gal. 3. 6. Even as Abraham believed God , and it was accounted to him for Righteousness : v. 7. Know ye therefore , that they which are of Faith , are the Children of faithful Abraham : Where the Apostle demonstrates , that the sameness of a Christians Faith with Abrahams , is as able to denominate him one of Abraham's Children , as if he came out of his loyns . Ver. 9. So then , they which are of Faith , are blessed with faithful Abraham . If they have the same Faith with Abraham , they shall have the same Blessing with Abraham ; for says he , v. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law , being made a Curse for us ; that the Blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles , through Iesus Christ . All the advantage the Gentiles receive by Christ ( and they need no more to make them perfectly and eternally blessed ) is , that Abraham's Blessing may come upon them : But if we have not Abraham's Faith , we must never expect a part in Abraham's Blessing : Nay ( says the Apostle ) v. 8. Abraham had the same Gospel preach'd to him , that we have . The Scripture foreseeing ( that is , the Spirit of Christ which gave forth the Scripture ) that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith , preached before the Gospel to Abraham . Now the preaching of the Gospel , is the Spirits Engine , for the begetting a true , saving , and lively Faith : If then Abraham had the same Gospel , the same Faith , the same Blessing with Christians , he was justified the same way ; but so had our Father Abraham .

But what is our Author's judgment in the case ? I confess that 's hard to discover , p. 243. he gives us , The Righteousness of God , the Righteousness of Faith , and the Righteousness of God , which is by the Faith of Iesus Christ , as Synonima's . And again expresly , p. 245. he observes it to us for a choice discovery ; That the Righteousness of God , is the Righteousness of Faith , or Righteousness by the Faith of Christ . And now p. 246. he is peremptory , That this Righteousness of Faith , and this alone , can recommend us ▪ to God : Which ( says he ) the Apostle proves from the example of Abraham ; and adds , That Abraham , who was the Father of the faithful , was set forth for a patern of our Iustification . Now scarce one of his Readers in a thousand , but would have been trying Conclusions out of his premises : Abraham's Righteousness , was the Righteousness of Faith : But the Righteousness of Faith , is the Righteousness of Faith in Christ ; therefore Abraham's Righteousness was the Righteousness of Faith in Christ . Again ( says he ) the Apostle proves , that this Righteousness of Faith , and this alone , can recommend us to God . If then there be but one only Righteousness that can recommend us to God , either Abraham and Christians have one and the same Righteousness , or else one of them must needs want a Righteousness that can recommend them to God . But now from these premises , our Author concludes , that Abraham's Faith , was not a Faith in Christ . Then say I , His Righteousness was not the Righteousness by Faith in Christ : And then it was not neither the Righteousness of Faith , no , nor the Righteousness of God ; for our Author has warranted us , p. 243 , and 245. That the Righteousness of Faith , the Righteousness of God , and the Righteousness by the Faith of Christ , are but all one Righteousness . But here we have the Quintessence and Elixir of our Author 's rational Abilities : To this purpose he argues , The Father of the faithful , and his believing Children , are justified both one way , But Abraham the Father of the faithful was justified one way , and therefore Believers , who are his Children , are justified another . Now I like our Author's Conclusions dearly , when they are together by the ears with their premises . Again , Thus he reasons ; Abraham was set forth for a patern of our Iustification : But nothing ought to be like its patern ; and therefore you may be sure if Abraham was justified one way , Believers are justified another . Again , The Apostle proves what way Believers are justified , from the example of Abraham : But now the Apostle you know , always argues from one sort of things to another , his way of concluding is by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : And therefore , if Abraham was justified by Faith , you may conclude from thence , then Christians are justified by Works ; and if Believers are justified by Faith in Christ , then to be sure Abraham was justified some other way . The plain truth is , our Author is got into a Cramp , and has so hamper'd and bangled his matters , that I am very confident none of his Readers do understand him , and it were well , if he understood himself .

There are two Enquiries he will make to enlighten us in this Mystery .

1. What that Faith was whereby Abraham was justified ? 2. What Agreement there is between the Faith of Abraham , and the Faith in Christ .

( 1. ) What that Faith was whereby Abraham was justified ? To which he answers : 1. Negatively , It was not a Faith in Christ . Which Determination might have better become any mans mouth than hi●… , whose hand has subscribed the Seventh Article of the Church of England : Both in the Old-Testament and the New , Everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by Iesus Christ , who is the only Mediator between God and man , being both God and man . And I do the rather urge him with this Article , because it speaks not only what respect God might have to Christ , in bestowing Eternal Life ; but that there was an offer to Mankind of Eternal Life , through Christ , which speaks that respect which Believers had to a Mediator in their Faith ▪ But perhaps these Articles are but matter of course and form , and therefore I shall press him with what has more weight than a sorry Subscription : The Righteousness of God ( says he , p. 245. ) is the Righteousness of Faith , or Righteousness by the Faith of Christ : But Abraham's Righteousness , was the Righteousness of God ; and therefore it was the Righteousness of Faith , or the Righteousness by the Faith of Iesus Christ : Yea , ( says our Author ) Christ was the material Object of Abraham ' s Faith , that is , he believed the promise of God's sending Christ into the World , John 8. 56. Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day , and he saw it and was glad . Hence it 's evident , that Abraham had a great and personal concern in Christ's coming into the World , which made his heart leap within him : The same which the Apostle expresseth , Rom. 5. 11. We joy in God through our Lord Iesus Christ , through whom we have received the Atonement : For what cause of all this triumph , all this joy , that Christ should come into the World , some thousands of years after he should be dead , and buried , and rotten in his grave , to preach a Gospel in which he had no concern , and for which he should not be one pin the better ? But our Author will prove that Abraham's Faith was not a Faith in Christ , because no man could believe in Christ till he came . But I profess my self otherwise perswaded , and that the actual exhibition of Christ in the flesh , was not at all times absolutely necessary to a believing in him . Abraham believed that testimony which God gave of his son , that in him all the Nations of the earth should be blessed : He believed that God would bless him for the sake of Christ . He saw Christ slain from the Foundation of the World in Sacrifices : He saw a Redeemer , as that way which God had chosen to bruise the head of the Serpent ; which St. Iohn expounds , 1 Epist. 3. 8. by destroying the works of the Devil ; and Paul , Heb. 2. 14. by destroying the Devil , that is , so far as he had got the power of Death into his hands by sin : and in that security which he received from the promise of God , and from Christ , who was the Reason of its being made good , Yea and Amen , His Soul did rejoyce with exceeding great joy ; for so much 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 do import . But our Author has a Notion of Believing that is worth two of this , and will do his work : To believe any thing upon the Authority of Christ , is the true Notion of believing in him . To which I answer , 1. Supposing this to be the true Notion of believing , yet might Abraham receive a Doctrine upon the Authority of Christ , before his Manifestation in the Flesh : Christ was Mediator before his Incarnation , nor was his Assumption of our Nature absolutely necessary to the discharge of his Prophetical , but of his Priestly Office . A Body was prepared him , that he might have what to offer in Sacrifice to God , Hebr. 10. 7 , 8. It was the Spirit of Christ that spake in the Prophets , 1 Pet. 1. 11. and to deny this , is to deny something more than all the Thirty nine Articles , namely , the Nicene Creed , I believe in the Holy Ghost , who spake by the Prophets . But , 2. I deny that to receive a Doctrine upon the Authority of Christ , is the true and full Notion of believing on him : Faith in general implies an assent to a Truth upon the Authority of the Revealer ; but to make this a saving , a justifying Faith , the assent of the Understanding must draw along with it the Consent of the Will. A true Faith is described by such terms as include the Concurrent Acts both of the Will and the Understanding ; and therefore that which the Apostles Creed expresses , I believe the Resurrection of the Body ; the Nicene Creed renders , I look for the Resurrection of the Dead : Taking in that Act of the Soul , whereby it waits and stedfastly hopes for the goodness of the thing promised ; as well as credits the Veracity of God in the truth of the Proposition . And thus Abraham believed in Christ , he looked and waited for that rich Mercy wrap'd up in that promise of the Messiah , and all those spiritual Blessings that were to come through him . 3. The Reason of the Promise , is the Object of Faith , as well as the Truth of the Promiser . Abraham believed the Promise to be true , upon the Authority of him who gave it forth ; but he saw also that it was upon the account of Christ , a Mediator , that God would communicate to him the Blessings of the Covenant opitomized in that , I will be thy God . And this was that Gospel or Glad-tidings which was preached to Abraham , Gal. 3. 8. But our Author threatens we shall hear more of this presently : And I promise him when we do , it shall be fully considered . 2. He answers Affirmatively , Abraham believed God . To which I say , Subordinat a non pugnant : To believe God , and to believe in Christ , are very well consistent . That Abraham believed in God , and therefore he believed in Christ , seems to me to carry as fair Reason , as that other of his : Abraham believed God , and therefore he did not believe in Christ ; for the Scripture represents them as well agreed , 1 Pet. 1. 21. Through Christ we believe in God .

[ 4. ] Our next Task must be to Combate with our Author's scruples , and certainly never did man so snithe with prejudices against Truth : It 's hard to conceive how Abraham should learn this Mystery from that general Promise , [ In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed . ] Prejudice will , I confess , make an easier matter than this very hard ; and unbelief , impossible to be conceived : And yet were there not something worse than Prejudice at the bottom , the difficulty could not be insuperable : For , 1. Abraham had one Promise that we know of , to clear up the meaning of this . Several Promises give Reciprocal light to one another : The first Promise assured him , That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head : This shews to Abraham the necessity of having that Enmity removed , which the Devil by sin had sowen between God and his Creature ; the removing of this Enmity could not be , whilst Satan had the Dominion over the Creature : A Seed is therefore promised , to heal all that misery which sin brought into the World . This Promise was committed to the Church of God , which was a faithful Guardian , to keep so precious a Iewel committed to its trust : In this Seed ( which God had now revealed should come out of the Loyns of Abraham ) God promises Blessedness , which mutually sends light to the other Promise , that God would not only by the Promised Seed , Deliver from evil , but bestow all good . 2. Abraham might have other and better Comments upon both these Promises , than we are concerned to know ; it 's enough for us , that we are taught in general , that Abraham was justified the same way that we are ; and what that is , the New-Testament abundantly declares : And therefore it 's more ingenuous to conclude , That Abraham was justified by a Faith in Christ , because we are so ; than , That we are not justified by the Righteousness of Christ , because Abraham was not so . 3. Abraham understood the true use of Sacrifices , which are a clear Paraphrase upon the Promise , in what manner God would reconcile the World to himself , namely , by laying the sins of the Offender upon the head of that Sacrifice , which in the fulness of time should be offered for a Propitiation to God . In the Faith of which grand Propitiation , all true Believers lived and died : And when at length he was exhibited to the World , Iohn the Baptist points to him , as the Accomplishment of all their former Sacrifiees , and the Answer of all their Prayers and Hopes : This is that Lamb of God , which takes away the sins of the World , John 1. 29. But , 4. The Promise it self is not so obscure neither , but that upon this single Supposition , That God would bless the World with spiritual Blessings in the promised Seed ; they might easily conclude , they could not be blessed in themselves ; and therefore not in their own works and deservings , but in the Righteousness of another , who must be more acceptable to God than themselves . 5. We ought to entertain charitable thoughts of God , of his Goodness and Mercy , that he would not preach to Abraham the Gospel in an unknown tongue ; that is , would not give him a Promise , without the full latitude and extent of its meaning . And , 6. We are assured of the matter of fact that God did , because he had the same Gospel preached to him , That God would justifie the Heathen through Faith , Gal. 3. 8. Now as it 's a strange way of Preaching , to speak in a Language not understood ; so it 's as strange a Gospel that knows no Mediator ; no Redeemer . Whatever then was the Object of a Gospel-Faith , was the Object of Abraham's Faith ( for substance ) and whatever did constitute a Gospel-Righteousness , made up his Righteousness .

And yet after all this , our Author has muster'd up more self-created Prejudices , to stumble his own belief of the way of Abraham's Justification : For he supposes , that Abraham must believe many things incredible , and know many things not knowable , before he could come to the knowledg of the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness : As , ( 1. ) He must be well assured , that the Blessings here meant are spiritual Blessings , &c. But if this be the worst on 't , it would stumble me more to believe , how he could believe Blessedness , without pardon of sin , and eternal life . I cannot tell whether I shall satisfie another , but I have satisfied my self in this matter , from these Considerations : 1. That Abraham upon his believing , was justified in the sight of God ; and methinks it looks like a mere whimsey , to fancy a Notion of Iustification in his sight , that has neither pardon of sin included in it , nor eternal life attending of it . It 's strange to me to hear of Iustification before God against Temporal Evils : And if Abraham had no other , I think he was never perfectly justified . 2. The Determination of the Church of England is no light matter with me , Artic. 7. They are not to be heard , that feign the Fathers looked only for Transitory Promises . But it seems , that in this one particular , the Church was not infallible ; for they are to be heard , and read , and licensed , and advanced too , who dare f●…ign , and write , and preach , That the Patriarchs either looked for none , or at the best but Transitory Promises . 3. When I read , that Abraham was so earnest to see Christ's day by Faith , and when he got a sight of it , he was glad ; I begin to think with my self , what should be the ground of so great a joy , at so great a distance . Spiritual Promise he is allowed none ; and was it worth the while to rejoyce in the foresight of some temporal Advantages that should come to the Jews , when he should be turn'd to dust and nothing ? especially , seeing the coming of Christ either brought spiritual Mercies 〈◊〉 the Seed of Abraham , or none at all : So that he had more cause to sit down and lament , that he had no promise of Love from , or Life with God , either for his Person , or Posterity . Ay! but ( says he ) the Promise was not so clear , but men might mistake i●… . That may be I confess ! And so may the clearest that ever God gave to the sons of men . If men will set their wits on work , and serue , and torture , and vex , and wrest every letter and syllable , and in all this forsake the Conduct of God's Spirit , and scorn the Catholick Judgment of the Church in all Ages , to gratifie their Airy Crotchets , I do not remember a Promise of God to secure them against mistaking his Promises . Ay! but ( says he ) we know that the whole Iewish Church did so for many Ages . If he knows it , he knows more than I do ( but that is no great wonder ) and than any man alive besides his own Knowing self : And yet they had more particular Promises concerning Christ than that was , and yet expected only a temporal Prince . I will deal openly with him ; I do not believe , that the whole Iewish Church for any Age , much less for many Ages , no not for any one day in any Age , did expect a Messiah to deliver them only from temporal evils : That there was great degeneracy in that Church in some Ages , I deny not ( there is so amongst Christians ) especially towards the latter times of their Church-state : But that ever the whole Church so far degenerated , as to lose the expectation of a Redeemer to deliver them from sin , and its consequents , and to endow them with spiritual Blessings , I demand better proofs than Confidence , before I subscribe . And , 1. For Abraham , it 's evident he sought a heavenly Country ; and therefore I conclude , That the believing Jews , who had ( says our Author ) more particular Promises concerning Christ , sought a heavenly one too ; or their more express Promises were ill bestowed on them , Heb. 11. 9. By Faith , he ( Abraham ) dwelt in the promised Land , as in a strange Country . The promised Land was a strange Country to him that sought a heavenly one , whereof that was but the figure , the rind and bark ; for that Promise had greater excellencies underneath , to his discerning Faith ; ver. 10. For he looked for a City that had foundations , whose builder and maker is God : Vers. 13. All these died in the Faith — Confessing that they were Strangers and Pilgrims ; for they that say such things , declare plainly that they seek a Country . Vers. 16. But now they desire a better , that it , a heavenly Country ; therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God . 2. It 's evident , that the Messiah was promised , Isa. 53. 4. To bear their sins , and carry their sorrows . Vers. 5. To be wounded for their transgressions , and bruised for their iniquities . Ver. 6. To have all their iniquities laid upon him . Ver. 8. To be stricken for the transgression of God's people . Ver. 10. To have his Soul made an Offering for sin : And now to assert , That the whole Iewish Church expected only a temporal Monarch , is to throw such dirt in the face of God's people , as is very scandalous . 3. If any of them at any time expected temporal Deliverances , temporal Honours , Revenues , &c. from the Messiah , it was not inconsistent utterly with an expectation of better things from him ; for the Disciples themselves had been hammering some such conceit in their heads , Acts 1. 6. ( perhaps mistaking in the Chronology , and Antedating that Mercy , which in its season they might have reason to expect ) and yet by our Author 's good leave , I will be so charitable as to presume they looked for pardon of sin , and eternal life from Christ : Nay , I could name instances nearer home of those that expect from the Gospel large in-comes , and yet we may reasonably believe , have nobler things in their eye , and would scorn his Atheistical spirit , who would not forgo his part in Paris , for his share in Paradise . ( 2. ) He must know , that Christ was to die for our sins , without which ( according to our Doctor ) it 's impossible God should forgive sins , considering the Naturalness of his Vindictive Iustice to him . Now to untie this knot in the Bulrush : 1. I question not that Abraham understood clearly , That God was essentially holy , and that his Rectoral , or Governing Iustice , was founded therein , Gen. 18. 25. Shall not the Iudg of all the Earth do right ? That it should be with the righteous , as with the wicked ; or with the wicked as with the righteous , were far from God : Which Consideration might stagger his Faith about the pardon of his own sin , and his only relief could be from the Faith of the Messiah's undertaking with God : In which he had this satisfaction , that however he found difficulties in the way of believing , yet still he gave credit to God , and his Testimony concerning a Redeemer , leaving the Modes and Circumstances of the Mediatory Office , as a secret in God's bosom . 2. I am confident our Author cannot prove , that Abraham knew nothing of Christ's death . This I know , he had Sacrifices , which might sufficiently instruct him in the demerit of sin , and what the sinner had deserved , and in the necessity of Compensation to be made to God's Justice , for his violated Law , and reproached Government : And whether Abraham might not once open his mouth to God , to be instructed in their noblest signification and design , I cannot tell . 3. I do not know of any absolute necessity , that Abraham should understand the Circumstances that should lead towards the fulfilling of the Mediator's work , or in what particular way God would justifie a sinner : It was enough that God had firmly revealed , that he had made sufficient provision for it by a Mediator . Abraham believed stedfastly , that the means God had chosen were proportionable to their end , and the rest was to be left to God . 4. And herein lay much of the Bondage that Believers were in : Under the Old-Administration of the Covenant of Grace , they had not so satisfactory an account of the particular means how the Redeemer should work out their Deliverance ; which way he should accomplish the great work of Propitiation ; and therefore when fresh guilt , contracted by fresh sin , lay upon the Conscience , their faith was staggered , and peace broken , because they had a clear Objection against their pardon , from their sins ; but not so clear a Solution from the promise of the pardon of it ; the Promise being encumbred with so many intricacies , that the only refuge was a Retreat to the Faithfulness of God in general : Which yet was no easie work , under the Scruples and Cavils of present guilt , and the Accusation of Conscience . Ay! but ( says he ) this was more than the Apostles understood , till after the Resurrection , though Christ had expresly told them of it ▪ Was it so ? Then , 1. They could never know it to the World's end : For if telling , and express telling will not make us know , there 's no remedy , we must be content to be ignorant : But this is our Author's humour , to reproach all the World for So●… and Fools but himself , and a few more Rational Heads . The Jews were all Fools , they had more particular Promises than Abraham , and yet they looked only for a temporal Prince : The Apostles they were all Naturals , for they had been told , and expresly told of it , and yet understood no more than the wall . I wonder what could have been done more to make them know it , unless it had been beaten into their heads with a Beetle . I suppose our Author has got this fancy from some such place , as that Mark 9. 31. The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of Men , and they shall kill him , and after that he is killed , he shall rise again ; but they understood not the saying . But can we be so vain as once to imagine , that they understood not the Grammar of those words ? that they knew not the literal sence of dying . No! but they had not such clear satisfaction about some of the Consequents of it : Perhaps they had not such a firm and stedfast belief of the truth of it , as might bear up their hearts at an even rate of Tranquillity and Calmness , under their temptations and tryals ; they might not improve the Truth , to encourage in a patient waiting for the Resurrection of Christ : And that this was it that pinch'd them is plain ▪ they declare it , Luke 24. 19 , 20 , 21. Concerning Iesus of Nazareth — how the chief Priests delivered him to be condemned to death , and crucified him , but we trusted that it had been be , that should have redeemed Israel . They believed his Crucifixion , but were staggered about his Resurrection : Hereupon Christ rebukes their slowness of heart to believe all that the Prophets had spoken , how Christ ought to suffer , and to enter into his glory , ver. 25 , 26. Besides , it 's a common Rule , That verba intellectus implicant affectiones ; words that in their bare sound , only denote the understanding , yet in their true intent and meaning , take in the will and affections : And again , Negatives are often put for Comparatives ; I will have Mercy , and not Sacrifice , that is , I will have Mercy rather than Sacrifice . So here , They understood not , that is , They understood not so much of it , as such clear Expressions deserved .

( 3. ) Another great Scruple ( for I see there 's no end of them ) is this , He must understand the perfect holiness , and innocency of Christ's life : But that was the least thing of a thousand : He needed no Elias to explain that ; a very Nullifidian would have believed , that he whom God had designed to bless others , must needs be perfectly blessed himself . 'T is true , had Christ's work been no other than what our Author has cut out for him , he might have discharged it , without an absolute sinless Perfection : A Prophet might have revealed the whole will of God , and afterwards confirmed his Doctrine by his death ; but to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice , this required that Christ the Antitype , should be holy , harmless , undefiled , and separated from sinners : And in this God was punctual and precise , under the Law , that the Sacrifice of Atonement should be without spot , and without blemish . And thus much Abraham might learn from his own Sacrifices ; and had he conceived the least suspicion , that Christ would prove a sinner , it had damped his joy and triumph in the foresight of his day . Ay! but ( says he further ) he must understand that he fulfilled all Righteousness , not for himself , but for us . Answ. 1. It 's a most wretched and unrighteous way of procedure , to call things clear and evident into question , for the sake of some that are obscure and disputable : It becomes ingenuous persons , to agree to what is clear and certain , leaving them upon their own Basis , and to reduce the doubtful to them . It 's plain that Abraham was justified by Faith , his Righteousness , was the Righteousness of Christ : If the measure of his knowledg herein , be unknown to us , yet that he had a knowledg , is not so . If God revealed this to Abraham's Faith , I doubt not but he believed it : That he did not , is more than our Author can prove . If he shall attempt it , his Arguments may be considered ; in the mean time , his Conceits and Crotchets ought not to prejudice the Truth : But if God did not reveal it , Abraham's Faith might live , though not be so vigourous and strong without it . 2. Abraham might know , that what Christ suffered , he suffered not for himself , but in the stead of those for whom he suffered ; for he saw the Sacrifices die , and yet not for their own sins . And why he might not conclude , That what a Redeemer did was for others too , I cannot tell . 3. There 's many a sincere and sound Believer , that understands not all the Terms of Art that are used in the Explication of the Doctrine of Justification , that perhaps cannot tell you , which part of Christ's obedience answers this , and which the other exigency of the sinner ; and yet believes the Thing , that Christ is made to him Righteousness of God : He is not so well versed in the Nomenclature of the Schools , as to call every thing by its proper name , but goes downright to work ; he renounces his own Righteousness , sees the necessity of a Redeemer to make his peace with God ; accepts of life upon God's terms , and leads a holy life suitable to his present mercies , and future hopes , and leaves the rest to the Learned World to wrangle about , who may perhaps dispute themselves gravely and learnedly into Hell , whilst the poor honest man believes his Soul into Glory .

( 4. ) He must understand the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God . Understand the mystery of the Incarnation ? I assure you it 's fair if it be well believed ! I have not met with many , not with any , that understand the mystery of it , to this day . It 's more adviseable for our Author , to secure his own Faith in this point , than Abraham's Understanding . Abraham was a Believer , and received his Religion upon the Authority of the Revealer ; but our Author will own none but what approves it self to his Reason ; and whether the Incarnation of Christ have had that happiness with him , I cannot tell : and therefore to deal plainly with him , I have some Conjectures that may weigh against his Prejudices , which incline me to choose Abraham's Faith even in this particular before his own . But however that be , the Scripture assures us , that Abraham was justified the same way that New-Testament-Believers are : One God , one Lord Iesus Christ , one Holy Spirit , yesterday , to day , and the same for ever ; and if his poor prejudices must controul divine Revelations , I cannot help it . An Atheist would believe there i●… a God , but that he cannot get over all Objections ; and our Author would believe the Gospel-report , of the way of Abraham's Justification , but that he cannot weather all the Prejudices , which he first creates , and then pleads .

( 5. ) He must understand the nature of Faith , and of rowling the Soul on Christ for Salvation , and renouncing all Righteousness of his own . Answ. I question not but the Father of the Faithful , one so much in the exercise of Faith , understood very well the nature of it , and that he would hardly have lighted his Candle at our Author's Torch ; but it 's grown the Mode , for junior Understandings to vilifie the grey Heads of the Fathers , and to count them all Bl●…ck heads , that think not to a hairs breadth with them . Abraham knew , that Faith consisted in a firm belief , that what God had promised was true , and that the things of the Promise were exceeding good , and so to him : He gave a full assent and consent to both , with their special Reasons ; he embraced the mercy of the Promise with thankfulness , and joy ; and credited the veracity of him that made the Promise , with security of mind ; and he felt by experience , that quiet , and satisfaction of Soul , that arises from an interest in him that gave , and that Redeemer that was given in the Promise : And if he must be jeered for rowling himself on God , and on his Christ , for ought I know he must bear his burden .

[ 5. ] And now conformable to his old awkward humour , our Author will attempt the deciding the Controversie , Which way Abraham was justified , from Heb. 11. And this , I say , is a perverse and awkward way of proceeding , to wave the proper places , Rom. 4. Gal. 3. where the Apostle professedly disputes the point , and fix upon one where he disputes it not . Two things he would perswade us to believe him in .

1. That the Apostle in this Chapter discourses of a justifying Faith . To which I answer , That the Apostle does indeed Treat of a Faith that justifies , but not of Faith as it justifies . A justifying Faith has many excellent , and admirable uses , does a Christian noble service , besides that of justifying him before God . It teaches him to trust God in all the ways , and methods of his ▪ Providences , to depend on him for all the good things of this life , as well as those of a better : It deals with the Promises of the life that now is , and those of that to come : It encourages us to pray , Give us this day our daily bread ; as well as , Forgive us our trespasses . It instructs us to commit our concerns to his fatherly love , and care ; to wrestle vigourously with all the oppositions we meet with in the Profession of Christianity ; to walk comfortably , chearfully , conscientiously in our particular Callings ; to despise the things that are seen , which are but temponal , in comparison of those which are not seen , and are eternal . It taught Abel to offer Sacrifice to God , whereby he had the witness that he was righteous , God testifying of his gifts . And if our Author can see no difference between being made Righteous , and having the witness of it in his Conscience , he needs a Collyrium which I cannot help him to . It taught Enoch also to walk with God ; from whence he had the same testimony , that he pleased God : The same Faith that justified him , procured him a testimony of his Justification , but not as it justified him . The Direct Act of Faith is one thing , and the Reflecting Act of Faith another . It taught Noah also to take Gods warning of the approaching Deluge , and to prepare an Ark to escape the danger : Whereby he condemned the World , and became heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith ; that is , he had more full assurance of his Acceptation with God ; According to a common Rule , Multa tun●… fieri dicuntur quando facta esse manifestantur .

2. He would perswade us into his Notion of a justifying Faith : This justifying Faith ( says he ) is the substance of things hoped for , the evidence of things not seen . But the Apostle does not here intend to give us a strict Definition of a justifying Faith , but a Description of its most noble effects : A justifying Faith produces these effects , but not at all times , nor in all persons justified ; it 's Faith in its vigour , not in its essence , that is here described : By this Faith the Elders obtained a good report before men , and their own Consciences ; yet was it not this Act of Faith that justified them before God , though it was the same Faith that produced this Act , by which they were justified . Whereas therefore he would oblige us yet more by his critical skill in the Gr. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is a firm and confident expectation of those things we hope for●… and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an Argument of the Being of those things we do not see ; For my part I am not much edified , and therefore let him make merry with his own Talents . That which follows will be more for our Information ; for he will now speak to the Act , the Object , and the several kinds of Faith .

( 1. ) For the Act of Faith : It is ( as he says ) such a firm and stedfast perswasion of the truth of those things that are not evident to sense , as makes us confidently hope for them . But this seems to me to be a hungry description of the Act of justifying Faith ▪ The Scripture has other apprehensions of this matter , which describes the Act of faith by receiving , John 1. 12. To as many as received him , to them he gave power to become the sons of God , even to them that believe on his name . Where , if the Evangelist may be trusted to make his own Exegesis , Receiving of Christ , and , Believing on his name , do mutually interpret each other . It 's not enough that the Understanding be engaged in this work , which may be found in the worst of men and Devils ; the Will must also conspire with the Understanding : For that which Faith is conversant about , being not only true , but good , there must be an Act of Choice , as Knowledg , that the whole man may be employed about it .

( 2. ) Says he , The Object of Faith must be unseen things ; As the Being , or Providence of God , or a Future state , something past or to come , the Creation of the World , or the final Dissolution of it , or the accomplishment of any Promises or Predictions . I grant indeed , that these things may be called tropically , the Object of our Faith ; but as they are things to be obtained , they are more properly the Object of our Hope : But that which Faith primarily eyes , that which is its proper Object , is the reason of its Assent and Consent : And thus God in Christ , through the Promise , is the proper Object of a justifying Faith . The mercles of the Covenant of Grace , are many of them reserved for a future estate , when the Soul shall be better qualified to enjoy them ; but Faith respects God actually giving himself in Covenant to be our God , through a Mediator : When we say , we believe Heaven , we belief Life Everlasting , &c. the meaning is only this , we believe God has promised to give Heaven , to give Life Everlasting , through Jesus Christ : I believe such a thing will be ; that is , I believe God , who has engaged that such a thing shall be . The Authority of God speaking in the Promise , is the true Reason , and proper Object of Faith , and the things contained in the Promise , as they are such , are not the Object of my Faith properly , but have other powers of the Soul that are concerned about them .

( 3. ) The different sorts of Faith ( says he ) result from the different Objects and Motives of it . The Apostle takes notice of two kinds of Faith in this Chapter ( Hebr. 11. ) and faith in Christ makes a Third , which are all the kinds of Faith the Scripture mentions . Now I am afraid I shall grow every day less in love than other with our Author's Accurateness in Divinity : For , 1. What a mad way is this , to distinguish Faith into its several kinds and sorts , from the multiplicity of the things that it believes ! for at this rate he could have minted not three only , or threescore , but three hundred sorts and kinds of Faith . The different sorts , or kinds of Faith result ( says he ) from the different Objects and Motives of it . But ( say I , in his sence ) the Objects and Motives of Faith are innumerable , and therefore the sorts and kinds of Faith are innumerable also . The Object of Faith ( says he ) must be unseen things ; The Being , or Providence of God , or a Future state , something past or to come , &c. Now according to this Doctrine we must believe the Being of God with one sort of Faith , his Providences with another ; the Creation of the World with one kind of Faith , its Dissolution with another ; Heaven with one kind of Faith , Hell with another ; things past with one kind , things to come with another ; Prophesies with one kind of Faith , Promises with another : And then for the Motives of Faith , they are various ; The Power of God , the Wisdom of God , our Experience of God , the Goodness of God : So when I believe any thing , and take the Power of God able to accomplish it , for my Motive ; I believe it with a Faith of another kind from that whereby I believe the same thing , and take the goodness of God for my motive : And now there 's a Foundation laid for one of his plain Demonstrations , that Abraham's Faith differed toto genere from Pauls ; because Abraham in believing , took his encouragement from the faithfulness of him that had promised ; and Paul , from his Abilities to keep what he had committed unto him : So that I think I have not over-shot my self in saying , That he may upon these principles , coyn as many several sorts , and distinct kinds of justifying Faith , as he can possibly spend in seven years time , and as he grows out of sorts , he may stamp as many more . 2. I am not satisfied that the Apostle mentions two , and but just two sorts of justifying Faith in this Chapter : For the Apostle mentions one and the same Faith ; By Faith , we believe the Worlds were created ; by Faith , Abel sacrificed ; by Faith , Enoch walked with God ; by Faith , the Elders obtained a good report ; by Faith , Noah took Gods warning ; by Faith , Sarah conceived ; by Faith , Abraham offered up Isaac , &c. But if these Faiths were of several sorts and kinds , the Apostle could not manage his Argument with Consistency ; nor should he so insensibly have passed from one sort of Faith to another , without fair warning , that he had no plot upon his Readers imbecillity . 3. It 's full as easie to make All the sorts of Faith appear in the Chapter , as two , if it had pleased the Painter : For , 1. Here 's evidently the Faith of Christians , vers. 3. Through Faith we understand , [ we Christians ] that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God . 2. There 's Enoch's and Abel's Faith , which our Author allots for a second kind of Faith . And then , 3. The Faith of Noah , Abraham , and all the rest , and their 's constitutes the third sort o●… Faith . 4. Much less am I satisfied , that Faith in Christ makes a third kind of justifying Faith , distinct from the other two : Faith is but one ; the Reason into which our Faith is ultimately resolved , is but one ; the Mean whereby we believe in God , is but one , even Jesus Christ , by whom we believe in God : But the things , the good things propounded in the Promises are infinite : So that I doubt not when any necessity shall urge him , he can reduce all these three sorts of Faith into one again by Synaeresis , or split any one of them into a couple , by a Diaeresis : But now let us look into his three sorts of Faith .

1. § . The first ( says he ) we may call , A natural Faith . I confess he may call things what he pleases , only let him be sure he do not miscal them ; the rather , because he has not Adams faculty , to make inspection into their Natures . But what is this natural Faith ? A belief ( says he ) of the Principles of natural Religion , which is founded on natural Demonstrations , and moral Arguments , as , that God is , and that heis a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him . But I am still of the same mind , that there is no such thing , ( nor ever was ) as a Religion of sinners , whereby they can draw nigh to God , and worship him with Acceptation , but what supposes Divine Revelation , as the means of Manifestation ; and a Redeemer , as the medium of Reconciliation . It is owned , that this is a Principle of all Religion , that God is , and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him : But there must be somewhat more than this , namely , Ability and strength from God , that we may diligently seek him , and a Mediator through whom we may seek him , with him , with Acceptation . But ( says he ) This was the Faith of Abel , and Enoch , whereby they pleased God . Answ. There was this in their Faith , but this was not the whole of their Faith : Well! he will prove it ; 1. There 's no mention made of the Faith of Abel , and Enoch in the Old-Testament . A worthy Argument ! A non scripto negativè , in a matter of Fact ! The Old-Testament mentions it not , therefore there was no such thing ; this is pure trifling : For though the Old-Testament mentions not expresly their Faith , it mentions their Acceptation with God , which without Faith is impossible to be obtained . And secondly , The New-Testament mentions both their Faith , and their Acceptation : Which Faith was of the same kind with the rest of those eminent Worthies mentioned with them ; as is evident from that even Tenour of Discourse the Apostle uses : By Faith Abel , by Faith Enoch , by Faith Noah , by Faith Abraham , &c. without any ground of the least suspicion that he leaps from one sort of Faith to another . 2. God ( says he ) required no more of these good men . Answ. 1. But there was something required to make them good men . 2. How can he prove , that God required ●… more of these good men ? God required more of Adam , even Faith , in that first Promise of a Mediator ; and how Abel should lose it , or having it , not believe it , and yet be such a good man , is past my skill to conceive . 3. He tells us , p. 26. That God afforded good men the frequent Apparitions of Angels : The head of whom was the Son of God , who , in praeludium futurae incarnationis , frequently appeared to the ancient Fathers : And he is not sure either what God revealed to them , or required of them . 4. God required more of Abel , a Sacrifice ; and that not meerly as a part of his Obedience , but as Propitiatory , which by the blood and the fat , which always accompanied that kind of Sacrifices , is evident . 3. Says he , They had no other particular Revelations of God's with Answ. If they had no other , they had none at all ▪ for natural Demonstrations , are not particular Revelations . 2. Adam had more particular Revelations ; and it being a Promise wherein Posterity was concerned as well as himself , and concernid so deeply , I shall not question his fidelity in deriving it to posterity , without proof . 3. Abel had the use of Sacrifices , which suppose Revelation : For what Light of Nature could teach me , that God would delight in the death of his Creatures , that had not transgressed the Laws of their Creation : Abel's was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a bloody Sacrifice ; nor is God ever the more entitled to , or possest of any Creature by being offered dead , than if it were presented alive : And if natural Demonstrations , the Light of Nature , was the Foundation of the Practice , it is still obliging ; for natural Light , with its Demonstrations , varies not . 4. We are sure , that Enoch had the Spirit of Prophecy , was an eminent Prophet in his days , and therefore had particular Revelations ; and amongst many , one Revelation of Christ , Jude , ver. 14. Enoch also , the seventh from Adam , prophesi●…h of these , saying , Behold , the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints , to execute judgment upon all , &c. The same with that of the Apostle , 2 Thess. 1. 7. The Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven , with his mighty Angels , in flaming fire to take vengeance , &c. for to Christ is the power of executing vengeance committed , John 5. 27. And therefore I cannot but conclude , That he who had a particular Revelation of Christ's coming to judg the World , had particular ones also , that he should come into the World to redeem it . And now how vain must our Author's Argument needs be , from the silence of the Old-Testament , to infer , That Enoch and Abel had no particular Revelation , when the New-Testament proves , that Enoch had particular Revelations : And if Enoch had this Revelation , which yet is not mentioned either in the Old-Testament or the New , but only in this place , how many more might he have , which are drowned in the Gulph of Time , and this one , by special Providence , scaped the common Shipwrack ? But , 5. That which abundantly proves , that they had particular Revelations , and Revelations of Christ too , through whom God is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him , is this , That their Sacrifices in God's Institution of them , and their own Application of them , from the first rise of them , had respect to Christ , who is therefore called , The Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World , Rev. 13. 8. Which , without partiticular Revelation , they could never have understood .

§ . 2. His second sort of justifying Faith , he calls a Faith in God : Which puts me to a stand , Whether he would have us take the former for a justifying Faith or no. If the former were not a Faith in God , how could it justifie ? If it was ; then how comes Faith in God , to constitute a new and distinct kind of justifying Faith ? But what is this Faith in God ? A belief ( says he ) of those particular Revelations , which God made to the Fathers of the Old-Testament . From whence it is easie to prove , that every time our Author repeats his Creed , I believe in God , we are bound to take him for one of the Fathers of the Old-Testament : If this be a true Definition of Faith in God , all the Saints in the New-Testament are misbelievers . But of this ( says he ) the Apostle gives us many examples , Noah ▪ Abraham , Sarah , Moses , &c. Perhaps the Reader will wonder why Enoch and Abel should be left out of the Catalogue of the Fathers of the Old-Testament ; but he must reflect , and remember , that they are rank'd already in the Classis of examples for the natural Faith : And truly , if he had pleased , he might have created a new sort of Faith for every Pair in the whole Chapter : Thus Abraham and Sarah would have done well in a Form by themselves ; nay , to have advanced the Conceit , he might have created a particular kind of Faith , for every particular person of them : Each of them had their particular Revelations , and particular Motives ; Noah , believed the Deluge ; Abraham , the promise of a Son ; and David , the warning that God gave him of his Danger , &c. Now we are told , that the object of Faith is something to come , or something past , &c. and that the different sorts of Faith , result from the different Objects and Motives of it : and therefore it had been easie to have allotted to each of them a different kind of Faith : But let us hear him improve his Notion . Noah ( says he ) believed God , when he forewarned him of the Deluge , and in obedience to him , provided an Ark ; and this was imputed to him for Righteousness : He became the Heir of Righteousness , which is by Faith : But I find no such thing in all the Copies that I have , that it was imputed to him for Righteousness . This I find , that he became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith : Which two things are more different than any of his three kinds of Faith . Noah was an Heir of Righteousness , that is , he inherited those advantages , which come by Righteousness ; he had the peaceable fruits of Righteousness . As a Son by being his Fathers Heir , inherits the Purchases , Possessions , Honours of his Father : Thus Noah by being an Heir of Righteousness , enjoyed whatever Priviledges the Promise of God had entailed upon Righteousness . Noah was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : The Heir of Righteousness ; where Righteousness is not Ge●…itivus materiae , but efficientis . It denotes not that Righteousness was the thing he inherited , but the true Reason why he inherited those blessings : Righteousness answers not to the Possession , but to the Ancestor ; not what , but from what he inherited . And this is clear from this one Consideration , That Noah was righteous before God , before that particular Revelation was made to him : He was not made righteous , because he believed that particular Revelation ; but God made him that particular Revelation , because he was already righteo●… . Gen. 6. 8 , 9. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord ▪ Vers. 9. Noah was a just man , and perfect in his Generations , and Noah walked with God . Vers. 13. God said unto Noah , The end of all flesh is come before me . Ver 14. Make thee an Ark of Gopher wood . Ver. 17. And behold I , even I , do bring a Flood upon the Earth .

He proceeds to Abraham : Who in obedience to the divine Revelation , left his Country , went into a strange Land , offered his son Isaac , which seem'd to thwart that former promise , In Isaac shall thy Seed be called ; i. e. That from Isaac should proceed that numerous Off-spring which God had promised Abraham ; and yet he was so well assured of the power and faithfulness of God , that whatever Impossibilities Humane Reason suggested , he would neither disobey Gods Command , nor distrust his Promise . Now here would arise several Queries : As , 1. Whether then Abraham's Religion was of the right stamp , seeing it would not approve it self to his Reason ? and , Whether Abraham's Reason was not Carnal , that suggested Impossibilities against God's Promise ? and , Whether our Author ( had he been in Abraham's Circumstances ) ought not by his own Principles , to have disobeyed , and distrusted God both in his Precept and Promise , because they did not approve themselves to his Reason . 2. It might be enquired , What inference he will make from hence ? and that he tells us is , That the Faith whereby Abraham , and all good men were justified before God , was such a firm belief of the Being , and Providence of God , and all the particular Revelations God made to them , as made them careful to please God in all things : Now this is still the Question , and is like so to continue , for any assistance we are like to have from our Author's Arguments . But , 3. There is one thing that I shall particularly examine , Whether that Promise , Gen. 21. 12. In Isaac shall thy Seed be called , be made good in that numerous Off-spring that issued from Isaac' s loyns ? Now if any regard might be had to the Apostle , he would soon decide the Controversie , Rom. 9. 7 , 8. In Isaac shall thy Seed be called , that is , they which are the children of the Flesh , are not the children of God ; but the children of the Promise , are counted for the Seed . See here now the vast difference in mens judgments . In Isaac shall thy Seed be called ; id est , ( says our Author ) from Isaac should proceed that numerous Off-spring : No , says the Apostle , In Isaac shall thy Seed be blessed ; id est , The children of the Flesh , are not the children of God ; but the children of the Promise , are counted for the Seed . Again , Rom. 4. 16. Therefore it [ the Promise ] is of Faith , that it might be sure to all the seed ; not only to that which is of the Law , but to that which is of the Faith of Abraham , who is the Father of us all . Gal. 3. 29. And if ye be Christs , then are ye Abrahams Seed , and Heirs according to the Promise . 4. It were easie to evidence , that what the Apostle speaks of Abraham's Faith in offering up his son , related not to the Act of it , whereby he was justified , but to the Evidence of his Justification . His third sort of Faith follows .

§ . 3. From hence ( says he ) we learn what Faith in Christ is , which is now imputed to us for Justification . From hence ! From whence ? If we never learn what faith in Christ is , better than from the Faith of Abel , Enoch , Noah , and Abraham , which are the whole Heavens asunder each from other , as he has ordered the matter , we must be content to be ignorant of it till our lives end . For who could learn the special Nature of one thing , from another that differs from it in the kind ? But let us give him the hearing ! Our faith in Christ must signifie such a stedfast belief of all those Revelations which Christ hath made to the World , as governs our lives and actions . Why so ? To make our faith in Christ , answer to the faith of Abraham , and all good men in former Ages ; without which , the Apostles Argument from Abraham ' s being justified by faith , to our Iustification by faith , is of no force . There is a necessity then granted , that our faith in Christ and Abraham's , do answer one another , lest the Apostle should be reproach'd with a Non-sequitur : Now to perform this , instead of making Abrahams to be a faith in Christ , as it really is , he debases faith in Christ , as low as , if not , below the faith of Abraham : He pretends to under-prop the Apostles Argument , but really he undermines it ; and whilst he seems to provide an Expedient , that his Reasonings may not be invalidated , he renders them more than Nugatory . For , 1. How can faith in Christ , answer to the faith of all those good men in former times ? Abel , Enoch ? when their's was Faith without Revelations , but faith in Christ is a Faith grounded upon Revelations : The Motive of their Faith , was Natural Demonstrations ; the Reason of ours is Revelation : The Object of our Faith ( in his sense ) is Eternal Life ; but whether they had any such thing in their eye , our Author will not grant ; for he that will not allow Abraham , whose Faith was grounded upon Revelations , to have had any spiritual Promises , will less allow those poor good men the priviledg , whose Faith was only built upon Natural Demonstrations . 2. How can faith in Christ , answer to the faith of Abraham ? He has laid it down as the bottom of this Discourse , p. 252. that , The different sorts of Faith , result from the different Objects and Motives of it : But Abraham's Faith had different Objects and Motives from ours , ( as he tells us ) : And therefore it 's of another nature , sort and kind than ours ; for so he says expresly , The Apostle takes notice of two kinds of Faith , and faith in Christ makes a third : Now will it not be hard for the Apostle to maintain his great Principle , That Abraham is the Father of the faithful , if Abraham's Faith and theirs differ toto Genere ? Those things that differ in their special Nature , may yet agree in their common Nature ; but those things that are of divers kinds , wherein shall they agree ? But all this is but a scandal thrown upon the Apostle , who proves from Abraham's way of being justified , the way of Christians being justified , Rom. 4. As Abraham was justified without Works , so are we . Vers. 2. As Abraham had a Righte●…sness imputed to him , even so have we . Vers. 11. That Righteousness might be imputed to them also : As Abraham's Righteousness , was a Righteousness of Faith , even so is ours . Vers. 11. A Seal of the Righteousness of Faith . As Abraham was justified by free Grace , so are we . V. 5. To him that worketh not , but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly . Thus was his Righteousness , the patern of ours ; his Faith the patern of ours : And is it not a strange Copy that differs in kind from its Idaea ? That 's a huge way off from 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : As if you should propound a House for your patern , and draw a Horse to sample it . Once more look into Gal. 3. 8. The Scripture fore-seeing that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith , preach'd before the Gospel to Abraham : Now if Abraham had not our Faith , what needed he to have our Gospel ? The end of preaching the Gospel is to beget Faith ; and it was an equivocal Generation , if it begat a Faith of one kind in Abraham , another in Christians : What needed this circumspect Caution of Providence , that Abraham should have the glad tidings of the Gospel preach'd to him , which made him rejoyce and be glad , if a Faith of a lower size would serve his turn for Justification ? Again , vers. 13. That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles , through Iesus Christ . If we have his blessing , surely he had our Faith : Or could Abraham get the blessing without Christ ; but Christians no other way , but in Christ ? But thus has our Author vindicated the Apostles Reasonings , as if he had secretly design'd ( as he openly professes of the Wriings of others ) to expose them to contempt .

It may be now seasonable to examine his Definition of a Gospel-Faith ; viz. Such a stedfast belief of all those Revelations which Christ hath made to the World , as governs our lives and actions . If this be to define , put but a company of Letters in a bag , shuffle them well together , then shake them out , and they will tumble into as good a Definition as this comes to : But thus did Atoms by dancing in Infinite and Eternal Spaces , justle one another so long , till at last they produced this beautiful Fabrick of Heaven and Earth . I except against it ; 1. Because the whole Priestly Office of Christ is excluded by it ; Propitiation , Atonement , Expiation of sin , are shut quite out of all consideration ; and the Death and Sufferings of Christ of no regard , unless perhaps they may come in by way of Motive , to believe his Doctrine as a Prophet . And if this be his Faith , I must profess , I would not venture my Salvation in his Church , for the hopes of all the good , or fear of all the evil this World can either flatter or affright me with ; however I beg Grace from God that I may not . He that has but half a Christ , had as good have no Christ ; and he that takes him not wholly into the Definition of his Faith , may as safely leave him wholly out . As half a heart in God's account , is no heart ; so half a Saviour in Faith's esteem , is no Saviour . 2. I except against it , because it may be found in Hypocrites : They may so far believe the Revelations of Christ , as to govern their lives and actions , and yet their hearts never be purified by that Faith . 3. It pretends to define Faith , and yet gives us no Genus of it : Faith is such a Belief , as governs our lives and actions ; that is , Faith , is Faith that governs our lives and actions : But the Question is , What is that Faith , that will so govern our lives and actions ? For it describes not any direct influence of Faith upon our Iustification , but our obedience . And whereas he pretends to assign some differences , that may distinguish it from all other Faith , true or false ; yet in plain terms they do nothing less . 1. It 's a belief of those Revelations Christ has made to the World . Now unless he can prove , that those Revelations which Christ has made to the World , are essentially distinct from those which God before made to the World ; their being revealed by Christ , makes no essential difference : For Christ came in his Fathers name , under the New-Testament ; and the Spirit came in Christs name , under the Old-Testament . All Christ's Revelations , in order to the governing our lives and actions , may be reduced either to Precepts , or Promises : Now though some have been tampering at it , I cannot find that Christ revealed either a new Moral Law , or added any thing to the old : Self-denial , Taking up the Cross , Praying for our Persecutors , &c. were Old-Testament duties , though not met with in New-Testament phrase : As a Rule of obedience , Christ medled not with it ; all he did , was to vindicate it from the corrupt Glosses the Scribes and Pharisees had put upon it . As to Promises , Christ has revealed no other Heaven , no other Glory , no other Salvation ; only he has cleared up these , given us more light into them , poured out more Grace , that we might live more in fellowship with God , and hopes of Glory : But this , and much more , will make no essential difference in the Revelation . 2. It 's such a Belief , as governs our lives and actions : But such a Belief was Enoch's , Abel's , Noah's , Abraham ▪ s ; their 's govern'd their lives and actions too , and somewhat more ; their Hearts and Consciences : This therefore will make no essential difference . 4. I except against it , that it mentions not God as the proper Object of Faith : For though Christ , who is God , be in the Definition , yet not as God ; there 's nothing supposes him to be so , no employment that necessarily requires it should be so assigned to him ; only he is allowed Revelation-work , which a meer man , instructed with God's Commission , might have done .

And now once again he will reassume his Argument : If by the Righteousness of Faith , you understand the Righteousness of Christ apprehended by Faith , and imputed to us , you utterly destroy the Apostle's Argument for our Iustification by Faith ; for Abraham , and all the good men of old were not justified by such a Faith as this is : They never heard of Christ's Righteousness imputed to us , &c. Now how does it follow , that because Abraham was justified by such noble and generous Acts of Faith , therefore we shall be justified by Christ's Righteousness imputed ? But whoever overthrows the Apostle's Argument , I have some things that will overthrow , and utterly overthrow our Author's . 1. That he begs , and most shamefully begs the Question , which I think we must be forced to grant him at last to be rid of him , without any respect to his Argument : For thus we shut our hands sometimes of those importunate Mendicants , whose strongest Logick , and most prevailing Oratory , is Clamour and Obstinacy : He has hardned himself to say , that Abraham was justified without any respect to the Righteousness of Christ , that he was justified by noble and generous Acts of Faith ; and then concludes , That therefore so are we : And all this , to save the credit of the Apostle's Argument . But I should rather go the other way ; Believers under the Gospel are not justified without respect to the Righteousness of Christ , therefore neither was Abraham ; and let that save the credit of the Apostle's Argument . As he cannot prove that Abraham was accepted of God , without any consideration of Satisfaction made to him by a Redeemer , and therefore ought not to infer , that we are accepted of God without such Consideration ; so we can prove that Believers under the Gospel are accepted of God , upon Consideration had of the Satisfaction made to him by a Redeemer , and therefore may infer , that Abraham was accepted upon the same Consideration . 2. His Argument will recoil upon the Engineer : For if by the Righteousness of Faith , you understand a Righteousness of our own obedience , you utterly destroy the Apostle's Argument for our Justification by Faith : for how does it follow , that because Abraham was justified by Faith without Works , that therefore Believers under the Gospel are justified by Works ? Again , If there be no reasoning from Faith of one kind , to Faith of another ; and that the Apostle understood himself better , than to argue at this weak rate ( for which we have our Author's Broad-Seal , p. 257. ) And if the faith of Abraham , and our faith in Christ , be of different kinds , and do constitute two distinct sorts of Faith , for which also we have his Word and Warrant , ( p. 252. ) then let every Reader try the issue , whether our Author have not utterly destroyed the Apostle's Argument , for our Iustification by faith in Christ , from Abraham's being justified by Faith ; seeing he supposes him to argue from one kind of Faith to another . For at this weak rate he makes him argue ; If Abraham were justified by faith without Christ , then Believers under the Gospel are justified by faith in Christ . All that I can conclude from this Discourse of our Authors is , That he has owned the Apostle an old grudge , and has now found a convenient time to pay him home .

He promises us now he will bring his Discourse to a head : Which I am right sorry for , hoping he had been at the foot of it : And yet I am glad it shall be reduced to a head , for hitherto it has been like the Hydra , when one head was lopt off , another , or two more sprung up in the room of it . But I mistake him : He will bring it to a head ; it has been hitherto like an obstinate , inveterate Oedema , that scorns ordinary Applications ; but now we shall see his Chirurgick faculty , he will bring the undigested Matter to a Head , and then I doubt it will issue out in purulent , offensive stuff : But the head of it is this , The difference between the faith of Abraham , and the Faith of Christians is this ; Abraham believed God , and it was accounted to him for Righteousness ; and we believe in Christ , and that 's counted to us for Righteousness ; which is a difference without a distinction , and so he has made neither head nor foot of it : For Abraham believed God , but it was by the preaching of the Gospel to him , Gal. 3. 8. The Gospel - Doctrine that was preach'd was this , In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed : That Seed was Iesus Christ , ver. 16. To thy Seed , which is Christ . So that it 's as plain as we can desire it , and more plain than the Enemies of the Christian Religion would have it , That Abraham was justified through Faith in Christ ; and if Abraham believed in God through Christ , it 's certain , that Christians do so also , 1 Pet. 1. 21. Who through him do believe in God . Abraham's belief in God , was not exclusive of Christ ; our believing in Christ , is not exclusive of our believing in God : The Objects mediate and ultimate are the same , and then the Faith is so , if we may take our Author's word for it ( which for his own Confutation we may venture to do ; ) and then where 's the difference ? And thus the Reader has all the head and foot I can make of this tedious long-winded Argument .

Having thus happily dispatch'd the difference between Abraham's faith , and the faith of Christians , he promises to give us the difference between two or three other things , or between something and nothing ; for to acknowledg my ignorance , I cannot tell what . I turn'd to the Errata , and there we are bid to read — Nonsense . I was in good hopes that had been it ; but the difference of the pages soon undeceived me . I shall therefore give the Reader it , as cheap as I had it , in his own words , and that 's good both for Buyer and Seller : And the same difference there is between the Righteousness of Faith in a general Notion , as it is applied to Noah , Abraham , and these Worthies of old , and the Righteousness of G●…d by the Faith of Iesus Christ Rom. 3. 22. and that Righteousness which is through the Faith of Christ , the Righteousness of God by Faith , Phil. 3. 9. Now I have guest , and guest and almost tired my self with guessing , what those things should be betwen which he pretends the difference : One while it seems to be , Between the Righteousness of Faith in a general Notion , as it is applied to Noah , Abraham , and those Worthies of old , on the one party ; and , the Righteousness of God by the Faith of Iesus Christ , &c. on the other party : Another while it seems to be , Between the Righteousness of Faith in the general Notion , on one side ; and , the Righteousness of God by the Faith of Iesus Christ , on the second ; and , the Righteousness which is through the Faith of Christ , the Righteousness of God by Faith , on the third ; and so the difference will be tripartite : Whatever the business is , I shall not trouble my self about it . Of two Righteousnesses I have heard ; the one of Faith , the other of Works , according to the two Covenants from thence denominated ; which do irreconcileably differ , and are as far asunder as the two Poles , which can never meet : Of two Righteousnesses of Faith I have not heard till of late ; and a happy invention it was for them , whose faith or unbelief would not stoop to Gospel-Revelations . But that we may not let our time run waste , I shall a little consider one of his Scriptures , and wait with patience , till he shall consider the other : That which I fix upon , is Rom. 3. 20 , 21 , 22. Therefore by the deeds of the Law , shall no flesh be justified in his sight ; for by the Law is the knowledg of sin : But now the Righteousness of God without the Law is manifested , being witnessed by the Law , and the Prophets , even the Righteousness of God which is by the Faith of Iesus Christ , unto all , and upon all them that believe , for there is no difference ; for all have sinned , and come short of the glory of God : Being justified freely by his Grace , through the Redemption that is in Iesus Christ . In which words ; ( 1. ) I take notice of the Apostles peremptory Conclusion , By the deeds of the Law shall no flesh be justified in his [ God 's ] sight . Now as this Proposition smiles or frowns upon our Author , or his Opponent , so will the whole cause stand or fall on either side . It seems indeed to carry a smart sound of words against his Notions ; but he is well enough provided against all Arguments drawn from express words ; and therefore we must enquire , What that Law is , by the deeds whereof no flesh can be justified : If it proves the Moral Law , our Author will not deny that he 's at least half undone ; and I find him feelingly aware of that all along . Now to dally no longer with him , nor to put him to a lingring death : The Apostle ( who knew his own mind best ) has assured me , that by [ Law , ] he understands the Moral Law . 1. It 's that Law by which we have the knowledg of sin . His Argument runs thus : By the deeds of that Law by which comes the knowledg of sin , no flesh is justified : But by the Moral Law comes the knowledg of sin ; therefore by the deeds of the Moral Law no flesh is justified . The major is the Apostle's own , in this very place : The minor is his own too , Rom. 7. 13. I had not known sin , except the Law had said , Thou shalt not covet . From whence I argue : By that Law which says , Thou shalt not covet , comes the knowledg of sin : but that Law which says , Thou shalt not covet , is the Moral Law ; therefore by the Moral Law comes the knowledg of sin . The major is the Apostle's own in the place last quoted ; the minor needs no other proof , but that a man be able to read the Ten Commandments , which is the sum of the Moral Law , the Tenth whereof is , Thou shalt not covet . But now at what a weak rate must the Apostle argue to please our Author ? By the deeds of the Ceremonial Law shall no flesh be justified . No : Why not ? Why , because by the Moral Law is the knowledg of sin . 2. None can doubt of what Law the Apostle speaks , that considers how he draws this great Conclusion out of vers. 19. That every mouth may be stopped , and all the World become guilty before God , therefore by the deeds of the Law , &c. His Argument is this ; By the deeds of that Law by which every mouth is stopped , and all the World become guilty before God , shall no flesh be justified : But by the Moral every mouth is stopped , and all the World become guilty before God ; therefore by the deeds of the Moral Law shall no flesh be justified . And this evidently excludes the Ceremonial Law from any Concern in this Argument : For that Law never obliged all , or half the World , and therefore they could not violate it , and therefore not become guilty by it before God . Again , the instances which the Apostle gives of the violation of the Law , shews what Law he excludes from Justification , vers. 13. With their Tongues they have used deceit . Vers. 14. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness . Vers. 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood , &c. which are all apparent violations of the Moral Law . But is there never a Creep-hole at which our Author may escape the Apostles Argument ? Yes ! yes ! p. 245. The great dispute in the Epistle to the Romans is , Whether we must be justified by the Law of Moses , or by the Faith of Christ ? that is , Whether the Observation of the External Rites , and Ceremonies of the Law , and an External Conformity of our Actions to the Moral Precepts of it will justifie a man before God ? &c. This sorry evasion has all its small pretence , from that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , from the deeds ; which our Author would willingly perswade himself , signifie nothing but Observation of Ceremonies , and outward Conformity to the Moral Law . Now that the Apostle in this place directly excludes the Moral Law I have proved : All the Question is , Whether he disputes against Justification by external Conformity to its Precepts only ; or against Justification by whatever Obedience is , or may be given to the Moral Law by man , under his present Circumstances ? And against our Author's conceit herein , I oppose these things : 1. It appears not that ever there was such a Question started amongst any Christians , Whether Hypocrisie would justifie a man before God ? much less was it ever laid down in Thesi , and Dogmatically maintained that it would do so . Many Hypocrites there were then , ( there are so now ) who may deceive themselves into a Fools Paradise , that Hypocrisie might not condemn and damn them ; but none ever so forsaken of common sense , as to think that Hypocrisie would justifie , and save them : Many presume to be saved , notwithstanding their sins , but none to be saved for their sins : If any should so dote , they deserve to receive their Confutation from Bedlam , rather than the Divinity-Schools . I cannot therefore once imagine , that the Apostle should so operosely handle a subject ; that he should rowse up his zeal , and knit all the nerves of his spiritual Reason , to confute what was either no-where , or so thin , and transparent a falshood , that to recite it , was clearly to confute it . 2. The Deeds or Works of the Law , are the Deeds and Works which the Law commands , which it primarily commands ; but the Law never commanded outward Conformity of actions , without inward Conformity of heart to its Precepts : These are not the Deeds of the Law , but such as God abhors ; therefore the Deeds of the Law by which no flesh shall be justified , are not external works only . 3. The Deeds of the Law , by which no flesh shall be justified , are the Deeds of every one of God's Laws , the Deeds of every particular Commandment ; but the Deeds of one of God's Laws , of on●… particular Commandment , are only internal Deeds ; therefore the Apostle disputes not only against external deeds . By the Law , is meant the whole Law ; but one part of the Law ( extensively taken ) reaches internal deeds only : As is evident in the Tenth Commandment , Thou shalt not covet ; but according to our Author's way , the Apostle should have laid down his Doctrine thus , By the deeds of nine parts of the Law , shall no flesh living be justified . 4. The Apostle disputes against Justification by such deeds of the Moral Law , as wherein all the World is become guilty : But by the external deeds of the Law all the World is not become guilty ; therefore he disputes not against Justification by the external deeds of the Law only . That all the World is not become guilty by the external deeds of the Moral Law , and a failure therein , he proves , Rom. 5. 14. where he shews , That death reigned over some , who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam ' s transgression . 5. Those deeds which David excluded from his Iustification , the Apostle excludes from our Iustification ; for he quotes his Proposition from Psal. 143. 2. and therefore takes it in his sense , or else he could not make use of his Authority : But David excludes all his deeds whatsoever from Justification ; Enter not into judgment with thy servant , for in thy sight shall no man be justified : He durst not once think of God's entering into judgment with him , upon the account of any thing he had attained : From all which it appears , that the Apostle excl●…es the Law , the whole Law , and the deeds thereof , all the deeds thereof , from having any concern in the Iustification of a sinner in the sight of God . ( 2. ) We may observe hence , That the Apostle opposes the Righteousness of God , unto a Righteousness by the deeds of the Law : But now ( says he ) the Righteousness of God without the Law is manifested , vers. 21. And as in vers. 20. he says not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by the deeds of the Law , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by the deeds of Law , of a Law , of any Law : So here he says not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without the Law , as if he intended some singular Law , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , without a Law , without any Law : And hence he fully silences and stops the mouth of our Authors Cavil , that by the deeds of the Law is meant only an external Conformity of our Actions to it . But the Apostles words leave no place for ambiguity : For if the Righteousness of God without Law , a Law , any Law , be manifested , then without either Ceremonial , or Moral Law ; then also without external , or internal deeds of either : But the Apostle shuts out Law simply and absolutely , The Righteousness of God — without Law is manifested . As this term Law , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is more properly predicated of the Moral , than of the Ceremonial Law ; so the deeds of Law , are more properly predicated of internal , than external deeds ; and Analogum per se stans , stat pro famosior , Analogato . If then ( as our Author contends ) we are justified by the Moral , though not by the Ceremonial Law , or by internal Conformity to it , though not by external Conformity to it only ; then the Apostles Doctrine is true in an improper , or less proper sense , but utterly false in the proper , or more proper sense of the words : For had 〈◊〉 words been inverted , they had carried a clearer truth in them ; By the deeds , [ the internal deeds ] of the Law , [ the Moral Law ] shall all flesh be justified : But now the Righteousness of God with the Law , [ the Moral Law , ] and it s internal as well as external deeds ] is manifested : But this is not to interpret the Apostle , but dictate a new Gospel to him . But further : Hence I have just occasion to complain of an unrighteous surmise , with which our Author loads some men , That because they exclude Law , and Law-deeds from Iustification in the sight of God , that therefore they exclude it from having any place in their Lives and Conversations . The Apostle , who is a zealous Vindicator of the interest of the Law , as a Rule of our Obedience ; yet we see discharges it wholly from any , from all use , and service in the Justification of a sinner in the sight of God : Therefore he adds , Before God ; and the Psalmist , In thy sight ; to teach us , That though the Righteousness of God without Law , is manifested , as to the truth of the thing , yet the Righteousness of God is not , cannot be manifested to us , without a sincere obedience to the Law . There 's a Iustification before God ; to this the Law , a Law , any Law , contributes nothing ; but there 's a Justification before Conscience , before men , and to this a sincere , and evangelically universal obedience contributes much . ( 3. ) The Apostle assures us , That this Doctrine of his is no new fancy , broached t'other day , and set on foot lately in Gospel-times , but the same way by which all the good men of old were justified , v. 21. It 's witnessed by the Law , and the Prophets : Now as to the Prophets testimony , though our Author approves not their Cryptick way of demonstrating , but is all for plain Meridian demonstration ; yet they are full that Jesus Christ was the main consideration in the Justification of a sinner from of old , Acts 3. 25 , 26. Ye are the Children of the Prophets , and of the Covenant that God made with our Fathers , saying to Abraham , And in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed ; unto you first , God having raised up his Son Iesus , sent him to bless you , in turning away every one of you from his iniquities . Whence it appears , God's raising up Christ in the World , to bless his people with spiritual blessings , was no more than what he had covenanted with Abraham , and promised to him , even in that very Promise which our Author thinks was fulfilled in the numerous Posterity of Isaac : But now that this Righteousness of God without Law , should be witnessed by Law , this seems strange : Does the Law witness against it self ? Is it false to it 's own interest ? But the Law , is God's Law ; and when it witnesses to a sinner , it witnesses home ; convinces him of the perfect holiness of that God who gave the Law ; of the peremptoriness of God , in not abating one jot , or tittle of the Law ; of the sinners utter inability to come up to the Demands of the Law , and therefore the utter impossibility of being justified by the Law ; of the severity of God's Justice in punishing the violater of his Law , and therefore unless he can find another Righteousness , he must utterly perish . 'T is true , the Law speaks its old Language still , Do this and live ; but then it speaks it only to those who are upon a bottom of Innocency ; for to a Transgressor its language is , Cursed is very one that continues not in all things . ( 4. ) The Apostle acquaints us , what that Righteousness of God is which is manifested , vers. 22. Even the Righteousness of God , which is by the Faith of Christ . Now hence it 's evident , that the Righteousness of God , and Righteousness by the Faith of Christ , are both one ; and therefore Faith in God , and Faith in Christ , are both one . As is the Righteousness , such is the Faith : as is the Faith , such is the Righteousness ; which perfectly overthrows that Arbitrary distinction , which our Author had studied for more need ; Of Faith in God , and Faith in Christ , on purpose to shut Abraham out of Christ , and by Consequence out of Heaven , and to lock him up in the Limbus Patrum .

( 5. ) The Apostle concludes , That there 's no difference ( in point of Justification ) all that are sinners by the First , must be justified ( if ever they be justified ) by the Second Adam : v. 22. The Righteousness of God which is by Faith of Iesus Christ , unto all , and upon all that believe ; for there 's no difference , for all have sinned , and come short of the glory of God . As all men that ever were , are , or shall be , are sinners , under Condemnation ; so all that ever were , are , or shall be righteous in the sight of God , are so by that righteousness which is by Faith of Iesus . So that every pardoned , accepted , justified sinner must own , that he is justified freely by the Grace of God , through the Redemption that is in Christ .

From these and such-like Scriptures , it is , that Christians ascribe their Iustification before God , not to their own good Works , but to the Free Grace of God through Iesus Christ : but our Author has a way of proving his Sentiments worth a thousand of these . Could men ( says he ) be reconciled to plain sence , it would need no other Confirmation , but the Natural evidence of naked and simple Truth . It has been observed of the great Bellarmine ( from whom our Author has borrowed some things ) that he never comes in with a [ Procui dubio ] but the next words are a Rapper : the same I observe in our Author , that when he has done just nothing , he always makes the loudest cackle . It was a handsom Come-of if you did but mind it ; that when he had pester'd us with his prejudices , surfeited us with Arbitrary distinctions , filled our heads with empty Notions , and when we looked to have been attack'd with one of his old , plain , kill-cow demonstrations , he faces about , and pops us off with this : It needs no other proof than the Natural evidence of simple and naked Truth .

But now let the Reader take something warm next his heart , let him use his phial of Essences , for our Author is just now a-coming to examine those Texts of Scripture which are abused by these men , to set up the personal Righteousness of Christ , as the only formal Cause of our justification : And must not those Texts of Scripture be miserably abused indeed , that are thus prest in for such a service ? What , the personal Righteousness of Christ the formal Cause of our justification ? I have heard some say it was the Meritorious Cause , some the Impulsive Cause , others the Material Cause , and some that it is no Cause ; but our Author is the first that ever I heard this expression from . There was once a good Orthodox Bishop , ( as Orthodoxy past in that Age ) his Name Downham , he has Written many a long page upon this Subject , and he acquaints us with the sence of Protestants ▪ Lib. 1. Cap. 3. Sect. 1. That the matter of our justification is Christ's Righteousness , and the form is God's Imputing it ; and this way go most of your Systematical Divines : but from hence I learn it 's the Mode now-a-days , for these Gentlemen to Confute ( that is , to Rail at ) those long-winded Authors they never had the patience to read , nor the Brains to understand ; but let this pass amongst our Authors Negligences or Ignorances , till I understand better where to marshal it . In examining the Texts which they abuse , he will begin and end with Phil. 3. 8 , 9. Yea doubtless , and I account all things loss for the excellency of the Knowledg of Iesus Christ my Lord , for whom I have suffered the loss of all things that I may win Christ , and be found in him not having my own Righteousness which is of the Law , but that which is through the Faith of Christ , the Righteousness which is of God by Faith . The main Question here will be , What was that Righteousness which the Apostle renounces , from having any place in his Justification before God ? Upon this one hinge turns all the Controversie betwixt our Author and his Antagonists . They say it was , what-ever inherent Righteousness he had attained or could attain , what-ever Obedience he had performed , or could perform to the Commands of God . Ay but ( says our Author ) what proof have they for this ? he can learn none , but that they take it for granted , that My Righteousness signifies Inherent Righteousness . And really they are to be pittied if not pardoned , that by His own Righteousness , understand his own Righteousness ; for if Inherent Righteousness , be not His own Righteousness , it 's plain he could have none at all ; for an External Conformity of Actions to the Law alone is not Righteousness at all , but Hypocrisie , and Vnrighteousness : but I shall inform him of some other proofs why they take His own Righteousness for Inherent Righteousness . 1. That which he calls his own Righteousness 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he tells you in the next words , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; that which is from Law , from a Law , from any Law indefinitely : now a Righteousness which is from a Law is such a one as the Law urges , presses upon and prescribes to the Conscience ; but that without question is an Internal Conformity of soul to the holiness of the Law ; but this the Apostle rejects , therefore he rejects Internal and Inherent Righteousness . 2. The true Notion of My Righteousness is not to be fetcht from some sorry Conjectures , from precarious Hypotheses , which men ( when they are in streights ) invent to avoid present ruine , but from the stable fixed constant use thereof in Scripture ; but so is this expression [ My own Righteousness ] and [ My own , or your own Works ] used in Scripture , viz. for real sineere Conformity of heart and life to a Law , therefore so ought we to take it here , till we see cogent Reason to the contrary . That this is the fixed use of the expression in Scripture we shall see , Gen. 30. 33. My Righteousness shall answer for me in time to come ; which our Author would paraphrase thus , My Righteousness , that is , My Roguery , Iob 27. 6. My Righteousness I hold fast , my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live . My Righteousness , that is , ( would he say ) My Hypocrisie , Matth. 5. 16. That men may see your good works , that is , in the New Glossary , Your Complement . Dan. 9. 18. we present not our supplications before thee not for our Righteousnesses , but for thy great Mercies . The Prophet in the Name of the Church must be supposed here not to renounce real Righteousness , but the Sceleton of Obedience : Now had the Apostle designed only to reject his own Hypocrisie , he was not so barren in expressions but he could have fitted it with its Proper Name . 3. The Apostle expresly renounces both what-ever he had attained before or after his Conversion , v. 7. These things that were gain to me , ( whilst I was a Pharisee ) those I accounted [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] loss for Christ : But is that all ? No! Yea doubtless ( v. 8. ) and I do ( now ) account [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] all things but loss : I have accounted all things attained in my Iudaism loss , when I was first convinced : and I do now account all things even my own Righteousness loss , and dung for Christ : and therefore it is to be noted that the Apostle rises higher in his earnestness , v. 8. Yea doubtless ; q. d. Did I say that I once looked upon all as loss for Christ . I will speak a bolder word than that , I count all but loss , dung , filth , that I may win Christ , and be found in him not having my own Righteousness : and that he speaks of that esteem and value he had of his present Righteousness , is yet further evident from this , that it was in reference to a future day , the day of Iudgment , that he might be found in Christ , in that day , not sticking to his own Righteousness . Two things our Author returns to this :

1. It 's a sufficient Answer to say they need not signifie so . I confess for want of a better the Answer may pass : A bad shift is better than None , and half a loaf is better than No-bread : but if a Man had a better , it was the sorriest Answer in the World . I see when men are prest with express Scripture , and yet are resolved ( cost what will ) to adhere to their own Conclusions , it 's adviseable to cast about , to turn their thoughts into all shapes imaginable , to hunt for the extremest possibilities : If a Word , a Phrase , an Expression is but capable of another sence , let it be probable , or improbable , true or false , agreeable to the scope of the place or alien , all is a case , something must be said , that they may not seem to say Nothing ; And if they can say it 's possible it may be otherwise ( as who cannot ) though they do not believe themselves , they hug themselves for their ready wit , and applaud themselves for grave Respondents . A little matter will blow away this dust : Let them show where ever , My Righteousness , is otherwise used , and then let them boast of a bare possibility . 2. My own Righteousness ( says he ) can signifie no more than that wherein he placed his Righteousness . I beg his pardon for that . It signifies more than that wherein he placed his Righteousness whil'st a Pharisee ; and a great deal less than that , wherein he placed Righteousness after Conversion , in order to Justification . But if the Apostle renounced what-ever he placed his Righteousness in , then , either he placed it in Inherent Righteousness , or not ; If not , then how dares our Author place his Righteousness there , where the Apostle durst not ? If he did ever place his Righteousness in it ; then here he openly declares before the World that he Renounces it : But ( says our Author ) what necessity is there to understand this of inherent holiness ? We have shewed you the Necessity before , and shall do hereafter . An External Righteousness serves most mens turns very well : not so well neither as he may Imagine . And this is the Righteousness by which the Pharisees ( and amongst the rest St. Paul whilst he was a Pharisee ) expected to be justified ; but stay a while . 1. We have proved that the Apostle not only renounced that Righteousness what-ever it was that he had whilst a Pharisee ; but that which was his own at the time when he made that solemn Renunciation of it : what-ever he had attained , or might possibly attain , all went that he might be found in Christ in the great Day . 2. The Pharisees were generally bad enough in all Conscience , and he need not make them worse . It 's a sin we say to bely the Devil ; It doth not appear that the Pharisees expected to be Justified before God , by an external obedience only without sincerity : It was not their Principle , though Hypocrisie ( as to many Individuals ) might be their Practice . The Case is frequent before our Eyes , a Drunkard , a common Swearer , &c. will tell you they Hope to be saved , though they are wicked ; but none durst ever assume the Impudence to expect Salvation because he was wicked : No , he will repent when he can intend it , and trust to the general grace of God , and some such reserves , which our Modern-Pulpit-Drollery has furnisht him withal . 3. As to Paul whilst he was a Pharisee ( if we take his own word for it when he was none ) he was no Hypocrite , he every-where vindicates himself as to that : His Persecuting was his great Crime , in which he protests his sincerity , Acts 25. 9. I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Iesus : and 1 Tim. 1. 13. he avows he did it ignorantly : He durst appeal to his very Enemies how he had lived from a Child , Act. 25. 4. My manner of life from my youth know all the Iews if they would testifie : and makes a solemn Protestation before the Sanhedrin , Act. 23. 1. That he had lived in all good Conscience to that very day : That others of the Pharisees , were Sober , Conscientious men , I do not at all question ; and the discourse of Paul's Mr. Gamaliel , Act. 5. shows that he had a great deal more Religion in him than most of those who to carry on a design rail at them for Hypocrites .

Ay , but ( says our Author ) what his Righteousness was he tells us , V. 6 , 7. Circumcised the eighth day , of the stock of Israel , &c. So that My own Righteousness which is of the Law , is so far from signifying an inherent Righteousness , a vital principle of Holiness , that it only signifies an external Righteousness , which consisted in some external Rites , as Circumcision , and Sacrifices , or external Priviledges , as being of the Seed of Abraham , or an external Civility and blamelessness of Conversation . This proceeds upon a double false supposition ; 1. That the Apostle renounces nothing but what he had attained whilst he was a Pharisee . 2. That whatsoever he had renounced , V. 6 , 7. did constitute his Pharisaical Righteousness : For , 1. I must cut him off Circumcision ; that was no part of his own Righteousness , a priviledge it was ; but nothing performed by him , and therefore could not expect Justification by it : unless our Author will grant that he had a spice of the Doctrine of imputing the Obedience of Another to him for Iustification . 2. For Sacrifices , the Apostle mentions them not , renounces them not ; for he understood too well their use and proper End in the Iewish Church ; that they were their visible Gospel , and did lead to Christ ( whom now he owned ) though then he was ignorant of him . The Conscientious and believing use of Sacrifices might put in for a place in Justifying the Sinner , with better right , than such Obedience to the Moral Law as man was able in his present state to perfom . 1. Consider them as mere acts of Obedience , wherein the thing done is not so considerable , as the subjection of the Conscience to the Authority of God the Soveraign Law-giver : which in this Case is most signal , for here is only the will and pleasure of God for the Reason of that costly , and operose seruice ; whereas Moral duties are vouched for , by the suffrage of the Light , and Reason of Nature . 2. Consider them as instituted for their peculiar end , the leading and conducting of Faith to Christ ; and so they far exceed and outstrip any thing the Moral Law ( being become weak through the flesh ) could assist the sinner in ; for so they are said , actually to procure pardon of sin , actually to make Atonement and reconciliation , Lev. 17. 11. I have given you it [ the blood ] upon the Altar to make an Atonement for your souls , for it is the Blood that maketh an Atonement for the soul , 2 Chron. 29. 24. The Priests killed them [ the Sacrifices ] and they made reconciliation with their Blood upon the Altar , to make an Atonement for All Israel . Now let him shew me , where ever Atonement , Reconciliation , are annext to the Actual performance of the Moral Law . It is true that the Original design of the Moral Law was Justification , but not the Justification of a Sinner ; but Man being now become such , the Law is utterly uncapable of reaching it 's Primitive end : and it 's as true also that Sacrifices upon their own Account could not supply that defect , but as directing the sinner to him who is the grand Propitiation , and from whose Death they received all their virtue and efficacy . 3. As to his being of the Stock of Israel , of the Seed of Abraham , &c. they might expect some favours thence , but that any was so far bewitched as to believe that all of the Stock of Israel , and the Natural Seed of Abraham should be justified , cannot be proved . 4. For external Civility , and blamelessness of Conversation : It would have gone a great way in our Authors account at any other time ; pag. 384. he asks the question with some heat and briskness , what ? live a blameless , innocent , honest , smooth life , and yet live in some sin or other ? Paul would have past for a Righteous person upon his producing the Ticket of a blameless Conversation in that Section , though in this he is rated at for a Hypocrite , and all that 's naught : but what-ever Paul was , or was not whilst a Pharisee , it makes no great matter to the business in hand , seeing he has so freely and openly disowned , what-ever was his own Righteousness after Conversion , in the matter of Justification before God .

But to Confirm all this ( says our Author ) 〈◊〉 must observe a double Antithesis in the words . We must ? what , whether we can or no ? whether it be there to be observed or no ? what if there be but 〈◊〉 single Antithesis in them ? It 's no matter ; we must observe a double Antithesis if we will purchase our peace and quiet : I promise you this Antithesis is a very hard word ! Graecum est , non potest intelligi ! And I should assoon chuse to swallow Dr. Iacomb's Conjunction ( at which our Author made such a sowre face in the beginning of this Section ) as this crabbed Antithesis , much more then a Double Antithesis : but what is this Double Antithesis ? Why ( says he ) The Righteousness of the Law is opposed to the Righteousness which is by the Faith of Christ . And my own Righteousness , opposed to the Righteousness of God . There 's your double Antithesis ! Now ( says he ) the surest way to understand the meaning of this , is to examine how these phrases are used in Scripture ; but in my mind it will be a surer , I am sure a more Rational way , to examine first whether indeed there be such a double Antithesis in the words as he pretends , or whether a single one will not content the Text ? And the surest way to understand this , is to examine the words themselves . And be found in him not having my own Righteousness which is of the Law ; But that which is through the Faith of Christ , the Righteousness which is of God by Faith . Now if any one can find a double Antithesis , or in plain English a double Opposition in these words , he must have eyes like a Cat , which some say , can see as well by Night as by Day , or however as well i' th' dark as without light . Not having my own Righteousness which is of the Law . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . There 's one member of the Antithesis , where the Righteousness which is of the Law , is a plain Exegesis ( there 's another hard-word for you ) of my own Righteousness ; and not any thing distinct from it : My own Righteousness which is of the Law ; and then comes the other member of the Antithesis ; But that which is through the Faith of Iesus Christ , the Righteousness which is of God by Faith . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : where the repetition of the Article 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( as every hungry Graeculist knows ) is as much as videlicet . The Righteousness by the Faith of Christ , namely , or that is to say , the Righteousness which is of God by Faith : and thus Beza , Non habens meam justitiam ( nempe ) quae est ex lege ; sed eam quae est per fidem Christi ( id est ) justitiam [ quae est ] ex Deo per fidem : who for a smattering in that Language will not envy our Author ? So that nothing could by the Wit , or Ignorance of Man , have been more groundlesly , absurdly , and ridiculously invented , than this double Antithesis . And , 1. Let us observe how ill-favouredly it was contrived . The Text-order is this , My own Righteousness which is of the Law — That which is the Faith of Christ ( even ) the Righteousness of God by Faith . Now if any man would needs have a double Antithesis to do him some special service , it should have been laid between my own Righteousness , and that which is by the Faith of Christ ; and then between , That of the Law , and the Righteousness of God by Faith : but on the contrary our Author without any provocation , without any umbrage of a pretence from the Text ( like old Iacob crossing his hands ) has laid them in saltire ; My own Righteousness , to the Righteousness of God , and the Righteousness of the Law , to the Righteousness by the Faith of Christ . 2. Supposing all that he can desire , how does this double Antithesis confirm that which he contrived it to confirm , viz. that my own Righteousness signifies an external Righteousness only ? It has been an old saying , that one absurdity being granted many more will easily follow . And yet so hard is this Gentleman put to it , that granting him a many absurdities , he cannot make one follow : but yet the Reader shall hear what he would serve out of this double Antithesis .

( 1. ) The Righteousness of the Law ( as you have already heard ) is an external Righteousness , which consists in Washings , Purifications , Sacrifices , or an external conformity to the Moral Law : So we have beard indeed once and again affirmed , but never confirmed : The double Antithesis was brought to confirm it , and that must confirm the double Antithesis . I desire therefore once for all to hear where the Righteousness of Law , the Moral Law , is said to consist in Externals : The Righteousness of the Law is that Righteousness which the Law requireth ; but the Law requires an internal Conformity of heart to our outward Actions , and of both to the Law of God ; therefore the Righteousness of the Law consists also in an internal Conformity . The Law condemns none that bring the Righteousness of the Law , but the Law condemns those that bring only an external Conformity ▪ therefore external Conformity is not the Righteousness of the Law : and from hence we may be abundantly satisfied what was that Righteousness of his own , which the Apostle renounces . That which was his own Righteousness , that he renounces ; but an internal inherent Righteousness was his own Righteousness , therefore that he renounces . The Minor I prove , The Righteousness of the Law was his own Righteousness ( Not having my own Righteousness that is of the Law ) but the Righteousness of the Law was an inherent internal Righteousness ; therefore his own Righteousness was an inherent , and internal Righteousness . The Minor I prove , That which the Law prescribes , and commands is the Righteousness of the Law ; but that which the Law prescribes and commands , is an internal and inherent Righteousness , and therefore the Righteousness of the Law is such a Righteousness . That which God requires , his Law requires ; but God requires Truth in the inward parts , whether in Ceremonials or Morals ; therefore the Law requires the same : And is it not now an unparalleld piece of Non-sence to call that the Righteousness of the Law , which both the Law and the Author of it do a●…hor ? External Conformity alone , is so far from being the Righteousness of the Law , that it 's the Unrighteousness of the Law : But hence the Reader will begin to get a glimmering into the true Reason that necessitated our Author to study this device of a double Antithesis , viz. that Paul's Righteousness which he ●…nounced , might not seem to be the Righteousness of the Law which God required ( though not in order to Justification ; ) for if his own Righteousness be the Righteousness of the Law , and he so peremptorily renounces his own , then he renounces the Righteousness of the Law also ; and what that is , this one Consideration is enough to convince us of : That the Law requires an absolute , perfect , entire Conformity of the whole Man to it's demands , and claimes , without which no man can expect to be Iustified by it . And seeing such is the Case with poor impotent Man , that he cannot answer it's demands and claims , he can never reasonably expect it should do him that service : but now see the frailty of our Authors memory , for just above he told us , the surest way to understand the meaning of this , was to consider how these Phrases are used in Scripture ; and yet when he undertakes to give us the true meaning of this Phrase ( The Righteousness of the Law ) he cannot afford to give us one single Scripture to lead us into the true meaning of it .

( 2. ) The Righteousness by the Faith of Christ ( says he ) is an internal Righteousness : Oh but that should have been proved , soundly proved , not begg'●… or borrowed , much less stollen , for it 's the main thing in Question ; and of all things in the Syllogism , we should not stand to Courtesie for the Conclusion : why ( says he ) it 's call'd being born again , becoming new Creatures , rising again with Christ , &c. But still proof ! proof is wanting ! for we think that those expressions do not denote that Righteousness whereby we are constituted Iust , in the sight of God ; but Holiness , and Sanctification of Nature , which the Gospel evidently distinguishes from that Righteousness whereby we are Iustified ; but let him have line enough . Hence ( says he ) The Apostle tells us , that the Reason why God sent Christ into the World in our Nature , to die as a Sacrifice for our sins , and to confirm the Covenant ; was , that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us ( N. B. ) who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit . Well! what is that Righteousness of the Law Christ came to fulfil ? why ( says he ) Learnedly from Chrysostom , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Righteousness of the Law , that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . That which the Law was design'd to work in them ; but was too weak to effect it by Reason of the greater power and prevalency of sin ; i. e. the inward holiness , and purity of mind , which was represented by those externalCeremonies : Most incomparable ! and very like himself ! It was but the other side of the leaf , that he told us , that the Righteousness of the Law consisted in Washings , Purifications , Sacrifices , or an external Conformity to the Moral Law ; but now the Case is altered , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is grown 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , inward purity , and holiness of mind . It may not be amiss to call these things over again : 1. If the Righteousness of the Law be only an external Conformity ( as he told us just before ) then Christ came into the World to fulfil in us only Ceremony , and Hypocrisie : for he tells us just now from the Apostle , Rom. 8. 3 , 4. God sent Christ into the world , that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us . Or , 2. If the Righteousness of the Law , be inward holiness and purity of mind ; then St. Paul who rejects the Righteousness of the Law , in the matter of Justification before God ; rejects also inward purity and holiness of mind for that purpose : but whether we are to believe , pag. 264. or pag. 265. as the honesterof the two , I cannot tell , nor am much concern'd at present . 3. If it be true , that the Righteousness of the Law , be that inward purity of mind which the Law was design'd to work in us , then what is become of that Antithesis which he coyned between the Righteousness of the Law , and the Righteousness by the Faith of Christ ? I am very serious , and desire to be resolved ; for he tells us here , that the Righteousness of the Law , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , i. e. the inward holiness and purity of mind ; and then tells us immediatly after , that the design of the Gospel is to work that inward holiness and purity : Now why St. Paul should renounce inward holiness ( which was the Righteousness of the Law ) to attain inward purity ( which is the Righteousness of the Gospel ) is to me a Mystery as deep as any of those I have met withal in your Systematical Divines . To shut up this point , The Righteousness of the Law , is that which the Law requires ; and his friend Dr. Iacomb , has furnish'd him with such a Syncretism of Learned Men , as may cut his Comb , and spoyl his Crowing over his Adversary . Significat eam rectitudinem quae praecipitur in lege , P. Mart. Iustitia quam lex exigebat , Vatab. Totum quod lex praecipit , A. Lap. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ipsa legis praecepta , Perer. Iustitia legis , est justitia quam lex praecipit , Estius . Implere justum legis , est totum quod lex praecipit efficere , Tolet. Ut justificatio legis , id est , ut justitia quam lex praescribit & exigit , impleretur , Stap. Ut adimpleret opus praeceptorum legis , Vers. Aethiop . Ut nos impleremus omnia quae in lege Mosis , & per se honesta sunt , Grot. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is any thing that God hath thought meet to appoint or command his People , Dr. Hammond . And now for to divert his Reader , he has sprung us new game : but I shall adjourn the Consideration of what immediately follows , that we may not be bewildred and lost in a wood ; and shall fall in with him at p. 273. where he reassumes the present Subject . Thus y●…u see ( says he ) how the Apostle opposes the Righteousness of the Law , and the Righteousness of Faith ; not as an Inherent and Personal Righteousness to an Imputed Righteousness ; but as an External and Ritual , to an Inherent and Substantial Righteousness : but we have seen no such matter as yet , and do believe we are not like to see it . And the rather because he has thrown in a very suspicious word that would make any one think , that though he sets a good Face upon the Matter , yet he has little confidence in the Truth of his own Notions . The Truth is ( lays he ) The Righteousness of the Law , and of Works , in the New-Testament signifies only an External Righteousness , which cannot please God . Now I began to think thus with my self : Does the Righteousness of the Law signifie one thing in the New-Testament , and another in the Old-Testament ? Does it signifie a real Inherent Substantial Righteousness in the Old , and a Ritual External Righteousness in the New ? Sincerity in the one , and Hypocrisie and Ceremony in the other ? this is very unaccountable ! Surely ( thought I ) when the Apostle argues with Jews , or Judaizing Christians , he speaks in their Dialect , speaks to their Capacity , speaks that he may be understood , speaks ad idem . They that had read Ps. 119. 144. The Righteousness of thy Testimonies [ of thy Law ] is everlasting , would wonder to hear the Apostle speak against the Righteousness of the Law : but alas , he only equivocated , and had a mental Reservation in his Sleeve , and understood all the while Ceremony and hypocrisie : But this is a Riddle , which because our Author has made of his own Mother-wit , he is the fittest Man alive to interpret it .

(3) His Second Antithesis is between my own Righteousness , and the Righteousness of God ; and he is considering with himself in what sense they are opposed . But there 's no great difficulty in this , ( says he ) for the Apostle himself tells us , that by his own Righteousness he means the Righteousness of the Law ; and by the Righteousness of God , the Righteousness of Faith : and therefore he will give this the gentle wipe , and away : But now he has quite spoiled the Humour of the double Antithesis ; for , if by his own Righteousness , he means the Righteousness of the Law , and by the Righteousness of God , the Righteousness of Faith ; then there 's but one single Antithesis : between his own Righteousness which is of the Law , ( on the one part ) and the Righteousness by the Faith of Christ , even the Righteousness which is of God by Faith , ( on the other part : ) but at these rates he might have given us , a treble , quadruple , sextuple , Antithesis , and have rung as many changes , when his hand was once in , upon two Bells , as others can do upon six . The Apostles Words indeed were clear , very clear , till our Author found it necessary to obscure them , to deprave the Truth , & conciliate some small reverence to errour , to which two Heads I foresaw from the first , his whole Discourse might be reduced . And thus much we are secured of , That the Apostle has repudiated his own Righteousness from any concern in justification ; and that we may not doubt what that was , he tells us , 't is that of the Law . What the Righteousness of the Law signifies is evident , that which always bore that Name ; that which the Law commands , and prescribes , viz. An exact Conformity to the Law of God in Spirit , Soul , and Body , so far as 't is attainable or not attainable . He assures us next what he owns and adheres to , viz. The Righteousness of Christ , which is also called , The Righteousness of God . He further acquaints us , how we come to be interessed in this Righteousness , and that is by Faith ; and that we may not ignorantly or wilfully mistake Faith for the Doctrine of Faith ; he assures us that it 's by Believing , by which we obtain this Righteousness . Rom. 3. 22. The Righteousness which is by Faith of Iesus Christ unto all , and upon all them that believe .

To shut up his learned Exercitation , or scholastical Dissertation , or Diatriba of Antitheses , our Author will favour us with a Reason , nay , with an obvious and the most obvious Reason , why this Righteousness of the Law is called their own Righteousness ; because ( forsooth ) this Legal Righteousness was a way of their own chusing , not of God's Appointment . Now here he most falsly supposes , that by the Righteousness of the Law is only meant a Righteousness made up of the Works of the Ceremonial Law : but I think something has been offered to dash that fancy out of countenance . I am in haste , and intreat our Author to accept of short answers : 1. God has not appointed a Righteousnes ▪ made up out of any observances of the Moral Law , to be that Righteousness wherein Sinners shall stand justified before him : If any will demand Iustification thereby , God will demand exact and perfect Conformity . If therefore Sinners will chase this way , 't is their own Righteousness ; and it 's time to give it a bill of divorce , God has not appointed it . 2. External Washings , External Conformity , &c. were no Righteousness at all , much less the Righteousness of the Law , that which it required to form a Righteousness ; and therefore chuse it , or not chuse it , this is nothing to the purpose : The Apostle renounces his own Righteousness , which is the Righteousness of the Law . And this is further evident from Rom. 10. 3. ( which our Author quotes , but miserably perverts . ) For they being ignorant of Gods Righteousness , and going about to establish their own Righteousness , have not submitted to the Righteousness of God . Here is then the same Antithesis again , between their own Righteousness , ( that of the Law ) and the Righteousness of God , ( which is by the Faith of Jesus Christ ) ; and the opposition is so direct , and diametrical , that 't was impossible to establish their own , but they must shake off all subjection to Gods Righteousness . The Question then will be , Whether we are to be justified by a Legal , or an Evangelical Righteousness ? And to this our Author agrees in words ; but his Words intend quite another thing from the Truth : For by the Law he understands the Law of Moses : and let that pass too for once . But then by the Law of Moses he understands only the Ceremonial Law , though sometimes he is content to take in External Acts of Conformity to the Moral Law : and thus by a Legal Righteousness , or the Righteousness of the Law , he understands one made up of External Observations only , wherein the Apostle has clearly determined against him ; to whom therefore from his partial Judgment-Seat . I shall appeal , v. 5 , 6. For Moses describeth the Righteousness of the Law , that the Man that doth these things shall live in them ; from whence I argue against our Author : That Law whose Righteousness Moses describes , the Apostle excludes from having any place in Justification , but it is the Moral Law whose Righteousness Moses describes ; therefore it is the Moral Law , which the Apostle excludes from having any place in Iustification . The Major is evident from the Connexion of the Apostle's Words , v. 3. — They have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God . v. 4. For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth ; for Moses describeth the Righteousness which is of the Law , &c. The Minor I prove thus : That Law which saith , He that doth these things shall live in them , is that Law whose Righteousness Moses prescribeth ; but it is the Moral Law , which saith , He that doth these things shall live in them : therefore it is the Moral Law , whose Righteousness Moses describeth . The Major is the Apostles own , v. 5. the Minor I prove from Lev. 18. 5. You shall keep my Statutes and Iudgments , which if a Man do he shall live in them . v. 6. None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him . 7. The nakedness of thy Father or of thy Mother thou shalt not uncover , &c. from whence I argue thus : That Law which forbids incest , is the Moral Law ; but that Law which saith , He that doth these things shall live in them , is the Law which forbids incest : therefore that Law , that saith , He that doth these things shall live in them , is the Moral Law . Again I argue thus from Gal. 3. 10 , 11. That Law which hath the Curse annext to it for noncontinuance in all things commanded therein , is the Law which the Apostle excludes from having any place in the Justification of a Sinner ; but it is the Moral Law which hath that Curse annext to it : therefore it is the Moral Law which the Apostle excludes from having any place in the Justification of a Sinner . The Major is evident from the place , v. 10. As many as are of the Works of the Law are under the Curse ; for it is written , Cursed is every one that continues not in all things , which are written in the Book of the Law to do them . v. 11. But that no man is justified by the Law in the sight of God is evident . The Minor I prove from Deut. 27. 26. from whence the Apostle quotes it . Cursed be he that continueth not in all the Words of this Law to do them . That Law which forbids making Images , which forbids setting light by Father or Mother , which forbids removing Land-marks , which forbids causing the Blind to go out of his way , which forbids perverting of judgment , incest , sodomy , is the Law which hath the Curse annext to it ; but it is the Moral Law which forbids all these things : Therefore it is the Moral Law which hath this Curse annext to it . I cannot foresee what our Author will return to all this , but his old tawdry Answer . That indeed the Apostle does exclude the Moral Law , but that is only with respect to External Obedience , without Internal Conformity : But it 's evident that the Apostle excludes the Law it self , and therefore it must be highly impertinent to enquire what Deeds of the Law are excluded , when the Law it self is excluded : But yet for his further satisfaction , I shall bestow an Argument upon that also .

Those Acts of Obedience to which the Promise of Life in the Covenant of Works originally was most directly made , are excluded from Iustification : but to inward acts of Obedience the Promise of Life was most directly made ; and therefore inward acts of Obedience are excluded from Iustification . The Apostle has secured the Major , Rom. 10. 3 , 5 , 6. They have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God : For Moses describeth the Righteousness of the Law , that he that doth these things shall live in them . The Minor is evident , for God never made a Promise of Life to External Acts of Obedience , without inward Conformity of Soul to them , and of both to the Law of God . Again , Those Acts , the want whereof mainly exposes the Sinner to the Curse , are excluded from Justification ; but the want of Internal Acts of Obedience mainly exposes the Sinner to the Curse : therefore internal Acts are excluded from Justification . And the true Reason why these inward Acts are excluded from Justification , is not because they are not well-pleasing to God ; but because the case is thus with impotent fallen men , that he cannot reach the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the utmost tittle of what the Law requires , & theresore must fall under the severe doom annext to the violation of the Law in the least punctilio , unless God had provided a better Righteousness than that of his own Obedience .

After all that has or may be said in the Case , If any one will be so civil and ingenuous , as out of his pure good-nature to yield our Author a few small inconsiderable things : As , 1. That there is a double Antithesis , where there is but one . And 2. That a man 's own Righteousness is another thing than the Righteousness of the Law . 3. That the Righteousness which is by the Faith of Christ , is distinct from the Righteousness of God . 4. That by the Righteousness of the Law , no more is intended , than Ceremony and Hypocrisie . 5. That a mans own Righteousness is so called , not because it is his own , but because he places his Righteousness in it . and 6thly , one poor sorry triffle more , That all he asserts is meer Gospel ; grant him but this , and he will prove all the rest with ease : but though I would go a great way to save his longing , yet this is so large a boon , that it deserves mature advice and serious deliberation .

There are yet a few odd things in arrear , some notice whereof I promised to take ; and seeing we are a little at leisure , I shall do him justice . And first , let us consider what work he has made with that Text , Rom. 8. 3 , 4. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak-through the Flesh , God sending his own Son , in the likeness of sinful Flesh , and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh , that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us , who walk not after the Flesh , but after the Spirit . Now our Authors Paraphrase ( as well as we can scramble it together from broken fragments , and odd shreds of his Discourse ) is thus much . The Ceremonial Law being designed of God to work in the Iews inward holiness , and purity of Mind , which was represented by Circumcision , Washings , Purifications , and Sacrifices ; it was found too weak to effect this design , and therefore God sent Christ into the World to die as a Sacrifice for our Sins , to confirm and seal the New-Covenant with his Blood ; to work in us that Internal Holiness and Purity , which is the Perfection and Accomplishment of the Figurative and Typical Righteousness of the Law : which he gives us in other words , p. 267. What the Law could not do , i. e. govern our Minds and Passions ; this God effected by sending Christ into the World to publish the Gospel to us , and to confirm all those great Promises and Threatnings contained in it , with his own Blood . This is indeed a parcel of excellent Divinity , but that it 's wholly destitute of truth : For 1. he supposes , That that Law , whose weakness the Apostle assigns as the Reason of Gods sending his Son ; was only the Ceremonial Law ; the Falshood whereof I shall demonstrate ( if that be not too great a word for any mans Mouth besides his own ) by and by . 2. He insinuates that the whole of Christs being a Sacrifice for our Sins , lay in confirming the New-Covenant ; the Falshood whereof , the next Section will give us direct occasion to evince . 3. He makes the whole business of the Ceremonial Law , to represent inward purity , and ( perhaps ) to effect it : whereas though some of the Ceremonies did represent inward purity ; yet the main of their design was to lead to Jesus Christ : and particularly Sacrifices which represented that Atonement and Reconciliation which Christ in due time should make with God on the behalf of Sinners . Col. 2. 17. The Law had a shadow of good things to come , but the Body is of Christ . 4. He scandalously charges it upon God , that he appointed a means to an end ; which was found too weak to reach his End : As if God must try conclusions , and make experiments , before he could be certain whether his design would take , and his appointments reach their End . 5. He renders Christ's Coming into the World unnecessary ; for what though the Ceremonial Law could not effect that inward Purity , yet I hope God had means to effect it , unless he will say all the World till Christ's Coming were whited-Walls , and painted-Sepulchres : For what was become of the Moral Law all this while ? had it no power to effect that End ? 6. He tells us p. 269. That the Reason why the Law of Moses was abrogated , was because it could not make men good : But then the Moral Law was either able to make men good , or it was not ; If it was not , why was not that abrogated also ? If it was able , and had its effect , then what need of Christ to come into the World to effect that which the Moral Law was able to effect without him ? But the true Reason why the Ceremonial Law is expired , is because the Lord Jesus Christ has answered and fulfilled all that is represented . When the Sun is risen , the Shadows fly away ; there was no formal abrogation either made or necessary to be made ; it expired of course when Christ had made good what-ever the Ceremonies had exhibited to their Faith . 7. He tells that Christ came to work in us that inward Purity , represented by the Ceremonial Law : but for all his good-morrows , when he is throughly catechifed : Christ's working is no more than those sufficient arguments and motives , to excite their own wits , whereby they might work it themselves ; and I cannot tell whether he will deny that the Jews had sufficient motives , and arguments for that end under their Law . 8. He contradicts himself ( which is no news ) ; for whereas he had said p. 265. That the Law was designed to work in them inward purity : He says p. 269. That the Law nursed them up in a ritual , and external Religion , and taught them to serve God in the Letter , by Circumcision , and Sacrifices , or an external Conformity to the Letter of the Law . And then I hope God could not justly blame them , much less damn them for being Hypocrites , if they did as well as , and no better , than his own Law taught them : Nay he adds , That the Gospel of Christ alone teaches us to worship God with the Spirit , and to offer a reasonable Sacrifice to him . This is strange Doctrine ! but it 's less matter for that if it be but true . But was not God always a Spirit , and did he not always teach his People to worship him with their Spirits ? How often does God complain that they drew nigh him with their Lips , when their Hearts were far from him ? which he could not well do , if he taught them no better : It 's a Riddle to me that these Ceremonies should represent inward purity , and yet not teach it ; when they had no way to teach that Purity , but by representing it . 'T is true , the Gospel teaches us to worship God in the Spirit , in opposition to Ceremonies ; but God always taught his People to worship him with their Spirits in opposition to Hypocrisie . Psal. 51. 6. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts . Did God institute a Law , a Law so chargeable and burdensome , and all to teach his People to worship like Parrots , to mumble over their Mattens , and like Puppets to make an outward noise , without a rational Principle to guide it ? If they had no reasonable Service , why were they reasonable Creatures ? But a little more reverence of the Divine Majesty would confute a great deal of such blasphemy . Let us now seriously consider the Text : and 1. It will be necessary to enquire what that Law is , whose weakness the Apostle assigns as the reason of God's sending his own Son ? And for all the Authors presumptions , I am well satisfied it was not the Ceremonial Law : for what if the Ceremonial had proved weak ? what if it had been resolved into its first nothing , the Moral stood still where it always did ? and what need of Christ's Coming into the World upon that account ? There was a time when the Ceremonial Law was not created , and what if it had been again repealed and annihilated , things had been but in statu quo : But that the Law here mentioned is the Moral Law , the Connexion of the Apostle's Words , his Premises out of which he draws his Conclusion , will abundantly manifest . In Chap. 7. v. 7 , He tells us he had not known sin except the Law had said , Thou shalt not covet : But sin taking occasion from that Law , wrought in him all manner of Concupiscence , v. 8. Nevertheless he clears the Law . v. 12. The Commandment was holy and just , and good ; had an intrinsick goodness , righteousness in it ; and this he calls v. 25. The Law of God . Now the Apostle having said v. 10. That this Commandment ( of the Moral Law ) which was unto life in ( God's Original Institution ) he found to be unto death : Nevertheless , Chap. 8. v. 1. he assures us , That there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus ; and he shews how Sinners are brought from under that Condemnation , v. 3. What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh , God sending his own Son , &c. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; That impossible thing of the Law : where the Apostle adding the Article [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] intimates that he spake of that Law whereof he had made mention before , which was the Moral Law ; that Law which saith Thou shalt not covet ; that Law which is holy , just , good ; that Law , which is eminently the Law of God , and not that which carries the name of the Law of Moses . (2) But what was that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; the impossible thing of this Law ? There are many things that this Law cannot do : It can lay a Command upon the Creature , but it cannot give strength to obey the Command ; it can offer the Promises of Life to the obedient , and shake the Threatning over the Conscience of the Rebellious ; but meeting with depraved Nature , it cannot redintegrate lapsed Nature ; it can wound , but it cannot heal ; it can condemn but it cannot absolve a Sinner : But yet there seems to be some one thing which above all other impossibles , is absolutely impossible for this Law to do for man ; and that is to justifie him before God : For so he had said , and proved Chap. 3. 20. By the Deeds of that Law shall no Flesh be justified in his Sight . But ( 3. ) How comes the Law to be so weak ? for certainly it had once such a Power in its primitive appointment , and was fitted to give life to the Obedient ; for we must not dare to think , that the Wise God ever appointed a Law or the meanest thing in the World , but it was fitted to reach all those Ends which in his Holy and Secret Counsel he designed it to : How then comes this Law , the Moral Law , to be so weak ? If any of the Sons of Adam can produce an Obedience every way such as the Law demands , it is able to give Life Eternal still : The Apostle answers us , It 's weak through the Flesh : it was not made weak , but became weak through our weakness . The Law is as strong to reward still , if we were but as strong to obey as ever . But ( 4. ) How did Christ remedy , and help us in this desperate Case ? for ▪ if we cannot live by the Law , we must die by the Law . The Apostle resolves us ; God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh , ( and in the truth of humane Flesh ) and for sin , condemned sin in the Flesh : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; That is , as an offering for Sin : So near is the relation between the Sacrifice and the Sin that is laid upon it , that they are called the same . 2 Cor. 5. 21. Christ was made sin : that is , he was made an Offering for sin . For so 't is exprest , Isa. 53. 10. When thou shalt make his Soul an offering for sin . The Greek therefore , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , does but imitate the Hebrew , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which signifies both the Sin , and the Sin-Offering : thus then Christ supplyed the Laws weakness ; he who knew no sin , was made sin , and as he was made sin for us , so are we made the Righteousness of God in him . Christ could no otherwise be a Sinner , but by imputation , nor we otherwise Righteous than by the Imputation of his Righteousness . As the Offenders guilt under the Law could not otherwise be laid upon the head of the Typical Sacrifice , but by God's Imputing it ; so neither could our Sin otherwise lye upon the Head of Christ , but by his own voluntary Susception , and thereupon God's Righteous Imputation ; but these things we shall meet with professedly in the next Section .

There is a Metaphorical expression still behind , which our Author cannot digest ; whereupon when he has thrown away a little , and truly but a little wit , he will ease us of the tediousness of this Discourse . The expression which sticks so hard with him is that of the Apostle , Ephes. 3. 8. The unsearchable Riches of Christ . Now though at another time , I would try a fair fall with him , whether this ( and many others which he thinks it enough for their reproach to call so ) be a Metaphorical Expression or no ; yet I have not leisure at present to attend that Service : for my part , I think that riches is more properly , and literally predicated of that Grace , that is treasured up in the Lord Jesus , than of all that paltry trash which has got the vogue in the Dialect of deluded Worldlings ; but I am weary , and shall therefore only make a defensive War of it . What is then this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , this unsearchable Riches of Christ ? Why , even here these Men cannot agree , for some are zealous for it , that ( what-ever is meant by unsearchable Riches , ) yet by Christ is meant Christ himself ; others , ( amongst whom our Author professes his Name ) by the unsearchable Riches of Christ , understand the Gospel which St. Paul preached to the Gentiles : And is it not a small thing ( that he should stand so stifly upon it ) for us to entreat ; 1. That the Glorious Person of Christ , his Offices , his Natures , his Obedience , his Life , his Death , with their proper Springs and Causes , their special ends and designs , might come in for a good share of the Gospel ? But 2. The Gospel preached is the opening of the Treasures of Wisdom , Knowledg , and Grace that are in Christ . Those Riches are , or were unsearchable , as they lay hid and deep in the Counsels and Purposes of the Father and the Son ; so far as they are revealed in the Gospel , they are not unsearchable . But what is meant by Riches ? why , Riches ( says he ) signifie only an abundance . This 't is to be wise above the common sort of ordinary Mortals ; most men I dare say , have hitherto thought that Riches carry in their first Notion , preciousness as well as plenty : A handful of Gold is more truly Riches , than a heap of Pebbles ; but then what are unsearchable Riches ? why , they are so called , because the Gospel is not a narrow and stinted thing , is not confined to a particular nation , as the Law was , but is offered to all mankind , &c. I shall not cope with him in his Grammatical skill , for therein he is unmatchable : but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 has formerly signified that which cannot be traced , that whereof we have no foot-steps : and such are the Riches of Christ , such the Counsels of God , to reconcile the World to himself , by his dear Son ; A Mystery whose knowledg depends upon Divine Revelation , whereof we have not the least track in nature , no more than of a Ship in the Sea , an Eagle in the Air , or a Serpent upon a Rock : The Light of Nature is Dark , the Tongue of the Creature Dumb , the Book of the Creation , a great Blank ; and he alone that was from eternity in the Bosom of the Father , whose Name is Wonderful Counsellor , was able to reveal and give us notice of them .

One small brush at Mr. Brookes will conclude this Section , for 't is impossible for our Author to conclude without reviling ; and what evil has this good Man done ? Oh he has spoken a little too prodigally in commendation of Christ , and it 's a standing rule , that whoever will give our Saviour one good Word , shall purchase two bad ones at our Author's Hands for his pains . Now Mr. Brookes ( you must know ) had said , thinking no man no harm I dare say ; That Christ is generally rich , rich in Houses , Lands , in Gold , Silver , in all Temporals as well as Spirituals ; with many more friendly expressions of the Fulness and Preciousness of the Grace that is in Christ : To which our Author returns a solid though short Confutation : That the Son of Man bad not a place whereon to lay his head : And is not Mr. Brooks a rash and unadvised Man think you , to rant it so high in extolling his Riches , and to ascribe to him such vast revenues and possessions : But let us be Charitable , and put a favourable construction upon these dangerous words ; perhaps , they are not so rank poyson as they seem to be : 1. What if Mr. Brooks speaks not of what Christ was when he appeared in the form of a Servant ; but what he now is since he has reassumed his original Glory , and as Mediator has all power in Heaven and Earth put into his hands ; and methinks , it is no such flagitious Crime to assert that Christ has the disposal of all outward things for the good of his Church : But I correct my self when I remember my Author has told us , p. 162. That Christ has left the visible and external Conduct and Government of the Church to Bishops and Pastors ; and therefore it may be presumed also he has left the visible Revenues , and Temporalties to their disposal also ; for it 's equitable , that the Maintenance should go along with the work and therefore those Houses and Lands , the Palaces , the Tithes , the Glebe , the Gold , the Silver , which Mr. B. fancies are in Christ's hands , are entrusted where they shall be converted to better uses . 2. What if Christ for a season that he might feel our Infirmities , and accommodate himself to that dispensation under which his wonderful Condescension had put him , did wave the use of many things he had a Right to : Yet 1. He had 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Title , when he forbore 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Use of those things . 2. He used his Right too for others , when he would not assert it for himself ; He was Rich even then , when he for our sakes he became poor , 2. Cor. 8 , 9. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; let him not be reproached for his Love , pardon him that wrong ! 3. That Christ had not where to lay his head ; signifies no more than that he had no fixed habitation at all times , but generally went up and down doing good , healing all manner of Diseases , Preaching the everlasting Gospel ; for he had a House to hide his head in , Ioh. 1. 39. They came and saw where he dwelt : and a Pillow too to lay his head on , Mark . 4. 38. and could sleep securely in the midst of the Storm : he wanted not conveniences for his life , but was so swallowed up of his Fathers work , that he accounted it his Meat and Drink to do his will ; and therefore I hope Mr. B. will out-live this assault and battery many a fair day . And now all that I can instruct my self or my Reader in from this Discourse is , That if Mr. Brooks or any of his Brethren shall assert the plainest Truth that ever the Sun shone upon , our Author by the Laws of his Society is bound to oppose it .

SECT. 3. Concerning the Nature of our Union to Christ , Whereby , we are entituled to all his fulness , Righteousness , &c.

WHen the Arm is in danger of being lost by a Gangraen , it were unseasonable Diligence to attend the Cure of a Cut-finger . When that Vessel in which all our common Concerns are embarqued is ready to sink , it would be unpardonable folly in the the Passengers to study the security of their particular Cabbins : like those whom the great Orator laughs at , for presuming their Gardens , Orchards , and private Walks would be indemnified in the general Ruine of the City . In this Section our Author lays his Axe to the Root of the Christian Religion ; leaving therefore particular persons to shift for themselves , The Righteousness of Christs Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death , with that influence that they have upon our acceptance with God , call for defence . Many have been infamous for horrid Murders : Cain is upon Record for a Fra●…ricide , Saul for a Suicide , Herod's Ambition was to have been a Deicide ; but this last Age seems to have out-done all in an Attempt to Murder the Death of Christ it self : As if , because Christ by his Death had destroyed him that had the power of Death , these Men would avenge the Devils Quarrel , and become his second , hoping they may one day triumph over it and sing , O Death we will be thy Death ! In Pag. 320. Our Author propounds this great Question : What Influence the Sacrifice of Christ's Death , and the Righteousness of his Life , have upon our acceptance with God ? And he gives us both a Reason , why he moves the Question , and an Answer to it . 1. The Reason why he moves this Question upon it , Lest any should suspect that his Design is to lessen the Grace of God , or to disparage the Merits , and Righteousness of Christ . Now I would make a question upon it ; Whether his Answer to the Question will probably heal us of our suspicions , or rather beget Iealousies where there were none , and heighten those already conceived into violent presumptions , if not plain demonstrations , that such is his Design ? 2. His Answer to the Question is this : All that I can find in Scripture about this , is : That to this we owe the Covenant of Grace : That God being well pleased with the Obedience of Christ's Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death , for his sake entred into a New-Covenant with Mankind , wherein he promises Pardon of sin , and Eternal Life to those who believe , and obey the Gospel . This Answer contains three things : 1. A Description of the Covenant of Grace . 2. An Assertion that this Covenant is owing to the Sacrifice of Christ's Death , and the Righteousness of his Life . 3. a Supposition , that the Righteousness and Sacrifice of Christ , has no other Influence upon our Acceptance with God , but that for his sake he entred into such a Covenant ( as he has here described ) with Man-kind .

( 1. ) His Description of the Covenant is this : A promise of the Pardon of sin , and Eternal Life to those who believe and obey the Gospel . A Description so liable to exceptions , that it describes neither the whole of the Covenant , nor a New-Covenant , nor ( upon the matter ) any Covenant at all .

§ . 1. This Description gives us little , very little of the true Covenant of Grace : for ( 1. ) though he thinks to put us off with a promise of Pardon and Life to those who believe and obey ; the true Covenant of Grace has given us a Promise of that Faith , whereby we may believe , and of that New-heart whereby we are enabled to obey the Gospel . And first we have a Promise of the right Faith made to us in the true Covenant , Ioh. 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me , and him that cometh to me I will in no-wise cast out , Eph. 2. 8. By Grace ye are saved through Faith , and that not of your selves , it is the gift of God . And lest it should be Answered , that Faith is indeed God's gift as all other things are , wherein the Common Providence of God concurs with Humane industry : The Apostle , as if aware of such a petty Answer , has laid in a Reply ready , ch. 1. v. 19. That they who believe , do so by the exceeding greatness of God's power , even according to the working of his Mighty power , which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead . Secondly , we have a direct , and express Promise too of that New-heart from which we give to God New-obedience ; nay , of that New-obedience it self , which proceeds from the New-heart , or renewed Nature : Ezek. 36. A new heart also will I give you , and a new Spirit will I put within you ; and I will take away the heart of Stone out of your Flesh , and will give you a heart of Flesh : ( there 's the new Heart . ) and v. 27. I will put my Spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my Statutes , and ye shall keep my Iudgments and do them : ( there is new obedience ) thus also , Heb. 8. 10. This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days , saith the Lord , I will put my Laws into their minds , and write them in their hearts &c. wherein it 's easy to observe : 1. That this New-Covenant was founded upon God's free Grace , v. 9. They continued not in my Covenant ( the old Covenant ) and I regarded them not , saith the Lord : They were a Covenant-breaking people , deserved utter rejection , yet God will make another , a better , a New-Covenant with them . 2 That the promises of this Covenant were purely Spiritual ; writing his Laws in their minds and hearts . 3. The parties ▪ Covenanting , God and his Israel ; not all and every individual Son of Adam : But ( 2. ) This Description gives us very little of the true Covenant of Grace ; here 's a Promise of Pardon and Life to them who believe and obey ; but perseverance in Faith and Obedience , is left to the desultory and lubricous power of free-will : whereas in the true Covenant of Grace , there 's an undertaking that the Covenant shall be immutable , both on God's part and the Believers , Jer. 32. 38 , 40. They shall be my people and I will be their God ; and I will make an everlasting Covenant with them , that I will not turn away from them to do them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me . There are but two things that we can possibly Imagine should make the Covenant fall short of perpetuity , either God's turning away from his people , or ( which is only to be suspected ) their turning away from their God : Against both of these God has made sufficient Provision . 1. God has promised that he will not turn away from them to do them good . 2. He has promised that they shall not depart from him , and to fix and determine their backsliding Natures , he has promised to put his fear into their hearts , which is the great preservative against Apostacy .

§ . 2. As it describes not the whole of the Covenant , so it describes not the Nature of a New-Covenant . The Gospel-Covenant may be called a New Covenant , either in opposition to the Old Covenant of Works ; or the old Administration of the Covenant of Grace : Now , 1. This Covenant which he has here described is no new Covenant in opposition to the Old-Covenant of works . The Covenant which God made with Adam promised Life upon condition of Obedience ; Now the Commands which God gave to Adam , were as easy as those which are now given to all Mankind : and much easier too , if we consider , first ; That he had more natural strength to obey and keep them , and as for supernatural strength , our Author will allow us none , unless by a desperate Catachresis we will call Moral Arguments so ; which to a Creature dead in trespasses and sins , signify just nothing , without special power from on high , to render them efficacious , which neither will be allowed us . And Secondly , we are told that Christ has added to the Moral Law , which is to lay more Load on those who were before overcharged ; so that ( as he makes Covenants ) Adam's was much the better Covenant of the two : But he has wisely shuffled in a Promise of the Pardon of Sin , which may seem to give his Covenant a preheminence above that of Adam : But that will not mend the matter ; both because it 's better to have no sin in our Natures than such a Remedy , better to have no Wound than such a Plaister , and also because the Promise of Pardon is suspended upon the condition of Faith and Obedience , which without supernaturally real influx of immediate Divine Power reduces the promise to an impossibility of performance . 2. This Covenant which he has here described , is no New-Covenant in opposition to the old Administration of the Covenant of Grace . There were the same promises then that we have now , the same moral precepts to observe that we have now ; and though the word [ Gospel ] comes in for a blind , yet the Apostle assures us , Gal. 3. 8. That Abraham had the Gospel Preached to him .

§ . 3. Upon the matter , it 's no Covenant of Grace at all . For , 1. A Promise of Pardon and Life , upon Condition of Believing and Obeying , is neither better nor worse , than a threatning of Condemnation and Death , to them who Believe not , and Obey not . It may with equal right be called a threatning of Death , as a Promise of Life : It 's no more a Covenant of Grace than a Covenant of Wrath ; and therefore , 2. ( if it be lawful to consider Man as the Word of God describes him , as dead in Sins and Trespasses , as one that of himself cannot think a good thought , that can do nothing at all without Christ ) It 's no Covenant at all to him under his present circumstances ; for what is the nice difference between a Promise of Life , to him that obeys , when it 's certain before-hand he cannot obey , and no Promise at all ? 3. This Covenant which he calls New , ( and well he may , for it 's of his own making , or however of his own new-vamping ) assigns the same conditions of Pardon and Eternal Life ; but the Scripture requires other qualifications for Eternal Life , than for the Pardon of Sin . A Believer may be justified without a sinless perfection , but without such a sinless perfection none shall enter into Glory : He may be actually justified , that has not persevered in Holy Obedience to the Death ; but without such perseverance he can never be made partaker of Eternal Life . 4. This Covenant of his is supposed to be made with all Mankind , and yet all Mankind never heard of it : Now is it not very admirable , and to be placed amongst the wonders of the New-Divinity , that God should enter into a Covenant with all the World to Pardon and save them upon condition of Faith & Obedience , and yet not let many of them know a syllable of it ? Nay , that he should expresly countermand the promulgating of the Gospel to them ? And yet so has God done even by the preaching of the true Covenant of Grace : Acts 16. 6 , 7. Now when they had gone throughout all Phrygia , and the Region of Galatia , and were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to Preach the word in Asia ; After they were come to Mylia , they assayed to go into Bithynia , but the Spirit suffered them not .

( 2. ) Let us now briefly consider his Assertion : That the Covenant of Grace ( such a one as he has made for us ) is owing to the Sacrifice of Christ's death , and the Righteousness of his Life : That God being pleased with these , for Christ's sake entred into a New Covenant with Mankind . I must tell the Reader that I have narrowly pryed into this Section , wherein I find frequent assertions of this Doctrine , That the Covenant of Grace is owing to , procured by , founded on the Obedience of Christ's Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death ; and yet so unhappy have I been in my search that I cannot find any Proof , or any attempt to prove it ▪ and therefore ( till I see evidence to the contrary ) I shall take it for granted , that the Covenant of Grace is owing to , founded on , and given forth by that free Grace of God , from whence it is justly denominated A Covenant of Grace ; though the intervention of a Mediator , such a Mediator , was absolutely necessary to put us into the Actual possession of those rich mercies designed for us by God in that Covevenant ; which Mediator himself is owing to , founded on that Covenant of Grace , and therefore the Covenant of Grace is not founded upon him : but indeed for that Covenant which he is pleased to call a New-Covenant , and a Covenant of Grace , it 's no great matter where 't is founded , and therefore let him dispose of his own Creature as he pleases .

( 3. ) He supposes that Christ's Obedience and Sacrifice had no other influence upon our acceptance with God , but that for his sake he entred into such a Covevenant with Mankind . This is all , however that he can find ; But this is a most miserable All , and either is just nothing , or very near it . For , § . 1. Let him of Courtesy Answer one Question more since he is so good at it , Whether God was ever at any time unwilling to pardon sin , and give Eternal Life , to those who did believe his Promises , and obey his Precepts ? If he was unwilling ; Then let him shew how Christ's Obedience and Sacrifice , did operate upon God to alter his will , and of unwilling to make him willing : what could there be in the Sacrifice of Christ's Death , or the Righteousness of his Life , that should make God more in Love with Faith and Obedience , than he had been before ? But if God was willing , and that without respect to Christ : then how does he give the Pardon of sin and Eternal Life , to them who Believe and Obey for Christ's sake ? I am sure of our Authors good-Nature in this point ; he will say , he has said it ; That some , that many were saved without respect to Christ ; The mercy and Grace of God ( it seems ) accepting their Belief of particular Revelations , and their sincere Obedience to his Commands ; Repentance supplying the defects , and shortness of their Conformity to the Law : Now if God did all this without regard to Christ , how does he do it for the sake of Christ ? But there 's an Answer to this , that lies Dormant in the word [ Promise ] God did indeed Pardon sin , and give Eternal Life , to those who believed his Revelations , and obeyed his Commandements ; but he never promised he would do it . But now he has drawn out his Grace and good-will into a Promise to pardon sin and give Eternal Life ; upon the terms aforesaid , and this he has done for Christ's sake : And let us Audit the Account ; and all the influence that Christ's Obedience and Sacrifice bath upon our acceptation with God , is , that we have got a promise from God to do that which he would have done before ; to give us that he would have given us before ; only he would not promise to do it for us , to give it to us . Two things I shall briefly return . 1. That God under the Old-Testament made explicite promises of the pardon of Sin , and Eternal Life ; and if under that Dispensation , I am sure our Author will say , without respect to Christ : that this was the Doctrine of the Old-Testament , the Apostle asserts , Act. 13. 40. To him give all the Prophets witness , that through his Name , whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins . 2 Sam. 7. 14. I will be his Father , and he shall be my Son : and there 's enough in that to secure a promise of pardon to a repenting Child . Mal. 3. 17. They shall be mine , and I will spare them as a Father spares his own son that serves him : but it it is added ; If he sin against me , I will chasten him with the Rod of Men , but my Mercy shall not depart from him . Ps. 99. 8. Thou answeredst them , O Lord our God , thou wast a God that forgavest them , though thou tookest vengeance on their inventions . And as the pardoning Grace that was in God's Nature was revealed to them , as the foundation of their Faith and obedience , Ps. 130. 4. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared ; So it is drawn out into a promise , v. 8. He shall redeem Israel from all his Iniquities , which without the pardon of them is simply impossible . As for the Promises of Eternal Lise , we find good old Iacob now giving up the Ghost , and having no hope in this Life ; expressing his Faith thus , Gen. 49. 18. I have waited for thy Salvation , O Lord ! Which doubtless was Eternal Salvation ▪ beyond the Verge of that short time of his Life , which he knew was expired ; Ps. 73. 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy Counsel , ( in my pilgrimage ) and afterwards receive me to glory : but a more convenient place will offer it self for the discussing of this matter . 2. If then this be all that the Obedience of Christ's Life and the Sacrifice of his Death do contribute to our acceptance with God , that for Christ's sake we have got a Promise , or a more explicite Promise of the pardon of sin , and Eternal Life than before ; then I must be of the same mind still , that it contributes just nothing to the acceptance of our Obedience with God . Let me have Liberty to put the Case of two Persons , v. g. David and Paul ; let us suppose these two , equally obedient to God's commands , the former without such an express and explicite promise of Reward the other , encouraged by stronger Arguments of clear and numerous Promises of Pardon , and Eternal Life : Which of these two is more accepted of God ? He that performed equal Obedience , upon more feeble encouragements ; or he that upon stronger Motives ▪ yet gave but equal Obedience ? If Reason might determine this Controversy , it would clearly carry it for him , that bore equal burden with less strength , performed equal duty upon less inducements : If then this be all the influence that the Obedience and death of Christ have upon our Acceptation with God ; that thereby we have got a greater help to obedience , the best Answer to the Question had been , that it has no influence upon our Acceptance with God . § . 2. His Answer signifies nothing or very near it : For the Question was , What Influence Christ's Active and Passive Obedience have upon our Acceptance with God ? And he has framed an Answer to another Question ; What Influence Christ's Active and Passive Obedience have upon our Obedience ? Which is quite another thing . If Christ's Obedience have any influence upon our acceptation with God , then God for Christ's sake must accept us , and our Obedience for the sake of Christ , which otherwise he had not , would not have done ; and Christ must be supposed to have done and suffered something , which had such an influence upon God , as to procure the favour of God towards our persons and services , which without that consideration had not been , could not be procured : But if this be all ; That God has made us a Promise to accept that Obedience for Christ's sake , which ( without any respect to Christ ) would have accepted , though not say be would accept ; then if our obedience be little , Christ will not make it reputed much , if imperfect , Christ's Obedience will not render it perfect ; and thus in plain Terms , The Sacrifice of his Death , and Righteousness of his Life procure no acceptance at all , no not the least of our Persons or Obedience with God . ( 3. ) His Answer is so like nothing , as cannot be discerned from nothing : The Question was , What influence Christ's Righteousness and Sacrifice have upon our acceptance with God ? The Answer is , God for Christ's sake entred into a New-Covenant with Mankind , &c. which is to leave the Question just as he found it ( and if he leave it no worse it 's pardonable ) for it will be enquired still ; What influence the Righteousness of Christ's Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death had upon God to move him to enter , into such a Covenant ? Under what Notion did his Life and Death operate upon God ? Did Christ make a proper Reconciliation and Atonement with God ? Was his Death a proper Sacrifice ? Did it expiate the Guilt of Sin ? No! not a syllable of all this ; only for fashions sake it must be said to have had An influence ; though what it is , or how it had that influence , he cannot tell : But he will speak to these things more distinctly .

[ 1. ] What influence the Death of Christ has upon our Acceptation with God ? But it is to be supposed that we have had our Answer , and must sit down by it . That God was so well pleased with the Sacrifice of Christ's Death , that for his sake he entred into a New-Covenant with Mankind : The Proof is all in all ; Why , this is plain ( says he ) in reference to his Death ; Hence the Blood of Christ is called the Blood of the Covenant ▪ Heb. 10. 29. It 's plain , that God for Christ's sake entred into this Covenant , because his Blood is called the Blood of the new Covenant : but yet it 's not so very plain neither ; A man may possibly mistake it for all that he has said to satisfy him : well ! But then Christ is called the great Shepherd , and Bishop of Souls through the blood of the everlasting Covenant , Heb. 13. 20. but I can find no such Scripture : well ; However , The Blood of Christ is called the Blood of sprinkling , which speaks better things than the Blood of Abel , Heb. 12. 24. which is an Allusion to Moses his sprinkling the Blood of the Sacrifice , wherewith he confirmed and ratified the Covenant , between God and the Children of Israel , &c. I expected it would come to this at long run ▪ God entred into the Covenant for the sake of Christ's Death , because his Death confirmed the Covenant : A very trim Reason ! The confirming of a Covenant , supposes a Covenant in being ; If then all the design of the Blood of Christ was to confirm and ratifie a Covenant , it will not follow that therefore God did enter into such a Covenant for the sake of the Blood , but therefore he did not . I deny not that the Death of Christ was a great Confirmation of the true Covenant of Grace to our Faith : For what stronger Confirmation could the most jealous Soul desire of the reality of free Grace promising to pardon sin , and bestow Eternal Life upon believers , than that the Son of God himself should first take upon him our Nature , and in that Nature offer up himself to God , to atone and reconcile him to us ; that he should make satisfaction to God's rectoral Iustice , and pay the price of our Redemption , thereby removing out of the way of our Faith the grand impediments of it ▪ the Justice of God and the Commination of the Law , which stood in the way of our Pardon , and Salvation ? But to obviate our Author's design , I shall a little divert the Reader with the consideration of these Propositions : 1. The Confirmation of such a Covenant as he has described ( viz. a Promise of the Pardon of sin and Eternal Life to those who believe and obey the Gospel ) was not the main end of the Death of Christ : 1. Because there is such an end ascribed to his Death , which the Death of no other person in the world , could in any wise reach : but now to confirm the Gospel , and all the Promises thereof was an end which the Death of another might reach ; therefore this was not the main end of the Death of Christ . The crucifying of Peter , the Martyrdom of Paul , were a great Confirmation of the Doctrine which they Preached ; the Doctrine which they Preach't was the Gospel , and all its Promises ; yet neither was the Death of the one , or other , able to reach the great Design of the Death of Christ : 1 Cor. 1. 18. Was Paul Crucified for you ? Or were you Baptized into the Name of Paul ? None could be Crucified for Sinners in that way that Christ was Crucified for them , into whose Name they might not be Baptized : but into the Name of no mere Man might they be Baptized ; therefore no mere Man could be Crucified for sinners in that way , and for those ends which Christ was Crucified for ▪ Paul ▪ suffered Death for the Churches good , but not in the Churches stead : He dyed to Confirm what he Preacht , and he Preacht the Covenant of Grace with all its Promises ; yet he was not Crucified for the Church , his Soul was not made an Offering for sin , God laid not upon him all our Iniquities ; his Death was not a Sacrifice of Propitiation : And yet all this may be said of Paul's Death , if those expressions applyed to the Death of Christ , signify no more than a Confirmation of the Gospel . 2. The Scripture assigns greater ends to the Death of Christ , than confirmation of Promises : 1. His Death as a Sacrifice atoned God . 2. His Death as a Price paid to God redeemed us . 3. His Death as a Punishment exacted of God , satisfied his Iustice . For the first , Isa. 53. 10. his Soul was made an Offering for sin : and therefore as on a Sacrifice of Atonement , God laid on him the Iniquities of us all , V. 6. For the second , 1 Tim. 2. 6. He gave himself a Ransom , or Price of Redemption for all . For the third , Rom. 3. 25 , 26. The Blood of Christ is said to be a Declaration of God's Righteousness , that he might be just in justifying the Believer ; which Testimonies will call for clearing and vindication in due time . And these indeed are such ends of the Death of Christ , as will undeniably prove , that his Death had an Influence upon our Acceptance with God . 3. The Scripture owns Christ as a proper Priest ; and therefore his Work must be somewhat more , than confirming a Doctrine . A Prophet will abundantly answer that design : But our Author prudently having cut out Christ some work to do , has fitted him with an Office too , which is proportionable to it ; for to what purpose should Christ be a Priest , that has nothing to do with his Sacrifice , but to confirm his Doctrine ? The direct and immediate Object of Christ's Sacerdotal Office was God , Heb. 9. 14 , 15. How much more shall the Blood of Christ , who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself to God , purge your Consciences ? I know these Men will say that Christ offered up himself to God in He●…ven , but not upon the Cross : whereas the Blood of Christ is here compared with , though preferred to the Blood of Bulls and Goats , and the Ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean , some of which were never carried into the Holy Place ; and the Blood of those which were , was first shed at the Altar , before it could be sprinkled at the Mercy-Seat : And the word here used 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is a sacred and religious Word , applied to the Sacrifices which were brought to , and ●…ffered at the Altar . Again , Heb. 5. 1. Christ i●… ordained a Priest in things pertaining to God . His Priestly Employment lay mainly with him , to confirm promises that relate to us men ; but a Priest offers not Sacrifice to the People , though for the People . Christ's Business as our High-Priest was with God , and in his Undertaking with him , lyes the true Reason of the Acceptation of our Persons & Services with God . 4. The Scripture every-where expresses Christ's Innocency , nay his perfect Holine●… , the cheerfulness , self-denyal , constancy , universality of his Obedience to his Fathers Will , especially the Law of the Mediator . He always did the Things that pleased his Father , Joh. 8. 29. He fulfilled all Righteousness , Mat. 3. 15. His Meat and Drink was to do the Will of him that sent him , and to finish his Work , Joh. 4. 34. He came not to do his own Will , but the Will of him that sent him , Joh. 6. 38. And the Father has witnessed it most solemnly by a Voice from Heaven , That he was well-pleased with his beloved Son , Mat 17. 5. and yet notwithstanding all this , and much more that might be said , It pleased the Father to bruise him , and make his Soul an Offering for Sin , Isa. 53. 10. He loved him , and yet shewed all imaginable tokens of displeasure ; he was amazed , sore troubled in Soul , and ( as to the apprehension of his Soul ) in respect of comfort forsaken of God , so that he cried out of it most b●…tterly ; My God , my God , why hast thou forsaken me ? And in the view of his approaching Sufferings was in such an Agony , and conflict of Soul , that it exprest Clods of Blood from his labouring Body : Upon consideration of which unexpressible , inconceivable Torments of the Lord Jesus , the Ancient Church did use to pray , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , By thy unknown Torments , Lord deliver us ; In imitation whereof perhaps the Liturgy of the present Church of England uses the like ; By thy Agony and Bloody Sweat , by thy Cross and Passion , &c. Now I would have it resolved to satisfaction , without such pittyful dry evasions , and paltry answers as we meet with from some kind of men : 1. How God could at the same time be well-pleased with Christ , and be so well-pleased to bruise him ? 2. How it could consist with the Iustice of God , to punish a Person so Innocent , so Holy , so compleatly Righteous , over whom the condemning Part of the Law had no power , seeing he had never violated it , in its preceptive Part , unless he stood in the st●…ad of Sinners , bore their Iniquities , and was charged with their Guilt ? They will tell us , that God used his Prerogative , and Soveraignty over Jesus Christ ; and yet in other causes will not allow him an absolute and irrespective Soveraignty over the poorest W●…etch in the World : They will tell us too , That all this was not proper penalty or punishment ; but here was the matter of punishment to purpose : and still the difficulty remains , Why an Innocent Person should suffer the same things materially , which were only formally to be inflicted upon those who had deserved them ? Let none say , If Christ bore the Punishment due to sin , he must suffer Eternal Death ; seeing no less was due to our Transgressions : For 1. The Eternity of punishment is only due to sin by accident , as it is found in a finite Person , who being not able to bear at once , or in the longest time , that Wrath which his Sins have demerited ; Divine Justice exacts of him an Eternity of suffering . 2. Whereas sin is only infinite , or of infinite demerit , objectivè , as committed against an infinite God : The Sufferings of Christ are infinite also subjectivè , being the Sufferings of that Person who is God , though not as God ; and therefore Christ in a finite time was able to give infinite Satisfaction . 3. Christ was such an High-Priest , as being God and Man , was able to give an infinite Value to his Sacrifice of himself as Man : nor let any say that if Christ suffered in a way of Satisfaction to Divine Justice , and bore what the Sinner should have born , or that which was equivalent to it , that then the Sinner ought immediately to be delivered from the Curse due to his sin ; for seeing that the Satisfaction was not made in the Person of the Offender , but his Substitute , it was necessary that the benefit of another's Satisfaction should be communicated in such a way as might best please that God , whose Grace was the only Motive to his Acceptation of a Substitute : It 's the undoubted priviledg of the Giver to dispose of his own Gift in his own Way ; and it was absolutely and indispensibly necessary that the Sinner should be duly qualified to receive so transcendent Favours , purchased at so dear rates , and fitted to return the Glory due to a Redeemer , which an unhumbled , unbelieving , unconverted , & unsanctified Sinner could not possibly be .

(2) The Death of Christ ( devested of those its proper respects of a Sacrifice offered to God to atone and reconcile him : a price paid to ransom , and redeem us , and a Punishment born to satisfie Divine Iustice , was no infallible proof of the Doctrine which he preached : For 1. Many have laid down their lives to Abett , and endured extremity of Tortures rather than renege the Doctrine they have openly preached ; their Confidence ( the mean while ) supported either by a mistaken Conscience , or perhaps some sinister respects . All that it can prove in the largest judgment of Charity is , That they suppose their Doctrine to be true , or else would hardly lose their All , rather than lose a Principle ; but not that therefore the Doctrine is true , because the Preacher dies for it . That which is false in it self , will not become true , by laying down our life for it . In the Memory of the last Age , there were some who sacrificed their lives to the Flames in defence of Contradictory Doctrines : So that to say that the Death of Christ has no other use , but To confirm the Truth of that Doctrine which he preacht , is but a more modest , civil ▪ and gentle way of saying it has no use at all . 2. To whom should the Death of Christ confirm the Truth of his Doctrine , to his Enemies or his Friends ? For his Enemies : Many of his Sufferings , the very greatest and sorest of his Sufferings were out of their notice ; either privately in the Garden , or more privately in his Soul , such as whereof they could take no cognizance : and for these which were visible ; they looked on them as the just rewards of his violation of the Law . As for his Friends , his Death considered singly in it self , without respect to its proper Ends , was so far from confirming of their Faith , or Belief of his Doctrine , that it was that which shook their hopes , and dasht their expectations out of countenance : their Hearts died in his Death ; and those two expressed the Sense of more than their own diffidence , Luk. 24. We trusted that it had been he that should have redeemed Israel . But whether to Friends , or Enemies , the Death of Christ ( considered without his antecedent Miracles , and subsequent Resurrection , and concomitant Sacrifice ) was so improper a means to confirm , that it had proved the clearest Confutation of his Doctrine that malice could have desired . ( 3. ) The Death of Christ was so far from confirming this Doctrine , That God would pardon Sinners , that separate this one Consideration of it as satisfactory to Divine Iustice , from his Death ; and it quite overthrows the credibility of the Doctrine , and runs all the World down into utter despair : For our Author must have a happy dexterity , if he can conclude , that because God dealt so severely with an innocent holy Person , that therefore he will not fail to pardon repenting Sinners . We must despair that ever repentance should make us personally equal with Christ : If then God did these things in the green Tree , what will be done in the Dry ? If Iudgment begun at God's own House , where shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear ? He that spared not his own Son , how much less will he spare the Sinner ? It could not be expected that any should believe Christ , telling them God would pitty and pardon others , who found him so severe to himself : But that indeed the true Reason why God deals so graciously with the repen●…ing Sinner , is because he had dealt so justly with his own Son , voluntarily becoming his Surety and Substitute . ( 4. ) There were proper proofs designed by God for the Confirmation of the Doctrine of Christ ; and no need at all to take sanctuary in that which ( nakedly considered ) was not so . Those frequent , clear , stupendious Miracles wrought by Christ , were fully adequate , and commensurate to that End . Reason will teach us to believe that God will not alter the course of Nature , nor reverse its standing Laws , to confirm a Lye , to bear witness to a grand Imposture . And surely they who would not believe Christ to be sent of God , upon his Testimony to him in those Extraordinary Works , would never believe it for his Death which was no wonder at all ; otherwise than as the fruit of his ineffable Love , offering himself to God as a Sacrifice for Sin ; and so indeed it was the greatest Wonder of them all . The Enemies of Christ triumpht in his Death , that they had nailed his Cause with his Person to the Cross ; and that which they feared was his Resurrection : A Miracle so far beyond all exception , to confirm that he was sent of God , and therefore his Doctrine must needs be true , that their greatest care was to have prevented it , by sealing the Stone , and setting a Watch. ( 5. ) But supposing that the Death of Christ had confirmed his Doctrine , and particularly this , That God would pardon , and save the Believing , and Obedient Sinner : Yet still what influence has this upon our Acceptance with God ? Will God accept our Obedience the more , because we have greater helps to obey ? May our duty expect a greater Reward because we come easier by it ? But when all is said that our Author can say , it 's our Obedience that hath the Influence upon our Acceptance with God , and Christ's Death has only an Influence upon our Obedience . The same Obedience given to the Commands of the Gospel , without the motive of his Death , had found equal , if not greater Acceptance from him , than when drawn from us by so cogent an Argument . But if the Death of Christ may be said to have any influence upon our Acceptance with God , because he thereby confirmed his Doctrine ; then the Death of the Martyrs also may be said to have an Influence upon our Acceptance with him ; for they by their Deaths confirmed the Truth which they preacht , which Truth was the true Covenant of Grace . And whereas many of them laid down their Lives with that Heroical Magnanimity , with that gallantry of Spirit , with more than that boasted Stoical valour , kissing the Stake , embracing the Flames , triumphantly singing in the midst of their Torments , professing they felt no more pain than in a Bed of Roses , as if they were to ascend Heaven in that fiery Chariot , to the Confutation of their Enemies , the encouraging of their Friends , and the credit of that Gospel they died for ; evidently assuring all , that they were immediately supported from above to bear with patience , nay with exultation , those extremities which to Flesh and Blood were intolerable . We see our Blessed Saviour ( on the contrary ) in his Sufferings strangely dejected , amazed , troubled in Soul , earnestly begging that if it were possible that Cup might pass from him , and crying out in the bitterness of his Soul , That he was forsaken of God ; which consideration is enough to satisfy an impartial Enquirer , That the Sufferings of Christ were fitted for some higher design than the confirming of Truth , for which end ( had there been nothing more in 't ) the Death of the Martyrs had clearly out-gone it .

But it 's high time to recollect our selves , and return into the way again ; for those pittiful things which stand for proof , that this was all the design of the Death of Christ , call aloud for examination .

The Blood of Christ says he ) is called the Blood of Sprinkling which speaks better things than the Blood of - Abel , Heb. 12. 24. which is an allusion to Moses his Sprinkling the Blood of the Sacrifice , whereby he confirmed the Covenant between God and the Children of Israel , Heb. 9. 20 , 21. For when Moses had spoken every precept to the People according to the Law , he took the Blood of Calves and Goats , and sprinkled both the Book and all the People , saying : This is the Blood of the Testament , which God hath ordained for you . Thus the Blood of Christ is called the Blood of Sprinkling , because by his Blood God did seal and confirm the Covenant of Grace , as the sprinkling of Blood did confirm the Mosaical Covenant .

There are four things which I shall offer , any one of which cleared up , will shew the vanity of this Period .

§ . 1. The Blood of Christ , is not called the Blood of Sprinkling , which speaks better things than the Blood of Abel ; only in allusion to the Sprinkling of that Blood which confirmed the Mosaical Covenant : There is a further , a higher design in the Expression . The Blood of Abel cried to God from the Earth , for vengeance upon the Head of Cain ; and with the same importunity does the violation of every Law of God sollicite Divine Justice against the Transgressour ; and that with great justice : For the same God , who hath establisht his Holy Law , in the Promise , Do this and live , hath bound , and confirm'd it also with the threatning , If thou sinnest thou shalt die . Such dreadful things did the Blood of Abel ( shed in defiance of the Law ) speak to God ; But O what sweet , how much better things does the Blood of Christ speak ! It speaks better things to the Justice of God , than if the Sinner himself should suffer his utmost Indignation : It speaks better things to the Law , than if the Sinner had felt the weight of its severest Curse : It speaks better things to the Conscience , than if we had wrought out our inward Peace by our own Righteousness : It satisfies God's Justice , answers the Law , and quiets the Conscience : And in reference to this use of the Sprinkling of Blood , viz. the Atoning , and Reconciling of God , is the Blood of Christ , called the Blood of Sprinkling ; and to this the Apostle refers , Heb. 11. 28. By Faith Moses kept the Passeover , and the Sprinkling of Blood , that he who destroyed the first-Born might not touch them . The Apostle evidently points to Exod. 12. 14. The Blood shall be to you a token upon your Houses , and when I see the Blood , I will passe over you , and the Plague shall not be upon you . v. 21 , 22. Kill the Passeover , and you shall take a Bunch of Hyssop and dip in the Blood , and strike the Lintel , and the two side-Posts , and none of you shall go out of his House until the Morning . Now here are several things observeable : 1. That it was a respect to the Blood of the Paschal-Lamb duly used and applyed , in consideration whereof God would not destroy them with the rest . 2. That if they expected any benefit from that Blood , they must abide under the shelter and protection of it . 3. This Blood must be sprinkled upon the Lintel , not upon the Threshold , to mind them , ( as the Jews observe ) that they ought not to trample it under their Feet : And surely that Blood which turns away the deserved wrath of God from their head , might claim more reverence than to be trampled under their feet . 4. That this Blood thus sprinkled was considerable in God's eyes , as it was the Blood of such a Lamb , so chosen ●…t of the flock , without any spot or blemish , and so slain , precisely according to God's appointment : I just proportion , the Lord Jesus Christ is called expresly our Passeover , 1 Cor. 5. 7. Christ our Passeover is Sacrificed for you . Now as the Blood of Christ has the same influence , so it has the same plea : It has the same Influence upon God , it turns away his Anger , he has a respect to the Blood of Jesus ; under this Blood do we take shelter and Sanctuary ; and therefore it pleads with us that we account it not a prophane and unholy thing , for that will be interpreted a trampling under foot the Son of God himself , Heb. 10. 29. which is to despise all the Grace and Mercy of God , for what-ever Mercy we receive from God , it is through the intervention of that Blood .

§ . 2. The whole concern of the Blood of Christ is 〈◊〉 exprest by the Blood of Sprinkling . Sprinkling was one way , and but one way of employing the Blood of the Sacrifices : but it must be shed , before it could be sprinkled , and therefore sprinkled , because it had been shed as a Sacrifice . What-ever other use there was of the Blood of Sacrifices , yet the efficacy of all was derived from this , that that Blood had been once shed at the Altar , Lev. 17. 11. It was Blood upon the Altar ( and that not merely as Blood , but as it was the Life-Blood of the Sacrifice substituted in the room of the offender ) that made an Atonement for their Souls . And this is evident in that the Blood of many of the Sacrifices for sin , atoneing , expiating Sacrifices , were not sprinkled , but only shed at the Altar : What an unrighteous dealing is this then with the Blood of Christ , to allot it no service but only the Confirmation of a Covenant , because it 's called the Blood of sprinkling ? whereas the Blood of the Sacrifices of old as it was sprinkled , did not express all the ends and uses of the Blood of Christ .

§ . 3. That which comes home to our Author is this : The whole design of the Blood of sprinkling 〈◊〉 not to confirm a Covenant . As Blood was larger than sprinkling of Blood ; so sprinkling of Blood was larger than the confirming of a Covenant . ( 1. ) The Blood of the Sacrifice was sometimes sprinkled 〈◊〉 turn away God's Anger : thus in the Passeover and thus in that very place which our Author insists upon , Heb. 9. 19. which the Apostle cites from Exod. 24. 5 , 6 , 7. where we read of a twofold Use of the Blood : First , one half of the Blood of the Burnt-Offering , and the Peace-Offering which had been shed at the Altar , Moses sprinkled upon the Altar : Now all the use of Blood upon the Al●…r was Atonement , Propitiation , and Reconciliation of God . Secondly , With the other half of the Blood , Moses consecrates and dedicates the People to the Lord , to walk before him according to the Tenour of that Covenant : whereas then he will argue , that the Blood was sprinkled only to confirm a Covenant , because one half of it was reserved for that as a secondary Use ; some surly , ill-conditioned People would conclude , that it was not used to confirm a Covenant , because the other half was not imployed for that use . ( 2. ) Another use of the Blood of the Sacrifice sprinkled , was to procure the favour of God , 2. Chron. 29. 21 , 22. where we read : 1. That all these Lambs , Bullocks , Rams , Goats , were offered to God at the Altar ; Hezekiah commanded the Priests to offer them on the Altar . 2. That when the Blood had been shed at the Altar , it was afterwards sprinkled on the Altar . 3. To shew that the great operation of the Blood ( even as sprinkled ) was by vertue of his having been once shed at the Altar . The two Goats of the Sin-Offering were only slain by the Priests , after they had laid their hands on them , and thereby laid the sins of the People upon them , in their Typical way ; but their Blood was not at all sprinkled upon the Altar , and yet the greatest efficacy is ascribed to them as the Sin-Offering . 4. The design of all these Sacrifices , their Offering upon the Altar , the shedding and then sprinkling of the Blood ; is said to be v. 24. to make Reconciliation with their Blood upon the Altar and to make Atonement for all Israel . 5. And that none might harp upon the old humour , that surely the People were fallen out among themselves , were all in Mutiny and Civil-Wars , and this Blood was to reconcile them , and make them friends ; We are told , It was for all Israel , for the Kingdom , the Sanctuary , for Iudah , for Church and State , Prince and People : All had offended God , and this was the Typical way of recovering his favour , and regaining a Communion with him in his Temple . ( 3. ) The Blood was sprinkled also for Purification and Cleansing , Lev. 14. 5. Answerable hereto , God has promised in the Covenant of Grace , that he will sprinkle his people with clean water , and from all their Idols and Abominations will be cleanse them , Ezek. 36. which he effects by the power of the Holy Spirit , and by the Blood of Iesus . Therefore are Saints called elect according to the foreknowledg of God the Father , through the Sanctification of the Spirit u●…to obedience , and sprinkling of the Blood of Iesus Christ . 1 Pet. 1. 2. ( 4. ) The Blood was sprinkled before the Mercy-Seat , Lev. 16. 15. When the Priest had shed the blood of the Sacrifice at the Altar , and offer'd it to God , he carries in some of the Blood into the most Holy place , and by that Blood intercedes with God for the People : Thus our Lord Jesus , when by the once offering of himself he had made an Atonement with God for sin , discharges the other great part of 〈◊〉 Priesthood , becomes our intercessor at the throne of Grace , and in the merit and vertue of that Blood which was once shed for the reconciling of God , and procuring his favour , he lives for ever to make intercession for us . And now I suppose it may be left to all indifferent Persons to judg , whether our Author has not most barbarously Murdered the Death of Christ it self , and trampled his sacred Blood under his feet , allowing no other end or use to it , but that o●… confirming a Covenant ; whereas considered as the Blood of sprinkling , it has far greater and higher ends , and yet the Blood as sprinkled , comprehends not the whole design of that Blood .

§ . 4. But yet supposing , That all the ends of the Death of Christ were wrap't up in that one expression [ the Blood of sprinkling ] and supposing also that the Blood of the Sacrifices as sprinkled , had no other end or use but the confirming of a Covenant ; yet how will this prove his main Assertion , That we owe the Covenant of Grace to the Death of Christ ? All that will follow is , that we owe the Confirmation of the Covenant to it , and only the Confirmation of the Covenant ; and then another thing will follow too , that we do not owe the Covenant it self to it , unless he can prove that procuring and confirming are Terms of the same importance .

The advantage our Author has got by this way of Reasoning is , that he has found out a way how to own all Scripture-Expressions , and yet accommodate them to his own preconceived Opinions . [ 1. ] Hence ( says he ) we are said to be justified by the Blood of Christ , Rom. 5. 9. That is , by the Gospel-Covenant which was confirmed , and ratified by his Death : To which I Answer . 1. If we may be said to be justified by his Blood , because his Blood confirmed the Covenant , then we may be said more properly to be justified by his Miracles ; for they indeed had a proper , direct , immediate , and sufficient evidence in them to confirm the Doctrine which he Preacht ; and it 's a Miracle almost as great as any of them , that the Scripture should never once intimate that we are justified by Miracles , which directly and properly confirmed his Doctrine ; and yet constantly affirm it of his Death , which directly and properly confirmed it not . 2. Then also , with the same propriety of Speech , we may be said to be justified by the Blood of the Martyrs , which was a convincing Testimony that they believed their Doctrine to be true ; and then the old Popish Rhime will come in fashion again : Tu per Thomae sanguinem quem pro te impendit , Da nos Christe scandere , quo Thomas ascendit . 3. If the Blood of Christ contribute no more to our justification than ▪ as it confirmed the Truth of this proposition amongst others ; He that Believes , and obeys the Gospel , shall be pardoned and saved ; then it 's possible to be justified without the Blood of Christ : God has given us many Arguments to confirm the Truth of the Gospel : If then I believe the Truth of what Christ preached upon those Arguments , which are suited to its confirmation , ( as upon the evidence of Miracles , &c. ) and accordingly obey all its Commands ; It were very hard if I should miss of Pardon and Life for not believing it upon one single Argument , and that but a probable one neither : What if I Believe the Promise upon nine of God's Arguments , and hit not upon the Tenth , obey upon nine of God's Motives , and want only that single String to my Bow ; shall my Faith and Obedience be rejected because not grounded upon every particular Reason that may possibly be Muster'd up to confirm them ? 4. It will be in vain ever to speak or write again , if such far-fetcht Consequences be allowed to interpret what is spoken and written . There are no two things in the world so remote each from other , but they have some kind of Relation and Affinity ; and if this way will salve all , there will hardly be found that thing in the World , if it may but be conceived to have had any Relation as an Argument to our Faith and Obedience , but we may be said to be justified by it . We are said to be justified by the Blood of Christ ; True ! But how ? Why thus : The Blood of Christ signifies his Death ; His Death confirmed his Doctrine ; His Doctrine was he that believes and obeys , shall be justified and saved ; Hereupon we believe it to be true , and in process of time come to obey it , & our obedience justifies us , and therefore the Blood of Christ may be said to justifie us . And whereas Iudas his Covetousness , the Jews Envy , Herod's Cruelty ; & Pilates Flattery , had a direct tendency to the Death of Christ ; why we may not be properly said to be justified by them also at this rate , I profess I cannot apprehend . Religion is fallen into most cruel and unmerciful hands in this latter Age , who to give a ●…aint colour to any little sorry fancies of their own , care not to interpret Scripture in such ways as shall certainly open a dore to elude the plainest Truths . God is said to have made the World ; Now if any has a mind to eternize his Name , which without some rare discovery cannot be , let him take our Author's Course , and he is secure of a Monument . That is indeed a Scripture phrase ; but if you examine it throughly , it signifies no more , than that God made a company of Atoms , and put them in Motion ; and then let them alone , they will dance you so long in infinite spaces till they jostle themselves into that form wherein you see things at this day : And thus here 's a fair Account how God may be said to have made the World , because he made that which made the World ; and the Cause of the Cause , ( you know ) may be said to be a Grand-Father-Cause of the thing Caused . But this is infinitely beyond what our Author will allow the Blood of Christ of Causality in our justification : for it 's only a Confirming Cause of the Promise , and that in Commission with other things , and they have a greater stroke in the business than it self , & then when we come to believe that Promise , and that belief proves strong enough to perswade us into Obedience , then we are justified for the sake of that Obedience . But 5. The Consideration of the Text it self ; Rom. 5. 9. is enough to discredit this idle conceit for ever ; for Christ is said to dye for us , and in order to our justification , in the same sence that the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of old 〈◊〉 , who laid down Life for Life , Blood for Blood , Body for Body . v. 6. Christ dyed for the ●…ngodly . v. 7. For scarcely for a righteous Man will one dye ; yet peradventure for a good Man some one would even dare to dye . v. 8. But God commendeth his love to us that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us . v. 9. Much more then being now justified by his Blood , &c.

[ 2. ] Christ ( says he ) is called a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood , that is , by a belief of the Gospel Covenant , Rom. 3. 25. But how short this comes of the Apostle's design is obvious from the place . Christ is set forth by God to be a propitiation through faith in his Blood , to declare his Righteousness that he might be just , and the justifier of him that believes in Iesus : But is God ever the more declared to be a just God , demonstrated to be a Righteous God , because Christ has confirmed his Doctrine , and we believe and obey it ? The obedience of most men is so imperfect , that when they have done all , they will need mercy , and that will declare one of God's attributes . But what provision is here made , that God may be declared Righteous and Iust ? All that he has assigned to the Blood of Christ turns not away the least of God's displeasure against sin or the sinner ; Christ dyed to confirm the Doctri●…e ! Well , but still God is displeased with sinners ; for what Reason is there why God should be less displeased with them , because Christ dyed to confirm his Doctrine ? Well , but hereupon Man believes this Doctrine to be true ; but yet God's Anger is never the more turned away from the sinner , because he believes what God says is true . For what Reason is there why God should be less displeased with him , who believes the Truth , and yet will not obey his Commands ? So that neither the Blood of Christ , nor Faith neither , do reconcile God to us , or propitiate him for us : well , at last Man gives obedience to the Commands , and then God is propitiated and reconciled . So that the true Scripture should have been ( had our Author had the p●…nning of it ) God hath set forth Man to be his own propitiation through his own obedience . And why might it not have been said , that God set forth the Martyrs to be a propitiation through Faith in their Blood ? For they willingly and chearfully shed their dearest Blood to confirm the Truth of the Gospel ; and upon their Confirmation of it some have believed it , and upon their believing it have obeyed it , and then by that obedience are reconciled to God . And thus may Paul be said to have dyed for our sins , and Peter to have been Crucified for us , and both of them to have been set forth by God to be a propitiation through Faith in their Blood . Nor let any say , that the Death of the Martyrs was not so strong a confirmation of the Gospel as the Death of Christ : For if we believe the Truth , and obey it upon more infirm Evidence ; yet if that evidence produce a strong Faith , and that a vigorous obedience , such an obedience will not find less acceptance with God , because it was begotten by weaker Motives .

[3] The Scripture ( says he ) uses these Phrases promiscuously , to be justified by Faith ; and to be justified by the Faith of Christ ; and to be justified by Christ ; and to be justified through Faith in his Blood ; and to be justified , and saved by Grace : Nay , by believing that Christ is the Son of God , John 20. 31. And that God raised him up from the dead . When our Author has a design upon any great Truth of the Gospel , then the clearest expressions the wisdom of God's Spirit shall use , are Phrases , allusive , figurative , metaphorical , tropical forms of Speech : But the Scripture uses not these expressions promiscuously , only our Author confounds them craftily . Each of them have indeed something in common with the rest ; and no wonder , all the Offices , the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ , the whole work of the Spirit , the actings of Faith , and every saving-Grace , meet in this one great Project , the glorifying of God , the Electing love of the Father , the Redeeming Love of the Son , and the Sanctifying love of the Holy Spirit , in the Iustification and Salvation of a Believer : But yet each of these expressions carries in it something peculiar to it self : for the Scripture abhors to speak at his dull and cloudy rate , who by diversifying one and the same thing in twenty several shapes , can vend it for so many several things , when 't is but the same notion disguised in a new-fashioned expression . One denotes the interest of Faith ; another speaks the concern of him who is Iehovah our Righteousness ; a third may particularly point at the influence of his Blood in this matter ; another , the evidence of all this : But by this Argument he may fancy ( and that may stand for Proof ) that all things under Heaven signify one and the same thing : for I know no two things so perfect strangers but have some cognation , some common and general agreement , and meet in some Latudinarian Third that will clasp their Interests : They must be related either as Cause and effect , or Concauses of the same effect ; or as joynt-effects of the same universal Cause , &c. but now to say that all these signify the same thing formally because of some general coherence , is no more to my edification , than if our Author would prove himself a-kin to the great Mogul , because they have two Elbows a-piece : A way of Reasoning very much unbecoming a Rational Divine , especially one who trades so much in the essential differences of things . But suppose that all these expressions do signify one and the same thing : what is that one thing which they signify ? The Answer is ready , That we are justified by believing and obeying the Gospel : This is the one thing , and this is the one thing that should have been proved ; for if by [ Gospel ] he understand no more than the commands of the Gospel , and all the rest , as Promises and confirmations of Promises , thrown in as Motives and Arguments to that Obedience ; then I say we are justified by something else than the Gospel , ( that which he cal's Gospel ) even by the Blood of Christ , which is more than a Motive to Faith , or an Argument to Obedience ( though a most excellent Motive , and Argument to both ) being a proper propitiatory , expiatory , Sacrifice , to remove God's just displeasure , procure his favour and take away Guilt . But I shall willingly hear him practise upon the partic●…lars .

( 1. ) Faith , or Faith in Christ , signifies such a firm stedfast belief of the Gospel , as brings forth all the fruits of Odience : Therefore what ? Why theref●…re to be justified by Faith , or by the Faith of Christ , or by Christ , signify to be justified by believing , and obeying the Gospel . Here 's nothing but evidence wanting , for we have confidence enough : But then , 1. If a justifying Faith be such a firm and stedfast belief . of the Gospel as brings forth all the fruits of obedience , then no Man can be justified till he be in Heaven , or at least within one step of the actual possession of glory . One of the fruits of obedience is final perseverance ; now Faith may produce one , or two , or twenty of the fruits of obedience ; but yet if it fail before it has brought forth all the rest , it falls shorts of a justifying Faith . 2. If this be the true Notion of a justifying Faith , I doubt not to affirm that the Devils have as true a justifying Faith ( as far as the essence of Faith reaches ) as the best Saint on earth . It 's true their Faith , does not bring forth the fruits of obedience : but that 's only to say , they want a saving obedience , a justifying obedience ; for all that is of the essence of Faith ( as 't is Faith ) they have ; they firmly and stedfastly believe the Gospel to be true , though their Faith produces not the fruits of obedience . That Faith which justifies will in due season produce all the fruits of obedience , yet a justifying Faith ( as it justifies ) does not include all the fruits of obedience . We read , 1 Ioh. 3. 2. He that hath this Hope in him [ God ] purifies himself as God is pure ; whence it 's plain , that a well-grounded hope will purify the heart : but if from thence any will infer that the Grace of hope , and the effects of hope , are formally the same , he will miserably expose his own ignorance .

( 2. ) To be justified by the grace of God that signifies the same thing too , viz. That we are justified by believing and obeying the Gospel . Now this is truly wonderful ! but how does he prove it ? why thus ! The Grace of God is the Gospel of Christ , expresly so called in Tit. 2. 11. as being the Effect of the free Grace and Goodness of God to Mankind . To which I return ; 1. It is very true , that the Gospel of Christ is called Grace ; as being the product of mere Grace , and contains the Methods of God's Grace in the justifying and recovering of Sinners . The word Grace signifies either the free Love and Favour of God towards us , or the effects of that Grace for us , or upon us : and thus the Revelation of God's Mind and Will , being one of the Effects of Grace , may be called Grace . But now that the Grace of God is the Gospel , that is , the Revelation of God's Mind and Will , is not true : Grace is larger than Gospel-Revelation ▪ The Gospel reveals more Grace than what consists in Revelation . But he argues thus : The Gospel of Christ is called Grace , therefore the Grace of God is called the Gospel : as if he would conclude , that because every man is a living Creature , therefore every living Creature is a Man . But I wonder why any should pray so earnestly for true Repentance and the Holy Spirit , if Grace signifie nothing but the Revelation of the Gospel ? which a Man may purchase , filleted , and guilded for five Shillings : And all the Supplications of Christians for Grace , signifie no more but that we may have the Scriptures , which is Grace indeed but not all the Grace promised in the Scriptures . 2. To be justified by Grace is quite another thing . Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his Grace , through the Redemption that is in Iesus Christ : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : justified in a way of free Gift , which excludes the consideration of any thing inherent in us : for though to be saved by Grace , might allow some consideration of Obedience , and yet such is the infinite Disproportion between the Obedience and the Reward , that it may be called Grace ; yet that will not satisfy the Expression , To be justified 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , gratis , without any consideration at all on the part of the Person justified , for which he is so justified . ( 3. ) Faith in the Blood of Christ is a belief of the Gospel which was confirm'd by his Blood . Then farewel for ever all discourse , and writing : The Builders of Babel might ●…ooner have guest at one anothers meaning , after that the Curse of God had cleft their Tongues into seventy two Dialects , than here-after we shall understand the Conceptions of Men's Minds by the expressions of their Mouths . For if when the Apostle says we are justified through Faith in his Blood , he designs no more than that we are justified by believing and obeying the Gospel ; then for ought I know our Author may intend as Orthodoxly as any Man living : and when he says we are justified by believing and obeying the Gospel , he may intend it only by way of evidence ; but that we are really justified through Faith in the Blood of Christ . ( 4. ) To be justified by believing that Christ is the Son of God , signifies the same thing too , Joh. 20. 31. But here our Author has relieved himself from his old Artifice which never failed him : the forceing Scripture over to him , when he is lazy , and will not stir a step to go to the Scripture . The Text speaks its own Language thus : These things are written that ye might believe that Iesus is the Son of God , and believing ye may have life through his Name ; where the Evangelist says not , They are justified by believing that Iesus is the Son of God , but that having first satisfied their Faith from Scripture that Jesus is the Son of God , ( which Truth being well studied , well digested , and improved , will give us a marvelous light into the Mystery of the Gospel , and without which , the whole of the Gospel is involved in eternal Night ) and then believing , they have eternal Life through his Name , by his satisfactory Blood and Righteousness , and the Authority which he has thereby with the Father . But believe it , here is harder work than all this behind ; for our Author will propound several Questions , and when he has done answer them . 1. Quest. What is it to believe that Christ is the Son of God ? Ans. That is , ( says he ) That Messiah , and Prophet whom God sent into the World . Very good ! Now as I remember p. 4. he told us , That Christ was anointed to be the Messiah at his Baptism , ( let the Reader examine it ) : Now if to be the Son of God , be to be the Messiah , and that he was not the Messiah till his Baptism , then he was not the Son of God till his Baptism ; and then for about 30 years he was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a mere Man ; and yet this is a great favour I assure you , for his Baptism was about three or four years before his Resurrection , and then they are to blame who will suspect this Principle to be Socinian : well ! But yet to believe Christ to be the Son of God , is to believe him to be the Messiah ! Ay , But there 's one odd misadventure more in the thing ; that is , that Hebrew is easier than Greek ; for if Messiah explain Christ any better , I am very much out in my reckoning . Some from hence will pretend to give us a Scheme of our Author's Faith about the Deity of Christ ; and perhaps should they deal with him as he has dealt with others , or half so uncharitably , it would be found dissonant to what he professedly owns in subscribing the three Symbols of Faith : but I see no reason to fix an Opinion upon any Man that he will not openly avow . 2. Quest. But what is the Messiah ? Ans. Why , The Prophet whom God sent into the World to reveal his Will to us : To believe him to be the Son of God , is to believe him to be the Messiah , and to believe him to be the Messiah is to believe him to be a Prophet , and that is ( as near as I can measure it ) just one third part of his Mediatory Employment . Surely he has mean thoughts of his Reader 's Intellectuals , or great presumptions upon their good-Natures , or a high esteem of the persuasiveness of his own Rhetorick , that can hope to proselyte them into a belief ( without one Argument ) That the Son of God signifies no other than Messiah , Messiah no more than Prophet , and that the Prophetical-Office of this Messiah , is the just , compleat Object of our Faith . 3. Quest. But what does this Belief of Christ to be the Messiah , the Prophet , include ? Ans. A general Belief of the Gospel which he preacht : most rare Divinity ! I suppose we may be saved upon very cheap terms by and by : For 1. A general Belief of the Gospel , will serve the turn to justify 〈◊〉 well enough , that is as far as Faith has ought to do in Justification . If Faith believes Christ to be the Messiah , that is , a Prophet whom God sent to reveal his Will to us , it has got a general Belief of the Gospel , which may be without understanding in particular one syllable of what Christ has revealed of his Father's Will ; and then I suppose , a general Obedience will serve well enough for a general Faith . 2. We may believe Christ to be the Messiah , yet if we believe not also what that Person is , in whom the Office of Mediator resides , we shall understand very little of its Nature , Dignity , and Efficacy . To believe Christ to be Anointed , signifies very little unless we understand also who it is that is so Anointed . ( 5. ) To believe that God raised Christ from the Dead , doth the same : Doth the same ? the same what ? Why , it includes a general Belief of the Gospel , because his Resurrection was the last , and great Confirmation of the Gospel . Let us now put all this together : We are said to be justified by believing that God raised up Christ from the Dead , and that signifies the same with being justified by the Blood of Christ ; and both these signify to be justified by believing and obeying the Gospel ; and yet to believe that God raised up Christ from the Dead includes only a general belief of the Gospel : In all which there is nothing but what is rotten at the Core . 1. Let us examine in what sense we are said to be justified by believing that God raised up Christ from the Dead . The place assigned is Rom. 10. v. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth , the Lord Iesus Christ , and shalt believe in thine Heart that God ●…ath raised up him from the Dead , thou shalt be saved . Where Salvation is not promised to a Belief of this Proposition ▪ That God raised Christ from the Dead , but to a Believing it with the Heart ; such a Faith as closes with the Redeemer included in that Proposition , as is evident from the Faith of Thomas , Joh. 20. 28. Our Lord Jesus willing to satisfy his doubts and scruples about the Truth of his Resurrection , shews him his Hands and Feet , gives him leave to put his H●…nd into the Print of the Nails , and the Hole of his Side ; upon this he is satisfied and expresses the Belief of his Heart in these words , My Lord and my God . When therefore the Apostle tells us , That by believing with the Heart that God has raised Iesus from the Dead , we shall be saved , he intends such a Faith , as accepts of , and gives up the Soul mutually to a Redeemer as its own God and Lord ; and not a general Belief that Christ must needs be the Messiah , because he was raised from the Dead ; and if the Messiah his Doctrine must needs be true , be it what it will , though we know nothing of it . 2. It may be enquired whether such a general Belief that God raised up Iesus from the Dead , be a true justifying Faith ? If it be : An Implicite Faith will serve tum for all the Particulars of the Gospel ; and this would save abundance of needless pains that men take in reading of , meditating upon the Scriptures : and now instead of the Colliers Faith , who believed as the Church believed , at all adventures , right or wrong , he has introduced another full as easie , The Belief of the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead : A Faith happily contrived for the Genius of this sparing Age , which saves us two parts in three of Christ's Offices , and eleven parts in twelve of our very Creed . 3. Let it be modestly examined also , whether To be justified through Faith in the Blood of Christ , and to be justified by believing that God raised up Christ from the Dead , ●…e expressions of the same importance ? If they be : then we may be said to be reconciled to God by the Resurrection , and that Christ in being raised from the Dead , was made sin for us , a Sacrifice for sin ; and it 's something strange that none of the Apostles could hit upon such expressions as might recommend them , and their writings to our Author's Charity . 4. Let it be considered also , whether Christ's Resurrection was the last Argument he gave to confirm the Truth of the Gospel : I think his visible Appearance to his Disciples after his Resurrection , and those Miraculous Operations he then put forth ; his Ascension into Heaven , whilst his Disciples looked on ; his pouring out the Spirit upon the Apostles , enabling them to speak with Tongues , his empowering them to work Miracles many years after his Resurrection and Ascension , were all Confirmations of the Truth of his Gospel , and all subsequent to his Resurrection . 5. Let it have a place in our Thoughts too ; seeing Christ's Resurrection was the great Confirmation of his Doctrine , without which all the rest , and especially his Death , had been no Confirmation of it , and yet Atonement , Propitiation , Reconciliation , Redemption are not ascribed to it , whether the Death of Christ , to which all these are ascribed , have an Influence upon our Acceptance with God , only as it confirms his Doctrine ? It is strange that the Apostles should word matters so crosly , to attribute those things to the Death of Christ , which do most properly belong to the Resurrection , and those things to the Resurrection which do most properly belong to his Death . And all-out as strange that our Author should make such a noise with Atonement , Reconciliation , Redemption , and ascribe all these to his Death , when-as upon the sole-Reason of his Ascribing them to that Death , they are much more rationally applicable to his Resurrection . There are some well-meaning Souls no doubt that have read our Author's Book , who finding such Glorious things ascribed to the Death of Christ ; Iustification by his Blood , Redemption by his Blood , Reconciliation by his Blood , lift up their Eyes and cry out , What pitty it is that such a sweet young Gentleman that has written such a precious Piece , of Union , Communion , Sacrifice , Atonement , Redemption , and Reconciliation , stuft so full with Orthodox Propositions , should be taken upon suspicion for a Socinian ? and yet when we come to scan these fine words , they prove nothing but a company of sweet Flowers stuck about his Dead Body : And to be justified by Faith in the Blood of Christ , is no more but to believe that Christ is a Prophet sent to reveal God's Will to us . The Conclusion of the whole Matter then will be this : If the Death of Christ has no other influence upon our Acceptance with God , but that it confirms to us this Truth , That God will pardon and save them that believe and obey the Gospel , it has no influence at all upon God for that End ; for which I refer my self to the Reader , and the Reader to the foregoing Discourse .

He goes on : Hence is it also that the Apostles attribute such things to the Blood of Christ , as are the proper , and immediate Effects of the Gospel-Covenant , and therefore all the Blessings of the Gospel are owing to the Blood of Christ , because the Gospel-Covenant it self was procured and confirmed by the Blood of Christ . I am now perfectly cured of my Ambition to be one of the Corporation of your Rational Divines : and if this be Reason , I do by these presents renounce it for ever . Here are two words , [ Hence ] and [ Therefore ] which always pretend to inference , and conclusion : I shall examine how well they make good their Pretences . First [ Hence ] I pray whence ? Out of what Premises is this Conclusion deduced ? That the Apostles attribute such things to the Blood of Christ , as are the Proper and Immediate Effects of the Gospel-Covenant ? Let us look back as far as fairly we may . To be justified by Faith , by the Faith of Christ , by Christ , by his Blood , &c. signifie one and the same thing : and Hence it is that the Apostles attribute such things to the Blood of Christ , &c. And really turn it quite backwards and it will conclude as strongly . The Apostles attribute such things to the Blood of Christ , as are the proper and immediate Effects of the Gospel Covenant : and 〈◊〉 it is , that To be justified by Faith , by the Faith of Christ , by Christ , by his Blood , &c. signify one and the same thing . Now when he can once bring matters into this Posture he is safe , and out of the Gun-shot of Reply , for which way soever you come to attaque him , you must deny the Conclusion . But let us leave out the [ Hence , ] and consider the words absolutely . The Apostles attribute such things to the Blood of Christ as are the proper and immediate Effects of the Gospel-Covenant : To which I answer : 1. It 's just as easie for another ( if he had but a Licence ) to say , The Apostles attribute such things to the Gospel-Covenant , as are the proper and immediate ▪ Effects of the Blood of Christ ; and with better Reason , because whatever acceptation our Services and Duties , our Repentance and Obedidience find with God , is clearly assigned to the Blood of Christ . But 2. This is a foul scandalous slander which he throws upon the Apostles ; they give to the Blood of Christ it s own proper and immediate Effects : they rob not Repentance and Obedience to adorn the Sacrifice of Christ with borrowed Plumes . They give to Christ the things that are Christ's ; and to Faith , Repentance ; and Obedience the things that are Theirs . They ascribe our Redemption to the Blood of Christ , as a proper Price paid to God ; and they ascribe to Faith it s own Efficiency to interest us in the Benefits of that Redemption . They ascribe Reconciliation to the Blood of Christ , as its immediate & proper Effect , without any intervening Act of the Creature for that End ; and they ascribe to Faith , Repentance , and Obedience their proper and immediate Concerns , to put us into the actual and full Possession of all the Fruits of that Reconciliation made with God : They attribute Pardon of Sin to the Blood of Christ , who was made sin for us , an expiatory Sacrifice to remove guilt , that is , the Obligation of the Sinner to punishment ; and they attribute the Application of that Pardon unto Individuals , unto Faith , as that whereby we receive Christ and all his Benefits . 3. If these be the proper and immediate Effects of the Covenant , and not of the Blood of Christ ; What should move the Apostles always to speak improperly , to affix Reconciliation , Atonement , Redemption , &c. to the Blood of Christ , and never to our Obedience ? when yet we are neither properly reconciled , properly redeemed , nor God properly atoned by Christ's Blood , but all these are the proper Effects of our Obedience .

And now one word to the [ Therefore ] And therefore ( says he ) All the Blessings of the Gospel are owing to the Blood of Christ , because the Gospel-Covenant it self was procured , and confirmed by the Blood of Christ : A very learned Argument ! that is to say ; We owe the Blessings of the Gospel to that which is no true and proper cause of them . The Blood of Christ is not the proper Cause of our Justification , therefore we owe our Iustification to it : His Blood is not the proper Cause of our Reconciliation , and therefore we are indebted to his Blood for our Reconciliation . All Effects are owing to their proper Causes ; whatsoever therefore is the proper Cause of our Iustification , to that we are indebted for it : But how naturally would this Conclusion follow from his Premise ? The Blood of Christ is not the proper Cause of Iustification , Reconciliation , and Redemption ; and therefore we do not owe our Justification , Reconciliation , and Redemption to the Blood of Christ : Or thus ; We owe all the Blessings of the Gospel to the Blood of Christ , and therefore the Blood of Christ is the proper Cause of those Blessings .

And now let the Reader observe , how his Reason brought up in the Rear , has routed his Reason that marched in the Van. The Blood of Christ is not the proper Cause of the Blessings of the Gospel : there 's your Reason in the Front , why we do not owe the Blessings of the Gospel to it . And again : The Gospel-Covenant was procured and confirmed by it ; There 's your Reason in the Rear , why we do owe the Blessings of the Gospel to it .

But to do our Author justice , I shall look over these things more severely . The Gospel-Covenant it self ( says he ) was procured by the Blood of Christ . And does not this sound more honourably for the Blood of Christ , than to say it only confirm'd a Covenant ? To procure ( if we might measure the import of the Word by its sound ) implies that the Blood of Christ had some Influence upon God , that moved him to enter into such a Covenant with Mankind , which without that Consideration he had never done ; but to confirm a Covenant , that supposes there was such a Covenant in being , only the Blood of Christ gave security to Men that it should be made good : So that if we know when we are well , we had best keep our selves so , and sit down contented with this NewHonour and Efficiency ascribed to the Blood of Christ , that it procured as well as confirmed the Gospel-Covenant ; lest whilst we labour to engross more than is due , we lose what the Charity of our Author has given us : But they who think they have right to All , will hardly be perswaded to be put off with half ; and therefore I must a little further enquire into this new-start-up Notion of procuring the Covenant . What this Gospel-Covenant is , which our Author so frankly attributes to the Procurement of Christ's Blood , he has told us p. 320. A Promise of the Pardon of Sin , and Eternal Life to those who believe , and obey the Gospel : I confess a clear and distinct Notion of what he calls Gospel , would very much befriend us in our Enquiry : The best I can find , ( and it 's but a half-faced one neither ) is p. 34. To preach Christ ( says he ) is to preach his Gospel , that is , to expound all those Rules of Life , and Articles of Faith , which are contained in it : Whether this be Gospel or no I shall not enquire , or whether this be the Covenant of the Gospel I shall not torment him with ; but this is that which Christ has procured for us with his Blood , A Promise of Pardon , and Life to those who believe , and obey all that 's revealed and commanded , either in the Scriptures , or the New-Testament , or the Four Evangelists , or in one of Christ's Sermons , ( I think that must be it ) Now I must here entreat the Reader to open his Eyes and see how he has been cheated all this while . ( 1. ) It 's very well known he propounded a Question at first , What Influence the Righteousness of Christ's Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death have upon our Acceptance with God ? To this he answers separately concerning the Death of Christ and its Influence ; and will come all in good time to shew us , What Influence the Righteousness of his Life hath upon God for that End . Concerning the Influence of his Death , he has been perswading us that it confirms the Covenant ; and now in the Close he has stollen-in a Word we never dreamt of , that i procures this Covenant : Now I suspect some fraud ; for what Influence has the Death of Christ upon God to procure us such a Govenant ? Had he shew'd us that , he had deserved better of his Readers , than by all this Amusing Sophistry .

( 2. ) He has told us , p. 42. That the Light of Nature , the Works of Creation and Providence do assure us , that God designs the Happiness of all his Creatures according to their Capacities ; ( and they are capable of being justified and saved ) : And that God is so Holy , that he has a Natural Love for all good Men , and is as ready to pardon them when they return to their Duty , as a kind Father is to receive a Humble , and Penitent Prodigal : And p. 43. Had Christ never appeared in the World , yet we had reason to believe that God is thus good and merciful . Now having such good security from the Light of Nature , Reason being clear in the Point , and the thing so natural , and essential to God , that he will pardon , and is ready to it , upon Repentance and Obedience , though Christ had never appear'd ; what has the Death of Christ done , to procure this Favour or more Favour from God ? We will grant that the Death of Christ has confirmed the Truth of it more , but what has it added to the Procurement of the thing ? If it be said that Christ's Death did not procure a Willingness in God to Pardon , but only a Confirmation of his Willingness : I would ask what greater Confirmation a rational Creature could well desire , than an Assurance from the Light of Nature , that this was Natural and Essential to God ? And I would further know , what the Procuring of a Confirmation amounts to more than a Confirmation ? ( 3. ) The Scripture has assured us , Gen. 17. That God gave an explicite Promise to Abraham , that he would be his God , or a God to him : that is , that whatever Abraham should want , and yet could not want but he must be eternally miserable , that thing God would be to him : For 't is an uncouth Interpretation of the Promises : I will be thy God , that is , I will be nothing to thee , do nothing for thee , of what thou mainly wantest ; but for all my Promise , to be thy God , I will suffer thee to lye under the guilt of Sin at present , and to fall under eternal Condemnation here-after ; though thou walkest before me , and art perfect . If then there was such an Implicite and Virtual Promise in God's Nature , revealed by the works of Creation and Providence to Reason ; and an Explicite one too in the particular Revelation , that God would bestow Pardon of Sin and Eternal Life to those who walkt before God inuprightness : The Question is , How did Christ procure such an Engagement from God , when it was procured before ? But supposing that there was never any such Promise made by God till Christ by his Death procured it ; then how did the Death of Christ prevail with God to make such a Promise , which otherwise he had never made ? ( 4. ) But I suspect more than ever , that we are merely gulled : for he tells us , That the Blessings of the Gospel are the proper Effects of the Covenant , but not of that Blood of Christ : so that we are justified by the Blood of Christ , is properly false , but improperly true ; that we are Redeemed by the Blood of Christ , in an improper Sense , may be said to be true , but in a proper Sense is utterly false ; and then if the Apostles had penn'd their Epistles clean backward , they would have been properly true , whereas now they are properly false : And now who can tell but when he says The Blood of Christ procured this Covenant , he may not mean in some improper odd Sense that is not worth a Button ?

But yet our Author seems to go higher than all this , p. 330. Our Righteousness and acceptation with God it wholly owing to the Covenant , which he hath purchased & sealed with his Blood . To Purchase is a very good word when applied to the Blood of Christ , & therefore because we meet with so few I shall make as much of it as I can : It denotes procurement in a special way by a valuable price paid ; The Covenant of Grace then Christ has purchased ; that Covenant is a Promise of Pardon and Life to those who believe and obey the Gospel . In this Covenant there are three things . First , the Material part , the pardon of sin , and eternal Life . Secondly , the conditional part , Faith and Obedience . Thirdly , The form of the Covenant , A Promise of the Material part upon performance of the Conditional part . Now when he owns the Blood of Christ to have purchased this Covenant ; the question is , whether the whole or some part of it only ? If not the whole , then what part is the purchase of his Blood ? 1. For the Conditional part , Faith and Obedience , I may secure my self , our Author will not put them into the particular of the purchase ; for then it would be scarce worth the while to mingle Heaven and Earth with Tragedies , what the conditions of the Covenant should be if Christ had purchased the conditions themselves , and therefore as to these , let every man trust to himself . 2. As for the Material part , Pardon , and Life . I doubt our Author will not yield us neither that Christ has purchased them , because he denies that the Blessings of the Gospel , are the proper effects of Christ's Blood ; whereas had he purchased them with his Blood they would have been the proper effects of it . 3. Then it remains , that Christ has purchased a Promise of bestowing the Material part , upon our performance of the Conditional part ; And thus we are just where we were two miles ago , and these great words of purchasing and procuring are shrivel'd up to Confirmation of a Promise ; but if he will say that the Blood of Christ , his Death , and dreadful sufferings were a proper price paid to God , to procure or purchase a word from God that he would do that which was natural and essential to him , then we shall thank him , that he has such honourable thoughts of it , as to judg it worth a good word : The Scripture every-where ascribes the Blessings of the Gospel to the purchase and procurement of the Blood of Christ ; but if this be all , that he has got a word from God , it supposes the the Scripture to swell with Scenical Language , and high Tragical Phrase ; which seems to carry sublime matters in it , but when it comes to be stript of Metaphor and Allegory is a mere Anatomy . From this precarious Hypothesis that the Apostles always write like himself , that is , improperly and impertinently , and attribute such things to the Blood of Christ which are the proper and immediate effects of the Gospel-Covenant , he will unriddle to us many Mysteries which are vulgarly reputed matters of weight and worth ; but if we can spare him a little Patience , he will so uncase them , that we shall confess , they contain nothing that may deserve or need the Blood of Christ , or any great matter to be made about them . [ 1. ] Concerning Reconciliation ; The Apostle had said , 2 Cor. 5. 18 , 19. All things are of God , who hath reconciled us to himself by Iesus Christ , and hath committed to us the Ministry of reconciliation , to wit , that God was in Christ , reconciling the World unto himself , not imputing their Trespasses , and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation , v. 21. For he hath made him to be sin for us : what the import of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , reconciliation , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to reconcile , is , will not create us any great trouble , because our Author allowing a reconciliation to be made between Iew and Gentile , secretly confesses that Reconciliation implies the taking away of an enmity , and bringing the differing parties into a state of Peace and Friendship : But the Apostle in this place instructs us further . 1. That the proper effect of this Reconciliation is [ not-imputing Trespasses ] . God is by Nature a Holy God , as he is Governour of the World , he is a Righteous Iudg ; sin is both Contrary to his holy Nature , and his Holy Law : And therefore as a Holy God , he cannot but hate sin ; as a Righteous Iudg he cannot but punish sin : And because this sin is inherent in , and committed by Man , God hates the sinner upon the Account of his sin ; his Person and his best services , are an abomination to the Lord . From hence it follows , that sin being a transgression of the Law , in its preceptive part , renders the sinner Guilty , that is , obnoxious and lyable to the Law in its Sanction , to the punishment . Now this Righteous Iudg will certainly charge the guilty sinner with the penalty due to his sin , but there is a way found out that he may be reconciled , and not impute to sinners their Trespasses : and this clearly shews that the Reconciliation here spoken of , is a reconciliation of God to the Sinner ; such a one as makes provision that God shall not impute iniquity . 2. The Apostle instructs us further in the way whereby Christ made this Reconciliation of God , v. 21. He was made sin for us ; that is , he was constituted to be a sin-offering , upon whom the Guilt and Punishment of our sin being laid , the great obstructions to Reconciliation , God's Justice and Holy Law , being removed ( by being satisfied ) , a way is cleared for a new Peace with God . And the Apostle as hath been observed , cites this from Isa. 53. 10. When he shall make his Soul an offering for sin the same word signifying both sin , and sin-Offering . 3. That the Preaching of this Reconciliation made with God , to the World , was committed to the Ministers of the Gospel , that they as Ambassadors from God , might treat with them also about their being reconciled to God ; which farther evinces a mutual Enmity , and a mutual Reconciliation ; that God reconciled the World to himself by Iesus Christ , whom God made to be sin , for that great end , and then establisht a Ministry to Preach the Doctrine to the Sons of Men , and to deal with them in the Name of Christ , that they would also lay aside their Malignity , and accept of the Reconciliation procured by the Blood of Jesus : Now this Reconciliation made with God respects the Gentiles and Iews equally ; for some might plead that it was the peculiar priviledge of the Iews , as being the only Church of God , to enjoy the benefit of propitiating Sacrifices : others might think to do the Jews a kindness in pleading that Reconciliation only belonged to the Gentiles , for they alone were Enemies to God , and therefore they only needed it ; but the Apostle assures us that Iews as well as Gentiles had need of a Mediator of Reconciliation , and that Gentiles as well as Jews had a share in the Grace , and mercy of it : God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself . Thus the Apostle Eph. 2. 13. But now in Christ Iesus ye who sometimes were afar off , are made nigh by the Blood of Christ . v. 16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one Body by the Cross. Now here our Author meets us with a window open into his Soul , that we may see the Pulse of his heart , and what he understands by Christ's reconciling the World to God . That is ( says he ) the Gentiles were received into the fellowship of God's Church , and the Iews and Gentiles united in one Body or Society . Some that were strangers to our Author's Sentiments would greedily ask , what was that great quarrel between Jews and Gentiles , that God must send his only begotten Son , out of his Bosom to dye a most bitter , violent , painful , lingering , cursed Death , to take it up ? That he must be made sin , have Iniquities charged upon him , to make them friends ? That there have been Wars , and Contentions betwixt the Iews and their Neighbours , Histories both sacred and prophane , abundantly testify ; there are such amongst most Neighbouring Nations : But shall we think that God will send his Son into the World to compose all the bickerings that ever were in the World ? But suppose there had been a Necessity of it , was the feud so inveterate that nothing but the Death of him that came to make Peace could take it away ? must every Man dye a Cursed Death that comes to make up a breach between two wrangling Neighbours or Nations ? few would be ambitious to be Plenipotentiaries upon such Terms . It is true , there was a difference or distinction set up by God himself , between the Jews and the rest of the World , but no quarrel or enmity put between them : But then , 1. The Gentiles had Liberty to become Proselytes of Righteousness , and then the union had been made , the Ceremonial Law still standing in force . 2. God could easily have taken down the Partition ▪ Wall , and laid the Church open from the enclosure ; there was a Time when there was none of that discriminating Dispensation , and he that set it up could have abrogated , and repealed it , without such a dreadful way of giving his only Son to be Made first Man , and then Sin , and then a Curse ▪ It seems strange that God should first Create a necessity of a quarrel ; and then put his Son upon a necessity to remove it at so dear a price as his own Blood . 3. If our Author was once i' th' right , there was no great need of removing these Ceremonies , for ( says he ) p. 29. The rest of the World might when they pleased fetch the best Rules of Life , and the most certain notices of the Divine Will from the Jews ; so long then as they might have a fairer Copy of their Moral-Law , they needed not be beholden to them for their Ceremonies . But the bottom of the business is this and no other : The Scripture is most express that Christ is said to reconcile us to God by his Blood , by his Death , & it would be a burning shame to deny it : What is then to be done ? First , it 's resolved on , that it 's not to be endured , that any of the Blessings of the Gospel be allowed the proper effects of his Death or Blood ; why then , some wholsome expedient must be found out that the expression may be owned , and yet the thing it self rejected : And the best that can be thought on at present is this , To imagine a most terrible War between Jews and Gentiles , upon the Account of Ceremonies ; such as set the whole World on a Flame , and involved all Mankind in the dreadful Combustion ; not a single Person in all the World but sided in with one of the parties : And now if ▪ we could but be Masters of so much Confidence as to say that Christ came , and dyed , and was made a Curse to make these two Parties friends , there would be something that might be called Reconciliation . Now upon a serious view of the premises , it was observed that the Jews had some marks of distinction whereby they were priviledged above , and differenced from the rest of Mankind : Now a difference you know sometimes signifies a Quarrel , which fell out as luckily as heart could wish ; and therefore these tokens of difference shall be called Enmity , and Christ's taking away this difference , shall be called the removing of the Enmity , and by Consequence , Reconciliation : yes , there it must go , if anywhere : for I see and am glad to see it , that our Author is willing to carry some fair Correspondency , and not to fall out flat with the Death of Christ . Now ( says he ) This Union of Iews and Gentiles is owing to the Gospel which takes away all marks of distinction ; and gives them both equal right to the Blessings of the New-Covenant . But , 1. To what purpose was the Enmity removed between Iew and Gentile , if the Enmity of God against both had not been removed ; all Union on Earth without Peace , without Heaven , is but a wicked confederacy . 2. The Iews as well as Gentiles are said to be reconciled . Now what-ever grudg the Gentiles might have against the Iews , yet the Jews had no Cause of any against the poor Gentiles ; did they envy them , their darkness , and blindness , and Alienation from their Common-Wealth ? 3. They must both be reconciled to God ; and what did the removal of Ceremonies contribute to that end ? But ( says he ) This New-Covenant belongs to all Mankind , to Gentiles as well as Iews , there 's now no distinction of Persons , no Man is ever the more or less accep●…able to God because he is a Iew or a Greek : very true ! I wonder when ever it was otherwise ! Our Author could have Answered himself from p. 27. Those particular favours that God bestowed on Israel : were not owing to any partial fondness , and respect to that People , but the design of all was , to encourage the whole World to Worship the God of Israel ; And that the Jews were not accepted for their Ceremonial Services , we may easily believe , if we can but believe what he tells us , Pag. 269. The Law of Moses 〈◊〉 them up in a ritual and external Religion ; taught them to Worship God in the Letter by Circumcision , Sacrifices , and an external Conformity to the Letter of the Law ; but the Gospel aloue teaches us to worship God with the Spirit , to offer a reasonable Service to him . And if he can but assure me that the Gentiles were never the less accepted of God , because they were Gentiles ; I dare give him my Warrant , that the Iews were never the more accepted of God for their Judaism , according to those Measures which our Author has given of their Religion , which it seems was mere Pageantry . [ 2. ] Concerning . Redemption , he acquaints us what it signifies , both to Iews and Gentiles . ( 1. ) As to the Iews : They ( says he ) are said to be redeemed from the Curse of the Law , by the accursed Death of Christ upon the Cross , Gal. 3. 13. Because the Death of Christ put an end to that legal Dispensation , and sealed a New , and better Covenant between God and Man . It 's well he could find any thing small enough to be the proper and immediate effect of the Death of Christ ; but who shall reconcile the Apostle and our Author ? The Apostle says , Christ redeemed them by being made a Curse for them ; Our Author says , No , he only put an end to that Legal Dispensation : The Apostle says , they were redeemed by a price paid , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , He brought them out with a price , which he expresses in words at length , 1 Cor. 6. 20. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; Ye are bought with a price : No , says he , Christ's Death put an end to that legal Dispensation . The Apostle says , they were redeemed , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; from under the Curse : No , says he , 't was only a freedom from the legal Dispensation . Two suppositions he makes use of to give a Colour to his matters .

1. Sect. That the Iews were under no other Curse , but that of the Ceremonial Law . Now , 1. He should have been sure that the Ceremonial Law was a Curse : It 's a wonder to me , what grievous sins the Iews above all the World should commit , that God should put them under such a Curse , as should need the Death of Christ to redeem them from it ; especially what great Crimes had Abraham been guilty of , that God should thus Curse and plague him with Circumcision , which yet the Scripture calls the Seal of the Righteous Faith , Rom. 4. 11. 2. It would be considered whether ever God gave a Law to any People in the World besides them , that in its own Nature was a Curse ? Our Author once told us , p. 196. That it pleased , God to Institute a great many Ceremonies in the Iewish Worship , to awe their Childish minds into a greater Veneration of the Divine Majesty . And truly , better so than worse ; better be frighted into Obedience , than not at all Obedient : But that ever God designed it for a Curse is past my apprehension . 3. The Ceremonial Law in it's constitution , end , and design , was a great Blessing : there they had Pardon of sin , Atonement , Reconciliation exhibited , and sealed to them , Lev. 17 ▪ 11. 2 Chron. 29. And all this could be no curse , but to those who loved their sins better than the pardon of them , and to such every Blessing of God would eventually prove a Curse . 4. It will appear they were under a greater curse than what arose from the burden someness , or their violation of the Ceremonial Law , viz. That Condemnation which came upon all Men by the Fall of Adam , Rom. 5. 12 , 13 , 14. 17 , 18 , 19. Such a Curse as was Common not only ●…o Iew and Gentile , but to every individual under both capacities , Rom. 3. 9. We have proved , both Iews , and Gentiles , that they are all under sin , ver. 19. That every mouth may be stopped , and all the World become guilty before God , ver. 23. For all have sinned , and come short of the Glory of God . And therefore all had need of free justification by Grace , through the Redemption that is in Iesus Christ , ver. 24. 5. The Jews were under a curse upon the Account of their violation of the Moral Law , and their not duly attending to the true ends of the Ceremonial Law ; but if the violation of a Law would make it become a curse , then the Moral Law was become a curse too ; and then they had need of a Redeemer from the one as well as the other , though both were blessings in themselves . The Ceremonial Law in particular had this great blessing in it : That as it discovered to them the demerit , and Wages of sin , in the slaying of the Sacrifices ; so it discovered a remedy two , in the Sacrifices slain for them , which directed them to look through them , beyond them , and above them , to him who was the Lamb of God slain from the Foundation of the World : All this was no curse .

2. Sect. He supposes that the Text , Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath Redeemed us from the curse of the Law , being made a curse for us , relates onely to the Iews : Whereas the Apostle adds to obviate that Cavil , That the Blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles : Christ is made a curse for them upon whom the Blessing of ▪ Abraham came by his Death ; but the Blessing of Abraham came upon the Gentiles by his Death ; therefore Christ is made a Curse for the Gentiles . And that the Law from the curse whereof both Jews and Gentiles were Redeemed by Christs being made a Curse for them , is the Moral Law ; I have endeavoured to evince in the last Section , but whether to our Authors content or no I know not . One thing more he supposes , that Christs Sealing a New Covenant is Redemption : But there must go more than the sealing of such a Covenant as he has described : There must be the payment of a Price to Iustice , or there can be no Redemption : To Redeem , is properly to buy back again , that which was forfeited , and such were Sinners : Their Persons forfeited to Iustice , their Mercies escheated into the hands of the Law ; Now comes a Redeemer and gives himself to God as a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a Counter-price , a valuable Consideration , to Answer the demands of Justice , and the claims of the Law ; and this is something more than abolishing Ceremonies , or Sealing a Covenant ; but if our Author can contrive a way of Redeeming and Purchasing by Paper , Parchment , and Wax , by Sealing Covenants without paying down a valuable consideration , he will highly oblige this present Age to read his Book , which is more studious to purchase this world , than about the deliverance of their Souls from present Curse , and future wrath , by the blood of a Redeemer .

(2) As for the Gentiles he acquaints us next , from 1 Pet. 1. 18. how they were Redeemed . Ye were not Redeemed with corruptible things , as Silver and Gold from your vain Conversation received by Tradition from your Fathers , but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish , and without spot . In which words the Apostle evidently shews , That look what place Silver and Gold do hold in the Redemption of Persons , or things that are Legally under seizure , the same does the blood of Christ obtain in ▪ the Redemption of sinners : Christs blood was not indeed a corruptible price , like Silver and Gold ; yet it was a price , a proper price , though not a corruptible price , and has the same Office with another price , if we may compare small things and great : and in that he excepts the corruptibility of this price , he establishes the parallel in the other particulars , Exceptio in non exceptis firmat regulam . And he gives us further light into this Affair from that expression 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with the precious blood of Christ , or that blood which is a price . So the Apostle Paul , 1 Cor. 6. 20. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Ye are bought with a Price ▪ And yet further : That the blood of Christ ▪ that is Christ by dying , is this Price ; which is evident in that he compares Christ himself , to the Sacrifices of Atonement , and Expiation , where the Lamb chosen out for that Service , was to be without spot and blemish . And thus the Apostle Paul conspires with his beloved Brother Peter , 1 Tim. 2. 6. Who gave himself a Ransom for all ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Now if 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : will not evince a proper price paid by way of Ransom for another , we must despair of ever expressing Truth with that clearnes , but it shall be lyable to mis-construction , by the possibility of another meaning ; and it 's in vain to seek a Remedy against that evil , for which there 's no Help in Nature . But let us now hear our Authors Apprehensions about these things . The Gentiles ( says he ) were delivered from Idolatry by the Preaching of the Gospel , which is called their being Redeemed by the blood of Christ , because we owe this unspeakable Blessing to his Death . Here are several things which he asserts , and takes for granted .

1. Sect. That the Apostle speaks here only of the Redemption of the Gentiles , not of the Iews . A Fancy so idle , that nothing but an absolute necessity to preserve the Life of his Cause could justifie it ▪ Hunger ( we say ) will break through stone walls ; extremity taught Mariners that use of Jury-Masts , and such pinching Scriptures have made men rack their wits for evasions : That this Epistle was primarily written to the Jews of the Asian 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 we need not vouch Scaliger to prove , c. 1. v. 1. puts it out of doubt . To the strangers scattered through Pontus , &c. which the Apostle Iames , Chap. 1. ver. 1. expresses , To the twelve Tribes scattered abroad : His pressing them with the Authority of the Prophets , his alluding to Old Testament-worship , Ordinances , Customes ; His urging them with the example of Sarah , do clearly prove it , besides his Exhortation , Ch. 2. 12. To have their conversation honest amongst the Gentiles , evidently distinguishes them to whom he wrote , from the Gentiles amongst whom they dwelt ; and yet because of the Communion that was between the believing Iews , and believing Gentiles , there are some passages in this Epistle that respect them also : But still the primary intendment of the Epistle was to the Jews , which one thing destroys all that goodly superstructure that he has raised upon this supposition that the Apostle here speaks of the Redemption of the Gentiles onely .

2. Sect. He supposes that Redemption signifies no more than deliverance in general ; whereas the Redemption here mentioned is a special way of deliverance by a price paid . As silver and gold are used in the Redemption of Captives , so is the blood of Christ in the Redemption of Sinners ; but Silver and Gold are paid as a Price for the Redemption of Captives , therefore so is the Blood of Christ . Now , what is that which in our Authors New Model of Redemption by Christ , Answers , the Silver and Gold in the Redemption of Captives ? As the Redemption by Price is always Seconded with deliverance by Power ; so deliverance by Power presupposes Antecedent Redemption ▪ by Price : But here it is commonly Objected , That if the Blood of Christ be a proper Price , then it ought to be paid to the Devil , the world , or Sin , for these held the Sinner in Captivity . To which I Answer , true ; if Satan detained the Sinner Prisoner in his own right , if Souls were his own proper spoyls , acquired by right of War , or otherwise ; but the Devil is onely an Officer of Divine Iustice , a Goaler , and Executioner of the Sentence of the Law : The World may pass for one of his Under-Keepers . As for sin that 's the bondage and slavery it self . If then God be satisfied , in whose right , as the great Law-giver , and Governour , these Sinners are held in bondage , though Satan repine , and gnash his Teeth , he must quit his Prey and Prisoners . It is said again , that then upon the payment of ▪ the price to God , the sinner is immediately set free : But no Reason compels us to Argue so ; for the Price of Redemption being not paid to God by Man himself , but a third Person , a Mediator between them both : It 's not onely convenient , but absolutely necessary , that he submit to such Terms as shall be agreed upon between God and the Mediator , that he may actually enter upon the benefits of that Price paid : Besides , it 's necessary he should be so qualified as to Glorifie both the Redeemer , and the free-grace of that God that accepted a Redeemer ; and there are many of the greatest benefits of Redemption that would signifie nothing to the sinner if it were possible to imagine him invested with them , without a previous change in his Nature , enabling him to enjoy them : But yet it will be said , and is said by others of our Authors Judgment , who have managed these things with a greater appearance of cunning than himself : That however then , this Price should have been paid to God , which ( say they ) it was not ; but we are confident that it was , 1 Tim. 1. 5 , 6. There is one God , and one Mediator between God and Man , the Man Christ Iesus , who gave himself a price of Redemption for all . Now , if Christ gave himself as a price of Redemption as Mediator between God and Man , he must either give it to God , or Man , ( for as Mediator he stands onely between these two Parties . ) How absurd it is that he should pay it to Man , needs not many words to evince ; it remains therefore that he paid it to God himself : But the Apostle Peter puts that out of dispute in the place under consideration : For he tells us , that we were Redeemed by the blood of Christ , as of a Lamb without blemish , and without spot ; whence it appears , that Christ was the true Sacrifice chosen by God , immaculate , to be the real sin-offering ; and that he was Offered to God as the Lamb was .

3. Sect. Our Author supposes , that all that the Gentiles were Redeemed from was some gross sins ; he instances onely in Idolatry , but we favourably allow him to include all Actual sins ; and yet he comes not up to the design of Christ in Redemption : The vain Conversation received by tradition from their Fathers , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; was that Corruption that they derived by propagation , being by Nature the Children of wrath even as others : Jews and Gentiles being all equally under the Curse and Condemnation of the Law .

4. Sect. He supposes that we are Redeemed by the Preaching of the Gospel : To which I Answer ; That we could never in any sense have been Redeemed by the power of the Gospel Preached , if we had not first been Redeemed by the price of the Blood of Christ paid to God in a proper sense .

5. Sect. He asserts that Deliverance by Preaching is called Redemption by Christs blood , because we owe this unspeakable blessing to his Death : But how do we owe the Preaching of the Gospel to the Death of Christ ? When our Author himself was in such a Huff not long ago with any that should own a Doctrine as Gospel that was not Preach'd by Christ in his Life . He admired the Sermons of Christ beyond those of the Apostles , and will not allow that his Disciples Believed his Death before he was Crucified ; and yet now we owe it all to his Death . As if Moses had not sufficiently confirmed the Truth of his Mission and Doctrine by Miracles , though he never dyed himself to confirm them : And as if Christ had not done the same abundantly , though he had never dyed ; Christ sent his Apostles to Preach the Gospel to the Iews , and Preach'd it in his own Person before his Death , and yet of those Jews it 's said , Ye were Redeemed not with Corruptible things , as Silver and Gold , but with the precious Blood of Christ . But this our Author thinks he has proved from Eph. 2. 15 , 16 , 17. Having abolished in his Flesh ( by his Death ) the enmity , even the Law of Commandments , &c. Came , and Preached Peace to you which were afar off , and to them which were nigh . That which he would prove from hence is this : That the Redemption of the Gentile World by the Death of Christ , signifies no more than the Removing of the Ceremonial Law , and reclaiming them from Idolatry and Prophaneness by Preaching the Gospel , and then bringing them into one body or Church with the Jews . To make the Text Serviceable to such a design , it was necessary , 1. That he should lustily bind over our weaker imagination to his own stronger fancy , that by [ Flesh ] is meant the Death of Christ : For my part , I see no necessity that Flesh should signifie any more than his Assumption of our Nature ; In which Nature he has answered and fulfilled all the Types and Ceremonies of the Law , though in divers ways , and at divers times : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 which we render to Abolish , signifies not any formal positive Act , whereby a Law is expresly repealed and disanulled ; but the rendring a thing useless of course , when it 's end is attained : Thus were all the Ceremonies of the Law rendred absolete and of none effect , when Christ in the Course of his Ministry had answered their design ; and particularly Sacrifices became useless , by the Death of Christ , those Services , which were Mercies and no curses in their day , being swallowed up of that greater mercy of the Death of Christ . 3. He must suppose , and that is indeed a reaching supposition , that Christs Preaching Peace , is the same thing formally with his procuring peace by his Death , than which nothing can be imagined more precarious ; for he first procured Peace by his Blood ; and then Preached that Peace which he had procured to Men in his Person , and by his Apostles ; and therefore , though Christ Preach'd that peace to the Jews before he Suffered , yet it was with reference to that peace he should procure by his Sufferings . An eminent instance whereof we have in his Institution , and first Celebration of his last Supper , Mat. 26. 28. This is my blood of the New Testament , which is shed , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , for the Remission of sins ; for though his blood was not yet shed Actually , yet in Gods regard , and the Faith of Believers it was considered as shed Antecedently to the Remission of sins ; for without shedding of blood there is no Remission , Heb. 9. 22. And thus was the Blood of Christ considered as shed from the first establishing of the New Covenant , Christ being called The Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World ; even that Lamb without spot , and blemish , by whose precious Blood Iews and Gentiles were Redeemed . 4. He must suppose too , that the enmity here mentioned is nothing but some bickering that had fallen out between Jew and Gentile about Ceremonies ; which the Gentiles that I can find were never very envious at : and then , when he has made all those suppositions , and begged those Postulata's , he will be ready for Demonstration .

A particular consideration of the Text will set that strait which he had made crooked : And 1. The Apostle describes the state of the Gentiles by Nature to be most wretched and miserable , ver. 12. They were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel , Strangers from the Covenants of promise , without Christ , having no hope , without God in the World . They that are without Christ , are without God ; and they that are without a promise , are without Christ ; and they that are without Covenant , are without promise ; and they that are without all these , must needs be without hope . Their Case must needs be desperate , that have ●…o Christ to bring them to God ; no promise to bring them to Christ ; and if they were Aliens from the Church , where the means of Grace were to be had , they must needs be without all these . 2. The Apostle shews the true means whereby the Gentiles were brought nigh to God ; Ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ : It was Christs blood alone , by which the great impassable gulph was filled up that was between God and his Creature by sin ; for Christ is our Peace . 3. That the Gentiles might not Object , that there were many Ceremonial Hedges and Fences that kept them off from enjoying the Priviledges of those who were reputed the onely Children of God : He removes that small Objection , telling them Christ had already removed them in his Flesh , in his Person ; he was the summe and substance of them : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Having ( already ) in his Flesh ( or Person ) made void the Law of Ordinances , and ( already ) dissolved that Partition Wall : He that has Reconciled you to one God , has also brought you into one Church , which he repeats again , ver. 16. That he might Reconcile both unto God , in one Body , by the Cross , having slain the Enemy thereby , or in himself 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Here are first , the Parties Reconciled , Jews and Gentles ; Secondly , to whom they are Reconciled ; to God . Thirdly , the Fruit of this Reconciliation to God . They are brought into one Church amongst themselves . Fourthly , The Means whereby they are Reconciled to God , that so they might be capable of being United into one Church , and that is by the Cross of Christ , or by himself on the Cross , who bare our sins on the Tree . 4. The Apostle shews the way , and means of promulgating this Peace which he had made with God ; and that was by the publick Preaching of the Gospel , ver. 17. He Preached Peace ; he made Peace with God , and then Preached it to the Gentile World : He that had procured good will towards men , Preaches Peace on Earth . How little ground now had our Author to say , That we are said to be Redeemed by the Preaching of the Gospel , when the Preaching of the Gospel is nothing but a Declaration of that Redemption which Christ has made of Jew and Gentile with God , and the way and Method to be partakers of the benefit of it ?

And now to draw to a close of this Matter , let us re-view our Authors Doctrine of Redemption : The Redemption of Iew and Gentile he makes to differ as much as the Faith of Abraham , and that of Christians .

1. They differ in the matter of Redemption , that which they were Redeemed from : The Jews they were Redeemed from the Ceremonial Law , the Gentiles they were Redemed from Idolatry , and impure practises .

2. They differ in the manner of procurement ; for the Jews , Christ ( says he ) by his Death put an end to that Legal Dispensation ; and so their turn is served , that little Redemption that they needed , which is all our Author can afford them , was Actually accomplisht by the Death of Christ , which was a proper and immediate cause of their Redemption , ( such a one as it was ; ) but then the Gentiles they were Redemed after another fashion , by the Preaching of the Gospel , whereby they were turned from Idolatry , and impure practises . And this shall be called Redemption , because it were dangerous to ascribe it to the blood of Christ ( for an Obvious Reason that he knows of ; ) but because the Scripture says we are Redeemed by the Blood of Christ , and gives that Blood a concernment therein ; therefore to stop the ●…uth of the Scripture , it shall be said , we owe the Preaching of the Gospel to the blood of Christ .

[ 3. ] There is one thing more , from whence our Author flatters himself with hopes of great success ; and that is by mis-representing the Analogy between the Iewish Sacrifices , and the Sacrifices of Christ ▪ Two things he attempts .

1. To shew what it is under the Law , to which the Death of Christ , his Ascention into Heaven , and presenting his Blood to God , does Answer .

2. What it is under the Law to which his Intercession Answers : Which project of our Authors has been contrived , and managed with a great deal more subtilty by those who would storm , or blush , to see their Arguments thus miserably abased .

( 1. ) To the former of these , he expresses himself thus . Now as the Death of Christ upon the Cross , and his Ascention into Heaven , and presenting his Blood to God in that most Holy place did answer to the first sprinkling of the Blood under the Law , which confirmed the Mosaical Covenant , as the Apostle Discourses , in Heb. 9. &c. In which few words he has heaped up more absurdities , and follies than another must hope to bring into twice as many . For ,

1. Here is a supposition of Christs presenting his Blood to God in Heaven distinct from his Intercession , which when he shall offer to prove , it may be time to consider it .

2. He supposes that Christs Ascention into Heaven answered the first sprinkling of blood under the Law : A most ridiculous supposition ! For what is there in sprinkling that answers to Ascention , or bears the least Analogy to it ? Surely these Gentlemen that create such parallels , and fancy such uncouth resemblances , must have some mad design in their Heads , which nothing will subserve but such forced allusions : And I do not now wonder that he should so tediously rail at the use of Allusions in others , for they will deserve the most of scorn that can be thrown upon them , if they be all like his own .

3. That the Death of Christ upon the Cross did Answer the sprinkling of Blood under the Law which confirmed the Covenant , is very true : but then , 1. It must be remembred in what respect it confirmed the Covenant , not meerly as a witnessing to the Truth of what he has preach'd , but as Answering the demands , and claims of the Governing Iustice of God , as we have before shewed . 2. It must be remembred also that it was not such a Covenant as he has imposed upon us , but the true Covenant of Grace , wherein God promises to give that which our Author will not own ; the New Heart , New Spirit , and New Obedience . 3. That to confirm a Covenant , was not all the design of it's sprinkling , but diverting of the wrath of God , procuring his favour , &c. So the Blood of Christ has greater ends than confirming of the Truth he taught , viz. the appeasing Gods just displeasure , procuring his Actual Love , pacifying of the Conscience , cleansing the Soul . 4. He supposes also that the Apostle Discourses to this purpose , Rom. 9. which is to make the Apostle accessory to his own groundless fopperies , who is indeed perfectly innocent of these crimes . For , 1. The sprinkling of the blood , which the Apostle mentions , Heb. 9. 9. in that mentioned Exod. 24. 6. Now , there was another sprinkling of blood Antecedent to that , which we read of , Exod. 12. to which the blood of Christ did Answer , and to which the Apostle refers , as is evident from Heb. 11. 28. Heb. 12. 24. 2. The sprinkling of Blood , Heb. 9. 19. being the same with that Exod. 24. 6. shews evidently that as the whole concern of the blood sprinkled at that time , was not confirming a Covenant , but Atoning God : So the whole concern of the blood of Christ , is not taken up in confirming a Covenant , much less such a thing as he will mis-call a Covenant , but in Reconciling God to Man , paying a price of Redemption to God , &c. 3. That the Apostle carries another Argument is evident ▪ For , 1. The Typical Interest which those Sacrifices had in Redemption , were accomplish'd before the Blood was carried in to the Holiest place , ver. 12. Neither by the blood of Bulls and Goats , but by his own Blood he entred into the most Holy place , having obtained eternal Redemption : Thus Christ had obtained eternal Redemption , and perfected the whole work of it ( as far as the paying of a price to God goes in the Matter ) before his Ascention ; and that which remained , was the application of the benefit of what he had procured with God , to us , by his prevailing Intercession : And as to the blood of the Sacrifices mentioned , Exod. 24. 6. which the Apostle refers to , ver. 19. which our Author thinks had no other use but the confirming of the Mosaical Covenant , it was never carried into the most Holy place at all , nor the blood of any Propitiatory Sacrifice , but onely that upon the Feast of Expiation once a year . 2. The Apostle in this Chapter , does not onely refer to the sprinkling of the Blood of the Sacrifice , Exod. 24. but to the sprinkling of the blood of the Red Heifer , Numb. 19. 4. Eleazer shall take of her blood ( the red Heifer without blemish , and without spot , ver. 2. ) and shall sprinkle it directly before the Tabernacle of the Congregation : To which the Apostle expresly refers , ibid. v. 12. If the blood of Bulls and Goats , and the ashes of a Heifer sprinkling the unclean Sanctifieth to the purifying of the Flesh , how much more shall the blood of Christ , who through the eternal Spirit Offered himself to God , purge your Consciences from Dead works ? And this blood was neither carried into the Holy place , nor the Ministration of the Service performed by the High-Priest , but by Eleazar : which proves , 1. That the blood of Christ had all its atoning vertue on this side his entrance into Heaven ; and 2. That Christ was Typified by the inferior Priests , and not by the High-Priest alone : For here not Aaron , but Eleazar performed the Service of the Day . 3. The Apostle clearly Disputes against this Figment of Christs presenting his blood to God in Heaven , ( which the Men of this leaven , will needs have to be all the Sacrifice that Christ Offered to God ) ver. 25 , 26. Nor yet that he should Offer himself often , for then he must often have Suffered . No Offering without Suffering : But Christ Suffered but once , therefore he Offered but once . Nay , says the Apostle , Now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . That which Christ did once he does not do always ; but if Christs appearing before God in Heaven , be the offering of himself in sacrifice , he does it always to the end of his Mediatory Kingdom .

(2) But what was it under the Law , to which the Intercession of Christ answers ? To this he returns thus : As the Death , &c. so his continual Intercession for us in virtue of his Blood once shed , and once offer'd to God , answers those frequent Expiations by Sacrifice under the Law , especially to that General Sacrifice on the great Day of Expiation , when the High-priest enter'd into the Holy of Holies with the blood of Beasts : As the Death of Christ , his Ascension , and presenting his Blood to God , answers that one , so his Intercession answers the other . Yes indeed , just so , with so much Truth and Regularity of Proportion ; that is , with just none at all . What parallel he can fancy between Expiation and Intercession , I cannot divine : This I know ,

1. The Expiations by Sacrifice under the Law , were by Blood-shedding ; It was the Blood upon the Altar , as the Life of the Sacrifice , that made Expiation , Lev. 17. 11. but in Christs Intercession there is no shedding of Blood .

2. The Expiations by Sacrifice under the Law , were by the Death of the Sacrifice , and so was the Expiation of Christ : And so says our Author too , p. 327. He hath made a perfect Expiation for our sins , by dying once ▪ p. 328. He procures the Pardon of our sins by his Death : But in Heaven there is no Death ; and yet he says , The Intercession of Christ answers the Expiations by Sacrifice under the Law ; that is , just as much as Life answers Death : But how to make our Author friends with the Apostle , will be difficult , who is so hard to be reconciled to himself .

3. The Expiations which were made by the frequent Sacrifices , were all without the Holyest , but the Intercession of Christ is in the most Holy place : And is not this a famous correspondency ? But how clear is all this , if we could be reconciled to the Scriptures ? Where the Death of Christ upon the Cross , answers all the Expiatory Sacrifices under the Law , and the Intercession of Christ at the right Hand of God , or his appearing continually in Heaven before his Father for us , answers the High-priests entering into the Holy of Holies , with that Blood which had been before shed at the Altar . But whereas such was the imperfection , such the poverty of the Types , that no one was able to Answer all the Concerns of a Sinner , no one could express all the various respects that a guilty Person had to God , and his Law ; and therefore it was necessary that various Sacrifices should be instituted , that they might represent those things 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which it was impossible they should perform 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , our Lord Jesus Christ by one Offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified , Heb. 10. 14. For where Remission is , there is no more Offering for sin , v. 18. When therefore our Author affirms , so secure of Contradiction , That Christs continual Intercession answers those frequent Expiations under the Law , especially that on the great day of Expiation ; he has said enough to determine this Matter : For if there were frequent Expiations under the Law , besides that of the Feast of Expiation , and that there be any thing in Christs Sacrifice answering to them ; it follows , that Christs Expiatory work was finish'd before his entrance into Heaven ; for the Blood of those other Sacrifices never came within the Holy of Holies , which answers to the true Holy Place where Christ makes continual Intercession for us .

All this while the Reader ought charitably to believe that our Author is discoursing what influence the death of Christ hath upon our Acceptation with God ; To which he has answered , that it Confirms a Covenant , it procures a Covenant , though how it procures a Covenant he has not yet informed us ; Justification , Reconciliation , Redemption are not the proper and immediate effects of his death ; nor indeed is any thing so , but the abolishing ceremonies , and conforming such a Covenant , as he has obtruded upon us , and for confirming that which he calls the Covenant , there was the least need , and I think no need at all ; but he closes up the whole with a parcel of good words ; Christ ( says he ) procures the pardon of our sins by his death , and dispenses this pardon to us by his Intercession : Is not this very Canonical , and Orthodox ? yes sure ; but now mark his interpretation of himself : He sealed the Covenant of Grace by his blood , and intercedes for us in the virtue of his blood . So that he wheels about again , and Procuration is turned into Confirmation : Christs procuring the pardon of sin is no more than that he has scaled this Doctrine , that whosoever believes and obeyes shall be pardoned ; Expiation that 's owing to Christs intercession in heaven , and reconciliation is nothing but making the Iews and Gentiles friends , and preaching the Gospel to reclaim men from their debaucheries .

Notwithstanding all this our Author will not be beaten out of it , but that he and his principles are better friends to the blood of Christ , than those men that pretend to magnifie it : for they attribute no more to it than the non-imputation of sin ; that Christ by his death , bearing and undergoing the punishment that was due to us , paying the ransom that was due for us , delivered us from this condition ( the wrath , and curse of God and his whole displeasure , &c. ) But now our Author ascribes much more than all this comes to ; For ( says he ) the Scripture gives us a different account of it , we are said to be justified , and redeemed by the blood of Christ , nay we have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Iesus ; we have admission into Heaven it self , but the Doctor ( Owen ) says , that the Blood of Christ makes us innocent , but cannot give us a right to the Kingdom of Heaven . And now what comparison is there between these two ? The summe of the business is this : Our Author attributes perhaps more to the Blood of Christ in wordy complement , but what the Doctor ascribes to the Death of Christ , he does in reality : Our Author will confess , that we are redeemed by the Blood of Christ ; but when you come , ( as all that are not Children will come ) to examine what he means by it , then it shrinks into this : Christ by his Death confirmed the Promise of Pardon and Life to them that Believe and Obey , and this Promise he has appointed to be declared to the world , and when men believe it , and obey the Gospel themselves , they are then Redeemed ; Christs death is no immediate , no proper Cause of Redemption , no price pay'd to God , accepted by him for poor Captive Sinners : Nay our Author will not stick to say , We are justified by the Blood of Christ too , but when you come to sift his Notion , it 's all bran ; he confirmed the Promise , which when we believe , and obey the Gospel Commands , we are justified ; so that in my weak Judgement , it had beeen commendable in our Author , to have been very sure that he attributes any thing at all to the Death of Christ , as the proper Cause of that Mercy , before he enter'd into Degrees of Comparison with others ; something I do perceive indeed he would attribute to Christs Death , Viz. The confirming of a certain Covenant , but so feebly asserted , so weakly proved , that it needs the Candour of the Reader : But now what doe these other men attribute to the blood of Christ ? Why Nothing but Non-Imputation of Sin , bearing and undergoing the Punishment that was due to us , paying the Price that was due for us ; delivering us from this Condition , ( The Wrath , Curse , and whole displeasure of God , ) and that by the Death of Christ , all Cause of Quarrel and Rejection is taken away : And if this be Nothing in our Authors Arithmetick , we desire he will ascribe more to it , if he can justifie it when he has done : But the truth is , our Author is most grievously gulled in this business ; He reads their Writings who are too crafty for him , and smile to see how little he understands of them : Though these men attribute no more to the blood of Christ as shed on the Cross , yet they are willing to let him know , that they attribute more to the Blood of Christ than as it was shed on the Cross : The Blood of Christ , and the Death of Christ , are not Expressions of equal latitude : All the Concerns of Christs Blood are not comprehended in his Death ; for they consider it as that in the virtue whereof he intercedes for them upon the Throne of Grace ; as that which gives them a holy and humble boldness to draw nigh to God , the Quarrel being removed by his Death : And that our Author may see his own delusion herein , I shall give him a short Collation from that person whom he contends with : Exercit. on Heb. Vol. 2. p. 99. There are Two general Ends of Christs Interposition : 1. Averruncatio Mali , the turning away of all Evil , hurt , dammage , or punishment , on the Account of our sins , and Apostacy from God : 2. Acquisitio Boni ; or , the procuring and obtaining for us , every thing that is good , with respect to our Reconciliation to him , Peace with him , and Enjoyment of him ; and these are intended in the general parts of his Office . For , 1. His Oblation principally respects the making Atonement for sins , and the turning away Gods wrath , which is due to Sinners , wherein he was Jesus the Deliverer , who saves us from wrath to come . And this is all that is included in the Nature of Oblation , as absolutely considered ; but it had a farther Prospect , for with respect to that Obedience which he yielded to God therein , according to the Terms of that Covenant , betwixt the Father and Christ , it was not onely Satisfactory , but Meritorious ; that is , by the Sacrifice of himself , he not onely turned away the wrath of God that was due to us , but also obtained for us Eternal Redemption , with all the Grace and Glory thereto belonging . And now if our Author will but ascribe any of all these things to the blood of Christ , as its proper and immediate Cause ; he may hope to perswade the world , that he is willing to ascribe something to the Blood of Christ I know well he will say , That the Blood of Christ is said to Redeem us , is said to Iustifie us ; these are Scripture Phrases indeed , the sound of words carries it thus ; but when he comes to open the Meaning of things , the Blood of Christ does neither redeem , nor justifie us , but after multitudes of Deductions , and great windings of Inferences , and Conclusions , one upon the Neck of another ; it does that , which does another thing , which procures a third , which leads to a fourth , which brings us to believe , that Belief may possibly bring us to Obedience , and when all is done , it 's our Obedience that justifies us : And we owe our Acceptation with God to our own Obedience , and he is more inclined to think , that nothing can justifie us , rather than to own it due to the Righteousness of Christ imputed , as he expresses himself , p. 272. And now at length he once more casts up his Reckonings : Our Righteousness , and Acceptance with God , is wholly owing to the Covenant which he has purchased , and sealed with his own blood . What a rare sound does that word purchase carry with it ? But , 1. He has purchased no more , than that we shall be Pardoned and Saved , if we Believe and Obey , without any Ability purchased to Believe and Obey . 2. Christ did not purchase any one single , spiritual Benefit for us , as the Cause of it , immediate and proper . 3. He purchased Nothing but that he may lose the whole Benefit of his Purchase . 4. Obedience will as soon save us without the Blood of Christ as with it : Lesser Obedience with that Blood , is not more acceptable to God than Greater without it : But this he will call an Influence upon our Acceptation with God . I confess , he is a Free-man , for ought I know , and may call , or miscall Things , as he has done Persons at his pleasure , but surely no man whose understanding is his own , would ever call this an Influence upon our Acceptation with God ; A contingent , uncertain Influence it may have upon our Obedience , but none at all upon the Acceptation of our Obedience . An act of Love to God , is as welcome and acceptable to God at this rate , without Christ as with Him : But this is the Misery of it ; when Men must say something , and yet cannot tell well what to say , but either on the one hand they must flie in the Face of the Scripture , which they hardly dare do ; or else on the other hand renounce their beloved Errors , which they are resolved never to do ; then must the Scriptures be wrested to their crooked Sentiments , instead of Rectifying their crooked Notions by the straight Rule of the written Word .

[2] Having now Informed us what Influence the Death of Christ has upon our acceptance with God , it remains that he Instruct us with equal Ingenuity , what Influence the Righteousness of his Life has upon God , for the same end ? But here he will be to seek , for having assigned in words so much to the Death of Christ , there is nothing left for his Life . No matter upon which it may work ; but seeing all the former was in pretence , there is Employment enough for it left still .

Though the pardon of sin , and our justification , be attributed ( says he ) to the blood of Christ , yet I could never persuade my self that this wholly excludes the perfect obedience , and righteousness of his life : He cannot persuade himself ; very strange ! what had he attempted to satisfie his judgement about the exclusion of Christs righteousness , and yet could he not be persuaded ? yes , persuaded he was to exclude it , but not wholly to exclude it , there were some rubs , and little scruples in the way , that he could not get over : but had he improved his own principles , and built upon his own foundation , I could have shewn him a way how he might wholly have excluded it , for p. 243. he gives it us as a Note worth our observing that in the whole New Testament there is no such expeession as the Righteousness of Christ ; And p. 78. he lays it down as an infallible maxime ; That we cannot draw any one conclusion from the person of Christ , which his Gospel hath not expresly taught ; seeing then we cannot safely draw any such conclusion from Christs Person , and the Scripture has not expresly taught it , what should hinder him from a plerophory in this point , wholly to exclude that from his Creed , which is not expresly taught in the Scripture , and therefore may not be drawn from the consideration of his Person by consequence . And if his scruples had been but as strong against the righteousness of Christ , ( or he had been in the scrupling mood ) as against the justification of Abraham by the righteousness of Christ , this matter had been put out of doubt with him wholly long before this . In the mean time , The righteousness of Christ is mightily beholden to his good Nature , that when by his principles he might , yet out of civility he would not , and therefore could not wholly exclude it : Some Place , some Room it shall have , some Remote and Improper causality , as the Death of Christ had in our Acceptation with God : But what may be the Reason why he could not altogether , as well as almost exclude it ? O , he tells us , that the Apostle tells him , Ephes. 1. 6. That we are accepted in the Beloved . And is this the great difficulty ? Alas , one of his Wedges would make this little Knot flie at the first stroke : May there not possibly be given another meaning of it ? Must it needs be Interpreted of Acceptation through the active Obedience of Christ ? This would have done the work . Or thus , Our acceptation is ascribed to the Obedience of Christs Life , because that has a great Influence upon us to make us Obedient , which is that Righteousness for which we are accepted of God . The Example of Christ has given us a Pattern of Obedience , which when we Imitate , we are accepted of God ; but what now if he had played one of his Omnipotent Machines against the Text , he might have Batter'd down the Conclusion with ease . By the Beloved , is meant Christ , by Christ , is meant the Gospel ; by the Gospel is meant Obedience , and then the sence is no more but this ; We are accepted in the Beloved , that is , We are accepted for our selves . And I must needs say , this had been a far more Rational Course , than that he has taken with the Death of Christ : Ay , but ( says he ) whatever rendred Christ beloved of God , did contribute something to our Obedience : Something ? That 's a huge Kindness indeed ; There 's a vast distance between something and nothing , and yet it may be such a something , as is next to nothing . Well , we are glad of a little till we can get more : For because he was beloved of God , we are accepted for his sake : That 's high , and surprizing . But still , What kind of Cause was Christs Obedience of our acceptance ? One of the Poorest , Lowest causes in the World , is one that they Nick-name a Causa sine quâ non ; which yet is properly no cause at all ; And yet our Author when time was , could tell us , pag. 43. That had Christ never appeared in the World , yet we have reason to believe God is thus Wise , Good , and Merciful , to forgive us our sins , when we return to our Duty : Such a Cause was the Death of Christ of our acceptance . Pag. 46. Gods requiring such a Sacrifice as the Death of Christ for the Expiation of our sins , was not because he could not do otherwise . If now we might have been accepted without his Incarnation , I presume we might have been so without his Obedience ; and then it is not so much as that little nothing of a Causa sine quâ non : But this is pure Trifling ; For the Question was , What Influence Christs Righteousness has upon our acceptance with God ? He answers , That because Christ was beloved , we are beloved for his sake . That is , Christs Obedience has an Influence upon our acceptance ; but what that Influence is , remains a Secret : Suppose the Question had been , Why are we accepted for Christs sake ? The answer might have been , His Obedience has an Influence upon our acceptation . Those two words , [ Influence , and Sake , ] are like two Rackets , that Toss the Ball from one to another , to the end of the Game : However , Rebus sic stantibus , under our present Circumstances ; I would gladly know , What that Influence is ? Why , He thinks no man will deny that God was very highly pleased with the perfect Obedience of our Saviours Life . Truly , I think so too , and perhaps it may be the last time that we shall be both of a mind : But yet to put it upon thinking , is a more cunning way of Tempting our unbelief to appear against it . Had it been a truth wherein our Authors affections had been bespoke , I doubt not but we should have had better Proof than his thinking , or standing to the Courtesie of mens denyal : But still , still the Difficulty presses us : Why God should be ever the more pleased with our Obedience , because He was pleased with Christs ? For if no consideration be had of Christs Obedience in the Justification of a sinner , as that which God accepts for our Non-obedience , I do not see , but God had been as well pleased with our Obedience without Christs Obedience , as with it : The Obedience of Christ was a Transient thing , it 's past and gone long since , and how it should come in remembrance before God , at this day , that for the sake of it , we should find savour in his Eyes ; is ( without the Doctrine of Imputation ) very unaccountable . Why , that is the thing wherein our Author will at length Resolve us .

We know ( says he ) how many Blessings God bestowed upon the Children of Israel , for the sake of their Fathers , Abraham , Isaac , and Iacob , who were great Examples of Faith and Obedience , which made them very dear to God ; and there is no doubt but God was more pleased with the Obedience of Christ , than with the faith of Abraham , and therefore we ought not to think that we receive no Benefit by the Righteousness of Christ , when Abrahams Posterity was so blessed for his sake . I have several humble Propositions to make upon this Discourse . 1. We ought not to think that we have no benefit : But how shall we do to know what that Benefit is ? Great or Small , Spiritual , or Temporal ? Must we content our selves with thinking ? Surely , we have some benefit , if we could but tell what it was : It may be , we may want that benefit ; and may have it for asking , for his sake , and yet still we must not know what it is ; or it may be some small benefit that cannot be seen without a Microscope ; such it may be , and yet answer all the necessary Import of his words . 2. We ought not to think that we have no benefit : But have we the benefit of acceptation with God ? For that was the Question , if I have not forgotten , as well as our Author : So that though we should be so charitably credulous as to take it upon one of our Authors Say-soes , and Thinkings , that we have some benefit by it , yet if it be not the very benefit under Dispute , it 's monstrously Impertinent . 3. We ought not to think : But what if we do think so ? With what argument will he compel us to alter our Judgments ? For I see this is his Device , when he has no mind to a Truth , to lay the Proof of it upon thinking , and a well fortified fancy . 4. Let us now examine his Similitude : God ( says he ) bestowed many Blessings upon Israel , for the sake of their Fathers . But , 1. Were they accepted of God , Pardoned , Iustified , for their Fathers sake ? If not , How will it follow , that we are Accepted , Pardoned , Iustified , for the sake of Christs Obedience , because they received some common Favours for the sake of Abraham ? 2. Would God give them any blessings for their Fathers sake , unless they walked in their steps ? If not , then they were not accepted for their Fathers obedience-sake , but for their own : For why should they need the sake of their Fathers Obedience , to procure them Blessings for their Obedience , more than their Fathers needed the sake of another to procure them Blessings for their Obedience ? But if so , that God did give them many blessings for their Fathers sakes , though they walked not in the steps of their Faith , and Exemplary Obedience : That is indeed to the purpose , but then it will be in danger of proving that God may give us Gospel blessings for Christs sake , though we walk not in his steps . Indeed we read , that when Israel was most unworthy , and had provoked God most , that God did remember his Covenant made with Abraham , Isaac , and Iacob , and God may have special Favours too for sinners , who personally considered are unworthy of the least Mercy , which some will call the Imputation of Christs Obedience . 3. The true account of those Favours which God bestowed upon Israel for Abrahams saké , is this : God had made a Promise to Abraham , that in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed . That is , That in the Messiah which should come of his Line by Isaac , there should be a Blessedness or Happiness , ) provided for the miserable undone World : This Promise was afterwards clear'd up to Iudah , that the Messiah should be conveyed to the World by his Tribe ; this being an absolute , irrevocable Promise , that God would out of that People , that Tribe , deliver a Saviour to the World : It was necessary that God should preserve that Tribe , that People , out of which the Messiah was to come ; and as it was necessary for the truth of the Promise , that that Tribe should be continued in being , so was it necessary for the evidencing of the fulfilling of the Promise , that that Tribe should be continued in some considerable state of Visibility in the World ; that so the Promise might not only be made good in it self , but that it might be made out that it was made good , to the Conviction of Gain-sayers . This was the Reason why , when Iudah had sinned , and God Corrected them , yet still He remembred this Covenant ; he left his People a Lamp for Davids sake , on this account that People escaped utter Extirpation , when they were upon the borders of Desolation : To this Zachary imputes the giving of the Messiah , Luke 1. 72. To perform the Mercy promised to our Fathers , and to remember His holy Covenant . The Oath which he Sware to our Father Abraham . 4. Perhaps this may be some account of it : The Covenant which God made with Abraham , he made with his Seed also , Gen. 17. 7. I will be thy God , and the God of thy Seed . Abraham therefore , and his Seed , were but one of the Parties to that Gracious Covenant ; and therefore God in his Providential Dispensations dealing with them as one Body , the Obedience , Holiness of Abraham the Head , was considered as the Obedience , and Holiness of the Body , so far at least as to turn away temporal Evils , and procure temporal Mercies : And if this be so , we may consider Christ and Believers as one Mystical Body , and God in Covenant with Christ their Head , and in him with them , and then our Authors Argument will hold , though his Cause break : If God for the sake of Abrahams imperfect Obedience , yet as he was the Head of the League , gave so many temporal Mercie to Israel ; surely then , God for the sake of Christ , the Head of all that the Father hath given him , will bestow Spiritual and Eternal Mercies ; for , the Head and Members making but one Body , the Obedience of the Head , is reputed the Obedience of the Members : And as the Blessings which God bestows for Christs sake , are Transcendently g●…eater , than those bestowed on Israel for Abrahams sake ; so is the Obedience which Christ performed upon it's own account , and the Dignity of the Person , infinitely beyond the imperfect Obedience of Abraham ; and the Union which Faith makes with Christ is a stricter Union , than any Natural , Civil , Political Union , that could possibly be , between Abraham and his Posterity . Thus I have endeavoured to Vindicate our Authors Argument ; but I am sure he had rather it should perish , than be thus justified .

But is it not strange , our Author should tell us , That he knows how many Blessings God bestowed upon the Children of Israel for their Fathers sakes , and yet not acquaint us with one single Blessing that God bestows on us for Christs sake ? For the sake of Christs Personal Obedience ? I wish I had so much Interest in any Friend of his , that had that Interest in him to perswade him to acquaint us freely , and open-heartedly , what those blessings are , and how procured ? Why , just now he comes to it : The Righteousness of his Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death , both serve to the same end to establish , and confirm the Gospel-Covenant : God was so well pleased with what Christ did and suffered , with the obedience of his Life , and Death , that for his sake he entred into a Covenant of Grace with Mankind . Very good , what needed all this Circumlocution , and Periphrase ? To beat about , and about the Bush ? Had it not been more Civil to have given us our doom in plain English , than to Tantalize us with sugared hopes , and expectations of some great matter from Abraham , Isaac , and Iacob ? Some would say , 1. That this ascribes more Influence to Abrahams Obedience than thus to Christs ; for God for the sake of Abraham's Active Obedience entred into a Covenant with Israel , and chose them to be his peculiar People , without the Death of Abraham : but the Obedience of Christs Life , and Death , must both concur to procure this Covenant ; and yet it is such a one , as I suppose God would not refuse upon as small an account as the sake of Abraham . 2. Some will say , this is not to Answer the Question , but perplex it : The Question at first was , what influence the Righteousness of Christs Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death have upon our acceptation with God ? He Answers , They serve to establish the Covenant ; they confirm to us , that God will pardon , and save us if we believe and Obey : but what if I Obey without such confirmation , shall my Obedience be rejected without it be performed upon that Confirmation ? Ay , but God entred into this Covenant of Grace for Christs sake : Still I say that 's not an answer , but the bandying the Question upon us again a hundred times over : Why should his Life and Death have such an influence upon God to make that Covenant ? Why should they Operate that way ? What connexion is there between Christs active and passive Obedience , and such a Covenant ? But sure we forget our selves , for we are enquiring into the influence of Christs Active Obedience : And

( 1. ) For Confirming a Covenant ; let any rational Man satisfie me how The Obedience of a Person perfectly holy , pure , spotless , sinless , being accepted of God should prove this promise , That therefore God will accept them whos 's best Obedience is imperfect , and defective . This is so far from confirming it , that God will accept me , who am a Sinner , that it leads to utter dispair of acceptance with him ; seeing I came so infinitely short of my pattern : What hope can a sinner have of acceptance , from a consideration that God has accepted Christ , who was no sinner : If Faith was ready to believe that God would accept him that believes and obeys ; yet had it seen Christs Faith and Obedience , and his acceptance thereon , it might have stagger'd him that ever such pitiful things as his Faith and Obedience should find favour with God . And if Faith was so strong , as to overcome that difficulty , as to believe the Promise notwithstanding this staggering Example ; yet it 's far enough from Truth , that a sinner should believe the promise ever the more , that his imperfect Service should be accepted and rewarded , because Christs entire obedience was so . Nay , without question it had been a greater confirmation of that promise , to have had assurance that God had pardoned some hainous Offender , some flagitious wretch , who deserved Condemnation , than to behold him accepting a Person not obnoxious to Condemnation : So says the Apostle , 1 Tim. 1. 16. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy , that in me first Iesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering , for a pattern to them who hereafter should believe on him to Life everlasting . The Pardon of a Blasphemer , one injurious , a Persecutor , is a stronger confirmation that God will pardon a sinner , than the acceptance of Him that had done no wrong , neither was guile found in his mouth .

( 2. ) But now for Gods making such a promise for Christs sake , or entring into a Covenant to pardon , accept for Christs sake ; this answers not the Question in the least : for , 1. It onely asserts , that God has declared openly , that he will do it . Now , a Declaration of Pardon , is not a Pardon ; a promise of acceptance , is not acceptance ; and therefore a Reason of , or Motive to such a Promise , such a Declaration , is not a Reason of , or Motive to Pardon and acceptance : Christs Obedience was so well pleasing to God , that for his sake he made such a Promise . Well ; but if my Obedience be little , Christs Obedience will not make it accepted , as if it were great ; if imperfect it will not render it accepted , as if it were perfect . 2. That God has made such a promise for Christs sake , answers not the Question ; for it s but turning the Question into an Assertion : As if we should enquire , what Reason is there that God should accept me for Christs obedience ? And he should Answer , there is a Reason , why God should accept me for it , but never shew the Reason : Or thus , What Cause is Christs Obedience , of the Acceptance of our Obedience ? And he should say , it is a Cause , but not shew the Cause .

But then further , The Obedience and Righteousness of Christs Life was one thing which made his Sacrifice so Meritorious . I confess , I question the Truth of the Proposition ; had Christ Sacrificed himself as soon as he came into the World , his Sacrifice had been as Meritorious , being the Sacrifice of him that as Priest was God and Man ; and as Sacrifice , was the Sacrifice of him that was Personally United with God ; but I am not concerned to insist upon that at present : All I say , is , that it 's no Answer to the Question ; for to the best of my remembrance , ( and it 's not a full Twelve-moneth since the Question came before us ) the Question was , What influence the Righteousness of Christs Life hath upon our Acceptance ? and now we have got an Answer to another Question : What influence the Righteousness of Christs Life has upon his own Acceptance with God ? As if we were at the Old Childish Game of cross Questions : It was asked me , How many Miles it is to London ? and it was answered me , Thirteen shillings and a groat make a Noble . For what is this Meritoriousness of Christs Obedience ? did he Merit for himself , or for us ? If for himself onely , then it 's out of the Olives ; If for us , then that which he has Merited is ours . Merit denotes a proportion between the Work done , and the Reward received ; and it 's strict Justice in God to bestow upon us , that which another has Merited for us : if then Christ has Merited our Acceptance , we cannot but be accepted ; it 's Iustice we should be so . Again , what is it , that Christ has Merited ? Is it acceptauce ? Our Author will not say it ; what then ? Why , a promise of acceptance ; that is , that we shall be pardoned and saved upon Faith and Obedience : And this is the bottom of the bag ; when he has turned his discourse into a thousand shapes and forms , and varied his expressions infinitely , yet all amounts to no more than this , Christ has confirmed a promise , procured a promise , merited a promise , that if we believe and obey , we shall be pardoned , and saved ; and yet the answer to the Question is to come : For , 1. There must be a better Reason assigned than the Righteousness of Christs Life , why the Sacrifice of his Death should merit any thing ; for if his active obedience was due to Gods Law upon his own Personal account , it could merit nothing for another : The payment of a Debt , will not merit a reward ; and if the Righteousness of Christs Life did not merit any thing it self , it can never make his Death meritorious . 2. To Merit for us a reward , upon a condition , and never to merit for us that condition , is next to nothing , as the Case stands with us : For both Christ and we shall lose that which he has Merited , if our Obedience be left to the desultoriness of our own will , and the imbecillity of corrupt Nature : Upon the whole Matter I conclude , that according to his Principles our Author canot shew any one thing in all the Life and Death of Christ , that may render our Persons and Services more acceptable to God , than they would otherwise have been , upon equal Holiness and Obedience ; and therefore we must make our Application to Persons of other apprehensions in Religion , if we would have an honest satisfactory Answer to this Question : What influence the Righteousness of Christs Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death , have upon our Acceptance with God .

There is a Text , which some think will shew us more of that True influence that the Righteousness of Christ hath upon our Acceptance with God , than all this tedious rambling Discourse of our Authors ; It is Rom. 5. 18 , 19. Therefore as by the offence of one , judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation , even so , by the Righteousness of one , the free gift came upon all Men to Iustification of Life : For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners , so by the obedience of one shall many be made Righteous : From whence I have heard some Argue ; In the same sense that all are made sinners in the first Adam , all that are righteous are made righteous in the second Adam ; but in the first Adam , all are made sinners by the imputation of his Disobedience , therefore all that are righteous , are made so , in the second Adam , by the imputation of his Obedience . Again , If it was the Active Disobedience of the first Adam , whereby many ( even all that were in him , ) were made sinners ; then it is the active obedience of the second Adam , whereby Many ( even all that are in him , ) are made righteous ; but the former is true , therefore so is the latter . But ( says our Author ) This is the most that can be made of that place : This ? What ? Why this something , or this nothing , which he had said before ; That God was so well pleased with the Obedience of Christs Life , that for his sake he entred into a Covenant of Grace with Mankind : And if this be all that can be made of that Text , the Opposition must run thus ; As God was so ill pleased with the Disobedience of Adams Life , that for the sake of it he entred into a Covenant of Works with Mankind ; So he was so well pleased with the Obedience of Christs Life , that for the sake of it , he entred into a Covenant of Grace with Mankind . Really it must be so , Reader ; take it , or leave it ; for look what influence Adams Disobedience had upon God to provoke him to condemn the World , the same influence had Christs obedience upon God to please him to save the World . And will not this be a rare contrivance , to fancy a Covenant of Works , instituted after the Fall of Adam , when we are certain it was established before his Disobedience ? And so was the Covenant of Grace before the Active , and Actual obedience of Christ : However let us consider the most he can make of it . First ( says he ) there 's no necessity of expounding this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Righteousness of Christs Life , or his active obedience . This Answer of our Authors is like the Ariere banne , it 's never raised but in a case of extreme urgency : an Answer that will serve the turn of all the Atheists , Hereticks , and Miscreants upon Earth : If you tell them that Eternal Salvation is promised in the Gospel , they have it at their fingers ends , that there is no necessity that Eternal should signifie a duration beyond the Horizon of time : it 's used in other places for the lengthning out the existence of a thing to it 's own allotted period . Thus the Aaronical Priesthood was an everlasting Priesthood ; it was to continue for the Ever of the Iewish World . And as for that word Salvation , there 's no necessity it should signifie a deliverance from Spiritual Evils ; for besides that , there were no promises of any such Salvation in the old Testament ; the word is often used in the New , for temporal deliverance : As when the Apostle said , Except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved , Acts 27. But why is there no necessity of it ? It may well signifie no more than his Death , because the Apostle tells us , Phil. 2. 8. That Christ became obedient unto Death , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; but by his leave , the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 does indeed signifie obedient in general , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 obedience in it's common Nature , without determining it's signification either to active or passive obedience ; but do they argue from the Nature and purport of the Word , that because Christs obedience is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , therefore it must needs be active obedience ? No such matter ; but they argue from another hard word , Yeleped Antithesis , from the opposition that is there made between Adams disobedience , and Christs obedience . Thus the Dr. argued , if our Author durst have read him ; Com. p. 185. It 's opposed to the disobedience of Adam , which was Active ; The 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is opposed 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , The Righteousness to the Fault : The Fault was an active transgression of the Law , and the obedience opposed to it , must be an active accomplishment of it : If the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Adam was active , then the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Christ must be active . But our Author will have the other bout with him . Christs offering himself in Sacrifice is called doing the will of God , Heb. 10. 9 , 10. And whether this be properly said or not , I will leave the Dr. to dispute it with the Apostle : But I do not perceive the Doctor has any contraversie with , though he has maintained many for the Apostle : They are very well agreed , for ought I perceive , nor shall they Quarrel if I can help it : The Doctor will not contend , that Christs assuming a body in order to the offering a Sacrifice to God , was not doing his will ; no , he pleads for it , to the cost of somebody : But this is that which he disputes , that in Rom. 5. 18 , 19. The Opposition between Adams Disobedience , and Christs Obedience , will prove them both of the same kind ; It 's acknowledged that Christ did actively obey in suffering ; his sufferings were Activo passiva : But yet the Obedience mentioned in the place before us , was an Active Obedience , because Adams Disobedience was so . One blow more , and then our Author will yield us the Cause : There is no express mention ( says he ) made in this Chapter of any other Act of Obedience whereby we are reconciled to God , but onely his dying for us , which makes it more than probable , that by his Righteousness and Obedience , the Apostle understands his Death and Sufferings . I assure you , I like it well when Men argue from the Context , provided they do not destroy the Text ; and had our Author Religiously observed this Rule , he had not turned his Readers stomacks so often with nauseous Interpretations , but yet I have a few things to offer to him : 1. That though there be no other act of Obedience mentioned whereby we are reconciled , yet there may be another act of Obedience mentioned whereby we may be compleatly justified . 2. Though there be no other act of Obedience mentioned in the fore-going verses , yet there may be one in this . No Laws of Cohaerence or Contexture , ever obliged an Author that he might not pass to new matter ; and so has the Apostle done in this place , and Case , as the Opposition most undeniably proves . 3. All that he says , makes it but more than probable : Now , had there been any colour for Truth of his Conceit , his confidence does not use to dwindle away into probabilities , but he had fetcht the Great Commander , and knock'd us all dead with irrefragable Demonstration ; for do you understand the Mystery of this [ more than probable ] when you hear him confess , that Matters seem to be against him , and but probably , or a little more than probably for him : You need not lay your Ear to listen in what quarter the wind ●…its . But then 4. — Nay , hold ; Our Author yields : Good Nature begins to work ; But yet ( says he ) these Expressions , his Righteousness , and Obedience , seem to take in the whole compass of his Obedience in doing and Suffering the will of God . All is well then , and Dr. Owen is a very honest Man again . And we will not vex our selves how to reconcile , more than probable Con : with seeming Pro. I have made some attempts formerly , and once more whilst our Author is in the tractable vein , I le try whether the Doctor and he may not be made good Friends ; for since our Author is coming towards a willingness to take in Active Obedience , it 's but attempting however to prevail with the Doctor not to exclude the Passive . Well , look once more : Com. p. 185. That the Passive Obedience of Christ is here Onely intended , is false ; so that all that the Doctor contends for , is , that the Passive Obedience is not solely intended to the exclusion of the Active .

We are all agreed then in the meaning of the simple Terms , and it 's well if we do not fall out again about the Propositions that result from them : Let us now hear his Comment upon the words . The meaning of the words ( says he ) is this : That as God was so highly displeased with Adams sin , that he entail'd a great many evils , and miseries , and death it self , upon his Posterity , for his sake : So God was so well pleased with the Righteousness and Obedience of Christs Life and Death , that he bestows the Rewards of Righteousness on those who according to the strictness and rigour of the Law are not Righteous ; that for Christs sake he he hath made a New Covenant of Grace , which pardons our past sins and follies , and rewards a sincere , though imperfect Obedience .

There are two Questions which he here undertakes to Answer . First , What Influence Adams sin hath upon his Posterity ? and Secondly , it is to be hoped that from thence we may at last know , What Influence Christs Righteousness and Obedience have upon our acceptance with God ?

1 Quest. What Influence hath Adams sin upon his Posterity ? To this he returns . God was so highly displeased with Adams sin , that he entailed a great many evils , and miseries , and death it self , upon his Posterity , for his sake : Now , all this is true , very true ; but whether it be the whole Truth , that which will satisfie the design of the Text I shall examine by and by . At present I shall onely make some short Notes upon it .

1. God ( says he ) was so highly displeased with Adams sin , that for his sake he entailed a great many evils . Now , had it not been fair to have shewn the Iustice , as well as the Highness of Gods Displeasure in such a proceeding with his Posterity ? That God was justly , as well as highly displeased with Adams Sin , never created a Doubt to any man ; but that he should be so highly displeased with the Sin of one single Man , to entail Evils upon Millions , upon all his Posterity , this would invite us to examine the Righteousness of the Entail . The Posterity of Adam knew nothing of Adams Sin , were not conscious nor consenting to it , and yet God involves them in the Consequences of Adams Sin .

2. God ( says he ) entail'd those Evils upon his Posterity for Adams sake : Now here 's the old Blind again : For to say , that God did it for Adams sake , implies , that Adams sin had an influence , and it had this influence , but how it could righteously or indeed possibly have that influence , is still a Question ; and till that be resolved , we shall never have the advantage from hence to know , How the Righteousness of Christ could have an Influence upon God , to shew us any kindness for Christs sake .

3. God ( says he ) entail'd a great many Evils and miseries upon his Posterity , for his sake . Now seeing there are but a Many ( though a great many ) evils entailed upon them , and not all Evils , it 's very much our Interest to understand which are the Entailed evils , and which our own Personal evils ; which are hereditary , and which of our own procurement ; that so having found out which are entailed upon us , we may search if there be not a way found to cut off the Entail , by the Recovery wrought out by Christ . And the rather , because the Text mentions not only Evils , many Evils , but seems to include all Evils ; As Life and Absolution , comprehend all spiritual Mercies ; so Death and Condemnation comprehend all spiritual Curses : And by these comprehensive words , the Apostle expresses those Evils which God upon the Account of Adam's Sin , has entailed upon Posterity . I know how easily our Author presumes to dock the Entail , by pleading , that Death signifies onely Temporal Death ; but the Apostle has obviated that Cavil , v. 11. As by one Man Sin entred into the world , and Death by S●…n , and so Death passed upon all Men , for that all have sinned . By one man , by Adam , that Sin whose wages is Death , and that Death which is the wages of Sin , enter'd into the world , even upon all his Posterity , for that all have sinned . And what that Death is , which is the Wages of Sin , he assures , by opposing it to Eternal Life , v. 21. As Sin reigned unto Death , so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life , by Iesus Christ our Lord . So again Chap. 6. v. 23. The Wages of Sin is Death , but the Gift of God is Eternal Life .

2 Qu. What Influence has Christs Righteousness and Obedience upon our Acceptation with God ? And had our Author answered the former question to purpose , he had answered this in it , and saved himself a great deal of needless pains in a New prosecution of it . But he answers : God was so well pleased with the Righteousness of Christ Life and Death , that he bestowes the Rewards of Righteousness on those , who according to the strictness and rigour of the Law are not righteous : That for Christs sake , he hath made a New Covenant of Grace , which pardons our past sins and follies , and rewards a sincere though imperfect Obedience . A few notes also I shall make upon this , and so dismiss it at present .

And , First , here is certainly a great Iuggle in these words : God ( says he ) was so well pleased with the Righteousness and Obedience of Christs Life and Death , that he bestows the rewards of Righteousness upon us . Now these rewards of Righteousness ( be they what they will or can ) are either the proper and immediate effects of the Life and Death of Christ , or not : If they be , then I am sure he was tardy p. 323. The Apostles attribute such things to the Blood of Christ , as are the proper and immediate Effects of the Gospel Covenant : And what that is in his Dialect , I hope we are not to seek at this time of day . But if they be not the proper and immediate Effects of the Life and Death of Christ , then , 1. He has juggled here with his Reader , placing the rewards of Righteousness as bestow'd for Christs sake , before any Consideration of the Covenant . 2. If not , then he has not drawn a fair Parallel between the Influence of Adams Sin , and that of Christs Obedience : For he tells us , that God for Adams sake entailed a great many Evils , Miseries , nay Death it self , upon his Posterity ; there are particular evils entailed upon Individuals for the sake of Another , without any intervention of their own personal Transgressions : Ay , but there our Author will perhaps tell me , That the truth is , he means all this while , ( by a secret reserve , ) that Adams Posterity , when they commit Adams sin , or and other , they then render themselves obnoxious to those miseries , evils , and death it self : But then this is not to the purpose ; for then 't is not for Adams sake , but for their own : Not for that One Mans Offence , but for every mans own Offence , that judgement came upon them to condemnation : Which is not to interpret the Apostle , but dictate to him , and indite his Epistles for him . Miseries then , and a great many miseries , none knows how many , are entail'd upon Adams Posterity for his sake , without any intervention of their own sin : But now here 's no Blessing , not one single Blessing , entailed upon such spiritual Posterity of Christ , that they shall receive any one the least Favour , without the Intervention of their own Obedience : And so things are where they were at first .

Secondly , I must note also , That he says , God bestows the rewards of Righteousness on those who according to the strictness and rigour of the Law are not righteous : That is , as he explains himself , they shall be justified or treated like righteous Persons :

Now , 1. If God can treat them like Righteous Persons , who are not really so ; because he is so well pleased with Christs Obedience , why may not God conceive me to have done that which I have not done , as well as to be what I am not ? Why not to have obeyed in Christ , to have suffer'd in Christs sufferings , as to be a righteous Person in my self , when there is no such matter ? Andthus our Author has laid a block in our way , at which a well-meaning man , ( though against our Authors meaning ) may stumble upon the Notion of the Imputation of Christs Righteousness : It 's altogether unintelligible , how God should punish me for Adams fault with Justice , if Adams fault were not some wayes or other my own ; and fully as unaccouutable , How God should deal with me as righteous who am not so , for the sake of Christs Obedience , if Christs Obedience some way or other become not mine : I can easier satisfie my Reason how the Righteousness of the second Adam may make me righteous , and accepted of God ; than how the unrighteousness of the first should make me a sinner ; and yet Faith believes both , though it conclude stronglier for Christ , Rom. 5. 17. For if by one mans Offence Death reigned by one , much more they , &c.

2. God ( he says ) bestows the rewards of Righteousness on those who in strictness are not righteous , Let some enquire at his house , as they go by , What he means by the Rewards of righteousness : Is it Inherent Righteousness ? Then it 's Non sence ▪ or worse : God gives them inherent righteousness who have not inherent Righteousness , which in sensu composito is Non-sence , and in sensu diviso not agreeable to our Authors Principles : But if he mean , the rewards of Acceptation as righteous when they are not righteous , and this for Christs sake ; then either there will be some immediate proper effect found ou●… for the Obedience of Christs Life and Death , or else all comes to no more than this , That God will Accept us righteous or unrighteous , that is , right or wrong .

3. I would observe also , That he supposes God to have dispensed with the Moral Law : Which is News to me , and I confess I doe not believe it , nor shall I , till I hear it confirmed : Some Errors though speculative are da●…ble , and such may this prove : For if we like Fools goggled in with the Rhetorical Divinity of this Age , should Trust to Gods Abatements of his Law ; and at last it should prove , that God loved Righteousness , and hated Iniquity as such , we were in a most wretched , miserable , and undone Condition , merely by Trusting to Indulgence . I demand therefore good Counter security of our Author , That God will deal with me as righteous , though I be not so in the Account of his Law ; unless I be considered , as found in Christ , not having my own righteousness which is of the Law , but that which is by the Faith of Christ , the righteousness of God by Faith . The Moral Law is the Image of Gods Mind , his Nature transcribed into his Law ; and one jot nor tittle of this Law shall ever pass away : How much of this Law God will dispense with , what part of it , or what degrees of the violation of it , is to me unknown ; and if with any , whether he may not possibly dispense with the whole by the same Reason , is more than our Authors Principles can inform me ; he that may dispense with one part of it , may with another , and so of the rest : For where to stop , or put bounds to such a Dispensation as comes from the Grace of God , is very impossible to determine , unless we knew the true bounds of Gods Grace . And whereas our Author talks of the rigour of the Law , there 's nothing of it rigorous in its own Nature , and the least particle of it would be impossible to be observed according to its exact demands , if it were made the Law of our Iustification : He that breaks the Law in one point , is guilty of all ; and the Curse is denounced against him that confirms not all that is written therein to doe it .

4. The Difficulty remains to this day , Why God should be so pleased with the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ , that he should allow the Disobedience of Another . And it will remain for ever a Difficulty , both why God should inflict Evils upon the Posterity of Adam for his sake , or deal with them as righteous , who in the Account of his Holy Law are not righteous , for Christs : till we understand the true Nature of the Two Covenants , the one made with Adam and all his Natural seed ; the other with Christ , and all his spiritual seed ; both which Seeds were to stand or fall , according as their respective Heads and Representatives , should acquit themselves in point of Obedience and Disobedience towards God , and his most holy and righteous Law .

The same liberty that he has taken , I question not but he will give , and I shall be very modest in a few Enquiries .

( 1. ) May we enquire , Whether what he allows of Influence to Adams Sin upon his Posterity , will satisfie the Apostles Intendment ? The Apostle asserts v. 18. That by the offence of one , judgement came upon all to Condemnation : v. 19. That by one mans Offence , many were made Sinners . And there are these things considerable :

1. That Adams Sin had this Influence upon Posterity , that they were made Sinners also , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Transgressors of a Law ; for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to deviate from a Rule , to come short of a Mark that is set us to aim at , as Suidas observes .

2. That the Posterity of Adam were so made sinners , that they were lyable to condemnation ; Iudgment came upon them to Condemnation : This I Observe , because some talk as if they were Sinners in jest ; but God lets the Sons of men know , that they are obnoxious to Condemnation for the Offence of that one Man .

3. The Apostle shews how they were made sinners , and how they were liable to Condemnation ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; they were so by a Constitution : God did not infuse sin into them , and make them sinners Inherently ; but they were made so by a Law-constitution : And it was needful that the Apostle should clear that Point , because the Vindication of Gods Iustice called for it : For how could God deal with them as sinners in respect of Condemnation , who were not first sinners in respect of Guilt ? Guilt and Condemnation do Reciprocally prove each other . To assert them to be sinners , proves them liable to Condemnation ; and to assert them liable to Condemnation , presupposes them to be sinners ; for what is Condemnation but the evil of Punishment inflicted , for the evil of sin committed . Nor can it consist with the Righteousness of the Iudge of the whole Earth , to treat them as sinners as to Punishment , who were not first so , as to Guilt contracted : To clear therefore the Righteousness of God , that he may be Iust when he Condemns ; we must understand , that the sin of Adam is one way or other made the sin of his Posterity : Several ways there are Contrived to Salve this Difficulty ; some say ( as was noted before ) that Adams sin being Imitated by his Posterity , they become sinners , and so liable to Condemnation . A dull Contrivance , which our Author himself will not allow , who asserts , that God was so displeased with Adams Disobedience , that for his sake he Entailed many Evils upon his Posterity ; but if there be nothing more but the Infection and Contagion of his Example , then it 's not for Adams Sin , Fault , or Offence , that they are made sinners , but for their own : In Defiance of the Apostle , and his way of Reasoning : the very truth is , God made a Covenant with Adam , and in him with all his ▪ Natural Posterity : Adam was not only the Natural Parent , but the Moral Head and Representative of all his Seed , and therefore according to this Righteous Law of God , his Offence was theirs ; what he forfeited , they forfeited ; what he lost , they lost ; he sinned , they sinned ; he came under the Condemnation , they came under it also : And this does fully satisfie the Apostles Reasoning ; By one Mans offence , many were made sinners ; by one Mans offence , Iudgment came upon all to Condemnation . And God has given us pregnant Instances of his Righteous procedure in Punishing the Members of Political Bodies , for the Offences of their Political Heads , 2 Sam. 24. Thus he Punisht Davids sin in Numbering the People , upon the People , who were Innocent in his Transgression personally ; and to say ( as some have ventured to say , ) That the People had sins of their own , for which God might Righteously punish them ; is to say a great Impertinent truth : For whatever sins they had of their own , for which God might justly have dealt thus with them , yet God Declares that this was the Impulsive cause of their Punishment , even the sin of David , with whom the People having a Political Union ( as our Author phrases it ) they made but one Body in the sight of Vengeance : And when others say , That this was but a temporal Punishment , and therefore it will not hold , that God should punish the Posterity of Adam spiritually for his Transgression , they say they know not what : For God will not be Unrighteous and Unjust , in Punishing the Sons of Men for that sin which is none of their own , in the smallest thing , from a Thread to a Shooe-latchet ; and the Rule of ▪ Justice in this Case , is the Law ; for if the Law was back'd by a Sanction of Spiritual and Eternal threatnings , then 't is Just with the Law-giver to Inflict the Punishment upon all that are under the Law ; our Union with Adam was another , a stricter Union , than the Israelites had with David ; it was Spiritual , the other Civil , External only : And therefore according to the Law of Union and Relation , though the Israelites could only suffer for Davids sin temporally , yet the Posterity of Adam may by Righteous Judgment of God , for Adams sin suffer Eternally . And now let us briefly see , whether our Author comes up to any thing of the Apostle , or no ? God ( says he ) was so highly displeased with Adams sin , that for his sake he Entailed a great many Evils , Miseries , nay Death it self , upon his Posterity . Nay , but says the Apostle , they were constituted sinners , Iudgment and Condemnation came upon them , though they had not sinned after the Similitude of Adams transgression ; the same Iudgment which in the Sanction of the Law , was threatned against Adams sin ; and now to Fob and Flam off this with Evils , Miseries , and never tell us what they were , not how it could be Just with God to Entail the least Evil upon them , or touch a Hair of their Heads for the sin of another , with whom they had no privity of Interest ; is to Reduce the sin of Adam as near to Nothing , as he has Reduced Christs Righteousness .

( 2. ) May we enquire also , Whether that Influence which he allows to Christs Obedience , reach the Mind of the Apostle ? The Apostle affirms , that By the Obedience of one , many were made Righteous ; and that by the Righteousness of one , the Free-gift came upon all to Iustification of Life , v. 18 , 19. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Many , or the many ( of whom he Treats ) shall be constituted Righteous . For as all that were in the first Adam , all his Natural Seed , were by vertue of a Legal Constitution , Ordinance , and Appointment of God , made sinners in the Transgression of their common Head and Representative ; so all the Spiritual Seed and Posterity of Christ , ( which the Father had promised to give him as the Reward of his Death and Sufferings ) are by vertue of a New , a better Law-constitution made Righteous , by the Righteousness of their spiritual Head , and Representative : And therefore the Apostle , v. 14. tells us expresly , That Adam was the Figure of Christ : He did exactly represent the Headship of Christ towards all his spiritual Posterity , in that Headship which he bore towards his own Posterity : But the Apostle has said enough in this Chapter , to stomack the Pride and Restifness of humane Wisdom ; nothing more grating upon the Spirit of a Gallant , than that he should be made a sinner by the sin , or owe his Righteousness to the Righteousness of another . This is the summe of the Apostles Discourse : As the Posterity of Adam were made sinners , constituted such by a Law , and dealt with as such by God ; so are the Posterity of Christ made Righteous , by such another way of Justification . But then I assume , The Posterity of Adam could not be made sinners by ▪ the sin of Adam , otherwise than by the Imputation of Adams sin ; therefore the Posterity of Christ could not be made Righteous otherwise in the sight of God , than by the Imputation of Christs Righteousness : The Posterity of Adam could not possibly be made sinners by Adams first sin , any other way than by charging it upon them , according to the Terms of that Law under which he and they stood ; nor are the Seed of Christ capable of being made Righteous in Gods sight , by the Obedience of Christ , otherwise than by Imputing it to them , according to that New Covenant-constitution , called the Law of Faith and Righteousness , under which Christ and Believers do now stand . But if the word Imputation do Disgust our Authors delicate Ears , let him call it what he pleases , provided the Apostles Argument be satisfied , and his main Design secured ; let us now see how our Author comes up to the Apostle . God ( says he ) was so well pleased with the Obedience and Righteousness of Christs Life , and Death , that for his sake he bestows the rewards of Righteousness on those , who according to the Rigour of the Law are not Righteous : Wherein our Author and our Apostle come not near one another by many Leagues . 1. Our Author says , God bestows the reward of Righteousness on them that are not Righteous . But our Apostle says , we are made Righteous by the Obedience of Christ , before we can be accounted Righteous by God : The Holy God will not account half Righteousness for a whole one ; sinners may mock themselves , but they cannot mock God : That which the Law requires , must be had ; the Apostle tells us , 't is to be had in Christ : By his Obedience , through the Intervention of the Law-constitution of Faith and Righteousness , Believers are made Righteous . 2. Whatever is Lurking under the darkness of these Expressions , The Rewards of Righteousness ; the Rigour of the Law ; yet this we may be sure of , that all come to this in the Up shot : That God for Christs sake has made a New Covenant of Grace , which Pardons our past Sins and Follies , and rewards a Sincere , though Imperfect Obedience . I can compare our Authors Copia Verborum , his Variegated Equipollent Phrases and Expressions , to nothing so well as that of the Chymists , when they endeavour to bind Hermes , or in plain English , their fixing of Quicksilver ; they can Model it into many accidental Forms and Shapes , and yet the Cunning versute Creature will be Mercury again , do what they can ; unless some will compare it to the Young-mans Mistress in the Fable , that Brided it for a day , or so , but yet upon the sight of her old Game , put off her Personated self , and reassumed her real self again . Such Feats of Activity have we shown us , ever and anon by our Author , he can turn his words into more Shapes than Proteus ; tell us of this and that , but when he comes to himself , All the Influence that Christs Obedience has upon our acceptance with God , is , that we owe such a Covenant to it as he has described to us , and Contrived for us : Tells us , That God for Christs sake has entered into a Covenant , made a Covenant ; his Righteousness and Obedience have procured a Covenant ; are the Meritorious cause of a Covenant ; when the total Summe of all is no more than this , That God has promised to Pardon and Save us if we Believe , and Obey the Gospel , though we Obey not perfectly . So that at last , it 's our own Obedience that Recommends us to God , our own Righteousness for which we are Iustified : Whereas the Apostle is Peremptory , That by the Obedience of Christ we are constituted Righteous .

His Conclusion is therefore this : That the Righteousness of Christ , is not the formal Cause of our Iustification ; but the Meritorious cause of that Covenant whereby we are declared Righteous , and rewarded as Righteous . I perceive the Righteousness of Christs Life , and the Obedience of his Death , are like to prove something ere long : One while they Confirm and Seal , another while they Procure , and at last they Merit a Covenant : I cannot but Examine particulars , though I have often done it . 1. The Righteousness of Christ , is not the Formal cause of our Iustification . Indeed , I think it is not : Never any Man in his Wits affirmed it so : Give but us leave to call it the Material cause , or the Meritorious cause immediately and properly of Justification ▪ and he shall take Formal cause , and deal with it at his pleasure . I think I have a Commission from all the Systematical Divines of Germany , the Voluminous Tigurines , and Bulky Low-Dutch , with those few that are left in England , to make a Bargain with him , Hard and Fast ; That the Righteousness of Christ is not the Formal cause of our Iustification . 2. Says he , It is the Meritorious cause of that Covenant whereby we are declared Righteous : A Meritorious cause sounds very high , if it had an honest Meaning : But what has it Merited ? Iustification ? By no means : What then ? Any particular Mercy , or Priviledge , or Blessing ? By no means , for then it would be a proper cause of it ; there 's an Exact and Severe proportion betwixt the Reward and the Work , in all Merit : What is it then the Meritorious cause of ? Why of a Covenant : But are we made Righteous by the Covenant ? Not at all ; only we are declared Righteous : But how does the Righteousness of Christs Life , and the Obedience of his Death , Merit such a Covenant at Gods Hands ? Nay , That he will not tell us . God was well pleased with them , but why he should be so , is a Secret which must be reserved for the coming of Elias .

( 3. ) The last thing I shall Exmine , is his Exceptions against our Interpretation of the Apostle . 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Shall ▪ be made Righteous ( says he ) is the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Shall be Iustified . Well , I agree to him : But then I say , the former Expression explains the way of our being Iustified ; that it is by Vertue of a Gospel-Law-Constitution , or Appointment of God ; who considering all Believers as one with their Redeemer , does Constitute them Just , and Righteous , ( there 's the Formal Cause ) in the Righteousness of Christ , ( there 's the Material Cause of Justification ) as all the Posterity of Adam are constituted Sinners , and liable to Condemnation by the Constitution of the old Law , as Represented by him their Common Head . 2. He excepts : That the Apostle tells us , ver. 17. Who they are that are Iustified by Christ , and shall Reign with him in Life ; not those who are Righteous by the Imputation of Christs Righteousness to them . But I do not hear the Apostle telling me one such word , whatever he has told our Author privately by way of Cabala : I hear him saying plainly , That as by one Mans offence many were made sinners , so by one Mans Obedience many were made Righteous : And because I cannot devise how possibly one Man should be made a sinner , dealt with as a sinner , Condemned and Judged as , and for a sinner , by another mans sin , unless he be some ways or other guilty of sin ; and because it is not the making of that one mans sin their own by Immitation and Example , that the Apostle speaks of , but by a constitution of a Covenant or Law : Therefore till I can find a better Term to express the Doctrine by , I shall call , Gods charging Adams sin upon his Posterity to their Condemnation , his Imputing it to them : And then because I cannot neither devise with my self , how one man should possibly be made Righteous by the Obedience of another , but that others Obedience must some way or other become his own ; and because to say Christs Obedience is ours by Imitation of his Example , is to cross the Apostles paralel , and to cross the Truth , for we Imitate it but in part and very Imperfectly ; therefore I shall take the Freedom also to call Gods constituting Believers righteous by the Obedience of Christ , his Imputing that Obedience to them for their Justification : provided always , that when more convenient and expressive Terms shall be found out , to satisfie the Apostle , this of Imputation be left indifferent : Well , but if not these , who are then ? Why those who have received the abundance of Grace , and of the Gift of Righteousness ; these are justified by Christ , these shall Reign with him in Life : It 's very true , the Apostle does tell us no less : And I cannot imagine how he should more fitly describe a justified person , that others may know him , and he should know himself , than by the Fruits and Effects of Justification , such as abundance of Grace are : For whatever our Author thinks of the Apostle , he does not use to describe a thing by it self , or something equally obscure , but by that which is more known and Obvious than the thing described : and therefore the Apostle seems not to describe Justification , but a justified Person by Sanctification : They that have received abundance of Grace , and the Gift of Righteousness , these are justified Persons ; not that Justification is from any Inherent work , but that the justified Person is only known to himself to be such , by an Inherent work , and to others by the fruits of it .

This answer , I will deal truly with my Reader , came next to hand , I had it from our Author , and I presumed he would accept a bad one of his own , before a better of another mans : The Apostle ( says he ) tells who those are that are thus justified by Christ ; Nay then , thought I , that will kill no body ; for a justified Person may be described by his Qualifications , and yet his Righteousness , wherein he stands accepted before God , not consist in those Qualifications : But to deal plainly with him , I do humbly conceive , that the Apostle describes an Imputed Righteousness by that expression ; They which receive the abundance of Grace , and the Gift of Righteousness : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 It was the over-flowing and Redundancy of Divine Love , to accept a Surety to fulfill all Righteousness , and Suffer for us ; and abundance of Grace too , to let us in by Faith into the Righteousness of Christ's Life , and the Sacrifice of Christs Death : God might have held us close , and tyed us up to the Terms of the Old Covenant , and righteously have exacted of us a Personal compleat Obedience to every jot and tittle of the Law , as the Condition of Justification ; but though he has not abated of his Law , yet he has admitted a Surety , called therefore the Surety of the Covenant ; not only because he has undertaken for God , but for us also ; for a Mediator is not of one , Gal. 3. 19. And our receiving this abundance of Grace , is not the Receiving of inherent Grace into us , but our accepting by Faith this New Gospel-Law or Constitution of God , with the whole Man , closing with this gracious way of Justifying a Believer by Christ .

But here our Author unhappily crosses me the way with one of his id est's . That is ( says he ) Those who by the Gospel of Christ , which is called Grace , the abundant Grace of God , are made Holy and Righteous . To which I say as I have sometimes said , That the Gospel ( as he describes it ) is not the Grace of God , but a real Doctrine of Justification by Works blanch'd a little to make it vendible . 2. The Gospel as it is a Revelation of Grace , is not the whole of the Grace of God ; the Gospel reveals more Grace to be in God , in Christ , in the Holy Spirit for us , than the Revelation of it : There is an Operation of Grace upon us , a Constitution of Grace with us , as well as a Revelation of Grace to us ; but this he will grant us , That Righteousness is called a Gift : so far good . But is it really a gift , or onely called so ; as Christs is called a Redeemer , called a High-Priest , called a Sacrifice ? I doubt this will prove nothing but Phraseology at last : He answers , 1. Negatively : It 's called a gift , because it is not owing solely to Humane Endeavours . Not solely ? But then it may be almost , and very near altogether owing to Humane Endeavours : The Grace of God may come in for a share , though a poor pitiful share : as he would not exclude the Righteousness of Christ wholly , totally , from having any concernment in our Iustification ; so out of his generosity he will not shut out Grace wholly , from interposing in our Sanctification . Haerebit in aliquâ saltem parte : Well , commend me to the memory of honest I. G. who , though a high trotting Arminian , would allow Free-grace ninety nine parts in the Conversion of a sinner , provided always , and upon Condition nevertheless , that Free-will might have one in a hundred : But what a Company of Rigid Bigots are these Calvinists , that will not abate one ace , not forgo a single Unite in a Hundred ? but they pretend they have no Commission to compound between Free-grace , and Free-will , and that God will not put his Right to arbitration : and indeed it were hazardous , for what sad terms had our Author made for the Rich effectual Grace of God , had the determination been put into his hands ? Righteousness is not owing solely to Humane endeavours : Natural strength , free-will , humane ability , shall have ninety nine parts in the Dividend ; and Grace that deserves all , must be content with one single lot , and perhaps a smaller pittance . And now what if this will not denominate it a gift ? just so much as you add to these Humane Endeavours , you substract from free-grace ; and whether that little , that very little concern , that grace has in this work , shall denominate it a Gift ; or that much , that very much which Humane Endeavours have in it , No gift ; must stand to the Courtesie of the Criticks , and great Masters of Language . 2. Affirmatively : It is wrought in us ( says he ) by supernatural means , by those powerful arguments and motives , and Divine assistances , which God in infinite Love hath afforded the World by Iesus Christ . I cannot express the transport of my mind at the first sound of these words ; supernatural means , powerful arguments , Divine assistances ; I began to suspect our Author was turn'd Calvinist , as he suspected Dr. Owen was turned Arminian , and with equal Reason ; for I presently found my Errour . The word Grace has a Considerable Name , and carries a good repute in the Scriptures , and therefore our Author will behave himself as decently towards it , as he can afford . But what is the meaning of these supernatural means ? Why , to speak liquidly , Means of Supernatural Revelation at best , but of no supernatural Operation : Some arguments suggested , which the light of Nature could not discover ; and some institutions , which depend meerly on the will and pleasure of God : for his powerful arguments , and Divine assistances , they are such Motives as being given by God externally , are left to the self-determining power of that great Idol , Free will : For when all is done , 't is the man who Converts himself : but this , and a great deal more , will not satisfie the claim of effectual Grace in the Conversion of a Soul to God : Who by the same power whereby Christ was raised from the dead , works Faith in the Soul , Eph. 1. 19 ; 20. Who works in us both to will and to do , of his own good pleasure , Phil. 2. 13. Who gives us the new Heart , and causes us to walk in his Statutes , Ezek. 36. 26. Who takes away the resistibility of the Soul , the stony heart , and Circumcises the Hearts of his People to Love the Lord their God with all their heart , Deut. 30. 6. But with such Cantings did Pelagius cover his abominations , talking of ineffable grace , wonderful grace , when all was but Revelation , or Grace the Name , suborned to destroy Free and effectual Grace the thing it self .

After all these windings and turnings , our Author will give us a fair account , How we may be said to b●… made Righteous by the Righteousness of Christ : I hope it shall be an honest account , as well as a fair one , and then it 's welcome ; but whose hopes could have been so vain as to flatter him , he should live to see an account , and a fair account too , given by our Author , of such a Paradox ? But we attend ; Not that his Actual Obedience is reckoned as done by us , which is impossible . There 's the Negative : And this seems to go a great way in the Account , How we may be said to be made Righteous by anothers Righteousness ? Because it 's impossible we should be righteous by anothers righteousness : But why is this so impossible ? There 's no more impossibility in it , than that Adams Disobedience should be reckoned as mine ; which if it be not , let men shift , and evade , with all their cunning , they shall never be able to justifie Gods procedure with his Posterity , in entailing evils , many evils , and Death it self upon them , for Adams sake , if they be not guilty of the Crime . Suppose we had been in Adams place , had committed his sin , eaten the forbidden Fruit , in his stead , in our own Persons , what had the penalty been in our Authors Judgment , but evils , a great many evils , Death it self ? And what in the Apostles account but Iudgment unto Condemnation ? If then the penalty of sin may be inflicted , there 's a necessity that the guilt of the sin be imputed : It 's impossible indeed , that we should Personally have committed Adams sin , or performed that very Obedience which Christ performed , but not impossible ( according to the Constitution of the Law of the two Covenants , made with the first and second Adam ) that the Disobedience of the one , or Obedience of the other , should be ●…eckoned as committed , or performed by us : And when the Apostle shall expressely tell us , That by one mans Offence we are made Sinners ; Death is passed upon us , judgement come upon all to condemnation ; and therefore , and in the same way , by the Obedience of one , many are made righteous ; I shall see very good Reason before I quit my Faith , and renounce the Apostle , upon an idle Tale of I know not what impossibilities .

Secondly , Affirmatively : Because we are made righteous both in a proper , and a Forensick sence , by the Gospel Covenant , which is wholly owing to the Grace of God , and to the Merits and Righteousness of Christ . I see now how hard it is to get our Authors Mind out of him : P. 320. The Covenant of Grace was then Owing to the Sacrifice of Christs Death , and the Righteousness of his Life : And p. 334. God for Christs sake made a New Covenant of Grace : But now it 's Wholly owing to the Grace of God , and the Merits and Righteousness of Christ : So that ,

1. If the Grace of God , and the Righteousness of Christ , be Con-causes of the Covenant , and yet their proper concerns are not distinctly meted and bounded out ; he may allow as small a share to the Righteousness of Chhrist in procuring the Covenant , as he allows the Power of God in Conversion : Righteousness is not owing solely to Humane Endeavours ; well , it may not be wholly and solely owing , and yet within a very small trifle it may be wholly and solely owing to them ; so here : This Covenant is wholly owing to Gods Grace , and the Merits and Righteousness of Christ , but how small a little singer Christ may have in it , is a Secret , and till an admeasurement be made , will be so .

2. This Covenant is wholly owing to the Grace of God , &c. Now what he understands by the Grace of God , he has often told us : Pag. 322. The Grace of God is the Gospel : And pag. 334. The Gospel is the Grace , and abundant Grace of God : And the summe of this Gospel in words at length , and not in Figures , is , A Promise of Pardon and Life to them that believe , and obey the Gospel ; and then the short and long of this Business is , That the Covenant is owing to the Covenant , or the Gospel is owing to the Gospel , or the Grace of God is owing to the Grace of God .

3. The Grace of God , and the Merits of Christ are here assigned as Con-causes of this Covenant ; Now if it be of Merit , how is it of Grace ? if of Grace , how is it of Merit ? I can easily understand how Christ should merit Pardon and Life for me , and yet that this should be of mere Grace from God , to admit anothers Merits to procure those Blessings for me , which I cannot procure to my self : But I acknowledge my own weakness , I cannot understand , How this Covenant of his should be owing both to Merit , and Free-grace ; that is , How God should make a Promise to pardon freely , without any Consideration of making the Promise , and yet Christ should merit it at Gods hands , which implies a valuable consideration . But thus it must be , when men to save the Lives of two or three sorry Crotchets , will forsake the Conduct of the Scriptures , and lean to their own Understandings ; for the Scripture assures us , that Free-grace is the only Foundation of the Covenant of Grace , and that Christ himself is the Gift of God , Joh. 4. 10. who by the Righteousness of his Life , the Sacrifice of his Death , the Power and Prevalency of his Intercession , admits us into all the Grace , and Mercy , and Benefits of that Covenant , with Security to Gods Honour , and the Repute of all his Attributes . But ▪

4. This is no fair or tolerable Account , How we may be said to be made righteous by the righteousness of Christ , because the Covenant is owing to his Righteousness , ( if it had been owing to it ; ) for , as fair an Account may be given , How we may be said to be made righteous by the Virgin Mary . If we may be said to be made righteous by any thing , to which that thing is owing by which we are really made righteous , then we may be said to be made righteous by the Virgin Mary : We are properly made righteous ( according to our Author ) by our own Obedience ; that this Obedience makes us so , is owing to the Covenant ; that Covenant is owing to the Obedience of Christ ; his Obedience is owing to his Nativity ; his Nativity to his Mother ; and that may be run up in the Genealogical Scale as high as Adam ; and thus at this rate , we may be said to be justified by Adam . And for this he has wisely made a reserve : A fair Account how we may be said ; that 's All. Not that we are so , but that we may be said to be so ; and the Mystery of it lyes here . The Scripture has said , that we are made righteous by Christs Obedience ; and we take it for granted , that the Scripture had not said it , unless it had been really true : but there are some , who doe not believe it to be really true ; and therefore they must set their wits awork , to find out how it may possibly be said to be true , and yet not really be so ; that so they may neither throw the Lye directly in the face of the Apostles , nor yet be compelled to wave their own Unbelief .

But it seems there is a two-fold sence in which we may be said to be made righteous by the Gospel-Covenant .

1. Sect. A Proper Sence ; which is this . The great Arguments , and Motives , and powerfull Assistances of the Gospel , form our Minds to the love and practice of Holiness , and so make us inherently righteous . What needed all this pother and stir to no purpose ? The Righteousness of Christ contributes something , ( though he cannot tell what ) to the Gospel-Covenant ; this Gospel-Covenant contains , Promises and Duties , or Motives , Arguments , Reasons to Obedience ; now when these Promises prevail with us to love and practise those Duties , to perform that Obedience , then we become inherently righteous in a proper sence ; and so that none may take it ill , they shall have liberty to say , that we are made righteous by the righteousness of Christ : His Righteousness or Obedience was an excellent Pattern of , a strong Motive to our being righteous . Two things I shall oppose to this .

( 1. ) That to be made inherently righteous , is not the proper sence of being made righteous : This was indeed the proper sence of being Righteous under the Covenant of Works ; when a perfect , exact , compleat inherent Holiness , was the Matter of Justification before God ; and when it was attainable ; and it shall be once more the proper sence of being made righteous in Heaven , where the spirits of just men are made perfectly perfect ; but to us , in the way , it 's not the proper sence of being made righteous , but a Figurative sence , as we may call an Aethiopian white , because his teeth are so ; and it must be a stretching Synechdoche that will denominate a Christian Righteous by inherent Righteousness , if he shall compare the Attainments of a Pilgrim with the perfect Law of God ; but the proper sence of being made righteous , is that of the Apostle , Rom. 5. 20. By the Obedience of one Man many shall be made righteous ; made so perfectly and compleatly by the Constitution of the Law of Righteousness and Faith : for thus we are compleat in Christ , Coloss. 2. 10. through whom we are presented to God , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; unblameable , and unreproveable in Gods sight : so pure , that there is not a spot or blemish to be found in a Believer in the sight of God himself ; which upon the Account of inherent Righteousness , is impossible . Inherent Righteousness is properly Righteousness ( for so much as there is of it , ) but it is so imperfect , that it will not denominate any man properly righteous in the sight of God .

(2) There is another thing which mightily discomposes this kind of Argumentation : We may be said to be made righteous by the Righteousness of Christ in a proper sence . Why so ? Oh! Because the Righteousness of Christ is one of those great Arguments of the Gospel that forms our Minds to the Love and practice of Holiness , and so makes us inherently righteous . Which is this ; The Righteousness of Christ , and our Righteousness , hang so loosely and contingently together , that it seems very absurd , to ascribe the Effect of the latter to the former : If indeed the Righteousness of Christ did properly , necessarily , and infallibly produce an inherent Righteousness in us , it were warrantable to say , we were made righteous by it ; but when the Connexion is so accidental , so uncertain , that the Effect depends upon our own Free-will ( as in the New Theology it does ) we cannot properly be said to be made righteous in this sence by his Righteousness : For when all these Arguments and Motives have done their best , That which does the work , is , Free-will and Humane Endeavour ; and therefore properly are we said to be made Righteous by them .

2. Sect. A Forensick sence ; which is this . The Grace of the Gospel accepts and rewards that sincere and Evangelical Obedience , which according to the Rigour and Severity of the Law , could deserve no reward . This Forensick , is a hard word ; and if I might presume to soften it a little with Interpretation , it should be thus : A Forensick sence of Justification , is a sence borrowed from Courts of Judicature , where the Judge absolving or acquitting a Prisoner of those Crimes wherewith he stood charged , does not doe it by making him innocent or honest , by infusing into him the Habits of Vertue ; but onely declares , That according to the Evidence he is found Innocent , Righteous , Just , and therefore , as the Law acquits him , so the Judge as the Minister of the Law declares him to be acquitted . Now the Question is , Whether our Author has given us a true Forensick sence of Iustification , or no ? His Sence is this : The Grace of the Gospel accepts , and rewards that sincere and Evangelical Obedience , which according to the Severity and Rigour of the Law , deserves no reward : which seems to me so far from a Forensick sence , that it 's the Forensick Non-sence of Justification ; for does a Judge pronounce and declare him righteous , whom the Law says , is unrighteous ? Can he justifie him whom the Law condemns ? The Judge sits not there as a good Natur'd Man , with a Chancery of Charity in his own breast , but as a Righteous Governour , to render to every man according to his works , weighed in the Ballance of that Law by which he is to judge : And shall we dare to fancy , that the Grace of the Gospel will pronounce that Man righteous , reward that Man as righteous , who is not righteous by the Law of God , if that be the Law by which he must be Condemned or Acquitted ? I will grant , that in a Criminal Cause , which by the Law deserves Bodily Punishment , if the Constitution of the Law will Allow it , the Judge may lay the Punishment of the Guilty Person upon another who will freely undergoe it , or that which is equivalent in the eye of the Law to it ; and acquit him , that in the first Consideration of the Law was not innocent : Let us apply it . God is the righteous Iudge of all the World , and by his Eternal Holy Law he will Judge the Sons of Men ; so true is God to his own Law , that he will not acquit and justifie him whom the Law condemns , nor Condemn him whom his Law Acquits , nor is it possible he should : To say the Sinner is righteous by the Verdict of his Law , when by the Verdict of the Law he is not righteous , is not consistent with the Veracity of that God who cannot lye : But there is another Law , the Law of Righteousnesse and Faith , which Sovereign Grace has set up , and this admits the satisfaction of Another , admits a Sacrifice , a Surety , even Jesus Christ the righteous , whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood , to declare his Righteousness , that he may be just , and the Iustifier of him that believes in Iesus : If now according to the Terms of this New Law of Grace , the Righteousness and Sufferings of this Jesus may be accepted for the Delinquents , then will there a genuine sence of a Forensick Iustification be found out . Yet let us examine these things further :

[1] The Grace of the Gospel ( says he ) accepts and rewards that sincere Obedience . Let it be supposed he means the Grace of God , declared in the Gospel ; yet this is so far from being Grace , that it is not good Moral Vertue : Is that Grace , or something that deserves Another Name , to declare an Offender to be righteous when he is not so ? to pronounce he has kept the Law , when he has broken it ? and yet thus must the Grace of the Gospel speak , if it declares him righteous in a Forensick sence , who is a Violator of the Law , and yet has no Substitute to keep it for him : Here is some Provision made for an Imaginary Grace , to the destruction of real Iustice ; whereas , in the true Covenant of Grace there is a blessed Accord of all Gods Attributes , Mercy and Truth have met together , Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other .

[2] If it be the Grace of God , or the Gospel , that accepts this sincere Obedience , then how do we owe this to the Righteousness of Christ ? what Influence has that upon God , to move him to accept and reward that sincere , yet imperfect Obedience , which his Law will not accept ? This is the thing that remains in the Clouds still , and upon our Authors Hypothesis must lodge there Eternally .

[3] Our Author fancies a Rigour and Severity in the Law ; now what that should be , is not easily conceivable : Is it any of the Ten Commandements which is so rigorous above the rest ? which is it ? or how many are there of them ? and where has God dispensed with them , or it ? or what part of the Law is it , the external or the internal part , wherein the Rigour of the Law lies ? or is it no certain thing , but left to Discretion ? such as hath a latitude , in some greater , in some less ? or rather , is not this Rigour of the Law ( as 't is here applyed ) a great Name of Blasphemy , and reproach against the Law , and therein the Law-giver , all whose Commands , and every part and parcel thereof , are holy , just , and good ? And in a word , if God can dispence with his Law , and indulge the Violation of it , what Reason can be given , why he may not dispense with all the rest ? Why so he may , if our Author say true , p. 45. That part of Justice which consists in Punishing Offenders , was alwayes look'd on as an Instrument of Government , and therefore the exacting , or remitting Punishment , was referred to the Wisdom of Governours , who might Spare or Punish as they saw Reason , without being unjust in either . And therefore he concludes , There was no Necessity for such a Sacrifice as the Death of Christ , for the Expiation of Sin .

He is now drawing his Conclusion , and I hope will draw to a Conclusion . So that our Righteousness is wholly owing to the Righteousness of Christ . I am in hope it will be owing to something before he has done . A little before , it was owing ( not solely indeed , but almost ) to humane Endeavours , and now the Debt is transferred , wholly to the Righteousness of Christ . And yet he flies higher in his Complements , to the Righteousness of Christ : Which ( says he ) in this sence may be said to be Imputed to us , because without this Covenant which is founded on the Righteousness of Christ , the best man Living could lay no claim to Righteousness or future Glory . And is it come to this ? Is there a sence , wherein the Righteousness of Christ may be said to be Imputed to us ? And must all men be Reviled and Persecuted with Scurrility , because they cannot Jump just into his Sence ? And yet the sence of this way of Imputation is Invisible : Was it not possible for God to pardon without respect to Christ ? O yes ! Could he not reward sincere Obedience without regard to Christ ? O yes ! Could he not accept him that walkt uprightly before him , without any consideration had of Christs Righteousness ? Oh yes ! Could not God have promised to do all this , as well as do it without a promise ? No doubt of that : Why then might not the best man Living lay claim to that which God promised , upon performance of the condition of which he promised it ? Yes , indeed he might , had God promised it ; but before the appearance of Christ in the Flesh , he made no such promise : Well then , all we have got by the Bargain is a promise that God will do that now , which he always would have done , and did do ( though not promise that he would do ) before the appearance of Christ , and if he never had appeared . If then this be the only sence in which Christs Righteousness may be said to be imputed to us ; it may be said to be imputed in no sence at all ; for it gives us no right upon which we may make a claim , only an evidence of right , whereby we may lay claim to Righteousness and future Glory : But why might not the best man living lay claim to Righteousness and future Glory ? Why , he supposes there was no such Covenant in the World before the appearance of Christ ; and he supposes that this Covenant was founded upon the Obedience , and Sacrifice of Christ . Here must needs be a great mistake .

1. Upon his own Principles . For pag. 252. he asserts , That Natural Religion is founded upon Natural Demonstrations , that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him : And that upon this Foundation , Abel and Enoch , proceeded in their serving of God , pag. 253. And that they pleased God by their Obedience , the Apostle assures us , Heb. 11. 4 , 5. And that Abel obtained witness that he was Righteous : And that Enoch before his Translation had this Testimony , that he pleased God . Now that which God Spoke by Natural Demonstration , to that , upon their diligent seeking of Him , they might lay claim ; but God Spoke by Natural Demonstration , that he was a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him , therefore to that Reward they might lay claim : Yes , no doubt , a claim to that Reward , But what was that ? A meer Temporal transitory Reward . And was that all the Reward that righteous Abel was to have for his Sacrifice , for his serving of God ? Doubtless , for he was presently Murder'd for it . And was that all the reward that holy Enoch might claim ? Doubtless , for Good took him , Ttranslated him to a better Life , for before his Translation , he received this Testimony that he pleased God .

2. There 's a mistake upon better Principles : That which God Spoke by Revelation , to that they might lay claim ; but God Spoke to Abraham by Revelation , that upon his walking uprightly before him , He would be his God ; therefore Abraham upon his walking uprightly before God , might lay claim to it , that God should be his God . Ay , ( says our Author ) Be his God : No doubt of 〈◊〉 : But what does that signifie ? This was one of the great difficulties that lay in his way , to believe that Abraham was justified by Christ . For then , We must be well assured , that the Blessings promised to Abraham were Spiritual Blessings , pardon of Sin , and Eternal Life : And therefore this is Ignoratio Elenchi : But I profess my Name on the other side . And that the Promise that God would be Abrahams God , comprehended all that ever God Promised , or could promise to any of the Sons of Men : When God could Swear by no greater , he Swore by Himself ; and when he could promise no thing greater , he promised Himself : I will be thy God , is the Abstract and Epitome of the whole Covenant of Grace : 'T is that Gold in the Lump , which was afterwards beaten out into greater breadth , but still of the same weight . Summe up all the particular Promises in the Gospel , and the total Summe is no more than this , I will be thy God . And therefore when the Apostle gives us the Covenant of Grace , Heb. 8. 10 , 11 , 12. He describes it thus , I will be their God , and they shall be my People : That he will Write his Laws in their Hearts , that he will pardon their Iniquities , are some of the particulars included in that comprehensive Promise , I will be their God .

3. That which the Saints guided by the Infallible Spirit laid claim to , that they might justly lay claim to ; but the Saints guided by the Infallible Spirit , laid claim to an Eternal Reward , therefore to that Reward they might justly lay claim , Psal. 73. 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy Counsel , ( here below in my Passage and Pilgrimage ) and afterwards ( when I have run my Race , and finisht my Course ) receive me to Glory .

The Epilogue to the whole is this : The Righteousness of Christ is our Righteousness , when we speak of the Foundation of the Covenant , by which we are accepted ; but if we speak of the Termes of the Covenant , then we must have a Righteousness of our own : The Righteousness of Christ will not serve the turn ; Christs Righteousness and our own are both necessary to Salvation : The first as the Foundation of the Covenant , the other as the Condition of it .

Two things are here asserted : First , that Christs Righteousness is the Foundation of the Covenant : Secondly , that our Righteousness is the Condition of the Covenant . A brief Examination of which things , shall ease the Reader of any further attendance upon these Discourses .

[ 1. ] The Righteousness of Christ is the Foundation of the Covenant of Grace : Let us hear his Proofs ; not a word : Peracta est haec Fabula Spectatores valete & plaudite . We have heard of Procuring , Meriting , Founding a Covenant , but not a syllable of Evidence : Methinks I see the Reader filled with shame and wonder ; wonder , that he who could so pleasantly scoff at the Scripture Expressions of building upon Christ as on a Foundation , p. 105. and so merrily inveigh against Dr. Owen for asserting Christ to be the only Foundation of our Communion with God , should now so zealously talk for Christs being the Foundation of the Covenant ; and shame , that after such expectations of Proof , he should find himself bilk'd in the stock . That the Reader may not wholly therefore lose his pains , I shall entertain him with my own apprehensions in this matter .

The Covenant of Grace may be considered either in i●…'s Constitution , or Execution : The Constitution of the Covenant is Gods firm and unchangeable purpose of saving his Elect , to the praise of his glorious Grace : For the word Covenant , which in the English Notion has seduced our Understandings , in the Hebrew 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and the Greek 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by which the Spirit of God expresses those things to us , signifie a disposition , appointment , or ordering of Matters ; whether there be restipulation or no : Thus the fixed purpose , the determinate Counsel of God in Scripture is called a Covenant , though the things about which that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Counsel of God is conversant be not capable of re-promising any thing , and have onely an Obediental Capacity in them answering the absolute extraordinary Power of God . Thus Ier. 33. 20. If you can break my Covenant of the day , and my Covenant of the night , that there should not be day and night in their Season , ver. 25. Thus saith the Lord , If my Covenant be not with day and night , and if I have not appointed the Ordinances of Heaven ; where Gods fixed Law concerning the Succession of Day and Night to the period of all time , is called his Covenant ; and which is still more to our purpose , by the stability of this grand Law of Nature , he is pleased to instruct us in the fixedness of his better Covenant , that of Grace , ver. 21. Then may also my Covenant be broken with David my Servant , ver. 26. Then will I cast away the Seed of Jacob , and David my Servant . This purpose of God , this disposition of Grace is immutable , Rom. 9. 11. That the purpose of God according to Election might stand . The Execution of this fixed Constitution follows : which is Gods wise and gracious managing of all things for the accomplishment of that glorious design , which he had in the prospect of his Eternal Counsel , which he steddily and regularly pursues through all the vicissitudes that his mutable Creature was obnoxious to , whilst man stood , God pursued his Counsel in giving him a Holy Law to guide him , Seconded and back'd with promises and threatnings ; when Man with drew from God , yet God could not deny himself , but devolves this great Affair into the hand of a Mediator , who with equal readiness and satisfaction in that Seed that should be given him as the purchase of his undertaking , addresses himself to this glorious work of Recovering them back again to God ; and when the fulness of time was come , took upon him our Nature , partook of our Flesh and Blood , because the Children whom God had committed to him were partakers of it : This Redeeming Mediator undertakes with God as a Righteous Iudge , that he may not lose the glory of any of his Attributes , and unto God as a Father , that he shall not lose any of the Children that he had given him ; and therefore he becomes a Priest , a Sacrifice ; a price of Ransom , a Curse , to satisfie the Judge and his Law ; and a Prophet and King to recover us Actually in our state to God . Thus is he the onely Foundation , 1 Cor. 3. 12. The Foundation , not of the Constitution , but of the Execution of the Covenant .

1. On Gods part ; whatever grace and mercy was in his eternal purpose , that is given out to us by Jesus Christ : The Promises are made by free-grace as their Reason , but made good by Jesus Christ , as the means of procuring the promised Mercy , which had been forfeited ; for all the promises of God in him are yea , and Amen , 2 Cor. 1. 20. He accepts us in the beloved , Eph. 1. 6. Forgives us through him , ver. 7. Iustifies us by Christ , Rom. 3. 24. Sanctifies , and saves us by Christ , Tit. 3. 4 , 5 , 6. And , 2. On our part ; through him we approach to God , John 14. 6. Heb. 10. 19 , 20. By him we believe in God , 1 Pet. 1. 21. He is our hope of Glory , Col. 1. 27. He is the ground of our Faith , the Foundation upon which our Souls are laid , 1 Pet. 2. 5. To whom coming as to a living stone , we also as lively stones are built up a Spiritual house : Thus is he the Foundation of conveying all the blessings of the Covenant to us , Eph. 1. God blesseth us with all Spiritual blessings in Christ : but that Christ is the Foundation of the Covenant it self , that I crave leave to deny , and to render the Reasons of my denial .

1. Sect. Christ cannot be the Foundation of the Covenant , because Christ himself is promised in the Covenant , as the great Comprehensive Blessing of the Covenant , Isa. 49. 8 , 9. I will give thee for a Covenant , that thou maist say to the Prisoners , go forth , to them that are in darkness , shew your selves . Whence it 's evident , first , that the free-love of the Father is the Reason of his giving his Son to be our Deliverer ; Secondly , that Christ is the great undertaker to Execute that Counsel of God in our actual Deliverance , Luke 1. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel , who hath Visited , and Redeemed his People , and hath raised up a Horn of Salvation in the House of his Servant David , as he spake by the mouth of his Holy Prophets which have been since the world began , — ver. 72. To perform the Mercy promised to our Fathers , and to remember his holy Covenant , the Oath which he sware to our Father Abraham ; where the firm Oath and Covenant of God to Redeem his People is assigned as the Reason of his giving Christ to be a Redeemer . The places are too many to be insisted on that confirm this Truth . Iohn 3. 16. 1 Iohn 4. 9 , 10.

2. Sect. Free grace is given as the true Reason of the Covenant of Grace , Heb. 8. 8. For finding fault with them , he saith , behold the days come , saith the Lord , that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel , &c. They were a faulty , an undeserving , an ill-deserving People , yet Free grace will make a Covenant with them : Nor is there any opposition between Free-grace and Christs Merits in this Case : if we consider that Free-grace is the Original Reason of Gods designation , and purpose to bestow the good things of the Covenant ; and the Righteousness of Christs Life , and the Sacrifice of his Death the way of recovering these Mercies , which by sin had been forfeited and lost .

3. Sect. The Scriptures give us no intimation that Christ is the Foundation of Gods making this Covenant , or the Original Reason of Gods design to bestow the Mercies of the Covenant , though it abounds with Testimonies that Christ is the way of procuring for us , and conveying to us these intended mercies ; and in those things which depend upon mere good pleasure , Revelation must be our onely guide : In this case we may conclude Negatively , Non credimus quia non legimus : And we may shrewdly conjecture that there is no pretence from Scripture for this Figment of our Authors , because it 's the Foundation of all his mistakes , and yet he has not so much as attempted the perverting of one Scripture to give colour to it , which may be reckoned amongst the Admiranda Nili .

[ 2. ] His other Assertion is this , Our own Righteousness is the condition of the Covenant , which with his former Assertion is obtruded upon us without proof , and therefore I suppose he intends they must both be maintained at the Charges of the Parish : Now ,

1 , It is agreed , for ought I know , that an inherent righteousness is a necessary condition of eternal Salvation , Heb. 12. 14. Without Holiness no man shall see God . It is a Condition in the Covenant , though not of the Covenant ; such a Condition , as is due to every Person in a Covenant-state ; it doth necessarily attend that state , though it be not allowed as antecedent to a Covenant-state .

2. As to the Constitution of the Covenant in Gods purpose and Counsel , I know no condition at all . They that talk of the right use of free-will , future Faith , or good works fore-seen as the Reason of that purpose , talk without book , and onely intimate what a rare Covenant they would have made for us , had they had the modelling , and Contrivance of it ; like him that boasted , that if he had stood by God when he formed Man , he could have told him , how to have made him more commodiously , Rom. 9. 11. The Children being not yet born , neither having done any good , or evil . Where those words [ neither having done any good , or evil , ] must necessarily exclude all respect to the future good or evil they should do , ( as the Reason of the purpose of God according to Election : ) because it 's evident by the form of speech . That they deny something more concerning the Children , than the former words , [ being not yet born ] and yet even they exclude , Having done good or evil Actually .

3. The Question then is , whether An inherent Righteousness be the Condition required of us and in us , antecedent to our first Covenant-state ? And I durst leave this Matter to be determined by the Church of England , if our Author would do so too : Art. 17. Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God , whereby before the Foundation of the World was laid , he hath constantly decreed by his Counsel secret to us , to deliver from Curse and Damnation , those whom he hath chosen out of Mankind in Christ , and to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation ; whence we are taught , 1. That Election is not of all Mankind , but of some out of Mankind . 2. That this purpose of God was from everlasting . 3. That it is a fixed constant decree . 4. That the Design of it is to deliver those chosen out of Mankind , from the curse , under which Mankind was fallen : and to bring them to everlasting Salvation . 5. That the Reason of this eternal Election was his own counsel . 6. That the Execution of this Decree is in and by Iesus Christ ; and the manner of it follows . Wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a benefit , be called according to the purpose of God ; working in due season by his Spirit . They through Grace obey the calling , they be justified freely , they be made the Sons of God by Adoption , they be made like the Image of his onely begotten Son , they walk Religiously in good works , and at length by Gods mercy , they attain everlasting felicity . Whence we are Instructed , 1. That the calling of the Elect to a Covenant-state is from Grace as the reason , and by Grace as it's efficient . 2. Their obeying that call of God is by Grace . 3. Good works necessarily follow effectual calling : See also Art. 10. 12 , 13. 4. Religious walking with God in good works is a necessary condition of eternal Felicity . 5. That there is such a firm connexion in this golden chain of Salvation , that no one linck can possibly be broken : They are Elected freely , called effectually , justified freely , Adopted graciously , Sanctified gradually , walk Religiously , and at length by the mercy of God are saved eternally , which the Apostle gives us more concisely , Rom. 8. 30. Moreover whom he did Predestinate , them he a so called ; and whom he called , them he also justified ; and whom he justified , them he also Glorified : I conclude then that our own righteousness is not the condition of the Covenant of Grace , neither of the designment of the Father , nor the procurement of the Son , nor of the effectual Operation of the Holy Spirit , nor of our Covenant-state , nor of our Covenant-right , nor of the first Covenant-mercy ; but of many after-mercies , and of Eternal Salvation it is the condition .

1. Sect. That is not the Condition of the Covenant required of us on our part , which God promises to work in us on His part ; but God has promised to work in us Inherent-righteousness , both Root and Fruit , Ezek. 36. 26 , 27. A new Heart also will I give you , and I will put my Spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my Statutes , and ye shall keep my Iudgments , and do them .

2. Sect. That which God in Covenant bestows , cannot be the Condition of a Covenant-state , but God in Covenant bestows the new Heart , for new Obedience , Deut. 30. 6. The Lord thy God will Circumcise thy Heart , to love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart , and with all thy Soul .

3. Sect. That which presupposes other Covenant-mercies antecedent to it , cannot be the condition of the first Covenant-Blessing , and therefore not the condition of a Covenant-state : but our own righteousness presupposes other Covenant-blessings antecedent to it ; Ezek. 36. 26. I will take away the Heart of stone out of your Flesh , and give you an Heart of Flesh : the Natural Heart must be Circumcised , the hard heart removed , a soft heart bestowed before we can perform new Obedience , out of which our own righteousness results . When therefore our Author says , That Christs righteousness and our own are both necessary to Salvation : He says true , and ( which is necessary to all Truth ) that which overthrows his main design . For if Christs righteousness be necessary to our Salvation , ( not onely to the promise of it ) then no Salvation can be had without that righteousness : but if it be onely necessary to a promise of that Salvation , then it is not necessary to Salvation ; for Salvation ( according to his Principles ) has been obtained without a promise of Salvation , ( otherwise the Patriarchs before Christ could not be eternally saved , whom he supposes to have had no such promise ) and so it may still ; for Obedience performed will save , though it want that great promise for it's encouragement . And whereas he says , That Christs Righteousness is the Foundation , but not the Condition of the Covenant ; what policy there may be in using the Metaphor of a Foundation I cannot tell ; but this I know : A Foundation is a necessary Condition to the superstructure raised upon it .

I have now attended him through all the Labyrinths of this tedious Discourse , whence the Reader will learn at least how impossible it is for Error to be Consonant to it self : As the two Milstones grind one another , as well as the grain ; and as the extreme Vices oppose each other as well as the intermediate vertue that lies between them : So have all Errors this fate ( and 't is the best quality they are guilty of ) that they Duel one another with the same heat that they oppose the Truth . The Remainder of his Book is so full of falshoods in matter of fact , reproaches of the Truth , and immerited bitterness against the Living , and the Dead , that I could not perswade my self to give the Reader any further trouble with them at present ; but a small invitation will draw out the second Part : In the mean time I do solemnly protest , that as I have no Personal Quarrel with this Gentleman , so I have not willingly wronged his Discourse in the smallest instance : The worst I wish him is , that he may seasonably repent of his injurious dealing with the Scriptures , and his unworthy treatment of those Persons who have deserved well of Religion , and the Common-wealth of Learning , and not ill of himself : I cannot deny but that his provoking way of writing , his unjust censures of the Innocent , and above all , his Drolling faculty , exercised upon sacred things , have sometimes tempted me to a return , not so agreeable to my Natural inclinations . I hope the Reader will consider not onely how , but what I have written ; nor onely what , but upon what provocations it has been written : Let Cause be compared with Cause , the moments of Reasons with Reasons ; let the little Vagaries , and impertinces be brusht off ; and then let the indifferent , and impartial Reader moderate between us : And if he shall meet with any Truth of the Gospel cleared or vindicated , let him give God the more praise , who by such improbable means , as Clay and Spittle , can open his Eyes to the acknowledgment of the Truth ; and secure him against the Impostures and Apostacy of these latter times : and what ever of Vanity and Folly he meets with in these Papers , let him be assured that's my own ; and that it may not prejudice the concerns of Christ , let him freely trample it under his Feet .

FINIS .

A Catalogue of some Books printed , and sold by Nath. Ponder at the Peacock in Chancery ▪ Lane near Fleetstreet .

First .

EXercitations on the Epistle to the Hebrews ; also concerning the Messiah : Wherein the Promises concerning Him to be a Spiritual Redeemer of Mankind , are explained and vindicated , &c. With an Exposition of , and Discourses on the two first Chapters of the said Epistle to the Hebrews . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in Folio .

2. Exercitations on the Epistle to the Hebrews , concerning the Priesthood of Christ ; wherein the original Causes , Nature , Prefigurations and Discharge of that holy Office are explained and vindicated . The Nature of the Covenant of the Redeemer , with the Call of the Lord Christ unto his Office , are declared ; And the Opinions of the Socinians about it are fully examined , and their Oppositions unto it refuted . With a Continuation of the Exposition on the third , fourth and fifth Chapters of the said Epistle to the Hebrews , being the second Volumn . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in Folio .

3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Or , A Discourse concerning the Holy Spirit . Wherein an Account is given of his Name , Nature , Personality , Dispensation , Operations and Effects . His whole Work in the Old and New Creation is explained ; the Doctrine concerning it vindicated from Oppositions and Reproaches . The Nature also , and Necessity of Gospel-Holiness ; the difference between Grace and Morality , or a Spiritual Life unto God in Evangelical Obedience , and a course of Moral Vertues , are stated and declared . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in Folio .

4. A Practical Exposition on the 130 Psalm : wherein the Nature of the Forgiveness of Sin is declared ; the Truth and Reality of it asserted ; and the Case of a Soul distressed with the Guilt of Sin , and relieved by a Discovery of Forgiveness with God , is at large discoursed . By Io. Owen , D. D. in Quarto .

5. Londons Lamentations ; or , a sober , serious Discourse concerning the late Fiery Dispensation . By Mr. Thomas Brooks , late Preacher of the Word at St. Margarets NewFis●…street , London , in Quarto .

6. Liberty of Conscience upon its true and proper grounds asserted and vindicated , &c. To which is added the Second Part , viz. Liberty of Conscience the Magistrates Interest . By a Protestant , a Lover of Truth , and the Peace and Prosperity of the Nation ; in Quarto . The second Edition .

Large Octavo's .

7. A Discourse of the Nature , Power , Deceit and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling-Sin in Believers . Together with the ways of its working , and means of prevention . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in Octavo .

8. Truth and Innocency vindicated : in a Survey of a Discourse concerning Ecclesiastical Polity , and the Authority of the Civil Magistrate over the Consciences of Subjects in matters of Religion . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in Octavo .

9. Exercitations concerning the Name , Original , Nature , Use , and Continuance of a Sacred Day of Rest ; wherein the Original of the Sabbath from the foundation of the World , the Morality of the fourth Commandment , with the change of the Sabbath-Day , are enquired into : Together with an Assertion of the Divine Institution of the Lord's Day . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in Octavo . The second Impression .

10. Evangelical Love , Church-Peace and Unity . By. Io. Owen , D. D.

11. The Unreasonableness of Atheism made manifest ; in a Discourse to a Person of Honour . By Sir Charles Wolselay , Baronet . Third Impression .

12. The Reasonableness of Scripture-Belief . A Discourse giving some Account of those Rational Grounds upon which the Bible is received as the Word of God . Written by Sir Charles Wolseley , Baronet .

13. The Rehearsal transpres'd , or Animadversions upon a late Book , intituled , A Preface , shewing what Grounds there are of fears and jealousies of Popery . The first Part. By Andrew Marvel , Esq.

14. The Rehearsal transpros'd ; the second Part. Occasioned by two Letters : the first printed by a nameless Author , intituled , A Reproof , &c. the second , A Letter left at a friends house , dated Nov. 3. 1673. subscribed I. G. and concluding with these words , If thou darest to print or publish any Lye or Libel against Dr. Parker , by the Eternal God I will cut thy throat . Answered by Andrew Marvel .

15. Theopolis , or the City of God , New Ierusalem ; in opposition to the City of the Nations , Great Babylon . By Henry D'anvers , in Octavo .

16. A Guide for the Practical Gauger ; with a Compendium of Decimal Arithmetick . Shewing briefly the whole Art of Gauging of Brewers Tuns , Coppers , Backs , &c. also the Mash or Oyl-Cask ; and Sybrant Hantz his Table of Area's of Segments of a Circle ; the Mensuration of all manner of Superficies . By William Hunt , Student in the Mathematicks , in Octavo .

17. Anti-Sozzo , sive Sherlocismus Enervatus : In Vindication of some Great Truths Opposed , and Opposition to some Great Errors Maintained by Mr. William Sherlock .

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Hoc est Domus Mosaicae Clavis : sive Legis Sepimentum .

Authore Iosepho Cooper Anglo , in Octavo .

A Vindication of some Passages in a Discourse concerning Communion with God , from the Exceptions of William Sherlock Rector of St. George Buttolph-Lane . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in Octavo .

A brief Declaration and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity . By Iohn Owen , D. D. in 12.