.Book 11. )l.um.pr. - th-;L~rdJefusChrift: is no" this the meaning of the Apon!e? ,;~:~~· (;;;;/;: 11 /, frr fon.h to be a 1roptttattofl throl!_g~ fa~th m hu b~ood, to drcl~1re Jn, rt'!,huou(tu:[J _fo•· th~ remifli011 offins. Pond~r, and we.gh rhefe words 1 .. God fers n_or fonl1 Chnfl to be a propitiJ– uon to decbre onely Ins mercy m. the forg1venefs of fmnes: how ? is there any tl'in• but rurcy in the forgivenefs of ltns .- yes, there is fomctbing elfc, there is rio~ mufnr)sa!fo. and therefore he harh fet fonh Chri!l to be a ;n~opiliation,that he mightde- ,.e,f.J6. c/are bu nglmoufne[s ;,nay, fee 1t repeated, 10 dal;-re I j.ty ha righrcoufnefs, that 1,. rm.f.!Jt be .iuft, 1111d the Jll]tificr. of k'm. n·hiCh be!tevetiJ tn /<fru ; no.t that he might be mer– ctful,but that he tmght be JUflm JUfld'ymg lum that btlte1·eth tn Jefus. This rexr Lu– ther h~d a. great. deal ado to underll:and, and he praled much before he could get the right meanmg of It. Thisisrhe·great·myflery of the Gofpel; no wonder ifa poor man could nor reach it: Thts ts that whtch f~t the mfimte wtfdom_e _of God on work fromall eternity, how to find a way tO f1ve _hnners,. and to be mfimtely righteous notwithll:anding. ----Nay , yet 0 my loule conftder'. a ht_tle further, not ondy 1> the me~cyof 9od 111 this way glo– nfied_, but the glory oflus JUfhce ts as much, yea more then 1t the fmner were eternally damned : ---lt is made good thus.--- I. Whe1~ God ·appointed a furety , his Son, and charged our debts upon him to fatlshe hts Jllfltce: 111 that Ood would not Ipare hts Son 1he leaf! farthing token I mean, not the leall: degree of punilhment, hereby the Lord lhewes a ll:ronaer love to jn– frice then iCte had damned ten thoufand,thoufanJ creatures. Suppofe a M~efactor com<s before a Judge, the Judge wiU not fpare the Malefactor, but commands fatisfaction ro theLaw;this lltewes that the Judge loves juf!icr; ·but iftheJudge! ownSon be adelinquent, and it appears .before all rhe Country that the Judgwill not fpare him, the Judge now doth more, honour juflice in this rben in condemning a thoufand others : So when the Lord lhall cafl many rhoufands to hell there to be tormented for ever, and ever, and ever this lltewes that God loves-jufiice; but when his own Son lltall take our fins upon him: Rom,8.31. and God will not fpare him, (that is the very word in rhe Scripture, he (pare not hi< own Son) this, furely this declares God, love to righteoufnefs more then if all the World fhould be damned. ' 2. Suppofe the !Inner that isreconciled had [~en damned, then the juflice of God had been but '" f1cisfy ing, and nl'l er had been fu'ly f.tti,fied: but in that way that God hatbfound out to iave a fi nner,hi< juilicc is not on·ly fa·i;fyiog, but it comes fully to be fatisfied , to have enough. As fur inttance, fuppofe a man to be a creditor to one, who ows him 1ooocoL till> man Js poor, and the urmofl he can pay i> 'but a penny a day; fuppofe the creditor IJJould by him in the Goale until he had paid the ut moll: farthing, it is true he would be recetving day after day, but he would never be paid Jo long as the debtor lives; now tf another rich manllwuld come, and lay down an tooooo /. at once, the creditQr is prefenrly fatisfied. Why here is the difference betwixt Gods fati>fying his jufiice upon !inners, and upon Jefus Chrill:; God comes upon the !inner, and re– quires the debt of pnnifhmem, becaufe he did not pay the debt of obedience: God calls him into Frifon, and the urmo!l: he can pay is but (as it were) a penny a day; and hence the poor !inner mull: ll:ill be paying, and paying, and paying to eternity: this is the ground of their eternal punilhmem in hell, becaufe in any finite tirr.e they can never pay enough: But now comes {eji<s Chrift, and he fully payes the debt at once, fo that juflice faith, I hm:JtenMgh, 1amfatisfied: Surely this is rhe greater glory to the very j uflice of God. Thefe were the counfels ofGod from all Eternity , how he Owuld make way for his love and goodnefs, and yetfatisfie his Truth and Juflice. 0 my foul, confider and won– der! Jefus Chrill: was the EJ<pedient', and in Cbrifl not only Gods mercy , but hli jufiice is exalted, yea more exalted and more glorified in thy f.1lvatioo,rhen ever it could have been in thy damnatioA. . . , 3. Confiqer the fore-knowledge of God; he knew from everlaflmg whom he wou.d fet apart fot life and falvarion. All the Saints of God from firft to lafl, they were th<'n prefent to him and before him , and he did look on them· in his beloved Chrifl. Before thete was a wo::ld, or a man, or any creature in ir, he foreknew Adam, and Ab•·alwn, and !faac,and racob, -and all the Patriarchs, and all the Prophets, and all the Apoftles, an~ all1he Difciples ofChrilt, and believers in Chriil; And 0 my foule , tf thou arc onl 0e Gods elect, be foreknew rhee with a knowledge of love and approbmon , he had' Je Rom.~. n. in his eye, J!l(l heart; he bad thoughts on Ja~ob, when he was yet tmborne, andh.<ddhon< tJOf er
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