in Contriving Man's Redemption. 'llinion is a grelter Blefling than meet Impunity. The Son of God for a time was made~ fubjeCt ro our Mife ri es, nor to our Sins. He deve!ted hirnfelf of his Glory, not of his Chap. 19' Holinefs. And the Apojlle in the exrafy of his affeCtion defired to be made unh•ppy for ~ the Salvation of the Jew,, not to be unholy. Befides, the £,d is more noble than the Mean1: Now Jefus Chrif\ purchafed our Pardon, that we might be re!tored to our for· ~~:~ed ~c0~~~:c~him~iffo~~~~~J~t 01~eb~i~1~ ?e~~~~; 1:!/:o~: ~~i~~~q~~;~: ~~~~YP~::;;~u£J:~~j a pwtfi,~r t'eople, z,ea/ou1 ofgood Wor/v: Tit. 2. 14- Sanfrification is the la!t End of all he did and fuifered for us. Holinefs is the chiefelt Excellency of Man, his hi ghe!t advantage above inferiour Beings . 'Tis the fup reme Beauty of the Soul, the refernblance of Angels, the Image of God himfelf. In this the Perfefrion of the reafonable Nature truly confi!ts, and Glory naturally refults from ir. As a Diamond, when irs earthy and colourle[s parts are taken away, thines forrh ln its lu l1 re; fo when the Soul is freed from its Impurities, and all tcrrene AffeCtions, it will appear with a Divine 1\rightnefs. The Church fhaU then be Gt.- riou.r when deanfcdfrom every Spot, and made cornpleat in Holinefs. To this, I will otily' add, that without Holimfs we cannot jee ·God, that is, delightfully enjoy Him. Suppofe the Law were difpens'd with, that forbids any unclean Perfon to enter into the Holy Jerufalem, the place can not make him happy. For Happinefs conu!ts in the Fruition of an ObjeCt thar is fu iuble and fatisfying to our Defires. The Holy God .cannor be our Felicity, without our partaking of his Nature. Imputed R.ighteoufne\s frees us from Hell, in~ berent nukes us fit for 1-l eJven. The fum is, Jefus Chrif\, that he might be a perfeCt Saviour, fanJ:ifies all whom He jurtifies; for othen,ife we could not be totally exempted from fuffor;ng Evil, nor capable of enjoying the fupreme Good, we could not be happy here nor hereafter. , of ~-in~-ro~~:~~~~e~~i~~i~:alr~in~h~~ o 5ua;i[~~d~;~~ersgL:~e11~ dn;~~af;:U~~~ ~~a:~: /a~~~~ .,,J clcanfe us, by tl>e ~Pnjl>ing of Water and the Word. And accordingly all the Promifes ~~f;,a~~~~ :~1~;,~it:~:0;el~:~~~nt~~;or~~~-rn ;;~~~~~yt~gb~d~~~~~: :GWep:!e0!~~~~~~:f.~~; rcpeut and be cM'DCrtcd, tbat our Sins may be blotted out, in the time of refrefhment, from the prefeuce of the Lord, ACt . 3· 19. And Heaven is the R eward of perfevering Obedience: To tbem wbo by pat im.t conthJHance in weU-doing, fee/<._for Glory, and Honour, and lmmorta~ /ity, etemal Life, Ram.?· 7· There cannot be the leaf\ ground of a rational ju!t Hope in any Pe r[on Without Holmefs: Whoever hath this Hope in him, purifier himfelf even as he;. pure, 1 Joh. 3- 3· By which it appears, that the genuineandproperufe we are to make JSi:~~ce~r~~~;~ga~~~fl~~~~~~e~:U;tfor;~:~flf ~~ ~=f¥!~,1);z;o~h"'fuft~e :~::.k.:~~4~f;!~ the corrupt Hcans of Men are [o lhongl y enclined to their Luft:s, that they turn the Grace oJGoJ into 1Vanro11m[s, and make an advantage of Mercy to affi!t their Secority; prefuming ro (in wirh lels fear and more licence, upon the account of the glorious R.evelatioq of it by our Redeemer. The malt live as if they might befav'd without being Saints, and and enjoy the Paradife of the Flefh here, and not be -excluded from that of the Spirit hereafter. But Grac~ doth not in the leaft degree authorize and favour their LuCI:s, nor relax the Sinews of Obedience; 'tis perfe/}]y innocont of their unnatural abufe of it. The P-oifon is not in the Flower, but the Spider. Therefore the Apojlle propounds it wirh Indignation, l\.om. 6. I. ShaU we fin, that Grace may abormd? God forbid. He ufe~ this form of Speech, to exprefs an extreme abhorrency of a thing that is either Impious and difi10nourable to God, or perniceous and de!trufrive to Men. A• when he putstheque- ~~;1,it:G~l~ ~~a;ff;:~~~~~~~"ra~:~ ~:~:jta:i;~e~~~~ig~ ~f ~~ ,~~~h i~fi~~t~:~;;: fation. Indeed what l,(rearer difparagernent can there be af the Divine Purity, than to indulge our felves in Sin upon confidence of an eafy For!\ivenefs? As if the Son of God had bee n confecrated by fuch terrible Sufferings, to purchafe and prepare a Pardon for thofe who fin fecurtly: what an unexpreffible Indignity is it to make a monf\rous alliance between Chri!t and Belial? And this abufe of GtJce is pernicious to Men. If the Antidote be turned into Poifon, and the Remedy cherifh the Difeafe, the cife isdefperate. The Apojlle tells us, Thofe that do evil tbtlt good may rome thereby, their Danmation is juJ!. Suppofe a prefuming Sinner were ~tfured_, that after he had gratified his carnal vile Defires, he lhould repent and be parJoneu; yet twe re an unreafonable defeEl of Self-love to do fa. What Jfrae!ite was fa foolhardy as to provoke a fiery S<rpmt to bite him, tho' he knew he lhould be healed by tl}e braz:::n Serp:nt?. Bm 'tis a degree beyond Madnefs,fora Man to live in a cour[e of fin upon the hopes ot Sa lvation,making the Mercy of God to be his Bondage, as if he could not be ~appy H h wttb.out
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=