¶ 711. p add this to Numb. 695. p. 28 &c-- PERSEVERANCE. Tis evident that the saints shall persevere because they are already justified Adam would not have been justified till he had fulfilled and done his work if he had stood he would not have [been (om. E.)] tried or judged in order to his justification till then & then his justification would have been a confirmation. it would have been an approving of him as having done his work and as standing entitled to his reward A servant that is sent out about a piece of work is not justified by his master till he has done & then the master views his work & seeing it to be done according to his order he then approves or justifies him as having /p. 101/ done his work and being now entitled to the promised reward & his title to his reward is no longer suspended on any remaining. So X having done our work for us we are justified as soon as ever we believe in him as being through what he has accomplished and finished now already actually entitled to the reward of life. & justification carries in it not only remission of sins and a being adjudged to life, or accepted as entitled by righteousness to the reward of life as is evident because believers are justified by communion with X in his justification which he recieved when he was raised from the dead but that justification of X that he was then the subject [of (om. E.)] did most certainly imply both these viz. his being now judged free of that guilt that he had taken upon [himself (om. E.)] & also his having now fulfilled all righteousness his having perfectly obeyed the Father and done enough to entitle him to the reward of life as our Head & Surety & therefore he then had eternal life given him as our Head that life that begun [sic] when he was raised from the dead was eternal life. X was then justified in the same sense as Adam would have been justified if he had finished his course of perfect obedience & therefore implies in it confirmation in a title to life as that would have done. & therefore all those that are risen with X and have him for their Surety & so are justified in his justification are certainly in like manner confirmed. [space on line] & again that a believers justification implies not only a deliverance from the wrath of God but a title to glory is evident by Rom 5. 1. 2 where the Apostle mentions both these as joint benefits implied in justification. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God [E's] through our Lord Jesus X. By whom also we have access into this grace wherein we stand & rejoice in hope of the glory of God. So remission of sins & inheritance among them that are sanctified are mentioned together as what are /p. 102/ jointly obtaind by faith in X. Acts 26 18. That they may recieve forgiveness of sins & inheritance among them that are sanctified through faith that is in me. [¶ ?] Both these are without any doubt implied in that passing from death to life, which X speaks of as the fruit of faith and which he opposes to condemnation John 5. 24. Verily I say unto you he that heareth my word & believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, & shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life. [finis]
¶add this 712. JUSTIFICATION. REPENTANCE FAITH. add this to Num 669. MORAL & NATURAL SUITABLENESS. Gods bestowing X & his benefits on a soul in consequence of faith out of regard only to the natural suitableness that there is between such a qualification of a soul & such an union with X & interest in X makes the case very [A: vary] widely [? A] different from what would be, if he bestowed these things from regard to any moral suitableness For in the former case, tis only from Gods love of order & hatred of confusion that bestows these things on the account of faith in the latter God doth it out of love to the grace of faith it self. God will neither impute X righteousness to us nor adjudge his benefits to us unless we be in him nor will he look upon us as being in him without an actual unition to him because he is a wise being & delights in order & not confusion & his making such a constitution is a testimony of his love of order Whereas if it were out of regard to any moral fitness it would be a testimony of his love to the act. The one supposes this divine constitution to [be (om. E.)] a manifestation of his regard to the beuty of the act of faith the other only supposes it to be a manifestation of his regard to the beuty of that order there [is (om. E)] in uniting those things that have a natural agreemt & symphony <congruity> the one with the other
¶A moral suitableness or unsuitableness includes a natural, but a natural dont include a moral. While the moral unsuitableness stood in the way there could <be no natur> in no respect be suitable that men should be accepted it could not be na- /p. 103/ turally suitable but when the moral unsuitableness is removed it may be naturally suitable.
¶Goodness or loveliness is not prior in the order of nature to justification or is not to be considered as prior in the order and method of Gods proceeding in this affair. There is indeed something in man that is really & spiritually good that is prior in the order of nature to justification viz. faith but there is nothing that is accepted as goodness till after justification Tho a respect to the natural suitableness between such a qualification & such a state be prior in the order of nature to justification yet the acceptance even of faith as any goodness or loveliness in the believer in the order of nature follows justification the goodness is justly looked upon as nothing till the man is justified & therefore the man is respected in justification as ungodly & altogether hatefull in himself Rom 4. 5. the goodness of faith is not a accepted as any goodness or loveliness of the man but in consequence of justification & therefore is none in Gods account. tis not accepted as his loveliness nor is it meet that it should be, out of X if it could be so that a sinner could have faith or some other grace in his heart & yet remain separate from X it should [sic [A ed over cop] continue still to be so that he is not looked upon by God as being in X or having any relation to him it would not be meet that that true grace should be accepted as any goodness or loveliness of the man in Gods sight if it should be accepted as the loveliness of the person that would be to acept the person as in some degree lovely to God but tis not meet that this should be neither can it be separate from X because the person out of X is under the guilt of sin which has infinite unworthiness & which that goodness has no worthiness to balance, as long as the man remains under guilt in the sight of God which guilt is an infinite hatefullness in his eyes His goodness cant be beheld by God but as taken with this hatefullness or as put in the scales with it, & the excess of the weight in one scale above another [sic] must be looked on as the quality of the man /p. 104/ these contraries being beheld & taken together one takes from another or [shd. be xo w other ww] as one number is subtracted from another. & the man is looked upon in Gods sight according to the remainder & the unworthiness being infinite & the goodness that subtracts from it being small the unworthiness & hatefullness that remains must be still infinite the man is still infinitely unworthy & hatefull in Gods sight as he was before without diminution because his goodness bears no proportion to his unworthiness & theref. when taken with it <or when they are put into the scales together as they are in Gods estimation of the person> is nothing for [when (om. E.)] a contrary is taken with its contrary it must to [sic] taken according to the proportion it bears to its contrary & if that proportion be nothing then being so taken it must pass for nothing. & besides this the goodness that is in that faith not only bears no proportion to the guilt of the person but neither does it bear any proportion to the unworthiness even of that defective polluted act of faith. <the odiousness of the act so infinitely exceeds the excellency that the excellency of that very act is in the sight of him that judges according to the law & meer justice, nothing.> See the next. [finis]
¶713. INFINITE EVIL OF SIN. WORTHLESSNESS OF OUR HOLINESS. FREE GRACE JUSTIFICATION. That the evil & demerit of sin is infinitely great, is most demonstrably evident, because what the evil or iniquity of sin consists in is a violation of an obligation doing contrary to what we are obliged to do & therefore by how much the greater the obligation is that is violated so much the greater is the iniquity of the obligation [TS: "sic: means violation"] but certainly our obligation to fear or love or honour any being is great in proportion to the greatness & excellency of the being or which is the same thing [xo ?] their worthiness to be lov'd honoured We are under greater obligation to love a more lovely being than a less lovely & if a being be infinitely excellent & lovely our obligations to love him are therein [sic] infinitely great.
¶Some have argued exceeding strangely against the infinite evil of sin from its being committed against an infinite Object, because if so then it might as well be /p. 105/ argued that there is also an infinite value or worthiness in holiness & love to God because that also has an infinite Object. Whereas the argument from parity of reason will carry it in the reverse. the sin of the creature against God is ill deserving in proportion to the distance there is between God and the creature the greatness of the Object & the meanness of the subject aggravates it but tis the reverse with respect to the worthiness of the respect of the creature to God tis worthless (& not worthy) in proportion to the meanness of the subject. So much the greater the distance between God & the creature so much the less is the creatures respect worthy of Gods notice or regard. The unworthiness of sin or opposition to God rises & is great in proportion to the dignity of the Object & meanness of the subject. but on the contrary the worth or value of respect rises in proportion to the value of the subject, & that for this plain reason viz. that the evil of disrespect is in proportion to the obligation that lies upon the subject to the object, which obligation is most evidently increased by the excellency of the object but on the contrary the worthiness of respect is in proportion to the obligation that lies on the object (or rather the reason he has) to regard the subject which certainly is in proportion to the subjects value or excellency Sin or disrespect is evil or heinous in proportion to the degree of what it takes from the Object viz. the obligation it is under to it which certainly is great in proportion to the Objects excellency & worthiness of respect. Respect on the contrary is valuable, in proportion to the value of what is given to the object in that respect which certainly other things being equal is great in proportion to the subjects value or worthiness of regard because the subject so far as he gives his respect gives himself to the object & therefore his gift is of greater value in proportion to the value of himself.
¶Corol. Hence the love & honour & obedience of X towards God has infinite value, viz. from the infinite excellency & dignity of the Person in whom these qualifications were inherent. & the reason why we needed a person of infinite meanness who had disobeyed, whereby our disobedience was infinitely aggravated We needed one the worthiness of whose obedience might be answerable to the unworthiness of our disobedience, & therefore needed one who was as great and worthy as we were unworthy.
¶Another objection that perhaps may be thought hardly worth mentioning is that to suppose that sin is an evil infinitely heinous is to make all sins equally heinous. For how can any sin be more than infinitely heinous but all that can be argued hence, is that no sin can be greater with respect to that aggravation viz the worthiness of the object against whom it is committed one sin cant be more aggravated than another in that respect because in this respect the aggravation of every sin is infinite but that dont hinder but that some sins may be more aggravated & heinous than others in other respects as if we suppose a cylinder infinitely long it cant be greater in that respect viz with respect to the length of it, yet it may be doubled & trebled yea & made a thousand fold more by the increase of other dimensions <a punishment may be infinitely dreadfull or infinitely exceed all finite punishments in dreadfullness by reason of the infinite duration of it & therefore it cant be more dreadfull with respect to that agravation of it viz its length or continuance but yet may be vastly more dreadfull on other accounts> [finis]
¶714. FREE GRACE. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ONLY. Let this be in addition to Num 670. It may be objected that if it be allowed that God promises mercy to the mercifull & forgiveness to the forgiving & love to the loving (Prov. 8, 17,) & walking with X in white to those that keep their garments pure (Rev 3. 4) only out of respect to the natural fitness there is in these graces & qualifications to those[ck MS] blessings. Yet this will be to make love, & mercy, & meekness & all graces the condition of justification & salvation in the same manner as faith For faith is the condition by vertue of a natural fitness & so are those other graces conditions of the same the same way. To which I answ. that they are not conditions of salvation the same way as faith is for the following reasons
¶1 Their fitness or suitableness to salvation is not so direct as that which is in faith Tis true there is a natural agreableness or suitableness between all graces & a state of salvation but faith in its very nature & essence consists in nothing else but a direct according suiting or closing of the soul with the Saviour & his salvation especially that which may be called fundamental actual salvation viz. justification by x. tho there be an agreableness between other particular graces & salvation & especially yet suiting & closing with salvation is not their immediate business & that wherein the proper nature & essence of them consists as tis in faith. 2. as the suitableness of others [sic] graces is more indirect so tis more partial Tis more partial on several accounts First. They are especially suited only to some particular part of salvation thus mercifullness is especially suited to obtaining mercy & forgiveness to being forgiven &c-- but faith is the direct according & symphonizing of the soul to the whole of salvation & especially to that which fundamentally comprehends all actual salvation viz. justification. Secondly The suitableness is more partial in other graces because in them tis especially only as it were some part of the soul that is adapted to such spiritual & heavenly benefits some one faculty affection or principle of the soul But faith in the nature of it is the closing of the whole soul. Thirdly, Tis more partial because tis only some particular kind of suitableness. as between mercifullness & obtaining mercy there is a suitableness of likeness of the qualification to the benefit but in faith there is not only an harmony of similitude, but that of actual unition which is a more direct harmonizing than meerly there being a similitude. & then it is to be considered. 3. That the suitable- /p. 108/ ness of other graces is comprehended in the suitableness of faith as the natural suitableness that there is in a forgiving spirit to the blessing of being forgiven is comprehended in the souls humbly & in a sense of its own vileness coming to X as a Saviour from sin & other graces have a natural fitness to the salvation of Jesus X no otherwise than as every grace has faith in it[. ?] there is faith in all evangelical vertues & vertues become evangelical & can justly be so denominated no otherwise than as they partake of the nature of faith, and as they flow from faith in X & a closing with the gospel & as such a principle is expressed in them. As tis with obedience. it justifies because it has faith in it acts of evangelical obedience are exercises & expressions of the hearts closing with X & admitting & yielding to the glorious gospel that reveals him as a Saviour. So it is with other graces as love and meekness &c-- they influence in the affair of justification no otherwise than as expressions of the hearts unition with X & his salvation the distinction we make of graces as if they were entirely distinct things not implying & containing one another is not according to truth & many ways confounds in our enquiries & disquisitions about things of this nature. [finis]
¶714. RIGHTEOUSNESS of X His active OBEDIENCE. The satisfaction of X by bearing the punishment due to sin & his active obedience to fulfill the law for us & to be imputed to us cant be separated to separate them & to suppose that X only suffered our punishment for us to satisfy for our sins but never fulfilled the obedience of the law for us but it was left to us to work out our obedience for ourselves to be acepted instead of the perfect obedience of the law seems to be unreasonable [finis]
¶715. XTIAN RELIGION. Xs RESURRECTION. X hanging so long on the cross as he did with wounds open in his hands & feet & in extreme pain & torture that must set it into the most violent motion & ferment and so more apt to issue freely forth at his wounds his body must needs be exhausted of almost all its blood but a body so drain'd of blood till it is so weak & spent as to be breathless & motionless & seem to all to be quite dead and that tho it was narrowly observed to see whether it was dead & seemed to be quite dead for a considerable time together some time before they took him down from the cross and afterwards while they were handling of it taking it down from the cross embalming it & wrapping it [in (om. E.)] grave clothes & laying it in the sepulcre. I say a body reduced to such a state by the loss of almost all its blood is in most unlikely circumstances to revive For the vehicle of life viz the blood is gone when bodies revive after they seem to be dead tis by a new excitation of the circulation of the fluids of the body but when these[ck MS] fluids are gone this cant be. [finis]
¶ 716 IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. FUTURE STATE. Dr Tillotson shews in his 3d vol. of sermons serm. 120. 121. 122. 123. first what arguments natural reason furnishes us with that [xo c] that there is a future state and how this was a reciev'd principle among all nations both in former and also in latter ages of the world & how it was look'd upon as exceeding probable by the wisest of the philosophers who yet seemed to long for a greater certainty & to have it plainly revealed whether it was so or not & after [xo c] <having> [c] shewn what expectation the Jews had from the light of nature together with the more obscure revelations made to them of it he then proceeds to <shew> [c] how fully this matter is brought to light by the Gospel being [xo E] that seemed somewhat obscure before in that 1. The Gospel makes a most clear and express revelation of it absolutely & plainly & abundantly discovers the thing & 2dly That it is not only revealed & declared but that state is described with its very particular circumstances & says the Doctor 3 "[E]The Gospel gives us yet further assurance of these[ck MS] things by such an Argument as is most [xo c] like to be most convincing & satisfactory to common capacities & that is by a lively instance of the thing to be proved in raising X from the dead Act 17. 30. 31.....[E has line] Tis true indeed under the Old Testament, there were two instances somewhat of this nature Enoch & Elias were immediately translated and taken up into Heaven but these two instances do in many respects fall short of the other. for after X was raised from the dead he conversed forty days with his disciples & satisfied them that he was risen after which he was in their sight visibly taken up into Heaven and as an evidence that he was possessed of his Glorious Kingdom he sent down according to his promise his holy Spirit in miraculous Gifts to assure them by these[ck MS] testimonies of his royalty that he was in Heaven & to qualify them by these[ck MS] miraculous powers to convince the world of the Truth of their Doctrine Now what argument more proper to convince em of another Life after this than to see a man raised from the dead and restored to a new Life? What fitter to satisfy a man concerning Heaven & the Happy State of those there than to see one visibly taken up into Heaven & what more fit to assure us that the Promises of the Gospel are real and shall be made good to us than /p. 110/ to see him who made these[ck MS] promises to us raise himself from the dead & go up into Heaven & from thence dispense miraculous gifts abroad in the world as evidences of the Power & authority which he is invested withal All the Philosophical Arguments that a man can bring for the souls immortality and another life will have no force upon vulgar Apprehensions in Comparison of those sensible demonstrations which give an experiment of the thing & furnish us with an instance of something of the same kind & or equal difficulty with that which is propounded to our belief vid No. 584 [ref. prob. made later]
MO. 33-34, §37. Quote marks down left mg. (single quot.).
¶717. FIRST COVENANT, THE FALL. Why only Adams first transgression is imputed to us. Ridgleys Bod. of Divin. vol 1. p. 331. ""This appears from hence, that Adam as soon as he sinned lost the honour & prerogative that was confer'd upon him of being the federal head of his posterity tho he was their natural head or common father: For the covenant being broken all the evils that we were liable to arising from thence, were devolved upon us & none of the blessings containd therein could be conveyed to us that way since it was impossible for him after his fall to perform sinless obedience, which was the condition of the life promised therein. This doth not arise so much from the nature of the covenant as from the change that there was in man with whom it was made" [Whereby he became unfit any longer to be a federal head] [E's brackets here and following] ""The law or covenant would have given life, if man could have yielded perfect obedience. but since the fall render'd that impossible, though the obligation thereof as a law, distinct from a covenant, & the curse arising from the sanction thereof, remains still in force against fallen man; yet as a covenant in which life was promised" [on condition of obedience] ""it was from that time abrogated" [because that matter of mans obedience was already decided, obedience was what man had already fail'd of] ""And therefore the Apostle speaks of it as weak thru [?] the flesh, that is by reason of Adams transgression, and consequently he ceased from that time to be the federal head or means of conveying life to his posterity. Therefore those sins he committed afterwards were no more imputed to them to inhance their condemna. [sic] than his repentance or good works were imputed for their justification." Sentence of condemnation was already immediately passed upon Adam & on his posterity /p. 111/ with him when he had broken the covenant agreable to the threatning contain'd in the covenant the covenant was immediately acted upon & he that gave the covenant proceeded to judgmt. & so the whole affair of trying of mankind upon that covenant with Adam was determin'd <Judgment is the final issue of Gods transacting with man[ck MS] in a covenant established when God has already acted upon it tis absurd to suppose that God still treats with men[ck MS] upon that covenant.> tho the law or covenant or works stood in force still yet the covenant with Adam was acted upon & done with. & so with the covenant of works [sic] have been done with too as much as it will be after the day of judgment were it not that there is still a possibility & a trial for obtaining by that covenant under a new head even under X. the voice of that covenant still is directed to us viz that if we sin in our selves or in our Surety we shall die. but if we obey in our selves or in our Surety without sin we shall live, & tho it be impossible for us to obtain life by obeying our selves, as obedience is the price of life, yet there is still encouragemt for our obedience as obedience may be otherwise a means or occasion of life to us & that no less than before, in those that live under the gospel So that the sins of such dont only expose 'em to punishment but to a punishment no less aggravated than if we could obtain life by obedience as its price & on other accounts much more aggravated <See this matter much more clearly set forth in Answ to the Enquiry in the beginning of my third sermon from Gen 3. 11.> < See after N. 760. in this book. p. 188.> [finis; both items at end added later, but not clear which was first.]
¶718 CONVICTION. WORK OF THE LAW. Why the enmity of the heart is stir'd up against [it (om. E.)] in persons under the work of the law See Notes on SS. No. 244. [finis]
¶719. LORDS DAY. add this to Num. 691. p. 19 of this Book at this mark at the end of § 12. And besides the Scripture does expressly call this day the day of their coming up out of the land of Egypt Hosea 2. 15. And she shall sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt referring plainly tha [to (om. E)] that triumphant song that Moses & the children of Israel sang when they came up out of the Red Sea [finis]
¶720. FIRST COVENANT. FALL. ""Now that there was a covenant between God and our first parents tending to this purpose that if they continued in obedience that they should never die, but be alwaies blessed and happy as well as in case of disobedience be subject to death and all other calamities is plain from the preface which ushers in the prohibition given to Adam concerning his not eating of the tree of knowledge with this express donation or grant that of every tree of the garden (not excepting the tree of life,) he might freely eat. For whether the tree of life was a sacramental sign or a natural means of immortality 'tis evident from the words /p. 112/ of God himself, that whoever made use of it was put in a capacity of living forever. Nay the very commination it self imports all this for how insignificant would have been the threatning of death to a mans eating of the forbidden fruit if he should have died whether he had eaten of it or not.[no end " ?] vid Complete [sic] Bod. of Divin. p. 278.
¶721. HAPPINESS of HEAVEN after the resurrection <vid No 95. 182 especially 263.> Their EXTERNAL blessedness & delight.] [E's] As the saints after the resurrection will have an external part or an outward man distinct from their souls so it necessarily follows that they shall have external perception or sense and doubtless then all their sense and all the perception that they have will be delighted and filld with happiness every perceptive faculty shall be an inlet of delight. Particularly then doubtless they will have the sense of seeing which is the noblest sense will recieve most pleasure and delight. the sensory will be immensely more perfect than now it is and the external light of the heavenly word will be a perfectly different kind of light from the light of the sun or any light in this world exciting a sensation or idea in the beholders perfectly different of which we can no more concieve than we can concieve of a colour we never saw or than a blind man can concieve of light & colours A sort of light immensely more pleasant & glorious in comparison of which the sun is a shade and his light but darkness & this T full of the light of the sun is a world under the darkness of night, but that a world of light, affording inexpressible pleasure and delight to the beholders immensely exceeding all sensitive delights in this T
¶That the light of heaven which will be the light of the brightness of Xs glo. body shall be a perfectly different sort of light from that of this T seems evident from Rev. 21. 11 And that it will be so & will also be ravishingly sweet to the eye is evident from the circumstances of Xs transfiguration. (See Note on 2. Pet. 1. 11. to the end SS. No. 265. p. 3. 4. & 7. 8 of that note.) & also from the circumstances /p. 113/ of Moses's vision of God in the mount. See note on Exod 33 18 to the end. SS. No. 266.
¶But yet this pleasure from external perception will in a sense have God for its object it will be in a sight of Xs external glory & it will be so ordered in its degree & circumstances as to be wholly and absolutely subservient to a spiritual sight of that divine spiritual glory of which this will be a semblance & external representation & subservient to the superiour spiritual delights of the saints as the body will in all respects be a spiritual body & subservient to the happiness of the spirit. & there will be no tendency to or danger of an inordinacy or predominance. This visible glory will be subservient to a sense of mind of spiritual glory as the musick of Gods praises is to holy sense & pleasure, & more immediately so because this that will be seen by the bodily eye will be Gods glory but that musick will not be so immediately Gods harmony. [finis]
¶722. VISIBLE CHURCH. add this to Numb. 689. § 8. p. 6. at this mark . They at the day of judgment shall be found not to have been faithfull that have not persevered they shall be rejected and cast out of Xs chh. & out of Gods house such branches shall be cut off from the vine, their names shall be blotted out of the book of life. their talents shall be taken away & given to others: But herein shall only be taken from that which they seemed to have agreably to Xs threatning Luke 8. 18. or that which he visibly had for he never any otherwise was in the chh of X or house of God or a branch in the true vine or his name in the book of life. [finis]
¶723. WISDOM of <God> in the Work of REDEMPTION CALLING of the GENTILES. It was fit that when Christ came into the world on such an errand as to save sinners those that were in themselves aliens & strangers children of wrath & without God in the world. That his chh that should be gatherd to him on his coming should be chidefly[?] made up of those that were visibly such of those that were not Jews but sinners of the Gentiles that were visibly enemies of God, & under darkness /p. 114/ aliens from the common wealth of Israel & visible slaves & worshippers of the devil hereby the design & efficacy of Xs redemption is made the more conspicuous [finis]
¶724 PREPARATORY WORK. A being terrified with fears of wrath & seeing the dismal consequences of sin has in it self no tendency to wean the heart from sin for true weanedness from sin dont consist in being afraid of the mischief that will follow from sin but in hating sin it self, and dont arise from a sight of the dreadfull consequences of sin but from a sight of the odiousness of sin in its own nature but yet one may be a good preparation for the other and is commonly so made use of by God For a man to meet with many worldly losses & disappointments has in it self no tendency to true weanedness from the world because true weanedness from the T dont consist in being beat off from the T by the affliction of it, but a being drawn off by the sight of something better. [finis]
¶725. VANITY OF THE WORLD. After the fall the place of paradise was alter'd it was changed from earth to heaven and God orderd it so that nothing paradisaical should be any more here, & tho sometimes there be great appearances of it, & men are ready to flatter themselves that they shall obtain it yet it is found that paradise is not here & there is nothing but the shadow of it. those things that look most paradisaical will have some sting to spoil them [finis]
¶ 726. PERSEVERANCE. Tis one act of faith, to commit the soul to Xs keeping in this sense; viz to keep it from falling. The believing soul is convinced of its own weakness & helplessness its inability to resist its enemies, its insufficiency to keep it self, & so commits it self to X that he would be its keeper. The Apostle speaks of his committing his soul by faith to X under great sufferings & trials of his perseverance 2 Tim 1. 12. For which cause also I suffer these things nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. & we are commanded to commit our way & our works unto the Lord Ps. 37. 5. Prov. 16. 3. Whatsoever is the matter of prayer is the matter of faith and the prayer of faith can never fail for it is said /p. 115/ Ask & you shall recieve, which is spoken especially with respect to the needed influences of the Spirit of God. Faith depends on X for all good that we need & especially good of this kind that is of such absolute necessity in order to the salvation of our souls The sum of the good that faith looks for is the Holy Spirit <. It looks> [c] for all [xo E] spiritual & eternal life <for> [c] perfect holiness in heaven & [in mg; by c prob.] persevering holiness here for the just shall life by faith [finis]
¶727. EXALTATION OF X. How the divine nature is concern'd in that exaltation. The divine nature is concerned in it in two respects 1. Altho the glory of that was not really added to yet his glory recieved an additional manifestation the glory of the divine person was veil'd in the meanness & sufferings of the human nature but now it shone forth gloriously in the exaltation of the human nature. 2. tho Xs humanity was the more immediate and proper subject of the exaltation yet the divinity was the especial ground of it. when as God was about to exalt X he looked upon [him (om. E.)] not meerly as man, but as a divine person. for it was on this account that he looked upon it meet that he should be so exalted. In one sense it was as he was man only that he was capable of being exalted viz. because it was as such only that he was capable of being higher than he was before. But in another sense it was as he was God, only that he was capable of such an exaltation for it was only by reason of his being God that he was capable of being made so high. [finis; mark at end prob. not E's.]
¶728. SUFFERINGS OF X. The divinity supported the humanity of X under his sufferings not as it kept his human nature from being annihilated or crushed in that respect but as it kept him from sinking & his courage from utterly failing so as that he should have no command of himself[, ?] communicating such a degree of holiness to him, as to keep him from impatience and discontent, & that his love might be so great as to make him voluntary in it in the midst of it. /p. 166/ probably these[ck MS] sufferings would have overcome the holiness of any meer creature, & that no creature has such love either to God or men as to hold such a trial. [finis]
¶729 PERSEVERANCE <(See 1188. B. 8.)> in what sense necessary to salvation. The [xo c] perseverance is acknowledged by Calvinian divines to be necessary to salvation yet it seems to me that the manner in which it is necessary has not been sufficiently set forth. Tis own'd to be necessary as a sine qua non [E's line] and also is expressed by that that tho' it is not that by which we first come to have a title to eternal life yet it is the necessary in order to the actual possession of it as the way to it that it is impossible that we should come to it without perseverance as 'tis impossible for a man to go to a city or town without travailing [sic] throughout the road that leads to it But we are really saved by perseverance as that which influences in the affair, so as to render it congruous that we should be saved. Faith is the great condition of salvation tis that BY which we are justified & saved as tis what renders it congruous that we should be looked upon as having a title to salvation But this faith on which salvation thus dependens [sic] and the perseverance that belongs to it is one thing in it that is really a fundamental ground of the congruity that such a qualification gives to salvation. Faith is that which renders it congruous that we should be accepted to a title to salvation; & it is so on the account of certain properties in, or certain things that belong to it: & this is one of them, viz. its perseverance without this it would not be fit, that a sinner should be accepted to salvation Perseverance indeed comes into consideration even in the justification of a sinner, as one thing on which the fitness of acceptance to life depends. For tho a sinner is justified on his first /p. 117/ act of faith; yet even then in that act of justification, God has respect to perseverance, as being vertually in that first act. and tis looked upon as if it were a property of the faith, by which the sinner is then justified. God has respect to continuance in faith: & the sinner is justified by that, as tho' it already were in that faith as [xo E] because it [xo E] by divine establishmt it shall follow; & so it is accepted as if it were a property containd in the faith that is then seen without this it would not be congruous that the sinner should be justified at his first believing but it would be needfull, that the act of justification should be suspended till the sinner had persevered in faith. For a like reason that it is necessary that there should be one act of faith, in order to its being congruous that a person should be saved it is also necessary, that there should be perseverance in faith
¶Faith gives a title to salvation as it gives an union to X, or is in its nature an actual unition of the soul to X. but there is the same reason why tis necessary that the union between X & the soul should remain in order to salvation, as that it should once be or that it should begun [?] for it is begun to that end that it might remain. and if it could be begun without remaining, the beginning would be in vain The soul is saved no otherwise than in union [E's] with X & so is fitly looked upon his [sic] tis saved in him [E's] & in order to that 'tis necessary that the soul should now be in him even when salvation is actually bestowed & not only that it should once have been in him in order to its being now saved it must now be one of Xs and in order to being fitly or congruously looked on as now one of Xs it is necessary that it should now be united & not only that it should be remembered, that he once was uni- /p. 118/ ted <to X> [c] And there is the same reason why believing or the quality wherein the unition consists should remain in order to the unions remaining as why the unition should once be in order to the unions once being
¶The first act of faith gives a title to salvation, because it does vertually at least trust in God & X for perseverance among other benefits, and gives a title to this benefit with others, & so vertually contains perseverance otherwise it would not be congruous that the sinner should be justified on the first act of faith & therefore God in justifying a sinner even in the first act of faith has respect to the congruity between justification & perseverance of faith. So that perseverance is necessary to salvation not only as a sine qua non, [E's] or as the way to possession but tis necessary even to the congruity of justification & that not the less because a sinner is justified on his first act of believing or because that perseverance is promised when once there has been one act of faith For God in justifying a sinner or at least all that in justification that respects a future reward has respect to his own promise & the fitness of a qualification beheld as yet only in his own promise That perseverance is thus necessary to salvation not only as a sine que non, [E's] but by reason of such an influence and dependance seems manifest from Scripture as particularly Heb. 10. 38, 39. Now the just shall live by faith. but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him[ : ?] But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Rom 11. 20. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off. but thou standest by faith be no high-minded, but fear. Joh. 15. 7. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will & it shall be done unto you. Heb. 3. 14. For we are made partakers of X if we hold the beginning of /p. 119/ our confidence firm unto the end. chap. 5. 12. Be ye followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
[here 5 line spaces left blank, prob. for more SS.]
So that not only the first act of faith but after acts of faith & perseverance in faith do justify the sinner. & that altho salvation is in it self sure and certain after the first act. For the way wherein the first act of faith justifies, is not by making the futurition of salvation certain in it self for that is as certain in it self by the divine decree before the first act of faith as afterwards But 'tis only <in> [c] these two <ways> [c] things [xo c] that any act of ours can connect salvation with the subject 1. as it may give a congruity. & 2. as it gives such a divine manifestation of the futurition of salvation to us that we can lay hold of and depend on <as relying on> [xo c] the divine truth & faithfullness that we shall have salvation. Salvation is in some sense the sinners right before he believes it was given him in X before the T was. but before a sinner believes he is not actually possessed of that which gives the congruity, nor has he any thing from God that he can lay hold of so as either to challenge it or on good grounds hope for it He can't be said to have any right for he has no congruity & as to the promise made to X, he has no hold of that; because that is not revealed to him. If God had declared and promised to the angels that such a man should be saved; that would not give him any right of his own or any <ground of> [c] challenge. a promise is a manifestation of a persons design of doing some good to another to that end to enable him, & that he may depend on it & rest in it The certainty in him arises from the manifestations being made to him, to /p. 120/ that tendency & end that he might depend on it. and therefore after acts of faith may be said to give a sinner a title to salvation, as well as the first. for from what has been said it appears that the congruity arises from them as well as the first they in like manner containing the nature of unition of X as Mediatour And they may have as great and greater hand in the manifestation of the futurition of salvation, to us, for our dependance, as the first act for our knowledge of this may be mainly from after acts, & from a course of acts. this is all that is peculiar to the first <act> [c] act [?] that so far as the act is plain, it gives us evidence from God for our dependance, both for continued acts of faith & also the salvation that is connected with them So that so far as this act is plain to us we can challenge both these as our right <The SS. speaks of after-acts of faith in both Abraham & Noah as giving a title to the righteousness which is the matter of justification. See Rom. 4. 3. Heb. 11. 7.>
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[TS wrote in mg. "Rest of No. not in Rem."]
¶From this latter part of the foregoing number we may draw two corollaries.
¶Corol. 1. OLD TEST. DISPENSATION [xo E] Hence we may learn that the saints under the Old Testament had not so much given them, whence they might hope for and challenge salvation from their first conversion because the promises of perseverance were much more obscure & an assurance of perseverance was rather spoken of as a benefit that should be enjoyed in gospel times than one that was enjoyed by the chh already Jer. 31. 31; 32; 33. <& chap. 32. 37. 38. 39. 40. Ezek. 11 19. 20 & chap. 36. 25. 26. 27.> Seeing tis only by the manifestation to us for our dependance that God properly lies under obligation to us hence a title to life from the first act of faith was more imperfectly made over to the saints under the O. T. than now this is one way in which that dispensation was more legal and savourd more of a cov. of works in which the reward /p. 121/ was suspended on an uncertain perseverance. & by this we may the better understand the meaning of those noted remarkeable [xo E] places in Jer the prophets.
¶Corol. 2. JUSTIFICATION. OBEDIENCE. [xo c ?] Hence also we may learn how good works & a course of obedience influence in the affair of justification or in what sense we are by them entitled to eternal life. viz as by them in the latter way mention'd, we have divine manifestations of the futurition of life which we may lay hold on & depend upon but no in the former viz. as giving a congruity to an interest in them. [finis]
¶730. MISERY OF HELL Instead of the damneds being comforted in each others company tis probable that they will be as coals or brands in a fire, that heat & burn one another. [finis]
¶731. LORDS DAY. Exod. 12. 42. It is a night to be much observed to the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: This is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. From this text I would observe several things. 1. That a work of redemption deliverance or salvation is a sort of work especially worthy & fit to be commemorated by observing & keeping sacred the time in which it was wrought, or keeping it as holy time or as the Lords time from generation to generation because it is said it is to be observed to the Lord [E's line here and following] And again this is that night of the Lord or which is the same thing the Lords night, & to be observed of all the children of Israel in their [mg] generations [line om. here] 2. That a work of redemption is the more worthy to be thus observed by keeping holy the time of it, by how much the greater that redemption is because tis evident that this night is here spoken [of (om. E.)] as what is thus to be much observed upon this account viz that the redemption was so great. & therefore 3. A work of deliverance or redemption of Gods church or Israel that is infinitely greater /p. 122/ than this and also that this redemption out of Egypt was wrought on purpose to be an image & type of, is a work that it is a very fit & condecent thing that the church in all ages should commemorate after this manner. [finis] [Xos suggest that this is the first draft of these points, yet this looks like the beginning of a sermon. Is there a sermon on this text developing this doctrine?]
¶732. COMMON ILLUMINATION. The nature of the work of the Spirit may be learnt from the nature of his work in legal conviction. This the same common enlightening assistance of both but only one is of evil and the other of good Those legal convictions that natural men have are from the common illuminations of the Spirit of God concerning evil Those pleasant religious affections & apprehensions that natural men sometimes have are from the common illuminations of the Spirit of God concerning good The assistance given is of a like sort in both but only the object is different one respects good & the other evil both which natural men are equally capable of apprehending without any supernatural principle. The mind [of (om. E.)] a [xo ?] man[ck MS] without a supernatural principle is capable of two things with respect to conviction of evil 1. The judgment is capable of being convinced of evil mens[ck MS] natural reason is capable of discerning force in those arguments that prove it. tho sin greatly clouds the judgment concerning these[ck MS] things a natural mans reason by common assistance of it against the clouding prejudicing & stupifying nature of sin is capable of seeing the force of many argumts that prove Gods anger & future punishmt and the greatness of these things & so a natural man is capable of being convinced how much there is in him contrary to Gods law and to how great a degree it is contrary & what connection there is between these [? A] faults & Gods anger & future punishment
¶2. besides a conviction of truth respecting evil in the judgmt, a natural man as such is capable /p. 123/ of a sense of heart of this evil i.e. he is capable of a deeply impressed & lively & affecting idea & sense of these things which is something more than a meer conviction in the judgmt concerning their truth. the mind of a natural man is capable of a sense of the heart of natural or of those things that are terrible to nature
¶And therefore, what the Spirit of God does in legal convictions or which is the same thing common illuminations of evil is to assist those principles against viz the natural reason or judgmt in against the prejudicing blinding tendency of sin & to assist the sense of the heart against the stupifying nature of sin
¶And it is the same kind of influence or assistance that is given in common convictions & immuminations of good whereby the souls of natural men are affected with thoughts of Gods love & pity & kindness to them or others of benefits offered or bestowed on them of being beloved of God of being delivered from calamity of having honour put upon them of God & the like. For the mind of man without any supernatural principle, is in like manner capable of two things. viz. 1. of a conviction of the judgmt by reasons that evince the truth of the things of religion that respect natural good & 2 of a sense of heart of natural good. & so God assists these principles in common illumination. And 'tis to be noted that a conviction of evil abundantly makes way for such a conviction of good a conviction of sin & guilt makes way for a conviction of the greatness of mercy held forth a conviction of danger of misery prepares for a more sensible affecting idea of Gods pity appearing either in comfortable words of SS. or in the great works of God in redemption or in his particular providence towards the person affected.
¶Such a conviction and illumination of the mind or such an assistance of the soul to a sense of the good or evil things of religion is the proper work of the Spirit of God For the Spirit of God is indeed the Author of our capacity of discerning or having a sense of heart of natural good or evil for /p. 124/ this really differs not from the faculty of mans will, & it was especially the work of the Spirit of God in creation wherein the three persons of the Trinity were conjunct [sic] to infuse this principle, this part of the natural image of God For herein man is made in the image of God who has understanding & will, which will is the same with the holy Ghost & therefore the assisting this principle in its actings & in giving a sense of good and evil is proper to the Holy Ghost. [finis]
¶733. Why the MEDIATOUR the SECOND Person in the Trinity. WISDOM of God in the Work of Redemption The Mediatour ought to be the middle Person of the Trinity because, For in being the Mediatour between the saints & God he is intermediate between the Spirit & the Father or between the third Person and the first. For its the Spirit of God in the saints that is that by which they are saints the Spirit is the sum of all that which they have from the Father through the Son all that the Father doth through the Mediatour to & for the saints terminates in the Spirit & on the other hand all that by which they come to the Father through the Mediatour is the Spirit, and all that they do or transact through the Son towards God is by the Spirit. Tis the Spirit in them that puts forth acts of faith in God through a Mediatour tis the Spirit that prays & that gives praises &c--- vid No. 737. [finis]
¶734. PREPARATORY WORK is from the spirit of God it is a work that properly belongs to this person of the Trinity tho there be no holiness in it & so nothing of the nature of the holy Spirit communicated to the soul or exerted in the soul in it. As the embrio of X in the womb of the Virgin Mary tho it had no spirit or soul & so no proper holiness of nature & nothing of the nature of the holy Spirit in it yet was from the Spirit of God for it was a work wrought in the womb of the virgin that was preparatory or in order to an holy effect or production in /p. 125/ her for that was an holy thing that was born or her. [finis]
¶735. HUMILIATION. 'Tis true that natural men are capable of being convinced of the justice of God in their own damnation because they will be convinced of it at the day of judgment & so they are capable of being convinced of the certain truth of the same great things of religion that natural men will be convinced of at that day but yet it dont follow that it ordinarily is so til saving conversion. The conviction of both will be given at the day of judgment the same way viz. 1. by strengthening the faculty of understanding & clear setting forthe [sic] the reasons & arguments that evince the justice of God in the damnation of sinners & other great truths of religion & 2. by the sight of the greatness & majesty of God which will convince of the infinite greatness of the guilt of sin that is committed against God & so its proportion to the eternal punishmt & also will convince & assure of other truths that had before been taught concerning God as his infinite power his wisdom his justice his truth his holiness his immutability For a sight of the greatness of God with arguments [s? A] deduced from it will make em know these things & many others tho it won't make em see the beauty & loveliness of these things in God. ------So that a natural man is capable while such to see the truth & certainty of these things as well as of the justice of God in his own eternal damnation but it dont follow that such do ordinarily see them in this T before conversion. No more can we argue that it is ordinary for them to see Gods justice in their own damnation before conversion. [finis]
[The first interlineation of #736 is stacked on top of the second on the MS]
¶736. CONSUMMATION of all things <No. 609. 664. §.9. 742> <No. 609. 664. §9> XS DELIVERING up the Kingdom to the Father. After this is done X shall still continue to reign ""Luke 1. 33. He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdom there shall be no end" ""Are the fits of God to /p. 126/ his saints without repentance and are they not so to his Son It was long since declared that of the increase of Christs government & peace there should be no end Isai. 9. 7. And with respect to his sitting at Gods right hand that his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed Dan 7. 14. That he shall reign over his people in Mt. Sion from henceforth even forever Micah 4. 7. and that his throne is forever & ever Heb. 1. 8. Christ prayed that his people might be with him to behold his mediatorial glory & shall this glory cease as soon as they all come to see it, what good then would this prayer to do [order sic] them how short lived a happiness would it be to some of them who should only have a short glimpse of it after the resurrection & then behold it no more forever whilst others have been in the views of it ever since Xs ascension" That prayer of X in the 24 v. of the 17. chap. of John never shall be fully answered till the day of judgment til then it shall not be answered at all with respect to many that God that hath given him & it will not be so fully answered with respect to any before, as it will then The chh never will be with X to behold his glory in that eminent & glorious manner before as she will then when the marriage of the Lamb is come. the bride is never with the bridegroom in that full acquaintance & intimate communion before as she is after marriage. & marriage is not only for this acquaintance & communion on the wedding day but in order to it ever after therefore we may conclude that the glory & exaltation that the Father gives X will not be diminished after the day of judgment. X in this prayer seems to have a principal respect to his peoples being with him after his second coming it is probable by chap. 14. 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and recieve you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also. For we may well suppose that he has respect to the same in his prayer with his disciples when he speaks of their being with him where he is as in his discourse with them at the same time & on the same occasion & wherein he uses almost the same /p. 127/ words. By the glory that God had given X he meant the glory that God was about to exalt him to at his ascension into heaven & sitting at Gods right hand wherein he should be invested with kingly glory as appears by the beginning of his prayer, where he prays for that glory & exaltation & dominion over all flesh that was approaching & that God had promised him & that was to be given him in reward for his going through the work of our redemption as may be evident by comparing the 1. 2. & 4. verses. ""Will X the chief Shepherd hereafter give to his under-shepherds a crown of glory that fadeth not away and shall his own wither Shall he who is chief have less honour than they who are so much inferiour to him shall the subjects wear a crown when the King has none" ""The reward shall not cease when the work is done, but the reward is rather to begin then and when that which is procured it is accomplished" & theref. Xs crown & kingdom that he has in reward for his doing the work of redemption shall not cease at the day of judgmt for not till then will he have perfected all that belongs to this work & therefore we may argue that X glory will then be greatly increased rather than diminished <vid No. 664. §.9.> it will be with the head as with the members in this respect as the saints that are now in heaven Enoch Elias & others hant their full glory their consummate reward but it is to be given at the day of judgment so will it be with the head When the Son of God as a Son over his own house hath faithfully finished & compleated his vicegerency & comes & delivers it up to the Father as a betrustment [A; possibly en-] that had been committed to him of the Father as having faithfully & fully discharged the trust reposed in him then will the Father accept of him as having been faithfull & [xo?] then will he reward [him (om. E.)] when he lays down his work of vicegerency & delivers up his betrustment into the hands of the Father then shall the Father given the reward into his hands Then will X come to the Father & say I have glorified thee on the earth I have finished the work which thou givest me to do in an yet higher sense than he did when he finished the work of his life on the earth in the 17 chap of Joh. 4 v. & then will he make use of this as a plea for his reward & glory as he did then saying v. 5. & now O Father glorify me with thine own self & then will he say I have manifested /p. 128/ thy name to the men which thou gavest me out of the T thine they were & thou gavest them me & they have kept thy word in a more full sense than he did then v. 6. For then will this be true of all that the Father has given him out of the world. ""The members of X shall reign in life forever" & that as sitting together with X in heavenly places & as being made partakers of Xs exaltation ""And shall not their head who procured them this dignity" & in communion with whom they have it, ""How can the saints reign with X forever if he himself dont reign forever" ""The Scriptures tell us that X is a priest forever after the power of an endless life, & that he sate [sic] down forever on the right hand of God"
¶Christ will to all eternity continue the medium of communication between God & the saints ""That God who gathers all the things in heaven together in X will doubtless continue him as an everlasting bond of union & medium of communion betwixt himself & the glorified saints If the elect angels were chosen and confirmed forever in X as their head as the Scripture seems to intimate what reason can there be, that those redeemed from among men should not forever abide in him. The whole family in heaven & on earth good angels & redeemed men are named of X He is their head the head of all principalities & powers The angles worship him and are part of the general assembly gathered together in X in him all the members of this family are united and in him they forever abide, he therefore is forever their Lord & head Christ is the eternal head of the whole family God hath placed one head over angels & men Thus there is a strict union & conjunction all having one heavenly necessary bond of union as one of the antient writers has expressed it" ""Xs sitting at Gods right hand and being head over all things to the chh. are joined together in XX. & certainly there is a very close connection betwixt them It is said of the heavenly Jerusalem that the Lamb is the light thereof This may respect that unction from X the holy one, the emanations of light from the Holy Spirit derived from X /p. 129/ the eternal head of the glorified chh and [?] if so then X forever sits at the Fathers right hand not only as King & priest but also as prophet from whom by his spirit, light is continually communicated to that blessed assembly.[" (om. E.)] Hurrion[?] of the knowledge of X glorified. p. 196[8 ?] &c-- Vid notes on 1 Cor. 15. 24. & the things there quoted. [finis; not clear whether last ref. is same time]
¶737 MEDIATOUR why the SECOND PERSON in the Trinity. <vid No. 733.> This was necessary that so the mediatour might be a person beloved of God the third person may be said to be beloved of God but not so properly because he is the infinite love of God it self. he is the delight that the Father & the Son have in each other a person may be said to love the delight he has in a person that he loves but not so properly as he loves that person because this would make love to that love & delight in that delight & again delight in the delight that he has in that delight & so on in infinitum. It was above all things necessary in a mediatour between God & his enemies that were justly the objects of his wrath that he should be a person beloved of God the success of every thing in his mediation depends upon that. [finis; mark at end prob. A copyist's.]
¶738. UNION of the divine & human nature of X in one Person. The divine Logos is so united to the humanity of Christ that it spake and acted by it, & made use of it as its organ as is evident by the history of Xs life, and as it is evident he will do at the day of judgm't. & this he does not occasionally once in a while as he may in the prophets but constantly not by an occasional communication but a constant & everlasting union Now tis manifest that the Logos in thus acting by the humanity of X did not meerly make use of his body as its organ but his soul not only the members of his body but the faculties of his soul. which can be no otherwise than by such a communication with his understanding as we call identity of consciousness. If the divine Logos /p. 130/ speaks in & by the man X Jesus so that the man X Jesus in his speaking should say I say thus or thus & his human understanding is made use of by the Logos & it be the speech of his human understanding it must be by such a communication between the Logos & the human nature as to communicate consciousness. [finis; mark at end prob not E's but c's.]
¶739. LOVE TO GOD PREDOMINANCY OF GRACE. vid. 567. Tho it be by many things most evident that there is but little grace in the hearts of the godly in their present infant state to what there is of corruption, yet tis also very evident by the Scripture that grace is the principle that reigns & predominates in the heart of a godly man in such a manner as that [wwxo] that it is the spirit that he is of & so that it denominates the man so [wwxo] goodness or godliness prevails in him so that he is called a good man a godly righteous man a saint or holy man. humility predominates therefore all good men are called humble men meekness predominates so that all good men are denominated the meek. mercifullness prevails so that all good men are called mercifull men So godly persons are represented as such as love God & not the T For tis said if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him a true disciple of X is represented as one that loves X above F & mother & wife & children houses & lands yea than his own life that loves him above all & therefore sells all for him. Now how can these things consist with his having so little grace & so much corruption his having so little divine love & so much love to the world & why can't it be so that a man may [have (om. E.; mg)] some true love to God & yet that love be so little & the love of the T so much that he may be said to love the T a great deal better than God
¶I answer 'Tis from the nature of the object loved, rather [than (om. E.)] from the degree of the principle in the lover. The object beloved is of supream excellency & loveliness of a loveliness immensely above all worthy to be chosen & pursued & cleaved to & delighted [in (om. E.)] far above all & he that truly loves loves [sic] him as seeing this superlative excellency seeing of it as superlative, & as being convinced that [it (om. E.)] is far above all. tho a man has but a faint discovery of the glory of God yet if he has any true discovery of him so far as he is disco- /p. 131/ ver'd he sees this he is sensible that [it (om. E.)] is worthy to be loved far above all. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of truth & if he makes any true discovery of God it must be a discovery of him as lovely above all if such an excellency is not discover'd there is no divine excellency discover'd for divine excellency is superlative supream excellency
¶Now that wherein a godly man may be said to love God above all seems to be built & seems all to be no more than immediately follows He that has Gods supream excellency thus discover'd to him has a sense of heart of his being lovely above all for spiritual knowledge & conviction consists in the sense of heart. & having such a sort of conviction & sense of heart it follows that he doth in his heart esteam God above all so that the love of God reigns in his practical judgmt & esteam & it will also follow that God predominates in the stated established choice & election of his heart For he that [has (om. E.)] a conviction & sense of heart of any thing as above all things eligible must elect that above all & therefore godly men are often in SS. represented as choosing God for their portion as choosing the pearl of great price above all & from this it will follow that God & holiness predominates [sic] in his established purpose & resolution he cleaves to the Lord with purpose of heart, & so in the sense of the SS. with his whole heart
¶Tho there may be but little of the principle of love, yet the principle that there is being built on such a conviction will be of that nature viz to prize God above all. There may be an endless variety of degrees of the principle, but the nature of the object is unalterable, & therefore if there be a true discovery of the object whether in a greater or lesser degree yet if it be true or agreable to the nature of the object discovered the nature of that principle that is the effect of the discovery will answer the nature of the object & so it will evermore be the nature of it to prize God above all, tho there may be but little of such a principle
¶And so may it be said of the mans love to & choice of holiness & of particular graces such as meekness mercifullness &c-- he sees the excellency of these things above all other qualifications hence they predominate in the judgmt & choice. /p. 132/
¶And then another way whereby grace predominates in the soul of a saint is by vertue of the covenant of grace & the promises of God on which Xtian grace relies & which engage Gods strength & assistance to be on its side & to help it against its enemy when otherwise it would be overpowerd where God infuses grace he will give it a predominance by his upholding of it & time after time giving it the victory when it seemd for a time to be over born & ready to be swallowed this is not owing to our strength but to the strength of God who wont forsake the work of his hands & will carry on his work where he has begun it & alwaies causeth us to triumph in X Jesus who is the author & has undertaken to be the finisher of our faith [finis]
¶740. MILLENNIUM that there are remaining glorious times of the chh. See notes on Math 28. 18. 19. [finis]
¶741. HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN. There is scarce any thing that can be concieved or expressed about the degree of the happiness of the saints in heaven the degree of intimacy of union & communion with X & fullness of enjoyment of God, but what the consideration of the nature and circumstances of our redemption by X do allow us & encourage us to hope for. This redemption leaves nothing to hinder our highest exaltation & the utmost intimacy & fullness of enjoyment of God Our being such guilty creatures need be no hindrance because the blood of X has perfectly removed that and by his obedience he hath procured the contrary for us in the highest perfection & glory. The meanness of our natures need be no hindrance for X is in our natures There is an infinite distance between the human nature & the divine the divine nature has that infinite majesty & greatness whereby 'tis impossible that we should immediately approach to that & converse with that with that intimacy as we might do one that is in our own nature Job wished for a near approach to God but his complaint /p. 133/ was that his mean nature did not allow of so near an approach to God as he desired Gods majesty was too great for him Job. 9. 32. &c-- But now we hant this to keep us from the utmost nearness of access & intimacy of communion with X for to remove this obstacle wholly out of the way X has come down & taken upon him our nature he is as Elihu tells Job he was according to his wish he is a man as we are he also is formed out of the clay. This the church antiently wished for before it came to pass to that end that she might have greater opportunity of near access & intimacy of communion Cant 8. 1. O that thou wert my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother when I should find thee without I would kiss thee, yea I should not be despised. Christ descending so low in uniting himself to our nature tends to invite & encourage us to ascend to the most intimate converse with him & encourages us that we shall be accepted and not despised therein For we have this to consider of that let us be never so bold in this kind of ascending for X to allow us & accept us in it wont be a greater humbling himself than to take upon him our nature . Christ was made flesh & dwelt among us in a nature infinitely below his original nature for this and that we might have as it were the full possession and enjoyment of him. [space] Again it shews how much God designed to communicate himself to man[ck MS] that he so communicated himself to the first & chief of elect men the elder Brother & the head & representative of the rest even so that this man should be the same person with one of the persons of the Trinity. It seems by this to have been Gods design to admit man as it were to the inmost fellowship with the Deity There was [as (om. E.)] it were an eternal society or family in the Godhead in the Trinity of persons it seems to be Gods design to admit the church into the divine family as his sons wife So that which Satan made use [of (om. E.)] as a temptation to our first parents, Ye shall be as [E's line] /p. 134/ Gods [no line] shall be fulfilled contrary to his design. The saints enjoyment of X shall be like the Sons intimate enjoyment of the Father. Joh 17. 21. 22. 23. 24. That they may be all one as thou Father art in me & I in thee that they also may be one in us That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me have I given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them & thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the T may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. v. 26. That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them & I in them. The Sons intimate enjoyment of the Father is expressed by that that he is in the bosom of the F. So we read that one of Xs disciples leaned on his bosom. Joh. 13. 23.
[¶ ?]These things imply not only that the saints shall have such an intimate enjoyment of the Son but that they through the Son shall have a most intimate enjoyment of the Father. Which may be argued from this that the way that God hath contrived to bring 'em to their happiness is to unite them to the Son as members. Which doubtless is that they may partake with the head that they are so united to in his good. & so our fellowship is with the Father & with his Son Jesus X 1 Joh. 1. 3.
¶We have all reason to conclude that no degree of intimacy will be too much for the manhood of X seeing that the divine Logos has been pleased to assume him into his very person and therefore we may conclude that no degree of intimacy will be too great for others to be admitted to, of whom X is the head of chief, according to their capacity. For this is in some sort an example of Gods love to manhood [sic] that he hath so advanced manhood /p. 135/ He hath done this to the head of manhood to shew forth what honour & happiness God designs for manhood For the end of Gods assuming this particular manhood was the honour & happiness of the rest Surely therefore we may well argue the greatness of the happiness of the rest from it. The assumption of that particular manhood of X was but as a means of the honour & advancmt of the rest & we may well argue the end from the means & the excellency of the one from the excellency of the other
¶Christ took on him our nature, that he might become our Brother & our companion the saints are called Xs brethren Heb. 2. & his fellows Heb. 1. 9. hast anointed him with the oil of gladness above thy fellows Ps. 45. 8. the Heb word properly signifies a companion comes from a root that properly signifies to consociate or be joined with. This teaches both the saints intimate converse with & enjoyment of X & their fellowship with him or being joined with him in partaking with him in his glory & happiness.
¶But nothing so much confirms these things as the death & sufferings of X he that hath not witheld his own Son but hath freely delivered him up for us all in death how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. If the consideration of the greatness of Xs condescension in taking on him our nature invites us to ascend high in our intimacy with him & encourages us that he will condescend to allow us and accept us in it much more does his so condescending & humbling himself as he did in his last sufferings. No degree of the enjoyment of God that we can suppose can require grace and condescension that exceeds what was requisite in order to Gods giving X to die or will be a greater expression of love X will not descend lower nor shall we ascend higher in having X for us & giving himself to us in such a high degree of enjoy- /p. 136/ ment than to give himself to us to be our sacrifice, & to be for us in such a degree of suffering. It is certainly as much for God to give his Son to bear his wrath towards [us (om. E.; mg.)] as tis to admit us to partake of his love towards him. The latter in no respect seems too much to do for a creature and for a mean worthless creature than the former. Surely the majesty of God that did not hinder the one wont hinder the other especially considering that one is the end of the other. We may more easily concieve that God would go far in bestowing happiness on an inferiour nature, than that he would go far in bringing suffering on an infinitely superiour divine person for the former is in it self agreable to his nature, to the attribute of his goodness but bringing suffering & evil on an innocent & glorious person is in it self in some respect against his nature If therefore God hath done the latter in such a degree for those that are inferiour how shall he not freely do the former It will not be in any respect a greater gift for X thus to give himself in enjoyment than it was for him to give [himself (om. E.)] in suffering.
¶The sufferings of X for believers also argues the greatness of intimacy with X & fullness of enjoyment of him that believers shall have as it shews the fullness of propriety they shall have in him or right that he has to them Propriety in any person is just ground of boldness of access & freedom in enjoyment The beloved disciple John would not have made so free with Jesus X as to lean on his bosom had not he looked upon him as his own. Christ did in effect give himself to the elect to be theirs from eternity in the same covenant with the Father in which the Father gave them to him to be his & therefore X ever looked on himself to be theirs & they his & X looked on himself to be so much theirs that he as it were spent himself for them when he was on the earth. he had in /p. 137/ the eternal covenant of redemption given his live to them & so looked upon it theirs & laid it down for them when their good required it he looked on his blood theirs & so spilt it for them when it was heeded for their happiness he look'd on his flesh theirs & so gave it for their life, Joh 6. 51 The bread I will give is my flesh his heart was theirs he had given [it (om. E.)] to them in the eternal covenant & therefore he yielded it up to be broke for them & to spill out his hearts blood for them being pierced by the wrath of God for their sins he looked on his soul to be theirs & therefore he poured out his soul unto death & made his soul an offering for their sins. Thus he from eternity gave himself to them & looked on them as having so great a propriety in him as amounted [sic] to his thus spending & being spent for them and as he gave himself to them from eternity so he is theirs to eternity the right they have to him is an everlasting right he is theirs & will be forever theirs. Now what greater ground can there be for believers to come boldly to X & use the utmost liberty in access to him & enjoyment of him. will it argue X to be theirs in an higher degree for them to be admitted to the most perfectly intimate free & full enjoymt of X than for him so to be as it were perfectly spent for them & utterly consumed in such extreme suffering & in the furnace of Gods wrath.
¶Christ wont descend lower to admit us to the kisses of his mouth who are not worthy to kiss his feet than he did to wash our feet.
¶Again, if enemies were admitted to be so free with X in persecuting & afflicting, if X as it were yielded himself wholly into their hands to be mocked & spit upon & that they might be as bold as they would in deriding & trampling on him & might execute their utmost malice & cruelty to make way for his friends enjoyment of him doubtless his friends for whom this was done will be allowed to be as free with him in enjoying of him he will yield himself as fully up to his friends to enjoy /p. 138/ him as he did to be abused by them seeing the former was the end of the latter Christ will surely give himself as much to his saints as he has given himself for them.
¶He whose arms were expanded to suffer, to be nailed to the cross will doubtless be open'd as wide to embrace those form whom he suffer'd. He whose side, whose vitals whose heart was opend to the spear of his enemies to give access to their malice & cruelty & to let out his blood will doubtless to [sic] opend to admit the love of his saints they may freely come even ad intima Christi [E's line] whence the blood hath issued for them the blood hath made way for them
¶God & X who have begrutch'd [sic] nothing as too great to be done too good to be given as the means of the saints enjoymt of happiness wont begrutch [sic] any thing in the enjoymt itself
¶The awfull majesty of God now won't be in the way to hinder perfect freedom & intimacy in the enjoyment of God any more than if God were our equal because that majesty has already been fully displayed vindicated & glorified in Xs blood all that the honour of Gods awfull majesty requires is abundantly answered already by so great sufferings of so great a person. A sense of these wonderfull sufferings of X for their sins will be ever fix'd in their minds and a sense of their dependance on those[ck MS] sufferings as the means of their obtaining that happiness, sufficient care is taken in the method of salvation that all that have the benefit of Xs salvation & the comforts & joys of it should have em sensibly on that foundation that with their joys & comforts they should have a sense of their dependence on those sufferings & their validity & that comforts should arise in the foundation of such a sense. And as God begins to bestow comforts in this way here, so he will go on in heaven for the joy & glory of heaven shall be enjoyed as in X as the members of the Lamb slain & the divine love & glory shall be manifested through him. and the /p. 139/ sense they will have of this together with a continual sight of the punishmt of affronting this majesty, in those who were of the same nature & circumstances with themselves will [mg] will be sufficient to keep up a due sense of the infinite awfull majesty of God without their being kept at a distance & tho all possible nearness & liberty should be allowed. All the ends of divine majesty are already answerd fully & perfectly so as to prepare the way for the most perfect union & communion without the least injury to the honour of that majesty.
¶Tho as admission to such a kind of fellowship with God perhaps could not be without Gods own suffering yet when a divine person has been slain way is made for it seeing that he has been dead the vail is rent from the top to the bottom by the death of X the debt is all paid to the awfull attributes of God there is no need of any more nothing of awfull distance towards the believer can be of any use after this Now the vail is removed the way is all open to the boldness & nearest access & he that was dead & alive again is ours fully & freely to enjoy.
¶Again. we may further argue, from the misery of the damned as God will have manner of regard to the wellfare of the wellfare of the [sic] damned will have no pity, no mercifull care least they should be too miserable. They will be perfectly lost & thrown away by God as to any manner of care for their good or defence from any degree of misery There will be no mercifull restrain to Gods wrath. So on the contrary, with respect to the saints there will be no happiness too much for them God wont begrutch any thing as too good for them there will be no restraint to his love, no restraint to their enjoyment of himself nothing will be too full to [sic] inward & intimate for them to be admitted to but X will say to his saints as in Cant 5. 1 Eat O friends /p. 140/ drink yea be drunken O beloved
¶Corol. 1. <HUMILIATION> Hence we may see a reason why HUMILIATION should be required in order to a title to these benefits & why such abundant care has been exercised in all Gods dispensations with fallen man to make provision for mans humiliation and self diffidence & self emptiness why tis so ordered and contrived that it should not be by our own righteousness but altogether by the righteousness of another viz. that there might be the more effectual provision to keep the creature humble & in the place of a creature in such exceeding exaltation & that the honour of Gods majesty & exaltation above the creature might in all be maintain'd & how needfull is it to believe those truths & how far those DOCTRINES are FUNDAMENTAL or important that tend to this & how much they militate against the design & drift of God in the contrivance for our redemption that maintain contrary doctrines.
¶Corol. 2. Hence we may learn that a believer has more to be free & bold in access to X than to any other person in heaven or earth The Papists WORSHIP ANGELS & SAINTS as intercessours between X & them because they say it is too much boldness to go to X without some to interceed for them but we have far more to embolden and encourage us to go freely & immediately to X then we can have to any of the angels the angels are none of them so near to us as X is we hant that propriety in them Yea we have a great deal more to encourage & invite us to freedom of access to & communion with X than with a fellow worms [sic, unless E's exclam. pt.] there is not the thousandth part of that to draw us to freedom & nearness towards them as there is towards X. Ye tho X is os mulch above us yet he is nearer to us than the saints themselves for our nearness to them is by him our relation to them is through him
¶ This is agreable to what is reveald of the blessedness of the chh in the 21. Psalm & in the Book of Solomons Song. that song in all parts of it is an abundant revelation of such a nearness & intimacy of union & communion /p. 141/ & fullness of enjoyment as we have been speaking of & particularly such expressions in it as, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. The King hath brought me into his chambers i.e. the chambers of a bridegroom come let us to forth into the villages & there will I give thee my loves a bundle of myrrhe is my well beloved unto me he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. also our bed is green. Solomon made a bed of the wood of Lebanon &c-- & also the 45. Ps. & innumerable other places of SS. that compare the union & communion that is between X & his chh to that which is between a bridegroom & bride. [finis]
¶742. CONSUMMATION of all things. CHRISTS DELIVERING UP THE KINGDOM to the Father. That kingdom that X shall deliver up to the Father at the end of the T is not properly his mediatorial kingdom but his representative kingdom X God man rules now as representing the Fathers Person in his governmt, & therefore that work is committed to X that according to the oeconomy of the Trinity is properly the work of the Father as particularly the work of a lawgiver & judge the Father is properly the Lawgiver & Judge of the world X now is not only the natural representative or the natural [E's line here and following] perfect image of the Fathers person and effulgence & expression of his glory but he is his constituted representative to be his delegate image or representative in the Fathers oeconomical work viz the work of governing as Lawgiver & Judge But this state of things wont last alwaies God the Father has committed his work to the Son for a season for special & glorious reasons but things are not thus fix'd to be thus ultimately & eternally for that would amount even to an overthrowing the oeconomy of the persons of the Trinity but doubtless this representative kingdom when the /p. 142/ special ends of it shall be answered shall be deliverd up & things shall return to their own primaeval original order & every Person of the Trinity in the ultimate & eternal state of things shall continue each one in the exercise of his own oeconomical place & work
¶This representative delegated kingdom of X is not just the same with his mediatorial kingdom. Indeed the kingdom that he has as the Fathers vicegerent is given & improved to subserve to the purposes of his mediation between God & the elect, but yet tis not the same with his mediatorial kingdom tis rather something that is superadded to <that which is most essential in> his mediatorial office & work, to subserve to the purposes of it, & therefore his mediation or mediatorial work will continue after that which is thus superadded ceases X mediatorial kingdom never will be deliver'd up to the Father it would imply a great absurdity to suppose that X should deliver up or commit the work of a mediatour to the Father as if the Father himself should thenceforward take upon him the work of mediating between himself and men Xs mediation between the F and the elect will continue after the end of the T & he will reign as a middle person between the Father & them to all eternity tho he wont continue to do the same things as Mediatour then as he does now as he now does not do the same things as Mediatour that he has done heretofore and particularly the work which he did when he was here on earth called the impetration of redemption which work he finished & rested from when he rose from the dead, but still continues as much the Mediatour as he was then & doing the work of a Mediatour now as well as then So after the end of the Ttho he wont continue to do the same parts of his mediatorial work after the end of the T as he does such as delivering the saints from the remains of sin & interceding for them as sinfull /p. 143/ creatures and conquering their enemies (to subserve to which parts of his mediatorial work his kingdom of vicegerency is committed to him), yet he will continue a middle person between the Father & the saints to all eternity and as the bond[A: head] of union with the Father & of derivation from him & of all manner of communication & intercourse with the Father.
¶When the end comes that relation that X stands in to his church as the Fathers viceroy over her shall cease, & shall be swallowed up in the relation of a vital & conjugal head <or head of influence and enjoyment> which is more natural & essential to the main ends & purposes of his union with them & henceforward his dominion or kingship over them will be no other than what naturally flows from or is included in such an headship & now God will be all The church now shall be brought nearer to God the Father, who by his oeconomical office sustains the dignity & appears as the fountain of the Deity & her enjoyment of him shall be more direct. Christ God man shall now no longer be instead of the Father to them but as I may express it their head of their enjoyment of God as it were the eye to recieve the rays of divine glory & love for the whole body & the ear to hear the sweet expressions of his love & the mouth to taste the sweetness & feed on the delights of the enjoyment of God. The root of the whole tree planted in God to recieve sap & nourishment for every branch.
¶That it should be thus is much more agreable with that supream state of happiness & consummate enjoymt of both the Father & the Son which the saints shall be admitted to at the end of the world tis more agreable to a state of consummate enjoyment of God for hereby Gods communication of himself to them shall be more direct than when it was by a vicegerent. & tis more agreable to their state of consummate enjoyment /p. 144/ of the Son of God God man for X while he rules as the representative of the Person of the Father and as his vicegerent as Lawgiver & Judge appears with something to represent the aw [sic] of his Fathers majesty for the manifestations of the aw of his Fathers majesty must ever be maintain'd. because his oeconomical part is to sustain the dignity & majesty of the Deity. And the way in which the saints will come to an intimate full enjoyment of the Father is not by the Fathers majesty <be> its being as it were softened by his descending to them in a created nature as tis in X the Son but by their ascending to him by their union with Xs person. And therefore Christ while he appears as representing the Fathers Person in governing & judging must have represented in him the Fathers awfull majesty which tends to keep at a distance in some measure tho X also appears in the character of an husband to his chh but then will way be made for the most perfect intimacy when this awe shall as it were be laid aside & be swallowed up in the gentleness & sweetness of a conjugal head.
¶The alteration that will be made in Xs relative circumstances when he shall thus have deliver'd up the kingdom to the Father will be no diminution of his glory but a great increase of it For when the glory of the members is perfected & brought to its highest pitch without doubt the glory of the head will not be diminished but greatly increased The honour & glory that X has now in possessing this delegated kingdom is that which consists in an honourable [mg] work, under the Father [E's] as his great & high officer but the glory that he will recieve in lieu of it when he shall deliver up the kingdom is the honour & glory of an high enjoyment of the Father [E's] a kind and manner & degree of enjoyment /p. 145/ as the Fathers only begotten Son & the brightness of his glory & express image of his Person which shall be manifest to all in that glory which they shall see him in which will be more glorious than this kind and manner of work that he is now employed in, as the Fathers vicegerent to be recieved to an honourable kind of enjoyment of a glorious being is certainly more honourable than to have committed to him an honourable employment by a glorious being. That glorious beings love is more manifested in the former than in the latter
[¶ ?]X enjoyment of the Father than he shall be admitted to after he has compleated his work will be his reward of his work. Enjoyment of the person that employs is the proper reward of well discharging the employment. but surely the reward is more excellent & honourable than the work. a state of reward is more glorious than a state of work Christ shall then be rewarded in a compleat perfect and glorious possession of the end of that kingdom which he now has by the Fathers delegation but the end is more excellent & glorious than the work as Solomon observes better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; He then shall have brought is all that the Father hath given him, all that he died for. as [sic; meant "and" & attr. to sh?] shall possess his church compleat in all its members, & all the members made perfect, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing all in their consummate beauty as a bride adorned for her husband & all in their consummate happiness. And the glory & beauty of the man X Jesus & his happiness in the enjoyment of the Father shall be increased proportionably. For the increase must be in him first, as the head & through him derived to his church. He shall now fully obtain and be possessed of all that honour & glory in himself that is the end of his administration of his delegated kingdom: Christ will reign 'till all his enemies are put under his feet but the glory that he has in that state wherein he was all his enemies wholly under his feet is doubtless greater than that wherein /p. 146/ his enemies yet remain in power & unsubdued & wherein he is yet conflicting with them in order to bring them under his feet.
¶The Roman generals when they came back to Rome after noted victories in the office in which they were sent forth as representatives of the Roman power in the field had their glory chiefly manifested in the triumph in which they enter'd the city after they had finished their work as Roman officers & representatives Now the glory that X will have when he returns to heaven after the day of judgment when he shall have subdued all his enemies & even the last enemy death, will be the glory of a triumph he will enter the heavenly city with his redeemed people & the spoils of all his enemies in triumph & the glory of that triumph will be eternal. vid No 609 664. §. 9. 736. [finis]
¶743. [Unsure how the following interlineations are presented on MS.] <vid 634. & 745 Discourse on Isai 51.8. Serm 18.> & NEW EARTH. CONSUMMATION OF ALL THINGS <vid Rev 62. 64. & 73.a.> <NEW HEAVENS> <Heaven the place of Gods eternal residence &> The place of the everlasting residence and reign of Christ and his church will be heaven, & not this lower T purified and refined. Heaven is every where in SS. represented as the throne of God and that part of the universe, that is Gods fixed abode & dwelling place & that is everlastingly appropriated to that use. other places are mention'd in SS. as being places of Gods residence for a time as Mt. Sinai & the Land of Canaan the Temple the holy of holies but yet God is represented as having dwelt in heaven before he dwelt in those places Gen 11. 5. Gen 19. 24. Exod 3. 8 Job 22. 12. & 14 Gen 28. 12. and when God is spoken of as dwelling in those places he is represented as coming down out of heaven. /p. 147/ So he is represented as coming on Mt Sinai. Gen. 19. 11 v. 18. v. 20. Exod. 20. 22. Deut 4. 36. Nehem. 9. 13. so he is represented as coming to the temple 2. Chron. 7. 3. & so when the cloud of glory first came on the tabernacle in [? cd. be "no" to be xo w. prev. words; D om.] Exod ult. [E's] 34. it doubtless was the same cloud that till then abode on Mt Sinai but G. had first descended from heaven on Mt. Sinai. And while God did dwell in the tabernacle & temple he was represented as still dwelling in heaven as being still his original proper & everlasting dwelling place, & dwelling in the temple & tabernacle in a far inferiour manner. 1 King 8. 30. When they shall pray towards this place then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place. So v. 32. 34. 36. 39. 43. 45. 49. Ps. 11. 4. The Lord is in his holy temple the Lords throne is in heaven Deut 33. 26. There is none like the God of Jeshurun who rideth on the heavens in thine help & in his excellency on the sky Ps. 20. 6. Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed he will hear him from his holy heaven Deut. 26. 15. Isai 63. 15. Lam 3. 50 1 Chron 21. 26. 2 Chron 6. 21, 23, 27, 30 & chap. 7. 14. Neh. 9. 27. 28. Ps. 14. 2 & 53. 2. Ps. 33. 13. 14. The Lord looketh from heaven he beholdeth all the sons of men from the place of his habitation he looketh on all the inhabitants of the earth Ps. 57. 3. Ps. 76. 8. Ps. 80. 14. Ps. 102. 19. For he hath looked from the height of his sanctuary from heaven & thou on the earth. 2. Kings 2. 1. would take up Elijah into heaven. & so we have an account how he was taken up v 11. 2 Chron 30. 27. Ps. 68. 4. 33. Ps. 123. 1. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Ps 115. 2. 3. Wherefore should the heathen say, where is not their God Our God is in the heavens he hath done whatsoever he pleased Lam 3. 41. 2 Chron 20. 19 [or 9; ref. shd. have been v. 6] Job. 31. 2. Ps. 113. 5. Isai. 33. 5. Jer. 25. 30. Isai 57. 15.
¶The manner in which God dwells in heaven is so much superiour to that wherein he dwells on earth that heaven is said to be Gods throne and the earth his footstool Isai 66. 1. Thus saith the L. the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool where is the house that he build unto me and where is the place of my rest.
¶The holy places on earth where God is represented as dwelling are /p. 148/ called his footstool. Lam. 2. 1. & remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger. 1 Chron. 28. 2. As for me I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God and had made ready for the building Ps. 132. 7. We will go into his tabernacles we will worship at his footstool. Gods sanctuary is called the place of his feet Isai 60. 13. To beautify the place of my sanctuary & to make the place of my feet glorious. The inferiour manner in which God dwelt in the Jewish sanctuary was expressed by that that God placed his name there. Earthly holy places which were called Gods house or places of his habitation were so in such a manner & a manner so inferiour to that in which heaven is Gods house that they are represented as only outworks or gates of heaven. Gen. 28. 17. This is none other but the house of God this is the gate of heaven Yea. tho God is represented as dwelling in these earthly holy places yet he was so far from dwelling in them as he does in heaven that when he appeared in them from time to time he is represented as then coming from heaven to them as tho heaven were his fixed abode and Mt Sinai & the tabernacle & temple places into which he would occasionally turn aside and appear thus God is said to have descended in a cloud and appear [sic] to Moses when he passed by him & proclaimed his name tho he had before that from time to time appeared there as in the Mount of G. & tho' Moses had at that time been long conversing with God in the mount. Exod 34. 5. & so God descended from time to time on the tabernacle Numb. 11. 25. & 12. 5. Heaven is alwaies represented as the proper & fixed abode of God & other dwelling places but as occasional abodes When the wise man speaks or worshipping God in his house he at the same time would have those that worship him there be sensible that he is in heaven & not on the earth Eccles. 5. 1. 2. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God----Let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven & thou upon the earth
¶So God when he withdrew from the land of Israel is spoken of as returning to heaven which is called his place as tho the /p. 149/ land of Israel were not his place, Hosea 5. 15. I will go and return to my place. And God is spoken of as being in heaven in the time of the captivity as he is in the prophecy of Daniel Dan 4. 37. Dan 5. 23. and in Daniels visions Dan. 4. 15. 23. 31.
¶And heaven is also in the New Testament every where represented as the place of Gods abode X tells us that tis Gods throne, Math 5. 34. This we are taught in the New Testament to look on as Gods temple after all that was legal & ceremonial concerning holy times & holy places ceased Acts 7. 48. 49 Howbeit the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool what house will ye build me saith the Lord and where is the place of my rest. This is the true temple & the true holy of holies as it is represented in the Epistle to the Heb. Heaven is the place whence X descended and it is the place whither he ascended It was the place whence the Holy Ghost descended on X & whence the voice came saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased & is the place whence the H. Gh. was poured out at Pentecost & whatever is from God is said to be from heaven Math 16. 1. Mark 8. 11. Luke 11. 16 Math 21. 25 Luke 9. 54. Luke 21. 11. Joh 3. 27. Joh. 6. 31 Acts 9. 3. & 11. 5, 9. Rom. 1. 18. 1 Cor. 15. 47. 1 Pet. 1. 12. Heb. 12. 25. Rev. 3. 12. & other places. The angels are spoken of as coming from heaven from time to time in the New T. & visions of God are by heavens being opend. & prayers & divine worship are commanded [sic] under the New T. to be directed to heaven. We are to pray to our F which is in heaven which appellation is very often given to God in the New Testament. So we are to lift up our eyes & hands to heaven in our prayers and heaven is every where in the New Test spoken as the place of G. & X & the angels & the place of blessedness and all good whatever is divine is calld heavenly & is alwaies spoken of as the proper country of the saints the appointed place of all that is holy & happy.
¶Whenever God comes out of heaven into this T he is represented as bowing the heavens & rending the heavens intimating that heaven is so much the proper place of Gods abode, that tis something very great & extraordinary for him to /p. 150/ manifest himself as he is pleased to do in this T among his people that heaven the proper place of his abode is as it were rent or bowed & brought down in part to the earth to make way for it. 2. Sam. 22. 10. Ps. 18. 9. & 144. 5. & Isai 64. 1. <God is called the God of heaven. Lord of heaven. King of heaven Dan. 5. 23. & 4. 37. & 2. 44.>
¶Heaven is so much the proper place of Gods abode, that by a metonymy heaven is put for God himself 2. Chron 32. 20. And for this cause Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed and cried to heaven Ps. 73. 9. They set their mouth against the heavens & when any thing is spoken of in Scrip. as being from heaven the same is to be understood as to be from God. The Prodigal says I have sinned against heaven i.e against God Luke 15. 21.
¶Heaven is a part of the universe that God in the first creation & the disposition of things that was made in the beginning was appropriated to God to be that part of the universe that should be his residence while other parts were destined to other uses Ps. 115. 15. 16. You are blessed of the Lord who hath made heaven and earth. The heaven even the heavens are the Lords but the earth hath he given to the children of men. God having taken this part of the universe for his dwelling place in the beginning of the creation, he will retain it as long as the creation lasts.
¶When man was in a state of innocency before the T was polluted & brought into the present state of confusion God was in heaven heaven was Gods dwelling place for the angels fell from thence we read that when they fell God cast em down from heaven & therefore when this polluted confused state of the T is at and [sic] end and elect man[ck MS] shall be perfectly restored from the fall to another state of innocency & perfect happiness after the resurrection heaven will also then be the place of Gods abode
¶This lower T in it [in? its?] its beginning was from God in /p. 151/ heaven He dwelt in heaven when he made it & brought it out of its chaos into it present form as is evident because we are told that when God did this the morning stars sang together & all the sons of God i.e. the angels shouted for joy Without doubt the habitation of the angels was from the beginning that high & holy place where God dwells. & their habitation was heaven in the time of the creation because those that fell were cast down from thence. But if this lower T in its beginning was from God in heaven without doubt in its end it will return thither as he dwelt in heaven before & when he made it & brought it out of its chaos into its present form, so he will dwell in heaven when & after it is destroyed and reduced to a chaos again
¶Heaven is that throne where God sits in his dominion not only over some particular [sic] of the universe as the mercy seat in the temple, but tis the throne of his universal kingdom Ps. 103. 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all. i.e over all his works or all that he hath made which appears by v. 22. Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion Because it is the throne in which God rules over the whole universe therefore tis the uppermost part of the universe as above all as tis evident that the heaven where God dwells is for tis said to be far above all heavens. And as 'tis the throne of his universal kingdom so it is the throne of his everlasting kingdom, as he here reigns by a dominion that is universal with respect to the extent of it so he does also with respect to the duration of it. The Psalmist in this same place is speaking of things that are the fruits of Gods everlasting dominion especially his everlasting mercy to his people (which mercy will be especially manifested after the day of judgment). as in the words immediately preceding in the two foregoing verses But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting /p. 152/ upon them that fear him &c-- The word here used that is translated prepared [E's line here and following] also signifies established having respect to its firmness & durableness. --- Tis fit that as Gods kingdom is an everlasting [sic] so that the throne of that kingdom should be everlasting & never should be changed for that which moves is ready to vanish away The everlastingness of Gods kingdom is signified by the same word in the original that in the place now mentiond is translated prepared. Ps. 93. 2. Thy throne is established of old thou art from everlasting. together with the context.
¶If God should change the place of his abode & his throne from heaven to some other part of the universe, then that which has hitherto been Gods chief throne & his metropolis, his royal city must either be destroyed or put to a so much meaner use and be deprived of so much of its glory as would be equivalent to a destruction. which is not a seemly thing for the chief city palace & throne of the eternal King whose royal throne never shall be destroyed Ps. 45. 6. Thy throne O God is forever & ever
¶The everlastingness of Xs kingdom is signified in Ps 89. 29. that his throne shall be as the days of heaven. Seeing therefore Xs throne shall be as the days of heaven. Seeing therefore Xs throne is to be eternal & the eternity of his throne is here spoken of as commensurate with the duration of heaven & seeing that heaven is Gods throne we may putting these things together infer that heaven as Xs throne will be forever
¶This heaven that is so often spoken of as the place of Gods proper & settled abode is a local heaven a particular place or part of the universe & the highest or outermost part of it. because tis said to be the heaven of heavens tis the place where the body of X is ascended which is said to be far above all heavens & is called the third heaven. /p. 153/ Is it likely that God should change the place of his eternal abode & remove & come & dwell in another part of the universe or that he should gather men & bring em home to himself as to their great end & centre whither all things should tend & in which all should rest.
¶Tis fit, that an immutable being & he who has an everlasting & unchangeable dominion should not move the place of his throne.
¶Heaven is spoken of in Hebrews as the true tabernacle & holy of holies that remains after the antient tabernacle was taken down & the temple at Jerusalem destroyed this therefore is one that
¶The Apostle John even when he is giving a description of the state of the church after the resurrection represents the place of Gods abode as being then in heaven for he says he saw the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven.
¶This heaven is the place where X is said to have said [sic] down forever which implies that it is to dwell & reign there forever. Heb. 1. 3.
¶The dwelling place of the saints is said to be eternal in the heavens in 2. Cor. 5. 1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
¶If any say that this earth will be heaven after the day of judgment, is it not as easy to say that after the resurrection heaven will be the new earth is there any more force upon words one way than the other
¶The natural images & representations of things seem to represent heaven to be the place of light happiness & glory . such as the serenity & brightness of the visible heavens of which I have spoken elsewhere.
¶Tis an argument that this globe we now dwell upon is not to be refind to be the place of Gods everlasting /p. 154/ abode because tis a moveable globe & must continue moving alwaies if the laws of nature are upheld it being so small it cant remain & subsist distinct among the neighbouring parts of the universe without motion but it is not seemly that Gods eternal glorious abode & fixed & everlasting throne should be a moveable part of the universe.
¶As heaven will be everlastingly the place of Gods chief highest & most glorious abode so without doubt it will be the place of Xs everlasting residence & therefore the place whither he will return after the day of jud[g]ment. he who has had the honour and glory of dwelling in this glorious abode of God hitherto wont have his honour diminished, after he has compleated all his work as Gods officer by then dwelling in a place far separated from Gods dwelling place. If he returnd in triumph to heaven entring into the royal city after his first victory in his terrible conflict under suffering much more shall he return thither after his more perfect & compleat victory when all his enemies shall be put under his feet after the day of judgment. And if X after the day of judgmt returns to heaven to dwell, doubtless all his saints shall go there with him he will invite them to come with him & inherit the kingdom prepared for them before the foundation of the world
¶The place of both X & his church their everlasting residence will be heaven When X comes forth at the day of judgmt with the armies of heaven the saints & angels attending him it will be as it were on a white horse going forth to a glorious victory and as the Roman generals after their victories returned in triumph to Rome the metropolis of the Empire delivering up their power to them that sent em forth so will X return in triumph to heaven all his armies following him & shall there /p. 155/ deliver up his delegated authority to the Father. As X returned to heaven after his first victory after the resurrection of his natural body so he will return thither again after his second victory after the resurrection of his mystical body. vid 745. [finis]