¶783. JUSTIFICATION. X RIGHTEOUSNESS. vid ss. No 318. B. 2. [finis]
¶784. ASCENSION of X. Vid SS. No. 319. [finis]
¶785. The DEATH threatend in the COVENANT OF WORKS. When God said to Adam In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,* was not only or principally temporal death or a becoming mortal or annihilation But it was the utter final & sensible ruin or destruction of his whole man which the following things tend to confirm
1. The expression that God used dying thou shalt die,* naturally implied thus much signifying not only the certainty of death as the wages of sin but that he should be the subject of all manner of death. The punishment threatend when God said thus was what Adam never had had any experience of & never had seen any instance of, & therefore was not liable to be decieved as to the import of the expression from being prepossessed with any other notion of death or having been wont to use the words in another [sic] & had nothing else to form his notion of it by but only concieving in his own mind of his utter sensible & dredfull destruction with respect to all that good that he now enjoyed. tho he knew nothing what death or any evil was by experience yet by the idea he was capable of forming of the abolition of his present good he could excite an idea of misery or that which was very dreadfull, & especially if he withal concieved of this as being from Gods displeasure & wrath & from the emphasis & force of the redoubled expression he would naturally think that God meant a very dreadfull destruction & that it would be executed from a terrible degree of divine displeasure hatred & wrath the manner of the threatning was sufficient to impress a sense of this on his mind as it appears to have been actually impressed by the fear that he manifested after he had sin'd. So that the punishmt Adam naturally expected from this threatning was a being utterly & finally destroyed in his whole man & with a destruction that was the opposite of all good that he now possessed & to have it inflicted in its greatest extremity or in the most terrible manner & sensible [sic] to lie under this destruction & therein to suffer the dreadfull hatred & wrath of God & so to suffer misery in death answerable to that hatred
¶2. When God threatend thus Adam would naturally concieve of that death as a state of sensible ruin & horrible misery For we still find by experience that we naturally concieve of death as a sensible destruction or a state of dismal darkness as [or?] darkness it self & without any order where the light is as darkness, & that the misery is answerable to those dismal appearances that death is attended <wh [?JE jr?]> a ghastly aspect confinement to the dark & silent grave rotting & mouldring there a being eaten of worms &c-- all mankind throughout all ages & nations have a horrible sense of this beyond a meer state which notion we can never conquer when we grow up & grow old & no consideration or learning will thoroughly root it out but we still naturally concieve of death after this manner when thinking of our own death & when mourning for the death of our dear friends. Tho<e>se dismal appearances in temporal death that strongly impress the mind with an idea of sensible amazing darkness destruction & horrour are an indication that death in it self is something more than meer ceasing of temporal life or ceasing to be, and that it is indeed a state of such real misery as these are the appearances of & so doubtless Adam concieved of it & would naturally concieve of a great deal more misery in it than we do For when we think of it we concieve of it as a sensible destruction with regard to all that good that we now enjoy in our fallen state & the suffering the contrary of that good but he would naturally concieve of it as a sensible destruction with regard to all that good which he enjoyed & enduring the contrary of that good but the good that he enjoyed was much greater than we enjoy & more manifold for besides the great outward happiness that he enjoyed was much greater than we enjoy & more manifold for besides he had that which /p./ tended to make him concieve of all this as the fruit of the great wrath of God & his suffering that wrath in a state of death from his peremptory & awfull manner of threatning
¶3. Altho death as the word is commonly used now signifies temporal death yet tis evident that the word as used in Scripture is of a larger signification and properly signifies any destruction or ruin of a living sensible being.
¶3. Tis evident by many passages of the old Test that Gods people from the beginning did concieve of a state of death &[A:(as)a] state of sensible dismal darkness & misery. tho they seemed to have concieved of the righteousness [sic] as redeemed from that misery so in that forementiond place in Job. see also Ps. 88, 4---12. They conceived of the souls of the dead as descending lower than the grave even into a pit of darkness in the inner or lower parts of the earth. see Job. 26. 5. 6 with notes compared with Ps.88. 6. & Job. 33.22 This place they called hall. Prov. 9. 18, Job. 28. 22. Ps. 55. 23. Prov. 15. 11, Job. 11. 8 Deut 32. 22. Ps 9. 17. Ps 139. 8. Isai 14. 9. 15. Amos 9. 2. Joh. 2. 2. Ezek 32. 18. & that they looked on a state of death as a state of sensible misery is further evident by Ezek. 32. 27. Job. 20. 11. [2 line spaces blank]
¶Seeing therefore the word death was so understood by Gods people of old & amongst the Israelites in particular we may well suppose that Moses who was an Israelite when giving an account of Gods threatning to Adam in the language of the Israelites might think it sufficient to express it thus tho we should suppose that the thing that was really threatend to Adam was a sensible total perfect & final most dreadfull destruction of his whole man in enduring the terrible wrath of God seeing such an expression naturally imported thus much in that language & as it was then used. For we are not necessarily to suppose that God spake to Adam in that very language & in those very words that Moses gives account in tis sufficient that the thing that he expresses was some way or other plainly made known to Adam.
¶4. Tis manifest that the word death as used in Scripture is of much larger signification than as commonly used now so that any destruction or any very dreadfull calamity bringing any considerable destruction of any kind with it is called death in Scripture. So Pharaoh says of the plague of locusts Exod 10. 17. Intreat the Lord that he may take away from me this death only. So that when God with such such [sic] repetition & emphasis threatens Dying thou shalt die it is natural to understand it that God would inflict all manner of manner of [sic] misery & destruction even to universal & final destruction.
¶5. The death that God at first threatend for sin is doubtless the same that perishing or destruction that is so often spoken of throught [sic] the old Testament as what the wicked shall suffer but the righteous shall be delivered from in places too many to be mentiond but this is not temporal death for the righteous are not delivered from that.
¶6. The misery that is the punishment that wicked men shall suffer & that the righteous shall be delivered from is in the SS. and even the old Testament not only called perishing or being destroyed but tis in innumerable places called death We find death or dying threatnd to wicked men all over the Old Testament as that which the righteous shall escape and the reward of life is promised to them Now by this cannot be meant temporal death for this the righteous do [no (om.E)] more escape than the wicked it can't be meant only an untimely death for there is particularly [particularly notice] observed in the old Testament that the wicked do grow old in sin & are in great prosperity while they do live It cant be meant some more dreadfull kind of temporal death for tis particularly observed in the old Testament that wicked men sometimes die quietly having no bonds in their death & in the general tis observed that as to all visible things come alike to all & that there is one event to the righteous & to the wicked so that there is no knowing either love or hatred by all that is before us.
¶7. That death that we are saved from by him who is in SS called the second Adam is doubtless the same that came by the sin of the first it is most manifestly so by Rom 5. at the latter end & 1. Cor. 15. 21. 22. & 45.
¶8. Not only the ruin or destruction of the body that is in temporal death is called death but that ruin of the soul that is entirely different from the death of the body is expressly & often called death in SS. & we are moreover taught that tis a death that X or the second Adam came to save us from Joh 5. 25. Eph. 2. 1. 5. Col. 2. 13. Math 8. 22.
¶9. The death that was at first threatend for sin was doubtless the same with what is in SS. metonymically called damnation or condemnation when speaking of the punishment of sinners for the word damnation or condemnation as /p./ used in SS in this case signifies as much as condemnation to death or such a condemnation as men were brought under for capital crimes and indeed the SS is plain in this that the condemnation to death & to that death that came by Adams sin by Rom 5. 16. & 18 verses with the context. but this damnation or condemnation is not to temporal death because we are abundantly taught in the SS. that 'tis what believers shall not come into. as there & Rom. 8. 1. 34. 1 Cor 11. 31. 32. 34. 2 Cor 3. 9. Jm [? James, A] 3. 1. & 5. 12. Joh 3. 17. Math 12. 37. Joh. 3. 18. That by the condemnation which sinners are exposed to is meant the same with condemnation to suffer that death that God has threatend for sin is particularly manifest by Joh. 5. 24. Verily verily I say unto you He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life & shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life. & that this death is not temporal death is exceeding manifest by the 29 v. of that context And shall come forth they that have done good to the resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation or condemnation for the word in the original is the same as v. 24. Now nothing can be more manifest than that by the condemnation that the wicked shall rise to is not a condemnation to temporal death for that is what the verse speaks of their coming out of now how absurd is it to suppose that X means that they shall rise & come out of a state of bodily death that they may be condemned to a state of bodily death And tis also evident in this same verse that the condemnation they shall rise to is a condemnation to that death that is the threatend punishment of sin because tis opposed to resurrection of life & tis further manifest that this death is not natural death by the same antithesis or opposition to that life that the godly shall rise to for that life is not natural life for tis evident the life they rise to is a life wherein they are distinguished from the wicked but they are not distinguished by rising to natural life for both shall rise to natural life consisting in the life of the body & the union of soul & body. & further
¶10 We are expressly taught that the which wicked punishment which wicked [sic] shall be condemned to after the resurrection which is the proper & full punishmt of sin (for the proper time of both rewards & punishmts is after the resurrection & what is before is only by anticipation & the misery of the wicked before is therefore reckond [prob. underlined by E.] as a state of imprisonment in order to judgmt condemnation & execution) I say we are expressly taught both that this punishment of sin that the wicked shall then be condemned to is not a state of natural death or annihilation, but a state of continual torment and also that this state of torment is death yea moreover that death that was principally threatend to Adam for his sin in Rev. 20. 10. And the devil that decieved them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever, with v. 14. & death & hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death & chap. 21. 8. But the fearfull and unbelieving & abominable and murderers & whoremongers & sorcerers & idolaters & all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire & brimstone which is the second death alluding to the double expression in the threatening to Adam Dying thou shalt die See notes on chap. 20. 14. & compare the<o>se places with chap 14. 10. 11 & Math 25. 41. [These refs at same time as rest of ¶]
¶11. Without doubt that death that was threatnd to man at first in case he sin'd was that same death if any such there be that the Scripture declares to be the proper & appointed recompence of sin but this wages is called death Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus X our Lord. Now in order to know what the proper & appointed wages of sin is we must look & see what is the wages appointed & given when judgmt comes to be passed by the proper Judge and in the proper time of judgement X when he comes thus to reckon [Is E underlining? See same w. above] with the servants he will doubtless assign every one his proper wages when he comes to call all to an account he will doubtless give every one their proper & appointed recompence. but we have seen what this is under the preceding particular . & we may also judge by the death that X suffered who not only suffered the dissolution of the frame of his body but extreme agonies in his soul which made him say My soul is exceeding sorowfull even unto death. Tis also manifest that this death that is the wages of sin is not the death of the body for doubtless this is the same death that X has respect to when he says that he that believes on him shall not die but shall live forever Joh. 6. 49.50.51.58. [finis]
¶786. How that PERFECT OBEDIENCE is the CONDITION of the first covenant is implied in the words of that covenant as God expressed it to Adam. Gen. 2. 17. Thou shalt not eat thereof for on the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. See notes on the verse [finis]
¶787. FUTURE STATE. IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. Our existence in ANOTHER WORLD after this. It dont appear reasonable to me to suppose that there never shall be any communication between the different parts of the universe. The universe is evidently one it has one Architect & is one frame the parts have evidently relation connection one with another & there is a mutual depedence & subserviency & [xo?] that the parts should be thus united & yet in this sense eternally remain separate that one part should have no communication with another by the knowledge & intelligence & activity that there is in the different parts which consists wh is as it instar totius [E's line] as it were the soul and summ of the<o>se several parts, & which lies in the intelligent inhabitants of the several parts I say that the several parts of the universe so sweetly having respect one to another harmonizing one with another & orderly united & connected together, should in this respect remain totally & eternally separate don't appear to me reasonable. but they will remain totally separate without communication unless there be such a thing as a transition or translation of the inhabitants from one part of the universe to another [finis]
¶788. IMPUTATION of ADAMS sin how the whole of the style or languaged [sic] used in the three first chapters of Genesis proves that in the<o>se words, In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die God had respect not only to Adam but his posterity. See my third serm from Genes. 3. 11. [and reel 5 copy only apparently no date.] the 1 use. & also from the nature of all covenant transactions in SS. [finis]
¶789. IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. FUTURE STATE. "The theory of the perpetual progress of the soul to its perfection without a possibility of ever arriving at it is to every candid and vertuous mind the most convincing proof and demonstration of its immortality For how can it ever [sic; enter? A: "ever enter"] into the thoughts of a man that the soul which is capable of such immense perfections, & of recieving new improvements to all eternity shall fall away into nothing almost as soon it was created. Are such abilities made for no purpose. A brute arrives at a point of perfection that he can never pass. In a few years he has all the endowments he is capable of And were [he (om.E)] to live ten thousand more would be the same thing he is at present. Were a human soul thus at a stand in her accomplishments, were her faculties to be full blown and incapable of further enlargements I could imagine it might fall away insensibly and drop at once into a state of annihilation. But can we believe a thinking being that is in a perpetual progress of improvements, and traveling on from perfection to perfection after having just looked abroad into the works of its Creatour and made a few discoveries of his infinite goodness wisdom and power, must perish at her first setting out and in the very beginning of her enquiries. ---- A man considered in his present state indeed does not seem so much born to enjoy life as to deliver it down to others This is not surprizing to consider in animals, which are formed for our use and can finish their business in a short life. The sikworm [sic] after having spun her task, lays her eggs and dies. But a man can never have taken in his full measure of knowledge has not time to subdue his passions establish his soul in vertue and come up to the perfection of his nature, before he is hurried off the stage. Would an infinitely wise being make such glorious beings for so mean a purpose? Can he delight in the production of such abortive intelligences such shortlived reasonable beings. Would he give us talents that are not to be exerted capacities that are never to be gratified How can we find that wisdom which shines through all his works in the formation of man without looking on this T as only a nursery for the next and believing that the several generations of reasonable creatures which rise up and disappear in such quick successions, are only to recieve the first rudiments of their existence here and afterwards to be transplanted into a more friendly climate where they may spread and flourish to all eternity?" Republick of Letters [E's line] Vol. 6. p. 284. 285. 286. [finis]
[Judging from data in Caskey's Cat. p. 28, E. was prob. using vol. 6 around 1737-40.]
[E's apparent approval of this kind of arg. is at variance with rest of his anthropology. The tend. of this is moralistic, universalistic.]
¶790. SIGNS OF GODLINESS. Ques. What are the best signs of godliness? Those by which persons may try themselves with the greatest safety & certainty & therefore those that minister ought chiefly to insist upon with their hearers?
¶Ans. This matter is most properly determined by the word of God the Searcher of hearts the being to whom it belongs to appoint the terms of salvation & acceptance with himself, and the Being who is finally to [be (om. E.)] out Judge.
¶The Holy SS. have not left this matter in the dark or doubtfull, but have plainly answerd this question and hant only told us what are good evidences of a good estate but have also very plainly [pointed (om. E.)] out to us those that are chiefly to be looked at and most safely to be depended on <Concerning good works as the proper evidences of godliness see various parts of Dr Mantons Exposition on James.> [added between ¶s; encircled (by E?)]
¶And by what the Scriptures have taught us in this matter we must determine that [xo w other words] good fruits or good works and keeping Xs commandments are the evidences by which we are chiefly & most safely & surely to be determind not only concerning the godliness of others but also concerning our own godliness X when giving his dying counsel to his disciples and in [A; is??] giving them directions for their own comfort Joh. 14. 15. 16. If ye love me keep my commandments and I will pray the Father & he will given you another Comforter &c-- & v. 21. He that hath my commandments & keepeth [them (om. E.)] he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father & I will love him &c. Such is the emphasis & manner of expression that it plainly carries this in it that this is the great thing & the [thing (om. E.)] mainly to be looked at as also does Xs so much insisting on it & so often repeating it in this his last discourse with his disciples as again v. 23. If any man love me he will keep my words & my Father will love him & we will come to him &c-- 24. v. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings & again chap 15. 10. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love & v. 14. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. And so the beloved disciple from him in like manner insists on the same, as that by which we are chiefly to try our selves & not others only 1 Joh. 2. 3.4.5.6. Hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments He that saith I know him & keepeth not his commandments is a lyar and the truth is not in him But whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected [E's underlining] (this is the perfect love that casts out fear, 1 John. 4. 18. that is the same with the Spirit of adoption bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of G. Rom 8) hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought also to walk even as he walked 1 Joh. 5. 3. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments & his commandments are not grievous. Where we have [we (om. E.)] any thing else in such a manner insisted on in SS. as a sign of a good estate. So Math 7. 16 &c--Ye shall know them by their fruits do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down & cast into the fire Whereby by their fruits shall ye know them. Here good fruits seem to be especially given as a sign by which we should know others but X by what he says next lets us know that he would also be understood of ourselves as well as others that we are to judge our selves also mainly by our fruits. Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord Have we not prophecied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderfull works & then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him unto a wise man that built his house upon a rock. and the rain descended & the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock And every one that heareth these sayings of mine /p. 39/ & doth them not shall be likend unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand And the rain descended and the floods came and the wind blew and beat upon the house and it fell and great was the fall of it. The testimony of our our [sic; mg] own consciences with respect to doing good works and living a holy life is spoken [of (mg.; om. E.)] as that certain sign which especially tends to give good assurance of godliness 1 Joh. 3. 18. My little children let us not love in word and in tongue but in deed and in truth and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him For if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God And whatsoever we ask we recieve of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
¶The Apostle Paul Heb. 6. mentions good works and righteous fruits in the Xtian Hebrews both as that evidence that gave him hope concerning them that they had something more than the highest common illuminations & gifts of hypocrites mentiond in the beginning of the chapter and also as that evidence which tended to give them the highest assurance of hope concerning themselves 9 v. &c- but beloved we are perswaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation tho we thus speak, for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name in that ye have ministred to the saints and do minster And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. & Gal. 6. 4. Let every man prove his own work so shall he have rejoicing in himself alone & not in another. And works are spoken of by the Apostle James as the best sign of a mans good estate to his own conscience as well as to his neighbour as is manifest by his saying that Abraham was justified by works (i.e approved of God as in a good estate) when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar referring to that in which God said to Abraham on that occasion [space left for ref?] Now I know that thou fearest God because thou hast not witheld from me thy son thine only son Isaac. Which was a testimony of God to Abraham himself of his good estate. The Psalmist says then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy commandments. i.e then shall I be bold & assured and steadfast in my hope. But that keeping Gods commandments is insisted upon throughout the old Testament as the main evidence of godliness is manifest beyond all dispute so as to need any the mention any & enumeration of places
¶That by which principally X tries men in this & by which he will judge them hereafter is doubtless the main evidence by which we are to judge of our selves. But tis principally by mens keeping Gods commandments and bringing forth the fruits of righteousness that he both tries them here and judges them hereafter. Tis by this chiefly that he judges them here. Thus God tempted or tried Abraham when he commanded him to offer up his only son. It was the way that X took to try mens sincerity viz to try their obedience Thus X tried the rich young man Math 19. 16. &c-- He made a show of respect to X and a willingness to do any thing he should direct him to but X bid him go and sell all that he had &c-- So X tried another that we read of Math 8. 20. he made a great profession of respect to X in words says he Lord I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest He thought he experienced in his heart such a love to X that he could follow em [sic] whithersoever he went but X tries how he would do in practice by telling him that the foxes had holes & the birds of the air had nests but the Son of man had not where to lay his head and his practice consequent herupon [sic] shewed what he was Hence difficulties & sufferings laid in the way of our keeping Gods commands do by way of eminency in SS. both in the Old Testament & New obtain the name of temptations or trials because by these[ck MS] especially mens sincerity is tried.
¶Again 'tis principally by mens works practice or fruits that they are to be judged at the last day this is declared in places too many to be mention'd & tis not only in general but in that most particular description of the day of judgmt that is in the whole Bible, which we have in the 25 chapter of Math. 'tis described how both good & bad will be judged by their works. But those signs by which we are to be /p. 40/ judged at the last day are doubtless the best evidences both to our own consciences and to others For the end of the day of judgment is to manifest [E's lines here and following] the righteous judgmt of God & so the state of men both to mens own consciences and to the world & who can suppose that the infinitely wise Judge of the T when he is about such a work would not make use of the best manifestations to that end. Thus the SS. make it very plain & manifest, that good works & fruits & keeping X commands are the best evidences of sincerity of heart & a good estate of soul. But then several things are here to be observed
¶1. The SS. dont speak only of obedience in one or two particulars or a partial obedience but is to be understood of that kind of obedience which is universal See the evidences of this in the catalogue of Scriptures that speak of evidences of godliness.
¶2. The SS. has especially & above all respect to keeping Xs commands & doing good works bringing forth good fruit [-s? A om.] perseveringly through trials or in cases wherein X & other things that are dear to the flesh stand in competion [sic] so that in continuing in holy practice we deny our selves & sell other things for X. This also is manifest from the SS. cited in the forementioned Catalogue. The expression of keeping Xs commandments imports thus much & has reference to the opposition that is made to our retaining them or the [xo? A: retains] endeavours to take them away from us or us from them Then are we found faithfull to keep that which is committed to our trust when others oppose us in it and try to get the depositum from us or to tempt us to let it go. Ps. 22. <18.> 18 <7> [corr. by A. copyist]. He delivered me from my strong enemy &c-- together with v. 22. <1.> [A copy.] For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
¶3. We cannot reasonably suppose that when the SS in this case speaks of good works good fruit & keeping Xs commandments, that it has respect meerly to what is external or the motion or action of the body without including any thing else any <aim or intention> in the agent or any act of the understanding or will in the case, for consider the actions of men so and they are no more good works or acts or obedience than the regular motions of a machine but doubtless the obedience & fruit that is spoken of is the obedience & fruit of the man & therefore not only the obedience of the body but the obedience of the soul as consisting in acts & practice of the soul. <doubtless the SS speaks of these acts or works as ours but they are ours no further than they are from the inward actings of our minds & exercise [sic? A:-s] of our inclinations & wills.> Indeed by these expressions I dont suppose that the SS intends to include all inward piety both principle & exercise both spirit & practice, because then on these things being given as signs of godliness the same thing would be given as a sign of it self. But only the exercise & inward practice of the soul is meant the holy exercise is given as the sign of the holy principle and good estate & the manner of exercise viz it being that manner of exercise of soul & exertion of inward holiness that there is in the soul in a truly obediential act which is something more than the meer being of the principle or meerly that principles being in exercise Tis that [A; this?] exertion of the soul & of the disposition of the soul that there is issuing in [&c] issuing and terminating in imperate acts of the will the act that is in what we call practice or an act of obedience This I call the practice of the soul being something more than the meer immanent exercise of grace. <The act of the soul and the exercise of grace that is exerted in the performance of a good work is the good work it self so far as the soul is concerned in it or so far as it is the souls good work.> & thus the SS. gives such a kind of exercise or exercition [A: exertion; exercitation?] or practice of the soul & grace & the reality of the principle and so of the goodness of the state & this is the obedience & the good fruit that God mainly looks at as he looks at the soul more than the body as much as the soul in the constitution of the human nature is the superiour part as he looks /p. 41/ at the obedience and practice of the man he looks at the practice of the soul chiefly as the soul chiefly is the man & instar totius in Gods sight for God seeth not as man seeth for he looketh on the heart. <True godliness consists not in an heart to intend to keep Gods commandments but in an heart to do it Deut 5. 27.28.29. See sermon on this text.>
¶[?]So that in this keeping Xs commands not only is the [that?] exercise of the faculties of the soul included but also the end for which a man acts for not only should we not look on the motions of a statue doing justice by clockwork as an act of obedience to X in that statue but neither would any body call the voluntary actions of a man externally & materially agreable to a command of X an act of obedience to X if he had[wwxo] never had heard of X or any of his commands or never thought of them at that time
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¶ But at the same time it must also be observed that the external act is not excluded in that obedience that is in SS. so much insisted on as a sign of godliness but the internal exertion of the mind & the external act as connected with [it (om.E.)] are both included & intended
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¶ If the acts of obedience and good fruits spoken of be looked upon not as meer motions of the body but as acts of the soul the whole exercise of the spirit of the mind must be taken in with the end acted for & the respect the soul then has to God his will & authority otherwise tis no act of denial of our selves or obedience to God or service done to him but to something else. see papers of [A; or?] minutes N. 9. p. 16. [circle??] See also also [sic] Miscell N. 1031. B 5. [2 refs added later at end of line]
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¶ And tho in this great evidence of godliness [A; God himself!] is of greatest importance, yet hereby are effectually cut off all pretensions that any man can have to evidences of godliness that externally lives wickedly. because the great evidence lies in the inward exercise or practice of the soul that accompanies & issues in imperate acts of the will but 'tis known that the imperate acts of the will are not one way & the actions of the bodily organs another for the unalterable law of nature is that they should be united or that one should follow another as long as soul & body are united and the organs are not so destroyed as to [sic] remain capable of those motions that the soul commands. Thus it would be ridiculous for a man to plead that the imperate act of his will was to go to the publick worship while his feet carried him to a tavern or publick stew [sic; A: show] or that the imperate act of his soul was to give such a summ that he had in his hand to a poor beggar while his hand at the same instant retain'd it.
¶The words fruits, works, keeping or breaking commandmts are used in SS. sometimes in a more restraind & sometimes in a larger sense sometimes for outward acts so they are to be understood when they are given as signs by which we are to judge of others & it may be in some other cases & sometimes not only for outward but also inward acts. By works sometimes is meant all acts that are liable to a reward or punishment as is evident by Job 34. 11. The work of a man will he render unto him & rev. 14. 13. Their works do follow them & a multitude of parallel places. But inward exercises are liable to a reward or punishmt we find promises & threatnings often made to good or evil thoughts & exercises of the heart . & works are to be understood in this extensive sense where the Apostle speaks of works, works of the law & works of righteousness in the affair of justification. & so Prov 20. 11. ""Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, & whether it be right." here external deeds are spoken [of (om. E.)] as a sign of the quality of something internal that is called work & Coloss 1. 21 Enemies in your mind by wicked works Heb. 6. 1. There repentance of sin is called repentance from dead works John 6. 28. 29. What [rest not quoted] both the terms works & fruits are used in this extensive sense in Gal 5. beginning at the 19. v. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these -----hatred emulations wrath----envyings But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace longsuffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance, against such there is no law and they that are Xs have crucified the flesh with the affections & lusts /p. 42/
¶Tho all exercises whatsoever of either grace or corruption are what we either keep or break Gods commandmts by & tho they are all sometimes called works & fruits yet where good works & fruits & keeping Gods commands are insisted on as the great evidences of godliness in the places foremention[sic] those exercises of grace & exertions of soul whence good external practice in speech or behaviour immediately result seem chiefly to be aimed at
¶However tis beyond dispute that inward exercises of grace are included Thus the good fruits that X mentions as the sure signs of the tree, & the doing the things that X says so much insisted on in the conclusion of Xs sermon on the mount as the great sign of being on a sure foundation implies many inward exercises for doubtless X by doing the things that he says has a special respect to those things that he had been saying in that sermon the commands he had then been giving but many of those[ck MS] sayings of his respect acts of the mind . as in those[ck MS] that follow Blessed are the poor in Sp. blessed are they that mourn blessed are the meek blessed are they which do hunger & thirst after righteousness Blessed are the mercifull blessed are the pure in heart whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause &c--Love your enemies-- no man can serve two masters &c-- Take no thought for your life &c-- Seek first the kingdom of G. & his righteousness------Judge not that ye be not judged
¶& when X in his dying discourses to his disciples so much insists on keeping his commandments as a sign of sincerity tis manifest that he has a special respect to a command that mainly respects the exercise of the heart, viz. loving one another which he once and again in that same discourse calls his commandmt as Joh. 13. 34. 35. A new commandmt I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another. Here he mentions it as that by which others should know that they were his disciples but in what follows the places that have been already cited he also insists on it as a sign by which they should know themselves in insisting on keeping his commandmts as the great sign as also does the penman of this book in his 1 Epistle. chap. 2. 3.4.5.6. Hereby do we know that we know that if we keep his commandments &c-- together with what follows in v. 7. Brethren I write no new commandmt &c there insisting on love to the brethren & again chap. 3. 23. there speaking of keeping Xs commands as a sure sign he adds & this is his commandmt that we should believe on the name of his Son J. X & love one another as he gave us commandmt. both which are acts of the mind & both these the Apostle seemd [sic] to take from that dying discourse of X that he rehearses in his Gospel. as you may see by comparing Joh. 13. 34. 35. with chap. 14. 10.11.12.13.14.15.21. &c-- <See 2. Joh. 5.6.7. That we love one another And this is love that we walk after his commandments this is the commandment that ye have heard from the beginning that ye should walk in it.>
¶And when we are told in SS that men shall at the last day all be judged according to their works and all shall recieve according to the things done in the body whether good or bad, it is not to be understood only of outward acts for it so why is God so often spoken of as he that searches the heart & the reins at the same time that he is spoken of as Judge of the T and as he that will [xo w other ww] render to every man according to his works Rev. 2. 23. And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins & the hearts & I will give unto every one of you according to your works Ps. 7. 8.9. The Lord shall judge the people Judge me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity that is in me Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end but do thou establish the just for the righteous God trieth the hearts and the reins Jer. 11. 20. But O Lord of hosts that judgest righteously that triest the reins and the heart Jer 17. 9. 10. The heart is deceitfull above all things and desperately wicked who can know it I the Lord search the heart I try the reins even to give every man according to his ways & according to the fruit of his doings Prov. 17. 3. The fining pot for silver & the furnace of gold but the Lord trieth the hearts Prov 21. 2. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the Lord pondereth the hearts Prov. 16. 2. all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the spirits 1 Cor 4 5. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts & then shall every man have praise of God /p. 43/
¶[?]So that tis this keeping Xs commandments that is spoken of in SS as the best sign of godliness viz not only in outward practice but also in the practice of the soul in the sense that has been explain'd it is such a keeping Gods commands that Hezekiah pleads in his sickness Isai 38.3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart
¶There can be no sufficient objection against universally keeping Xs commands in this sense as being the best sign of godliness especially when the commandments are thus kept through such trials as providence lays in our way.
¶1. It can be no objection against it that 'tis reasonable to suppose that those things must be the best evidences of a good estate wherein godliness does most essentially consist and are themselves the very condition of a good estate by Gods revealed constitution For take good works or holy practice in this sense and godliness does most essentially consist in it so far as it consists in act or in any thing visible or sensible for the essence of godliness so far that lies in any thing sensible or percievable doubtless lies in the inward exercises of grace of holiness but good works in the sense that has been explain'd are grace itself, they are proper exercises of grace, such practical of faith & love are exercises of faith & love and they are the highest & most essential sort of the exercises of these[ck MS] graces for what is called the imperate act of the will in which these exercises issue and terminate is indeed nothing else but the preponderating of the inclination or disposition of the soul in its exercise in the p[resent trial which is to be decided by the following motion of the body by the law of the union of soul and body which law is fixed and upheld by the omniscient god himself. and especially does godliness most essentially consists [sic] in such practical
¶That loving X and believing in him hoping & trusting in him that are chiefly insisted on as notes of a good [estate (om. e.)] & evidences of aceptance with God and true happiness are chiefly these effective exercises & acts of faith & love & hope under trials James 1. 12. Blessed is he that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall recieve the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 1. Joh. 5. 3. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; & his commandments are not grievous. 2 Joh. 6. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. So the trusting in God and believing in him exercising confidence & hope in him are chiefly are [sic] prescribed it is chiefly with respect to such trials
¶So when FAITH is insisted on as the great CONDITION OF SALVATION expressions & practical exertions & effective expressions of faith appearing when faith is thus tried are mainly pointed at it was by faith appearing thus that Abraham was justified which the Apostle James takes notice of. They did not perform the condition of salvation who believed for a while and in a time of temptation fell away but they do who believe with that faith that overcomes the T they are entitled to the promises that are made to those that overcome in the 2 & 3 chapters of Rev. Rom 10 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 1 Thes. 2. 13. 14. which effectually worketh also in you that believe for ye brethren became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in X Jesus For ye also sufferd like things of your own country men Heb. 10. 39. Ye are not of them that draw back unto perdition but of that believe to the saving of the soul with the context & to this purpose are the many examples of faith mentiond in the 11 chapter of Heb. < Here insert num 800 [after 795]> Thus that faith that is called a work & is one thing implied in those forementioned expressions in SS. of good works & keeping Xs commandments is the great condition of salvation Joh 6. 28. 29. Then said they unto him What shall we do that we may work the works of God Jesus answered and said unto them this is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent So in this manner faith is mention'd as the condition of recieving an answer to our prayers 1 Joh. 3. 22. 23. And whatsoever we ask we recieve of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight And this is his commandment that we should believe on the same [sic] of his Son Jesus X & love one another as he gave us commandment. See No. 996. B. 5.
¶And thus what Hezekiah pleaded on his sick bed Isai 38. 3. was not only a sign of his title to the fruits of Gods favour but was the condition of a title to them
WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
¶2. It can be no sufficient objection against good fruits & keeping X commandments being the best sign of grace that the SS. speaks of a certain kind of evidence of a good estate that is represented as the immediate /p. 44/ testimony of the Spirit of God himself to our souls that we are the children of God & the seal of the Spirit & the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts which is the experience of the exercise of the Spirit of adoption or Spirit of love which seems to be the same with that love which the beloved disciple speaks of that casts out fear & that white stone & new name written that X gives which no man knows but he that recieves it Such an evidence as this one would think by the things that are said must needs be the highest & most certain and assuring kind of evidence that any person can recieve. [space] And it must be allowed to be so but yet I say this dont argue but that keeping Xs commands in the sense that has been spoken of through trials is the highest evidence this witness of the Spirit or a Spirit of adoption must be the experience of the exercise of such a spirit or a spirit of love which is a childlike spirit in opposition to a spirit of fear which is the spirit of bondage But it has been already observed that the keeping X commands that has been spoken of consists mainly in the exercise of grace in the heart, & that kind of exercise of love or the spirit of adoption that there is in such practical exertions & effective exercises of love are the highest & most essential & distinguishing kind of exercises of love and therefore in them this testimony & seal & earnest of the Spirit of love is given in its clearest & fullest manner. and the Apostle when he speaks of the testimony of the Spirit of God in 8 of Rom 15. 16 verses in that very place he principally & most immediately has respect to such effective exercises of love as those whereby Xtians deny themselves in times of trial. as appears by his manner of introducing what is there said which is to be seen in v. 12. 13. Therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh for if we live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh ye shall live, & also by what immediately follows in v. 17. 18. And if children then heirs heirs of God & joint heirs with X if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. That exercise of love or the filial spirit that the Apostle here speaks of as the highest ground of hope is the same with that exercise of the love of God that Xtians experience in bearing tribulation for his sake whence arises that hope that makes not ashamed that he had before spoken of chap 5. at the beginning & the same with that white stone & new name which is obtaind by overcoming spoken of in Revelation and that seal of the Spirit that the Apostle speaks of as what he had in going through extreme suffering see 2. Cor. 1. 8. 9. together with 21. 22. & that earnest of the Spirit that he had under afflictions & persecutions which he speaks of chap. 5. 5. together with the preceding part of the chapter & the latter part of the foregoing. So that keeping Xs commands is the highest evidence of a god estate & yet the witness of the Spirit of adoption & love is the highest evidence for they are both the same Therefore the Apostle John where speaking of keeping Xs commands as the great evidence of our good estate does in the same place speak of our partaking of the Spirit of God as a spirit of love as the great evidence of a good estate 1 Joh. 3. chap. at the latter end. v. 13. and hereby we know that we are of the truth & shall assure our hearts before him. v. 22. and whatsoever we ask we recieve of him because we keep his commandments 23. & this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus X & love one another as he gave us commandment and he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him & hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit that he hath given us. The same he insists on again in the next chap. 12. & 13. verses If we love one another God dwelleth in us & his love is perfected in us Hereby we know that we dwell in him & he is us because he hath given us of his Spirit & this is the same evidence with that spoken in the 10 verse there [A; then?] following in the same chapter which we have observed is /p. 45/ the same with the sure testimony of the Spirit of adoption spoken of in the 8 of Romans there is no fear in love but p &c-- & this again is the same with that evidence consisting in keeping Gods commandments spoken of in the 3d verse of the chapter next following in a continuation of the same discourse This is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous
¶ Here add the paragraph thus marked No 795 800 [finis] [Note at end added after No. 791 begun; and apparently after No. 794 was written.]
¶ 791. CHRISTS EXAMPLE. The EXCELLENCY of X. RIGHTEOUSness of X The time of Christs last suffering beginning with the night wherein he was betrayed 'till he expired on the cross was in almost all respects more than all the rest of his life His satisfaction for sin was mainly by what passed in that time and his purchase of heaven was chiefly in that time for that obedience and righteousness by which we are justified was more by what he did in that time than by all that he did before as much as his propitiation for sin was more by what he suffered in that time than by all than by all that he suffer'd before And so the excellency of X mainly appears in what he did then & the example that he has set us in the amiable vertues he expressed lies as much in what appeared in him in the time of his last sufferings as his propitiation & righteousness. Therefore when we look for the example that X hath set us & the distinguishing amiableness & excellency of the vertue which appeared in him tho we may find much of it in other parts of his life yet we are chiefly to look here where was the main trial of his strict & eminent vertue alwaies* appears brightest in the fire, Pure gold shews its purity chiefly in the furnace
¶To be sensible of the greatness of the trial of those vertues in X that were exercised under his sufferings two things must be considered 1 The infinite height & dignity of his person & state, & 2 the degree of suffering & humiliation that he was subject to. Both these are to be considered jointly For tis a greater thing for one that in himself is very great & honourable to stoop low and to be the subject of great abasement than for a meaner person tis a greater trial of reverence, obedience, submission, humility, meekness, & patience and every vertue, that is exercised in humiliation. The dignity of the nature of the angels and the honourableness of their state was their temptation & was a trial of their obedience and subjection & humility when the subjection that was required of them implied no abasement nothing but what properly & originally belonged to his person
¶Christ expressed great reverence towards God in his last sufferings as in the manner of his praying to the Father in the garden when he kneeled down & prayed Luke 22. 41 yea he fell prostrate on the ground Math 26. 39. Mark 14. 35. His infinite dignity which the human nature knew was as it were an infi a great trial of his reverence and especially under Gods terrible dealings with him at that time when he felt the rod of God upon him for our sins in those stripes by which we are healed when his Father thus chasten'd him he thus gave him reverence. He also at this time manifested perfect submission to the will of God tho' he was a person so honourable that in his original nature he was subject to the will of none and knew that he was the sovereign Lord of heaven & earth and was to reign as such as God man and tho the will of God was so terrible to his human nature. In his last sufferings he manifested the most wonderfull humility Tho the man X Jesus knew that he was the most excellent & honourable of all men yea of all creatures yet was he the most humble no man nor angel ever equalled him in humility he was least of all in this respect & therefore he mentions & recommends his example in making himself least of all in his last sufferings Mark 10. 44. 45. And whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be /p./ servant of all For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister & to give his life a ransom for many. The man X Jesus would have been under the greatest temptation to pride, if it had been possible that any thing could have been a temptation to him The temptation of the angels that fell was the dignity of their natures and the honourableness of their circumstances But X knew himself to be infinitely more honourable than they the human nature of X was so honoured as to be in the same person with the eternal Son of God that was equal with God yet was he not at all lifted up with pride, nor was the man X Jesus at all lifted up with pride with all those wonderfull and divine works that he wrought not as the prophets wrought miracles in the name of another but in his own name & as of his own will as the God of nature and the sovereign of the world & he knew that God had appointed him as God man to be King over angels and over the heavens of heaven[-s?] & over the universe & to be the Judge of all as appears by what he says Math 11. 27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father &c-- tho he knew that he was the Heir of his Fathers kingdom for these things[sic?] had been promised him by the Father in covenant yet such was his humility that he did not disdain to be abased and depressed into lower & viler circumstances by far than ever any other elect creature was The proper trial & evidence of humility is stooping or complying with those acts or circumstances when called to it, that are very low and imply great abasement but none ever stooped so low as X if we consider either the infinite height he stooped from or the great depth to which he descended Such was the humility of the man X Jesus tho' he knew the immense height of dignity & honour in which he stood and that he was worthy of ten thousand times more honour than the highest prince on earth or angel in heaven yet he did not think it too much when he called to it to be bound as a malefactour to be after such a manner the mock stock & spitting stock of the vilest of men & his most haughty unreasonable malignant & cruel enemies to be crown'd with thorns & a mock robe, to be scourged and crucified like an abject slave and detestable cursed vagabond and miscreant & enemy of God and man & one not fit to live upon earth & that not for himself [sic] for such cursed malignant wretched as [sic] the<o>se his crucifiers & for some of the<o>se very crucifiers
¶In his last sufferings were also the highest manifestations & fruits of his love to God. For his offering up himself under the<o>se sufferings was an act of love & obedience to God & regard to his glory God was the being to whom he offered up that sacrifice and the gift was a gift of love to God This sacrifice was offered in a twofold flame viz the flame of his own love to God. The wrath was Gods wrath for our sins. The ardency of one of the<o>se flames was as great as the other unless we may look on the flame of love in some respects as exceeding & conquering the other X love in making him willing to offer himself up in the fire of Gods wrath & carrying him through the torments of that even till it was extinguished did as it were conquer & quench it. never was there such a gift of love and labour of love as this it as <more> much exceeds all the expressions of love in any man or angel than the treasures of the most wealthy prince exceed the stores of the meanest peasant.
¶In this also was the greatest exercise of the vertue of love to ma<e>n The flame of love in which X offered up the sacrifice of himself was twofold viz love to God & love to ma<e>n & both these flames did as it were overcome the flame of wrath There have been very remarkeable manifestations of love to ma<e>n in some of the saints as in the Apostle Paul & the Apostle John & others but the love to me<a>n that X shewed when on earth as much exceeded the love of all other men as the ocean exceeds a small stream
¶So Xs meekness here has its highest exercises [-s xo?] Xs meekness was his humble calmness of spirit under the provocations that he met with the degree of meekness ap-/p./pears in two things viz the degree of quietness & humble calmness and in the degree of provocation lies in two things 1. in the degree of the opposition by which the provocation is given & 2 in the degree of the unreasonableness of that opposition or in the degree of the obligation to the contrary. Now if we consider both these things no man /mg/ no man ever met with such provocation as he did, if we consider the degree in which he was hated & the degree in which he suffered from that hatred & the degree of contempt that was offered and also consider how causeless & unreasonable tho<e>se abuses were & how deserving he was of the contrary of love & honour & good treatment at their hands. But his composure and quietness of spirit was perfect under all these provocations And how wonderfull was his spirit of forgiveness under them which is something more than meer meekness the vertue of the most glorious angel in heaven would have carried him but little way towards such forgiveness exercised under such trials & in such a manner And so his patience which is somewhat diverse from his meekness has the most glorious manifestation under these sufferings.
¶And also his contempt of the T has its highest manifestation under these sufferings when he rather chose this meanness reproach & suffering than to wear a temporal crown & to be invested with the glories of the highest earthly princes *next p.
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¶If we consider the perfection of the vertue that X exercised his vertue did more exceed that of the most eminent saints than the purest gold exceeds the leanest & foulest oar
[sic] if we consider the latter of those two great trials of vertue that were first mentioned under which this perfect vertue was exercised viz. the degree of suffering & humiliation so Xs vertue exceeds that of all other perfectly innocent creatures & even the brightest angel as the sun in his glory exceeds the stars And if we consider the dignity of his person & the value that arose to his vertue directly from thence, as the excellent qualities of gold are more valuable when joined with greater weight and dimensions than when with smaller, or with respect to the value that arose to his person was a trial of his vertue (it being the former of the<o?>se two forementioned kinds of trial.). The dignity of his person both these ways gives such value to the [his?] vertue he exercised under his sufferings that it doth truly infinitely exceed the vertue of all men and angels.
¶It pleased God that trials of both men and angels should meet in X i.e that he should be tried with those temptations which were the trial of their obedience by which me<a>n and the angels that fell were over thrown. He was subject to a trial like that which was the temptation of man and peculiar to him viz the importunate desires & inclinations of animal nature & of the whole human nature which so exceedingly dreaded & shru<a>nk at those torments that it was to undergo & sollic[i]ted to be delivered from the bitterness of that cup that was given into Xs hands to drink with immensely greater importunity than ever the human nature solicited to taste the sweetness of the forbidden & which bitterness was represented to X in a far more lively manner than the sweetness of the forbidden fruit was set forth to our first parents by Satan or their own imaginations So also was X vertue tried with that kind of trial that was the temptation of the angels which was the knowledge of their dignity. For X was in immensely higher dignity than they But X overcame in both these kinds of trial that in all things he might have the preheminence [sic] & that he might be honourable in the eyes of men & /p./ angels over both which God had appointed him to be the Head. Yea not only was X subject to all those kinds of trials that creatures have had while innocent but also a kind of trials that no other innocent person but he ever was subject to & the greatest kind that guilty creatures are ever subject to viz suffering & far more extreme sufferings than ever fallen creature that was in a state of trial was subject to & he conquered in this [sic] trials & triumphed over all these temptations [sic] so glorious in all respects was his vertue & obedience.
¶All the vertue that X exercised in the human nature in any respect belongs to that righteousness which is imputed to believers for their justification even his wonderfull dying love to ma<e>n is so as it was the most glorious exercise of the virtue of charity to me<a>n & the greatest instance of the fulfillmt of the second great commandment of the law viz thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self. & as he was called of God & his duty required him to exercise such love to ma<e>n & by such an act as the offering up himself a sacrifice to God his so loving & so expressing his love was as much a part of his obedience to the law of God as we are subject to it. So that believers are saved by the dying love of X in several respects They are saved by it as this was the internal moving cause of his offering himself a sacrifice to God & they are also saved by it as it is part of that righteousness that is imputed to them. next p.
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¶*Wherever any thing in particular in Xs example is recommended to our imitation in the Scripture regard is manifestly chiefly had to what was expressed in his last sufferings. So Math 20. 26.27.28. But it shall not be so among you but whosoever will be great among you let him be your servant &c. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. So after that act of his washing the disciples feet which was symbolical of his great humiliation in becoming servant of all & least of all in his last sufferings to cleanse his people from his [sic] sins he recommends his example Joh. 13. 15. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done unto you. & 1. Pet 2. 21. &c-- For even hereunto were ye called because X also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps----who when he was reviled reviled not again----who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree Math 16. 24.25 Then said Jesus unto his disciples if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross & follow me For whosoever will save his life shall loose it & whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 1 Pet. 3. 17.18. For it is better if the will of God be so that ye suffer for well doing than for evil doing For X also hath once suffered for sins &c. 1 Joh. 4. 19. We love him because he first loved us with v.10. herein is love not that we loved him but that he loved us & sent his Son into the world to be the propitiation for our sins. Joh. 15. 12.13. This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. &chap. 13. 31.32.33.34. Now is the Son of man glorified & God shall also glorify him in himself and shall straitway glorify him Little children yet a little while[,?] am I with you and as I said unto the Jews whither I go ye cannot come so /mg/ so now I say unto you A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another & Eph. 5. 2. And walk in love as X also hath loved and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Eph. 5. 25.26.27 Husbands love your wives even as X also loved the church and gave himself for it &c------- 1Joh. 3. 16. Hereby percieve we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren Philip. 2. 5.6.7.8. Let this mind be in you which was also in X Jesus who being in the form of God ----humbled himself & became obedient unto death even the death of the cross 1 Cor 10. last & 11. 1. Even as I please all men in all things not seeking /p./ mine own profit but the profit of many to their edification Be ye followers of me even as I also am of X Rom 15. 2.3. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification for even X pleased not himself but as it is written the reproaches of them that reproached thee fall on me Philip. 3. 10. being made conformable to his death Rom 8. 18<7[by A cop?]>. if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together to the same purpose 2 Tim. 2. 11.12
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¶ From things being thus as has been observed it comes to pass that whenever the saints behold the beauty & amiable excellency of Christ as appearing in his vertues and have their souls ravished with it they may behold it in its brightest effulgence & by far its most full & glorious manifestation shining forth in a wonderfull act of love to them exercised in his last sufferings wherein he died for them. They may have the pleasure to see all his ravishing excellency in that which is the height & as it were the summ of its e<x [copyist?]>hibited and expressed glory appearing in and by the exercise of dying love to them which certainly will tend to endear that excellency and make that greatest effulgence of it the more ravishing in their eyes. They see the transcendent greatness of his love shining forth in the same act that they see the transcendent greatness of his loveliness shining forth & his loveliness to shine in his love. So that tis most lovely love their seeing his loveliness tends to make them desire his love but the sight of his loveliness brings satisfaction to this desire with it because the appearance of his loveliness as they behold it mainly consists in the marvellous exercise of his love to them. It being thus his excellency both endears his love & his love endears his excellency. & the very beholding his excellency as thus manifested is an enjoying of it as their own And while the saints have the pleasure of these views they may also have the pleasure of these views they may also have the additional pleasure of considering that this lovely vertue is imputed to them tis the lovely robe & robe of love with which they are covered X gives it to them & puts it upon them and by the beauty of this robe recommends 'em to the favour & delight of God the Father as well as of all heaven besides. [finis]
¶ 792. JUSTIFICATION. When the Scripture says <, that [c]>we are not justified by works; 'tis meant, as good works, or as our vertue, because 'tis evident the expression is used as signifying the same as our own [line c's] righteousness. [finis]
¶793. JUSTIFICATION. REWARDS Believers may be heirs of eternal life prior to their good works they may have a right by Xs righteousness recieved by faith that may be prior to any regard to any thing in them as a good work or any vertue or lovely qualification in them & yet it may be get heaven<it[xo c]> may be
bestowed upon them in [xo E] the pleasure of God to bestow heaven
upon them-- the pleasure of God to bestow heaven upon them in that way viz in reward for their good works as lovely to God in X and this contains no more absurdity or inconsistency than X himself his being the Heir of the kingdom of the T as a Son prior to his good works and its being yet the pleasure of God that he should have the possession of the kingdom given him in[as?] reward for his labours. He was the Son of God and so the Heir of the world & that was the reason that God appointed him to those labours that he might obtain the possession of it in the way So believers being heirs as children (which they are by the righteousness of X) is the reason that God appoints them to obtain heaven in a way of good works which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them. [finis]
¶794.<see 399. & 381> CHRISTS. RIGHTEOUSNESS. JUSTIFICATION.
Every command that X when he was in his state of humiliation obeyed may be reduced to one law and that is that which the Apostle calls the law of works to which indeed all laws of God properly so called may be reduced. Rom 3. 27. But the commands that X obeyed may be distributed into three particular laws viz the law that he was subject to meerly as man which was <1> the moral law and the law that he was subject to as a Jew which includes [-d?] <2> the ceremonial law & all the positive precepts that were peculiar to that nation. 3. The mediatorial law which contained those commands of God that he was subject /p./ to purely as he was Mediatour to which belong all those commands that the Father gave him to work of his publick ministry & to yield himself to such sufferings for as he often tells us he did all the<o>se things agreable to the Fathers direction & in obedience to his Fathers commandments
¶The righteousness of X by which he merited heaven for himself and all that believe on him consists principally in his obedience to the last of those laws. For in the fulfilling of this law consisted his chief work & business in the T & this part of his obedience was attended with the greatest difficulties & trials of all & so this obedience was most meritorious and therefore the history of the Evangelists is chiefly taken up in giving account of the acts of his obedience to this mediatorial law. As the obedience of the first Adam wherein his righteousness would have mainly consisted if he had stood, would not have been in his obedience to the moral law that he was subject to meerly as man or as one possessed of the human nature But in his obedience to that special law that he was subject to as a moral head and surety,<.?> so the righteousness of the second Adam consists mainly in his obedience to the special law that he was subject to in his office of Mediatour & Surety. [finis]
¶ 795. CONDITION OF SALVATION. HOLY LIFE, PERSEVERANCE.
Some things may yet remain, that are properly the conditions of salvation, on which salvation may be so suspended that it may well excite to the utmost caution, least we should come short of eternal life, & should perish for want of them after it is already become impossible that we should fail of salvation. For the condition of[xo c]<on which[c]> the man X Jesus his[xo c]<was to obtain[c]> obtaining eternal life was his doing the work which God had given him to do, his performing perfect persevering obedience, & his therein conquering Satan & the T & all opposition, & enduring all sufferings that he met with &[xo c] therefore X used the utmost diligence to do this work, & used the utmost caution least he should fail of it, & prayed with strong crying & tears & wrestled with God in a bloody sweat, that he might not fail but might have Gods help to go through, so that he might not fail. & [xo c] yet it was impossible that he should fail of eternal life, & the whole reward that had been promised him the joy that was set before him, was not only certain to him but <he[c]>had a proper title to it as Gods Heir, by reason of his relation to God the F, as being his only begotten Son & [xo c] it was impossible, that he should fail in his work, to which he was appointed <as[c]> God had promised him sufficient & effectual grace & help to persevere & already had made known his election Ps. 110. 7 He shall drink of the brook in the way therefore shall he lift up the head Isai 42 1 Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgmt to the Gentiles v. 4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged & v. 6. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness I will hold thine hand & will keep thee & Isai 41. 8. But thou Israel my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham my friend v. 10. Fear thou not for I am with thee yea, I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. So it was in effect promised in the revelations that were made to Mary & Joseph Zechariah &c-- & so to himself in answer to his prayers by a voice from heaven: says [xo E?] I have both glorified it & will glorify it again. & so probably by Moses & Elias in the mount, and by the voice from heaven there & by the angel strengthening him in answer to his prayer in his agony It appears by this [[xo c] that all was certain before hand by Gods actually saving great numbers before hand on the ground of his future perseverance in his work [finis]
¶ 797. That there is NO GOOD WORK before CONVERSION and actual union with X is manifest from that Rom 7. 4. wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of X, that ye should be married unto another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Hence we may argue that there is no lawfull child brought forth before that marriage seeming vertues & good works before are not so indeed they are a spurious brood, being bastards and not children. ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMON & SAVING GRACE. [finis]
¶ 798. Add this to 779 last page of that num. at this mark *** THE NECESSITY OF Xs SATISFACTION. If the threatening of death be not executed, the devils horrid suggestion & our first parents vile [sic; Rem: wise] suspicion will be verified and fulfill'd; viz that God said otherwise than what he knew when he threaten'd Thou shalt surely die. [line c] See further No. 915. [finis]
¶ 799. PERSEVERANCE. Concerning the objection the objection from Ezekiel 18. 24. if the righteous shall fall from his righteousness, & commit iniquity all his righteousness shall not be remembred; but in his iniquity that he hath done, shall he die & the like don't at all prove that tis supposed to be possible, that a truly righteous man should fall from his righteousness any more than Gods saying Levit 18. 4.5. Ye shall do my judgements and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgements which if a man do, he shall even live in them. & the same v. 13. & 21. and to the same purpose chap. 18. v. 22. The next verse but one before that whence the objection is taken in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. These two assertions are <again> joind together in Ezek 33. 18.19. I say, what is said in the foremention'd place [-s xo] no more proves it to be possible for a truly righteous man to fall from righteousness so as to die in his iniquity than these places prove that tis possible for a man to do those things required in Gods statutes & judgments so as to live in them or to perform righteousness, so that in the righteousness that he hath done, he shall live. But these last mentiond places do not prove that it is possible for a man to do righteousness & the things required in Gods statutes so as to live in them by the express sentence of the Apostle when speaking of those very passages of the old Testament Rom 10. 5. & Gal. 3. 12. The truth concerning both these assertions of of [not xo by mistake] the old Testament seems to be, that they are proposed to us as signifying and containing diverse verities, and for a diverse use in application to our selves. 1. for wise ends they are proposed to us as supposing some thing that is (tho not in it self yet) in the present state of things impossible to declare the certain connection of the impossible thing supposed with something else. so that all that is taught is the certain connection between the antecedent & the consequent but it is not taught that the antecedent shall ever be or that it ever can be. So the SS. in saying He that doth these things shall live /mg/ them dont design to teach us that in the present state of things it is possible <for us> to do these things in a legal sense;(in which sense the words are certainly proposed as the Apostle teaches) but only teaches the certain connection there is, between doing these things & living in them, for wise ends; particularly to lead us by such a legal proposal, to see our utter inability to obtain life by our own doings so the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to X. <*see next p. after 800.> So also the SS. in saying if the righteous shall fall away from his righteousness he shall die dont teach us that in the present state of things since the fall tis possible for a truly righteous man to fall from his righteousness but only teaches us the certain connection between the antecedent & the consequent for wise ends & particularly that those that think themselves righteous may beware of falling from righteousness. For tis not unreasonable to suppose, that God should put us on bewaring [Rem; prob. sic] of those things, that are already impossible any more than that he should direct us to seek & pray for those things, that are promised and certain. 2. In another way both these things are proposed more evangelically, as having respect to that doing <of[c]> those things & that falling from righteousness, that are possible, viz doing the <those>[xo ?] things in an evangelical & believing obedience which in strictness is not a proper doing them; & a falling from a visible & external, material righteousness or godliness which is not in strictness a proper godliness. Concerning the former of these concerning [sic] doing those things tis certain both senses are to be taken in; [sic] the legal one as is evident by the Apostle; and the evangelical possible one & [xo ?] must also be understood as is plain from the context of tho<e>se places of the old Testament. & that we should so understand the latter is equally free of difficulty & objection. [finis]
[TAS notes:JE had probably already written the first 2 items in No. 800 before he wrote No. 799; the crowding of writing at end of page indicates that he didn't want to go over to the other side of page. The addition at * on next page was probably written at same time as rest of No.?]
¶ 795<800.> Insert this No 790 6th p of that numb.]* SIGNS OF GODLINESS. Tis the essence & life of faith that is doubtless principally intended by faith when spoken of as the condition of salvation & is the most essential condition of salvation. But the Apostle James teaches us that works is the life of faith which signifies its working nature & especially it [sic] working nature in act in such an [A; a? xo?] exercise as it is in in producing good works. (for this exercise as was observed before is the work it self so far as any thing is the immediate work of the soul) Tis not only principles but especially acts that are the condition of salvation, for acts are the end of principles & principles are in vain without 'em [finis]
[This insert is followed by another for end of the No.]
[This item is first after No. 800, or probably better, the second insert which goes to make up No. 800.]
¶Add this at the end of Num. 790.]* And when the Apostle speaks of that perfect love that casts out fear tis most agreable to the style of SS to understand love that is perfect in this sense, viz love that is so thorough & effectual as to appear in a readiness to devote our selves to God and his service under all opposition & difficulties a love that carries in it a conquest of the T a renunciation of our selves for Gods sake our own ease our own appetites &c--& an heart to sell all for God 1 Joh. 2. 3.4.5.6. Whoso keepeth his commandments in him verily is the love of God perfected So love is made perfect by works in the same sense in which the Apostle James says Jam 2. 22. By works was faith made perfect. This is the perfect love that casts out fear that perfect spirit of adoption that casts out a spirit of bondage as Sarah & Isaac cast out the bondwoman & her son. An inward feeling & consciousness of such victorious triumphant love as this in the acts of its victory does above all things tend to assure the heart of a good estate & of a childlike relation to God such an inward sense & experience as this is that which above all things naturally as as [sic] it were necessarily disposes the soul to look on God and go to God as its Father or to cry Abba Father unless we are conscious within our selves of this love our way will not be open we shall not feel that entire boldness & confidence in approaching God as a Father.
¶This removes the objection against inward experience as the witness of the Spirit being the best evidence of a good estate viz that some men wicked in life would pretend that tho' they have that which is more certain viz the inward witness of the Spirit the feeling of soul assuring inward experience because every one can see the ridiculousness of a mans pretending that he feels such an all conquering love disposing him to sell all for God & to adhere to him & be devoted to his service through all temptation yea & experiences the actual conquest of this love in its trial & yet at the same time lives in sin against God & really yields to the flesh & the T as conquerors in the trial Every body has sense enough to see that this is just the same contradiction as to say that he lives holily & strictly adheres to God in his practice und[er; sic] temptations at the same [time (om.E)] that he lives wickedly & dont cleave to God but forsakes him for the T [finis]
[This item is followed by a third, an add to No. 799]
¶*Add this to Num. 799. at this mark.]* Especially was it proper that the<o>se things should both be proposed the one to be earnestly sought, tho impossible to be obtain'd for their conviction [xo E] and the other to be carefully avoided tho impossible to be fallen into under the old Testament when the impossibility of either the one or the other was not so clearly & fully revealed, as now under the gospel. [finis]