847 That the whole of the saving work of Gods Spirit on [A; in?] the soul in the beginning and progress of it from the very first dawnings of divine light and the first beginnings of divine life until death is in some respect to be looked upon as all one work of regeneration In all of it the soul is renewed Regeneration is that work of Gods Spirit whereby the soul is brought back from
There is as it were an unregenerate part still in man after the first regeneration that still needs to be regenerated tis as it were but a very little of man that is regenerated in what is done at first of this work
[this has amazing affinity w/ RC and Thomas. Regen is almost identiifed w/ sanctifi.]
Regeneration is an opening the eyes of the blind & a causing light to shine out of darkness and so is every part of the work of sanctification
[Note the implications for non-Xns: " A remarkeable work of Gods grace on the heart causing a great alteration in the soul as to the degree of grace very much delivering of it from former darkness & setting it much at liberty from corruptions that before through the weakness of grace used much to entangle & ensnare the soul giving the soul a new & much clearer understanding of divine things & remarkeably putting it under new advantages for the exercises & fruits of the divine life, is also called conversion in SS. tho' there may have been no remarkeable falling into gross sin before which was the case in the conversions of Cornelius & Nathaniel and probably was the case in the conversion of Johns two disciples that followed Jesus. Joh. 1. 35 & of several other of Xs disciples who seemed to have been good men before, for they seemed to be found already in a disposition to follow X when X first appeard to them in his human nature and this seems to have been the case with Zacchaeus and with the women of Canaan."]
Conversion may still be by divine constitution necessary to salvation in some respect even after he is really a saint . . . Christ tells the disciples that unless they should be converted and become as little children they should in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. and the conversion of the children of Israel promised in the 30 of Deut as what should be consequent on their returning to God with all their heart and with all their soul is spoken of as being in order to their salvation. v. 6. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart ----that thou mayst live. So what is promised in the 31 of Jeremiah of writing Gods law on there [sic] hearts which has been spoken of already is in order to their becoming /p./ Gods people I [sic] & will write it on their hearts & will be their God and they shall be my people, v. 33. When Zaccheus came down X told him that salvation was come to his house So cornelius was directed to send for Peter who should tell him words by which he and all his house should be saved. Act 11. 14. So the Apostle Paul pressed forward that he might attain to the resurrection of the dead
[Note that acc to the structure of the argument here, Cornelius was a Xn before he heard the gospel and assented to it!!!]
And even justification it self does in a sense attend & depend upon these after works of the Spirit of God upon the soul the condition of justification in a sense remains still to be performed even after the first conversion and the sentence of justification in a sense remains still to be passed, & the man remains still in a state of probation for heaven which could not be if his justification did not still depend on what remain'd to be done See No. 840 & 857. [finis] [Note the diff phases of justif; it is not a once-for-all work in terms of public demonstration and the probative character of it.]
E spends a remarkable amt of time and attn on angels!!
849 Long discourse on the regen of infants. It is probable for the children of regen parents. And it is better for them that they be baptized. they have a better chance at salvation bec the younger the better for receiving graces and means. Then the heart is not so hard, and is much more open to grace, before the ways of the world have hardened the child's heart.
[prob ag the deists] 851. SCRIPTURES. INTERPRETATION. That the SS. often includes various distinct things in its sense. It is becoming of him who is infinite in understanding and has every thing in full & perfect view at once and when he speaks sees all things that have any manner of agreement with his words and knows how to adapt his words to many things and so to speak infinitely more comprehensively than others, & to speak so as naturally to point forth many things and so to speak infinitely more comprehensively than others, & to speak so as naturally to point forth many things I say it becomes such an one when he speaks to speak so as [to (om.E)] include a manifold instruction in his speech.
¶843. The OLD TESTAMENT DISPENSATION did not wholly vanish at once immediately on Xs resurrection tho' that laid the foundation for its abolition but it vanished gradually & the new dispensation gradually succeeded the old dispensation was not wholly abolished till the destruction of Jerusalem & therefore the Apostle speaking in the Epistle to the Hebrews of the abolishing the old dispensation but a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem uses such a manner of expression as he does Heb. 8. 13 Now that which is old is READY to vanish away. [finis]
¶ 844. JUSTIFICATION. Persevering Obedience is so necessary to salvation that it behoves believers to keep Gods commandments least [xo JE Jr] they should go to hell as the Apostle says "Least I should be a cast away" there is an absolute necessity of it, in order to their salvation & not meerly in order to a good evidence of their salvation as the Apostle says, necessity is laid upon me yea wo is me if I preach not the gospel. [finis]
¶845. JUSTIFICATION. BLOOD OF X OBEDIENCE OF X. {See the 4 vol. of Dr. Williams's Sermons p. 23. &c-- & p 40 &c.} {later add} The death of Christ and the blood of [Christ (om.E)] are very often spoken of in SS. as saving as a righteousness or as meritorious & as sweet and acceptable to Gods holiness perhaps not less frequently than as a propitiation. So in the 53. of Isai it is spoken of as a propitiation for sin in the former part but in the 12. v. 'tis spoken of as positively meritorious Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death. So Joh. 10. 17.18. Therefore doth my F love me because I lay down my life that I might take it up again ----This commandmt recieved I of my Father. If the Father loves X because he laid down his life he doubtless also loves those that are his on the same account, Acts 20. 28. There God is said to have purchased the church with his own blood but this certainly signifies something more than being set at liberty from hell it signifies also their being brought into a relation to God as his into a covenant relation whereby he is their God and they are his people as appears by the scope of the place. Take heed feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood So in the 5 of Rom 9 v. we are said to be justified by his blood In the 2d of Eph. 13. v. we are said to be made nigh by the blood of X & Eph 5. 12. X is there said to have given himself for us an offering & a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. something positively pleasing amiable & delightfull to God & therefore a price to purchase positive good from God. Hence the typical sacrifices are so very often said to be a sweet savour to God the places are too many to be mentioned . Christs dying is spoken of as what he did as a servant doing Gods will with delight & cheerfullness obeying his command Heb. 10. 5. &c-- Ps. 40. 6. &c-- ------ Christs body broken & his blood shed dont only deliver us from eternal misery but procures for us eternal life as is very manifest by Joh 6. 51 &c-- So the blood of Christ is drink that don't only aswage our disease & torment but refreshes & makes glad the heart of man like wine So Christ says My blood is drink indeed & in another place I will not henceforth drink of the fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in my Fathers kingdom Believers ben't only deliverd from hell but they enter into heaven by his blood For X himself as their head entered into heaven by his own blood Heb. 6. 20. & so we enter into the holiest also by the blood of Christ Heb 10. 19. &c-- And hence we read of Xs entring into the holiest with his own blood to appear before God for us & not a word of his entring in there with his righteousness or obedience any otherwise than as it appeard in his blood that he shed. tho the redemption of X does consist in his positive righteousness as much as his propitiation he entred into the holiest of all with his whole ransom or price of redemption but half of this consisted in his obedience but upon this supposition the reason is plain the blood of X did as much shew his righteousness as his propitiation and appeard as mainly in his blood as his propition [sic] did. So of old in all the sacrifices those great types of X what they had that was to be offered to God was their blood & other parts of their bodies wherein life consisted they had nothing to offer to God but what was offered in the fire. the fat of the inwards which signified the love & obedience of the heart that was by the Holy Spirit (signified by oil & fat) was offerd in the fire & the incense it self was offered in the fire. All which shews that the main [part? om.E] of what X offered to God as a price for the redemption of man both to aswage his wrath & positively to procure his favour was offered up in his sufferings & especially his last passion .
¶Christ is said in Heb. 10. 14. By one offering to have perfected forever them that are sanctified i.e perfected them as to what appertains to their well being their holiness & happiness. The blood of X is the blood of the New Testament by which we have the /p./ the inheritance made over to us by the Testatour we come by the inheritance by his blood & therefore the testament of old was confirmed and sealed with blood & the book of the testament sprinkled with blood see Heb. 9. 15.16.17.18.19.20. Christ endured the cross for the joy that was set before him & thereby obtained that joy & is set down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Heb. 12. 2. So doubtless his members obtain a participation of the same joy & come to sit down with him in heaven by his enduring the cross. The blood of X is said to speak better things than the blood of Abel Heb. 12. 24. i.e it calls for the favour of God & his blessing & eternal life as that cried to God for his wrath & curse & his vengeance in death. In 1 Pet. 1. 2. Xtians are said to be elect through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus X i.e they are ordaind to obtain that salvation which they are elected to through the sprinkling of that blood {<see 1 Pet.3. 18.>} {later add} So the saints are said to be redeemd to God by the blood of X Rev. 5. 9. & the robes of glorified saints are said to be made white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7. 14. the whiteness of their robes signifies not only cleanness from pollution but beuty joy glory & triumph as is manifest by many other places in this book. {Heb. 13. 20.21. we are said to be made perfect in every good work through the blood of the everlasting covenant see also. Heb 10, 29.} {later add} [finis]
¶ 846 The SATISFACTION OF X by suffering the punishment of sin is properly to be distinguished as being in its own nature different from the MERIT OF X. For merit is only some excellency or worth. But when we consider Xs sufferings meerly as a satisfaction for the guilt of another the excellency of Xs act in suffering don't at all come into consideration but only these two things, viz. their equality or equivalence to the punishment that the sinner deserved & 2dly the union between him <& them,[c]> or the propiety of his being accepted in suffering as the representative of the sinner Christs bearing our punishment for us is not properly meriting that we should not bear it any more than if it had been possible for us our selves to have born it all that would have been meriting that we should not be punished any more Xs sufferings dont satisfy by any excellency in them but by a fulfillment to satisfy by fulfillment and to satisfy by worthiness or excellency are different things if the law be fulfilled there is no need of any excellency or merit to satisfy it because 'tis satisfied by taking place & having its course Indeed how far the dignity or worthiness of Xs person comes into consideration, in determining the propriety of his being accepted as a representative of sinners so that his suffering when equivalent can be accepted as theirs may be matter of question and debate but tis a matter entirely foreign to the present purpose. [finis]
847. REGENERATION. or CONVERSION: a work that is in some respect often recieved <renewed> and in some respect continued trough the whole life.] [E's bracket] The following things may be observed in the Scriptures concerning the regeneration or the work of conversion [*see SSS on Job. 42. 5.
¶1. That this work is sometimes spoken of as done when men are first savingly called as soon as they become believers or faithfull in X Jesus or begin to be saints. We find many in Scripture spoken of as being already called already [sic] saints, already faithfull in X Jesus. and with respect to such the work of regeneration is spoken of as past. Joh. 1. 12. But to as many as recieved him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name which WERE born &c--Tit. 3. 4.5. After that the kindness & love of God our Saviour towards men appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost James 1. 18 of his own will begat he us 1 Pet. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our L. J. X which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of X from the dead & v. 22. 23. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently being born again & c-- with chap. 2. 2. as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word. 1 John 3 14. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren So Joh 5. 24. See also 1. Cor. 6. 11. So the Apostle says I have begotten you through the gospel & I have begotten you through the word of truth but it is needless to enumerate any more of those many texts that hold this forth.
¶2. That this work is often spoken of as yet remaining to be sought & prayed for by the saints after they are become saints . So X exhorts the disciples to enter in at the /p./ strait gate Math 7. 13. Speaking to those that in the same sermon he calls the salt of the earth & light of the world chap 5. 13. 14 So David in the 51 Psalm prays that God would create in him a clean heart and renew in him a right spirit So Ephraim when he repented prayed thus, Jer 31. 18. Turn thou me & I shall be turned. So Lam. 5. 21. and the Apostle writing to the saints & faithfull in Christ Jesus that were at Ephesus he exhorts them to put off concerning their former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitfull [sic] lusts and be renewed in the spirit of their minds [s xo] and put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness & true holiness Eph. 4. 22.23.24. So the Apostle exhorts those that were at Rome beloved of God called to be saints Rom. 1. 7. & those that were the subjects of Gods redeeming mercies to be transformed by the renewing of their mind Rom. 12. 1. 2. I beseech ye [sic] therefore by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice &c-- and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind So the Apostle ceased not to pray for the saints & faithfull at Ephesus That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory might give unto them the spirit of wisdom & revelation in the knowledge of Christ the eyes of their understanding being enlightend that they might know what was the hope of Christs calling & what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what was the exceeding greatness of his powers [sic] towards them who believed according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Eph. 1. 16.17.18.19.20. In this the Apostle has respect to the glorious power & work of God in regeneration as appears by the sequel in the continuation of his discourse in the beginning of the next chap. And you hath he quickend who were dead in trespasses and sins. By which it also appears that those that he so importunately asked this for were as he supposed already regenerated and quickend according to the power of God [which he wrought in Christ (om.E)] when he raised him from the dead. So the Apostle earnestly beseeches the saints at Corinth to be reconciled unto God 2. Cor. 5. 20. <See Eph. 5. 14. Awake thou that sleepest arise from the dead & X shall give thee light.> So X tells the disciples in the 18 of Math. Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven which certainly has respect to regeneration for tis by being born again that men become little children or new born babes In the 30 of Deut. at the beginning God promises the children of Israel that if after there [sic] apostacies & his judgments for them they should return unto the Lord their God and obey his voice according to all that he commanded them that day that then the Lord their God would circumcise their hearts & the heart of their seed to love the Lord their God with all their heart & all their soul that they might live so that God would regenerate the souls of his people is mentiond as one main promise of the covenant of grace made with them Jer. 31. 31.32.33. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel & with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers &c---But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts & write it in their hearts & will be their God & they shall be my people. This being here spoken of as a principal benefit promised to them [E's line] or promised in the covenant that God makes with them [E's line] of which faith is the condition it must be in some respect consequent on the first act of faith for the first act of faith the first fulfillment of the condition of the covenant is never promised to them tis no benefit promised in the covenant made with them. all that is promised to believers in the covenant of grace is what they obtain a right to by faith & what they look to God by faith for and that they may plead for in prayer to God. To the like purpose chap. 32. 40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good But I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. Jer 3. 22. Return ye backsliding children and [or & (blurred)] I will heal your backslidings. See Prov. 1. 23. Prov. 2. & nine first verses. & Joh. 4. 10. [some of these refs later]
¶The account that is to be given of these things is this.
1. That the whole of the saving work of Gods Spirit on [A; in?] the soul in the beginning and progress of it from the very first dawnings of divine light and the first beginnings of divine life until death is in some respect to be looked upon as all one work of regeneration In all of it the soul is renewed Regeneration is that work of Gods Spirit whereby the soul is brought back from that state of sin into which we fell by the first apostacy of mankind and restoring it to its former state of holiness restoring the image of God to it that was lost by /p./ the fall but this is done gradually through the whole work of the sanctification of the Spirit. The destruction and death that the nature of man fell under by Adam & which it is subject to by the first birth and that new birth in which the soul is restored by Christ are so related one to another, that one is to be measured by the other one consists in the removal of the other and in restoring the soul from the other and therefore the new birth is not finished 'til the soul is fully restored & 'till the corruption and death that came by Adam and the first birth is wholly removed. X speaking of the new birth says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. flesh i.e corruption is by the first birth but the Spirit or grace and holiness is by the second birth and as all corruption is by the first birth so the mortifying of that corruption and all the restoration of holiness or the spirit, is by the new birth. The new birth in SS. is represented as a new creation, but the whole work of sanctification in the whole progress is a work of creation in every step and degree of that restoration something is brought out of nothing and there is the very same almighty creating power needed and exerted as there is in the first beginning of this work on the soul and the new creature is not fully made 'til all that creature is remade that was destroyed by the fall which was the undoing of the old creation. Regeneration is in SS. represented as the raising the soul from the dead but the whole sanctifying work of Gods Spirit is a raising the soul from the dead in every step of this work the same exceeding greatness of power is exerted that wrought in X Jesus when he was raised from the dead after the beginning of Gods saving still a body of death remains there is but /mg/ but a little life & every step of the whole work is out of death tis as it were a raising the soul from its grave All that death which came upon the soul when it died in the fall is removed in that spiritual resurrection that it has in X & therefore that resurrection is not finished 'till the soul is thoroughly sanctified. Regeneration is a ding [dying sic] unto sin and living unto righteousness but the Christian is so doing as long as he lives and the whole work in every degree of it is by the deads hearing the voice of the Son and living. The Apostle Paul still earnestly sought that he might attain to the resurrection of the dead not as tho he had alredy attaind Regeneration is putting off the old man and putting on the new man but the Christian is doing this as long as he lives after the beginning of a saving work of God on his soul he has both the old and new man the flesh & spirit there is the old man still in a sense entire i.e. with all his members. Regeneration is a crucifying the flesh with the affections & lusts and this is a doing as long as the Xtian lives & during the whole conflict that he has with sin Regeneration is a circumcising the heart which is done in every step of the mortification of sin. There is as it were an unregenerate part still in man after the first regeneration that still needs to be regenerated tis as it were but a very little of man that is regenerated in what is done at first of this work ¶ Regeneration is an opening the eyes of the blind & a causing light to shine out of darkness and so is every part of the work of sanctification Xtians after they are converted may still justly complain that they are blind exceeding blind they may complain still of gross darkness darkness that may be felt & the light God gives em from time to time is like the shining of the light out of darkness when God said Let there be light & tis an opening the eyes of the blind. The work in the whole progress of is is [sic] a proper conversion or a turning from sin to God & there is scarce any thing in Gods first work on the soul that is peculiar to that that cant be attributed to what is done in progressive sanctification excepting that that is the beginning first in order of time & immediately after a total corruption. And there is scarce any pe[ti]tion that is proper to be put up to God by an unregenerate man for regenerating grace but what a true convert may join in & put up for himself Christ seems to speak of regeneration as a continued thing Math 19. 28 Ye that have followed me in the regeneration. Tis all spoken of as the same work of God Philip. 1. 6. He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it on to the day of X. [Last sent after next ¶ begun but while No. being written.]
¶2. Those particular changes which godly men pass under after the first saving work of Gods Spirit upon their hearts are sometimes represented at their conversion as particularly. First the first clear discovery of God and X to the soul when it follows the more obscure dawnings of grace & feebler actings of faith in holy desires after Christ & holiness seem to be sometimes represented as their conversion which is repre-/p./ sented in what X wrought for the blind man who cried earnestly to X that he might recieve his sight and yet acted faith in that request Christ said to him Go thy way thy faith hath hade thee whole, as Mark 10. 51.52. The same is represented in many other miracles that X wrought. Many Christians tho they derive spiritual influence from X at first to enable them to come to him by faith yet when they are first enabled to come they come to him for that end viz that X would renew their hearts that as David after he began to repent & his heart began to be renewed after his great fall yet cried to God to create in him a clean heart & renew in him a right spirit Grace stirs up person[s] to look to God the true fountain of grace for converting grace & to come to X for it with a sense of their unworthiness of it. so the children of Israel Deut. 30. at the beginning And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee and thou shalt call to mind among all the nations whether [sic] the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee, this day thou and thy children with all thine heart & with all thy soul v. 6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
¶Secondly A remarkeable work of Gods grace on the heart causing a great alteration in the soul as to the degree of grace very much delivering of it from former darkness & setting it much at liberty from corruptions that before through the weakness of grace used much to entangle & ensnare the soul giving the soul a new & much clearer understanding of divine things & remarkeably putting it under new advantages for the exercises & fruits of the divine life, is also called conversion in SS. tho' there may have been no remarkeable falling into gross sin before which was the case in the conversions of Cornelius & Nathaniel and probably was the case in the conversion of Johns two disciples that followed Jesus. Joh. 1. 35 & of several other of Xs disciples who seemed to have been good men before, for they seemed to be found already in a disposition to follow X when X first appeard to them in his human nature and this seems to have been the case with Zacchaeus and with the women of Canaan.
¶Thirdly. When the godly are recovered after they have much fallen into sin either by falling into a particular heinous transgression or by gradually sinking into a very ill frame is what is called conversion in ss. So Peters recovery is called his conversion. Christ says to him When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren and a work of Gods Spirit in recovering a fallen saint is often times very much like the first work of God in the conversion of [a (om.E)] sinner. as also the work the work of God in raising a feeble saint to higher degrees of spiritual light & life is sometimes so
¶On these accounts it seems to be that conversion is spoken of in Scripture as what yet remains to be sought & prayed for by the saints after they have already been savingly wrought upon And indeed there is nothing in the beginning of this work or in that which is more strictly called regeneration that is essential to it but what the saint may be the subject of afterward again & again There is no light or sense or conviction of heart essential in the first work but what may be repeated and in the same manner & order the same conviction of sin the same sense of self-insufficiency the same despair in self, the same conviction of Gods justice for all that is essential in the conviction of Gods justice at first is that it is just in it self without any consideration of any free promise of God tis a thorough conviction of desert of hell. There may be the same kind of coming to Christ & trusting in him. Yea the consequences of an after work of Gods Spirit, as to a persons relative state may be in some respects the same Conversion may still be by divine constitution necessary to salvation in some respect even after he is really a saint. Christs words seem to intimate that if Peter should not be converted after his fall in answer to his prayer for him Satan would have had him and Christ tells the disciples that unless they should be converted and become as little children they should in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. and the conversion of the children of Israel promised in the 30 of Deut as what should be consequent on their returning to God with all their heart and with all their soul is spoken of as being in order to their salvation. v. 6. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart ----that thou mayst live. So what is promised in the 31 of Jeremiah of writing Gods law on there [sic] hearts which has been spoken of already is in order to their becoming /p./ Gods people I [sic] & will write it on their hearts & will be their God and they shall be my people, v. 33. When Zaccheus came down X told him that salvation was come to his house So cornelius was directed to send for Peter who should tell him words by which he and all his house should be saved. Act 11. 14. So the Apostle Paul pressed forward that he might attain to the resurrection of the dead ¶And even justification it self does in a sense attend & depend upon these after works of the Spirit of God upon the soul the condition of justification in a sense remains still to be performed even after the first conversion and the sentence of justification in a sense remains still to be passed, & the man remains still in a state of probation for heaven which could not be if his justification did not still depend on what remain'd to be done See No. 840 & 857. [finis]
¶848. That the SAINTS shall be in some respects HIGHER IN GLORY THAN THE ANGELS, seems evident by that Scripture Rev. 3. 12. I will write upon him my new name, speaking of him that overcomes. Christs new new [sic] name is that honour & glory that he recieved at his exaltation, for that glory and advancement was now to X as God-man & Mediatour. Xs writing this his new name upon them implies that he will in some respect give them also this honour & glory & make them partakers with him in it as a woman when married to an husband takes his name upon her. But this name of X that he recieved at his exaltation is far above the name of any angel Philip. 3.<2[A.copyist]> 9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. Heb. 1. 3. 4. When he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high being made so much better than the angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they Eph. 1. 20.21.22.23. He raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality & power and might & dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come . and in the two following verses tis said that he was thus exalted for the church and that the church is his body or fullness which intimates that she partakes with him in this exa[l]tation above every name &c-- and in the first of Hebrews one thing brought to shew how much better he was made than the angels & how much more excellent name he had obtaind than they is that the angels are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them which shall be heirs of salvation which dont obscurely intimate that these coheirs with X of his glory shall be partakers with him in this exaltation above the angels. [finis]
¶849. CONVERSION of INFANTS or rather REGENERATION OF INFANTS & OTHER CHILDREN. From infants being visibly in covenant or visibly some of Gods people and those that by Gods appointmt are to be looked upon and recieved by his church as some that belong to them we may argue that infants stand fair for being really Gods people and of his church in Gods ordinary way of dealing with mankind If they were capable of it only by some extraordinary only by some extraordinary [sic] & unusual divine proceeding this would not have been sufficient ground for all the infants of Gods people to be recieved & looked upon by Gods people as some of them or which is the same thing some that are regenerated. Nor can we suppose God would have appointed them not only ordinarily but universally to be the subjects of a visible sign & seal of regeneration if in his ordinary way of proceeding it was not to be expected that they should be the subjects of the thing signified . From hence we may argue that infants stand fair for being accepted of God and justified as some of Xs while they live & not only when they are dying For they are appointed to be recieved as some of Gods people while they live they are then visibly some of Gods people or those that we should hope are so already and not only those that we may hope will be so hereafter when they come to die. If only those children that die in infancy are justified then it can scarcely be properly said that infants in general stand fair for justification in Gods ordinary way of proceeding.
¶Let it be further considered whether or no this proposition may not be proved on the following grounds
¶PROP. The [sic. that?] younger persons are the fairer they stand for regeneration if means equally proper & thorough be used in order thereto of those from whom God expects it.
¶Infants are not capable of using means in order to their salvation therefore God dont look to them for the use of means but to parents & to the church to which they belong Parents should use means by heartily & earnestly devoting them to God and praying & striving for them agonizing /p./ in their names & for their sakes striving to enter in at the strait gate with them in their arms & so the church & its pastors should use means for them & as they gradually emerge out of their state of infancy so God gradually looks off from the parents & the chh to them & while they are between a state of infancy & adult age, God has his eye partly on them & partly on parents &c-- Parents should then agonize for them not only in dedicating them to God & praying for them but also instructing counselling & warning them & so endeavour [sic] to bring em into the strait gate & carry em along in the narrow way that leads to life. Now if proper means are thus equally used for them at different ages the younger they are the fairer do they stand for being brought into a state of salvation thus If equally proper and through means be used for them in infancy in devoting them to God & wrestling with God for them they then stand fairer for being brought into a state of salvation than ever afterwards and if when they are in childhood between infancy & adult age their parents are still equally thorough in using means for them & with them in the use of such means as are proper for that age and they themselves are withal thorough in using means for themselves in proportion to their capacity & according to what is to be expected of such an age if they han't been brought into a state of salvation before they stand fairer for it then than ever afterwards & if when they first come to adult age & come to be fully capable of acting for them [sic] they are equally thorough in the use of proper means for themselves they stand fairer for being brought into a state of salvation than afterwards.
¶This proposition may be established by the following reasons.
¶1. We have good ground from what was observed before in the beginning of this number to suppose that all the hindrances that are in the way of salvation that appertain to or arise from a state of infancy are wholly removed and done away by a sovereign God in what he has been pleased to constitute and reveal concerning little children summarily contained in that sentence of Christ Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven & in appointing that his church should look upon & recieve little children as some of his regenerate people Whatsoever there is in a state of infancy that tends to hinder infants salvation or being blessed by the Saviour may be looked upon as something that forbids it but X in saying forbid them not, has disallowed repelld and removed every thing that forbids this and so we must look upon it that he has removed that hindrance among the rest that appertain to the infant state, that salvation is not sensible at that age to the person that is the subject of it if that be an hindrance then that is a great disadvantage that infants are under arising from their infancy but we must look upon X out of his compassion to infants has removed that & all their other disadvantages. Those that objected against bringing little children to the Saviour to be blessed by him might have made that objection they might have said these children wont be so sensible of the blessing that Christ bestows upon them for they will never remember the accursed state they were in before when they come to grow up but we must suppose Christ would not have allowed any such objection & therefore we may look upon it that Christ has wholly removed it. ¶ If X has been pleased to appoint parents to stand in the room of infants then doubtless he acepts them as standing in their room that what is in them shall be accepted as sufficiently countervailing the defects & hindrances that attend their infant state otherwise Xs constitution dont make parents fully sufficient to stand in their room they are not fully appointed & acepted as in their room unless proper means used by them for their infants are as likely to be blessed for them as if used by themselves
¶We must look on what X has said and done concerning infants as the breaking down the partition wall between him and infants But the wall is not wholly broken down if infants still when all proper means are used yet by reason of their infancy don't stand so fair for salvation as they would do if they were not infants If X undertakes to break down the partition wall, he will do it thoroughly he won't leave the work but partly done still leaving a wall of separation & hindrance behind so when he undertook to break down the wall between Jews & Gentiles he wholly removed it when he undertook to break down the wall between God and sinfull man he made an end of sin. when he rent the vail of the temple he rent it from the top to the bottom
¶2. Thus we are to look on infants as set on a level with other persons with respect to hindrances of their being in a state of salvation all the peculiar hindrances if equally proper means are used being wholly removed. But the peculiar hindrances being gone what /p./ remains to be considered in order to judge in what proportion they stand fair for salvation are the positive advantages for a state of salvation of the infant age compared with those of other ages if equally proper & thorough means for their salvation [sic] & these are certainly greater the younger persons are There are no peculiar hindrances of their side, but the peculiar advantages are all of their side If X removes disadvantages he dont at the same time diminish advantages.
¶Their advantages are greater because they have less guilt, less hardness of heart Infants hant provoked God & hardend their hearts by sinning against light & rejecting offered mercy despising counsels & warnings & resisting the Holy Ghost which are things that above all others lay blocks in the way of persons salvation.
¶And then the earliest time is the best because it is the most fit & proper for persons to begin to [be(om.E)] good & to be consecrated to God Tis a thing greatly insisted on that the first fruits should be given to God . and then if persons are dedicated to God in the beginning their whole life is given to God God has especially allotted the beginning of life for persons to be dedicated to him because they ben't fit to live at all in the world till they are devoted to God, & have a divine life begun in them. the sooner persons are renewed the more sin will be avoided and the less Satan will be served
¶3. The earliest time being on so many accounts the fittest time for persons to [be (om.E)] devoted to God 'tis reasonable to suppose that God would so constitute & order things as especially to allot this time for it and would would [sic] so order it that it should be a time of the greatest advantage for such a purpose If it be the fittest time then we must suppose that God especially requires that it be endeavoured in that time but doubtless there is an harmony between Gods commands & his providence We find in SS. that persons are especially called upon of God & required to seek God at such times as when he is near to seek him in a time accepted & a day of salvation. ¶ Persons are most in the way of duty when they endeavour that the soul shall become the Lords in the earliest season because as was said before sin against God is most prevented in this way & by this means the whole life is given to God but doubtless God would so order it in his providence, that men should have most encouragemt of success in that way in /mg/ that wherein they are most in the way of duty. if it were not so likely that endeavours would be successfull in the earliest time this would be a temptation to persons to neglect & put off till a more convenient season. but doubtless God has so ordered it that what Felix made his excuse for present neglects should alwaies be a groundless & unreasonable supposition viz that hereafter there would be a more convenient season: the longer we delay the more difficult the work will grow we may tell children as soon as they are capable of understanding us that now is their best time otherwise they may truly reply to us that hereafter they shall have a more convenient season & we may also tell parents when we exhort them to seek their salvation that now is their best time.
¶And as to the objection of childrens salvations not being sensible to themselves, if the objection were valid it would be much more so against the salvation of infants that die in infancy for if they are saved they are immediately carried into perfect glory & remember no degree of a state of sin & misery. But yet tis generally supposed to be a common thing that the infants of the godly that die in infancy are saved. --How regeneration in some respects may be very sensible tho persons are converted in infancy may be learn't from No 847. [finis]
¶850. DEACONS OFFICE. It was a thing established in the visible church of God from the very beginning that a part of the substance of Gods visible people should be brought as an offering to the Lord So it was in the family of Adam this is a duty that he trained up his two sons Cain & Abel in & this duty dont cease with the abolishing of the Mosaic dispensation there is nothing that argues that now a less proportion of what we have should be offered to God than formerly but the SS. rather seems to intimate that in gospel times Gods people should consecrate more of their substance to God. Isai 23. 18. And her merchandize and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord it shall not be treasured nor laid up for her merchandize shall be for them that dwell before the Lord to eat sufficiently & for durable clothing /p./
What Cain and Abel did was not only in compliance with the institution of sacrifice, but with what they had been traind up in as their duty to offer to God a part of their substance Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord doing his duty therein as to the matter of it tho he did not do it with a right spirit see Ps. 76. 11. which is much to the purpose see also 2. Chron. 32. 23. & Ps. 68. 29. compare Ps. 76. 11. with Ps. 89. 7 see Ps 72. 10. Ps. 45. 12. Isai 60. 16 & 61. 6 Isai 60. 6. 9. Ps. 22. 29. [SS. refs added after next ¶ begun]
¶And it has not only been a thing established from the beginning of the world that Gods visible people should offer a part of their substance to God but this has alwaies been a part of the publick service of God in his church When Cain & Abel are said to have brought their offerings to the Lord, thereby is doubtless meant that they brought their offerings to [wwxo] either to Adams altar or to the place where Adams family were wont to meet with God & worship God. {When the children of Israel were to appear before God at their feasts they were never to come empty handed See Mather on the Types. p. 416. See Serm. on Gen. 4. 3,4,5.} {later add} [date on sermon MS Nov. 1743] [finis]
¶851. SCRIPTURES. INTERPRETATION. That the SS. often includes various distinct things in its sense. It is becoming of him who is infinite in understanding and has every thing in full & perfect view at once and when he speaks sees all things that have any manner of agreement with his words and knows how to adapt his words to many things and so to speak infinitely more comprehensively than others, & to speak so as naturally to point forth many things and so to speak infinitely more comprehensively than others, & to speak so as naturally to point forth many things I say it becomes such an one when he speaks to speak so as [to (om.E)] include a manifold instruction in his speech. That expression in the old Testament Out of Egypt have I called my Son has respect to two distinct things as is manifest beyond all contradiction & many other phrases in the old Testament applied in the new see Not on Dan 5. 23. &c-- [finis; last ref. prob. added later]
¶852. PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. The corruption of Terah & other of Abrahams ancestours with the idolatry that prevailed in Chaldea tho' they were the true church & the corruption of the church Israel in Egypt where they served other gods is very parallel with the corruption of Gods people in the first times of AntiX before there was a separation from that idolatrous church. Both Chaldea and Egypt are types of the Romish Church. [finis]
¶853. THE WORK OF REDEMPTION the end of the WORK OF CREATION and all works of Providence] [E's brackets] If we would know what is the end of the world let us look to the end or finishing of the world & see who appears then That great sight that will be to be seen then that will be the last & greatest sight to be seen in this visible world that will be the sight in which all things will end will be X the Redeemer in his glory that he has obtained by the work of redemption that he has gone with all his redeemed with /mg/ in the perfect & compleat fruits of his redemption** in one word the greatest & last sight which will be the issue of all events at the winding up of things and dissolution of heaven & earth will be the compleat accomplishmt of the effect & end sought by what X doth in the work of redemption. [finis]
**d. simply gave up on the previous 4 phrases & clauses and crossed them out on A copy.]
¶854. CONVICTION. "The hunted beast flies to his den and the pursued malefactor to the horns of the altar the chased mankiller to his city of refuge, so the humbled sinner unto Jesus Christ" "The full stomach of the proud Pharisee loathes the honey comb of Christ's righteousness, whilst to the hungry appetite of the humbled sinner the bitterest passions of a Saviour are exceedingly sweet. The deeper the sense of misery the sweeter is the sense of mercy. How acceptable is the fountain of living waters to the chased panting heart [sic] & the blood of X to the thirsty soul & conscience scorched with a sense of God's wrath" . Morning Exercise Methodized p. 368.
= [Case, Thomas] 1598-1682. The morning exercise methodized; or Certain chief heads and points of the Christian religion opened and improved in diverse sermons, by several ministers of the City of London, in the monthly course of the morning exercise at Giles in the fields, May, 1659...London: R.W. for Ralph Smith, 1676. 6 p.l. 517 [i.e. 507] [11] pp.
¶(First ed was Lord 1660, but it had a different pagination (xi, 667 pp.)) Both eds. in PTS Puritan Coll.
¶p. 368 occurs in Sermon XXII by "Mr. Craston" -"Repentance not to be Repented, Plainly Asserted, and Practically Explained,"=pp. 359-409.
¶ 855. JUSTIFICATION. FAITH CONDITION OF SALVATION.
As to that question, whether closing with X in his kingly office be of the essence of justifying faith;-- I would say <l.[c]> that accepting X in his kingly office, is doubtless the proper condition of having an interest in X's kingly office and so the condition of that salvation that he bestows in the execution of that office as much as acepting the forgiveness of sins is the proper condition of the forgiveness of sin . X in his kingly office bestows salvation & [xo c] therefore /p./ accepting him in his kingly office by a disposition to sell all & suffer all in duty to X & giving proper respect & honour to him is the proper condition of salvation this is manifest by Heb. 5. 9. "and being made perfect he became the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him"; and by Rom 10. 10. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; & with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" The Apostle speaks of such a confessing of X or outward & open testifying our respect to him & adhering to our duty to him as exposed to suffering reproach & persecution and that such a disposition & practice is of the essence of saving faith is manifest Joh. 12. 42.43. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the synagogue for they loved the praise of man more than the praise of God compared with Joh 5. 44. How can ye believe, which recieve honour one of another & seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
¶2. Accepting X as a priest & king cant be separated. they not only can't be separated, or be asunder, in their subject; but they can't be considered as separate things in their nature. for they are implied one in another. Accepting X as a king is implied in accepting him as a priest for as a priest he procures a title to the benefits of his kingly office and therefore to accept him as a priest implies an acepting him in his kingly office For we cant acept the purchase of his priesthood, [but] by ac<c>epting the benefits purchased. If faith is supposed to contain no more immediately than only an acepting of X as a Mediatour for our justification; yet that justification implies a giving a title to the benefits of his kingly office viz salvation from sin & conformity to his nature and will & actual salvation by actual deliverance from our enemies & the bestowment of glory. [finis]
¶ 856. JUSTIFICATION <It is a question, [c]> How works justify, or how a Xtian life and practice justifies<y[c]> Xtian works or the acts of holy Xtian practice do as much belong to the acceptance of X as the outward act of a beggar in putting forth his hand & outwardly [xo c] <belongs to his [c]> taking the gift offered him. actually yielding to Xs teachings, is the same thing as actually accepting him as a prophet and teacher actually submitting to X as our king & obeying him is the same as actually accepting him in his kingly office. actually [xo E] venturing upon his word and promise in what we do or suffer is the same as actually trusting in [xo E] him. actually following X & practically cleaving to him in hope of salvation from him is actually accepting him & trusting in him as a saviour. Actual [xo E] forsaking sin is actual acepting of freedom or deliverance from sin. practising holiness is actual accepting that benefit of Xs purchase, as much as the beggars taking the gift & voluntary having it is the very same as his acepting it; or as the eating food given him is accepting that food. given him [xo c? <E>] See an addition to this No 859. See also 996. B. 5. See Dr. William's 5th vol. p. 119.
¶ 857. JUSTIFICATION how by PERSEVERANCE in faith & by an holy life. Christ in the 6. of Math 33. v. commands those that already have some faith to seek the righteousness of God which the Apostle distinguishes from our own righteousness yea & [xo c] as the words imply he directs us to seek the righteousness of God by which we may obtain the kingdom of God "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" Compare this with v. 30. where those that he then especially directs himself to in this counsel are spoken of as having seeming [conj. reading TS suggests “formerly”] /mg/ some faith. See also Math 5. 1. & 13. 14. 15. 16. [finis]
¶858. CONVICTION. HUMILIATION. Tis an easy thing for those that don't consider their own guilt & are not convinced how great it is to trust in Christ to remove that guilt so in like manner 'tis an easy thing for those that dont count the cost of being Xtians or that are not sensible of the difficulties that attend an universal & persevering adherence to X, to embrace Xtianity. There are many that seem /p./ to trust in X to deliver from their guilt that would not & could not if they were sensible how great that guilt was So there are many that seem to embrace Christianity that would not & could not embrace it if they first thoroughly considered and were sensible of the difficulties that attend it But yet there are doubtless instances of those that do truly embrace Xtianity & have a principle of heart disposing them to adhere to X through all difficulties that hant first had an explicit thorough consideration & sense of those difficulties & so there are doubtless some that have a principle of heart disposing do truly trust in X as their Saviour from guilt that han't first had an explicit consideration and view of all their guilt and indeed those that see most of their guilt dont see all no nor a millionth part. [finis]
¶ 859. JUSTIFICATION. add this to Num. 856. Works are as much the proper evidence of the act of the soul in recieving X, as the act of the soul in recieving X is the proper evidence of the principal of faith. the soul's act of faith would not be the proper condition of justification, were it not that it is necessary as the proper manifestation & expression of the principle or being of faith was manifest & evident without men would be justified without Indeed the act belongs to the being of faith so indeed considering the nature of man as a being consisting of soul & body the practice belongs to the nature of aceptance the renovation of the whole man, in spirit soul & body is that wherein the new birth consists. & so the whole mans acepting of X as a saviour in spirit soul & body is properly the condition of justification. See Serm on Math 13. 6. Prop. IV. see 861 [date on sermon ref Nov. 1740--same ink as entry, same for ref. in next entry] [finis]
¶860. How WORKS are proper SIGNS of godliness see serm. on Math 13. 6. Prop. IV. Practice is the properest & fittest evidence of every thing in the soul that concerns godliness not only of godliness it self but of that CONVICTION that is only preparatory to it. Tis not alwaies he that is in the greatest exercise of mind or has the greatest terror upon his heart that has the greatest & best conviction of sin but he is undoubtedly the most convinced of sin that is most afraid of & [sic] it from his conviction or consideration or whatever you will call it is afraid of it And he is most sensible of the badness of his heart that watches most against it. Remember to shew how every Xtian grace tends to practice as loving G. trusting in God repenting of sin & c-- & how that practice is the proper trial of it [finis]
¶ 861. JUSTIFICATION. How WORKS justify. see 856. 859. 876. & 1030 B. 5. Cleaving to God in practice, as having our expectations of happiness & well being from him as our portion & chief good & serving him in dependence on his sufficiency for us & faithfullness to us in that way is implied and very much intended in the old-Testament notion of trusting in God: which is equivalent to the New Testament notion of faith [c's line] and is spoken <of[c]> as the condition of God's help & salvation in the same manner in the old Testament as faith is in the New. That this is intended in the Old Testament by trusting in God is evident from the following places Ps. 2. 11.12. ser "SERVE the Lord with fear & rejoice with trembling Kiss the Son least he be angry & ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little Blessed are all they that put their TRUST in him. Ruth 2. 12. The Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust. Judg. 9. 15. If in truth ye anoint me king over you then come and put your trust in my shadow: if not let fire come out of the bramble & devour the cedars of Lebanon. Ps. 4. 5 <4[c A: 4,5] Stand in aw & sin not [E's line] Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still offer the sacrifices of righteousness [E's line] & put your trust [E's] in the Lord. Ps. 37. 1 Fret not thy self because of evil doers; neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity 3 v. Trust in the Lord /p./ and do good so shalt thou dwell in the land. v.[c] 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to [pass] v. 8. Fret not thy self in any wise to do evil together with that whole Psalm. Jer. 39. 16.17.18. God and speak to Ebedmeleck the Ethiopian saying -----thy life shall be a prey unto thee because thou hast put thy trust in me saith the Lord. Compared with chap. 38. 7. 12. Ps 78. 22. Because they believed not in God & trusted not in his salvation. Dan 3. 28. Who hath sent his angel & delivered his servants who trusted in him. See 876. See Miscell. B.9. p. 913 (first column) &c. [finis]
¶862. HUMILIATION.<see 858.> 'Tis necessary that persons should be brought to forsake the world as well as their own righteousness in order to a saving close with Christ. As wicked men trust in their own righteousness for salvation, so they trust in the world for happiness and therefore their being brought off from a wordly happiness is as necessary in order to their looking to X as the only medium of happiness as 'tis that they should be brought off from their own righteousness in order to their looking to Christ as the only medium of their salvation. Their trust in their own righteousness makes 'em insensible of their need of a Saviour and so does their trust in the world Trusting in the world is often spoken of and condemned <& under that term of trusting> as trusting in our own righteousness. See Ps. 49. 6. Job. 31. 24. 1 Tim 6.17 Ps 52. 7 It is opposite to trusting God and inconsistent with it as well as trusting in our own righteousness Ps. 52. 7. Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches. Ps. 69. 8.9.10. Trust in him at all times ye people pour out your heart before him God is a refuge for us selah surely men of low degree are vanity &c-- trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery if riches increase set not your heart upon them. 1 Tim 6. 17. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy. Trusting in the world is spoken of as hindring our entering into the kingdom of God as effectually as trusting in our own righteousness. Math 19. 24. How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. The SS. is more express in the necessity of our being brought off from the world and parting with the world than it is in the necessity of being brought off from our own righteousness tho it be very plain as <undoubtedly teaches the> to the necessity of both. how often is Christ in teaching his disciples the necessity of their selling all in order to their being his disciples & that they must renounce F. & mother wife & children houses & lands yea & their own lives & that they must count the cost & so take up the cross & follow him & that we cannot serve God & mammon we must forsake the one & cleave to [the] other & we are told that if any man love the world or the things that are in the world the love of the Father is not in him & that if we recieve honour one of another we cannot believe. Both belong to the circumcision of the heart & being poor in spirit includes both a being sensible that we are wretched and miserable and poor includes both we read of being crucified to the world Gal. 6. 14. as well as our being dead to the law & crucified with X in that respect. Gal. 2. 19.20. both are included in our being crucified with X & being dead with him for X when he died he died both to the world & to the law both belong to the crucifixion of the old man. Both belong to the great Xtian duty of self denial or self renunciation and indeed they are the two great constituent integral parts of that duty. by the one mans worldlimindedness is mortified and by the other his self-righteousness which are the two great pillars of Dagons temple on which the house rests & which the spiritual Sampson breaks by which the temple falls & the Philistines are slain . Pride and worldliness are the two daughters of the horseleach spoken of Prov 30. 15. Both are natural to man & are so in a like respect antecedent to the fall both this worlds happiness & mans own righteousness might on good grounds be depended on while he stood for himself under the first covenant for a worldly happiness or happiness in an earthly paradise was promised in the first cove-/p./venant and mans own righteousness was the condition of the covenant the first man was of the earth earthy one is our own natural stock & root as well as the other in conversion a man is cut off from his own stock to be engrafted into X & is cut down as the mown grass to be revived by X as much with respect to the one as the other the renouncing both belong to our forsaking our own people and fathers house for X. Both the world & our own righteousness are represented by the idols of the Jews that provoked X to jealousy their idols represented the worldly enjoyments because they were silver & gold & covetousness the Apostle tells us is idolatry & they represented mens own righteousness because they were the works of their own hands. And the manner of being brought off from both these is very parallel. There is a twofold weanedness from the world one is a having the heart beat of [sic] or forced off from the world by affliction & especially by spirituall distresses and disquietudes of conscience that the world cant quiet this may be in men while natural men the other is a having the heart drawn off by being shewn something better, whereby the heart is really turned from it So in like manner there is a twofold bringing a man off from his own righteousness one is a being beat or forced off by convictions of conscience the other is a being drawn off by the sight of something beter whereby the heart is turned from that way of salvation by our own righteousness. ¶? The argument from it [-s, A] being Gods manner first to bring persons into extremity & to take away all false comfort & false dependance is as forceable for one as the other. God led the children of Israel in the wilderness for both these ends to humble em & shew em what was in their hearts & to bring em off from their own righteousness and also to bring em off from a trust in the world he suffered them to hunger & fed them with manna that they might know that man doth not live by bread alone
¶Corol. In these things viz in renouncing the world to trust in X only as the means & fountain of our happiness & in renouncing our own righteousness to trust alone in his righteousness lies the grand secret of being thorough Christians
¶Corol. 1. Hence trouble of mind & gods using forceable methods is no more absolutely necessary in order to one of these things than the other i.e it is no more absolutely necessary that men should first be under great trouble of mind to drive em & force 'em from a dependence on their own righteousness than it is to drive em from a dependence on the world and so far as drawing alone will in any case be sufficient for one it will for the other also
¶Corol. 2. Hence there is no more absolute necessity of an explicitness in one of these things than the other there is no more necessity of a particular distinct work of Gods Spirit with explicit consideration to bring men off from their own righteousness than to bring 'em to renounce the world there is more colour from Scripture to argue for the necessity of a particular distinct act of renunciation on particular consideration in the latter case than in the former for it speaks of the necessity of sitting down & counting the cost & so denying our selves & taking up the cross
¶Corol. 3. Hence we may infer that selfrighteousness remains in the heart after conversion as much as worldlimindedness.
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¶It is said Jer. 4. 3.4. Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns circumcise your selves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts. Here breaking up the fallow ground and circumcising themselves represents what the soul is the subject of under the convictions of Gods Spirit. This breaking up the fallow ground is in order to destroy the thorns but by the thorns its not only meant selfrighteousness but more especially worldly cares & affections as is manifest by Xs own interpretation in the explanation of the parable of the sower in the 13. of Mth & 8 of Luke And so the circumcision of the heart is to take away the foreskin of the heart but this signifies not only /p./ self righteousness but more naturally & more especially the pleasures of the world or carnal appetites. {Josephs brethren are thoroughly humbled to the earth for their sin & are brought to deliver up Benjamin fully both together see Gen. 44. 16. & sermon on Gen 43. 3} {after next ¶ begun; date on sermon ref Feb. 1742}
¶Both weaning from the world and also from our own righteousness are signified by that weaning from the milk & drawing from the breasts spoken of Isai 28. 9. <This is confirmed by Ps. 131.> the one is weaning from the breasts of the Jewish Church, & the other from the breasts of the earth which is our mother & then the objects of our lusts are properly called the milk of our mothers breasts because tis the proper nourishment of that corrupt nature which we have by natural generation the proper satisfaction of the appetite of that flesh which is born of flesh & therefore weaning from sin is called a weaning from our fathers house. Israels coming out of Egypt & forsaking their old taskmasters there was a type both of their renouncing their lusts & also their renouncing their own righteousness or the law which holds sinners in bondage & is a taskmasters [sic] that requires more of them than they can do see note on Isai 30. 2. {David is humbled & submits to Gods sovereignty & resigns up his kingdom both together after his fall in the matter of Uriah in the rebellion of Absalom before he recieved full comfort.} {added later at end of ¶}
¶Both are included in repentance and are the two great constituent parts of repentance so far as repentance respects the term from which in repentance the soul is humbled for sin in a renunciation of all its own worthiness & righteousness & in repentance the soul is separated & broke off from sin & so from all worldly lusts both these are done by a kind of force, in legal repentance and both are done freely & of choice in evangelical repentance. Both are alike included in poverty of spirit.
¶Both these things are excellently expressed as necessary to a true faith in X or hope in the Lord, in the 131 Ps. <(& also Isai. 28. 9.)> Lord my heart is not haughty nor my eyes lofty neither do I exercise my self in great matters or in things to [sic] high for me. surely I have behaved & quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother my soul is even as a weaned child Let Israel hope in the Lord from hence forth and forever. The souls being brought to renounce its own excellency is well expressed by its becoming like a little child as X says Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven & he that humbles himself as this little child the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven That a being thus humbled is here intended is plain being particularly expressed in the first verse. & then a being weaned from the world is naturally signified in the souls being as a weaned child the heart naturally cleaves to the breasts of mother earth & thirsts after earthly enjoymts as the little child does after its mothers breasts Then it follows Let Israel hope in the L. &c-- these things are necessary to faith in X & true hope & comfort in him {Both worldly enjoyments and our own righteousness are meant by the husks that the swine do eat / Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way [Is. 57:10] this has respect to both these / The world & selfrighteousness are the two things that kept the young man in the gospel out of heaven. By these men are rich and cant enter in} [later adds.,end of ¶]
¶Both these things were represented in Maries anointing X her precious ointment was out of an alabaster box which represents the hearts purity and the mortification of worldly lusts. & it was out of a broken box which represents humiliation of heart. see note on Mark 14. 3.
¶It is necessary in order to an interest in X the second Adam that we should be taken out of the old Adam which is done by these two things viz. weaning from the world and weaning from our own righteousness. By the first we are weaned from Adams earthly happiness By the second we are weaned from Adams way of obtaining his happiness viz his own righteousness 1. By mortification we are weaned from Adams earthly happiness for the first Adam was of the earth earthy. and tho' Adams highest happiness consisted in the favour of God yet the tokens of that favour or those gifts of God to him that were the fruits of that favour consisted mainly in those good things that were earthly in the blessings of an earthly paradise But the second Adam is the Lord from heaven whose happiness is an heavenly happiness spiritual heavenly happiness consisting in communion of the Holy Ghost & therefore in order to a being some of the seed of the second Adam, we must have our hearts taken off from an earthly happiness & turned to an heavenly happiness for as is the earthy such are they also that are earthy and as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly and as we have born the image of the earthy we must also bear the image of the heavenly. 2. by humiliation we must be weaned from Adams way of obtaining his happiness by his own righteousness that we maynt trust in the righteousness of man but in the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus X. the two great things wherein Adams fullness consisted was his righteousness & his reward his righteousness was the righteousness of the flesh or of the meer human nature, which proved weak & unstable & not to be depended on for fulfilling the law and his reward was a fleshly reward we must be emptied of this fullness of the first Adam as we would be filled with the fullness of the second Adam: The harvest of the earth when gathered in was cut off by the sharp sickle of the word that is sharper than any two edged sword from two things from the earth & from its own stock & root. see further Num 875. [finis]
¶863. CONFLAGRATION MISERY OF THE DAMNED. Men can artificially raise heat to such a degree of fierceness as to melt almost all natural & even earth itself into glass and there is nothing that will stand before [it (om.E)] but what will either be dissipated into fumes or melted. It seems as /mg/ [if (or "tho"; om.E)] the fire of the general conflagration would be of such a degree of heat as to turn the earth into a liquid substance The Apostle in the 2. of Pet. 3. 12. says that the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat So that tis very probable that the fire of the conflagration will be such as to dissolve the rocks & melt the mountains and the ground and turn all into a kind of liquid fire When natural bodies are melted by heat artificially raised they continue in a state of fusion 'till every thing volatile in them is gone off in fumes & then the remainder is reduced to a calx but <then [xo; by mistake?]> there will be no room for a total separation of all the fumes or volatile parts of the matter of this lower world there will be no atmosphere sufficient to carry them off and the various kinds of substances of which this globe consists is probably such that when all come to be mixed it will tend to keep all in a state of fusion. Then there shall be a literal accomplishment of what is spoken of in Judges 5. 5. The mountains melted before the Lord. that is spoken of Gods appearance at Mt Sinai which was some little image of the day of judgment and of the conflagration & tis observable in multitudes of passages of Scripture that almost all those things that are spoken figuratively of those dispensations of providence that are an image of the day of judgment will be literally fulfill'd at the day of judgment Then there will [be (om.E)] a literal fulfillment of that in the 97 [Ps] at the beginning The Lord reigneth let the earth rejoice let the multitude of the isles be glad thereat Clouds & darkness are round about him righteousness & judgment are the habitation of his throne a fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about his lightnings enlightened the world the earth saw & trembled the hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth The heavens declare his righteousness & all the people his glory. and that Micah 1. 3.4. For behold the Lord cometh forth out of his place and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth and the mountains shall be molten under him and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire and as the waters that are poured down a steep place and Isai 64. 1.2. Oh that thou wouldst rent [sic] the heavens that thou wouldst come down that the mountains might flow down at thy presence as when the melting fire burneth the fire causeth the waters to boil to make thy name known to thine adversaries that the nations may tremble at thy presence when thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, & the mountains flowed down at thy presence
¶So that the whole world will probably be converted into a great lake & liquid globe of fire, a vast shoreless ocean of fire in which the wicked will be overwhelmed & so what is so often threatned in the Rev. to the wicked that they shall be cast into a lake of fire will be literally fulfilled & so that sulphureous bituminous lake that overflows the land of Sodom & Gomorrah appears to be a more lively image of the future misery of the wicked & so that great type of the eternal destruction of the wicked world Noahs flood appears to be a more lively representation of it for they are both of them literally deluges the one an [wwxo] an universal deluge of water & the other a proper flood or universal deluge of fire the whole world shall become a flood of liquid fire, and therefore these two destructions are more aptly compared one with another as they are by the Apostle 2. Pet. 3 chap. 5.6.7. v. The SS. speaks not only of the mountains melting but other parts of the earth also as melted by Gods wrath and so becoming a flood. Like a flood of waters Amos 9. 5. And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land & it shall melt and all that dwell therein shall mourn and it shall rise up wholly like a flood and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt.
¶There is something to represent this in those natural images of hell the volcano's or /p./ burning mountains which in the time of their erruptions commonly throw out great quantities of liquid fire.
¶It will be a sea of fire that will alwaies be in a tempest. Fire is a violent element its nature is to keep things in a vehement agitation The sun seems to be nothing else but such an ocean of liquid fire and that the substance of the sun is in a state of liquefaction is probably owing to nothing but its vehement heat to this vehemence of heat is owing the brightness of the sun as we see when fire is raised to a most intense degree of heat it grows white & emits a very bright white light and that intenseness of heat that is in the sun seems to be owing to nothing but the greatness of the fire as we see that a great fire is in every part of it hotter than a small fire because besides the heat that comes out of the fewel in that place, it has the additional heat of the fire all round it. That vast ocean & deluge of fire is as telescopes do shew continually in an exceeding perturbation & tempest. In such a tempestuous ocean in which all shall be agitated by the wrath of God & every thing shall in every respect appear in the most vehement & to us inconcievable rage & fury & hideous confusion & uproar shall wicked men roll & tumble & shall be plunged & agitated & driven to and fro having no rest day nor night with vast waves & billows of fire continually rolling over their heads bigger than the highest mountains & one billow following another forever & ever
¶It looks to me very probable that the time will come when all the planets & comets shall be cast down into the sun into that vast fire there to make that fire the greater & to add to that ocean of fire and not altogether unlikely that all the fixed stars shall be thrown together in one all those many millions of suns be gathered into one great, [sic] which as it will make the fire so many thousand times greater so it will in some proportion more exceeding fierce & furious and that thus there shall be a literal accomplishmt of those many expressions of SS. that speak of the heavens being dissolved & rolled together as a scroll & passing away & the stars falling from heaven, as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when shaken of a mighty wind & so that the whole visible world shall be destroyed with one great & general destruction. Isai 34. 4. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved & the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine and as a falling fig from the fig-tree. Ps. 102. 25.26. of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed Math 24. 29. The stars shall fall from heaven & the powers of heaven shall be shaken so Mark 13. 25. 2. Pet. 3. 10. The heavens shall pass away with great noise & v. 12. The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved Rev. 20. 11. I saw a great white throne & him that sat on it from whose face the earth & the heavens fled away. & v. 7. But the heavens & the earth which now are by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment & perdition of ungodly men Rev. 6. 13. 14. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a fig tree casteth away her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together. Rev. 21. 1. The first heaven & the first earth were passed away.
¶See concerning the MISERY OF THE DAMNED Serm, on Isa 33. 14. [ref. at end at same time. dated Dec. 1740 finis]