SERMON XXXV.
And whcn he LU corne, he will reprovc the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because ye believe hot on me. Of righteousness, because I go to my Fathcr, and ye sec me no more. Of judqnent, because the Prince of thLu world Lu judged.
In a former sermon upon these words, we have establi.-:hed this, that the person whom our Saviour promises here, being by himself promised, in the verse before the text, in the naine and quality of The Conforter, all that this person is to do in this text, is to be donc so, as the world, upon which it is tobe donc, may receive comfort in it. Thcrcfore this word, rcproof, admitting a double signification, one by way of authority, as itis a rebuke, an increpation, the other as it is a convincing by argument, by way of instruction, and information, because the first way cannot bo applied to all the parts of this text, and to all tllat the Holy Ghost is to do upon tlm world, (for, howsoever he may rcbuke the world of sin, he cannot be said to rcbuke it of righteousness, and of judgment) according to St. Augustine's later interpretation of these words, (for in one place ot his works, he takes this word, reproof, in the hardcr sense, for rebuke, but in another, in the lnildcr) we bave and must pursue the second signification of the word, That the IIoly Ghost shall reprore the worh-I of si, of" riyhteousness, ofjud.qmet, by convincing the world, by making the world confess and acknowledge all that that tlm Holy Ghost intends in ail these. And this manifestation, and this conviction in these three, will be our paloES. In the first of which, That the Holy Ghost shall reprore, that is, convince, the world of sin, we shall first look how ail the world is under sin; and then, whether the Holy Ghost, being corne, have convinced all the world, ruade all the world sec that it is so; and in these two inquisitions, we shall deterlnine that first branch.
For the first, (for of the other two we shall reach you the boughs anon, when you come te gather the fruit, and lay open the particulars, then when we come te handle them) that all the world is under sin, and knows it net, (for this reproof, Elenc]«s, is, says tho philosopher,,Sllogismus contra ¢otraria opimtem, An argulnent against him that is of a contrary opinion) we condole first the misery of this ignorance, for, Quid miseritts misero, wn miseratte seipsum? SVhat miser)- can be se great, as te be ignorant, insensible of out own misery. Every act dons in such an ignorance as we might overcome, is, new sin; and it is net only a new practice frein the devil, but it is a new punishment frein God; Itsi«ti I)onite, et sic est, tt pwta sit sibi omis iwrdinattes airnus , Every sinner is an executioner upon himself; and he is se by God's appointment, who punishes fornler sins with future. This then is the miserable stars of the world. It might know, and does net, that it is wholly under an inundation, a deluge of sin. For, sin is a tl'ansgression of some law which he that sins may know himself te be bound by: for, if any man could be exempt from all law, he were impeccable, he could net sin; and if he could net possibly have any knowledge of the law, it were no law te him. New under the transgression of what law lies all the world. For the positive laws of the statcs in which we lire, man may kcep them, according te the intention of them that ruade thoso laws; which is all that is required in any human law; (te keep it, if net according te the leter, yet according te the intention of the law-maker) nay it is net only possible, but easy te de se: An9tsta inocettht ad legem bot esse, (says dle moral man's Holy Ghost, Seneca) it is but a narrow and shallow honesty, te be no honester than the law forces him te be. Thus then, in violating the laws of the state, all the world is net under sin. If we pass frein laws merely human, (though, in truth, scarce any just law is se, merely human, for God, that commancts obcdience te human laws, hath a hand in the making of them)te those ccremonial, and judicial laws, which the Jews received immediatcly ri'oto God, (in which respect they ma.y b callcd a Augustine.. Agustine divine laws, though they were but local and but temlmrary) which were in such a number, that, though penal laws in some states be so many, and heavy, that they oerve only for snares, and springes upon the people, yet they are nowhere equal to tho cercmonial and judicial laws, whieh lay upon the Jews; yet e'en for these laws St. Pa ys of himself , Tat toucMn t£at riyteousess wfi& is in the law, he wa bs. Thus therefore (in violating ceremonial or judicial laws) all tho world ls hot undcr sin, both because all the world w hot bound by that law, and some in tho world did koep But in two other respects it is; first, that there is a law of nature flat pses through all thc world, a law in the heart; and of the bmach of this, no man can be always ignorant. As every man hath a devil in himself,,Sntaneum dwmonem', A devil of his own making, some paicar sin that transpos him, every man bath a kind of God in himseff, such a conscience, as sometimcs reproves him. Carry we this consideration a little highcr, and we may sec hem[n, me verificatiou, at least, some useful application of Orin's extreme error. Hc thought, that at last, after infinite revolutions, (as ail other substances should be) even thc dcxl hielf should be (as it were) sucked and swallowed into God, and there should remain nothing at last, (as there was nothing else at st) but only God; (hOt by an annihilation of the cmatum, that anything should come fo nothing, but by this absorption, by transmigration of all creatures into God, that (od shod be all, and all shod be God) so in out cse, that which is the sinner's devil, becomes his God that very sin which hath possessed him, by the excess of that sin, or, by some loss, or pain, or shame following that sin, occions that reproof and morse, that withdmws him from that sin. So all the world is under sin, because they have a law in themselves, and a light in themselves. And if is so in a second respect, that ail being deved from Adam, Adam's sin is derived un a. Only that one man, that w hot natay deduced from Adam, Christ Jes, was guilty of no sin; all others ara subject fo that nmlediction, Phi. OE 6. soetom.
tr&i , Woe this sinful world. God mde mn Inexterminabilem, snys tho wiso man , undissoisiblo, unexpellible; such, as he could not ho flrust out of his immortality, vhethcr ho would or no: for, that was mn's first immonlity, Posse non mori , that ho needcd not hvo diod. XVhon man killed himselt', and thw upon ail his posterity flo Morte morieris, Tht wo must dic, and thnt denth is,S'tipendium peccati, Tke wales of sia, and flm Anima qu pe«averit, ipsa morietur, tlm That soul, and on,/ th«t sotl that sine, sl«all dle , siuee we see tlle punisllmen fall upon ail, we are sure the fnul elea'es o all too; ail do die, therefore ail do sin. And liough this originnl sin that overflows us 11, mny in some sense be enlled peccatum inoluntarium, sin wiflout ny eliei ne of fle 11, (for it mus needs be in children) and properly no sin, ye ail out oher fculties were, Omnim voh,tates i Adam , Ail out wills were in Açkm, nnd we sinned wilfully, when ho did o, and so original sin is n vohmtnry sin: out will is poisoned in the founain; and, as soou as out will i nble o exorcise nny eleetion, we are willlng o sin, as soen wc ean, nnd sorry we ean sin no soener, and sorry no longer: we are willing belote rixe devil is willing, nnd willing after the devil is weary, and seek oecnsions of entnion, when he presents none. And so, the breaeh of the law of nnture, anal s he dduge of original sin hath surroundcd he whole wodd, the whole world is under sin. Thn 11 tho world is so, requires no much proef: bu then, does he Holy Ghost, by his eoming, reprove, hn is, convince thc whole wodd, tha it is so [ The Holy Ghos is nble to do i, and ho lmth good cnuse to do i; bu does ho do i [ Is this cure ventiS, «ke he cornes, eome Is ho eome fo this purpose, to mzke ail he world know their sinful eonion God knows they know i hot. Howver hey may haro some knowledge of he breaeh of he lnw of nnure, ye they lm'e no knowledge of ny remedy nfter, nd so lack all eomfo; and therefore this is no knowledge from the Holy Ghos, from thc Cotnforer. And for the knowledge of original sin, whieh lies more heary upon them flmn upon us, (who hzve he ee of bapism, whieh slneks ah i. 4. n Vd. ri. 23. Augte. e Ezc xfi. 4. t Austro.
108 PREACIIED ON VH|T6t'NDA'o [SERo:X:XXVo ens, and weakens original sin in us) they are so far from knowin, that that sin is dcrived from Adam, as that they do hot know, that they themselves are derived ri'oto Adam; not that there is such a sin, hot that there was such an Adam. How thon doth the Holy Ghost, who is come according to Christ's promise, according to his promise, reprore, that is, convince the world of sin, since this (being to be donc by the Holy Ghost) implies a knowledge of Christ, and a way of comfort in the doing thereof. This one word aryuet, ke shall reprore, convince, admits three acceptations. First, in the future, as it is here presented,/e all; and so the cure renerit, «hen he cornes, signifies antequa» abierit, before he departs. He came at Pentecost, and presently set on foot his commission, by the apostles, to reprove, convinee the world of sin, and hath proceeded ever since, by their suceessors, in reducing nation after nation; and, before the eonsummation of the ",vorld, belote he retire, to test eternally in the bosom of the Father and the Son, ïrom whom he proceeded, he shall reprove the whole world of sin, that is, bring them to a knowledge, that in the breach of the law of nature, and in the guiltiness of original sin, thcy are ail under a burden, which none of them ail, of themselves, tan discharge. This work St. Paul seems to hasten sooncr: to convince the Jews of their infidelity, he argues thus, 11are hot they heard the Gospd°? They, that is, the Gentiles; and if they, much more you: and that they had heard it, he provcs by the application of thoso words, Their oice is yone throuyh ail the earth, and tkeir crds to the end of the worhl ', that is, the voiee ofthe apostles, in the preaehing of the Gospel. Hence grew that distraction, and perplexity whieh we final in the fathers, whether it eould be truly said, that the Gospel had been preaehed over ail the world in those times. If we number the fathers, most are of that opinion, that before the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, this was fidfilled. Of those that think the contrary, some proceed upon reasons ill grounded; particularly Origen; Quid de Brltannis et Germanis, qui ner adhuv audierunt verbum Erayelii? Vhat shail we say of Britain, and Germany, who have not heard of the Gospel yet. For» belote 0 Romans x. 18. n lrd, xix. 3.
Orcn's rime, (thoh Orcn wcrc onc thosn çor hundrcd years since) i what darkuess ever he mistoek us to be, we had a blesed and a glorious discovery of the Gospel of Christ Jesus in this island. St. Hierome, who denies this univerl preaching of the Gospel belote the destruction of the temple, yet doubts hot but that the fulfilling of that propheey xvas then in aetlon, and in a great forwardness; Jam co»letum, aut breri cernimus com- lendum; Already we sec it performed, says he; or, at least so earnestly pursued, as that it must necearily, very soon be performed: ec Tuto aliquam remanere.qentem, quw Chrlsti nome ignorat; I do hot flfink, (says that father, more than one flousand two hundred years since) that there is any nation that hath not heard of Christ; Et quanqtmm no» habuerit prwdicatorem, ex icini% e. If they have not had express preachers themoelves, yet from their neighbours they bave had some echoes of this voiee, some reflections of this light. The later divines, and the school, that find not this eady, and general preaching over the world, to lie in proof, proceed fo a nore safe way, tlmt there was then odor Ecaçqelii, a sweet savour of the Gospel issued, though it were hot yet arrived to ail parts: as if a plentiful and diffusive perfume were set up in a house, we would say the house were perfltmed, though that peume were hot yet corne to every corner of the bouse. But not to thrust the world into so narrov a strait, as it is, when a decree is id to have gone out from Augustus, to tax all the world , (for this was but the Roman world) nor, That there u'ere noe dtcelliny at Jerusalem, derout en, of ereçç nation tnder hearen , (for this was but of nations discovcred, and traded withal then) nor, when St. Paul says ', That the fitith of the Romans u'as published fo the u'orld, (tr that was as far as he had gone) those words of our Saviour », This Go.çpel of the kingdom shall be preached la all the u.orhl,br a u'itness to all nations, and the shall the end corne, bave evermore, by ail, aneient md modern, fathers and sehoo]s, preachers and writer% expositors and eontroverter% been literally understood, that belote the end of the world, the Gospel shall be actually, really, evidently, effeetually preached to ail nations;
] ]0 PBEACHED ON WIlTSUNDA. [SEI. XXXV. and se, cure «Bi«rlt, before he go, he sh]l rcprove, convinco the whole wor]d of sin, and this, he is comforter, by ompnying their knowledge of sin with the know]edge of the Gospcl, for the remission of ins. I agrees with the nature of goodness be se diflsive, communicable te ail. I ees with the nature of God, who is gdness, That as ail the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened ', and se came the flood o'er ail, there shoul,1 ho dHtritm,ç),irltus, flowing out of the ]Ioly Ghost upon ail, as he promises, I vill pour it out u}n ail , and diluvi«m çenti«m, that ail nations should flow up unto him e. For this Spirit, Airat bi eult », breathes where it pleases him; and though a natural wind cannot blow east and west, north and outh together, this Spirit at once breathes upon tle most contrary dispositions, upon the presuming, and upon the despairing siroter; and, in an instant ean denizen and naturalize that seul that was an alien te the covenant, empale and inlay that seul that was bred UlOn the common, amongst the Gentiles, transform that seul, -hieh xvas goat, into a sheep, unite that seul whieh was a lest sheep te the fold again, shine upon that mul tha sits in darkness, and in the shadow of death, and se melt and pour out that seul that yet understands nothing of the Divine nature, ner of the Spirit of God, that it shall beoeme paaker of the Divine nature , and be the saine spirit with the Lord. When Christ took out flesh, he had net ail his aneestors of the eovenant; he xvas pleased te corne of Ruth, a Moabite, a pr stranger; as he came, se w-iii the Holy Ghost go te strangers also. Shall any an umrmur, or draw into disputation, why this Spirit doth net breathe in ail nations at once or why net sooner than it doth in seine] Doth this Spirit fall and test upon every seul in this eongregation new May ot one man final that he reeeives him new, and suflbr him te go away again [ May net another who felt o motion of him new, reeolloet himself at home, and renember something then, whieh bath been said new, te the quiekening of this Spirit in him there [ Sinee the Holy Ghos s Jo fil 8. m 2 Pet. i. 4; I Cor. ri. 17.
vislts us so, successiçely, hot al[ at once, hot ail wlth an eclnal establishment, wc may safcly cmbrace that acceptation of this word aryuet, he shall, he will, lteoEam «bierit, lefore the end corne, 'eprore, convince the whole world of sin, l)y this hls way, the way of comfort, the preaching of the Gospel. And that is the first acceptation thereof. The second acceptation of the word is in tho preseut; hot ar.quet, he sÆc«ll, but aryuit, ho dot, now ho doth reprove ail tho worhl. As xvhen tho devil confe.ed Christ in the Gospel, as whcn Ju,las, (who was the devil's devil, for ho had sold Christ to tho chier priests, Mort. xxvi. 14, belote Satan entered ilto him af'ter tho sop, John xiii. 27,) professed this Gospcl, this v,'as hot,ç'ine omni impMst çirit«s,'awtl, Altogether without the motion of the Holy Ghost, who had his ends, and his purposes therein, to draxv testimonies for Christ out of the moufles of his adversaries; so when a natural man cornes to be displeased xvith his own actions, and to diseeru sin in them, though his natm'al facuhies be the instruments in these actions, yet tlle Holy Ghost sets this instrument in tune, and makes all that is music and harmony in tho faculties of this natural man. At Ephesus St. Paul round ee'tain disciples which xvere baptized, and whcn ho asked them, lVhether they had 'ecelved tIe Hol Ghost, thcy said, That tlwy had ot so mwh as heard that there was a tlo 0 G]ost ''. So eertainly, infinito nmnbers of mon, in thoso unconverted nations, have tho Holy Ghost working in them, though they have noyer so much as heard that thero is a Holy Ghost. SVhen we seo any nmn do any work well, that belongs to the hand, fo write, to carre, fo play, to do any mechanic office well, do wo determine our eonsideration only upop the instrmnent, the hand, do we ouly say, Ho hath a good, a fit, a well-disposed hand for such a xvork, or do we hot rather raiso our eontemplation to the soul, and ber faeulties, which enable that hand to do that work. So certainly when a moral man hath any reproof, any sense of aih in himself, the Holy Ghost is the intelligence that moves in that sphere, and becomes the soul of his soul, and works that in him primarily, of whieh, natural faculties, or philosophical instructions, are but ministerial instrunents and suppletory assist- ances fter. And hot only in the beginning of good ctions, but Su the prosecution of me evil, the oly Ghost bath au iterest, thouh we discern him hot: in the disposing of out sins, the oly Ghost bath workin thus, that when we intended some mischicvous sin tmorrow, a less sin, me sin of plcasure mccts us, and takes hold oï n, and diverts us from out first purpose, and so the IIo]y Ghost rescues us from one sin, by suerin us to ïal] into nothcr. Vhat action ever hath any degree of god what action soevcr bath any less evil in it than otherwise St 'ould ha-e lmd, bath receied a working of thc Holy Ghost, thouh that man upon whom he lmth wrouht, knew hot his workin, nor Iris naine. As we think that we hamac thc diflç- rences oï seasons, oï winter and summer, by the natural motion f the un, but yet it is hot trulv by tlmt natural motion, but by a contrary motion oï hiher Sl,here, which draws the sun against his natural course; (ïor, if the sun wcre leçt to hhnsclf, e should hot haçe these seasons) iï the soul and conscience of a mere natural man have aHv of these reproo£s, and remorses, though perchance fear, or shame, or sickne, or penalties of law, yea though a weariness, and excess of the sin itself, may em to llim to be the thing that repl-oves lfim, and that occasions this remorse, hecause it is the most immediate, and therc/bre most discernible; yct there is diyit«s «i, the hand of God, and si, irit«s,,irit«s,S'awti, the breath of the Holy (;host, in ail this, who, as a liberal ahns-giver, sends to persons that never know who nds, works upon persons who never know who works. So the Holy Ghost repro'es ail the worhl of sin; that is, all the reproof, which e'en the natural man hath, (ald every nmn hath some at some times) is from the Holy Ghost; and, as in the former sense, the cure enerit, when e cornes, was atequam abierit, belote he goes, so here the cure enerit, is q*tia adest, because he is always prescrit, and always working. And then there is a third acceptation, where the açquet is not in the future, that he shall do it, nor in the present, ay,it, that he doth it now in every natural man, but it is in the rime past, arytfft, he bath donc it, donc it already. And here in this sense, it is hOt that the Holy Ghost shall bring the Gospel before tho end, to ail nations, that is, antt.quam aberit, nor that the Holy
Ghost doth exalt the natural faculties of every man in ail his good actions, that is, quia 8emTer adest, but it is, that ho bath infused and imprinted in ail their hears, whom he bath called effectually te tho pmoEicipation of the means of salvation in tho truo church, a constant and infallible assurance, that ail the world, that is, all the rest of the world which hath net embraced those ho]ps, lies irrecoverab]y (by an)" other means than theso which we haro embraced) under sin, under tho weight, tho condemnation of sin. Se that the comfort of this reproof (as ail the reproofs of the Holy Ghost in this text, are gin-en by him in that quality, as he is the Comforter) is net directly, and simp]y, and present]y upon all tho wor]d indced, but upon those whom the Holy Ghost hath taken out of this wor|d, te his world in this wor]d, that is, te the Christian church, them ho reTroves convinces them, establishes, delivers them frein all scruples, that they have taken the right way, that they, and only they, are delivered, and all the world beside are still under sin. When the Holy Ghost bath brouht us into the ark frein whenco we may sec ail the world without, sprawling and gasping in the flood, (the flood of sinful courses in the world, and of the aner of God) when we can sec this violent flood, (the aner of God) break in at windows, and there devour tho |icentious man in his sinful embracements, and make his bed of wantonness his deathbed; v,-hen we can soc this flood, (the anger of God) swell as fa.st as the ambitious man swells, and pursue him through all his titles, and at last suddenly, and violently wash him away in his ovn blood, nt always in a vulgar, but sometimes in an ignominious death; when we shall sec this flood (the flood of the anger of God) overflow the valley of the voluptuous man's gardens, and orchards, and follow him into his arbours, and mounts and retraces, and carry him frein thence into a bottomless sea, which no plummet can sound, (no heavy sadness relieve him) no anchor take hold of, (no repentance stay his tempested and weather-beaten conscience) when wo find ourselves in this ark, where we bave first taken in the fresh water of baptism, and then the bread, and wino, and flesh, of the body and blood of Christ Jesus, then are we reproved, forbidden ail scruple, then are we conviuced, that as the twelve aioostle» dall dt uTon twelr¢ 'VOL. II.
11= çmxcn o. x rrsu. Issu. xxxv. eat, and juchée tke twdee tribe af tke ht day; so doth the Holy Ghost nake us judges of ail the world now, and eubles us to pronounce that sentence, That ail but they, who have sineerely aecepted the Christian religion, are still sub peccato, under sin, and without remedy. For we must not weigh God with leaden, or iron, or stone weights, how much land, or metal, or riches he gives one man more than another, but how much grace in the use of these, or how lnuch patience the xvant, or in the loss of these, we have above others. Vhen we COlne to say,,Sbme trust i chai'lots, and some but u'e will remembet" the naine " the ot'd out God; the are brouyht dou'n and bllet, but u'e a'e risen, and stand up'iffht Oblilati sunt, et c ciderunt, they are pinioned and fallen, fettered. and lnanaeled, and so [hllen; fallen and there must lie: nos atttttm e'ecti, we are risen, and enabled to stand, now we are up. Vhen xve need hot fear the lnighty, nor envy the rich, quia siçntatum super" nos l«men vultus tui Domine, because the li9ht of thy count«nance 0 Lord, is (hot only shed, but) lted quia dediti l, titi«m in co'de no»t'o, becau thou ha»t put gladness in oto" keu't, more than la the time tkat their co'n and their 'ine incr«as«d; whcn we ean thus compare the Cln'istian ehureh with other states, alld spil'itual blessings with temporal, then hath the Iloly Ghost tln'oughly reproved us, that is, absolutely eonvineed us, that there is no other foundation but Christ, no other naine for salvation bnt Jesus, and that all the world but the true professors of that llallle, are still under sin, under file guiltiness of sin. And these be the three acceptations of this word, auet, he shall earry the Gospel to all before the end, aFuit, he does work pon fle faeulties of the natural man every minute, and ar9uit again, he bath manifeed to us, that that they who go not the me way, perish. And so we pss to the second reproef nd conviction, IIe shag reprove the wo.Id, de ju$- titia, of ri9hteousness. This word, justçcare, to justt, may be well eonsidered tlnve ways; first as it is re'bum ul9are, as it hath an ordinary and eommou use; and then as it is erbnm forense, as it bath a civil and legal use; and lastly, as it is erbum ecclesiastieum, as it Psalm 7.
bath a church use, as it hath been used amongst divines. The first vay, to justify, is to aver, and maintain anything tobe truc, as we ordinarily say to that purpose, I wili justify it; and in tiret sense the Psalmist says, Jutcatajudicia Domini in em- so, The ju@ments of te Lord jutçt temselres , prove themselves to be just: and in this sense men are said to justify Goal, The harisee and Lawyers r(ected tke couneel OE God, but ail tke people, and the Publicanjut(fied God", that is, testified for him. In the second way, as it is a judieial word, to justit)- is only a verdict of not guilty, and a judgqnent entered upon that, that there is hot evidenee enough againsg him, and therefore he justified, tht is, aequitted. In this sense is the word in the Pverbs, Ile that juted the u'&ked, and ke tkat condemnetk the ju,t, e tkey both are an abomination to tke Lord . Now neither of these two ways re we justified; we cannot be aver'ed to be just; God himself eaunot sy so of us; of us, as we are we: jutcabo impium, I wia hot jutt the u'&ked «. Goal will hot say it, God eannot do it; a wieked man eammt be, he eannot, by God, be said to be just; they are incompatible, eont'adietory things. Nor the seeond way neither; eonsider us standing in judgmeng before God, no man ean be aequitted for want of evidenee; Enter ot into judymeut with tk ereant, for, it,hag none tkat lireth be jued . For, if we had another soul to give the devil, to bribe him, to give no evidenee against this, if ve had another iron to sear up out consciences against giving of evidenee against ourseh'es then, yet who ean take out of Go&s hands those examinations, and those efidenees, whieh he hath registered exaetly, as often as we haro thought, or said, or donc anything offensive to him It is therefore only in the third sensc of this word, eerbum eccleaiaticum, a word whieh St. Paul, and the other Seriptures, and the ehnlvh, and ecelesiastiel writers bave used fo express out l.ighteousness, our justification by: and that is only by the way of pardon, and remission of sins, sealed to us in the bloed of Christ Jesus; that what kind of sinners soever we were before, yet that is applied to us, such and sueh you were Psahn x. 9. « Luke vii. 29. Prov. xvii. 14. « Exod. xfi. 7. « Psal. ex,fil. 2.
116 IREACIIED ON WH[TSVNI)),Y. [SEn. XXXV. before, Bt«t ye arejust(fied by the naine the Lord Jeus, and by the,çirit our God". Nov the reproof of the world, the convineing of the world, the bringing of the world to the knowledge, that as they are all sub l»eccato, under sin, by the sin of another, so there as a righteousness of another, that must prevail for all their pardons, this reproof, this eonvineing, this instruction of the wofld as thus wrought: that the whde wofld consisting of Jews and Gentiles, when the Holy Ghost had done enough for the convincing of both these, enough for the ovelhrowing of all arguments, which could either be brought by the Jew for the rightusness of the law, or bv the Gentile for the righteousness of works, (all which as abundantly done by the Holy Ghost, in the epistles of St. Paul, and other Scriptures) when the Holy (;host had possessed the church of God of theoe all-sufficient Scriptures, then the promise of Crist was pefformed, and then, thongh ail the world were hot preoently converted, yet it was presently convinced by the Holv Ghost, because the Holv Ghost had provided in those Scriptures, of which he as the author, that notlling could be said in the world's behalf, for anv other righteousness, than by way of pardon in tlm blood of Christ. Thus nluch the Holy Ghost tells us; and if we will searcll after more than he as pleased to tell us, that as to rack the Holy Ghost, to over-labour him, to examine him Ul)on snch interrogatories, as belongs not to us, to lllinister ulltO him. Curious ]lien are hot content to know, that our debt as paid by Christ, but they will knov fartller, whether Christ have paid it wîth lais own hauds, or given us nmney to pay it oursel'es; whether his righteousness, before it do us any good, be not first nlade ours by amputation, or by inllesion; tlley nmst know whose nloney, and then what nmney, gold or silver, whether his active obedience in fulfilling the law, or lais passive obedience in shedding his blood. But all the commiion of the Holy Ghost here, as, To reprove the wor[d ofriyhteousne, to convince all sects in tlle world, that shall constitute any other rightusness, than a free pardon by the incorruptible, and invaluable, and inexhaustible blood of Christ Jesus. By that pardon, his righteousness as ours: how it is ruade so, or by what naine we shall call our title, or estate, or 1 Cor. va. i!.
SE,. XXXV.] ».,C,.V O WmTSVW'. 117 interest in his righteousness, let us hot inquire. The feras of satisfaction in Christ, of acceptation in the Father, of imputation to us, or inhesion in us, are ail pious and religious pres, and somcting they express; but yet none of these, satisfaction, acceptation, imputation, inhesion, will reac ome to satisfy them, that will needs inquire, quo modo, by what means Chrisçs righteousness is ruade ours. This is as far as we need go, Ad eundem »wdum jt«sti sttmts coram Deo, qt«o coram eo Cri.stt«s fi«it peccator, so as Gel ruade Crist sin for ts, we are ruade te rigAteotsness " God in Aim': so; but how was that [ He that can find no comfort in this doctrine, till he find how Christ was ruade sin, aud we righteousness, till he can express çuo modo, robs himself of a grea deal of peaeeful refreshing, whieh his conscience might receive, in tasting the thing itself in a holy and humble sinplicity, without vexing his own, or other men's consciences, or troubling the peace of the church with impeinent and inextricable curiosities. Those questions are not so impertinent, but hey are lu a great part mmecessary, which are moved about the cause of out righteousness, out justification. A]as, let us be content that God is the cause, and seek no other. We must never slacken that protestation, that good works are no cause of out justification. But we must alwavs keep up a right signifieatiou of that word, cause. For, faith itself is no cause; no such cause, as that I can merit ]leaveu, by faith. Vhat do I merit of the king, by be]ievi]g that he is the undoubted heir to ail his dominions, or by bc]ieving that he governs wcll, if I lire hot in obedience to his laws If it were possible to believe aright, and vet lire ill, my faith should do me no good. The best faith is hot wonh heaven; the value of it grows eTecto, that God hath ruade that coçenant, that contract, crede et rires, only bclieve and thon shMt be sale. Faith is but one of those thiugs, which in several senses are said to justiI us. It is truly said ofGod, De««s solusjustiflcat, God only jmtifies us; cienter, nothing can effect it, nothing can work towards it, but only the mere goedness of God. And it is truly said of Christ, Cristt«s sol««s j««stificat, Christ only justifies us; materialiter, nothing enters into the substance and body of the ransom for out sins, but the obedience of Christ. It is also truly 2 Colç v. 21.
118 PREA{'|IED O.N" ,°IIIT.'t|1NDAYo [.ERo XXXVo sa|d,,%h«.fidesjustficat» (}nly faith justifies us; i»strumentaliter, nothing apprehends, nothing applies the merit of Christ to thee, but thy faith. And lastlv it is as truly said, Sola opera j«stij- ca»t, Only out works justify us: declaratorie, only thy good lifo can assure thr coHsciencc, and the world, that thou art justifie& As the efficient ju.t]fica.tion, thc gracious purpose of God had doue us no good, without the materlal satisfaction, the death of Christ had foll«wed; and as that material satisfaction, the death of Christ wou|d do me no good, without the instrumental justification, the apprehension bv faith so neithcr vould this profit without thc declaratory justification, by which all is pleaded and establ]shed. God enters hot into out materia] justification, that is only ChrisCs Christ enters not into out instrumenta| justification that is only faiths; faith enters hot into out declaratory justification, (for faith is secret) and dec|aration he|ongs to works. Neither of these can be said to justify us alone, so, as that we mav takc thc chain in pieces, and think to be justified by any one link thereof; bv God without Christ, by Christ without falth, or hy faith without works; and yet every one of these justifies us alone, so, as that none of the test enter into that way and that means, bv which anv of these are said to justify us. Consider we then ourselves, as men fallen down iuto a dark and deep pit; and justification as a chain, consisting of these tirer links¢ to bê let down to us, and let us take hold of that link that is next us, a good lire, and keep a fast and inseparable hold upon that; for though in that sense of which we spoke, des jtst/icat soh, only faith shall justify, yet it is not true in any sense, rides est soht, that there is anv faith, where there is nothing but thith. God cornes downward to us; but we must go upward to God; not to get above him in his unrevealed decrees, bnt to go up towards him, in laying hold upon that lowest link; that as the Holy Ghost shall reprove, that is, convince the world, that there is no other righteousness but that of Christ, so he may enable you to pass a judgment upon yourselves, and to testify to the world that you bave apprehended that righteousness; which is that that is principally intended in the third and last part, That the Hol]! Ghost, when he cornes, hall reprore the world, as of si,,, and of righteo,teness, so of judgme,,t.
SF.Ro XXXV.] PnEACIIED OW ,VnITSU.DAy. After those two convictions of the world, that is, Jew, and Gentile, firut, that they are all under sin, and so in a state of condemnation; and secondly, that there lu no righteousness, no justification to be had to the Jew by the law, nor to the Gentile by nature, but that there is righteousness, and justification enough for all the world, Jew and Gentilc, in Christ; in thc flfird ldace, the Ho]y Ghost is to reprove, tiret is, till to conviuce the world, to acquaint the world with this mystery, that there is a means settled to convey this righteousness of Crist upon thc wodd, and then an account to be takcn of them, who do hot las hold upon this means; for both theoe are intendcd in this word he shall rel)mve thcm, prove to thcm this do.ble signification of judent; first, that therc is a judgment of ordcr, of rectitude, of government, to which p.rpose he bath established tllc ch.rch; and thon a judgment of account, and of seuteuce, and beatification upon them. who did; and malcdiction npon them who not apply themselves to thc first judgment, that is, to those orderly ways and means of embracing ('hl'ist's righteonsness, which were oflçred them in the church. God bath ordered all tlliugs iu measure, and number, and weight °; Let «ll thi»y/s be donc dece»t 0 and in ortier, for, God is the God of order, and hot of con- «sion '. And this ortier is this judgment; the court, the tribuual, the judgment seat in which ail men's conscicnces aud actions must be regulatcd and ordered, the church. The perfcctest order was innoeency; that first iutegrity iu which God nmde ail. Ail was disordered hy sin: ri»r, in sin, and the author of sin, Satan, there is no order, no conformity; nothing but disorder, and eonfision. Though the school do gcnerally acknowledge a distinction of orders in the ministering spirits of hcaven, uow, angels and archangels, and others, set they dispute, and doubt, and (in a great part) deny that this distinction of orders was before the fall of those angels; for, they confess this distribution into orders, to bave been upon their subniissiou, and recognition of God's government, which reeoition was their ver S confirmation, and after that they eould uot fall. And though those fallen angels, the devils, eoucur in an unauimous consent to ruin us, (for, Bellum doemontm, summa pax homimtm ') we should agree Vdom . 20. 1 Cor. xiv. 4t. z, IIicron.
better, if devils did fall out, yct this is hot such 3 peace, such an unity, as gives them any peace, or relaxation, or internfission of auuish, but, as they are the authors of our confusion, so they are in a continual confusion themselves. There is no order in the author of sin; and therefore the God of order cannot, directly nor indirectly, positively llOr consecutively, be the author of sin. There is no order in Sill itself. Tho nature, the deflnition of sin, is disorder. Dictum,.factum, conculoit«m contra le,ocre33; God hath ordered a law, and sin is an act if we cannot do that, it is a word; if we dare hOt do that, it is a desire against that law. Forma loeccati, dformita; we can a.-.sign siu no other form, but defornfity. So that oto" affecting of anything, as out end, which God bath hot proposed for out end; or out efl'ecting of truc ends, l»y any other way. than he hath proposed, this is a disordering of God's providence, as lnueh as we can, and so a Sill. For the school resolves conveniently, probably, that that fir.t sin that ever was conmfitted, (that l,ecc,tum l»ra.onan*, peccatum _prolificttm, that womb and matrice of all sins that have been comnfitted since) the sin of the angels, it was a disorder, an ohliq,ity, a deformity, hot in not going to tho right end, (fir, Ilh«d qnw«irtrttnt, ad qnod perrenisent, si steti- »e»t, sa.vs Aquinas out of St. Augustine, They desired no more than they werc ruade for, and.dlouhl have corne to, if they had stood) but their.in was in affecting a right end a wrong way, in desiring to corne to their ap1)ointed perfection bv themselves, to subsist of tl:emselves, and to be independent, without ay fart|ter necd of God, for that was their desire, to be lil(e tlte HiyIt, to depend upon nothing, but be all-sufllcient to themselves. So they disordered God's purpose; and when thev had once broke that chain, vhen they had once prit that harmony out of tune, then came in disorder, discord, confusion, and that is 8in. God's work i per.fect; how appears that For oll arefi«lyment, says Moses in his victorious song 3". This is perfection, that he bath established an order, a judglnent. SVhich is hOt only that order which St. Augustine defines, Ordo est, per quem omnla ayuntur, tte' Dêus conotituit, The order and the Augastine. 3, Deut. xxxii. 4.
judgment by which Goal govcrns the world, according to his purpose, (which judgment is Providence) Lut (as the saine father says in the saine boek) it is Ordo, quêm i tenueris in rira, perducet ad Deum, It is an order aud a judgment vhich he hath manifested to rime, (for the order and judgment of bis providence, he dotb hot always nmnifest) by obedience to which order aud judgment, thou mayest be aved. The saine father spcaking of this order and judgmeut of Providence, says, Vikil ordini contrarium, 'othing eau be contrary to that order; he is in a boly rapture transportcd with tbat cousideration, that evcn disorders are withiu God's ordcr; thcre is in the order and judgment of his providence an admission, a permission of disordcrs: tbis unoearchahlc proceeding of God, carries him to that passionatc exclamation, 0 sl Tossem dicere quod velh'm 0 tbat I wcrc aide to express myself Royo, ubi ubi estis rerba, succurrite; Vhere, where are those words which I bad wont to have at commaud Vhy do ye hot serve me, llelp me now 'ow, when I wouhl dcclare tbis, Bona et maht sunt in ordine, Tbat eveu disorders are done in order, that even out sins somc vay or othcr fall within thc providence of God. But that is not thc order, nor judgment wbich the IIoly Ghost is sent to manifest to thc world. Thc Holy Ghost works best upon them, which search lcast into God's secret judgments and proccediugs. But tbe order and judgment we sl)eak oL is au order, a judgment-scat established, by whi(-h every man, howsoever oppressed witb the burdcn of sin, may, in the application of thc promises of tbe Goupel by the ordinancc of prcaching, and lu the scals tbereof in tbe participation of tbe sacraments, be assured, tbat he hath received his absolution, his rcmission, his pardon, and bal)tism, nay to the integrity wbich Adam had bcfore thc fall, nay to the righteousness of Christ Jesus llimselç In the creation God took red earth, and then breathed a soul into it: when Christ came to a second crcation, to nmke a church, he took earth, men, rcd earth, men ruade l)nrtakers of his blood; (for, Ecclesiam quwsi'it, et acTuisirit '», He desired a church, and he purched a church; but by a blessed way of simonv; Adde medium acquisltionis, saçouine acuiirit, IIe purchased a ckurch with h/s own [d) and when he hd ruade this body, in calling his apostles, then he reathed the ul into them, his Splrit, and that ruade up a]]: Qu ins,arit Dom/nus apostolis, et dixAt, accii, ite ., p ritm,çanctum, ecclesiwpotestas collata est , Then when Christ breathed that Spirit into them, he constituted the church. And this power of remission of sins, is that order, and that judent wh/eh Christ himoelf calls by the naine of the most orderlv frame iu this, or the next world, a kingdom, Dipono i reynum, I a]woint unto you a kinydom, as my Farder at appointed unto we ow, Faciunt fitros et e.«l)w, faclunt eccleslas et 3Iarcionitw ", As wasps make et,mbs, but empty onea, ao do heretiea ehurehes, but frivo]ous ones, ineflbetual ones. And, as we told you before, that errors and disorders are as well in ways, as in ends, ao may we deprive ourselves of the beuefit of this judcnt, the ehureh, as well in eireumstaneea, as in aubaneea, as well in opposing diseipline, as doetrine. The Holy Ghost reprore thee, eonvineea thee, ofjudpment, that is, offers thee the knowledge that aueh ehureh there is; a Jordan to wsh thine original leprosy in baptism; eity upon a mountain, fo enlighten thee in the worka of darknesa; a eontinual applieation of all that Christ Jesus said, and did, and suffered, fo dee. Let no soul aay, she eau have ail this a God's hands immediately, and never trouble the ehureh; that she eau pass hcr pardon between God and ber, without all these formalitiea, by seere repentanee. If is true, beloved, a true repentauee is never frustrate: but yet, if thou wil think thyself a little ehureh, a ehureh to thyself, beeause thou hast heard if aaid, that thou ar a little world, a 'orld in thyself, tha figurative, tha metaphorieal representation shall hot save thee. Though thou beest a world to thyoelf, yet if thou bave no more eorn, nor oil, nor milk, than grows in thyself, or flows from thyself, thou wil starve; though thou be a ehureh in thy faney, if thou bave no more seuls of graee, no more absolution of sin, than thou eans give thyself, thou wilt perish. Per som ecclesiam acrcium libenter accipit Deus«: Thou mayest be a saerifiee h thy ehamber, but God reeeivea a sacrifice more eheerfully at Acts x 28. a Autine. au Luke . 29. TertoEan. *Gregory.
SER, XXXVo] PREACnED ON NVHITSUNDAYo ] 3 chureh.,çola, q«e pro errantibus fidueialiter intereêdit, Only tho chureh bath the nature of a surety; howsoever God may tako rhino own word st home, yet he aeeepts tho ehurch in thy behal|] as better security. Join therefi)ro ever with the communion of saints; Et eum membrure sis eju corporis, quod loquitur omnibus linguis, credete omnibus li».auls loqd ', VVhilst thou art a melnber of that eougregation, that speaks te God with a thousand tongues, believe that thon speakest te God with all those tongues. And though thou know rhino own prayers unworthy te eome up te God, beeause thou li|'test up te him an eye, whieh is but nov withdrawn from a lieentious glaneing, and banals whieh are guilty yet of unrepented uueleannesses, a tongue that bath but lately blasphemed God, a heart which even new breaks the valls of this house of God, and steps home, or runs abroad upon the memory, or upon the new plotting of pleasurable or profitable purposes, though this make thee think thine own prayers ineffeetual, yet believe that seine honester man than thyself stands by thee, and that when he prays with thee, he prays tbr thee; and that, if there be one righteous nmn in the congregatiou, thou art nade the more acceptable te God by his prayers; and make that benefit of this reproof, this conviction of thc Holy Ghost, that he convinces thee de judicio, assures thee of an orderly church established tbr thy relief, and that the application of thyself te this judgment, the church, shall elmble tllee te stand upright in that other judglncnt, the last judgment, which is also enwrapped in the signification of tllis word of our text, jud:Tment, and is the conclusion for this day. As God begun all with judgment, (tbr he made all things in measure, number, and weight'0 as he proceeded with judgment, in erecting a judicial seat for our direction, and correction, the church, se he shall end all with judgment, the final, and general judglnent, af the resurrection; which he that believes net, believes nothiug; net God; tbr, l[e that cometh te God (that lnakes any step towards hiln) must believ, I)eum re»uneratorem, God, and God in that notion, as he is a rewarder'; theretbre there is judgment. But was this work let for the Holy Ghost. Did net the natural man that knew no Holy Ghost, know this.,i Augustine. « Wisdom xi. Heb. xi. 6.
4 PIEACHED ON 'HITSVNDAY. [$ERo XXXVo Truly, all their fabulous di'inity, ail their mytholoy, their linos and th«ir hadamant|ms tasted of such a notion as a judgment. And y«t the first planters of th« Christian religion round it hardest to fix this foot of ail other articles, That Chri hould corne ayain to judyment, lliserable and froward men! They would beliere it in their fables, and would hot believe it in the Seriptur¢s; they would believe it in the nine nnmes, and would not belie-e it in the tweh'e apostles; they would believe it by Apollo, and they would hot believe it by "he Holy Ghost; they would be saved poetieally, and fantastieally, and would hot reasonably, and spiritua}ly; by copies, and hot by originals; by eounterfeit things at first dedueed by their authors, out of out Seriptures, and)'et hOt by the word of God himse}f. Vhieh Tertullian apprehends and reprehends in his "ime, vhen he says, Prccscribimus adulteri no.tris, We preseribe above them, which eounterfeit out doctrine, for we had it before them, and they ha'c but rags, and those torn from us. Fabule" immi.«sw, qucc.ldem i»firmarent veritati.«; They bave brought part of out Seriptures into their fables, that all the test might seem bt fables too. Gehennam lrwdicantes et judicium, ridemur, decachinnamu'. They laugh at us when we preaeh of hell, and judgment, Et tamen I'l!tsii ca»Ti.fldem l, rccoccuTavêrunt, And.vet they wil} needs be bêlieved when they talk of their El.vsian fields, k'ideliora wtra, quorum ima.aies fldem inedunt, la it hot saler trusting to out substance, than their shadows; to out doctrine of the judgment, in the Seriptures, than their allusions in their poets. So far Tertullian eonsiders this; but to sa" the truth, and ail the truth, howsoever the Gentiles had some glimmeving of a judtment, that is, an aeeount to be ruade of out aetions after this life, yet of this judmnent whieh we speak of now, whieh is a general judgment of ail together, and that judgment to be exeeuted bv Christ, and to be aeeompanied with a resurreetion of the body, of this, the Gentiles had no intimation, this was left wholly for the Holv Ghost to manifest. And of this, ail the world bath reeeived a full convincing from him, beeanse he bath delivered to the world those Seriptures, whieh do o abundant}y, so irrefragably establish it. An«l therefore, «l[«mor, re n;rissima et non peccabis; Remember the end, and thou shalt never de amiss". 2Von dicltur nwmorareprimordia, aut media'5; If thou remember the first reproof, that ail are under sin, that may give occasion of excusing, or extenuating, how could I avoid that, that all men de. If thou remember the second reprooî, that there is a righteousness communicable te all that sin, that may occasion se bold a confidence, since I may have se easy a pardon, what baste of giving over yet . But memorare norissima, consider that there is a judgment, and that thatjudgment is the last thing that God hath te de with man, eonsider this, and thou wilt net sin, net love sin, net de the saine sins tomorrov thou didst yesterday, as though this judgment were never the nearer, but that as a thousand years are as one day with God, se thy threescore years should be as one night with thee, one eontinual sleep in the praetiee of thy beloved sin. Thou wilt net think se, if thou remember this judgmint. New, in respect of the tilne after this judgment, (whieh is eternity) the rime between this and it canner be a minute; and therefore thiuk thyself at that tribunal, that judgment new: where thou shalt net only hear all thy sinîul works, and words, and thoughts repeated, whieh thou thyself hadst utterly forger, but thou shalt hear thy good works, thine ahus, thy eoming te ehureh, thy hearing of serinons given in evidenee against thee, beeause they had hypoerisy mingled in them; yea thou shalt find even thy repentanee te eondemn thee, beeause thou madest that but a door te a relapse. There thon shalt sec, te thine inexpressible terrer, seine others east down into hell, for thy sins; for those sins whieh they vould net bave donc, but upon thy provocation. Thire thou shalt sec seine that oeeasioned thy sins, and aeeompanied thee in fliem, and sinned them in a greater measure than thou didst, taken up into heaven, beeause in the way, they remembered the end, and thou shalt sink under a less weight, beeause thon never lookedst towards him that would bave eased thee of it. Quls non co.qitans hcec in desperationis rotetur abyssum«? Who ean once think of this and net be tumbled into desperation. lut who can think of it twice, maturely, and by the Holy Ghost, and hOt find comfort in it, vhen the saine light that shows me the judnent, shows me the Judge too knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, we persuade inen but knowing the comforts too, we importune men to this consideration, that as God precedes with judgrnent in this world, to give the issue v,-ith the temptation, and competent strength the affliction, as the wise man expresses it «, Tllat God punishes his enenfies with deliberation, and requesting, (as out former translation had it) and then with how great circumspection will he judge his children; so he gives tLs a hoir hope, that as he bath accepted us in this first judment, the church, and ruade us partakers of the Wol'd and sacraments there, so he will bring us with comfort to that place, which no tongue but the ton,ue of St. Paul, and that moved by the Hoir Ghost, could describe, and which he does describe so gloriously, and so pathetically,:$'ou are corne uto)lount,ion, and to the city of the lirin 9 God, the keavedy Jeru- alem, and to an inuumerable compatty of an9elë, fo the yeneral asêembly and ckurch of the firêt-born, wkich are ritt n in heaen, and to God tke judye of all, and to Jeu the mediator of tke new couchant, and to the blood of sprinklin9, that,Teakê better tkau the blood of Abri «. And into this blessed and inseparable soeiety, the Father of lights, and God of ail eomfort, give you an admission now, and an irremovable possession hereafter, for his onl.v Son's onlv sake, and by the working of his blessed Slfil.it, whom he sends to work in.vou, Tki 'el»roof of in, of riykt«ousneê., and of judyment. Amen. 7 1 Cor. v. 15. Vïd. xii. 21. IIeb. xii. 22.