An Answer to William Sherlock, Chapter 5

An Answer to William Sherlock · Chapter 5

p. 572CHAP. V.

Sect. 1.

CHriſt hath reveiled the whole mind and will of God, Mr. Sherlock.in ſuch a plain and familiar manner, that every one may underſtand it, who will but exerciſe the ſame reaſon in it, that he doth to underſtand the Laws of his Prince.

Before the Author took away the witneſſing Spirit, now the illuminating one:Anſwer. A Man may, according to him, underſtand the things of God by the exerciſe of his reaſon; Thus Epiſcopius: Men may by meer natural perception, p. 573without any ſupernatural ſuperinfuſed light, underſtand the Will of God. After the ſame manner ſpeak the Socinians: The darkneſs (for ſuch are all the unregenerate Men) may, it ſeems, comprehend the Evangelical light. But the Apoſtle tells us, That the natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. 2.14. That fleſh and blood doth not reveil theſe things, but our Father in Heaven, Matth. 16.17. Hence the Apoſtle prays for the Spirit of wiſdom and revelation for the Epheſians, Epheſ. 1.17. Hence our Church tells us,2. Hom. of Scripture. That the Revelation of the Holy Ghost inſpireth the true meaning of Scripture into us: In truth we cannot without him attain true ſaving knowledge.

According to theſe Men, Mr. Sherlock.the love of Chriſt is a love to the perſon of a Believer; without conſidering any other qualifications, than that he is ſuch an individual perſon; that is, the excellency of Chriſts love conſiſs in this, that he loves for no reaſon: Now I confeſs this is a wonderful love, but wherein the excellency of it conſiſts, I cannot ſee: I am ſure we account that Man a Fool, who loves at this rate; we who are reaſonable Creatures, think that we are bound to govern all our p. 574actions, and the paſſions of our mind too, by reaſon; and we accouut it a reproach to a Man, to act either againſt reaſon or without it, to do any thing of which he cannot give a reaſonable account: And how that ſhould come to be the perfection of the Love of God, which is a reproach to Men, is above my apprehenſion? Indeed were this true, it would undermine the very foundations of Religion: For the great end of Religion is to pleaſe God, and to procure his love and favour; but if God and Chriſt love for no reaſon, then it is a vain thing for us to think of pleaſing God, or procuring his love by any thing we can do: Whether we obey him or disobey him, it is all one in this caſe; for if he pleaſe to love us without any reaſon, our ſins cannot hinder it; and if it does not pleaſe him to love us, our Holyneſs and Obedience cannot alter him. When our Acceptation with God depends wholly upon a ſoveraign and unaccountable will, nothing we can do can hinder or promote it, and therefore all Religion is in vain. The foundation of this mistake is a Philoſophical nicety, that God muſt act wholly from himſelf, and therefore muſt not be moved by any external cauſe; whereas ſhould he love us becauſe we are holy, or hate us becauſe we are wicked, his love or p. 575hatred would depend upon an external cauſe: viz. The holyneſs or wickedneſs of Creatures, which unbecomes an independent Being, to depend upon any thing elſe: The ſum of which reaſoning is this, that becauſe God is the first cauſe of all things, on whom all things depend, and he on nothing, therefore he muſt love or hate his Creature without any reaſon, but his own unaccountable will: For this is all the inconvenience they can Object, that when God loves or hates, rewards or puniſhes his Creatures, the reaſon of this difference he makes between his Creatures, must be fetched from the perſons themſelves whom he thus loves or hates; and ſo it muſt of neceſſity be, if he have any reaſon at all; for the reaſon of love or hatred ought to be in the Object, not in the Perſon who loves or hates; and yet in propriety of ſpeech, God cannot be ſaid to depend on his Creatures, or any thing without himſelf, for the reaſon of his love or hatred, but his own Nature is the reaſon of it: He is infinitely Holy, and therefore loves holyneſs and hates ſin; and his natural love to holyneſs is the reaſon why he loves holy Men, and his natural hatred to ſin, is the reaſon why he hates wicked Men: his own holyneſs is the reaſon why he loves holy Men, but the holyneſs of the p. 576Creature is the reaſon, why he determines his love to any particular perſon; And if they will call this a depending on creatures, we muſt acknowledge that God does thus depend on his Creatures, in the adminiſtration of his Providence, in diſtributions of rewards and puniſhments; and he ſhould not be wiſe, & holy, and juſt, & good if he did not, that is, if he did not put ſuch a difference between things & perſons, as their Natures require: It is a ſtrange notion of an independent Being, that he must have no other reaſon for what he does, but his own Arbitrary will; which is ſo far from being a perfection, that it deſtroys all the other perfections of the Divine Nature.

There is a double love in God:Anſwer. A love of complacence, whereby he delights in his own Holy Image in the Creature, where ever he finds it; And a love of Benevolence, whereby he deſigns to beſtow good things on his Creatures: The firſt, points at goodneſs in the Creature; the other, is the great origen of all good things in the Creature. The firſt, Iſſues out of the perfect ſanctity of his Nature; The other, proceeds according to his Soveraign will and pleaſure. But then, ſaith the Author, God loves for no reaſon, or without reaſon. To which I anſwer, Gods p. 577love of Benevolence is no Caecus impetus, there is ſumma ratio in it, it is irradiated with infinite wiſdom; but the reaſon of it is not in the Creature, but in himſelf only: God would redeem fallen Men not Angels; but ſurely the reaſon was not in the Creature, for then all the Grace, Mercy, and Freedom of God in that work vaniſhes: The whole of it muſt proceed from the Nature of God, as it reſpects ſomething in the Creature, and by conſequence it could not fall out otherwiſe, becauſe God cannot deny his Nature. After the Fall it is ſtrange how God did ſever, and pick out ſome to himſelf out of the reſt of Mankind.De P…p…, Hebr. … Ex Adami liberis tantùm Sethus, ex hujus ſtirpe Noachus, ex Nochi Filiis Semus, ex illius poſteritate Abramus; ac poſtremò ex numerosâ Abrami ſobole unus Iſacus placuit electuſque eſt: Cujus Familia Eccleſiae nomen at que dignitatem ineffabili ratione, velut per ſucceſſionem, ſibi vindicaret, caeterae gentes tanquam prophanae, ſpretaeque à numine ſunt. So the learned Cunaeus: And it will be an hard thing to find a reaſon in the Creature for ſuch a ſtrange ſeparation: God choſe and ſet his love upon his Children of Iſrael, above all People in the Earth, p. 578he ſevered them from all other Nations unto himſelf; and was the reaſon in the Creature? No ſurely; they muſt not ſo much as ſay or mutter in their heart, That they had the Land for their righteouſneſs, Deut. 9.4. No, God tells them, that they were a ſtiff-necked People, verſ. 6. but he choſe and loved them, becauſe he loved them, Deut. 7.7. and 8. What he did was meerly out of his good pleaſure, and without any reaſon on their part. God gives the Goſpel to ſome Nations, not to others; and is the reaſon in the Creature? No; the Apoſtle tells us: That God calls us not according to our works, but according to his own purpoſe and Grace, 2 Tim. 1.9. Chriſt was manifeſted to a Thief, and not to a Socrates or Plato; Impenitent Corazin and Bethſaida had a viſible Deity before them in Chriſts Miracles, when poor Tyre and Sidon, much nearer to Repentance, had it not, Matth. 11.21. Here the reaſon cannot be in the Creature, unleſs we will ſay with Pelagius: Gratiam dari ſecundum merita, That Grace is given according to works. But to come to the Church, there God gives Faith and Repentance to one Man, not to another; and is the reaſon in the Creature? Faith and Repentance p. 579are the very firſt Graces in Men, & therefore cannot be given to them for any precedent Grace in them, or indeed for any reaſon at all in them; unleſs, which is very odd, we preſume them to be given to them for the goodneſs of their Nature: The Scripture clearly reſolves it into the Soveraign will of God, He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, Rom. 9.18. He begets us of his own will, Ja. 1.18. He begets us according to his abundant mercy, 1 Pet. 1.3. He worketh to will & to do of his good pleaſure, Ph. 2.13. Neither is it poſſible to be otherwiſe; his love of Benevolence, is the Fountain and great Origen of all the goodneſs in the Creature; and how or which way ſhall the goodneſs of the Creature be the cauſe or reaſon of that love? All the goodneſs in the Creature is but a donative of Divine love; and if ſo, then the Divine love was antecedent to that goodneſs in the Creature. Now theſe things being clearly ſo in Scripture and reaſon, I ſuppoſe there is little reaſon, and leſs Religion, to ſay, That God loves for no reaſon, or without reaſon; that that Man is a Fool who loves at this rate that it is a reproach among Men ſo to Act; with ſuch other ſtuff, which I pray God to forgive unto the Speaker. p. 580If there be reaſon for any thing in the World, there is for this: That God the ſupream Donor, ſhould do what he would with his own: That Man, the poor Receiver, ſhould not expoſtulate with God, or think to call him to an account for any of his matters: That the regenerating Spirit ſhould be at liberty and breath where it liſts: That all Gods gifts ſhould be free, and of his good pleaſure, there being in the Creature nothing that is good, but what is a meer gift only. But, ſaith the Author, This undermines the foundations of Religion, if God love for no reaſon, whether we obey him or diſobey him, it is all one; if God love us our ſins cannot hinder it, if he love us not our holyneſs cannot alter him, therefore all Religion is but in vain. To which I anſwer, This Argument runs upon two or three hypotheſes which are untrue: The Author ſuppoſes firſt, that God's purpoſe or decretive love is, what it is not, the rule of our acting; next, that there is in God what indeed there is not, ſome purpoſe or decree to bar ſome Men, though never ſo holy, out of Heaven. And Thirdly, That there is not, what in truth there is, a complacential love in God towards all holy Perſons whoever p. 581they be. Now, theſe things are not ſo, we ſay, that God commands all in the Church to Repent and Believe, that God hath made a general promiſe of Salvation to all that do ſo; and withal that God hath a complacential love towards all holy perſons whoever they be: And theſe things conſidered, ſurely Religion cannot be in vain or to no purpoſe. As for the Philoſophical nicety or verity rather, if God be, as he is, a God and the ſupream Donor of all; in reaſon, all Creatures as Creatures muſt depend on him the Creator, and as Receivers muſt depend on him the Donor: And hence it is evident, that all the grace and goodneſs in the Creature, becauſe a Creature, muſt depend on him its Maker; And becauſe a gift muſt depend on him the Donor thereof. Man, though but a petty Benefactor, is free in his gifts, or elſe they would not be gifts; how much more muſt God the ſupream Donor be ſo? It is true, when Men are good, God, ſuch is the ſanctity of his Nature, doth take pleaſure in them; but to diſpenſe grace or goodneſs to the Creature is his Royal prerogative, he doth it according to the ſoveraign unaccountable pleaſure of his will; he was under no p. 582Natural neceſſity to give a Chriſt, or a Goſpel, or a dram of Faith or holyneſs, to any one fallen Man in the World, what he gives, he gives as he pleaſes out of meer Free grace. It is true too, when Men are good, God, ſuch is his gracious promiſe, will greatly reward them; but it is he only who makes us good, and ſo meet for the inheritance in light; our goodneſs is of Grace, and our reward is Grace upon Grace, remunerating Grace upon ſanctifying; In a word, the love of Gods Complacence reſpects goodneſs in the Creature, but the love of Benevolence cauſes it, and that freely in a way of unaccountable Soveraignty; and this is ſo far from being a love without reaſon, that without it, it is impoſſible that there ſhould be any goodneſs in the Creature: Were there a goodneſs in the Creature, antecedent to the love of his Benevolence, it would be a beam without a Sun, a gift without a Giver a ſtrange, independent, ſelf-originated goodneſs, and that in the Creature, which is as great an abſurdity as can well be imagine.

Secondly, Mr. Sherlock.Theſe Men tell us too, that Chriſts love is immutable, having once fixt his love upon us, though without p. 583any reaſon, he can never alter: Sin it ſelf cannot ſeparate us from the Love of Chriſt. If ſin foreſeen were not able to hinder him from planting his heart on us: How then ſhall it (that is, ſin committed) be able to over-turn the thoughts of his heart, when once they are fixed on us? This is a ſtrong fixed Love indeed, which ſin it ſelf cannot alter: But how wiſe, and holy a Love it is, let any man judge: Herein Dr. Owen tells us the depth of Chriſts Love is to be contemplated, that whereas his holy Soul hates every ſin, it is a burden, an abomination, a new wound to him; and his poor Spouſe, that is, ſinful Believers are full of ſin, failings, infirmities, he hides all, covers all, bears all, rather than he will looſe them. He adds indeed, by his power preſerving them from ſuch ſins, as a remedy is not provided for in the Covenant of Grace. I ſuppoſe he means the ſin againſt the holy Ghoſt; for there is a remedy provided for all other ſins in the Covenant of Grace, and all other ſins a Believer it ſeems may be guilty of; and Chriſt will hide all rather than loſe him. Now this is as down-right Antinomianiſm, as ever Dr. Criſp or Saltmarſh vented; There have been, and are p. 584to this day a great many wiſe learned men, who contend for the perſeverance of the Saints, that thoſe, who are once in a ſtate of Grace, ſhall always continue ſo: But then they found this not on ſuch an immutable Love, as ſin it ſelf cannot alter; for this is not reconcilable with the Holineſs of the Divine Nature; nor with thoſe threatnings in Scripture againſt ſuch back-ſliders: When the righteous man turneth away from his Righteouſneſs, and committeth iniquity; and doth according to all the abominations that a wicked man doth, he ſhall dye, Ezek. 18.24. If any man turn back, my ſoul ſhall have no pleaſure in him, which is a plain demonſtration, the truth of which is which is acknowledged by all ſober Writers, that if ſuch men can be ſuppoſed to relapſe into a ſinful ſtate, God will ceaſe to love them; therefore they found the immutability of Gods Love to them on their perſeverance in doing good, God loves all good men; but if they ceaſe to be good, he alſo muſt ceaſe to love: Herein the immutability of Gods Love conſiſts, not that he always loves the ſame perſon, but that he always loves for the ſame reaſon: For it is no perfection to be ſo fixt in our kindneſs; that where we love once, we will p. 585always love, whatever reaſon there may be to alter our affections; for by this means we may love undeſerving Objects, which is the greateſt degeneracy of Love; but the perfection of Love conſiſts in loving deſerving Objects, and in loving upon honourable reaſons, and the immutability of Love conſists in loving always for the ſame reaſons, which is the only foundation of a virtuous immutability: The reaſon of Chriſts Love to any perſon is Holineſs and Obedience: If any love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him; and we will come to him, and make our abode with him, Joh. 14.23. The unchangeableneſs of his Love is ſeen in this, that he will continue to love, while we continue to obey him: If ye ſhall keep my Commandments; that is, continue to do ſo: Ye ſhall abide in my Love; I will continue to love you: As I have kept my Fathers Commandments, and abide in his Love, Joh. 15.20. This is the immutability of the Divine Nature, that God always acts upon ſteddy, constant Principles, that whatever changes there are in the World, which may occaſion very different administrations in his providence; yet he is the ſame ſtill, and never changes: Whereas, ſhould God p. 586always love the ſame perſon; however he changed and altered, God muſt change and alter too; becauſe though he ſtill loves the ſame perſon; yet he muſt love for different or contrary reaſons, or for none at all; and that is the much greater change of the two, to alter the reaſon, than the Object of Love: If God love a good man, becauſe he is good, and continue to love him, when he is wicked, his love is a mutable thing, which can love goodneſs or wickedneſs, which can love for none, or for contrary reaſons: But if God always loves true goodneſs, and good men, and never loves any other; whatever change there be in Creatures; God is the ſame ſtill, and unchangeable in his Love.

The Author admits an immutable Love in God towards goodneſs;Anſwer. but the Scripture aſſerts an immutable Love in God towards perſons: He hath choſen us before the foundation of the world, Eph. 1.4. Electing Love is eternal, and therefore immutable: Non enim eſt vera aeternitas, ubi orttur nova voluntas, nec eſt immortalis voluntas, quae alia et alia eſt: An eternal choice muſt be ever the ſame, and after one there cannot riſe another. The foundation of God ſtandeth ſure, having this ſeal; the p. 587Lord knoweth them that are his, 2 Tim. 2.19. Election, which is the foundation, is ſure, and Gods fore-knowledge, which includes invariable Love in it, is the ſeal of it: The Book of Life hath all the names of the Elect written in it, and Gods Love is the Seal that confirms it; whom he did predeſtinate, them he alſo called, and whom he called, them he alſo justified; and whom he juſtified, them he alſo glorified, Rom. 8.30. This Golden Chain of Grace compriſes in it certain individual perſons, as the words (whom and them) which faſten every link of it, doth evidently import; and that which holds all the links of it together, is immutable Love: Nay, beſides Scripture evidence, reaſon will evince this immutable Love of the Elect; without this there can be no deſign of a Church, and without the deſign of a Church, Chriſts blood muſt needs be ſhed irrationally, or upon a meer peradventure; I ſay, without this there can be no deſign of a Church; for the deſign of a Church muſt compriſe in it, thoſe individual perſons, which ſhall make up a Church, and undertake that they ſhall infallibly believe and perſevere till they come to Heaven; it muſt firſt compriſe p. 588in it thoſe individual perſons which ſhall make up a Church, or elſe it is lame and imperfect, unworthy of the Divine Wiſdom and Perfection; running much after this rate, as if God ſhould ſay, I deſign a Church, but I care not of whom it conſiſts, which is much one, as if God ſhould deſign an Heaven, and not what Stars ſhould be in it; or an Earth, and not what Plants ſhould be there: All the members in mans body are written in Gods book, Pſal. 139.16. And can any man imagine, that thoſe, who ſhould make up the Myſtical Body of Chriſt, as ſo many Members thereof, are not certainly deſigned? God calleth them by name, Joh. 10.3. Your names are all down in the Book of Life, Phil. 4.3. To deſign a Church, and not who, is too weak a thing for the all-wiſe Deity. Again, the deſign of a Church muſt undertake, that thoſe individual perſons ſhall believe and perſevere; unleſs this be granted, the deſign of a Church muſt be framed thus: God gives a Saviour and a Goſpel in common, and over and above a power to men to believe and perſevere; and ſo, though the iſſue hang upon mans will, hopes for a Church: But in Truth, this is not p. 589to deſign a Church; but the poſſibility of one; there may be one, as it may happen, and there may be none: And is this like that Divine Providence, which is perfect in all things, and eſpecially in the great deſign of a Church? Nay, is it probable upon theſe terms, that any ſhould believe and perſevere! Innocent Adam (and yet alas! how ſoon was that Star ſhot?) was more likely to ſtand in his integrity, than any man ſince upon thoſe terms hath been to believe and perſevere: The diſparity clears it. The Divine principles in Adam ſweetly inclined him to obedience: But the power of believing in men doth not incline, but only put the will in aequilibrio. The Divine Principles in Adam, were pure and without mixture: But the power of believing hath in the ſame heart, where it dwells, an inmate of corruption, which continually counter-works it. In innocency the temptation ſtood without a courting the ſenſes: But after the Fall it makes nearer approaches, as having a party within ready to open and betray every faculty. Theſe things conſidered, methinks every one, who with humble eyes looks on that glaſs of Creature p. 590defectibility, which was made out of the broken pieces of fallen Adam, ſhould conclude it very improbable, that any one in all the World upon thoſe terms ſhould believe and perſevere; it being no leſs than a proud thought for any to imagine, that upon ſuch great diſparities he could act his part better than Adam did: And is it reaſonable, that God ſhould found the deſign of a Church upon ſuch improbabilities? The firſt Covenant, in which the ſtock of Grace was in mans own hand, and the ſtreſs of all lay upon his will, miſcarried and brought forth no happineſs to man; and can we imagine, that the All-wiſe God, who made the ſecond Covenant as a ſecunda tabulae to repair the ruines of the firſt, ſhould frame it in that very ſame way in which the firſt miſcarried? May the ſtock be in mans hand again, and his Bankrupt will truſtee a ſecond time? Will God hang up all upon a meer poſſe in the Creature, and expect it may do better in lapſed than innocent man? Alas! what miſerable ſpecimens hath Free-will given of it ſelf in fallen Man! The old World, left to their own Free-will (though, I ſuppoſe, according to the Author, not without p. 591a poſſe) all but one Noah, deſperately corrupted themſelves, till the Flood ſwept them away: And for that one Noah, it is not probable or indeed imaginable, that he, had he been left to himſelf only with the common Grace afforded to the reſt, ſhould have done better than they; nay, it is a World againſt one man, that he would have corrupted himſelf as they did. After the flood (and that was a ſtartling warning-piece) hath free Will with the common Grace done better? All Nations have walked in their own ways, that is, in wayes of wickedneſs, affording us a vaſt experiment in millions of men, that free Will left to it ſelf will miſcarry, and come to nought; and withal a pregnant proof, that nothing leſs than ſpecial effectual Grace could ſecure a Church or ſo much as a ſingle Noah unto God. Theſe things being ſo, I conclude that the deſign of a Church doth not only give a power to believe and perſevere, but Faith and Perſeverance to thoſe individual perſons which make up a Church; Hence our Saviour tells us, that all that the Father giveth him, ſhall come to him, Joh. 6.37. that is, ſhall believe and make up his myſtical Body; and withal, p. 592that it was his Fathers will, that none of them ſhould be loſt, verſ. 39. that is, that they ſhould perſevere unto the end. Now after all this diſcourſe, if there be ſuch a deſign of a Church, that compriſes in it thoſe individual perſons which ſhall make up a Church, and ſecures Faith and Perſeverance unto them, then the love of God towards them can be no leſs than immutable, pitching upon them in election, and carrying of them through Faith and perſeverance unto glory. Having ſaid thus much to eſtabliſh the point, I now ſhall attend the Authors objections, firſt he tells us. That ſin it ſelf cannot ſeparate us from this immutable Love. Very well; I acknowledge it, that immutable Love, which gives Faith and Perſeverance to his People, preſerves them ſo, that ſin, any other than unavoida-infirmity, ſhall not be at all; or if it be, ſhall not finally be in them: They ſhall not ſin ſuch ſins, or if they do, the divine Grace ſhall raiſe them up by Repentance. They are, as Dr. Owen hath it, preſerved from ſuch ſins, for which a remedy is not provided in the Covenant of Grace; that is, not only, as the Author gloſſes, from the ſin againſt the Holy Ghost, but from final Impenitency too; p. 593which is not remedied in the Covenant of Grace: If they ſin, they ſhall not lie in it by final Apoſtacy & Impenitency, & conſequently they ſhall never fall under ſuch threatnings againſt Backſliders and Apoſtates as that mentioned, Ezek. 18. and in other Scriptures: and what Antinomianiſm there is in this I know not; neither can I ſee how that Love, which preſerves from final Impenitency, ſhould want Wiſdom or Holineſs. The Author goes on; Many wiſe learned men there are, who contend for Perſeverance; but they found Gods immutable Love on their Perſeverance: To which I anſwer, I know no ſuch: They, who are for Perſeverance, do not found Gods immutable love, on perſeverance, but perſeverance on Gods immutable love, which cauſeth the ſame: Thus Fulgentius, Deus, Praedestinationè ſuâ & donū Illuminationis ad credendum, & donū Perſeverantiae ad permanendū & donū Glorificationis ad regnandū, quibus dare voluit praeparavit; nec aliter perficit in opere quàm in ſua ſempiterna & incommutabili voluntate habet diſpoſitū: Faith, Perſeverance Glory, all are the effluxes of immutable Love. But the Author further tells us That the Immutability of Gods love conſiſts in this not that he always loves the ſame perſon, but that he always loves for p. 594ſame reaſon; he always loves true goodneſs and good men, and never loves any other, and ſo is unchangeable: To which I anſwer, God loves good men with a Love of Complacence; he cannot love a wicked man with a Love of Complacence; but may he not love him with a Love of Benevolence? Then he cannot deſign the leaſt good to any fallen Man in the World, all being by Nature wicked, and children of wrath: If God love good men, and never loved any other, then he could not deſign to lapſed corrupt Man, a Chriſt, or a Goſpel, or any the leaſt means of Salvation: Goodneſs, the only reaſon of Love being gone by the Fall, nothing that is good can be intended to man: This, as the Author tells us, would be the degeneracy of Love, to love an undeſerving object; & every man by Nature is no better: It is, ſaith the Author, the greateſt change of all to alter the reaſon of Love; and therefore according to this Principle, God (as he would be a Self-preſerver, and not ſuffer a Change in himſelf) having loved innocent Man, was bound not to love fallen Man; not to give him a Chriſt, or a Goſpel, or any good thing. But rather than run our ſelves into ſuch Conſequences, I think we were as p. 595good ſay, God's Love of Complacence is towards good men, but his Love of Benevolence is towards men, even before they are good, and is the fontal Cauſe of all that after-goodneſs in them which is the Object of his Complacence. As for that place, Joh. 14.23. If a man keep my words, my Father will love him, the meaning is, God will manifeſt himſelf unto him, as it is, ver. 21 I will love him, and will manifeſt my ſelf unto him: If God did not love him before, whence came his Obedience? It muſt be an odd independent Self-originated Obedience, which came not from the Grace or Love of the great Donor.

SECT. II.

SOme men tell us, That as Chriſt falls in love with our Perſons,Mr Sherlock. ſo we muſt in requital to him love the Perſon of Chriſt: This is as certain as any Demonſtration in Euclide, that if we love Chriſt, we muſt love his Perſon; for the Perſon of Chriſt is Chriſt himſelf, and if we love Chriſt, we muſt love him: But this will not ſerve their turn; they oppoſe our love to the Perſon of Christ to our p. 596love to him upon account of his benefits, to our love to our ſelves, and to our duties. Firſt, we muſt love the Perſon of Chriſt in oppoſition to his Benefits; that is, we muſt not conſider what advantages we do or may receive from Chriſt, what he hath done or ſuffered for us, but we muſt love his Perſon purely for himſelf without any other conſiderations to endear him to us. This matter is gravely ſtated and determined by W.B. who tells us, 1. That it is a good and lawful thing to love Chriſt in reference to his benefits: This is a very liberal grant,; that Gratitude, which hath hitherto been accounted a great and excellent Virtue, is now owned as a lawful thing. 2. It is our duty to love Chriſt's Perſon: This is ſo true, that thoſe men, who love Christ for his benefits, love his Perſon: 3. The Excellency of Chriſt's Perſon is not the Object of my Faith, but Chriſt crucified: 4. Though Chriſt crucified be the Object of my Faith, yet the perſonal Excellencies of Chriſt are the Object of my Love; yea, it is a more excellent thing yet to love the Perſon of Chriſt, than the Benefits of Chriſt; to have my heart drawn out in love to the Perſon of Chriſt, than to have it drawn p. 597out in love to him for his Benefits. Now what can be the meaning of all this, but that the Excellency and Perfection of our Love to Chriſt conſiſts in loving him for no reaſon: The proper object and reaſon of Love is Goodneſs; to love that which is good for nothing is the folly and degeneracy of Love; and it is as fooliſh and impoſſible a task to love a perſon, who hath been good to us, not becauſe he hath been good, but for no reaſon. Now this is the caſe here; for if you ſeparate the Perſon and perſonal Excellencies of Chriſt from the conſideration of his benefits, his perſonal Goodneſs from the expreſſions of his Love and Goodneſs to our ſelves and others, it can be no Object or reaſon of our Love: for a Goodneſs which doth no good, or never did any, or, which is all one, is conſidered as doing none, is ſo far from being the Object of our Love, that it is not the Object of our Ʋnderſtanding: For we cannot understand what that Goodneſs means, which never did any good. God challenges our Love, not upon account of an imaginary Goodneſs of Nature, which never did any good; but for the real and ſenſible Effects of his Goodneſs in the works of Creation and Providence, and Redemption by Chriſt: And Chriſt challenges p. 598our love for the like reaſons; becauſe he hath loved us, and died for us, and now intercedes for us, and will at the laſt day beſtow a Crown of Glory and Immortality on us, but never, as I can obſerve,, requires ſuch an abſtracted and Metaphyſical Love to his Perſon, without any reſpect to his benefits.

We love Chriſt for his Benefits,Anſwer. theſe are the firſt impulſives of our Love; but our love, once kindled, is afterwards blown up into a purer flame by thoſe attractive Excellencies and raviſhing Beauties, which are in the Perſon of Chriſt; we come to love Chriſt for himſelf. The Spouſe in the Canticles did not only love Chriſt for his Shadow and ſweet fruits, for the Graces and Benefits communicated from him, but for himſelf, his incomparable Perſon, who is the chiefeſt among ten thouſand, and altogether lovely. Neither is this Love to Chriſt for himſelf (what the Author would have it to be) a Love for no reaſon, or a Love in its folly and degeneracy: But it is a Love for the greateſt Reaſon, and a Love in perfection. There is a greater worthineſs and ſo an higher attractive of our Love in the Perſon of Chriſt than in his Benefits; and therefore in all reaſon Love p. 599is in a more high and ſuperlative meaſure due to the one than to the other. All the Benefits of Chriſt are but as ſo many Mediums to draw up and attract our Love to the Perſon of Chriſt, and our Love in its aſcent up thither, muſt not ſtay or take up its final reſt in Means (for this would be to pervert the nature of Means and transform them into Ends;) but it muſt terminate in Chriſt the great End and Center. Should we love the Benefits more than the Perſon of Chriſt, we ſhould be lovers of our ſelves more than lovers of Chriſt; our Love would then return and circulate into our ſelves, and there reſt and center ut in ultimo termino, which is no leſs than Idolatry. If we are truly eſpouſed to Chriſt, we will not love the Rings and Jewels, more than himſelf; nay, nor ſo much: The true noble Lover doth not acquieſce in other gifts, but in Chriſt, the Gift above all other gifts. But, ſaith the Author, A Goodneſs, which doth no good, or never did any, is ſo far from being the object of our Love, that it is not the object of our Ʋnderſtanding: To which I anſwer, It's true, if God had never done good, that is, had never created a Creature, he could not p. 600have been the Object of any created Love or Underſtanding; for there being no Creation, there could have been no ſuch thing as any created Love or Underſtanding; however he had been an Object for a greater Love and Underſtanding than any created one, even for his own infinite Love and Underſtanding. Had he never created a Creature, he would have been for ever happy by amatorious and intellectual Reflections upon himſelf, and his own Perfections. It is true that God calls for our Love upon account of Creation, Providence and Redemption; but it is due to him for himſelf, for his Divine Excellency and All-ſufficiency. Could we imagine, what is impoſſible, that there were a rational Creature, who never received any good from God, upon ſuch a ſuppoſal, that Creature would be bound to love God for his intrinſecal Goodneſs and Excellency; or elſe the Will of that Creature might, which is very ſtrange, paſs by the Supreme Good unſaluted. But to leave that Suppoſition; now we have God and many bleſſings before our eyes, we are bound to love God above all, as the complete and adequate Object of our Love: Should we love any p. 601Bleſſings without or above him, it would be Cupiditas, Luſt, (which is the formale of every ſin) and not Love. I conclude with that of Bonaventure, Li. 3. diſtinct. 29. queſt 2.Secundùm Charitatis legem, impoſſibile eſt aliquid plus vel aequaliter Deo amare, Charitas enim, quia diligit Deum ut ſummum bonum, diligit eum ſuper omnia; quia diligit Deum ut finem ultimum, diligit eum propter ſe. Bleſſings may be motives to us to love God, but they are not to be loved as the ſupreme End or Good, that is God only in his infinite Goodneſs and Excellency; upon account of theſe all Worſhip, and among the reſt, Love is due to him.

Indeed theſe men ſeem not to underſtand themſelves; Mr. Sherlock.for when you enquire what this Perſon of Chriſt is, which is the Object of our Love, then they deſcribe his Beauty and perfections; the Comelineſs of his Perſon, the ſweetneſs of his Diſpoſition, his great Riches, that he is a Good ſutable to all our wants: Now either all this ſignifies the benefits we receive by Christ, or it ſignifies nothing; and how then do theſe perſonal Excellencies differ from his benefits? They teach us to uſe Chriſt much, if we would love his Perſon: Now this uſing muſt ſignifie his benefits, and to love Chriſt p. 602much, becauſe we uſe him, is to love him, becauſe we receive many benefits from him; which is neither better nor worſe, than to love him for his benefits.

We love Chriſt for his benefits,Anſwer. and for himſelf too: Hence theſe men deſcribe Chriſt's Perſon by both; they ſet out his Beauty and Comelineſs in himſelf, and withal his Suitableneſs to our wants: The firſt riſe of our Love to Chriſt is from his Benefits, and afterwards our Love to him is for himſelf alſo; the Excellency and Amiableneſs of his Perſon in himſelf calls for our love, and muſt have it.

The Love we owe to God and Christ is no other than gratitude, becauſe God loved us first, Mr. Sherlock.and our Love is only a return of his: Now thankfulneſs and gratitude includes in it a neceſſary reſpect to thoſe bleſſings and benefits we have received: It is peculiar to God, who wants nothing, and can receive nothing from his Creatures, to love without any reſpect to benefits; but the Love of indigent and dependent Creatures is a Love of thankfulneſs, a grateful acknowledgment of thoſe many bleſſings we receive from God.

Our Love to God and Chriſt is gratitude: Anſwer.It is for Benefits, but is it only for Benefits? No ſurely; we are to love p. 603God and Chriſt for the infinite goodneſs and excellency which is in them; if we ask, what is the formal and adequate reaſon of Divine Worſhip? No other anſwer can be given, but that it is the infinite divine excellency and perfection which is in God: Our love to God, which is a part of Worſhip, though poſſibly its firſt riſe or motive may be from benefits; yet it ſtays not in the benefits, but in and by them aſcends to God; the ultimate Object and Center of Worſhip, who is to be loved in and for himſelf.

Secondly, Mr. Sherlock.theſe men oppoſe our Love to the perſon of Chriſt, to our love to our ſelves: The firſt deſtroys the Reaſon, and the Object of our Love; and this destroys the principle of it: It is made the character of a wicked man, Shep. Sinc. Convert.who wants an inward principle of love to God and Christ; That though he ſeeks to honour God never ſo much, yet all that he doth, he doth out of love to himſelf, ſelf-credit, ſelf-eaſe, ſelf-content, ſelf-ſafety; he makes himſelf a God. Hence the ſame author exhorts ſinners: away out of your ſelves to the Lord Jeſus, take hold on him, not with the hand of preſumption, and love to thy ſelf, to ſave thy ſelf; but with the hand p. 604of Faith and Love to honour him: Here is the ſtrongeſt difficulty of all to row againſt the ſtream, to hate a mans ſelf, (our own ſouls and eternal Salvation) and then to follow Chriſt fully: Now is it not an hard caſe, that before we can love God and Chriſt, as we ought, we muſt root out the very principle of all love, that we may learn to hate Salvation and Eternal Happineſs, before we can cloſe with Chriſt for Salvation! This is the ſtrongeſt difficulty of all; for indeed it is impoſſible: Love to our ſelves is the foundation of our love to all other things, even to God himſelf: He that doth not love himſelf, will love nothing elſe; he that hates himſelf, his own ſoul, and deſpiſes eternal Salvation, will not care for Chriſt or Salvation by him: All the Motives and Arguments of the Goſpel to perſwade us to love and fear, and obey God, are founded on ſelf-love; for how is it poſſible, that we ſhould be affected with a due ſenſe of Gods goodneſs to us? That we ſhould be excited and quickned by the hopes of ſuch great rewards? That we ſhould be reſtrained and governed by the fears of puniſhment? If we did not love our ſelves, if we did not care what became of us; whether we were p. 605happy or miſerable for ever. It is a vain thing to perſwade a man not to love himſelf: For this is as natural and neceſſary, as it is for the Fire to burn, or Sun to ſhine: It is not matter of our choice; it is not in our power to do otherwiſe, all that ſuch diſcourſes as theſe can do, is either to make men hypocrites to pretend to do what they cannot do, or to make honest men, who cannot thus cheat and delude themſelves, deſpair of their Salvation, becauſe they cannot find themſelves contented without Salvation, that Christ without Salvation cannot ſatisfie them. It is true, when men ſet up ſelf in oppoſition to God; when ſelf-love te…s them to diſobey God, to diſpiſe his Counſels, to renounce their Faith and Religion: This is a very vitious and miſtaken ſelf-love: Such men neither love themſelves nor God in a proper ſence, becauſe it is our interest as well as our duty to obey God; ſuch men are Idolaters, becauſe they ſet up ſelf above God, and in oppoſition to him: But when our love to our ſelves teaches us to love God, and in all things to ſubmit to his will and pleaſure: We do as we ought to do, they who ſeparate our love to God, from our love to our ſelves, from the care of our Salvation, do plainly declare, that they p. 606neither underſtand the nature of man, nor the Goſpel of Christ.

Mr. Shephard ſpeaks of a wicked man,Anſwer. who wants an inward principle of love to God and Chriſt, that he doth all for himſelf, he ſleeps, prayes, hears, ſpeaks, profeſſes, for himſelf alone, that he commits the highest degree of Idolatry, and makes himſelf a God: And adds this reaſon; For a man puts himſelf in the room of God, as well by making himſelf his finis ultimus, as if he ſhould make himſelf primum principium: And is there any queſtion at all in this? may not a wicked man (not to ſay, ſleep, which every man doth) but pray, hear, ſpeak, profeſs? No doubt can be made of it, and if he do ſo, it muſt needs be for himſelf; he having, whilſt wicked, no Divine Principle, nothing of grace to elevate him above himſelf: But Mr. Shephard would have men go out of themſelves to Chriſt: And this is hard to row against the stream, to hate a mans ſelf: And, ſaith the Author, this is impoſſible, this is to root up the very principle of Love: Love to our ſelves is the foundation of our Love to all other things, even to God himſelf. To which I anſwer: No doubt we are to love Chriſt for the purchaſed Salvation p. 607neither doth Mr. Shephard deny it, but we are not to love him for Salvation, only or ſupremely, no, but for himſelf, his infinite goodneſs and perfection: This is not to root up the principle Love, but to rectifie it: Indeed this is hard: Nay, I may add unattainable by lapſed nature in it ſelf: but Grace elevates nature above it ſelf, to love Chriſt (though not without a reſpect to Salvation) yet above our ſelves, and ſo in a comparative ſence to hate our ſelves for him: Indeed, if love to our ſelves were (as the Author would have it) the foundation of our Love to God, then it muſt be the meaſure of it too; and by conſequence we ſhould not need love God above our ſelves; and our love of God might, for ought I ſee, center and ultimately terminate in our ſelves: But this cannot be allowed; As long as God is God, the ſupreme good and laſt end, he muſt be loved above all, and for himſelf; that inclination, which is in us to love our ſelves more than God, is, as Bonaventure well obſerves, not the perfection, but the corruption of our Natures: But, ſaith the Author, he that doth not love or care for himſelf, will not love God. To which I anſwer: If p. 608we do not care for our ſelves in a way of fooliſh neglect, we are unnatural to our ſelves, and want true love to God: But if we care not for our ſelves in a Paroxiſm of holy Zeal for God, as when Moſes prayed, to be blotted out of Gods book: Or when St. Paul wiſhed himſelf accurſed from Chriſt: then our love to God is very great and fervent; if, whilſt we pay that debitum naturae, love to our ſelves; We ſubordinate it to the love of God, loving God above our ſelves, and in that ſence comparatively not eſtimating our ſelves; then our love to God is true, and as it ought to be: We need not make men hypocrites or deſperate, we need not break any of the ſweet links, duty and intereſt may well conſiſt together, our love to God, and our love to our ſelves may ſtand in conjunction; yet ſtill our love muſt keep its decorum, we muſt have a higher reſpect for Duty than for intereſt; and our love to God muſt be ſuperlative, and above our love to our ſelves.

Thirdly, Mr. Sherlock.they oppoſe our love to Chriſt to our own Duties; that is, to the most proper and natural expreſſion of our love to him: Herein Dr. Owen places the chaſtity of our affections to Chriſt; p. 609(which you know is a great marriage duty) in not taking any thing (as our own righteouſneſs) into our affection and eſteem; for thoſe ends and purpoſes for which we have received Chriſt; and God forbid that any Chriſtian ſhould, for our own Righteouſneſs and Duties, cannot be our Mediators and Advocates: What then is the difference? Why it is only this: The Doctor places the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt, in the room of our righteouſneſs, to be not only the foundation, but the condition of the Covenant of Grace, and then makes it an expreſſion of our chaste affection to Christ, quite to thruſt out our own righteouſneſs, and to allow it no place in our Religion: He makes Chriſt all to us, and leaves no room for any thing elſe, and then warns us upon our vows of chaſtity, not to take any thing into Chriſt's place; Whereas, as he has ordered the matter, we muſt take our own righteouſneſs into Chriſt's place, or elſe caſt it quite away; for there is no other place left for it: But is it not very ſtrange, that when our Saviour hath made our obedience the principal expreſſion of our Love to him: Theſe men ſhould make ſuch a competition between our Love to Christ, and our Obedience? ſhould put p. 610ſuch jealouſies into peoples heads: What great danger there is of their own Duties and Righteouſneſs; leſt they ſhould prove like fooliſh Lovers,Sincere Convert. who, when they are to wooe for the Lady, fall in love with the Hand-maid. Men dote upon Duties, and reſt in the naked performance of them, (that is, in doing good) which are only Hand-maids to lead to Chriſt. Is not this to perſwade people, that our love to Chriſt conſiſts in ſomething more refined, and ſpiritual than obedience? Which will quickly teach them to love Chriſt without obeying of him, and not run the hazard of doting on duties.

Doth the Doctor quite thruſt out our own Righteouſneſs?Anſwer. Doth he allow it no place in our Religion? I have before noted what charge this is. The Doctor in his Book doth aſſert; That our Obedience is indiſpenſibly neceſſary, Commun. fo. 208, 209, 210, &c.and that, becauſe of the Soveraign will of God the Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt, becauſe of the Fathers electing Love, the Sons purchaſing Love, the Spirits operative Love, becauſe of the glory of the whole Trinity, becauſe Holineſs is our Honour, and makes us like to God; our peace in communion with p. 611God; our uſefulneſs in our Generations, becauſe it ſtops the mouths of enemies, tends to the converſion of others, and profit of all, becauſe justified perſons are accepted, and admitted into Gods preſence; they are new Creatures, and the new Creature is not to be ſtifled, becauſe holineſs is the way to eternal life; a Teſtimony and Pledge of Adoption, a ſign and evidence of Grace. Now if this be not enough to anſwer that charge, I muſt utterly deſpair, that ever it can be cleared: No man, that I know of, ever dreamed of an oppoſition between Love to Chriſt and Obedience; I ſhould as ſoon be perſwaded, that the Sun was fallen out with his Beams; or that all the cauſes and effects of Nature were at a variance among themſelves, as conceit any ſuch thing: Yet Chriſt muſt be upon the Throne, and Duties muſt ſtand at his Foot-ſtool: The Homage, which is in Duties, proclaims the preeminence of the Lord, we are not, as Mr. Shephard hath it, to reſt in Duties, in the naked performance of them: Our Duties muſt not ſupplant Chriſt's Righteouſneſs, but pay a tribute of gratitude to it; we muſt uſe them, as Noah's Dove did her wings, to carry us to the Ark, even to Jeſus Chriſt, in whom only is p. 612the Sabbath of Souls. But, ſaith the Author, is not this to perſwade people, that our love to Chriſt conſiſts in ſomething more refined than Obedience? which will quickly teach them to love Chriſt without obeying. To which, I anſwer: Love without obeying is to me an utter inconſiſtency: If we indeed love Chriſt, we do really will Chriſtum Regem, that he ſhould be King, and reign in and over us: Love ſets his Throne in the Heart, and Obedience in the Life: The expreſſion of our Love to Chriſt is in Obedience: Nothing is more refined within than Faith and Love, nor without than Obedience; it being, as it ſhould, performed in a due manner, in the actuation of Divine Graces; for if it be only an outward naked performance, it is but the ſhell, and ſemblance of obeying without loving.

Let us now enquire, Mr. Sherlock.how they expreſs their love to the perſon of Chriſt, and that conſists in preferring Chriſt above all, they value him above all other things and perſons, above their lives, above all Spiritual Excellencies, and other Righteouſneſs whatever; he is their Joy, Crown, Life, Food, Health, Strength, Defire, Righteouſneſs, Salvation p. 613Bleſſedneſs; The meaning of all is, that they prefer the perſon of Chriſt, which hath ſuch a perfect righteouſneſs for them, and will ſave them without requiring any legal conditions of them, infinitely before the Religion and Goſpel of Chriſt, before Obedience to his commands; before the Love and Fear of God; So that the foundation of their love to Chriſt is a fond imagination, that he will ſave them by his Righteonſneſs, without any Righteouſneſs and Holineſs of their own: This makes them ſo fond of the perſon of Christ, becauſe they look on him as a refuge and ſanctuary for the wicked and ungodly, where the greatest, oldeſt, ſtubbornest tranſgreſſor, may ſhelter himſelf from the wrath of God, and I have ſome reaſon to think, that Chriſt will not much prize ſuch Devoto's as theſe, nor their obſequious flatteries or praiſe.

They prefer Chriſt above all; Anſwer.and no wonder, all the Saints and Martyrs have done ſo; he is worthy of love in its height and talleſt Statures: A Believer may love other things, but he loves Chriſt with a love more eminent and over-topping, ſuch as is congruous for an Object ſo altogether lovely and deſirable; he loves other things with reference p. 614to Chriſt: But Chriſt for himſelf; his infinite excellencie and perfection: He loves Ordinances, becauſe they are the Banqueting-Houſe of Chriſt; he loves the Goſpel, becauſe it is his Royal Charter; he loves his own Graces, becauſe they are his love-tokens, and bear his Divine Image: After all, the great center of his love is Chriſt himſelf. But, ſaith the Author, the foundation of their love to Chriſt, is a fond imagination, that he will ſave them by his Righteouſneſs, without any Righteouſneſs of their own, that he will be a refuge and ſanctuary for the wicked and ungodly: To which I ſay, That I have before noted this to be as it is, a Popiſh Calumny, and without any juſt ground at all for it; when Grotius drew up ſuch a kind of charge againſt the common Proteſtant Doctrine, as if it were enough to ſay, Credo juſtitiam Chriſti mihi imputari, as if there were no need of true Repentance or holy walking. Dr. Arrowſmith makes this return; Quam nollem haec à te dicta vel ficta potius, Tact. Sacr. fol. 141Hugo doctiſſime, cum nihil ſit à praxi, nihil à ſenſu noſtro remotius.Mr Sherlock.

The devotion of theſe men conſiſts in p. 615admiring, prizing, valuing the perſon of Chriſt. This is that Evangelical Righteouſneſs, we muſt gain by Duties; more prizing of acquaintance with, defire, loving and delighting in Union with the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; a Moral man, who reſts in duties (that is, who does what God commands and expects to be ſaved by Christ) may grow in legal Righteouſneſs; that is, in true Holineſs and Piety: But this will not avail, unleſs we grow in this Evangelical Righteouſneſs:Sincere Convert. This is the great end of Duties, to carry us to the Lord Jeſus. Hear a Sermon to carry thee to Chriſt; faſt, pray, get a full tide of affections in them, to carry thee to Chriſt; that is, to get more Love of him, more Acquaintance and Union with him; ſorrow for ſins, that thou mayſt be more fitted for Chriſt, and more prize Chriſt; uſe thy Duties, as Noah's Dove did her wings, to carry thee to the Ark of the Lord Jeſus: As it is with a poor man, that is to go over a great water for a treaſure on the other ſide, though he cannot fetch the boat, he calls for it, to carry him over to the treaſure: So Chriſt is in Heaven, and thou on Earth: He doth not come to thee, thou canſt not go to p. 616him: Now call for a Boat, though there is no Grace, no Good, no Salvation in a pithleſs duty; yet uſe it to catry thee over to the Lord Chriſt; when thou comeſt to hear, ſay, have over Lord by this Sermon; when to pray, ſay, have over Lord by this Prayer to a Saviour, &c. So that it ſeems the whole buſineſs of our Love to Chriſt and Evangelical Righteouſneſs, conſiſts in ſome flights of fancy and imagination, in admiring and valuing the perſon of Christ, in getting an acquaintance and union with him: The buſineſs of all Religion is, to have over to Chriſt, that we may love and prize his Perſon, and perſonal Righteouſneſs, above all things in the World. It is not ſo much the buſineſs of Sermons to acquaint us with the Nature, Attributes and Works of God, to inſtruct us in our Duty, and encourage us to it by the Motives of the Goſpel, as to have over to Chriſt: The deſign of prayer is not ſo much to affect our Souls with a ſenſe of the Divine Majeſty, to worſhip and adore him, and to expreſs our truſt in him, as to have over to Chriſt. Sorrow for ſin is not ſo much to imbitter ſin to us, and to ſtrengthen us againſt it, as to teach us to prize Chriſt: The Nature of Religion p. 617is now changed from being the Homage and Worſhip of God; the certain means of pleaſing him, and transforming us in▪ to his likeneſs; which is the natural end of Religion, into a Cock-boat and Skuller to waft us over to Chriſt: Here we ſee the true reaſon why theſe men do ſo deſpiſe Morality in compariſon of thoſe Goſpel-duties, of hearing Sermons, Prayer, Confeſſions, Humiliation, &c. becauſe as they handle the matter: The practiſe of Moral Virtues, cannot have us over to Christ, cannot apply the righteouſneſs and fulneſs of Chriſt to us, nor raviſh our fancies with glorious Images and Idea's of his perſon: And ſince all the Duties of Religion are ſuch pithleſs things, which have no Grace, no Good, no Salvation in them, but as they have us over to Chriſt, poor Morality must needs be a worthleſs thing.

That we are highly to prize Chriſt,Anſwer. can be no queſtion with Chriſtians; when he comes in his Glory, he ſhall be admired of all them that believe, 2 Theſſ. 1.10. And before that coming, we are, as far as our Faith will carry us, to admire him, who is indeed an Object, in whom Heaven and Earth are ſo admirably blended together, that humane reaſon may well p. 618loſe it ſelf, and ſtand in a maze at ſuch an Union: That Chriſt is to be highly prized by us; we need go no further, than the raptures and extatical paſſions of the Spouſe in the Canticles, which are a kind of Commentary on that Admiration, which is the genius and communis ſenſus of Chriſtians: Nature it ſelf reveils God to be the great Object of Worſhip; but the Goſpel aſſures us that there is no acceſs, no coming to God but by Chriſt; That there is no Righteouſneſs able to cover our perſons and duties with the defects thereof but Chriſt's Righteouſneſs; That there is no doing Duties in a right and ſpiritual way acceptable unto God, but by the Spirit and Grace of Chriſt; and upon theſe ſtrong important Reaſons, the Goſpel calls and preſſes upon men to come to Chriſt; and therefore all Evangelical Duties (becauſe they are by infinite Wiſdom framed in a perfect Symmetry to the Goſpel) muſt needs be, not to ſay Cock-boats and Skullers, but Divine Mediums and Conveyances to have us over to Chriſt; without whom we cannot have any acceſs to God, or ſtanding before him, or power to do any thing in a ſpiritual and acceptable manner. Sermons p. 619are to inſtruct us in our Duty, not as if we could do any thing truly and ſpiritually as of our ſelves: But that in the ſenſe of our own weakneſs and impotencie, we may be drawn to Chriſt, the Wiſdom and Power of God; who can teach us inwardly, and impower us by his Grace to do the Will of God: In Prayer we are to have a ſenſe of the Divine Majeſty, to worſhip him, and expreſs our truſt in him: But a true ſenſe of the Divine Majeſty tells us, that we muſt not approach immediately thither without Chriſt our Mediator, that our truſt and other acts of Worſhip muſt find their acceptance only in and through Chriſt: Sorrow for ſin without coming to Chriſt and prizing him, is ſo far from being repentance unto life, that it drives a man down into the Black Gulf of horror and deſperation. The Nature of Religion is not now changed, but only turned into ſuch a Channel, as is congruous to fallen man, that all acceſs and acceptance with God may be in a Mediator, and all Grace and Glory may be from him. Morality is a beauty, and good in ſuo genere; but (becauſe it ſacrifices only to Reaſon, and Reaſon cannot p. 620ſupply the room of a Mediator) it muſt needs fall much below that Evangelical Religion, which would have all tranſacted through a Mediator: Sermons, Prayers, Confeſſions, Humiliations are Divine Media: But, if we ſtay in the means, and never arrive at the Mediator, we pervert the means from their true end, and fall ſhort of that ſcope, to which they were appointed; poſſibly the phraſe, have over to Chriſt, may to ſome have but a rough aſpect; yet the thing is as amiable as can be imagined, its importance being no more than that the whole managery of Religion muſt be in and through a Mediator.

To conclude, whether theſe men have transformed Religion, disfigured the Goſpel, undermined the fundamental deſign of it; miſrepreſented the ends of Chriſt's coming, abuſed his Expiation, Sacrifice, Righteouſneſs, interceſſion to the patronage of Vice, laid Snares to betray ſome men to a licentious life, and to entangle others in endleſs troubles, have under pretence of advancing the perſon of Christ, baniſhed his Religion out of the world? I ſhall leave to the judicious Reader. Narciſſus the old Biſhop of Jeruſalem laboured a while under p. 621grievous accuſations: But at laſt providence brought forth his innocency as clear as the Light: However, good old Truths may be clouded, and aſperſed for a time; yet ſooner or later they will appear again in their luſtre, recommending themſelves to the Conſciences of all true Chriſtians.

FINIS.

ERRATA's.

PAge the 6. line the 7. read pervert: p. 11. l. 19. r. hearing: p. 13. l. 10. r. foreign: p. 36. l. 26. r. laugh at this Gal. p. 46. l. 25. r. righteous: p. 61. l. 30. r. penality: p. 80. l. 1. r. of immenſe Love: p. 113. l. 6. r. adapt: p. 204. l. 4. r. us really: p. 234. l. 22. r. diſtinct from the Graces of his perſon: p. 256. l. 13. notions: p. 258. l. 16. r. foreign: p. 258. l. 20. r. received his fulneſs: p. 280. l. 21. r. truſted: p. 290. l. 5. r. Faith: p. 291. l. 27. r. inherent: p. 299. l. laſt r. foreign: p. 319. l. 16. r. aſcended: p. 330. l. 22. r. concerning: p. 399. l. 19. r. not eſſential: p. 405. l. 19. r. contendo: p. 409. l. laſt, r. to make it our perſonal righteouſneſs: p. 431. l. 28. r. redupli…ative: p. 471. l. 25. r. imperfect: p. 484. l. 17. r. cele…ius: p. 486. l. 1. r. they who come to Chriſt, come in a ſenſe: p. 536. l. 16. r. and after in two pages, unregenerate: p. 539. l. 9. r. beyond nature: p. 544. l. 28. r. appetibile.

End of the text · Edward Polhill, An Answer to William Sherlock (1675)