Divine Truths in Jesus Christ, Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
Chap. 5 Gods Love and Mercy manifeſted, in that he ſtood not upon the old terms as he might, and in giving his Son for us. The Socinian objection (That if God loved us, he was not angry) anſwered. The earlineſs and freeneſs of Gods Love in giving his Son. The greatneſs of the Gift. The manner how he was given. The perſons for whom. The evils removed, and the good procured by it. The excellent Evangelical terms built upon it. Theſe are eaſie and ſure. The Love and Mercy of God an excellent Motive to ſtir up our Love towards God and Man.
HAVING ſpoken of Gods Juſtice, I now proceed to his Love, Mercy, and Grace. Theſe are eminently aſcribed to him in Scripture: He is love it ſelf, 1 John 4.16. eſſentially ſuch. He is the Father of mercies, 2 Cor. 1.3. Mercy is his off-ſpring and joy. He is the God of all grace, 1 Pet. 5.10. The fountain of it is in him, and all Graces in the Creature iſſue from thence. Love communicates good to the Creature. Mercy communicates it to the Creature in miſery. Grace communicates it to a Creature, though unworthy. All the drops and meaſures of goodneſs in the Creature, are from Love: when the good is ſuited to the miſery of the Creature, 'tis Mercy; when it exceeds deſert, and as it were triumphs over unworthineſs, 'tis Grace in a ſpecial manner. I ſhall not diſcourſe of theſe diſtinctly, but, as the uſage in Scripture is, promiſcuouſly; theſe are in a very ſignal manner manifeſted in Chriſt. So admirable a Glaſs is he, that not only Wiſdom, Holineſs, and Juſtice are repreſented in him; but Love, Mercy and Grace alſo. In theſe it is that this wonderful Occonomy terminates. Wiſdom laid the plot, Holineſs and Juſtice appeared in our Saviours Paſſion, but the Center of all is Grace and Mercy. Theſe are highly exalted in the Reconciliation and Salvation of Men.
The firſt appearance of theſe ſtands in this, That God did not ſtand upon the firſt terms, upon the Old Covenant of Works: God made Adam a very knowing and righteous Creature, he gave him excellent Laws, Moral ones inſcribed in his heart; and over and above, one poſitive Law in the Tree of knowledg: He entred into a Covenant with him, as the head and root of all mankind; the terms were, That all his Poſterity ſhould ſtand or fall in him. He tranſgreſſed the Command of God, and ſo Sin and Death came upon all the humane World. Here God might have ſtood upon the firſt terms; he was not bound to make new ones, but might have ſtood upon the old, and proſecuted them to the utter ruin of all Mankind. This is plain by theſe Conſiderations.
1. The Laws given by God to Adam were ſuch, as became God to give, and Adam to receive, very juſt and righteous. The Moral Ones were congruous to his holy Faculties, and conducible to his Happineſs: they were interwoven into his very rational Powers, and Obedience might have come forth in the eaſineſs of his Holy Principles. The poſitive one was a juſt one. God, who made Man Lord of the lower World, might well except one Tree, as a token of his Supreme Soveraignty, when the thing forbidden was not a thing in it ſelf evil, but indifferent. Gods Authority appears the more Sacred, and Mans Obedience would have been the more pure; the Tree, as lovely to the eyes, was a fit curb to the ſenſitive appetite. And as a Tree of knowledg was a juſt reſtraint to intellectual curioſity, the prohibition of ſuch a Tree was an excellent Item to man to look to both faculties; the terms were juſt, not only as to himſelf, but as to his poſterity. Had not God made them, he would never have told us, that all ſinned in one; and that by one, judgment came upon all, Rom. 5.12, & 18. Which, without ſuch terms, would have been impoſſible; and if he made them, it was no leſs impoſſible that they ſhould be unjuſt. Adam was the root and head of Mankind; we were in him naturally as latent in his loins, and legally as compriſed within the Covenant. His Perſon was the fountain of ours, and his Will the repreſentative of ours. The thing therefore was equal: unjuſt Laws ſhould be abrogated; but in this caſe, the Laws and Terms being Righteous, God might have ſtood ſtrictly upon them.
2. Adam having holy Powers, ſufficient for Obedience, was bound to keep them with all diligence: that, which was formerly ſpoken to the Church in Thyatira, Hold faſt that which thou haſt, Rev. 2.25. was virtually ſpoken to Adam: Nature dictates, that Duty ſhould be returned where benefits are received. The Law of fidelity requires, that a Truſtee ſhould keep the depoſitum. God intruſted man with excellent endowments; but if he will by his tranſgreſſion caſt them away, muſt God make them good? Muſt he follow after a Rebel, a waſting bankrupt Creature, to repair the loſt Image, and ſet him up again with a new ſtock of Grace? No: He, who made him ex beneplacito, cannot be bound ex juſtitiâ, to new-frame him, being broken; He might without the leaſt ſpot of injuſtice, have left all mankind in the ruins of the Fall.
3. The caſe of the fallen Angels determines this point: When they left their Principle, or firſt Eſtate, Did God capitulate, or enter into new Articles with them? Was there a tabula poſt naufragium, a room for Faith or Repentance? Had they a Chriſt, or a Goſpel tendred unto them? No, they were caſt down immediately into chains of darkneſs. The ſentence was irreverſible, their miſery eternal; annihilation would have been a kind of favour to them. That God, who ſtood upon the firſt terms with Angels, ſuperior creatures, might have done ſo with man, being a little lower than thoſe glorious Creatures. I know there are differences aſſigned between the two Caſes. Angels were the firſt tranſgreſſors, the ring-leaders in ſin: Man followed after. The Angels had a moſt pure light, and that without any allay of fleſh: Mans intellect was lower, and in conjunction with matter. The Angels ſinned by ſelf-motion, and of their own meerly: Man ſinned by ſeduction, and through the guile of the Serpent. In the Fall of Angels, all the Angelical nature fell not: In Adams Fall, all the humane Nature fell, no Religion was left in the lower world. But not withſtanding all this, God might in Juſtice have ſtood upon the firſt terms with Man, as well as with Angels; and that he did not do ſo, it was from meer Grace, as the primary Reaſon thereof.
4. Grace is in a very eminent manner lifted up in the Goſpel. Grace gives Chriſt, and Faith to believe in him. Grace juſtifies and ſanctifies. Grace faves and crowns with a bleſſed Immortality. Everywhere in the Goſpel ſounds forth, Grace, Grace; but if God might not juſtly have ſtood upon the old terms, the giving of new ones to Man, was not Grace, but Debt; not Mercy, but Juſtice. Thoſe Novatores, who ſay, That it would have been unjuſt for God to have condemned Adams Poſterity for the firſt Sin, do thereby overturn the Grace of the Goſpel. The Apoſtle, who is much rather to be believed, ſaith expreſly, That by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, Rom. 5.18; that is, according to the terms of the old Covenant; but if the old terms might not have been ſtood upon, the new ones muſt be neceſſary and due to mankind, and ſo no Grace at all. They who deny the Juſtice of the old Covenant, overturn the Grace of the new.
God, as we ſee, might have ſtood upon the old terms, even to the utter ruin of fallen mankind. But, oh! immenſe Love! He would not; he would do ſo with. Angels, but he would not with Men; an abatement was made to them, not afforded to thoſe nobler Creatures; once Inmates of Heaven. In the caſe of Sadow, God came down lower and lower, from fifty righteous perſons, to forty five; and ſo at laſt to ten, I will not do it for tens ſake, Gen. 18.32. But in the caſe of fallen man, when all had ſinned, when there was none righteous, no, not one; God comes down from the firſt terms made with Man, to ſuch lower ones as might comply with his frailty. Under the Law there were Sacrifices called by the Jewiſh Doctors, Gnoleh najored, aſcending, and deſcending. The rich man offered a Lamb, the poor, whoſe hand could not reach ſo far, offered two Turtle-Doves. While Man was rich in Holy Powers and Excellencles, God called for pure perfect ſinleſs Obedience; but after the Fall, he being poor in Spirituals, altogether unable to pay ſuch a ſum, God ſtoops and accommodates himſelf to Humane weakneſs; a faithful conatus, a ſincere, though imperfect Obedience, will ſerve the turn in order to Mans happineſs. This is the firſt ſtep which infinite Mercy takes in raiſing up Man out of the ruins of the Fall, The old terms were not ſtood upon.
But now, that new terms might be made and eſtabliſhed, that the ſecond Covenant might have an happier iſſue than the firſt, Mercy goes on to give the Son of God for us: God ſo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoſoever believeth in him, ſhould not periſh, but have everlaſting life, John 3.16. This (ſo) is unutterable, this Love unmeaſurable, diffuſing it ſelf, not to Jews only, but to a World, and that overwhelmed in ſin; giving, and that freely, without any Merit of ours, a Son, and an only begotten Son, that we through faith in him might have life eternal, and there enjoy him who is Love it ſelf, for ever. Here is a Mine of Love too deep and rich for any Creature to fathom, or count the value of it. But before I open it, I ſhall firſt remove the ill uſe which the Socinians make of this Love, to overturn Chriſts Satisfaction. If God (ſay they) ſo loved us, as to give his Son for us, then he was not angry with us;Oportuiſſe Deum jam placatiſſimum eſſe, Soc. de Serv. l. 1. c. 7. Non vos pudet, iram divinam, eam que immenſam, ibi fingere, ubi nil niſi immenſus amor elucet? Cui iraſe…batur Deus, cum unigenitum filium in mortem dabat? Sclicting. contr. Meiſn. and if not angry, then there was no need at all of a Satisfaction to be made for us. Unto which I anſwer; Anger and Love are not inconſiſtencies, in Scripture both are attributed unto God: He gave his Son for us, was not that Love, immenſe Love? He wounded and bruiſed him for our iniquities: he made him to be ſin and a curſe for us; Was not there Wrath, great Wrath? We have both together in one Text, Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and ſent his Son to be the propitiation for our ſins, 1 John 4.10. The high Emphaſis of his Love, was in giving his Son to be a Propitiation for us: unleſs there had been juſt anger, a Propitiation would have been needleſs; unleſs there had been immenſe Love, his Son ſhould not have been made one for us. We have a plain inſtance in Job's friends; Gods Wrath was kindled againſt them, and yet in love he directs them to atone him by a Sacrifice, Job 42.7, 8. God could not but be angry at the Sin of the World, and yet in love he gave his Son to be an expiatory Sacrifice. But for a more full anſwer, I ſhall lay down ſeveral things:
1. God may be conſidered either as a Rector, or as a Benefactor. As a Rector, he acts out of a juſt anger in vindicating his broken Law by Penal Sufferings. As a Benefactor, he acts out of admirable love, in giving his Son to be a Propitiation for us. When he vindicates his Law by Puniſhments, Is it not Anger? when he gives his Son for us, Is it not Love? If he be a Rector, Can he not be a Benefactor too? Then he could not give his Son without laying down of his Government. If he be a Benefactor, Can he not be a Rector too? Then he could not govern, without laying down his Love; but if, as the truth is, he may be both, then Anger and Love may conſiſt together.
2. Gods diſpleaſure may be taken either as it terminates on the ſin, or as it terminates on the ſinner; as it terminates on the ſin, it is altogether unremovable. God himſelf, with reverence be it ſpoken, can no more remove it, than he can lay down his Sanctity, which in the very notion of it, includes an abhorrency of ſin: As it terminates on the ſinner, ſo it may be removed. This appears, in that God pardons ſin, and that (as the Scripturephraſe foreign imports) in ſuch a way, that the Penal Sufferings are tranſlated from the ſinner himſelf to his Sponſor. The Divine diſpleaſure did paſs off from us, or elſe we could not have been pardoned or ſaved; and it did light upon Chriſt, or elſe that Holy One could not have been made a Curſe, which no meer Sufferings, if abſtracted from Divine Wrath, can amount unto. We ſee here, there is diſpleaſure at the ſin, and yet infinite love towards the ſinner, in tranſlating the puniſhment upon another.
3. Gods Love is double, a Love of Complacence, which delights in the Creature, and a Love of Benevolence, which deſigns good to it. The firſt takes pleaſure in the Saints, who bear his holy Image. The ſecond diffuſes it ſelf to ſinners, who in themſelves are worthy of Wrath. Hence the Apoſtle tells us, God commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet ſinners, Chriſt died for us, Rom. 5.8. Sinners are objects of diſpleaſure, and yet Love breaks out towards them in that great inſtance, the Death of Chriſt. If ever there were anger in God, 'twas at the Sin of a World; if ever there were Love in him, 'twas in the Gift of his Son. Theſe two may very well ſtand together.
4. Man may be conſidered, either as a Sinner, or as a Creature. A man who hath a rebellious Son, may be angry with him as rebellious, and yet compaſſionate him as a Son. In like manner, God may be angry with us as Sinners, and yet love us as Creatures.
Having removed the Socinian-Cavil, I ſhall now proceed to ſpeak of Gods Love, in giving his Son for us. Here I ſhall diſtinctly conſider the giver. The Gift. The manner how it was given. The perſons for whom. The evil removed, and good procured by it, and the excellent Evangelical terms built upon it. Each one of theſe will illuſtrate this Love in giving his Son for us.
The Giver is God himſelf, no other could do it. And here two things offer themſelves to us:
The one is the earlineſs of his Love. It was no Novel temporary thing, but ancient, nay eternal; upon the Preſcience of the Fall he eternally deſigned, that his Son ſhould aſſume our Nature, and in it dye as an expiatory Sacrifice for us: Chriſt was the Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world, 1 Pet. 1.20. He was ſet down for a Redeemer in the eternal Volumes before the world was up; and ſlain above in Decree, long before he was ſlain below in Time. A Plaiſter was provided before the wound, a Saviour before the Fall of Man. When David would ſet forth Gods Mercy in the higheſt ſtrain, He doth it thus, His mercy is from everlaſting to everlaſting, Pſal. 103.17. Such is his Love in Chriſt, reaching, as I may ſay, from one end of eternity to another: Each one of us may cry out, as that Ancient did, Sero te amavi, Domine, Lord, 'twas late e're I loved thee. Our love is but of yeſterday, a temporary thing, but his was as early as eternity it ſelf.
The other is the freeneſs of it. Love,foreign, Ariſt, Rhet. l. 2. c. 4. as the Philoſopher ſpeaks, wills good to another for his ſake, not for our own. In that wonderful Gift of Chriſt, the Love was Gods, the profit ours. Mercy in man hath a kind of reſpect to the Donor: frail Humanity, and the wheel of a mutable world tell him, That himſelf, the now giver, may peradventure come to be a receiver. Hence the Apoſtle would have us remember them in adverſity, as being in the body, Heb. 13.3, and reſtore the lapſed, conſidering thy ſelf, Gal. 6.1. It may be our own caſe. There is in ſuch acts of Mercy, a kind of reſpect to our future ſelf, which poſſibly may become an object for Mercy. But Mercy in God, which is the ſuavity of his Eſſence, iſſues out in a pure gratuitous way; no ſuch reſpect can fall upon him, who is immutable and bleſſed for ever. In the freeneſs of his Love, there are two things conſiderable: On Gods part there was no want, on Mans no attractive.
On Gods part there was no want of us, or our Services; were there want with him, he could not be God: Could we ſupply him, we ſhould be greater than himſelf in furniſhing him with that which he could not do for himſelf; He is All-ſufficient, and what want can be in him? Infinite, and what can be added to him? An Ocean, though vaſt, yet, becauſe finite, may receive an addition from a little drop. But what can be added to infinity, which in its unmeaſurable excellency comprizes all things within it ſelf? All nations to him are but as the drop of the bucket, and as the ſmall duſt of the ballance, Iſa. 40.15. Their Righteouſneſs cannot add one beam to his eſſential Glory, neither can their iniquity in the leaſt eclipſe it. However it be with the Creature, he is ſtill himſelf. His own happineſs a ſphere of all Perfections, a Theatre of Glory to himſelf. Hence it appears, that Gods Love in giving his Son for us, was not a Love of indigence, but of fulneſs and redundance, flowing out in a pure gratuitous manner towards us, that the honour might be his, and the profit ours. He gives like himſelf, out of ſuper-effluent goodneſs, as becomes one who is a Donor only, but no Receiver.
On Mans part there was no attractive, to move God to give his Son for us. Mans Love is uſually drawn out by ſome excellency or other in the object: but what can draw out Gods? Could the Origine of all goodneſs be attracted by any thing in the Creature? Yet is it poſſible that any thing ſhould be found in a fallen Creature to attract it? Mans miſery was indeed the occaſion, but what was the attractive? Was our Love firſt, and a charm to his? Oh! no; to ſay, that a Creature is firſt in Love, is to blaſpheme the Supreme Goodneſs, which ſets up Love in it. The Apoſtle is expreſs, Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and ſent his Son to be the propitiation for our ſins, 1 John 4.10. Between men, Love is ordinarily reciprocal; he that loves, is beloved again: but here the Love was on one ſide only.foreign, Ariſt. Rhet. l. 2. c. 4. God loved his very Enemies ſo far, as to give his Son for them, to raiſe up their Love to its great Original. Among men an harmony of ſpirits, a ſameneſs of tempers is a motive to Love. But what? was there, could there be any ſuch thing in fallen man as ſuch? How then was he fallen? What need was there of a Saviour? That holy Harmony was Mans Primitive rectitude; and whileſt it laſted, there was no need of any reſtorer. Alas! fallen man was a very Chaos of corruption, his very rational Powers were depraved; there was fleſh in his ſpirit, enmity in his mind againſt him, who lighted up a pure Reaſon in him at the firſt. There was bondage in his Will, it could not; nay, ſuch was its horrible perverſneſs, it would not elevate it ſelf to the fountain of its liberty. Among men, goodneſs is an allective to Love: but what goodneſs was there in a fallen, degenerate Creature, full-fraught with ſin, and oppoſite to its Maker? The very reliques of the Divine Image, which ſin could not utterly expel out of the humane Nature, were yet ſo captivated and impriſoned there, that groſs Idolatry filled the world in ſpight of all the notions of a Deity implanted in the hearts of men. We ſee cleerly, there was no attractive on our part: Why then did God give his Son for us? The only reaſon was from himſelf, it was meer Grace, ſelf-moving Mercy, a pure emanation of Love towards us unworthy Creatures, who might have been made the objects of his Wrath and that for ever.
The next thing conſiderable is the Gift it ſelf, and that was the Son of God, very God; a greater, a dearer perſon could not be given; if we meaſure Gods Love by the Gift, it is like that, altogether unmeaſurable. Hence the Apoſtle tells us, That there is a breadth, and length, and depth, and height, infinite dimenſions in it, ſuch as paſs the knowledg of men and angels, Eph. 3.18, 19. When God gave us the Creatures for our uſe, he gave us but the drops and models of his Goodneſs: but when he gave his Son for us, he gave himſelf; God was the Giver, and God the Gift. When God could ſwear by no greater, he ſware by himſelf; when he could give no greater, he gave himſelf. Here was Love acted to the uttermoſt, elevated to the higheſt point; a greater Gift there could not be. 'Twas great Love in Jonathan to David, that for him he would ſtrip himſelf of his Robe, nay, and venture the caſt of a Javelin from an angry Father. But what manner of Love was it in God, that he would ſtrip himſelf of his Orient pearl; that he would give his Son, his eternal Joy out of his boſom, to aſſume an humane Nature, and in it to bear the horrible ſtroke of Juſtice, which was due to us for our iniquities? In giving Laws and Promiſes, God gives but a created Image of his Sanctity and Grace; but in giving his Son, he gave his eſſential increated Image to ſuffer in the fleſh for us, that his holy Image, broken in the fall, might be repaired again in us. When we were off from God, the Center of Souls, and wandring in the foul ways of ſin, God out of his immenſe Love, ſent no leſs perſon than his only begotten. Son to ſeek us, and bring us back unto himſelf, that we might be for ever happy in the fruition of him.
The greatneſs of this Love will yet further appear, if we conſider the manner how the Son of God was given for us. The lower a man ſtoops and condeſcends to do another good, the higher and more eminent is his Love; the ſteps wherein the Son of God came down and humbled himſelf for us, evidently declare the infinite height of that Love, which made him ſtoop ſo low to compaſs our Salvation. The firſt ſtep was his Incarnation, the word was made fleſh; he, who was in the form of God, took on him an humane Nature. In the Creation infinite produced finite, but here infinite aſſumed finite; there Eternal brought forth Temporal, but here Eternal took Temporal into it ſelf: and what a wonderful Condeſcenſion was this? It's true, Reaſon in the Socinian laughs at it, but Faith in the Chriſtian muſt needs admire it. Had the greateſt Monarch on Earth confined himſelf to the pooreſt Cottage there, it would have been nothing to God Tabernacling in the fleſh. Should the higheſt Angel in Heaven have put off his Perfections, and come down into an humane Nature; and from thence have paſſed into a brutal beſtial one, and ſo on into a tree or ſtone, and at laſt into nullity; it would not have been a Condeſcenſion comparable to that of the Son of God coming in the fleſh. His Sacred Perſon was infinitely more above humane Nature, than an Angel is above matter or nullity it ſelf: and what unparallel'd Love was here? The Creator became a Creature; the Son of God aſſumed our nature, and that after it was in us tainted with ſin.Dr. Bates of the Attributes, fol. 171. The natural diſtance (ſaith that excellent Man) between God and the Creature is infinite; the Moral between God and the ſinful Creature, if poſſible, is more than infinite. Yet the mercy of our Redeemer overcame this diſtance. What an extaſie of Love tranſported the Son of God ſo far, as to eſpouſe our nature, after it was defiled and debaſed with ſin? He was eſſential Innocence and Purity; yet he came in the ſimilitude of ſinful fleſh, which to outward view was not different from what was really ſinful. Thus he. St. Auſtin calls Love, junctura duo copulans, a coupling of two together: That after man had rent off himſelf from God by his Apoſtacy, God ſhould aſſume an humane Nature into himſelf, to make up the breach, and reduce Man into an Union with himſelf again,Miror Deum in utero Virginis: miror omnipotentem in cunabulis: miror quemodo verbo Dei caro adhaeſerit, Cypr. de Nat. Chriſti. muſt needs be Love in a tranſcendent exceſs infinite. This made St. Cyprian overlook the wonders in Nature, that he might raviſh himſelf in the admirations of an Incarnate God. The Condeſcenſion was here ſo great, that God ſeems to neglect his own Majeſty, that he may comply with our neceſſities; yet infinite Love would have the Son of God ſtoop a little lower, and do honour to that Sacred Law which we had violated. His humane Nature being an inmate in his infinite Perſon, could not but have a right to Heaven, and might have been immediately rapt up thither; but Love ſet him another task. He, the great Lawgiver, was made under the Law: He, who knew the Father in an infinity of light, now knew him in a finite Reaſon: He who embraced the Father in an infinity of Love, now loved him in a finite Will: He, who was Lord of all, was ſubject to Parents and Magiſtrates: He, who upholds the world, went up and down as a man doing of good; he ſtooped as low as the Ceremonial Law: His pure fleſh was circumciſed, he kept the Paſſeover, and ſo obedientially ſtood under his own ſhadow. This is a Condeſcenſion much greater, than if all the Angels in Heaven had put themſelves under the Laws of the loweſt matter; yet infinite Love would have the Son of God go down a little lower. We have him hungry, thirſty, weary, weeping, ſuffering the contradiction of Sinners, enduring the temptations of Satan, all his life-through a man of ſorrows: at laſt we have him bleeding on a Croſs, hanging there as a ſpectacle of ſhame; his hands and his feet were pierced, his body was racked and tortured to death in a ſtinking Golgotha. But, which was the greateſt of all, he bore the Wrath of God: and what was that Wrath, which was due to the ſin of a World? or what thoſe Sufferings, which ſatisfied Juſtice for it? What a great thing was the Paſſion of God? and how much beyond the diſſolution of a World? Words cannot utter it, thoughts cannot meaſure it. That Love muſt be no leſs than immenſe, which made the Son of God ſtoop ſo low, to take us up out of the ruins of the Fall.
The Love of God will yet more appear, if we take notice of the perſons for whom Chriſt was given; it was for man, poor impotent man, a creature worth nothing, a bankrupt in Spirituals, one void of all thoſe Primitive Excellencies, which at firſt Crowned the humane Nature; for him it was, that God was at ſo vaſt an expence, as that of his own blood.Spond. Annal. Anno 431. 'Twas great Charity in Paulinus, Biſhop of Nola, that he would give himſelf in pawn to the Vandals for a poor Child; but it was tranſcendent ſuperlative Love in God, to give his Son, one worth Millions of Worlds, and as rich in Excellencies as a Deity could make him, to be emptied and humbled to death for poor worthleſs worms, ſuch as we are. Ye know the grace of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, that though he was rich, yet for our ſakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich, ſaith the Apoſtle, 2 Cor. 8.9. The Riches of a God were laid out to ſet up broken man again. But further, it was for Sinners, for Enemies, ſuch as were in Arms againſt God; ſuch as had broken his Laws, deſpiſed his Authority, caſt off his Soveraignty, and as much as in them lay, ſtained his Glory. Theſe were the perſons, upon whoſe Salvation infinite Love ſet ſo high a rate, that rather than fail, the Life of God ſhould be paid down for it. The Apoſtle notably ſets forth this, Scarcely for a righteous man will one dye, yet peradventure for a good man ſome would even dare to dye: But God commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet ſinners, Chriſt died for us, Rom. 5.7, 8. Sometimes poſſibly, though but rarely, one may dye for a righteous good Man, who is a bleſſing to the place where he lives. But this was Chriſts Prerogative to dye for Sinners: this was the ſupereminency of Divine Love to give him ſo to do. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, Joh. 15.13. Thus our Saviour. A greater proof or effect of Love than death there cannot be; but Love is then in an higher and more excellent degree, when that death is, as in our Saviours caſe it was, for Enemies, than it is, when the death is for Friends. Damon and Pythias, two intimate friends, were willing to dye one for another; but Chriſt died for Enemies. In Creation God overcame Nullity, but in Redemption he overcomes Enmity it ſelf, and that in a wonderful way: He aſſumes an humane Nature, and in it pours out his precious blood, to melt and break that horrible Enmity, which was in us againſt him.
If we would ſee more of this Love, let us turn our eyes upon the evils removed, and the good procured by our Saviour Chriſt.
All evils are either Moral, ſuch as ſin; or which waits upon the other, Phyſical, ſuch as puniſhment: all of them are removed by our Saviour, who ſaves from Sin and Wrath. Man was under the guilt of Sin, and ſo under the Wrath of God. Wrath in the threatning hung as an horrible Tempeſt over his head, and within there was the dreadful Eccho of it in Conſcience. But the Sufferings of Chriſt were ſo ſatisfactory and meritorious for us, that as ſoon as we return and believe on him, all our guilt is done away. It's true, the guilt in it ſelf, in the intrinſecal deſert of puniſhment, is perpetual, becauſe ſin cannot ceaſe to be ſin; but it doth no longer redound upon our perſons, to oblige us to puniſhment. The heavy burden is now lifted off from Conſcience, the black Cloud of Wrath is diſſolved, the curſing Law hath nothing to ſay againſt us; There is no condemnation to them which are in Chriſt, Rom. 8.1. It's true, afflictions may fall upon a Believer, but there is no Condemnation, there is not a jot of Wrath in them; they are rather Caſtigatory than Penal, managed in the hand of Mercy, rather than Juſtice. In the iſſue it appears, that there was Love and Faithfulneſs in them, that even in thoſe afflicting paths, Mercy and Truth are found: all things ſhall work together for good unto the Believer, Afflictions and all. Theſe ſerve for excellent purpoſes, to fan off his Vanity, melt away his Corruption, alarm his ſpiritual Watch, refine his golden Graces, caſt him into the Image of a meek ſuffering Chriſt, unearth, unſelf him, and elevate his affections towards the everlaſting reſt which is above. Affliction, after it hath budded and bloſſomed with ſuch precious fruits, is no longer evil, but an excellent good. It's true alſo, that death Temporal will ſeize upon him, but the curſe is gone, the ſting out; death, which at firſt was a puniſhment, now hath a bleſſing in it. It was Originally introduced by ſin; but through the admirable Grace of our Saviour it carries away thoſe reliques of ſin, which no Tears, Prayers, Watchings, Pious endeavours could utterly extirpate, whileſt we are in the body: it throws down the earthen walls into their mother-duſt. But who would not dye, and with Hilarion bid his Soul, Go out, that he might be rid of ſin? There is indeed a paſſage out of a Temporal life, but it is into an Eternal one. The ſoul, when it leaves its old friend the body, flies into the bleſſed Region, there to enjoy God in an immediate manner; to read truth in its Original, and taſte goodneſs in the Fountain: the body, which at preſent diſſolves into duſt, ſhall wake again, and be made like to the glorious body of Chriſt. Mortal ſhall put on immortality, corruptible incorruption, death ſhall be ſwallowed up in victory; it is no longer an evil to the Believer.
Again, Man was under the Power of Sin, and ſo under the Tyranny of Satan. Sin was a Lord, a Ruler over him; not only over his outward man, whoſe members were the weapons of it, but over the inward too. It had ſtrong-holds in his Reaſon, and a throne in his Will; he was a drudg, a ſlave to his luſts, hurried up and down by one Corruption or other; wandring in error, or ſwelling in pride, or pining in envy, or boiling in malice, or burning in luſt, or drowning in ſenſual pleaſures, ſome way or other ſerving his Iniquity. Satan, the Ruler of darkneſs, hath a Palace in his heart, and keeps poſſeſſion there; upon all occaſions he blows up Original Corruption into ſinful motions, motions into conſents, conſents into acts, acts into habits. Thus he carries on the ſinner in a circle of ſinning, till inevitable ruin overtake him; but in and through Chriſt there is deliverance from this horrible ſervitude. The Holy Spirit comes and reſcues the ſinner; it opens his eyes to ſee himſelf ſtanding, as he doth, at the brink of Hell and Death; it melts him into tears and godly ſorrows for ſin; it breaks down the ſtrong-holds and throne of ſin in the heart; it caſts out Satan and the helliſh furniture; it tranſlates the poor ſinner from the power of darkneſs, into the Kingdom of Chriſt, into a Region of Grace and Power, where Sin and Satan cannot have the Victory. Thoſe precious Promiſes, that ſin ſhall not have Dominion, that Satan ſhall be bruiſed under our feet, are now ſealed and experimented in the heart. The poor Captive is now brought out of Bondage, into the true liberty of Holineſs and Obedience. Here we ſee the matchleſs incomparable Love of God, which delivered us from ſo many great Evils. Hezekiah being reſcued from Death, made his acknowledgments: O Lord, thou haſt in love to my ſoul delivered me from the pit of corruption: or, as the Original hath it, Thou haſt loved my ſoul from the pit of corruption. Every Believer, who hath taſted of the great Salvation, may ſay, Lord, thou haſt loved me from Sin, Satan, Death, Hell, by delivering me from all theſe evils.
Moreover, as all evils were removed, ſo all good things were procured by Chriſt. Temporals were ſo, the world owes its ſtanding to him. Juſtice, but for his expiatory Sacrifice, would have daſhed it down about the ſinners …ears. Sin, but for the Cement of his blood, would have unframed all things in nature: that right to the Creature, which we forfeited by our iniquity, was reſtored again by his Merits. The Believer ſhall now have ſo much of the world, as infinite Wiſdom and Mercy (more competent Judges than humane Reaſon and Will), ſhall think a fit portion for him; and what he hath, he ſhall have with the Love of God, which, as it is the higheſt ſuavity in it ſelf, ſo it pours out a delicious reliſh into all outward things. Spirituals were ſo; thoſe initial Graces of Faith and Repentance, which introduce us into an Union with Chriſt, are from him. He is a Prince and Saviour to give repentance, Acts 5.31. To you it is given in the behalf of Chriſt to believe on him, Phil. 1.29. As ſoon as we repent and believe, we are juſtified in his blood, and by a conjunction with him the natural Son, we have power and right to become the Sons of God by Adoption and Grace. The Holy Spirit, the fountain of Graces and Comforts, which was upon him the head above meaſure, will fall down upon us his Members in a proportion; every Grace, every piece of the glorious new-creature is created in him. In the power of his Merits and Spirit, every comfort, every beam of Divine Favour comes down to us through him. He is the true Mercy-ſeat, where God meets and communes in words of Grace with us. Eternals were ſo too; all the weights of Glory, and Crowns of life in Heaven, were purchaſed by him. His blood opens the Holy of Holies, the pure River of life ſprings out of his Merits, the gift of God is eternal life through Jeſus Chriſt, Rom. 6.28. Had it not been for him, we could never have entred into ſuch a bleſſed Region as Heaven. What a Gift is Chriſt, which virtually contains all gifts and good things in him! How incomparable that Love, which gave us ſo comprehenſive a Gift!
In the laſt place let us conſider the excellent Evangelical Terms, which were founded on the Death of Chriſt. Here two things are conſiderable.
The one is this, The terms are eaſier. The Covenant of Works was, Do this and live: The Covenant of Grace is, Believe, repent, and live. The firſt called for pure, ſinleſs, perfect obedience: The laſt ſtoops and condeſcends to fallen man; it accepts of ſincere, though imperfect obedience; uprightneſs paſſes for perfection, the main of the heart for all of it: the will is accepted for the work, pure aims are taken for compleat performances, infirmities are covered with indulgence, duties are taken into the hand of a Mediator, and perfumed with his infinite Merits; and hence they are acceptable, and as ſweet Odours to God. O how low doth infinite Love and Mercy ſtoop to poor ſinners! It will ſave a repenting believing ſinner, and how can it poſſibly go lower? That God ſhould juſtifie an impenitent unbelieving ſinner, is utterly impoſſible to his Holineſs, unleſs he would open a gap to all ſin and wickedneſs, and make it capable to have a Crown of happineſs at laſt. He could not more condeſcend, than he hath done in the terms of the Goſpel: there is a Kingdom for the poor in ſpirit, a Comfort for the mourners, an acceptance for a willing mind, a favourable reſpect for the leaſt ſpark of grace, which is latent in a deſire, and but as a little ſmoke, or wiek in the ſocket (as the expreſſion is, Matth. 12.20.) And what condeſcending Love is here? How could God ſtoop lower for the Salvation of Men?
The other is this, The terms are ſurer. It's true, Adam, had he ſtood in Righteouſneſs, would have had a reward. But the difference is this, Under the firſt Covenant it was not certain, that Adam, though he had ſufficient grace, ſhould ſtand; but under the ſecond it is as ſure, as Gods Truth and Faithfulneſs in the promiſe can make it, that a people ſhall be gathered up out of the corrupt Maſs of mankind; that Chriſt ſhall have a repenting believing ſeed, and that they ſhall abide and perſevere till they come to the recompence of reward in Heaven. St. Auſtin diſtinguiſhes of a double adjutorium gratiae, De Corrept. & Grat. cap. 12.or help of grace. Adam had that grace, without which he could not have obeyed; Gods People have that, which cauſes them to obey. The firſt gave him a poſſe, a power to obey and perſevere: The ſecond gives us the very velle & perficere, the very willing and working with perſeverance. Hereupon he obſerves, that Adams will, though ſound and without ſpot, did not perſevere in an ampler good, whileſt our will, though weak and infected with indwelling Corruption, doth perſevere in a leſſer. Adam, with all his Holineſs fell before an Apple, a little titillation of pleaſure; but the Chriſtian Martyrs have ſtood it out, notwithſtanding the reliques of ſin in them, againſt racks and torments. Under the firſt Covenant the ſtock of Grace was in Mans own hand, the ſtreſs lay upon his Will; the principle of Holineſs in him was ſubjected to it, to be continued or forfeited. But under the ſecond Covenant, which was founded at ſo vaſt an expence as the Blood of God, Mans Will is not made Truſtee a ſecond time, the ſtock is not in his own hand; Grace is a Victor, and ſubdues the Will unto it ſelf. Hence this Covenant cannot, as the other did, miſcarry: God was a friend to innocent Adam; but in the ſecond Covenant God comes nearer to us in a double Union, ſuch as Adam never dreamt of. There is an Hypoſtatical Union, the Son of God taking our nature into himſelf, and, which is founded thereon, a Myſtical Union, Believers being in a wonderful manner united unto Chriſt, as members unto their head. In the firſt Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in Chriſt, there is one Perſon. In the ſecond, Chriſt and Believers make one Chriſt, 1 Cor. 12.12. Believers are but Chriſt diſplayed: he lives in them, he counts himſelf incomplete without them. By virtue of theſe two Unions it is, that Believers finally perſevere; Becauſe I live (ſaith Chriſt) ye ſhall live alſo, John 14.19. Their life is bound up in his; as long as Chriſt the head is alive above, the believing Members below ſhall not fail of quickning grace, to maintain ſpiritual life unto eternal. The Holy Spirit is in them a well of water, ſpringing up to everlaſting life, John 4.14; and to ſecure the abode of the Spirit with them, Chriſt is a Prieſt after the power of an endleſs life, Heb. 7.16. In the Covenant of Works, there was no promiſe of perſeverance; but in the Covenant of Grace there are many ſuch promiſes: God ſhall confirm you unto the end, 1 Cor. 1.8. He will put his fear in their hearts, that they ſhall not depart from him, Jer. 32.40. The Apoſtle praying for the Theſſalonians, that they may be preſerved blameleſs unto the coming of Chriſt, immediately adds, Faithful is he that called you, who alſo will do it, 1 Theſ. 5.23, 24; evidently God undertakes it, and engages his Faithfulneſs in it. To take theſe Promiſes conditionally, is utterly to evacuate them; to make them run thus, If we will perſevere, we ſhall perſevere; and ſo much was true under the old Covenant, and without any Promiſe at all. The clear ſcope of thoſe Promiſes is, That Believers are not left in their own hand, but kept in Gods; and how ſure an hand that is, our Saviour tells us, None can pluck them out of my Fathers hand, John 10.29. I know ſome take theſe words with a limitation, None can pluck them away without their own voluntary conſent: but this limitation makes the words altogether inſignificant; it is not poſſible, that they ſhould be plucked away without their conſent: The words therefore, with that limitation, run thus, None can pluck them, but in ſuch a way as the ſame is poſſible to be done; and thus they ſignifie nothing. That which our Saviour makes impoſſible in the Text, becomes in the Gloſs as poſſible as any other thing. Here we ſee the incomparable Love of God to his People; there is in Chriſt an everlaſting Covenant ordered in all things, and ſure; they are preſerved in Chriſt, and that unto ſalvation.
This infinite immenſe Love of God in Chriſt can do no leſs than call for a return. What? was it not enough for him to give us a World of Creatures? Hath he given his Son, his only begotten, dearly beloved Son for us? Hath he given him ſo far, as to be made fleſh, and made under the Law, the command and curſe of it? Hath he thereby removed all Evils, and procured all good things for us? Hath he done this for Sinners, for Enemies, and that out of an eternal deſign of Grace; out of ſuch Love, as was an impulſe to it ſelf, without any attractive on our part to move him thereunto? And after all this, ſhall not our hearts take fire, and burn within us with Love to him again? When his Love was up in Eternity, ſhall not ours appear in time? When he loved us worthleſs, meritleſs Creatures, ſhall not we love him upon the higheſt and greateſt attractives? When he gave his Son, when the Giver and the Gift were both infinite, ſhall our finite affections be ſhut up from him, or denied unto him? Our Love to his is but a little drop, a poor inconſiderable nothing: and with what face or reaſon can we withhold it, when infinite Love calls for it? Hath God himſelf come down, as it were, from his altitude, and in admirable Grace followed us? Firſt into our fleſh, and then into a Law-ſubjection, and at laſt into a Curſe and Penal Sufferings; and all this upon an errand of Peace and Reconciliation to reduce us again to himſelf, and to happineſs in him: and ſhall we yet fly away from him, and by an horrible indignity turn our backs upon ſuch admirable purſuits of Love and Grace? After ſuch a deliverance from Sin and Hell as this, May we think our ſelves our own, or turn away our hearts, ſo much as in the glance of a thought, from ſo great a Saviour? After ſuch a purchaſe of Grace and Heaven, ſhould we not lye down at his feet in extatical admirations, and ſend up our deareſt affections to the great Donor? If Creatures, if Laws, if Ordinances move us not; ſhall we yet be unaffected at the ſpectacle of a God incarnate, obeying, bleeding, dying, for us Sinners and Enemies? It's horrible ingratitude, having ſuch a proſpect of infinite Love before our eyes. Let us do, as becomes us; give God our heart, not a piece or corner of it, but all; not in ſome weak languid velleities, but in the higheſt ſtrains and raiſures of ſpirit; not in ſome drops or rivulets, but in a full ſtream and current of affections, ſuch as is due to him who is the Original of ſouls. Our deſires, before vagrant on Earth, ſhould now take Wing and fly up to Heaven; our Love, once in corrupt conjunction with Creatures, ſhould now aſpire after a pure Union with him, who is Love it ſelf: Our delights ſhould no longer toy or ſport with vanity, but ſpread, and ſweetly dilate themſelves in the Beams of infinite Goodneſs: All the Powers of our Souls ſhould now be gathered in from the World, and upon on a full deliberate choice ſhould be placed upon the Center of Perfections. The proof of all this muſt be in a life of Obedience; without this it is meer vanity to ſay, that we love him. Holy Love goes not alone, or without a train of good works following after it: the warmth and ardor of it in the heart purifies the life; the inward ſuavity of it facilitates the outward Command, and naturalizes us to Obedience: as it ſets a high rate and eſtimation upon God himſelf, ſo upon every jot and tittle of his Law. The complacency, which we find in him, makes us take pleaſure in all the pure ways, which he hath ſet before us; if we eſteem him above Worlds and Creatures, we will allow his Will to be above all Wills, and ſubject ours to it.
Moreover the Love of God moves us to love our Neighbour. What? hath God gone before us in ſuch admirable ſteps of Love? and ſhall we not be followers of him as dear children, and walk in love, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Eph. 5.1, 2? Can there be an higher or nobler pattern than Love it ſelf? Shall he do good in the ſphere of Nature, and more and higher good in the ſphere of Grace, and we do none in our little ſphere? Shall infinite Bowels and Mercies be open, and finite ones ſhut? When God hath given ſo great a Gift as his own Son, May we withhold our little Pittances of Charity? Would we receive all, and give nothing? Exact pence from our Brother, when Talents are forgiven to our ſelves? Is God come into our fleſh? and ſhall we hide our ſelves from it, I mean, in the neglect or contempt of the poor? Did he take humanity, that we ſhould put it off? No, in ſo doing we ſhould reproach not our Maker only, but our Redeemer too. Inhumanity is now double, treble, to what it was before our Saviour took an humane Nature, to read us a Lecture of Love and Goodneſs in: the old Commandment of Love is now a new one, urged upon us by a new Motive, The incomparable Love of God in his giving his Son for us. If we now ſhut up our Bowels and Mercies from others, how dwelleth the Love of God in us? What ſenſe can we have of it upon our hearts? Charity was the badg of the Primitive Chriſtians. The impreſs of Gods Love upon Mr. Fox was ſo great, that he never denied any that asked for Jeſus ſake. Our Love towards men ſhould be a little picture or reſemblance of Gods Love towards us. Our Mercies and Compaſſions ſhould tell the world, that we have taſted of that infinite Grace and Mercy which is above. Our Charity towards all ſhould bear witneſs, that we have been great receivers from God. Our Love towards Enemies ſhould be a thankful acknowledgment, that we being ſuch, were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son.