A Discourse Grounded on Proverbs, Part 2 · Section 36
Sect. XXXVI.
High thoughts …f imputed R…ghteouſneſsANd how Highly Reputed ſhould that Imputed Righteouſneſs be by Thee, which the Apoſtle counts a Gain, for which He willingly Suffered the leſ… of All, Rom, 4, 24nay for the working out of which Chriſt Himſelf became poor, that We by his povertie might b… made rich. Phil. 3, 8 9'Twas this Righteouſneſs that was look'd at in th… Sacrifices, 2 Cor, 8, 9and through the Sprinklings of the Law, for ſaith th… Holy-Ghoſt, If the Blood of Bul… and Goats, He. 9, 14, 15and the ſprinkling th… that are unclean, Sanctify as to th… purifying of the Fleſh, how mu… more ſhall the Blood of Christ, &… purge your Conſcience? &c. A… that the Thoughts of the Old T… ſtament-Believers ran ſo muc… upon, Davids eſpecially, his ver… Dying Thoughts ran of this … … Sam. 23, 1appears by his laſt words, Although mine Houſe be not ſo with God, yet God hath made a Covenant with me, Ordered in all things and ſure, Verſe 5this is All my Salvation and All my deſire, &c. Bleſſed be God what ever is out of Order, the Covenant of Grace is Ordered in All things and ſure; my help and my hope is not in my ſelf, or in any thing of my own, 'tis laid up elſewhere in better keeping, One ſhall ſay, IN the Lord I have ſtrength, Iſaia. 45, 24and I have Righteouſneſs: and IN the Lord, Verſe 25the whole Houſe of Iſrael (that is all that ever ſhall have Peace) ſhall he Iuſtifyed and ſhall Glory; thus Iſaiah; So Ieremy ſpeaking of the Church,Jere. 33, 16 He that ſhall call her is The Lord Our Righteouſneſs; So Daniel, Dan. 9, 17Now therefore, O our God, hear the Prayer of thy Servant, &c. and cauſe thy face to ſhine, &c.Eze. 14, 14 for the Lords Sake. You ſee Daniel, who is reckon'd by the Holy-Ghoſt with Noah and Iob, one of the beſt men that ever was, hath not a Thought of any Acceptance or Audience from any Righteouſneſs or Works of his Own; but onelyonly for Chriſts ſake, 2 Co. 12, 12Lord do it ſaith he for the Lords ſake. Nay S. Paul that came behind no Man, and Laboured more abundantly than All, 1 Co. 15, 10that exerciſed himſelf always to have a Conſcience void of Offence, Acts 24.16both towards God and towards all Men, that Beat down his Body to bring it in Subjection, 1 Cor. 9, 27&c, In a word, Whereinſoever any might ſeem to have any thing to boaſt, 2 Cor. 11, 22 to the endHe had more, yet you find no man more triumphing in an Imputed Righteouſneſs, Rom. 4 cha. Rom. 5 cha.by FAITH, GRACE, FREE GIFT; No man more abaſing, nay abhorring the very Thought of all ſelf-wrought Righteouſneſs (not of Works ſaith He,Epheſ. 2, 9 leaſt any man ſhould boast) but ſweeping down, throughout his writeings (eſpecially the Epiſtles to the Romans, Ga…atians, Rom …ap. 5 and 6Epheſians) the Spiders Webbe, as the Holy Ghoſt calls all that Hope & Confidence which Man Spins, Gala chap: 2 a… 3as it were, out of his own Bowels; Eph… …ap, 2 Job 8▪ 14nay diſclaiming all compoundings and blendings in the buſineſs of Iuſtification, He will have nothing there but a Chriſt apprehended & received through Faith,Epheſ 2 8. and that too not of our ſelves but the Gift of God; for ſaith He,Rom. 11.6 If it be of Grace it is no more of Works, or elſe Grace were no more Grace; but if it be of Works it is no more of Grace, elſe Work were no more Work.
And how plain, and indeed terrible is that Text?Rom 9 30 What ſhall We ſay then? that the Gentiles which followed not Righteouſneſs, have at… tained unto Righteouſneſs, even the Righteouſneſs which is of Faith: Ver 31, 32But Iſrael which followed after the Law of Righteouſneſs, hath not attained to the Law of Righteouſneſs. Wherefore? becauſe they ſought it not By Faith, but as it were, by the works of the Law, for they have ſtumbled at the ſtumbling ſtone, Verſe 33 …as it written, Behold I will lay in Sion a ſtumbling ſtone, and a Rock of Offence; And every one that Believeth in Him ſhall not be aſhamed. Let Papiſts then mock on, and call this Imputed Righteouſneſs a Putative (or an imaginary) Righteouſneſs, yet what is to them Fooliſhneſs, 1 Pet. 2, 6and to many a ſtumbling ſtone, let it be to thee,Philip. 3, 3 O my Soul, a Foundation; Rejoice thou in Ieſus, and have thou no Confidence in the Fleſh.