Influences of the Life of Grace, Part 1 · Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
Of the Soveraignty of God in his actings, and eſpecially in influences. And 2. what Soveraignty is.
BEcauſe the influence of the Lord's grace depends moſt upon the Soveraignty of God, ſo far above us, as is ſpoken in the fourth Article; its needful we ſpeak of theſe.
1. What Soveraignty is.
2. In how many particulars the ſoveraignty of God doth appear.
3. What ſubmiſſion we owe, and how we are to ſtoop thereunto.
4. Such as are moſt active in doing God's will, are moſt ſubmiſſively patient in ſuffering his will, & contra.
5. We are to give ſubmiſſion of pain to God.
6. Providence of the Goſpel is above Law-providence.
7. The righteouſneſs of God is incomparably above our righteouſneſs.
8. Our Juſtification is not negative only.
9. The Law requires ſinleſs ſuffering.
10. Inherent righteouſneſs is not the adequate end of the Goſpel.
1.What Soveraignty is, and how it differs from omnipotency. To know what Soveraignty is. 1. Let us ſee what it is not. 1. Omnipotency and Soveraignty thus differ; Omnipotency looks ſimply to effects phyſically, what the Lord can doe: he can of ſtones make ſons to Abraham; he can create millions of Worlds; his Soveraignty is not only his holy Nature what he can doe and ſo ſuppoſeth his Omnipoteucy, but alſo what he doth freely, or doth not freely, and doth by no natural neceſſity, and ſo it includes his holy ſupreme Liberty, and alſo what the Lord may doe, as it were Jure he may doe all things, and (as Elihu ſaith) gives not an account of his matters to any, Job 33. 13. by his holy ſoveraign Will as above all Laws that bind the rational Creatures, he does as he pleaſeth, and what he pleaſeth: and none can ſay What doſt thou? Hence 1. Its graciouſneſs of holy Soveraignty, that becauſe he is Soveraign, he does not cruſh us; the fleſh ſpeaks that in Job 10. 3. to the Lord; Is it good to thee that thou ſhouldeſt oppreſs? and becauſe he is ſoveraign upon the account of his ſoveraignty, he cruſheth not under his feet all the priſoners of the earth: to turn aſide the right of a man before the face of the moſt High, Lam. 3. 33, 34. whereas, to ſinful ſoveraigns, power is a Law many take by violence, fields and houſes, becauſe its in the power of their ha…ds to doe it, Micah 2. the Law of the Lion and the great Fiſh, to devour the Lamb and ſwallow the leſſer Fiſh, is only power and ſtrength. Satan and his never ſtays in this ſide of their power, but doth all the evil they can; Jerem. 3. 5. Behold, thou haſt ſpoken, and done evill as thou could; the ſoveraignty of God ſaith he may withdraw influences of grace from Angels and Men as pleaſeth him beſt; he may let this Ground wither and dry up as a Rock, and make the other Plot of Ground near by, like a fruitful Paradice; and why may not Soveraignty diſpoſe of hearts to harden them? but his outgoings of ſoveraignty are not always to deſtroy.
2. Our great ones are ſo far above the bloud, the cries and ſufferings of the needy; let the poor die in the pit, they have an higher imployment then to lend their heart to lodge thoughts of compaſſion toward the afflicted, Amos 6. 1, 2, 3, 4. greatneſs diſpiſes the deſolation of the poor; but Job 36. 5. Behold, God is mighty and diſpiſeth not any; ſaith Elihu, Pſal. 69. 33. The Lord deſpiſeth not his priſoners; why? and is he not above their tears? yea, 34. let Heaven and Earth praiſe him; then muſt he be great and high above the mourners, yet he owns their tears, Pſal. 102. 19, 20.
3. And the Lord's Soveraignty hinders him not to give a ſort of reckoning of his doings, Iſa. 5. Judge between me and my vineyard, Mich. 6. 3. O my people, what have I done to thee? often pride hindereth ſinful ſoveraigns to eaſe the heart of the oppreſſed with a reaſon of their deeds.
2.Soveraignty is to be adored in the hardeſt conditions. What is Soveraignty? its his ſuperexcellent Highneſs by which his holy Will eſſentially wiſe and juſt, is a Law and Rule to himſelf to doe what he pleaſeth, holily, wiſely, moſt freely. But why doth the Lord drive Cart-wheels over the bones of his people? let alone: he will not doe it always, and ſay it were ſo, This cometh forth from the Lord of hoſts, which is wonderful in counſel and excellent in working, Iſa. 28. 29. a godly heart is ſmitten with the wiſdome and authority of holy ſoveraignty; why is Jeruſalem ſpoiled? and why are the Nations at eaſe? holy Soveraignty ſhould meeken and ſilence all men, Zech. 2. 13. Be ſilent, O all fleſh before the Lord: ſupreme Soveraignty cannot erre; and the faith of this quiets the heart under all ſufferings; Hezekiah, Iſa. 38. 15. What ſhall I ſay? he hath ſpoken to me, and himſelf hath done it. Divels and Men are to be looked on as paſſive rods (there is no principle of life in the Rod, in the Sword to lift up themſelves againſt us) they are Wheels rolled about by holy Soveraignty. Ah the Phyſician ſlew my child, the wicked enemy ſlew the father and the ſon, the malicious rail againſt me; but not any of theſe dumb Rods did move themſelves: the Lord bids Shimei curſe David; the Lord ſends the Aſſyrians againſt the Nation of his fury. Conſider the Copy, holy Jeſus, Matth. 26. puts three Seals, three Subſcriptions to one blanck and ſad bill of Wrath; Nevertheleſs not my will, but thy will be done. How was he the formoſt in the journey to Jeruſalem? to ſuffer, as willing that his Bloud be Ink, and his Soul and Body ſheets of Paper; on which might be written (as it were) to be read by Men and Angels, for all Eternity, the Glory and Juſtice of ſpotleſs Soveraignty; and he who ſaid Amen to the Curſe, teacheth us, if God ſhould ſay, I have no delight in thee, to conſent, 2 Sam. 15. 26. and ſay, here am I, let him doe to me as ſeemeth good to him. The wiſhes of Moſes and Paul, who deſire their parts in the Book of Life, and of Chriſt to be laid in pawn for the ſhining of the glory of the Lord in ſaving of many; and that expreſſion of David ſaith, that a gracious ſubmiſſion to Soveraignty will bring the man to this, Let him doe to me what ſeems good in his eyes; if he ſay, he hath no delight in me: well, let Angels and Men Read and Sing the Glory of the Lord, in the flamings of the holy Soveraignty and ſpotleſs Juſtice of God in my torment; and it becomes me conſentingly to lay my ſoul as a threſhing floor under his eternal ſmitings, and to judge I owe a ſpirit to be eternal oyl and fire-wood, to eternally revenging wrath. The Children of God know how hardly Faith can command Senſe to come up to the obligation of receiving in the boſome, with kiſſing and adoring the firie indignation of the Lord. Yet are we to drink with Chriſt, the Cup of ſad abſence, and his holy withdrawings. Heman hath come near this, and David and Jonah; all thy waves have gone over me, thy wrath lies hard upon me; and yet hear ſavoury prayers ſpeaking the rejoycing, and kiſſing of ſoveraignty, and prayers comming out of the furnace of Hell, Pſ. 88. 1. O Lord God of my ſalvation, I cry day and night before thee: What? cries of Faith out of the bowels of a Sea of wrath! Jonah 2. 2. Out of the belly of Hell I cryed, ſaith Jonah; and waves of wrath, all the waves, all the waves of thy wrath are gone over me, ſaith David, Pſal. 45. 8. Yet the Lord will command his loving kindneſs in the day time, and in the night his ſong ſhall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. O how ſweet are theſe; tormenting pain and godly patience; pining pain and ſweet praiſes and pſalms of Saveraignty; The tormented man ſings his own Hell in a Pſalm ſounding up to Heaven; Pſal. 6. Pſal. 42. Pſal. 38. God ſmites me, and I love God, Pſal. 42. 7. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me; yet this Sea and all the waves of this Hell cannot quench heavenly love and the fire of thirſting after God, v. 1. As the Hart panteth after the water brooks, ſo panteth my ſoul after thee, O God. When fiery wrath is in its outgoing, the Lord ſends out wrath and Arrows that ſtick faſt in the ſoul; but David prays to an angry God, he roars and burns in wrath; I pray, Pſal. 38. he caſts on me waves of Hell; I ſend up tears and cries to him, Pſal. 6, 1, 6. he breaks me with breach upon breach, and ſore vexes my ſoul; I believe and truſt in his ſalvation, Pſal. 18. 4, 5, 6. Thus its poſſible, for a Saint to love his own fiery hell, and receive the coals of flaming wrath in his arms, for his holy Soveraign and glorious Name, who is pleaſed ſo to deal with him, and upon the Conſideration that ſo it ſeem good to the only wiſe and ſoveraign Lord. But oh how unlike are we to a people in the furnace adoring the Lord in the outgoings of ſoveraign Juſtice! when the Lord ſmites, ſome murmure, others ſwear, lie, whore, oppreſs, many mock godlineſs and hate it, all go on to break the marriage-faith of a Land once betrothed to God; and ah! if the watchmen had not been guides to theſe who highly wronged Jeſus Chriſt.
From the former,We ſtorm more at permiſſive providences then at our own permitted ſins. follows patient ſilence, and an uſe of our ſubmiſſion to his Soveraignty who withdraws his influences from us, ſo as ſinning follows thereupon: Hence there is a great abuſe of repentance, which is baſtard-repentance. We grieve at the fair work of the Lord's holy permiſſive providence, and are not humbled at our foul ſinning, reſulting by our own fault, from ſuch a providence. See a Copy of a Law-ſorrow (repentance I call it not) in Adam, before any Goſpel was heard of, Gen. 3. 12. that, or, the woman whom thou gave (to be) with me, ſhe foreign ſhe gave me of the tree: There is an Emphaſis in the Woman; The, or that Woman. 2. An Emphaſis in the Lord's liberality; Thou gave her, by way of goodneſs and liberality; but I wiſh the Lord never had been good nor liberal in that kind.foreign 3. To be with me (as an helper, who now is a tempter.) 4. She (as the chief cauſe) gave me of the fruit, and I did eat. I repent (ſays he in ſenſe) that thou was that graciouſly Good as to give me a tempter, but I am not grieved for my own ſin in eating. So the common excuſe; woe to the Providence that God ſent ſuch an unhappy counſeller to me; oh what had I to do there? So does Job repent in ſome reſpect in his weakneſs, not that he came in the world an heir of wrath, and a ſinner, but ah the fatal and wrathful Decree of God, that ever I was born to ſuch miſery, Job 3. 3. Let the day periſh, wherein I was born, Jerem. 20. 14. But the Lord willeth the Crucifiers of Chriſt to mourn that they foreign with wicked hands crucified and ſlew Chriſt: and yet Peter counſels them, Acts 2. 23. to ſubmit humbly to the determinate Counſel and Fore-knowledge of God. Our deceitful hearts are readier to repent for the holy Events and Facts of divine Providence, then for our own ſins, as if the holy Lord did erre in his permiſſive providence, and we doe not amiſſe in tranſgreſſing of an holy Law;They are moſt graciouſly active to doe the will of God, who are moſt graciouſly paſſive to ſuffer his will, and on the contrary. But ſuch as are moſt active to doe the will of God, and eſteem it their meat and drink to obey his will, as Jeſus Chriſt, Jo…. 4. 34. and go about doing good, Acts 10. 38, 39. are moſt paſſively ſavoury and graciouſly ſubmiſſive to ſuffer the will of God, as he was, Matth. 26. Nevertheleſs not my will, but thy will be done; Iſa. 53. 7. He was oppreſſed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he as a Lamb to the ſlaughter, and as a Sheep before her ſhearers is dumb, ſo he opened not his mouth. 1 Pet. 2. 23. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again: when he ſuffered, he threatned not, but committed himſelf to him that judgeth rightouſly. And Jeremiah who mourned ſo, for ſin as he deſired his head were waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears, that he might both be humbled for the judgements and the ſins of the people, Jer. 9. 1, 2. hath ſaid much in the book of the Lamentations for juſtifying God, Lam. 1. 18. Lam. 3. 38, 40, 41, 42. Lam. 4. 10, 11, 12, 13. Lam. 5. 19, 20. and was willing himſelf to be carried captive; So was Daniel who mourns and confeſſeth and faſteth three full weeks, Dan. 4. Dan. 10. 2, 3. and aſcribeth righteouſneſs to God; The more ſubmiſſion there is in Job, there is the more ſpiritual frame of a gracious ſpirit in him, Job. 1. 21, 22. 2 Sam. 16. 10. and they who fret moſt at ſuffering; as Cain, Gen. 4. 13. and Jehoram, 2 Kings 6. 23. Shall I wait any longer upon the Lord? are moſt froward and unwilling to doe or act the will of God. And on the contrary, ſuch are moſt impatient and blaſphemous in ſuffering as damned reprobates, who are leſs active in doing God's will and denying it. 2. The Lord requires unto holy Soveraignty a ſubmiſſion to that permiſſive providence of his;The unſearchableneſs of the Lord's diſpenſation into the eternal ſtanding and falling of Angels and Men. he ſuſpends his gracious influences, and what can we doe but ſin? Say a milſtone were tied with Chains in the Air, if the Chain break, the ſtone muſt fall. Remove the Sun and it muſt be dark night. The Lord knowingly and of purpoſe withdraws his influences, and Angles or Men in their ſtrength cannot ſtand. Convene and ſummon the wittieſt thoughts of Men and Angels, who acknowledge a providence, and anſwer to this; ſuppoſe a maſter of a houſe, excellent in goodneſs and of a deep reach of wiſdome to let fall, out of his hand two precious ſtones of incomparable worth, Jewels of the price of the half of the Earth, and he only can keep them ſafe, yet he ſuffers them knowingly and purpoſely to fall and be broken: The Lord who hangeth the Earth upon nothing, and its not moved, might and could have kept Men and Angels in their integrity, but of purpoſe he ſuffers them to fall and be broken upon a mighty rock.
2. A husbandman hath a huge broad and vaſt plat of ground moſt fertile for wheat, olive trees, the moſt delicious and excellent vines in great abundance, its a wide land of honey, of Milk, of many gardens of incomparably fragrant herbs, with meadows and graſs for millions of flocks, he ſees a great River ſhall overflow all this land, this husbandman only can fence off the river with a ſtrong bank, yet he knowingly ſuffers the Flood to overflow and drown all, that nothing can more grow in it, then the bottome of the Sea.
3. A Governour of Ten rich and populous Cities, knows of a train of fire, which by degrees ſhall at length conſume, in one flame, men, women, ſucking children, gold, ſilver, houſes, gardens, he can quench the train, if he pleaſe, yet he ſuffers a ſtrong wind to blow upon it, withdraws not water from it,Its vain to determine that the providence of never ſinning is choicer, then the providence of the inbringing of Chriſt God-man to die for ſinners. which is a ſort of fomenting thereof, until all be conſumed. What can here be ſaid to him who gives not account of any of his matters? this is the free diſpenſation of the only wiſe God to ſtanding and to falling Angels and Men, and who can judge God or find him out in this? It may ſeem needleſs curioſity to determine, which of the two Providences, and which of the two Wills in the holy Lord muſt be firſt or choiceſt; Whether that by which Adam ſhould have ſtood happy in perfect obedience without fall or ſin given to the Covenant of works, or that Providence and Will by which the Lord deſigned, to bring in the wonder of mercy and grace, Emanuel, God manifeſt in the fleſh, the delight of Men and Angels? it ſeems to ſay that the Lord's will is more ſet upon Adam's final dutie, which never had being, and which the Lord immutably from Eternity, decreed ſhould never be, then his holy Will is fixed upon that wonder of the World, of Heaven and Earth; the riches of the glory of his grace and other attributed in that precious and incomparable myſtery, God manifeſted in the fleſh. Its true, God wills us rather to obey, and not to wound our ſelves by ſin, As Mr. Baxter.then put him to pardon our diſobedience, or to ſeek a Mediator or remedy for ſin. But the Lord by his commanding will, in his Law chargeth us under the pain of condemnation to obey; but the Lord by no commanding will in his Law chargeth himſelf to provide and ſeek a Satisfier and Mediator: he provides a Redeemer by his will of purpoſe and holy decree, nor willed he ever fallen Adam to ſolicite his author commanding or decreeing will to provide a Phyſician for ſick ſinners.
But except we ſeek a knot in a Ruſh. 1. Its Adam's duty and all mankinds in him to ſtand, obey and never ſin: and God wills this obligation to lie upon man as an eternally obliging duty;The rightouſneſs of God through faith is incomparably above our inherent righteouſneſs. And this is true even now and eternally [Adam ought never to have ſinned.]
2. God never willed Adam, nor commanded him in Law or Goſpel, either abſolutely or comparatively to put the Lord to ſeek a remedy or a Saviour to ſatisfie for us, or to pardon ſin; we read of no ſuch will.
3. Nor is it fit to ſay, that the Lord had rather David committed adultery and murther, by God's permiſſion, and be pardoned for it, then not to commit it; for if this be meant of the commanding will of God, no man can juſtly charge us with putting ſuch contradictory wills upon God; as alſo its unpoſſible that God can will the adultery of David to be, by any other will, then his will of purpoſe and hloy decree.
And then 4. The righteous Lord loves righteouſneſſe, yet the Lord abſolutely and ſimply willed rather the holy, free ſubmiſſive obedience of the ſecond Adam to be, then he wills the final obedience of the firſt Adam; and he wills more the manifeſtation of the glory of his free grace, pardoning mercy, revenging juſtice in that excellent of the moſt excellent our Emanuel, then the legiſlative glory of Adam and all his poſſible final obedience;Iſa. 42. 1, 2. Iſa. 53. 11. Matth. 3. 17. Matth. 17. 5. and the Lord wills no end rather then his own glory; but the Lord never commands us to will but what he approveth, and its needleſs to enquire whether a more eminent declarative glory could be,John 3. 16. John 15. 13. Tit. 3. 45. Iſa. 62. 2, 3. Eph. 3. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 12. then that which is the delight of the Lord's ſoul, the pleaſure of the Lord, love greater then any man hath, the rejoycing of the Lord, loved and deſired to be read, looked unto with wondring and adoring by the holy Angels; nor can any inherent righteouſneſs of man pleaſe the Lord, in any imaginable meaſure and manner, as the obedience of Chriſt in offering himſelf to God through the eternal Spirit, Heb. 4. 14. And if it be true, that loſt man gains more in the ſecond Adam, Its a more …minently declarative glory which is brought forth in the ſecond Adam, nor poſſibly could have been in the full and final obedience of the firſt Adam.Chriſt Jeſus, then he loſt in the firſt Adam, clear it is that there is no compariſon between the declarative glory of the Goſpel, to wit, the glory of the humble, willing, and eminently and admirably excellent obedience of Chriſt God-man in dying tali modo and the declarative glory of the Law, 2 Cor. 3. or between the glory of the righteouſneſſe of God through ſaith, and the glory of the inherent righteouſneſs through the grace of God; for the righteouſneſs of God through faith, muſt be more excellent then the righteouſneſs of man, or then all the acts of man by grace, believing, hoping, lovering, repenting, praying, praiſing eternally in Heaven, ſuffering of martyrdome; and therefore it cannot be ſaid that God would rather in an antecedent, and principal intention have us to forbear ſin and Adam to ſtand in Lawobedience, then to put him to remedy ſin, and out of the greateſt love of God to man to ſend his Son in the World to ſave ſinners, as if the intention and heart-purpoſe of God had been principally that the firſt Adam ſhould ſtand, and all in him and the Court of the Law of Works ſhould be for ever; and that the Lord in a ſecond intention and (as if it were) compelled by a croſs wind muſt ſail into a next beſt and ſecond harbour, which yet undoubtedly is the excellenteſt and higheſt declarative glory of the Lord which the conceptions of Angels or Men can reach, and was (if I may ſo ſpeak) the eternal delight of the Lord, while as yet, he had not made the earth, or the fields, Pro. 8. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. though I am far from thinking that any thing without God, doth conclude his holy Soveraignty; yet the Lord's ſoul delighting in the holy obedience of Chriſt and the eternal declarative glory thereof, ſhall be higheſt to me, and in the hearts (I conceive) of the godly, the moſt eminent revealed end, and to Scripture.
4. Neither is it better pleaſing to God, not to ſin, then when the man hath ſinned, to ſeek pardon for ſin in the bloud of Chriſt.Not to ſin by no Scripture is choicer then to ſeek pardon in Chriſt's bloud. I know not what Scripture ſo ſpeaks or ſo teacheth both the one and the other is the approving and commanding will of God; and if the Goſpel be more glorious and excellent then the Law, 2 Cor. 3. as it muſt be; the ſeeking of a pardon is a duty commanded in the Goſpel and Covenant of grace, and not ſinning, is as ſuch an act commanded in the poor and ſimple Covenant of works given to Adam. I ſhall heartily yield to ſin upon hope of pardon (if any intelligent pure and only Antinomians ſo teach) is utterly unlawful; but upon ſuppoſition that the perſon is a ſinner, it is a more gracious act of obedience (yea more glorious if I may ſo ſpeak) to fly to our Sanctuary and Citie of refuge Jeſus Chriſt upon Goſpel-principles, then upon Law-principles not to ſin; And thus muſt the compariſon of betterneſs and excellency be made. But the arguing ſeems to infer, that it is our mind, that God willeth us to deſire and practically to will rather that Chriſt the Phyſician ſhould appear in the declarative glory of grace, mercy, pardoning, puniſhing, juſtice, then that we ſhould practically will our own Law-odedience; but this is forced on us and is not our mind, but a wicked Principle of Libertines; for we ought rather to obey the Law and practically to will final obedience to the Law of works and eſchew ſinning as Hell, rather then deſire and with a more intenſe and a ſtronger practical will ſeek the incarnation of God; for that practical will can never be in us without ſinning.
Yea 4. It is a ſhame to compare together the righteouſneſs of God (and we are in Chriſt made this righteouſneſs of God, 2 Cor. 5. 21.) and the inherent, mixt, imperfect righteouſneſs of a renewed man; for the one needs no pardon, and the other is ſinful, and as menſtruous cloaths without a pardon, Iſa. 64. 6. I mean not that the believing, praying, &c. of the regenerate are formally and in the ſubſtance of the act ſins, but by accident they are ſinful and polluted; but even in the ſubſtance of the act, they are nothing comparable to the acts of obedience in Chriſt, which are every way complete and perfect according to the ſtricteſt rule of the Law of works.
Yea 5.By juſtification we are not only negatively freed from guilt & wrath but alſo poſitively righteous. Its a falſe ground to ſay that by juſtification or remiſſion of ſins (as ſome ſay, but they are not every way the ſame) only the guilt of ſin is removed, or only deliverance from eternal puniſhment; for Chriſt's dying and ſatisfying is ours, he dying in our ſtead and place, and we dying in him legally (not phyſically) and ſo are we not only by his ſatisfaction which is made ours, and by faith applyed to us, negatively freed from Hell, but poſitively righteous; (I ſay not inherently or perſonally) for Chriſt's ſatisfaction is not a meer dying, nor meer ſuffering; for beaſts may die and ſuffer much. But ſuch a dying and ſuch a ſuffering, for 1. Chriſt's dying and ſatisfying hath an excellency from the ſubject God-man who dyed, Act. 20. 28. 2. It hath an excellent qualification from the patience, ſubmiſſion, willingneſs of God-man, the like wherof could be in no ſimple Man, in no Angel, in no Creature; for the perſonal influence of God was in him & his obedience. As for the damned in Hell, their ſatisfaction is of another nature different from Chriſt's, & is only ſatiſpaſſion and pure torment, not holy, willing, ſuffering as the Law requires ſinleſs ſufferings as contradiſtinguiſhed from active obedience. How be it the Law moral doth require patient and ſubmiſſive ſuffering without diſpairing or blaſpheming, in any reaſonable Creature; for the holy Law cannot but condemn ſin and blaſphemy, adhering either to our acting or ſuffering.
Nor 6. Let it be ſaid to the undervaluing of the righteouſneſs of God through faith, that inherent righteouſneſs is the full end of Chriſt's bloud; when in the ſtate of glory, there ſhal be no more pardoning of ſin, but perfect inherent holineſs.
For 1. that inherent holineſs in the eſtate of glory is not perfect legal holineſs, nor the formal cauſe of our juſtification in glory; becauſe all the glorified once ſinned, and ſo for eternity are ſuch as have violated the Law.
2. Our righteouſneſs from the time forward ſhall not only be inherent; for the righteouſneſs of God is an everlaſting righteouſneſs,Inherent righteouſneſs in glory is not the compleat and adequate end of Goſpel juſtification; or of the Lord's Goſpel-diſpenſation in commanding us to believe and be holy. Dan. 9. 24. and how that robe of Chriſt's ſurety-righteouſneſs ſhall in the ſtate of glory, be laid by as an old uſeleſs garment, and the robe of inherent righteouſneſs in lieu of it put on for ever. The Scripture does not ſpeak; What men without Scripture, ſpeak, we care not.
3. Nor is our inherent righteouſneſs only either the adequate end of Chriſt's bloud, or of faith and labours, as if God intended as his only end to make us eternally Law-righteous; whereas he ſhall eternally delight in us, and lead us in glory as thoſe that are freely redeemed in the bloud of the Lamb; for the Lamb ſhall be the everlaſting righteouſneſs of all crowned with glory, Rev. 4. 8, 9, 10. Rev. 5. 11, 12, 13. Rev. 7. 14, 15, 16.
3. Soveraignty challengeth ſubmiſſion to the will of God in doing and in ſuffering, becauſe it is his obliging will; we fail not a little in the former▪ when we pray, becauſe the Maſt of the Ship is broken, and death is at the bedſide; and we hear the Word, becauſe it is the faſhion, and abſtain from fornication, and from other works of darkneſs, and put on a ſort of holineſs, not becauſe it is the will of God, even our ſanctification;How ſpiritual ſervice to doe all becauſe of the holy will of the Lord. as for eating, drinking, ſleeping, waking, they are ſpiritually minded who doe not theſe things for nature and luſt, but as wel-pleaſing to the Lord, and find a convincing and perſwading reaſon in the holy commanding will of the Soveraign Lord why they ought to be done upon a ſpiritual account; and the other is no leſs ſpiritual; for many are ſick and die, many are poor, and perſecuted for weldoing, becauſe they cannot chuſe, but ſo it muſt be, not becauſe as Peter ſaith, 1 Pet. 3▪ 17. So is the well of God in a ſpiritual account to them; for when holy Soveraignty hath laid on the neceſſity of dying, of ſickneſs and pain, and a gracious ſpirit ſhall cloſe with that; this is ſpiritual patience.
4. Becauſe the Lord hath a dominion over ſecond cauſes, and as it were, a ſtrong lock upon all Creatures to open and ſ…ut at his pleaſure, and he puts a ſeal upon Sun and Stars, Job 9. 7, 8, 9. that they ceaſe and ſhine, or ſhine not, or go down; we are to put our Amen and Seal to Soveraignties decrees. I riſe early, and there is no bread; ah Lord: I lay in a ſoft bed, and there is no ſleep in the night, but pain. Say, Amen, Lord: the Fig-tree bloſſoms not this year, yet I will rejoyce in the Lord, Hab. 3. 16, 17. Soveraignty hath ſo appointed, there is nothing but rolling of garments in bloud, and captivity and ſpoils; yet pray, thy will be done in the Earth, as it is done in the Heaven.