THE Second Adam; BEING The Second Part, or Branch of the Comparison between the first, and the second Adam, in these Words, So by the Obedience of One, shall many be made Righteous.

By Thomas Bradley Doctor of Divinity, Chaplaine to His late Majesty King CHARLES the First, and Praebend of York.

And there Preached at Lent Assizes holden there, 1667/8. Oxon. Exon.

YORK, Printed by Stephen Bulkley, and are to be sold by Richard Lambert, 1668.

Imprimatur,

Joh. Garth wait, Reverendissimo in Christo Patri, ac Dom. Dom. Ri­chardo Archiepis. Eboracensi, à Sacris Domesticis.
Rom. 5.19. So by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous.’

IN opening of which words, we will observe the same Method which we did in our Dis­course upon the former, in these foure par­ticulars. By considering first, Who was this One?

Secondly, What was this his obedience?

Thirdly, How the benefit of it comes to be com­municated to so many?

Fourthly, What Righteousness that is which they gaine by it?

These foure particulars clearly offer them­selves to our consideration upon the first view of the Text: and so, they are an apt Reddition to the foure particulars we considered in the first Adam, in the former branch of the compa­rison between them.

To the first then, Who was this One? What, Hath he no Name? Yes, The Prophet. Isay tells you his Name, Isa. 9.6. His Name shall be called wonderfull, Counsellor, the mighty God, the ever­lasting [Page 6]Father, the Prince of Peace, &c. Yea, he had a Name assign'd him by the Father before he was borne, Math. 1.21. His Name shall be called Jesus: For though he was borne in time, in the appointed time, in the fullness of time, Gal. 4.4. yet he had a being before all time; His goings out were from the beginning, and from everlasting, Micha 5.2. Jacobs Shiloh, Balaams Starr, Daniels Messiah, Davids Branch, out of the Root of Jesse they all meet in this One: All along throughout the whole Scripture from end to end: There is a Veine, a Master Veine, wherein his blood doth run, and whereby he was made known to the Church in all the Ages and Generations of the World; in the Promises, and Prophesies, Types, and Figures, Sacraments, and Sacrifices, untill he came himselfe in Person to fulfill them all, and by his holy Birth, Life, and Death, Resurrection and Ascension, to make them good, and to pur­chase unto us the righteousness in the Text mentioned. This is that One in the Text; in this One doe all these things meet, and concen­ter: The Apostle both frugally, and prudently set him forth unto us in this short expression of one word, one syllable, and that an indefinite [Page 7]too, for two reasons, he had a double reach in it.

First, To put us upon a farther inquiry after him, that so we might come to be better ac­quainted with him, and to know him more di­stinctly in his Person, in his Natures, in his Offi­ces, in his Works, in his Miracles, and in the fruits and benefits of them all, as they are sparsedly set forth in the holy Scriptures: Search the Scriptures, for in them you thinke to have eternall life, and they are they which testifie of me, saith himselfe of himselfe, John 5.39.

Secondly, To teach us the singleness, the sin­gularity, the Oneness (if you will) of this our Mediator; he is One and he is but One, he is alone, there is not another with him, he hath no partner in this great undertaking.

And this Oneness in order to this great at­chieument consists principally in these three things, he is One in these three respects.

First, In respect of his Filiation.

Secondly, In respect of the Union of the two Natures, the Divine, and the Humane, in his One Person.

Thirdly, In respect of the performance of [Page 8]this great work of the Mediatorship. In all these respects he is One, and he is alone.

First, In respect of his Filiation; he is the onely begotten Sonne of the Father: God hath many Sons indeed; Angels are his Sons, Job 1. they are his Sons by Creation: The Saints are his Sons too, they are his Sons by Grace, by the Grace of Adoption. But this One in our Text, is a Sonne after a more pecu­liar manner; he is his Sonne by eternall Gene­ration; His onely begotten Sonne, so St. John 1.14. The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we saw his glory, as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of God, full of grace and truth: So we profess in the Apostolicall Creed, and con­fess, To beleeve in Jesus Christ the onely begotten Sonne of God: so in John 3.16. In all which places, this addition, of the onely begotten Sonne, is not vaine, it is full of emphasis, and doth ex­ceedingly magnifie the transcendent love of the Father to the lost Sons of Adam, that for the re­storing of them, would part with his own Son, his onely Son, and give him up to such hard conditions as he did, for their recovery. No marvaile, if the Evangelist reporting this, set it forth with a Note of admiration, John 3.16. [Page 9] God so loved the World, that he gave his onely be­gotten Sonne, to the end that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish, but have life everlasting. Those foure circumstances in it, of Tantus, Tan­tillos, Tales, and Tanti, that so great a Majesty should look upon such inconsiderable crea­tures, and those so grievous sinners, enemies, and disobedient to doe so much for them, rais­ses his love and goodness to that height, that is beyond the comprehension of Men, or Angels. When God, for the tryall of Abrahams Faith, layd so hard a Taske upon him, as to command him to offer up his onely Son in sa­crifice to him, and saw he was so ready to obey him, as to build the Altar, to binde his Son to the Wood upon it, and to stretch forth his hand to kill him, he stayes his hand, It is enough (saith he) hold thy hand, for now I know that thou lovest me, seeing thou wert willing to offer up thy onely Son in Sacrifice in obedience to my Word. If that were a sufficient evidence of Abrahams love to God? upon how much stronger evidence may we conclude the love of God to the lost Sons of Adam, which did not onely offer to offer up, but offered up indeed his One, and onely begotten Son a Sacrifice for their ransome?

Secondly, This Oneness respects the Unity of his Person, consisting of two Natures, the Divine, and the Humane, yet both by hypostaticall uni­on so united, as that they make up but one Christ, one Person, [...], God Man, to be a fit Mediator between God and Man, and all this was necessary in all the particulars of it. First, That he should be God. Secondly, That he should be Man. And thirdly, That both these should be so united, as to become One. It was necessary that he should be Man, that so he might punctually satisfie Divine Justice, an­swering for sin in that Nature that had com­mitted it. And it was necessary he should be God, that by the Dignity of his Person, he might adde value to his sufferings, and obedi­ence, to make them satisfactory for the sins of the whole World. It was necessary that he should be Man, that he might have what to offer up to God in sacrifice for us, a body capa­ble of death and sufferings, with blood to shed, without which there is no Redemption; and the God-head is impateible: Therefore saith he in Psal. 40.6. A body hast thou prepared me, Heb. [...]0.5. And it was necessary that he should be God, that so by the Power of his Deïty, he [Page 11]might sustaine the Humanity, under the great burden of his Fathers wrath, and death the consequence of it, and by his own Power rescue himselfe by a Glorious Resurrection, and a Triumphant Conquest over all the powers of darkness. It was necessary that he should be Man, that so he might be a compassionate High Priest, sensible of our miseries, and infirmities, and so become a more earnest Advocate and Mediator for Man. And it was necessary that he should be God, that so he might be fit to mediate with God for us: If one Man sin against another, the Advocate shall pleade for him: But if a Man sin against God, who shall pleade for him? Who, but One, that is God, like unto him? Therefore it was necessary that he should be both, both God and Man, and both in One: Neither as meer Man, so compassionating the decayed Estate of the lost Sons of Adam, as to neglect the Honour of the Deïty wronged and offended; nor as meer God, so tendering the Honour of the Deïty injuried and offended, as to neglect the deplorable Estate of Man kinde lost, and undone; but as One that was both, that did partake of both, was near and deare to both, and both to him, he might lay an indif­ferent [Page 12]hand upon both, and so become between them, an equall and indifferent Mediator. In this Union we have that great Mystery of god­liness so much magnified by S. Paul, 1 Tim. 3.16. Of God manifested in the Flesh; that stupendious Mystery, which the Angells themselves doe with so great admiration and astonishment pry into, Of God in Christ, reconciling the World unto him­selfe, 2 Cor. 5.19. In this Union of the Divine and Humane Nature of the Mediator thus met together in this One Person, was that great Marriage made up in Heaven, the Banes where­of were so long before Published on Earth by the Royall Prophet David, Psal. 85.10. Mercy and Truth are met together: Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other. In this Union did Isaiahs Twinns meet, the Childe, and the Son; Isa. 9.6. Ʋnto us a Childe is borne, unto us a Sonne is given: The Childe was borne; but the Sonne was given; the Childe without a Father, the Sonne without a Mother; both in One, and both but One, this One in the Text, [...], the God Man, or Man God, Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, He is here styled One, in respect of the great Worke he was to performe in the great Office of the Mediatorship, to make [Page 13]peace between God and Man, to make an at­tonement, that is, to set them at One, which were before at such a distance one from ano­ther, in which work he was alone, he had no partners to assist him. There is but One Mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesus. 'Tis true, Moses was a Mediator, when he stood in the gap between the living and the dead, to turne away wrath when it was gone forth, and the Plague was begun, Exod. 32. So are all the Saints and faithfull servants of the Lord, favourites of Heaven, which use the interest they have in God, for the good of the World, to intercede for them, to appease his wrath, and to depre­cate the evills which God threatneth to bring upon them for sin, and for transgression, for whose sakes and Prayers, God is often prevailed with, to divert, or to suspend, or to mitigate the Judgements which their sins have called for; but these are Mediators of Intercession, not of Redemption: Of it the Prophet tells us, Psal. 49.7. No man can deliver his brother, nor pay a Ransome to God for him. Nor amongst the Angells is there found a Mediator; Alas! they stood in need of a Mediator, as well as we, but found none: For he took not upon him [Page 14]the nature of Angels: but he took upon him the seed of Abraham, Heb. 2.16. yea, even the good Angels stood in need of a Mediator, though not to recover them out of a lost estate, yet to establish them in that estate wherein they stand. No, nor among the sacred Trinity is there found a Mediator besides him: For al­though it be true, Omnia opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa, as the Schooles speak; and in the continuance of this great Gospel designe, the wisedome of the whole Trinity was set on worke, and every person in it did contribute to the laying of the plot: yet when it came to execution, by Divine dispensation, it fell to the Sonnes share to execute it, to transact it, and in his Person to undertake, and go through with it. Of this the Prophet puts us in minde, or rather the Lord himselfe by the Prophet, Isa. 63. I have troden the Wine press alone, and of the people there was none to help me, ver. 3. and again, ver. 5. And I looked, and there was none to help: and I wondred that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arme helped me, and my wrath sustained me. This is againe remem­bred by St. John in the fifth of the Revelations, under the notion of receiving, and opening a [Page 15]book with seven Seals: First exclusively, verse 3. None was found that could open it but he. Se­condly inclusively, ver. 5.6.7. Where he taketh the Book, looseth the Seals, and openeth it, to the great joy and jubily of the Church, both Militant, and Triumphant: This the Church Triumphant presently testifies, by breaking forth into his prayse, in that their new Song, ver. 9. and by their Angelicall Doxology, verses 11. and 12. Worthy is the Lambe that was killed, to receive power, and riches, and wisedome, and honour, and glory, and prayse. And the Church Militant joyne with them, ver. 13. Prayse, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lambe for evermore. And let all those that look for benefit by his Media­torship, say Amen; and joyne with this Ange­licall Choyre in their Heavenly Hallelujahs, and say, Glory be to God on high, for this Peace on Earth purchased by the Mediator, and for the good will shewed to the Sonnes of Men.

2. And so we have done with this One in the Text, the Person by which our deliverance is wrought: We now come to consider of the way and means by which he hath wrought it; & the Text tells us, it was by Obedience, So by the Obe­dience of One.

But was this the onely way for the Mediator to work deliverance for the Sonns of Adam? Or was it suitable to the state of so great a Person, of whom so glorious things are spoken, to sub­mit himselfe to suffering, and Obedience? Had he come down in State and Majesty, with Power and great Glory, Riding upon the wings of the winde, attended with Legions of Angels and Arch-Angels, in flaming fire rendring vengeance to his enemies; treading upon the necks of Kings and Kesars; by strong hand vanquishing the powers of darkness, and bearing down before him all opposite Power that did advance it selfe against his King­dome; this had been an equipage well becomming the Prince of Glory, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords? But for such a Person so farr to les­sen himselfe, as to de-throne himselfe, to strip himselfe of all those Robes of Majesty and Glory, which he enjoyed at the right hand of the Father, and to take upon himselfe the forme of a servant, of an Infant, and to come downe from God to Man, from commanding Angels, to submit to the commands of vile sinners, and from thundering in Heaven, to cry in a Cradle, was such a condescention, as may well afford matter of admiration and assonishment to Men [Page 17]and Angels. Yet so it was, and so it must be, or we had been all Children without Adoption, Gal. 4.4.5. It was the disobedience of the first Adam, and ours in him, that he came to answer for: And what better way to answer for disobe­dience, then by obedience? every evill is best expelled by 'its contrary: Will the first Adam in the pride of his heart aspire to the very Zenith of Dignity, the Apex of Majesty, and being but a man, will needs be like unto God? The second Adam to expiate this sin, must come downe to the very Nadir of humility, and be­ing God must become Man, that so he might make a recompence unto God for that his in­ordinate ambition, and so make his peace. Did the first Adam offend by Eating? By Fasting must the second Adam expiate that his intem­perance, Matth. 4. Did the first Adam abuse his liberty and priviledges in Paradise? The second Adam must make amends for it, by his Heremi­ticall hardship in the Wilderness. Did the first Adam so pusillanimously betray himselfe, and his, by yeelding to the suggestions and tempta­tions of the Devill? The second Adam to re­payre that loss and dishonour, must encounter the Devill, and in faire cumbating vanquish him [Page 18]again and again, and so fully revenge the quar­rell of the first, Matth. 4. Did the first Adam offend by disobedience? By obedience must the second Adam satisfie for it, and so he did; for so saith the Text, By the Obedience of One.

There are two things in this great transaction well worth our Observation. First, How the se­cond Adam hath trac't the first all along step by step; and where ever he found the first Adam had endamag'd us, there doth he make a stand, and not pass by till he hath repayred us: As Ezek. 16.6. As I passed by thee, I saw thee in thy blood, &c. The second, How in this reparati­on, he provides for us all along a remedy suita­ble to our malady, a salve proper for the cure of the sore, a satisfaction punctually answering the Justice of God for that sin, by which we had offended it, as in the passages above in timated: See it farther more clearly and distinctly in this his obedience.

There are three branches of this his obedi­ence, by which he hath set us free, and wrought out righteousness for us. First, The Obedience of his Birth. Secondly, The Obedience of his Life. Thirdly, The Obedience of his Death. First, the Obedience of his Birth, in his holy [Page 19]Conception and Incarnation. Secondly, The Obedience of his Life, in his holy and unblame­able Conversation. Thirdly, The Obedience of his Death, in his bitter Passion and Crucifixion; and these were all necessary, none of these three could have been spared: For three wayes we stood obnoxious unto Divine Justice.

First, For our Originall sin, the sin of our Nature, wherein we were conceived and borne.

Secondly, For all our sins of Omission; and particularly, for fayling in performing the con­dition of the Covenant of Works, and of obey­ing the Commandement given in Paradise, in the mandatory part of it, upon which, Life, and Salvation was made over to us, in these words, Doe this, and thou shalt live.

Thirdly, For all our sins of Commission, and particularly, for breaking his Commandement given in Paradise, in the minatory part of it; which said, In the day that thou Eateth thereof, thou shalt dye the Death. In all these three re­spects, we were obnoxious to Divine Justice; We lay under Wrath, and under a sentence of eternall Death; and from all these three, by these three parts of this his Obedience, are we set free. First, By this Obedience, and Merit, [Page 20]of his holy Conception and Incarnation, are we delivered from our Birth-sinne, wherein we are conceived and borne; the holiness of his Humane Nature conceived, and borne without sin, being imputed unto us, that so by it, the impurity of ours, conceived and borne in sin, may be cured, and healed, and done away.

Secondly, By his Active Obedience in his most holy Life, which he led here on Earth, in the dayes of his flesh, perfectly fulfilling the Law for us, hath he delivered us from all our sins of Omission, which was the second way, by which we stood in danger of Divine Justice: For thus speaks the Law, Cursed is every one that continueth not in every thing that is Written in the Book of the Law to doe it: This had we made impossible to be done by us; but done it must be for us, or we all undone. And this is done in the Active Obedience of this our Me­diator, and for this purpose was it, that he stayed so long upon Earth, among the Sonnes of Men; He dwelt among us, as St. John speaks, John 1.14. full three and thirty years; some say more, neer fifty, grounding their conjecture upon those words of the Jews, spoken to him, John 8.57. Thou art not yet fifty years old, and [Page 21]hast thou seen Abraham? But thirty we are sure he was, when he entred upon his Ministery, what time ever he continued afterward; and this was necessary, that he might have a competent time to fulfill the Law, in all the parts and branches of it; and so, by performing the condition of the Covenant of Works for us, to restore us again to our right, to the King­dome of Heaven, made over to us upon that condition.

Thirdly, By his Passive Obedience hath he freed us from all our sins of Commission, an­swering the Law in the minatory part of it, which said, The soule that sinneth shall dye: And, In the day that thou eatest, shalt thou dye the death. By suffering death, he hath taken off that sen­tence of death, that was gone out against us; and by becomming a curse for us, hath taken off that curse that was upon us. And thus hath the Lord layd upon him the iniquities of us all, thus hath he borne our iniquities. By these three parts of his obedience, hath he answered for our disobedience, and set us free from the dan­ger of Divine Justice, in all those three wayes in which we stand obnoxious to it, though it cost him deare.

By his Originall Righteousness, he hath freed us from our Originall sin: By his Active Obe­dience, from all our sins of Omission: By his Passive Obedience, from all our sins of Com­mission. By his Active Obedience, he hath freed us, à poenâ damni, from the punishment of loss. By his Passive, à poenâ sensus, from the pu­nishment of paine. By his Passive Obedience, he hath rescued us out of the jaws of Hell: And by his Active Obedience, he hath opened unto us the Gates of Heaven. This Active Obedience was satisfactory: And his Passive meritorious. And thus you see how he is be­come unto us a perfect Saviour, and hath by these three parts of his obedience, wrought out for us plentifull redemption. Had any of these three been wanting, he had not wrought out for us plentifull redemption. Had our Media­tor onely dyed for us, been crucified, dead, and buried, he had not wrought out for us plenti­full redemption; he had onely satisfied the Law in the minatory part of it, and by this his Passive Obedience, so taken off the sentence of death, that lay upon us; but he had not there­by restored us unto life, nor to our right, and title to our forfeited Inheritance, he had still [Page 23]left us obnoxious to divine Justice, for the breach of the Commandement in the mandatory part of it; which said, Fac hoc, & vives: doe this, and thou shalt live. Had the Mediator by his Active Obedience satisfied the Law, and ful­filled it in the mandatory part of it; and so by his holy Life, fulfilled, and performed the con­dition of the Covenant of Works for us; yet he had not wrought out for us plentifull redem­ption, he had still left us open to the Justice of God, for the sin of our Nature, our Originall sin, wherein we are conceived, and borne. But that he might work out for us plentifull redem­ption, it was not enough for him, nor for us, that he should be made a Man, as the first Adam was by Creation; but he must become a Child, an Infant, conceived in the Wombe, and borne into the World, after the same manner as other Children are (sin onely excepted) that so he might begin the Cure of our Disease, where the Disease it selfe begins in the very Wombe, and that by the purity, and merit of his holy Conception and Incarnation, imputed unto us, the impurity of our Nature may be healed, and our Infants sanctified, and purified in the Wombe, and from the Wombe, by the vertue [Page 24]and merit of the Conception, and Incarnation of the holy Child Jesus: And therefore we doe with as much comfort confess and beleeve, That he was Conceived by the holy Ghost, and borne of the Virgin Mary: as, That he suffered for us under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. They that lay all the stresse of our redemption, upon the death, and blood of Christ, doe not fully deliver the Doctrine of our redemption, they over-look the greatest part of it, in the Active Obedience of his Life, and the Obedi­ence of his Birth and Incarnation. They that lay it wholly upon his Active and Passive Obe­dience, doe not yet deliver the Doctrine of our Redemption fully, they overlook an essentiall part of it, in the Obedience of his Conception, and Incarnation. But the Apostle doth not overlook it, Phil 2. when he sayes, That being in the forme of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equall with God: He took upon himselfe the forme of a man, of a servant, of a childe, of an In­fant, which was in his Incarnation. And the Church doth not over look it, when it cele­brates the prayse of it with Admiration, in these words (of her despised Liturgy,) When thou tookest upon thee to deliver Man, thou didst [Page 25]not abhorre the Virgins Wombe. There did the work of our Redemption begin, which was prosecuted all along, throughout his whole life, his death, buriall, and resurrection: out of which, for a beleever to draw out of all the parts, and passages of it that comfort that they doe afford, and to apply them to those severall wants and maladies of his soule, for the supply and cure whereof they are most proper, is a point of high wisedome, and gives unto the foule strong consolation, and full satisfaction. It is something to know Christ Crucified in grosse, That Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners: This gives the Faith of adherence. But to know Christ more distinctly, in his Per­son, his Natures, his Offices, and the executions of them, in all the parts of the precious Re­demption he hath wrought out for us, and take out that merit and vertue, which they doe af­ford, and rightly to apply it to the severall wants of our soules, for the reliefe whereof they are most proper; is much more comforta­ble, and speaks the Faith of assurance, when we are able to Reade in his Originall Righteous­ness, the discharge of our Originall sin; in his Incarnation, the purification of our Natures; [Page 26]in his birth, our new birth; in his Active Obe­dience, satisfaction for all our sins of Omission; in his Passive Obedience, a satisfaction for all our sins of Commission; in his stripes, our heal­ing; in his condemnation, our absolution; in his death, our life; in his buriall, our mortifica­tion; in his Resurrection, and Ascension, our Resurrection, and Glorification. In the 2 Kings 4.32. we reade, how Elisha going to revive the Shunamites Sonne, went into the Chamber where he lay, and there cast himselfe upon the Child, and layd his face to the childs face, and his eyes to the childs eyes, and his hands to the childs hands, and so applyed himselfe unto the Child, part by part; and after a little space, the Child neesed seven times, and revived: So if we can by Faith, thus distinctly apply our selves unto this holy Child Jesus, and him to us, in all the branches of this his Obedience, by which he hath wrought out deliverance for us; not the Child, but we, which before were dead in sins and trespasses, by vertue and grace derived from him, shall revive and live, the life of grace here, and of glory hereafter with him in Hea­ven for overmore.

And so we have done with the second branch [Page 27]in the Reddition, to the first part of the com­parison between the two Adams, shewing the means, by which he hath satisfied for the dis­obedience of the first Adam; That was, By Obe­dience. We now come to the third, wherein we are to consider, The Persons that are benefited by it, and the Text sayes, They are many. So by the Obedience of One, shall many be made Righ­teous.

And here doe arise three Questions.

First, How the obedience of one, can satisfie for the disobedience of another? What Justice there is in this? Or how it can stand good in Law?

Secondly, If it doe so? yet how the obedi­ence of one, should stand good, to answer for the disobedience of so many?

And thirdly, How man they are, that are to be benefited by it?

To the first, I answer, The obedience, and righteousness of one, may stand good for ano­ther, where these three things concurr; or in these three cases.

  • First, With the consent of all persons con­cerned, where all parties concerned are agreed.
  • [Page 28]Secondly, Where there is such a Union between the one and the other, that what is done to, or for, or by the one, is done by the other also.
  • Thirdly, Where there is a proportion be­tween the offence of the one, and the satisfaction of the other.

For the first, There are but thee Persons con­cern'd, The Father, the Sonne, and Adam, with his Progeny. That the Father is agreed, it is cleare, John 3.16. He gave his Sonne. Gal. 4.4. He sent his Sonne. That the Sonne is agreed, is as cleare, John 10.15. I lay down my life for my sheep. And again, ver. 18. more fully, No man taketh it from me, I lay it down of my selfe. And that Adam, and his Sons are agreed, is be­yond all question, whose case it is, and who onely receive the benefit of it. And thus 'tis good even in Law, That the obedience of one, may stand good for another, upon this first con­sideration; and if it were not good in Law, 'tis good in Gospel.

The second consideration upon which 'tis good, is this, If there be such a neerness, and union between him that performeth this obe­dience, and those for whom it is performed, [Page 29]that what is done by him, may be reputed as done by themselves. We reade of a King of the Locrenses, which made a Law, That whoso­ever of his Subjects was found guilty of Adultery, should have both his eyes put out. It so fell out, that the first that was deprehended in that crime, was his own Sonne; it was grievous to him that his Sonne should lose both his Eyes; and as grievous, that he should not execute Ju­stice upon the transgression of his own Law: For mitigating between both, he put out one of his Sons Eyes, and one of his own; and this was accounted good Justice; and is the very case in the Text; onely with this difference, That he took upon himselfe but halfe the punishment; our Mediator took it all, and wholly to him­selfe, to set us free; and Christ, and we, are one. Lord have mercy upon me, (saith the Canaanitish Woman, Matth. 15.22.) my Daughter is grie­vously vexed with a Devill; implying, That the mercy which was shewed unto her Daughter, was shewed unto her selfe, her Daughter, and she, were one: Such is the Union between Christ, and those that are Christs; so neer, that it amounts rather to an Identity, then an Union. If Saul be travailing to Damascus, to persecute the [Page 30]Members; the Head looks down from Heaven, and complains, Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou me? Acts 9.4. As the Husband with the Wife, the Branches with the Vine, the Members with the Body, are one; even so is Christ, with all that belong unto him: Take it in the Apostles words, 1 Cor. 12.12. As the Body is one, and hath many Members, and all the Members of the Body, which is one, though they be many, yet are but one body: even so is Christ. Where note, That the word Christ here, is not personally to be under­stood, as representing the Person of Christ; but it is, Nomen collectivum, a collective name, and takes in to it, together with Christ, all the Saints, all beleevers, the whole Church of Christ under Christ their Head; all which together with him, make up but one body, one Christ, unto whom he vouchsafes his own name, toge­ther with himselfe, even so is Christ.

And there are three tyes, by which this Uni­on is made up, and they are brought so neer to­gether. First, By the bond of Faith. Secondly, By the bond of the Spirit. Thirdly, By the bond of Love. By these three bonds, are they united together, as by a three-fold cord, not easily broken. First, By Faith we ascend up to [Page 31]Heaven, and lay hold on Christ. Secondly, By the Spirit, Christ descends from Heaven to Earth, and layes hold on us. And thirdly, By Love, we meet, as it were, between Heaven and Earth, and there close with mutuall imbraces. Christ in his Incarnation took our Nature upon him, and so was made partaker of the Humane Nature. Then he renews us by his Grace, and so in our Regeneration, we are made partakers of the Divine Nature, 2 Pet. 1.4. And that's ano­ther way, by which this Union is made up, and we are brought so neer. And this is a Doctrine full of Grace and Truth, and worthy by all means to be received. For from this Union, there flowes a Communion between Christ, and his; our sins are layd upon him, and he hath satisfied for them; his righteousness is layd upon us, and we are justified by it, being thus united unto him, and he to us; we draw Vertue from him, as the branches doe from the root, and Influence, as the Members doe from the Head, whereby we are able to live that life, that is according to godliness, and walk in some conformity to him. By vertue of this Union, we derive Grace from him: Out of his fulness we all receive, and Grace for Grace, 1 John 16. By vertue of this Union, [Page 32]Christ is ours, and with him all his merit, righ­teousness, and obedience, as in the Text; And so, By the obedience of One, are many made righ­teous.

Thirdly, It is not unreasonable, That the odedience of one, should benefit another; if the disobedience of one, may prejudice ano­ther: but we see, the disobedience of the first Adam, did prejudice others: It is therefore but equitable, That the obedience of the second Adam should benefit others, depending upon him: Alter in semine, alter in sanguine: and as the one by his seed brought in death; so the other by his blood, might restore to life; that the blood of the second Adam, should be as sove­raigne to salve, and to save, as the seed of the first was to wound, and to destroy: And let this suffice for satisfying the first Query.

2 But the second enquires furrher; How the obedience of one, should answer for the disobe­dience of so many? How so many should be ju­stified, and made righteous by the obedience of this One? And that's answered in these two rea­sons. The first drawne from the Dignity of the Person obeying, which was of that high excel­lency, that it made his obedience, and suffering [Page 33]of that value, that was sufficient for the satis­fyings of the sins, and ransoming of the soules of the whole world; the obedience which he performed, was the obedience of that Person which was God, as well as Man, and thought it no robbery to be equall with God: That blood which was shed for us, was the blood of that Person, which was God, as well as Man: Of this Cir­cumstance, St. Peter puts us in minde, 1 Pet. 1.18. Knowing that you were not Redeemed with corruptible things, us silver and gold: but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lambe unspotted, and undefiled. To which, if you adde, the strangeness of his obedience, humiliation, and sufferings, with the freeness of them, He became obedient, Phil. 2.8. obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. In his Incarnation, He did not abhorre the Virgins Wombe. In his Crucifixion, He was in the forme of a servant for our sakes; yea, of a Malefactor: He was numbred among trans­gressors: He was wounded for our transgressions: The chastisement of our peace lay upon him, that by his stripes, we might be healed. All these circumstances add still to the price, and value of his sufferings, and obedience, to make it infinitely satisfacto­ry, and meritorious, for the remission of the sins, [Page 34]and the ransomeing of the souls, of the whole World. The second Reason is drawn from the consideration of the capacity in which the Me­diator stood, when he performed this obedience, and wrought out righteousness for us: In this great transaction, he stood not as a single Person, but as a representative; he acted not for him­selfe, but for all beleevers, for the whole body of the Church, whereof he is the Head. Re­member the Title of this Treatise, wherein he is stiled, The Stock, and Root of all his Race, the Head of his body, the Church, from which part every branch, every member deriveth, and re­ceiveth grace, vertue, strength, and influence, righteousness and life, there being abundantly sufficient for all, and in whom, and with whom, whatsoever he doth, and suffereth for them, in this capacity, they doe it, and suffer it also. Hence are those frequent expressions in the Scri­pture, wherein, we are said to be in him, and he in us, John 10. We are elected in him, Ephes. 1.4. Adopted in him, ver. 5. Circumcised in him, Col. 2.12. Suffer with him, Rom. 8.17. Buried with him, Col. 2.13. Risen with him, Col. 3.1. Com­pleat in him, Col. 2.10. Suffer with him, Col. 1.24. Yea, Crucified with him, Gal. 2.20. When [Page 35]Christ did, & suffered those things as Mediator for us; we did, and suffered them in him, and so the obedience is imputed unto us, as ours, and is ours, Quo ad usum, & fructum, as to the use, and fruit of it, as well as if all had been done and suffered in our own persons, and better too. And thus you see, how it may stand with Reason and Justice, That one may be Justified, by the obedience of another, and, By the obedi­ence of One, many made righteous.

3. And this brings in the third Query, How many there may be?

Ans. Even as many as beleeve in his name, John 3.16. As many as doe receive him upon Gospel termes, John 1. As many as come in unto him, that they may have life: The offer of grace is made to all, without exception, though to none without condition; Ho, every one that thirsteth, let him come, Isa. 55.1. God is no ac­ceptor of persons: but in every Nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him, Acts 10.34. God would have all Men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim. 2.4. He is the Saviour of all, especially of them that beleeve, 1 Tim. 4.10. Thus generally the Promises run, in universall termes, that no [Page 36]man should despaire; yet generally with some intimation too, of some duty on our parts, that no man may presume. You may expect here, that I should fall upon the point of Universall Redemption; but I shall forbeare it in this place, especially having Treated more largely upon that Subject, in a Discourse upon it out of Isa. 9.6. and Printed at Oxford in 1650. unto which I referre. In the interim, thus much I will here declare of my Judgement in this mat­ter, That I am perswaded, that when the second Adam took our Nature upon him, and in it, wrought our righteousness for us, there was no Son of the first Adam but he did something for him, so much, as that he shall never perish eter­nally, in the lake of everlasting burnings, unless he forfeit his salvation a second time. What think you of that of St. Peter? 2 Pet. 2.1. There shall be false teachers among you, which shall bring in damnable Heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and so bring upon themselves swift damnation. There are false Teachers that bring in Heresies, damnable Heresies, that brings upon themselves damnation, swift damnation; and yet the Text sayes, even of these, That the Lord had bought them. How could this be? but that [Page 37]they sold themselves again, and forfeited their salvation a second time; and therefore are true­ly said, To bring upon themselves damnation. These are they of which the Apostle sayes, They are twice dead, pluckt up by the roots, Jude 12. once in the first Adam, and now in the second too, and so pluckt up by the roots, never to grow again. Againe, we are to be advertised, That though the second Adam then did something for all, and all Nations; yet he did not doe for all alike. What is the meaning of that Parable in the Gospel, of the Kings taking a farr Journey, and committing his Talents in trust to his servants, or Factors, delivered them to them, in such a different proportion, To one, but one Talent; to another two; to another five? Who is he that hath the one Talent, but the Heathen, which hath nothing to traffique withall, but the Law, and light of Nature? Who is he that hath the two Talents, but the Jew, which besides it, hath the Law of Moses? And who is he, that hath the five Talents, but the Christian, which to both those, hath the Law of Grace, the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ? It cannot be imagi­ned, that the Kings returning to take their Ac­counts, will require an equall account of them [Page 38]all, but according to their Receits. To whom much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom less is given, of him less shall be required. God is a mercifull Creditor, and will require according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not.

3. Again, We are to be informed, That there are degrees of salvation, and of damnation too, though all are concluded under two names, of Heaven and Hell, of salvation and damnation; yet in both these, there are infinite degrees, and different proportions: There is one glory of the Sunne, another of the Moone, and another glory of the Starrs; for one Starr differeth from another in glory, 1 Cor. 15. And in respect of punish­ment, There are, that shall be beaten with fewer stripes; and there are that shall be beaten with more stripes. And although the highest degree of Gospel-Salvation, be but the portion of a few, as our Saviour tells us, in comparison of those that perish; yet there are many more, that at­tain to some degrees of salvation, both in re­spect of the evill they are delivered from, and of the happiness they are translated too, which coms farr short of the highest degree of happi­ness, in the Kingdom of Heaven. And although [Page 39]our blessed Lord, which best knew it, tells us, That the way that leads to life is narrow, and the gate streight, and so, few they be that finde it: yet himselfe there declares himselfe, that he spake it comparatively; in comparison of the wide gate, and broad way, that leads to destruction, and of the multitude of passengers that travaile thither in it: but otherwise, if they be consi­dered in themselves, they are so many, as it is beyond all Arithmetick to number them. The Evangelicall Prophet Isay, speaking of the cal­ling of the Gentiles, seeth as in a Vision, the multitudes of the Nations, from all quarters, making in to the standard of Christ, and throng­ing in to Mount Sion, the embleme of the Church, with great zeale and earnestness, Isa. 60. Who are these that come as a cloud, and as doues to the windows of the Sanctuary? v. 8. The multitude of the Sea shall be converted, ver. 5. He resem­bleth the multitude of the converts to the Sea, to Clouds, to flocks of Sheep, to Caravans of Camels, &c. from Midian, from Kedar, from Ne­baioth, from Arabia, from Sheba, from all quar­ters, comming in to Christ. And suitable to this Vision of the Prophet, is that Doxology of the Church Triumphant, which they Sing in the [Page 40]honour of Christ, and giving glory to him, in Rev. 5.9. Thou art worthy to take the Book, and to open the seven seales of it: because thou wast killed, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood, out of every Kindred, and Tongue, and People, and Nation. Neither does it stand with the glory of the Prophesies of old, nor suits with the famous promises made unto the Fathers of the glory of the Christian Church; nor with the price of Christs blood, nor is it answerable to his pur­chase made by it, nor with the abundance of Gods free grace, nor with the spatiousness of the Heavens, appointed for the habitations of the blessed; spaces, that no man can measure for multitudes, that no man can number, that the number of the Sons of Adam that returne, should be so small, as some would perswade us. But for that, we may not take upon us to mea­sure the bounds of the Caelestiall Paradise, nor to tell the mansions that are in our Heavenly Fathers House and Kingdom, which Christ hath prepared for his redeemed ones. It shall be our wisedom, to make it our care, to secure unto our selves a roome among them, that we may be in the number of those many in the Text, that we may fill up the places of the Apostate [Page 41]Angels, and that the number of the redeemed ones may be so much the greater, by so many soules, at least, as are here present. And so we have done with the third particular, in the Red­dition to the first branch of the comparison, be­tween the first, and the second Adam, wherein was considered the number of those which are benefited by the obedience of this One Man: And the Text sayes, They were many.

We come now to the fourth, and last parti­cular: Wherein we are to consider, What that benefit is, which by this his obedience, they doe reape, and receive: And the Text sayes, That by it they are made righteous.

Where Note, That they doe not leape from sin to salvation immediately, and at one jumpe; but from sin to righteousness, they must take that in their way, before they come to happiness. In Rome there were two Temples of much note, the Temple of Honour, and the Temple of Vertue; but they were so plac't, that no man could goe into the Temple of Honour, but he must pass through the Temple of Vertue to it. Vertue is the way to Honour, so is Grace to Glory, Holiness to Happiness, Righteousness to Life: Whom he justified, them he also glorified, [Page 42]Rom. 8.30. but first justified, before glorified, they must pass through that dore, before they can enter into Glory.

Note secondly, That the Text sayes, They shall be made righteous; they were not so be­fore, we are not righteous of our selves, we can­not make our selves so, we must be made so, if ever we be so: Alas! of our selves we are grie­vous sinners, altogether borne in sin, John 9. Full of sin, full of corruption, children of wrath by na­ture, Ephes. 2.2. Neither in this case can we help our selves, neither are we willing to help our selves, because 'tis naturall to us, and in us, we please our selves in it, it is sweet unto us, We hugg it in our bosomes, and hide it under our tongues, as Zophar speaks in Job: Much power and grace is there required, and put forth to part us, to take us off from our sins and corruptions, and them from us, to change our natures, and to renew us; It is no less than another Creation, yea, a great­er work to make us righteous, then was at first to make us men; you see here what strange obe­dience was performed to the effecting of it, and how much the second Adam hath done for us, in making us by such his obedience righteous, (Tantae molis erat.)

And there is a three fold righteousness, which by this his three-fold obedience he hath wrought out, and purchased for us, and obteyned to us.

First, The righteousness of Justification.

Secondly, The righteousness of Sanctification.

Thirdly, The righteousness of Glorification.

For there is a Justifying righteousness: And there is a Sanctifying righteousness: And there is a Glorifying righteousness. The first of these is perfect, but not inherent. The second is inhe­rent, but not perfect. The third is both perfect, and inherent. The first of these, is the perfect, pure, and unspotted righteousness of Christ im­puted unto us by grace, and received by Faith, with which the beleever being clothed, as Jacob, in the Robes of his elder brother, appears in the sight of the Father, acceptable, and amiable: This is that righteousness which Saint Paul so highly magnifieth, Phil. 3.8. I esteeme all to be but loss, and dross, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is by the Law, but that which is through the Faith in Christ, even the righteousness which is of God by Faith. This is the righteousness, which the same Apostle writes of to the Romans, Rom. 1.16. I am not ashamed of the Gossel of Christ, for [Page 44]it is the power of God unto salvation. How come's it to be so? Because therein is the righteousness of God revealed, by which beleevers are justi­fied, and saved. Of this righteousness, doe I understand that, of which Elihu speaks in Job, and to Job, 33.23. and of Job too, or any other in Jobs case, So sick and so weak, that his soule draweth neer to the pit, and his life to the buriers, (so some Translations reade it) then for an inter­preter, a wise and faithfull Pastor, to comfort, and to counsell him, to take his Confession, and to give him Absolution, for so much doe the words import: If there be an interpreter, one of a thousand, to declare unto Man his righteousness; then will he have mercy upon him, and will say: Deliver his soule from the pit, I have accepted of a ran­some: that is, in the righteousness of Christ, here called Mans righteousness; as in the place before mentioned, it was called, The righteous­ness of God, and very truely both: It is the righ­teousness of God, because it was wrought out in the Person of the Mediator, which is God: And it is, The righteousness of Man too; because being imputed unto him by Grace, and received by Faith, it becoms his own. This is the first righ­teousness which we doe obtain, by the merit of [Page 45]the obedience of our Mediator; and this is the righteousness we must build upon, for our Ju­stification, Life, and Salvation, and well may: for this righteousness is perfect, pure, absolute, and compleat: this righteousness will hold out; this righteousness will abide the tryall, and pre­sent us with boldness, not onely before the Throne of Grace, but before the Throne of Ju­stice; being clothed with it, we shall appear un­blameable, without spot or wrinkle. The Lord will have nothing to charge us withall; but in this righteousness, we shall finde wherewith to answer him: In this righteousness we have all that we should have, we are all that we should be, we have done all that we should doe, we have suffered all that we should suffer. In him we are compleat, Col. 2.16. We stand in his sight, as holy, as innocent, as pure, as perfect, as righteous, as the first Adam did in his Creation, before the Fall: Nay, may I not say more, as the second Adam in his humanity, in whose righ­teousness it is that we shall appear?

Hold fast this Gospel Truth, and lay it up against an evill day, when thou art cast downe with sense of sinne, and feare of wrath, when stingings of Conscience affright thee, and the [Page 46]terrors of the Almighty make thee afraid; which way wilt thou turne thee for reliefe? where wilt thou look for peace? If in thy righ­teousness of Sanctification, there shalt thou ne­ver finde it; the holyest Saint on Earth, in this case, if he seek for peace in the righteous­ness of his Sanctification, he shall never finde it, so weak is our Sanctification at the best, so strong our corruption, so many the infirmities, so fre­quent the faylings, yea, and fallings too, even of the best, that in their Sanctification, they can never finde peace, but the farther they seek for it there, the farther shall they be from find­ing that which they seek for. When the soule turnes, and asks, What peace? The Conscience answers, What peace, while these thy sins and cor­ruptions remaine in such abundance? It looks for peace, but behold trouble; for security, but behold disquietness, and feare. But then have recourse to your Justification, to this righteousness of Christ imputed unto you by free grace, and re­ceived by Faith, and there you will finde it, thence will follow peace; Being justified by Faith. we have peace with God, Rom. 5.1. and peace with our own Consciences too. There is nothing can still the crying, nor stop the bleed­ing [Page 47]of a wounded Conscience, but onely th [...] That Christ is the Lord our Righteousness: and that by his Obedience, not by our own, we are made righteous, and this will doe it: This, this alone will answer all objections, that can be cast in, to disturbe our peace, That the chastise­ment of our peace was layd upon him: This is the first righteousness we gaine by the obedi­ence of our Mediator, The righteousness of Justification; this is perfect, but not inhe­rent.

The second is, The righteousness of Sancti­fication; this is inherent, but not perfect: When God is pleased by his spirit of Grace, to sanctifie and renew us, to change our natures, to take us out of the first Adam, and to Plant us into the second, to take us out of the state of Nature, and to set us into a state of Grace, by mortifying our corruptions, subduing our lusts, and inordinate affections, destroying that body of sinne that dwelleth in our Members, fireing out all those carnall lusts and affections, that are in us by the spirit of Judgement, and the spirit of burning: and then in the roome of them, to infuse into our hearts holy habits, gracious dispositions, propensions, and inclina­tions, [Page 48]which is our habituall holiness, which remaining in us as principles of Lise, from them there doe dayly flow gratious actions, suitable to them, exprest in our Works, our Words, our Walkings, our Dealings, and dayly Conversation, which is our actuall holiness, both concurring to make up this our righteous­ness of Sanctification.

Note. Where Note by the way, That these two righteousnesses, the righteousness of Justifica­tion, and the righteousness of Sanctification ever goe together, Whom he justifieth, them he sanctifieth, Rom. 8.30. Where ever God be­stoweth his Sonne to justifie, there he be­stoweth his Spirit to sanctifie, sooner or later, more or less. In the I'emple, there was a Laver, as well as an Altar; the Altar for Sacrifice, pointing out our redemption by the blood of Christ: The Laver, for Washing, pointing out our Sanctification by the Spirit of Christ. We must be Washed in the one, if we will be Sprinkled by the other. Christ at his Cruci­fixion, being pierced by Longinus with a speare, shed out of his pretious side, both Water and Blood. There was a Mystery in it, the Blood signify­ing our Redemption by the Blood of our Re­deemer: [Page 49]The Water, our Sanctification, by the Spirit of holiness: There was water for our ab­lution; blood for our absolution: water for our cleansing; blood for our redeeming: he is not redeemed by that blood, which is not washed by that water; If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in me, John 13.8. Out of that Fountaine, the side of Christ, did spring both the Sacra­ments of the Christian Church, Baptisme, and the Lords Supper: The former is unto us, as the Laver in the Law; the latter, as the Altar: The former, the Sacrament of our regenerati­on; the latter of our redemption: The for­mer, sealing up unto us our washing, and clean­sing, in the Laver of regeneration; the latter, our atonement upon the Altar of our Redem­ption, (let not the word offend you) by way of allusion, at least, you may allow it: but you must not pass by the former, if you look for benefit by the latter: All the washings, clean­sings, purgings, and purifyings under the Law, did but typically teach, and declare, the wash­ing, cleansing, and sanctifying of Beleevers, un­der the Gospel, so much called for every where, Wash your hands ye sinners, and purge your hearts, ye wavering minded, James 4.8. This is the will [Page 50]of God, even your sanctification, 1 Thes. 41 3. Cast off the old man, with his corrupt lusts, and put on the new man, which after God is created, in true holiness and righteousness, Ephes. 4.22. Be ye holy, as I am holy, 1 Pet. 1.16. Follow peace and holiness, without which, no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12.14. Our God is a holy God: Jerusalem is a holy City: the Inhabitants that dwell there are holy Saints: the exercises there used, are holy exercises. Into it may no un­cleane thing enter. All things call for holiness at our hands, if ever we hope to come to Hea­ven. The Apostle in his Epistle to the Collessi­ans, Giveth thanks to the Father, that he had made them meet to be partakers of the Inheritance with the Saints in light, Col. 1.12. implying, That as we are in the state of nature, and in the first Adam, we are not meet for it. Before we be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance, with the Saints in light, we must be children of the light, and walk in the light. If ever we mean to inhabite in that holy City, we must here get into the Suburbs of it, and learne the Language of Canaan, which there they speak. If ever we mean to beare a part in that Heavenly Choyre, in singing Hallelujahs to him that sitteth upon the [Page 51]Throne; we must here set our Harps, and our Hearts in Tune to it: We must get grace, be­fore we can come to glory; righteousness, be­fore we can attaine to blessedness, even the righteousness of Sanctification, before we can attaine to the righteousness of Glorification, and so we shall be meet for it: That makes us capable of it, that leads to it, even at the next remove: Which is the next particular, and the last to be spoken of; shewing the third sort of righteousness, of which, by the obedience of the Mediator, beleevers are made partakers:

The righteousness of Glory: And this shall be both perfect and inherent, when all sin, as well as sorrow, shall flee away, all corruption shall be abolished: There shall be no more Devill to tempt, nor world to allure, nor flesh to with­draw; but we shall with free, and full consent of heart and will, serve, and laud, and magni­fie the living Lord, and rejoyce in his presence for evermore: where we shall arrive at the end of our hopes, the full fruition of God in the beatificall vision, in whose light we shall see light, and we shall shine in the Kingdom of the Father, with Angelicall brightness, and perfe­ction, our souls shall acquiesce, In ultimo fine, in [Page 52]the fruition of the chiefest good, beyond which, there is nothing to be attained, nothing to be desired, where God shall be to our understand­ing a Sunne of light, to our affections a Sea of love, to our wills abundance of peace: We shall drinke of the pleasures of the Celestiall Para­dise, as out of a River, and be filled with those joyes, which are in his presence unspeakable, and glorious: We shall leave the dunghill of this inferiour world, with all the corruptions which are in it through lust, and be taken up in­to the third Heavens, and to the City of the living God, the Celestiall Jerusalem; and to the company of innumerable Angels; and to the Assembly, and Congregation of the first borne, whose names are written in Heaven; and to God the Judge of all; and to the spirits of just men made perfest▪ and to Jesus Christ the Mediator, whom though we have not seen we love; but then we shall see him face to face, and our love and joy shall abound and we shall attaine to the end of our hopes, in the beginning of our happiness, that never shall have end. Quando erit ille dies, quando erit illa dies? When will the day be, when that day shall be? How should we love, and long for this appearance, and rejoyce even under the hope of this glory? Who that [Page 53]hath this hope, would not with St. Paul, Desire to be dissolved, that be may be with Christ? Phil. 1.23. Oh, if we should but let loose our soules, and turn them out, as Noah did his Dove, by divine contemplation, to sore up to the third heavens, and there take a view of the joyes and glory of the Celestiall Paradise; how would it take us off from these vile things here below? How would it draw up our thoughts, to the seeking, and affecting of the things that are above? from the sollicitous care of seeking after the treasures of wickedness, which profit nothing; to the lay­ing up of treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor theeves break through to steale; from seeking after the pleasures of sin which are but for a season, to seek after those, which are at the right hand of God, where is fullness of joy, and pleasures for evermore. Oh, if we could but draw the curtains of Heaven, and look into the Sanctum Sanctorum, and see the joyes, and the glory that there is layd up for those that seek it, we would never care for the earth more, we would never care for this world more; the very plea­sures of the Court would seem vile unto us, the treasures of wickedness we would trample un­der our feet; all our thoughts would tend up­ward, [Page 54]all our care, and study in the seeking of those things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, and where we hope one day to sit on the right hand of Christ. St. Paul had that happiness that never man had but he, To be rapt up into the third Heavens, and there saw those things, which here we Preach of, and to re­turn again. But see what effect it wrought upon him, it took him cleere off of the world, his life ever after was nothing, but a Cupio dissolvi, & esse cum Christo: Cupio dissolvi & esse cum Christo: I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ: I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. All the honour of his Apostleship, the glo­ry of his miracles, the high reputation that he was in amongst the Nations, for his great learn­ing and wisedom; for his works, miracles, and powerful Preachings, were all nothing, all these could not satisfie him; nothing could now con­tent him, but Cupio dissolvi, & esse cum Christo: I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. And why was this high favour vouchsafed to this Apostle, to be thus rapt up into the third Heavens, and after he had seen those glorious things, then to return again; but that he might be an expe­rimentall Preacher to the world of all those [Page 55]things that there he saw, and here we speak of? No marvaile if the Fathers of old, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Bernard, &c. were so much and often in contemplation, heavenly me­ditations, spirituall ejaculations, as witnes their Manuels, Enchiridions, Soliloquies, Monuments of their Devotion left among us; by these did they live in communion with God; upon these did their soules sweetly feed, and feast, as upon meat to eat, which the world knew not of: By these they even lived in Heaven, while they were on Earth, and in stead of Men, conversed with An­gels: Beloved, we have soules, as well as bodies, and consist as well of celestiall, as of terrestriall substance; why should our earthly part be more powerful to draw us downward to the vile things here below, then our heavenly part to carry us up to the pretious things that are above? where our hopes are, where our Inheritance lyes, where our happiness is, where our Christ is, and where we hope shortly to be with him in Glory. Whither the Al­mighty of his infinite mercy bring us, through the Merit and Obedience of this One in my Text, our Mediator: To whom therefore be all Honour, Power, and Prayse for evermore: Amen.

FINIS.

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Text Creation Partnership. Searching, reading, printing, or downloading EEBO-TCP texts is reserved for the authorized users of these project partner institutions. Permission must be granted for subsequent distribution, in print or electronically, of this EEBO-TCP Phase II text, in whole or in part.