enjoying of them; a right use of the world, and yet a contempt of it, in comparifon of my hope. It makes death not terrible, because a moft fure paffage to life: Here I find a way to get all my fins pardoned, whereas, without this, all the world cannot contrive a fatisfaction for one; I find a way to obtain fuch a righteoufnefs as is valuable with God, and perfect before him, even the righteoufnefs of God in Chrift. And here I find the means, and only means, to avoid the wrath to come, the terror of the judgment of the great day, everlafting life unto all eternity with the bleffed God, and our Lord Jefus Chrift, and all the bleffed angels, and the fpirits of juft men made perfect. Thus this knowledge is ufeful for this life, and that which is to come, and that in the highest degree; which all other knowledge come fhort of, and attains not to any one of the leaft of thefe ends. 5. In the duration and continuance of it. Many fubjects of knowledge there are, wherein by time, or at least by death, the knowledge proves useless, or at leaft the labour therein unprofitable and loft. For inftance, I ftudy to be very exact in natural philofophy, the mixtures or conjunctions of qualities, elements, and a thousand fuch enquiries; what ufe will this be when the world with the works thereof fhall be burnt up? Or if it fhould not, what great benefit would this be to a feparated foul? which doubtlefs fhall either know much more, therein, without any pains, and fo the labour here loft, or it fhall be fuch a knowledge as will be inconfiderable or unuseful to it: And fo, and much more, for the ftudies of policy, methods of war, mechanical experiments, languages, laws, customs, hiftories; all thefe within one minute after death will be as ufelefs as the knowledge of a taylor or a fhoemaker: they all are dated for the convenience and use of this life, and with it they vanish. But here is the privilege and advantage that this knowledge hath as it ferves for this life, fo it ferves for that to come; and the more it is improved here, the more it fhall be dilated hereafter; the higher mea fure fure thereof I attain here, the greater measure of glory hereafter. As the more knowledge I have of the mystery of Chrift here, the greater is my fight and admiration of the wisdom, and goodness, and love of God; the greater my joy and complacence, and delight in that fight and fenfe, and the more my foul is carried out in love, and praise, and obedience unto him: fo in the life to come, that knowledge fhall improve, and confequently the fenfe of the wisdom, mercy and love of God, and confequently the flame of the foul, of love, and praise unto him, and delight, and joy in him, fhall increase unto all eternity. 2. As thus the knowledge of Chrift Jefus and him crucified excels all other knowledge, and fo in comparison thereof all other knowledge, upon a right judgment, is as nothing; fo the foul being rightly convinced thereof, fets a higher price upon that knowledge than upon all other knowledge befides; it prizeth it highly in itfelf and others, reckons all other knowledge without it but a curious ignorance, or an impertinent knowledge, and contents itself abundantly in this knowledge though it want other. 3. Becaufe that which is of moft concernment requires my greatest diligence to attain it, I am contented and greedy to spend more time in attaining this than that; and I will rob other ftudies and difquifitions of the time that otherwife might be conducible to attain the knowledge of them, rather than thofe ftudies fhould confume that time that fhould be allotted to this. My time is part of that talent, which my Maker hath put into my hand, and for which he will at the great day demand an account; and if I have spent that talent in unprofitable employments, or in lefs profitable than I fhould, my arrear is fo much the greater: If I have confumed my time in ftudying my preferment, honour, or wealth, in this world: in ftudying how to please myself with vain and unneceffary recreations, in unlawful or exceffive pleafures; in unlawful and immoderate curiofities; which I might better have spent in the ftudy of the mystery of Chrift, or the the conformity unto that will and teftament he left me, or improving my intercft in him-I have committed two follies at once. 1. Loft my talent of time and opportunity, for which I am accountable, as miffpent. 2. Loft that advantage which I had in my hand to improve my intereft in God, and favour from him, and love to him; and though I nave done fo much, as may perchance preferve the main, yet I have omitted fo much as might have more encreafed my flock of grace and glory; and my talent might have gained ten, and at moft it hath gained but two. And furely when death comes, the moft comfortable hours that can return to our memories, will be those we spent in improving the true and experimental, and practical knowledge of Chrift Jefus, and him crucified. 4. Confequently where this knowledge and the other knowledge of an inferior rate juftle and cross one another, it is the beft wifdom to fide with this, and to deny the other, to become a fool that he may be wife'. II. Thus concerning the first confideration,—I determined not to know any thing,-viz. nothing in comparison of this knowledge of Chrift, nothing rather than not that, fave Christ Jefus. And truly well might the Apostle make all other knowledge give place to this; 1ft, for the excellency of it, whereof before: 2dly, for the amplitude and compafs of it; for though it be fo excellent, that a fmall dram of it is fufficient to heal and fave a foul, if it be a right knowledge, as is before obferved, yet it is fo large that when the best knowledge hath gone as far as it can, yet there is ftill aliquid ultra 2. One confideration of it, even the love of God, hath a breadth, and length, and depth, and height, paffing knowledge, and yet there be other depths and heights in it than this; fo that well might the Apostle conclude as he doth, Without controverfy great is 'the mystery of godlinefs, God manifeft in the lef÷.' Therefore for the prefent we fhail confider: 1 1 Cor. iii. 18. something further to acquire. Eph. iii. 18. 19. * Tim. iii. 16. 1. The wonderful wifdom of God in contriving and ordering the redemption of mankind by Jefus Chrift; and it is manifefted in thefe particulars among others: 1. Though he made man the eminenteft of all his vifible creatures, for a moft eminent manifeftation of his power and glory, and to be partaker of everlasting bleffednefs, and yet in his eternal counfel refolved to leave him in the hands of his own liberty, and did most certainly forefee that he would fall; yet he did fubftitute and provide, even from the lane eternity, a means whereby he might reftore the Ponour and giory of his creature, and his creature to the bleffednels and the viñon of his creation. 2. That he fo ordered the means of man's redemption, that a greater giory came even by that redemption, than if a man had never fallen, and a greater benefit to mankind 1; for the latter is apparent, that if there had been no mediator fent the aft fin that any of the fons of men had committed, had been inexorably fatal to them, without any means of pardon: and as Adam, though in his full liberty and power, was mifled by temptation, fo might he have been, or any of his pofterity, though he had ftood that fhock which now is admirably provided against, by the fatisfaction of Chrift Jefus: and as thus it is better with the children of men, fo the glory of God is wonderfully advanced by it; for if a man had stood in his innocence, God had had only the glory of his justice in rewarding him; or if he had fallen, the glory of his juftice in punishing him: but there had been no room for that glorious attribute of 1 The Author seems here to fail in that sound reasoning, which distinguishes his writings. He asserts, that a greater benefit came to man by redemption, than if a man had never fallen; and he says, this is apparent; for if there had been no Mediator sent, the least sin that any of the sons of men had committed, had been inexorably fatal to them without any means of pardon. Instead of making good his proposition, he only proves this, which is indisputable, that greater benefit came to fallen man by redemption than could have been derived to him without it. How far we should have been in a better or worse state, if we had never fullen, than we are in by means of redemption, is a point not worth the discussion. The grand question is, what are the benefits we derive, circumstanced as we now are, from the redemption by Christ: his mercy in forgiving, without violation to his purity, truth and justice; that glorious attribute by which he fo often proclaimeth himself- The Lord, the Lord 'God, merciful, gracious, long-fuffering, abundant in "goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thoufands, forgiving iniquity, tranfgreffion and fin, and that will by no means clear the guilty 1.' 3. That he fo wonderfully ordered the redemption of man, that all his attributes were preferved inviolable: his truth, The day thou eatest thou fhalt die ;' his juftice, yet his mercy; his love to his creatures, yet his hatred to fin. His fon fhall die to fatisfy his truth and juftice, yet the finner fhall live to fatisfy his mercy: the fin fhall be punished to justify his purity; yet his creature fhall be faved, to manifeft his love and goodness. And thus his wifdom over-ruled fin, the worst of evils, to the improvement of his glory, and the good of his creature. 4. His wifdom is manifested in this, that by the redemption of man, all thofe ways of his administration before the coming of Chrift, do now appear to be excellently ordered to the redemption of man, and the making of it the more effectual: the giving of a fevere and yet most just law, which was impoffible for us to fulfil, fhews us the wretchedness of our condition; our inability to fulfil what was just in God to require 2, fhews us the neceflity of a Saviour, drives us to him, and makes this city of refuge grateful and acceptable; and makes us fet a value upon that mercy, which fo opportunely and mercifully provided a facrifice for us in the blood of Chrift, and a righteousness for us in the merits of Chrift, and a mediator for us in the interceffion of Chrift: and by this means also all thofe facrifices, and ceremonies, and obfervations enjoined in the Levitical law, which Exod xxxiv. 6. * This expression must I conceive be greatly qualified, if we would reconcile the perfections of God. He requires not impossibilities of us, or he could not be just. He hath proposed to us a law of righte ousness, which, by the assistance of his grace, we are able to fulfil : he deals with us as reasonable beings, and will demand of us an account of that only which he gives us the power to perform. carried |