:

for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. 1 John 2. 1, 2. My little Sermon children, these things write I unto you, that ye fin not. And if any man fin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jefus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our fins and not. for ours only, but also for the fins of the whole world. 1 John 3. 16. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 4. 10. Herein is love, not that we loved God; but that he loved us, and fent his Son to be the propitiation for our fins. Rev. 1. 5. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our fins in his own blood. Rev. 5. 9. Thou waft flain, and haft redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. From thefe and many other Texts, it feems to be very plain and evident, that Chrift died for our fins, and fuffered in our stead, and by the Sacrifice of himfelf hath made an atonement for us, and reconciled us to God, and hath paid a price and ranfom for us; and by the merit of his death hath purchased for us forgiveness of fins, and inheritance

among

among them that are fanctified. And I Volume do not know any Doctrine of our ReXII. ligion, that is founded and establish'd upon more and plainer Texts, which cannot be understood in any other fenfe, without offering great violence to the first and most obvious meaning of them.

I know the Socinians have framed evafions to all thefe Texts, which I have not time now to produce and examine; nor would it be worth the while. I fhall only say this to them in general; that there is no Principle of Religion fo plainly laid down in the whole Scripture, but may be overthrown by the fame, or the like evafions. Suppofe Chrift had died in our ftead, and made fatisfaction for fin, and God had intended to declare fo much to us; in what plainer and more express and proper words could he have done it, than the Scripture hath already done? If God had faid in the Scripture exprefly, that Chrift had died in our place and ftead, and had fatisfied for our fins; these very expreífions, by the fame arts of interpretation, might have been ftrained and

wrefted

Sermon

wrested to some other fenfe. So that
if God did not intend to exprefs to
us by these Texts, that Chrift fatisfi- X.
ed for the fins of men, yet they are fo
obvious to be interpreted to that fenfe,
and fo hardly, if at all, capable of
any other, that we cannot imagine,
without a great reflection upon the
Wisdom of God, that he fhould deli-
ver his mind to men in words and
expreffions fo exceedingly liable to a
quite different fenfe from what he in-
tended. Befides that there is nothing
more unreasonable, than to deny that
to be the meaning of Scripture, which
if it had been the meaning, could not
have been expreft in plainer and more
advantageous words; efpecially when
this is done, not in one or two Texts,
but very many; and not by one form
of expreffion, but feveral, and all in-
clining to the fame fenfe; and which
is worst of all, this violence is offer'd
to Scripture in a matter which does
neither contradict other Texts, nor
the Reason of Mankind, viz. That one
Man fhould fuffer in another's ftead,
and make fatisfaction for the crimes
and faults which another hath com-
mited; fuppofing the party offended
+

be

be willing to accept of the Commutation, and the Party that fuffers XII. in anothers ftead do voluntarily do

Volume

it.

II. That Chrift only hath merited these Bleffings for us, and that he had no partner with him in this; or there is no other hath merited thefe Bleffings for us, nor can we our selves merit them.

1. No other hath merited these Bleffings for us. Not to take notice of what the Papifts fay of the meritoriousness of our works of Supererrogation, which go into the Treafury of the Church, and make up a publick Stock of Merit, to be difpofed and dealt out by the Pope at his Difcretion; they have by a most unparallell'd Blafphemy joyned the Virgin Mary with Chrift in the work of our Redemption, and fome of them been fo impiously bold, as to parallel the Virtue of her Milk with the efficacy of Chrift's Blood. And tho Chrift fay, that he trode the wineprefs of his father's wrath alone, and of the people there was none with him; yet Bonaventure in his Meditations ventures

to

X.

to corrupt the Text, by this foolish glofs, Nullus erat tecum. Rectè domine, Sermon Jed erat tecum femina; right, Lord, there was no man with thee, but there was a woman, viz. thy mother.

2. Nor can we our felves do any thing whereby we can merit these Bleffings at God's hands. Confidering that we received our Being, and all that we are and have from God, and upon account of thefe Benefits are obliged to love him and ferve him to the utmoft; what a fenfelefs piece of arrogance is it to fay, that a Creature can merit any thing at God's hand? Whatever we give God is of his own, and when we have done all we can, we have done no more than our duty. And can any Man challenge any reward for doing what he ought to do? Can any Man make fatisfaction for a fault that he hath commited, by doing his duty? that is, by not committing another? It is a fure Rule, Debitum debito non folvitur. We are indebted to God by the breach of his Law: but we can't quit this debt, and fatisfie for this breach, by not

breaking