Thirdly, That there is a way of deliverance for mankind, the event hath manifested in two remarkable and undeniable instances:—
First, In that swndry persons who were, as others, “by nature children of wrath,” and under the curse, have obtained an undoubted and infallible interest in the love and favour of God, and this testi- mony, that “they pleased him.” What were the assurances they had
SECT. 16. | PROMISED OF OLD. 161
hereof, I shall not now debate. But I take it now for granted,—which may be further confirmed as occasion shall require,—that some per- sons in all generations have enjoyed the friendship, love, and favour of God: which they could never have done unless there had been some way for their deliverance out of the state of sin and misery before described; for therein every man, upon a just account, will find himself in the state of Adam, who, when he heard the voice of God, was afraid.
Secondly, God hath been pleased to require from men a revenue of glory, by a way of worship prescribed unto them after the entrance of sin, This he hath not done unto the angels that sinned; nor could it have been done, in a consistency with righteousness, unto men, without a supposition of a possibility of deliverance from under his wrath: for in every prescription of duty God proposeth himself as a rewarder ; which he is only unto them that please him, and to please God without the deliverance inquired after is impossible. Besides, that God is actually glorified in the world by the way of worship required on this supposition, shall be elsewhere declared, and argu- ments added in full measure to confirm our assertion.
Deliverance, then, from this condition may on just grounds be expected; and how it might be effected is our next inquiry.
16. The great relief inquired after must be brought about by men themselves, or by some other for them. What they can do them- selves herein we may be quickly satisfied about. The nature of the evils under which they suffer, and the event of things in the world, sufficiently discover the disability of men to be their own deliverers. Besides, who should contrive the way of it for them? One single person? more? or all? How easily the impossibility of it might be demonstrated, on any of these suppositions, is too manifest to be in- sisted on. ‘The evils suffered under are of two sorts, both universal and eternal. The first is that of pwnishment, inflicted from the righteousness of God. .
There are but two ways possible (setting aside the consideration of what shall be afterwards fixed on) whereby mankind, or any in- dividual person amongst them, may obtain deliverance from this evil; and the first is, that God, without any further consideration, should remit it, and exempt the creation from under it. But al- though this way may seem possible unto some, it is indeed utterly otherwise. Did not the sentence of it proceed from his nghteous- ness and the essential rectitude of his nature? did he not engage his truth and faithfulness that it should be inflicted? and doth not his holiness and justice require that so it should be? What should be- come of his glory, what would he do unto his great name, if now, without any cause or reason, he should, contrary unto all these en- gagements of his holy perfections, wholly remit and take it off?
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162 MESSIAH, THE DELIVERER FROM EVIL, [EXERC. VIII.
Nay, this would plainly justify the serpent in his calumny, that what- ever he pretended, yet indeed no execution of his threatening would ever ensue. How; also, can it be supposed that any of his future comminations should have a just-weight upon the souls of men, if that first great and fundamental one should be frustrated and eva- cuated? or what authority would be left unto his law when he him- self should dissolve the sanction of it? Besides, if God should do thus,—which reason, revelation, and the event of things, do manifest that he neither would nor could (for he cannot deny himself),—this would have been his work, and not an acquisition of men themselves, which we are now inquiring after. So that this way of deliverance, as it is but imaginary, so it is here of no consideration.
There is no other way, then, for man, if he will not perish eter- nally under the punishment due unto his apostasy and rebellion, but, secondly, to find out some way of commutation, or making a recom- pense for the evil of sin unto the law and righteousness of God. But herein his utter insufficiency quickly manifests itself Whatever he is, or hath, or can pretend any interest in, lies no less under the curse than he doth himself; and that which is under the curse can contribute nothing unto its removal. That which is, in its whole being, obnoxious unto the greatest punishment, can have nothing wherewithal to make commutation for it; for that must first be accepted, in and for itself, which can either make atonement, or be received for any other in exchange. And this is the condition of man, and of every individual of mankind, and will be so to eternity, unless relief arise from another place. It is further also evident, that all the endeavours of men must needs be unspeakably dispropor- tionate unto the effect and end aimed at, from the concernment of the other parts of the creation in the curse against sin. What can they do to restore the universe unto its first glory and beauty? How can they reduce the creation unto its original harmony? Wherewith shall they recompense the great God for the defacing of so great a portion of that impress of his glory and goodness that he had en- stamped on it? In a word, they who, from their first date unto their utmost period, are always under the punishment, can do no- thing for the total removal of it. The experience also of five thousand years hath sufiiciently evinced how insufficient man is to be a saviour unto himself All the various and uncertain notions of Adam’s pos- terity in religion, from the extremity of atheism unto that of sacrificing themselves and one another, have been destined in vain towards this end; neither can any of them, to this day, find out a better or more likely way for them to thrive in, than those wherewith their progeni- tors deluded themselves, And in the issue of all, we see, that as to what man hath been able of himself to do towards his own deliver- ance, both himself and the whole world are continued in the same