and make the glorified’s heaven, in some respects,
another thing, or at least, in some respect, a more
excellent heaven than Adam’s heaven would have
been; for Adam could not have sung the song of the
redeemed; Adam’s heaven would not have been
the purchase of the blood of God; nor would Adam have
sitten with Christ Redeemer on his throne; nor would
there have been in his heaven such rich hangings of
free grace, nor such mansions prepared by that gracious
and loving husband, Christ, who will come and bring
his bought bride home with him. Seeing, I say,
heaven, even upon the account of free grace, will
have such a special, lovely, desirable, and glorious
lustre, O bow should grace be prized by us now!
How should the gospel of the grace of God be prized
by us! What an antipathy to glory, as now prepared
and dressed up for sinful man, must they shew, whose
whole wits and parts are busied to darken the glory
of that grace, which God would have shining in the
gospel; and who are at so much pains and labour to
dress up another gospel, (though the apostle hath
told us, Gal. i. 7, that there is not another,) wherein
gospel-grace must stand by, and law-grace take the
throne, that so man may sacrifice to his own net,
and burn incense to his own drag, and may, at most,
be grace’s debtor in part; and yet no way may
the saved man account himself more grace’s debtor,
than the man was who wilfully destroyed himself in
not performing of the conditions; for grace, as the
new gospellers, or rather gospel-spillers mean and
say, did equally to both frame the conditions, make
known to the contrivance, and tender the conditional
peace and salvation. But as to the difference
betwixt Paul and Judas, it was Paul that made himself
to differ, and not the free grace of God determining
the heart of Paul by grace to a closing with and accepting
of the bargain. It was not grace that wrought
in him both to will and to do. It was he, and
not the grace of God in him; what is more contradictory
to the gospel of the grace of God? And yet vain
man will not condescend to the free grace of God.
Pelagianism and Arminianism needeth not put a man
to much study, and to the reading of many books, to
the end it may be learned, (though the patrons hereof
labour hot in the very fires, to make their notions
hang together, and to give them such a lustre of unsanctified
and corrupt reason, as may be taking with such as
know no other conduct in the matters of God,) for
naturally we all are born Pelagians and Arminians.
These tenets are deeply engraven in the heart of every
son of fallen Adam. What serious servant of God
findeth not this, in his dealing with souls, whom he
is labouring to bring into the way of the gospel?
Yea, what Christian is there, who hath acquaintance
with his own heart, and is observing its biasses,
and corrupt inclinations, that is not made to cry out,
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
these dregs of Pelagianism, Arminianism, and Jesuitism,
which I find yet within my soul? Hence, it may