Mount Pisgah, or, A prospect of heaven being an exposition on the fourth chapter…Movnt Pisgah, or, A prospect of heaven being an exposition on the fourth chapter…

I but now, at this blessed day, the Judg of the Quick and the Dead, shall Absolve the Saints of God, not only at the Tribunal of his own Justice, but at the Tribunal of their Conscience; He will proclaim that Name in their Bosoms, which he Proclaimed before Moses, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in Goodness and Truth; pardoning Iniquity, Transgression, and Sin, &c. And He will speak so audibly, that every Saint shall hear the ⟨p. 137⟩voice; and so particularly, that every one shall know he speaketh to him; and shall all echo back again with joy and joint acclamation, Who is a God like unto thee; ¹pardoning Iniquity, &c? Nor shall any reflection, either upon sin or sorrow, ever damp that joy any more: Though the Saints cannot plead Not-guilty in regard of fact, yet they shall be acquit by the Sentence of Christ, Not, that they never sinned; but that they are before the Judg as if they had never sinned; Not in His Account only, but even in their own Consciences; and that will fully and finally resolve the Question, which all the Ministers in the world (while they lived on Earth) could never resolve, with all the Absolutions which ever they applied to their doubting Souls; though it were even Clave non errante, from the testimony of the Word; This Proclamation shall do it, and leave no room for doubting or misgiving thoughts, for ever.

I but now, at this blessed day, the Judg of the Quick and the Dead, shall Absolve the Saints of God, not only at the Tribunal of his own Justice, but at the Tribunal of their Conscience; He will proclame that Name in their Bosoms, which he Proclamed before Moses, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in Goodness and Truth; pardoning Iniquity, Transgression, and Sin, &c. And He will speak so audibly, that every Saint shall hear the ⟨p. 137⟩voyce; and so particularly, that every one shall know he speaketh to him; and shall all eccho back again with joy and joynt acclamation, Who is a God like unto thee; ¹pardoning Iniquity, &c? Nor shall any reflexion, either upon sin or sorrow, ever damp that joy any more: Though the Saints cannot plead Not-guilty in regard of fact, yet they shall be acquit by the Sentence of Christ, Not, that they never sinned; but that they are before the Judg as if they had never sinned; Not in His Account only, but even in their own Consciences; and that will fully and finally resolve the Question, which all the Ministers in the world (while they lived on Earth) could never resolve, with all the Absolutions which ever they applied to their doubting Souls; though it were even Clave non errante, from the testimony of the Word; This Proclamation shall do it, and leave no room for doubting or misgiving thoughts, for ever.

1. 1Micah. 7.18.

Secondly, ¹The Saints are then said to receive their full and final Absolution; because then their Absolution shall be Proclaimed in open Court; the Judg in Person, shall pronounce their Absolution in the Audience of God, and all the Elect Angels, and of the whole world of Men and Devils; what Christ in the days of his flesh said to one poor trembling Penitent, he will now say to all, Sons and Daughters, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you; This will be good Cheer indeed; These, be the times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord, when the sins of the Saints shall be blotted out; ²blotted they were before out of God's book; but now they shall be blotted out in the sight of all the world; so that now indeed, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect? since Heaven and Earth, yea, and Hell it self must be witnesses to the Crossing of the book, and to the Cancelling of the Bond; wherein they stood obliged to Divine Justice! Oh what inexpressible, inconceivable refreshment will this be to the Saints of God? even the perfecting of all their former refreshments? The sense of their pardon pronounced by the Spirit, to some of their Consciences within, was wont to be exceeding sweet; yea any Scriptural hopes of pardoning mercy, ⟨p. 138⟩though apprehended by a weak and trembling hand of Faith, were a reviving to their drooping Spirits; What must needs then the highest plerophory, ratified by the most solemn Proclamation of the great Judg, (before the upper and nether world, as well as to Conscience,) be, but life from the dead? Surely it will be even Heaven, before the Saints come to Heaven! Nor shall any reflection either upon sin or sorrow, ever damp that joy any more; nor shall Willow-boughs mix with the Palms of the Saints Triumph in that blessed Jubilee; but everlasting joy shall be upon their Heads, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Secondly, ¹The Saints are then said to receive their full and final Absolution; because then their Absolution shall be Proclaimed in open Court; the Judg in Person, shall pronounce their Absolution in the Audience of God, and all the Elect Angels, and of the whole world of Men and Devils; what Christ in the days of his flesh said to one poor trembling Penitent, he will now say to all, Sons and Daughters, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you; This will be good Cheer indeed; These, be the times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord, when the sins of the Saints shall be blotted out; ²blotted they were before out of God's book; but now they shall be blotted out in the sight of all the world; so that now indeed, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect? since Heaven and Earth, yea, and Hell it self must be witnesses to the Crossing of the book, and to the Cancelling of the Bond; wherein they stood obliged to Divine Justice! Oh what inexpressible, inconceivable refreshment will this be to the Saints of God? even the perfecting of all their former refreshments? The sense of their pardon pronounced by the Spirit, to some of their Consciences within, was wont to be exceeding sweet; yea any Scriptural hopes of purdoning mercy, ⟨p. 138⟩though apprehended by a weak and trembling hand of Faith, were a reviving to their drooping Spirits; What must needs then the highest plerophory, ratified by the most solemn Proclamation of the great Judg, (before the upper and neather world, as well as to Conscience,) be, but life from the dead? Surely it will be even Heaven, before the Saints come to Heaven! Nor shall any reflection either upon sin or sorrow, ever damp that joy any more; nor shall Willow-boughs mix with the Palms of the Saints Triumph in that blessed Jubile; but everlasting joy shall be upon their Heads, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

1. 12ly. The Saints absolved in open Court.
2. 2Acts 13.19.

The Second Branch of the Saints Justification, is, that the Judg will pronounce them perfectly Righteous.

Answ. It doth seem so, and (truly) it doth but seem so; for Pardon relates to what is past only; ¹Remission of sins that are past; it is but privativum quid, a freedom from Guilt, and a freedom from Punishment; it doth not suppose any real and positive Righteousness, which may set a man rectus in curiâ, perfect before the Tribunal of Gods Justice.

1. 1Rom. 3.25.

Obj. If it be objected; There is not a third State, or a third Person, viz. one that is not Guilty, and yet not Righteous; a man must be one of these, either Guilty or Righteous; if he be not Guilty, he is Righteous; if Righteous, he is not Guilty?

Answ. The objection admits of a fair and easy solution, namely this; ^*It holds true in matters of criminal Justice, where a person is tried upon Indictment of a Crime, suppose Theft, or Murder, or Sacrilege, or the like; there, upon Examination, to be found Not Guilty, is to be Righteous, ⟨p. 139⟩Legally Righteous; there being no other Righteousness looked after in that Trial, but, Whether Guilty of the Fact, or not Guilty: But in matters of remunerative justice, where the Law propounds a reward to such and such qualifications, there a not-Guilty will not suffice. Ex. gr. If a Scholar in the University be a Candidate for an office there, or a Fellowship in a College, where the Statutes do require such and such qualifications there: upon Examination, to be found not-Guilty of Murder, of Sacrilege, or any other Crime; this will not capacitate the Candidate for the preferment; this is the case in hand, The Saints are now Candidates for Heaven and Glory, Absolution or Pardon is not sufficient to capacitate them for this glory; yea though it be supposed the pardon be extensive to all (not the transgressions only of the Law, but) the very omissions & defects too, yea to the least non-conformity, unto the Law in its utmost perfection, it sufficeth not; because a pardon is not the qualification which the Law requireth; but a positive perfection, Fac hoc, &c. Do this, and Live.

Answ. The objection admits of a fair and easie solution, namely this; ^*It holds true in matters of criminal Justice, where a person is tried upon Indictment of a Crime, suppose Theft, or Murder, or Sacrilege, or the like; there, upon Examination, to be found Not Guilty, is to be Righteous, ⟨p. 139⟩Legally Righteous; there being no other Righteousness looked after in that Tryal, but, Whether Guil•y of the Fact, or not Guilty: But in matters of remunerative justice, where the Law propounds a reward to such and such qualifications, there a not-Guilty will not suffice. Ex. gr. If a Scholar in the University be a Candidate for an office there, or a Fellowship in a Colledg, where the Statutes do require such and such qualifications there: upon Examination, to be found not-Guilty of Murther, of Sacriledg, or any other Crime; this will not capacitate the Candidate for the preferment; this is the case in hand, The Saints are now Candidates for Heaven and Glory, Absolution or Pardon is not sufficient to capacitate them for this glory; yea though it be supposed the pardon be extensive to all (not the transgressions only of the Law, but) the very omissions & defects too, yea to the least non-conformity, unto the Law in its utmost perfection, it sufficeth not; because a pardon is not the qualification which the Law requireth; but a positive perfection, Fac hoc, &c. Do this, and Live.

1. *The Law is satisfied by suffering the Penalty in mens precepts, but not in God's; wherein not only Penalties are threatened, but Blessings are promised. Down de Justif.The Law is satisfied by suffering the Penalty in mens precepts, but not in God's; wherein not only Penalties are threatned, but Blessings are promised. Down de Justif.

Whether God, by absolute Prerogative, cannot dispense with this qualification, and pardon the want of it, I will not dispute; but, Whether God can in Justice dispense with his own Law, and with that Condition of Righteousness and Life established in the first Covenant, is the main Enquiry, (of which anon.)

Whether God, by absolute Prerogative, cannot dispence with this qualification, and pardon the want of it, I will not dispute; but, Whether God can in Justice dispence with his own Law, and with that Condition of Righteousness and Life established in the first Covenant, is the main Enquiry, (of which anon.)

It is true, there is not a third State, a State which is neither a state of Guilt, nor a state of Righteousness; neither is there a third person: there is not a person to be found which is neither Guilty nor Righteous; but though there be not a third State, or a third Person, yet there is tertius Conceptus, a third Conception or notion in the understanding; though there be not a person which is neither Guilty nor Righteous, yet to be not-Guilty, ¹and to be Righteous are two different capacities, considerable in one and the same person; it is one thing for a man to be considered merely as not Guilty (or purely as an absolved person,) another thing to be considered, as a Righteous person, invested with all those excellent qualifications, ⟨p. 140⟩which may capacitate him for the privilege annexed to the condition.

It is true, there is not a third State, a State which is neither a state of Guilt, nor a state of Righteousness; neither is there a third person: there is not a person to be found which is neither Guilty nor Righteous; but though there be not a third State, or a third Person, yet there is tertius Conceptus, a third Conception or notion in the understanding; though there be not a person which is neither Guilty nor Righteous, yet to be not-Guilty, ¹and to be Righteous are two different capacities, considerable in one and the same person; it is one thing for a man to be considered meerly as not Guilty (or purely as an absolved person,) another thing to be considered, as a Righteous person, invested with all those excellent qualifications, ⟨p. 140⟩which may capacitate him for the priviledg annexed to the condition.

1. 1They differ as to the predicate, though they be not separate as to the subject.They differ as to the praedicate, though they be not separate as to the subject.

Ex. gr. As it is between Sin & Holiness; He that is not sinful, is holy; there is not a person to be found who is not sinful, and yet not holy: the notions are different, though the subject be one and the same:

So it is between not-Guilty and Righteous; there is not a person, who is neither, not-Guilty, and yet not-Righteous; for although the considerations be unseparable, yet they are not identical: Not-Guilty is not the same notion with Righteous; that is purely privative, this positive: though they are ever United, yet they are not to be Confounded.

So it is between not-Guilty and Righteous; there is not a person, who is neither, not-Guilty, and yet not-Righteous; for although the considerations be unseparable, yet they are not identical: Not-Guilty is not the same notion with Righteous; that is purely privative, this positive: though they are ever Ʋnited, yet they are not to be Confounded.

Again, as in point of Eternal punishment; He that is punished with the pain of Loss, ¹is punished also with the pain of Sense; yet is not the pain of Loss, the same with the pain of Sense: He that is deprived of Gods presence, and the joys of Heaven, doth suffer the torments of Hell with the Devil and his Angels for ever; the punishments are distinct, though they be inseparable: So it is between the two capacities, relating to these two places, Hell and Heaven.

1. 1Paena damni. Paena sensus

The Person under the notion of not-Guilty, is an absolved person, and acquitted from Hell and eternal damnation: And, as under the notion of Righteous, he is capacitated for Heaven and life everlasting: Not-Guilty relates to freedom from Hell: Righteousness, relateth to Heaven, as the proper qualification thereof: Do this and Live; though, where the one is, there is the other, yet the one is not formally the other.

The Person under the notion of not-Guilty, is an absolved person, and acquitted from Hell and eternal damnation: And, as under the notion of Righteous, he is capacitated for Heaven and life everlasting: Not-Guilty relates to freedome from Hell: Righteousness, relateth to Heaven, as the proper qualification thereof: Do this and Live; though, where the one is, there is the other, yet the one is not formally the other.

And according to these two capacities and places, there are two great Works, which the Redeemer did undertake for the Redeemed: The one to make satisfaction for sin to divine justice by his Blood, i. e. by his Death.

The other to yield most absolute Conformity to the Law of God, both in Nature and Life.

By the one, we may conceive the Redeemed freed from Hell and everlasting burnings; by the other, we may conceive them qualified for Heaven and everlasting Glory.