Seth Bushell
Free Grace
Herein I found a composure of very excellent matter, the doctrine of the Law of God truly published in its lightning lustre, and native purity, drawn forth from under the veiling glosses with which it lay a covered {the mere inventions of Satan transformed into an angel of light} and restored to its former integrity, and proper use; as silver, tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times; so that Sinai's thunderclaps, or the bolts of Horeb do here appear shot out, the clouds and pharisaical expositions {darkening the counsel of God by words without knowledge} being dissolved and broken asunder. And moreover, that the fainting sinner might not utterly be excluded, I found comprised therein, the bringing to light of life and immortality through the Gospel, the opening of the kingdom of heaven, the doors being largely expanded in Christ's own way, and method of preaching; which reason, and the seeds of the Serpent sown therein {the enemy to the simple truth of God} hath endeavored by all subtle workings, and secret insinuations, either wholly to shut, or else to open, and but only halfway, by the key of such legal qualifications, that there is no possibility for any heart sensibly discovered, by the doors so opened, to enter in. Only the hypocrite, who lives in a fool's paradise {feigned with a vain imagination of his own conditional goodness} doth concededly seem to himself to enter into the kingdom of heaven, by that way which Satan hath prepared, and cast up, but the issues thereof are the issues of death, leading to Jericho, the accursed city; so that this he shall have in the end, he shall lie down in sorrow; and because he thinks that he seeth, therefore his sin remaineth; for the end cannot be enjoyed but only in God's own way, appointed by Himself, which way thou shalt find most clearly held out, and convincingly proved in these ensuing treatises, to be Christ Himself, by whom the believing heart hath access to God, and comes with boldness to the throne of grace, no man coming to the Father but by Him; and also that he is the Door, ready to entertain and receive into peaceable habitations and sure dwellings, all such as are wounded with the invenomed arrows of their hidden abominations, and stand trembling under the hand of God, fearful of His fiery wrath, and justly deserved indignation; which none may abide, nor otherwise can avoid. And that He is the Truth of the brazen serpent which is lifted up upon the pole in the wilderness, not for the whole, but for the mortally wounded to look unto; and the Water of Life to cool and refresh the withered heart, parched with the heat of sin; at the which, as still waters the weak sheep may drink, which otherwise were not able to stand in, or withstand the boisterous streams, and hold its footing in the clashing waves; so that out of His belly flows the rivers of Living Water. And the good Shepherd, who fully manages that relation for the good of his tender ones, he feeds his flock, like a Shepherd he gathers the lambs with his arm, and carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young. The Vine, in which the branches live, and in whom His people enjoy their life by faith, being dead in themselves through the Law, so that what they have or enjoy doth proceed and issue forth from that Root so full of moisture of which fullness they receive, and grace for grace. They live, but it is in Him who is their Life; they are righteous, and that completely, but it is through His Robes; they are cleansed and washed, but it is by His blood; they are accepted, but it is in the Beloved; they are adopted, but it is in the first begotten amongst many brethren; their hearts are purified, but it is by the faith of the Son of God; they are free from condemnation, but it is because they are in Christ Jesus, for to such there is no condemnation. Nay, reckon up all their participations, and we shall find that they are in and proceed from Him who is the Head; that in all things He might have the preeminence. So that, what have they, but what they have received? And a believing man may say most truly, “In Christ I have and am all things, but out of Him I am nothing, less than nothing and vanity.” And why should this doctrine be so impugned; when as it ought rather to be highly extolled and magnified in heart, press, and pulpit, seeing it lifts up and establisheth the mountain of the house of the Lord in the top of the mountains, and exalts it above the hills, and does but fulfill this saying of Isaiah, where the prophet speaks in the Person of God Himself, “Behold my servant {meaning Christ} shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high,” though many should be astonished at Him; because His visage {not appearing comely to the eye of flesh and blood} was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. {Isa.52:13,14} But what God in Himself, or his Word, hath most highly exalted, that Satan, always an enemy to the truth of God and the seed of the woman, does endeavor to depress and strike underfoot. Seth Bushell {Preface to a book by Robert Towne, entitled “Re-Assertion of Grace” 1654}