man to seek out curious ways of sinning against it to avoid the power of the law as we see in Gaming c. sin takes occasion by the Commandment that it may sin more artificially and such men are hardly convinced 2 The Law discovers sin and men will not see it and so sin takes occasion by the Commandment and vents it self by refusing knowledge And they stop their ears that they may not be charmed by the voice of the charmer Joh. 3.20 c. 3 Sin takes occasion from hence in that men hate the light of the law and they wish that there were no such law in the world He that does evil hates the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be made manifest and reproved As the law discovers that to be evil in which the soul placeth its greatest good so this discovery draws out a hatred in the soul a-against that law which does as a glass discover the spots which the sinner would have hidden 2. The law does restrain sin and puts a stop to it and shuts up the sinner as we may read Gal. 3.23 Whence sin breaks forth more violently men being prone to sin and cannot live without it for the comfort of their life comes in by it The Law may restrain and keep in lust for a while Mat. 12.43 but it breaks forth as fire when you suppress it outwardly it burns the hotter within and spreads the more by a restraint 1 It spreads the more in the man by the restraint of the Law a man that hath forborn a sin long there comes seven worse spirits at the last and makes him more the child of the Devil than he was before the former restraint that was upon him makes his inward man the more exceeding sinful As it was with Judas a Devil though a Disciple The restraint of sin by the Commandment causes it to defile his inward man the more 2 The more sin is enraged as Psal 2. They say let us break their bonds and cast their cords from us Chains put not a fierceness into a beast but yet it does outwardly draw forth that fury that was in its nature As a potion in some diseases given for the cure irritates the peccant humour and kills the man the sooner not that it puts a new sickness in but only the humours being stirred are the more enraged 3 So in this case it does not only enrage sin and so make it more fierce but it improves it by this enraging as the presence of an injury doth heighten a mans anger as we see Goliah did David s his brags drew forth David's courage and it rose to the greater height and so any difficulty would Alexander's so that it was an exploit fit for Alexander if none else would undertake it and so a damm in the water it does cause it to swell and foam the more and the coldness of the circumstant air in the winter does not put more heat into the fire and yet by an Antiperistasis it excites it so that it is felt the more And therefore men living under the clearest discoveries of the Law their sins do rise to the greatest height men by the light of nature cannot sin against the Holy Ghost the great and the unpardonable transgression but this sin is by Gospel-light and this draws forth to direct enmity a mans spirit against the light so that he sins wilfully after that he hath received the knowledge of the truth and with despight for it is this being under the irritating power of the Law that is the great occasion of the sin against the Holy Ghost 3. There is a condemning power of the Law it passes a sentence upon a man and upon his estate and let 's into his soul by the spirit of bondage fear of death and dreadful apprehensions of wrath fearful expectations of judgment and of violent fire to devour him And from this also sin takes occasion 1 By reason of terrours that a man should destroy himself and become the instrument of his own mercy and be his own executioner as Judas and Achitophel and many others have done And 2 hence sin takes occasion to drive them to despair and draws it forth fastning their eyes upon the vengeance of God and never shewing them the remedy and the pardon and then with Cain men say mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven 3 Hence follows a giving up themselves unto all excess of riot there is no hope and therefore I will enjoy the good things that are present and not have a Hell here and hereafter too And therefore they refrain not from any evil way but resolve to take their fill of sin while they are here for they are sure they can be but damned as many a wicked wretch when he is condemned to die he cares not what he does then for he knows he can be but hanged Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die 4 The rage of their spirits does rise from hence even to blasphemy and revenge against God He saith O that I were above God! for I know that he will not have mercy upon me And so the Damned in Hell do blaspheme God by way of revenge because they are shut up under wrath and know that there is no mercy for them And this is the ground also of the great rage and revenge against God that is acted by the Devil ever since the fall Thus men seeing themselves condemned by the Law and being in a continual expectation of this wrath the revenge and rage of their spirits against God is by this means drawn forth and in all these respects sin does take occasion by the Commandment and becomes the more exceeding sinful SECT II. Whence it is that the Law exasperates and encreases Sin § 1. LET us now come having proved the Point to look into the grounds of it How it should come to pass that that which discovers sin and forbids it should exasperate and increase it and that that which is a means to lead the people of God into ways of holiness and to sanctifie them converting the soul making wise the simple should occasion sin and death to others We must lay this as a ground That the cause is not in the Law the Apostles care is to remove any blemish that may be cast on the Law of God as if God had given a Law to this end to add unto the sin of man whereas indeed before the Law sin was in the world and it was out of measure sinful but it did not appear so without the Law There is a twofold cause that the Apostle does here point us unto 1 There is causa per se a formal cause which does of it self and of its own nature properly produce the effect from some inward and intrinsecal power and efficiency and so the Law is not the cause of sin in a man neither is there any thing in the Law that should
produce any such effect but rather the contrary for it doth forbid sin upon the highest penalties it has upon it an impress of the Holiness of God and is contrary to sin in all things being holy and just and good and in its proper causality does work holiness in the hearts of men and a conformity unto the will of God as the rule of Goodness as it appears in the Saints all the grace that they have is nothing else but the Law written in their hearts which is the grand promise of the new Covenant 2 There is causa per accidens an accidental cause when the effect flows not from the nature of the cause but from something else that does by accident cleave to it so the Apostle says knowledge puffs up all true knowledge is humbling and there is nothing that a man can know either of God or himself but it does afford him great ground of abasement and self-denial but yet through the lusts of men sin takes occasion by the knowledge that should humble him to lift him up so fountains are hottest in the Winter and the fire by reason of the cold of the circumstant air not that the Winter does add heat to either by its own nature but by accident and occasionally inclose the one and draw forth the other so the Gospel meeting with the lusts of men who either reject the Gospel or else do turn the grace of God into wantonness thence it becomes the savour of death unto death not of it self nor in its own nature for it is the word of life and salvation so does the Law draw forth sin not of its own nature for it forbids it and curseth it but yet sin takes occasion by the Law and through many things that do adhere and cleave to the man by the Law it does become the more exceeding sinful Let us therefore come unto the proper causes how it comes to pass that sin by the Law which is good should take such an occasion of evil The causes are many 1. One cause of it is lust There are in lust many things from whence it flows but especially these 1 Lust is carried towards its object with earnestness violence and vehemency there is a lifting up of the soul to vanity and the hearts going after covetousness and therefore some render that of Laban when Jacob departed and he saw that the hope of his gain was gone Gen. 31.20 Deut. 29.19 Amos 2.7 Eph. 4.19 Jude 11. that he stole away the heart of Laban And as a godly mans desires are for God and Grace so a wicked mans desires are after sin and he thirsts and pants after it and it is therefore exprest by greediness as we may see it in Shechem Amnon and Ahab after Naboth's Vineyard All these set forth the violence of lust how fully the soul of man is carried after sinful objects and the ground is because sin looks upon sinful objects as the husband of the soul as the chief good and therefore is carried after them modo infinito in an infinite manner as a God therefore they are said to serve mammon and their God is their belly and they are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God Rom. 7. and therefore desire them infinitely the sinner is never satisfied but like the barren womb crys give give his desire is as Hell and the Grave it never has enough Now whatever comes in the way as a bar unto that which his soul does so infinitely desire it is no wonder if his heart rise against it with an answerable violence If Naboth come in the way of Ahab's Covetousness his life is little enough to make satisfaction and if any man stand in the way of Haman's honour his life and the life of a whole Nation is but a fit sacrifice to expiate so great an offence Now the Law of God putting a stop upon such vast desires therefore the hearts of men do rise up against the Law in opposition answerable to the desire that sin hath unto the object from which it is stopt by the prohibition of the Law 2 Lusts are proud and do swell the heart and cause it to be lifted up Psal 10.4 The wicked through the pride of his countenance doth not seek after God Obed. 3 The pride of thy heart has deceived thee And this fills the heart with a great deal of obstinacy and stoutness of spirit against God and contempt and scorn of whatever comes in his way to resist it as we see in Pharaoh even against the Lord himself Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice And answerable unto a mans pride and exaltation of spirit such is the rising of his heart against any thing that makes against him and the more full of lust any man is the more the pride of his heart is drawn forth for he is thereby made the more conformable to the Devil who saith I am a God and so do all mens lusts say and therefore the heart is lifted up as a God answerable to the pride of a man such is his impatience 3 Lust is resolute this proceeds from the two former it will go on whatever come of it Ephes 2.3 Hos 9. in despight of all opposition There are wills of the flesh as great resolutions as if there were many wills in one as a wild ass alone by it self i. e. that has neither rider to command it nor bridle to restrain it will venture any-where Jer. 8.7 They go on in their own ways as the horse rushes into the battel Christ warns Judas The son of man goeth indeed as it is written but wo to him by whom the son of man is betrayed it had been good for that man that he had never been born And yet Judas went forth and from that time he sought an opportunity to betray him If the Lord make hedges about a soul yet he will labour to tread down all with the greatest resolution and with the highest contempt as we may see it in Pharaoh after all his plagues yet his heart was hardened that is his will remained obstinate and he resolved not to yield unto God come what will come yea though death to himself and destruction upon his Kingdom did ensue And therefore they say What thou speakest to us in the name of the Lord we will not do Jer. 44.16 but we will do whatever proceeds out of our own mouths And if any thing come in the way to cross them in this resolution men resolve to oppose it see it in Saul 1 Sam. 22.17 Go and kill the Priests of Jehovah which some have made to be the sin against the Holy Ghost and Job 15.26 They do prepare themselves thick-bossed bucklers they resolve to make resistance they harden their hearts and stiffen their necks though the law of God set the sin and the evil before them yet men despise it and fear not the danger let it be of temporal judgment they say
the first Covenant Doth this Covenant afford the least reward to any services that have the least imperfection adherent to them And can sinners offer to God any such perfect services Will it not thence hence necessarily follow that such as stand under this first Covenant have all their services rejected all their sins imputed to them their persons hated their blessings cursed and all the curses of the Law bound fast on their consciences by the sentence of the righteous God What are all their seeming services but real sins and what are all Gods rewards to them but real curses albeit seeming blessings What can they expect for such unsanctified services but unsanctified rewards which are indeed real curses But to treat somewhat more distinctly of the misery which attends such as are under the first Covenant we may consider it under these two Heads that both the Law and Gospel The Law to such as are under the first Covenant the means of death which are means of Life and Salvation to such as are under the first Covenant prove as to them means of Death and Condemnation First as to the Law it proves the means of death and condemnation to such as are under the first Covenant two ways 1 In regard of its coactive Rigor 2 As it irritates Sin 1. The Law doth by its coactive Rigor work death and condemnation in such as are under the first Covenant Doth not the Law exact of such perfect obedience 1. By its compulsion but gives them no strength to perform it It 's true the Law requires obedience of those who are under the second Covenant also but the promise gives what the Law requires But of such as are under the first Covenant perfect obedience is required but no intern principle is engraffed duty is required but no love or delight therein conferred Yea do not such perform duty as godly men commit sin May they not say of sin as Paul doth of duty Rom. 7.15 What I would that I do not And what Paul saith of Sin may not such say the same of Duty What I hate that do I The Law discovers sin to those that are under the first Covenant but did it ever cast out any one sin discovered by it Sin is sometimes wounded by it but did it ever kill any one sin Are not the hearts of such like Ezechiels pot in which the scum did arise but then boyled in again The Law drags such to the Tribunal of God as a righteous Judge but can they ever come to God as a Father Is not this the priviledge of such only as are under the second Covenant Lastly the Law drives such as are under the first Covenant unto self-condemnation but can any thing but the Gospel work Justification and Peace of Conscience So deadly and mortiferous is the Law to such as are under its violent compulsion and coaction as it is a Covenant And whence is it that the Law hath such a compulsive power over such as are under it as a Covenant 1 Is it not from those Principles of self-love and legal fear implanted in the heart of man whereby he is constrained to duty and restrained from sin by the threats and terrors of the Law which move Conscience as extern weights move artificial Automata or machines O! what a great power has Conscience over such when acted and enflamed by the terrors of the Law Doth not Paul Rom. 7.1 assure us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Law doth Lord it over a man so long as he continues under it as a Covenant And how doth the Law as a Covenant Lord it over the man but by ruling in the Authority and Sovereign Dominion of God in and by which it will at last judge the man And oh with what rigor and compulsion doth it rule over his Conscience and thereby restrain him from sin and constrain him to duty Again 2 Doth not the Law receive much Authority and force from the Spirit of God setting it home on Conscience and thereby terrifying and wounding the sinner 3 Is there not also in all men under the first Covenant a sinful Weight or Bent of Lust which makes the yoke of divine Precepts extreme irksome and burdensome to them And doth not this adde much to the rigour and severity of the Law Doth not the Law of God lay the same rigorous restraint on the lusts of those who are under it as a Covenant which the Providence of God lays on the lusts of Diabolick spirits And oh what a miserable case are such in who lye under this tyrannick compulsion of the Law as a Covenant If their lusts rage within but dare not vent themselves because the Law holds a rod over Conscience how do they burn like fire in an Oven and now and then flame forth in rebellious thoughts against God and his Law wishing there were no Law Or else if lusts break forth into Act how soon doth the Law bind over Conscience unto wrath and condemnation and oh what stings and torments follow hereon And is it not also a miserable case for the sinner to be compelled and forced by the Law to do those good offices which he really hates Would it not be a great torment to a Saint to be constrained to bow down and worship the Devil and is it not as great misery to a person under the first Covenant to be compelled by the Law to worship God whom he hates as much as an holy man hates the Devil And is not this the genuine cause of all that hypocrisie which is lodged and deeply radicated in those under the first Covenant that all their omissions of sin and performances of Duties proceed meerly from the violent tyrannick compulsion of the Law as a Covenant And as the Law doth by its rigorous exaction more or less prevail on Conscience so their hypocrisie is more or less radicated and refined Oh! how partial and inconstant are such in their abstaining from sin and performing Duties How disagreeable are those good works they do to their Natures and Principles and thence how little pleasure and delight do they find in the doing of them Yea the rigour and tyranny of the Law over such most eminently appears in this that in constraining and forcing men to duties it is so far from giving strength that the more they perform duties the less strength they have to perform them the more they hear meditate or pray the less strength they have to perform those duties as they ought So also for the Laws restraining such from sin the more they are restrained the stronger their lusts grow and break forth with greater violence in the issue Whereas one under the second Covenant the more the Law restrains his lusts the weaker they grow and the more it constrains them to duty the stronger they grow in the performance of them because together with the restraints and constraints of the Law there is conveyed a force and strength by the
them all the good things that they enjoy below and all that communion which they enjoyed here with him where they see his back parts there they shall see his face for ever and therefore it 's beyond the hopes and the expectation of the Saints ◠Thess 1.10 He shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in them that believe Now the ground of admiration is the over-plus of expectation they shall say as the Queen of Sheba did of Solomons glory We have heard of thee here below but the half was not told and this glory lies in God alone It 's true there is not the meanest reward but it is beyond the desert of the best of our services and it is meerly free grace that rewards them but if the Lord should give a man as he did Nebuchadnezzar Egypt for his hire Kingdoms and Nations as the reward of his services that he did in this life and yet say to him at the last day You have your reward you were herein for ever miserable 4. Thy portion in the creatures will fail thee for ever and deceive thee as a brook that passes by for all flesh is grass and the glory and the pride of it is but as the flower of the field and it will be said to thee In thy life-time thou hadst thy good things for as you brought nothing into this world so it 's certain that you can carry nothing out but the soul shall be stripped of whatever is dear to it here below for they are this worlds goods and given but as a viaticum in the way till a man come to his journies end and whether they be ad regnum or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad supplicium as Chrysost it 's all one they are not of any use in the life to come and therefore when all men have acted their parts here and are gathered into their own place then there shall be a general conflagration of the world when the earth and all the works of men shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3. for they are but for the present time of this life and they will afterwards be of no further use to a man for ever but hereafter God shall be all in all 1 Cor. 15.28 and God will work all things by himself immediately Here he doth comfort us by the creatures and rules us by Angels by Magistrates and Ministers but that shall not be in the life to come for he will work all himself immediately In this life we are to be taken up about God the knowledge of God and the love of God but we are busied with many things else cumbred about many things and we are to take care of the things of this life in our calling which interrupts our abiding with God but these imployments are but for the support of humane society in this present state that we might serve God and the good of Community but we shall be taken up with God and the things of God only in the life to come and with God immediately not God in the creatures as now we are In this life we take pleasure in many things besides God the works of God are sought out by his servants and we please our selves with the comforts that he has given us in our way for in this life God heaps variety of benefits upon us he loads us daily with his benefits but after this life there shall be but one great reward and a man shall go out unto creatures for nothing unto eternity there shall be a comfort in them but not out of necessity but variety all of them seeing God in themselves and in each other but if a mans portion be in any thing without God I tell thee thou must leave it behind thee Isa 50.11 when thou comest to lie down in the grave and so having kindled a fire you compass your self in your own sparks you shall lye down in sorrow All the comforts of an ungodly man in this life are compared to the light of a candle not only because they are maintained by creatures base matter here below but also because they will go out in the end for the longest candle will end in a snuff but now the light of the godly and their comfort being in God it shines as the Sun more and more unto the perfect day 5. It shall be unto you according to your desire you shall never have any part or portion in God for ever that which is thy sin shall be thy punishment as Christ made it to them that were invited they shall never taste of my supper so it shall be with you you will have no interest in God neither shall you have unto eternity depart from me you cursed cursed with eternal destruction from the presence of God and the glory of his power 2 Thess 1.9 and this is called utter darkness It 's true our Divines commonly say that the Torments of Hell are of two sorts 1 Poena damni something privative which is the loss of God and the happiness of the Saints 2 Poena sensus which is something positive a punishment inflicted by God immediately upon soul and body But it 's said commonly by Divines that it 's the first that is the greatest part of a mans torment and it 's that which makes Hell properly such which is demonstrated 1 from the meritorious cause of it which is sin There are in the Law two things 1 the precept 2 the prohibition Now the mind of the Law-giver was most in the precept and therefore the omission is a greater offence than the commission if they be apart considered now the punishment of loss is proportioned unto the omission of the precept as the punishment of sense is unto the commission of the sin 2 It will appear in this that the blessedness of the Saints in Heaven doth mainly consist in the vision of God that they shall see him face to face and in this is the happiness of the Angels and Saints yea of Christ himself Psal 16.1 therefore on the contrary doth the misery and damnation of the wicked lie that they shall be deprived of the vision of the face of God for ever Mille gehennae poenae at nihil est quale à gloria Dei excludi à Deo odio haberi c. Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil in oratione de extremo Judicio 6. He that has his portion in any thing below God and not in the Essence of God God will be ingaged against him for ever and his judgment shall flow from God immediately For either thou must have thy happiness in him immediately or else thy misery will come in immediately from him for ever for as after this life God will not govern by the creatures nor comfort by the creatures so neither will he afflict or punish by them but it shall be from his own immediate hand therefore the fire of Hell is not material fire as some
the Curse and Covenant the Curse naturally attends the Covenant every son of Adam necessarily falls under the former as well as the latter Mens natural desire to be under the first Covenant 5 All men naturally and ardently desire to be under Adams Covenant The natural blindness and pride of mens hearts strongly impels them to build a Spiders house of their own on which they may lean as Job 8.14 15. Are not all men by nature children of the bond-woman and so possest with a spirit of bondage Have they not a legal spirit answerable to the Covenant they are under And doth not this legal spirit bring forth suitable fruits Do not such as are informed and acted by it perform all services to God in the oldness of the letter in a formal servile legal manner without regard to Christ the Mediator Yea is not this legal spirit whereby those under Adams Covenant are acted full of enmity and opposition against Christ his Righteousness and all the terms of his new Covenant Doth not such mens rejecting the terms and grace of the second Covenant argue their strong propensions yea vehement impulses towards Adams Covenant Are not all their spiritual Gifts common Graces legal Righteousnesses as well as all their sins imployed to oppose the Grace and Righteousness of the second Covenant And if their consciences be at any time awakened and their sins set in order before them in all their bloody aggravations yet what a difficult thing is it to bring them off from the old Covenant What hard black scandalous thoughts of Christ are they filled with How do their hearts sink under unbelieving despondences and base jealousies of Christ And doth not all this argue mens vehement desires to be found under the first Covenant 6 The more the glory of the second Covenant is revealed to such as are under the first The rejection of the second Covenant the greater efforts and more vehement opposition they put forth against it The more mens natural reason is elevated by supernatural common illumination the more stout-hearted they are against the terms of the new Covenant all their moral righteousnesses serve only to set them farther off from the righteousness of faith their good deeds as well as their bad fortifie them against the embracement of the new Covenant because it would spoil them of their own righteousnesses which they have wrought so hard for all their days and subject them to the righteousness of God Do we not find all this greatly exemplified in the Pharisees and legal Jews who having espoused to themselves the old Covenant rejected Christ and his Righteousness 7 For men thus electively to put themselves under the first Covenant and reject the grace of the second is a sin of the first magnitude and deepest aggravations Hath not the great God exalted the second Covenant above the first Is it not then an high injury against him to bring down that Covenant God has exalted and to exalt that which he has made null above it Is not Christ the Mediator of the new Covenant the greatest gift that ever God vouchsafed mankind God justly leaves such to the Covenant they desire Oh! then how injurious is it to God to reject so great a gift and the grace offered by him 8 It is therefore just with the righteous God to leave men to stand or fall by that Covenant under which they so strongly desire to be Doth the holy and blessed God do the sons of Adam any wrong in leaving them under his Covevant unto which they have such a strong impulse and desire If he hereby gives them but the desire of their heart what cause have they to complain against him And will not his procedure at last day appear to be most just and rational in judging men according to the tenure of the first Covenant unto which they had so strong a desire May not God justly lay to their charge every the least sin and make them bear the burden of it seeing they have put themselves under a Covenant that admits not any Mediator Whom have they to represent their persons to bear their sins to pay their debts to endure their curse to perform their duties seeing they reject the Mediator of the second Covenant This leads to the second general Head The misery of such as are under the first Covenant The deplorable and miserable state of such as are under the first Covenant 1 Is it not a deplorable case for men voluntarily to elect their own ruine Was it ever known that men did contentedly yea chearfully sit down under a state of most miserable bondage when full liberty was offered to them by a benign gracious Prince Doth it not argue a spirit immersed in the basest servitude to take complacence in its chains and fetters And yet is not this the very case of all such as desire to be under the first Covenant 2 Is it not a miserable thing for a man to be on the very brink of ruine and yet not sensible of it yea under a fond presumption of a blessed state For a man to go as an Ox to the slaughter adorned with a garland made up of the fading flowers of his own righteousnesses what folly and madness is this And yet is not this the very case of all Pharisaic spirits who live and die under the first Covenant Is not a good conceit of a bad state most dangerous and miserable To be alive in carnal presumptions self-flattery and self-sufficiency and yet spiritually dead in Divine estimation is it not the worst of deaths Are not such next degree to falling into Hell who fondly flatter themselves that they can stand longer and surer than others by their own forces 1 Cor. 10.12 And are not such as put themselves under the first Covenant guilty of all these pieces of folly 3 Is it not a sad case for sinners to put themselves under a Covenant which neither gives or admits a Mediator To have none to represent their persons but to be left standing before the righteous holy God in their own names bearing their own sins expecting to be justified by their own works to pay their own debts or to endure their own punishment what greater misery can there be 4 To be under a Covenant that neither promises nor gives nor accepts of Repentance but leaves men to live and die in their sins without the least drop of the blood of Christ to wash them away what a sad case is this Must not such expect that as soon as they peep out of the grave and lift up their traiterous heads their own consciences as also Divine Justice condemn and pursue them unto all eternity 5 Is it not also a most wretched forlorn case for men to have their persons hated yea loathed by the God of all love and mercy and thence their best services rejected for the least failings in them And is not this the case of all such as stand under
through him Have we then any thing to do with or receive from God in a covenant way but by this Mediator and union with him Did not God from all Eternity give his Son as the foundation of this Covenant to the Elect as also give them to him as a seed And is not this the true import of their being elected in him Is it not also hence said Tit. 1.2 That eternal life was promised to the elect before the world began How could it be promised to them but by this Covenant of Redemption with Christ their Head Did not the Church Christs mystic body lie hid in him from Eternity as Eve lay hid in Adam her head Are not all Believers by the Covenant of Grace in Christ as by nature we are all in the first Covenant And is not Christ in every Believer as Adam in all his natural seed How is the first Adam in us but as the original cause of our nature and its moral vitiosity which causeth death And is not Christ the second Adam in all Believers as the original cause of their restauration and life What is there good in man but what is first in Christ as the original Head of the Covenant and public Receiver Wouldst thou see Gods love and grace streaming towards thy soul Must thou not then first see it lodged in Christ as the Fountain of all Dost thou desire to see all thy sins wiped off Must thou not then see them first wiped off from Christ thy Representative Wouldst thou by a prevision of faith see thy self in a glorified state O then by faith look on Christ the Head of the Covenant as glorified for thee Alas if thou look on thy self in thy self growing out of thine own natural root what art thou but as a branch cut off from the Olive-root But O! how comfortable and sweet is it to see thy self crucified acquitted and glorified in Christ the Head of the Covenant Yea doth he not only become a surety for us to God but also a surety for God to us And O! how much doth this engage sinners to exalt this glorious Head and Mediator of the New Covenant Was not this the grand design of God in making this Covenant that his Son the Prince of it might be in every thing exalted Why are all the promises of the Covenant dispensed first unto him and all the duties of the Covenant required first of him and of us in him but that he may have the preeminence in all things and a name above every name That the Son of God and Lord of Glory should by his own consent in the Covenant of Redemption between him and the Father come under an act of Gods will and undertake in the fulness of time to take upon him the form of a servant to pay debts who never owned any that he that was Lord of the Law should be made under the Law that all the Elect should have their names transcribed out of the Fathers book of Election into the Lambs book of life Rev. 13.8 yea have their names written in his heart from all Eternity and thereby to have such a blessed Being in him so long before they had the least Being in themselves what an essential obligation are they hereby brought under to exalt this glorious Head and Prince of their Covenant 4. But let us discourse a little of the Nature of this second Covenant 4. The Nature of the Covenant as relating to Believers as terminating more immediately on Believers And here the Reader will excuse me if I studiously avoid the controversies of these times and touch only on that which is more essential to Faith and Godliness The Covenant of Grace as made with Believers has a twofold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habitude or regard the one externe the other interne (1) As to its externe Dispensation which is The Covenant of Grace as to its externe Habitude and Dispensation admits some Variety Generality and Conditionality which is not applicable to the interne spirit and mind thereof [1] Various It admits of some Variety It has pleased the infinitely wise God out of his rich mercy and condescendence to the condition of his people in all Ages to suit the externe Dispensation of his second Covenant to their infirm capacity albeit as to the spirit and substance thereof it hath been ever the same Thus in the first promulgation of it to Adam after his Fall God expressed it by the seed of the woman and its bruising the serpents head c. Gen. 3.15 which was a form most agreeable to their present state introduced by the Serpents subtility and craft So in the second promulgation of this Covenant unto Noah after the Floud Gen. 9.17 God expressed it by the Ark and Rain-bow c. as it 's repeated Esa 54.9 which were symbolic Images very apposite and agreeable to their preservation newly obtained The like Variety God manifested in the repetition of this Covenant unto Abraham Gen. 17.2 to 16. where God promulgates his Covenant as to its externe Habitude under the symbolic forms of multiplying his natural seed the sign of Circumcision c. which were â—ll lively figures very much adapted to his present state he having no children So again when God renewed this Covenant with the Israelites after their coming out of Egypt what variety doth he use Is not the very Prologue to it touching their deliverance out of the house of bondage an illustrious Symbol to mind them of their miserable state by the first Covenant What were all the Sacrifices but federal Symbols representing to the life mans sin and misery under the first Covenant and reconcilement to God by the second So also for the moral Precepts with which this Mosaic Covenant was ushered in of what use and intendment were they but to make way for the promulgation and advance of free Grace as John Baptist made way for Christ It 's true some of late from this variety have started a Notion of a threefold Covenant one natural another legal or Mosaic and the third Evangelic but this Notion was the figment of the old Origenistic Monks to establish their Antichristian merits as Melancthon Chron. lib. 4. assures us The true Idea of the Mosaic Covenant seems this it was indeed as to its interne spirit mind form and essence Evangelic albeit as to its externe form and dispensation it was mixed and composed of moral Precepts and symbolic Types or shadows and O! how agreeable was this to the infantile state of the Israelitic Church Did not the wise God herein act like a curious Limner who first gives an adumbration and dark shadow with a rude Pencil and then adds lively colours to compleat his Picture What were all the Types but Evangelic shadows whereby the Grace of the second Covenant became visible and sensible [2] Indifferent and general The Covenant of Grace as to its externe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and dispensation admits of some
temptations shall quicken them to wisdom and watchfulness 8 And tend to the greater increase of their glory Pag. 406 The Providence of God as it respects men is for the good of the Saints Pag. 409 Providence orders all things in reference to their own spiritual good 1 For conversion 2 Instruction 3 Deliverance out of danger 4 Preservance when there is no visible support 5 Consolation 6 When lusts are high and temptations impetuous Pag. 410 There is a special Providence over godly men for the good of others that are good in present and after-generations 1 In improving their parts 2 In drawing out their graces 3 In their sufferings 4 Labours 5 Examples 6 Prayers 7 Faith Pag. 411 The Providence of God over-rules all things for the good of the Saints in reference to evil men 1 They have a being in the world and a standing in the Church for the Saints good 2 God stirs up the spirits of wicked Magistrates for the good of the Saints 3 He stirs up the spirits of wicked men to stand for a good cause and to assist the Saints 4 He doth them good by their persecutions 5 By their sins 6 Their desertions 7 Their restraints Pag. 414 The Providence of God is also concerned in the smallest things for the good of the Saints Pag. 417 Whatever the Lord doth by means he can work immediately by his own hand without means Pag. 420 In the means he uses there is an immediate concurrence of his own Power to the producing the effect Pag. 421 God doth sometimes delight to work without means by his own immediate hand ibid. This immediate acting of Providence is wholly for the good of his people Pag. 422 Gods immediate promise or ordering things in the use of means is for the good of his people 1 He appoints the means 2 He blesses the means 3 He raises up means unexpectedly 4 Most unlikely Pag. 425 The Providence of God orders all things that work from a necessity of nature for the good of his people 1 The Sun 2 The Stars 3 Rain 4 The Earth 5 The Seas 6 The Winds Pag. 427 All casual providences are for the good of the Saints as dreams lots ordering the wills and affections of men the fall of a house c. Pag. 428 The Providence of God doth order all good things for the spiritual good of his people 1 Their calling 2 Their habitation 3 Opportunities to exercise grace 4 Society 5 Preservation in service dismission from it 6 Posterity Pag. 429 The Providence of God orders all evil things either of sin or punishment for the good of his people Pag. 432 The Providence of God orders the sins of the Saints themselves for their good and that 1 In respect of the being of sin 2 Rising of sin 3 Actings of sin 4 Raging of sin ibid. In respect of the being of sin in them that thereby 1 He may exalt the grace of Justification to them 2 That there may be a continual conflict in them 3 That they may be kept humble 4 Be exercised in prayer and repentance daily 5 That the patiente and forbearance of God may be more exalted 6 To shew how great a grace the gift of perseverance is 7 To keep them in a continual longing for glory Pag. 433 In respect of the rising of sin in them 1 That all lusts break not forth continually 2 When lust doth not rise when the object is present 3 To shew them such a sin is in their nature which they either never considered or repented not of 4 To make them hate sin more 5 To awaken them 6 To be matter of continual repentance Pag. 435 In respect of the actings of sin 1 That they may see the power and tendency of sin 2 That if they be deserted of God they shall be drawn into all kinds and degrees of sin 3 That they may see how weak all means are against it 4 That they may fear to be delivered up unto the power of Satan 5 That they may exercise repentance of all kinds 6 That they may be willing to dye Pag. 437 In respect of the rising of sin This tends 1 To a new conversion in them 2 To discover the strength of sin the power of temptation and of Christs Intercession 3 To bring them to confession 4 To make them diffident of their own strength 5 To make them walk in fear ever after 6 To fit them for service 7 To be matter of humiliation to them all their days 8 To put them upon the greater mortification of sin 9 To make them more tender towards others 10 To be an argument for their consolation Pag. 439 The Providence of God orders the sins of other men also for the good of his people In general 1 Hereby they may read what they were 2 What they are delivered from 3 Hereby they are admonished what they are in their own nature if God leave them to themselves 4 And be minded of the ends sin brings men to to fear them 5 And put them upon many duties towards them which will turn to their account Pag. 442 In particular the Saints are gainers by the plots of wicked men by their counsels by their attempts against them and by their executions Pag. 443 TABLE Of SCRIPTURES more distinctly explicated Genesis Ch. Vers Pag. 2. 17 1-4 3. 15 195 3. 20 198 3. 22 23 4. 1 199 4. 7 18 4. 14 205 208 4. 25 199 5. 24 378 6. 5 434 8. 21 ibid. 9. 9 198 9. 27 199 208 210 11. 17 4 12. 2 194 17. 1 343 377 378 17. 2. 113 17. 7 8 160 260 21. 12 205 45. 5 6 7 432 50. 20 ibid. Exodus 19. 5 217 24. 7 10 283 38. 8 epist p. 2 Numbers 7. 7 8 9 169 14. 24 378 Deuteronomy 4. 23 185 4. 27 176 4. 51 194 5. 2 3 184 5. 5 87 6. 7 185 29. 14 15 202 29. 19 57 Joshua 24. 22 23 376 Judges 2. 1 398 5. 20 427 2 Samuel 23. 5 156 2 Chronicles 13. 5 182 30. 8 161 Job 1. 6 407 29. 4 17 38. 31 427 Psalms 12. 6 163 25. 14 186 44. 17 18 192 50. 5. 190 63. 8 192 74. 20 183 76. 10 393 83. 3 402 84. 11 347 87. 4 5 235 91. 3 407 110. 3 388 110. 7 172 144. 15 253 Proverbs 6. 14 443 8. 22 23 135 310 11. 16 epist p. 1. 17. 16 430 18. 10 373 21. 16 7 Ecclesiastes 1. 15 444 5. 6 398 Canticles 6. 3 188 6. 8 392 Esaias 4. 5 422 9. 6 235 10. 6 7 432 10. 24 404 17. 1 343 28. 15 187 35. 6 424 38. 14 188 42. 6 424 49. 1 2 128 50. 5 188 57. 6 297 60. 20 347 Jeremy 9. 25 207 11. 16 210 14. 22 372 17. 1 18 18. 18 443 31. 14 346 33. 20 418 35. 6 7 178 Ezekiel 1. 12 20 383 48. 35 218 Daniel 4. 17 380 7. 2 3 210 9. 24 329 9. 26 348 9. 27 165 239 Hosea 1.
7 212 2 14 356 2. 21 22 425 6. 7 176 8. 14 59 10. 12 175 11. 14 237 13. 8 97 14. 4 348 14. 5 6 7 347 Joel 2. 7 379 2. 23 355 2. 25 417 Micah 5. 2 135 5. 7 422 7. 20 125 Habakkuk 2. 4 329 3. 2 330 3. 9 420 Zephany 2. 4 322 Zachary 1. 17 188 2. 5 369 3. 1 2 408 4. 2 3 353 422 4. 7 424 5. 6 8 39 6. 8 136 11. 10 163 13. 7 323 Malachy 2. 3 182 2. 13 15 16 11 3. 3 316 Matthew 3. 16 128 6. 22 23 350 7. 14 15 192 8. 11 234 241 10. 29 30 417 11. 29 169 13. 24 25 415 13. 29 ibid. 13. 52 399 16. 19 202 222 22. 1 321 22. 14 234 22. 32 358 26. 74 188 28. 18 383 Mark 10. 13 201 11. 13 279 14. 71 539 Luke 13. 32 431 446 15. 21 378 16. 13 192 16. 22 234 17. 20 21 388 18. 16 201 19. 9 198 21. 9 212 21. 18 417 22. 31 188 192 22. 32 439 John 1. 1 410 1. 2 134 5. 22 382 5. 23 418 5. 26 330 6. 27 136 6. 44 314 15. 1 324 17. 2 385 20. 17 375 Acts. 2. 38 194 13. 10 438 Romans 3. 1 206 5. 3 396 5. 13 93 6. 14 37 38 45 7. 7 91 7. 9 93 329 7. 24 62 8. 28 395 9. 2 3 196 9. 4 217 234 9. 31 25 10. 3 ibid. 11. 16 196 234 238 11. 17 210 325 11. 24 62 14. 17 388 15. 8 9 162 1 Corinthians 4. 8 358 5. 12 13 205 6. 17 192 7. 14 196 213 214 220 224 11. 3 321 12. 4 5 6 218 13. 12 290 15. 24 398 15. 28 323 15. 56 39 2 Corinthians 2. 14 333 6. 10. 373 Galatians 3. 16 124 126 3. 17 18 19 86 108 4. 21 22 121 5. 18 50 Ephesians 1. 4 5 134 4. 14 15 400 5. 15 378 5. 31 192 Philippians 1. 8 399 1. 19 366 2. 20 399 3. 9 26 240 4. 7 373 Colossians 1. 13 61 381 2. 8 257 2. 14 83 2. 19 327 1 Timothy 1. 9 52 2 Timothy 2. 26 406 Hebrews 2. 1 2 185 2. 5 235 2. 7 8 387 6. 7 213 8. 6 158 10. 22 362 10. 38 329 10. 39 371 12. 22 340 James 1. 15 435 1. 22 334 1. 24 53 54 90 3. 15 445 1 Peter 1. 7 375 2. 9 377 3. 21 190 2 Peter 1. 4 246 1. 5 332 1. 20 425 1 John 5. 6 7 338 5. 11 328 5. 19 406 Revelations 2. 1 389 2. 17 424 3. 21 330 4. 5 391 7. 3 4 210 12. 11 186 13. 8 164 13. 17 217 14. 1 323 16. 1 413 19. 14 322 20. 1 255 21. 3 218 21. 6 255 21. 12 16 373 22. 15 233 ERRATA PAg. 33. lin 11. after made known read have no cause to complain because they are left under that Covenant they desire to be p. 41. l. 23. ior mercy r. death p. 49. l. 10. dele the last sin p. 52. l. 41. r. 1 Tim. 1. ◠p. 54. l. 47 48. dele the property of an unregenerate man is to justifie God p. 55. l. 23. dele the first and p. 56. l. 25. for there r. that Item l. 41. r. lime that which doth quench other fires sometimes kindles this p. 59. marg r. Use 4. p. 61. l. 59. r. 1 Cor. 15.56 p. 61 c. Title r. scriptural p. 62. l. 57. r. is passed p. 65. l. 29. r. Dominion only p. 78. l. 10. from the bottom r. for publick politick Ib. l. 9. from the bottom dele the second hereditary p. 97. l. 8 9. dele Hos 13.8 I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps c. Item v. 10. dele c. p. 100. l. 5. r. Diabolus p. 101. l. 36. for unchangeable r. unblamable p. 118. l. 55. r. nolentibus p. 149. l. 22. for Son r. Sun Item l. 40. for work r. make p. 165. l. 4. r. enter into Covenant p. 168. l. 10. r. last way to salv p. 170. l. 34. for utterly r. entirely p. 174. l. 13. r. as he paid the debt p. 176. l. 34. for ways r. days p. 177. l. 31. r. I am not at Item l. 56. for curse r. Covenant p. 184. l. 24. r. that curse is the c. p. 242. l. 5. dele three p. 247. l. 58. r. Smalcaldian war p. 302. l. 53. for right r. light p. 303. l. 57. dele § 2. p. 317. Sect. 3. Title r. to Christ p. 329. l. 57. r. than any creature p. 331. l. 14. r. live himself p. 332. l. 11. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 338. l. 57. r. is in the recumbency p. 339. l. 60. for 5. r. § 4. p. 340. l. 20. dele § 4. p. 346. l. 51. r. as she said p. 349. l. 25. r. they and their fathers p. 350. l. 20. r. incommutabili ad commutabile p. 365. l. 39. r. specious Idol p. 385. l. 29. dele 1. Item l. 58. r. is put p. 388. l. 14. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 389. l. 23. r. Divine Law p. 412. l. 5. r. Papista p. 417. l. 19. for three r. four p. 418. l. 54. r. the people of God see God A DISCOURSE OF THE Two Covenants c. BOOK I. Of the Covenant of Works CHAP. I. The Curse of the first Covenant Gen. II. 17. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die c. SECT I. The Explication of the Text. § 1. IN the Covenant God made with Adam there was a Life promised of which the Tree of Life was a Seal and there was a Death threatned which was seal'd by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the threatning Thou shalt die the Promise is implied This do and thou shalt live and therefore the one is called the Sacrament of Life and the other the Sacrament of Death And this was a Covenant not made with Adam as a particular person but as a Representative from whom all Mankind were to descend by Natural Generation and therefore God did make a Covenant with Man in his Head But the Covenant God made with the Angels was Personal because they were created all at once and they were not to have their Being by descent one after another Hence it is that in Adam all sin and in Adam all die Rom. 5.12 1 Cor. 15.12 Act. 17.26 because God did intend to make of one blood all Nations Now the Covenant being made with Adam in the behalf of his Posterity and he breaking it brings himself and all his Posterity under the guilt of Sin and under the power of Death which is the curse of the Covenant So that the Covenant of Works did not cease by the fall Ephes 2.1 but it stands still in force unto all those that are as yet in the first Adam 1. This will clearly appear if we consider that God dealt with man in a Covenant-way in his Creation Man stands bound to God by a double bond
of this life the Princes robes and the beggars rags lie down together but the difference in their spirits is eternal and therefore the blessing or the curse upon the soul is much more than that on the body or the estate many of these being but for the time of this life 3 Sin is chiefly an act of the soul The sin of the soul membra sunt arma the members are but weapons it 's the soul that 's the hand and the chief cause of enmity lies therein and therefore the chief vengeance lights upon that God will punish sin not only here but eternally Therefore as the greatest blessing is upon the soul so the greatest curse also And as the School-men say of Glory so we may say of Wrath it is Radicaliter in corde redundanter in corpore radically in the heart but redundantly in the body the main object of wrath and curse is the soul 2 Pet. Mat. 16. 4 The great evil that sin does a man it fights against his soul and the great loss that it occasions is the loss of the soul men do often complain of losses but they may be all made up in this life as Job's were or if not yet the afflictions of this present life are not worthy of the glory that shall be reveal'd they work for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and Quaedam amittere ut majora lucreris non amissio est sed mercatura to lose some things that thou maist gain better is not loss but a thriving trade But the loss of the soul is the great loss that can never be made up and therefore the curse of the soul is the great curse 5 The curse of the soul being taken off all other curses are taken off also as the curse remaining on the soul all blessings are turn'd into curses they may be blessings in the thing but they are curses to the man So on the other side all cursings are turn'd into blessings they may be curses in the thing but they shall prove blessings to the man To the unclean all things are unclean for their minds and consciences are defiled Tit. 1. When once Grace comes into the soul malediction goes out all things shall work for your good and the curse is taken off from all the Creatures for your use Life is yours and death is yours so that as the precept of the Law is made a servant to the promise of the Gospel for it was added by way of subordination and subserviency thereunto so the curse of the Law is made a servant to the Grace of the Gospel also and a Saint has a sanctified use of that as a blessing which is in it self a curse 6 The chief satisfaction that was given for sin has reference to the soul In the sacrifice there was offred the life and the blood but it was the blood that made an atonement for the soul and without shedding of blood there is no remission And when Christ came to stand in our stead as a surety the main of the sufferings he endured were in his soul Isa 53.10 God made his soul an offering for sin Christ did as our surety and therefore he put his name to our bond and was made under the Law Now being our surety he was to pay our debt and that was mainly in the soul The Sacrifice that was to be accepted of God was to be a whole burnt-offering now if Christ had but suffered in his body it had been but a half burnt-offering He offered himself Heb. 9.10 therefore it must be his whole manhood and before his bodily suffering came while he was in the Garden he says My soul is heavy unto death Mar. 14.33 amazed or astonished the word is rendred a failing of spirit his spirit died even within him his thoughts were wholly abstracted from all things else and the wrath of God that lay upon him did wholly fill up his soul c. Now in all these respects the curse upon the soul which is spiritual death is the greatest part of the Curse far greater than that upon the body upon Creatures or Relations § 2. And now let us come to consider wherein this Curse upon the Soul lies 1. It lies in this That a man has forsaken God as his chief Good and as his utmost End Man in his Creation was carried towards God as that chiefest Good wherein his happiness consisisted and acted towards God as him to whom all his actions were refer'd and wherein his blessedness lay and therefore Augustin speaking from a spirit renew'd and having the same principle begun in him says Omnis copia quae non est Deus inanis egestas est All plenty that is not God is poverty And Bernard says Animam Dei capacem quicquid est Deo minus non implebit nothing less than God will fill the soul capable of God Man having all in God must needs do all for him and refer all to him for he that is the chief Good must needs be also the utmost End Now the death of the soul lies mainly in this first it 's taken off from God as the chief Good for that 's the first thing sin does Jam. 1.14 it draws a man away from God who was the Center where the soul rested Psal 116.7 Return to thy rest O my soul They have forsaken their resting place they have wandred upon every mountain And therefore Jude v. 18. all the lustings and inclinations of the soul they are call'd ungodly lusts because they have nothing else in them that being the main bent in them all to take off the soul from God and carry it away from him Jer. 2.13 It 's forsaking the fountain of living water And Heb. 3.12 It 's departing from the living God And hence it is that repenting is call'd returning because we have departed from him and conversion is nothing else but returning to God as a mans chief Good And man being thus departed from him God is not in all their thoughts for they look for no good from him their good lies not in him and therefore they live without God in the world they know him not they love him not they expect nothing from him it 's to them as if there were no God to judge nor reward and hence it is that men can live without the favour of God all their life-long and never be troubled because they have not made it their happiness But take a man that has set up this as his happiness a frown is to him as the messenger of death and not to see the Kings face puts him into the shadow of death for he can breath in no other air as Absalom said He could not live unless he saw the Kings face And so David God had hid his face which made him like to them that go down into the pit Man in his Creation as he was wholly of God so he was wholly for him and so it is when the Image
's utterly defaced and a new Image is now stampt upon us We are all by nature the children of the Devil and there is an image that 's earthly which we do now bear 1 Cor. 15.49 therefore we must be renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created us for all knowledge and inward abilities of mind either to know God or the Creature is lost and the soul is darkness it self Ephes 4.18 dark in its principles and dark in its reasonings his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is darkness and though Divines do commonly say that there are some common notions as fragments of the former image I conceive we are beholding to the Covenant of Grace for them and that they are preserved in us by Christ as our lives are and the support of the Creatures for our use and whatever does tend to our comfortable being whatever is on this side Hell we have not as a part of the first Image and from the first Covenant but as an overflowing of the Grace of the second Covenant by which I say the world stands for surely man fell in lutum lapidosum into a stony mire as Bernard the one blotted out the image of Holiness and the other brake in pieces all his natural abilities It 's laid for a ground that Original sin is alike in all now how comes it to pass that it has not the same punishment and power upon all Take a natural fool and the veriest idiot and every one of us was as guilty of Adam's sin as he now why are those common notions blotted out in him and preserved in us surely it is from the different dispensations of the Mediator into whose hand the government and administration of all things are committed and it 's said Joh. 1.9 That he enlightens every man there is not only a supernatural light from Christ to all the Elect but there is some kind of light that even all mankind has from Christ by vertue of the second Covenant that it 's not destroy'd it is from him and that glorious freedom of Will is wholly lost that though man acts as a free-willer because he does it answerable to the dictates of Reason yet it is libertas adulterina an adulterine liberty and that which has a shew of liberty but is only bondage for surely that libertas contrarietatis velle bonum vel malum is not liberty for that 's a perfection and so is not the other neither can there be liberty in Heaven then but now the soul is wholly servile because it can will nothing else but evil Phil. 2.13 he must work the will c. Facit ut velimus praebendo vires efficacissimas voluntati Aug. 4. The Soul has lost all fellowship and communion with God Adam could walk with God and enjoy fellowship as a friend with God and so do the Saints that have this image renewed but it 's grace only fits a man for fellowship Being made partakers of the divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 And so for glory also Col. 1.12 Ephes 4.18 Estranged from the life of God So call'd either because it 's wrought by God as the righteousness of Christ is call'd the righteousness of God it's God that lives in the soul by his spirit and it 's the life of God by way of eminency and excellency for things excellent are call'd the things of God and it 's the life of God because it does fit a man to walk with God and to live to God Now from this life men are strangers Isa 44.20 they live a natural life and they feed upon the carnal comforts that are below that nature desires and seeks after and they live a civil life they converse with men in civil affairs but for a godly life a life to God to walk with God converse with him in all their ways this they are strangers to this is only the life of Saints But men live the life of satan he lives in them being the spirit of this world and he acts them and with him they converse and his lusts they do As Augustin says of himself speaking of the lusts of his youthful time Hi sunt amici quibus acquievi consules quibus credidi aves quibus cohabitavi But for God they have no acquaintance with him in all their ways 5. The Soul is at enmity with God Col. 1.21 Enemies in our minds and this enmity is twofold either direct or collateral enmity as when mens lusts run out to the Creatures and the using of them loco mariti in the stead of an husband it 's an enmity unto God though we intend it not but Jam 4.4 only pleasure in the Creature carries us on and we prove adulterers therewith when mens spirits are carried unto several lusts for pleasure sake and profits sake c. and so it 's enmity against God but indirectly and men say they never meant God any evil I never intended it as they in Ezech. 8.3 They set up the image of jealousie to provoke me to go far from my sanctuary that was finis operis the end of the work though not operantis of the worker But there is a kind of direct enmity which carries a man on unto that which is simply evil and that for no cause but because it does displease and dishonour God as in swearing a sin wherein is neither pleasure nor profit there is no ground for it but barely because God is dishonoured by it We read Heb. 10.29 there is a despighting of the spirit of Grace there is an enmity to do evil for no other end but to despight the spirit of Grace which is the great transgression Psal 19.13 There is an inclination in our nature to this great offence unto which not only presumptuous sins but even secret sins are steps and degrees Men reject the Soveraignty of God and scorn his Laws and despise his power and judgments deny his being and exalt themselves above him saying there is no God 6. The Souls death lies in this mainly that it hates and is an enemy to all those ways that might bring him back unto God again resists whatever may reconcile God and his soul let but a good thought of God come into their head and they hate it Rom. 1.28 We naturally like not to retain God in our knowledge let any thing be offered unto us that exalts God and we reject it we are enemies to all righteousness Take but the offers of Christ and the grace of the Gospel there is nothing that the heart rises so much against and opposes because it 's the way that brings us to God they will find out another of their own they desire to be under the Law go about to establish their own righteousness and not submit to the righteousness of Christ This will be the great condemnation of the World Nay even in a godly man let but a little of God be set upon his soul presently flesh lusts against it Gal. 5.17 and would
and that denial increaseth to an oath and that swearing multiplies to cursings and to imprecations upon himself in the highest kind as the word is in the original as if he had wished Mat. 26 74. I would I might never find mercy at the hands of God or come where God hath to do that I might be separated from God eternally and damned body and soul if that I know the man And Isa 57.17 says God For the iniquity of his covetousness I smote him and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart c. Theodosius was an Emperour of a very meek sweet and gracious temper yet a Temptation so far got the head of him that upon an occasion of a Tumult in Thessalonia a servant of his that he had in a special manner respect for being slain he commanded an universal Massacre throughout the City that in a very short space 3000 men were slain by his command and that by a wile being invited to behold a Play for which cause the Emperour himself was by Ambrose kept from the Sacrament It were strange to consider unto what a height even the sins of godly men from the remainders of corruption that is in them may be improved 6. For the improvement of sins in godly men Satan may and commonly does make advantage of the Law of God and the commands and restraints thereof whereby sin will take occasion See it in King Asa the Prophet did prophesie and he put him into Prison because he shewed him his sin and instead of repenting for it he increased it for he was in a rage temptation had got hand over him and by the reproof Satan did stir up his lust And even the Gospel is by Satan turned into wantonness and all the Grace of it yea and all the glorious works of Grace upon a mans heart sin will take occasion from Gods drawing nigh and wax wanton under his love there is not any part of the Law of God or the Works of God or the Providence of God that Satan will not make use of and sin take occasion by to stir up and to improve corruption in a man even those remainders of sin that are in a Saint Quest § 4. If a godly man be under the irritation of the Law as well as a wicked man where then lyes the difference that a man in Christ is said not to be under the Law in this respect The difference lyes in these three things mainly Answ 1. An unregenerate man has no other use of the Law but this all the fruit that he has by it is to improve draw out and increase his sins but a godly man being under another Covenant as he has the Law written in his heart in his regeneration so he has by the Law Grace increased in the continued work of his Sanctification Joh. 17.17 there is in respect of his regenerate part a power of Sanctification and the whole Law of God tends to that end in him and this the Law works in him per se as he is regenerate though it works the other per accidens as far as he is unregenerate Grace receives strength by the Commandment according to the law of the mind as sin does according to the law of the flesh in the one sin is restrained and subdued in the other sin may be restrained but it is increased and as a damm set upon the waters which â—â—â—es them swell the higher 2. Through sin may â—â—â—e occasion by the Law in the regenerate yet this does not constitute sin in dominion it doâ—â— never rise up so high in a regenerate man as to amount unto a compleat raign and dominion as Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you so that a man should obey it in the lusts thereof for in the highest improvement of sin by the Law in the regenerate there is another law in the mind a spirit that lusts against the flesh that a man cannot be given up unto all iniquity it does never work in him all manner of concupiscence as it does in the unregenerate so as to make a man always go on in a presumptuous way of sinning but Grace and the spirit of Grace gives a check to it because a man loves the law of God and its precepts according to his inward man 3. Lastly it does never so far prevail in the regenerate as to bring forth fruit unto death as it does in the unregenerate Rom. 7.5 The motions of sin that were by the law wrought in me to bring forth fruits unto death But as the law is made a servant unto the Gospel so both the precept and the curse of the law is made subservient and subordinate this way for as the remainders of sin in the godly are sprinkled with the blood of Christ so are all the temptations of Satan and the improvements of sin by the law which is unto all unregenerate men a part of the curse of their Covenant sanctified unto the regenerate and are a means to shew them their own vileness and to humble them deeply before the Lord as we see it in Peter and David and to make them hate sin the more and to make them the more watchful over their own hearts and lay the faster hold upon Christ and the Grace offered in the Gospel by faith and to ply the Throne of Grace by constant and daily prayers and the more to long for their adoption and redemption and so this improvement of sin by the law does tend in the end to the further subduing of sin and at last to the utter abolishing of it that so the remainders of sin being wholly done away Satan may stir up sin and sin may take occasion by the Commandment no more And so as other fruits of the curse of the law are blessed and sanctified unto them as their afflictions their temptations and death it self so shall these fruits of the curse be also sanctified unto them and tend to their sanctification and end in the perfection of their holiness at the last So that as death is swallowed up in victory in a mans resurrection so is sin also in a mans perfect sanctification unto which through the Grace of the Gospel sin it self was over-ruled to be a means for as there are two ways of a mans pollution so there are also two means of a mans sanctification there are proper and natural means as Satan and a mans own lusts c. and there are occasional means as the law of God so there are of a mans sanctification the Word and the Spirit and the Ordinances and there are occasions which in their own nature do work no such thing but Grace takes occasion from the one as corruption does from the other the temptations of Satan and the improvement of sin by the law being sprinkled by the blood of Christ shall be as effectual to a mans sanctification as the other being not sprinkled with the blood of Christ
the Law which is a glass to discover sin and a rule to guide in duty to the end of the world and there will be use of this rule without as long as Heaven and Earth shall last and this frame of Heaven and Earth shall continue till the image of God be perfectly renewed in all the Saints and the law written perfectly in their hearts and they are a law fully unto themselves and so can live above the law and can live upon the law till then you will need the law without and so long this law shall continue and be of use in the Church of God 2. The meaning therefore is that the state of the Old Testament which is here called the Law and the Prophets that is that manner of discovering of the mind of God unto his people which was in the Law and the Prophets that was unto John that is by speaking of Christ to come and promising a higher and a greater light and a greater measure of the spirit in after times but yet it was not accomplished but in 1 Pet. 1.12 To them it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things that are now reported to us to whom the Gospel is preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven which things the Angels desire to look into So that the state of the Church of God under the Old Testament and the manner of revelation of the mind of God and that measure of dispensation of the Spirit of God and not the Typical part only as some would have it is here meant So that the Ceremonial Law and the Prophets did but speak of Christ to come and did vanish in John's time the Substance being come the Shadows must fly away but also all that manner of dispensation being more obscure and less spiritual and less powerful all that did end because the Law and the Prophets did but speak of Christ to come but John of Christ already come Behold the lamb of God c. so much that word in the Original signifies 3. At the coming of Christ the Law and the Prophets were as it were taken away not by abrogation but by way of excellency as when the Sun rises the Stars disappear and are darkned and all mens eyes gaze on the Sun This is a new and a higher and more glorious way of discovery 2 Cor. 3.10 That which was glorious had no glory in respect of the glory that excelled because now Christ was manifested to be more fully that which he was stiled to be before Dan. 8.13 the word Palmoni signifies the wonderful numberer of secrets or as Junius and Glass what has innumerable secrets And there are divers such names given unto Christ in the Scripture his name shall be called Wonderful Counseller to set forth his nature and his actions Prov. 30.1 Ithiel and Vcal c. The Angel Dan. 9. prays unto Christ to discover unto him how long the Vision concerning the daily Sacrifice and the desolation of the Sanctuary shall be for as Christ is the head of the Angels so he is the teacher of the Angels also and the secrets of the Counsels of God he knows and he reveals them unto the Angels in answer to their prayers Rev. 5. Now there being a fuller and a more glorious way of revelation and a fuller dispensation of Grace the state of the Old Testament under the Law and the Prophets is to be done away not by way of Abrogation but by way of Excellency and so these Scriptures also I conceive are to be understood They shall say no more The Lord lives that brought up his people out of the land of Egypt Jer. 2.3 c. Not that this mercy should be wholly forgotten but as it were darkned and obscured by a greater mercy and a more glorious deliverance and that place also They shall no more teach one another saying Know the Lord for they shall be all taught of God from the greatest unto the least that is there shall be a more full and glorious way of discovery that in comparison of that abundance of light when the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the fulness of Grace vvhen the vveak shall be as David there shall be no need of those former vvays of instructions but they shall have their teaching more immediately from the Lord and so that place There shall be no more need of the light of the Sun and of the Moon there shall be a fuller and more glorious light there shall novv seem to be no need of these former vvays of instruction by them and also that place they shall see his face Rev. 22.4 not that men shall have the Beatifical vision here but that there shall be a fuller manifestation of God insomuch that in comparison of what it was before it shall be even as seeing his face in glory as there shall be no more death no more sorrow no more crying not that absolutely there shall be no more for while there shall be sin there will be cause of sorrow and there shall be death till the Resurrection when the change of them that are found alive at the Lords coming shall be to them instead of death death is the last enemy that shall be destroyed immediately before the giving up of the Kingdom of Christ unto the Father but the peace and prosperity of the Church shall be such all the former persecuting Monarchies being destroyed that there shall be in comparison of what there was in former times no more death nor sorrow nor crying under persecutions and groaning and mourning under the cruelties of men no more And thus you see for all this the Law and the Prophets continue till Heaven and Earth be no more Object 2 But it is said in this Text Gal. 3.19 that this subserviency of the Law was but to last till the seed should come unto whom the promise was made and afterwards be given in the hand of a Mediator Vers 16. But till then and that seed is said to be Christ and therefore now Christ being come who is that seed this subserviency of the Law is ended for till then it was to last and no longer Answ 1. Some would seem to understand this only of the Ceremonial Law which they say is afterwards said to be a School-master to bring men unto Christ and so Beza seems to carry it namely that the School-master is only the Ceremonial Law which I conceive our former whole discourse of the use of the Moral Law in this great work of bringing a soul to Christ by discovering of sin and restraining sin and shewing a man the way of Gospel-obedience hath fully rectified but if we consider what is said vers 12 13. this will be clearly manifested for he speaks of that Law that saith He that doth them shall live in them and of that Law that saith Cursed is every one that continues not
and good will for his Purposes and Decrees are immutable as himself is and there can nothing arise de novo that should cause him to change his purpose but more that he proceeded herein to a treaty with his Son about it to be his Servant in this great work to bring Jacob again unto him Isa 49. and made a solemn Covenant pass between these glorious persons about it and that those thoughts should delight them before the World began and that the Lord should bespeak his Son with all the terms of dearness that can be to undertake this service Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee and therefore being his Son it was only an office fit for him and as being his Son there was all fitness in him so there was all dearness to him and by this Christ did upon this motion of the Fathers undertake this service and there was a solemn Covenant passed between them Jer. 30.21 And thus the Lord did as it were bind himself and his Son unto this great work of your Salvation before the World was not only laying his love but also his faithfulness to pawn though not in a Covenant to you before you were yet in a Covenant to his Son and therefore there was a promise of eternal life given us in him before the World began 3 When he doth Covenant with Christ to be a Priest Tit. 1.2 it is a Covenant that he confirms by an Oath to shew that he doth never intend to alter and change his resolution Psal 110.4 The Lord has sworn and will not repent c. Psal 110.4 Heb. 7.21 This Priest was made by an Oath by him that said unto him Thou art my Son the Lord swore and will not repent and this was from everlasting for then it was that Christ was first appointed or set apart to become a Priest Now all this shews how much the heart of God was in it For the Word of God is as true as his Oath and as infallible and therefore if he had but said it it had been enough for there is a greater stability in his Word than there is in Heaven and Earth but yet it is observed by Divines that between the Word of God and his Oath there is this difference though the Lord speaks the word yet there may be some secret and tacite condition or some subsequent declaration of the mind of God As for Nineveh God said Within fourty days Nineveh should be destroyed yet there was an implyed condition of repentance which being performed the Judgement was not executed And so to Ely I said that thy fathers house should walk before me for ever but now I say Be it far from me and so the promise is reversed and it may be that is the meaning of the expression in Numbers You shall know my breach of Covenant But if God swears it shews the unchangeableness of his counsel an absolute act that nothing can arise de novo and nothing can be supposed that can cause God to change it he will never have a relenting thought for the pardon of sins and saving of sinners for ever and therefore he swore and made him a Priest by an Oath and this Oath some conceive to be the seal of God by which he did in a solemn manner set apart his Son for this great office and designed him to it from everlasting Joh. 6.27 John 6.27 Him hath God the father sealed So that as he has sealed up his decrees concerning you that they can never receive an alteration or change more how changeable soever you be 2 Tim. 2.19 as 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God remains sure having this seal the Lord knows who are his so he hath sealed up also his Covenant with Christ and that by an Oath Now if it were but a Kings Seal who could reverse it But this is the King of Kings 4 We see that their hearts were much in it for neither of these persons ever repented of it to this day 1 If God the Father would have repented a man would have expected that it should have been when he came to make his Son an offering for sin Oh! what relenting thoughts and rolling of bowels had Abraham when his Son must dye and he himself must have a hand therein and become the executioner So it pleased the Father to bruise him Matt. 26.29 and Matt. 26.29 there is a necessity or an impossibility spoken of and it lay wholly in the will of God for so he adds not my will but thy will be done If God could have changed his Will Christ might have lived and the Cup passed away but God had covenanted to make him a surety he had made him a Priest by an Oath and his will could not change he could not repent of it therefore this Cup he must drink Thus Isa 53.5 the same word is used and it signifies to beat a thing to pieces as in a Mortar and God was pleased with it Ephes 5.2 The offering of Christ was to God a Sacrifice of a sweet savour What made it so Only the end Finis dat mediis amabilitatem the end gives sweetness to the means Had it not been for that the Lord must needs have abhorred it 2 And Christ accepts of the Covenant and never repented he did never call back his word or change his ingagement he had the law of dying written in the middle of his bowels as it was the pleasure of the Lord so it was his with desire have I desired it and I have a baptism and I am straitned till it be fulfilled Vse 3. Thence we see the ground of the pardoning of all the sins of the ancient Saints under the first Testament Rom. 3.25 Heb. 9.15 The debt was not paid and the Sacrifice was not offered and yet their sins were pardoned and their souls saved it was by vertue of the Covenant and ingagement of Christ unto God the Father there was blood of Bulls and Goats and that could only signifie Christ but could not satisfie God but when Christ came and performed the Covenant now he satisfied for the transgressions under the first Testament and in this respect he was a Lamb slain from the beginning though offered in the latter days of the World because the Covenant immediately from the fall of man took place and God looked upon him by virtue of this Covenant as our surety and required all of him Vse 4. It is a mighty ground of Faith that all shall be performed for if these glorious persons could break Covenant with you yet they will not break one with another therefore surely 1 on Gods part all his promises unto Christ shall be made good every knee shall bow taken him all his enemies shall become his footstool all the persecuting Monarchies shall be taken down and the stone without hands shall fill the earth and the Mountain of the Lord shall be exalted upon the top of all the
to heal thee but there is something of God made over in the personal promises of the Gospel that never saw light before and that is Mercy and Grace which is the Glory of the Gospel an Attribute that was never known but under the second Covenant And as all Gods Attributes were not made known to Adam by his personal interest so neither were all the persons unto those perfect high and compleat ends that now they are unto the Heirs of Promise The Lord did give Adam an interest in his Son but not his Son to take the Nature of Adam to be made lower than the Angels for the suffering of death He gave him also an interest in his Spirit but not to heal his corruption and to perfect his Graces or help his infirmities or be an Advocate to plead his Cause before God and his own Soul also for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also signifies an Advocate as well as a Comforter Christ is an Advocate without us and the Spirit within us inabling us to plead for our selves before his Throne Now in these respects though Adam had personal promises yet these of the Gospel are now more glorious and of a higher nature and of a larger extent and therefore they are better promises 2. The greatest Gift that ever God did bestow upon a Creature is a Person and therefore the giving of Christ is call'd by way of excellency The gift of God Joh. 4.10 If thou knewest the gift of God And unto us a Son is given It was a great gift that the Lord should give to Adam the Lordship of the whole world the inheritance of all the Creatures but there is no excellency in Creatures in comparison of the glorious persons in the Trinity Answerable to the excellency of the thing given we do rightly value the gift and answerable unto the gift of his Son we may also conclude of the Father and the Spirit for the gift of the Son is upon that ground so great because he that has once attain'd an interest in the Son the whole God-head is become his 3. All the interest that a Soul has in the blessings of God and benefits by him have their foundation in our interest and propriety in the persons themselves they are made over to us by these personal promises and a man can have no more benefit by God than he has interest in him as the Psalmist having spoken of all the benefits and blessings that they have by God he comes at last to shew the title and the conveyance of them all Psal 144. ver the last and that is Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah The ground of all our benefits by Christ is our Union with him and the intendment of Union is Communication and till a man become one with him he can savingly have no benefit by him as 't is said 1 Cor. 3.22 All things are yours and you are Christs it 's your interest in his person that gives you a title to his inheritance as the Wife can have no claim to the estate and the honours of her Husband but by her Union with him and interest in his person and answerable unto mens interest in persons such is their title unto benefits by them and they that have no interest in God can have no title to any of the blessings of God and therefore the fundamental promises and mercies are those that are personal He that hath the Son hath life 1 Joh. 5.12 there is no life from the Son but by Union with him you must eat his flesh and drink his blood which are terms of Union if ever you hope for everlasting life by him 4. From our interest in the Persons the personal promises give us boldness and access to him we have says the Apostle boldness and access to come to God by Christ Ephes 3.12 Now a Child comes to the Father with boldness because he has an interest in his person as a Father and a Wife has access unto her Husband with boldness because she has an interest in him whereas all ungodly men are strangers to God and therefore cannot ingage their hearts to draw near to him for they have no interest in him and therefore must stand without and can have no access 5. The great promises to Christ as Mediator lye in this that he has an interest in persons and by personal promises they are made over to him Psal 89.26 He shall call me my Father Psal 16.5 my God and this Christ glories in the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup and it is this Christ takes hold of in his desertion my God my God that high speech of Faith taking hold of these personal promises It 's a glorious inheritance that God has given to Christ for he hath made him heir of all things but yet his inheritance in all the Creatures is nothing in comparison of the inheritance he has in the Lord as he is his God Joh. 3.35 and in the Spirit which is therefore called the Spirit of Christ because he received not the spirit by measure As the great delights of the God-head from everlasting were in the persons one of another Prov. 8.30 I was by him as one brought up with him and I was his delight daily so the great delight of Christ is in his interest in the person of the Father He has also a great delight in the Saints because they are his Seed and his Spouse and therefore he doth rejoyce over them as a Bridegroom over his Bride but yet the main delight of Christ as Mediator doth lye in his interest in the person of the Father and of the Spirit and as God made over his person first unto Christ by the Covenant of Redemption so by that Covenant in him he made it over unto us for he is Christs Father and our Father he is Christs God and he is our God Joh. 20.17 I ascend to my Father and your Father my God and your God 6. The main comfort of a Christian comes in from personal relations of the Covenant and they are all of them grounded in personal promises He is our Father and our Husband and our Friend and all of these are personal relations and speak an interest in the person and the great support of Faith in the worst times lyes in this as we see in the Church Isai 63. doubtless thou art our Father When the Lord was displeased with them and had hid his face and poured upon them spiritual judgments hardned their hearts from his fear and variety of temporal judgments for the Adversary had trodden down their Sanctuary yet now when they have nothing else to lay hold of it is upon a personal relation that they pitch doubtless thou art our Father and it 's according to our relation to his person that the Lord exhorts us to come to him All our Prayers when we pray is Our Father
in his Temple he rules in a more special manner and he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Therefore in the souls and in the hearts of Saints Christ hath a rule Rom. 14.17 Rom. 14.17 The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace c. It is spoken here both of the kingdom of grace and of glory both which are commonly in Scripture called the Kingdom of God and the meaning is that the kingdom of grace doth not consist in these neither do these lead to the kingdom of glory or prepare the soul for it regnum gratiae in his non consistit per haec regnum gloriae non acquiritur but it is in righteousness and peace and joy and these are acts wrought upon the soul and the inward man and therefore the Kingdom of Christ the spiritual Kingdom is over the souls of the Saints and it 's a Throne erected in their hearts 2. Wherein doth this spiritual Kingdom consist which he doth exercise over the Saints It 's a Throne that Christ sets up in the Conscience which doth order and command the whole man and that in the name and by the authority of God There is a twofold Throne of Christ in the spiritual Kingdom 1 There is a Throne that he erects in his Ordinances Rev. 4.4 when all his people are gathered together about him all the Saints sit down at his feet Deut. 33.3 that they may receive a Law from his mouth as their King 2 There is also another Throne of Christ in the spiritual Kingdom and that is in the Conscience which is properly the Throne of God and therefore the great work of Christs rule is in the conscience of the Saints Acts 23.1 I have lived in all good conscience and my care is to keep a good conscience void of offence Acts 29.16 Heb. 13.18 We have a good conscience desiring in all things to live honestly It 's true that the Lord doth rule in the whole soul and there is no faculty that is not brought into subjection the understanding and the will there is not a thought or a reasoning any thing that is the issue of the soul 2 Cor. 10.5 2 Cor. 10.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 leading captive every thought and we know captives were not only subdued by conquest but they were led in Triumph and they were afterwards made use of for service and so it is in the Kingdom of Christ in the inward man but yet the Throne is the Conscience it is true that the power of a King reaches throughout the whole Kingdom and they are all governed by him but yet the place of his residence and the Royal Seat is in some eminent place of the Nation and though Jesus Christ rules in the whole soul and dwells in the heart by faith yet the Throne is mainly in the conscience and therefore the assenting act of faith the accusing act of faith and the commanding act of faith is mainly in the conscience 1 Pet. 3.21 it is the answer of a good conscience by the Resurrection of Christ c. Now conscience what is it Est judicium intellectûs practici prout subjicitur judicio Dei It is the judgment of the practic intellect as subjected to the judgment of God It is this that hath the great command of the man that whatever he doth he is to do for conscience sake Rom. 13.5 and whatever he doth scruple or doubt of it should be for conscience sake 1 Cor. 10.25 for it speaks in the person of God unto the man and therefore even to go against an erring conscience is a sin because the authority of Christ is rejected in whole name conscience speaks it 's true that conscience is not the highest rule it is but regula regulata a rule ruled by the Divine love yet it is the highest rule in the man and it hath the power of subordination which Kings would fain take to themselves who pretend that they are subject to none but God and to give an account unto none else Magnus est Caesar sed solo Deo minor Tertul. This is true of conscience all the rest of the faculties are to give up their account unto the conscience it can call them all to an account but is subject unto no other thing in the man it is to give an account unto none but God and the Lord working upon men modo connaturali in a connatural way conscience being the leading power that God hath placed in man the Lord comes mainly into that and by it he doth rule and guide all the rest of the faculties and keep them in subjection and this will appear in two things 1 It 's conscience that doth receive the discharge for the man Heb. 9.9 therefore a man is said to be made perfect according unto the conscience so that when a mans conscience is acquitted from guilt and purged from pollution it 's then said to be made perfect and the man is perfected thereby and for this cause conscience hath an account to give of the man in reference unto all that office and authority in the man that Christ hath set him over Rom. 2.15 Their consciences accusing them it hath the power over the man in all persons it was in the Creation set over man by God but being renewed it is now set over the man by Christ and when he comes to give an account for we must all give an account of our selves to God Rom. 14.12 what is it in the man that shall give an account for him it is conscience that must make up our account at the last and great day and in the Saints then will the Lord pass a sentence in conscience and he will acquit it from its viatory office that hath a charge of the whole man It 's a great honour and a great trust and it is a great burden to take the charge of the man and make an account for all ordinances all mercies all motions of the Spirit of God all opportunities of service that the man has had in this life 2 Because the main guilt of the man is charged upon the conscience as that by which all sin came in it 's neglecting its duty and holding a league and a confederacy with sin Tit. 1.15 Their consciences are defiled and it is by this that sin comes in and for this cause the wrath that is poured upon the man will come in by his conscience it will be as it were the funnel by which God will pour wrath into the whole soul because thereby Satan poured sin into the whole soul and for that cause the torment for ever lies mainly in the conscience and it shall be the faculty that shall torment the whole man it 's the worm that never dyes it is only the acts of conscience the soul turning in upon it self and its former ways and past hopes for ever now that which was the great Officer here that shall give
Providence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth order and appoint the cause to the effect the means to the end for the good of his people which all the creatures could not do he brings food out of the earth and he doth cause rain and reserve the appointed weeks of the harvest Jer. 5.24 it is he that orders every thing unto its end for the good of his people Mat. 4.3 Psal 127.1 2. He doth Bless the means man lives not by Bread only but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God c. Vnless the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it He gives all things richly to enjoy 1 Tim. 6.17 It 's the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and it 's he that blesseth the labours of our hand that we labour not in the fire Hab. 2.13 and therefore the creatures are said to be sanctifi'd by the Word and Prayer 1 Tim. 4.5 by a blessing attained thereupon Eccles 5.17 that they shall prosper for their ends 3. He doth raise up means when we can see none unexpectedly Mic. 6.4 he sent before them Moses and Aaron Zac. 9.13 When I have bent Judab for me and filled the bow with Ephraim and raised up thy sons O Sion against thy sons O Greece c. So for the deliverance of Mordecai and he rais'd up the Spirit of Cyrus and stirred it up so that he made a Proclamation for the good of Jerusalem Ezra 1.1 and Zac. 1.8 he stood among the Myrtle-trees that were in the bottom c. In the evening it shall be light Zac. 14.7 an Angel stops the Lyons mouths and opens the prison-doors when all hope is gone and they cannot see from what quarter supply shall come then do means appear unexpectedly and therefore the people of God do believe in hope against hope upon this ground because the hand of the Lord is not shortned 4. The most unlikely Means Isa 41.15 The Worm Jacob shall thresh the Mountains c. He doth open Rivers in high places Isa 41.18 waters shall break out in the wilderness and streams in the desert the enemies shall turn their Swords against one another that they shall destroy themselves Judg. 9.7.22 And their own breath shall be as fire to devour themselves Isa 33.11 And so the ten Kings shall destroy the Whore who set her up and God will act means contrary to their own nature or above their nature for his People Ravens to feed Elijah and the Heavens to give bread and flesh and the Rocks water out of the Eater shall come meat and the waters shall be a wall unto them and the Sun shall stand still for the wheels of Providence are sometimes lifted up he doth not always goe in an ordinary way but useth means that they know not of as in the work of Redemption so in a work of Providence also and beyond their intention as the instances are many which might be given Isa 44.25 that frustrates the tokens of the lyers and maketh Diviners mad that turneth wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish the fiery furnace shall not consume Shadrack Meshack and Abednego but their enemies c. § 2. We come now unto the Third Distinction of Providence it is either circa necessaria vel contingentia about necessaries or contingents That is said to be necessary which could not otherwise be but the effect hath a necessary dependance upon its cause that it doth from an inward principle ex necessitate naturae produce such an effect and so the Sun doth naturally and therefore necessarily enlighten and the Fire doth naturally and therefore necessarily warm such causes as have a natural and therefore a necessary influence and causality And things contingent are such as have no necessity in their causes but in respect of us they might have been otherwise such of which we are able to give no reason but their causes are to us unknown and so the event unexpected That is said to be contingent and to fall out beyond our expectation Aust cujus ratio causa secreta est the seed whereof we are not able to foresee in second Causes Fatum nil aliud est quà m series implexa causarum So that if we look upon all things in reference to the first cause so all things are necessary and there is nothing that is contingent or falls out by chance or accident but all contingency is in reference unto second causes for they are known of God and appointed by him by a necessary and infallible Providence as if a man hewing wood the Axes head falls off and smites his Neighbour that he dye or if a man cast a stone unawares and it light upon his Neighbour Deut. 19.5 Num. 35.23 that which is beyond the intention of the man yet God is said to deliver him into his hand Exod. 21.13 that is God has jus vitae necis ad altissimam ejus providentiam refertur And so it was in the death of Ahab there was a man that drew a bow at a venture or in simplicity not aiming at him not intending his death more than any other mans but it smote the King of Israel between the Harness there was a Providence that infallibly guided it though in reference to the second cause it was meerly contingent and accidental and therefore the Lord foretells things that are meerly casual before they come to pass as that to Saul upon the plain of Tabor There shall meet thee three men one carrying three kids and another three loaves of bread and he shall salute thee and give thee two loaves and thou shalt receive them at his hand Luk. 22.10 There shall meet you a man bearing a Pitcher of water follow him c. for all things are unto him certain and infallible not only ex praevisione but ex praeordinatione he did order them that they should so come to pass 1. Gods Providence regards all Necessaries and such are all natural causes they work necessarily because ex necessitate naturae from a necessity of nature and so ad ultimum potentiae to the utmost of their power Now there is even in the ordering of these a gracious hand of God for the good of his People and that will appear in these six instances 1. In the Sun it riseth naturally and therefore necessarily and so it shines yet it is God makes it shine so Math. 5.45 He maketh the Sun to rise c. But it will be said that this is an act of common grace for it riseth upon the evil and the good the just and the unjust but it 's â—ar that the Lord makes it to rise and to shine for Job 9.7 he commands the Sun and it riseth not he can cause it to put on sackcloth for he has a negative voice upon the motions of all the creatures and although it riseth upon the evil as well as upon the good