to his eternall Decree intending the Creation of man said Let us make man Gen. 1.26 and not let us make Adam to wit as a private person Adam therefore was created in such admirable state of naturall and spirituall perfection as he was the head of the river of men naturally to descend and flow from Adam the head The first Covenant therefore was made with Adam as the created head of all men naturally to descend of Adam who were all really created in the same naturall and spirituall perfection that Adam their head was created in whō all men were as truly really bound obliged in Adam head to the first Covenant and to the command of the word of the first seventh daies rest of the law of righteousnesse in every respect as Adam their head though not actually descended of Adam for as all men sinned in Adam their head to wit really so all men were as really and necessarily bound and obliged to the command of the word of the first seventh dayes rest of the Law in Adam their head as Adam was as all men found by experience and consequently the naturall and spirituall perfection of Adam the head of all men whereby he was enabled to merit eternall life upon earth was as really truly and necessarily due by Covenant established upon the immediate command of the Law to Adams posterity as they should actually descend of Adam as to Adam himselfe for as all men were bound to the same reall Law in Adam their head so in the justice of God all men as they should naturally descend of Adam must be enabled with the like power of obedience with Adam their head The first Covenant made by God with man is set downe by Moses Gen. 2.16 17. The word of promise of eternall life whereby God doth binde and oblige himselfe and man to his first Covenant is in the 16. verse the words are Eating thou shalt freely eate of every Tree of the Garden and consequently Adam was to eate of the Tree of life by eating whereof Adam as he was created a naturall man intellectuall and sensitive was to live eternally upon earth for by the doubling of the word eating thou shalt eate is signified an eternall eating and by an eternall eating an eternall living in the state and felicity wherein Adam was created God therefore in these words doth promise to Adam and to all men created in Adam naturally to descend of Adam that his created estate and condition shall be continued eternally upon earth which promise was to be fulfilled by God and enjoyed by Adam by the eternall blessing of the word of the first seventh dayes rest for by the onely immediate eternall blessing of the word of the first seventh dayes rest Adam the world and the creatures created for man were to rest eternally upon earth in the state and condition wherein they were created for which cause God blessed the first seventh day for Adam and God sanctified the first seventh day for his perfect worship of the first seventh day by Adam If Adam therefore will have the actuall enjoying of the word of promise of eternall life Adam must have it by his perfect worship of God upon the first seventh day of the Law according to that formall manner that God did manifest himselfe to Adam by the word of his first seventh dayes rest which is the condition of the Covenant As God therefore in his word of promise of eternall life doth binde and oblige himselfe to Adam by his Covenant so God doth mutually binde and oblige Adam to the formall perfect worship of the first seventh day that by the eternall blessing of the word of the first seventh daies rest of the Law Adam might enjoy the promise As God doth binde and oblige Adam by his Covenant to obedience the promise of eternall life by his perfect worship of God upon the first seventh day of the Law so God by his first Covenant in the command of the seventh dayes worship as it is the great command of the Law doth likewise binde and oblige Adams obedience to the command of the whole Law of righteousnesse upon a dying death which is eternall death ever dying without all end of dying contained in the 17. verse in these words But of the Tree of knowledge of good and evill thou shalt not eate of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof dying thou shalt dye Gen. 2.17 In which words God doth binde and oblige Adams obedience to the command of the whole Law upon a dying death for by the transgression of the command of God of the Law of righteousnesse by his word commanding Adam to abstaine from eating of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge the whole Law of righteousnesse is necessarily transgressed for he that doth offend in one doth offend in all Jam. 2.10 By this negative command therefore necessarily implying the affirmative command of the Law Adams obedience is bound and obliged to the command of the whole Law of righteousnesse upon a dying death which is eternall death Now as the promise of eternall life whereby God doth oblige himselfe and Adam mutually by his Covenant was to be enjoyed by the eternall blessing of the word of the first seventh dayes rest of the Law the Covenant doth bind and oblige Adam to the immediate command of the Law and the Law doth formally command Adam by the immediate power of the word of the first seventh dayes rest implying the command of the whole law both upon the eternall blessing of the first seventh dayes rest and upon the curse of a dying death which is eternall death and therefore the curse of eternall death is called the curse of the Law The first Covenant being thus established upon the immediate command of the word of the first seventh dayes rest of the Law of righteousnesse implying the command of the whole Law between God and Adam the created head of all men naturally to descend of Adam to the end of the world the first Covenant was ratified by the Tree of life and by the Tree of knowledge of good and evill placed in the midst of the Garden of Paradise as the Sacraments of the first Covenant made between God and Adam the created head of all men that Adam as he was man intellectuall and sensitive created in the state of naturall and spirituall perfection advanced to such felicity by the Tree of life might rest secured of the promise of God by eternall life upon his perfect obedience to the command of the Law commanding him by the power of the word of the first seventh dayes rest so Adam by the Tree of knowledge of good and evill might rest as assuredly in the promise of eternall death upon his transgression of the command of God by his word commanding Adam which was the necessary command of the word of the first seventh dayes rest of his Law of righteousnesse for God cannot command man by his word as
and therefore to conclude this Point As it had beene highest presumption in Adam in his state of perfection by his contemning of the revealed light of the word of the first seventh dayes rest to have attempted by any false light to search into the secret Councell of God to know what God had decreed concerning man So it is a most presumptuous attempt in men of this age by transcending and contemning the very foundation of the light of the whole Scripture of God which is the light of the word of the first seventh dayes rest and of the first Covenant established thereon and to obtrude the fearefull light of such a miserable absolute decree to the conscience of man as to affirme that God of the Law of Righteousnesse contrary to all righteousnesse out of his alone meere pleasure without all subordinate respect did decree to condemne all the world to the eternall torments of hell except a certaine number of men whom hee decreed to elect and save and that for the execution of this miserable decree God did decree from all eternity to necessitate Adams will by the irresistable power of this decree to fall under the eternall curse of the Law and that without any respect to his Covenant made with Adam without any respect to his Law or to Adams merit by Adams transgression of the Law Thus having removed from the perfection of mans creation the obtruded internall causes of the fall of man I come next to the declaration of the true efficient cause of the fall of man as it is set downe in the sacred Word CHAP. IV. The Angels bound and obliged to the Law of God AS Eve the woman man female was first in the transgression wee are to begin with the declaration of the efficient cause of Eves transgression of the Law of God which was meerly externall The externall efficient cause of Eves fall was principall and instrumentall The principall externall efficient cause as it will appeare by the subsequent declaration was Satan The instrumentall efficient cause of Eves transgression was first the Serpent secondly the objective fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evill thirdly the words of the first Covenant Gen. 2.17 dying thou shalt dye though the two last were but causes by accident The causes inducing Adams fall were these three and Eve her selfe which was the fourth cause Satan therefore that old crooked Serpent enemy to God and man was the principall efficient externall cause of the fall of man the rest Satan did use or rather abuse for his instruments The cause of Satans betraying of man was Satans malice against God and his envy to man advanced to such high honour of dominion over the earth and over the creatures of the earth in such high love and favour of God from whose love and glorious presence Satan was disgracefully cast downe from the Heavens for Satan by the infinite word being created a most glorious Angelicall spirit in the heighth of angelicall perfection by the power of the word of the law actually and spiritually enlightned as all Angels were created for by the immediate power of the word the Angels do live move intellectually and spiritually and have their intellectuall and spirituall being The Angels therefore according to the internall power of the word were obliged to the command of the Law of God as well as man and therefore it is affirmed by the Apostle 2 Pet. 2.4 that the Angels sinned and sinne being the transgression of the Law the Angels must be obliged to the command of the angelicall word of the Law and consequently and necessarily the Angels by the power of the word in the justice of God must be enabled with equall power to fulfill the command of the Law for as it may appeare by Satans fall the Angels are obliged to the command of the Law upon the curse of eternall death for there is but one reall word of the Law of God obliging all the intellectuall creatures created by the word though formally differing according to the differing sphere of the intellectuall creature man in the humane sphere is formally and humanely obliged to the Law of God the Angels in the angelicall sphere formally and angelically and both eternally obliged Now Satan by his proud contempt of God by his transgression of the Law having falne from the heighth of his angelicall perfection and felicity wherein hee was created under the eternall angelicall curse of the Law Satan was cast down like lightning from heaven to eternall darknesse Luk. 10.18 Eph. 6.12 without all hope of redemption eternally banished from the glorious presence of God and from the society of the numberlesse number of the blessed Angels who according to the eternall Decree of God do stand in the grace of their created perfection by the power of the Resurrection of the word made flesh of the seed of the woman as they were created by the power of the word for the Lords infinite merit by his rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed Seed doth descend to the Angels by whose infinite merit the Angels are conserved in their created estate as ministring spirits for the safety of the Elect. By reason of this shamefull and ignominious disgrace of Satan by such a high fall by the angelicall curse of the Law Satan became malitiously desperate against God for though Satan by the angelicall curse of the Law was deprived of all spirituall understanding and action yet the angelicall intellectuall power of his understanding and action which is so admirable did remaine for by this power Satan works all his mischiefe against God and man Satan therefore being puft up maliciously against God and knowing man to be the most beloved creature of God and seeing that man should hold such high soveraignty and such high favour and esteeme with God from whose favour Satan had so disgracefully fallen This did so aggravate Satans infelicity as that his malicious impatiency did carry him as it were headlong in contempt of God to work his malice upon innocent man and to induce man by the transgression of the Law of God by the word of his Law commanding man to fall into the like condemnation with himselfe for Satan no doubt did apprehend that it was as impossible for man to be redeemed from the eternall curse of the humane obligement of the Law as for himselfe to be redeemed from the angelicall curse of the Law By this meanes Satan thought to be revenged on God in the destruction of his darling man and to make the whole works of the Creation suffer in the destruction of man who was created the ornament and perfection of the works of the Creation Satan therefore knowing man to be created in such an admirable estate of naturall and spirituall perfection Satan did excogitate such a mighty temptation as was able to shake the perfection of the most perfect intellectuall creature of God as it is an intellectuall creature which may
first sin with such freedom of morall grace as all the created powers of God are not able to necessitate the will of the redeemed naturall man to morall disobedience To whose finall perseverance in his redeemed grace by his morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling the grace of spirituall faith is due by the new covenant which is established with all men in the grace of this redeemed estate Of this redeemed estate of man God without all impeachment to his justice did decree from all eternity to elect to his mercy a certain number of this redeemed state of man known to himself by preserving of them from being finally overcome by the temptation of Satan and of his instruments in this life and to leave a certain number known only to himselfe in this redeemed estate of naturall and morall grace to be induced or not induced by Satan and his instruments to finall disobedience at their pleasure and perill For there is nothing to necessitate their will morally and finally to disobedience The immediate cause of Gods election of man in this redeemed estate is the freedome of his mercy who in this case will shew mercy on whom he will have mery in his Son Christ Jesus The immediate cause of his shewing of mercy to some in this redeemed estate is his foreknowledge of them whom from all eternity he hath predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life The immediate cause that they are predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life is that Christ Jesus the eternall Son of God made flesh of the seed of the woman in time may be the first born amongst many brethren who are his mysticall members The immediate cause that they are the mysticall brethren and members of their mysticall head Christ Jesus is that as their mysticall head by the bloody persecution of Satan and his cruell instruments did seal the truth of his fulfilled promise of the blessed seed with his heart blood So his mysticall brethren and members by tasting of the cup of his afflictions by the bloody persecutions of Satan and his cursed crue may stand in the defence of the truth of their mysticall head valiantly to the end of this life The immediate cause whereof is to the end that whereas the Lords mysticall members hath born the Image of his bloody persecution in this life So in the great day they may in their mysticall head revenge the blood of man upon Satan by the finall breaking of the old Serpents head and the head of his cursed seed to their eternall confusion And that in recompence of their valour they may in their mysticall head be crowned with an incorruptible crown of glory eternally and triumphantly in all heavenly happinesse in the life to come The immediate cause whereof is the Lords promise of the blessed seed that the seed of the woman shall break the head of the Serpent which seed of the woman is first the Word the Lord Jesus Christ begot by his Father man of the seed of the blessed Virgine And next his mysticall brethren begot by the literall and spirituall light of the Word brought forth by the woman the Church The immediate cause of the Lords promise of the blessed seed is Gods eternall decree of predestination upon his eternall prescience of the full of man by the malicious treachery of Satan The immediate cause of Gods eternall decree is Gods infinite love a and mercy to man in his Son Christ Jesus the Word made flesh of the seed of the woman from whose infinite love to man as all the effects of his sacred decree do proceed So all return to the infinit eternall word second person of the glorious Trinity God and man God equall with the Father and holy Spirit to whom with the Father and holy Spirit three coessentiall distinct persons one incomprehensible indivisible infinite essence God of all power and majesty be ascribed of all creatures all eternall honour glory power praise and thanksgiving for his infinite truth love and mercy to man the only Rock and Rest of the faith of man FINIS
cursed Altar of the cross the only Son of his love Christ Jesus begot man of the seed of the woman in time as he is man the eternall Son of God before all time to redeem man from the eternall curse of the Law for the sin of Adam by his cursed death of the cross that as Satan in the Serpent did first so maliciously betray the woman to procure the fall of man So by the resurrection of the blessed seed from the dead the head of the old Serpent Satan and his cursed seed for his malicious betraying of the woman should be broke in the great day to his eternall confusion For which cause first God decreed from all eternity to enter his second covenant with man in the promise of the blessed seed that the blessed seed should rest from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam upon the seventh day of the last Sabbath from end to end that by his fulfilling of the whole Law in the seventh day the whole Law might be fulfilled as he did bind and oblige himself to man by covenant by fulfilling whereof the first seventh dayes eternall rest lost by Adams transgression of the Law might be due to his merit by the Law that the eternall blessing of the next seventh dayes rest the redemeed state of man might be continued Secondly God by his eternall decree did decree to bind and oblige himself to man to fulfill the promise of the blessed seed by his resurrection from the grave and to enter his new covenant with all the nations of the world As God did decree from all eternity to bind and oblige himself to man in the promise of the blessed seed by the second covenant So God decreed from all eternity to bind and oblige man mutually by his second covenant to believe in his promise of the blessed seed both upon the eternall blessing of the word of the second seventh dayes rest of the Law of righteousness of faith and likewise upon the eternall merciless curse of the law of faith The promised redemption of man therefore in the promise of the blessed seed by the second covenant was as effectuall and actuall to Adam and to all men naturally to descend of Adam the head untill the promise was fulfilled as it was effectuall and actuall in the fulfilled promise by the new covenant to all the nations of the world Adam therefore and all men naturally to descend of Adam by the redeemed word of the Law literally written in the the heart of man were necessarily inabled with the power of naturall life and light and with the power of the life and light of righteousness of faith to believe morally in the promise of the blessed seed as they were oblieged by covenant though by the eternall Decree of God Adam and all men redeemed in Adam the head from the curse of eternall death and darkness were shut up and concluded in temporall darkness called unbelief and sin till they be regenerate afterwards to be declared from this enabling of man with the life of righteousness of faith to believe the promise of the blessed seed the Law of righteousnes was first called the Law of righteousnes of faith for by the formall obliegement of the Law by the second covenant the formall simple obliegement of the Law of righteousness was actually determined by the command of the word of the seventh day of the Law of righteousness of faith in the promise of the blessed seed By this decreed work of the redemption of man by predestinating the Lamb of God to the cursed altar of the cross for the sin of man the sacred Decree of God doth principally take the name to be called The eternall decree of Predestination as from the more noble and excellent part so far surmounting the works of the creation as the sacred blood of the Son of God doth surmount the excellency of all the creatures created by God And so much for the eternall Decree of Predestination for the present Next the perfection of the redemption of man is to be declared CHAP. XIII Of the perfection of the redemption of man from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam by the cursed death of the Son of God Christ Jesus as he is man AS God by his decree from all eternity did decree by the cursed death of the promised blessed seed made flesh of the seed of the woman to redeem all men from the curse of eternall death and darkness to which all men were eternally condemned in Adam the head So God from all eternity did decree to shut up and conclude all men redeemed in Adam the head in temporall spirituall darkness till they be regenerate which is called unbelief and sin and therefore it is said Rom. 11.32 that God did conclude all men in unbelief which is spirituall unbelief proceeding from that spirituall darkness that he might have mercy upon all men to wit by enlightning of that spirituall darkness by the grace of spirituall faith in the act of regeneration In which two points the perfection of the redemption of man doth consist First therefore of the perfection of the redemption of man from the curse of eternall death and darkness And secondly of the shutting up and concluding of all men redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darkness in temporall spirituall darkness called unbelief and sin according to the eternall Decree of God The perfection of the redemption of man condemned to eternall death and darknes is by the intervention of the cursed death of the Word made flesh of the seed of the woman between man condemned to the curse of the Law and the actuall inflicting of the curse by God upon the word of the Law and life of righteousness written in the heart of man whereby man was inabled with the power of naturall life and light and with the power of the life and light of righteousness before his fall By which intervention of our Saviour by his sustaining of the actuall curse of the Law due to man condemned by the Law the word of the naturall life of man and of the life of righteousness writen in the heart of man and consequently man is redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darkness and by the power of the redeemed word in the heart of the redeemed man The naturall man is naturally and morally inabled again to live the naturall life of man and the life of righteousness of faith to believe first in the gracious promise of the blessed seed by the old covenant and now to believe in the fulfilled promise by the new Covenant As Adam therefore and the Fathers by the literall light of the Word of the seventh dayes rest of the Law of righteousness of faith then by the name of the Sabbath of the Lord which was really one with the literall light of the redeemed word of the Law and life of righteousness of faith in the heart
by the extremity of their pains they are put to it to flie to Christ the only Author of faith by whose only merit the woman is only saved And this likewise is the reason that it is said John 16.21 that the sorrows and pains of childbirth are forgotten because man is brought into the world For it is a great joy and comfort to all men and women that man is brought into the world freed from the eternall curse of the Law for the sin of Adam and a hopefull member of the Church of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ And though sorrow and pain in conception and childbirth be a great weakning to women leading to naturall death and though childbirth many times be accompanied with the losse of naturall life to the mother yet it is with great advantage to the woman the childe of God while by the determining of all the sorrows crosses and afflictions of this life she enters to the eternall joyes in the life to come It is true that it doth please God to give such strength of nature to divers thanklesse women whereby they are more able to bear this sorrow and pains in concâ—â—tion and childbirth then other women but for the most part this sorrow and pain in childbirth is fearfull sudden and dangerous in so much that while God doth threaten the disobedience of man by his unexpected judgements they are expressed by the sudden dangerous unexpected sorrows and pains of women in childbirth And though it may be conceived that some women barren and childlesse are happy in this case as not being subject to such temporall danger and hazard yet I say that the fruitfulnesse of women doth far exceed the fear of such hazard and danger for children are the greatest blessings of God and a great comfort both to poor and rich And though for the most part children too too often prove crosses and afflictions to the parents stirred up by the temptations of Satan and of his wicked instruments which is a sore affliction to the parents yet it is the hand of God in permitting of Satan to afflict their parents by their children to put them in minde of their own disobedience to Gâ—d their chief Parent or to their own naturall parents or for their triall in this life whereby they are humbled under the hand of God For by afflictions we must enter the Kingdome of heaven Against this here delivered it may be objected Though man had stood in his state of perfection yet woman must have had such sorrow and pains in conception and childbirth for they are the inseparable companions of both I answer Grief sorrow and pain and sensitive perfection do mutually plant and subplant one another for passion by sorrow and grief is the immediate cause of most sensitive diseases Sorrow and grief therefore is far from that state of sensitive perfection wherein man was created which was eternall In which state if man had continued the woman must have had eternall joy and comfort upon earth without all sensitive sorrow pain or grief either in conception or childbirth But in the mean time let it not trouble any married woman barren of children because the Apostle saith that women are saved through child-bearing for the Apostles meaning is that the extremity of labour and fear in childbirth is a means to move the woman to flie to the Lord by faith and to relie upon the Lords merit to save her from the second death and if it be his will from the present danger of childbirth and therefore the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2.15 that the woman is saved through bearing of children if she continue in faith love holinesse and modesty which are the true works of faith by which faith she is only saved Far be it threfore from any woman to conceive that child-bearing is the cause of any womans safety from eternall death which is only and immediately by faith in the only merit of the Lord of life Let never therefore the barrennesse of child-bearing discourage woman if she continue in the fruitfull works of faith for by faith she is only saved And though she be denied the bearing of children in this miserable age while so many of the children of faithfull parents are led away with the crying sins of the times and miscarry to the great sorrow and grief of their parents yet let her not take her barrennesse of children for any reproach For though barrennesse in the time of Abrahams posterity Gen. 30.23 was counted a reproach amongst women before our Saviour was born Luke 1.25 Yet the blessed child being born all reproach of barrennesse of children is taken away from women CHAP. XXV The second branch of the censure literally pronounced upon the woman as she is the body of man her husband THe second branch of the censure literally pronounced upon the woman as she is the body of her husband is subjection to the husband Hence I necessarily infer that in the state of perfection before the fall there was no other subjection of the wife to the husband but the endeavouring of the wife in all mutuall love to be led and governed by the husband her head This branch of the censure therefore doth stand with as great opposition to the state of perfection as the former which doth manifestly appear by the twofold inseparable union of man and wife in the state of perfection which was both naturall and spirituall the strictest union that can be conceived by man The naturall union is set down by Moses in these words They shall be both one flesh For the woman was made of the rib of the man which is the most solid and condensate sensitive part of man as he is sensitive for the matter of the bone is of the blood of man And therefore when Eve was first brought before Adam Adam out of the perfection of his naturall understand affirmed that Eve was flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone And therefore called her Mannes according to the originall affirming her to be man essentially adding only the distinction of the sex of man In which sense the Apostle doth call the woman mans own flesh So that if man love his own flesh naturally he must love his wife as himself Ephes 5.29 The second union of man and wife in the state of perfection was spirituall for both were equally created in the lively Image of God in the indivisible union of mutuall spirituall love to righteousnesse far surmounting the most strict union under the heavens By this twofold inseparable union of man and wife in the state of perfection by matrimoniall union the union was inseparable And therefore our Saviour speaking of Moses bill of divorcement Mat. 19.8 told the Jews that Moses did permit that bill for the hardnesse of their heart and that it was not so from the beginning For they were created male and female whereby the one did strive to overcome the other by the mutuall offices of
referred to man where we shall meet with the two like collaterall causes all which 4. Causes as they are effects they are al produced by one and the same next and immediate superior cause from whence we arise to the supreme cause of all By the last and lowest effect therefore of the new Covenant as it is referred to God God in his Son Christ Jesus doth oblige the naturall man in his redeemed state of natural and morall grace First and immediately to the Evanglicall faithfull worship of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law as the eternall word Christ Jesus hath revealed himselfe by his Evangelicall seventh dayes rest arising from his bloudy rest Truth in the fulfilling of his promise to man and in that truth God in the three coessentiall distinct persons of the glorious Trinity cleerely and Evangelically without all propheticall mystery or Ceremony Secondly God doth oblige the faithfull Evangelicall obedience of man to the command of his whole Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith implyed in the Evangelicall seventh dayes commanded worship both upon the eternal blessing of the Lords dayes Evangelical rest upon the mercilesse curse of the law of faith The immediate cause of Gods obliging of man thus by his new Covenant is Gods eternall purpose to manifest himselfe mercy and justice to man by rendring of the reward of his Evangelicall law of faith according to the faith of man obliged by his law The immediate cause whereof is Gods enabling of the naturall man with such freedome of naturall and morall grace as he is able to give morall obedience to his calling by the new Covenant without any manner of necessitating of his morall disobedience To the naturall mans finall perseverance in which morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling the spirituall grace of faith is due to the naturall man by Covenant whereby he hath the temporall blessing of the Lords dayes of Evangelicall rest in this life and eternal rest in the life to come The immediate cause of such naturall morall grace is the perfection of the redemption of man And here we fall in with the two former causes of the first covenant for both the creation and redemtion of man are by the same immediate cause we must therefore yet stop our resolution till we meet with the fourth colatorall cause arising from the new covenant as the new covenant is referred to man which must be likewise resolved both as the new covenant is fulfilled by man and as the new covenant is broke and transgressed by man The last and lowest effect of the regenerate man as he is obliged to the command of the law of faith by the new Covenant is the faithfull Evangelicall worship of the Lords day to whose thankefull faithfull worship the blessing of the Lords daies Evangelicall rest is temporally naturally and spiritually united in this life and eternally in the life to come as the temporall naturall morall blessing of the Lords daies rest is morally united to the morall worship of the naturall man The immediate cause of the regenerate mans faithfull worship of the seventh day implying his obedience to the command of the whole law is his spirituall faith The immediate cause of his spirituall faith is his love to spirituall righteousnes The immediate cause of his spirituall love is the sanctifying light of the holy Spirit enlightning his understanding by his spirituall calling in the immediate act of regeneration The immediate cause of his spiritnall calling is the finall perseverance of the naturall man in his morall obedience according to the word of promise Mat 13.13 whosoever shall endure to the end shall be saved This end to the naturall man is Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling for the naturall man by his spirituall calling being actually regenerate is saved by spirituall faith and consequently justified The immediate cause of the naturall mans finall perseverance in his morall obedience is first and immediately the perfection of the redemption and secondly Gods speciall free concursive grace in saving of the naturall man from being overcome by Satans temptations This immediate cause of the perfection of the redemtion doth fall in collaterally with the three former causes and so we have foure in number But yet we must not rise without resolution from these foure causes till the new Covenant be resolved as the law is finally contemned and transgressed by man obliged to the new Covenant The lowest and last effect to the Reprobate obliged to the new Covenant is his finall willfull obstinate contempt of the gracious promises of Salvation purchased by the sacred bloud of the son of God To the reprobates finall wilfull contempt whereof by his unthankfull merit the mercilesse curse of the law of fayth is eternally united whereby the reprobate is eternally condemned by God upon his eternall prescience of the reprobates finall contempt according to his eternall decree which is actually inflicted upon the soule of the reprobate so soone as he departeth this life and in the full extent both of soule and body in the great day while by the resurrection from the dead the soule and body being essentially reunited the curse of the Law in the full extent is actually and eternally inflicted upon man as he is man The immediate cause of the reprobates finall wilfull obstinate contempt is the hardning of his heart The immediate cause whereof is the reprobates wilfull impenitent obstinat continuance in all sin and wickednesse by his contemning of God in the contemning of his law and truth and of the professors of the truth The immediate cause whereof as the cause is externall is the objective temptations of Satan and of his wicked instruments whereby the reprobate is spiritually and morally corrupted from his childhood The immediate cause of the reprobates continuance in sin as the cause is internall is his wilfull yeelding to be induced by the temptations of Satan and of his instruments while there is nothing to necessitate his morall disobedience whereby the reprobate doth so wilfully ungraciously unthankfully and presumptuously contemn the blood of the new covenant Thus having the foure causes met together we are to ascend from the foure causes as they are effects produced by the next superior immediate cause to the supreme cause of all The immediate cause therefore of these foure severall effects as they are the immediate subordinate effects of the next and immediate superiour cause is Gods eternall purpose of the election of man in his Son Christ Jesus For the immediate object of Gods eternall purpose of election is the state of man redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darknesse shut up in temporall spirituall darknesse till he be regenerate For in this estate all men are equally redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darknesse for their sin in Adam all equally shut up in temporall spirituall darknesse all equally reconciled to the love and favour of God for that