is Thou shalt have Jehovah for thy God and thou shalt have none else so the great promise on Gods part is that I will be thy God that though the earth be mine and the fulness thereof all souls are mine yet I will be thy God and thy portion as if there were no other men in the world besides thee There is a double change wrought in the Saints 1 a change of a mans state 2 a change of a mans life The first is the great and the universal change that God works in men at their first conversion and that the School-men do well say is mutatio circa finem ultimum a change of a mans utmost end Now finis ultimus summum bonum inter se convertuntur the last end and chiefest good are convertible therefore he that doth change his utmost end does also change his chiefest good and he that doth so doth change his God 1. Here we are to consider that all mankind that are out of covenant with God have no interest in God they have all of them another God Eph. 2.12 they are all of them Atheists or men without God Before Abraham was taken into covenant with God he did serve other Gods beyond the river with Terah his father Josh 24.2 but when he was taken into covenant the main intendment of the Covenant was this he shall change his God Now I will make a covenant with thee to be a God to thee and thy seed and thou shalt worship the Nations god no more It 's true that there are no men but they have some impressions of a Deity upon them every man worships some God a Numen he doth acknowledge and there is a God that every one doth chuse unto himself as it is said in Judges they chose new Gods but they are called Stercorarii they are dunghil-gods they are not the God of Abraham they are not the God that makes over himself in covenant unto his people but they are new Gods newly come up It 's true he that is without the true God will be ready to fancy any thing to himself as a God therefore one man doth adore himself and another this or that creature and another serves his belly as his God and the other he chuses Mammon for his God every man as his fancy leads him for all these Gods are nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 7.43 but the truth is it is the Devil that is worshipped under all these forms as a God Deut. 32.17 They sacrificed to devils and not unto God or Demons or new-made Gods newly come up whom their Fathers knew not and so did the Gentiles in all their ways of worship they sacrificed unto Devils 1 Cor. 10.20 and not unto God And so it is in the worshipping of Saints and Angels under Popery it 's but worshipping of Devils or Demons Rev. 9.20 they repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship Devils c. And for this cause the Doctrine of worshipping Saints is called the Doctrine of Devils or Demons And it 's true in both senses either the worshipping of Saints or the worshipping of Devils in them And this is indeed the Idolatry of all unregenerate men in the world 2 Cor. 4.4 they do worship Satan who is the God of this world and therefore all unregenerate men being of this world they have no God but the God of the world and therefore it 's said of the world 1 Joh. 5.19 In aliquo positum esse in ejus potestate esse Camer The world lies in wickedness it notes the highest subjection to the Devil that can be to be subject to him as God And this is the great sin of all unregenerate men who are out of covenant with the Lord and therefore it 's well called by Tertullian Principale crimen humani generis summus seculi reatus The principal crime of mankind and chief guilt of the age So that every man that has not the Lord for his God in covenant he worships the Devil for his God instead of the true God 2. When men are in covenant with God they do change their God and Jehovah becomes their God And that will appear in two things 1 The Lord styles himself their God and therefore when he had taken Abraham into covenant with himself Exod. 3.6 then he calls himself the God of Abraham and it 's said Heb. 11.16 of all the Saints He is not ashamed to be called their God And that 's the great promise of the Covenant Jer. 31.33 2 Cor. 6.16 Rev. 21.7 I will be their God and they shall be my people He that overcomes shall inherit all things I will be his God 2 Upon this ground they do claim an interest in him as their God so doth Moses Exod. 15.2 Thou art my God and thou art my father's God So doth David Psal 63.1 Thou art my God early will I seek thee and so doth Esa 7.13 Will you weary my God also so doth the Church God even our own God shall bless us this God is our God for ever and ever Psal 67.6 Psal 48. v. ult And therefore all they that are in covenant with God they have the Lord for their God Now what is there that doth make the Lord to become our God that a man may say he has changed his God There are three things in the new Covenant that give a man a propriety in God 1. The Lord doth graciously and freely make over himself it 's an ordinary thing amongst men to make over a propriety either in things or persons by covenant as you have heard the wife by covenant has a propriety in the husband and the husband in the wife and so the Prince has a propriety in the Subject and the Subject in the Prince Now the Lord doth thus freely make over himself unto his people by covenant with them to be a God to them 2. There is a Union with Jesus Christ that the Saints have they are one body with him and the Covenant of grace being made primarily with Christ the Lord becomes his God in covenant and so he saith I ascend unto my Father and your Father Joh. 20.17 Psal 22.1 unto my God and your God My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Therefore the great intention of this Covenant was that the Lord might become the God of Christ as he is the Mediator and being his God and we being one with him he becomes our God also 3. There is a free and a voluntary acceptation and consent on the creatures part to embrace this God for his and to give up himself to him to perform all those acts of soul towards him as becomes a God the Lord will not receive a man for his that has another God he must cast off all the dunghil-gods that before he served He saith What have I to do any more with Idols He doth cast his
have made which are not many regard principally the Explication of some few Texts and Interpretation of Latin Sentences for the use of vulgar Capacities As for Diminutions I have religiously avoided more than seemed necessary to make the sence and Contexture clear And whereas I gave the Subscribers a promise to review the Copy and take care that it be well done what endeavours I have exerted yea how many hours I have borrowed from my natural Refreshments to make good this my word is not meet for me to mention only the Reader may judge somewhat hereof if he consider how many Imperfections must unavoidably attend such Posthumous Transcripts and that out of Manuscripts written in Characters and I am apt to perswade my self the Subscribers when they have considered the whole will not think themselves deceived in this particular specially if they compare this with other pieces of our Author formerly published out of his own Notes And I have herein endeavoured to fulfill that great Effate of our Lord To do as I would be done unto in the like case I judge some guilty of much unkindness to their deceased Friends as well as injustice to the World in thrusting forth Posthumous Works without due emendation and correction Whatever service has been performed herein is no more than what is required by and due to the Lord of the Harvest from an unprofitable Servant Theophilus Gale TABLE of CONTENTS A Discourse of the two Covenants BOOK I. Of the Covenant of Works CHAP. I. The Curse of the first Covenant Gen. 2.17 THE Covenant of friendship made with Adam Pag. 1 Why God adds the threatning to Adam with the use of threats and promises Pag. 3 The temporal curse that follows Adams fall Pag. 4 1. All the creatures cursed thereby Pag. 5 2. The curses upon mans body Pag. 6 3. The curse upon mans name Pag. 7 4. The curse on relations 1 On Magistrates Pag. 8 On the people towards Magistrates Pag. 9 2 On Ministers and people Pag. 10 3 On husband and wife Pag. 11 4 On parents and children Pag. 12 The spiritual curse as privative of God Pag. 13 1. Mans forsaking his chief good Pag. 14 2. His loss of an interest in God Pag. 15 3. His loss of Gods image Pag. 16 4. His loss of communion with God ibid. 5. His hatred of God Pag. 17 The spiritual curse as to the soul it self ibid. 1. The souls desertion ibid. 2. The guilt of the soul Pag. 18 3. The dominion of sin Pag. 19 4. The power of Satan Pag. 20 5. The curse on ordinances ibid. 6. Spiritual judgments ibid. Eternal death Pag. 21 CHAP. II. Gal. 4.21 Mens desire to be under the Law To be under the Law most desirable to corrupt nature Pag. 22 1. All men desire to establish their own righteousness Pag. 25 2. All men would be doing something for heaven ib. So far as any man submits not to the righteousness of the second covenant so far he manifests his desire to be still under the first covenant Pag. 26 1. Mens sins will not submit ibid. 2. Their gifts and abilities will not submit ibid. 3. Their own righteousness before or after conversion will not submit Pag. 27 4. Awakened consciences think the second covenant too good news to be true ibid. Two things in a man under the covenant of works 1. An answerable spirit ibid. 2. Suitable fruits 1 Placing Religion in outward performances Pag. 28 2 Doing all their services without a Mediator ib. 3 Doing all with a legal spirit ibid. The causes why men desire to be under the Law ibid. 1. A principle of ignorance ibid. 1 Of the Law Pag. 28 29 30 2 Of the Righteousness of Christ Pag. 30 31 2. A principle of enmity against God 1 His wisdom 2 his justice 3 his power 4 his love 5 his soveraignty Pag. 31 32 3. A principle of pride exemplified in seven particulars Pag. 32 The Application 1. God wrongs not the unregenerate in leaving them under the first covenant Pag. 33 34 2. A state of sin is miserable Pag. 34 3. An exhortation to three duties 1. Humiliation for this sin Pag. 35 2. Watchfulness over the heart ibid. 3. No satisfaction without the contrary grace Pag. 36 CHAP. III. Rom. 7.8 How sin takes occasion and is irritated by the Law Pag. 37 Doct. Every man out of Christ is under a Covenant of Works and under the irritating power of the Law Pag. 39 Sin hath a threefold power from the Law ibid. 1. Of condemnation ibid. 2. Of conviction ibid. 3. Of irritation ibid. 1. In the unregenerate there is the seed of all sin ib. 2. Lusts are acted and drawn forth by degrees ib. 3. There is nothing to the unregenerate that is not a means to draw out and improve their lusts 1 All creatures 2 All opportunities 3 All estates Pag. 40 How sin takes occasion by the commandment ibid. 1. The Law as a glass discovers sins ibid. 1 It acts many sins because they are forbidden ib. 2 It is against light ibid. 3 In that man hates the light ibid. 2. The Law restrains sin whence it breaks out more violently ibid. 1 It spreads the more ibid. 2 It is the more enraged Pag. 41 3 It improves it thereby ibid. 3. There is a condemning power of the Law And from this sin takes occasion 1 By reason of terrors 2 By driving to despair 3 Whence follows a giving up to excess of riot 4 And it rises to blasphemy and rage against God ibid. Whence it is that the law exasperates and increases sin ibid. The law is not the formal cause ibid. But the accidental cause Pag. 42 The proper causes of it are 1. Lust 1 which is carried towards its object with earnestness violence and vehemency 2 which is proud and swells the heart 3 which is resolute 4 a principle and root of enmity against God Pag. 42 43 2. The curse of God that is come upon all under the Fall which is twofold 1 emptiness and deceiving 2 Corrupting and defiling Pag. 43 44 45 Quest Whether are true Believers wholly freed from the law in respect of its irritation Pag. 45 46 47 48 Quest If Believers be under this irritation where lies the difference between them and wicked men Pag. 48 The Doctrine improved Pag. 48 49 CHAP. IV. Gal. 5.18 Wherein the coactive power of the Law consists Pag. 90 Doct. Every man out of Christ is under the coaction and rigor of the Law which 1. Requires perfect obedience Pag. 51 2. Gives no strength to perform it Pag. 52 3. Lays it upon him as a burden which he loves not ib. 4. Nor takes delight in ibid. 5. Which forbids sin but heals it not Pag. 53 6. Carries a man to God as a Judge ibid. 7. Forces a man to see sin whether he will or no. Pag. 53 54 8. It forces to a self-judgment and condemnation for sin Pag. 54 Whence the Law hath this coactive power Pag. 55 1.
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
their much speaking and stand upon their justification I fast twice in the week and pay tythe of all that I possess says the Pharisee The Apostle Rom. 9.31 says They followed after the righteousness of the Law by their own performance of the works of the Law And to this end because they could not rise up to the spirituality of the Law they did therefore bring down the Law by their interpretation unto their own obedience and all was to make their own righteousness available for justification Therefore Paul saith Concerning the righteousness of the Law blameless Phil. 3. The young man says All these have I kept from my youth Therefore the Papists teach That men may perfectly fulfill the Law Bellar. de Justific l. 2. c. 2 3. and do also some works of Supererogation over and above the Law that the formal cause of Justification is inherent righteousness though Christs righteousness is the meritorious cause Christ having merited that our righteousness may justifie c. And though not works by nature yet by Grace even Faith it self as a work is that which God accepts being performed by us instead of all the righteousness required in the Moral Law These and many more are the ways by which men seek to establish their own righteousness in matter of Justification 2 As for Salvation also All men would be working and doing something for Heaven Good Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life What shall we do to work the works of God Joh. 6. They were all upon a way of doing they did expect a reward for all They had a high esteem of their own services and therefore they did boast themselves and glory in them it 's the law of saith only excludes boasting Rom. 3.27 The Creature being sinful is lifted up by works proud of a little God knows And therefore Jehu says Come see my zeal for the Lord of hosts and there is nothing in the world that the pride of man will appear more in than in righteousness for pride is an overweening apprehension of a mans own excellency and the higher the excellency the greater the pride Rom. 7.9 I was alive says Paul without the Law alive in performances and alive in presumptions he thought he had done much for God and therefore his zeal did rise to a madness in persecuting of the Church It 's a hard matter for a man to be a painful Preacher a zealous professor a faithful Statesman or a man that has laid out himself for the publick any way but his heart will swell with privy pride therein yea even though he do profess to despise and to disesteem the praise of men § 3. But now more particularly so far as any man does not submit unto the righteousness and the grace of the second Covenant so far he manifests his desire to be still under the first Covenant but all men by nature refuse to submit to the righteousness and the offers of the second Covenant and therefore they desire to continue under the first The Scripture speaks of mens actions and dispositions many times interpretatively not as they are in the intention of the sinner but as they are in truth and in the interpretation of God Prov. 8. ult Men are said to love death all those that hate wisdom and despise Christ and live without him love death Now men will all say that they do hate death but yet in Gods interpretation they hating the only way and means to life they do all of them love death So we read in Ezech. 8.5 They did these abominations that I might go far from my sanctuary It was not their intention in so doing actually and formaliter but interpretative it was because they had set up an image of jealousie in the Sanctuary which would provoke God to remove and yet if they had been asked they would all have said they would by no means have the glory of the Lord to remove So men do not actually desire to be under the first Covenant but yet so long as they reject the offers and the grace of the second so long in Gods interpretation they do desire to be under the Law still and their rejection of the better Covenant offered argues they like and love that under which they are and reject the righteousness of God which is the same which is called the righteousness of Christ and the righteousness of faith as the Apostle says Phil. 3.9 Not having my own righteousness which is of the law but the righteousness which is of God by faith And it 's called the righteousness of God partly because it is found out by God and by God only imputed and therefore is only an act of free grace whereby God will make a sinner righteous before him Rom. 1.17 and partly because Christ offered himself by the eternal spirit without spot to God which is his own Divine nature and so unto all the actions and the sufferings of his Humanity the Godhead gave an efficacy and an excellency even from his person they being all the actions and sufferings of him that was both God and Man And unto this righteousness men through the pride and unbelief of their spirits and contrariety to the Gospel will not submit They have not subjected themselves unto the righteousness of God 1. All a man's sins do stand out and will not submit to the righteousness of God for whoever imbraces the offer of the second Covenant and the grace thereof must take Christ for Sanctification 1 Cor. 1. as well as for Justification for he is made both and he came with water and blood to answer those ways of legal purification and so he must come into every soul but above all sins a mans darling his right hand and his right eye must be parted with and therefore Christ says Joh. 5.44 How can you believe that seek honour one of another The power of any lust in the soul will keep it from believing and accepting of the grace and mercy that 's offered in the second Covenant And so through the power and dominion of sin men cannot submit to the righteousness of God And how miserably is many a man held in captivity this way we all see they are by the snares of darkness led captive by Satan at his will 2. All the gifts and abilities that are in a man are against it for faith is the highest self-denial 2 Cor. 8.2 and gifts do puff up and therefore not many wise are called The wisdom of this world is enmity against God and all their parts and learning their wisdom whether it be natural or acquired doth make them but the stronger enemies and set them the farther off from Christ Hab. 2.4 now this stands in the most direct opposition to faith for that soul that is lifted up his heart is not upright in him In troublesome times to have a mans heart born up by a fleshly prop
to perform the promise is Gods part and to press God with his promise is our part I will do it for you says tne Lord yet I will be inquired of by you that I may do it for you ask and you shall receive knock and it shall be opened and there is no way that ever any creature could attain any thing of God but this way Upon this very ground Christ himself if he will attain from God he must ask and so 't is with the Angels and so 't is with the Saints in Heaven Dan. 4.17 they cry How long Lord How much more is it to be with dust and ashes 3. That the Lord may honour his own Ordinance and testifie how much he doth delight in the worship of a creature and that thereby he might make it a double mercy For ungodly men to receive blessings as a fruit of Providence unto them it comes always single that is in the thing only but unto a godly man that has it as a fruit of the promise it 's always a double mercy mercy in the thing and mercy to the man not only an accomplishment of Gods promises but the return of the mans prayers the exercise of Gods faithfulness unto us and of our graces towards God and there are no mercies so sweet as those that come in with the exercise of grace in the attaining of them Deum orationibus ambiamus coelum tundimus misericordiam extorquemus as Tertullian says of the power of the Saints prayers because of his delight in the exercise of their graces And there is no duty wherein the graces of the Saints do act with more life and power than they do in prayer there is magna conjunctio a great concurrence of grace in them as we see it in Abraham in his prayer what strong acts of grace he puts forth Gen. 18. The nearer the soul draws to God the fountain of its life the more lively it works and moves the swifter the nearer the centre and there is no duty in which the soul draws nearer to God than it doth in prayer and hath more immediate communion with him than when he is upon his knees before the Throne of grace 4. And lastly the way to attain promises is a patient waiting for them till the Lords time come for it 's true of promises as it is of prophecies though the vision be for an appointed time Hab. 2.3 yet wait for it for it will come and will not tarry It 's a speech like unto that in Luk. 18.7 8. though he bear long with them yet he will avenge them speedily it may tarry long in respect of the time prefixed by us and may seem long to us but it shall not be long when the time comes that is appointed by God The Lord commonly does in the answering of prayers as he does in the fulfilling of Prophecies it 's a great while before the Prophecy seems to speak or to give any hope of its accomplishment as it was in the deliverance out of Egypt and Babylon but yet when once it begins but to dawn its day immediately in a manner it strangely and suddenly breaks forth that the Saints of God can scarce believe their own eyes they are like unto them that dream And so it is in the return of their prayers also as in the calling of the Jews they are as dry bones and they are scattered here and there all the world over but the bones shall come together and it shall be so suddenly done that the Lord saith A Nation shall be born at once and before Sion travelled she brought forth and so it is in the answer of Prayers as it was with Elijah he prayed seven times and his servant looked and there was nothing and yet he continued praying at last there appeared a Cloud like unto a mans hand and by and by the Heavens were covered over with Clouds and then the rain fell when it begins once to appear that the Clouds do break away a little the Lord doth strangely hasten the work and there is a glorious concurrence and falling in of all causes to its accomplishment there is a time of the Promise's accomplishment Acts 7 1◠and a great part of the Mercy is in the season of it the Lord doth not delay because he is unwilling to bestow it or because the Mercy comes hardly off for he knows that to our hasty Nature bis dat qui citò but the Lord doth defer it that he may improve the Mercy by the season of it for Gods time is best and not ours my time is not yet come though your time be alwayes ready all Christs Miracles were so much the more glorious by the seasons of their putting forth and so are Gods Mercies also the more magnified in coming to us in the fittest time he does wait to be gracious that is that he may bestow the Mercy when we are fittest to receive it and our hearts are best prepared for it As in judgement to a wicked man the Lord does watch over him for evil and he shall be ensnared in an evil time as a Bird in an evil snare judgement shall come upon him when he least expects it and is least prepared for it he shall be cut off as the foam upon the waters Hos 10.7 sicut aquae superiores ferventis ollae Jerome for the word spuma doth signifie a bubble that does arise from heat c. when they are swelled up and hold up their heads on high and be lifted up above the rest of the waters then they shall suddenly be cut off As I say there is a time for judgment that Justice doth watch over men for evil so there is also a time for Mercy that Grace does watch over men for good there is a time for the Promise to bring forth as well as the threatning and therefore it 's said That by Faith and Patience the Saints have inherited the Promises and there is as well a Patience in waiting as in Suffering Zeph. 2.1 2. let Patience have its perfect work in you in this respect also that you may be intire and perfect wanting nothing Hebr. 10.36 But the Soul will be ready to say I could be willing to wait Gods time if I could be sure to attain the Promise at the last but what grounds are there to support and underprop my heart that I shall receive the Promise and not miss of it in the end Now the grounds to assure the Soul thereof are these 1. The faithfulness of God the Promises are therefore confirmed by an Oath Heb. 6.17 that by two immutable things wherein it 's impossible for God to lye we might have strong Consolation Quid est Dei juratio nisi promissi confirmatio Aust. infidelium quaedam increpatio An Oath amongst Men puts an end to Controversie much more should the Oath of God put an end to all Controversie and Disputes in the Soul and
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
yet amongst the Israelites not a Dog did move his tongue Signum est magni silentii dum canes silent A great love may be seen in an ordinary Providence to a man as Grapes to be had in a wilderness as a Messenger sent one of a thousand a word spoken in due season a Scripture opened to me when I had need it was directed to me in my necessity such a comfort administred at such a time when I was in extremity and it came in the season of it it is an argument of great love as when David was besieged and Saul thought that he had them sure now a report must be brought that the Philistins had invaded the Land and so change his Counsels and divert the forces from pursuing David 6. Small and ordinary things shall be for their preservation Exod. 23.25 He shall bless thy bread and thy water and will take sickness away from the midst of thee that whereas other mens food breeds and nourishes diseases his food shall be blest unto him that it shall be healthful and not hurtful and when Sennacherib is come to besiege Jerusalem after all his ranting and threatning he shall hear a rumour a report shall be brought him that the King of Ethiopia had invaded his Land and so change his purpose and it shall be for the preservation of the people of God 7. Ordinary things shall tend unto the destruction of the enemies and they shall fall by the turning of an ordinary providence the smallest things shall even ruine persons and nations as Pharaoh and all Egypt were even destroyed by flies and lice c. the Sun shines upon the water and they shall say that it is blood The Kings have destroyed one another 2 King 3.22 23. Sometimes by the turning of the wind great things have been done for the people of God great battels have been won both by Land and Sea and sometimes by rain strange things have been wrought for the defeating of the counsels of enemies Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an East-wind c. And we know what small providences have cast the balance for the people of God against the enemies and that in many doubtful cases when they had nothing but providence to work for them 8. Consider how by small and ordinary things the Lord doth preserve the lives and support his people in the world by causing the Sun to shine and the rain to fall the earth to bring forth the fig-tree to blossom and we see he gives them food out of the earth and the beasts do them service and they do it willingly and readily Now what a miserable life were the life even of a Saint here if it were not for such common and ordinary refreshments if the Lord should as a Lion watch over us as he doth threaten them he would be as a Lion and a Leopard in the way to observe them There is a providence that hath given these unto the sons of God as their inheritance so that they do injoy the comfort of them and eat the fruit of them day by day the service of thy hand maid and of thy beast all act for thee as being made by God to be thy servants It is true that the service of the Angels is comfortable but it would not be sufficient without these which are ours in a way of ordinary providence Cogita te esse in regione deserti in peregrinatione vitae Aug. and such as we account less though we taste the good of them from day to day Surely therefore all things even the smallest things shall work together for good to them that love the Lord for the good of their spiritual and temporal state also SECT IV. The Saints Interest in Gods Providential Kingdom both mediate and immediate necessary and contingent § 1. WE have gone thorow the first distinction of the providential Kingdom we come now to the second which is that Providence is either immediate or mediate The one is when the Lord works without means putting forth his own power immediately to the producing of any effect without the concurrence of any means or help of second causes and this is called making bare his arm or making it naked Esa 52.10 So long as the Lord doth work by means though there be his hand yet his hand is hid and covered under the appearance of creatures so that our eyes are either wholly or mainly upon them but when the Lord lays creatures aside and his own arm doth appear to bring salvation so that nothing else is seen but the hand of God in it without the concurrence of creatures the Lord is then said to make bare his own arm that is to shew forth his own power Hab. 3.9 purely and nakedly so Hab. 3.9 His bow was quite made naked c. he speaks it of the discoveries of Gods power in an immediate way and his bow is vis tua robur tuum Drus he speaks it of the dividing of the red Sea and the turning back of Jordan in its own chanel the power of God did immediately appear without any concurrence of means and any instrument or second causes and therefore his bow was naked c. the Scripture doth speak of the Lords smiting with the rod and with his fist c. And here there are three Propositions that I must lay down 1. That whatever the Lord does by means he can work immediately by his own hand without all means he that did give being unto the second causes can without those causes produce their effects he is independent in his working as well as in his being and doth not depend upon means and second causes in any thing that he doth and therefore if he do deprive his people of the means and will supply it in himself it shall be infinitely better they shall have a hundredfold more in this life eminenter the Sun shall be no more thy light by day but the glory of the Lord shall be the light thereof if he deprive them of the light of the Sun yet he gives them his own glory to be instead thereof and it shall abundantly answer it He hath indeed bound us in duty to use the means but he hath not bound himself he is still at liberty either to work by his own immediate hand or in the way that he hath set in the order and subordination of causes yea as much as if no such order had been made by him and therefore the time will come when God shall be all in all and this order of causes shall surely cease and then all effects shall be produced by God immediately and that in a far more glorious manner than now they are by the influences of their causes amongst the creatures 2. In the means which he doth use there is an immediate concurrence of his own power to the producing of the effect concurrit immediatè c. and without this the second cause could do nothing men
live not by bread only and therefore if God do withdraw his acting or withhold it the second cause is of no value it is but as an axe in the hand of a man or as a pen it is but as it were a dead instrument as the Apostle says of himself 2 Cor. 3.2 3. and therefore the people of God put no confidence in them I will not trust in my bow and it is not my sword that shall save me it is thou O Lord that savest us from our enemies this is the language of a true Saint and therefore it is only the Lords withdrawing and then all second causes work not whence it is said That they shall eat and they shall not be nourished and they shall put on cloaths but not be warmed there is a natural aptitude in these means to produce such effects but yet if the Lord do but suspend his influx they can do nothing And therefore in the Babylonish Furnace Divines do commonly say that the Lord did not take away the nature of the fire it remained to be fire still only in reference unto such an object he did suspend his own concurrence so that though it remained in actu primo yet it was not able to produce actum secundum because the immediate concurrence of the first cause was denied so it is in all means and this is the reason of their want of efficacy the same Ordinances would be as effectual at one time as at another and unto one man as unto another there is no difference in the means only in the concurrence of the first cause with the means and so it is with creatures also the same land would be as fruitful at one time as at another and there is no difference only when thou tillest thy land it shall not yield its strength says the Lord there is not the same concurrence of God with it which is his blessing upon it and that is the true reason of all the difference in the use and the success of means whatsoever 3. Though the Lord doth in the administration of all things in the providential Kingdom use means and therefore hath made all things in a due order and subordination yet he doth delight sometimes to work without means by his own immediate hand not by power nor by might but by my Spirit Zac. 4.7 if there be none to help yet his own arm shall bring salvation And the Lord doth this 1 that he may sometimes shew forth some special discoveries of his own power The heart of man would be wholly terminated in the creature as we are very apt to be and we would look no further therefore the Lord is pleased sometimes to shew forth something more than the power of the creature and sometimes he will go in an ordinary way of nature sometimes in a miraculous way to shew that there is a higher hand that rules all things that he may not be forgotten by us 2 To shew that he doth not use the creature necessarily but voluntarily and therefore he can use it or lay it aside at his pleasure work by it or work without it that the souls of his people may depend upon him alone both in the want and in the injoyments of the creature and the good effect is never the further off when they want it nor ever the nearer when they do injoy it whether they have it or not it is all one they can rejoyce in the Lord and glory in the God of their salvation Hab. 3.17 18. 3 That he may still keep up in the remembrance of his people a creating power when there was nothing but himself immediately there was no means used It hath been disputed by the School-men Whether the ministry of Angels were not used in the creation of the world and it is commonly answered No it was not it could not be because in the exercise of almighty power there can be no concurrence of the creature no creature can be raised by the power of God unto such an elevation as to be made capable to put forth any act of omnipotence and therefore that this power of the Creation of God may be kept up he doth do the like often in the world that as he hath appointed a day to remember the Creation and would have us to remember our Creator so he doth works that he may keep it continually in our remembrance providence is said to be nothing but a continued Creation therefore the Lord will do something that shall be as a Creation still that this great work may never be forgotten he that doth create grace in the souls of men daily doth put forth other acts answerable thereunto 4 The Lord doth it that he may train up his people by it unto a remembrance of Heaven where all means shall cease for God shall be all in all that is he shall be all unto his people immediately It is true that the Saints do injoy God here and they injoy all in God he is their portion and their hope but all this is in the use of means as they see him in a glass so they shall injoy him also but there is a time that will shortly come when all means shall be done away and he that now governs the world and so dispenses himself by second causes will do all by his own immediate hand there shall be immediate therefore pure mercy and pure wrath and pure power and pure acts of Omnipotence In this life we are by the creatures refreshed and when he comforts us by the creature those comforts lose much by reason of the vessel and so when he doth teach us by the creature that treasure is in earthen vessels it is much otherwise when he teaches himself immediately and so when he doth punish by the creature it is but as a mighty man correcting a man with a straw it 's true that he is mighty but it is but a small thing that is in his hand which is nothing in comparison of that which shall be hereafter it shall be all immediate and that keeps up in his people an expectation of this that they may have herein a kind of foretaste of Heaven by beholding the immediate working of God without the help of creatures or their concurrence Now this immediate acting of Providence is wholly for the good of his people and is so managed sometimes he will use means for their good and sometimes he will for their good work without means but still so as his Soveraignty is made over unto them in these his actings and herein we are to observe 1. The Scripture speaking of a creating power which the Lord doth often put forth for the good of his people Esa 4.5 Esa 4.5 there 't is said I create upon every dwelling place a cloud c. Upon every dwelling place there is a protection that which is immediate and beyond the power of second causes when there is no defence in them yet their succour
shall be from the immediate hand of God and that by a creating work that when the people shall look to the creatures and say we see no means to defend us yet they can look to an immediate acting of Omnipotency Esa 67.17 and that by a creating work for his people I create a heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness it is spoken of the glorious reformation that shall be in the later days it is there spoken not of renewing the substance but of the qualities of Heaven and Earth a glorious restitution of their primitive and original glory a mighty work that God shall not only pass upon Saints but on the creatures which shall be restored and delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God and he that looks upon the corruptions of men and the desolations of nations and the confusions amongst the creatures that shall be immediately before those days he will say How can these things be It is impossible that such a glorious reformation should be wrought But to strengthen their faith and to raise them up to expect it he puts them off from second causes and tells them it shall be an act of almighty power it is by a creating work and surely the same hand and the same power that did make them at first can also renew them and restore them unto their primitive and original glory that as the said immediate power is put forth for the renewing of their souls Eph. 2.10 We are created in Christ to good works all is made new within him by an immediate power so also all shall be made new without him by an immediate providence that though there be no concurrence of means and second causes yet if God can make a new world then he can renew this he can create a new Heaven and a new Earth and he can create Jerusalem a rejoycing and the people a joy as the promise is unto them so that the Lord will not always work for his people in a ruling but sometimes in a creating way in which there is an immediate putting forth of power and there is not there cannot be any concurrence of means or second causes with it 2. God puts forth an immediate providence for the Churches preservation he doth many times work immediately when there is no help in second causes but all men are ingaged on the contrary part and the Lord looks and there is none to help and the Lord wonders that there was no intercessor no helping of them none to intercede for them there was none so much as by way of prayer that comes in for them and yet now the Church must be preserved Zac. 4.23 Zac. 4.2 3. the Candlestick is the Church but by what means shall this be maintained there can be no supply of oil expected from men but the Lord will make Olive-trees to grow by it that shall make oil of themselves and shall drop into the bails thereof that though no men in the world stand by it or prepare for it yet the Lord will supply it in an immediate way from himself and by himself and by this means the lamp in this Candlestick shall never go out for by an immediate provision of God they shall be maintained Mic. 5.7 Mic. 5.7 The remnant of Jacob shall be as dew from the Lord and as showers upon the grass when they were Jezreel strengthned by the Lord though amongst many people that should hate them and persecute them yet should they be preserved and therefore as Calvin observes rorem pro prato rorido like unto the herbs which are nourished by the dew from Heaven and by the showres from above which stay not for man it tarries not for the sons of men that as the grass is nourished immediately by the dew and doth not depend upon the labours and the watering of man so shall these from God immediately there shall come from him an immediate dew an influence shall come by which they shall be supported that they shall not need to stay for any creatures assistance or any concurrence of second causes whatsoever 3. There is an immediate Providence that is seen in restraints upon the souls and spirits of men when there are no hindrances in second causes and yet this shall work for the people of God see it Gen. 20. Sarah was in the hand of Abimelech and his lust was stirred up towards her when he heard of her and there was nothing to hinder him but he might have had his will of her and yet for Abrahams sake she was returned unto him chast and undefiled but it was by an immediate working of God upon his spirit when there were no second causes in the way the Lord saith I did hold thee that thou shouldst not touch her And the same thing is true of the people of Israel when they went up to worship at Jerusalem and all the males left their habitation the fittest advantage that could be for the neighbouring Nations who hated them and sought to invade them and did it at other times yet that now they should not have made inrodes upon their Land in the several borders thereof when there was no restraint in second causes no man can give a reason for it but the immediate working of providence that the Lord doth put forth his power upon the spirits of men that it shall be enough if he withhold them There is a bridle without and there is a bridle within by which the spirits of men are turned about there is a hedge for mens ways God doth many times hedge up mens ways with thorns but there is a hedge for the spirits of men also that when there is no hindrance in second causes and none to lift up a hand against them yet their spirits are restrained by an immediate hand And indeed when the secrets of the counsels of Gods providence shall be made manifest at the last day many and glorious will â—he records of such immediate puttings forth of providence be We have an instance in Esau his malice was stirred and he had power in his hand he had three hundred men by which he might have cut off his brother Jacob but only there was an immediate appearance of God upon his spirit and that put a restraint upon him that he could not so much as speak an ill word unto his brother 4. The Lord appears immediately for the destruction of the Churches enemies when their means fail When there was no help from second causes to destroy Egypt or deliver themselves for the Israelites had no power but they cryed unto the Lord and in the night the Lord looked upon the Egyptians host and troubled them and took off their chariot-wheels and they drove heavily and there was a terrour upon their hearts that they said Let us flye for God fights for Israel And so he will do in the destruction of Antichrist the little horn who doth arise with the ten horns and