they shall be truly our servants that is they shall tend unto the advancement of our spiritual and eternal good Rom. 8.38 what he had before spoken positively that they shall all do us good here he speaks negatively that they shall never be able to do us hurt I am perswaded that neither life nor death via extrema secunda adversa the highest pitch of prosperity and the lowest ebb of adversity or affliction shall not be able to hurt us nor Angels good or bad nor principalities and powers that is all the powers of Empires and Monarchs of the world nor things present nor things to come not any intermediate events that now do or hereafter may befal us nor heights nor depths nor any creature i. e. if there be any creature that comes not under the former enumeration whether it be in heaven above or in the deeps beneath it shall never be able to hurt us in respect of our eternal state because it shall never be able to separate us from the love of God which has so sure a ground for it is love born to us in Christ in whom he has elected us c. therefore you see there comes no disadvantage but a continual advantage unto the spiritual Kingdom by all the creatures and by the dispensations of Christ in the ordering and the government of them all Let us see this by an enumeration of some particulars 1. If the Lord give unto his people prosperity it shall be to the advantage of the inward man and in their outward prosperity their souls shall prosper 2 Chron. 17.6 Jehosaphat had silver and gold and riches in abundance and his heart was lifted up and encouraged in the ways of Gods commandments and thereby the people of God make them friends of the unrighteous Mammon and they lay up a good foundation that they may lay hold of eternal life Eccles 7.11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance it is good in it self without an inheritance but there is a special advantage by wisdom with an inheritance and so it 's better to the man or it is good to a mans self but it is not so good unto another and so Prov. 14.24 The crown of the wise is their riches but there are to other men riches reserved for the hurt of the owner and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them Prov. 1.32 wisdom is the better with an inheritance but folly is the worse with an inheritance for the folly of fools is foolishness he speaks it of rich fools there are no men discover their folly more and whose foolishness is more eminent and notorious than these mens as riches draw forth the graces of the one so do they also the sins of the other 2. If the Lord give unto his people afflictions it shall be to the advantage of their inward man Rom. 5.3 Tribulation works patience surely patience is a fruit of the Spirit as all other graces are and cannot be wrought in any man by affliction unless it be given him by the Spirit A man must have patience 1 if ever he will bear affliction fruitfully but 2 the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth signifie to work a thing out and bringing of it to perfection Phil. 2.12 It is this therefore that when patience is wrought in the soul by the Spirit it is improved and exceedingly drawn out by affliction it doth improve the graces of the Saints and upon this ground it is said Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations Jam. 1.2 Esa 27.8 9. in measure God shoots forth the affliction and the mercy of God is greatly seen in the moderation of the affliction By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is the fruit to take away the sin of his people when he makes all the stones of their Altars to be as chalk stones and therefore Esa 24.15 Glorifie the Lord in the fires 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 12.10 he doth chastise them that they may be made partakers of his holiness 3. Temptations for the Lord Jesus doth order all the temptations of Satan and directs them unto spiritual ends for even the very enemies of the spiritual Kingdom he doth over-rule so as he makes them servants to it even the vessels of dishonour have their use in the great house as the Apostle speaks 2 Tim. 2.21 Satan is an enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that enemy in two things to the Saints 1 In his accusations unto God he is therefore called the Accuser of the Brethren and so he did move God against Job to destroy him without a cause Job 2.3 there was cause enough in Job if the Lord had been extreme to mark what he had done amiss but there was not that cause that Satan did alledge and it is a mercy to the people of God that though there be cause enough yet he doth hide the true cause from their malicious accusers that that which they fasten upon them is no cause to set God or man against them but the more the Lord doth appear for his servants to justifie them had not Satan accused Job so impetuously God had never so eminently appeared for his justification This should quiet and comfort the Saints in all the hard measure and reproaches that they meet withal in the world that yet the Lord will arise for their justification and their enemies confusion that though a child of God may lye under the blast of the wicked for a season yet God will vindicate him at last so that false friends as well as true enemies shall be made to say Surely there is no inchantment against any of the seed of Jacob Jude 15. c. Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him and his children c. 2 Satan is an enemy by his temptations unto the Saints and so the strength of God is made perfect in their weakness that is manifestly declared so to be 2 Cor. 12. for thereby their strength is tryed there is nothing tries grace so much as temptation unto sin because nothing is more opposite unto grace and gratia vexata seipsam prodit grace vexed discovers it self thereby also their corruption is purged for the Lord doth commonly temper that poyson into a medicine and Satan that seeks to kill shall be instrumental to cure he that doth intend to stab the man shall but give vent to his imposthume and therefore Luther says of temptation when the Papists did object unto Luther that he himself granted Purgatory I do indeed saith he but it is but that Purgatory of temptation and he adds Hoc Purgatorium non est fictum and hereby the enemy is conquered for we are more than conquerors Rom. 8. It was said that the Carthaginians did prevail against
Covenant with the Lord knowing the falseness and instability of my spirit the duties are many and it is impossible for me to observe them all Take these directions 1. Get a true heart Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with true heart a true heart is a heart perfect with God that 's the condition of the Covenant though your ways be party-coloured yet if you have the answer of a good Conscience i. e. when your heart doth inwardly answer to what you do profess and there is not a root of bitterness left in you that draws you back from the Lord this is a true heart It is called the Girdle of truth Ephes 6.14 Ephes 6.14 and that is as I should understand it not doctrinally but morally practically full of stedfastness and stability of soul in the discharge of all the ingagements wherein we stand bound unto God without shrinking or tergiversation as it is the sin in the practice of too many professors both to God and man there is a vein of dissimulation runs through their conversation they will dissemble love to persons behind whose backs they will accuse and represent them as persons blame-worthy and through the self-flattery that is in their spirits they will strive to lessen the excellencies and vertues that are in others that they may shine the more in the esteem of men and hereby they manifest they love the praise of men more than the praise of God and herein they may have their reward though it will bring in but little comfort when they come to dye or when they râ—flect upon this great condition of the Covenant which is to draw near to God with a true heart Isa 11.5 For this faithfulness is a noble girdle it was Christs and therefore it should be ours it is this truth in the inward parts that will keep the Covenant that it shall not be broken notwithstanding thy daily failings Heb. 13.9 Act. 11.23 Psal 86.11 2. Desire of God a stablished and a fixed heart To have the heart stablished with grace is a good thing and with full purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord. And the Psalmists prayer is Vnite my heart to fear thy name my heart is fixed O God c. And there is not a greater spiritual judgment in this life than to be given up to a light vain and unstable soul that is moved with every wind of Doctrine or with every wind of temptation when a man is carried to and fro to have the heart still fluctuating and be sometimes fixt upon one thing and sometimes upon another and unsetled in the principles of Grace such as are unstable shall not excel 3. Exercise faith upon the Grace of God in this Covenant which is eternal love and have an eye unto the surety of the Covenant in whom only it remains sure for it is an ordered Covenant and therefore sure and for this cause Christ is called the Covenant it self Isa 49.6 he is given as a Covenant to the Nations to establish the earth because in him only all the stability of the Covenant is to be found Consider in the time of affliction what a sweet thing it will be and what boldness it will give a man before God when he is able to say Though thou hast smitten us in the place of Dragons and covered us with the shadow of death Psal 44.17 yet have we not gone back from thee nor behaved our selves falsly in thy Covenant and when at death a man shall look over to the common-wealth of another World and shall be able to say Lord remember that I have walked before thee all my days with a perfect heart my heart hath stood to the Covenant and I have not chosen any other Lord though in many things my ways have not been answerable unto the rule of the Covenant Vse 3 § 3. Now having entered in this manner into Covenant with God it is our duty to have respect unto our Covenant and to improve our interest in it in all our ways The Covenant is to run through our whole life for it 's a Covenant for a mans life it being a Marriage Covenant and In matrimonio est perpetua quaedam servitus In matrimony there is a perpetual kind of servitude a Woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth Rom. 7.2 and David puts all his hope in the Covenant 2 Sam. 23.5 his happiness consisted in it and all his joy and delight his soul did run out upon this Covenant and from hence all his joy came in There are in Scripture several ways of sinning against this Covenant 1 There is transgressing the Covenant like Adam Hos 6.7 Hos 6.7 There have they dealt treacherously against me c. which is taken Two ways either as Adam they have broken the Covenant in which they bound themselves or else as Tremelius hath it they have broken the Covenant as if it were the Covenant of a man and as if they had to do with man in it and not with God 2 It is rejecting the Covenant 2 King 17.15 to despise it as a poor and unworthy thing not to be regarded by them 3 There is forsaking the Covenant as a thing that they are not bound by neither will they be bound by any longer Deut. 29.25 Mal. 2.8 10. And then 4 there is corrupting the Covenant and profaning it They have corrupted the Covenant of Levi that is the Covenant of life and peace which God made with him they have corrupted the Law and they have profaned the Covenant as if it were a common and ordinary thing for to profane is to make a thing common 5 There is a dealing falsly in the Covenant Psal 44.17 which signifies to lye to a man and deal treacherously with him in a Covenant made when a man pretends fair and doth the quite contrary there is no trust to him no hold upon him 6 There is Deut. 4.23 Deut. 4.23 forgeting the Covenant Take heed says Moses lest you forget the Covenant of the Lord your God which he made with you Now when a man in Scripture is said to forget a thing Verba sensus significant cum affectu effectu The words of sense signifie affects and effects God is said to forget men when he doth not appear for their help Psal 13.1 How long wilt thou forget me O Lord and hide thy face from my troubles We are said to forget God when we do not honour him as God and are not affected towards him as becomes a God and so men are said to forget the Covenant of God when they have not those affections as so great an ingagement doth require do not know and improve their interest in it as they ought to do do not make it as David did all their salvation and all their delight and therefore 't is said Psal 10.5 he is always mindful of his Covenant that is
7 212 2 14 356 2. 21 22 425 6. 7 176 8. 14 59 10. 12 175 11. 14 237 13. 8 97 14. 4 348 14. 5 6 7 347 Joel 2. 7 379 2. 23 355 2. 25 417 Micah 5. 2 135 5. 7 422 7. 20 125 Habakkuk 2. 4 329 3. 2 330 3. 9 420 Zephany 2. 4 322 Zachary 1. 17 188 2. 5 369 3. 1 2 408 4. 2 3 353 422 4. 7 424 5. 6 8 39 6. 8 136 11. 10 163 13. 7 323 Malachy 2. 3 182 2. 13 15 16 11 3. 3 316 Matthew 3. 16 128 6. 22 23 350 7. 14 15 192 8. 11 234 241 10. 29 30 417 11. 29 169 13. 24 25 415 13. 29 ibid. 13. 52 399 16. 19 202 222 22. 1 321 22. 14 234 22. 32 358 26. 74 188 28. 18 383 Mark 10. 13 201 11. 13 279 14. 71 539 Luke 13. 32 431 446 15. 21 378 16. 13 192 16. 22 234 17. 20 21 388 18. 16 201 19. 9 198 21. 9 212 21. 18 417 22. 31 188 192 22. 32 439 John 1. 1 410 1. 2 134 5. 22 382 5. 23 418 5. 26 330 6. 27 136 6. 44 314 15. 1 324 17. 2 385 20. 17 375 Acts. 2. 38 194 13. 10 438 Romans 3. 1 206 5. 3 396 5. 13 93 6. 14 37 38 45 7. 7 91 7. 9 93 329 7. 24 62 8. 28 395 9. 2 3 196 9. 4 217 234 9. 31 25 10. 3 ibid. 11. 16 196 234 238 11. 17 210 325 11. 24 62 14. 17 388 15. 8 9 162 1 Corinthians 4. 8 358 5. 12 13 205 6. 17 192 7. 14 196 213 214 220 224 11. 3 321 12. 4 5 6 218 13. 12 290 15. 24 398 15. 28 323 15. 56 39 2 Corinthians 2. 14 333 6. 10. 373 Galatians 3. 16 124 126 3. 17 18 19 86 108 4. 21 22 121 5. 18 50 Ephesians 1. 4 5 134 4. 14 15 400 5. 15 378 5. 31 192 Philippians 1. 8 399 1. 19 366 2. 20 399 3. 9 26 240 4. 7 373 Colossians 1. 13 61 381 2. 8 257 2. 14 83 2. 19 327 1 Timothy 1. 9 52 2 Timothy 2. 26 406 Hebrews 2. 1 2 185 2. 5 235 2. 7 8 387 6. 7 213 8. 6 158 10. 22 362 10. 38 329 10. 39 371 12. 22 340 James 1. 15 435 1. 22 334 1. 24 53 54 90 3. 15 445 1 Peter 1. 7 375 2. 9 377 3. 21 190 2 Peter 1. 4 246 1. 5 332 1. 20 425 1 John 5. 6 7 338 5. 11 328 5. 19 406 Revelations 2. 1 389 2. 17 424 3. 21 330 4. 5 391 7. 3 4 210 12. 11 186 13. 8 164 13. 17 217 14. 1 323 16. 1 413 19. 14 322 20. 1 255 21. 3 218 21. 6 255 21. 12 16 373 22. 15 233 ERRATA PAg. 33. lin 11. after made known read have no cause to complain because they are left under that Covenant they desire to be p. 41. l. 23. ior mercy r. death p. 49. l. 10. dele the last sin p. 52. l. 41. r. 1 Tim. 1. ◠p. 54. l. 47 48. dele the property of an unregenerate man is to justifie God p. 55. l. 23. dele the first and p. 56. l. 25. for there r. that Item l. 41. r. lime that which doth quench other fires sometimes kindles this p. 59. marg r. Use 4. p. 61. l. 59. r. 1 Cor. 15.56 p. 61 c. Title r. scriptural p. 62. l. 57. r. is passed p. 65. l. 29. r. Dominion only p. 78. l. 10. from the bottom r. for publick politick Ib. l. 9. from the bottom dele the second hereditary p. 97. l. 8 9. dele Hos 13.8 I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps c. Item v. 10. dele c. p. 100. l. 5. r. Diabolus p. 101. l. 36. for unchangeable r. unblamable p. 118. l. 55. r. nolentibus p. 149. l. 22. for Son r. Sun Item l. 40. for work r. make p. 165. l. 4. r. enter into Covenant p. 168. l. 10. r. last way to salv p. 170. l. 34. for utterly r. entirely p. 174. l. 13. r. as he paid the debt p. 176. l. 34. for ways r. days p. 177. l. 31. r. I am not at Item l. 56. for curse r. Covenant p. 184. l. 24. r. that curse is the c. p. 242. l. 5. dele three p. 247. l. 58. r. Smalcaldian war p. 302. l. 53. for right r. light p. 303. l. 57. dele § 2. p. 317. Sect. 3. Title r. to Christ p. 329. l. 57. r. than any creature p. 331. l. 14. r. live himself p. 332. l. 11. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 338. l. 57. r. is in the recumbency p. 339. l. 60. for 5. r. § 4. p. 340. l. 20. dele § 4. p. 346. l. 51. r. as she said p. 349. l. 25. r. they and their fathers p. 350. l. 20. r. incommutabili ad commutabile p. 365. l. 39. r. specious Idol p. 385. l. 29. dele 1. Item l. 58. r. is put p. 388. l. 14. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 389. l. 23. r. Divine Law p. 412. l. 5. r. Papista p. 417. l. 19. for three r. four p. 418. l. 54. r. the people of God see God A DISCOURSE OF THE Two Covenants c. BOOK I. Of the Covenant of Works CHAP. I. The Curse of the first Covenant Gen. II. 17. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die c. SECT I. The Explication of the Text. § 1. IN the Covenant God made with Adam there was a Life promised of which the Tree of Life was a Seal and there was a Death threatned which was seal'd by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the threatning Thou shalt die the Promise is implied This do and thou shalt live and therefore the one is called the Sacrament of Life and the other the Sacrament of Death And this was a Covenant not made with Adam as a particular person but as a Representative from whom all Mankind were to descend by Natural Generation and therefore God did make a Covenant with Man in his Head But the Covenant God made with the Angels was Personal because they were created all at once and they were not to have their Being by descent one after another Hence it is that in Adam all sin and in Adam all die Rom. 5.12 1 Cor. 15.12 Act. 17.26 because God did intend to make of one blood all Nations Now the Covenant being made with Adam in the behalf of his Posterity and he breaking it brings himself and all his Posterity under the guilt of Sin and under the power of Death which is the curse of the Covenant So that the Covenant of Works did not cease by the fall Ephes 2.1 but it stands still in force unto all those that are as yet in the first Adam 1. This will clearly appear if we consider that God dealt with man in a Covenant-way in his Creation Man stands bound to God by a double bond
deterr'd from sin and kept in obedience to the Covenant All the threatnings in the Word since the Fall are but conditional which argues that it is to no other end but that they might be avoided and prevented He tells us the danger before that we may escape God under the first Covenant will'd that Adam should have continued in his obedience and avoided the curse of it and the Lord to manifest he neglected no means to this end created in him a holy nature gave him a righteous and an easie Law made a glorious promise to his obedience added a fearful threatning upon his disobedience therefore God did not will the death of a sinner And we may say with the Scripture He doth not afflict willingly the children of men Lam. 3.33 but as Tertullian says of the earnest prayers of Gods people so I may say of importunity in sinning Coelum tundimus We assault Heaven he says Misericordiam I put it vindictam extorquemus We extort vengeance 2 But God had decreed the fall of Adam and that this curse should come and it could not have been against his will how can it be said then that God will'd his obedience and continuance therein There is good ground for a double will of God which the Scripture speaks of a will of complacence and a will of efficacy approbationis effectionis a will of approbation and of effection the one is a general and a conditional will manifested to the Creature whereby the Lord approves and rewards obedience and perseverance therein in all persons whomsoever And this is his revealed will without determining any thing of particular persons in whom he will work this obedience But the other is a secret will toward that particular person in whom he will work this obedience and to whom he will give grace to continue in it God did in his revealed will manifest to Adam what he did require of him what he delighted in and what he would reward him for but he did not tell him that he would give him grace and a supernatural assistance to cause him to continue in obedience but he left him to the mutability of his own will and in the hand of his own Counsel God wills that all men should be saved and come to the knowledg of the truth 1 Tim. 2 4. God wills that all men should believe but he will not work faith in all men He wills that all men should be saved but he will not bring all men to Salvation he wills the one voluntate approbante by a will of approbation but the other decernente by a decreeing will So Davenant his answer to Gods love to Mankind pag. 220. 3 Threatnings and Promises are of great necessity and use even to a creature in the state of Innocency with whomsoever God will deal in a Covenant-way even the purest Creatures may and ought to make use of them and to fear to offend God because of his wrath for even our God is a consuming fire Now of what use could this have been to Adam in innocency having no sense or fear of sin or suffering but more of this afterwards 4 Even the Creature in the state of innocency has nothing in it to satisfie the Holiness of God he gives a command and adds a promise but as if the Lord were jealous of him he adds a threatning to keep him in obedience and so he did with the Angels he put no trust in them he charges even them with folly Job 4.18 though not with actual yet with possible folly The best Creatures as Creatures are changeable therefore the Holiness of God can never take full contentment and satisfaction in any thing but in Christ who is by the personal union impeccable 5 How comes it to pass that this Tree proved so hurtful to man That totum genus humanum per infinitam successionem perdiderit It destroyed all mankind throughout such an infinite succession Luther proposes the question and says the cause was not in the fruit for fructus protulit nobilissimos it produced most excellent fruit but the ground was in the Word of God and his prohibition Arbor vitae vivificat virtute verbi promittentis arbor scientiae occidit virtute verbi prohibentis the tree of life vivifies by virtue of the word promising and the tree of knowledge kills by virtue of the word prohibiting It 's the Word of God that is the cause of life and death to the Creature God exalts his Word above the best of the Creatures and it is dearer to him than Adam was in Innocency or the Angels he has exalted it above all his Name Heaven and Earth shall pass away rather than a tittle of it and therefore he will not now spare us for the breach of it But why did God give Adam this Commandment having given him so freely all the other Trees of the Garden Preceptum exploratorium Paraeus Arhor diviri cultus fuit why should he forbid him this one it was a precept for trial a tree of divine worship They were not one tree says Luther though here so called collectively but Nemus quasi sacellum quoddam a wood as it were a Chappel God loves to try the obedience of the best of his Creatures to give them matter and occasion to exercise the Graces that he has given them As every word of God is a tried word and has been in the furnace often and Gods people have found it true so every grace wrought by that word is a tried grace and the trial of it is to the Saints now and so it should have been to Adam precious as the Apostle Peter says The trial of your faith is more precious than gold 6 But what need had Adam of such a Tree being he had a Law written in his heart of obedience to all Gods requirings as the Sun has a law of motion He was freely and fully carried after it by a command within he was a living Scripture a walking Bible but yet the best of the Creatures had need as of daily assistance and direction so also of daily admonition and a publick Monitor The Angels themselves as they have new service daily to do for God so they have a new supply from the spirit of Christ to quicken them daily We read in Ezek. 1.13 there is a spirit of fire that goes up and down amongst the living creatures which denotes the active daily and vigorous supply of the Spirit of Christ and the constant working of it Surely men may see yea those that are learned in the School of Christ what need there is of a Ministery Some say what need is there to have the same things taught that we know as well as they do and may be better Yet though you do know them there is need we should stir you up by way of remembrance 7 But why should it be so great an offence to eat of this Tree seeing God made it pleasant to the eye and
is the act and the guilt the act with the pleasure of it is fading the pleasures of sin that are but for a season but there is an abiding guilt upon the spirit that is after a sort infinite being an offence against an infinite God a violation of an infinite Holiness and a contempt of infinite Majesty and Authority and it is also eternal and will remain upon the Creature for ever and nothing in the world but the Blood of Christ can take it away from the soul Gen. 4.7 being sprinkled upon the Conscience and this is the meaning of that Proverbial speech Gen. 4.7 Sin lies at the door it 's a speech taken from a dog or a fierce beast that lies at the door to watch and it teaches us three things 1 That though the act be past yet the guilt remains binding over the soul to punishment the sin lies there 2 That there is a time when sin in the guilt and punishment of it may lie still and be quiet and a man may ruffle it in the house within and never be troubled at that which lies at the door 3 Sin lying at the door will surely be awakened and it will be easily awakened Luther in loc ad fores somno minime aptus est locus ibi quiescit peccatum ubi diu quiescere non potest c. Sin lies asleep there where it can lie long asleep the door will surely open and the sin that seems sleepy now will awake and therefore it is a fearful thing talem habere janitorem to have such a porter Jer. 2.22 Though thou wash thy self with niter and fullers soap yet thy iniquity is markt before me it 's spoken of all the false glosses and pretences that men have to excuse themselves and to extenuate their sins There is a guilt upon the man before God Jer. 17.1 The iniquity of Judah is writ with a pen of iron c. It is to be referred both ad reatum culpam and it notes the indelible characters of it upon the soul that as the people of God have the Law of God writ upon their hearts so have ungodly men the guilt of sin and the law of sin their sin will find them out There are two things that men are terrified with Numb 32.23 and they look upon as enemies the word of God and the guilt of their own sins and therefore men do endeavour to fly from the one and to hide themselves from the other now the word follows them and will surely overtake them at last Zach. 1.6 and the guilt of sin that seeks the man and albeit he has many a hiding place yet sin both in the guilt and in the punishment of it also will at last find him out 3 Hence follows an evil Conscience Heb. 10.22 There are two things that make the Conscience evil it 's pollution by reason of the filth of sin and its accusation and condemnation by reason of the guilt of sin and though this indeed be mainly reserved to the last day Rom. 2.15 16. when the book of Conscience shall be opened and that faculty enlarged because then it is to give up its Viatory office and an account of the whole man that God has betrusted it with yet it doth in many men begin here according as the Lord is pleased to act it and doth bring into the soul an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 10.27 a receiving of judgment before-hand binding a man over unto wrath that the Creature is continually in expectation of it Heb. 2.15 Mat. 8. â—9 Art thou come to torment us before the time therefore an evil Conscience they have that tells them that there is a torment in a greater measure provided for them and that there is a time appointed when the extremity of this torment shall begin though as yet they knew the time was not come Hence comes that fear which does torment the soul 1 Joh. 4.18 that wrath will seize upon a man wheresoever he is as it was with Cain Gen. 4.14 Every one that meets me will slay me he lookt upon himself as Luther saith Tanquam excommunicatus spiritualiter corporaliter regnum amiserat ecclesiam as one who was excommunicated both spiritually and corporally c. And therefore he that was put out of the protection of God could look for no safety amongst the Creatures hence a man walks in the horrour of the shadow of death Felix trembles and Herod fear'd it was John Baptist that he had slain that was risen again There is fear on every side if he walks by the way he looks vengeance should come upon him and he shall never again visit his habitation and if he abide in his house there is a curse entered into the stones and the timber of it when he lies down at night he says it may be this night God will take away my soul and he is scared with dreams and terrified with visions that he is not able to stand under the imaginations and thoughts of his own heart if he attend upon the Word there is a savour of death unto death he sees the grave open and this is to him a testimony of a further death 2 Cor. 2.16 And hence is that shame and confusion of face that is in men looking upon themselves they abhor their own image and are not able to endure their own stink seeing how their souls do breed worms as Herod's body did they see that they are the loathsomest Creatures alive and hence there is a loathing of themselves and it comes at last to a revenge as we see in Judas And the reflections and reproaches of a mans own spirit he cannot bear and he has these dreadful desperate thoughts I shall never find mercy my glass is run my hope is past surely there is no mercy for me if there were as many windows in Heaven as there be Stars as many doors as there be souls yet there would be no entrance for me And the soul sinks down under his own burden for ever and says My iniquity is heavier than I can bear And this is properly the death of the soul it is eternal desperation it 's hell it self I had time and means and offers and intreaties and works and motions of the Spirit of God but the Lord has now forsaken me and the night is come upon me there is as much hope of the Devils as of me And this is much strengthned by the threatning and the Curse of the Law giving a man his portion Hos 6.5 and so Ministers are said to judge men Ezech. 20. â— and to torment them Rev. 11.10 and to kill them which is all barely by the words suggesting to an evil Conscience and the Conscience assisting thereunto and there is answerable to the Curse of the first Covenant a work of the Spirit of God upon a mans soul which is called a spirit of bondage and a spirit of fear Rom. 8.15 2 Tim. 1.7
as of life and all the works of illumination humiliation seeming conversion and reformation do make them but the stronger enemies to God when they fall from them all they do but prepare a habitation for seven worse spirits for the dog to return to his vomit again as we read such a story of one Eustathius who was first an Arian and then afterwards was converted and subscribed the Articles of the Council of Nice and was a man imployed by the Church and endured a great Persecution with Basil and divers other godly men and yet afterward he turned again into the former Doctrine of Arianisme and never returned And so we read of Alexander in Act. 19.33 and afterwards of his Apostacy and these works do qualifie men for the sin against the Holy Ghost and make them more conformable to the Devil than otherwise they would be 7. There is a giving a man up to Spiritual judgments which are of all plagues the greatest Exod. 9.14 As spiritual sins are the greatest sins so are spiritual judgments the greatest plagues and there is no plague like that of the heart 1 King 8.38 and we have so much the more cause to observe them because God did formerly under the Old Testament punish with outward and temporal punishments but those that live under the Gospel are specially punished with Spiritual judgments as the mercies of the Gospel are more spiritual so are the punishments also and they are 1 a hard heart which implys three things 1 Insensibleness of sin and judgment 2 Taking no impression either from the Word or Spirit and the touches of both 3 Inflexible as an Adamant that you cannot bow nor break it and that heart that is a flint to God is wax to Satan no command nor judgment of God will break it for it 's possest with an iron sinew bray a fool in a mortar yet his folly will not depart 2 There is a spirit of slumber that a man is sensible of nothing no danger can wake him for sleep is the binding up of all the spiritual senses Their eyes are closed and they cannot see their ears are uncircumcised and they cannot hearken let them be smitten and they cannot feel it and nothing does awaken them neither the loudest cry of the Word nor the judgments of God a deep sleep is upon them and they fear no evil 3 A seared Conscience 1 Tim. 4.2 the word signifies to sear with a hot iron and to make insensible to have no feeling or else to cut off by searing so that men walk as if they had no Consciences left 4 An injudicious mind God gives them over to a reprobate mind Rom. 1.28 an injudicious mind is taken with envy error with every vanity and is able to judge aright of nothing 5 Vile affections the basest and most dishonourable lusts even sins that are below a man as brute beasts therein to corrupt themselves and that makes them hateful and abominable to all the world 6 A final impenitency a heart that cannot repent Heb. 6.4 and it 's impossible for them to be renewed again by repentance § 4. Having spoken of Temporal death and Spiritual death we should now come to consider Eternal death which as it is said of the Glory of the Saints Neither eye has seen nor ear has heard neither can it enter into the heart of man to conceive c. it is as true of this Eternal death no ear has heard what it is it is called perdition and destruction the second death And as Heaven is set out by some resemblances of the glory of the things in this life so is Hell in respect of the miseries of this life but all these are but shadows of the one and of the other Psal 90.11 Who knows the power of thy wrath as is thy fear so is thy wrath that is the wrath of God in the dreadful effects of it is such that it passes knowledg and it passes fear The heart of man is able to conceive vast fears as it has vast desires but whatever we can fear there is something in the wrath of God answerable to all But having spoke of this more largely elsewhere I shall but touch upon it at present In this death there is something essential which befalls all that suffer these torments and is inseparable from it as they do fall upon such a subject the essential part of this death the Scripture makes to be of two parts there is punishment of Loss and punishment of Sense There is a loss and a separation of a man from all good things whatsoever there is no man but has some good thing in possession and he has something of which hope gives him a reversion but in this death he shall be separated from them both and this is the privative part This poena damni punishment of loss is double as Durandus has observed pag. 210. either in amissione boni habiti vel nondum habiti in the amission of some good possessed or hoped for Now by this death men shall be shut out from both First they shall be shut out of the presence vision and fruition of God for ever there shall pass upon him an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Divines did anciently call it an eternal excommunication or a non-communion as their spiritual death did consist in an estrangement from God in holiness so their eternal death shall consist in an eternal separation from God in happiness They shall be punished with eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord 2 Thes 1.9 and this was the great torment that Christ does complain of Mat. 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and yet it was only substractio visionis a substraction of vision And this is the great affliction of his people here on earth if the Lord hide his face David says Hide not thy face from me lest I be like to them that go down into the pit and yet this is but a hiding of his face as an Eclipse of the Sun for a day he will but hide his face for a little moment but he will have mercy on thee with everlasting loving kindness how much more when God shall cast a man off in wrath for ever and never have an eye upon him more and therefore the Fathers do generally say that the greatest torment of Hell is this of Loss Absentia Dei quoad visionem omnia alia tormenta superat Augustine and Chrysostom in Mat. 7. Mille Gehennae paenas and there is nothing so dreadful as to be separated from God and to be hated by him CHAP. II. How and why men naturally desire to be under the Law Galat. 4. 21 Tell me you that desire to be under the Law do you not hear the Law SECT I. How men naturally desire to be under the Law § 1. THis Text tells us how men are naturally affected with the Covenant under which they stand They still desire to be under it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
then from the condemnation of the Law and the sentence of it there is no appeal or redemption CHAP. III. How and whence it is that sin is irritated by the Law Rom. 7.8 But sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence SECT I. How sin takes occasion and is irritated by the Law § 1. WE have seen that to be under the first Covenant though broken is unto every man in a state of nature a desirable thing though formally indeed men desire it not for they will all disclaim it but interpretatively and by consequence they do desire it as Prov. 8. ult it was finis operis though not operantis it was the end of the work Ezek. 8.3 though not of the worker and so men going about to establish their own righteousness and not submitting unto the righteousness of God and being contented to be acted by a spirit of bondage which is the spirit of the first Covenant which doth produce in them fruits answerable to the Covenant under which they stand this is in Gods account and in the censure of the Scripture an argument of an inward desire and contentment to be under this Covenant still Now because men do look upon it as a desirable condition let us examine what this condition is of a man fallen to be under the first Covenant as broken Divines do commonly say that a man that is in Christ is freed from the Law he being dead to the Law and the Law being dead unto him in some respects as was mentioned at first 1 For Irritation the Law hath not this power in men to irritate and exasperate and enrage their lusts by the restraint and the prohibitions of them and so they apply that place Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the Law That is saith Beza He exhorts them to Sanctification Let not sin raign in your mortal bodies and he does promise them sin shall not raign under the Law only forbidding sinning and thereby provoking and increasing lust but you are under Grace strengthning against sin and healing it and hence it is concluded from several other Scriptures that a man in Christ and under Grace is freed from the Law and irritation of it 2 For Co-action to keep them from sin by force for fear simply of the curse of the Law and to compell them to duty as a task-master against their wills when the Law they hate and the duty that is required of them that they hate and wish there were no Law and look upon it as a yoak and a burden insupportable for as a godly man says of sin so a wicked man says of duty that which I hate that do I. And it requires of him perfect obedience as a task-master he must work brick but gives no straw requires the full tale of duty but gives no strength nor assistance The Apostle says Gal. 5.8 if you be led by the spirit you are not under the Law the spirit that is in you is the spirit of the second Covenant a spirit of Adoption a spirit of liberty a free and a Princely spirit which enables you to perform duties out of an inward principle of love to them and delight in them unto them the yoak is easie and the burden is light for it 's their happiness and honour and meat and drink to do the will of their Heavenly father And so that place I conceive is to be understood 1 Tim. 1.9 The Law was not made for a righteous man that is neither in the restraining act of it or keeping from sin only for fear of the curse because he has an inward principle that lusts against it and as a fountain casts out the mud an inward antipathy a spirit lusting and rising against it that though there were no curse yet he would hate it and endeavour to avoid it nor in the constraining power of it to force to duty only as that which his soul hates and he comes hardly off too in any measure to do that which is required but he has a spirit within the Law written in his heart an inward principle suitable to what the Law requires of him as it is said of Christ in respect of that great Commandment was laid on him Joh. 10.18 This Commandment have I received of my father for of that I think he speaks lo I come to do thy will thy law is in the middle of my bowels I have power to lay it down and to take it up again He had an inward principle that made him ready and willing and chearful in it and in this respect the Law was never made for them as the only principle upon which they should act 3 For condemnation so as to be able to lay upon a man the guilt of his own sin and condemn him for it for the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law there is a destroying power in sin and this it has from the condemning power of the Law do but take away the condemning power of the Law and the sting of death that is that power that it has to destroy the soul is gone because the guilt is taken off the sinner Now Gal. 3.13 He has delivered us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us And so Gal. 5.23 Against such there is no Law It is not spoken against such works but against such persons there is no Law partly because the Law is against none but those that transgress it and partly because those being the fruits of the spirit do argue and clear to a man that his Covenant is changed because he is acted by the spirit of the second Covenant and therefore he may thereby receive an evidence to himself that the condemning power of the Law is not against him any more Rom. 4.6 4 For Justification For blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes righteousness without works That no man is justified by the Law is evident Gal. 2. ult If righteousness be by the law then Christ is dead in vain And from hence I argue that if they that are in Christ and under the second Covenant are freed from the Law in all these respects then all those that are out of Christ are under the Law still in all those respects and therefore every unregenerate man is under the Law as a Covenant of works and under this Covenant he desires to be now the Covenant being broken he is under it for Justification Irritation Coaction and Condemnation Daven de luâ—ut actuali p. 397. which when we have lookt over it will appear that this is no such happy condition that a man should desire it In being freed thus from the Law the main part of a Christians liberty consists yet there is this difference the two last refer unto a person and state and in those his liberty is perfect and he is wholly freed from the Law
self-accusation and self-condemnation together with perfect fear perfect sorrow and despair for ever SECT II. Whence the Law hath this Coactive power WHence is it that the Law hath this Coactive power It does arise from these ground §. 1. 1. From the Sovereignty of God in the Law it is the Royal Law as being the rule of mans duty and the whole will of God concerning him that rule according to which man should walk in which he should be accept Eccles 12. ult Rom. 2.12 and by which he shall be judged at the last and great day for they that have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law And Christ that shall be the Judge saith I will not judge you but there is one that judges you even Moses in whom ye trust And though man has sinned and broken the Law and endeavoured to cast it off yet he is held still under the authority and soveraignty of the same Law Rom. 7.1 2 A man is subject to the law as long as he lives and so long as a man lives in a natural state so long he is under this Law as a Covenant and the Law does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord it over him in full dominion for the Law rules in the authority and soveraignty of God it is the great Expansum that God has spread over the rational world of mankind while they â—re in their natural state by which they are to be ruled and by which they shall be judged â—nd this is the main ground of all the rigor and coaction of the Law 2. There is in unregenerate men a natural conscience I call it natural as our Divines use 〈…〉 say because it acts only by natural principles and is in every man naturally in opposiâ—on to a renewed conscience which I conceive to be an ability in the understanding of a â—han to judg of actions and states according unto the rule that is prescribed by God Gal. 6.16 Rom. 2. 1 Conâ—â—ience must have a rule and that rule is the Law of God which is regula regulans whereâ—s conscience is only regula regulata as a rule ruled by the Divine Law 2 The things subâ—â—â—cted unto the judgment of conscience are a mans actions and his state and that not only â—hat he has done but what he is to do and conscience does pass a sentence of Good and â—â—d Evil upon both what is to be imbraced and followed and what is to be avoided and â—â—ough custom in sinning wear out the power of conscience exceedingly and in some men 〈…〉 is less than in others for they have their Conscience seared 1 Tim. 9.2 as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sigâ—fies and so to harden the place or else to cut off with searing some men have very brawny â—â—d insensible Consciences and do seem to walk without any Conscience at all as to live â—ithout God in the world and so walk without Conscience in the world and are less unâ—â—r the power of it than other men are yet there is no man but his Conscience has a power â—er him to constrain him to duty and restrain him from sin in some measure and that by 〈◊〉 authority of the Law of God And if God awaken Conscience by some great affliction â—â—our of death or judgment the power of it will quickly appear over them we may see 〈◊〉 Judas who was a Devil a man exceedingly given up to spiritual wickedness and one 〈◊〉 had a very seared Conscience for Christ had told him it had been good for him never to have been born we see all the other Disciples did abhor and fear the very hearing of the â—ct yet Judas afterwards with a brazen face asks Christ Master is it I but yet when â—od did awaken Judas's Conscience we see the power that the â—aw had upon him c. 3. The Spirit of God comes into the Consciences of men for Conscience is a relative â—culty and does not work by it self but does accuse and excuse by the concurrence of â—â—e spirit and the spirit that is given a man is answerable unto his Covenant The second â—ovenant makes men sons and the priviledge of it is the adoption of sons therefore the â—irit that accompanies this Covenant is a spirit of adoption and makes them all free-men 〈◊〉 the Covenant is a free Covenant it is Gal. 4. resembled by Sarah the free woman but â—â—e first Covenant unto man fallen is a Covenant that genders to bondage and there are â—ne under it but bondmen and therefore it is resembled by Hagar the bondwoman Now â—â—e spirit of this Covenant is a spirit of bondage and all that it works in a man is fear and â—rrour binding a man over to wrath upon neglect of duty and threatning vengeance and â—lling the soul with horrour and amazement telling a man of wrath and judgment to come â—â—d the constraint that is upon his soul in reference to these is very great 4. There is in a man a principle of self-love desiring good and fearing of evil for no â—atural man can act from a higher principle than self in whatever he does and therefore it is â—race that gives self-denial So much self-denial so much grace so much self-seeking so much â—â—rruption there is in every man Hence it is when a mans Conscience does tell a man of the â—od of obedience and the happy end thereof as Balaam did see it and therefore desired â—at his death might be like unto the Saints and a Herod may reform and do many things â—â—d so many do good rationally that never did it obedientially do it to do good to themâ—â—ves but never to bring glory unto God as we see it in Jehu and yet many men having tasted of the powers of the world to come and having had some great apprehensions of the good of the ways of God they may go very far and be constrained to do much for God as we see it in Alexander that afterwards proved an Apostate and a Persecutor and yet did much for God for a season and afterwards fell away And when Conscience doth tell a man of the danger of sin and presents to a man Hell and wrath as the consequence of it though it be a way that seems good to a man yet it leads down to the chambers of death and carries a man to the end of his journey and tells him that the fiery lake is but a little before and comes with the threatning of God as the Angel did to Balaam with a drawn sword in his hand a man may say I will turn back again if my way be perverse before thee and he may turn away from the sins that he loves most dearly he may cast up his vomit with the dog and leave the mire with the swine but it is only in fear of some evil and not from a principle wrought in a man that is the ground thereof There is a double principle that moves all things either
conceive it was a body that was given him by the Father 2 There was Union from the Father and therefore there is a grace of Union as to us in Mystical Union it is the Father made up the match between us and Christ and we are united unto him for ever so in the Personal and Hypostatical Union it is the Father that made up the match and made the two Natures to become one Person and therefore it is said Luk. 1.35 That holy thing that is born shall be called the Son of God for it was in obedience to the Father that he did come to take this body into Union it is true he did take the seed of Abraham but it was by the Fathers command Heb. 2.16 Heb. 10.7 and in obedience to him and therefore he says A body hast thou prepared me and therefore he did take it upon himself as he did his sufferings The cup that his Father gave him he did drink and so in him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily 3. There is also the grace of Unction God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him Joh. 3.34 Jesus of Nazareth whom God has anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power As it pleased the Father in him should all fulness dwell as the Sun of Righteousness and as the fountain of life and this is not in him only as God but as Mediator but all this is still as it pleased the Father acts of his free-grace 4. Assistance in this great work it is true that Christ was God and able to raise himself 1 Joh. 5.11 and did quicken himself and did overcome death and spoiled Principalities and Powers and triumphed over them openly but yet he doth ascribe all this to the gracious assistance of God the Father it is the Lord that made him a promise that he should go through with his work and Christ doth strengthen himself by exercising faith upon the Promises of God the Father who promised Isa 42.4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he hath set judgement in the earth I the Lord have called thee in righteousness I will hold thee by the hand that is by a mighty assistance and support and I will keep thee c. and with these Christ helps himself by exercising faith upon them I will trust in thee he is near that justifies me Isa 50.8 Who will contend with me the Lord is at my right hand I shall not be moved Psal 16.8 9 10. therefore my heart is glad and my flesh shall rest in hope for thou will not leave my soul in Hell i. e. in the grave under the power and condemnation of that sin and wrath that now is upon me nor suffer my body to see corruption but thou wilt shew me the path of life c. And Psal 22. he strengthens his faith by experience of his forefathers Our Fathers trusted in thee and thou deliveredst them So that Christs assistance in all his managing of the work of the Covenant is wholly from the free-grace of God the Father and therefore in all the business of it Christ had recourse unto his Father by prayer continually 5. Acceptance It is true that Christ as his Person was in worth and value answerable unto all the Elect of God and beyond them so there was a worth and price in all that he did in his suffering answerable unto whatever the Law and Justice of God did require God did abate him nothing he payed the uttermost farthing else there could not have been satisfaction Isa 63.6 for it must be redditio aequivalentis pro aequivalenti it was a full satisfaction God did abate him nothing in this but God made our sins to meet upon him he did not abate him one sin and being made sin he did not abate him any part of the curse And what mercies soever the Lord doth bestow upon us Christ hath paid a valuable price for them because his obedience did deserve and did truly merit at the hand of God whatever the Lord shall bestow upon us to eternity either in Grace here or Glory hereafter it is indeed free unto us and a gift but yet it is unto Christ a purchase and therefore here indeed there is nothing of grace as it were but all is of debt that is Christ did lay down something answerable unto whatever God did either give or forgive But yet here is Grace in the Lords acceptance of all that Christ hath done and suffered for us and the imputation thereof unto us and that the Lord should account this by a Soveraign imputation to be as done in our stead and for us for the Law did say the soul that sins shall die it is Grace only that brings in the commutation of the Person though there be no commutation of the righteousness that was required of us Heb. 10.10 it is meerly of Grace that the Lord has accepted of Christ for us all the benefits of the Death of Christ as Pardon of Sin Reconciliation with God Justification and Adoption they do all depend upon this will of the Father for had he not appointed this work and thereby declared his acceptation had not he accepted it who was the Judge we could never have had any benefit by it and therefore it is by his will alone that all this is made over unto us there was free-grace abundantly in his acceptation By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many Isa 53.11 Joh. 6.38 by the knowledge of him and faith in him for of such a knowledge it is meant I came not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me the meaning is not as if Christ came unwillingly but that his Fathers will was first in this work and so much in it that the thing that Christ did principally aim at was to please his Father and to do his will therein Now because Christs great aim was to do his Fathers will and to please his Father doing all by appointment from him he knew he hath acceptance with him for though Christ had paid the price it was free with God to accept it or no. 6. There is a reward that is given unto Christ for all the services that he does perform He hath a name above every name Phil. 2.9 10. and a seed Isa 53. and a glory He being set on the right hand of the Majesty on high 1 Pet. 1. ult Angels and Principalities and Powers being made subject unto him and this the Lord hath given him as a reward of his service I will not now speak unto that Question put by some Divines Whether Christ did merit for himself which our Divines do deny in this sense as being the great end why he did come into the world to merit for his Elect-ones because the Scripture saith God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 And to us a Child is born to us a son is
stead that what he did was accounted to be ours whether to righteousness and life or unto sin and death but yet so that had he stood the same obedience was in their own persons required of his posterity for themselves as was required of Adam though not with the same respect not as publick persons and representative heads so that if they had not performed it they had fallen for themselves though all mankind had not fallen if Adam had stood for the woman was first in the transgression 1 Tim. 2. Rom. 5.12 and yet though the woman fell first all mankind did not fall in her fall but by one man sin entred into the world and therefore it was not every sin of a particular person that would have destroyed all mankind but of their representative only But the second Covenant hath this in it that the first never had in Adam the second Covenant hath a surety and that is something more than a publick person that is one that represents another and stands in his place and is bound unto his debt so that if the person ingaged pay not the debt the surety must and so Adam was not the surety for all mankind that he would perform the debt or bear the curse for them all there was no Covenant that had a Surety but Christ and he was a surety of the first Covenant Gal. 4.4 made under the Law and of a better Covenant to perform all the duties of the Gospel So that all that is required is of Christ as the second Adam only in his publick capacity and representation the Law is required of us but if we perform it not we have a surety that has undertaken it Thus as the first Covenant was made with the first Adam and all his posterity so the second Covenant is made with the second Adam and all his posterity also 2. We read of a Covenant made with Persons and people and promised unto them as special mercies a Covenant made with Abraham and Isaac a Covenant made with David 2 Sam. 23.5 The Lord has made with me an everlasting Covenant in all things ordered and sure And there is a Covenant made with a people also Jer. 31.31 God made a Covenant with the house of Judah a Covenant that he would bring them under the bonds of the Covenant and Esa 55.3 Every one that thirsts come to the waters c. and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David and Ezec. 16. I entred into Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine and therefore Zac. 9.12 By the blood of thy Covenant I have delivered the prisoners out of the pit in which there is no water 3. Men are said to make the Covenant and to break it Hezekiah exhorts them 2 Chron. 30.7 8. to give the hand unto the Lord 2 Chron. 30.7 8. it 's an expression of entring into Covenant as striking the hand is in the Proverbs an expression of entring into suretiship for another there are four expressions of it in 1 Chron. 29.24 All the Princes and the mighty men and all the house of the Kingdom gave their hands unto Solomon it notes a military subjection by way of Covenant and agreement between them they did take an oath of Allegiance unto him And so that expression to joyn the hand Ezeck 17.18 He hath broken the Covenant after he had given his hand c. and Job 17.3 to strike hand is to enter into suretiship or to be engaged in a Covenant so the saints are said to enter into Covenant with the Lord by sacrifice Psal 50.5 Esay 56. and they are said to take hold of the Covenant again they are said to break the Covenant which could not be if the Covenant were not made with them and not to be faithful and constant therein Psal 25.10 Lev. 26.15 4. It will appear from the promises of the second Covenant though it 's true that they are all yea and amen in him yet are they properly and formally made unto us either the first promises of grace or else of reward unto grace Promises of grace are He will give his Spirit and will give repentance he will heal our backslidings c. and we have an unction from the holy one c. And reward of service done either in the inward dispositions Blessed are the pure in spirit blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness c. or in the outward action 1 Cor. 9.24 So run that you may obtain 1 Cor. 15. ult your labour is not in vain in the Lord. And though the Covenant be made only out of free grace yet the Saints do claim these promises not only out of mercy but from the faithfulness of God 1 Cor. 10.19 1 Jo. 1.9 2 Tim. 4.8 God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able he is faithful and just to forgive us c. And what is the ground of this but the Covenant of God whereby his faithfulness is ingaged 5. The Covenant of grace is a Covenant in the hand of a Mediator and confirmed by the death of the Testator Heb. it 's not only a Covenant but it 's a Testament 1 Christ is the Mediator now no man is a mediator between God and himself a Mediator is not a Mediator of one it must be a third person a dayes-man that must lay hold upon both therefore there is a Covenant made with Christ and Christ is a Mediator for the establishment of the Covenant with us also And 2 Christ is the Testator he died and left his Legacies of all the promises to the saints now no man gives a Legacy to himself In the Covenant made between the Father and Christ Christ is a party and a publick person but in this Covenant between God and us he is a Mediator and the Testator by whom we receive all the Legacies and Inheritance that he has purchased for us and granted to us Rom. 4.11 6. The Sacraments are seals of the Covenant of grace Now if we look upon the Covenant made with Christ and consider that his faith was perfect in God and he knew the Lord would not fail him but saies He is near that justifies me who will contend with me he will not leave my soul in Hell c. But though Christ had a strong faith yet we have but a weak faith and therefore had need of Sacraments and outward signs to confirm it wherefore the Sacraments are not to confirm the Covenant made with Christ but the Covenant made with the Saints he to whom the Covenant is made unto him the seals are to be applied and it would seem unreasonable for the Covenant to be made unto one and the seals to be applied unto the other therefore there is a Covenant made with the saints and to this Covenant the Sacraments are added as seals 7. There is a double oath to confirm this
that he might bear the iniquity of us all c. and therefore he is set forth as a propitiation for the remission of the sins that are past through the forbearance of God Rom. Heb. 10. 3.25 and as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world Joh. 1. Therefore the Lord cannot become our God immediately Gal. 3.19 Job 9.33 no not so much as by Law but in the hand of a Mediator that is Ministerio by the intervention of a Mediator who is as it were a days-man to lay hold upon both parties Now the Lord therefore becomes Christ's God in Covenant and makes over all his Attributes unto him Joh. 20.17 and therefore saith Christ I go to my Father and your Father to my God and your God and therefore says the Apostle Eph. 1.3 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and it 's that which Christ lays hold of for himself and his people Psal 22.1 89.26 Phil. 2.7 My God my God c Now how doth the Lord becomes Christ's God as he is the second Person no that he cannot for so he thinks it no robbery to be equal with God One person cannot be said to be a God to another having all of them the name of God given to them and all of them having one and the same Essence or Divine Nature But as Christ is Mediator as he is God-man as the Word is made flesh so the Lord is become Christ's God by the Covenant that he did enter into with his Son when he did possess him in the beginning of his way Prov. 8.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 2.6 that is of all his goings forth towards the creature and therefore did anoint him and set his King upon his holy hill which is the same word as is used Psal 2.6 And by this Covenant the Lord did wonderfully manifest his love to his Son by ingaging himself that all the Attributes of the Divine Nature should work for him Joh. 3.35 Joh. 5.20 the Love of God should work for him for the Father loveth the Son and shews him all things and gives him all things into his hand and the Power of God works for him Esa 42.6 I will hold thee by the hand and I will keep thee and the Justice of God works for him that when he had paid the debt he should be released out of prison and therefore after he had lain three days in the grave to shew forth the truth of his death Esa 53.8 the Lord sent an Angel as a publick Minister of Justice for he was taken from prison and from judgment and the Faithfulness of God is also ingaged for him Thus saith the Lord Esa 49.7 to him whom man despiseth and the nation abhors to a servant of rulers Kings shall see and arise Princes also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful and he shall chuse thee c. And we may see what it is in vers 8. In an acceptable time have I heard thee in a day of salvation have I helped thee I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant to the people to establish the earth c. So that Christ has a double inheritance 1 in God all that is in God is his and all works for him for the Lord is become his God Heb. 1.3 2 In the creatures for he is appointed heir of all things Now all the Attributes being in this manner made over unto Christ by the Father and he given as a Covenant to the Nations and as primus foederatus the first federate in the Covenant and that covenanting being not only for himself but as a second Adam for us hence it is that whatever is made over unto Christ by his Covenant is made over unto us also he being our head and so we come not only to have the same claim to the creatures that Christ had and can say all things are ours 1 Cor. 3.21 Joh. 17.23 but the same claim also unto God that Christ has for we can say that whatever is in God is ours because he is become our God and therefore he is said to love us as he loved Christ and a great ground of a Christians consolation comes in by it that they may know that thou hast loved them even as thou hast loved me and that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them that is that this love in the apprehension and assurance of it may be shed abroad in their hearts abundantly and that under this notion that it 's the same love that God bears unto us that he did bear unto the Lord Christ as Mediator it is to be understood of an as of similitude not of equality it was such a love as made over not only all creatures unto Christ but all Attributes unto Christ and it was a love that gave Christ an union and an unction and such a love it is unto us in both but consider it is but pro modulo according unto our condition so as the Lord Christ in all things may have the preheminence 2. The Lord hath made over all his Attributes to Christ as Mediator that they shall all of them work and be employed for us according unto the necessity we are in For Christ did not only as Mediator make way for all the Attributes to work and to be put forth for us that so no Attribute might stand in the way of mercy and goodness towards us and so Christ came in as causa removens prohibens c. but all the Attributes thus made over to Christ in covenant are all of them to be acted and exercised by Christ as Mediator as the government of all the creatures is committed to him so also the discovery and the exercise of all the Attributes of God are committed to him and therefore it 's said My Angel shall go before thee Exod. 23.21 and that Angel that God sent and led his people in the Wilderness was Christ called therefore the Angel of his presence or of his face because in him the face or the glory of God is discovered Mat. 18.10 and not only because he doth behold his face for so do the other Angels it cannot be spoken of Christ as God for so he is not the Angel that is the Messenger of God sent forth from God and it 's said of this Angel that the name of God is in him Now the name of God is whatever God is made known by and therefore when the Lord doth publish his Attributes he saith he will proclaim his name Exod. 33.19 and therefore all the Attributes of God are in him and by him to be acted and exercised for the Father judgeth no man but has committed the administration of all things to the Son to this end that all men may honour the Son even as they honour the Father and therefore Col. 1.15 he is said to be the image of
of our proneness to all sorts and all ways of sin that as patience so repentance may have its perfect work for as to humble the soul sin is left in it so also the breaking forth of sin into act discovers our natural weakness and is in wisdom permitted because the Lord will have his people to perfect their repentance as well as their faith while they do live here 6 That the soul may be willing to put off the body as it is an instrument and a servant to the soul in sinning I am shortly saith the soul to put off this tabernacle and I am the more willing to do it because my members are weapons of unrighteousness I shall then never sin more no more be subject unto the bondage of corruption to serve the lusts of men it shall be the glory of the body to serve the graces but never the lusts of the soul any more but perfect sanctification shall be in it 4. The Soveraignty of God is seen in the breaking forth of scandalous sins there are but two sorts of sins that godly men are freed from the sin against the Holy Ghost and final impenitency because they are delivered from the wrath to come and being in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation unto them Rom. 8.1 but else there is no sin either in judgment or practice from the danger of which they can assure their hearts be it never so foul never so hateful before God or man and therefore when we look upon the naufragia shipwracks of the Saints who can if God should withdraw his suitable assistance secure themselves or promise unto themselves freedom If we consider the idolatry of Solomon and that as gross as any that we shall read of 1 King 11.4 8. and the persecution of Asa 2 Chron. 16.10 and the Apostasie in Peter and that the grossest with a denial nay an abjuration Mar. 14.71 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some do expound to abjure Christ Mar. 14.71 and to wish unto him a curse but most do say it was wishing a curse and an Anathema upon himself Grotius makes it the same with that Act. 23.14 They bound themselves with a curse diris se obligavit c. of whom Bernard saith Peccavit grande peccatum fortassis quo grandius nullum est c. Now seeing that there is in them a sea of corruption a body of death it is only an act of the Soveraignty of God that restrains the winds that they blow not upon this sea Rev. 7.1 There are Angels that hold the winds of commotions that they break not forth and Jer. 49.36 Dan. 7.2 3. that they shall break forth in their season so he doth also hold the winds of temptation that they do not blow upon the sea of corruption and by this means the mire and dirt is not discovered but let but the wind blow upon it and it is full of unquietness and rage immediately 2 Sam. 12.4 there came a way-faring man unto the rich man concupiscentiam viatorem vocat aut peregrinum Pet. Martyr 1 It is not a friend or a servant it is not one that is ordinarily accustomed to the house there are some sins that are daily in a man constant inmates but there are great sins that da rise in a man but now and then 2 Lusts are travellers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the heart of man doth coast and wander all the world over to see what will become of it and where it may be able to make advantage unto it self 3 It comes upon a man suddenly and unexpectedly as a stranger or as a traveller useth to do 4 Yet when it comes it looks for entertainment and it doth so ordinarily find it the man will make provision for it Now this traveller goes not where or when he pleases but according to the Soveraignty of God in the ordering the going forth of the lusts of men it is a messenger of Satan there is a time appointed for the opening of Hell for the sending forth the messenger of Satan upon the soul the letting forth of the smoke Rev. 9.1 The Lord doth in his Providence turn this unto good 1 Unto a new conversion Luk. Luk. 22.32 22.32 Christ said to Peter after his first conversion when he foretels him of his scandalous fall When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren there is a double conversion 1. From a state of sin Acts 3.19 2. From some particular gross acts of sin because that doth make a breach upon a mans justification 1 A damp upon grace which there is upon the committing of such sins Create in me says David a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me 2 There is a suspension of all the comforts of grace he is as the leper and he doth as Zanchy saith quodammodo excidere à gratia he hath no comforts in the promises and the priviledges of the Saints 3 There is a change of all the dealings of God with him Esa 63.10 he became their enemy and fought against them by spiritual judgments upon them vers 17. he shall have broken bones and his moisture shall be dryed up Gods wrath shall fall upon him for there is a temporal wrath there is filius sub ira c. Now here seems to be a particular Conversion by laying of all anew in the Soul as if nothing were true before he must repent anew and believe anew that as Zach. 1.17 the Lord 's returning unto a people after eminent displeasure is called a new Election so also this is a new Conversion 2 Hereby the Soul hath experience in himself of the strength of Sin the power of Temptation and of Christs Intercession 1 He has experience of the Strength of sin for sin is but too powerfull in the best Gen. 49.6 7. it is said of the Sons of Israel Simeon and Levi Cursed be their anger for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruel and David put the Ammonites under Saws and Harrowes and Jonah 4.9 he justifies himself against the debates of God with him and saith that he doth well to be angry unto the death 2 The Soul experiences the power of Temptation what there is in the winnowings of Satan if the Lord should leave a man to the power which he hath already received he would soon work all good out of his soul for Satan is the ruler of the Darkness of this world Ephes 6.12 and he hath not only a great power over wicked men as Darkness it self for they are led captive at his will and he doth work effectually in them but even upon the darkness that is in the Saints also he can stirr up that darkness in them that it shall endanger to over-spread all that there shall seem little difference between them and ungodly men for the time that it doth prevail upon them 3 The Soul experiences the power of the Prayer of Christ Luk. 22.32 I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail