are of Israel i. e. All do not belong to the true Seed that have the external denomination and yet these are they to whom the Ministration of the letter is equally afforded 3. This notwithstanding the direct aim and great design of opening this fountain is for the sake of those that are given to Christ This is a great truth though the carnal minds of natural men are prejudiced at it and engage in so many earnest cavils against it and it becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to them yet it is fully asserted in the Word of God and is necessary to be laid open in the Ministry of the Gospel That then this truth may be cleared up let us observe the following Propositions 1. That there is a select number of Adams ruined Posterity whom God hath appointed to bring to eternal life by Christ We must begin here if we would follow this grace down from the fountain of it Gods last end in this great affair was the exaltation of the glory of his Grace but in the oâ—dering of the Media by which this was to be brought about there must be a subject in whom it is to be exalted and that can be no other than a Creature that needed it This necessity man brought upon himself by his undoing Apostasy out of the ruines whereof God would pick up such as should be made the monuments of it and these were not intended to be all but only some who are called his Chosen those whom he hath given to Christ those whose names are written in the Book of Life and other like distinguishing notes differencing them from the rest of mankind nor could this appointment be only general and conditional for then it were improper to say that their names were written or that God knows who they are but we are assured that he doth 2 Tim 2. 19. 2. Hence it was for their sakes that Christ was prepared and appointed to be a fountain of life to them All mankind died in the first Transgression Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin came into the world and death by sin so that death passed upon all men for that all have sinned There must therefore a Well of Salvation be opened for the man if ever he be restored to life again The Son of God barely considered as a Divine person could not be so to Fallen man as the case stands between God and him He was capable of being made so but there was a great deal to be done in this affair to bring it about he must become a Surety for us he must as such take our nature upon him and in it put himself in our room under the Law and comport with the Sanctions of it accordingly he must do and dy for us and therein fulfil all righteousness and in that way he became able to save us to the uttermost God is therefore said to have made him all this 1 Cor. 1. 30. Who of God is made to us wisdom and righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption Now that which was designed in this was our Salvation and therefore it had a peculiar respect to those whom he was to save Christ therefore declares the very design of this Joh. 17. 19. For their sakes do I Sanctifie my self and it is a thing altogether unquestionable that if it had not been for this the Son of God had never taken this province upon him and gone through it as may be gathered from Joh. 3. 17. God-sent not his Son into the world to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved 3. That the Gospel in which this fountain is opened was appointed to be the way of the communication of the vertue of it unto these It is not enough that there was a fulness of all Grace stored in Christ but there must be a derivation of the saving vertue of it to all those that live by it Now though the spirit of God to whom the Application of it belongeth is he who derives it to us from Christ yet he hath a way in which he so doth and we are given to understand that this is by the Gospel and therefore the vertue of it is Metonymically assigned to the Gospel which is called the power of God to Salvation Rom. 1. 16. And the reason is because as it is to become ours so God deals with us in bringing us to this faith according to our nature â—s Reasonable Creatures by shewing us our object and the fulness and sufficiency of it by discovering the terms of the Covenant on which we may come to be interested in it by setting before us all the incentives to move us to entertain it all of which are discovered to us in and by the Gospel for we are told 2 Tim. 1. 10. Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel When therefore God intends men Salvation in the ordinary dispensation of himself to them he makes use of the Gospel as a Medium by which he will apply himself to them 4. Those to whom it is thus to be dispensed live mixt among other men It is Gods good pleasure that his Chosen shall be scattered up and down in the World and have their dwelling among those that are his Enemies he therefore calls them from the Lions dens and from the mountains of the Leopards Cant. 4. 8. There are indeed some places in the world that are wholly in darkness and we know not of any of those that are given to Christ among them but in other places they dwell one with another in some places there are more in others there are fewer of these bâ— there are no places where Christ hath a Seâ— but there are wicked men dwelling with thâ— Godly The Apostle therefore tells us thâ— we must go out of the world if we would â—â— wholly separated from such 1 Cor. 5. 10. Anâ— we are acquainted that God hath some whoâ— he will sooner or later make sharers in thâ— benefit in every Nation Rev. 5. 9. Thou â—â— redeemed us to God by thy blood out of everâ— kindred and tongue and people and nation Tâ— tares and the wheat must grow together till thâ— end of the world then will a separation bâ— made between the one and the other anâ— not till then Mat. 13. 40 41. And these nâ— only dwell together in one City or Town but oftentimes they live in the same house and ly in the same bed Luk. 13. 34. There shall be two men in one bâ—â— the one shall be tâ—ken and the other left 5. That God hath appointed men who are called by him unto it to be the ordinary dispensers â—â— this Gospel He could indeed have done it immediately by his Spirit or he could have employed the Glorious Angels in this Affair whâ— would have accounted it an honour thus â—â— minister for the heirs of Salvation but he hath Chosen this way in his wisdom as that which is best accommodated for us and that
whom God imparts the largest measure of a spirit of mourning and supplication Where God intends to build highest he will lay the foundation lowest The greatest spiritual mouâ—ners are appointed for the more abundant consolations They are the humble and contrite whom God delights to dwell with and to revive Isa 57. 15. Christs anointing had a special regard for such as these and therefore his applications will be eminently made to them Isa 61. begin The Lord hath anointed me c. to bind â—â— the broken hearted to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness c. Doth God then bring you into Godly Sorrow Doth he make Sin bitter to you Doth he fill you with grief at and cause you deeply to bewail your Sins before him be not discouraged but take iâ— as a good Omen and wait for the Consolations of his Spirit remember what he hath said Psal 126. 5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy It is also certain that when God excites in us an heart to pray to him and fills us with ardent desires and groans unutterable after him for his grace for his pardoning for his cleansing of us and we cannot let him alone it is a sign that he hath great mercies to bestow on us which in this way he will communicate to us God who hath promised that his shall pray unto him and it is he who giveth prayer to his own hath assured us of a gracious audience and a good return to our prayers Jer. 29. 12 13 14. Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and ye shall seek me and find me c. Be not then discouraged and though you may not at present experience those sensible apprehensions of the efficacy of the Fountain for the taking away of your Sin yet doubt not that God will in the best way do it for you and give you the experience of it to your abundant Consolation God will exalt his Grace on you in this way and make it to appear how great is his kindness to you in taking off your Guilt and washing away your pollution And when you are suitably prepared so to glorifie him he will fill you with the discoveries of his love for which you shall admire him for ever USE II. For Examination Let us hereby prove whether ever this Fountain were savingly Opened to us and it concerns all to put themselves upon this Trial. For Motive then Consider 1. You are all by Nature under the guilt and defilement of Sin Sin and Uncleanness are hereditary to all Adams Children and they derive to them in the Channel of Natural Generation for this we are told Eph. 2. 3. We â—e Children of wrath even as others and he demands and resolves Job 144 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one This then is the condition in which every one is born Adams First Transgression was ours by a legal Imputation and his corrupt Image which he contracted instead of Gods Image which he lost is ours by Propagation and thus we come into the world guilty and filthy Creatures Psal 51. 5. Behold I was shapen in â—â—iquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me And this Guilt and Defilement are encreased by all the actual sins that we have committed since we came into the World 2. Except this be done away it will be your ruine All Sin in its own nature and operation is deadly Sin and Death are closely connected each with the other Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin came into the world and death by sin The guilt that ahderes to sin binds the man under the Curse and that is Death Ezek. 18. 4. The Soul that sinneth it shall dy The Law â—â—ath already past the Sentence upon the man and unless it be removed it will without fail take place on him and the defilement of sin is it self the very spiritual death of the Soul it hath deprived the man of the life of Sanctification and he can no more perform a gracious action than a dead man can a life action hence that expression Eph. 2 1. Ye were dead in trespasses and sins So that as long as it abides on him he cannot at all answer the end of his Creation 3. Nothing else can do it for you but this Fountain There is a sufficiency of vertue in it for this end God provided it for this very purpose and he doth nothing in vain it therefore never failed of producing this effect where it was savingly applied But except you repair hither all your other attempts will prove lost labour this Salvation is no where else to be had Acts 4. 12. There is nothing else that can expiate the Guilt of sin or make atonement to the Justice of God for the remission of it but this one Sacrifice of Christ thousands of rams will not procure it God therefore blows upon them with contempt Mic. 6. 6 7 8. Nor will all the waters of Abana and Pharpar cleanse this Leprosy it is only the Blood of Christ is cleansing and that Blood doth cleanse from all sin 1 Joh 1. 7. 4. Except it be applied to you it will not have this saving efficacy Christ doth not profit all although his vertue be sufficient yet all are not pardoned and healed by him there are multitudes that perish in their sins notwithstanding and that not only of those to whom he was never revealed in the Gospel but of such also who have been told of and invited to come to him and whence is this but because application hath not been made of him to them for this end Sinners that are outwardly called perish as well as others and the reason â— because they do not answer the Call and come to the waters the threatning is therefore declared against such Prov. 1. 24. c. Because I have called and ye refused c. I will also laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear 〈◊〉 c. 5. Till then you know that he hath been thus applied to you your condition must needs be dubious It is from the work of Application that we â—â—e to fetch our evidence of our safe estate It is not enough that there is a Christ and that he is a Fountain of Salvation but is he â—â—rs for this reason Professors are put upon it to prove and try themselves and the enquiry is not whether there be such a Fountain and there be a fulness in it but whether Christ be in us 2 Cor. 13. 5. Know ye not your own selves how that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates And hence we have such an expression Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of Glory And though if the thing be so your state is out of danger yet till you know that it is so you cannot enjoy inward
fit for Grace and Mercy to work upon and erect to themselves trophies of honour and glory in doing for him by raising him out of that â—orlorn condition and bestowing upon him the contrary blessedness Not as if this miserable estate which man haâ—â— by his own folly brought himself into laid any obligation upon God to work for him iâ— this way for it indeed exposed him to his juâ—â— indignation but only that it laid open an Object that needed it and upon which if hâ— saw meet he might exert those Attributes of his to the highest and thereby bring to himself a Tribute of everlasting praise When therefore Paul had mentioned how notable a subject he had been of this he could not buâ— shut up the discourse of it with that Doxology 1 Tim. 1. 17. Now unto the King Eternalâ— Immortal Invisible the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen 6. There were divers steps to this all of which were ordered by the holy counsel of God Every thing that bears the consideration of a Medium to this great end must needs be acknowledged unto Gods fore appointment for all things fall out according to the counsel of his will and though he is not in any respect to be accounted the author of sin yet he is the Supream Orderer of it and that according to his permissive will Now there were such steps as these all of which made way for the introduction of this Grace and Mercy of his 1. The Creating of man Upright That God did so Create him we are told Eccles 7. 29. God made man uprightâ— Adam was Created in a state of integrity which consisted in the rectitude of his nature by vertue of the Concreated principle of Holiness and Righteousness which was put into it and was called Gods own Image after which man was made Geâ— 1. 26. c. And if he had not been thus made he could not have been capable of the following transactions that were betwixt God and him for to require that of a Creature which it was never in a capacity of complying withal had been unworthy of Gods infinite wisdom and altogether inconsistent with that Justice which God laid the foundation for in the nature and state that he Created man in 2. The Covenant of Works and the Sanctions of it That there was such a Covenant plighted with man the Word of God gives us sufficient intimations of and as it was requisite that man should be a cause by Counsel of his own actions or else he could not have been treated with in the way of a Coveâ—â—â— which supposeth a mutual â—â—ipulation betweeâ— the persons Covenanting so the works â—â—quired of him in that Covenant could 〈◊〉 have been performed by him according to the tenour of it without the moral rectitude of 〈◊〉 nature which we have taken notice of Noâ— in this Covenant there are considerable 〈◊〉 Sanctions of it but for which man could noâ— have been happy or miserable according to 〈◊〉 and his carriage of himself towards it Goâ— therefore besides a Rule which he gave 〈◊〉 man diâ—â—cting him how he might serve hiâ— aright annexed a promise of life in case 〈◊〉 Obedience full and perfect and threatneâ— him with death iâ—â—e should transgress the precept which is intimated in that Gen. â— 17. In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shaâ—â— surely dy and thus man under the first Covenant stood a probaâ—ioner for life or death according as he should behave himself 3. The permission of him to fall That maâ— did eventually fall from his Rule and Happiness is a thing very notorious That this 〈◊〉 was a foil on which God â—rew the lines and laid the colours oâ— his Grace and Mercy is no less observable in the Word of God hencâ— that Rom 5. 20 21. The Law entred that siâ— might abound but where sin abounded Graâ—â— did much more abound that as sin hath 〈◊〉 unto death even so might grace reign through righ teousness 〈◊〉 eternal life through Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 Lord. And that God had a respect unto 〈◊〉 in appointing Christ to be a Redeemer and Saviour is not to be doubted inasmuch 〈◊〉 this was the very thing from which he was â—o redeem and save us this therefore is said to commend that Grace Rom. 5. 8. God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were 〈◊〉 sinners Christ died for us God therefore must needs have a foresight of this Apostasy because the assignation of Christ to his Mediaâ—â—al Offices had a respect to it and that man had not â—allen but by Divine Permission is certain for God could have kept him from it without offering force to his free will as he did the glorious Angels that keep their Station as he doth the perfected Saints in Glory and as he doth true Believâ—rs in this life from final Apostasy and this Permission must needs flow from his will beâ—ause he is the Supream Governour of all Creatures and all their actions according to is holy pleasure Hence though God doth â—ot approve of but hateth sin yet he saw it â—ood for an higher end that there should â—e sin by his Permission 4 The miserable â—state to which he is reduced the fall by vertue of the Curse of the Law 〈◊〉 man had retained his uprightnâ—ss he had ever been miserable and so had not stood 〈◊〉 need of Mercy but all miseries are contained in that Curse which man is under by 〈◊〉 son of sin and uncleanness and they are 〈◊〉 other than what he must righteously suffer â— there be no way of delivery from them â— as much as he hath procured them to himself his sin Jer. 2. 17. Now this misery was a â—â—per result of the threatning conditionally 〈◊〉 â—aced in the first Covenant which the 〈◊〉 brought himself under by transgressing of â— Law which was so guarded 7. Hence if man had not by his sin and 〈◊〉 cleanness involved himself in that misery tâ—â— had been no occasion for this fountains being prâ—red and opened There was no Mediator in â— first Covenant neither needed there aâ— God and man were in aâ—ity and this frieâ—ship had been confirmed between them upâ— mans entire conformity to the will of Gâ—â— and been sealed up to him upon his eaâ—â— of the tree of life which was a Sacraâ—ent â— it But now when the Covenant was viâ—â—â—ed man was exposed the Curse was faâ— upon him he was a man of death there â— an opportunity for Gods shewing himself â—â—iful and gracious and for the display oâ—â— to send forth his Son to be a Saviour â— for that end to cause all fulness â—â— dwell in â— that might derive from him to the unâ—â— creature as from a Fountain And this â—â— to give us some light into the stupenâ— mystery of the Providence of God in â—â—ing of poor man to fall upon the Law and â—â—eak himself in pieces but for which the glorious things of Christ had never been heard of in