judgement he went down to the grave as a guilty person but yet says Thou shalt not leave my soul in Hell under the power of death but wilt shew me the path of life 4 Of Justification He is near that justifies me he was justified in the spirit as he died as a publick person under our sins so he rose and when he arose he was justified and declared to be accepted by the Lord. 5 A promise of success Isa 53.10 The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand and by his knowledge he shall justifie many He shall build his Church the stone hewed out without hands and shall break the Mountains and the Images to pieces Zach. 6.12 he shall build the Temple of the Lord. 6 Of a seed He shall see his seed the word in Hebrew signifies a successive generation as the Stars of Heaven or the sand on the sea shore 7 Of glory Phil. 2.10 Heb. 2.7 He has a name above every name crowned with glory and honour and made the head over all things Eph. 1.20 21. and sits down at the right hand of God in glory 8 Of Victory The Lord will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong He shall lead captivity captive Psal 110.1 1 Cor. 15.25 and shall raign till he has put all his enemies under his feet 9 Of a Kingdom and Government Joh. 5.22 Rev. 11.17 10 Of Worship Heb. 1.6 Phil. 2.10 Every knee shall bow to him And all these Promises the Lord confirmed by Oath to him There is a twofold Oath there is not only an Oath that God has sworn to us that we may have consolation but unto Christ also for he was made a Priest by an Oath Heb. 7.21 so that this Oath was in reference unto this great undertaking of the Priesthood 1 Christ does accept this Office that he may be the Fathers servant in it and he does promise obedience unto his Fathers will he did not glorifie himself in it Heb. 5.1 Joh. 10.18 Psal 4.7 8. Heb. 10.7 That all men may know that I love the Father 2 According to this Covenant he is careful to perform all as God the Fathers servant in all his Government in the world and to let no part of the will of God be undone 3 Upon all these Promises he does exercise faith for their accomplishment He is near that justifies me Joh. 12.49 and so when upon the Cross he crys out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why is God called the God of Christ but by Covenant he takes a new Covenant-right unto God for us 4 Answerable unto this Covenant Christ doth follow God with Prayers that he may have the glory and the victory that the Lord promised him and that in the Covenant was made over to him before the World was Joh. 17.4 5. and that he might have all the glory that he now has in Heaven Phil. 2.4 Being sat down at the right hand of God where he is exalted by Covenant and is in constant expectation when his enemies shall be made his footstool and the Lord will never cease shaking and working in the World till the whole Covenant between God and Christ be fulfilled and the Mystery of God finished The Covenant of Grace is in the New Testament commonly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which does signifie both a Covenant and a Testament and it 's so commonly translated if we look upon it as a Covenant so Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sponsor or surety Heb. 7.22 and if we consider it as a Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 1.2 so Christ is appointed heir of all things of all the Promises in the behalf of his people that they are made first to him and to us in him 1. We shall consider Christ in this Covenant as the Surety and this very consideration of him as a Surety implys and concludes a Covenant The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is by the Learned derived from striking or taking hands one with another as the manner was in making of Covenants in time past and to strike hands is an expression of a Covenant Prov. 22.26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands Prov. 6.1 2. If thou be surety for thy friend if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger thou art insnared with the words of thy mouth 2 Chron. 8. Prov. 11.22 Amicitiae soederis pactionem denotat And so it is said Though hand join in hand yet the wicked shall not go unpunished And therefore the Lord Christ by becoming a Surety did give his hand that is he did enter into Covenant with the Lord and so his name is put into our bond Gal. 4.4 5. he is said to be made under the Law and that as a Covenant and when the Apostle saith He is the Surety of a better Covenant whereas the main of Christs Suretiship refers unto the first Covenant the Covenant of Works broken and therefore in respect of our debt he is the Surety of the first Covenant yet the Apostle does not so express it but of the better Covenant because the commutation of the Person the bringing in of a Surety does properly belong unto the Covenant of Grace and it is a part of the Covenant of Grace that there should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Propitiation one to stand in our stead or to make satisfaction to the Justice of God for the breach of the Covenant of Works and therefore the whole Suretiship of Christ doth refer unto the Covenant of Grace of which his standing in our stead and paying our debt is a principal part 2. God is said in Scripture to be the God of Christ and Christ calls him not only his Father Mat. 26. but his God also My God my God why hast thou forsaken me He shall cry unto me Thou art my Father and my God Now one Person cannot be said to be the God of another the Father is not the God of the Son but the Father for the Godhead is equal in them both and the Son thinks it no robbery so to be therefore as he is the Son Joh. 20.17 the Father cannot be called his God but as he is Mediator and so that grand Promise I will be thy God is made to Christ as well as unto us Now how comes it to pass that God is the God of Christ it is by Donation and Stipulation the Lord bestows himself upon him and he doth accept of him to be his God in Covenant and so though as he is the second Person God is his Father yet as he is the Mediator and he comes into Covenant with him so he is his God and it is a new Covenant-right to God that Christ has taken as Mediator 3. We have a Seal set unto this Covenant made with Christ Sacraments are sealing Ordinances Rom. 4.11 and the great end of
Mountains and the Kingdoms of the earth shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord. And Zach. 6.8 There is a spirit that in a way of providence will never leave stirring up the spirits of men till this great work be effected For the Lord hath said Sit thou at my right hand till I have made thy enemies thy footstool And he shall have a name written upon his right hand and forehead King of Kings and Lord of Lords 2 On Christs part if he might disregard us now he is in Heaven yet his Covenant and ingagement is unto the Father of Heaven he hath promised and vowed obedience and therefore as he hath as our surety performed all that which he was bound to in his state of humiliation so he will also do in his state of exaltation and glory apply all the benefits of his death and attain all for you that he hath purchased for you and will come again to fetch you for he arose as your surety and he is exalted as your representative and is gone to Heaven as your forerunner and therefore he vvill surely gather in his Saints compleat their number and perfect their Graces and their light The light of the moon shall be as that of the sun and the weak shall be as David for courage and boldness in the cause of God and the stronger Christian that was before as David Zach. 12.8 Heb. 12.27 shall have even the courage of an Angel of God before him 5. When you see God making good his Covenant unto Christ in any of the parts of it rejoyce in it If you loved me you would rejoyce because I go to the father Love does divide griefs and multiply joys He is your Husband your Head your Friend and Surety in the good that is bestowed upon him you may have a share Now when the Lord plucks down Enemies defeats Counsels shakes Mountains out of their places works great changes in the earth the foundations are cast down all this is but to make a place for the throne of Christ that he may be exalted in the earth and that this Stone may fill the earth Rev. 11.16 17. There be great breaches made by God in the World but the Saints do rejoyce in them as Paul did though he Preached the Gospel in much affliction yet so Christ be Preached and exalted whatever become of me I do and will rejoyce So though I undergo never so much yet all this while God is performing his Covenant unto Christ for his sake we should be glad Vse 6. Pray unto God that he would perform his Covenant to his Son Phil. 2.5 The things of Christ are and should be very precious to a gracious Soul and a man should seek unto God for the accomplishment of all things concerning his Son and there are no Prayers that come up unto the Lord with so much acceptation as those do If you desire to know whether Christ prays for you in Heaven and takes care for you see what affections he works in you to pray to God for the accomplishing of the promises made unto Christ while he was upon the earth his great care was for you when his death drew near yet he takes care to comfort you John 14.1 And when he was near his sufferings yet he lays up prayers for Peter beforehand and now he is in Heaven he is not so taken up with his own glory but that his care is towards his people he hath seven eyes and seven horns Rev. 5.7 perfection of wisdom and power for your good Now as he lays out himself for you so do you for him also and press God with his ingagement to his Son and he can deny thee nothing let thy prayers be for the Kingdom of Christ and the accomplishment thereof say Thy Kingdom come Let the Lord reign and let his name be exalted Psal 7.2 and let his comeing in glory be hastened when he shall be made glorious before men and Angels let us always say Come Lord Jesus come quickly SECT II. The Covenant of Grace made with Christ as the Churches Head § 1. THat the Lord Jesus Christ is the person with whom primarily and principally the second Covenant is made must be considered two ways 1 In respect of the Office that he hath undertaken 2 As he is the head of the Church and makes up one body with them And these two are to 〈◊〉 distinguished and have in the Covenant distinct considerations for there are some promises that belong unto Christ alone as made unto his office the promise of bringing Jacob to him of assistance and acceptance in the work of justification by his righteousness and the honour of having a name above every name and the Angels of God to worship him of a resurrection from the dead without seeing corruption which though promised unto David yet never was fulfilled unto any of the Types but in his own person as the Apostle sets it forth Acts 13.36 37. For David saw corruption And there are other promises that are made unto him as he is our Head and to us in him in which together with him we have a share and are made partakers And there are some acts of office which belong unto him alone which though we have benefit by yet we have no share in for redemption belongs unto him alone and there is no other name given under Heaven but one Mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus and as there is but one Mediator for satisfaction so but one for intercession also for none hath to do with the Censer to offer Incense upon the Golden Altar that hath not also to do at the Brazen Altar to offer sacrifice and though in our justification Justitia Mediatoris the righteousness of the Mediator is imputed unto us yet not Justitia Mediatoria not the mediatory righteousness The righteousness of the Mediatorship belongs to him alone who is Jehovah our righteousness Jer. 23.6 Therefore this first branch of the Covenant though it were made with Christ for us for whatever he was and whatever he did was for us for us he descended into the lower parts of the earth and for us he ascended far above all Heavens yet it was not a Covenant made with us formally for the acts were to be performed by him without us and the promises made unto him though for our good yet were not made unto us But the Covenant that now we are to speak of is the Covenant of Grace made with us but with Christ primarily and principally and with us in him as he is the head and we his members Doct. The Covenant of grace made with the Saints is primarily and principally made with Christ as he is the Churches head and the second Adam In the opening of this Doctrine I will 1 give you some Demonstration for the proof of it 2 Give you the Reasons or Grounds of it 3 Answer some Objections that may arise against it 4 Make
of right belong to them and God hath therefore separated them from other people that he might set his Tabernacle in the middle of them and they have his presence with them Rom. 9.4 Rev. 4. there the worship of God is there is a glorious Throne by which is meant the Lord Christ in the presence of his people and it is of a visible Church for there are Beasts and Elders there are Believers and there are Officers which cannot be in the Church invisible therefore this presence of God in Ordinances and the Ordinances themselves do belong unto this visible Church and the members of it have a right unto them all as being born of believing parents and they have not only jus haereditarium an hereditary right but jus actuale an actual right which is called jus in re when they shall be made fit for them and are capable of them it was the great honour of Israel that it was the valley of Vision and that because of the presence of God there it is called the holy City Esa 12.1 29.1 Rev. 21.3 Ezech. 48.35 Ariel the Altar of God and the great honour of the new Jerusalem is Rev. 21.3 That the tabernacle of the Lord shall be with men it is not meant of Heaven for it is a Tabernacle there shall be Ordinances therein and the same is spoken of Ezech. 48.35 Jehovah shammah 3. There is a special Providence that doth watch over them though it is true not the same peculiar Providence that doth watch over those that are really Saints and by union members of Christ but yet there is a special Providence towards the visible Church in reference unto all the works of God and therefore Zac. 2.5 to hurt them is as touching the apple of his eye and he will be a wall of fire about Jerusalem theirs is such a protection as other men have not and therefore when the Lord did unchurch them he says he will take away the wall and the hedge Esa 5.5 and they shall be trodden down that is that peculiar Providence that the Lord did before exercise towards them now he will remove and give them up into the hands of men to devour them as it is in Deut. 32.30 said that their rock had sold them God did put them into the hands of their enemies Thou sellest thy people for nought and we know amongst men what it is for an out-law a proscribed man to be put out of the protection of the Law and so when the Lord doth cast any man out of the Church he doth put him out of protection also 4. The great and special workings of the Spirit of Christ do belong unto such it is true that Christ hath a providential Kingdom as well as a spiritual and the Spirit is the Viceroy and Prorex in both the Spirit rules for him and therefore there are mighty workings of the Spirit of God raising up the spirits of men and fitting and preparing of them for to accomplish the Lords work and to bring about his ends but yet in the spiritual Kingdom there are the chief operations of the Spirit the Apostle counts three things as works of the Spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6. 1 Gifts of the Spirit 2 There are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 administrations functions and offices and they are divers which these gifts qualifie men for 3 There are different fruits and effects works and successes that the Spirit doth give unto these gifts in different offices and administrations but unto whom doth all this belong they do all of them belong to the Church vers 12 28. he hath set in the Church offices and given them gifts and his saving gifts are amongst these and many very glorious common works by which even unregenerate men are sanctified for the Blood of Christ by which they are sanctified they may despise as an unholy thing and in this priviledge of being a member of the visible Church of God and having the Name of God called upon him and the services of God pertaining to him in this doth this holiness consist and a man thereby is separated from all other people in the world Quest 5 § 5. Is this federal right to the children only the priviledge of parents and so conveyed unto the child from the parents one or both of them being Believers or is there any other way of conveyance We read Gen. 17.12 how not only they came under Abrahams Covenant that were of his seed but he that was born in his house that was not of his seed or bought with his money or any stranger he was to come under Abrahams Covenant and was to be circumcised as well as any that did come out of Abrahams loyns and we find that the Church of God did therefore ordain Sureties which were to take upon them the care of the education of such children answerable unto that Religion into which they were baptized and they were admitted thereunto by their proparentes right which otherwise had no right thereunto by their natural parents and this is so ancient that I find in the second Century Hyginus Susceptores ad baptismum Christianorum adjecit c. Magdeb. And Tertullian has a hint of it as in use in his time also Tertul. de coron milit August which hath been justified by Divines since and therefore practised in the Church of God in succeeding ages to this day Aliquando filiis infidelium per statum haec gratia ut baptizentur cùm occulta Dei providentia in manu piorum qumodocunque perveniunt Aug. de Grat. lib. And hence our Divines generally have concluded that as there is a spiritualis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Christ doth convey unto the Saints a sonship before God so there is a priviledge that belongs to Christians of those that are taken by them into their care and charge Et adoptati pro liberis sunt habendi Gerh. loc com de baptis p. 582. they have a priviledge to convey a kind of sonship unto them by a spiritual Adoption And Mr. Calvin in an Epistle to Farel about the baptizing of a child of a Papist by father and mother the Grandmother being a Protestant and desiring the child might be baptized Calvin inquires if she would ingage to the Church for the education of the child the child then might be baptized and had an interest in the Covenant by her right undertaking for its education though it had no intetest nor right by the immediate parents And Mr. Perkins and many others Castes of Conscience pag. 76. And Am. Cases of Consc says That infantes illegitimè nati excommunicatorum interventu sponsorum idoneorum possunt baptizari si ab aliis piis educatio eorum suscipiatur p. 232. though they look upon sureties as not of divine institution and only for a civil use testifying the abundant care of the Church of the education of those that were received by them and
case Nobis minimè dubium est quin soboles ex sanctis piis atavis progenita quamvis apostatae fuerint avi parentes ad Ecclesiae tamen corpus pertineant Calv. Epist pag. 442. Calv. epist pag. 174 175. There was one of the Church had married her daughter to a Papist and the Grandmother desired that their child might be baptized which Mr. Farell refused Ego respondi non admittendum quòd in foedere non sit cùm neuter parens sit fidelis and this caused some difference between him and his Collegue or Fellow-labourer in the work of the Ministry And to decide this controversie he writes to Mr. Calvin and in answer to it he laid down two positions 1 That it 's unlawful for us to baptize the children of Papists Absurdum est ut eos baptizemus qui corporis nostri membra censeri nequeunt cùm in hoc ordine sint Papistarum liberi quomodo baptismum illis administrare liceat non videmus c. 2 The Grandmother desires it and there 's the difficulty upon that he answers Cùm Dominus gratiam suam in multas aetates extendat eam astringere non est nostrum c. Calv. Epist pag. 174 175. And it 's the ordinary answer of our Divines That the infant is not to be debarred from the priviledges of the Covenant for the sins of the immediate parents for those that descended from Abraham and David had a right to Circumcision and were within the Covenant though the immediate parents for some foregoing generations were wicked as Psal 106.35 they were mixed among the Heathen and had learned their works and served their Idols yet he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry and remembred for them his Covenant vers 44. even the Covenant that he made with Abraham c. The promise is to you and your children and yet it 's clear Acts 2.39 that their immediate parents were a wicked generation that had killed the Prophets as they themselves had a hand in crucifying the Lord of glory concerning the Gospel it 's said of the Jews That they are enemies for your sakes Rom. 11.28 but as touching the election they are beloved for their fathers sake their immediate fathers were wicked and enemies to the Gospel and yet is there a holiness that comes from Abraham the root unto the Jews when they shall be converted for God shews mercy unto them that love him to a thousand generations and Joshua had little reason to have circumcised the people at Gilgal for the holiness of their immediate parents whose carkasses fell in the Wilderness and yet he did circumcise them there as being within the Covenant and did thereby roll away from them the reproach of Egypt and hence they do say Mortons Appeal l. 4. c. 6. §. 1. Rutherford the due right of Presbyt pag. 2. c. 4. §. 6. p. 259. that the children of Papists and excommunicated Protestants born within the visible Church are to be baptized if any of their forefathers have been found in the faith And I could gladly have rested in this so received a judgment of godly and learned men but that some considerations have put me upon a further inquiry for I find in the administration of the seals of the Covenant as well as in the application of the promises of the Covenant that they are to be administred with judgment in the parties that do administer them and that there is a great trust and a special charge committed to them therein Mat. 7. Give not that which is holy unto dogs It 's a dangerous evil for a man either wittingly or negligently to dispense the Ordinances of God and the priviledges of the Covenant to those unto whom God did never intend them as it is to deny them unto those whose right they are As to apply the promises unto wicked men and make glad the souls of the unrighteous and to sew a pillow under every arm-hole and provide a kerchief for every head is as bad as it is to deny the promises unto men whose right they are so to make glad the souls of the wicked by applying the seals to their seed is as bad as to make sad the souls of the righteous by denying them It was that Chrysostom stood much upon in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper he would rather suffer his own blood to be poured out than to give the blood of Christ to be profaned by an unworthy receiver and surely if so much care and diligence be to be used in Church-Officers in dispensing of one Sacrament the other is not to be so carelesly and promiscuously administred as it is and therefore it was the great offence that Mr. Farell took at the Collegue joyned with him in the Ministry Quòd omnia profanare improbissimos velle admittere non-vereretur That he feared not to profane all things and admit the most wicked These thoughts have put me upon farther inquiry concerning the persons unto whom the Sacrament of Baptism is to be administred and to whom the priviledges of the Covenant do belong and the apprehensions that I have of it out of the word I shall desire with all submission to propose to you 1 I 'le lay down in several propositions what I conceive to be the truth 2 I shall answer the objections that are commonly made against them and so I hope the truth may be cleared or at least hereby an occasion given to them that are better able to judge of further inquiry Reasons why federal right comes to children from their immediate parents only 1. I conceive that federal right comes to the children only from the immediate parents and the Reasons that induce me to conceive so are these 1. In Scripture I find that when God took parents into Covenant he also took in their children with them and whensoever God cast parents out the immediate parents he did cast out their children also When he took the Jews into Covenant he made this Covenant also with their seed and because the root was holy from thence came also an holiness upon the branches and when he did cast off the immediate parents and called them Lo-ammi he did also cast off their seed and it would have been in vain to the Jews to have said We have Abraham for our father and therefore have still a federal right when God had given unto their immediate parents a bill of divorce and looked upon them as a people in Covenant with him no more as therefore though none of their predecessors were holy and in Covenant yet the faith of the immediate parents and their interest in the Covenant does make the children holy and brings them under the priviledges of the Covenant so though many of their predecessors were holy yet if the immediate parents reject and cast off the Covenant and be rejected of God the children also are cast out with them there is the same reason of
to Christ he carries him through all his service for protection doth properly belong to a Prince in the duties of subjection which are required of him and therefore Kings have those names given them in Scripture they are called Latibulum a hiding place from the wind Esay 32.2 and the shields of the earth and they are for defence Psal 47.9 and the Angels of God 2 Sam. 14.15 And they are for protection also to a man in his way Psal 91.11 12. so the Father doth promise Christ Esay 42.4 6. I have called thee in righteousness I will hold thee by the hand and I will keep thee c. and in this Christ comforts himself that his Father was at his right hand Psal 16.5 9. Here also is the happiness of the Saints that the same God that protected Christ that girt his loyns and strengthened him for his work the same God has also undertaken their protection in all the services that he calls them unto Joh. 10.28 29. he saith I will give unto my sheep eternal life and none shall pluck them out of my hand for the Father who gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand Is there any service that can be so hazardous as that which Christ was called unto to conflict with even the curse of the Law the powers of darkness and the wrath of God immediately yet Christ did strengthen his faith in this that he had the power of the Father engaged therein as he was his Lord we have assurance of the same protection in all our services that Christ had in his therefore let not your hearts be troubled 3 God the Father doth destroy Christs enemies and as his King doth fight his battels and doth engage himself mightily therein Psal 110.1 The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies my footstool God the Father is engaged in all the victories of Christ that he shall conquer and there is none shall be able to stand before him and as he doth destroy Christs enemies in the worst season for them that so it may be with an utter destruction so shall he do yours also for the Lord doth but wait for an evil time Zeph. 2.4 that they may be insnared as Zeph. 2.4 They shall drive out Ashdod at noon day In those hot countries they did keep their houses in the heat of the day it was the worst season to travel I but then shall they be cast out Christ has assured you of a victory Rev. 19.14 Rev. 19.14 the Armies in Heaven followed him upon white horses as an emblem of joy and victory and therefore they are said to be cloathed in white Robes with palms in their hands Rev. 7.9 and they are said to have gotten the victory over the beast his image the mark and the number of his name Rev. 15. There are many great promises unto them that do overcome To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden Manna and he that overcomes shall inherit all things I will be his God And the Apostle insults upon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and says Rom. 8. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us And here is the ground of a Christians comfort that the power of his Father is as truly engaged for his conquest as it was for Christs and we may as well expect victory as Christ himself did Rom. 16.20 The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly 4 Christ is to give an account unto the Father as he is his Lord and we find that he doth so as the creatures give an account of their services unto Christ so he does give an account of all his services unto the Father Zac. 3.11 The Angels had been sent in messages throughout the Earth and they return unto Christ an account of their service they answered the Angel of the Lord that stood amongst the Mirtle-trees and said We have walked to and fro through the earth c. but Christ gives his account to the Father Ezech. 9. ult the man cloathed with linen reported the matter saying I have done as thou hast commanded me and at the last day he shall give up the Kingdom to the Father with an account of all the service that he has been engaged in 1 Cor. 15.24 All the accounts of the creatures are passed with Christ We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5.10 but having received them Christ does as the Fathers servant present them all unto him as a part of the service that he himself has undertaken so that here is the happiness of the Saints your accounts shall pass before the same Father that Christs accounts do and he that doth now present your persons and your services unto the Father he will then also unto the same God and Father present your accounts and give you your discharge and your sentence Come you blessed of my Father 5 As the Father is the King so from him does Christ receive his reward Psal 16. ult Thou shalt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore and the comfort and happiness of the Saints lyes in this that they shall have glory from the same hand that Christ had his glory Mat. 25. Luk. 12.32 Come you blessed of my Father it 's your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdom There is a double Throne that we read of Rev. 3.21 He that overcomes shall sit with me upon my Throne as I overcame and am sat down with my Father upon his Throne The Throne that Christ now sits upon is the Throne of the Father for so Heaven is called and so all the Saints when they come to glory do sit upon the Throne of the Father that Throne that he has prepared for them from the foundation of the world but Christ has also his own Throne which shall be at the day of Judgment when he shall sit upon his Throne and all Nations shall be gathered together before him and the Saints shall sit upon that Throne also for so he saith They shall also sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel at the day of Judgment therefore they shall sit with Christ upon his Throne and in Heaven they shall sit with him also upon the Fathers Throne And the ground of all is this because when God the Father did make Christ his King he did not put the power out of his own hand and he did not divest himself but the Kingdom of the Father is carried on in the Kingdom of Christ through the whole administration thereof and therefore in the work of grace 2 Cor. 5.19 God is in Christ reconciling the world it 's the Father that doth put all things under Christ 1 Cor. 15.27 And the Saints have not only Christs name written upon them Rev. 3.12
the Romans in praelio in a battel sometimes sed nunquam in bello never in war so does Satan against the Saints but they surely have the victory in the end and therefore faith has its triumphing as well as its relying act c. 4. Corruptions of men shall tend to the Saints spiritual advantage though God is not the Author of sin yet he is the Orderer of it 1 He doth not let out the corruptions of other men any further than for the good of his Saints The wrath of man shall praise thee no man shall desire thy land I suffered thee not to touch her the Lord withholds men from hurting his people and his restraining grace is not only upon their acts but upon their corruptions also so as they are not let out but unto the Saints spiritual advantage also 2 Not only the corruptions of other men but those of the Saints themselves the falling out of any new and eminent fall the Lord will make as a new conversion Luke 22.32 When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren the foundation is laid anew and there is also a renewing of justification a more fast application of the Righteousness of Christ I will take away thy filthy garments and I will cloath thee with change of raiment Zac. 3.4 I have caused thy iniquity to pass from thee and this makes way for a glorious assurance and for an eminent imployment for God sets a Mitre or a Crown upon his head and he was thereby fitted for the great work of the Temple and taken into society with them that stand by 5. All a mans imployment it is a testimony that a man is a vessel of honour when in every condition he is fitted for the masters use and it 's a token that a man is called unto any imployment in mercy when he has the graces of that condition drawn forth a man may be called to the Ministry or the Magistracy but not in mercy without this there is an election to an imployment as well as to life Paul was separated from his mothers womb unto the Gospel of Christ c. If David be a shepherd he follows the Ews great with young and he doth it with faithfulness and if he be taken from the sheepfold to feed Jacob the Lords people and Israel his inheritance he doth it with the integrity of his heart and the skilfulness of his hand Acts 13.22 Vis me constituere pastorem ovium aut regem populorum ecce paratum est cor meum c. sometimes friends sometimes enemies sometimes the chief of the Princes were against David but God was with him 6. Even death it self and the agonies thereof for even death it self is yours it is a servant and not an enemy because it doth improve and further a mans spiritual interest 1 As men dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 death is theirs by virtue of their union with Christ that as they bear fruit in him so they dye in him death cannot dissolve the union between a soul and Christ 2 As they die to him so they live to him that is Rom. 14. ◠they make him their end in living and dying they would live no longer than he might be glorified as Paul says and they would then die when he might be glorified that Christ might be magnified in my body Phil. 1. and they count not their lives dear 3 It is a life of glory that death lets the Saints into it opens the door unto a weight of eternal life it doth perfect the purer part of man delivers him from the body of sin for he that is dead is freed from sin and it doth let him into the beatifical vision and thereby his sanctification also is perfected as it is recorded of Bernard when he was sick unto death there was a great while nothing heard of him but this Tempus perdidi quà m perditè vixi but at last he adds Hoc meum solatium duplici in re Christus regnum possidet quà filius quà passus hoc secundo nihil ei opus fuit sed mihi dedit and under this consolation he fell asleep 2. All the creatures belong to the spiritual Kingdom reductivè as they do belong to the priviledges of the Saints for all things are yours because you are Christs there is a double right jus politicum evangelicum now in this manner they belong to the spiritual Kingdom 1. In respect of their continuance for it is for their sakes that the world stands By virtue of the ancient curse Cursed be the ground for thy sake the earth would sink under us but that the Lord Jesus did put under his hand and keep it from ruine by virtue of the new Covenant therefore he is brought in as the upholder of all things who also purged our sins and is sate down at the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1.3 for the Lord did not continue the creatures in their being to serve his enemies but the subordination of creatures depends upon the second Covenant as appears Hos 2.21 and the Lord will surely manifest it in these two things 1 In the latter days the Kingdom and Dominion of the whole Earth shall be taken out of the hands of the enemies and shall be given into the hands of the Saints to the end of the world Dan. 7.18 and then all the wicked of the earth shall lick the dust of their feet and it is in order thereunto that it is continued to this day 2 As soon as the Lord has gathered in the number of his Saints and has perfected their graces he will take down the stage of this world and overturn it that it shall be no more at least such as now it is Now they that are the heirs of this world as Abrahams seed are called they are translating and Gods children being called home the Lord will not continue the world for servants but he will break up house-keeping and he will send every one of them unto their own place c. the tares and the wheat do grow till the harvest but the Lord will not suffer the tares to grow again after the harvest and therefore the very continuation of the creatures belongs unto the spiritual Kingdom as one part of the priviledges of the Saints 2. The restitution of the creatures for as they were made subject unto vanity by sin for they all came under mans Covenant and therefore you have heard in mans fall the curse took hold upon them they being made for the use of man Rom. 8.20 21. they shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption and therefore they wait for the manifestation of the glory of the sons of God not that all the creatures shall be continued in being for many of them shall be consumed in that last conflagration but yet the substance shall continue as standing monuments unto Gods glory as matter of praise and of delight unto the Saints which shall be begun in the
live not by bread only and therefore if God do withdraw his acting or withhold it the second cause is of no value it is but as an axe in the hand of a man or as a pen it is but as it were a dead instrument as the Apostle says of himself 2 Cor. 3.2 3. and therefore the people of God put no confidence in them I will not trust in my bow and it is not my sword that shall save me it is thou O Lord that savest us from our enemies this is the language of a true Saint and therefore it is only the Lords withdrawing and then all second causes work not whence it is said That they shall eat and they shall not be nourished and they shall put on cloaths but not be warmed there is a natural aptitude in these means to produce such effects but yet if the Lord do but suspend his influx they can do nothing And therefore in the Babylonish Furnace Divines do commonly say that the Lord did not take away the nature of the fire it remained to be fire still only in reference unto such an object he did suspend his own concurrence so that though it remained in actu primo yet it was not able to produce actum secundum because the immediate concurrence of the first cause was denied so it is in all means and this is the reason of their want of efficacy the same Ordinances would be as effectual at one time as at another and unto one man as unto another there is no difference in the means only in the concurrence of the first cause with the means and so it is with creatures also the same land would be as fruitful at one time as at another and there is no difference only when thou tillest thy land it shall not yield its strength says the Lord there is not the same concurrence of God with it which is his blessing upon it and that is the true reason of all the difference in the use and the success of means whatsoever 3. Though the Lord doth in the administration of all things in the providential Kingdom use means and therefore hath made all things in a due order and subordination yet he doth delight sometimes to work without means by his own immediate hand not by power nor by might but by my Spirit Zac. 4.7 if there be none to help yet his own arm shall bring salvation And the Lord doth this 1 that he may sometimes shew forth some special discoveries of his own power The heart of man would be wholly terminated in the creature as we are very apt to be and we would look no further therefore the Lord is pleased sometimes to shew forth something more than the power of the creature and sometimes he will go in an ordinary way of nature sometimes in a miraculous way to shew that there is a higher hand that rules all things that he may not be forgotten by us 2 To shew that he doth not use the creature necessarily but voluntarily and therefore he can use it or lay it aside at his pleasure work by it or work without it that the souls of his people may depend upon him alone both in the want and in the injoyments of the creature and the good effect is never the further off when they want it nor ever the nearer when they do injoy it whether they have it or not it is all one they can rejoyce in the Lord and glory in the God of their salvation Hab. 3.17 18. 3 That he may still keep up in the remembrance of his people a creating power when there was nothing but himself immediately there was no means used It hath been disputed by the School-men Whether the ministry of Angels were not used in the creation of the world and it is commonly answered No it was not it could not be because in the exercise of almighty power there can be no concurrence of the creature no creature can be raised by the power of God unto such an elevation as to be made capable to put forth any act of omnipotence and therefore that this power of the Creation of God may be kept up he doth do the like often in the world that as he hath appointed a day to remember the Creation and would have us to remember our Creator so he doth works that he may keep it continually in our remembrance providence is said to be nothing but a continued Creation therefore the Lord will do something that shall be as a Creation still that this great work may never be forgotten he that doth create grace in the souls of men daily doth put forth other acts answerable thereunto 4 The Lord doth it that he may train up his people by it unto a remembrance of Heaven where all means shall cease for God shall be all in all that is he shall be all unto his people immediately It is true that the Saints do injoy God here and they injoy all in God he is their portion and their hope but all this is in the use of means as they see him in a glass so they shall injoy him also but there is a time that will shortly come when all means shall be done away and he that now governs the world and so dispenses himself by second causes will do all by his own immediate hand there shall be immediate therefore pure mercy and pure wrath and pure power and pure acts of Omnipotence In this life we are by the creatures refreshed and when he comforts us by the creature those comforts lose much by reason of the vessel and so when he doth teach us by the creature that treasure is in earthen vessels it is much otherwise when he teaches himself immediately and so when he doth punish by the creature it is but as a mighty man correcting a man with a straw it 's true that he is mighty but it is but a small thing that is in his hand which is nothing in comparison of that which shall be hereafter it shall be all immediate and that keeps up in his people an expectation of this that they may have herein a kind of foretaste of Heaven by beholding the immediate working of God without the help of creatures or their concurrence Now this immediate acting of Providence is wholly for the good of his people and is so managed sometimes he will use means for their good and sometimes he will for their good work without means but still so as his Soveraignty is made over unto them in these his actings and herein we are to observe 1. The Scripture speaking of a creating power which the Lord doth often put forth for the good of his people Esa 4.5 Esa 4.5 there 't is said I create upon every dwelling place a cloud c. Upon every dwelling place there is a protection that which is immediate and beyond the power of second causes when there is no defence in them yet their succour
shall be from the immediate hand of God and that by a creating work that when the people shall look to the creatures and say we see no means to defend us yet they can look to an immediate acting of Omnipotency Esa 67.17 and that by a creating work for his people I create a heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness it is spoken of the glorious reformation that shall be in the later days it is there spoken not of renewing the substance but of the qualities of Heaven and Earth a glorious restitution of their primitive and original glory a mighty work that God shall not only pass upon Saints but on the creatures which shall be restored and delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God and he that looks upon the corruptions of men and the desolations of nations and the confusions amongst the creatures that shall be immediately before those days he will say How can these things be It is impossible that such a glorious reformation should be wrought But to strengthen their faith and to raise them up to expect it he puts them off from second causes and tells them it shall be an act of almighty power it is by a creating work and surely the same hand and the same power that did make them at first can also renew them and restore them unto their primitive and original glory that as the said immediate power is put forth for the renewing of their souls Eph. 2.10 We are created in Christ to good works all is made new within him by an immediate power so also all shall be made new without him by an immediate providence that though there be no concurrence of means and second causes yet if God can make a new world then he can renew this he can create a new Heaven and a new Earth and he can create Jerusalem a rejoycing and the people a joy as the promise is unto them so that the Lord will not always work for his people in a ruling but sometimes in a creating way in which there is an immediate putting forth of power and there is not there cannot be any concurrence of means or second causes with it 2. God puts forth an immediate providence for the Churches preservation he doth many times work immediately when there is no help in second causes but all men are ingaged on the contrary part and the Lord looks and there is none to help and the Lord wonders that there was no intercessor no helping of them none to intercede for them there was none so much as by way of prayer that comes in for them and yet now the Church must be preserved Zac. 4.23 Zac. 4.2 3. the Candlestick is the Church but by what means shall this be maintained there can be no supply of oil expected from men but the Lord will make Olive-trees to grow by it that shall make oil of themselves and shall drop into the bails thereof that though no men in the world stand by it or prepare for it yet the Lord will supply it in an immediate way from himself and by himself and by this means the lamp in this Candlestick shall never go out for by an immediate provision of God they shall be maintained Mic. 5.7 Mic. 5.7 The remnant of Jacob shall be as dew from the Lord and as showers upon the grass when they were Jezreel strengthned by the Lord though amongst many people that should hate them and persecute them yet should they be preserved and therefore as Calvin observes rorem pro prato rorido like unto the herbs which are nourished by the dew from Heaven and by the showres from above which stay not for man it tarries not for the sons of men that as the grass is nourished immediately by the dew and doth not depend upon the labours and the watering of man so shall these from God immediately there shall come from him an immediate dew an influence shall come by which they shall be supported that they shall not need to stay for any creatures assistance or any concurrence of second causes whatsoever 3. There is an immediate Providence that is seen in restraints upon the souls and spirits of men when there are no hindrances in second causes and yet this shall work for the people of God see it Gen. 20. Sarah was in the hand of Abimelech and his lust was stirred up towards her when he heard of her and there was nothing to hinder him but he might have had his will of her and yet for Abrahams sake she was returned unto him chast and undefiled but it was by an immediate working of God upon his spirit when there were no second causes in the way the Lord saith I did hold thee that thou shouldst not touch her And the same thing is true of the people of Israel when they went up to worship at Jerusalem and all the males left their habitation the fittest advantage that could be for the neighbouring Nations who hated them and sought to invade them and did it at other times yet that now they should not have made inrodes upon their Land in the several borders thereof when there was no restraint in second causes no man can give a reason for it but the immediate working of providence that the Lord doth put forth his power upon the spirits of men that it shall be enough if he withhold them There is a bridle without and there is a bridle within by which the spirits of men are turned about there is a hedge for mens ways God doth many times hedge up mens ways with thorns but there is a hedge for the spirits of men also that when there is no hindrance in second causes and none to lift up a hand against them yet their spirits are restrained by an immediate hand And indeed when the secrets of the counsels of Gods providence shall be made manifest at the last day many and glorious will â—he records of such immediate puttings forth of providence be We have an instance in Esau his malice was stirred and he had power in his hand he had three hundred men by which he might have cut off his brother Jacob but only there was an immediate appearance of God upon his spirit and that put a restraint upon him that he could not so much as speak an ill word unto his brother 4. The Lord appears immediately for the destruction of the Churches enemies when their means fail When there was no help from second causes to destroy Egypt or deliver themselves for the Israelites had no power but they cryed unto the Lord and in the night the Lord looked upon the Egyptians host and troubled them and took off their chariot-wheels and they drove heavily and there was a terrour upon their hearts that they said Let us flye for God fights for Israel And so he will do in the destruction of Antichrist the little horn who doth arise with the ten horns and
Providence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth order and appoint the cause to the effect the means to the end for the good of his people which all the creatures could not do he brings food out of the earth and he doth cause rain and reserve the appointed weeks of the harvest Jer. 5.24 it is he that orders every thing unto its end for the good of his people Mat. 4.3 Psal 127.1 2. He doth Bless the means man lives not by Bread only but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God c. Vnless the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it He gives all things richly to enjoy 1 Tim. 6.17 It 's the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and it 's he that blesseth the labours of our hand that we labour not in the fire Hab. 2.13 and therefore the creatures are said to be sanctifi'd by the Word and Prayer 1 Tim. 4.5 by a blessing attained thereupon Eccles 5.17 that they shall prosper for their ends 3. He doth raise up means when we can see none unexpectedly Mic. 6.4 he sent before them Moses and Aaron Zac. 9.13 When I have bent Judab for me and filled the bow with Ephraim and raised up thy sons O Sion against thy sons O Greece c. So for the deliverance of Mordecai and he rais'd up the Spirit of Cyrus and stirred it up so that he made a Proclamation for the good of Jerusalem Ezra 1.1 and Zac. 1.8 he stood among the Myrtle-trees that were in the bottom c. In the evening it shall be light Zac. 14.7 an Angel stops the Lyons mouths and opens the prison-doors when all hope is gone and they cannot see from what quarter supply shall come then do means appear unexpectedly and therefore the people of God do believe in hope against hope upon this ground because the hand of the Lord is not shortned 4. The most unlikely Means Isa 41.15 The Worm Jacob shall thresh the Mountains c. He doth open Rivers in high places Isa 41.18 waters shall break out in the wilderness and streams in the desert the enemies shall turn their Swords against one another that they shall destroy themselves Judg. 9.7.22 And their own breath shall be as fire to devour themselves Isa 33.11 And so the ten Kings shall destroy the Whore who set her up and God will act means contrary to their own nature or above their nature for his People Ravens to feed Elijah and the Heavens to give bread and flesh and the Rocks water out of the Eater shall come meat and the waters shall be a wall unto them and the Sun shall stand still for the wheels of Providence are sometimes lifted up he doth not always goe in an ordinary way but useth means that they know not of as in the work of Redemption so in a work of Providence also and beyond their intention as the instances are many which might be given Isa 44.25 that frustrates the tokens of the lyers and maketh Diviners mad that turneth wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish the fiery furnace shall not consume Shadrack Meshack and Abednego but their enemies c. § 2. We come now unto the Third Distinction of Providence it is either circa necessaria vel contingentia about necessaries or contingents That is said to be necessary which could not otherwise be but the effect hath a necessary dependance upon its cause that it doth from an inward principle ex necessitate naturae produce such an effect and so the Sun doth naturally and therefore necessarily enlighten and the Fire doth naturally and therefore necessarily warm such causes as have a natural and therefore a necessary influence and causality And things contingent are such as have no necessity in their causes but in respect of us they might have been otherwise such of which we are able to give no reason but their causes are to us unknown and so the event unexpected That is said to be contingent and to fall out beyond our expectation Aust cujus ratio causa secreta est the seed whereof we are not able to foresee in second Causes Fatum nil aliud est quà m series implexa causarum So that if we look upon all things in reference to the first cause so all things are necessary and there is nothing that is contingent or falls out by chance or accident but all contingency is in reference unto second causes for they are known of God and appointed by him by a necessary and infallible Providence as if a man hewing wood the Axes head falls off and smites his Neighbour that he dye or if a man cast a stone unawares and it light upon his Neighbour Deut. 19.5 Num. 35.23 that which is beyond the intention of the man yet God is said to deliver him into his hand Exod. 21.13 that is God has jus vitae necis ad altissimam ejus providentiam refertur And so it was in the death of Ahab there was a man that drew a bow at a venture or in simplicity not aiming at him not intending his death more than any other mans but it smote the King of Israel between the Harness there was a Providence that infallibly guided it though in reference to the second cause it was meerly contingent and accidental and therefore the Lord foretells things that are meerly casual before they come to pass as that to Saul upon the plain of Tabor There shall meet thee three men one carrying three kids and another three loaves of bread and he shall salute thee and give thee two loaves and thou shalt receive them at his hand Luk. 22.10 There shall meet you a man bearing a Pitcher of water follow him c. for all things are unto him certain and infallible not only ex praevisione but ex praeordinatione he did order them that they should so come to pass 1. Gods Providence regards all Necessaries and such are all natural causes they work necessarily because ex necessitate naturae from a necessity of nature and so ad ultimum potentiae to the utmost of their power Now there is even in the ordering of these a gracious hand of God for the good of his People and that will appear in these six instances 1. In the Sun it riseth naturally and therefore necessarily and so it shines yet it is God makes it shine so Math. 5.45 He maketh the Sun to rise c. But it will be said that this is an act of common grace for it riseth upon the evil and the good the just and the unjust but it 's â—ar that the Lord makes it to rise and to shine for Job 9.7 he commands the Sun and it riseth not he can cause it to put on sackcloth for he has a negative voice upon the motions of all the creatures and although it riseth upon the evil as well as upon the good
extinguish that spark that the grace of God has kindled in his soul but that an Almighty power upholds it so that men could be content to live in this world and never know God Job 21.15 § 3. The curses upon the Soul in reference to God we have seen now there are others in reference unto the soul it self and some of these we shall also name As first God doth forsake the soul for the Creature departing from God he does also depart from it There are three words used to this purpose one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jer. 23.33 I will even forsake you it signifies to cast off the care of them c. And another word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is properly to forsake or depart from a person or withdraw his presence 2 Chron. 15.2 If you forsake him he will also forsake you but the word in 2 Chron. 28.29 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to cast a man off and to forsake him as an abomination Now of the Desertions of God there are several kinds answerable to the several blessings wherein a man is deserted 1 There is a desertion in the matter of actions and then a man can do nothing for even a godly man is not sufficient of himself to think a good thought God works the will and the deed of his good pleasure 2 There is a desertion in matter of Grace and then all corruptions prevail and overflow 3 There is a desertion in direction and then a mans vvay is hid and he cannot tell which way to take but he gropes for the way as a blind-man 4 There is desertion in matter of strength and then a man can bear no affliction nor resist any temptation but his heart is weak as water 5 There 's a desertion in part of joy and comfort and then his heart is full of heaviness he walkes in darkness and has no light when God does but hide his face his soul is troubled even to death 6 There is a desertion in respect of any outward calamity When God leaves a man in the hand of an enemy as he did Job in the hand of Satan and withdrew himself took away the hedge that was about him and when a man is left in the hands of wicked men whose tender mercies are cruelty Job says Chap. 29.4 The secret of God was upon my tabernacle there is a secret of counsel Psal 25.14 and so some expound it here for direction God making known his Counsels to him but there is also a secret of Providence Gods presence being with him as if he were peculiarly the God of his family and had a special eye to the preservation of his Tabernacles beyond all others As amongst the Heathens they had their Houshold-Gods so did the Lord seem to be unto Job and the secret of his Providence was there as the Lord has still a secret of his peculiar Providence over his own which is call'd the secret of the Lord. Now if the Lord desert a man even his own people any of these ways in what a miserable condition do they by and by apprehend themselves to be There is a presence of God required to the subsistance and being of the Creature and therefore one has well compar'd it to a glass without a foot c. There is a Divine hand that holds it and if the Lord do hold it it will abide safe but if God withdraw his hand it falls he need not taâ—e it and dash it against the wall it will break of it self so if God do but withdraw his hand the Creature does perish if he do but forsake it in its natural being it comes to nothing so also if the Lord forsakes the soul in its spiritual being all misery must needs break in upon it When the Lord says I will be with thee I will never leave thee nor forsake thee O! how comfortable is it to hear such a promise let a man but sit down and imagine with himself what good he can desire and as it is all in God eminently so is the supply of it to a soul eminently in the presence of God all happiness is comprehended in this I will be with thee so do but imagin to the utmost whatever evil you can fear and it 's all comprehended in this one word I 'le forsake you and then all misery must needs follow it Deut. 31.17 God says I will forsake thee and hide my face from thee and they shall be devoured and many evils and troubles shall befall them and they shall say these evils are come upon us because God is not amongst us If the Lord forsake his beloved Son the Lord Christ in point of his presence and joy he looks upon it as the greatest of his sufferings My God my God why hast thou forsaken me though it was but substractio visionis non unionis a substraction of vision not of union And this is the dreadful sentence at the last day past in the most terrible words Depart from me ye cursed and therefore cursed because you must depart and 2 Thes 1.9 Punished with eternal destruction from the presence of God and the glory of his power And if a soul be left by God O! whither will it go and though men be not now sensible of it because they enjoy the Creatures yet when all the Creatures and the comfort of them shall have an end and God shall be all in all and this God hath forsaken thee and thou hast no interest in him then thou wilt know what it is for God to leave the soul 2. There is guilt upon the Soul that follows as a part of the Curse and is a necessary consequent and concomitant of every sin Rom. 3.19 All the world is become guilty before God and Jam. 2.20 He that breaks one Commandment is guilty of all This guilt in its nature is the obligation of the Soul to bear the whole Curse and all the punishment that is legally due thereunto There are indeed two things in guilt 1 There is ordination unto wrath and that is ex parte Dei on Gods part which the School-men call reatus personae the guilt of the person the actual binding over of such a man to punishment because of sin and this is from God for the Law is good and may be separated from sin as in all the regenerate that are justified by the righteousness of Christ it is 2 There is a demerit in sin which is the desert of punishment and wrath and this is called reatus peccati the guilt of sin and this is inseparable from sin wheresoever it is even in Gods people there is a meriting of wrath in their sins as well as others But unto all men that are under the first Covenant both these by vertue of the curse of it do concur there is a demerit in the sin and there is an actual obligation to punishment upon the person There are two things in sin there
and good will for his Purposes and Decrees are immutable as himself is and there can nothing arise de novo that should cause him to change his purpose but more that he proceeded herein to a treaty with his Son about it to be his Servant in this great work to bring Jacob again unto him Isa 49. and made a solemn Covenant pass between these glorious persons about it and that those thoughts should delight them before the World began and that the Lord should bespeak his Son with all the terms of dearness that can be to undertake this service Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee and therefore being his Son it was only an office fit for him and as being his Son there was all fitness in him so there was all dearness to him and by this Christ did upon this motion of the Fathers undertake this service and there was a solemn Covenant passed between them Jer. 30.21 And thus the Lord did as it were bind himself and his Son unto this great work of your Salvation before the World was not only laying his love but also his faithfulness to pawn though not in a Covenant to you before you were yet in a Covenant to his Son and therefore there was a promise of eternal life given us in him before the World began 3 When he doth Covenant with Christ to be a Priest Tit. 1.2 it is a Covenant that he confirms by an Oath to shew that he doth never intend to alter and change his resolution Psal 110.4 The Lord has sworn and will not repent c. Psal 110.4 Heb. 7.21 This Priest was made by an Oath by him that said unto him Thou art my Son the Lord swore and will not repent and this was from everlasting for then it was that Christ was first appointed or set apart to become a Priest Now all this shews how much the heart of God was in it For the Word of God is as true as his Oath and as infallible and therefore if he had but said it it had been enough for there is a greater stability in his Word than there is in Heaven and Earth but yet it is observed by Divines that between the Word of God and his Oath there is this difference though the Lord speaks the word yet there may be some secret and tacite condition or some subsequent declaration of the mind of God As for Nineveh God said Within fourty days Nineveh should be destroyed yet there was an implyed condition of repentance which being performed the Judgement was not executed And so to Ely I said that thy fathers house should walk before me for ever but now I say Be it far from me and so the promise is reversed and it may be that is the meaning of the expression in Numbers You shall know my breach of Covenant But if God swears it shews the unchangeableness of his counsel an absolute act that nothing can arise de novo and nothing can be supposed that can cause God to change it he will never have a relenting thought for the pardon of sins and saving of sinners for ever and therefore he swore and made him a Priest by an Oath and this Oath some conceive to be the seal of God by which he did in a solemn manner set apart his Son for this great office and designed him to it from everlasting Joh. 6.27 John 6.27 Him hath God the father sealed So that as he has sealed up his decrees concerning you that they can never receive an alteration or change more how changeable soever you be 2 Tim. 2.19 as 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God remains sure having this seal the Lord knows who are his so he hath sealed up also his Covenant with Christ and that by an Oath Now if it were but a Kings Seal who could reverse it But this is the King of Kings 4 We see that their hearts were much in it for neither of these persons ever repented of it to this day 1 If God the Father would have repented a man would have expected that it should have been when he came to make his Son an offering for sin Oh! what relenting thoughts and rolling of bowels had Abraham when his Son must dye and he himself must have a hand therein and become the executioner So it pleased the Father to bruise him Matt. 26.29 and Matt. 26.29 there is a necessity or an impossibility spoken of and it lay wholly in the will of God for so he adds not my will but thy will be done If God could have changed his Will Christ might have lived and the Cup passed away but God had covenanted to make him a surety he had made him a Priest by an Oath and his will could not change he could not repent of it therefore this Cup he must drink Thus Isa 53.5 the same word is used and it signifies to beat a thing to pieces as in a Mortar and God was pleased with it Ephes 5.2 The offering of Christ was to God a Sacrifice of a sweet savour What made it so Only the end Finis dat mediis amabilitatem the end gives sweetness to the means Had it not been for that the Lord must needs have abhorred it 2 And Christ accepts of the Covenant and never repented he did never call back his word or change his ingagement he had the law of dying written in the middle of his bowels as it was the pleasure of the Lord so it was his with desire have I desired it and I have a baptism and I am straitned till it be fulfilled Vse 3. Thence we see the ground of the pardoning of all the sins of the ancient Saints under the first Testament Rom. 3.25 Heb. 9.15 The debt was not paid and the Sacrifice was not offered and yet their sins were pardoned and their souls saved it was by vertue of the Covenant and ingagement of Christ unto God the Father there was blood of Bulls and Goats and that could only signifie Christ but could not satisfie God but when Christ came and performed the Covenant now he satisfied for the transgressions under the first Testament and in this respect he was a Lamb slain from the beginning though offered in the latter days of the World because the Covenant immediately from the fall of man took place and God looked upon him by virtue of this Covenant as our surety and required all of him Vse 4. It is a mighty ground of Faith that all shall be performed for if these glorious persons could break Covenant with you yet they will not break one with another therefore surely 1 on Gods part all his promises unto Christ shall be made good every knee shall bow taken him all his enemies shall become his footstool all the persecuting Monarchies shall be taken down and the stone without hands shall fill the earth and the Mountain of the Lord shall be exalted upon the top of all the
Saints their smell is as Lebanon and therefore is resembled to the Roses and Lillies Hos 14.7 which is the most fragrant smell else they are of no worth for they are done not for the worth of the thing but for the acceptance that they should find with the Lord and let him come and eat the fruit of his pleasant things It is the Lord before whom we must appear i. e. before the judgment seat of Christ and therefore to find acceptance with our Judge is our great concern Now how comes Christ to be accepted of God It is by the Covenant made with him and by vertue of the same Covenant we are accepted Ephes 1.6 He hath made us accepted in his beloved our services in him are accepted and our persons also It 's your Covenant only that 's the ground of your acceptation as Luther says well it is not from the dignity and worth of the duties but from the nature of the Covenant by which they are offered and under which they stand 1 The Father loves you 2 The services are holy and from a holy heart But 3 it is from a Covenant in which the Lord hath promised to accept all his peoples services as fruits in Christ 8. And Lastly The glory of the Saints is the glory of Christ and it is the enjoyment of Christ in Heaven that makes Heaven the place of Glory it is to enter into your Masters joy and to be dissolved and be with Christ is a Saints hope were it only the reward of your own graces it were much but to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God is a great priviledg but O! what is it for a Soul to sit with Christ upon his Throne As he overcame and sat down with the Father upon his Throne so also shall we be exalted by him to sit upon his Throne in Heaven CHAP. III. The Covenant of Grace made with Believers opened and applied Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their Generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee SECT I. The Covenant as made with Believers explicated and demonstrated § 1. THat the Covenant of Grace was made with Christ primarily as the second Adam has been formerly cleared unto you but when we look farther into the Scripture we find also that God did establish that Covenant with the Faithful and with their seed and this the Text holds forth clearly to you when I have but premised this position That the Covenant that God made with Abraham is the same for substance with the Covenant under which the Saints under the New-Testament do and shall stand to the end of the world Luk. 1.72 which I conceive is to perform the mercy promised to our Fathers and to remember his holy Covenant the oath which he sware to our Father Abraham that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of all our enemies might serve him without fear c. and Rom. 4.11 He received the sign of Circumcision as a seal of the rigteousness of Faith which he had being yet uncircumcised that he might be the Father of them that believe though they be not circumcised and the Father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only but do walk in the steps of the faith of our Father Abraham and therefore vers 16. he is said to be the Father of us all If you are Christs then are you Abrahams seed and heirs of the Promise and Galat. 4.28 now we brethren as Isaac was are children of the promise c. so that both Jews and Gentiles are Abrahams seed because they come under Abrahams Covenant therefore there is the same Covenant now for substance Act. 3.25 that was made with Abraham and hence Acts 3.25 't is said ye are the children of the Covenant which God made with your Fathers Therefore as Abrahams Covenant so the Covenant made with the Saints is made with them and with their seed Hence we do learn in the next place Doctrine Doctrine That the Covenant of grace that was principally made with Christ is also made with the faithful the members of Christ In the opening of this Doctrine there are three things to be spoken to 1 To prove that the Covenant is made with the Saints 2 To shew why it must be so 3 To shew the different manner how it 's made with Christ and with them 1. That the Covenant of grace is made with the Saints and they are all federates therein Rom. 5. 1 Cor. 15.47 will appear by these arguments 1. From the type of the first Adam for he is made the type of him that was to come Now the Covenant that God did make with Adam was not made with him only but with all his posterity as appears plainly because the curse of the Covenant being broken comes upon them all in Adam all dyed because in him all sinned now the Covenant must be as large as the Curse and the Curse coming upon them must argue the Covenant to be made with them and so it is in the second Covenant also God has not only taken Christ into Covenant but he being an everlasting Father has taken in all his seed for he is the Father of all the faithful and the Lord enters into Covenant with them also So that all his posterity were bound unto the same Covenant and to perform the same obedience or to endure the same Curse that he did if they did transgress And whereas it may be said then as all that was required of the first Adam lay upon his posterity so all that is required of the second lies upon his posterity also and as what Adam was to perform they were in their own persons to perform so what Christ did perform that also lies upon all his posterity to perform in this there is a great deal of difference between Adam and Christ the first Adam stood before God as a publick person as a representative head that is such a one as personates and acts the part of another by the allowance of the Law so that what he doth is by the Law accounted to be done by him whom he represents and what is done unto him is accounted by the Law to be done unto the other so in the Law an Attorney appears for another receives money or takes possession for another and that stands good in Law as if a man had done it in his own person and so Embassadors do represent the Princes or States from whence they come and from whom they are sent what they do the Prince that sends them is accounted by the Law of Nations to do if they act according to their commission and what is done unto them the Prince doth take as done unto himself c. And so indeed Adam was a Common or a Publick person standing in our
Earth and therefore thoughts of God do secretly steal away his heart with a sweet and unspeakable delight as it is with a man in the pleasures of sin his soul is stoln away with the thoughts of them insensibly much more is it so with the thoughts of God as the Lord having chosen us doth rejoyce over us as a Bridegroom over his Bride Hephzibath much more should we rejoyce in him as our portion There are two things wherein joy is exercised 1 Contemplation when a man takes a view of the happiness of his own condition by reason of his interest as Nebuchadnezzar doth Is not this great Babel that I have built and Jezebel to Ahab Dost not thou now govern Israel So a Saint Is not the Lord my portion in the land of the living 2 There is a dilatation in joy it doth enlarge the heart and thereby prepares it for the entertainment of the object for it doth transport or carry a man beyond himself as we see in Davids dancing before the Ark and the Saints should be much in rejoycing in God for the joy of the Lord is your strength 7. Make your boast of God glory and triumph in him Psal 97.7 My soul shall make her boast of God as it 's said of wicked men that boast themselves in their vain gods c. so a Saint should make his boast in God and say I have made a sweet choice I have a goodly heritage and undervalue all other Beloveds in comparison of your own There is no God like unto our God Make your challenge to the men of the world and bid them bring forth all the gods of the world and let them be compared with Jehovah there is none like the Lord therefore in thy choice bless thy soul that there is no rock like our Rock this God is our God and there is none besides him triumph over all thy enemies and their opposition In thy strength we shall tread down our enemies bear your selves high upon your God despise them say The virgin daughter of Sion hath laughed thee to scorn we care not though they be gathered together against us they shall fall for God is with us Job 5.22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth c. And this is to have a self-sufficiency and to have a mans mind conformed to the greatness of his interest these things can never be known but by experience and practice nunquam futurum ut quis speculativè tantùm fiat Christianus none ever became a Christian by speculation only Vse 4 § 4. See and observe from hence the happy condition of the Saints that they have an interest in the alsufficiency of God Psal 144. ult Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. It 's a special duty that lies upon the people of God to maintain in themselves high thoughts of their own interest and the excellency of their condition and a special step to bring men in to God is to have their thoughts raised and a high esteem of the blessed condition of them that have an interest in him and here consider 1. It 's the highest way of honouring God that can be in this life It 's a great honour to God for a man to see so much excellency in him as to chuse him at the first sight but many a man that doth so may afterwards fall from his former apprehensions and then his former affections do wax cold as there is many a man makes choice of Christ and calls him the chiefest often thousand and yet afterwards it may be said to him Where is the blessedness you spake of Gal. 4.15 it is still the same it was in it self but it was not so in their apprehensions it 's said many of the followers of Christ went back from him Joh. 6. and the Apostle speaks of men that do draw back Heb. 10.39 Heb. 10.39 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subauditur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Grot. We are not subductionis filii in which is an Hebraism and it signifies two things 1 Men excellent or eminent in any thing addicted or inclined unto it are said to be the sons of it as 2 Sam. 2.7 there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sons of valour men eminent in it 2 It signifies a man destinated and appointed unto it as 1 Sam. 20.31 Saul saith of David he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a son of death a man judged and appointed unto death Now there are some men that are the sons of Apostasie men that are of themselves addicted and inclined to it and they are by God judged to it of old ordained Jude 4. and it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is subductio a secret withdrawment in an unobserved way not an Apostasie from the profession of the Truth but a receding of the affections and the inward dispositions of the soul they recoil for as Job 31.27 he speaks of a mans heart being secretly enticed and so there is a secret withdrawment of the inward man and blessed is that Christian who keeps up his esteem of spiritual things and that his apprehensions of them rise rather than fall for love is grounded upon esteem and as a mans apprehensions do decay so will his affections also Now this is the highest love that can be when a man upon second thoughts reflex thoughts can approve and applaud his own choice and can bless himself in his heart and say I would not have it otherwise so doth Paul shew his love to Christ I have and I do Phil. 3.7 yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus c. and so do the men of the world shew their love unto the things of the word Psal 49.18 While he lived he blessed his soul and they are looked upon as the blessed and happy men by all the world c. that if a man were to chuse his own lot he would be in such a mans condition but a godly man if he had all the estates and conditions of the world before him yet he would chuse and prefer this before them all to have an interest in God As reflex acts do most fully shew the setling of the soul in a sinful way that a man doth approve of it afterwards as by continuing impenitent in it it is manifest as the Devil non invenit locum poenitentiae ergo nec veniae Bernard so there is nothing that doth shew the establishment of the soul so much upon God as this doth that a man can reflect and take a review and say I would not have it otherwise for all the world as these reflex thoughts of our interest in God are most comfortable unto us so they are most honourable unto God also 2. It 's this that doth make a man to set light by the scorns and derisions that are put upon him by the world it 's
Christ himself tells us That he hath received such a commission from the Father not only to govern the Church but to rule and to order all things in the world for their sake Joh. 3.35 The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand that is in his power under his government and at his dispose as Gen. 24.10 all the goods of his Master were in his hand under his power and authority and at his dispose and so Job 1.12 the Lord saith unto Satan concerning Job Behold all that he hath is in thy hand he did not give this to Satan as by commission but by permission he left all the goods of Job in the Devils power Joh. 5.22 to do with them what he would and Joh. 5.22 The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son there is indeed a Kingdom which belongs unto Christ as he is the second person in the Trinity a Kingdom which is regnum naturale a natural Kingdom wherein Christ is equal with the Father and a Kingdom that he doth not receive from the Father neither is he subordinate unto the Father in it he is not the Fathers servant as he is in the mediatory Kingdom for this is the same to all the persons Father Son and Spirit and the Son hath the same dominion and is equal with them all but this cannot be the Kingdom that is here spoken of for it cannot be delegated by God because it is natural and he cannot put the Kingdom out of himself neither can it as a gift be received by the Son because it is natural unto the Son as it is unto the Father it 's his own proper right but the Kingdom that is here spoken of is a power given unto the Son in which he is the Fathers servant and subordinate unto him and therefore it 's not spoken of the nature of the essential Kingdom the government which belongs unto Christ as God but as Mediator only and by Judgment Interpreters generally understand pro imperio administratione rerum omnium in coelo in terra Chemnit so that the government of all things is in the hand of the Mediator for it is a power that is given by the Father unto the Son which could not be unto him simply as God but as Mediator only 6 The Spirit of Christ doth rule act and order all things in the Providential as well as in the Spiritual Kingdom as we see it Ezech. 1.12 20. Ezech. 1.12 20. there is Christ set forth as ruling all things in heaven and earth and it is not spoken of Christ as he is the second person but as he is Mediator for it 's spoken of him as having a dominion given to him as he is the Son of man the Angels move the wheels and the Spirit acts the Angels Now how doth Christ as Mediator govern It is by the guidance of the Spirit and this Spirit moves both the Angels and the wheels it is not spoken of those spiritual acts of the Holy Ghost upon the hearts of the Saints but of the ordinary dispensations of Providence ordering all things here below so as the ends of Christ may be attained It is the Mediator therefore that doth govern all things and the motions and impressions that are made both upon the Angels and the wheels they are from the Spirit of the Mediator who makes the Spirit to be the Viceroy in the providential as well as in the spiritual Kingdom as the Father makes the Mediator to be in them both and as the Father doth not divest himself of power but keeps the original of it in himself that we may still say to him Thine is the kingdom only he doth it by the Son who doth exercise it so it is true of the Spirit also the Son hath the power he governs all he doth it immediately by the Spirit the immediate execution and administration of it is in the hand of the Spirit in the one Kingdom as well as in the other 7 This will further appear by the session of Christ at the right hand of the Father for it doth import potestatis Majestatis plenitudinem a plenitude of power and Majesty 1 The highest Majesty and glory for it is the highest degree of his exaltation Heb. 8.1 therefore called the right hand of Majesty in the heavens 2 It is the highest Authority and Soveraignty for sitting at his right hand implies that all things are put under his feet as it is Psal 110.1 1 Pet. 3. ult sitting down upon his Throne Angels and Powers being made subject unto him Eph. 1.20 22. all things put under his feet which is the highest Soveraignty and the greatest subjection that can be for all to be his servants his vassals and therefore Rev. 1.18 when he is in heaven he is said to have the keys of hell and of death keys are an ensign of authority and so are used in the Scripture the keys of the kingdom of heaven are his and the keys of death and hell are his all authority in this world and the world to come and therefore Mat. 28.17 immediately before his ascension he saith All power is given to me both in heaven and in earth it 's true that he had it given him from the Fall and he did exercise it by virtue of the Covenant that was passed between him and the Father for his Kingly Office and his Priestly Office in the efficacy of them began together but yet he did not actually reign as Mediator that is as God-man till in our nature he ascended up on high and sate down in heaven with the Father upon his Throne and though quoad potestatem judiviariam according to his judiciary power all things are now put under his feet for the administration of all things are in his hand yet quoad executionem actualem as to actual execution so it is not there are many things that seem to oppose him and to be enemies unto his government therefore he must reign till he hath put all his enemies actually under his feet 1 Cor. 15.15 so then he that sits at the right hand of God rules the world but Christ as God doth not sit at the right hand of God and as he is the second person therefore it is as he is Mediator that he sits at Gods right hand and so all judgment and authority are executed by him 8 If this be made as the ground why all authority is in the hand of Christ because he is the Son of man then he hath this authority over all things not as he is the second person only but as he is Mediator as he is God-man but this is the reason and the ground of it Joh. 5.17 He hath given him power to execute judgment because he is the Son of man Joh. 5.27 which hath several interpretations given of it all will prove the thing 1 Because he is the Son of man that is
preservation the stars shall fight for them the Sea shall be a wall unto them instead of drowning of them their very enemies shall favour them Psal 106.46 he gives them favour in the sight of their enemies and even Nebuchadnezzar shall give charge concerning Jeremiah when there was none concerning Zedekiah the King and he will turn the curse into a blessing Deut. 23.5 The Lord turned it into a blessing To a wicked man every thing is for his hurt what should be for his welfare that becomes his snare but it is quite contrary unto a godly man that which is intended for his hurt that is turned into good and to a quite contrary end than that unto which it was by the enemy intended Now when we see many causes with contrary purposes and intentions all of them conspire unto an end which they understand not but seek and desire the contrary it must be said that there is a providence and a wise hand that did over-rule all this for this is an end that was far from the intention of second causes for there is a peace with enemies Prov. 16.7 there is a Covenant with beasts as Hos 2.18 and there is a league with stones Job 5.23 Dominium habet custodem habebit lapides c. and all this is nothing but an expression of that special and secret providence of God that doth watch over his own people so that this is the comfort and the inheritance of the Saints that every thing in the whole government of the world is so ordered that it shall do them no hurt but all shall make for their good who love him and fear him Now to set forth this in the particulars of it we shall see that all things about which the providence of God is exercised are so ruled as that the government of them makes for the good of the Saints and here I shall propound these five distinctions 1. The Providence of God is either circa maxima vel minima 1 The greatest things in the world are not above the providence of God neither are the smallest things below it He doth whatever he will in heaven and in earth and in the sea It is not what the creatures will Psal 119.91 but it is what he will all are his servants the very Angels in Heaven do his pleasure and they hearken unto his voice and the greatest of men Dan. 4.16 17. the most high rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men he puts down the mighty from their seat he exalts them of low degree deponit reges disponit regna Ezech. 21.10 It is the rod of my son contemning every tree c. 2 There is not the smallest thing but it is ordered by him there is not a worm that creeps upon the ground Hos 2.18 but he can make it hurtful to a man he can command a serpent and he shall bite a man c. he can hiss for the flye c. 2. There is a double exercise of providence or the providence of God has two parts 1 He doth uphold them in their beings and the same Spirit that did create them doth to this very day sit and brood upon them as Gen. 1.2 3. He doth bear up all things by the word of his power Heb. 1.2 he doth hang the earth upon nothing but a word and the same word that created all things doth still continue them in their being if he should take away that word they would run into their first nothing immediately and therefore it is truly said of providence that it is continuata creatio a continued creation Psal 104.3 He sends forth his word and they are created and he renews the face of the earth it is spoken of the providence and the preservation of all things which he doth call a Creation for the same creating power is put forth continually and daily exercised for as ejusdem est potentiae annihilare creare so ejusdem est creare conservare to give a being and continue the creature in that being Psal 66.9 Who holdeth my soul in life c. even the continuance of a mans temporal or spiritual life is an act of a creating power 2 He doth order their actions at his pleasure all of them shall accomplish his ends either he doth act them or he doth suspend their actions at his pleasure and if he will concur with them or if he will withdraw his concurrence it is all according to his pleasure and therefore he is the Lord of Hosts and all the motions of this great Army are at his command as Pharaoh said to Joseph Without thee shall no man lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt It is true that the Lord governs all things yea the very thoughts of the heart there doth not a motion arise but he doth fashion the hearts of men Psal 33.15 Zac. 12.1 he formeth the spirits of men within them so that what fashion he doth put upon the apprehensions of men or the affections of men the same they have for all is of his government Ezech. 38 1â— things shall come into thy mind and thou shalt think an evil thought c. all his government of the creature is for the Saints both when they act and when he doth suspend their actings when he doth concur with them and when he doth withdraw his concurrence all is for their good 3. The Providence of God is either 1 what he doth by his own hand immediately by an extraordinary providence as sometimes the Lord doth so that it doth appear to be the finger of God and that there is nothing of second causes in it Esa 52.10 his arm was made bare and Hab. 3.9 his bow was made naked both of them do signifie patefacta est potentia Drus And so it appears when God goes out of the course of nature as when causes have not their natural efficacies the race is not to the swift the battel is not to the strong the men of might cannot find their hands the horse and the rider is cast into a deep sleep Psal 76.6 and so it is in all the Lords miraculous workings when he doth create a new thing in the earth and a woman doth compass a man Jer. 31.22 he doth make the Sea to go back and the Sun to stand still the Heavens to give bread and the Rocks water and all these extraordinary workings of God are for the good of his people and that way he will work for them as their necessity shall require for there is no such thing that the Lord has done for his people formerly but they may still expect the same if they be brought unto the same straits and necessities Esa 10.24 Esa 10.24 He shall lift up a staff against him after the manner of Egypt it was a miraculous way that the Lord dealt with his people then but it was not so that he would never do the like for them again and that they were
and yet the Lord did it in judgment as he was an instrument in his hand he did gather the riches of the Nations as eggs none opened their mouth or peeped against him how much more unto him that God hath in judgment made the god of this world will the Lord permit such power Omnis voluntas dÃaboli semper est injusta sed tamen Deo permittente justa est potestas Bern. The Devils will is of himself but his power is of God and therefore he is mighty 3. The malice which doth set his power on work though it be against all mankind yet it is specially against the Saints It is true indeed that it is against all mankind and therefore his great labour is to draw all men to be partakers with him in the same sin and the same torments it is the fire that is prepared for the Devil and his Angels that they may all of them be cast into the same Lake and though he know it will but increase his own torment yet there is this power of envy in him that he will destroy them though it tend so much the more unto his own hurt in the end but his malice is in a special manner against the Saints the spiritual combate is mainly between the seed of the woman and of the serpent Gen. 3.15 it is against Michael and his Angels Rev. 12.8 9. But why is Satan so much against the Saints above all men in the world 1 Because God hath set his love upon them therefore Satan hath set his malice against them 2 They are the members of Christ whom above all he doth hate as having a Kingdom set up of purpose to destroy his Kingdom 3 As they bear the image of God and carrying thereby the greatest treasury within them for as Chrysostome hath well observed Satan is as a thief he will not come to rob where nothing is to be had but where the treasure is he will not rob stones and straws but Jewes 4 They conquer him for it is out of them that he is cast out which he looked upon as his house as his own portion Mat. 12.44 5 They shall surely judge him at the last day Tunc maximè saevit quum hominem ex laqueis liberatum videt tunc plurimùm accenditur cùm extinguitur Tertul. 4. There is amongst the Devils a kind of policy and order in carrying on of this design so that though there be no love in them one to another for that is not amongst the damned in Hell all natural affection ceases there yet there is a kind of faithfulness they being by the same sinful principles carried on unto the same end and therefore there is a Prince of Devils there is a kind of government amongst themselves in tendency to the deep designs which they are to prosecute not but that they were all of the same nature but the same God who in judgment subjected mankind to his power he giving up himself hath subjected the Devils also unto the power of him that was the chief of Devils and was first in the transgression that they have a kind of order amongst themselves to carry on their ends there are the gates of Hell which some do interpret the Counsels of it there are orders and methods and devices amongst them and therefore Luther hath observed it Diaboli regnum politiam inter se habent usque diem judicii ubi Christus evacuà bit omnià 5. The end of all this power and this policy is the highest that malice can invent and that is the destruction of all the Saints for the name of the Devil is Abaddon and Apollyon the Destroyer in two Languages and Job 33. His life draws near to the grave and his soul unto the destroyers it is to destroy their souls that he doth aim with an eternal destruction and Eph. 6.12 it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in supercoelestibus in the things of eternal concernment things of Heaven he doth not contend with us about Estates and Dignities and Dominions here below such contentions are too mean for him but it is a contention that is for souls Psal 91.3 the promise is He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler or the hunter which some do apply unto the Devil as he is one that hunts to lay snares for souls nothing else will content him Satans speech is the same with that of the King of Sodom Take you the goods give me the souls if the world were his as he makes it to be when he says to Christ All this will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me he would give all for a soul he tempts souls with money to be his c. 6. This Kingdom of Satan is so under the Soveraignty of Christ that he doth order it wholly and rule it and over-rule it for the good of the Saints 2 Tim. 2.20 22. The Church of God is compared to a great house and there are some vessels to honour and some to dishonour but they are all of them for the masters use and for the use of the house and therefore we see when the sons of God come together Satan himself also appears before God Job 1.6 Job 1.6 partly being over-ruled by the power of God as a creature and partly being inclined by his own malice as an executioner he is desirous to be imployed by God as a vessel of dishonour as being one that hath mortis imperium the power of death c. and therefore he cannot deceive Ahabs Prophets without leave nor can he enter into the herd of swine without leave neither can he possess the man that had the Legion when the Lord Jesus will cast him out his authority is limited and though he be never so high and exalted up to heaven yet he doth fall from heaven as lightning if the Lord command it and so he cannot deal with Job till the Lord permit him and he cannot move beyond the bounds of his permission Diabolo potestas quaedam est plerunque tamen noceret non potest quoniam potestas injusta est sub potestate August 7. God may and many times doth give up his people into the hand of the Enemy their Rock hath sold them and not only into the hand of bodily enemies but even into the hand of this spiritual enemy also who is the great enemy therefore called Satan which signifies an Adversary so he did Hezekiah the Lord left him and so he did David the Lord moved him the Lord did it by giving Satan leave and by leaving David in his hand and Job 2.6 Behold he is in thy hand only spare his life 1 Satan doth always desire it and the Lord doth sometimes in judgment unto Satan grant his unjust desires Luke 22.31 Satan hath desired to winnow thee and so Job 2.3 Thou hast moved me against him he did make a challenge and desired God that he would stand by and leave him in his hand
a while see what he can do with him 2 Sometimes in just judgment God doth it when his people sin against him and depart from him the Lord doth leave them in the hand of the Devil as a prisoner that he may correct them and so recover them as a father leaves his child in the hand of a servant to correct so as he stands by and sets the measure to it he shall but correct him in measure Rev. 2.10 He will cast them into prison for ten days as he did Paul he was buffetted by Satan to prevent sin he did leave him to correct his sin 3 In an ordinance of Excommunication 1 Cor. 5.5 being delivered to Satan he doth exercise tyranny over him to stir up the guilt of sin within him and to torment his conscience and God departs from him in point of comfort for 2 Cor. 2.7 it was that he might not be swallowed up with over-much sorrow therefore it is sorrow that is the fruit of this Ordinance c. 2. Yet all this doth the Soveraignty of God order and over-rule for the good of the Saints There are two things that the power of Satan is wholly exercised in temptation and affliction 1 He is a Tempter in us and that both as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clem. Alexandr speaks 1 He doth effectually stir up sin within us and he works effectually in the children of disobedience and 2 In any sin that is stirred up in us he is a worker together with us to bring it forth unto perfection for it 's not only to beget sin in us but to perfect it that he doth aim at 2 He is an Accuser of us unto God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the accuser of the brethren Rev. 12.10 as Christ is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Satan doth plead against them before God and before men and in their own consciences also stirring up of guilt in them also and he hath his accesses unto Heaven and he doth put up his desires unto God against us and doth lay our sins unto our charge before the Throne of Justice and demands justice against us Zac. 3.1 2. for Zac. 3.1 2. Satan stands at his right hand which was to accuse for the Accuser stood at the right hand and it was to resist him the right hand being chiefly the instrument of action therefore it was to hinder him in the great service that he was now about to do and to object against him before the Lord his filthy garment with which he was cloathed at his appearance before the Lord. Now both these the temptations and the accusations of Satan the Soveraignty of God doth rule and over-rule for the spiritual good of the Saints which I shall make appear in these particulars and therefore Bernard calls him Malleus terrae and he saith Terit electos in utilitatem reprobos conterit in damnationem pag. 300. 1. There is a restraint upon him that he shall tempt them no more than is for their good He will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able 1 Cor. 10.13 It is true that Satan is subtle in his temptations and he doth take a measure of the spirits of men that so he may proportion his temptations unto them some spirits are too low for some temptations as their understandings are for some opinions Now Satan therefore doth not suggest such depths unto them but deals with them in a lower way but there are some temptations that would not take with some because their spirits and their understandings are above them and he deals with them in a higher and in a more ingenious way Now as Satan doth take a measure of the spirits of men in every temptation so doth God also take a measure of their grace that it shall be so much and no more for there are some temptations that the grace that is in some men could not bear and therefore the Lord doth proportion it in wisdom and in mercy it is true unto wicked men it is otherwise there is a power that is beyond the strength of the common works that are upon them an opportunity of temptation that turns them off as leaves that are shaken with the wind but it is not so with the Saints Ad mensuram permittitur tentare Diabolus sed qui dat Tentatori potestatem ipse tantato praebet misericordiam August tom 8. p. 435. 2. Satan shall tempt no further than it shall be for the subduing of corruption men are delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh but it is an over-ruling hand of the Soveraignty of God who doth temper such poyson into a wholesom medicine and what the enemy did intend should kill that shall be a means to cure And therefore Luther doth deride the Papists in this who having spoken in his Covent unto one of the Society of a Purgatory and they objected it against him that he did grant in his writings a Purgatory also he answers them That he doth grant a Purgatory but it is this of temptation only by which the Lord is pleased to purge the souls of his people and that makes them to come out the more refined hoc Purgatorium fictum non est c. Great hath been the gain that the people of God have had by their temptations this way yea even by those temptations in which they have been foiled Nescit Diabolus quomodo illo insidiante furente utatur ad salutem fidelium excellentissima Dei sapientia c. Aug. tom 3. p. 218. 3. It doth mightily improve their graces we see it in Job we know what the end was that God made with him as all afflictions improve graces and make the land fruitful as the rain doth though it make the way foul so there is not a greater affliction than temptation for a man to be left to be as the sink into which the Devil shall empty all the filthiness that is in that unclean spirit therefore this also shall turn into the increase of grace wherefore Luther's saying That there are three things make a Divine Meditation Oration and Tentation is most true for grace opposed is much improved a soul had never seen such high acts of grace had it not met with such high opposition It 's true in it self it doth not increase grace for it is opposite unto it but by an Antiperistasis it doth debemus esse Dialectici non pugnamus ut homines sed ut Christiani Luth. and therefore the Spirit of Christ will improve his own work in us by our temptations also 4. We have by this experience of the power of Christ in us Experimental knowledge is a knowledge upon tryal and such a knowledge a man can never have till he be brought unto a tryal there is many a man that doth presumptuously think that he can do much and resist much but when he comes to the tryal he is weak as