by the Law but by imputation and is really the righteousness of another namely of God in Christ 2 Cor. 5. 21. Phil. 3. 8 9 10. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ which is unto all and upon all that is imputed to them that believe Rom. 3. 22. But if they were under the Old Covenant the Covenant of Works then their righteousness must be their own or no forgiveness of sins If thou do well shalt not thou be accepted but if thou transgress sin lieth at the door saith the Law Gen. 4. 7. Fourthly In a word whatsoever they do receive whether it be conversion to God whether it be pardon of sin whether it be faith or hope whether it be righteousness whether it be strength whether it be the Spirit or the fruits thereof whether it be victory over sin death or hell whether it be heaven everlasting life and glory unexpressible or whatsoever it be it comes to them freely God having no first eye to what they would do or should do for the obtaining of the same But to take this in pieces 1. In a word are they converted God finds them first for saith he I am found of them that sought me not Isa. 65. 1. 2. Have they pardon of sin They have that also freely I will heal their back-slidings and love them freely Hos. 14. 4. 3. Have they faith It is the gift of God in Christ Jesus and he is not only the author that is the beginner thereof but he doth also perfect the same Heb. 12. 2. 4. Have they hope It is God that is the first cause thereof Remember thy word unto thy servaut wherein THOU hast caused me to hope Psal. 119. 49. 5 Have they righteousness It is the free gift of God Rom. 5. 17. 6. Have they strength to do the work of God in their generations or any other thing that God would have them do that also is a free gift from the Lord for without him we neither do nor can do any thing John 15. 5. 7. Have we comfort or consolation We have it not for what we have done but from God through Christ for he is the God of all our comforts and consolations 2 Cor. 1. 8. Have we the spirit or the fruits thereof It is the gift of the Father How much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him Luke 11. 13. Thou hast wrought all our works for us Isa. 26. 12. And so I say whether it be victory over sin death hell or the devil it is given us by the victory of Christ But thanks be to God which hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. 57. Rom. 7. 24 25. Heaven and glory it is also the gift of him who giveth his richly all things to enjoy Mat. 25. So that these things if they be duly and soberly considered will give satisfaction in this thing I might have aded many more for the clearing of these things At first when God came to man to convert him he found him a dead man Eph 2. 1 2. he found him an enemy to God Christ and the salvation of his own soul he found him wallowing in all manner of wickedness he found him taking pleasure therein with all delight and greediness 2. He was fain to quicken him by putting his Spirit into him and to translate him by the mighty operation thereof 3. He was fain to reveal Christ Jesus unto him man being altogether senseless and ignorant of his blessed Jesus Mat. 11. 25 27. 1 Cor. 2. 7 8 9 10. 4. He was fain to break the snare of the devil and to let poor man poor bound and fettered man out of the chains of the enemy Now we are to proceed and the things that we are to treat upon in the second place are these First why it is a free and unchangeable grace Secondly Who they are that are actually brought into his free and unchangeable Covenant of Grace and how they are brought in Thirdly What are the priviledges of those that are actually brought into this free and glorious grace of the glorious God of heaven and glory For the first Why it is a free and unchangeable grace and for the opening of this we must consider First How and through whom this grace doth come to be first free to us and secondly unchangeable This grace is free to us through conditions in another that is by way of Convenant or Bargain for this Grace comes by way of Covenant or Bargain to us yet made with another for us First That it comes by way of Covenant Contract or Bargain though not personally with us be pleased to consider these Scriptures where it is said Psal. 89. 3. I have made a Covenant with my chosen I have sworn unto David my servant And as for thee also by the blood of thy Covenant speaking of Christ have I sent forth the prisoners out of the pit wherein was no water Zech. 9. 9 10 11. Again You have sold your selves for nought and you shall be bought without money Ezek. 34. 23 24. Chap. 37. 24 25. Blessed be the Lord therefore saith Zacharias for he hath visited and also REDEEMED his people And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us To perform his mercy promised to our Fathers and to remember his holy Covenant or Bargain Luke 1 68 69 70 71 72. And if any should be offended with the plainness of these words as some poor souls may be through ignorance let them be pleased to read soberly that 49. Chapter of the the Prophet Isaiah from the 1. verse to the 12. and there they may see that it runs as plain a Bargain as if two should be making of a Bargain between themselves and concluding upon several conditions on both sides But more of this hereafter Now secondly This Covenant I say was made with one not with many and also confirmed in the conditions of it with one not with several First That the Covenant was made with one see Gal. 3. 16. Now to Abraham and to his seed was the promises made he saith not to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ ver 17. And this I say the Covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ c. The Covenant was made with the seed of Abraham not the seeds but the seed which is the Lord Jesus Christ our head and undertaker in the things concerning the Covenant 3. The condition was made with one and also accomplished by him alone and not by several yet in the nature and for the everlasting deliverance of many even by one man Jesus Christ as it is clear from
Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood c. Fourthly How men are to reckon it theirs and that is upon the same terms which God doth offer it which is freely as they are worthless and undeserving Creatures as they are without all good and also unable to do any good This I say is the right way of applying the merits of Christ to thy Soul for they are freely given to thee a poor Sinner nor for any thing that is in thee or done by thee but freely as thou art a Sinner and so standest in absolute need thereof And Christian thou art not in this thing to follow thy sense and feeling but the very Word of God The thing that doth do the People of God the greatest injury it is their too little hearkning to what the Gospel saith and their too much giving credit to what the Law Sin the Devil and Conscience saith and upon this very ground to conclude that because there is the certainty of guilt upon the Soul therefore there is also for certain by Sin Damnation to be brought upon the Soul This is now to set the Word of God aside and to give credit to what is sormed by the contrary but thou must give more credit to one syllable of the written Word of the Gospel than thou must give to all the Saints and Angels in Heaven and Earth much more than to the Devil and thy own guilty Conscience Let me give you a Parable There was a certain man that had committed Treason against his King but for as much as the King had Compassion upon him he sent him by the hand of a faithful Messenger a Pardon under his own Hand and Seal but in the Countrey where this poor man dwelt there was also many that sought to trouble him by often putting of him in mind of his Treason and the Law that was to be executed on the Offender Now which way should this man so honour his King but as believing his Hand-writing which was the Pardon certainly he would honour him more by so doing than to regard all the Clamours of his Enemies continually against him Just thus it is here thou having committed Treason against the King of Heaven he through Compassion for Christs sake hath sent thee a Pardon but the Devil the Law and thy Conscience do continually seek to disturb thee by bringing thy Sins afresh into thy remembrance But now wouldest thou honour thy King why then He that believeth the RECORD that God hath given of his Son hath set to his SEAL that God is true And this is the Record that God hath given to US eternal Life and this Life is in his Son 1 Joh. 5. 11 12. And therefore my Brethren seeing God our Father hath sent us damnable Traitors a Pardon from Heaven even all the Promises of the Gospel and also hath sealed to the certainty of it with the heart-blood of his dear Son let us not be daunted though our Enemies with terrible Voices do bring our former life never so often into our Remembrance Object But saith the Soul how if after I have received a Pardon I should commit Treason again What should I do then Answ. Set the case thou hast committed abundance of Treason he hath by him abundance of Pardons Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Sometimes I my self have been in such a straight that I have been almost driven to my Wits ends with a sight and sense of the greatness of my sins but calling to mind that God was God in his Mercy Pitty and Love as well as in his Holiness Justice c. And again considering the ability of the satisfaction that was given to Holiness and Justice to the end there might be way made for Sinners to lay hold of this Mercy I say I considering this when tempted to doubt and despair I have answered in this manner Lord here is one of the greatest Sinners that ever the the ground bare A Sinner against the Law and a Sinner against the Gospel I have sinned against Light and I have sinned against Mercy and now Lord the guilt of them breaks my heart the Devil also he would have me despair telling of me that thou art so far from hearing my Prayers in this my distress that I cannot anger thee worse then to call upon thee for saith he thou art resolved for ever to damn and not to grant me the least of thy favour yet Lord. I would fain have forgiveness And thy word though much may be inferred from it against me yet it saith If I come unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast me out Lord shall I honour thee most by believing thou canst pardon my Sins or by believing thou canst not Shall I honour thee most by believing thou wilt pardon my Sins or by believing thou wilt not Shall I honour the Blood of thy Son also by despairing that the vertue thereof is not sufficient or by believing that it is sufficient to purge me from all my blood-red and crimson Sins surely thou that couldest find so much Mercy as to pardon Manasseh Mary Magdalen the three thousand Murderers persecuting Paul Murderous and Adulterous David and blaspheming Peter thou that offeredst Mercy to Simon Magus a Witch and didst receive the Astrologers and Conjurers in the nineteenth of Acts thou hast Mercy enough for one poor sinner Lord set the case my Sins were bigger than all these and I less deserved Mercy than any of these yet thou hast said in thy word that he that cometh to thee thou wilt in no wise cast out And God hath given comfort to my Soul even to such a Sinner as I am and I tell you there is no way so to honour God and to beat out the Devil as to stick to the truth of Gods Word and the merits of Christs Blood by believing When Abraham believed even against hope and reason he gave Glory to God Rom. 4. And this is our Victory even our Faith Believe and all things are possible to you He that believeth shall be saved He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Life and shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my Fathers Hands 1. Joh. 5. 4. And if thou dost indeed believe this thou wilt not only confess him as the Quakers do That is that he was born at Bethlehem of Mary suffered on Mount Calvary under Pontius Pilate was Dead and Buried Rose again and Ascended 〈◊〉 For all this they confess and in the midst of their confession they do verily deny that his Death on that Mount Calvary did give satisfaction to God for the Sins of the World and that his Resurrection out of Josephs Sepulchre is the cause of our Justification in the sight
Rom. 5. 15 16 17 c. and in Zech 9. 11. the Lord saith to Christ And as for thee mark as for thee also by the blood of the Covenant or as for thee whose Covenant was by blood that is the conditions of the Covenant was that thou shouldest spill thy blood which having been done in the account of God saith he I according to my condition have let go the prisoners or sent them out of the pit wherein was no water those Scriptures in Galatians the 3. at the 16. and 17. verses that are above cited are notable to our purpose the sixteenth verse saith It was made with Christ and the seventeenth saith It was also confirmed in or with God in him pray read with understanding Now saith Paul the promises were not made unto seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ. The Law which was four hundred and thirty years after cannot disanul that it should make the promise of none effect Not that the Covenant was with Abraham and Christ together as two persons that were the undertakers of the same the promise was made with or to Abraham afterwards but the Covenant with Christ before Further that the Covenant was not personally made with Abraham no nor with any of the Fathers neither so as that they were the persons that should stand ingaged to be the accomplishers thereof either in whole or in part which is very clear First Because this Covenant was not made with God and the creature not with another poor Adam that only stood upon the strength of natural abilities but this Covenant was made with the second person with the eternal Word of God with him that was every ways as holy as pure as infinite as powerful and as everlasting as God Prov. 22. 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30. Zech. 13. 7. Rev. 1. 11 17 22 13 16. Isa. 9. 6. Phil. 2. 6. Heb. 1. Secondly This Covenant or Bargain was made indeed and in truth before man was in being Oh! God thought of the salvation of man before there was any transgression of man for then I say and not since then was the Covenant of Grace made with the undertaker thereof for all the other sayings are to shew unto us that glorious plot and contrivance that was concluded on before time between the Father and the Son which may very well be concluded on for a truth from the Word of God if you consider First That the Scripture doth declare that the price was agreed on by the Son before time the promise was made to him by the Father that he should have his Bargain before time and the choice who they were that should be saved was made before time even before the world began For the First That the price was agreed upon before the World began Consider the word which speaketh of the price that was paid for sinners even The precious Blood of Christ It saith of him who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in these last times for you who by him do believe c. 1 Pet. 1. 19 20. Mark it was fore-ordained or concluded on between the Father and his Son before the world began Secondly The promise from God to the Son was also made in the same manner as it is clear where the Apostle saith with comfort to his soul that he had hopes of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the World began Tit. 1. 2. which could be to none but the Mediator of the New Covenant because there was none else to whom it should be made but he Thirdly The choice was also made then even before man had a being in this world as it is evident where he saith Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed US with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places IN Christ according as he hath chosen US in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Eph. 1. 3 4. Nay did I look upon it here to be necessary I should shew you very largely and clearly that God did not only make the Covenant with Christ before the world began and the conditions thereof But I could also shew you that the very Saints qualifications as part of the Covenant was then concluded on by the Father and the Son according to these Scriptures Eph. 1. 3 4. Chap. 2. 10. and Rom. 8. 28. which it may be I may touch upon further anon But Thirdly This Covenant was not made with any of the Fathers neither in whole nor in part as the undertakers thereof for then it must be also concluded that they are Co-partners with Christ in our salvation and so that Christ is not Mediator alone but this would be blasphemy for any one to surmize And therefore by the way when thou readest of the New Covenant in Scripture as though it was made with Adam Noah Abraham or David thou art to consider thus with thy self First That God spake to them in such a way for to shew or signifie unto us how he did make the Covenant that he did make with Christ before the world began they being types of him Secondly That he thereby might let them understand that he was the same then as he is now and now as he was then and that then it was resolved on between his Son and He that in after ages his Son should in their natures from their loins and for their sins be born of a Woman hanged on the Cross c. for them for all along you may see that when he speaketh to them of the New Covenant he mentions their seed their seed still aiming at Christ Christ the Seed of the Woman was to break the Serpents head Gen. 3. 15. Gen. 17. Psal. 87. 36. Now to Abraham and his Seed was the promise made his seed shall endure for ever and his Throne as the days of heaven c. still pointing at Christ. And Thirdly To stirup their faith and expectations to be constant unto the end in waiting for that which he and his Son had concluded on before time and what he had since the conclusion declared unto the world by the Prophets Fourthly It appeareth that the heart of God was much delighted therein also as is evident in that he was always in every age declaring of that unto them which before he had prepared for them O this good God of Heaven Object But you will say perhaps the Scriptures say plainly that the New Covenant was and is made with Believers saying The days come saith the Lord that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Iudah not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day in which I brought them out of the Land of Egypt c. Heb. 8. 10 11 12 Jer. 31. 33. So that it doth not run with
sins of Thousands and Thousands and all at once This also is one means to make souls tender of sin it is the burned child that feareth the fire to make them humble in a sense of their own vileness to make them count every thing that God giveth them a mercy to make much of the least glimpse of the love of God and to prize it above the whole world O sinners were you killed indeed then Heaven would be Heaven and Hell would be Hell indeed but because you are not wrought upon in this manner therefore you count the ways of God as bad as a good man counteth the ways of the devil and the ways of the devil and hell as good as a Saint doth count the ways of God Fourthly Again God is fain to go this way and all to make sinners make sure of Heaven So long as souls are senseless of sin and what a damnable state they are in by nature so long they will even dally with the Kingdom of Heaven and the Salvation of their own poor souls but when God cometh and sheweth them where they are and what is like to become of them if they miss of the Crucified Saviour Oh then saith the soul would I were sure of Jesus what shall I do to get assurance of Jesus And thus is God forced as I may say to whip souls to Jesus Christ they being so secure so senseless and so much their own enemies as not to look out after their own eternal advantage Fifthly A fifth reason why God doth deal thus with sinners it is because he would bring Christ and the Soul together in a right way Christ and Sinners would never come together in a beloved posture they would not so suitably suit each other if they were not brought together this way the sinner being killed O when the sinner is killed and indeed struck dead to every thing below a naked Jesus how suitably then doth the Soul and Christ suit one with another Then here is a naked sinner for a righteous Jesus a poor sinner to a rich Jesus a weak sinner to a strong Jesus a blind sinner to a seeing Jesus an ignorant careless sinner to a wise and careful Jesus O how wise is God in dealing thus with the sinner he strips him of his own knowledge that he may fill him with Christs he killeth him for taking pleasure in sin that he may take pleasure in Jesus Christ c. Sixthly But sixthly God goeth this way with sinners because he would have the glory of their salvation Should not men and women be killed to their own things they would do sacrifice unto them and instead of saying to the Lamb THOU ART WORTHY Rev. 5. 9. Job 40. 14. Rom. 3. 27. Ephes. 2. 8 9. Tit. 3. 5. they woul say their own arm their own right hand hath saved them but God will cut off boasting from ever entring within the borders of eternal glory for he is resolved to have the glory of the beginning the middle and the end of the contriving and saving and giving salvation to them that enter into the joys of everlasting glory That they may be called the trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he may be glorifyed Isa. 61. 3. I might have run thorow many things as to this but I shall pass them and proceed Now Secondly The soul being thus killed to it's self its sins its righteousness faith hope wisdom promises resolutions and the rest of its things which it trusted in by nature In the next place it hath also given unto it a most glorious perfect and never-fading life which is first a life imputed to it yet so really that the very thought of it in the soul hath so much operation and authority especially when the meditation of it is mixed with faith as to make it though condemned by the Law to triumph and to look its enemies in the face with comfort notwithstanding the greatness of the multitude the fierceness of their anger and the continuation of their malice be never so hot against it This imputed life for so it is is the obedience of the Son of God as his righteousness in his suffering arising ascending interceding and so consequently triumphing over all the enemies of the soul and given to me as being wrought on purpose for me So that is is there righteousness in Christ that is mine Is there perfection in that righteousness that is mine did he bleed for sin it was for mine Hath he overcome the Law the Devil and Hell the victory is mine and I am counted the Conqueror Nay more than a conqueror through him that hath loved me and I do count this a most glorious life for by this means it is that I am in the first place proclaimed both in Heaven and Earth guiltless and such a one who as I am in Christ am not a sinner and so not under the Law to be condemned but as holy and righteous as the Son of God himself because he himself is my holiness and righteousness and so likewise having by this all things taken out of the way that would condemn me Sometimes I bless the Lord my soul hath had the life that now I am speaking of not only imputed to me but the very glory of it upon my soul For upon a time when I was under many condemnings of heart and feared because of my sins my soul would miss of eternal glory methought I felt in my soul such a secret motion as this Thy righteousness is in Heaven together with the splendour and shining of the spirit of grace in my soul which gave me to see clearly that my righteousness by which I should be justified from all that could condemn was the Son of God himself in his own person now at the right hand of his Father representing me compleat before the mercy-seat in his own self so that I saw clearly that night and day where ever I was or what ever I was a doing still there was my righteousness just before the eys of divine glory so that the Father could never find fault with me for any insufficiency that was in my righteousness being it was compleat neither could he say where is it because it was continually at his right hand Also at another time having contracted guilt upon my soul and having some distemper of body upon me supposed that death might now so seize upon as to take me away from among men then thought I what shall I do now is all right with my soul have I the right work of God on my soul Answering my self No surely and that because there were so many weaknesses in me yea so many weaknesses in my best duties for thought I how can such a one as I find mercy whose heart is so ready to evil and so backward to that which is good so far as it is natural Thus musing being filled with fear to die these words came in upon my soul Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ as if God had said Sinner thou thinkest because thou hast had so many infirmities and weaknesses in thy soul whilst thou hast been professing of me therefore now there can be no hopes of mercy but be it known unto thee that it was not any thing done by thee at the first that moved me to have mercy upon thee neither is it any thing that is done by thee now that shall make me either accept or reject thee behold my Son who standeth by me he is righteous he hath fulfilled my Law and given me good satisfaction on him therefore do I look and on thee only as thou art in him and according to what he hath done so will I deal with thee This having stayed my heart and taken off the guilt through the strength of its coming on my soul anon after came in that word as a second testimony He hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to the works of righteousness which we have done but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began And thus is the sinner made alive from the dead being justified by Grace through the righteousness of Christ which is unto all and upon all them that believe according to the Scriptures And the life that I now live it is by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2. 20. I lay down my life for my sheep John 10. 10 15. I I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more then being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Rom. 5. 10 21. That as sin reigneth unto death even so might Grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Secondly This life is not only imputed to him that is wrought on by the spirit of Grace that is not only counted his but also there is put into the soul an understanding enlightened on purpose to know the things of God which is Christ and his imputed righteousness 1 John 5. 20. which it never thought of nor understood before 1 Cor. 2. 9 10 11. which understanding being enlightened and made to see such things that the soul cannot be contented without it lay hold of and apply Christ unto it self so effectually I say that the soul shall be exceedingly revived in a very heavenly measure with the application of this imputed righteousness for thereby it knoweth it shall find God speaking peace to its self and with a fatherly affection say Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee the righteousness of my Son I bestow upon thee For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the thy flesh I have sent forth my only Son and have condemned thy sins in his flesh Rom. 8. 3. 4. And though thou hast gone astray liste a lost sheep yet on him I have laid thine iniquities and though thou thereby didst undo and break thy self forever yet by his stripes I haue healed thee Thus I say the Lord causeth the soul by faith to apply that which he doth by grace impute unto it for thus every soul more or less is dealt withal the soul being thus inlightned thus quickned thus made alive from that dead state it was in before or at least having the beginnings of this life it hath these several vertuous advantages which they have not that are dead in their sins and trespasses and under the Law First It seeth what a sad condition all men by nature are in they being in that state which it self was in but a while since but now by grace it is a beginning to scrable out of it now it seeth the whole world lieth in wickedness 1 John 5. 19. and so liable to eternal vengeance because of their wickedness Ah friends let me tell you though you may be ignorant of your state and condition yet the poor groaning hungering Saints of God do see what a sad woeful miserable state you are in which sometimes makes them tremble to think of your most lamentable latter end you dying so and also to flie the faster to their Lord Jesus for very fear that they also should be partakers of that most doleful doom and this it hath by vertue of its own experience knowing it self was but a while ago in the same condition under the same condemnation O! there is now a hearty blessing of God that ever he should shew to it its sad condition and that he should incline its heart to seek after a better condition O blessed be the Lord saith the soul that ever he should awaken me stir up me and bring me out of that sad condition that I once with them was in It makes also the soul to wonder to see how foolishly and vainly the rest of its neighbours do spend their precious time that they should be so void of understanding so forgetful of their latter end so senseless of the damning nature of their sins O that their eyes was but inlightned to see whereabouts they are 〈◊〉 surely they would be of another mind then they are now in Now the soul wonders to see what slender pins those poor creatures do hang the stress of the eternal salvation of their souls upon O methinks saith the soul it makes me mourn to see that some should think that they were Born Christians and others that their Baptisme makes them so others depending barely upon a traditional historical faith which will leave their souls in the midst of plerplexity O that they should trust to such fables fancies and wicked slights of the Devil as their good doings their good thinkings their civil walking and living with the world O miserable profession and the end thereof will be a miserable end But now vvhen the soul is thus vvrought upon it must be sure to look for the very gates of hell to be set open against it vvith all their force and might to destroy it Novv hell rageth the devil roareth and all the world resolved do be the best they can to bring the soul again into bondage and ruine Also the soul shall not want enemies even in its own hearts lust as covetousness adultery blasphemy unbelief hardness of heart coldness half-heartedness ignorance with an innumerable company of attendants hanging like so many blocks at its heels ready to sink it into the fire of hell every moment together with strange apprehensions of God and Christ as if now they were absolutely turned to be its enemies which maketh it doubt of the certainty of its salvation For you must understand that though a soul may in reality have the righteousness of the Son of God imputed to it and also some faith in a very strong manner to lay hold upon it yet
foundation of the earth searched out then and not till then will I cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done Again I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own Names sake and will not remember thy sins Isa. 43. 25. I will make thee a Partaker of my Promise and that I may so do I will take away that which would hinder I will cast all your sins into the depths of the sea that my promise may be sure to all the seed And therefore saith the Apostle when he would shew us that the New Covenant promises was more sure then the Old he tells us plainly that the Law and Works are set aside and they are meerly made ours through the righteousness of faith which is the righteousness of Christ. For the promise that Abraham should be heir of the world saith he was not to him or to his seed through the Law or Works but through the righteousness of faith For if they which are of the Law or of Works be heirs then â—aith is made void and the promise made of none effect Therefore it is of â—aith to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed Rom. 4. 13 14 16. Secondly surer because that as that is taken away that should hinder so they are committed to a faithful friend of ours in keeping For all the promises of God are in Christ not yea yea and nay but yea and amen certain and sure sure because they are in the hand of our head our friend our brother our husband our flesh and bones even in the heart and hand of our precious Jesus Thirdly Because all the conditions of them are already fulfilled for us by Jesus Christ as aforesaid every promise that is a New Covenant promise if there be any condition in it our undertaker hath accomplished that for us and also giveth us such grace as to receive the sweetness as doth spring from them through his obedience to every thing required in them Fourthly surer because that as they are grounded upon the love of God every thing taken out of the way in the hand of a sure friend And as Christ hath fulfilled every condition as to justification that is contained therein so the Lord hath solemnly sworn with an oath for our better confidence in this particular For when God made promise to Abraham and so to all Saints because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself saying Surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee and so after he had patiently endured he obtained the promise For men verily swear by the greater and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife that there might be no more doubt or scruple concerning the certain fulfilling of the promise wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel or certain constant unchangeable decree of God in making of the promise for the comfort of his children confirmed it by an Oath that by two immutable things his promise back'd with an Oath wherein it is impossible for God to lie we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us Heb. 6. 13 14. 15 16 17 18. Fifthly That they are better it appears also in that they are freer and fuller that they are freer it is evident in that the one saith no works no life Do this and then thou shalt live if not thou shalt be damned But the other saith we are saved by believing in what another hath done without the works of the Law Now to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness Rom. 4 4 5. The one saith pay me that thou owest the other saith I do frankly and freely forgive thee all The one saith because thou hast sinned thou shalt die the other saith because Christ lives thou shalt live also John 15 Secondly And as they are freer so they are fuller fuller of encouragement fuller of comfort the one to wit the Law looks like Pharaohs seven ill favoured kâ—â—e more ready to eat one up then to afford us any food The other is like the full grape in the cluster which for certain hath a glorious blessing in it The one saith if thou hast sinned turn again the other saith if thou hast sinned thou shalt be damned for all I have a promise in me Thirdly They that are of the second are better then they that are of the first and it also appeareth in this The promises of the Law through them we have neither faith nor hope nor the Spirit conveyed But through the promises of the Gospel there is all these 1 Pet. 1. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these we might be partakers of the Divine nature O therefore let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised Heb. 10. 23. In hope of eternal life who so because God that cannot lie promised it before the world began Tit. 1. 2. Fourthly They that are in this Covenant are in a very happy state for though there be several conditions in the Gospel to be done yet Christ Jesus doth not look that they should be done by man as man but by his own Spirit in them as it is written Thou hast wrought all our works in us and for us Is there that condition they must believe why then he will be both the Author and finisher of their faith Heb. 12. 2 3. Is there also hope to be in his Children he also doth and hath given them good hope through his grace 2 Thes. 2. 26. Again are the people of God to behave themselves to the glory of God the Father Theâ— he will work in them both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. Fifthly Again as he works all our works in us and for us so also by vertue of this Covenant we have another nature given unto us Whereby or by which we are made willing to be glorifying of God both in our bodies and in our spirits which are his Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power 2 Cor. 6. 20. Psal. 110. 3. Sixthly In the next place all those that are under this second Covenant are in a wonderful safe condition For in case they should slip or fall after their conversion into some sin or sins for who lives and sins not Prov. 24. 16. yet through the merits and intercession of Christ Jesus who is their undertaker in this Covenant they shall have their sins pardoned their wounds healed and they raised up again which priviledge the children of the first Covenant have not for if they sin they are never afterwards regarded by that Covenant They break my Covenant and I regarded them not Heb. 8. 9. But when he comes to speak of the