stead that what he did was accounted to be ours whether to righteousness and life or unto sin and death but yet so that had he stood the same obedience was in their own persons required of his posterity for themselves as was required of Adam though not with the same respect not as publick persons and representative heads so that if they had not performed it they had fallen for themselves though all mankind had not fallen if Adam had stood for the woman was first in the transgression 1 Tim. 2. Rom. 5.12 and yet though the woman fell first all mankind did not fall in her fall but by one man sin entred into the world and therefore it was not every sin of a particular person that would have destroyed all mankind but of their representative only But the second Covenant hath this in it that the first never had in Adam the second Covenant hath a surety and that is something more than a publick person that is one that represents another and stands in his place and is bound unto his debt so that if the person ingaged pay not the debt the surety must and so Adam was not the surety for all mankind that he would perform the debt or bear the curse for them all there was no Covenant that had a Surety but Christ and he was a surety of the first Covenant Gal. 4.4 made under the Law and of a better Covenant to perform all the duties of the Gospel So that all that is required is of Christ as the second Adam only in his publick capacity and representation the Law is required of us but if we perform it not we have a surety that has undertaken it Thus as the first Covenant was made with the first Adam and all his posterity so the second Covenant is made with the second Adam and all his posterity also 2. We read of a Covenant made with Persons and people and promised unto them as special mercies a Covenant made with Abraham and Isaac a Covenant made with David 2 Sam. 23.5 The Lord has made with me an everlasting Covenant in all things ordered and sure And there is a Covenant made with a people also Jer. 31.31 God made a Covenant with the house of Judah a Covenant that he would bring them under the bonds of the Covenant and Esa 55.3 Every one that thirsts come to the waters c. and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David and Ezec. 16. I entred into Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine and therefore Zac. 9.12 By the blood of thy Covenant I have delivered the prisoners out of the pit in which there is no water 3. Men are said to make the Covenant and to break it Hezekiah exhorts them 2 Chron. 30.7 8. to give the hand unto the Lord 2 Chron. 30.7 8. it 's an expression of entring into Covenant as striking the hand is in the Proverbs an expression of entring into suretiship for another there are four expressions of it in 1 Chron. 29.24 All the Princes and the mighty men and all the house of the Kingdom gave their hands unto Solomon it notes a military subjection by way of Covenant and agreement between them they did take an oath of Allegiance unto him And so that expression to joyn the hand Ezeck 17.18 He hath broken the Covenant after he had given his hand c. and Job 17.3 to strike hand is to enter into suretiship or to be engaged in a Covenant so the saints are said to enter into Covenant with the Lord by sacrifice Psal 50.5 Esay 56. and they are said to take hold of the Covenant again they are said to break the Covenant which could not be if the Covenant were not made with them and not to be faithful and constant therein Psal 25.10 Lev. 26.15 4. It will appear from the promises of the second Covenant though it 's true that they are all yea and amen in him yet are they properly and formally made unto us either the first promises of grace or else of reward unto grace Promises of grace are He will give his Spirit and will give repentance he will heal our backslidings c. and we have an unction from the holy one c. And reward of service done either in the inward dispositions Blessed are the pure in spirit blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness c. or in the outward action 1 Cor. 9.24 So run that you may obtain 1 Cor. 15. ult your labour is not in vain in the Lord. And though the Covenant be made only out of free grace yet the Saints do claim these promises not only out of mercy but from the faithfulness of God 1 Cor. 10.19 1 Jo. 1.9 2 Tim. 4.8 God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able he is faithful and just to forgive us c. And what is the ground of this but the Covenant of God whereby his faithfulness is ingaged 5. The Covenant of grace is a Covenant in the hand of a Mediator and confirmed by the death of the Testator Heb. it 's not only a Covenant but it 's a Testament 1 Christ is the Mediator now no man is a mediator between God and himself a Mediator is not a Mediator of one it must be a third person a dayes-man that must lay hold upon both therefore there is a Covenant made with Christ and Christ is a Mediator for the establishment of the Covenant with us also And 2 Christ is the Testator he died and left his Legacies of all the promises to the saints now no man gives a Legacy to himself In the Covenant made between the Father and Christ Christ is a party and a publick person but in this Covenant between God and us he is a Mediator and the Testator by whom we receive all the Legacies and Inheritance that he has purchased for us and granted to us Rom. 4.11 6. The Sacraments are seals of the Covenant of grace Now if we look upon the Covenant made with Christ and consider that his faith was perfect in God and he knew the Lord would not fail him but saies He is near that justifies me who will contend with me he will not leave my soul in Hell c. But though Christ had a strong faith yet we have but a weak faith and therefore had need of Sacraments and outward signs to confirm it wherefore the Sacraments are not to confirm the Covenant made with Christ but the Covenant made with the Saints he to whom the Covenant is made unto him the seals are to be applied and it would seem unreasonable for the Covenant to be made unto one and the seals to be applied unto the other therefore there is a Covenant made with the saints and to this Covenant the Sacraments are added as seals 7. There is a double oath to confirm this
and therefore it would be hard to perswade them to put them away having convinced them of the sin and obtained of them a promise that they would put them away he doth bind them by a Covenant which they subscribe seal and confirm by an Oath and a curse for he that will keep Covenant with God may sometimes be smitten in the place of Dragons and sometimes his Father and his Mother may stand in the way of his duty to God when he should keep the Covenant they may perswade him to break it now this is praise-worthy for a man with Levi to say to his Father and Mother I have not seen him not to know his own Brethren nor his own Children Deut. 33.9 A man had need have his heart strengthned by all manner of Covenant ingagements or else he will do as the children of Israel did about putting away their servants Jer. 34.9 go back again and behave himself falsly and unsteadily therein 6. When a man doth receive the Sacraments any of the seals of the Covenant it is his duty to renew the Covenant as often as we set to the seal anew we should read over the obligation anew Gen. 15.18 The Lord made a Covenant with Abraham but yet Gen. 17.1 2 c. the Lord renews the Covenant and the occasion of it was v. 10. because the Lord did then institute the Sacrament of Circumcision the seal of the righteousness of faith Rom. 4. when the Lord institutes the seal he renews his Covenant and so should we as often as we set to the seal Psal 50.5 So Psal 50.5 Gather my Saints together to me that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice there is a double sense given of it some say it is a description of the people of Israel whom the Lord owned to be his people because in Covenant with him by sacrifice Exod. 24. Calvin Sigilla Syngraphae sc adminicula ad saciendum Dei foedus others think it to be spoken by way of opposition to them that did rest only in the outward rites the Sacrifices that they did offer and did never look upon them as signs and seals or administring helps to the establishment of Gods Covenant they did only use the sacrifices unto the end for which the Lord appointed or did look upon them as a renewing of their Covenant with God and their ingagement unto him for their obedience And so it should be in every ordinance of God these acts of obedience should lead us unto the Covenant which is the ground of our obligation unto the same obedience this is true of Baptism also 1 Pet. 3.21 1 Pet. 3.21 which I conceive to be an allusion unto John's Baptism wherein the people first confessed their sins and renounced them and afterwards inquired into the work that they were to do in promising and ingaging themselves unto obedience and so there was a restipulation on their part unto God again And so it is true of the Lords Supper it is the New-Covenant or Testament in his blood Now the fruit and benefits that the people of God have found by the renewing of their Covenant are many 1. It hath been a testimony to them of the truth of their repentance Math. 3.8 John calls for fruits meet for repentance and what is a right fruit of repentance but to abhor the former evils we have been guilty of and say Ashur shall not save us c. and to engage to perform the contrary duty for it is not testimony enough of the truth of a mans repentance that he doth abstain from the acts of former sins unless also he has a testimony unto his own soul that he doth endeavour to grow in the contrary graces 2. It is the foundation of consolation 2 Chron. 15.14 15. in the time of Asa the King of Judah they swore with a loud voice with Trumpets and Cornets and all Judah rejoyced at the oath for they had sworn with all their hearts A day of renewing Covenant with the Lord will be a day of great rejoycing and great consolation unto the ssoul for it 's like unto a new Wedding-day the Covenant with God being a Matrimonial Covenant and it brings the soul from its wandrings unto God again and the soul says I will return to my former Husband for it was better with me then than now 3. It is a means to establish and stay the heart which is in it self exceeding fickle and uncertain it 's unstable as water Josh 24.31 they bound themselves by Covenant to serve the Lord and they did it all the days of Joshua and the Elders that had out-lived him that had seen the great mercies of God unto them and their bonds and ingagements to God So Josiah made them all stand to the Covenant and all his days they departed not from following the Lord the God of their Fathers for Jer. 13.11 2 Chron. 34.33 As a girdle cleaves to the loyns of a man so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel that they might be to me for a name and a praise and a glory there is a principle of fixing and establishing in the Covenant that a man is thereby bound to cleave to God with full purpose of heart there is no going back therefore it is called the bond of the Covenant 4. It 's a special means joyned with fasting and prayer to prevail with God for mercy when a man is willing as well to ingage himself to duty as he is to expect mercy from the Lord they sought the Lord with their whole desire and he was found of them 2 Chron. 15. and the Lord gave them rest round about and there is no more effectual way to obtain any blessing or mercy from God than a renewing of Covenant and ingagement of obedience to God And the reason hereof is this because the more the will renews its Covenant with God the more subordinated it is to the Will of God now God doth in a manner to speak â—ith reverence submit the liberality of his mercies to a will subordinated to his will Again the more we renew our Covenant with God the more harmonie there is between our will and the will of God and O! what peace ariseth hence what contentment in â—very condition According to the tenure of the New Covenant a solid full will is acceptâ—â— by God for the effect and therefore the more the will renews its consent to the Coveâ—â—nt the more it is accepted by God 5. It doth not only establish the heart but make it better as the will becomes good â—t first by willing what is good so it is then best when it most strongly wills what is best â—ow when doth the will more strongly will what is best than when it doth most firmly reâ—ew its Covenant with God its best good So many grains as there are of a deterâ—ined will in adhering to God according to the terms of the
paid in no coyn but Love again 3 The love and free-grace of God can do man no good unless it doth work in you love to him again and as he loves you freely so do you love him thankfully as no benefit that comes from him is saving to you unless it proceed from love so there is no duty that comes from you is pleasing unto him unless it proceed from love and the proper fruit of this love is to work in you love to him again 4 If you despise his Love you shall surely feel his wrath and there is nothing in the world that doth inflame the wrath of God and make his fire burn so fiercely as Grace despised and Love turned into wantonness For if Love will not win you what will Vse 3 3. How should this comfort us when we do turn to God and specially how should it encourage a back-sliding sinner to return No man hath such misgiving thoughts as he hath Erubescit conscientia erubescit oratio c. Tert. Hos 14.4 but yet remember he will receive you graciously Return you back-sliding children he will heal your back-sliding and love you freely There is no sin so great that free-grace cannot pardon there is no mercy so good that free-grace cannot bestow and therefore above all things beg of the Lord that the apprehensions of this Love may be shed abroad in your hearts it is this only that can make the promise sure because it is of Grace this will assist us in all duties arm us against all temptations sustain us in all conditions answer all objections that can be made against the peace and comfort of the soul and truly when all works in a man cease and the guilt of sin doth wear out the testimony of blood and the filth of sin the testimony of water and the soul hath nothing to fly to he is then fain to cast anchor here rest upon the Grace of God in the Covenant who promises mercy freely loves for his own sake and because he will to shew the absoluteness of his will and the unchangeableness of his Counsel towards poor sinners for ever Cogitatio suffulta est as de Deiu upon the place Isa 26.3 and here the soul is staid in the greatest desertions and darkness that can be and there is a sweet peace that follows in his soul and there is nothing can stay sinking thoughts and spirits like this when apprehensions of free-grace are put under a soul to support it That there is nothing can separate from the love of God that being the first cause there can nothing arise de novo that can make it void and of no effect CHAP. II. The Covenant of Grace as made primarily with Christ the second Adam Gal. 3.16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the Promises made he saith not to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ SECT I. The Covenant made with Christ Personal in regard of his Office § 1. WE have formerly spoken of the Person that made this Covenant whose Covenant it is and who had a chief hand therein it is the Lords Covenant We do now come unto the second thing and that is the Persons that are taken into this Covenant with whom this Covenant was made The first Covenant was made with the first Adam and with all the posterity that came from him by natural generation and is therefore fitly called Foedus Naturae the Covenant of Nature The second Covenant is made with the second Adam and with all those that are in him and because it belongs not unto all therefore is stiled Foedus Gratiae the Covenant of Grace and this Scripture holds forth a threefold subordination of the persons received into this Covenant 1 Christ 2 those that are in Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecum in loc Rom. 2.4 3 their seed also The Apostle had proved in the former part of the Chapter that men are justified by faith only and not by the works of the Law and that the same way of Justification that there was unto Abraham God did intend to justifie all the Elect by for Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness and he was herein the common father of all that should believe For they that are of faith the same are the children of Abraham the father of the Circumcision and of the Uncircumcision also and therefore he received the sign of Circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of Faith which he had being yet uncircumcised Now Abraham being herein a common root and father unto both Jews and Gentiles there was but one way of Justification for both and that for ever And whereas it is objected that Abraham was justified by faith before the Law was given but the Law being published and that in the form of a Covenant this do and live this seems to disannul and to make void the promise and the ancient way of Justification of Abraham and to set up another Now the Apostle comes to prove the stability and unchangeableness of this Covenant from the manner and custom amongst men and their transactions one with another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word in the Greek signifies both a Covenant and a Testament and therefore we render it for both one in the Text and the other in the Margent pactionem so Beza Testamentum so the Vulgar Now if a man make a bargain and confirm ingross and seal it and deliver it to the benefit of another it becomes unchangeable and irrevocable to the person that did it and he is bound to it and cannot revoke it or if a man make a Testament and then die it is amongst men counted sacred and no man can diminish or add thereunto If men whose Wills are mutable who may err and repent do by their own acts disenable themselves to revoke their Covenants much more the great God who is in his Wisdom infinite able to foresee all inconveniencies that nothing can arise de novo that he knew not of before and who is in his purposes unchangeable and cannot repent surely if he make a Covenant it is sure and stable that no after-acts of his shall make it void and of none effect but to Abraham and his seed was the Covenant thus made long before the Law was given therefore the Law given afterward cannot make it void and if the Covenant be the same then the way of Justification and Blessedness must be still the same Here are three things to be expounded 1 What is meant by the Promises 2 How Abraham is here to be considered in receiving of the Promises 3 What is meant by Christ here this one seed to whom the Promises were made 1. By Promises the whole Covenant of Grace is meant He doth call it the Covenant in the former verse and the Promise in the singular number in the verse following and the reason is because the main of the Covenant doth
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
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
they have no interest in it in respect of the spiritual priviledges and saving Graces of the same Covenant 3. There 's a two-fold Faith that the Scripture speaks of there is true and saving justifying faith which is call'd the Faith of Gods Elect and there is a temporary faith or a faith which is in profession only Math. 13. Heb. 6.4 Act. 8. and not in truth as we see in the stony ground and the temporary Believers and in Simon Magus and as it 's true saving faith that doth give a man an interest in the graces of the Covenant and makes a man Abrahams seed in reference unto grace so there is a visible faith a profession only that which only men are able to judge of to whom the power of the Keys for the dispensing of Ordinances are committed and this gives a man a title to the visible and external Priviledges of the Covenant in for◠Ecclesiae as we see Simon Magus profession of Faith was ground enough for the Apostles to administer Baptism unto him the Seal of the Covenant though afterwards he did quickly manifest that he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity Though therefore the Gentiles can never claim Abrahams Covenant as his seed according to the flesh nor many of them a spiritual right as not having the saving faith of Abraham yet they may claim relation to Abraham as an Ecclesiastical father and from a profession of the faith of Abraham may claim a true and a real interest in the external priviledges of Abrahams Covenant though they cannot pretend to his saving Graces and spiritual priviledges having never had any experience of a work of Conversion and Regeneration Quest 8 § 8. Why will the Lord have the Covenant run by way of entail in reference to the outward Priviledges of it and not in reference to the inward Graces of it The Covenant that was made with Adam was to convey the one as well as the other and the image that he had received he was to convey to his Posterity and the promise of Life spiritual and Life eternal was made unto his Posterity in case of their Obedience as well as unto himself and therefore as all dyed in him so all should have lived in him Nos omnes in Adam◠peccavimus in eo sententiam damnationis accepimus omnes Bern. S. 1. de Advent So that by the first Covenant Adam might have conveyed not only outward Priviledges but inward Graces also and whereas now by reason of the fall all Mankind do convey death to their Children Tertul. but not life and so they are become non tà m parentes quà m peremptores not so much parents as destroyers therefore seeing that the first Covenant is broken why doth not the Lord only take the Elect into Covenant and extend the Covenant of Grace unto none else and so make it with particular persons as the Covenant of the Angels did run or if he will make it to descend from Father to Son why doth he not convey the Graces of the Covenant from Parents to Posterity as well as the outward priviledges of the Covenant Why does not the Covenant run for all the Benefits of it as well as for some only the internals of the Covenant as well as the externals Answ 1. The Lord will not have the Graces of the Covenant entail'd from Parents unto Posterity 1 Because the Curse of the first Covenant is now become ex traduce by propagation and all the Posterity of Adam do now as naturally convey the Curse by reason of their broken Covenant as Adam should have conveyed life and blessing if he had stood in his integrity and therefore whatever the immediate Parents be Adams sin comes alike upon all whether they be godly or wicked and the child of a godly Parent is as truly and as deeply guilty of the sin of Adam in his birth as the child of the most wicked man that is that is an entail left upon all mankind that can never be cut off while there is a man born upon earth Rom. 5.12 for in Adam all dye because in him all sinn'd and therefore the children of godly Parents as well as others are born the children of wrath Gregor so that Timothy though there was faith unfeigned that dwelt in his Grandmother and his Mother yet he himself must be converted by the ministry of Paul or else he had no benefit by the faith of his Ancestors Rom. 3.29 and thence the Apostle saith We look upon the Jews as a people holy unto the Lord and the only visible Church upon earth and the Gentiles as strangers unto God who follow'd dumb Idols as they were led and yet in reference to their natural condition the Apostle says there is no difference for all men have sinn'd and come short of the glory of God and therefore all in their births are alike corrupted with the sin of Adam that being imputed but the personal sins of their Parents are not imputed unto them and therefore they are said Joh. 1.13 to be born not of blood that is Joh. 1.13 not by a fleshly generation so some or else as Calvin it is bloods ut longam generis successionem melius exprimeret though Grace has continued long in that line and has as it were run in a blood and comes upon a man by succession as it were for many generations as it was with Timothy c. nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man Idem significat c. If the parents be godly and they never so earnestly desire that their children might be godly also as it was Abrahams desire for Ismael that he might live in Gods sight it was spoken of living before God as in Covenant with him as it appears by the answer that the Lord returns unto him but yet for all that his desire is not granted as concerning him though he saith I will make of Ismael a great nation and many nations shall come from him yet in Isaac shall thy covenant-seed be called and with him will I establish my Covenant c. therefore the Covenant in respect of the grace of it can never be entailed upon posterity because every man begets a son in the likeness of the first Adam as he himself did immediately after his fall Gen. 5.3 and thereby conveyed the image that by sin he had brought upon himself and his posterity 2 Because under the second Covenant it 's the Election of God that takes place and puts all the difference between men and men between whom in themselves there is no difference It 's true that it 's a great dispute Whether the Lord in Election did consider man in massa pura or corrupta and I conceive it was an act of Soveraignty and therefore God respected ma◠in massa pura as a creature and not in massa corrupta as a sinner as the potter hath power over the clay of
but it 's said That from that time they came no more upon the Sabbath and surely this duty lies upon the Christian Magistrate also and it 's his sin if he do it not and so for private persons in reference to their families Thou and thy son and thy daughter thy man servant c. 4 The Jews did meet to worship God publickly upon the Sabbath day and there they had the Law and the Prophets read and preached to them every Sabbath day and from hence it 's a good argument to infer the publick meeting of Christians to worship God publickly upon their Sabbath Act. 13.27 15.21 and that part of this worship should be a constant reading and publishing the will of God in the Law and in the Prophets and in the Gospel It will be a hard matter to find rules for this under the New Testament but we must be regulated by the practice of the institutions under the former administrations I conceive it will be in this counted but a slender answer to say The institutions of the Old Testament must in nothing regulate those of the New and that argument drawn from them by way of Analogy or à pari ratione is but the presumption of man and can no way reach the mind of God The like instance I may give for the publick worship of God his commands or institutions given to the Jews and their practice will be good arguments to regulate us Christians 1 They did with a great deal of diligence and conscience frequent the place of publick worship three times a year at Jerusalem and in their Synagogue every Sabbath day They went from strength to strength every year appearing before God in Sion 2 Their coming at the beginning and staying during the whole time of the service as Ezech. 46.10 when the people shall go in he shall go in and when the people go forth he shall also go forth c. 3 We are to behave our selves with a great deal of reverence during all the time of the Ordinances Lev. 19.30 Ye shall reverence my Sanctuary 4 That you are not to depart without a blessing which is to be done by way of Office in the Name of Christ as an Ordinance Num. 6.27 Aaron and his sons did bless the people It will be hard for a man to find rules for these in the New Testament and yet it will be as hard to say that these institutions and commands of the Old Testament should not regulate us under the New We have another instance of Tithes which was a legal institution under the Old Testament I would not enter upon any unwelcome Disputes about it the Apostle lays down this as a rule That he that serves at the Altar should live of the Altar he should receive by the Law of God from his people as a reward of his labour and as a testification of the honour that is due unto him such a maintenance as may be a support and supply for necessaries to him and his that he should not go to warfare at his own charge I do not speak these things out of partiality and affection unto my own cause and calling but the Law says the same Thou shalt not muzle the mouth of the ox doth God take care for oxen It is spoken there for our sakes that the incouragement of the Ministers in their service might depend upon the Law of God and not on the will humours and allowances of covetous cruel men And our Divines reason commonly from the manner of Gods dealing with the Priests and Levites under the Law and from thence argue the care that God takes of his Ministers Lev. 27.30 Num. 35.2 and that it must be a free and a liberal maintenance for they had the tenth of all the increase of seed or fruit of all their great and small cattel they had forty eight Cities with their Suburbs they had all the first-fruits also besides the sin-offering the meat-offering all their vows and voluntary oblations and from a parity of reason they do infer that the like care ought to be taken and the like maintenance in the days of the Gospel And whereas the people though in a poor condition failing in this are said to rob God and therefore are cursed with a curse that they did sow much and bring in little they do from thence conclude and infer that where the like sin remains it will be looked upon by God with the same eye Mal. 3.7 and will surely be followed by him with the same curse and many such instances may be given of rules to be drawn from Old Testament-institutions to regulate men in many things of the New or else we shall in many things be left without direction 5. Let 's examine how far our Divines do argue from the seals of the O. T. unto those of the New and it will appear that every position hath enough in Scripture to warrant it 1 Our Baptism is the seal of the same Covenant that Circumcision was then the Covenant of Grace was the same for substance with that under the New Testament for it 's Abrahams Covenant that was sealed in Circumcision and so it is in Baptism also for Rom. 4. Abraham is the father of all that are circumcised and of all that are uncircumcised also to that Covenant the righteousness whereof is the righteousness of faith that of Circumcision was a seal and we are also baptized into Christ into his Death and Resurrection c. 2 The persons taken into Covenant of old were the children and their parents I will be thy God and the God of thy seed their children are the sons of the Covenant and of the promise that God made with their fathers c. This has been manifested not only under the Law but before the Law from the beginning and also under the Gospel the Lord as he did cast off the Jews and their children so he took in the Gentiles and their children into Covenant with himself and though they were by nature the wild Olive-tree Rom. 11. yet they were ingrafted into the good Olive-tree and do partake of the root and fatness thereof and when he will take in the Jews again they shall be taken in they and their seed as they and their seed were disinherited and cast out 3 That Baptism succeeds in the room and place of Circumcision as the seal of the same Covenant and as the Ordinance of Initiation which will appear 1 Because the end was the same in both viz. to be the Sacrament of admission of visible members 2 Because the grace of the thing signified is the same Circumcision is cutting off of the body of sins in the flesh and Baptism a being buried with Christ in his death by a work of mortification c. and so much the Apostle doth intimate Col. 2.9 10 11 12. he had said we need joyn nothing of the Law for we are compleat in Christ and therefore
MADAM Your Ladyships to honour and serve you in the Lord Theophilus Gale Newington March 26. 1678. A Summary of the Two Covenants THIS following Discourse of the two Covenants preached by that great Divine Mr. William Strong needs no Prologue to usher it into the World The Authors Character The Author was indeed as it is said of Augustin a Wonder of Nature for natural Parts and a Miracle of Grace for deep insight into the more profound Mysteries of the Gospel He had a Spirit capacious and prompt sublime and penetrant profound and clear a singular Sagacity to pry into the more difficult Texts of Scripture an incomparable Dexterity to discover the Secrets of corrupt Nature a Divine Sapience to explicate the Mysteries of Grace and an exact Prudence to distribute Evangelic Doctrines according to the capacity of his Auditors Are not the Ministers of Christ termed Stars in his right hand Rev. 1.20 Rev. 1.20 And was not this our Author one of the first magnitude O! what a glorious Star was he in the right hand of the Lord to reveal the resplendent light of the Gospel unto his Auditors What lights and heats of Divine Grace did he communicate unto others It 's prophesied of our Lord Hab. 3.4 Hab. 3.4 His brightness was as the light he had horns or rather beams coming out of his hand and there was the hiding of his power This brightness of Christs light must be understood of his Evangelic light whereby he as the Sun of Righteousness irradiates Evangelic Churches and by the Horns or rather Beams for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here must signifie coming out of his hand we must understand according to our Lords own interpretation Rev. 1.20 Evangelic discoveries by the Ministers of his Gospel those Stars in his right hand imployed by him for the irradiation and illumination of this inferior world and O! what an hidden power is conveyed together with this light And may we not conclude this our Author one of those Stars who diffused illustrious beams of Evangelic light from the right hand of Christ where was the hiding of his power And as he transcended the most of this Age in the Explication of Evangelic Verities so in his Intelligence and Explication of the two Covenants he seems much to excel himself this being the great study of his life and that whereon his mind was mostly intent And I can here truly apply that observation of the Queen of Sheba 1 King 10.7 touching the wisdom of Solomon to this our intelligent Author The Notices I received from his other Works gave me a great impression of his Divine Wisdom but what mine eyes have seen and my thoughts imbibed of his incomparable Intelligence from this his elaborate Discourse of the two Covenants assures me that not the half was told me by his Works formerly published He was indeed a Person intimely and familiarly acquainted with the deepest points in Theology but yet as to these that relate to the Covenant of Grace his Spirit seems to have been most deeply baptized and immersed into them which any judicious Reader may with facility perceive by a transient inspection into any part of the following Discourse Of what incomparable excellent Use this Discourse may be for the diffusing Evangelic Light and Truth no one can be ignorant The excellent use of this Discourse who is acquainted with the mind and intendment either of the Law or Gospel or sensible of those many dangerous errours which have of late sprung up from the ignorance of both How many have taken away the use of the Law thereby to advance as they conceit the Grace of the Gospel And have not too many on the other hand destroyed the Grace of the Gospel whiles they have endeavoured to exalt the letter of the Law as a Covenant Both these extremes our judicious Author has accurately obviated and avoided He has approved himself a good Advocate for the Law as it is a rule and instrument subservient to the Gospel but yet he gives the Gospel the principal place and preeminence as it is saiths magna Charta He has indeed exactly hit the difference between the two Covenants which argues his deep insight into both and surely they that rightly understand the Idea or Notion of the two Covenants attain thereby a clue of thread to lead them into the most intricate Mysteries of Evangelic Doctrines as on the contrary those who have not right sentiments of the two Covenants what hesitation and suspension if not errour and misapprehension do they fall under in the most momentous points of Religion Yea doth not the rectitude not only of our Faith but also of our Christian practice and conversation principally depend on the due notices of the two Covenants Are not these as the centre wherein all the lines of Divine Grace and humane Duty meet Are we not then greatly obliged to this our Author for his elaborate endeavours in this work He demonstrates 1 That God never did nor will deal with mankind meerly in a way of Dominion but also in a way of Covenant 2 That both Covenants are made with men not immediately but in and by some publick person 3 That it is Vnion with either of these publick persons that brings a man under their Covenant 4 That it is impossible for any man to be under both Covenants because the terms and conditions of the one destroy the terms of the other These with some other weighty Truths relating to the two Covenants in general he doth distinctly and fully explicate and demonstrate The Covenant of works and its curse Our Author begins his Discourse with the Covenant of Works and treats first of the Temporal Curse that attends the breach thereof and then of the Spiritual of which more fully in the Contents we shall only give some short and particular Reflections on and Notions of this first Covenant 1 The Covenant made with Adam was not particular with his person under a single capacity but with his nature as a common person or representative Head from whom all mankind were by natural generation to descend and herein the Covenant made with Adam differs from that made with the Angels which was particular and personal they being all created at once and existent when their Covenant was made Hence 2 In this first Covenant made with Adam all his posterity stand bound to God both naturally by virtue of their being created in him and voluntarily by virtue of his stipulation Whence 3 Every son of Adam falls under both the duties and curses of his Covenant for as the duties so the curses of Adams Covenant seized not meerly on Adams single person but on his nature and so on all mankind who are in him both legally and naturally Thence 4 No man can be freed from the curse of the Law that is not freed from it as a Covenant There is since Adams Fall an essential and inseparable connexion between
the Curse and Covenant the Curse naturally attends the Covenant every son of Adam necessarily falls under the former as well as the latter Mens natural desire to be under the first Covenant 5 All men naturally and ardently desire to be under Adams Covenant The natural blindness and pride of mens hearts strongly impels them to build a Spiders house of their own on which they may lean as Job 8.14 15. Are not all men by nature children of the bond-woman and so possest with a spirit of bondage Have they not a legal spirit answerable to the Covenant they are under And doth not this legal spirit bring forth suitable fruits Do not such as are informed and acted by it perform all services to God in the oldness of the letter in a formal servile legal manner without regard to Christ the Mediator Yea is not this legal spirit whereby those under Adams Covenant are acted full of enmity and opposition against Christ his Righteousness and all the terms of his new Covenant Doth not such mens rejecting the terms and grace of the second Covenant argue their strong propensions yea vehement impulses towards Adams Covenant Are not all their spiritual Gifts common Graces legal Righteousnesses as well as all their sins imployed to oppose the Grace and Righteousness of the second Covenant And if their consciences be at any time awakened and their sins set in order before them in all their bloody aggravations yet what a difficult thing is it to bring them off from the old Covenant What hard black scandalous thoughts of Christ are they filled with How do their hearts sink under unbelieving despondences and base jealousies of Christ And doth not all this argue mens vehement desires to be found under the first Covenant 6 The more the glory of the second Covenant is revealed to such as are under the first The rejection of the second Covenant the greater efforts and more vehement opposition they put forth against it The more mens natural reason is elevated by supernatural common illumination the more stout-hearted they are against the terms of the new Covenant all their moral righteousnesses serve only to set them farther off from the righteousness of faith their good deeds as well as their bad fortifie them against the embracement of the new Covenant because it would spoil them of their own righteousnesses which they have wrought so hard for all their days and subject them to the righteousness of God Do we not find all this greatly exemplified in the Pharisees and legal Jews who having espoused to themselves the old Covenant rejected Christ and his Righteousness 7 For men thus electively to put themselves under the first Covenant and reject the grace of the second is a sin of the first magnitude and deepest aggravations Hath not the great God exalted the second Covenant above the first Is it not then an high injury against him to bring down that Covenant God has exalted and to exalt that which he has made null above it Is not Christ the Mediator of the new Covenant the greatest gift that ever God vouchsafed mankind God justly leaves such to the Covenant they desire Oh! then how injurious is it to God to reject so great a gift and the grace offered by him 8 It is therefore just with the righteous God to leave men to stand or fall by that Covenant under which they so strongly desire to be Doth the holy and blessed God do the sons of Adam any wrong in leaving them under his Covevant unto which they have such a strong impulse and desire If he hereby gives them but the desire of their heart what cause have they to complain against him And will not his procedure at last day appear to be most just and rational in judging men according to the tenure of the first Covenant unto which they had so strong a desire May not God justly lay to their charge every the least sin and make them bear the burden of it seeing they have put themselves under a Covenant that admits not any Mediator Whom have they to represent their persons to bear their sins to pay their debts to endure their curse to perform their duties seeing they reject the Mediator of the second Covenant This leads to the second general Head The misery of such as are under the first Covenant The deplorable and miserable state of such as are under the first Covenant 1 Is it not a deplorable case for men voluntarily to elect their own ruine Was it ever known that men did contentedly yea chearfully sit down under a state of most miserable bondage when full liberty was offered to them by a benign gracious Prince Doth it not argue a spirit immersed in the basest servitude to take complacence in its chains and fetters And yet is not this the very case of all such as desire to be under the first Covenant 2 Is it not a miserable thing for a man to be on the very brink of ruine and yet not sensible of it yea under a fond presumption of a blessed state For a man to go as an Ox to the slaughter adorned with a garland made up of the fading flowers of his own righteousnesses what folly and madness is this And yet is not this the very case of all Pharisaic spirits who live and die under the first Covenant Is not a good conceit of a bad state most dangerous and miserable To be alive in carnal presumptions self-flattery and self-sufficiency and yet spiritually dead in Divine estimation is it not the worst of deaths Are not such next degree to falling into Hell who fondly flatter themselves that they can stand longer and surer than others by their own forces 1 Cor. 10.12 And are not such as put themselves under the first Covenant guilty of all these pieces of folly 3 Is it not a sad case for sinners to put themselves under a Covenant which neither gives or admits a Mediator To have none to represent their persons but to be left standing before the righteous holy God in their own names bearing their own sins expecting to be justified by their own works to pay their own debts or to endure their own punishment what greater misery can there be 4 To be under a Covenant that neither promises nor gives nor accepts of Repentance but leaves men to live and die in their sins without the least drop of the blood of Christ to wash them away what a sad case is this Must not such expect that as soon as they peep out of the grave and lift up their traiterous heads their own consciences as also Divine Justice condemn and pursue them unto all eternity 5 Is it not also a most wretched forlorn case for men to have their persons hated yea loathed by the God of all love and mercy and thence their best services rejected for the least failings in them And is not this the case of all such as stand under
Charter by which he has a Law-right to all the Priviledges and Blessings of the Gospel Doth not this Covenant give us assurance not only of Gods gracious and merciful Nature but also of his good will towards sinners It 's true Gods Nature gives us full assurance that what he has promised shall be performed but what gives us assurance of the Promise but the Covenant of Grace Yea what are all the Promises but so many lines of the Covenant concentring in Christ the Prince and Mediator thereof Do not all the Promises spring from that mother-root the Covenant of Grace in Christ Yea what is the New-creature but a conformity to this New Covenant Is there any condition that a Believer can fall into but he may find some Promise in this Covenant to relieve him therein Yea is there any excellence in God or his creature which is not made over for your use in and by this Covenant Are not all Gods good things yours and all your afflictive things Gods by this Covenant May you not then lay the stress of all your cares and burdens on this Covenant Are you Bondslaves of the Law will not this Covenant make you Freeholders if you come unto it and embrace it Is there any thing commanded in the Law which this Covenant doth not enable to perform The Law may fret and grind your spirits to powder but what can melt them but this Covenant The Law weighs Obedience by the Ballance and if there be the least grain wanting doth it not reject all But doth not this Covenant examine all by the Touch-stone and accept what is sincere albeit imperfect Art thou very unlike to God and is this thy great burden consider then has not this Covenant a transformative spirit to make thee like him What is the scope of this Covenant but to make God thine and thee Gods And dost thou not hereby acquire an interest in all the blessings of God Doth not this give thee the best assurance thou canst desire for any desired or enjoyed Mercy Doth the first Covenant stop thy mouth before God and doth not this second Covenant stop the mouth of the first Are not the riches of free Grace laid up in Christ and are not the riches of Christ laid up in the Covenant of Grace Doth not the believing Soul by cleaving to this Covenant grow out of it to the stature of a perfect man Whence come all the hopes comforts and happiness of the Saints but from this Covenant as 2 Sam. 23.5 O! what glorious Relations between God and Man arise from this Covenant what an interest doth man acquire in God as well as God in man by this Covenant yea are not the smallest mercies by this Covenant made exceeding great and sweet O the infinite boundless Dimensions the invisible Miracles and wonders of free Grace lodged in the Covenant of Grace Are there any banks or bottoms to this Ocean of free Grace Can the sins of the vilest men sink them beyond the depths thereof could they by faith swim thereon What wonders are here for Faith's Contemplation Admiration and Adoration Are not these ways and methods of free Grace comprehended in the Covenant of Grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imperscrutable such as all the wit and sagacity of Men and Angels cannot prie into Rom. 11.33 as also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impervestigable such as leave no Vestigia or foot steps for carnal Reason to trace out as Rom. 11.33 Ought we not then with Paul that great Miracle of Grace to stand on the banks of this Ocean of free Grace expressed in this New Covenant and crie out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the Depths of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! So great and excellent are the Benefits of this Covenant 3. Let us a little inquire into the Mediator and Prince of this Covenant 3. The Covenant of Grace made primarily with Christ which also will give us a further Demonstration of its excellence The Apostle instructs us Gal. 3.16 that Christ is the Seed to whom the Promises or Covenant was primarily made by seed some understand Christ Personal others Christ Mystical but we may with our Author Gal. 3.16 very safely take in both senses understanding it primarily and principally of Christ Personal who is the prime Federate and thence of Christ Mystic Abraham and his believing seed considered as members of Christ with whom the Covenant was primarily made Now this Covenant as made with Christ terminates on him under a two-fold respect 1 In relation to his own Mediatory Office 2 In relation to his Body the Church as he is Head thereof 1 As it regards Christs Mediatory Office and his more compleat discharge thereof so God the Father by donation and stipulation constituted him Mediator and Surety of this Covenant gave him a promise of Assistence Deliverance Acceptance Justification Exaltation and success in the management of his Mediatory Kingdom This part of the Covenant belongs solely to Christ wherein his members have no share albeit much benefit thereby 2 There is another part of this Covenant made with Christ primarily which regards him as Head of his body mystic For look as the first Adam as a public person and representative head received both a Covenant and Image to communicate to his posterity who were both legally and naturally in him so also this our second Adam received both a Covenant and Image for his seed to be imparted to them Are not all the promises made primarily to him and in him to his members And if there be any promise to be fulfilled must not thy soul look up to Christ and his worthiness alone for its fulfilling Is not the righteousness of the Covenant laid up in him and by virtue of union with him made ours Is there any dram of the holy oil of Grace imparted to us but what was first poured out on the sacred head of this our High Priest Do not also all the priviledges of the Covenant primarily belong to him and to us only as in him Hast thou any duty to perform and must thou not look up to Christ for strength to perform it Doth it not belong to him only to â—ive supplies Or hast thou any service to be accepted and can it be accepted any other way than as perfumed with the Incense of his Merits Are not all the sons of the first Adam by sin cut off from all communion with God the Fountain of all good Can they then receive any good thing from him but by the hand of this Mediator Doth God give the least good to any sinner immediately Have sinners any thing to do with God in a way of mercy immediately in themselves If we speak a good word of prayer to God or he speak a good word of comfort to us must it not be in and by the Angel of his presence Are not all debts paid in him all duties performed by him all blessings conveyed
through him Have we then any thing to do with or receive from God in a covenant way but by this Mediator and union with him Did not God from all Eternity give his Son as the foundation of this Covenant to the Elect as also give them to him as a seed And is not this the true import of their being elected in him Is it not also hence said Tit. 1.2 That eternal life was promised to the elect before the world began How could it be promised to them but by this Covenant of Redemption with Christ their Head Did not the Church Christs mystic body lie hid in him from Eternity as Eve lay hid in Adam her head Are not all Believers by the Covenant of Grace in Christ as by nature we are all in the first Covenant And is not Christ in every Believer as Adam in all his natural seed How is the first Adam in us but as the original cause of our nature and its moral vitiosity which causeth death And is not Christ the second Adam in all Believers as the original cause of their restauration and life What is there good in man but what is first in Christ as the original Head of the Covenant and public Receiver Wouldst thou see Gods love and grace streaming towards thy soul Must thou not then first see it lodged in Christ as the Fountain of all Dost thou desire to see all thy sins wiped off Must thou not then see them first wiped off from Christ thy Representative Wouldst thou by a prevision of faith see thy self in a glorified state O then by faith look on Christ the Head of the Covenant as glorified for thee Alas if thou look on thy self in thy self growing out of thine own natural root what art thou but as a branch cut off from the Olive-root But O! how comfortable and sweet is it to see thy self crucified acquitted and glorified in Christ the Head of the Covenant Yea doth he not only become a surety for us to God but also a surety for God to us And O! how much doth this engage sinners to exalt this glorious Head and Mediator of the New Covenant Was not this the grand design of God in making this Covenant that his Son the Prince of it might be in every thing exalted Why are all the promises of the Covenant dispensed first unto him and all the duties of the Covenant required first of him and of us in him but that he may have the preeminence in all things and a name above every name That the Son of God and Lord of Glory should by his own consent in the Covenant of Redemption between him and the Father come under an act of Gods will and undertake in the fulness of time to take upon him the form of a servant to pay debts who never owned any that he that was Lord of the Law should be made under the Law that all the Elect should have their names transcribed out of the Fathers book of Election into the Lambs book of life Rev. 13.8 yea have their names written in his heart from all Eternity and thereby to have such a blessed Being in him so long before they had the least Being in themselves what an essential obligation are they hereby brought under to exalt this glorious Head and Prince of their Covenant 4. But let us discourse a little of the Nature of this second Covenant 4. The Nature of the Covenant as relating to Believers as terminating more immediately on Believers And here the Reader will excuse me if I studiously avoid the controversies of these times and touch only on that which is more essential to Faith and Godliness The Covenant of Grace as made with Believers has a twofold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habitude or regard the one externe the other interne (1) As to its externe Dispensation which is The Covenant of Grace as to its externe Habitude and Dispensation admits some Variety Generality and Conditionality which is not applicable to the interne spirit and mind thereof [1] Various It admits of some Variety It has pleased the infinitely wise God out of his rich mercy and condescendence to the condition of his people in all Ages to suit the externe Dispensation of his second Covenant to their infirm capacity albeit as to the spirit and substance thereof it hath been ever the same Thus in the first promulgation of it to Adam after his Fall God expressed it by the seed of the woman and its bruising the serpents head c. Gen. 3.15 which was a form most agreeable to their present state introduced by the Serpents subtility and craft So in the second promulgation of this Covenant unto Noah after the Floud Gen. 9.17 God expressed it by the Ark and Rain-bow c. as it 's repeated Esa 54.9 which were symbolic Images very apposite and agreeable to their preservation newly obtained The like Variety God manifested in the repetition of this Covenant unto Abraham Gen. 17.2 to 16. where God promulgates his Covenant as to its externe Habitude under the symbolic forms of multiplying his natural seed the sign of Circumcision c. which were â—ll lively figures very much adapted to his present state he having no children So again when God renewed this Covenant with the Israelites after their coming out of Egypt what variety doth he use Is not the very Prologue to it touching their deliverance out of the house of bondage an illustrious Symbol to mind them of their miserable state by the first Covenant What were all the Sacrifices but federal Symbols representing to the life mans sin and misery under the first Covenant and reconcilement to God by the second So also for the moral Precepts with which this Mosaic Covenant was ushered in of what use and intendment were they but to make way for the promulgation and advance of free Grace as John Baptist made way for Christ It 's true some of late from this variety have started a Notion of a threefold Covenant one natural another legal or Mosaic and the third Evangelic but this Notion was the figment of the old Origenistic Monks to establish their Antichristian merits as Melancthon Chron. lib. 4. assures us The true Idea of the Mosaic Covenant seems this it was indeed as to its interne spirit mind form and essence Evangelic albeit as to its externe form and dispensation it was mixed and composed of moral Precepts and symbolic Types or shadows and O! how agreeable was this to the infantile state of the Israelitic Church Did not the wise God herein act like a curious Limner who first gives an adumbration and dark shadow with a rude Pencil and then adds lively colours to compleat his Picture What were all the Types but Evangelic shadows whereby the Grace of the second Covenant became visible and sensible [2] Indifferent and general The Covenant of Grace as to its externe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and dispensation admits of some
That they may stand in aw of the threats of God under the second covenant Pag. 164 The difference between the covenant made with Christ and with us lies in these things 1 It was made with Christ primarily as a publick person for the Elect but it is made with every one of us in the second place as we are members of Christ 2 It is made with Christ immediately and for his own sake but with us mediately in him 3 The promise made unto Christ was from everlasting but the covenant is made with us when we believe 4 All the promises of the second covenant belong unto Christ as his purchase and unto us of promise 5 Christ as to his covenant hath no surety but we have a surety of ours ibid. It is the duty of every one to enter into this covenant with the Lord. 1 If they come not under this covenant they have no interest in God 2 It is only in this covenant that all the persons have undertaken peculiar offices for the good of men 3 Otherwise God regards them not nor any thing they do 4 This is a matrimonial covenant and it is a covenant of friendship 5 God and the soul know not how to live asunder 6 This covenant is the last that God ever intends to make with mankind Pag. 165 That we enter into covenant with God it is required 1 That we hear the words of the covenant and know aright the terms of it 2 That we deny our selves 3 Bear his yoke 4 Not shrink at the cross but take it up Pag. 168 God requires of all those that enter into covenant with him that they should make conscience to keep it Pag. 171 Saints have many promises of the second covenant not accomplished to them in this life because they walk not exactly according to the rules of this covenant Pag. 172 A man once in covenant is ever in covenant 1 Because the love of God that made the covenant is everlasting 2 Because it is made with the persons of men 3 Because union with Christ puts them into this covenant and that is indissoluble 4 Because the righteousness of this covenant is everlasting 5 Because Christ is the surety of it 6 Because the everlasting principle of grace in the soul doth always lay hold of and cleave unto the covenant Pag. 173 Saints are yet to be exhorted not to break the covenant 1 Because of the falseness of their hearts 2 Because of the slothfulness and heedlesness of their spirits in whatever is good though bound by many bonds 3 Because thereby they may be quickned to seek to God for grace to keep it 4 Fear those sins which come nearest covenant-breaking Pag. 174 That Saints may keep covenant they must 1 Get a true heart 2 A stablished and fixed heart 3 Exercise faith upon the grace of God in this covenant Pag. 175 Saints being entred into covenant ought to improve their interest in it in all their ways 1 In reference to themselves 2 In reference to God Pag. 177 A fourfold relation is the necessary result of this covenant hereby Christ becomes 1 our Father 2 our Husband 3 our Friend 4 our Lord. ibid. Saints hearts should be always in such a frame as to receive the mercies of the covenant which consist 1 In a believing heart relying upon the grace of the covenant notwithstanding seeming impossibilities 2 In a continual expectation of the promise And yet 3 A resigning it unto the will of God whether he will bestow it in this life or no. 4 In desiring mercy no further than it may make them holy Pag. 179 Saints in this covenant ingage themselves that whatever God bestows in mercy they will return again in duty Pag. 180 Saints having given up their names to God in this covenant they ought often to renew it 1 Because of the unbelief of their spirits 2 To manifest the sincerity of their hearts 3 Because of the falseness of their hearts 4 Because thereby they lay the greater engagement upon them 5 Because of the forgetfulness of their hearts 6 Because of their ignorance and blindness Pag. 184 He that renews covenant must 1 Be deeply sensible of breach of covenant 2 Resolve to break all other covenants 3 Consider the terms of the covenant anew 4 Do it with a free and full consent 5 Be willing to bind himself in the highest way to obedience thereto 6 Do it with earnest desire to God for grace to keep it Pag. 186 The times and seasons of renewing are 1 After an eminent falling into great sin 2 In time of publick humiliation 3 Of publick reformation 4 After special deliverance or mercy as a testimony of thankfulness 5 When the heart is bent to back-slide 6 At the Lords Supper Pag. 188 The benefits of this renewing covenant are 1 It is a testimony of the truth of repentance 2 It 's the foundation of consolation 3 It 's a means to establish the heart 4 It brings mercies 5 It improves graces 6 It fortifies against temptations 7 It strengthens union with Christ 8 It is a door to communion with God 9 It keeps from or recovers out of back-sliding 10 It is the spring of duty and action Pag. 190 CHAP. IV. The Covenant of Grace is referring to the Seed of the Faithful Gen. 17.7 The Covenant that God made with Abraham is the same that all the Faithful stand in unto the worlds end Pag. 193 Though in the manner of its administration there is a great deal of difference yet as to the substance of the covenant the Confederates are the same and taken in upon the same grounds ibid. That the children of believing Parents are taken into the same covenant with them is a point of great concernment and ought earnestly to be contended for because 1 It exceedingly advances the grace of God unto parents and makes much for their consolation 2 It is one of the great arguments the Scripture useth to draw men in to believe 3 It is the only difference God hath put in his word between the children of believers and strangers 4 It is the only ground believers can have for the salvation of their children that die in their infancy Pag. 193 Ever since the Fall God hath taken children into the same covenant with their parents Pag. 195 When parents are cast out of covenant the children are also Pag. 196 Children of believing parents are members of the visible Church ibid. Thence there is a holiness comes upon those children ibid. God hath made glorious promises to the posterity of the Saints Pag. 197 That children are so taken in is Gospel and to be believed as any other part of the covenant ibid. God will take children into the same covenant with their parents 1 To shew the extent of the grace of the second covenant 2 Because a great number of the Elect are the children of Saints 3 To shew his peculiar love to their seed 4 This is the surest
ground of a mans judgment in reference to persons Pag. 200 The parents covenant takes in all their seed Pag. â—04 The covenant of grace hath two parts viz. spiritual priviledges and saving graces Pag. 206 All mankind for the state of their persons are either under the covenant of works or of grace Pag. 207 It is a special priviledge for parents and children that they are taken into their parents covenant Pag. 208 What the federal holiness of children is shewed negatively and positively Pag. 214 Parents only can give their children a federal right Pag. 219 Objections against it answered Pag. 225 None can have a right to the seals of the covenant but those that are members of the Church Pag. 226 Right of membership conveyed unto children from immediate parents is a truth the whole Scriptures hold forth ibid. The right of membership consists not barely in being baptized Pag. 227 Whether it be converting grace or external profession that gives children this federal right Pag. 230 The reasons why God will have the covenant run by way of entail as to its outward priviledges and not inward graces Pag. 234 How far arguments drawn from circumcision can by way of rule determine any of the essentials of baptism Pag. 236 How far the Jews by being Abrahams seed might pretend right to Evangelic Ordinances Pag. 238 1. The covenant the same for substance both to Jews and Gentiles ibid. 2. The covenant under different administrations as to its external ordinances Pag. 239 3. The Jews and Gentiles on equal terms as to the new administration ibid. How can children who cannot restipulate be taken into covenant with God ibid. 1. Whether consent be essential to a covenant ibid. 2. That infants may enter into covenant with God demonstrated ibid. 3. The consent of the parents is in Gods account accepted for the childrens being in a covenant Pag. 240 Whether it were not better to leave children out of this federal consideration ibid. 1. Gods command not to be disputed ibid. 2 3. To be taken into the parents covenant a great priviledge and dignitie to children ibid. 4 5. The influences of baptism many and great ibid. 6. It lays a great obligation on parents and children ib. 7. Why Christ deferred his baptism so long ibid. SECT III. The Covenant-right of Children applied Pag. 241 Use 1. For information 1. To shew the evils of Anti-pedobaptism 1 Hereby is framed such a covenant as God never made ibid. 2 By this means great injury is done to children ib. 2. The cruelty of unbelieving parents ibid. The Church of Rome no true Church ibid. Use 2. For exhortation 1. Vnto parents to take hold of the covenant for their children Pag. 241 2. Vnto children that they would walk worthy of this covenant-relation ibid. 3. Vnto the Churches of Christ to take care of their members children that they be brought up in the fear of the Lord. ibid. Use 3. For consolation to the people of God ibid. BOOK III. The Covenant of Grace its Nature and Benefits CHAP. I. THE difference between a Law Testament and Covenant Pag. 241 Gods part of the covenant consists in promises 1 Because in Scripture covenant and promises signifie the same thing 2 Because a people taken into covenant are thereby entitled to the promises 3 Because when God performs a promise he is then said to keep his covenant 4 The end of the covenant is but to inherit the promises Pag. 242 A promise is a declaration of Gods eternal purpose concerning good things to come which he ingages his faithfulness freely through Christ to bestow upon his people ibid. The reasons why Gods part of the covenant mainly consists in promises 1 Because Saints life here is a life of faith 2 Promises are great grounds of their hope 3 Great means of their souls purification 4 They are the rule of their prayers Pag. 244 Of Gods promises some are absolute some conditional ib. Absolute promises not formally made unto us but unto Christ Pag. 245 In them the creature is meerly passive ibid. The state of faith is double of affiance of assurance ibid. The ways of assurance are 1 By immediate testimony 2 By mans own graces ibid. The promises of the first covenant were all conditional and supposed grace In the second there are promises of giving grace where there is none ibid. Absolute promises have their degrees of accomplishment as well as conditional Pag. 246 Saâ—â—s should look on the promises as precious and store their souls with them stay their sinking souls upon them and wait for their accomplishment ibid. The way to attain promises is 1 To be sensible of the want of them 2 To get a strong faith 3 To be much in prayer 4 Patiently to wait for them Pag. 247 Grounds to assure the soul of attaining the promise at last 1 Gods faithfulness 2 The covenant made with Christ confirmed by an oath 3 The Intercession of Christ 4 The experience of the Saints Pag. 249 Signs of the near accomplishment of the promise 1 When extremity increases 2 An earnest expectation in the soul which makes him more earnest for it 3 When notwithstanding the heart is brought to a holy indifferency to be content with God alone Pag. 250 The great promises of the covenant on Gods part are personal promises ibid. That there are such promises in which the three Persons in the Godhead are made over to the soul Pag. 251 These promises import a gracious propriety in the persons which God by covenant makes over to the creature ibid. The reasons why the second covenant must have personal promises 1 Because man in his Fall lost all his relation to God 2 Without this he caâ— never be happy 3 These Promises are the grounds of our Vnion with all the Persons in the Trinity Which 4 is the Foundation of all communion Pag. 251 Adam had not such a personal interest in God as the Saints now have Pag. 253 To deny any of the Persons in the Trinity is a devilish Doctrine Pag. 255 c. Saints should exercise faith upon all the Persons grounded upon these Promises 1 As all have a special hand in the sinners Salvation 2 Gods main intendment in the Gospel is to glorifie the three Persons in the Trinity in believers hearts Pag. 257 Saints should exercise Love towards all the three Persons Pag. 258 CHAP. II. The Covenant of Grace makes God to be our God Two things to be considered in God His Essence his Subsistence Pag. 259 To be a God is a Term of Sufficiency and Sovereignty Pag. 260 It notes the manner of fulfilling Promises even as becomes a God ibid. All mankind that are out of covenant have no interest in God ibid. When men are in Covenant with God they change their God Pag. 261 Three things in the New Covenant give a man Propriety in God 1 Gods gracious and free making over of himself 2 Vnion with Christ 3 A free and voluntary giving up the Soul
is Christs King and Lord so he is the Saints 1 He gives them a Law 2 Carries them through their service 3 Destroys their enemies 4 Receives their accounts 5 Rewards them Pag. 321 As the Father stands unto Christ in the relation of a friend or companion so he doth to the Saints Pag. 323 As Christ is the true Vine so the Father is the Husbandman Pag. 324 The visible Church is in Scripture compared to four trees 1 To an Olive-tree 2 To a Palm-tree 3 To a Cedar 4 To a Vine Pag. 325 The Church is compared to a Vine 1 For its excellency 2 Spreading nature 3 Fruitfulness 4 Want of continual husbandry ibid. God the Father is said to be the husbandman 1 Because he plants the Vine 2 Fences it 3 Hires labourers 4 Waters it 5 Prunes it 6 Purges the fruitful branches that they may bring forth more fruit Pag. 326 As the Father is the fountain of the life of Christ so in him he is the fountain of spiritual life unto his Saints Pag. 328 Joh. 6.57 largely explained ibid. Whoever hath an interest in one Person of the Trinity hath at the same time an interest in them all Pag. 331 Yet there is a distinct interest in them all to be attained Pag. 332 The high advancement of the creature lies in union with the Persons Pag. 333 There is more in union with the Persons than in all other benefits whatever ibid. It is our title unto the Person that gives us a title unto all the benefits ibid. If there is such an interest in the Persons every man should examine himself whether he hath that interest Pag. 334 The way of getting this interest is by closing with the Son Pag. 335 If a man be entitled to the Persons there will be the drawing out of his heart towards each Person ibid. There will never be a fulness of assurance till the Persons that have given an interest in themselves do also witness their interest Pag. 336 We are to exercise faith upon all the Persons thus made over under the second covenant ibid. The objects of saith that the soul is to take in in each of the Persons are 1 The Persons themselves we are to believe the record of them all 2 The soul is to rest upon all the promises that in Scripture are made concerning these Persons 3 Faith is to rest upon the love of them all 4 Also upon the appropriated acts of each Person and rely upon them for the performance of them 5 Faith should expect all the Attributes of God to be distinctly exercised by all the Persons 6 Also it should distinctly close with them all in their witnessing ibid. The acts of faith that are distinctly to be put sort upon them all are 1 A fiducial knowledge that the Persons are made over to us 2 A casting of our selves by distinct thought upon each of these Persons 3 A drawing virtue from all the objects of faith 4 A resignation of the soul to God 5 An exercising distinct acts of communion with all the Persons Pag. 339 That there is a distinct communion with all the Persons proved Pag. 340 This communion doth consist 1 In the love one of another 2 In acting one for another 3 In visitations 4 In imparting of counsels 5 In mutual delights in their interest one in another 6 In calling upon one another for further fellowship and communion ibid. Arguments to stir up hereunto 1 This is the great end of the covenant of grace 2 All Christ hath done and suffered was a preparation hereunto 3 There is sweetness in fellowship 4 All mercies are obtained by it Pag. 342 CHAP. V. God in the Covenant of Grace makes over himself in his Alsufficiency That there is enough in the Alsufficiency of God to supply all a mans wants in this life and in the life to come proved at large Pag. 344 That the Alsufficiency of God is by covenant made over unto the Saints proved 1 By promises 2 By instances Pag. 347 The grounds and reasons of it are 1 His own love 2 The insufficiency of all things else 3 Because God would have the happiness of the creature to concenter in him alone 4 Because he will have the creature perfect with him 5 To make up the banks against the greatest temptation that ordinarily befals men 6 To make the soul fear to lose God above all things because its alsufficiency is in him 7 That the creatures may thereby be kept in their own place 8 That the soul may hereby live on God immediately Pag. 349 The Alsufficiency of God belongs unto none but his own covenant-people Pag. 353 The reasons why God suffers his own people to be in as great wants as other men are 1 That their alsufficiency may be in him alone and that they may trust perfectly in him 2 That they may be made partakers of the sufferings of Christ. 3 That God may be alsufficient to them in the loss of all things and want of all things 4 Because it is very sweet to God when we follow him through a wilderness 5 Gods great glory is to manifest his Attributes in their sufferings 6 As our supplies come from God so there is a special token of love and interest discovered in his sufficiency that is sweeter than the mercy it self Pag. 354 Though wicked men may have great sufficiency in outward things yet 1 It is not from their interest in his alsufficiency 2 It is their portion 3 It is given as a snare to themselves and others Pag. 356 Those are justly reprovable that claim an interest by covenant in God and yet expect a sufficiency in the creature 1 Hereby they dishonour God 2 Themselves 3 The creature to whom they flye for sufficiency can do neither good nor evil 4 The creature cannot reach unto the best in man his soul 5 The creatures have no good in them but what is borrowed 6 Retiring to creatures in straits causes God to leave them Pag. 358 Those that place any sufficiency in themselves are also justly reprovable Pag. 361 There is a twofold sufficiency the heart is apt to go out unto 1 In respect of gifts and inward abilities either acquired or infused 2 In respect of grace received ibid. The evil of a self-sufficiency in respect of gifts 1 They are anothers and not our own 2 They are given to wicked men 3 It is to serve Satan in the highest way that can be 4 These gifts cannot be exercised without Divine aid 5 Nor made successful 6 It will provoke God to take them away ibid. In respect of grace received 1 It is quite contrary to the nature of grace 2 No man can act his own grace 3 Grace is but a creature 4 It makes grace an Idol Pag. 363 There is a great proneness in the best to place their sufficiency in grace received both as to matter of strength and comfort Pag. 364 The great policy of Satan therein Pag. 365 To
their much speaking and stand upon their justification I fast twice in the week and pay tythe of all that I possess says the Pharisee The Apostle Rom. 9.31 says They followed after the righteousness of the Law by their own performance of the works of the Law And to this end because they could not rise up to the spirituality of the Law they did therefore bring down the Law by their interpretation unto their own obedience and all was to make their own righteousness available for justification Therefore Paul saith Concerning the righteousness of the Law blameless Phil. 3. The young man says All these have I kept from my youth Therefore the Papists teach That men may perfectly fulfill the Law Bellar. de Justific l. 2. c. 2 3. and do also some works of Supererogation over and above the Law that the formal cause of Justification is inherent righteousness though Christs righteousness is the meritorious cause Christ having merited that our righteousness may justifie c. And though not works by nature yet by Grace even Faith it self as a work is that which God accepts being performed by us instead of all the righteousness required in the Moral Law These and many more are the ways by which men seek to establish their own righteousness in matter of Justification 2 As for Salvation also All men would be working and doing something for Heaven Good Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life What shall we do to work the works of God Joh. 6. They were all upon a way of doing they did expect a reward for all They had a high esteem of their own services and therefore they did boast themselves and glory in them it 's the law of saith only excludes boasting Rom. 3.27 The Creature being sinful is lifted up by works proud of a little God knows And therefore Jehu says Come see my zeal for the Lord of hosts and there is nothing in the world that the pride of man will appear more in than in righteousness for pride is an overweening apprehension of a mans own excellency and the higher the excellency the greater the pride Rom. 7.9 I was alive says Paul without the Law alive in performances and alive in presumptions he thought he had done much for God and therefore his zeal did rise to a madness in persecuting of the Church It 's a hard matter for a man to be a painful Preacher a zealous professor a faithful Statesman or a man that has laid out himself for the publick any way but his heart will swell with privy pride therein yea even though he do profess to despise and to disesteem the praise of men § 3. But now more particularly so far as any man does not submit unto the righteousness and the grace of the second Covenant so far he manifests his desire to be still under the first Covenant but all men by nature refuse to submit to the righteousness and the offers of the second Covenant and therefore they desire to continue under the first The Scripture speaks of mens actions and dispositions many times interpretatively not as they are in the intention of the sinner but as they are in truth and in the interpretation of God Prov. 8. ult Men are said to love death all those that hate wisdom and despise Christ and live without him love death Now men will all say that they do hate death but yet in Gods interpretation they hating the only way and means to life they do all of them love death So we read in Ezech. 8.5 They did these abominations that I might go far from my sanctuary It was not their intention in so doing actually and formaliter but interpretative it was because they had set up an image of jealousie in the Sanctuary which would provoke God to remove and yet if they had been asked they would all have said they would by no means have the glory of the Lord to remove So men do not actually desire to be under the first Covenant but yet so long as they reject the offers and the grace of the second so long in Gods interpretation they do desire to be under the Law still and their rejection of the better Covenant offered argues they like and love that under which they are and reject the righteousness of God which is the same which is called the righteousness of Christ and the righteousness of faith as the Apostle says Phil. 3.9 Not having my own righteousness which is of the law but the righteousness which is of God by faith And it 's called the righteousness of God partly because it is found out by God and by God only imputed and therefore is only an act of free grace whereby God will make a sinner righteous before him Rom. 1.17 and partly because Christ offered himself by the eternal spirit without spot to God which is his own Divine nature and so unto all the actions and the sufferings of his Humanity the Godhead gave an efficacy and an excellency even from his person they being all the actions and sufferings of him that was both God and Man And unto this righteousness men through the pride and unbelief of their spirits and contrariety to the Gospel will not submit They have not subjected themselves unto the righteousness of God 1. All a man's sins do stand out and will not submit to the righteousness of God for whoever imbraces the offer of the second Covenant and the grace thereof must take Christ for Sanctification 1 Cor. 1. as well as for Justification for he is made both and he came with water and blood to answer those ways of legal purification and so he must come into every soul but above all sins a mans darling his right hand and his right eye must be parted with and therefore Christ says Joh. 5.44 How can you believe that seek honour one of another The power of any lust in the soul will keep it from believing and accepting of the grace and mercy that 's offered in the second Covenant And so through the power and dominion of sin men cannot submit to the righteousness of God And how miserably is many a man held in captivity this way we all see they are by the snares of darkness led captive by Satan at his will 2. All the gifts and abilities that are in a man are against it for faith is the highest self-denial 2 Cor. 8.2 and gifts do puff up and therefore not many wise are called The wisdom of this world is enmity against God and all their parts and learning their wisdom whether it be natural or acquired doth make them but the stronger enemies and set them the farther off from Christ Hab. 2.4 now this stands in the most direct opposition to faith for that soul that is lifted up his heart is not upright in him In troublesome times to have a mans heart born up by a fleshly prop
righteousness and life 2 Men are naturally ignorant of the spiritual meaning of the Law Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the law once Here the Apostle speaks of a double state in which he was 1 In times past in the state of unregeneracy without the Law not in the letter for he was bred up at the feet of Gamaliel and one that knew the Scripture from a child but without the Law in the spiritual sence of it in its glory power latitude spirituality and holiness which are the wonders of the Law that men by nature have not eyes to see which David prays for Psal 119.18 and which unto men by nature are accounted strange things 2 But there is another state and that is when the Lord was merciful to Paul in his Conversion The commandment came i. e. in a lively vigorous and spiritual manner having a spirit of life accompanying it whereas before it was but a dead letter and it brought in such a light as did discover the secret thoughts and intents of his heart and laid the whole inward man open even the inward parts of the soul And whereas before he was alive in performances able as he conceived to perform all the righteousness of the Law without blemish and therefore full of self-justification and conceits of his own righteousness and high expectations of Salvation Now sin revived that is in the guilt of it in his Conscience and he begins to see his own misery and sinfulness and lost condition which before he thought was very good Now he saw all his own righteousness which before he so highly esteemed and so much set by to be nothing but dross and dung And natural Conscience looks upon obedience to the Law as consisting only in the outward act and if that be performed Conscience is satisfied if men pray and hear they are not solicitous for the acceptance of their persons before their services can be accepted nor for the light manner of performance and the curing of their inward man towards God therein which doth plainly shew that though they understand the Law in the letter and stick to it therein yet they are not acquainted with the spirituality of the Law 3. Men are ignorant of their miserable condition under the Law Gal. 3.10 as many as are under the Law are under the curse Gal. 4.21 You that desire to be under the law do you not hear the law that is hear it you do but you understand it not Si Deo obtulisset putamen nucis in fide opus bonum etiamsi adeó parvum adeò vile ut culmum tollere si verò desit fiducia opus bonum non est etiamsi omnes mortuos suscitet homo sese comburendum permittat Luth. neither consider that being sons of the bond-woman you are bond-men for your Covenant being broken genders unto bondage and there is a spirit of bondage that will follow upon this state of bondage and as bond-men you shall not abide in the house for you have no part or share in the inheritance because the inheritance is not by the law but of promise Men under this Covenant stand before God in their own names they bear their own sins and must be justified by their own righteousness for this Covenant admits no Mediator there is none to represent their persons or bear their sins or pay their debt or endure their curse but all must needs be done in their own persons if they do any duty they expect it should be accepted of God for the goodness of it and it is rejected of God for the failings of it because whatever is born of the flesh is flesh and in their Covenant God requires perfect obedience and will accept none other and yet there is not the meanest service of the Saints under the second Covenant performed in faith but it is accepted if they offer but a cup of cold water Now men perform duties because they are commanded and they think that they have done good service and look that they shall be accepted and rewarded but never consider that if their persons be not accepted their services cannot be but that their best services are sins in Gods account and rejected and that all the promises of pardon and grace repentance and acceptance upon repentance all these belong not unto them for their Covenant admits no such thing Some may see the defilement of their nature and their misery because of the image which they bear but very few are apprehensive of their misery by reason of the Covenant of bondage under which they stand 4 Men know not how to distinguish between the doing of duties and the right manner and method of doing them for all men are ready to look upon them as duties required by God and if so he will accept them because he has required them And therefore when Luther did bid men not only take heed of their sins but of their duties for these might destroy them as well as the other and called them base and beggarly elements and dung and dross presently they said he spoke against good works Now here men distinguish not of the doing and of the method in doing for the duties of the Law must be performed by the graces of the Gospel and in the way of the Gospel and therefore we say that believing must go before any other of the great works of God e're a soul can be accepted Luther de bonis operibus primi precepti and therefore Luther gives this rule Whatsoever a mans conscience and faith toward God is such are his works which flow from the same principle but where there is nothing of faith the edge is wanting to good works and the whole life erroneous and all goodness as nothing I say that good works are accepted if faith which gives a man an interest in Christ and a change of a mans Covenant goes before We should bring naked Christ and a naked soul stript of all things else together we would have you take Christ for your husband and duties for the servants of Christ While faith is to deal with Christ in the business of Justification and acceptative works should be shut out and there sponsus cum sponsa faith and Christ alone but if faith walk abroad in the world works must stand at the door and follow as the handmaid and the necessary consequents of faith Now men hearing that duties are commanded by God they are apt to conceive that they must be done and being done shall be accepted though it be not according to the method of the Gospel and that when we speak against resting in them as duties of the first Covenant we speak against good works whereas we would have them performed but by a man whose person is accepted his Covenant changed and that by the principles of the Gospel the faith of Christ in his heart and also unto the ends of the Gospel 2. They are ignorant of the righteousness of Christ as
content to be under it and seek righteousness and life thereby if they do follow the Law for righteousness and submit not to the righteousness of God and this be interpretatively and in Gods account a desire to continue under the first Covenant still though it be not formally and directly so then this clears the justice of God in two things by way of Vse and Application 1. That the Lord doth unregenerate men no wrong if he leave them still under the first Covenant for he does but give them the desire of their own hearts All the Heathens therefore that sit still in darkness and in the shadow of death that never heard of another righteousness in which they might appear before God but their own to whom the righteousness of God under the Gospel even the righteousness of the new Covenant the righteousness of God by faith was never made known The giving of the knowledge of this righteousness and this new Covenant unto some and hiding it from others was grounded on no precedent differences and dispositions in the man either to whom it was revealed or to whom it was denied it was only the Mystery hid in God in his own Will and in his own Counsel And the same good-will that was the cause of the revealing it to the one was the cause also of the hiding it from the other Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 3.9 Mat. 11.25 and revealed them unto babes For the Lord leaves them under that Covenant under which they did desire to be and under that righteousness by which they did desire to establish themselves and to be justified and did not reveal unto them the second Covenant which they had an inward disposition to despise and the righteousness thereof unto which by nature they could not submit Therefore it is riches of compassion that he has revealed it unto any but it is exceeding just that he has hid it from any And for those that live under the Gospel and have the tenure of the second Covenant made known to them and the glory of the righteousness thereof discovered and yet accept it not submit not thereunto it will be enough to clear the justice of God at the last day that they are left under the first Covenant under which they did desire to be and therefore as it is justice with God to leave a man under Adam's image and under the power and dominion of their own lusts to give them unto the power of their own hearts lusts and suffer them to walk in their own counsels and to say Ephraim is joined to Idols let him alone and he that is filthy let him be filthy still so it is just with God also to leave men under Adam's Covenant and to seek righteousness and life thereby and so not attaining to the law of righteousness they perish under the curse thereof for ever 2. He shall do no man wrong if in the general Judgment he do proceed against men according to the rules of the Covenant of Works for he will surely deal with men according to the tenure of the Covenant under which they stand and every man is under that Covenant which he desires to be 1 If they have all their sins laid upon their own score and give account for every vain thought in the heart and every vain word in the mouth every sinful purpose of the heart for he will bring every work to judgment with every secret thing and not a drop of the blood of Christ shall go to wash away the least of their sins and transgressions therein they must bear their own sins and their own shame and it is just with God for their Covenant admits of no Mediator 2 When God shall reject thy best services for the failings that are in them and look upon thy righteousness as a filthy rag abhor thy prayers for the noisome savours that be in them and they be turned into sin because thy person is not accepted thy Covenant is not changed the Lord will tell thee thy Covenant requires perfect obedience and if thou dost well thou shalt be accepted if thou dost evil sin lies at thy door and all thy services are but as if a man did bless an Idol and offer swines flesh and as if a man did cut off a dogs neck for thou art not in a state of acceptation thou art not found in his beloved Son in whom alone he is well pleased 3 When thou shalt have none to intercede for thee Joh. 17.9 and to plead thy cause before the Lord he prays for no such I pray not for the world as soon as thou shalt peep out of the Earth in the day of the Resurrection and lift up thy trayterous head out of the grave thy Conscience shall condemn thee thy heart shall fail thee and he also that is greater than thy Conscience Then shall the King say I was hungry and you gave me no meat c. and then thou shalt look for Christ to plead thy cause but thy Covenant admits no Advocate thou must plead for thy self which because a man cannot do having nothing to say he shall be speechless for ever 4 Then thou wilt repent and say I have perverted righteousness and it has not profited me for there shall be sorrow enough perfect sorrow in Hell even weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth but God can accept no repentance thy Covenant as it gives no repentance Revel 2.21 so it promises no repentance no acceptance and the time of repentance is past there is but a time of it 5 Thou wilt expect Christ as a skreen to stand between thee and the fathers wrath Gal. 3.13 for under the second Covenant he was made a curse for us but thy Covenant admits no surety the soul that sins shall die there is no ransome paid for thee for being under this Covenant either the Law must be obeyed but that it is not for thou art a sinner or else it must be abrogated but that it is not for not an Iota of the Law shall pass or it must be mitigated but that it is not for it is inflexible the Law is holy and just and good and remains the same that is was to Adam in the state of Innocency the curse must be executed the penalty inflicted even indignation and wrath upon every soul that does evil c. 6 When you shall look to have your services rewarded as mens Religious duties are the great actions of their lives and therefore men have the greatest hopes grounded upon them Phil. 3.7 it was in Paul's account gain to him and he did expect a reward answerable now when the Lord shall reject them and say that the inheritance is not by the Law since the Law became weak through the flesh but the inheritance is by promise and all comes by the second Covenant this can be no wrong to any unregenerate man
confirmed and therefore called the blood of the Covenant now to despise all this is to trample under foot the greatest and the highest honour of the Son of God for a man to bear old Adam's image still shews that he prefers the Image of the first before that of the second Adam so for a man to stand under Adam's Covenant still shews that he despises the Grace of the second Covenant in comparison of the Glory of the first 4 It is a sin against the Covenant it self and all the Promises thereof this Covenant God has highly honoured with a more glorious head and the righteousness of it is a more glorious righteousness the promises of it better promises and the stability of it far beyond that of the first Covenant for it is an ordered and an everlasting Covenant a Covenant confirmed by an Oath now for a man to bring down that Covenant that God has exalted and in a mans heart and practice and ways for him to exalt the first Covenant above it is the greatest injury thereunto that can be 5 It is a sin against all the happiness and hopes of the godly for all their comfort comes in from this Covenant as they look upon all their curses to proceed from the first Covenant 2 Sam. 23.5 Though my house be not so with God says David yet God has made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure and this is all my hope Now it is a great evil that men should not be affected with that sin which is against the generation of Gods children against the hope of Israel A man should be deeply humbled and bewail this contrariety of spirit that is in him to the way of the Gospel and to the grace of the Gospel And apply the righteousness of Christ for the pardon of this sin also for as his blood was shed for them that shed it so there is grace in the second Covenant for them that have despised it and have to their utmost exalted the first Covenant above it and there is in the grace of God pardon to be found for them that reject or endeavour to frustrate the grace of it For if righteousness be by the Law Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2. ult 2. Whereever the Covenant of Grace is preached be jealous and watch over thy own heart because there is in thee a principle of contrariety unto it and the grace offered therein this hath been the manner of Gods people when they have been apprehensive of evils in them it has made them the more watchful against them Job will not trust his eyes without a Covenant nor David his tongue without a bridle because they knew how suddenly corruption would break forth and therefore the exhortation is Keep thy heart above all keepings c. God has offered the righteousness of his Son that thou mightest be made the righteousness of God in him and he has given his Son as a Covenant to the Nations that as by one man sin and death reigned so righteousness and life should reign by one Christ Jesus but thou hast a principle of pride in thee and thou dost desire to establish thy own righteousness and thou wouldest not submit to the righteousness of God he is offered but thou wilt none of him Whensoever the second Covenant is preacht take heed of this root of bitterness that it do not rise up and cause thee to reject Grace and forsake thy own mercy truly whosoever does read how quiet this lust was in the Pharisees and they went on as a river runs smoothly without a damm and they wrought for life and by their own obedience they did as with rattles still their Consciences but as soon as Christ came and preacht the righteousness and grace of the second Covenant to them how did this lust rise in them even to the rejecting the Counsel and Grace of God against themselves and even rising up unto the unpardonable sin and so the Papists before Luther found out the righteousness of Faith by an imputed righteousness they were all quiet but afterward this one man odium impetum totius orbis sustinuit And this is the Doctrine preached by the Angel that did fly in the middle of Heaven with the Everlasting Gospel Rev. 19.7 8. and declare then great Babylon begins to fall 3. Be never satisfied till thou find in thy soul the contrary grace and that is a desire of being translated that thou maist be under the first Covenant no more consider there will come a day shortly wherein God will judge the world in righteousness and he will judge every man according to the terms under which he stands Now if thou be found under the first Covenant thou art found in thy own righteousness the Law genders to bondage it works nothing but wrath it speaks nothing but curse and in this Court thou wilt surely be cast only under the second Covenant there is a Chancery a Court of mercy and grace and there is yet a City of refuge to be found before thou beest dragged to the Lords Tribunal go therefore and fly unto the Lords sanctuary go now and acknowledg thou hast stood out long against that grace that must save thee if ever thou beest saved and that thou hast despised that Covenant under which if thou stand not thou art everlastingly undone and tell the Lord thou canst as well cast off Adam's image as translate thy self out of Adam's Covenant tell the Lord who only has made the new Covenant so he only can plant souls into it for the father is the Husbandman and he has undertaken to transplant souls out of the old stock and bring them into the bond of the Covenant Ezek. 20.27 Therefore I beseech you Brethren by the mercies of God by the blood of the Covenant by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him that you seek a Translation and content not your selves to stand under the first Covenant and do this whilst it is called to day while the offers of the Covenant of Grace last before the Portcullis be let down the black Flag hung out the talent of lead laid the irrevocable decree of God gone forth to seal up the measure of your iniquity and shut thee up under the Law and the curse of it for ever God will not have the Grace of the Covenant nor his Son the Prince of the Covenant nor the Blood of the Covenant always despised and rejected by obdurate sinners it shall not always stand at the door as if the Lord needed entrance and admittance and if once God take away this offer of the Grace of the second Covenant and dismiss thee unto the bar of the Law thou art certainly condemned and cursed for ever for not believing in Christ does not only bring thee under wrath but leave thee under it thou rejecting the remedy which is the Grace of the Gospel and thou art then eternally undone for
of his native soil as they do that plant Colonies from one Country to another and such a Translation is here meant that whereas before a man was under the Kingdom of Satan and the condemnation and dominion of death now his state is changed that is by the change of his Covenant and he is translated or transported into the Kingdom of Righteousness and Holiness This is the Translation that is here meant a change of a mans state through the change of his Covenant upon which follows the change of his image and the change of his nature also A man is translated into it 1 As a Kingdom of Righteousness by the change of his Covenant 2 As a Kingdom of Holiness by the change of his Image Doct. All those that are in Christ have a change of their state they are translated out of their former Covenant Here are two things to be spoken to 1 That the Scripture does speak of such a Translation or change of Covenant 2 The necessity of such a change and the reasons and grounds thereof Rom. 11.24 § 2. First the Scripture does speak of such a Translation or change of Covenant Says the Apostle Rom. 11.24 For if thou wert cut out of the Olive-tree which is wild by nature and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good Olive-tree how much more shall these which be the natural branches c. Abraham is called the root because after a sort the Covenant began in him and therefore he is said to be the father of the faithful and all that grew by nature upon this root they were the children of God and the natural branches unto whom the sap and sweetness and fatness of the true Church all the Promises and Priviledges of the Covenant of Grace did belong and those that were truly under this Covenant they were not broken off but some of them that were under it by profession only they were for their sins in judgment broken off and the Gentiles that were wild Olives strangers to Abraham's Faith and Covenant they were grafted in that is taken into the Covenant of Abraham which is the root upon which they were ingrafted and are made partakers of all the Promises and the Priviledges of the Covenant of Abraham as if they were the natural branches Therefore here are men that are wild Olives that are ingrafted here are branches broken off that are ingrafted in again So that in Conversion there is an Ingrafting a Translation of a man from one stock to another from one root unto another and that is by changing of a mans Covenant for it is by his Covenant only that Abraham is his root c. Some indeed are ingrafted only by an outward profession some by inward implantation into the inward and spiritual part some into the outward priviledges of the Covenant only but some partake of the sweetness and fatness of the true Olive-tree Joh. 5.24 c. Christ says He that believes in him that sent me shall never come into judgment but is parted from death to life The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a passage from one place to another And Joh. 3.14 He is passed from death to life There is a twofold state of death and life and there is answerable a double passage a relative mutation as to a mans Covenant and a physical mutation as to his Image Rom. 7.1 2 3 The law has dominion over a man as long as he liveth the woman is bound to her husband as long as he liveth but if her husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband c. It is a dying or a being divorced from the former husband that gives her liberty All the Ancients do generally make the Law the husband from which a man being dead unto the Law is divorced and some Modern Divines as Beza and others make sin the husband as being irritated by the law but the thing is much the same and a man being ingrafted into Christ is freed from the law of the husband It is also a being redeemed and the main of our redemption lyes in it Gal. 4.5 as Christ was made under the law so we were under it now he was under it as a Covenant to fulfill the precept and to satisfie the curse and he did this that he might redeem us that were under the law in both these respects so that looking upon the law as a Covenant Christ is said to redeem us from being under it changing a mans father and his mother Mich. 7.20 Luc. 1. Gal. 4. and growing on another root and belonging to another stock as it is said Rom. 4.15 Abraham the father of us all that were before strangers unto Abraham therefore it is said to be his mercy unto Abraham and his oath unto our forefathers and Sarah the mother whereas before we were the children of Hagar All men by nature are under the law children of the bond-woman for the two Mothers are the two Covenants and so long as a man remains under the first Covenant he is the son of the bond-woman but we that believe are as Isaac 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 children of the free-woman being discharged of the hand-writing of Ordinances which was against us and contrary to us which Christ took out of the way nailing it to his Cross c. This â—lotting out of Ordinances Chrysostome and Oecumenius understand not only of the Ceremonial Law given by Moses but also of the Moral Law and the Law of the forbidden fruit given to Adam c. and so Zanchy and others c. Though some other late Divines will understand it of the Ceremonial Law only which I conceive it cannot be because it is spoken for the consolation of the Gentiles that they were delivered from this hand-writing of Ordinances under which they never were So that this change of Covenant is in Scripture set forth by being cut off from the former root and ingrafted into another a change or passage from a mans former state a being dead to a former husband a redemption from a former bondage an alliance to another father and having a bond cancelled that was against a man by its exacting and condemning power SECT II. The necessity of a Translation from the first Covenant 1. THE necessity of this Translation is manifested several ways 1. From the nature of the Covenant as it is broken and mans misery under it for the Covenant in self is unchangeable and eternal as well as the Covenant of Grace and it says for ever This do and thou shalt live it still says Gal. 4.4 5. Cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the Law to do them the soul that sins shall die And to establish it Christ was made under the Law that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us and what the Law saith it saith unto them that are under the Law still So that while men continue under it their
former husband lives unto them and the hand-writing stands in force against them here is the benefit by Christ a man may be translated out of it and so there may be a change of a mans Covenant not by a change of the Covenant it self but by a change of the man and his deliverance out of it Now so long as a man continues under this Covenant 1 It promises no life but upon condition of perfect and personal obedience it calls upon thee To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy strength the strength that I gave thee at first and the man that doth them shall live by them There is commutatio personae a commutation of the person by the Covenant of Grace but this Covenant saith not that the obedience of another shall be accounted his unto justification and life and so Justification is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impossible by the righteousness of the Law for by the Law no man can be justified and in this it is weak through the flesh so that whilest a man continues untranslated he can never be justified by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ which can profit him nothing because in the sense of the Law it is not his own righteousness 2 It is a Covenant without a Mediator Christ indeed is a Mediator but it is of the new Covenant the first Covenant was faedus amicitiae a Covenant of friendship made with man in innocency where there was no disagreement and Gal. 3.20 A Mediator is not a Mediator of one c. So that so long as a man is under the first Covenant what benefits so ever there are to be had by the Mediation of Christ he must go without them either in reference to the presentation of his person or to the acceptation of his services for in the Covenant under which he stands a Mediator can have no place 3 In this Covenant there is no promise of pardon but If thou dost well thou shalt be accepted but if thou dost evil sin lyes at the door and there is a curse upon every transgression every sin thou committest every disobedience has a just recompence of reward so that as long as a man does continue under this Covenant he must bear his own sin and there is no hope of pardon for him because under this Covenant God has promised no pardon The aim of God was the glory of his Justice and therefore the Lord deals with men as in Courts of Justice if there be a Capital crime committed the Judge does not examine whether the man be penitent or no and if he do repent then there is a pardon for him but whether the offence be committed or no guilty or not guilty and so Justice does all without respect unto a mans after-repentance If thou hast sinned the first Covenant says thou art a child of death and when a man says I have sinned it is the Covenant of Grace only that says the Lord has put away thy sin but under this Covenant there is no pardon to be expected 4 This Covenant promises no Grace for it was made with man in his primitive condition when he had Grace answerable unto all the duties that the Lord required of him he had a power to perform all duties and to resist all temptations and this is supposed in every duty that is required and in every sin that is forbidden so that all the promises of Grace and strength that are in the second Covenant a man can never have benefit by for they belong not unto the Covenant under which he stands unless he be translated 5 It is a Covenant that every sin breaks and being once broken it can never be made up again So the Apostle tells us Rom. 5.16 By one offence guilt came upon all to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences to justification Adam's sin was but one offence and yet it brake his Covenant and brought guilt and death upon all his posterity and that for ever and his Covenant could bring death but never justification and life any more so that no man that has once sinned could ever live by that Covenant any more but it is not so in the Covenant of Grace because it brings in an everlasting righteousness that sin can never spend and therefore though there be many offences yet the Covenant is not broken but that justification and life may be had therein and the more sin abounds the grace of the Covenant abounds much more as sin takes occasion by the law so grace takes occasion by sin under the Gospel 6 It is a Covenant that can never quiet and settle the Conscience but let a man walk never so exactly and take never so much care to do his duty in all things and let him live the holiest life that ever any man did upon earth that was a sinner and he will be always in a doubt and full of jealousie of God whether he will accept him or no as it was with the young man in the Gospel he had lived a very exact life according to the rules of a Pharisaical righteousness for he could say All these things have I kept from my youth and yet he was not quiet Gehennam horribiliter timuit he came and kneeled down to Christ and said What must I do to inherit eternal life what lack I yet And so Luther said he did endeavour in all things to walk according to his Conscience and yet he says I feared Hell terribly c. And this is the difference that the Apostle makes Rom. 10.5 8 he prefers the righteousness of faith before that of works upon this ground because that of works is full of scruples and doubtful enquiries Who shall ascend up to Heaven Doubting is the fruit of the Covenant of works and therefore Bellarmine must come to his Tutissimum for unto men since the fall the fruits of the first Covenant are only doubting and anxiety but faith tells a man Christ has descended into the deep to make satisfaction there and he is ascended up on high into Heaven there to prepare a place and there is nothing wanting for a mans salvation that Christ has not done which frees a mans Conscience from those inward perplexities which the Covenant of works leaves a man intangled in This is the first ground of the necessity of being translated out of this Covenant for so long as a man is under it this is his misery if he look for life it must be by his own righteousness as without a Mediator and if he sin there is no pardon for him and if he be to do duty there is no grace if the Covenant be once broken it is broken for ever never made up again for the least offence and a mans Conscience can never be satisfied and quieted till he does anchor upon Christ Jesus who is the rock of ages § 2. If God will deal with man in a Covenant-way he must be
happiness of all those that are in Christ even in this that their Covenant is changed and it was unto David the ground of all his comfort that God had made with him this Everlasting Covenant and well it might be for it was the foundation of all his happiness and his salvation But you 'l say Wherein lies the glory of this condition of a souls being translated from their former root 1. Being translated into this Covenant God is reconciled to thee for the Covenant of Grace is a Covenant of Peace and Reconciliation so that the enmity between thee and God is taken up and he looks upon thee as an enemy no more 2. Being taken into Covenant with God again there do many sweet relations grow out of the Covenant for the Lord saith I will be their God and they shall be my people and the Lord is not ashamed to be called their God he is our father and husband and our friend we have as truly by Covenant an interest in all that is in God for our best good as the Lord himself hath for his own glory his power is made over to us as truly as if we had infinite power and his mercy as if we had infinite mercy and grace and wisdom c. 3. Being once in Covenant he becomes the son of God a mans Covenant is a Covenant of Sonship I will be their God and they shall be my sons and daughters c. 1 Joh. 3.1 Behold what manner of love the father hath shewed unto us that we should be called the sons of God Gal. 4.18 and if sons then heirs in all the inheritance of Christ Being sons of the free-woman it is thereby that we become heirs of the Promise the inheritance is not by the Law but by the Gospel if they that are of the Law be heirs then Christ were dead in vain 4. Hereby a man has a ground for his faith upon all occasions and a bottom for his prayers it is the Covenant that is unto faith the Magna Charta where all the priviledges and liberties of a Believer are found and this Covenant is sure God is a faithful God a God that will not lye that cannot deny himself Jer. 31.18 Turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God Lord do not abhor us for thou art the Lord our God Jer. 14.21 And the Psalmist hath respect unto this Covenant For all the earth are full of the habitation of crueltieâ— Isa 64.9 Remember not our iniquities for ever behold we beseech thee we are all thy people And take them in the worst terms and when a man has even suffered shipwrack yet the Covenant is tabula post naufragium a plank after shipwrack by which the soul is kept from sinking see it in our Lord Christ himself in that hour of the power of darkness My God my God c. how did Christ call the Lord his God for as Christ is God so he has the same essence with the Father and he thought it no robbery to be equal with Him but as Mediator he is God the Fathers Servant and so the Lord is his God by Covenant Psal 89.36 Christ says Thou art my Father and my God And Joh. 20.17 And he is no other way Christs God and Father but by Covenant for Christ took a new Covenant-right unto God as Mediator And as we come under the Covenant so doth the Lord in him become our God also and we have a right unto him and by looking unto God in Covenant the spirit of a Christian is upheld in the greatest sense of wrath when the Lord did bruise and grind him to powder making his soul an offering for sin A man out of this Covenant has no ground for his faith nor bottom for any of his prayers 5. It is a Covenant that can never be broken an Everlasting Covenant a Covenant of salt Heb. 7. a Covenant that has a surety Christ says If he fail in any thing put it upon my account And Isa 56.7 I know I shall not be ashamed One sin did break the first Covenant and it being broken could never be made up by one offence condemnation came upon all but by the free gift righteousness comes upon all for many offences to justification because the righteousness of the Covenant is a perfect and an everlasting righteousness and upon this is a godly mans comfort mainly grounded David by his sin foresaw that he had undone his Family the Lord threatned him by the Prophet That the sword should never depart from his house yet he comforts himself in this that his Covenant remained sure A godly mans comfort mainly comes in by his state much more than by his actions and he comforts himself in the one when he abhors himself for the other and though God will judge for both yet he will judge of mens actions according to their states Therefore whatever you do give diligence to make your calling and election sure which can never be without a Translation into the Covenant of Grace CHAP. VI. A Mans Translation out of the first Covenant is by Vnion Gal. 3.29 And if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise SECT I. How our Translation is by Vnion with the nature of this Vnion § 1. HAving thus far opened the necessity of a Translation the change of a mans Covenant as well as of his Image we come now unto the Second Head propounded and that is Wherein this Translation doth consist For which I have chosen this Text Gal. 3.29 And if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise In the opening hereof there are Three things that I must lay down as grounds 1. That God will deal with all men not only in a way of Dominion but in a way of Stipulation So that men in Covenant with God are of two sorts either regenerate or unregenerate Sons or Servants Children of the bond-woman or of the free and they that are unregenerate â—emain under the Covenant of Works they that are regenerate are under a Covenant of Grace There is a twofold universal Covenant made with all mankind which Divines do call faedus universale one made with Adam before his fall and with all man-kind For the Curse of his Covenant transgressed coming upon all does plainly prove that the blessing of â—he Covenant should have belonged unto all if it had been observed and the blessing and â—urse of the Covenant does come primarily upon none but those with whom the Covenant â—as made There is another universal Covenant made after the fall made not only with â—an but with all flesh even with every living creature that is upon the earth oâ— Foul and â—attel and every Beast of the earth and it contains in it two Branches 1. That all â—sh shall be no more cut off by the waters or a flood 2. That while the earth remains Sâ—ed-time and Harvest
to convey the same nature and having transgressed his will being wicked it is a guilty cursed and forsaken nature that is conveyed unto all mankind from him they all sinning in him else corruption of nature might be their punishment but their sin it could never be 2. All Adams posterity comes under the Curse even they that never sinned themselves â—ctually and knowingly as Adam did after the similitude of Adams transgression even Children of a span-long Now the Curse is a Curse of the Covenant Death is a part of Juâ—tice and that must suppose sin upon the person upon whom it is inflicted and no man can â—ome under the curse of the Covenant who is not himself under the Covenant Now â—ad Adam stood Life should have been conveyed unto them and holiness but he falling â—in and death takes hold of them and the Scripture doth speak not only of death entring â—pon all but sin upon all and guilt Rom. 5.12 17 By one man sin entred into the world â—nd death by sin poena mediante reatu Thus if God will deal with a man in a Covenant-way it was necessary if they grow out â—f one common root that a Covenant be made with the first man for all his posterity and 〈◊〉 by Union they become guilty of this sin and come under the curse of the Covenant Now the Lord will have the grace and righteousness of the second Covenant conveyed the â—ame way by a second Adam a publick person Isa 9.6 that should stand in the stead of all his poâ—terity and become an everlasting Father and he will have Adam in all this to become â—he type of him that was to come Rom. 5.14 That as by one man sin entered into the world â—nd death by sin so by one man righteousness and life might enter by one Christ Jesus Reas 2 § 2. Herein our happiness lyes under the second Covenant that it is not made with us imâ—ediately but made with him who is the common head the second Adam and with us in â—â—e second place as we are one with him and no otherwise 1 Herein consists the chief â—â—nour and glory of this Covenant beyond the first because it is made with a more gloriâ—â— head and therefore though the first Covenant had much glory in it yet the second â—â—h far exceed in glory for the first man was but of the earth earthly and the second 〈◊〉 was the Lord from Heaven heavenly 2. And hence it is that the Covenant is sure and everlasting and an unchangeable Covenant because made with an unchangeable head and grounded upon an everlasting righteousness and therefore Rom. 4 it is of Faith that it might be sure 2 Sam. 23. because that makes us one with him with whom the Covenant is established and in whom all the promiâ—es of it are yea and Amen So that it being made with him and he being the surety of it â—nd we one with him it can never fail 3. Hence it is also an Ordered Covenant Heb. 9.12 Lu. 9.24 and therein David takes a great deal of comâ—ort that the mercies of it were the sure mercies of David How Because his Covenant was ordered in all things and sure That as the first Adam in the Covenant of works entred â—nto a Covenant in an order not only for himself but for all his posterity also but so as he himself was primus faederatus and all mankind in him So is Jesus Christ also and the Covenant made first with him and then with all his posterity in him so that it is in the mercies of the Covenant as it is said of the resurrection of the dead all shall rise but every man in his own order first Christ then they that are Christs at his coming c. So it is here all the people of God are in Covenant with him and they are all his Covenant people for all that are in Christ are Abrahams seed but yet every man in his own order first Christ and then they that are in Christ by reason of their Union and no small part of our happiness and comfort comes in this way from the order of the Covenant as will appear afterward if ever we come to handle this property of the Covenant of Grace Reas 3 § 3. Supposing man to be a sinner God cannot enter into Covenant with him immediately any more unless we do suppose that the Lord should forfeit the truth of his threatning and so deny himself for he said Gen. 2.17 The day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye Now while this stands in force against a man God cannot deal with him in any way but to destroy him therefore if he will bring in a second Covenant that must be a Covenant of mercy and reconciliation and in that there must be satisfaction to God as well as sanctification of man the sin must be sent to Hell as well as the sinner to Heaven Now this satisfaction man of himself can never give it cost more to redeem his Soul than if he had offered thousands of Rams and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl or his first-born for his transgression and the fruit of his Body for the sin of his Soul as Mich. 6.6 7. But we cannot be redeemed by corruptible things and therefore if God will have satisfaction answerable unto the wrong the creature has done him it cannot be had from any creature wherefore he finds out one that is able to bear it one that is mighty the man of his right-hand that he should be made sin and become a curse And how doth the satisfaction that Christ gives to the Lord become ours It can be no other way but by Union and this union must be 1 Natural he must take upon him our nature for our debt was a debt of body and soul to be offered as a sacrifice unto the wrath of God And therefore it is said Heb. 2.1 He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are both of one He must take our nature and in that nature suffer as being one with us for without shedding of blood there is no remission 2 Voluntary and by consent he becoming our surety and so under our Covenant putting his name into our bond Gal. 4.4 and voluntary on our part accepting of him as our surety and consenting to his Covenant and the terms of the agreement and the consent of the Judge to whom the debt was due and against whom the offence was committed Sin must be condemned by the ordination of the Judge and the Surety must accept and submit to what was required of him in order to a satisfaction and the consent and approbation of the delinquent also and by this is the Union made up and all that Christ hath done becomes ours And thus as man is a sinner God cannot enter into Covenant with him immediately but it must be a Covenant in the hand of a Mediator which can be no otherwise but as we are one with him and consent
sprinkled upon the Book and upon all the people and all things under the Law were cleansed and sanctified by blood Exod. 24.23 therefore the Law in the administration of it unto them was never intended by God to set forth a Covenant of Works but it was a Covenant of Grace and is usually called a Covenant Deut. 29.10 11. They stood to enter into Covenant with God that he might establish them to be a people to himself and that he might be unto them a God Deut. 26.17 18 Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and he hath avouched thee to be his people So that the Law was given by Moses in Gods intention plainly as a Covenant of Grace unto all those that were able to look upon the intent of God therein 2 But yet the Lords intention was also that it should be a copy of the Covenant of Works that God made with Adam before his fall which was never wholly blotted out of the mind of man because God would not have that wholly to perish and be forgotten and therefore it was delivered after a sort in the form of the Covenant of Works and in this respect the Lord has made it a handmaid to the Gospel not that the Lord did intend it for a Covenant of Works as if men should attain righteousness and life thereby but as faedus subserviens a subservient Covenant as that which in this manner God would make use of to advance the ends of the Gospel and the new Covenant By all this you see that the Covenant of which Circumcision was a sign and a seal was not the Covenant of Works but was the same that was made with Abraham because the Covenant was the same Circumcision was the seal of the righteousness of Faith and continued amongst the Jews in this Covenant and that Covenant that binds to the observation of the Ceremonial as well as the Moral Law is not a Covenant of Works but the Covenant made upon Mount Sinai did bind to the Ceremonial Law also nor was the Covenant that God made with Moses a Covenant of Works for Moses was Heb. 11.23 a Believer but Exod. 34.27 it is called the Covenant which I made with thee and with all Israel when I stood before the Lord forty days and he wrote the words of the Covenant the ten Commandments But more particularly the Lord did intend to make the Law given upon Mount Sinai a copy of the Covenant of Works and to be materially and for substance the same that he did make with Adam and with all mankind in him in the state of his integrity 1. Death reigned from Adam till Moses Rom. 5. Gen. 4. ult and therefore sin came in and we see that murder was a sin in Cain and publick worship was a duty Men did begin to call upon the name of the Lord so that the Law was in the World before Moses and it was not only written in the hearts of men 2 Pet. 2.5 So Beza Gen. 6.5 but it was taught in the publick Ministery before Moses for Noah was the Preacher of Righteousness and in the Ministry of the Word we know that the Spirit of God did strive with men Gen. 6.3 The word in the Hebrew is to strive in judgment and by way of argument for conviction so that the Law was given to Adam and Noah and Abraham as well as unto Moses and was for substance the same 2. It is given in the form of a Covenant of Works with a this do and thou shalt live and so it was afterwards by Christ and by the Prophets also preached it was to the carnal Jews plainly a Covenant of Works not in Gods intention but by their own corruption they going about to establish their own righteousness Rom. 10.3 and not subjecting themselves to the righteousness of God it is set forth to them as a Covenant of Works Now if the Lord will not give it as a Covenant why does he not propound it as a rule and lay down the precepts without any such terms of a Covenant as if men should attain life by it when he did never intend to deliver it as a Covenant in which men should attain life by doing but by believing Thus the Lord did that the terms of the first Covenant might be promulgated to the World and that they that did still desire to be under the Law might not plead ignorance of the terms that God required in the Law if they did expect life and happiness thereby 3. Though I say it be for substance and materially the same yet in many circumstances it differs from Adams Covenant for this was a Covenant of such promises and sanctions annexed to it as were not in the Covenant made with Adam and a Covenant confirmed by blood and thereby sanctified which Adams Covenant never had and therefore though it did for substance agree yet in many things there was a difference This Covenant given unto Adam in a state of Innocency and for substance renewed upon Mount Sinai when it was by sin wholly obliterated and blotted out God has made a handmaid or foedus subserviens a Covenant subservient to the Gospel it is Hagar Gal. 4.23 but the Covenant of Grace is Sarah and it is given in the hand of a Mediator not only by Moses but by Christ also for Christ delivered the Law to them Act. 7.38 Moses was in the Wilderness with the Angel who spake to him in Mount Sinai and with our fathers and what Angel was it but Christ he that saith I am the God of Abraham and he that was also tempted in the Wilderness and the Apostle says We are come to Jesus whose voice then shook the earth in the giving of the Law 1 Cor. 10.4 Heb. 12.25 26. it was his voice and then by an enumeration of particulars how the Lord has made every part of the Law as it is materially the first Covenant a servant to the Gospel for the discovery of sin the Law entred that the offence might abound and the Apostle says Rom. 5.20 I had not known sin but by the Law and also for the conviction of Conscience and the imputation of sin Rom. 5.13 sin is not imputed where there is no Law and for the condemnation of sin that it may be a Schoolmaster to bring the sinner unto Christ the avenger of blood Gal. 3.10 a killing letter and the ministration of death to kill them and hew them and it restrains sin and puts a bridle upon a man and is a means of conversion the curse of the Law is sanctified and the threatnings sweet when the curse is taken out death has no sting the grave has no victory and it is to all under the second Covenant a rule a companion and a counsellor The Law is to be considered as I told you two ways 1 Largely as containing all the Doctrine delivered upon Mount Sinai and all things that may
of the Covenant Ezek. 20.37 2 The Author of this Covenant Jehovah the Lord God alsufficient and therefore he doth not here call it Abrahams Covenant but it is my Covenant 3 The fountain from which in God this Covenant does flow And I will make my Covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly This Covenant is a free gift and an act meerly of free grace and so much doth Abraham acknowledge immediately for he falls upon his face to shew that he could never be thankful enough The property of a thankful soul is this the more mercy it receives from God and the more boldness it may have with God and with the greater confidence he may come to him with the greater reverence he does walk towards the Lord for there is nothing that a gracious heart fears more than goodness and he is lowest in himself when the Lord exalts him highest by his Grace And this doth the Lord repeat three times I will make a Covenant with thee and my Covenant shall be with thee and vers 7. I will establish my Covenant with thee I will cause my Covenant to arise that is I will raise up such a relation between me and thee I will take thee into Covenant with my self and I will enter into Covenant with thee and this he doth repeat so often as Mercer does observe partly to confirm the Faith of Abraham in the promised mercy partly to set forth the greatness of the mercy which no words were sufficient to express also the repetition does stir up and awaken Abraham yet further to consider of the greatness of the mercy of God to him in it and the greatness also of his engagement to God thereby And from hence the first observation that I shall give you is from looking upon Abrahams Covenant as being the same with that God made with all the faithful Gal. 3. ult Doct. After man was fallen and had broken the first Covenant the Lord out of his free Grace hath made with his people a second Covenant and a better Covenant In the handling hereof are four things to be cleared 1 The Person that makes the Covenant who it is Jehovah El-shaddai 2 That God will after the fall as well as before deal with his Elect in a Covenant-way 3 The Lord hath the first and the chief hand in it I will do it I even I and therefore he doth every where call it my Covenant 4 That the fountain of this Covenant is from Gods free Grace 1. The Person that makes it the Author of this Covenant and here there are two things 1 That all the persons in the Trinity do enter into Covenant and thereby bind themselves to make themselves over unto the Elect and that will appear to you by these Considerations 1 They have all of them the same nature and essence the same will and have all a hand in the same acts as Creation is the act of them all so they do all concur in making of the Covenant Father Son and Holy Ghost 2 This is a Covenant of peace and reconciliation and the Son and the Spirit are as truly offended with the sin of man and had a hand in the first Covenant and their authority was as truly despised in the first transgression as the authority of the Father and a dishonour was put upon them also and therefore there was as much need that they should be reconciled and enter into a Covenant with man for his Salvation Bern. Ser. 1. de adventu Domini as God the Father Yea some Divines conceive that the first transgression of Angels and men was chiefly against the Son and some of our own Divines as Reinolds in Psal 110. pag. 421. say That the first sin of man was principally committed against the Son it being an affectation of that which did properly belong to him to be like unto God in Wisdom and also in this was sown the seed of the unpardonable sin which was to be the fatal sin under the second Covenant and therefore as the mercy was the more glorious that they would undertake Offices in this Covenant for reconciliation so there was the greater necessity that they should also join and be taken into the Covenant 3 If we consider the person that does transact this business and strike up this Covenant with Abraham who though he did it as the Word of God in the name of all the persons yet it was the Son who did immediately speak in it as Glassius expounds Job 33.3 the word is there The breath of the Almighty and Psal 91.1 where the same word is used it is the shadow of the Almighty c. 4 If we consider that the Son speaks of himself in Covenant as well as his Father for it is by this Covenant that the Lord is the God of Abraham because therein he did promise so to be now Exod. 3.2 6. the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses and saith I am the God of thy fathers the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac c. Act. 7.30 and the Angel of the Lord is by Scripture plainly proved to be God the Son and it 's generally or for the most part consented unto by all Divines ancient and modern Mal. 3.1 and it may be that having the great hand in striking up the Covenant he is therefore called the Angel of the Covenant 2. Though all the persons enter into Covenant with the Saints yet the person that the Scripture says we do chiefly enter into Covenant with and that hath the main and first hand therein is God the Father 1. Because it is said in Scripture to be a Covenant of peace and reconciliation and therefore it doth suppose an enmity and a war Now though sin was committed against all the Persons yet the suite against sinners in Scripture does chiefly run in God the Father's name as in all Societies there is usually one in whose name all their suites are commenced therefore 2 Cor. 5.18 19. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself he speaks 〈◊〉 of God the Father who does reconcile us unto himself by Jesus Christ and therefore we are said to be reconciled to God and the work of the reconciliation of a sinner Christ calls his Fathers business and he is said to be an Advocate with the Father 1 Joh. 2.1 Sin is an offence to all the Persons they having all a hand in mans Creation and all of them joining in giving man a Law and entring into Covenant with him in his Creation but in Scripture the suite against sin is said to run every where in the Fathers name and our reconciliation is unto him and therefore it is the Father that has the great hand in the Covenant as the person reconciled 2. Because in the Scripture the other Persons have their peculiar Offices which they have voluntarily undertaken in this Covenant to reconcile men unto God and therefore both are said to be
Because the Lord will honour his Son as the second Adam and the glory of the first Adam was a Covenant and an Image and so shall the second Adam be And he must have a seed also to whom these shall be conveyed Isa 53.8 The word signifies generation In whom he shall see his seed and prolong his days as Psal 72. and Christ is his Son in both generation and succession naturally as they bear his Image and legally as they stand under his Covenant and the Lord will honour the second Adam as he did the first in both these the Lord having made Adam the type of him that was to come 3. That hereby the Lord might honour the Creature the Covenant is the staff of beauty because it is the great beauty and glory of any people that God hath taken them into Covenant Zach. 11.10 specially if we consider the second Covenant to be Matrimonial and the Lord doth thereby betroth him unto himself in loving kindness and mercy and faithfulness as Hos 2.18 the great honour of the people of Israel Deut. 26.18 was that they were a people peculiar unto God thence he is called the God of Israel and this is the great honour of the Saints which makes them more excellent than their neighbours because they have God so nigh them to be their God in Covenant 4. That it may be the greater obligation unto men to obedience Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant with thee thou shalt therefore keep my Covenant And it is the great answer unto all Temptations I am in Covenant with the Lord as a woman that is married it is a sufficient answer unto all other suiters I am already married unto another Je◠13.11 As a girdle to the loins of a man so have I caused the whole house of Israel to cleave unto me that they might be unto me for a name and for a praise The Lord bound them to him by Covenant and it is a great aggravation of sin that the Lord loves us and we forget the Covenant of our God therefore Adultery is aggravated above all other sins Hos 3.2 A woman beloved of her husband yet an adulteress how abominable is it 5. To sweeten obedience and make it the more free and voluntary when a man takes it upon himself and gives the hand to the Lord 2 Chron. 30.7 8. which was the custom amongst men when they entred into Covenant Ezek. 17.18 and that men might see that their good always goes along with their duty and that God that did command to obey did promise to reward and therefore did it not ex indigentia sed potentia out of indigence but from power Christs goodness extends not unto God as munificentia by way of munificence Austin puts the difference between man and God in this as the Earth drinks up the water so doth the Sun-beams also one out of its own necessity but the other out of its power so God requires duty out of bounty for your good always that he may reward it Grace does not destroy but raise and rectifie self-love Christ in his obedience had a glory set before him and so had Moses a respect to the recompence of reward There is a love of reward which is lawful when it is not this that is the only thing that lancheth a man forth in a duty but only fills his sails but when it is mercenary love and has respect to nothing in the duty but the loaves this is sinful and it is this Covenant that makes the yoke of Christ easie and profitable having an eye to the exceeding great and precious promises which engages a man to have respect to all the Commandments for the Lord doth delight to allure men into ways of holiness and duty Hos 2.14 Lastly the Lord will have it so 1 That by the promises of this Covenant he may sanctifie a man change his image and make him partaker of the Divine nature and that every one of them may carry the soul continually to Christ as streams to the fountain 2 Pet. 1.4 in whom they are Yea and Amen 2 That this may be the ground of a working faith and a lively hope and a fervent prayer all which are grounded only upon the promises of this Covenant for had there not been a Covenant between God and us there had been no place for faith no ground for hope and no room for the prayer of faith which only is bottomed upon a promise 3 Whatever is done in this Covenant it is God that has the first and chief hand therein and we do not enter into Covenant with him but he enters into Covenant with us first though the Covenant be mutual yet it is called the Lords Covenant as Christ faith unto his Disciples Joh. 15.16 You have not chosen me but I have chosen you they did chuse Christ as every believing soul doth but the love first began on Christs part and so it does also in this Covenant 1 Joh. 4.10 Not that we loved him but he loved us and me love him because he loved us first so we do not begin the Covenant with God but the Lord doth begin with us and the motion came from him alone God the Father is not passive in it but active he was content that Christ should reconcile us to him As it was to David an acceptable service of Joab in reconciling his Son Absalom to him because his heart did run out to him so God the Father is active in this work he is in Christ reconciling the world and all that Christ does is by the Fathers appointment and he is his servant in it and it is the pleasure of the Lord and he doth love to have it so and had not he imployed Christ in this work there had never been a reconciliation between God and man As it is true by our Union with Christ we are joined to or as the word signifies glewed to the Lord yet the Union doth begin on Christs part first and Christ unites himself to us by the Spirit before we can by our faith be united to him so it is in the Covenant also it does begin on Gods part and as it was the Womans great dishonour to be first in the transgression so it is the Lords great glory to be first in the reconciliation And therefore when Adam after his fall stood trembling and could expect nothing but a sentence of condemnation the Lord was pleased to reveal a new Covenant to him for the Text saith he was afraid and he hid himself so unto Abraham the motion of a Covenant was from the Lord and not from Abraham There is a Grace preceding which works Grace and there is also a Grace co-operating that acts Grace but it is preventing Grace that is the first § 3. The main part of this Covenant is transacted by God without us which will appear if we consider the particulars of it 1. The Purpose and intention of
consist of Promises they are many Promises of this life and of the life to come Promises absolute and conditional Promises of Grace and to Grace and they are therefore called better Promises and so because in respect of the Fathers their good things were even wholly contained in Promises as the Ceremonial Law was contained in Ordinances and they saw nothing in the one but in the Type and nothing in the other but in the Promises they did salute them afar off and imbracing them died in the faith of them but they never received the thing promised Heb. 11. Joh. 8.57 only as Abraham desired to see my days says Christ and he saw it and was glad And it is sometimes called the promise because they are all one in Christ being in him all yea and amen as lines in a Center are one follow any promise to its Original as rivers unto the head and rise of them and they will all lead you unto Christ and yet they are Promises in themselves many as the lines are in the Circumference though but one in the Center Ephes 2.12 the Apostle Paul useth a quite different expression Strangers unto the Covenants of promise he doth as it were make the promise but one for substance and the Covenants many the Covenants are many because of their manifold delivery being severally renewed and yet in all these in several ages the promises the same as if but one promise 2. How and in what order is Abraham to be considered in this Covenant and in receiving this promise In this Covenant Abraham stands as a publick person as a common root Rom. 11. or as a common Parent unto all the faithful unto the worlds end as one that did receive the Promise not only for himself but for all those that should after his example believe in Christ and become his Children and therefore he is said to be the father of the faithful Rom. 4.16 and they that do believe are Abrahams seed and also heirs of the Promise For as Austin hath observed there are three sorts of Fathers and of Sons some are according to nature and others are secundum Doctrinam according to Doctrine so Paul was father to Timothy having begotten him by the Gospel others secundum imitationem according to imitation as filii Abrahami nos sumus cujus fidem imitamur we are Abrahams children if we imitate his faith And this the Lord doth for a double end 1 To put an honour upon his servant as a great reward of his faith and therefore he changed his name calling him the Father of many Nations as one that was the root and first in the Covenant and they all coming in at second hand under Abrahams Covenant and therefore Mic. 7.20 it is mercy to Abraham Mic. 7.20 and truth to Jacob because in Abraham after a sort the Covenant did begin not that to him the Covenant of Grace was first revealed for it was made known unto Adam and Abel was justified by faith Heb. 11.3 but because unto Abraham was the clearest discovery of the Covenant and the Lord did in the most solemn manner enter into Covenant with him therefore it is mercy to Abraham that being the foundation of making the Covenant as his truth and faithfulness is of keeping the Covenant 2 The Lord does it thereby to make Abraham as it were a Type of Christ that it may be continued unto posterity that the way by which God intended to dispense the Grace of the Covenant was from one common head or root as the first Covenant to the first Aam and all his posterity so the second Covenant with the second Aam of whom first Abraham and afterwards David were the fullest Types and resemblances Thus that the Lord might honour Abraham his friend with the highest honour as the root of all the Faithful and that this manner of conveyance of the Grace of the Covenant from one common root might be made known and thereby mans heart led unto Christ the root and Prince of the Covenant therefore it was made with Abraham as a publick person and the father of us all 3. What is meant by Christ here the seed of Abraham not seeds as of many Here Interpreters are divided There is a twofold seed of Abraham to which they have an eye according unto these two promises In thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Gen. 22.18 Christus in individuo Christus in aggregato and Gen. 17.7 I will be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee and answerably unto these they observe in Scripture a twofold Christ Christ Personal and Christ Mystical so 1 Cor. 12.12 the whole Church is called Christ and the sufferings of the Church are called the sufferings of Christ Ephes 1.23 and the fulness of the Church the fulness of Christ as Col. 1.18 Here some say is to be understood Christ personal for two reasons 1 The person to whom the promise is made is the same in whom all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed but this is by Abraham in reference to this seed It 's true all the faithful as they are the seed of Abraham they are blessed with faithful Abraham but they are not that seed in whom all the Nations of the world shall be blessed Rutherf Triumph of Faith p. 51. Gen. 22.18 that is in Abraham as this seed should come out of his loins and it refers us only to the person of Christ which cannot be understood of Christ Mystical therefore Ambrose saith of this promise Impletum est in Christo ideoque non in multis sed in uno firmata est promissio 2 Because it is said verse the 17. the Covenant was made before of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 erga Christum or ad Christum in or to Christ speaking of the same seed that he had spoken of in the verse before now this promise and Covenant was not confirmed in Christ Mystical but Christ Personal in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen And hence Pareus and divers others do conclude it to be understood Individuè de uno Christo ex quo omnis spiritualis benedictio in fidelem diffluit c. Individually of Christ from whom all spiritual benediction flows Others do conceive it is to be understood of Christ Mystical 1 From the order that is here mentioned the promise is made first unto Abraham and then unto his seed therefore the seed here spoken of must be such a seed as comes to have a right to the promise as second Bulkley of the Gospel-Covenant p. 37. in order unto Abraham but this cannot be Christ Personal for he has not a right unto the Promise from Abraham but Abraham from him and therefore it must be understood of Christ Mystical who are to look upon Abraham as the root and themselves as branches 2 They argue from the Apostles scope in this place which is to prove that
Baptism is sealing He received the sign of Circumcision a seal of the righteousness of Faith a seal of the righteousness which was his by Faith and he is accepted of God thereby and what Abraham had by Circumcision the Saints have by Baptism Col 2.11 12. Mat. 3.16 Now the most illustrious sealing of all other was in the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus when he was baptized went straightway out of the water c. never any Ordinance was graced with such a Presence the whole Trinity appeared in the work and what was all this for but to make way for that great sealing which was grounded upon the Covenant between the Father and the Son This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased So that in this the Covenant between the Father and the Son was visibly sealed Gods acceptation of him and of all the Saints in him 4. The Scripture doth hold forth this Covenant unto us in the terms of it Christ doth publish his commission unto the world Isa 49.1 2. how the Lord had called and fitted him from the womb made his mouth as a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand he hid me and made me a polished shaft and said Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified And what is the service that the Lord called him to to bring Jacob to him But then the Lord having undertaken the work and seeing how few of the Jews should be converted he seems to complain I have laboured in vain but yet he comforts himself it was for God he did work and his reward was with him Now the Lord does inlarge his grant not only to raise the tribe of Jacob but also to be for salvation to the ends of the earth I will give thee for a Covenant to the people to establish the earth and to cause them to inherit the desolate habitation Isa 49. We have in this Chapter related the very arguments that were between him and his Father who said of him Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified 2dly Why must such a Covenant pass between the Father and the Son in such a solemn manner The Lord will deal with Christ in this great work in a Covenant way 1. Because he will have Christ to be propounded unto the World as the second Adam For God did intend to bring all the elect under one head that as the offence was by one so the free gift by grace might also be so Rom. 5. God did intend that all man-kind should come under a double head and so be presented unto him in the last Judgment the first and second Adam and therefore the Lord speaks as if there were but two men in the World the first Adam 1 Cor. 15.47 and the second and the first Adam must be the Type of him that was to come therefore as the first Adam had a Covenant made with him and an Image stampt upon him for himself and for all his posterity so must the second Adam also have and therefore he must be the second Adam by Covenant made with him as a publick person and as a representative head for all his posterity that seed and generation that should be born of him 2. That he might thereby advance the free grace of the Father and of the Son 1. The free grace of the Father is much exalted by it in two things 1 In the motion of it it came first from him his taking of us actually into Covenant is a part of the purchase of Christ and he hath bought the Souls of the Elect it is the price of his blood and it is because he dyed that he doth not abide alone but the taking of Christ into Covenant it did not come first from Christ but the motion was the Fathers the Son can do nothing of himself I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me 2. Joh 5.19 In his accepting a Covenant it was free with him to make it and therefore the obedience of Christ was free with him to accept if Christ had offered himself and had laid down his life it is true it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all that God in Justice could expect and it was a price sufficient for all that ever Christ did purchase yet there is grace in the bowels of all this because it was free with the Lord to accept of the righteousness of another to become ours This gracious acceptation and imputation the Lord doth shew forth abundantly in the Covenant made with Christ himself for being a Covenant it must be free 2. It doth also exceedingly advance the Grace of the Son in this That Christ being God equal with the Father having a perfect dominion over his own actions and being Lord of his own life having a power to lay down his life as he saith No man takes it from me but I lay it down John 10.18 That he should freely and voluntarily bind himself in a Covenant in this manner to abase himself to stand in our stead to bear our sins and to be under a Curse for us and to consent unto this cheerfully and willingly as a thing in which he is pleased and delighted to shew forth therein the love of his Father and to his people and to undertake all of it Heb. 9.10 and to bind himself thereunto by his own voluntary consent who otherwise was not could not be bound For there is this difference between the Covenant of the first and the second Adam the first Adam was bound to obey by a bond of creation and he was bound to be subject but the second Adam was not so he was perfectly free and yet he is willing by Covenant to be bound And the Lord herein dealt as Aelian hath a Story of Zaleucus a Ruler in the City Locris who had made a Law against Adultery that it should be punished with the loss of both eyes and his son was afterwards accused and condemned of the same offence and the whole City in honour to his Father became Suitors unto him to spare his Son but the story says he did first put out one of his own eyes and afterwards one of his Sons and thereby satisfied the Law And so between a just legislator and a merciful father he divided himself Had the Lord so dealt with us and laid part of the punishment upon us and part upon Christ we had been undone but Christ undertook all for us to pour out his soul to death Isa 53. last and bear the sins of many being that to which he was not bound and that which he could not have been forced to and yet to make himself by Covenant a debter it exalts free Grace nothing more 3. The Lords intention was in the whole work of Redemption to deal with Christ in a judicial way as he is the judge of all the World that he may have his justice satisfied Rom. 3.25 He doth all to declare
his righteousness Now in a way of justice there are but two ways to make a man guilty of sin and obnoxious to punishment either from sin inherent or imputed and this of imputation is either from a natural Union as it is in us and therefore we are guilty of Adam's sin or by voluntary Union and by way of suretiship when one person free in himself doth willingly take upon him the guilt of another mans offence and subject himself unto the punishment for it And either of these may be a ground of proceeding against such a person in justice Now Christ hath in him no sin by nature either inherent or imputed he knew no sin neither was there guile found in his mouth though he were a Son of Adam yet being begotten by the Holy Ghost and not coming into the World and descending from Adam in a natural way and being God and man in one person he could not naturally and necessarily come under Adam's Covenant but was in this respect separate from sinners but by way of Covenant and voluntary undertaking so he was made sin for us and so he was made a Curse and so he doth confess our sins as his own and so bears them it being the guilt that he had taken upon him and thereupon God dealt with him as an enemy and laid upon him all the wrath that was due to Sin Now the ground of all this dealing of God was only the Covenant 4. It is the Apostles reason Rom. 4. for the justifying of a sinner by Faith that the promise may be sure to all the Seed because it puts the whole power and the righteousness by which we are justified out of our selves in another so it is here the Lord will have the Covenant made with Christ and ingage him therein that the promise may be sure to all the Seed the Lord knew that we would fail him and there was nothing to be expected from us Psal 89.19 and therefore says I have laid help upon one that is mighty and one that is every way able to satisfie and I have put it upon him and from him I will expect it he hath undertaken it and therefore God doth take all our sins from us and put them upon him as it is said God was in Christ reconciling the world 2 Cor. 5.19 putting their trespasses upon him but not upon them and it is observable though we come into the same Covenant with Christ in point of obedience yet in point of satisfaction he takes only Christs single Bond and he will never ask any thing of us till Christ fail him 3 dly When did the Lord make this Covenant with Christ and when was it to take place 1. This Covenant passed between God and Christ the Father and the Son before the World began How many are thy thoughts to usward Dan. 8.13 It is Christ that knew the thoughts of God whose name is Palmoni qui secreta numerata habet peccata who hath all our secret sins numbered And what be those thoughts It is sacrifice and burnt offerings thou wouldest not c. thoughts of satisfaction to the justice of God and the redemption of the elect by a sacrifice and they are no new thoughts but such as God took up from eternity and such transactions as past between God and Christ before his coming into the World And then said I Lo I come to do thy will O God In the beginning of his way I was set up as a King and Priest and Prophet from eternity and this not only in decree and appointment but also by covenant and compact and by mutual agreement between them For all that vast eternity that they spent by themselves was spent wholly in matter of delight and that was double 1 The Father and the Son delighted one in another I was his delight daily 2 The Son delighted in the salvation of man and the same word is used in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And it is spoken of man fallen for it is in the habitable parts of the earth that is of all mankind scattered throughout the whole face of the earth wheresoever men dwell And there was neither Angels nor any part of the works of God mentioned but this only and this delight was while it was only in the expectation of it in beholding the purpose of God and those vast thoughts of Glory that the Lord had laid up there Titus 1.2 there is a promise of eternal life which could not be but unto our representative one that did enter into Covenant And 't is said 2 Tim. 1.9 There is grace given us in Christ before the world began 2. But yet this Covenant was not actually to take place till man was fallen 1 It is a Covenant of reconciliation and it doth suppose God and man at variance and it was because the Children were partakers of flesh and blood therefore he himself took part of the same He was made under the Law to redeem us that were under the Law Our deliverance must be by Redemption and the Covenant of Reconciliation 2. It must be by a Priest one to offer a sacrifice and it must be after man had lost all other sacrifices that he must come The blood of Bulls could not take away sin Heb. 10. and yet it did take place immediately after the fall Christ was a Lamb slain from the beginning of the world not only as to the decree but as to the efficacy and it is by vertue of that agreement between God and Christ that the Lord under the Old Testament pardoned all the Saints barely upon the word of Christ before he had paid any part of the debt and therefore Rom. 3.25 Christ did not only dye with reference unto the sins of the World that were to come but those that were past and the men were in possession of all because the justice of God was satisfied though only in the covenant and promise between them God looking upon Christ to come and they exercising their faith upon Christ that was to come And now satisfaction is given Christ relies upon the Covenant between him and his Father for the application as the Father took Christs word for satisfaction and oblation before his coming It is one of the greatest grounds of faith that is in the Word of God that Christ is ingaged by Covenant as well as unto us and therefore he being the Son will be faithful to his Father And also that God is ingaged unto Christ as well as unto us and therefore will be faithful to him also and will not break with the Son therefore surely his enemies shall be destroyed that rise up against the Kingdom of Christ for he is ingaged to make his foes his footstool There are three things that are crying amongst men 1 The cry of Blood 2 The wages of a Hireling 3 The will of the dead unperformed Now here is all the Blood of Christ shed and he as a Servant
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
but made with us as in him and for his sake as fire is hot in it self and the Sun light in it self and all things else by participation as they receive from these so Christ is the Covenant because it is with him in himself originally and with us but as we are one with him 2 Because all parts of the Covenant lye upon him whatever is to be done in it if the Covenant be to be made he is the Mediator of it if it be to be confirmed he is the witness of it Isa 55.4 if to be published he is the Angel and if to be performed he is the surety And he is not a surety as other sureties are that enter into one and the same bond so as the creditor may seize on whom he will the debter or the surety and on the debter first for him we commonly call the principal but in this Covenant God takes Christs single bond for us all that so he might be sure of satisfaction and therefore he is said to lay help upon one that is mighty one able to pay and so to discharge us so God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 not imputing their trespasses 2. If you have not an interest in this Covenant you are undone for all the happiness that the antient Saints had was by an interest in that Covenant and all the glory that they or we shall have is by vertue of this Covenant All the benefits of this Covenant are branched into these three sorts 1 Promises and they belong to none but the heirs of promise 2 Graces 3 Priviledges Gal. 4. we read there of a company of men that are Abrahams seed the children of the free-woman that are begotten under the Covenant of Grace and there is no promise or grace or priviledge whether in this life or the life to coâ—â— that belongs unto any but those that are in the Covenant and have accepted it as it appears in the matter of the Sacraments in that of the Lords Supper for a mans self and that of Baptism for his child if a man be not himself within the Covenant the seal can do him no good no more than if a man that had gotten the writings of an heiress should conclude that he should inherit the Lands because he hath the writing whereas the ground thereof is interest in the person first and being made one with her then he doth seize upon the Land by a legal title and never till then so they are Abrahams seed to whom the Sacraments do belong And for that of Baptism the Lord gives a title from the parent to the child he doth not so in the other Acts 2.39 And the thing signified in Baptism the Soul being passive in a Child hath as good ground by Gods Covenant as by the mans profession yea better the mans profession being fallible than he can have any other way and it is a mans own interest in the Covenant that gives him title unto all those priviledges There are indeed membra praesumptiva of the Church of God to whom these priviledges do in appearance belong but not in truth and in reality unless they are within the Covenant 3. This is not a Covenant that is conveyed by nature but by consent Consider here 1 that there is a twofold Union the one natural and the other voluntary and by way of suretiship now we come under Adams Covenant by nature our union with him being natural for we are born under it but the Covenant of the second Adam is not so and therefore we come under Christs Covenant freely and by consent for our new birth is voluntary and our consent is free we are drawn and yet we come for Gods drawing makes men willing to come and therefore faith is commonly expressed by consent who ever will let him come Rev. 22. There is therefore no way of getting into Christs Covenant but by our consent by laying hold of his Covenant Esa 56.4 Esay 56.4 and this is that I would exhort you to the word in the original signifies to take fast hold of a thing and that strongly and with all a mans might as in Job 2.3 it is said of Job Job 2.3 that he did hold fast his integrity Satan and his friends would have plucked it from him and have made him to conclude against himself that he was an Hypocrite and his heart unsound before God but he yet held it and said I will not part with my integrity till I die and so Job 8.15 it 's said of a Hypocrite that made himself a house of gifts and common graces Job 8.15 and outward performances and upon this house he leans puts all his confidence and when God by the way comes and shews him the deceit of it and that it is but a sandy foundation upon which it is built the self-flattery of his own spirit and that it is but a Castle in the Air and will do him no good in the evil day the storm will overflow his hiding place yet the man holds it fast he will live and dye with them and will not cast away his own righteousness it is such a taking hold of the Covenant that is here meant with all a mans heart and might But you 'l say What is it for a man to take hold of Christs Covenant We have formerly heard that there are two wayes of conveyance either by way of gift or by way of dowry The promises and all the graces of the Covenant yea the Covenant it self is not bestowed upon us as a man would give a gift to another without any farther relation but it is by way of a dowry which you cannot have without the person so it is here Christ in the Covenant is a common person a second Adam and if we have an interest in him and be represented by him the Covenant belongs unto us but there can be no benefit in his Covenant without interest in his person As we see the ground and intendment of union is 1 John 5.11.12 that there may be a communion and a communication and all communion is grounded upon union and is the fruit of it Gal. 3. ult it 's our union with the first Adam that brings us under his Covenant wherefore as soon as a man becomes a man his Covenant and the curse of it takes hold on him and therefore Infants die so it was the union of Christ with us that brought him under our Covenant he was made of a woman under the Law Gal. 4.4 had he not been one with us he could never have stood in our stead living and dying so it is our being one with him that gives us an interest in his Covenant and brings us under it 2. The terms and condition of this union is that you shall receive and accept him and give up your selves to him I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Cant. 6.3 you must cut off
mans God is to have an interest in infinite mercy and power and grace the God of my mercy and the God of my strength c. and have the Lord thine in a way of communion and fruition that the Lord will impart himself so as to become my portion the Covenant of Grace being a Covenant of Friendship and this is much more if we consider it is not in our own but in Christs right and therefore I having naturally no distinct title unto God yet being under his Covenant he is become my God as he is Christs God John 20.17 I ascend unto my Father and your Father my God and your God 2. This Covenant brings in a righteousness beyond that of the Angels 1. It is the righteousness of God Dan 9.24 and not meerly of a creature 2. It is a righteousness that sin can never spend an everlasting righteousness it is a Garment that will cover all the sins of the Elect of God a Sun of righteousness that though it enlighten all the Stars and the Earth yet every day it goes forth as a Bridgroom out of his Chamber as full of glory as ever it was 3. It is a Covenant by which Heaven is opened which was before shut against all the sons of men Heb. 10.20 we have access with boldness into the most holy place by the blood of Jesus by a new and a living way which he has consecrated through the veil c. when Heaven was shut by sin there was no way to open it but the Lord himself to descend from Heaven and to take upon himself a created nature so that the way to Heaven is by Christs Incarnation and Satisfaction in the Flesh and it is the way that Christ has made new because the old way was shut and man cast out of Paradise a Type of Heaven and it is a new way because it shall never wax old as the former Covenant did and a livingway because it gives life unto the Passenger that walks to Heaven in it and in the way of the Law there is no Life to be found but this is a living way a man finds life in it though the Law indeed was a way to Heaven but a man must bring life with him that will walk in it And by this opening of Heaven we have a double benefit 1 All good comes out of Heaven to us John 1. ult 2 We ascend up to Heaven to receive the mansions that are prepared for us and so Heaven is our home our House not made with hands and all by this Covenant 4 It is by this Covenant that a man hath the service of all the Angels and the inheritance of all the creatures it 's Christ whom the Angels serve and they ascend and descend upon the son of man there was no such thing under the first Covenant they were our fellow servants but our servants they were not till the grace of the second Covenant was made manifest it is first Christ that they serve the Lord bringing his only begotten Son into the world he saith Heb. 1.6 1 Cor. 3.21 Fidelibus est totus mundus divitiarum Jo. 5.22 and let all the Angels of God worship him and of all the creatures 't is said all things are yours for they are Christs Inheritance and ours only as we are in him there is dominium Politicum and Evangelicum a Politick and Evangelick dominion they have the use and the good of all the creatures 5 It 's by this Covenant that your Government of the World is changed and committed into another hand the Lord hath committed all judgement to the Son Christ is now King of Nations as well as of Saints and he has as Mediator a providential Kingdom as well as a Spiritual he is the Head over all things to the Church Ephes 1.22 a head of Guidance as well as of eminence the Keys of Hell and Death are committed to him the Government is upon his Shoulder as the great Officer that the Lord employs Esa 9.6 and it is our happiness that he that is our Head and Husband hath the rule of all things in his hand should the Lord have continued to have governed the world he must without a Mediator have destroyed it according to the first Covenant and the rules of his Government therefore the Lord saith I cannot go before you but I will send mine Angel take heed of him and obey his voice and it 's the happiness of the world that the Lord Christ raigns Let the earth rejoyce c. 6 It is by this Covenant that the world stands he upholds all things by the word of his power had not he put under his hand Heb. 1. the Earth had melted and come to nothing he establishes the earth for the curse of the first Covenant coming upon the creatures must have received them all Yet that 's not all but that the earth should stand firm and that by his word he shall raise the earth and elevate the creatures this is much more for there is an earnest expectation of all the creatures for a deliverance as well as of the Saints and hence we look for a new Heaven and a new Earth What change soever shall be made in the creatures at the last day whether in substance or in quality it shall be perfective not destructive for it is a promise that the Saints expect and pray for and all the creatures do groan and wait for when the glory of the Sons of God shall be made manifest Vse 3 § 3. It 's for consolation it is this in which the soul lives and the privation thereof is the death of the soul in Hell where it is utter darkness Now as in the first Covenant there is a life of Comfort in the duties of it he that doth them shall live in them Heb. 10.38 Gal. 2.20 so there is the second Covenant also and therefore the just is said to live by faith as the other by doing shall live in it so he shall by believing in believing he shall live not only a life of holiness but a life of comfort and therefore as the second Covenant is the better Covenant because it is established or founded upon better promises so the comforts that do flow from those promises are higher and more glorious consolations and therefore all the ordinances and promises of it are called the breasts of consolation Esa 66.11 Heb. 6.18 out of which a man may suck and be satisfied the comforts of the second Covenant are strong consolations that which is powerful and able to bear up the spirit in the greatest assaults of temptation either from sin or Satan 2 Thess 2.16 and it is everlasting consolation and good hope through grace and such were not the comforts and consolations of the first Covenant But the more immediate any mercy and comfort is and the nearer it is to the fountain of Consolation the sweeter it is now
Christ is the fountain of Consolation and is therefore called in the abstract the Consolation of Israel Luke 2.25 and the more immediate the Lord appears in ordinances the more sweet and powerful they are as it shall be in the Ordinances of the later dayes Rev. 21.22 I saw no Temple there all dark discoveries of God that were in former ages shall be done away and yet it is not spoken of Heaven for vers 3. it is the Tabernacle of the Lord is with men and a Tabernacle is to be removed and no abiding habitation vers 23. The glory of the Lord and the Lamb shall be the Light thereof v. 23. and therefore no need of the Sun or the Moon that is of any creature influences or comforts but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lucerna such a light as doth not make it a perfect day it is a light that doth argue its night still in comparison of what it shall be when the Sun of Righteousness shall arise in glory and yet this more immediate presence made them both more sweet and more powerful and that makes glory so infinitely sweet because the comfort that we shall have there shall come in immediately from the Lord here though Ordinances and Providences and Comforts be sweet yet they are conveyed by the creature and therefore they lose much of their sweetness and glory but then he will make us to drink of the Rivers of his pleasures Now for a mans comfort to come in from Christ immediately by partaking with him in the same Covenant and the promises thereof to have it in the same Fountain with the Lord of Life the consolation of Israel it doth very much sweeten them unto the soul and therefore it 's a Christians wisdom to drink his comforts as near the Fountain as he can and the greater cordials they will prove and the more reviving and therefore be you much in these things and your souls shall live they are the most quickning and reviving considerations that are in the whole Book of God To be much in creature comforts whether in delighting in them or depending upon them 2 Chron. 16.12 is a snare It 's said of Asa That in his sickness he sought not to the Lord and the reason is given because his heart was wholly in the Physicians and his hope and expectation from them But to be in these consolations is your duty because as Hezekiah observes Esa 38.15 by or upon these things men live by such experiments as these are by such promises and in all these is the life of my spirit And this was Davids consolation at the last when he came to dye 2 Sam. 23.5 2 Sam. 23.5 Though my House is not so with God yet he has made with me an everlasting Covenant in all things ordered and sure there is a threefold property of the Covenant that he takes comfort in it was everlasting it was sure it was ordered in all things the word in the Hebrew is the same with that in the Proverbs chap. 16. 1. The ordering and disposing of the heart is from the Lord and the word is used in a double sense in the Scripture Prov. 9.2 sometimes for the furnishing of a Table and for the ordering and marshalling of an Army 1 Sam. 4. they put the Battel in array every one keeps his rank and so it is in this Covenant every thing keeps its place Christ is first in it and then faith in its place and the Saints in their places and there is much comfort to be taken from this order of the Covenant and this will appear to us in several particulars for God is not the God of confusion but order and this being the greatest and the most glorious work of God there is the fullest and the most perfect order to be imagined and therein the wisdom and goodness of God doth exceedingly appear 1. It 's a great honour that the Lord has put upon his people that they should be conformed unto the image of his Son so that they should stand before him in the Covenant of his Son and have in their place and degree the same right and claim to mercy that Christ has The Scripture makes Christ the Sun in the Firmament of all excellency and the more any thing partakes of him the more glorious it is as the second Temple was and Johns ministerie the Law and the Prophets were till John but afterwards the Gospel comes which was a clearer discovery of Christ and they were all eclipsed though the Law had much more outward pomp and glory yet because it did discover Christ but darkly in comparison of the Gospel therefore that is said to exceed in glory and so in Scripture the Saints do ascribe glory one to another as they are in Christ and according to their priority in Christ as the Apostle saies Rom. 16.7 Who were in Christ before me and Paul saith in another place I was like one that was born out of due time because last of all he appeared unto me 1 Cor. 15. and therefore Austin saith It abated his earnest desire of some principal part of his own good works because nomen Christi non erat ibi the name of Christ was not there had the Lord put man fallen under the Covenant of the Angels that fell not it had been an honour and put them into the same condition with them but it is far beyond it to put them under the same Covenant that was made with him whom the Angels worship and the highest honour that we have by Christ is our union with him and our legal union standing before God in the same Covenant with him is the highest part of that honour for our natural union bearing with him the same Image doth flow from it It 's a great honour to stand before God in the righteousness of Christ but the ground thereof is because we stand before God under the Covenant of Christ the inheritance of Christ is in the Saints Ephes 1. they are therefore said to be the glory of Christ as Christ is the glory of the Father his glory shall be at the last to have a large and numerous posterity to have a beautiful and a glorious spouse without spot or wrinkle or any such thing and what is it that makes us have relation to Christ as a Spouse It is taking hold of his Covenant and therefore the Covenant of Grace is said to be a marriage Covenant And what is it makes the match between any but consent Hos 2 19. And therefore it 's generally concluded by our Divines amongst the essentials of marriage for parties to give mutual consent according unto that received rule of the Civil Law where there is not the consent of both parties it ought not to be held legal Matrimony There may be a wooing and a ravishment but truly and properly there can be no Marriage without consent It is therefore a consent joyntly
one with the Son and to enter into the same Covenant with them and in their own persons that he hath established with the Son it doth highly honour the Saints and exalt the grace of God towards them also 3. That the Lord might bind men unto him more firmly in a way of obedience and that the obedience might be made the more sweet Man was bound unto God by a bond of creation and from whom he had his being unto him he did owe his service but the Lord will bind him unto him with a further cord and bond of stipulation the one was natural and necessary and the other voluntary and though he did owe obedience had there been never a promise made him of a reward yet much more when the Lord will bind himself by Covenant to reward his meanest services The ground of the Covenant is love Deut. 7.7 8. 2 Cor. 5.19 Jer. 31.3 Hos 2.19 and God loves the Saints also in his Son and is willing to be reconciled to them in him and a man may say the yoak of Christ is not only easie but profitable also Matt. 11.29 because it hath a promise annexed to every service and for this cause was the Covenant made with the Saints that they might be a willing people in all their obedience there being a promise going with the duty in whatever was required of them 4. That the people of God might exercise faith in their prayers putting these bonds in suit that the Lord hath made over unto them when they look upon themselves as sons of Abraham Heirs of Promise and Children of the Covenant c. and thereby they come with a great deal the more boldness before the throne of grace as David 1 Chron. 17.23 24. Let the thing thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and his house be established for ever do as thou hast said that thy name may be magnified for ever the Lord of Hosts is the God of Israel even a God to Israel For because thou hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray before thee now Lord thou art God and hast promised this goodness to thy servant let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant that it may be before thee for ever for thou blessest O Lord and it shall be blessed for ever have respect unto the Covenant for all the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty Reason 2 2. There is a Covenant made with the Saints also that they may see that they are as strictly bound to obedience in their own persons under the second Covenant as they were under the first Covenant and that the doctrine of the Gospel though it be a Doctrine of liberty yet is not a Doctrine of licentiousness there is as much of duty required of us now as there was then and so far as we come short of the Law we sin and every such transgression is so far as it prevails a Covenant-breaking on our part and an act of unfaithfulness but the Covenant cannot be broken because we have a surety which the first Covenant had not and the righteousness of this Covenant sin can never spend it is an everlasting righteousness therefore that Doctrine that saith God requires all of Christ and nothing of you is a Doctrine of sinful liberty it 's true That he takes satisfaction in his Son and he makes you accepted in his beloved and therefore he will never suffer his faithfulness to fail for Psal 102.28 Thou art the same and the children of thy servants shall continue c. yet in point of duty he expects from us uprightness and perfect obedience so that it is your sin and unfaithfulness if you perform it not as it was required of the first Adam so of all his posterity and as of Christ so of all his posterity also 3. That the Saints also may stand in awe of the threats of God under the second Covenant it 's true there is no curse there for it is a covenant of blessing but yet there is a double anger in God paterna hostilis ira simplex redundans c. I will visit their offences with a rod and that with many sharp and lesser trials and yet my Covenant I will not break they shall be the sure mercies of David still therefore Psal 119. he saith Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me because God had in Covenant undertaken to preserve him to his kingdom therefore he could not else have been a faithful God and there is also a faithfulness in the threatning executed as well as there is in the promises performed and that the hearts of the people of God may stand in awe thereof therefore it is necessary that as they should remember all duty was not so performed by Christ but that there is duty also in their place required of them and all suffering was not so undergone by Christ but that there may be suffering reserved for them also though not as a part of the curse of the first Covenant nor for satisfaction yet as the threatning was for their unfaithfulness under the second Covenant so it is inflicted for their humiliation and sanctification § 3. Wherein lies the difference between the Covenant made with Christ and with us 1 It was made with Christ primarily as a publick person for all the Elect but it is made with every one of us in the second place as we are members of Christ and so being in him we come under his Covenant 2 It is made with Christ immediately and for his own sake there was no mediator between God and Christ 2 Sam 7. Dan. 21.9 but the Lord accepted of his ingagement and relyed upon his faithfulness in performing his duty as Christ did upon Gods faithfulness in fulfilling his promise and whatever the Lord performs unto us it is for Christs sake but it is with us mediately in him he being the mediator of the Covenant and of all the mercies thereof 3 The promise made unto Christ was made from everlasting before the foundation of the world 2 Tim. 1.9 Rev. 13.8 it 's said The Lamb had a book of life before the foundation of the world it cannot be understood of election for he himself as mediator was elected therefore it is spoken in reference to this Covenant that God did make with Christ before the world was Prov. 8.22 he being from the beginning and this Covenant was to take place immediately after the fall but the Covenant with his people is made with them when they believe and are ingrafted into Christ faith being nothing else but a consent unto the Covenant and the terms of it on our part and therefore that is an act done by the creature in time when a man is converted and therefore notwithstanding the Covenant made with Christ yet the elect themselves Ephes 2.12 till they be converted are said
up a full resolution or purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord to keep this Covenant Act 11.23 and to stick to the terms of it to perform all thy duties towards God by it and expect all from God according to it and this is properly to enter into Covenant with the Lord. 1. You are to hear the words of it and to know aright the terms of it for he that enters into Covenant with the Lord it must be by giving up himself unto God which must be a reasonable service Rom. 12.1 2. and therefore Christ when men enter upon Religion would have them sit down first and count the cost for if men enter not upon any duty with a right understanding their hearts will again draw back and they will forsake it so here if men understand not the terms of the Covenant aright they will depart from the living God the consent of the Covenant must be a consent without error or else it is supposed that if a man had known it before he would not have consented it 's said of a marriage Covenant Error circa ea quae sunt de essentia contractus vitiat contractum c. and a consent with error and when a man understands not what he doth is no consent Now what are the Terms of this Covenant They are these 1. That you take Christ and close with him in a work of faith believe in him and be unto him alone for Gal. 3. ult We that believe are Abrahams seed and it is by our following the steps of his faith that he becomes the Father of us all therefore the Gospel is said to be making a marriage for his Son Rom. 4.16 Mat 22. it 's Christ and the soul that are married in this Covenant or else now is the time of betrothing and the marriage is to come and therefore the Church of the Jews when they shall be converted and the glorious marriage of the Lamb is come she is said to be the Bride the Lambs Wife now that soul that takes Christ for his portion looks upon him as altogether lovely the chiefest of ten thousand and relies upon him alone for righteousness and life and accounts all things else as dross Phil. 3.9 with an exclusive resolution of looking to any thing else whatsoever I would win him saith Paul and be found in him alone not having mine own righteousness this is the first branch upon which God offers this Covenant 2. A man must deny himself Mat. 16.24 and forsake also thy own Kindred and thy Fathers house Psal 45. Now self is commonly considered by Divines three waies 1 As sinful 2 As natural 3 As moral self religious renewed self and all these must be denied 1 Sinful self that is the whole body of sin but specially that lust that thy heart is most addicted to thy peccatum in deliciis which the Scripture calls thine own iniquity and the stumbling block of thy iniquity there must be a reserve of no sin 2 Natural self all thy reason and natural parts wealth Father and Mother House and Lands yea and life for my name sake and that alwaies 1 Habitually in preparation of mind and resolution of heart to give them up all unto God when he shall call for them Act. 21.13 I am ready saies the Apostle not only to be bound but to dye c. 2 And actually whensoever the Lord calls for any thing thou hast if they be temptations to draw thee unto sin and a snare to thy soul or if the Lord call for them as oblations to himself if the Lord call thee forth to own him with them by resigning them up and we know not how soon the Lord may call to suffering if thou art a Moses thou must leave Pharaohs Court and suffer affliction with the people of God and if thou art a Daniel and canst not worship a false God nor the true God in a wrong manner thou must expect to be thrown into the Lyons den and if a Paul thou wilt resolve to preach a crucified Christ though Nero forbid it and the powers of the world threaten bonds and imprisonment to abide thee nay thou maiest expect to lay down thy life upon a block and if thou art a Mordecai and refusest to bow to unsanctified greatness or stoop to the lusts of men thou must expect to have a Gallows prepared for thee 3 Self renewed must be denied in the notion of duties we are to perform all but in relation to righteousness we are to deny all and account them all as dross and dung and menstruous rags Exod. 28.38 and if we would have acceptance we must look upon the forehead of the High-Priest wherein alone is written holiness to the Lord that we may find acceptance with him for our righteousness has such an ill savour that the Lord must abhor it there is iniquity in our holy things unless the Lord Christ does offer and present them mixed with his odours therefore we must deny our righteousness utterly there must be a perfect self-denial as the word signifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. A man must bear his yoak Mat. 11.29 Take my yoak upon you the Lord does not set a man free in the Covenant of Grace that he should turn the grace of God into licentiousness he has a yoak of obedience for the neck of every Saint and what is that but all the duties of the Law aâ—â—en in the hand of the Mediator And this yoak is easie and profitable for a soul it brings in a revenue both of pleasure and profit in the keeping of the Commandments is great reward and there 's sincerity required which is everlasting evangelical perfection as the Lord saies to Abraham walk before me and be thou perfect the perfection in this life that is attainable under the second Covenant is sincerity of heart a suitableness of the will to the Law of God though a mans actions â—ome short of the Law yet he can delight in the Law in his inward man and has reâ—pect unto all the commandments when he is willing to put his neck under the yoak of Christ and neglect no known duty for it is dangerous to seek ease in the ways of God that the Lord would not have as we see Numb 7.7 8 9. the Sons of Gersham and Merari had Wagons to carry their burdens but the Sons of Coah were to carry the Ark upon their shoulders now they were not to take their ease and David brought the Ark upon a new Cart and the Lord was displeased and made a breach upon Vzzah for it c. 4. You must take heed you shrink not at the Cross but take it up for there is a Cross goes with the second Covenant and a man with all the blessings of it must expect affliction Mat. 19.29 Mark 10.30 He that takes up his Cross in losing any thing for Christs sake shall have a hundred fold more in this life but with
by living in any sin destroy your own prayers And take not only the example of the Angels but the example of our Lord Christ the rule and pattern of holiness for you to walk by he is your Prince your Leader c. all manner of terms that note out exemplariness and require imitation and he was faithful in the Covenant made with God he doth for the active part of his obedience fulfill all righteousness and for the passive part he paid the utmost farthing though the Lord did hide his face and his enemies did rage and triumph over him it was the hour of the power of darkness and if the flesh did desire its own preservation yet the will of nature did give way unto the will of duty and He did drink up the Brook in the way Psal 110. ult that Torrent of Curses and wrath that lay between us and glory and therefore did lift up his head and he is now in Heaven as Gods servant and so shall be till the last day that he shall give up the Kingdom unto God the Father he is performing the remaining acts of his Office there and by his Spirit on Earth and by his presence and intercession in glory and all is that he might be a faithful High-Priest and able to save to the uttermost those that come unto him But we have yet a higher pattern and that is God the Father himself he is alwayes mindful of his Covenant Psal 111.5 Psal 9.34 Mic. 7.20 Ezech. 16.61 My Covenant I will not break for he is a faithful God and he will perform his truth to Jacob and his mercy unto Abraham as he has sworn in the days of old And the faithfulness of God is infinitely seen in this that the unfaithfulness of man cannot make the faithfulness of God of none effect Says the Lord I will give thee thy Sisters thy elder and thy younger Sister unto thee as Daughters but not by thy Covenant it is a promise that though they had by doing more wickedly justified the Gentile nations and he instances in Sodom and Samaria and therefore worse judgements should come upon them yet the time would come that the Lord would remember his Covenant that he had made with their Fathers and he would make them the Mother-Church and all the Gentile Churches and Nations should flow unto her and it shall come to pass that ten men out of all the Nations under Heaven should lay hold on the skirt of a Jew Zac. 8.23 but all this shall not be by thy Covenant sic non desciverant ut Deus esset liber Cal. and therefore it was not in reference to their keeping Covenant with God but in remembrance of Gods Covenant with them and therefore he refers them unto his faithfulness and not to theirs and therefore when they should see it they should be ashamed and put their mouths in the dust to think that the Lord should continue faithful unto those that had been so unfaithful every way to him as they had been 4. The people of God in this life do miss of many of the Promises of the second Covenant that they are not accomplished unto them because they do not walk exactly according to the rules of this Covenant therefore Psal 25.10 But the wayes of the Lord are mercy and truth unto them that keep his Covenant The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting unto them that fear him Psal 103.18 to such as keep his Covenant and think upon his Commandments to do them but else though they shall not fail of eternal mercy Christ is the surety that the Covenant shall not be broken yet there be many promises of the Covenant that in this life they shall never have accomplished to them 1 Sam. 2.29 saies the Lord I said thy House and the House of thy Fathers should stand before me for ever but now that be far from me saies the Lord for they that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed The promises of God are of two sorts 1 Some are absolute which God hath undertaken to perform of his own free grace not only citra meritum but also citra conditionem not only without merit but without all supposed or prerequired conditions in us As I will be your God I will give you my Son I will pour out my Spirit I will pardon your sins c. I will take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh these are absolute promises 2 There are conditional promises which shew what God will do upon such duties performed by the creature which are such as without Gods special grace he is never able to perform and these are made for the encouragement of men in a way of obedience but they do not alwaies promise the purpose of God to give the condition of the reward for as it is in Judgements there are some conditional threatnings which upon a change in the creature never come to pass Jer. 18.7 At what time saies God I speak against a nation to pluck up and destroy if that nation turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them and if I speak of a Nation or a Kingdom to build and plant it if it do evil in my sight I will repent of the good I would do unto them so it is in the conditional promises Novit Deus mutare decretum si tu non noveris em ndare delictum God knows how to change his declared promise if thou know not how to change thy sin which I conceive to be the meaning of all those places where God is said to break Covenant with his people Numb 14.34 You shall bear your iniquity even forty years and you shall know my breach of promise that is by woful experience you shall find what a misery it is to have such glorious promises made unto you but by reason of your unfaithfulness on your part they being conditional shall never be performed and so the Psalmist has it Psal 89.39 Thou hast made void the Covenant of thy servant all his posterity were cut off from this mercy and promise in this life because they disobeyed the word of the Lord and walked not in his Covenant c. and so Zach. 11.10 I will break my Covenant with them it is spoken of a national Covenant and casting off the Nations from being a Church or people unto himself wherein even the Saints must needs be deprived of many temporal promises of the Covenant because they did not walk stedfastly with God therein And if a man shall consider the example of the sufferings of many of the Saints as of Eli David Sampson and Solomon though they were beloved of God and in Covenant with him yet by their unfaithfulness in the Covenant how many temporal promises of the Covenant did they miss Faith is the condion of the Covenant Foederis pacti
our names to God in this Covenant given the hand to the Lord it is a duty often to renew it and to repeat unto a mans soul the same obligation and here I will show 1 That it is not enough that a man do enter into Covenant with the Lord but that he renew it often 2 I will give you the grounds why a man should renew his Covenant 3 Shew the times when in a special manner the Lord expects it and when it is a way to find mercy with the Lord. 4 Show you the manner how it is to be done 5 I 'le press it by setting before you the great benefits and fruits that do flow from a renewed Covenant with the Lord. 1. A man being once entred into Covenant with God is held and obliged by that Covenant for ever as we see the Devils entred into Covenant and this Covenant they have broken in respect of the precept yet they are all still under the curse of it and shall be for ever and that curse the chains of darkness in which they are held so man being once ingaged is for ever engaged therefore it 's his duty often to renew his Covenant and that will appear in these particulars 1. The Lord hath often renewed his Covenant with his people he made a Covenant with Abraham Gen. 15.18 and yet he renews his Covenant again Gen. 17.2 4 7. So the Lord did take Israel into Covenant with himself and his name was called upon them he doth take them into their Fathers Covenant he remembred his Covenant with Abraham and Isaac Exod. 6.4 5 7. and he saith I will take you unto me for a people and I will be to you a God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God c. and yet this Covenant he renews in a publick and solemn manner upon Mount Sinai when out of his mouth went a fiery law Deut. 5.2 3. Deut. 5.2 3. He made a Covenant with us in Horeb he made not this Covenant with our Fathers some refer it unto all the Patriachs from Adam and so the Covenant was the same for they entred into Abrahams Covenant but it is spoken in regard of the publick and glorious way of revealing it to them beyond what it was to their Fathers which was not revealed with that solemnity and speaking with and seeing God face to face or else by the Fathers some do understand those that died in Egypt and in the Wilderness who had forgotten the Covenant of their Fathers and the Lord did not renew it with them and yet afterwards Exod. 24.7 8 10. Moses takes the book of the Covenant and reads it in the audience of the people and they ingaged themselves to do all that the Lord had said and be obedient to his requirings and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the people and said This is the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you and v. 11. They did eat and drink before the Lord and see the glory of the God of Israel and upon the people he laid not his hand c. and yet this is not enough but the Lord renews his Covenant again Deut. 29.1 The words of the Covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab besides the Covenant that he made with them in Horeb and v. 10. 12. You stand before the Lord this day that you should enter into Covenant with the Lord and into the oath which the Lord made with thee to establish thee this day for a people to himself that he might be unto thee a God as he hath sworn unto thy Fathers c. thus you see the Lord has often renewed his Covenant with his people 2. The people of God have often renewed their Covenant also with him it was not enough that they had in Moses time been taken into Covenant so often but before he died he renewed the Covenant with them and they did solemnly ingage themselves The Lord will we serve Josh 24.25 and his voice will we obey and he set up a Stone under an Oak for a witness against them 2 Chron. 15.12 2 Chron. 29.10 2 Chron. 34.31 if they should hereafter deny the Lord their God And this Covenant was renewed in the days of King Asa and Hezekiah and Josiah and Ezra 10.3 and Nehemiah 9.38 therefore renewing of the Covenant is a duty that we owe unto the Lord and that ingagement must be reiterated c. 2. But seeing that a Covenant once made doth alwayes bind a man and the force of it continues distance of time doth not wear it out why should it be needful for men to renew their Covenant so often The grounds of it are these 1. Because of the unbelief of our spirits and from the infirmity of our faith for the confirmation of our faith in the mercy and grace of the Covenant Therefore David made it the matter and ground of all his delight and his thoughts were wholly upon it Why did God renew the Covenant so often with Abraham but to strengthen and confirm his faith therein that it was a sure Covenant and should never be forgotten The mercies of the Covenant are great and the heart of man would fail and his spirit sink in the expectation of them but then he calls to mind his Covenant and renews his Covenant-ingagements with them and for this cause we receive the seals of the Covenant often and every time we do so we renew the Covenant between God and us Gods seals are set to our seals that this may be like unto Joshua's stones a testimony that we have entred into Covenant with the Lord. 2. To manifest the sincerity of our hearts that though we fail in the duty of it yet our hearts still stand to it we delight in the Law according to our inward man though we fall every day yet saies a soul in Covenant with God I love to think of renewing the ingagement that is between God and me as a loving and tender Wife loves often to renew her ingagement to her Husband and to have it much in her mind that she may not forget the Covenant of her God so to shew that a man doth not repent but his ingagement â—s still pleasing to him he renews it often and if it were to do again and again a man would do the same thing if it were every hour to let the world see he is not turned back from the Covenant of his God Phil. 3.9 saies the Apostle I suffered the loss of all things and do count them dung c. I have not repented of it I am of the same mind still there is not in me a principle to draw back and to depart from the living God I am willing to renew this â—ngagement still When there is an error in the contract that a man makes with another then â—f it were to do again the soul would not do it so
a Covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us The end of his making the Covenant was to divert the Judgement And so we read also in the Book of Nehemiah and thus gracious is the Lord Nehem. 9.38 that when he doth send judgement for sin he doth not continue the judgement but till he doth see an humiliation and reformation in act let there be but the serious purpose of reformation and let the Covenant be renewed to ingage the soul thereunto and the Lord doth remove the judgement and when the will is in his people he doth accept it for the deed as David Psal 32.5 I said I will confess my sin unto the Lord and the Lord forgave me my sin and the prodigal Son doth but say I will go to my father and while he was yet a great way off the father met him 3. In a time of publick reformation when the foundations have been destroyed and all things out of course and a great deal of difficulty appears and even impossibility in carrying on the work yet the people of God looking upon it as a duty have set upon it with full resolution and purpose of heart and have covenanted to go through with the work notwithstanding all opposition Jehoiada made a Covenant between the Lord and the King and the people that they should be the Lords people here Religion was corrupted and Dominion was usurped and the Lord put it into the heart of Jehoiada the Priest to endeavour the reformation of both and therefore he brought forth the Kings Son to whom the government did rightly belong and did set him up in the Throne and deposed Athalia the usurping Queen and he doth make a double Covenant 1 A Covenant between God and the King and the People and in this Covenant the King and the people do make up but one party and they ingage themselves to be Gods people and the King to rule for God as under him 2 There is also a Covenant between the King and the People that he ruling for God and under God they will for Conscience sake obey Now my Covenant with any Magistrate must be understood as being a second and subordinate Covenant I am so to keep Covenant with them that I must also keep my Covenant with the Lord. Wherefore after they had thus strengthened themselves by a Covenant in the next verse they set upon the work of reformation effectually for all the people of the land went into the house of Baal and brake it down And so did Josiah he made a Covenant with the Lord To walk after the Lord and keep his Commandments with all his heart 2 King 23.3 4. and then he commanded them to bring out of the Temple of the Lord all the Vessels that were made for Baal c. and wrought the most glorious reformation that ever ' was by any of the Kings of Judah having his heart and hands strengthened by a Covenant with the Lord. 4. As a testimony of a mans Thankfulness for any great mercy or special deliverance or as an argument of faith that a man is to use unto God when he doth pray for and expect from God any special mercy 1 As an argument that a man should use unto God to obtain mercy it is that artificial way of praying that the Lord himself teaches his people Hosea 14.2 Take away our iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips Assur shall not save us we will not ride upon Horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands Ye are our Gods for in thee the fatherless find mercy c. And so Jacob also Gen. 28.20 22. he begged a blessing in his journey and he doth follow the prayers he had put up with a vow if the Lord will be with me he shall be my God and if he bring me to my Fathers house this Stone shall be Gods House and if the Lord bless me with an estate I will surely return him of his own I will give the tenth unto thee so punctual is this holy man to restipulate or return something unto God answerable unto the mercy that he doth beg of God If Hezekiah may be delivered from death Esay 38.20 and David from guilt Psal 51.14 they promise to sing aloud of so great a mercy and to teach transgressors the way of God also the Fathers to the Children shall declare his truth When a man in desiring the mercy doth it with a spiritual eye and doth not ask amiss he is truly careful to perform the duty that such a mercy calls for that he may return as well as receive for quantum à praeceptis tantum ab auribus Dei sumus Tertullian When there is no obedience to God there must be expected no audience by God And therefore one special argument that the people of God do use in their prayers to obtain mercy is a renewing their Covenant 2 It is to be done in testimony of thankfulness for mercy received and then doth a man indeed make a right use of a mercy when he is bound the closer unto God by such cords of Love and the more the Lord doth ingage him the more he is willing to ingage himself to God A great army of Ethiopians came against the King of Judah with an host of a thousand thousand men and the Lord delivered them into his hand now at their return they came to Jerusalem to give God the glory of the victory and they offered unto him of the spoil which they had taken and now they enter into Covenant with the Lord to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their hearts and with all their souls and so the renewing of the Covenant is their return made unto God for the mercy And so the Jews at their return out of Babylon Jer. 50.4 5. They come with weeping and seek the way to Sion with their faces thitherward and they say Let us bind our selves unto the Lord by a perpetual Covenant never to be forgotten so that in receiving and attaining the mercy God calls for a Covenant as also in returning the mercy 5. When a man finds his heart bent to backsliding and he is unsteady and unstable in any good way Moses finding the people of Israel a very unsteady people and whose hearts were not stedfast with the Lord after that solemn Covenant with them upon Mount Sinai he renews it again a little before his death when they were come to the borders of the promised Land and inforceth it both with the wonders that God wrought upon Pharaoh and also the great miracles that he had wrought for them when he led them through the wilderness forty years And the same thing was the ground of Joshua's renewing his Covenant Josh 24. Josh 24. And Nehemiah finding that many of the Jews loved their strange Wives and the children that they had by them
Covenant so many grains â—â—ere are of saving grace When the deliberation of a bended will concurs with the reâ—ewing of our Covenant it always brings some new addition of grace for as grace alone 〈◊〉 first bends the will to enter into Covenant with God so the more frequently we reâ—â—w our Covenant the more gracious and sanctified the will is What more efficaciously â—â—parates yea rends the heart from beloved lusts Doth not this most potently break the heart for sin and thence break it off from sin Whence ariseth the prevalence of any spirâ—â—ual lust but from some defect or neglect in the renewing of our Covenant with God Again is not the will by such renewed acts of covenanting with Christ more effectually broken off from self legal spiritual self which is the worst enemy Christ has And O! how much doth the vigour beauty growth and perfection of habitual grace depend hereon May we not justly then interpret that of our Lord Matth. 7.13 14. Enter ye in at â—â—e strait Gate c. of this entring into Covenant with God 6. The frequent renewing of our Covenant which God is that which fortifies the heart â—gainst temptations For the more we renew our Covenant in an evangelick way the â—ore our hearts are engaged to depend on Christ for grace in order to the performance of our duty who more frequently looks up to God for actual grace to perform his duties and avoid the temptations which may hinder him than he who by faith frequently renews his Covenant with God What more effectual course can any take to avoid the croud of temptations which in this vain dirty world he is surrounded with than by giving up his heart entirely to God And how can this be accomplished but by frequent renewings of his Covenant with God Doth not our Lord assure us Luke 16.13 That the soul which holds to God will despise the unrighteous Mammon The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies a tenacious and inviolable holding fast of an object against all those that endeavour to pull it away How doth the unrighteous Mammon by its heart-bewitching allurements endeavour to pull off the heart from God And what doth more confirm the heart in its holdfast of God than the renewing of its Covenant 7. Such as oft renew their Covenant with God have a great advantage for the strengthning their union with Christ Doth not every fresh act of the will in consenting unto Christ as our Lord bind the heart more firmly to Christ And is not Christ hereby bound to give forth a fresh Communication of his Spirit to that soul whereby its union is corroborated What made Davids heart so firmly united to God but following hard after him by frequent repetitions of his Covenant So Psal 63.8 My soul follows hard after thee The Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies firmly and intimately to adhere to God as the Husband to the Wife So the word notes Gen. 2.24 Deut. 10.20 Job 41.17 Now what gives being and improvement to conjugal union but the conjugal Covenant Doth not then the repetition of our conjugal Covenant with Christ greatly strengthen our union with him So Ephes 5.31 Shall be joyned unto his wife this is mystically to be understood of the conjugal union between the soul and Christ as vers 32. So 1 Cor. 6.17 joyned to the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to be agglutinated or joyned by glue Our Covenant is the Glue whereby our hearts are joyned to Christ 8. The principal part of the souls Communion and walking with God as a friend consists in this renewing its Covenant with God The Apostle exhorts us Col. 2.6 As we have received Christ Jesus so to walk in him and what doth he mean hereby Is it not as if he had said do you not remember with what a strong inviolable assent and consent you at first received Christ What passionate flaming deep and pure affections you then had for him How much you hugged and embraced him in the bent of your wills What complacence and satisfaction you then took in those mutual embracements between him and you How ambitious you were of shewing all friendly and obsequious deportment towards him O! then be exhorted to receive him afresh day by day by repeated consent and Covenant walk in him in the same manner and with the same repeated acts of election as you at first received him Herein the main of Communion lies 9. The frequent renewing of our Covenant with God is the most soveraign means to prevent or recover the soul out of any course of backsliding Was not this Peters second conversion enjoined by our Lord Luke 22.31 whereby he was recovered out of that dreadful backsliding How was he again converted but by putting forth the same acts of closing with Christ in a Covenant-way which he at first conversion put forth And is not the soul hereby also preserved from backsliding Thus the Church Psal 44.17 18. All this is come upon us yet have we not forgotten thee neither have we dealt falsly in thy Covenant our heart is not turned back Neither have we dealt falsly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to deal lyingly treacherously unfaithfully and what kept the Church from dealing thus treacherously with her Lord under those sore persecutions but the frequent minding and repeating her first Covenant How soon would her heart have started back if she had not bound it fast to God by her repeated Covenants Lastly It is principium operandi a ground of working of reformation and emendation of life And it is in the strength of their Covenant that they go forth against all self-love of their own hearts and against all the opposition that they might meet withall from men So in Nehemiah's time when they came to put away their Wives and Children their hearts had need be strengthned unto such a work and therefore by a Covenant they bind themselves thereunto and seal and subscribe it and ratifie it by an oath and a curse and in all their reformation in Asa's time and Hezekiah's and Josiah's the beginning of all their great actions were undertaken by a Covenant that thereby they might ingage themselves unto God and nothing might divert and turn them back from the work that they had undertaken and therefore we see it is not in vain for a person or a people to renew their Covenant with the Lord. The Lord grant there may ever be such a frame of heart in us that we may alwayes live in the comfort of that word the Lord has made with us an everlasting Covenant in all things ordered and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire as he said who was a man after Gods own heart and this is the hope and consolation of all the children of God CHAP. IV. The Covenant of Grace as referring to the Seed of the Faithfull Gen. XVII 7. I will establish my Covenant between me and
thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generation for an everlasting Covenant to be a God to thee and thy Seed after thee SECT I. That Children are taken into their Parents Covenant § 1. THE subject we have in hand is the Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace the new and better Covenant and therein having shewed the Person that made the Covenant with man and spoken of the free Grace of God which was the Fountain from whence this Covenant of Grace did flow we came in the next place to consider the Persons with whom this Covenant was made and they are set down in a threefold subordination 1 First and immediately with Christ the second Adam 2 In him with all the Faithfull 3 In them with their Seed And this last is the head we are now to enter upon having laid these two grounds 1 That the Covenant that God made with Abraham is the same Covenant that all the Faithfull whether Jews or Gentiles stand under to the worlds end Rom. 4.16 therefore is Abraham called the Father of us all though of the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is cognatio specialis quae coram Deo locum habet Deo nos gratos reddit Beza All Believers have a special Cognation to God by virtue of Abrahams Covenant and this is not barely by imitation of his Faith which the Apostle Paul asserts vers 12. of those that walk in the steps of the Faith of Abraham but there is â— blessed resultance from this that a man is thereby translated into the Covenant of Abraâ—am and there is no distinction of persons for there is neither Jew nor Greek Gal. 3.29 neither bond â—or free neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus Ad jus adoptionis acquirendum vel minuendum nullum discrimen sancta est in Christo aequalitas quae unitas Par. Par. As to the right of Adoption there is no inequality all are in Christ equal All therefore that are Christs are Abrahams seed and heirs according to the Promise Gal. 4.28.31 we as Isaac are the children of Promise we are not the children of the bond-woman but of the free 2 Though in the manner of the Administration of this Covenant there be a great deal of difference from what it was in ancient times yet as to the substance of the Covenant the persons that are foederati in it are the same and taken in upon the same grounds and shall be so to the end of the world and therefore as the seed were taken into Covenant with their father the same way will the Lord dispense the Covenant to the end of the world that if he take the Parent into Covenant he will take the seed with him and therefore their children are called the Sons of the Covenant Act. 3.25 because it 's as a Birth-Priviledge and belongs unto them as they are taken into their Fathers Covenant And this the Lord says shall be the way in which he will dispense his Covenant for ever Act. 2.39 that no man may say this was a peculiar priviledge unto Abraham and his seed onely for Abraham is made the Father of many Nations Rom. 4.12 the Father of the Circumcision and of the Uncircumcision and the Promise is to you and your seed and unto them that are afar off as Gentiles unconverted are said to be that are yet strangers unto the Church of God Ephes 2.17 and the Priviledges thereof even to as many as in all ages the Lord shall call And these two grounds being laid this Covenant made with Abraham will give us ground to observe this point Doctrine That the Children of believing Parents in the Covenant of Grace are taken into the same Covenant with their Parents the Covenant is to them and to their seed and therefore their Posterity may well be stiled the Children or Sons of the Covenant A point it is of great concernment and therefore to be contended earnestly for 1. As that which doth exceedingly advance the Grace of God unto Parents and makes much for their Consolation that are Believers that not only the Lord doth extend mercy to them but to their seed as he did here extend it to Abrahams seed by which God exceedingly exalts his free Grace and so it 's made an argument of special Love unto Parents Deut. 4.37 Because he loved thy Parents therefore he chose their seed after them Mercy unto their Posterity is from the Love of God unto Parents Now as it is a special Grace of the second Covenant that wherever Believers come unto all people where they live they shall be a blessing Gen. 12.2 the word in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esto benedictio so Montanus we render it according to the Septuagint Thou shalt be a blessing but as Aynsworth has well observed this manner of speaking in the Hebrew is very vehement and emphatical noting Gods commanding the blessing according to the Expression Psal 133.3 For there the Lord commanded the Blessing even life for evermore c. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as dew from the Lord c. They shall be as dew the cause of a Nations flourishing and to a decaying Nation they shall be the root and support the holy seed shall be the substance thereof Isa 16.13 how much more shall the Grace of the Covenant be exalted in reference to their Posterity for their consolation in that they are nearer and dearer to them than any other can be and therefore they shall be a blessing to them and this will be much heightned unto them by this that while they were under the Covenant of Works while unstranslated they did convey unto them the Curse of the first Covenant and the Lord doth threaten that he will visit the iniquity of the Parents upon the Children Now it were a great terrour to a man that while he is under the first Covenant his iniquity shall be visited upon his Children if when he is translated into the second Covenant the grace of the Covenant should no way extend unto them and â—â—range it were that all the creatures coming under the Covenant of the Saints are by tâ—â—s means preserved in their being and attain many benefits that by reason of the curse of the first Covenant they should never have attained if amongst all the rest their children should have no benefit by their fathers Covenant and they which are nearest to them should only be excluded 2. This is one of the great Arguments that the Scripture useth to draw men in to Believe because not only they shall have benefit by it but their Posterity there is a double use that I find the Apostle makes of that argument 1 To the Children as a means to bring them in repent ye therefore and be converted for you are the children of the Covenant which God made with your fathers there is mercy in
root be holy so are the branches and if the first-fruits be holy the lump is also holy the root is Abraham and the Fathers and they are said to be the first-fruits because they were first consecrated unto God and the branches were dedicated in their root 1 Cor. 7.14 and the lump in the first-fruits and so 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your children unclean but now are they holy What 's the holiness that is here meant it's not a personal and inherent holiness that 's here spoken of for the branches that were thus holy were broken off which if they had been truly and spiritually holy they could never have been therefore it 's spoken only of a federal and derived holiness from their parents Covenant as Israel is called the holy nation Exod. 19.6 and the holy people Dan. 8.24.12.7 that is a people that God had separated to himself of all Nations under Heaven whom he would in a special manner owne and amongst whom he had set up his Ordinances and would dwell for federal holiness is nothing else but being separated from the world to become a member of the visible Church and thereby to have a right unto the ordinances and priviledges of a visible member though he be not truly converted or begotten unto God and this is called being a Jew outwardly that is a member of the visible Church and to whom the priviledges of a Church-member did belong but there is a Jew inwardly in whose heart there dwells converting grace Now how doth this holiness flow seeing that by nature all men are alike unholy and there is no more separation of one man unto God than another and one man hath no more right by nature unto visible and external priviledges than another for all are born in the same condition This is only by virtue of their being taken into their parents Covenant and because the first-fruits are holy so is the whole lump and because the root is holy so are the branches there is a holiness derived from one unto the other 5. We meet with very glorious promises that God has made to the posterity of the Saints Deut. 30.6 The Lord will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed Esa 59.21 fear not Jacob my servant and thou Jeshuron whom I have chosen I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring and they shall spring up as the grass and as the willows c. My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed henceforth and for ever Now though these promises shall not be made good unto every particular person in the Church yet it is the Church of God that is the proper subject unto whom they shall be made good and in an ordinary way they shall be acccomplished unto none else And by nature one man has no more right to a promise than another nor ground to expect it only the Covenant of God makes the difference they are all heirs of the promises as they are children of the Kingdom and Covenant Lastly This is Gospel and therefore to be believed and laid hold upon as well as any other part of the second Covenant for a Believer in the exercise of his faith is to take in the whole Covenant as in the obedience of faith he is to take in the whole Commandment A mans faith if it be sincere must be universal as well as his obedience that this is Gospel and a Gospel-promise I suppose that no man will deny I will be thy God and the God of thy seed Now how does the Lord become the God of the parents it's only by Covenant and so he is said to be the God of the Lord Jesus Christ he saith I ascend unto my God and your God and My God my God why hast thou forsaken me It 's spoken with reference unto the Covenant into which Christ had entred with the Lord now being the parents God in Covenant he says He will be the God of their seed that is theirs in Covenant also We may observe that God hath revealed this as Gospel and also that the people of God have believed it and exercised their faith upon it as Gospel in the behalf of their children 1. This God has revealed as Gospel and part of the second Covenant The first discovery that we have of the Gospel in Scripture is that Gen. 3.15 Gen. 3.15 where the woman being first in the transgression the Lord was pleased to enter into Covenant with her I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed Adam and Eve were a seminal visible Church for by them the Church as well as the world was to be built and at the same time when the Lord did reveal â—â—s grace unto her he joyns also her seed with her Now the combatants in that war and enemies Interpreters do observe to be three 1 Satan and the woman 2 The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent 3 One principal seed the seed of the woman by way of eminence and that 's the Lord Christ the promised seed and that old Serpent the Devil So then in the first dawning of the Gospel the Lord took the seed of the woman into the same Covenant and made unto them the same promise as unto the woman The next mention of the Covenant that we read of is with Noah Gen. 6.18 and the Lord intending to bring a Floud upon the Earth renews this Covenant with him and this is twice renewed with him It 's true the Covenant here spoken of is the Covenant of grace but it 's but one particular branch of it namely a temporal deliverance for the Covenant of grace takes in temporal as well as spiritual and eternal promises Pareus est novi foederis appendix de promissione terrena 1 The Covenant was renewed in delivering Noah himself from the Floud that was then to come on the Earth and therein his seed also was taken in for so it runs with thee and thy sons c. and also after the Floud in reference to himself and his posterity that the Lord would not destroy them by a floud as he had done their forefathers Gen. 9.9 Gen. 9.9 I establish my covenant with you and your seed after you so that the covenant still runs in those terms the Lord never made a covenant with the parent but he took his seed into the same covenant expresly The next mention we read of the covenant was with Abraham when the Lord would take his family into covenant with himself wherefore the covenant is said after a sort to begin in him Mic. 7.20 Mercy to Abraham and truth unto Jacob and still it runs with thee and thy seed and not onely his immediate seed but also his seed in many succeeding generations from one age to
another unto the end of the world thy seed after thee in their generations and therefore Abraham is call'd the rock out of which they were hewed Isa 51.1 and the hole or the pit out of which they were digged and he is call'd Rom. 11. the root upon which they did grow and out of which they did spring not onely in their natural estate but also in their covenant state the covenant did as it were begin in him And the next person with whom the covenant of grace was eminently renewed was David 2 Sam. 7.14.19 Psal 89.28 29 30. the Lord did not only speak of David's person but of his house for a great while to come and when the Lord took a whole Nation into Covenant as he did the Nation of the Jews it was not made only with them that were present and then alive or men grown up but with their seed also so that their children were taken into the same covenant with their parents though they were not able to understand the nature of the covenant nor to restipulate and not only they that were present but Deut. 20.15 with him that is not here with us this day Deut. 29.11 13 14 15. who are they that are hereby meant their Posterity unto whom this covenant did alike belong there was a foundation laid for them to come into this covenant as soon as they should be born into the world Ipsos Deus anteverterat gratiâ suâ multis antequam nati essent seculis Calvin Meaning thereby their Posterity in all succeeding generations and therefore Eezek 16.18 I entred into covenant with thee and thou becamest mine and then vers 20. Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters whom thou hast born unto me and hast sacrificed them to be devoured c. this is only spoken in reference to the covenant so they were children born unto God and so the Lord was their God Neither was this dispensation of the covenant of grace to the Jews only but also unto the Gentiles for Rom. 11. they were grafted in to be the seed of Abraham by vertue of the covenant of Abraham for he was the father of us all now as the natural branches were broken off so were the others grafted in but the Jews were broken off themselves and their Posterity disinherited for many generations therefore the Gentiles are grafted in they and their posterity and thence Act. 2.39 The promise is to you and your children and unto them that are afar off Ephes 2.17 i. e. the Gentiles also and their children the promise belongs to them whomsoever the Lord shall call it 's for themselves and for their seed after them Zacheus a Publican being converted Luk. 19.9 Christ tells him salvation is come to his house where by salvation coming to his house cannot be meant unto himself or his person but that his whole Family is taken into covenant with God thereby and the reason of it is given because that he himself is a son of Abraham that is he is brought under Abraham's Covenant the tenure of which Covenant is not only to a mans self but also unto his family and his seed Act. 16.31 c. and so Paul to the Jaylour Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved and thine house the meaning is not that all of them should be saved eternally as if one man could be saved by another mans faith but salvation is commonly put for the ordinary means of salvation Acts 28.28 Now this Covenant-way is the only ordinary means of salvation Heb. 2.3 and when the Jews shall be taken in in the latter days of the world though it 's said that the Lord will make a new Covenant with them in those days yet it s but the old Covenant renewed they shall be taken into the Covenant of their fathers for so Rom. 11.24 the natural branches that were cut off shall be grafted in again to their own Olive-tree as they were cast off Parents and children disinherited so shall their grafting in again be so that 't is a part of the Gospel and a gâ—orious doctrine of the covenant of grace that children are taken into the same Covenant with their Parents and there is never a Covenant made with the Parents in the Scripture but the children are expressely mention'd as coming under it and therefore our faith is to receive it and rely upon it 2. The People of God have believed it and exercised their faith upon it and that both Parents for their Children and the Children for themselves 1 Parents for their Children it was this that Adam did rejoyce in immediately after the revelation of the second Covenant in behalf of himself and his Posterity when he Gen. 3.20 called his wifes name Evah Gen. 3.20 because she was the mother of all living and this is conceived by Interpreters to have a threefold respect 1 As an Expression of his own Faith in the Promise to shew that the woman that should have brought Death into the world and was first in the transgression and should have been the mother of none but dead children now he saith That she should be the mother of all the living the Covenant of grace and life beginning in her for life and immortality never saw light till the Gospel 2 An expression of thankfulness for so great a mercy that he might keep the mercy in memory and that was the ancient manner to give names sometimes to places Jacob call'd the place Bethel the house of God as the Altar Jehovah Nissi c. and sometimes the Monument of his mercy preserved in a child Samuel one asked of God and here Adam continues the memory of his mercy in the name of his wife it 's spoken by way of gratitude Merc. ut vel ipso nomine beneficium tantum agnosceret Merc. The Name is a Memorial of the Mercy 3 An expression of consolation the woman being first in the transgression was much affected with the displeasure of God from which they fled and of the misery that she had brought upon her self and all her Posterity if the Lord should prolong her days that they should labour in the sweat of their brows till they were turn'd to the earth c. Adam now comforts her and tells her Be of good cheer there is a seed yet that shall come from thee that shall overcome death and him that had the power of death that is the Devil and therefore he doth not call himself the Father of all living but her the Mother of all living and thus Adam did comfort himself with the Promise made unto his Posterity in the Covenant as soon as it was revealed And so did Evah exercise faith this way first in Cain as some conceive Gen. 4.1 Gen. 4.1 she said I have gotten a man from the Lord the Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Vulgar answerable per Dominum by the Lord Trem. adds Ã
Domino but Luther renders it by apposition Virum Dominum a man the Lord and Solom Glass follows him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and makes the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but an expression of the Accusative case and thereby she did manifest quanto desiderio expectaverit promissionis complementum c. with how great desire she expected the fulfilling of the Promise she was mistaken in the person yet it shews the exercise of her faith upon the Promise that her seed should bruise the Serpents head And when Cain had slain Abel his brother and the Lord had given her another son she called his name Seth God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel Gen. 4.25 It 's observed to be both Sermo verbum fiduciae Gen. 4.25 prophetiae a fiducial and prophetick speech that this seed should not be untimely taken away as Abel was but he should be fundamentum ecclesiae subsequentis Par. quae in hujus posteritate propagetur servetur usque ad Christum the foundation of the Church c. of Cain she had no hope for he was excommunicated and cast out from the presence of the Lord though his life was prolonged yet all the Church Priviledges were taken away and forfeited as Gen. 4.11 c. now was there not a man to be a seed to the Church of God in after-times yet then she had respect to the Covenant and she looked for a seed that God had promised her in whom as well as in her own person the Covenant that God had made with her should be fulfilled Noah afterward exercised faith in reference to his Posterity Gen. 9.27 God shall perswade Japhet c. he had a Spirit of Prophecy Gen. 9.27 which doth foreshew it self in that Canan and his Posterity shall be servants but as for Shem the Church of God should be continued in him for the present and for time to come God should perswade Japhet which either has reference to the conversion of the Gentiles when they shall be converted upon the rejection of the Jews and come into their Tents that is become the Church of God in their room they being the wild Olive but grafted into the true Olive when the natural branches are broken off so the Gentiles are surrogated Israel or else when the Jews shall be a Church the Gentiles the posterity of Japhet shall come in unto them either as Proselytes and be added unto them or else when they shall be again converted they shall lay hold of the skirt of a Jew and shall come into the same fold together with them and so both make up one fold under one Shepherd And thus doth David pray when he came to dye 2 Sam. 23.5 Thou hast made with my house an everlasting Covenant ordered and sure and this is all my hope and m◠salvation though the Lord make it not to grow he did foresee that there was a cloud and a darkness coming upon his family but then though the Lord did not make it to grow he could rejoyce in the Covenant that God had made with him in reference to his Posterity for he had spoken of his house for a great while to come and so Psal 102. last vers The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee c. 2 Children have exercised Faith by vertue of their Parents Covenant and pleaded to God their Covenant-interest So David Psal 86.16 O turn unto me and have mercy upon me give thy strength to thy servant and save the son of thy handmaid truly I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid and so doth Ethan afterward Psal 116.16 Psal 89.49 Where are thy former loving kindnesses which thou swarest to David in thy truth Remember the reproach of thy servants and how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people Thus we see that this is a truth of the Gospel That under the second Covenant Children are taken in with their Parents and all the People of God have believed it and in all Ages exercised their faith thereupon and when I observe the Spirit of God in Scripture speaking so much of this it makes me the more wonder at those men that so much deride and scorn this Doctrine and the derivative right which they in scorn some of them call imputative § 2. Let us now come to take a view of the Reasons why the Lord will take children into their Parents Covenant and not take in the Parents alone and leave their children in the condition in which they were by nature the grounds of it are these 1. To shew the Extent of the Grace of the second Covenant the Lord hath not dealt with men as he did with the Angels he did make a particular Covenant with every particular Angel but he doth not so with men he has always delighted to take in man into a Covenant made with Parents for them that men might see that Grace prevented them and that they were engaged unto God and his Promise was out of Grace entailed upon them as a birth-right and therefore as in the first Covenant God takes in Adam and all his posterity and the second Covenant is made with the second Adam and all his posterity so that there may be a resemblance hereof kept in the world he hath taken in the children into their Parents Covenant that they may see Grace extended beyond their persons even to their posterity It 's a wonderfull enlargement of the Grace of God in the first Covenant that all the creatures came under man's Covenant and because they did so therefore they all fell in him or else why should the curse of Adams sin come upon the creatures Cursed be the ground for thy sake And so in the Covenant of Grace there is a Promise that they should be all renewed in Christ and therefore the creatures do wait for the manifestation of the liberty of the Sons of God Rom. 8.22 because when we shall be delivered then shall they be also from the bondage of corruption under which now they groan and thence when God is reconciled to his People and takes them into Covenant Hos 2.21 Then I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth and the earth shall hear the corn c. and if this be a great manifestation of grace to take in creatures which are but a mans servants how much more to take in the children which are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh Even as Noah cursed Cham Gen. 9.25 and denounced that the blessing of the Covenant should never come upon him and his Posterity There shall be no Canaanite in the house of the Lord for ever Zach. 14.21 and dearer to them than any creatures can be And therefore the Lord out of his abundant and overflowing grace in the second Covenant is pleased to make the childrens federal interest to be the Parents
priviledge and therefore 't is said Gen. 48. of Jacob that he blessed Joseph and wherein did the blessing consist not so much upon Josephs person as upon his posterity and that was that the name of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob should be called upon his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh this is spoken only in reference to the Covenant and the benefits thereof which was to descend upon them from their Parents and it became their right because it was their Parents priviledge and therefore though they had other personal names Ephraim and Manasseh yet this was a name given them from their federal right and is called the blessing of Joseph in his childrens covenant-blessing for it is a conveying of the benefit of the covenant from Gods abundant grace not only to himself but to his posterity and so David looks upon it and admires the mercy 2 Sam. 7.18 19. Lord who am I and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto And yet as if this were a small thing in thy sight O Lord thou hast spoke of thy servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of men O Lord for thy Word sake and according to thy own heart hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant to know them It is therefore to manifest the extent of the grace of the second Covenant that God takes in their seed and gracious Parents do exceedingly rejoyce therein in behalf of their Posterity and look upon it as a special priviledge and their childrens peculiar right 2. God has so ordered the eternal decree of Election that the great number of the Elect of God do proceed out of the loyns of his own people and therefore the Promises being but the indefinite expressions of his Dâ—crees they run to parents called and unto their children because the great number of them that shall be called are their children It 's true that God hath a seed of Grace that runs through the loyns of the wicked and the Lord will take Proselytes from amongst the Heathen and they shall be added to the Church but this is not the ordinary way but a more extraordinary way of salvation and very many of the children of believing parents within the covenant are wicked which we see in Cain Cham and Ishmael yet in their Posterity hath the Church of God been continued there is yet a Seth and a Sem and an Isaac in which their seed should be called and answerable to the Election of grace continued and this doth appear undeniably by this argument the visible Church of God is made up of Parents in covenant and of their seed and therefore while the Church of God was oeconomical and in families onely they were the families of those that were in covenant in which the Church was continued and after it did spread into a Nation they and their seed make up a Church unto God Now though there be many in the visible Church that are not ordained unto life for many are called but few are chosen and many shall seek to enter in at the strait gate and shall not be able c. yet the Church invisible is gathered out of the visible Church they are hid there amongst the Hypocrites and false-hearted men as wheat is hid amongst the chaffe now the Promises of God are suitable to his Decrees and the events answer unto both wherefore if the greatest part of the Elect proceed out of the loyns of a people in covenant as they do then the promises of the second covenant being but indefinite it was necessary that they should run unto them and to their seed upon whom if you look distributively there are many that shall perish yet if you look upon them collectively you can and may see the seed of the Lord is there and there are many amongst them that are ordained unto life and the persons upon whom God has set his everlasting love are amongst that number though we know not particularly who they are that 's a secret that the Lord has hid in himself 3. To shew his peculiar love to their seed Deut. 7.6 7 8. 10.15 therefore he will gather out of their seed a visible Church and if so he must make with their seed a marriage-marriage-covenant And therefore if any say Why doth not the Lord leave their children till they enter into covenant themselves and give testimony of their faith and conversion The reason is because God will make them a Church to himself and therefore will make a Church-covenant with them Now the children of believing parents are taken into a visible Church Deut. 4.37 Because the Lord loved your parents therefore he chose their seed after them There 's a two-fold election as there is a two-fold adoption an election to life and unto Church-priviledges it 's not an election to life that is there spoken of but as Zac. 2.7 the Lord shall yet chuse Jerusalem as he had rejected them and cast them off from a Church-state and called them Loammi so now he will chuse them again in reference to a Church-state And thus he is to chuse their children after them not unto life for that is grounded only upon his own love unto the persons of men but it 's spoken in reference to a Church-state which was grounded upon his love unto their parents therefore when parents were converted there was a Church in their house and the posterity and family was looked upon as a Church unto God and theirs was the Adoption the priviledges of sons externally belonged to them and God owned them for his above all other families in the whole earth now those that were taken into a Church-state unto them and their posterity there did belong a Church-covenant and that 's the meaning of Ezech. 16.8 I entred into covenant with thee and thou becamest mine 4. This is the surest ground of a mans judgment in reference to persons whether it be a private Christian or a chosen Officer There are some persons to be admitted into the visible Church and there are some priviledges of the visible Church that are to be dispensed by judgment in the person that doth dispense or administer them for we are not sent to baptize all mankind nor to administer Sacraments and censures unto all mankind as we are sent to preach the Gospel neither are we to expect a satisfactory convincing ground that this person is inwardly and spiritually holy and savingly interessed in the covenant of grace for that we cannot infallibly judge of but though it cannot come under our judgment yet our judgment must not be blind charity we must take the rule of the word and keep close to it And what is the surest rule There are two that are known either the mans profession or else the promise of God in respect of the childs Church-state by the Fathers priviledge Now as to the first of these my judgment may be deceived and I may
the will of man but of God why will the Lord have the same conveyance still continue for the externals and the priviledges of it when for the graces of it the intail is cut off for ever 9 How far the administration of the old Covenant should as a rule determine the administration of God under the new that we may be able to reason from one to the other he did so with Abraham and his posterity therefore he will do so with the Saints now and whether in Abraham there were not something personal and peculiar to him and his seed according to the flesh that they only that come in by a claim to the faith of Abraham cannot take unto themselves For Abraham in reference to the covenant is set forth two ways either as a begetting Abraham Rom. 4. or as a believing Abraham and whether the priviledges of both the children of Abraham according to the flesh or by promise be the same 10 How far the Jews by virtue of Abrahams Covenant as being his seed and as being taken into a Church-covenant in their parents being the only visible Church unto God on Earth could pretend to a right unto the ordinances and priviledges of the Church of God under the New Testament For if the parents were in covenant so were their children taken in at least into the externals of the covenant 11 How children can be said to be taken into Covenant when they cannot restipulate nor be said to be obliged by their Covenant 12 Seeing there is so much dispute about it were it not much better to leave children out of this claim For if they be elected we may rest quietly in that state and leave them in the arms of Gods electing love and resting upon that foundation for their eternal salvation the Lord knows who are his and to defer their claim to the covenant till they themselves are able to take hold of the covenant and to give their consent thereunto to give the hand unto the Lord and then they may claim it with comfort children from their parents right and parents for their children and then we may with comfort seal up that which we have good ground upon judgment to conclude to be a mans title and interest and then the parents covenant-interest will come in at second hand and a man having himself first taken hold and consented to the covenant in his own person it will be a good argument for a man to plead with God for the mercies and blessings of the covenant Lord thou art my God and my fathers God as Moses did Lord I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid and so the Church For thy servant Davids sake turn not away c. Remember the covenant that thou hast made with Abraham and Isaac c. And so did Austin after his conversion take a great deal of comfort in his mothers covenant-interest and in all the prayers that she did put up to God for him Confess l. 3.11 Salutem meam sempiternam chariùs parturibat corde casto c. till the Lord in a dream gave her great hopes concerning his salvation but till then a man can have little comfort in it Quest 1 Are all the children of parents in covenant taken into covenant with their parents or only some selected by God himself as he did in the children of Abraham when he said in Isaac shall thy seed be called Answ The parents covenant takes in all their seed and they are all in covenant with God till they be ejected Cain was in covenant as well as Abel till cast out of the presence of the Lord and Ismael as well as Isaac till the sentence upon his mocking cast out the bond-woman and her son and the Jews not only for their children immediately but those for many ages to come Deut. 29.13 14. Joh. 8. 1. If we look into Abrahams posterity we read that they were of two sorts a seed according to the flesh a carnal generation which the Jews stood so much upon and gloried in Mat. 3.9 We have Abraham to our father and there is a seed of Abraham that walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham and in this respect Abraham is called the father of us all here is a double paternity from begetting Abraham and believing Abraham and here is a double sonship children according to the flesh and the heirs of promise Rom. 9.6 7 8. They are not all Israel who are of Israel neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called that is they that are the children of the flesh are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted for his seed and because they are the seed of Abraham they are not therefore all children and this is more fully set forth in that Allegory of the Apostle Gal. 4.22 23. where we have Abrahams family set forth as a pattern and a resemblance of the visible Church of God in which there are two sorts of sons and two sorts of mothers there is the bond and the free woman and so the Apostle says it was then and so it should continue in the Church of God while its militant state did last and yet both these seeds are taken into their parents covenant and therefore all the posterity of Seth are called the sons of God Gen. 6.1 and all without the Church the daughters of men all the Israelites were Jews outwardly Ye are the children of the Lord your God says Moses Deut. 14.1 his peculiar people and treasure called also the children of the Kingdom and the children of the Covenant Act. 3.25 Mat. 8.12 And this is not only so of the Jews but the Gentiles also Gal. 3.26 Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus and yet I suppose no man will say that all in the Church of the Galatians were truly really and savingly so therefore all their children were taken into the same covenant with their parents faith and holiness 2. The sentence of Excommunication hath passed upon such and they have been ejected and cast out of the Church and from all the visible Communion and Priviledges of it Now Church-censures are to extend to none but Church-members 1 Cor. 5.12 13. 1 Cor. 5.12 13. We judge them that be within what have we to do to judge those that are without We see 1 That Church-government is an authoritative thing a power of judgment and so the Authority of Christ is called Joh. 5.25 2 There is a distinction of men some are without and some within and this is a rule Differentia divisiva est etiam constitutiva there is something therefore that makes them to be without and something that makes them to be within and this can be nothing but their own personal consent or their coming in by their fathers covenant 3 This authority is not exercised upon them without they are
left to the judgment of God as a man is that is wholly cast off from all care of the Church 1 Cor. 16.22 let him be Anathema maranatha to shew that the Church had done their utmost used all means that were possible for them to do and they did avail nothing and therefore they did now cast him off as incurable and left him to the judgment of the Lord at his coming so they that are without are left to Gods judgment but they that are within are under the Churches care and judgment Now that Cain was cast out is plain Gen. 4.14 Gen. 4.14 Thou hast cast me out from the face of the earth and from thy face c. and so the meaning is a vagabond I shall be on the earth from thy face shall I be hid Of this there 's a double interpretation that 's commonly given answerable to a twofold acceptation of the face of God 1 By Gods face is meant Gods favour love protection and all the fruits of favour as all men seek the face of the Ruler and God says I 'le shew thee the back and not the face in the day of their calamity Mercer Gloss 2 Others by the face of God do understand locum patefactionis divinae c. the place of Gods manifestation and so it 's put for the visible Church where the Lord in a special manner doth reveal himself and therefore are the Jews called Jesuron or the seeing people and Jerusalem called the valley of Vision c. and so to be hid from the face of God est ab Ecclesia parentum ubi cultum Deo praestabant c. is to be cast out of the parents Church c. and this is the interpretation that most of our Divines give of it 3 It 's said That whoever did find him would slay him Cain was therefore a man taken into a Church-covenant together with his parents though he was but the seed according to the flesh and so he continued till for the just desert of his own sin he was cast out and had an immediate sentence of Excommunication past upon him by God himself the first example that we read of in Scripture of a Church-censure and the same is true also of Ismael Gen. 21.10 12. Gal. 4.30 Cast out the bond-woman and her son she did speak it may be sensu suo de haereditate facultatum but the Lord did carry it higher as Pareus hath observed and he expounds it de haereditate spirituali Abrahams family was a resemblance of the visible Church and the ejection was a casting out of the visible Church and is to be understood of a visible casting out therefore while Ismael and his mother were in Abrahams family they were members and came under Abrahams covenant but when they were cast out then they were to be looked upon as people in covenant with God no longer they could lay no claim to the covenant of Abraham The same may be said of the whole Nation of the Jews who were all taken into a Church-covenant they and their children Deut. 29.12 14. and yet but a remnant a very few of them were saved and taken into the spiritual benefit of the covenant and those that were not taken in they and their posterity were also ejected and the Lord called them Loammi and gave them a bill of divorce to be such as he would owne in way of Church-fellowship and Communion no longer and the same course the Lord takes with the Gentiles also when he removes the Candlestick Rev. 2.5 Rev. 2.5 By the Candlestick is meant not only the preaching of the Gospel and the Ordinances thereof but the Church it self for so Rev. 1.20 the seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches and the Lord would take away his Ordinances and they and their posterity should be no more owned by God as his Church and people in covenant with him so that they were broken off as the Jews were Now they that are spiritually and savingly in the covenant can never be cast out of any part of the covenant it 's everlasting and they never can be broken off therefore it 's meant of the carnal seed those that are externally in covenant but not spiritually and savingly 3. As for that place Gen. 21.12 For in Isaac shall thy seed be called Gen. 21.12 which is made so much use of to overthrow this Doctrine and that none are taken into covenant with God but the◠that do truly believe and be the sons of Abrahams faith the meaning seems plainly to be this 1 It is to be understood that the Messiah the promised seed should not come from Ishmael but from Isaac It 's to be understood de semine benedicto 2 Of the spiritual Seed and that in a double sence 1 Of the peculiar and electing Love of God which should run in Isaac and his posterity 2 De privilegio foederis for all his Posterity were not elected and spiritually holy and in covenant with God but in his seed the visible Church of God should be continued and they should be those amongst whom the Lord would hold forth his Name and set up his Worship and this must be chiefly the meaning for it 's a comfort to Abraham against casting out of Ishmael out of his Family which had a resemblance of the visible Church and in the execution of this Church-censure to be done by Abraham the Priest of the Family he must excommunicate one Son as he was as a Priest to offer the other and now the Lord comforts him in this affliction that the seed that should be accounted his and should be continued as the blessed seed amongst the Nations should be the Posterity of Isaac and they should be reckoned for his Seed an expression answerable unto that of Eve Gen. 4.15 God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew that is in whom and in whose posterity the Church of God should be continued unto the end of the world though Cain were excommunicated and Abel slain yet the Covenant of God should be made good unto the Woman and her seed and so by thy seed shall be called in Isaac is meant the continuance of the visible Church in the Posterity of Isaac when Ishmael was cast out and therefore this makes nothing to prove that none of Abrahams seed were taken into the Covenant but those that were elected and did walk in the steps of the Faith of Abraham Quest 2 § 2. Into what of the Covenant are they taken and in what respect can they be said to be under the Covenant of Grace who are in a state of nature in the old Adam and therefore as you have shewed us under a Covenant of works and we have heard from Gal. 4. that it 's as impossible for a man to be under two Covenants at one and the same time as it is for a man to be born of two Mothers and when the son of
the bond-woman shall be born of the free-woman then can a man that is under the Covenant of works while he does so remain unbroken off be also under the Covenant of grace Answ 1 1. Of the Covenant of Grace there are two parts answerable to the two sorts of Promises that belong unto it as there are the Promises of this life and that which is to come so there are in the Covenant spiritual Priviledges and there are saving Graces and a man may be in the Covenant for the one and not for the other All that are truely converted they come under the Covenant in both respects but they that are onely so by Profession and outwardly they have it for the external Priviledges of the Covenant onely And this is clear from two places Rom. 3.1 he had shewed before that nothing but true faith and holiness gave a man an interest in the spiritual part of the Covenant it was not those outward things that a mans eternal happiness did consist in he is not a Jew that is one outwardly and although they be members of the Church of God as they are visible Professors Austin yet they are not partes sed pestes non membra sed ulcera c. as our Divines generally maintain it against the Popish Doctrine Vt Ecclesia catholica quam credimus ex solis constat electis Daven determ 46. And therefore these outward things avail nothing to the inward and spiritual part of the Covenant as before God but thy circumcision will be uncircumcision and the Lord saith Jer. 9.23 he will joyn them all together the circumcised with the uncircumcised for one is uncircumcised in flesh and another in his heart and therefore the Lord call'd them Rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrhae and their outward priviledges will serve to encrease their condemnation ripen their sins and hasten their ruine for he onely is in Gods account a Jew that is one inwardly Rom. 3.1 in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now he comes to propound this very question Rom. 3.1 What advantage then has the Jew or what excellency has the Jew more than others for so the word is used Math. 5. What excellent thing do you now he addes that unto them did belong the external priviledges of the Covenant who had nothing to do with the spiritual graces of the Covenant and he makes it not a small matter to be under or have a right unto these outward priviledges but much every way chiefly in that unto them is committed the Oracles of God that the Law of God was written unto them Hos 8.12 and that it should be call'd Your Law John 8.7 they had a peculiar interest in it above all other people of the world it was a Law written unto them and as a Depositum committed unto them to keep and so I conceive the word used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notes namely credita vel concredita sunt not onely as Beza saith ut proprium ipsorum thesaurum notat As it notes their proper treasure but also as that which they were to be Stewards of Isa 2. and to convey and transmit unto other people for the Law was to come out of Sion and the Word of God from Jerusalem and in the latter days the water shall issue out of the Sanctuary also Ezek. 47.8 and from thence shall go into the East countrey into the desart and shall go forth into the Sea and thereby the waters shall be healed so Rom. 9.4 he doth recount the external priviledges of the Jewish Church and Members thereof and he doth reckon up eight very remarkable ones whose is the adoption not spiritual adoption Rom. 9.4 but the honour to be called the Sons of God and to be separated from all other people Deut. 14.1 1 Sam. 4.22 and Nations under Heaven by a Marriage-covenant Exod. 19.5 the glory the Ark was the special token of Gods presence and to them was given the Law the Worship of God Praesentiae Dei Symbolum the Promises of whom were the Fathers and of whom according to the flesh Christ came Now all these did belong to the body of the Nation as being taken into a Marriage-covenant and the external priviledges of it which did belong to them that should never have any spiritual and saving benefit by it It 's one thing to have an interest in the Covenant in reference to the spiritual and eternal mercies of it call'd the sure mercies of David by the Prophet and by the Apostle the holy things of David and another to have interest in the Covenant only in reference unto the temporal Promises and outward priviledges thereof and there is many a man that has interest in the one that neither hath nor ever shall have benefit by the other Therefore those that are the Elect of God when converted they are taken into the Covenant for both but all the seed of Parents in Covenant are taken into the outward Court the external part of the covenant the temporal Promises and outward priviledges of it and are to enjoy them and may claim them as their priviledge and right till by their sin they do deserve to be ejected and cast out of the Church and excluded from this priviledge which as a kind of a birth-right by grace does belong unto them * As there is a two-fold being in Christ so there is a two-fold being in Covenant with God Christ considered as a head in Heaven so he has none but living members but considered as a Vine spreading himself into a visible Church on Earth so he has many unfruitful branches 2. I do not only grant but teach that as there are two Covenants so all Mankind for the state of their persons come under one of these they are all of them children and sons of a covenant answerably to their union with the heads of the Covenants the first and the second Adam Therefore 1 Cor. 15.47 the Apostle Paul makes but two men in the world Adam and Christ for both of them are Heads of a Covenant they that are in the first Adam not yet translated who do yet bear his Image they stand under his covenant and they that are in the second Adam bear his Image they stand under his covenant Gal. 3.29 and if you be Christs you be Abrahams seed c. and it 's as impossible for a man for the state of his person to be under both covenants as it is for a plant to grow upon two roots or for a man to be born of two Mothers the heads of the covenants are so expressely contrary and the terms of these covenants so directly opposite that it can never be that a man can belong to them both he that is admitted into the covenant of Grace must of necessity first be cut off from the covenant of Works for he cannot live by
not as simply necessary unto the Sacrament of Baptism yet they conceive them lawful and not to be rejected so as they be qualified for so great a trust and do faithfully discharge it in the fear of God By this it will appear our Divines generally judge that there is a kind of spiritual Adoption that a godly man may convey a right by and give an interest in the Covenant and the priviledges of the Covenant unto those that are not his seed and â—hose that from their natural parents have no right at all Now to cross the judgment of so many reverent and holy men both ancient and modern hath been a very great trouble to me and upon the most serious debate I did desire â—hat the balance might have been cast the contrary way but at last considering that the â—cripture is unto them and us the Rule of Doctrines and the Judge of Controversies unto which they bind themselves and that if an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven do speak the contrary it 's because there is no light in them and because we have learnt from themselves Esa 8.20 â—â—at they were not satisfied with their own light in many things but writ according to their â—resent apprehensions with a desire still to a further and clearer discovery De catechis rudib c. 1. Mihi prope semper â—rmo meus displicet melioris avidus sum and therefore our Divines generally forsake them â—n many things as not walking with a right foot towards the truths of the Gospel and Luther professes of his works If the Lord Jesus Christ was willing to give an account of his doâ—trine when he asked Quantò magìs ego faex non nisi errare potens c. Et primus ero qui libellos meos in ignem projiciam and therefore he doth â—eseech men by the mercy of God That if any man could convince him of his errours he would for he was ready to retract them This hath incouraged me with all submission to speak my â—pprehensions out of the word though they are contrary unto that doctrine that hath been â—o anciently taught and so commonly received Herein I would speak unto three things 1 I would lay this for a ground That only â—â—rents can give the child a federal right 2 I would answer the instance given of the circumcising of servants born in Abrahams house or bought with his money though they were not of his seed and how far they had their right from Abraham 3 I would speak something to the ancient custom of Sureties or Godfathers in the primitive times 1. Only parents can give their children a federal right and none else and that I shall endeavor to make manifest to you by these arguments 1. From the nature of the Covenant which doth only take in his seed Abraham and his seed Noah and his seed the woman and her seed Gen. 3.35 9.9 17.7 Psal 89.29 David and his seed the holiness of branches it 's spoken of a federal holiness because it is applied to branches that were broken off therefore it is meant of a childs holiness and it doth proceed from the holiness of the root upon which they grew Rom. 11.16 and such a holiness as the converted Gentiles had for their seed by virtue of the same Covenant and therefore the children of believing parents are called the children of the Covenant Acts 3.25 as being a birth-right that belongs to them and as we may not with some deny them that which is their right so we are not of our own authority to appoint them coheirs some that shall share with them therein Mr. Calvin indeed saith Hîc certè locum habet regula vulgaris favores sunt ampliandi yet we should not limit the grace of the Covenant and stretch it beyond the rule of the Word and our grace in receiving men must not be larger than Gods grace manifested in the Covenant that he hath established wherein we do learn that the childs federal right is the confederate parents priviledge but never that a person in covenant hath a power having no seed to adopt any unto himself for spiritual priviledges or that he may extend them to any but those that God hath taken into covenant with him which is his seed an adoption in things temporal is allowed by the Law of God and man but that there should be in men adoption in things that are spiritual in reference to a covenant-right that is to extend the terms of the covenant beyond the line that God hath in his Word stretched forth It 's true Divinus sese obstrinixit Christo homini in persona Abrahami Zanch. Abraham was a publick person in the covenant of grace with whom as it were the covenant eminently began and he was as one hath well observed therein a type of Christ as David Psal 89.34 and therefore Abraham is said to be the father of us all Rom. 4.16 the father of many Nations but this is only in respect of the spiritual grace of the covenant and not the external spiritual priviledges of the covenant for the children of the promise are accounted for his seed though they were not of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh Rom. 4.12 yet they did walk in the steps of Abraham and were the children of his faith though not of his flesh but other Christians are not made publick persons in this respect as Adam Abraham and David were and therefore in reference to these outward spiritual priviledges they can convey them unto none but unto their seed whom the Lord takes into covenant with himself as appears in the Text and our grace must not be larger than Gods 1 Cor. 7.14 2. The Apostle 1 Cor. 7.14 lays down the rule plainly That the holiness of the child comes from the holiness of the immediate parent one or both and on the contrary the uncleanness of the child comes from the uncleanness of the parent else were they unclean but now are they holy it 's spoken here of a federal holiness as we have before proved and the Divines before quoted do grant if one of the parents be not in this respect holy the Apostle pronounceth their children unclean that is they have no federal holiness and if the Lord say that they are unclean who is it that can by his undertaking for their education make them holy till God by a work of conversion make them so It would make federal holiness which is one of the great priviledges of the second Covenant and an expression of the free grace of the Gospel to be a thing of small account if any man might say of the children of a Heathen It 's true neither of their parents was a Believer and the children are unclean by their birth but I will make them holy for I will undertake for their education this seems to be a way of holiness that was never appointed by the Spirit of
though the Catechumeni were admitted to hear and were called Audientes and Orantes yet those that they did excommunicate they did allow those Ordinances to and therefore they did use to sentence them Orent per triennium inter Catechumenos or sometimes more years according to the nature of the fact but yet they still did deprive them of the seals as being a priviledge of members only 2 Baptism is a Sacrament of initiation and the Ordinance of visible admission into the Church and that must not be done promiscuously and without discrimination for as it 's a sin to keep out those whose right it is so it 's a sin also to admit them that have no right because thereby the Ordinances of Christ are abused and misplaced where he never intended them and for whom he never instituted them Now a person must have a right to membership before ever he is to be admitted a member and he has no right to claim admission of those who have the power of the Keys unless it be upon this ground that a right of membership does belong unto him and therefore he does upon this desire admission as a member that so he be not defrauded of his right And Calvin professes in another Epistle Nisi inter vos vigeat discrimen aliquod ut prohibeantur qui sine crassa Dei injuria admitti nequeunt pro confesso sumo tam baptismum quam coenam profanari To whom is this spoken It was not to Jews and Turks and the admission of Heathens but unto Christians and Professors and yet he says that there must be among them discriminatio quaedam a certain discrimination though they were Christians in profession yet that did not give them all a title if it had there needed no difference to be put and observe he will have this difference to be put in reference to the Sacrament of Baptism as well as the Supper of the Lord and he complaineth of this disorder of administring the Sacrament promiscuously and exhorteth the Ministers to endeavour the reforming it if they could not say how it was lawful for them to hold their places certè ubi rogando hortando nihil proficitur ac frustra etiam conquesti sumus nos religione constringi ne pergamus scientes volentes sacra Dei mysteria profanare in tam confusa ordinis perturbatione quomodo stare nobis liceat nescio 2. Right of membership conveyed unto children from the immediate parents is a truth that the whole Scripture seems to hold forth 1 When-ever the immediate parents were taken into Covenant whatever their Ancestors have been their posterity were taken into Covenant also and had a right to membership together with their parents Abrahams father was Terah And he with his father served other gods beyond the river Josh 24.2 and yet as soon as the Lord took Abraham into Covenant he took in his posterity also with him immediately and therefore the children of those that are Church-members are called the children of the Covenant Act. 3.25 so as their interest in the Covenant comes upon them as their birth-right For it is true that there are but two ways of conveying a Covenant-right unto men either personal by their own faith or parental and this is not of nature for by nature one mans child has as much right as anothers none are born Christians but it 's a gift of grace and which doth follow upon the child by virtue of the parents Covenant and though none of his Ancestors were Believers but served other gods yet the immediate parents being Believers can give a right without respect unto the condition of their Ancestors and so it was with the Proselytes among the Jews their children were taken into Covenant with their immediate parents though their Ancestors were for many generations wicked Many instances of this have been given before 2 Children taken into Covenant have with their immediate parents been cast out Ismael was taken into Covenant and received the seal of the Covenant but when he was cast out though Abraham was alive yet Ismaels family was never after looked upon as in Covenant or as members of the visible Church of God so it was with Esau and his posterity the Edomites their father being put out of Covenant though they did attain Circumcision which was a seal of the Covenant yet it was not Circumcision in Gods account for they were never by God accounted a Church unto him But that 's a remarkable instance amongst the Jews when the Church of God had continued in that Nation for many generations and though God had there a greater income of holiness once than he had in all the world beside and was not ashamed to be called their God and to call them of all the nations of the earth his peculiar people yet when the Lord cast off their immediate parents and gave them a bill of divorce he did also cast off their children who can never claim a right from their Ancestors neither would any man by this claim I conceive admit a Jew unto the seals of the Covenant And yet after this long interruption wherein wrath is come upon them to the uttermost when the immediate parents shall be converted and taken into Covenant with God again then also shall their children be gathered in together with them and this as far as I understand is the whole tenour of the Scripture and I know no instance that children were taken into Covenant whatever their Ancestors were unless their immediate parents were Church-members 3. The right of membership does not consist barely in being baptized and making a profession of the name of Christ and therefore parents may have both these and yet not be judged Church-members 1 Being baptized doth not give a man a right unto Church-membership and the grounds of it are these 1 That which is the seal of our admission into the visible Church cannot give a man a right to it so as to make a man a member that is if a man ought to have the right of membership before he be baptized then his Baptism does not give him this right but seal it only and gives a visible confirmation thereunto but Baptism is a seal of a mans admission therefore it 's not Baptism that gives him a right of admission but the promise Act. 2.39 For the promise is to you and your children therefore says the Apostle Be baptized therefore it 's something before Baptism that gives a right of membership by virtue of which a man lays claim to Baptism for the seals belong to Church-members only 2 If Baptism make a man a member of the visible Church then while the Baptism remains firm the membership remains for forma dat esse rei but we see that is not so in a double case 1. In the case of wilful Apostasie when men withdraw themselves from the Church They went out from us 1 Joh. 2.19 because they were not of us these were
any necessity that all that are born in the Nation should therefore be members of the Churches of God in that Nation hence the Lord when he did cast them off did cast off the whole Nation and the ejection was not of particular persons Isa 66.8 and God will convert the Nation again and they shall have national Ordinances and a national Covenant and therein they are distinguished from all other Churches and shall be but seeing our taking in is personal and our ejection personal it 's not so with us but the father may be taken in with the children and the father cast out with the children and yet the Covenant be continued to the rest of the people and the Churches of Christ amongst them 3. The Jews continued in a Church-state though they were prophane till the Nation was cast off and cut off from being a Church unto God now the question is not Whether an ungodly man living in the Church while he keeps his visible standing there and is not cast out may not claim a visible right unto all the Ordinances for himself and his Posterity for certainly while he keeps his visible standing though he be a wicked-man yet it cannot be deny'd him and so it was amongst the Jews But if any amongst us through the negligence of the Church be continued in our Churches so profane and we do not bear them as burdens and cast them off as judging that a little leven will leven the whole lump it is the sin of the Church that such men should have a visible standing therefore they ought to be cast out and so de jure they have no right and if they be once cast out and excommunicated then they that are judged themselves to have no right unto Church-Ordinances cannot give this right unto others And it is that which we must look upon as the great sin of this Nation that we will intitle the whole Nation to a Church-state and every particular person a Church-member and yet no care is taken that either they walk as does become Members or else that they be excluded from such a pretended right and the Reformation of this Nation will never be thorough according to the Rules of the Gospel till this be done in all Priviledges Ordinances one as well as another There are two more questions have been propounded to me concerning this case 1 By this means what difference will be put between the Children of Christians and the Children of Pagans 2 If that they were baptized their Parents having no federal right whether is their Baptism null and must they then be rebaptized Quest 1. 1. To the first I answer that though it be a thing that may sound harsh and carry an Odium with it yet the Scripture does commonly call them Heathens even those that were wicked within the Church Rulers of Sodom and People of Gomorrha Saul is call'd Cush the Ethiopians and the Ziphims though they were Jews David calls Strangers or Aliens c. and the Papists though they profess Christ and take upon themselves the title of Churches Rev. 11.2 yet they are call'd Gentiles And we must know this that all men are either without or within if without though some are nearer and some are further off and therefore have greater opportunity of entrance than others yet they are still without and if they are within they must be visible Saints or else they ought not to be within and it will be judged by God the sin and profaneness of the Church and the Officers thereof if they are suffer'd to continue within as Members Now if we lay aside the hateful name of Turks and Pagans and if we say that the Parents either are not within or ought not to be within then I conceive he being unto me by Christs rule as a Heathen man and a Publican I cannot think his Children in a better condition in reference unto a Covenant-right than they can receive from their Father which I am well assured he has not to give Quest 2. And as for the Second Question it has been generally concluded by Divines ancient and modern that they are not to be rebaptized but that when they come to believe and repent they then reap the benefit of that Baptism which before they had no fruit of because they had no right to it yet when once they come by Faith to have a right to it then their Baptism availeth and so is not null to them nor need there a second Baptism but this would be entring into a new controversie which I shall have a fitter place in this discourse to handle where it will more directly fall in and therefore I must beg your patience in whose minds this does raise any scruple that you will spare me for a full answer unto it till then And so much shall serve to be spoken to the sixth Question Quest 7 § 7. If the Childs federal right be onely by the confederate Parents priviledge what is it in the Parent that gives the Child a right Is it converting and regenerating Grace or is it an external Profession onely When the Apostle sayes the Vnbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband else were your Children unclean doth he mean there justifying Faith which the Scripture calls the Faith of the Elect and is the holiness of the Child so from the faith of the Parent Lawrence c. 6. p. 191. or is it from an outward Profession of faith only It 's affirmed by some that it 's onely regenerating Grace saving Faith that does bring the father within the Covenant and therefore it 's this in the father and nothing else that can entitle the child to it which is proved from Rom. 4.16 Abraham is the Father of us all not only of the Jews but of the Gentiles also because the Covenant-right after a sort began in him he is the root upon which they all did grow that came after now that brings us under Abrahams Covenant which gives us a title to be call'd Abrahams seed And it 's plain Rom. 11. that there were two sorts of seed or children and so in Abraham a double Paternity there was Abraham begetting and there was Abraham believing and answerably to these two there are children according to the flesh and children of the faith of Abraham and though while the Jews continued they might claim Circumcision as belonging to them by generation because they did descend from the loyns of Abraham yet we can claim no title by carnal generation and therefore our title must be from our faith walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham andso the Apostle writing to the Galatians that were Gentiles tells them there is no way of being sons of Abraham and entering into his Covenant but by believing Know you therefore that they which are of faith c. Gal. 3.7.9 And if it be only the faith of the Parent that doth intitle unto the Covenant of Abraham
nisi quod traditum yet conceiving it after my best examination to be a truth of God for I did desire to believe before I spake I could not but speak what I apprehended to be the mind of God therein I should not desire to obtrude any thing upon you without examination if it be upon tryal but hay and stubble I shall be content that it shall burn but if it be a truth of God it will abide the tryal and though such a truth as this is may receive some prejudice by the weakness of the instrument yet if it be a truth the Lord Jesus will certainly raise up such instruments as shall be able to carry it through against all opposition I come now to answer the former Objection I do acknowledge that there is no way for the Gentiles to come under Abrahams covenant but by faith they cannot claim a title from Abraham begetting that belongs to the Jews only who are therefore called by the Apostle the natural Branches Rom. 11.24 and the Gentiles are said to be ingrafted contrary unto nature and therefore the Gentiles can claim no interest in Abrahams covenant but from believing Abraham and yet I deny that the faith which shall give a man any kind of right or title must be true saving and justifying faith And to clear this I must give you a threefold distinction 1. Of Abraham as a father and it 's plain that the Scripture speaks of a threefold paternity of Abraham 1 Abraham is a natural father and so to the Jews only for they are his posterity according to the flesh the natural branches that grow out of this root and this is the paternity that the Jews did glory in We have Abraham to our father Mat. 3.9 Joh. 8.39 2 Abraham is a spiritual father unto all true Believers who walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham whether they be of the Jews or of the Gentiles and they shall be blessed with faithful Abraham Rom. 4.11 12. for which cause I suppose it is that Heaven is called Abrahams bosom Luk. 16.22 Luk. 16.22 Abraham being the father of all the Faithful they shall be received into the same happiness with himself and he will shew unto them special love and tenderness Infantes in parentum sinu gestati amorem benevolentiam intimam experiuntur and so to be gathered to the Saints our fathers is a special mercy because we shall have an experience of the highest love of the Saints even Abraham himself the father of us all will owne us for his sons and receive us into his bosom Others take it as a Metaphor from the custom of the Jews in conviviis in their feasts where they did alter in alterius sinu occumbere lye down one in the others bosom Joh. 13.23 answerable unto that Mat. 8.11 They shall sit down with Abraham Isaac Joh. 13.23 Mat. 8.11 and Jacob in the kingdom of God which doth very fitly suit unto the Parable in hand Lazarus stands at the door of the rich man and was not admitted to taste of his meat much less to sit down at his table but he shall sit down in Heaven at the supper of the Lamb with Abraham Isaac and Jacob he shall there lean upon Abrahams bosom 3 Abraham is also an Ecclesiastical or a Church-father Rom. 11.16 as it appears Rom 11.16 he is the root upon which the Churches of the Jews did grow and into which the Churches of the Gentiles are ingrafted many of the Jews were not spiritually his seed and yet they are said to be broken off not from being Abrahams natural seed that they could never be deprived of they were the posterity of Abraham according to the flesh and so they do remain even after their breaking off but they are only broken off from a Church-relation and so they are the seed of Abraham no more and the Gentiles are grafted not into Abraham as a natural father a natural root for they never can be the posterity of Abraham according to nature and many of them are not from him as a spiritual father for many of them believe not and therefore are in danger of being cut off as the Jews were broken off whence they grow upon Abraham and are ingrafted into him as an Ecclesiastical or Church-father So then the answer is there is not a sufficient enumeration of Abrahams paternities It 's confessed the Gentiles cannot become the posterity of Abraham as a natural father or as a spiritual father for so many of the Gentiles are not of the seed of Abraham as do not walk in the steps of his faith but yet Abraham is an Ecclesiastical father unto the Gentiles as well as he was to the Jews that believed not for the Gentiles are ingrafted into the same root out of which the natural branches were broken off which cannot be spoken of his faith and grace that 's never broken off therefore it is of his Ecclesiastical or Church respect it must be meant 2. In the Covenant of Abraham there are two parts the one spiritual consisting in the inward graces and priviledges the other external consisting in outward priviledges only and this doth plainly appear in Isaac who was the child of the free woman and unto whom the Covenant descended according to the spiritual graces and priviledges thereof and in Ismael who was the son of the bond-woman born after the flesh and taken into covenant only in reference to the external priviledges thereof Deut. 29.10 12 13 14. Rom. 9.4 and thus were all the Jews taken into covenant with God as it appears Ezech. 16.8 and yet with many of them God was not well pleased they never had an interest in the saving graces and the spiritual priviledges of the Covenant for Rom. 9.6 They are not all Israel that are of Israel they were all inchurch'd Israel but they were not all of elected Israel for as there is an external calling Mat. 22.14 and sanctification Mat. 22.14 Joh. 15.2 Heb. 10.29 and an external being in Christ so there is also an external being in Covenant with God or being taken into the Covenant of Abraham for Abraham is the root of the Covenant into which the Gentiles also are ingrafted Rom. 11.17 there is a fatness that is from the Olive-tree communicated to the branches even to such branches as were broken off in whose places the Gentiles were grafted in Now the saving graces of the Covenant are not communicated from any Company of men in the world no not from the invisible Church but from Christ only who is therefore said to be the Root of David Rev. 22.16 and the fountain of the Gardens Cant. 3.15 but Ordinances and outward Priviledges are properly the Churches and from the Church are communicated to others as members whether they be elect or reprobate the Gentiles therefore may have an interest in Abrahams Covenant in reference to the outward Priviledges and Ordinances thereof though
Jews and Gentiles do grow 2 It is put for Abraham with whom this Covenant was first made and in whom after a sort the Covenant began and so I conceive Root is taken vers 16. If the root be holy so are the branches neither is there any inconvenience to say that the Covenant is the Root upon which Abraham and all the rest of his branches did grow and also that Abraham was the Root from which his seed did grow up into Covenant for he was the Root only by virtue of the Covenant which did in a manner begin with him and by virtue of this Covenant all his seed were as so many branches to grow upon him and were owned as a Church unto God 3 As the Olive-tree is the Church and that is but one and the Root is the Covenant and that is but one so the branches of this Olive-tree are to grow upon this Root and though many of the natural branches were broken off yet that does not make void the Covenant the Root still remains the same for others to be grafted in upon and some branches were grafted in that were taken out of another stock and that never grew upon this Covenant and their grafting in was being made members of the Church who were before strangers to the Common-wealth of Israel and the Covenant of promise and standing upon the Root was being taken into Covenant so that he that is taken into Covenant is thereby made a Church-member Whosoever therefore is taken into Covenant with God and hath a federal relation unto God that man is grafted into the Root and is made a branch of the true Olive-tree and grows upon the same Root that all the Saints of God do grow on and therefore to be taken into Covenant and to be made a member of the visible Church is in the notion of the Spirit of God and in the language of the Scripture the same thing Whence it appears that there is but one Covenant between Jews and Gentiles one Root that bears them both 2. Though the Covenant be the same in substance yet it is under different administrations In the Covenant three things are carefully to be distinguished for the external Ordinances thereof There are three things in the Doctrine of the Covenant that are carefully to be distinguish'd 1 There is a twofold being in Christ one by a Mystical Union so he that is in Christ is a New Creature and the other by an external Profession and so as Christ is a Vine spreading himself into a visible Church 2 Cor. 8.17 he has many unfruitfull branches 2 The Covenant has two parts 1 One inward and spiritual which is by Faith and Conversion and the benefits of it are Justification Adoption and Sanctification which is the Covenant spoken of Jer. 31.33 I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts 2 Another external which entitles a man to the outward priviledges only and this is the Covenant in regard of the outward administrations owning them for a visible Church of God thus God is said to break with the Jews for the Covenant of Grace in the spiritual part of it is everlasting Zach. 11.10 and cannot be broken 3 Answerable to this two-fold consideration of the Covenant so there are different Seals annex'd thereunto unto the spiritual part of the Covenant there is added the Seal of the Spirit which is secret between God and the Soul Eph. 1.13 4.30 and unto the external part of the Covenant there are added visible Seals before men and these visible Seals are different amongst the Jews and the Christians the Ordinance and Seal of Admission amongst the Jews was Circumcision but it 's Baptism amongst Christians therefore the administration is varyed though the Covenant remain the same Heb. 9.10 and for this cause the times of the Gospel are call'd the times of Reformation that is when all these weak and beggerly Elements though they were Gods Ordinances should be removed and new and more spiritual and unchangeable Ordinances stablished in their room for the Ordinances and Administrations of the Gospel are those that shall never be changed but continue the same to the end of the world as they are the best so they shall be the last as these Two places do clearly prove Matth. 28.19 Go teach and baptize all Nations and I am with you to the end of the world therefore that administration shall never be changed and 1 Cor. 11. Ye shew forth the Lords death till he come therefore that Administration shall last unto the second coming of the Lord. Heb. 8.7 There is a double time that the Saints of God in all ages have had a special eye upon they in the Old Testament upon the times or as it is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the season or the fit time appointed by the Father for the reformation of all things and there is a time that the Saints in the New Testament are to have an eye upon and that is the time of the restitution of all things which referre to the same time 2 Pet. 3.13 and Revel 21.1 a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and Earth is passed away c. Heb. 8.8 and it is therefore commonly call'd a New Covenant because though it be the same yet it 's under new outward administrations and this was prophesied Dan. 9.27 Dan. 9.27 he shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week That is in the last seven years of that Provincial Kalender the Seventy two weeks which was the time of the continuance of the Jewish Church and Worship after their return out of Babylon in the last seven years thereof Christ the Messiah should establish the Covenant with many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it 's meant of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles and bringing them into the Fellowship of the Gospel and the New Covenant who were before strangers to it and it is said Multitudes should be converted and in three years and a half that is half the week by the Ministry of Christ the Jewish Sacrifices and Oblations and all their Ceremonies shall be disanulled and the administration changed and that shall make way for the destruction of their City and State 3. The administration being changed in reference to the new Administration the Jews and the Gentiles are upon equal terms and have an equal right one as well as another whosoever freely and voluntarily submits thereunto A mans external right to the Covenant comes from his subjection to the present administration under which God has put the Covenant the Covenant of Grace was the same which God revealed unto Adam immediately after his fall in that first Promise Gen. 3.15 and when the Saints did gather into visible Churches or Societies and thereby separate themselves from the world to worship God in a Communion of Saints it was the external Priviledges of the same Covenant Gen. 4. ult
For there are two great Institutions of the Gospel unto which the Lord has a special eye and so should all the Saints have 1 Christ and 2 A Church or Society of Saints and there was a distinction then between the Sons of God and the daughters of men Gen. 6.1 But none of these did enter upon their title by Circumcision and yet when the Lord did renew his Covenant with Abraham and his posterity and took them as a visible Church unto himself all that would lay claim to an interest in the Covenant must submit unto that administration and that being put to an end and the Lord having put the Covenant under a new administration all that do or can claim a title to it must freely and voluntarily come under the new administration which the Lord has in the times of Reformation put upon the external part of the Covenant Though therefore the Jews might for themselves and their seed lay a claim unto the Priviledges of the Covenant under former administrations yet those being done away and put to an end the hand-writing being cancelled now they can claim by that title no more and all federal right which they had to that administration ceaseth and they must together with the Gentiles begin their claim anew and upon a new title that is a free and a voluntary subjection unto the new administration of the Covenant and therefore it 's said Eph. 2.14 15. That the partition-wall was taken down Eph. 2.14 15. that was between the two sorts of people that then did divide the world the Jews and the Gentiles and that was the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances that is the present administration that so both people might be joyned into one that the Jew could now claim no more right to the external administration of the Covenant than the Gentiles because the Ordinances unto which they did claim a Covenant-right were taken away and God had published new ones and setled the Covenant of Grace in the world under new administrations and unto them the Jews must submit as well as the Gentiles or else they can have no federal right to the outward priviledges thereof either for themselves or for their seed and upon this ground though the Jews were members of the visible Church of God under former administrations yet they can claim no such visible membership in the Churches of the Gospel because the former administrations unto which they did lay claim was come to an end and the Jew must believe and repent and be baptized as well as the Christian and then the promise shall be unto him and to his children but never else Quest 11 § 11. How can children be taken into Covenant with God when they cannot restipulate can neither understand the terms of Gods Covenant nor give any consent thereunto We have been formerly told that a Covenant is grounded upon a mutual consent of parties and if either party withhold or withdraw his consent it is no Covenant the Covenant of Grace is a Marriage-covenant and the Civil Law hath this Rule Vbi non est utriusque consensus non potest esse matrimonium and therefore when the Lord takes any man into the spiritual part of the Covenant he requires their consent a Commandment is from God whether we consent to it or no but a Covenant is with our consent unto it and therefore faith is nothing else but the consent of the whole soul to accept of Christ upon the terms that God has offered him Rev. 22. and that is Whosoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely there must be a willingness to come to Christ or else you can never have him and it is a being willing of him and assenting to him that gives you truly and properly an interest in him the spiritual part of the Covenant therefore is not without our consent and so it is with the Church-covenant between men and men there is a consent to be both of the Church that receives and of the parties that joyn themselves and if either of them withdraw their consent the relation ceaseth immediately if the Church cast a man out and will owne him no more but reject him or if he will owne the Church no more as they 1 Joh. 2. They went out from us because they were not of us therefore all Church-fellowship is grounded upon consent How then can children be said to be taken into Covenant that cannot consent Answ 1. Some of our Divines do say that a Covenant cannot so properly be said to be between God and man as between man and man for amongst them consent is required to make the Covenant valid but an antecedent consent is not required in the Covenant between God and man and so they say the Covenant that God made with Adam did not depend upon consent and acceptation for he was bound to do what God commanded whether he would agree to it or no and he was bound to accept of what God required And it 's by some disputed Whether Adam did know or give his consent that he should stand as a publick person in the behalf of his posterity to stand and fall for them and they in him c. But this is an answer I cannot rest in I look upon consent as essentially necessary to a Covenant both between God and man as well as between man and man and so I find that in the Covenant that God made with Christ and with the Saints a consent has always been required thereunto and that Adam did know the terms of the Covenant by which he stood and did consent unto them for himself and his posterity we saw the grounds of it before in the Doctrine of the former Covenant 2. That Infants may enter into Covenant with God doth clearly appear 1 In that Circumcision amongst the Jews the seal of the Covenant was applied unto them and they must be foederati federates or else they could never have been signati sealed ones the seal of the Covenant is only to be administred unto them that are within the Covenant 2 God takes them into Covenant Deut. 29.11 12. as Moses tells them Ye stand this day before the Lord all the men of Israel your wives and your little ones that thou shouldst enter into covenant with the Lord thy God c. therefore the Lord did not only take the men into covenant that were grown and able to give an actual consent but also their little ones that neither were able to speak or consent to the terms of this covenant 3 It is plain that children are members of the visible Church Of such is the kingdom of heaven Matth. 19.14 which can be meant no other way but that of such is the visible Church of God constituted they are of the number of those that make up part of the Church here and that shall fill up Heaven hereafter Now to be a member of the visible Church and
the Name of God call'd upon them and by Covenant are the children of God and members of the visible Church of the number of those out of whom the Lord will take ordinarily the number of the Elect for he hath so ordain'd his eternal Decrees that the greatest part of those that shall be saved come out of the loyns of his own people and those he takes into a Church-covenant because the children of the Elect are mixed with and taken out of the Church visible and to be without such a title of Honour as God has put upon the Infants of his people is it better than to enjoy it seeing free grace bestows it 3. The one half of the Church of God as well as the one half of Man-kind dye in their Infancy and do never live to partake of the Dews and Influences of any other Ordinance but this only and if they might not be owned by God in having the Seal of the Covenant set to them as the children of the Covenant they should go out of the world without any visible owning from God at all or any visible way of blessing from him whereas the same Lord that will glorifie them with his Son in the world to come will own them for his in a visible way before they go out of this life and he has appointed this Ordinance of Sealing to this very end 4. If they live it 's an Obligation that lyes upon them that they are not their own for they were dedicated to God by their Parents in their Infancy There was under the Law a Dedication of the Males and that was an Obligation upon the child as we see in Sampson and Samuel though they did not actually consent unto the Vows which were made by their Parents yet their Dedication was a bond upon them and so must this needs be upon the children of Christians also 5. The fruits of Baptism have an influence upon a mans whole life and the benefits of it carry a man on from his Cradle to his Grave and it 's all the nourishment that children do enjoy or in Infancy can receive from Ordinances therefore Cant. 7.2 it 's said by some to be called the Navel by which the Child in the womb is nourished a mans Baptism and the Grace of it is never accomplished till he come to Heaven for Baptism saves and therefore having an influence upon a mans whole life it 's not best to leave it out in any part of a man's life 6. It lays a great engagement upon the Parents to bring them up in the knowledge of that God to whom they have dedicated them and whose Seal is upon them and that they pray for them and in their behalf take hold of the Covenant and it layes also a very great Obligation upon the Church to which the Parents belong for they looking upon those children as Church-members together with themselves they fall under their constant care and prayers in all these respects it is not better that it be deferred but it 's every way best that it be according to Gods Rule and that our will be wholly moulded into the discoveries of his will 7. As for the Example of Christ it 's true that he was not baptized till he was Thirty years of age but he was circumcised the Eighth day and so admitted into the Church of the Jews and so long as that building was to continue so long he continued a Church-member and walked in Church-communion with them but the time of Reformation being come that the Lord would by him set up another Church now he receives a new Sacrament of Initiation which was proper to the new Administration of the Covenant that he might fulfill all Righteousness but for us there is not the same reason neither have we now any other way to be received into the Church in our Infancy beside Baptism and children are as capable of the grace of Baptism in their infancy as they will be when they are grown men for it 's a good rule of some Divines Nulla actio requiritur Ames med p. 314. sed tantùm receptio passiva infantes igitur sunt aequè capaces hujus Sacramenti respectu principalis ejus usùs atq adulti In Baptism there is required no action but only passive reception therefore Infants are equally capable of the principal use of this Sacrament as adult persons SECT III. the Covenant-right of Children applied § 1. HEre is a threefold Use of this Point 1. Of information and that in two things Vse 1 1. To shew the evil and danger of the Doctrine of the Antipedobaptists who deny unto children an interest in their parents Covenant take parents into covenant without their children they must be left out until they come to be of years actually to take hold of the covenant for themselves but as for a parental right they acknowledge no such thing such an entail of the covenant upon Abrahams natural seed they cannot deny but unto the spiritual seed of Abraham they deny it because say they it 's every mans own faith makes him a son of Abraham And by this means 1 they make another covenant than God ever made a covenant with parents not respecting their children which is such a covenant as God never made either in the Old or New Testament Before the Floud as soon as the covenant was revealed we have heard that it was unto parents and to their seed Gen. 3.15 and therefore Eve was called the mother of all living it 's spoken in respect of the covenant Eve was a covenant-mother as Abraham is the father of us all Rom. 4.16 and it was continued in Seth a seed that God gave her not instead of Cain who was cast out of Gods presence that is out of the Church but instead of Abel whom Cain slew that is the covenant-seed Gen. 6.18 9.9 so to Noah before and after the Floud afterwards the Lord hews these spiritual stones out of another pit as the expression is Esa 51.1 2. and then with David and his seed And the Jews being rejected Psal 89.28 Rom. 4.16 Act. 2.39 the same covenant was continued for the Gentiles were grafted into the same Root and that root was Abraham and his covenant Rom. 11.16 17. and for this cause Abraham is called the Father of the Gentiles and therefore 't is said The promise is unto them that are afar off and to their children as many as the Lord our God shall call and when the Jews shall be grafted in again they shall be brought they and their children into the same covenant Rom. 11.24 out of which they were cast off they and their seed The Scripture speaks of no covenant that doth not comprehend parents and their seed therefore that which leaves out the seed of confederate parents is a covenant of mans making and not of Gods and it will be good for men to consider what a dangerous evil it is to pervert any
Sion and her Adherents are those that shall make war with the Saints and they shall be joyned unto this Church whose names are not written in the Lambs book of life the Lord has thus cast out these Antichristian Churches and given them a bill of divorce for ever 2 That Church from which the Lord calls to his people for a separation that the Lord does not owne as a true Church but the Lord calls upon his people for a separation from the Church of Rome Come out of her my people And here I conceive with * Oper. Camer p. 520. Camero A dislike and an abhorrency of their idolatry and superstitions is not sufficient for that should be even in a true Church from which yet a man may not depart so as to hold no communion with them though Churches be very corrupt and 't is a mans duty to separate from the corruptions of them to touch no unclean thing with them as Christ did in the Church of the Jews yet he did hold Church-communion with them all in the Ordinances of God and did not separate from them because they remained a true Church to God and the Lord had not yet called them Loammi and put them away from him therefore the Lords calling out a people to separate from the Church of Rome doth plainly give unto them a bill of divorce and the Lord does thereby manifest that he does owne them for a Church unto himself no longer for if they were a true Church though ye were to separate from the corruptions of it yet not from communion with it 3 Where there is no salvation to be had that is not a Church unto God for extra Ecclesiam nulla salus but in the Church of Rome by the rules of their own Religion there can be no salvation because they make a man to forsake the Lord Jesus Christ the only foundation in point of Justification which whosoever misseth must build upon the sand and not upon the Rock as our own Mr. Perkins c. has long since manifested and where no salvation is to be had surely there is no Church in Gods account They therefore that embrace the Doctrine of Popery and do fully close with it they and their seed are cast out they are no more a Church to God neither to be looked upon as in Covenant with him and to have any right to the seals of the Covenant 2. There are another sort that are not actually cast out through the negligence of the Church being able to bear them that be evil and it 's true while such are owned as members the priviledges of members cannot be denied to them who ought to be as a Heathen man and a Publican and though men do neglect their duty therein yet there is a kind of spiritual Excommunication goes out from God all the while Vse 2 § 2. It serves for Exhortation and that unto three sorts 1. Unto parents it does necessarily inforce upon them to take hold of the Covenant not only for themselves but for their posterity also for 1 he that will embrace the Covenant of God let him accept of the whole Covenant not only that he will be thy God but the God of thy seed also There is no part of the Gospel that should be neglected or any of the grace of the second Covenant that should be received in vain 2 Else thy faith will be defective therein the Apostle speaks 1 Thess 3.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 3.10 of a defect of faith and that lies in two things 1 When it does not take in the object of faith in its extent but there is something held forth to be believed that faith is not exercised about 2 When it does not act in the highest degree there is a defect in reference to the object and in reference unto the act also 3 The people of God have exercised faith upon the Covenant for their children and Christ Jesus himself for his children Psal 102.28 Heb. 1.10 11 12. for he shall see his seed and in them he shall prolong his days upon earth and therefore we read of his children There was a Covenant made with Christ personal and a Covenant made with Christ mystical with him as Mediator in regard of what he was to perform and with him as head for us and Christ takes hold of the Covenant in both these respects and all promises made unto a posterity Christ has an eye to the accomplishing of them in the behalf of his posterity as well as himself as being part of the promise and covenant that the Lord made unto him for himself and his seed and so should all the Faithful do look upon all the promises that are made unto the seed of the Faithful in the Scripture and put them in suit before the Lord for thy seed also as being part of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you we might by this means leave and entail very great blessings upon our posterity and live to see the Covenant accomplished unto them unto the great consolation of our souls Psal 128.3 4. Thy children shall be like olive-plants round about thy table Behold thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord the Church is called the Olive-tree as we have seen Rom. 11.16 17. and they as Church-members are as Olive-plants those that are of use and excellency profiting Church and Common-wealth Esa 59.21 This is my covenant says the Lord my Spirit that is upon thee and my words that I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed or seeds seed henceforth and for ever Whilst we straiten the Covenant and our Covenant-interest unto our selves we are enemies to our own consolation the great flourishing of the soul lies in the inlargement of the faculties and they are vast objects that do cause large faculties it 's of admirable use unto a mans own spirit to look unto the Covenant in the extent of it to you and to your seed 2. It is matter of exhortation unto children that they would walk worthy of this mercy this inheritance that God has entailed upon them and not despise the grace of God in their parents Covenant but actually take hold of the Covenant also in their own persons 1 Consider grace hath prevented you and you are taken in by God into a familiar Covenant with himself meerly out of preventing mercy whereas thou mightest have been born among the uncircumcised it 's no small priviledge to be born of those that are themselves in Covenant with God 2 It will be a great aggravation to thy sin and judgment when thou shalt with Esau despise thy birth-right the contempt of a spiritual priviledge is a great sin and dishonour to God and it will surely add to thy judgment Mat. 8.11 The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into utter darkness Mat. 8.11 and how will that
never dying worm gnaw upon thy conscience when it shall tell thee I had a godly parent one within the Covenant of God by whom I had a right unto all outward priviledges of membership but I have walked unworthy of them all and abused them all and therefore now some come from the East and from the West others are grafted in by their own faith that were born of wicked parents and I that was as it were a natural branch grew upon a holy stock and in Covenant am now rejected and cast out as an abominable branch 3 The people of God have exercised faith upon their parents Covenant and have been able sometimes in distress to plead that when they have had little to say for themselves Exod. 15.1 when Moses prays he says Thou art my God and my fathers God and the children of Israel though they could say little for themselves for they were a wicked and disobedient people and their righteousness as a filthy rag yet they say Remember the covenant that thou madest to Abraham and the land that thou gavest unto Abraham thy friend for ever and so David Thy servant and the son of thy hand-maid And Austin pleaded his happiness in his good mother he was the son of her tears and of her Covenant-interest and he glories that in her prayers she did bring forth unto God his own bond and did plead her Covenant in his behalf do not walk unworthy of such Ancestors and be you not degenerate plants when you grow upon such glorious roots and thereby become a shame unto your father that begat you and your mother that bare you 3. It is also an Exhortation unto the Church and the Officers thereof that they have a special care and respect unto the children of the Church they being children of such glorious and great hopes being such as are in covenant with the Lord and the children of the kingdom those that the Lord owns for his children Ephes 6.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore would have them brought up in the nurture and the fear of the Lord they should be brought up as becomes the children of God 1 They are Church-members and therefore ought to be the care of Church-Officers for the power of the Keyes being committed to them they are by them taken into the Church and if so they come under their care also 2 Out of these the Lord does ordinarily gather the number of them that shall be saved as you have heard the greatest part of the Church comes out of the loyns of his own people and therefore it is of their seed that he will have the visible Church out of which he will have the Church invisible made up 3 It 's the greatest glory of a Church to be fruitfull and to bring forth many young ones to God and the greatest misery of a Church and an argument that the Lord will depart from it lyes in this that it is barren and barren Ordinances and a barren Church is the greatest plague in the world it 's that for which the Lord does threaten to give a people unto salt Ezek. 47.12 the barren has born seven and she that has a husband is waxed feeble it 's happy with the Church when she can say My bed is green Cant. 1.16 for the Church of God has a Posterity Jerusalem has her daughters and the glory of the last Church shall be that there shall be abundance of fish as those of the great Sea exceeding many Ezek. 47.10 11. that is abundance of Souls shall be begotten to the Lord. And children should come under the special care of Church-Officers in two things 1 For matter of Instruction and that in the Ordinances that they are capable of They had two sorts of Catechumeni in the Primitive times some Adulti who were ignorant some Parvuli who were such as were born in the Church and they did undertake the Instruction of them all the Scripture hath Milk for such Babes and the neglect of this makes Ministers to build without a foundation and in a great measure lose their labour all their dayes in preaching things that they never did teach the people when they were young to understand 2 To lay up constant Prayers for those that they receive and it 's not a small mercy for a man to have a stock going in the Churches Ship and to have a daily and a continual interest in their Prayers Christ gives an example of it Math. 19.14 15. He laid his hands upon them and blessed them Non erat inane symbolum nec frustra preces Calvin surely this was not done in vain they being Members of the Church Christ shews that the duty of the Officers of the Church is in this manner to pour out the Prayers of the Church for them being such as are to grow up and to hold forth the Name of the Lord in the succeeding generations the people of God their care should extend beyond their Lives 2 Pet. 1.15 and so did Peters and so should ours for a Posterity also to the Lord in this world of ungodly men that he may still have an increase of children Vse 3 § 3. It 's for consolation unto Parents and that in two things 1. Surely that God that has out of his free grace to thee taken thy seed into Covenant also out of the overflowing of his goodness will deny thee nothing that is a blessing of the covenant if the Lord shew so much grace unto another for thy sake and he be so much beloved how much more to thee Nay it 's said of the Jews when they shall be converted though now they be strangers and enemies for the Gospels sake yet are they beloved for their fathers sake there was little loveliness in them for their own sake but yet there is love for their fathers sake and it 's this free grace that will at last bring them in that God may accomplish unto them their fathers Covenant and if the Lord will do such great things to others for their sakes and in love to them O how may they judge of his love unto themselves thereby This may be a great stay to the hearts of many sinking Christians who doubt of the Love of God toward themselves 2. When you are to dye and be solicitous for the little ones you leave behind you now remember they have a Covenant-Father with whom thou maist leave them and they shall not be found to be Orphans who have God for their father now remember he saith leave thy fatherless Children with me and so could Jacob when he came to dye The Angel that redeemed me from all evil Gen. 38.16 bless the lads and let my name be named upon them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and this was the great comfort of David when he saw that there was a decay coming upon his family the Sword should not depart from his House yet God had
heart hast thou done these great things that is of thy own free grace and unexpected Love because thou wouldst have mercy and yet it is Mercy to Abraham but it is Truth to Jacob c. Mic. 7. v. ult and therefore Austin calls the promise Chirographum Dei Gods Bond it is the bond or hand-writing that God has given the creature to assure him of Heaven so that as the Apostle calls the Law Chirographum contra nos Col. 2. a bond against us so are the promises the bond that is for us because they do speak God to be with us 4. All this is through Christ both making and performing 2 Cor. 1.20 so it is in him that the promises are Yea and Amen as all the precepts of the Law though given to us yet they are principally required of Christ as our surety and the transgressions of them are laid upon him so all the promises of the Gospel though they be made unto the Saints yet they be primarily made unto Christ as our head and representative for as we have heard he is the seed with whom the covenant is made and he is given unto us as a covenant so he is primarily the Heir of promise and as in respect of possession Esa 49.8 we enter into his inheritance called our masters joy so in respect of the promise and reversion we come under his covenant and so partake of his inheritance and have no further any promise made to us than as we are one with Christ and no promise is performed to us but by virtue of union with him and therefore it's Christus in aggregato Christ mystical that is the proper subject of all the promises and their accomplishment is to himself as the head and to the Saints as the body § 2. Why doth Gods part of the Covenant in this life mainly consist in promises It 's true that these promises shall end in performances and Heaven is the accomplishment of all the promises it is a promised as well as a purchased possession when the Saints are all gathered home all the promises shall be at an end and therefore in that respect faith shall cease for the object of it shall be taken away and therefore the acts of it must needs come to an end though it 's true that the habit of faith as well as all other graces being a part of the image of God and the new creation of Christ is of an eternal nature but yet the Lord does mainly dwell with his people in a way of promise and the covenant on his part doth run in promises 1 Cor. 2.5 7. 1. The life that the Saints live in this world must be a life of faith and not by sight there is another life though we live by faith and not by sight here that in glory is reserved for us and another manner of living and the main objects of faith are the promises Rom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4.19 21. He staggered not through unbelief He did not reason pro and con about it because faithful is he that has promised and he will also do it he is able to perform It 's true there is a faith that rests upon the whole Word of God as true and good and so the soul receives it but yet the object of faith by which the soul rests on God is mainly the promise so that as obedience is the Law written in the heart so also the object of faith is the promise written in the heart the Lord lets in the promise and the soul rests thereupon and if the Lord had not dealt so in a way of promises our life could never have been a life of faith 2. They are the great grounds of our hope and thereby the Lord will sweeten our obedience he doth not give forth a bare command as an act of Soveraignty but he adds thereunto a promise as an act of Grace Heb. 6.18 The Lord willing to shew the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that we might have strong consolation who are fled for refuge to the hope set before them which hope we have as an anchor to the soul And the Anchor is cast under water and takes hold of something that is not seen as yet for if I see it why do I yet hope for it Now though it 's true a godly man should not yield obedience meerly for reward yet a man may have respect to the recompence of reward and though it is true that this should not be the great thing that should launch them forth in duties of holiness yet this is a good wind to fill the sails the Lord letting him see that there is an inseparable communion of Gods glory and our good also duty and mercy 〈◊〉 hand in hand and that the Lord requires no duty but it is for our good always t◠he may perform unto us the promise that is annexed thereunto There is an amor merc◠〈◊〉 love of reward that is not mercenary Heb. 12.1 Christ had the joy set before him that did sweete 〈◊〉 sufferings he had a glory and a posterity promised him and Moses had respect also to the recompence of the reward Heb. 11.25 And the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 4.18 While we look at the things that are not seen that is the scope and the main aim of the soul in all our obedience active or passive and by this the Lord doth delight to sweeten our way 3. The promises are the great means of the souls purification 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us purge our selves having these promises and perfect holiness And by these great and precious promises we are made partakers of the Divine nature The promises are the Treasury of all that grace that God doth intend to bestow upon his people and from thence do the Saints fetch it Isa 12.3 for they are the wells of salvation and it is by this that the soul is fitted for the performance there is a being made meet and 't is the promise that made them so as a mans beholding of God in himself doth transform him perfectly into the image of God Col. 1.12 2 Cor. 3.18 so beholding God in the promise does transform a man by degrees into the image of that holiness that is in the promise A man looking upon himself sees his heart as a barren wilderness as empty of grace as the first Chaos was of form and beauty Now he says what is impossible with man is possible with God and the soul sucks a promise and is thereby changed into the image thereof 4. That they may be the rule of the prayers of the Saints for his will must be the rule of our prayers as well as of all other acts of our obedience the precepts of the one and the promises of the other we must ask according to his will if we hope to speed and therefore our prayers should be nothing else but pressing God with
till then our iniquities are then perfectly blotted out when the time of refreshment shall come then a man shall be perfectly acquitted from all sin for ever and have an absolute sentence past upon him by God and in his own soul for ever As the Lord did give his Son by degrees and yet there is a further giving of him when he that is gone before shall come again and fetch you also there are degrees of giving of the Spirit and there is yet a further degree to come when the weak shall be as David so the Lord will be your God hereafter more eminently than he has been in giving you not only grace but glory Now as the Lord doth take up and possess the soul to himself as his habitation so he does more and more become a God to that soul who is never perfected till he come to glory till he enjoy him as he is Vse 1 § 4. 1. Look on the promises therefore as precious and store thy soul with them for they are all that you have to shew for an interest in God in this life that by which you hold your inheritance all is in promises the richest adornment and furniture that the soul can have in this life is grace and promises and therefore have thy inward man filled with them Vse 2 2. Upon all occasions stay thy sinking soul upon a promise for it 's as firm as the faithfulness of God and it 's grounded thereupon If there be any truth in the Covenant of Grace it lies in the promises of it on Gods part and we should observe the performance of promises as we do of prophecies Psal 144. as Austin says Ingrate Legis debitum cernis redditum non credis promissum Vngrateful wretch thou seest the debt of the Law paid and yet believest not the promise Vse 3 3. Look unto all the promises for their accomplishment The heirs of a promise have a great happiness that they have such an inheritance It 's â—er be as low as Hell with a promise Ego quidem sine Verbo ne in Paradiso optarim vivere at cum Verbo etiam in inferno vivere sacile est Luth. than with Adam in Paradise without it For it 's in the promises of the new Covenant in which the glory and the stability of the Covenant lies but if they be so sweet and precious in the contemplation and in the working of faith upon them while they are in hope only what must they needs be in the fruition The Wise man says The desire accompished is sweet unto the soul there is an unexpressible sweetness in it when the desire comes it's a tree of life it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vitarum of lives there are all lives in it and it sets a man as it were in Paradise again And this is one thing that will make Heaven the sweeter because it is a perfect accomplishing of all those promises with which the soul was feasted and entertained here with the hopes of in its pilgrimage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysostom for Christ will be the sweeter when we come to Heaven because having not seen him yet we loved him here and we shall find him to be the same Christ in all things that before we heard him to be in the Gospel And so the society of the Saints Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the rest of the Saints in Heaven so much the more precious will they be by how much our hearts have been taken with any of them while they lived here and for this cause the promises may well be called precious 2 Pet. 1.4 2 Pet. 1.4 the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies either precious or honourable to him that believes he is precious 1 Pet. 2. or an honour 1 as they are the price of his blood who was the Saviour of the World 2 as they are the evidences of our inheritance and all we have to shew for Heaven 3 as they are instruments of purification and sanctification 2 Cor. 7.1 2 Pet. 1.4 But 4 they are specially precious in this 1 that they are Gods part of the Covenant 2 this has been the happiness of the Saints and the contrary is noted as an imperfection in their condition here Heb. 11.13 These all dyed in faith not having received the promises it 's spoken of the ancient Saints of whom it 's said some of them attained promises and others of them received them not but only saw them afar off and saluted them c. and to attain promises is reckoned with stopping the mouths of lions and quenching the violence of fire and hereby there is more of God made known Exod. 6.3 By the name of Jehovah I was not known to them It 's spoken in reference unto the accomplishment of the promises and their attaining of them there is something further that God discovered and his name Jehovah further manifested to the Saints 3 specially in our times upon whom the ends or as some render it the perfections of the world are come for as the great harvest of the Church shall be in the latter days of the world so there shall be the great harvest both of prophecies and promises for the ancient Prophets did speak of good things to come but it was manifested unto them that they did not administer for themselves but for us 1 Pet. 1.12 they should be gathered to their Fathers and never live to see the good things that the Lord would do but should dye in the Wilderness as many of the ancient Saints of Israel did and never inherit the promised Land for all the things that the Lord hath spoken shall have their accomplishment at the sound of the seventh Trumpet shall the Mystery of God be finished Rev. 10.7 They are glorious things that the Lord has spoken of the latter days of the world and it 's a great unworthiness and lowness of spirit in Saints that they should be content and sit down satisfied whilst they go without any part of their inheritance and that they should think much of any thing they have attained si dicas sufficit c. It 's true that we are less than the least of all his mercies and we should think every one of them great to express our thankfulness but we should not think any of them great to nourish our slothfulness He that has an interest in the great God must strive to have his heart formed into a holy greatness of mind there is a lowness of spirit that does no ways become men that have high hopes and high expectations to be content to go without any thing that God has promised he has promised not only truth of grace but growth as the willows by the water-courses strength of grace strengthned with all might according to his glorious power comfort of grace as the Apostle has it to be filled with a spirit of consolation and to walk in the assurance
it 's a strange expression that of the Apostle Hebr. 6.13 because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself to show how willing the Lord is to give an assurance unto the Heirs of Promise that if there had been a greater or any thing that could have given them more assurance they should have been sure of it but because there was none greater therefore he did swear by Himself Nos miseros qui nec juranti Deo credimus 2. The Covenant made with Christ was confirmed by an Oath and upon that the assurance of it is mainly put for upon him the Promises do mainly depend all the Promises are in him Yea and Amen and upon that it 's put Tit. 1.2 the promise of Eternal Life 2 Cor. 1.20 which God that cannot lie has promised before the world began To whom was this Promise made before the world began a purpose might be in his own breast but a promise must be to another and God cannot lye unto Christ he will not surely deceive him the Son has been faithful to him in all the parts of the Covenant and therefore surely the Lord will be faithful unto Christ The Covenanr is confirmed by a double Oath one to us Hebr. 6.17 Psal 110.4 and the other to Christ the Lord has sworn and he will not repent He was not made a Priest without an Oath therefore the New Covenant is call'd the Word of the Oath Heb. 7.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Promises are primarily made to Christ and are his inheritance and secondarily ours only by vertue of our Union with him 3. The Intercession of Christ Christ in Heaven stands besides the Golden Altar Revel 8.3 4. he is gone to Heaven to make intercession and what is the subject of the intercession of Christ in Glory it's only the promises of the Covenant that yet remain unfulfilled and it 's these that he doth plead before the Throne of Grace and the Lord Christ has a promise to be heard Psal 2.8 Ask of me and I 'le give thee the Heathen for an inheritance and he prays with assurance of audience John 11.42 I know that thou hearest me always When Christ was upon Earth before our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was paid the Lord did trust Christ upon his bare word yet then he did accomplish many promises unto him at his request for Christs intercession begun from the Beginning ever since the Fall when his Priest-hood did first begin for he was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Revel 13.8 how much more shall we be saved by his life how much more will the Lord accomplish it on his part now all that is due on Christs part is fulfilled now he is gone to Heaven and sits down at the right hand of God and does only expect the accomplishment of those things which are the price of his own blood we know that blood has a crying nature and if it did cry so loud when it was but in the promise much more will it do now it is blood shed and set as a seal to the promise 4. The experiences of all the Saints and thy own experiments the Saints all of them have known the Lord by his name Jehovah they all of them have by faith and patience inherited the promises but in a special manner a mans own experience from which he may argue God that delivered me from out of the mouth of the Lyon and the Bear will also deliver me from this Goliah 2. Tim. 4.17 c. and God has delivered me and he will deliver me from every evil work A man should treasure up every experiment as an assurance of the same faithfulness in the same extremity and thereby set to his seal that God is true A great part of the Communion of Saints should be in this in imparting their experiments one to another and thereby honour the faithfulness of God and as it is our duty here on earth and our comfort so it shall be a great part of a mans happiness in Heaven when a man shall tell stories of Gods mercies and faithfulness unto all Eternity But says the Soul I may stay long for this promise to be accomplished for God has set no time in his Word when it shall be and therefore the Saints have waited till their eyes have failed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 10.37 till the promise have come to the birth the Apostle says it 's not long 't is but a little while Oh therefore set faith on work and that looks as God looks to whom a thousand years are as but one day that which seems long to sense is but short unto faith consider much the waiting and all the long-suffering of God for thee before thou didst take hold of his grace in Christ Jesus and shall not we wait upon a great God that could have been and was happy without us and needed none of our services we that are but as a worm and unprofitable to him in whatever we can do But there are three things that a Soul may know by that the accomplishment of the promise is at hand 1. When the extremity increases for the time of the promise is near when the tasks are doubled for his name will always be known to be a God seen in the Mount when all is desperate and you know not what to do then look for God to come in to your help 2. When God does raise up in the soul an earnest expectation of the mercy and a man begins to set himself to seek the Lord with more earnestness for it then it 's a sign it is near at hand When Christ was to come in the flesh there were those that waited for the consolation of Israel and had special expectations raised up in them for his coming And so it was with Daniel Dan. 9.1 when he understood by books the time of Jerusalems Captivity drew to an end then he sets himself to prayer for those expectations and enlargements of the heart are from God and shall be answered 3. When in the middle of all a mans seeking his heart is brought into a quiet and an humble frame and he is contented to submit to the will of God when a mans heart is brought to a holy indifference to be contented with God alone as David was never nearer the Kingdom Bernard than when his heart was as a weaned child Vis me constituere ovium pastorem aut regem populorum ecce paratum est cor meum When the soul is in such a frame he may expect the promise shall not be long delayed to him SECT II. The personal Promises of the Covenant and of the three Persons in the Trinity Doctrine § 1. THE great promises of the Covenant on Gods part are personal promises I will be thy God There is objectum fidei duplex a twofold object of faith Persons and Things and answerable to these the promises are
to heal thee but there is something of God made over in the personal promises of the Gospel that never saw light before and that is Mercy and Grace which is the Glory of the Gospel an Attribute that was never known but under the second Covenant And as all Gods Attributes were not made known to Adam by his personal interest so neither were all the persons unto those perfect high and compleat ends that now they are unto the Heirs of Promise The Lord did give Adam an interest in his Son but not his Son to take the Nature of Adam to be made lower than the Angels for the suffering of death He gave him also an interest in his Spirit but not to heal his corruption and to perfect his Graces or help his infirmities or be an Advocate to plead his Cause before God and his own Soul also for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also signifies an Advocate as well as a Comforter Christ is an Advocate without us and the Spirit within us inabling us to plead for our selves before his Throne Now in these respects though Adam had personal promises yet these of the Gospel are now more glorious and of a higher nature and of a larger extent and therefore they are better promises 2. The greatest Gift that ever God did bestow upon a Creature is a Person and therefore the giving of Christ is call'd by way of excellency The gift of God Joh. 4.10 If thou knewest the gift of God And unto us a Son is given It was a great gift that the Lord should give to Adam the Lordship of the whole world the inheritance of all the Creatures but there is no excellency in Creatures in comparison of the glorious persons in the Trinity Answerable to the excellency of the thing given we do rightly value the gift and answerable unto the gift of his Son we may also conclude of the Father and the Spirit for the gift of the Son is upon that ground so great because he that has once attain'd an interest in the Son the whole God-head is become his 3. All the interest that a Soul has in the blessings of God and benefits by him have their foundation in our interest and propriety in the persons themselves they are made over to us by these personal promises and a man can have no more benefit by God than he has interest in him as the Psalmist having spoken of all the benefits and blessings that they have by God he comes at last to shew the title and the conveyance of them all Psal 144. ver the last and that is Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah The ground of all our benefits by Christ is our Union with him and the intendment of Union is Communication and till a man become one with him he can savingly have no benefit by him as 't is said 1 Cor. 3.22 All things are yours and you are Christs it 's your interest in his person that gives you a title to his inheritance as the Wife can have no claim to the estate and the honours of her Husband but by her Union with him and interest in his person and answerable unto mens interest in persons such is their title unto benefits by them and they that have no interest in God can have no title to any of the blessings of God and therefore the fundamental promises and mercies are those that are personal He that hath the Son hath life 1 Joh. 5.12 there is no life from the Son but by Union with him you must eat his flesh and drink his blood which are terms of Union if ever you hope for everlasting life by him 4. From our interest in the Persons the personal promises give us boldness and access to him we have says the Apostle boldness and access to come to God by Christ Ephes 3.12 Now a Child comes to the Father with boldness because he has an interest in his person as a Father and a Wife has access unto her Husband with boldness because she has an interest in him whereas all ungodly men are strangers to God and therefore cannot ingage their hearts to draw near to him for they have no interest in him and therefore must stand without and can have no access 5. The great promises to Christ as Mediator lye in this that he has an interest in persons and by personal promises they are made over to him Psal 89.26 He shall call me my Father Psal 16.5 my God and this Christ glories in the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup and it is this Christ takes hold of in his desertion my God my God that high speech of Faith taking hold of these personal promises It 's a glorious inheritance that God has given to Christ for he hath made him heir of all things but yet his inheritance in all the Creatures is nothing in comparison of the inheritance he has in the Lord as he is his God Joh. 3.35 and in the Spirit which is therefore called the Spirit of Christ because he received not the spirit by measure As the great delights of the God-head from everlasting were in the persons one of another Prov. 8.30 I was by him as one brought up with him and I was his delight daily so the great delight of Christ is in his interest in the person of the Father He has also a great delight in the Saints because they are his Seed and his Spouse and therefore he doth rejoyce over them as a Bridegroom over his Bride but yet the main delight of Christ as Mediator doth lye in his interest in the person of the Father and of the Spirit and as God made over his person first unto Christ by the Covenant of Redemption so by that Covenant in him he made it over unto us for he is Christs Father and our Father he is Christs God and he is our God Joh. 20.17 I ascend to my Father and your Father my God and your God 6. The main comfort of a Christian comes in from personal relations of the Covenant and they are all of them grounded in personal promises He is our Father and our Husband and our Friend and all of these are personal relations and speak an interest in the person and the great support of Faith in the worst times lyes in this as we see in the Church Isai 63. doubtless thou art our Father When the Lord was displeased with them and had hid his face and poured upon them spiritual judgments hardned their hearts from his fear and variety of temporal judgments for the Adversary had trodden down their Sanctuary yet now when they have nothing else to lay hold of it is upon a personal relation that they pitch doubtless thou art our Father and it 's according to our relation to his person that the Lord exhorts us to come to him All our Prayers when we pray is Our Father
Father Son and Spirit in one and the same essence and therefore if any man say a person is something or nothing I say it is something it is Essentia Divina cum proprietate sua hypostatica the Divine Essence with its relative propertie As what is the Father He is God begetting the Son and what is the Son He is God and begotten of the Father c. and so the Father is infinite and the Son infinite because they have all Three an Unity of Essence which is infinite and therefore there is no reason why there should be so much exception against the title of Person as some of the looser sort would seem to take it being a word that doth most fully that I know express the nature of the thing that we can have and most answers the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by the Apostle Heb. 1.3 Who being the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person and upholding all things by the Word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high but call them either Persons or Subsistences so the thing be the same I shall not contend for the words 3 But suppose that the manner of it we were not able to express yet it is and should be enough unto us that the thing is clearly set down in Scripture and that we walk by grounds of faith and not by reason it is enough to us that there is but one God and yet that Father Son and Holy Spirit are three and are yet said to be one if we could not describe how three are one nor how one is three yet the deep things of God we must not bring unto the rule of our blind crooked and presumptuous reason a quomodo or how in the things of God is hateful unto God and not agreeing to the nature of faith Col. 2.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is very unbeseeming Christians Take heed lest any man spoil you through philosophy the word notes to make a prize of you and carry you away as Pirates do another mans goods and so there is many a man made a prize of at this day Philosophy is nothing in it self but rectified and raised reason and res Dei ratio est Tertullian and whilst reason is subordinate unto Religion and a hand-maid it 's of excellent use but when it will step out of its place and will needs be a Judge in the things of God then it 's vain that man that will bring down the Scripture unto the rules of his own reason will quickly be made a prey of by any seducers Cum de rebus sibi subjectis pronunciat philosophia audienda est Daven sed cùm de rebus ad fidem spectantibus explodenda When philosophy judgeth of things that belong to her let her be heard but when she judgeth of things belonging to faith let her be exploded Dav. And this has heen the true ground of all these Heresies of Arminianism and Socinianism which have especially in these latter ages pester'd the world because they will arraign the highest Truths of God at the Bar of their own blind and presumptuous Reason and Understanding And this is that which in answer to it Justin Martyr often pressed De recta fidei confessione 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 375. It becometh the Churches adherents to measure divine things not by humane reason but according to the intention of the Spirits doctrine So having in the same Book affirmed the Union of the two Natures of Christ he addes pag. 382. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If you ask me the manner of this Vnion I am not ashamed to say and confess my ignorance therein but rather I glory in this that I do upon the authority of God believe that which my reason cannot comprehend nor my tongue express Vse 2 2. Exercise faith upon all the persons grounded upon these promises and walk in the love of them all and expect the sealing of them all and so much these promises will carry you unto Exercise faith upon all the persons grounded upon these promises they are the great and ultimate objects of faith now faith is imperfect that takes not in all the objects of faith and it 's a greater imperfection for a grace to fail in its object than to fail in any of the acts of it The Apostle 1 Thess 1. speaks of some defects in faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and truly these are the great defects there be abundance of objects of faith that faith doth not act upon because we know but in part c. nay the greatest suspicion that a man has of his faith lies in this if any object of it be willingly neglected as in a mans obedience it 's a great ground for a man to question the sincerity and the truth of it if the meanest duty thereof be willingly neglected so it 's ground enough to question the sincerity and truth of our faith much more if a man do observe the lesser duties of obedience and be precise in them but the great and weighty things of the Law are neglected by him so it 's here if a man take in lesser and inferiour promises but as for the promises of the persons which are the great things of the Gospel they are neglected and faith acts not upon them Here a mans faith should take in these particulars 1 That all the persons have a special hand in the salvation of a sinner and that by these promises every believer hath an interest in them all in reference unto these works Opera ad extra sunt indivisa It 's true they having one and the same nature and essence what the one of them doth the other doth also whatever thing the Father doth the same thing doth the Son likewise But yet though these be not opera propria proper works yet they are appropriata appropriate There are peculiar works attributed unto each person as 1 Pet. 1.2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctification of the Spirit and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ Now suitable to these appropriated works so should a mans faith eye each of the persons and his interest in them When the soul is conversant about Election faith then must look upon God the Father and when about Redemption then faith must look upon God the Son and when upon Sanctification then faith must eye the Holy Ghost because these are the works that the Persons have undertaken under the second Covenant to accomplish in mans salvation and they are by promise made over to these ends 2 One main intendment of God in the Gospel is not only to advance the Attributes of the Divine nature to glorifie his Justice and his Mercy and Grace by making higher discoveries of them than ever could have been shewed forth under the old Covenant but it is also to
glorifie the three Persons in the Trinity in the hearts of Believers and this appears plainly by Eph. 1.3 7 13. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus in whom we have redemption through his blood and have attained unto an inheritance in whom after you believed you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise So that to honour the Persons and to exalt them in the hearts of Believers is one great and main intendment of the Gospel and therefore if your faith close not with them you cross one great and main end of the Gospel of grace and that must be done not only in receiving of blessings and benefits from the Trinity in common but that a man take special notice of the distinct works of them all what is done by the Father and what is done by the Son that in that blessing the person from whence it comes may be highly exalted in the soul therefore we do read of distinct acts of faith exercised upon the Son Joh. 14.1 Joh. 5.23 and the Father You believe in God believe also in me that all men may honour the Son even as they honour the Father 3 As the order of their working doth follow the order of their subsisting as the School-men observe the works of the Father being first and then the works of the Son so it 's in the work of grace and all the benefits of it attributed to God the Father are first in order of Nature and then those that are attributed to the Son and therefore Adoption being the act of the Father is by some asserted to be first in order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by grace before Redemption which is an act of the Son and of Sanctification Forbes of Justification p. 28. which is an act of the Holy Ghost and this very consideration will give a man great light into the order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by virtue of the new Covenant for the order of the blessings are answerable to the order of the workings of those persons from whence they flow 1 Joh. 4.16 2. Believers should exercise love towards all three Persons God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwells in God and God in him There is a walking in love and a dwelling therein as a man dwells in his own house there is not only a love of the Son as says Christ Joh. 15.9 So I have loved you continue you in my love but there is a love of the Father also that the soul is to look upon as distinct Joh. 14.23 Joh. 16.27 If any man love me and keep my words my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you becaâ—â—â— you have loved me 1 It is a great comfort and honour unto the Saints that they are come unto the innumerable company of Angels and unto the Souls of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And the promise is made good to them Zac. 3.7 They have places or galleries to walk in amongst them that stand by and that they can walk in the love of Angels and of the general Assembly of the Church of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven but much more to walk in the love of all the Persons that they are come unto Jesus they are come to the Mediator of the new Covenant to the blood of sprinkling and unto God the Judge of all and so can walk in the apprehension of the love of them all and it 's a great comfort that they can go to them all in prayer grounded upon the particular love of them all the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit Rev. 1.4 5. Grace and peace be with you from him that is and was and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne and from Jesus the faithful and true witness And the soul tastes the love of the Father in giving his Son and the love of the Son in that he loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 2 That we might testifie our love to each Person distinctly and suitable unto the love with which they have loved us 1 let us fear to offend them all not only fear to offend God the Father because our God is a consuming fire and it 's a great and terrible name Ezech. 21.10 the Lord our God but also fear to offend God the Son our Saviour Take heed of him obey his voice provoke him not for my name is in him it is the rod of my son which it contemneth as every tree c. And Eph. 2.4 30. fear to grieve or quench the Spirit or resist his motions 2 Perform duties by arguments and motives drawn from the love of them all Joh. 14.23 If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will make our abode with him he that has my commandments and keeps them he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him 3 Give glory unto them all being affected with their love particularly that the soul may say Glory be unto the Father Son and Holy Ghost according to the intent of the Gospel that as we were baptized in the Name of them all so we may give glory to them all in a Gospel-sense And the truth is as this should be the great and principal object of our faith so it should be of our love also the highest love we can love God with is to love him for himself we may love God for his benefits and his blessings but yet that is not true love unless the highest love be set upon the persons Plus diligere famulum quam sponsum meretricis amor est Aust To love the servant more than the Bridegroom is adulterous love 3. As in the work of Faith the Soul is to be exercised upon all the Persons so also in the point of Assurance which is an addition unto Faith we should wait for the Witness and the sealing of them all because all of them set their seals unto the Evidences of the Saints The scope of the Epistle of John is 1 Joh. 5.7 that the Saints may know that they have Eternal Life and there are Witnesses some in Heaven and some in Earth but yet the Testimonies that these give all of them are in the heart of a Believer for so it is said He that believes hath the witness within himself the Father the Word and the Spirit Vers 10. and these three persons in Heaven give a distinct witness unto the assurance of the Saints in their own hearts there are three seals that are set unto it though it 's true that a man knowing the Love of
might cause his power to be acknowledged 2. God hath made over his attributes to his people that they may take from them all grounds of faith with an assurance that they shall be all exercised for them according unto their necessities Psal 13.5 so the Mercy of God I have trusted in thy mercy my heart shall rejoyce in thy salvation Here is mercy the object of faith and an assurance that this attribute shall shew forth it self in a work of salvation and deliverance for him I have trusted in the mercy of God for the bringing me out of this and another affliction and I have been delivered Psal 52.8 therefore I will always exalt the mercy of God So for the Power of God the soul can argue from thence Dan. 3. when men threaten and Devils rage and the fiery furnace may be heated seven times hotter to consume the soul that has no help amongst creatures yet says Daniel and the three Children the God whom we serve is able to deliver us And the Lord encourages the soul from the assurance of his power Is my arm shortned that I cannot save is any thing too hard for the Lord is there any restraint to omnipotence And so also Christ puts them upon it in this With man it 's impossible but with God all things are possible it 's spoken in reference to a work of Sanctification when the Disciples said Who then can be saved Esay 26.4 Esay 27.5 So for the Eternity of God Trust in the Lord for ever for the Lord Jehovah is a Rock of Ages and so men are said to take hold of the strength of God And so of the Holiness of God I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lye unto David and therefore Psal 23.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life And so Abraham believed God was able to raise him up again from the dead if it might stand with his glory he did not question his will but that his power should be put forth for the accomplishment of his promise We know that the ultimate object of faith is God through Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.21 our faith and hope is in God now the highest object of faith in God is the attributes of God that he has discovered for we can believe in him no otherwise than we know him and as he has revealed himself and the way of Gods revealing himself unto his people in this life is only by his back parts which are his attributes and therefore this is the way of the acting of faith in this life and all the promises of God and the precepts and the threatnings of God are all of them founded on his attributes and in these doth the strength and stability of them lye because the Lord Jehovah is a rock of ages As it is in ends all intermediate ends work in the strength and the power of the utmost end so it is in objects also Objectum mediatum fidei movet in virtute objecti ultimati ab eo perfectionem accipit The mediate object of faith moves in the virtue of the ultimate object and receives perfection from it Eph. 4.18.23.24 3. That from these the soul may receive all principles of grace grace is called the Life of God and the Divine Nature the Image of God created in the soul it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according unto God Now in an image there are two things required 1 Proportion or similitude and resemblance 2 There is a deduction or a derivation it must be taken from it As there is a resemblance of the nature of God so there is a derivation of it from God Now though the incommunicable attributes of God are so called because there are in the creatures no footsteps or resemblances yet there are of the attributes that are communicable from them the image of God is derived unto us and we are made partakers of his holiness holy as he is holy Heb. 12.10 Jam. 1.5 and merciful as he is merciful and wise as he is wise If any man want wisdom let him ask it of God as all of them shall be employed for man without him so all of them shall work in man an image or a resemblance of himself within him that a man beholding the glory of the Lord is transformed thereby into the same image And this is to be made the rule to judge the measure of our graces by for primum est mensura reliquorum c. The first is the measure of the rest in that kind So far as they do come short of bearing a resemblance with the communicable attributes of God I say of bearing a resemblance for they are in God by nature but in us by grace and by new creation they are nature in him they are not so in us so far we are to bewail the defects of our graces and so far grace is the image of God in us but in part a good work begun and no more and it is a discovery of his attributes which are the original pattern that doth perfect his image in us which is but the counterpane and therefore we shall be perfectly like him when we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.3 4. God hath in Covenant made over his Attributes that from these the soul may take all rules of duty and as the highest objects of faith are in God so from him are the highest rules of duty and therefore Eph. 5.1 the exhortation is Be ye imitators of God 1 Pet. 1.15 and be you holy in all manner of conversation because he is holy and so from the Soveraignty of God it 's the ordinary argument thou shalt do thus and thus for I am Jehovah thy God And David takes his rule from this in the preparation he made for the Temple the house must be exceeding magnificent and therefore all his preparation though the wealth of a Kingdom was but an act of his poverty for it is for the Lord who is a great God and dwells not in Temples made with hands c. And it 's the argument that he himself useth as the rule unto them in their performances Mal. 1.13 I am a great King and my name is dreadful amongst the Heathen As the soul is never rightly bottomed upon a promise till it is carried out into that attribute upon which the promise doth depend so the soul is never grounded in duty till it looks beyond the precept and sees the attributes in God which are the foundation of the duty and this is properly to walk worthy of God Col. 1.10 That ye may walk worthy c. It doth not note exactam proportionem Daven sed quandam decentiam convenientiam not an exact proportion but a certain decence and convenience when a mans duties are done by rules taken from so great a God and proportionable unto the nature holiness and excellency of that God God is a Spirit
man to ingage the Attributes of God against himself as to ingage against those that have an interest in the Attributes of God for the Covenant that God hath made with his people is offensive and defensive and the Lord will surely appear for them it 's therefore a design that did never prosper in the hand of any that did undertake it nay be sure thou wilt perish under the power of those attributes there is no such way to turn the edge of them all against thee as this is as it was said of Canaan It 's a land that eats up the inhabitants so we may say of this it 's a work that devours the workers the Lord will rebuke Kings for their sakes if they touch his anointed and there is no vengeance like unto that of the Temple thou wilt surely perish in thy own opposition for it doth arm all the Attributes of God against thee and they do arm the Church against thee and therefore the worm Jacob must thresh the mountain Isa 41. and when the strength of the Churches enemies is greatest and their hopes highest when they are folded up as thorns and while they are drunken as drunkards Nah. 1.10 they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry and in the same place where they did expect the destruction of the Church they shall be sure to find their own Mic. 4.11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say Let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Sion but they know not the thoughts of the Lord neither understand they his counsel for he shall gather them as the sheaves in the floor Arise and thresh O daughter of Sion for I will make thy horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brass and thou shall beat in pieces many people c. They are to the world as a burdensom stone all men will be lifting at them till they be broken in pieces by them it 's their own folly to dash and fall upon them percussum è pectore ferrum 2. It 's a Use of direction to the Saints that have an interest in God as their God in Covenant and so are intitled unto all the Attributes of God 1 Exercise faith upon every attribute and thereby make it to be your own in the use and improvement thereof Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might that is let your faith take hold of the strength of God and thereby let it rise unto such a height of confidence as if you had almighty power in your own hand to exercise if thou be in any streight and dost want wisdom to direct thee in thy way be thou wise by the wisdom of God and let thy faith raise thee up unto that height of confidence that it is as impossible for Satan to out-wit thee as it is to go beyond infinite Wisdom and so if thou sin at any time question thy pardon no more than if thou hadst infinite mercy in thy own hand and wert able to pardon thy self for it 's all made over to thee in this one promise I will be thy God for that which is originally and essentially in God that by our dependency becomes ours as truly as if we were the subjects in which it doth reside 2 It should raise up in a man a holy greatness of mind suitable unto such a priviledge and it 's a thing of no small concernment that the people of God should be raised up to such a holy greatness for it would free them from those vain hopes and fears and those low imployments that now they are busied about for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is nothing great here below a man should look upon all things with the eye of God to have all the Attributes of God made over to him if dangers offer themselves the soul is not surprized for as God sits in Heaven and laughs them to scorn when the workers of Babel did build a Tower to their own confusion so do the Saints also the virgin the daughter of Sion doth laugh thee to scorn c. If wisdom shew it self and a man hath to do with the policy of an Achitophel he fears it no more than folly and believes it shall be as he prays Lord turn it into folly and he laughs at the plot And if the guilt of sin rise up in his conscience he can say Though I have sinned and am a sinner yet God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and grace is free Jesus Christ is ascended up into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God for it 's a fault in the Saints they think when they sin it 's their duty to question their estates their interest in God and it 's good to question it for tryal and examination but not by way of diffidence unto a mans dejection for the way to increase a mans sanctification is not to weaken his faith in the point of justification and if the power of sin do prevail yet a man goes forth against it in the strength of the Lord and he saith Though it be to 〈◊〉 impossible yet it is possible with God and his power is ingaged for my perfection and this were to live the life of God as grace is called Eph. 4.18 3 Sing unto God the praises of every Attribute for as we should look through all that is in Christ that our hearts might take in whole Christ and the Church doth so Cant. Psal 21.13 5 and Paul Phil. 3.7 8 9. so should we of all the Attributes of God also Be thou exalted in thy own strength O Lord so will we sing and praise thy power and I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of trouble Observe the attributes that at any time God discovers to thee in thy straits specially and unto those sing praises it 's all that the Lord expects as a return for all that his attributes work for you that you should give them glory and the way to ingage any Attribute of God for you again is to give it the glory of any of the former discoveries thereof and the way to disingage an attribute is to neglect to give that attribute its glory when it has been put forth Cessat gratiarum decursus ubi cessat recursus c. Where the recurse or return of graces ceaseth the decurse or flowing forth of fresh graces ceaseth For the Lords aim under the new Covenant is the glory of the attributes of his nature as well as the glory of the persons that they all of them may have their due place and order in our hearts and as the Lord doth distinctly put them forth in their order for a man as his necessity does require so he does expect that we should take them as our portion and rejoycing in the Lord therein give unto them in our hearts their particular and distinct honour for the Lord
c. Thou art Christ the Son of God it 's the confession of Peters faith and is also called the Foundation of the Churches faith 1 Cor. 3.11 And so there is Divine Worship given to Christ as Mediator they worship the Lamb this is by reason of union and yet it is evident Rev. 4. that the humane nature remains a creature after its union and therefore it is as he is the Son and so is coessential with the Father this is the formalis ratio the proper cause of this Divine Faith and Worship and so the Holy Ghost also he is to be believed for himself and his own testimony the Spirit is truth 1 Joh. 5.6 and the Scriptures are to be believed only for the testimony of the Spirit 2 Pet. 1.21 But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost therefore we are commanded to hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches he is called therefore the Spirit of faith 2 Cor. 4.13 4. That we may honour them in our prayers distinctly for whomsoever a man is to believe in him he may pray unto Rom. 10.14 How can they call on him in whom they have not believed And therefore in our prayers we are not only to go unto God but unto each of the persons with distinct petitions suitable unto the acts that they have undertaken and the offices in which they have made over themselves unto the Saints under the new Covenant Christ he prays to the Father Holy Father righteous Father I will that those that thou hast given me be with me sanctifie them by thy truth And Stephen at his death Lord Jesus receive my spirit And the Disciples Lord increase our faith And so doth the Church Tell me where thou feedest c. The Apostle commonly speaks of them all together The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you And Rev. 1.5 6. Grace from him that is and was and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne and from Jesus the faithful and true witness And as it is a mans duty to believe in the Son as well as the Father so it is to pray to the Son distinctly as also unto the Father for as our faith must distinctly take in all the objects of faith or else it is imperfect for there are two things that tend to the perfection of any grace 1 When it takes in all the objects in their extent and latitude 2 When they do put forth compleat and perfect acts upon these objects thus I say as faith must take in all its objects or else there is something wanting in it as the Apostle speaks of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wants of faith so must faith give unto each of these their due and proper glory and Christ being to be believed in he may be prayed unto nay it 's an honour that belongs unto him and therefore our faith must give it to him 5. That the soul may have a distinct fellowship and communion with them all and there is a fellowship with the Spirit 1 Joh. 1.3 we are by the Gospel brought into communion with God and it 's a distinct fellowship and communion that we are to have with all the persons our communion is as large as our relation and the soul is to look upon himself as reconciled to them all and therefore all of them are become our friends and we have a particular and distinct interest in them all Now how is a man said to have fellowship with God or to walk with God it is when the thoughts of a mans heart are taken up with God and he has an eye unto him and unto his glory from day to day As a man is said to have communion with the Devil when he walks with his temptations and the desires and thoughts of his heart do run out towards the unfruitful works of darkness a man has fellowship with the Devil in all things as it is said Prov. 6.22 The law shall talk with a man waking and keep him when he is asleep and lead him when he goes how is this is it is but in the thoughts and the meditations of a mans own heart by the suggestions and directions thereof where it doth richly dwell so it is in this also it is communion with God and Gods dwelling in the soul animus ascendit frequenter c. the soul frequently ascends there is gratiarum decursus recursus a flowing down and reflowing of graces and in this doth our communion lye Now a man having an interest in all the persons all of them having undertaken something for a mans good by way of office and a man receiving something from them all and returning praise to them all there is in the soul a distinct fellowship to be exercised with them all sometimes the thoughts of his heart being drawn out to the Father and sometimes unto the Son and sometimes unto the Spirit and observing the witnessing of them all and the sealing of them all unto the evidences of the Saints sometimes we walk with the Father and sometimes with the Son and sometimes with the Spirit and the more distinct a mans communion is the more sweet it is 6. That a man may draw arguments and motives unto duty and against sin from them all and a mans interest in them all We are said to be baptized in the name of them all Mat. 28.20 Mat. 28.20 Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Now what is it to be baptized into the name of the Father it's conceived to be taken from the manner of marriage wherein the wife doth transire in nomen in familiam c. into the name and family of the husband or of servants who had their masters name called upon them 1 Cor. 1.13 and therefore no man might be baptized in the name of a creature it is that which Paul detests that he should baptize in his own name and therefore the meaning is to be baptized in fidem in cultum into the faith and worship of God and so you are unto them all and give up your names unto them all and therefore unto each person we owe both faith and worship distinctly all manner of duty and obedience because we are distinctly baptized unto the faith of them all to believe in them and worship them and a man should draw arguments to keep him from sin from them all and his interest in them all the Father is greater than all and it is by his will we are sanctified If we call him Father who without respect of persons judgeth every man according to his works Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear 1 Pet. 1.15 And he says of Christ I send my Angel but take heed of him obey his voice provoke him not for my name is in him And grieve
that they have not their appropriata any peculiar works appropriated unto them but whatever is done is done by the Godhead joyntly and the same thing that is said to be done by the Father is said to be done by the Son also that as God the Father is said to create all things so is the Son also Joh. 1 3 4. All things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made and so it is said of the Spirit also Gen. 1.2 The Spirit moved upon the face of the waters Job 26.13 By his Spirit he has garnished the heavens which doth not note the instrument or the minister by whom the Lord wrought but only the order of the working in the Trinity for the order of working is answerable to the order of subsisting the Father works by the Son and the Son works by the Spirit and therefore Job 33.4 The Spirit of God made me and the breath of the Almighty has given me life It 's attributed unto the Spirit alone and not only in the work of Creation but also in the upholding of the things created for Joh. 1.3 4. In him was life that is omnia per ipsum sustentari c. which is expounded by that in him we live and move and have our being and that Col. 1.17 By him all things consist as well as were made by him and in a more special manner the image of God in which man was created was from them all Gen. 1.26 Let us make man in our own image which was but one and the same of all the persons for it is added in the image of God created he him Joh. 1.4 the life is the light of men which is as much as to say hominem per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad imaginem Dei creatum as Chemnitius Thus under the first Covenant all things were carried on by the Godhead joyntly and whatever was done is said to be done by them all without any appropriation of any thing unto one person more than another But when we come to a second Covenant then though God works all in all yet there is a special kind of appropriation of the actions some more peculiarly unto one person and some unto another vel quoad agendi modum vel quoad actionis terminum in quo se unius personae operatio potissimùm elucet c. Med. p. 37. Synops purior c. p. 103. In which though there be a joynt concurrence of all the persons by way of consent for they have all but one will yet they may be in a special manner so appropriated unto the one as they cannot unto the other so the Father is said to send his Son and the Son cannot be said to send himself and so the Son is said to be incarnate the word was made flesh and to take upon him the form of a servant which cannot be said of the Father and so the Father and the Son are said to send the Comforter which cannot be said of the Holy Ghost Mat. 1.20 and the Holy Ghost is said to form Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary the holy thing conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost is the bond of Union between the two Natures and the bond of Union between Christ and us which cannot be said of the Father or the Son though there be a consent of will and so a concurrence of all the persons unto every action that doth tend unto our salvation for having one and the same Essence they have all of them one will also yea they have so taken upon themselves the special offices and acts that per solennem quandam appropriationem by a certain solemn appropriation some of them are said so to be done by the one as that they cannot be said to be done by the other and it is according unto these appropriated Acts that the persons are made over unto us under the second Covenant for though the will of the Father and the Son be one and the same because the Essence is but one yet as the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father so eadem voluntas distinctè appropriat se alteri ut donanti mittenti alteri ut dato misso Cocceius de Testament Dei Disput 9. Thes 92. The same will doth distinctly appropriate it self to one as the giver and sender and to the other as given and sent Now answerable unto this consent of will such are the offices that they have undertaken and such are the actions and operations that they do put forth and by this distinct consent of will unto the several actions which in the Scripture we see they do appropriate unto themselves for it is the Word of God and the Lord speaks it of himself and not any man according unto these do they under the second Covenant make over themselves to the Saints that answerably to these several acts and offices they may be able to look upon each person to whom in Scripture they are appropriated and from that person in faithfulness to expect the accomplishment of them because they have each of them undertaken it speaking so of themselves in the word as if such acts did properly belong unto them and thereby manifesting the distinct appropriation of their wills unto each of them This being premised let us now see how each person has made over himself unto Believers in reference unto the second Covenant 1 As a distinct object of their faith for there are distinct acts of faith to be exercised upon all these persons answerable unto their appropriated acts Joh. 14.1 Ye believe in God says Christ believe also in me for though the ultimate object of faith be God for by Christ the Mediator we believe in God yet the several persons are to have faith distinctly exercised upon them 1 Pet. 1.21 answerable unto that distinct revelation of themselves Joh. 5.23 Rev. 1.4 2 As a distinct object of worship That every man might honour the Son even as they honour the Father Grace and peace from him that is and was and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne 3 As distinct grounds of their consolation for though God be the God of all consolation yet there is a distinct consolation comes from each person answerable unto their appropriated acts which is the ground of a distinct communion 4 For their salvation each of the persons having their proper work in bringing many sons to glory but it has been shewed that these appropriated acts which I called Acts of Office are but for a time taken up with reference unto the mediatory Kingdom and when that shall be ended and all the Saints perfected and glorified and the Kingdom again given up into the hand of the Father then God shall be all in all and the persons shall act joyntly without any such appropriation for ever and look what the Spirit in
spreads the dung of their sacrifices upon their faces Mal. 3.3 It doth imply two things 1. That the Lord doth reject their Sacrifices with indignation as if they had offered dung in their solemn feasts 2. Summo dedecore eos afficiam I will spread the highest reproach on them so Mercer as you do unto a man when you cast dung in his face the Lord will reject their services and instead of honouring them in them he will cast shame upon them also whereas the services of the Saints are 1 accepted ordine supernaturali as flowing from a heavenly and supernatural principle and 2 ad vitam aeternam ordinata services appointed unto an eternal reward Other mens services are not thus accepted but as they come from a principle of nature so they shall have no higher reward they shall rise no higher than the head of the spring from whence they flow 6. There is a Communion also that the people of God have with the Father 1 Joh. 1.3 Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ There is a communion that the Saints of God have distinctly with all the persons when they receive mercy from them all and rejoyce in the love of them all and they do return to them again all the glory of the grace of them all as faith is distinctly to be exercised upon all the persons so the soul should strive to have a distinct fellowship and communion with all the persons 1 A man should pray to the Father for saith Christ Your Father knows that you have need of all these things 2 You are to give thanks to the Father who has blessed you with all spiritual blessings 3 You are to rejoyce in his love says Christ I will love him Eph. 1.3 Joh. 14.21 23. and he shall be loved of my Father I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loves you you are in his bosom receive all gifts from him as from a Father and come to him as to a Father as one that has communion with him and access to him as unto a Father 4 Glory in the witness of the Father Joh. 5.7 for there are three that do bear witness in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit and these three are one you are not only to have the Spirits testimony and seal upon your evidences but the Fathers also bearing witness in your souls testifying unto you the adoption of sons There is a glorious communion that the Father gives unto his people as Christ had with the Father so may you also in and through him SECT III. The Relations undertaken by the Father and Christ in this Covenant § 1. THE Father having in this manner made over himself in Covenant to his people they have an interest in all the relations of the Father for we are not only related unto Christ but by him to the Father and as we are to exercise faith upon Christ under all relations so we are also upon the Father and these relations are both honourable and comfortable also to the Saints 1. God the Father is our Father says Christ I ascend unto my Father and your Father Joh. 20.17 Mat. 5.16 to my God and your God that they may glorifie your Father which is in heaven Be you merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful and therefore says the Apostle Rom. 1.7 Grace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ c. Now what is there in such a relation as this is unto God the Father We shall see what it was unto Christ the only begotten Son of the Father and see how in all things he is a Father to us as he is unto Christ though it be in a lower way for Christ in all things must have the preheminence 1 It is the great honour that is put upon Christ as Mediator Joh. 1.14 Luk. 1.35 that he is the Son of God we saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God and in this he is exalted above the Angels Heb. 1.5 Vnto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son and I will be unto him a Father Bernard and he shall be unto me a Son c. Altissimi Filius ac proinde co-altissimus ipse ejusdem penitùs altitudinis dignitatis And in this manner the Saints do partake pro modulo it is the greatest priviledge of the Saints that they do receive from union with the Son and that in which they are exalted above the Angels That as they do stand before God in a higher righteousness in their justification for though the righteousness of Angels be perfect in its kind yet it 's but the righteousness of a meer creature but the righteousness of Christ is called the Righteousness of God 2 Cor. 5.21 which though it were wrought in the humane nature and therefore was not the essential righteousness of God for that could not be imputed yet it was that which being wrought by him that was God and man the Godhead had an influence into it and gave it an excellence and efficacy so they have a higher sonship in their adoption that is it 's founded on a higher right than that of the Angels even in the Sonship of the second person in the Trinity for Christ as Mediator was not a Son by adoption but by generation his humane nature being taken into the same person did by virtue of that grace of union partake of the same Sonship for there was not a double Sonship of Christ one as he was God and the other as he was man for subjectum filiationis est suppositum the subject of filiation is a person as the School-men speak Now as Christ had great glory from other things in relation to the Angels Dan. 9.24 for he is the Head of Principalities and Powers and to the Saints he is the King of Saints the holy of holies and from all the creatures for he is the beginning of the creation of God and is the head over all things to the Church yea in reference to God himself for he is Gods King I will set my King and the man Gods fellow but there is none that is a term of so high an honour unto Christ as this that he is the Son and it 's this that the Lord doth publish to the world as the ground of all the rest Isa 4.5 Psal 2.7 I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me Thou art my Son c. so it is with the Saints they are called the glory and the first-fruits of all the creatures the excellent ones Kings and Priests unto God to whom the Angels are but servants and ministring Spirits but yet there is no title of honour like unto this that they are called the Sons of God Men do glory
so to all those that wait for them the Father will say I am thy Father and the Son say I am thy Saviour and the Spirit I am thine therefore exercise faith upon your interest in all the persons and in particular upon your interest in God the Father and be much in communion with the Father seeing communion is personal and there is a distinct interest in all the persons therefore a distinct communion that which was the happiness of these persons communion and the infinite satisfaction that they took one in another that shall be thy happiness and thy portion for ever § 3. We are to exercise faith upon all the persons in this manner made over under the second Covenant and to live upon this principle in all our ways 1 That they are all of them objects of faith is clear for the ultimate object of faith is God 1 Pet. 1.21 Now as we are to take in the whole Scripture as objectum immediatum the immediate object and every part of the Scripture is to be believed as an object of faith so the whole Godhead all the attributes of God and all the persons in the Godhead are by faith to be rested upon for there are 1 Thess 3.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 defects of faith so long as faith takes not in its whole object it hath not its perfect work Jam. 1.3 2 We are to worship them all though not as apart one from another yet as in our apprehension distinguished and we are to give unto them distinct worship as Christ says Joh. 4.23 The time cometh that you shall neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father he that will worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth for the Father seeks such to worship him c. Now worship is twofold either cultus naturalis qui ex ipsa Dei natura pendet natural worship c. There is no man that did ever worship a God but he did acknowledge that this God he was to believe in and hope in love and pray to and to hear and obey him in all things and there is a cultus institutus qui ex liberrima Dei voluntate pendet c. instituted worship which depends on the will of God Now the highest act of worship is in believing and it 's unto this that all the Institutions which are but media cultûs means of worship are properly subordinate for cultus institutus medii locum tantùm supplet ad cultum primarium being to worship the persons we must give to each of them that which is the main of worship and that is to believe in them 3 It is from the objects of faith that the life of the soul comes in Esa 38.16 By these things men live and in all these things is the life of my spirit for the Prophet Esaias had said Take a lump of figs and lay it upon the boil and he shall recover by this promise I shall live and many others that come after shall live upon the promises by this experiment that I have had and found of them for faith is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mouth and eye of the soul Now the delight of the eye in seeing comes from the object and the nourishment of the body comes in by the mouth and therefore it 's said Eccles 6.7 That all the labour of the man is for his mouth it 's from the meat that a man eats that the strength of his body is derived and therefore Christ as the object of faith saith That his flesh is meat indeed and his blood drink indeed it notes strength and nourishment comes from the object of faith and the way of conveyance is by union it is by sucking the sap and the sweet of it crede manducâsti and if any object of faith do not contribute its part and the soul lives not upon it it will in its strength decay and therefore we live by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 because it is from the direct acts of faith that life comes in and here are two things to be spoken to 1 What the objects of faith are that the soul is to take in in the making over of each person under the second Covenant 2 What acts of faith the soul is to put forth upon them 1. The objects of faith that the soul is to take in in each of the persons are these 1 The persons themselves we are to believe the record of them all 1 Joh. 5.10 Joh. 5.45 we are to hear and learn of the Father and we are to believe in the Son To him give all the Prophets witness 1 Joh. 5.6 Act. 10.43 that whosoever believes in him shall have remission of sins Joh. 3.16 and we are to believe in the Spirit it is the Spirit that bears witness because the Spirit is truth and so we are to come unto them in duties in prayer and hearing and in all acts of worship and the ground of it is because we are to believe in him for they cannot pray to him in whom they have not believed Rom. 10.14 Rom. 10.14 Now though the benefit that we have by all these persons is exceeding great the Father adopts and justifies us by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ and the remission of sins and the Son is Jehovah our righteousness and he gives us power to become the sons of God and the Spirit is the bond of our union the principle of our sanctification and the guide of our way yet the ground of all this interest in their benefits is our interest in their persons so that as our interest in the Mediator and union with his person is far greater than all the benefits that we receive by him because it is the fountain from which they do all flow and the root upon which they do all grow 1 Joh. 5.12 so it 's here also interest in the persons is the foundation of all our interest in their benefits for if we had no title unto the persons we could have no benefit by them or any part thereof and therefore as they are personal promises that are the great promises of the Gospel so they are personal interests that are the great priviledges of the Gospel and that in which the main of the life of a Saint lyes so that as when Christ is set forth by God the Father as a propitiation lifted up in the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3.25 the soul by the recumbency of faith casts it self upon him leaves it self with him Psal 10.14 so the Father and Spirit are set forth in the Gospel as the God of consolation and the soul is to rely roll and cast it self upon them and as we are not barely to look upon the benefits that come by Christ so neither are we to the benefits that come by them but it is their persons ens incomplexum not things that the soul is to rest upon 2
therefore being so highly advanced as to be enjoyers of communion with God be exalted 1 to grow in your conformity to Jesus Christ for that is the ground of all communion What fellowship hath light with darkness O 't is a blessed thing to have this testimony from God himself which David had I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart which shall fulfil all my wills 2 Accustom your selves to communion with him Job 22.21 acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace thereby good shall come to thee receive the Law from his mouth and lay up his words in thy heart we cannot have too much communion with God who is our life our joy our peace who is our all c. and the more communion we have with God the greater blessings we shall be to the Nation wherein we dwell not only to procure blessings for them but to divert Judgments CHAP. V. God in the Covenant of Grace makes over himself in his Alsufficience SECT I. The Alsufficience of God as made over to the Saints explicated and demonstrated § 1. HAving spoken thus far of the great Promise of the new Covenant which is called anima foederis the soul of the Covenant by Pareus and Musc calls it foederis caput the head of the Covenant unto which all the other promises are subordinate even the gift of Christ himself is but to bring us to God and that our faith and hope might be in God and though we have formerly seen that in this promise all the Attributes of the Divine Nature are made over unto the Saints and what we have further to say might be included under that head yet to be a God I find in Scripture doth in a special manner point us unto two things 1 To be a God notes one that has an alsufficiency unto his own Being and blessedness and an alsufficience to the Being and the blessedness of all the creatures 2 It notes him to have a Soveraignty and Dominion over all the creatures which are but the works of his hands the first they take from Gen. 17.1 I am God alsufficient and I will make a covenant between thee and me and the terms of that Covenant on Gods part are I will be a God to thee and thy seed after thee that as I am a God alsufficient so I will be thy God thy God in my alsufficiency and the other they do commonly take from that place Rom. 9.5 God over all blessed for evermore so that he that is God is over all as the first notes the Sufficiency so the other notes the Soveraignty of God 1. I am God alsufficient Gen. 17.1 I will in my alsufficiency be thy God Gen. 17.1 the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shaddai which has a double notation or derivation amongst Interpreters some derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies vastavit spoliavit he hath destroyed and so it signifies the omnipotent one that is able to destroy all things as he made all things of nothing so he is able to reduce them unto their first nothing and according to this derivation the LXX render it sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esa 13.6 Joel 1.15 It shall come as destruction from the Almighty and sometimes it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that made all things Job 8.3 Doth the Almighty pervert judgment And some of the Rabbins conceive that he adds this unto it à vastatione mundi in diluvio c. from the destruction of the world by the floud others derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficience and they say it is qui sibi aliis sufficiens est he that is sufficient for himself and others and so the LXX render it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Job 31.2 and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that has a sufficiency in himself and so they make it to answer unto the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self-sufficient These and some other are the derivations of the word but I conceive they do all coincidere or fall in with these two 1 Some make it a title only given unto Christ as Mediator Lib. 3. c. 15. so doth Pet. Galatinus de arcanis Nomen hoc divinum propriè soli Messiae sit congruum which he proves from that place Job 3.4 anima Shadai vivificavit me and he saith the Father has not a soul animam solus Dei Filius habet the Son of God only hath a soul So Glass in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 33. which he proves from Gen. 48.16 The Angel Goel that redeemed me from all evil c. which though it be a notion that I shall not insist on yet it doth prove the Godhead of Christ having the glorious names of God given to him as he is called Jehovah our Righteousness and he is called God Heb. 1. Thy throne O God endures for ever and Esa 9.6 he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also But 2 we shall take it at this time as a term of alsufficiency and so it takes in Gods Omniscience and all his other Attributes I am God alsufficient and I that am so will be thy God in my alsufficiency Doct. The Lord who is a God in Covenant with the Saints doth make over himself unto them in his Alsufficiency In the opening whereof I must shew 1 What the alsufficiency of God is and why he is called Alsufficient and in what respect 2 That by the Covenant of Grace he makes over himself in his Alsufficience unto the Saints with the grounds thereof 3 That this Alsufficience belongs unto none but unto his Covenant-people 4 We must descend to the Application 1. What is meant by the Alsufficience of God or why is God called Alsufficient A perfect good is an alsufficient good Arist Ethic. l. 1. c. 7. Now that is a perfect good which supplies all a mans wants and does satisfie all his desires both in this life and in the life to come which only can do it if enjoyed alone and without which nothing else can if a man had all the enjoyments of Heaven and of Earth 1. There is in God enough to supply all a mans wants a man cannot stand in need of that blessing that is not to be found in the blessed God and that is not only efficiently as all good things come from him but formally as all good things are in him for he doth make use of the support of the creatures as he doth of all their operations not to supply any defect that is in himself and therefore sometimes he will make use of their assistance and sometimes he will do it without them to shew that they are but instruments and operantur ac si non operarentur and this will appear Psal 84.11 The Lord God is a Sun there is a double notion of a Sun in Scripture 1 Ob splendorem foelicitatem significat 2 Ob
as the Saints love God and they love grace for Gods sake so the Devil directly hates God and he hates grace as being that by which God is most honoured therefore his greatest designs are to pervert grace in the Saints he will keep men as long as he can to stand out against grace and resist it as long as he can that the strong man armed may keep the house but if he cannot keep grace out of the heart then his next design is to advance grace above a creature and set it in the place of God and Christ and make grace it self to be an Idol and the man to place his sufficiency in it and his dependence upon it and he knows that God is engaged against the habits of grace in the man though they be the works of his own Spirit the Apostle saith that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an occasion that sin will take from the Law of God written in the book Rom. 7. and so it will from the Law of God written in the heart also and therein the devillishness and the wisdom of the flesh in a great measure lies that as the wise God doth make advantage by sin and temper the greatest poyson into the most wholesom Cordial as we see in Viper-wine if it be not well mixt it presently kills so the richest Cordial even the grace of God Satan tempers with his ingredients into the strongest poyson that it may be occultum profundum malum quòd homo non malus bonis operibus sese vestiat alat sed ipsius fidei titulo sese palpet venditet c. Serpentis antiqui caput hoc est Luther Luther Tom. 2. Thus as the Lord works by contraries bringing light out of darkness and the greatest good sometimes out of the greatest evil so doth Satan also work by contraries and delights to do it to bring darkness out of light and to bring the greatest evil out of that which is the greatest good even grace it self for quò quis sanctior eò pejor the better the worse if he place his sufficience and dependence upon the grace he has received for that is Idolum speciosissimum the most specious evil Now that I may take the Saints off from a dependence upon their own graces and that their sufficiency may be placed in God alone consider these particulars 1. Though grace be the best of all the creatures and the image of God and a new Creation wrought by the Spirit of Christ which the Lord takes more delight in than he doth in all the creatures and without which he can take no pleasure in any of them yet grace is but a creature and therefore the common nature of a creature doth belong to it and that is to be defectible and subject in its own nature to decay It 's true Eph. 4.24 Col. 3.10 that it is the same image that is renewed in us which we lost in Adam Now as the image in Adam was subject to decay so in its own nature this is also As it is with the Angels though they be confirmed in grace and can never fall away so it is with the souls of just men made perfect yet being creatures there is a defectibility in them a possible folly though not actual Job 4.18 he charges his Angels with folly c. and so there is in grace it self it 's true grace cannot decay but it is not properly from any thing that is in it self but from a double ground 1 Ex foedere gratiae from the Covenant of Grace in which the Lord has promised that he will keep them it 's an everlasting Covenant to put his fear in their hearts Jer. 32.40 that they shall never depart from him For we are kept by the mighty power of God through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1. and so we cannot fall away not ex interna renatorum constitutione not from the intern constitution of the renewed but because the faithfulness and thereby the power of God is engaged for their preservation 2 Ex fonte gratiae from the Fountain of Grace for the fountain of it is not in a mans self it is of his fulness that we receive grace for grace 1 Joh. 5 1◠it is the image of the Son and so it is not from God immediately but as being laid up in him So there is a great deal of difference between the image of God in Adam and in the Saints Gen. 11. as Austin has well observed De Corruptione Gratia there is non solùm posse quod volumus sed velle quod possumus if the fountain of it were in our selves it might decay but it being laid up in Christ and he being by virtue of the personal Union impeccable so long as grace in Christ doth not decay it cannot decay in the Saints for he has said Because I live Luther you shall live also Joh. 14.19 Quà m hominibus impossibile est mixtum fermentum à pasta separare tam impossibile est diabolo Christum ab Ecclesia separare Luth. therefore place not your sufficiency in a creature for grace received is no more 2. It is contrary to the very nature of grace to be made the ground of a mans dependence for grace in its own nature is properly to be dependent upon another and the fountain of its sufficiency is in another therefore God is called the God of all grace and the Sprit is the Spirit of grace the Spirit of faith and love and joy for all graces are fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5. Joh. 3. and a man is said to be born of the Spirit upon this ground Christ is the root and we are the branches he is the head and we are the members and therefore the fountain of the life of grace is in him and not in us the fountain of our life is Christ and we live by union with him a life of holiness as well as a life of righteousness all is by union with him And therefore some very learned men have maintained That there are no habits of grace in us at all but that we live by an immediate influence from the Spirit of Christ which dwelling in us doth act our spirits sometimes in a way of faith sometimes in a way of love sometimes in a way of godly sorrow c. which I cannot consent to as being an extreme on the other hand we are said to be new creatures and created in Christ and we are said to have faith and hope as fruits of the Spirit dwelling in us and therefore we are exhorted to stir them up and to act them and to grow in them and they are said to decay in us and to increase in us which cannot be in respect of acts meerly by the Spirit of God working upon us but we have truly a life within us that is an inward principle that puts forth vital actions Gal. 2.20 but yet it is
the Lord shall so lead thee that thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone tibi nocere non possunt sed coguntur inservire 2 Stones were for bounds and Land-marks and they shall not be removed but you shall continually enjoy the bounds of your own habitation they shall not be removed it shall be as sure as if you were in league with the Stones that they shall not depart from your bounds 3 Cocceius hath out of Vlpian a certain punishment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellant whence they did use to heap stones upon a ground that it might never be plowed to hinder its fruitfulness Thus the sense is The Stones shall be at league with thee that none of them shall hinder the fruitfulness of thy land and make it lye barren and untilled as in judgment they might doe Now if there be a Covenant by God made with all these for his people then surely the Motions and the Actings of all these shall be for the good of his People But you will say In what particular do all these little things work for the good of the Saints It will clearly appear in these particulars 1. In the smallest things the people see God and their spirits are elevated and raised up to behold him in them for not only the Heavens declare the Glory of God Psal 19.1 but even the meanest Creatures in all their motions do it Repraesentat quaelibet herba Deum Now there is a threefold Vision of God in this World in his Works and in his Word and in his Son and it is of special use that the works of God are unto the Saints in all their being and motions that they can see something of God in them Our Communion with God depends upon our Vision of God and the more we see God in all things the more we converse with him Now there is not the least of all the Creation of God but it doth represent him to us and we look upon it as a footstep of God it is that which doth raise up our hearts unto Heaven while we are upon Earth and causeth us to look upon nothing small that hath so glorious a Creator and so wise a Disposer in minimis lauda magnum says Austin when he speaks de culice there is much of God to be seen and the heart is much to be over-aw'd not only in the lesser things of the Word but also of the Works of God 2. It is unto the people of God matter of praise even in the actings of the meanest of the creatures to see how they work unto an end that they know not but the wise disposer of them knows all their motions and directs them unto his end the out-goings of the morning and evening do praise thee that is objectivè and occasionaliter as they give unto his people matter and occasion of praise In the creation the Morning Stars did sing Job 38.7 and so they do in all the Executions of Providence also fitting them for this end and guiding them to this end c. Austin in Psal 148. blames those that dislike and find fault with the works of God In officina non audent vituperare fabrum tamen audent reprehendere in mundo Deum Perdidisti Hallelujah A man doth lose his praise and the matter and occasion of it which is unto a Saint a great loss for praise is his delight and he loves the occasion of it 3. There is great matter of Meditation even in these ordinary things such as do mightily affect the Souls of the Saints it was so to David Psal 148.7 8 9 10. Praise the Lord from the earth ye Dragons and all deeps fire and hail snow and vapours stormy wind fulfilling his Word mountains and all hills fruitful trees and all cedars Beasts and all cattel creeping things and flying fowls and how can this be Nudae creaturae Deum celebrant Moller dum ad mirandam ejus sapientiam potentiam quotidie ostendunt The dangers prevented and the good things conferred such as are secrets unto us and we know not we consider not of as Luther saith of himself in the like case Somnia nostra observat quando nescimus nos vivere c. equidem odi carnem meam quòd haec scio vera esse iis tamen non seriò afficior c. It gives the Soul high matter of Meditation puts it into the Mount with God 4. It is unto the People of God a great ground of exercising their Faith and that in two things 1 Upon the word of Promise that all these creatures are his by Covenant in all their motions and therefore he has not a common interest in them with the rest of the world but they come unto him from another hand and he receives them by another tenure Now any mercy that has the respect of the Covenant put upon it is infinitely heightned unto them the smallest mercy enjoy'd by Covenant is better than the greatest without the Covenant it is better be as low as Hell with a promise than in Paradise without it therefore it is true that other men walk upon the Stones and they hurt them not and the Beasts break not in upon them the Sun shines and the Rain falls upon them yet here is the sweetness to a Believer This I enjoy as a fruit of an everlasting Covenant as an heir of Promise and as a Pledge of an eternal Inheritance 2 It will be a ground to exercise a mans Faith for a support if the Lord cloath the grass of the field how much more will he cloath you and if he feeds the Ravens he will surely not starve his Children nay if the supply of all the Creatures will be a Provision for you you shall not want it they shall all act for you and if it were possible to put a Saint of God in this life in such a condition as he should want the supply of all the creatures at once they should surely all work for his good for the Lord provides them of purpose and for that very end that they may work for you and therefore are they continued in their being and to that end are govern'd by him 5. The Love of the People of God is drawn out by them exceedingly even by small Mercies for it is not the greatness of the Blessing but the abundance of Love discovered to the soul in it that takes a gracious heart for we love him because he loved us first And as his love is discovered such are the outgoings of our love to him again Now these small things may be magni amoris indicium an ordinary turn of the creature may testifie a great deal of love from God to the Soul as when Israel came out of Egypt Joh. 19.36 not a Dog did move his tongue Exod. 11.7 if they had the matter had not been great for in the night they use to bark but though there was a great cry amongst the Egyptians
surely then if the Childrens right come from the Parent it must be from the faith of the Parent which only gives himself a right thereunto Here are four things to be spoken of Answ 1 That it 's not the Grace and saving faith of the Parents that gives either them or their children right unto external Church-Priviledges 2 That it 's a visible Profession of faith that does it 3 Yet it is not a bare Profession and a bare living in a Christian Church that is sufficient either for the Person to claim a title or for the Church to admit of it 4 I will give an answer to the Objections that are before mention'd of the entrance into Abrahams Covenant and having a title to be call'd Abrahams Children 1. I say it is not Grace regenerating and sanctifying that gives a title either to the Parent or to his seed and that I shall prove by these particulars 1. If men that have no Grace that were never regenerated never new-born to God may have a Covenant-title then that which gives a man a title is not Grace but a man that has no Grace that was never born from above may have a true title therefore it 's not their Grace that gives them this title Here consider 1 That the Church of God is either Invisible or Visible the Invisible Church is the Church of the first-born Heb. 12.23 whose names are written in Heaven and consists only of regenerate and Believers in truth this is the body of Christ the Spouse of Christ and the fulness of him that filleth all in all But as for the Visible Church it is made up of visible Saints and it does enjoy visible Ordinances as we see in the Church of the Jews and in all the converted Churches of the Gentiles they did all imbody for the publick Worship of God 2 This visible Church has visible Members and visible Priviledges as the Church invisible has invisible members and invisible Priviledges Indeed it is unto these that all the spiritual Promises of the Covenant do belong and all the saving Graces of the Covenant are conferr'd but yet there are many visible Priviledges of the visible Church which none but the visible members according to the Rules of the Word are to partake of we have these summed up in eight particulars Rom. 9.4 5 6. These are the visible Priviledges of the visible Church 3 Unto these a man that has no saving Grace may have a right according to the Rules of the Word and being looked upon by the Word as a visible member of a Church he has by the same Rule a right to the visible Priviledges which belong unto a Church-member A man may be a true member of the visible Church without Grace for the Net gathers of every kind some good and some bad Matth. 13.47 and into this Society many are called that are not chosen there be foolish as well as wise Builders and Virgins unclean as well as clean Beasts branches in Christ as he spreads himself upon Earth into a visible Church that bear no fruit and yet are truly said to be members and grow as members of the Church and therefore the Jews are said to be broken off Rom. 11.19 that the Gentiles might be grafted in now what were the Gentiles grafted into not into the Church invisible for many of them have no saving Grace never were regenerated therefore they were grafted into Christ spreading himself into a visible Church upon Earth and what were the Jews cast off from not from being members of the Church Invisible for there the calling and election of God is without repentance he knows who are his and he never casts out whom he knows to be his All the Jews were call'd Loammi they are not my people Rom. 9.26 they were once owned by God as a peculiar people and as a holy Nation unto him but now he will be no more styled their God and as men may have a visible standing in the Church and a visible right of membership without Grace so a man may partake in and have a right to the visible priviledges of a member though he have no Grace Rom. 11.17 Thou being a wild Olive Tree wast grafted in amongst them and to what end were they ingrafted it was that they might with them partake of the root and fatness of the Olive-tree this root and fatness cannot be meant of saving grace for if they had partaken of them Pareus they had never been broken off therefore it 's meant of outward priviledges only therefore the Gentiles have their priviledges into which they are ingrafted that is installed as well as the Jews had and yet it 's not saving grace in them that entitles them unto this priviledge because he says Let them also take heed for all this lest they also be broken off as the Jews the natural branches were 2. These external priviledges are such as belong to the visible Church into which men must admit and they cannot judge of the truth of grace and regeneration by an infallible judgment and therefore there must be some visible signs which as rules they are to act by in things of so high a nature As the Church is distinguished into visible and invisible so there is a double power of the Keys answerable 1 The Lord Christ has a Key of Royalty Rev. 3.7 as you have heard the Key of David which I conceive to have respect to the Church only and he admits into the Church invisible and it 's by vocation and union with Christ which is the end or terminus of vocation 2 There is a Key of charity as some call it though improperly yet true in this respect because it 's only the judgment of charity that they can proceed by and not of infallibility and this is an act belonging properly to Church-officers Mat. 6.19 by virtue of an institution of Christ unto that end and they that are imployed in this work cannot judge infallibly of the truth of grace in any they admit Though it 's true that the tree is much known by the fruit yet we find that Peter did baptize Simon Magus and the Church admitted Ananias and Saphira and those mentioned in 1 Joh. 2.19 they were admitted amongst them though afterwards they appeared not to be of them and that which was said of Israel is true still of the visible Church They are not all Israel that are of Israel The Church invisible has no Officer but Christ alone and he admits by a judgment of infallibility but the visible Church has visible Officers who are to proceed by a known rule and Baptism being the ordinance of admission is by them to be administred to persons as visible and not as invisible members of the Church all these therefore that are to be admitted by them must be admitted by a known rule which they can judge of which is not truth of grace for that they cannot know it
because all the fulness of Christ he doth receive it from the Father Therefore whensoever we have recourse unto Christ for righteousness holiness and comforts and see him to live by the Father in all these and when we look up unto him who is our Head and see him exalted above all Principalities and Powers and that he lives by the power of God now say Christ lives by the power and the glory of the Father and the life that I live is by the faith of the Son of God 2 As by the Father he is made the fountain of life unto us for the Father did give eternal life unto us when he laid it up in the Son therefore it is said That they killed the Prince of life Joh. 5.11 Acts 3.25 as he is the King of Righteousness and the Prince of Peace it is said Moses was a man of peace but he could not command peace in the mutinous and murmuring people but if he had been a Prince of peace he could and so Christ as a Prince of life can convey life and dispense it Rev. 22.14 We having fallen and forfeited Paradise and the Tree of Life we were secluded from it Now God the Father hath appointed another Tree of Life which is the Lord Jesus Christ and he will give unto men a right or a priviledge to eat thereof also which they were formerly shut out of So that you see it is the Father that hath given him power to quicken whom he will to have life in himself and to give eternal life to as many as believe in him SECT IV. Our Covenant-Interest in Offices Acts and Relations of the Trinity applied Vse 1 § 1. HAving finished the doctrinal part and seen how God the Father makes over himself in the Covenant of Grace to the Saints for their portion lyes in God not only in the Attributes of the nature but in an interest in the persons also and we have an interest in all the actions that the Father appropriated whether they be eternal or in time and those whether terminated in Christ immediately or in us and we have seen how we have an interest in all the personal relations of the Father that in the same relations he stands to Christ in the same he stands to us also he is his Father and our Father his God and our God he is our Father our King our Friend our Husbandman and the Fountain of our life for he hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son Now we come to apply all this to our selves and it shall be 1. for Information that so in so great a truth as this we may not be mistaken And here we are to consider 1 that a man hath interest in all the persons at once they all be given together a man hath not first an interest in the Father and then in the Son and then in the Spirit but having an interest in one he hath an interest in them all he that hath the Son hath the Father also he hath the Father and the Son Joh. 2.23 Joh. 2.9 And by this we may see what a glorious change there is in a man when he is converted and made one with Christ he hath an interest in all the Attributes of God It 's true that they do all act for him afterwards successively and according to a mans necessity at several times they work for his good sometimes an act of mercy is put forth for him sometimes an act of power sometimes wisdom sometimes patience but yet the soul comes to have an interest in them all at once and at the same time and when he is intitled to the one he is intitled to the other even to them all and so it is with the Persons also the title Believers have to them begins at once As a man hath interest in Christ the Mediator it 's true that Christ doth exercise all his Offices for his spiritual good successively and he is now to him a Priest to offer his Sacrifice and to bear his iniquity now he is a Prophet to teach him now he is a King to govern him and there are distinct acts of all these offices but yet the soul hath an interest in them all at once As it is in all grace it 's true that the graces of Gods Spirit do all of them act in their places 2 Pet. 1.5 for we are to add to our faith vertue and to our vertue knowledge c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is taken ab iis qui choros ducunt from such as lead the dance in which every one keeps his own place and acts his own part for grace brings the most glorious order into the soul that can be but yet all grace is wrought together even the whole new man is begotten at once And so for all the creatures of God it is true that they do all in their places act for the Saints the Stars in their courses do fight against Sisera but yet a man comes to have jus haereditarium an hereditary right to them all at once And this is the glory of the change at a mans first conversion which a man may admire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man that had before no interest in any Attribute of God in any person in the Godhead or any of the Offices of Christ or any grace of the Spirit or any promise of the Gospel or in any creature of God yet at once in the very same instant he comes to have a title unto all these that though all the promises be fulfilled by degrees and in their time yet the soul hath a title unto them all and that as true and as great as he shall have when he comes to Heaven 1 Cor. 13.10 11. for it is by the same title that he shall injoy Heaven for this is but our nonage and childhood yet a child hath the same title to the land his father left him as when he comes to be a man only he hath not the possession of it and so the title by which you shall injoy God for ever is begun in this life only there are two great changes you must pass through the first is conversion the second is death by the one the soul is intitled to his heavenly inheritance and by the other he is fully put into possession 2. Though the interest of Gods people begin at once in all the persons yet the Lord would have us take notice that there is a distinct interest in them all to be attained unto for the more distinct our apprehensions are the more glory we give unto God and the greater will our own comfort be God delights not in generalities neither in general confessions nor in general apprehensions or thanksgivings As it is in the Attributes of the Nature of God though a soul that hath an interest in God in Covenant hath a title to them all at once yet they are all of them as so many
distinct objects for faith to work and rest upon as mercy and justice and holiness and wisdom and faithfulness and the soul should not only be content with a general apprehension that he hath an interest in them all but should be distinctly drawn forth and exercise distinct acts of faith upon them all And as it is in Christ there are distinct excellencies in him there is the Holiness of his Nature the Holiness of his Life and the fulness of his Satisfaction the glory of his Merit and a soul that hath an interest in Christ and is made one with him hath immediately an interest in all these but yet the Lord requires that the faith of his Saints should be exercised about them all and have their apprehension raised by the glory of them all As a man that believes any one part of the Word of God doth believe the whole Word of God at the same time for faith that doth close with any Divine Truth aright doth it upon this ground to rest upon God tam in revelatis quà m revelandis as well in what is revealed as what is to be revealed as it was with Adam and the Angels unto whom there are made daily new discoveries of the will and counsel of God that they never knew before but yet there is not a precept Eph. 3.10 promise or threatning in the whole Word of God but it is a distinct object of faith and the Lord would have the apprehensions of his people particularly set upon them that they may be particularly affected with them and see and admire the grace of God in giving them an interest in this promise and in that threatning So it is true that a man that hath an interest in the Son of God hath an interest also in God the Father and so a man may consider it discursivè discursively but the Lord would have the soul stay upon the particular interest he hath in the Father and the glory thereof and upon the particular interest he hath in the Son and the glory thereof also As it is in point of assurance though he that hath the witness of the Father and the Son hath the witness of the Spirit also and he that is assured of the love of one may be assured of the love of them all yet there is a distinct bringing home of the love of each person to the soul so that a man doth not by way of discourse only reason himself into the Father Son and Spirit who having one nature have also one love and if I have a testimony of the love of the Son in me I have also a witness thereby of the love of the Father also but when the soul is particularly drawn out and distinctly affected with the love of each of the persons his apprehensions are raised by reason of this interest and so it is in the work of faith also and the ground of it is this 1 because all the glory that God hath by us here is when he is exalted in our hearts for Gods glory is in the hearts of his Saints as all their melody is in their hearts Ephes 5.19 when all things in the inward man are in tune and set right Exod. 15.2 He is my God and I will exalt him Now as our apprehensions do rise in the consideration of the glory of any thing that is in God God hath the more distinct glory thereby for as he hath given us variety of ordinances and he will be honoured by us in them all so he hath propounded to our faith distinct objects and he will be honoured by our faith in them all for as you heard the glory that God hath in this world chiefly is in the hearts of the Saints they only do glorifie him actively all things else do it but occasionally that is by giving them an occasion to glorifie him 2 Because there is a distinct sweetness and vertue that comes from every one of these when the soul is distinctly drawn out to them and they are distinctly exercised as Phil. 3.10 says the Apostle That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his sufferings c. When a man looks upon the death of Christ there is a vertue will come out of it and if upon the sufferings of Christ there is a vertue will come out of them all and they have all of them their peculiar and proper vertue upon the soul The Apostle speaks of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 2.14 a savor of knowledge now it is here as it is in a Posie there are many flowers put together and they do yield a very fragrant smell that is very refreshing and delightsom but he that will be affected with each flower must take them all apart and he will find that each of them hath its distinct and proper savor which unless the man had taken apart he would never have known and so it is also in all the glorious excellencies that are in God and in Christ Vse 2 § 2. The second Use is of Exhortation and that 1. To stir you up to consider the glory of this interest in the Persons this was that did most affect Christ Psal 16.5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance it is his interest in the Father that mainly his heart doth glory in He had several other interests that he might have boasted of for he was Heir of all things Heb. 1.3 but in a more special manner he hath a glorious inheritance in the Saints Eph. 1.18 which may be interprâ—â—â— either that his inheritance is in them for they are his both dono and merito by a gift and by a purchase also or else 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for inter as it is rendred Acts 26.18 To give them an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so the Saints have a great inheritance to glory in they are heirs of promises yea they inherit all things but the main of Christs glory is his inheritance in the person of the Father and that should be also the glory of the Saints and here consider 1 that the high advancement of the creature lyes in union with the persons as the highest advancement of the humane nature of Christ lyes in the personal Union the grace of Union is far greater than the grace of Unction that he was made one with the second Person in the Trinity and the advancement of our nature is more by our mystical Union with the Person of Christ than in all the benefits we receive from him but there is a higher union that this tends to and that is an union with all the persons in the Trinity thereby for communio fundatur in unione Now having communion with all the persons it argues that we have an union with them all and as we have a higher union with the person of the Son than the Angels have so we have