come to partake of them the Promises run to him and fix in him as in an immoveable Rock that can never be shaken 2dly He is the Head of the Elect and the way through which electing Love doth pass to every elect Person because they are given to him as a Seed Psal 89.27 28 29. Also I will make him my first-born higher than the Kings of the Earth My Mercy will I keep for him for evermore my Covenant shall stand fast with him His Seed will I make to endure for ever and his Throne as the days of Heaven Compared with Heb. 2.13 And again I will put my Trust in him And again I and the Children which God hath given me As the first Adam conveys natural Defilement to all his Seed and that which causeth the loss of Communion with God so the Lord Jesus Christ that conveys to all the elect Seed which removes that which hinders Communion and restores Communion to them John 6.57 As the living Father sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me Here is three Livers here is 1. The Life of the Godhead 2. Here is the Man Christ living upon the Godhead 3. Here is the Believer living upon the Lord Jesus Christ as God-man in one Person the Divine Nature putting Life into the Manhood and conveying of that Life to the Elect. 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 Is Christ mystical here meant saith Leigh then the Elect are comprehended in him To Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made to Abraham in Christ and not to Christ in Abraham saith Kendal against John Goodwin 3dly It doth appear that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Elect and the way through which electing Love doth pass to every elect Person from the Experience of the Saints from Abel to this very day The Elect that were in the World before his appearance in the state of his Humiliation did all by Faith look at him and through him were brought to the enjoyment of God and upon him lay their hope of persevering with God Heb. 12.1 2. Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the Race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our Faith This Cloud of Witnesses that look'd unto Jesus were the Saints from Abel's time in the 11th Chapter The Saints that have been and are in the World in the times of the New Testament through Jesus do go to God through Jesus do enjoy Communion with God 2 Cor. 4.6 For God who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined into our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledg of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ To sum up this Chapter Was the Lord Jesus Christ comprehended in the Womb of the Decree of Election Was the Union of the two Natures in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ comprehended in the Decree as the Head of the Elect and by the Decree appointed to be the Conveyer of Grace to every elect Person Then whatever was acted and done by him was subservient to the Decree and proves the Covenant of Grace and Redemption to be but one Covenant Joh. 4.34 Jesus saith unto them My Meat is to do the Will of him that sent me and to finish his work CHAP. II. Of the Redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ in two parts First Perfect Obedience to the Law Secondly Satisfaction to the Penalty of it for the Elect subservient to the Decree of Election and leading to answer the great Designs of it THE great God that he might make good that threatning against Satan That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents Head doth by the incomprehensible Power of the Holy Ghost first sanctify that Matter of which the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ was made and then without the help of Man's Seed did create or form it into the shape of Man to which a living Soul was given that so he might appear to be like his Brethren the Elect. To this second Man so wonderfully made was the eternal Word the second Person in the Godhead united in the Womb of the Virgin Mary and brought forth into the World our Emanuel the Mighty God the everlasting Father the wonderful Counsellor the Prince of Peace His Divine Nature being the express Image of his Father's Substance and in respect of it it was no Robbery in him to be the Father's equal and one with the Father That he might be one with the Elect he is wonderfully united to their Nature in the Womb of the Virgin and that he might figure out the Misery that all the Elect were in by Generation he is born in a Stable and laid in a Manger typifying out that by reason of their natural Pollution they were like their first Father Adam who was driven from the Presence of God amongst the Beasts He is put under the first Covenant that he might fulfil the Righteousness of it Gal. 4.4 5. Made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons And he is not only put under the first Covenant to give it a perfect Obedience that in that Obedience of his the Elect might appear before God but he is likewise put under the first Covenant to give Satisfaction to the Wrong done to it by the Elect as they successively come into the World Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree Compared with Heb. 2.14 Forasmuch then as the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he the eternal Word also himself likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil Those that stood in the Decree of Election as Children coming into the World in such a way by Generation as brought them under the defilements of Sin and so under the Penalty of the first Covenant the eternal Word takes hold of their Nature and by sanctifying of it in Death perfuming the Sacrifice by his Divine Nature the Penalty of the first Covenant is removed and a Pardon laid in for the Children as they shall successively come into the World and have it applied to their Souls by the Spirit They being interested in this Satisfaction the Penalties of the first Covenant are removed and the executive Power of it taken out of the hands of Satan Having now by way of Introduction opened the door into the Work of Redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ I come in the next place to consider this Soul-amazing
of Darkness hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the knowledg of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 That is The way that God doth take to exalt his Grace and Mercy to his Elect is in a way that doth agree with his Justice He beholds the eternal Word Creator united to the Childrens Nature by it giving Satisfaction to Justice The stoppage of Grace being removed Grace doth shine down upon them The Spirit of Adoption which is the inward Witness meets Grace in the way that it comes forth The Soul admires the Wisdom and Goodness of God in appointing the way of its Salvation in such a way as exalts Grace and wrongs not Justice Grace being no less to us by making its way through Christ to us because it was the Father that appointed the Son this Work and it was to answer the Father's Will that he performed it This inward Witness incourageth a poor Sinner that is weary of Sin to go to Christ and to God through him For altho there seems a great distance betwixt a poor guilty Sinner and a holy God to behold each of them as they are in themselves yet this middle Person the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Reconciler or the maker up of the Breach betwixt them being inwardly discovered in the Gospel-Glass by the Holy Ghost working with it those who were far off before are brought nigh by the Blood of this blessed Jesus Divine Love descends Faith enables the Soul to mount up and with Wings to ascend We love him saith St. John because he first loved us This Light of the Holy Ghost is a distinct thing from the first Covenant-Principle That lays the Soul under Guilt for Sin but takes not in the way of Reconciliation The Holy Ghost takes in the way of Reconciliation and gives Evidence of the Souls Interest in it It is by the Apostle called the Spirit of the Son because it is by the Intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Holy Ghost is sent and because it leads the Soul to pay the Tribute of Divine Honour to him as being the way to the Father It leads the Soul wholly in another way than the first Covenant-Principle leads in Its Motives by which it stirs up the Soul to watch against Sin are from Mercy and Goodness that is spiritual Mercies received by the Soul The first Covenant-Principle breaks the Soul off from Sin by shewing the Wrath and Misery that attends it The Holy Ghost stirs up the Soul to set a Watch against the first motions of Lust by discovering the loathsom nature of it which if the Soul joins with it will thereby be unfit for Communion with God As it is by the Holy Ghost that Sanctification is carried or in the Soul to prepare it for the Enjoyment of God in Glory so the Apostle seems to put the Cure of the Bodies of the Saints even when they are under a Dissolution upon the Holy Ghost in order to their recovery out of that state Rom. 8.11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you I have gone through the first Head and laid before you the dealings of God with me in bringing of me to the Enjoyment of himself by Faith and shall now proceed to the second Head Secondly The Counsel and Direction which I recommend unto you if I should be shortly removed from you 1st Endeavour to get imprinted upon your Hearts the thoughts of God in his Soveraignty over you and those outward Providences which he exerciseth towards you God is so incomprehensible in his Being that he cannot be fathom'd by the Creature What an Awe and Reverence of him hath the Consideration of his Incomprehensibleness made upon the Hearts of his dearest Children In his discovering of himself to them in the greatness of his Power how hath he treated them as Worms and nothing Creatures And they in their expressing of themselves before him their Language hath carried in it the Evidences of a humble Heart Psal 22.4 5 6. Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them They cried unto thee and were delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded But I am a Worm and no Man a reproach of Men and despised of the People We see here the Psalmist David who is recorded to be a Man after God's owh Heart how he expresses himself before God First In acknowledging God in his Power to deliver And then secondly In acknowledging his Unworthiness to be delivered by him in these words I am a Worm and no Man The clearer Discovery that the Soul gets of God in the Absoluteness of his Power and that incomprehensible Greatness he is invested withal hath that Effect upon the Heart as to lay it in the Dust before him Remember my Children that in your Creation you were in the hands of the wise Creator as the Clay is in the hand of the Potter The forming and the fashioning of you lay wholly in his own Will and Pleasure Psal 119.73 Thy hands have made and fashioned me give me Vnderstanding that I may learn thy Commandments That there is no defect in the Members of your Bodies is a Mercy to you but that there is no defect in the Faculties of your Souls is a greater Mercy What great Obligations are you under to the great Creator seeing you have received your Being from him 2. Consider how the Creator has disposed of you and how his Providential Dealings are towards you Acts 17.26 And hath made of one Blood all Nations of Men to dwell on the face of the Earth and hath determined the Times afore appointed and the Bounds of their Habitation That is He hath determined the time that he allows every one in this World and their place for a Habitation in it How bountiful is the great Creator unto you that he should appoint you your place in England and not in India or some other dark place of the World that is full of the Habitations of Cruelty that your Lot should be hitherto to have a full supply of outward Necessaries whereas many others are attended by great outward Wants and Penury 3. Consider God's Providential Dealings towards you that your Parents have been hitherto continued and made a Blessing to you that they have not been wanting to your outward Man by their utmost care to provide for it But above all what a Blessing have they been made unto you as to your Souls if it be but sanctified unto you What proof have your poor Parents given of their Care over your Souls in giving you your Education in such a way as hath been a means to bring them under great outward Straits their Eyes being fixt upon the good of your immortal Souls in what they have done that you might not be exposed
pardoning and renewing Grace hath been manifested inwardly in me 1. His Pardoning Grace hath been manifest in me I have many times come before God labouring under inward Guilt and have experienced a removal of the Guilt in the Gospel way For altho the Lord Jesus Christ did by his Death give a full Satisfaction to Justice for all the Elect that were given him of the Father yet while the Elect are on this side Eternity and through frailty liable to fall into Sin after Sin committed there can be no inward Peace enjoy'd until the Soul be led forth anew by a Renewed Act of Faith upon a suffering Jesus and a suing by sincere Repentance unto the Father for pardoning Grace upon the account of his Worthiness And as to the Praise of the rich Grace of God I have experienced his pardoning Grace so I hope to the Praise of the same Grace I can say it that I do experience Renewing Grace I do indeed feel my time to be a continual Warfare according to the words of the Apostle Gal. 5.17 For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Grace is often foiling Corruption but hath not destroy'd it the growth of it is hindered but the Seeds of it remain it 's an Enemy that lies continually lurking to watch for Advantage and altho it cannot regain such a Power as to destroy my Soul yet it keeps so much Power as to disturb it My Soul sometimes goes mourning before God under the sense of the remaining strength of this Adversary and how hardly is Grace put to it to quit the Soul out of its hands But here lies my Security I am brought within the compass of the Father's unchangeable Love within the compass of the Sons Intercession and under the Leadings of the Holy Ghost First I am within the compass of the Father's Love being one of the Seed given to Christ and according to the Tenor of the Covenant do I experience the Father's dealings with me Psal 89.30 31 32 33 34. If his Children that is the Elect Seed given to Christ ver 27 28. walk not in my Judgments If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments Then will I visit their Transgression with the Rod and their Iniquities with Stripes Nevertheless my Loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail My Covenant will I not break Here is my Mercy that I do experience my Father's dealing with me to be according to the Tenor of the Covenant that his Providence towards me brings Frowns with it against Corruption and that he hath enlightned my Soul to see it Psal 94.12 Blessed is the Man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law Frowning Providences are not of themselves Mercies but the Spirit 's accompanying them and working by them upon the Soul to bring the Soul to a sensibility of its State and enabling the Soul to seek to God and to enjoy Comfort from him through Faith when denied Comfort from the World It 's this that gives the Evidence that they are sent in Mercy when corrupt Nature is subdued by them and inward Grace is stirr'd up to put forth the greater Fervency to God and for God in Duty that we may be serviceable to him in our Generation The Apostle in Heb. 12.8 lays this down as the common way of God's dealing with his Children and fixes Bastardy upon those that are not thus dealt with But if ye be without Chastisement whereof of all are partakers then are you Bastards and not Sons Mark it my Children I do not say God doth not give Prosperity to none of his Children in this World but where he doth give it he usually brings humbling Providences before it that so the Soul may not be prejudiced by it Joseph and David were both exalted to a very high state in this World but what great Afflictions did they go through before they were brought to it according to the words of the Prophet It is good for a Man that he hear the Yoke in his Youth And it hath been my particular Observation That where great plenty of this World's Goods are given to any of God's Children they have had a pricking Thorn put into some of their outward Enjoyments that they might not rest in these things as their Portion Secondly I am one of those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ is interceding and interested in him as a Member of his Mystical Body Father saith Christ keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are He intercedes that we may be prepared for Glory and that we may be brought to the enjoyment of Glory Joh. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me This Prayer saith a holy Man altho it was pray'd here on Earth by the Lord Jesus Christ in the state of his Humiliation yet the Matter contain'd in it doth sute his State of Exaltation and is a short Epitome of his Intercession as the Church's Head now at the Right-hand of his Father until every Member of his Mystical Body be brought to the Mansions of eternal Rest The Apostle in Heb. 6. from v. 13 to 20. having laid down the Unchangeableness and Immutability of the Father's Council concerning the Elect and how for their Encouragement he had bound himself not only by Word but by Oath for the performance of the things contained in the Promises and having shewed how the Flock do anchor upon their Father's Immutability as that which is both sure and stedfast and enters into that within the Vail Faith doth not content it self only with the Promises but pierceth into Heaven to God himself and the Soul there for its further Encouragement beholds the blessed Mediator interceding on its behalf ver 20. Where the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus All the Promises of God the Father being made to our Nature first as it is united to his Son the Eternal Word our Nature in him being brought to the Enjoyment of that Glory contained in the Promises doth on the behalf of the Elect intercede that every individual Person that belongs unto him may be brought to be sharers with him Your Father through Faith hath a well-grounded hope that he is one of the number for whom his blessed Lord is interceding and doubts not but in a little time to be a sharer in that part of his Intercession which leads to enjoy eternal Glory through him Thirdly I am one of those that are under the leadings of the Spirit of Adoption which is that inward Witness which the Scripture speaks of He that believeth in the Son of God hath the Witness in himself For God saith the Apostle who commanded Light to shine out