Covenant of Grace We do now stand upon other terms with God through Christ in the New Covenant whereof we are partakers by faith in him But still the Precepts of the Moral Law abide on us as our Duty there never was any repeal of the Command nor indeed can they ever cease to be a Rule to man for the guiding of him in the right ordering of his Conversation inasmuch as they are every way suited to the nature of man considered as being made on purpose for the actual glorifying of God so that if we would actually glorify him as men we must do it in compliance with these precepts All that is contained in this rule is reduced to those two heads Mat. 22. 37 39. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self And this can never cease to be our duty so long as we are men nothing can discharge us from the obligation of loving God and our neighbour inasmuch as the Relation we bear to both cannot cease and the duty is inseparable from such a Relation It is also certain that all of these Duties are reinforced in the Gospel or under the dispensation of the Kingdom of Grace and may be all of them found on record in the preceptive part of the New-Testament required of Christians as they would walk worthy of the vocation with which they are called and are therefore called New Commands because they are there reinforced with arguments fetcht from the consideration of the Grace of God appearing to us we have this summarily commended to us in Tit. 2. 11 12. The Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Under which three heads are comprized all those duties which are required in and by the Moral Law 8. That all the Commands of the New-Covenant which are purely Evangelical are inclusively Comprehended in this Rule It is to be observed that there are some Duties introduced by the New Covenant and are enjoyned on all such unto whom it is promulgated which were not Duties incumbent on man whiles he continued in a state of Integrity such as Faith in Jesus Christ Repentance unto life and the several things that are contained in these as they point to us the way for fallen man to recover Gods favour and obtain eternal Salvation and indeed these Duties were inconsistent with that state Man had not forfeited himself to the Law and so needed not a Redeemer he stood in his uprightness and was defiled with no sin and had no occasion for Repentance These Duties therefore were not immediately comprized in the law of nature nor was man in Innocency able by the improvement of his reason to gather that there were any such Duties hypotheâ—ically belonging to his Rule Nor is it to be supposed that when God at first indented with man in the Covenant of Works and warned him a-against disobedience by shewing him the threatning that he made any discovery to him of an hope that in case of his miscarriage he might be saved or that he foretold a way of his recovery in case he ruined himself by trespassing against the command and bringing of himself under the threatning doubtless he reserved this for the Opening of the Covenant of Grace and till he so made it known man could not possibly so much as guess at such a thing However there is thus much contained in the Moral Law and the light of nature clearly discovered to man at first viz. that the rightful authority and supremacy that God hath over all men claims a liberty for him at any time to enjoyn man in any thing and make it his duty by vertue of his command to do it if it be within the power which he at first endowed him withal and consequently that he ows Obedience to God in whatsoever he shall at any time declare to be his will hereupon Positive Commands oblige men by the light of nature as well as Natural duties supposing there be a Revelation of them made to them We find therefore that God at first exerted this authority over our first Parents when he put them into the Garden by an arbitrary exempting the Tree of Knowledge from their eating of it under pain of death nor did they dispute but acknowledge his Soveraignty over them in that regard though afterwards the adversary used it as a snare to draw them into Sin And how many such positive Precepts did God give to Israel of which he renders 〈◊〉 other reason but this I am the Lord Hence there fore when God once reveals to fallen men that it is his will that they should repent and believe in order to their being made partakers in Pardon and Salvation it becomes their bounden duty by vertue of that Command that they so do and not only will they miss of Salvation if they neglect to comply with these terms on which it is offered but they will thereby Sin against God and so aggravate their Guilt and in this respect the Gospel may well be called the Law of Christ Hence we are told Acts 17. 30. Now God commandeth all men every where to repent i. e. Now when the Gospel is promulgated and 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. 9 This being a perfect Rule requires every sort of personal perfection in us Our perfection must needs consist in our conformity to the Rule of it and if so we cannot be entirely perfect unless our conformity be as large as the duties which are required by it and that not only in all the parts of it by answering to every precept in it and having a respect to all the Commandments of God but also in the degrees of our compliance with it which must consist in such an Holiness as hath not the least mixture of the contrary in it that doth not only do the thing but doth it with that accuracy that there be nothing wanting in the matter of it with that diligence that we never fail either in omission or commission with that intenseness of love that hath no mixture of reluctancy or backwardness with that singleness of heart that hath no allay or mixture of any sinister aimes or ends and with that constancy that we hold on without wavering to the end which though none of the Children of God ever did or shall in this life attain unto yet it is the perfection which we are called to aspire after and not to rest in any thing short of it but to be in an earnest pursuit of it as long as we abide here and till we reach it in the Kingdom of Glory And that this is required of us will appear if we consider 1. That every thing short of this Perfection is
which Salvation they are delivered from that misery under which they were fallen by reason of sin unto all that felicity which they had so lost hence we are told that it is by Grace that we are saved Eph 2 8. on which account it is called the Grace of God which brings Salvation Tit. 2 11. When therefore the undone Sinner is brought to the enjoyment of perfect felicicity then hath the Grace of God accomplished its design 2. That in order to the bringing about of this purpose of God there are two things requisite to be done for the man viz The Justification of his person and the Sanctification of his nature The ground of this is because there is a double misery befallen the man by the Apostasy viz. Guilt which hath rendred him obnoxious to the wrath of God yea brought him under a sentence of Condemnation binding him over to suffer the whole Curse that is contained in the threatning of Death unto the execution whereof the Justice of God stands engaged in the Covenant of works And Pollution by which his nature is depraved and fallen under the Dominion of Sin which reigns as a King in him and so he is rendred utterly impotenâ— to the doing of that which is good and iâ— which his formal happiness did consist and alâ— his powers are violently bent to that which is evil and so long as these two abide upon him he cannot be happy but must needs be miserable As long as the man lies under the Curses of the Law a Prisoner of Revenging Justice doomed to suffer all the wrath that is contained in the threatnings that are out against Sinners in which the quintessence of alâ— evil is contained and is held fettered in Cordâ— of Iniquity so as that he can do nothing of that business which he was made for but is by the force of his carnal lusts hurried and precipitated into repeated provocations of God he must needs be a miserable Creature Nor can he be recovered to a state of blessedness but by the removal of both these evils from him and if either of them remain upon him he is incapable of being a blessed man in that condition The former of these is done by Justification and the latter by Sanctification In the one his Condemnation is removed his Guilt is taken away he is acquitted from the Law and delivered from all danger of suffering the direful penalties of it yea and is adjudged to life to partake in the good that is laid up in the promise in the latter his nature is restored and renewed again and he is rendred able to Serve God in newness of life he who before was unprofitable is now made profitable and can glorify God which was his last end And for this reason both these benefits of the new Covenant are so much celebrated in the Gospel both of these are included in that reason of the Name which was put upon Christ at his birth Matth. 1. 21. Thou shalt call his Name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins And in Gods taking away all iniquity from them Hos 14. 2. 3. That the end of this Sanctification is to make him a fit subject to enjoy true blessedness It is true without Justification of the mans person and in it a pardon of his Sins applied to him he cannot be happy for how is it possible that he should be so as long as the wrath of God abides on him and he is every moment liable to the fearful stroke of Divine Vengeance which is ready to fall on him and cut him off Whereas if once this state of his be changed and he is a Justified and Pardoned man he is forthwith blessed according to Psal 32. 1. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Yet this alone is not sufficient for his actual enjoyment of the felicity promised in the New-Covenant for true blessedness can only consist in the closure of the faculty with its Object and resting satisfyed in it for without satisfaction the man is not happy and that it may thus do it is necessary that there be a suitableness between the faculty and the object how else should it either close with or take real content in it Now the blessedness which God hath laid in to entertain his people withall is suited only to Holiness in the subject of it so that without it it is impossible that the man should ever participate in it or be delighted with it Heb. 12. 14. Without Holiness no man shall see God So that the sinful pollution which is upon the very nature of fallen man by reason of the sin that dwells in him renders him in the present condition and so long as he abides under the prevailing efficacy of it altogether unmeet for blessedness yea indeed incapable of it He cannot have Communion with God in which his felicity must consist for God alone is an happifying object nor if he could can he take any content to himself in it because God is Holy and such is the fellowship which he holds with the Creature than which nothing can be more contrary to the corruption wherewith his nature is defiled We read of A meetness for the Inheritance of the Saints Col. 1. 12. â—hich meetness implies a suitable disposition â—â—s thereto in which it is absolutely requisite â—t there be in us such gracious qualifications â— render us conformable to the Inheritance it â—f these we have not in us by nature as we â—rive it from the unclean fountain from which â—â— are originated for Who can bring a cleanâ—â—g out of an unclean It must then be done â— Sanctification in and by which we are assiâ—ilated to our Inheritance because hereby â—â— are made holy and so are fitted for the â—joyment of the holy place and of all those â—ly things which are there prepared to make â— happy in it 4. That the man can only be truly blessed in the â—rifying of God and enjoying of him The â—essedness of the Reasonable Creature requires â—e concurrence of two things to make it comâ—eat viz. Well doing and Wâ—ll being nor can â—ther of these be alone A man is then happy â—â—en he fully reacheth the end that he was â—ade for now man was made for God not â—ly Ultimately but Immediately too and to â—se this end must needs be his misery Now Gods Glory being his own last end in all his â—orks of Efficiency hence it follows that the â—ast end oâ— all these works of â—his must be to â—erve to that glory how else should he obtain â—is end by it in the event And every one of â—is Creatures is to Serve to this end agreeably to that nature which God put into it when hâ— made it in which he bestowed on it a capâ—city of so serving his design by it Accordingly man was made capable of doingly this aâ—ively inasmuch as he was endowed with suâ— powers as enabled him to act as a cause
to God but by a Mediator for without one God is a consuming fire God graciously resolves to bring some of that unhappy race back again to himself and be a fountain of life unto them and herein to manifest his rich Grace for this end he appointed his own Son to become man and in our nature to bring about an Atonement by reconciling God and man one to another and procuring a Redemption for us for this he put Christ into his Office and indented with him in the Days of Eternity 〈◊〉 counsel of peace is therefore said to be between them both Zech. 6. 13. 3. Christ by his satisfactory Obedience purchased and laid in all that was needful for the Salvation of man Had not God put him into Ofâ—ice and Commissioned him for this all his Obedience had been insignificant for not only or meerly the value but the Acceptance of it for us made it a purchase and yet had â—t not been valuable it would not have done because Justice and Mercy could not otherwise have agreed in our Salvation as they must Psal 85 10. Mercy and Truth are met together Justice and Peace have kissed each other But Christ bought us at a valuable price 1 Cor. 16. 12. Ye are bought with a Price and because his â—eath was more eminently concerned in this â—ence it is peculiarly Attributed to his Blood â— Pet 1. 18 19. Ye are Redeemed c. with the â—ecious blood of Christ and as he bought â—s â—ut of the hand of Revenging Justice so he â—ought all that Inheritance foâ— us in which â—ur whole happiness is contained which is â—alled the purchased Possession Eph. 1 14. 4. Hence all this good is deposited in him and â—e dispensation of it is committed unto him As â—e was at the cost to procure it so his Father â—ath betrusted him with the application of it â—e is made the Store house or Treasure of it is laid up in him Col. 2. 3. In whom are hid â— the treasures of wisdom and knowledge We â—â—st go to this Heavenly Joseph if we would â—â—ain it God put not only a Priestly but a Prophetical and Kingly Office on him and now he leaves all to his management and he gives eternal life according to his pleasure John 5. 21 22. The Son quickneth whom he will the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all Judgment to the Son 17. 2. Thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him USE I. For Information in two or three particulars 1. Learn we hence the happiness of all those that have gotten an interest in Christ All the Titlâ—â— that are put upon him in the Word of God are to commend to us some excellent benefiâ— that flows from him to those that participatâ— in him Now as Christ's Office is to convey saving mercies to us so herein he appears glorious in that they are all stored in him as in a fountain and that he therefore is a fountain of them How rich then are all they who are owners of this fountain that dwell with him Such are all true believers these can never want all that they can need is in him and there is enough and to spare this may turn the valley of Baca into a well Psal 84 6. Christ himself hath told us what is the priviledge of those that believe in him Joh. 7 38 Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water and hence theâ—e is such blessedness pronounced on believers Jer. 17. 8. Hâ— shall be as a tree planted by the waters and spreadâ—th out her root by the river c. Rejoyce theâ— in this your lot and envy not the world their broken â—isterns though they seem to be neveâ— so full 2. Here is good news to those thirsty Souls that have sought for living waters and found none elsewhere When God awakens the Consciences of Sinners and shews them something of the misery which they labour of they are inquisitive where they may get a remedy and they seek it at home and abroad they go from hill to mountain in quest of it they have gone to every pit hoping to draw waters to refresh their Souls out of it but they have come away empty and ashamed and may possibly be ready to sit down and despair of ever finding any that will quench their thirst and refresh their Souls but be of good cheer here is a true report made of a fountain of such waters as you need there is none in the world nor is there any in your own power but there is enough in Christ he is an infinite and inexhaustible fountain of it and if there was no more to be said yet here is encouragement to hope if there were none at all your case were then desperate but if it be any where and there be enough of it too think then I will not abandon hope for who knows but that he may shew me the favour to give me to drink of these waters of life 3. This may answer their doubt who are afraiâ— to come to Christ by reason of the greatness of their sin misery When deep convictions of these do make them instead of making the greater haste to Christ to discourage themselves there by from daring at all to come to him their sins are too great to be forgiven them their hearts are so hard that there is no softnign of them their debts are run up to ten thousand Talents they have gone beyond the ordinary sort of Sinners and sure there is no help in Christ for such as they are Look now he is a foâ—ntain yea he is an immense and an incomprehensible fountain whatsoever you want or can desire is to be supplied out of it to the utmost extent of your cravings yea indeed he came for that very end that where sin hath abounded Grace might much more abound Rom. 5. 20. And is therefore furnished accordingly Hence USE II. Let it be to exhort and direct miserable Sinners and such are all the Children of men in their natural estate till they are gotten into Christ and interested in his Redemption Be you then pointed hereby to come to Christ for all your supplies make him your object and address your selves to him Many arguments might here be used to press this advice but I shall only offer two or three which are fetched from the Doctrine in hand 1. You must have a supply or you will perish There is no living in the condition you are at present in if you sit still you dy unavoidably your samishing Souls must have something to live upon and that can be nothing else but these living waters or you will faint and dy The whole Word of God will assure you of your woful infelicity which as long as you abide in your natural state you labour of and are perishing in if therefore there be no supply to be had you will sink under this distress and
are of Israel i. e. All do not belong to the true Seed that have the external denomination and yet these are they to whom the Ministration of the letter is equally afforded 3. This notwithstanding the direct aim and great design of opening this fountain is for the sake of those that are given to Christ This is a great truth though the carnal minds of natural men are prejudiced at it and engage in so many earnest cavils against it and it becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to them yet it is fully asserted in the Word of God and is necessary to be laid open in the Ministry of the Gospel That then this truth may be cleared up let us observe the following Propositions 1. That there is a select number of Adams ruined Posterity whom God hath appointed to bring to eternal life by Christ We must begin here if we would follow this grace down from the fountain of it Gods last end in this great affair was the exaltation of the glory of his Grace but in the oâ—dering of the Media by which this was to be brought about there must be a subject in whom it is to be exalted and that can be no other than a Creature that needed it This necessity man brought upon himself by his undoing Apostasy out of the ruines whereof God would pick up such as should be made the monuments of it and these were not intended to be all but only some who are called his Chosen those whom he hath given to Christ those whose names are written in the Book of Life and other like distinguishing notes differencing them from the rest of mankind nor could this appointment be only general and conditional for then it were improper to say that their names were written or that God knows who they are but we are assured that he doth 2 Tim 2. 19. 2. Hence it was for their sakes that Christ was prepared and appointed to be a fountain of life to them All mankind died in the first Transgression Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin came into the world and death by sin so that death passed upon all men for that all have sinned There must therefore a Well of Salvation be opened for the man if ever he be restored to life again The Son of God barely considered as a Divine person could not be so to Fallen man as the case stands between God and him He was capable of being made so but there was a great deal to be done in this affair to bring it about he must become a Surety for us he must as such take our nature upon him and in it put himself in our room under the Law and comport with the Sanctions of it accordingly he must do and dy for us and therein fulfil all righteousness and in that way he became able to save us to the uttermost God is therefore said to have made him all this 1 Cor. 1. 30. Who of God is made to us wisdom and righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption Now that which was designed in this was our Salvation and therefore it had a peculiar respect to those whom he was to save Christ therefore declares the very design of this Joh. 17. 19. For their sakes do I Sanctifie my self and it is a thing altogether unquestionable that if it had not been for this the Son of God had never taken this province upon him and gone through it as may be gathered from Joh. 3. 17. God-sent not his Son into the world to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved 3. That the Gospel in which this fountain is opened was appointed to be the way of the communication of the vertue of it unto these It is not enough that there was a fulness of all Grace stored in Christ but there must be a derivation of the saving vertue of it to all those that live by it Now though the spirit of God to whom the Application of it belongeth is he who derives it to us from Christ yet he hath a way in which he so doth and we are given to understand that this is by the Gospel and therefore the vertue of it is Metonymically assigned to the Gospel which is called the power of God to Salvation Rom. 1. 16. And the reason is because as it is to become ours so God deals with us in bringing us to this faith according to our nature â—s Reasonable Creatures by shewing us our object and the fulness and sufficiency of it by discovering the terms of the Covenant on which we may come to be interested in it by setting before us all the incentives to move us to entertain it all of which are discovered to us in and by the Gospel for we are told 2 Tim. 1. 10. Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel When therefore God intends men Salvation in the ordinary dispensation of himself to them he makes use of the Gospel as a Medium by which he will apply himself to them 4. Those to whom it is thus to be dispensed live mixt among other men It is Gods good pleasure that his Chosen shall be scattered up and down in the World and have their dwelling among those that are his Enemies he therefore calls them from the Lions dens and from the mountains of the Leopards Cant. 4. 8. There are indeed some places in the world that are wholly in darkness and we know not of any of those that are given to Christ among them but in other places they dwell one with another in some places there are more in others there are fewer of these bâ— there are no places where Christ hath a Seâ— but there are wicked men dwelling with thâ— Godly The Apostle therefore tells us thâ— we must go out of the world if we would â—â— wholly separated from such 1 Cor. 5. 10. Anâ— we are acquainted that God hath some whoâ— he will sooner or later make sharers in thâ— benefit in every Nation Rev. 5. 9. Thou â—â— redeemed us to God by thy blood out of everâ— kindred and tongue and people and nation Tâ— tares and the wheat must grow together till thâ— end of the world then will a separation bâ— made between the one and the other anâ— not till then Mat. 13. 40 41. And these nâ— only dwell together in one City or Town but oftentimes they live in the same house and ly in the same bed Luk. 13. 34. There shall be two men in one bâ—â— the one shall be tâ—ken and the other left 5. That God hath appointed men who are called by him unto it to be the ordinary dispensers â—â— this Gospel He could indeed have done it immediately by his Spirit or he could have employed the Glorious Angels in this Affair whâ— would have accounted it an honour thus â—â— minister for the heirs of Salvation but he hath Chosen this way in his wisdom as that which is best accommodated for us and that
work and let this make you fixedly to resolve that you will go no whither else but that you will wait upon him till he shall give you the experience of his love to you in this regard USE IV For Exhortation to the Children of God who are already made partakers of an Interest in this fountain in two particulars 1. Acknowledge the rich Grace of God to you in that he hath not only opened this fountain before you but in you The former indeed is a great favour and so to be confessed by all that partake in it those that have it are highly advantaged had they but an heart to make a right improvement of it and if they do not so they will bring great Guilt upon themselves by their contempt How great a kindness then is this that you share in and do you endeavour to entertain it with suitable resentments and there are among others these two considerations which will greatly help you in your gratitude 1. Had not God thus done for you you had perished in your Sins You were under the efficacy of sin and uncleanness in your natural Estate and that held you under Guilt and Defilement and these would have wrought out your certain destruction if they had not been remedied There must be a fountain for this else it could never have been taken away â— fountain of blood for the removal of your Guilâ— and a fountain of grace for the purging away of yoâ—r pollution None else but Christ could possibly be such a fountain to you there is an infinite value and vertue requisite to be found in that which can do this for you which no meerly created being could ever attain unto If this Fountain had not been revealed to you you could not have partaken in the saving vertue of it because it is applied by faith they that live out of the reach of the Gospel Dispensation die without knowledge and if it had not been opened in you yoâ— had still died in your sins there are multitudes that do so who have heard of it with the hearing of the ear because they have not cordially embraced it if he had not savingly applied it to you you had refused it as well as others for you had as great a natural malignity in you against it as any in the world 2. What are you better than others who are not thus favoured The difference that is put between you and them is very great but who hath made it When he brought this grace of his unto you you were dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2. 1. When he offered it to you you regarded it not but bad him to depart from you you sought it not of him but he â—ought you up that he might bestow it upon you you gave him all the resistance that an heart full of enmity could do It was Almighty power that brought you unto it yea possibly you more dishonoured God by peculiar wickedness and scandalous provocations before such time as he thus appeared to you than a great many have done whom he yet hath not so favoured Can you then sufficiciently celebrate his praise 2. Be sure to make continual use of it You will always stand in need of it and it ever stands open for you to repair unto and there is a double usefulness which it serves unto 1. Repair constantly to it for renewed pardon It was not sufficient that you did so apply to it in your first Conversion for though it was then applied to you for the Justification of your persons yet 1. You Sin daily Though lust be mortified as to the Dominion of it yet it is not abolished in you but hath its dayly breakings out there is a contrary part in you that is ever and anon bringing you into captivity We are told in Eccles 7. 20. There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not and the reason of it is because there is a Flesh in us that is always lusting against the Spirit Gal. 5. 17. 2. Every Sin offers matter of provoâ—atinn to God It is a Transgression of his holy Law it is an abominable thing to him Jer. 44. 4. It is that which he cannot endure Hab. 1. 13. And though he knows our frame and will not be always contending with us or break out in his severity for every frailty of ours yet there is occasion offered him for his anger and we must confess with him Psalm 130. 3. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities Oh Lord who should stand 3. Hence it calls on you to seek of him Forgiveness And this is at least one main reason why we are daily and on all occasions to renew that petition Mat. 6. 12. Forgive us oâ— debts And hence how often have we David asking pardon of God though he was in a state of Justification 4. Here only can you obtain it You must come to the fountain for it Whensoever Gods ancient people fell into any sin there was a Sacrifice presently to be offered for Atonement in order to its being forgiven and if we sin we must go to this Advocate and make use of him as our Propitiation 1 John 2. 1 2. 2. Address him continually for the washing of Sanctification They that are Sanctified must be Sanctified again they were so for whom the Apostle prays 1 Thes 5. 23. The very God of peace Sanctifie you wholly c. There is yet a body of death in you a fountain of uncleanness and there are the eruptions of it in your actions which deâ—ile you and you want washing Hence 1. Come hither by the Repentance of faith upon every notable defilement Are you overtaken with any Temptation which draws you into the mire let this drive you to the fountain for cleansing and this must be by the renewal of Repentance thus did David Psal 51. 7. And this is the only way to purifie your selves which is the care of every believer 1 Joh 3. 3. He that hath this hope in him puriâ—ieth himself as he is pure 2. Wash in it dayly for your daily pollution There is a defilement that cleaves to every thing we do when we are never so careful to our selves Sin in us will pollute our best Services Paul complains Rom. 7. 21. I find a lâ—w that when I would do good evil is present with me This therefore should bring you to Christ continually for cleansing 3. Be evermore fetching from hence all the Grace you need to perfect you in Holiness Let the sense of remaining corruption put you upon the exercise of renewed and progressive Sanctification for which you must repair to this fountain of Grace and apply the promises by which you partake in it to this end according to 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And never cease from the pursuit of this work till sin be no more in you and grace be
thee This is the fittest posture to pray in and God is ready to hear such in their Souls distress that cry unto him for his help David puts both together Psal 6. 8 9. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping the Lord hath heard my supplication It is good to come unto God in such a case and make an argument of it as he did Isa 38. 14. Oh Lord I am oppressed undertake for me 3. Let the Children of God nourish this spirit in them A Spirit of mourning and of supplication is the proper Evangelical Spirit it is therefore one of the properties that belong to them whom Christ hath pronounced blessed Mat. 5. 4. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Nor is it only proper in our first returning to God but you will have occasion to use it as long as you live while you carry about with you a body of death you will never be without occasion for bitter mourning and lamentation you will see reason to go softly all your days and as long as Sin stirs in you and leads you into Captivity you will need the pity and help of God the vertue and efficacy of the fountain to derive fresh supplies of pardon and healing to you and therefore prayer is a duty that you cannot do without and no prayer is acceptable to God but what proceeds from such a spirit 4. Be we here directed what to pray for and endeavour to promote in others We ought to seek and use means for the Salvation of Sinners and peculiarly for those to whom we are tied by the bonds of near relation and if ever they be saved they must repair to this fountain for it and if they so do and succeed it must be with mourning and supplication Let us then use means to bring them to this by shewing them their need and shewing them where their help is and how it is alone to be obtained and let us bring them to God and ask for them this grace and if we see them brought into distress and made to enquire how they may find redress let us nourish this in them and not go about to suppress or stifle it 5. This calls all those on whom God hath poured such a Spirit to Thankfulness to him for it Hath God given us truly to mourn and pray by reason of Sin he hath done us an unconceivable kindness there is no greater token of his Everlasting Love it saith that he hath been laying a foundation for eternal life in us these tears and these cries have solid consolation in them they are his gift and he gave them to us that so he might bring us to himself and put us into the way of blessedness Let this then be one thing for which we praise him and let this nourish and strengthen such a frame in us to consider that eternal joy is secured to it for we are assured in Psal 126. 5 6. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him FINIS Rather than this Page should stand Empty the Reader may be gratified with the last Clause of Dr. Thomas Goodwin's Exposition of the Revelation which is as followeth AND for the JEWS Call which is conjunct with this Killing Rising of the Witnesses As it depends not upon ordinary Means to effect it so there are like to be no Preparations at all unto it until it comes as there are not for Things extraordinary but a Nation shall bring forth in a Day as the Prophet speaks And so in the very Year before it there will be no more outward Appearrances or Probabilities of it than there are now or than there have been many hundred Years since And therefore our Faith need not be put off from this by the seeing as yet no Stirrings or Motions at all unto it or towards it And the Truth is both the Killing and Rising of the Witnesses and also the Calling of the JEWS may fall out sooner than we are aware of Evangelical Perfection OR How far the Gospel requires Believers to Aspire after being compleatly Perfect As it was Delivered on a Lecture at Boston on June 10th 1694. By Samuel Willard Teacher of a Church in Boston MATH V. 48. Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect IN this Chapter with the two following an account is given of the substance or heads of a Sermon which Christ preached to his Disciples in the audience of a multitude soon after he had called them The matters contained in this fifth Chapter may be reduced to three heads 1. He points the way to true Blessedness by describing the subjects of it in several distinguishing Characters of them and declaring wherein theâ— appear to be really happy Verse 3. to 13 2. He lays open the Office and Duty oâ— such as would approve themselves to be faithful and edifying Ministers of the Gospel to Verse 17. 3. He asserts the great usefulness of the Moral Law under the Gospel assuring us that his design was not to Abolish but Establish it and thereupon proceeds to Vindicate the true sense of it from the corrupt and false glosses of the Jewish Doctors to the end of the Chapter In which he insists upon severaâ— Articles which had been more especially depraved by them and the words of our Text are an Exhortation which he draws from the whole foregoing discourse though I know there are some who needlesly restrain it to the next foregoing duty of expressing our cordial love to our enemies in opposition to the Doctrine of the Scribes who taught that we should love our neighbour and hate our enemy I know the words are expressed in the Future tense Ye shall be perfect but yet they are noâ— to bâ— understood Promissorily as some do interpret them but Preceptively as an injunctâ—on laid upon us And we have several like instances in this Chapter yea it is frequenâ— in all languages to use the Future for the Imperative You shall do thus or so intending require or command you so to do In the words besides thâ— Illation therefore which refers to the foregoing discourse there â—e two parts 1. A duty enjoyned Be ye perfect The â—bject of this command are Christs Disciples â—rse 1. The thing required is perfection which what it is will be afterward considerâ— 2. The Pattern which is set before us to â—llow in our essayes after this perfection â—â— your Father which is in heaven is perfect So â—at here the Divine perfection is proposed to â—â— for our imitation and an argument is used â—o urge it from the consideration of that relaâ—ion which he bears to us he is our Father in â—eaven and Children are apt to take after â—heir Parents Hence that 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy â—â— all manner of conversation because it is
for a Praise and for a Glory Jer. 13. 11. 2. In the order of the means to this end there was nothing wherein God designed the exaltation of this Grace and Mercy equally with that of Christ in respect of his Redemption and Salvation He that designs an end must chuse and use means for the bringing of it about and many times there is an order of many means for the accomplishment of that which is intended and in this order there is a subordination of them â—â—e to another in their serving â—â— the design of them â—nd this is very manifest in the wonderful counsel of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the exaltation of 〈◊〉 glory of â—is Grace and Mercy Now as 〈◊〉 way in which God chose to glorify these 〈◊〉 fections of his was by the Redemption and Sâ—vation of man in and by which man was â— be made the monument of them so he â—pointed Jesus Christ to be the Redeemer aâ—â— Saviour in which he had a regard to Chriâ—â— Mediatorial Glory Christ therefore tells us Jâ—â— 5. 22 23. The Father Judgeth no man but 〈◊〉 committed all Judgment unto the Son that 〈◊〉 men should honour the Son even as they honoâ—r 〈◊〉 Father The person of Christ considered â— God and man was a great Medium in 〈◊〉 afâ—air and for that reason he is called a 〈◊〉 diator or a middle person 1 Tim. 2. 5. 〈◊〉 is one Mediator between God and man the 〈◊〉 Christ Jesus God therefore constituted 〈◊〉 to be such a person that so in and throuâ—â— him this rich Grace of his might shiâ—e foâ—â— to all eternity and for that reason we are 〈◊〉 to be chosen in him for this end Eph. 1. 4. 〈◊〉 6 According as he hath chosen us in him c. 〈◊〉 the praise of the glory of his Grace And thâ— wherein this Glory was to be illustrated 〈◊〉 in the Redemption which he was to work 〈◊〉 by which our Salvation was to be procâ—â—ed 〈◊〉 the conferring of this purchased Salvation upâ—â— us by him hence that Verse 7. In whom w◠〈◊〉 Redemption through his blood And indeed 〈◊〉 nothing coâ—â— the Grace of God so illustriouâ—â— â—ppear as â—â— the appointing oâ— his own Son t◠〈◊〉 a Redeemer for man when his case was â—â—duced to that exigence that in no other way 〈◊〉 could be Saved Joh. 2. 16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotton Soâ— Rom. 5. 6. When we were without strength in due time Christ dyed for the ungodly 3. That way might be made for this there must â—â— a subject for it to work upon which needed this Redemption and Salvation A Redeemer and Redeemeâ— are Correlates and one cannot be without the other This is a Relative Title and â—â—â—refore if there had been nothing to Reâ—â—â—m Christ could never have born that Title â—â— him Redemption supposeth a forfeiture â—â— captivity which the subject which is to parâ—ake in it is fallen under and from whence his â—ecessity of being redeemed doth arise in that â—â— is by this means to be restored from it â—â— is true there are other ways among men by which such an one may be delivered viz. â—ither by a free setting him at liberty without any satisfaction made by the bounty of the Creditour or by a forcible recovery of him out of the hands of those that hold him but this is one way and the only one in the case before us viz. by the laying down of an indented price or by an exchange of persons to â—oth of which the case in hand is referred 1 Cor. 6. 20. Ye are bought with a price 1 Tim. 2. 6. Who gave himself a ransom forâ—â—s Gal 3. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse o◠〈◊〉 Law being made a Curse for us Hence 〈◊〉 appointing of Christ to be a Redeemer haâ— respect to mans faâ—â—ing into such a conditionâ—â— made him to stand in need of one wâ—â— necessity was another Medium for the 〈◊〉 festation of this Grace and Mercy 4. That which was to enhauâ—ce this Mercy 〈◊〉 the forlorn state of the subject and his helplesâ—â—â— out of it in any other way The more there â— of Grace and Mercy in it the more are thâ— Attributes glorified by it hence every circuâ—stancâ— in this affair belongs to the 〈◊〉 The more of unworthiness there is in the 〈◊〉 ject the greater is the Grace afforded to 〈◊〉 and this Grace also holds proportion with 〈◊〉 greatness of the kindness it self that is done 〈◊〉 it The more miserable the subject is 〈◊〉 more aâ—â—onishing is that mercy which Succoâ—â— it and the more ample deliverance it affordâ— the greater is its praise and that which givâ— a peculiar lustre to both of these is when tâ—â— subject is brought into such a streight thâ—â— there is but one door at which its help câ—â— come in when there is no other possibâ—â— way of relief and then that affords it we aâ—â— therefore acquainted how all these circumstaâ—â—ces concentâ—ed in the case before us hoâ—â— miserable we were become how unworthâ— we had rendred our selves who indeed neveâ— had any meâ—â—torious worthiness in us may bâ— read in the word of God and that â—â—r condition was helpless if Christ had not stept in for our Succoâ—â— is there also witnessed to we aâ—â—â—old Acts 4. 12. Neither is there Salvation in 〈◊〉 â—ther for there is no other name under heaven giâ—â—â— amongst men whereby we must â—e Saved aâ—â— we have that remark Isa 59. 16. He saw that there was no man and he wondred that ther◠〈◊〉 â—o intercesâ—oâ—r therefore his arm brâ—â—â—ht salvation unto him c. This therefore is given as a great commendation of Christ Psal 7â— â—â— Hâ— shall deliver the poor â—nd him that hath â—◠〈◊〉 And God himself mentions this as a â—â—morable thing Ezek. 16. 5 6 None eye pitie ◠〈◊〉 and when I passed by thee and saw thâ—◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in thy blood I said unto thee live 5. Way was made unto tâ—â—s by that sin and â—â—â—â—â—ness that man had contracted to himself It is certain that the abounding of sin made the way for the abounding of this Grace Rom. 5. 20. Man indeed had he kept his priâ—itive integrity would have been a sâ—bject of Gods Grace every thing that he received from God would have been a free favour but Grace is wonderfully enlarged in and by the Salvation which is provided for and afforded to fallen and sinful man and as to Mercy in the strict sense of it man was not a subject â—â—xtly capable of it till sin had made him so he was not miserable nor was there any distress upon him which called for succour and compassion It was sin that hurled him into all his inconveniencies and those mischiefs that now ly upon him and have hiâ— in pursuit We are therefore acquainted hoâ— this came about Rom. 5. 12. By one man 〈◊〉 came into the world and death by sin 〈◊〉 now when man is brought into such a state he is a subject
fit for Grace and Mercy to work upon and erect to themselves trophies of honour and glory in doing for him by raising him out of that â—orlorn condition and bestowing upon him the contrary blessedness Not as if this miserable estate which man haâ—â— by his own folly brought himself into laid any obligation upon God to work for him iâ— this way for it indeed exposed him to his juâ—â— indignation but only that it laid open an Object that needed it and upon which if hâ— saw meet he might exert those Attributes of his to the highest and thereby bring to himself a Tribute of everlasting praise When therefore Paul had mentioned how notable a subject he had been of this he could not buâ— shut up the discourse of it with that Doxology 1 Tim. 1. 17. Now unto the King Eternalâ— Immortal Invisible the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen 6. There were divers steps to this all of which were ordered by the holy counsel of God Every thing that bears the consideration of a Medium to this great end must needs be acknowledged unto Gods fore appointment for all things fall out according to the counsel of his will and though he is not in any respect to be accounted the author of sin yet he is the Supream Orderer of it and that according to his permissive will Now there were such steps as these all of which made way for the introduction of this Grace and Mercy of his 1. The Creating of man Upright That God did so Create him we are told Eccles 7. 29. God made man uprightâ— Adam was Created in a state of integrity which consisted in the rectitude of his nature by vertue of the Concreated principle of Holiness and Righteousness which was put into it and was called Gods own Image after which man was made Geâ— 1. 26. c. And if he had not been thus made he could not have been capable of the following transactions that were betwixt God and him for to require that of a Creature which it was never in a capacity of complying withal had been unworthy of Gods infinite wisdom and altogether inconsistent with that Justice which God laid the foundation for in the nature and state that he Created man in 2. The Covenant of Works and the Sanctions of it That there was such a Covenant plighted with man the Word of God gives us sufficient intimations of and as it was requisite that man should be a cause by Counsel of his own actions or else he could not have been treated with in the way of a Coveâ—â—â— which supposeth a mutual â—â—ipulation betweeâ— the persons Covenanting so the works â—â—quired of him in that Covenant could 〈◊〉 have been performed by him according to the tenour of it without the moral rectitude of 〈◊〉 nature which we have taken notice of Noâ— in this Covenant there are considerable 〈◊〉 Sanctions of it but for which man could noâ— have been happy or miserable according to 〈◊〉 and his carriage of himself towards it Goâ— therefore besides a Rule which he gave 〈◊〉 man diâ—â—cting him how he might serve hiâ— aright annexed a promise of life in case 〈◊〉 Obedience full and perfect and threatneâ— him with death iâ—â—e should transgress the precept which is intimated in that Gen. â— 17. In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shaâ—â— surely dy and thus man under the first Covenant stood a probaâ—ioner for life or death according as he should behave himself 3. The permission of him to fall That maâ— did eventually fall from his Rule and Happiness is a thing very notorious That this 〈◊〉 was a foil on which God â—rew the lines and laid the colours oâ— his Grace and Mercy is no less observable in the Word of God hencâ— that Rom 5. 20 21. The Law entred that siâ— might abound but where sin abounded Graâ—â— did much more abound that as sin hath 〈◊〉 unto death even so might grace reign through righ teousness 〈◊〉 eternal life through Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 Lord. And that God had a respect unto 〈◊〉 in appointing Christ to be a Redeemer and Saviour is not to be doubted inasmuch 〈◊〉 this was the very thing from which he was â—o redeem and save us this therefore is said to commend that Grace Rom. 5. 8. God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were 〈◊〉 sinners Christ died for us God therefore must needs have a foresight of this Apostasy because the assignation of Christ to his Mediaâ—â—al Offices had a respect to it and that man had not â—allen but by Divine Permission is certain for God could have kept him from it without offering force to his free will as he did the glorious Angels that keep their Station as he doth the perfected Saints in Glory and as he doth true Believâ—rs in this life from final Apostasy and this Permission must needs flow from his will beâ—ause he is the Supream Governour of all Creatures and all their actions according to is holy pleasure Hence though God doth â—ot approve of but hateth sin yet he saw it â—ood for an higher end that there should â—e sin by his Permission 4 The miserable â—state to which he is reduced the fall by vertue of the Curse of the Law 〈◊〉 man had retained his uprightnâ—ss he had ever been miserable and so had not stood 〈◊〉 need of Mercy but all miseries are contained in that Curse which man is under by 〈◊〉 son of sin and uncleanness and they are 〈◊〉 other than what he must righteously suffer â— there be no way of delivery from them â— as much as he hath procured them to himself his sin Jer. 2. 17. Now this misery was a â—â—per result of the threatning conditionally 〈◊〉 â—aced in the first Covenant which the 〈◊〉 brought himself under by transgressing of â— Law which was so guarded 7. Hence if man had not by his sin and 〈◊〉 cleanness involved himself in that misery tâ—â— had been no occasion for this fountains being prâ—red and opened There was no Mediator in â— first Covenant neither needed there aâ— God and man were in aâ—ity and this frieâ—ship had been confirmed between them upâ— mans entire conformity to the will of Gâ—â— and been sealed up to him upon his eaâ—â— of the tree of life which was a Sacraâ—ent â— it But now when the Covenant was viâ—â—â—ed man was exposed the Curse was faâ— upon him he was a man of death there â— an opportunity for Gods shewing himself â—â—iful and gracious and for the display oâ—â— to send forth his Son to be a Saviour â— for that end to cause all fulness â—â— dwell in â— that might derive from him to the unâ—â— creature as from a Fountain And this â—â— to give us some light into the stupenâ— mystery of the Providence of God in â—â—ing of poor man to fall upon the Law and â—â—eak himself in pieces but for which the glorious things of Christ had never been heard of in