the free-woman was a freeman and the son of the bond-woman was a bond-man This the Apostle saith is not to be taken barely as the letter sounds and no more but there is something else meant then the words themselves do represent unto a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is continuata or perpetua Metaphora that is this is more then a bare historical narration but here the Holy Ghost had an intent to make these things in nature types and resemblances of something answerable in the work of grace And the mysterie is this the two mothers are types of the two Covenants the Covenant of works and of grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doctrina non est mater the two sons are a type of two sorts of men living in the Church the one proceeding from the first and the other from the second Covenant the one born after the flesh and the other born by promise the one regenerate and the other unregenerate mon. The condition of these sons answerable to the condition of their mothers the one bond and the other free that is all unregenerate men being the children of the first Covenant they are bond-men in a state of bondage for since the fall this mother hath ever gendâ—red to bondage that is who ever were begotten and born by this Doctrine they were alwaies in a state of bondage But all regenerate men that are born of the Covenant of grace and are under it they are free-men and in a state of freedom because born of a free mother for all a mans freedom or bondage doth flow from and depend upon the Covenant under which he stands Would you see an example of both these sons the bond and the free if you would see an example of Ismael the son of the bond-woman look upon Ierusalem that now is that is the people of the Jews as they then stood affected who did seek Justification by their own righteousness and expected eternal life by the works of the Law and therefore they being under the first Covenant which genders to bondage they were in bondage also see an example of Isaac the son of the free-woman look upon the Church planted by Christ and the Apostles in the dares of the Gospel which dare not stand upon the righteonsness of the Law for Justification but embrace the righteousness of Christ alone and trust perfectly in the grace that God hath revealed in his Son and this is called Ierusalem that is above as Heb. 12.22 because begotten from above and have above their conversation and of all free men all regenerate men this is acknowledged to be the mother and they sons of this Church in Ierusalem that is above Some Interpreters I know say that these two Covenants are not two in substance but that it is meant of the Covenant of grace diversly administred under the Old Testament and under the New in the one they were under Tutors and Governors and so in bondage till the time of liberty came that was appointed by the Father I confess that this bondage is also spoke of in the beginning of this Chapter v. 2 3 4. under the ceremonies of the Law the rudiments of the world and in comparison of the Ordinances and liberties of the Gospel beggerly Elements but here the Apostle cannot speak either that those sons or those mothers signifie the Covenant of grace diversly administred for these two reasons First he speaks of men under the Law as a Covenant under the same Covenant that Ismael was being as he was the son of the bond-woman that did seek Justification by the works of the Law according to the promise of this Covenant This do and live But the people of God under the Old Testament sons under Tutors and Governors in their minority and under the pedagogy of Moses did not seek to be Justified by the Law nor desire to be under it neither were they under the same Covenant that Ismael was therefore it cannot be meant of the sons of God under the Old Testament And this forceth Calvin to reject this interpretation and to say Calvin Fateor Paulum hic de talibus siliis non loqui therefore it is spoken of two distinct Covenants the Covenant of Ismael which was a Covenant of works and the Covenant of Isaac which was the Covenant of grace Secondly the Apostle speaks of such as being in the condition of Ismael were to expect no inheritance but to be cast out at last Cast out the bond-woman and her son vers 30. Now this is not true of those that were under the Covenant of grace under the Old Testament for though they were for a time under Tutors and Governors yet they were children of the free woman as well as we under the Gospel the Church of the first born written in Heaven Heb. 12.23 and therefore were to abide in the house for ever and though not without us yet together with us they were to be made perfect Hâ—b 1â— ult taking the two mothers therefore not for the Covenant of grace diversly administred but for the two several Covenants that God hath made with mankind the Covenant of works and the Covenant of grace the purpose of the Holy-Ghost here I will set down in these propositions worthy to be studyed and enquired into First there are two several Covenants that God hath made with mankind one of works before the fall and the other of grace which since the fall God hath established and revealed to the Church Secondly all those that live in the Church are the children of one of these Covenants that is they be under them for Abrahams family was a Type of the Church and there were two mothers and two sons All carnal unregenerate persons are scoffing I smaels are the children of Hagar they are under the first Covenant the Covenant of works all godly and regenerate men are the children of Sarah that is born of the promise and under the Covenant of grace Thirdly all the liberty and bondage that a man stands in proceeds from the Covenant under which he stands he that is born of the bond-woman whatever his pretences and priviledges be he is a bond-man and he that is born of the free-woman is a freeman Fourthly the Covenant of works though it was at first given as a Covenant of liberty and Adam under it was a free-man yet unto man fallen it is a Covenant of bondage and all unregenerate men that be under it are bond-men but on the contrary the Covenant of grace is a Covenant of freedom and they that are under it are free-men Fifthly to stand under the Covenant of works which genders to bondage is unto all unregenerate men a desirable condition they desire to be under the Law Sixthly the Law it self which God delivered upon Mount Sinai though God did publish it there with Evangelical purposes and had no intention to set it up as a Covenant of works but only as a hand-maid an appendix unto the
doth not at all agree with himself nay Bellarmine g Lib. 4. de Euch. c. 10. art 9. Non possumus ex Patrum sententiis aliquid certi colligere quando inter se non conveniunt saith thus We can gather no certainty out of the Opinions of the Fathers when as they themselves are not of one mind And Ioseph Scaliger h Lib 6. de Emend Temp. sed cum delectu ejus scripta legenda esse non dubitabit quisquis attentius legit quam ipse Scripta veterum speaking of the most learned Eusebius passeth this sentence without doubt a choice is to be made in the reading of him But I am very much mistaken if this our Author may not pass without any such censures and may be read now in print as he might have been heard when he was in the Pulpit without such proviso's and cautions as are usually given in reading of many of the Ancients That which made his Sermons pass with so great approbation of the most judicious hearers when he was alive and will be a passport to his writings though posthumous was he did follow the advice of the Apostle Paul to Tim. 2 ep 2.15 he did study to shew himself approved to God a workman that need not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth he made preaching his work and business he did not go to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but he counted it his greatest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work God gave him to do as Christ speaks John 17.4 He was of Melancthons mind who had wont to i Tres laboreâ— esse difficillimos Regentis Docentis Parturientis say Three sorts of labour are most difficult that of a Governour of a Teacher and of a Woman in travel He was often in travel to be delivered of his Sermons and he made that good qui alios docere velit suo sudore Auditores irrigare contendat An instructor ought to spend himself upon his Auditory He was so much taken up in this work that to my knowledge he was often in watchings a great part of the night besides his pains in his day-studies What Seneca reports k Epist 8. Nuâ—lus miâ—… per otium dies exit partem noctium studiis vendico non vaco somno sed succumbo oculos vigilia fatigatos cadentesque in opere detineo of himself may be affirmed of this our Author I spend all the day and much of the night in study not setting my self to sleep but only falling into it and he goes on and l Volupâ—atiâ— somâ—… vitae deâ—…xerunt summâ— Illi Viri quod nobis impenderunt posteris natâ— occupati adds Great men of old bestowed the best part of their life upon us as if born for posterity But besides that very great diligence and travel of head and heart and that intempestivum pertinax studium that he laid out in his Sermons he had a special faculty of keeping close to his Text and business in hand which as it is very requisite in a Preacher so it is very advantagious to commend a discourse to the most judicious car What Plinius secundus m â—ciâ—t si materiae immoratur non esse longum longissimum si aliquid accersit atque attrahit Vides quot versibus Homerus quot Virgilius arma hic Aeneae Achillis ille describat brevis tamen uterque est quia facit quod instituit said to Apollinaris in his Epistle to him concerning a Writer is true of a Preacher that he should often veiw his title I say his Text That which did surther ther contribute to his excellency in preaching was his skill which he had and his deep insight into the mysterie of Godlinâ—ss and the Doctrine of the free Grace of God and as to the mysterie of Iniquity within us he was well studied in the souls Anatomy and could dextrously dissect the old man Then there is the mysterie of Iniquity without us of Satan and Antichrist which he understood very well and by his knowledge in these mysteries he was able to advance the Kingdom and Honour of our Lord Christ in the hearts and lives of his Hearers and to discover the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rev. 2.24 Satans depths and to disappoint his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 2.11 His plots and devices as also to unvail the Whore of Babylon and to render her vile and contemptible in the eyes of all There was one thing more which did add very much unto him and to his labours in preaching and make him successful in clearing many dark places and searching further into the deep Mines of the Word and piercing into the secret Oracles of God and that was his constant recourse to the Originals in which he had good skill By these means he went beyond most of his brethren in the work of the Ministry so that his Sermons had always something above the rdi nary reach and pitch a certain strain which did sapere saeculi sui foelicitatem answering the advantages and happiness of the age in which he lived which was more then Casaubon could say of n Exercit. 34. in Baron Vulgatâ— sunt in his nihi quod saeculi sul foelicitatem sapâ—at Baronius his Annals The want of some or any of these Particulars render Preachers very lame and their Sermons thin and lean of many of which it may be said as of Anaximenes when he began to speak that there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a flood of words a drop of sense and in like manner Clem. Alexandrinus complains of such that they utter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a flood of insignificant words Such Preachers multa locuti parum dixisse videntur talk much and say little There was so great weight both of words and sense in this our reverend Authors Sermons and so much of worth that they did appear as good upon a narrow disquisition as they did seem to be when they were delivered whereas the Sermons of many are like the Orations of o Cujuâ— cùm in dicendo copla speciesque aurâ—bus plaâ—…eâ— oculorum judicio spernebatur multumque legentibus desideratum qâ—…d audlentibus placuisset Hortensius Many tickle the fancy whilst plausibly and with some Pomp and Ostenation delivered but being scann'd by a severer repetition they prove to have been vox praeterea nihil they vanish into a notion or nothing The ignorance or at least the not so clear knowledge of the Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace Gods rich and free Grace in the business of our salvation was the cause anciently and is still of many errours in the Church The Author of these Sermons had arrived to an excellency and height in this doctrine beyond the most that ever I read or knew Had he lived to have perfected his labours about the Covenant of grace I presume I may say they had surpassed all that went before Herein
stronger then he comes but when the time comes that is appointed by the Father that the soul shall be actually given unto Christ who was in his purpose and in his covenant given to him before the world was for there was grace given us in Christ before the world began 2 Tim. 1.9 Now he sends forth the spirit of his son into their hearts and he takes possession of them for the Lord and the strong man that formerly kept the house is cast out that he that was before the devils house he is now the Temple of the Holy ghost and the habitation of God through the spirit now there are none for whom the house in heaven is prepared but they that have been the habitation of God here none shal dwell with God hereafter in whom the Spirit did not dwell here the same spirit that as a spirit of holiness dwels in them here it is the same spirit that is in them as a spirit of adoption and glory hereafter therefore the great change in a man the first change as the first fruit of electing love is in the receiving of another spirit and that is only in regeneration then is the spirit of Christ sent forth into the hearts of the Saints Secondly in regeneration a man receives a new Principle for by nature a man hath not in him a Principle of communion with God or of obedience to him Ioh 3.6 that is Christs Reason That which is born of the flesh is flesh it is wholly corrupt and that by which the soul is no way fitted to walk with God therefore marvell not that I say unto you that thou must be born again grace is a new creature 2 Cor. 5.17 Eph. 2.10 We are created in Christ to good works it is a new man an inward man and it is from this created infused habit that all holy actions flow let a mans duties be never so many and his outward behaviour be never so Saint like if it doth not flow from a new man an inward man it can no ways please God or be accepted of him it s a Law written in the heart spiritually enlightning the understanding and effectually determining the will unto Objects spiritual and supernaturally good and before this be wrought in a man there are no duties that are looked upon as duties by him Behold he prays Acts 9. saith the Lord to Ananias concerning Paul he was a Pharisee and they were much in prayer but it was never looked upon and reckoned as a prayer by God till he had a new principle a new man for the Lord looks to the heart that is he sees actions in their principles men can judge of principles only by their actions but God doth judge of actions according to the principles from whence they flow The tree must be good or else to God the fruit can never be good but as the apples of Sodom they must be good things that must be brought forth from an inward Treasury And take a godly man that is converted when he doth not stir up the grace of God that he hath received acts it in duty he doth perform it but barely as a natural man and it doth not stand upon account before God as a duty no further then there is an exercise of the regenerate part is any service accepted of God for it is the good work that is begun in us that the Lord will perfect Phil. 1.6 therefore grace is a good work in us a principle in the soul fitting it for service and communion and it is this that is ordained unto perfection in glory If there be not a new principle a good work begun never look to have it perfected in the day of the Lord. I see I am much prevented I shall but touch the rest Secondly Let us look upon holiness quoad incrementum and so it s commonly called in Scripture Sanctification that is the growth and improvement of that seed and those principles that were wrought in a man at his first conversion 2 Pet. 3 18. Grow in grace 2 Pet. 1.5 Add to your faith vertue non quoad habitum sed actum gradum add to the acts and thereby add to the degrees of the habit for acts do perfect habits And Col. 1.12 it is not barely the having of grace that is required unto Salvation but it is the growth of it and the improvement of it that a man may be made meet for glory I say growth in grace is a duty that is of necessity to Salvation as well as truth in grace where God gives light and means I speak not now of Infants or such as dye as soon as they are converted Col. 1.12 We are made meet Inheriters with the Satuts in light There is a double right that the Saints have to heaven First Jus haereditarium an hereditary right and that is at Regenration when they are put into Christ and so are made Coheirs with him of his inheritance having grace begun in them the same Image of God which shall be perfected in glory and was given as a principle ordained to such a perfection Secondly Jus aptitudinarium and that is a right of fitness whereby we are qualified to receive such a mercy and that is as an heir hath a right of Inheritance in his nonage but he hath not a right of fitness till he comes to years and be able to manage his Estate when he hath received it And there is required in the Saints as well a right of fitness unto Heaven as a right of inheritance without which I may say after a sort they cannot be saved and that upon a double ground First there is no grace that is ordained unto glory but growing grace and if grace be true there is a natural tendency in it unto growth as there is in seed that is cast into the earth and so much the more because they are planted by the rivers of water the Trees of righteousness they grow upon the bank of the River Ezek. 47.10 They shall grow as Willows they shall grow as Calves of the stall Mal. 4.2 There is a great measure of growth promised unto them and if true grace be necessary to salvation then growth of grace must be for there is no true grace but growing grace and there is no grace that shall come to Heaven else I forget that which is behind not that I have already attained Grace is not only donum but depositum and it must be improved it is a Talent that more must be gained by by Trading c. it is a spark from Heaven that will never cease aspiring till it be joyned with the flame of glory Eternal in the Heavens Secondly there is a pitch of grace that the Lord hath appointed unto his People that they shall fill up whilest they live here before they be translated unto glory there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 4.13 A fulness of the age of the stature of Christ a
electing love the Lord hath separated unto himself the man that is Godly Psal 4.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is in the Hebrew he hath gloriously and miraculously wonderfully separated to himself into fellowship not only to himself for service but to himself for communion and what is the ground because you are predestinated unto followship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Beloved when you all fell from God as well as the Apostate Angels might not the Lord have left you in the same condition with them and your doom should have been cursed and therefore cursed because you must depart but if the Lord had been pleased to have been reconciled if he had said to you as David did concerning Absolom bring the young man home but let him returne to his own house and let him never see my face if the Lord should have said I will not remember their evil against them to destroy them but they shall never see my face more they shall be estranged to me for ever you would have said this had been a mercie even your preservation but this doth not satisfie Electing love there is a double end that electing-love aims at 2 Luke 14. it is peace and good will not only Reconciliation but Communion that God may take the creature into fellowship with himself and empty himself as I may so speak with reverence into the bosom of the creature Be pleased now to consider you may then draw neer to God upon this ground of Gods electing love Secondly you may draw neer to God grounded upon the nature of the Covenant of grace under which you stand My Beloved God deals with all mankind in a Covenant-way and according unto the Covenant under which he standeth so are all Gods dispensations towards him and to that end the Lord hath made a double Covenant with a double head The first Covenant was made with the first Adam the second Covenant with the second Adam and therefore God looks upon all mankind as if there were but two men in the world 1 Cor. 15.47 The first man was of the earth earthly the second man is the Lord from Heaven Heavenly God looks upon all mankind as coming under these two heads the first Adam and the second Adam Now the Covenant of grace which the Lord hath established it hath a double propertie First it is faedus amicitiae a Covenant of friendship the Lord doth take Abram as his friend Abram my friend James 2.23 Now the School-men tell us of two sorts of relations relatio disquiparantiae connotat dominium that notes subjection and dominion as between a King and a subject a master and a servant there is not so properly communion and relatio aequiparantiae quae denotat Communionem now the proper end of friendship is fellowship for a mans friend is as his own soul and the Covenant of grace is a Covenant of fellowship therefore they may draw neer unto him being taken by God into a Covenant of friendship 2ly the Covenant of grace is a matrimonial Covenant faedus Conjugale I betrothed her in Hos 2.9 you knowin this is the neerest Communion the surest oneness in this relation beyond al other in the world the greatest friendship by vertue of an Ordinance two made one One that was heretofore a stranger shall be dearer then Father or Mother and this voluntary relation by consent shall by vertue of the Ordinance of God be more powerful then a natural relation and a man shall leave Father and Mother and cleave to his wife and if there be this power in an Ordinance of God that is but civil what efficacy shall divine Ordinances and this spiritual Covenant have Surely thou shall lie in his bosom and have the more intimate and full communion with him for ever Now when the Lord will set forth the neer Communion that his people may have with him by this Covenant this he calls a Matrimonial Covenant Thirdly you may draw neer to God grounded upon your union with the Lord Jesus Christ The Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 6.17 that he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit and by that Spriit we have access to the Father Eph. 3.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apostle tells that our way to God is through him we have by Jesus Christ our manuduction he is the great Favourite that leads us in by the hand into the presence of the Father Eph. 2.18 through him we have an entrance to the Father by one Spirit Christ is not only medium reconciliationis but he is medium communionis also by his satisfaction the one by his intercession the other Jesus Christ my Beloved hath a double reference to us in the work of satisfaction he is the means of Reconciliation but in all our approaches unto God being reconciled Christ is the medium he it is by whom we have Communion with the Lord. Besides In the fourth place you may draw neer to God because of your conformity to him for we are made partakers of the divine nature 1 Pet. 1.4 and we live the life of God Eph. 4.18 and we have his Image restored 1 Cor. 15.49 Conformity is the ground of communion wheresoever it is Joh. 3.6 and the more Conformity the more Communion we have and when your Conformity shall be perfected so shall your communion be Take that place and it is a choice Scripture in that Zach. 3.7 If thou wilt obey my words keep my charge I will give thee places to walk in among those that stand by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inter stantes illos who are these Those interpreters conceive to be Angels So Drusius Post mortem anima tua in chorum recipietur c. the Angels and the Saints they are taken into neerest communion So Calvin so that the more Conformity there is the more a man obeyeth God and the more he keepeth Gods charges the more the Lord will delight to give him places to walk in amongst those that stand by Nay In the fifth place you may draw neer to God for though God be in Heaven you may ascend and the soul may be above in Heaven when the body is walking here below there is a double way of the souls assent either in contemplation or affection In contemplation the soul may ascend John in Rev. 4. said I saw a door opened in Heaven and a voice said Come up hither John in his body ascended not but John in contemplation of his heart was above Col. 3 4. A man is worth as much as his love is worth Ezekiel when he was in Babylon by the River Chebar yet he saith the Spirit of God carried him in the visions of God to Ierusalem Ezek. 8.3 in his contemplation at Ierusalem and yet notwithstanding in his body in Babylon by the River Chebar And the soul may ascend in its affection Mat. 6.21 Where a mans treasure is there will his heart be and surely where a mans heart is there is his happiness
And this Inheritance is as full and large as could be desired for it is all things Rev. 21.7 He that ouercomes shall inherit all things All things are yours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our gifts are benefits given for your good It 's said of Christ Psalm 86. That God hath put all things under his feet that is hath given all things into his power and dominion In potestate tradere so as all shall be his servants at his command and their utmost end shall be his glory and so he hath put all things under the feet of the Saints they are all subjected to them as their servants so that the highest end next unto the glory of Christ is for their good All things shall work together for their good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First all things are for their use 2 Cor. 6.10 As having nothing and yet possessing all things So that though the Saints do not ingross all things unto themselves by way of a Monopoly yet as far as their necessity shall require they may expect the use and the service of them all so that whatsoever extraordinary experiment any of the antient Saints have had of the service of the creatures when they have needed them that they also may expect as their exigencies and necessities shall require The Heavens to rain bread and Rocks to give water and the Sun to stand still and the Moon to go badk for the Saints are the Lords of all the creatures and all things shall be for their use because they have an interest in him that is the Lord of Hosts Fidelibus est totus mundus Aug. Secondly all things are the Saints for their comfort and they can tast a goodness and a sweetness in them all 1 Tim. 6.17 He gives us all things richly to enjoy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And indeed in this respect we must onely mundo uti frui Deo for he is onely to be the rest and delight of the soul So the Schoolmen tell us fruitio est finis In the utmost end attain'd we have the greatest comfort that a soul can be capable of it is noblissima voluntatis actio and so as Heb. 11.25 Injoy the pleasures of sin Other pleasures enjoyed become pleasures of sin all creatures enjoy'd become the baits and the snares to sin but here fruition as one hath well observed signifies nothing else but cum laetitia rem aliquam perci pere and so God hath given a godly man the creatures and all things that he may take comfort in them And this is the Saints portion that they may have all these things as a Viaticum in their way to heaven Though their happiness lyes not in these things these things are not the peculiar gifts of God to them even unregenerate men may have the creatures For God gives the Kingdoms of the earth to the basest of men but they have no comfort in them they have only the sting the gall and the wormwood that is in them all his dayes he eats his meat in darkness Eccles And he hath sorrow with his dainties Thirdly a godly man hath a spiritual fruit and benefit by them all of them tend to his blessing and to the prosperity of his inward man They are scala caeli and the soul climbs to heaven by them as it 's said of King Jehoshahat 2 Chron. 17.5,6 he had riches and honour in abundance and his heart was encouraged in the wayes of the Lord c. whereas to other men their Table becomes a snare to their soul it 's to them as lime to their wings that they cannot ascend up to heaven They are pondus the weight that keeps the soul groveling here below There 's a double evil befallen the creatures since that curse came upon them Gen. 3.17 it 's deceiving and it's defiling 1. They deceive they are themselves empty yet raise mens expectations from them He that depends on them seeds on ashes Isa 44.20 and comes under the Serpents curse Dust shalt thou eat and when he depends most thereon is as he that worshippeth an Idol who hath a lye in his right hand 2. They defile Tit. 1.15 to the unclean all things are unclean Now in the covenant that the Lord made with the creatures Hos 2.19,20 c. God promises not onely that they shall not be hurting but that they shall not be poluting to the soules of the people of God Grace shall make advantage by them all and they shal all of them work together unto a mans spiritual good that the soul shal shine prosper by them Fourthly they shall all of them have an influence into eternity and all of them shall adde to a mans eternal account and a man shall have the fruit of them in his eternal inheritance A man makes friends of the unrighteous Mammon and therein makes himself bags that wax not old Luk. 12.23 and thereby lays up a good foundation for time to come that he may lay hold of eternal life for we are but Stewards of what we enjoy and we must one day give an account answerable to the improvement of those Talents committed to us by God such will our honour be at the last thou hast been faithful in the Mammon of unrighteousness and therefore the Lord will not fail to give unto thee the true Treasure Secondly the Tenure is ye are Christs for we hold all in Capite all by virtue of Union Omnes communio fundatur in unione our communion with him is in his graces in his priviledges in his victories in his sufferings in his inheritance c. But what 's the ground of it It 's from our union It 's the highest glory of a man next the glory of God that such a glorious creature as a woman should be made for his comfort and service for the man was not created for the woman but the woman for the man So the highest glory of God is Christ as God-Man that he should become subject to him That he that was the Lord of the Law should be made under the Law he that was God equal with the Fother 2 Cor. 11.3,4 and thought it no robbery so to be So Christ holds his right to all things from God and we hold ours from Christ by vertue of union with him There is a double dominion There is dominium politicum and that is grounded upon the providential Kingdom that Christ as the Lord hath bestowed upon him by God all the services of the creatures for he hath bought all the creatures even all the world of God not onely the Saints but ungodly men also for there are some deny the Lord that bought them But he buyes them not all alike but some as servants others as sonnes some their persons and others their services onely and as servants he doth give unto them a reward and they have a right to it but it s onely a right of Providence as they are servants But now there
a state of Nature are under a Covenant of works for though this Covenant were broken in the fall yet it was not abolished but stands in force still unto all unregenerate men to the end of the world its true that being become weak through the flesh it can give life no more Rom. 8â—3 but it commands duty as perfectly as it did unto Adam in the state of innocency and so far as a man falls short of perfect and personal obedience so far he sins and it threatens a Curse as dreadfully now as it did in the state of innocence and it is by vertue of this Covenant that sin is bound upon the Consciences of ungodly men for ever and by vertue of this Covenant the Curse comes upon them in this life in a degree and hereafter in the perfection thereof Neither is that Arminian Doctrine to be received Lex prima cessabat primo foedere rupto per inobedientiam primi hominis that men being constituted under the Curse the first Covenant being broken all the debt of legal obedience which the creatures did owe unto God did immediately cease for then there should have been no sin after the first sin for if the Law ceased there could be no transgression neither is it any way answerable unto Reason or Scripture that because man had lost his ability to obey therefore God should lose his authority to command Now in the first Covenant God dealt with man by way of retaliation Gen. 4.7 if thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted the best services must needs be rejected for the least fayling therefore in the creatures departing from God he will also depart from him and by the terms of the Covenant he is bound if they forsake him he must also forsake them his Justice and truth do bind him unto it and according to that Covenant it is bonum ex integro constat malum ex quolibet defectu 2 There are some men in a state of Grace and the change of their estate depends upon the change of their Covenant such a mans state is as is his Covenant under which he stands He that is in a state of Grace is therefore translated into the Covenant of Grace and then all the dealings of God with him are answerable unto the tenor of the same Covenant and this Covenant is an everlasting Covenant for he will write the law in their hearts and put his fear so into them that they shall not depart from him Jer. 32.20 and therefore he will never forsake them utterly for he hath said he will never turn away from them to do them good We are far from that Doctrine as to conclude from hence that the interchange of members between Christ and Satan is frequent and ordinary and that as Christ takes members from Satan so doth Satan also take members from Christ that a man may be a member of Christ to day and a child of the devil to morrow now in a state of Grace and by by in a state of sin beloved of God to day forsaken of God to morrow for we read that whom he loved once he loved unto the end for he loves them not with a temporal but with an everlasting love and as in reference unto a mans eternal condition there is a gulf fixed which notes Calv. aeternitatem status so there is in reference to the change of a mans Covenant a gulf fixed and it is as possible for the creature to pass from Heaven to hell as it is for a man according to the rules of the word of God who is under the Covenant of Grace to pass afterward or ever to return into the Covenant of works yet under the second Covenant though there be not a final forsaking yet there may be a real and a gradual desertion as well as affliction is compatible with the state of a son I will visit their offences with the rod but my loving kindness I will never take from them nor suffer my faithfulness to fail I was wroth and smote him and hid my face c. my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone c. and there is a real displeasure though it be Cant. 5. Ira paterna non hostilis and there is a desertion not onely in point of consolation but in point of sanctification also that when a man comes to resist sin or to perform duty he shall not finde the same presence nor the same assistance that he formerly had men may go forth in the strength of Grace received and they may with Samson think to do as in times past but if they turn aside from the Lord they shall finde that the Lord is departed from them for it is not being in a state of Grace that carries the actual presence of God with a man but it is acting those graces that he has received and walking answerable unto that estate Joh. 14.23 If a man love me and keep my words my father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him he will love him we cannot love him unless he love us first there is a love of benevolence which begins in God and hath respect unto nothing in the creature but there is a Love of complacence which though it flow from free Grace yet it is acted answerable unto the Image of God in the creature and as the creature walks with God and is serviceable unto his great ends there is a presence of God with us answerable to our care of keeping Communion with him if a Godly Magistrate shall with Solomon have his heart departing from the Lord though the Lord have appeared to him twice and hath given him formerly very gracious and signal testimonies of his presence with him if he shall turn aside unto crooked ways he will surely fail of his former presence and assistance in his Government a mans right Arm will wither and his right eye will be put out he shall neither have that wisdom in his Government neither shall he have that Authority and ruling power in the hearts of the people and the reason is because God is not with him as in times past but he having forsaken God he is forsaken of God and if a Godly man whose soul is become an habitation of God through the spirit shall now forsake the fountain of living waters and shall dig to himself broken Cisterns shall let his heart go out to the Creatures and shall forget the Lord and his heart sit loose from him he shall finde that the Lord will withdraw himself that he shall not have that assistance in services nor that comfortable and fruitful presence in all his ways but he shall in a measure walk without God in the world even as the men of the world do and if a state that have had a glorious presence of God with them that the Lord hath made bare his Arm in the sight of the Nations so that the fear of them hath
Covenant of grace and therefore the Apostle saith whereto serves the Law if it were not set forth as a Covenant by which man should attain life Gal. 3.19 he answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was added or put to not set up by it self alone as a distinct Covenant but added as a hand-maid to advance the glory and to further the ends of the second Covenant yet even this Law unregenerate men in the Church make unto themselves to be nothing else but a Covenant of works and so though it were not given for bondage yet in them it genders unto bondage Seventhly no man can stand under both Covenants no more then he can be born of two mothers he that is born of Hagar cannot be naturally the Son of Sarah and therefore if a man be under the first Covenant there must be a translation and that supernatural or else a man can never be a son of the free-woman can never be under the second Covenant Doctrine All unregenerate men men in a state of nature wherein they were born are all under the first Covenant the Covenant of works they be all the sons of Hagar the bond-woman Ismael is a Type of all unregenerate men A Covenant is a mutual agreement between two voluntarily binding themselves upon certain conditions each to other Man is bound unto God by a double bond First by the bond of Creation Secondly by the bond of stipulation the one natural and the other voluntary that so the Lord may bind the creature to him by all imaginable ingagements to prevent future apostacy for the Lord knows our frame and whereof we were made by the former we are only bound unto God but by the latter God also is bound unto us and as before I said he did it to engage the creature so he doth this to encourage the creature to obedience The Lord hath as Creator absolute and unlimited authority and therefore might have commanded duty without reward for when we have done all that is commanded we are but unprofitable servants or if he had intended a reward he might have reserved that unto himself and have told the creature you shall trust unto me if I think fit I will reward you but however I will be free But the Lord doth not but that man might not think much to be bound unto obedience God himself is pleased to be bound to recompence Hast thou served God for nought Now this agreement between God and man is twofold answerable unto the two-fold state of man First in the state of integrity God made with man a Covenant expressing mans duty and promising a reward unto his obedience and this was faedus amicitiae because God and man were not at variance like that between David and Jonathan for the confirmation of their mutual loves Secondly in a state of corruption after the fall God entred into a new Covenant to take man into friendship again after God and man had by sin been set at variance and this was faedus misericordiae a Covenant of reconciliation Thirdly these two Covenants were made with two several heads with the first and with the second Adam for under these all mankind are included and in them the Lord looks upon the whole nature of man therefore the Apostle speaks as if there were but two men in the world 1 Cor. 15.47 the first man and the second man because they are as the two common heads of all mankind The first Covenant was made with the first Adam Gen. 2.9 God gave Adam all the Trees of the Garden for meat but one was given as pabulum animae called therefore non ab effectu the tree of life not because of any natural power in it either to beget or continue life but à significatione quâ erat Sacramentum Symbolum vitae as a sign signifying as a seal ratifying and confirming to him the assurance of that life which God had promised unto his obedience Now this was not a seal set to a blank therefore it must needs be given upon supposition and for confirmation of a fore-going Covenant The second Covenant was made with the second Adam he saith not unto seeds as speaking of many but unto one which is Christ Gal 3.16,19 he is called the seed unto whom the promise and with whom the Covenant was made for as Adam was Caput cum faedere so is Christ also therefore the Lord promiseth that he will give him as a Covenant to the Nations Isa 4.2,6 for in this Adam was a Type of him that was to come Rom. 5.14 Thirdly the first Covenant was a Covenant of works so called from the condition of the Covenant which did require personal and perfect obedience this do and thou shalt live Ezek. 20.13 and that under a penalty of a curse for the least deviation cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the book of the Law to do them Gal. 3.10 Fourthly this Covenant was made not only with Adam but with the whole nature of man in him for Adam was a publike person a representative head and the tree of life was not a personal Sacrament but a natural which did belong unto the nature and therefore the Covenant was made with the nature and not with any particular person only which doth appear plainly because the Covenant being broken the curse of the Covenant doth seise upon the nature Gal. 3.10 for the duty of the Covenant must needs be as large as the curse of the Covenant therefore upon whomsoever the curse doth come unto them the duty did belong and none were bound unto the obedience of the Covenant but they that were foederati persons with whom the Covenant was made Fifthly this Covenant is not abolished by the fall but remains and stands in force Not to give life and salvation that indeed it cannot do because it is become weak through the flesh Rom. 8.3 but it commands duty now as perfectly as it did of Adam and that must be personal and perfect obedience And if a man fail in the least degree it threatens the curse also God speaks unto Cain according to the tenure of this Covenant after the fall Gen. 4.7 if thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted c. It is by vertue of this Covenant that the curse comes upon men here in a degree and in perfection hereafter there is no reason that because we have lost power to obey therefore God should lose his power to command Sixthly Lastly all unregenerate men since the fall do stand under this Covenant with the Lord it must needs follow from the principles already laid for if this Covenant were made with Adam with the whole nature of man and if it stand in force since the fall then wheresoever the nature of man is because every man is a Son of the first Adam he must needs become bound unto the terms and condition of this Covenant for it was made with the nature of man and
therefore it must be universal yet that since the fall all unregenerate men are under this Covenant I will further prove it by these Arguments First it will appear from the conveyance of the guilt of Adams sin Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin so death came upon all because sin came upon all how so seeing there be many dye that do never sin The Apostle answers though they have never sinned in their own persons yet in him as a publike person they did sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom all have sinned we were all in him and therefore we all sinned in him now how were men in Adam they were in him two waies First legally by vertue of the Covenant which God made with him we were parties therein we were as well bound to the duty had as true an interest in the mercy and life promised and were as liable unto the curse that should follow upon the breach of the Covenant as he and therefore all mankind fell at once The Covenant it seems that God made with the Angels he did not make it with the whole Angelical nature and therefore some of them fell and others stood but ours being made with the whole humane nature and we being all involved in one Covenant when in Adam our Covenant was broken we all fell in him and therefore speaking of this Covenant Saint Chrysostom tells us Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hand writing of Adams Covenant was ours as truly as it was his Secondly naturally and so we bear the Image of the earthly receiving from him the same nature that he had 1 Cor. 15.49 if he had stood he had conveyed unto us an undefiled nature and we have from him a corrupt nature by the fall so that whatever is born of the flesh is flesh Joh. 3.6 now seeing his sin is conveyed unto us because we stood under the same Covenant with him it must needs follow that so long as a man stands guilty of Adams sin so long he stands under Adams Covenant and that must needs be till this sin be done away in Christ Secondly to be freed from the Law as a Covenant of works is in Scripture made a special favour vouchsafed unto none but them that are in Christ Rom. 6.14 we are not under the Law but under grace Rom. 7.1,2,3 the Law is brought in as a dead husband that hath command over a man no more but it is Christ that cancels this hand-writing Col. 2.14 it is a liberty wherein Christ hath made us free Gal. 5.1 Now how hath Christ made us free from the Law how is it done and how are we not under the Law the Law hath in Scripture divers uses Est instar Paedagogi regulae fraeni speculi now in all these respects believers are under the Law it is not a hand-writing cancelled in either of them but sub ratione pacti so they that are in Christ are not under the Law but under grace that is either for righteousness or life for Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth Rom. 10 4. If none are freed from the Law as a Covenant but they that are in Christ then all unregenerate men who are without Christ they stand under the Law as a Coevnant still Thirdly God deals with all unregenerate men according to the terms of the first Covenant for God deals with and dispenseth himself unto men according unto the Covenant under which they stand and therefore we shall find the dealing with those and with believers is exceeding different according as they stand under different Covenants First he expects perfect obedience in their own persons indeed the Lord requires perfect obedience still and wherein we come short in the least degree we sin but yet because the perfection is not to be found in us it is made up in the second Adam in the obedience of the beloved for there is commutatio personae but not Justitiae but this is not vouchsafed unto any unregenerate man neither a change of his righte ousness it must be perfect nor of his person for it must be personal righteousness for this Covenant admits no Mediator so that of all the obedience of Christ not any goes to perfect their obedience and of all his sufferings not a drop of his blood goes to take away one of their sins off the score for they are without Christ Eph. 2.12 and it is in him alone that God is well pleased Math. 3.17 Secondly he rejects their most glorious works for the least failing in them See it in Jehu 2 King 10.30 God saith of him He had diligently executed what was right in mine eyes and hath done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart and yet in Hos 1.4 he saith I will visit the blood of Iezreel on the house of Jehu and in them Isa 1,11,12 though they were things commended by God yet he abhors them if thou dost evil sin lies at thy door Gen. 4.7 whereas it is not so with them that are under the Covenant of grace I perswade my self many of their works are rewarded that have had if you look upon the thing it self as great imperfections as there have been in those works that unregenerate men have been punished for if there be a willing mind though the work be not answerable yet it shall be accepted 2 Cor. 8.12 and the good Lord will pardon a man though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary 2 Chron. 30.18,19 Thirdly he hates their persons for their works sake Gen. 4.7 if thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted the person 's cursed for the works sake Gal. 3.10 but under the new Covenant it is the love of the persons that makes their Services be accepted Abels offering was offered with sin as well as Cains yet Gen. 4.4 God had respect to Abel and then to his offering but he respected not Cains offering because he had no respect unto his person the weakness of Abels person made not his services rejected but so it did Cains God is angry indeed at the sins of the one but there is ira simplex ira redundans in personam he doth never hate their persons when he is angry with their works but he deals with the wicked under the first Covenant hates their services for their persons sake Fourthly all things are turned into a curse to them that are under the first Covenant for this Covenant deserves nothing for the breakers thereof but the curse Gen. 2.17 and they are cursed in the Basket and in the store Deut. 28.7 their Table made a snare Psal 69.22 curse their blessings Mal. 2.2 That Covenant being broken brings forth death And these temporal Judgements are but the praeludia judicii futuri but under the Covenant of grace unto them all things are turned into a blessing Rom. 8.28 all things work
make the first Covenant which God made with Adam vile in your eyes For first it was a great favour that God would be pleased to make a Covenant with the creature for we did owe him service though he had never promised a reward Secondly the person with whom this Covenant was made was the most excellent of any meer man never any so full of perfections as he so fit to be head and so likely to convey grace unto us as Adam was and therefore the Lord made the best choice for us for the establishing of this Covenant for had we our selves been to chuse seeing his perfections we would rather have put the keeping of our happiness into his hands then have kept it in our own Thirdly there were great things promised by this Covenant Gen. 2.9 all the good things of this life and eternal happiness with God in the life to come Fourthly it was the same Covenant that God made with the best of the creatures even the glorious Angels they stood by it and owe their happiness to it at this day which appears by Gods dealing with the Angels that fell he cast them off for one transgression Jude 6. and they that stood stood by vertue of the same Covenant which they broke that fell and by vertue of that Covenant being now confirmed in their estate they daily behold the face of your Father which is in Heaven Fifthly to put an end to all it is the same Covenant that the Lord Christ himself stood under for he was made under the Law Gal. 4.4 that is not only the Ceremonial and Judicial Law as a Jew but as a man also under the moral Law Gal. 4.4 being bound to his obedience and to suffer the curse thereof for he was our surety Heb. 7.22 and the surety is bound in the same bond with the principal and therefore he was made a curse for us which is the proper fruit of the Law as a Covenant of works Gal. 3.13 in all these respects it was a glorious Covenant But men should be awakened to seek to be translated whether we look upon this Covenant and mans standing under it in his state of innocency or in the state of sin First in the state of innocency so if he had stood he might well have desired to have been translâ—ted out of this Covenant if we consider it and compare it with the Covenant of grace Secondly this was a Covenant made with a mutable head Adam though he were an excellent creature yet he was but a creature and it is true of all men that they were given to change Prov. 24.21 now for a man to have all his happiness inbarked in a creature daily subject unto change must needs imply an imperfection in their condition but the Covenant of grace is made with Christ an unchangable head and therefore because he lives we shall live also Ioh. 14.19 Thirdly the Covenant it self was a changeable Covenant and therefore by reason of sin there is a change thereof unto all that believe and the Lord hath introduced a second and a better Covenant but the Covenant of grace is an everlasting Covenant Gen. 17.7 a sure Covenant 2 Sam. 23.1,2 so that nothing can arise de novo to disannul it Fourthly the promises of this Covenant were far in feriour unto those in the Covenant of grace it is a Covenant established upon better promises Heb. 8.6 in this indeed God did promise life here and hereafter but he did not promise I will be thy God I will give thee my Son and I will give thee my Spirit I will be thy God that is all the Attributes that be in me shall be as truly thine for thy good as they be mine for my own glory thou shalt have my wisdom to direct thee my power to protect thee if thou sin thou shalt have my mercy to pardon my grace to rule and my glory to crown thee Fifthly the righteousness of this Covenant was a far less glorious righteousness for it should have been the works of righteousness that we had done Tit. 3.5 but the righteousness of a creature but the righteousness of the second Covenant is the righteousness of God himself 2 Cor. 5.21 not the essential righteousness of God but a righteousness answerable unto the Law unto which the God-head gave both efficacy and excellency Heb. 9.14 Sixthly the Condition of this Covenant was less glorious for it was Doing but the Condition of the 2d was believing and this is most glorious because it sets a man upon the highest way of glorifying God for all acts of obedience in Adam did but glorifie God in his Law but this is glorifying of God in his Son which is the highest glory Ioh. 6.29 Seventhly Lastly the power of performance was far inferiour for that was to be done by man alone by the strength of grace received without any further supply and grace unassisted what can it do but under the second Covenant though the work be to be performed by us yet the supply of strength is Gods it is God that works in us both to wâ—ll and to do Phil 2.13 Thus if we look upon man in his integrity under this Covenant he hath reason seeing the new Covenant is offered to desire to be translated Secondly but if we look upon man as fallen then all those that stand under this Covenant have reason to be awakened to be transplanted First by vertue of this Covenant sin is imputed and laid upon a mans own score Noxa sequitur caput the soul that sins shall dye Gen. 4.7 Sin lies at thy door so that thou though hast heard talk of the death and suffering of Christ yet not a drop of his blood shall go to take off one sin or one torment from thee for thy Covenant admits no commutation Secondly it is a Covenant without a Mediator for then there needed no middle person no daies-man to lay hold upon both Iob 5.9 so now since man is fallen all that stand under this Covenant converse with God immediately they have no Mediator to bear their sins or to offer their sacrifices First to offer their sacrifices so that in all their services they come unto God immediately First thou hast none to bring thee into the presence of God whereas by the second Covenant we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 boldness and access Eph. 3.12 we have a manuduction to the Father by him Secondly when we come to God we have no Priest to offer our sacrifices and so they can never be acceptable unto the Lord for whosoever should offer a sacrifice of himself without a Priest that soul was to be cut off from his people Yet this is your condition under the second Covenant Thirdly there is none to perfume them and take away the failings of them to bear the iniquity of your holy things Exod. 28.38 to perfume your prayers to wash your tears Lava lachrymas meas Domine Fourthly if Satan object any thing
against thee thou hast none to make answer for thee for thy Covenant admits no advocate Lastly if any services be required thou hast none to help thee but thy own might no Christ to strengthen thee no Spirit to help thy infirmities Rom. 8.26 as it is with the people of God in the Covenant of grace Secondly none to bear thy sins or sufferings and so wrath must needs come upon thee immediately it comes upon the godly under the second Covenant and Christ the Mediator stepped between he bare the curse being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 but when the Lord shall come to pour out his wrath upon thee thou maiest rather hope to prevail with the Rocks and the Mountains then with Christ he will not appear for thee but thou must wrastle it out with the wrath of the great God for ever and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.30,31 there must needs be Iudgement without mercy and fury without compassion when the Lord will stir up all his wrath and none step in to bear one drop of this storm for thee for thy Covenant admits no Mediator Thirdly it is a Covenant under which unto man fallen there is no hope of reparation First it promiseth no repentance after sinning it belonâ—s to the second Covenant that Christ shall give repentance unto Israel Acts 5.31 Secondly it promiseth no space to repent but Gen. 2.17 the day thou eatest thou shalt dye and so they had had not Christ stept in Rev. 2.21 space to repent is not from the first Covenant Thirdly if a man did repent this Covenant promiseth no acceptation upon repentance it saith indeed Gen. 4.7 if thou dost well thou shalt be accepted but it faith not if thou dost evil thou shalt upon after repentance be accepted therefore this is a mans miserable condition and this it must be by this Covenant for ever therefore the Devils are in a hopeless Condition because the Covenant under which they stand offers them no mercy after sinning and God hath not revealed unto them any other Covenant and the same is the condition of every man by this first Covenant only men have this priviledge that they have a second Covenant offered unto them upon which they may lay hold with hope of mercy therefore neglect not these glorious offers seek the Lord while he may be found close with the grace in the new Covenant know the day of thy visitation for if thou be found at the last day under Adams Covenant and untranslated thou must expect no other but to bear thy own sin and shame for ever Let this awaken you to seek first for a change of thy Covenant and then afterward for a change of thine Image many men labour to change their waies and to abstain from many sins but whilest thou art under this first Covenant thy Covenant promiseth no grace to perform duties thy Covenant promiseth no acceptance therefore the first thing that a soul should set upon is to seek to God to be translated out of that Covenant that bondage under which by nature he stands FLESH SILENCED BY Gods arising A Sermon Preached before the Lord Maior Aldermen and Commons of London on a Thanksgiving day at Christ-Church London July 26. 1651. ZACH. 2. ver ult Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his holy habitation IT is the great honour of the Saints that they are made the Temples of the Holy-Ghost and the Priests of the most high God that they may offer to him spiritual sacrifices acceptable to him through Iesus Christ The sacrifices of the Jews were of two sorts Some were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Propitiatory Sacrifices for the obtaining of pardon and peace and reconciliation after sins committed there were other sacrifices that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peace-offerings a returning unto God of thanks and praises for blessings received When God did put into the hands of his people a cup of consolation for that is the Prophets expression in Ier. 16. then did they take the cup of salvation the cup of benediction and returned unto God again Psal 116.13 You have both these sacrifices in the spiritual sense of them under the Gospel and the Lord delights in each of them in their seasons Sometimes the Lord calls his people to mourning and it is dangerous to deceive the expectation of God Sometimes he calls them to rejoice Consider in Heb. 12.23 you are by the Gospel taken into Communion with Angels and your Communion with the Angels in a great measure doth consist in bearing a part with them in your praises it is the action of heaven and requires hearts in heaven to joyn with it therefore the hearts of the Saints are so described Rev. 19.1 I heard a voice of much people in Heaven saying Amen Hallelujah it is spoken of the Saints upon earth it is usually in that book styled the Church of God in heaven but how when they praise God they are a great multitude in Heaven The Countries that have most staple commodities in them for exchange you know they have the freest and the fullest traffique The most glorious intercourses between heaven and earth is in mercy and the most glorious return between earth and heaven is in grace praises and the returning of mercies into themselves ad locum unde exeunt gratiae revertantur Bernard saith Bernard it is a returning of mercy into the same fountain the same bosom of love from whence it flows it is indeed the habitation of God that next to heaven he delighteth to dwell in he inhabiteth the praises of Israel These considerations I desire to premse that you may a little observe of what weight and importance the services that you now go about are For the words that I have read to you that you may find out the meaning and scope of the Holy-Ghost in them it is necessary that we look into the story the context and the connexion of the verse which I shall briefly give you and I intreate you diligently to mark The Babylonian Monarchie having trodden down the City of God the holy City and laid wast the Temple and worship of God for seventy years that time being expired the Lord according to his promise delivers his prisoners out of the pit in which there was no water Deliverance was proclaimed by Cyrus the first King of Persia this liberty some of the Jews undervlaued and they still chose rather to abide in the Land of their captivity to them is the speech directed in the 6. ver of this Chapter Ho saith God come forth and stie from the Land of the North they might have had liberty but they embraced their former bondage those that did accept of deliverance and returned into their own Countrie they were no sooner returned but there rose a Samaritan faction their neighbours those that were neither Gentiles by profession nor Jews by religion
Nay let the Spirit of Christ come and take a full possession of what he hath purchased I might mention divers other reasons which will be brought in to the answering of this Objection Objection This is to put men upon seeking impossibilities which was never promised never attained but as we know in part and prophesie in part so our grace is but in part and our purification in a measure Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin Nay the best men have those sores running upon them and therefore have need of the balm of Gilead the best are clad with filthy Garments and need that the Lord should say Take away the filthy Garments and I will cloath you with change of rayment as in Zach. 3.4,5 Answer First perfect purity is commanded both in nature and life the Law condemns each uncleanness with a curse To him that continues not in all things Gal. 3.10 which are written in the book of the Law to do them neither did Christ come to abolish the Law but a justified person is as strictly bound to the Law for duty as Adam was though not with such evil consequences he is bound under danger of contracting sin though not under danger of concurring death he that came to redeem men from sin did never come to priviledge men to commit sin he that was made a curse for sin never came to be a cloak for sin therefore Mat. 5.18 Christ saith not a title of the Law shall pass One observes that the expression notes Absolutissimum legis complementum the Jews superstitiously conceived that there were strange mysteries in every point and prick in the letter of the Law Christ saith I am so far from destroying the Law in regard of duty that if the smallest letter and the least tittle of the Law had such hidden mysteries in it as you teach and conceit yet every such title and the mysteries therein shall be fulfilled and perfectly accomplished for this perfect purity we had in Adam Eccl. 7.29 God made man upright but he sought out many inventions our inability to obey doth not take away Gods authority to command and therefore he requires not the same duty only but the same power Luk. 10.27 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy might that is not thou shalt love him with all the strength thou hast and thou shalt resist sin withal the strength thou hast but with all the strength that I have given thee and which thou wast to have so that the ability comes under the commandment as well as the duty and therefore want of ability to resist sin perfectly is both thy sin and thy punishment Secondly Because God hath commanded absolute perfection to be perfectly freed from sin therefore the godly have prayed for it Christ taught them so to do Matth. 6.13 And deliver us from evil And Paul 2 Cor. 13.7 I pray God that you do no evil Heb. 13.21 The God of peace make you perfect in every good work to do his will the God of peace sanctifie you throughout and I pray God that your whole spirit soul and body may be kept blameless c. 1 Thes 5.23 for I conceive that the whole will of God is the ground of prayer if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us Joh. 5.14 therefore the precept is as well as the promise only the precept requires perfection because it is the rule of obedience required under the first Covenant though not made subservient to the second but the promise is not of perfection here because it answers only to the grace which the Lord intends to bestow in the second Covenant I know that these prayers of the Saints were never fulfilled here but the best men have departed hence have souls imperfect much wanting of this purification perfection is reserved for time to come Heb. 12.23 And to the spirits of just men made perfect that is only in heaven yet such prayers and endeavours be not vain and all such strivings after perfection is not to no purpose First because here a man manifests his displeasure against sin and his love to the Commandment and though he hath brought upon himself a miserable necessity of sinning yet notwithstanding the evil that he doth he hates and therefore cryes out Oh miserable man Who shall deliver me from this body of death Rom. 7.15.24 Secondly hereby a man manifesteth the abundant sincerity of his heart towards the Lord Christ That he would not only not have sin to raign but also that it should not be that not only his waies but his nature also should be conformable to the Law in all things and not only that Christ should rule but also that he should rule in him without resistance and controul he would not have the Kingdom of Christ amongst his enemies here but over his enemies that every thing might be brought into subjection 2 Cor. 10.5 That he might tread every enemy under foot 1 Cor. 15.25 Thirdly hereby a man doth his duty in striving to perfection Phil. 3.12 Work out your salvation Phil. 2.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rem rudem informem expolire and so by doing his duty he makes his heart perfect with the Law even in the imperfection of his obedience for the Lord accepts the will for the deed the duty belongs to us the success to God and he takes it exceeding kindly that men should be willing not only to but beyond their power 2 Cor. 8.3 Abraham did his duty in praying for Ismael and the Lord did graciously manifest the acceptance of his person and prayer when he did deny the particular request he asked of him Fourthly Though such prayers and endeavours be not answered in perfection yet they shall be answered in degrees and if God add but a further degree it is not lost for Gods usual manner is to make one mercy to his people an answer to a former prayer and an encouragement to beg a further mercy and it is not in vain if God in any degree give a man his hearts desire and do not deny him the request of his lips Psal 22.2,3 for as formerly Prophesies were truly fulfilled though by degrees so prayers and endeavors are truly answered though but by degrees yet so as still an answer in a degree is a sure pledge that God will in his due time fulfil all our petitions Fifthly those prayers and endeavours are not lost which are for things not to be accomplished in this life for as Christs righteousness is an everlasting righteousness because it is offered unto God by an eternal Spirit Heb. 9.14 so I conceive the prayers of the Saints being sacrifices unto God because they be offered with publick intentions and by a publick and eternal spirit are eternally accepted and of an everlasting efficacy though after a mans death to be accomplished in this world or in that which is to come David puts up a prayer by the