David thy servant When looking Death in the face it may be of comforting use 2 Sam. 23. 5. Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant These were the last words of David vers 1. So that this unchangeable Covenant may make a dying man lift up his head with rejoycing His house was not duly ordered towards God and yet he could bear up with this against all his failings unworthiness undeservings Corol. 2. Hence there are transcended excellencies in the Covenant of grace far above what are found in the Covenant of Works For here the Father is promising unto the Son that he should be a Covenant of the people the excellency of this might be evinced from its properties it is a free gratious holy well regulated sure and an everlasting Covenant 2 Tim. 1. 9. Luk. 1. 72. 2 Sam. 23. 5. Isa 55. 3. These things being largely handled by others I do but touch upon them Also the vast difference between those Covenants of Works and of Grace clear this This Covenant of Works was made with the first Adam and with all his seed in him without a Mediator requiring perfect personal obedience by his natural concreated power with free-will to stand or fall implicity promising life upon keeping and threatising death and a forfeiture of all upon breaking of it Gen. 2. 17. It speaketh nothing of remission of sin upon the deepest sorrow and repentance if Adam could have wept day and night and even tears of blood yet that promised nothing not the least mercy or favour after its violation nothing but death to be expected from it which speaketh the misery of all who are in a natural condition and not come under a better Covenant But the Covenant of Grace is made with Jesus Christ the second Adam and with all his seed in him as their Mediator to make it conciliation and work out a righteousness for them so as now the promise is sure to all the Seed 1 Tim. 2. 5. Rom. 4. 16. The Father is Covenanting with Jesus Christ as a more glorious head than the first Adam promising to give him to be a Covenant of the people to stand on their side this must argue a pacification in that he who was God the person offended would be God-man a redeemer so as he and the people make but one party in this Covenant yea he wrought out that righteousness which is unto justification of life Rom. 5. 18 19. In handling the subject of the Covenant the clearest way is to compare the Covenant of Works with the first Adam and the Covenant of grace with Jesus Christ the second Adam together so the two Adams are paralleled Rom. 5. And also to compare the old Covenant at mount Sinai with the new Covenant as Jer. 31. v. 31 32. The jumbling of these together hath occasioned darkness in many matters these differences being rightly stated in a secondary way any of them might be compared with less danger of miscarrying Corol. 3. Hence it is rich grace and special favour to be in the number of the people that were Covenanted for between the Father and the Son seeing none are freed from the sentence of death and condemnation or saved but in the way of a Covenant of grace Ephes 2. 8. 2 Tim. 1. 9. The being under that is not a priviledge that betideth all it reacheth some and not others For there is no Covenant expressure that extendeth now to all man-kind without exception that Gen. 3. 15. implieth that some are the Seed of the Serpent as others are the Seed of the Woman all the world are not the Seed of Abraham or David nor the house of Israel and Judah with whom the new Covenant is made Jer. 31. 31. The Fathers act of donation was not of all without exception Joh. 17. 9. I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me The Antithesis or opposition doth strongly prove that some are of the world and these are not given unto Jesus Christ nor prayed for by him It would sound harsh to say either that he Covenanted with the Father to die for and redeem some that were never given him or that he would not intercede and pray for some that he did redeem and the giving act was absolute not upon the condition of our believing For Job 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me All them that were given shall certainly believe and so shall be saved Mark 16. 16. and therefore some were never given to him Impetration and application are of equal latitude and extent Rom. 5. 10. From reconciliation which is by the death of his Son the Apostle argueth unto Salvation with a much more All those therefore that it was purchased for shall certainly have it applied to them and be reconciled in their own persons Yea in the great Charter the Covenant as between the Father and the Son an effectual application of sederal blessings is absolutely promised Isa 53. 10 11. He Shall see his Seed and he Shall see of the travail of his Soul and be satisfied and he Shall justifie many How many Shall s are here and on this account because he Shall bear their iniquities All then whose iniquities he did bear he shall convert and justifie He hath the highest assurance that he should enjoy the very Seed which he travelled for it was not a meer conditional satisfaction that he made upon his death all matters became absolute the very persons were appointed and an unalterable determination of the Father concerning their conversion which cannot reach unto all men without exception for then all should certainly be saved So Isa 42. 6 7. It is not only promised that he should be a Covenant of the people the Jews but also a light of the Gentiles which importeth a removing of spiritual blindness by affording special illuminations not only will he be redemption to the Gentiles but a light for the applying of it to all that he hath redeemed Yea he will bring them from the Prison from their spiritual thraldom and bondage to sin and Satan which denote effectual vocation Acts 13. vers 47 48. Acts 26. 18. So that an effectual application of Covenant grace unto conversion is absolutely promised to be vouchsafed unto all those that Jesus Christ did undertake for yet you see there that the accomplishment hereof is by waies and means of his appointment and the Lord doth not mock or delude men in the general invitations and calls of the Gospel any more than he mocked Pharoah when he by Moses commanded him to let Israel go and yet declared that he would barden his heart that he should not let the people go Exod. 4. 21. 23. The Lord by his Will of Precept commandeth all where-ever the Gospel cometh to believe and all which do believe shall certainly be Saved Mark 16. 16. and therefore he doth not mock The dispensation of the Gospel is the
foundation can no man lay then the is laid which is Jesus Christ The Covenant of Works was founded upon something in man his concreated ability and natural strength all the obedience of the first Adam if he had stood and the fruits thereof would have been resulting from the sufficiency of his own power and free-will and he failing all the fabrick fell But the Lord hath established another glorious Covenant and this is built upon what is firmer and of greater strength even Jesus Christ this stone that is laid in Zion is a tried stone Isa 26. 16. A sure foundation Now the structure of our Salvation will never fall because it hath such a sure ground-work able to bear up the weight and stress of all that is laid upon it No other can be laid He is the only foundation of all the promises of all the graces of all the obedience of all the peace of all the comfort of all the glory that is promised That with Abraham before his incarnation was confirmed of God in Christ Gal. 3. 17. He was the Mediator of Abrahams Covenant and therefore that had in it the same for substance with the new Indeed Jesus Christ is the foundation of all the blessings and special priviledges in the Covenant as with us If the Lord be a God to any it is in Christ if their iniquities be forgiven it is in the blood of Christ if the Divine Law be written in their hearts it is by the finger of the spirit of Christ thus he lieth at the bottom of all and so is the Covenant of the people 2. Jesus Christ maketh way for our injoyment of all federal blessings by standing in manifold relations to the Covenant As he standeth between God and us as a middle person to make reconciliation so he is the Mediator of the Covenant Heb. 9. 15. There was a wide breach that we could never have made up yea such a variance as there was no possibility of our approaching to God to enter upon a Treaty of Peace much less to procure our own reconciliation sin raised such an enmity as the Lord would have been a consuming fire to us if we had come near to him now the Lord Jesus interposed and took up this case undertook to compose and put an end to this difference There were iniquities in the way to hinder our fruition of promised mercies but he took an effectual course for the removal of these He is the Mediator of the new Testament to what end for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament Satisfaction was made by him to Divine Justice to the full he answered all the demands of the righteous Law and so wrought out reconciliation for us As he undertook for the parties at variance so he was the surety of the Covenant Heb. 7. 22. Jesus made a Surety of a better Testament The Lord would not take our bond for that great debt which we had contracted and were never able to pay It was now with us as with a poor man under an arrest for a vast sum unless there can be procured an able sufficient man to enter bond with him he must to prison without hope of being released any more so the Law of the righteous God arrested us for infinite breaches thereof it exacted a great and yet most just debt at our hand which we being already bankrupts were never able to answer it required a debt of infinite suffering the just due of our sin which if laid upon us would sink us for ever for the wages of sin is death The Lord demanded a debt of perfect obedience universal righteousness unto life which we were never able to yield and now unless one able and sufficient will undertake and be bound for us there is no possibility of escaping the prison of Hell the chains of infernal darkness the everlasting wrath of the Omnipotent God under this misery we must have layen without hope of recovery this was our state upon the fall of our first parents and in this strait and distress one not of our procuring but of his own grace offering it even Jesus Christ stepped in and became a surety for us to pay our ransom to answer our debt to the utmost farthing he put his name into our Obligation was made under the Law to redeem those that were under the Law Gal. 4 4. Yea he became God's surety to us to free us from all doubtings about the fulfilling of the Covenant to us he undertook and promised that he would lose nothing that was given him John 6. 39. But would raise in up at the last day i. e. to everlasting Salvation for others shall be raised up also unto Condemnation but these unto eternal glory As he ratified and confirmed all so he was the Testator of the Covenant Heb. 9. 16 17. Where there is a Testament then must also of necessity be the death of the Testator for a Testament is of force after men be dead Nothing less than death it self was threatned upon the first transgression Gen. 2. 17. that must be indured if ever Sinners be recovered unto a fruition of eternal life and now behold the matchless love of Jesus Christ saith he I will die in their stead to save them from eternal death and thus he hath turned it into a Testament a new Testament fealing it with his own blood As he acteth for our obtainment of the blessings promised so he is the Messenger of the Covenant Mal. 3. 1. The Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come We should have been without a knowledge of this grace altogether strangers to it and unacquainted with it if he had not revealed it to us and so we should not have made out after but come short of those spiritual blessings of the Covenant but now Jesus Christ himself travelleth with these blessed tidings he maketh a report of all the federal transactions between the Father and him in order to our Salvation he openeth all those soul-ravishing Mysteries and all those precious promises yea the way to our participation of those blessed priviledges and so he is the Messenger of the Covenant As he seeketh to satisfie us of the reality of God in all those federal transactions so he is the wâ—tness of the Covenant Isa 55. 4. Behold I have given him for a witness of the people When poor sould hear the tidings of Covenant love in the heart of God towards them they are ready to suspect it is too good news to be true are apt to be incredulous here are hardly perswaded to believe the truth thereof at least as to themselves now Jesus Christ condescendeth so far as to take upon him the Office of a Witness to assure of the truth of all yea now he is in heaven he doth not throw up that Office he continueth still in this work and sendeth down news from heaven thereof Revel 1. 5. 3. 14. He
perfect obedience they would have been hopeless of injoying these if such a typical expiation and attonement had not been provided that their sins might not hinder their arriving at them So that Morals Ceremonials and Judicials did belong to and with the promises and threatnings annexed made up the Sinai Covenant Answ 2. The better Covenant is an absolute Divine grant by way of Promise of those great blessings which come in by the mediation and Ministry of Jesus Christ as its excellency it is said to be that whereof he is Mediator and so it is the New Covenant or Testament Heb. 9. 15. and 12. 24. That it runneth upon absolute terms may be seen Heb. 8. 7. to the end And it is declared that it is not according to the Old vers 9. Therefore the chief scope and design of the Apostle in mentioning these promises rather than any other is the discovering wherein especially the New is differenced from and is said to be better than the Old Here are four grand Promises of the New Covenant instanced in which are so comprehensive as all others made to us are some way reducible to them 1. The inscription of the Divine Law in the hearts of men Heb. 8. vers 10. I will put my Laws into their mind and write them in their hearts In the state of innocency the Law was found in lively Characters there but since the fall it needeth to be transcribed or written over again The Old Covenant had the Law written upon Tables of stone without not absolutely promised and but rarely found within insomuch as the Lord even weepeth over them Deut. 5. 29. O that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments But in opposition to the Old here the Lord undertaketh to write it upon better Tables even of the heart importing his affording an inward frame disposition and inclination for an universal compliance with the Divine Will and then no sooner is any thing offered of a Divine stamp but all the faculties of the Soul understanding will and affection with the greatest readiness stand bent for a conformity to it yea the Soul is carried forth that way not so much by legal external inforcements as by internal powerful obligations that whereas the Old had a large Volume of Laws Institutions and Ordinances which they were commanded to yield obedience to in the New all is comprised in a little room and turned into Promise I will write my Law in their Hearts the spiriting for all is assured to them Here the Promise leadeth the way to the Obedience And O how sweet is it when it beginneth with and is the fruit of a Divine Promise 2. A mutual relation between God and Souls Heb. 8. 10. I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people Here is propriety each in other By the Old Covenant they were externally interested in God but as by that with Abraham then so by the New since it is more absolutely promised unto some that he will be their God which must import that they shall have more sweet converses and communion with him under the New than under the Old and have higher manifestations of their injoyment of him And happy is that people whose God is the Lord Psal 144. 15. What then can they want All Creatures are theirs yea Christ theirs Grace theirs Glory theirs all the Attributes of God theirs his Wisdom Power Goodness Faithfulness Loving kindness all theirs all his Promises yea his All-sufficiency theirs and what can they desire more than to have him who is all in all Also they shall be to me a People that is I will own them in a clearer more eminent and glorious way than under the Old There shall be a greater separation in their Spirit and in their whole course from all corruption from Sin Satan the World and a greater dedication unto God 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. and 2 Cor. 6. 17. Zech. 14. 19 20. In that day every Pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to the Lord there shall be an Universal tincture of holiness Isa 44. 5. and One i. e. one by one shall say I am the Lords There shall be a more voluntary and free self-resignation unto him yea when they find their hearts stand off and hang back from God it is under Promise they shall be to me a People they may plead the Promise for enablement to make over themselves in a fuller way unto God than formerly 3. Special illumination is Promised Heb. 8. vers 11. They shall all know me from the least to the greatest There shall be an enlargement of their knowledge and acquaintance with God and Divine things It would seem rather to exclude private teaching than publick they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother but it is not absolutely exclusive of outward teachings by instruments and means but comparatively it holdeth forth how surpassingly excellent those discoveries under the New Testament should be above those under the Old they far transcend and go beyond these are more eminent and universal not only some but all shall know me c. Yet publick and private teachings were to be attended to as means conducing to this end Mat. 28. 19 20. Ephes 4. 11 12 13. and 6. 4. Col. 3. 16. Those teachings then of the Divine Spirit do not render the other void or unnecessary Under the Old they had some dark typical shaddowy representations of God and Jesus Christ under the New they shall have those that are more clear and out-strip the other Yea it is under Promise they shall all know me and therefore they are to make an improvement of that toward the gaining a more eminent measure of knowledge than those in Old Testament times arrived at 4. Remission or Pardon of Sin is promised Heb. 8. vers 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more That particle for argueth it to be a reason of his affording other federal blessings he will write his Law in their hearts for he will forgive their sins he will be their God and they shall be his people for he will pardon their iniquity Forgiving Grace is the very spring of other mercies that maketh way for sharing in them and nothing without that There was a typical forgiveness in the Old Covenant Heb 9. 9 10 14. and 10. 1 2 3 c. but there is real Remission in the New Heb. 10. vers 16 17. and by this the whole of our Justification is noted out whence the Apostle Rom. 4. from the way of the non-imputation of sin proveth our Justification to be by Faith and not by the works of the Law But Pardon of Sin denoteth 1. Freedom from an obligation unto the punishment of the Law for pardon is opposed to guilt which properly is obligation to punishment Exod. 34. Pardon our iniquity and
righteousness consisting in Precepts Threatnings and Promises holding forth life upon an impossible condition to lapsed man perfect doing in this sense Moses gave it not nor is it a Covenant of faith but of works But this doth not satisfie for I see no ground for that large acceptation of the Law Rom. 10. vers 4. speaketh of the Law for righteousness and so is taken as strictly as vers 5. only it is said to be performed by Jesus Christ and then by believing souls are interessed in his performance and Gal. 3. vers 12 23 24. he speaketh of the Law as a Schoolmaster to Christ which we are not under Besides the Law in that strict sense wherein this Objection granteth it to be a Covenant of Works is that in which it was given at Sinai Rom. 10. vers 5. Moses describeth the righteousness of the Law he that doth them shall live in them Therefore the Law was given in that restrained sense by Moses Further in that large acception it cannot be proved to be cloathed with the nature of a Covenant whatever in that is of a foederal nature or can belong to it as a Covenan trunneth upon the terms of that perfect Obedience in that strict sense Do and Live and so apparently it putteth on the Nature even of a Covenant of Works though not intended to be performed by Israel for life but by Jesus Christ for them SECT VII Prop. 2. THat the Sinai Covenant under a typical servile administration of the Covenant of grace promised temporal mercies to Israel upon the condition of their Obedience It s servile and typical nature is clearly holden forth Gal. 4. vers 3. 24. Heb. 8. vers 9. and will be more fully manifested elsewhere It s Conditional form is obvious it promiseth nothing but upon the condition of obedience and that not only to be performed by Jesus Christ but also by Israel Exod. 19. vers 5 6. If ye Israel will obey my voice and keep my Covenant c. Deut. 4. vers 13. He declared unto you his Covenant which he commanded you to perform even ten commandments you i. e. Israel as v. 1. is required to yield obedience or commanded to perform it and he speaketh of the same Covenant made in Horeb or at Sinai when the Lord spake to them out of the midst of the fire vers 10 11 12. yea Israel is blamed for violating that Covenant Jer. 31. vers 32. Which Covenant they brake c. therefore it was their duty to keep it That it promised Temporal mercies to Israel upon the condition of their obedience is manifest Levit. 26. vers 3 4 c. If ye walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and do them what then then will I give you rain in due season and the Land shall yield her increase c. these are outward mercies vers 6. I will give you peace in the Land c. there is another temporal mercy And not only obedience to the judicial commands which respecteth them as a Commonwealth but to all moral and ceremonial precepts is required to these ends The Ten Commandments are rehearsed Deut. 5. and then Statutes and Judgements mentioned and observing all is urged to this end that they may live and enjoy the land of Canaan and length of dayes therein V. 31 32 33. Deut. 6. vers 1 2 3 17 18 24. and Deut. 11. vers 8. Therefore shall you keep all the commandments which I command you this day here a universal obedience is injoyned they were to keep not only some but all the Commands and what will follow Vers 9. I will give you the rain of your land in his due season c. by all which it appeareth that Israels obedience to the whole Sinai Covenant was required in order to their fruition of temporal blessings Yea not only external viz. that of the outward man but cordial obedience is required to this end Deut. 11. vers 13. If ye will hearken diligently to my commandments which I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul Then vers 14. I will give you the rain of your land c. send grass c. outward mercies So Deut. 6. 5. Conscience then was concerned even about these things and disobedience to moral precepts which did bind their Conscience was given as a reason of their being excluded from their temporal mercies Jer. 11. vers 8 10 c. Jer. 44. vers 21 22 23. It resteth then to be proved that the Sinai Covenant as to be performed by Israel did belong to the administration of the Covenant of grace or had grace in it to them It is true it required of them not only sincere but perfect obedience even in order to temporal mercies it must be to all commands with all the heart as I have proved their coming short of that was sinful for in that very Covenant some Sacrifices were appointed where sincere obedience was performed for sins of infirmity as of ignorance c. as well as for others Lev. 4. vers 26 29 31 35. and 5. vers 10 13 16 18. and alsewhere This providing a relief a remedy doth imply that Israel would fail would sin and stand in need of that forgiveness which in many cases was here promised yet in pursuance of these directions which are punctually given by the Lord in offering sacrifices exactly according to appointment they should be forgiven that is so far as temporal judgements threatned should be averted and temporal mercies promised should be afforded these sins should not be any hindrance in the way of them thus far it was a real forgiveness for if there had been no real expiation by those sacrifices and something forgiven how could they have been typical of that forgiveness which Believers have of their sins by the true sacrifice Jesus Christ It was not real spiritual forgiveness as to the Conscience that was promised there so the Law could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the Conscience Heb. 9. 9. And let it be observed when the Apostle speaketh not in relation to temporals but to eternals then he mentioneth the tenor of the same Sinai Law to be Do and live and cursed is he that continueth not in all things Gal. 3. vers 10. Rom. 10. verf. 5. We are not to think that the righteousness whereby we are justified is to be performed by our selves as if the sacrifice of Jesus Christ were intended only to expiate and obtain the pardon of our sins in coming short thereof No such a righteousness is exacted unto justification and eternal life as is absolutely perfect hath no flaws or sinful imperfections in it no forgiveness is needed there it is such as could not be performed by any but Jesus Christ alone vers 4. Rom. 5. latter end hence if the Romans and Galatians would so much as attempt the seeking it by any works of their own
performance the Apostle telleth them the least sin would lay them under the curse yea they thereby would frustrate and make void to themselves the whole undertaking of Jesus Christ so as they should have no profit or advantage by him Gal. 5. vers 2. 4. The Lord exacted perfect obedience without any abatement in order to Eternals it was a strict Covenant of works there But as to Temporals it was otherwise although these were promised in the Sinai Covenant upon condition of Israels perfect obedience yet when there was coming short of it and so a forfeiting them yet there was provision made for the forgiveness of many sins so as the Lord would not take the forfeiture or deal with them upon such strict terms as in the Covenant of Works for in case they duly offored sacrifices they should not lose their temporal mercies and thus it was an administration with some grace in it unto Israel This appeareth these ways 1. The Laws and Ordinances for the Publick worship of God among the Children of Israel were contained in the Sinai Covenant as part of its Condition and therefore it did belong to the administration of the Covenant of grace there is a description of the Tabernacle which was for the worship of God Exod. 26. and in Levitieus many sacrifices and services are required of the Children of Israel burnt offerings trespass offerings peace offerings c. and the Rules and directions left by the Lord must be exactly pursued by them in their several places at their utmost peril that they die not or be not cut off Exod. 28. vers 35. 30. vers 20 21 33. Levit. 7. vers 21 25 27. 15. vers 31. 16. vers 2 13. 17. vers 4 9. and many others The Lord would never so punctually have laid out the way of his worship if he had not intended that Israel should find acceptation in keeping close to him in those his appointments The free-will offering must be brought to the door of the Tabernacle Lev. 1. vers 3 4. and it shall be accepted for him i. e. for him that bringeth it he shall have acceptance with the Lord to some end and many of those ceremonial services are said to be for a sweet savour unto the Lord Lev. 4. vers 31. 6. vers 15. 23. vers 18. which implyeth their acceptation with God in those acts of worship at least to the affording promised temporals and so speak their appertaining to the administration of the Covenant of grace for sinners cannot be accepted but in that way of grace in any service yea the Lord owned them with eminent tokens of his presence when they duly acted therein Lev. 9. vers 23. The glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people 2. Israels obedience was not to be that righteousness which was the procuring cause of those temporal blessings promised in the Sinai Covenant and therefore that was an administration of grace the procurement even of those was by the righteousness of another by the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ and therefore of grace In the Covenant of Works man might have expected blessings for his own obedience but it is otherwise in the Sinai dispensation Deut 9. vers 4 5 6. Speak not thou in thy heart saying for my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this Land but for the wickedness of these Nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee and again vers 5. Not for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thy heart c. and a third time vers 6. The sruition of Canaan was a great mercy promised in the Sinai Covenant and with what vehemency doth the Lord deny that it was afforded for the righteousness of Israel three times over he doth inculcate this and therefore they must needs have it in a way of grace and favour 3. There is an intimation in the Sinai Covenant of a provision made against the sins and transgressions of persons under it and therefore it was an administration of grace for a Covenant of Works revealeth no relief or succour in case of sinning nothing but death and a divine course is there to be expected Gen. 2. 17. But it was otherwise in the Sinai Covenant the Children of Israel came exceedingly short of the obedience required therein yet behold divine indulgence even in the bowels of that very Covenant there is pardoning mercy represented in the ceremonial Law thus in case the Priest the Rulers and the whole Congregation or any of the common people became guilty of sins through ignorance against any of the Commandments of the Lord there was a sin offering provided Levit. 4. throughout and pursuing the directions therein it is said they shall be forgiven vers 20 26 31 35. so in case of sinning wittingly there were trespass offerings Levit. 6. Also there were days of attonement and many washings all which intimated that the Lord would not deal with them in a way of strict justice according to the rigor of a Covenant of Works and therefore that was to Israel a ministration of grace Indeed Israel had stood under an impossibility of reaping any temporal blessings by the Sinai Covenant if they had been held strictly by the Lord to the condition of perfect obedience without any way to be freed from their sin for Israel could never have answered the condition of it and so would have missed and come short of all the good of it and consequently this Covenant for temporal blessings would have been vain and useless which were an impeachment to the wisdom of God the maker of it to assert there must therefore be grace in it 4. Considerations of mercy are made great inducements to the obedience of Israel in the Sinai Covenant and therefore it was an administration of grace to them A Covenant of Works runneth upon perfect obedience as the condition of it urgeth duty in a way of Justice as in that with Adam in innocency the inforcement to obedience was primarily the danger of failing thereof viz. dying thou shalt die Gen. 2. vers 17. Or on the other hand the hope of a reward of debt Adam perfectly obeying the Lord in justice would be obliged to afford what he had promised Whereas in the Sinai Covenant a grand motive and provocation to Israels obedience was mercy in the very preface to the Decalogue Exod. 20. vers 2. I am the Lord thy God that noteth Covenant interest in him a choice mercy to a sinful people which brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage there was mercy in their redemption and this is mentioned to urge their observation of the following Commandments vers 3 4 c. so that covenant mercy and redeeming mercy are grand arguments unto Israels obedience in this Sinai Covenant and therefore there was grace in that ministration Likewise Deut. 27. ver 9 10. Thou are become the people of the Lord thy God here is their
mercy what improvement to be made of it Ver. 10. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God and do his Commandments and his Statutes which I command thee this day Likewise Levit. 19. many Verses Levit. 20. ver 7 8. 5. No violation or breaking of the Covenant on Israels part deprived them of those temporal mercies promised unless it were against the substantials of the Sinai Covenant and therefore it was an administration of Grace to Israel for else every even the least sin would have cut them short of all the benefit thereof Now where the Lord speaketh of breaking the Covenant it is in some principal matters thereof as Levit. 26. vers 1 2 c. You shall make you no Idols nor graven Images c. despising his Statutes and breakng his Covenant are in connexion ver 15. also Jesh 23. ver 16. When you have transgressed the Covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you and have gone and served other Gods and bowed your selves to them Every sin was some breaking of that Covenant but upon the account of the Covenant with Abraham they were only such transgressions as serving other Gods and Worshipping them that provoked the Lord to anger against them so as to destroy them see Jer. 11. ver 10. Deut. 8. ver 19 20. If we view the instances or examples of the Lords plucking away those temporal mercies from them the Lord did not take advantage to do it upon every sin of infirmity but upon grosser failures against the substance of the Covenant Deut. 4. ver 3. The Lord destroyed them that followed Baal-Peor there is judgement upon transgressors and in opposition to them ver 4. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day ver 5 6. Those that were in the firmest adherence unto God yet were not sinless but the Lord doth intimate that he would not take advantage upon leffer sins of infirmity to deal in such a way of severity with them but upon greater miscarriages they that walked in a believing careful conscientious obedience were spared by the Lord as here he telleth us so their going into the Babylonish Captivity and other scatterings out of the Land of Canaan and deprivation of their temporal mercies were upon their crossing some main ends of that Covenant and not otherwise which argueth that there was Grace attending it unto Israel 6. After a violation of the Smai Covenant by Israel yet it admitted of Repentance and promised a return of mercy and therefore was an administration of Grace to them Had it been a Covenant of Works to them then no benefit could have been expected by it after a violation whatever Repentance had succeeded But it was otherwise here Deut. 30. ver 1 2. when under scatterings among the Nations then if ver 2. thou shalt return to the Lord thy God and obey his voice with all thy heart c. Ver. 3. Then the Lord thy God will turn thy Captivity and have compassion upon thee Ver. 5. And will bring thee into the Land which thy Fathers possessed and thou shalt possoss it and he will do thee good and multiply thee above thy Fathers When by their sin they had forfeited their temporal mercies yet on the condition of their Repentance they might repossess and reinjoy them and therefore to Israel it was an administration of the Covenant of Grace Object But did not the Lord dispence out Spiritual and Etennal mercies of the Covenant of Grace by the Sinai Covenant as well as temporals if so why is it mentioned as if it were only an administration of it to Israel for temporals Answ 1. Many persons under the Sinai Covenant did obtain Spiritual and Eternal mercies I freely grant But whether these were dispenced out by that is questioned Moses and other Israelites were enriched with Faith Heb. 11. and were saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ even as we Act. 15. ver 11. But they might injoy those blessings by virtue of the Covenant with Abraham and not by that at mount Sinai 2. Under those temporal things in the Sinai Covenant many Spiritual priviledges were typically represented The dealings of the Lord with Israel in that dispensation are said to be as with an heir whilst in infancy Gal. 4. ver 1 3. Now Children in their minority are led into apprehensions of and affections to things by the Pictures of them and are not so capable of right conceptions thereof other waies and therefore a great design of the Lord in this Sinai Covenant was to Picture and point out many spiritual blessings unto Israel under these shaddows Heb. 8. ver 5. for the drawing out that Faith which they had by the Covenant with Abraham to be exercised about them so as their Faith might be raised or helped by that at Sinai though the blessings themselves were not dispenced out thereby but by that with Abraham 3. The Sinai Covenant must be considered either as holding forth the condition of the Covenant of Grace and so it promised nothing but upon a perfect obedience and this not to be performed by Israel but by Jesus Christ and thus as it could not give life by any obedience of Israel Gal. 3. ver 21. Rom. 8. ver 2 3. so neither did Jesus Christ dispence it out thereby for he was the Mediatour of the New and better Covenant and his ministration did lie there Or we must consider it as it was an administration of the Covenant of Grace though but a servile one and the obedience thereof to be performed by Israel and thus it was added Gal. 3. ver 19. it was Additional or an Appendix to that with Abraham containing many Precepts Rules and Ordinances of Divine appointment as Sacrifices and other ceremonial services relating to the Tabernacle Priests and External Worship of God not before given forth and so the persons who were found in a due performance of these with an eye upon and relation to the antient Promise had many Spiritual blessings dispenced out to them but they might be only externally represented by the Siuai Covenant and dispenced out by their looking from thence to that with Abraham which it was annexed to and to be taken in conjunction with I cannot think that the Lord would require their exercising themselves about so many acts of Worship without intending that they should injoy his Spiritual presence and have acceptance in a due observance thereof Yea the temporal mercies themselves promised and afforded to them under the Sinai dispensation were fruits of the Covenant of Grace no outward mercies can be injoyed by sinful men in a federal way but there must needs be Grace therein And thus the matter cometh to the same reckoning in many respects whether those spiritual priviledges were derived to them through the one Covenant or the other I am far from thinking that the Israelites injoyed only temporal mercies doubtless they had Spiritual also though
that I am he ye shall die in your Sins Thus the Apostle speaking not meerly of the false opinion of the Jewes concerning the meritoriousness of their good works or their external services being perfect obedience to the Law unto Life I say he not insisting upon these errours but having mentioned the very righteousness of the Law Rom. 10. 5. in opposition to that he saith ver 6 9 10. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be Saved It is then a believing in him as already come and having all righteousness subjected in him yea as dead and risen that is called for When they were doting upon works of the Law as performed by themselves to take them off from this he telleth them that all this legal doing for Life must be found in Christ alone and as it followeth for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness that is as a means unto righteousness It is not his own working that will be his righteousness nor his saith it self only that is a means for the applying that righteousness which is subjected in Christ alone So that the Apostles aim is not to call them off from a legal doing by natural power and ability and instead thereof to put them upon Evangelical believing and doing as the condition giving right to Life but his design is to put them upon looking wholly out of themselves and all their own doing whether by nature or grace unto Jesus Christ alone for righteousness unto Life If a man should set about any Gospel service upon a legal ground he would be culpable as the Judaizing Professouâ—s were It is such a doing as giveth a little unto Life by performing the condition of it that is rejected in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians as dangerous Evangelical services are required on other accounts and to be performed to testifie conformity to the Will of God and these may evidence Life in the way to it but Faith it self though necessary yet doth receive a title from Jesus Christ doth not give one Joh. 1. 12. That Axiom he that believeth shall be Saved is not expressive of the tenour of the New Covenant we claim Salvation not in the right of any act of ours not upon the Rent of Faith as men hold Tenements by the payment of a Penny a Rose or such like no such thing here all is paid to the utmost Farthing by our Surety and we hold and claim upon the obedience of Jesus Christ alone Rom. 5. 18 19 21. 2. The New Covenant representeth the Lord as dealing with his people universally in a way of Promise and so is better than the Old which representeth him as treating them in a way of threatning The New consisteth all of Promises Heb. 8. ver 8 c. as if the heart of God were so full of Love and running over therewith that he could express nothing else but what he would be to and do for his people The Father having received full satisfaction to all demands in the Old Covenant by the mediation of his Son now he maketh it his business to give the fullest assurance by a constellation of Promises in the New that he will fulfill to a tittle whatsoever on his part resteth for performance Believers are wholly freed from the Curse there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1. Heb. 12. 18. They are under a ministration of righteousness 2 Cor. 3. ver 9. But the Old Covenant represented God as a consuming fire denouncing Curses and threatnings against the Children of Israel who were his own people for with them was the Sinai Covenant made and not with unbelievers of the Gentiles there were indeed some Promises sparingly scattered up and down in it but they run conditionally and Israel failed of coming up to the condition that if they had not been priviledged with the Covenant with Abraham to run unto for relief what might they think would become of them By Divine appointment there were some to stand upon mount Ebal to Curse as well as others upon mount Gerazim to bless Deut. 27. 13 c. There are about twelve curses which they were injoyned to declare their assent unto all the people shall say Amen yea the last was a general one ver 26. If they continued not in all things they were liable to it Gal. 3. 10. which sheweth that although a temporal Curse was not excluded yet an Eternal was also some way intended on which account it is called a ministration of condemnation 2 Cor. 3. 7. It was otherwise with them in reference to that Curse than it is with Christians under the New Israel by that voluntary act the Old Covenant passed Sentence upon themselves yea the Curse of the Law was not then actually undergone by Jesus Christ it was not then satisfied and so might be presented before them as their obligation or bond uncancelled to their great affrightment But Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law Gal. 3. 13. Now all is discharged for us and so the New is a better Covenant 3. The New Covenant consisteth of absolute Promises and therefore is better than the Old Sinai Covenant which did run upon conditional Promises yea had works as its condition In the times of the Old Testament the price of our Redemption was not paid by Jesus Christ and therefore Life was then held forth upon the condition of obedience the Lord said Do and Live Lev. 18. 5. Rom 10. 5. Gal. 3. 12. Yea as that which under the New seemeth to be conditionally mentioned in one place is absolutely promised in another so on the contrary what seemeth to some to be absolutely propounded in the Old in one part of it yet is conditionally promised in another Exod. 29. 45 46. I will dwell among the Children of Israel and be their God Indeed this is not properly absolute but as the foregoing Verses shew upon what Aaron a Type of Jesus Christ should do however the very same is clogged with a condition Levit. 26. 3 11 12 13 14 15. The promise of circumcising their heart and the heart of their Seed to love the Lord Deut. 30. 6. runneth upon condition If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God and keep his Commandments c. ver 9. But the New Covenant consisteth altogether of absolute Promises Heb. 8. ver 10 11 12 13. I will and ye shall When the condition of any Covenant is performed it becometh as absolute as if there had never been any annexed to it Now Jesus Christ is mentioned as our great High-Priest and Mediatour and that as having finished the work of Satisfaction ver 1 2 6. and the condition contained in the Old being exactly and compleatly fulfilled by him it naturally or necessarily must turn into an absolute form as in the New because upon his performance nothing more
the incouragement of Souls in seeking after them that if one be taken many more go along with it like many links in a Chain that are closed into each other The means and the end must not be severed Where there is such a connexion of Duties Graces and Blessings the matters may be sometimes expressed in a conditinal form with an If as Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth be Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart thou shalt be saved Such â—fs note the verity of such propositions in their connexion they affirm this or that to be a certain truth as that he which believeth shall undoubtedly be saved yet that Grace is not properly the condition of Salvation For even believing is absolutely promised so as nothing shall intervene to hinder it Isa 53. 10 11. Heb. 8. 10. In that improper sense some Scriptures seem to speak of conditions viz. they intimate a connexion between Covenant blessings some are conjoyned as means and end yet the promises are really absolute for their performance There is a vast difference between the way of the Lord in the dispensation of Covenant blessings and the tenour of the Covenant Or between the New Covenant it self and the means which the Lord useth for its execution and accomplishment The Covenant it self is an absolute grant not only to Jesus Christ but in him to the house of Israel and Judah Heb. 8. Yet what the Lord hath absolutely promised and is determined and resolved upon to vouchsafe to them may be conditionally propounded as a quickening means unto Souls seeking a participation of it As it was absolutely determined yea and declared by the Lord that those very persons which were in the Ship should be preserved Act. 27. 22. There shall not be a loss of any mans Life and ver 25. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me Yet as a means to their preservation he speaketh to them conditionally ver 31. Except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved So although the Salvation of all the Elect and also the causing them to believe is absolutely intended yet as a means that he may urge the duty upon Souls with greater vehemency and earnestness the Lord may speak in a conditional way if ye believe ye shall be saved when it is certain they shall believe Answ 2. There is no such condition of the New Covenant to us as there was in the Old to Israel for the Apostle is comparing them together and in opposition to the Old he giveth the New altogether in absolute promises and that to Israel Heb. 8. and shewing that the New is not according to the Old he discovereth wherein the difference lay ver 9. Because they continued not in my Covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord and Jer. 31. 32. which Covenant they brake c. This argueth that the condition of the Old was such as the performance of it did give them assurance of the temporal mercies promised and a right to them and such as failed in left them at uncertainties whether they should injoy them or not so as it was not only in it self and its own nature uncertain but even as to the event I regarded them not saith the Lord. If their performing the condition had been as absolutely promised as the blessings of the New Covenant are then Israel would have continued in it which they did not and could not have forfeited what was promised thereupon as diverse times they did and were excluded out of Canaan upon that account Jurists say a condition is a rate manner or Law annexed to mens acts staying or suspending the same and making them uncertain whether they shall take effect or no. Cowell out of West part 1. Symb. 2. sect 156. And thus condition is opposed to absolute That there is no such condition in the New Covenant to be performed by us giving right and title to the blessings of it and leaving at uncertainties and liability to missing of them as there was in the Old to be fulfilled by Israel may appear 1. If there be any it must either be an antecedent or a subsequent condition but neither L. Coke upon Littleton saith of one precedent Conditio adimpleri debet priusquam sequatur effectus There can be no such antecedent condition by the performance of which we get and gain entrance or admittance into Covenant for till we be in it no act put forth by us can find any acceptation with God Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And our being in Covenant is in order of nature though not of time before Faith because it is a priviledge or benefit of the Covenant a part of the New heart a fruit of the Spirit and so the Spirit which is the worker of it and another blessing of the Covenant is given first in order before it Jesus Christ is the first saving gift Rom. 8. 32. and with him he freely giveth all things Men ought to be in the use of means but it is the act of God that giveth admission into the Covenant Ezek. 16. 8. I entred into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine Immediately before they were polluted in their blood Ver. 6. In an utter incapacity for acting in any pleasing way so as to get into Covenant Neither is there any subsequent condition to be fulfilled by us the use of that is for the continuation of a right and upon failing thereof all is forfeited as in the case of Adam Whereas there is no act of ours whereby our right unto Covenant blessings is continued to us upon failing whereof they may be forfeited Our right and the ground of our claim is upon a higher account than any act of our own it is even the purchase of Jesus Christ and they are the sure mercies of David Isa 55. 3. Sure to all the Seed Rom. 4. 16. And when they are become believers Eternal Life is absolutely promised Joh. 3. 16 36. 1 Joh. 5. 10 11 12. and it is a contradiction to say that it is absolutely and yet but conditionally promised to them 2. The Lord hath given assurance that there shall never be an utter violation of the New Covenant and therefore it hath no such condition as was annexed to the Old For the Lord declareth that they had broken his Covenant Jer. 11. ver 3 4 10. Jer. 31. ver 32. Littleton speaking of an Estate upon condition in deed by Feoffment saith it is called Estate upon condition for that the Estate of the Feoffee is defeasible if the condition be not performed Ten. lib. 3. Cap. 4. But the New Covenant is secured from such a violation it cannot be disanulled so as the persons interested in it should be deprived of the great blessings promised therein Jer. 32. 40. I will make an everlasting Covenant with them but may there not be such a condition of it as they may come
seed upon earthly comforts but Christians live by Faith by what is laid up in Divine Promises by these things they live they know not how to subsist in any state or condition without a Promise they would count themselves dead creatures without that whatever earthly enjoyments they had in possession Neither will a Promise alone satisfie without Jesus Christ in it Christ liveth in me he is the very Life of their lives without him nothing but spiritual swoonings faintings dyings and all from the want and failings of Faith That fetcheth in all influences from Jesus Christ for the supporting and hath the great hand and stroak in all the actings of spiritual Life all spiritual motions are managed thereby Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And therefore Sanctification is but a secondary or after evidence That is not discernable till first there be a discerning Faith which speaketh Justification If Faith be inevident all other Graces will be so also Faith may be shewed unto others by Works Jam. 2. 18. A man may be Declaratively justified by Works but if a man doubteth of his Faith he will as well doubt of his Works whether they be from a Gospel root or not For no Love of the right stamp and so no due obedience but what is the fruit and issue of Faith in the Lord Jesus For that worketh by Love Gal. 5. 6. As first acts of Faith do not consist in believing that our sins are pardoned but in a receiving Jesus Christ and his righteousness as the way to pardon Joh. 1. 12. So if Christians kept up in acts of Faith by outgoings of heart to him in the way of the Promise for all that is wanted there would be not only sweet flowings of Love and Evangelical obedience issuing thence but also they would be filled with all joy and peace in believing Rom. 15. 13. I have often thought if Christians did give more attendance to such direct acts of Faith and spent less time in questioning their conditions or giving way to doubtings about them they would find their interest in the Covenant cleared up yea and consolation also coming in as by the by 3. By Faith Souls are venturing upon the Free Grace and faithfulness of God in his Covenant in the greatest distresses with good success The New Covenant is made up all of Promises and the Gospel is called the Word of Faith because it is the Work of Faith to draw out what is vesseled up there Heb. 10. 38. Now the Just shall live by Faith Not only as to Justification but as to expectation of mercy promised Many would be acting Faith in the concluding interest in Christ and Eternal Life but they should be acting it by a cordial owning of Evangelical principles Yea Christians should lead their whole Life in looking to the Love and Faithfulness of God in his Promise for all their relief and succour in any condition they come into here yea even for Eternal Mercy Heb. 6. 18. They are pursued by spiritual enemies corruptions and Temptations and are in great danger but by hope which floweth from Faith and can act no higher than Faith doth they go yea run for refuge to the hope to the heavenly glory that is set before them so as they lie as at Anchour in such stormy daies and here are two immutable things the Promise and the Oath of God that by these they might have strong consolation By Faith they realize the very things contained in the Promise or Covenant and so their interest in it is experimentally witnessed to them They can say at such a time when we were in Soul distress so as all the means in the World could contribute nothing towards inward ease quietment and consolation then we being inabled by Grace to bear the weight of our Souls and our conditions upon the Faithfulness of God in his Covenant or Free Promise we found relief and refreshment It was not meerly our own fancy and imagination but we were delivered out of our distresses by Faith we were inabled to draw out of the Promise the Milk of consolation which it was beyond the power of all creatures to afford us and thus they find that the Covenant or Promise is their own 4. By Faith in the Free Promise there is a standing Conquerours in Jesus Christ over all spiritual enemies it is a great matter of the Covenant that the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents bead Gen. 3. 15. And therefore there is through Grace a vanquishing all the enemies of Salvation Sin and Satan through the blessed Seed the Lord Jesus The Promises are accomplished within the Soul but the way is Ephes 6. 16. Above all take the Shield of Faith That not only is best for descrying Satan in all his Stratagems but for the withstanding of him also Joh. 5. 4. This is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith When the Soul hath Combates or Spiritual Conflicts and reason is foiled cannot bear up then Faith appeareth as Victorious not in its own strength but in the strength of Christ and his conquest which it maketh use of in these encounters And thus conquering acts of Faith as before venturing relieving and discovering acts are useful for witnessing interest in the Covenant I might shew that Faith hath other acts as acts of assurance drawing up conclusions he hath loved me and given himself for me Gal. 2. 20. But I have said enough to shew that it giveth a knowledge of being within the New Covenant CHAP. XIII Of the Use of Absolute Promises THe Question will now be What Use is there of absolute better Promises When or in what cases are they to be made use of Answ 1. They are of Use for the manifestation of the riches of Divine Grace and Love to sinners if there may be some Grace in promising great blessings upon a very small condition certainly there must be more Grace and Love in promising the same absolutely without any condition This maketh to the magnifying of the Lord in his owning Israel above all people that he loved because he would love Deut. 7. 6 7 8. not because they were greater or more lovely than others or had any beauty or comliness in them but for his own sake as is often intimated Absolute Promises are high expressions of Divine Love as Heb. 8. 10 11 12. They proclaim rich mercy and great Love Eph. 2. 4 5. That the Lord should break through all unworthiness and undeservings this may work into the greatest self-emptiness and self-abasement The Lord peremptorily promised the establishing of Davids throne for ever 2 Sam. 7. 13 16. and this Grace melts his heart into a deep sense of his own nothingness ver 18 19. Who am I O Lord God what is my house c. Thou hast spoken also of thy Servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of man O Lord God So that absolute Promises of Divine
looking to the Lord in and venturing to take hold of the absolute Promises for the gaining a freedom from sin and every gracious frame this is duty and the neglecting of it is presumption as being a standing out against a Divine Call There is a ground for putting forth direct acts of Faith upon the Lord in the absolute Promise for all Grace wanted When there is not a present discerning by a reflexive act that gracious qualifications are injoyed yet there may be an outgoing of heart in the Promise to God in Jesus Christ for them or that they may be afforded It is a great mistake to think that we are to exercise Faith upon the Lord in the Promise only upon a sight of a condition in our selves this were to ground our Faith rather upon something of our own than upon the Lord in his Free Promise it were to subject the absolute Promises and make them depend upon those that are called conditional as to their efficacy and usefulness whereas the truth lieth the contrary way for the New Covenant is as it were the Fountain of all the Promises to us and that runneth altogether upon absolute Promises and therefore those which are called conditional Promises being streams flowing thence and branches of that Tree they must be reducible to and partake of the Nature of the New Covenant and so are really absolute in themselves only as a quickening means to our seeking after the blessings of them they are represented sometimes as if they were dispenced out in a conditional way but the Lord doth not confine himself to that way for when Israel was destitute of commendable qualifications had failed in the worship of God and wearied him with their sins yet he turned their eye upon an absolute Promise Isa 43. 25. I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my Names sake 5. They are of Use for the evidencing interest in Jesus Christ and clearing up how the case stande thas to their Eternal conditions The Lord can make a saving change i. e. such as hath Salvation and Eternal Life infallibly in connexion with it in the opening of any Promise but it is from absolute Grace The begetting of Faith or first Grace in the Souls of any is by an absolute Promise For what condition can there be in any Soul before first Grace to have a Promise annexed to it It were to frustrate and make void the undertaking of Jesus Christ to assert that the Lord hath promised Eternal Life to a work of nature or that Souls are in a state of Salvation before union with Jesus Christ which they must be if they had any qualification which had Salvation certainly promised to it The Lord saith Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh What precedent qualification was here but stonyness and hardness of heart and so uncleanness before the sprinkling ver 25. Here then is a Promise of first Grace and it is absolute and the operations of the Spirit herein are so supernatural and transcendently glorious as they are evidencing The Word of the Gospel cometh in such power for the accomplishing the very end which the Promise is appointed to and there are such sparklings of Divine excellency in the impressions that are made upon the Spirits of men hereby that without having recourse to any other promises which are called conditional they may read or see their personal interest in an absolute Promise By its efficacious application or the fulfilling of it by their actual injoyment of what is promised they may discern their sharing in it And seeing all gracious qualifications are begotten or first wrought by an absolute Promise why should not that give evidence as well as the after sanctified frames Besides the absolute Promises are made to some persons even to the house of Israel and Judah Ezek. 36. 21 to the end Jer. 31. 31. and being expressions of the determinate Will of God hence they must needs be evidencing For the chief intendment of Promises is to give assurance how the heart of God standeth towards persons under them the Lord is ever speaking to them therein after this manner I will be your God and your sins and iniquities will I remember no more Ezek. 36. 28. Heb. 8. 12. This is the natural Language of the Covenant to them And though unbelievers who are out of Covenant may fancy the same things and delude themselves yet this hindreth not but that the Lord may really speak thus to Believers who are undoubtedly under it So sometimes the state or condition of a Soul is evidenced by such Words or Promises as these Isa 41. 10. Be not dismayed for I am thy God Ezek. 34. 31. I am your God saith the Lord God Isai 44. 22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins c. The Divine Spirit oftentimes maketh such a powerful application of such promises and maketh such glorious discoveries of the loving kindness and free grace of God to the soul as he giveth it clearly to understand that God is speaking to it therein and it is the voice of God and not of man or of Satan and thus it is evidencing The Lord is so shining upon his own graces as then a soul usually can discern these yet it is not meerly a reflection upon faith or other graces that now give the evidence but faith receiveth it as it were upon a Divine testimony 6. They are of use for the filling souls with consolation in the saddest conditions and under the most trying dispensations Jeremiah was sent to prophesie of the Jewish captivity procured by their sin for the space of seventy years yet to keep them from despair and utter despondency and to comfort them against all their trials he not only assureth them of a return but prophesieth of the New Covenant and its being put into an absolute form Jer. 31. 31. Therefore the absolute promises are of comforting use against the saddest trials that sin it self may bring us under The Apostle turneth their eye upon those two immutable things the Promise and the Oath of God Heb. 6. 18. as those which the Lord appointed on purpose to usher in strong consolation Thus we see that when the Condition of sinners seemeth most despicable and when the graces of Saints are most out of sight yet then they may have recourse to the Absolute Promises and look unto the Lord therein for all grace and supply that is wanted CHAP. XIV Of those that are called Conditional Promises SOme may inquire what use is there of those called Conditional Promises Or when and in what cases are they to be made use of Answ 1. Some of them are of discovering use what an extensiveness there is in Divine grace sutable to all the worst conditions
are to the Lord as being duties commanded by him though they be not properly conditions upon which Covenant mercy is promised to us Will any say that nothing is acceptable unless it be performed under the notion of a condition upon which the Lord hath obliged himself to give our mercy Thus many Scriptures that seem to run in a Conditional form are to be understood as Coloss 1. 21 22 23. Rom. 2. 7. they declare his approbation of faith hope obedience c. 3. They are of exciting and incouraging use to the duty of seeking in an absolute promise those gracious qualifications which the other promises are annexed to the seemingly conditional expressions are not intended as discouragements but as powerful provoqations and incouragements to that duty or seeking that grace conjoyned with the promise Whatsoever mercy is mentioned any where either with or as a condition is absolutely promised in the New Covenant Heb. 8. particularly the remission of sin is promised there yet it is said Matth. 6. 14 15. If ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you c. Not as if divine pardons were suspended till we have forgiven others that so long any were unpardoned and so condemned who before were justified This were to make divine acts have dependence on our actings and so to subject as one saith the Creator to the creature Our forgiving others is not properly a condition as if a performance of ours did ingage the Lord or lay him under an obligation to forgive us or as if we had right and might lay claim to Divine remission upon such an act of ours but it is expressed in a Conditional form as a pressing argument and a quickning spurr to so necessary a duty as the forgiving others although the Lord hath absolute intentions to pardon us and to cause us to forgive others Thus many other Scriptures are to be understood as Matth. 18. 31. Mark 11. 26. Luk. 6. 37. thus repenting and blotting out of sins are conjoyned Act. 3. 19. As a Father who is absolutely determined and resolved to afford some great favor to his son yet may speak of it to him with an if that he may lay an aw upon him towards some duty which yet is not in the least the condition of his affording it 4. They are of directive use unto the right way and means of seeking the mercies promised the eternal decrees of God are not conditional but absolute and unalterable yet are not exclusive of all means in order to their execution in time So Divine promises which are absolute without any condition properly so called yet are not fulfilled without any means It is a gross mistake to think that if there be no condition to be performed by us then we need not take any care or trouble our selves about the matters For we must know there are Divine commands putting upon the use of means in order to the execution of absolute promises and those that are called conditional promises are of this use to declare in what way and by what means those great favours shall be derived to us and men neglecting to seek mercy in the way of Divine appointment may miss of it not because they have failed of performing a condition but have neglected a duty and by sinning provoked God to â—â—t short Jam. 1. 6 7. Psal 78. 21 22. The promises of first grace are generally granted to be absolute for if they did run upon any condition that must be performed before union with Jesus Christ yea that must be seen in the soul before it had a ground to meddle with the promise and so it should be ascertained of salvation whilst it is in a state of nature If faith were supposed the condition that then must be prae existent in the soul and discerned also before it had a ground to believe in the promise that it were the condition of whereas faith is a grace and is the fruit of a promise as well as any other graces Indeed the promises of first grace though absolute yet seem to be as conditionally propounded as any Prov. 2. 3 4 5. Mark 16. 16. Joh. 3. 16. herein is holden forth the way and means to the obtainment of salvation for it is propounded and offered indefinitely to all elect and not elect not particularly promised to any but as it turneth into an absolute form to those persons described as the subjects of it Thus the Lord giveth forth a cluster of absolute promises Ezek. 36. 25 26 27 c. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean a new heart also will I give you c. and yet vers 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them This inquiring is not mentioned properly as a condition for all was before unalterably determined but as the way and means to the fruition of what was absolutely promised and thus as a means to promised mercies we may not only believe but exercise our selves in other duties ordinances and appointments of the Lord Jesus as pray that we may be pardoned justisied saved that the Lord would give us a new heart and put his spirit within us c. though not as conditions giving right to salvation for no act of ours layeth the Lord under an obligation by promise to afford these to us All is from meer grace and good pleasure But yet as a man may have purchased physick that would cure a disease which he laboureth under he may have payed for it and so performed the condition and hath right to it yet if he doth not make use of it he may be uncared so believers have a right to all even to those that are called conditional promises they being in Covenant all are theirs 2 Pet. 1. 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. yet if they do not make use of these they may come short of mercies promised not because they fail of a condition but because they use not the means to the fruition thereof like men that have a civil and absolute right to great estates and yet are without the comfort thereof because they make not use of them 5. They are of some evidencing use who the persons are that are interested in the promises though other promises are primary yet these are secondary evidences when those gracious qualifications can be discerned they are useful for the confirmation of our interest in eternal mercies They give a description of the persons and are so far distinguishing as when they are seen we may measure our estates and conditions by them Thus many scriptures speak of those qualifications not as conditions giving right but as declarative evidences of a title to Covenant blessings even to salvation So Rev. 22. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life Not that their keeping of them did give a right and title unto