for wrath and poured it out abundantly when all the graces of Christ did act to the highest to take hold of God and to uphold himself To have been in Abrahams bosom then when he was about to slay his son even his only son and seen what strivings of heart and rendings of bowels what great grief possest Abraham at that time how should a man of compassion have been affected But there was much more love in God to his Son Christ and yet to bruise him was that which he delighted in it was unto him a sweet smelling savour when he was offered up upon the Cross God that doth not delight in the death of a sinner yet he doth delight in the death of a Son that the sinners may live and be saved eternally 8. God the Father being in this manner satisfied by his Sacrifice he doth raise him from the dead he is said to be raised by his own Godhead that is the Spirit spoken of Rom. 1.4 Heb. 9.14 he himself saith I have power to lay down my life Joh. 10.18 and I have power to take it again he received a commandment from the Father concerning both but he is said to be raised by the Father because he was by the Father as a Judge condemned as an offender and malefactor executed cast into the prison of the grave which I understand by that in Esay 53.8 Now the debt being paid the Father doth grant him a deliverance and sends an Angel a publick Minister of Justice to manifest that his debt is paid and the Father satisfied thereby and therefore it is unto the Father that he did look for it Psal 16.10 thou wilt not leave my soul in statu separato in a separate state nor my body in the grave c. thou wilt not suffer thy holy One to see corruption 9. God the Father gave him glory and exalted him far above all Principalities and Powers and might and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come Eph. 1.21 He has a glory that he is invested with above all the Angels in Heaven as he was Man whiles he was upon earth he was made lower than all the Angels for a little while but now he has more glory as he is Man than all the Angels are capable of as he has more grace than they have therefore he must needs have more glory and that as he is Man by this means he is gone to Heaven as our Fore-runner to take possession for us Joh. 14.2 I go before says he to prepare a place and therefore it is expedient for you that I go away Acts 2.33 10. He receives the fulness of the Spirit from the Father Christ waited for the promise of the Spirit as well as we for the full accomplishment of it for as the faculties of Christ were inlarged so did his grace exalt it self though he was always full of grace and truth and therefore as he was said to grow here in all things he was like unto us only without sin so in the growth and in the degrees of the perfection of his humane nature therefore when he came to Heaven his faculties were inlarged as ours shall be and so there is the fuller measure of his receiving the Spirit in glory than he had when he was here upon earth for when he was here on earth he knew not the day of Judgment Of that day knows no man no not the Son while he was upon earth but when he came to Heaven it was revealed unto him it was first revealed to Christ and by Christ unto his Servant John and therefore he did himself open the book which was sealed to him as well as it was unto us but he did open it and looked therein c. They were such discoveries as the Lord did not communicate unto the humane nature of Christ till he came to glory and then his knowledge as also his grace was perfected therefore Joh. 7.39 that 's given as the reason why the Spirit was not yet given in its fulness Joh. 7.39 because Christ was not yet glorified he did not fully dispense it unto us because he had not in fulness received it for every promise is first made unto him and in him unto us and it is first fulfilled in him and through him in us also 11. God the Father has put him into the actual administration of his government as he is man Dan. 7.14 all Angels Principalities and Powers being made subject to him and so much his sitting at the right hand of the Father does imply 1 Pet. 3. ult namely the actual administration of all things and that as he is man for he must as well rule as man as he shall judge as man as he is God in prosecution unto the Covenant that God the Father made with him so this Kingdom has been in the hand of the Son ever since the Fall and so it 's true that the Father judges no man but the Son has all judgment committed to him but while he was man here he was in a state of humiliation and it was the time of his ministery but in Heaven is the time of his Magistracy and the Lord hath now made him to be both Lord and Christ and now he doth actually rule the world as man whereas before his ascension he could not for as he was man he received not himself up into glory and this is the glory that the Father did promise to give him and to glorifie him with himself therein before the world was that that nature which he should take should be exalted above all creatures and the actual government of all things should be committed thereupon unto him and so as man he is made the head of all things for the Churches sake Eph. 1.21 22. § 2. But there are some Acts of God the Father that more immediately respect the Saints and are terminated on them and they are also very many as 1. the work of Vocation when men are turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God Joh. 6.44 that 's attributed unto the Father Joh. 6.44 45. No man can come to me except the Father draw him he that has heard and learned of the Father cometh to me To come to Christ is to believe in him as appears vers 35. He that comes to me shall never hunger and he that believes on me shall never thirst He expounds coming to him by believing in him for he knew who they were that believed not vers 64. And therefore said I unto you No man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father And the Lord speaks not of the will here no man will come but of the power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no man can come There is a dispute between us and the Arminians about the power of nature unto acts of grace and they say there is auxilium
your right Hand and pluck out your right Eye deny your selves that nothing shall be exalted in the heart but Christ and nothing must be dear to a man in comparison of Christ he must sell all to buy the Pearl Matt. 13.45 and part with it with joy not only part with a mans sins but his righteousness and priviledges and take them up by a new title as Paul he suffered the loss of all things Phil. 3.8 9. but found them all in Christ and attained them by a far better and more glorious title A man must do it as you do in Copy-holds a man must bring in his old Copy into the Court and there must be a surrender made and then you shall take it up again and have a new and a better state in it c. A man must part with sin as a snare and with self as a sacrifice and lay them all down at Christs feet he must be his utmost end that gives order and measure to all the means tending thereunto c. 3. The will of man is desperately shut against Christ and against this way of closing with him partly from a mans ungodliness because it is the highest way in which God will be honoured and partly because a man hates the terms and conditions that Christ must be received upon a man cannot give up all unto Christ sin is sweet and self is dear and the great God of the world the Idol that a man has worshipped all his life time now for a man to come and change his God it is that which the will of man is hardly brought unto and therefore Christ puts it upon the will John 5.40 You will not come to me who ever will let him come and take of the water of life freely Rev. 22. I would have gathered you but you would not The Lord does knock at this everlasting door and men bar the door against him and harden their hearts and will rather cleave to the Law and seek to patch up a broken Covenant and will venture their eternal estates upon it nay if they be convinced that there is no life to be had elsewhere they will venture to sit down in a state and way of death rather than they will come unto Christ that they may have life 4. When the Lord brings a man into the bond of Christs Covenant and he becomes an heir of Promise there is an almighty power put forth upon the will to perswade it and to open the heart to accept of Christ and to be subject unto him upon his own terms Gen. 9.27 The Lord shall perswade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Sem which all the rhetorick of the Angels in Heaven and Ministers the Angels upon Earth could never do none but the Spirit of Christ can open the heart it is alone in his power that has the Keys of Hell and Death Ut velimu sine nobis operatur cùm volumus nobiscum cooperatur August de Grat Lib. arb Chap. 17. Phil. 3.8 praebendo vires efficacissimas voluntati giving power to the will to choose Christ and so determining a mans will upon this glorious object that a man seeing Christ to be the chiefest of ten thousands he also desires him and so by preventing grace he does work the will and by assisting grace he works the deed that a man chooses the Lord for his portion and as that which above all things he desires to injoy and place his happiness in and unto him he cleaves with full purpose of heart for ever Act. 11. 23. And thus a man looking upon Christ as the person in whom there is a Covenant and an Image laid up and seeing the glory of that Covenant and the beauty of holiness that is in that Image of both he desires to be made partaker but there is the greater excellency because the person goes with them there is an excellency in the dowry but there is more in the person the soul thus accepting of Christ and catching at the terms of the Covenant as a dying man does at any thing looks upon it as a golden Septer held forth to him by the law condemned and as the brazen Serpent exalted upon the Pole to a sin-stung soul and the heart does greedily and with all its might take hold of it as a man would do a Cord let down as the only means to pluck him out of a dungeon or to save him from drowning and perishing Now to give you some arguments to inforce this that men should take hold of Christs Covenant 1. He is given by God the Father as a Covenant to the Nations Isa 49.8 And it will prove a high act of unthankfulness not to accept of him as a gift from God their sin was much aggravated John 1.11 John 1.11 He came to his own and his own received him not a man does not receive Christ that does not take him in this manner as offered by God the Father as a Covenant our ends in taking of Christ should answer Gods ends in giving of him now God did give him as a Covenant and an Image and we should receive him for both those ends and the Lord has used all means to inforce you to it that you may lay hold of this Covenant he did so with Adam at first Adam still thought that his former Covenant continued and would have given life and therefore he still had a mind to the Tree of Life but God to let him see there was no hope by that Covenant sent an Angel there with a flaming Sword and all that man might come to Christ â—ev 2.7 who is the Tree of Life in the middle of the Garden of God and came in the place of the old Tree of Life and he hath taught men that by the works of the Law no flesh can be justified and that that way to Heaven is stopped and that door barr'd for ever God sets the guilt of sin and terrors of the law upon any man that would be justified by his works 2. It is Christs Covenant and therefore lay hold of it for Christ is the standard of all excellency and the more any thing relates to him or holds forth of him the more glorious it is The second Temple was more glorious than the first because of Christs presence in it and John Baptists Ministry the greatest of all that were born of women and yet the least in the Kingdom of God was greater than he and therefore to you that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 and when he shall raign over Israel and they be converted to him he shall be the glory of his people Israel How should we therefore lay hold of him and take him as worthy of all acceptation 3. Consider the glory of this Covenant 1. In it thou hast an interest in God in all the persons in Trinity for I will be thy God is the grand promise thereof Now to have the Lord for a
Christ himself tells us That he hath received such a commission from the Father not only to govern the Church but to rule and to order all things in the world for their sake Joh. 3.35 The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand that is in his power under his government and at his dispose as Gen. 24.10 all the goods of his Master were in his hand under his power and authority and at his dispose and so Job 1.12 the Lord saith unto Satan concerning Job Behold all that he hath is in thy hand he did not give this to Satan as by commission but by permission he left all the goods of Job in the Devils power Joh. 5.22 to do with them what he would and Joh. 5.22 The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son there is indeed a Kingdom which belongs unto Christ as he is the second person in the Trinity a Kingdom which is regnum naturale a natural Kingdom wherein Christ is equal with the Father and a Kingdom that he doth not receive from the Father neither is he subordinate unto the Father in it he is not the Fathers servant as he is in the mediatory Kingdom for this is the same to all the persons Father Son and Spirit and the Son hath the same dominion and is equal with them all but this cannot be the Kingdom that is here spoken of for it cannot be delegated by God because it is natural and he cannot put the Kingdom out of himself neither can it as a gift be received by the Son because it is natural unto the Son as it is unto the Father it 's his own proper right but the Kingdom that is here spoken of is a power given unto the Son in which he is the Fathers servant and subordinate unto him and therefore it 's not spoken of the nature of the essential Kingdom the government which belongs unto Christ as God but as Mediator only and by Judgment Interpreters generally understand pro imperio administratione rerum omnium in coelo in terra Chemnit so that the government of all things is in the hand of the Mediator for it is a power that is given by the Father unto the Son which could not be unto him simply as God but as Mediator only 6 The Spirit of Christ doth rule act and order all things in the Providential as well as in the Spiritual Kingdom as we see it Ezech. 1.12 20. Ezech. 1.12 20. there is Christ set forth as ruling all things in heaven and earth and it is not spoken of Christ as he is the second person but as he is Mediator for it 's spoken of him as having a dominion given to him as he is the Son of man the Angels move the wheels and the Spirit acts the Angels Now how doth Christ as Mediator govern It is by the guidance of the Spirit and this Spirit moves both the Angels and the wheels it is not spoken of those spiritual acts of the Holy Ghost upon the hearts of the Saints but of the ordinary dispensations of Providence ordering all things here below so as the ends of Christ may be attained It is the Mediator therefore that doth govern all things and the motions and impressions that are made both upon the Angels and the wheels they are from the Spirit of the Mediator who makes the Spirit to be the Viceroy in the providential as well as in the spiritual Kingdom as the Father makes the Mediator to be in them both and as the Father doth not divest himself of power but keeps the original of it in himself that we may still say to him Thine is the kingdom only he doth it by the Son who doth exercise it so it is true of the Spirit also the Son hath the power he governs all he doth it immediately by the Spirit the immediate execution and administration of it is in the hand of the Spirit in the one Kingdom as well as in the other 7 This will further appear by the session of Christ at the right hand of the Father for it doth import potestatis Majestatis plenitudinem a plenitude of power and Majesty 1 The highest Majesty and glory for it is the highest degree of his exaltation Heb. 8.1 therefore called the right hand of Majesty in the heavens 2 It is the highest Authority and Soveraignty for sitting at his right hand implies that all things are put under his feet as it is Psal 110.1 1 Pet. 3. ult sitting down upon his Throne Angels and Powers being made subject unto him Eph. 1.20 22. all things put under his feet which is the highest Soveraignty and the greatest subjection that can be for all to be his servants his vassals and therefore Rev. 1.18 when he is in heaven he is said to have the keys of hell and of death keys are an ensign of authority and so are used in the Scripture the keys of the kingdom of heaven are his and the keys of death and hell are his all authority in this world and the world to come and therefore Mat. 28.17 immediately before his ascension he saith All power is given to me both in heaven and in earth it 's true that he had it given him from the Fall and he did exercise it by virtue of the Covenant that was passed between him and the Father for his Kingly Office and his Priestly Office in the efficacy of them began together but yet he did not actually reign as Mediator that is as God-man till in our nature he ascended up on high and sate down in heaven with the Father upon his Throne and though quoad potestatem judiviariam according to his judiciary power all things are now put under his feet for the administration of all things are in his hand yet quoad executionem actualem as to actual execution so it is not there are many things that seem to oppose him and to be enemies unto his government therefore he must reign till he hath put all his enemies actually under his feet 1 Cor. 15.15 so then he that sits at the right hand of God rules the world but Christ as God doth not sit at the right hand of God and as he is the second person therefore it is as he is Mediator that he sits at Gods right hand and so all judgment and authority are executed by him 8 If this be made as the ground why all authority is in the hand of Christ because he is the Son of man then he hath this authority over all things not as he is the second person only but as he is Mediator as he is God-man but this is the reason and the ground of it Joh. 5.17 He hath given him power to execute judgment because he is the Son of man Joh. 5.27 which hath several interpretations given of it all will prove the thing 1 Because he is the Son of man that is
take Saints off from a dependence upon their own graces they should consider 1 That though grace be the best of all the creatures yet it is but a creature and therefore defectible and subject to decay 2 It is contrary to the very nature of grace to be made the ground of a mans dependence because grace in its own nature is properly to be dependent upon another 3 No man is able to act the grace he hath received without a continual influence from Christ. 4 All the grace a man hath cannot free him from temptations nor secure him from falling into great sins 5 This will certainly provoke God against his grace so as to let it decay 6 The more immediate supplies of grace are the sweeter they are ibid. All that have chosen the Lord for their God should be content with him alone though they have nothing else Pag. 368 This contentment of soul consists 1 In laying up all in God 2 In not running out after other things in an anxious and solicitous way 3 In only fearing the loss of God 4 In not being much troubled with the loss of other things 5 In not envying the prosperity of the wicked 6 In rejoycing in God 7 In making their boast of God Pag. 368 Those are in a happy condition that have an interest in the Alsufficiency of God 1 It is the highest way of honouring God that can be in this life 2 This makes a man set light by the scorns and derisions of the world 3 This gives the soul in all its straits and necessities a city of refuge 4 This will guard the heart from going out unto any thing else whatsoever Pag. 371 Their happiness by reason of their interest in Gods alsufficiency consists 1 In a supply of all their wants 2 In enabling them for all their work 3 In disburdening their souls of all their troublesom afflictions 4 In fulfilling all their desires Pag. 373 They that have an interest in the alsufficiency of God 1 Have an interest in Christ. 2 They chuse this for their portion to place their happiness in 3 They honour and exalt that Attribute in their hearts 4 They will be raised up in their souls to an holy self-sufficiency Pag. 375 Those that have this interest in Gods alsufficiency should walk before God and be upright Pag. 377 CHAP. VI. The Soveraignty of God made over to the Saints in the new Covenant The Soveraignty of God is that absolute and universal Authority which he hath over all things as being the works of his own hands Pag. 378 This Soveraignty is 1 Vniversal 2 Supreme 3 Absolute Pag. 379 This Soveraignty of God is during this world committed into the hand of Christ as Mediator And is 1 Spiritual 2 Providential Pag. 381 The government of all things in his Kingdom is exercised by him in the behalf of the Saints and so they have a right to the Soveraignty of God and it is made over to them Pag. 385 The Soveraignty of God in reference to the spiritual Kingdom which is either in grace or glory is made over to the Saints Pag. 386 The subjects of this spiritual Kingdom are only those that live in the Church and belong unto it Pag. 387 Christ hath a spiritual Kingdom in the souls of the Saints Pag. 388 This spiritual Kingdom consists in a Throne that Christ sets up in the conscience which doth order and command the whole man and that in the Name and by the Authority of God ibid. This rule and dominion Christ only hath in the hearts of the Saints Pag. 389 Christ hath the rule and government over the spirits of those that are under the spiritual Kingdom by profession only Pag. 391 This government Christ by his spirit doth exercise towards them and over them for the good of his Saints 1 Their graces are ruled by Christ for the Saints 2 Their gifts 3 Their services 4 Their sins 5 Their judgments Pag. 392 There belong unto this spiritual Kingdom reductively all the works and the dispensations of God amongst the creatures 1 They tend to perfect the graces of the Saints 2 They belong unto the priviledges of the Saints Pag. 395 Christ the Mediator in this spiritual Kingdom doth also rule and order the Angels that they have an influence and do conduce to the advancement of this spiritual Kingdom Pag. 398 Angels on earth the Ministers and Messengers of God conduce to its advancement 1 By the gifts and abilities which Christ gives them for the good of the Saints 2 By suitable affections and dispositions of heart towards them 3 By performing the work Christ appoints them 4 Christ over-rules and orders their ministry for the good of his people 5 Gives efficacy and success to their labours 6 Their sufferings are for the Churches sake and good ibid. Christ also uses the Angels in Heaven for the advancement of this spiritual Kingdom 1 They pray for us 2 Joyn with us in our praises 3 Instruct us â—n the things of God 4 Watch over us to keep us from sin 5 Comfort and chear us in dejections 6 At death carry our souls into Abrahams bosom Pag. 401 The Saints have an interest in Christs providential Kingdom Pag. 402 There is a special Providence over them above all the rest of the creation 1 In over-ruling all things for their good that nothing shall do them hurt 2 Every thing shall act for their preservation ibid. The greatest things in the world are not above the Providence of God nor the smallest below it Pag. 403 The Providence of God hath two parts 1 He upholds the creatures in their beings 2 He orders their actions ibid. The Providence of God is either 1 What he doth immediately by an extraordinary providence or 2 In an ordinary way by second causes ibid. The Providence of God is either seen 1 In things which have a necessary dependence upon their causes or 2 In things that fall out so that we can give no reason of them Pag. 404 Providence is either about good or evil ibid. The Providence of God about the greatest things for the good of the Saints 1 His government over the Angels 2 Over men in all the changes of the world ibid. The good Angels are for the good of the Saints 1 They secretly suggest things to the hearts and wills of men 2 They fight against their enemies 3 Execute vengeance upon them 4 Over-rule the creatures for their good beyond their nature 5 Guide them in their way and succeed their undertakings 6 Compass the earth for their sakes Pag. 405 The Providence of God governs evil Angels for the good of the Saints 1 They shall not tempt them more than is for their good 2 Nor further than shall be for subduing corruption 3 Their temptations serve to improve their graces 4 And giving the Saints experience of the power of Christ 5 And the benefit of his Intercession 6 And of the power of their own prayers 7 Their
deterr'd from sin and kept in obedience to the Covenant All the threatnings in the Word since the Fall are but conditional which argues that it is to no other end but that they might be avoided and prevented He tells us the danger before that we may escape God under the first Covenant will'd that Adam should have continued in his obedience and avoided the curse of it and the Lord to manifest he neglected no means to this end created in him a holy nature gave him a righteous and an easie Law made a glorious promise to his obedience added a fearful threatning upon his disobedience therefore God did not will the death of a sinner And we may say with the Scripture He doth not afflict willingly the children of men Lam. 3.33 but as Tertullian says of the earnest prayers of Gods people so I may say of importunity in sinning Coelum tundimus We assault Heaven he says Misericordiam I put it vindictam extorquemus We extort vengeance 2 But God had decreed the fall of Adam and that this curse should come and it could not have been against his will how can it be said then that God will'd his obedience and continuance therein There is good ground for a double will of God which the Scripture speaks of a will of complacence and a will of efficacy approbationis effectionis a will of approbation and of effection the one is a general and a conditional will manifested to the Creature whereby the Lord approves and rewards obedience and perseverance therein in all persons whomsoever And this is his revealed will without determining any thing of particular persons in whom he will work this obedience But the other is a secret will toward that particular person in whom he will work this obedience and to whom he will give grace to continue in it God did in his revealed will manifest to Adam what he did require of him what he delighted in and what he would reward him for but he did not tell him that he would give him grace and a supernatural assistance to cause him to continue in obedience but he left him to the mutability of his own will and in the hand of his own Counsel God wills that all men should be saved and come to the knowledg of the truth 1 Tim. 2 4. God wills that all men should believe but he will not work faith in all men He wills that all men should be saved but he will not bring all men to Salvation he wills the one voluntate approbante by a will of approbation but the other decernente by a decreeing will So Davenant his answer to Gods love to Mankind pag. 220. 3 Threatnings and Promises are of great necessity and use even to a creature in the state of Innocency with whomsoever God will deal in a Covenant-way even the purest Creatures may and ought to make use of them and to fear to offend God because of his wrath for even our God is a consuming fire Now of what use could this have been to Adam in innocency having no sense or fear of sin or suffering but more of this afterwards 4 Even the Creature in the state of innocency has nothing in it to satisfie the Holiness of God he gives a command and adds a promise but as if the Lord were jealous of him he adds a threatning to keep him in obedience and so he did with the Angels he put no trust in them he charges even them with folly Job 4.18 though not with actual yet with possible folly The best Creatures as Creatures are changeable therefore the Holiness of God can never take full contentment and satisfaction in any thing but in Christ who is by the personal union impeccable 5 How comes it to pass that this Tree proved so hurtful to man That totum genus humanum per infinitam successionem perdiderit It destroyed all mankind throughout such an infinite succession Luther proposes the question and says the cause was not in the fruit for fructus protulit nobilissimos it produced most excellent fruit but the ground was in the Word of God and his prohibition Arbor vitae vivificat virtute verbi promittentis arbor scientiae occidit virtute verbi prohibentis the tree of life vivifies by virtue of the word promising and the tree of knowledge kills by virtue of the word prohibiting It 's the Word of God that is the cause of life and death to the Creature God exalts his Word above the best of the Creatures and it is dearer to him than Adam was in Innocency or the Angels he has exalted it above all his Name Heaven and Earth shall pass away rather than a tittle of it and therefore he will not now spare us for the breach of it But why did God give Adam this Commandment having given him so freely all the other Trees of the Garden Preceptum exploratorium Paraeus Arhor diviri cultus fuit why should he forbid him this one it was a precept for trial a tree of divine worship They were not one tree says Luther though here so called collectively but Nemus quasi sacellum quoddam a wood as it were a Chappel God loves to try the obedience of the best of his Creatures to give them matter and occasion to exercise the Graces that he has given them As every word of God is a tried word and has been in the furnace often and Gods people have found it true so every grace wrought by that word is a tried grace and the trial of it is to the Saints now and so it should have been to Adam precious as the Apostle Peter says The trial of your faith is more precious than gold 6 But what need had Adam of such a Tree being he had a Law written in his heart of obedience to all Gods requirings as the Sun has a law of motion He was freely and fully carried after it by a command within he was a living Scripture a walking Bible but yet the best of the Creatures had need as of daily assistance and direction so also of daily admonition and a publick Monitor The Angels themselves as they have new service daily to do for God so they have a new supply from the spirit of Christ to quicken them daily We read in Ezek. 1.13 there is a spirit of fire that goes up and down amongst the living creatures which denotes the active daily and vigorous supply of the Spirit of Christ and the constant working of it Surely men may see yea those that are learned in the School of Christ what need there is of a Ministery Some say what need is there to have the same things taught that we know as well as they do and may be better Yet though you do know them there is need we should stir you up by way of remembrance 7 But why should it be so great an offence to eat of this Tree seeing God made it pleasant to the eye and
And therefore the Sun was withdrawn at the death of Christ not that it could not behold such a horrible sight as some do express it but it was in wrath to shew that he was under the displeasure of God to whom he crys out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and all his Disciples forsook him and fled and not an Angel lookt out of Heaven to comfort him 3 The Creatures that men have in their possession are cursed there is a curse upon them which blasts them that they are subject unto vanity and are become vanity of vanities Eccles 1.2 There is an universal decay by reason of Gods curse come on all things that are for mans use but many times there is also a particular curse that does haâ—â—en their decay sooner than else it would have been as it is in Estates Hos 5.12 á moth and rottenness and a lion enters into families And we read of a flying Roll Zach. 5.2 3 4. that 's the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth and it enters into the house of the thief and the swearer and consumes the stones and makes holes in the bottom of the Bag Job 20.28 the substance of his house shall depart his honour and memory shall be gone and so their names are written in the earth the name of the wicked shall rot God does many times rot mens names presently that they perish they are consumed as in a moment 4 Whatever they have by the Creatures shall be with much toil labour and weariness In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread We see how much toil and labour the Husband-man has to put some life into the dead earth all things are full of labour Eccles 1.8 man cannot utter it and how much weariness there is in every calling and condition of life nay even in our very Recreations how much pains there is to extract a poor small contentment that even the pleasure of it does nothing recompence the labour to get it God having made the Creatures even like to Paracelsian Physick a little spirit mixt with a great deal of unprofitable matter a great deal of dross with a little gold and much chaff with a little corn and a great deal of labour before a man can beat it out Every condition of life is full of labour 5 Even those Creatures that a man is acquiring for his good become instruments of vengeance for his destruction for all the Creatures are arm'd against a man The Stars in their courses fight against him Exod. 23.25 the Heaven that sends down destroying influences the Sun that scorches the Earth and destroys all the labours of man and the Rain that drowns the World and the Earth that opens its mouth to swallow him up and the meanest of the Creatures flys and lice destroy him and a mans meat and drink become his bane God curses his bread and water and it shall bring diseases on him The Angels they keep you out of Paradise with terrour Gen. 3. destroy whole Armies meet men with a drawn sword as they did Balaam Sometimes a man is eaten with worms as Herod was and sometimes God fights against us as he did against Cambyses and the Devil doth possess our bodies and destroy our goods as he did Job and he waits but for a commission to hurry us to Hell and to be the instrument to convey us thither upon all occasions as being Satan our adversary § 2. The curses upon a mans body are various and great As 1 Continual weariness and wasting and sickness and a disorder and jarring between the humours of a mans body Deut. 28.21 and old age which is a continual disease though indeed it 's true as Solomon says Gray hairs are a crown if found in the way of righteousness And it 's an honour with Mnason to be an old Disciple but yet it is in it self a fruit of the curse that bringeth with it the decays of nature for man if he had not fin'd should never have waxed old nor had any deformity for he was created at first a very glorious Creature and had no blemish from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot but now there is not the fairest face but it has some blemish and there is a strange ugliness and deformity come upon men though upon some more than others The botch of Egypt the Itch the Scab that shall not be healed c. We read in Eccles 12.2 3. a description of those evil days wherein all the comforts of a mans life are taken away a man cannot say he has any pleasure in them in which he is much disabled for service to God and man by reason of his weakness and infirmities All things that are comfortable in this life do decay and it is with a man as in Winter-weather when a shower or two does not cleanse the sky but the end of one misery and disease is the beginning of another And there is a more particular description of the miseries â—hat attend man in his age in the third verse of that Chapter The keepers of the house the 〈◊〉 and hands are weak the defence that God has given this house of clay they through â—â—â—â—ness and palsie do tremble and the legs and thighs the poor pillars and supports of 〈◊〉 house do buckle through weakness and bow the grinders cease because they are few and the eyes that look out at the windows are weakned and the doors shut in the streets and the mouth closed And he desires not company because he is unfit for it he keeps home and sits alone and his sleep does easily depart from him at every noise he rises up at the voice of a bird c. and desire fails to any of the pleasures of this life We see a Comment upon much of it in the 2 Sam. 19.35 and then death comes and there is a dissolution of this house of clay and after death the dust returns to the earth as it was and this glorious body of man so curiously fed and so sumptuously cloath'd must become food to the worms and rot in its own filthiness and putrefaction and in all these respects the body is become a vile body corruptible mortal a body of death and it lies down in dishonour in the grave 2 And there is this great curse also upon the body of man it is become an instrument of sin to the soul and so an instrument for the devil to use Sin indeed is not properly and formally in the body but in the soul Mich. 6.7 and therefore it is properly call'd the sin of the soul for it 's the soul that is the arch-rebel sin is formaliter in corde redundanter in corpore formally in the soul but by redundance in the body But yet there is this curse come upon the body and the members of it that it 's imploy'd as a servant to the soul in sinning and
the Apostle says Rom. 10.3 They were ignorant of the righteousness of God therefore they went about to establish their own righteousness By the righteousness of God is here meant the righteousness of Christ as Mediator which he has wrought for us and to be imputed unto us a righteousness which God has prepared a righteousness which God imputeth and a righteousness unto which the Godhead did give efficacy and excellency though it be not the essential and infinite righteousness of God for if a Creature should be righteous thereby then it must be God 1 They see not the excellency of this righteousness that it perfectly answers the Law and that by reason of the Union with the Godhead and by this means it far exceeds the righteousness of the Angels and is far more glorious than ever we could have had if Adam had stood that we should be made the righteousness of God in him and that the matter of our righteousness should be the great things performed by him suffered by him imputed unto us and we thereupon reputed by an act of soveraignty righteous before God this men do not see and therefore they admire the righteousness of a Creature so much as Paul did his own righteousness by the Law but when he had but a glimpse discovered to him of the righteousness of Christ he does abhor his own righteousness for ever Phil. 3.9 10. That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousness but the righteousness which is of God by faith There is the glory of the Lord to be seen in the glass of the Gospel 2 Cor. 3.18 which is by a spirit of revelation in the knowledge of him Ephes 1.17 which till a man does see his heart will never be inflamed with admiration of the righteousness of Christ and with an instinct after union with him when God did let but a glimpse of this into Luther and he did but consider Rom. 1.17 That the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith Oh how he admired it and was ravished with it having never understood that Scripture before The Prophet Isaiah did wonder that all men did not believe in him and that so few were converted when he saw his Glory but the reason was they saw it not 2 Men are ignorant of the necessity of Christs righteousness for they come unto God in their own name and as Priests they offer up their own sacrifice they make a difference between themselves and others Luk. 18.11 I thank thee I am not as other men are But Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance all are sick all are sinners but yet they are not so in their own apprehension and therefore they see no such necessity of Christ wherefore men come to God and never consider this Can two walk together except they are agreed what fellowship can light have with darkness righteousness with unrighteousness and what fellowship can sin have with holiness Nay stubble and thorns with devouring fire and everlasting burnings My person wants a Mediator it is burdened with infinite guilt my Nature wants a Mediator it is overspread with universal defilement my Sins want a Mediator for they are without number and without measure sinful my services want a Mediator for they are full of iniquity even my holy things and therefore men can be content to live without the righteousness of Christ 3. Men are ignorant of the glorious state and condition of that soul that stands before God in the righteousness of God and who at the last day shall not be found in his own righteousness When the Apostle Paul saw it he counted all things dross and dung for it and I doubt not but if the glorious Angels in Heaven had it revealed unto them that it was the mind of God after they had stood so many thousand years that they should abandon all their own righteousness and now lay hold upon a higher and more glorious righteousness in his Son they would speedily do it and cast away all the services that ever they have done as preferring this righteousness far above their own and their condition therein above what it can be by their own righteousness For the righteousness of an Angel is but the righteousness of a Creature but the righteousness of Christ though it be only the righteousness wrought in his humane nature in obedience to the Law yet it is that unto which the Godhead gave efficacy The righteousness of the Angels hath in it a possibility of being lost they are not by nature impeccable though they are by grace God does charge them not with actual folly indeed Job 4.18 yet with possible folly but Christ as Mediator is impeccable unless we can suppose God to sin the union between the natures being personal actus est suppositorum acts are of persons and therefore unless a possibility of sinning should befall the Godhead the person cannot sin and so it is righteousness in an unchangable head which could never be in the Angels neither was it in Adam in the state of innocency And therefore blessed is the man whose unrighteousness is forgiven Now by the imputation of this righteousness without works he is put into a far more glorious condition than ever he should have been by the first Covenant if he had never sinned Believers having now a more glorious name not only the servants of God and the sons of God as the Angels are called but the brethren of Christ and the members of his flesh and bone a higher sonship not only sons by creation but by a mystical union having a part in the sonship of Christ he gives them the priviledge to be called sons of God a higher inheritance made co-heirs with Christ for it is said Enter into your Masters joy § 2. The second cause why men desire to be under the Law is a principle of enmity Rom. 1.21 They will not glorifie him as God All the lusts of mens hearts are ungodly lusts Jude v. 18. opposition to God and to his glory and any thing that exalts God and makes for his glory it is ground enough why the heart of man should be set in opposition thereunto In the second Covenant God is glorified in a far higher way than in the first for there are higher manifestations of God in the second Covenant Now glory is but the reflection of an excellency and therefore the more glorious the manifestation the more glorious must the reflection be God did manifest himself indeed in the first Covenant gloriously and yet God has set forth a larger systeme of himself in the second and put the Angels to study that by beholding the marvelous glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ therefore the Saints now glorifie God in a higher way than under the first Covenant 1 He had before manifested his wisdom in giving the Creatures a being and had raised out of nothing a glorious fabrick every thing in
confirmed and therefore called the blood of the Covenant now to despise all this is to trample under foot the greatest and the highest honour of the Son of God for a man to bear old Adam's image still shews that he prefers the Image of the first before that of the second Adam so for a man to stand under Adam's Covenant still shews that he despises the Grace of the second Covenant in comparison of the Glory of the first 4 It is a sin against the Covenant it self and all the Promises thereof this Covenant God has highly honoured with a more glorious head and the righteousness of it is a more glorious righteousness the promises of it better promises and the stability of it far beyond that of the first Covenant for it is an ordered and an everlasting Covenant a Covenant confirmed by an Oath now for a man to bring down that Covenant that God has exalted and in a mans heart and practice and ways for him to exalt the first Covenant above it is the greatest injury thereunto that can be 5 It is a sin against all the happiness and hopes of the godly for all their comfort comes in from this Covenant as they look upon all their curses to proceed from the first Covenant 2 Sam. 23.5 Though my house be not so with God says David yet God has made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure and this is all my hope Now it is a great evil that men should not be affected with that sin which is against the generation of Gods children against the hope of Israel A man should be deeply humbled and bewail this contrariety of spirit that is in him to the way of the Gospel and to the grace of the Gospel And apply the righteousness of Christ for the pardon of this sin also for as his blood was shed for them that shed it so there is grace in the second Covenant for them that have despised it and have to their utmost exalted the first Covenant above it and there is in the grace of God pardon to be found for them that reject or endeavour to frustrate the grace of it For if righteousness be by the Law Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2. ult 2. Whereever the Covenant of Grace is preached be jealous and watch over thy own heart because there is in thee a principle of contrariety unto it and the grace offered therein this hath been the manner of Gods people when they have been apprehensive of evils in them it has made them the more watchful against them Job will not trust his eyes without a Covenant nor David his tongue without a bridle because they knew how suddenly corruption would break forth and therefore the exhortation is Keep thy heart above all keepings c. God has offered the righteousness of his Son that thou mightest be made the righteousness of God in him and he has given his Son as a Covenant to the Nations that as by one man sin and death reigned so righteousness and life should reign by one Christ Jesus but thou hast a principle of pride in thee and thou dost desire to establish thy own righteousness and thou wouldest not submit to the righteousness of God he is offered but thou wilt none of him Whensoever the second Covenant is preacht take heed of this root of bitterness that it do not rise up and cause thee to reject Grace and forsake thy own mercy truly whosoever does read how quiet this lust was in the Pharisees and they went on as a river runs smoothly without a damm and they wrought for life and by their own obedience they did as with rattles still their Consciences but as soon as Christ came and preacht the righteousness and grace of the second Covenant to them how did this lust rise in them even to the rejecting the Counsel and Grace of God against themselves and even rising up unto the unpardonable sin and so the Papists before Luther found out the righteousness of Faith by an imputed righteousness they were all quiet but afterward this one man odium impetum totius orbis sustinuit And this is the Doctrine preached by the Angel that did fly in the middle of Heaven with the Everlasting Gospel Rev. 19.7 8. and declare then great Babylon begins to fall 3. Be never satisfied till thou find in thy soul the contrary grace and that is a desire of being translated that thou maist be under the first Covenant no more consider there will come a day shortly wherein God will judge the world in righteousness and he will judge every man according to the terms under which he stands Now if thou be found under the first Covenant thou art found in thy own righteousness the Law genders to bondage it works nothing but wrath it speaks nothing but curse and in this Court thou wilt surely be cast only under the second Covenant there is a Chancery a Court of mercy and grace and there is yet a City of refuge to be found before thou beest dragged to the Lords Tribunal go therefore and fly unto the Lords sanctuary go now and acknowledg thou hast stood out long against that grace that must save thee if ever thou beest saved and that thou hast despised that Covenant under which if thou stand not thou art everlastingly undone and tell the Lord thou canst as well cast off Adam's image as translate thy self out of Adam's Covenant tell the Lord who only has made the new Covenant so he only can plant souls into it for the father is the Husbandman and he has undertaken to transplant souls out of the old stock and bring them into the bond of the Covenant Ezek. 20.27 Therefore I beseech you Brethren by the mercies of God by the blood of the Covenant by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him that you seek a Translation and content not your selves to stand under the first Covenant and do this whilst it is called to day while the offers of the Covenant of Grace last before the Portcullis be let down the black Flag hung out the talent of lead laid the irrevocable decree of God gone forth to seal up the measure of your iniquity and shut thee up under the Law and the curse of it for ever God will not have the Grace of the Covenant nor his Son the Prince of the Covenant nor the Blood of the Covenant always despised and rejected by obdurate sinners it shall not always stand at the door as if the Lord needed entrance and admittance and if once God take away this offer of the Grace of the second Covenant and dismiss thee unto the bar of the Law thou art certainly condemned and cursed for ever for not believing in Christ does not only bring thee under wrath but leave thee under it thou rejecting the remedy which is the Grace of the Gospel and thou art then eternally undone for
Saints that they are freed from the Coaction of the Law that they are not so under it as unregenerate men are For 1 they do no good by constraint The regenerate man is always ready to obey the will of God he is a man that acts from an inward principle and therein lives above the Law he that is born of God never sins but always obeys God 1 John every thing that the Law commands is pleasant to him and the Commandments of God are not grievous Cant. 3.10 as Christs Chariot in which he comes to us is paved with Love so is our way to Christ paved with Love and hence a man is never weary but the longer a man continues in the ways of God the more he is satisfied with them because where is a suitableness there is no weariness the Sun is not weary with shining nor the fire weary with burning nor are the Angels in Heaven ever weary of beholding God for ever because their happiness is perfected by it nor are the Saints in earth weary of doing the will of their Heavenly Father neither doing-work nor suffering-work to bear Christs Cross is not grievous to them to be reproached for his name's sake is counted all joy they despise the pleasures of sin for a season living in the sure hope of their enjoying rivers of pleasures that are at Gods right hand for evermore CHAP. V. All those that are in Christ are translated from under the first Covenant Col. 1.13 Who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son or the Son of his Love SECT I. A Scriptural account of this Translation § 1. NOW we come to speak of the last Branch considerable in this Covenant and that is a mans translation out of it Wherein there are four things to be considered 1 That all that are in Christ are translated out of the first Covenant and under it no more 2 The nature and manner of this Translation 3 The abolishing of the first Covenant by a mans translation out of it and the introduction of a second by which the former is made old 4 The subserviency and subordination of this first Covenant in many respects unto the Covenant of Grace as Hagar even then when under the notion of a Covenant it is abolished to Believers The first of these we shall deduce out of these words when we have opened them unto you In the latter part of this Chapter there are mainly two things we are to consider 1 The honour of our Redeemer 2 The manner of our Redemption The honour of our Redeemer is set forth from vers 15 and the manner of our Redemption vers 13 14 and that in many particulars Here we may observe 1 The condition wherein the people of God are before their Conversion 1 They are under the power of darkness 2 They are out of the Kingdom of Gods dear Son 2 Their condition after Conversion They are freed there is deliverence c. and there is translation unto the Kingdom of his Son 1. By nature every man is under the power of darkness even the Elect of God as well as others The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which does properly signifie right and authority over any thing Man did by the first temptation sell himself to the Devil and as it were made a vertual covenant and compact with Satan and as it 's said of Ahab Quod venditur transit in potestatem emptoris He sold himself to work iniquity so it is with all by nature And therefore God in judgment gave man over unto the power of Sin and therein to the dominion of Satan and then Satans godship came in and he became the god of this World and the Prince of the power of the air By darkness is meant in Scripture ignorance sin and misery and of all this darkness Satan is the Prince and has the power he is the ruler of the darkness of this world Ephes 6.12 Condemnandi dominandi This power of darkness is double there is a condemning power and there is a ruling power that makes a man do the works of the Devil and that brings forth fruit unto death Now how comes Satan to have a condemning power the power of death it is by sin and how came sin to have a condemning power it is by the Law 1 Cor. 15.56 that is Heb. 12.14 the Law as a Covenant So that all the power Satan has it is by sin and the power that sin has it is from the Law as a Covenant being broken So that every Elect child of God is by nature under the Law as a Covenant for condemnation and irritation and by this means is under the power of sin and under the dominion of Satan Now a mans deliverance from this is by conquest and by power for it is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to deliver a man by force and set him free Rom. 7.24 When man had no strength to deliver himself but must have lain and perished under this power for ever yea had not so much as an ability of will to desire deliverance and when all the powers of darkness were put forth to keep a man under and Sin and the Law and Satan did their utmost the strong man armed kept the house then Christ a stronger than he breaks in destroys sin and death and him that had the power of death that is the Devil and by this means the Law has no power Sin has no strength Death has no sting and Satan has no dominion But man being under the power of darkness he is out of the Kingdom of Christ which is a Kingdom of Righteousness and free Justification Rom. 14.17 He is free from this for he is under the power of darkness or condemnation because under the power of the Law and under the dominion of him that has the power of death that is the Devil and Christs Kingdom is a Kingdom of light and holiness but they are under the power of darkness sin having by their Covenant dominion over them and they being by Satan led captive at his will and being acted by the spirit of the power of the air c. But all that are converted are under the Kingdom of Christ as it is a Kingdom of Righteousness for matter of Justification and as it is a Kingdom of Grace for the matter of Sanctification and Life and whoever comes under this Kingdom it is by Translation and they are thereby delivered from the power and the authority of the one as they are translated into the other and the word in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does signifie to put a man out of one condition into another and to change a man from his former state in which he was as Luk. 16.4 My master puts me out of the stewardship c. And the Septuagint do use it commonly for transplanting a man out
shewed many ways â—â—w we will speak a little to the sin of it and that in these Particulars 1 Hereby thou endeavourest to make void the Covenant of Grace and all those gloriâ—us thoughts that God had towards sinners from everlasting as the highest way to glorifie himself He did therefore purpose it in himself and from himself Prov. 8.30 Psal 40.5 that he will gloriefie himself this way by a second Covenant and God delighted in it and spent infinite thoughts about it it 's the pleasure of the Lord and all this thou dost make void to thy self by continuing under thy former Covenant and if thou accept not the Grace offered in the second Now the Apostle speaks of it as a fearful evil to make void the Law but how great is their â—vil that do their utmost to make the Gospel void 2 Thou hereby at once frustrates the whole end of Christs coming into the world for â—he came into the world as a second Adam with a Covenant and an Image and no man can partake of his Image unless he have an interest in his Covenant for all the Promises of renewing the Image of God in man are not the promises of the first but of the second Covenant Mal. 3.1 Heb. 12.24 Heb. 7.22 and it 's he that is in Christ that is a new Creature 2 Cor. 5.14 For he is given as a Covenant to the Nations The Lord shall come speedily into his Temple even the messenger of the Conant in whom ye delight So that the great end of Christs coming into the world is that he might bring in a second Covenant by which God and man may be reconciled sins pardoned and the sinner saved and whosoever is not translated into this Covenant Christ is come and dead in vain as to him 3 Thou dost hereby reject and despise the greatest grace that ever was shewed to the sons of men for God to enter into a Covenant with man in his Creation was an act of meer Grace God might have required obedience and have promised no recompence for all was by right of creation due from man to God but God did not owe any thing to man again and yet this was but faedus amicitiae a Covenant of Friendship but when man had sinned and become faedifragus a Covenant-breaker now for God to try man again by a second Covenant that it should be a Covenant with man as a sinner is a far greater act of favour to be engaged to him Isa 26.18 19. and that upon higher terms and better promises it 's the admiration of all the Angels in Heaven that God should so far honour a sinful creature as to take him into Covenant with himself Jer. 13.11 Zac. 11.10 4 This is much heightned by this that the Angels that fell were as capable of mercy as we and Christ and his Righteousness as proportionable a good for the Salvation of the Angels as he is for man though they did sin ex destinata malitia maliciously and without temptation Bernard and so perire necesse est poenitere potentes yet had the Lord set his thoughts of mercy upon them and sent his Son with a Covenant to them The same Omnipotency that overcomes the heart of a man could have also overcome the heart of a Devil but he did catch at Mankind when he let the Angels go and never made them the offer of a second Covenant and this mans sin is beyond that of the Devils in that he refuseth to come under this Covenant of Grace 5 Hereby thou takest the name of God in vain and receivest no benefit by all his Ordinances and Promises and motions of the Spirit that thou enjoyest 1 All his Ordinances for to what end is the Ministry of the Gospel set up and appointed by God but only in the first place to bring men into Covenant with God God is in Christ reconciling the world and how is that done why by making a covenant of peace as this second covenant is called Ezek. 37.26 And by perswading men and treating with them to bring them under the bonds of this covenant 2 Cor 5.18 19. for as the Apostle says He has made us the ministers of reconciliation and all the offers that we make unto you of Christ it is but to perswade you to accept of him as God has given him as a covenant to the Nations and until you do accept of Christ in his covenant and consent to that you can have no other benefit by him that will be effectual to the saving of your soul And as for all other benefits of the Ministry without this they will never answer the great end for which the Lord appointed it It were but a low end in a Minister to propound no higher thing to himself than this that he might inform the judgments of men and draw them to some outward conformity or civilize men and to do some duties to satisfie their consciences but our end should be that which God did send us for and to count that we have laboured in vain Act. 26.18 if we miss thereof and that is to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God to translate men out of the kingdom of darkness into the glorious kingdom of his dear Son the greatest mercies of your lives be offers of Christ and his benefits which are all grounded upon the covenant of Grace 2 All the Promises do belong unto the second covenant and he has given us exceeding great and precious promises 2 Pet. 1.4 whereby we are made partakers of the Divine nature There are promises of pardon and of grace and holiness and happiness promises of the life that now is and that which is to come There are conditional Promises and there are absolute Promises I will be thy God I will give thee my Son and my Spirit I will take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh But the bottom of all these is the Covenant and thereunto all the Promises of the Gospel are referred and therefore he that has no interest in the Covenant he in applying a promise takes the name of God in vain for if you be Christs you are Abrahams seed Gal. 3. ult and heirs also of the promise If you are Christs and are in him your Covenant is changed you then come under Abrahams Covenant for it is in respect of this Covenant only Rom. 4.16 Gal. 4.28 that he is said to be the father of us all and if your Covenant be changed you are heirs of the Promise We as Isaac are children of the promise c. And till a mans Covenant be changed there is not a promise in the Book of God that belongs unto him and whensoever he does apply them unto himself he doth wrest the Scripture and he takes the name of God in vain c. 3 As for the Sacraments whosoever has not his Covenant changed they can
in the Law is to present another and act for him as in his stead as an Attourney or an Ambassador 5 Christ is their Intercessor he offers their sacrifices and attains all mercies for them He offers them sacrifices mixed with his own odours Isa 53. last vers Rev. 8.3 5. for his blood is a speaking blood and it is always sprinkled before the mercy seat 6 He must come again and fetch them and present them unto his Father as a glorious Church before Men and Angels saying Here I am and the Children that thou hast given me and this Chrysostom doth conceive to be the Kingdom that is the Church which Christ shall give up unto his Father 1 Cor. 15.24 2. Now follows the promise if Christ doth perform this in obedience to his Father not seeking his own glory but the glory of him that sent him God doth assure him 1 of assistance in his work he shall have all the power of God ingaged to carry him through it as Isa 42.4 6. I will hold thy hand and thou shalt not be discouraged Isa 45.1 2 Of acceptance a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour and therefore compared unto odours the presentation of it should be sweet unto God Rev. 8.4 3 Of deliverance that he should not lye under the guilt of sin but be justified Isa 50.8 For the debt was paid and the bond was cancelled justified in the spirit nor under the power of death it was impossible he should be held by death Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell c. 4 He should have a seed Psal 72.22 His name shall be continued amongst his posterity Isa 5.3 He shall see his seed and who shall declare his generation 5 He shall have rule and dominion a Kingdom John 5.22 not only in the Church but over all things to the Church a providential as well as a spiritual Kingdom Eph. 1. last Isa 42.4 He shall set judgment in the earth Mic. 4.3 He shall judge among the Nations and he shall govern as King of Saints Rev. 11.17 6 He shall have a worship and a glory Isa 5.5 Nations shall run to thee because I have glorified thee A name above every name a worship from Men and Angels Heb. 1.6 and a publick honour as the Author of all their salvation at that last and great day when he shall the judge the World in righteousness and shall come to be admired in his Saints who shall be with him in Heaven for ever For they shall enter into their masters joy and this is the reward the Lord promises Christ for his services with which he comforts himself Isa 45.4 3. Unto these Articles both parties agree and 4. they are bound by their own consent 1 Christ doth accept of this office upon the Fathers terms and doth freely submit unto the Fathers will he takes the nature of man and in that nature subjects himself Isa 50.5 He gave his face to the smiters and he did the work that the Father sent him to do and he failed not in a tittle thereof and he doth it freely and cheerfully 't is as his meat and drink Lo I come to do thy will O God And he is now in Heaven by vertue of office Psal 40.8 as he is God the Fathers servant as our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 2 Upon these promises he doth exercise faith and his soul rests upon them Isa 5.7 9. The Lord will help me my God shall be my strength Heb. 2.13 Psal 16.10 he is near that justifies me he will not leave my soul in hell and upon the Cross he cries out My God c. It is his God by Covenant Christ is the highest pattern of believing and as a publick person trusts God for all the benefits of the Covenant for himself and us 3 The promises of this Covenant he doth follow by a continued Prayer for he doth obtain it by Prayer as we do Psal 2.8 Ask of me and I will give thee c. John 17.4 Now glorifie me now let the glory of the Godhead shine forth in the humane nature the time of my suffering being ended 4 All the glory that Christ has now in Heaven and Earth is nothing else but in performance of this Covenant that the Father made with him God hath exalted him and he hath received the promise of the holy Ghost Act. 2.33 Christ must first suffer and afterwards enter into his glory and he hath fulfilled it and the Lord hath given him as a light to the Gentiles Isa 49.8 and for salvation to the ends of the earth 5 He is in constant expectation of the full accomplishment hereof when the glory of Christ in his mystical body shall be full and his joy full and his sufferings full and his enemies perfectly subdued and his people perfectly glorified Heb. 10.13 and all this by vertue of the Covenant that past between God and him grounded upon the love and faithfulness of God in Covenant being a God that keeps covenant for ever § 4. Now the Uses and Corollaries that follows from this part of the Covenant which was made with Christ in reference unto the trust that he hath undertaken are many and of very great use both for matter of instruction and of practice Use 1. This gives us a great light into the election of Christ The Scripture doth commonly assert that he is the elect of God chosen both to duty and glory a work that he was to do Isa 42.1 and a reward that he was to receive and we are said to be chosen in him Ephes 1.4 which notes properly the order in which God elects his Saints First Christ God and Man as the head as primus foederatus the prime sederate after whom and in whom in the order of nature all the body are elected so that the grace of election begins first in Christ our head and descends unto us in him it notes the order in which we are elected and not the cause of our election not that we were first elected and then Christ chosen by occasion of our fall but he is the first born in the womb of Gods election The first born amongst many brethren Now the election of man is an act of sovereignty and meerly comes under the will of God Rom. 3. He has mercy on whom he will have mercy And as the Potter has power over the clay c. But Christ as God could not come under an act of his will as election is but by his own consent Ephes 1.5 It is according to the good pleasure of his will he is appointed Heir of all things as he was the Son he was haeres natus a born heir that being an act of his nature but as the head of the Church so he was hares constitutus a constituted heir and comes under an act of Gods will Christ was elected to be Gods great servant in reference unto man and that under a double
by his own free and voluntary condescension We were first sin and he was made sin for us we a curse first and he made a curse for us so we were first under the Covenant of Works and he did freely subject himself to be made under the Law he took our nature that he might communicate his to us so he takes our Covenant and subjects himself to it that he might impart unto us his Covenant and bring that into the World But as for the Covenant of Grace it was made first with him and we come under this Covenant only by Union with him Gal. 3. las◠his voluntary union with us as our surety brought him under our Covenant and our voluntary union with him as our head brings us under his Covenant The curse came upon him by our Covenant which we were first in and the blessing comes upon us by vertue of his Covenant in which he was first SECT III. Christs Headship in the Covenant applied Vse 1 § 1. IT instructs us first to observe the rich and free Grace of God that hath given his Son as a Covenant to the Nations which mercy the Prophet Isaiah exalts Isa 42.6 To us a child is born to us a son is given and the giving of his person was the highest honour and the greatest gift but yet it will be more heightned in our thoughts if we consider the ends for which he is given and the glorious retinue of all grace that follows him For he is given as a head with a Covenant and an Image and we admire God that hath laid up all grace in Christ to dispense unto us that of his fulness we may receive grace for grace This is to give him but half of his glory as he is the Churches head and the second Adam for he doth bring a Covenant into the World as well as an Image and in this respect happily amongst others he is called the Angel of the Covenant 1st It is a free gift there are three things in a gift 1 It is not ex debito of debt God did not owe unto man a Covenant it was all free grace it was that made him enter into a Covenant at first barely to sweeten mans obedience and therefore that man might be willing to be bound to obey God himself is content to be bound to reward him But when man had broken the first Covenant and was perfidious before God now to enter into a second Covenant this makes the Grace of God the greater because otherwise he should have perished under the curse of the first 2 It is not ex pretio by price there is no price that did purchase the Covenant though all the benefits and blessings of the Covenant are purchased by Christ yet the Covenant it self is grounded only upon free grace and it is this Covenant that is the ground of all the acts of Christ and the acceptation of them all is grounded only upon free Grace in the Covenant and compact between him and his Father 3 Not ex merito of merit from any thing that we can do for there is not the least blessing in the second Covenant but it is of Grace and the reward is not reckoned of debt but of grace and if all the benefits of the Covenant be so much more the Covenant it self from whence comes all the grace we have to do any thing pleasing in the sight of God 2dly The greatness of the gift is seen in the love of the giver There was a love manifested in the first Covenant but yet it was not such by which he did intend that any of the Sons of men should be saved He has said That by the works of the law shall no man be justified and the inheritance is not by the law c. But the second Covenant did proceed from Gods electing love which is exactly suited thereunto for Ephes 1.3 4. he doth observe the same order in the benediction that he did in election And the more difficulties love breaks through the greater it is Cant. 8.7 Now our Covenant-breaking might provoke God to withdraw his love and yet the greatness of his love is seen in the duration of it The first Covenant was broken and thereby that love was turned into hatred and God became our enemy as common love will end in everlasting hatred but this is from his everlasting love and therefore it is an everlasting Covenant 3dly The greatness of it is seen in our necessity We were 1 under a Covenant broken and therefore under the curse of it 2 It was a Covenant without a Mediator for God could not enter into Covenant immediately with us being fallen as we have heard at large therefore there was in the first Covenant no commutation of the person we must answer for it in our own persons the soul that sins must dye 3 A Covenant that promises no spark of repentance 4 A Covenant that promises no mercy or acceptance upon repentance and therefore man had been left in a remediless condition even as the Devil at this day 2 Pet. 2.4 being bound in the chains of darkness 2 Pet. 2.4 which is nothing else but the curse of their Covenant Now in this condition it is the Gospel of Christ the Grace of God that brings salvation Tit. 2.11 Life and immortality is brought to light thereby 4thly Consider the excellency of this Covenant The first Covenant indeed is that under which the Angels stand by which they do injoy happiness and glory but this is the Covenant under which Christ stands of which he is the Glory the Prince the Messenger the Mediator of a better Covenant which the Angels admire and were it offered to them would change their Covenant and cast away their own righteousness that they might come under the Covenant of Grace by which Covenant the Saints enjoy all their happiness and glory in Heaven and have the promises of the life that now is and that which is to come 5thly That Christ is given as a Covenant doth heighten the promises thereof and make them of a far more glorious nature Rev. 21.7 than those under the first Covenant For I will be thy God and thou shalt have an interest in all that is in me for thy good as truly as it is mine for my own glory The promises are infinitely heightned because he that is the Prince of the Covenant was worthy and capable which no meer creature could be 6thly This makes the promises of it sure unto all the seed for with Christ God cannot break Covenant and there is nothing in this Covenant but is purchased as well as promised and the righteousness is everlasting sin can never spend it Heb. 7.22 Surety of a better testament A surety not only of the old Covenant to pay the debt but also of the new to perform the duty so that God expects all from him and accepts all as it doth proceed from his hand 2. This instructs
not as simply necessary unto the Sacrament of Baptism yet they conceive them lawful and not to be rejected so as they be qualified for so great a trust and do faithfully discharge it in the fear of God By this it will appear our Divines generally judge that there is a kind of spiritual Adoption that a godly man may convey a right by and give an interest in the Covenant and the priviledges of the Covenant unto those that are not his seed and â—hose that from their natural parents have no right at all Now to cross the judgment of so many reverent and holy men both ancient and modern hath been a very great trouble to me and upon the most serious debate I did desire â—hat the balance might have been cast the contrary way but at last considering that the â—cripture is unto them and us the Rule of Doctrines and the Judge of Controversies unto which they bind themselves and that if an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven do speak the contrary it 's because there is no light in them and because we have learnt from themselves Esa 8.20 â—â—at they were not satisfied with their own light in many things but writ according to their â—resent apprehensions with a desire still to a further and clearer discovery De catechis rudib c. 1. Mihi prope semper â—rmo meus displicet melioris avidus sum and therefore our Divines generally forsake them â—n many things as not walking with a right foot towards the truths of the Gospel and Luther professes of his works If the Lord Jesus Christ was willing to give an account of his doâ—trine when he asked Quantò magìs ego faex non nisi errare potens c. Et primus ero qui libellos meos in ignem projiciam and therefore he doth â—eseech men by the mercy of God That if any man could convince him of his errours he would for he was ready to retract them This hath incouraged me with all submission to speak my â—pprehensions out of the word though they are contrary unto that doctrine that hath been â—o anciently taught and so commonly received Herein I would speak unto three things 1 I would lay this for a ground That only â—â—rents can give the child a federal right 2 I would answer the instance given of the circumcising of servants born in Abrahams house or bought with his money though they were not of his seed and how far they had their right from Abraham 3 I would speak something to the ancient custom of Sureties or Godfathers in the primitive times 1. Only parents can give their children a federal right and none else and that I shall endeavor to make manifest to you by these arguments 1. From the nature of the Covenant which doth only take in his seed Abraham and his seed Noah and his seed the woman and her seed Gen. 3.35 9.9 17.7 Psal 89.29 David and his seed the holiness of branches it 's spoken of a federal holiness because it is applied to branches that were broken off therefore it is meant of a childs holiness and it doth proceed from the holiness of the root upon which they grew Rom. 11.16 and such a holiness as the converted Gentiles had for their seed by virtue of the same Covenant and therefore the children of believing parents are called the children of the Covenant Acts 3.25 as being a birth-right that belongs to them and as we may not with some deny them that which is their right so we are not of our own authority to appoint them coheirs some that shall share with them therein Mr. Calvin indeed saith Hîc certè locum habet regula vulgaris favores sunt ampliandi yet we should not limit the grace of the Covenant and stretch it beyond the rule of the Word and our grace in receiving men must not be larger than Gods grace manifested in the Covenant that he hath established wherein we do learn that the childs federal right is the confederate parents priviledge but never that a person in covenant hath a power having no seed to adopt any unto himself for spiritual priviledges or that he may extend them to any but those that God hath taken into covenant with him which is his seed an adoption in things temporal is allowed by the Law of God and man but that there should be in men adoption in things that are spiritual in reference to a covenant-right that is to extend the terms of the covenant beyond the line that God hath in his Word stretched forth It 's true Divinus sese obstrinixit Christo homini in persona Abrahami Zanch. Abraham was a publick person in the covenant of grace with whom as it were the covenant eminently began and he was as one hath well observed therein a type of Christ as David Psal 89.34 and therefore Abraham is said to be the father of us all Rom. 4.16 the father of many Nations but this is only in respect of the spiritual grace of the covenant and not the external spiritual priviledges of the covenant for the children of the promise are accounted for his seed though they were not of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh Rom. 4.12 yet they did walk in the steps of Abraham and were the children of his faith though not of his flesh but other Christians are not made publick persons in this respect as Adam Abraham and David were and therefore in reference to these outward spiritual priviledges they can convey them unto none but unto their seed whom the Lord takes into covenant with himself as appears in the Text and our grace must not be larger than Gods 1 Cor. 7.14 2. The Apostle 1 Cor. 7.14 lays down the rule plainly That the holiness of the child comes from the holiness of the immediate parent one or both and on the contrary the uncleanness of the child comes from the uncleanness of the parent else were they unclean but now are they holy it 's spoken here of a federal holiness as we have before proved and the Divines before quoted do grant if one of the parents be not in this respect holy the Apostle pronounceth their children unclean that is they have no federal holiness and if the Lord say that they are unclean who is it that can by his undertaking for their education make them holy till God by a work of conversion make them so It would make federal holiness which is one of the great priviledges of the second Covenant and an expression of the free grace of the Gospel to be a thing of small account if any man might say of the children of a Heathen It 's true neither of their parents was a Believer and the children are unclean by their birth but I will make them holy for I will undertake for their education this seems to be a way of holiness that was never appointed by the Spirit of
his promises and thereby we put his bonds in suit before the Throne of his own grace so doth Jacob Lord this is that which thou hast said Return into thy own country and I will do thee good and so doth Nehemiah Neh. 1.8 This is that thou hast promised unto thy servant Moses A soul that can bring unto God his own promise and can plead it before God has a certain argument that it shall be fulfilled It 's the great ground of the prayer of Christ and of his Angels and Saints in Heaven for the Angels do pray and so do the Saints in Heaven the souls under the Altar cry Dan. 4.16 17. Zac. 1. How long Lord Rev. 6. and they have no ground to offer a prayer to God but meerly the promise of God and therefore all their prayers are prayers of faith to this day § 3. The promises of God in Scripture are of two sorts some are absolute some conditional and the grounds of these distinctions of promises are these 1. There is a twofold love of God unto the creature 1 antecedent Love that is set upon the creature for love sake and out of his own free choice and election Rom. 9.18 he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and upon this are grounded all absolute promises 2 there is a consequent Love as the Lord delights to crown the acts of his own Love in the creature having wrought his own image he doth love it and delight in it more than in all the rest of the works of his hands and this is the ground of all conditional promises 2. Absolute Promises are not formally made unto us though they be fulfilled in us but unto Christ for no promise can belong unto him that is not an heir of promise and though a man be so in the Election of God yet he is not actually so till he be united unto Christ and therefore it is unto him that all the absolute promises do belong If we look upon man in a state of Nature so there are absolute promises of grace for a mans conversion but look upon a man in a state of Grace and so there are conditional promises that do belong unto him for his consolation and salvation 3. In absolute promises the creature is meerly passive and there is no prerequired condition in the creature for the accomplishment of it it 's perfectly an act of Gods grace to the creature to promise him to be his God to pardon his sin and take away his heart of stone there is no concurrence of the endeavour of the creature in it for all the works of God in this kâ—l are a new creation but in conditional promises there is a condition prerequired in the creature and there is an actual concurrence of the creature to their performance without which God will never perform the condition he that converts thee without thee will not save thee without thee we must be built as living stones in the Church of God 4. There is a double state of Faith a state of Recumbency or Affiance and a state of Assurance and the promises of the Gospel are suited unto both these states A man that can see no grace in his own soul he comes to the promise for grace and resolves to cast himself upon it he does â—e to Christ that he may have life and casts himself upon the promise that his sins may be pardoned and the truth is in this doth properly the application of faith in a mans first conversion lye in leaving a mans soul with the promise that he may receive grace and pardon not in believing that Christ is mine but in relying upon him and giving up my self to him There is a kind of personal Application and that is direct and there is an axiomatical Application of faith when the soul being in Christ and having received grace is able to see and to conclude its own interest Unto faith of Recumbence the absolute promises do fitly suit But there is a state of Assurance when the soul looks into his own heart and finds the image of Christ written there and sees promises made to a broken and a believing heart one poor in spirit and he finds the condition in himself and now all the conditional promises come in with comfort to him who before could taste no sweetness in them because he could not find in himself the condition 5. There are two ways of assurance answerable to the twofold witness of it there is a witness in Heaven and there is a witness also in the heart 1 There is an immediate testimony Rejoyce in this that your names are written in heaven saith our Lord again the Lord says to a man Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee and thou art greatly beloved Such immediate testimonies there have been given to the Saints and surely the bowels of the Lord are not straitned 1 Joh. 5.7 Thus there is a testimony of the Spirit that is distinct from the witness of water and blood the Spirit is the seal in both but in the one he is the seal of his Office and in the other the seal of his Officers a particular seal and a privy signet in the one he testifies the love of all the persons and there is testified that his own love and the love of God is shed abroad in the heart there is illuminatio quaedam è montibus aeternis an illumination from the eternal mountains as Gerson speaks 2 There is an Assurance that comes from the witness of a mans own graces the Spirit of God witnessing with our spirits Now the first assurance is in an absolute promise I am thy God thou art greatly beloved thy sins are forgiven thee and the latter kind of assurance is in a conditional promise the Lord discovering to a man the signs of grace in his own soul and the glorious works of the Spirit of Christ upon his inward man conforming him to the image of Christ 6. The great difference between the first and second Covenant lay in this the promises of the first Covenant were all of them conditional being given unto grace received and did suppose grace in the person to whom they were made but there were no absolute promises to give grace that Covenant did suppose grace but it did not give grace But under the Gospel as there are promises of reward of grace received so there are promises of giving grace where there is no grace and herein lies the great glory of the promises of the new Covenant and the grace of them it gives grace and then it crowns grace and therefore they are said to be better promises 7. Absolute promises have their degrees of accomplishment as well as conditional though a man has a right to them all at once yet the Lord doth perform them by degrees to us there is no promise that is fully and perfectly accomplished till we come to Heaven our justification is not perfect
to perform the promise is Gods part and to press God with his promise is our part I will do it for you says tne Lord yet I will be inquired of by you that I may do it for you ask and you shall receive knock and it shall be opened and there is no way that ever any creature could attain any thing of God but this way Upon this very ground Christ himself if he will attain from God he must ask and so 't is with the Angels and so 't is with the Saints in Heaven Dan. 4.17 they cry How long Lord How much more is it to be with dust and ashes 3. That the Lord may honour his own Ordinance and testifie how much he doth delight in the worship of a creature and that thereby he might make it a double mercy For ungodly men to receive blessings as a fruit of Providence unto them it comes always single that is in the thing only but unto a godly man that has it as a fruit of the promise it 's always a double mercy mercy in the thing and mercy to the man not only an accomplishment of Gods promises but the return of the mans prayers the exercise of Gods faithfulness unto us and of our graces towards God and there are no mercies so sweet as those that come in with the exercise of grace in the attaining of them Deum orationibus ambiamus coelum tundimus misericordiam extorquemus as Tertullian says of the power of the Saints prayers because of his delight in the exercise of their graces And there is no duty wherein the graces of the Saints do act with more life and power than they do in prayer there is magna conjunctio a great concurrence of grace in them as we see it in Abraham in his prayer what strong acts of grace he puts forth Gen. 18. The nearer the soul draws to God the fountain of its life the more lively it works and moves the swifter the nearer the centre and there is no duty in which the soul draws nearer to God than it doth in prayer and hath more immediate communion with him than when he is upon his knees before the Throne of grace 4. And lastly the way to attain promises is a patient waiting for them till the Lords time come for it 's true of promises as it is of prophecies though the vision be for an appointed time Hab. 2.3 yet wait for it for it will come and will not tarry It 's a speech like unto that in Luk. 18.7 8. though he bear long with them yet he will avenge them speedily it may tarry long in respect of the time prefixed by us and may seem long to us but it shall not be long when the time comes that is appointed by God The Lord commonly does in the answering of prayers as he does in the fulfilling of Prophecies it 's a great while before the Prophecy seems to speak or to give any hope of its accomplishment as it was in the deliverance out of Egypt and Babylon but yet when once it begins but to dawn its day immediately in a manner it strangely and suddenly breaks forth that the Saints of God can scarce believe their own eyes they are like unto them that dream And so it is in the return of their prayers also as in the calling of the Jews they are as dry bones and they are scattered here and there all the world over but the bones shall come together and it shall be so suddenly done that the Lord saith A Nation shall be born at once and before Sion travelled she brought forth and so it is in the answer of Prayers as it was with Elijah he prayed seven times and his servant looked and there was nothing and yet he continued praying at last there appeared a Cloud like unto a mans hand and by and by the Heavens were covered over with Clouds and then the rain fell when it begins once to appear that the Clouds do break away a little the Lord doth strangely hasten the work and there is a glorious concurrence and falling in of all causes to its accomplishment there is a time of the Promise's accomplishment Acts 7 1◠and a great part of the Mercy is in the season of it the Lord doth not delay because he is unwilling to bestow it or because the Mercy comes hardly off for he knows that to our hasty Nature bis dat qui citò but the Lord doth defer it that he may improve the Mercy by the season of it for Gods time is best and not ours my time is not yet come though your time be alwayes ready all Christs Miracles were so much the more glorious by the seasons of their putting forth and so are Gods Mercies also the more magnified in coming to us in the fittest time he does wait to be gracious that is that he may bestow the Mercy when we are fittest to receive it and our hearts are best prepared for it As in judgement to a wicked man the Lord does watch over him for evil and he shall be ensnared in an evil time as a Bird in an evil snare judgement shall come upon him when he least expects it and is least prepared for it he shall be cut off as the foam upon the waters Hos 10.7 sicut aquae superiores ferventis ollae Jerome for the word spuma doth signifie a bubble that does arise from heat c. when they are swelled up and hold up their heads on high and be lifted up above the rest of the waters then they shall suddenly be cut off As I say there is a time for judgment that Justice doth watch over men for evil so there is also a time for Mercy that Grace does watch over men for good there is a time for the Promise to bring forth as well as the threatning and therefore it 's said That by Faith and Patience the Saints have inherited the Promises and there is as well a Patience in waiting as in Suffering Zeph. 2.1 2. let Patience have its perfect work in you in this respect also that you may be intire and perfect wanting nothing Hebr. 10.36 But the Soul will be ready to say I could be willing to wait Gods time if I could be sure to attain the Promise at the last but what grounds are there to support and underprop my heart that I shall receive the Promise and not miss of it in the end Now the grounds to assure the Soul thereof are these 1. The faithfulness of God the Promises are therefore confirmed by an Oath Heb. 6.17 that by two immutable things wherein it 's impossible for God to lye we might have strong Consolation Quid est Dei juratio nisi promissi confirmatio Aust. infidelium quaedam increpatio An Oath amongst Men puts an end to Controversie much more should the Oath of God put an end to all Controversie and Disputes in the Soul and
glorifie the three Persons in the Trinity in the hearts of Believers and this appears plainly by Eph. 1.3 7 13. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus in whom we have redemption through his blood and have attained unto an inheritance in whom after you believed you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise So that to honour the Persons and to exalt them in the hearts of Believers is one great and main intendment of the Gospel and therefore if your faith close not with them you cross one great and main end of the Gospel of grace and that must be done not only in receiving of blessings and benefits from the Trinity in common but that a man take special notice of the distinct works of them all what is done by the Father and what is done by the Son that in that blessing the person from whence it comes may be highly exalted in the soul therefore we do read of distinct acts of faith exercised upon the Son Joh. 14.1 Joh. 5.23 and the Father You believe in God believe also in me that all men may honour the Son even as they honour the Father 3 As the order of their working doth follow the order of their subsisting as the School-men observe the works of the Father being first and then the works of the Son so it 's in the work of grace and all the benefits of it attributed to God the Father are first in order of Nature and then those that are attributed to the Son and therefore Adoption being the act of the Father is by some asserted to be first in order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by grace before Redemption which is an act of the Son and of Sanctification Forbes of Justification p. 28. which is an act of the Holy Ghost and this very consideration will give a man great light into the order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by virtue of the new Covenant for the order of the blessings are answerable to the order of the workings of those persons from whence they flow 1 Joh. 4.16 2. Believers should exercise love towards all three Persons God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwells in God and God in him There is a walking in love and a dwelling therein as a man dwells in his own house there is not only a love of the Son as says Christ Joh. 15.9 So I have loved you continue you in my love but there is a love of the Father also that the soul is to look upon as distinct Joh. 14.23 Joh. 16.27 If any man love me and keep my words my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you becaâ—â—â— you have loved me 1 It is a great comfort and honour unto the Saints that they are come unto the innumerable company of Angels and unto the Souls of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And the promise is made good to them Zac. 3.7 They have places or galleries to walk in amongst them that stand by and that they can walk in the love of Angels and of the general Assembly of the Church of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven but much more to walk in the love of all the Persons that they are come unto Jesus they are come to the Mediator of the new Covenant to the blood of sprinkling and unto God the Judge of all and so can walk in the apprehension of the love of them all and it 's a great comfort that they can go to them all in prayer grounded upon the particular love of them all the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit Rev. 1.4 5. Grace and peace be with you from him that is and was and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne and from Jesus the faithful and true witness And the soul tastes the love of the Father in giving his Son and the love of the Son in that he loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 2 That we might testifie our love to each Person distinctly and suitable unto the love with which they have loved us 1 let us fear to offend them all not only fear to offend God the Father because our God is a consuming fire and it 's a great and terrible name Ezech. 21.10 the Lord our God but also fear to offend God the Son our Saviour Take heed of him obey his voice provoke him not for my name is in him it is the rod of my son which it contemneth as every tree c. And Eph. 2.4 30. fear to grieve or quench the Spirit or resist his motions 2 Perform duties by arguments and motives drawn from the love of them all Joh. 14.23 If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will make our abode with him he that has my commandments and keeps them he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him 3 Give glory unto them all being affected with their love particularly that the soul may say Glory be unto the Father Son and Holy Ghost according to the intent of the Gospel that as we were baptized in the Name of them all so we may give glory to them all in a Gospel-sense And the truth is as this should be the great and principal object of our faith so it should be of our love also the highest love we can love God with is to love him for himself we may love God for his benefits and his blessings but yet that is not true love unless the highest love be set upon the persons Plus diligere famulum quam sponsum meretricis amor est Aust To love the servant more than the Bridegroom is adulterous love 3. As in the work of Faith the Soul is to be exercised upon all the Persons so also in the point of Assurance which is an addition unto Faith we should wait for the Witness and the sealing of them all because all of them set their seals unto the Evidences of the Saints The scope of the Epistle of John is 1 Joh. 5.7 that the Saints may know that they have Eternal Life and there are Witnesses some in Heaven and some in Earth but yet the Testimonies that these give all of them are in the heart of a Believer for so it is said He that believes hath the witness within himself the Father the Word and the Spirit Vers 10. and these three persons in Heaven give a distinct witness unto the assurance of the Saints in their own hearts there are three seals that are set unto it though it 's true that a man knowing the Love of
because we chuse him and the soul of man is in nothing more free than in his choice specially in the choice of his God and therefore 't is said Hos 9.10 They joyned themselves unto Baal-Peor and separated themselves unto that shame So in conversion a man doth change his God the great work of grace is upon the will The Lord shall perswade Japhet vocatione alta secreta by a deep and secret vocation and all that power is put forth by making them a willing people Psal 110.3 2. He that has Jehovah for his God must have no other God Psal 81.9 There shall be no strange God in thee thou shalt have none other gods but me And therefore Dagon falls before the Ark. And it was the great objection of the Senate against worshipping of Christ as a God in their Capitol when offered by Tiberias because he would be God alone it 's the great objection that Nature has against exalting of God in the heart when God is exalted all lusts must give place Satan then falls from Heaven as Lightning Luk. 10. Hos 14.8 and all the Idols of the soul give place to God What have I to do any more with Idols There are Parelii in Nature by way of reflection two Suns but there cannot be so in the Soul in reference to Gods and if there be so and any thing allowed in the soul for God but the true God that mans interest in God is but a fancy 3. If the Lord be thy God thou wilt exercise all these acts of soul towards him that becomes a God for that is to have Jehovah for thy God for Mic. 4.5 All nations do walk in the name of their gods and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever There is a twofold worship of God 1 Cultus naturalis natural Worship which is inward and there is something in nature that dictates it without a word of institution 2 Institutus instituted Worship an outward worship that depends upon an additional manifestation of his will and these outward acts of worship may be interrupted but the inward acts can never be but you may be abundant in them namely to fear him as a God to trust him as a God and to love him and believe in him as a God and these acts let thy soul be most in offer all thou hast to him and expect all good from him he it is that is called the hope of Israel because all their hopes are in him as all our springs are in him look for your happiness from no other depend upon none but him take up this noble resolution before all the world and say it shall never be said that the King of Sodom made Abraham rich by the things of this life I will have all from my God and then they are all blessings indeed because God comes home to the soul with every mercy and the more immediately any mercy comes from God the sweeter it is and this should make a man walk worthy of God and of such an interest in him It was said of Felix by Tacitus Jus regium servili ingenio exercuit He exercised the kingly power with a servile mind a greatness of mind a Princely spirit answerable to the greatness of your interest is becoming you it is the honour and glory of the Saints to be always shewing themselves worthy of their high calling before the world SECT II. God in the Covenant has made over all his Attributes § 1. LET us now come unto the first thing to be considered in God and that is his Divine Essence there is a twofold discovery a double manifestation of God that the Scripture speaks of the face and the back parts of God Gods face is his Essence Exod. 33.20 21. 1 Joh. 1.2 1 Cor. 13.12 for that is to see him as he is we shall see him face to face which is the vision that the Saints and Angels have of God in Heaven for their Angels behold the face of your Father in Heaven Mat. 18.10 And this is that in which the happiness of rational creatures doth consist it is this which destroys sin and perfects grace and makes the creature impeccable our conformity unto God in holiness and happiness is grounded upon our vision of him 1 Joh. 3.2 We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and it 's true that this is also promised by God unto his people in this promise to be their God in fruition as will afterwards appear for this promise is never fully accomplished till we come to Heaven Job 11.7 and yet even then we shall not find out the Almighty to perfection for an infinite Being can never be comprehended by a finite understanding It 's the happiness of God to know himself to perfection We shall know him sufficiently for our perfection but we shall never be able to know him according unto his perfection but the knowledge of God in his Essence doth not agree unto a mans present state the imperfection whereof is set forth by a threefold similitude 1 Cor. 13.12 1 of a glass 2 of a riddle 3 it is answerable to the knowledge of a child of the things of a man Therefore the knowledge that we have of God in this life is not of his essence or his face but of his back parts non sicut est sed sicut vult non as he is but as he wills Bern. And the back parts of God are those Attributes that he is pleased to express of himself in the Scripture by which he is made known either viâ negationis in a way of negation as he is infinite immortal incomprehensible invisible unchangeable or else viâ causalitatis in a way of causality as he is holy and merciful and just and wise c. These being excellencies in the creature are attributed unto God as being wrought by him and therefore must needs be in him in a more glorious and transcendent manner than they can be in any creature This is a knowledge of God suitable unto this life and it is an interest in God that is attainable in this life God has made over himself to his people in all his Attributes Doctrine Observe hence That the Lord in the Covenant of grace has made over unto his people all the Attributes of his Divine Nature Here for the opening of it we must shew 1 That it is so that Gods Attributes are made over 2 That this is peculiar to the second Covenant and is the Saints priviledge or portion 3 The manner of making them over how they are in God and how a man may conclude that they belong to us 4 To what end they are made over unto the Saints 5 What a glorious revenue such have who have an interest in the Attributes of God and how infinitely more it is than a mans interest in all the promises of God and
57.17 18. of a man in a wicked way and the Lord corrects him but he goes on freely in the way of his heart now what should the Lord do Felix cui Deus dignatur irasci c. Happy man with whom the Lord is angry but if this avail not casts he him off as he did the Devils and the Angels that sinned nay the Attributes are now ingaged and though the man be unfaithful to God yet the Lord has engaged himself to be his God and therefore he says I have seen his ways and I will heal him I am his God and he is mine for all this c. 2. Under the Second Covenant there is a fuller and a more glorious discovery of all the Attributes than there was under the First Covenant As the Saints have a greater interest in the Attributes of God than the Angels have so they are more fully revealed unto the Saints than they were to the Angels and therefore they are said to go to School to the Church to learn Ephes 3.10 for by the Church they are taught the manifold wisdom of God The Lord Christ as Mediator is a Glorious Stage upon which all the Attributes do strangely act their parts Exod. 23. and therefore the Lord saith of Christ My Name is in him and he is therefore called Colos 1.15 the Image of the invisible God because all the Glory of God doth shine forth in him 1. Here are some Attributes that could never have been discovered under the first Covenant and those are 1 the mercy of God as it respects misery for had the first Covenant continued there had been no misery and therefore no place for mercy 2 the love of God to mankind when he did catch at man fallen and did let the Angels go as it is Heb. 2.6 3 the patience and the long-suffering of God for there had been no place for these if the Lord had not been provoked by sin against the sinner for it is it that hardens them in their impenitency and magnifies this patience of God that he can bear so long with such sinners 2 All the Attributes under the second Covenant are discovered in a far higher way than they could have been under the first Covenant 1 There was higher wisdom discovered than in the Creation indeed there was great wisdom in making a World and in giving a Law but there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manifold wisdom in this Eph. 3.10 that the Angels that had studied the wisdom of God in the first Edition ever since their Creation now do desire to look into this Mystery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or they stooped and with great diligence and observation looked into it but now there is such a discovery of wisdome as was never known to the world before which is a second Edition and has put the Angels to School again and therefore Aquinas says There is a threefold knowledge of the Angels 1. matutina morning that which they had of God in their Creation 2. respectiva respective that which they did attain further of God rebus ipsis from their own experience and observation 3. the knowledge that they have of God in Christ and that he calls meridiana meridian knowledge 2 There is a greater power under the second Covenant than was under the first Covenant for that was but to command a creature to stand up out of nothing and it was done by a word but now for the Godhead to joyn it self into a personal union with the creature is much more the power of God over a creature is not so much as the power of God over himself for to forgive sin is an act of power Num. 14.17 to support a creature against himself and his own revenging hand under the guilt of sin shews the depth of wisdom and grace 3 There is greater Justice under the second Covenant for the first Covenant being broken Gods rejection of Adam was but rejecting of a creature and the Angels they were but Gods Servants and he might punish them for their sin but herein is higher Justice when God will not spare his Son and his strong crys and tears moved him not nay and God himself was to be his Executioner and yet his Justice is pleased with it It pleased the Father to bruise him Esa 53. conterere it signifies to grinde one to powder for that is to make one contrite c. he hath put him to grief and he was wounded for our transgressions and was bruised for our sins 4 There was a greater discovery of Gods truth under the second Covenant Under the first Covenant the Lord had spoken the word the day thou eatest thou shalt dye and the Lord was as good as his word and had cast off man and Angels by it but they were as clay in his hand he had no need of them but now if his Son will undertake it surely one would think God would either abrogate his Law or mitigate it but the Lord will do neither his truth shall stand rather than Heaven or Earth and therefore if the Son of God be made sin he shall be made a curse also 3. Under the second Covenant we have a firmer hold upon all the Attributes than we could ever have had under the first Covenant the Lord was the God of Adam and also of the Angels but yet so as he might by their Covenant become their enemy if they were not confirmed by his grace in the new Covenant therefore the Angels are beholding to Christ for their confirmation as well as men are for their reconciliation but the Lord becomes the God of his people so under the second Covenant that he is their God for ever and ever this God is our God for ever and ever Psal 48.14 The wisdom of God is eternally thine and shall never be turned against thee as the manner of enemies is they turn your own ammunition against you many times His mercy is everlasting mercy and his power is everlasting power and his loving-kindness is everlasting § 3. What is the manner how the Lord makes over all his Attributes unto his people This Question is of moment that so we may know the tenure by which we hold so glorious an inheritance Now the manner of it is this 1. Man by the Fall having departed from God and thereby lost and forfeited his interest in him and become to him wholly a stranger and an enemy Col. 1.21 there was no way to restore a man to a title in God again unless sin which was the cause of enmity were taken away as that which did take God off from man as if ever a mans inheritance in the creatures were restored that must be taken away which did deprive man of them therefore the great business that God had to do and which was the great thing in his eye by Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 10.5 to take away sin to prepare him a body
1 Joh. 4.24 and therefore must be worshipped in spirit and truth 5. That the great motives unto duty and the great restraints from sin be taken from these It 's a matter of great consequence not only that we do the duties that God requires but also what motives they are that fill the sails in our performances For a man to perform high duties upon low motives argues a heart full of flesh to preach the Gospel is a high service but to do it to serve a mans belly or his pride to gather Disciples after him that he may have the credit of a Teacher of others and be cryed up amongst them this doth in a great measure blast all his service therefore let men look to their motives in their performances And so for sin it 's not enough to abstain from sin but a man is to have an eye upon the principle that lyes the restraint upon him what it is many a man may be kept from sin for fleshy aims as Haman refrained himself till he came home and so King Joash during all the days of Jehoiada the fear of man will restrain lust many times where there is no fear of God There are as it were several topicks from which the arguments and reasonings of the soul are taken for the Word of God is quick and powerful c. Heb. 4.12 the one refers to principles for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the seat of principles and the other to the dianoetick faculty a mans arguments and reasonings from those principles and there are some high and noble motives suitable to the nature of grace and there are some low and sinful motives agreeable to the nature of flesh and the Word of God is a curious discerner of both and it 's a great matter from what topicks a man doth take the argument that does mainly act his spirit in duty and as the highest rule of duty is to be found in the attributes of God so the noblest motives unto duty are to be found in them also Joel 2.13 Rent your hearts and not your garments and turn to the Lord your God for he is merciful and gracious he is long-suffering slow to anger and of great kindness who knows if he will return and repent And Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient walk before me and be upright There are arguments enough to be taken from God and those of the highest kind to quicken a soul in all duties required of him And so it is also as to restraint from sin Hos 3.5 They shall fear the Lord and his goodness Heb. 12.29 Let us have grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire Exod. 34.14 Thou shalt worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God 6. That they may be unto the Saints the ground of prayer and that is in three things 1 They desire that God would manifest his attributes it 's something of God that they would have discovered therefore they cry out with the Psalmist Psal 57.3 O send out thy light and thy truth send forth thy mercy and thy truth it is the discovery and manifestation of an attribute that is the great thing the people of God do beg in all their prayers Num. 14.17 Let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast said 2 It 's the great argument that they use in prayer the main argument of faith is from an attribute and a mans interest therein Remember me O Lord for this and pardon me according to the greatness of thy mercy Nehem. 13.22 Psal 115.1 2 Chron. 14.11 for thy mercy and for thy truths sake And Asa argues from the power of God It 's all one to thee to save with few as with many 3 They do come to God under such an attribute suitable to the mercy that they beg and their faith is staid thereupon and 't is a great matter to look upon God under an attribute that answers our necessity as Christ when he would speak of Judgment Mat. 11.24 Joh. 17. Num. 14.14 and give God thanks for it he call him righteous Father and when he begs Sanctification for his people he calls him holy Father and so when Moses prays for the pardon of sin he calls him the Lord merciful and gracious 7. That they may admire and adore the Lord for the excellencies that are in his Divine Nature and that they may give him the glory of every attribute Glory is but the shining forth of an excellency the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Effulgence and brightness of it Heb. 1.3 and our giving glory is but the reflexion of this excellency Now we give God the glory of his works and of his going forth unto the creature but we should not only give him the glory of these but also of the excellency of his own nature there is none holy as the Lord who is a God like our God pardoning iniquity If we had hearts truly spiritual we would admire God more for the excellencies that are in himself than for all his goings forth to the creature and so the Saints and Angels in Heaven do 8. That in the manifestation of every attribute and the working of it for his people the Saints may rejoyce and particularly give God the glory of that attribute which he hath now so eminently put forth for them and that they may glory in their inheritance thereby Psal 21.13 Be thou exalted O Lord in thy own strength so will we sing and praise thy power I will sing of thy power Psal 59.16 17. and I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble To thee O my strength will I sing for God is my defence and the God of my mercy Rev. 4.8 and so do all the Saints holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which is and was and is to come The attributes of God are the last city of refuge that the Saints can flye unto Prov. 18.10 even the Name of the Lord is their strong tower and when the Lord doth make bare his arm and takes to himself his great power and sends forth his mercy and relieves his people in their distresses Oh! how then do the Saints triumph and rejoyce in him The last refuge is in God and the highest triumph is in God and these are the glorious ends for which God has made over his attributes unto the Saints § 3. See the glory of this inheritance that of the creatures is indeed glorious and that of promises is more but the foundation of all and top of all lyes in attributes It 's of no small concernment for a soul to know the glory of his own inheritance partly because there is a prophaneness of heart in all men that do undervalue spiritual things as well spiritual priviledges as spiritual truths or spiritual graces with
inaccessible whom no man has seen or can see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now there shall be a vision of God that 's plain for we shall see him face to face therefore it 's spoken of bodily eyes when he says No man can see thee they can see him with the eyes of the mind but they cannot with the eyes of the body and 2 it will appear by reason drawn from the nature of a body for the body though it shall be made spiritual yet it shall not be made a spirit that is it shall not lose the essential properties of a body Now nothing can be seen with bodily eyes but bodily objects but God is a Spirit and therefore invisible Col. 1.15 i. e. in reference unto bodily vision c. The School-men indeed speak of the elevation of bodily subjects to work upon Spirits and so here they speak of the elevation of bodily eyes to behold a spiritual object but these are but the empty conceits of men for the body shall retain even in glory its essential properties and shall have a happiness suitable and proportionable unto them in objects fitted to the bodily senses for beatitude though it be radicaliter in corde yet it 's redundanter in corpore c. and this shall be either per lumen gloriae as in thy light we shall see light or else in natura Christi glorificata veluti Divinitatis conjunctum instrumentum And so is that to be understood Job 6.19 26. I shall see my Redeemer with these eyes And 1 Joh. 3.3 When he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is it shall be in the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ but yet this cannot be a corporeal but it must in the essence of blessedness be an intellectual vision 2 Cor. 3. ult Rev. 22.4 2. That there is an intellectual Vision of God will appear three ways 1 By the visions of God that the Saints have here by an eye of faith they shall see his face Num. 12.8 The similitude of God shall he behold it 's a speech of visio mystica the mystick vision that the Saints have in the life that now is by discoveries made unto the eye of their faith for God hath given them new understandings Joh. 1.20 to this end that they may be able to know him that 's true and if there be discoveries of God and his glory unto the understanding of the Saints here how much more in glory in the inheritance of the Saints in light 2 It will be made appear by the Angels says our Saviour They do behold the face of your Father which is in heaven Mat. 18.10 and they are Spirits and have no bodies and yet in all their imployments about the creatures for Christ doth in the Oeconomical Kingdom govern all things by these the spirit of the living creatures is in the wheels they never lose the vision of God they carry their Heaven with them wheresoever they go though they are not always resident in loco beatorum as the Devils do carry their Hell about with them though they are not always in the place of the damned Now we shall be in Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Angels and shall have like discoveries of God as the Angels have but theirs are to their understanding so discoveries of God will be according to ours also 3 It will appear in the souls of just men made perfect before the Resurrection they have the vision of God that 's plain because their souls are made perfect now nothing perfects the soul but the beatifical vision because nothing renders it impeccable but this and finis ultimus perficit agentem actionem the last end perfects the action and Agent therefore there is an intellectual vision of God in which the substance or the essence of happiness doth consist Quest 3 § 3. But can there be an intellectual Vision of Gods Essence Can the understanding of man immediately see the Essence of God or be made happy thereby Answ 1. There must be a vision of the Essence of God for 1 the promise is 1 Cor. 13.12 That we shall see him face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 and we shall know even as we are known The opposition is between the knowledge that now we have of God and what we shall have hereafter and they are compared in two things 1 in the manner of knowledge which shall not be the same now we see in a glass but then immediately we shall see without a glass but if we should see God per abstractam imaginem as Gomer hath a disputation of it in Joh. 1.17 part 1. pag. 328. though it were the purest glass more clear than crystal yet it were seeing in a glass still which is wholly denied we shall no more see in a glass but face to face 2 In the imperfection of our vision we now see darkly and the reason is from the manner of it because we see in a glass but then it shall be perfected because we shall see face to face so much is manifested to Moses thou shalt see my back parts the Attributes of God are discovered here in this life but there is the face of God discovered which must be something beyond what is called his back parts that shall be discovered to the soul which here he cannot see and live but hereafter he must see or he cannot live therefore there is a vision of the Divine Essence 2 It will appear by reason also the chief good of the creature is in God alone that which is called Beatitudo objectiva objective Beatitude which doth only satisfie and fill the heart of the Saints and it 's in the vision and fruition thereof that the soul rests Now any image of God or manifestation of God that is created cannot be our objective happiness for these are but creatures as the discoveries of God unto the soul by the Spirit in a way of Ordinances are therefore the soul can never rest in them can never look upon them as its happiness as the Saints receiving here the joy in the Holy Ghost they are exceedingly ravished with it it 's joy unspeakable Ego mihi visus sum tanquam unus ex illis beatis I seemed to my self as one of those blessed ones but yet the soul is not satisfied with it but when he sees Gods face he is satisfied with his likeness that discovery that there is of God in his own face but is never satisfied till then 2. Though we shall see God in his Essence yet we shall not see the Essence of God unto perfection There is a twofold knowledge 1 Apprehensionis of Apprehension when a man knows any thing truly 2 Comprehensionis of Comprehension when a man knows any thing perfectly secundùm modum cognoscibilitatis as it is knowable or to the utmost that it may be known Now the Essence of God being infinite cannot be
pleasure riches honours whom you have chosen and let them deliver you and then also the Devil will deride your folly as what is sweeter than revenge to evil Spirits and what will insult more over a person in misery a great part of revenge lies in this to laugh at our destruction for when revenge is once entred and has taken possession of a breast pity never returns there the Devil mocked the King of Babylon Esay 14.9 10. How art thou fallen from heaven O great Lucifer son of the morning he that gloried in the greatness of his power c. And the same God who doth beseech you here Psal 2. as if he had need of you he will deride and scorn you hereafter that God that doth laugh here at wicked men though Princes when they are engaged against his people and cause in the world the same God will also laugh at their misery and confusion in the life to come Therefore as it is a folly here to despise or deny Christ because you shall meet him one day For there is a day appointed when he shall judge quick and dead and we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ and then they that have despised him here shall be despised by him in that day for Christ says He that is ashamed of me before men of him will I be ashamed before my Father and before the holy Angels The same thing I say concerning God do not place your happiness and portion in another for the time will come that you must return unto God and if he be now rejected by you he will surely then reject you and say Depart from me I know you not And this doth absolutely set forth the folly of those that live without God and who have their portion in this world because God doth fill their bellies with his hid treasures Psal 17.14 by hid treasures he means exquisitas non vulgares delicias exquisite and not vulgar delices Mol. not only the common contentments and comforts of this life that other men have but the richest and choicest comforts that the world can afford God bestows upon them but it is only to fat them up unto the day of slaughter to fill their bellies that the fatting may go before the killing-time therefore he doth feed them as a Lamb in a large pasture § 2. Their misery also is very great who place their happiness in any thing else but in the Essence of God for they that do so live without God in this world 1. Their portion of creatures that they have chosen will fail them and I tell thee O man or woman that hast so done thou art but a steward and it 's but for a time that these things are put into thy hands thou must lay them down the Princes Robes must be laid down as well as the beggars rags the candle of the wicked shall be put out and you shall lye down in sorrow you have something now to supply you and bear up your spirits which are the creatures whom you have chosen for your gods your portion they are but that candle that you make so much of though it may burn long yet it will be put out at the last but the happiness that the godly man has chosen is the Sun it will not be put out 2. If thou be without God and placest thy happiness in any thing else all things that thou dost enjoy and place thy happiness in are given thee for a curse and for a plague as Saul gave his daughter Michol to David to be a snare to him and that which is thy sin shall be thy punishment you will have your portion in this life so you shall you have lost God in his image in his favour in his fellowship and in his fruition as Christ made that their punishment they will not come they shall not taste of my supper Sin cannot have a worse punishment than it self nor a worse name than it self so if you will not have your portion in God you shall not for ever but shall be without God here and without him hereafter when God shall be all in all 3. Your misery will be the greater that it was your own mercy that was offered to you you might have had I am for your portion now to see Abraham and Isaac sit down in the Kingdom of God and your selves shut out Oh what a misery will it be to reflect then upon those creatures that stole away your hearts from your Creator and one that offered to be a Redeemer This is the worm that will gnaw thee for ever to think I might have been as happy as any of the Saints in glory but I withstood my own happiness and am undone for ever and thus the miserableness of thy condition will be unutterable that the tongues of men and Angels are not able to express it And as men can never know what it is to have their portion in the Essence of God till they come to Heaven for hac in re cognitio nostra penè tantùm Grammatica est so a man can never tell what it is to lose a mans portion in God till he come to Hell And if a man could before-hand lay an ear unto that bottomless pit and but hear how the misery of this loss is set out there with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth it would cause a mans heart to fail and fall asunder within him as drops of water But because the way of the working of the Spirit in this life is by the Word and if men hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they believe if one should come from the dead again therefore this is the way that we must attend upon But more particularly his misery that loseth the chief good is unspeakable in these particulars 1. From the capacity of the soul of man The Lord did make himself to be the portion of his people and he created all souls capable of so high a happiness and glory as himself and his own Essence for they are all created for the enjoyment of God himself other creatures were created to enjoy a good within the compass of their own nature and therein did their perfection consist but man was created to enjoy a good above his own nature and in his enjoyment of it he was to be perfected and so long as he falls short of this he falls short of his perfection therefore when souls come to Heaven and enjoy God in his Essence they are called Souls made perfect Heb. 12.23 and all other perfections that men have are grounded upon this and do flow from it namely the perfection of their faculties graces and comforts Now of this capacity all the souls of men were created there is not the wickedest man in the world even such as perish for ever but they have souls created capable of God and of a happiness in his Essence and they can be happy no other way Now
make their abode with him Joh. 14.23 They dwell in God that is in the sense and the apprehension of his love from day to day 1 Joh. 4.16 they are in the Father and in his Son Christ friends do impart secrets and divide grief 1 Thess 1.1 and multiply joys and because we cannot ascend up unto God therefore he will come down to us We will come to him and dwell in him c. There is a great deal of sweetness in society where a man loves We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in companies but there is none like unto that that is between Heaven and Earth I saw heaven opened and the Angels ascending and descending upon the sons of men Joh. 1. ult Joh. 15.1 § 4. As Christ is the true Vine so the Father is the Husbandman Christ is not here spoken of as a head in heaven for so he has no dead members but it 's spoken of him as spreading himself into a visible Church which is sometimes compared unto a Vine Jer. 2.21 and sometimes to an Olive-tree Rom. 11. and of this Vine the Father is the Husbandman or the Vine-dresser for there are branches in this Vine that do bear no fruit parentes pampinarii Now there is a double act of the Father in this relation 1 The unfruitful branches he takes away that is all hypocrites and unsound-hearted in the Church visible he takes away partly because they dishonour the root and partly because the husbandman has no fruit by them Cant. ult 11 12. For who is he that plants a vineyard and doth not drink thereof he lets it out unto vine-dressers c. and it was to yield for the fruit of it a thousand pieces of silver there is nothing more hateful than an empty Vine Hos 10.1 and these branches he takes away and they are cast out 1 They are cast out of the hearts of Gods people and out of their prayers and in the end they are cast out of their society 2 They wither their gifts wither and their former seeming graces from which they had their greenness decay their lamps go out 3 Men gather them Hereticks gather them or profane men gather them for they shall be gathered together in bundles those of their own kind and all those spiritual judgments that compleat a man for separation from God befal such a man and this punishment is from God the Father who is the Husbandman 2 All the branches that are fruitful he doth purge them that they may bring forth more fruit There are two parts of Sanctification and there is a growth of a Christian seen in them both there is a growth in grace the new image is more visibly seen and there is a growth in mortification or the decay of the old image the new man is renewed day by day and the old man decays day by day c. In visible Churches the purging of the members is the Fathers act the remainders of sin are the great misery of a Saint Now to whom should a man look to be cleansed It 's true that it 's the sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon the conscience by which it is done but it is properly the act of God the Father applying this blood for every degree of grace in the one or the other it 's an act of the grace of the Father But more particularly here are three things to be spoken to for the opening of this relation that we may receive the fruit and taste the sweetness thereof 1 How and in what respect is Christ compared to a Vine 2 Why is he said to be a true Vine 3 How is the Father said to be the Husbandman and what doth he unto this Vine as he is the Husbandman 1. How and in what respect is Christ compared to a Vine and here we are to consider that the visible Church is in Scripture compared in Scripture to four trees because there is no one that is able to resemble it 1 It 's compared to an Olive-tree Rom. 11.17 Jer. 11.16 Rom. 11.17 and that for its profitableness for the Olive-tree is for light which makes the lamp to burn and there is all light in the Church and it 's for nourishment to be eaten Lev. 6.15 16. and so there is all food in the Church and it 's for ornament for oyl makes the face to shine Psal 104.15 the trees of the Lord are full of sap c. 2 It 's compared to a Palm-tree Psal 92.12 The righteous shall flourish like a paâ—m-tree which lives always so there is a flourishing and a greenness and glory that is upon the Church of God and that in the greatest winter of affliction when other trees do cast their leaves Again a Palm the more weight it has hung upon it the more it grows and the deeper it takes root as the Walnut-tree the more it 's beaten the more it bears 3 It 's compared to a Cedar Psal 92.12 and Ezech. 17.23 He shall grow as a cedar in Lebanon 1 For its deep rooting for it 's the strongest of all the trees as the wood of it is of all other least subject unto putrefaction so in respect of the deep rooting of it it 's of all other trees least subject unto subversion so the Israel of God is said to be He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon Hos 14.5 c. 2 For its growth and height it 's therefore called the Cedars of God Psal 80.10 3 For it's spreading nature the boughs spread to the Sea and the branches to the River therefore the birds make their nests and sing in the branches of it Psal 104.17 4 But the Church is specially in the Scripture compared unto a Vine 1 for its excellency for in the Parable of Jotham this is recorded amongst the most excellent the Vine the Fig-tree and the Olive Judg. 9. 2 For its spreading nature for it will not only compass the house but it will fill the land Psal 80.9 3 For its fruitfulness it is the fruitful Vine and the excellency of its fruit is such Psal 128.3 Judg. 9.13 that it is said by it to chear God and man Judg. 9.13 it 's said to chear God and man where by Elohim I should understand great men the great ones as well as the mean ones are cheared and revived by it Some do expound it of God and how the Lord was pleased with it and it was offered unto him in Libamina for a drink-offering 4 Of all trees there is none requires so much husbandry and such a continual labouring about it it is a tree that hath more enemies than any other whether they are suckers from within which call for continual pruning or beasts from without which will surely waste the Vine and root it up or else the Foxes Cant. 2.15 for they all will spoil the Vines and prey upon the grapes and it 〈◊〉 in this respect that the Church
and this is the ambition and the endeavour of every child of God that the law within may fully answer the law without that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished to every good work as well as every good word and may be ready in season and out of season always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that his labour shall not be in vain in the Lord this is our perfection to glorifie God always in our hearts and in our lives c. CHAP. VI. The Soveraignty of God made over to the Saints in the new Covenant SECT I. How and why Gods Soveraignty is made over to the Saints Doctr. § 1. I Now come unto the second particular implied in the fourth Head and that is the Soveraignty of God which is made over in this promise I will be thy God for God doth imply a Supremacy Rom. 9.5 He is God over all Eph. 4.6 There is one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all c. And hence the Observation is That God hath in the new Covenant made over his Soveraignty and Supremacy over all things to the Saints so that it shall be truly exercised as for his own glory so for their good also And for the handling of this point I must shew 1 What the Soveraignty of God is 2 That it is by the Father committed into the hands of Christ 3 That it was by the Father committed and is by Christ exercised in the behalf of the Saints in all the administrations of it 4 The grounds or the reasons of it why it was necessary that to whom he should be a God they should have an interest in him as he is Lord of all 5 The Application of all 1. What is the Soveraignty of God It is that absolute and universal Authority which he hath over all things as being the works of his own hands and so much Christ teaches his Disciples to acknowledge Mat. 6.13 Thine is the kingdom Psal 10.2 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth over all and therefore he is called a great King Mal. 1.14 King of kings and Lord of lords and therefore all things are said to be in the hand of the Lord Deut. 33.3 all the Saints are in his hand Esa 50.2 Is my hand shortned Isa 50.2 Now there is a hand-ruling a hand-providing a hand-protecting a hand-assisting a hand-inflicting and a hand-dispensing for all these are to be understood by the hand of the Lord in the Scripture And this Kingdom and Dominion of God 1 is universal there is no restraint or limitation of his Kingdom it doth reach unto all things in Heaven and in Earth his Kingdom ruleth over all he doth whatever he will in Heaven and in Earth and in the Sea and in all deep places and therefore he is commonly in Scripture called The Lord of Hosts The Lord of Hosts is with us and the God of Jacob is our refuge Jam. 5.4 c. Jam. 5.4 The crys of them enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath or Hosts all the creatures are under his power as their absolute Commander in chief all is but his Army and he is the General of them he doth order and marshal them all at his pleasure There are four respects why he is called the Lord of Hosts 1 propter numerum multitudinem they are many not a few but the whole army of them from the Angels in Heaven unto the meanest creatures the whole host of them is in his hand under his power and at his dispose 2 Propter ordinem dispositionem they are not barely a number but they are ordered and placed in their several conditions and ranks Joel 2.7 Joel 2.7 it is expounded of the Locusts and Caterpillars that the Lord did threaten and he saith They shall every one keep their ranks even in the most disorderly condition of things there is an order that the Lord doth set the stars in their courses shall fight Judg. 5.20 c. the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab exaltationibus suis from their Towers it 's a Metaphor taken from fighting from Castles or some high places of strength from their Towers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septuagint renders it and so we also render it in their order and in their courses as God hath set them 3 Propter praeparationem they are an army and therefore prepared for the battel ready to go upon all services any design that the Lord would appoint them for they have their weapons in their hands Ezech. 9.1 Every man with his slaughter-weapon in his hand the very Flies and the Lice the Caterpillar and the Canker-worm they are all of them armed and all of them ready for service when he doth command them 4 Propter subordinationem obedientiam they all of them go at his commandment they continue to this day according to his ordinance for all are his servants they do dispatch his commands for he saith to one Go and he goeth c. as it is said of the Angels Ezech. 1.14 Their going and returning is as a flash of lightning with the greatest readiness and dexterity that can be every one of them moves in their own due order with all possible speed that can be 2 It is supreme his government is independent upon any other all other Authorities are from God and therefore they all hold of him Dan. 4.17 The most High rules in the kingdoms of mortal men c. deponit reges disponit regna à Deo sunt omnes potestates quamvis non omnium voluntate magnus est Caesar sed Deo minor he deposeth Kings and disposeth Kingdoms c. and therefore saith the Lord Ezech. 21.26 I will overturn overturn remove the diadem and take away the crown Yea the Lord Jesus Christ though he be King of Kings and the great and the only Potentate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet he received the Kingdom from another Esa 9.6 Dan. 7.14 he gives a Kingdom and Power and great Dominion he doth commit all judgment to the Son he hath a government but it is given him and though he be our Lord yet he is therein but the Fathers servant c. and therefore he doth rule so as none other doth 1 He gives all what being he will according to his Soveraignty and therefore there are several degrees of beings they were all in his hand and there is an election unto being and unto the order of being 2 He doth appoint them to their end as he made all for his own glory and they shall be unto his glory so in what way he will glorifie himself by them some in mercy and some in judgment some vessels unto honour and some unto dishonour 3 He doth give them what law he will some have a law written in their nature there are ordinances of the heavens and some have a law
last days of the world Acts 3.21 there shall be a wonderful change in the creatures doubtless before the last day when the Ass shall eat clean fodder Esa 60.17 or provender and when the stones shall be silver and gold and out of the earth shall come brass c. and when the lyon shall lye down with the lamb Esa 11.6 which some as Lactantius do understand literally to be fulfilled terra aperiet foecunditatem suam rupes montium melle sudabunt non bestiae sanguine alentur non aves praedâ Lactant. lib. 7. cap. 4. The earth shall discover its fecundity the rocks sweat honey c. When Christ shall come to the wedding his servants shall put on their gay apparel and this is the new Heaven and the new Earth which shall begin before and shall in the glory for the substantials of it remain after the Lord by the last fire has purged the world unto which the world is reserved now in this also all the creatures belong unto the spiritual Kingdom of Christ § 4. We have seen that the spiritual Kingdom is in the hand of Christ for the good of the Saints and that 1 in that inward dominion that he has over them in whose hearts he dwells by a spirit of regeneration 2 over them that belong unto this Kingdom by profession only 3 over all the creatures reductivè how they all belong unto the spiritual Kingdom 1 as they tend to perfect their graces 2 as they belong to the priviledges of the Saints There is yet one head remaining and that is how Christ the Mediator who is King in this spiritual Kingdom doth rule and order the Angels that they have an influence and do conduce to the advancement of the spiritual Kingdom and they are of two sorts Angels on Earth his Ministers and the Angels in Heaven for they are both Officers in the spiritual Kingdom under Christ the King and their Kingdom begun with that of the Mediator and he that did set them up will also put them down before he give up the Kingdom unto the Father for they must give up their account unto Christ and Christ must give up his unto the Father for he saith Heb. 2.13 Behold I and the children that thou hast given me 1 Cor. 15.24 1 Cor. 15.24 He shall put down all rule and all authority and power the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some refer it unto all powers opposite unto the Kingdom of Christ and they say that all these he shall put down non modò ut non praevaleát sed ut planè non sit Now he doth over-rule them so that they do advance that Kingdom which they intend to oppose for he rules in the middle of his enemies but then they shall not be able to oppose now he defeats all their plots but then he shall destroy their persons also but others do refer it unto the powers set up by Christ which then he shall put an end unto when the end of that institution is accomplished and that not only unto the mediatory Kingdom which is to last but until the Saints are perfected and till they all come unto the unity of the faith and to a perfect man c. but it is expounded also de principatu Angelico they shall have no further hand in the government of the spiritual nor of the providential Kingdom but during this present state both these powers are to continue till he that did set them up shall put them down and in the continued ordering and rule of these much of the spiritual Kingdom of Christ doth consist and they do much conduce unto the perfection of the spiritual Kingdom and therefore I shall instance in them both 1. For the Angels upon Earth for so the Ministers and Messengers of God are stiled Judg. 2.1 Judg. 2.1 An Angel of the Lord came from Gilgal to Bochim it is most probable that it was a Prophet one that spake to them in the name of the Lord and some conceive it to be Phineas the Priest because he is said to come from Gilgal whereas Peter Martyr well observes if it had been a heavenly Angel it would have been rather said Coelo descendisse c. Eccles 5.6 That he descended from Heaven and Eccles 5.6 Say not before the Angel it is an oversight that is before the Priest before whom the errours of their rash vows were to be confessed Rev. 2.1 Levit. 5.4 5. Rev. 2.1 To the Angel of the Church c. and it is both a term of office and a term of honour for they as well as the heavenly Angels are sent forth for the good of the Elect and they are but Messengers they must do their office and it is also a term of honour for the Lord takes them into the highest imployments and administrations and therefore it is unto an Officer that the promise is made Zac. 3.7 Zac. 3.7 If thou walk in my ways and keep my charge thou shalt judge my house and keep my courts and I will give thee galleries to walk in amongst them that stand by Now Christ being the King of the spiritual Kingdom we shall observe how he doth govern and rule and order things for the Saints sake that he did set up a Ministry in his Church it 's true that he doth give them a Commission to preach the Gospel to all Nations and the sound of it goes forth unto all the earth it comes unto them that are hardned as well as to them that are converted by it but it was only for the sake of the Saints that he did it or else he had never appointed such an office therefore Eph. 4.12 the end of the Ministry is for the perfecting of the Saints and for the edifying of the body of Christ there are indeed many inferiour and subordinate ends there is finis minùs principalis and many of these are attained also by one and the same action and yet it is the principal end that was really the intention of the efficient without which he would never have done it though he also takes in many lesser and inferiour ends it 's true that there are many ends that by the preaching of the Gospel the Lord doth accomplish upon the wicked of the world but yet he had never sent the Gospel for these ends nor set up a Ministry for the publishing thereof but it was only for the Saints for their gathering and their perfecting c. 2. It is for the good of the Saints that he doth furnish them with gifts and abilities for so great an imployment it is onus humeris Angelicis formidandum who is sufficient for these things It requires the highest abilities attainable by the art of man and the grace of God 1 Cor. 4.1 we are stewards of the mysteries of God Parmenid non ad politias regendas aut bella gerenda c. but that the mysteries of God the truths of the
the Gospel than there is at another time and we should watch and wait to hear what God speaks to us in that manner even while we are speaking to others and truly the secret hints that God many times gives that are immediately darted in from God we have cause to consider of and look upon as the special mercies of our lives because therein God has glory in a special manner according to the service that the Lord has to do for them and by them and all is for the good of his people 6. He doth give an efficacy and success unto their labours in three things 1 He doth by them gather souls for Paul saith 1 Cor. 4.15 I have begotten you thorow the Gospel and therefore as Christ is a Father so are they also spiritual Fathers under him as they are imployed by him to bring souls unto the Lord and they travel in birth with you there is a planting as well as a watering and this should be the great aim of a Minister without which he should think all the other ends as it were lost as Christ doth Esa 49.4 I have laboured in vain Israel is not gathered not in vain as to his reward but yet unto the great end of his calling in vain which is to bring men to repentance to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Acts 26.18 2 For the perfecting of their graces Rom. 1.11 12. For I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end you may be established c. 1 Thess 3.10 it is that I might perfect that which is wanting in your faith for there is to be a watering as well as a planting there is a fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ in which the Ministers should desire to come unto a people Rom. 15.29 that it be not an empty Ministry but come with a fulness of blessing oratione satagamus ut ipse perficiat in auditore quod loquitur in doctore Luth. 3 To preserve them from errour they are the salt of the earth for this end that men may not prove unsavory Eph. 4.14 15. that men be not carried about with every wind of doctrine called so Eph. 4.14 15. 1 for its mutability it doth not abide long in one quarter men are not long of the same mind quò quis foret religiosior eò promptiùs novellis aedinventionibus contrà iret 2 For its prevalency it is strong and powerful and for the strength of it it is compared unto a mighty wind and so it is with this also unto light things that which is chaff and has no root it carries away with ease trees that have no root but that which has a root is the more firmly rooted and this is the honour of the Ministers that the people be in this manner preserved and established c. 7. Their sufferings are for the Churches sake also and the Churches good Phil. 1.12 13. The things that have happened to me in my bonds they have been for the furtherance of the Gospel I endure all for the Churches sake that they may attain the salvation which is in Jesus Christ I fill up that which is behind of the suffering of Christ for his bodies sake which is the Church It is true that the sufferings of Christ are only for the Churches redemption 2 Tim. 2.10 Col. 1.24 and that the suffering of the Ministers also is for the Churches edification and they whom the Lord will have to profit his people no longer by their preaching shall do it by their suffering as one of the Martyrs said I hope we shall kindle a fire this day in England that shall never be put out again Christs sufferings only are meritoriously available for the salvation of the Saints but ours also ministerially for their edification and therefore what do they intend that seek to destroy the Ministers of Christ of which Christ makes so great a use far from the apprehension of the people of Antioch who when Chrysostome was banished professed tolerabilius fuisset si Sol radios suos retraxisset and Luther Si in manu mea res esset non vellem Deum mihi loqui de coelo sed huc tendunt quotidianae preces meae ut digno honore habeam his care was that he might esteem the Ministry as the Ordinance that God had appointed c. 2. And as Christ useth the Angels upon earth for the advancement of the spiritual Kingdom so he doth the Angels in heaven also 1 they pray for us Dan. 4.17 Non ex officio sed charitate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Origen 2. They do joyn with us in our praises and out of their love bless God wonderfully for mercies unto us at the Birth of Christ the Angels sing Good will towards men Rev. 5.11 there is a principle of love that makes them to rejoyce in our good that we are taken into their fellowship members of the same body and it may be as many men are saved as there were Angels that fell qui supplent locum illum as Bern. and so the School-men generally non in naturam Angelicam sed statum for they shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. They do instruct us in the things of God for as the Devil doth put evil motions into mankind so do the Angels good motions also Dan. 9.22 I am sent to inform thee and the Angels themselves as by the Church so for the Churches sake they have many discoveries made to them that they might also teach them to us they receive a spirit of Prophecy from Christ for the Churches sake Rev. 19.10 the god of this world blinds the eyes of men and the Angels that are imployed by the Spirit of God do inlighten them 4. They watch over them carefully to keep them from sin Jude 9. Michael the Archangel when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing accusation but said The Lord rebuke thee c. Why did God hide the body of Moses Ne corpus ejus in superstionis occasionem adducerent Now here Michael contends if it be Christ that is here meant the Angels are his armies and they are behind him Zac. 1. but some conceive it a created Angel for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he durst not give him a railing accusation Satan would have brought it to light but the Angels hindred it and so Rev. 19. John would have worshipped the Angel but the Angel saith See thou do it not for I am thy fellow-servant Now see the difference between the good Angels and the bad the Devil will be worshipped he tempts all men as he did the Lord Christ to fall down and worship him he delights to make men sin in point of worship but now the good Angel will restrain from sin and will not suffer the servants of
preservation the stars shall fight for them the Sea shall be a wall unto them instead of drowning of them their very enemies shall favour them Psal 106.46 he gives them favour in the sight of their enemies and even Nebuchadnezzar shall give charge concerning Jeremiah when there was none concerning Zedekiah the King and he will turn the curse into a blessing Deut. 23.5 The Lord turned it into a blessing To a wicked man every thing is for his hurt what should be for his welfare that becomes his snare but it is quite contrary unto a godly man that which is intended for his hurt that is turned into good and to a quite contrary end than that unto which it was by the enemy intended Now when we see many causes with contrary purposes and intentions all of them conspire unto an end which they understand not but seek and desire the contrary it must be said that there is a providence and a wise hand that did over-rule all this for this is an end that was far from the intention of second causes for there is a peace with enemies Prov. 16.7 there is a Covenant with beasts as Hos 2.18 and there is a league with stones Job 5.23 Dominium habet custodem habebit lapides c. and all this is nothing but an expression of that special and secret providence of God that doth watch over his own people so that this is the comfort and the inheritance of the Saints that every thing in the whole government of the world is so ordered that it shall do them no hurt but all shall make for their good who love him and fear him Now to set forth this in the particulars of it we shall see that all things about which the providence of God is exercised are so ruled as that the government of them makes for the good of the Saints and here I shall propound these five distinctions 1. The Providence of God is either circa maxima vel minima 1 The greatest things in the world are not above the providence of God neither are the smallest things below it He doth whatever he will in heaven and in earth and in the sea It is not what the creatures will Psal 119.91 but it is what he will all are his servants the very Angels in Heaven do his pleasure and they hearken unto his voice and the greatest of men Dan. 4.16 17. the most high rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men he puts down the mighty from their seat he exalts them of low degree deponit reges disponit regna Ezech. 21.10 It is the rod of my son contemning every tree c. 2 There is not the smallest thing but it is ordered by him there is not a worm that creeps upon the ground Hos 2.18 but he can make it hurtful to a man he can command a serpent and he shall bite a man c. he can hiss for the flye c. 2. There is a double exercise of providence or the providence of God has two parts 1 He doth uphold them in their beings and the same Spirit that did create them doth to this very day sit and brood upon them as Gen. 1.2 3. He doth bear up all things by the word of his power Heb. 1.2 he doth hang the earth upon nothing but a word and the same word that created all things doth still continue them in their being if he should take away that word they would run into their first nothing immediately and therefore it is truly said of providence that it is continuata creatio a continued creation Psal 104.3 He sends forth his word and they are created and he renews the face of the earth it is spoken of the providence and the preservation of all things which he doth call a Creation for the same creating power is put forth continually and daily exercised for as ejusdem est potentiae annihilare creare so ejusdem est creare conservare to give a being and continue the creature in that being Psal 66.9 Who holdeth my soul in life c. even the continuance of a mans temporal or spiritual life is an act of a creating power 2 He doth order their actions at his pleasure all of them shall accomplish his ends either he doth act them or he doth suspend their actions at his pleasure and if he will concur with them or if he will withdraw his concurrence it is all according to his pleasure and therefore he is the Lord of Hosts and all the motions of this great Army are at his command as Pharaoh said to Joseph Without thee shall no man lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt It is true that the Lord governs all things yea the very thoughts of the heart there doth not a motion arise but he doth fashion the hearts of men Psal 33.15 Zac. 12.1 he formeth the spirits of men within them so that what fashion he doth put upon the apprehensions of men or the affections of men the same they have for all is of his government Ezech. 38 1â— things shall come into thy mind and thou shalt think an evil thought c. all his government of the creature is for the Saints both when they act and when he doth suspend their actings when he doth concur with them and when he doth withdraw his concurrence all is for their good 3. The Providence of God is either 1 what he doth by his own hand immediately by an extraordinary providence as sometimes the Lord doth so that it doth appear to be the finger of God and that there is nothing of second causes in it Esa 52.10 his arm was made bare and Hab. 3.9 his bow was made naked both of them do signifie patefacta est potentia Drus And so it appears when God goes out of the course of nature as when causes have not their natural efficacies the race is not to the swift the battel is not to the strong the men of might cannot find their hands the horse and the rider is cast into a deep sleep Psal 76.6 and so it is in all the Lords miraculous workings when he doth create a new thing in the earth and a woman doth compass a man Jer. 31.22 he doth make the Sea to go back and the Sun to stand still the Heavens to give bread and the Rocks water and all these extraordinary workings of God are for the good of his people and that way he will work for them as their necessity shall require for there is no such thing that the Lord has done for his people formerly but they may still expect the same if they be brought unto the same straits and necessities Esa 10.24 Esa 10.24 He shall lift up a staff against him after the manner of Egypt it was a miraculous way that the Lord dealt with his people then but it was not so that he would never do the like for them again and that they were
the hearts of men to bring such a design to pass c. 2 They fight for them against their enemies Dan. 10.20 I return and fight against the King of Persia and when I am gone forth c. the Lord goes forth before a people for they go forth under the conduct of the Angels and they do oppose themselves in a secret way that we know not now as it is sometimes a terror to the Saints to consider they fight not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness so it is a mighty terror unto wicked men that they fight against principalities and powers and spiritual holiness in heavenly places those that will be sure to watch over you for evil for the same intention that the Angels had after the Fall with a flaming sword to keep man out of Paradise the same intention they bear still to all that are not the members of Christ and of the same body with them and fellow-servants with them 3 They do execute vengeance upon the enemies of the Saints Zac. 6.6 7. there are black Horses instruments of vengeance and they go forth into Persia but it is to destroy them and to execute upon them the vengeance of the Temple for all the wrong that they had done unto the Saints all was by an invisible virtue that they saw not there the Spirit of God was displeased and would not be pacified till wrath was executed upon them for the same Spirit orders the Kingdom of Providence that doth order the Kingdom of Grace c. and therefore they have their special charge Ezech. 9.1 it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the visitors of the city that draw near first the Angels came and then the instruments of vengeance came they do perform that great work upon them 4 The Angels over-rule the creatures for the good of the Saints even beyond their nature and they are very instrumental in their deliverance and preservation as we see Dan. 3.28 the fire cannot burn the Lord sent his Angel Dan. 6.22 and stopped the Lions mouths there is a secret work that Angels have in all these great things for the Saints deliverance and preservation and therefore it is the Angel that rowls away the stone from Christs grave and it 's an Angel opens the prison for Peter Acts 12. The prayers of the Saints do prevail with God and he commands Angels to do their office it was an Angel that said unto the Christians at Jerusalem Ite ad Pellam and by that means they were preserved in the destruction of the City so that in the ordering of all things they are imployed by God for the good of the Saints 5 It is the Angels that guide them in their way and succeed their business and all their undertakings as we see Gen. 24.7 The Lord of Heaven which brought me out of my fathers house he shall send his Angel before thee and the business shall surely prosper that they do undertake a godly man goes no where without such a guard for his protection and without such an assistance and therefore it was a certain argument Dan. 10. ult that the King of Grecia should prosper because the Angel was gone out before him blessed is he that hath such a guide he shall not dash his foot against any stone c. Lastly They do compass the earth visit all the parts of it for the Saints sake to see how it is with the Churches Zac. 1. All the earth is quiet and still as the Devils do so do the Angels also compass the earth and they do lie in ambush for the Saints that when there is no eye to pity them and there is no remedy or relief for them then they do appear Zac. 1.8 They are behind the myrtle-trees in the bottom and they do watch the fittest season for the deliverance of the Saints which is when they are lowest and when their enemies are highest then they do appear for them therefore the people of God that have such a guard still near at hand that hath been so successful in all ages need not fear what Satan and his Angels are continually plotting against them § 2. We now proceed unto those arcana imperii in reference to the Providence of God in the government of the evil Angels and this also is for the good of the Saints the Soveraignty of God over the Devils in his government of them is wholly for the sake and for the good of the Saints In the opening of this I will lay down these Conclusions 1. That Satan hath a power over all mankind by nature to rule and order them according to the pleasure of his own will for when man at first did freely subject himself unto the Devil God did judicially give him up into the power of the Devil and therefore 2 Tim. 2.26 they are said to be led captive by him at his will 1 Joh. 5.19 they are said to lye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the wicked one that is to be under his power and to be subjected unto his will and it is just with God so to do Illud appensum est aequitatis examine ut nec ipsius diaboli potestati negaretur homo quem sibi malè suadendo subjecerat Aust For of whom a man is overcome unto him he is brought into bondage it 's the manner of Conquerors to use men as slaves whom they have subdued and this was the Devils intent not first to destroy men but to take them alive 2 Tim. 2.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might use them for service and so rule over them yet the meaning is not as if he had received a commission from God and the Lord had commanded Satan to rule over man for he will surely judge the Devil for it at the last day Non ità debet intelligi tanquam hoc Deus fecerit aut fieri jusserit sed quòd tantùm permiserit justè tamen Aust Tom 3. p. 295. The command unto Ahabs false Prophets was not a commission from God but a permission Thou shalt perswade him and prevail go forth and do so and his going into the herd of swine was not a commission but a permission only when he said unto them Go c. like unto that of Balaam Go with the men and yet the Lord was angry because he went so it is here also 2. This power of Satan is very great and therefore he is called Principalities and Powers the Ruler of the darkness of this world yea he hath the power of a God for he is said to be the God of this world which doth set forth a high condition not the highest power credo posse occidere in una hora quemcunque in terra viventem Luth. for the power that Satan hath is from God and that in just judgment Now if the Lord give so much power to a man as he did to Nebuchadnezzar that none could stand before him but he was the hammer of the whole earth
up the spirits of wicked Magistrates for the good of the Saints as we see it in Cyrus though he were a cruel and a bloody Prince yet he takes care for the building of the Temple and gives forth commands for that work and therefore Esa 44. ult he doth say unto Cyrus Thou art my shepherd and so Alexander when he came to Jerusalem and Jaddus the High Priest came forth to meet him by the providence of God it was so ordered that he did give the Jews great priviledges greater than any of the neighbour Nations insomuch that the Samaritans did stile themselves Jews also that they might partake in the same priviledges with them Nebuchadnezzar gave commandment unto Nabuzaradin the Captain of his Guard concerning Jeremiah God over-ruling his spirit therein that the Prophet was cherished rather than evilly intreated by him c. 3 By stirring up the spirits of wicked men to stand for a good cause and to assist the people of God therein as we see when Lot was carried Captive by the Kings that Abraham did pursue them Gen. 14. ult and there did joyn with him Aner and Escol c. they that were but Heathens yet were assistant unto Abraham in such a work as this the Lord did stir up their spirits and so he doth many times by an over-ruling power stir up the spirits of men otherwise uningaged and uninteressed to be instruments and means that the people of God may attain their rights and all of it is only by this over-ruling hand of the Soveraignty of Christ even over ungodly men 4. By their Persecutions the Lord doth stir men up many times to persecute his people Nebuchadnezzar is the rod of mine anger and I send him against an hypocritical nation though he know it not but this is all the fruit it is to take away their sin for by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged Esa 27.9 it is to make them to beat their Altars into chalk-stones c. and let me tell you because we may look for times of persecution that great hath been the victory and the glory that the people of God have gotten even by the persecution of ungodly men nunquam majore triumpho vicimus Nay if it be but a mock a scoff a reproach a false report from an evil spirit the Lord makes his use of it as we have an instance in Austins mother she had by custom rather than inclination learned to drink up full cups inhianter but after a while the maid of the house and she fell out and in their difference the maid objecit hoc crimen amarissimâ insultatione vocans meribibulam quo illa stimulo percussa respexit foeditatem confestimque damnavit exuit Confess lib. 9. cap. 8. 5. By their sins the people of God are warned the Lord doing as the Lacedemonians setting them forth as patterns of evil that his children might flee them heresies arise in the Church that so they that are approved may be made manifest and Apostates that Hymeneus and Philetus's Apostasie might make the rest of the people of God the more careful that they that name the Name of the Lord Jesus may depart from iniquity when they see such eminent and dangerous falls as these and the Lord doth make use of their sins in a way of admonition as of their judgments also 6. Their desertions and proving false to the people of God many times and forsaking them as Egypt proved a broken reed turn to the Saints good that so they might cleave to the Lord alone and that they may see that there is a deceit in all their former Lovers there is no trust unto such men that speak lyes in hypocrisie and follow Gods cause and people only for loaves c. and God permits them so to do that the people of God may say their trust is in the Name of the Lord only Assur shall not save us any more nor King Jareb they have all deceived us as a brook that passes by c. I might instance in many more particulars as 7. Their restraints for their good God puts a hook and a bridle upon them they shall not be able to hurt the Saints they shall hear a rumour that shall divert them another way § 5. As the providential Kingdom is circa maxima so it is circa minima and all these are ordered by the Soveraignty of God for the good of his people they have an interest in the Soveraignty of God even in the ruling of them also here are two things to be spoken to 1 That the smallest things come under the providential Kingdom of God that is under the Soveraignty and Supremacy of God 2 That in the government of them he doth order all for the good of the Saints that the Soveraignty of God works for them in small things as well as in great things 1. That the smallest things are subjected unto the Soveraignty of God and that his Kingdom is seen in the government of these also This I shall clear to you in a few particulars 1. The Lord is called commonly in Scripture the Lord of Hosts and that not only in reference unto the Angels and the Sun Moon and Stars which are the Hosts of Heaven but even as to the Hosts that are here below Gen. 2.1 there is an Host of the Earth as well as of Heaven and as there is not the smallest Star in the Heavens but belongs unto the one so is there not the meanest the poorest creature upon earth but is part of the other the Locust the Canker-worm the Caterpillar and the Palmer-worm my great army says the Lord Joel 2.25 And they are the Lords Host in three respects 1 Propter multitudinem Joel 2.25 for multitude there are many of them gathered together for they are not a few that make an army 2 Propter praeparationem in regard of preparation every one comes armed and prepared for the slaughter or any work that the Lord hath to do either for relief or for destruction 3 Propter subordinationem by reason of their subordination they all act in their places and do the service unto which they are particularly appointed they do every one keep their ranks fire and hail snow and vapour wind and storm fulfilling his word they do not thrust one another out of their place but there is a military order observed amongst them 4 Propter obedientiam in regard of their obedience they do all of them obey the word of command which they do receive from the great Commander for they are all of them under command as the Centurion said of his servants I say to one Go and he goes so doth the Lord also say unto the creatures for it is said that even before an army of Locusts Caterpillars and Palmer-worms the Lord doth utter his voice he doth command the winds and the sea and they obey him 2. Christ himself doth extend the care and the rule of God unto the