his covenant for ever the word which he commanded to a thousand Generations saying unto thee will I give the land of Canaan the lot of thine inheritance If any branch of Gods promise unto Abraham may seem to be meant onely of the Old Testament and not of the New it is this of the Land of Canaan Gen. 17. 8. I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the Land wherein thou art a stranger all the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I wil be their God Yet is it expresly said that this promise was a Covenant for ever a word commanded for a thousand Generations and for an everlasting possession which needs must extend to the times of the Gospel because else it had been only for thrice fourteen Generations Matth. 1. 17. And we know that Canaan hatâ— long since ceased to be the possession of Abrahamâ— natural seed Thus also the Apostle sayth here That the promise and oath which we have Gen. 22. 16. By my selfe have I sworne that blessing I will blesâ— thee and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as thâ— stars of heaven and as the sand which is by the Sea shore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies which cannot but refer to the conquest of that land of Canaan is made and so confirmed unto us that we might have strong consolation If the Question be what that is which is contained in that promise concerning Canaan to be an everlasting possession to Abrahams seed and the Lord to be their God which is to be fulfilled in the times of the New Testament I answer It is all that of which Canaan and the good things thereof was a type namely the spirituall blessings of the heavenly Canaan the Church of the New Testament yea of Heaven it selfe And for the proofe hereof First something we have in that of Ezek. 47. where the Prophet speaketh of the Church of the New Testament under the type of Canaan and saith The Strangers are appointed the lot of their inheritance with the children of Israel Verse 22. They shall have inheritance with you among the Tribes of Israel Not in the Earthly Canaan but the Heavenly represented by it So Esai 65. 9. Mine Elect shall inherit it and my Servants shall dwell there and Sharon shall be a field of Flocks Speaking of the Church of the New Testament Secondly Observe that Abraham accordingly did by faith embrace that promise of Canaan to be an everlasting possession to him and his seed as a promise referring to and including not onely an earthly but also an heavenly inheritance Heb. 11. 8. 9. 10. The reason there rendred by the Apostle why by faith he left his own country went into the Land of promise and lived there with Isaac and Jacob in Tents as strangers is given v. 10. because he looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God So v. 13. 14. 15. 16. in what they did and said when they counted themselves strangers and pilgrims upon earth saith the Apostle they declared that they did seek a better country that is to say an heavenly Then mark what followeth Wherefore he is not ashamed to be called their God namely in that which he did in fullfilling of his promise implying that if it had been onely an earthly Canaan which by promise they received from him it had not been worthy of him to give as their God In this the Apostle interprets that promise to Abraham Gen. 17. 8. To thee and to thy seed will I give the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God That is by the Apostles interpretation he would be so in giving them not onely an earthly but also an heavenly Canaan so as together with those earthly blessings he would bestow himselfe upon them Therefore also when the Israelites brought their first fruits to the place which God did chuse to place his name there and were there to make their acknowledgment before the Priest of the fulfilling of that promise and were required to rejoyce there before the Lord their God for every good thing which the Lord their God had given them Deut. 26. 1. to 11. Interpreters do well refer it not onely to temporal but also to the spiritual good things whereof they were a type because the good things were such as God is there supposed to give them as their God And because not onely their first fruits thus given to God but also the whole lump was holy Rom. 11. 16. which implyeth that they had not onely a natural but also a sacred and religious use of their estates in Canaan And because this whole action was an act of solemne worship in which the type and the thing typified always go together Hence also is it that Esau is branded for a profane person for selling his birthright to this promise Had it been onely of a temporal and not of a spiritual Canaan also there had been nothing of profanesse in it which alwayes is a contempt or neglect of something spiritual And his sin is made the same with theirs who sell their birthright now for a morsel of meat Heb. 12. 16. which those beleevers do who for worldly advantages forgo their priviledges in the Church and house of God and of such the Apostle meaneth it as is evident by the scope of the place and of the whole Epistle as was shewed before and not of wicked men for their birthright is nothing else but death and hell To this I may add what the Apostle saith Heb. 3. 4. chapters namely that the Lords offer to the children of Israel in the Wildernesse to carry them into Canaan and to destroy the inhabitants before them and that in performance of his promise unto Abraham Exod. 2. 24. with 3. 6. 8. 6. 8. Numb 14. 23. Matth. 11 29. was a preaching of the Gospel to them chap. 4. 2. 3. And whereas the Gospel is a promise of rest in God through Christ to every beleever he saith also that it was an offer to them of an entrance into Gods own rest And when he sware that they should not see the good Land concerning which he sware unto their Fathers and that their carcases should fall in the wildernesse this by the Prophet David Psal 95. and by the Apostle in that place is called a swearing against them in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest Which could not have beene said unlesse in that promise the spiritual blessings of the heavenly Canaan also had been comprehended Which albeit I suppose by that which hath been said is evident to an impartial mind yet because so many stumble at this mistake that this promise concerning Canaan was no Gospel promise nor to be in any part fulfilled in the times of the New Testament and because the vindication of this truth is of concernment to our work in hand I shal stay a little in opening this
thee will I give the Land of Canaan the lot of your inheritance And verse 42. what the Lord did for his people was that he remembred his holy promise and Abraham his servant Secondly observe what he saith of Abrahams seed namely by setting down what God had already done in fulfilling his promise unto Abraham he foretells what he would do afterwards in a more glorious way and that he doth by three types First before they went into Egypt when they were but few rebuking Kings for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm From verse 12. to 15. Secondly the history of Ioseph from v. 16. to 22. which he bringeth in with a moreover as being an instance of the like nature He being sold by his brethren for a season was in prison in fetters of Iron until the time that his word came namely that what God had promised was to be fulfilled Then the King sent and took him and made him ruler over Egypt to bind his Princes at his pleasure and teach his Senatours wisdom Thirdly the history of Israel in Egypt brought in with an also as being another instance of that kind First in a state of servitude then afterwards the Egyptians destroyed for Israels sake they brought out with riches and Canaan given them that they might observe his statutes and keep his laws Under these instances thus given I suppose you have a prophesie of what God will do for his people now in the times of the Gospel namely however kept under and oppressed for a season yet at last the dominion shall be theirs possessing the gate of their enemies The Lords rebuking Kings advancing Ioseph destroying Egypt delivering his people casting out the Canaanites were types of all this as appeareth not onely in that the Psalmist was a Prophet and that Israel then was a type of Israel now under the Gospel and their Canaan a type of ours but also because the Psalmist in his Preface v. 8. speaketh of that which followeth in the Psalm as wherein God remembred his covenant for ever the word which he commanded to a thousand generations which covenant be made with Abraham and confirmed the same to Jacob for a Law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant which could not have been said had not he intended to do the same things over againe in the times of the Gospel which he then did for his people and what he did then to be a type of what he would againe doe in a more glorious way It had not been worth the while for the spirit of God onely to repeat the History having set that down at large already long before but with submission I say to better judgments I suppose in these histories the spirit of God intended a sample prophesie of what God will do for his oppressed people at the last namely he will cause them to possesse the gate of their enemies and that in remembrance of his holy promise and of Abraham his servant Therefore you may observe how it is said that the History of the children of Israel and of Gods dealings with them in the Wildernesse and in Canaan consisteth of Parables and dark sayings Psal 78. 1. Hearken my people to my Law I will open my mouth in a Parable I will utter dark sayings of old What are these dark sayings Namely he repeateth the History of the Children of Israel in the Wildernesse and in Canaan Now Histories of themselves are very easie to be understood but it seemes there was more intended in those Records besides the bare History namely that it contained types and samples of what God would do again after Christ and that in a more spiritual way And you may observe by comparing Psal 78. 2. with Matth. 13. 35. that the Evangelist affirmeth that 78. Psalm to be a prophesie of Christ instructing his Disciples in the Law For when Christ had been teaching the people by parables what the several sorts of hearers may expect each according to their kind and their cariage in that work he saith that this the Lord Christ did that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet saying I will open my mouth in Parables I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world Upon the same account this 105. Psalm is a prophesie although it seemeth to give us but the repetition of an History That seventy eight Psalm I shall have occasion to speak to more fully by and by Thus we see from that Psal 105. that what is said of the conquest of the world by the kingdome of Christ is also a part of that promise made to Abraham and his seed And that we find it to be a part thereof not onely in that of Gen. 22. 16. Thy seed shall possesse the gate of his enemies But also in that of Gen. 17. 8. I will give to thee and to thy seed after thee the Land wherein thou art a stranger all the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God For a further clearing hereof namely that in that promise of Canaan to be an everlasting possession to Abrahams seed that conquest is intended First let it be considered that we have already found in that promise that which maketh it a Gospel promise to be fulfilled in the times of the New Testament namely the spiritual blessings of the Heavenly Canaan whereof that land and the good things thereof was a type p. 23. Now one part of those spiritual blessings of the Heavenly Canaan is the multiplying of the spiritual seed whereby the whole world at last shall be filled and subdued unto Christ as hath been shewed Therefore if the spiritual blessings of the Heavenly Canaan be intended in that promise the conquest of the world by Abrahams spiritual seed cannot be excluded Moreover because this conquest is to be a spirituall work to be effected by the sword of the spirit the word of God including therfore also a conquest of sin and an injoyment had of the blessings of the Heavenly Canaan the kingdom of Jesus Christ Therefore this conquest is it self a part of those spiritual blessings And what God did for Abrahams seed in that Land was also a type thereof Secondly I may adde that it will not be denyed but that in the conquest of the earthly Canaan Abrahams seed was made to possesse the gaâ—… of their enemies and by that it will appear that those two places before mentioned Gen. 22. 16. concerning the possession of the enemies gate and Gen. 17. 8. touching Canaan to be an everlasting possession are parallel both speaking to the same thing Which being so as the Apostle here in my Text by citing and alledging for our consolation that oath of God Gen. 22. 16. concerning the multiplying of his seed and causing it to possesse the gate of his enemies hath fixed the fulfilling of that promise also upon the times of the New Testament so
world by multiplying Abrahams spiritual seed and that by making beleevers blessings to families and nations Let not the people of God so easily part with so ancient entayled priviledges wherein the Saints have rejoyced for so many ages Let them have so much compassion on their Children as not to blot their names out of Heaven or thrust them out of the Kingdome of Christ into the Kingdome of Satan for to one of the two Kingdomes they must belong Those who know their owne priviledge herein will not upon such slender grounds part with it as the manner of some is to do And as Gods promise unto Abraham and his seed is called a Covenant and therefore something to be performed on their part as a duty commanded and required by the Lord that his Covenant be not broken so let beleevers search and see what that duty is for which purpose let us make this further use of this point Vse 3. From thence to learne not to confine that great promise made to Abraham and his seed Gen. 17. within the compasse of an earthly Canaan as meant onely of the temporal things of that Land or the multiplying of his natural seed therein but also of all such blessings in Christ whereof Canaan and the good things thereof were types That very promise vers 8. of the Land of Canaan to be an everlasting possession to his seed and he to be their God by what hath been said in opening this point we see is yet in fulfilling even to us of the times of the New Testament in the spiritual blessings of the Heavenly Canaan and in the conquest of the World by the people of the God of Abraham whereof the conquest of that land by Joshuah was a type as hath been shewed If any shall affirm that in neither of these two respects that promise can be brought down to these times it behooveth such to find out some other sense wherein it may be so extended because we see that what the Lord confirmed unto Abraham of blessing multiplying and causing his seed to possess the gate of his enemies he confirmed it to us even to beleevers of the New Testament as his seed and heirs according to the promise In opening the point I was the larger in the proofe hereof and have therefore insisted upon some things by the by concerning the Kingdom of Christ although a full unfolding thereof would require a farre larger discourse because it conduceth much towards the clearing of Infant-Baptisme to be a duty which God requireth of his people that the full extent of Gods promise unto Abraham whereof we have found that to be one branch be considered and understood For if this be granted that the promise made to Abraham Gen. 17. especially that part of it v. 8. concerning Canaan to be an everlasting possession to his seed be of such extent and made also to his spiritual seed of the New Testament it will follow that that command of God in those words next following vers 9. Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their Generations is to be meant also of his spirituall seed even in our dayes and as a command that now lieth upon the same spiritual seed in all Generations Psal 105. in as much as that command is brought in with a therefore upon the promise made to the same seed in the words next afore going Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their Generations And saies God This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee every man-child among you shall be circumcised and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you and v. 14. The uncircumcised man-child shall be cut off from his people he hath broken my covenant Obj. It will be said how is this command of keeping this covenant obliging to beleevers now since the covenant to be kept was then specified to be the circumcising of the child in as much as circumcision is now abolished Or what is this to baptizing children the point in hand to be cleared in this discourse To this I answer Answ First It is to be observed that this command of God is primarily fixed upon the generall duty namely the covenant to be kept and not upon this or that way of keeping either by circumcising or baptising so as the circumcising of the Childe came under the command onely upon this because it was declared then to be the token of the covenant and by the words it is supposed that when it should cease to be the token of the covenant it should no longer be a duty and what else by the same authority should be made the token of the same covenant would be the duty in stead thereof Mark the words he doth not say Thou shalt therfore circumcise every man-child among you as a token of the covenant between me and you for so had that been made the token for perpetuity to have continued so long as the covenant it selfe But first in general he saith Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their Generations that is they should observe and performe the token of the covenant whatever that prove to be and in the second place he addeth This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee every man-child among you shall be circumcised and the uncircumcised man-child hath broken my covenant therefore as I said as for circumcision that was a duty onely upon those words declaring that to be then the token Circumcision is now abolished yet the command of keeping the token of Abrahams covenant is still in force and binding to Abrahams spiritual seed in their Generations therefore what is now the token of that covenant must be observed in stead thereof The like manner of institution we have concerning the Sabbath therefore those who deny Infant-Baptism oftentimes deny the Sabbath and not without cause for there is the same reason of both and we may illustrate the one by the other The Lord intended in time to change the day from the seventh to the first day of the week as he intended in time to change the token of Abrahams covenant therefore in the fourth Commandement also the command is not primarily fixed upon the seventh or any day to be remembred and kept holy but upon the general duty that the rest-day of the Lord be remembred and kept holy what ever that day fall to be Exod. 20. 8. 11. Remember the Sabbath day that is the rest-day to keep it holy and the Lord blessed the rest-day and sanctified it And the remembrance and keeping of the seventh day is in the commandement made a duty for this reason because that was declared to be then the day wherein God had entred into his rest after his making of the world And
it needs not much be questioned but that their possessing of the gate of their enemies in the earthly Canaan was a type of what the spirituall seed should doe as to the enemies gate in the times of the New Testament But because to some it may be it will be yet a question let us consider Thirdly what is said of Canaan Gen. 9. 26. Where the Lord giveth a promise to Shem and Japheth to the selfe same purpose and of the same tenour as here in these two places he doth to Abraham and his seed Blessed be the Lord God of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant God shall enlarge or perswade Japheth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant As for his being a servant unto Shem that was fulfilled in the conquest of the earthly Canaan by Abrahams seed who were Shems posterity but for his being a servant to Iapheth dwelling in the tents of Shem that is to be fulfilled in the times of the New Testament when Iews and Gentiles make one Church one spiritual seed of Abraham Gal. 3. 16. Rom. 4. 16. That I think will be granted to be the meaning of those words God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. And upon the same account as Shem and Japheth are put for the Church of the New Testament wherein none can with any certainty affirm which is Japheths posterity in nature and which is Shems Canaan is there put for the wicked of the world whether of his posterity or not And as Shem and Japheth are there made types of the one so also is Canaan of the other and the meaning this that in the times of the New Testament there will be a season wherein the wicked of the world shall be under the Church of God Therefore here when God comes to renew the same promise unto Abraham with an addition touching the manner how it should be accomplished namely by his blessing and multiplying his seed he speaketh in the same phrase and saith To thee and to thy seed will I give all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies The meaning therefore must be the same namely that he and his seed should be heirs of the world and that his seed should fill the world at last and rule over it as hath been shewed For a further clearing hereof consider how the Prophet Zachariah speaking of those last times wherein that promise Canaan shall be his servant shall bee fulfilled saith In that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts Zach. 14. 21. where by Canaanite is meant a wicked man or a man of the world according to that in Rev. 21. 27. a place parallel to this in Zachariah speaking of the same times and things There shall in no wise enter into it that is the Church or House of God any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lye but they which are written in the Lambs Book of life And for a further illustration of this matter it is considerable what one very probably observeth concerning that of Abraham Gen. 14. how in rescuing Lot he overcame those four Kings whose people afterwards became the four Monarchyes or Kingdomes set forth by Nebuchadnezzars image which Abrahams seed at last shall break in pieces and obtain their power Dan. 2. Amraphel King of Shinar afterwards the Babylonian Monarchy Gen. 11. 2. Arioch King of Ellasar the Grecian for Hellas is the name of Greece 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he came into Greece Acts. 20. 2. Chedar-laomer King of Elam the Persian Esai 21. 2. Dan. 8. 2. And Tidal King of Nations the Roman for it is said Gen. 10. 2. that by Japheths posterity were the Isls of the Gentiles or of the Nations divided which is the same title with this in Gen. 14. King of Nations or of the Gentiles for it is the same and it is taken for granted that the posterity of Japheth did inhabit and people Europe where afterward the Roman Monarchy did obtain Which being so then Abrahams conquest was a type or sample of what God would do for Abrahams seed his Saints in after ages then a long time to come Thus we see in these foure things what that promise is which God made to Abraham and in him to all beleevers as his seed and what particulars are contained in it And it needeth not seem strange that it is so comprehensive because it was intended to contain the whole Gospel which Gospel we see doth not only bring us the glad tidings of remission of sinnes and salvation by Christ but also concerning the Saints being put into a Kingdome as also the increase and power which that Kingdome shall obtain and by what means it shall be made so to increase for which cause also it is called the Gospel of the Kingdome and godliness is said to have promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come 1. Tim. 4. 8. Now let us in the next place consider the reasons of the point and that in each of those particulars before mentioned which therefore I shall shew by answering so many Questions viz. four Quest 1. Why the Lord should take this course in blessing of his people Evident it is that he was resolved to blesse them as his Children with all spiritual blessings in Christ but why should he do it in such a method to single out one of his people namely Abraham and to blesse him as the originall pattern and in him to blesse all the rest as his seed For so the point is that what God confirmed by oath to Abraham he confirmed it to us even to all beleevers to the Worlds end To this I answer Answ The reason of it is in the Text. Namely that he might shew the immutability of his counsel to the Heirs of promise and that he might doe as much as might be to help and strengthen his peoples faith that they might the better trust him The Lord knew that by drawing out his work into length of time as he hath done and laying his designes so long before he should have occasion to do the same things over againe and againe and therefore should in his works to former of his Saints give types and samples of what his people might expect in after times even in that great work the conquest of the world by the Gospel of Jesus Christ As for instance what he did for Israel in the flesh in their deliverance from Egypt driving out the Canaanites before them managing the affairs of his Kingdome among that people in that Land he doth over again though in a more spiritual way for his people under the Gospel which are the Israel of God and the seed of Abraham also Gal. 3. 29. 6. 16. Heb. 8. 8. And their condition made parallel with ours by
here made the ground of a Christians confidence So Rom. 4. 12. Beleevers are said to walk in the steps of Abrahams faith Thus David comforted himself Psal 22. 4 5. Our Fathers trusted in thee and they were not confounded Faith is a great work but this incouragement we have the things to be believed are things of a common salvation Jude 3. A duty to which others are obliged as well as we and that which many thousands have done before us 1 Pet. 5. 9. Whom resist stedfastly in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren which are in the world So Col. 1. 23. If ye continue in the faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which ye have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven As if he had said Had it been a Gospel devised onely for you and so you put upon a way of believing by your selves you might then have disputed the case and have been unsetled but it is not so Fourthly That Oaths are lawful and in some cases a duty among Christians God himselfe sweareth and his swearing is set forth by what is in use amongst men namely for confirmation to put an end to all strife When he swears he acts after the manner of man now if he acts as a man it shall not be in that which is sinful He was made like us in all things yet without sin Heb. 4. 25. Leut. 6. 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his name So Jer. 4. 2. whereby we see how to understand those other places Math. 5. 33. James 5. 12. namely that we swear not profanely or commonly but religiously and as a sacred work so saith our Saviour let your communication be yea yea nay nay And that we swear not by any creature but by his name such instances are given in both places Fifthly That those who are Beleevers have not onely the Promise but also the Oath of God to rest their confidence upon He loveth to do like himselfe and therefore to do the utmost for his people In working his right hand teacheth him Psal 45. 4. and in promising and making sure his promise he doth what may be done for us Because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself What cause have we to be convinced of sin because of unbelief as our Saviour speaketh John 16. 9. since God hath done and said so much if we are unbelieving notwithstanding Sixthly That there is a strife or controversie between God and each uncomfortable soul among his people Full of disputes and jealous thoughts we are which are the cause of our discomforts therefore God gives to us his promise and his oath to be an end of all such strife between himself and us That by two immutable things wherein it was impossible for God to Lye we might have strong consolation Other things might be observed I shall name but one observation more and that I shall insist upon and for which I made choice of this Scripture upon this occasion It is this Seventhly That what the Lord confirmed by Oath to Abraham he confirmed it to us even to all beleevers after Christ to the worlds end Abraham is here brought in as a pattern and all beleevers are here supposed to inherit the promise made to him in common with him in as much as he saith that what God did for Abraham when by Oath he confirmed to him the promise of blessing him and multiplying his seed he did it that he might shew the immutability of his counsel to the Heirs of promise and that we that is the beleevers of the New Testament might have strong consolation If the promise so confirmed unto him had not been intended and belonged also unto us that confirmation of it so to him had conduced nothing to our comfort nor had we been Heirs of that promise For a further proofe of this point take Gal. 3. 29. If ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise Where we see that what we have in Christ we have it all as Abrahams seed and as heirs with him of the same promise and what we have as Abrahams seed we have it all in Christ so as the promise made to Abraham is an Epitome or the summe of the Gospel So Luke 1. 55. 72 73. wee finde that when Christ was sent into the world and what was done by him it was to perform the Oath of God to Abraham He hath holpen his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our Fathers to Abraham and his seed for ever To perform the mercy promised to remember his holy Covenant the Oath which he sware to our Father Abraham that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without feare in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life A further proofe hereof we have in all those places where beleevers of the New Testament both Jews and Gentiles are called Abrahams seed because thereby they are all intitled to his promise made as you see to him and his seed As for instance Gal. 3. 16. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made he saith not and to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ. And this I say that the Covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ the Law which was four hundred and thirty years after could not disanull This one seed which is Christ is not meant of Christ in his own person onely for then no beleever should be accounted the seed of Abraham but onely Christ but of Christ in his mystical body as 1 Cor. 12. 12. All the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ Which body saith the Apostle here is not made up of two seeds Jews and Gentiles but of one seed though made up of both And that he meaneth Christ in that sense is evident by that passage The covenant which was confirmed in Christ 430. years before c. What before he called a promise made to Christ the one seed he afterward calleth a covenant confirmed in Christ namely to us in him as members of his body both Jews and Gentiles therefore this one seed which is Christ is meant of Christ in his mystical body By which it appeareth that the promise made to Abraham was confirmed to beleevers both Jews and Gentiles as his seed So Rom. 4. 16. Therefore is it of faith that it might be of grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed not to that only which is of the Law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all Another proofe is that in Psal 105. 6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant ye children of Jacob his chosen he hath remembred
had confirmed by oath to Abraham that he might shew the immutability of his counsel to the Heirs of promise and that we might have strong consolation he gives that for one the multiplying of his seed A further proofe we have Gen. 15. 5. Look now towards Heaven and tell the Stars if thou be able to number them and he said unto him so shall thy seed be Abraham beleeved it is said and it was counted to him for righteousness This the Apostle bringeth to prove justification by free grace through faith in Christ Rom. 4. 3. 18. 22. Therefore that multiplying of his seed promised in those words so shall thy seed be had reference not onely to the Jews but also to believing Gentiles the increase of whose number by means of Gods blessing believers so as to make them blessings as Abrahams seed was intended in that promise and as part of that Gospel which God preached unto Abraham else his beleeving it had not been imputed for righteousnesse nor the Apostle alledged it to prove justification by faith in Christ as he doth in that place Again we know that one great promise to beleevers now under the New Testament is that the kingdome of Christ that is the Church at last shall fill the world Dan. 2. The stone cut out without hands which smote the image upon the feet and brake to pieces the Iron and the Clay the Brasse the Silver and the Gold became a great mountain and filled the whole earth And the stone is interpreted of the kingdome of Christ v. 44. To this purpose is that of our Saviour Matth. 13. 31. comparing the kingdom of Heaven to a grain of mustard seed which is the least of all seeds but when it is grown is the greatest of all herbs And that it is like to leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meale till the whole was leavened Now the Lords making beleevers blessings and thereby multiplying Abrahams seed is that which makes his kingdome thus to be like leaven whereby the whole world at last will be seasoned with the knowledge and love of Christ Therefore this multiplying of beleevers so as to fill the world is made by the Apostle Rom. 4. 13. to be part of Abrahams promise The promise that he should be Heir of the World was not to Abraham or to his seed through the Law but through the righteousness of faith Then mark what followeth v. 16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be sure to all the seed not to that only which is of the Law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the Father of us all as it is written I have made thee the Father of many Nations Who against hope beleeved in hope that he might be the Father of many Nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be namely as the stars of heaven for number From these words observe First that Abraham by the promises given unto him was made the Heir of the world Secondly that the promise of multiplying his seed in those words I will make thee a Father of many Nations and so shall thy seed be was one promise whereby he was so made the Heir of the world Thirdly that this promise of multiplying his seed and of his thereby being made the Heir of the world was not made to Abraham or his seed through the Law but through the righteousnesse of faith therefore a Gospel promise Fourthly that this promise was made sure to all beleevers as well Gentiles as Jews Fourthly A fourth thing conteined in Abrahams promise confirmed both to him and all beleevers is that his seed shall possesse the gate of his enemies Gen. 22. 16. The place here cited by the Apostle in the Text as intended also to the Heirs of promise in the New Testament By my selfe have I sworn saith the Lord that in blessing I will blesse thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the Sea-shore and thy seed shall possesse the gate of his enemies that is their power and authority For as gates were for defence so they were places of judgement Amos 5. 15. Hate the evil and love the good and establish judgement in the gate Deut. 16. 18. Judges shalt thou make in all thy gates Dan. 2. 49. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were set over the affairs of the provinces but Daniel sat in the gate of the King This therefore was Gods promise unto Abraham that by means of this blessing he would so multiply his seed as they should not only fill they should also subdue the world at last and raign over it Psal 47. 3. He shall subdue the people under us Rev. 11. 15. The Kingdomes of this world shall be the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ Dan. 7. 18. 28. The Kingdom and Dominion and the greatnesse of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most High and all Dominions shall serve and obey him All this you may observe is reduced to Abrahams promise Psal 47. which is a parallel prophecy to that of Dan. 7. O clap your hands all ye people shout unto God with the voice of triumph for the Lord most High is the King over all the earth He shall subdue the people under us and the nations under our feet God raigneth over the heathen God sitteth upon the Throne of his Holinesse Then mark what followeth The Princes of the people are gathered together even the people of the God of Abraham All this dignity and power therfore is confirmed upon them as his seed and heirs of his promise And although by what hath been said it is evident that this also is one branch of Gods promise made to Abraham Yet I shall adde one place more wherein with submission I suppose we have also a prophesie of what God wil do for his people in this kind and all reduced still to his promise unto Abraham It is Psal 105. mentioned before a Psalm made upon occasion of Davids bringing the Ark to the Tabernacle which he had prepared for it upon mount Sion as we see 1. Chron. 16. 1 7. in which accordingly we have a prophesie foreshewing what God will do when he shall set his King upon his holy hill of Sion having dashed his enemies in pieces like a Potters vessel even when the Kingdomes of the earth are become the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ In which prophesie observe two things First how he putteth all that he saith therein upon Gods promise unto Abraham O give thanks unto the Lord make known his deeds among the people sing unto him talk of his wonderous works O ye seed of Abraham his servant ye children of Jacob his chosen Againe v. 8. Which covenant he made with Abraham and his oath unto Isaac and confirmed the same to Jacob saying Vnto