after your old estates and will do better for you than at your beginnings Or as some read it I will bestow benefits upon you more than at the first Then doubtless their children were not left out Ez 47 14 Ye shall inherit it one as well as another yea saith the Lord the strangers with their children shall have inheritance with the children of Israel in that land of Canaan vers 22. This is a Gospel-promise as appears by many arguments which I could produce the land being but a type of the Church or heaven in which children share with their parents Hos 14 8 They that dwell under thy shadow shall return This must needs include the children which shall be made good especially to the Jews upon their last return Obj. These promises are made to the Jews and can not properly be applied to the Gentiles with their Children Ans They were made in Christ in whom all the promises are yea that is affirmed and amen that is confirmed to us Gentiles 2. * See Glas Amos 9 12 Vt possideant residuum Edomi Junius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per cum vertit ut haeredes sint cum reliquijs Edomi omnibus gentibus quae vocantur de nomine meo 1. Vt non tantum Judaei verùm etiam gentes reliquae communi cum illis haereditate persruantur LXX pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possidebunt legerunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 requirent unde illud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 legerunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 homo unde illud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 addiderunt vocem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are so interpreted Act. 15.16 17. Hos 2 23 compared with Rom. 9.24 25. Hos 12 4 He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us So that the promises made unto Jacob are applicable unto us also Hence it is that all the people of God Gal. 6 16 are called the Israel of God If any shall say That children in the old Testament were ceremonially holy The Apostle answers 1 Pet. 2 9 writing to the twelve tribes scattered Iam. 1.1 they and their children were an holy nation Add to all these scriptures Exod. 20 5 Shewing mercie unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments Matt. 1. Abraham is brought in as the first explicit Covenanter to whom the promise was made which runs along in the natural line to Christ taking effect in some of his seed in every generation But least this should be thought to be a typical Covenant abolished in Christ whereas Matthew descends from Abraham to Christ Luke ascends from Christ to Adam to shew us that the Covenant extends to all believing Gentiles as well as Jews even to all the Sons of Adam I hope none will say that the moral law or the promises thereunto belonging are abolished Here is a promise made to those that worship God in the beauties of holiness I mean in the purity of his ordinances to such and their seed doth the Lord extend mercie which is a fruit of the Covenant of grace not of works The like phrase we have in Timothy Keep this command to the coming of Christ that is if thou shouldest live so long So if the world should continue to a thousand generations which I suppose not for Mat. 1 those three 14 generations took up a great part of the time from Abraham to Christ God will make good his word to them if they cut not off the entail of the promises Obj. * When Princes offend their favorites are heaten So when Parents transgress their children are punished This is meant to those children that love the Lord and the contrary threatning to those Children which imitate their fathers vices Ans 1. * Exod. 34.7 Vtrumque absolutè ponitur Qui custodia misericordiam in millia qui reddis iniquitatem patrum filijs ac nepotibus Riv. Shewing mercie unto thousands but visiting the sins of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generation The words are put absolutely without restraining them to those that love or hate him because they relate to the parents so that doubtless the child may suffer temporal punishment for the fathers sins as being a part of the father but not eternal Ezek 18. If the command be so understood then is there no pretence for children to complain The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge if God did punish children onely for imitating their parents vices 2. If he spake of children hating God as their fathers why might he not have said Visiting the iniquitie of the fathers upon the children unto a thousand generatons as well as to the third or fourth 3. If the words be so understood then is the force of the comparison lost for he extolls his mercie above his justice saying Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation but Shewing mercie to thousands For the attributes of God are equal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. What force were there in this dehortation You parents take heed of idolatry for if your children to the third or fourth generation committ idolatry I will punish them It is not to be imagined that the wisdom of the father should argue thus irrationally For so he should punish not so much the sin of the father as the sins of the children Let none say these are old Testament proofs intrenching upon the prophetical office of Christ as if that which was written wâ—â—â— not written for our learning or as if Christ were not sent to confirm the promises made to the Fathers Rom. 15. We thought much that the Papists should make void and unlord the second Commandment and the Bishops the fourth but what shall we say to those that wave the old Testament unless it be in such places which seemingly make for their own opinion these have the leprosy in their heads and therefore are altogether unclean For doth not Moses expound Christ and doth not Christ send the Jews to Moses for instruction Ioh. 5 46 Luk 16 31. Let us come to the new Testament though we say there is no more inconveniency upon supposing of children in the new Testament to be in the Covenant than formerly therefore to reject Infants now is to condemn the wisdom of God in admitting them in the old and hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Matt. 22 32 compared with Ex. 3 6 I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. The Lord makes mention of this Covenant made with our fathers for then he was about to bring them out of the land of Egypt wherein he failed not but made good his word to a day though the promise was made four hundred and thirty years before Ex. 12 42. It is a night much to be observed wherein the Lord brought them out of the land of
to them Others of his Children were before the Children of promise for outwards These saith the Text are the Kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any King over the children of Israel Gen. 36.31 1 Chron. 1.43 But what is all this yea what is that vast Turkish empire but as a crum given to a dog as Luther speaks Doubtless if Abraham had so understood the Lord he would have said as once Luther did to the Duke of Saxony who offered him a great gratuity Non sic satiabor Domine I will not be so put off this Lord shall not suffice me Sevently The bondmen born in Abraham's house had no inheritance in the land of Canaan yet were circumcised yea Abraham's seed for the space of 430 years enjoyed it not therefore Circumcision was not solely a seal of the land of Canaan for as those had no right unto it so Abraham in his posterity enjoyed it not for that space Eighthly The Apostle determines * Quum Deus sacramenta gratiis suis adjungere soleat ex eo quod sacramento privati erant colligit neque gratiae ipsos fuisse participes non est quidem perpetuum argumentum valet tamen quantum ad ordinariam dei dispensationem Calv. in Eph. Eph. 2.12 upon their uncircumcision that they were without God in the world v 11 Remember that at that time ye were Gentiles who were called uncircumcision that at that time ye were strangers to the Covenant of promise Hence that phrase They dy the deaths of the uncircumcised he saith not death but deaths as signifying not onely their corporal but their spiritual and eternal deaths Ezek. 32.25 26. and 28.10 Ninthly When the Lord renews the Covenant for that land of Canaan mark well the Lord did not reinstate them into that land after their return from Babylon Gen. 17.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And I will freely give my Covenant So Galat 3. nor will he bring them back out of their last captivity into that land but by that gracious Covenant Jer. 3.19 How shall I put thee among my Children and give thee the pleasant land Thou shalt call me father and shalt not depart from me Some say the Covenant of Circumcision is to be understood as everlasting as Canaan and the possession thereof which untill Christ's coming who was the substance thereof it being a typical Covenant but it 's as clear as the sun That that land is promised to them in the later times upon their general Call for into that land must they return and fight with the sons of Greece Zac. 9.13 i. e the Turk and his adherents Ezek. 20.37 I will bring them into the bond of the Covenant v. 12 There shall the house of Israel even all of them in the land serve me This relates to their last return Rom. 11.26 So all Israel shall be saved that is the body of the 12 Tribes Thus Ezek. 36.24 I will gather you out of all Countries and bring you into your own land then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers v. 28. And ye shall be my people and I will be your God Yea saith the Text not for your sakes do I this v. 22 32 saith the Lord God be it known unto you q.d. You must not expect that land by a Covenant of works as Moses again and again minds the Israelites Deut. 9.4 Say not for my rightousness hath the Lord brought me to possess this land v. 5 6 7. And adds this memento for fear Israel should forget it Remember and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord in the wilderness Will any then for ever say for the future That the land of Canaan was given to Abrahams ' seed by a Covenant of works I wonder at the confidence of some who strongly affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 1.7 that which they are wholely ignorant of Surely they were hard bestead when forced to fly to this distinction to avoid the force of that Argument taken from Abraham's Covenant But alas There are many that are enemies to the Cross of Christ as Paul saith Phil. 3.18 of whom I tell you weeping I desire to bemoan the sad condition of such for a spirit of delusion is gone forth into the world to deceive the nations God having given Satan a commission or rather a permission judicially to harden not onely carnal Gospellers but some of his own dear people and this is the sorest judgment that I know that lies upon this nation this day Tenthly That Covenant was Gospel therefore not a fleshly carnal Covenant Gal. 3.18 God gave the inheritance by promise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Gen. 17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 3.8 The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham Gen. 12. Saying in thee shall all Nations be blessed cap. 22. He saith in thy seed but from that time namely Gen. 22. to the coming out of Aegypt viz. Exod. 12.41 was not * Nay scarse 390 neither can the words Gal. 3. be referred to the first promise Gen. 12 For there was no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or confirmation mentioned before Gen. 17.18 Where it was confirmed by sacrifice after by the sacrament of Circumcision lastly by an oath cap. 22. four hundred and thirty years Therefore it must be referred to this 15 chapter or to the 17. But it 's not much material to which place of the two you referr it seeing that it 's one and the same Covenant But more fully explained accordingly as Abraham walked with God cap. 12 Lecleca It 's Dativus commodi when God calls them out of his country he bids him go for himself and tells him v. 3 he will bless him and that in him all nations shall be blessed upon this Abraham departed and comes into this land where the Lord appears to him cap. 12.7 and saith Unto thy seed will I give this land he had not told him that before after this there was a great famin in that land which was no small tryal to Abraham's faith that coming out of such a fertil soil as Chaldea was he should be put to such straits and forced to travel to Aegypt for food where he sojourns awhile and thence returns to the land whence he came there God appears to him again upon that self-denying act ca. 13.7 Abraham takes notice that the Canaanite dwelt in the land and therefore yields to his brother Lot who made choice of the fattest soil as intending rather to feed his flocks than to feed souls but the Lord again appears to Abraham cap. 13.4 saying All this land will I give he enlargeth his charter and lets him know he shall be no loser by him upon another act of self-denyal least the King of Sodom should say He had made Abraham rich the Lord again appears to him cap. 15.1 saying
Text Jer. 4.4 The end of Gods requiring obedience on their part was not for his own but for their benefit that he might do them good and give them a land flowing with milk and honey which land as hath been shewed was given by a Covenant of grace for which Covenant the Covenant of works did make way as the needle makes way for the thred 6. The Prophet setts to his seal saying Amen having respect to those gracious words in the close of his speach Which word is seldom used in any heathen author unless in XENOPHON q. d. So let it be that this people being careful to keep Covenant with thee may enjoy still that blessed land which thou didst by oath bind thy self to settle them in Obj. But what say you to those noted places Jer. 31.32 Heb. 8.8 But finding fault with the first Covenant he saith I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel do not these places hold forth a Covenant of works Ans I say that Covenant the Prophet speaks of is not the Covenant made with Abraham but the Covenant made with them when he brought them out of the land of Aegypt which as I told you before was 430 years after Abraham's Covenant Gal. 3. I will be thy God is confessed to be a Gospel promise M. Tombs and therefore doth not disanul the former Covenant and yet usually they confound this and Abraham's Covenant which they confess to be the new Covenant or Covenant of grace 2. I answer That old Covenant largely not strictly taken with its promises and appertenances was for substance the same with the new Covenant Heb. 13.8 Christ ever the same as appears First The old as well as the new was ratified by the bloud of the Messias that bloud of his being as well typified by the bloud of the sacrifices Heb 9.1 The first Covenant had Ordinances of divine service 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 justifications for by the bloud of Christ in the use of those Ordinances they were justified See Grot. as in these days it is represented and sealed to us in the Lords supper Therefore 't is called a Testament now a Testament must needs be a Covenant of grace for where a Testament is v. 16. there must be the death of the Testator whereupon neither the first Testament was dedicated without bloud 3. It was a marriage Covenant Jer. 31 32. Though I was an husband to them saith the Lord or Should I continue an husband to them seeing they brake my Covenant LXX or They continued not in my Covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord. Paul takes the sense of the Prophet not tying himself to words 4. In the day he took them by the hand Hos 11. denotes his tender affection to them Eph. 3.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Manuduction Christ hands us to the Father and fatherly care of them Hos 11.3 Which phrase implies it was a Covenant of grace 5. This distinction of the Covenant into the Old and New is not a division into his species but his adjuncts for the Lord as others well observe made but one Will or Testament Heb. 8. Faulty not absolutely but comparatively but caused it to be writ in diverse characters and some more legible and perspicuous one and the same Covenant may be either in paper or in parchment and be sealed with wax or bloud The Apostle saith Covenants Eph. 2.12 Rom. 9.4 Because so often renewed and enlarged therefore I say it 's called a new Covenant not simplely in regard of the substance for the main matter and substance is the same with the former as a new moon and an old is one and the same moon so the old and new Covenant one and the same Covenant but it 's said to be new because it 's ratified by the death of our Savior exhibited which was but in expectation before as the command of love is called a new command because confirmed by arguments drawn from Christ's own bowels I say it is established on better promises for that Covenant made nothing perfect but was the bringing in A bringing in of one thing upon another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the ceremonial Law they had a typical pardon successively if any sinned then he must offer his sacrifice so often as he sinned or superinduction of a better hope Heb. 7.19 In regard of the end Christ it was perfect Rom. 10. but in regard of the means to attain that end imperfect but in this later Christ is brought in who hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified 2. Better promises in regard of the clearness of them for here the Gospel is more clearly and distinctly revealed 1 Pet. 1.10 They had a sea of brass we a sea of Ordinances clear as crystal though mingled with the fire of contentions till this Covenant in its full extent be revealed to us Rev. 4.6 15.2 3. The former Covenant was much upon temporal promises in that infant age of the Church for the Jews like little Children won with a nut and lost with the shell were much taken with the gilded outside of the book rather than the inside to take out a spiritual lesson Gal. 4 but now in the new Testament the promises are more for spirituals and less for carnals the Church having attained to a greater stature and measure of grace in Christ 4. Better promises because more large and full 1. For the ceremonial part for their sacrifices were for the most part for sins of ignorance called by the Apostle Heb. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 7. the errors of the people there is in the sins of the people of God an overclouding of the judgement Lev. 6.3 4 5. Hence that expression of the Apostle Rom. 7.5 The passions of sin which were by the Law In the general there was a sacrifice for a sin of presumption 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 7.5 Lev. 16.21 but in one place onely is any such allowed in particular there is one as was said of the thief on the Cross that we might not despair and but one least we should presume Lev. 6.3 4 5. But here the bloud of Christ cleanseth from all sin 1 Joh. 1.6 According to his promise Mic. 7.18 19. Who is a God like unto thee forgiving iniquity or that obliquitie of nature and passing by the transgressions that is the voluntary and deliberate sins of his people See the Hebrew 2. More large as to the subject it being in those days for the most part confined to the Jews and Proselytes of the Gentiles but now propounded and exhibited to all nations that shall embrace the faith of Christ Mat. 16.16 5. The promises of the new Covenant are better promises in regard of their efficacy the Spirit being more abundantly poured out now than in the days of old Acts 2.17 In the last days I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh your old men shall dream
lament That two parts of three are cut off from the Covenant of Grace 4. Then are Children losers by Christs coming in the flesh as hath been already proved for before they were in the * A baptized Jew having one Infant born before the abrogation of Circumcision and another after might look at the former as a member but the later without hope as a heathen or else on that elder as a heathen to day who was a member yesterday Covenant but now discovenanted so should they be in a worse condition in the new Testament than they were in the old yea then was the first Adam more prevalent to damn than the second to save for had he stood we with our Children had stood but though parents in the second Adam stand yet their Children are cashiered before they have done any thing to discovenant themselves 5. Then should the grace of God be more large in the times of the old Testament than in the new but the Apostle tells us Christ is a surety of a better Testament Heb. 7.22 established upon better promises Heb. 8.6 Ex. 26.9 compared with Ex. 36.9 The five curtains on the one side of the Tabernacle and five on the other side were of one size and made up one Tabernacle Ex. 26.6 these were coupled together by loops that the Tabernacle might be one ver 11. And what are those two curtains but the Church of the Jews and Gentiles making up one Tabernacle Ez. 47.14 And ye shall inherit it one as well as another They are all to share alike in the division of that land which did signify That Aequale est omnium fidelium Jus in possessione haereditatis coelestis partes enim aequales dantur omnibus expressà voluntate dei non inaequales ut à Mose Josua qui distribuorant terram juxta multitudinem hominum Polan that is one Church of God These are of an equal size that is equally priviledged and all of them by bonds and sinews that is the bond of the Covenant and the grace of the Spirit coupled and united together Col. 2 19. Ex. 20.37 If then that Covenant did extend to the Jews Children as a part of the Tabernacle then also must it of necessity extend to the Children of the Gentiles which make up the other part of the Tabernacle and so both make one Eph. 2.14 6 If Children have no interest in that Covenant I will be thy God and the Gods of thy seed then have they no interest in the Mediator of that Covenant nor any part in Christs mediation which is limited to them that are under the Covenant Heb. 9.15 12 24. If so then not saved for tell me I beseech you are any saved or brought out of the pit wherein is no water of comfort but by the bloud of the everlasting Covenant Zach. 9. Are not we and ours bound up in that as in a bundle of life 2 Sam. 23. Obj. The Covenant of Circumcision was not a Covenant of grace and life but a Covenant of works by virtue of which the land of Canaan was given to Abraham and his seed Ans Here is a palpable mistake as appears clearly by Neh. 9.8 Thou foundest his heart faithful before thee and madest a Covenant with him to give the land of Canaan to his seed and hast performed thy words for thou art rightous What can be more plain than this that the land of Canaan was not given him considered as a working but as a believing Abraham But because the main stress of the Arguments of the Antipaedobaptists lies here for they do confess and publickly have affirmed That if that Covenant made with Abraham were a Covenant of grace there is no question but that the seal of baptism must be annexed therefore I shall be the more copious in shewing you that the land of Canaan was not given by a Covenant of works but by a Covenant of grace For 1. God doth engage to be his God and the God of his seed which implies more than a temporal blessing for it 's as much as if he had said First I will visibly own thy seed in the world above all the people under heaven whereupon he sets up his Tabernacle and erects his Church amongst them he gives them his word and ordinances he hath not dealt so with any nation saith the Psalmist yea he vouchsafeth his own presence and that in a glorious manner Secondly When he saith I will give thee the land of Canaan and I will be thy God his meaning is I will give them a visible subsistance in the world thus he made good his word to Abraham who had the use of that land though not by way of inheritance the promise lay so warm and so near his heart and did so glow upon his spirit as that by faith he enjoyed it as his own as it is with many a gracious spirit in these days that expects the fulfilling of many glorious promises For faith is the substance of things hoped for and giveth being to such things as have no being themselves Thirdly If they take me for their God I will be their God and give unto them the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy things of David Esa 55.5 Matt. 22. He is not the God of the dead but of the living that is applied to the resurrection 2. Canaan it self was not given as a mere temporal blessing but as a type and pledge of spiritual and eternal blessings Therefore First It was called the land of Emmanuel Es 8. Secondly Hence it 's made a great part of the glory of that land that it flowed with milk and honey even the ordinances of God sweeter than the honey and the honey-comb Mell◠stillante the life-honey Psal 19. or dropping honey this phrase Ezekiel goes over and over again flowing with milk honey which is the glory of all lands Ezek. 20.6 3. Canaan was a type of the Church and of the state of glory Heb. 4 1 If spirituals and eternals were not promised to the Fathers then were they not by faith apprehended for that which is not promised by faith cannot be apprehended he speaks of another Rest after they were entered into that Rest Heb. 11. If they had rested in that land God would have been ashamed to own them as Children but now they desire a better Country saith the Apostle therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God Hence it was that the Lord loved that land above all other lands in the world and in that Jerusalem and in Jerusalem Sion he loved the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob Psal 87. in Sion the Temple and in the Temple the Holy-of-holies The nearer any thing comes to God the more he loves it 4. Gal. 3. last Then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise not of an earthly Canaan but an heavenly For the Galatians had nothing to do with that of Canaan 5. Hence it was
that Moses was so desirous to see that good land that goodly Mountain and Lebanon his mouth runs over he was so taken with it repeating it again and again which prayer the Lord heard as in reference to the end sc to see the land but not in the way and means as he desired Go up to Mount Pisgah and view the land saith the Lord to many a saint yea and to many a reprobate that shall never set foot upon that blessed land 6. Hence it was that they were so ambitious to have their bones carried out of other lands into that land Thus Jacob and Joseph 7. Upon this account it was that Esau was branded with a black coal of infamy to all eternity That he rejected this land that so as oft as he heard his name he might remember upon what terms he sold his birth-right Esau who is Edom Gen. 36.1 8. Edom v. 19. who is Edom and why so because that for a little red-red that is red pottage he sold his birth-right his interest in the promises ordinances heaven Christ whose land that was and when he had sold it he went away from the presence of the Lord to Mount Seir being not at all troubled for what he had done sc that he had discovenanted himself and his 8. Gal. 4. Mount Sinai in Arabia Why should Paul make mention of the situation of that Mountain when as there was none of the Galatians as might be supposed ignorant of it but that there did lie a mystery in the situation of Sinai to wit that it was without the * Foedus de quo nunc agitur modum legis complectitur finem illius nimirum Evangelium Christi locus hujus foederis notabilis est in terra Moab vel in parte haereditatis vel in aditu haereditariae terrae Canaan igitur in ingressu terrae de fine hujus habitationis terrenae admonentur duci ipsos ad praestolationem redemptionis ne vel limitem ipsum sine fide â—alvantes inquinarent Cocceius borders of the promised land which did shadow out that heavenly Country to which we are brought not by the old covenant of works but by the new Covenant of grace of that Covenant of works as it was taken by the carnal Israelites doth the Apostle speak of in Gal. 4. But in Deut. 29.1 you have another Covenant made with Israel in the land of Moab besides the Covenant which he made with them in Horeb. See Deut. 32.8 9. The giving of this land is made a sign of Gods love to Jacob Mal. 1.2 I have loved thee saith the Lord yet ye say Wherein hast thou loved us Was not Esau Jacob ' s brother yet I loved Jacob and hated Esau Mali â—dumaei è sedibus suis ejecti nunquam redituri Glass Mal. 1.1 2. If the giving of the land had not been a sign of his love the Apostle had not alledged those two examples to purpose Rom. 9. Which was to shew who were the Children of God and who not for Canaanaeae privatio etiam rejectionis a salute symbolum Arg. 3. Circumcision was a seal of the rightousness of faith either had or offered Rom. 4. It was a seal of the rightousness of faith with Infants that believe not that look what rightousness the faith of a believer layd hold on Circumcision was a seal of that rightousness Rom. 4.11 Therefore a seal of life tendered to the seed of Abraham For what it was to Abraham the same was it to all his seed that did lay hold on this Covenant If any failed and fell short thereof their destruction was of themselves because they sought rightousness by the works of the Law and not by faith in this Covenant of grace We must not pry into the decrees of God to find out the reasons of eternal election and reprobation Secret things belong to God things revealed to us and to our Children Deut 29 last But if we look into the execution of that decree of reprobation we shall find the ground of it from our selves who wilfully reject the offers and tenders of grace Rom. 9.32 Fourthly It is one and the same Covenant Gen. 17.7 and throughout this is mentioned 13 times in that chapter So Psal 105.8 The Covenant he made with Abraham and Isaac and confirmed the same to Jacob for a law v. 10. Gen. 17.2 to the 7. There are promises more particularly applied to Abraham in which all his seed did share For what ever promises are made to any are made directly or indirectly to the whole body being all yea and amen in Christ and therefore collaterally may be applied to us as That God would multiply his seed both natural and spiritual and make him a father of many nations as the Apostle interprets that Text Rom. 4 and do not we share in that promise Gen. 7.7 19. I will be thy God and the God of thy seed I will establish my Covenant between me thee and thy seed after thee He speaks of it as one and the same Covenant throughout and not as two Covenants as some fondly do imagin Fifthly That women are enabled to conceive bear and bring forth and that their children are provided for 't is of grace 1. Women if believers are saved by grace in child-bearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. in it as a way though dangerous by it as a means to further their salvation 2. Children are given by grace to the rightous Gen. 33.5 These are the Children which God of his grace hath given me So the multiplying of Children is an act of grace 1 Chron. 28.23 Deut. 33.24 Let Asher be blessed with Children Act. 7.8 He gave him the Covenant of Circumcision and so Abraham begat Isaac yea so great a mercie is it that it engaged the heart of Enoch to walk with God 300 years after he begat Methusalah Gen. 5.22 Thus Abraham walked with God after he received the promise for the multiplying of his seed Gen. 13. which is to be understood literally Deut. 10. last as well as spiritually 3. The provision the Lord maketh for such Children Iisdem nutrimur ex quibus constamus is a fruit of the Covenant of grace for God is the God of the whole man as our Savior reasoneth therefore not onely of the soul but of the body also who by Covenant binds himself to provide for both How sweet is it to a gracious soul to see all things dispensed to him not onely by a providence but also by promise and to see the Throne of God compassed about with the rainbow of his Covenant for so I understand it Rev. 4.3 So that all his dispensations did pass through this rainbow whether they be afflictions which to the rightous are an appendix to the Covenant 2 Sam. 7. or temporal spiritual and eternal mercies all these come swimming to us in the bloud of Christ Sixtly It had been little comfort to Abraham and his seed to have had onely a temporal portion sealed
I am thy exceeding great reward the Lord leaves himself in pawn that I may so say till he had made good his promise to him But in cap. 17.22 he more fully explains the Covenant Eleventhly The V. Commandment is not carnal though it have a temporal promise annexed to it Eph. Deut. 5.16 Ut prolongent dies Potest verbum accipi impersonaliter prolongent pro eo quod est prolongentur Junius 6.3 Children obey your parents that it may be well with you and that ye may live long on the earth Surely none will say but that children are bound to obey their parents under the Gospel as well as the Jews were under the Law notwithstanding that motive Is there not the like reason for the Covenant May it not be spiritual though the Lord engage to Abraham and his seed to give them that temporal land of Canaan and shall we say this Covenant is a temporal and a carnal Covenant hath not godliness the promise of this life and that which is to come They might as well have said the ten Commandments belong not to us because Deut. 5. they are enforced with this consideration which brought thee out of the land of Aegypt though in a spiritual sense that may be applyed to us as literally to the Jews Twelfthly Abraham was heir of the world by virtue of the Covenant of grace and surely Canaan was included in that promise as being a little world in the great world Rom. 4.13 The promise that he should be heir of the world was not through the Law but through the rightousness of faith Where you see it 's plainly opposed to the Covenant of works Thirteenthly From the absurdities that will follow hereupon for then so many particular promises so many Covenants whereas a Covenant is but a bundle of promises solemnly sealed and confirmed The Papists having excluded the second Commandment Such as will deficere in necessariis will abundare in superfluis they are defective in the second Command therefore they superabound in the X whereas the text mentions but one Commandment as Moses one Covenant throughout ch 17. divide the tenth into two whereas they might as well make eight of it as first Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house 2. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife 3. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors field 4. Nor his man servant 5. Nor his maid servant 6. Nor his ox 7. Nor his ass 8. Nor any thing that is his As they divide the Commandments so others divide the Covenant I will be thy God This they make a new Covenant or a Covenant of grace Gen. 17 to 6. and from 7. to 14. And to thy seed will I give this land a Covenant of works they grant the former to be the new Covenant or Covenant of grace and why not the later I will be the God of thy seed c. but they might as well according to all the particular articles in the Covenant multiply the Covenant into several species making every promise a Covenant and so many promises so many Covenants Fourteenthly If Circumcision was a seal of the Covenant of works then the seed of Abraham had no seal to the Covenant of grace at all for they say that relates to the land of Canaan which they hold to be given to the posterity of Abraham by a Covenant of works whereof Circumcision was a seal If this be granted then was the Lord wanting to his people for did they not stand in need of a seal of the rightousness of faith as well as Abraham much more Abraham though strong in faith was sore put to it as appears by the story being willing to sit down well contented with Ismael not having obtained the promised seed Yea cap 16.3 the holy Ghost seems to imply that he doubted ten years therefore he used unlawful means to obtain issue going inâ—â— Hagar Did Abraham stand in need of strengthening and did not his seed much more Had he a seal annexed to the promise and had not his seed the like or did God ever make a Covenant with his people and not seal it Hath any a just title to an inheritance and not a right to the seals and conveyances or had any ever a right to the Covenant of grace that had not an external right at least to the seal Fifteenthly Here is not onely an Husteronproteron for thus Abraham is first under the Covenant of grace and then of works long after but at the same time under both Covenants contrary to Rom. 6.14 Sixtenthly The Covenant of works admits of no repentance or mercy therefore cannot be renewed but this doth Deut. 4.7 12 13. Seventeenthly That Covenant was sealed with bloud for the letting out of the bloud did signifie the shedding of the bloud of Christ therefore it was not a Covenant of works Again it 's to thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for ever Gen. 17.10 11. Psal 105.8 Mr P. p. 43. The ever of the Law is to be understood of the time of the Gospel-state if these words to you and your seed in their generations be put in At negatur He gave that land for an everlasting Covenant even to a thousand generations Now from Abraham to Christ there was but 42 generations and therefore that Covenant ceased not when Christ came in the flesh as some say Jer. 25.5 Esa 24.5 Num. 25.13 Ex. 3.15 I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob this is my name for ever this is my memorial to all generations Eighteenthly If Circumcision were onely a seal signifying That God would give the seed of Abraham the land of Canaan what need was there of this seal after they were possessed of the land Obj. The subject matter of the Covenant is That they should be circumcised but in that all the works of the Law are included Ans Rom. 2.25 Act. 15. Circumcision profiteth if thou keep the Law saith the Apostle on Gods part it was a seal of all the gracious promises if on their part they did perform the condition which was to walk in obedience to his Commandments but it did not profit them if they kept not the Law as baptism now availeth not if men lead an evil life The Apostle speaks not by way of supposition as of a thing impossible to be done but as supposing it a thing possible evangelically to be done If he had spoken of the perfect keeping of the law legally which is impossible then all profitable use is denyed to Circumcision but he would not so much detract from that holy institution of God as to denie all profitable use thereof Circumcision indeed did bind them to keep the whole law perfectly but it did profit them if there were an endeavor and a care in them to keep it though imperfectly Cap. 3.1 What priviledg then hath the Jew what benefit then is there of Circumcision if the Jews were not justified by Circumcision
Here are two queries the Apostle answers to the first Much every way but chiefly that to them were committed the oracles of God that is all the prophetical writings prophesies and promises c These were committed to them non ut alienae rei depositum but as their own proper treasure if they had hearts to make use thereof For the Covenant was made with all the seed of Abraham many indeed lost the benefit of it not because they were not comprehended in it but because of their unbelief which deprived them of the benefit thereof yet this unbelief could not make the faith of God that is the promise of none effect for though some did not believe yet others did not all but some did not believe for God hath ordained That as he keepeth truth in his promises So there should be always some in the Church which should believe them Thus Rom. 9.7 the Apostle sheweth that all the seed of Abraham are not the elect seed but doth not shew That they were not under the outward administration of the Covenant as appears from the 4 verse for of that Covenant Paul speaks not But if onely the elect and faithful be admitted to the Covenant as to the outward administration thereof then is there no subject left for the ordinance of baptism for how shall we know who is elect and who not It 's therefore far better to give the seal to the 99 which are not the elect than to pass by one to whom it justly belongs Thus much in answer to the first querie Rom. 3.3 To the second querie the Apostle answers Paul purposely deferred the answer to the 2 querie to this place because in this place it received the fittest answer That Abraham was not justified by Circumcision which the carnal Jew together with the works of the law rested in as appears by most of Paul's Epistles Rom. 2. Gal. 5.2 They not well understanding the tenor of the Covenant of grace did look at it with a carnal ey as a Covenant of works therefore Circumcision was urged as necessary to salvation Acts 15.1 And in this sense the yoke put upon the disciples was such a yoke as that neither they nor their fathers were ever able to bear It 's not to be imagined that the Lord would impose any such intollerable yoke of circumcision as some conceive the meaning of the place to be for his yoke is easy Mat. 11.28 and his commandments are not grievous 1 John 5. misconstruing the Lords meaning and cleaving to the works of the Law for which cause the Jews were cut off Rom. 9.32 comp Hos 4.5 I will cut off thy mother because they sought rightousness by the works of the Law and not by faith in Abraham 's Covenant which included Christ in the womb thereof For Circumcision was a seal of the remission of sins or as the Apostle calls it a seal of the rightousness of the faith which they had or which was tendered unto them Obj. Jer. 11.3 Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this Covenant Gal. 3. which Covenant I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Aegypt This Covenant was a Covenant of works Ans Mind the words following which Covenant I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Aegypt was this Abraham's Covenant was not this Covenant delivered on Mount Sinai 430 years after for the breach of which they are here threatned That the Law was taken by the Jews for a Covenant of works is not denied Gal. 4. Rom. 4. But that is distinct from Abraham's Covenant 2. Let me tell you As some pictures if you look on them on this side they resemble the king or queen on the other side another party So that Covenant considered largely as that whole doctrine delivered on Mount Sinai with the prefaces and promises and all things that may be reduced to it so it 's a Covenant of grace as appears from Hag. 2.6 Accorcording to the word that I covenanted with you when I brought you out of the land of Aegypt Sum vobiscum dicit Jehovah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cum verbo quo pepigeram vobiscum exeuntibus vobis ex Aegypto et cum spiritu meo in vobis Jun. Verba quo pepigeram explicant in quo propter quem vos acceptos habuerant receperam in foedus Cal. lib. 3. cap. 9. Fac hoc et vives vive et fac hoc so my spirit remaineth among you now they received not the spirit saith the Apostle by the works of the Law but by the hearing of faith Gal. 3.2 that is not by a Covenant of works but by a Covenant of grace But considered as an abstracted rule of rightousness so it 's a Covenant of works Thus the Gospel taken largely hath precepts and threatnings annexed yea a bitter curse the Lord keep us from Gospel-curses Mar. 16.16 He that believeth not shall be damned but strictly taken 't is put for the glad tidings of a Savior 3. That the Law was delivered with evangelical purposes cannot be denyed for Christ is the end of the Law Rom. 10.4 When Moses saw that they had broken the Covenant though they had engaged all this will we do relying on their own strength he breaks the tables to let them see that God would break Covenant with them therefore he is not blamed by the holy Ghost for so doing Act. 7. At that time the Lord said unto him Take thou the tables which thou brakest and put them in the Ark signifying that Christ must keep Covenant with us and for us else we shall never keep touch with God 4. Those words obey my voice and do according to all that I command you so shall you be my people and I will be your God if compared with the like Scriptures appear to be the condition of the Covenant of grace Exod. 19.5 Now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my Covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people Segullah signifieth the peculiar treasure of Kings and ye shall be to me a Kingdom of Priests and an holy nation Which is applied to them in the times of the Gospel 1 Pet. 2.9 when all those types and ceremonies were abolished and they not under a Covenant of works but a Covenant of grace Rom. 6.14 Thus Lev. 26.3 If ye will keep my statutes v. 9. then will I establish my Covenant with you v. 12. and I will walk among you and be your God Compared with 2 Cor. 6.16 I will dwell in them and walk in them and will be their God To those scriptures add Jer. 7. Psal 81.13 Ah that my people had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my ways Will any say That these pathetical expressions and mournful expostulations relate to a Covenant of works and not rather to a Covenant of grace tendered to them again and again 5. Consider the
dreams in which God hath often revealed himself but somwhat darkly but the young men shall see visions q.d. They have a clearer sight oftentimes than old men in those days for they have the help of those that went before them now if you set a child upon a Giants shoulders he will see farther than the Giant sees Stella 6. This new Covenant is established upon better promises in regard of the continuance of it That is as to the ceremonial part thereof which was to be done away Heb. 10.9 * Porro lex ceremonijs quodammodo vestiobatur nunc post corporis interitum qui vestium usus erit Tritum est illud vulgi proverbium accessorium sequi naturam sui principalis Non mirum igitur si ceremoniae quae nihil sunt quam appendices veteris Testamenti simul cum totâ— Mosis ministerio finem habeant Cal. in Lev. cap. 8. v. 8. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second Which appears to be meant of the typical part thereof ver 8. But this Covenant of Abraham is a Covenant that lasts for ever even to a thousand Generations 7. In regard of the stability of it Jer. 31.33 Not according to the Covenant made with your father Abraham when I brought you out of the land of Aegypt which my Covenant they brake or continued not in But this is my Covenant I will make with you saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts if these ordinances of Moon and stars depart from me v. 36. then shall the seed of Israel cease from being a nation before me for ever if heaven above can be measured then will I cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done saith the Lord. Jer. 33.20 If you can break the Covenant of the day and my Covenant of the night then also may my Covenant be broke with David That he should not have a Son to sit upon his throne namely Christ to reign and with the Levits that is the evangelical Ministers so interpreted Esa 66.21 and the spiritual seed of Christ Add to these that great scripture Esa 54.9 10 11. This is to me as the waters of Noah for as I have sworn the waters shall no more overflow the earth so will I be angry with thee no more This scripture relates to the Jew's last call as appears plainly by the verses following describing their glorious state who though sinful shall never be dischurched more after this Esa 33.20 For this Covenant is an absolute Covenant Ad hanc foederis naturam respiciens Paullus ait 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grot. extending to their seeds seed for ever Esa 59. Iast That is there is no condition required which God doth not undertake to perform and therefore as that Covenant of nature shall never be broken nor these ordinances of heaven fail so neither shall this Covenant with the Jew ever be made voyd Hence it is Rev. 10. that Christ is described ver 1. as cloathed with a cloud and a rain-bow upon his head in that place the Apostle speaks of the mystery of God to be finished ver 7. That is the calling of the Jews upon the sounding of the seaventh trumpet Christ is described with a rain-bow about his head signifying That though their state then be dubious as it will be till the 45 years are expired Dan. 12.12 yet it 's clear at bottom and That that Church shall never totally so be overwhelmed as it hath formerly been Obj. That was a national Covenant but the Covenant of grace was never tyed to any Nation Ans The Covenant given to Abraham was not National at first but domestical as is well observed bur Jacob's blessing and so his Covenant did exceed the Covenant of his progenitors Gen. 49.26 Now it 's not said That the blessing of Iacob for so it should be national but That the blessing of Abraham should come upon the Gentiles Gal. 3.14 Gen. 28.4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee thy seed 2. What say you to those places of the Psalmist Psal 2.8 72.10 102.22 47. last The voluntary of the people shall be gathered to the God of Abraham Or what say you to those passages of the Prophet Esa 49.1 42.4 10. 51.5 66.9 In which places the holy Ghost seems to have a special ey to thâ—se Islands Esa 55.7 Nations shall run unto thee Ezek. 20.40 In my holy mountain there shall all the house of Israel all of them in the land serve me Eze. 39.25 I will have mercy on the whole house of Israel Thus Rom. 11.26 All Israel shall be saved That is the body of the 12 tribes Eze. 42.15 The portion of the Levites allotted to them as the verge of the Temple amounteth to a space bigger than all the land of Canaan and the Temple it self bigger than the Citie As Ezekiel measureth the Citie so Iohn Rev. 21. Which prophesie pointeth out the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven I mean the Jews again called after their rejection and holdeth forth Jerusalem that is that Church of the Jews as far larger than that of Ezekiel 3. Was it not an act of grace that God separated that people to himself above all the people under heaven Deut 4.6 7 8. And will it not be an act of the same grace to restore them to a far more glorious state and condition 4. This Covenant is never to be reversed as you have heard from Esa 54.9 This is unto me as the waters of Noah I would fain know of any Neopelagian Whether that if the world be never so sinful it shall once more be destroyed with water they will say no but I must tell you that as in the law a pardon of felonie binds the malefactor for so the pardon runs so a pardon of sin binds the sinner to his good behaviour Even so saith the Lord This is unto me as the waters of Noah surely though the Jews should much degenerate which I trust they never will yet they shall never be brought so low as they have been in this their last Captivity To this agrees that of the prophet Esa 33.20 Sion shall be a tabernacle that shall not be taken down Amos 9.15 They shall no more be plucked out of their land For the gifts and calling of God to that Church are without repentance Rom. 11.29 As therefore this Covenant was National so it shall be It will be saith reverend Mr Burroughs a sufficient ground for any to plead an interest in Church priviledges that he is a member of that Nation Esa 4.3 He that is left in Jerusalem shall be called holy the rebels being cast out Ezek. 20.38 Obj. Notwithstanding that Covenant the Jews were equally in a damnable condition with the poor heathenish infidels all equally guilty before God Ezek. 20.38 Ans They were so by nature but that they miscarried it was because they