are of Israel i. e. All do not belong to the true Seed that have the external denomination and yet these are they to whom the Ministration of the letter is equally afforded 3. This notwithstanding the direct aim and great design of opening this fountain is for the sake of those that are given to Christ This is a great truth though the carnal minds of natural men are prejudiced at it and engage in so many earnest cavils against it and it becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to them yet it is fully asserted in the Word of God and is necessary to be laid open in the Ministry of the Gospel That then this truth may be cleared up let us observe the following Propositions 1. That there is a select number of Adams ruined Posterity whom God hath appointed to bring to eternal life by Christ We must begin here if we would follow this grace down from the fountain of it Gods last end in this great affair was the exaltation of the glory of his Grace but in the oâ—dering of the Media by which this was to be brought about there must be a subject in whom it is to be exalted and that can be no other than a Creature that needed it This necessity man brought upon himself by his undoing Apostasy out of the ruines whereof God would pick up such as should be made the monuments of it and these were not intended to be all but only some who are called his Chosen those whom he hath given to Christ those whose names are written in the Book of Life and other like distinguishing notes differencing them from the rest of mankind nor could this appointment be only general and conditional for then it were improper to say that their names were written or that God knows who they are but we are assured that he doth 2 Tim 2. 19. 2. Hence it was for their sakes that Christ was prepared and appointed to be a fountain of life to them All mankind died in the first Transgression Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin came into the world and death by sin so that death passed upon all men for that all have sinned There must therefore a Well of Salvation be opened for the man if ever he be restored to life again The Son of God barely considered as a Divine person could not be so to Fallen man as the case stands between God and him He was capable of being made so but there was a great deal to be done in this affair to bring it about he must become a Surety for us he must as such take our nature upon him and in it put himself in our room under the Law and comport with the Sanctions of it accordingly he must do and dy for us and therein fulfil all righteousness and in that way he became able to save us to the uttermost God is therefore said to have made him all this 1 Cor. 1. 30. Who of God is made to us wisdom and righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption Now that which was designed in this was our Salvation and therefore it had a peculiar respect to those whom he was to save Christ therefore declares the very design of this Joh. 17. 19. For their sakes do I Sanctifie my self and it is a thing altogether unquestionable that if it had not been for this the Son of God had never taken this province upon him and gone through it as may be gathered from Joh. 3. 17. God-sent not his Son into the world to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved 3. That the Gospel in which this fountain is opened was appointed to be the way of the communication of the vertue of it unto these It is not enough that there was a fulness of all Grace stored in Christ but there must be a derivation of the saving vertue of it to all those that live by it Now though the spirit of God to whom the Application of it belongeth is he who derives it to us from Christ yet he hath a way in which he so doth and we are given to understand that this is by the Gospel and therefore the vertue of it is Metonymically assigned to the Gospel which is called the power of God to Salvation Rom. 1. 16. And the reason is because as it is to become ours so God deals with us in bringing us to this faith according to our nature â—s Reasonable Creatures by shewing us our object and the fulness and sufficiency of it by discovering the terms of the Covenant on which we may come to be interested in it by setting before us all the incentives to move us to entertain it all of which are discovered to us in and by the Gospel for we are told 2 Tim. 1. 10. Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel When therefore God intends men Salvation in the ordinary dispensation of himself to them he makes use of the Gospel as a Medium by which he will apply himself to them 4. Those to whom it is thus to be dispensed live mixt among other men It is Gods good pleasure that his Chosen shall be scattered up and down in the World and have their dwelling among those that are his Enemies he therefore calls them from the Lions dens and from the mountains of the Leopards Cant. 4. 8. There are indeed some places in the world that are wholly in darkness and we know not of any of those that are given to Christ among them but in other places they dwell one with another in some places there are more in others there are fewer of these bâ— there are no places where Christ hath a Seâ— but there are wicked men dwelling with thâ— Godly The Apostle therefore tells us thâ— we must go out of the world if we would â—â— wholly separated from such 1 Cor. 5. 10. Anâ— we are acquainted that God hath some whoâ— he will sooner or later make sharers in thâ— benefit in every Nation Rev. 5. 9. Thou â—â— redeemed us to God by thy blood out of everâ— kindred and tongue and people and nation Tâ— tares and the wheat must grow together till thâ— end of the world then will a separation bâ— made between the one and the other anâ— not till then Mat. 13. 40 41. And these nâ— only dwell together in one City or Town but oftentimes they live in the same house and ly in the same bed Luk. 13. 34. There shall be two men in one bâ—â— the one shall be tâ—ken and the other left 5. That God hath appointed men who are called by him unto it to be the ordinary dispensers â—â— this Gospel He could indeed have done it immediately by his Spirit or he could have employed the Glorious Angels in this Affair whâ— would have accounted it an honour thus â—â— minister for the heirs of Salvation but he hath Chosen this way in his wisdom as that which is best accommodated for us and that
whom God imparts the largest measure of a spirit of mourning and supplication Where God intends to build highest he will lay the foundation lowest The greatest spiritual mouâ—ners are appointed for the more abundant consolations They are the humble and contrite whom God delights to dwell with and to revive Isa 57. 15. Christs anointing had a special regard for such as these and therefore his applications will be eminently made to them Isa 61. begin The Lord hath anointed me c. to bind â—â— the broken hearted to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness c. Doth God then bring you into Godly Sorrow Doth he make Sin bitter to you Doth he fill you with grief at and cause you deeply to bewail your Sins before him be not discouraged but take iâ— as a good Omen and wait for the Consolations of his Spirit remember what he hath said Psal 126. 5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy It is also certain that when God excites in us an heart to pray to him and fills us with ardent desires and groans unutterable after him for his grace for his pardoning for his cleansing of us and we cannot let him alone it is a sign that he hath great mercies to bestow on us which in this way he will communicate to us God who hath promised that his shall pray unto him and it is he who giveth prayer to his own hath assured us of a gracious audience and a good return to our prayers Jer. 29. 12 13 14. Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and ye shall seek me and find me c. Be not then discouraged and though you may not at present experience those sensible apprehensions of the efficacy of the Fountain for the taking away of your Sin yet doubt not that God will in the best way do it for you and give you the experience of it to your abundant Consolation God will exalt his Grace on you in this way and make it to appear how great is his kindness to you in taking off your Guilt and washing away your pollution And when you are suitably prepared so to glorifie him he will fill you with the discoveries of his love for which you shall admire him for ever USE II. For Examination Let us hereby prove whether ever this Fountain were savingly Opened to us and it concerns all to put themselves upon this Trial. For Motive then Consider 1. You are all by Nature under the guilt and defilement of Sin Sin and Uncleanness are hereditary to all Adams Children and they derive to them in the Channel of Natural Generation for this we are told Eph. 2. 3. We â—e Children of wrath even as others and he demands and resolves Job 144 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one This then is the condition in which every one is born Adams First Transgression was ours by a legal Imputation and his corrupt Image which he contracted instead of Gods Image which he lost is ours by Propagation and thus we come into the world guilty and filthy Creatures Psal 51. 5. Behold I was shapen in â—â—iquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me And this Guilt and Defilement are encreased by all the actual sins that we have committed since we came into the World 2. Except this be done away it will be your ruine All Sin in its own nature and operation is deadly Sin and Death are closely connected each with the other Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin came into the world and death by sin The guilt that ahderes to sin binds the man under the Curse and that is Death Ezek. 18. 4. The Soul that sinneth it shall dy The Law â—â—ath already past the Sentence upon the man and unless it be removed it will without fail take place on him and the defilement of sin is it self the very spiritual death of the Soul it hath deprived the man of the life of Sanctification and he can no more perform a gracious action than a dead man can a life action hence that expression Eph. 2 1. Ye were dead in trespasses and sins So that as long as it abides on him he cannot at all answer the end of his Creation 3. Nothing else can do it for you but this Fountain There is a sufficiency of vertue in it for this end God provided it for this very purpose and he doth nothing in vain it therefore never failed of producing this effect where it was savingly applied But except you repair hither all your other attempts will prove lost labour this Salvation is no where else to be had Acts 4. 12. There is nothing else that can expiate the Guilt of sin or make atonement to the Justice of God for the remission of it but this one Sacrifice of Christ thousands of rams will not procure it God therefore blows upon them with contempt Mic. 6. 6 7 8. Nor will all the waters of Abana and Pharpar cleanse this Leprosy it is only the Blood of Christ is cleansing and that Blood doth cleanse from all sin 1 Joh 1. 7. 4. Except it be applied to you it will not have this saving efficacy Christ doth not profit all although his vertue be sufficient yet all are not pardoned and healed by him there are multitudes that perish in their sins notwithstanding and that not only of those to whom he was never revealed in the Gospel but of such also who have been told of and invited to come to him and whence is this but because application hath not been made of him to them for this end Sinners that are outwardly called perish as well as others and the reason â— because they do not answer the Call and come to the waters the threatning is therefore declared against such Prov. 1. 24. c. Because I have called and ye refused c. I will also laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear 〈◊〉 c. 5. Till then you know that he hath been thus applied to you your condition must needs be dubious It is from the work of Application that we â—â—e to fetch our evidence of our safe estate It is not enough that there is a Christ and that he is a Fountain of Salvation but is he â—â—rs for this reason Professors are put upon it to prove and try themselves and the enquiry is not whether there be such a Fountain and there be a fulness in it but whether Christ be in us 2 Cor. 13. 5. Know ye not your own selves how that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates And hence we have such an expression Col. 1. 27. Christ in you the hope of Glory And though if the thing be so your state is out of danger yet till you know that it is so you cannot enjoy inward
fit for Grace and Mercy to work upon and erect to themselves trophies of honour and glory in doing for him by raising him out of that â—orlorn condition and bestowing upon him the contrary blessedness Not as if this miserable estate which man haâ—â— by his own folly brought himself into laid any obligation upon God to work for him iâ— this way for it indeed exposed him to his juâ—â— indignation but only that it laid open an Object that needed it and upon which if hâ— saw meet he might exert those Attributes of his to the highest and thereby bring to himself a Tribute of everlasting praise When therefore Paul had mentioned how notable a subject he had been of this he could not buâ— shut up the discourse of it with that Doxology 1 Tim. 1. 17. Now unto the King Eternalâ— Immortal Invisible the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen 6. There were divers steps to this all of which were ordered by the holy counsel of God Every thing that bears the consideration of a Medium to this great end must needs be acknowledged unto Gods fore appointment for all things fall out according to the counsel of his will and though he is not in any respect to be accounted the author of sin yet he is the Supream Orderer of it and that according to his permissive will Now there were such steps as these all of which made way for the introduction of this Grace and Mercy of his 1. The Creating of man Upright That God did so Create him we are told Eccles 7. 29. God made man uprightâ— Adam was Created in a state of integrity which consisted in the rectitude of his nature by vertue of the Concreated principle of Holiness and Righteousness which was put into it and was called Gods own Image after which man was made Geâ— 1. 26. c. And if he had not been thus made he could not have been capable of the following transactions that were betwixt God and him for to require that of a Creature which it was never in a capacity of complying withal had been unworthy of Gods infinite wisdom and altogether inconsistent with that Justice which God laid the foundation for in the nature and state that he Created man in 2. The Covenant of Works and the Sanctions of it That there was such a Covenant plighted with man the Word of God gives us sufficient intimations of and as it was requisite that man should be a cause by Counsel of his own actions or else he could not have been treated with in the way of a Coveâ—â—â— which supposeth a mutual â—â—ipulation betweeâ— the persons Covenanting so the works â—â—quired of him in that Covenant could 〈◊〉 have been performed by him according to the tenour of it without the moral rectitude of 〈◊〉 nature which we have taken notice of Noâ— in this Covenant there are considerable 〈◊〉 Sanctions of it but for which man could noâ— have been happy or miserable according to 〈◊〉 and his carriage of himself towards it Goâ— therefore besides a Rule which he gave 〈◊〉 man diâ—â—cting him how he might serve hiâ— aright annexed a promise of life in case 〈◊〉 Obedience full and perfect and threatneâ— him with death iâ—â—e should transgress the precept which is intimated in that Gen. â— 17. In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shaâ—â— surely dy and thus man under the first Covenant stood a probaâ—ioner for life or death according as he should behave himself 3. The permission of him to fall That maâ— did eventually fall from his Rule and Happiness is a thing very notorious That this 〈◊〉 was a foil on which God â—rew the lines and laid the colours oâ— his Grace and Mercy is no less observable in the Word of God hencâ— that Rom 5. 20 21. The Law entred that siâ— might abound but where sin abounded Graâ—â— did much more abound that as sin hath 〈◊〉 unto death even so might grace reign through righ teousness 〈◊〉 eternal life through Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 Lord. And that God had a respect unto 〈◊〉 in appointing Christ to be a Redeemer and Saviour is not to be doubted inasmuch 〈◊〉 this was the very thing from which he was â—o redeem and save us this therefore is said to commend that Grace Rom. 5. 8. God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were 〈◊〉 sinners Christ died for us God therefore must needs have a foresight of this Apostasy because the assignation of Christ to his Mediaâ—â—al Offices had a respect to it and that man had not â—allen but by Divine Permission is certain for God could have kept him from it without offering force to his free will as he did the glorious Angels that keep their Station as he doth the perfected Saints in Glory and as he doth true Believâ—rs in this life from final Apostasy and this Permission must needs flow from his will beâ—ause he is the Supream Governour of all Creatures and all their actions according to is holy pleasure Hence though God doth â—ot approve of but hateth sin yet he saw it â—ood for an higher end that there should â—e sin by his Permission 4 The miserable â—state to which he is reduced the fall by vertue of the Curse of the Law 〈◊〉 man had retained his uprightnâ—ss he had ever been miserable and so had not stood 〈◊〉 need of Mercy but all miseries are contained in that Curse which man is under by 〈◊〉 son of sin and uncleanness and they are 〈◊〉 other than what he must righteously suffer â— there be no way of delivery from them â— as much as he hath procured them to himself his sin Jer. 2. 17. Now this misery was a â—â—per result of the threatning conditionally 〈◊〉 â—aced in the first Covenant which the 〈◊〉 brought himself under by transgressing of â— Law which was so guarded 7. Hence if man had not by his sin and 〈◊〉 cleanness involved himself in that misery tâ—â— had been no occasion for this fountains being prâ—red and opened There was no Mediator in â— first Covenant neither needed there aâ— God and man were in aâ—ity and this frieâ—ship had been confirmed between them upâ— mans entire conformity to the will of Gâ—â— and been sealed up to him upon his eaâ—â— of the tree of life which was a Sacraâ—ent â— it But now when the Covenant was viâ—â—â—ed man was exposed the Curse was faâ— upon him he was a man of death there â— an opportunity for Gods shewing himself â—â—iful and gracious and for the display oâ—â— to send forth his Son to be a Saviour â— for that end to cause all fulness â—â— dwell in â— that might derive from him to the unâ—â— creature as from a Fountain And this â—â— to give us some light into the stupenâ— mystery of the Providence of God in â—â—ing of poor man to fall upon the Law and â—â—eak himself in pieces but for which the glorious things of Christ had never been heard of in
the day of Salvation Take heed of delays they will prove your â—ndoing if you be not careful read Luke 13. 25. When once the Master of the house is risen â—p and hath shut the door c. 2. Come as you are for the fountain is free â—ay not how shall I purchase these waters of â—fe You are invited to them without money â—â— price Isa 55. 1. If you have but a thirsty â—oul after his Righteousness you are suitably â—ualified and have that gracious encouragement given you Mat. 5. 6. Blessed are they â—at hunger and thirst after righteousness for they â—all be filled 3. Come to have all your wants supplied here Bring them all with you and cast them â—pon him resolve that here is enough and â—ou shall be satisfied be not doubting but beâ—eve and rely on his word who hath said Psal 81. 10. Open thy mouth wide and I will â—ll it DOCTRINE III. They are the Seed of Christ and the Church of God for whose sakes this fountain is opened THE Subjects of this priviledge are thâ— House of David and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem These are Typical Expressions and there is a spiritual meaning that is to be sought in them though the literal meaning is not to be excluded and here is a double Type tho the thing aimed at in it is one and the same How far this shall be literally accomplished in both the parts of it when the Nation oâ— the Jews shall be Converted to the Christian Religion I shall not enquire now but confine my present discourse to the Mystical and Spiritual meaning of it David was a Type of Christ and in how many things Christ was represented by him would be too great a digression now to enquire but it is certain that by a frequent Scripture Metonymie Christ the Antitype is called by the name of David the Type Jer 30. 9. They shall serve the Lord their God and David their King whom I will raise up to them Ezek. 34. 23. I will set up one Shepherd over them and he shall lead them even my Servant David and elsewhere And there are many things spoken in the Psalms concerning David that can be properly applied to none but Christ By the House of David we may literally understand his natural Posterity or those that descended from him by Natural Generation so the word House is frequently used under which is shadowed Christ's Spiritual Seed or those who were given him by his Father and were to descend from him by a Spiritual Regeneration such a Seed is promised him Psal 22. 30. A Seed shall serve him it shall be counted to the Lord for a Generation And under the Type of David the Seed of Christ is eminently set forth in Psal 89. And it comprehends in it all the Elect of God whom he tells us that his Father had given to him and they were in due time to be born of him by a new birth Jerusalem was a City which God chose out of all the Tribes of Israel to put his Name there there he settled his Ordinances and therefore is said to have a peculiar respect for it Psal 87. 2. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. And hence it is usually applied to the Church of God sometimes to the Militant Gal. 4 26. Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all sometimes to the Triumphant Heb. 12. 22. Ye are come to the Heavenly Jerusalem And in the former of these respects it is here to be understood and then by the Inhabitants of Jerusalem we are to conceive is meant those who are by the Grace of God brought over to him and priviledged with the immunities of the Câ— of God and this Tâ—piâ—al application of Jâ—rusalem is peculiarly celebrated in Psal 122 So that these are the same subjects with thâ— former represented under a divers Type Only we are to observe that Gods Elect are comprehended because though they are not a present actually the Seed of Christ and Meâ—bers of the Militant Church yet they are designed to be so and given to Christ for thâ— end and by their being in due time maâ—â— so it is evidenced that they were appointed to this priviledge from Eternity Now theâ— are they for whom this fountain is opened And in order to our distinct taking this up we may observe 1. It is certain that this fountain is not in aâ—â— sense opened to all the world There is a two fold opening of it which might have beeâ— observed viz. there is that which is outward by the promulgation of the Gospel and thaâ— which is inward made by the Illumination oâ— the Spirit In this latter sense none but thâ— Children of God have this discovery madâ— unto them Rom. 11. 7. The Election hath oâ—tained it the rest were blinded Hence thâ—â— awful word of Christ Mat. 13. 11. It is givâ—â— to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom â—â— Heaven but to them it is not given But wâ—â— are now considering it in respect to the former sense though as it aims especially at thâ— latter And here it must be granted that Christ is not opened unto any but such to whom there is some signification made by which they may be informed concerning him so as to discover him to be a fountain of life and this must be either by Immediate Revelation or by the dispensation of the Gospel unto them The former is not ordinary and therefore whatsoever God will do on prerogative yet he hath given us no other ground to expect it but in the latter Rom. 10. 14. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard But it is notorious that a great part of the World are altogether ignorant of this fountain and there is none sent to shew it to them and so must remain strangers to it For men to think that the light of nature can discover or that the Sun Moon and Stars can preach a Christ to fallen man is a vain and groundless opinion the Apostle is positive in this 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost 2. That this fountain is opened in the outward discoveries and offers of it to those that are not of the Seed of Christ or of his mystical Body Christ hath a visible as well as a spiritual seed i. e. such as are only so in outward appearance there is a Jew that is so outwardly and one who is so inwardly Now it is the visible Church of Christ which is the subject of the outward Dispensations of the Gospel and exhibitions of Christ therein Christ is preached as well to Reprobates as to Elect the Gospel is afforded and the Grace of it offered as well to those in whom it is a Savour of death as to those to whom it becomes a Savour of life 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. The Apostle tells us in Rom. 9. 6. All are not Israel that
great mercies And for this reason the sense of these defects attending them makes them oftentimes to tremble at the thoughts of Gods displeasure Psal 119. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments 8. It is their duty dayly to Pray for Forgiveness Prayer is One part of Natural Worship and it is not appointed for a Complement but as a necessary duty for the upholding of Communion between God and men it being the way in which we are to seek and obtain the good we need and give him the due acknowledgments of it In the petitionary part of it then we are to ask him only for such things as we want And the apprehension of our want and his ability to succcour us is the motive of our so seeking to him Now there is such a Petition which Christ hath directed his Disciples and such as can call God their Father to present dayly to him Math. 6. 12. Forgive us our debts i. e. Our Sins And there is ever implied in such a petition a confession of our debts else we cannot in earnest ask the forgiveness of them We then daily want forgiveness not only a further confirmation of the pardon we received in our Justification but new forgiveness and there is none so holy in this life as to be discharged from the obligation of making this petition in prayer And yet there are many of Gods Children that are kept from precipitating themselves into atrocious sins nor do any truly gracious ones make a dayly trade of it This therefore plainly intimates that the very remaining imperfection which makes them in their whole lives to fall behind in regard of that absolute perfection which consists in a compleat conformiâ—y to the Rule hath that in it which needs forgiveness to be applied to it by the free Grace of God It therefore hath sinfulness in it otherwise it could noâ— stand in need of a pardon and whatsoâ—ever in us stands in need of that tells â—â— that we ought to labour indefatigably tâ— get it taken away as a thing which is evil and bitter 9. One great design that God aims at in his Ordinances and Providences which he dispenseth to his people is to purge away these imperfections to lead them on towards Perfection The Gospel Ordinances which Christ hath appointed to be dispensed to his people were not only designed for the bringing about the Conversion of Sinners though that also is purposed in them we are therefore said to be begotten by the word of truth Jam. 1. 18. And Paul was sent to open mens eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Acts 26. 18. But God also aimed at the Edification of Saints by them They are therefore Christ's Ascension Gifts which he hath bestowed on his Church to help them forward to a sinless perfection till when they are not to cease Eph. 4. 10 c. There are also the many Afflictive Providences which God seeth meet to exercise his own Children withal in this world and among other purposes which he intends to bring about hereby we are told that this is one great thing that he aims at by them Isa 27. 9. By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin On this account the afflictions that the Children of God are visited withal are compared to a farnace and to a reâ—iners fire in which remaining dross is separated from the good metal to make it yet more pure This good effect Job encouraged himself that he should obtain by his afflictions Job 23 10. When he hath tried me I shall comâ— forth as gold And surely that which God useth such courses with us to take away from us must needs be a thing that we should endeavour the removal of Job was a perfect man as to integrity Chap. 1. 1. And yet he needed this trial 10 They must be fully perfected in order to their perfect Glorification Though the body of death attends them through the present life and giveth them no little molestation in it yet it shall be wholly put off with it and they shall no more be pestered with it for ever There shall be perfection of holiness enjoyed by us when we come to perfect glory nor indeed can our glory be perfect without it we are told how Christ will present his Church to himself at last Eph. 5. 27. A glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing None are admitted into the assembly above but Just men made perfect Heb. 12. 22 When we come there we shall sin no more nor have any dregs of pollution abiding in us but be entirely conformed to the Image of God now that which is the perfection which God will bring us to at last is that which we all ought to be aspiring after and restless in purâ—â—it of till we come to obtain it And truly Inchoate Holiness makeâ— us capable only of partaking in Inchoate Blessedness our vessels are not prepared to be filled with glory nor can we have that near Communion with God in Christ which is requisite to give us compleat and uninâ—â—rmixed satisfaction till we are compleatly holy in the highest degree which our natures are able to receive If then God hath appointed us to Salvation and there can be none without this it must needs be our duty not to take up with any thing short of this and consequently it must be that which is promised to us in the Covenant of Grace and we ought to pursue it and endeavour to go from â—â—rength to strength in it till we arrive at the fulness of it which is not to be expected till we get to the Eternal Kingdom USE Be we then Exhorted not to place our hope in God for the sake of any Righteousness of our own when we must confess our best so short of what it ought to be which needs a pardon and therefore cannot command his favour but let the sense of our duty and our defect pâ—t us upon relying on Christ alone and his Righteousness as the mâ—ritorious and material cause of our acquittance from the condemnation of the Law and being made the Owners of a title to eternâ— life Let us look hither for a sure foundatâ—on to build our hope upon to receive the reward of Eternal Glory and not to any thing of our own Let our dependence be here for the acceptance of our poor imperfect duties acknowledging that but for this they could not but be rejected Let us in sense of our own imperfection be ever bewailing of it and go to Christ to have it sprinkled with his blood Let us press hard all our lives after more Holiness prosecuting it with utmost reachings and let every new acquest by Divine help make us the more earnest after further degrees of it and more vigorous in the use of all means to reach them Nor let us tire and give in so long as we are any whit behind those who are now totally freed from sin and in whom Grace is arrived at its full stature in Glory THE END A Brief Account of principal matters contained in the foregoing Treatise DOCTRINE I. THat Jesus Christ is a Fountain of Saving Good page 7. How he came to be such a Fountain p. 13. DOCTRINE II. Jesus Christ is an Opened Fountain in the days of the Gospel p. 22. How this fountain comes to be Opened p. 28. In what peculiar respect it is said to be Opened in the days of the Gospel p. 32. DOCTRINE III. They are the Seed of Christ and the Church of God for whose sake this fountain is Opened p. 44 How the Opening of this Fountain had a peculiar respect to these p. 46. DOCTRINE IV. The great design of Opening this Fountain to Gods people is for sin and uncleanness p. 64. How mans sin and uncleanness gave occasion for this p. 65 Of what use this fouutain is for the taking it away p. 77 Trials of our interest in this fountain p. 95 DOCTRINE V. There will be a more peculiar Opening of Christ as a Fountain of life when the Jews are called p. 106 That there is such a Calling of the Jews yet to come ibid. The glorious state of those times p. 114 DOCTRINE VI. When God hath brought his Chosen to bewail their sins especially the affronts which they have offered to Christ and to pray for his mercy he will then make a gracious discovery of this Fountain to them p. 127 How God produceth a Spirit of mourning and supplication in men in order to his Opening of this Fountain to them p. 130 How to judge of the efficacy of the Gospel p. 140 Rules of Trial to know whether this Fountain hath been savingly Opened to us p. 146 In the Sermon annexed to the former Treatise This great question is discussed viz. Whether that personal perfection which God requires of his people under the Covenant of Grace be the same for kind and degree with that which was required in the Covenant of Works or any thing short of it ERRATA PAge 82. line 17. for parties r. parts p. 137. l. 25. dele and. p. 150. l 24. f. God by r. Godly p. 198. l. 17 add for