the incouragement of Souls in seeking after them that if one be taken many more go along with it like many links in a Chain that are closed into each other The means and the end must not be severed Where there is such a connexion of Duties Graces and Blessings the matters may be sometimes expressed in a conditinal form with an If as Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth be Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart thou shalt be saved Such â—fs note the verity of such propositions in their connexion they affirm this or that to be a certain truth as that he which believeth shall undoubtedly be saved yet that Grace is not properly the condition of Salvation For even believing is absolutely promised so as nothing shall intervene to hinder it Isa 53. 10 11. Heb. 8. 10. In that improper sense some Scriptures seem to speak of conditions viz. they intimate a connexion between Covenant blessings some are conjoyned as means and end yet the promises are really absolute for their performance There is a vast difference between the way of the Lord in the dispensation of Covenant blessings and the tenour of the Covenant Or between the New Covenant it self and the means which the Lord useth for its execution and accomplishment The Covenant it self is an absolute grant not only to Jesus Christ but in him to the house of Israel and Judah Heb. 8. Yet what the Lord hath absolutely promised and is determined and resolved upon to vouchsafe to them may be conditionally propounded as a quickening means unto Souls seeking a participation of it As it was absolutely determined yea and declared by the Lord that those very persons which were in the Ship should be preserved Act. 27. 22. There shall not be a loss of any mans Life and ver 25. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me Yet as a means to their preservation he speaketh to them conditionally ver 31. Except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved So although the Salvation of all the Elect and also the causing them to believe is absolutely intended yet as a means that he may urge the duty upon Souls with greater vehemency and earnestness the Lord may speak in a conditional way if ye believe ye shall be saved when it is certain they shall believe Answ 2. There is no such condition of the New Covenant to us as there was in the Old to Israel for the Apostle is comparing them together and in opposition to the Old he giveth the New altogether in absolute promises and that to Israel Heb. 8. and shewing that the New is not according to the Old he discovereth wherein the difference lay ver 9. Because they continued not in my Covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord and Jer. 31. 32. which Covenant they brake c. This argueth that the condition of the Old was such as the performance of it did give them assurance of the temporal mercies promised and a right to them and such as failed in left them at uncertainties whether they should injoy them or not so as it was not only in it self and its own nature uncertain but even as to the event I regarded them not saith the Lord. If their performing the condition had been as absolutely promised as the blessings of the New Covenant are then Israel would have continued in it which they did not and could not have forfeited what was promised thereupon as diverse times they did and were excluded out of Canaan upon that account Jurists say a condition is a rate manner or Law annexed to mens acts staying or suspending the same and making them uncertain whether they shall take effect or no. Cowell out of West part 1. Symb. 2. sect 156. And thus condition is opposed to absolute That there is no such condition in the New Covenant to be performed by us giving right and title to the blessings of it and leaving at uncertainties and liability to missing of them as there was in the Old to be fulfilled by Israel may appear 1. If there be any it must either be an antecedent or a subsequent condition but neither L. Coke upon Littleton saith of one precedent Conditio adimpleri debet priusquam sequatur effectus There can be no such antecedent condition by the performance of which we get and gain entrance or admittance into Covenant for till we be in it no act put forth by us can find any acceptation with God Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And our being in Covenant is in order of nature though not of time before Faith because it is a priviledge or benefit of the Covenant a part of the New heart a fruit of the Spirit and so the Spirit which is the worker of it and another blessing of the Covenant is given first in order before it Jesus Christ is the first saving gift Rom. 8. 32. and with him he freely giveth all things Men ought to be in the use of means but it is the act of God that giveth admission into the Covenant Ezek. 16. 8. I entred into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine Immediately before they were polluted in their blood Ver. 6. In an utter incapacity for acting in any pleasing way so as to get into Covenant Neither is there any subsequent condition to be fulfilled by us the use of that is for the continuation of a right and upon failing thereof all is forfeited as in the case of Adam Whereas there is no act of ours whereby our right unto Covenant blessings is continued to us upon failing whereof they may be forfeited Our right and the ground of our claim is upon a higher account than any act of our own it is even the purchase of Jesus Christ and they are the sure mercies of David Isa 55. 3. Sure to all the Seed Rom. 4. 16. And when they are become believers Eternal Life is absolutely promised Joh. 3. 16 36. 1 Joh. 5. 10 11 12. and it is a contradiction to say that it is absolutely and yet but conditionally promised to them 2. The Lord hath given assurance that there shall never be an utter violation of the New Covenant and therefore it hath no such condition as was annexed to the Old For the Lord declareth that they had broken his Covenant Jer. 11. ver 3 4 10. Jer. 31. ver 32. Littleton speaking of an Estate upon condition in deed by Feoffment saith it is called Estate upon condition for that the Estate of the Feoffee is defeasible if the condition be not performed Ten. lib. 3. Cap. 4. But the New Covenant is secured from such a violation it cannot be disanulled so as the persons interested in it should be deprived of the great blessings promised therein Jer. 32. 40. I will make an everlasting Covenant with them but may there not be such a condition of it as they may come
foundation can no man lay then the is laid which is Jesus Christ The Covenant of Works was founded upon something in man his concreated ability and natural strength all the obedience of the first Adam if he had stood and the fruits thereof would have been resulting from the sufficiency of his own power and free-will and he failing all the fabrick fell But the Lord hath established another glorious Covenant and this is built upon what is firmer and of greater strength even Jesus Christ this stone that is laid in Zion is a tried stone Isa 26. 16. A sure foundation Now the structure of our Salvation will never fall because it hath such a sure ground-work able to bear up the weight and stress of all that is laid upon it No other can be laid He is the only foundation of all the promises of all the graces of all the obedience of all the peace of all the comfort of all the glory that is promised That with Abraham before his incarnation was confirmed of God in Christ Gal. 3. 17. He was the Mediator of Abrahams Covenant and therefore that had in it the same for substance with the new Indeed Jesus Christ is the foundation of all the blessings and special priviledges in the Covenant as with us If the Lord be a God to any it is in Christ if their iniquities be forgiven it is in the blood of Christ if the Divine Law be written in their hearts it is by the finger of the spirit of Christ thus he lieth at the bottom of all and so is the Covenant of the people 2. Jesus Christ maketh way for our injoyment of all federal blessings by standing in manifold relations to the Covenant As he standeth between God and us as a middle person to make reconciliation so he is the Mediator of the Covenant Heb. 9. 15. There was a wide breach that we could never have made up yea such a variance as there was no possibility of our approaching to God to enter upon a Treaty of Peace much less to procure our own reconciliation sin raised such an enmity as the Lord would have been a consuming fire to us if we had come near to him now the Lord Jesus interposed and took up this case undertook to compose and put an end to this difference There were iniquities in the way to hinder our fruition of promised mercies but he took an effectual course for the removal of these He is the Mediator of the new Testament to what end for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament Satisfaction was made by him to Divine Justice to the full he answered all the demands of the righteous Law and so wrought out reconciliation for us As he undertook for the parties at variance so he was the surety of the Covenant Heb. 7. 22. Jesus made a Surety of a better Testament The Lord would not take our bond for that great debt which we had contracted and were never able to pay It was now with us as with a poor man under an arrest for a vast sum unless there can be procured an able sufficient man to enter bond with him he must to prison without hope of being released any more so the Law of the righteous God arrested us for infinite breaches thereof it exacted a great and yet most just debt at our hand which we being already bankrupts were never able to answer it required a debt of infinite suffering the just due of our sin which if laid upon us would sink us for ever for the wages of sin is death The Lord demanded a debt of perfect obedience universal righteousness unto life which we were never able to yield and now unless one able and sufficient will undertake and be bound for us there is no possibility of escaping the prison of Hell the chains of infernal darkness the everlasting wrath of the Omnipotent God under this misery we must have layen without hope of recovery this was our state upon the fall of our first parents and in this strait and distress one not of our procuring but of his own grace offering it even Jesus Christ stepped in and became a surety for us to pay our ransom to answer our debt to the utmost farthing he put his name into our Obligation was made under the Law to redeem those that were under the Law Gal. 4 4. Yea he became God's surety to us to free us from all doubtings about the fulfilling of the Covenant to us he undertook and promised that he would lose nothing that was given him John 6. 39. But would raise in up at the last day i. e. to everlasting Salvation for others shall be raised up also unto Condemnation but these unto eternal glory As he ratified and confirmed all so he was the Testator of the Covenant Heb. 9. 16 17. Where there is a Testament then must also of necessity be the death of the Testator for a Testament is of force after men be dead Nothing less than death it self was threatned upon the first transgression Gen. 2. 17. that must be indured if ever Sinners be recovered unto a fruition of eternal life and now behold the matchless love of Jesus Christ saith he I will die in their stead to save them from eternal death and thus he hath turned it into a Testament a new Testament fealing it with his own blood As he acteth for our obtainment of the blessings promised so he is the Messenger of the Covenant Mal. 3. 1. The Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come We should have been without a knowledge of this grace altogether strangers to it and unacquainted with it if he had not revealed it to us and so we should not have made out after but come short of those spiritual blessings of the Covenant but now Jesus Christ himself travelleth with these blessed tidings he maketh a report of all the federal transactions between the Father and him in order to our Salvation he openeth all those soul-ravishing Mysteries and all those precious promises yea the way to our participation of those blessed priviledges and so he is the Messenger of the Covenant As he seeketh to satisfie us of the reality of God in all those federal transactions so he is the wâ—tness of the Covenant Isa 55. 4. Behold I have given him for a witness of the people When poor sould hear the tidings of Covenant love in the heart of God towards them they are ready to suspect it is too good news to be true are apt to be incredulous here are hardly perswaded to believe the truth thereof at least as to themselves now Jesus Christ condescendeth so far as to take upon him the Office of a Witness to assure of the truth of all yea now he is in heaven he doth not throw up that Office he continueth still in this work and sendeth down news from heaven thereof Revel 1. 5. 3. 14. He
Works though in its execution and application it cometh after and presupposeth the breaking of it As a healing balsam may be prepared before the wound is made and a salve before there be a sore although the applying thereof be afterward So the Covenant of grace was made from Eternity not actually with us in our own persons but with Jesus Christ for us as our great Feoffee in trust though we then were unborn and had not a being Corol. 7. Hence the whole contrivement of the Covenant of grace must be ascribed to God alone seeing it was from all Eternity No creature was then existing to have any hand or stroke therein there was none to counsel advise or perswade this way It was conceived in the heart and bosome of God and none but he had to do in the concluding of it and so he is alone to be magnified and extolled therein A Christian as one transported may cry out on this account as Isa 25. 1. O Lord I will exalt thee for thou hast done wonderful things thy Counsels of old are faithfulness and truth Now there is no room for our boasting nothing to be ascribed to our selves God alone is to be admired in Covenant grace seeing it was working towards as from all Eternity 2 Tim. 1. 9. It is said to be not according to our Works The Eternity of our mercy is exclusive of our duty as any cause of his affording of it This putteth a glory upon Covenant grace and love that it is antient before the world began Corol. 8. Hence there is stability is Covenant mercies seeing that compact which giveth assurance thereof was from all Eternity Saith he Psal 25. 6. Remember O Lord thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses Why For they have been ever of old The antientness thereof is a good argument to urge for the obtainment of them We may have hope to receive what the Lord was so early determined to give out 2 Tim. 2. 19. The foundation of God standeth sure The apostasie of eminent professors is a great temptation unto many sincere Christians they are apt to say If such glistering shining Stars fall good Lord how shall we stand But to help against it he telleth us the foundation that is stedfast firm unmoveable it standeth sure by the Covenant of grace they are granted to Jesus Christ from all Eternity 2 Tim. 1. 9. Such eternal acts of God are firm and stable abiding for ever will secure against defection or falling away Satan shall never utterly prevail against them grace shall never utterly be overthrown or extinguished Having this Seal the Lord knoweth them that are his He hath set his mark upon them and where ever they be he can distinguish them from the world as he knoweth them by number so also by mark or scal and when he maketh up his jewels not one of them which are his shall be wanting Corol. 9 Hence there is a bottom of consolation for all that are within the Covenant of grace in that it was established from all Eternity O how may it fill them with comfort that their salvation standeth by an eternal act of God that cannot be revealed altered or changed yea by a Covenant act wherein the fai hfulness of God â—s ingaged for the affording of it even by the Fathers gift How often doth Jesus Christ mention them as given to him Joh. 6. 37 39. Joh. 17. 2 9 12. as if he delighted and gloried in or boasted of this giving act How may this secure them gainst all fears of everlasting miscarrying that they are given to Jesus Christ from all Eternity For he will never forseit his Fathers gifts nor displease him so as he should withdraw them from him they will be gifts without Repentance This eternal act will never be recalled which may make for their everlasting Consolation CHAP. VI. Of the Old and New Covenant what they are and how distinct HAving cleared the Covenant of Grâ—â— as to the transactions between the Father and the Son from Eternity as to the first revelations of its grace to the Patriarchâ— as Abraham and David c. before the incarnation wherein the great thing promised was that blessed Seed so as alâ— blessings were to be expected only in him We now come to consider First that Dispensation which held forth the way and means whereby Jesus Christ came under our obligation and by answering of it confirmed the Covenant of Grace and this is contained in the Old Covenant made at mount Sinai Secondly that Dispensation whereby the special blessings and priviledges which an the issue of his obedience are imparted to us and this is the New Covenant The Apostle compareth these together iâ— diverse Chapters in the Epistle to the Hâ—brews and saith of Jesus Christ Heb. 8. He obtained a more excellent Ministry by bâ— much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant Which implies that there is another Testament viz. that at mount Sinai when they came out of Egypt ver 9. which the Aaronical Priesthood appeartained to that is worse but it is the excellency of Jesus Christ that his ministration is conversant about a better Testament that hath the pre-eminence on this account as being established upon better promises And the opposition is not laid between the Covenant of Works as with the first Adam and the New Covenant but between that at Sinai and the New The word for Covenant is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Testament it noteth a disposition or declaration by way of Will or Promise and may be the act of one or more Indeed the Hebrew word Berith is used Jer. 31. 31 32. and the same expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 8. v. 8 9 10. But the Apostle intimated that a Testamentary disposition is intended by it Gal. 3. 15 17. As if Jesus Christ by fulfilling the condition of the Covenant of grace had turned it into a Testament the blessings of it being now legacies absolutely promised to us in the New It will be necessary here to inquire what is the worse Covenant and what is this better Testament which is compared with it Answ 1. The worse Covenant is that Conditional Divine grant of blessings upon the obedience required in the Law of Moses Or that Old Covenant which was made amount Sinai This is undoubtedly it which is compared with the other For it is that which the Levitical Priesthood did belong to which the Priesthood of Christ is compared with as is manifest Heb. 7 and 8 and 9. Chapters It is that Covenant which the Lord made with the Fathers in the day when he took them by the hand to lead them out of the Land of Egypt Heb. 8. vers 9. And therefore undeniably it was the Sinai Covenant for then that was made with them Exod. 19. vers 1 2 3 4 5. c. In the third moneth when the Children of Israel were gone out of the Land of Egypt the same day they came to the