Because the Lord will honour his Son as the second Adam and the glory of the first Adam was a Covenant and an Image and so shall the second Adam be And he must have a seed also to whom these shall be conveyed Isa 53.8 The word signifies generation In whom he shall see his seed and prolong his days as Psal 72. and Christ is his Son in both generation and succession naturally as they bear his Image and legally as they stand under his Covenant and the Lord will honour the second Adam as he did the first in both these the Lord having made Adam the type of him that was to come 3. That hereby the Lord might honour the Creature the Covenant is the staff of beauty because it is the great beauty and glory of any people that God hath taken them into Covenant Zach. 11.10 specially if we consider the second Covenant to be Matrimonial and the Lord doth thereby betroth him unto himself in loving kindness and mercy and faithfulness as Hos 2.18 the great honour of the people of Israel Deut. 26.18 was that they were a people peculiar unto God thence he is called the God of Israel and this is the great honour of the Saints which makes them more excellent than their neighbours because they have God so nigh them to be their God in Covenant 4. That it may be the greater obligation unto men to obedience Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant with thee thou shalt therefore keep my Covenant And it is the great answer unto all Temptations I am in Covenant with the Lord as a woman that is married it is a sufficient answer unto all other suiters I am already married unto another Je◠13.11 As a girdle to the loins of a man so have I caused the whole house of Israel to cleave unto me that they might be unto me for a name and for a praise The Lord bound them to him by Covenant and it is a great aggravation of sin that the Lord loves us and we forget the Covenant of our God therefore Adultery is aggravated above all other sins Hos 3.2 A woman beloved of her husband yet an adulteress how abominable is it 5. To sweeten obedience and make it the more free and voluntary when a man takes it upon himself and gives the hand to the Lord 2 Chron. 30.7 8. which was the custom amongst men when they entred into Covenant Ezek. 17.18 and that men might see that their good always goes along with their duty and that God that did command to obey did promise to reward and therefore did it not ex indigentia sed potentia out of indigence but from power Christs goodness extends not unto God as munificentia by way of munificence Austin puts the difference between man and God in this as the Earth drinks up the water so doth the Sun-beams also one out of its own necessity but the other out of its power so God requires duty out of bounty for your good always that he may reward it Grace does not destroy but raise and rectifie self-love Christ in his obedience had a glory set before him and so had Moses a respect to the recompence of reward There is a love of reward which is lawful when it is not this that is the only thing that lancheth a man forth in a duty but only fills his sails but when it is mercenary love and has respect to nothing in the duty but the loaves this is sinful and it is this Covenant that makes the yoke of Christ easie and profitable having an eye to the exceeding great and precious promises which engages a man to have respect to all the Commandments for the Lord doth delight to allure men into ways of holiness and duty Hos 2.14 Lastly the Lord will have it so 1 That by the promises of this Covenant he may sanctifie a man change his image and make him partaker of the Divine nature and that every one of them may carry the soul continually to Christ as streams to the fountain 2 Pet. 1.4 in whom they are Yea and Amen 2 That this may be the ground of a working faith and a lively hope and a fervent prayer all which are grounded only upon the promises of this Covenant for had there not been a Covenant between God and us there had been no place for faith no ground for hope and no room for the prayer of faith which only is bottomed upon a promise 3 Whatever is done in this Covenant it is God that has the first and chief hand therein and we do not enter into Covenant with him but he enters into Covenant with us first though the Covenant be mutual yet it is called the Lords Covenant as Christ faith unto his Disciples Joh. 15.16 You have not chosen me but I have chosen you they did chuse Christ as every believing soul doth but the love first began on Christs part and so it does also in this Covenant 1 Joh. 4.10 Not that we loved him but he loved us and me love him because he loved us first so we do not begin the Covenant with God but the Lord doth begin with us and the motion came from him alone God the Father is not passive in it but active he was content that Christ should reconcile us to him As it was to David an acceptable service of Joab in reconciling his Son Absalom to him because his heart did run out to him so God the Father is active in this work he is in Christ reconciling the world and all that Christ does is by the Fathers appointment and he is his servant in it and it is the pleasure of the Lord and he doth love to have it so and had not he imployed Christ in this work there had never been a reconciliation between God and man As it is true by our Union with Christ we are joined to or as the word signifies glewed to the Lord yet the Union doth begin on Christs part first and Christ unites himself to us by the Spirit before we can by our faith be united to him so it is in the Covenant also it does begin on Gods part and as it was the Womans great dishonour to be first in the transgression so it is the Lords great glory to be first in the reconciliation And therefore when Adam after his fall stood trembling and could expect nothing but a sentence of condemnation the Lord was pleased to reveal a new Covenant to him for the Text saith he was afraid and he hid himself so unto Abraham the motion of a Covenant was from the Lord and not from Abraham There is a Grace preceding which works Grace and there is also a Grace co-operating that acts Grace but it is preventing Grace that is the first § 3. The main part of this Covenant is transacted by God without us which will appear if we consider the particulars of it 1. The Purpose and intention of
Baptism is sealing He received the sign of Circumcision a seal of the righteousness of Faith a seal of the righteousness which was his by Faith and he is accepted of God thereby and what Abraham had by Circumcision the Saints have by Baptism Col 2.11 12. Mat. 3.16 Now the most illustrious sealing of all other was in the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus when he was baptized went straightway out of the water c. never any Ordinance was graced with such a Presence the whole Trinity appeared in the work and what was all this for but to make way for that great sealing which was grounded upon the Covenant between the Father and the Son This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased So that in this the Covenant between the Father and the Son was visibly sealed Gods acceptation of him and of all the Saints in him 4. The Scripture doth hold forth this Covenant unto us in the terms of it Christ doth publish his commission unto the world Isa 49.1 2. how the Lord had called and fitted him from the womb made his mouth as a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand he hid me and made me a polished shaft and said Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified And what is the service that the Lord called him to to bring Jacob to him But then the Lord having undertaken the work and seeing how few of the Jews should be converted he seems to complain I have laboured in vain but yet he comforts himself it was for God he did work and his reward was with him Now the Lord does inlarge his grant not only to raise the tribe of Jacob but also to be for salvation to the ends of the earth I will give thee for a Covenant to the people to establish the earth and to cause them to inherit the desolate habitation Isa 49. We have in this Chapter related the very arguments that were between him and his Father who said of him Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified 2dly Why must such a Covenant pass between the Father and the Son in such a solemn manner The Lord will deal with Christ in this great work in a Covenant way 1. Because he will have Christ to be propounded unto the World as the second Adam For God did intend to bring all the elect under one head that as the offence was by one so the free gift by grace might also be so Rom. 5. God did intend that all man-kind should come under a double head and so be presented unto him in the last Judgment the first and second Adam and therefore the Lord speaks as if there were but two men in the World the first Adam 1 Cor. 15.47 and the second and the first Adam must be the Type of him that was to come therefore as the first Adam had a Covenant made with him and an Image stampt upon him for himself and for all his posterity so must the second Adam also have and therefore he must be the second Adam by Covenant made with him as a publick person and as a representative head for all his posterity that seed and generation that should be born of him 2. That he might thereby advance the free grace of the Father and of the Son 1. The free grace of the Father is much exalted by it in two things 1 In the motion of it it came first from him his taking of us actually into Covenant is a part of the purchase of Christ and he hath bought the Souls of the Elect it is the price of his blood and it is because he dyed that he doth not abide alone but the taking of Christ into Covenant it did not come first from Christ but the motion was the Fathers the Son can do nothing of himself I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me 2. Joh 5.19 In his accepting a Covenant it was free with him to make it and therefore the obedience of Christ was free with him to accept if Christ had offered himself and had laid down his life it is true it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all that God in Justice could expect and it was a price sufficient for all that ever Christ did purchase yet there is grace in the bowels of all this because it was free with the Lord to accept of the righteousness of another to become ours This gracious acceptation and imputation the Lord doth shew forth abundantly in the Covenant made with Christ himself for being a Covenant it must be free 2. It doth also exceedingly advance the Grace of the Son in this That Christ being God equal with the Father having a perfect dominion over his own actions and being Lord of his own life having a power to lay down his life as he saith No man takes it from me but I lay it down John 10.18 That he should freely and voluntarily bind himself in a Covenant in this manner to abase himself to stand in our stead to bear our sins and to be under a Curse for us and to consent unto this cheerfully and willingly as a thing in which he is pleased and delighted to shew forth therein the love of his Father and to his people and to undertake all of it Heb. 9.10 and to bind himself thereunto by his own voluntary consent who otherwise was not could not be bound For there is this difference between the Covenant of the first and the second Adam the first Adam was bound to obey by a bond of creation and he was bound to be subject but the second Adam was not so he was perfectly free and yet he is willing by Covenant to be bound And the Lord herein dealt as Aelian hath a Story of Zaleucus a Ruler in the City Locris who had made a Law against Adultery that it should be punished with the loss of both eyes and his son was afterwards accused and condemned of the same offence and the whole City in honour to his Father became Suitors unto him to spare his Son but the story says he did first put out one of his own eyes and afterwards one of his Sons and thereby satisfied the Law And so between a just legislator and a merciful father he divided himself Had the Lord so dealt with us and laid part of the punishment upon us and part upon Christ we had been undone but Christ undertook all for us to pour out his soul to death Isa 53. last and bear the sins of many being that to which he was not bound and that which he could not have been forced to and yet to make himself by Covenant a debter it exalts free Grace nothing more 3. The Lords intention was in the whole work of Redemption to deal with Christ in a judicial way as he is the judge of all the World that he may have his justice satisfied Rom. 3.25 He doth all to declare
consideration 1 as a surety 2 as an Advocate or a common person And in these two I conceive Christ as our representative is set forth 1 as a surety that did undertake to do a thing for another and doth by his own consent bind himself thereunto and when he hath done it for the party then he is discharged of his bond and the party also for whom he was bound unto the performance And in this sence Christ was made sin for us and laid down an answerable price for us 2 as a common person as one who personates another and acts his part by the allowance and authority of Law so that what he doth is by the Law reckoned to be done by the person whom he represents and a possession taken by him stands good in Law as if it had been taken by the other And this the Lord hath made Christ unto us that according unto all sorts of Laws among men our redemption and salvation by him might be to declare his righteousness Rom. 3.25 that by all sorts of legal considerations amongst men it might hold good in a way of Justice And unto these two great ends as a double representative of all men as the second Adam Christ was elected and we in him as in a common head Now though man as a creature subjected unto the sovereignty of God comes under an act of his will yet the Lord Christ being the Son and thought it no robbery to be equal with God did not and therefore as he did not suffer without his own consent for a sacrifice it could not be unless voluntary the person having a power over himself and his own actions and therefore the Lord did not by his authority impose it upon him whether he would or no so his being chosen to it was by his consent that as he did chuse you together with the Father and had an equal hand in your election I know whom I have chosen and as you were from eternity given unto Christ by his Father in your election Rev. 13.8 thine they were and thou gavest them to me so did Christ also consent unto his own election and it was not meerly by the appointment of the Father as an act of his will and sovereignty as the election of man was but the Father did appoint him and Christ did consent unto that appointment and determination of the Father before the World began and therefore as he became a surety by his own will so he was by his own will appointed a surety and a common person for all the elect of God And herein we see the great ground of the Covenant between God and Christ before the World was God did not chuse Christ as a person that was to be chosen as he did chuse you but The word was with God God was the word John 1.2 and there were transactions and consultations between God and Christ before the world was and upon the Fathers motion and the Sons consent he was chosen unto this great service and you in him so that the Covenant between the Father and the Son doth reach as high as to be the great ground of the election of Christ unto this great service and office that he hath undertaken For God did not impose it upon him as an act of his dominion but barely by his own consent and as he did not call him unto the execution without his own consent so his own consent did concur unto his election for election is an act of the will of God and of his soveraignty and as he was the Son he could not come under an act of his will but by his own consent Vse 2 2. We may hence see how deep the plot of our Redemption and Salvation by Christ was laid it was not a thing occasionally taken up and barely to serve a turne but it was a plotted thing I confess the Scriptures do hold forth the Incarnation of Christ to be the ground of his redeeming men that were sinners He came to seek and to save that which was lost and when we were weak God commended his love to us in this that he dyed for the ungodly c. But the foundation of this was laid in a deep counsel between the Father and his Son at the Council-Table in Heaven before the World was and the Covenant of mans Redemption was made with our surety before the Covenant of your Creation was made with you And so much those two words Prov. 8.22 23. the Lord possessed me and the Lord anointed me do necessarily import and that word also Mic. 5.2 His goings forth as from the days of eternity Which as Calvin expounds it refer unto the Mediator as being head of the Church and not unto his eternal generation as is commonly expounded and this is the ground of Christs delight with the sons of men before the World was Prov. 8.31 as those whose names he had covenanted to bear and whose persons he had ingaged himself to represent before the Father And this shews how the design of God from everlasting hath been to save sinners and to glorifie himself in a way of mercy and grace through a Mediator And it is the consideration hereof that is the greatest ingagement in the World to sinners to come in and return to him because God is in Christ reconciling the world c. 2 Cor. 5.19 For he did undertake to represent your persons as your surety and representative before the world was 1 This Covenant made with Christ could not indeed actually take place as unto us till man was fallen because it was in the hand of a Mediator and required satisfaction by way of a sacrifice but yet though it be last in execution it was first in intention and the Covenant of Works made in your creation is only called the first Covenant in reference unto the relation and discovery of it unto us but it was the Covenant of Grace in Christ that was the first Covenant in it self and first past between the Father and the Son from everlasting and this shews how exceedingly the heart of God was ingaged in it before you were before you had need of a Surety for the Lord to appoint one and enter into a Covenant with him to perform this work for God to create the World first and bring men into it and for the Lord to take notice of mans necessity of a help meet for him before man did observe any such want of himself this was an argument of great love and care of God towards man but to provide not only a meet help but a meet Mediator and to take care to provide for your salvation and his own glory therein before he did proceed to your creation this shews how strangely his heart was set upon this great design of glorifying himself in the World in a way of Grace in your Salvation 2 If he had only taken up this purpose in himself it had set forth much love
and good will for his Purposes and Decrees are immutable as himself is and there can nothing arise de novo that should cause him to change his purpose but more that he proceeded herein to a treaty with his Son about it to be his Servant in this great work to bring Jacob again unto him Isa 49. and made a solemn Covenant pass between these glorious persons about it and that those thoughts should delight them before the World began and that the Lord should bespeak his Son with all the terms of dearness that can be to undertake this service Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee and therefore being his Son it was only an office fit for him and as being his Son there was all fitness in him so there was all dearness to him and by this Christ did upon this motion of the Fathers undertake this service and there was a solemn Covenant passed between them Jer. 30.21 And thus the Lord did as it were bind himself and his Son unto this great work of your Salvation before the World was not only laying his love but also his faithfulness to pawn though not in a Covenant to you before you were yet in a Covenant to his Son and therefore there was a promise of eternal life given us in him before the World began 3 When he doth Covenant with Christ to be a Priest Tit. 1.2 it is a Covenant that he confirms by an Oath to shew that he doth never intend to alter and change his resolution Psal 110.4 The Lord has sworn and will not repent c. Psal 110.4 Heb. 7.21 This Priest was made by an Oath by him that said unto him Thou art my Son the Lord swore and will not repent and this was from everlasting for then it was that Christ was first appointed or set apart to become a Priest Now all this shews how much the heart of God was in it For the Word of God is as true as his Oath and as infallible and therefore if he had but said it it had been enough for there is a greater stability in his Word than there is in Heaven and Earth but yet it is observed by Divines that between the Word of God and his Oath there is this difference though the Lord speaks the word yet there may be some secret and tacite condition or some subsequent declaration of the mind of God As for Nineveh God said Within fourty days Nineveh should be destroyed yet there was an implyed condition of repentance which being performed the Judgement was not executed And so to Ely I said that thy fathers house should walk before me for ever but now I say Be it far from me and so the promise is reversed and it may be that is the meaning of the expression in Numbers You shall know my breach of Covenant But if God swears it shews the unchangeableness of his counsel an absolute act that nothing can arise de novo and nothing can be supposed that can cause God to change it he will never have a relenting thought for the pardon of sins and saving of sinners for ever and therefore he swore and made him a Priest by an Oath and this Oath some conceive to be the seal of God by which he did in a solemn manner set apart his Son for this great office and designed him to it from everlasting Joh. 6.27 John 6.27 Him hath God the father sealed So that as he has sealed up his decrees concerning you that they can never receive an alteration or change more how changeable soever you be 2 Tim. 2.19 as 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God remains sure having this seal the Lord knows who are his so he hath sealed up also his Covenant with Christ and that by an Oath Now if it were but a Kings Seal who could reverse it But this is the King of Kings 4 We see that their hearts were much in it for neither of these persons ever repented of it to this day 1 If God the Father would have repented a man would have expected that it should have been when he came to make his Son an offering for sin Oh! what relenting thoughts and rolling of bowels had Abraham when his Son must dye and he himself must have a hand therein and become the executioner So it pleased the Father to bruise him Matt. 26.29 and Matt. 26.29 there is a necessity or an impossibility spoken of and it lay wholly in the will of God for so he adds not my will but thy will be done If God could have changed his Will Christ might have lived and the Cup passed away but God had covenanted to make him a surety he had made him a Priest by an Oath and his will could not change he could not repent of it therefore this Cup he must drink Thus Isa 53.5 the same word is used and it signifies to beat a thing to pieces as in a Mortar and God was pleased with it Ephes 5.2 The offering of Christ was to God a Sacrifice of a sweet savour What made it so Only the end Finis dat mediis amabilitatem the end gives sweetness to the means Had it not been for that the Lord must needs have abhorred it 2 And Christ accepts of the Covenant and never repented he did never call back his word or change his ingagement he had the law of dying written in the middle of his bowels as it was the pleasure of the Lord so it was his with desire have I desired it and I have a baptism and I am straitned till it be fulfilled Vse 3. Thence we see the ground of the pardoning of all the sins of the ancient Saints under the first Testament Rom. 3.25 Heb. 9.15 The debt was not paid and the Sacrifice was not offered and yet their sins were pardoned and their souls saved it was by vertue of the Covenant and ingagement of Christ unto God the Father there was blood of Bulls and Goats and that could only signifie Christ but could not satisfie God but when Christ came and performed the Covenant now he satisfied for the transgressions under the first Testament and in this respect he was a Lamb slain from the beginning though offered in the latter days of the World because the Covenant immediately from the fall of man took place and God looked upon him by virtue of this Covenant as our surety and required all of him Vse 4. It is a mighty ground of Faith that all shall be performed for if these glorious persons could break Covenant with you yet they will not break one with another therefore surely 1 on Gods part all his promises unto Christ shall be made good every knee shall bow taken him all his enemies shall become his footstool all the persecuting Monarchies shall be taken down and the stone without hands shall fill the earth and the Mountain of the Lord shall be exalted upon the top of all the
them to persecution immediately Joh. 9. for whoever did confess him was to be put out of the Synagogue and this made many men to keep off from embracing of the Gospel wherefore it was then a great mark of sincerity for a man to embrace a persecuted Truth in times of Persecution and to endure a great fight of afflictions and yet receive the Word in much affliction with joy in the Holy Ghost it was a very great ground for a mans judicious charity to rest on As it were now a small matter for a man to preach against Transubstantiation the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament yet for a man to bear witness against that errour and to maintain the truth in Queen Mary's days when all the power of the Kingdom was against it and when so many were sent to Heaven in a fiery Chariot for the same that had been a great ground for judicious charity to have rested upon for the sincerity of the man and therefore it 's said Phil. 1.6 7. He that hath begun the good work in you will perfect it it is but an equal and just thing for me to think so of you all they were all such of whom he might have some ground in charity to hope and judge that they had a good work begun in them which should be perfected in the day of the Lord. 2 The matter of the visible Church must be suitable to the ends for which the Lord has instituted such Churches for every wise man does chuse materials suitable to the work in which he intends to use them as in the Tabernacle there was gold and silver and there was purple and blue each answerable to the end in which it was to be used now there is a double end why the Lord has instituted visible Churches 1 That they may be a pillar of truth to hold forth his word and to hold up his worship 1 Tim. 3.15 2 That they may be a people amongst whom the Lord may dwell and therefore the Church is called the House of God and he will dwell in them and walk amongst them 2 Cor. 6.16 The tabernacle of the Lord is with men Rev. 21. the name of the city is Jehovah shammah the Lord is there Now if men profess and yet be ignorant they cannot hold forth the truth and if they be profane they will never hold up the worship of God and if they are wicked the Lord will depart from them and will not dwell among them 3 It will appear also from the nature of the Ordinance of Excommunication which is to pass upon none but those within 2 Thess 3.6 if a brother c. and it was the honour of the Church of Ephesus that they looked upon them that were evil as burdens and could not bear them Now if a profession with a scandalous conversation will not keep a man in when he is in surely it is no good ground to let a man in when he is without if such ought to be separated from the Church being admitted surely if they be without they are not to be admitted and I do think it strange that men should speak of it as a great sin that profane persons in the Church should be tolerated and yet should plead for a promiscuous admission upon a bare profession only though their whole conversation speak the contrary Truly unless we make Churches and Church-members to be only notions and empty things we ought I conceive to make conscience of our admissions as well as ejections and surely if that were done there would be less need of Excommunications and yet a greater purity in our Churches preserved and be for ought I know the best bottom of our reformation 4. I must here repeat what has been already delivered viz. that it is the immediate parents only that give federal right to their children 1. Some considerations were premised namely that admission of members is an act of the Keys and the great trust the Lord has committed unto them and therefore they are to proceed by rule therein And that to administer Sacraments is not an act of Christian liberty that a Minister may dispense to whom he will but an act of power which Christ has given to them that are called to the Ministry of the Word and they are to dispense them to none but unto those whose priviledges they are and that as great care is to be taken in the administration of one Sacrament that it be not done promiscuously as of the other Whence we proceed to prove our position 1 I find in Scripture that when the immediate parents were taken into covenant the children were taken in with them how wicked soever their Ancestors were as Abraham's c. and when the immediate parents were cast out the child was cast out with them how holy soever their Ancestors had been as we instanced in the Jews therefore admission is with the immediate parents as well as ejection 2 From that place 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your children unclean the Apostle speaks it as knowing no other way of their federal sanctification neither will that take it away to say because their Ancestors were Heathen for there is but one way of sanctifying Heathens by profession and those that are as Heathens in their conversation 3 There is no stop if a federal right from Ancestors will not wear out how shall a man know where to stay and if it must be thought to reach to all their succeeding generations then we must baptize all mankind therefore there is no certainty unless we pitch here 4 Sacraments are to be administred only unto Church-members and if parents have no right to membership they can convey none but it was not enough to make a member to be baptized and to make profession of the Christian Faith in a Christian Church and therefore being himself no member he cannot convey a right of membership 5 From the inconveniences that must needs follow upon it 1. The Ordinance is profaned by promiscuous administrations 2. Ministers are put to act upon uncertainties 3. Wicked men are hardned and incouraged that cry The Temple of the Lord are we and all the Lords people are holy which formerly I am sure many of our Divines bitterly complained of 6 I was much the more led into it because of many things that I have met with in the Writings both of ancient and modern Divines to that purpose some of which were quoted and there are many more that might be added but it 's not fit for a Pulpit and a popular Auditory this being as you know not a Doctrine of my fetching in but that which Providence in the course of my Ministry did put me upon I confess I durst not wave it though in my own inclination I could willingly have done it neither was it out of a desire of novelty to be the Broacher of some new Doctrine or Opinion amongst you God is my witness I know nihil novandum
to the Jews and their children but also to the Gentiles for that is meant by afar off Eph. 2.17 all that shall be converted and take hold of the Covenant for themselves their posterity shall be taken into their Covenant-right also and that 's the inducement and the argument used Act. 2.39 The great plague of sin lies in this that a man does not only undo himself but his posterity as it was in Adam and the great comfort in grace is that a man shall do good to his posterity as it was promised to Christ Psal 89.29 filiabitur nomen ejus his name shall be continued amongst his posterity in the Church Now for God to give a man a name in his posterity to owne them it 's a great mercy to speak of a mans house a great while for to come and it 's exceedingly heightned by this Adams sin was imputed to his posterity as well as his grace now the priviledges of the Fathers Covenant shall be entailed but the sins of the parents are personal and shall never be imputed unto the children It 's true that the sin of Adam is imputed but the sin of the immediate parents is not imputed unto the children and though God doth visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children yet it is as true that the children do not bear the iniquities of the fathers so that the fathers priviledges are the childrens but the fathers sins are his own for every man now sins as a private person for himself not as a publick person as a representative head as Adam did for himself and his posterity 3 The Lord would engage their children to himself above all the Families and Posterities of the Earth Ezech. 16. and therefore he calls them the children born unto him thou hast taken my sons and my daughters that thou hast born to me and they shall have the Priviledge that none upon Earth have that thereby they may be engaged to God and if they be wicked they may be the more left without excuse as Nazianzen says in Orat. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are persons given up and dedicated to God in their infancy and from the womb there is written upon them holiness to the Lord and if outward and temporal mercies be such great Obligations upon the Soul what are spiritual and Church-mercies and therefore the condemnation of the children of the Kingdom shall be greater than of the children of this world because their mercies and priviledges and opportunities are greater the Lord would bind them unto himself by higher cords of love than he does the rest of the world he does make the Sun to shine and the rain to fall upon other men filling their hearts with food and gladness There are temporal mercies that God dispenses to all men but they are not like unto the mercies of spiritual and Church-priviledges that 's beyond what other men injoy the Lord would bind them that are his Covenant-people unto himself by this cord beyond the rest of the world 4 To shew forth the goodness and overflowing mercy of Christ under the second Covenant unto unregenerate men who for the state of their persons are under the Covenant of Works and are enemies unto the Covenant of Grace and yet they shall injoy many priviledges and benefits thereby and this the Lord does bestow upon them either as preparatives and as means to fit them for services or as priviledges and rewards of services for all the creatures are now given into the hands of Christ and all men in the Church belong to him they all come under him either as servants or as sons they that are sons partake in the graces of the Covenant but the servants also partake in the priviledges of it for they abide in the house though not for ever and while they are in the house they have bread enough and to spare they partake of the root and fatness of the good Olive-tree they have Church-ordinances that fit them for service and they receive Church priviledges as temporal rewards of service 5 For the Elects sake there are some upon whom the grace of the Covenant is bestowed and unto whom the Priviledges of the Covenant do chiefly belong and they are the Elect of God but because they are bound up in the same bundle with the rest of mankind and men cannot distinguish for it is electing Love that puts the difference therefore as Ordinances are continued unto all for the Elects sake so Priviledges are bestowed upon all but the primary intention of them is for the Saints the Elect of God that they might partake in them for whom they were specially purchased and intended As the preaching of the Gospel was primarily intended for the Elect of God that they might partake in it and for the gathering in of Souls unto him but because the Elect of God are amongst the wicked of the world therefore if men be to dispense Ordinances they must do it in common and wait upon God in the use of them and the grace of God will fall upon the Elect unto Conversion and so it does accidentally come upon ungodly men but primarily and intentionally it is given only for the Elects sake as appears by this that when the Lord has finished and gather'd in the number of the Elect he will continue Ordinances and Church-priviledges unto unregenerate men no longer therefore as Ordinances being dispensed by men must be in common for the Elects sake so must priviledges dispensed by men be also as the World stands for the Saints and yet ungodly men enjoy much of the comforts of the world that a man would think it were all for their sakes so Church-priviledges are vouchsafed to ungodly men as a great part of the Church that a man would think all were for their sakes and yet it is with a special respect and primary intention to the Saints that both the one and the other are continued in the world wicked men shall share with the Saints in the external priviledges rather than the Saints of God be wholly deprived of them And upon these grounds I conceive it mainly is that the Covenant is entailed from father to son for the outward priviledges but not for the inward graces thereof § 9. How far Arguments drawn from Circumcision Quest 9 being an Ordinance of the Old Testament can by way of Rule determin any of the Essentials of Baptism which is an Ordinance of the New Testament that is how far this argument has force in it to say The Children of the Jews being infants came under their fathers Covenant and therefore were by Gods command initiated and sealed by Circumcision which was the Seal of the Covenant therefore under the New Testament the children of Christians while infants are taken into Covenant with their Parents and so ought to be initiated and sealed by Baptism which is the Seal of the Covenant under the new Administration as Circumcision was under the old
and prove a curse and not a blessing 4. Because it is very sweet to God when we follow him through a wilderness and see nothing but an alsufficiency in him through a land not sown Jer. 2.2 then you shew your love to him and he looks upon it as the day of your espousals Hos 9.10 I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness it is a proverbial speech when you have none to look to but God Drusius when you are in a land of drought it is never so pleasing unto God as when we are brought into a wilderness and yet there to follow him and the Lord doth never speak so sweetly to us as when he doth deprive us of these outward things that our hearts may stay upon him alone and therefore Hos 2.14 he says I will allure her into the wilderness what was there in the wilderness that might allure her The wilderness has a double consideration 1 It was a place of affliction and so there was nothing to allure for no affliction for the present is joyous but grievous 2 The wilderness was a place of manifestation where God did shew himself in his Ordinances and in his mighty works and if the wilderness be so there is an alluring in it and then saith God will I speak to her heart O when God brings into the wilderness and gives discoveries of himself there are the greatest comforts and the sweetest speakings unto the souls of his Saints the Lord doth not fail them in their time of need 5. Gods great glory is to manifest his Attributes in the sufferings of his people and it is the great work that he doth in the world and the greatest comfort that the Saints have is to see the Attributes of God drawn forth and to work for them Jer. 2.31 Have I been a wilderness to Israel It 's true says the Lord I brought them into a wilderness and did allure them thither but when they were there I was not a wilderness unto them they found all in me though the earth afforded them nothing yet there was nothing wanting from Heaven it was not a wilderness when they were in the wilderness See an instance of it Jer. 29.22 there were two false Prophets that did strive to make provision for themselves and they pleased the people Jer. 2.29 and said The King of Babylon should not carry them away captive they spoke lies in the name of the Lord and we see what became of them but Jeremiah that made no provision for himself did not as Baruck seek great things for himself we see how he is provided for even in the enemies hand Jer. 39.11 12. Look well to him do him no harm but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee how good is it to look up to God for all our supplies and not to distrust his goodness and power in any danger or strait that we may be exposed to 6. As our supplies do come from God so also there is a special token of love and interest discovered in his sufficiency and that is sweeter than the mercy it self the Lord loves to give unto his people every mercy that they need and as it is lined with love so it shall be faced with love that the mercy shall come in according unto the promise and he can look upon it as the birth of the promises as a pledge and a fruit of interest in the alsufficiency of God it 's a great thing and is much more than the blessing it self if it were a thousand times multiplied that all the promises lead a man to Christ the foundation of them all 2 Cor. 1.20 they do lead a man as beams to the Sun so when the mercy leads a man to his interest in the alsufficiency of God that 's more than the mercy it self when a mâ—n sees it 's given in to the bargain when he seeks first the Kingdom of Heaven all things in this world shall be added to him Psal 6.33 though they are in themselves but small yet they are magni amoris indicium there is a great deal of difference between a kiss and a reward though there may be a greater bounty in the one but there is more love in the other and so far as the people of God taste that the Lord is gracious so far they taste his love is sweeter than all unto them for if there were not love in the gift there were no relish in it we use to despise the gifts only of enemies and indeed the hearts of all the Saints do so far undervalue them as Luther that they can tell God Let thy gifts of this worlds goods only be to another but let me have a smile from thy face one kiss of thy mouth and it shall chear me more than corn or wine and oil as for all other things they are but as Luther said of the Turkish Empire mica canibus projecta a mite cast to the dogs because there was no love in it therefore a little that the righteous hath is better than the riches of many wicked as a little that the righteous doth is better than the pompous services of many wicked persons because there is love in the one and none in the other and without this all is as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal Object 2 You say that none have an interest in the alsufficiency of God but his Covenant-people But we see that the men of the world have great sufficiency Psal 73.7 they have more than heart can wish they enjoy all manner of abundance that one would think the alsufficiency of God were made over to them rather than to the Saints one would have thought it to have been the portion of Dives rather than Lazarus For the wicked fare deliciously every day c. Answ It 's true indeed that many wicked men who are strangers to God and his Covenant have great sufficiency in outward things but yet 1 though it be from the alsufficiency of God for he it is that is the Fountain of common mercies he doth cause the Sun to rise upon the unjust c. he opens his hand and fills every living thing it is he therefore that is said to fill their bellies with his hid treasure Psal 17.14 but yet it is not from their interest in his alsufficiency they have all from God but they have no interest in God it 's one thing to receive mercy from God ex largitate from an overflowing of his goodness and another thing to receive it ex proprietate from an interest in his goodness There are some benefits by Christ that wicked men have that have no interest in Christ there are many works that the Sun doth effect in the earth when it never shines and so it 's with Christ he vouchsafeth good things to many a soul in whose Horizon he doth never rise there is a great difference in the manner of conveyance 2 A sufficiency they have
live not by bread only and therefore if God do withdraw his acting or withhold it the second cause is of no value it is but as an axe in the hand of a man or as a pen it is but as it were a dead instrument as the Apostle says of himself 2 Cor. 3.2 3. and therefore the people of God put no confidence in them I will not trust in my bow and it is not my sword that shall save me it is thou O Lord that savest us from our enemies this is the language of a true Saint and therefore it is only the Lords withdrawing and then all second causes work not whence it is said That they shall eat and they shall not be nourished and they shall put on cloaths but not be warmed there is a natural aptitude in these means to produce such effects but yet if the Lord do but suspend his influx they can do nothing And therefore in the Babylonish Furnace Divines do commonly say that the Lord did not take away the nature of the fire it remained to be fire still only in reference unto such an object he did suspend his own concurrence so that though it remained in actu primo yet it was not able to produce actum secundum because the immediate concurrence of the first cause was denied so it is in all means and this is the reason of their want of efficacy the same Ordinances would be as effectual at one time as at another and unto one man as unto another there is no difference in the means only in the concurrence of the first cause with the means and so it is with creatures also the same land would be as fruitful at one time as at another and there is no difference only when thou tillest thy land it shall not yield its strength says the Lord there is not the same concurrence of God with it which is his blessing upon it and that is the true reason of all the difference in the use and the success of means whatsoever 3. Though the Lord doth in the administration of all things in the providential Kingdom use means and therefore hath made all things in a due order and subordination yet he doth delight sometimes to work without means by his own immediate hand not by power nor by might but by my Spirit Zac. 4.7 if there be none to help yet his own arm shall bring salvation And the Lord doth this 1 that he may sometimes shew forth some special discoveries of his own power The heart of man would be wholly terminated in the creature as we are very apt to be and we would look no further therefore the Lord is pleased sometimes to shew forth something more than the power of the creature and sometimes he will go in an ordinary way of nature sometimes in a miraculous way to shew that there is a higher hand that rules all things that he may not be forgotten by us 2 To shew that he doth not use the creature necessarily but voluntarily and therefore he can use it or lay it aside at his pleasure work by it or work without it that the souls of his people may depend upon him alone both in the want and in the injoyments of the creature and the good effect is never the further off when they want it nor ever the nearer when they do injoy it whether they have it or not it is all one they can rejoyce in the Lord and glory in the God of their salvation Hab. 3.17 18. 3 That he may still keep up in the remembrance of his people a creating power when there was nothing but himself immediately there was no means used It hath been disputed by the School-men Whether the ministry of Angels were not used in the creation of the world and it is commonly answered No it was not it could not be because in the exercise of almighty power there can be no concurrence of the creature no creature can be raised by the power of God unto such an elevation as to be made capable to put forth any act of omnipotence and therefore that this power of the Creation of God may be kept up he doth do the like often in the world that as he hath appointed a day to remember the Creation and would have us to remember our Creator so he doth works that he may keep it continually in our remembrance providence is said to be nothing but a continued Creation therefore the Lord will do something that shall be as a Creation still that this great work may never be forgotten he that doth create grace in the souls of men daily doth put forth other acts answerable thereunto 4 The Lord doth it that he may train up his people by it unto a remembrance of Heaven where all means shall cease for God shall be all in all that is he shall be all unto his people immediately It is true that the Saints do injoy God here and they injoy all in God he is their portion and their hope but all this is in the use of means as they see him in a glass so they shall injoy him also but there is a time that will shortly come when all means shall be done away and he that now governs the world and so dispenses himself by second causes will do all by his own immediate hand there shall be immediate therefore pure mercy and pure wrath and pure power and pure acts of Omnipotence In this life we are by the creatures refreshed and when he comforts us by the creature those comforts lose much by reason of the vessel and so when he doth teach us by the creature that treasure is in earthen vessels it is much otherwise when he teaches himself immediately and so when he doth punish by the creature it is but as a mighty man correcting a man with a straw it 's true that he is mighty but it is but a small thing that is in his hand which is nothing in comparison of that which shall be hereafter it shall be all immediate and that keeps up in his people an expectation of this that they may have herein a kind of foretaste of Heaven by beholding the immediate working of God without the help of creatures or their concurrence Now this immediate acting of Providence is wholly for the good of his people and is so managed sometimes he will use means for their good and sometimes he will for their good work without means but still so as his Soveraignty is made over unto them in these his actings and herein we are to observe 1. The Scripture speaking of a creating power which the Lord doth often put forth for the good of his people Esa 4.5 Esa 4.5 there 't is said I create upon every dwelling place a cloud c. Upon every dwelling place there is a protection that which is immediate and beyond the power of second causes when there is no defence in them yet their succour
I will deliver them 3 They shall use their authority against Religion and against the Saints to subvert the one and destroy the other Nebuchadnezar has no sooner an Empire but he must have a Golden Image and the people must upon pain of death be all of the Kings Religion Let Jeroboam attain the Crown and the people must go no more up to Jerusalem to worship they shall have at Dan and Bethel a worship every way as specious and to human wisdom as rational as that at Jerusalem and all this is for the peoples ease and they willingly walk after the Commandment King Ahaz must have his new-fashion'd Altar and Ahab the worship of Baal the ten Kings give their Kingdoms to the Beast they must use their power to have some human addition and some politick contrivement in matters of Religion and the things of God They shall speak great words against the most High and shall endeavour to wear out the Saints Dan. 7.25 4 And they are also instruments to ruin themselves by their wickedness and the Kingdoms in which they rule As Saul had almost destroy'd the Kingdom The land is weak and all the inhabitants are dissolved I bear up the pillars of it c. Psal 75.3 and Dan. 7.26 He shall do this till the judgment shall sit and dominion shall be taken from him and it shall be consumed and destroy'd to the end Magistrates may so far provoke God in the abuse of their power not only to take away dominion from them but even to destroy the Nation and Government it self for their sakes As Kingdoms were cast off in Rome for the abominations of their King There was a great Star that fell from Heaven and his name was called wormwood and the third part of the waters were become bitter and many perish'd in his downfall It were not harsh to say that most of the Magistrates that ever have been rais'd up in the world have been given to a people in wrath as Saul was and even their persons being such as they are have been fruits of the Curse have been given in judgment and proved very great scourges to the Nations where they lived 2. There is a Curse also upon the people in reference to Magistrates 1 The people shall flatter the Magistrate which is a great judgment Hos 5.11 and by this means he shall lift up himself to his own destruction and they willingly walk after his Commandment It 's a judgment to a people to have a Magistrate command what is evil willingly so it is to a Magistrate to have the people willing to obey any thing be it never so evil to be as a lump that receives any leaven This was the rise of Antichrist and the great judgment that the Kings gave their Kingdoms to the Beast and all the world wondred after the Beast Rev. 13.3 To worship Kings as amongst the Persians to set them up as Gods is base flattery 2 A spirit of jealousie and murmuring of the people against them God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem Judg. 9.23 that they were full of nothing else but jealousie and distrust one of another full of murmuring and complaining If any evil befall them by and by stone Moses if he deliver them it is that he may make himself altogether a King over them and put out their eyes that they may see nothing Don't we see how things are carry'd all for your own advancement as Corah and his Company said And when he had wrought the greatest deliverance for them yet they cry out That he did bring them out of Egypt out of envy because there were no graves there it was but to bury them in the Wilderness as a sick Patient says to a Physician surely you mean to kill me when all his endeavour tends to cure him 3 Sometimes they rebell against the Magistrates and disobey their Commandment endeavouring by force to cast off their Government As Absalom's Conspiracy with the people against David his own Father besides all the people of Israel were with Absalom And in Rehoboams time To your Tents O Israel let David take care for his own house what portion have we in David and inheritance in the son of Jess c. If Sheba the son of Bichri the most obscure man do but blow the Trumpet and say we have no part in David all Israel will be ready to desert and fall off from their loyalty and allegiance As the meanest man shall have power enough to make a party against Government And men will forsake them when they are in danger and stand in most need of them as when the Philistins came against Saul and made war against him all the people were scatter'd from him And so others if danger come the people leave them to themselves after all their care and pains with the greatest faithfulness bestow'd upon them 4 God many times leaves Magistrates for the peoples sins 2 Sam. 24.1 The Lord was angry with Israel and he moved David against them to say Go number Israel and Judah David is left to this sin but it was the Lord's anger against Israel that did provoke him thereunto that by this sin he might bring upon them the judgment Ob peccata populi labitur princeps and therefore Peter Martyr's observation is That the people may much help and assist their Magistrates in Government Orando recte vivendo by prayer and wel-living and therefore when the people neglect these Saepe a Deo deseruntur the Magistrates are oft left by God c. 2. The Relation between Ministry and People is cursed 1 There is a Curse upon the Ministers in reference to the People Jer. 23. 1 They shall prove unprofitable and of none effect they shall not profit this people at all Though they rise early and go forth in all their might yet men make excuses when they come to invite them and they go their way one to his Farm and another to his Merchandize c. And we can but return the same account that Melancthon did when he first went forth to preach Old Adam is too strong for young Melancthon It was a part of the Curse that was upon Christ for us in the days of his flesh Isa 49.5 I have labour'd in vain and I have spent my strength in vain The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie my radical moisture and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies utterly to waste and perfectly to consume And yet Christ has done all this in respect of success in vain for Israel is not gather'd 2 The people build hay and stubble upon the foundation that their Ministers lay and that not only ungodly men 1 Cor. 3. but even godly men whose work may be consumed and they suffer loss and yet their souls be saved in the day of the Lord 1 Cor. 3. Satan can sometimes get into Peter and carry him away to a dissimulation as Barnabas also
Woman accused And if she were guilty her belly should swell and her thigh rot and if guiltless she should conceive seed and become fruitful so that it was sometimes causless and yet a spirit of Jealousie might come upon a man A Wife made a Cross is the greatest cross and made a snare is the greatest snare and the most dangerous And when a man grows vile in the eyes of a Wife for any weakness in him either inward or outward as Nabal did His name is Nabal and folly is with him And Job said My breath is strange to my wife though I intreated for the childrens sake of my own body Job 19.17 Jealousie is the rage of a man it makes him bitter to her takes every thing in the worst sense not bearing with ordinary and common failings incident to persons in that state Bitterness in words sharp and piercing speechees and actions savouring of tartness and want of that tenderness and love that should be in a man towards his own flesh Gen. 3.16 Thy desire shall be subject to thy husband and he shall rule over thee The woman was created to be a help to the man and the woman created for the man and not the man for the woman and therefore a subordination and a kind of subjection there was before the fall but not such as now after the fall Indeed the Civilians say that Marriage is Perpetua quaedam servitus a constant servitude only before the fall as Austin says it was servitus dilectionis a servitude of love but since the fall it is servitus conditionis a servitude of condition Before the fall it was with much sweetness and love their wills never clashing they both joyned in the same good and will'd the same thing but now there is much opposition and much contrariety of will And yet it is the bondage that God has laid upon the Wife she must be subject to her Husband and have no will of her own but even her desire must be subject to him not only submit her actions but even her will also which is of all other the greatest subjection It 's said of Jacob though he was a holy man that God saw that Leah was hated by him which at best cannot be interpreted but of a less degree of love and that there was more sharpness in his carriage towards Leah than there was towards Rachel 2 When the Husband deserts and forsakes his Wife being ravish'd with a strange woman and imbracing the bosom of a stranger Prov. 5.20 And we read in Mal. 2.15 16. the great misery those poor women were subjected to for the Husband making use of that command of Moses which is not a toleration but a limitation not that putting away was lawful for the Lord hates putting away but for the hardness of their hearts seeing they did put them away for the womans discharge he was to give her a writing of Divorce But by this means their wives v. 13. cover'd the altar of God with tears so that when they came to offer Sacrifice that sin came up into remembrance before God that their Sacrifice could not ascend and the Altar was not cover'd with that but with the tears of their wives which they had in a cruel and wicked manner by their deserting them caused them to shed dealing treacherously with the wife of their youth she that is thy companion and the wife of thy Covenant They had great complaints against their wives and were able to find out many pretences to put them away when they had sinfully found out others that their lust carried them to and so they did cover violence with a garment But the Prophet bids them take heed to their spirits and look upon the falseness of their own hearts in it that they deal not treacherously and falsly and so break their Covenant with their wives even the Covenant of their God 3 By puting them upon occasions of sin and so they are made instruments to satisfie the lust of their Husbands What an occasion of sinning did Abraham put upon his beloved Sarah twice once before Pharaoh King of Egypt and another time before Abimelech King of Gerar by desiring her to say that she was his sister How was she drawn at his request to consent to a lye and to endanger her chastity amongst the Heathen In re illicita etiam consensus vitiosus est in an unlawful matter the very consent is unlawful The Apostle says 1 Cor. 7.34 The married woman takes care of the things of the world and how she may please her husband The Apostle does not only set this down as a duty what married persons should do in that condition to take care of the things of the family and how to please their Husband but as an ordinary temptation and corruption also that follows that state though as Calvin observes Hoc non est proprium conjugii malum sed ex hominum vitio provenire It is the common temptation and corruption that accompanies that state not only a moderate and a lawful but even an inordinate care also of the things of the world and how to please her Husband even with the neglect of the things of God and how to please him Ahab desires Naboths Vineyard and is sick for it and lays him down upon the bed and will eat no meat Jezabel his Wife comes to him and says Dost thou now govern Israel is this becoming the greatness of thy state to bear such a denial and affront Is not all the Kings and do not his people enjoy what they have by his leave and favour as a boon from him and shall any subject dare deny his King what he requests of him This is not to reign over them buâ— to be under them Imperatoris est leges dare non accipere c. And thus she reproves him and becomes a very fit instrument for the Devil Pet. Martyr I will give thee the Vineyard of Naboth 1 King 21.7 4. Between Parents and Children 1. Children are curses to Parents Thou shalt be cursed in the fruit of thy body as well as in the fruit of thy land 1 By disesteem making them vile in a mans eyes Deut. 27.16 Cursed be he that sets light by father or mother and this proceeds further even to mocking and deriding Prov. 30.17 The eye that mockes at his father or mother the ravens of the vallies shall pick it out 2 By forsaking them 2 Tim. 3.3 without natural affections the word in the Greek is a similitude taken from a Stork which takes special care to provide for and maintain the Parent when it 's old But Mar. 7 11. they taught Children a way to cheat their Parents by dedicating their Estates to the Temple or the publick service and then when the Parent should stand in need of any part of it the child says it is Corban a thing dedicated and therefore he must not meddle with it and so do nothing for him 3 There is
of God is renewed None of us lives to himself Rom. 14.9 1 Cor. 10. ult nor dies to himself Whether we live we live to the Lord and whether we die we die to the Lord c. But nature never aims at God in any thing makes him neither the end of his being nor of his working if he labour in his Calling and get an Estate he is laying up treasures for himself and is not rich towards God and in his Religious duties if he pray he howles for Corn and Wine If he fast Have you fasted to me says the Lord and when you did eat and drink did you not eat to your selves And when they preach it 's to themselves some preach Christ out of envy and to draw disciples after them Some self-end or other is the great wheel in all they do that acts them and carries them on and if they do reform with Jehu it 's upon a politick principle and not a pious not for God but for themselves and so dum obtemperant non obsequuntur whiles they obey they obey not and in all the duties of Religion Self is at the bottom Hos 10.11 They are as a heifer that loves to tread out the corn And if like the Pharisee they fast or give almes it is to be seen of men God is not in all their thoughts nor his glory in all their aim and they are said to serve other things as Mammon and serve divers lusts and pleasures Now what is service but to do anothers work and to do it to their ends to be wholly theirs therefore Christ is said to be God the Fathers servant because he did the work that God gave him to do and he aimed at Gods ends also he did not seek his own glory but the glory of him that sent him and Grace is in this respect in a special manner call'd self-denial Mat. 16.24 Let a man deny himself and Self in ends is hardest denied of any other This is great Babel that I have built for the honour of my Majesty And thus the soul is taken off from God it has no happiness in him as the chief Good they live not to him they act not for him as their utmost end he is neither the end of their being nor of their working 2. The Soul has lost his interest in God There were glorious relations between God and man by Covenant so that as God had an interest in man so had man also an interest in God Luk. 3. ult Adam was the son of God and had that interest in God that became that relation as a child has an interest in a father and he could truly call him his God and this is the glory of the second Covenant that our interest in God is restored and increased I will be their God and they shall be my people Jer. 31.33 And he that has an interest in another may claim him according to his relation as truly as if all were in his own power as the Wife has an interest in the Husband and she may expect that love care and protection and provision that that relation does intitle her to as truly as if it were in her own power and the Husband may expect from his Wife that love service and help that the relation calls for And it 's true of all other relations whatsoever when persons have a relation and an interest one in another and though the persons be of the highest rank as between a King and a Subject a Master and a Servant a Father and a Son yet the relation gives them a mutual interest one in another and so man had in God at the first he was his God and the Saints now call him in Christ the God of my mercy and the God of my life and so man had an interest in the Wisdom of God and in the Holiness of God and the Soveraignty of God over all the Creatures so far as might be for mans good as truly as for his own glory for that 's the nature of propriety Eph. 6.10 Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might I have no power may such a soul say but I am strong in the strength of God and wise by the wisdom of God all that is in God I have a claim to I have nothing of my own but all the Creatures of God are as mine and therefore as having nothing and yet possessing all things having nothing in my self and yet possessing all things in God as Rev. 21.6 He that overcomes shall inherit all things I will be his God And therefore after all Job's great losses the Fathers bring him in looking upon them all and saying I have lost nothing So long as the soul has an interest in God he can lose nothing he can want nothing But sin has broken all relations between you and God but barely that of a Creature thou art no more a Son and therefore the Jews Joh. 8. boasting that God was their father Christ tells them that there was no such relation between God and them but they descended from another stock of their father the Devil And for servants they serve not God but themselves their own bellies and therefore all this interest must be restored unto them in Christ I ascend to my father and your father my God and your God He is no way a God to us but as he is Christ's God else we have no interest in him and if we sin we can lay no claim to his Mercy to pardon or to his Wisdom to direct us or his Power to protect us or his Bounty to provide for us nay all the Attributes of God that work for the good of his people they all work against such a soul his Holiness is a terrour for he is of purer eyes than to behold evil his Wisdom is a terrour for he knows how to reserve the wicked to the day of judgment to be punished his Omniscience is against us for he will bring every work to judgment with every secret thing He does number our steps and does watch over our sins and the mercy of God thou hast no interest in thou shalt have judgment without mercy c. a man can claim nothing that is in God to be for him And though while men are at ease and enjoy the Creatures they find no want of this yet when they come to die and to be in a streight Act. 27. as Paul was when he said the Angel of the Lord stood by me whose I am and whom I serve and at the last day to look up to God and say I am thine save me Lord it will be more than for a man to have an interest and a title to all the Kingdoms of the Earth and other men that have slighted it they shall know what it is to lose their interest in God 3. The Soul has wholly lost the Image of God in which the glory of the soul did at first lie but it
is the act and the guilt the act with the pleasure of it is fading the pleasures of sin that are but for a season but there is an abiding guilt upon the spirit that is after a sort infinite being an offence against an infinite God a violation of an infinite Holiness and a contempt of infinite Majesty and Authority and it is also eternal and will remain upon the Creature for ever and nothing in the world but the Blood of Christ can take it away from the soul Gen. 4.7 being sprinkled upon the Conscience and this is the meaning of that Proverbial speech Gen. 4.7 Sin lies at the door it 's a speech taken from a dog or a fierce beast that lies at the door to watch and it teaches us three things 1 That though the act be past yet the guilt remains binding over the soul to punishment the sin lies there 2 That there is a time when sin in the guilt and punishment of it may lie still and be quiet and a man may ruffle it in the house within and never be troubled at that which lies at the door 3 Sin lying at the door will surely be awakened and it will be easily awakened Luther in loc ad fores somno minime aptus est locus ibi quiescit peccatum ubi diu quiescere non potest c. Sin lies asleep there where it can lie long asleep the door will surely open and the sin that seems sleepy now will awake and therefore it is a fearful thing talem habere janitorem to have such a porter Jer. 2.22 Though thou wash thy self with niter and fullers soap yet thy iniquity is markt before me it 's spoken of all the false glosses and pretences that men have to excuse themselves and to extenuate their sins There is a guilt upon the man before God Jer. 17.1 The iniquity of Judah is writ with a pen of iron c. It is to be referred both ad reatum culpam and it notes the indelible characters of it upon the soul that as the people of God have the Law of God writ upon their hearts so have ungodly men the guilt of sin and the law of sin their sin will find them out There are two things that men are terrified with Numb 32.23 and they look upon as enemies the word of God and the guilt of their own sins and therefore men do endeavour to fly from the one and to hide themselves from the other now the word follows them and will surely overtake them at last Zach. 1.6 and the guilt of sin that seeks the man and albeit he has many a hiding place yet sin both in the guilt and in the punishment of it also will at last find him out 3 Hence follows an evil Conscience Heb. 10.22 There are two things that make the Conscience evil it 's pollution by reason of the filth of sin and its accusation and condemnation by reason of the guilt of sin and though this indeed be mainly reserved to the last day Rom. 2.15 16. when the book of Conscience shall be opened and that faculty enlarged because then it is to give up its Viatory office and an account of the whole man that God has betrusted it with yet it doth in many men begin here according as the Lord is pleased to act it and doth bring into the soul an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 10.27 a receiving of judgment before-hand binding a man over unto wrath that the Creature is continually in expectation of it Heb. 2.15 Mat. 8. â—9 Art thou come to torment us before the time therefore an evil Conscience they have that tells them that there is a torment in a greater measure provided for them and that there is a time appointed when the extremity of this torment shall begin though as yet they knew the time was not come Hence comes that fear which does torment the soul 1 Joh. 4.18 that wrath will seize upon a man wheresoever he is as it was with Cain Gen. 4.14 Every one that meets me will slay me he lookt upon himself as Luther saith Tanquam excommunicatus spiritualiter corporaliter regnum amiserat ecclesiam as one who was excommunicated both spiritually and corporally c. And therefore he that was put out of the protection of God could look for no safety amongst the Creatures hence a man walks in the horrour of the shadow of death Felix trembles and Herod fear'd it was John Baptist that he had slain that was risen again There is fear on every side if he walks by the way he looks vengeance should come upon him and he shall never again visit his habitation and if he abide in his house there is a curse entered into the stones and the timber of it when he lies down at night he says it may be this night God will take away my soul and he is scared with dreams and terrified with visions that he is not able to stand under the imaginations and thoughts of his own heart if he attend upon the Word there is a savour of death unto death he sees the grave open and this is to him a testimony of a further death 2 Cor. 2.16 And hence is that shame and confusion of face that is in men looking upon themselves they abhor their own image and are not able to endure their own stink seeing how their souls do breed worms as Herod's body did they see that they are the loathsomest Creatures alive and hence there is a loathing of themselves and it comes at last to a revenge as we see in Judas And the reflections and reproaches of a mans own spirit he cannot bear and he has these dreadful desperate thoughts I shall never find mercy my glass is run my hope is past surely there is no mercy for me if there were as many windows in Heaven as there be Stars as many doors as there be souls yet there would be no entrance for me And the soul sinks down under his own burden for ever and says My iniquity is heavier than I can bear And this is properly the death of the soul it is eternal desperation it 's hell it self I had time and means and offers and intreaties and works and motions of the Spirit of God but the Lord has now forsaken me and the night is come upon me there is as much hope of the Devils as of me And this is much strengthned by the threatning and the Curse of the Law giving a man his portion Hos 6.5 and so Ministers are said to judge men Ezech. 20. â— and to torment them Rev. 11.10 and to kill them which is all barely by the words suggesting to an evil Conscience and the Conscience assisting thereunto and there is answerable to the Curse of the first Covenant a work of the Spirit of God upon a mans soul which is called a spirit of bondage and a spirit of fear Rom. 8.15 2 Tim. 1.7
a seal of the Covenant which he had broken and in flying unto the seal of this Covenant he might still seek righteousness and life thereby if not in a natural way as a Creature yet in a spiritual way as a Sacrament And he might think the same Covenant remained of which he did still enjoy the seal therefore to shew that there was no way to attain life by that Covenant broken God shuts him out from the seal of it also because he had appointed a way to life for man by Christ a far more glorious tree of life who is therefore said to be in the middle of the Paradise of God And this is a more glorious way for God because in it his justice shall be seen and satisfaction given and a safer way for man also wherefore seeing that to the first tree of life he had still access and the Lord perceiving in man this disposition to depend on it he not only forbids it but placeth an Angel with a sword drawn to keep him from it that he might have no hopes of life in this way either by it as a Creature or by it as a Sacrament Afterwards Cain was a son begotten in the image of his father he offered Sacrifices but it was not in faith or with an expectation to be accepted in the promised seed Heb. 11.4 and yet he expected to be accepted and when he saw he was not his pride was turned into rage and great discontent Gen. 4.5 and his countenance fell But upon what ground did Cain expect acceptance it was for the work done only and therefore all unregenerate men that come to God in a legal way Luther calls Cainistas Deo offerentes non personam sed opus personae Cainists offering to God not the person but the work of the person Which shewed plainly that he expected to have been accepted and rewarded for his work done alone according to the tenure of the first Covenant without a Mediator and therefore God speaks to him according to the rules of his own Covenant as Divines commonly observe If thou dost well thou shalt be accepted This being the great difference between the two Covenants in the first Covenant the person is accepted for the works but in the second the works are accepted for the persons sake And when the Lord took the people of Israel unto himself as a peculiar people of all the Nations of the Earth and entered into a Covenant with them though God did not intend to set up this Law alone as a rule by which any man since the fall should attain righteousness and life but as a Covenant of Grace with Evangelical offers of Grace to bring them to Christ and therefore gave it in the hand of a Mediator yet the Lord kept it in the form of a Covenant of Works that it might be the more effectual to drive men to Christ and so serve Gods ends But they stuck to the Law as a Covenant of Works even the generality of that people and did seek righteousness and life by the obedience of it and it grew even the common sense of the Nation as we see it in the young man Mat. 19.16 What shall I do to inherit Eternal life Eternal life he thought must be got in a way of doing and it was the error which prevailed amongst the Pharisees the most learned amongst the Jews Phil. 3.6 7. Paul counted his former legal righteousness gain to him pro merito that which should bring him in a great revenue of glory at last And it is recorded by the Apostle as the great sin of their Nation Rom. 10.4 to go about to establish their own righteousness and not submit to the righteousness of God not to look upon Christ as the end of the Law for righteousness unto every one that believes And when the partition-wall was broken down and God had lifted up Christ as an Ensign to the Nations the Law went forth of Zion and the waters issued out of the Sanctuary these were the first tares which the envious man did sow to put men upon setting up the Law as a Covenant and to seek life upon impossible conditions as by their perfect fulfilling of it and therefore they must do as the Pharisees did when they could not come up to the Law they must by their own interpretations as well as their traditions bring the Law down to them and enervate the Law And therefore the Apostle takes much pains to confute it and to perswade us against seeking righteousness and life by the works of the Law Rom. 3.4 Gal. 2.3 4. and Satan being beaten out of this then his next design is to seek to join both Covenants together and perswade men to seek righteousness and life by fulfilling the Law and believing in Christ also And so partly by our own obedience we shall be justified and accepted and wherein we come short Christs righteousness comes in to make it up We read in Act. 15.5 that there were some of the sect of the Pharisees that did believe and had received Christ as Mediator and acknowledged him that yet said It was needful and they ought in duty to be circumcised and to keep the Law of Moses Which Doctrine afterward the Apostles and the Church of Jerusalem disavow as a thing they had no warrant for to preach So in Act. 21.20 there were many thousands that believed and yet were leavened with this error they were all jealous of the Law which made the Apostle speak so exclusively as he does Rom. 3.28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the works of the Law And since the Primitive times we see what Doctrine has been found out by the Papists that good works do justifie a man in the sight of God and Christ has merited this that opera renatorum good works after conversion shall be the matter of their righteousness and Christ will supply what is wanting And hence it 's taught That they may fulfill the Law nay do more than the Law requires in works of Supererogation c. And others turn Faith into a work and say That it's faith that 's accepted of God as the matter of our righteousness instead of the righteousness of the Moral law and not the righteousness of Christ made ours by imputation And he that shall observe what confidence men do place in their works how they labour for life and rest in the duty done and expect acceptance for it and how they boast themselves of their own performances and how far most men are after a duty from a humble looking up to Christ for acceptance of it as if they had done nothing for a man should indeed work as if he expected to be accepted for his works and yet rest as perfectly in Christ for acceptation as if he had done nothing he shall see that it is a disposition that is deeply rooted in men to expect justification by their works § 2.
their much speaking and stand upon their justification I fast twice in the week and pay tythe of all that I possess says the Pharisee The Apostle Rom. 9.31 says They followed after the righteousness of the Law by their own performance of the works of the Law And to this end because they could not rise up to the spirituality of the Law they did therefore bring down the Law by their interpretation unto their own obedience and all was to make their own righteousness available for justification Therefore Paul saith Concerning the righteousness of the Law blameless Phil. 3. The young man says All these have I kept from my youth Therefore the Papists teach That men may perfectly fulfill the Law Bellar. de Justific l. 2. c. 2 3. and do also some works of Supererogation over and above the Law that the formal cause of Justification is inherent righteousness though Christs righteousness is the meritorious cause Christ having merited that our righteousness may justifie c. And though not works by nature yet by Grace even Faith it self as a work is that which God accepts being performed by us instead of all the righteousness required in the Moral Law These and many more are the ways by which men seek to establish their own righteousness in matter of Justification 2 As for Salvation also All men would be working and doing something for Heaven Good Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life What shall we do to work the works of God Joh. 6. They were all upon a way of doing they did expect a reward for all They had a high esteem of their own services and therefore they did boast themselves and glory in them it 's the law of saith only excludes boasting Rom. 3.27 The Creature being sinful is lifted up by works proud of a little God knows And therefore Jehu says Come see my zeal for the Lord of hosts and there is nothing in the world that the pride of man will appear more in than in righteousness for pride is an overweening apprehension of a mans own excellency and the higher the excellency the greater the pride Rom. 7.9 I was alive says Paul without the Law alive in performances and alive in presumptions he thought he had done much for God and therefore his zeal did rise to a madness in persecuting of the Church It 's a hard matter for a man to be a painful Preacher a zealous professor a faithful Statesman or a man that has laid out himself for the publick any way but his heart will swell with privy pride therein yea even though he do profess to despise and to disesteem the praise of men § 3. But now more particularly so far as any man does not submit unto the righteousness and the grace of the second Covenant so far he manifests his desire to be still under the first Covenant but all men by nature refuse to submit to the righteousness and the offers of the second Covenant and therefore they desire to continue under the first The Scripture speaks of mens actions and dispositions many times interpretatively not as they are in the intention of the sinner but as they are in truth and in the interpretation of God Prov. 8. ult Men are said to love death all those that hate wisdom and despise Christ and live without him love death Now men will all say that they do hate death but yet in Gods interpretation they hating the only way and means to life they do all of them love death So we read in Ezech. 8.5 They did these abominations that I might go far from my sanctuary It was not their intention in so doing actually and formaliter but interpretative it was because they had set up an image of jealousie in the Sanctuary which would provoke God to remove and yet if they had been asked they would all have said they would by no means have the glory of the Lord to remove So men do not actually desire to be under the first Covenant but yet so long as they reject the offers and the grace of the second so long in Gods interpretation they do desire to be under the Law still and their rejection of the better Covenant offered argues they like and love that under which they are and reject the righteousness of God which is the same which is called the righteousness of Christ and the righteousness of faith as the Apostle says Phil. 3.9 Not having my own righteousness which is of the law but the righteousness which is of God by faith And it 's called the righteousness of God partly because it is found out by God and by God only imputed and therefore is only an act of free grace whereby God will make a sinner righteous before him Rom. 1.17 and partly because Christ offered himself by the eternal spirit without spot to God which is his own Divine nature and so unto all the actions and the sufferings of his Humanity the Godhead gave an efficacy and an excellency even from his person they being all the actions and sufferings of him that was both God and Man And unto this righteousness men through the pride and unbelief of their spirits and contrariety to the Gospel will not submit They have not subjected themselves unto the righteousness of God 1. All a man's sins do stand out and will not submit to the righteousness of God for whoever imbraces the offer of the second Covenant and the grace thereof must take Christ for Sanctification 1 Cor. 1. as well as for Justification for he is made both and he came with water and blood to answer those ways of legal purification and so he must come into every soul but above all sins a mans darling his right hand and his right eye must be parted with and therefore Christ says Joh. 5.44 How can you believe that seek honour one of another The power of any lust in the soul will keep it from believing and accepting of the grace and mercy that 's offered in the second Covenant And so through the power and dominion of sin men cannot submit to the righteousness of God And how miserably is many a man held in captivity this way we all see they are by the snares of darkness led captive by Satan at his will 2. All the gifts and abilities that are in a man are against it for faith is the highest self-denial 2 Cor. 8.2 and gifts do puff up and therefore not many wise are called The wisdom of this world is enmity against God and all their parts and learning their wisdom whether it be natural or acquired doth make them but the stronger enemies and set them the farther off from Christ Hab. 2.4 now this stands in the most direct opposition to faith for that soul that is lifted up his heart is not upright in him In troublesome times to have a mans heart born up by a fleshly prop
The word of the Prophet is but wind and the word of the Lord is not in them it will come upon themselves so let it be done unto themselves let it be eternal judgment that is threatned and men do scoff and say 2 Pet. 3.3 Where is the promise of his coming And the heart of man does from its pride infinitely scorn all those things and goes on with the greater resolution in any evil 4 There is in every lust a principle and root of enmity against God for men naturally are haters of God and enemies to God and there is nothing but lust makes them so Rom. 1.31 Col. 1.31 Now as in every man there is all sin vertually and seminally so there is all sin in every sin and there is in every sin a principle of sin that will produce all manner of iniquity as we may see in the first transgression it was but one sin and one act of sin yet there was in it all manner of defilement that has filled the nature of man with all manner of pollution The sin of the Devils was but one and that a spiritual sin also and it has filled the Devils with all that Devilish malignity that has manifested it self in them ever since Now as there is in every sin a principle of enmity against God so radically and seminally there is in every sin the sin against the Holy Ghost even the great transgression Psal 19.13 even secret sins they do make way for this sin against the Spirit of God Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which is direct enmity against God with despight and revenge and it is opposition that above all things in the world draws it forth and the more clear a mans light is the more spiritual the opposition that is made against him is the sooner the man comes into the great transgression And these are the great grounds in lusts which take occasion from the Commandment the violence of lust the more it is opposed the more it desires and desires by resistance are kindled and increased and from the pride of the heart it raiseth opposition with the greater impatience and resolution come what will come and all this coming from a principle not only of collateral but of direct enmity against God it is with despight and revenge In these sin takes occasion by the Commandment and the opposition thereof improves it and draws it forth As it is in grace affliction improves it and opposition draws it forth temptations and desertions confirm it as there were many acts of grace in Job that had not been drawn forth but by affliction so it is with many of the Saints many men had never been so gracious but by opposition as we see it in Luther and in many of the Martyrs that their Graces rose by their opposition and persecution So many men had never been so wicked as we see it in the Pharisees had they not lived under such glorious means of Grace and so clear Convictions which set bounds to their lusts which made them break out with the greater rage for Christ says to them If I had not come and spoken to you you had had no sin but now there is no cloak for your sin for by the opposition that their lust met with it was drawn forth more impetuously § 2. There is yet a further ground of this irritating power of the Law and that is from the curse of God that is come upon all men under the fall which came not only upon man but upon all things else for mans use and so though it be the curse of the Law yet it comes even upon the Law it self so far as it concerns man as well as upon all the Creatures yea the Lord Christ himself is so far a curse unto men in their sins that as he is a sanctuary to his people so a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence a gin and a snare unto others for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel Luk. 2.34 For judgment says he Isa 8.14 Joh. 9.39 I am come into this world and yet he says in Joh. 12.47 I came not to judge and condemn the world but to save the world This indeed was his intent primarily and per se but the other falls out through the sinfulness of men occasionally and by accident and that which is good in it self does become evil unto the man and that which is a blessing in it self doth to him become a curse so it is with the Gospel and with all the ordinances thereof 't is the savour of life to some but of death unto others the same meat is wholsome nourishment unto some to others it feeds the disease in an unsound body and the same light which is pleasant unto a good and a sound eye is a pain and a trouble to a weak eye which is sore or bloodshot c. And therefore it puts no malignant nor sinful quality into the Law or Gospel or the Ordinances but only these meeting with a man of an unsound spirit do occasionally stir up these corruptions and sinful dispositions which were in the men before and thereby do increase them and by this means it becomes a curse to the man though it be a blessing to the people of God There is a double curse that is come upon all things by the fall 1 They are all of them empty and deceiving 2 They are all of them corrupting and defiling this is the curse that is come upon all the Creatures 1 They do a man no good for they are vanity though a man looks for profit by them yet they profit not Eccles 1.14 and that is one part of the curse that comes on the Law in respect of men that a man shall receive no good by it it shall be but an empty word and it does fall upon a man as rain upon the Wilderness it has laboured in vain as even Christ himself says My work is with the Lord but in vain to the people for they received no good by it but they have sown the wind it is spoken of all their religious services Hos 7.7 they were empty and unprofitable and would do them no good at the last day bring them in no more harvest than a man might expect that did sow but the wind And in Jeremy 't is said They shall not profit this people at all for there is a vanity in Ordinances as well as in Creatures and the staff of the bread of life may be taken away even then when our bread it self may continue c. 2 They are polluting for though all the Creatures can do a man no good yet they can do him much hurt and add to the defilement of his spirit and draw out his sins and ripen them and fill up his measure they can ripen the briers and thorns Heb. 6. and this was all the fruit that many of the Jews had by the Ministery of
be a principle of flesh in you and this principle is sinful contrary to the Law and condemned by the Law yet it shall never prevail to condemn you though it will many times to defile you for you are not under the Law for condemnation they may be and will be matter of your trouble and affliction here but never the matter of your condemnation hereafter And so the meaning is that the godly that have received the spirit of Grace and submit themselves willingly to be acted and guided thereby though they have the remainders of sin in them that deserve death yet they shall never infer death because they are not for the condition of their persons under the Laws condemning power Rom. 8.1 Though there be in the Saints matter of condemnation yet there is in them no actual condemnation There is a second interpretation given of it and that is That though there be remainders of sin contrary lustings within you so that you cannot do the things you would do but all your performances 〈◊〉 blemished and defiled as a Collier and Fuller dwelling in the same house what the one whites the other pollutes Yet this shall not make your services hateful before God shall not hinder their acceptation for you are not under the rigor and conviction of the Law requiring perfect obedience or else it cannot be accepted as it is with all unregenerate men but you are not so under the Law neither shall this contrary principle be wholly able to hinder you in duties for you are not under the Law constraining you and forcibly compelling unto duty without giving you strength to perform it but you have a spirit within you as well as a rule without you the one directing and the other assisting and inabling Both these will make one compleat sense and are for consolation to the condition of those that are in Christ that though corruptions may remain in them yet they shall never prevail against them to their condemnation neither shall they hinder their acceptation with the Lord in the midst of all their failings We must consider that the dispensations of God to every man are according to the Covenant under which he stands and the administrations of both Covenants are ever since the fall in the hand of Christ as Mediator he dispenseth the Curse of the first Covenant as well as the Grace of the second and at the day of Judgment it is the Man Christ Jesus that shall say to the wicked Go you cursed as well as to the Saints Come you blessed c. Now for the administration of all things according to this great trust Jesus Christ as Mediator has received the spirit as a spirit of union and a spirit of unction and this spirit is the viceroy or prorex that works all the works and all the administrations of Christ in this great Kingdom only he dispenses this spirit to some as a Lord and to others as a head unto some only as a spirit of qualification for service unto others as a spirit of sanctification for their Salvation So that all that Christ does he does by the spirit and answerable unto the condition of the person so is the spirit that works in him all is wrought suitably unto the Covenant under which he stands if the man be under the first Covenant he is a bondman for his Covenant genders unto bondage and all the works of the spirit of God in that man are only the works of bondage and this spirit is a spirit of fear There is a double spirit by which wicked men are acted there is a spirit of the world that works effectually in the children of disobedience the strong man armed keeps the house and they are taken by him as beasts taken alive and led captive at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 and this spirit does act them wholly in most of the acts of their lives but God has reserved unto himself a Judicature in the man and that is Conscience but this commonly works not there is a fearedness a spirit of slumber and senslesness a being past feeling that sin has brought upon it but sometimes the spirit of God comes into the Court of Conscience and awakens it and then it speaks in Gods name unto the man and therefore it is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Conscience and it is always a co-witness Rom. 9.1 A renewed Conscience can never work of it self nor witness of it self neither does a natural Conscience but as it is acted by the spirit of God Now if the man be in the condition of a servant the spirit does witness unto him and speaks in his Conscience nothing but fear and bondage and therefore it is called answerable to the condition of the man a spirit of bondage But if the man be under the second Covenant and in the condition of a son then the spirit does speak peace favour and acceptance unto him and liberty and is a spirit of Sonship Not that in a godly man there is never any thing else spoken but from Rom. 8.15 where the Apostle says You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba father I conclude The Spirit of God never speaks bondage to a godly man that he is in a state of bondage and death and binding a man over to wrath again though sometimes God leaving a man unto the spirit of Satan he may speak so in his heart and tell him he is unregenerate and then the darkness of a mans own spirit may be apt to gather such conclusions but the Spirit of God does never speak any thing unto a Saint concerning his eternal state but liberty after his translation out of the first Covenant Every regenerate man having received the Spirit of Christ and his Covenant being changed this spirit has undertaken to be dux viae his guide Joh. 16. to lead him on in his way till he comes to glory Now a man that is in Christ and has received the Spirit of Christ and is led by that Spirit Rom. 8.14 that man is not under the Law neither for condemnation nor for coaction therefore every man that is out of Christ and not led by this Spirit but has received a spirit of bondage he is under the Law both these ways § 2. Hence we observe Doct. Tom. 4. p. 87. That every man that is out of Christ is under the coaction and rigor of the Law Austin upon this place in the Galatians makes a fourfold state of man 1 Ante legem before the Law when a man did sin without the knowledg of sin and committed it without restraint or controul and so it is with many men that lay the reins upon their lusts necks 2 Sub lege under the law c. when a man does strive against sin his Conscience being convinced that it is sin but yet he is over-come though he does strive 3
the Covenant as broken while they do so continue have no more benefit by a Priest than the Devils have only to man there is a possibility and not unto them but the second Covenant is a Covenant with a Priest and there is a threefold office of a Priest 1 He does present their persons for he stands in their steads he bears their names two ways upon his heart and upon his shoulders 2 He offers a sacrifice for their sins and does carry the blood into the most holy place and doth sprinkle it before the Mercy-seat 3 He presents their requests and desires unto the Father together with his own upon the same Altar of the Godhead which is the Golden Altar Heb. 7.22 for he ever lives to make intercession for us 4. In the Covenant of Works there is matter of glorying and boasting in a mans self if a man abide in the Covenant and the reward is of debt Rom 4.1 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indeed Adam might have come into the presence of God and have said Lord I have fulfilled thy Commandment I have done thy whole will c. And as the Lord Jesus Christ did I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do now glorifie me with thy self now justifie me bestow upon me the grace and life that thou hast promised c. But under the second Covenant there is no place for either there is no debt for all is of grace to give the will and the deed and to pardon the failings and defects of any thing we do that we are accepted it is meerly of Grace And there is no boasting for all is done by the strength of another and through the acceptance of another For Christ is made to us Wisdom and Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption that he that glories may glory in the Lord 1 Cor. 1.30 And so boasting is excluded by what law not by the law of works but by the law of faith Rom. 3.27 For the soul says Ephes 2.9 I was in the same condemnation with them that perish and the Lord had mercy upon me because mercy pleases him not for mine own righteousness but according to his own mercy he saveth us Tit. 3.4 5. Now it is impossible therefore for a man to be under both Covenants because the terms and â—he conditions of the one are contrary and destroy the other § 5. It may be asked Quest Whether a godly man while he lives here having a double principle the one from the first Adam and the other from the second Adam he may not also have a double Covenant state and a double Image partly the Image of the first and partly the Image of the second Adam partly of the earthly and partly of the heavenly Why may not a man also say that so far as he is flesh he is under the Covenant of Works but so far as he is regenerate he is under a Covenant of Grace For so some of our Divines have spoken of late Consider a regenerate man in his natural being and so he is ever under the Law and as often as he sinneth is under the sentence of death but as he is in Christ so he is free from the Law by Grace c. A godly man has a double principle and this doth argue a double image Answ and the corrupt principle that is within him is a remainder of the image of the old Adam and the gracious principle is the image of the second Adam begun in him But yet this cannot infer a double Covenant because the Image respects his nature but the Covenant does respect his Person Now it is with a man as it is with Christ there are two natures in him and they have two properties the one eternal and the other in time the one is infinite and the other finite the one mortal and the other immortal but if we look upon his Sonship that is but one because it respects his Person filiatio est suppositi filiati filiation is of a person so though a man have two very different natures in him of flesh and spirit the one from Christ and the other from Satan and in the one a man does resemble God and in the other the Devil yet they argue not two Covenants quia faedus pertinet ad suppositum the Covenant belongs to the person 2. A double Image may stand together and though indeed they seek to destroy each other the flesh lusting against the spirit because they are contrary yet it shall not prevail But the two Covenants do actually necessarily and immediately destroy each other because the terms are contrary and therefore unless a man may stand righteous before God in his own righteousness and in the righteousness of Christ at once unless he may be an heir of the Curse and of the Promise unless he may be justified and condemned unless his sins may be pardoned and his righteousness imputed unless he may appear before God in himself and in another he cannot be said to be under both Covenants for the terms of the Covenant are such that they do necessarily destroy each other 3. The change of a mans Covenant is a legal act an act of God upon a mans being once in Christ God does account a man as one under the Law no more as God did count Abraham righteous and counted him the father of the faithful so that it is an act of God without a man and upon him and this is perfect and may be at once and a man is truly translated out of the Covenant of Works the first day of his conversion and shall never be looked upon as one under that Covenant more Phil. 1.6 but there is a good work in a man which is the change of a mans Image and that is perfected by degrees and therefore the remainders of the old image do remain and as God does make the Covenant of Works from which a man is delivered a servant to the Covenant of Grace so he does the remainders of the old image in a man also SECT III. The APPLICATION Vse 1 § 1. THe Use is of Examination whether a mans Covenant be changed or no and whether he be translated out of the first Covenant There is no change of a mans Covenant but by union with Christ for the Covenants were made with a double head the first and the second Adam and it is our union with them that brings us under their Covenant A man comes not under the Covenant of the Angels he has not the righteousness of the good nor the sins of the bad Angels imputed because he is not one with them he that is in the first Adam is still under his Covenant and he that is in the second Adam is translated from the first Adam Rom. 8. 1 Joh. 3.24 Rom. 8.9 Now how should a man know whether he be one with Christ or no for he that is in Christ is no more under the Law as a Covenant
do him no good for they are all of them added unto the Covenant of Grace as signes and seals thereof In the ordinance of Baptism there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 3.21 an answer 1 Pet. 3.21 which I take to be an allusion to the ancient manner of John Baptist Luk. 3.10 the people asked him and what shall we do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereby implying a willingness to engage themselves unto those practices of repentance and those duties of reformation unto which John did baptize them whence arose that ancient form in the Church in baptizing persons by propounding unto them Questions concerning Faith Repentance renouncing the World the Flesh and the Devil and their solemn engagement and stipulation thereunto which if it were in truth and from a good conscience the person was truly baptized in the sight of God or else he was only baptized with water and no more So what was circumcision but a sign and a seal of the Covenant which if it did reach unto the heart it was circumcision Gen. 17.13 else their circumcision became uncircumcision for the men were not in Covenant with God therefore Jer. 9.25 I will punish all them that are circumcised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jer. 9.25 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Omnes circumcises in praeputio so it is in the Original and so Montanus and others do render it all that are circumcised in uncircumcision Now it is by the Learned observed that the Nations there named did thus circumcise but being a people out of covenant with God it was no circumcision unto them and though they were circumcised yet they were in uncircumcision still and so the Jews they were circumcised and in an outward Covenant but yet their hearts did not consent and therefore though they were circumcised in flesh yet they were not circumcised in heart So for the Sacrament of the Lords Supper it is the New Testament in the Blood of Christ Mat. 26. Zach. 9.12 and this blood is the blood of the Covenant and therefore if thou be a man out of the Covenant thou hast no right to it it can do thee no good but hurt all thy days As Cyprian de Lapsis hath a story of one that when the people of God were receiving the Sacrament came secretly in amongst them to receive it also Ausus est latenter accipere he durst take it secretly and having taken the bread in his hand Cinerem se ferre apertis manibus invenit opening his hand he found it turned into ashes and so Gratia salutaris in cinerem imo in venenum fugiente sanctitate mutatur the salutarie grace is turned into ashes yea poyson c. And therefore if such a man receive the Sacrament he takes the name of God in vain for in Gods account he did never receive it because it is a seal of the Covenant of Grace and he remains still under the covenant of works 4 All the motions of the Spirit of God as the giving of the Spirit doth belong to the second Covenant This is the Covenant says the Lord that I will make with them Isa 5.9 ult my spirit that is upon them c. And it is the Gospel that is the ministration of the Spirit for it is Christ the Prince of the Covenant that doth send the Spirit and what is the end of the Spirits coming it is only to advance the Covenant of Grace He shall take of mine says Christ and shew it unto you that he may bring you into Union with Christ and so into Covenant with God by him and therefore it is the Spirit of the second Covenant and the healing motions and strivings and impressions of the Spirit of God with man are all to this end to bring them within the bounds of the Covenant and though they may receive many gifts and common graces and common works yet the Spirit is grieved resisted and quenched if this great work be not wrought that the spirit may become a spirit of adoption and all those glorious works of the Spirit as a witness as a seal and as an earnest they do all come under the second Covenant and belong to the spirit as the spirit of the Gospel 5 If thou be not translated into the Covenant of Grace thou art left in a remediless condition for thy first Covenant being broken does bring thee under a curse and there is but one remedy against the sting of the Serpent and that 's the brazen Serpent there 's no avoiding the curse of the Covenant but by being translated out of it and this translation thou wilt not accept of therefore thou art in a helpless condition for thy disease is mortal of it self and thou wilt not accept of a remedy and so thou art left to the punishment of the first Covenants curse Joh. 3.33 He that believes not the wrath of God abides upon him not comes upon him only but abides upon him There is ira transiens and ira permanens transient wrath and permanent wrath All sin brings a man under wrath but there is no sin leaves a man under wrath but unbelief because a man will not accept of peace and reconciliation that is made to him And let me tell thee O soul whoever thou art in such a condition thy misery will be so much the greater that thou hast had a second Covenant offered and yet despisest it and in this Sodom and Gomorrah will come in against thee and will condemn thee for if they had had the offers that thou hast had they would have accepted of them yet thou hast rejected them nay the Devils themselves will be brought in against thee for thy condemnation and in this as thy sin is greater so will thy judgment be for they never had an offer of any terms of peace made to them they found themselves shut up under wrath without hope but thou hast had offers and hopes all thy days and this will be matter for that never-dying worm to feed upon at the last and great day when the soul shall reflect seriously upon its by-past life I neglected hopes and possibility and it 's now unrecoverable though there was a time that the offers of mercy were made to me and treaties of Grace made with me by the common works of the Spirit of God which I rejected mercy was upon her knees to me and I had as great possibility and probability to have found mercy as any other there are some that lived under the same Ordinances and offers of Grace with me and many of them had never the opportunities that I have had and yet I see them sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God and I am left out And this will be the great misery of many I may say of most of the children of the Kingdom they that live in the Church at the last and great day § 3. We may hence see the
King should at first make a Proclamation unto Rebels that they should live if they would accept of pardon and then afterward should publish a new one that they that would live should keep the Law either a man would conclude that the King had called in his former Proclamation and made it null or else would have them both stand together and so it is here God did at first promise righteousness and life to be had by believing and afterwards he did publish a Law requiring duty Surely either the Lord did repent of the former and so that Covenant is become of no effect or else it seems he would have both joined together and man should be justified and saved partly by doing and partly by believing Now to this objection the Apostle answers Answ 1 Gods intention in giving the Law was not thereby to make the promise â—oid and of none effect for God did purpose to justifie the Heathen by faith and the inâ—eritance is still by promise the Covenant made with Abraham was a Covenant established by an Oath that nothing should arise de novo to make an alteration in it 2 Gods intention was not to join the Law and the Promise together in the matter of Justification and life because they be quite cross and contrary one to another therefore by the righteousness of the Law no man can be justified in the sight of God they do directly deâ—â—oy each other if the inheritance be by the Law it is no more of promise and therefore 〈◊〉 man can be justified by both 3 Yet God having revealed the Law after the Promise and seeing he will have them â—oth to be perpetual and lasting they must stand together and a way must be found out â—ow they may and not cross one another nor destroy or disanul each other for the Law 〈◊〉 not against the promise of God God forbid we should think so then if they cannot and together in a way of ingrediency they may very well in a way of subserviency if not 〈◊〉 co-ordination they may in subordination both tending to honour the Mercy and Grace of â—od in his Son the one primarily and the other secondarily as an appendix or an additiâ— thereunto And so much the Text does clearly manifest 1 In that it 's said the Law was added was an appurtenance to something else and was not set up as that way alone by which men â—â—e to attain righteousness and life now added by way of conjunction it cannot be they câ—â—not mix together and be concauses of the same thing and in the same kind therefore it must be by way of subordination the one as the principal the other as the accessary or additional 2 It is said that the Law was given in the hand of a Mediator that is by the ministry of a Mediator 1 Moses was the Typical or the Notional Mediator for he stood between God and the people in receiving of the Law Deut. 5.5 and Christ was the real and universal Mediator And hence it will appear that it was not set up alone as a Covenant of Works as 〈◊〉 was at first for that was faedus amicitiae a Covenant of friendship when God and man â—ere not at variance when man stood before God in his own righteousness and there was 〈◊〉 difference nor variance between God and him for a Mediator is not a Mediator of one tâ—erefore God giving it in the hand of a Mediator doth clearly manifest that he did not set it up as a Covenant alone 2 The real Mediator was Christ though Moses Typical and Christ did not by his Ministry bring in this Covenant of the Law to make void the Covenant of Grace which was the better Covenant of which he was appointed Mediator the Covenant that was made with him as the seed and with all the Saints in him Ver. 16. Seeing therefore these two must stand together and the former cannot be disanulled by the latâ—er hence then it must needs be inferred that Gods intention was in publishing the Law to â—o it in subordination unto the Gospel and the second Covenant and that so it is to stand â—nd to be made use of by the Saints Hence the Doctrine that lies before us is this 〈◊〉 Doct. That for all those that are in Christ God has made the first Covenant subordiâ—ate unto the second The whole use of the Law unto the Saints and of all the parts of it is â—hat it may be a servant to the Gospel and as to be freed from the Law standing alone as a Covenant is the greatest part of a mans Christian liberty so to have the Law of God pressed â—pon the new Covenant and standing in subordination to the Gospel as a servant is a great â—art of a Christians dignity and a right understanding and apprehension of both these opens 〈◊〉 very great door unto all Gospel-mysteries § 2. Now that I may be understood we are to consider that the Law is taken in Scripture two ways as it was given by God upon Mount Sinai for a double end 1 It is taken largely Jer. 31.33 2 Cor. 3.3 for the whole Doctrine delivered by God upon Mount Sinai with the Precepts and the Promises thereof and so Grace is the Law written in the heart it is the Epistle of Christ ministred by us 2 It is taken strictly setting down an exact rule of righteousness and promising life upon condition of personal and perfect obedience And so the Apostle says Rom. 10.5 6. That the law is not of faith the righteousness of the law speaketh in this manner he that doth them shall live in them Now if we take the Moral Law as given upon Mount Sinai in the first sense so it is a Covenant of Grace but if we take it in the latter sense so it is a Covenant of Works for the Lords intention in giving the Law was double unto the carnal Jews to set forth to them the old Covenant which they had broken and yet unto the believing Jews it did darkly shadow and set forth unto them the Covenant of Grace made with Christ and therefore it was not only delivered as a rule of righteousness but in the form and terms of a Covenant this do and thou shalt live 1 In the first sense the Law given upon Mount Sinai was a Covenant of Grace for this Law does teach them 1 That the Lord was their God now since man sinned God is the God of none but in Christ 2 This Law did set forth God to them as shewing mercy pardoning iniquity not visiting iniquity a God forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and there is no pardon but under a second Covenant 3 All the Sacrifices they were Types of Christ and they were commanded in the second Commandment and they did all belong unto the Covenant of Grace and did shew that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins and God did ratifie this Covenant by blood which he
sprinkled upon the Book and upon all the people and all things under the Law were cleansed and sanctified by blood Exod. 24.23 therefore the Law in the administration of it unto them was never intended by God to set forth a Covenant of Works but it was a Covenant of Grace and is usually called a Covenant Deut. 29.10 11. They stood to enter into Covenant with God that he might establish them to be a people to himself and that he might be unto them a God Deut. 26.17 18 Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and he hath avouched thee to be his people So that the Law was given by Moses in Gods intention plainly as a Covenant of Grace unto all those that were able to look upon the intent of God therein 2 But yet the Lords intention was also that it should be a copy of the Covenant of Works that God made with Adam before his fall which was never wholly blotted out of the mind of man because God would not have that wholly to perish and be forgotten and therefore it was delivered after a sort in the form of the Covenant of Works and in this respect the Lord has made it a handmaid to the Gospel not that the Lord did intend it for a Covenant of Works as if men should attain righteousness and life thereby but as faedus subserviens a subservient Covenant as that which in this manner God would make use of to advance the ends of the Gospel and the new Covenant By all this you see that the Covenant of which Circumcision was a sign and a seal was not the Covenant of Works but was the same that was made with Abraham because the Covenant was the same Circumcision was the seal of the righteousness of Faith and continued amongst the Jews in this Covenant and that Covenant that binds to the observation of the Ceremonial as well as the Moral Law is not a Covenant of Works but the Covenant made upon Mount Sinai did bind to the Ceremonial Law also nor was the Covenant that God made with Moses a Covenant of Works for Moses was Heb. 11.23 a Believer but Exod. 34.27 it is called the Covenant which I made with thee and with all Israel when I stood before the Lord forty days and he wrote the words of the Covenant the ten Commandments But more particularly the Lord did intend to make the Law given upon Mount Sinai a copy of the Covenant of Works and to be materially and for substance the same that he did make with Adam and with all mankind in him in the state of his integrity 1. Death reigned from Adam till Moses Rom. 5. Gen. 4. ult and therefore sin came in and we see that murder was a sin in Cain and publick worship was a duty Men did begin to call upon the name of the Lord so that the Law was in the World before Moses and it was not only written in the hearts of men 2 Pet. 2.5 So Beza Gen. 6.5 but it was taught in the publick Ministery before Moses for Noah was the Preacher of Righteousness and in the Ministry of the Word we know that the Spirit of God did strive with men Gen. 6.3 The word in the Hebrew is to strive in judgment and by way of argument for conviction so that the Law was given to Adam and Noah and Abraham as well as unto Moses and was for substance the same 2. It is given in the form of a Covenant of Works with a this do and thou shalt live and so it was afterwards by Christ and by the Prophets also preached it was to the carnal Jews plainly a Covenant of Works not in Gods intention but by their own corruption they going about to establish their own righteousness Rom. 10.3 and not subjecting themselves to the righteousness of God it is set forth to them as a Covenant of Works Now if the Lord will not give it as a Covenant why does he not propound it as a rule and lay down the precepts without any such terms of a Covenant as if men should attain life by it when he did never intend to deliver it as a Covenant in which men should attain life by doing but by believing Thus the Lord did that the terms of the first Covenant might be promulgated to the World and that they that did still desire to be under the Law might not plead ignorance of the terms that God required in the Law if they did expect life and happiness thereby 3. Though I say it be for substance and materially the same yet in many circumstances it differs from Adams Covenant for this was a Covenant of such promises and sanctions annexed to it as were not in the Covenant made with Adam and a Covenant confirmed by blood and thereby sanctified which Adams Covenant never had and therefore though it did for substance agree yet in many things there was a difference This Covenant given unto Adam in a state of Innocency and for substance renewed upon Mount Sinai when it was by sin wholly obliterated and blotted out God has made a handmaid or foedus subserviens a Covenant subservient to the Gospel it is Hagar Gal. 4.23 but the Covenant of Grace is Sarah and it is given in the hand of a Mediator not only by Moses but by Christ also for Christ delivered the Law to them Act. 7.38 Moses was in the Wilderness with the Angel who spake to him in Mount Sinai and with our fathers and what Angel was it but Christ he that saith I am the God of Abraham and he that was also tempted in the Wilderness and the Apostle says We are come to Jesus whose voice then shook the earth in the giving of the Law 1 Cor. 10.4 Heb. 12.25 26. it was his voice and then by an enumeration of particulars how the Lord has made every part of the Law as it is materially the first Covenant a servant to the Gospel for the discovery of sin the Law entred that the offence might abound and the Apostle says Rom. 5.20 I had not known sin but by the Law and also for the conviction of Conscience and the imputation of sin Rom. 5.13 sin is not imputed where there is no Law and for the condemnation of sin that it may be a Schoolmaster to bring the sinner unto Christ the avenger of blood Gal. 3.10 a killing letter and the ministration of death to kill them and hew them and it restrains sin and puts a bridle upon a man and is a means of conversion the curse of the Law is sanctified and the threatnings sweet when the curse is taken out death has no sting the grave has no victory and it is to all under the second Covenant a rule a companion and a counsellor The Law is to be considered as I told you two ways 1 Largely as containing all the Doctrine delivered upon Mount Sinai and all things that may
be reduced thereunto even the whole Doctrine of Moses so it is distinguished from the Prophets the Law came by Moses 2 Strictly for the precepts of the Moral Law Mat. 11.13 Joh. 1.17 as holding forth a perfect rule of righteousness and as promising life upon the terms of perfect and personal obedience thereunto and so the Apostle takes it in Rom. 10.5 The righteousness which is of the Law is thus described The man that doth these things shall live in them If we take the Law in the first sense it was a Covenant of Grace darkly revealed for therein God did enter into Covenant with that Church and State and unto all the Saints that were in Christ it was a Covenant of Grace 1. That the Law was given upon Mount Sinai as a Covenant cannot be denied for the Scripture does plainly call it so Deut. 4.12 13. The Lord spake unto you says Moses out of the middle of the fire and he declared unto you the Covenant which he commanded you to perform even ten Commandments and he writ them upon two tables of stone And Deut. 5.2 3. The Lord our God made a Covenant with us in Horeb he made not this Covenant with our fathers but with us even with us who are here alive this day the Lord talked with you face to face in the Mount out of the middle of the fire It was the same Covenant that God before made with Abraham for the substance of it but when it is said not to be made with their fathers it is to be understood only of the form and manner of the promulgation in that clear and glorious manner and taking a Nation into Covenant with himself in a publick eminent and solemn manner And it had all the parts of a Covenant there are two things make up a Covenant 1 Direction of something to be done by both parties something that they are bound unto and so the Law is the rule of the Covenant 2 There is a Sanction which is the consent and agreement of both parties binding themselves each to other and therein properly does the formality of a Covenant lye Now they were both in this here was a rule and therefore they are said to transgress the Covenant that is the precept or rule of the Covenant as Deut. 17.2 and here was a sanction or a promise you shall be my people and all good things were promised them And when the Lord does fulfill his promise he is said then to establish his Covenant Deut. 8.18 and to remember his Covenant So that the Law was given upon Mount Sinai not barely as a Law but it was given also in a Covenant-way 2. This Covenant was a Covenant of Grace 1 That Covenant wherein God promises to be our God since the fall is a Covenant of Grace but so he doth in this I am the Lord thy God 2 That Covenant which does hold forth pardon of sin is a Covenant of Grace but so does this set forth God as shewing mercy to thousands pardoning mercy for it stands in opposition unto visiting of iniquity 3 Circumcision was a seal of the Covenant of Grace Rom. 4.11 this was a seal of the Covenant upon Mount Sinai He that is circumcised is a debter to the whole Law Gal. 5.3 c. 4 That Covenant that was confirmed and ratified by blood was a Covenant of Grace but so was this Covenant that God made with Israel upon Mount Sinai Exod. 24.3 See Buckley of the Covenant He took the book of the Covenant and read it in the audience of the people and they said all What the Lord has said will we do And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people and said Behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord made with you 5 That Covenant that binds to the observation of the Ceremonial Law that is a Covenant of Grace for the Ceremonies were all Types of Christ and shadows of good things to come and the body is Christ The first Covenant had Ordinances of Divine service Heb. 9.1 and a worldly Sanctuary it is spoken of the Covenant made upon Mount Sinai and they were all of them enjoined in the second Commandment 6 The Covenant made in the hand of a Mediator was not a Covenant of Works for that was foedus amicitiae a Covenant of friendship that was made between God and man he being perfect and needing no Mediator Gal. 3.19 but this was given in the hand of a Mediator and therefore it was of Grace But if we consider the Law strictly so it contains the sum of the Covenant of Works which God did therefore reveal because it was even wholly obliterated and blotted out of the mind of man and therefore it was speculum primitivae hominis justitiae c. a glass of the primitive righteousness of man And unto all men out of Christ in an unregenerate state it remains as a Covenant of Works binding them to personal and perfect obedience if they hope to attain life 1 The Moral Law is the same to the sinner out of Christ that it was unto Christ the Surety for what it was to the Surety that it was to the sinner for he did put his name into our bond only in us it was necessary in him voluntary But Gal. 4.4 the Law was unto Christ a Covenant of Works therefore to every sinner out of Christ it remains so 2 That which teaches us Justification and life by doing that is a Covenant of Works but so does the Law strictly taken and it is therefore opposed unto the Gospel there is the righteousness of the Law and the righteousness of the Gospel 3 The Curse under which all unregenerate men are Rom. 3.20 Gal. 3.1 2. is the curse of the Moral Law but that is the curse of the Covenant of Works therefore the Moral Law is a Covenant of Works Gal. 3.13 Gal. 4.5 Gal. 4.23 24. 4 Therefore the Apostle makes it a distinct Covenant from the Covenant of Grace The Law thus taken strictly as a copy of the Covenant that God made with Adam and containing the sum of the Covenant of Works and being delivered in the form of this Covenant this Covenant has the Lord made subservient and subordinate unto the Covenant of Grace as Hagar to Sarah SECT II. The Subservience of the Law as it discovers Sin § 1. THE first part of the Subserviency of the Law is in point of Sin and so it has a threefold use or end There is a threefold use of the Law subservient to the Gospel Joh. 12. subordinate to the Gospel and the Grace thereof 1 As it is a looking-glass to reveal sin 2 As it is a bridle to restrain sin and in both these it is a servant to the Gospel 3 As a Judge to condemn it and the man for it There is one that judges you even Moses c. 1. The Law is a glass to discover sin it is called
gives up himself unto it as the perfect law of liberty that wherein his happiness lyes this is that which makes the yoke easie and the Commandment not grievous and the ground of it is because the Law is written in his heart and this is to serve Christ in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter not barely to have a duty in the letter injoined which is that which only prevails with other men to perform duty whilst all that is in their heart is against it they do it and yet hate the duty when done and the Law that injoins it but here is the Spirit of God renewing and working in a man such dispositions of heart which answer the duties of the Law in all things so that a man loves the duties and the Law that commands them as setting him about a service that he is pleased with so that it is the Law that is the yoke of Christ and it is writing it in his heart that makes it an easie yoke In putting the Law as a rule into a mans heart the Spirit of God doth let a man see 1 The Holiness of the nature of God Ephes 4.24 for man was in this created after God neither did the Creature behold the Holiness of God any other way than in the Law which doth forbid the least blemish and defilement all filthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Herein a man sees the glory that was stampt upon him in his creation for his heart was nothing else but a perfect copy of this Law created in it and in this conformity in his inward man to the Law of God did this image principally if not wholly consist 3 This is a perfect resemblance of the Holiness that was in the humane nature of Christ in whom the Law was fulfilled for there was no sin in him He knew no sin neither was guile found in his mouth he was a lamb without spot or blemish he was a living Law 4 This is a perfect copy of that conformity unto God that is in the Saints and souls of just men made perfect When he shall appear we shall be like him 1 Joh. 3.2 The law of his mind shall be perfected and the law of the members wholly destroyed Now we are conformable to the will of God but in some degrees for that perfectio graduum perfection of degrees is to come but the Spirit of God will go over our hearts and write more and more of this Law in us till we be made in all things answerable thereunto And in our conformity to the Law glory being nothing else but Grace perfected shall our conformity unto God in Heaven be where we shall not be like God in part as here we are but shall be wholly conformable to him which is the perfection which we strive for and aspire unto and therefore the Scripture calls this our perfection Paul saith 2 Cor. 13.9 I long for your perfection that is a perfect writing of the Law in the heart and this fits a man for Gospel-Ordinances and the perfection hereof is the reward of the Gospel for the Law written in the heart is the foundation of all obedience unto the Law and the perfect writing the Law in the heart is the highest reward of all the Promises and all the obedience of the Gospel § 2. As the Law is a rule within being planted there by the Spirit given in the second Covenant which does change a mans nature and doth give a man inward dispositions suitable thereunto a law of the mind so is the law a rule to guide and direct a man in his way unto which all the Saints are to give heed from which they are to learn their duties and by which they are to judge of all the ways of God and the ways of the world the Law is added unto the Gospel Fides efficit quod lex imperat as the rule to the hand of the workman the rule is able to do nothing of it self it is a dead thing it is the hand only that does the work and if the hand can do nothing aright without the rule the Law can work nothing being dead without the Grace of the Gospel that only inabling a man to perform all acts of obedience and yet the Grace of the Gospel does inable a man to no other obedience but that of which the Law is the rule Christ himself tells us that his intention in coming was not to destroy the Law of God or put an end to it or make it void Mat. 5.17 Think not that I come to destroy the Law or the Prophets and interpreters of the Law Now there are in the Law but three things to be considered either it is for Justification for Condemnation or for Direction Now for Justification unto all that are in Christ it is by Christ abolished no man is justified by the works of the Law but by the Grace of Jesus Christ and for condemnation also for he hath delivered us from the curse of the Law and was made a curse for us There remains now no other proper use of the Law but for Direction as it is a rule and therefore either Christ has destroyed it wholly or else he will have it remain in this last sense and so the next vers 18. tells us Heaven and earth shall sooner pass away and the whole frame of this world fall to pieces before the Law shall pass away therefore it doth remain for Direction unto the Saints unto the end of the world So Rom. 3.31 the Gospel does not destroy but establish the Law the word in the Greek doth signifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to strengthen and make a thing firm that was falling before so by the sin of man the Law became weak through the flesh neither to be fulfill'd in the precept of it or the curse but men must be for ever satisfying it now the Gospel comes and it makes the Law firm 1 In our Surety for in him is the precept fulfilled and the curse born he did fulfill all righteousness 2 In us because by the Grace of the Gospel we do attain strength in some measure to obey the Law which is encreased more and more till in our nature and actions we shall be made perfectly conformable unto the Law in Heaven and so the righteousness of the Law perfectly fulfilled in us the Lord perfecting his good work that he has begun in the day of the Lord so that the Law remains as a rule to Believers being not abolished but established by the Gospel 2. The Gospel sends us unto the Law as a rule of duty Luk. 16.30 31. They have Moses and the Prophets the Law and the Expositions of the Law and the Lord requires Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul as well under the Gospel as under the Law And Jam. 1.25 He that looks into the perfect Law of
liberty and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word and therefore Jam. 2.8 we are exhorted to fulfill the royal Law and to keep the precepts of the Law and to walk in them The whole Law as to its second Table is fulfilled in this one word Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self and for this cause Christ in his first Sermon frees it from its corrupt glosses and interpretation of the Pharisees and restores it unto its spiritual sense because it was to be of a perpetual use in the Church of God and it is so perfect a rule that Christ added no new precept to it but only interpreted and expounded the Law and restored it unto its primitive and original glory 3. Christ has left us an example and he is unto us not only the principle of holiness from whence it is derived Mat. 11.29 Phil. 2.5 but also the pattern to which it is conformed Joh. 13.15 Now the acts of Christ were of two sorts 1 Acts of Office as he was a Mediator by which he merited of God the Father pardon and acceptation for us and so we cannot imitate him but there are 2 acts of Moral obedience which he did as our Mediator and as our Pattern and in these we are to follow Christ unto this day for his whole life was nothing else but a spiritual Commentary upon the Law of God and herein we must be followers of all men as they follow Christ because there is a defect in all mens conformity to the Law but so there was not in Christ Joh. 4.3 4. So far as we come short of it even the best of the Saints we sin for what is sin but a transgression of the Law therefore to the Saints the Law is a rule of obedience or else they should never transgress it and if a man would try and examine his ways he must bring it to the rule for it is a rule for examination Adam was bound to the Law and therefore his least transgression was a sin and we are bound as strictly as Adam was and so far as a justified person comes short of universal obedience unto the whole Law he sins as well as Adam in the state of innocency only in the Gospel by the Mediation of Christ the sin is pardoned Therefore under the Gospel there is no other rule of obedience but the Law of God and every sin is a transgression thereof Christ came into the world to be made a curse for sin but not a cloak for it the Saints are bound to the Law under the danger of committing sin though not under the danger of incurring death and therefore sin is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a transgression and Christ when he would shew a sin has recourse to the Law and also in all his temptations and so Act. 23.5 some expound that of Paul I wist not brethren that he was the high Priest because it is written Thou shalt not curse the ruler of thy people c. 5. The Law hath all the properties of a rule 1 It is recta right the Law of the Lord is holy and perfect Psal 19. 2 Nota known it is promulgated and made known in the authority of God himself I have written to them the great things of my Law and they have counted it a strange thing 3 Adaequata answerable unto the thing to be measured by it and so is this Law spiritual Rom. 7. and gives laws to the spirits of men and to their words and their actions there is no case can fall out that there is not a rule to be found for it in the word Psal 119.96 were our eyes opened to behold the wonders that are there I have seen an end of all perfections but thy law is exceeding broad In all the laws of men we can look beyond them but there is a latitude here Psal 119. that we cannot reach it was to David his counseller and it is such a counseller that you cannot put that case to it that it cannot resolve and fully clear if thou give ear unto it when thou walkest by the way it shall lead thee and when thou risest up it shall walk with thee as a friend and counseller 6. That is the rule of obedience to a man in this life by which God will judge him in the life to come and according to which he will reward him Rom. 2. They that have sinned under the law shall be judged by the Law as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse Joh. 12. There is one that judges you even Moses in whom you trust And Paul says The Lord will judge men according to my Gospel And the greater Grace there is rejected the greater shall their judgement be but the curse that is executed upon wicked men in Hell is the curse of the Law which the Lord Christ did undergo for those that are his and the reward both here and hereafter is very great in keeping of them there is great reward in this life the fruit is unto holiness and in the end everlasting life And though the Law be to all unregenerate men a Covenant of Works and a curse of the same Covenant made with Adam yet this is made a handmaid unto the Gospel and is the only rule of all Gospel or new obedience the strength to perform it is from the Gospel but the duties to be performed are from the Law the ability to walk is from the Gospel but the way in which we must walk is the way of the Lords precepts Objections answered § 3. There are some Objections against this that are necessary to be cleared not that I desire to enter upon a Controversie or a Polemical discourse but because it will help us to understand many Scriptures and so happily free us from many snares in which men are sometimes taken Object 1 Mat. 11.13 Luk. 16.16 It is said That the Law and the Prophets were till John since the Kingdom of God is preached and every man presseth into it therefore the Law was to last no longer and is not therefore as you say to be preached as a servant unto the Gospel because its service and its prophecie is ended for in John Baptists time it did expire it lasted so long and no longer Answ 1. It cannot be the meaning that the Law and the Prophets were to cease Luc. 16.17 and to be wholly abolished for Christ immediately confirms them and says Heaven and earth shall sooner pass away than a tittle of the Law shall pass which words are added as Interpreters generally observe to prevent that objection against or misinterpretation of this Doctrine of Christ the Law and the Prophets were till John but yet mistake me not as if I would be understood acsi post haec lex in ecclesia exauctoratae esset as if henceforward the Law should be abrogated Cartwr for Heaven and Earth shall sooner pass than
unnecessary He that appointed the city of refuge did as necessarily appoint an avenger of blood to pursue or else men vvould not have fled unto that city Will you say this is preaching damnation and driving men to despair vvas it not preached by Christ whose heart was so full of love and thoughts of Grace and who wept over Jerusalem he preached the Law and published it for his seeds sake Truly when we preach the Law we preach Salvation and not damnation intentionally the Lord did deliâ—er the Law for Salvation to serve the ends of the Gospel and so we do preach it and â—et if it proves not so it is by accident by reason of the corruption of the heart of man â—he damnation that it meets withal is thence Therefore see your folly and be ashamed of your ignorance It is a high act of Grace and one of the greatest priviledges that Believers have by Christ that the Law is a servant to the Gospel and yet that Mercy you despise and that Grace you do not love you are to be ashamed of your folly and unthankfulness herein 3. It should teach Ministers that the Law must be preached to the same intent that it was revealed and delivered in the hand of a Mediator and to the ends of the Gospel and that not only the curses and threatnings of the Law but the precepts and duties of the Law also In the curses and threatnings of the Law our Divines have usually sent men to Christ to bear those but duties have been pressed though not without Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazian Orat. 17. but that a sufficiency is to be had in him and acceptance from him yet not laying Christ as the foundation of duties as he should have been in time past but men have been prest to duty without a through discovery of a mans Union with Christ as the ground of his assistance and acceptance as there should have been and so men have been put upon duties in a Moral or Legal way as if they had wrought them by their own strength and had a power in themselves though without Christ by reason of their imperfection they could not be accepted and so the way of the Gospel hath not been so clearly discovered and the subserviency of the Law unto the Gospel-grace as it should When the Law is so preached that men are stirred up to seek for Grace in another and to obey him and when the Grace of the Gospel is thus offered as that it inables a man to walk in the way of the precepts of the Law this is indeed to preach the Gospel when a man does so publish the Grace thereof that he does also publish the Law as a servant thereunto 4. See how the heart of God is much in the Salvation of Sinners and to exalt the Grace of the Gospel and honour and magnifie Mercy Isa 53.10 it is now that he would force men to accept of it If men were left unto themselves Christ should never be accepted but die in vain and not a man ever be saved though there were a city of refuge unless there were also an avenger of blood it is not enough for to offer mercy a moral perswasion will not do it but there is without a Law compelling breaking and within there is a spirit drawing and the drawing of the Father Joh. 6.44 lyes in a great measure in this work of the Law the Lord bringing the soul so low that the Blood of Christ and the Grace of the Gospel is precious and a man will accept him upon his own terms and say This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to save sinners Thus is the Son a servant unto the Father Isa 42.1 and the Law also a servant to the Son and put into his hand and this shews how much the heart of the Lord is on this work and next to the subjecting of his Son is the subserviency of the Law thereunto Vse 2 It should stir us up to make use of the Law in subserviency to the Gospel for so long as we are in this life the ends of the Gospel are not accomplished there is still sin to be discovered and restrained and condemned there are inward principles the Law in the heart to be perfected and there are duties in which men are to be directed in their whole course and so long as the ends of the Gospel are not attained so long the Law is still to be used and this is that mentioned 1 Tim. 1.8 1 Tim. 1.8 The Law is good if a man use it lawfully that is when it is used by us as it was delivered and published by Christ not for Justification so as to exact righteousness and acceptation from it not to set it up against Christ and the Grace of the Gospel to make the way of the Gospel void as the Jews did Rom. 10.3 but in the hand of a Mediator and for the ends of it and they are the great things of the Law it is the Royal Law and therefore it is a dangerous thing to abase it and therein to take the name of God in vain And as to neglect the Salvation of the Gospel so to despise the convictions or instructions of the Law When the Law is used to discover sin and to keep a man always low and humble in the sense of his own vileness it makes him set a high price upon Christ and the Mercy and Grace of God in him and makes him to keep close to him to keep in the city of refuge because the avenger of blood is without the gate to expect him and that which did at first bring a man in will keep him in for Christ is made a curse for us There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 And when a man comes once to delight in the Law of God it is sweeter to him than honey and dearer to him than thousands of Gold and Silver upon this ground because it furthers the Salvation of the Gospel as Paul says I delight in the law of the Lord in the inward man so far as a man hath an inward principle of conformity to the Law and is regenerate so far the Law is his delight the more a man is sanctified Mat. 11. ult the more precious and sweet it is to him the Commandments of Christ are not grievous but he doth willingly take up the yoke of Christ because it is sweet and light and profitable There is a sweetness in obedience as vvell as an ease and there is a profit also for there is a fruit unto holiness here as vvell as the end everlasting life and vvhen the Lavv does bring a man dovvn to follow the Lamb whither soever he goes and to vvalk humbly vvith his God and say Lord what wilt thou have me to do this is properly for a man to use the Law lawfully for the Law
it that is in himself from his own will only for all is done according to the good pleasure of his will Ephes 1.9 Rom. 9. and he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy so that the whole purpose and plot of it is in the bosom of God alone and according to this plot all things are done in this Covenant As in the Creation all things are done from an Idea in the mind of God and according unto that platform Heb. 11.3 Joh. 1.18 as the Temple was built according to the pattern so in the Covenant also and therefore Christ is said to come from the bosom of the Father being from this gracious intention and purpose of God himself from everlasting 2. He entred into Covenant with Christ the second Adam that he should be the Mediator of the Covenant and the person that should do all the great works that he had intended in this Covenant 2 Tim. 1.9 and therefore we read of a promise of eternal life made unto us before the world began God did not content himself with a purpose but he added thereto a Promise and Covenant to his Decree which could not be unto us because we were not therefore it must be unto one that did represent our persons and was lookt upon as in our stead for a purpose might be in himself but a promise cannot be but unto another and there was a glory and a posterity that God did promise unto him in this Covenant and that he would carry Christ through the work that he had to do Psal 16. as appears afterwards and therefore Christ says He is my God and the lot is fallen to me in a fair ground which is the speech of Christ and therefore Prov. 8.22 he says The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way The Covenant that he made with Christ was the first of his going forth unto the Creature Prov. 8.30 31. and upon this were grounded those true delights of Christ mentioned Prov. 8.30 31. And my delights were with the sons of men 3. By vertue of this Covenant are all those Legal acts past in God In the work of Redemption there are some acts spiritually natural and they are acts of God within us which do imply a real and physical change Phil. 1.6 when our natures and principles are changed and of unholy are made holy but there are also some Moral acts and they are acts of God upon us as if a man be a guilty person or accused as such and there be an act of pardoning and accepting this is a Moral act an act upon him and if he be a sick person and there be a Physician to cure him or blind and his eyes be opened this is a natural act in him and if a man be a captive and he be made a free man by a ransome paid this is a change of his state the one is in Justification and the other in Sanctification the one is mutatio moralis and the other naturalis Now the main acts of God in this Covenant and the main of the Covenant consists in acts done without us and upon us as by soveraign imputation he doth count our sins Christs Isa 53. and he makes to meet upon him the iniquities of us all he died as the second Adam and all the Elect died in him and so his death took place for all the Elect that ever were or shall be by vertue of the Covenant of God and the soveraign imputation of God immediately after the fall Rev. 13.8 therefore is he said To be a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world that is in respect of efficacy grounded upon the imputation of God who can call things that are not as if they were Rom. 3.25 and so all the sins of the old world and the ancient Saints were pardoned the sins that were past through the forbearance of God Tanquam in capite 2 Cor. 5.21 and so Christ rose as a publick person as a second Adam and he being justified all the Elect were justified though there be an actual Justification when they do believe and so with him we ascend and sit together with him in Heavenly places c. And as he is made sin for us so we are made the righteousness of God in him as our sins are laid upon him so his righteousness is imputed unto us and truly accepted for us as our Surety For the debt paid by a Surety is in the esteem of the Law said to be paid by the debter and he for that cause is acquitted And so it is in Adoption Now we are the sons of God that is God accepts us as Children and Sons and because we are Sons he has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our heart we being by God counted members of Christ and so by our Union with him we do partake with him in his filiation and all these are acts of God upon us but without us and therefore the main benefits and acts of the Covenant are transacted by God without us and that is as truly and as perfectly done now as ever it shall be 4. There is not a soul that is brought into this Covenant but it is by God the Father he hath said Ezek. 20.37 Joh. 8.44 I will bring them into the bond of the Covenant No man can come to me except God the Father draw him What is the meaning and intent of the preaching of the Gospel without and all the tenders and offers of Christ to the soul by the Spirit within It is only to this end that they might be a people in Covenant with God and all things that Christ doth he doth as God the Fathers servant to draw men into Covenant with him that by Christ we should come unto God The expression of drawing does set forth unto us its efficacy and certainty and therefore drawing and coming are put together to shew that man by nature is not willing but an enemy unto this Covenant but ex â—olentibus volentes facit he makes men of unwilling willing he does powerfully work as if he did draw and men do as certainly come as they that are drawn Grace works strongly and therefore God is said to draw and it works sweetly and therefore men are said to come it is an act of power in God and yet an act of will in man it is a noble thing to consider how man is drawn to God never any man did come into the bond of the Covenant but he that was before drawn by the Father and there is an Almighty power that goes to the work even the same power that raised up the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead to glory Ephes 1.19 5. All things that are within us or performed by us he has undertaken to work in us to will and to do the beginning of it and the finishing of it belongs to him Phil. 1.6 and here lyes the happiness of
the Saints that in the Covenant God has undertaken both parts and therefore the Covenant doth commonly run I will be their God so shall they be my people He doth undertake for us as well as for himself he doth undertake that he will be a good husband and you shall be a good wife and in this lyes the great blessing of the second Covenant and the Grace thereof It is true that the passive part is ours and there are some acts that do belong to us properly we believe and we repent but it is he that works in us to believe and repent of his good pleasure Nos agimus sed acti nos volumus sed ipse facit ut velimus We act but as acted by him we will but he makes us to will Aust 6. We are kept in the Covenant by him alone he brings us within the bond of the Covenant and he doth also keep us there Jer. 31.33 I will put my Law in their hearts and they shall not depart from me And Hos 2.7 I will hedge up their way and will make a wall that they shall not find their paths They shall follow after their lovers but they shall not overtake them God will in mercy cross them in ways of sinning and make all ways of sin burdensome to them and all is that they may return to their former husband though they have committed adultery against him yet he saith unto them Return you back-sliding children and I will receive you you have gone a whoring from me yet return to me and I will receive you And Hos 3.3 The Lord will buy them unto him again with fifteen pieces of silver their base condition into which they were cast should be the ground of their returning unto God again their former husband it is the purchase that the Lord would give for them difficulties and disquiets and disappointments in ways of sin doth the Lord give men to keep them in his Covenant Christ tells them They should deceive if possible the very Elect Mac. 24. Rev. 13.8 they were deceived as many as were not writ in the Lambs book a special hand of God is towards them in their preservation and there is a power of God put forth for them that keeps their hearts as with a garrison he that brought them into the Covenant hath undertaken to keep them there 7. Every renewal of the Covenant is from the Lord Gen. 2.15 the Lord did make this Covenant with Abraham and fourteen years after renews it It is not Abraham that renews it with God so much as God with Abraham and so the Lord says Jer. 31.31 I will make a new Covenant it is but a renewal of the same Covenant and a further and more glorious manifestation of the mind of God therein he will shew them his Covenant Psal 25. Of this renewing the Covenant we shall speak afterward this is only to manifest that he who hath the great and the universal hand in this Covenant is the Lord we may say as the Scripture doth of Joseph whatever was done in Egypt he was the doer of it so whatever is done in this Covenant the Lord is the doer of it it is the act of God the Father SECT II. Free-Grace the Fountain of this Covenant WE come now to the fourth Head the ground and foundation of whatever the Lord hath done in this Covenant and that is Free-grace his own good will and his own unexpected love the Lord had no argument or motive out of himself and therefore he says I will give my Covenant between me and thee he hath no other aim in this whole work but the praise of the glory of his Grace Luk. 2. It is glory to God and good will to men Ephes 1.7 And thereby is God glorified under the second Covenant and this the Lord calls upon his people to observe Look to the Rock from whence you were hewed look to Abraham and to Sarah Isa 41.2 and when he was in Vr of the Caldeans and did with Terah his father worship other gods beyond the River the Lord did call him alone and bless him and alone singled out this one person and raised him up and did exalt him and set him on high and called him to his foot and led him on his way and the Lord passed on before him And so David made the Covenant to be only the fruit of free-grace 2 Sam. 7.21 What can David thy servant say more It doth exceed my apprehension or expression only thou hast done it according unto thy own heart out of thy own free love that thou mightest make thy servant to know even those great things And this will appear 1. If we consider the person that is first in this Covenant and that is the Lord who hath here expressed himself to be El-shaddai he is al-sufficient one that hath all in himself and within his own compass he is a Sun that is he shines with his own natural light and not as the Moon and Stars with a mutuatitious and a borrowed light for as he is debter to none so he stands in need of none he needs not borrow any excellency or glory from another and therefore for this God to enter into Covenant must needs be of Grace and by Grace you are saved 2. If we look upon man as fallen under another Covenant broken and perished under the curse of it and under that Covenant desiring to continue Gal. 4.21 They did desire to be under the Law Rom. 10.3 they looked upon it as a desirable condition they did seek to establish their own righteousness and were enemies to the Gospel and unto all others for the Gospel sake the way of the Gospel the heart of man is against and that now the Lord should unto such reveal this second Covenant that hate his Grace and shut their eyes and stop their ears and do their utmost to receive the grace of God in vain that though they be under another Covenant enemies unto this yet should rather chuse to be under their broken Covenant than accept of this 3. That this Covenant should be given unto some and not unto others that when the Angels that fell were under the same curse of the former Covenant with us yet that the Lord should not catch after the seed of Angels Heb. 2.16 but of Abraham and let them perish under their Covenant never give unto them an offer of another Covenant That when mankind were all of them strangers to the Covenant of Grace alike in their natural states and enemies that the Lord should be pleased to single out some to shew them his Covenant and for nothing but because he hath a favour to them Ephes 2.14 to chuse some out of a wretched family and a wicked stock and the Grace of this Covenant he will make known unto them and they shall know the power of this distinguishing love and when he shall pass by many of
the great and the wise and the noble and make choice of babes and the foolish things of this world that have nothing in them that should commend them but free-grace made the difference and it is this that raiseth them up above their brethren He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and he gives a commission to his loving kindness to take hold of such a soul and he hears a voice behind him when he is posting with his back upon God and his face towards Hell and there is a voice that he hears that other men do not therefore it is said Act. 9.22 That they saw the light but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me they were with him and yet there was a voice came to Paul a noise and a sound of it they did hear but to hear so as to have it made effectual to their souls that proceeds only from peculiar love 4. That in this Covenant 1 Our persons should be taken into the same Covenant with the Son of God is the highest advancement as the greatest and lowest abasement of Christ was Gal. 4.4 to be made under our Covenant to be made under the Law and so under the curse thereof being made sin so the highest advancement of man is to come under Christs Covenant and thereby we have an interest in his Righteousness and Sonship and by this there is the nearest relation between God and us for it is a Matrimonial Covenant the nearest and the sweetest Union and it is a Covenant of Friendship wherein there is the fullest communion beyond that of the Angels themselves for we are betrothed unto the Lord in mercies and loving kindness Hos 2.18 19. 2 In respect of our services it is by the Covenant that they have a reference unto a reward there is not the meanest services of the Saints that shall lose their reward not a cup of cold water therefore Luther says The whole world has not a reward good enough for the least service of a Saint and professes he had rather be the author of the meanest work of the Saints than of the most glorious acts of Alexander or of Caesar And this reference unto a reward riseth from this Covenant for Psal 16.3 Christ saith Our goodness extends not unto God There was in Christ a merit but it was only ex pacto Heb. 10. it is by his will they are sanctified and through his acceptation had not he made a Covenant with the Lord it had been free with God the Father to accept the righteousness of Christ or not and therefore there is the Grace of Union and of Unction and even the Merit of Christ the ground of it is free-grace by vertue of the Covenant that passed between the Father and the Son and therefore much more that our works or any thing we do should have any relation to a reward from God especially as to Eternal Life § 2. But did not Christ purchase this Covenant or else by his entreaty obtain it for Christ is the Mediator of the new Covenant and therefore it may be at his request the Lord did make this Covenant with us and not singly out of his own love to us I answer No Christ did not merit the Grace of the Covenant there is a difference to be carefully put between the Covenant it self and the benefits and fruits of the Covenant all the fruits of the Covenant are dispensed by Christ and are part of his purchase as Heaven Grace and Glory the very being of a Church God has purchased it with his own blood but as for the Covenant it self it is that in which Christ is promised and all the Merits of Christ and all our acceptation with God through him and it is part of the Covenant that God makes with us I will give you my Son and one of the grand promises thereof and when he did resolve to enter into Covenant with man then Christ becomes his servant and his chosen he being to be the second Adam and Person into whose hand all the transactions of this Covenant should be committed And to exalt this free-grace in him that is the Prince of the Covenant and that we may see all things are of God 2 Cor. 5.18 Who has reconciled us to himself in Christ and all things that do appertain to the Kingdom of Christ He that built all things is God Heb. 3.4 it is spoken in reference to his House that is his Church and not in reference to the general works of Creation so that though it is Christ that is the builder of his House and as a Lord in his own House yet in Christ it is God that is the builder of it all things are originally of him and this Grace of God in Christ as the Prince of the Covenant will appear in these Particulars 1. There is free-grace in designation for he is the Elect of God Isa 42.1 and Prov. 8.22 He is the beginning of the ways of God the first-born among many brethren one first in the womb of Gods Decree and therefore had therein the preheminence he was first elected and we in him And as our Election was an act of free-grace He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy so was Christs also an act of the same grace and therefore Heb. 1.3 He is the brightness of his glory the express image of his person As he is God so all the acts of the Father are acts of nature as his generation is from God naturally and therefore necessarily But as he is the Head of the Church and the Prince of the Covenant of Grace as God-man so he comes under the acts of the will of God and it was free with God whether he would have chosen him to this Office and put this honour upon him or no and therefore as in the one he is haeres natus a born heir so in the other he is constitutus a constituted heir So that even in Christ all is of Gods free-grace he did not honour himself he did not appoint himself but it was the Lord that did call him and design him to this service and wrote his name in the volume of his book so some expound that place Heb. 10.7 the first page of it he being the beginning of all Gods going forth towards the Creature 2. There is free-grace in the Fathers qualification and preparing and fitting of Christ for this great work it is true that Christ was God and had a power equal with his Father and therefore thought it no robbery to be so yet the Scripture doth attribute all unto the free-grace of the Father 1 It was God the Father that prepared him a body he that doth give unto every one of us a body as it pleased him he also did give the Lord Christ a body and did fashion it according to his good pleasure even a humane nature Heb. 10.5 the Holy Ghost did overshadow the Virgin that she should
conceive it was a body that was given him by the Father 2 There was Union from the Father and therefore there is a grace of Union as to us in Mystical Union it is the Father made up the match between us and Christ and we are united unto him for ever so in the Personal and Hypostatical Union it is the Father that made up the match and made the two Natures to become one Person and therefore it is said Luk. 1.35 That holy thing that is born shall be called the Son of God for it was in obedience to the Father that he did come to take this body into Union it is true he did take the seed of Abraham but it was by the Fathers command Heb. 2.16 Heb. 10.7 and in obedience to him and therefore he says A body hast thou prepared me and therefore he did take it upon himself as he did his sufferings The cup that his Father gave him he did drink and so in him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily 3. There is also the grace of Unction God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him Joh. 3.34 Jesus of Nazareth whom God has anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power As it pleased the Father in him should all fulness dwell as the Sun of Righteousness and as the fountain of life and this is not in him only as God but as Mediator but all this is still as it pleased the Father acts of his free-grace 4. Assistance in this great work it is true that Christ was God and able to raise himself 1 Joh. 5.11 and did quicken himself and did overcome death and spoiled Principalities and Powers and triumphed over them openly but yet he doth ascribe all this to the gracious assistance of God the Father it is the Lord that made him a promise that he should go through with his work and Christ doth strengthen himself by exercising faith upon the Promises of God the Father who promised Isa 42.4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he hath set judgement in the earth I the Lord have called thee in righteousness I will hold thee by the hand that is by a mighty assistance and support and I will keep thee c. and with these Christ helps himself by exercising faith upon them I will trust in thee he is near that justifies me Isa 50.8 Who will contend with me the Lord is at my right hand I shall not be moved Psal 16.8 9 10. therefore my heart is glad and my flesh shall rest in hope for thou will not leave my soul in Hell i. e. in the grave under the power and condemnation of that sin and wrath that now is upon me nor suffer my body to see corruption but thou wilt shew me the path of life c. And Psal 22. he strengthens his faith by experience of his forefathers Our Fathers trusted in thee and thou deliveredst them So that Christs assistance in all his managing of the work of the Covenant is wholly from the free-grace of God the Father and therefore in all the business of it Christ had recourse unto his Father by prayer continually 5. Acceptance It is true that Christ as his Person was in worth and value answerable unto all the Elect of God and beyond them so there was a worth and price in all that he did in his suffering answerable unto whatever the Law and Justice of God did require God did abate him nothing he payed the uttermost farthing else there could not have been satisfaction Isa 63.6 for it must be redditio aequivalentis pro aequivalenti it was a full satisfaction God did abate him nothing in this but God made our sins to meet upon him he did not abate him one sin and being made sin he did not abate him any part of the curse And what mercies soever the Lord doth bestow upon us Christ hath paid a valuable price for them because his obedience did deserve and did truly merit at the hand of God whatever the Lord shall bestow upon us to eternity either in Grace here or Glory hereafter it is indeed free unto us and a gift but yet it is unto Christ a purchase and therefore here indeed there is nothing of grace as it were but all is of debt that is Christ did lay down something answerable unto whatever God did either give or forgive But yet here is Grace in the Lords acceptance of all that Christ hath done and suffered for us and the imputation thereof unto us and that the Lord should account this by a Soveraign imputation to be as done in our stead and for us for the Law did say the soul that sins shall die it is Grace only that brings in the commutation of the Person though there be no commutation of the righteousness that was required of us Heb. 10.10 it is meerly of Grace that the Lord has accepted of Christ for us all the benefits of the Death of Christ as Pardon of Sin Reconciliation with God Justification and Adoption they do all depend upon this will of the Father for had he not appointed this work and thereby declared his acceptation had not he accepted it who was the Judge we could never have had any benefit by it and therefore it is by his will alone that all this is made over unto us there was free-grace abundantly in his acceptation By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many Isa 53.11 Joh. 6.38 by the knowledge of him and faith in him for of such a knowledge it is meant I came not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me the meaning is not as if Christ came unwillingly but that his Fathers will was first in this work and so much in it that the thing that Christ did principally aim at was to please his Father and to do his will therein Now because Christs great aim was to do his Fathers will and to please his Father doing all by appointment from him he knew he hath acceptance with him for though Christ had paid the price it was free with God to accept it or no. 6. There is a reward that is given unto Christ for all the services that he does perform He hath a name above every name Phil. 2.9 10. and a seed Isa 53. and a glory He being set on the right hand of the Majesty on high 1 Pet. 1. ult Angels and Principalities and Powers being made subject unto him and this the Lord hath given him as a reward of his service I will not now speak unto that Question put by some Divines Whether Christ did merit for himself which our Divines do deny in this sense as being the great end why he did come into the world to merit for his Elect-ones because the Scripture saith God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 And to us a Child is born to us a son is
all the Faithful are justified by faith in the same way that Abraham was for the Covenant was not only made with Abraham but with his seed also and that seed is not many for then the Covenants must be many but whether they be Jews or Gentiles if they do believe they are all of them the seed of Abraham one seed and therefore come under the same Covenant and must expect justification and life the same way by vertue of the same Covenant The reason seems very plain on both sides and I do conceive that they have the truth between them and that it is to be understood both of Christ Personal primarily and principally and afterward Christ Mystical Gomar and Mr. Perkins and so many Divines do expound it and that the Covenant made with Abraham was confirmed unto Christ and that herein the strength and stability of the Covenant stands this is plain in the next verse and that it is in this seed that Abraham is blessed as well as all the Nations of the Earth for he is the root of all the Patriarchs Rev. 5.5 called therefore the root of David he did come out of Jesse but yet he is the root also upon which David did grow and we see that Abraham was justified by faith and that was in this promised seed Gal. 3.15 called the seed of the woman before he was called the seed of Abraham and therefore it was in him that the Covenant vouchsafed to Abraham was confirmed and established And for the order here no man will wonder if he look upon Christ as the Son of Abraham that he is set first with him and his seed it is no more derogatory from Christ than that the mercies of the second Covenant should be called Isa 55.3 Psal 89.4 Luk. 1.32 Hos 3.5 The sure mercies of David or that the Covenant should be made with David and that he should sit upon the Throne of David and succeed David in his Kingdom and that he should plead the Promises made unto the Fathers as if he did come under their Covenant in the actual ministration of it they being types of him though he himself was the root and foundation of the Covenant as the Psalmist speaks of Christ Psal 22.4 Our Fathers trusted in thee and thou deliveredst them As the Son of David he is said after a sort to enter upon Davids Kingdom as the Son of Abraham upon his Covenant and yet he is the root and foundation of the one as well as of the other From all this it is plain here are three sorts of Persons with whom the Covenant is made 1 Here is Christ Personally with whom Abrahams Covenant is confirmed the seed in which Abraham and all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed 2 Here is Abraham the Father of the Faithful 3 Here is another sort of seed the faithful and they are taken into the Covenant at second hand and from hence we do learn that the Covenant of Grace is made with Christ Personal the Mediator Gal. 3.3 and then there being none in this Covenant but they that are one with him they that are Christs are Abrahams seed therefore the Covenant is made with all the Faithful in the second place as they are one with him and with their seed § 2. Thus the first person with whom the Covenant of Grace is made is the Lord Jesus Christ as God and man and so the observation is this Doct. The Lord Jesus Christ as the second Adam is that person with whom primarily and principally the Covenant of Grace was made and to whom primarily and principally all the promises of that Covenant belong This Covenant made with Christ we see Isa 49.8 As the first Adam was the head of the first Covenant so whatever is done in the second Covenant it is by Christ Ephes 1.9 and therefore he is said to be our Covenant as he is our peace for he is Caput Confoederatorum the Head of the Confederates not only by purpose in himself Tit. 1.2 2 Tim. 1.9 Rev. 13.8 but by promise there was Grace given us before the world began it could not be unto us in our own Persons before we were and therefore it must be unto another as one that undertook for us and therefore we read Rev. 13.8 there was the Lambs book from the foundation of the world the Lord gave the souls unto Christ that he should save and Christ did write them down in his book as the persons that God the Father had given him and he had engaged to save and this Covenant of Christ took place immediately after the Fall and by vertue thereof God pardoned all the sins of the ancient Saints Rom. 3.25 Christ did keep the thing that he did Covenant to pay the debt that we owed to God and all was viz. transacted by God the Father and Christ in a Covenant way so that as now Christ trusts God for the performance of his Promise so God did trust Christ for the payment of his Debt and therefore as the first Covenant was made with Adam Gods friend so the second Covenant was made with Adam Gods fellow and I know not what else can be the meaning of Prov. 8.22 To be set up or anointed as a King before the foundations of the Earth were laid The same word is in Psal 2.6 in reference to the Covenant and the transactions that were between the Father and the Son before the World was And this Covenant made between God and Christ hath two parts 1 There is a Covenant with Christ as Mediator ratione muneris in regard of his Office 2 There is a Covenant made with Christ as the Churches Head ratione Corporis as his body there is a Covenant made with him alone though it was made for us yet not with us and there is a Covenant made with him and with us in him but with him primarily as the Head and with us as the Members as we come under his Covenant 1. There is a Covenant made with Christ Personal Ratione muneris in respect of his Office as Mediator that he hath undertaken and this we shall see is plain Here is God the Father entring into Covenant with Christ he did lay upon him an Office and he made him a promise thereupon an Office he did ordain him 1 Pet. 1.18 Isa 42.1 Joh. 6.27 Joh. 10.18 he chose him and sealed him add sanctified him set him apart for this work and laid a commandment upon him to execute it Joh. 10.18 This Commandment I received of my Father and to this the Lord added a promise 1 Of assistance Isa 42.4 6. He shall not fail nor be discouraged I am by thee and I will hold thee by the hand and I will keep thee 2 A promise of acceptance I go to the Father says Christ Mat. 3.17 Jer. 34 2◠Gen. 8. Psal 53.8 Isa 50.8 3 Of deliverance Isa 53.8 Taken from prison and from
his righteousness Now in a way of justice there are but two ways to make a man guilty of sin and obnoxious to punishment either from sin inherent or imputed and this of imputation is either from a natural Union as it is in us and therefore we are guilty of Adam's sin or by voluntary Union and by way of suretiship when one person free in himself doth willingly take upon him the guilt of another mans offence and subject himself unto the punishment for it And either of these may be a ground of proceeding against such a person in justice Now Christ hath in him no sin by nature either inherent or imputed he knew no sin neither was there guile found in his mouth though he were a Son of Adam yet being begotten by the Holy Ghost and not coming into the World and descending from Adam in a natural way and being God and man in one person he could not naturally and necessarily come under Adam's Covenant but was in this respect separate from sinners but by way of Covenant and voluntary undertaking so he was made sin for us and so he was made a Curse and so he doth confess our sins as his own and so bears them it being the guilt that he had taken upon him and thereupon God dealt with him as an enemy and laid upon him all the wrath that was due to Sin Now the ground of all this dealing of God was only the Covenant 4. It is the Apostles reason Rom. 4. for the justifying of a sinner by Faith that the promise may be sure to all the Seed because it puts the whole power and the righteousness by which we are justified out of our selves in another so it is here the Lord will have the Covenant made with Christ and ingage him therein that the promise may be sure to all the Seed the Lord knew that we would fail him and there was nothing to be expected from us Psal 89.19 and therefore says I have laid help upon one that is mighty and one that is every way able to satisfie and I have put it upon him and from him I will expect it he hath undertaken it and therefore God doth take all our sins from us and put them upon him as it is said God was in Christ reconciling the world 2 Cor. 5.19 putting their trespasses upon him but not upon them and it is observable though we come into the same Covenant with Christ in point of obedience yet in point of satisfaction he takes only Christs single Bond and he will never ask any thing of us till Christ fail him 3 dly When did the Lord make this Covenant with Christ and when was it to take place 1. This Covenant passed between God and Christ the Father and the Son before the World began How many are thy thoughts to usward Dan. 8.13 It is Christ that knew the thoughts of God whose name is Palmoni qui secreta numerata habet peccata who hath all our secret sins numbered And what be those thoughts It is sacrifice and burnt offerings thou wouldest not c. thoughts of satisfaction to the justice of God and the redemption of the elect by a sacrifice and they are no new thoughts but such as God took up from eternity and such transactions as past between God and Christ before his coming into the World And then said I Lo I come to do thy will O God In the beginning of his way I was set up as a King and Priest and Prophet from eternity and this not only in decree and appointment but also by covenant and compact and by mutual agreement between them For all that vast eternity that they spent by themselves was spent wholly in matter of delight and that was double 1 The Father and the Son delighted one in another I was his delight daily 2 The Son delighted in the salvation of man and the same word is used in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And it is spoken of man fallen for it is in the habitable parts of the earth that is of all mankind scattered throughout the whole face of the earth wheresoever men dwell And there was neither Angels nor any part of the works of God mentioned but this only and this delight was while it was only in the expectation of it in beholding the purpose of God and those vast thoughts of Glory that the Lord had laid up there Titus 1.2 there is a promise of eternal life which could not be but unto our representative one that did enter into Covenant And 't is said 2 Tim. 1.9 There is grace given us in Christ before the world began 2. But yet this Covenant was not actually to take place till man was fallen 1 It is a Covenant of reconciliation and it doth suppose God and man at variance and it was because the Children were partakers of flesh and blood therefore he himself took part of the same He was made under the Law to redeem us that were under the Law Our deliverance must be by Redemption and the Covenant of Reconciliation 2. It must be by a Priest one to offer a sacrifice and it must be after man had lost all other sacrifices that he must come The blood of Bulls could not take away sin Heb. 10. and yet it did take place immediately after the fall Christ was a Lamb slain from the beginning of the world not only as to the decree but as to the efficacy and it is by vertue of that agreement between God and Christ that the Lord under the Old Testament pardoned all the Saints barely upon the word of Christ before he had paid any part of the debt and therefore Rom. 3.25 Christ did not only dye with reference unto the sins of the World that were to come but those that were past and the men were in possession of all because the justice of God was satisfied though only in the covenant and promise between them God looking upon Christ to come and they exercising their faith upon Christ that was to come And now satisfaction is given Christ relies upon the Covenant between him and his Father for the application as the Father took Christs word for satisfaction and oblation before his coming It is one of the greatest grounds of faith that is in the Word of God that Christ is ingaged by Covenant as well as unto us and therefore he being the Son will be faithful to his Father And also that God is ingaged unto Christ as well as unto us and therefore will be faithful to him also and will not break with the Son therefore surely his enemies shall be destroyed that rise up against the Kingdom of Christ for he is ingaged to make his foes his footstool There are three things that are crying amongst men 1 The cry of Blood 2 The wages of a Hireling 3 The will of the dead unperformed Now here is all the Blood of Christ shed and he as a Servant
Mountains and the Kingdoms of the earth shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord. And Zach. 6.8 There is a spirit that in a way of providence will never leave stirring up the spirits of men till this great work be effected For the Lord hath said Sit thou at my right hand till I have made thy enemies thy footstool And he shall have a name written upon his right hand and forehead King of Kings and Lord of Lords 2 On Christs part if he might disregard us now he is in Heaven yet his Covenant and ingagement is unto the Father of Heaven he hath promised and vowed obedience and therefore as he hath as our surety performed all that which he was bound to in his state of humiliation so he will also do in his state of exaltation and glory apply all the benefits of his death and attain all for you that he hath purchased for you and will come again to fetch you for he arose as your surety and he is exalted as your representative and is gone to Heaven as your forerunner and therefore he vvill surely gather in his Saints compleat their number and perfect their Graces and their light The light of the moon shall be as that of the sun and the weak shall be as David for courage and boldness in the cause of God and the stronger Christian that was before as David Zach. 12.8 Heb. 12.27 shall have even the courage of an Angel of God before him 5. When you see God making good his Covenant unto Christ in any of the parts of it rejoyce in it If you loved me you would rejoyce because I go to the father Love does divide griefs and multiply joys He is your Husband your Head your Friend and Surety in the good that is bestowed upon him you may have a share Now when the Lord plucks down Enemies defeats Counsels shakes Mountains out of their places works great changes in the earth the foundations are cast down all this is but to make a place for the throne of Christ that he may be exalted in the earth and that this Stone may fill the earth Rev. 11.16 17. There be great breaches made by God in the World but the Saints do rejoyce in them as Paul did though he Preached the Gospel in much affliction yet so Christ be Preached and exalted whatever become of me I do and will rejoyce So though I undergo never so much yet all this while God is performing his Covenant unto Christ for his sake we should be glad Vse 6. Pray unto God that he would perform his Covenant to his Son Phil. 2.5 The things of Christ are and should be very precious to a gracious Soul and a man should seek unto God for the accomplishment of all things concerning his Son and there are no Prayers that come up unto the Lord with so much acceptation as those do If you desire to know whether Christ prays for you in Heaven and takes care for you see what affections he works in you to pray to God for the accomplishing of the promises made unto Christ while he was upon the earth his great care was for you when his death drew near yet he takes care to comfort you John 14.1 And when he was near his sufferings yet he lays up prayers for Peter beforehand and now he is in Heaven he is not so taken up with his own glory but that his care is towards his people he hath seven eyes and seven horns Rev. 5.7 perfection of wisdom and power for your good Now as he lays out himself for you so do you for him also and press God with his ingagement to his Son and he can deny thee nothing let thy prayers be for the Kingdom of Christ and the accomplishment thereof say Thy Kingdom come Let the Lord reign and let his name be exalted Psal 7.2 and let his comeing in glory be hastened when he shall be made glorious before men and Angels let us always say Come Lord Jesus come quickly SECT II. The Covenant of Grace made with Christ as the Churches Head § 1. THat the Lord Jesus Christ is the person with whom primarily and principally the second Covenant is made must be considered two ways 1 In respect of the Office that he hath undertaken 2 As he is the head of the Church and makes up one body with them And these two are to 〈◊〉 distinguished and have in the Covenant distinct considerations for there are some promises that belong unto Christ alone as made unto his office the promise of bringing Jacob to him of assistance and acceptance in the work of justification by his righteousness and the honour of having a name above every name and the Angels of God to worship him of a resurrection from the dead without seeing corruption which though promised unto David yet never was fulfilled unto any of the Types but in his own person as the Apostle sets it forth Acts 13.36 37. For David saw corruption And there are other promises that are made unto him as he is our Head and to us in him in which together with him we have a share and are made partakers And there are some acts of office which belong unto him alone which though we have benefit by yet we have no share in for redemption belongs unto him alone and there is no other name given under Heaven but one Mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus and as there is but one Mediator for satisfaction so but one for intercession also for none hath to do with the Censer to offer Incense upon the Golden Altar that hath not also to do at the Brazen Altar to offer sacrifice and though in our justification Justitia Mediatoris the righteousness of the Mediator is imputed unto us yet not Justitia Mediatoria not the mediatory righteousness The righteousness of the Mediatorship belongs to him alone who is Jehovah our righteousness Jer. 23.6 Therefore this first branch of the Covenant though it were made with Christ for us for whatever he was and whatever he did was for us for us he descended into the lower parts of the earth and for us he ascended far above all Heavens yet it was not a Covenant made with us formally for the acts were to be performed by him without us and the promises made unto him though for our good yet were not made unto us But the Covenant that now we are to speak of is the Covenant of Grace made with us but with Christ primarily and principally and with us in him as he is the head and we his members Doct. The Covenant of grace made with the Saints is primarily and principally made with Christ as he is the Churches head and the second Adam In the opening of this Doctrine I will 1 give you some Demonstration for the proof of it 2 Give you the Reasons or Grounds of it 3 Answer some Objections that may arise against it 4 Make
Christ is the fountain of Consolation and is therefore called in the abstract the Consolation of Israel Luke 2.25 and the more immediate the Lord appears in ordinances the more sweet and powerful they are as it shall be in the Ordinances of the later dayes Rev. 21.22 I saw no Temple there all dark discoveries of God that were in former ages shall be done away and yet it is not spoken of Heaven for vers 3. it is the Tabernacle of the Lord is with men and a Tabernacle is to be removed and no abiding habitation vers 23. The glory of the Lord and the Lamb shall be the Light thereof v. 23. and therefore no need of the Sun or the Moon that is of any creature influences or comforts but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lucerna such a light as doth not make it a perfect day it is a light that doth argue its night still in comparison of what it shall be when the Sun of Righteousness shall arise in glory and yet this more immediate presence made them both more sweet and more powerful and that makes glory so infinitely sweet because the comfort that we shall have there shall come in immediately from the Lord here though Ordinances and Providences and Comforts be sweet yet they are conveyed by the creature and therefore they lose much of their sweetness and glory but then he will make us to drink of the Rivers of his pleasures Now for a mans comfort to come in from Christ immediately by partaking with him in the same Covenant and the promises thereof to have it in the same Fountain with the Lord of Life the consolation of Israel it doth very much sweeten them unto the soul and therefore it 's a Christians wisdom to drink his comforts as near the Fountain as he can and the greater cordials they will prove and the more reviving and therefore be you much in these things and your souls shall live they are the most quickning and reviving considerations that are in the whole Book of God To be much in creature comforts whether in delighting in them or depending upon them 2 Chron. 16.12 is a snare It 's said of Asa That in his sickness he sought not to the Lord and the reason is given because his heart was wholly in the Physicians and his hope and expectation from them But to be in these consolations is your duty because as Hezekiah observes Esa 38.15 by or upon these things men live by such experiments as these are by such promises and in all these is the life of my spirit And this was Davids consolation at the last when he came to dye 2 Sam. 23.5 2 Sam. 23.5 Though my House is not so with God yet he has made with me an everlasting Covenant in all things ordered and sure there is a threefold property of the Covenant that he takes comfort in it was everlasting it was sure it was ordered in all things the word in the Hebrew is the same with that in the Proverbs chap. 16. 1. The ordering and disposing of the heart is from the Lord and the word is used in a double sense in the Scripture Prov. 9.2 sometimes for the furnishing of a Table and for the ordering and marshalling of an Army 1 Sam. 4. they put the Battel in array every one keeps his rank and so it is in this Covenant every thing keeps its place Christ is first in it and then faith in its place and the Saints in their places and there is much comfort to be taken from this order of the Covenant and this will appear to us in several particulars for God is not the God of confusion but order and this being the greatest and the most glorious work of God there is the fullest and the most perfect order to be imagined and therein the wisdom and goodness of God doth exceedingly appear 1. It 's a great honour that the Lord has put upon his people that they should be conformed unto the image of his Son so that they should stand before him in the Covenant of his Son and have in their place and degree the same right and claim to mercy that Christ has The Scripture makes Christ the Sun in the Firmament of all excellency and the more any thing partakes of him the more glorious it is as the second Temple was and Johns ministerie the Law and the Prophets were till John but afterwards the Gospel comes which was a clearer discovery of Christ and they were all eclipsed though the Law had much more outward pomp and glory yet because it did discover Christ but darkly in comparison of the Gospel therefore that is said to exceed in glory and so in Scripture the Saints do ascribe glory one to another as they are in Christ and according to their priority in Christ as the Apostle saies Rom. 16.7 Who were in Christ before me and Paul saith in another place I was like one that was born out of due time because last of all he appeared unto me 1 Cor. 15. and therefore Austin saith It abated his earnest desire of some principal part of his own good works because nomen Christi non erat ibi the name of Christ was not there had the Lord put man fallen under the Covenant of the Angels that fell not it had been an honour and put them into the same condition with them but it is far beyond it to put them under the same Covenant that was made with him whom the Angels worship and the highest honour that we have by Christ is our union with him and our legal union standing before God in the same Covenant with him is the highest part of that honour for our natural union bearing with him the same Image doth flow from it It 's a great honour to stand before God in the righteousness of Christ but the ground thereof is because we stand before God under the Covenant of Christ the inheritance of Christ is in the Saints Ephes 1. they are therefore said to be the glory of Christ as Christ is the glory of the Father his glory shall be at the last to have a large and numerous posterity to have a beautiful and a glorious spouse without spot or wrinkle or any such thing and what is it that makes us have relation to Christ as a Spouse It is taking hold of his Covenant and therefore the Covenant of Grace is said to be a marriage Covenant And what is it makes the match between any but consent Hos 2 19. And therefore it 's generally concluded by our Divines amongst the essentials of marriage for parties to give mutual consent according unto that received rule of the Civil Law where there is not the consent of both parties it ought not to be held legal Matrimony There may be a wooing and a ravishment but truly and properly there can be no Marriage without consent It is therefore a consent joyntly
of grace that all the persons have undertaken peculiar offices for the good of men and no men have benefit by them but they that are brought under this Covenant it is for their sake that the Father has given the Kingdom into the hand of his Son and what benefit other men have by it it is but as the beasts have and in some respect as the Devils have they have some less degree of torment and that 's granted them for their sakes who are heirs of promise and for their sake the spirit is the prorex and has undertaken to rule under Christ all the Offices of Christ are for their sake and for their good and all the Offices of the Spirit either inlightning convincing sanctifying or comforting they are all for their good and the common works of the Spirit that do fall upon any wicked men in the world is by the Saints Covenant or else you should have no more of them oh hear all you wicked ones than the Devils and damned in Hell have at this day Now the great plot of the Gospel in the new Covenant is not only to honour the Attributes of the nature but also to honour the Persons in the hearts of men this was the way for the Persons to undertake certain appropriated works in the dayes of the Gospel in the administration of the Covenant and all the parts thereof Now as you will have no benefit by the attributes of the divine nature but they all make against you and will at last day bring in their several charges against your souls that are out of this Covenant not only the Holiness and Justice of God but even the Mercy and Patience of God will cry against you Justice Lord for Mercies sake so you will have no benefit by the Offices of the persons but they will all of them be used against you and bring in their several charges against you Christ as a King a Prophet and a Priest will charge thee then shall the King say Go ye cursed and the Spirit of God as a Spirit that has been convincing thee and inlightning thee in thy life time shall condemn thee and Christ as a Judge will condemn thee and the Spirit of Christ as a Spirit of Bondage will in Hell perfectly torment thee for as in Heaven the Spirit shall be perfectly a Spirit of Adoption so he shall be in Hell perfectly a Spirit of Bondage for ever 3. Unless thou art in Covenant this way the Lord regards thee not nor any thing that thou dost an instance of it we have Heb. 8.9 There are Gods own people whom he took into Covenant with himself and for the outward part of the Covenant they did enter into Covenant with him but yet their hearts did not consent unto the terms of the Covenant and therefore they brake the Covenant The meaning is not that ever they were truly and indeed spiritually in Covenant for then the Covenant could never have been broken but they were only in the Covenant externally but their hearts did not come up unto the spiritual part of the Covenant and therefore the Lord saies I regard them not I took no care for them I made no account of them at all whatever became of them it was all one to me as it is with us of things that we have no regard of and for God not to regard a man or a people is the sum of all Judgement whatever did befall them the Lord pitied them not assisted them not c. But in the place whence it is taken Jer. 31.33 there is something more in it it is I Lorded it over them when I consider how the name Baal is used Hos 2.16 he did exercise his Lordly authority over them when they would not be ruled by him as a Husband he doth then lay Judgement and Chastisement upon them as a Lord he did not regard their persons whereas precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the Saints yea he puts their Tears in his Bottle c. and he does pour out their blood as dust and their flesh as dung and he regards them not Psal 49. but man though in honour if he understands not becomes like the beasts that perish Without that Covenant he may be compared to the Beasts that perish pardon the expression but it 's suitable unto the intention of the Holy Ghost he is unto God counted no better than a Dog that dyes in a ditch And as it is for their persons so it is for their services also a man that is out of Covenant the Lord accepts nothing that he doth unto Cain and his offering he had no respect But a man in Covenant with God the words of his mouth the meditations of his heart find acceptance with God and be to him incense of a sweet savour their persons and their services their smell is as the Wine of Lebanon Hos 14. according to the promise of acceptation but all the services of men out of the Covenant are abominable to God as the Grapes of Sodom all the acts performed by them that are in Covenant are as the Grapes of Lebanon your works are very acceptable The Sun of righteousness shall rise upon you with healing in his Wings but for all others that are not in Covenant with him the Lord does not respect their offering or take it with good will at their hands but he saith Mal. 2.13 To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices Incense is an abomination unto me it is a burden even your solemn assemblies are an offence to me I will not smell in them I am weary to bear them and when you kill an Ox it is as if you killed a man Isa 66.3 and he that burns Incense as if he blessed an Idol because you have chosen your own wayes therefore the Lord abhors you 4. This is a matrimonial Covenant and it is a Covenant of friendship it is of this Covenant that the Lord saith I will betroath you to me for ever Hos 2. and it is the same Covenant which when God had entred into with Abraham he doth call him Abraham my friend Wife and Friend are two of the sweetest and highest relations if any could prevail it would be the Wife of thy Bosome or thy Friend which is as thy own soul Deut. 13.6 Now in this Covenant a man enters into both these relations with God there is the nearest union with him he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit with him there is the interest love of the persons one to another they are most precious one to another and all the world besides are but as Pebbles to Diamonds which outshine all other stones and they are still prizing the love one of another how excellent is thy loving kindness O God! it is better than life because he has set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him and love him at all times and in
the greatest trials all true friends love most forsake not one another the fire burns hottest in Winter by an Antiperistasis God found Israel as Grapes in the Wilderness saw her in her blood and that was the time of love Cant. 1.13 my Love is as a bundle of Myrrh which is bitter yet he shall lye between my breasts all true love is like wild-fire the more you cast water upon it it will flame the more Cant. 8.6 Many waters cannot quench it true Lovers will bear any afflictions one for another in all their afflictions he is afflicted and when his Children are persecuted he sayes why persecutest thou me Let God saith Ambrose turn the adversaries of the Church against me and â—quench their thirst with my blood I had rather sayes Bernard men should murmur against â—me than against God The soul that loves God is willing to undergo any reproach for God and be dishonoured so God may be honoured And there is also the sweetest communion between friends opening their hearts one to another and each striving that they may exceed The Lords heart is contracted towards other men his heart is straitned he cannot discover himself to them but there is a secret of his Counsel and a secret of his providence the one is in the heart and the other upon the Tabernacle of those that are in Covenant and they pour out their whole hearts also to the Lord as Hannah did and â—ly Lord all my desires are before thee they keep nothing back and there is the fullest â—ommunication the Lord gives up all that he has unto such a soul Lev. The High-Priest was not to marry a Harlot nor a Widow and he shall inherit 〈◊〉 things I will be his God all that is in God is as truly thine for thy good as if thou hadst infinite wisdom and power and holiness in thy own hand and the soul gives up all unto God his love and his joy and fear c. for God will not marry a Harlot that hath any reserve from him but he will have all the strength of the soul the Apostle saies they gave themselves up to the Lord their bodies were the Lords Rom. 12.1 5. God and the soul know not how to live asunder tell my Beloved that I am sick of Love and as Augustin saith after the death of his friend Nebridius that he was in a streight desiring to dye because he knew not how to live by halves yet he was willing to live that his friend might not wholly dye but might yet live in part even in him And truly though relations amongst men be notions in a great measure and their affections do not answer them and fill them up yet with God they are not so but there is something still that fully answers every relation wherein he stands unto you and whereas your relations here are but for the time of this life it is but till God shall part us by death relations unto the Lord are eternal and it is entring into this Covenant that does invest thee with these relations It is also to this Covenant that all the promises are annexed they do all meet as lines in this center and therefore till a man be in Covenant he is not an heir of the Promise we that believe are Abrahams seed Gal. 4. and heirs of the promise if once by entring into Abrahams Covenant you become his seed then all the promises are yours but never till then for before all the curses of the first Covenant were thy due but not any one promise of the second Covenant belongs to thee which is the Covenant under which Abraham and David and all the Saints do stand and by which they hold their happiness at this day for it is the inheritance that is by promise now there is no way to be made blessed with faithful Abraham and to attain the sure mercies of David the blessing of the new Covenant but by this for they are all fruits of the Covenant and streams that flow from this Fountain 6. and Lastly The Covenant of Grace is the last Covenant that ever God does intend to make with mankind or tender to him 't is true he did make a former Covenant and you brake it and the Lord has made a second but he will never add a third Covenant Heb. 6.18 The Lord willing to shew the immutability of his Counsel c. God doth not change his Covenant because he has sworn the oath now binds him that he cannot change yet it was the unchangeableness of his purpose that he might manifest that to be the ground why he did it by an oath that we might be assured the mind of God will never change to eternity it is by this Covenant only that he intends to bring all his Sons to glory and he will never make another therefore as I may say of Christ This is the last way Salvation that ever God will take He that believes in him shall be saved but he that believes not in him shall be damned There is no hope of another the Lord has no more Sons in his Bosom to bestow And as these be the last Ordinances and therefore in the Lords-supper you shew forth the Lords death till he come so it 's here it 's the last Covenant that ever God will make and if you do not accept of this and like the terms of it you can never have the Lord to become your God in Covenant for ever Now it will be said What should we do and what is required on our part that we should enter into Covenant with the Lord All Covenants must be by mutual consent and out of choice and election and therefore some do derive the word in Hebrew signifying a Covenant from a verb which signifies to chuse because a Covenant must be an act of choice and therefore there must be something done on our part though God offer the Covenant we must accept it and that we may do the duty on our part it 's a work of almighty power Ezec. 20.37 and I will bring you into as the word signifies I will make you to come into the bond of the Covenant Now when the Lord in this Covenant is pleased to put forth the grace of it in the day of his power there are these three things that he does work the soul to wherein our entring into Covenant doth consist answerable to these three expressions 1 Jer. 11.2 Hearken to and hear the words of the Covenant a man doth learn and generally observe the terms of the Covenant upon what terms God offers a Covenant unto him 2 That in 2 Chron. 30.8 Give the hand to the Lord which is a token and an expression of a mans free and full consent to it when he does understand it there is a mighty power inlightning the understanding and bringing about and inclining the will to consent to it 3 Joshua 24.23 Incline your hearts unto the Lord or take
11.5 as the Lord says Obey my voice according to all that I command thee so shall you be my people and I will be your God and I will perform the oath that I swore to your Fathers and the Prophet did answer Amen O Lord c. so should our souls do take heed of the treachery that is in your spirits that you behave not your selves unfaithfully in the Covenant for though it is true that the Covenant cannot be broken by your unfaithfulness because the Lord hath laid help upon one that is mighty who is the surety of your Covenant yet remember that Covenant-breaking is a great aggravation of every sin on your parts and there is a quarrel of the Covenant that the Lord will certainly avenge and the stripes even of a God in Covenant are terrible even our God is a consuming fire Lev. 20.25 Vse 2 § 2. Having entred into Covenant with the Lord let me now exhort you to make Conscience to keep it let thy heart be faithful and stedfast in the Covenant It is that which the Lord requires of all those that do enter into Covenant with him Exod. 19.5 If you will obey my voice indeed and keep my Covenant you shall be unto me a peculiar treasure Mal. 3.17 my Jewels above all people in the world therefore being taken into Covenant he doth expect you should observe the breach of it and be careful to avoid it 1. From the nature of a Covenant and the ends thereof it is vinculum conservandae fidei the great bond and engagement that men lay upon themselves for the being faithful in the promises that they make each to other And therefore Ezech. 20.37 it is called the bond of the Covenant because by it a man is bound unto the terms thereof and therefore if men keep not their Covenants it destroys their end and makes them of none effect and it is an obligation that a man takes and lays upon himself by his own consent for every Covenant must be free and voluntary Voluntas est spontanea the will is most free And therefore it being free and voluntary afterwards for us to recede and go back is the greater abomination Ezek. 17.18 He despised the Oath by breaking the Covenant after he had given his hand and therefore they say Let us bind our selves in an everlasting Covenant Jer. 50.5 never to be forgotten And for a man to be unsteady and depart from his ingagement in which he hath freely bound himself is the greater evil but always Covenants have amongst men been counted sacred and nature has taught men to keep them inviolable if it had been but a mans Covenant Gal. 3.18 no man would disannul or add thereunto and it was looked upon as the binding that men could not go back from although it were never so much against their hearts to keep it it is sanctissimum humani pectoris bonum Seneca de benefic l. 5. to 10. and therefore perfidi lege Aegyptiorum capite plectebantur quòd duplici tenerentur scelere quòd pietatem in Deos violarent fidem inter homines tollerent Diodor. Sic. l. 1. to 6. Tholos de rep l. 8. Perfidious persons were by the law of the Egyptians beheaded because they were guilty of a double crime impiety towards God and unfaithfulness to man Now if there be so much respect unto Covenants between man and man how sacred should the Covenant be between God and man the holy Covenant 2. It is a Covenant made unto God and there is no going back for 1 God knows it if he falsifie the Covenant in the least God will find it out There is a great deal of falseness of heart within us this way Our righteousness is like unto the morning dew and as an early cloud we promise and go back from our purposes and promises and our purposes are broken off we repent and repent of our repentance we vow Prov. 20 25. and after our vows we make enquiry we come out of Sodom and yet with Lot's wife we look back we are brought out of Egypt and yet our hearts turn back into Egypt again Now our Covenant being made with God he will observe it though the treachery of our Spirits be carried never so secretly and therefore Psal 44.21 the Psalmist says God would search it out If we have forgot thy name and stretched out our hands to any strange God God will find it out for he knows the secrets of our hearts and this Covenant is a Marriage Covenant and therefore the Lord looks upon the breaches of it with a jealous eye which is exceeding quick-sighted there is no disguising of ones self from a true Lover he observes every motion and out-going of the heart and will not admit the least deviation from the royal Law of Love And our God is of purer eyes than to behold the least iniquity he trys the heart and the reins by him actions are weighed 2 God hath declared that he hates Covenant-breaking and unsteadiness of spirit therein and he will certainly punish it There is not only the mercy of the Covenant but there is the quarrel of the Covenant I 〈◊〉 â—eal with thee says the Lord as thou hast done Lev. 36.25 Ezech. 16.59 for thou hast despised the Oath in brâ—â—â—ng the Covenant That is he would deal with them in judgment as they had dealt with him in a way of sinning Quis miles a regibus hostibus stipendium captat nisi planè transfuga desertor Tert. de praescript c. 12. For a man that is a subject to one king to be a Pensioner to an enemy we judge it very hateful amongst men that wear the Livery and take the Wages of one Master and do the work of another A subject to Christ and a pensioner to Satan is exceeding hateful to the Lord. And therefore when the Lord would express the worse sort of sinners the Apostate Jews that did joyn with Antiochus the Vile Dan. 11.30 Jer. 34.18 he calls them those that forsake the holy Covenant God will surely avenge the breach of humane Covenants as we see in the story of Zedekiah because he falsified his oath he had sworn by God much more will he avenge the holy Covenant when that is broken by any and therefore it being a Covenant made unto God there is no dallying it is one of the great things of God and if we despise it and cast it behind our back the wrath of God will surely overtake us 3. We have the highest patterns for our imitation the glorious Angels they abide in the truth they never left their first habitation they have alwaies kept their Covenant and they stand before God to this day in the Covenant of their Creation And consider your own Prayers Tert. you do pray that the will of God may be done by you on earth as it is in Heaven do not therefore perseverante iracundia orationem perdere will you
obedience the condition foederis praestiti Jer. 7.12 Jer. 11.5 They must obey that God may perform Esay 54.9 10. Jer. 32.40 and how many temporal afflictions were inflicted on them And so I may say to any soul that keeps Covenant with God thy sufferings will say to thee cavendae tempestates flenda naufragia Austin de Nat. Grat. cap. 35. And thus we should take heed of keeping the Covenant or else though the Lord continue faithful in reference to the promises of eternity because Christ is the surety yet in regard of temporal promises you may go without them and many of them never be performed unto you But you will say may a man that is in the Covenant of Grace break the Covenant may the Covenant of Grace be broken as the Covenant of Works was If it may not be broken to what end do you exhort us to keep it It 's true that the Covenant of Grace cannot be broken a man that is once in Covenant is ever in Covenant and the grounds of it are these 1. The Love of God that made the Covenant is an everlasting Love and therefore the Covenant it self is every where called an everlasting Covenant and the Lord saith If you can bring another flood upon the Earth and if you can stop the Sun in his course and change the Ordinances of Heaven then the Covenant might be broken that he had made with his people Therefore Rom. 8. the Apostle saies that nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord for the Lord loves us with an everlasting Love 2. It is a Covenant made with the persons of men mens persons are first taken into Covenant and there is this difference between the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works in the later Covenant the works were taken into Covenant first and then the person for the works sake and so long as their works continued holy so long their persons were to be accepted and find favour and honour with the Lord Gen. 4.7 If thou doest well there is an elevation and a lifting up of the face but if thou dost evil cursed is thy person for thy works sake and there is an ira redundans in personam wrath falling on the person that doth immediately follow thereupon but now in the Covenant of Grace it is quite contrary mens persons are first taken into Covenant and accepted and then their works for their persons sake the Lord had respect unto Abel and unto his offering and therefore till the person be in Covenant the works are abominable before God Now the works of the Saints may not always be accepted of God he may be and is often displeased with the acts of his covenant-people but yet their persons alwayes find acceptance with him their persons are the same I will visit their offences with a rod and their sins with scourges but my loving kindness I will not take from their persons my Covenant I will not break Psal 89. there is an ira simplex simple anger that doth reach to the sin but not to the person he is never a child of wrath more after his person is taken into a state of adoption with the Lord. 3. Their union with Christ is that which puts them into the second Covenant Gal. 3.29 as this union gives them interest in Christs righteousness and Sonship so it doth first state them in the Covenant which is the ground of all the rest the intendment of God was that the union between Christ and them should be the means to convey all this to their souls all comes in by Union Now so long as the Union between Christ and a soul continues so long the Covenant cannot be broken but this Union is indissoluble sin cannot nay death cannot separate between God and a soul in Covenant with him and therefore as they live so they dye in the Lord and sleep in Jesus 4. The righteousness of this Covenant is an everlasting righteousness Dan. 9. The Lord hath finished transgression and made an end of sin in the great condemning power of it and brought in everlasting righteousness such as sin could never spend for he is the son of righteousness the Lord of righteousness and therefore his Covenant can never be broken seeing the righteousness of the Covenant can never be expended 5. Christ is the surety of this better Covenant and therefore though we pay not the debt that we owe he hath undertaken it and the Lord will expect all of him and thence he is said to lay help on one that is mighty Psal 89. he will take your words no more but Christ is able to pay it as he did the debt of the first Covenant so he is able to perform the duty of the second the Lord hath ingaged him in it and he expects all from him as from the surety of the Covenant which he hath undertaken 6. Lastly This Covenant can never be broken because there is an everlasting principle of Grace begun in the Soul that doth always lay hold of the Covenant and cleave to it and consent to it and work towards it for it is incorruptible and immortal seed and therefore Jer. 32.40 This is the Covenant I will make with you I will write my law in your heart c. that you shall never depart from me In a Married condition there may be many failings in a Wife or a Husband as neglect disobedience c. but the Marriage Covenant is never broken till she take another Husband and the Covenant of Grace is a Marriage Covenant Now though there be many errors and failings in a Wife yet unless thou chuse another Husband and subject thy self to another Lord the Covenant between God and thee is not broken It is a matter of wonderful consolation that the Covenant between us and the Lord is a Covenant of salt that the sins of the people of God though they be many yet they cannot break the Covenant How should the consideration of this rich Grace and Mercy make the Saints triumph over Death and Hell O death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory blessed be God we are more than Conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord. But yet you had need be exhorted not to break this Covenant 1. By reason of the falseness of our own hearts Jer. 2.24 for we are like a wild Asse in the wilderness that doth traverse her paths that no hedges or fetters can hold her in so much that the Lord speaks it with admiration How weak is thy heart Ezek. 16.30 That it 's not able to hold out against any temptation not able to bear any one affliction but immediately it 's ready to depart from God Gen. 49.4 unstable as water there is a treachery and a perfidiousness of spirit in the best of us and therefore we had need be often called upon Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall and let us take
promise now mercies that are the fruit and birth of the promises are the sweetest for they are children of the promise that are children of the Covenant Zeph. 2.2 and the promise of God doth as well travel with mercy as the threatnings of God travel with judgement seek the Lord before the decree bring forth it is not to be understood de decreto Dei occulto sed promulgato of the secret decree but of the sentence declared in Gods word as Calv. observes and so do the promises bring forth also now a man that is an heir of promise should walk in the expectation of it that his heart may be fit to receive it continually Jer. 11.4 5. and that God may perform unto him all that he hath spoken obey my voice do all that I command you that I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your Fathers The true reason why we many times fail of the mercy is because we are not prepared for it and our heart is not in a frame for Covenant-mercies and therefore doth the Lord defer them and wait to be gracious Esay 30. for mercy is like unto cordials given unto foul stomachs which do but increase the peccant humour sometimes Deus non exaudit propitius God doth not hear in mercy and sometimes exaudit iratus he hears in wrath c. it will not be given in mercy but in judgement if unto a heart unprepared for then duty becomes duty to us when our hearts are prepared to receive the command and a man can say O Lord my heart is ready and then mercy doth become mercy when the heart is prepared to receive it before the mercy come and the mercy of the Covenant doth consist in both giving the mercy and preparing the heart to receive it fitting the vessel and then filling it Now a frame of heart fit to receive mercies consists in these particulars 1. A believing heart relying upon the grace of the Covenant notwithstanding all seeming impossibilities and so Abraham though his body was dry and Sarahs womb dead yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did not dispute and reason the case pro and con and looked not at the probability of the thing but at the grace of the Covenant Psal 118. and the love and power of God therein so David many bulls are come about me they compass me in on every side but they are extinct as the fire among thorns for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them c. and I shall not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord. As Luther when all the world was up in arms against him as it were odium impetum totius orbis sustinuit yet he saith vincet mea audacia in Christo ultimum illorum jam pallentem furorem brevi efficiam ut anathema sit esse papistam My confidence in Christ shall overcome their fury they be men that are fit to enter into Canaan and to receive the promise of the Covenant that can say of the sons of Anak and the Cities walled up to Heaven we can overcome them they be bread for us their defence is departed from them their Rock is not as our Rock c. 2. When a soul is kept watchful and in a continual expectation of the promise I watch for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning he did expect God should come Psal and therefore though he did tarry yet he would watch for him and he doth set himself upon his watch tower Luke 12.35 and this is for a man to stand having his loyns girt and his lamp burning as one that expects the return of his Lord from the marriage and he opens to him immediately Surely it is such a soul that God will pour out the mercies of the Covenant upon he will make him sit down to meat and gird himself and serve him c. Whereas we go without mercies many times because mercy is offered and we are not ready to receive it the Lord knocks and goes away again the soul doth not open a man cannot say my heart is prepared Cant. 5. looking for and hastning to the coming of the day of the Lord 2 Pet. 3.13 3. When a mans heart though in expectation of the mercy yet is weaned from it and resigns it unto the will of God whether he will bestow it or no whether in this life he shall have the mercy he desires or whether he will pay him all in the life to come if he have the mercy now he does not look upon it as his portion but only as solatium a solace a viatick for his way as if he be deprived of them fit exercitium justi injusti supplicium Prosper de vit contempl He has the exercise of the just and punishment of the unjust And so David was in expectation of the Kingdom for it was one of the sure mercies of David yet it is said Psal 131.1 2. His heart was as a weaned child to prepare him for that mercy God had weaned him from it before ever he should injoy it and it is a noble frame of heart to be always in a readiness to resign a mercy before a man has the possession of it and to be contented to let God take as well as give what his soul waits upon him for 4 When a man desires a mercy no further than it may make him holy for the Covenant of God is a holy Covenant Luk. 1.72 and the mercies of the Covenant are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 13.34 which is the word that the Septuagint doth use Esay 55.3 and Luke renders it according to the translation and not according to the Hebrew that which in the Hebrew is mercies they render holy things and indeed mercies they cannot be unless they tend to promoting holiness in the soul and when a man with Agur fears mercies lest they should draw away his heart Prov. 30. give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient he feared the snare that is in prosperity the hook that is in the bait with which many a man is taken and thereby drawn away from the things of God and few are as Jehosophat who had Silver and Gold in abundance and his heart was lifted up in the wayes of the Lord 2 Chro. 17.6 his heart was incouraged the more in a way of holiness and when a man desires mercies quae nos ornare possunt pariter munire which may as well fortifie as adorn us Prosper The soul of a child of God desires he may have mercies that may be his defence as well as his ornament there are mercies that do adorn men but they do also insnare them and betray them to the enemy nay such a soul desires Heaven not so much for the perfection of his happiness as for the perfection of his holiness which nothing can perfect but the beatifical vision when he shall appear we shall
And this is the Covenant that I will make with them I will be their God Jer. 31.33 and they shall be my people And what it is for to have Jehovah for your God The happiness of it you have heard that as you are wholly his so he also is become wholly yours all that is within you is for God and all that is in God is for you and for your good And he is your God as he is Christs God for there the Covenant-right doth first begin he is my father and your father my God and your God c. 2 He doth in this Covenant take you to be unto himself a peculiar people whom he hath separated unto himself above all people to be unto him for a name and for a praise throughout the earth as Exod. 19.5 You shall be unto me a peculiar treasure above all the people of the earth and he doth say they are his portion the Lords portion is his people and Israel is the lot of his inheritance though all the earth be his yet he hath set his heart upon them and they are dear and precious ones 3 By this Covenant the earth stands that all the creatures may serve the Saints those that are in Covenant with the Lord it is the curse of the first Covenant that shall set on fire the whole frame of the world at the last and great day all the creatures serve the Saints as they do serve God for Christ hath bought the services of all the creatures and he hath in his house vessels of dishonour as well as for honour and even the Devils and wicked men bow to him and they shall worship one day at the Saints feet and shall know that God loves them and God makes use of these vessels of dishonour to fan and purifie his people 2 King 21.13 I will wipe them as a man doth a dish and I will shave them with a rasor that is hired even the King of Assyria And some vessels of honour God uses for the good of his Saints and so do the Angels as well as all other creatures serve their graces or their necessities they are ministring spirits to the heirs of salvation 4 By this Covenant all their sins are pardoned and God remembers them no more the foundation of pardon is not only laid in the satisfaction of Christ the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 price that he hath laid down but also in the free grace of God in making of the Covenant and in the gracious acceptation of the payment of the surety for you see that God is in Christ reconciling the world there is Covenant grace that runs along with all the fruits of the death of Christ so that even Meritum Christi habet in se gratiam invisceratam The merit of Christ hath grace imbowelled it 5 It is a Covenant of Communion for it is conjugal and in it is the nearest Union and Communion that can be between creatures it 's a Covenant of friendship and the proper effect of friendship is fellowship 2 Cor 6.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will dwell in them and walk amongst them which is a high degree of condescension There are two ways of Gods communicating himself the one is infinite and to us inconceivable so God doth in the mystery of his eternal generation communicate himself unto his son and as the Godhead doth communicate it self unto the man Christ Jesus in a personal union so there is a communication of himself unto the Saints and the highest communication that is is in a Covenant way there is but little that God doth impart of himself unto all the creatures in comparison of what God doth unto his Saints there is more of his wisdom holiness goodness and all his attributes that is to be seen in these than in all the world besides 't is the Saints alone that can shew forth the vertues of him that hath called them 1 Pet. 2.9 6 By this Covenant he doth dispense Grace and Glory 1 For Grace To make room for that in the Soul He will take away the heart of stone and he will put his law into their hearts Jer. 31.33 And that grace shall teach them to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts c. And 2 for Glory hereafter that also is dispensed by this Covenant for the inheritance is not by the Law not by the first but by the second Covenant they only that are heirs of promise are the persons that are ordained to Glory and they only are the sons of the Resurrection their services only are accepted of God and all the glory that he hath in this inferior world comes in by them and it is whatever they do even the meanest services not only their religious works but their civil and natural works which they do out of necessity of nature yet having a tincture of the blood of this Covenant upon them they are in order to an eternal reward and whereas to all other men may be said to what purpose is the multitude of your services Summo dedecore vos afficiam I accept them not Mal. 2.3 I will spread dung upon your faces that is the dung of your fasts and of your solemn services they shall make you but the more hateful and abominable and vile and become a dunghill before God that 's all the fruit you shall have of your religious duties But now men that are in Covenant they can say We will be abundant in the work of the Lord for we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. last 2 Chron. 13.5 2. Have an eye unto the stability of the Covenant it is a Covenant of Salt Sal est duraturae amicitiae symbolum Salt is a symbol of lasting friendship and signifies here that the Lord will never turn away from them to do them good Jer. 32.10 it is a Covenant that we can never break because the righteousness thereof can never be spent And the stability of the Covenant lies not only in the love and mercy of God that made it but 1 in the faithfulness of God who is ingaged and cannot go back for he is not as man that he should repent Dan. 9 4. and therefore in the Scripture he is every where stiled the faithful God that keeps Covenant and mercy for ever and the Apostle says God is not unfaithful to forget your work and labour of love God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins for God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able It is said Mic. 7. last He will perform his mercy to Abraham and his truth to Jacob and he is ingaged by a double Oath That by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lye we may have strong consolation 1 By an oath to Christ for he is made a Priest by an oath Psal 110 3. 2 By an oath unto us and therefore it is
a Covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us The end of his making the Covenant was to divert the Judgement And so we read also in the Book of Nehemiah and thus gracious is the Lord Nehem. 9.38 that when he doth send judgement for sin he doth not continue the judgement but till he doth see an humiliation and reformation in act let there be but the serious purpose of reformation and let the Covenant be renewed to ingage the soul thereunto and the Lord doth remove the judgement and when the will is in his people he doth accept it for the deed as David Psal 32.5 I said I will confess my sin unto the Lord and the Lord forgave me my sin and the prodigal Son doth but say I will go to my father and while he was yet a great way off the father met him 3. In a time of publick reformation when the foundations have been destroyed and all things out of course and a great deal of difficulty appears and even impossibility in carrying on the work yet the people of God looking upon it as a duty have set upon it with full resolution and purpose of heart and have covenanted to go through with the work notwithstanding all opposition Jehoiada made a Covenant between the Lord and the King and the people that they should be the Lords people here Religion was corrupted and Dominion was usurped and the Lord put it into the heart of Jehoiada the Priest to endeavour the reformation of both and therefore he brought forth the Kings Son to whom the government did rightly belong and did set him up in the Throne and deposed Athalia the usurping Queen and he doth make a double Covenant 1 A Covenant between God and the King and the People and in this Covenant the King and the people do make up but one party and they ingage themselves to be Gods people and the King to rule for God as under him 2 There is also a Covenant between the King and the People that he ruling for God and under God they will for Conscience sake obey Now my Covenant with any Magistrate must be understood as being a second and subordinate Covenant I am so to keep Covenant with them that I must also keep my Covenant with the Lord. Wherefore after they had thus strengthened themselves by a Covenant in the next verse they set upon the work of reformation effectually for all the people of the land went into the house of Baal and brake it down And so did Josiah he made a Covenant with the Lord To walk after the Lord and keep his Commandments with all his heart 2 King 23.3 4. and then he commanded them to bring out of the Temple of the Lord all the Vessels that were made for Baal c. and wrought the most glorious reformation that ever ' was by any of the Kings of Judah having his heart and hands strengthened by a Covenant with the Lord. 4. As a testimony of a mans Thankfulness for any great mercy or special deliverance or as an argument of faith that a man is to use unto God when he doth pray for and expect from God any special mercy 1 As an argument that a man should use unto God to obtain mercy it is that artificial way of praying that the Lord himself teaches his people Hosea 14.2 Take away our iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips Assur shall not save us we will not ride upon Horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands Ye are our Gods for in thee the fatherless find mercy c. And so Jacob also Gen. 28.20 22. he begged a blessing in his journey and he doth follow the prayers he had put up with a vow if the Lord will be with me he shall be my God and if he bring me to my Fathers house this Stone shall be Gods House and if the Lord bless me with an estate I will surely return him of his own I will give the tenth unto thee so punctual is this holy man to restipulate or return something unto God answerable unto the mercy that he doth beg of God If Hezekiah may be delivered from death Esay 38.20 and David from guilt Psal 51.14 they promise to sing aloud of so great a mercy and to teach transgressors the way of God also the Fathers to the Children shall declare his truth When a man in desiring the mercy doth it with a spiritual eye and doth not ask amiss he is truly careful to perform the duty that such a mercy calls for that he may return as well as receive for quantum à praeceptis tantum ab auribus Dei sumus Tertullian When there is no obedience to God there must be expected no audience by God And therefore one special argument that the people of God do use in their prayers to obtain mercy is a renewing their Covenant 2 It is to be done in testimony of thankfulness for mercy received and then doth a man indeed make a right use of a mercy when he is bound the closer unto God by such cords of Love and the more the Lord doth ingage him the more he is willing to ingage himself to God A great army of Ethiopians came against the King of Judah with an host of a thousand thousand men and the Lord delivered them into his hand now at their return they came to Jerusalem to give God the glory of the victory and they offered unto him of the spoil which they had taken and now they enter into Covenant with the Lord to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their hearts and with all their souls and so the renewing of the Covenant is their return made unto God for the mercy And so the Jews at their return out of Babylon Jer. 50.4 5. They come with weeping and seek the way to Sion with their faces thitherward and they say Let us bind our selves unto the Lord by a perpetual Covenant never to be forgotten so that in receiving and attaining the mercy God calls for a Covenant as also in returning the mercy 5. When a man finds his heart bent to backsliding and he is unsteady and unstable in any good way Moses finding the people of Israel a very unsteady people and whose hearts were not stedfast with the Lord after that solemn Covenant with them upon Mount Sinai he renews it again a little before his death when they were come to the borders of the promised Land and inforceth it both with the wonders that God wrought upon Pharaoh and also the great miracles that he had wrought for them when he led them through the wilderness forty years And the same thing was the ground of Joshua's renewing his Covenant Josh 24. Josh 24. And Nehemiah finding that many of the Jews loved their strange Wives and the children that they had by them
and therefore it would be hard to perswade them to put them away having convinced them of the sin and obtained of them a promise that they would put them away he doth bind them by a Covenant which they subscribe seal and confirm by an Oath and a curse for he that will keep Covenant with God may sometimes be smitten in the place of Dragons and sometimes his Father and his Mother may stand in the way of his duty to God when he should keep the Covenant they may perswade him to break it now this is praise-worthy for a man with Levi to say to his Father and Mother I have not seen him not to know his own Brethren nor his own Children Deut. 33.9 A man had need have his heart strengthned by all manner of Covenant ingagements or else he will do as the children of Israel did about putting away their servants Jer. 34.9 go back again and behave himself falsly and unsteadily therein 6. When a man doth receive the Sacraments any of the seals of the Covenant it is his duty to renew the Covenant as often as we set to the seal anew we should read over the obligation anew Gen. 15.18 The Lord made a Covenant with Abraham but yet Gen. 17.1 2 c. the Lord renews the Covenant and the occasion of it was v. 10. because the Lord did then institute the Sacrament of Circumcision the seal of the righteousness of faith Rom. 4. when the Lord institutes the seal he renews his Covenant and so should we as often as we set to the seal Psal 50.5 So Psal 50.5 Gather my Saints together to me that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice there is a double sense given of it some say it is a description of the people of Israel whom the Lord owned to be his people because in Covenant with him by sacrifice Exod. 24. Calvin Sigilla Syngraphae sc adminicula ad saciendum Dei foedus others think it to be spoken by way of opposition to them that did rest only in the outward rites the Sacrifices that they did offer and did never look upon them as signs and seals or administring helps to the establishment of Gods Covenant they did only use the sacrifices unto the end for which the Lord appointed or did look upon them as a renewing of their Covenant with God and their ingagement unto him for their obedience And so it should be in every ordinance of God these acts of obedience should lead us unto the Covenant which is the ground of our obligation unto the same obedience this is true of Baptism also 1 Pet. 3.21 1 Pet. 3.21 which I conceive to be an allusion unto John's Baptism wherein the people first confessed their sins and renounced them and afterwards inquired into the work that they were to do in promising and ingaging themselves unto obedience and so there was a restipulation on their part unto God again And so it is true of the Lords Supper it is the New-Covenant or Testament in his blood Now the fruit and benefits that the people of God have found by the renewing of their Covenant are many 1. It hath been a testimony to them of the truth of their repentance Math. 3.8 John calls for fruits meet for repentance and what is a right fruit of repentance but to abhor the former evils we have been guilty of and say Ashur shall not save us c. and to engage to perform the contrary duty for it is not testimony enough of the truth of a mans repentance that he doth abstain from the acts of former sins unless also he has a testimony unto his own soul that he doth endeavour to grow in the contrary graces 2. It is the foundation of consolation 2 Chron. 15.14 15. in the time of Asa the King of Judah they swore with a loud voice with Trumpets and Cornets and all Judah rejoyced at the oath for they had sworn with all their hearts A day of renewing Covenant with the Lord will be a day of great rejoycing and great consolation unto the ssoul for it 's like unto a new Wedding-day the Covenant with God being a Matrimonial Covenant and it brings the soul from its wandrings unto God again and the soul says I will return to my former Husband for it was better with me then than now 3. It is a means to establish and stay the heart which is in it self exceeding fickle and uncertain it 's unstable as water Josh 24.31 they bound themselves by Covenant to serve the Lord and they did it all the days of Joshua and the Elders that had out-lived him that had seen the great mercies of God unto them and their bonds and ingagements to God So Josiah made them all stand to the Covenant and all his days they departed not from following the Lord the God of their Fathers for Jer. 13.11 2 Chron. 34.33 As a girdle cleaves to the loyns of a man so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel that they might be to me for a name and a praise and a glory there is a principle of fixing and establishing in the Covenant that a man is thereby bound to cleave to God with full purpose of heart there is no going back therefore it is called the bond of the Covenant 4. It 's a special means joyned with fasting and prayer to prevail with God for mercy when a man is willing as well to ingage himself to duty as he is to expect mercy from the Lord they sought the Lord with their whole desire and he was found of them 2 Chron. 15. and the Lord gave them rest round about and there is no more effectual way to obtain any blessing or mercy from God than a renewing of Covenant and ingagement of obedience to God And the reason hereof is this because the more the will renews its Covenant with God the more subordinated it is to the Will of God now God doth in a manner to speak â—ith reverence submit the liberality of his mercies to a will subordinated to his will Again the more we renew our Covenant with God the more harmonie there is between our will and the will of God and O! what peace ariseth hence what contentment in â—very condition According to the tenure of the New Covenant a solid full will is acceptâ—â— by God for the effect and therefore the more the will renews its consent to the Coveâ—â—nt the more it is accepted by God 5. It doth not only establish the heart but make it better as the will becomes good â—t first by willing what is good so it is then best when it most strongly wills what is best â—ow when doth the will more strongly will what is best than when it doth most firmly reâ—ew its Covenant with God its best good So many grains as there are of a deterâ—ined will in adhering to God according to the terms of the
Covenant so many grains â—â—ere are of saving grace When the deliberation of a bended will concurs with the reâ—ewing of our Covenant it always brings some new addition of grace for as grace alone 〈◊〉 first bends the will to enter into Covenant with God so the more frequently we reâ—â—w our Covenant the more gracious and sanctified the will is What more efficaciously â—â—parates yea rends the heart from beloved lusts Doth not this most potently break the heart for sin and thence break it off from sin Whence ariseth the prevalence of any spirâ—â—ual lust but from some defect or neglect in the renewing of our Covenant with God Again is not the will by such renewed acts of covenanting with Christ more effectually broken off from self legal spiritual self which is the worst enemy Christ has And O! how much doth the vigour beauty growth and perfection of habitual grace depend hereon May we not justly then interpret that of our Lord Matth. 7.13 14. Enter ye in at â—â—e strait Gate c. of this entring into Covenant with God 6. The frequent renewing of our Covenant which God is that which fortifies the heart â—gainst temptations For the more we renew our Covenant in an evangelick way the â—ore our hearts are engaged to depend on Christ for grace in order to the performance of our duty who more frequently looks up to God for actual grace to perform his duties and avoid the temptations which may hinder him than he who by faith frequently renews his Covenant with God What more effectual course can any take to avoid the croud of temptations which in this vain dirty world he is surrounded with than by giving up his heart entirely to God And how can this be accomplished but by frequent renewings of his Covenant with God Doth not our Lord assure us Luke 16.13 That the soul which holds to God will despise the unrighteous Mammon The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies a tenacious and inviolable holding fast of an object against all those that endeavour to pull it away How doth the unrighteous Mammon by its heart-bewitching allurements endeavour to pull off the heart from God And what doth more confirm the heart in its holdfast of God than the renewing of its Covenant 7. Such as oft renew their Covenant with God have a great advantage for the strengthning their union with Christ Doth not every fresh act of the will in consenting unto Christ as our Lord bind the heart more firmly to Christ And is not Christ hereby bound to give forth a fresh Communication of his Spirit to that soul whereby its union is corroborated What made Davids heart so firmly united to God but following hard after him by frequent repetitions of his Covenant So Psal 63.8 My soul follows hard after thee The Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies firmly and intimately to adhere to God as the Husband to the Wife So the word notes Gen. 2.24 Deut. 10.20 Job 41.17 Now what gives being and improvement to conjugal union but the conjugal Covenant Doth not then the repetition of our conjugal Covenant with Christ greatly strengthen our union with him So Ephes 5.31 Shall be joyned unto his wife this is mystically to be understood of the conjugal union between the soul and Christ as vers 32. So 1 Cor. 6.17 joyned to the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to be agglutinated or joyned by glue Our Covenant is the Glue whereby our hearts are joyned to Christ 8. The principal part of the souls Communion and walking with God as a friend consists in this renewing its Covenant with God The Apostle exhorts us Col. 2.6 As we have received Christ Jesus so to walk in him and what doth he mean hereby Is it not as if he had said do you not remember with what a strong inviolable assent and consent you at first received Christ What passionate flaming deep and pure affections you then had for him How much you hugged and embraced him in the bent of your wills What complacence and satisfaction you then took in those mutual embracements between him and you How ambitious you were of shewing all friendly and obsequious deportment towards him O! then be exhorted to receive him afresh day by day by repeated consent and Covenant walk in him in the same manner and with the same repeated acts of election as you at first received him Herein the main of Communion lies 9. The frequent renewing of our Covenant with God is the most soveraign means to prevent or recover the soul out of any course of backsliding Was not this Peters second conversion enjoined by our Lord Luke 22.31 whereby he was recovered out of that dreadful backsliding How was he again converted but by putting forth the same acts of closing with Christ in a Covenant-way which he at first conversion put forth And is not the soul hereby also preserved from backsliding Thus the Church Psal 44.17 18. All this is come upon us yet have we not forgotten thee neither have we dealt falsly in thy Covenant our heart is not turned back Neither have we dealt falsly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to deal lyingly treacherously unfaithfully and what kept the Church from dealing thus treacherously with her Lord under those sore persecutions but the frequent minding and repeating her first Covenant How soon would her heart have started back if she had not bound it fast to God by her repeated Covenants Lastly It is principium operandi a ground of working of reformation and emendation of life And it is in the strength of their Covenant that they go forth against all self-love of their own hearts and against all the opposition that they might meet withall from men So in Nehemiah's time when they came to put away their Wives and Children their hearts had need be strengthned unto such a work and therefore by a Covenant they bind themselves thereunto and seal and subscribe it and ratifie it by an oath and a curse and in all their reformation in Asa's time and Hezekiah's and Josiah's the beginning of all their great actions were undertaken by a Covenant that thereby they might ingage themselves unto God and nothing might divert and turn them back from the work that they had undertaken and therefore we see it is not in vain for a person or a people to renew their Covenant with the Lord. The Lord grant there may ever be such a frame of heart in us that we may alwayes live in the comfort of that word the Lord has made with us an everlasting Covenant in all things ordered and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire as he said who was a man after Gods own heart and this is the hope and consolation of all the children of God CHAP. IV. The Covenant of Grace as referring to the Seed of the Faithfull Gen. XVII 7. I will establish my Covenant between me and
thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generation for an everlasting Covenant to be a God to thee and thy Seed after thee SECT I. That Children are taken into their Parents Covenant § 1. THE subject we have in hand is the Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace the new and better Covenant and therein having shewed the Person that made the Covenant with man and spoken of the free Grace of God which was the Fountain from whence this Covenant of Grace did flow we came in the next place to consider the Persons with whom this Covenant was made and they are set down in a threefold subordination 1 First and immediately with Christ the second Adam 2 In him with all the Faithfull 3 In them with their Seed And this last is the head we are now to enter upon having laid these two grounds 1 That the Covenant that God made with Abraham is the same Covenant that all the Faithfull whether Jews or Gentiles stand under to the worlds end Rom. 4.16 therefore is Abraham called the Father of us all though of the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is cognatio specialis quae coram Deo locum habet Deo nos gratos reddit Beza All Believers have a special Cognation to God by virtue of Abrahams Covenant and this is not barely by imitation of his Faith which the Apostle Paul asserts vers 12. of those that walk in the steps of the Faith of Abraham but there is â— blessed resultance from this that a man is thereby translated into the Covenant of Abraâ—am and there is no distinction of persons for there is neither Jew nor Greek Gal. 3.29 neither bond â—or free neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus Ad jus adoptionis acquirendum vel minuendum nullum discrimen sancta est in Christo aequalitas quae unitas Par. Par. As to the right of Adoption there is no inequality all are in Christ equal All therefore that are Christs are Abrahams seed and heirs according to the Promise Gal. 4.28.31 we as Isaac are the children of Promise we are not the children of the bond-woman but of the free 2 Though in the manner of the Administration of this Covenant there be a great deal of difference from what it was in ancient times yet as to the substance of the Covenant the persons that are foederati in it are the same and taken in upon the same grounds and shall be so to the end of the world and therefore as the seed were taken into Covenant with their father the same way will the Lord dispense the Covenant to the end of the world that if he take the Parent into Covenant he will take the seed with him and therefore their children are called the Sons of the Covenant Act. 3.25 because it 's as a Birth-Priviledge and belongs unto them as they are taken into their Fathers Covenant And this the Lord says shall be the way in which he will dispense his Covenant for ever Act. 2.39 that no man may say this was a peculiar priviledge unto Abraham and his seed onely for Abraham is made the Father of many Nations Rom. 4.12 the Father of the Circumcision and of the Uncircumcision and the Promise is to you and your seed and unto them that are afar off as Gentiles unconverted are said to be that are yet strangers unto the Church of God Ephes 2.17 and the Priviledges thereof even to as many as in all ages the Lord shall call And these two grounds being laid this Covenant made with Abraham will give us ground to observe this point Doctrine That the Children of believing Parents in the Covenant of Grace are taken into the same Covenant with their Parents the Covenant is to them and to their seed and therefore their Posterity may well be stiled the Children or Sons of the Covenant A point it is of great concernment and therefore to be contended earnestly for 1. As that which doth exceedingly advance the Grace of God unto Parents and makes much for their Consolation that are Believers that not only the Lord doth extend mercy to them but to their seed as he did here extend it to Abrahams seed by which God exceedingly exalts his free Grace and so it 's made an argument of special Love unto Parents Deut. 4.37 Because he loved thy Parents therefore he chose their seed after them Mercy unto their Posterity is from the Love of God unto Parents Now as it is a special Grace of the second Covenant that wherever Believers come unto all people where they live they shall be a blessing Gen. 12.2 the word in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esto benedictio so Montanus we render it according to the Septuagint Thou shalt be a blessing but as Aynsworth has well observed this manner of speaking in the Hebrew is very vehement and emphatical noting Gods commanding the blessing according to the Expression Psal 133.3 For there the Lord commanded the Blessing even life for evermore c. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as dew from the Lord c. They shall be as dew the cause of a Nations flourishing and to a decaying Nation they shall be the root and support the holy seed shall be the substance thereof Isa 16.13 how much more shall the Grace of the Covenant be exalted in reference to their Posterity for their consolation in that they are nearer and dearer to them than any other can be and therefore they shall be a blessing to them and this will be much heightned unto them by this that while they were under the Covenant of Works while unstranslated they did convey unto them the Curse of the first Covenant and the Lord doth threaten that he will visit the iniquity of the Parents upon the Children Now it were a great terrour to a man that while he is under the first Covenant his iniquity shall be visited upon his Children if when he is translated into the second Covenant the grace of the Covenant should no way extend unto them and â—â—range it were that all the creatures coming under the Covenant of the Saints are by tâ—â—s means preserved in their being and attain many benefits that by reason of the curse of the first Covenant they should never have attained if amongst all the rest their children should have no benefit by their fathers Covenant and they which are nearest to them should only be excluded 2. This is one of the great Arguments that the Scripture useth to draw men in to Believe because not only they shall have benefit by it but their Posterity there is a double use that I find the Apostle makes of that argument 1 To the Children as a means to bring them in repent ye therefore and be converted for you are the children of the Covenant which God made with your fathers there is mercy in
with thee and thou becamest mine Ezech. 16.8 then I cloathed thee with broidered work and shod thee with badgers skins and girded thee with fine linen and covered thee with silk I deckt thee with ornaments of gold and put bracelets upon thy hands c. Upon the removal of the Candlestick if the Lord unchurch a people all other blessings go away with it They shall take away thy eminent place Ezech. 16.39 and they shall strip thee of all thy cloaths and 2 Chron. 7.20 this house will I cast out of my sight and I will pluck them up by the root out of the land which I have given them 5. They have a special patience and long-suffering attending them and the Lord doth bear with them far for his peoples sake Mat. 13. he lets the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say unto the reapers Gather the tares in bundles to burn we know that the patience and long-suffering of God is salvation 2 Pet. 3. 6. They are delivered from many temporal judgments that others fall into there is a special preservation and protection over them in the time of common danger there is a sealing for the Church the Lord sets a special mark upon them Rev. 7.4 and wicked men receive much by this and so even a Cham may be saved in a common deluge where many a better man may be drowned There are priviledges belonging to the society that a man joyns himself unto that a man injoys for their sakes but not for his own as many a man saith Austin in the Invasion of the Goths did scape by joyning themselves unto the Christians August de Civit And Rehoboam shall be a Prince all the days of his life for David my servants sake that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem Jehoram the son of Jehosaphat 1 King 11.34 36. a wicked man walking in the ways of Ahab and the Kings of Israel and one who at the entrance of his Raign had practised that ordinary devillish policy in use amongst Princes to slay all his brethren with the sword and divers also of the Princes of Israel thereby to strengthen himself and yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the Covenant that he had made with him to give him a light for ever and when Jerusalem was besieged in the days of Hezekiah by a mighty Army the Lord says Esa 37.35 They shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there but I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant Davids sake 7. There is a holiness that comes to them thereby 1 Cor. 7.14 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your children unclean but now are they holy 1 An inward holiness and sanctification it cannot be for it 's a holiness that is conveyed from the parents but so the graces of the Spirit cannot be which are not of blood nor of the will of the flesh 2 Neither can it be meant of legitimation Joh. 1.13 that they are legitimate for there is a lawful marriage between one man and one woman out of the Church as well as in the Church so that they are lawfully man and wife and their children lawfully begotten for the truth of those relations are not founded in grace a father is as truly a father a Magistrate a Magistrate a husband a husband in wicked men and grace adds nothing to the truth of them though it doth to the comfort and right use of them 3 It 's such a holiness as is derived from the faith of the parent for it doth not come unto the child through the unbelieving parent for if they were both unbelievers the children were unclean but it 's a holiness that comes upon the child from the faith of the parent which can be nothing else but a federal holiness being taken into the parents covenant which is either from father or mother derived unto the posterity Now all these are great blessings in themselves though they do ripen a mans sins and bring a greater curse upon him in the end for the marish places shall be given to salt there be no men in the world delivered over to such fearful spiritual plagues as they are Amos 8.1 Heb. 6.1 Quest 4. Answ and if any men prove Devils they doe the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out and the Lord will say unto them I know you not c. § 4. But what is this foederal holiness and wherein doth it consist This I shall speak to 1 Negatively and shew you what it is not 2 Positively and shew you what it is and both are very necessary in the present business both that the false glosses fastened upon this place may be removed and also the true nature of this Holiness cleared and established 1. Negatively what it is not and here I find three interpretations as false and corrupt glosses given of it 1. Of a Holiness of Regeneration but that cannot be the meaning of it for the gracious qualifications of the Soul are no more ex traduce than the Soul it self Joh. 1.13 no man is regenerated from his Parents that he proceeds from though they be themselves regenerate yet the New-birth is not by Propagation In this sence it is true and to be understood what Tertullian saith None were born Christians Here is a case propounded to the Apostle by some of the converted Corinthians 1 Cor. 7.12 1 Cor. 7.12 whether from the example of the Jews and the Law in force amongst them and their practice in Ezra to put away their strange Wives or whether it were really the fear and jealousie of their own spirits lest they might be corrupted by them and lest their converse with them should be displeasing to God and bring a Curse of God upon them for it 's spoken non de matrimoniis contrahendis sed retinendis Calv. not of contracting but continuing marriage Calvin for else the command holds be not unequally yoaked together with Vnbelievers and marry onely in the Lord but being married when they both continued in infidelity whether now one party being converted and the other continuing in Idolatry it be not the duty of the party converted to depart from such a yoak-fellow because of the danger of being defiled by such constant and intimate society In answer to this case the Apostle says if the unbelieving will continue let not the believing husband put away his unbelieving wife c. and the Apostle gives the reason drawn from the powerful influence that a state of Grace hath upon those that are brought into it for the priviledges of the Covenant of Grace are not like unto Conclusions in Logick which do follow in deteriorem partem the same grace that doth sanctifie the man hath a powerful and a gracious influence to sanctifie all things unto
of right belong to them and God hath therefore separated them from other people that he might set his Tabernacle in the middle of them and they have his presence with them Rom. 9.4 Rev. 4. there the worship of God is there is a glorious Throne by which is meant the Lord Christ in the presence of his people and it is of a visible Church for there are Beasts and Elders there are Believers and there are Officers which cannot be in the Church invisible therefore this presence of God in Ordinances and the Ordinances themselves do belong unto this visible Church and the members of it have a right unto them all as being born of believing parents and they have not only jus haereditarium an hereditary right but jus actuale an actual right which is called jus in re when they shall be made fit for them and are capable of them it was the great honour of Israel that it was the valley of Vision and that because of the presence of God there it is called the holy City Esa 12.1 29.1 Rev. 21.3 Ezech. 48.35 Ariel the Altar of God and the great honour of the new Jerusalem is Rev. 21.3 That the tabernacle of the Lord shall be with men it is not meant of Heaven for it is a Tabernacle there shall be Ordinances therein and the same is spoken of Ezech. 48.35 Jehovah shammah 3. There is a special Providence that doth watch over them though it is true not the same peculiar Providence that doth watch over those that are really Saints and by union members of Christ but yet there is a special Providence towards the visible Church in reference unto all the works of God and therefore Zac. 2.5 to hurt them is as touching the apple of his eye and he will be a wall of fire about Jerusalem theirs is such a protection as other men have not and therefore when the Lord did unchurch them he says he will take away the wall and the hedge Esa 5.5 and they shall be trodden down that is that peculiar Providence that the Lord did before exercise towards them now he will remove and give them up into the hands of men to devour them as it is in Deut. 32.30 said that their rock had sold them God did put them into the hands of their enemies Thou sellest thy people for nought and we know amongst men what it is for an out-law a proscribed man to be put out of the protection of the Law and so when the Lord doth cast any man out of the Church he doth put him out of protection also 4. The great and special workings of the Spirit of Christ do belong unto such it is true that Christ hath a providential Kingdom as well as a spiritual and the Spirit is the Viceroy and Prorex in both the Spirit rules for him and therefore there are mighty workings of the Spirit of God raising up the spirits of men and fitting and preparing of them for to accomplish the Lords work and to bring about his ends but yet in the spiritual Kingdom there are the chief operations of the Spirit the Apostle counts three things as works of the Spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6. 1 Gifts of the Spirit 2 There are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 administrations functions and offices and they are divers which these gifts qualifie men for 3 There are different fruits and effects works and successes that the Spirit doth give unto these gifts in different offices and administrations but unto whom doth all this belong they do all of them belong to the Church vers 12 28. he hath set in the Church offices and given them gifts and his saving gifts are amongst these and many very glorious common works by which even unregenerate men are sanctified for the Blood of Christ by which they are sanctified they may despise as an unholy thing and in this priviledge of being a member of the visible Church of God and having the Name of God called upon him and the services of God pertaining to him in this doth this holiness consist and a man thereby is separated from all other people in the world Quest 5 § 5. Is this federal right to the children only the priviledge of parents and so conveyed unto the child from the parents one or both of them being Believers or is there any other way of conveyance We read Gen. 17.12 how not only they came under Abrahams Covenant that were of his seed but he that was born in his house that was not of his seed or bought with his money or any stranger he was to come under Abrahams Covenant and was to be circumcised as well as any that did come out of Abrahams loyns and we find that the Church of God did therefore ordain Sureties which were to take upon them the care of the education of such children answerable unto that Religion into which they were baptized and they were admitted thereunto by their proparentes right which otherwise had no right thereunto by their natural parents and this is so ancient that I find in the second Century Hyginus Susceptores ad baptismum Christianorum adjecit c. Magdeb. And Tertullian has a hint of it as in use in his time also Tertul. de coron milit August which hath been justified by Divines since and therefore practised in the Church of God in succeeding ages to this day Aliquando filiis infidelium per statum haec gratia ut baptizentur cùm occulta Dei providentia in manu piorum qumodocunque perveniunt Aug. de Grat. lib. And hence our Divines generally have concluded that as there is a spiritualis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Christ doth convey unto the Saints a sonship before God so there is a priviledge that belongs to Christians of those that are taken by them into their care and charge Et adoptati pro liberis sunt habendi Gerh. loc com de baptis p. 582. they have a priviledge to convey a kind of sonship unto them by a spiritual Adoption And Mr. Calvin in an Epistle to Farel about the baptizing of a child of a Papist by father and mother the Grandmother being a Protestant and desiring the child might be baptized Calvin inquires if she would ingage to the Church for the education of the child the child then might be baptized and had an interest in the Covenant by her right undertaking for its education though it had no intetest nor right by the immediate parents And Mr. Perkins and many others Castes of Conscience pag. 76. And Am. Cases of Consc says That infantes illegitimè nati excommunicatorum interventu sponsorum idoneorum possunt baptizari si ab aliis piis educatio eorum suscipiatur p. 232. though they look upon sureties as not of divine institution and only for a civil use testifying the abundant care of the Church of the education of those that were received by them and
not as simply necessary unto the Sacrament of Baptism yet they conceive them lawful and not to be rejected so as they be qualified for so great a trust and do faithfully discharge it in the fear of God By this it will appear our Divines generally judge that there is a kind of spiritual Adoption that a godly man may convey a right by and give an interest in the Covenant and the priviledges of the Covenant unto those that are not his seed and â—hose that from their natural parents have no right at all Now to cross the judgment of so many reverent and holy men both ancient and modern hath been a very great trouble to me and upon the most serious debate I did desire â—hat the balance might have been cast the contrary way but at last considering that the â—cripture is unto them and us the Rule of Doctrines and the Judge of Controversies unto which they bind themselves and that if an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven do speak the contrary it 's because there is no light in them and because we have learnt from themselves Esa 8.20 â—â—at they were not satisfied with their own light in many things but writ according to their â—resent apprehensions with a desire still to a further and clearer discovery De catechis rudib c. 1. Mihi prope semper â—rmo meus displicet melioris avidus sum and therefore our Divines generally forsake them â—n many things as not walking with a right foot towards the truths of the Gospel and Luther professes of his works If the Lord Jesus Christ was willing to give an account of his doâ—trine when he asked Quantò magìs ego faex non nisi errare potens c. Et primus ero qui libellos meos in ignem projiciam and therefore he doth â—eseech men by the mercy of God That if any man could convince him of his errours he would for he was ready to retract them This hath incouraged me with all submission to speak my â—pprehensions out of the word though they are contrary unto that doctrine that hath been â—o anciently taught and so commonly received Herein I would speak unto three things 1 I would lay this for a ground That only â—â—rents can give the child a federal right 2 I would answer the instance given of the circumcising of servants born in Abrahams house or bought with his money though they were not of his seed and how far they had their right from Abraham 3 I would speak something to the ancient custom of Sureties or Godfathers in the primitive times 1. Only parents can give their children a federal right and none else and that I shall endeavor to make manifest to you by these arguments 1. From the nature of the Covenant which doth only take in his seed Abraham and his seed Noah and his seed the woman and her seed Gen. 3.35 9.9 17.7 Psal 89.29 David and his seed the holiness of branches it 's spoken of a federal holiness because it is applied to branches that were broken off therefore it is meant of a childs holiness and it doth proceed from the holiness of the root upon which they grew Rom. 11.16 and such a holiness as the converted Gentiles had for their seed by virtue of the same Covenant and therefore the children of believing parents are called the children of the Covenant Acts 3.25 as being a birth-right that belongs to them and as we may not with some deny them that which is their right so we are not of our own authority to appoint them coheirs some that shall share with them therein Mr. Calvin indeed saith Hîc certè locum habet regula vulgaris favores sunt ampliandi yet we should not limit the grace of the Covenant and stretch it beyond the rule of the Word and our grace in receiving men must not be larger than Gods grace manifested in the Covenant that he hath established wherein we do learn that the childs federal right is the confederate parents priviledge but never that a person in covenant hath a power having no seed to adopt any unto himself for spiritual priviledges or that he may extend them to any but those that God hath taken into covenant with him which is his seed an adoption in things temporal is allowed by the Law of God and man but that there should be in men adoption in things that are spiritual in reference to a covenant-right that is to extend the terms of the covenant beyond the line that God hath in his Word stretched forth It 's true Divinus sese obstrinixit Christo homini in persona Abrahami Zanch. Abraham was a publick person in the covenant of grace with whom as it were the covenant eminently began and he was as one hath well observed therein a type of Christ as David Psal 89.34 and therefore Abraham is said to be the father of us all Rom. 4.16 the father of many Nations but this is only in respect of the spiritual grace of the covenant and not the external spiritual priviledges of the covenant for the children of the promise are accounted for his seed though they were not of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh Rom. 4.12 yet they did walk in the steps of Abraham and were the children of his faith though not of his flesh but other Christians are not made publick persons in this respect as Adam Abraham and David were and therefore in reference to these outward spiritual priviledges they can convey them unto none but unto their seed whom the Lord takes into covenant with himself as appears in the Text and our grace must not be larger than Gods 1 Cor. 7.14 2. The Apostle 1 Cor. 7.14 lays down the rule plainly That the holiness of the child comes from the holiness of the immediate parent one or both and on the contrary the uncleanness of the child comes from the uncleanness of the parent else were they unclean but now are they holy it 's spoken here of a federal holiness as we have before proved and the Divines before quoted do grant if one of the parents be not in this respect holy the Apostle pronounceth their children unclean that is they have no federal holiness and if the Lord say that they are unclean who is it that can by his undertaking for their education make them holy till God by a work of conversion make them so It would make federal holiness which is one of the great priviledges of the second Covenant and an expression of the free grace of the Gospel to be a thing of small account if any man might say of the children of a Heathen It 's true neither of their parents was a Believer and the children are unclean by their birth but I will make them holy for I will undertake for their education this seems to be a way of holiness that was never appointed by the Spirit of
belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ only who knows both the counsels of God and the hearts of men and therefore they must admit such as in appearance and in the judgment of charity are so though it may be in truth and verity afterwards they prove not so to be 3. Excommunication breaks a man off from the visible Church and the visible priviledges thereof but it cannot cut a man off from the Church invisible and the truth of grace in the heart which the Lord has promised to continue to the end for into what a man is admitted by the Keys out of that by the Keys he may be ejected but no man is admitted for grace neither can he be ejected for want of grace if visibly a member Mat. 18.15 Let him be unto thee as a Publican it 's not spoken of one without but of one within for it 's an offending brother and he says he should be put into the same condition with a Heathen and Publican Amongst the Jews they did not hold communion with Heathens and Publicans Heathens were not admitted into Ordinances as Church-members till they became circumcised Proselytes so that the meaning is count them unworthy to be admitted to publick Ordinances and the publick priviledges of the Church which other Church-members may challenge a right unto and they themselves had a right before their scandal and ejection 1 Cor. 5.5 Deliver such a man unto Satan which I conceive cannot be meant of any miraculous work because the Apostle commits it to the Church to do it in the Name of God and by virtue of the authority committed to them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore I conceive it to be nothing else but casting a man out of the society of the Church and leaving him amongst the society of ungodly men over whom Satan rules and being put out of the Kingdom of Christ which is the Church and the care of the Church he is truly delivered to Satan to carry him whither he will as ungodly men are called by the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and yet the incestuous Corinthian was a godly man and he was not cast out from the promises of grace and the workings of the Spirit but from the external priviledges of the Church and so may a godly man for scandalous falls justly be and yet his grace continue an immortal seed and he remain a member of the invisible Church still even when he is cast out of the visible Church as Job and many of the Saints were members of the invisible Church and yet had not opportunity to joyn themselves unto any visible Church any further than their own family were such The Church then can cast a man out of what he was by them admitted to but that was not grace but outward priviledges and they can only cast men out of these It is not grace gives a man a right to external admission for then a man that had grace what offence soever he committed could not be ejected but a man that has true grace may for a scandalous offence be according to the rules of the word lawfully ejected therefore it was not his grace that gave him his admission neither is it grace that in his ejection he can be deprived of that being an act of God but they can only hinder him from visible communion 2. A visible profession will give unto a man in foro Ecclesiae a right of membership 1 Men can go upon no other ground for if the matter of a Church must be Saints they can judge no further of Saintship than by the visibility of it and because they cannot have certitudinem fidei ergo Deus judicium charitatis eis substituit for the Key of Ministry committed unto Officers doth but open and shut in reference unto the external priviledges and benefits of the Church into which a visible profession will give unto a man a visible right and is proper and proportionable thereunto 2 Upon this ground admissions have always been it was so that the Jews admitted Proselytes called Proselytae foederis upon their profession of the Jewish Religion and a subjection unto the Ordinances of God there and yet many of them were the children of Hell after they were made Proselytes as Christ himself tells us and so John Baptist admitted unto Baptism they were baptized of him after they had confessed their sins c. and Peter Simon Magus and Philip the Eunuch on his confession of the Faith and we read 2 Cor. 9.13 of a professed subjection to the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it 's in the Original a subjection or confession of the Gospel and all their after-obedience is but a manifestation of the truth of that profession of theirs and therefore I conclude that it 's but outward profession will give a man a right in the external court of the Church 3. Yet I conceive it 's not a bare profession how unanswerable soever a mans conversation be that will bring in a man being without or being within keep him from being cast out and this will appear in these particulars 1 The Lord in his Word requires that they should be visible Saints which we heard before a bare profession would not entitle them unto therefore Esa 54.12 He will lay their foundations with precious stones c. it 's not to be interpreted de doctrina of doctrine Calvin according to that 1 Cor. 3 10. but de hominibus ex quibus spirituale Ecclesiae aedificium construitur of men whereof the Church is composed Rev. 22.15 Without shall be dogs Rev. 22.15 and every one that loves and makes a lye Some do expound it of Hypocrites though I conceive that not to be the meaning but it is such whose heart does love and hanker after a way of idolatry specially that lye of Antichrist which should then be destroyed and when once the members of the Church began to be corrupt and degenerate it became an outward court into which all were admitted even without distinction then the Lord cast it out and gave it unto the power of Antichrist to tread it under foot in a most cruel and tyrannous way Rev. 11.2 Rev. 11.2 The court which is without the temple leave out c. and therefore it concerns all Churches to look that they become an outward court in allusion to the Atrium Gentium the Court of the Gentiles among the Jews for it was that which set up Antichrist and gave him in judgment that power that he has exercised over them And it was a great tryal how lightly soever we conceive of it that the Apostles had of all they did admit for if we suppose they did only require of them a confession that Christ was the Son of God and that upon this they were added to the Church yet if we consider that this was the great truth then opposed and persecuted the great controversie of the age and that which betrayed
they have no interest in it in respect of the spiritual priviledges and saving Graces of the same Covenant 3. There 's a two-fold Faith that the Scripture speaks of there is true and saving justifying faith which is call'd the Faith of Gods Elect and there is a temporary faith or a faith which is in profession only Math. 13. Heb. 6.4 Act. 8. and not in truth as we see in the stony ground and the temporary Believers and in Simon Magus and as it 's true saving faith that doth give a man an interest in the graces of the Covenant and makes a man Abrahams seed in reference unto grace so there is a visible faith a profession only that which only men are able to judge of to whom the power of the Keys for the dispensing of Ordinances are committed and this gives a man a title to the visible and external Priviledges of the Covenant in for◠Ecclesiae as we see Simon Magus profession of Faith was ground enough for the Apostles to administer Baptism unto him the Seal of the Covenant though afterwards he did quickly manifest that he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity Though therefore the Gentiles can never claim Abrahams Covenant as his seed according to the flesh nor many of them a spiritual right as not having the saving faith of Abraham yet they may claim relation to Abraham as an Ecclesiastical father and from a profession of the faith of Abraham may claim a true and a real interest in the external priviledges of Abrahams Covenant though they cannot pretend to his saving Graces and spiritual priviledges having never had any experience of a work of Conversion and Regeneration Quest 8 § 8. Why will the Lord have the Covenant run by way of entail in reference to the outward Priviledges of it and not in reference to the inward Graces of it The Covenant that was made with Adam was to convey the one as well as the other and the image that he had received he was to convey to his Posterity and the promise of Life spiritual and Life eternal was made unto his Posterity in case of their Obedience as well as unto himself and therefore as all dyed in him so all should have lived in him Nos omnes in Adam◠peccavimus in eo sententiam damnationis accepimus omnes Bern. S. 1. de Advent So that by the first Covenant Adam might have conveyed not only outward Priviledges but inward Graces also and whereas now by reason of the fall all Mankind do convey death to their Children Tertul. but not life and so they are become non tà m parentes quà m peremptores not so much parents as destroyers therefore seeing that the first Covenant is broken why doth not the Lord only take the Elect into Covenant and extend the Covenant of Grace unto none else and so make it with particular persons as the Covenant of the Angels did run or if he will make it to descend from Father to Son why doth he not convey the Graces of the Covenant from Parents to Posterity as well as the outward priviledges of the Covenant Why does not the Covenant run for all the Benefits of it as well as for some only the internals of the Covenant as well as the externals Answ 1. The Lord will not have the Graces of the Covenant entail'd from Parents unto Posterity 1 Because the Curse of the first Covenant is now become ex traduce by propagation and all the Posterity of Adam do now as naturally convey the Curse by reason of their broken Covenant as Adam should have conveyed life and blessing if he had stood in his integrity and therefore whatever the immediate Parents be Adams sin comes alike upon all whether they be godly or wicked and the child of a godly Parent is as truly and as deeply guilty of the sin of Adam in his birth as the child of the most wicked man that is that is an entail left upon all mankind that can never be cut off while there is a man born upon earth Rom. 5.12 for in Adam all dye because in him all sinn'd and therefore the children of godly Parents as well as others are born the children of wrath Gregor so that Timothy though there was faith unfeigned that dwelt in his Grandmother and his Mother yet he himself must be converted by the ministry of Paul or else he had no benefit by the faith of his Ancestors Rom. 3.29 and thence the Apostle saith We look upon the Jews as a people holy unto the Lord and the only visible Church upon earth and the Gentiles as strangers unto God who follow'd dumb Idols as they were led and yet in reference to their natural condition the Apostle says there is no difference for all men have sinn'd and come short of the glory of God and therefore all in their births are alike corrupted with the sin of Adam that being imputed but the personal sins of their Parents are not imputed unto them and therefore they are said Joh. 1.13 to be born not of blood that is Joh. 1.13 not by a fleshly generation so some or else as Calvin it is bloods ut longam generis successionem melius exprimeret though Grace has continued long in that line and has as it were run in a blood and comes upon a man by succession as it were for many generations as it was with Timothy c. nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man Idem significat c. If the parents be godly and they never so earnestly desire that their children might be godly also as it was Abrahams desire for Ismael that he might live in Gods sight it was spoken of living before God as in Covenant with him as it appears by the answer that the Lord returns unto him but yet for all that his desire is not granted as concerning him though he saith I will make of Ismael a great nation and many nations shall come from him yet in Isaac shall thy covenant-seed be called and with him will I establish my Covenant c. therefore the Covenant in respect of the grace of it can never be entailed upon posterity because every man begets a son in the likeness of the first Adam as he himself did immediately after his fall Gen. 5.3 and thereby conveyed the image that by sin he had brought upon himself and his posterity 2 Because under the second Covenant it 's the Election of God that takes place and puts all the difference between men and men between whom in themselves there is no difference It 's true that it 's a great dispute Whether the Lord in Election did consider man in massa pura or corrupta and I conceive it was an act of Soveraignty and therefore God respected ma◠in massa pura as a creature and not in massa corrupta as a sinner as the potter hath power over the clay of
the same lump to make one vessel to honour and another to dishonour Rom. 9. yet this Decree could not actually take place without sin had come between and now sin has interposed there are some that belong to the Election of Grace and they are chosen out by vocation which is nothing else but electio actuata election actuated and the eternal Decree of God doth exempt them from the common condition of the rest of the world as we see Rom. 9. there the Jews are cast off and they are all in one outward condition but the difference lies in this there is a remnant according to the Election of Grace and the Election does obtain when the rest are hardned and therefore we are said to be born of the will of God in opposition unto all things in nature whatsoever Rom. 11. Joh. 1.13 Rom. 8.29 for vocation is the first-born of Election Of his own will he begate us by the word of truth c. The generation of Christ was an act of his nature and therefore necessary but the generation of Saints is an act of the will of God and therefore free it 's wholly to the praise of the glory of his grace and this his will is manifested in this Eph. 1.11 That he did from all Eternity elect some and reject others according to the counsel of his own will Now that the Lord may make it manifest that it 's an act of free grace therefore he will sometimes reject the children of the Kingdom as the Jews are called men born in the Church Mat. 8. and unto whom the Kingdom of Christ did seem by a natural right to belong and to descend unto them and he will send forth and call men from the East and from the West to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God he will cast off the bidden guests and will send out to the high ways and hedges and compel men to come in that he may manifest that you are begotten of his own will for the praise of his grace 3 Because since the Fall the Lord has appointed another way to convey life unto his people and that is not by generation from the first Adam but by regeneration from a second Adam and therefore the Lord will surely honour his own way and he will not convey the grace of the Covenant from parents unto their posterity but from him only who is the second Adam and is therefore called the everlasting Father Esa 9.6 Esa 9.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septuagint renders it that is as the Apostle says He hath subjected to him the world to come Heb. 2.5 so he is made the father of the world to come Heb. 2.5 and all the Saints that come thence shall acknowledge that they all hold of him as a father as it is said Psal 87.4 5. of the Ordinances of Sion Psal 87.4 5. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia this man was born there and of Zion it shall be said this and that man was born in her that is that what Nation or Kingdom soever any of the Saints were in they may for their first birth mention Egypt and Babylon but for their second their new birth they shall know and acknowledge that it was in Sion and by the mighty work of God in the Ordinances therein so I may say of the Lord Jesus Christ that whomsoever they may call father on earth whether within or without the Kingdom yet they shall all owne the Lord Christ as their Father in reference unto their eternal states and in reference unto the world to come and therefore he is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non solùm Spiritus vivus but also vivificus not only a living Spirit but a quickning Spirit a Spirit that makes us alive also for Joh. 14.19 he says Because I live you shall live and the Apostle Paul saith The last Adam was made a quickning Spirit 1 Cor. 15. Bernard and Rev. 22.16 he is said to be the Root of David and he is therefore said to be the Fountain of the gardens Cant. 3.15 it is from hence that all flourishes therefore grace shall not be entailed upon posterity but as the Father quickens whom he will so also the Son shall have life in him and power of quickning whom he will Upon these grounds it is that the spiritual and the saving graces of the Covenant are not conveyed from parents unto their children by a lineal descent but the Covenant in reference to grace from the parents is wholly made void and as God many times has a seed of grace running through the loyns of the wicked so he does many times cast off the children of the Saints and as he said of Ismael But my covenant will I establish with Isaac Gen. 17.21 so God saith of Believers children that he will not establish his Covenant with them as to inward grace 2. Yet the Lord will continue the Covenant from parents to children by a kind of lineal descent in reference to the external priviledges of the Covenant and they shall be conveyed from parents unto the children who shall have a Covenant-right as the parents priviledge and the grounds of it are these 1 Because the Lord will have a visible Church out of the loyns of his own people therefore when he takes in their parents into a Church-covenant he takes in also their children they are the children of the kingdom because they are the children of the Covenant that God made with their parents He doth indeed take in as Proselytes some here and some there but the visible Church is chiefly and generally made up of such confederate parents and their children and to make a visible Church there is required outward ordinances and priviledges that there may be a difference put between them and the rest of the world Exod. 19.5 that they may be unto God a holy and a peculiar people and this may be where the graces of the Covenant are not dispensed yet the priviledges of the Covenant must It 's true there are tares among the wheat in the same field and there are goats feeding amongst the sheep in the same pasture it 's not grace as you heard makes a man a visible member of the Church visible for it cannot be seen it cannot properly come under any humane judgment but it 's grace makes a man a member of the invisible Church into which Christ only admits and that which Christ only judges and not man 2 The Covenant is entailed in reference to the priviledges thereof that the Lord might magnifie and exalt his love unto parents the more and that it might be a great inducement to come into Covenant with God because the promise shall be unto you and your children even unto them that are afar off or as many as the Lord shall call not only
God It was not enough for Jeroboam to say Ye shall worship the God of Israel but it shall be under the resemblance of a Calf and ye shall have the Ordinances of God every way as glorious and as rational at Dan and Bethel as ever you had at Jerusalem what can you desire more there is nothing for matter of worship to be had at Jerusalem but it may also be had here For every thing done in the service of God must not be ex arbitrio Tertullian sed ex imperio and if the reason of man in this perswade him and interpose whatever is set up so is an image of jealousie and will-worship as the Apostle speaks Ezech. 8.3 Jer. 17.31 Col. 2. and that which the Lord will one day return upon you and say Who hath required these things at your hands it's that which I never spake it never came into my mouth nor entred into my heart so far we are from setting up reason or the wisdom of men to have any place in the worship of God and to infer because this is rational therefore it shall be accepted For I know that as the power of Ordinances so the fruit and the acceptation of them come from the institution only and as it 's sinful in the things that God has commanded to dispute his commands in matters of obedience and to examine them by the rule of reason and bring them unto that Bar so it 's also to impose any thing upon God in matters of worship that he has not commanded It 's said Hos 11.14 Israel hath forgotten his Maker and builded Temples Hos 11.14 a man would think surely he that builds Temples has God much in his mind but he that doth build many Temples when the Lord had appointed but one this is to forget God under a pretence of worshipping of God and in vers 11. 't is said Ephraim hath made him Altars to sin and Altars shall be unto him to sin they had multiplied Altars beyond the institution of God therefore that was their great sin as Drusius expounds it or else this was the sin that God did give them up in judgment unto till they had destroyed themselves for vain man would be wise and he loves to shew his wisdom in nothing more than in imposing in the worship of God and this is so far from bringing God near to the soul Ezech. 8. that it 's an image of jealousie that does provoke him to go far from him 3. As for Institutions meerly typical it 's not safe arguing from them that there must be in the externals of Worship something answerable to them in the Ordinances of the New Testament and it will be no good argument to say It was so under the Law therefore by way of Analogy and proportion it must be so under the Gospel and the reason is because they were shadows of good things to come and therefore when the substance came Heb. 10.1 the shadows were to vanish for Joh. 1.17 the truth of all those legal Types and all those shadows came by Christ as well as the grace of them and therefore when he came they were all done away and of this kind are all the fore-mentioned instances the legal holiness upon the people and land was typical in the Priests and high Priests and their ornaments and vestures typical and their Temple a type and their Altar a type all fulfilled in Christ and so abolished he having taken down the partition-wall and taken the hand-writing that consisted in Ordinances out of the way by nailing it unto his Cross Col. 2. of all these Types we may lawfully argue that there remains something spiritual in the days of the Gospel there is a spiritual Temple and there is a great High Priest and there are inferiour Priests that are made Kings and Priests unto God and we have an Altar of which they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle Heb. 13.10 we have even under the Gospel a Circumcision without hands putting away the body of the sins of the flesh the inward workings of the Spirit of Christ circumcising our hearts and we have a spiritual Passover also for Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us The Apostle has a distinction Col. 2.11 Heb. 9.23 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 figures and shadows of the true and there are shadows of heavenly things themselves the one remains when the other are done away therefore it is confessed that arguments drawn from typical institutions are not valid so far as that there must something remain to answer them in the days of the Gospel they may justly be denied and rejected because they were shadows of spiritual and heavenly things and nothing external was to come in the place of them But I suppose no man will say that Circumcision was a type of Baptism nor the Passover a type of the Lords Supper they are all of them seals of the same Covenant under different administrations and therefore there may arguments be drawn from these in reference unto the externals of worship which cannot be from the other they being shadows only of heavenly things and spiritual under the Gospel 4. Though no institution of the Old Testament can be the ground of any institution of the New but barely the will of the Law-giver yet in many things the institutions of the Old Testament may give rules and in several particulars afford arguments to regulate those of the New As though I do not say that the Jewish Sabbath was institutive of the Lords day as some do and that it was no new institution but remained by virtue of the fourth Commandment and though the day be changed yet it hath the same institution still yet I suppose that many arguments may be drawn from the Jewish observations as directions for the Christian Sabbath as 1 The Jews in their Sabbath did consecrate to God the whole seventh day that is a natural day consisting of 24 hours and therefore were derided by the Heathen in losing the seventh part of their lives so it 's the duty of Christians to give the same time unto God as great a proportion in their Sabbath as the Jews did 2 The Jews in their Sabbath were to do no servile work only our Lord Christ lets them see that works of piety and of charity and necessity might be done upon that day and so are the Christians to celebrate their Sabbath also by doing no servile work 3 The Jews were not only to take care of the observation of the Sabbath themselves Nehem. 13.19 but also that all that were under their charge the Magistrate in his place as Nehemiah did give forth a commandment he did set his servants to observe that it was done and he did threaten even the strangers that if they did not reform he would lay hands on them which he would surely have done had the sin been continued in
of his love and yet with all this he is never satisfied There is a further promise and that is an inheritance with the Saints in light and therefore he can never rest satisfied till he come there he forgets that which is behind and does reach forward to that which is before Phil. 3.12 Quest But how should we do to attain promises 1. Be sensible of your want of them we should look over all the Paradise of the promises and know that there is not a tree nor a fruit in it but it 's good for food the fruit is for meat and the leaves for medicine See how far thou dost come short look upon duty in the latitude and extent of it for obedience must be universal so you must do upon the promises that your faith may be universal also There should be always in our eyes a sight of something before unto which we should reach out our selves Phil. 3.12 God doth never accomplish promises but he doth use to make men see their need of them before-hand they say Lord increase our faith and Christ shews them the excellency of faith Luk. 17.5 and their necessity thereof that by this means raising their apprehensions of it and shewing to them their necessity of it they might be prepared to receive it as the Lord was ready to bestow it we go without many promises because we see no necessity of them and therefore our souls sit down quietly without them 2. Get a strong faith for it was by faith that they did attain the promises Heb. 11.33 and it must be such a faith as must stay the heart and fix the eye upon the promise and thereby support it under all the seeming oppositions and improbabilities or impossibilities unto an eye of reason or an arm of flesh it must cause a man to close his eyes against them all in the matter of justification there is in faith an exclusive resolution against all other ways and means of righteousness whatsoever so there is in this also against all things that from sense and reason may be offered or pretended to the soul to weaken the power of the promise of God therein Rom. 4.19 20. In Abraham there was enough that he might have taken in to have discouraged him but yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did not admit a dispute he did not take in a consultation of flesh and blood when men have so consulted flesh and blood their faith has failed them God had promised his people a deliverance but they say our bones are dry and our hope is past Ezech. 37.11.12 we have no more reason to expect the accomplishment of such a promise than that we should see dry bones revive and arise out of their graves And the people of God have had their hearts always to fail them when they have looked off from the promise as Peter when the wind arose and he begins to sink he crys out Lord save me and Martha saith By this time he stinketh and the Israelites say The sons of Anak are there c. As whensoever the people of God begin to turn away their eyes from the holy commandment then their hearts fail them in point of duty so it is when they look off from the holy promise then their heart fails them in matter of faith and they cast away their confidence for every promise carries with it an obligation laid upon the power of God to accomplish it our faith gives us a title to the promise and the promise binds the omnipotence of God for its accomplishment and therefore it 's said They stopped the mouths of lyons and quencht the violence of the fire Heb. 11.13 and raised the dead to life By acts of Gods omnipotence all this was done yet they are attributed unto their faith as the fruit of it by which the omnipotence of God is ingaged in the work Therefore it was a brave spirit in Luther fit for him that shall attain the promises that when they sought his life by all means that might be at home and abroad and at last raised a war against him that small Chaldean war yet he wrote upon the walls of his Study that speech of David I shall not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord. Psal 118. 3. Be much in prayer for the promise is a kind of a debt and therefore it 's said when God doth perform any promise reddit debita nulli debens c. and it 's prayer that puts this bond in suit before the Throne of Grace Jer. 29.10 12. After seventy years are accomplished in Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return unto this place then shall you call upon me and pray to me and I will hear you and this was the very course that Daniel took Dan. 9.1 2. for we can expect nothing from God in mercy that we do not obtain by prayer he leads his people into their own land by supplications In the consolations that we receive from God he speaks to our hearts and in the supplications that we put up unto God we speak unto his heart and the grounds are these why God will have all promises to be nothing else but the returns of prayer 1. That hereby we may testifie that it 's the will of God that we eye in the mercy and not our own will for it's whatsoever we ask according to his will he hears us There is a natural and a carnal desire of mercies when it 's a mans own will that puts him upon it and there is a spiritual and holy desire of mercies and that is when a man has an eye unto Gods will in the promise to bestow them as well as to his own necessity that requires them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hence there is a double importunity in prayer as Luk 11.8 a holy kind of impudency that they will in no wise be put off there 's a being stirred up by the apprehension of necessity Hos 7.14 and a desire of the flesh to attain the thing and so men howl for corn wine and oyl but they are but the crys of beasts and not of Saints and so men ask amiss and attain not as it is in Jam. 1.5 But there is an importunity that is grounded upon the will of God and upon the promise and the soul earnestly desires it because he sees it's agreeable unto the will of God that has promised it it 's not the love of the thing that is so much the ground of his importunity as seeing the will of God in the promise and for this cause the Lord will make the accomplishment of all promises to be the only returns of prayers 2. That hereby we may know that his mercy is free in bestowing of it and that though God has promised it in a way of mercy yet there is no way for us to attain it but in a way of duty
to perform the promise is Gods part and to press God with his promise is our part I will do it for you says tne Lord yet I will be inquired of by you that I may do it for you ask and you shall receive knock and it shall be opened and there is no way that ever any creature could attain any thing of God but this way Upon this very ground Christ himself if he will attain from God he must ask and so 't is with the Angels and so 't is with the Saints in Heaven Dan. 4.17 they cry How long Lord How much more is it to be with dust and ashes 3. That the Lord may honour his own Ordinance and testifie how much he doth delight in the worship of a creature and that thereby he might make it a double mercy For ungodly men to receive blessings as a fruit of Providence unto them it comes always single that is in the thing only but unto a godly man that has it as a fruit of the promise it 's always a double mercy mercy in the thing and mercy to the man not only an accomplishment of Gods promises but the return of the mans prayers the exercise of Gods faithfulness unto us and of our graces towards God and there are no mercies so sweet as those that come in with the exercise of grace in the attaining of them Deum orationibus ambiamus coelum tundimus misericordiam extorquemus as Tertullian says of the power of the Saints prayers because of his delight in the exercise of their graces And there is no duty wherein the graces of the Saints do act with more life and power than they do in prayer there is magna conjunctio a great concurrence of grace in them as we see it in Abraham in his prayer what strong acts of grace he puts forth Gen. 18. The nearer the soul draws to God the fountain of its life the more lively it works and moves the swifter the nearer the centre and there is no duty in which the soul draws nearer to God than it doth in prayer and hath more immediate communion with him than when he is upon his knees before the Throne of grace 4. And lastly the way to attain promises is a patient waiting for them till the Lords time come for it 's true of promises as it is of prophecies though the vision be for an appointed time Hab. 2.3 yet wait for it for it will come and will not tarry It 's a speech like unto that in Luk. 18.7 8. though he bear long with them yet he will avenge them speedily it may tarry long in respect of the time prefixed by us and may seem long to us but it shall not be long when the time comes that is appointed by God The Lord commonly does in the answering of prayers as he does in the fulfilling of Prophecies it 's a great while before the Prophecy seems to speak or to give any hope of its accomplishment as it was in the deliverance out of Egypt and Babylon but yet when once it begins but to dawn its day immediately in a manner it strangely and suddenly breaks forth that the Saints of God can scarce believe their own eyes they are like unto them that dream And so it is in the return of their prayers also as in the calling of the Jews they are as dry bones and they are scattered here and there all the world over but the bones shall come together and it shall be so suddenly done that the Lord saith A Nation shall be born at once and before Sion travelled she brought forth and so it is in the answer of Prayers as it was with Elijah he prayed seven times and his servant looked and there was nothing and yet he continued praying at last there appeared a Cloud like unto a mans hand and by and by the Heavens were covered over with Clouds and then the rain fell when it begins once to appear that the Clouds do break away a little the Lord doth strangely hasten the work and there is a glorious concurrence and falling in of all causes to its accomplishment there is a time of the Promise's accomplishment Acts 7 1◠and a great part of the Mercy is in the season of it the Lord doth not delay because he is unwilling to bestow it or because the Mercy comes hardly off for he knows that to our hasty Nature bis dat qui citò but the Lord doth defer it that he may improve the Mercy by the season of it for Gods time is best and not ours my time is not yet come though your time be alwayes ready all Christs Miracles were so much the more glorious by the seasons of their putting forth and so are Gods Mercies also the more magnified in coming to us in the fittest time he does wait to be gracious that is that he may bestow the Mercy when we are fittest to receive it and our hearts are best prepared for it As in judgement to a wicked man the Lord does watch over him for evil and he shall be ensnared in an evil time as a Bird in an evil snare judgement shall come upon him when he least expects it and is least prepared for it he shall be cut off as the foam upon the waters Hos 10.7 sicut aquae superiores ferventis ollae Jerome for the word spuma doth signifie a bubble that does arise from heat c. when they are swelled up and hold up their heads on high and be lifted up above the rest of the waters then they shall suddenly be cut off As I say there is a time for judgment that Justice doth watch over men for evil so there is also a time for Mercy that Grace does watch over men for good there is a time for the Promise to bring forth as well as the threatning and therefore it 's said That by Faith and Patience the Saints have inherited the Promises and there is as well a Patience in waiting as in Suffering Zeph. 2.1 2. let Patience have its perfect work in you in this respect also that you may be intire and perfect wanting nothing Hebr. 10.36 But the Soul will be ready to say I could be willing to wait Gods time if I could be sure to attain the Promise at the last but what grounds are there to support and underprop my heart that I shall receive the Promise and not miss of it in the end Now the grounds to assure the Soul thereof are these 1. The faithfulness of God the Promises are therefore confirmed by an Oath Heb. 6.17 that by two immutable things wherein it 's impossible for God to lye we might have strong Consolation Quid est Dei juratio nisi promissi confirmatio Aust. infidelium quaedam increpatio An Oath amongst Men puts an end to Controversie much more should the Oath of God put an end to all Controversie and Disputes in the Soul and
Idols of silver and gold unto the moles and to the bats It 's not honourable for the great God to put himself upon a people to be their God against their will and therefore there goes forth an illumination upon the hearts of his people by which they chuse him for their God and they will own no other and this mutual consent between God and them doth compleat their interest and propriety in him How did Dagon become the God of the Philistins and Apis the God of the Egyptians and Chemosh the God of the Ammonites it was because they chose them unto themselves to worship them and there is no means to set up a God over a people and to intitle them to him but by their own consent and so it is with the God of Israel it is because they yield themselves to give the hand to the Lord 2 Chron. 30.8 They gave themselves first to God says the Apostle Paul and then to us by the will of God 2 Cor. 8.5 And by this means it is that he that is taken into covenant with God doth change his God and take the Lord for his God The Lord doth make over himself unto him in the Covenant to be his God and he does consent to it and says This God shall be my God for ever and ever and I will have no other God but him Vse 1 § 2. First see here the miserable condition of all those that are out of covenant with God for they that are strangers to the Covenant of Promise Eph. 2.12 they are without God in the world and that will appear 1. in this it 's the greatest sin to live without God it 's against the great Commandment of the Law and against the grand promise of the Gospel the great Commandment of the Law is Thou shalt have Jehovah for thy God and thou shalt love the Lord thy God If he that loves his wife loves himself much more he that loves his God must love himself most for he is as the School-men speak intimior intimo nostro more intimate than our most intimate part he is nearer unto a man than a man is to himself and therefore conversion being a writing the Law in the heart this being the great Commandment this is specially written there to love the Lord our God with all our heart and the truth is upon this all the other Commandments do depend on this hang all the Law and the Prophets and therefore Austin well observes Qui non diligit Deum non diligit proximum quia non diligit seipsum He that loves not God loves not his neighbour because he loves not himself A man ought to love his neighbour as himself but he that loves not himself cannot love his neighbour and he that doth not love God neither doth he nor can he love himself he hates his own soul and as this command to love God is the greatest it is the grand promise of the Gospel that the Lord will be our God Now in a mans conversion as the precepts are written in the heart as soon as he is new-born to God as the rule of his obedience 2 Cor. 3.2 3. so also are all the promises written in his heart as the ground of his faith Ye are says the Apostle the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God in the fleshly tables of your heart And therefore as it is in vain for a man to speak of obedience unto lesser precepts if the great Commandments be wanting so it 's in vain to claim an interest in inferior promises if the great promise I will be thy God thou hast no part in 2. The baseness and unworthiness of a mans spirit is seen in nothing so much as in this that a man can take any thing for a God The Lord doth justly deride his own people that they turned their glory into shame Jer. 2.11 12. they changed their glory for a thing of nought the word in the Hebrew is * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To worship the true God is a mans glory and to have an interest in him he is said to be the glory of his people Israel Psal 62.7 nihilitates nothingnesses and the Heathen man could well scorn the Egyptians for that porrum caepe nesas violare frangere morsu Men commonly count it a great matter what servants they have and much more what yoke-fellow they take as the companion of their lives or what Prince they subject themselves unto but here is the baseness of the spirit of man that he cares not what God he hath but he is contented to worship the creatures which God has subjected to him as servants nay to honour the Devil as a God who is his enemy and cursed above all creatures and yet all men that have not the God of Heaven for their God they worship the God of this world the Prince of the air the Devil Therefore to be mistaken in a mans God and to joyn himself unto a strange God Hos 9.10 is the greatest reproach that can befal a man It 's said of Israel That they joyned themselves unto Baal-Peor and separated themselves unto that shame and they were abominable secundum amorem eorum according to their love that is as the Gods that they loved as God is called the fear of his people 3. It is more to lose God than to lose all blessings that come from God And therefore Hos 1.9 that 's made the top of the judgment Lo-ammi it 's more than Lo-ruhamah for to have God is more than to receive any mercy from God and therefore this is the true difference between an hypocrite and a gracious heart one is content with what comes from Gods hands the other can be satisfied with nothing but God Sicut mea tibi non placent nisi mecum sic tua non satiunt nisi tecum c. As my good works please not thee without my self so thy good things please not me without thy self Bern. Let a man tender to God thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oyl yet all this doth not please God unless we give our selves to the Lord and so it is with the Saints of God Should God bestow all the creatures upon them in Heaven and in Earth yet all this would never make them happy without God himself Now if the Lord should strip you naked of all the comforts of the creatures Luk. 16.25 as one day he will all ungodly men for it shall be said Son remember in thy life time thou hadst thy good things you should neither have bread to eat nor cloaths to warm you nor the Sun to give you life If the fig-tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vine you would think your selves miserable men to want all these Now the people of God can rejoyce in the want of these can rejoyce and triumph
because we chuse him and the soul of man is in nothing more free than in his choice specially in the choice of his God and therefore 't is said Hos 9.10 They joyned themselves unto Baal-Peor and separated themselves unto that shame So in conversion a man doth change his God the great work of grace is upon the will The Lord shall perswade Japhet vocatione alta secreta by a deep and secret vocation and all that power is put forth by making them a willing people Psal 110.3 2. He that has Jehovah for his God must have no other God Psal 81.9 There shall be no strange God in thee thou shalt have none other gods but me And therefore Dagon falls before the Ark. And it was the great objection of the Senate against worshipping of Christ as a God in their Capitol when offered by Tiberias because he would be God alone it 's the great objection that Nature has against exalting of God in the heart when God is exalted all lusts must give place Satan then falls from Heaven as Lightning Luk. 10. Hos 14.8 and all the Idols of the soul give place to God What have I to do any more with Idols There are Parelii in Nature by way of reflection two Suns but there cannot be so in the Soul in reference to Gods and if there be so and any thing allowed in the soul for God but the true God that mans interest in God is but a fancy 3. If the Lord be thy God thou wilt exercise all these acts of soul towards him that becomes a God for that is to have Jehovah for thy God for Mic. 4.5 All nations do walk in the name of their gods and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever There is a twofold worship of God 1 Cultus naturalis natural Worship which is inward and there is something in nature that dictates it without a word of institution 2 Institutus instituted Worship an outward worship that depends upon an additional manifestation of his will and these outward acts of worship may be interrupted but the inward acts can never be but you may be abundant in them namely to fear him as a God to trust him as a God and to love him and believe in him as a God and these acts let thy soul be most in offer all thou hast to him and expect all good from him he it is that is called the hope of Israel because all their hopes are in him as all our springs are in him look for your happiness from no other depend upon none but him take up this noble resolution before all the world and say it shall never be said that the King of Sodom made Abraham rich by the things of this life I will have all from my God and then they are all blessings indeed because God comes home to the soul with every mercy and the more immediately any mercy comes from God the sweeter it is and this should make a man walk worthy of God and of such an interest in him It was said of Felix by Tacitus Jus regium servili ingenio exercuit He exercised the kingly power with a servile mind a greatness of mind a Princely spirit answerable to the greatness of your interest is becoming you it is the honour and glory of the Saints to be always shewing themselves worthy of their high calling before the world SECT II. God in the Covenant has made over all his Attributes § 1. LET us now come unto the first thing to be considered in God and that is his Divine Essence there is a twofold discovery a double manifestation of God that the Scripture speaks of the face and the back parts of God Gods face is his Essence Exod. 33.20 21. 1 Joh. 1.2 1 Cor. 13.12 for that is to see him as he is we shall see him face to face which is the vision that the Saints and Angels have of God in Heaven for their Angels behold the face of your Father in Heaven Mat. 18.10 And this is that in which the happiness of rational creatures doth consist it is this which destroys sin and perfects grace and makes the creature impeccable our conformity unto God in holiness and happiness is grounded upon our vision of him 1 Joh. 3.2 We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and it 's true that this is also promised by God unto his people in this promise to be their God in fruition as will afterwards appear for this promise is never fully accomplished till we come to Heaven Job 11.7 and yet even then we shall not find out the Almighty to perfection for an infinite Being can never be comprehended by a finite understanding It 's the happiness of God to know himself to perfection We shall know him sufficiently for our perfection but we shall never be able to know him according unto his perfection but the knowledge of God in his Essence doth not agree unto a mans present state the imperfection whereof is set forth by a threefold similitude 1 Cor. 13.12 1 of a glass 2 of a riddle 3 it is answerable to the knowledge of a child of the things of a man Therefore the knowledge that we have of God in this life is not of his essence or his face but of his back parts non sicut est sed sicut vult non as he is but as he wills Bern. And the back parts of God are those Attributes that he is pleased to express of himself in the Scripture by which he is made known either viâ negationis in a way of negation as he is infinite immortal incomprehensible invisible unchangeable or else viâ causalitatis in a way of causality as he is holy and merciful and just and wise c. These being excellencies in the creature are attributed unto God as being wrought by him and therefore must needs be in him in a more glorious and transcendent manner than they can be in any creature This is a knowledge of God suitable unto this life and it is an interest in God that is attainable in this life God has made over himself to his people in all his Attributes Doctrine Observe hence That the Lord in the Covenant of grace has made over unto his people all the Attributes of his Divine Nature Here for the opening of it we must shew 1 That it is so that Gods Attributes are made over 2 That this is peculiar to the second Covenant and is the Saints priviledge or portion 3 The manner of making them over how they are in God and how a man may conclude that they belong to us 4 To what end they are made over unto the Saints 5 What a glorious revenue such have who have an interest in the Attributes of God and how infinitely more it is than a mans interest in all the promises of God and
all the creatures of God for his inheritance Lastly the application of all unto our selves 1. That the Lord has made over all his Attributes unto the Saints And that will appear by these arguments or demonstrations 1. The Lord is said in Scripture to be the portion of his people their lot and their inheritance so the Church Lam. 3.24 The Lord is my portion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says my soul And it is the same claim and in the same way that Christ made unto God Psal 16.5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance The word signifies to divide into parts as the land of Canaan was divided by several lots and every man had his share and thus it is here there is a division and a distribution made all ungodly men have their portion out of God Psal 17.14 because they are not in Covenant with him and they have their portion in this life and in the things of this life Son remember that in thy life time thou hadst thy good things but in this a Saint is not satisfied he will not be put off with this worlds goods as Luther says Valde protestatus sum me nolle sic satiari I greatly protested I will not be so satisfied Gen. 15.1 And the Lord says I am thy exceeding great reward the word in the Original doth signifie praemium laboris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the reward of thy labour c. and the Hebrews having no Superlatives do express them by an Adjective and an Adverb and so it is here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exceeding great and it 's as much as to say thy greatest reward There are variety of rewards that God gives unto all his labourers even in this life though it be true as Manasse Ben Israel has observed That this life is mundus laboris the world of labour and the world to come retributionis of reward yet the reward is begun in this life There is no man that shall labour for God in vain no man shall shut his door or open it for nothing but yet God doth give many things as a reward unto those to whom he doth never give himself because there are many that do work for God that do never give themselves unto God and therefore Jehu shall have a Kingdom and Nebuchadnezzar shall have Egypt for his hire c. they have their reward from God but yet the Lord himself is not their reward And even the people of God have many great blessings from the Lord as the reward of their services 1 Cor. 3.21 for the Apostle Paul says All things are yours but yet the greatest of all their rewards and that without which all the rest were nothing lies in this that the Lord is their God Now how doth God become the portion and reward of his people in this life but as he has revealed himself There is a discovery of God that is beyond the capacity of grace in this life and the people of God by virtue of this promise may rejoyce in the hope of it as Rom. 5.2 but yet they cannot possess it in this life but as the Lord has revealed himself to his people in this life so he hath made over himself unto them Now the great discovery of God being in the Attributes of the Divine Nature it 's in thi◠that he has made over himself unto his people this is the portion Christ had and his reward and ours also by virtue of the same Covenant 2. This will appear also if we consider the Promises are that we shall have all in God He that overcomes shall inherit all things I will be his God the Lord is his Inheritance Revel 21.7 and he that has God he doth inherit all things he shall have a hundred-fold more in this life Mark 10.30 that forsakes any comfort of it for God in this present time Now a man cannot understand this formaliter formally but eminentèr eminently he shall have that in God that shall exceed all this if they were a hundred times multiplyed and so the Lord is a Sun and a Shield Psal 84. and how is all this to be understood but that we have all in God It 's true that a Christian has all things in promises but yet the promises are not the root of his inheritance but there is something that is a root and is the foundation of all the promises and that is the Attributes of the Divine Nature and the goodness and faithfulness of God c. which I conceive also is the meaning of that Isai 2.6 and last Come my people enter into your Chambers c. it 's refer'd unto the mind and the state of the Soul and so it doth signifie pacatum animi statum the quiet state of the mind But I conceive this is not all the meaning Calvin that the Soul is quiet as in its Chambers of refuge in the time of the greatest trouble and unquietness but as Forer hath it Ne solliciti essetis de rerum visibilium vicissitudine sed de Deo c. be not solicitous about visible things but about God And the Chambers in which the Soul only rests are the Chambers of Promises and of Providences For upon all the Glory there shall be a defence but the Attributes of God are the secrets of his presence in them both so that the people of God have all in him as there are attributes in him that answer unto all their conditions 3. So much the several relations in which God stands to his People do imply the Lord is said to be unto them a Father I will be their Father and they shall be my Sons and Daughters 2 Cor. 6.16 Isai 54.5 James 2.23 and he is said to be their Husband Thy Maker is thy Husband and their Friend as he was Abraham's Friend and he was called the Friend of God and the terms of friendship are mutual and it is the sweetest relation a true friend is as a mans own soul Now what do all these relations import amongst the Creatures but this that answerably to the Wisdom and the Power and the Mercy and the Love that is in me saith God so will I lay them all out for you as the duties or offices of my relation do require and we know amongst men relations are great obligations and they do carry with them vast affections they are maxima efficaciae of greatest efficace as the School-men speak therefore though it be less to say I will be thy Father thy Husband or thy Friend than it is to say I will be thy God because this imports an Infinite Being yet it is as much he being a God to stand in these relations as if he should have said I will be thy Father and Husband and Friend after the manner of a God whatever there is in infinite wisdom and in infinite power and in infinite goodness or holiness to dispense it shall be laid out for thee
that he might bear the iniquity of us all c. and therefore he is set forth as a propitiation for the remission of the sins that are past through the forbearance of God Rom. Heb. 10. 3.25 and as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world Joh. 1. Therefore the Lord cannot become our God immediately Gal. 3.19 Job 9.33 no not so much as by Law but in the hand of a Mediator that is Ministerio by the intervention of a Mediator who is as it were a days-man to lay hold upon both parties Now the Lord therefore becomes Christ's God in Covenant and makes over all his Attributes unto him Joh. 20.17 and therefore saith Christ I go to my Father and your Father to my God and your God and therefore says the Apostle Eph. 1.3 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and it 's that which Christ lays hold of for himself and his people Psal 22.1 89.26 Phil. 2.7 My God my God c Now how doth the Lord becomes Christ's God as he is the second Person no that he cannot for so he thinks it no robbery to be equal with God One person cannot be said to be a God to another having all of them the name of God given to them and all of them having one and the same Essence or Divine Nature But as Christ is Mediator as he is God-man as the Word is made flesh so the Lord is become Christ's God by the Covenant that he did enter into with his Son when he did possess him in the beginning of his way Prov. 8.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 2.6 that is of all his goings forth towards the creature and therefore did anoint him and set his King upon his holy hill which is the same word as is used Psal 2.6 And by this Covenant the Lord did wonderfully manifest his love to his Son by ingaging himself that all the Attributes of the Divine Nature should work for him Joh. 3.35 Joh. 5.20 the Love of God should work for him for the Father loveth the Son and shews him all things and gives him all things into his hand and the Power of God works for him Esa 42.6 I will hold thee by the hand and I will keep thee and the Justice of God works for him that when he had paid the debt he should be released out of prison and therefore after he had lain three days in the grave to shew forth the truth of his death Esa 53.8 the Lord sent an Angel as a publick Minister of Justice for he was taken from prison and from judgment and the Faithfulness of God is also ingaged for him Thus saith the Lord Esa 49.7 to him whom man despiseth and the nation abhors to a servant of rulers Kings shall see and arise Princes also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful and he shall chuse thee c. And we may see what it is in vers 8. In an acceptable time have I heard thee in a day of salvation have I helped thee I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant to the people to establish the earth c. So that Christ has a double inheritance 1 in God all that is in God is his and all works for him for the Lord is become his God Heb. 1.3 2 In the creatures for he is appointed heir of all things Now all the Attributes being in this manner made over unto Christ by the Father and he given as a Covenant to the Nations and as primus foederatus the first federate in the Covenant and that covenanting being not only for himself but as a second Adam for us hence it is that whatever is made over unto Christ by his Covenant is made over unto us also he being our head and so we come not only to have the same claim to the creatures that Christ had and can say all things are ours 1 Cor. 3.21 Joh. 17.23 but the same claim also unto God that Christ has for we can say that whatever is in God is ours because he is become our God and therefore he is said to love us as he loved Christ and a great ground of a Christians consolation comes in by it that they may know that thou hast loved them even as thou hast loved me and that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them that is that this love in the apprehension and assurance of it may be shed abroad in their hearts abundantly and that under this notion that it 's the same love that God bears unto us that he did bear unto the Lord Christ as Mediator it is to be understood of an as of similitude not of equality it was such a love as made over not only all creatures unto Christ but all Attributes unto Christ and it was a love that gave Christ an union and an unction and such a love it is unto us in both but consider it is but pro modulo according unto our condition so as the Lord Christ in all things may have the preheminence 2. The Lord hath made over all his Attributes to Christ as Mediator that they shall all of them work and be employed for us according unto the necessity we are in For Christ did not only as Mediator make way for all the Attributes to work and to be put forth for us that so no Attribute might stand in the way of mercy and goodness towards us and so Christ came in as causa removens prohibens c. but all the Attributes thus made over to Christ in covenant are all of them to be acted and exercised by Christ as Mediator as the government of all the creatures is committed to him so also the discovery and the exercise of all the Attributes of God are committed to him and therefore it 's said My Angel shall go before thee Exod. 23.21 and that Angel that God sent and led his people in the Wilderness was Christ called therefore the Angel of his presence or of his face because in him the face or the glory of God is discovered Mat. 18.10 and not only because he doth behold his face for so do the other Angels it cannot be spoken of Christ as God for so he is not the Angel that is the Messenger of God sent forth from God and it 's said of this Angel that the name of God is in him Now the name of God is whatever God is made known by and therefore when the Lord doth publish his Attributes he saith he will proclaim his name Exod. 33.19 and therefore all the Attributes of God are in him and by him to be acted and exercised for the Father judgeth no man but has committed the administration of all things to the Son to this end that all men may honour the Son even as they honour the Father and therefore Col. 1.15 he is said to be the image of
might cause his power to be acknowledged 2. God hath made over his attributes to his people that they may take from them all grounds of faith with an assurance that they shall be all exercised for them according unto their necessities Psal 13.5 so the Mercy of God I have trusted in thy mercy my heart shall rejoyce in thy salvation Here is mercy the object of faith and an assurance that this attribute shall shew forth it self in a work of salvation and deliverance for him I have trusted in the mercy of God for the bringing me out of this and another affliction and I have been delivered Psal 52.8 therefore I will always exalt the mercy of God So for the Power of God the soul can argue from thence Dan. 3. when men threaten and Devils rage and the fiery furnace may be heated seven times hotter to consume the soul that has no help amongst creatures yet says Daniel and the three Children the God whom we serve is able to deliver us And the Lord encourages the soul from the assurance of his power Is my arm shortned that I cannot save is any thing too hard for the Lord is there any restraint to omnipotence And so also Christ puts them upon it in this With man it 's impossible but with God all things are possible it 's spoken in reference to a work of Sanctification when the Disciples said Who then can be saved Esay 26.4 Esay 27.5 So for the Eternity of God Trust in the Lord for ever for the Lord Jehovah is a Rock of Ages and so men are said to take hold of the strength of God And so of the Holiness of God I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lye unto David and therefore Psal 23.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life And so Abraham believed God was able to raise him up again from the dead if it might stand with his glory he did not question his will but that his power should be put forth for the accomplishment of his promise We know that the ultimate object of faith is God through Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.21 our faith and hope is in God now the highest object of faith in God is the attributes of God that he has discovered for we can believe in him no otherwise than we know him and as he has revealed himself and the way of Gods revealing himself unto his people in this life is only by his back parts which are his attributes and therefore this is the way of the acting of faith in this life and all the promises of God and the precepts and the threatnings of God are all of them founded on his attributes and in these doth the strength and stability of them lye because the Lord Jehovah is a rock of ages As it is in ends all intermediate ends work in the strength and the power of the utmost end so it is in objects also Objectum mediatum fidei movet in virtute objecti ultimati ab eo perfectionem accipit The mediate object of faith moves in the virtue of the ultimate object and receives perfection from it Eph. 4.18.23.24 3. That from these the soul may receive all principles of grace grace is called the Life of God and the Divine Nature the Image of God created in the soul it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according unto God Now in an image there are two things required 1 Proportion or similitude and resemblance 2 There is a deduction or a derivation it must be taken from it As there is a resemblance of the nature of God so there is a derivation of it from God Now though the incommunicable attributes of God are so called because there are in the creatures no footsteps or resemblances yet there are of the attributes that are communicable from them the image of God is derived unto us and we are made partakers of his holiness holy as he is holy Heb. 12.10 Jam. 1.5 and merciful as he is merciful and wise as he is wise If any man want wisdom let him ask it of God as all of them shall be employed for man without him so all of them shall work in man an image or a resemblance of himself within him that a man beholding the glory of the Lord is transformed thereby into the same image And this is to be made the rule to judge the measure of our graces by for primum est mensura reliquorum c. The first is the measure of the rest in that kind So far as they do come short of bearing a resemblance with the communicable attributes of God I say of bearing a resemblance for they are in God by nature but in us by grace and by new creation they are nature in him they are not so in us so far we are to bewail the defects of our graces and so far grace is the image of God in us but in part a good work begun and no more and it is a discovery of his attributes which are the original pattern that doth perfect his image in us which is but the counterpane and therefore we shall be perfectly like him when we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.3 4. God hath in Covenant made over his Attributes that from these the soul may take all rules of duty and as the highest objects of faith are in God so from him are the highest rules of duty and therefore Eph. 5.1 the exhortation is Be ye imitators of God 1 Pet. 1.15 and be you holy in all manner of conversation because he is holy and so from the Soveraignty of God it 's the ordinary argument thou shalt do thus and thus for I am Jehovah thy God And David takes his rule from this in the preparation he made for the Temple the house must be exceeding magnificent and therefore all his preparation though the wealth of a Kingdom was but an act of his poverty for it is for the Lord who is a great God and dwells not in Temples made with hands c. And it 's the argument that he himself useth as the rule unto them in their performances Mal. 1.13 I am a great King and my name is dreadful amongst the Heathen As the soul is never rightly bottomed upon a promise till it is carried out into that attribute upon which the promise doth depend so the soul is never grounded in duty till it looks beyond the precept and sees the attributes in God which are the foundation of the duty and this is properly to walk worthy of God Col. 1.10 That ye may walk worthy c. It doth not note exactam proportionem Daven sed quandam decentiam convenientiam not an exact proportion but a certain decence and convenience when a mans duties are done by rules taken from so great a God and proportionable unto the nature holiness and excellency of that God God is a Spirit
1 Joh. 4.24 and therefore must be worshipped in spirit and truth 5. That the great motives unto duty and the great restraints from sin be taken from these It 's a matter of great consequence not only that we do the duties that God requires but also what motives they are that fill the sails in our performances For a man to perform high duties upon low motives argues a heart full of flesh to preach the Gospel is a high service but to do it to serve a mans belly or his pride to gather Disciples after him that he may have the credit of a Teacher of others and be cryed up amongst them this doth in a great measure blast all his service therefore let men look to their motives in their performances And so for sin it 's not enough to abstain from sin but a man is to have an eye upon the principle that lyes the restraint upon him what it is many a man may be kept from sin for fleshy aims as Haman refrained himself till he came home and so King Joash during all the days of Jehoiada the fear of man will restrain lust many times where there is no fear of God There are as it were several topicks from which the arguments and reasonings of the soul are taken for the Word of God is quick and powerful c. Heb. 4.12 the one refers to principles for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the seat of principles and the other to the dianoetick faculty a mans arguments and reasonings from those principles and there are some high and noble motives suitable to the nature of grace and there are some low and sinful motives agreeable to the nature of flesh and the Word of God is a curious discerner of both and it 's a great matter from what topicks a man doth take the argument that does mainly act his spirit in duty and as the highest rule of duty is to be found in the attributes of God so the noblest motives unto duty are to be found in them also Joel 2.13 Rent your hearts and not your garments and turn to the Lord your God for he is merciful and gracious he is long-suffering slow to anger and of great kindness who knows if he will return and repent And Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient walk before me and be upright There are arguments enough to be taken from God and those of the highest kind to quicken a soul in all duties required of him And so it is also as to restraint from sin Hos 3.5 They shall fear the Lord and his goodness Heb. 12.29 Let us have grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire Exod. 34.14 Thou shalt worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God 6. That they may be unto the Saints the ground of prayer and that is in three things 1 They desire that God would manifest his attributes it 's something of God that they would have discovered therefore they cry out with the Psalmist Psal 57.3 O send out thy light and thy truth send forth thy mercy and thy truth it is the discovery and manifestation of an attribute that is the great thing the people of God do beg in all their prayers Num. 14.17 Let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast said 2 It 's the great argument that they use in prayer the main argument of faith is from an attribute and a mans interest therein Remember me O Lord for this and pardon me according to the greatness of thy mercy Nehem. 13.22 Psal 115.1 2 Chron. 14.11 for thy mercy and for thy truths sake And Asa argues from the power of God It 's all one to thee to save with few as with many 3 They do come to God under such an attribute suitable to the mercy that they beg and their faith is staid thereupon and 't is a great matter to look upon God under an attribute that answers our necessity as Christ when he would speak of Judgment Mat. 11.24 Joh. 17. Num. 14.14 and give God thanks for it he call him righteous Father and when he begs Sanctification for his people he calls him holy Father and so when Moses prays for the pardon of sin he calls him the Lord merciful and gracious 7. That they may admire and adore the Lord for the excellencies that are in his Divine Nature and that they may give him the glory of every attribute Glory is but the shining forth of an excellency the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Effulgence and brightness of it Heb. 1.3 and our giving glory is but the reflexion of this excellency Now we give God the glory of his works and of his going forth unto the creature but we should not only give him the glory of these but also of the excellency of his own nature there is none holy as the Lord who is a God like our God pardoning iniquity If we had hearts truly spiritual we would admire God more for the excellencies that are in himself than for all his goings forth to the creature and so the Saints and Angels in Heaven do 8. That in the manifestation of every attribute and the working of it for his people the Saints may rejoyce and particularly give God the glory of that attribute which he hath now so eminently put forth for them and that they may glory in their inheritance thereby Psal 21.13 Be thou exalted O Lord in thy own strength so will we sing and praise thy power I will sing of thy power Psal 59.16 17. and I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble To thee O my strength will I sing for God is my defence and the God of my mercy Rev. 4.8 and so do all the Saints holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which is and was and is to come The attributes of God are the last city of refuge that the Saints can flye unto Prov. 18.10 even the Name of the Lord is their strong tower and when the Lord doth make bare his arm and takes to himself his great power and sends forth his mercy and relieves his people in their distresses Oh! how then do the Saints triumph and rejoyce in him The last refuge is in God and the highest triumph is in God and these are the glorious ends for which God has made over his attributes unto the Saints § 3. See the glory of this inheritance that of the creatures is indeed glorious and that of promises is more but the foundation of all and top of all lyes in attributes It 's of no small concernment for a soul to know the glory of his own inheritance partly because there is a prophaneness of heart in all men that do undervalue spiritual things as well spiritual priviledges as spiritual truths or spiritual graces with
earth 5. Creatures and promises could never make a man happy if a mans interest in them were never so clearly discovered to him for it could never put his soul into a fruition of the chiefest good it would only make all to be faith and we should rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God 1 Pet. 1.9 and it is true that this is a joy unspeakable and glorious Fruitio est actus voluntatis circa finem importat quietationem delectationem anima in amato Fruition is an act of the will about the end and it imports the quietation and delectation of the soul in its beloved Medin But the soul would be for ever unquiet and always full of restlesness still tending towards God Heb. 12.23 therefore it enjoys him as the end of faith and hope and thence souls in Heaven are made perfect not only because their image is perfected by the beatifical vision but also because they are put into a fruition of that which was the highest and ultimate object of their faith and love and fruitio est nobilissima actio voluntatis the most noble act of the will and it 's this act upon the highest object that doth perfect the will and the perfection of the will is the perfection of the man as the act of the will is the act of the man Vse 1 § 4. From hence see the misery of all those that are out of Covenant with God they have all the Attributes of God against them and they have no inheritance in him thou mayst have large revenues amongst the creatures for God doth give Kingdoms unto the basest of men but it is but mica canibus projecta a crum thrown to a dog as Luther speaks of the Turkish Empire and in them all thou shalt but inherit the wind Prov. 11.29 for thou hast no inheritance in the Lord he is no God to thee tolle meum tolle Deum take away my and take away God it is unto thee as if there were no God And here it 's good to consider 1. If a man had all the creatures armed against him for his destruction as all men out of Covenant have for the Creation groans under their service that is the bondage of corruption spoken of Rom. 8.21 but also they are very ready to make war upon thee for when a man is taken into Covenant with God there is a league made with the beasts of the earth the stones of the field and the creeping things of the ground And God will hear the Heavens and the Heavens shall hear the Earth Hos 2.21 and the Earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oyl and they shall hear Jezreel and I will sow her unto me in the earth and will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy c. All the creatures shall work together for their good and yet if God arm the meanest of the creatures against a man they shall destroy him Pharaoh the great King of Egypt that durst presume to war against God cannot contend with Flyes nor with the Lice and the Frogs he cannot fight a pitcht battel with the waves Now if a man cannot stand out a battel with the smallest of the creatures how can he fight against God Therefore I would a little reason with you as God doth with his people if thou hast run with the footmen Jer. 12.5 and they have wearied thee how wilt thou contend with horses and if in a land of peace they have wearied thee what wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan if thou canst not stand it out against creatures how wilt thou be able to endure when the Lord shall rise up and all his Attributes shall be armed against thee For as this is the great comfort of the Saints and their last refuge so it 's the great terrour unto wicked men and their last destruction 2. Consider if it were but a threatning what a miserable thing it is to lye under any evil aspect thereof the Lord has spread out the Expansum of his Word over the rational world and the Lord rules all by it and according to it he will judge them all Zac. 1.6 Did not my word overtake your fathers for the Decree will surely bring forth it will not always carry the judgment in the womb of it and if it be so terrible a thing to be under the power of any one threatning of God Zeph. 2.2 what is it to lye under the evil aspect of all the threatnings of God that there is not a word in this book but speaks terrour unto the man much more under the evil aspects of all the Attributes of God 3. This is the happiness of the Saints that they have something in God to plead for them they have as it were a threefold Advocate 1 within themselves and so the Spirit pleads the causes of the soul 2 without them and so Jesus Christ is an Advocate with the Father 3 they have something in God himself I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loves you c. So here is the misery of wicked men not only the Spirit pleads against them and will strive with them no more but becomes unto them a spirit of bondage in themselves and binds them over unto wrath and Christ pleads against them as Luther tells a story of one Doctor Krans in a Tract of his De Fascina spirituali in Gal. 3. Ego Christum negavi ideo stat coram Patre accusat me illam cogitationem tam fortiter conceperat ut nullâ adhortatione aut consolatione sibi pateretur excuti atque ita desperavit seipsum miserrimè occîdit c. I denied Christ and therefore he stands before the Father and accuseth me c. The learned do for our understanding frame a holy kind of conflict between the Attributes of God according to the liberty allowed them in Scripture speaking of God after the manner of men in the work of our Redemption as if the Lord were reduced into some straights by the cross demands of several Attributes Justice calling for vengeance upon sinful and cursed creatures and with Justice the Truth of God doth joyn to make good his threatning the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye and mercy on the other side pleads for compassion towards miserable and seduced man and this sets infinite wisdom on work to reconcile the different pleas of the Attributes of God in mans redemption but what a misery will that man be in that shall have no Attribute of God to plead for him but they shall all joyn in their pleas and demands against him not only those terrible Attributes that the soul is afraid of as Justice and Truth and Holiness but also the Attributes in which a mans hope is Men cry out God is merciful Oh but mercy is set against thee O sinner and thou hast no interest in his mercy
man to ingage the Attributes of God against himself as to ingage against those that have an interest in the Attributes of God for the Covenant that God hath made with his people is offensive and defensive and the Lord will surely appear for them it 's therefore a design that did never prosper in the hand of any that did undertake it nay be sure thou wilt perish under the power of those attributes there is no such way to turn the edge of them all against thee as this is as it was said of Canaan It 's a land that eats up the inhabitants so we may say of this it 's a work that devours the workers the Lord will rebuke Kings for their sakes if they touch his anointed and there is no vengeance like unto that of the Temple thou wilt surely perish in thy own opposition for it doth arm all the Attributes of God against thee and they do arm the Church against thee and therefore the worm Jacob must thresh the mountain Isa 41. and when the strength of the Churches enemies is greatest and their hopes highest when they are folded up as thorns and while they are drunken as drunkards Nah. 1.10 they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry and in the same place where they did expect the destruction of the Church they shall be sure to find their own Mic. 4.11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say Let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Sion but they know not the thoughts of the Lord neither understand they his counsel for he shall gather them as the sheaves in the floor Arise and thresh O daughter of Sion for I will make thy horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brass and thou shall beat in pieces many people c. They are to the world as a burdensom stone all men will be lifting at them till they be broken in pieces by them it 's their own folly to dash and fall upon them percussum è pectore ferrum 2. It 's a Use of direction to the Saints that have an interest in God as their God in Covenant and so are intitled unto all the Attributes of God 1 Exercise faith upon every attribute and thereby make it to be your own in the use and improvement thereof Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might that is let your faith take hold of the strength of God and thereby let it rise unto such a height of confidence as if you had almighty power in your own hand to exercise if thou be in any streight and dost want wisdom to direct thee in thy way be thou wise by the wisdom of God and let thy faith raise thee up unto that height of confidence that it is as impossible for Satan to out-wit thee as it is to go beyond infinite Wisdom and so if thou sin at any time question thy pardon no more than if thou hadst infinite mercy in thy own hand and wert able to pardon thy self for it 's all made over to thee in this one promise I will be thy God for that which is originally and essentially in God that by our dependency becomes ours as truly as if we were the subjects in which it doth reside 2 It should raise up in a man a holy greatness of mind suitable unto such a priviledge and it 's a thing of no small concernment that the people of God should be raised up to such a holy greatness for it would free them from those vain hopes and fears and those low imployments that now they are busied about for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is nothing great here below a man should look upon all things with the eye of God to have all the Attributes of God made over to him if dangers offer themselves the soul is not surprized for as God sits in Heaven and laughs them to scorn when the workers of Babel did build a Tower to their own confusion so do the Saints also the virgin the daughter of Sion doth laugh thee to scorn c. If wisdom shew it self and a man hath to do with the policy of an Achitophel he fears it no more than folly and believes it shall be as he prays Lord turn it into folly and he laughs at the plot And if the guilt of sin rise up in his conscience he can say Though I have sinned and am a sinner yet God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and grace is free Jesus Christ is ascended up into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God for it 's a fault in the Saints they think when they sin it 's their duty to question their estates their interest in God and it 's good to question it for tryal and examination but not by way of diffidence unto a mans dejection for the way to increase a mans sanctification is not to weaken his faith in the point of justification and if the power of sin do prevail yet a man goes forth against it in the strength of the Lord and he saith Though it be to 〈◊〉 impossible yet it is possible with God and his power is ingaged for my perfection and this were to live the life of God as grace is called Eph. 4.18 3 Sing unto God the praises of every Attribute for as we should look through all that is in Christ that our hearts might take in whole Christ and the Church doth so Cant. Psal 21.13 5 and Paul Phil. 3.7 8 9. so should we of all the Attributes of God also Be thou exalted in thy own strength O Lord so will we sing and praise thy power and I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of trouble Observe the attributes that at any time God discovers to thee in thy straits specially and unto those sing praises it 's all that the Lord expects as a return for all that his attributes work for you that you should give them glory and the way to ingage any Attribute of God for you again is to give it the glory of any of the former discoveries thereof and the way to disingage an attribute is to neglect to give that attribute its glory when it has been put forth Cessat gratiarum decursus ubi cessat recursus c. Where the recurse or return of graces ceaseth the decurse or flowing forth of fresh graces ceaseth For the Lords aim under the new Covenant is the glory of the attributes of his nature as well as the glory of the persons that they all of them may have their due place and order in our hearts and as the Lord doth distinctly put them forth in their order for a man as his necessity does require so he does expect that we should take them as our portion and rejoycing in the Lord therein give unto them in our hearts their particular and distinct honour for the Lord
connaturali in a connatural way so in the same way he glorifies him as it is in this life vision doth increase grace and answerable to the degrees of vision such are the degrees of grace so it 's perfect vision that doth perfect grace in the same way that Satan brought sin and death into the soul 1 Tim. 2.14 namely by the understanding for the woman was deceived as it is in 2 Cor. 11.3 so the same way will the Lord bring in grace and life into the soul it comes in by the understanding the eyes of our understanding being enlightned by a spirit of revelation Eph. 1.17 18. and the same way doth glory enter into the soul namely by the understanding also and therefore it must be in a way of vision 2. Divines do commonly conclude that the main and essential part of glory doth consist in contemplation This is life eternal to know thee the only true God Joh. 17.3 Mat. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God And Heb. 12.14 For without holiness no man shall see the Lord. It 's the happiness of Christ in thy presence or in thy face is fulness of joy it is in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Plural Now the manner of the Hebrews is to put the Plural Number when the excellency and transcendency of a thing is expressed as Cant. 1.3 Thy love is better than wines or else to set forth the great variety of the glorious discoveries of God which the Lord gives unto his own people in Heaven and in this is the fulness of the joy of Christ after his Resurrection from the dead and so it is with the Saints Psal 17.15 Psal 17.15 I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness The Saints sleep in the grave and they do awake unto the vision of God and they shall see his face in righteousness and they shall be satisfied with his image the which in the original doth signifie full and perfect satisfaction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that there is no place to receive any more There is a great satisfaction in the discoveries of God to the soul here in this life in the joy of the Holy Ghost they do rejoyce with joy unspeakable and glorious but yet there is still something to be added they are not in such a condition but their faculties may be enlarged and their satisfaction increased but there is a full satisfaction hereafter unto which there can be no addition But what is meant by his image and likeness Here some do understand it of the image of God created in us which shall then be perfectly restored when they come to glory the good work that is begun in this life shall not be perfected till in the day of the Lord. Phil. 1.6 Though I do not find the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any where used in Scripture for the image of God created in man or renewed in him but two other words yet this word I find in Scripture to be put either for a corporeal or an intellectual image Exod. 20.4 Thou shalt not make a graven image or the likeness of any thing in heaven above not make unto thy self a corporeal or visible representation of an invisible God 't is said Num. 12.8 the image or the similitude of God shall he behold it 's spoken of an intellectual image and representation of God in a glorious manner unto the understanding full of glorious excellencies though under no shape and this was a priviledge that the Lord would give Moses a further discovery of himself beyond what he would do to any man upon earth And so I should take the meaning to be here it 's not the image of God in us but the discoveries and manifestations of God unto us that is unto our understanding in which our fulness of joy and satisfaction doth consist Cùm tenebrae mortalitatis transierint manè astabo contemplabor When the darknesses of mortality have passed away in the morning I shall stand and contemplate Austin In contemplatione divinorum maximè consistit beatitudo Beatitude consists in the contemplation of divine perfections Aquinas It 's true that this shall be the greatest torment in Hell the contemplation of their misery and the reflexion upon their own lost and irrecoverable condition it 's concluded that poena damni the punishment of loss is the greatest part of the torments there and that can no otherwise afflict or be a torment but by the contemplation thereof and surely in this doth the blessedness of God consist namely in beholding of his own perfections and the glorious persons delighting themselves in each other for the Lord is blessed for evermore and from everlasting when there was no creature but his blessedness lay in himself and the contemplation of himself was his blessedness and if this do make the Lord blessed surely then in the contemplation of him much more must the blessedness of the creature consist therefore happiness must consist in vision 3. Because the understanding is the leading faculty by which all good is brought into the soul it 's true that the souls in Heaven are called souls made perfect Heb. 2.3 Beatitudo cùm sit summa perfectio perficit totum Beatitude seeing it is the highest perfection perfects the whole soul in all the faculties thereof There are three things wherein the happiness of the Saints doth consist 1 A perfect Vision or perfect understanding 2 A perfect Fruition which is nobilissima operatio voluntatis the most noble operation of the will Medina 3 Perfect Joy and exultation joy unspeakable and glorious everlasting joy upon their heads Psal 16. ult in thy face is fulness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore and by this means the whole soul is made perfect but yet the leading faculty still is the understanding and for this cause seeing blessedness comes in by the understanding Psal 17. ult satisfaction also comes into the whole soul by those revelations manifestations visions and discoveries of God made unto the soul Aquinas saith of blessedness that it is in intellectu primariò in voluntate per consequens secundariò In the intellect primarily and in the will by consequent and secundarily Seeing therefore that this vision doth carry with it Fruition Delectation and whatever may make the whole soul to become perfect therefore it 's no wonder if the Lord is said to be the portion of his people by way of vision and the blessedness of the Saints be said to consist therein Quest 2 § 2. Shall the Vision of God in glory be corporeal or shall it be intellectual only discoveries of God unto bodily eyes or unto the eyes of the understanding only Answ 1. The Essence of God in glory cannot be seen with bodily eyes it cannot be a corporeal vision which is manifest 1 from Scripture 1 Tim. 6.16 He dwells in light
comprehended by any finite understanding even the Angels themselves cannot know all that is in God for an infinite Being cannot be known and comprehended but by an infinite understanding We shall know so much of Gods Essence as will tend unto our perfection though we cannot find out the Almighty to his perfections As for the measure of the manifestation it depends ex sola Dei voluntate dispensatione arbitraria wholly on Gods pleasure As there are different degrees of grace in this life and the Lord doth give unto men different degrees of light according unto the measure of grace that he has appointed them unto so he has appointed them also to different degrees of glory says Christ To sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father As the souls that he shall save are given by the Father so also the measure of their grace and their glory is appointed by the Father and answerable unto the degrees of glory that they are appointed by the Father such shall be the manifestations of God unto them when they come unto glory therefore as glory is of grace so are the degrees of glory also as here the Lord dispenseth divers gifts as he will so he doth in Heaven some have more of the presence of God and clearer discoveries than others have because it 's not by necessity of nature but by an act of the will And therefore whereas some do object we cannot see the Essence of God perfectly therefore not at all because Essentia est simplicissima most simple and if we see the Essence of God we must see all his Attributes and so the knowledge of God c. and we must know as much as God knows c. it 's true if God did glorifie his people as a natural Agent we might conclude he must ad ultimum potentiae discover himself to the utmost but seeing he doth it as a voluntary Agent who acts certo moderamine by a certain measure so much of his Essence they shall know as he will discover and that shall be so much as is for their perfection though not to his perfection Quest 4 § 4. How doth the Vision of Gods Essence conduce unto the happiness of the creature It makes the creature happy in these particulars Answ 1. A man hath hereby a full and perfect accomplishment of all the promises for as the end of Christ is but to bring us unto God the same is the end of all the promises it 's but to bring the soul unto God He has indeed given us exceeding great and precious promises 2 Pet. 1.3 4. There are promises for the way and for the end for this life and for that which is to come and the top and the coronis of them all lies in this that he doth give himself and till the soul do attain this it is never satisfied Omnino non me satiaret Deus nisi promitteret seipsum ipsum vitae fontem scio sitio esurio August Now how sweet is a promise that a man has waited long for and prayed long for The desire attained is a tree of life how much more then is the fulness of a mans desires when all of them are attained and accomplished in him who is the well of life c. 2. In this is the accomplishment of all the whole purchase of Christ the accomplishment of all the works of the Son and Spirit in the Mediatory Kingdom says the Apostle Peter Ye are begotten to an inheritance immortal and incorruptible and undefiled and without holiness no man shall see the Lord therefore holiness is the way to vision 1 Pet. 1.5 and the highest end of the work of Sanctification it 's but to make you meet inheritors with the Saints in light Col. 1.12 Now it 's a joy unto Christ to see his work carried on in the world to see his grace and glory communicated to us to see of the travel of his soul and therefore shall it not be so to us to see it accomplished in our selves That though the blood of Christ were as it were shed in vain in respect of many persons unto whom it was offered they trample under the blood of the Covenant as an unholy thing yet to us it 's not in vain but the grace of God has been effectual to bring us unto glory 3. Then God shall be all in all 1 Cor. 15.28 that is as Christ is now all in all Col. 3.11 so after this life God shall be all immediately when the Mediatory Kingdom of Christ in reference unto this life Luther shall be at an end Quicquid frustulatim ab omnibus creaturis nobis mendicandum est in hoc seculo ille unus omnium nobis instar erit What God is now to us by bits in the creatures he will be then in himself c. The power and efficacy and sweetness of things is much abated by their manner of conveyance as we say in the Galenick Physick and as comforts from the Spirit in the joys of the Holy Ghost are far beyond those that come in by the creatures though God may be enjoyed in them both because it is more immediately dulcius ex ipso fonte Now all things are of God that we have here in this world but it 's but by the creatures but when God shall be immediately all in all all things shall come from himself and from his own hand as when God doth punish men by the creatures it 's much less than when he doth it immediately as it is the wrath of God in Hell which shall be the immediate executioner so it is when God doth comfort men by the creatures and by himself immediately there is as much difference in the one as there is in the other 4. There shall be perfect Sanctification for by his vision we shall be like him there is an image begun in this life but it 's not perfected God being all in all in Heaven we shall read his will 1 Joh. 1.3 and our duty in his own face for ever 1 The ways of instruction shall be no more as now we have here in this life but as in ways of consolation God shall be all in all Austin so in ways of instruction also Sine codice in verbo leges Thou shalt read in the Divine Word without a book and we shall know him as he is and the reason of all his actings and dealings with us Quicquid nos latet ibi ratio erit manifesta cur hic electus iste reprobatus cur alius moritur in infantia alius in senectute c. 2 Our wills shall be made perfect for the souls of just men are made perfect and they shall be perfectly determined unto good that they shall have non posse peccare an impossibility of sinning for ever impeccability in Christ was from the hypostatical Union but it
is in the Saints from the beatifical Vision 5. We shall have perfect communion here while we are at home in the body we are strangers to the Lord it 's true we have here a fellowship but it is with much imperfection and frequent interruptions dulce commentum sed breve momentum Joh. 17.24 I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me that they may behold my glory This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luk. 23.43 And they shall be ever with the Lord. I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ The communion that we have here is but begun but it shall be perfected for ever Our communion here has much imperfection in it partly because of sin which separates between us and our God for answerable to our conformity such is our communion amor complacentiae love of complacence is grounded thereupon and partly through our weakness there is much that we are not capable of the manifestation of there is much that we cannot see and live Now that being taken away and healed by the beatifical vision we are able to take in what we cannot of God here though as our weakness and imperfection is begun to be healed here in this life we are so far capable and we shall be fully capable when it shall be fully healed Here also is much interruption 1 by sin we provoke God to hide his face from us 2 For our tryal the Lord doth many times hide his face to exercise our graces but neither of them shall be hereafter we shall sin no more and the time of our tryals will come to an end the Lord will never turn away from us but he will cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us without a cloud for ever 6. There shall be fulness of Fruition Austin says Frui is more than uti frui finis est usus mediorum frui est cum gaudio uti Fruition is of the end but use of the means c. Fruition is the delight and satisfaction that the soul has in the possession of the thing that it has attained Psal 17. ult satisfied with thy likeness there are pleasures for evermore such pleasures as the men of this world never tasted nay the joys of the Holy Ghost are such as eye hath not seen but the joys of Heaven are such as the Saints have not tasted when there is no place left for desires hunger and thirst have an end the soul thirsts for God no more In Heaven they cannot pray Austin because they stand in need of nothing to perfect their happiness all is enjoyed in God and they see all to be theirs and that they are out of danger of losing their happiness and even in this life there is much sweetness in the sealing work the work of assurance because a man sees all is his and that there 's no danger of miscarrying as to his eternal state much more is it there when he is in possession of all those glories that the Lord gave him the first-fruits of here SECT III. Application Vse 1 § 1. FIrst see here the folly and the misery of all unregenerate men who place their happiness in any thing else that is not God and forsake God and the happiness that is to be had in him for the creatures sake 1. See their folly sin is never seen aright unless it be seen to be a foolish and an unreasonable thing Psal 14.1 The fool has said in his heart that there is no God and this fool is every unregenerate man and the great folly of a man lies in his utmost end or else his great wisdom for he that doth erre in that is a fool though he have all the wisdom of the world beside all his wisdom without this tends to no other end but to deceive and undo himself and therein doth the wisdom of a godly man properly consist that he doth never miss his utmost end and therein the meanest Saint is wiser than all ungodly men though they may be counted the wise men of the world Consider 1. What a folly is it for a man to frame to himself a happiness for he that gave him a being he only can appoint him to an end he only can prescribe him a rule therefore he that will be faber foelicitatis the framer of felicity unto himself he doth make himself a God and create his own Heaven which will prove but a fools Paradise in the end for God hath appointed for man no other happiness but in himself in his Essence lies his portion and without this nothing in this world should satisfie neither doth it a gracious heart that is truly wise Tua non satiunt nisi tecum omnis copia quae non est Deus meus egestas est tolle Deum nullus ero c. Thy good things satisfie not unless with thy self All abundance which is not my God is want Take away God and I shall be nothing These are the speeches of grace and godliness that carry a man directly towards God Now for a man that is Gods creature to create to himself a happiness and an imaginary Heaven is the greatest folly in the world because it consists only in imagination the excellency of all things here below as a mans portion being but a fancy only as the word is Act. 25.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with much fancy And as a dreaming man that dreams he is full and when he awakes his soul is empty so it is with them on whom the Lord pours out a spirit of slumber and though they dream of Heaven yet they awake in Hell There are several ranks of creatures as the Lord has pleased to set them in the world all being in his hand as clay in the hand of the potter Now a man may as rationally chuse to himself another shape than God has given him and degenerate into a beast as chuse to himself another end and fancy another happiness and perfection in that condition in which he is created This is certain he that will walk by his own rule and will be his own master he must look to be his own Saviour and he that will appoint to himself an end and will create his own Heaven must expect that shall be his Hell in the end 2. When you forsake your happiness in God you turn unto creatures that have no worth or sufficiency in them and therefore Jer. 2.13 they are called broken cisterns Jer. 2.13 1 They are cisterns comforts they have none in them but what they put into them for a cistern has not a spring the water doth not arise out of it what therefore if God put no comfort into the creatures the cistern is but empty it will have no water all the comfort that is in the creatures God puts into them there is none of them can hurt us apart from God nor comfort us apart from God and therefore the Saints in all
about it and so desirous to give a man ground of fulness of assurance that if there had been a greater God would have sworn by it but because there was no greater he swore by himself and so it 's here in this particular also the Lord is desirous to shew his Love unto his Saints to the utmost and Love is mainly seen in the bounty of it Now if there had been a greater gift than himself he would have bestowed it but because there was no greater he gave himself and made over his own Essence to them which is not only a strong ground of assurance that you shall be happy for he is the blessed God and his blessedness lies in himself and he is his own blessedness but that he shall according to the possibility of the creature become thy happiness also and it 's a sure ground that he that gives himself will deny nothing that may conduce to bring thee unto that glorious end which is the vision of Gods own Essence in which the height of his Love and of thy happiness 〈◊〉 and therefore Psal 84.11 He will be a sun and a shield he will give grace and glory and he can withhold or hold back nothing non prohibebit c. He that has given himself and could not withhold himself and his own Essence surely there is nothing else that he can withhold from thee that lovest him Vse 5 5. Admire the happiness of the Saints blessed men that you are who have your portion in the Lord Psal 144. ult O the blessedness and the infinite happiness of that people who have as their trust so their portion in God alone O happy must that creature be that hath his happiness in an infinite Being It is the glory of the righteousness of the Saints that it is setled in another and not in themselves and therefore the Saints should glory in their portion and make their boast of God Psal 34. My soul shall make her boast of God in God we boast all the day long The word in the Original is laudabit se shall praise it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 admire its own happiness and blessed condition every man answerably unto what he places his happiness in so he doth solace himself and glory in it Psal 44.8 Rich men boast themselves in the multitude of their riches and praise their condition as the only happy men in the world but this doth properly belong unto the Saints and therefore though thou art in never so mean a condition below though thy commons be short and thou art fed in the world as a Lamb in a large place yet thy happiness ends in God and that doth please thee more than all the corn and wine and oyl in this world as it did Christ Psal 16. the Lord is my portion the lot is fallen to me in a fair ground I have a goodly heritage Who is able to measure that happiness that lies in an infinite Essence and an infinite goodness I have seen an end of all perfection but thy commandments are exceeding broad so say all the Saints nothing is to be compared with a God Vse 6 Lastly If this be the happiness of the Saints then look through all the means that lead unto this end and let this be the great thing in your eye for Christ and Promises and Ordinances all of them are but to this end to bring you to God therefore look through them all to a further end Christ himself is but a medium thereunto and therefore for this happiness sigh and groan and be not satisfied with any thing else no not with the graces of God and communion with Jesus Christ but consider the enjoyment of the ultimate object of faith is God and then will our happiness be compleated when we shall be ever with the Lord then and not till then CHAP. IV. In the Covenant of Grace God makes over all the Persons in the Trinity SECT I. The distinct Offices and Acts of each Person in the Trinity in this Covenant § 1. I Now come unto the third Head in this great and glorious Promise and that is When the Lord doth promise to be the God of his people he doth make over to them in Covenant all the Persons in the Divine Nature for they had all of them a hand in the making of the Covenant and therefore all the promises of the Covenant come from them all they all of them do make over themselves unto the Saints and this will appear 1 by looking upon them all as free Agents and those that are absolute Lords and have dominion over their own acts and they have all given themselves 1 God the Father has made over himself I will be unto him a Father it 's spoken of Christ and therefore he is called by the Apostle the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and by this means he is our Father my Father and your Father my God and your God say Christ Joh. 20. Esay 9.6 2 He gives the Son unto us Unto us a Son is given and therefore he is called by way of eminency the gift of God Joh. 4.10 Rom. 8. He that spared not his own Son but gave him to death for us all And yet the Son is not so given by the Father but he doth also freely give himself for he saith I and my Father are one not only one in essence but also one in will Joh. 10.30 in reference unto the great work of Redemption and therefore God doth â—o sooner make the motion to him Psal 40. it is brought in as the consultation held in Heaven before the Lord dispatched Christ into the world but Christ saith Lo I come to do thy will O God Psal 40. Joh. 10.18 I came not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me There is none that takes away my life but I lay it down of my self 3 And the giving of the Spirit it 's sometimes said to be the gift of the Father and therefore called the Promise of the Father which they were to wait for Acts 1.8 and sometimes the gift of the Son I will send the Comforter again Joh. 14.26 The Comforter that I will send you from the Father Joh. 15.26 and the Comforter whom the Father will send in my name Which is not to be interpreted as a promise only of the gifts and graces of the Spirit to come in but at second hand but as the giving of the Son is a giving of his person and giving us an interest therein so giving the Spirit is a giving of the person of the Spirit also and giving us a personal interest in him and as the Father and Son are one so is the Spirit also one with them and therefore has the same will with them and doth freely bestow himself upon the Saints for their portion as the Son doth to accomplish the great designs of the Gospel 2. This will
appear from the union of a Saint with all the Persons in the Trinity The Scripture speaks distinctly 1 Cor. 6.17 not only of a union with Christ but with the Spirit he that is joyned unto the Lord is one spirit i. e. not only makes up one spiritual body with him but also is one with the Spirit that dwells in him and therefore Joh. 17.21 Christs prayer is That they may be one Pater Filius sunt unum per naturam nostra unio per gratiam Athan. De 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritualis piorum in Deo unitatis in vitae hujus infirmitate pluribus disserere non possumus sed mysterium hoc reverenter adoramus unitatis hujus participes fieri optamus as we are one not only one amongst themselves but one with us also according unto that glorious and unspeakable union that is between the persons amongst themselves of which this is but a shadow and a resemblance God is said to dwell in the Saints and they are the habitation of God through the Spirit 2 Cor. 6.16 and they are said to dwell in God Joh 1.4 16. and 1 Thess 1.1 which is in God the Father c. and to work in God Joh. 3.21 And our Divines do commonly say that in glory our union with God shall be perfected and they say that the soul is capable of an union with God as it does appear in its union with the Son for the mystical union is not only unto Christ as Man but unto the Godhead as well as unto the Manhood of Christ for we are made one with whole Christ both God and Man Now by this means there being but one Essence there must follow a glorious union with all the Persons and if this be perfected as some make that to be the intent of Christs prayer Joh. 17.21 That they may be one with us as thou Father art in me if there be a perfection of their union hereafter then surely there is an union that is begun in this life with all the persons in the Godhead and so much also our particular union with them does imply for all communion is grounded in union 3. It will appear from the distinct Communion of the Saints with them all Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1.3 And there is a fellowship of the Spirit also Joh. 14.21 1 Cor. 13.14 1 There are distinct manifestations Christ says I will manifest my self to him and there is a distinct Love He that loves me shall be loved of my Father I do not say that I will pray the Father for the Father himself loves you and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father also and therefore there is the love of the Son discovered and the love of the Father also Sometimes the love and good will of the one is let into the Soul and sometimes of another and the soul is drawn out and ravished sometimes with the love of the one and sometimes with the love of another and we honour them distinctly and believe in them distinctly honour the Son as they honour the Father and believe in God believe also in me Joh. 14.1 Answerable unto the manifestations and discoveries that are made such are the apprehensions and the affections of the Saints Some are mightily at first conversion taken up with the love of the Father and they see that Christ was but his servant in that work and the fountain of free grace was in the Father and the plot to redeem was his and it was his will that Christ came to perform and therefore their hearts and faith are mainly drawn out towards God the Father Others there be that have the love of Christ set on upon their hearts who though he were God and in the form of God and thought it no robbery to be equal with God yet he did empty himself and humbled himself unto death even the death of the Cross and he came off freely upon the motion of the Father which was so much the more because all the acts of the Father though they are acts of Love yet are acts of Majesty also and there was no dishonour or condescension in the Father but the acts of Christ were acts of ministery and of humiliation and that even unto the death of the Cross that he should be made sin and made a curse and the Love of Christ is discovered unto them as passing knowledge There are distinct manifestations of them all and therein is the ground of their communion with them all 2 There are distinct communications the Father opens his bosom and he reveals his counsels There is a book in the right hand of him that sits upon the Throne he reveals his mind unto Christ Joh. 1.18 Joh. 6.46 and by him unto his Saints and therefore he is said to come out of the bosom of the Father and therefore man is said to hear and learn of the Father and the Son communicates his righteousness his graces his victories his priviledges his inheritance and the Spirit doth convey unto the soul his right and his warmth for the Spirit is as fire his holiness and his comforts for he is the oyl of gladness his communion doth consist in giving and receiving and returning Now there is something that all the Saints do receive from each of the persons and there is a peculiar glory that they do return unto them all answerable unto the mercies that they do receive and by this means proportionable unto the mercies they receive such is the communion that the Saints have sometimes with one person and sometimes with another they know that he that has communion with the Father has communion with the Son and with the Holy Ghost because they are one but my meaning is that person which a mans heart is at the present affected with and drawn out unto in a more special manner that he has a special communion with which is something of the Love of the Father and the manifestation and communication of the Father sometimes of the Son and sometimes of the Spirit and answerable unto these our communion is said to be with each of them 4. It will appear by these distinct acts of office which they have for the good of the Saints undertaken for though opera ad extrà sunt indivisa and we cannot say that one works but the other works also and therefore we cannot call them opera propria proper works yet they are appropriata appropriated in the Scripture they are more specially attributed some unto one and some to another Eph. 1.2 3. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world and blessed us with all spiritual mercies in Christ and for Christ we have Redemption through his blood c. and as for the Spirit Eph. 1.13 14. After you believed you were sealed with the holy Spirit
us Kings and Priests unto God and the Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever c. They have each of them their peculiar glory of the distinct works that they themselves have wrought and all of it is grounded upon this distinct interest that the Lord doth promise to the Saints that he will be their God 5. When the Saints come to glory their communion with all these glorious persons shall be perfected they shall not only have perfect sanctification but communion and as their communion in this life is not with God only but with all the persons distinctly having hearts affected with love and sensible of the communion of them all so it shall be much more in Heaven for the communion here that we have shall be perfected Now in Heaven we shall have not only the vision of God that is of his Essence but also of all the persons we shall see God in Trinity as well as in Vnity for what we have here by faith we shall have there by sight but here we have that by faith therefore we shall see them there or else we cannot see him as he is and according to our vision so shall our communion be but we shall have a distinct fellowship and sweetness in the Father Son and Spirit for ever Now the grounds of it are these 1. That our happiness might appear to consist in the vision and fruition of them all therefore they are all of them distinctly made over by Covenant to us we shall not only see God in his Unity but in his Trinity also not only the glory of the Divine Essence but the excellency of each of the persons This is a mystery now that is inconceivable unto us which we are not to pry into which the Angel in a vision told Austin while he was studying and did endeavour to comprehend he did but attempt to empty the Sea with a spoon into a pit Scrutator Majestatis opprimitur à gloria This Mystery is here discovered only to the faith of the Saints but that revelation which is in this life imperfect shall be perfected in Heaven and our knowledge which in a way of faith is imperfect for faith is a grace that doth suppose imperfection that shall be perfected in vision for in Heaven whatever doth suppose sin or implies imperfection shall be done away therefore the Father as distinguished from the Son and the Son from the Father the nature of the generation of the Son and the procession of the Holy Ghost which now we have only revealed unto us that it is so the nature and the manner of it we shall understand so far as the creature is capable of such glorious and inconceivable mysteries and then in them all shall our happiness consist and our soul is to have its portion in them all 2. That the soul may honour them distinctly for the aim of God in the new Covenant is not barely the glory of the Divine Essence and to exalt in the hearts of the Saints the Attributes of the Nature but the excellency of the persons also that they may honour the Son Joh. 5.23 as they honour the Father that they may give glory to the Father Son and holy Spirit and may cry always day and night Holy holy holy Rev. 4.8 repetitâ acclamatione unum Jehovam celebrant quem etiam trinum agnoscunt Bright And the Lord doth in Scripture exceedingly stand upon a distinct glory and to that very end requires not only a general and confused but a distinct acknowledgment not only that we should know God to have all goodness and all sufficiency in him but the particular attributes and excellencies that are in God and not only to know Christ to have all fulness in him but that the soul see the several offices and the particular excellencies that are laid up in Christ as the Church doth Cant. 5. for as else a man can never give God glory till his particular excellencies be known and discovered so a man will never be in his own soul affected with it for they are particulars that do affect as whilst the Queen of Sheba heard but a general report of the wisdom of Solomon she was so far affected as that she was moved to come a great journey even from the farthest parts of the Earth to hear his wisdom but when she saw his wisdom in the particulars of it when he had answered all her questions and she had seen all his glory there was no more spirit left in her 1 King 10.5 they were the particulars that did affect his wisdom and his house and his servants c. As it 's in confession they are not generals that do affect it 's a small thing for men to say That they are all sinners and they have broken all the commands but when a man sees his sins in the particulars set down in order before him then is his soul amazed and he doth abhor himself never till then and so it is in thanksgiving also Now because that all the persons shall be glorified and they shall all have great glory therefore it must be distinct and that it may come from a heart truly affected with it also therefore he must give unto each person his distinct glory 3. That a man in this life may exercise distinct acts of faith upon them all Joh. 14.1 You believe in God believe also in me not only to the glory of God the Father but of the Son and Spirit also that faith may have an eye unto God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ as Eph. 1.14 and unto Christ as the Son in whom he is well pleased as Mat. 17.3 therefore he is in the bosom of the Father able to reveal all his Fathers counsels unto the Saints and interceding as he is the Son and therefore is very powerful with him Joh. 3.16 he cannot deny the cry of a Son Heb. 7. ult Though Christ as he is God cannot pray because he can stand in need of nothing that he should go out of himself for for he is God all-sufficient 1 Cor. 3.11 Rev. 4. yet it is the Godhead that gives an efficacy to all that is done in the humane nature There are two things Christ does as he is a Priest 1 His Satisfaction and the sufficiency thereof is put upon the Godhead in the Scripture Acts 20.28 The blood of God and We are made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 and Heb. 9.14 He offered himself by the eternal Spirit without spot to God 2 His Intercession and though he doth intercede by the power of his satisfaction for he doth enter within the most holy place and doth sprinkle the blood with the incense his blood is a speaking blood yet the prevalency of his Intercession is commonly put upon the strength of the relation between God and him Psal 2.7 8. Thou art my Son c. Ask of me and I will give thee
sufficiens sufficient grace which God gives unto all men but Christ in the Text denies any such power he saith No man can come to me except the Father draw him What is this drawing It is not a forcible act by which violence is offered upon the will of man and yet it 's called drawing because it 's an act of almighty power the words note the sweetness and the efficacy of grace grace works powerfully and therefore God is said to draw and it works sweetly and therefore man is said to come as if he were not drawn trahitur animus amore c. it doth consist in a spiritual illumination of the understanding and in an effectual perswasion and determination of the will for it is a drawing that is a teaching as the next verse makes it manifest and in this is the foundation of eternal life as it is in us begun all this was in the purpose of God towards him but the man was dead in trespasses and sins as well as others without Christ and without God in the world and therefore the Saints actually converted are stiled by the Apostle the called according to his purpose Rom. 8.29 But how is this work attributed to God the Father that the power and the act of believing and of closing with Christ is from him the teaching and the drawing is the Fathers act Here I meet with a deep silence amongst all Interpreters only I find this to be offered by Kemnitius That the grace that we receive is laid up in Christ by God the Father and in the Gospel Christ is but God the Fathers Servant and therefore though grace be given unto us by Christ yet it is by the appointment of the Father and Christ is only the Fathers Servant in it and so the principal efficient of faith is God the Father though you do receive it immediately from Christ This is true that all the grace that we receive from Christ all our days here and all the glory we shall have to Eternity was by the Father laid up for us in Christ and in the whole work Christ is but the Fathers Servant but why in a special manner is this work of the Father appropriated unto the work of conversion and vocation The ground of it I conceive to be this In the Covenant that passed between Christ and the Father the Lord did require this service of him that he should lay down his life and give himself for the Elect he gave himself a ransom for many and he did make him a promise that he would give those souls unto him again Therefore as in the fulness of time the Lord did give Christ for them Vnto us a Child is born Isa 9.6 Joh. 4.10 unto us a Son is given and so he is called by way of eminency the gift of God for though he were promised from the beginning of the world yet he was not actually given and exhibited till the last days so there is a time also when God the Father must fulfil this promise unto Christ to give souls unto him as he has given himself for them in obedience to the Father Now when are souls given unto Christ It is when they come to him and believe in him they are not actually any part of his charge till then and therefore they are said to be without Christ they have no actual relation to Christ or Christ to them Joh. 4.10 for the union between Christ and the soul is matrimonial and it is the Father that gives them each unto other and therefore marriage between Adam and his wife is made a type and resemblance of it or rather mystery called by the Jews Cabala Eph. 5.33 This is a great mystery but I speak of Christ and the Church so that it 's God the Father that gives Christ to the soul and gives the soul unto Christ he it is that doth joyn them in a marriage-covenant for ever Therefore as when the time appointed by the Father was come he sent his Son actually into the world so when the time of love is come that a soul should be converted who before lay polluted in his blood then doth God the Father send his Spirit in Christs name into the soul who doth discover the beauty of Christ and the free grace of God the Father how ready and willing he is to bestow him and the manifestation of this grace of the Father is made effectual to the soul not only to perswade but also to enable it to accept of Christ upon the terms that he is offered And upon this ground the work of vocation is mainly attributed unto the drawing and the teaching of the Father because as they were in the purpose of God and in the Covenant between Christ and the Father given to him from all Eternity so they are by the Father actually given to him in the fulness of time that is when the time of their conversion appointed by the Father is come and therefore the inlightning of the soul in this work is attributed unto the Father 2 Cor. 4.6 God that commanded light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts c. and by the same almighty Word that he did that work in the Creation he doth shine into our hearts discovering Christ unto us and the glory of God all the incommunicable Attributes of God are gloriously set forth in the Man Christ Jesus and so the power by which the soul is enabled to believe is the power of God the Father Eph. 1.17 19. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory would shew you what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of the mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead so that if any soul be brought home unto Christ in a work of vocation it is by the almighty working of God the Father and you are to acknowledge his grace as well in giving you unto Christ as in giving Christ unto you 2. In the work of Reconciliation though all the persons were wronged by sin their essence and glory being but one yet the suit against sin doth mainly in Scripture run in God the Fathers name God has reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 5.18 and God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself This was properly the act of God the Father Rom. 5.10 When we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his life Col. 1.19 20. it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell as being to reconcile all things to himself c. What is it to reconcile It is properly amicitiam diremptam resarcire to set them all at one again who were before friends but now at variance amongst themselves God is an enemy unto all men by nature the wicked is an abomination unto the
caecitatem veluti quodam velo diffusam ignorance and blindness diffused as by a certain veil there is a double veil and God will take both away a veil upon the truth and a veil upon the heart also and both shall be swallowed up that is shall be utterly removed and there shall come a time that the Sea of glass that is now mingled with fire shall be clear as crystal again and the Temple shall be opened so that a man may see into the Ark of the Testimony which formerly had a veil before it Rev. 11.19 that it could not be seen it was in the secret of the Pavilion of God but then the most secret mysteries shall be exposed unto the common view of the Saints but it shall be when the Kingdoms of the Earth shall be given to the Lord Jesus Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever 4. The Father is pleased in Christ his Son he delights in him and so he did before the world he was the delight of God the Father from all Eternity I was his delight daily Prov. 8.30 this is my beloved Son Mat. 3. ult and therefore even amongst men children are called the desire of their parents eyes and that upon which they set their mind their hearts do go out unto them Ezech. 24.25 so in your measure you that are Saints are the delight of God the Father from day to day he loves you as well with a love of complacence as with a love of benevolence and therefore he calls the name of the Church Esay 62. Hephziba my delight is in her the Lord takes pleasure in his people his delight is in them that fear him Psal 147.11 149.4 and them that hope in his mercy Therefore the carrying on of the work of Redemption to the full accomplishment of all the gracious intentions of the Father is called the pleasure of the Lord Isa 53.10 which was to prosper in the hands of Christ it being of all the works of God that in which he doth most delight as when a man sets his greatest love upon any thing or person in that he has the greatest delight to see it prosper and thrive and succeed never did an earthly father take so much delight and full satisfaction in the prosperity of a child and yet we know that a wise Son makes a glad father as the Lord does to see the souls of his people prosper and the ways of his grace to be fully magnified towards them because all the love of the creature is but a drop unto the love of the Father which is in Heaven as the Lord has more delight in Christ than he has in all the Saints so he has more delight in one Saint than he has in all the creatures besides because he bears unto them a greater love and hath from them a far greater glory There is joy in heaven says Christ over one sinner that repents and so there is amongst the Angels why because theirs is a joy in the Lord himself and it 's the happiness of the Saints that they can joy in God and we may well make God our Father our delight when he does make us his delight he that has the Son and the Saints and Angels in glory to delight in that yet he should declare that his delight should be with the sons of men here below what an amazing condescension is this of our God how does it ingage us to delight in him only 5. Jesus Christ as he was the Son had a glorious and a sweet communion with the Father so Christ saith Joh. 14.10 I am in the Father and the Father in me and he dwells in me it notes that constant communion that he as Mediator had with the Father Joh. 16.32 Ye shall leave me alone and yet I am not alone but the Father is with me and therefore upon all occasions he did retire himself unto the Father as his great support in the days of his pilgrimage Joh. 1.3 and so have the Saints also our fellowship is with the Father they have access by one Spirit unto the Father Eph. 2.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he leads us by the hand and by our sonship we have boldness with him Pater nomen pietatis potestatis est Father is a name of piety and power Tertul. Oh the infinite sweetness that is for the soul to walk before God the Father in ways of holiness that in these ways he may enjoy fellowship and communion with himself There is a great deal of sweetness in a communion of Saints our Brethren but much more in communion with Christ our Husband but most of all in communion with God our Father he is to be taken as well for a pattern of the one as of the other 6. As God is the Father of Christ so he doth hear the prayers of Christ and therefore Christ says Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me and I know thou hearest me always Joh. 11.41 And though his satisfaction be always referred unto his Godhead Heb. 9.41 yet his Intercession refers unto his Sonship Act. 20.28 Heb. 7. ult the word of the Oath makes the Son who is consecrated for evermore men that know how powerful the name of a father is and what bowels it moves may well assure themselves that it is much more in him who is the Father of mercies as well as our Father and therefore if we know how to give good gifts to our children and will give them suitable to their necessities surely so will he much more and such a man must acknowledge that our Father is Saints may assure themselves that they have not only an Advocate without them which is Christ with the Father and an Advocate within them unto the Father for the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used of both Joh. 16.27 but they have an Advocate in the Father also and it 's that which Christ puts them upon not only to look upon his Intercession as that which doth prevail only but to the Fathers love and the bowels that are in himself the Father himself loves you 7. As a Father he gives Christ an inheritance Thou art my Son Psal 2.7 8. I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance He has appointed him heir of all things Heb. 1.3 and all that are the sons of God are heirs Rom. 8.16 17. yea all that are sons of God are first-born Heb. 12.23 1 Cor. 3.22 and therefore they have a double portion All things are yours and Rev. 21.7 He that overcomes shall inherit all things c. And it 's such an inheritance as none else have in the creatures for it is one thing to hold it by right of a servant by providence and another by the right of a son 1 Pet. 1.5 for the son abides in the house always and 't is an inheritance in promises of grace and of glory which no other men in the world
have Gods inheritance is in them Eph. 1.18 and theirs is chiefly in God therefore Heaven is called the Kingdom of the Father in this life it is the Kingdom of Christ There is a progress and a regress of this Kingdom it is from the Father and returns unto the Father again 8. Christs great comfort in departing this life was that he should go to the Father If you loved me you would rejoyce Joh. 20.17 Joh. 14.28 Luk. 23.46 because I go to the Father this would make the thoughts of death sweet and the thoughts of Eternity desirable Christ at his death resigns his soul into the Fathers hand the people of God in this world are as it were orphans but they have a Father in Heaven and who would not make haste to him for your happiness and your home is in your fathers house Joh. 14.2 In my Fathers house are many mansions and Christ is gone before to prepare a place for you 1 Joh. 3.1 2. Now we are the sons of God but it appears not what we shall be that is adoptionis fructus nondum apparet It 's in our Fathers house that our portion is laid up therefore long for the adoption even the redemption of your bodies and in the mean while keep the truths that you have heard that you may continue in the Son and in the Father 1 Joh. 2 2◠2 Joh. 9. that you may have both the Father and the Son abide in their favour and their fellowship having once attained it keep the commandments of the Father and abide in his love as Christ the Son did Joh. 15.10 and the day will come that thou shalt shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of thy Father Concerning the relations of the Father under the second Covenant we are to take this general rule that in the same relation that he stands unto Christ in the same according to our place and station he stands unto us yet so as Christ in all things is to have the preheminence for that in all things must be reserved unto him Col. 1.18 and the ground of this rule is from that Joh. 20.17 I ascend unto my Father and your Father my God and your God This benefit the Saints have by their union with the Lord Jesus Christ that they not only stand in many sweet and comfortable relations unto him but through him in their own sphere they stand in the same relation unto God the Father together with him § 2. The second relation of the Father unto Christ is that he is Christs King and his Lord 1 Cor. 11.3 The head of Christ is God the head of every man is Christ 1 Cor. 11.3 and the head of the woman is the man It 's not spoken of Christ ratione naturae in regard of his nature for he is God equal with the Father and he counts his equality no robbery he takes but what is his own but ratione oeconomiae in respect of his office that he has undertaken by the appointment of the Father Now how is the Father the head of Christ as Christ is the head of the Church and the man of the woman that is in respect of the guidance and government he has over us and so Christ is the Churches head is called the Churches King and it is usual in the Hebrew to call Princes heads of the people Num. 14.4 Let us make us a head and return into Egypt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a prince a ruler Judg. 11.8 They said unto Jephtath Be thou our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead be thou our King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hos 1.11 it 's spoken of the conversion of the Jews after they were called Loammi and therefore it 's not yet come they shall appoint unto themselves one head Ezech. 37.24 David my servant shall be King over them and David my servant shall be their Prince for ever it 's spoken of their chusing Christ to be their King and their glory in the day when the Lord shall raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen down So here by Head is meant that the Father is Christs King and he doth rule him as a King in the whole work of his Mediatorship and he is Christs Lord so he himself doth call him Psal 16.2 It 's the speech of Christ as appears by the whole Psalm and he saith unto Jehovah Thou art my Lord Adonai Now in this relation the Father also stands to all those that are Saints and members of Christ he is their Lord and their King also Mat. 22.1 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king that made a marriage for his son God the Father is the King Mat. 22.1 Christ the Son is the Bridegroom the Elect of God is the Spouse the Lambs wife their marriage is their union with Christ and the marriage-feast are the Ordinances unto which the guests were by his servants invited and of how great consequence this is we shall see in the person of Christ himself as God the Father is his Lord and King 1 He doth give unto Christ a Law as he is his Lord and King for God the Father is the great Law-giver Christ doth nothing but as the Fathers subject and in obedience unto him so Esay 42.1 he is called but the Fathers servant and he does only the Fathers business Luk. 2.49 and he receives a Law from him Joh. 10.18 This commandment have I received of my Father this law is in the middle of my bowels and it was a law commanding him to lay down his life for his people and so do the Saints for Christ is God the Fathers King Psal 2.1 1 Because he receives his government from him he it was that did anoint him and set him up he did receive his Kingdom from the Ancient of days Dan. 7.14 2 He hath from him the laws and rules of his government for he says I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me therefore all the laws that he gives they are no other than those he has received from the Father 3 For the ends of his government they are also prescribed him For I seek not mine own glory but the glory of him that sent me Now it 's a happiness for any people to have a wise and a righteous Law-giver and this is a comfort and an honour to the Saints that they have Christ their King and the law that he has given them is a royal Law Jam. 2.8 much more should the Saints rejoyce in this that he that is Christs King and Lord is their Lord also and he that is Christs Law-giver is also theirs the subjection of the Angels should be enough unto a man that he should be brought into subjection but much more we should be content to receive the law at his mouth and rejoyce in it when he is unto Christ himself a Lord and a Law-giver 2 As he is King and Lord
is called and compared to a Vine And it 's of this Vine that Christ is the root for it 's not spoken of Christ as he is a Head in Heaven so he has no dead members there are membra praesumptiva quae ad columbam non pertinent Austin but it 's spoken of Christ spreading himself into a visible Church here upon earth and his being the root notes two things 1 Their union with him as the branches have with the root and therefore they are said to be in him even those that bear no fruit some are in him only by profession and some by a real coalition 2 They may suck sap from him for the foolish Virgins have the oyl in their lamps from him as well as the wise that have oyl in their vessels the one have the oyl of gifts from whence their greenness comes though they afterward wither and the other have the oyl of their graces the one has it from the Spirit of Christ assisting and the other from the same Spirit inhabiting or informing for there are two sorts of branches in this Vine as the Text makes manifest 2. Why is he called the true Vine He may be fitly resembled to a Vine as he is called the true light Joh. 1.9 and the true bread Joh. 6.32 because he has the excellency of the Vine in a spiritual sense he is a spiritual Root that has spiritual branches and they bear spiritual fruit for omnia corporalia sunt imagines quaedam rerum spiritualium all corporals are images of things spiritual and as Christ did condescend unto the lowest condition for our salvation he became a worm and no man Psal 22. so he doth compare himself unto the lowest of creatures for our instruction but yet so as the creatures are but shadows and weak resemblances in respect of those spiritual excellencies that are in him so he is the true bread and so his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed Joh. 6. that is it is spiritual nourishment and is to the soul that which all earthly food is to the body for as the creatures are but shadows of God so Christ and spiritual things have the truth of all excellency of which the creatures are but resemblances 3. How is the Father said to be the Husbandman There are six main acts of the Husbandman and all of them are in the Scripture attributed to God the Father 1 The husbandman doth plant the Vine it 's true here both in the root and branches both are the plantation of God the Father 1 It is true of Christ the Root who though in some respect he be called a Branch as he did grow out of the dead and withered stock of the house of David as a branch out of a dry tree and yet so the Father brings him forth Zac. 3.8 Behold I will bring forth my servant the branch yet as all the other branches do grow upon him being one with him so he is in a more special manner termed a Root the root of David as he is called Rev. 5.5 and it is the Father that did cause this branch to grow Est radix Davidis quia portat non portatur Bernard Jer. 33.16 and it 's the Father that planted this Root for he bids you look unto him Zac. 6.12 The man whose name is The Branch he shall build the Temple of the Lord and he is made unto us of God wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption It 's by the Fathers appointment that he is become the Churches Root he had never had a Church built upon him had not the Lord laid him in Sion as the chief corner-stone 1 Pet. 2.6 and a Church had never grown out of him as the root had it not been of God the Fathers planting for he has given us the rule Mat. 15.13 Every plant that grows alone in the Church and is not planted by the Father shall surely by the Father be rooted up 2 He it is also that doth plant or ingraft all the branches into this root Esay 60.21 Thy people shall be all righteous branches of my planting that I may be glorified and therefore Rom. 6.5 we are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 planted together into the likeness of his death and his resurrection created in Christ unto good works for we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things made by him Eph. 2.10 Now if we do consider Christ not only as a Head in Heaven in reference unto the Church mystical and invisible but as he is a root on earth spreading himself into a Church visible and the great benefits that we have thereby as the incomes of Ordinances the labours of Officers and the fellowship of Members we owe these all unto God the Father he is the Husbandman that planted them all 2 The Father as Husbandman fenceth the Vine he that plants the Vine he it is also that makes the fence for the invisible Church of God has spiritual enemies in heavenly things but the visible Church that has variety of outward enemies as the lily amongst thorns sometimes the Foxes by their subtilty seek to spoil the vines and sometimes the wild Boar out of the wood doth endeavour to root it up and yet it is preserved the bush is in the fire and yet it 's not consumed it is because there is a hedge about it Joh. 10.29 says Christ My Father that gave them me is greater than all and no man can pluck them out of my Fathers hand Job 1.10 Thou hast made a hedge about him and all that he has round about and this hedge of protection is sometimes made by Gods own immediate hand Zac. 2.5 God himself is a wall of fire about Jerusalem he doth himself become their hedge and their defence upon all the glory he doth stretch forth a covering and sometimes he doth make others to be a hedge sometimes his own Angels and they pitch their Tents round about them that fear the Lord Rev. 5.11 they were round about the Throne and sometimes he does make Rulers which are the shields of the Earth to become the shields of the Church but their protection and defence is the work of the husbandman Now when the Lord doth pluck up the hedge and break down the wall of the visible Church we then see what terrible inroads all the enemies do make and how they come in and spoil her The Boar of the wood doth waste it and the beasts of the field devour it Psal 80.13 so that it 's God the Father only that makes the hedge and he it is that doth remove the fence and he it is that has the hand in making it up again 3 He as the Husbandman doth hire labourers into his Vineyard for it is the work of God the Father Mat. 20.1 as he is the Lord of the harvest so he doth thrust forth labourers into his harvest as he is the husbandman so he doth hire labourers into his vineyard which
is the visible Church and the labourers are the officers and the workmen that do labour therein and they are said to be hired 1 ratione pacti because there doth as it were a bargain and an agreement pass between God and them for answerable unto a mans end such is the implicite agreement that he makes with God and answerable unto that so God will give a man a reward if a man do it for profit he shall have it but then he is said not to serve Christ but his own belly and if he do it for praise of men Christ saith They have their reward c. 2 Ratione praemii in regard of reward because there is no man that shall labour in Christs Vineyard but he shall have his reward answerable unto the penny that he himself did agree for for no man doth labour there in vain there is a certain wages promised him c. And this belongs unto God the Father there is not a man whose gifts you injoy and whose labours you have and do prize but he is hired by the Father and he it is that gives him his hire Now we know that labourers in the vineyard have been very precious to the Saints and are the glory of the Churches a Crown of twelve Stars Rev. 12.1 they are all of them hired by him that is the Husbandman and the Lord of the Vineyard c. 4 It 's the husbandman that waters the vineyard and the vine that he himself has planted as it 's said Esay 27.3 I will water it every moment and there is a double watering sometimes he does it by the dew Hos 14.5 I will be as the dew to Israel and he shall grow as the lily c. that is in a secret silent and insensible way as the Manna fell in the dew without any observation there is a secret River that doth refresh the City of God Psal 46.5 and the Church is secretly refreshed and supported no man knows how and it 's also watered by the rain the former and the latter rain in a more glorious way Psal 68.10 the Lord comes in and doth revive the Church and all men shall see that it is his work and that it is from Heaven only and both put together as the dew and as showers upon the grass Mic. 5.6 which tarrieth not for man it waits not for the sons of men the Lord doth wait for no humane concurrence or the joyning in of any of the creatures but he doth water his own vine himself that it doth flourish and grow and these waters are all the gifts and graces of the Spirit which the Father doth send for the giving of the Spirit is called the promise of the Spirit Acts 1.4 for the succus vitalis the vital juyce of this Vine is the Spirit 5 He pruneth it as he is the Husbandman the unfruitful branches he takes away Joh. 15.2 Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away but yet there is the skill of the husbandman in it who will have in his Church no unfruitful branches though for a while they may continue yet he will gather out of his Kingdom whatever doth offend and whoever works iniquity and he prunes it in the fittest time in its season when it may be best for the vine It may be some do wonder that the Lord lets wicked men alone to continue in the Church so long why they are not immediately cast out truly if the Father be the Husbandman let us leave it to his pruning for it 's his work and he will do it in his time and season we must not undertake to direct him which season is best he keeps it in his own power and he doth it at the fittest time so that after this pruning the other branches may grow better and the Father hath undertaken it and though there may be some hypocrites that may a long time escape the eyes of men and the censure of the Church yet they shall not escape the Fathers eye who is the Husbandman There is a spiritual Excommunication that goes forth against them from him and he will surely cast them out as dead branches and he hath provided a fire for them and they are burnt and there is no man that burns so fiercely in Hell as such dry wood prepared for the fire for all the vessels of wrath are fitted to destruction as well as the vessels of mercy are prepared for glory 6 The fruitful branches he doth purge as the husbandman that they may bring forth more fruit and in this are the two parts of Sanctification 1 The destroying of the old man for the Lord Jesus Christ hath as well bought off in our Redemption the power of sin as the guilt of sin Tit. 2.14 he hath redeemed you from all iniquity that he may have the more communion with you Jam. 4.8 and that he may fit you the more for use 2 Tim 2.21 If a man purge himself c. and also that your services may be the more pleasing unto him Mal. 3.3 1. He doth it by Ordinances Eph. 5.2 6. He doth cleanse them by the washing of water through the word and they are clean through the word that he doth speak unto them 2. Sometimes by the inward motions of the Spirit discovering the filthiness of sin and stirring up a mans heart to hate it and himself for it that a man shall make it his business to mortifie sin and as Christ suffered in the flesh and ceased from sin so he doth arm himself with the same mind his resolution is the armor that strengthens and establishes his heart therein 3. Many times the Lord doth it by shedding abroad his love in the soul so that the sense thereof makes a man to purifie himself from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit as the exhortation also is 2 Cor. 7.1 Having this hope such exceeding great and precious promises let us perfect holiness in the fear of God 2 The reviving of the new man it 's the Fathers end that they may bring forth more fruit for they are ordained to bear fruit a vine is of no worth if it be not fruitful therefore Col. 2.19 they are said to increase with the increase of God 1. Some say the increase of God is a great and glorious increase as the mountains of God and the Cedars of God Col. 2.19 and the wrestling of God 2. Some say it is the increase of God quae est à Deo tanquam à primario efficiente which is from God as the prime efficient Paul may plant and Apollo water but God gives the increase therefore we should honour the Father in the work of Sanctification as well as we honour the Father in his Election 3. Some say the increase of God is ad Deum tanquam finem ultimum is to God as the last en◠And when doth a man bear more fruit 1 When he doth the duties that he did formerly neglect and
c. which is to dispute and gather conclusions from false and corrupt premises because they were hearers of the word though they were not doers yet from this false principle they did reason and argue all their life time that their state was good and so did the foolish builders Mat. 7.22 Lord we have prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils we have eat and drank in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets therefore there is no doubt but we shall attain an entrance at his coming and so the soul is under a fallacy all his days and this is the great deceit of the old Serpent to deceive a man in reference to his eternal state for as Satan by his instruments doth endeavour to beguile you in the matters of truth Col. 2.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he deceives a man by false reasonings so also he endeavours to deceive a man in matter of his state that he might deceive himself by false reasonings also and upon this ground it mainly is that there is that extraordinary aversness in the hearts of men unto the duty of self-examination and a far greater aversness to the examination of a mans state than of his actions for there are many men that will make conscience to review their actions and consider their ways and yet these very men are willing to go upon a supposition in the matter of their spiritual states and to be content to take that for granted though it be the ground of all And here we are to consider also that many that are true Believers may not know that there is a distinct interest in the persons to be had they in general do believe in God and close with Christ who is offered them in the promise but as for such a distinct title unto all the persons it is a thing that they are not acquainted with it seems it was this that Christ reproved in his Disciples Joh. 14.1 Ye believe in God believe also in me their faith in the acting of it was not so distinct and particular as it ought to have been As it is in witnessing there is many a man that never knew that there was a distinct witness of all the persons in the hearts of the Saints and therefore they did never look out for any such thing so it is in the point of faith also but now this is a truth discovered to you and the Lord will expect the fruit of Gospel-discoveries he will come and demand fruit of his Vineyard and he doth expect it he it is with whom Heb. 4.13 in the word read or preached that you have to do he looks what power it hath upon your hearts after it is dispensed 1 We are to consider that the way by which we can come to have an interest in all the persons is by closing with the Son for it is our union with the Son that as it gives us a title unto all good things so it gives us in the first place an union with all the persons and it intitles us unto them all it is he that hath the Son hath the Father also 1 Joh. 2.23 and he that hath not the Son hath not the Father for it is only the blessing of the second Covenant and it comes upon none but those that are in Covenant as the promises come upon none but those that are heirs of promise therefore we should first inquire whether we be one with the Son or no. Now there is no union with him but by believing in him for it is the eating the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood that gives us life by him Joh. 6.54 Now though believing be an act of the whole soul for the subject of faith is the whole soul with the heart man believes yet it is specially seated in the will as unbelief also is specially seated there There is a double infidelity 1 Purae negationis of pure negation which some have said is no sin but yet if there is a command to believe then bare not-believing is a sin because it is the transgression of the Law 2 Pravae dispositionis of depraved disposition and that lyes mainly in the will Now when the will opens aright it is unto two things 1 It does consent to receive and accept of Christ upon his own terms not only Christ with his righteousness but Christ with his graces not only Christ with his priviledges but Christ with his inconveniencies Christ to all the ends for which the Father hath ordained him he would have him glorified in them all in his heart 2 With the same hand of faith that he doth receive whole Christ he doth give up whole self unto Christ again so that he is his own no more but put out of his own power for ever and he rejoyceth in this that I am my beloveds as well as my beloved is mine he would have his happiness in him and he would enjoy nothing apart from him for ever he would live in him and bear fruit in him and work for him and be into him and that to eternity for he saith to him as Ruth to her mother-in-law Where thou goest I will go where thou lodgest I will lodge thy people shall be my people thy God my God and where thou dyest I will dye c. Where there hath been such an acceptation and such a resignation there the work of faith is wrought with power and he that is thus one with the Son is thereby madelone with the Father also for our union is by him as our access and communion also is all by him with the Father 2 If a man be intitled unto the persons there will be drawings out of his heart towards each person for there is an impression of the love of them all left upon the soul We love him because he loved us first and this love will warm our hearts with love again there will be the workings of it in the soul though there be not the witnessing 1 Joh. 4.19 for Phil. 1.6 there is a good work begun and it 's begun by all the persons and it is to glorifie the persons mainly in the hearts of Believers and therefore such workings the Lord will draw forth in them O that ever God the Father should give his Son to me Joh. 3. God so loved the world and that I should be called the Son of God that the Son should lay down his life for me should bear my sins and my sorrows that his Spirit should abide in me inlightning mine eyes renewing me in the spirit of my mind there will be such a spiritual warmth wrought in the soul towards all these persons because there is a principle of the love of them all kindled in the soul But yet 3 There will never be the fulness of assurance till the persons that have given you an interest in themselves do also themselves witness their interest 1 Joh. 5.7 and they will surely do
but this and 't is as well as I could wish for my self though I have nothing of the things below 2 In the Saints and because their condition in this life is commonly set forth by the state of the people of Israel in Egypt let that be the instance to express it unto us when they were come out of Egypt they were in a barren and howling wilderness death did a thousand ways present it self to them and under as many shapes they had neither bread nor water nor provision nor protection but what they had from God immediately and yet having God in Covenant they had enough because they were interessed in the alsufficiency of God and therefore if they want bread he gives them Manna and if water he doth cause the Rock to yield it if protection if direction he is a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night in allusion to which the Prophet speaks Esa 4.4 5. Now we shall see this set forth by Moses who was an eye-witness of it and a Leader of the people through the wilderness Deut. 33.27 for their provision it 's true that he has a land of corn and wine and the Heavens drop down dew but it is from the fountain of Jacob it 's commonly expounded the posterity of Jacob and so haply it may be understood Qui à Jacobo instar fontis perennis ortum ducunt but there is yet a spiritual meaning in it and so Cocceius observes Fons Jacobi dicitur quòd est fons salutis Psal 68.27 The fountain of Jacob is the fountain of salvation So that all these mercies they had from him that was the Father and the Fountain of mercy he was the Fountain of Israel and for protection the eternal God is thy refuge in danger you need flye to no other Asylum but to him alone Esa 26.20 Come my people enter into your chambers and shut the door about you it is the Attributes of God and his alsufficiency that are the chambers into which the Saints are called to hide themselves and therefore it is to preserve them from dangers that if they fall at any time they may never fall to the ground for under them are the everlasting arms which notes two things 1 Potentiae sustentationem sustentation by his power 2 Gratiae amplexum the embracement of his grace he doth carry them in his arms and though they fall yet still his arms are under them and who is this that is in this manner all unto them it is he that is alsufficient he that is thy God in Covenant the God of Jeshuron for a habitation they and thy fathers wandred up and down having no setled dwelling place incertis sedibus but thou Lord Psal 90.1 hast been our habitation in all generations and when they wanted Ordinances in the Captivity they had neither Tabernacle nor Temple but he was a Sanctuary to them Ezech. 11.16 he did supply the want of publick Ordinances in himself and for their guidance and Deut. 32.10 12. The Lord alone led them and there was no strange God with him he did all by himself alone he led them and he fed them and there was none other joyned with him in the work he was alsufficient to them But to come to the reasons and grounds of all this Reas 1 1. The first and great ground of all this is his own love it was only his love that brought him into Covenant with them because the Lord loved thee and made thee to be his people it was looking upon them in the time of love and this love is the womb in which the Covenant and all the mercies of the Covenant were bred now the nature of love is bountiful nescit nimium it knows no excess The Father loved the Son Joh. 3.3 5. 2 Thess 2.16 and has given all things into his hand the Father hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace The great thing that God aims at in the second Covenant is his own glory manifestative glory now he cannot receive manifestative glory but according to the measure of love manifested unto the creature and his love therefore being the highest he must find out an expression that is suitable to the manifestation of such a love the gift must be such as may express the height and depth and breadth of his love and therefore it must be in giving the greatest blessing or else it could not have been an expression of the greatest love if there had been any thing greater or better to have been bestowed that is in point of consolation he would have given it Heb. 6.13 If there had been a greater he would have sworn by it so he doth in point of affection also if there had been a greater he would have given that gift but a greater than himself in his alsufficiency God had not to bestow 2. It was necessary from the insufficiency of all things else to supply our wants there is an insufficiency in all the creatures and therefore a continual restlesness in the soul while it is bottomed upon the creatures they are but broken cisterns Jer. 2.13 that can hold no water when once man departed from God and forsook him the Fountain of living water he sought a sufficiency in the creatures alone they immediately became vanity they have not a vanity in themselves but it is the sin of man that fills the creature with vanity if the Lord should give a man as he has done the Devil the dominion of the world for he is not only the Prince of the air but he is the god of this world yet all this would but leave a man in the Devils condition and his soul would never be satisfied with it there is still something wanting that all the creatures cannot supply so that the soul saith as Austin Quicquid nobis adest praeter Deum nostrum dulce non est nolumus omnia quae dedit si non dat seipsum qui dedit omnia 3. Because the Lord would have the happiness of the creatures to concenter in him alone which could never be if he were not an alsufficient God Esa 26.3 Trust in the Lord for ever 1 Pet. 1.13 trust perfectly in the grace that is revealed unto us by Jesus Christ if there were any thing wanting in him to be supplied and fetched in elsewhere the soul could never trust in him alone but he will have them have no other god therefore surely there is no need of any other he hath all good things in him the happiness of the soul lies in the rest of it Psal 116.7 and therefore when a man comes to Heaven he is said to enter into his rest Now God is the resting place of the soul return unto thy rest O my soul wherefore if there were not an alsufficiency but something wanting in God the soul must needs be restless till it know whither to go for a supply but he being
great evil but with the immediate works and gifts of the Spirit of God is a far greater provocation 4 That which you place your sufficiency so much in remember you cannot act without Divine aid a man that has received gifts cannot exercise and use those gifts that he has received The Apostle doth distinguish between all these three there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gifts and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Offices and there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Effects or Operations of the same graces now as the Spirit doth appoint every man his office and gives unto every man his gift so he doth give unto every man a success as it pleaseth him and therefore though Paul may plant and Apollo water yet it is God that gives the increase and the success is not always answerable unto the labour that is bestowed even in the best we see it in Christ himself he did spend his whole life and his very radical moisture in labour Esa 49.4 as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie and yet he doth himself complain That he had laboured in vain and spent his strength for nought c. So when the Prophets had received a Spirit of Prophecy and the Apostles a gift of Miracles yet notwithstanding they could not act it when they would but when the Spirit of the Lord came upon them as it was with Samson and therefore it 's a kind of a Proverb that Luther has in Gen. 4.4 Spiritus Sanctus non semper tangit cor Prophetarum The Spirit doth not always touch the Prophets heart so the Apostles had a gift of healing but they could not heal when they would and therefore when Epaphroditus had been sick and was nigh death also Paul who had the gift of healing for when they brought from him but handkerchiefs and aprons the diseases departed from them yet he cannot now heal him who was so dear to him and whose ministery was so useful it 's not in a mans power therefore to act his own gifts he cannot use his own abilities at his own pleasure as there is an ability in a man to gather and know much of God by his works that are in the world yet it is according as God did point and direct his understanding or else he could never do it Rom. 1.19 it is manifest in the creation of the world for God has shewed it unto them and to know what seed to sow and with what instruments to thresh and when the ground is fit for seed and when it is sufficiently plowed c. It is God that doth instruct him to discretion Esa 28.26 The men of might cannot find their hands they were men of strength and they were skilful in war but they could not use it at such a time they could not find their hands it is unto them as if they had no strength as if they had had no skill for they have no use of them therefore remember this when you place your sufficiency so much in these things 5 As they that have these gifts cannot act them of themselves without Gods assistance so neither can they give success to them or make them in any measure effectual the best men have but their measure Rom. 12.4 God has not given all gifts to one man and therefore the greatest and the best and most eminent member of the body shall have need of the gifts of the meanest there is a supply of every joynt unto the edifying of the body there is something in the meanest Saint that thou maist despise as weak-gifted yet it is wanting in thee and thou canst not give success to thy greatest endeavours but he that gives the gift must give the blessing mundus non potest esse sine personarum discrimine Luther there must be Princes and Rulers and Governors sed dona non sequuntur illas differentias c. and so it is here the effect doth not always follow the abilities but a man of lesser gifts shall bring forth more fruit to God than he that thinks himself most sufficient For the Lord resists the proud and gives grace to the humble he will give the success there where he may have the glory and many times a man of great ability is laid aside though he labours yet he brings nothing to pass and a man of lesser parts is blessed exceedingly and the reason is the one is too great in his own eyes or in the eyes of others and therefore the Lord cannot use him non patitur in regno suo superbiam God cannot bear pride in his Kingdom 6 When we place our sufficiency in them that will provoke the Lord to take them away from us there are two things that provoke God exceedingly one is being weary of our work as it was in Moses and the other is when we do exalt our selves in our work and put an excellency upon our selves for our own actings therefore says the Lord From him that hath not shall be taken away he will put thee out of thy stewardship if thou waste his goods to maintain thy own pride and there is nothing in the world doth blast the parts of men more and provoke God to take them away in judgment and the man dies besotted he withers in all the greenness that did appear so fresh in him Joh. 15.6 he doth in this saith Luther as Vespasian when he saw there was no way to take men off from seeking wealth In Gen. 4.4 aequo animo patiebatur eos ditari with a patient mind suffer men to be rich but he said Divites spongiam esse there would come a pressing time when men that gathered so much for themselves should go empty away remember this ye that forget the Lord and place a sufficiency in any gift that God has given you the Lord will certainly deprive thee of it and thy folly shall be made manifest 2. When men do place not only sufficiency in their gifts but in grace received which a man also is very apt to do and let me tell you it is the highest spiritual pride in the world and is an abuse of the highest gift and grace of God 1 Consider it is quite contrary to the nature of grace which is to live in another and to fetch all from another and therefore it is an unnatural sin 2 No man can act his own grace Deus agit immediaté 3 Grace is but a creature and may decay in the degrees of it and it doth oftentimes I and in the essence it would also if it were not preserved by an almighty power Rev. 2.4 for it is not in its own nature immortal seed 4 It doth make grace an Idol and so it provokes the Spirit to withdraw from his own graces so that he shall delight to see the ruine of his own workmanship Object But you 'l say Do not we read in Prov. 14.14 That a good man is satisfied from himself and that there is a sufficiency
the heart and nothing else it sets a strong guard upon the whole inward man this wall is as well that none should break out as that none should break in it defends from all enemies it 's this that makes the souls of the glorified Saints impeccable visio beatifica reddit impeccabiles Now what is there in the beatifical vision so advantageous to a soul 1 Cognition a man doth perfectly know all the glory of God and the Saints that know most of him here he will hereafter come to be admired of them 2 Thess 1.10 and we know that admiration is the overplus of expectation they will say when they come to Heaven the one half was not told them Oh how little a portion is known of him 2 Application there shall be a perfect application unto a mans soul that he shall know his own interest in him that all this is his right that it is his fathers pleasure to make it to be his portion which doth here much abate all the joy of the Saints in this life that many times the soul is not able to apply the portion he hath in God to himself 3 There is Fruition which implies both actual possession and glorious satisfaction And he that finds this in the Lord and his alsufficiency he cannot go out unto any thing else for his soul is filled with it In thy presence is fulness of joy Psal 16. ult and that which is full can receive no addition as it needs none and so far as the soul is made partaker of this vision in a fiducial way so far it is impeccable also and what was the true reason why the Devil did fall what was his condemnation 1 Tim. 3.6 it was this that he did not look upon God as alsufficient he would have taken in some created excellency something of himself to have made up his sufficiency and so he departed from the Lord and as often as men do turn aside to any thing else it 's because the thoughts of the alsufficiency of God are not kept up in a man and this is the way for a man to fall into the condemnation of the Devil And this we ought so much the more to seek because a great part of the happiness of the Lord doth consist in the contemplation of himself and surely that which makes the Lord himself happy will make us happy also the satisfaction that God takes in his own excellency and sufficiency And truly there are two things in which mainly our godliness should consist 1 in a constant contemplation of God and 2 a perfect obedience unto him walking before him and walking with him and seeing him that is invisible this is the great work and guard of a Saint But wherein doth the happiness of a Saint by reason of his interest in Gods alsufficiency consist There are these particulars in which it makes a man very happy 1. It supplies all a mans wants the Lord is my shepherd he hath undertaken both to feed and defend me and he will surely do his office and therefore I shall want nothing that is necessary either for my provision or my protection The lyons do lack but they that fear the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good if they have it not formaliter formally in kind they have it eminenter eminently as the Sun hath light in it in a far more glorious way than any other light if they have it not in silver yet they have it in gold and therefore the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.10 puts it in with a quasi as if sorrowful as if poor 2 Cor. 6.10 as if having nothing afflictio nostra habet quasi sed gaudium nostrum non habet our affliction has an AS IF but our joy none Austin there is but an appearance and a resemblance of the one but there is a truth and a reality in the other we are as those that have nothing and yet it is but in appearance so for in truth he that hath his interest in the alsufficiency of God he doth possess all things The alsufficiency of God runs through all Gods Attributes as the sincerity of a man doth through all his graces and is to be observed in them all the soul saith I am in a great strait in my business and I want direction but in God there is alsufficient wisdom I am a sinner and a fresh sense of guilt is upon me and I want remission but there is in God alsufficient mercy and I am under the power of a lust and of a temptation and I want strength to overcome it there is in God alsufficient grace his grace is sufficient for thee I am poor and want wealth it 's the Lord that makes rich and I am despised not honoured it 's the Lord that honours them that honour him and I want friends he doth many times give unto his own the hearts of men and turns their hearts to love you or to hate you he puts a mans acquaintance far from him or brings them near to him upon all occasions yea even the issues from death belong unto him and it is very much sweeter to the Saints to see it and to rely upon it as it is in him than if they had the mercy in their own hands because as the promise leads a man unto Christ and so though it be but small yet it is a pledge of union with Christ so though the supply be but small yet it brings a man to the alsufficiency of God and thereby discovers a mans propriety in God 2. It enables a man for all the works he hath to do in the world the Lord sent Moses in a great service to Pharaoh and he tells him I will be with thee and when Moses did object he had a stammering tongue saith God I will be with thy tongue and the alsufficiency of God was his sufficiency for his work so he sends Joshua and tells him He will never leave him nor forsake him and nothing shall be able to stand before him all his days and so the Apostles were sent forth as sheep c. but he bids them Go for behold I am with you unto the end of the world A man needs nothing else to enable him for any service but this God is alsufficient for me and were it not for that there are many of Gods people would sink under the apprehension of their own weaknesses and the burdensom callings that lye upon them from day to day Christus tunc regnat in nobis quando nos ab operibus nostris feriatos inhabitat cùm ipsè in nobis facit opera nostra Luther Christ then reigns in us when he works in us c. and so a mans soul keeps a Sabbath unto Christ as in point of Justification a man saith My good works are the Righteousness of Christ so in point of ability a man saith My ability is his alsufficiency for I am of my self able to do nothing and therefore when
and this is the ambition and the endeavour of every child of God that the law within may fully answer the law without that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished to every good work as well as every good word and may be ready in season and out of season always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that his labour shall not be in vain in the Lord this is our perfection to glorifie God always in our hearts and in our lives c. CHAP. VI. The Soveraignty of God made over to the Saints in the new Covenant SECT I. How and why Gods Soveraignty is made over to the Saints Doctr. § 1. I Now come unto the second particular implied in the fourth Head and that is the Soveraignty of God which is made over in this promise I will be thy God for God doth imply a Supremacy Rom. 9.5 He is God over all Eph. 4.6 There is one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all c. And hence the Observation is That God hath in the new Covenant made over his Soveraignty and Supremacy over all things to the Saints so that it shall be truly exercised as for his own glory so for their good also And for the handling of this point I must shew 1 What the Soveraignty of God is 2 That it is by the Father committed into the hands of Christ 3 That it was by the Father committed and is by Christ exercised in the behalf of the Saints in all the administrations of it 4 The grounds or the reasons of it why it was necessary that to whom he should be a God they should have an interest in him as he is Lord of all 5 The Application of all 1. What is the Soveraignty of God It is that absolute and universal Authority which he hath over all things as being the works of his own hands and so much Christ teaches his Disciples to acknowledge Mat. 6.13 Thine is the kingdom Psal 10.2 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth over all and therefore he is called a great King Mal. 1.14 King of kings and Lord of lords and therefore all things are said to be in the hand of the Lord Deut. 33.3 all the Saints are in his hand Esa 50.2 Is my hand shortned Isa 50.2 Now there is a hand-ruling a hand-providing a hand-protecting a hand-assisting a hand-inflicting and a hand-dispensing for all these are to be understood by the hand of the Lord in the Scripture And this Kingdom and Dominion of God 1 is universal there is no restraint or limitation of his Kingdom it doth reach unto all things in Heaven and in Earth his Kingdom ruleth over all he doth whatever he will in Heaven and in Earth and in the Sea and in all deep places and therefore he is commonly in Scripture called The Lord of Hosts The Lord of Hosts is with us and the God of Jacob is our refuge Jam. 5.4 c. Jam. 5.4 The crys of them enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath or Hosts all the creatures are under his power as their absolute Commander in chief all is but his Army and he is the General of them he doth order and marshal them all at his pleasure There are four respects why he is called the Lord of Hosts 1 propter numerum multitudinem they are many not a few but the whole army of them from the Angels in Heaven unto the meanest creatures the whole host of them is in his hand under his power and at his dispose 2 Propter ordinem dispositionem they are not barely a number but they are ordered and placed in their several conditions and ranks Joel 2.7 Joel 2.7 it is expounded of the Locusts and Caterpillars that the Lord did threaten and he saith They shall every one keep their ranks even in the most disorderly condition of things there is an order that the Lord doth set the stars in their courses shall fight Judg. 5.20 c. the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab exaltationibus suis from their Towers it 's a Metaphor taken from fighting from Castles or some high places of strength from their Towers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septuagint renders it and so we also render it in their order and in their courses as God hath set them 3 Propter praeparationem they are an army and therefore prepared for the battel ready to go upon all services any design that the Lord would appoint them for they have their weapons in their hands Ezech. 9.1 Every man with his slaughter-weapon in his hand the very Flies and the Lice the Caterpillar and the Canker-worm they are all of them armed and all of them ready for service when he doth command them 4 Propter subordinationem obedientiam they all of them go at his commandment they continue to this day according to his ordinance for all are his servants they do dispatch his commands for he saith to one Go and he goeth c. as it is said of the Angels Ezech. 1.14 Their going and returning is as a flash of lightning with the greatest readiness and dexterity that can be every one of them moves in their own due order with all possible speed that can be 2 It is supreme his government is independent upon any other all other Authorities are from God and therefore they all hold of him Dan. 4.17 The most High rules in the kingdoms of mortal men c. deponit reges disponit regna à Deo sunt omnes potestates quamvis non omnium voluntate magnus est Caesar sed Deo minor he deposeth Kings and disposeth Kingdoms c. and therefore saith the Lord Ezech. 21.26 I will overturn overturn remove the diadem and take away the crown Yea the Lord Jesus Christ though he be King of Kings and the great and the only Potentate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet he received the Kingdom from another Esa 9.6 Dan. 7.14 he gives a Kingdom and Power and great Dominion he doth commit all judgment to the Son he hath a government but it is given him and though he be our Lord yet he is therein but the Fathers servant c. and therefore he doth rule so as none other doth 1 He gives all what being he will according to his Soveraignty and therefore there are several degrees of beings they were all in his hand and there is an election unto being and unto the order of being 2 He doth appoint them to their end as he made all for his own glory and they shall be unto his glory so in what way he will glorifie himself by them some in mercy and some in judgment some vessels unto honour and some unto dishonour 3 He doth give them what law he will some have a law written in their nature there are ordinances of the heavens and some have a law
prosperity of his servants he feeds them with food convenient for them We see in the story of the four Monarchies how they all wrought for their own ruine and the Churches advancement in the end and that they did all but lift at the Church as at a burdensom stone and they themselves were broken thereby all tended to the Churches glory and greatness And the mountain of the Lords house shall be exalted upon the top of the mountains and new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven and all Nations shall come unto the Church and bring their glory unto it and lick the dust under the soals of their feet the Lord will make it manifest to the world that they are a people that he hath loved and therefore 1 Cor. 3.21 22. All things are yours things present and things to come all are yours the vials that are now poured out Christ hath the ordering of them and they shall all of them make for the good of the Church in the end 3. Christ is at the right hand of the Father and we sit there together with him Eph. 2.6 He is exalted unto the right hand of Majesty and hath all authority put into his hands and that not for himself but as a publick person as a representative head and therefore we have an interest in all his authority which he is invested with he doth administer all things for us as our head and as one that hath undertaken it in our behalf 4. God hath subjected all his Soveraignty unto the prayers of his people by virtue of the Covenant it being made over to them Esa 45.11 Concerning my sons and the works of my hands command ye me and the people of God therefore in their prayers have desired God to rent the heavens to shake the earth to remove mountains Awake for thy people unto the judgment that thou hast commanded the hand of the Lord is not shortned what Soveraignty and Power soever God hath over the creatures they can desire God to put it forth according to his wisdom as their necessity shall require and they do expect that it shall be done they dye in the faith of it that Rome shall be ruined and Antichrist destroyed verbo victus est mundus verbo Ecclesia est servata Antichristus ut sine manu coepit ità sine manu per verbum conteretur Luth. and they have cursed men in the name of the Lord upon this ground that the Soveraignty of God shall be put forth for their destruction the Saints of God have done so of old and so do the people of God now blast men by their prayers the fire that goes out of their mouths Rev. 11.5 devoureth their enemies c. and so doth Luther curse Antichrist Pereat igitur in aeternum maledicant omnes Angeli Sancti huic portento c. and he dyed in the faith of it that the Lord by his Soveraignty even the zeal of the Lord of Hosts should perform this SECT II. How the spiritual Kingdom of Christ is made over to the Saints Doctr. § 1. HAving thus in general manifested the truth of the point that there is a twofold Kingdom of God spiritual and providential and that both these are committed into the hands of the Mediator and both are committed unto him for the Churches sake we must now come unto the particulars that we may see how all the Soveraigny of God is made over and laid out for the good of his people I shall begin first with the spiritual Kingdom how that is ours and what interest we have in the Soveraignty of God in reference thereunto and so the Observation is That the Supremacy or Soveraignty of God in reference to the spiritual Kingdom is made over to the Saints The spiritual Kingdom is either in Grace or Glory Christ rules in them both Now in the handling of this I shall propose to you 1 The Subjects in this Kingdom who they are and having shewed that Christ is the King and unto what this kingdom doth extend for the matter about which both the kingdoms are conversant is to be preserved as distinct 2 The Agents or Officers that Christ doth imploy in the government of the spiritual kingdom under him 3 The Laws of this kingdom by which he doth govern them 4 The end or the intent of Christ in this government for what it is that he doth in this manner rule them 5 The Enemies of this kingdom for all kingdoms have their enemies and how they are in this kingdom ordered and subdued 6 The punishments in this spiritual kingdom and they are also spiritual according to the double Covenant by which Christ doth dispense himself an inward and an outward Covenant some being in Covenant in truth and reality and some by profession only 7 The Rebels against this kingdom who are within it and profess to subject themselves unto the Laws of it and yet do rebel against this kingdom 8 The consummation or the perfection of this kingdom when grace shall be swallowed up in glory and when the kingdom of grace shall bring in the kingdom of glory unto which men are in this kingdom but in a way of preparation to be made meet Col. 1.12 and if it do appear that the Soveraignty of Christ in all these particulars is made over unto the Saints and exercised for their good then it will be clear that they have an interest in the spiritual kingdom and that his Soveraignty over it is theirs and by Covenant belongs unto them 1. Concerning the Subjects of this spiritual Kingdom for if the two Kingdoms and the Lords government in them be distinct then we must keep the Subjects of these Kingdoms distinct through the whole discourse The spiritual Kingdom I conceive to have for its Subjects only those that live in the Church and that belong to it for out of the Church of Christ he hath no spiritual Kingdom for this is a Kingdom administred by Ordinances and the workings of the Spirit in them and by them Not that even in the Church there is not concurrent a providential Kingdom for that is universal and it 's that of which it 's said Thy kingdom rules over all he hath not a limited Kingdom as other Princes have Psal 103.19 that hath its bounds for God hath set men the bounds of their Dominion as well as of their habitation 't is said The head of Syria is Damascus Esa 7.8 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria caput in the Hebrew is summitas cacumen the top and the height of any thing is said to be the head thereof and it is as much as to say Ego met as constitui quas non egredientur I have set bounds which they shall not pass Calvin they are at the highest that ever they shall be Syria shall never be higher than it is its head is Damascus nor shall Ephraim be higher than it is its head is Samaria
and they are cast out as a branch and wither but during the time of their continuance in this kingdom till he has cast them out for their rebellion there is a government that the Lord Jesus by his Spirit doth exercise towards them and over them for the good of his Saints And this will appear by the expressions that we meet with in Scripture 1 They are his servants Joh. 8.35 the Church is compared to a house a family as it 's called the family of God and the house of God and of this family Christ is the Master now there is a special imployment that he has for every one of his servants and they are under his special command and dominion it is true this family is made up of servants and of sons and the servants may have a greater rule in the house than the sons but yet both under the authority of the housholder only he rules over the one as a Master and over the other as a Father but both are in subjection Cant. 6.8 there are in the Church sixty Queens and fourscore Concubines and Virgins without number some are truly married unto Christ and have a true right and authority in the family by their marriage-union with the King for the woman shines by the beams of her husband but there are Concubines that came in only for lusts sake and that did bear fruit but it was never from a marriage state and there were Virgins that were companions only that were not married neither did they in a manner bear fruit but were for attendants only and the King has a special rule and dominion over all these c. 2 The Church visible is compared to a great House 2. Tim. 2.20 some expound it de mundo but contextus nos ducit ut de Ecclesia intelligamus non de extraneis disputat Apostolus sed de ipsa familia Dei Calv. there is not a vessel but it has its use though all have not the same use nor of the like honour yet all are for use and all are for the Masters use so that there is a special dominion that is exercised over them all as well the vessels of wood and stone as those that are of gold to imploy them where he will and as he will in what service he pleases for it is his will that makes their use to differ it is for the Saints sake that he makes use of them so that all Gods dispensations towards unregenerate men in the Church is for their sakes all the husbandry that is exercised about the unfruitful branches is for the sake of those that have a blessing in them for the wicked shall have no benefit by it in the great day of the Lord the greater rule the Lord has exercised towards men the greater will their abhorring be the nearer they have been to him the further off shall they be from him the higher they have been exalted to heaven the deeper shall they be cast down to hell Mat. 11.23 there is utter darkness for the children of the kingdom Mat. 8.12 And this we may reduce unto four Heads 1 their graces 2 their gifts 3 their services 4 their sins and in all these the dominion of Christ over them is for the good of the Saints 1. Their graces are ruled by Christ for the Saints there are common graces which the Lord doth give unto unregenerate men in the Church common illuminations by which they see much glory and beauty in spiritual things and yet had never their eyes anointed with eye-salve and there are many common works upon the wills of men letting in a taste of the goodness of spiritual things so that the heart is much taken with them and makes out after them and there are many tendencies to the new birth Hos 13.13 we see them set forth to us Heb. 6.3 4. which is meant of the common graces of the Spirit of Christ under the Gospel which he works upon the souls and consciences of unregenerate men which are only from the Spirit assisting and not from the Spirit informing which flow not from union but from conviction and therefore from which in time they will surely fall away there is a great beauty that the Spirit of God in such common works doth put forth upon the souls of unregenerate men though it be but as the Sun shining upon a mud-wall or as a curious robe put upon a dead carkass it cannot keep it from stinking because there is not a principle of life in it 1 Hereby the Lord restrains their spirits There is a restraint without by a power that is upon the Devil by which he is restrained from doing the mischief he would else do but there is a restraint within upon the lusts of men and that is by some special works of the Spirit of God upon them Exod. 34.24 No man shall desire thy land c. and the Spirit restraining is for the Saints sake as well as the Spirit renewing Psal 76 10. The wrath of man shall praise thee Psal 76.10 and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accinges thou shalt gird up sometimes the Lord lets mens lusts loose and sometimes he does gird them up as he doth the Sea in a girdle of sand or else the Saints of God who are always as sheep amongst wolves would surely be devoured by them for their soul is amongst lyons Now they are common works that do exceedingly restrain the sins and the rage of unregenerate men and bind up their spirits both in reference unto persecution and the wrongs done by them as also in reference to corruption and the evil example given by them also 2 Hereby the Lord doth fit them for service for even the vessels of dishonour are for service in the house also though they be but of wood and stone c. Now though gifts do immediately qualifie them yet they are common works that do make them to exercise those gifts and are unto them as oyl to the wheels in the use of them as a temporary Believer he may be an eminent Professor and the house that such a one builds is far more glorious in outward shew than that of a Saint for they are both called builders Mat. 7.7 and many men do service for God but they are cold in it because they are acted only from without Rom. 16.18 whose God is their belly Non ità glacies frigus sicut Elcius alii sed ego rem seriam agebam ut quòd diem extremum horribiliter timui c. Luth. and this will make a man seem to act from an inward principle as if he had received life from the Spirit and were made alive from the dead and thereby even ungodly men do many times give a great testimony unto the principles and the practices of the Saints that they acknowledge them and seal unto them and yet nevertheless there is in them a principle to hate them
and that will vent it self in time when the thorns shall spring up to choak the word notwithstanding all the restraints that are upon their lusts for a season 3 Thereby they do good many times and give great encouragements to the Saints by their example for their lamps do shine as lights in the world and there are many that do shew others the way in which they themselves walk not but they have their diverticula their crooked ways they go forth with the people of God Psal 125.5 and yet they do afterwards repent themselves and turn back again from the way that 's called holy 2 Pet. 2.21 Godly men do not only follow the example of the Saints that is those that are really and truly so but they have many times very great encouragement from the example and the countenance of them that are not so as we see it in the instance of Joash how he did encourage the builders of the Temple especially when they are men in authority and power they do encourage and go before the Saints of God unto the end whereof they never come and so we have much experienced in our days 2. By their gifts also no man hath his gifts for himself they are this worlds goods they are not thy own but another mans as thy riches are and they are the Churches Treasure and they will fall from a man when he dyes as Elijahs mantle for they are of no use in the world to come and therefore shall not continue 1 Cor. 13.8 9. they are 1 for the Churches collection that so they may be instrumental in gathering in others As for that dispute Whether a man that is unregenerate is made use of by God to convert others I shall not now insist on but I conceive the power of conversion being not of man but of God the Lord calling such as belong to the Election doth according to his good pleasure concur with the one as with the other the gifts of the Ministry are for the gathering of the Saints Eph. 4. many of them are unregenerate men and yet have received a gift Mat. 7.21 and can say to Christ We have prophesied in thy name yet are cast-aways themselves for Christ has received gifts for men yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell amongst them Psal 68.18 that is that the Lord might have a Church for a habitation amongst them Habes ingenium verè aureum saith Austin of Lycentius diabolo propinas teipsum Deus populo suo tam per pios quà m per impios magna facere donare potest Luth. Golden wits may be the Devils vassals 2 For the perfection of the Saints for during the standing of this great house the vessels shall continue and there will be a continual use of them that though they serve their lusts yet by the use of their gifts the Lords ends are accomplished Phil. 1.18 Some preach Christ out of envy but yet Christ is preached and thereby the savour of the Gospel is spread abroad and souls are converted and edified for there is many a man that builds an Ark that saves others that never saves himself that preaches to others and is himself a cast-away there were many that converted others to the Faith in the times of Popery that yet departed themselves from that Faith when suffering came And I fear it will also be said of some Ministers now amongst us that seem great Zealots for the cause and ways of God that when the hour and power of darkness that is coming once again in this Nation shall over-spread it they will draw back from the plough to which they have before so many witnesses put their hand c. the love of many shall wax cold 3. All their services also for they have gifts for service and it is for the service of the house and they are therefore called servants and truly it 's an honour to be a servant to the Saints seeing the Angels are so and there is much benefit that the Saints have by it as we see in Saul the spirit of government was upon him and that service he did in it was for the Saints and Zac. 4.12 they are said to empty the golden oyl out of themselves c. but it is all for the good of the Candlestick it is that the light thereof may be maintained 1 Sometimes they protect as Badgers skins the Ark from storms that the Church is exposed to unregenerate men may be very serviceable to the Church of God as we see in Cyrus c. 2 Sometimes they may assist them in any work that they set upon they may stand by them and strengthen their hands as we see Joash the King did about the building and repairing the House of the Lord. 3 Sometimes they may supply them there is many a man that supplies the necessities of the Saints that doth it to be seen of men and have their reward for they are labourers in the Lords Vineyard and it is for the benefit of it that they are imployed and they have their penny and they may also bear much of the burden and heat of the day as it seems they that murmured did and they do commonly set a high price upon their own services and hereby the Saints do glorifie Christ who has given such gifts to men and when he hath given such to his enemies O what are those gifts that he hath reserved for his sons They see it is the great fruit of the Ascension of Christ and as from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne and they can bless God for his goodness to the children of men and though they pity such a soul to see him destroyed by his own gifts in his abusing of them non est calamitosior homo in terris quà m doctor superbus There is not a more piteous man in the world than a proud Doctor Luth. yet they glorifie Christ therein and see this as a fruit of his government that there may be those that shall build the Tabernacle of God as it is said of Bezaleel and Aholiab that they were gifted for the work c. 4. By their sins for 1 the Lord doth let them live for the Saints sake le ts both good and bad grow together to the harvest and he will weed them out for the Saints sake also for he will gather out of his Kingdom all that offends and whoever works iniquity and he will not have the society of the Saints always polluted by the chaff of the world for they are spots in their feasts and therefore he doth take them away as unfruitful fig-trees he cuts them down and gives them to salt to a perpetual barrenness for the grace and ordinances of the Gospel will heal even the dead sea Ezech. 47.11 12. therefore he casts them out in order to their destruction 2 The Lord will not have his people always deluded the Saints many times are mistaken in their opinion
never to expect the like again yea after the same manner as he did deliver them when they came out of Egypt in a miraculous way by signs and wonders so he will do again and the grounds of it is the same Hab. 3.9 Thy bow was made quite naked according to the oaths of the Tribes Hab. 3.9 even thy word Selah thou didst cleave the earth with rivers c. it is according unto the oaths that he swore unto the Tribes even his word the juramenta quae saepiùs repetita c. 2 When he doth work in an ordinary way according unto the course that he has set in nature and according unto the dependence that things have one upon another Hos 2.22 the heavens shall hear the earth and the earth the corn and the wine and they shall hear Jezreel c. there are the ordinances of Heaven of the Sun and the Moon and the Stars Jer. 31.35 that constant and established course that God has set amongst the creatures c. Now whether the Lord work by means or without means by his own immediate hand all is and shall be ordered and disposed for the good of the Saints all the governments that the Lord doth exercise in the world either of those ways 4. The Providence of God is either seen 1 in things necessaria which have a necessary dependence upon their causes and we may accordingly expect them as the Sun and Moon to shine or to be in their Eclipse as we say It will be foul weather to day for the skie is red and it will be fair to morrow for the skie is red which men do conclude of by their observation because they have a necessary dependence upon their causes Mat. 16.2 3. And as it is in natural things so it is in morals also there are signs of the times by which things may be as well known and as certainly concluded by an observing man a man may as well know the signs of the times as the Stork and the Crane and the Swallow know their times Jer. 8.7 8. or else why should they be blamed for it as being more unwise for themselves than the brute creatures are c. 2 There are some things that are accidentalia that are casual or fall out so as we can give no reason for them there is no expectation of it in man as the disposing of the minds of men the Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord Prov. 21.1 as in King Ahasuerus in the business of Mordecai there was a concurrence of many things that were casual and so Prov. 16.33 The lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing of it is from the Lord so that there is not the most casual thing that can be but it comes under a providence and in all these also it is for the good of the Saints as it 's said 2 Kings 3.22 a rumour Sennacheribs Army shall hear they shall have such an apprehension that because the Sun shines upon the water therefore the Kings have slain one another for this is blood c. 5. Providence is either circa bonum vel malum either 1 in all good so the Lord doth work and order the spirits of men for as every good gift is from above so every good work is from him that is the Father of lights and the Fountain of all goodness 2 Also of all the evil that is in man there is a providence for God would never have suffered sin to have come into the world if he had not known how to have wrought his own ends by it even by the vessels of dishonour he is served in his house 2 Tim. 2.21 he doth order and over-rule even the sins of men unto his own high and most glorious ends he doth uphold Pharaoh and let out his spirit but it is that he might shew his power in him Even the wrath of man shall praise him and the remainder he will and doth restrain and Gen. 20.3 I kept thee that thou shouldst not touch her There is a letting out of sin and there is a restraint upon sin so far as it may serve to his ends Now all the providence of God whether it be for good or ill either permitting or disposing it is all of it for the good of the Saints 1. The Providence of God is circa maxima and that is for the good of the Saints and this I will reduce unto two heads 1 His government over the Angels 2 Over men in all the great turnings and changes in the world in the policies and in the governments thereof for it is the most High rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men and all this is done for the Saints sake and all is ordered so as it shall be for their good 1. For the government of the Angels either good or bad it 's all for the good of the Saints 1. As for the good Angels it 's true they are part of the spiritual Kingdom and shall make up part of that great Church and body of which Christ is the head and therefore Heb. 12.22 we are said to be come unto them and therefore it is ordinary with the Fathers and the School-men as I told you to intimate that there are as many men elected as there were Angels that fell and that they are taken in to fill up that number qui locum illum supplerent ruinas Jerusalem restaurarent Bern. But they are also used by the Lord in the providential Kingdom and all is for the Saints good in their whole Ministry it is for the sake of them that are heirs of salvation Heb. 1.14 And Ezech. 1.5 c. Ezech. 1.5 c. we have the manner how the Lord governs all things in a threefold subordination there are the wheels and the living creatures that act them and one as the Son of man by whose command and by whose Spirit they do move in all their ways and the wheels by them 1 They do by a secret virtue work upon and over-rule the hearts and the wills of men and therefore the Trumpets and the Vials are given unto the hands of Angels that is they do fashion the hearts of men and stir up their spirits unto such a work and strengthen their hearts in it for as the Devil doth fashion the minds and wills of men and gives suggestions suitable to his designs so do the good Angels also and as Satan strengthens the resolution of wicked men so do the good Angels also for they have a power upon the soul also being Spirits and a more immediate work upon the minds of men as Ahabs false Prophets thou shalt perswade them and prevail there is an impression upon their hearts they have their arguments and suggestions and they follow them with reasonings till the men be overcome so do the good Angels also Rev. 2.10 the devil shall cast some of you into prison it 's Satans working powerfully in his instruments and upon
the hearts of men to bring such a design to pass c. 2 They fight for them against their enemies Dan. 10.20 I return and fight against the King of Persia and when I am gone forth c. the Lord goes forth before a people for they go forth under the conduct of the Angels and they do oppose themselves in a secret way that we know not now as it is sometimes a terror to the Saints to consider they fight not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness so it is a mighty terror unto wicked men that they fight against principalities and powers and spiritual holiness in heavenly places those that will be sure to watch over you for evil for the same intention that the Angels had after the Fall with a flaming sword to keep man out of Paradise the same intention they bear still to all that are not the members of Christ and of the same body with them and fellow-servants with them 3 They do execute vengeance upon the enemies of the Saints Zac. 6.6 7. there are black Horses instruments of vengeance and they go forth into Persia but it is to destroy them and to execute upon them the vengeance of the Temple for all the wrong that they had done unto the Saints all was by an invisible virtue that they saw not there the Spirit of God was displeased and would not be pacified till wrath was executed upon them for the same Spirit orders the Kingdom of Providence that doth order the Kingdom of Grace c. and therefore they have their special charge Ezech. 9.1 it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the visitors of the city that draw near first the Angels came and then the instruments of vengeance came they do perform that great work upon them 4 The Angels over-rule the creatures for the good of the Saints even beyond their nature and they are very instrumental in their deliverance and preservation as we see Dan. 3.28 the fire cannot burn the Lord sent his Angel Dan. 6.22 and stopped the Lions mouths there is a secret work that Angels have in all these great things for the Saints deliverance and preservation and therefore it is the Angel that rowls away the stone from Christs grave and it 's an Angel opens the prison for Peter Acts 12. The prayers of the Saints do prevail with God and he commands Angels to do their office it was an Angel that said unto the Christians at Jerusalem Ite ad Pellam and by that means they were preserved in the destruction of the City so that in the ordering of all things they are imployed by God for the good of the Saints 5 It is the Angels that guide them in their way and succeed their business and all their undertakings as we see Gen. 24.7 The Lord of Heaven which brought me out of my fathers house he shall send his Angel before thee and the business shall surely prosper that they do undertake a godly man goes no where without such a guard for his protection and without such an assistance and therefore it was a certain argument Dan. 10. ult that the King of Grecia should prosper because the Angel was gone out before him blessed is he that hath such a guide he shall not dash his foot against any stone c. Lastly They do compass the earth visit all the parts of it for the Saints sake to see how it is with the Churches Zac. 1. All the earth is quiet and still as the Devils do so do the Angels also compass the earth and they do lie in ambush for the Saints that when there is no eye to pity them and there is no remedy or relief for them then they do appear Zac. 1.8 They are behind the myrtle-trees in the bottom and they do watch the fittest season for the deliverance of the Saints which is when they are lowest and when their enemies are highest then they do appear for them therefore the people of God that have such a guard still near at hand that hath been so successful in all ages need not fear what Satan and his Angels are continually plotting against them § 2. We now proceed unto those arcana imperii in reference to the Providence of God in the government of the evil Angels and this also is for the good of the Saints the Soveraignty of God over the Devils in his government of them is wholly for the sake and for the good of the Saints In the opening of this I will lay down these Conclusions 1. That Satan hath a power over all mankind by nature to rule and order them according to the pleasure of his own will for when man at first did freely subject himself unto the Devil God did judicially give him up into the power of the Devil and therefore 2 Tim. 2.26 they are said to be led captive by him at his will 1 Joh. 5.19 they are said to lye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the wicked one that is to be under his power and to be subjected unto his will and it is just with God so to do Illud appensum est aequitatis examine ut nec ipsius diaboli potestati negaretur homo quem sibi malè suadendo subjecerat Aust For of whom a man is overcome unto him he is brought into bondage it 's the manner of Conquerors to use men as slaves whom they have subdued and this was the Devils intent not first to destroy men but to take them alive 2 Tim. 2.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might use them for service and so rule over them yet the meaning is not as if he had received a commission from God and the Lord had commanded Satan to rule over man for he will surely judge the Devil for it at the last day Non ità debet intelligi tanquam hoc Deus fecerit aut fieri jusserit sed quòd tantùm permiserit justè tamen Aust Tom 3. p. 295. The command unto Ahabs false Prophets was not a commission from God but a permission Thou shalt perswade him and prevail go forth and do so and his going into the herd of swine was not a commission but a permission only when he said unto them Go c. like unto that of Balaam Go with the men and yet the Lord was angry because he went so it is here also 2. This power of Satan is very great and therefore he is called Principalities and Powers the Ruler of the darkness of this world yea he hath the power of a God for he is said to be the God of this world which doth set forth a high condition not the highest power credo posse occidere in una hora quemcunque in terra viventem Luth. for the power that Satan hath is from God and that in just judgment Now if the Lord give so much power to a man as he did to Nebuchadnezzar that none could stand before him but he was the hammer of the whole earth
up the spirits of wicked Magistrates for the good of the Saints as we see it in Cyrus though he were a cruel and a bloody Prince yet he takes care for the building of the Temple and gives forth commands for that work and therefore Esa 44. ult he doth say unto Cyrus Thou art my shepherd and so Alexander when he came to Jerusalem and Jaddus the High Priest came forth to meet him by the providence of God it was so ordered that he did give the Jews great priviledges greater than any of the neighbour Nations insomuch that the Samaritans did stile themselves Jews also that they might partake in the same priviledges with them Nebuchadnezzar gave commandment unto Nabuzaradin the Captain of his Guard concerning Jeremiah God over-ruling his spirit therein that the Prophet was cherished rather than evilly intreated by him c. 3 By stirring up the spirits of wicked men to stand for a good cause and to assist the people of God therein as we see when Lot was carried Captive by the Kings that Abraham did pursue them Gen. 14. ult and there did joyn with him Aner and Escol c. they that were but Heathens yet were assistant unto Abraham in such a work as this the Lord did stir up their spirits and so he doth many times by an over-ruling power stir up the spirits of men otherwise uningaged and uninteressed to be instruments and means that the people of God may attain their rights and all of it is only by this over-ruling hand of the Soveraignty of Christ even over ungodly men 4. By their Persecutions the Lord doth stir men up many times to persecute his people Nebuchadnezzar is the rod of mine anger and I send him against an hypocritical nation though he know it not but this is all the fruit it is to take away their sin for by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged Esa 27.9 it is to make them to beat their Altars into chalk-stones c. and let me tell you because we may look for times of persecution that great hath been the victory and the glory that the people of God have gotten even by the persecution of ungodly men nunquam majore triumpho vicimus Nay if it be but a mock a scoff a reproach a false report from an evil spirit the Lord makes his use of it as we have an instance in Austins mother she had by custom rather than inclination learned to drink up full cups inhianter but after a while the maid of the house and she fell out and in their difference the maid objecit hoc crimen amarissimâ insultatione vocans meribibulam quo illa stimulo percussa respexit foeditatem confestimque damnavit exuit Confess lib. 9. cap. 8. 5. By their sins the people of God are warned the Lord doing as the Lacedemonians setting them forth as patterns of evil that his children might flee them heresies arise in the Church that so they that are approved may be made manifest and Apostates that Hymeneus and Philetus's Apostasie might make the rest of the people of God the more careful that they that name the Name of the Lord Jesus may depart from iniquity when they see such eminent and dangerous falls as these and the Lord doth make use of their sins in a way of admonition as of their judgments also 6. Their desertions and proving false to the people of God many times and forsaking them as Egypt proved a broken reed turn to the Saints good that so they might cleave to the Lord alone and that they may see that there is a deceit in all their former Lovers there is no trust unto such men that speak lyes in hypocrisie and follow Gods cause and people only for loaves c. and God permits them so to do that the people of God may say their trust is in the Name of the Lord only Assur shall not save us any more nor King Jareb they have all deceived us as a brook that passes by c. I might instance in many more particulars as 7. Their restraints for their good God puts a hook and a bridle upon them they shall not be able to hurt the Saints they shall hear a rumour that shall divert them another way § 5. As the providential Kingdom is circa maxima so it is circa minima and all these are ordered by the Soveraignty of God for the good of his people they have an interest in the Soveraignty of God even in the ruling of them also here are two things to be spoken to 1 That the smallest things come under the providential Kingdom of God that is under the Soveraignty and Supremacy of God 2 That in the government of them he doth order all for the good of the Saints that the Soveraignty of God works for them in small things as well as in great things 1. That the smallest things are subjected unto the Soveraignty of God and that his Kingdom is seen in the government of these also This I shall clear to you in a few particulars 1. The Lord is called commonly in Scripture the Lord of Hosts and that not only in reference unto the Angels and the Sun Moon and Stars which are the Hosts of Heaven but even as to the Hosts that are here below Gen. 2.1 there is an Host of the Earth as well as of Heaven and as there is not the smallest Star in the Heavens but belongs unto the one so is there not the meanest the poorest creature upon earth but is part of the other the Locust the Canker-worm the Caterpillar and the Palmer-worm my great army says the Lord Joel 2.25 And they are the Lords Host in three respects 1 Propter multitudinem Joel 2.25 for multitude there are many of them gathered together for they are not a few that make an army 2 Propter praeparationem in regard of preparation every one comes armed and prepared for the slaughter or any work that the Lord hath to do either for relief or for destruction 3 Propter subordinationem by reason of their subordination they all act in their places and do the service unto which they are particularly appointed they do every one keep their ranks fire and hail snow and vapour wind and storm fulfilling his word they do not thrust one another out of their place but there is a military order observed amongst them 4 Propter obedientiam in regard of their obedience they do all of them obey the word of command which they do receive from the great Commander for they are all of them under command as the Centurion said of his servants I say to one Go and he goes so doth the Lord also say unto the creatures for it is said that even before an army of Locusts Caterpillars and Palmer-worms the Lord doth utter his voice he doth command the winds and the sea and they obey him 2. Christ himself doth extend the care and the rule of God unto the
the Lord shall so lead thee that thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone tibi nocere non possunt sed coguntur inservire 2 Stones were for bounds and Land-marks and they shall not be removed but you shall continually enjoy the bounds of your own habitation they shall not be removed it shall be as sure as if you were in league with the Stones that they shall not depart from your bounds 3 Cocceius hath out of Vlpian a certain punishment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellant whence they did use to heap stones upon a ground that it might never be plowed to hinder its fruitfulness Thus the sense is The Stones shall be at league with thee that none of them shall hinder the fruitfulness of thy land and make it lye barren and untilled as in judgment they might doe Now if there be a Covenant by God made with all these for his people then surely the Motions and the Actings of all these shall be for the good of his People But you will say In what particular do all these little things work for the good of the Saints It will clearly appear in these particulars 1. In the smallest things the people see God and their spirits are elevated and raised up to behold him in them for not only the Heavens declare the Glory of God Psal 19.1 but even the meanest Creatures in all their motions do it Repraesentat quaelibet herba Deum Now there is a threefold Vision of God in this World in his Works and in his Word and in his Son and it is of special use that the works of God are unto the Saints in all their being and motions that they can see something of God in them Our Communion with God depends upon our Vision of God and the more we see God in all things the more we converse with him Now there is not the least of all the Creation of God but it doth represent him to us and we look upon it as a footstep of God it is that which doth raise up our hearts unto Heaven while we are upon Earth and causeth us to look upon nothing small that hath so glorious a Creator and so wise a Disposer in minimis lauda magnum says Austin when he speaks de culice there is much of God to be seen and the heart is much to be over-aw'd not only in the lesser things of the Word but also of the Works of God 2. It is unto the people of God matter of praise even in the actings of the meanest of the creatures to see how they work unto an end that they know not but the wise disposer of them knows all their motions and directs them unto his end the out-goings of the morning and evening do praise thee that is objectivè and occasionaliter as they give unto his people matter and occasion of praise In the creation the Morning Stars did sing Job 38.7 and so they do in all the Executions of Providence also fitting them for this end and guiding them to this end c. Austin in Psal 148. blames those that dislike and find fault with the works of God In officina non audent vituperare fabrum tamen audent reprehendere in mundo Deum Perdidisti Hallelujah A man doth lose his praise and the matter and occasion of it which is unto a Saint a great loss for praise is his delight and he loves the occasion of it 3. There is great matter of Meditation even in these ordinary things such as do mightily affect the Souls of the Saints it was so to David Psal 148.7 8 9 10. Praise the Lord from the earth ye Dragons and all deeps fire and hail snow and vapours stormy wind fulfilling his Word mountains and all hills fruitful trees and all cedars Beasts and all cattel creeping things and flying fowls and how can this be Nudae creaturae Deum celebrant Moller dum ad mirandam ejus sapientiam potentiam quotidie ostendunt The dangers prevented and the good things conferred such as are secrets unto us and we know not we consider not of as Luther saith of himself in the like case Somnia nostra observat quando nescimus nos vivere c. equidem odi carnem meam quòd haec scio vera esse iis tamen non seriò afficior c. It gives the Soul high matter of Meditation puts it into the Mount with God 4. It is unto the People of God a great ground of exercising their Faith and that in two things 1 Upon the word of Promise that all these creatures are his by Covenant in all their motions and therefore he has not a common interest in them with the rest of the world but they come unto him from another hand and he receives them by another tenure Now any mercy that has the respect of the Covenant put upon it is infinitely heightned unto them the smallest mercy enjoy'd by Covenant is better than the greatest without the Covenant it is better be as low as Hell with a promise than in Paradise without it therefore it is true that other men walk upon the Stones and they hurt them not and the Beasts break not in upon them the Sun shines and the Rain falls upon them yet here is the sweetness to a Believer This I enjoy as a fruit of an everlasting Covenant as an heir of Promise and as a Pledge of an eternal Inheritance 2 It will be a ground to exercise a mans Faith for a support if the Lord cloath the grass of the field how much more will he cloath you and if he feeds the Ravens he will surely not starve his Children nay if the supply of all the Creatures will be a Provision for you you shall not want it they shall all act for you and if it were possible to put a Saint of God in this life in such a condition as he should want the supply of all the creatures at once they should surely all work for his good for the Lord provides them of purpose and for that very end that they may work for you and therefore are they continued in their being and to that end are govern'd by him 5. The Love of the People of God is drawn out by them exceedingly even by small Mercies for it is not the greatness of the Blessing but the abundance of Love discovered to the soul in it that takes a gracious heart for we love him because he loved us first And as his love is discovered such are the outgoings of our love to him again Now these small things may be magni amoris indicium an ordinary turn of the creature may testifie a great deal of love from God to the Soul as when Israel came out of Egypt Joh. 19.36 not a Dog did move his tongue Exod. 11.7 if they had the matter had not been great for in the night they use to bark but though there was a great cry amongst the Egyptians
shall be from the immediate hand of God and that by a creating work that when the people shall look to the creatures and say we see no means to defend us yet they can look to an immediate acting of Omnipotency Esa 67.17 and that by a creating work for his people I create a heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness it is spoken of the glorious reformation that shall be in the later days it is there spoken not of renewing the substance but of the qualities of Heaven and Earth a glorious restitution of their primitive and original glory a mighty work that God shall not only pass upon Saints but on the creatures which shall be restored and delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God and he that looks upon the corruptions of men and the desolations of nations and the confusions amongst the creatures that shall be immediately before those days he will say How can these things be It is impossible that such a glorious reformation should be wrought But to strengthen their faith and to raise them up to expect it he puts them off from second causes and tells them it shall be an act of almighty power it is by a creating work and surely the same hand and the same power that did make them at first can also renew them and restore them unto their primitive and original glory that as the said immediate power is put forth for the renewing of their souls Eph. 2.10 We are created in Christ to good works all is made new within him by an immediate power so also all shall be made new without him by an immediate providence that though there be no concurrence of means and second causes yet if God can make a new world then he can renew this he can create a new Heaven and a new Earth and he can create Jerusalem a rejoycing and the people a joy as the promise is unto them so that the Lord will not always work for his people in a ruling but sometimes in a creating way in which there is an immediate putting forth of power and there is not there cannot be any concurrence of means or second causes with it 2. God puts forth an immediate providence for the Churches preservation he doth many times work immediately when there is no help in second causes but all men are ingaged on the contrary part and the Lord looks and there is none to help and the Lord wonders that there was no intercessor no helping of them none to intercede for them there was none so much as by way of prayer that comes in for them and yet now the Church must be preserved Zac. 4.23 Zac. 4.2 3. the Candlestick is the Church but by what means shall this be maintained there can be no supply of oil expected from men but the Lord will make Olive-trees to grow by it that shall make oil of themselves and shall drop into the bails thereof that though no men in the world stand by it or prepare for it yet the Lord will supply it in an immediate way from himself and by himself and by this means the lamp in this Candlestick shall never go out for by an immediate provision of God they shall be maintained Mic. 5.7 Mic. 5.7 The remnant of Jacob shall be as dew from the Lord and as showers upon the grass when they were Jezreel strengthned by the Lord though amongst many people that should hate them and persecute them yet should they be preserved and therefore as Calvin observes rorem pro prato rorido like unto the herbs which are nourished by the dew from Heaven and by the showres from above which stay not for man it tarries not for the sons of men that as the grass is nourished immediately by the dew and doth not depend upon the labours and the watering of man so shall these from God immediately there shall come from him an immediate dew an influence shall come by which they shall be supported that they shall not need to stay for any creatures assistance or any concurrence of second causes whatsoever 3. There is an immediate Providence that is seen in restraints upon the souls and spirits of men when there are no hindrances in second causes and yet this shall work for the people of God see it Gen. 20. Sarah was in the hand of Abimelech and his lust was stirred up towards her when he heard of her and there was nothing to hinder him but he might have had his will of her and yet for Abrahams sake she was returned unto him chast and undefiled but it was by an immediate working of God upon his spirit when there were no second causes in the way the Lord saith I did hold thee that thou shouldst not touch her And the same thing is true of the people of Israel when they went up to worship at Jerusalem and all the males left their habitation the fittest advantage that could be for the neighbouring Nations who hated them and sought to invade them and did it at other times yet that now they should not have made inrodes upon their Land in the several borders thereof when there was no restraint in second causes no man can give a reason for it but the immediate working of providence that the Lord doth put forth his power upon the spirits of men that it shall be enough if he withhold them There is a bridle without and there is a bridle within by which the spirits of men are turned about there is a hedge for mens ways God doth many times hedge up mens ways with thorns but there is a hedge for the spirits of men also that when there is no hindrance in second causes and none to lift up a hand against them yet their spirits are restrained by an immediate hand And indeed when the secrets of the counsels of Gods providence shall be made manifest at the last day many and glorious will â—he records of such immediate puttings forth of providence be We have an instance in Esau his malice was stirred and he had power in his hand he had three hundred men by which he might have cut off his brother Jacob but only there was an immediate appearance of God upon his spirit and that put a restraint upon him that he could not so much as speak an ill word unto his brother 4. The Lord appears immediately for the destruction of the Churches enemies when their means fail When there was no help from second causes to destroy Egypt or deliver themselves for the Israelites had no power but they cryed unto the Lord and in the night the Lord looked upon the Egyptians host and troubled them and took off their chariot-wheels and they drove heavily and there was a terrour upon their hearts that they said Let us flye for God fights for Israel And so he will do in the destruction of Antichrist the little horn who doth arise with the ten horns and
enemies of Israel he doth therefore rule the raging of the Sâ—â— when the waves arise Psal 89.9 2 Pet. 3.4 he saith unto them Peace be still and by this wicked men are confuted that say All things continue alike from the creation of the world but that they do not for first the earth was covered with water now it is separated and the dry land appears it was afterwards in judgment covered with waters in the Floud and then the waters entred into their own chanel again 6. The winds also they have a natural and necessary cause The Lord brings the winds out of his treasuries there are treasures of winds Job 38.22 and the stormy winds fulfil his word Psal 148.8 but there is not a wind that ariseth upon the Earth or Sea but he doth in this dispose of it for the good of his people Maâ— 24.7 the winds and the Sea obey him and if there be a wind in the earth an Earth-quake as there was at the Resurrection of Christ for the confirmation of their faith all these obey him Acts 16.26 Rev. 11.13 when Rome shall fall seven hundred men shall be slain by an Earth-quake and there shall be great discoveries of God in those things which he over-rules for the good of his people which when they consider should bear up their hearts in the greatest storms and tempests that any of the creatures can raise against them 2. There are also some things which are contingent or fortuitous that is though all things be governed by a determinate counsel in God and there be nothing casual unto him but foreknown unto him were all his works from the foundation of the world yet in respect of us there are some things which are contingent and meerly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without humane election and wonderful and those casual providences are for the good of the Saints in dreams in lots in ordering the wills and affections of men in the slip of a horse the fall of an house the meeting of a friend a man is casually cast upon such places persons occasions as Saul when he went forth to seek Asses and found a Kingdom we may instance in a more special manner in the business of war wherein though there be a Council yet in the execution or the executive part every thing seems meerly contingent and yet we see all to be for Alimoth Psal 46.1 for the hidden ones he doth chuse the Officers appoint the Souldiers appoint the weapons direct the execution order the strategems give the advantages act or take away mens courage and their skill the Captains shall be as Grashoppers and he it is that either teaches their hands to war so that a bow of steel is broken by their arms or the heart of a Lyon doth melt and the men of might cannot find their hands and he casts it for the victory it is he that doth put the Crown upon the head of the Conqueror for the victory is of God SECT V. The Saints Interest in Gods Providential Kingdom as it regards goods and evils § 1. NOw follows the fourth distinction and that is circa bona vel mala about good and evil things and in both these also Providence doth order all things for the spiritual good of his people 1. There is a Providence circa bona for all the good things which do befal the Saints for every good doth come down from him who is the Father of lights Jam. 1.17 they are all from him who is the Fountain of living waters they are streams from the upper Springs as in Election there is a special love so there doth flow from it a peculiar Providence If God cloath the grass of the field much more you O ye of little faith He is the Saviour of all men but specially of them that believe so that if we look upon all the good things which in this life befal them they have it by a special providence over them for their good for the present I shall instance in these particulars 1. In appointing of their calling for there is as truly an election unto calling and a separation by God as there is unto life and salvation Rom. 1.1 Separated unto the Gospel that is set apart by God to preach the Gospel and so Gal. 1.15 says the Apostle But when it pleased God who separated me from my mothers womb and called me by his grace c. There is not a man that comes into the world but the Lord doth appoint him in what condition of life he shall serve and he doth set him apart unto an imployment for he is the Lord of Host and he doth set every man his station As it is said of Peter The Lord did appoint him by what death he should glorifie God so it 's true of all the people of God he doth appoint them by what condition of â—ife they should glorifie him and though Paul went on in another way a long time and little intended any such thing yet God ordered it so that he would reveal his Son in him both per modum objecti obâ—ectively that others should see Christ in him and subjecti subjectively that he himself should see the discoveries of Christ by a Spirit of Revelation and he should be a glorious instrument in the hand of the Lord to reveal Christ unto others and in this there is a wonderful and a gracious hand of Providence unto his people that unto other men their callings are for their hurt and their callings as well as their tables become their shares that they are intangled by them yet they are for the good of his people Thus Luther doth observe of himself in Gen. 17. Deus voluit me esse concionatorem sustinere prâ—pter verbum odium invidiam mundi Aliis imponit laborem manuum videntur mihi beati c. exerceor periculis tentationibus tamen mechanicus ille aequè atque ego salvatur But he saith this was the calling in which God had set him and in this he must walk with him and the works of this calling were unto him the works of God c. Of this we have a famous instance in Junius his father was exceedingly against his being a Preacher of the Gospel was desirous that he might have godliness in himself but that he should never be a Teacher of it vivus non fuisset passus c. but in sententia planè eram diversa à sententia patris in Vita Junii To ingage the spirits of men and to order occasions and opportunities that men might glorifie God in such a way of service as he hath appointed for them and that it should be suitable to their spirits their parts their graces and they shall be par negotio fitted for the work unto which the Lord hath called them that they may honour God in it with pleasure sweetness and delight there is a special hand of a merciful and a graâ—â—ous Providence therein 2. In
setting them their habitation the earth is the Lords and he hath given it unto the children of men but he hath set every man in his place in the earth the bounds of their habitation are set so he doth tell Paul I will send thee afar off to the Gentiles that he should preach amongst the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ The Ministers of the Gospel are the Stars in the right hand of Christ â—ev 1. ult and he doth set them in their orbs where they shall shine as well as give them light by which they shall shine there are some Stars primae magnitudinis of the first magnitude but they are not all so one Star differs from another in glory Jonah must go to Nineveh Amos must prophesie at Bethel though it be the Kings Chappel and the Kings Court John Baptist must preach in the Wilderness of Judea and he must not spare the sins of any of his Auditors neither the Publicans nor the Souldiers and if the Pharisees come they shall meet also with their reproof O generation of vipers who hath forewarned you to flee from the wrath to come We have an instance in Nazianzen who was chosen by the people to be Minister at Nazianzum which was the place of his birth and from whence he hath his name but at his hearing of it he did declare the work was that which he thought himself no way fit for and yet after some stay and much ado the Lord brought him thither and so for Musculus when he was turned out of the Covent and deprived of all means of livelihood he betook himself unto a Weavers house that was an Anabaptist and there he wrought some two years where confuting a Teacher which used to come unto his master he was thereupon displaced and now he knew not what to do and then resolved for a livelihood to go work in the Town-ditch for they were making of Fortifications and walking there the night before he made these Verses Est Deus in coelis c. and so next morning one sent unto him to be Minister of a Church c. 3. In giving them occasion and opportunity to exercise their graces for opportunity is the spring time of grace and of sin Phil. 4.10 Ye but wanted opportunity and Judas sought an opportunity to betray Christ there is much within that if there were not opportunity would never be vented it 's this that gives the vent unto the inward man Now opportunity and occasion of sinning is a judgment and it is one way that the Lord hath a hand in the ordering of sinful actions he doth give the occasion to them he ordered it that Judas should have the bag and Achan should see the wedge and the young man have a harlot come out to meet him c. So the Lord doth give occasion and opportunity for the exercising of graces and it is a special providence so to do 1 Cor. 1.6 9. A great door is open to me that is a great and a blessed opportunity of service Rev. 3.8 I will set before thee an open door that is give a man a great opportunity and to continue to a man such an occasion as this is a door that shall not be shut though not only service but even opportunity of service shall be sure to meet with many adversaries This is a special mercy unto the people of God and a great gift if the Lord doth in providence so order things that it shall be so unto them So the obedience of Abraham in leaving of his country and his offering of his son the strength of Jacob in prayer therefore Esau shall meet him the chastity of Joseph and the patience of Job the zeal of Jehosaphat and his readiness to work for God he â—â—d abundance and his heart was lifted up in the ways of Gods commandments and the courage and height of spirit in Luther he shall meet with opposition that shall draw it forth gratia vexata seipsam prodit he had never appeared unto that hâ—ight had it not been that the Lord by their opposition gave him occasion and opportunity for such eminent service Prov. 17.16 and Prov. 17.16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc pretium this great and this excellent price some expound it of riches which the Lord doth give men that they might by them endeavour to get wisdom and to exercise it but it is I conceive of a larger extent and to be understood of any talent which the Lord doth put into a mans hand it is all given by God that it may be used and improved unto a spiritual end and the wisdom and the folly of a man is much discovered in the use of the price that is put into his hand wise men have a heart to it that is they do understand it what they are betrusted with and they have a will and a desire and they do their endeavour to imploy it but fools understand not what it is neither do they consider it and therefore they have no desire to use it unto the end for which God gave it they know not the season in which talents are continued nor the end for which they were committed unto men and therefore they use them for their hurt and are but as a sword put into a mad mans hand to hurt all that comes near him and they cast fire-brands and say I am in sport c. Now it 〈◊〉 true opportunity is a great talent it is a mans day of visitation for service as there is a day of visitation for grace and if a man know it not and take it not but let it slip it is his folly and his sin and will prove a curse to him There is many a â—â—n that has as much sin as another but yet it is not so improved because he never had in providence the opportunity which makes others grow more exceedingly and out of measure sinful and so it is also in this there is many a man that has much more grace because he had more opportunity of exercising it and drawing it forth and so the habit is exceedingly improved and there are glorious fruits of it all which do abound unto the account of the Saints thus providence orders opportunities of service 4. There is a special Providence unto his people in â—ppointing of their societies that as ungodly men are permitted to be cast upon some that will improve their sin for a man is much built up by his society either unto Heaven or Hell Prov. 1.10 If sinners entice thee consent thou not sinners will entice and a man shall be cast into such companies and such occasions of converse he knows not how so there is a providence also in casting of the people of God upon their societies Act. 18.24 25. Apollos came to Ephesus and at the same time Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome now Aquila and Priscilla
coming from Italy meeting with him and they instructing him in the way of the Lord more perfectly this was happy for him to meet with such company hoc providentiae meritò tribuendum est insomuch that the people of God bless God unto Eternity one for another as the Martyr acknowledged it as a wonderful glorious providence unto him that he was cast into prison for there he became acquainted with that Angel of God John Bradford so Austin doth acknowledge much of the goodness of God to him in the society of Nebridius But there is an excellent story of Junius in this kind he being in Leyden for his studies sake there arose a great stir and tumult in the City insomuch that many of the inhabitants fled away for safety and he amongst the rest fled to save his life and being in the country thereabouts he came to a country-mans house to beg some victuals the country-man received him and very courteously entertained him and he began to talk with him about matters of Religion which the country-man performed with so much zeal and affection ego malus Christianus siquidem Christianus c. una eadem hora gratiam suam in utroque explicavit Deus à me scientiam rusticus ego ab eo zelum c. And he saith it did abide upon him mente fixâ that he was not able to put the impression out of his mind and the Lord made it useful to him all his life after c. 5. In their preservation in service and their dismissions from service 1 There is a preservation in service that they shall be continued to do the work for which the Lord has appointed them and they shall not be cut off till they have finished their work so it was with the Lord Jesus Christ Luke 13.32 Go tell that Fox It 's true Luk. 13.32 that he was a subtle enemy and one that did want no skill to bring those bloody designs he had to pass but yet there was a time set for Christs work to day and to morrow and the third day and during that time all his enemies were not able by power or policy to reach him and then afterwards I shall be perfected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is I shall have perfected the work of my ministry and the perfection of a mans work is the perfection of the man he is never perfected till then and so it is with the two Witnesses they shall not be killed till they have fulfilled their Prophecy there is no putting any man out of imployment till the Lord discharge him a man that has any work to do for God no man can stop him in it before it is finished 2 When their work is done they shall have a very gracious dismission and they shall lie down with honour the best of the Saints have but their time of service and they shall receive their discharge but they shall come to their grave in a full age as a shock of corn in the season thereof Job 5.26 Some men have a longer and some have a shorter time of service but all have but their time As sinning is a warfare and wicked men in that do receive their discharge and it is in providence ordered so that they dye when it is in judgment to them when they least expect it and are least prepared for it so godly men dye when their graces are perfected and their work is finished and never till then and therefore when they sought Luthers life so much yet he could write this upon the wall of his Study I shall not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord c. And there are some men upon this account can laugh at dangers in a way of service and deride threatnings as the crackling of thorns under a pot because they say My time is not in your hands neither the time of my life nor of my service and he that imploys me will uphold me and will maintain me till the time of my dismission shall come and then I shall go off the stage of this world in mercy and lye down in peace and rest upon my bed after the time of my labour is ended 6. There is a special Providence in blessing and providing for their posterity God has a special providence over those that come out of the loyns of his own for indeed he has so ordered all his Decrees as that the greatest part of the Elect comes out of the loyns of the Saints Prov. 20.7 His children are blessed after him there is grace in a special manner that is promised unto them but 't is a blessedness that doth descend upon them by virtue of their parents Covenant Esa 59.21 My words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever and Esa 44.3 I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring c. as Austin was filius lacrymarum the son of his mothers prayers and tears and the Lord did give an answer by giving the soul of her son unto her that he was graciously converted unto the Lord and proved an eminent instrument for service in the Church of the Lord. The Saints can with Jacob pronounce upon them a blessing when they dye and that out of faith in the promise and the Lord willsurely make it good unto them but we are begotten not of blood Joh. 1.13 And therefore though many times ungodly men may and do come out of the loyns of the Saints and the spiritual part of the Covenant is not made good unto many of the posterity of his own people yet the outward part of the Covenant surely is though the Covenant for matter of grace be unto Isaac yet there is another part of it that is made good to Ismael Twelve Princes shall he beget he hath the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth God doth in outward things strangely supply them and provide for them when the children of the wicked are vagabonds and beg their bread Psal 37.25 Yet I never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread Psal 37.25 Not that a godly man may not be brought to beggery or to live upon the charity of another Jesus Christ himself was so he was poor and so poor that the women Luke 8.3 his followers did minister unto him of their substance to supply his necessity in this life but there is a fourfold interpretation of that place of Scripture 1 Begging of bread is taken for extremity of poverty the seed of the righteous are never so poor but the Lord doth find out a way of support and supply for them he has said That the just shall inherit the earth 2 It is not meant that it was never so that they were never poor but in Davids experience he had never found it so 3 There is another interpretation of Muis
and that is semen ejus quaerens panem non derelictum not forsaken though begging of their bread the Jews in this misery that they are yet grow rich where-ever they come the temporal promise is fulfilled to them 4 The term righteous may be restrained to such as are eminently righteous as to works of mercy So it follows vers 26. He is ever merciful c. So among the Hebrews mercy towards the poor is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Righteousness § 2. There is also a Providence circa mala about evils for his Kingdom rules over all and this malum evil is either culpae of sin or poenae of punishment concerning both which the Soveraignty of God doth gloriously work though it be in a far different way First the Soveraignty of God in his providential Kingdom is conversant about the evils of sin they do all come under the government of God and that it is so will appear from Gen. 45.5 6 7. Gen. 45.5 6 7. it was the observation that Joseph had about that unnatural act of his brethren he looked upon a double hand in it one was theirs which he from a principle of meekness and forgiveness was ready to pass by and over-look and another was a special hand of providence in this sin of theirs and that he speaks of three times as being much affected with the Soveraignty of God ordering of that sin of theirs both in respect of him and themselves Ye sold me but God sent me in that sin of theirs there was an over-ruling hand of Soveraignty and that he tells them three times together That it was God sent him and that it was not they that sent him Ye sent me out of malice and God sent me out of mercy you to destroy me God to preserve both you and me you sent me that I should be a slave to man God that I might be a father to Pharaoh and a Ruler of all the land of Egypt We see what a glory here is over this sinful action in respect of Joseph Pharaoh Egypt and the whole family of Jacob and this was not a casual thing something that came to pass by accident or by chance but it was by counsel a Soveraignty that did with wisdom lay this as a design and plot before-hand Gen. 50.20 so Gen. 50.20 You thought evil but God meant it unto good the word in both places is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth signifie a plotted thought done by counsel Psal 10.2 Let them be taken in their devices that they have imagined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is spoken there of plotted designed evil and so it was here the good was done by counsel and it was a thing that comes not to pass without foresight but God meant and plotted it for good and therefore we read Exod. 28.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 opus ingeniosè inventum a work that is artificially done upon which many thoughts went before it was brought unto a ripeness and perfection and such was this work here also they plotted upon evil and the Lord plotted and designed this their evil unto good Esa 10.6 7. so Esa 10.6 7. the King of Babylon comes against Jerusalem and the Lord sends him not by any command for the work was displeasing unto him as done by them and for which he will visit them vers 12. but arcano imperio by a secret act of the Soveraignty of God so ordering things in providence that this should come to pass and therefore Ezech. 9.1 they are called the visiters of the city men appointed by the dominion of God unto that office but yet the man had a thought of nothing less than to do Gods work in it or to submit unto his dominion or execute his counsel which unto them was secret he meaneth not so he thinks not so there are two words used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tacite secum cogitare he hath not such a thought that did ever enter into his heart he never had so much as the least secret imagination of any such thing and the other word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth signifie a devised designed and plotted thing it was a thing that he never consulted never designed in all that he doth to execute my displeasure against an hypocritical Nation but yet he shall do my work while he doth wholly intend his own and design that only and yet the work that shall be done upon Sion is the Lords work vers 12. and by these two Scriptures it will clearly appear that the Soveraignty of God is conversant about the sins of men things in themselves evil and forbidden of God and yet his Soveraignty reacheth unto them And this I shall branch into two heads 1 The Soveraignty of God over a mans own sins for the good of his people 2 Over other mens sins he doth so imploy his Soveraignty about the sins of men that they shall be ordered for the good of the Saints 1. The Soveraignty and Supremacy of God in reference unto the sins of his own people the Lord doth so rule and order all things thereby that their own sins shall in some kind work for their good that which in its own nature is only evil can by an almighty over-ruling hand turn into good which no man in the world is able to do they may make good use of things in themselves good but they are never able to bring good out of that which is per se malum of it self sinfull as sin is and this I shall demonstrate to you in four things 1 In respect of the being of sin 2 In respect of the rising of sin 3 In respect of the actings of sin 4 In respect of the raging of sin in an open violent scandalous way 1. It will appear in reference unto the being of sin in the Saints The Lord who has forbid all sin even in the Principles and being of it and has sent his Son to take away sin yet he has in his Soveraignty so ordered the condition of the Saints here that sin shall have a being in them and they shall never be perfectly freed from it so that it will be true of the best while they are here he that saith he has no sin deceiveth himself there will be reliquiae vetustatis as Austin calls it a Law in the members a body of death To be without sin here is given to us as praeceptum a precept in this life or else Original sin were no sin and the being of sin were against no Law of God the Law requires a holy Nature as well as holy Actions but in the life to come it shall be given to us as praemium a reward here as a Law and hereafter as a Reward And why has the Sovereignty of God so ordered it that those that shall be freed from sin perfectly in the Life to come and whom Christ shall present without spot or wrinkle or any such thing why will he suffer
of the heart proceed evil thoughts adulteries fornications murders thefts covetousness wickedness deceit lasciviousness an evil eye blasphemy pride foolishness all these evil things come from within and defile the man c. for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Mat. 12.34 Now how comes it to pass that now one sin riseth in the heart and sometimes another sin when there is an equal propension unto all sin it riseth out of the heart but there is a Soveraignty of God that doth order these motions and desires in the heart permitting such motions and stirrings of heart now which he had not before Jam. 1.15 Lust conceiveth and brings forth sin there is original sin the root of corruption which is called Lust Jam. 1.15 and that is the mother of all sin and it is said to conceive when it is formed into motions reasonings consultations and desires and consents but yet there is many a lust conceived that never is brought forth into act and the permitting the rising as well as of the being of lust depends upon the Dominion and the Soveraignty of God As there came into the heart of Esau such a resolution when my father is dead I will slay my brother Jacob so there came a motion into the heart of Judas to betray Christ and thereupon he consulted how to do it with the greatest advantage and how to take the fittest opportunity to bring it to pass so a thought came into Davids heart to number the people Satan stirred it up but God in judgment giving him over that it should be at this time when God was angry with Israel and Ezech. 38.10 It shall come to pass at the same time that things shall come into thy mind and thou shalt think an evil thought a thought that he did not think before the time of his destruction was near then such motions shall arise as it did in Ahab Is not Ramoth in Gilead ours c which was the occasion of his destruction There is a providence even in the rising of lusts in the hearts of his own people that this lust at this special time and another lust at another time should rise in them it is the same Soveraignty of God that doth draw forth gracious desires in the Saints and doth permit corrupt desires in them also God is not the Author but the orderer of them and yet even in this also the Soveraignty of God is exercised for the good of the Saints and that many ways 1 In this that all lusts break not forth in the soul continually for lust that is the mother of all sin original sin stands equally prepared unto all sin at all times and therefore that all lusts be not stirring in the heart together is from a glorious act of the soveraign restraint of God Hos 4.2 By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery they break out c. erumpunt it is taken from waters that have been hid or from fire shut up in an oven or a furnace Hos 7.6 sometimes it breaks forth into thoughts in the soul and sometimes into acts in the life Now there is a double restraint that the Soveraignty of God has over mens acts and over their lusts and it 's a great mercy to have acts of sin restrained as it was in Abimelech Gen. 20.6 his lust was let out but God restrained the act and it is a greater mercy to have the lust restrained than the act as the Lord said They shall not desire thy land Now the Lord doth restrain the Devils acts but for his lusts he doth let them range and so he doth very far also restrain the acts of wicked men when he sets no bounds unto their lusts next to being freed from the being of sin it 's a mercy to be delivered from the rising of sin and in that there is a special manifestation of the Soveraignty of God for if the rising of one sin be so troublesom unto a godly man that he strives and prays and wrestles with it and it is unto him as the thorn in his flesh he cannot be quiet in himself by reason of it how miserable and continually unquiet would the heart of a godly man be if he should have many such strangers and way-faring men come to him as it was said of the lust that came into Davids heart how should a godly man be able even to stand under the burden of them therefore even this restraint of the rising of some lusts is a special mercy that Josephs lust should not rise and conceive in him at such a time and when he had such an opportunity And it is the greater because I conceive the Spirit of God by a peculiar work and not a common doth restrain the lusts of the Saints It 's true that there is restraining grace both unto the godly and the wicked but not both from the same principle but the Spirit having once taken possession of a godly man for his own house and Temple he doth never work common works in that man more as a Spirit assisting barely but as a Spirit inhabiting 2 There is a great deal of mercy in the Lords ordering of the rising of lust when lust doth not rise when the object is present there is the object and the opportunity but the lust is past away as Ruth lay at Boaz his feet all night yet no lust ariseth towards her and David had an opportunity of killing Saul but yet when Saul was in his hand and he was stirred up to it by his servants also yet God restrained his lust it did not rise in him which we may see by the contrary in other men as soon as the object is offered the lust is up in the young man Prov. 7. he met a harlot and he went after her straight-ways and there is a man that no sooner sees his neighbours wife but he doth lust after her his lust riseth as soon as the object is presented and so it was with Achan I saw and I coveted and I took and so it is with many a man let the least shew or provocation be given and his spirit is on fire immediately but it was not so with Abraham though he was the better man and had a better right than Lot yet in the contention the lust of pride and passion did not arise in him Let there be no strife between me and thee for we are brethren A man of understanding is of a cool spirit he doth not take fire immediately that lust should rise at one time and not at another it can be attributed unto nothing but the Soveraignty of God ordering and over-ruling and restraining it c. 3 The Lord doth let some lusts at this time arise that it may shew a man that such a sin is in his nature which formerly he haply never considered never particularly repented of and never saw the fruit of it breaking forth in his life Now to lead a man
to a more particular acquaintance with sin and self therefore the Lord doth let such lusts rise up in a mans heart A man that haply never thought that he could be tempted to be an Atheist and deny that there was a God the Lord will let forth such sinful risings and motions in his heart that he shall be ready to call all into question and see that it is possible for the corruption of his nature to make him like that fool that saith in his heart there is no God and a man that never questioned whether the Scripture was the Word of God or no for it is the faith that he hath been brought up in which he received from his parents yet the Lord will let that lust rise in thee which may bring thee to question the authority of the Scriptures whether they be of God or no. There is in a man a principle that tends to a denial of the doctrine of godliness and this principle lies deep and works mightily in our lives and therefore that they may see that this root of bitterness is in them the Lord will suffer them to rise up unto actual thoughts and then the man will say I thought I should never have doubted whether there was a God or no or a Heaven or Hell or a Scripture but now I see to what my natural corruption is ready to lead me and by this means his soul is not only humbled for those bosom-principles of Atheism but these bosom-principles of Religion are laid anew and more firmly in the soul which else would not have born the stress of a work of grace upon them 4 That a man may be drawn out to hate sin the more therefore the Lord doth let it rise in a man and infest him As a mans darling lust that has risen in him most and most troubled him that sin when he is converted he hates above all other Hos 14.8 and so Rom. 7. there is not only the being of sin but the rising of it Rebelling against the law of the mind and leading me captive to the law of sin and death when I would do good evil is present with me that the soul may see its misery the more and so hate its adversary the more for to love God and hate sin is our great work and the more the goodness of â—od is discovered unto us the more we should love him and the further the evil of sin is discovered unto us the more our hearts should be ingaged to hate this also It is true a man should hate sin in the root hate it at all times but specially when it rises within us and presents it self to us with the greatest enticement as Christ hated Satan always but then specially when he assaulted him with a temptation to worship him so should we deal with sin as Junius faith of himself he being a modest man a wanton woman came to kiss him and he gave her a box on the face he hated impudence at all times but specially when it was offered him and so it is in this particular also when lust doth rise in the soul presenting it self to be chosen he hates it then most as wicked men hate godliness always but specially when it comes nearest unto them and they are pressed to it then their hearts rise against it 5 The Lord doth in his Soveraignty permit that lusts should arise in his people but it is to awaken them and the Lord makes this an excellent remedy against a secure condition for if his people will sleep God has three ordinary ways to awaken them 1 By letting out corruption 2 By affliction 3 By desertion it is the first of them is the worst because there is not a greater evil than sin and there is not any thing that doth use to affect the hearts of godly men and awaken them more than to find former lusts revivâ— in their hearts which they thought had been dead long ago A man has formerly set himself to mortifie such a lust and prayed against it and used all means and now he hath through mercy in a good measure attained it but the man grows proud and secure and carnally confident then the Lord lets his lust revive again and the man shall see that his enemy is not dead but that the said root of bitterness still remains only the Lord by his Soveraignty permitted it to spring forth for such an end 6 It is that which is matter of repentance to the people of God continually they are not humbled barely for the sins of their lives that break forth in their conversation in the world but also those sins that do arise in their hearts and they do apply the Righteousness of Christ for the one as well as the other and they are more humbled for lust rising in their heart if they could be separated than for lust breaking forth in the act because this defiles the inward man the soul and so it 's said of Hezekiah That he humbled himself for the pride of his heart so confidence in creatures is what we ought to be humbled for and weep in secret for our pride and repent of all the inward risings of sin in our heart though not any discovery of it be made in our lives and conversation § 4. 3. The Soveraignty of God is seen in the actings of sin also and therein it doth order all for the good of his people sin shall not be always kept within bounds as fire in the bosom but it shall appear in the life many times and the members shall become weapons of unrighteousness lust conceived shall bring forth sin as there are many thousand lusts stirring in the heart that do never come into act they are conceived but do never bring forth there is much plotting in the world against godliness but they do bring forth the wind Esau says I will slay my brother Jacob but he never did it and Gâ—hazi had in his heart a hankering after Vineyards and Olive-yards c. and so they in Neh. 4.11 We will come upon them and destroy them and they shall neither see nor know c. But the act doth not succeed accordingly there are many devices in the hearts of the crafty when their hands cannot perform their enterprise Job 5.12 and so the Lord doth with sin in the souls of his people but yet sometimes it shall break forth into act it was as new wine in the soul and the act shall give it vent it was secret but the Lord by an act will permit it to be visible and legible when it was in the soul it is but thirst in the desire but it is drunkenness in the act when it is come to the full and all this doth the Lord permit by a supreme providence for the good of his people 1 That they may see the power of sin and the tendency thereof it is such a filthiness as would overspread the whole man it is a leprosie in the
of our proneness to all sorts and all ways of sin that as patience so repentance may have its perfect work for as to humble the soul sin is left in it so also the breaking forth of sin into act discovers our natural weakness and is in wisdom permitted because the Lord will have his people to perfect their repentance as well as their faith while they do live here 6 That the soul may be willing to put off the body as it is an instrument and a servant to the soul in sinning I am shortly saith the soul to put off this tabernacle and I am the more willing to do it because my members are weapons of unrighteousness I shall then never sin more no more be subject unto the bondage of corruption to serve the lusts of men it shall be the glory of the body to serve the graces but never the lusts of the soul any more but perfect sanctification shall be in it 4. The Soveraignty of God is seen in the breaking forth of scandalous sins there are but two sorts of sins that godly men are freed from the sin against the Holy Ghost and final impenitency because they are delivered from the wrath to come and being in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation unto them Rom. 8.1 but else there is no sin either in judgment or practice from the danger of which they can assure their hearts be it never so foul never so hateful before God or man and therefore when we look upon the naufragia shipwracks of the Saints who can if God should withdraw his suitable assistance secure themselves or promise unto themselves freedom If we consider the idolatry of Solomon and that as gross as any that we shall read of 1 King 11.4 8. and the persecution of Asa 2 Chron. 16.10 and the Apostasie in Peter and that the grossest with a denial nay an abjuration Mar. 14.71 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some do expound to abjure Christ Mar. 14.71 and to wish unto him a curse but most do say it was wishing a curse and an Anathema upon himself Grotius makes it the same with that Act. 23.14 They bound themselves with a curse diris se obligavit c. of whom Bernard saith Peccavit grande peccatum fortassis quo grandius nullum est c. Now seeing that there is in them a sea of corruption a body of death it is only an act of the Soveraignty of God that restrains the winds that they blow not upon this sea Rev. 7.1 There are Angels that hold the winds of commotions that they break not forth and Jer. 49.36 Dan. 7.2 3. that they shall break forth in their season so he doth also hold the winds of temptation that they do not blow upon the sea of corruption and by this means the mire and dirt is not discovered but let but the wind blow upon it and it is full of unquietness and rage immediately 2 Sam. 12.4 there came a way-faring man unto the rich man concupiscentiam viatorem vocat aut peregrinum Pet. Martyr 1 It is not a friend or a servant it is not one that is ordinarily accustomed to the house there are some sins that are daily in a man constant inmates but there are great sins that da rise in a man but now and then 2 Lusts are travellers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the heart of man doth coast and wander all the world over to see what will become of it and where it may be able to make advantage unto it self 3 It comes upon a man suddenly and unexpectedly as a stranger or as a traveller useth to do 4 Yet when it comes it looks for entertainment and it doth so ordinarily find it the man will make provision for it Now this traveller goes not where or when he pleases but according to the Soveraignty of God in the ordering the going forth of the lusts of men it is a messenger of Satan there is a time appointed for the opening of Hell for the sending forth the messenger of Satan upon the soul the letting forth of the smoke Rev. 9.1 The Lord doth in his Providence turn this unto good 1 Unto a new conversion Luk. Luk. 22.32 22.32 Christ said to Peter after his first conversion when he foretels him of his scandalous fall When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren there is a double conversion 1. From a state of sin Acts 3.19 2. From some particular gross acts of sin because that doth make a breach upon a mans justification 1 A damp upon grace which there is upon the committing of such sins Create in me says David a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me 2 There is a suspension of all the comforts of grace he is as the leper and he doth as Zanchy saith quodammodo excidere à gratia he hath no comforts in the promises and the priviledges of the Saints 3 There is a change of all the dealings of God with him Esa 63.10 he became their enemy and fought against them by spiritual judgments upon them vers 17. he shall have broken bones and his moisture shall be dryed up Gods wrath shall fall upon him for there is a temporal wrath there is filius sub ira c. Now here seems to be a particular Conversion by laying of all anew in the Soul as if nothing were true before he must repent anew and believe anew that as Zach. 1.17 the Lord 's returning unto a people after eminent displeasure is called a new Election so also this is a new Conversion 2 Hereby the Soul hath experience in himself of the strength of Sin the power of Temptation and of Christs Intercession 1 He has experience of the Strength of sin for sin is but too powerfull in the best Gen. 49.6 7. it is said of the Sons of Israel Simeon and Levi Cursed be their anger for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruel and David put the Ammonites under Saws and Harrowes and Jonah 4.9 he justifies himself against the debates of God with him and saith that he doth well to be angry unto the death 2 The Soul experiences the power of Temptation what there is in the winnowings of Satan if the Lord should leave a man to the power which he hath already received he would soon work all good out of his soul for Satan is the ruler of the Darkness of this world Ephes 6.12 and he hath not only a great power over wicked men as Darkness it self for they are led captive at his will and he doth work effectually in them but even upon the darkness that is in the Saints also he can stirr up that darkness in them that it shall endanger to over-spread all that there shall seem little difference between them and ungodly men for the time that it doth prevail upon them 3 The Soul experiences the power of the Prayer of Christ Luk. 22.32 I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail
but when once they began to turn the head of their policy against the Saints they did very speedily find their ruine therein the Lord did go beyond them and they were taken in their own craftiness For when Satan has ingaged their spirits against the Saints Satan never leaves but he makes them restless raiseth up in them both great plots and great hopes and so they never cease till they meet with the Church as a burdensom stone at which they will always be lifting till they be broken therewith for in their very policy they do perish and in their own plots as in the net which they had privily laid is their foot taken Zac. 12.1 2. Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and Jerusalem 2. How doth the Lord turn these plottings of wicked men be they never so deep unto the good of his people 1. God doth set Divine wisdom on work for them for they have an interest in all the Attributes of God and they shall be put forth for them as their necessities do require Psal 119.120 It is time for thee Lord to work for they have made void thy law The Saints may desire God to put out an Attribute then and they do flye unto their strong hold unto their chambers as Esa 26. as when the power of man is exalted against them now it is time for them to say We have no might against this multitude but our eyes are upon thee it is all one to thee to save with few or with many so when carnal wisdom is exalted now is the time for God to put forth his wisdom for them that are his people for they say We have no wisdom against this wise and subtle generation but our eyes are upon thee and in thee is our wisdom laid up Herod had a plot against Christ and he will come and worship him that is he would come and destroy him and the Wise-men also that came to seek him now is the wisdom of God put forth for Christs preservation one is sent into Egypt and the other are admonished by God and they return into their own country another way And the people of God have more benefit by seeing the wisdom of God acting for them than they can have disadvantage or discouragement by seeing all the wise men of the world against them O great is the sweetness that the people of God have by seeing any Attribute act for them and for their good that by this means they may come to understand their inheritance in Attributes which is far beyond that of creatures or promises as a father his bowels are moved for a child when he sees him in danger and then his affections do discover themselves so do the Saints expect that the Lord shall fulfil his relation in that respect when dangers are pressing upon them c. 2. In the middle of all their plots they comfort themselves in this that they shall take no effect against them till they have done the service which the Lord hath appointed them unto Luke 13.32 they told Christ that Herod had a plot upon him to kill him he saith Go tell that Fox Luk. 13.32 behold I cast out devils and I do cures to day and to morrow and the third day I shall be perfected Franc. in his History Animalium gives us three properties of a Fox he is animal dolosum crudele gulosum subtle and deceitful all for death cruel and all for the prey and there is a double property of him as deceitful 1 Noctu prorepit he only goes forth in the night doth all things secretly and so do Plotters they must not be seen and a great part of their wisdom is to be undiscovered 2 Nunquam rectis incedit itineribus sed ambagibus He doth never go right on but always he hath his windings and turnings so Politicians they love to walk unseen and they never love to go in plain paths but in secret ways to ensnare men But Christ when they told him of the design of this Fox Herod he comforts himself with this there is a set time for my work and then when that is done my service is perfect then shall I dye and I know all his policy shall be able to avail nothing against me till I have finished the work that the Father has given me to do And so may all the Saints comfort themselves against all the plots of wicked men against them they shall finish their work notwithstanding 3. This shall sometimes make way for their service in a wonderful manner the Jews had a plot against Paul and they had taken an oath That they would neither eat nor drink â—ill they had killed him this occasioned his being sent unto Caesarea first and afterwards to Rome where the Lord told him he must bear witness of him also and glorious was the service that he did there and the souls that he converted were many and in a special manner even in Caesars family there were souls brought home unto the Lord Phil. 4.22 All the Saints salute you chiefly those that are of Caesars houshold it was Nero that opprobrium humani generis and yet the Lord had some to pluck out there and the Lord made the plot which they had against him the occasion of all this great work what loser was Paul by it nay how much honour did it bring unto tâ—â— Lord and how great thanksgiving was given unto God by these pâ—or converted souls who came unto the knowledge of the Gospel and the way to life by this means 4. What they do plot to hinder shall by their very plots be advanced Esa 44.25 he turns wise men backward that is they shall see a quite contrary effect unto that which by their wisdom they intended to bring to pass against the Jews and the raising persecution against the Christians since was to hinder the Gospel and to suppress it but this did further the Gospel for it did occasion their going forth unto the Gentiles and by this means the sound went forth into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world and 〈◊〉 the casting off of the Jews became the inriching of the Gentiles by this means which else had never been so gloriously and fully done and I do not doubt but the very opposition that is against the Ordinances of the Gospel shall establish them in the Lords time and the opposition against any truth hath ever established that truth for they are but as winds that root the trees by shaking of them they fasten Jer. 20.10 Report say they and we will report it the wicked plot to take away the good names of the Saints by casting out slanders against them as if they were the vilest wretches upon earth but there is not such a way to bring an honour upon them and to cause the Lord to make their light to break forth out of darkness unto after generations as to reproach them 5. Hereby they have experience of those glorious promises that God has made to his people of frustrating the plots of their enemies Esa 8.10 Consult but it shall come to nought speak the word but it shall not stand for God is with us Prov. 6.14 Frowardness is in his heart he devisâ—th mischief continually he sowed discord therefore shall his calamity come suddenly suddenly shall he be broken without remedy and Psal 19.21 Many devices are in the heart of a man but the counsel of God that shall stand Psal 64.6 7. They search out iniquity they accomplìsh a diligent search the inward thoughts of every one of them and the heart is deep but God shall shoot at them with an arrow and suddenly shall they be wounded Hereby the Saints flye unto those promises and they have experience of their interest and the prayers of the ancient Saints against all the enemies that ever plotted mischief against the Church as the instance of Judas they are answered in after-generations and there is a Communion of Saints that the people of God have with Saints departed upon this ground also they have a benefit by the prayers which they did put up upon earth which are accomplished upon the enemies of the Church and people of God in after-ages Lastly They have experience of strange secret and glorious deliverances by this means and truly experience of God in any kind is no small advantage to the Saints they make much of their own experiences and live upon them afterwards Possidon tells us in the Life of Austin that as he was travelling there were certain of the Donatists whom he calls Circumcelliones that did lay wait for him armed to kill him obvenit Dei providentia sed ductoris errore but he missed the way per hunc errorem manus impias evasit and so escaped This drew forth in him and in many others of the people of God many praises unto God for so great and unknown deliverance and I did the rather insist upon this because the enemies of the people of God are very busie in plotting against the Saints and we have cause to fear the fraud of the enemy as well as their force though if hand joyn with hand yet the wicked shall not be unpunished and the God that has delivered will again deliver These things may one day be worth thinking of when we are cast upon such providences that we know not what to do then the Lord will arise for the help of those that wait on him FINIS
to the terms of the same Covenant and these are the grounds why the way of Translation must be a way of Union SECT III. What the difference in a mans state before and after his Translation is Q. 3. WHat is the difference in a mans state before and after his translation How is a a mans condition changed from what it was before 1. His state is changed in Gods account and the Lord looks upon him no more as the Son of Adam and as growing upon the old root though God has in his eternal Purpose chosen his elect in Christ and given them to him before the world began yet they are not actually in him according to the rules of the word till they be converted and ingrafted into him and therefore they as well as others are dead in trespasses and sins and are without God and without Christ in the World Rom. 4.16 Gal. 4. But being once converted Abraham is their Father and Sarah is their Mother and they are Children of the bondwoman no more 2. Being in Christ and their Covenant changed they are under the Law and the rigour of it no more For that requires perfect holiness to justification and life in a mans own person Rom. 10.5 Rom. 5.16 17. The righteousness that is of the Law saith This do and thou shalt live And therefore it 's said By the offence of one man death reigned and not only so but it 's also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by one offence But now faith is imputed unto a man for righteousness not of him that works but of him that believes in him that justifies the ungodly 3. Before he was under the Curse of the Law and the condemnation of it For the Law says Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book But now Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ there is a Supersedeas for the Curse Gal. 3.13 He has delivered us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us 4. Before he had right to no promise to no blessing by promise but now he is become an heir of Promise Gal. 4.28 We as Isaac are children of the promise c. There is a double right unto blessings there is a right of providence and of promise a jus politicum a jus evangelicum a publick and evangelick right An unregenerate man may have a right of Providence to Blessings but it is only a man in Christ that has a right of Promise and though he possesseth nothing yet he has a jus haereditarum an hereditary right hereditary to all things All things are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods 1 Cor. 3.22 5. A mans covenant being changed God is reconciled for the Covenant is a Covenant of reconciliation so that the Lord does look on him as an enemy no more A man stands in no relation unto God before his Covenant is changed but as he is Gods creature but when there is a translation out of the first Covenant into the second a man is said to be in God and to dwell in God and God in him God is now Christs Father and our Father his God and our God whereas before they were enemies to God 1 Thes 1 1. Joh. 4.16 2 Cor. 6.16 and God to them 6. A mans Covenant being changed his sufferings and services are accepted as being Christs for Joh. 15.5 it is fruit in him and born by vertue of Union with him that only is accepted of God Gal. 2.20 says Paul Nevertheless not I but Christ liveth in me Hos 14.8 Our sins indeed are our own but all our duties are his because they are done by vertue of Union with him and all that is done by us is tendred unto God as his Rev. 8.3 And as his passive obedience after a sort is said not to be full till all the obedience of the Saints is filled up Col. 1.24 so it may be said of his active obedience also and all our sufferings are Christs Gal. 6.7 Heb. 13.13 7. All things work together for good unto him whose Covenant is changed Rom. 8.28 Whereas to a man under the first Covenant God does watch over him for evil and every thing proves but an execution of the curse of his Covenant his blessings become curses according to the threatning I will curse your blessings his Table is made a snare and the Ordinances of God are cursed to him and he is cursed in every thing that he puts his hand â—nto but to a man in Christ not only all the blessings but even what is in it self a curse is â—lessed to him death is yours as well as life 8. Sin has no condemning power in a man in Christ though it 's true sin remains in him 1 Cor. 3. â—hich is in its own nature damnable that is it does deserve damnation yet it can never infer â—â—mnation it can never bring it upon a man 1 Joh. 5.12 because he that is in Christ is passed from death 〈◊〉 life 9. A man is brought into a state of communion with God for all communion is grounâ—ed on union There can be no communion with God till a man receives the Spirit of God for regenerate and unregenerate men are of another Generation and there is no more a principle of fellowship with God in a man before conversion than there is in a beast to have â—â—llowship with a man natural parts and natural conscience cannot do it if we believe we â—â—ve fellowship with the father and not else 1 Joh. 1.3 10. A man then becomes one with all the Saints and of the same body with them Ephes â— 10 There is a gathering together under one head and being a member of the Church of â—he first-born whose names are written in Heaven for from the head all the members are â—tly formed and bound up in the bundle of the living SECT IV. The APPLICATION Vse 1 1. IF the way of Translation be by Union then labour for Union with Christ and be not satisfied with any thing else Truly the state of Grace does not lie in the change of a mans opinion or the change of his actions simply but in the change of a mans Covenant and his Image and the foundation of both are laid in a mans union this was the Apostles great aim to be found in him Phil. 3.7 8. For as the branch cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the vine neither can you except you abide in me for without me or separated from me â—ou can do nothing And without this all a mans Religion is worth nothing before God Joh. 15.4 5. Here I will shew what is the ordinary and usual way of Vnion and what a man must or â—an do towards his own Vnion I will not now enter upon the grand controversie about â—ur preparatory works unto Faith and Union which is insisted upon from that Scripture Making ready a
people prepared for the Lord. This Union is wrought by the Spirit of the â—ord Jesus by cutting off the soul from his old root for there is at least in order of nature a cutting off before a grafting in Rom. 11.24 1 Pet. 2.5 We as living stones are built upon him a spiritual house a holy temple Therefore Isa 28.16 Thus saith the Lord God Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone a tried stone c. A foundation that is a sure â—nd a firm foundation for the repetition does signifie excellency and certainty Isa 26.3 He shall keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee Matt. 7.24 Now there are but two foundations the Rock and the Sand a man must be removed and taken off the one before he can be built upon the other Rom. 13.14 Union with Christ is compared to putting him on as a garment a man must put off his old garment before he can put on the new and the wedding-garment which every man by nature is without It is a Matrimonial Vnion and a man must be dead to his former husband that he may be married to another says the Apostle I through the law am dead to the law Rom. 7.4 Gal. 2.19 Rom. 7.9 that I may be married to another Again I through the law am dead to the law that I may live unto God Paul in his state of unregeneracy was alive to the Law that is in the performance of it he thought he could keep the whole Law and expected by it that righteousness that should save him but now the Commandment came in a lively and effectual manner by the mighty working of the Spirit upon his soul convincing him of his guilt and his inability that for the curse of the Law he lay under it and the condemning power thereof by reason of his guilt and that he was able to perform no duty that the Law required through the inability that was in him and so he became dead unto it that is he expected life thereby no more and trusted upon his own strength no more for he knew he was able to do nothing and he that knows he is able to perform no duty of the Law and can expect no reward of the Law he is dead unto it Joh. 16.8 And this is done 1 by a work of Conviction convincing the world of sin that is that a man is in a state of sin under the guilt and power of it under the guilt of it that he is in his own person lyable to the wrath of God for it and that all the curses of the Law are his portion and that by nature Hell is his proper place and he is so under the power of it that he can perform no duty nor resist any temptation cannot subject himself unto the Righteousness of God nor to the Law of God he is in a state of impotency and of enmity and if the Lord do offer him Grace and come to convert him he cannot but resist and there is some special and darling lust in the cords of which he is held that will prove his destruction 2 And by a work of Humiliation the pleasure of all a mans former sins are dampt and taken away and the man is dead to them all and he cannot taste them as in times past and making a man to look upon himself as a miserable and undone man to loath himself to lye under the fear and expectation of wrath that the Law has threatned Acts 2.37 Rom. 7.9 and his guilty condition has deserved which is the proper work of the spirit of bondage to be pricked in his heart for a man to die to look upon himself as a dead man and to be dead in his own apprehension full of confession of his own sin and condemnation of himself as the Prodigal son Father I am unworthy to be called thy Son 3. There is a mighty and a glorious work of revelation discovering to a soul the good will of God the Father and of Christ which is called the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of him Ephes 1.18 revealing his son in a man Gal. 1. And convincing a man of righteousness in Christ Joh. 6. for the salvation of sinners that there is a holiness in the Person of Christ and a sufficiency in his Righteousness for the salvation of sinners This is called seeing the Son Joh. 6.40 which is not barely a notional knowledge which a man had before of Christ but a knowledge and apprehension of Christ and his Glory let into the soul such a knowledge as a man never had before seeing Christ to be a proportionable good to the Saints one that is able to save to the uttermost and one that he may have an interest in and he may become his for ever Joh. 12.44 Which when the Prophet saw he wondered all men did not believe in him his Glory did so ravish him and if a man that slighted Christ before once discern this presently he has an high esteem of this excellent person To them that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 And they look upon him with another eye than ever they did in time past and this was the plot that God the Father delighted in before the World was and that Christ was but the Father's servant in all this that he did and that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and that God was not averse to the work as an angry Judge but that Christ would bring souls to God and the Father did love to have it so and that all was the fruit of his own everlasting love to sinners before the world was 1 Joh. 3.16 That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son And then all the offers of Christ the calls and the invitations of God and his compassionate intreaties that are in his Word all these begin to take place upon the soul Ho every one that thirsteth come to the waters come and buy whosoever will let him come and take of the waters of life freely That the price is already paid and that the blood of Christ was shed to cleanse sinners the Angels need it not the Devils can have no benefit by it it was given only for poor lapsed man and therefore it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners This is the drawing and the teaching of the Father Joh. 6.44 not but that it is done by the Spirit also but it is said to be the work of the Father because the offer of Christ being Gods gift is presented unto the soul in the Fathers name with a command from him to accept of him and to believe in him For this is his Commandment that we believe in him whom he hath sent because him has God the Father sealed And this took Luther so much when he understood the righteousness of God that
a life that is maintained by union and therefore though Paul saith I live yet he looks off from himself immediately upon the fountain of his life and the manner of the conveyance of it and that is by union continually Phil. 1.19 and therefore Phil. 1.19 we read of a supply of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est dux chori or as some say quòd ornamenta suppeditat sacras choreas agentibus and so is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jul. Pol. pag. 145. publicum subire munus or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gymnasiis praeesse and therefore he says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 147. and for the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some render it by subministrare and so it notes a sweet but yet hidden and secret supply some insuper suppedito to supply aid and all to add something to what a man had before and some make use of that rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in compositione intendit significationem and so they read it abundè suppeditare from all which there are these particulars in the words 1 That the Spirit is not communicated unto the Saints as a Spirit of Grace all at once but by degrees and this in a secret and an unobserved way 2 That the Spirit hath undertaken this work as a publick office and administration in the Church of Christ 3 That the supplies of the Spirit come in by the teaching of the Spirit 4 That the Spirits supplies are rich and abundant supplies in all things necessary unto the salvation of the Saints Now the more any sin is against nature as we say murder is and unthankfulness is and disobedience to parents is the more hateful it is and there is a principle in nature that is against all such sins in a special manner and so is this also an unnatural sin for grace to be set up in a man by God the Author of it and yet for a man to deal so unnaturally with God as to make the grace he hath received from him his own sufficiency and neglect the God who alone is alsufficient 3. No man is able to act the grace that he hath received Christ tells his Disciples plainly Joh. 15.5 Without me you can do nothing not only by virtue of our union with Christ is our grace acted but there must be a daily and a continual influence from Christ also 2 Cor. 3.5 and the Apostle says We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God c. As there is an immediate dependence of all creatures upon the first cause so there is of grace also upon its first cause now Deus agit immediatè cum omni agente creato God acts immediately in all so it 's here also and if the Lord will suspend but his own actings no creature can act or do any thing as we see it in the fiery Furnace in which the King of Babylon put the three Children the fire remained true fire still for it immediately consumed the men that were thrown in but yet the Lord suspended the actum secundum the second act of the creature and it could not burn the three Children as it is in the creature so it is in grace much more but the one is a natural and the other is a supernatural concurrence and therefore hath a more special and supernatural dependence and influence now the Spirit is a free Agent he works where and when and in what manner he pleaseth sometimes God doth as it were withdraw himself from us and then all our grace is becalmed for it is as wind to the sails and therefore we read of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the plerophory of faith it is taken from the wind filling of the sails for the Spirit of God is compared to wind when he will fill the sail a man is carried on with a full gale or else he cannot move he can but lye in the harbour so that though the man hath grace yet he can never be able to perform one good duty either inward or outward without further assistance It is true that the Lord doth commonly concur with grace according to the measure given to the soul as he doth with the rest of the creatures according to their kind but yet the Lord will sometimes withdraw to let them see where their strength lyes and where the fountain of all their grace is he will use his Prerogative and leave a soul to it self and then resolve a Christian into his principles and one would think having such a good foundation laid such a stock laid in a man he can think well or speak well or do well when he pleases and he may begin to rouze up himself as at other times as Samson did no he hath not so much as a sufficiency to think a good thought all the grace that he hath cannot procure it to him 4. All the grace that a man hath cannot free him from temptations nor secure him from falling into the greatest and the foulest evil that a godly man is capable of 1 It preserves a man from no temptation grace could not preserve Adam in Paradise or Christ himself from being tempted whose grace was perfect Prosper Viatoris gratia neminem intentabilem facit The grace of a viator makes no man intentable and therefore we see what dangerous temptations the Saints have had Satan stood against David as he did against Joshua Zac. 3. but it was against the one for temptation and the other for accusation and grace could preserve from neither 2 It cannot preserve a man from the greatest and the foulest falls as we see how David fell into adultery and murder and numbering the people and Samson also to the same sin of uncleanness again and again and Peter denied his Master and began to curse and to swear that he never knew him he wisht upon himself the most terrible and dreadful curses if he knew the man There are only two sins that a godly man is secure from by the state of grace and that is the sin against the Holy Ghost and final impenitency but it is not the grace that is in a man that doth secure him from falling into sin but the state of grace by reason of his Head Christ Jesus to whom he is united and by reason of the Covenant under which he stands therefore there is no sufficiency in that grace that will not preserve a man from the greatest sins and foulest falls and indeed how is it possible that it should preserve us that cannot preserve it self as Austin did deride and mock the gods of the Heathen They that cannot keep themselves but are stoln away much less could they keep others so it is of grace also c. 5. This will certainly provoke God against thy grace though it be his own work yet he will let it decay as he doth his own Ordinances of the Law which are called
beggerly rudiments and Nehushtan a little piece of brass God will abase the excellency of all creatures that we make an Idol of and the Lord will let you see that your grace cannot preserve you and therefore there are two reasons why God hath let the Saints fall and hath set before you their example 1 Ostendit infirmitatem nostram ut timeamus Luther 2 Judicium suum quòd minus nihil ferre possit quà m superbiam He shews 1 our infirmity that we may fear 2 His judgment how much he hates pride For it is for this cause that he doth give up the Saints unto such gross and dangerous falls either to prevent pride or to cure it and therefore Bernard demands Why when the people of God do pray for grace above all things God many times denies them the degree of grace that they desire Oportet ipsam gratiam temperari ne in elationis vitium incidamus pag. 521. interdum subtrahitur gratia interdum retrahitur To keep from pride c. all is grounded upon pride vel superbia quae jam est vel quae futura est c. pag. 729. either the pride that already is in the heart or that which may be 6. The supplies of grace the more immediate they are the sweeter they are for they come with a greater favour from the fountain of grace from which they flow 2 Cor. 12. My grace is sufficient for thee and a Saint hath more sweetness when grace comes in from God and Christ immediately than if it were in his own power or hand to lay it out upon himself at his own pleasure and as in respect of creatures a supply from God immediately is sweeter than all the second causes in the world as the womans meal was better than if she had it still in her own hand so much more is the supply of grace dulcius ex ipso fonte c. for hereby Christ is immediately honoured and there is a continued love testified it was the first sin and the first temptation to be simile Deo scilicet ut bonorum suorum ipse sibi sit fons ipse sibi copia to be like God the fountain of good to himself Prosper c. a godly man hates it and curseth it to Hell from whence it came as God hath laid up all grace in Christ as the Steward to dispense it so a gracious soul desires and delights it should be in Christs hand rather than in his own and he would not take it out of Christs hand or make himself the fountain of his own grace for a world for he says My life is in Christ and because he lives I shall live also Vse 3 § 3. It serves also for exhortation unto all you that have chosen the Lord for your God that you be content with him alone though you have nothing else for there is an alsufficiency in him he that was sufficient unto himself before there was any creature in Heaven and Earth his self-sufficiency shall be thy alsufficiency it is your Election that gives you an interest in God Josh 14.22 you have chosen the Lord unto your selves the Lord will not put himself upon any man but he doth inlighten their minds and sets the will at liberty to chuse him for himself for every mans portion is of his own choice he is in this sense though not in the Arminian notion propriae fortunae faber c. so Dagon became the god of the Philistins and Chemosh the god of the Amorites it was by their own election and having chosen the Lord God Jehovah to be your God O study him let your heart be rapt up in the contemplation of him there is a kind of ecstasie in love there is a rapture which is nothing else but supremus contemplationis gradus mentis excessus the supreme degree of contemplation and excess of mind and be exhorted to use all the means to know God There are three ways by which we may know God 1 Viâ negationis by way of negation denying all the imperfections that are in the creatures to be in him 2 Causalitatis in a way of causality all the good that is in the creatures comes from him as its proper cause 3 Eminentiae in a way of eminence and therefore all is in him and in him in a more glorious manner than is or can be in the creatures a man should use to set God before him in his greatness and in his glory see him as a Sea as being without banks or bottom this is life eternal to know God O it is good for a man to drown his thoughts in this Sea to cast himself into it by a holy meditation and think till his thoughts be at a loss till he can think no more As a poor troubled soul when he looks upon the wrath of God his soul is swallowed up with it and he can think himself into an endless maze till he lose himself so you should do in the alsufficiency of God they are the narrow thoughts that we have of God that are dishonourable to him and are also uncomfortable to us my thoughts are not as your thoughts he is able to do above all that we can ask or think according to thy fear such is thy wrath and when you have viewed him in this manner and found that there is a good in him beyond all things more than thy thoughts and desires can reach and what thou canst desire is not to be compared to him and yet the heart of man can frame to it self vast desires now say This God shall be my God for ever and ever and in him alone will I place my happiness and hope I will be content with him alone though I have nothing else Lam. 3.4 and let this be the full resolution and bent of thy heart so to do The Lord is my portion saith my soul It 's true that all men will acknowledge that God is the Fountain of life and the chiefest good but it is in ore tantùm only in mouth but the Church brings in her soul speaking it as verbum mentis the word of her mind it 's that which my soul doth embrace and consent unto and that will make a man to be contented with him alone Psal 37. and he will go out to no other and so it was with David Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee c. Now wherein is this contentment of soul in God to be found and manifested 1. The soul lays up all in God in him alone it hath nothing out of God as it hath nothing apart from God for a godly man enjoys all in God and God in all things so that there is nothing that is not to be found in him Thou art a shield for me my glory and the lifter up of my head the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my
of God is exalted in their hearts so much the more which might have suffered them for ever to have walked in the errour of the wicked and to have gone in the same way with them Psal 69.27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity that is as the Saints go from one degree of grace to another they go from glory to glory from strength to strength so let these go from one sin to another God lets them do it till they have filled up their measure and then le ts go judgment after it upon them by giving them over unto it that so they may fill up their measure for there is a measure of sin as well as of grace Joel 3.13 Put in thy sickle and reap for the harvest is ripe the press is full there is a measure of iniquity and then they do come up in remembrance before God the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full A dismal judgment it is that a man should live for no other end but to fill up iniquity 3 Hereby the Saints are daily admonished what they are in their own nature if the Lord leave the best men to themselves and kept it not under the restraint of grace 2 Tim. 2.19 they seeing others Apostasie fear themselves and Christ speaking of him that was to betray him all the Disciples began to fear lest it should be themselves this sin is in my nature say they and therefore it is meer mercy that I am not so wicked as Cain and Judas I am as like to commit it as they if the Lord should leave me to my self that gratia subsequens the Rock that followed them preserves his people from the sin that is in their natures and they reflect upon that when they see others fall into sin considering themselves lest they also be tempted Gal. 6.1 4 Hereby they are minded of the ends that sin brings men to that they may fear them As the ends of godly men are to be observed whose faith follow knowing the end of their conversation so we are called upon in Scripture to consider the ends of the wicked Prov. 23.21 Drunkenness will cloath a man with rags who hath redness of eyes and wounds without cause Prov. 6.26 By the means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a morsel of bread and a dart striking through his liver and he gets a wound and dishonour that shall never be wiped off Prov. 21.16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in coetu gigantum in the congregation of the Giants they being the first sort of sinners that ever went into Hell and so did give the first denomination unto the place of the damned 5 By this the Saints are put upon many duties towards them which will abound unto their account and 1 to pity their souls and to wait for them with patience Tit. 3.2 3. Shewing all meekness towards all men for we our selves were such Rom. 11.31 says the Apostle That through your mercy they also may obtain mercy 2 Despair not of them because the Lord shewed mercy to you therefore wait if at any time God will give them repentance 1 Tim. 1.16 He shewed in me a pattern to them that should hereafter believe in him c. we have in our selves an instance 3 We are to undervalue the persons of thes◠men how great soever Prov. 29.27 The wicked is an abomination to the just Psal 15.4 Dan. Dan. 4.17 4.17 they are the basest of men be they never so great 4 As the people of God fear the ends of the wicked so they hate their ways He walks not in the counsel of the ungodly Psal 1.1 he stands not in the way of sinners when sinners entice him he consents not Gen. 49.6 My soul come not thou into their secrets unto their assembly my honour be not thou united Psal 141.4 let me not eat of their dainties and also Psal 26.9 Gather not my soul with sinners nor my life with bloody men there is a bundle of the living there is a being gathered unto ones fathers and people wicked men are so and godly men are so they both have their people let me not be gathered with them that are ungodly O Lord. 2. Now more particularly the Saints are by Providence gainers by the plots of wicked men and their counsels by their attempts against them and by their executions and in all these the secret providence of God over them is manifested First by their plots and counsels a great part of the evil of wicked men lies in their plots devices and machinations Psal 35.20 They devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land they never know what they are doing or meditating on their thoughts are a continual forge of evil the Devils anvil always at work against the people of God Jer. 18.18 Jer. 18.18 Let us devise devices against Jeremiah it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a cunning plot and a curious work c. and the Saints fear their plots commonly more than their power as they fear the Devil more as a Serpent than as a Lyon and yet by their plots they travail with mischief devise evil continually Prov. 6.14 and it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies fodit he hath a Mine within Prov. 6.14 and is always digging out mischief as a godly man hath a fountain that is always issuing good there is a good treasure and an evil treasure and the Holy Ghost speaks much of the plottings of wicked men against the Saints which never come unto any thing they weave a spiders web which never becomes a garment and by these plots the Saints are gainers 1 They see the Lord restraining their very plots that they do not always rise none of them shall desire thy land they shall not see their own advantages and they shall grope at noon day Job 5.14 it is spoken of their counsels he disappoints the counsels of the crafty and that is by snarling their thoughts confounding their plots that they do not see their own way they want no will to effect their mischievous devices but yet they cannot tell what way to take against the people of God therein the Lord is seen 2 He clogs them their hands cannot perform their enterprise they cannot bring their wicked devices to pass always when they should come to execution when the children are come unto the birth there is no strength to bring them forth for the Lord doth blow upon them and they wither as the grass upon the house top and they bear no fruit 3 They end in their own destruction Esa 59.5 They hatch cockatrice eggs and weave the spiders web c. a serpent a viper eats out the bowels of the mother they themselves are stung with them unto death they are taken in their own craft the wicked is insnared in the work of his own
hand c. 4 The Lord doth time the plot that it shall be at such a time when it is to accomplish his purpose and that it shall be for the good of the Saints My hour is not yet come says Christ Rev. 9.14 Loose the four Angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates which were prepared for an hour for a day and a month and a year to slay the third part of men they had designed it but it rested a great while and now it is revived again and so they plotted against Daniel when God did intend to exalt him and so that of Gog Thou shalt think an evil thing c. 5 The Saints are the more driven unto God by prayer Lord turn the wisdom of Achitophel into folly and they have the more need of the counsel of Jesus to be wise as serpents and they have the more experience of their interest in the wisdom of God which is made over unto them who in the things wherein the wicked deal subtilly will out-wit them There are two ways by which the enemy hath always set himself against the people of God 1 In a way of policy For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light 2 In a way of power they will be first as a Fox and then as a Lyon as the Pope said If Peters Keys will not do it give me Pauls Sword the same spirit there is in all wicked men their aim is to destroy the Saints but they are not willing to appear in it if it may be hid Neh. 4.11 the adversaries said They shall not know nor see till we come upon them in the middle of them and slay them and cause the work to cease They would fain accomplish their ends and effect their cruelty by a plot that they should never know who hurt them that 's their design As the Devil he will never appear as he is if putting upon himself the form of an Angel of light will do it so it is with the enemies unto the Church Jeroboam robs the people of their Religion but it was under a great shew of ease to them and for their worship at Jerusalem it was but a form they should have as good worship elsewhere and as holy as there and it was much more for their ease than to be in this manner scattered from their dwellings and Julian raised against the Church the bitterest Persecution but it was under the shew of a toleration let every man injoy the liberty of his own conscience he would have no man forced in his Religion and he doth encourage the Jews to build their Temple again and he doth himself favour the Gentiles in their worship and yet he can bear with the Christians also so the Donatists in Austins time 1 They did deny any to be a true Church but themselves 2 There should be no compelling of men to live holy coacta invita pietas 3 That the Magistrate is not to punish or restrain Hereticks and false Teachers in matters of Religion every man should be lest to his liberty 4 They did rebaptize men into their Church But this plot being laid facti insolentes vim orthodoxis inferebant insomuch that the Emperour Honorius was forced to send Dulcitius the Tribune with an Army into Africa to restrain their rage against the Orthodox Christians whom they would suffer to live in peace no longer than till they had got power in their hands Danaeus de haeresibus cap. 69. and then they would not yield unto them that liberty which before they pleaded for themselves And here I would observe from the Scripture 1 How wisdom and carnal policy is looked upon by God and what respect he hath unto it 2 Yet how all this wisdom in the exercise and the putting forth of it in plots and devices is by the providence of God turned unto the good of his people 1. What respect God hath to the wisdom of the flesh though never so deep never so profound 1. He saith That the wisdom of the flesh is vanity and folly the Lord knows the wisdom of the flesh to be but vain for it is foolishness with him 1 Cor. 3.19 20. take it in those two things that Solomon mentions Eccles 1.15 Eccles 1.15 1 In the defect of wisdom That which is wanting cannot be numbred there are many thousand conclusions in nature that the most exquisite understanding is not able to pierce into and there are many thousand turnings in providence that do amaze and non-plus the wisdom of the wisest men in the world and therefore in this respect God doth even charge his Angels with folly how much more men that is there is in them a negative ignorance which is folly if compared with the infinite wisdom of the great God 2 They cannot make a crooked thing straight that is they do meet with men of cross and perverse spirits which they cannot change and men of crooked dispositions and they do meet in the way of their wisdom also with many cross providences that all things do not succeed according to their plots and as they would have them and then they are put upon new plots and devices to rectifie the other and yet when they have done all their wisdom could not prevent it neither can their wisdom reform it that which is crooked will be crooked still and the men that oppose them will oppose them still and the stumbling-blocks that are in the wise mans way will be there still and all his wisdom cannot remove them 2. God looks upon the wise men of the world and their wisdom as enemies unto himself and the Lord hates as much to be opposed in a way of policy as in a way of power Rom. 8.6 their wisdom is enmity against the Law of God it is not subject neither can it be Aquinas observes That faith is more strange to a wise man and a learned man than it is uâ—to another that is more ignorant because he is able to raise more objections and doubts against it and the grounds of it than another man is and therefore if any man in the world stumble at the Word of God or the ways of God it is a wise man according to the flesh and he has much to say and strong reasons to object against it There are two things that must be exalted in the heart of the Saints in the Word of God 1 The holiness of the Word 2 The wisdom of the Word a man must look upon it as that which will be his wisdom also Now a man that is profane he is an enemy unto the word and is not subject to it because of the Holiness of it he must take more liberty than the Word will give him it is too strait and narrow a way for him and a wise man is offended at the Simplicity of the Word it doth not agree with his Wisdom he is ready to think he could