Covenant of Grace We do now stand upon other terms with God through Christ in the New Covenant whereof we are partakers by faith in him But still the Precepts of the Moral Law abide on us as our Duty there never was any repeal of the Command nor indeed can they ever cease to be a Rule to man for the guiding of him in the right ordering of his Conversation inasmuch as they are every way suited to the nature of man considered as being made on purpose for the actual glorifying of God so that if we would actually glorify him as men we must do it in compliance with these precepts All that is contained in this rule is reduced to those two heads Mat. 22. 37 39. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self And this can never cease to be our duty so long as we are men nothing can discharge us from the obligation of loving God and our neighbour inasmuch as the Relation we bear to both cannot cease and the duty is inseparable from such a Relation It is also certain that all of these Duties are reinforced in the Gospel or under the dispensation of the Kingdom of Grace and may be all of them found on record in the preceptive part of the New-Testament required of Christians as they would walk worthy of the vocation with which they are called and are therefore called New Commands because they are there reinforced with arguments fetcht from the consideration of the Grace of God appearing to us we have this summarily commended to us in Tit. 2. 11 12. The Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Under which three heads are comprized all those duties which are required in and by the Moral Law 8. That all the Commands of the New-Covenant which are purely Evangelical are inclusively Comprehended in this Rule It is to be observed that there are some Duties introduced by the New Covenant and are enjoyned on all such unto whom it is promulgated which were not Duties incumbent on man whiles he continued in a state of Integrity such as Faith in Jesus Christ Repentance unto life and the several things that are contained in these as they point to us the way for fallen man to recover Gods favour and obtain eternal Salvation and indeed these Duties were inconsistent with that state Man had not forfeited himself to the Law and so needed not a Redeemer he stood in his uprightness and was defiled with no sin and had no occasion for Repentance These Duties therefore were not immediately comprized in the law of nature nor was man in Innocency able by the improvement of his reason to gather that there were any such Duties hypotheâ—ically belonging to his Rule Nor is it to be supposed that when God at first indented with man in the Covenant of Works and warned him a-against disobedience by shewing him the threatning that he made any discovery to him of an hope that in case of his miscarriage he might be saved or that he foretold a way of his recovery in case he ruined himself by trespassing against the command and bringing of himself under the threatning doubtless he reserved this for the Opening of the Covenant of Grace and till he so made it known man could not possibly so much as guess at such a thing However there is thus much contained in the Moral Law and the light of nature clearly discovered to man at first viz. that the rightful authority and supremacy that God hath over all men claims a liberty for him at any time to enjoyn man in any thing and make it his duty by vertue of his command to do it if it be within the power which he at first endowed him withal and consequently that he ows Obedience to God in whatsoever he shall at any time declare to be his will hereupon Positive Commands oblige men by the light of nature as well as Natural duties supposing there be a Revelation of them made to them We find therefore that God at first exerted this authority over our first Parents when he put them into the Garden by an arbitrary exempting the Tree of Knowledge from their eating of it under pain of death nor did they dispute but acknowledge his Soveraignty over them in that regard though afterwards the adversary used it as a snare to draw them into Sin And how many such positive Precepts did God give to Israel of which he renders 〈◊〉 other reason but this I am the Lord Hence there fore when God once reveals to fallen men that it is his will that they should repent and believe in order to their being made partakers in Pardon and Salvation it becomes their bounden duty by vertue of that Command that they so do and not only will they miss of Salvation if they neglect to comply with these terms on which it is offered but they will thereby Sin against God and so aggravate their Guilt and in this respect the Gospel may well be called the Law of Christ Hence we are told Acts 17. 30. Now God commandeth all men every where to repent i. e. Now when the Gospel is promulgated and 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. 9 This being a perfect Rule requires every sort of personal perfection in us Our perfection must needs consist in our conformity to the Rule of it and if so we cannot be entirely perfect unless our conformity be as large as the duties which are required by it and that not only in all the parts of it by answering to every precept in it and having a respect to all the Commandments of God but also in the degrees of our compliance with it which must consist in such an Holiness as hath not the least mixture of the contrary in it that doth not only do the thing but doth it with that accuracy that there be nothing wanting in the matter of it with that diligence that we never fail either in omission or commission with that intenseness of love that hath no mixture of reluctancy or backwardness with that singleness of heart that hath no allay or mixture of any sinister aimes or ends and with that constancy that we hold on without wavering to the end which though none of the Children of God ever did or shall in this life attain unto yet it is the perfection which we are called to aspire after and not to rest in any thing short of it but to be in an earnest pursuit of it as long as we abide here and till we reach it in the Kingdom of Glory And that this is required of us will appear if we consider 1. That every thing short of this Perfection is
that are partakers of the outward benâ—fits of it when he comes to Convert any Sinners among them to Christ and make theâ— to accept of him as a Saviour he lays theâ— under the terrors of the Law Moral by shewing them what is therein required of theâ— and what they are to expect at the hands â— a Righteous God if those demands be nâ— fully answered and by this he convinceâ— them of their misery and self impotency â— deliver themselves from it thereby making way for their hearkning after and giving the greatest welcome to a Redeemer On this account is the Law called our School-master â—nto Christ Gal. 3. 24. Because by it we are acquainted with our need of him and excited to seek after him There is then no doubt to be made but that the same perfection is required of them notwithstanding their being in the visible Kingdom of Christ Whereas true Converts or such as have believed in Christ are delivered from this Severity i. e. they are no longer under the Law as a Covenant pronouncing of them dead men if they fail of their Obedience in the least â—unctilio and the reason is because they are â—rought under the Covenant of Grace by which they are freed from the former according to Rom. 6. 14. Sin shall not have dominiâ— over you for ye are not under the Law but â—nder Grace 2. The question is not with respect to our Justiâ—ation before God The Justification of fallen â—an hath not the least regard to any persoâ—al Obedience of theirs as having an influâ—nce Causall into it and consequently it can â—ave no respect to any kind of perfection of â— Gospel Justification cometh altogether by â—e Imputation of the Righteousness of another â— us viz. that of Christ which was for that â—nd provided by God for us and is called his Righteousness Phil. 3 9. The Righteousness that is of God by faith and so it is not ours Personal or Inherent but by acceptation for us It is calâ—ed the Justification of a Sinner or of the Ungodly Rom. 4. 5. And therefore must needs have a respect to that Law in relation whereto the man is a Sinner which is the Moral Law under obligation whereto all men do stand as they derive from the first Adam to whom it was given for himself and his posterity and hence it must have a Righteousness to answer it every way as perfect as that Law required which no fallen man is able in himself to pay nor can any offer it for him but Christ only They wholly mistake the very nature of Gospel Justification who allow any Righteousness short of that to have any concernment in it and since by the fall man is become Guilâ—y and so subjected to the Curse of the Law if he had a personal Righteousness as broad as that which the Law required of mâ—n in integrity yet that would not satisfie for the removal of his Guilt without which he cannot be Justified So that whether it be perfect or imperfect it signifies nothing here 3. Nor is the question about what Obedience of ours will find acceptance with God through Christ It is certaâ—n that no Obedience of ours will be at all accepted of us out of him and it is also beyond doubt that the imperfection which attends the sincere Services of Gods Children will not procure that these Services of theirs should be rejected by him for if so it were impossible thaâ—â—ny of us in this imperfect state that abides us should ever please God in any thing that we do which must needs be an invincible discouragement to us in doing any duties that are required of us but then it is through Christ that they find acceptance with him In this respect it is that the sincerity which Godâ— Children do express in their Obedience is so often called perfection in the Scriptures Joh is said to be a perfect man and upright Joh 1. 1. by Reason that being â—ffered to God with Christs incense it finds favour with him and he smelleâ—h a sweet savour in it notwithstanding that according to the Law it would have been utterly rejected by reason of the concomitant defects So that the true Believer who serves God in integrity is not to be discouraged because he finds his best to come so far behind of that perfection which the Law prescribes to men but is to look to the gracious encouragement which is giâ—en to them who love God in sincerity 4. But it is with regard to the obligation to New Obedience that lies upon Justâ—fied Believers It presupposeth them to be in a state of Justification and looks upon them as under the Government of Christ and owing â— Service to him There are indeed those who deny that any such obligation lieth upon the Children of God and that the Law Moral no longer binds them under duty of conformity unto it but that upon their believing in Christ they are freed from any such engagement this is purely Antinomian and bespeaks all the precept given to the Children of God under the Gospel to be wholly in vain or only to concern such as are as yet unregenerate for the awakening them to betake themselves to Christ and seek an interest in him by faith and not at all to belong to those that are already partakers in the grace of God but why then have the Children of God that title of Obedient put upon them and are called upon to express it by this conformity 1 Pet. 1. 14. As obedient children not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts c. Supposing then such an Obedience as this to be our duty which prerequires a principle to be put into us impowring us to a compliance with it in order to our actual performance of it our enquiry is about the extensiveness of it or how far it is our duty to endeavour after perfection in it and for the clearing of this Case we may take the following Conclusions into Consideration 1. That the design of the New Covenant in which the Grace of it is to appear is to bring fallen man back to a state of blessedness It was because mankind were become wofully miserable by the Apostasy of Adam in which they all fell and there was no room left for any remedy to be afforded to them by the Covenant of Works inasmuch as the Law could no longer give life Gal. 3. 21. And God had a pity for some of that unhappy race would save them that he opened a New Covenant in which he makes the displays of his rich Grace to them Now as it was the glory of his Grace that God had a regard to ultimately in this Contrivance so the way in which he would exalt this Attribute and make it illustrious and for ever admirable was in their Salvation So that the Salvation of lost Sinners is inseparably connected with and nextly subordinated to this last end of God because in and by it he will accomplish it In
which Salvation they are delivered from that misery under which they were fallen by reason of sin unto all that felicity which they had so lost hence we are told that it is by Grace that we are saved Eph 2 8. on which account it is called the Grace of God which brings Salvation Tit. 2 11. When therefore the undone Sinner is brought to the enjoyment of perfect felicicity then hath the Grace of God accomplished its design 2. That in order to the bringing about of this purpose of God there are two things requisite to be done for the man viz The Justification of his person and the Sanctification of his nature The ground of this is because there is a double misery befallen the man by the Apostasy viz. Guilt which hath rendred him obnoxious to the wrath of God yea brought him under a sentence of Condemnation binding him over to suffer the whole Curse that is contained in the threatning of Death unto the execution whereof the Justice of God stands engaged in the Covenant of works And Pollution by which his nature is depraved and fallen under the Dominion of Sin which reigns as a King in him and so he is rendred utterly impotenâ— to the doing of that which is good and iâ— which his formal happiness did consist and alâ— his powers are violently bent to that which is evil and so long as these two abide upon him he cannot be happy but must needs be miserable As long as the man lies under the Curses of the Law a Prisoner of Revenging Justice doomed to suffer all the wrath that is contained in the threatnings that are out against Sinners in which the quintessence of alâ— evil is contained and is held fettered in Cordâ— of Iniquity so as that he can do nothing of that business which he was made for but is by the force of his carnal lusts hurried and precipitated into repeated provocations of God he must needs be a miserable Creature Nor can he be recovered to a state of blessedness but by the removal of both these evils from him and if either of them remain upon him he is incapable of being a blessed man in that condition The former of these is done by Justification and the latter by Sanctification In the one his Condemnation is removed his Guilt is taken away he is acquitted from the Law and delivered from all danger of suffering the direful penalties of it yea and is adjudged to life to partake in the good that is laid up in the promise in the latter his nature is restored and renewed again and he is rendred able to Serve God in newness of life he who before was unprofitable is now made profitable and can glorify God which was his last end And for this reason both these benefits of the new Covenant are so much celebrated in the Gospel both of these are included in that reason of the Name which was put upon Christ at his birth Matth. 1. 21. Thou shalt call his Name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins And in Gods taking away all iniquity from them Hos 14. 2. 3. That the end of this Sanctification is to make him a fit subject to enjoy true blessedness It is true without Justification of the mans person and in it a pardon of his Sins applied to him he cannot be happy for how is it possible that he should be so as long as the wrath of God abides on him and he is every moment liable to the fearful stroke of Divine Vengeance which is ready to fall on him and cut him off Whereas if once this state of his be changed and he is a Justified and Pardoned man he is forthwith blessed according to Psal 32. 1. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Yet this alone is not sufficient for his actual enjoyment of the felicity promised in the New-Covenant for true blessedness can only consist in the closure of the faculty with its Object and resting satisfyed in it for without satisfaction the man is not happy and that it may thus do it is necessary that there be a suitableness between the faculty and the object how else should it either close with or take real content in it Now the blessedness which God hath laid in to entertain his people withall is suited only to Holiness in the subject of it so that without it it is impossible that the man should ever participate in it or be delighted with it Heb. 12. 14. Without Holiness no man shall see God So that the sinful pollution which is upon the very nature of fallen man by reason of the sin that dwells in him renders him in the present condition and so long as he abides under the prevailing efficacy of it altogether unmeet for blessedness yea indeed incapable of it He cannot have Communion with God in which his felicity must consist for God alone is an happifying object nor if he could can he take any content to himself in it because God is Holy and such is the fellowship which he holds with the Creature than which nothing can be more contrary to the corruption wherewith his nature is defiled We read of A meetness for the Inheritance of the Saints Col. 1. 12. â—hich meetness implies a suitable disposition â—â—s thereto in which it is absolutely requisite â—t there be in us such gracious qualifications â— render us conformable to the Inheritance it â—f these we have not in us by nature as we â—rive it from the unclean fountain from which â—â— are originated for Who can bring a cleanâ—â—g out of an unclean It must then be done â— Sanctification in and by which we are assiâ—ilated to our Inheritance because hereby â—â— are made holy and so are fitted for the â—joyment of the holy place and of all those â—ly things which are there prepared to make â— happy in it 4. That the man can only be truly blessed in the â—rifying of God and enjoying of him The â—essedness of the Reasonable Creature requires â—e concurrence of two things to make it comâ—eat viz. Well doing and Wâ—ll being nor can â—ther of these be alone A man is then happy â—â—en he fully reacheth the end that he was â—ade for now man was made for God not â—ly Ultimately but Immediately too and to â—se this end must needs be his misery Now Gods Glory being his own last end in all his â—orks of Efficiency hence it follows that the â—ast end oâ— all these works of â—his must be to â—erve to that glory how else should he obtain â—is end by it in the event And every one of â—is Creatures is to Serve to this end agreeably to that nature which God put into it when hâ— made it in which he bestowed on it a capâ—city of so serving his design by it Accordingly man was made capable of doingly this aâ—ively inasmuch as he was endowed with suâ— powers as enabled him to act as a cause
â— counsel and make choise of his way anâ— therefore it is only by his so doing that he caâ— reach the great end of his being in his miâ—sing of this he becomes Vain for what else â— vanity but the missing or falling short of one end That the man may attain this end it â— requisite that he have a power in him to Servâ— to it and what else is that power but Holiness Created Holiness in man is nothing else buâ— that rectitude in his whole nature and all thâ— powers of it whereby he is enabled enclineâ— to live be to the Glory of God in all things And from the exerting of this principle dâ— proceed all his holy actions Man in his lapseâ— estateis without this principle having lost it by his unhappy fall it must therefore be again restored to him in Sanctification else he cannot Serve God Now mans Well being is consequent upon the former God only is an adequate object for him or a sufficient portion for him to make him blessed he must theâ— enjoy him if ever it be well with him for iâ— this fruition his actual felicity must consist for could he obtain and have the full freedom oâ— using all that is in heaven and earth separatâ— from God he were still miserable the Psalmisâ— could say Psal 73. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is nothing on earth that I desire with thee and the only way for our enjoying of God is by glorifying in him It is sin that hath made the woful separation which hath procured our infelicity Isa 59. 2. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God And what is sin but a coming short of the glory of God Rom. 3. 23. God therefore hath fully declared that he will bestow this favour upon none but those that honour him 1 Sam. 2. 3â— Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed 5. That for this Active personal glorifying of God man must have a Rule It is not enough that he have an inward principle of Sanctification put into him whereby he is disposed unto this Service and empowred for the discharging of it though without it he must needs fall short of his great end but he must also have a directory to shew him his way in which this work is to be done As there must be an heart in us enclining of us to Glorify God else we cannot move one step towards it so there must be a way according to which we are to encline our selves hereunto It is certain that there are those things whereby God is dishonoured in the lives of the Children of men as well as those whereby they do honour him and how should the man be able either to avoid the one or rightly to prosecute the other except he have something to guide his steps and order his Conversation by for this therefore there must be a Rule laid before him hence God tells them Mic. 6 8. He hath shewn thee Oh man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to dâ— justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God the promise therefore is made to such as live conformably to this Rule Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this Rule peace be on them and mercy and it is the alone prerogative of God not only to require Service of his Creature which it ows to him as he is its supream Lord and Owner but also to prescribe to it how and wherein he will be Served by it He who is our Lord and King is our Law giver too Isa 33. 22. And he must some way or other reveal this to them that are concerned in it how else should they know how to order their conversation aright so as to see his Salvation It is by this Rule that they are to square all their actions they must therefore look upon it and apply it to every step David saith Psal 119. 105. Thy word is a light to my feet and a lamp to my path but this it cannot be except they be acquainted with it so that they must receive it from him in order to their practising of it 1 Thes 4. 1. We exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more 6. The Moral Law was at first given to man to be this Rule As there is a Common Government which God exerciseth over the Creation so there is a Special Government by which he leads Intelligent Rational Agents to the end they are appointed to Now this Law was the Rule of Gods special Government with respect to mankind This Law is by some made the same with and by others divers from the law of nature but if we reckon the law of nature to be that which was engraven on the heart of man at the first it may be well reckoned for the same This was every way suited to the nature of man it was fitted for the guiding of such a creature to its last end in all the things in which he was concerned The sanctified understanding in man during his state of integrity not only could read the inscriptions of it on his heart but saw and approved the reasonableness and equity of it yea the convictions of a natural Conscience in fallen man do prove that he cannot withstand the righteousness of it Rom. 2. 14 15. Man was to obey this Law in all things and to be happy in that Obedience Rom. 10. 5. The man that doth these things shall live by thèm see Jam. 1. 25. The threatning indeed was annexed to the Sacrament of that Covenant Gen. 2 17. In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dy but every Article in it or precept of it being ratified by that Seal it so sealed up and confirmed the whole of it unto man and had a reference to every duty that was contained therein This was the same Law which had a new edition of it at Mount Sinai where God published it and registred it on Tables of Stone summed it up in ten Precepts which comprized in them the summe and substance of mans duty and wherein he was bound to Serve and Glorifie God in his whole course reaching both his heart and his life the matter manner end of all he did 7. Though the Sanctions of that Law as a Covenant be removed in respect to believers yet as a Rule it abides for ever Under the Covenant of Grace neither is the promise of bestowing a reward of life upon mens performing of perfect personal Obedience nor the threatning of punishing the least defect in that Obedience with death any longer of force in regard of the Children of God and the reason is because the Law of Works hath ceased to be a Covenant to them upon their accepting the terms of and being admitted into the
the fitting of him unto this great work Now this he did in his state of Humiliation the application of this belongs especially to his Exalted State Acts 5. 31. Him hath God exalted c. to give Repentance to Israel and remission of sins but he laid in for it in bis humbled state which was therefore introductory to the other as we are told in Phil. 2. 7 8. 9. In this he made the atonement without which Guilt could never have been removed hitherto belongs that â— Cor. 5. 21. He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God through him in this his blood was made cleansing blood for the purifying us from all our iniquities according to 1 Joh. 1. 7. The Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin 3. That the Reason of this was because there were some that needed it whom God purposed to make partakers in the benefits of it As if mans sin had not brought him to that exigency that without such a fountain he must have perished for ever Christ had not come so if God had not resolved to impart the efficacy of it to some such necessitous ones he would never have been at the charge of providing it God did not only intend the provision and exhibition of this fountain that so if any would come to and make use of it they might be saved from their Sins by it if that had been all Christ had died in vain for it is certain that none of fallen men would ever of their own accord come to him that is true of all till Christ draws them Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life The natural man loveth his Sin and delighteth to wallow in the mire of his uncleanness but God chose some from eternity to be made the monuments of his rich Grace in taking away all their iniquities and he provided Christ for this end and therefore all such he designed this for shall come to Christ Jâ— 6. 37. All that the father hath given me shaâ— come unto me they shall be cleansed and washed and healed 4. That they may partake in this benefit there must be a saving application of the vertue of it tâ— them These waters quench the thirst of the Soul by being drank of they wash off the Guilt and filth which cleaves to the Soul by being washed with them they heal the mortal diseases which Sin had infected â—â— withal by the influence of the sanative vertue of them on the Soul It is not enough that they have all these good qualities â—â— them the Gospel therefore acquaints us with an Application consequent upon the Redemptiâ—â— wrought out by Christ whereby he becomes ours and we are saved by him and hereupon life is restrained to our having of Christ 1 Joh. 5. 12. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life 5. It is savingly applied to those only who comâ— to him by saving faith in him for it Faith is the uniting Grace by which we are made one with Christ and receive him to be our own for all the ends of his Mediatorship This therefore is the great Gospel condition on which Christ is offered to be made ours and we are given to understand that if thus we do not receive him we shall not partake in his saving mercies Mark 16. 16. He that beâ—ieves shall be saved and he that believes not shall â—e damned And as faith comes to Christ so it draws the waters out of this fountain it fetcheth in supplies from Christ continually Heb. 10. 38. The Just shall live by his faith 6. God himself is the Author of this Faith in order to our participation in these benefits Faith is not of our selves it is the gift of God Eph. 2. 8. God by his Spirit puts this grace into us and enables us to exert it and that which he aims at in this is to bring us to Christ by it and so give us a title to these living waters that they may be ours and we may challenge a property in them and make use of them for all our occasions continually 7. Hence all that do thus come to him shall receive this vertue from him Whosoever is united unto Christ the fountain of life shall live by him Where God gives faith he gives all that is connected in the proâ—ise with it All saving good is firmly promised to believing God therefore on our believing pardons our sin the Guilt of it passeth off our persons are freed from Condemnation and he sanctifies our hearts by laying a foundation of holiness in us which though imperfect at present and mixed with deâ—â—lement yet shall in due time aim at entire holiness without spot or blemish Hence we have that title put upon believing Heb. 10. 39. We are of them that believe to the 〈◊〉 of the Soul USE I. This may serve to Commend Chriâ—â— to the Sinful Children of men as a desiraâ—â— object And surely there is nothing that 〈◊〉 more set him forth as a suitable and necessaâ— one than this consideration In nothing coâ—â— he have been more accommodable to the coâ—dition of fallen man for his relief Let thâ— the contemplation of this draw your eyes aâ— your hearts after him and render him in yâ—â— esteem most precious and desirable And â— this end Consider 1. You are all by nature under the Guilt and â— filement of Sin This is the state of all mankind and indeed if we look upon Sin in its relaâ—â—ons it will infer this As it relates to the â—â—venant of works and the Sanctions of that â— it involves Guilt Sin is the Transgression of â—â— Laâ— and that Law hath ordained Death to â— the wages of every Transgression of it Rom 6. 23 The wages of sin is Death And by vertue of this Ordination the Sinner is held a faâ— Prisoner of the Law obnoxious to destruction And if we look upon Sin as it relates â—â— the Sanctity or purity of the Law of God â—â— it pollutes the man stains him with uncleanneâ— Now there is none of you but besides the imputation of the Guilt of the first Transgression have a corrupt fountain of Original Sin in yoâ—â— and innumerable actual pollutions which you have made your selves odious withall hence that Prov. 20. 9. Who can say I have made mine â—â—art clean I am pure from my sin 2. Your misery is unconceivably great whiles you are under the Dominion of these Indeed all mans misery began upon his Sinning and â—here are two springs from whence all this inâ—â—licity flows viz. Guilt and Filthiness nor can â—â— be taken off but by the removal of these And one would think the greatness of your misery should rouse you up to seek a deliverance from it and you may know that it is â—â—comparably great by viewing the effects of â—â— which are 1. By Sin you are exposed to the whole Curse of â—â— Law And that is of the
very nature of Guilt that attends upon Sin before it is pardoned for Guilt is nothing else but the binding of the curse upon the Sinner And did you but know or would you but look over and ponder upon the contents of the Curse as it is recorded in the word of God it would certainly fill you with terrours It is contracted in a narrow word Death but if that word be spread abroad and all the contents of it laid open to view they will fill a prodigious Roll such as that described in Zech. 5. 2 3. All the Evils of Loss and Sense which the Sinner can undergo belong to it all the sorrows that can betide â—ither the body or the soul are engrossed in it all the punishments in this life and in aâ—â— ther world relate to it it hath its inchoaâ—â—â— in time and the consummation of it is reservâ— for an amazing Eternity This is your portiâ—â— because of Sin for all the wrath of God abidâ— on you Joh. 3. 36. 2 By Sin you are become vain and unprofitableâ— and this ariseth from the Uncleanness that adherâ— to it For such a Creature as man to live aâ—â— be in vain is an inexpressible misery heâ—â— that complaint Psal 89. 47. Wherefore hast tâ—â— made all men in vain It is acknowledged â—â— all hands that mans formal happiness conâ—â— in Eupraxy or well doing it was therefoâ—â— his great priviledge that he was made at â—â— every way fitted for it Eccl. 7. 29. God â—â— man upright David observes that in keeping â—â— Commands of God there is a great reward Psâ— 19. 11. To glorify God is an happy emploâ—ment but Sin hath stript you of this powâ—â— and leâ—t you utterly unable for it Rom 3. 2â— All have sinned and fallen short of the glory â— God And this hath brought the title oâ— Vâ—â— upon man because by it he hath lost the eâ— that he was directed to and made for aâ—â— thus haâ—h Sin put you below the most bruâ—iâ— of bruit Creatures who do all in their stâ—tion and capacity glorify God and weâ— you not most stupid you could not but â—â—terly bewail this infelicity of yours 3. There is no remidying of your mâ—sery but â— removing of these from you The man must of â—ecessity be unhappy so long as there is a Senâ—ence of Death out against him pronounced â—y the mouth of an holy and just God and he goes every moment in danger of the execution of it upon him and the power of the whole Creation cannot rescue him from it and so it is with every Unregenerate one Isa 57. 21. There is no peace to the wicked saith my God Nor can the sinner serve to the noble end of â—is being so long as he is altogether unclean â—nd hath nothing on him but wounds ulcers and putrifying sores whiles he is a slave to impure lusts he must needs endure a wretched â—ondage and may well cry out as he in Rom. â— 24. O wretched man that I am who shall deâ—ver me 4. This relief is to be had no where else You may go through the world and try every â—hing in it and whatsoever other help you may possibly find in it yet in this great case and only distressing exigence it can afford you none at all There is no second being that can take away either the Guilt or the â—â—lth of Sin the whole world will not make a â—pâ—ice equivalent for the buying off the Sentence that is upon you and afford you Redemption this is clearly intimated in Psal 49. 6 7. And the reason is given Verse 8 For their Redemption is precious and it ceaseth for ever All your legal courses will not take away the stain and defilement that is upon you by reason of sin what saith God to them Jer. 2. 22. Though thou wash thee with nitre and take thâ—â— much sâ—pe yet thine iniquity is marked before mâ— saith the Lord God 5. This Fountain will answer both these endâ— compleatly The vertue of it extends hither and it must needs so do because Godâ— Infinite wisdom provided it on purpose for this desigâ— and he cannot fail of his end David haâ— contracted horrible Guilt and polluted himself by his great sin yet he presumes of being clean from both if God will but apply this â—â— him Psal 51. 7 Purge me wiâ—h hyssope and â— shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter thâ—â— the snow The effectual application of this wilâ— take away sin so throughly as if it had neveâ— been for we arâ— told in Numb 23. 21 God hath seen no iniquity in Jacoâ— nor perverseness â— Israel 6. And it stands Open to you for this end and you are invited to come to it for this purpose God lays before you the matter of conviction of your great Guilt and contamination to make you see your absolute need â—f this fountain and that this Conviction may â—oâ— drive yoâ— to discouraging distress he bids you come to it and apply your selves to obtain the vertâ—â— oâ— it and tells you what wonders it shall dâ— for you upon this account Isa 1. 16. with 1â— Wash you make you clean c. Though your sins â— as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wâ—ol Bless God for this discovery and negleâ—â— not to make this use of it if you love the life of your Souls USE II. We have here a Rule by which we may Try whether we have a true interest in this Fountain And it very highly concerns every one to put himself upon this tryal for Consider 1. If you have no title to it your condition is very fearfull That Siâ— and Uncleanness under the efficacy whereof every unregenerate man abides is certainly destructive to him either it must be taken away or it will work your eternal ruine This is implyed when God invites them to Repentance under that encouragement Ezek. 18. 30. So iniquity shall not be your ruine If this fountain had not been prepared and opened we had all perished without hope and though there is a good hope set before all such as are pointed to it and bidden to make use of it yet if you do not comply with this offer and receive Christ according to the tenour of it you will miss of the benefit and be undone for all Christ expresly told them in Joh. 8. 24. If ye believe not that I am he ye shall dy in your sins And I am sure that man who dies in â—is sins is undone to all Eternity 2. If you think you have a Title and are deceived in it your case is next to desperate Of all men there are none that stand in greater hazard of unavoidable ruine than such as nourish themselves with a good opinion of their saâ—â— estate when it is far otherwise This fosteâ— in them a carnal confidence which make them to neglect that great duty of giving all diligence to make their Calling and Election