at first created with us 3. The finger that writes it is the Spirit or the writer is Christ and the ink is the Spirit and the table is the heart in which the Spirit works the habits of all Grace De spiritu litera Cap. 3. Austin has decided it against the Pelagians that there must not only be freedom of will in men and a teaching and a moral perswasion from God which they hold and the Papists and Arminians since but there must be an almighty work of the Spirit of God upon a man creating in him a new nature and putting into a man inward dispositions answerable unto what the Law of God doth require and that by a hand without and so writing does signifie something wrote in a man from without and that I conceive to be the meaning of Rom. 2.15 Rom. 2.15 The work of the Law written in their hearts all the outward acts of obedience that they do and their Consciences accusing or excusing them all those are but the fruits of the work the efficacy of the Law that is written in their hearts We do not read that the Law is said to be written in Adams heart only God created man righteous but writing notes rather an act from an extrinsecal hand And therefore I should rather conceive those practic notions Rom. 2.15 to be written in man by the common work of the Spirit of Christ than to be left in him after the fall not the dross of the old Adam but the foundation of the new c. so that the Spirit of God has his works wrought in both only in the one by a common hand in the other by a saving work 4. The thing that the Spirit of God doth write there is the whole Law he doth write the Gospel and all the Promises thereof he doth take of Christ and shew it unto you Joh. 16. he reveals his glory to you and the preciousness of Gospel-promises and priviledges and a man does believe them and is transformed into them He does also shew a man the Law of God and a man is transformed into the likeness thereof even the whole Law so that a man has respect unto all the Commandments there is an universal change for there is not any part of the Law but it is written within him Civil men may have something of the Law put into their hearts as the Heathen had and they may shew forth something of the work of the efficacy of this Law in their hearts and in their lives also but they have but half the copy but where the Spirit of God does write the Law savingly he writes the whole Law 5. The Law is written in the heart as it is written in a Proposition that which is written in the greatest Letters in the Law hath the greatest Characters in a mans soul and that which is most often repeated in the Law that is most often repeated in the heart and therefore Rom. 6.17 Rom. 6.17 There is a form of doctrine into which you were delivered as into a mould Now in a thing cast into a mould as there is not the least scratch in the mould but it will appear in the thing moulded thereby so answerable unto the impression in the mould will the impression be in the thing and if it be deeper in the one it will be deeper in the other now to know God and to fear him to cleave unto the Lord Christ and honour him and obey him these are the great things of the Law of God wherefore for men to neglect these and have their hearts much taken up though about truths yet things of less consequence and lay out the whole intention of their spirits in these to tythe mint and cummin and to be all in meat and drink and neglect true godliness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost in which the Kingdom of God consists mainly this is an evil sign and an argument there is not the right moulding of the Law in the heart 6. Lastly It notes an abiding and continuing of the Law there as things written are for continuance and for after times So Jer. 17.1 The iniquity of Judah is written with the pen of iron that is they are so set upon sin and so hardened in it that there is little or no hope of their repentance their sin is written in the stains and the guilt of it upon their souls So Prov. 3.3 we are exhorted To write the Law upon the tables of our hearts that is by constant observation and meditation to fix them and to imprint them So that the Law is said to be written in our hearts for continuance the Law that was concreated with us in Adam Satan has blotted out but when the Spirit of God does write it there again by the finger of God surely it is that it may be never more obliterated or blotted out Mat. 11.30 Christ saith Mat. 11.30 Take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easie so that Christ suffers not his people to go without a yoke he is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lawless as to his actions he is not a son of Belial which Glassius saith signifies a man without a yoke and this yoke is the obedience which in the Gospel the Lord requires and that is nothing else but the obedience of the Law for though Christ hath fulfilled it yet it lies upon us still as a duty though not by way of satisfaction to be performed and this yoke is mainly upon the souls and the spirits of men Now writing the Law in the heart is a perfect conformity of a mans inward man unto the Law of God and all duties that the Lord requires and this is it that makes the yoke easie because it is become another nature an inward principle and what a man does so work from is not burdensome there is a potentia visiva a visive power in the eye therefore it is not weary of seeing and there is a principle a law of motion in the nature of the Sun and therefore it is not weary of motion because it works from an inward principle Men do evil with both hands earnestly and are never weary the reason is because they work from an inward principle And in this conformity unto the will of God which is taking up the yoke 1 There is obedientia voti the obedience of desire when a man desires to obey God in all things and has a careful respect unto all the Commandments and desires to make his heart perfect with the Law of God 2 Obedientia conformitatis obedience of conformity when a man does in some measure answer the Law of God in his actions and in the workings of his inward man 3 Obedientia resignationis obedience of resignation when a man can wholly give up himself to it as to the perfect Law with joy and delight love the law and finds sweetness in it and sees a goodness in whatever it requires and
given them upon their understandings from without 4 He doth order all their actions that there is not any thing they do but it is according to the rule and dominion that he hath over them not a sparrow falls to the ground without my Father The lot is cast into the lap but the determination is from God not the smallest or the meanest ordinary and casual things but they are at his dispose all come under his government and are subjected unto his dominion 1 From him all is received 2 Unto him all shall give an account Kings and Rulers he is the Judge of all the Earth and they that now judge shall then be judged and Christ himself shall give up his account unto the Father as he is Gods King he rules from him and for him 3 Unto him at last all shall be reduced it 's true by way of oeconomy and dispensation for a while there is a Kingdom in the hand of the Angels and the Magistrates and in the hand of Christ but Christ shall put down all rule and authority and he shall give up his own into the hand of the Father that God may be all in all so that all Nations shall be returned unto him as of him are all things so to him shall be all things 3 It is an absolute Dominion for it 's wholly according to his will 1 He hath none to give laws unto him or set him down the rules of his government all other governours in the world have their rules set them by which they are to rule and to dispense all things but he doth whatever he will in heaven and in earth he doth pluck up and he doth build up he doth kill and he doth make alive and all is at his will and he doth whatever he will in heaven and in earth and in the sea Dan. 4.32 according to his will he works in the armies of the heavens and in the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him What dost thou none can restrain him none can call him to an account for it and say Why hast thou done this Shall the clay say to the Potter Why hast thou made me thus he gives not account of any of his matters he only rules by will without giving a reason Therefore amongst the creatures there is no such thing as an absolute Monarchy in which men should rule by will for men are to rule as men that is by reason and by love an absolute Monarchy is but absolute Tyranny there must be known rules by which they must govern but so doth not the Lord there is none to prescribe to him for his will is the rule of goodness non ideò volitum quia bonum sed ideò bonum quia volitum a thing is not therefore willed by God because good but it 's therefore good because willed for there is nothing that is good antecedent to the will of God 2 It is absolute in respect of the greatest things all being under his dispose not only mens temporal but their eternal estates he can shew mercy unto one because he will and he can harden another and it is because he will one shall be for the glory of his grace and another for the glory of his justice and he doth it freely and hath no reason but his own will one shall be high and another low one in honour and another in dishonour one shall be imployed and another laid aside one shall be raised from the dunghil and set amongst Princes and made to inherit the Throne of Glory for the pillars of the earth are the Lords and he hath set the world upon them 1 Sam. 28. he will sometimes work by means and according to their nature and sometimes he will lay the means aside and he will work without them and sometimes contrary unto them that the battel shall not be unto the strong nor the race to the swift nor favour to men of understanding but there is a disposing a time and a chance which shall befal them all Eccles 9.11 by which he doth mean the disposing of the highest power but it is called chance quia illa ordinatio ab homine non cognoscitur that ordination is not known to man and all is that man may find nothing after him he will not go by any ruled cases that so all the world may see that he hath an absolute Soveraignty and hath no other rule for his government but his will only § 2. This Soveraignty of God is during the stage of this world committed into the hand of Christ as Mediator for he it is doth act and exercise all the attributes of God as all threatnings are executed by him and by him all promises are performed so all the attributes of God are exerted by him and therefore Col. 1.15 He is the image of the invisible God there we may see all the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ Joh. 5.22 He hath committed all judgment to the Son judicium dominium significat he it is upon whose shoulders the government is he bears up all things and he rules all things by the word of his power in heaven and in earth and therefore he is called 1 Tim. 6.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The only Potentate not that God the Father is put out of authority but he rules in and by his Son as he will at the last day execute judgment by him and he hath given him power to execute judgment because he is the Son of man and this Kingdom that he hath received he shall surely give up unto the Father again 1 Cor. 15.24 And the Kingdom of God which is committed unto Christ is twofold spiritual and providential 1. It is spiritual by which he doth rule in the souls of the Saints in heaven and in earth in the one it is a Kingdom of Glory and in the other of Grace which is called the Kingdom of God Rom. 14.17 The kingdom of God consists not in meat and drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost The kingdom of God comes not with observation Luk. 10.21 the kingdom of God is within you and in this Kingdom 1 he sets up a Throne in the souls of men and appears unto them in his glory as a great King and they see him and know him so to be Rev. 4.3 there is a glorious high Throne and the Lord sits thereon and they do worship before him they look upon him as a King upon his Throne though it be called a Throne of Grace 2 As a King he gives Laws unto the soul and binds the inward man that what they do is for conscience sake Rom. 13.5 Act. 23.1 I have lived in all good conscience for Conscience is regulated by a Law that 's a good conscience and none can prescribe laws to conscience but God alone for it is in vain for man to give a Law unto that which he cannot
in his Temple he rules in a more special manner and he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Therefore in the souls and in the hearts of Saints Christ hath a rule Rom. 14.17 Rom. 14.17 The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace c. It is spoken here both of the kingdom of grace and of glory both which are commonly in Scripture called the Kingdom of God and the meaning is that the kingdom of grace doth not consist in these neither do these lead to the kingdom of glory or prepare the soul for it regnum gratiae in his non consistit per haec regnum gloriae non acquiritur but it is in righteousness and peace and joy and these are acts wrought upon the soul and the inward man and therefore the Kingdom of Christ the spiritual Kingdom is over the souls of the Saints and it 's a Throne erected in their hearts 2. Wherein doth this spiritual Kingdom consist which he doth exercise over the Saints It 's a Throne that Christ sets up in the Conscience which doth order and command the whole man and that in the name and by the authority of God There is a twofold Throne of Christ in the spiritual Kingdom 1 There is a Throne that he erects in his Ordinances Rev. 4.4 when all his people are gathered together about him all the Saints sit down at his feet Deut. 33.3 that they may receive a Law from his mouth as their King 2 There is also another Throne of Christ in the spiritual Kingdom and that is in the Conscience which is properly the Throne of God and therefore the great work of Christs rule is in the conscience of the Saints Acts 23.1 I have lived in all good conscience and my care is to keep a good conscience void of offence Acts 29.16 Heb. 13.18 We have a good conscience desiring in all things to live honestly It 's true that the Lord doth rule in the whole soul and there is no faculty that is not brought into subjection the understanding and the will there is not a thought or a reasoning any thing that is the issue of the soul 2 Cor. 10.5 2 Cor. 10.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 leading captive every thought and we know captives were not only subdued by conquest but they were led in Triumph and they were afterwards made use of for service and so it is in the Kingdom of Christ in the inward man but yet the Throne is the Conscience it is true that the power of a King reaches throughout the whole Kingdom and they are all governed by him but yet the place of his residence and the Royal Seat is in some eminent place of the Nation and though Jesus Christ rules in the whole soul and dwells in the heart by faith yet the Throne is mainly in the conscience and therefore the assenting act of faith the accusing act of faith and the commanding act of faith is mainly in the conscience 1 Pet. 3.21 it is the answer of a good conscience by the Resurrection of Christ c. Now conscience what is it Est judicium intellectûs practici prout subjicitur judicio Dei It is the judgment of the practic intellect as subjected to the judgment of God It is this that hath the great command of the man that whatever he doth he is to do for conscience sake Rom. 13.5 and whatever he doth scruple or doubt of it should be for conscience sake 1 Cor. 10.25 for it speaks in the person of God unto the man and therefore even to go against an erring conscience is a sin because the authority of Christ is rejected in whole name conscience speaks it 's true that conscience is not the highest rule it is but regula regulata a rule ruled by the Divine love yet it is the highest rule in the man and it hath the power of subordination which Kings would fain take to themselves who pretend that they are subject to none but God and to give an account unto none else Magnus est Caesar sed solo Deo minor Tertul. This is true of conscience all the rest of the faculties are to give up their account unto the conscience it can call them all to an account but is subject unto no other thing in the man it is to give an account unto none but God and the Lord working upon men modo connaturali in a connatural way conscience being the leading power that God hath placed in man the Lord comes mainly into that and by it he doth rule and guide all the rest of the faculties and keep them in subjection and this will appear in two things 1 It 's conscience that doth receive the discharge for the man Heb. 9.9 therefore a man is said to be made perfect according unto the conscience so that when a mans conscience is acquitted from guilt and purged from pollution it 's then said to be made perfect and the man is perfected thereby and for this cause conscience hath an account to give of the man in reference unto all that office and authority in the man that Christ hath set him over Rom. 2.15 Their consciences accusing them it hath the power over the man in all persons it was in the Creation set over man by God but being renewed it is now set over the man by Christ and when he comes to give an account for we must all give an account of our selves to God Rom. 14.12 what is it in the man that shall give an account for him it is conscience that must make up our account at the last and great day and in the Saints then will the Lord pass a sentence in conscience and he will acquit it from its viatory office that hath a charge of the whole man It 's a great honour and a great trust and it is a great burden to take the charge of the man and make an account for all ordinances all mercies all motions of the Spirit of God all opportunities of service that the man has had in this life 2 Because the main guilt of the man is charged upon the conscience as that by which all sin came in it 's neglecting its duty and holding a league and a confederacy with sin Tit. 1.15 Their consciences are defiled and it is by this that sin comes in and for this cause the wrath that is poured upon the man will come in by his conscience it will be as it were the funnel by which God will pour wrath into the whole soul because thereby Satan poured sin into the whole soul and for that cause the torment for ever lies mainly in the conscience and it shall be the faculty that shall torment the whole man it 's the worm that never dyes it is only the acts of conscience the soul turning in upon it self and its former ways and past hopes for ever now that which was the great Officer here that shall give
Promise to abstain from the sin forbidden and to perform the duty required So much for the compulsion of the Law 2. The Law works death by irritating sin 2. To such as are under the first Covenant the Law works Death and Condemnation by its Irritation of sin The Law was in its first Institution and still is to those that are under the second Covenant a sanctified Instrument for the restraining and keeping under of sin but to those that are under the first Covenant it proves accidentally by reason of the violence of Lust and Gods Curse an occasion of irritating and enraging sin It 's true the Law as a Crystal glass discovers the soveraign holy pleasure of God forbidding sin but doth not the lustful bent of mens hearts affect sin even because forbidden And the Law discovering unto such the pravity and vitiosity of sin how do their hearts boil up with hatred against the Law because it strikes at sin wherein they place their chiefest good Again when the Law comes to put a bridle and curb on their Lusts are they not hereby like an untamed Colt the more enraged and furious And is not this the genuine reason why such as live under the clearest and brightest promulgations of the Law oft have their lusts boiled up to the highest pitch Yea is it not hence that the unpardonable sin takes its first rise namely from the lusts of such who living under bright notices and discoveries of both Law and Gospel and receiving some tastes of good things to come at last continuing still under the first Covenant have their lusts more irritated by the Law Moreover the Law condemning such as are under the first Covenant for sin and thereby injecting sparks of Hell-fire into their Consciences the fire-brands of dreadful terrors and despair how are their lusts enflamed hereby what revenge against God what excess of riot are they hurried into hereby Doth not also the righteous God by an invisible secret Curse suffer such as desire to be under the Law as a Covenant to have their lusts irritated and exasperated thereby Lastly doth not the wise and holy God permit Satan so far to abuse the Law as thereby to draw men into sin And oh what a pleasure is it to Satan to make use of that which is most deâ—â—â—â—o God thereby to draw men into sin And doth not this discover to us the miserable 〈◊〉 of such as are under the first Covenant that the Law of God which is so excellent in its own nature and of such excellent use unto the Saints should be so much abused for the irritation of Lust It 's true the Law may sometimes irritate sin even in such as are under the New Covenant yet it is not from any dominion it has over such neither doth this irritation so far prevail as to bring forth fruit unto death as it doth in those under the first Covenant who are under the complete dominion of the Law unto whom it hath no other use but to exasperate and improve their lusts And as the Law so also the Gospel and all the means of Grace To such as are under the first Covenant the Gospel and all other Blessings prove Curses yea all the Providences of God and comforts of this life prove snares and curses to such as are under the first Covenant 1 What greater Jewel is there to be found or desired among the Sons of men than the Gospel of Grace Is not the heart and bosom of God hereby laid open unto sinners O! what sweet attractives and cords of love are there in the Gospel to draw the soul out of its miserable and sinful state unto eternal Beatitude And yet lo how is this rich odor of life turned into a pestiferous odor of death to such as are under the first Covenant Is not that which is in it self the greatest blessing made by such the greatest curse The same food that nourisheth Believers unto eternal life of what use is it to those under the first Covenant but to nourish their incurable disease of self-sufficience Are not these mens lusts offended at the spirituality and simplicity of the Gospel What false Glosses and Comments do they put thereon How is the Grace of the Gospel by such turned into wantonness what controversies to their lusts make about it 2 So also for all Means of Grace Providences and temporal blessings which draw the hearts of Believers nearer to God are not the hearts of those under the first Covenant driven from God thereby Do not all their Duties though never so Evangelic center in Self Is not this the great Idol unto which their hearts are chained do not all the lines of their Devotion and Religion terminate in this center Oh! what an ample field of Contemplation is this to expatiate in were not our Meditations confined to the limits of a Summary The Second Part of the following Discourse regards The Covenant of Grace The Covenant of Grace explicated in in the Explication whereof our Author is more copious distinct and potent even to Admiration The Heads discoursed of by him and the method he makes use of in discoursing of them may with facility be apprehended by the Table of Contents that which I design in this Summary is some short Reflexions on such Heads as are not directly or professedly discussed by our Author And 1. 1. Its differences from the first Covenant We shall begin with the Differences between the first and second Covenant 1 In the first Covenant God dealt with man in a way of soveraign Empire and Dominion mixed with infinite Wisdom Justice Benignity and somewhat of Grace though without the least dram of Mercy there was indeed something of Grace in appointing the Reward but nothing of Grace in the infallible conduct thereto But now in the second Covenant the principal motive and Fountain that gave origine thereto was free Grace and Bowels of warm tender Mercies what was the foundation of this Covenant but the absolute and soveraignly gracious pleasure of God Were there any Objective Ideas of good any reasons grounds or motives foreseen by God which moved him to give grace to Jacob rather than to Esau Did not Esau and Jacob stand on equal ground as to Divine Election Was not Esau Jacobs brother saith the Lord Yet I loved Jacob and hated Esau Mal. 1.2 3. It 's true the free Grace of God hath deep Reasons in it self but yet no reasons or motives without it self to move or rule it in its egresses towards the creature Yea doth not the Grace of God find as much and as good reasons in Esau as in Jacob in Cain and Judas as in Peter and Paul in the worst as in the best of Men by Nature Yea what more agreeable to the Methods and Designs of Grace than this to shew mercy to the vilest of sinners How oft doth the free grace of God take hold of such as are most graceless and whence
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