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A47465 The display of glorious grace, or, The covenant of peace opened in fourteen sermons lately preached, in which the errors of the present day about reconciliation and justification are detected / by Benjamin Keach. Keach, Benjamin, 1640-1704. 1698 (1698) Wing K58; ESTC R19782 172,719 330

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Divine Wrath brought him down to the Earth 3. Christ our Mediator must be God otherwise his Suffering or the purchase of his Blood could not have merited all that Grace and Glory for all God's Elect which indeed it did Brethren there is a difference between a full Satisfaction or Payment of Debts and a Price that is laid down not only to do that but also to merit and purchase a Right to great Riches high Priviledges and Honour Now if Christ had only paid our Debts or satisfied the Justice of God as to his vindictive Vengeance tho we thereby had been delivered from Hell yet that Payment could not have raised us up to Heaven no it is through the Merits of that Infinite Price Christ laid down that we come to be the Sons of God and Heirs of Glory and all this is through the Dignity of his Person and infinite Value and Worth of his Purchase as being God and also as it was the Grant of God the Father to Christ in the Covenant of Peace as the result of those Transactions 4. He must be God because otherwise he could not have subdued and overcome all his and our Enemies What meer Man is able to wrestle with and overcome Satan and all the Powers of Darkness Or how could he have prevailed against Death Overcome and have subdued Death I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plague O Grave I will be thy Destruction And hence Christ says Destroy this Temple awd in three Days I will raise it up again This he could not have done except he had been the Eternal God Now this is sometimes attributed to the whole Trinity sometimes to the Father sometimes to the Holy Ghost so it is sometimes attributed to Jesus Christ which shews that the three Persons are all but one and the same God 5. He must be God in respect of his Work as Mediator in reference to Man for he was obliged to quicken all God's Elect who in the first Adam were dead in Sins and Trespasses and raise them from that Spiritual Death and overcome the Power of Sin and Satan in them as well as for them This brings me to the next Thing II. Jesus Christ also as Mediator of Peace must be Man 1. He must be Man because he must work out a Righteousness in the same Nature that had sined Man was obliged to keep the Law perfectly and this must be done by Man if ever he be Justified with God for God will in no wise clear the Guilty True this is not required in the Covenant of Peace to be done in the Person of every elect Sinner ' but in the Person of Christ who is the Representative of every one of them For as we were all made Sinners by one Man as the Head and Representative of all his Seed so we became Righteous by the compleat and perfect Obedience of one Man as the Head and Representative of all his Seed for as the Law being broken by one Man is imputed to all his Seed so the Law being compleatly kept by one Man Jesus Christ is imputed to all his Seed For as by one Man's Disobedience many were made Sinners so by the Obedience of one shall many be made Righteous Moreover Justice required that the same Nature that broke the Law should keep the Law tho room for a Substitute or Surety was reserved in the Wisdom and Council of God 2. Christ must be Man because he must die now God as God I mean the Godhead could not die Man must die to satisfie offended Justice for the Breach of the Law therefore Christ must be Man and die And by Vertue of the Union of the Divine Nature with the Humane Nature in his Person the Death of Christ was a full Satisfaction to the Justice of God 3. He must be one with us or else how could his Obedience be imputed to us For as our Sins was imputed to him so his Righteousness is imputed to us 4. He must be Man that he might be a Merciful High-Priest being touched with the feeling of our Infirmity he must have access to both he was to deal with God for Man and for God with Man Jesus Christ ought to be of the same Stock with those he Redeemed or Sanctified to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of one Stock of one Blood saith a worthy Author That by the Law of Propinquity of Blood he might have right to redeem us Goel the next of Kin had an Obligation upon him to redeem his Brother's Land if Mortgaged If thy Brother be waxen poor and hath sold away some of his Possession and if any of his Kin come to redeem it then shall he redeem that which his Brother sold. So of Persons If sold after he is sold he may be redeemed again one of his Brethren may redeem him So Christ is called Goel Job 19.25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth Christ is our Kinsman not only true Man but the Son of Man true Man he might have been if God had created him out of nothing or he had brought his Substance from Heaven but he is the Son of Man descended from the Loins of Adam as we are and so doth redeem us not only Jure proprietatis by virtue of his Interest as our Creator but Jure propinquitatis by virtue of Kindred as one of the same Stock and Lineage as the Son of David as well as the Son of God for Christ Jesus of all the Kindred was the only one that was free and able to pay a Ransome for us 5. He must be Man as the said Author notes That we might find a Fountain of Holiness in our Nature God hath poured out upon his Humane Nature such a measure of Holiness that he might be a common Fountain to all the Elect of his Fullness have all we received and Grace for Grace Christ as God-man is the Fountain from whence we receive all Grace 6. To give us a Pledge of that Tenderness of his Love and Compassion towards us for he that is our Kinsman Bone of our Bone and Flesh of our Flesh will not be strange to his own Flesh especially since he is one that is so not by necessity of Nature but by voluntary Choice and Assumption we could not have such familiar and confident recourse to an Angel or to one of another or different Nature from ours this made Laban tho otherwise a churlish Man kind to Jacob Surely thou art my Bone and my Flesh. III. Christ must be God and Man if he be a fit Mediator betwixt God and Man i.e. he must take our Nature into Union with his Godhead and that 1. That we might mystically be united to God or draw near to God and so be raised up into a glorious and happy State for the Spring or Foundation of our Happiness riseth from the
Night he prayed he feared he cryed with strong Crying and Tears the Pangs of Hell took hold of him no Man ever felt what he felt in his Soul he poured forth his Soul to Death or came under a Spiritual Death My God my God why hast thou forsaken me 2. Consider what an Ignominious Death he suffered to be hanged on a Tree was a Death which none but Slaves and notorious Malefactors endured the Lord of Heaven and Earth suffered the Punishment of a vile and cursed Offender and all this to make our Peace 3. Consider how painful this Death was ●y Brethren it was not only a shameful and ig●ominious Death but also a very painful and ●ingering Death for from his Scourging by Pilot to his giving up the Ghost it is observed it was six Hours all which time he was in bitter Torture and Anguish both in Soul ●nd Body too he suffered from Heaven from Earth and from Hell 4. Consider it was also a cursed Death He was made a Curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree and all this to make our Peace 5. Consider when this was done even at such a time when Multitudes were come out of the Countries round about to Jerusalem to keep the Feast who no doubt had heard of the great Fame of Christ and of his mighty Miracles and longed it is like to see him and now for them to behold this Person thus Mocked Scourged and Hanged on a Tree as a Miserable Wretch must needs wound his tender Heart but all this he bore to make our Peace which abundantly proves he was inclined to Peace willing to make our Peace and appease God's Wrath. 6. Consider his most importutate Endeavours to bring poor Sinners to accept of that Peace which he hath made 1. What Arguments doth he use 2. How long he doth wait knocking at their Doors 3. And what Repulses doth he daily mee● withal and sustain and what abominable Affronts doth he suffer from Unbelieving and Hard-hearted Sinners O how much is he for Peace VI. A Mediator must be of a yielding and condescending Spirit one that can comply with each Party not Self-will'd nor seeking his own Honour c. Our Lord Jesus Christ condescended in every thing to do his Father's Will nevertheless Not my Will but thy Will be done tho he was a Son yet learned he Obedience by the things which he suffered He stuck at nothing I did not withhold my Face from Shame and Spitting No Mediator ever condescended as Christ did He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own Glory but he that seeketh his Glory that sent him the same is true and there is no Vnrighteousness in him All his whole design in his working about our Redemption and Reconciliation was to advance his Father's Glory and he complied to do whatsoever was requisite in order thereto VII A Mediator ought to be cloathed with Power I mean not only with a legal Authority for that I have spoken to already but to be one that hath Ability Wisdom and Discretion to make up the Breach that is between Parties at variance every one is not in a capacity to become a Mediator were they called to that Office for want of Ability Now our Lord Jesus Christ is mighty in Power He is mighty to save 1. He is every way capable to accomplish the Work of making Peace and Reconciliation with God He is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God He is called God's Arm and the Man of his Right Hand Let thy Hand be upon the Man of thy Right Hand upon the Son of Man whom thou madest strong for thy self Let thy Hand of Justice be upon him take Satisfaction in him Beloved whatever Justice required the Holiness of God required the Veracity of God required or the Law of God required in order to our Peace Christ is able to answer all I that speak in Righteousness mighty to Save 2. Moreover whatsoever our deplorable Condition and Necessities do require in order to our Peace and Restoration he is able to answer it fully also 1. He is able to encounter and overcome Satan and as he hath done this in his own Person for us so he also doth it in us for naturally we were in Satan's Chains even Captives to the Devil the strong Man armed held us fast but Christ being cloathed with greater Power hath delivered us out of Satan's Hands He was Anointed to set at Liberty those that were bound 2. He hath overcome Sin or destroyed that Enemy This was part of his Work i. e. To make an end of Sins and to make Reconciliation for Iniquity and to bring in everlasting Righteousness c. That is to make an end of Sin as to the Guilt Condemning Power and Punishment thereof and at last he will make an end of the very Being of Sin also in all his People 3. To overcome the World In the World y●● shall have Tribulation but be of good chear I have overcome the World As he overcame the World in all its Snares Temptations Flatteries and Frowns for us so through him we shall overcome the World also We overcome in him and shall by him or through his Aid and Assistance at last and so sit down with him on his Throne 4. He is able to open blind Eyes This he was also Anointed to do even not only to proclaim Liberty for the Captives But the recovering of Sight to the Blind for we by Nature were all born Blind and none but Christ can give us Sight or open the Eyes of our Understanding 5. He hath Power to raise the Dead The Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live You hath he quickned that were dead in Sins and Trespasses Not one Soul could receive any benefit by his Mediation unless he had been cloathed with power to raise dead Lazarus from the Grave I mean every elect Sinner dead in Sin 6. To change our Rebellious Hearts or bow and bend our stubborn Wills or to make the Unwilling Will willing which he doth in the Day of his Power And so to take away that Enmity that naturally was in our Hearts against God or remove all our Vitious Habits or that averseness that was in us to God and to the things of God or to Circumcise our Hearts to love the Lord our God which could not be done by any but by one cloathed with a creating Power for it is he that forms the Image of God again in us 7. To cloath the naked Soul by putting on the Robe of his own Righteousness upon it 8. To raise us up from the Dead at the last Day I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy Plague O Grave I will be thy Destruction Moreover 9. He
Blood was shed for shall have the Vertue thereof applied to them whatsoever is not efficient is not sufficient to attain the End thereof See a late Treatise Object If this be so why is the Proclamation so Vniversal 1 Answ. Because no sort of Sins nor Sinners by Name are excepted or exempted Who can say he was not included in this Covenant of Peace to whom the Gospel comes 2. Because Ministers know not but that every one to whom they Preach may be comprehended in this Covenant or in the Election of Grace 3. Because if any sort of Sinners were excepted unless God should discover them by Name who were included Multitudes might utterly despair 4. The Proclamation doth not run to all otherwise than thus viz. He that Believeth he that comes to Christ c. or that believes the Record God hath given of his Son or that receives the Atonement or believes the Testimony of the Gospel See Mark 16.16 Joh. 3.36 This brings me to the next thing Fourthly What are the Terms upon which Peace is offered and proclaimed The Terms on which Peace is proclaimed run thus viz. 1. That whosoever it is that believeth shall be saved True if Faith was not the Gift of God but the Condition agreed on as required of the Creature by his own power to act and exercise it would not only be hard but impossible because Faith must be wrought in our Hearts by the same Power that raised Christ from the Dead but he that calls dead Lazarus to rise from the Dead is able to quicken and by his commanding Voice to raise the Soul dead in Sins and Trespasses The Gospel in the Hand of the Spirit is a mighty Instrument of Christ's Power in the begetting or working of Faith in poor Sinners 2. The Proclamation runs to him that thirsteth Oh every one that thirsteth come to the Waters c. Jesus stood up and cryed If any Man thirst let him come to me and drink This thirsting may refer to thirsting after Happiness desiring to be saved yet others think it is a Thirst begotten in the Soul by the Spirit from the sight and sense of the Excellencies that Siners see in Christ and the Necessity of him they desire and thirst after him Faith draws Vertue from Christ but the Branch cannot draw Sap from the Root until it is grafted into the Stock Faith is the Fruit of the Spirit therefore the Seed must be first sown in our Hearts And this originally proceeds from our foederal Union with Christ in the Covenant of Peace And Secondly by our Mystical Union with him by the Spirit for it is hereby Faith is wrought Can any thing but evil Fruit grow out of a wild and evil Stock and Root all Works before Grace are Dead Works and profit us not 3. The Terms are to look to Christ Look to me and be saved all ye Ends of the Earth This is all one with Believing the Israelites that were stung with Fiery Serpents were to look to the Brazen Serpent so Christ is lifted up that whosoever looketh to him or that believeth on him should not perish but have Everlasting Life 4. 'T is made to all them that come to Christ Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden c. All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me and he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out 5. It runs to every one that hears but it is to such that hear Christ's Voice Hear and your Souls shall live The Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God It is also to every one that will and whosoever will let him take the Water of Life freely Whosoever God hath inclined their Will or made willing to accept of Peace by Jesus Christ If any Soul believes in Christ thirsteth for Christ looketh to Christ or cometh to Christ and yet Christ rejecteth him then charge him with Injustice But where lives that Man tho he was never so Vile and Ungodly that did thus but he found Mercy O see how Free and Universal the Proclamation is Object 'T is not so Free but Vnbelief puts in a Bar. Answ. A Sinful State is no Bar to the Power of God for what tho some believe not shall their Vnbelief make the Faith of God of none Effect God forbid Object But Men must be humbled first before they come and they must renounce their Idols c. Answ. Grace only humbles They shall look to me whom they pierced and shall mourn But God first pours upon them the Spirit of Grace before they can thus look or mourn See Zech. 12.10 all previous Qualifications before Grace are abominable to God because the State of the Soul is such and all such things that proceed not from Faith God abhorreth 't is but a working for Life and not from Life Is the Improvement of Common Grace the Foederal-Condition of geting Special No surely APPLICATION 1 Infer From hence we may infer That in the Covenant of Peace the Promises of God are Absolute and that this Absoluteness implies that all the Conditions that are required on the Creature 's part Grace is promised to them to perform them on God's part Who works in us to will and to do of his own good Pleasure 2. This Proclamation is not so Universal but that it wholly dependeth upon God's Sovereign Pleasure who shall reap the Benefit of it 'T is sent to one Nation and not to another God is not obliged to send it to all Kingdoms and Nations nor to all in that Nation whither he is pleased to send it but if Christ died for all I mean in the stead of all to satisfie Divine Justice for every individual Person then he would be Unjust in not sending the Gospel to them all But he must Call all and be sure he would give all the lesser Gifts as well as the greater viz. the Gospel and Faith c. to all as well as his Son to die for them all and not let them perish in their Sins and Unbelief for whom Christ died for without Faith all Adult Persons must perish And how shall they believe on him whom they have not heard And how shall they hear without a Preacher 3. This Proclamation offers Free Pardon of all Sins both past present and to come to all that believe in Jesus Christ And therefore a final Deliverance from the Curse of the Law and the Wrath of God Rom. 8.1 4. Free Justification by Christ alone is therein offered also 5. With a Supply of all Grace to the End to all them that are in Jesus Christ Phil. 4.19 6. It proclaims God to be our Father and we his Sons and Daughters upon receiving Jesus Christ. 7. Moreover where any Elect Sinners are or dwell thither the Proclamation shall and must go to bring them all into the Bonds of the Covenant 8. And also whosoever receive this
have not only Crucified the Flesh or are become dead to Sin but have Crucified the World also But God forbid that I should Glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the World is Crucified unto me and I unto the World The World careth not for them and they care not for the World they are dead to the Honours Pleasures and Riches of the World Moses contemned all the Glory of Pharaoh's Court yea all the Pleasures of Sin and Riches of Egypt and so do all God's sincere People contemn this World If any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him 3. They that are God's peculiar People are become dead to the Law to that cruel Husband and to all their own Righteousness accounting it but Dung or a dead Carkase or Dogs-meat in comparison of Christ Ye also are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ c. The Union with that Husband is dissolved they seek not Life and Justification by the Law or are not in love with Self-Righteousness but dead to it whilst others make an Idol of it and trust in it 4. They have renounced themselves also and confess they are not their own but that their Souls their Bodies their Substance their Graces their Gifts their Time their Strength their Lips and their Lives are all the Lord's and for him for as all that God hath which is communicable is theirs or freely imparted to them and for them so all they are and have they account it is the Lord's they being but only Stewards of all they have and do possess Shall such think that they are the Lord's who live to themselves seek themselves or only bring forth Fruit like empty Vines to themselves No they that are the Lord's People esteem all they have to be his and for his Service and are willing to render it up to him when he calls for it Nay they have given God their Hearts not their Lips only or their Tongues nor their Ears nor their Substance but their Hearts also My Son give me thy Heart God complains of some that drew near to him with their Lips and sate before him as his People sate and with their Tongues shewed much kindness but saith he their Hearts went after their Covetousness after the World these God's Soul abhors and he will not own them to be his People Some give their Hearts to Pleasures to strange Women and to Vanity and to meer Folly and others give their Hearts to Riches but God's Covenant-People give their Hearts to him not a part of the Heart but their whole Heart they love the Lord their God with all their Hearts with all their Souls and with all their Strength Others have their Hearts divided between God and the World between God and their Lusts but such that love not God with their whole Heart hate him for the lesser Love is accounted Hatred in Scripture II. They that are God's peculiar Covenant-People are Begotten and Born of God for they this way as you heard become his Children there are none my Brethren that are the Lord's People by Adoption but they are his also by Regeneration they have his Image formed in them they are like to their Father in Holiness Heavenliness in Humility Mercy Meekness Love Goodness Charity c. they partake of the Divine Nature every one resembles the Son or Daughter of a King Then said he unto Zeba and Zalmunna What manner of Men were they whom ye slew at Tabor And they answered As thou art so were they each one resembled the Children of a King They are nobly descended they have sublime Spirits Holy Hearts Desires Aims and Ends in all they do they are not meer Dunghil-Rakers like the Men of the World but far excel all others The Righteous is more excellent than his Neighbour he has an excellent Spirit Life and Principles in him III. They that are God's Covenant-People Trust in him as their God as well as Love him as their God all People trust in their God tho it be a God of Gold or Silver a Worldly Man's strong Confidence is his Wealth he makes Gold his Hope So they that have God to be their God trust in him depend upon him They that know thy Name will put their Trust in thee They trust in the True and Living God God is their Hope their Confidence they rely upon his Power his Mercy his Love his Faithfulness his Covenant and on his Blessed Promises and this at all times in Afflictions Desertion Temptations c. and when called to any hard Service in Prosperity and in Adversity in times of Want and Necessities and in Times of Fulness in Life and also at the Hour of Death This tends my Brethren to the Glory of God and by this they shew what a value and esteem they put upon God How often does David say he trusted in the Lord and because God was his God O my God I trust in thee Job says Tho he slay me yet will I trust in him Tho they see not feel not or have no sensible Comfort or Relief yet can and will trust in God tho God hides his Face or they walk in Darkness and have no Light IV. God's peculiar People highly love value and prize the Lord Jesus Christ They can say with David Whom have I in Heaven but thee Neither is there any on Earth that I desire besides thee They have tasted how good the Lord is and beholding his Beauty can say He is the chiefest among Ten Thousand they live upon Christ fetch all their Comfort and Hope of Salvation from him and rejoyce in him alone Serving God in Spirit and have no Confidence in the Flesh. Moreover when they have done all things that Christ hath commanded they look upon themselves Unprofitable Servants they live in him to him and by him their living in him shews Christ is their Life their living to him shews Christ is their ultimate End their living by him shews Christ is their Strength they receive the Spirit and so live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit they bring up the bottom of their Lives to the top of their Light they do not only know what is to be done but do what they know the Darkness of Carnal Professors will be the blackest because their Light seemed to be the clearest but these are better inwardly in substance than outwardly in appearance in a word they are as much in love with the Imployment of Holiness as with the Injoyment of Happiness or to be Holy here as well as Happy hereafter or to live to God on Earth as well as with him in Heaven V. God's Covenant-People ascribe all the Glory to him and take all the Shame to themselves Both Riches and Honour come of thee the Power the Glory and the Victory is thine and of thine own have I
that is that were not actually his People nor own'd and acknowledged so to be we lost this Relation to God by the Fall when God ceased to be our God by way of Special interest we ceased to be his People 5. They shall be my People this denotes the certainty of their Special Vocation and of our being his People for ever He shall see his Seed all that the Father hath given to me shall come unto me that is they shall believe in me c. Now in speaking unto this Promise Grant and Priviledge 1. I shall first shew you in what Respect or Consideration we may be said to be God's People 2. Shew you what kind of People God's Covenant People are I mean such that are actually owned to be his People 3. Shew you what a great Blessing this is 4. Apply both these great Priviledges together I shall wave several Acceptations by which a People may be called God's People that I may directly come to the Business in Hand 1. We may be said to be God's People and he our God decretively or by virtue of God's Eternal Election God chose Christ as our Head and all the Elect in him See our Lord's Words Other Sheep have I that are not of this Fold them I must bring He calls them his Sheep and yet then they were ungodly and unbelieving ones So he said to Paul I have much People in this City they were his People decretively tho not actually his at that time 2. The Elect were God's People Foederally or by virtue of that Holy Covenant made betwixt the Father and the Son as I hinted before and now that this Relation also arises from those Covenant Transactions is most evident for Jesus Christ struck Hands with the Father in behalf of all God's Elect to procure this Priviledge But a little further to open this pray consider that there is a Foederal Union and Relation as when the Father of a Young Man and the Father or Guardian of a Young Damsel shall mutually agree and Covenant that they two shall be Man and Wife even thus God the Father and God the Son Agreed and Covenanted in behalf of all the Elect Christ was as I may say their Guardian yea and also he Covenanted to Espouse and Marry them to himself for ever and God the Father gave the Elect to Christ in this Covenant Moreover herein he had the advantage of others for may be such a Young Man as before mentioned might not Love the Person his Father Covenanted with her Guardian to be his Wife or he might not be able to obtain her Affections but Christ's Love was set upon his intended Spouse from everlasting and also he knew how to gain our Love and unite our Hearts to himself and that by sheding his Love abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost Rom. 5.5 The Love of Christ hath in it a Physical Operation And thus my Brethren by Covenant and the free donation of the Father we become God's People or in a remote sense were thus brought into this Blessed Relation to him Thine they were that is by Election and thou gavest them me Again he saith I pray not for the World but for them that thou hast given me for they are thine 4. The Elect are God's People by virtue of Christ's Purchase he bought them with his own Blood Ye are not your own for you are bought with a price c. and it was that they might be a peculiar People unto God Hence the Apostle saith Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of Good Works or a famous or principal People as the Greek Word renders it Without this Price had been laid down we had never been brought into this Relation unto God 5. They are God's People by Renovation or Regeneration Of his own Will begat he us by the Word of Truth 6. By Conquest also Believers are brought into this Relation God hath subdued them unto himself he has by his Victorious Grace overcome them and this way they are made his Liege People and he becomes their God and Soveraign as having rescued them out of the Hands of Sin and Satan those cruel Tyrants whose Slaves Subjects and Servants they were before Christ has set them free or made them a free People indeed to and for himself 7. The Elect are actually the Lord's People by the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit or by virtue of their Mystical Vnion with Christ by the Spirit which is the Bond of this Union on Christ's part and by this means we come to chose Jesus Christ as the only Object of our Affection and Blessed Bridegroom of our Souls and also hereby we take God to be our God and thus we are actually and personally brought into this Relation to him in which sense and in respect of these and the two last things mentioned we were not his People before for notwithstanding the Covenant Agreement of Parents or a Marriage by Proxy betwixt great Persons yet they must after that actually and personally be Married together before they can injoy each other or properly be said to be Man and Wife And so my Brethren it is here for notwithstanding the Decree and Purpose of God and his eternal Compact and Donation and also notwithstanding the Purchase of Christ yet till by the Spirit we are united to Christ and do believe in him close in and imbrace him and enter into an actual Covenant with God in and by Jesus Christ we cannot be said to be properly God's People for before this we were the Children of Wrath and the Slaves of Sin and Satan But so much to the first thing proposed Secondly I shall endeavour to shew you what a kind of People these are that are thus brought into Covenant with God I. They that are God's peculiar People have renounced all other Lords from having any claim to them or interest in them 1. They have broke that Covenant which they had made with Sin that Union is dissolved their Love to Sin is gone for ever I do not say the Being of Sin in them is gone no Sin will be in their Hearts and in their Conversations too but it is not in their Affections they approve not of it they regard it not The Evil which I hate that do I saith Paul I have vain Thoughts saith David to love Sin is worse than to commit it and to hate Sin is better than to leave it a Good Man may commit Sin and yet loath it and a wicked Man may leave Sin and yet love it Ye that love the Lord hate Evil Ye do so or else you are none of God's People i. e. it is your Character and also your Duty 2. They have renounced the Love of this World they are dead nay Crucified to the World they that are God's peculiar People