former husband lives unto them and the hand-writing stands in force against them here is the benefit by Christ a man may be translated out of it and so there may be a change of a mans Covenant not by a change of the Covenant it self but by a change of the man and his deliverance out of it Now so long as a man continues under this Covenant 1 It promises no life but upon condition of perfect and personal obedience it calls upon thee To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy strength the strength that I gave thee at first and the man that doth them shall live by them There is commutatio personae a commutation of the person by the Covenant of Grace but this Covenant saith not that the obedience of another shall be accounted his unto justification and life and so Justification is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impossible by the righteousness of the Law for by the Law no man can be justified and in this it is weak through the flesh so that whilest a man continues untranslated he can never be justified by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ which can profit him nothing because in the sense of the Law it is not his own righteousness 2 It is a Covenant without a Mediator Christ indeed is a Mediator but it is of the new Covenant the first Covenant was faedus amicitiae a Covenant of friendship made with man in innocency where there was no disagreement and Gal. 3.20 A Mediator is not a Mediator of one c. So that so long as a man is under the first Covenant what benefits so ever there are to be had by the Mediation of Christ he must go without them either in reference to the presentation of his person or to the acceptation of his services for in the Covenant under which he stands a Mediator can have no place 3 In this Covenant there is no promise of pardon but If thou dost well thou shalt be accepted but if thou dost evil sin lyes at the door and there is a curse upon every transgression every sin thou committest every disobedience has a just recompence of reward so that as long as a man does continue under this Covenant he must bear his own sin and there is no hope of pardon for him because under this Covenant God has promised no pardon The aim of God was the glory of his Justice and therefore the Lord deals with men as in Courts of Justice if there be a Capital crime committed the Judge does not examine whether the man be penitent or no and if he do repent then there is a pardon for him but whether the offence be committed or no guilty or not guilty and so Justice does all without respect unto a mans after-repentance If thou hast sinned the first Covenant says thou art a child of death and when a man says I have sinned it is the Covenant of Grace only that says the Lord has put away thy sin but under this Covenant there is no pardon to be expected 4 This Covenant promises no Grace for it was made with man in his primitive condition when he had Grace answerable unto all the duties that the Lord required of him he had a power to perform all duties and to resist all temptations and this is supposed in every duty that is required and in every sin that is forbidden so that all the promises of Grace and strength that are in the second Covenant a man can never have benefit by for they belong not unto the Covenant under which he stands unless he be translated 5 It is a Covenant that every sin breaks and being once broken it can never be made up again So the Apostle tells us Rom. 5.16 By one offence guilt came upon all to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences to justification Adam's sin was but one offence and yet it brake his Covenant and brought guilt and death upon all his posterity and that for ever and his Covenant could bring death but never justification and life any more so that no man that has once sinned could ever live by that Covenant any more but it is not so in the Covenant of Grace because it brings in an everlasting righteousness that sin can never spend and therefore though there be many offences yet the Covenant is not broken but that justification and life may be had therein and the more sin abounds the grace of the Covenant abounds much more as sin takes occasion by the law so grace takes occasion by sin under the Gospel 6 It is a Covenant that can never quiet and settle the Conscience but let a man walk never so exactly and take never so much care to do his duty in all things and let him live the holiest life that ever any man did upon earth that was a sinner and he will be always in a doubt and full of jealousie of God whether he will accept him or no as it was with the young man in the Gospel he had lived a very exact life according to the rules of a Pharisaical righteousness for he could say All these things have I kept from my youth and yet he was not quiet Gehennam horribiliter timuit he came and kneeled down to Christ and said What must I do to inherit eternal life what lack I yet And so Luther said he did endeavour in all things to walk according to his Conscience and yet he says I feared Hell terribly c. And this is the difference that the Apostle makes Rom. 10.5 8 he prefers the righteousness of faith before that of works upon this ground because that of works is full of scruples and doubtful enquiries Who shall ascend up to Heaven Doubting is the fruit of the Covenant of works and therefore Bellarmine must come to his Tutissimum for unto men since the fall the fruits of the first Covenant are only doubting and anxiety but faith tells a man Christ has descended into the deep to make satisfaction there and he is ascended up on high into Heaven there to prepare a place and there is nothing wanting for a mans salvation that Christ has not done which frees a mans Conscience from those inward perplexities which the Covenant of works leaves a man intangled in This is the first ground of the necessity of being translated out of this Covenant for so long as a man is under it this is his misery if he look for life it must be by his own righteousness as without a Mediator and if he sin there is no pardon for him and if he be to do duty there is no grace if the Covenant be once broken it is broken for ever never made up again for the least offence and a mans Conscience can never be satisfied and quieted till he does anchor upon Christ Jesus who is the rock of ages § 2. If God will deal with man in a Covenant-way he must be
is more abundant in them 1 Cor. 15. ult 2 When he doth exercise more grace in them and there is more of the inward man in them Rev. 3.2 though he doth the same duties yet it is more fruit to God than formerly when he doth it with more pleasure and the commandments are none of them grievous to him it is his meat and drink to do it his comforts do come in by his duties as well as by the promised rewards and he is also more constant in the performance of them and doth not perform duty only by fits inconstancy in any man is an argument of weakness 't is a reproach to have it said a mans righteousness is but as the morning dew and as the early cloud that passeth away § 5. We come now unto the last particular of the personal and appropriated relation of God the Father as he stands unto Christ and in him unto us as he is his Father and our Father our God and his God his friend so he is the fountain of the life of Christ and in him the fountain of spiritual life to us also 1 Joh. 5.11 and that is set down 1 Joh. 5.11 God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son we see of what person it 's spoken it is the Father that hath given us this life and laid it up in his Son as in a common Treasury Joh. 6.57 that from him it might be conveyed unto us So Joh. 6.57 As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me Here in the opening of it I must shew 1 Whether this be spoken of Christ as he is God or as he is Mediator 2 How Christ as Mediator is said to live by the Father 3 What the life is that we have from Christ 4 That all this life that we have from Christ and is in him is from the Father he that is the fountain of the life of Christ is also the fountain of our life 1. Whether it be spoken here of Christ as he is God or as he is Mediator God manifested in the flesh That it 's not spoken of Christ as he is God there are three things do clearly make it manifest 1 It 's spoken of Christ with respect unto his Office for he speaks of himself as sent by the Father and sending is a term of office Now as he is sent by the Father so he lives by the Father but he is sent as Mediator and it wholly relates unto his Office in which he is by the Father imployed and therefore it is as Mediator that he lives by the Father 2 It 's spoken of Christ as he is fed upon by the faithful I live by the Father so he that eats me shall live by me which refers to him as he is made man for so he saith vers 34. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood hath eternal life c. Now the Father is the fountain of life unto Christ in the same respect that Christ is the fountain of life unto us but it is as Mediator that he is so to us as he hath flesh and blood for so he becomes unto us a natural head and therefore suited to be an object of our faith fit both to be our surety here and our Advocate in Heaven our surety here as having our nature and therefore being able to pay our debt and our Advocate hereafter as having our nature still upon him and therefore knows how to have mercy and compassion the same nature in him will incline him thereunto 3 I conceive that it were dangerous to say that as he is God so he lives by the Father though I often find that Divines writing of the eternal generation of the Son do speak of the Fathers begetting of the Son by the communication of the same Essence that he is God of God c. But surely he that is God must be without cause he must have his Being from himself he must be the first and the last he that hath his essence from another must have his sufficiency from another and he that is from another must be unto another for he that is the first cause he must also be the last end Rom. 11.36 For of him and to him and through him are all things c. and therefore he that is not God of himself is not God at all I dare not therefore say that he hath the Divine Essence communicated by eternal generation Calv. Institut l. 1. c. 13. §. 25. but rather he is à seipso Deus à Patre filius essentia ejus principio caret personae verò principium est ipse Deus it 's spoken of Christ therefore not as he lives in himself as he is God but as he is Mediator made by the Father the fountain of life unto us 2. What is the life which as Mediator Christ receives from the living Father There are two words in Scripture unto which commonly all things excellent or desirable are compared and those are Light and Life and so all misery is set forth under the two contraries and they are Darkness and Death as Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous in thy light we shall see light c. And so life also Psal 30.5 In his favour is life Psal 36.9 With thee is the fountain of life Psal 63.3 thy loving-kindness is better than life life is that which doth comprehend in it all good things as the lesser is comprehended of the greater for the life is more worth than meat and the body than raiment and so it implies that Jesus the Mediator doth receive all things that are good excellent and desirable from God the Father he doth live by the Father c. he is unto him the fountain of all good things But this is but general I find life in Scripture used four ways as standing in opposition unto a fourfold death in us 1 There is a death in reference to the guilt of sin a man being under the sentence of the Law dead and in opposition thereunto there is a life of Righteousness in Justification therefore it 's said Rom. 5.17 18. For if by one mans offence death raigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gifts of righteousness shall raign in life by one Jesus Christ therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all to condemnation so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification to life 2 There is a death in reference to the dominion of sin and thus we are said to be dead in trespasses and sins and so there is a life of Holiness and Regeneration when the Lord saith Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead Eph. 5.14 Joh. 5.25 When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear it shall live and so he doth
the Curse and Covenant the Curse naturally attends the Covenant every son of Adam necessarily falls under the former as well as the latter Mens natural desire to be under the first Covenant 5 All men naturally and ardently desire to be under Adams Covenant The natural blindness and pride of mens hearts strongly impels them to build a Spiders house of their own on which they may lean as Job 8.14 15. Are not all men by nature children of the bond-woman and so possest with a spirit of bondage Have they not a legal spirit answerable to the Covenant they are under And doth not this legal spirit bring forth suitable fruits Do not such as are informed and acted by it perform all services to God in the oldness of the letter in a formal servile legal manner without regard to Christ the Mediator Yea is not this legal spirit whereby those under Adams Covenant are acted full of enmity and opposition against Christ his Righteousness and all the terms of his new Covenant Doth not such mens rejecting the terms and grace of the second Covenant argue their strong propensions yea vehement impulses towards Adams Covenant Are not all their spiritual Gifts common Graces legal Righteousnesses as well as all their sins imployed to oppose the Grace and Righteousness of the second Covenant And if their consciences be at any time awakened and their sins set in order before them in all their bloody aggravations yet what a difficult thing is it to bring them off from the old Covenant What hard black scandalous thoughts of Christ are they filled with How do their hearts sink under unbelieving despondences and base jealousies of Christ And doth not all this argue mens vehement desires to be found under the first Covenant 6 The more the glory of the second Covenant is revealed to such as are under the first The rejection of the second Covenant the greater efforts and more vehement opposition they put forth against it The more mens natural reason is elevated by supernatural common illumination the more stout-hearted they are against the terms of the new Covenant all their moral righteousnesses serve only to set them farther off from the righteousness of faith their good deeds as well as their bad fortifie them against the embracement of the new Covenant because it would spoil them of their own righteousnesses which they have wrought so hard for all their days and subject them to the righteousness of God Do we not find all this greatly exemplified in the Pharisees and legal Jews who having espoused to themselves the old Covenant rejected Christ and his Righteousness 7 For men thus electively to put themselves under the first Covenant and reject the grace of the second is a sin of the first magnitude and deepest aggravations Hath not the great God exalted the second Covenant above the first Is it not then an high injury against him to bring down that Covenant God has exalted and to exalt that which he has made null above it Is not Christ the Mediator of the new Covenant the greatest gift that ever God vouchsafed mankind God justly leaves such to the Covenant they desire Oh! then how injurious is it to God to reject so great a gift and the grace offered by him 8 It is therefore just with the righteous God to leave men to stand or fall by that Covenant under which they so strongly desire to be Doth the holy and blessed God do the sons of Adam any wrong in leaving them under his Covevant unto which they have such a strong impulse and desire If he hereby gives them but the desire of their heart what cause have they to complain against him And will not his procedure at last day appear to be most just and rational in judging men according to the tenure of the first Covenant unto which they had so strong a desire May not God justly lay to their charge every the least sin and make them bear the burden of it seeing they have put themselves under a Covenant that admits not any Mediator Whom have they to represent their persons to bear their sins to pay their debts to endure their curse to perform their duties seeing they reject the Mediator of the second Covenant This leads to the second general Head The misery of such as are under the first Covenant The deplorable and miserable state of such as are under the first Covenant 1 Is it not a deplorable case for men voluntarily to elect their own ruine Was it ever known that men did contentedly yea chearfully sit down under a state of most miserable bondage when full liberty was offered to them by a benign gracious Prince Doth it not argue a spirit immersed in the basest servitude to take complacence in its chains and fetters And yet is not this the very case of all such as desire to be under the first Covenant 2 Is it not a miserable thing for a man to be on the very brink of ruine and yet not sensible of it yea under a fond presumption of a blessed state For a man to go as an Ox to the slaughter adorned with a garland made up of the fading flowers of his own righteousnesses what folly and madness is this And yet is not this the very case of all Pharisaic spirits who live and die under the first Covenant Is not a good conceit of a bad state most dangerous and miserable To be alive in carnal presumptions self-flattery and self-sufficiency and yet spiritually dead in Divine estimation is it not the worst of deaths Are not such next degree to falling into Hell who fondly flatter themselves that they can stand longer and surer than others by their own forces 1 Cor. 10.12 And are not such as put themselves under the first Covenant guilty of all these pieces of folly 3 Is it not a sad case for sinners to put themselves under a Covenant which neither gives or admits a Mediator To have none to represent their persons but to be left standing before the righteous holy God in their own names bearing their own sins expecting to be justified by their own works to pay their own debts or to endure their own punishment what greater misery can there be 4 To be under a Covenant that neither promises nor gives nor accepts of Repentance but leaves men to live and die in their sins without the least drop of the blood of Christ to wash them away what a sad case is this Must not such expect that as soon as they peep out of the grave and lift up their traiterous heads their own consciences as also Divine Justice condemn and pursue them unto all eternity 5 Is it not also a most wretched forlorn case for men to have their persons hated yea loathed by the God of all love and mercy and thence their best services rejected for the least failings in them And is not this the case of all such as stand under
take Saints off from a dependence upon their own graces they should consider 1 That though grace be the best of all the creatures yet it is but a creature and therefore defectible and subject to decay 2 It is contrary to the very nature of grace to be made the ground of a mans dependence because grace in its own nature is properly to be dependent upon another 3 No man is able to act the grace he hath received without a continual influence from Christ. 4 All the grace a man hath cannot free him from temptations nor secure him from falling into great sins 5 This will certainly provoke God against his grace so as to let it decay 6 The more immediate supplies of grace are the sweeter they are ibid. All that have chosen the Lord for their God should be content with him alone though they have nothing else Pag. 368 This contentment of soul consists 1 In laying up all in God 2 In not running out after other things in an anxious and solicitous way 3 In only fearing the loss of God 4 In not being much troubled with the loss of other things 5 In not envying the prosperity of the wicked 6 In rejoycing in God 7 In making their boast of God Pag. 368 Those are in a happy condition that have an interest in the Alsufficiency of God 1 It is the highest way of honouring God that can be in this life 2 This makes a man set light by the scorns and derisions of the world 3 This gives the soul in all its straits and necessities a city of refuge 4 This will guard the heart from going out unto any thing else whatsoever Pag. 371 Their happiness by reason of their interest in Gods alsufficiency consists 1 In a supply of all their wants 2 In enabling them for all their work 3 In disburdening their souls of all their troublesom afflictions 4 In fulfilling all their desires Pag. 373 They that have an interest in the alsufficiency of God 1 Have an interest in Christ. 2 They chuse this for their portion to place their happiness in 3 They honour and exalt that Attribute in their hearts 4 They will be raised up in their souls to an holy self-sufficiency Pag. 375 Those that have this interest in Gods alsufficiency should walk before God and be upright Pag. 377 CHAP. VI. The Soveraignty of God made over to the Saints in the new Covenant The Soveraignty of God is that absolute and universal Authority which he hath over all things as being the works of his own hands Pag. 378 This Soveraignty is 1 Vniversal 2 Supreme 3 Absolute Pag. 379 This Soveraignty of God is during this world committed into the hand of Christ as Mediator And is 1 Spiritual 2 Providential Pag. 381 The government of all things in his Kingdom is exercised by him in the behalf of the Saints and so they have a right to the Soveraignty of God and it is made over to them Pag. 385 The Soveraignty of God in reference to the spiritual Kingdom which is either in grace or glory is made over to the Saints Pag. 386 The subjects of this spiritual Kingdom are only those that live in the Church and belong unto it Pag. 387 Christ hath a spiritual Kingdom in the souls of the Saints Pag. 388 This spiritual Kingdom consists in 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 ibid. This rule and dominion Christ only hath in the hearts of the Saints Pag. 389 Christ hath the rule and government over the spirits of those that are under the spiritual Kingdom by profession only Pag. 391 This government Christ by his spirit doth exercise towards them and over them for the good of his Saints 1 Their graces are ruled by Christ for the Saints 2 Their gifts 3 Their services 4 Their sins 5 Their judgments Pag. 392 There belong unto this spiritual Kingdom reductively all the works and the dispensations of God amongst the creatures 1 They tend to perfect the graces of the Saints 2 They belong unto the priviledges of the Saints Pag. 395 Christ the Mediator in this spiritual Kingdom doth also rule and order the Angels that they have an influence and do conduce to the advancement of this spiritual Kingdom Pag. 398 Angels on earth the Ministers and Messengers of God conduce to its advancement 1 By the gifts and abilities which Christ gives them for the good of the Saints 2 By suitable affections and dispositions of heart towards them 3 By performing the work Christ appoints them 4 Christ over-rules and orders their ministry for the good of his people 5 Gives efficacy and success to their labours 6 Their sufferings are for the Churches sake and good ibid. Christ also uses the Angels in Heaven for the advancement of this spiritual Kingdom 1 They pray for us 2 Joyn with us in our praises 3 Instruct us â—n the things of God 4 Watch over us to keep us from sin 5 Comfort and chear us in dejections 6 At death carry our souls into Abrahams bosom Pag. 401 The Saints have an interest in Christs providential Kingdom Pag. 402 There is a special Providence over them above all the rest of the creation 1 In over-ruling all things for their good that nothing shall do them hurt 2 Every thing shall act for their preservation ibid. The greatest things in the world are not above the Providence of God nor the smallest below it Pag. 403 The Providence of God hath two parts 1 He upholds the creatures in their beings 2 He orders their actions ibid. The Providence of God is either 1 What he doth immediately by an extraordinary providence or 2 In an ordinary way by second causes ibid. The Providence of God is either seen 1 In things which have a necessary dependence upon their causes or 2 In things that fall out so that we can give no reason of them Pag. 404 Providence is either about good or evil ibid. The Providence of God about the greatest things for the good of the Saints 1 His government over the Angels 2 Over men in all the changes of the world ibid. The good Angels are for the good of the Saints 1 They secretly suggest things to the hearts and wills of men 2 They fight against their enemies 3 Execute vengeance upon them 4 Over-rule the creatures for their good beyond their nature 5 Guide them in their way and succeed their undertakings 6 Compass the earth for their sakes Pag. 405 The Providence of God governs evil Angels for the good of the Saints 1 They shall not tempt them more than is for their good 2 Nor further than shall be for subduing corruption 3 Their temptations serve to improve their graces 4 And giving the Saints experience of the power of Christ 5 And the benefit of his Intercession 6 And of the power of their own prayers 7 Their
temptations shall quicken them to wisdom and watchfulness 8 And tend to the greater increase of their glory Pag. 406 The Providence of God as it respects men is for the good of the Saints Pag. 409 Providence orders all things in reference to their own spiritual good 1 For conversion 2 Instruction 3 Deliverance out of danger 4 Preservance when there is no visible support 5 Consolation 6 When lusts are high and temptations impetuous Pag. 410 There is a special Providence over godly men for the good of others that are good in present and after-generations 1 In improving their parts 2 In drawing out their graces 3 In their sufferings 4 Labours 5 Examples 6 Prayers 7 Faith Pag. 411 The Providence of God over-rules all things for the good of the Saints in reference to evil men 1 They have a being in the world and a standing in the Church for the Saints good 2 God stirs up the spirits of wicked Magistrates for the good of the Saints 3 He stirs up the spirits of wicked men to stand for a good cause and to assist the Saints 4 He doth them good by their persecutions 5 By their sins 6 Their desertions 7 Their restraints Pag. 414 The Providence of God is also concerned in the smallest things for the good of the Saints Pag. 417 Whatever the Lord doth by means he can work immediately by his own hand without means Pag. 420 In the means he uses there is an immediate concurrence of his own Power to the producing the effect Pag. 421 God doth sometimes delight to work without means by his own immediate hand ibid. This immediate acting of Providence is wholly for the good of his people Pag. 422 Gods immediate promise or ordering things in the use of means is for the good of his people 1 He appoints the means 2 He blesses the means 3 He raises up means unexpectedly 4 Most unlikely Pag. 425 The Providence of God orders all things that work from a necessity of nature for the good of his people 1 The Sun 2 The Stars 3 Rain 4 The Earth 5 The Seas 6 The Winds Pag. 427 All casual providences are for the good of the Saints as dreams lots ordering the wills and affections of men the fall of a house c. Pag. 428 The Providence of God doth order all good things for the spiritual good of his people 1 Their calling 2 Their habitation 3 Opportunities to exercise grace 4 Society 5 Preservation in service dismission from it 6 Posterity Pag. 429 The Providence of God orders all evil things either of sin or punishment for the good of his people Pag. 432 The Providence of God orders the sins of the Saints themselves for their good and that 1 In respect of the being of sin 2 Rising of sin 3 Actings of sin 4 Raging of sin ibid. In respect of the being of sin in them that thereby 1 He may exalt the grace of Justification to them 2 That there may be a continual conflict in them 3 That they may be kept humble 4 Be exercised in prayer and repentance daily 5 That the patiente and forbearance of God may be more exalted 6 To shew how great a grace the gift of perseverance is 7 To keep them in a continual longing for glory Pag. 433 In respect of the rising of sin in them 1 That all lusts break not forth continually 2 When lust doth not rise when the object is present 3 To shew them such a sin is in their nature which they either never considered or repented not of 4 To make them hate sin more 5 To awaken them 6 To be matter of continual repentance Pag. 435 In respect of the actings of sin 1 That they may see the power and tendency of sin 2 That if they be deserted of God they shall be drawn into all kinds and degrees of sin 3 That they may see how weak all means are against it 4 That they may fear to be delivered up unto the power of Satan 5 That they may exercise repentance of all kinds 6 That they may be willing to dye Pag. 437 In respect of the rising of sin This tends 1 To a new conversion in them 2 To discover the strength of sin the power of temptation and of Christs Intercession 3 To bring them to confession 4 To make them diffident of their own strength 5 To make them walk in fear ever after 6 To fit them for service 7 To be matter of humiliation to them all their days 8 To put them upon the greater mortification of sin 9 To make them more tender towards others 10 To be an argument for their consolation Pag. 439 The Providence of God orders the sins of other men also for the good of his people In general 1 Hereby they may read what they were 2 What they are delivered from 3 Hereby they are admonished what they are in their own nature if God leave them to themselves 4 And be minded of the ends sin brings men to to fear them 5 And put them upon many duties towards them which will turn to their account Pag. 442 In particular the Saints are gainers by the plots of wicked men by their counsels by their attempts against them and by their executions Pag. 443 TABLE Of SCRIPTURES more distinctly explicated Genesis Ch. Vers Pag. 2. 17 1-4 3. 15 195 3. 20 198 3. 22 23 4. 1 199 4. 7 18 4. 14 205 208 4. 25 199 5. 24 378 6. 5 434 8. 21 ibid. 9. 9 198 9. 27 199 208 210 11. 17 4 12. 2 194 17. 1 343 377 378 17. 2. 113 17. 7 8 160 260 21. 12 205 45. 5 6 7 432 50. 20 ibid. Exodus 19. 5 217 24. 7 10 283 38. 8 epist p. 2 Numbers 7. 7 8 9 169 14. 24 378 Deuteronomy 4. 23 185 4. 27 176 4. 51 194 5. 2 3 184 5. 5 87 6. 7 185 29. 14 15 202 29. 19 57 Joshua 24. 22 23 376 Judges 2. 1 398 5. 20 427 2 Samuel 23. 5 156 2 Chronicles 13. 5 182 30. 8 161 Job 1. 6 407 29. 4 17 38. 31 427 Psalms 12. 6 163 25. 14 186 44. 17 18 192 50. 5. 190 63. 8 192 74. 20 183 76. 10 393 83. 3 402 84. 11 347 87. 4 5 235 91. 3 407 110. 3 388 110. 7 172 144. 15 253 Proverbs 6. 14 443 8. 22 23 135 310 11. 16 epist p. 1. 17. 16 430 18. 10 373 21. 16 7 Ecclesiastes 1. 15 444 5. 6 398 Canticles 6. 3 188 6. 8 392 Esaias 4. 5 422 9. 6 235 10. 6 7 432 10. 24 404 17. 1 343 28. 15 187 35. 6 424 38. 14 188 42. 6 424 49. 1 2 128 50. 5 188 57. 6 297 60. 20 347 Jeremy 9. 25 207 11. 16 210 14. 22 372 17. 1 18 18. 18 443 31. 14 346 33. 20 418 35. 6 7 178 Ezekiel 1. 12 20 383 48. 35 218 Daniel 4. 17 380 7. 2 3 210 9. 24 329 9. 26 348 9. 27 165 239 Hosea 1.
whereas men would turn away their eyes from their sins the Spirit of God does hold them upon it and set them in order before them and whereas men would have slight apprehensions of sin and wrath the Spirit of God does give a man great apprehensions and dreadful thoughts of them and as in Heaven the spirit of Adoption shall be in perfection so in Hell the spirit of bondage shall be in perfection also 4. God gives a man up unto the power of sin and the dominion of it that a man is not his own but yields up himself and his members instruments to unrighteousness Rom. 6.18 He gives over himself to obey sin and the lusts thereof man sells himself to sin sinfully and God sells him judicially c. That as a godly man is not his own so neither is a wicked man For his servant a man is to whom he obeys whether it be of sin unto death Rom. 6.16 or of obedience unto righteousness and therefore they are the servants of sin Now sin has a double power 1 of a Lord as it reigns over men which unto godly men is taken away 2 As a Huâ—band Rom. 6.14 that 's a power of love that it can command and a man has an inward affection to obey it as it is said of Ahab he did sell himself to work wickedness Rom. 7.3 and then God sells a man to wickedness and the man is become wholly the servant and the creature of such a lust Every man by nature indeed does sin freely but some men are left to a judiciary freedom in sinning that as they cannot restrain themselves so God will not restrain them from sinning but they shall pour out themselves to all iniquity with greediness Jude v. 11. they shall be as wicked as they will that so they may fill up their measure of sinning as Christ said of the Pharisees Fill up the measures of your fathers it 's spoken by way of wrath and vengeance the Lord did give them up to the power of sin to the uttermost Rev. 22.11 He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still This permission is the highest and forest affliction And there the Church leaves them that are obstinately ignorant and resist instruction 1 Cor. 14.38 He that is ignorant let him be ignorant Now for a man to be thus given up by God and his Church is a most desperate condition As it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God so it 's a fearful thing to be given up to his own hearts lust To be given up to sin is a just punishment of sin for the ways of sin as well as the wages of sin is death It 's a dreadful thing for the Lord to say of a people appointed to wrath Jer. 15.2 Let them go forth such as are for the sword to the sword and such as are for the famine to the famine but it is more dreadful for God judicially to say let them go forth such as are for drunkenness unto drunkenness and such as are for uncleanness unto uncleanness as much as sin is a greater evil than affliction and as much as it is better to suffer than to sin 5. God gives a man up to the power of Satan and his own will 2 Tim. 2.26 The Devil is compared to a hunter and men are by him taken alive as we do beasts in a snare and then carried whither the hunter will though God be not the author of sin yet he is the orderer of it as well as of suffering and as he sets bounds unto Satan in our affliction as Job 1.12 All that he has is in thy hand only upon himself lay not thy hand so he does in our temptations also He will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able 1 Cor. 10.13 Satan would indeed tempt you above what you are able but God will not suffer you so to be tempted It 's a fearful thing for God to give a man either in his body or estate over to the will of the Devil as we see in Job how sad was it with him in that regard but much more for God to give over a mans spirit to Satan to carry a man unto what sins he will then I am sure he will be boundless in his sinning as well as in his suffering It 's an observation of Damascene that it 's only by sin that Satan has access to the spirits of men and therefore he did tempt Adam and Christ himself by outward objects only presented to the senses which is a great argument that he could not have access to their spirits Joh. 14.30 The Prince of this world says Christ comes and has nothing in me The more Satan has in a man the more immediate access he has to him and the greater power over him therefore the less of Satan there is in a man surely the less power he has over him But besides the possession and dominion that sin has given him there is a delivering a man unto Satan a kind of spiritual excommunication by God himself as Christ by a sop gave Satan full possession of Judas Joh. 13.27 and though before the sop he had it may be some reluctancy to that damned business yet after it Satan had full power over him and he goes on with a resolution and an impudent boldness and says Whom I kiss he it is for he was delivered over to the will of Satan to carry him unto what sin he would And so we may observe of the false Prophets in Ahab's time and them also that are mentioned in 2 Thes 2.12 and such men as Tertullian observes he raises to a higher degree of wickedness the Devil vouchsafed them greater and fuller power he speaks it of Marcion Valentinus and other Hereticks Satan brings them to those sins against God that he himself cannot commit 6. All Providences and Ordinances and Operations of the Spirit become a curse to them and a snare to their souls Prosperity makes them full and deny the Lord and poverty makes them steal and take the name of God in vain Prov. 30.8 If a man be raised from a low estate as Saul and Hazael it is in wrath and if he be preserved in a common judgment it is in wrath as God raised up Pharaoh That he might shew his power on him and send all his Plagues upon his heart and if there be a Prophet sent to Jeroboam a judgment lights on him in his way back because he was disobedient to the word of the Lord 1 King 13.33 yet thereupon Jeroboam turns not from his abomination Every act of Providence is to them for evil and a snare to their souls and all the Ordinances that they do enjoy do but ripen their sins Amos 8.7 there is a fullness of curse as well as of blessing in the Gospel and it 's a favour of death as well
happiness of all those that are in Christ even in this that their Covenant is changed and it was unto David the ground of all his comfort that God had made with him this Everlasting Covenant and well it might be for it was the foundation of all his happiness and his salvation But you 'l say Wherein lies the glory of this condition of a souls being translated from their former root 1. Being translated into this Covenant God is reconciled to thee for the Covenant of Grace is a Covenant of Peace and Reconciliation so that the enmity between thee and God is taken up and he looks upon thee as an enemy no more 2. Being taken into Covenant with God again there do many sweet relations grow out of the Covenant for the Lord saith I will be their God and they shall be my people and the Lord is not ashamed to be called their God he is our father and husband and our friend we have as truly by Covenant an interest in all that is in God for our best good as the Lord himself hath for his own glory his power is made over to us as truly as if we had infinite power and his mercy as if we had infinite mercy and grace and wisdom c. 3. Being once in Covenant he becomes the son of God a mans Covenant is a Covenant of Sonship I will be their God and they shall be my sons and daughters c. 1 Joh. 3.1 Behold what manner of love the father hath shewed unto us that we should be called the sons of God Gal. 4.18 and if sons then heirs in all the inheritance of Christ Being sons of the free-woman it is thereby that we become heirs of the Promise the inheritance is not by the Law but by the Gospel if they that are of the Law be heirs then Christ were dead in vain 4. Hereby a man has a ground for his faith upon all occasions and a bottom for his prayers it is the Covenant that is unto faith the Magna Charta where all the priviledges and liberties of a Believer are found and this Covenant is sure God is a faithful God a God that will not lye that cannot deny himself Jer. 31.18 Turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God Lord do not abhor us for thou art the Lord our God Jer. 14.21 And the Psalmist hath respect unto this Covenant For all the earth are full of the habitation of crueltieâ— Isa 64.9 Remember not our iniquities for ever behold we beseech thee we are all thy people And take them in the worst terms and when a man has even suffered shipwrack yet the Covenant is tabula post naufragium a plank after shipwrack by which the soul is kept from sinking see it in our Lord Christ himself in that hour of the power of darkness My God my God c. how did Christ call the Lord his God for as Christ is God so he has the same essence with the Father and he thought it no robbery to be equal with Him but as Mediator he is God the Fathers Servant and so the Lord is his God by Covenant Psal 89.36 Christ says Thou art my Father and my God And Joh. 20.17 And he is no other way Christs God and Father but by Covenant for Christ took a new Covenant-right unto God as Mediator And as we come under the Covenant so doth the Lord in him become our God also and we have a right unto him and by looking unto God in Covenant the spirit of a Christian is upheld in the greatest sense of wrath when the Lord did bruise and grind him to powder making his soul an offering for sin A man out of this Covenant has no ground for his faith nor bottom for any of his prayers 5. It is a Covenant that can never be broken an Everlasting Covenant a Covenant of salt Heb. 7. a Covenant that has a surety Christ says If he fail in any thing put it upon my account And Isa 56.7 I know I shall not be ashamed One sin did break the first Covenant and it being broken could never be made up by one offence condemnation came upon all but by the free gift righteousness comes upon all for many offences to justification because the righteousness of the Covenant is a perfect and an everlasting righteousness and upon this is a godly mans comfort mainly grounded David by his sin foresaw that he had undone his Family the Lord threatned him by the Prophet That the sword should never depart from his house yet he comforts himself in this that his Covenant remained sure A godly mans comfort mainly comes in by his state much more than by his actions and he comforts himself in the one when he abhors himself for the other and though God will judge for both yet he will judge of mens actions according to their states Therefore whatever you do give diligence to make your calling and election sure which can never be without a Translation into the Covenant of Grace CHAP. VI. A Mans Translation out of the first Covenant is by Vnion Gal. 3.29 And if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise SECT I. How our Translation is by Vnion with the nature of this Vnion § 1. HAving thus far opened the necessity of a Translation the change of a mans Covenant as well as of his Image we come now unto the Second Head propounded and that is Wherein this Translation doth consist For which I have chosen this Text Gal. 3.29 And if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise In the opening hereof there are Three things that I must lay down as grounds 1. That God will deal with all men not only in a way of Dominion but in a way of Stipulation So that men in Covenant with God are of two sorts either regenerate or unregenerate Sons or Servants Children of the bond-woman or of the free and they that are unregenerate â—emain under the Covenant of Works they that are regenerate are under a Covenant of Grace There is a twofold universal Covenant made with all mankind which Divines do call faedus universale one made with Adam before his fall and with all man-kind For the Curse of his Covenant transgressed coming upon all does plainly prove that the blessing of â—he Covenant should have belonged unto all if it had been observed and the blessing and â—urse of the Covenant does come primarily upon none but those with whom the Covenant â—as made There is another universal Covenant made after the fall made not only with â—an but with all flesh even with every living creature that is upon the earth oâ— Foul and â—attel and every Beast of the earth and it contains in it two Branches 1. That all â—sh shall be no more cut off by the waters or a flood 2. That while the earth remains Sâ—ed-time and Harvest
your right Hand and pluck out your right Eye deny your selves that nothing shall be exalted in the heart but Christ and nothing must be dear to a man in comparison of Christ he must sell all to buy the Pearl Matt. 13.45 and part with it with joy not only part with a mans sins but his righteousness and priviledges and take them up by a new title as Paul he suffered the loss of all things Phil. 3.8 9. but found them all in Christ and attained them by a far better and more glorious title A man must do it as you do in Copy-holds a man must bring in his old Copy into the Court and there must be a surrender made and then you shall take it up again and have a new and a better state in it c. A man must part with sin as a snare and with self as a sacrifice and lay them all down at Christs feet he must be his utmost end that gives order and measure to all the means tending thereunto c. 3. The will of man is desperately shut against Christ and against this way of closing with him partly from a mans ungodliness because it is the highest way in which God will be honoured and partly because a man hates the terms and conditions that Christ must be received upon a man cannot give up all unto Christ sin is sweet and self is dear and the great God of the world the Idol that a man has worshipped all his life time now for a man to come and change his God it is that which the will of man is hardly brought unto and therefore Christ puts it upon the will John 5.40 You will not come to me who ever will let him come and take of the water of life freely Rev. 22. I would have gathered you but you would not The Lord does knock at this everlasting door and men bar the door against him and harden their hearts and will rather cleave to the Law and seek to patch up a broken Covenant and will venture their eternal estates upon it nay if they be convinced that there is no life to be had elsewhere they will venture to sit down in a state and way of death rather than they will come unto Christ that they may have life 4. When the Lord brings a man into the bond of Christs Covenant and he becomes an heir of Promise there is an almighty power put forth upon the will to perswade it and to open the heart to accept of Christ and to be subject unto him upon his own terms Gen. 9.27 The Lord shall perswade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Sem which all the rhetorick of the Angels in Heaven and Ministers the Angels upon Earth could never do none but the Spirit of Christ can open the heart it is alone in his power that has the Keys of Hell and Death Ut velimu sine nobis operatur cùm volumus nobiscum cooperatur August de Grat Lib. arb Chap. 17. Phil. 3.8 praebendo vires efficacissimas voluntati giving power to the will to choose Christ and so determining a mans will upon this glorious object that a man seeing Christ to be the chiefest of ten thousands he also desires him and so by preventing grace he does work the will and by assisting grace he works the deed that a man chooses the Lord for his portion and as that which above all things he desires to injoy and place his happiness in and unto him he cleaves with full purpose of heart for ever Act. 11. 23. And thus a man looking upon Christ as the person in whom there is a Covenant and an Image laid up and seeing the glory of that Covenant and the beauty of holiness that is in that Image of both he desires to be made partaker but there is the greater excellency because the person goes with them there is an excellency in the dowry but there is more in the person the soul thus accepting of Christ and catching at the terms of the Covenant as a dying man does at any thing looks upon it as a golden Septer held forth to him by the law condemned and as the brazen Serpent exalted upon the Pole to a sin-stung soul and the heart does greedily and with all its might take hold of it as a man would do a Cord let down as the only means to pluck him out of a dungeon or to save him from drowning and perishing Now to give you some arguments to inforce this that men should take hold of Christs Covenant 1. He is given by God the Father as a Covenant to the Nations Isa 49.8 And it will prove a high act of unthankfulness not to accept of him as a gift from God their sin was much aggravated John 1.11 John 1.11 He came to his own and his own received him not a man does not receive Christ that does not take him in this manner as offered by God the Father as a Covenant our ends in taking of Christ should answer Gods ends in giving of him now God did give him as a Covenant and an Image and we should receive him for both those ends and the Lord has used all means to inforce you to it that you may lay hold of this Covenant he did so with Adam at first Adam still thought that his former Covenant continued and would have given life and therefore he still had a mind to the Tree of Life but God to let him see there was no hope by that Covenant sent an Angel there with a flaming Sword and all that man might come to Christ â—ev 2.7 who is the Tree of Life in the middle of the Garden of God and came in the place of the old Tree of Life and he hath taught men that by the works of the Law no flesh can be justified and that that way to Heaven is stopped and that door barr'd for ever God sets the guilt of sin and terrors of the law upon any man that would be justified by his works 2. It is Christs Covenant and therefore lay hold of it for Christ is the standard of all excellency and the more any thing relates to him or holds forth of him the more glorious it is The second Temple was more glorious than the first because of Christs presence in it and John Baptists Ministry the greatest of all that were born of women and yet the least in the Kingdom of God was greater than he and therefore to you that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 and when he shall raign over Israel and they be converted to him he shall be the glory of his people Israel How should we therefore lay hold of him and take him as worthy of all acceptation 3. Consider the glory of this Covenant 1. In it thou hast an interest in God in all the persons in Trinity for I will be thy God is the grand promise thereof Now to have the Lord for a
great evil but with the immediate works and gifts of the Spirit of God is a far greater provocation 4 That which you place your sufficiency so much in remember you cannot act without Divine aid a man that has received gifts cannot exercise and use those gifts that he has received The Apostle doth distinguish between all these three there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gifts and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Offices and there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Effects or Operations of the same graces now as the Spirit doth appoint every man his office and gives unto every man his gift so he doth give unto every man a success as it pleaseth him and therefore though Paul may plant and Apollo water yet it is God that gives the increase and the success is not always answerable unto the labour that is bestowed even in the best we see it in Christ himself he did spend his whole life and his very radical moisture in labour Esa 49.4 as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie and yet he doth himself complain That he had laboured in vain and spent his strength for nought c. So when the Prophets had received a Spirit of Prophecy and the Apostles a gift of Miracles yet notwithstanding they could not act it when they would but when the Spirit of the Lord came upon them as it was with Samson and therefore it 's a kind of a Proverb that Luther has in Gen. 4.4 Spiritus Sanctus non semper tangit cor Prophetarum The Spirit doth not always touch the Prophets heart so the Apostles had a gift of healing but they could not heal when they would and therefore when Epaphroditus had been sick and was nigh death also Paul who had the gift of healing for when they brought from him but handkerchiefs and aprons the diseases departed from them yet he cannot now heal him who was so dear to him and whose ministery was so useful it 's not in a mans power therefore to act his own gifts he cannot use his own abilities at his own pleasure as there is an ability in a man to gather and know much of God by his works that are in the world yet it is according as God did point and direct his understanding or else he could never do it Rom. 1.19 it is manifest in the creation of the world for God has shewed it unto them and to know what seed to sow and with what instruments to thresh and when the ground is fit for seed and when it is sufficiently plowed c. It is God that doth instruct him to discretion Esa 28.26 The men of might cannot find their hands they were men of strength and they were skilful in war but they could not use it at such a time they could not find their hands it is unto them as if they had no strength as if they had had no skill for they have no use of them therefore remember this when you place your sufficiency so much in these things 5 As they that have these gifts cannot act them of themselves without Gods assistance so neither can they give success to them or make them in any measure effectual the best men have but their measure Rom. 12.4 God has not given all gifts to one man and therefore the greatest and the best and most eminent member of the body shall have need of the gifts of the meanest there is a supply of every joynt unto the edifying of the body there is something in the meanest Saint that thou maist despise as weak-gifted yet it is wanting in thee and thou canst not give success to thy greatest endeavours but he that gives the gift must give the blessing mundus non potest esse sine personarum discrimine Luther there must be Princes and Rulers and Governors sed dona non sequuntur illas differentias c. and so it is here the effect doth not always follow the abilities but a man of lesser gifts shall bring forth more fruit to God than he that thinks himself most sufficient For the Lord resists the proud and gives grace to the humble he will give the success there where he may have the glory and many times a man of great ability is laid aside though he labours yet he brings nothing to pass and a man of lesser parts is blessed exceedingly and the reason is the one is too great in his own eyes or in the eyes of others and therefore the Lord cannot use him non patitur in regno suo superbiam God cannot bear pride in his Kingdom 6 When we place our sufficiency in them that will provoke the Lord to take them away from us there are two things that provoke God exceedingly one is being weary of our work as it was in Moses and the other is when we do exalt our selves in our work and put an excellency upon our selves for our own actings therefore says the Lord From him that hath not shall be taken away he will put thee out of thy stewardship if thou waste his goods to maintain thy own pride and there is nothing in the world doth blast the parts of men more and provoke God to take them away in judgment and the man dies besotted he withers in all the greenness that did appear so fresh in him Joh. 15.6 he doth in this saith Luther as Vespasian when he saw there was no way to take men off from seeking wealth In Gen. 4.4 aequo animo patiebatur eos ditari with a patient mind suffer men to be rich but he said Divites spongiam esse there would come a pressing time when men that gathered so much for themselves should go empty away remember this ye that forget the Lord and place a sufficiency in any gift that God has given you the Lord will certainly deprive thee of it and thy folly shall be made manifest 2. When men do place not only sufficiency in their gifts but in grace received which a man also is very apt to do and let me tell you it is the highest spiritual pride in the world and is an abuse of the highest gift and grace of God 1 Consider it is quite contrary to the nature of grace which is to live in another and to fetch all from another and therefore it is an unnatural sin 2 No man can act his own grace Deus agit immediaté 3 Grace is but a creature and may decay in the degrees of it and it doth oftentimes I and in the essence it would also if it were not preserved by an almighty power Rev. 2.4 for it is not in its own nature immortal seed 4 It doth make grace an Idol and so it provokes the Spirit to withdraw from his own graces so that he shall delight to see the ruine of his own workmanship Object But you 'l say Do not we read in Prov. 14.14 That a good man is satisfied from himself and that there is a sufficiency
and they are cast out as a branch and wither but during the time of their continuance in this kingdom till he has cast them out for their rebellion there is a government that the Lord Jesus by his Spirit doth exercise towards them and over them for the good of his Saints And this will appear by the expressions that we meet with in Scripture 1 They are his servants Joh. 8.35 the Church is compared to a house a family as it 's called the family of God and the house of God and of this family Christ is the Master now there is a special imployment that he has for every one of his servants and they are under his special command and dominion it is true this family is made up of servants and of sons and the servants may have a greater rule in the house than the sons but yet both under the authority of the housholder only he rules over the one as a Master and over the other as a Father but both are in subjection Cant. 6.8 there are in the Church sixty Queens and fourscore Concubines and Virgins without number some are truly married unto Christ and have a true right and authority in the family by their marriage-union with the King for the woman shines by the beams of her husband but there are Concubines that came in only for lusts sake and that did bear fruit but it was never from a marriage state and there were Virgins that were companions only that were not married neither did they in a manner bear fruit but were for attendants only and the King has a special rule and dominion over all these c. 2 The Church visible is compared to a great House 2. Tim. 2.20 some expound it de mundo but contextus nos ducit ut de Ecclesia intelligamus non de extraneis disputat Apostolus sed de ipsa familia Dei Calv. there is not a vessel but it has its use though all have not the same use nor of the like honour yet all are for use and all are for the Masters use so that there is a special dominion that is exercised over them all as well the vessels of wood and stone as those that are of gold to imploy them where he will and as he will in what service he pleases for it is his will that makes their use to differ it is for the Saints sake that he makes use of them so that all Gods dispensations towards unregenerate men in the Church is for their sakes all the husbandry that is exercised about the unfruitful branches is for the sake of those that have a blessing in them for the wicked shall have no benefit by it in the great day of the Lord the greater rule the Lord has exercised towards men the greater will their abhorring be the nearer they have been to him the further off shall they be from him the higher they have been exalted to heaven the deeper shall they be cast down to hell Mat. 11.23 there is utter darkness for the children of the kingdom Mat. 8.12 And this we may reduce unto four Heads 1 their graces 2 their gifts 3 their services 4 their sins and in all these the dominion of Christ over them is for the good of the Saints 1. Their graces are ruled by Christ for the Saints there are common graces which the Lord doth give unto unregenerate men in the Church common illuminations by which they see much glory and beauty in spiritual things and yet had never their eyes anointed with eye-salve and there are many common works upon the wills of men letting in a taste of the goodness of spiritual things so that the heart is much taken with them and makes out after them and there are many tendencies to the new birth Hos 13.13 we see them set forth to us Heb. 6.3 4. which is meant of the common graces of the Spirit of Christ under the Gospel which he works upon the souls and consciences of unregenerate men which are only from the Spirit assisting and not from the Spirit informing which flow not from union but from conviction and therefore from which in time they will surely fall away there is a great beauty that the Spirit of God in such common works doth put forth upon the souls of unregenerate men though it be but as the Sun shining upon a mud-wall or as a curious robe put upon a dead carkass it cannot keep it from stinking because there is not a principle of life in it 1 Hereby the Lord restrains their spirits There is a restraint without by a power that is upon the Devil by which he is restrained from doing the mischief he would else do but there is a restraint within upon the lusts of men and that is by some special works of the Spirit of God upon them Exod. 34.24 No man shall desire thy land c. and the Spirit restraining is for the Saints sake as well as the Spirit renewing Psal 76 10. The wrath of man shall praise thee Psal 76.10 and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accinges thou shalt gird up sometimes the Lord lets mens lusts loose and sometimes he does gird them up as he doth the Sea in a girdle of sand or else the Saints of God who are always as sheep amongst wolves would surely be devoured by them for their soul is amongst lyons Now they are common works that do exceedingly restrain the sins and the rage of unregenerate men and bind up their spirits both in reference unto persecution and the wrongs done by them as also in reference to corruption and the evil example given by them also 2 Hereby the Lord doth fit them for service for even the vessels of dishonour are for service in the house also though they be but of wood and stone c. Now though gifts do immediately qualifie them yet they are common works that do make them to exercise those gifts and are unto them as oyl to the wheels in the use of them as a temporary Believer he may be an eminent Professor and the house that such a one builds is far more glorious in outward shew than that of a Saint for they are both called builders Mat. 7.7 and many men do service for God but they are cold in it because they are acted only from without Rom. 16.18 whose God is their belly Non ità glacies frigus sicut Elcius alii sed ego rem seriam agebam ut quòd diem extremum horribiliter timui c. Luth. and this will make a man seem to act from an inward principle as if he had received life from the Spirit and were made alive from the dead and thereby even ungodly men do many times give a great testimony unto the principles and the practices of the Saints that they acknowledge them and seal unto them and yet nevertheless there is in them a principle to hate them
never to expect the like again yea after the same manner as he did deliver them when they came out of Egypt in a miraculous way by signs and wonders so he will do again and the grounds of it is the same Hab. 3.9 Thy bow was made quite naked according to the oaths of the Tribes Hab. 3.9 even thy word Selah thou didst cleave the earth with rivers c. it is according unto the oaths that he swore unto the Tribes even his word the juramenta quae saepiùs repetita c. 2 When he doth work in an ordinary way according unto the course that he has set in nature and according unto the dependence that things have one upon another Hos 2.22 the heavens shall hear the earth and the earth the corn and the wine and they shall hear Jezreel c. there are the ordinances of Heaven of the Sun and the Moon and the Stars Jer. 31.35 that constant and established course that God has set amongst the creatures c. Now whether the Lord work by means or without means by his own immediate hand all is and shall be ordered and disposed for the good of the Saints all the governments that the Lord doth exercise in the world either of those ways 4. The Providence of God is either seen 1 in things necessaria which have a necessary dependence upon their causes and we may accordingly expect them as the Sun and Moon to shine or to be in their Eclipse as we say It will be foul weather to day for the skie is red and it will be fair to morrow for the skie is red which men do conclude of by their observation because they have a necessary dependence upon their causes Mat. 16.2 3. And as it is in natural things so it is in morals also there are signs of the times by which things may be as well known and as certainly concluded by an observing man a man may as well know the signs of the times as the Stork and the Crane and the Swallow know their times Jer. 8.7 8. or else why should they be blamed for it as being more unwise for themselves than the brute creatures are c. 2 There are some things that are accidentalia that are casual or fall out so as we can give no reason for them there is no expectation of it in man as the disposing of the minds of men the Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord Prov. 21.1 as in King Ahasuerus in the business of Mordecai there was a concurrence of many things that were casual and so Prov. 16.33 The lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing of it is from the Lord so that there is not the most casual thing that can be but it comes under a providence and in all these also it is for the good of the Saints as it 's said 2 Kings 3.22 a rumour Sennacheribs Army shall hear they shall have such an apprehension that because the Sun shines upon the water therefore the Kings have slain one another for this is blood c. 5. Providence is either circa bonum vel malum either 1 in all good so the Lord doth work and order the spirits of men for as every good gift is from above so every good work is from him that is the Father of lights and the Fountain of all goodness 2 Also of all the evil that is in man there is a providence for God would never have suffered sin to have come into the world if he had not known how to have wrought his own ends by it even by the vessels of dishonour he is served in his house 2 Tim. 2.21 he doth order and over-rule even the sins of men unto his own high and most glorious ends he doth uphold Pharaoh and let out his spirit but it is that he might shew his power in him Even the wrath of man shall praise him and the remainder he will and doth restrain and Gen. 20.3 I kept thee that thou shouldst not touch her There is a letting out of sin and there is a restraint upon sin so far as it may serve to his ends Now all the providence of God whether it be for good or ill either permitting or disposing it is all of it for the good of the Saints 1. The Providence of God is circa maxima and that is for the good of the Saints and this I will reduce unto two heads 1 His government over the Angels 2 Over men in all the great turnings and changes in the world in the policies and in the governments thereof for it is the most High rules in the Kingdoms of mortal men and all this is done for the Saints sake and all is ordered so as it shall be for their good 1. For the government of the Angels either good or bad it 's all for the good of the Saints 1. As for the good Angels it 's true they are part of the spiritual Kingdom and shall make up part of that great Church and body of which Christ is the head and therefore Heb. 12.22 we are said to be come unto them and therefore it is ordinary with the Fathers and the School-men as I told you to intimate that there are as many men elected as there were Angels that fell and that they are taken in to fill up that number qui locum illum supplerent ruinas Jerusalem restaurarent Bern. But they are also used by the Lord in the providential Kingdom and all is for the Saints good in their whole Ministry it is for the sake of them that are heirs of salvation Heb. 1.14 And Ezech. 1.5 c. Ezech. 1.5 c. we have the manner how the Lord governs all things in a threefold subordination there are the wheels and the living creatures that act them and one as the Son of man by whose command and by whose Spirit they do move in all their ways and the wheels by them 1 They do by a secret virtue work upon and over-rule the hearts and the wills of men and therefore the Trumpets and the Vials are given unto the hands of Angels that is they do fashion the hearts of men and stir up their spirits unto such a work and strengthen their hearts in it for as the Devil doth fashion the minds and wills of men and gives suggestions suitable to his designs so do the good Angels also and as Satan strengthens the resolution of wicked men so do the good Angels also for they have a power upon the soul also being Spirits and a more immediate work upon the minds of men as Ahabs false Prophets thou shalt perswade them and prevail there is an impression upon their hearts they have their arguments and suggestions and they follow them with reasonings till the men be overcome so do the good Angels also Rev. 2.10 the devil shall cast some of you into prison it 's Satans working powerfully in his instruments and upon
our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 which we do by his Grace yet there is a concurrence of ours therein 5 That the Patience and forbearance of God even towards the Vessels of mercy may be so much the more exalted Num. 14.17 Moses says Let the Power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken the Lord long-suffering and of great mercy even his forbearance is an act of his power it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is an impotency in a man that he cannot forbear if he be injured it is utterly a fault amongst you but it is not so with God it is his Power that he can forbear 't is the patience of his power and therefore we are not consumed when we daily provoke him the imagination of a mans heart being continually evil he is God and not man Gen. 6.5 Gen. 8.21 Hos 11.9 therefore Gen. 6.5 and 8.21 they do seem to cross each other in the first place 't is said the Lord will destroy man because the imaginations of his heart were evil and in the other I will not again curse the ground for mans sake for the imaginations of his heart are evil from his youth it seems to be given as a reason of two contraries he will and he will not every imagination of the heart of man is evil therefore I will no more curse the Earth for his sake it seems strange reasoning it is by the Jesuites and Arminians looked upon as an extenuation of Original sin There is now that infirmity come upon him which was in Adam indeed a sin but now it is become a disease an infirmity a condition of Nature and therefore humanae infirmitatis miserebor I will pity humane infirmity so A Lapide and others who make the being of sin in us to be no sin but there is quite another sence of the words the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken either causativè or adversativè and so it is rendred sometimes quia because and sometimes quamvis although Glass Rhet. pag. 606. Our translators take the first for the imaginations of the heart or because the imaginations of the heart of man are only evil and so Brentius Pareus c. Si vellem semper genus humanum diluvio punire c. If I should always bring upon them a flood for their iniquity I should not leave a man upon the earth all man-kind would be destroy'd for the imaginations of his heart are evil from his youth and therefore now having smelt a savour of rest from a sacrifice I will not for this cause destroy them any more by a flood But many of the learned render it adversativè and so it is although so Exod. 13.17 The Lord led them not thorough the land of the Philistins although that was near it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 34.19 Let my Lord I pray thee goe amongst us for it is a stiffe-necked people that is although it be a stiffe-necked people and so it is an expression of the wonderfull patience of God that though men provoke him daily and all the imaginations of their hearts are evil continually yet hoc non obstante I will shew my patience towards them and will no more curfe the ground for mans sake c. and it is spoken of all men not only wicked men but godly men for whose sake the Lord doth spare the creatures for it is for the Saints sake that the world stands and that the earth is not destroyed and yet the imaginations of their hearts are evil from their youth and by this the patience of God towards the vessels of mercy as well as towards the vessels of wrath is very highly exalted 6 That the Lord may hereby shew how great a grace that donum perseverantiae gift of perseverance is and what an almighty power doth concur thereunto Adam had no sin and yet he fell from his first state how then shall we stand that have in us nothing else but sin something of the venom of the old Serpent that is ready to open unto him upon every suggestion and ready to take fire by every temptation a sin that doth easily beset us or compass up about Heb. 12.21 And the great aim of Satan without and sin within is to extinguish grace that this seed may dye in the man but it is maintained and there is an almighty power that does it therefore 1 Pet. 1.15 We are kept by the mighty power of God through saith unto salvation or else we should perish every day and this exalts the grace of the second Covenant unto the souls of the Saints because there is not only a grace of conversion but of perseverance also the Spirit of Christ having once taken possession of the soul takes possession for ever never to leave it again if Christ hath cast out the strong man he will never himself be cast out till Satan be stronger than he which is never possible 7 That the souls of the Saints may be kept here in a continual longing and a groaning condition for glory there is nothing so great an evil as sin and therefore nothing should make the soul weary of this life so much as sin because it cannot end but with our life and this is one blessed fruit of it Rom. 8.13 We groan for the Adoption but why do we groan 2 Cor. 5.24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there are many burdens that the people of God are under in this life but there is no burden like unto that of the body of death that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a weight indeed Heb. 12.1 and they groan therefore to put off this tabernacle because without it there is no putting off this body of sin but by being freed from this prison we are so apt to be in love with this present life that we had need of something that might be bitterness to us and imbitter it to us so that we take not up our rest here but that the soul may look for and hasten to the coming of the day of God and may rejoyce to put off this Tabernacle be willing that the flesh should be destroyed that thereby there may be the destruction of the body of sin in us also And thus we see the Soveraignty of God working for the Saints in this great state of the being of sin in the Saints in this life bringing much good unto them as well as much glory unto himself thereby § 3. 2. As the being of sin comes under the Soveraignty of God so doth the rising of it in the heart which doth never break forth into act it is true that the heart of man is an evil treasury and it is an evil fountain but though it be always issuing yet it doth not vent it self the same way but sometimes in this kind and sometimes in that Seneca in omnibus omnia vitia sunt licèt non se exerunt c. Mar. 7.21 22 23. For out
threefold power sin has from the law 1 Of condemnation and so the law saith Luther that is weak through the flesh for justification is through the flesh powerful to condemnation The law does strengthen sin by its condemning power 2 Of Conviction for the discovery of sin is by the law and it 's through the law only that sin does trouble the Conscience and convince the sinner Paul saith I was alive without the law once i. e. in his unregenerate estate but his sins were before alive only they lay hid as colours in the dark Now when the Commandment came sin did appear to be sin it being discovered thereby so that the strength of sin as to Conviction is by the law 3 As to Irritation By the law lust is drawn forth and improved and provoked and so sin receives a power from the law also and therefore they that have the clearest discoveries of the law their sins are improved and made stronger than other mens as it appears by the people of Israel Zech. 5.6 8. there was an Ephah Zech. 5.6 8. which is the greatest dry measure amongst the Jews and it is wickedness that is in it that sets forth the fulness of their sins and we see what it was that did fill it up sin taking occasion from the Commandment Jer. 1.11 as a rod of an Almond-tree their sins did ripen in the greatest colds that which a man would have thought should have been a means to have kept sin under that was a means to improve and increase it As a basket of Summer-fruits which is sooner ripe than other fruits Jer. 24.2 Amos 8.1 they were divided into two sorts the good figs very good but the bad very bad such as could not be eaten the rain does ripen the briers and thorns as well as the corn Heb. 6.7 8. therefore the law of God does improve mens sins and ripen them and hasten judgment for them 1. In every unregenerate man there is the seed of all sin Rom. 1.26 Act. 13.10 they are filled with the fruits of all unrighteousness full of all subtlety and all mischief a fountain of sin a treasury a bundle of folly Let Satan come when he will and he will find something that is in us Though all sins break not forth actually in every man yet vertually and seminally all sins are in every man 2. Lusts are acted and drawn forth by degrees as water out of a fountain it casts not forth all at once your experience teaches that the more it is drawn the quicker the spring is no man is suddenly very bad sin ripens as a child in the womb first lust is conceived Jam. 1.14 Ezek. 7.10 Isa 59.4 and then it brings forth sin and sin finished brings forth death It first brings forth the bud and then the blossom and afterward the fruit as Serpents do first the egg and afterwards the Cocatrice c. 3. Unto men in an unregenerate state there is nothing that is not a means to draw out and improve their lusts and this is the curse upon every thing unto them and therefore Tit. 1.15 To the unclean all things are unclean Rom. 8.28 To a gracious heart all things work together for his good because they are all means to subdue his corruption and improve his graces so to another man all things improve his corruption 1 All Creatures 1 Joh. 2.16 whatsoever is in the world is the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye or the pride of life There is no Creature but draws out some lust or other and therefore the lust is put for the thing it self for every Creature shall improve his corruption there is nothing that he sees with his eyes but sin takes occasion by it to make the man more exceeding sinful If he look upon the Sun in its brightness his heart is enticed c. He cannot look upon a woman but to lust after her they have eyes full of adultery 2 Pet. 2.14 2 All opportunities draw out his corruption as Gehazi said As the Lord liveth I will go after him and get something of him And the Harlot Prov. 7. The good man is gone from home c. 3 All estates do draw out his corruption if in prosperity he does wax fat and kick and as the pasture so is his filling his heart is lifted up and he forgets the Lord and if afflicted with Ahaz he sins yet more so that sin takes occasion by all the ways and dispensations of God towards the man and as sin is improved and takes all occasion by all other things so it does by the law of God also and so as a godly man grows from grace to grace from faith to faith so does a wicked man from sin to sin from one degree of wickedness to another § 3. But the main thing in opening of the point is this How sin takes occasion by the Commandment and what improvement the law that forbids sin and discovers sin can give unto it There are several acts of the law by which sin is improved Rom. 7. 1. The law as a glass doth discover sins I had not known lust but by the law says the Apostle Paul Now in this sin takes occasion by the Commandment three ways 1 It does act many sins because they are forbidden that there is nothing in the sin that should else carry the heart to it but only we affect things forbidden In sins where there is neither pleasure nor profit yet how do the hearts of men run out to them even to new oaths and new-invented blasphemies as if they were the flowers of speech for which no man can give a reason but this because it is forbidden As Hyperius gives advice unto Divines not to revive ancient Heresies in their reproofs lest thereby they do teach men those errors they went about to refute For the very hearing of a blasphemy is enough to take the heart as we see by experience daily and the very speaking of some things as sins is enough to draw out the lusts of men towards them Thus sin takes occasion by the Commandment 2 The discovery of the Law makes sin the more exceeding sinful because it is against light which shews it unto his Conscience and yet the man does it and so sin takes occasion by the Commandment to become the more out of measure sinful 1 When the Commandment forbids and discovers a thing to be evil and sin takes occasion thereby to mince it and in a politick manner to conceal it self Sin would do the thing and yet elude the force and the spirituality of the Law as the Pharisees the Law said Thou shalt not swear but they said to swear by Heaven is lawful and it is lawful to swear by the Temple but not by the Gold of the Temple The Law saith Men should nourish their Parents but they said it is Corban a gift c. And so the discovery of the Law makes a
man to seek out curious ways of sinning against it to avoid the power of the law as we see in Gaming c. sin takes occasion by the Commandment that it may sin more artificially and such men are hardly convinced 2 The Law discovers sin and men will not see it and so sin takes occasion by the Commandment and vents it self by refusing knowledge And they stop their ears that they may not be charmed by the voice of the charmer Joh. 3.20 c. 3 Sin takes occasion from hence in that men hate the light of the law and they wish that there were no such law in the world He that does evil hates the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be made manifest and reproved As the law discovers that to be evil in which the soul placeth its greatest good so this discovery draws out a hatred in the soul a-against that law which does as a glass discover the spots which the sinner would have hidden 2. The law does restrain sin and puts a stop to it and shuts up the sinner as we may read Gal. 3.23 Whence sin breaks forth more violently men being prone to sin and cannot live without it for the comfort of their life comes in by it The Law may restrain and keep in lust for a while Mat. 12.43 but it breaks forth as fire when you suppress it outwardly it burns the hotter within and spreads the more by a restraint 1 It spreads the more in the man by the restraint of the Law a man that hath forborn a sin long there comes seven worse spirits at the last and makes him more the child of the Devil than he was before the former restraint that was upon him makes his inward man the more exceeding sinful As it was with Judas a Devil though a Disciple The restraint of sin by the Commandment causes it to defile his inward man the more 2 The more sin is enraged as Psal 2. They say let us break their bonds and cast their cords from us Chains put not a fierceness into a beast but yet it does outwardly draw forth that fury that was in its nature As a potion in some diseases given for the cure irritates the peccant humour and kills the man the sooner not that it puts a new sickness in but only the humours being stirred are the more enraged 3 So in this case it does not only enrage sin and so make it more fierce but it improves it by this enraging as the presence of an injury doth heighten a mans anger as we see Goliah did David s his brags drew forth David's courage and it rose to the greater height and so any difficulty would Alexander's so that it was an exploit fit for Alexander if none else would undertake it and so a damm in the water it does cause it to swell and foam the more and the coldness of the circumstant air in the winter does not put more heat into the fire and yet by an Antiperistasis it excites it so that it is felt the more And therefore men living under the clearest discoveries of the Law their sins do rise to the greatest height men by the light of nature cannot sin against the Holy Ghost the great and the unpardonable transgression but this sin is by Gospel-light and this draws forth to direct enmity a mans spirit against the light so that he sins wilfully after that he hath received the knowledge of the truth and with despight for it is this being under the irritating power of the Law that is the great occasion of the sin against the Holy Ghost 3. There is a condemning power of the Law it passes a sentence upon a man and upon his estate and let 's into his soul by the spirit of bondage fear of death and dreadful apprehensions of wrath fearful expectations of judgment and of violent fire to devour him And from this also sin takes occasion 1 By reason of terrours that a man should destroy himself and become the instrument of his own mercy and be his own executioner as Judas and Achitophel and many others have done And 2 hence sin takes occasion to drive them to despair and draws it forth fastning their eyes upon the vengeance of God and never shewing them the remedy and the pardon and then with Cain men say mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven 3 Hence follows a giving up themselves unto all excess of riot there is no hope and therefore I will enjoy the good things that are present and not have a Hell here and hereafter too And therefore they refrain not from any evil way but resolve to take their fill of sin while they are here for they are sure they can be but damned as many a wicked wretch when he is condemned to die he cares not what he does then for he knows he can be but hanged Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die 4 The rage of their spirits does rise from hence even to blasphemy and revenge against God He saith O that I were above God! for I know that he will not have mercy upon me And so the Damned in Hell do blaspheme God by way of revenge because they are shut up under wrath and know that there is no mercy for them And this is the ground also of the great rage and revenge against God that is acted by the Devil ever since the fall Thus men seeing themselves condemned by the Law and being in a continual expectation of this wrath the revenge and rage of their spirits against God is by this means drawn forth and in all these respects sin does take occasion by the Commandment and becomes the more exceeding sinful SECT II. Whence it is that the Law exasperates and encreases Sin § 1. LET us now come having proved the Point to look into the grounds of it How it should come to pass that that which discovers sin and forbids it should exasperate and increase it and that that which is a means to lead the people of God into ways of holiness and to sanctifie them converting the soul making wise the simple should occasion sin and death to others We must lay this as a ground That the cause is not in the Law the Apostles care is to remove any blemish that may be cast on the Law of God as if God had given a Law to this end to add unto the sin of man whereas indeed before the Law sin was in the world and it was out of measure sinful but it did not appear so without the Law There is a twofold cause that the Apostle does here point us unto 1 There is causa per se a formal cause which does of it self and of its own nature properly produce the effect from some inward and intrinsecal power and efficiency and so the Law is not the cause of sin in a man neither is there any thing in the Law that should