of God John 15.5 And the Apostle Paul cannot onely not doe any great matter by his owne strength and grace but nothing at all without Jesus Christ and therefore he giveth us to understand that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do Phil. 2.13 If therefore we have any new work to doe look to the Lord Jesus Christ afresh by Faith that he may carry an end all our works in us and for us otherwise it is not any strength or grace in us that can produce any good work word or thought and therefore mind you the Apostle maketh it a principle of Christian Religion that the just man liveth by faith and he often mentioneth it Gal. 2.20 The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Sonne of God where he putteth it into his owne experience Why did not he live by love and patience and zeale c. Yes truly they were lively in him if ever in any man besides our blessed Saviour and yet notwithstanding he never attributeth life to any of these gifts of his but if he speak of life he maketh this his universall life I live by the faith of the Son of God and I am able to doe all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Phi. 4.13 This is the true savour of a Christian spirit that when gifts are at the highest the heart is then at the lowest 1 Cor. 15.9,10 the Apostle Paul there acknowledgeth himselfe to be as one born out of due time for saith he I am lesse than the least of the Apostles not meet to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God yea but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed on me was not in vaine but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God in me This is truly spirituall sanctification that when the soule is full of the Holy Ghost and gifts of the Holy Ghost yet he is like a man in great penury as having nothing of himselfe this is a marvelous spirituall poverty and you shall ever find and I desire the Lord would open the hearts of his people to know what I speak that if Christians have fallen their greatest falls have been in their most eminent and exemplary gifts If you shall mark the sins of all the servants of God they have been chiefly found in the very exercise of their best gifts let us take a little tast of them that we may learn to use our gifts in the strength of Jesus Christ Abraham a man full of Faith none went beyond him in the old nor new Testament yet if you read of any failing in him it is in regard of the acting of Faith what made him afraid not once but the 2d time that his wife would be taken from him by Pharaoh Gen. 12. by Abimelech Chap. 20. had not the Lord promised to blesse him wheresoever he came Gen. 12.2 He had so much of the knowledge and grace of God shining in him that Sarah needed not to have dissembled and Abimelech a poor Heathen could say as much Chap. 20.16 Behold thy Husband is to thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee and with all other thus she was reproved As if he should say thou needest no shifts and lyes for thy protection and to be a vayle unto thee This a poor Heathen can discern that a man that hath God with him needeth no other shifts nor covering to defend and shelter him Thus we see that these great failings of Abraham were proper acts of unbeliefe Moses a meek man none like him for meeknesse on the face of the earth there is but one sin storied of him after he came to the Government of that state and this was his failing Heare now you Rebells must we fetch you water out of this rock so he lift up his hand with his rod he smote the rock twice Numb 20.10,11 They provoked Moses as meek as he was sometimes when Aaron and Miriam dealt as peremptorily with him he was not moved from the meeknesse of his spirit But now he falleth into passion and this was the very sin for which the Lord excluded him out of Canaan Numb 27.12,13,14 it was the breach of this royall grace Chap. 20.12 Because ye believed me not to sanctifie me in the eyes of the Children of Israel therefore you shall not bring this Congregation into the Land which I have given them Which words shew us the reason of his failing in the grace wherein he so much abounded Because yee believed me not The Lord will have him know that he must live by his Faith in his meeknesse if any man think himselfe to be a meek man and nothing shall over-wrastle him there if you believe not in God but in your meeknesse your confidence will soon faile you Peter a man full of courage and you read of two of his principall failings and both in point of courage he failed in the high Priests hall at the voyce of a damsell and in the porch at the speech of another maid and the third time at the voyce of one that stood by Math. 26.69 c. Whereas afterwards when he lived by faith he became undaunted before the whole Councell Act. 4.13 Another failing of his in point of courage we read of Gal. 2.12 He feared those of the Circumcision whereas before he did eat with the Gentiles c. Thus the Apostle Peters eminent gifts did not bring forth their fruits Know therefore that the best of all your gifts faith courage meeknes wisdome love to your brethren will faile if you trust in them and you will be most apt to faile there wherein you do most excell If a man be wise he shall faile in that point and it may be in nothing so much as in that even in those things wherein he thinketh he walketh most wisely and such an one will find most tryalls in point of his wisedome and the like will be found in all other graces and all to this end to teach the Israel of God to know that no man liveth by his wisdome nor by any thing in himselfe but by Faith in Jesus Christ whom God hath given unto his people and who is onely able to give new supplyes of his spirit unto his servants to act every gift which he hath given them I might have mentioned the example of Sarah a meek and a quiet godly spirited woman subject and obedient to her Husband and called him Lord whose daughters you are while you doe well 1 Pet. 3.6 and yet you know one of her greatest failings was in point of reverence to her Husband Gen. 16.5 When she saw that she was despised she said to her Husband Thou dost me wrong c. Where is the reverence of Sarah now Will you have the daughters of Sarah to imitate her herein What had her Husband done There was no
and his people back againe to receive him Answ 1. They being thus prepared the Spirit of God taketh up his seat in the soule by making it a Temple unto himselfe in the name of the Father and of the Son and so are they made an habitation of God through the Spirit Eph. 2.22 Gal. 4.6 And because yee are Sons c. where he speaketh not of Sons by actuall regeneration but by Gods Eternall Counsell The same Spirit is also called the Comforter whom Jesus Christ hath promised to send John 16.7,8,9 If I depart I will send you the Comforter and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin of righteousnesse and of judgement Of sin because they beleeve not in me This the holy ghost convinceth men of to be the greatest misery of the soule that they have not beleeved upon Jesus Christ And look as a Talent of gold or some weighty mettall falling into a Vessell of water dasheth out all that is in the vessell to make room for it selfe So the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the soule dasheth out all watry confidences and maketh room for himselfe so as that you may say the Eternall God is there and in very deed because the heart of man is not onely like unto water but is hard and stony therefore the Spirit of God cometh like fire and melteth the iron stone of the heart and softneth it into flesh that now the soul is utterly at a losse not onely in regard of his sins but in regard of his best works also and is most of all convinced of his unbeliefe Now the Holy Spirit of God bring thus shed abroad into the heart at the very first entrance of it into the soule us it doth chiefly convince the soule of Unbelief so 2 The same Spirit worketh faith in the soule to yeeld himselfe unto the Lord and the soule being emptied of himselfe now the Holy Ghost hath infused Faith to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and this is a true saving work though the soule thinketh it selfe in a very sad condition that he should so long live without beleeving in Jesus Christ But he is cleerly convinced what his case is and how vaine his best works are and he lyeth under this work not onely in his judgement but in his heart he now freely submitteth unto the will of God So that the Spirit of God becometh unto the soul not onely as a Spirit of burning to consume all that is like stubble but doth also melt the iron-stone of the heart and softneth it into flesh that the word may take deep impression in it Now there is room for Jesus Christ now faith is wrought there and now a soule can plead with God by faith in prayer he seeth there is no former Covenant that he can plead nor any righteousnesse of his owne but such as Hypocrites will quarrell for and rise up to maintaine as they did against John Baptist pleading their Covenant and their righteousnesse with these things a poore soule is not satisfied but unto you that feare my name shall the Sun of righteousnesse arise with healing in his wings c. Mal. 4.2 Herein is implyed such a reverent fear that dare not disaffect this kind of yeeldingnesse to the Son In the old Testament it is called Fear in the new Testament it is more generally called Faith yet the Apostle saith Rom. 11.20 Be not high-minded but fear whereby he provoketh them to live by Faith and indeed it is that whereby the soule doth yeeld unto the Lord and this is indeed our Effectuall Calling the Spirit of God taking possession in our hearts and working this faith in us whereby we submit unto the Lord. This is that faith in Jesus Christ that maketh us one with Christ for our effectuall calling bringeth us to be one with him 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithfull by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ This fellowship or communion standeth in two things 1 In the Unity of the Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 2 In the receiving of Faith on our parts so that by beleeving which is the first thing we doe we yeeld unto the first work of God when this stronger man cometh we yeeld up all our Armour to him and herein standeth our coming on to be in Christ and in God the Father by this Spirit of God that taketh possession of the heart and hath not only burnt up root and branch of our legall righteousnesse but hath also melted us unto a soft frame to yeeld up our selves unto the Lord and now we are fit for any duty the Lord having possest us with his powerfull presence and this is true spirituall Union between the Lord our souls By this faith the Creature doth yeeld up it selfe unto the Lord which is also the work of the grace of God in us having brought us unto holy union w th himselfe Now this faith thus wrought in our effectuall calling is not built upon any Conditionall Promise I mean upon any Promise made to any gracious Condition penitent in us nor can it be built upon any but upon the Absolute free Promise unto the soule according to what we read Isa 43.22 to 2â— Thou hast not called upon me O Jacob but thou hast been weary of me O Israel thou hast not brought me the small Cattell c. See Calvin l. 3. justiâ— c. 2. s 29. In all which we see the absolute freenes of the grace of God So Ezek. 36.26 Object But you will say Though some may be converted by such an absolute Promise yet some mans faith may be built upon a conditionall Promise unto a gratious condition Answ I pray you consider it If it be a condition it is to some good Qualification or other some good work or other of the Spirit of God in the heart of a Christian Was this work wrought before Conversion or after Every Christian knoweth that all workes wrought before Conversion are but drosse and dung to apply Promises to such works were indeed to build upon a sandy foundation What say you then to works after Conversion All works after Conversion are fruits of Faith and if they proceed from faith then faith went before then a mans faith was not built upon a conditionall promise how is it possible that it should when as all works after Conversion are fruits of faith or else they are no true sanctification then faith went before in order of Nature and so was not built upon works but works upon it And therefore all our best Divines doe carry it thus That faith closeth with Christ upon a Promise of free grace otherwise as saith Calvin Justiâ— l. 3. c. 2. s 29. my faith would alwayes be trembling and wavering as my works be Upon a Promise of free grace therefore my faith is built as upon the Promise of God in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe 2 Cor. 5.18,19 The word is it may be spoken outwardly unto
expresse Restipulation pre-required on Abrahams part We see this likewise held forth Deut. 29.1.13 where the Lord entreth into another Covenant with them in the Land of Moab besides the Covenant which he made with them in Horeb and in this Covenant he doth establish them to be a people unto himselfe as well as give himself to them to be thrir God vers 13. and as God required it of them to circumcise the outward man even the foreskin of their Children so he will also circumcise them taking possession of them and circumcising their hearts and taking away the stonynesse of them and so fit them to be a Temple for himselfe to dwell in 3 The Lord in this Covenant taketh the chiefest of Abrahams seed even the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Mediator and surety of the Covenant and unto him doe all the Promises belong so the Apostle doth expound it Gal. 3.16 and so by him are all the Promises and blessings of the Covenant conveyed unto Abraham and to his seed his faithfull seed all the world over and therefore he is called the Mediator of a better Covenant Heb. 7.22 meaning of the Covenant of Grace Heb. 8.6 These three things doe containe the sum of the Covenant of Grace and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and would therefore be plainly discovered unto Christians as 1 What is the meaning of this that God gave himselfe unto Abraham 2 How doth he take Abraham and his seed and make them his people 3 How doth he take Jesus Christ and make him the Surety of the Covenant between them both for the Covenant is established and so is a sure firm and everlasting Covenant Now in this gift that God gave himself unto Abraham observe three things 1 The Blessing given 2 The Order in which it was given 3 The Manner of giving it In the Blessing given When God doth by Covenant give himself to be a God it doth imply two things 1 That God doth give Himselfe the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost the whole Nature of God and all the Persons the God-head with all the Attributes of that Nature and all the Offices of those persons for it is not a confused God that vanisheth away in a generall imagination but God distinctly considered in his Persons Attributes Properties c. Thus the Lord giveth himselfe to Abraham and to his seed I will be a father unto you 2 Cor. 6.18 and that is not spoken unto the Jewes onely but unto all the Israel of God He giveth the Son also Isa 9.6 Joh. 3.16 And for the Holy Spirit Jo. 16.7.13 Isa 59.21 This is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my words that I have put into thy mouth shall not depart c. And this is it which the Apostle also saith Gal. 4.6 Thus the Lord giveth himselfe unto his Servants from one Generation to another If therefore the Lord God the Father give himselfe he will not be wanting to draw his people unto the Son Jo. 6.44 and what is the chief businesse and work that the Son hath to doe about us No man can have fellowship with the Father but he must have fellowship with Jesus Christ so our Saviour himselfe saith John 14.6 No man can come unto the Father but by me This therefore the Lord Jesus Christ will doe for all the elect seed of Abraham he will open their eyes to see that the Father did not draw them to damnation or utter desolation though at first that be their greatest fear but unto salvation by him This hath he promised to doe and if it be the work of the Spirit of God to establish us both in the Father and the Son then will he convince the world of sin of righteousnesse and of judgement John 16.8 to 11. and so will establish our hearts in the comforts of the Lord our God and this is that which the Apostle prayeth for the Ephesians Chap. 3.16 Hence it cometh to passe that what the Lord would have us to doe he is present by his Spirit to teach us and to strengthen us and so to doe it for us All these things doth the Lord work for Abraham and for his Elect seed So that look what is meet for a Father to do or for a Brother to doe or for the Spirit of God to doe that will the Lord doe unto his elect ones and so he giveth all his attributes and they are even God himselfe and therefore when Moses desired to see his glory and he desired it from the grace that God had shewed him Exod. 34.6 the Lord proclaimed his Name before him Jehovah Jehovah strong mercifull and gracious c. Thus doth the Lord give himselfe and all the Persons in the God-head as they are truly called and Attributes they are no more nor no other then God himselfe 2 And as God himself is implyed so when God is given by Covenant all the Ordinances and Creatures and works of God are given also for so it was in all Covenants of old time when Jehosaphat maketh a Covenant with Ahab King of Israel 2 Kings 22.4 then I am as thou art and my people as thy people and my Horses as thy Horses and all that he hath is for Ahabs service as the King goeth so goeth his strength so thus it comes to passe that if the Lord of Hoasts be for us and give himself unto us then also he gives unto us his Eternall Election and Redemption and whatsoever he hath wrought for the salvation of his Elect He hath not so dealt with any Nation Psal 147.20 but only with the Israel of God unto them hath he given his Laws and shewed them his judgements And for his Creatures they are all given to be for his People to whom he hath given himself If God be a God unto Abraham then shall all Gods people be for him Melchisedeck shall blesse him Aner Eshcot and Mamre shall be Confederates with him the Sun Moon and Stars shall fight in their courses for the people of God the Sea shall give way to passe through it on dry ground What ailed you ye streams of Jordan to goe back Why all the Creatures of God must stoop unto the people of God wâ—… he is in Covenant with them This is that which the Lord promiseth unto his people Hos 2.18 to 22. when the Lord shall marry them to him in faithfullnesse and 1 Cor. 3.22 This is the large gift of Gods Covenant Nay and which is wonderfull and beyond all comprehension when I say all the Creatures and Ordinances of God are ours the very expression of the phrase doth imply that the Lord giveth himselfe to be the staffe and strength of them so that you shall see the presence of God in them he will not only give a man wife and children and Ordinances and providences but he will be in all these and blesse his people in the enjoyment of them all so as that
is not possible that God should lye Mal. 3.6 Hence springeth our eternity perseverance Rom. 11.29 Phil. 1.6 Though the sence of the Covenant doth require it of Abraham to give himself back again unto the Lord though that be Abrahams duty and the Lord doth intend it yet his intendment is to imply that he doth receive Abraham and his seed to be his people for ever Josh 24.3 Thus mind ye the Lord dealeth in the Coven of Grace he looketh towards those that look not towards him as is held forth Hos 3.3 where the Lord biddeth the Prophet love a woman that was an Adulteresse and say unto her Thou shalt be for me and I will be for thee This is a branch of the Covenant when the Lord doth undertake to receive Abraham and his seed unto himself his giving himselfe unto them doth breed a reciprocall returning of them unto him Quest Now it may be demanded How did the Lord take Abraham and his seed to be his people Answ By a double Act as 1 Of Preparation not on Abrahams part or on his seeds part but on his own part the Lord prepared them 2 The Lord did invest him with the blessings of this Covenant 1 For Preparation the Lord prepareth them by a double work of his Spirit which are manifest in all the seed of Abraham Elect of God 1 By a Spirit of Bondage whereby he cutteth off the seed of Abraham from all worldly intanglements and delights thus God took Abraham and brought him from beyond the Flood and so doth he take men off from their Countreys and Fathers houses he seperates them from all such things that he might draw them unto himselfe Thus he dealt with the Children of Israel and called them to be a singular people unto himselfe and yet but in a Covenant of works Deut. 7.6,7,8 Thus doth the Lord deale with all those whom he receiveth to be a people unto himself and by this spirit of bondage he draweth them from all their sinfull lusts and passions so as that they can find no hope of mercy in any thing and this is properly a Seal of the Covenant of works as the Spirit of Adoption is a seale of the Covenant of Grace Rom. 8.15 Now by this bondage the Lord first setteth home unto the Consciences of men the weight and danger of their sins and it is the usuall manner of God to give a Covenant of Grace by leading men first into a Covenant of works as it is his constant manner to work by contraries and so to thrust men out of doors that they may have fellowship with himselfe at length I had a gratious father will the poor soule say but now I may goe and shake my ears like a poor wretch for so indeed he is cast out of the Covenant and favour of God to his sense and feeling but thus the Lord doth even shut him out of doors that he may open to him another and a better way 2 The Lord also Prepareth his people by a Spirit of Burning which upon a spirit of bondage he doth shed abroad into the hearts of men This we read of Mal. 4.1 It is spoken of the Ministry of John the Baptist which did burn like an oven against all the Scribes and Pharisees and left them neither the root of Abrahams Covenant nor the branch of their own good works he cutteth them off from the Covenant of Abraham Mat. 3.9 Think not to say that you have Abraham to be your father c. and so by cutting them off from the root he leaveth them no ground to trust on From their good works the Lord Jesus Christ also cutteth them off Mat. 6.2.5.16 This was a Spirit of Burning which the Lord conveyed by the M nistry of Christ and of John Baptist to burn up all the Hypocrites like stubble and the beauty of their works was blasted by it and this is Gods usuall manner of dealing Now there are many under a Spirit of bondage that never came under a Spirit of burning yet many under a Spirit of bondage doe fear the Lord with some kind of reverence unto his Ordinances for as an Angel of God they received Paul and yet for many of them they were but under the Law and therefore the Apostle saith He is afraid of them least he hath bestowed his labour in vaine Gal. 4.9,10,11 compared with ver 21. where he saith Tell me ye that desire to be under the Law c. A signe that this bondage under which they were did not onely bind them under fear of wrath but did bind them also to obey the Ordinances of God with some kind of devout reverence Now you have many men that rest there but when the Lord doth carry men further then he sendeth a spirit of burning thereby to blast all the fruits and branches of their righteousnesse and to burn up all that under a Covenant of works a man hath wrought and this is that which the Prophet Esay speaketh of Isa 4.4 that the Lord will purge away the filth of the daughter of Sion with a spirit of judgement and of burning The one is a spirit of sanctification and the other is a consuming fire which forceeth them not to build any comfort upon any works that they have done This may Hypocrites reach unto in their judgements so as that they may be convinced that they have neither root within them nor branch growing upon them and yet in the mean while they may not come unto a Spirit of Adoption but hereby also the Lord useth to prepare his people Some blesse themselves in worldly courses and never come unto a spirit of bondage some doe find comfort in their performances and never saw the vanity of their own righteousnesse but there are those whom the Lord doth carry further unto a spirit of burning even unto a sensible feeling of Gods wrath burning against whatsoever is as stubble such is a mans own gifts and parts and worth so that now the poor soule findeth that he hath no root of any good Covenant but seeth it to be an outward face of the Covenant that he doth rest upon and now he seeth no green branch of righteousnesse remaining but all is blasted and broken in pieces according to what the Prophet Esay saith Chap. 40.6,7 and so the Lord cometh to leave a man neither root nor branch for by a spirit of bondage the Lord blasteth all flesh but when it cometh unto the goodlinesse of flesh that is consumed by a Spirit of burning 2 As God thus prepareth us for himselfe so he doth give himself unto us and taketh possession of us by his blessed Spirit The Father giveth himself and his Son by his blessed Spirit for the Spirit it is by which he doth visit the hearts of his people and this is the main blessing of the Covenant of Grace For the better cleering of it this may be demanded Quest How doth the Lord give himselfe unto his people
all Christians but if God doe set it home particularly unto any soule that man receives this gift of God it is made his own first he beleeveth this Promise of free grace and then afterward come other Promises that doe bear witnesse unto the right application of that Promise unto the soule but I am first buâ—… upon a Promise of free-grace or else there is no true closing with Jesus Christ Well then being thus united unto Christ from this Union with Christ do flow all other blessings and benefits of the Covenant of grace and from hence springeth Communion with Christ in all spirituall blessings that the Lord hath wrought for us in him and they are two of them Relative blessings as they are called by Divines and two of them Positive blessings The two former are laid up in Gods owne hand and are not created in us as the other two are 1 For the Relative blessings they are 1 Adoption 2 Justification And they spring immediately simul semel from the former Union with Christ for as soon as ever the spirit of God is in our hearts and hath wrought faith that we doe not spurne against Jesus Christ now is the Divine nature of Christ in us and we are now become the Sons of God as Christ himselfe is Look as in a mans first naturall conception as soon as ever Adam doth live there is an heir of Adam even so soon as the soul liveth So it is in this new spirituall birth as soon as the Holy Ghost cometh and hath wrought this faith now is the seed of God in us and the life of Christ and the Spirit of God and now are we the Sons of God Jo. 1.12 Immediately upon this Union with Christ we are Sons by Adoption and as we are Adopted so likewise our sins are now imputed unto Christ and his righteousnesse unto us and so our persons are justified For how and when was Adams sin imputed unto us Psa 51.5 Behold I was shapen in iniquity c. so soon as ever there was life it was the life of Adam now the imputation of Adams sin falleth immediately upon the soule So when we doe receive Christ by this living faith having the life of Christ in us we have the righteousnesse of Christ also imputed to us for what doth the Child in the womb though it doth neither good nor evill but is meerly passive yet sinfull it is and a Child of Adam So also in this our Regeneration the soule acteth not but onely receiveth Christ by that faith which the Lord hath wrought in it whereby also it is made capable of the priviledge of Adoption and so the Lord accounteth us his Children and imputeth the righteousnesse of his Son unto us whereby we are justified These things doe dwell in Gods bosome and the meaning of them is afterward revealed unto the soule but communicated they are both that of Adoption and this of Justification by the gift of faith wrought in us but we are still upon the first worke of Conversion wherein a Christian is onely passive and receptive and truly it must needs be so in the first work of God upon us 2 Now for the Positive blessings that are wrought in us they are 1 Sanctification 2 Glorification When we are called then are we sanctified then are we glorified 1 Cor. 1.2 As in our naturall conception as soon as ever the Child liveth Adams sin is first imputed and then there is a pronenesse in it to carry it captive unto sin and to make it backward unto any goodnesse so when the life of Christ is dispensed unto the soule now the Lord cometh to convey with it Justification and in it pardon of sin and then there is a pronenesse in a justified person to be lively in duty If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit and by faith our hearts come to be purified Acts 15.9 and the same Spirit quickneth us unto holy duties so that we live yet not we but Christ liveth in us yea the Spirit sanctifying draweth us into an holy Confederacy to serve God in family Church Common-wealth and this sanctification groweth and encreaseth more and more for as corruption of Nature springeth from the imputation of Adams unrighteousnesse so doth sanctification spring from the imputation of Christs righteousnesse and thence floweth a pronenesse unto that which is good and a backwardnes unto that which is evill this is Sanctification 2 The other Positive gift is Glorification which we read of Rom. 8.30 This the Apostle Peter mentioneth 1 Pet. 5.10 as that whereunto we are called and in truth he hath begun the work from the time that he first began to call and sanctifie us 2 Tim. 1.9 From the very first time that God worketh upon the soule gratiously there is a glorious work in that soul and others may see it though himselfe seeth nothing that he hath received Thus we see the second branch of the Doctrine opened how the Lord doth receive Abraham and his seed unto himselfe preparing them by a spirit of bondage and of burning and then savingly by the inhabitation of the blessed Spirit the same Spirit begetting Faith we are alive in Jesus Christ and so come to be adopted and justified in him Afterwards the same Faith which at first onely receiveth Adoption and Justification doth now begin to stir a little and to breath forth into gratious desires and some holy mourning and beginneth now to put forth such works as the Holy Ghost carryeth the soul an end in working all our works in us and for us Now for the third and last part of the Doctrine the Lord took the chiefest of Abrahams seed to be the Mediator of this Covenant unto whom all the Promises were made Gal. 3.16 Quest If the Lord gave him to be Mediator how did he constitute him so to be Answ By a double Act First by receiving Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary to be one person with the second in Trinity hereby laying a ground of a firm Mediation between God and us for now cometh Jesus Christ to be of Gods Nature and therefore he wil be faithfull unto God and of our nature and therefore he wil be compassionate towards us And here is the Root of all the life and power of this Mediation to wit this personall Union betweene Jesus Christ and the Father which maketh up a firm and everlasting communion between God himselfe and Jesus Christ Secondly by Gods giving him to be a Covenant Isa 42.6 I will give thee for a Covenant of the people c. That is to be a Mediator of this Covenant 1 To receive from God all the Offices and gratious gifts whatsoever is requisite to a King Priest and Prophet all things he receiveth from the hand of the Father Col. 1.19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullnesse dwell thus he becometh a plentifull Redeemer And as the Lord gave him
deliver unto us another Gospel for it is not of Grace that Faith is given us Vse 3. This may also teach the people of God to bear a gratious respect unto those that are under a Covenant of works and not forthwith to condemn them as if there were no hope of their Salvation For God doth not call any into fellowship with himselfe in a Covenant of Grace but ordinarily he first bringeth them into a Covenant of works and casteth them out of doors by a spirit of bondage and of burning and then bringeth them in by the true door and Jesus Christ is that doore Joh. 10.9 Though the Children of the Faithfull be born under the outward dispensation of the Covenant of Grace yet if they be not of the Elect seed they will chose life by their works and so fall under the Covenant of works Gal. 4.24 to 30. So will Professors also Gal. 4.21 yea the Elect themselves before their Effectuall Calling will seek life by their works Hence those that are under a Covenant of works may belong unto the Lord as well as my selfe pray for them therefore Paul was under a Covenant of workes Steven prayeth for him and as most conceive that Prayer was effectuall unto his Conversion and Paul was as dear unto the Lord in his Eternall purpose as Steven himselfe was And thus Paul himselfe speaketh of Onesimus He therefore departed for a season that he might be received for ever So may we say of men under a Covenant of works the Lord may bring any of them home unto himselfe by dashing all his works in pieces and shewing him the presidence of his Spirit though the Lord hath melted him formerly in his Prayers and Preachings and Hearing and Sacraments by a Spirit of burning yet the Lord will discover that he is but hardened by it into another lump of pride against the Lord his God And the Lord will also pluck away the caul from their hearts and then they will have none in Heaven but Christ nor in the earth in comparison of him and then the Holy Ghost convinceth them of this sin above all their other sins that they have not believed on Jesus Christ Doe not therefore censure any such as to say there is no likelihood that they should have fellowship with Christ for if the Lord make them to fall down before him and to yield up their spirits unto the Lord in holy reverence and feare these have now received some secret smoking affections besides a Spirit of burning which the Lord will not quench Vse 4. It may serve in the next place to clear up our judgements in sundry passages that doe concerne the Covenant of Grace by Answers unto these 6 Questions following Quest 1. What is the first gift that ever the Lord giveth unto his Elect Answ First of all he giveth Himselfe the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit this is the foundation and if you shall lay saving Qualifications in the foundation before these the foundation will lye uneasily and the spirit of a true Christian shall not lye long in peace Christ must therefore be first and with him Faith to receive him first he will make a Covenant with us and put his holy Spirit within us and he cometh in with Faith and Fear that we never may depart from him He giveth us his Son and all things else in him he giveth us in him pardon of sins in our Justification and in him some degrees of glory also and in him right unto all the Promises of the Covenant no other foundation but him Take him first for he is the first thing given He taketh us by giving us Faith and we take him by exercising our Faith on him Object But whether doth not the Lord give us some saving Preparations before Jesus Christ for there be those that are gratious Saints that have conceived that there are some gratious Qualifications which the Lord giveth to prepare for Jesus Christ Answ There be saving graces which doe sanctifie us unto God our Father but whether they doe make way for Jesus Christ there proveth a difference but you may discern the truth of the point If the Lord doe give any saving Qualification before Christ then the soule may be in a state of Salvation before Christ and that would be prejudiciall unto the grace and truth of Christ for if there be no name given under Heaven whereby we must be saved but onely Jesus Christ nor his name but in a way of fellowship with him then it will unavoidably follow that whatsoever saving work there be in the soul it is not there before Christ be there it is true John Baptist was sent to subdue all flesh by a spirit of burning which burneth up the Covenant of Abraham I mean their carnall confidence in it and all their fruits of righteousnesse here were indeed preparations for Christ but these were not saving they were still Children of wrath Ye Serpents ye Generation of Vipers notwithstanding all this John did indeed dispense poverty of Spirit and yet though they had received the Holy Ghost they were not sensible of it yet the poverty of spirit was there unto which the Promise was made but then Jesus Christ was there also whether they knew it or knew it not that is not greatly materiall in this Argument But if the Kingdome of Heaven was there Jesus Christ was there first otherwise it will prove dishonourable unto the name of Christ Indeed there is a saving preparation before consolation in Christ and the manifestation of our gratious union with him but for our first union there are no steps unto the Altar Exod. 20. last But Christ doth prepare his Tabernacle for himselfe to dwell in This is in the first place for Instruction concerning what is the first gift which the Lord giveth unto the soule before any work or Promise he giveth saving communion in spirituall union with his Son this standeth firm from the Tenor of the Covenant and the nature of it to my best understanding and therewith giveth us Faith and all other saving Qualifications and Conditions as it is held forth in the Scriptures of God Quest 2. In what order the Lord giveth the Covenant and the blessings of it whether Faith before them or those blessings before faith be able to apply them Answ He doth give himselfe in working Faith before Faith can be there and therefore it is the fruit of the Spirit that Faith is wrought in the soule and this Faith doth receive the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ himselfe by his Spirit and it doth also receive Adoption and Justification but to be able actually to apply it our first birth will not bear it for a man is as passive in his Regeneration as in his first generation onely the Lord giveth us his Spirit that doth unite us unto Christ which is received by Faith together with Adoption and Justification And yet by the Act of believing we are justified
at any time carried aside it is his greatest burthen 2 Sam. 12.8,9 compared with 13. Hath not the Lord sayth Nathan done these and these things for thee Wherefore then hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord Then David confesseth I have sinned It pierced him to the heart to consider it that he should abuse his neighbours wife and kill her husband and above all that he should commit that wickednes against God that had dealt so gratiously with him So that the children of the Covenant of grace will onely tell you that they are free from the Covenant of the Law but not from the Commandment of it for as it is given by Jesus Christ and ratified in the Gospell and as Christ hath given us his Spirit enabling us to keep it wee are under it so farre as to take our selves bound by the Authority of it and if we doe trangresse against it we know it is sin in the sight of God therefore it is that the soule in such a case is sensible of the wrath and displeasure of God whether it be his own sin or the sin of his brethren therefore he runneth unto God for mercy which he would not doe if he did not know that his desert according to the Law did utterly cut him off from mercy else would he never pray for pardon of sin nor rejoyce when the Lord helpeth him to doe that which is right and just in his sight nor blesse the Lord for strengthning him unto obedience unlesse he thought it to be his duty and therefore Vse 2. It is of use also to Teach the servants of God how far we are freed from the Law to wit from the Covenant of it so that we neither looke for justification nor salvation from it and let it not be grievous to any soule that a Christian should say he doth not feare condemnation by his disobedience he will be apt to feare in this kinde untill he be assured of the favour of God but when he knoweth his portion in the Covenant then indeed he doth not feare condemnation by his sin nor doth he thinke that the Lord will cleave unto him because of his fruitfulnes he casteth not off his comfort nor looketh at himselfe as divorced from Christ because of his barrennes nor doth he looke for his daily bread from all his obedience but expecteth all goodnesse and blessing from the treasures of the free grace of God Vse 3. This may also serve to Teach men some discerning of their owne spirits and state if you looke for justification no longer than you are obedient and feare eternall condemnation then you are disobedient if you are afraid of divorce from Christ because of your sins or if you looke for any vertue or challenge right to any promise by vertue of any well-doing of your owne in such a case either you are under a Covenant of workes or you are gone aside to a Covenant of works and if ever the Lord open your eyes and bestow his free grace upon you you will know your redemption from such dependances as these be I know a Christian man that hath not been cleerely taught the distinct differences between these two Covenants may be misled into dangerous wayes that might tend unto the utter undoing of his soule but it is a sin of ignorance and the Lord will not leave his servants but cleare up his truth and grace unto them Vse 4. May serve to Teach the servants of God that desire to walke in a way of constant obedience how to build their faith and hope truly if they be grounded upon your own obedience or righteousnes of sanctification if they depend upon you you will find your hearts ever unsetled you may finde comfort as under the Law you shall for the Law will cast in comforts upon a man because of his obedience if he be marryed to the Law but if you shall believe that Christ is yours and comfort your selves because you have been by the power of the Law constrained to duties and restrained from sin and thereupon build your conjugall communion with Christ you will find your soules full of sadnes and feare ere long especially if you have true grace in your hearts and therefore it is the faithfullnes and tendernes of the grace of God unto his people that when Christians come into this Country though they have been marvellous eminent in our native Country yet here they cannot pray fervently nor heare the word with profit nor receive the Seales with Comfort they wonder what is become of their old prayers and hearings and Sacraments and of their lively spirits in holy duties truly the Lord hath disinabled them as it were from such things because they did build their union and fellowship with Christ upon them that so they might know the freedome of the grace of God that justifieth the ungodly then will the poore soule be glad to seeke after the Lord Jesus Christ and say as the people of God sometimes did Hos 2.7 I will goe and returne to my first husband for then it was better with me than now now the soule will plainly see discerne that he closed not with his true husband when as he built so much hope and comfort upon his duties therefore he will finde himselfe weake and dead as it were to all spirituall duties and can finde no life in them no comfort from them and it is the marvellous goodnes and free grace of God unto such a soule whom the Lord will not suffer to blesse himselfe in his works for if a man should lay the foundatiō of his comforts in them and be ready as it were to take it ill if he should not finde God accepting his works Wherefore have wee fasted and thou regardest it not Isa 58.3 If a man rejoyce in the sparks which he hath kindled this shall he have at the hands of God he shall lie downe in sorrow Isa 50.11 Whereas the light of God shall gratiously breake forth unto the servants of God that wait upon him though they be for present in darknes and see no light trust not therefore in any legall comforts but wait upon the free grace of God both to justifie sanctifie comfort and glorifie your soules This is the way of constant peace and if the Lord doe at any time checke his servants when they walke in by-wayes it is that he might build them upon a sure foundation so that their salvation will not lye upon their obedience nor damnation upon their disobedience This is the way of constant peace and s◅ety unto all the Israel of God Quest 7. This Doctrine may serve in the next place to Answer a seventh Question touching the necessitie of sanctification For it may be demanded If the Lord will give himselfe unto the soule in the Covenant of his grace not onely his Attributes but his Person all that is God is given by vertue of this Covenant If God hath himselfe not onely chosen us
the gifts of God and if you shall aske how love and patience and all the rest of the gifts of God doe worke The holy Ghost stirreth up faith to looke unto Christ who returneth strength by his Spirit unto faith so faith worketh by love and by meeknes and by all the rest of the fruits of the Spirit thus the Spirit of God acteth according to what we read Rom. 8.14 Come to any holy duty and it is the holy Ghost that leadeth you along and acteth in you so Ezek. 36.27 2 Pet. 1 2â— it is the Spirit of God that moveth us to any good worke and that acteth the gifts of his grace in us 3. It is the same Spirit of God also that witnesseth to these gifts and sheweth what gifts he hath given us for such is the blindnes of the nature of all the sons of men and it is a wonder to see that generally Christians when the Lord first worketh these gifts in them not one of a thousand but they thinke they are in a sad and fearefull condition and so they are very uncomfortable when they have greatest cause of rejoycing But now least that we should alwayes mistake that which the Lord hath given us wee have received the Spirit of God that wee might know the things that are freely given unto us of God 1 Cor. 2.12 He indeed taketh his owne time to discover it unto us to some sooner to some later but this is his intendment that he might honour his grace upon us by all the rich and gracious gifts which he hath given us He doth also reveale unto us the duties which he helpeth us to doe â—…om 9.1 The holy Ghost that wrought in him this brotherly love beareth him witnes also that he doth not lye and that he had continuall sorrow in his heart and that he could have wished to have been accursed from Christ that they might be saved it grieved him so much that the whole Nation should be destitute of the Lord Jesus Christ Thus we see what need there is that the holy Ghost should dwell in us to keepe all the gifts of his grace in us to Act them according to his will and to discover to us what gratious gifts the Lord hath wrought in us and what duties he hath helped us to doe that we may be able to give Account of them by the holy Ghost that dwelleth in us and beareth witness with us We see there is a necessity both of the gifts of grace that we may be fit Temples for the holy Ghost to dwell in and fit instruments for him to work by there is need also the holy Ghost should dwell in us for the causes we have spoken unto And I might adde this to comfort us in all the changes that may come upon us it is a strong Scripture which we read in John 15.26 When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me our Divines have no place of more cleere evidence to prove the procession of the Spirit from the Father And the same Spirit testifieth to us both what mighty redemption he hath wrought for us and what grace he hath wrought in us this the holy Ghost shall testifie even he that proceedeth from the Father and this is the comfort of Gods people Thus wee see both these poynts opened to us Quest 3. How may we then imploy and improve this sanctification which the Lord hath given us and which he keepeth and acteth in us by his Spirit and whereunto he beareth witnesse How or to what end shall we employ it seeing the Lord undertaketh to doe these things for us Answ If the Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit giveth us these gifts it is our part then first to see that we doe not rest in any Sanctification which doth not spring from Christ conveyed unto us by his Spirit conveying us to him the Spirit knitteth us unto Christ Christ unto us he worketh Faith in us to receive whatsoever the Lord giveth unto us and by the same Faith worketh all our holinesse for us 1 Cor. 1.30 Christ is made unto us c. Therefore we are to see him the principall author of all these things in us and for us this is the principall comfort of all gifts Christ given in them and the glory of all our safety and so far as any of these lyeth in our Sanctification we ought to see that it be Sanctification in Jesus Christ and then it is so when the Lord giveth us to look unto the Lord Jesus in it and to it in him and as we look for our holinesse to be perfect in Jesus Christ so we look for continuall supply of it from him and this it is to make Christ our Sanctification when as whatsoever gift the Lord giveth us we goe not forth in the strength of it but in the strength of Jesus Christ There may be a change in the soule which may spring from a spirit of bondage and may captivate our consciences unto the Law that may restraine us from sin and constraine us unto duty but such holinesse springeth not alwayes from our union with Christ for there may be a conscience of duty without sense of our need of Christ as it was with the Israelites at Mount Sinai Deut. 5.27,28,29 Goe thou neer say they to Moses and hear all that the Lord our God shall say and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee and we will heare it and doe it They have well said all that they have spoken saith the Lord. O that there were an heart in them that they would fear me c. This I say therefore is the first thing to be attended unto as ever ye would make a right use of your holinesse see that it be such as floweth from Jesus Christ and that there be not onely an heart awed with the Law but waiting upon Christ to be all in all in us and to us so shall we neither neglect the gifts of God in us nor Christ and his Spirit but shall give due honour unto all of them together 2 This may also Teach all Christians not to trust upon the gifts of their holinesse though they doe spring from the Holy Ghost himselfe though they be such as are unchangeable though they spring from Jesus Christ and knit our soules in union with him yet trust not in the gifts themselves the Lord layeth it down as the Apostacy of Israel Ezek. 16.14,15 Trust not therefore in any of these but let all our confidence be in Jesus Christ not in any of the gifts of his Spirit whatsoever For a little further opening of it 1 Trust not in any gifts that you have received for the performance of any duty for it is not the strongest Christian that is able to put forth a good thought 2 Cor. 3.5 but our sufficiency is
that is the first and fundamentall of all the rest that God doth put forth or any other Person in Trinity for the applying of the Covenant unto the hearts of his people And God in giving his Sonne doth give himselfe Isai 9.6 Joh. 10.30 1 Joh. 2.23 Rom. 5.8 Joh. 3.16 And as God giveth us his Sonne so he giveth us all things else in his Sonne Rom. 8.32 So then this is the first and the great worke of God that he hath given his Son out of his own bosome to take our nature upon him to lead a miserable life and to dye a cursed death and in him hath given all his Attributes his mercy and power unto the sonnes of men an undoubted signe that God intendeth to give himselfe in the Covenant of grace unto his people when he giveth Jesus Christ himselfe in that Covenant as he doth expressely Isa 42.6 where wee may see that God giveth another even that God the Father giveth God the Sonne Thus it is a gift of the Covenant that God giveth his Sonne to be the foundation of the Covenant and the chiefe blessing of it And Chap. 49.8 He speaketh to the same purpose No man hath seene God at any time Joh. 1.18 nor can see him nor will God the Father have immediate fellowship with any creature but the onely begotten Sonne of the Father the Lord hath given him that he might reveale him Thus wee may perceive that the Lord is gratious and marvellous gratious in that he giveth us his Sonne his deare Sonne the second Person in Trinity and thus he saith to his Elect I will be a God unto thee and give thee my Sonne that shall redeeme thee out of all distresse and danger Thus doth the Lord for his people and it is a cleere evidence of his grace and sheweth that his love unto his people is beyond all banks and bottome for the Lord to give us his Sonne and this Sonne so soone as he was promised his people saw him a farre of Joh. 8.56 Your father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad For when the Lord Jesus Christ was promised unto him Gen. 17.16,17 and the Lord had said unto him I will blesse Sarah and give thee a sonne of her yea I will blesse her c. Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed he did rejoyce that the Lord would give him a Saviour out of his loynes how it could be brought to passe it may be he knew not but by a spirit of Prophecy did he discerne it no doubt This is the first worke of God in giving himselfe by Covenant and this was done long agoe before we were borne he gave him in his eternall counsell when he did elect us in him he gave him when he sent him into the world But this is more when 2. He giveth us unto his Christ by Covenant and draweth us unto him and giveth Christ unto us also And this grace of God cometh neerer us the other did leave us like lambs in a large pasture but now as He giveth us unto Christ so he giveth him unto us and both in present possession And this the Father doth Joh. 6.44 for no man saith Christ can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and every one that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me Now this kinde of hearing and learning of the Father is a strange kinde of learning which the Lord Teacheth the soule by when he draweth him unto Christ an effectuall Teaching and powerfull 1 Cor. 1.9 This is your effectuall calling and this is the Lords giving us unto his Sonne John 6.37 All this is properly the worke of the Father Men are said to be well given when they give themselves to their bookes to their works and businesse but this we may well say that we are indeed well given when the Lord giveth us unto his Sonne for otherwise we are but in all ill state which way soever we are given Quest If you shall aske How the Father giveth us and calleth us and draweth us into fellowship with his Sonne for they are Scripture-phrases and all of them of like value in Scripture-sense Answ In a word The Lord draweth us unto his Sonne by his Spirit and calleth us as by his word so by his Spirit also and giveth us by his word and Spirit unto Jesus Christ In this thing I shall speake no more unto you than what you have often heard and I suppose long agoe received As that the Lord calleth his people out of their sinnes by the light of the Law and by the Spirit of bondage he setteth home the Law effectually unto the soule and thereby draweth us from sin and from the world in some measure that we have now no minde to those things which before we were full of delight in whether they be sinnes against the Law or sinnes against the Gospell it is the Lords usuall dealing by his Spirit to set home sinnes against both in so much that thereby we come to be afflicted with some kinde of trembling and feare and torment about our spirituall estate And thus it was with Saul who afterwards was Paul Acts 9.3,4,5,6 when Christ called unto him out of heaven and challenged and convinced him of sinne he all trembling and astonished said Lord what wilt thou have me to doe So it was with the Jaylor Acts 16.29 After the Lord had shaken his heart with an earth-quake which is a sanction of the Law and a ratification of it as all Gods judgements are he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling to Paul and Silas Thus the Lord draweth men out of themselves and their finfull wayes by a spirit of bondage whereby they are convinced of sinne and desert of Gods wrath are greatly and deeply afflicted with feare concerning which the Apostle Paul saith 2 Tim. 1.7 God hath not given us the Spirit of feare or bondage but of power of love and of a sound mind c. Such feare also the Apostle John speaketh of 1 Joh. 4.18 when he saith Perfect love casteth out feare for feare hath torment which commeth from the sense of a mans estate whereby he is forced to cry out many times and to say woe worth my soule that ever I was borne for the Lord causeth the to possesse all my sinnes and presseth me downe to the nethermost hell This is one worke of the Spirit of bondage by which the Lord draweth the soule out of it selfe and sinnes though of it selfe the spirit of feare goeth no further than to shake a mans carnall confidence which is accompanyed with Anguish and Torment 1 Joh. 4.18 Rev. 9.3 11.10 Besides this Spirit of Bondage the Lord hath another work which is called a Spirit of Burning Mal 4.1 The day cometh c. This is a Spirit of burning let us speak unto it a little the Prophet saith I shall leave them neither root nor branch