Sinner upon believing and that is a precious thing but he knows not how to reconcile this to what the Law saith that God is Holy and of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity that Sinners shall not stand in his sight such an one hath he notoriously been and how should he make those things to bear Now Repair to the Covenant of Redemption and take a through view of it and there you shall find that all this is sufficiently taken care about and every difficulty that you can think of is altogether removed The Covenant of Grace indeed speaks of favour and mercy to Sinners freely to be bestowed upon them by God through Christ but in the Covenant of Redemption you may see how all this is brought about and be satisfied â—â— it for in this Covenant there is an Oâ—fering provided a compleat Sacrifice laâ—â— in here is the Blood of a Saviour to be shed his precious life to be laid down in exchange for the life of the Sinner in which there is infinitely more value than in the lives of all the World and therefore all the Law requireâ— at the hands of the Sinner is here answered Here is Justice sitting in Triumph Holiness gloriously Exalted the Law fulfilled to the utmost of all that it can demand here God declares his hatred against Sin sufficiently and all that was demanded in the Covenant of Works is made good to the utmost farthing and now what should hinder the flowing down of the Grace of the New Covenant to the Salvation of Gods Elect since it appears that he can be both Just and the Justifier of them that believe 2 To remove all the doubts that may arise in you respecting the Covenant of Grace In this very Covenant Satan the adversary of Gods People seeks to find many slaws and thereupon to pester their minds and disturb their tranquility so as that many times they cannot with that quietness repose themselves upon it or suck that sweet and comfort out of it which is therein provided for them and the usual stratagem which he is wont to entangle them by is the consideration that though there are very great and Precious Promises held out to the Children of God in that Covenant enough to satisfy their most enlarged desires if they could appropriate them to themselves yet in the Gospel all these Promises come with conditions annexed to them and therefore they are no farther ours than the condition is to be found wrought in us and we can no more use Them for our Establishment than we are able to make out these conditions these conditions are of two sorts viz. either such as are required in order to our being made Partakers in these Promises or such as are requisite in order to our coming to the compleat fruition of the good laid up in them Respecting the former there is so much Counterfeit in the world and it is a thing so easy to be mistaken about and led into a vain presumption yet he troubles them with doubts whether they are indeed true Believers or have sincerely Repented and Turned to God Now for the clearing up of this they are to confer the Rules given in the Scriptures and wait for the Co-Witness of the Spirit But to the latter the trouble is a believer finds Satan filling him with fears whether he shall ever be able to perform them his faith is so weak and the Temptations which Assault him are so strong that he shall fail and his faith give in his Obedience is so poor and uneven that it will never find acceptance with God and this Perseverance is a Terrible thing how shall he ever be able to hold out against all the Furious Shocks which he is to encounter and be faithful to the Death and if he do not be must expect to lose the Crown It is an hard thing to maintain his Integrity in the midst of all the Allurements and affrightments that are in his way and if he fail or fall short he is lost after all Now if you find your selves to be at any time thus shaken your business is presently to repair to the Everlasting Covenant and there you shall find satisfaction and good security against these fears For 1 You shall here find all these conditions which are thus required of you in the Covenant of Grace to be firmly and faithfully undertaken for by the Lord Jesus Christ For we observed before that in the Covenant of Redemption one Condition that was laid upon and required of the Son of God was that he should bring many Sons to Glory and for that end he undertook to do all that for them and in them that was requisite for the accomplishment of it so that he stands obliged not only to answer the Law for them but the Gospel too The fulfilment of every condition that is necessary in order to their Participation in Life Eternal is incumbent on him to see to If there be any thing which is a necessary medium to Glory required of us he is engaged to see it done in us and for us else it would not be a Compleat work of Redemption If He should deliver us from the Law so far as to make it a possibility for us to be saved by Grace and yet leave us to Perish for want of the Evangelical Obedâ—ence without which there is no Salvation we were in a miserable state for we can no more do this of our selves than we could the other but it is far otherwise That would be an Arminian mock Redemption and it would be but to save us from one Hell to throw us into a Worse But as the Son of God was to answer the Law for us so was he to give us the Grace and Strength to answer the Gospel in all the Demands of it and therefore the security is in him whose Strength will Manifest and Magnify it self in our Weakness 2. Hence you shall here find all those Absolute Promises which are upon Scripture Record given for your comfort It is true an Unbeliever can make no challenge of them to himself or make a living of them they are not a Dish that is set before every one to feed upon but a believer may and ought to reckon them to be his own and to suck all the Marrow and Fatness out of them And when you have well pondered of these Promises you may strengthen your Faith by arguing after this manner viz. That although in the Covenant of Grace all these things are required of you and they must be found in you if ever you be saved yet in the Covenant of Redemption all this is undertaken for for this is the proper language of these Promises When God saith He will give you a New Heart and put his Spirit upon you and put his Fear into your Hearts and you shall never depart from him and the like these Promises belong to some there are they who are designed pointed at by them and
yea in such a Covenant wherein there were none engaged as Parties undertaking but such Persons as were God Hence also the Application of this good to us must needs be acknowledged to this and here must be assigned the reason why any of us do believe that we may be saved it was not because we were enclined or disposed to it more than others but because our Salvation was Secured for us in that Covenant and must be in this way Promoved and how may this serve to hide pride from man and lead him up to an humble acknowledgment of the Fountain of all his hopes CHAPTER XIII The Farther Application by Way of Exhortation and Consolation USE II. For EXHORTATION and DIRECTION to the People of God and that in Four Respects 1 LAbour to Clear up and to be satisfied in your Interest in and Relation to this Covenant Rest not Contented till you have gotten some good Evidence that your Names were written in the Book of Life and to move you hereto Consider these Two Things 1. It is a Thing that may be known Although the Eternal Transaction between GOD the Father and GOD the Son be a Secret Hidden from the World and no Man can have any particular knowledge of it referring to himself till he be made partakers in the special fruits of it yet the Believer in regard of himself may obtain a clear acquaintance with it he may be able to discern and read it There is a way Revealed in the Scripture whereby we may come to know what was contrived about us in the days of Eternity and be assured that Jesus Christ hath paid the full Price of our Redemption not only that he hath done so for some but for us in particular Were it not so that Precept in 2. Pet. 1. 10. had been superfluous yea all the Commands given us to Prove and Try our own State were vain For unless our Trial Issue here we are still left at a loss But there is a Promise made to the People of God that 〈◊〉 him that He will show them His Covenant Psal 25. 14. i. e. The Great secret of the Covenant of Redempâ—ion shall be discovered to them by making of them to know that God loved them with an Everlasting Love 2 The foundation of all your Consolation is laid in this Covenant All the Comfort of the Children of God resolves ultimatly into this that Christ Loved us and gave himself for us but this he did not do for all the world but only for a select company whom his Father had given unto him and these are they whom he Covenanted for before the world was made If ever we be saved it must be by the vertue and application of the satisfaction of Christ to us this is applied to none but those whom he indented for and was appointed by his Father to Redeem so that if we would know whether our sins are Pardoned and Justice be atoned to us it must be by knowing that Christs death is become ours and accepted for us and the way to be satisfied in this is by finding our names â—â— that roll or list which was entred in â—he record of Heaven before time was and till we come to understand this how can we be free from the fears and terrors of the wrath to come Now the Scripture way wherein we are directed to arive at this knowledg is by following of the streams up to the fountain There are some streams of common bounty which flow from God the Fountain of Goodness to all the World he being the common Benefactor to all his Creatures and there are none but do partake more or less of his Benignity Psal 145. 9. Mat. 5. 45. But yet a man may swim in the fulness of all these favours yea be glutted with them and yet be an utter stranger to this Covenant Psal 17. 14. These are kindnesses which God can allow to his Enemies But there are other distinguishing favours which the great King reserves to bestow only on those whom he hath set his heart upon is resolved to make them his special favourites so that whosoever is made to enjoy any of these he may hereby certainly know that God hath a mind to honour him and intends Eternal Life for him There are peculiar tokens of the Love of God which he giâ—es to none but such as have found Grace in his sight and those that enjoy them may from thence unerringly conclude that they were given to Christ in an Everlasting Covenant We may read the descent of these in Rom. 8 29. 30. There is a white Stone and a new Name which is not Legible by any but him who hath it This God bestows upon none other but those who were thus Covenanted for There is a powerful work of Conversion wrought in the Soul by causing the man to pass from death to life the donation of the Spirit of Adoption by which we are enabled to Cry Abba Father the infusion of the Grace of Sanctification in which there is a wonderful change made a New Creature brought forth all old things past away and all things become new in him Now these are all the gifts of saving Grace they are the secret conveyance from the Well-head of Electing Love they are the Covenant Mercies and things that Accompany Salvation if then you are called by his power seized by his Spirit sanctified by his Grace you may by this be assured that you were Chosen in Christ and Covenanted for with him These benefits are not scattered promiscuously but are given peculiarly Labour therefore to have and discover such Operations as these in your hearts and to be more and more acquainted with the reality of them this will be the way to derive joy and consolation from the Fountain and fetch down comfort into your Souls as far as from Eternity 2 Be exhorted to make improvement of your interest in this Covenant for your establishment against the temptations which may assault you We may safely determine that all the shakings or unsettlings of a believers saith and all the discouragements under which he Labours at any time do arise either from a want of his being fortified in this Covenant or from a neglect of applying and improving it seasonably For this hath enough in it to dissolve all doubts and answer all objections if it be wisely improved by us use it therefore 1 To silence all the accusations which may arise from the Covenant of Works A Believer is sometimes greatly Puzled and in a Shock of sore Temptation he is hurried to the Old Covenant where sin is declared against and the sinner is condemned and Justice stands engaged to do execution accordingly and now he is greatly perplexed to think how the Law and Grace can consist and so how such a Sinner as he is can be Saved and he is ready to sink under it Indeed in the Covenant of Grace he hears of pardon and forgiveness which are assured to the
to the Ransoming of his Chosen from sin and misery it may there fore well be called the Covenant of Redemption If the Son of God became a Redeemer by his own Consent freely and was determined unto it before the World began it infers according to our Capacity that there was something propounded to him and that he did accordingly accept of it The Transactions between the Glorious Divine Persons Infinitely Transcend our Understandings but if we will form a Conception of them it must be after this manner and God is pleased so to declare it unto us that we may be able to entertain it in our Faith and in as much as this stands among the Decrees of God in which there is the whole Idea of this work and it is in all of it ratified unchangeably there must together with the mention of all those things which relate to it be also a final and determinate conclusion about it all must be ratified In this regard the Counsel of Peace is said to be between them both Zech. 6. 13. hereupon also the proposal of it by the Father to the Son is represented under the form of a Covenant Hypothetically propounding both a Condition and a Reward Isa 53. 10. and in Psal 110. 7. there is a Connexion which amounts to the same thing for in a Copulate Axiom where there are things joyned together that are consequent the one upon the other it bears the force of a Connex and so it is in the Text and this may suffice for the evidence of the thing or that there is such a Covenant CHAP. 4. Of the Parties in the Covenant of Redemption IT follows now that we come a little nearer make a more distinct Survey of this Covenant according to the Light afforded us concerning it in the Word of God I shall therefore here explain it in such things wherein the special nature of it and its difference from other Covenants may be discerned especially the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace and here may these things be Enquired into 1. Who are the Parties in this Covenant 2. Whence this Covenant had its rise or what was the ground of its being made 3. When it was made 4. Whether it be a Covenant of Works or of Grace 5. Who are Covenanted for 6. What are the Articles of it 1. Who are the Parties in this Covenant A. It is a general Observation that in all Covenants there are two Parties and there can be neither less or more for the notion of a Covenant belongs to the Head of Relation which hath but the Relate and the Correlate and cannot exceed If then there are divers parties they suppose divers Covenants In the Covenant of Works God and Man immediately were the Parties In the New Covenant they are God and Man thro' the Interposition of a Mediator unto whom both Parties have a respect But in the Covenant of Redemption they are God the Son This is agreed on among all those that acknowledge such a Covenant but under what consideration it is debated with reference to each party and may be here particularly Explained 1. God is one Party Psal 89. 3. I have made The Party that speaks there is God himself But it may be asked whether he be to be considered Essentially or Personally and so is to be applied to the Father In the former Description given of this Covenant I have expressed it as belonging to God the Father There are some Divines who would have it taken Essentially and assigned to the Deity considered in the Essence and not in any particular Subsistence lest otherwise the Holy Spirit the Third Person in the Sacred Trinity should be excluded from being personally concerned in this Covenant This Debate needs not be eagerly pursued being easily reconcileable here then observe 1. That the Decree in which this Covenant is to be found is properly an Essential Act or belongs to all the Three Persons in common as they are one in the Essence Acts properly personal are only such as flow from their Relative Properties or at least have their Foundation in these Relations The Decrees is an act of Divine Counsel exerted by the Divine Will which is undivided and common to the three persons and thus the Deity is the one party Covenanting because the Essential acts of the Trinity are undivided Joh. 5. 17 19. 2. That in these Essential Works the Scripture frequently observes a personal propriety and an order of working according to the order of their Subsistence and manner of working so that in whatever work any one persons order of Subsistence and manner of working doth principally appear it is by way of specialty ascribed to that person not because that person is alone in it but because God doth herein manifest himself to us most clearly in such a manner of being or Subsistence The Father is the first Person hence beginning Works are Attributed to him as Election and Creaâ—ion The Son is the Second Person and therefore secondary works are ascribed to him such as Redemption The Holy Ghost is the Third and Last Person and therefore finishing works are given to him such as Application The Father works of himself by the Son and Spirit The Son works from the Father by the Spirit The Holy Ghost works from them both Joh. 5. 19. 16. 13. and this Order is to shew the Oecononomy of the Divine Persons Now in this regard Essential Works may have a peculiar Appropriation to a person not exclusive but inclusive of the other 3. That Jesus Christ in making mention of this Covenant acknowledgeth the Father to be the Party whom he had Indented withal See Psal 2. 7 8. the mentioning of the Son here spoken to and owned points us to the Father under the Personal Relation So also in Psal 89. 26. which Psalm hath a proper reference to this Covenant and how often in the Gospel have we Christ declaring his Mission to be from his Father more particularly in John 17. he challengeth of him the performance of the Promises of this Covenant and truly as this Covenant is the beginning of all our Salvation and the spring or Original from which all the good that we hope for so it is fitly attributed to him who is the first of the persons 2. The other Party is the Son of God the Second Person in the Trinity who is Coeternal with the Father The Covenant being Eternal there could not be any party in it but one who was an Eternal Person Whosoever is engaged in a Covenant which is a voluntary act must be presumed to Exist either in himself or in his Representative Nor is this disputed whether the Son of God be the other party but yet there is no little difference in the notions about the qualility or respect in which he stands as a party in this Covenant The Son of God is considered under a treble notion 1. Meerly as he is a Divine Person and so is
latter the Grace of God which was so made way for is to be applied In the former the Law was to be fulfilled by Christ in the latter the Gospel is to be complied with by man In the former Christ was made one party in the latter he stands as the Mediator between both parties 1 Tim. 2. 2. 5. In the former God Covenanted for us in the latter he Covenants with us there he promised us to his Son here he promiseth himself to us But though these are two Covenants yet there is a near Conjunction between them and the latter hath a manifold dependance on the former yea such as all the Believers solid comfort and permanent hope ariseth from it yea indeed all the Grace that there is in this Covenant derives from that as a stream from a Fountain and this may be observed more especially in five respects 1. The Covenant between God the Father and God the Son was that which opened the way for his Covenanting with his people Had not that Covenant been first made this would never have been heard of The Covenant which God Indents with his people is wholly of Grace in all the parts of it as it is made by him from the foundation to the top-stone of it there is no other voice to be heard but that of Grace Now had there not been an Antecedent Covenant which man had some relation unto this might immediately and without any previous prepication have entred into Grace is free else it were not Grace and God might have exprest it to whom he saw meet But when we consider how it was with man when this Covenant was declared viz. that he stood under an Old Covenant of Works and was related to it as a Transgressor the Precept of it being violated by him and the Curse of it having taken place on him and the Justice of God standing obliged to the fulfilling of the Articles in that Covenant which God had engaged in it stood up as an high Wall of Separation between God and Man and called for vengeance to be executed upon him according to his Earnings nor could it be appeased without full satisfaction given to it for the Injuries done it by the sinning Creature All mankind stood thus Condemned and Men of Death Hence it was necessary that without a Covenant of Reparation interposing there could not be a Covenant of Salvation Had not this great Transaction past the Covenant of Works must of necessity have taken place and we must have been judged and condemned and for ever destroyed by it God must be Just in being gracious he must not deny himself or any of his Attributes Mercy and truth must correspond and how could that be as the case stood had there not been such a transaction as this If Justice had not interposed Grace might have proceeded without any more ado but because God must be Just in Justifying a sinner there must be provisâ—ion made that he may be so So that this Covenant of Redemption may be looked upon as the procuring cause of the Covenant of Grace it opened the door to it removed the obstructions that would else have impeded it and made the way for God to be gracious to poor sinning man and save him without any injury done to his justice or violence offered to his law Here it was that all was laid in that needed to satisfy that to the utmost farthing and when that is once appeased and its mouth stopt so that it hath no more to say Grace hath now its full and free scope In this regard we shall find the Apostle reducing of our Salvation to this Covenant which was made with Christ before time as the Root and Original of it 2. Tim. 1. 9. 2. The Application of the Grace of the Covenant of Reconciliation whereby any of the children of men are brought into that Covenant and truly entituled to all the good which is therein promised to the Children of God bears an entire respect to the Covenant of Redemption That all the Children of men are not taken into the New and Everlasting Covenant is certain That all those to whom it is offered in the Gospel do not cordially embrace it is also evident upon observation So that the reason of the difference cannot be because some do hear of it and others do not That any refuse to come into this Covenant and remain in their unbelief when they are outwardly called is their own fault and it will be charged upon their wilfulness Joh. 5. 40. But that any do entertain it and actually close in with the terms of it and believe in Christ for salvation is not of themselves or by any power of their own but of God Eph. 2. 8 And if he should have done no more towards their believing than he did to the other they would have been for ever under their unbelief Now there must be some reason assigned why God applies it to this and not to the other This cannot be in the Creature because all are alike Children of wrath and equally guilty and filthy in their natural state as born Eph. 2. 3. It must then be in God And as the Covenant of Redemption was a result of his meer good pleasure so the Application of the Grace of the New-Covenant is an act of his faithfulness to his promise to Christ in that Covenant Hence when God comes with his Converting Grace to bestow it upon any when he powerfully perswades the man to receive the word of truth and accept of Jesus Christ upon his offer and terms and passeth by that other who sits by him and leaves him to despise and make light of the Grace exhibited to him he evermore hath his eye upon and proceeds according to the tenour of this Covenant So that those who were Covenanted for by Christ and given him of his Father are brought into the Covenant of Grace by the Holy Ghost The Spirit of God when he comes to make the Gospel Efficacious unto the salvation of sinners by putting them into the Covenant of Grace he takes his measures by this Covenant he reads those ancient records observes who they were by name that were given to the Son of God in that transaction he addresseth these with his power and causeth them to hear his voice that they may live we have such an expression in Acts 15. 48. as many as were ordained to Eternal life believed Yea and our Saviour Christ lays that down as a Rule which never fails John 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me Christ first redeems them by Price and then the spirit delivers them by Power he first buys them out of the hands of Justice and then the Holy Ghost comes and fetcheth them out of the Prison of Sin and from under the Power of Satan and enlargeth them So that the Covenant of Grace in respect to the extensiveness of it to the Subject is made just as large as the
who are they but such as are Ordained to Salvation from Eternity and these are they who are Effectually called in Time You may therefore upon the consideration of your vocation be assured of the Accomplishment of them in you for though you might fail yet God cannot 3. Hence also Jesus Christ hath Promised to send his Spirit into the hearts of his people to dwell in them to teach them to keep them by his Power and that through Faith to Salvation When Jesus Christ left this earth as to his bodily presence he then gave his Spirit to be the Guardian of his People that they might not be left Orphans and it is he who hath undertaken to do all that in them and for them which they need to keep their weak Grace alive to prevent its being quenched by the many waters of Temptation that would otherwise swallow it up and utterly extinguish it in them and this is a Fruit also of the Covenant of Redemption And hence it comes to pass that though Adam in his integrity lost all his stock by the prevelancy of a Temptation that was too hard for him yet a believer in the hand of the Spirit of God notwithstanding all the frailties that attend upon him shall never lose his little stock but both keep and encrease it So that if when we look upon the Condition required in the One Covenant we lay by it the consideration of the undertaking and Provision that is made for the performance of it in another Covenant that may quiet and satisfy our souls in this regard and enable us to Triumph over all Doubts and Fears which Assaults us 3. Be therefore directed whither to go for all the strength and assistance for the discharge of the Duty which is lying upon you and required of you in your place and station and for comfort in the doing of it We are often discouraged by the weight of Duty and are ready to sink under it upon the experience we have of our own imperfections whereas if we look back unto this Covenant we shall there find that taken care for effectually for here we may observe 1. That the Perfect Obedience which was required and was to Merit our acceptance with God was laid upon Jesus Christ and hereupon it is taken off from us He was to do as well as to Dy. We have taken notice that his Active Obedience was required in and became a Condition of this Covenant as well as his Passive and God hath respect to it he looks upon iâ— and imputes it to us and so the Law is answered and all the happiness which man once forfeited is purchased What though we cannot perfectly obey yet because he hath done it for us there is our Security and we may account it ours because it was performed in our Name 2. That Sincerity under our greatest imperfections render our performances acceptable to God If our hearts be right in the Duties we do if they are True and Faithful to God if we can truely plead Uprightness and Integrity they shall preserve us No weakness that infâ—uenceth our Obedience shall cut it off from his favour or prevent his smelling a savour of rest in it He that had not a Lamb to offer might offer Two Turtle Doves The ground of this is here because Christ is accepted for us in the Covenant of Redemption and so we come to be accepted through him in the Covenant of Grace 2 That Christ is engaged not only to do for us but in us too all the works that are needful All that is requisite to our pleasing of God and obtaining of Glory His Almighty power stands concerned in it hence Pauls Prayer for his Colossians Col. 1. 9 10 11. In a word This Covenant hath provided a Christ for us to go to for all that we can stand in need of in order to the bringing of us home to the Kingdom For the Subduing of all our Enemies the Conquering of our Corruptions the Recovering of us from our Apostasies the Establishing of our Grace the Perpetuating of our Perseverance So that there can nothing be wanting for the satisfaction of a believing Soul but here it is to be had fully and the encouragement to go to him with boldness for it is fetched from the consideration of this Covenant Because GOD the FATHER stands firmly Engaged to His SON for the doing of all this for us and he cannot deny us when we come and humbly and believingly claim it at his hands upon this scope 4. Labour we to see admire and Magnify those riches of Grace that are laid up for poor man in this Covenant The Covenant of Redemption hath matter enough in it for us to study upon and contemplate for ever A believer when himself cannot look upon this Covenant without admiration and Extasy it is full of unsearchable wonders Here are the greatest engagements imaginable to oblige us to love and serve God Here is matter enough to Elevate our Praises to the highest strain for 1 Here we learn what were the Everlasting thoughts of God concerning us even thoughts of mercy and peace when we find our names written in That Book we are sure that God Remembered us before we were or any other creature to make mention of us to him and what a sweet and ravishing contemplation is here The Physician was provided before the Malady was contracted when we were not God thought of us for good and made the way of this good sure and unalterable he enrolled a Covenant for us in the Records of Eternity The Father and Son did of their own accord thus consult for the Everlasting welfare of a company of worthless Worms they contrived the matter between themselves resolved to build the Declarative Glory of Divine Grace upon so mean a Subject as sorry man Here we see what a difference was put between us and the Children of Wrath how precious Gods thoughts of us were that among such multitudes whom he passed by he should fix his heart upon us and mark us out for a Kingdom and how astononishing a thing is this 2. Here also we may observe the Infinitely Wise Contrivance of mans Salvation There are all the Mysteries of Wisdom concerned in this Covenant Here is a way found out to Save Fallen Man which would altogether have puzled and non-plust the Understandings of Angels and men if they had sat themselves to study about it it would never have come into their thoughts Nay the Angels themselves are still amazed at it and desirous to be Gazing into the Mystery of it although it be Revealed Who could ever have told God had he seen meet to enquire of him how a Sinner should be Saved and Justice remain Inviolated Now in this Covenant we see that all things are so contrived as that there is no flaw nor any the least disagreement between the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace but both have their honour and glory and yet the