so to all those that wait for them the Father will say I am thy Father and the Son say I am thy Saviour and the Spirit I am thine therefore exercise faith upon your interest in all the persons and in particular upon your interest in God the Father and be much in communion with the Father seeing communion is personal and there is a distinct interest in all the persons therefore a distinct communion that which was the happiness of these persons communion and the infinite satisfaction that they took one in another that shall be thy happiness and thy portion for ever § 3. We are to exercise faith upon all the persons in this manner made over under the second Covenant and to live upon this principle in all our ways 1 That they are all of them objects of faith is clear for the ultimate object of faith is God 1 Pet. 1.21 Now as we are to take in the whole Scripture as objectum immediatum the immediate object and every part of the Scripture is to be believed as an object of faith so the whole Godhead all the attributes of God and all the persons in the Godhead are by faith to be rested upon for there are 1 Thess 3.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 defects of faith so long as faith takes not in its whole object it hath not its perfect work Jam. 1.3 2 We are to worship them all though not as apart one from another yet as in our apprehension distinguished and we are to give unto them distinct worship as Christ says Joh. 4.23 The time cometh that you shall neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father he that will worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth for the Father seeks such to worship him c. Now worship is twofold either cultus naturalis qui ex ipsa Dei natura pendet natural worship c. There is no man that did ever worship a God but he did acknowledge that this God he was to believe in and hope in love and pray to and to hear and obey him in all things and there is a cultus institutus qui ex liberrima Dei voluntate pendet c. instituted worship which depends on the will of God Now the highest act of worship is in believing and it 's unto this that all the Institutions which are but media cultûs means of worship are properly subordinate for cultus institutus medii locum tantùm supplet ad cultum primarium being to worship the persons we must give to each of them that which is the main of worship and that is to believe in them 3 It is from the objects of faith that the life of the soul comes in Esa 38.16 By these things men live and in all these things is the life of my spirit for the Prophet Esaias had said Take a lump of figs and lay it upon the boil and he shall recover by this promise I shall live and many others that come after shall live upon the promises by this experiment that I have had and found of them for faith is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mouth and eye of the soul Now the delight of the eye in seeing comes from the object and the nourishment of the body comes in by the mouth and therefore it 's said Eccles 6.7 That all the labour of the man is for his mouth it 's from the meat that a man eats that the strength of his body is derived and therefore Christ as the object of faith saith That his flesh is meat indeed and his blood drink indeed it notes strength and nourishment comes from the object of faith and the way of conveyance is by union it is by sucking the sap and the sweet of it crede manducâsti and if any object of faith do not contribute its part and the soul lives not upon it it will in its strength decay and therefore we live by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 because it is from the direct acts of faith that life comes in and here are two things to be spoken to 1 What the objects of faith are that the soul is to take in in the making over of each person under the second Covenant 2 What acts of faith the soul is to put forth upon them 1. The objects of faith that the soul is to take in in each of the persons are these 1 The persons themselves we are to believe the record of them all 1 Joh. 5.10 Joh. 5.45 we are to hear and learn of the Father and we are to believe in the Son To him give all the Prophets witness 1 Joh. 5.6 Act. 10.43 that whosoever believes in him shall have remission of sins Joh. 3.16 and we are to believe in the Spirit it is the Spirit that bears witness because the Spirit is truth and so we are to come unto them in duties in prayer and hearing and in all acts of worship and the ground of it is because we are to believe in him for they cannot pray to him in whom they have not believed Rom. 10.14 Rom. 10.14 Now though the benefit that we have by all these persons is exceeding great the Father adopts and justifies us by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ and the remission of sins and the Son is Jehovah our righteousness and he gives us power to become the sons of God and the Spirit is the bond of our union the principle of our sanctification and the guide of our way yet the ground of all this interest in their benefits is our interest in their persons so that as our interest in the Mediator and union with his person is far greater than all the benefits that we receive by him because it is the fountain from which they do all flow and the root upon which they do all grow 1 Joh. 5.12 so it 's here also interest in the persons is the foundation of all our interest in their benefits for if we had no title unto the persons we could have no benefit by them or any part thereof and therefore as they are personal promises that are the great promises of the Gospel so they are personal interests that are the great priviledges of the Gospel and that in which the main of the life of a Saint lyes so that as when Christ is set forth by God the Father as a propitiation lifted up in the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3.25 the soul by the recumbency of faith casts it self upon him leaves it self with him Psal 10.14 so the Father and Spirit are set forth in the Gospel as the God of consolation and the soul is to rely roll and cast it self upon them and as we are not barely to look upon the benefits that come by Christ so neither are we to the benefits that come by them but it is their persons ens incomplexum not things that the soul is to rest upon 2
of promise who is the earnest of your inheritance And so 1 Pet. 1.2 Elect according to the fore-knowledge of God through the sanctification of the Spirit and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ therefore by reason of the special interest that they have given unto the Saints in themselves they have undertaken distinct offices and this is plain in Son and Spirit which are terms of office He that is sent doth imply as much as to be imployed in the business of another and to receive his commission from another This will appear 1 in the work of Conversion and Election the Father begets calls draws For no man says Christ can come to me except God the Father draws him Christ he receives men but he receives none but those that the Father has given him he gives him the souls that he must save and they that come to him are so given him of the Father these shall come and none else he will in no wise cast them off And as Christ receives them so the Spirit unites God and the soul for he is the bond of union between them and their Head he that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit and we are one Spirit baptized into one body and therefore in the work of Election each of them have their distinct acts and office 2 In all the duties of the Saints they have their proper and distinct works as in hearing it is God the Father whose the truths are that they hear Eph. 3.9 they are a mystery hid in God from ages and from generations The book of his counsels are in the hand of him that sits upon the Throne who is the Word of God that is the Interpreter of the Fathers mind as the word of a man is of the mind of a man which I conceive is the proper meaning of that expression and so Joh. 1.17 The law came by Moses but grace and truth by Jesus Christ meritoriously for there is not a truth revealed but cost the blood of Christ and it is as the Lamb that was slain by virtue of his Priesthood that he doth open the book Rev. 5. And so the Spirit is the Eye-salve that gives us an understanding to receive the truths that are revealed and doth ingraft the word into the heart so in prayer also Joh. 5.20 the Father is prayed unto and therefore Christ teaches us in our prayers to look up unto God and to cry Our Father not but that Christ and the Spirit may be prayed to for they are God they are believed in and therefore are to be prayed unto but yet because of the different offices of the persons in this work of prayer therefore we are mainly directed to pray unto the Father so that he hears prayers and the Spirit indites them Rom. 8.26 and the Son he offers them with his own odours Rev. 8.3 3 It will appear also in the sealing of the Saints which I conceive is not the working of grace as some say and so the allusion is of a seal modo naturali and so the Spirit in working an impression of the image of Christ upon the soul is said to seal it leaving the like impression in the man but it is after a man believes Eph. 1.13 and I conceive that sealing is used in Scripture chiefly in a metaphorical sense to assure and to mark out a person as it 's said Ezech. 9. They were sealed that is set apart for it and seal the stone that is to make it sure to ratifie and confirm it Now there are the distinct seals of all the persons unto the evidences of the Saints they have all of them a distinct witness 1 Joh. 5.7 The Father the Word and the Spirit and they three agree in one they do all of them testifie the same thing but yet they do all of them give a distinct witness in the hearts of the Saints as they did witness unto Christ the Father from Heaven and the Son in his Baptism and the Spirit descending as a Dove so they do also unto the souls of the Saints and therefore Sacraments are called Seals not that they do work the righteousness of faith in any man for they do not work grace but strengthen and witness grace but because they do assure it unto the man that doth receive them and for that cause are said to be sealing Ordinances § 2. Now these distinct acts of office they do perform are grounded upon the distinct interest that the Saints have in them all and I call these acts of Office upon a double ground 1 Because they are but for a time during the present administration of the mediatory Kingdom which shall have its period and then the Father will draw souls to Christ no more the Son will present sacrifice to God no more 1 Cor. 15.24 the Spirit will no longer assist call purge sanctifie seal but all the graces of the Subjects of the Kingdom of Christ shall be perfected and all Gods ends in the Covenant of grace attained and then the offices that were undertaken but for the accomplishment of these ends shall be laid down 2 Because there is a personal glory that doth redound unto each person by these offices there be natural acts that do add to the essential glory the glory of the nature but acts of Office being personal they add unto the glory of the persons that do perform them 1 Cor. 5.17 18. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself the Father hath the glory thereof and the Son he hath taken the form of a servant and paid the service and made a purchase and he has the glory thereof all Nations are given unto him and the honour of it in the hearts of all the Saints Joh. 5.23 That all men may honour the Son c. And the Holy Ghost he works all in the hearts of the Saints he begins the good work Phil. 1.6 and he perfects it for all the graces of the Saints are but fruits of the Spirit and therefore he has a distinct glory also The great end and intent of God in the new Covenant was not only to shew forth the Attributes of his Nature and to glorifie them in a higher way than ever they were formerly under the first Covenant discovered as we have formerly seen but also to exalt the glory of all the persons in the hearts of the Saints that they might with hearts ravished with the love goodness and the offices of them all cry out Glory be unto the Father Son and holy Ghost and pray unto them all Rev. 1.5 6. Grace be unto you and peace from him which was and is and which is to come and from the seven Spirits before the Throne and from Jesus the faithful and true witness the first begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth who has loved us and washed us from our sins by his own blood and has made
c. Thou art Christ the Son of God it 's the confession of Peters faith and is also called the Foundation of the Churches faith 1 Cor. 3.11 And so there is Divine Worship given to Christ as Mediator they worship the Lamb this is by reason of union and yet it is evident Rev. 4. that the humane nature remains a creature after its union and therefore it is as he is the Son and so is coessential with the Father this is the formalis ratio the proper cause of this Divine Faith and Worship and so the Holy Ghost also he is to be believed for himself and his own testimony the Spirit is truth 1 Joh. 5.6 and the Scriptures are to be believed only for the testimony of the Spirit 2 Pet. 1.21 But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost therefore we are commanded to hear what the Spirit says unto the Churches he is called therefore the Spirit of faith 2 Cor. 4.13 4. That we may honour them in our prayers distinctly for whomsoever a man is to believe in him he may pray unto Rom. 10.14 How can they call on him in whom they have not believed And therefore in our prayers we are not only to go unto God but unto each of the persons with distinct petitions suitable unto the acts that they have undertaken and the offices in which they have made over themselves unto the Saints under the new Covenant Christ he prays to the Father Holy Father righteous Father I will that those that thou hast given me be with me sanctifie them by thy truth And Stephen at his death Lord Jesus receive my spirit And the Disciples Lord increase our faith And so doth the Church Tell me where thou feedest c. The Apostle commonly speaks of them all together The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you And Rev. 1.5 6. Grace from him that is and was and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne and from Jesus the faithful and true witness And as it is a mans duty to believe in the Son as well as the Father so it is to pray to the Son distinctly as also unto the Father for as our faith must distinctly take in all the objects of faith or else it is imperfect for there are two things that tend to the perfection of any grace 1 When it takes in all the objects in their extent and latitude 2 When they do put forth compleat and perfect acts upon these objects thus I say as faith must take in all its objects or else there is something wanting in it as the Apostle speaks of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wants of faith so must faith give unto each of these their due and proper glory and Christ being to be believed in he may be prayed unto nay it 's an honour that belongs unto him and therefore our faith must give it to him 5. That the soul may have a distinct fellowship and communion with them all and there is a fellowship with the Spirit 1 Joh. 1.3 we are by the Gospel brought into communion with God and it 's a distinct fellowship and communion that we are to have with all the persons our communion is as large as our relation and the soul is to look upon himself as reconciled to them all and therefore all of them are become our friends and we have a particular and distinct interest in them all Now how is a man said to have fellowship with God or to walk with God it is when the thoughts of a mans heart are taken up with God and he has an eye unto him and unto his glory from day to day As a man is said to have communion with the Devil when he walks with his temptations and the desires and thoughts of his heart do run out towards the unfruitful works of darkness a man has fellowship with the Devil in all things as it is said Prov. 6.22 The law shall talk with a man waking and keep him when he is asleep and lead him when he goes how is this is it is but in the thoughts and the meditations of a mans own heart by the suggestions and directions thereof where it doth richly dwell so it is in this also it is communion with God and Gods dwelling in the soul animus ascendit frequenter c. the soul frequently ascends there is gratiarum decursus recursus a flowing down and reflowing of graces and in this doth our communion lye Now a man having an interest in all the persons all of them having undertaken something for a mans good by way of office and a man receiving something from them all and returning praise to them all there is in the soul a distinct fellowship to be exercised with them all sometimes the thoughts of his heart being drawn out to the Father and sometimes unto the Son and sometimes unto the Spirit and observing the witnessing of them all and the sealing of them all unto the evidences of the Saints sometimes we walk with the Father and sometimes with the Son and sometimes with the Spirit and the more distinct a mans communion is the more sweet it is 6. That a man may draw arguments and motives unto duty and against sin from them all and a mans interest in them all We are said to be baptized in the name of them all Mat. 28.20 Mat. 28.20 Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Now what is it to be baptized into the name of the Father it's conceived to be taken from the manner of marriage wherein the wife doth transire in nomen in familiam c. into the name and family of the husband or of servants who had their masters name called upon them 1 Cor. 1.13 and therefore no man might be baptized in the name of a creature it is that which Paul detests that he should baptize in his own name and therefore the meaning is to be baptized in fidem in cultum into the faith and worship of God and so you are unto them all and give up your names unto them all and therefore unto each person we owe both faith and worship distinctly all manner of duty and obedience because we are distinctly baptized unto the faith of them all to believe in them and worship them and a man should draw arguments to keep him from sin from them all and his interest in them all the Father is greater than all and it is by his will we are sanctified If we call him Father who without respect of persons judgeth every man according to his works Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear 1 Pet. 1.15 And he says of Christ I send my Angel but take heed of him obey his voice provoke him not for my name is in him And grieve
for wrath and poured it out abundantly when all the graces of Christ did act to the highest to take hold of God and to uphold himself To have been in Abrahams bosom then when he was about to slay his son even his only son and seen what strivings of heart and rendings of bowels what great grief possest Abraham at that time how should a man of compassion have been affected But there was much more love in God to his Son Christ and yet to bruise him was that which he delighted in it was unto him a sweet smelling savour when he was offered up upon the Cross God that doth not delight in the death of a sinner yet he doth delight in the death of a Son that the sinners may live and be saved eternally 8. God the Father being in this manner satisfied by his Sacrifice he doth raise him from the dead he is said to be raised by his own Godhead that is the Spirit spoken of Rom. 1.4 Heb. 9.14 he himself saith I have power to lay down my life Joh. 10.18 and I have power to take it again he received a commandment from the Father concerning both but he is said to be raised by the Father because he was by the Father as a Judge condemned as an offender and malefactor executed cast into the prison of the grave which I understand by that in Esay 53.8 Now the debt being paid the Father doth grant him a deliverance and sends an Angel a publick Minister of Justice to manifest that his debt is paid and the Father satisfied thereby and therefore it is unto the Father that he did look for it Psal 16.10 thou wilt not leave my soul in statu separato in a separate state nor my body in the grave c. thou wilt not suffer thy holy One to see corruption 9. God the Father gave him glory and exalted him far above all Principalities and Powers and might and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come Eph. 1.21 He has a glory that he is invested with above all the Angels in Heaven as he was Man whiles he was upon earth he was made lower than all the Angels for a little while but now he has more glory as he is Man than all the Angels are capable of as he has more grace than they have therefore he must needs have more glory and that as he is Man by this means he is gone to Heaven as our Fore-runner to take possession for us Joh. 14.2 I go before says he to prepare a place and therefore it is expedient for you that I go away Acts 2.33 10. He receives the fulness of the Spirit from the Father Christ waited for the promise of the Spirit as well as we for the full accomplishment of it for as the faculties of Christ were inlarged so did his grace exalt it self though he was always full of grace and truth and therefore as he was said to grow here in all things he was like unto us only without sin so in the growth and in the degrees of the perfection of his humane nature therefore when he came to Heaven his faculties were inlarged as ours shall be and so there is the fuller measure of his receiving the Spirit in glory than he had when he was here upon earth for when he was here on earth he knew not the day of Judgment Of that day knows no man no not the Son while he was upon earth but when he came to Heaven it was revealed unto him it was first revealed to Christ and by Christ unto his Servant John and therefore he did himself open the book which was sealed to him as well as it was unto us but he did open it and looked therein c. They were such discoveries as the Lord did not communicate unto the humane nature of Christ till he came to glory and then his knowledge as also his grace was perfected therefore Joh. 7.39 that 's given as the reason why the Spirit was not yet given in its fulness Joh. 7.39 because Christ was not yet glorified he did not fully dispense it unto us because he had not in fulness received it for every promise is first made unto him and in him unto us and it is first fulfilled in him and through him in us also 11. God the Father has put him into the actual administration of his government as he is man Dan. 7.14 all Angels Principalities and Powers being made subject to him and so much his sitting at the right hand of the Father does imply 1 Pet. 3. ult namely the actual administration of all things and that as he is man for he must as well rule as man as he shall judge as man as he is God in prosecution unto the Covenant that God the Father made with him so this Kingdom has been in the hand of the Son ever since the Fall and so it 's true that the Father judges no man but the Son has all judgment committed to him but while he was man here he was in a state of humiliation and it was the time of his ministery but in Heaven is the time of his Magistracy and the Lord hath now made him to be both Lord and Christ and now he doth actually rule the world as man whereas before his ascension he could not for as he was man he received not himself up into glory and this is the glory that the Father did promise to give him and to glorifie him with himself therein before the world was that that nature which he should take should be exalted above all creatures and the actual government of all things should be committed thereupon unto him and so as man he is made the head of all things for the Churches sake Eph. 1.21 22. § 2. But there are some Acts of God the Father that more immediately respect the Saints and are terminated on them and they are also very many as 1. the work of Vocation when men are turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God Joh. 6.44 that 's attributed unto the Father Joh. 6.44 45. No man can come to me except the Father draw him he that has heard and learned of the Father cometh to me To come to Christ is to believe in him as appears vers 35. He that comes to me shall never hunger and he that believes on me shall never thirst He expounds coming to him by believing in him for he knew who they were that believed not vers 64. And therefore said I unto you No man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father And the Lord speaks not of the will here no man will come but of the power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no man can come There is a dispute between us and the Arminians about the power of nature unto acts of grace and they say there is auxilium
consist of Promises they are many Promises of this life and of the life to come Promises absolute and conditional Promises of Grace and to Grace and they are therefore called better Promises and so because in respect of the Fathers their good things were even wholly contained in Promises as the Ceremonial Law was contained in Ordinances and they saw nothing in the one but in the Type and nothing in the other but in the Promises they did salute them afar off and imbracing them died in the faith of them but they never received the thing promised Heb. 11. Joh. 8.57 only as Abraham desired to see my days says Christ and he saw it and was glad And it is sometimes called the promise because they are all one in Christ being in him all yea and amen as lines in a Center are one follow any promise to its Original as rivers unto the head and rise of them and they will all lead you unto Christ and yet they are Promises in themselves many as the lines are in the Circumference though but one in the Center Ephes 2.12 the Apostle Paul useth a quite different expression Strangers unto the Covenants of promise he doth as it were make the promise but one for substance and the Covenants many the Covenants are many because of their manifold delivery being severally renewed and yet in all these in several ages the promises the same as if but one promise 2. How and in what order is Abraham to be considered in this Covenant and in receiving this promise In this Covenant Abraham stands as a publick person as a common root Rom. 11. or as a common Parent unto all the faithful unto the worlds end as one that did receive the Promise not only for himself but for all those that should after his example believe in Christ and become his Children and therefore he is said to be the father of the faithful Rom. 4.16 and they that do believe are Abrahams seed and also heirs of the Promise For as Austin hath observed there are three sorts of Fathers and of Sons some are according to nature and others are secundum Doctrinam according to Doctrine so Paul was father to Timothy having begotten him by the Gospel others secundum imitationem according to imitation as filii Abrahami nos sumus cujus fidem imitamur we are Abrahams children if we imitate his faith And this the Lord doth for a double end 1 To put an honour upon his servant as a great reward of his faith and therefore he changed his name calling him the Father of many Nations as one that was the root and first in the Covenant and they all coming in at second hand under Abrahams Covenant and therefore Mic. 7.20 it is mercy to Abraham Mic. 7.20 and truth to Jacob because in Abraham after a sort the Covenant did begin not that to him the Covenant of Grace was first revealed for it was made known unto Adam and Abel was justified by faith Heb. 11.3 but because unto Abraham was the clearest discovery of the Covenant and the Lord did in the most solemn manner enter into Covenant with him therefore it is mercy to Abraham that being the foundation of making the Covenant as his truth and faithfulness is of keeping the Covenant 2 The Lord does it thereby to make Abraham as it were a Type of Christ that it may be continued unto posterity that the way by which God intended to dispense the Grace of the Covenant was from one common head or root as the first Covenant to the first Aam and all his posterity so the second Covenant with the second Aam of whom first Abraham and afterwards David were the fullest Types and resemblances Thus that the Lord might honour Abraham his friend with the highest honour as the root of all the Faithful and that this manner of conveyance of the Grace of the Covenant from one common root might be made known and thereby mans heart led unto Christ the root and Prince of the Covenant therefore it was made with Abraham as a publick person and the father of us all 3. What is meant by Christ here the seed of Abraham not seeds as of many Here Interpreters are divided There is a twofold seed of Abraham to which they have an eye according unto these two promises In thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Gen. 22.18 Christus in individuo Christus in aggregato and Gen. 17.7 I will be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee and answerably unto these they observe in Scripture a twofold Christ Christ Personal and Christ Mystical so 1 Cor. 12.12 the whole Church is called Christ and the sufferings of the Church are called the sufferings of Christ Ephes 1.23 and the fulness of the Church the fulness of Christ as Col. 1.18 Here some say is to be understood Christ personal for two reasons 1 The person to whom the promise is made is the same in whom all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed but this is by Abraham in reference to this seed It 's true all the faithful as they are the seed of Abraham they are blessed with faithful Abraham but they are not that seed in whom all the Nations of the world shall be blessed Rutherf Triumph of Faith p. 51. Gen. 22.18 that is in Abraham as this seed should come out of his loins and it refers us only to the person of Christ which cannot be understood of Christ Mystical therefore Ambrose saith of this promise Impletum est in Christo ideoque non in multis sed in uno firmata est promissio 2 Because it is said verse the 17. the Covenant was made before of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 erga Christum or ad Christum in or to Christ speaking of the same seed that he had spoken of in the verse before now this promise and Covenant was not confirmed in Christ Mystical but Christ Personal in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen And hence Pareus and divers others do conclude it to be understood Individuè de uno Christo ex quo omnis spiritualis benedictio in fidelem diffluit c. Individually of Christ from whom all spiritual benediction flows Others do conceive it is to be understood of Christ Mystical 1 From the order that is here mentioned the promise is made first unto Abraham and then unto his seed therefore the seed here spoken of must be such a seed as comes to have a right to the promise as second Bulkley of the Gospel-Covenant p. 37. in order unto Abraham but this cannot be Christ Personal for he has not a right unto the Promise from Abraham but Abraham from him and therefore it must be understood of Christ Mystical who are to look upon Abraham as the root and themselves as branches 2 They argue from the Apostles scope in this place which is to prove that
Heaven we shall but enter into our Masters joy Thus every thing that concerns the Covenant belongs first unto him and then unto us and therefore we may safely conclude that the Covenant made with the Saints of Christ it is with Christ primarily and principally and with us at second hand 7. Lastly the great and principal respect that God hath in this Covenant is to him alone and unto us only as we are in him in all the transactions of the Covenant 1 In all the service that we tender unto God by vertue of this Covenant God doth not primarily respect it as it comes from us but as it comes from Christ as fruit in him Joh. 15.2 1 Pet. 2.5 as the Lord doth not meerly make that a ground for Christ says I do not say that I will pray the father for you Jo. 16.27 for the father himself loves you he would thereby pitch their faith upon another ground to assure them that the prayers he makes in our behalf are answered and that it is the love of the Father as well as the mediation of the Son but he loves them in him also and therefore respects their prayers principally as they do proceed out of the Angels hand 2 In all the mercies of the Covenant the primary respect is unto him and it is bestowed upon you only for his sake For thine own sake and for thy words sake 2 Sam. 7.21 Which Glassius and some others do apply unto Christ that Word of the Father though it may be meant as others do expound it for his own promise sake respecting his truth Mic. 7. last therefore Zach. 1.14 though they pray never so long Seventy years yet it is never accomplished till Christ prays and then the Lord answers the Angel with good words and comfortable words he is by and by zealous for Jerusalem And therefore Daniel says Dan. 9.17 Hear the prayer of thy servant cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake Now if all things that concern the Covenant be in this manner made unto Christ primarily and unto us only as we are in him to him for his own sake and unto us only for his this doth plainly show that the Covenant of Grace though it be made with the Saints yet it is primarily and principally made with Christ § 2. Now we come to the Grounds why this Covenant must be made with Christ first and with us only as we are members of Christ and in him 1. Because the Covenant of Grace is a transcript of the eternal purpose of God in election and doth fully set forth the way how the ends of Gods electing love should be effected Now the ends of Gods electing love are 1 The praise of the glory of his Grace 2 The glory of his Son 3 The holiness and happiness of the Saints These ends are suitably accomplished by this Covenant Ephes 1.3 4 5. Ephes 1.3 4 5. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ according as he has chosen us in him Here three things are observable 1 It is spoken of Christ as Mediator as God-man for in him we are blessed in him we are chosen but our blessings proceed from Christ as Mediator 2 The order of the election we are chosen in him that is in him as the head and therefore he is first elected as he is first beloved In whom I am well pleased well pleased with his people Matt. 3.17 all the members of Christ but first with Christ and with them only as they are in him and one with him 3 According to this order so are all the blessings of the Covenant of Grace dispensed for he hath blessed us in him as he hath chosen us in him according to the order of election such is the order also of benediction Now the blessing of the Covenant of Grace being only in pursuance of the Election of God the Order of God therein must be answerable to the Election which is first of Christ and afterwards of all the Saints of God in him It 's true there is but one Election as there is but one Covenant but yet there is an Order in Election as well as there is in the Covenant first Christ is elected and we in him as the Lord entred into Covenant first with him and with us in him as a head Here consider 1 that the great and the highest end of the counsel of God in Election next unto his own glory was the glory of his Son for this is the Order of God that the Father may be glorified in his Son and the Son glorified in the Saints and in the last day Christ shall be admired in them that believe 2 Thes 2.10 and that in the glory of Christ God the Father may be glorified and that God may be all in all when the Son also is subject to him Therefore they that make Christ to be chosen only in remedium peccati 1 Cor. 15. and bring him in only by accident for the reparation and restitution of man fallen I think entertain an opinion dishonourable to Christ and far below that great plot of God in Christs Election He is said to be the first-born of every creature Col. 1.15 which I conceive not to be spoken simply of Christ as God but as Mediator it is said before that he is the image of the invisible God If it be spoken of him as God then he is equally invisible with the Father but as Mediator in whom all the glorious Attributes of God do shine forth so he is the Image of God and so I conceive it to refer to the Election of Christ as being Jesus the first-born in the womb of Election the like unto that is Prov. 8.23 c. and in the first going forth in his Decrees towards the creature therefore Christ was first elected and the highest ends of God in the counsels of Election next unto the glory of himself was the glory of his Son 2 This glory of the Son he doth intend to accomplish two ways 1 He will in the fullest manner communicate himself to the Son he will in the highest way delight in him there could not be towards any creature the fullest communication and communion because all communion is founded in union and the higher the union the more glorious the communication Now between God and the creature there was a natural union as between the cause and the effect and there was a voluntary union by Covenant and answerable to these was the communication of God to the creature either ordine naturae or gratiae but yet there being a higher union this must make way for a higher communication and therefore God intending to communicate himself to his Son in the highest way he doth first in order priviledge him to be personally united to a created nature and in this nature he can take full delight which he could not do
by living in any sin destroy your own prayers And take not only the example of the Angels but the example of our Lord Christ the rule and pattern of holiness for you to walk by he is your Prince your Leader c. all manner of terms that note out exemplariness and require imitation and he was faithful in the Covenant made with God he doth for the active part of his obedience fulfill all righteousness and for the passive part he paid the utmost farthing though the Lord did hide his face and his enemies did rage and triumph over him it was the hour of the power of darkness and if the flesh did desire its own preservation yet the will of nature did give way unto the will of duty and He did drink up the Brook in the way Psal 110. ult that Torrent of Curses and wrath that lay between us and glory and therefore did lift up his head and he is now in Heaven as Gods servant and so shall be till the last day that he shall give up the Kingdom unto God the Father he is performing the remaining acts of his Office there and by his Spirit on Earth and by his presence and intercession in glory and all is that he might be a faithful High-Priest and able to save to the uttermost those that come unto him But we have yet a higher pattern and that is God the Father himself he is alwayes mindful of his Covenant Psal 111.5 Psal 9.34 Mic. 7.20 Ezech. 16.61 My Covenant I will not break for he is a faithful God and he will perform his truth to Jacob and his mercy unto Abraham as he has sworn in the days of old And the faithfulness of God is infinitely seen in this that the unfaithfulness of man cannot make the faithfulness of God of none effect Says the Lord I will give thee thy Sisters thy elder and thy younger Sister unto thee as Daughters but not by thy Covenant it is a promise that though they had by doing more wickedly justified the Gentile nations and he instances in Sodom and Samaria and therefore worse judgements should come upon them yet the time would come that the Lord would remember his Covenant that he had made with their Fathers and he would make them the Mother-Church and all the Gentile Churches and Nations should flow unto her and it shall come to pass that ten men out of all the Nations under Heaven should lay hold on the skirt of a Jew Zac. 8.23 but all this shall not be by thy Covenant sic non desciverant ut Deus esset liber Cal. and therefore it was not in reference to their keeping Covenant with God but in remembrance of Gods Covenant with them and therefore he refers them unto his faithfulness and not to theirs and therefore when they should see it they should be ashamed and put their mouths in the dust to think that the Lord should continue faithful unto those that had been so unfaithful every way to him as they had been 4. The people of God in this life do miss of many of the Promises of the second Covenant that they are not accomplished unto them because they do not walk exactly according to the rules of this Covenant therefore Psal 25.10 But the wayes of the Lord are mercy and truth unto them that keep his Covenant The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting unto them that fear him Psal 103.18 to such as keep his Covenant and think upon his Commandments to do them but else though they shall not fail of eternal mercy Christ is the surety that the Covenant shall not be broken yet there be many promises of the Covenant that in this life they shall never have accomplished to them 1 Sam. 2.29 saies the Lord I said thy House and the House of thy Fathers should stand before me for ever but now that be far from me saies the Lord for they that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed The promises of God are of two sorts 1 Some are absolute which God hath undertaken to perform of his own free grace not only citra meritum but also citra conditionem not only without merit but without all supposed or prerequired conditions in us As I will be your God I will give you my Son I will pour out my Spirit I will pardon your sins c. I will take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh these are absolute promises 2 There are conditional promises which shew what God will do upon such duties performed by the creature which are such as without Gods special grace he is never able to perform and these are made for the encouragement of men in a way of obedience but they do not alwaies promise the purpose of God to give the condition of the reward for as it is in Judgements there are some conditional threatnings which upon a change in the creature never come to pass Jer. 18.7 At what time saies God I speak against a nation to pluck up and destroy if that nation turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them and if I speak of a Nation or a Kingdom to build and plant it if it do evil in my sight I will repent of the good I would do unto them so it is in the conditional promises Novit Deus mutare decretum si tu non noveris em ndare delictum God knows how to change his declared promise if thou know not how to change thy sin which I conceive to be the meaning of all those places where God is said to break Covenant with his people Numb 14.34 You shall bear your iniquity even forty years and you shall know my breach of promise that is by woful experience you shall find what a misery it is to have such glorious promises made unto you but by reason of your unfaithfulness on your part they being conditional shall never be performed and so the Psalmist has it Psal 89.39 Thou hast made void the Covenant of thy servant all his posterity were cut off from this mercy and promise in this life because they disobeyed the word of the Lord and walked not in his Covenant c. and so Zach. 11.10 I will break my Covenant with them it is spoken of a national Covenant and casting off the Nations from being a Church or people unto himself wherein even the Saints must needs be deprived of many temporal promises of the Covenant because they did not walk stedfastly with God therein And if a man shall consider the example of the sufferings of many of the Saints as of Eli David Sampson and Solomon though they were beloved of God and in Covenant with him yet by their unfaithfulness in the Covenant how many temporal promises of the Covenant did they miss Faith is the condion of the Covenant Foederis pacti
a Covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us The end of his making the Covenant was to divert the Judgement And so we read also in the Book of Nehemiah and thus gracious is the Lord Nehem. 9.38 that when he doth send judgement for sin he doth not continue the judgement but till he doth see an humiliation and reformation in act let there be but the serious purpose of reformation and let the Covenant be renewed to ingage the soul thereunto and the Lord doth remove the judgement and when the will is in his people he doth accept it for the deed as David Psal 32.5 I said I will confess my sin unto the Lord and the Lord forgave me my sin and the prodigal Son doth but say I will go to my father and while he was yet a great way off the father met him 3. In a time of publick reformation when the foundations have been destroyed and all things out of course and a great deal of difficulty appears and even impossibility in carrying on the work yet the people of God looking upon it as a duty have set upon it with full resolution and purpose of heart and have covenanted to go through with the work notwithstanding all opposition Jehoiada made a Covenant between the Lord and the King and the people that they should be the Lords people here Religion was corrupted and Dominion was usurped and the Lord put it into the heart of Jehoiada the Priest to endeavour the reformation of both and therefore he brought forth the Kings Son to whom the government did rightly belong and did set him up in the Throne and deposed Athalia the usurping Queen and he doth make a double Covenant 1 A Covenant between God and the King and the People and in this Covenant the King and the people do make up but one party and they ingage themselves to be Gods people and the King to rule for God as under him 2 There is also a Covenant between the King and the People that he ruling for God and under God they will for Conscience sake obey Now my Covenant with any Magistrate must be understood as being a second and subordinate Covenant I am so to keep Covenant with them that I must also keep my Covenant with the Lord. Wherefore after they had thus strengthened themselves by a Covenant in the next verse they set upon the work of reformation effectually for all the people of the land went into the house of Baal and brake it down And so did Josiah he made a Covenant with the Lord To walk after the Lord and keep his Commandments with all his heart 2 King 23.3 4. and then he commanded them to bring out of the Temple of the Lord all the Vessels that were made for Baal c. and wrought the most glorious reformation that ever ' was by any of the Kings of Judah having his heart and hands strengthened by a Covenant with the Lord. 4. As a testimony of a mans Thankfulness for any great mercy or special deliverance or as an argument of faith that a man is to use unto God when he doth pray for and expect from God any special mercy 1 As an argument that a man should use unto God to obtain mercy it is that artificial way of praying that the Lord himself teaches his people Hosea 14.2 Take away our iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips Assur shall not save us we will not ride upon Horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands Ye are our Gods for in thee the fatherless find mercy c. And so Jacob also Gen. 28.20 22. he begged a blessing in his journey and he doth follow the prayers he had put up with a vow if the Lord will be with me he shall be my God and if he bring me to my Fathers house this Stone shall be Gods House and if the Lord bless me with an estate I will surely return him of his own I will give the tenth unto thee so punctual is this holy man to restipulate or return something unto God answerable unto the mercy that he doth beg of God If Hezekiah may be delivered from death Esay 38.20 and David from guilt Psal 51.14 they promise to sing aloud of so great a mercy and to teach transgressors the way of God also the Fathers to the Children shall declare his truth When a man in desiring the mercy doth it with a spiritual eye and doth not ask amiss he is truly careful to perform the duty that such a mercy calls for that he may return as well as receive for quantum à praeceptis tantum ab auribus Dei sumus Tertullian When there is no obedience to God there must be expected no audience by God And therefore one special argument that the people of God do use in their prayers to obtain mercy is a renewing their Covenant 2 It is to be done in testimony of thankfulness for mercy received and then doth a man indeed make a right use of a mercy when he is bound the closer unto God by such cords of Love and the more the Lord doth ingage him the more he is willing to ingage himself to God A great army of Ethiopians came against the King of Judah with an host of a thousand thousand men and the Lord delivered them into his hand now at their return they came to Jerusalem to give God the glory of the victory and they offered unto him of the spoil which they had taken and now they enter into Covenant with the Lord to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their hearts and with all their souls and so the renewing of the Covenant is their return made unto God for the mercy And so the Jews at their return out of Babylon Jer. 50.4 5. They come with weeping and seek the way to Sion with their faces thitherward and they say Let us bind our selves unto the Lord by a perpetual Covenant never to be forgotten so that in receiving and attaining the mercy God calls for a Covenant as also in returning the mercy 5. When a man finds his heart bent to backsliding and he is unsteady and unstable in any good way Moses finding the people of Israel a very unsteady people and whose hearts were not stedfast with the Lord after that solemn Covenant with them upon Mount Sinai he renews it again a little before his death when they were come to the borders of the promised Land and inforceth it both with the wonders that God wrought upon Pharaoh and also the great miracles that he had wrought for them when he led them through the wilderness forty years And the same thing was the ground of Joshua's renewing his Covenant Josh 24. Josh 24. And Nehemiah finding that many of the Jews loved their strange Wives and the children that they had by them
fruitfulness And that it 's not spoken of the invisible Church the Church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven is plain for these two reasons 1 Because the Jews are said to be the natural branches of the good Olive-tree and the Gentiles are said to be branches of the Olive-tree that is wild by nature and were grafted in contrary to nature Now to Jews and Gentiles grace and regeneration are alike contrary by nature so that there are no natural branches neither is there any grace derived from parents unto children Saving grace flows not from any company of men no not from the invisible Church they are only Christs and he only can communicate them but Church-ordinances and priviledges are properly the Churches and by the Church are derived unto all the members thereof whether they be Elect or Reprobate Mic. 3. ult We are born again not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man Joh. 1.13 for amongst Jews and Gentiles there is no difference All men have sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 3. but this is spoken of a birth-right priviledge which doth descend and come upon a man as he grows upon such a root therefore this is meant only of a visible Church-state 2 It 's spoken of an Olive-tree which hath two sorts of branches some remain in their own Olive-tree and are never broken off but some there are that are broken off for as Christ spreading himself as a Vine into a visible Church hath both fruitful and unfruitful branches some are in him that bear no fruit Joh. 15.2 so hath the Church of God as an Olive-tree some branches that abide and some that are broken off Now in the invisible Church there are no branches to be broken off for ex solis constat electis it 's the Church of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven therefore this Olive-tree is a visible Church and the branches growing in it are visible members they that are grafted in are taken into visible membership and they that are broken off are cast out from a visible membership the root of this Olive-tree is Abraham the father of the Faithful with whom as it were the Church-covenant did begin for there was not a covenant made with him only for himself That the Lord would be his God but also the God of his seed and therefore it 's mercy to Abraham but it 's truth to Jacob and the benefit of their grafting in is this they partake of the root and of the fatness of the Olive-tree the root is Abraham and that in reference unto the Church-covenant made with him and his seed wherefore they are the children of Abraham and of the Israel of God and they partake of the fatness of Church-blessings priviledges and ordinances for that must be meant for it 's such a fatness that the Jews did partake of that were broken off and such a fatness from which they also might be cut off vers 22. if they continued not in his goodness therefore it must be meant of Church-ordinances and priviledges only and not of the saving graces of the Spirit which flow immediately from Christ and not from the Olive-tree the Church 2. It is made a special mercy to the Jews when they shall be grafted in again into their own Olive-tree that is become a Church of God and be taken into Abrahams Church-covenant and be made partakers of Church-priviledges and ordinances and this shall be the new Jerusalem that is to come down from God out of Heaven Rev. 1.2 and this Church shall injoy communion by outward priviledges and ordinances as the Churches of the Gentiles do for there shall be a gathering of men to the Lord by them Esa 66.19 there shall fishers in abundance stand upon the waters and the fish which is the persons that shall be taken and converted by them shall be as the fish of the great sea exceeding many Ezech. 47.10 for the great harvest of the Church is reserved for the latter days and the Ministry must continue so long as there are any of the body to be gathered in or to be perfected till we come to the unity of the faith Eph. 4.13 and to be perfect men and there shall be Church-censures administred in their glory and in the highest majesty and authority there shall no unclean thing enter there Rev. 22.11 without shall be dogs and every one that loves and makes a lye and it 's that this Church shall bewail as the great want in those rising Gentiles we have a little sister and she hath no breasts Cant. 8.8 by breasts she means the ordinances and the ministry of the word wherein milk for babes is laid up therefore this Church that she complains had no breasts was the Gentiles as afterwards the Gentile Churches do with joy and triumph relate of themselves vers 10. That their breasts were like towers c. and as formerly the children of the Jews were taken into the Church-covenant with their parents and made members of the visible Church which no man can deny so it shall be with them again as they were broken off with their parents so with their parents they shall be grafted in and those promises made good unto them their children were Church-members and so shall they again be Esa 65.23 they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their off-spring with them the promise is Ezech. 16.20 21. Jer. 30.20 Cant. 7.2 Their children shall be as afore-time and their congregation shall be established before me which latter words do refer unto their Church-state they shall be sons of the Church as they were in former times and the Lord says that the ordinance of Baptism shall be very fruitful even unto those infants of the Church and very efficacious though now it 's dark and we find little benefit by it being an ordinance of God appointed by him to convey secretly gracious influences tending unto infants spiritual welfare so some expound that place Cant. 7.2 Thy navel is like a round goblet c. The Church is here compared unto a mother conceiving and bringing forth now here is the way of nourishment for children in the womb not yet brought forth which is ministred by the navel as to children brought forth it is taken in by the mouth Now there being no ordinance of which children in the womb of the Church while infants are capable but Baptism therefore it 's conceived by some to be meant here by the navel of the Church and thus we see it shall be a special mercy to the Jews when they shall be ingrafted in again into the external form of a visible Church 2. To be cast out from being a visible member is the greatest judgment that can befal a person or a people in this life God doth then cut them up by the roots 1 Vpon a person 1 Cor. 5.5 such
with thee and thou becamest mine Ezech. 16.8 then I cloathed thee with broidered work and shod thee with badgers skins and girded thee with fine linen and covered thee with silk I deckt thee with ornaments of gold and put bracelets upon thy hands c. Upon the removal of the Candlestick if the Lord unchurch a people all other blessings go away with it They shall take away thy eminent place Ezech. 16.39 and they shall strip thee of all thy cloaths and 2 Chron. 7.20 this house will I cast out of my sight and I will pluck them up by the root out of the land which I have given them 5. They have a special patience and long-suffering attending them and the Lord doth bear with them far for his peoples sake Mat. 13. he lets the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say unto the reapers Gather the tares in bundles to burn we know that the patience and long-suffering of God is salvation 2 Pet. 3. 6. They are delivered from many temporal judgments that others fall into there is a special preservation and protection over them in the time of common danger there is a sealing for the Church the Lord sets a special mark upon them Rev. 7.4 and wicked men receive much by this and so even a Cham may be saved in a common deluge where many a better man may be drowned There are priviledges belonging to the society that a man joyns himself unto that a man injoys for their sakes but not for his own as many a man saith Austin in the Invasion of the Goths did scape by joyning themselves unto the Christians August de Civit And Rehoboam shall be a Prince all the days of his life for David my servants sake that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem Jehoram the son of Jehosaphat 1 King 11.34 36. a wicked man walking in the ways of Ahab and the Kings of Israel and one who at the entrance of his Raign had practised that ordinary devillish policy in use amongst Princes to slay all his brethren with the sword and divers also of the Princes of Israel thereby to strengthen himself and yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the Covenant that he had made with him to give him a light for ever and when Jerusalem was besieged in the days of Hezekiah by a mighty Army the Lord says Esa 37.35 They shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there but I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant Davids sake 7. There is a holiness that comes to them thereby 1 Cor. 7.14 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your children unclean but now are they holy 1 An inward holiness and sanctification it cannot be for it 's a holiness that is conveyed from the parents but so the graces of the Spirit cannot be which are not of blood nor of the will of the flesh 2 Neither can it be meant of legitimation Joh. 1.13 that they are legitimate for there is a lawful marriage between one man and one woman out of the Church as well as in the Church so that they are lawfully man and wife and their children lawfully begotten for the truth of those relations are not founded in grace a father is as truly a father a Magistrate a Magistrate a husband a husband in wicked men and grace adds nothing to the truth of them though it doth to the comfort and right use of them 3 It 's such a holiness as is derived from the faith of the parent for it doth not come unto the child through the unbelieving parent for if they were both unbelievers the children were unclean but it 's a holiness that comes upon the child from the faith of the parent which can be nothing else but a federal holiness being taken into the parents covenant which is either from father or mother derived unto the posterity Now all these are great blessings in themselves though they do ripen a mans sins and bring a greater curse upon him in the end for the marish places shall be given to salt there be no men in the world delivered over to such fearful spiritual plagues as they are Amos 8.1 Heb. 6.1 Quest 4. Answ and if any men prove Devils they doe the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out and the Lord will say unto them I know you not c. § 4. But what is this foederal holiness and wherein doth it consist This I shall speak to 1 Negatively and shew you what it is not 2 Positively and shew you what it is and both are very necessary in the present business both that the false glosses fastened upon this place may be removed and also the true nature of this Holiness cleared and established 1. Negatively what it is not and here I find three interpretations as false and corrupt glosses given of it 1. Of a Holiness of Regeneration but that cannot be the meaning of it for the gracious qualifications of the Soul are no more ex traduce than the Soul it self Joh. 1.13 no man is regenerated from his Parents that he proceeds from though they be themselves regenerate yet the New-birth is not by Propagation In this sence it is true and to be understood what Tertullian saith None were born Christians Here is a case propounded to the Apostle by some of the converted Corinthians 1 Cor. 7.12 1 Cor. 7.12 whether from the example of the Jews and the Law in force amongst them and their practice in Ezra to put away their strange Wives or whether it were really the fear and jealousie of their own spirits lest they might be corrupted by them and lest their converse with them should be displeasing to God and bring a Curse of God upon them for it 's spoken non de matrimoniis contrahendis sed retinendis Calv. not of contracting but continuing marriage Calvin for else the command holds be not unequally yoaked together with Vnbelievers and marry onely in the Lord but being married when they both continued in infidelity whether now one party being converted and the other continuing in Idolatry it be not the duty of the party converted to depart from such a yoak-fellow because of the danger of being defiled by such constant and intimate society In answer to this case the Apostle says if the unbelieving will continue let not the believing husband put away his unbelieving wife c. and the Apostle gives the reason drawn from the powerful influence that a state of Grace hath upon those that are brought into it for the priviledges of the Covenant of Grace are not like unto Conclusions in Logick which do follow in deteriorem partem the same grace that doth sanctifie the man hath a powerful and a gracious influence to sanctifie all things unto
made with him an everlasting Covenant 2 Sam. 23.5 though he make it not to grow it was not spoken in respect unto himself alone but unto his Family and his House also and that was Luther's will I have neither Lands nor Possessions to leave them Tibi reddo nutri doce serva ut hactenus me qui pater es pupillorum judex viduarum And so a man may dye in faith not only in reference unto himself and his own Covenant-interest but the Covenant-interest of his Posterity also BOOK III. The Covenant of Grace its Nature and Benefits CHAP. I. Gods part of the Covenant doth consist in Promises SECT I. What Promises are why and how the Covenant of Grace doth consist of Promises and of what HAving spoken thus far of two general heads 1 the Person that made the Covenant and had the first great hand in it and that was God and therefore it 's called Gods Covenant and not mans I will establish my Covenant between me and thee 2 the persons with whom this Covenant is made and that in a threefold subordination 1 with Christ as Mediator as a publick person as the second Adam 2 with Believers in him 3 in them with all their seed Let us now come to look into the nature of this Covenant more particularly and examine the essentials thereof There are three things that are ordinarily distinguished by Divines a Law a Testament and a Covenant A Law depends upon the absolute Soveraignty of the Law-giver and requires subjection whether the persons commanded consent to it or no and so all the Laws of God do depend upon the absolute Soveraignty of God as he is a Law-giver able to save and to destroy A Testament is grounded only upon the Will of the Testator bequeathing of such Legacies freely without requiring the consent of the party to whom they are bequeathed but a Covenant differs from them both in this that it requires the consent and agreement of both parties and therein each party binds himself freely to the performance of several conditions each to other Cocceius doth ground it upon that place Heb. 8.6 A Covenant established upon better promises and he defines it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divina legislatio promissionibus sancita It is a Law that God establishes upon Promises and therefore implies two things something on Gods part which is the promise and something on mans part which is the duty and unto both these consent of parties is required Gods consent unto the promise and mans consent unto the service and therefore by a Synecdoche the name Covenant is applied unto both parts of these and both of them are called the Covenant 1 The Covenant is sometimes put for the Promise of God which is the Covenant on Gods part Exod. 34.10 Behold I will make a Covenant before all thy people I will do marvels the meaning is no more but voluntaria promissione me obstringo c. I bind my self by a voluntary promise This is my covenant with thee Esa 59.21 says the Lord My Spirit that is put upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth c. Numb 18.19 All the heave-offering of the holy things which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord have I given thee and thy sons by a statute for ever it it a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord. It is spoken only of the free promise of God made unto Aaron and his sons in reference unto the Prieshood 2 The Covenant is sometimes put for the command of God in which he doth require a duty from man Moses was with the Lord in the Mount forty days and nights and he writ upon the Tables the words of the Covenant Exod. 34.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ten Commandments and it 's common in Scripture-acceptation to put the command of God and the duty of man under the name of the Covenant of God So that there are in the essentials of the Covenant two things 1 there is the promise on Gods part which is Gods part of the Covenant 2 there is the duty on man's part in reference unto the command of God there is mercy and duty and mutual consent of both We shall begin with the Convenant on Gods part that we may see what of his free grace he doth oblige and bind himself unto though it 's true he is debtor to none any further than his own free grace makes him so Deus promittendo se debitorem fecit Austin Now Gods part of the Covenant consists in promises and rewards and mans part of the Covenant consists in services and in these two are the essentials of the covenant and these will be our three general heads to be spoken to First Gods part of the covenant doth consist in promises such is the covenant that he made with Abraham wherein he does promise to be a God unto him and to his seed after him and this will appear in four things 1 Because in Scripture we find the covenant and the promises to be put for one and the same thing Gal. 3.16 To Abraham and his seed were the promises made and this I say that the covenant confirmed before of God in Christ the law that was four hundred and thirty years after could not disannul or make the promise of none effect And hence it is called the covenant of promise Eph. 2.12 which though some of our Divines do put and may be not unfitly as a distinction of the covenant of Grace into two branches Ball of the Covenant 4. p. 27. the covenant of promise and the new covenant taking this for the covenant made with the Fathers before the exhibiting of Christ in the flesh who did only see the promises afar off and saluted them Heb. 11.13 and therefore they are called the children of the covenant and of the promise Act. 3.25 yet the truth is so long as there is any one part of it unaccomplished so far it will be the covenant of promise and consist in promises still till Gods people do come to Heaven and receive the happiness and the inheritance of the covenant which the Lord has now promised to the Saints 2 A people taken into covenant with God are said to be intitled unto the promises which before they were strangers unto Rom. 9.4 and could claim no interest in when God took the people of Israel into covenant with himself and they became unto him a peculiar people and treasure of all the people of the earth then unto them did belong 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the worship of God and the promises which all the other Nations of the Earth could lay no claim unto and upon this ground all those that are confederates with God and taken into covenant they are called the coheirs of promise because they have a title unto all those great things which God in covenant has ingaged himself to bestow 3 When the Lord
glorifie the three Persons in the Trinity in the hearts of Believers and this appears plainly by Eph. 1.3 7 13. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus in whom we have redemption through his blood and have attained unto an inheritance in whom after you believed you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise So that to honour the Persons and to exalt them in the hearts of Believers is one great and main intendment of the Gospel and therefore if your faith close not with them you cross one great and main end of the Gospel of grace and that must be done not only in receiving of blessings and benefits from the Trinity in common but that a man take special notice of the distinct works of them all what is done by the Father and what is done by the Son that in that blessing the person from whence it comes may be highly exalted in the soul therefore we do read of distinct acts of faith exercised upon the Son Joh. 14.1 Joh. 5.23 and the Father You believe in God believe also in me that all men may honour the Son even as they honour the Father 3 As the order of their working doth follow the order of their subsisting as the School-men observe the works of the Father being first and then the works of the Son so it 's in the work of grace and all the benefits of it attributed to God the Father are first in order of Nature and then those that are attributed to the Son and therefore Adoption being the act of the Father is by some asserted to be first in order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by grace before Redemption which is an act of the Son and of Sanctification Forbes of Justification p. 28. which is an act of the Holy Ghost and this very consideration will give a man great light into the order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by virtue of the new Covenant for the order of the blessings are answerable to the order of the workings of those persons from whence they flow 1 Joh. 4.16 2. Believers should exercise love towards all three Persons God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwells in God and God in him There is a walking in love and a dwelling therein as a man dwells in his own house there is not only a love of the Son as says Christ Joh. 15.9 So I have loved you continue you in my love but there is a love of the Father also that the soul is to look upon as distinct Joh. 14.23 Joh. 16.27 If any man love me and keep my words my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you becaâ—â—â— you have loved me 1 It is a great comfort and honour unto the Saints that they are come unto the innumerable company of Angels and unto the Souls of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And the promise is made good to them Zac. 3.7 They have places or galleries to walk in amongst them that stand by and that they can walk in the love of Angels and of the general Assembly of the Church of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven but much more to walk in the love of all the Persons that they are come unto Jesus they are come to the Mediator of the new Covenant to the blood of sprinkling and unto God the Judge of all and so can walk in the apprehension of the love of them all and it 's a great comfort that they can go to them all in prayer grounded upon the particular love of them all the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit Rev. 1.4 5. Grace and peace be with you from him that is and was and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne and from Jesus the faithful and true witness And the soul tastes the love of the Father in giving his Son and the love of the Son in that he loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 2 That we might testifie our love to each Person distinctly and suitable unto the love with which they have loved us 1 let us fear to offend them all not only fear to offend God the Father because our God is a consuming fire and it 's a great and terrible name Ezech. 21.10 the Lord our God but also fear to offend God the Son our Saviour Take heed of him obey his voice provoke him not for my name is in him it is the rod of my son which it contemneth as every tree c. And Eph. 2.4 30. fear to grieve or quench the Spirit or resist his motions 2 Perform duties by arguments and motives drawn from the love of them all Joh. 14.23 If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will make our abode with him he that has my commandments and keeps them he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him 3 Give glory unto them all being affected with their love particularly that the soul may say Glory be unto the Father Son and Holy Ghost according to the intent of the Gospel that as we were baptized in the Name of them all so we may give glory to them all in a Gospel-sense And the truth is as this should be the great and principal object of our faith so it should be of our love also the highest love we can love God with is to love him for himself we may love God for his benefits and his blessings but yet that is not true love unless the highest love be set upon the persons Plus diligere famulum quam sponsum meretricis amor est Aust To love the servant more than the Bridegroom is adulterous love 3. As in the work of Faith the Soul is to be exercised upon all the Persons so also in the point of Assurance which is an addition unto Faith we should wait for the Witness and the sealing of them all because all of them set their seals unto the Evidences of the Saints The scope of the Epistle of John is 1 Joh. 5.7 that the Saints may know that they have Eternal Life and there are Witnesses some in Heaven and some in Earth but yet the Testimonies that these give all of them are in the heart of a Believer for so it is said He that believes hath the witness within himself the Father the Word and the Spirit Vers 10. and these three persons in Heaven give a distinct witness unto the assurance of the Saints in their own hearts there are three seals that are set unto it though it 's true that a man knowing the Love of
is Thou shalt have Jehovah for thy God and thou shalt have none else so the great promise on Gods part is that I will be thy God that though the earth be mine and the fulness thereof all souls are mine yet I will be thy God and thy portion as if there were no other men in the world besides thee There is a double change wrought in the Saints 1 a change of a mans state 2 a change of a mans life The first is the great and the universal change that God works in men at their first conversion and that the School-men do well say is mutatio circa finem ultimum a change of a mans utmost end Now finis ultimus summum bonum inter se convertuntur the last end and chiefest good are convertible therefore he that doth change his utmost end does also change his chiefest good and he that doth so doth change his God 1. Here we are to consider that all mankind that are out of covenant with God have no interest in God they have all of them another God Eph. 2.12 they are all of them Atheists or men without God Before Abraham was taken into covenant with God he did serve other Gods beyond the river with Terah his father Josh 24.2 but when he was taken into covenant the main intendment of the Covenant was this he shall change his God Now I will make a covenant with thee to be a God to thee and thy seed and thou shalt worship the Nations god no more It 's true that there are no men but they have some impressions of a Deity upon them every man worships some God a Numen he doth acknowledge and there is a God that every one doth chuse unto himself as it is said in Judges they chose new Gods but they are called Stercorarii they are dunghil-gods they are not the God of Abraham they are not the God that makes over himself in covenant unto his people but they are new Gods newly come up It 's true he that is without the true God will be ready to fancy any thing to himself as a God therefore one man doth adore himself and another this or that creature and another serves his belly as his God and the other he chuses Mammon for his God every man as his fancy leads him for all these Gods are nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 7.43 but the truth is it is the Devil that is worshipped under all these forms as a God Deut. 32.17 They sacrificed to devils and not unto God or Demons or new-made Gods newly come up whom their Fathers knew not and so did the Gentiles in all their ways of worship they sacrificed unto Devils 1 Cor. 10.20 and not unto God And so it is in the worshipping of Saints and Angels under Popery it 's but worshipping of Devils or Demons Rev. 9.20 they repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship Devils c. And for this cause the Doctrine of worshipping Saints is called the Doctrine of Devils or Demons And it 's true in both senses either the worshipping of Saints or the worshipping of Devils in them And this is indeed the Idolatry of all unregenerate men in the world 2 Cor. 4.4 they do worship Satan who is the God of this world and therefore all unregenerate men being of this world they have no God but the God of the world and therefore it 's said of the world 1 Joh. 5.19 In aliquo positum esse in ejus potestate esse Camer The world lies in wickedness it notes the highest subjection to the Devil that can be to be subject to him as God And this is the great sin of all unregenerate men who are out of covenant with the Lord and therefore it 's well called by Tertullian Principale crimen humani generis summus seculi reatus The principal crime of mankind and chief guilt of the age So that every man that has not the Lord for his God in covenant he worships the Devil for his God instead of the true God 2. When men are in covenant with God they do change their God and Jehovah becomes their God And that will appear in two things 1 The Lord styles himself their God and therefore when he had taken Abraham into covenant with himself Exod. 3.6 then he calls himself the God of Abraham and it 's said Heb. 11.16 of all the Saints He is not ashamed to be called their God And that 's the great promise of the Covenant Jer. 31.33 2 Cor. 6.16 Rev. 21.7 I will be their God and they shall be my people He that overcomes shall inherit all things I will be his God 2 Upon this ground they do claim an interest in him as their God so doth Moses Exod. 15.2 Thou art my God and thou art my father's God So doth David Psal 63.1 Thou art my God early will I seek thee and so doth Esa 7.13 Will you weary my God also so doth the Church God even our own God shall bless us this God is our God for ever and ever Psal 67.6 Psal 48. v. ult And therefore all they that are in covenant with God they have the Lord for their God Now what is there that doth make the Lord to become our God that a man may say he has changed his God There are three things in the new Covenant that give a man a propriety in God 1. The Lord doth graciously and freely make over himself it 's an ordinary thing amongst men to make over a propriety either in things or persons by covenant as you have heard the wife by covenant has a propriety in the husband and the husband in the wife and so the Prince has a propriety in the Subject and the Subject in the Prince Now the Lord doth thus freely make over himself unto his people by covenant with them to be a God to them 2. There is a Union with Jesus Christ that the Saints have they are one body with him and the Covenant of grace being made primarily with Christ the Lord becomes his God in covenant and so he saith I ascend unto my Father and your Father Joh. 20.17 Psal 22.1 unto my God and your God My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Therefore the great intention of this Covenant was that the Lord might become the God of Christ as he is the Mediator and being his God and we being one with him he becomes our God also 3. There is a free and a voluntary acceptation and consent on the creatures part to embrace this God for his and to give up himself to him to perform all those acts of soul towards him as becomes a God the Lord will not receive a man for his that has another God he must cast off all the dunghil-gods that before he served He saith What have I to do any more with Idols He doth cast his
spreads the dung of their sacrifices upon their faces Mal. 3.3 It doth imply two things 1. That the Lord doth reject their Sacrifices with indignation as if they had offered dung in their solemn feasts 2. Summo dedecore eos afficiam I will spread the highest reproach on them so Mercer as you do unto a man when you cast dung in his face the Lord will reject their services and instead of honouring them in them he will cast shame upon them also whereas the services of the Saints are 1 accepted ordine supernaturali as flowing from a heavenly and supernatural principle and 2 ad vitam aeternam ordinata services appointed unto an eternal reward Other mens services are not thus accepted but as they come from a principle of nature so they shall have no higher reward they shall rise no higher than the head of the spring from whence they flow 6. There is a Communion also that the people of God have with the Father 1 Joh. 1.3 Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ There is a communion that the Saints of God have distinctly with all the persons when they receive mercy from them all and rejoyce in the love of them all and they do return to them again all the glory of the grace of them all as faith is distinctly to be exercised upon all the persons so the soul should strive to have a distinct fellowship and communion with all the persons 1 A man should pray to the Father for saith Christ Your Father knows that you have need of all these things 2 You are to give thanks to the Father who has blessed you with all spiritual blessings 3 You are to rejoyce in his love says Christ I will love him Eph. 1.3 Joh. 14.21 23. and he shall be loved of my Father I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loves you you are in his bosom receive all gifts from him as from a Father and come to him as to a Father as one that has communion with him and access to him as unto a Father 4 Glory in the witness of the Father Joh. 5.7 for there are three that do bear witness in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit and these three are one you are not only to have the Spirits testimony and seal upon your evidences but the Fathers also bearing witness in your souls testifying unto you the adoption of sons There is a glorious communion that the Father gives unto his people as Christ had with the Father so may you also in and through him SECT III. The Relations undertaken by the Father and Christ in this Covenant § 1. THE Father having in this manner made over himself in Covenant to his people they have an interest in all the relations of the Father for we are not only related unto Christ but by him to the Father and as we are to exercise faith upon Christ under all relations so we are also upon the Father and these relations are both honourable and comfortable also to the Saints 1. God the Father is our Father says Christ I ascend unto my Father and your Father Joh. 20.17 Mat. 5.16 to my God and your God that they may glorifie your Father which is in heaven Be you merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful and therefore says the Apostle Rom. 1.7 Grace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ c. Now what is there in such a relation as this is unto God the Father We shall see what it was unto Christ the only begotten Son of the Father and see how in all things he is a Father to us as he is unto Christ though it be in a lower way for Christ in all things must have the preheminence 1 It is the great honour that is put upon Christ as Mediator Joh. 1.14 Luk. 1.35 that he is the Son of God we saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God and in this he is exalted above the Angels Heb. 1.5 Vnto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son and I will be unto him a Father Bernard and he shall be unto me a Son c. Altissimi Filius ac proinde co-altissimus ipse ejusdem penitùs altitudinis dignitatis And in this manner the Saints do partake pro modulo it is the greatest priviledge of the Saints that they do receive from union with the Son and that in which they are exalted above the Angels That as they do stand before God in a higher righteousness in their justification for though the righteousness of Angels be perfect in its kind yet it 's but the righteousness of a meer creature but the righteousness of Christ is called the Righteousness of God 2 Cor. 5.21 which though it were wrought in the humane nature and therefore was not the essential righteousness of God for that could not be imputed yet it was that which being wrought by him that was God and man the Godhead had an influence into it and gave it an excellence and efficacy so they have a higher sonship in their adoption that is it 's founded on a higher right than that of the Angels even in the Sonship of the second person in the Trinity for Christ as Mediator was not a Son by adoption but by generation his humane nature being taken into the same person did by virtue of that grace of union partake of the same Sonship for there was not a double Sonship of Christ one as he was God and the other as he was man for subjectum filiationis est suppositum the subject of filiation is a person as the School-men speak Now as Christ had great glory from other things in relation to the Angels Dan. 9.24 for he is the Head of Principalities and Powers and to the Saints he is the King of Saints the holy of holies and from all the creatures for he is the beginning of the creation of God and is the head over all things to the Church yea in reference to God himself for he is Gods King I will set my King and the man Gods fellow but there is none that is a term of so high an honour unto Christ as this that he is the Son and it 's this that the Lord doth publish to the world as the ground of all the rest Isa 4.5 Psal 2.7 I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me Thou art my Son c. so it is with the Saints they are called the glory and the first-fruits of all the creatures the excellent ones Kings and Priests unto God to whom the Angels are but servants and ministring Spirits but yet there is no title of honour like unto this that they are called the Sons of God Men do glory
have Gods inheritance is in them Eph. 1.18 and theirs is chiefly in God therefore Heaven is called the Kingdom of the Father in this life it is the Kingdom of Christ There is a progress and a regress of this Kingdom it is from the Father and returns unto the Father again 8. Christs great comfort in departing this life was that he should go to the Father If you loved me you would rejoyce Joh. 20.17 Joh. 14.28 Luk. 23.46 because I go to the Father this would make the thoughts of death sweet and the thoughts of Eternity desirable Christ at his death resigns his soul into the Fathers hand the people of God in this world are as it were orphans but they have a Father in Heaven and who would not make haste to him for your happiness and your home is in your fathers house Joh. 14.2 In my Fathers house are many mansions and Christ is gone before to prepare a place for you 1 Joh. 3.1 2. Now we are the sons of God but it appears not what we shall be that is adoptionis fructus nondum apparet It 's in our Fathers house that our portion is laid up therefore long for the adoption even the redemption of your bodies and in the mean while keep the truths that you have heard that you may continue in the Son and in the Father 1 Joh. 2 2◠2 Joh. 9. that you may have both the Father and the Son abide in their favour and their fellowship having once attained it keep the commandments of the Father and abide in his love as Christ the Son did Joh. 15.10 and the day will come that thou shalt shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of thy Father Concerning the relations of the Father under the second Covenant we are to take this general rule that in the same relation that he stands unto Christ in the same according to our place and station he stands unto us yet so as Christ in all things is to have the preheminence for that in all things must be reserved unto him Col. 1.18 and the ground of this rule is from that Joh. 20.17 I ascend unto my Father and your Father my God and your God This benefit the Saints have by their union with the Lord Jesus Christ that they not only stand in many sweet and comfortable relations unto him but through him in their own sphere they stand in the same relation unto God the Father together with him § 2. The second relation of the Father unto Christ is that he is Christs King and his Lord 1 Cor. 11.3 The head of Christ is God the head of every man is Christ 1 Cor. 11.3 and the head of the woman is the man It 's not spoken of Christ ratione naturae in regard of his nature for he is God equal with the Father and he counts his equality no robbery he takes but what is his own but ratione oeconomiae in respect of his office that he has undertaken by the appointment of the Father Now how is the Father the head of Christ as Christ is the head of the Church and the man of the woman that is in respect of the guidance and government he has over us and so Christ is the Churches head is called the Churches King and it is usual in the Hebrew to call Princes heads of the people Num. 14.4 Let us make us a head and return into Egypt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a prince a ruler Judg. 11.8 They said unto Jephtath Be thou our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead be thou our King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hos 1.11 it 's spoken of the conversion of the Jews after they were called Loammi and therefore it 's not yet come they shall appoint unto themselves one head Ezech. 37.24 David my servant shall be King over them and David my servant shall be their Prince for ever it 's spoken of their chusing Christ to be their King and their glory in the day when the Lord shall raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen down So here by Head is meant that the Father is Christs King and he doth rule him as a King in the whole work of his Mediatorship and he is Christs Lord so he himself doth call him Psal 16.2 It 's the speech of Christ as appears by the whole Psalm and he saith unto Jehovah Thou art my Lord Adonai Now in this relation the Father also stands to all those that are Saints and members of Christ he is their Lord and their King also Mat. 22.1 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king that made a marriage for his son God the Father is the King Mat. 22.1 Christ the Son is the Bridegroom the Elect of God is the Spouse the Lambs wife their marriage is their union with Christ and the marriage-feast are the Ordinances unto which the guests were by his servants invited and of how great consequence this is we shall see in the person of Christ himself as God the Father is his Lord and King 1 He doth give unto Christ a Law as he is his Lord and King for God the Father is the great Law-giver Christ doth nothing but as the Fathers subject and in obedience unto him so Esay 42.1 he is called but the Fathers servant and he does only the Fathers business Luk. 2.49 and he receives a Law from him Joh. 10.18 This commandment have I received of my Father this law is in the middle of my bowels and it was a law commanding him to lay down his life for his people and so do the Saints for Christ is God the Fathers King Psal 2.1 1 Because he receives his government from him he it was that did anoint him and set him up he did receive his Kingdom from the Ancient of days Dan. 7.14 2 He hath from him the laws and rules of his government for he says I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me therefore all the laws that he gives they are no other than those he has received from the Father 3 For the ends of his government they are also prescribed him For I seek not mine own glory but the glory of him that sent me Now it 's a happiness for any people to have a wise and a righteous Law-giver and this is a comfort and an honour to the Saints that they have Christ their King and the law that he has given them is a royal Law Jam. 2.8 much more should the Saints rejoyce in this that he that is Christs King and Lord is their Lord also and he that is Christs Law-giver is also theirs the subjection of the Angels should be enough unto a man that he should be brought into subjection but much more we should be content to receive the law at his mouth and rejoyce in it when he is unto Christ himself a Lord and a Law-giver 2 As he is King and Lord
because all the fulness of Christ he doth receive it from the Father Therefore whensoever we have recourse unto Christ for righteousness holiness and comforts and see him to live by the Father in all these and when we look up unto him who is our Head and see him exalted above all Principalities and Powers and that he lives by the power of God now say Christ lives by the power and the glory of the Father and the life that I live is by the faith of the Son of God 2 As by the Father he is made the fountain of life unto us for the Father did give eternal life unto us when he laid it up in the Son therefore it is said That they killed the Prince of life Joh. 5.11 Acts 3.25 as he is the King of Righteousness and the Prince of Peace it is said Moses was a man of peace but he could not command peace in the mutinous and murmuring people but if he had been a Prince of peace he could and so Christ as a Prince of life can convey life and dispense it Rev. 22.14 We having fallen and forfeited Paradise and the Tree of Life we were secluded from it Now God the Father hath appointed another Tree of Life which is the Lord Jesus Christ and he will give unto men a right or a priviledge to eat thereof also which they were formerly shut out of So that you see it is the Father that hath given him power to quicken whom he will to have life in himself and to give eternal life to as many as believe in him SECT IV. Our Covenant-Interest in Offices Acts and Relations of the Trinity applied Vse 1 § 1. HAving finished the doctrinal part and seen how God the Father makes over himself in the Covenant of Grace to the Saints for their portion lyes in God not only in the Attributes of the nature but in an interest in the persons also and we have an interest in all the actions that the Father appropriated whether they be eternal or in time and those whether terminated in Christ immediately or in us and we have seen how we have an interest in all the personal relations of the Father that in the same relations he stands to Christ in the same he stands to us also he is his Father and our Father his God and our God he is our Father our King our Friend our Husbandman and the Fountain of our life for he hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son Now we come to apply all this to our selves and it shall be 1. for Information that so in so great a truth as this we may not be mistaken And here we are to consider 1 that a man hath interest in all the persons at once they all be given together a man hath not first an interest in the Father and then in the Son and then in the Spirit but having an interest in one he hath an interest in them all he that hath the Son hath the Father also he hath the Father and the Son Joh. 2.23 Joh. 2.9 And by this we may see what a glorious change there is in a man when he is converted and made one with Christ he hath an interest in all the Attributes of God It 's true that they do all act for him afterwards successively and according to a mans necessity at several times they work for his good sometimes an act of mercy is put forth for him sometimes an act of power sometimes wisdom sometimes patience but yet the soul comes to have an interest in them all at once and at the same time and when he is intitled to the one he is intitled to the other even to them all and so it is with the Persons also the title Believers have to them begins at once As a man hath interest in Christ the Mediator it 's true that Christ doth exercise all his Offices for his spiritual good successively and he is now to him a Priest to offer his Sacrifice and to bear his iniquity now he is a Prophet to teach him now he is a King to govern him and there are distinct acts of all these offices but yet the soul hath an interest in them all at once As it is in all grace it 's true that the graces of Gods Spirit do all of them act in their places 2 Pet. 1.5 for we are to add to our faith vertue and to our vertue knowledge c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is taken ab iis qui choros ducunt from such as lead the dance in which every one keeps his own place and acts his own part for grace brings the most glorious order into the soul that can be but yet all grace is wrought together even the whole new man is begotten at once And so for all the creatures of God it is true that they do all in their places act for the Saints the Stars in their courses do fight against Sisera but yet a man comes to have jus haereditarium an hereditary right to them all at once And this is the glory of the change at a mans first conversion which a man may admire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man that had before no interest in any Attribute of God in any person in the Godhead or any of the Offices of Christ or any grace of the Spirit or any promise of the Gospel or in any creature of God yet at once in the very same instant he comes to have a title unto all these that though all the promises be fulfilled by degrees and in their time yet the soul hath a title unto them all and that as true and as great as he shall have when he comes to Heaven 1 Cor. 13.10 11. for it is by the same title that he shall injoy Heaven for this is but our nonage and childhood yet a child hath the same title to the land his father left him as when he comes to be a man only he hath not the possession of it and so the title by which you shall injoy God for ever is begun in this life only there are two great changes you must pass through the first is conversion the second is death by the one the soul is intitled to his heavenly inheritance and by the other he is fully put into possession 2. Though the interest of Gods people begin at once in all the persons yet the Lord would have us take notice that there is a distinct interest in them all to be attained unto for the more distinct our apprehensions are the more glory we give unto God and the greater will our own comfort be God delights not in generalities neither in general confessions nor in general apprehensions or thanksgivings As it is in the Attributes of the Nature of God though a soul that hath an interest in God in Covenant hath a title to them all at once yet they are all of them as so many
extrà which are terminated in the creatures and are meerly acts of will now faith is not only by this means to be exercised and taste the sweetness of the acts of will ad extrà but the acts of nature ad intrà for I have an interest in that Father as the Father that did from all Eternity beget the Son and I have an interest in that Son that was begotten by the Father so that those acts of nature that were of God before the world was they have all some respect unto me and I can taste a sweetness in them all that as I have not only an interest in the absolute perfections of God which are his Attributes but in the relative perfections of God also which respect the persons so I have not only an interest in and benefit by all the actings of the Atrributes of God but by the eternal actings of the persons also that we may see how high it reaches and that there is nothing in God but it is as truly for our good as it is for his own glory therefore we may rejoyce in them all 5 A mans faith should expect all the Attributes of God to be distinctly exercised for him by all the persons a man has an interest in them all in all the works that they do put forth for as they are three in their subsistence so they are but one in their Essence and therefore all the Attributes of God come in unto them all the Son thinks it no robbery to be equal with the Father Phil. 2.6 for he is found in the form of God that is in the nature of God subsisting in the nature or essence of God and therefore Divines do commonly when they prove the Deity of the Son and Spirit shew that the Attributes of God are in Scripture given unto them as Esa 9.6 Wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father Prince of peace that 's given to the Son and to the Spirit is given Omnipotency Omnipresence and Omniscience c. Now when the Father comes to work he has the power of God the wisdom of God the holiness of God put forth for the accomplishment of his work and so have the Son and Spirit also and therefore we see that the Son could not miscarry in any thing that he did and though he dyed yet it was impossible that he should be held by death Acts 2. because he had the power of the Godhead to carry him through and so it is with the Persons in all their operations and undertakings for men in the work of our salvation and therefore it is good for a man not only to exercise faith upon the Attributes of the Divine Nature in common as they are infinite and absolute perfections but as those Attributes are to be found in each of the persons and to be exercised for us in all their appropriated actions and by this means the Attributes of the nature are made over not only by the Essence but also that they shall be all of them exercised by each person acting according to their own acts which they have undertaken and so we have an assurance of the acting of the Attributes for us in a threefold way and a threefold cord is not broken 6 As it is the recumbency of faith so it should be in the assurance of faith also it should distinctly close with them all in their witnessing as well as in their working 1 Joh. 5.6 7. 1 Joh. 5.6 7. There are three that bear record in heaven it is not only a testimony to the truth of the Gospel but it is a testimony also given unto the state of the Saints for they have the witness in themselves for it is that they may know that they have eternal life vers 13. which could not be unless the testimony were given in the heart and a mans state put out of controversie Now though they be one in Essence and though their testimony do agree in one yet they are three in their witness in the word and in the heart now under the Law in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established we receive the witness of man but the witness of God is greater the same God who hath but a few witnesses amongst men but two witnesses Rev. 11.3 yet he will not let a mans assurance go without a full testimony there shall be two classes of witnesses some on Earth and some in Heaven and they shall be three of each of them therefore as in acts of recumbency we are to close with the love of all the persons so in acts of assurance we are to close with the witness of all the persons and thus we see that there are distinct objects of faith upon which it is to work in them all 2. Now let us come to consider the acts of faith that are distinctly to be put forth upon them all as 1. There is to be a fiducial knowledge hereof that the persons are made over to us for as faith without works is dead so faith without knowledge is blind therefore faith is commonly set forth by knowledge in the Scripture Joh. 17. ult and Phil. 3.8 9. To know him and be found in him c. But it is not every knowledge but that which is described Col. 2.2 and Tit. 1.1 A knowledge of the mystery of God and the Father and of Christ a knowledge that draws an acknowledgment with it that carries the consent of the soul with it and he sits down under it and lies under the power thereof a sapida scientia a knowledge of a truth that lets in the savour of the goodness of it with the truth 2. The soul is distinctly to cast it self by distinct thoughts upon each of these persons as when a soul comes to Christ he sees his need of him that he is undone without him he sees the excellency that is in him and thereupon he doth leave himself with Christ and will look out for salvation in no other there is an exclusive resolution against all other ways and a full determination to go this way only and if I perish here I will perish so when a soul sees all this and sees his need of the persons and the glory that is not only in Christ but in the Father and the Spirit and sees that without an interest in them he is undone for else there are no benefits by them thereupon he doth distinctly resign himself unto each of them for as all the promises of the Gospel being distinct objects of faith have not their due honour unless we exercise distinct acts of faith upon them so it is true also of all the persons much more because Christ is set forth as an object of faith therefore we rely upon him so we should upon the Father and Spirit also and therefore Christ looks upon it as a dishonour that being set forth to them they did not distinctly believe in him 3. Faith