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A61847 A discourse of the two covenants wherein the nature, differences, and effects of the covenant of works and of grace are distinctly, rationally, spiritually and practically discussed : together with a considerable quantity of practical cases dependent thereon / by William Strong. Strong, William, d. 1654.; Gale, Theophilus, 1628-1678. 1678 (1678) Wing S6002; ESTC R10428 996,223 490

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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
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
c. But now consider for thy better tryal 1. He that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God hath an interest in Christ for though the Attributes of God are his Essence God himself yet there is a threefold respect unto Christ that we are to have in them 1 It is by him that we are intitled to them for he is first in the Covenant and we in him and therefore in all the promises he hath a preheminence therefore the Lord is first his God Joh. 20.17 and then our God Joh. 20.17 it 's by our interest in Christ that we have an interest in God 2 In him all the Attributes of God are discovered and revealed and that in such a manner as we never could have seen them 2 Cor. 4.6 We behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ for he is the image of the invisible God Col. 1.15 which I cannot look upon as spoken of Christ as God for so he is the invisible God and equally invisible with the Father but as Mediator and so the glorious Attributes of God do shine and shew forth themselves in him 3 As all the Attributes of God are exercised and actuated by him so all the mercy of God and the wisdom of God and the judgments and severity of God it 's all in the hand of Christ to be executed by him for the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son Joh. 5.22 He raiseth the dead and he quickneth whom he will he bears up all things by the word of his power he hath the keys of Hell and of death he kills and he makes alive c. he hath committed all his works unto Christ and all his Attributes are acted by him for the ruling and ordering of these works and he hath committed unto Christ all the promises and all the Attributes of God are in his hand for the accomplishment of these promises c. it 's the foundation of all a Christians comfort when he doth see the promises of God in the hands of Christ to dispense and the providences of God in the hand of Christ to dispense and the Attributes of God in the hand of Christ to exercise and to actuate for both these There is a fourfold sight of faith in this life that is exceeding glorious to see God in Christ Christ in God to see Christ in us and we in him Joh. 14.20 2 Cor. 5.19 he therefore that hath an interest in Christ hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God and none else and we are to try our interest in Christ by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us for if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his Rom. 8.9 10. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin and the Spirit is life because of righteousness 2. He that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God doth chuse this for his portion to place his happiness in Josh 24.22 Josh 24.22 You have chosen the Lord to be your God no man hath an interest in God but by choice A man doth not only chuse his way some the broad and some the narrow way but men do also chuse their portion and the wisdom and folly of a man is much seen in his choice and in his esteem and as the first going forth of the love of God to us is in his election of us so the first going forth of our love to him is in our election of him also and he that doth chuse God aright doth chuse all that is in God as the mercy of God to pardon him and the grace of God to heal him and the power of God to defend him and the holiness of God to sanctifie him the wisdom of God to guide him and the alsufficiency of God to make provision for him and faith is seen in the electing as well as in the consenting act of the soul Josh 24.23 now as Josh 24.23 having chosen the Lord they must put away the strange gods that were amongst them and incline their hearts to the Lord God of Israel so you must cast away all sufficiency in any thing else all creature-sufficiency all self-sufficiency and look upon all as vanity and emptiness and as that which hath no sufficiency in it and as that wherein your sufficiency doth not consist And the word in the Hebrew doth signifie three things in the Scripture 1 Inclinavit for the bent of a mans heart to go out that way as Judg. 9.3 where there were two that contended for the supremacy it 's said That their hearts inclined after Abimeleck 1 King 2.28 Joab inclined after Adonijah though he turned not after Absolom a mans heart must go out in the bent of it this way 2 Reclinavit for a man to rest upon a thing Amos 2.8 You lye down upon cloaths laid to pledge c. and therefore the word signifies lectum a bed upon which men lye down or rest themselves and so it should be here the soul should rest and lean upon this alsufficiency of God as that which he hath chosen and in which he rests and therefore the word signifies baculum a staff to lean upon 3 Extendit expandit as Esa 4.22 He stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain c. so should a man do he should open his heart extend it and stretch it out enlarge it in all the desires and affections of it towards the alsufficiency of God and this will be the necessary and proper fruit of such a choice of God in his alsufficiency he therefore that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God hath chosen him in his alsufficiency for his God and he that hath so done doth put away all other gods casts off all other sufficiencies and doth in the bent of his soul incline to God alone unto him he doth stretch out his soul in the latitude and utmost extent thereof and in and upon this he doth rest and sweetly repose himself in the middle of all difficulties and dangers whatsoever 3. He that hath an interest in the alsufficiency of God doth honour and exalt that Attribute in his heart for whatever we have the comfort of God must have the glory of as there is not a promise but if the soul sucks sweetness from it it is exalted in that soul and a man having tasted of it doth set a high price upon it and his soul goes out to it to live upon it all his life time Isa 38.10 and there is not a truth of God but by these things men live Esa 38.10 wherefore the price and the glory of them doth arise in the soul and he thinks he did never know how to value them before he knew not what they were worth but now he sees there is a value in them as Luther did in Rom. 1.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys As a man that hath found a medicine to relieve him when he was in great extremity