neither be prevened nor obliged by any thing in or for us is a Pillar-truth of Christian Religion Rom. 9. 16. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth c. So far as we detract from God's Soveraignty in the dispensation of converting and saving Grace we so far make God a debtor to the Creature before he makes Himself so by a free Promise 2. That all which Parents can do for their Children in attendance to the Precept viz. In bringing them up for God instructing them in His knowledge and fear exercising their Authority in keeping them in from leud courses and causing them to serve God in a visible attendance on the means of Grace c. It is no more then their duty and is in no wayes to be counted meritorious Luk. 17. 10. Hence for their own Souls safety they must do it except they will hazard the displeasure of God 3. That it out-does the power of Moral-means and endeavours though never so sincerely used to Plant or infuse Grace into any Souls The Work of Conversion is not wrought by the will of Man but of God only Joh. 1. 13. If good Men could Will could Pray could Labour Faith into any according to their desire their would none of their Children none of their Servants none of their Neighbours none in the World perish 4. That Divine Faith is not only a confidence but a grounded confidence The Rule doth not only command and bind us to believe but it also tells us what we are to believe The Hold of Faith is the Promise and therefore it can be assured of any thing no further then that goes Faith must have a clear Word for its Trust else it is but vain All our Plea is in the Covenant-Promise and if we cannot find that we look for There we have nothing to build upon but are at uncertainty 5. That Beleevers have no absolute and illimited Promise in the Word of God that all their Children or this or that Child shall be saved no nor limited neither to their care and faithfulness that if they do their best He will infallibly add saving Grace This will appear by two Arguments 1. Because God is faithfull to every Promise which He hath made He is a God that cannot lie or repent I know godly Parents may be remiss but they are not alwayes so and yet have had their Children whom God hath rejected Abraham his Ishmael Isaack his Esau David his Ahsolom and Adonijah Eli his Hophni and Phinehas Now of Abraham we read that he was Trusty and Faithfull in teaching his children Gen. 18. 19. And therefore he instructed and disciplined Ishmael he circumcised him and prayed earnestly for him 2. Because the faithfull People of God have themselves thus interpreted the Promise they judged it to be upon Supposition to carry a Condition in it Eminent for this is the forementioned instance of David that he thus understood it is evident not only by that forecited warning which He gave to Solomon 1 Chron. 28. 9. But also by that knowledgment which he makes of it to God Himself Psal 132. 11 12. Object But we shall find that God makes an absolute Promise to David that He will establish His Covenant with His seed and not Violate it Psal 89. 28 29. Ans It is to be observed that in that place David represents or typifyes Christ the Head of the Church and by His Children we are to understand only those that are given to Christ of God in the Covenant of Redemption concerning whom it is certain they shall obtain Salvation for as the Apostle saith 2 Tim. 2. 19. The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth who are His. But a Man may be a subject of the visible Covenant who hath no right to the Covenant of Redemption Que. But you will say then What encouragement is there for Parents to Pray for to instruct and take pains with their Children and give them up to God in the Covenant if they cannot do all this in Faith What is not of Faith is of Sin Ans There are other wayes for Faith to act us in our Duty besides this particular confident perswasion of this fruit and effect Consider then 1. That Faith is to eye the Precept as well as the Promise Faith is to influence our duty as well as our assurance Faith is the principle of our obedience And if we believe this is our duty to perform because God commands it and are hereby animated to our duty this is Obedience of Faith it is our duty to sow our Seed in the Morning c. Although we know not which shall prosper this or that because Faith workes by Love 2. That a Beleever is to be engaged to his duty not only by a promise but also by the precept it is true the promise is our Encouragement but the precept is our Rule in submission to the command therefore he is to go about his Work and to leave the success of it to Divine dispose and so doing he performes his duty in Faith and he that is not acted by this principle but doth all meerly as he thinks it may succeed is truly mercenary 3. There are other Promises which may encourage a Beleever in this duty viz. That if he doth it in Truth and sincerity it shall be accepted and rewarded by God God will some way or other make him to find that his labour hath not been in vain The Husband-man is in duty to sow his Seed in Faith but he is not sure he shall have a good Crop The Fig-tree may not blossom though he manures it with care but this is his encouragement that in a way of doing duty God hath said that He will bless him 4. Faith also teacheth us that attending the means is nearer to the particular blessing than not attending but neglecting them God oftner meets His people in the way of his ordinary then in the way of His extraordinary providence nor doth God alwayes though He may sometimes in Soveraignty deny the desired Blessing to His people yea and although He may sometimes worke there where we are guilty of shameful neglect as in Converting Josiah the son of a wicked Amon yet our neglect is inexcusable because we have despised the Command Such a Parent as hath faithfully done his duty may die in Hope that although he see not the desired Fruit of his Pains and prayers yet they may appear when his head is laid in the dust To be sure he may with this comfort leave the World that he hath been faithfull in his place 3. The provocations of Covenant-Children are most hainous and consequently most provoking to God The Sins of none are so offensive in His sight as theirs You shall find therefore that the Scripture sets a Note observable upon this consideration Amos. 3. 2. so Deut. 32. 19 The provokings of Sons and Daughters are bitter Jer. 5. 7. Thy Children have
must go to Him that He may worke your Workes in and for you the Life of a Christian is a Life of Faith Heb. 10. 38. Consider therefore 1 As long as you remain in unbelief you are on that very account Covenant-breakers for it is the first thing required in the Covenant viz. that we believe It binds and obligeth us to go to Christ and make an absolute choise of Him and place the Hope and Trust of our Souls upon Him Think of this you that live ly in a State of Vnregeneracy you break your bond as long as you thus live and are not therefore under the Promise but the threatning at the present When you shall be put upon tryal whether you have kept Covenant with God the first question will be whither you have believed and if this cannot be made good there needs no more enquiry to be made but the Case is cast against you all the pleas you can possibly make from your Moral Obedience or Legal Workes done by you will not in the least salve it but you will be found among and pronounced to be workers of iniquity 2. Without this Faith we cannot perform Gospel-Obedience which is also required of us As it is the first thing called for on our Part so it is the root and Principle of all the rest without which no service can be received To acceptable Obedience Three things are required 1. That the Person doing it be accepted in Christ 2. That it be performed by strength derived from Christ 3. That it come to God through His hands Now to each of these Faith thus embracing of Christ is requisite Hence without it no pleasing God Heb. 11. 6. III. Though we cannot go savingly to Christ before Faith be wrought in us because Faith is the first saving Grace yet it is our duty to be diligently using all those means which are appointed to this End and therein to be waiting upon Him for it Sense therefore of our own inability and utter insufficiency to do this Work in and of our selves is not a just ground of discouragement but may be improved to excite and direct us to go there where sufficiency is to be had Christ therefore sends His gracious invitations to such as these Isa 55. 1. Mat. 11. 28. 4. Those that have believed are to exercise Faith daily going to Christ for renewed Grace and strength Faith is the great help and the only help we have in us to fetch in that strength by which alone we can do that which is well-pleasing unto God It is not for a Beleever to say I am weak and dare not stir lest I fall No but he is to say Christ is strong and He hath bid me to wait on Him and believe in Him This I may assure you of That when a Child of God in tender sense of his own inability to do his duty as he should hath believingly cast it upon and committed it to Christ the bigger better part of his duty is done and he may chearfully and stedfastly go through the rest Let none hope or think to keep Covenant in his own strength nor let any despair of it as long as there is strength in Christ especially considering that if we believe in Him He stands Surety for us and is in the Covenant not only our High-Priest to make satisfaction for us to his Father but our King too to Rule in us and lead us in His fear and not to suffer us to depart from Him all the dayes of our Lives When we finding our selves to be of no Strength go to and Lean upon Jesus Christ we are carried forth happily and shall serve God acceptably It is then alone when we are too presumptous of our own strength and rely on that that we fail and dishonour the Name of God by breaking His Covenant 2. Labour to get a good understanding of and acquaintance with the Nature Tenor and Extent of your Covenant-Duty and keep it upon your thoughts Many are very forward and critically inquisitive after the Nature of Covenant-Priviledges And indeed it is one great Study and discourse of the Times But that which is for our Practice or in which we ought to be most of all conversant we are prone to be most backward in viz. Our duty whereas it ought to be the Servants constant Care to know his Lord's Will How else should he do it God affords us many means of knowledge our Ignorance therefore if we are guilty of it will not be any part of an excusing Plea for us Ignorance of Duty under means of Knowledge will not be acknowledged for Ignorance nor procure us any fewer stripes What Men are wilfully or unnecessarily ignorant of Through their own heedlesness will be charged not as Ignorance but contempt Neither can we do acceptably except we know Let us therefore be industrous to get a right understanding of the Will of God and what are the Rules of Faith and Practice that so we may be furnished for every good Work The Lord expects more in these Dayes and Places of Gospel-Light than where it is wanting The Duties of Christians are many and their Calls to Duty are diversly circumstanced Now God affords you many both publick and private helpes be not you negligent in using of them David by frequent Meditations attained to a large knowledge of God's Precepts Psal 119. 99. And if we could ponder upon these things as much and with as much intensness of mind as we are wont to do upon our Worldly Concernes we should in time grow good proficients in them 3. Get a Love to and delight in the wayes of God There is no such help to a chearfull and constant keeping of Covenant as a heart taken with and delighted in the Command Fear of Wrath may do something to restrain the outward Man from many gross Enormities which otherwayes sinfull Men would boldly and unreclaimably run into And hope of reward may put Men upon it to do many things which otherwise they would not be so forward to engage in And it is certain that both fear and hope acting in their due Places and managed by an higher principle are of no little use to a Child of God whom his heavenly Father is pleased to train up in a great measure by threatnings and promises But still there is nothing of such efficacy as Love Fear and hope invite us to close with the Command for our Own sake but Love allures us to embrace it for Its sake for the preciousness of it Love constrains It is a forcible and irresistible Impetus by which it carries us to our dnty Many waters cannot quench it persecutions cannot obstruct prosperity cannot inveigle it It makes the Command precious above all things Gold and fine Gold are not comparable to it c. Psal 19. 9 10. Now there is very much argument and reason to make us in Love with Covenant-duties They are the revealed will of God and if we
transient rebuke may be enough other things may be more deliberate and Men are led into them more gradually they may also be eminently reproachful to Religion and a dangerous snare to the Souls of them that are so tempted our connivance in such cases may not only blemish our profession but be a great hazard to it also At such times and in such a case you break your Covenant if you suffer Sin in your Brother without using all the means which Christ hath prescribed and in the order He hath prescribed them till the end be obtained If private admonition followed with gentleness and Patience will not gain but they still presist in evil courses or are not humbled for such faults you must proceed by steps as farr as Christ hath bid you And I believe there is no one thing wherein the Covenant is more universally broken then in the neglect of this duty and if the use of these Ordinances shall once come to cease among the Churches and the sins of Church-members be not regularly suppressed by reason of the unfaithfulness of Brethren Religion will languish and the power of Godliness fail It is not the extending of the Covenant to Christians as some dream but it is the neglect of Covenant-duties towards them that is like to be the bane of our profession if any thing Eli indulged his Sons and one professour indulgeth another and it is to be feared that if this were searched to the root and bottom of it it would be found that the original of it is self-indulgence and that when men wink at scandals in their Brethren it is because they expect the like in way of retaliation and if things once come to this pass let any sober and prudent Man conjecture whither this be not the way to cherish Apostasy and what then will be the end of these things 4. Take diligent care to secure the interest of Religion unto posterity There is not only a natural ty lying upon Parents to their Children but there is also a Covenant-ty lying upon the Churches of Christ to take care for the propagating of the Covenant to after Ages As God hath taken the Children of His People into the same Covenant with their Parents so hath He likewise taken care and made it a Duty that they be owned acknowledged and looked after as His. And though I know there are various apprehensions among the People of God in this matter yet I would not be altogether silent in it I do verily believe that besides the family care which is due from Parents to their Children there is something also which the Churches of Christ do ow to them as they are the Lambs of His Flock And that is 1. That they be owned and acknowledged as such and that not only in their Infancy and Minority by applying the Ordinance of Baptisme to them but also in riper and more grown years Some there be that acknowledge them not at all to have any visible Covenant relation and interest if not in Word yet in effect they deny it though possibly they may confess it to be Parents duty to instruct them that they may be capable of it But this is plainly Anabaptistical Others that own them in minority yet look upon them to grow out of that relation practically when they grow up to years but that such as are related should ordinarily lose this relation any other wayes then by a course of discipline seems a Paradox and hath been elaborately confuted by many viz. That any Person should cast himself out I doubt not but many contrary minded to us have very good intentions and are acted by a zeal of Holiness but that there may be a mistake and a misguided zeal in the People of God themselves is not to be doubted and whither they or we are in an errour the day shall discover mean while as we believe so we speak Many believing Jews in Paul's Time had their doubts and Controversyes about Circumcision But as for those who yeeld no relation to Children at all but do account of and carry it to them as Strangers under pretence of preserving Holiness in the Churches let any serious and understanding man judge whether that be a way to propagate Holiness I cannot but think that the serious solemn Speech of the Two Tribes and Half to their Brethren speakes somthing to our Times and Churches Josh 22. 24 25. If we have not rather done it viz. built the Altar for fear of this thing saying in time to come your Children might speak unto our Children saying What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you ye children of Reuben and children of Gad ye have no part in the Lord so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord. It is not in the nature of fallen Man spontaneously to own and acknowledge God It is worth our serious thoughts whether not to acknowledge our Children to be of the visible People of God be not in effect to say they have no part in the Lord and so puts an occasion in them to reject His fear Or whether such an expression as that of the Apostle doth not carry more of encouragement in it Act. 3. 25. Ye are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant God made with our Fathers It is doubtless let men say or think what they please some priviledge to be Children of the Covenant there is in it great motive and perswasive to them although we know that there is none but the Spirit of God is able to make this or any other argument to be effectual with them for their Conversion and Salvation 2. That they may be made Possessours of the priviledges of the Covenant according as they are capable Doubtless the visible priviledges of the Covenant are not only an Honorarium to the People of God but they are also and principally means appointed and sanctified by God for the begetting and encreasing of Faith And it is one end of God's conferring these priviledges upon any of the Children of Men that His chosen may thereby in His way be brought to partake in the invisible The work of Conversion since the planting of Churches by Apostles and Apostolical Men is ordinarily to be expected within and not out of the visibe Church It is the Church unto whom the Ordinances and Offices are given 1 Cor. 12. 28. And that for all those ends which are there needful Nor are we to presume or thereupon to ground the visible Covenant-Interest of Children upon a presumption that they are born Converted or have received saving Grace in the womb since we know that for the most part it is otherwise and that God has reserved this work to be ordinarily performed by the means instrumentally in such as live and grow up to years of knowledge Though we believe He doth it in a secret way for those that dy in
Covenant-Keeping The Way to BLESSEDNESS OR A brief Discourse wherein is shewn the Connexion which there is between the PROMISE on God's Part and DVTY on Our Part in the Covenant of Grace As it was Delivered in several Sermons Preached in Order to Solemn Renewing of Covenant By SAMVEL WILLARD Teacher of a Church in Boston in New-England Deut. 7. 9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that Love him and keep his Commandments to a thousand Generations 10. And repayeth them that Hate him to their face to destroy them He will not be slack to him that hateth Him He will repay him to his face BOSTON IN NEW-ENGLAND Printed by James Glen for Samuel Sewall 1682. To the READER THE Doctrine of the Covenant however full of grace and light and glory hath occasioned as deep Enquiryes so Disputes and variety of Apprehensions and that too among men both godly and learned yea that have been eminently so True it is that in Principles which do more nearly concern the foundation or that relate to the substantials of the Covenant Orthodox Writers are of the same Judgment and their Circumstantial differences have caused the light of Truth to break forth with a greater brightness and glory Ex collisione Ingeniorum fit scintilla Veritatis There are very judicious b Dr. Jacob Mr. Blake Divines who in their Discourses of the Covenant of Grace take it in a more strict sence for the same with that Covenant of Mercy which the Electbeleeving World is the proper subject of Others and those who have been great c Dr. Preston Mr. Rutherford Mr. Gelaspy Mr. Ball. Lights in the Church of God under the Covenant of Grace comprehend the Covenant of Redemption Those glorious blessed Transactions which have from the dayes of Eternity passed between the Father and the Son concerning the Redemption of lost Sinners are though Decrees purposes by the Scriptures held forth and expressed unto us in a Covenant-way The Lord Christ is the Prince Head and Mediator of the everlasting Covenant He is the great Patentee with whom that heavenly Charter is confirmed and established for ever Indeed the Covenant of Redemption in respect of Christ is rather of Works than of Grace his obedience being every way perfect meritorious but as it relates to us it is a Covenant of Grace since it was from Infinite grace in the blessed God that He hath given his Son to be a Surety for Sinners and that as to those whom Christ hath Undertaken for Hee accepts of the obedience of another without requiring Personal satisfaction according to the Rigor and Holy Severity of the Law Various also have the Conceptions and Expressions of very worthy Men been concerning absolute and conditional Promises Some who affirm the Covenant to be d Mr. Cotton Mr. Bridge Mr. Petto c. absolute yet acknowledge that Faith is necessary in order to Justification and that sincere Obedience and perseverance therein is necessary necessitate Praecepti et Medij in order to the enjoyment of Salvation onely they are not free to use the word Conditions lest they should make those things to be Causae regnandi which are but Via ad Regnum On the other hand they that assert Conditions to be in the Covenant of Grace do nevertheless own that there are some Promises therein m See Mr. Bulkley of the Covenant which as to the subjects of them are free and Absolute viz. The Promises which respect first grace the powring down of the Spirit the giving a new Heart c. And that the Conditions or Qualifications required of men under the Gospel in order unto Life and Salvation viz. Faith Repentance Holiness Perseverance shall most infallibly be performed as to the Elect of God by reason of the Covenant of Redemption which is the foundation of that Covenant which some Judicious and Learned call the Covenant of Reconciliation So that they are far from asserting an Uncertainty in the efficacy of the death of Christ or a Conditional Will in God depending upon and determined by the Wills of Men which Arminian Heterodoxy hath been elaborately confuted by sundry great o Twiss de scientia media Voetius disp de conditionata seu media in Deo scientia Authors Thus far then the Controversy about absolute conditional Promises is not of such moment but that wee may salvâ Fide Charitate allow men to express their Notions and peculiar sentiments therein Onely there are who under pretence of Absolute Promises destroy both saving Faith Obedience Antinomians do no better and some there are that under that pretence would establish an Assurance of Salvation before and without those gracious Qualifications which the Scripture declares all men that are destitute thereof to be Christless under the wrath of God and the Heirs of eternal Death It will be found that such Doctrine is not the way to comfort true Believers but to harden presuming Hypocrites who are willing to be sure of Heaven and yet to retain some secret sin but what good will such a man's assurance do him in the day when God shall take away his soul It is of vast Importance and Concernment for men to be duely instructed and established in the Doctrine of the Covenant since most of the Errours of the Times are thereby confuted Blind Popish Errors concerning Merits Satisfaction many Mediators c. Arminian Tenents about Universal Redemption Free Will Apostacy from Grace c. Socinian Haeresyes denying the Deity and Satisfaction of Christ All these Errors are inconsistent with the Covenant of Redemption according as the Doctrine thereof hath in these later Times of Light especially been held forth from the Scriptures by * See Dr. Jacob and Mr. Flavel's Sermons concerning the Covenant of Redemption several whom the Lord hath raised up and enabled unto that Service for his Name Antinomian Errors oppose the Truth of the Covenant both as established with Christ the Second Adam and with Believers who are his Seed that by the Gospel are required to live according to the Holy Rules of the Word of God and concerning whom the Lord hath promised that they shall do so Isa 60. 21. with 53. 10 11. Anabaptistical Errors have been very fatal to the Churches of Christ since the Reformation in which respect a g Amiraldus de Pace inter Evangel procurand P. 246. Learned Man giveth wise Counsil when he adviseth the Ministers of the Gospel to be in a more especial man-ner Industrious to establish their People in Truths that are contrary to such Errors It is from Mistakes about the Covenant that Men are carried away with deluding Opinions to the unspeakable Prejudice of their Children as well as of themselves For my own part I do solemnly profess it I value that Covenant-Interest which God of his Grace in Christ through the blessing of Abraham come upon the
forsaken me How shall I pardon thee for this God hath taken such as these very near to Him He hath given them such priviledges and so many advantages Hence for a child of the Covenant to live like the Children of heathen and those whom God hath not known this is a Sin of a deep Dye yea far deeper than theirs who only abuse the light of nature and common goodness of God If you read Ezek. 16. per totum You shall there see what a course God takes to make Jerusalems Sin to appear unparrellel'd viz. By declaring what Covenant priviledges and favours they had enjoyed and prophanely abused Verily God can endure to see that in Sodom which He cannot bear to see in Zion 4. Hence to perish from under the Covenant will be a most astonishing perdition If Judah provoke God to destroy her She comes down wonderfully even to the astonishment of all her Neighbours Let me tell you there are none that leave the World with such amazing Fears and Terrors that close their Lives with such dreadfull agonies and horrours as such do who have been related to the Covenant and enjoyed the priviledges of it and slighted them The remembrance of their Church state their Baptisme the Ordinances they have sat under the Threatnings Warnings Counsels and Encouragements of the Covenant which they have despised will fill their Consciences with most dreadfull regrets and reflections and if any have been so seared as to stifle and suppress all these remorces and to depart this Life under a sullen and desperate hardness or a self-cheating hope yet in the great Day when the Righteous Judge shall give to every one according to their deeds then woe and ten thousand woes to those Children of the Church that shall have despised their priviledges and slighted the Grace profered in the Covenant that have sold themselves to profaneness or liv'd in desperate hypocrisie that have forgotten their Covenant-engagements to God and brought themselves under the Curses of that Covenant Thus you see the relation of Children to the Covenant what are their Priviledges and what are their Dangers God of His mercy grant both to Parents and Children Grace and Wisdom to make a right improvement of these solemne Considerations VSE II. For Exhortation to all such as stand related to God in the Covenant to be very carefull and watchfull to your selves that you keep it You are not so much to boast of or confide in your Covenant Relation as to see to your own part and duty in which you are nextly concerned Take these things for Motive 1. It is no little or light matter to keep Covenant with God It is true Evangelical duty is easie if it be compared with those rigid and strict yea impossible to be performed demands of the Covenant of Works Impossible I mean by the Children of fallen Adam God gives acceptance to such weak Duties and withall gives strength to do them But still if we consider what it is that is required in the Covenant of Grace we shall find that it is for Matter very large and for difficulty exceeding all our own power in our selves and cannot be performed without special Grace from Jesus Christ There is a great deale comprehended in those two short Words Believe and Obey Perseverance in the Faith maintaining it against all the shocks of Temptation which assaults it And constancy in Obedience continuing faithfull unto Death waiting till afterwards for our reward these are great Works To do all we do for God as being His Servants to devote all our time to Jesus Christ as those who are Bought with a Price requires Care Diligence Vigilance Agen there are a great many Duties laid upon us in the Covenant the Precept is of great latitude Psal 119 96. Every Command is full There are Duties to be done Sins to be avoided there are Afflictions Tryals to be undergone God is to be believed in and worshipped Our Neighbours are to be honoured and loved There are a great many relations which a Christian stands in and every one hath its particular respective Duties Moreover the whole Man and all in it stands engaged in these Covenant Duties Every faculty and member owes Obedience to the Will of God We have our hearts to look after and keep with diligence for God and His Glory Prov. 4. 23. Our tongue to order and keep within bounds which must be well looked after Psal 39. 1. And all our bodily actions must be conformed to Divine prescripts All our Natural Civil and Religious actions must be squared by the right Rule and directed to their proper End 1 Cor. 10. 31. Finally that which makes it so great a Work to keep Covenant is the weakness of our Grace and strength of our Corruption and force of the Temptation we are exposed to We have every one of us a Traitor in our Bosome besides a sollicitous and diligent Enemy waiting all opportunities to tempt and draw us aside And there must be great vigilancy and resolution to resist a subtile Devil holding correspondence with a treacherous heart Put all these things together and they will speak thus much that it is a very great Work for a Christian to keep Covenant with God 2. It is not a thing indifferent whither you keep Covenant or no. If you would enjoy the comfort of the Promise you must have the witness of your own consciences unto this It is one thing to be in visible Covenant and another to have the promise of the Covenant positively engaged to you Men deceive themselves greatly with this opinion that they think if they are in Covenant they have Christ for their Surety and Vndertaker And hence can maintain strong confidence in the midst of their own careless and carnal neglects abusing and perverting many Scriptures and particularly that 1 Joh. 2. 1. If we sin we have an Advocate They promise themselves that Christ shall answer for all their breaches of Covenant and hereupon it is no great matter with them to neglect Duty and live carelesly and irregularly but we must beware of deceiving our selves for God will not be mocked 1 Thes 4. 7 Consider then 1. We may be in visible Covenant and yet not have Christ for our engaged Vndertaker it is only Beleevers that have truly placed their souls trust in Him that He stands engaged to and for to others He is only propounded All in the visible Church have not saving Faith wrought in them they have not cordially closed with Christ as their Prophet Priest and King though they have outwardly and verbally promised so to do and His Mediation and Redemption will not be profitable to such These have Pardon Peace and Salvation promised to them only with this proviso if they believe and that with such a caveat annexed to it too that if they believe not they shall be damned God indeed bestowes upon them all visible means and helps to believing but if they improve them not unto the
infancy God gives Men Ordinances not only because they are converted though they are also for the perfecting of the Saints Eph 4. 12. but also that they may be converted Mat. 3. 11 It is therefore our duty to take care that they may want nothing of that which God hath appointed for them for their good We cannot give saving 〈◊〉 to our Children that God reserves to 〈…〉 Work but the means of Grace we ought to 〈…〉 As 〈…〉 Works so have 〈…〉 Children is to deny them to be 〈…〉 Kingdome of Christ for this is 〈…〉 He hath appointed all His Subjects to wear and a sign and token of our initiation into His Kingdome To exclude them from Church-watch is to refuse them that help for their spiritual good which Jesus Christ hath allotted them and exspects we should afford them as a part of the body Touching their admission to the Lord's-Table I know there are besides their birth-right such qualifications requisit to be found in them as may give satisfaction to a well grounded Charity that they are spiritually fit for it and to thrust or force them upon it though without these requisit preparations were cruel charity But 3. That all means be used whereby they may be brought to such a fitness and so encouraged and helped in comming to this Ordinance is also a Duty the Churches ow them Touching the great care and pains which were taken upon this score by the primitive Gospel-Churches Ecclesiastical History will give us a plentifull account God makes a great complaint Ezek. 16. 20. Thou hast taken thy Sons and thy Daughters which thou hast born unto me and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured Now this is done in God's account when they are neglected and not brought up for God Peter had one particular charge given him by Christ to seed His Lambs Now the care which the Church ows to the Children of it in order to their being fit to receive and maintain the purity of Gospel-Priviledges is 1. That they be instructed in Knowledge I know the first care and endeavour upon this account lyes upon Families where it is to be begun but because Parents ow their fidelity in this point not only to their Children but to the Church also in respect of their Children Hence inquiry is to be made into their proficiency and Parents are accordingly to be further quickned or encouraged Yea when they have done their best there may more be needed to be done for their further proficiency Publick Catechizing was a great business of our first and best times and it was blessed with no small success and I believe it one part of the unhappiness of our time that it is laid aside And could it be revived agen it would certainly be an acceptable service to God and profitable to this and after Generations This is training up Children in knowledge according to Scripture and the neglect of which is so condemned Hos 4. 6. And it would be a sad loss if Religion should be lost in New-England a Place of so great Light and Means for want of attending upon this Duty 2. That a due and careful inspection be made into their Lives and Conversations that what there is of good may be encouraged and what is otherwise may be faithfully reproved It is a temptation by which Satan gains much advantage that we are affraid of incurring the censure and title of busybodies in other Men's matters and hereupon neglect the charge and duty of watching one over another And it much discourageth Children on the other hand from minding that which is good at least is a great encouragement to follow their natural and corrupt inclinations in the pursuit of evil when they see no notice is taken of them but they are looked upon as strangers they are not regarded but they live and do as they list I am perswaded nay I know there are some Children of the Covenant would thankfully accept of faithful admonitions and serious counsels from them that fear God and there is great hope were this practised God would bless it with good success 3. That the wayes and orders and Ordinances of God's House may be left to them not depraved or polluted but pure and intire according to the Orders of the Gospel and instructions of Jesus Christ If we shall through neglect suffer corruptions to creep in in our dayes we may expect that they will grow a-pace upon our Posterity Apostasy hath alwayes been observed to grow much faster than Reformation There are some publick Church dutyes which if practically neglected when once lost will hardly be recovered some evil practices which if once grown into a custom will soon plead prescription and not without great difficulty be suppressed Something of this New-England's experience will attest to what bickerings controversies and disputes have been What oppositions have been broken thorough in redeeming our Childrens interest And there are many Ex orbitances standing at the door ready to thrust in The Rule left us by Christ must be stood to if we will have His Peace and it will be no little comfort to you when you leave this World that you leave behind Religion setled upon the right Basis and unpolluted and this will be a good argument of hope that God intends a blessing to succeeding Generations However it will afford great peace to your Consciences that though Religion should dye decay suffer in the World yet you have been true to your Covenant with God have been faithful observers of it in this your Generation and have done the best to leave it nothing worse than you found it and can therefore quietly depart out of the World yea go hence with a solid hope and grouded expectation to receive the Promise and take possession of everlasting Mercyes II. Give me leave in the next place to speak a few words in particular to those that are the Children of the Covenant and so I shall close this discourse And let these carefully receive and lay up in their hearts these few things You here see the way for you either to keep or lose these Covenant-Mercyes Be therefore perswaded to know your Duty and carefully to set your selves to perform it If you would have your Father's God continue to be yours you must make it your study and business to know and serve Him Solemn was David's advice to his Son Solomon 1 Chro. 28. 9. Besides the general motives which were propounded at the beginning of this Vse I would leave a few special Considerations with you God grant you may receive the impression of them 1. The main errand which brought your Fathers into this Wilderness was not only that they might themselves enjoy but that they might settle for their Children and leave them in full possession of the free pure and uncorrupted libertyes of the Covenant of Grace They have made this Profession openly to the World yea let reason speak and say what else was there which could have
Covenant that will secure you except you be keepers of it The Promise in our Text is not to them that are in it but to them that keep it There is in this Temptation no little danger that the Children of the Faithful are exposed to by being deluded by Satan There are many that have acknowledged it and bitterly complained of it when God hath a wakened them They are ready to lean the weight of their Hope upon the Covenant The Jews in Jeremiah's time deceived themselves with this pretence Jer. 7. And in our Saviours time Joh. 8. We are Abraham ' s Children Nay we have one Father which is God Many carry with them a strong confidence that they must needs do wel they have strong hopes of salvation their plea for it is their Parents were godly they themselves of the visible Church owned and acknowledged as the Children of the Covenant and hence they think the Gospel-Promises are theirs Christ is theirs by Covenant But this will not hold Remember there is a Jew that is so outwardly there are that are so inwardly there is a Circumcision of the flesh and of the heart a Baptisme of Water and of the Holy Ghost The one External the other Internal and that will never stead a Man without this Covenant-priviledges are to be improved not to be boldly relyed upon The Name of the Lord our God is a great and a fearful Name God is Holy and expects all should be so that will prove themselves His People Hence that counsel 2 Tim. 2. 19 Let every one that names the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity 3. Beware of rejecting or renouncing the Covenant of God Do not cast off your subjection to it by any wilfull act of yours And this may be done two wayes 1. By disowning your selves or withdrawing from owning your selves to stand engaged to God in Covenant Not to own is interpretatively to reject When we withdraw the shoulder pluck back the neck and are not willing to submit to the Order and Ordinances of the Gospel when Men count it a liberty to live at large and under no Church cognizance and controll and a bondage to stoop to the wayes and will of Christ in His Word There is a great deal of this spirit amongst us Men are loth to be so much as under any visible tyes of restraint from Sin and this provokes God to bring judgements upon us and therefore tells us that by them He will bring us under the bond of the Covenant Ezek. 20. 37. 2. By not hearkening or yeelding obedience to the institutions of Christ appointed for their good When by any Sin or scandal they have dishonoured the Name of Christ they submit not nor are willing to obey the Rules He hath set down for their humbling and reforming when they are impenitent and will not hear the Church Many will acknowledge this to be their Duty who do yet practically chuse rather to stand off and be from under watch and discipline so debar themselves posterity as much as in them lyes from visible Priviledges This is also a renouncing beware of it Though you cannot by so doing dissolve your Covenant relation yet you may provoke God to reject and cast you off 4. Be much and earnest with God in Prayer that He would afford you His Grace whereby you may keep Covenant with Him This is a great Duty encumbent on Children know therefore that it is no small thing to serve an holy and jealous God Remember that you are by nature averse and obstinate your hearts are estranged from God and Christ from the womb The power to serve God keep his Commandments is not a gift of Nature which is all enmity Supernatural grace is necessary to the doing so great a Work Faith is the great Covenant-Condition and that is not of your selves without this you cannot please God you cannot keep His Covenant Nor can you worke it in your hearts it must be wrought by a creating power and you must go to God for it it is His gift and He will be sought to As long as you live in your unbelief you do nothing but break your Promise violate your Covenant and thereby lay in wrath and condemnation for your selves except you be converted you cannot be true to God See then the sinfulness of your hearts and natures the impotency that is in you you are in your natural estate like Ephraim unaccustomed to the yoke bewail it with him and ask grace Jer. 31. 18. 5. Get as near to God as you can in all those visible and outward wayes of Communion which He affords you the advantage and opportunity of God hath appointed no Ordinance in vain It is a matter of just grief to see so few of the Children of the Covenant seeking after full fellowship in all the Ordinances I speak not this to precipitate such as are unworthy to make more haste than good speed but to rouse up the negligent who either take no care that they may be worthy or do withdraw and keep themselves back notwithstanding they are hopefully prepared for these Ordinances These are both part of the Covenant and helps to our keeping of Covenant I know that a form of Godliness without the power is a Cheat to them that please themselves with it But I know too that if the face of a visible Church cease or be taken away from us it will be a great and sore Judgement And if the Children of the Covenant withdraw themselves from this burden and content themselves without seeking it and setting their shoulders to it it is in great likelyhood thus to go to decay It is a great Sin and a crying shame to see such multitudes of Christians and Professours turn their backs upon the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper if they are unworthy it is their shame that they have no better profited under the Ordinances and a dreadful signe it is of God's departure from such a People If they are in some measure fit it should grieve them that they put such a contempt and undervaluing upon the love of Christ and the seal of the New-Covenant for it is the least that can be said of such an act that it is so practically and interpretatively And let me add this that if you rest in that that your Children may be baptized as your selves are and seek not after means of growth and strength if now you have no spiritual appetite to these things you discover a dangerous signe of much hypocrisie lodging in your hearts 6. Beware you do not wilfully overthrow the foundations which your Fathers have laid I know it is one thing to be charged for doing it another to do it indeed Many have been branded for this injuriously whiles they have asserted those things which though believed by our Predecessours yet there was no such occasion of practice as afterward Besides it 's certain that no pattern or president or precept of