not onely doe the same but have pleasure in them that doe them When a man shall not onely doe such wickednes but blesse himselfe in it this aggravateth a mans condemnation if men will not come unto Jesus Christ that they might have life Joh. 5.40 what saith our Saviour in such a Case see vers 45. Moses will judge all those that please themselves in wickednes and will not turne to the Lord Jesus Christ Thus there is use of the Law unto disobedient persons their disobedience will leave them without excuse when they sin against their consciences against the meanes which the Lord hath administred unto them for though the Lord never gave them such grace as did accompany salvation yet such Illumination he did give them that they needed not to have broken his Law so many wayes with such wicked hands as they have done therefore when they have been inlarged to performe many duties might avoyd much sin yet will sin against their consciences and tread under foot those meanes of grace that were committed unto them It is then most righteous with God that they should be condemned 2. Of what use is the Obedience of the Law unto such whom Gods soule takes no pleasure in Truly it is of sad and dreadfull use unto them for it serveth to harden them in their sinnes though that be but an accidentall use thereof their sinnes are thereby made out of measure sinfull Rom 7.13 They harden their hearts marvellously 1. By their Obedience to the Law 2. By the Comfort they finde in that Obedience For the first of these the Apostle Paul Acts 23.1 had kept so good a Conscience that he knew not any sin against the Law that he had lived in but though he was unrebukeable he did count it all losse afterward Phil. 3.7,8 Those things that before he thought had heen his gaine now he counteth them but dung that he may winne Christ when a man attaineth unto outward conformity to the Law he is then indeed ready to justifie himselfe and to thinke that it is indeed good for poore sinfull men to looke for salvation by Jesus Christ but for himselfe he hopeth in his selfe-devotion and that he is able to save himselfe these are such as justifie themselves before men to whom our Saviour speaketh Luke 16.15 And of whom he saith that Publicans and harlots shall goe into the kingdome of heaven before them Mat. 21.31,32 For many times you shall have the most deboist and prophane more humbled and readier to hearken to the voyce of Christ and sooner convinced of the necessity of the Covenant of grace than those that are morally righteous by the law Rom. 9.30,31,32 Chap. 10.21 Thus the Law becometh a snare unto them and that which is of singular and wholsome use unto the children of God is made death unto them And as their obedience to the Law is thus a snare unto them So secondly the delight and comfort which they take in their obedience is a greater snare than the other The stony and thorny soile did heare the word with joy and so those hypocrites Isai 58. did delight to approach unto God but what followed upon the delight which they tooke in God and in holy duties it made them ready to expostulate with God why he did not answer them according to their works the delight which they found did so fill their hearts with Assurance of the grace of God that they looked at their duties as so many tokens of the love of God unto their soules and then when men come to finde more comfort in their obedience than in the grace of God in Jesus Christ it maketh them ready to expostulate with God touching the worth of their owne righteousnes Isa 57.10 Thou hast found the life of thine hand therefore thou wast not grieved So long as a man findeth life and comfort in his owne performances what need can he see to be grieved for the want of Jesus Christ or at the best if he doe grieve and finde his heart comforted in grieving and delighting in the Course of humiliation he then thinketh he hath no need of being further solicitous about his spirituall estate Thus we see that the Law of God is of marvellous use in the dayes of the Gospell of great use unto those that belong unto God to breake their hearts for sinne and to drive them to Jesus Christ and for others the disobedience of the Law leaves them without excuse that so disobey it Againe the obedience of it and comfort in that obedience doth harden the hearts of others from Christ 2. But what say you then unto men that are under a Covenant of grace and brought unto fellowship with Christ therein of what use is the Law of God unto such is it utterly antiquated or is there any more to be done about it Answ The Apostle answereth this question when he saith I am not without the Law to God but under the Law to Christ 1 Cor. 9.21 So that mind you the Law is of use unto the Apostle Paul but how As the Law cometh under Christ so Paul cometh under the Law this is the summe of the Answer but that would be further explained What meaneth he when he sayth I am under the Law to Christ In some sense a Christian is freed from the Law in some sense he is under the Law so farre as the Law is any way besides or out of Christ so farre the Apostle is without the Law so farre as the Law is under Christ so farre he is under the Law keepe close to these two principles and you shall safely avoyd rockes on every hand thus by the use of the Law shall you not goe aside to a Covenant of works nor by attendance unto grace shall you neglect the Law How farre is the Law under Christ When it hath brought the soule neerer unto Christ and in a remote manner prepared him the Law is in Christ and you subject to it in him 1. As the Law is given by Christ 2. As in Christ helpe is given to performe it First as the Law is given by Christ as 1 Thes 4.2,3 and many other Commandments he gave them all which are legall Commandments and yet the Apostle gave them by the Lord Jesus So Mat. 5. to the end of the Chapter Our Saviour would not have us thinke that he came to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fullfill them and to that end he doth there expound the spirituall true meaning of the Law that whereas the Pharisees held forth the outward letter of the Law to be observed onely as thinking that unlesse a man did commit the act of murther he was not guilty of the breach of the sixt Commandment and if he committed not the act of Adultery he transgressed not the seventh Commandment and so of the rest Our Saviour Christ expoundeth the Law more spiritually shewing that Anger against a mans brother is a breach
and his people back againe to receive him Answ 1. They being thus prepared the Spirit of God taketh up his seat in the soule by making it a Temple unto himselfe in the name of the Father and of the Son and so are they made an habitation of God through the Spirit Eph. 2.22 Gal. 4.6 And because yee are Sons c. where he speaketh not of Sons by actuall regeneration but by Gods Eternall Counsell The same Spirit is also called the Comforter whom Jesus Christ hath promised to send John 16.7,8,9 If I depart I will send you the Comforter and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin of righteousnesse and of judgement Of sin because they beleeve not in me This the holy ghost convinceth men of to be the greatest misery of the soule that they have not beleeved upon Jesus Christ And look as a Talent of gold or some weighty mettall falling into a Vessell of water dasheth out all that is in the vessell to make room for it selfe So the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the soule dasheth out all watry confidences and maketh room for himselfe so as that you may say the Eternall God is there and in very deed because the heart of man is not onely like unto water but is hard and stony therefore the Spirit of God cometh like fire and melteth the iron stone of the heart and softneth it into flesh that now the soul is utterly at a losse not onely in regard of his sins but in regard of his best works also and is most of all convinced of his unbeliefe Now the Holy Spirit of God bring thus shed abroad into the heart at the very first entrance of it into the soule us it doth chiefly convince the soule of Unbelief so 2 The same Spirit worketh faith in the soule to yeeld himselfe unto the Lord and the soule being emptied of himselfe now the Holy Ghost hath infused Faith to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and this is a true saving work though the soule thinketh it selfe in a very sad condition that he should so long live without beleeving in Jesus Christ But he is cleerly convinced what his case is and how vaine his best works are and he lyeth under this work not onely in his judgement but in his heart he now freely submitteth unto the will of God So that the Spirit of God becometh unto the soul not onely as a Spirit of burning to consume all that is like stubble but doth also melt the iron-stone of the heart and softneth it into flesh that the word may take deep impression in it Now there is room for Jesus Christ now faith is wrought there and now a soule can plead with God by faith in prayer he seeth there is no former Covenant that he can plead nor any righteousnesse of his owne but such as Hypocrites will quarrell for and rise up to maintaine as they did against John Baptist pleading their Covenant and their righteousnesse with these things a poore soule is not satisfied but unto you that feare my name shall the Sun of righteousnesse arise with healing in his wings c. Mal. 4.2 Herein is implyed such a reverent fear that dare not disaffect this kind of yeeldingnesse to the Son In the old Testament it is called Fear in the new Testament it is more generally called Faith yet the Apostle saith Rom. 11.20 Be not high-minded but fear whereby he provoketh them to live by Faith and indeed it is that whereby the soule doth yeeld unto the Lord and this is indeed our Effectuall Calling the Spirit of God taking possession in our hearts and working this faith in us whereby we submit unto the Lord. This is that faith in Jesus Christ that maketh us one with Christ for our effectuall calling bringeth us to be one with him 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithfull by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ This fellowship or communion standeth in two things 1 In the Unity of the Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 2 In the receiving of Faith on our parts so that by beleeving which is the first thing we doe we yeeld unto the first work of God when this stronger man cometh we yeeld up all our Armour to him and herein standeth our coming on to be in Christ and in God the Father by this Spirit of God that taketh possession of the heart and hath not only burnt up root and branch of our legall righteousnesse but hath also melted us unto a soft frame to yeeld up our selves unto the Lord and now we are fit for any duty the Lord having possest us with his powerfull presence and this is true spirituall Union between the Lord our souls By this faith the Creature doth yeeld up it selfe unto the Lord which is also the work of the grace of God in us having brought us unto holy union w th himselfe Now this faith thus wrought in our effectuall calling is not built upon any Conditionall Promise I mean upon any Promise made to any gracious Condition penitent in us nor can it be built upon any but upon the Absolute free Promise unto the soule according to what we read Isa 43.22 to 2â— Thou hast not called upon me O Jacob but thou hast been weary of me O Israel thou hast not brought me the small Cattell c. See Calvin l. 3. justiâ— c. 2. s 29. In all which we see the absolute freenes of the grace of God So Ezek. 36.26 Object But you will say Though some may be converted by such an absolute Promise yet some mans faith may be built upon a conditionall Promise unto a gratious condition Answ I pray you consider it If it be a condition it is to some good Qualification or other some good work or other of the Spirit of God in the heart of a Christian Was this work wrought before Conversion or after Every Christian knoweth that all workes wrought before Conversion are but drosse and dung to apply Promises to such works were indeed to build upon a sandy foundation What say you then to works after Conversion All works after Conversion are fruits of Faith and if they proceed from faith then faith went before then a mans faith was not built upon a conditionall promise how is it possible that it should when as all works after Conversion are fruits of faith or else they are no true sanctification then faith went before in order of Nature and so was not built upon works but works upon it And therefore all our best Divines doe carry it thus That faith closeth with Christ upon a Promise of free grace otherwise as saith Calvin Justiâ— l. 3. c. 2. s 29. my faith would alwayes be trembling and wavering as my works be Upon a Promise of free grace therefore my faith is built as upon the Promise of God in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe 2 Cor. 5.18,19 The word is it may be spoken outwardly unto
not therefore upon every leaning of your soule upon conditionall promises for so you may build upon a Covenant made upon a worke and so you and your Covenant may faile together But when you read how the Lord hath made such promises to such and such qualifications then consider that those things are indeed requisite to be found in you but who is there in heaven or earth that can worke them in you there is none but Jesus Christ and unlesse you have him to be in you you cannot have any of these things wrought in you But will a poore soule say I am not able to reach the Lord Jesus Christ therefore all the promises doe fall heavie upon a man and he seeth that they are too burthensome and too weighty for him he doth not say here is the qualification and here is the blessing promised to it and therefore I will take it to my selfe but one that is taught of God doth forthwith goe and pray unto God that he will set him in the way of those blessings and that so he will make him partaker of them he prayeth that God will give him his Sonne and that he will adorne him with his grace as a bride of Jesus Christ Thus while the soule doth looke towards Jesus Christ and grace in him the Lord doth secretly transforme him into the image of Christ by working such qualifications in him and then beareth witnesse to that sanctification which is wrought in his heart thereby enlarging his soule with strong consolation in Jesus Christ and in the same way it is that the Lord doth strengthen the faith of his people to believe that all those things which God hath promised are accomplished in Jesus Christ and the Law fullfilled in me so farre as Christ is in me and therefore I come unto God in prayer to make good those promises unto me in a right way which would have been preposterously applyed before Christ was given And this may serve for Answer to the 5th Question Quest 6. Wee come now unto a sixt Question If the Lord doe give himselfe first in the Covenant of his grace this may then be a doubt and a question in a Christian soule If God give himselfe before any blessing before any promise in order of nature though he giveth himselfe alwayes in a promise if wee cannot claime any blessing from God at the first in any conditionall promise therefore not by any condition in our selves but as we received all things from God so wee claime all things from him in Jesus Christ and so doe first seeke for him and for all things in him If thus to what use then serveth the Law of God which requireth such and such conditions in us doe we not abrogate the Law make it of none effect and roote it out from having any power over Christians And truly some under pretence of the Covenant of grace have thought it altogether bootlesse to bind Christians unto the Law of God and to looke at it as any part of the direction of their Course Now because this is an imputation usually reflected upon the Covenant of Grace let us Confider therefore and enquire to what use serveth the Law of God if God give himselfe first unto his people in the Covenant of his grace Answ Though the Lord giveth himselfe freely to the soule and his Sonne and all the blessings of the Covenant of grace without respect unto any worke of the Law yet the Law is of speciall and notable use unto all the sonnes of men both unto them that are not yet brought home unto God by converting grace and also to those that are regenerate in Jesus Christ The Apostle Paul did observe that the question would arise upon the doctrine of the Covenant of grace Gal. 3.16,17,18 For if the blessing of Abraham came upon the people of God by Jesus Christ to what end then serveth the Law which came 430 yeares after It cannot disanull grace to make the promise of God of none effect to what end then serveth it Some say it is of no use others say that it is of such use that they had rather renounce the Covenant of grace than it but the Answer is it is of especiall use both unto spirituall and carnall men First unto carnall men and they are of two sorts some belong unto the election of grace though they be not yet called others are not written in the Lambs booke of life but will in the end finally perish and the Law is yet of use unto both sorts of them For the Elect it is of use unto them to aggravate their sin and to multiply it unto them as it were that is to say to aggravate the apprehension of the hainousnesse of sin upon their Consciences and to set home the burthen of sin unto their soules thereby to drive them to feele their great need of the Lord Jesus Christ whom otherwise they should for ever have despised Thus the Apostle answereth in the place aforenamed The Law was added because of transgressions that they might cleerely appeare and be aggravated thereby that a man might plainly discerne how he hath made himselfe liable to the wrath of God by so manifold breaches of so many Commandments in one kinde or other the Law giveth cleere knowledge of sinne and so much the more doth it set on the weight of it upon the Conscience working feare in the heart Rom. 8.15 And hence it is that the Apostle telleth us Gal. 3.24 The Law was our Schoole-Master to Christ As a Schoole-Master driveth his Scholler through feare unto this or that duty either to doe it himselfe or if he cannot to get others to doe it for him so the Law of God driveth the soule through feare unto Jesus Christ not that it doth reveale Christ a Saviour of free-grace but the soule being once brought downe under sense of sin by the terrours of the Law will readily willingly hearken unto the newes of Christ a Saviour for being once made sensible of his owne inability to redeeme himselfe and unworthines to be redeemed from the wrath of God now is the soule fitted to heare the voyce of the Gospell now is the newes of Christ beautifull and glad tidings And of this use is the Law unto the Elect of God before they come under the Covenant of the grace of God 2. But of what use is the Law unto other men First the Disobedience of it is of use Secondly the Obedience of it 1. The Disobedience for if men had not knowne sin it had been some pretence though they had committed sin but when men have the knowledge of the Law and yet commit sin willingly now they have no cloake for their sin Rom. 1.21 compared with 32. where the Apostle speaketh of the great sin of the Gentiles and much more of the Jewes Who though they knew God and the judgement of God and that they which commit such wickednes are worthy of death yet
all Christians but if God doe set it home particularly unto any soule that man receives this gift of God it is made his own first he beleeveth this Promise of free grace and then afterward come other Promises that doe bear witnesse unto the right application of that Promise unto the soule but I am first buâ—… upon a Promise of free-grace or else there is no true closing with Jesus Christ Well then being thus united unto Christ from this Union with Christ do flow all other blessings and benefits of the Covenant of grace and from hence springeth Communion with Christ in all spirituall blessings that the Lord hath wrought for us in him and they are two of them Relative blessings as they are called by Divines and two of them Positive blessings The two former are laid up in Gods owne hand and are not created in us as the other two are 1 For the Relative blessings they are 1 Adoption 2 Justification And they spring immediately simul semel from the former Union with Christ for as soon as ever the spirit of God is in our hearts and hath wrought faith that we doe not spurne against Jesus Christ now is the Divine nature of Christ in us and we are now become the Sons of God as Christ himselfe is Look as in a mans first naturall conception as soon as ever Adam doth live there is an heir of Adam even so soon as the soul liveth So it is in this new spirituall birth as soon as the Holy Ghost cometh and hath wrought this faith now is the seed of God in us and the life of Christ and the Spirit of God and now are we the Sons of God Jo. 1.12 Immediately upon this Union with Christ we are Sons by Adoption and as we are Adopted so likewise our sins are now imputed unto Christ and his righteousnesse unto us and so our persons are justified For how and when was Adams sin imputed unto us Psa 51.5 Behold I was shapen in iniquity c. so soon as ever there was life it was the life of Adam now the imputation of Adams sin falleth immediately upon the soule So when we doe receive Christ by this living faith having the life of Christ in us we have the righteousnesse of Christ also imputed to us for what doth the Child in the womb though it doth neither good nor evill but is meerly passive yet sinfull it is and a Child of Adam So also in this our Regeneration the soule acteth not but onely receiveth Christ by that faith which the Lord hath wrought in it whereby also it is made capable of the priviledge of Adoption and so the Lord accounteth us his Children and imputeth the righteousnesse of his Son unto us whereby we are justified These things doe dwell in Gods bosome and the meaning of them is afterward revealed unto the soule but communicated they are both that of Adoption and this of Justification by the gift of faith wrought in us but we are still upon the first worke of Conversion wherein a Christian is onely passive and receptive and truly it must needs be so in the first work of God upon us 2 Now for the Positive blessings that are wrought in us they are 1 Sanctification 2 Glorification When we are called then are we sanctified then are we glorified 1 Cor. 1.2 As in our naturall conception as soon as ever the Child liveth Adams sin is first imputed and then there is a pronenesse in it to carry it captive unto sin and to make it backward unto any goodnesse so when the life of Christ is dispensed unto the soule now the Lord cometh to convey with it Justification and in it pardon of sin and then there is a pronenesse in a justified person to be lively in duty If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit and by faith our hearts come to be purified Acts 15.9 and the same Spirit quickneth us unto holy duties so that we live yet not we but Christ liveth in us yea the Spirit sanctifying draweth us into an holy Confederacy to serve God in family Church Common-wealth and this sanctification groweth and encreaseth more and more for as corruption of Nature springeth from the imputation of Adams unrighteousnesse so doth sanctification spring from the imputation of Christs righteousnesse and thence floweth a pronenesse unto that which is good and a backwardnes unto that which is evill this is Sanctification 2 The other Positive gift is Glorification which we read of Rom. 8.30 This the Apostle Peter mentioneth 1 Pet. 5.10 as that whereunto we are called and in truth he hath begun the work from the time that he first began to call and sanctifie us 2 Tim. 1.9 From the very first time that God worketh upon the soule gratiously there is a glorious work in that soul and others may see it though himselfe seeth nothing that he hath received Thus we see the second branch of the Doctrine opened how the Lord doth receive Abraham and his seed unto himselfe preparing them by a spirit of bondage and of burning and then savingly by the inhabitation of the blessed Spirit the same Spirit begetting Faith we are alive in Jesus Christ and so come to be adopted and justified in him Afterwards the same Faith which at first onely receiveth Adoption and Justification doth now begin to stir a little and to breath forth into gratious desires and some holy mourning and beginneth now to put forth such works as the Holy Ghost carryeth the soul an end in working all our works in us and for us Now for the third and last part of the Doctrine the Lord took the chiefest of Abrahams seed to be the Mediator of this Covenant unto whom all the Promises were made Gal. 3.16 Quest If the Lord gave him to be Mediator how did he constitute him so to be Answ By a double Act First by receiving Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary to be one person with the second in Trinity hereby laying a ground of a firm Mediation between God and us for now cometh Jesus Christ to be of Gods Nature and therefore he wil be faithfull unto God and of our nature and therefore he wil be compassionate towards us And here is the Root of all the life and power of this Mediation to wit this personall Union betweene Jesus Christ and the Father which maketh up a firm and everlasting communion between God himselfe and Jesus Christ Secondly by Gods giving him to be a Covenant Isa 42.6 I will give thee for a Covenant of the people c. That is to be a Mediator of this Covenant 1 To receive from God all the Offices and gratious gifts whatsoever is requisite to a King Priest and Prophet all things he receiveth from the hand of the Father Col. 1.19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullnesse dwell thus he becometh a plentifull Redeemer And as the Lord gave him
Prop. 2. That true Christian sanctification which is a work of faith is many times darke to a sincere Christian It is generally granted to be so in the first conversion and in time of temptation and desertion as also when a man looketh at his justification and at the glory of God Woe is me for I am uncleane saith the Prophet Isaiah at such a time there is so much power of flesh even in spirituall Christians specially in young Christians so much power in their lusts and in their passions as will put their best friends to a stand what to thinke of them and much more themselves when as they come to be pressed with the power of their corruptions specially when they compare with such hypocrites as run away with more freedome of spirit than themselves for sometimes their corruptions doe lesse appeare and they are more free from temptations and not exposed to such sinfull courses which sometimes true hearted Christians are subject unto So a poore Christian is discouraged an hypocrite emboldened seeing himselfe more sanctified than the other in view Prop. 3. That true sanctification of a sincere Christian is not discerned by him nor is indeed discernable untill he first discerne his justifying faith A double ground of it so leave it to your christian disquisition and search they are both taken from the necessity of faith both to the acceptance of a mans person and worke there is a necessity of the activenes of faith in a mans sanctification The Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering Gen. 4.4 A mans person must first be accepted otherwise all his worke will not goe beyond the worke of a legall Christian and without faith it is impossible to please God no acceptance therefore without faith It is also necessary to the performance of all spirituall duties for all sanctification is from that faith which Christ doth convey into the soule Now if the just man live by his faith whether it be the life of sanctification or consolation then no Christian can discerne his sanctification to be lively but he must discerne his faith living in it he must see his faith deriving strength and grace and life from Christ or else he cannot approve his sanctification to be the sanctification of the Gospell for as there can be no true sanctification unlesse there be faith whereby the person is accepted and whereby life is received to act in all sanctification so there can be no knowledge of sanctification but there must be knowledg of faith whereby a mans person is accepted whereby strength is conveyed to sanctification for if a poore soule be doubtfull of his acceptance with the Lord he is where hee was notwithstanding his sanctification and wanteth comfort for this doubt remaineth whether he be accepted or no which untill the Lord doe manifest a mans faith unto him by the revelation of the holy Ghost he is still at a losse in it for though true sanctification be an evidence of a mans justification yet it selfe must be first evident Thus we see by this third exposition that a further light is required to the light of sanctification Prop. 4. Notwithstanding this neere resemblance between legall and evangelicall holines yet there is a reall difference between them and such a difference as is discernable to Christians whose wite are exercised in the wayes of the Spirit and in the word of God and is discerned by the revelation or manifestation of the Spirit of God both of the state and worke of good Christians and that ordinarily also for I would not count it extraordinary being that which the Lord by his Spirit doth usually reveale unto his people A reall difference there is both in the Roote and in the Rule and in the Scope which they ayme at and so it will appeare to be at the last day Math. 25.23 Depart from me saith Christ you workers of iniquity I never knew you though they came and told him that they wrought by faith in him indeed they stood in some relation to him but not as members to the head onely as branches to the vine which may be cut off and yet the vine not maimed but if the members should be cut off any one from another then is the body maimed but Christ will not suffer his body to be maimed but take you never so many branches from the vine and it is not maimed but will bring forth more if therefore there be no more fellowship between Christ a Christian than between the branches and the vine you may take them away and yet not hurt the vine But wherein should this relation stand It is very hard to conceive insomuch that those who have been most exact and diligent to enquire into it have professed that it is Angels worke very hard it is so to distinguish them from Gods owne children so as not to discomfort poor christians nor to imbolden hypocrites Wee must be tender therefore that the least of Gods children may not want their bread better leave 99 sheepe than that one poore stray sheepe should not be sought after and better an 100 hypocrites perish than that one poor Christian should want his portion and yet it is not meet that hypocrites should allow themselves in the estate and fellowship of the Saints and yet alwayes blesse themselves in their carnall condition If you shall ask a difference in the Root both of them are partakers of the Holy Ghost Hypocrites may have a tast and a poor Christian will feare that his best fellowship with Christ is but a tast and that manifold experience maketh good Wherein then lyeth the difference Doth the Spirit of God leave the heart of an Hypocrite stony and unmelted It is so indeed with the stony but not with the thorny soile for the hearts of some Hypocrites are melted as iron stones they may come to melt about their owne estates through fear and so all those melt that want not depth of earth as the thorny soile did not but mind you they will grow hard again as iron or lead will doe after it is melted Now look at the Spirit of God when he cometh to work effectually and he doth not onely melt the heart but taketh away the heart of stone and giveth an heart of flesh for it is not enough to breake a stone it will be a stone though it be broken but when the Lord changeth it into flesh then it will be hard no more But though a man may have many temptations yet the Lord will keep his heart soft for ever And this is that which I do believe touching the witnesse of Sanctification unto Justification You see what workes of God are found in Hypocrites and therefore what dangerous deceits we are subject unto if God be not more mercifull Againe you see what state Christians are brought unto when their Conversion and Faith is wrought in them and how it is not grounded upon the sight of their
of the sixt Commandment and whosoever shall looke on a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart and broken the seventh Commandment Thus Christ hath as it were revived Moses but as the Law given by Christ is not a Covenant of works but a Commandment of well-doing and he having given it we take our selves bound to be subject unto it The Apostle also presseth the morall Law upon severall relations of men Eph. 6.1,2,3 c. It is an honour to Christ that his servants should be holy as he is holy it is for the glory of God and he requireth it the Apostle James presseth it Chap. 2.8 to the end of the Chapter If you fullfill the Royall Law according to the Scripture Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe ye doe well And againe Whosoever shall keepe the whole Law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all Thus wee see the Apostles of Jesus Christ put it upon Christians to keepe the Law of God and Christ himselfe beareth witnes to the Law for God will never justifie sin to be no sin though he will justifie the person of a sinner Now as the Lord Jesus giveth the Law and as it were renueth it so he doth also give his Spirit unto his servants enabling them to keep it Jer. 31.33 and Ezek. 36.27 Now this Law would he not write in the hearts of his people nor give unto them his holy Spirit enabling them to keepe it were it not his will in Jesus Christ that the Law should be the Rule of holines and righteousnes unto his people hence it is that the children of God though they be not under the Covenant of the Law yet take themselves to be bound to the obedience of it for if Christ have given the Law as well as Moses and if he have ratified it by giving them his Spirit to teach and strengthen them to keepe it though not perfectly yet sincerely then they take themselves bound to obey the Law though they be under the Covenant of grace for doe we make voyd the Law through faith God forbid yea we establish the Law for what need have Christians of free justification by Christ if they were not bound unto the obedience of the Law by the Commandment of the Law therefore the free justification of men under a free Covenant of grace doth establish the obedience of the Law otherwise what need they run to Christ to save them from the Curse of the Law Why doe we still run to Christ for the continuance of our Justification but that we find our selves ungodly Creatures against the righteous and holy Law of God Therefore if God have given men the Law his Holy Spirit to strengthen them in the obedience of it and his grace to save them from the curse of it then Christians are to know that they are bound to keep the Law they lye under the authority of it and dare not pluck their necks from under that yoke Now there are divers effects springing from the subjection of Gods people to the Commandement of the Law 1 As they take themselves bound to the obedience of it so they believe and many times feele the fatherly displeasure of God when they transgresse it now the transgression of the Law could not bring them under the displeasure of God unlesse they were bound unto the Commandement of the Law This displeasure David was sensible of Psal 38.1,2,3 c. where he makes many complaints which doe all of them spring from the conscience of the disobedience of the Law which God hath framed in the hearts of his servants whereby they reflect upon their sin as the ground of all the distempers which lye upon their bodies or minds This is the first effect of the subjection of Gods people to his Law they lye under the faith and sense of the danger of the disobedience of it 2 They are under the faith and sense also of Gods gratious acceptance of their wayes when they are sutable to the blessed directions of his word not that they can raise there-from their justified estate but by the same Spirit of God whereby they are helped to obey the Commandements of God they doe see the Lords gratious approbation of them in their poore and weake endeavours for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous that is acknowledgeth and approveth it Psal 1.6 When the Lord by his Spirit boweth the hearts of his people unto obedience then he knoweth and accepteth their obedience Gen. 22.12 Thus the Lord beareth witness unto his Servants that he doth accept their works so that they sensibly know and believe that the Lord doth acknowledge their poorest and weakest endeavours unto which they are carried forth by his Spirit in the Obedience of his word this the Prophet David confirmeth Psal 18.20 to 26. where he speaketh of his righteous dealing with Saul and whereas his enemies laid it to his charge that he was an enemy unto Saul the Lord beareth him witnes that he had walked toward Saul with a good conscience now the Lord having led him an end to deale justly and righteously and purely with Saul having kept him from all the malice and outrage of Saul and maintained his cause against him and delivered him out of his hands whom the Lord had now rejected herein the Prophet seeth the Lord accepting him when in the name of his Son by the power of his Spirit he is helped to attend unto the Commandements of God This is commfortable unto a Christian spirit when the Lord beareth witnesse unto his soule that he hath an eye to all the Commandments of God And all this argueth that the servants of God being in a state of grace in Jesus Christ have looked at themselves as bound by the Commandements of the Law and as being under the Law to Christ who hath given the Law and power unto his servants sincerely to keep it both by writing in their hearts a Law of obedience and by putting his Holy Spirit within them for if the people of God were not sensible of their bounden duty to the observation of the Law of God they would neither have faith nor sence of Gods fatherly displeasure when they negligently breake these Lawes neither would they be sensible of Gods acceptance of their conformity thereunto But we know what the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience c. And truly the Lord doth often beare witnesse unto the integrity of his Servants against the oppositions of men So he did to Abraham to David to Paul and to sundry of the Servants of God though they are not wont to build their safe estate thereupon Yet this kind of Gods acceptance of their wayes and obedience they doe discern c. yet in their best obedience which they doe perform they see the need they have to goe unto God for justifying grace because if they have failed in
at any time carried aside it is his greatest burthen 2 Sam. 12.8,9 compared with 13. Hath not the Lord sayth Nathan done these and these things for thee Wherefore then hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord Then David confesseth I have sinned It pierced him to the heart to consider it that he should abuse his neighbours wife and kill her husband and above all that he should commit that wickednes against God that had dealt so gratiously with him So that the children of the Covenant of grace will onely tell you that they are free from the Covenant of the Law but not from the Commandment of it for as it is given by Jesus Christ and ratified in the Gospell and as Christ hath given us his Spirit enabling us to keep it wee are under it so farre as to take our selves bound by the Authority of it and if we doe trangresse against it we know it is sin in the sight of God therefore it is that the soule in such a case is sensible of the wrath and displeasure of God whether it be his own sin or the sin of his brethren therefore he runneth unto God for mercy which he would not doe if he did not know that his desert according to the Law did utterly cut him off from mercy else would he never pray for pardon of sin nor rejoyce when the Lord helpeth him to doe that which is right and just in his sight nor blesse the Lord for strengthning him unto obedience unlesse he thought it to be his duty and therefore Vse 2. It is of use also to Teach the servants of God how far we are freed from the Law to wit from the Covenant of it so that we neither looke for justification nor salvation from it and let it not be grievous to any soule that a Christian should say he doth not feare condemnation by his disobedience he will be apt to feare in this kinde untill he be assured of the favour of God but when he knoweth his portion in the Covenant then indeed he doth not feare condemnation by his sin nor doth he thinke that the Lord will cleave unto him because of his fruitfulnes he casteth not off his comfort nor looketh at himselfe as divorced from Christ because of his barrennes nor doth he looke for his daily bread from all his obedience but expecteth all goodnesse and blessing from the treasures of the free grace of God Vse 3. This may also serve to Teach men some discerning of their owne spirits and state if you looke for justification no longer than you are obedient and feare eternall condemnation then you are disobedient if you are afraid of divorce from Christ because of your sins or if you looke for any vertue or challenge right to any promise by vertue of any well-doing of your owne in such a case either you are under a Covenant of workes or you are gone aside to a Covenant of works and if ever the Lord open your eyes and bestow his free grace upon you you will know your redemption from such dependances as these be I know a Christian man that hath not been cleerely taught the distinct differences between these two Covenants may be misled into dangerous wayes that might tend unto the utter undoing of his soule but it is a sin of ignorance and the Lord will not leave his servants but cleare up his truth and grace unto them Vse 4. May serve to Teach the servants of God that desire to walke in a way of constant obedience how to build their faith and hope truly if they be grounded upon your own obedience or righteousnes of sanctification if they depend upon you you will find your hearts ever unsetled you may finde comfort as under the Law you shall for the Law will cast in comforts upon a man because of his obedience if he be marryed to the Law but if you shall believe that Christ is yours and comfort your selves because you have been by the power of the Law constrained to duties and restrained from sin and thereupon build your conjugall communion with Christ you will find your soules full of sadnes and feare ere long especially if you have true grace in your hearts and therefore it is the faithfullnes and tendernes of the grace of God unto his people that when Christians come into this Country though they have been marvellous eminent in our native Country yet here they cannot pray fervently nor heare the word with profit nor receive the Seales with Comfort they wonder what is become of their old prayers and hearings and Sacraments and of their lively spirits in holy duties truly the Lord hath disinabled them as it were from such things because they did build their union and fellowship with Christ upon them that so they might know the freedome of the grace of God that justifieth the ungodly then will the poore soule be glad to seeke after the Lord Jesus Christ and say as the people of God sometimes did Hos 2.7 I will goe and returne to my first husband for then it was better with me than now now the soule will plainly see discerne that he closed not with his true husband when as he built so much hope and comfort upon his duties therefore he will finde himselfe weake and dead as it were to all spirituall duties and can finde no life in them no comfort from them and it is the marvellous goodnes and free grace of God unto such a soule whom the Lord will not suffer to blesse himselfe in his works for if a man should lay the foundatiō of his comforts in them and be ready as it were to take it ill if he should not finde God accepting his works Wherefore have wee fasted and thou regardest it not Isa 58.3 If a man rejoyce in the sparks which he hath kindled this shall he have at the hands of God he shall lie downe in sorrow Isa 50.11 Whereas the light of God shall gratiously breake forth unto the servants of God that wait upon him though they be for present in darknes and see no light trust not therefore in any legall comforts but wait upon the free grace of God both to justifie sanctifie comfort and glorifie your soules This is the way of constant peace and if the Lord doe at any time checke his servants when they walke in by-wayes it is that he might build them upon a sure foundation so that their salvation will not lye upon their obedience nor damnation upon their disobedience This is the way of constant peace and s◅ety unto all the Israel of God Quest 7. This Doctrine may serve in the next place to Answer a seventh Question touching the necessitie of sanctification For it may be demanded If the Lord will give himselfe unto the soule in the Covenant of his grace not onely his Attributes but his Person all that is God is given by vertue of this Covenant If God hath himselfe not onely chosen us
to life and glory but given his Sonne to redeeme us and holy Spirit to sanctifie us Ezek. 36.27 What need is there then of Sanctification for if the holy Ghost will dwell in us he can take our wits and understandings and understand all our meditations for us without any such actuall concurrence of ours as might be requisite for that end if the Lord give himselfe to be my righteousnes and holines what need I then these gifts of holines so that this in summe is the Question If the Lord will give unto us himselfe what need we these gifts to worke any thing which God is much more able to performe than we can be this springeth naturally from the doctrine Though the Lord give us himselfe and his holy Spirit to dwell in us yet is it needfull that we should be endued with all the gifts of the Spirit of grace that do accompany salvation You will say what need is there then that the holy Ghost should dwell in us or will not these carry an end our soules unto immortality Truly we have need that the Lord should give us his holy Spirit to dwell in us notwithstanding all the gifts of his grace though they indeed are necessary conditions to be found in the soules of all Gods servants Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with holines without which no man shall see the Lord as if he made it not onely of absolute necessity unto salvation in another world but for a comfortable condition in this world follow peace and holines as if they were ready to fly away from a man and indeed the Originall word doth imply no lesse for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie the pursuit of something that fleeth from a man as peace will many times fly from one a man shall have much adoe to attaine unto it Psal 120.6,7 it is not easily attained unto therefore should not be suffered to depart but held fast when it is enjoyed And so for holines the Apostle would have us make an holy kinde of pursuite after it as if it were still withdrawing it selfe from us which cometh through the corruptions of our hearts for wee are soone weary of holy duties as prayer or conference or the like if holines be in any thing it soone groweth wearisome to flesh and bloud but though our weake and feeble nature will be withdrawing us from holines yet the Lord would have us to follow it and pursue it and so shall a man be withdrawn from the world and from the temptations and bad examples thereof doe not say what shall we be wiser than our fathers is not moderation best in all things but consider what the Apostle saith follow still after it even unto perfection and his words doe intimate the Reason of it Without which no man shall see the Lord for what is holines in its owne nature it is that which giveth God his due as righteousnesse giveth man his due this is a maine ground why we are so slow in works of holines for were they of another nature and did they serve our turnes more as we thinke we should not then account them tedious if a man were to sit and tell money all day long this is for my selfe saith a man and for my profit and if it were for another we should not thinke the time long it may be about that work neither but mind you when it cometh to any thing which doth concerne the Lord then it s so sarre above a mans reach whatsoever we have to doe in the things of God that we should soone be weary of reaching forth our hands all the day long unto the Lord and to be constantly for God from God and with God in all our actions our base spirits are soone ready to be withdrawing from the Lord therefore the Apostle biddeth us Follow after peace and holines without which c. so that great is the necessity of holines and worthy to be followed after for though a mans owne heart and the world and men and Satan withdraw us from it yet follow after it for without it no man shall see God there is a kinde of holines which some men have attained unto many a faire day agoe but t is a thousand to one whether it be the holines that doth accompany salvation for that holines is not easily attained unto but the other will easily cleave close unto a man Now if you shall aske me Quest Wherefore the Lord will have us pursue after holines and what needeth it if the Spirit of holines dwell in me by an Everlasting Covenant if it did withdraw from us as it did from Adam it was another matter but though it may be quenched in us yet it abideth for ever what need then of gifts of holinesse Answ That one word may be sufficient which we finde 2 Tim. 2. If any man purge himselfe from these evills he shall be c. This sheweth us why gifts of holines are requifite to be in Gods people namely that they might become meet instruments in the hand of God and fitted unto every good word and worke therefore it is that the Lord will have us to be filled with all the gifts of righteousnes and fruits of his Spirit that we might be the more fit Temples for the holy Ghost to dwell in and this is the principall Reason of the point Quest If then there be such gifts of holines what need the holy Ghost dwell in us is it not enough that he should shed abroad these things into our hearts cannot the Lord carry an end the worke of our salvation by these gifts Answ There is need that the holy Ghost should dwell in us notwithstanding 1. To keepe these gifts in us 2. To Act them in us 3. To witnesse unto our soules by these for our comfort and the good one of another Some Scriptures for all these 1. That there is need of the holy Ghost that he should keepe these in us 2 Tim. 1.14 there is a worthy thing committed unto us how shall wee keepe it not by our owne wit or wisdome carefull watchfullnes and faithfullnes though such things ought not to be wanting but the charge is Keepe those things by the holy Ghost which dwelleth in us we stand in need of gifts to be fit instruments in the hand of God we stand in need of the Spirit of God to maintaine that which God giveth us though Adams gifts were in perfection yet not having the holy Ghost to keepe them for him they all fly from him as soone as ever he had tasted of the forbidden fruit and left him naked and desperate therefore in the Covenant of grace the Lord giveth the holy Ghost to keepe strong possession in his servants against the strong man armed 2. It s the holy Ghost that Acteth the gifts given to us and enableth them in us for the holy Ghost who keepeth possession doth derive continued strength into our faith which putteth life into all