law yet here is the difference that they are commanded in another manner for another end then in the covenant of works not as the matter of our justification but as testimonies of our thankfulnesse for the great mercy of God in our free justification by grace Let us therefore keep these differences unconfounded for these two covenants are as different in their nature as heaven and earth 2. Having thus farre spoken of the differences between the covenant of works and of grace I now come to the revelation and dispensation of the covenant of grace to see how diversly it hath been administred in the severall times and ageâ— of the Church before and after the comming of Christ 1. And here I will first shew that the covenant of grace is the same in all ages of the Church 2. The different manner of the dispensation 1. For the first the Fathers before Christ were under the same covenant of grace as we be not they under one covenant and we under another and this we will shew in two things First that they had the same promise and hope of life and salvation as wee have Secondly they had it upon the same ground and in the same way scil by faith in the free grace of God by Christ 1. They had the same promise and hope of eternall salvation This is necessary to bee considered because of the Anabaptists which teach that they lived and died without hope of life eternall onely fed with temporall promises and fatted like swine with earthly blessings but without hope of a better life But the contrary is evident by the promises that were made to them Lâ—vit 26.12 Levit. 26.12 I will be your God and yee shall be my people but Christ saith that God is not the God of the dead but of the living Matth. 22.32 Mat. 22.31 But it is more plain Deut. 38.29 Happy art thou O Israel saved by the Lord. If they had had onely temporall promises they might have been called a miserable people according to that of Paul in 1 Cor. 15.19 1 Cor. 10.19 If in this life onely we had hope we were of all men the most miserable they could not have been called an happy people Isai 33.22 Isai 33.22 The Lord is our King and he will save us They did therefore look for and expect life and salvation And Christ speaking of Abraham and so of the rest of the Fathers before Christ saith That many shall come from the East and West and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of God Therefore the old Patriarchs are in heaven Mat. 1.8.1 and therefore it is an hellish and diabolicall doctrine that they were fed onely with temporall promises In Heb. 11.10 it is plain they had not only the hope of an earthly inheritance in Canaan but the hope of an heavenly inheritance in the Kingdome of God And in reason what more absurd then to imagine that Abraham should be called the Father of the Faithfull and we to be called his children and yet we to have an eternall inheritance in heaven and Abraham the Father of us all to have only a temporal here upon earth Againe the Saints professed themselves pilgrims and strangers upon the earth Heb. 11.13 and David Psal 39.12 Psal 39.12 Which shewes that they had hopes of a better inheritance then that of Canaan Againe they had the same Spirit as we have Psal 51.12 Psal 51.12 Take not thy holy Spirit from me saith David Now the Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance Eph. 1.14 Ephes 1.14 And therefore if they had the same Spirit then the same inheritance 2. As they had the same promise and hope of life so they had it upon the same ground as we have even by faith in the free grace of God in Christ Jesus They had the same Gospel of grace that wee have Hence is that Rom. 1.2 Rom 1.2 the Gospel was promised before by the Prophets to the Fathers And Rom. 3.21 Rom 3.21 The righteousnesse of God without the Law is manifested being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets It is manifested without the Law that is without the workes of the Law yet hath witnesse of the Law that is of the writings of Moses who teacheth a man to looke for justification by Grace and not by workes Hence also saith Christ Joh. 8.56 Joh. 8.56 Abraham saw my day therefore he had Christ revealed to him See Camero tom 1. p. 127 128. c. Heb. 13.8 To the same purpose is that in Hebr. 13.8 Christ the same yesterday for the time past before his coming in the flesh to day while in the flesh and for ever after He is the same not onely in regard of essence but also in regard of the efficacy of his office from the beginning to the end of the world So also in the Songs of Mary and Zachary Luk. 1.54.72 Luk. 1.54.72 The revealing and fulfilling of our redemption by Christ is made to be the accomplishment of the promises made unto the Fathers What is now fulfilled was then promised hence also saith the Apostle Act. 15.10 11. Act. 15.10 11 We hope to be saved even as they And Heb. 4.2 Heb. 4.2 Unto us was the Gospel preached as unto them and to them as well as to us And the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 4.6 1 Pet. 4.6 saith that unto them that are now dead who lived in the dayes of Noah was the Gospel preached Hence Jude 3. it is called the common salvation common to all believers both before and after Christ This may teach us to abhorre that swinish opinion of the Anabaptists Vse 1 who make the Fathers before Christ to have lived onely under a temporall Covenant promising to them temporall things feeding their bellies and fatting them up with outward blessings but they had no hope of eternall life Whereas Christ who is the truth tells us that they are in the kingdome of God Mat. 8.11 Mat. 8.11 Hence the state of rest and immortalitie is called Abrahams bosome Luk. 16. Luke 16. Abraham is the Father of us all and therefore when we dye we are said to be carried thither as the childe runs to the bosome of the father or mother when any thing troubles it therefore if Abrahams bosome be the place of our rest it is then plaine that Abraham and the rest of the Fathers are entred into their rest as we hope to enter into our rest Vse 2 Let us looke unto the old Covenant made with the Fathers and hold to that doctrine of life which was of old given unto the Saints Let us stand to that and contend for it Jude 3. There is a generation in the Land that are altogether looking after new light and new truths and the old truths delivered to Abraham Isaac and Jacob are nothing with them But let us take heed lest while we gape after new
towards both Acts 24.16 It is but false sanctification which neglects either of these duties or any part of them when we put on a forme of Religion and yet deale unrighteously with men this is cursed hypocrisie And when we deale squarely with men but are carelesse Gallio's in the things of God this is but a kinde of civill profanesse there is no true sanctification in one or other of them True sanctification cleaves to the whole law and to all the Commandements of it seeking to doe and fulfill all such an heart the Lord requires Deut. 5.29 and such he works where he works Grace in truth 2 King 23.25 3. True sanctification will never suffer the soule to finde rest and peace but only in the way which is called holy A sanctified soule may step aside into the way which is not good but it can finde no rest there Holinesse stands in a conformity with God It will not agree with any thing which is contrary to God or to his will a godly heart can finde no peace there As on the one side a sinfull heart may do the thing that is good but it takes no pleasure in such things so contrà the sanctified heart may by occasion and by strength of temptation and prevailing power of inward corruption be drawn to act amisse but when hee hath done so he finds no rest in his spirit till he be returned againe into the way of holinesse which he had turned from Thus David stept aside but what peace found he Peter fell into shamefull denyall but how grieved was he afterward Thus Paul he confessed he did the evill that he would not but how was he pained at the very heart till he was rid of that body of sinne It was his continuall vexation As the needle in the compasse may by shaking be turned from the right point and from the pole but it will finde no rest till it be turned to it againe So here When therefore the heart sinnes and finds rest in it and is not labouring to work out the corruption which is within this is an evill sign and dangerous this argues a carnall disposition and an unsanctified Spirit But when we are grieved for the evill which is in us when our sinne is counted our misery making us lament with Paul and say O miserable man that I am c. and that not only as it troubles the conscience but as it cloggs the Spirit hindring us in well doing this is a sign of a sanctified estate and springs from a Spirit of grace 4. True sanctification will make us most wary and watchfull against those sinnes which doe most staine our holy profession and blemish the glory of Christ and make us most studious of those things in which God is most glorified As Paul said of himselfe I can doe nothing against the truth but for the truth so indeed a sanctified soule can doe nothing against Gods glory but all things for his glory Sanctity devotes a man unto God he is for God not for himselfe not for the world he accounts himselfe that he is Gods If we live we live for God whether we eat or drink or labour or rest we doe them for God 1 Cor. 10.31 If we get riches we grow rich for God to honour God with our riches Prov. 3.9 Our whole life is for God Rom. 14.6 This is a sanctified disposition when it is thus with us And when otherwise we eat for our selves as Zachary speaks chap. 7.6 we labour for our selves get riches for our selves not caring how our profession is blemished and God dishonoured by our worldly and coveteous conversation this is from the flesh which loves its own and minds its own things and not the things of Christ 5. True sanctification makes a man affect society with those that are holy It s a good signe when the heart doth inwardly cleave to those that excell in grace especially when it is for Grace sake and because of the Grace that is in them There may be an outward complying with them and some externall society had with them also when yet the heart is not with them there may be some sutablenesse of disposition some morall qualifications in a godly soule which may give content unto a carnall heart but to love them inwardly and that not for any other respect but for the grace which is in them this is from a sutable Spirit of grace working in our selves Thus it was with David Psal 16.3 and Psal 119. Come unto mee all yee that feare God c. and away from me ye wicked c. 6. True sanctification makes us aspire after communion and fellowship with God himselfe it loves fellowship with the Saints but rests not in them but aspires higher nothing will satisfie a sanctified soule but God yea it is God which he loves and seeks in his Saints So it is also in the use of Ordinances they are all empty things without God unlesse the Lord be there The Word Prayer Sacraments are but leane and empty things unlesse hee enjoy God in them He is the fat the marrow and sweetnesse of them all when God meets the soule in any of these it is then satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse but when he withdrawes and absents himselfe it findes no satiety no rellish in any thing The soule is empty still till he fill it who is the fulnesse of all things God only doth fill and satisfie the soule that is sanctified See Ier. 50.4 There you shall see the children of Israel and children of Iudah together comming to Ierusalem the place of Gods worship but is that all they goe for No saith the Prophet they goe seeking the Lord their God they goe to Ierusalem to worship there but there is a further thing they seek for even God himselfe without whom Ierusalem and Temple and all would be but as a solitary cave in a wildernesse if God were not found there This Gods servants finde in frequent experience Sometimes they finde God sweetly present with them in prayer Sacrament or the like and then they goe away as a man refreshed with new wine Sometimes they seek him but find him not as Cant. 5. and then they are like men that faine would eat to the satisfying of their hungry soule but they want their appointed food or like those in the Prophet they doe eat but they are not satisfied they have not enough Whom have I in heaven but thee saith David Psal 73.25 Whom there are Angels there are Saints the Spirits of just and perfect men Hebr. 12. Are all these nothing with David These were in heaven and are also in earth yet saith David Whom have I in heaven or earth but thee These are good with God but not able to satisfie a sanctified soule without God If it were possible for such a soule to be in heaven it selfe there to enjoy all the glory of it and communion with all the company of Saints and Angels there yet
us herein imitate the work of Abraham give honour to him whom we beleeve to be our God We are all willing to be in Covenant with God thus far that we may set up our selves and climbe up into heaven that there we may sit upon Thrones and to possesse a Kingdome but we must thinke especially of setting up the Lord upon his Throne that he may rule in us and reign over us he having for this end taken us to be a people unto himselfe Ascribe greatnesse to our God saith Moses Deut. 33 3. make it a name and a praise unto him that he hath vouchsafed to make us his people and to take us into Covenant with him Honour him as he is God but honour him more abundantly as he is our God we owe this unto him by the Covenant we have made with him the world knowes him not nor honours him not the wicked contemne God Psal 10. and shall God have no honour Shall he that stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth and formed man upon it shall he have no glory by all his workes shall he in vain create all the children of men having none to praise him The Lord himselfe answers in Isai 43.21 This is a people whom I have formed for mine owne praise God will have praise from his own people whom he hath taken unto himselfe he will be glorified in all those that come neer unto him Levit. 10 3. He knows them â—bove all the people of the earth Amos 3. and is known of them Psal 72.1 2. he advanceth them as a select and peculiar people and will be honoured by them according to all the great things which he hath done for them Hence is that in Deut. 26.18 The Lord hath set thee up this day to be a precious people unto him and in verse 17. Thou hast set up the Lord thy God to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commandements The word which is there translated avouched Pagnine in his great Thesaurus translates exaltasti Thou hast set up as doth Arrius Montanus also we must then set up our God on high Labour to advance him above the heavens he hath raised us above the earth and above the condition of the men of the earth that we might fill the world with his glory and extoll him above all he hath made it a name and a praise unto us that we are the people in Covenant with him much more should it be a name and a praise unto him that he hath shewed such grace unto the sons of men Isai 55.13 Ier. 13.11 All such therefore as are the faithfull people of God that are entred into Covenant with him consider this duty take heed of polluting the Name of your God let not his name and honour suffer by you but lift up his Name on high that it may be magnified before all the world And for this end take these few directions 1. If we will honour God and exalt him in due manner we must set him up as our cheife and highest in our esteem far above every name that is named in this world or that which is to come set none compar with him none equall unto him Kings count themselves not to be honoured with due honour if they be not set up above other men It s not enough to honour God but we must honour him as God and that is to set him highest in our hearts and above all Hence it is that the Saints of God have used such expressions concerning him as doe single him forth beyond the comparison of all creatures Thus Moses Who is like unto thee amongst the Gods who is like unto thee so glorious in holinesse c. Exod. 15.11 So David Thou art great O Lord there is none like thee 2 Sam. 7.22 So Solomon O Lord God of Israel there is none like thee in heaven above or in the earth beneath 1 Kings 8.23 So Micah 7.18 Who is a God like unto thee which passest by the trangressions of the remnant of thine heritage Thus have the Saints advanced God in their esteem of him making none like unto him in greatnesse in glory in holinesse in goodnesse and in mercy c. And thus we must rise up in our thoughts and apprehensions of God till we come to a holy exstacy and admiration of him carried beyond the limits of all created excellency so as to esteeme all things else as nothing in comparison of him Esay 40. There be men that say they are gods and think they are equall with the most High but they are but gods of the earth as the Prophet calls them Zeph. 2.11 but our God is the God of heaven therefore set him on high above all gods God counts himselfe debased when any are made equall unto him Esay 46.5 9. 2. Count it our blessednesse and highest dignity to be a people in Covenant with God that we have him neare unto us in all that we call unto him for and may live in an holy fellowship and communion with count it our honour that we are his servants and may stand before him and minister unto him David though great in name and dignity who knew his plaâ—â— as well as other men and who could say when occasion was Doe not I know that I am this day King over Israel yet took more felicity in being Gods servant then in being King and Ruler over that great people and therefore he speaks to God in such manner O Lord I am thy servant O God thou art my God c. So then are we honorable as David was yet esteeme we this as our greatest honour that God is our God and we his servants Are we low and despised in the world yet count this honour enough that God hath lifted us up to this excellency to be one of his people And herein the Lord counts himselfe to be honoured by us when being counted as things that are not as Pauls phrase is even as things of nought yet we can say with Jacob I have enough because the Lord hath had mercy on me and hath taken me into Covenant with him to be my God When in persecutions in wants in distresses we can quiet our selves in this that God is our God we doe herein beare witnesse of him before heaven and earth that he is better to us then dignities riches and all worldly contentments that he is enough to those that enjoy him 3. We must count the things of God the greatest things his work to be the greatest work his service the greatest businesse of our whole life yea to be preferred before life it selfe When Nehemiah was in hand with that great work of God the re-edifying of Jerusalem and the reformation of things amisse in Church and State hee looked at this as a great work Neh. 6.3 I have saith he speaking to them that would have drawn him from it a great work to doe which I may not suffer to cease whiles
will be sanctified in them Levit. 10.3 but without holinesse we pollute his name Ezek. 36. it is not sanctified in us 7. The seasons and times we live in call for holinesse these are dayes of grace wherein we enjoy all the holy things of God more aboundantly then in former times to the end that we might abound in all the holy graces of the spirit The Lord gives us his holy ordinances that we might be sanctified by them being changed into the similitude of the same holiness This argument the Apostle useth Rom. 13.11 And this reason should move us the more because the greater the light is in which we live the more evident are the blots and blemishes which are in us moats in the Sun-beame being more conspicuous then beames are in the dark therefore as the dayes we live in be dayes of light so let us walk as children of light shining forth as lights in the midst of a perverse and corrupt generation Phil. 2. 8. Consider a time of separation must come wherein the Lord Jesus will divide and separate the holy from the unholy as a shepheard separates the sheep from the goats Matth. 25. â—t will be good to be found among the Saints at that day and to stand in the assembly of the righteous Wo then unto all those that are secluded from them to all those that must stand without and be amongst dogges and Devils having no fellowship with Christ nor with his Saints It s good therefore to be holy it will be found so then wo unto the prophane and ungodly at that day And for our selves here the people of New-England we should in a speciall manner labour to shine forth in holinesse above other people we have that plenty and aboundance of ordinances and meanes of grace as few people enjoy the like we are as a City set upon an hill in the open view of all the earth the eyes of the world are upon us because we professe our selves to be a people in Covenant with God and therefore not only the Lord our God with whom we have made Covenant but heaven and earth Angels and men that are witnesses of our profession will cry shame upon us if wee walke contrary to the Covenant which wee have professed and promised to walk in If we open the mouthes of men against our profession by reason of the scandallousnes of our lives we of all men shall have the greater sinne To conclude Let us study so to walk that this may be our excellency and dignity among the Nations of the world among which we live That they may be constrained to say of us only this people is wise an holy and blessed people that all that see us may see and know that the name of the Lord is called upon us and that we are the seed which the Lord hath blessed Deut. 28.10 Esay 61.9 There is no people but will strive to excell in some thing what can we excell in if not in holinesse If we look to number we are the fewest If to strength we are the weakest If to wealth and riches we are the poorest of all the people of God through the whole world we can not excell nor so much as equall other people in these things and if we come short in grace and holinesse too we are the most despicable people under heaven our worldly dignitie is gone if we lose the glory of grace too then is the glory wholly departed from our Israel and we are become vile strive we therefore herein to excell and suffer not this crown to be taken away from us Be we an holy people so shall we be honourable before God and precious in the eyes of his Saints And thus also of the properties of the Covenant Now the God of peace that brought againe the Lord Iesus the great shepheard of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make us perfect in all good works to doe his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Iesus Christ to whom be prayse for ever and ever Amen FINIS THE TABLE A ABsolute promises refresh the soul 290 the use of them 289 How they agree with the conditionall 292 both one in substance 291. Acts of faith two 289 they enable to walk with God 315 seq they only are the conditions of the Covenant 298 why so ibid. Actually none in the state of salvation before he believe 322 nor justified till Christ be Actually his 324. Actuall holinesse what 378. Affections sanctified signes of true sanctification 239. Agreement in both Covenants 50 51 in the condition and freenesse of grace in the Covenant 292. All-sufficiency in God to his people 130 the reasons of it ib. he is All-sufficient in two respects 132 how he is so 133 he is so from himselfe 136 137. Assurance works a holy security 250. Ark the want thereof promised as a blessing under the Gospel 5. B Beliefe none actually justified before he Believe 322. Binding the Covenant is so 282 293 294. Benefits that arise to the Saints from the Covenant 147 seq from the knowledge of the Conant 119 120 the things which are to come are the great things promised in the Covenant 277 278. Blessings the Covenant the fountaine of them 342 pledges of better things 262 how God makes it appeare they are from himselfe 138 139 why God doth so 141 142. Blood of Christ taken two wayes 229 of the Covenant what it signifieth 229. Burthen the Covenant of Grace under the Old Testament so 106 we are free from that Burthen ibid. C Calling wrought by the commandement 331. Captivity applyed to three things 2 3. the Iewes at this day in Captivity 3. Christ a Covenant between the Father and him 29 30. his name taken two wayes 36. darkly revealed in the old Testament 108 the righteousnesse of the Saints 324 vid. Mediatour Circumcision considered two wayes 59. Cleane how to become cleane from sinne 241. Condition what it is in the Covenant of Grace 295 it excludes not freenesse of Grace 291 336. that it is in the Covenant 280 proved from the nature of it 281 282. it hinders not the free grace of the Covenant 323. Contempt of the Gospel what a great sinne 10 11. reasons of it 12. Commandement our calling wrought by it 331 of the Law and Gospel how different 332. Conversion the obedience of the soule to God at its conversion 310 vid. Iewes Covenant between God Christ 29 30 between man and God proved 31 32. the danger of breaking it 49 a comfort to believers 48 49. the Lord conveys life and blessednesse by it to us 26 28. why called a Testament 283 why called a Covenant of salt 368 why so few embrace it 376 the certainty of it 364 it is a storehouse of blessings 342 it is sure 360 why so ibid. It is conditionall 285 the necessity of entring into a Covenant with God 43 44. what we are to doe to get into Covenant
The Gospel-Covenant OR THE COVENANT OF GRACE OPENED Wherein are explained 1. The differences betwixt the Covenant of grace and Covenant of workes 2. The different administration of the Covenant before and since Christ 3. The benefits and blessings of it 4. The Condition 5. The properties of it Preached in CONCORD in NEVV-ENGLAND by PETER BULKELEY sometimes fellow of Johns Colledge in Cambridge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 GEN. 17.1.7 The Lord said unto Abraham I am God all-sufficient walke before me and be thou upright And I will make my Covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seede after thee ISAI 55.3 Encline your eares and come unto me heare and your soule shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David Published according to Order LONDON Printed by M. S. for Benjamin Allen and are to be sold at the Crowne in Popes-head Alley 1646. they doe concerne This Covenant hath been a port of refuge to which the Saints have alwayes fled in their distresses they claiming the blessing therein contained and grounding their hope upon the faithfulnes of him that hath promised This Covenant hath been the rock for the anchor of their hope to fasten upon when the winds waves of temptation have beaten upon them The troubles of the Church people of God are not yet finished by reason whereof we no lesse then our fathers before us do stand in need of help and consolation from this Covenant in these dayes of affliction in which we live Neither is it only a consolation to know the great things which God hath by Covenant promised unto us but it is a foundation to all godlinesse and holy walking before God perswading us to walk worthy of the Lord as beseems those whom he hath taken into Covenant with him to be a peculiar people to himself God hath so linked together the blessing of the Covenant which is his to give with the dutie and way of it which is ours to walk in that we cannot with comfort expect the one but it will worke in us a carefull endeavour of the other To speake more hereof I shall forbeare When I had finished this Treatise and bethought my self to whom I should dedicate it I could not thinke of any to whom it was so suitable as your self You are to omit other relations one of the children of the Covenant which was first made with Abraham your Father and with Sarah your Mother both which as they lived by faith so they dyed in faith having now received the end of their faith which they waited for Your honoured Father the thoughts of whom are ever precious unto me was a right Abraham indeed If I should speake lesse of him I should speak too little of that singular piety and exemplary grace and godlines which shined in him I abhorre giving titles unto man but give me leave to beare witnes unto the truth I knew his faith his feare his uprightnesse and holy walking before his God whereby he became as a Prince of God among the people of the world Gen. 23. with whom he lived Wherein he went before you also as a patterne to be for ever in your eye to be imitated by you Sir let it I beseech you be your chiefest care and count it your highest honour to walke in the steps of your pious blessed Father His faith follow considering what was the end of his conversation That sweet peace those heavenly consolations which he tasted of those inward feelings which carried him out of himself even whiles he was yet in the flesh are strong engagements and encouragements unto you to walke after his foote as the Prophets expression is treading in the same steps of faith and holines in which he went before you I am sure you cannot forget those dying words of his a little before his end You that are in the flesh thinke c. I spare the rest in mention whereof I speak a mystery to others being but a broken sound but not to you you can interpret my meaning and 't is enough to me that you know the meaning of them for whose sake I mention them that you may often remember them for your own good They will never out of my heart and I trust they will never be forgotten by you Goe on deare Sir in the wayes of grace which you are entred into the Lord having made good his Covenant towards you be you also mindfull to walke in Covenant with your God Set Gods kindnesse before your eyes to stir up your self the more to walke before him in his truth The more you honour him the more you honour your self Study therefore to do great things for God seeke the peace of Jerusalem the prosperitie of Sion Your goodnes extendeth not unto him but to his Church and Saints that are here on earth yet what you doe unto them he will say Yee have done it unto mee Remember Davids troubles Josephs affliction Pauls bonds the distressed estate of Gods Church and people and thinke of Mordecai his Item to Esther This way was Davids spirit working when he was sitting in peace in his own house He was considering what the LORD had done for him and what he should render to the Lord for all his benefits Wonderfull was his zeale for the House of God The cost he prepared for it was almost incredible an hundred thousand talents of gold besides silver other things without number but he lost nothing by all no man loseth by lending to the Lord no more then the rivers doe by powring their water into the Sea which they receive back againe by secret passages in the earth and so are still ever full The more he honoured God the more God honoured him He spared not his riches in things pertaining to God and God cast in more upon him still so that he dyed in riches and honour 1 Chro. 29.28 Let your life be like his and then in death you shall not be divided The God of all grace who hath done so great things for you go on in blessing to blesse you that you may with Nephthali be satisfied with favour and filled with the blessing of the Lord even with all blessings of heaven and earth of this life and of that to come Decemb. 3. 1644. Yours to command in any service of Christ PETER BULKELEY ⧠TO THE READER CHRISTIAN READER I Doe here offer to thy view a subject not unsutable to the state of these present times Times wherein there is no peace to him that goes out or to him that comes in but great trouble to all the inhabitants of the earth Nation destroyed of Nation and Citie of Citie God troubling them with all adversities setting all men every one against his neighbour Times they are wherein death comes in not â—t our windows as in the Prophet but rageth
with open violence in our streets he that rideth upon the Red horse having power given him to take peace from the earth and that men should kill one another Apoc. 6. In these times so full of perplexitie and trouble it cannot but be welcome newes to heare of Conditions of peace and when death comes to our dores and we are at deaths-dore then to be offered a Covenant of life This Covenant here spoken of is a Covenant of life and peace and therefore seasonable It is also the more sutable in regard of that holy and gracious practise begun by our renowned Parliament going before the body of the Kingdome in entring into an holy Covenant with the God of heaven to become the Lords people the onely way to a blessed peace Till we be at one with God it will be in vaine by humane policies to devise wayes of peace with men but peace being once made in heaven will bring peace on earth and good will amongst men If otherwise man still rage yet shall his rage be restrained and turne to Gods praise the Lord on high hath a bridle for his lips and an hooke for his nostrills he will subdue the oppressour and will still the enemy and the avenger Blessed be they whose care it hath been to draw the Land into this holy covenanting with God let mercy and peace be upon them as upon all the Israel of God And blessed be that God who hath put this care into their hearts as being the onely way to obtaine an assured blessing This Covenant so happily begun is the principall subject of this booke in which thou mayst see both the necessitie for every soule to enter into a Covenant with God and how it is to be done as also how those that have made a Covenant with God are to walke in it and what blessings doe belong unto those that so walke When these things were first preached in New-England there was little thought of publishing them in such a time But he which inhabiteth eternitie with whom all things are present fits things past to those that are present and to come that his wisdome might be knowne to order all beyond what we conceive or thinke It is now some five or six yeares since I first began to handle this doctrine now published a time then full of trouble in these American Churches through the inordinate activeness and impetuous violence of some busie spirits of whom the Country is now well rid through the Lords great goodnes deeming all others except themselves to be wholly ignorant of the Covenant of grace and to be shut up under a Covenant of workes All the Preachers in the Land were legall Preachers the Christians legall Christians as having onely the letter of the Gospel but not understanding the mystery or spirituall meaning of it as it was revealed unto themselves by the spirit The disputes about the two Covenants did then exceedingly trouble the minds of many amongst whom there was little speech but about the covenant of grace and of workes and of being under a Covenant of workes I having then in the course of my Ministery propounded to my self this order to follow namely on one part of the Lords day to handle one part of the body of Divinitie concerning God Creation Man his first pure estate and so on concluding that part with his lapsed and falne estate and on the other part of the day to speak of the means of Gods restoring man againe to the state of salvation I could not then passe by the handling of the Covenant of grace without a purposed declining from that which both the agitations of the Countrey and mine own proposed method did lead me unto Hereupon I entred upon the handling of this subject in the ordinary course of my Ministry endeavouring my self so far as the Lord enabled me to settle the minds of those amongst whom I lived in the knowledge of the truth concerning which some were wavering by reason of those spirits of error which were gone abroad deceiving the minds of some This was the occasion of handling this doctrine When I had finished it it pleased God to give it such acceptance in the hearts of the hearers that many of the chiefe amongst them came to me with a solemn request desiring me to publish what I had delivered that so they might have it continue with them which request of theirs as it was unexpected by me so was I both unwilling and unable to satisfie their desire unwilling as being conscious to my self of mine own infirmities unfit to publish any thing in this learned age and unable as not having so penned any part of it as to make it fit for publick use But the earnestnesse of their desire on the one side and the rawnesse of the draught which I had written for the help of my self on the other side so far crossing one another gave occasion of a second revising of what was before done which also caused some further additions thereunto and hath at last brought forth that such as it is which is now presented to thy view And thus thou understandest gentle Reader the occasion both of the preaching and publishing of the doctrine of the Covenant which now comes forth Which notwithstanding the former inducements I should hardly have adventured to have published had I not been encouraged thereto by some others of better note It is not any confidence I have in my self which hath drawne me forth into publick view I thank God I do in some measure know mine own weaknes But if the Lord will use his weakest instruments to perfect his own praise who am I that I should let God I wish this had been undertaken by some other of greater strength but none hitherto appearing in this kinde being desired to what I have done I have been content to yeeld to the desires of those that have perswaded me hereunto There is a Treatise of the New Covenant published some yeares ago by a precious light in the Church of God whose worke is come almost into all mens hands If that worthy servant of Christ had lived to see these dayes we now live in or then were when these things were delivered I doubt not but he would with much more accuratenesse have handled these things then my weaknesse is able to attaine unto But God having carried him to his resting place before these questions brake forth which have since troubled and doe still trouble the world it is not to be marvelled that some one coming after him inferior unto him may adde something to that which hath been before delivered The opinions formerly stirring in New-England and now in old if fame be not a lyer have given occasion to touch some things not of ordinary occurrence As namely 1. Whether the Covenant of grace be made betwixt God and man or onely betwixt God the Father and Christ 2. Where also by occasion of the former question is handled that place in
grant first that all the promises are made to Christ only even to Christ personall in this sense if men mean to Christ that is with respect to Christ as Gal. 3.17 and that in him they are yea and Amen as 2 Cor. 1.20 But this doth not hinder but they are made to us also they being in and through him confirmed to us 2. I adde more that those promises which do concern us are not only made to us through Christ but they are made first to Christ in our behalf before they are made to us because all the whole work of our redemption and salvation was transacted between the Father and the Son before the foundation of the world and is afterwards revealed to us in due time as is evident Tit. 1.2 and 2 Tim. 1.9 But this doth not hinder but that the same promise is afterwards in time made to us also Look as it is in covenants among men while the childe is yet unborn the father takes conveyance of an Inheritance for him which he keeps in his own hand till the childe be born and comes to yeers and then he puts it into his own possession so it is here we are for a time hid in the womb of Gods election till we be brought forth by the grace of regeneration during which time we are not in our selves capable of receiving any promise of life made to us but it is made to Christ in our behalf and he receives the promise from the Father in our stead but yet so that when we come to be born anew the promises are made unto our selves and we are put into possession of them 3. I grant there are some promises made to Christ not only in our beâ—alf and for us but to Christs own person as we have shewed before in speaking of the Câ—venant between the Father and Christ but yet so as that thâ— people of God hâ—ve also a right and interest in some of them Such a promise is that in Isai 50.7 8. which words imply a promise made to Christ that though Christ did take upon him the sins of Gods people yet God would justifie him from them all and this promise Christ relied on and yet this promise is by the Apostle applied to us also Rom. 8.33 that we should be justified by faith in him so also there is a promise made unto Christs person Isai 42.1 that he should be filled with the Spirit yet not made unto Christ only but unto us also Isai 44.3 from Christs person they are derived unto us they belong unto him as the head yet unto us as the members and even those promises which are made thus to Christ and to us both may be truly said to be made to the one seed of Abraham which is Christ namely Christ mysticall Christ with all his body consisting of all the faithfull both Jews and Gentiles Before I proceed to Use I will adde two or three Reasons more to cleer this interpretation that this seed is meant of Christ mysticall not personall Frst one was named before because it is such a seed as comes to have right to the promise as second in order from Abraham Secondly consider next that when God saith to Abraham Gen. 17.7 I will be thy God and the God of thy seed look what seed is there meant the same is meant in this place of the Galatians chap. 3.16 Now what seed is meant Gen. 17.7 the Apostle expounds Gal. 3.7 They that are of the faith are the children of Abraham and vers 29. they that are Christs they are Abrahams seed not only Christ but those that are Christs are Abrahams seed and heirs by promise these therefore are the seed to whom the promise is made Thirdly the Apostle in this place of the Galatians speaks of such a promise as whereby a sinner should receive justification and forgivâ—nesse of sin before God for he is handling the matter of ju â—ification and shews how a sinner comes to partake of the blessing of life and righteousnesse therefore he must needs speak of such a seed as stands in need of justification and righteousnesse which do most properly agree to the faithfull Fâ—uâ—thly the Apostle here speaks of two Testaments one coming after the other one disanulling the other from which I reason thus look to whom the latter Testament of the Law was given unto them was the first covenant or testament of grace given now the latter testament or covenant of the Law was given to all the faithfull seed of Abraham for saith the Apostle it is a Scoolmaster to bring them to Christ Gal. 3.24 therefore to them also was the former testament or promise given That ye may the better discern the force of this reason consider how the Apostle in treating of justification delivers this heavenly doctrine that a sinner is justified by faith alone in Christ without works Now hee makes an objection True might some say before the giving of the Law justification was by free promise but when the Law was given then there was another way of justification appointed at least to joyn works with the promise and the former way of justification by free grace was disanulled by the latter that is the bringing in of the Law here is the force of the objection Now if we shall conceive the promise was made to one seed and the covenant of the Law given to another and not both of them to the same seed then there is no colour of reason in the Apostles objection for if the promise of Grace was given to one seed of Abraham that is to Christ personall and the covenant of the Law given to another seed then one need not disanull the other but they may both stand together for if a man make two different covenants with two severall persons they may both stand the one not impeaching the other but here is the strength of the objection that it is supposed that the two covenants are made with the same persons and then there is some seeming appearance of one disanulling the other therefore the strength of the objection infers cleerly that both the promise of Grace and covenant of the Law was made to the same persons to Abrahams seed to all the faithfull which are the children of Abraham Thus this objection is answered and the doctrine confirmed that whatsoever salvation c. Vse 1 To let us sâ—e the abundant grace and kindnesse of God to us poor capâ—ives vassals wretched undone creatures that he should vouchsafe to enter into covenant with us it was much in Davids eyes that Jonathan the heir of the crown should enter into covenant with him how admirable then is this in our sight that the great God of heaven and earth should enter into covenant with the sons of men he hath herein stooped below himself and hath lift us above our selves this grace we may stand and wonder at that the high God who is free from all and bound to none no
not to the Angels in heaven is yet pleased for our good and benefit to enter into bonds and bind himself unto us in the bond of a covenant to blesse us and to do us good this ought to be the admiration of heaven and earth See how this affected Abraham Gen. 17.2 3. When Abraham heard that God would enter into covenant with him Abraham falls upon his face before the Lord as first wondering and being astonished to heare and think of such a favour Secondly abased in himself as unworthy to touch the hand of the high God to make up the covenant with him he was abased in himself to see the Lord so abasing himself for his sake Thirdly he falls upon his face as thankfully acknowledging the grace offered Fourthly readily submitting himself to the Lords good pleasure will as one content to lie down at Gods feet submitting to the lowest conditions to do any thing believe any thing so that he might be partaker of this priviledge to be in covenant with the great God See also how this affected David 2 Sam. 7.18 Who am I O Lord c. And hence it is that the Lord mentions this as of his speciall favour which he vouchsafed to Israel Ezek. 16.8 that he entred into covenant with them whereby they became his people let us therefore herein see the abundant goodnesse of God to us Who would not love and fear this God of glory that is pleased to come down and condescend to enter into covenant with us who would not glorifie him for ever and for ever and willingly binde himself to serve and honour him The more he hath abased himself to honour us in taking us into covenant with himself the more let us exalt him and lift him up on high as the Lord did with Christ Phil. 2.8 9. because he humâ—led himseâ—â— â—herefore he exalted him and gave him a name above â—very name c. so should we exalt the name of the Lord our God thaâ—â—e should take us poor worms dust and ashes into covenant and fellowship with himself This lets us â—ee iâ— what way we must every one of us expect to receive Vse 2 the blessing of life and salvation from the hand of God this concerns all neerly to look unto we must enter into covenant with God to take him to be our God and to give up our selves to be his people all men hope to be saved and think that he that made them will save them and though they live as strangers from God and from his covenant and will enter into no bâ—nds with him but walk after their own lusts like the wilde Asse-colt that snuffes up the wind at her pleasure though they break all bonds and burst all cords though they live without care and conscience of Gods covenant yâ—t fâ—r all this they hope to be saved but such men deceive themselves God conveys his salvation by way of covenant and he doth it only to those that are in covenant with him therefore those only may without feare of disappointment look for his salvation that order their conversation aright Psal 50.23 to these will the Lord shew his salvation the loving kindnesse of God is upon those that fear him and keep his covenant Psal 103.17 18. but all those that break his covenant and will walk after their own hearts desire they may look for salvation but they shall be disappointed of it and finde themselves inwrapped in the snares of death God conveys his blessings only by covenant and this covenant must every soul enter into every particular soul must enter into a particular covenant with God out of this way there is no life thereupon is the exhortation of Hezekiah to his people 2 Chron. 30.7 8. Be not you stiff-necked as your fathers but yeeld your selves unto the Lord in the originall give the hand unto the Lord that is they should come and enter into covenant with God he alludes to the custome of men when they make a covenant or agreement they strike hands or take one another by the hand so saith Hezekiah Give the hand unto the Lord that is enter into covenant with him to be his people and then the anger of the Lord shall be turned from you That this is the meaning consider the same kinde of expression in other places Ezek. 17.18 the Prophet speaking of Zedekiah saith he had broken the covenant though he had given the hand c. he broke the covenant which he had made by giving his hand So Ezra 10.3.9 when the people reformed and entred into a covenant they gave their hands that they would put away their strange wives These places I bring to cleer that phrase concerning Hezekiah Give the hand unto the Lord that is enter into covenant with God this we must do every one of us for his own part give up our selves to the Lord as a people in covenant with him as for those that will not come within the bond of the covenant but will walk at liberty after their own hearts such shall never see peace nor did they ever enter into the path of life Such as will be saved must become Gods covenanted people this is the only way wherein we must expect life and salvation Quest If there be such a necessity of entâ—ing into covenant with God what must we do that we may get into covenant with him Answ You must do these five things 1. Break your covenant with your old sins and your lusts or else God will not enter into covenant with you Mat. 6.24 you cannot serve two masters these are so contrary that so long as you are in league with sin and the world you cannot enter into covenant with God take away the matter of provocation which at first brake the covenant between God and you and then there is one step made for your entering into covenant with him Examine thine own heart what is that which maintains the breach between God and thee and makes God a stranger to thee and put that away though never so gainfull never so pleasing a sin without this God will never enter into covenant with thee thou canst not be in covenant with thy sin and God together therefore breake thy covenant with sin if thou desire to be in covenant with God 2. Go before the Lord as guilty of thy former rebellion and unfaithfulnesse in breaking covenant with him and judge thy self for it lay down thy self and life before God confessing and acknowledging that it were just if he should destroy thee condemn thy self for thy former rebellion against him submit thy self to the good pleasure of his will as David saith Here I am let him do with me as seemes good in his eyes put thy life into the mercifull hands of God either to take it from thee or to give it to thee again say unto God If thou wilt save me thou shalt shew abundant grace if thou wilt destroy me thou art just go before God
thinke or whether a heavenly life and glory in both as some others thinke I will not determine it not being much materiall It 's enough to know that life and blessednesse was and is promised in both 5. There is in both Câ—venants a condition required on our part for the attaining of the life promised wee are not left to our libertie in either Covenants neither of the two Covenants promise life absolutely whether wee obey or no and whether we believe or no but under the condition of faith or obedience the promise of life is made 6. Both Covenants require a perfect righteousnesse of us that wee may have life no life is promised in either Covenants but upon the bringing in of a perfect righteousnessâ— before God either of our owne or of anothers the covenant of grace as well as that of workes will make this good that no unrighteous person shall enter into the kingdome of God Hence Rom. 3. last the Gospel stablisheth the Law they agree herein and doe not crosse one another 7. Both Covenants are unchangeable never to be reversed or altered The covenant of grace is an unchangeable covenant it is an everlasting covenant more unchangeable then the covenant of the day and of the night more unmovable then mountaines that cannot be moved as Esa 54.10 Jer. 35.20 So likewise the covenant of workes is an unchangeable covenant Mat. 5.17 Heaven and earth shall passe away but not one jâ—t of the Law shall faile Though now in the estate of corruption no man attaines life by the covenant of workes yet this so comes to passe not because the covenant is changed but because we are changed and cannot fulfill the condition to which the promise is made the covenant stands fast but wee have not stood fast in the covenant but it is now become impossible to us that wee are unable to fulfill it as the Apostle speakes Rom. 8.3 yea it is the unchangablenesse and stabilitie of this covenant which condemnes all the world of sinfull and ungodly men The Law hath said Cursed is every one which continueth not in all things c. And the soule that sinneth and flies not to the covenant of grace shall dye This word takes hold upon them and condemnes them Nay more for the fulfilling of this Covenant the Lord Jesus Christ came downe from heaven and bâ—came man to fulfill that righteousnesse of the Law which was now becâ—me impossible to us Rom. 8.3 So unchangeable is the covenant of workes that rather then it shall not be fulfilled the sonne of God must come downe to doe it Thus wee see the agreements between the covenant of workes and the covenant of grace But the principall and wâ—ightier consideration is to set downe the proper diffâ—reâ—câ—s between thâ—m which some have gone about to darken and obsâ—urâ— and doe make them agree too neare and so make a compound of both Covenants aâ— if one should mixe wine and water togâ—â—â—â—r whereby they doe disanull the nature of the Covenant of grâ—â—â— and tuâ—â—â— it into a covenant of workes Herein tâ—â—â—â—fore â—ee â—usâ— labour the more carefully to set downe the true and reall differences between them which being done wee shall see the nature both of the one and the other more distinctly and clearly The differences are many Differ 1 The first difference is in the condition of the Covenants the one requires doing the other believing the one workes the other faith The one saith Doe this and live the other saith Believe and thou shalt be saved the way of life which the Law propounds is Doe these things comprehended in the Law and doe them constantly and then thou shalt live as Gal. 3.12 The Law saith The man that doth these things c. But the condition of the Covenant of grace is faith Acts 16.31 Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved But here a twofold doubt may be moved Quest 1. Whether faith be not required in the Law in the Covenant of workes 2. Whether workes be not required in the covenant of grace If both these be required faith in the Covenant of workes and workes in the covenant of grace then how stands the difference between the two Covenants Answ For answer to the first when it is demanded whether faith be not required in the Covenant of workes I answer It is but first it is not the same faith secondly nor required for the same end as in the Covenant of grace To explaine this I say the Covenant of workes requires faith and that in a threefold act thereof 1. In regard of dependance upon God the fountaine and author of all good wee were not in our first and best being which wee had by creation wee were not I say so perfect but wee stood in need still to depend upon him that had created us for the continuance of that being which he had given us It is imprinted in the nature of every creature to depend for sustentation upon that from whence it had its beginning as the chicken upon the hen c. So the whole creation lookes backe unto him that made it for preservation in their being as Psal 104.21.27 Psal 145.15 And if it be so in these unreasonable creatures thus to depend upon their Creator then was the same in man much more the covenant of the Law required this faith of man in the beginning though now we be as Gods in our owne eyes selfe-sufficient depending upon our selves and none else for all the good wee hope for yet at the beginning it was not so But man was to depend upon God for his being and well-being 2. Another act of faith required in the Law was a perswasion that God was well pleased with him whilst he walked in the way of love and obedience to his creator he was to believe without feare and doubt that so long as he obeyed the will of the Lord he was well-pleased with him 3. He was to believe the blessing of life promised in that covenant and to expect it according to the promise In all these regards faith was commanded in the Covenant of workes It may here be demanded Object If faith be required in the covenant of workes why is it not expressed in plaine words as well as doing the Covenant of workes saith Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and serve him but it doth not call for any act of faith at all The reason thereof is Answ because when the Covenant of workes was made with man he was then in his integritie sinne was not yet come into the world and therefore there was no cause for man to doubt of Gods love and acceptation of him But having received so great benefits from God made after his image but little inferior to the Angels and having dominion given him over all the workes of Gods hands he was now to be put in minde of his dutie towards his creator and therefore was to be stirred up to love honour
of the forgivenesse of sinnes in the killing of the sacrifice in putting their sinnes upon the head of the Goat So also the Law was written in their hearts else David could not have said Thy law is within my heart but not so fully as in the new manifestation of the Covenant under the Gospel In Joh. 7.39 it is said The Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified not but that the Spirit was then given in a measure but not so abundantly as after his ascension So here c. But in Gal. 4.22.24 25. the Covenant at Sinai is expresly distinguished Object 6 from the new covenant or testament the covenant at Sinai being signified by Hagar which brings forth children to bondage who was cast out with her sonne and haâ— no inheritance with Isaac the sonne of the free woman therefore the covenant at Sinai must needs be a covenant of workes It is not to be denied Answ but that the Law which is the summe of the covenant of workes was then published at Sinai but wee must withall remember what was before expressed concerning the two-fold consideration of the Law First Absolute in it selfe as it was given to Adâ—m Secondly Respective depending upon the promise of grace in which respect it was given to that people of Israel Now the Apostle speaks of the Law and covenant of works both wayes First he speakâ—s of it in the relative consideration as it had respect to that people and to the covenant of grace before made with them in Abraham and of this consideration of it he speakes from Chapter 3.17 to Chapter 4.21 and then from the beginning of ver 21. of the fourth Chapter to the end of the Chapter there he begins to intreat of the Law as simply considered in it selfe And indeed if wee so consider it simply by it selfe it doth containe nothing but a covenant of workes and begets children to bondage which shall have no inheritance with the children of promise which lay hold of the new Covenant but yet the former truth still holds firme and unshaken namely that it was not a Covenant of workes as it had respect to that people that is it was not given to them with intent that they should looke to be justified and to live thereby but onely to lead them to Christ and to restraine transgression as the Apostle fully shewes in the third Chapter This two-fold consideration of the Law here spoken of is evident to any that doth with attention read those two Chapters and attends to the scope of them for that which the Apostle speakes concerning the Law and the Jewes being under the Law Chap. 4.1 2 3. c. cannot be meant of those that are under it as under a Covenant of workes but of those that were children of God by grace though yet under age c. Againe that which he speakes of the Law in Chap. 4.29 30. with the verses before from ver 21. to the end cannot be applyed otherwise then to the children of the Law and Covenant of workes strictly and properly so called And therefore this two-fold consideration of the Law is grounded upon the Text it selfe And the Apostle ariseth from one of these unto the other First speaking of the Law as it had reference to that people shewing for what end it was given unto them which he handles Chapter 3.17 to Chap. 4.21 and then falls to an absolute consideration of it in it selfe shewing the danger of being under the Law being so considered simply as a covenant of workes namely that it casts us out of the inheritance which is given onely to the children of promise the Covenant then which God made with Israel at Sinai was a covenant of grace God renewing with them the former covenant made before with them in Abraham but withall did then shew them the covenant of workes what it was thereby to force them to cleave unto the former promise of grace The summe is that though the Law which containes the covenant of workes was delivered to the Israelites at Mount Sinai by a Mediator Moses by reason of that reference it had in them to the covenant of grace yet was it not so given by a Mediator unto Adam to whom it was given as a meere covenant of workes by which he should live And in this appeares the difference between the one Covenant and the other the covenant of workes is without a Mediator there being no breach between God and man when the covenant of workes was given But the covenant of grace is by a Mediator to make up the breach which sin hath made between God and us so as now in this estate of sin there is no peace with God no blessing from God but it must be obtained by the Mediator between God and man Jesus Christ Hence is that Ephes 2.13.16.18 where the Apostle shewes how both Jewes and Gentiles are made neere to God by Christ Wee were aliens and strangers but now are made Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God and have entrance and accesse to the Father by Christ Neither is there any other blessing to be looked for but as it comes to us through the hand of the Mediator he it is that hath received gifts for men Psal 68.18 and he gives gifts to men Eph. 4.8 by him wee have remission of sinnes Eph. 1.7 by him wee receive the Spirit of life and grace Joh. 1.16 By him the Mediator wee enter and are brought into covenant with God by him we are kept in covenant with him by him wee receive all the blessings of the Covenant and without a Mediator there is no peace no blessing to be looked for All the promises of the Covenant are made by him and fulfilled 2 Cor. 1.20 In him they are yea and Amen though every promise doe not by name mention Christ yet it hath respect unto Christ and without Christ wee can receive nothing that comes in the nature of a blessing or that comes from grace Grace comes onely by Jesus Christ Joh. 1.17 This serves to let us see the misery of all such as are under the Vse 1 Law under the Covenant of workes and not under grace let them consider they must come and stand before God the Judge of all who shall judge every man according to his workes and then shall all their sinnes be set in order before them and laid unto their charge and the Law passe sentence of death upon them and their own Consciences terrifie them and which is the upshot of their misery there shall be none to plead for them not one in heaven and earth to stand betwixt Gods wrath and them to turne it away from them but they shall be left unto themselves to dye and perish in their sinnes The Law hath no Mediator Christ is no Mediator to such as are under the Law he hath not a word to speake for them he tells such Joh. 17.19 how little they must
Covenants about childrens toyes and light matters but such as concerne the welfare of the Kingdome so when the great Monarch of heaven and earth enters into Covenant with us it is about the great things of our salvation the great things of heaven yea of God himselfe The Covenant is full of blessings it is a rich store-house replenished with all manner of blessings It is not dry nor barren but like the fat Olive or fruitfull Vine the fruit whereof cheares the heart of God and man God himselfe is delighted in the communication of his grace to his people and they are delighted with the participation of his grace from him The Covenant is a tree of life to those that feed upon it they shall live for ever It is a Well of salvation Isai 12.3 Isai 12.3 It 's a fountaine of good things to satisfie every thirstie soule Zach. 13.1 Zach. 13.1 It is a treasure full of goods as Deut. 28.12 Here is unsearchable riches in this Covenant which can never be emptied nor come to an end Our finite narrow understandings can never apprehend the infinite grace this Covenant containes no more then an egge-shell is able to containe the water of the whole Sea Yet it is not in vaine to consider them as wee are able to expresse them though they be above that which we are able to speake or thinke As Moses though he could not see Gods face nor discerne his glory to the full yet he was permitted to see his back parts so we may take a little view of the blessings promised though the full cannot be seene As in a Map we have the bounds of a Lordship set forth the rivers woods meadowes pastures c. these are seen darkly in the Map but they are nothing to that when they are seen in their own beautie and greennesse to see the silver streames in the rivers the beautifull woods the large medowes fat pastures and goodly orchards which are farre more excellent in themselves then when they are seene in the Map So we can shew you but a little Map of those glorious things which the Covenant containes but by that little that you doe see you may be raised up to the consideration of the things that are not seene but are to be revealed in due time Now the blessings of the Covenant are infolded and wrapped up in the promises of it every promise of Grace containing a blessing in it as every threatning of the Law contains a curse They are now infolded in the promise the time of unfolding is not yet come The time of full discovery is when the heavens come to be folded up Heb. 1.12 Heb. 1.12 then the promises shall be unfolden and then wee shall fully see the blessings of the Covenant Wee have now a right and interest in them which is safe and sure but as yet we have them but by promise onely and therefore it is that the termes of Covenant and promise are taken for the same Eph. 2.12 Ephes 2.12 Rom. 9.5 Hence also we are said to be heires in hope of eternall life Tit. 3.7 Titus 3.7 not in present possession but in hope Therefore if wee would see what are the blessings of the Covenant we must looke into the promises Now the promises and blessings of the Covenant are of two sorts First of things spirituall and eternall Secondly of things temporall that concerne this outward life The spirituall blessings of the Covenant are chiefly comprehended in these places of Scripture Jer. 31.31.33 Jer 31.31.33 This shall be my Covenant saith the Lord after those dayes I will put my Law in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them for I will forgive their iniquitie and remember their sinne no more So Ezek. 36.25 26 27 28. Ezek. 36.25 26 27 28. Then will I sprinkle cleane water upon you and yee shall be cleane from all your filthinesse and from all your Idolls will I cleanse you A new heart also will I give you c. So also Jerem. 32.38 39 40. They shall be my people and I will be their God and I will give them one heart c. Gen. 17.7 Gen. 17.7 I will be a God unto thee and thy seed These places compared together with such other doe expresse the summe of all the great things promised in the Covenant First Here is that great promise I will be your God and you shall be my people Secondly But if any say Alas how can God be a God unto me so sinfull as I am that have sinned provoked him as I have done therefore to take away this God saith that shall not hinder I will forgive your iniquities and remember them no more Thirdly But if the soule say further that though God should take all my former sinnes away and pardon them yet I have such a sinfull wretched nature in me that I shall breake out into new sinnes against him and bring a new guiltinesse upon my selfe The Lord removes and takes away this also and promiseth that he will renew our natures and give us hearts of flesh he will wash us from our filthinesse and write his law in our hearts and inable us to keepe his Statutes c. Fourthly But because some may yet say Though God should doe all this for me yet such is my infirmitie and weaknesse that I shall depart againe from the Lord I shall never hold out Therefore the Lord makes answer to this also and tells us that he will never depart away from us and that he will put such a feare of him into our hearts that wee shall never depart from him Jer. 32.40 To begin with the first which is the great promise of the Covenant I will be thy God Gen. 17.7 Gen. 17.7 Jer. 31.33 Jer. 31.33 This is set in the midst of the promises as the heart in the midst of the body to communicate life to all the rest of the members This promise hath influence into all the rest As Christ speaking of the Commandements of the Law calls that commandement of loving the Lord with all our heart the great Commandement so may this be called the great promise of the new-Covenant It is as great as God is He is an infinite God the heaven of heavens is not able to contain him Yet this promise containes him God shuts up himselfe in it I will be your God 1. Here is sufficiency It is a promise of infinite worth an overflowing blessing a rich possession an hid treasure which none can rightly value It was a great promise that Balak made to Balaam Numb 22.17 Numb 22.17 I will promote thee to great honour A greater which Ahâ—suerus made to Esther cap. 5.6 That he would give her the halfe of his kingdome A
greater then that which was made to Christ Mat. 4. if he that made it had been able to have performed it But this promise passeth them all If wee had a promise of an hundred worlds or of ten heavens this is more then all When God said to Abraham I will be thy God what could he give or say more As Heb. 6.13 God having no greater to sweare by swore by himselfe so God being minded to doe great things for his people and having no greater thing to give giveth them himselfe well therefore might the Apostle 2 Pet. 1. 2 Pet. 1. looking at these promises call them exceeding great and precious promises This is the greatest promise that ever was made or can be made to any creature Angels or men Herein God giveth himselfe to be wholly ours all his glory power wisdome goodnesse grace holinesse mercy kindnesse all is ours for the good of his people that are in Covenant with him Quantus quantus est he is all ours Hence saith the Lord to Moses Exod. 33.19 Exod. 33.19 I will make all my goodnesse to passe before thee And the Apostle 1 Cor. 3.19 All things are yours and all shut up in this I will be thy God When a man taketh a wife into the Covenant of marriage with him what ever he is he is wholly hers he gives himselfe and that which he hath to her so when the mightie God of heaven and earth taketh his people into covenant with him he is an husband to them and marries them to himselfe and therefore what ever he is in the glory and excellency of his nature it is all for the good and comfort of his people Consider God essentially or personally all is theirs God in his essence and glorious attributes communicates himselfe to them for their good And God personally considered as Father Sonne and Holy-Ghost they all enter into Covenant with us Isai 54.5 The Father enters into a Covenant with us he promises to be a Father to us 2 Cor. 6.17 Hence saith the Lord Exod. 4.22 Exod. 4.22 Israel is my sonne my first-borne and Jer. 31.9.20 Jer. 31.9.20 Is Ephraim my deare sonne is he my pleasant childe The Lord speaketh as though he were fond of his children delighting in them as Psal 147.11 Psal 147.11 pitying of them Psal 103.13 As a Father hath a care for his children to lay up something for them so the Lord hath a care to provide both heavenly and earthly inheritance for his children he hath a care to nurture and instruct them in his wayes Deut. 32.10 Deut. 32.10 2. Christ the Sonne is in Covenant with us and speakes to us as Isai 43.1 Isai 43.1 Thou art mine and Hosea 13.14 I will redeeme them I will ransome them O death I will be thy death Thou hast destroyed my people but I will destroy thee There is the Covenant of the Sonne with us He brings us back to his Father from whose presence we were banished and sets us before his face for ever He undertakes with us to take up all Controversies which may fall between God and us He promiseth to restore us to the Adoption of sonnes and not onely to the title but also to the inheritance of sonnes that wee might be where he is Joh. 17.24 3. The Holy Ghost makes a Covenant with us as Heb. 10.15 16. Heb. 10.15 16 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witnes to us testifying of this Covenant which he makes with us For after that he had said before This is the Covenant that I will make with them I will put my Law into their hearts and in their minds will I write them c. Though the Father be implyed in it yet here is the proper worke of the Holy Ghost What the Father hath purposed to his people from all eternitie and the Sonne hath purchased for them in time that the Holy Ghost effects in them He applyes the bloud of Christ for the remission of sinnes he writes the law in our hearts he teacheth us he washeth us from our filthinesse and comforteth us in our sadnes supports us in our faintings and guides us in our wandrings He that effects these things for us is there said to make a Covenant with us Thus God personally considered Father Sonne and Holy Ghost are in Covenant with us 2. As there is sufficiency in this promise so also a propriety to all the faithfull Therefore it is said not onely I will be God but I will be thy God and so every faithfull soule may say God is my God 1. They have a right in him 2. They have a possession of him First They have a right in him The name God in the promise is a name or title of relation as the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vir which signifie not onely a man in generall but a man with speciall relation to such a woman as he hath by Covenant betrothed to himselfe So here the name God it notes forth the relation in which God stands to us Hence it is said he is not ashamed to be called their God Heb. 11.16 Therefore when he had made a Covenant with Abraham he called himselfe the God of Abraham and afterwards the God of Isaac the God of Jacob the God of Israel As a woman may say of him to whom shee is married this man is my husband so may every faithfull soule say of the Lord he is my God Secondly They have possession of him He doth impart and communicate himselfe unto them in his holinesse in his mercy in his truth in the sense of his grace and goodnesse He doth not onely shew himselfe unto them but communicate himselfe unto them Hence it is said 1 Joh. 1.3 1 Joh. 1.3 Wee have fellowship with the Father c. and Christ is said to come and sup with them Rev. 3.20 Rev. 3.20 and to kisse them with the kisses of his mouth Cant. 1.1 2. And to be neare to them in all that they call upon him for Deut. 4.7 Deut. 4.7 It is true we have here but the first fruits the earnest peny a little part of that fulnesse which shall be revealed because we live by faith and by promise more then by sense and sight And thence it is that sometimes Gods owne people seeme to feele God departed from them as Isa 45.15 Isai 45.15 65.15 Yet they enjoy God still even in such desertions First In regard of his Grace pardoning their failings Secondly In his power sustaining Thirdly In his grace sanctifying them Fourthly In all these they have a sure pledge of a more full communion with him when the fulnesse of time is come Reason The reason why the Lord promiseth to give himselfe to his people is because a reasonable creature can be made blessed no other way then by enjoying of God himself It is not all the other things of the world that can make man happy but onely
the fruition of the blessed God Vse 1 This may let us see the abundant grace of God towards us in this promise of the covenant that hee is pleased to become our God this may be the wonder of the whole world that which Heaven Earth Angels and Men may stand astonied at that the high God should enter into a covenant with us to become our God There are divers things that manifest the riches of grace in this blessing First it we consider what it is that is given it is no lesse then the great mighty and infinite God Secondly unto whom he hath given himselfe even to us a generation of sinfull men the wretched children of apostatizing Adam that he should give himselfe to us though we had forsaken him and cast him off this is wonderfull grace It was no small thing that the Lord would at first enter into covenant with Adam though carrying upon him then the lively image and representation of Gods holinesse yet this was lesse wonderfull a righteous God to be in covenant with righteous man the holy God to be in covenant with man indued with the like holinesse But this is the wonder of grace that the just and holy God should enter into covenant with and communicate himselfe to such sinfull polluted loathsome and unclean creatures as the sonnes of men be We might justly have been left to the God of this world 2 Cor. 4.4 2 Cor. 4.4 because we had preferred him before the true God But God is pleased to give himselfe to us to become our God This Angels may stand and wonder at here is infinite grace Justice can lay no claim to this blessing well therefore mâ—y we say unto it Grace Grace Thirdly it is more grace still because his entring into this covenant with us his bestowing of this grace is of himselfe onely of his own good will and pleasure without our seeking or enquiring for him Indeed before wee get full interest in the covenant we are glad to seek and sue but the Lord begins and offers himself unto us as 2 Cor. 6.17 2 Cor 6.17 Come out from amongst them saith the Lord and I will be a Father unto you Men seek not after God as Psalm 14.2 but the Lord takes them by the hand and saith as Psalm 81.11 12. O Israel I will bee thy God So also he tells his people Ezek. 16.6 8. that when they lay in their bloud them he said unto them Live and sware unto them and entred into a covenant with them And yet here is more grace stil unto those that God enters into covenant with in that he is not the God of the whole world but of a remnant a little handful of people whom God hath chosen Out of the whole masse of sinfull men the Lord picks out a few base poore despised ones things of no account as 1 Cor. 1.27 28. and gives himselfe to such passing by those that count themselves Gods in comparison of other men passes by Saul that sits on the throne and chuses David that followeth the sheep here is the grace of the covenant this may cause us to wonder and say as Judas John 14.22 What is the cause that thou wilt shew thy self to us and not to the world To teach us all that doe heare of the covenant and of the rich Vse 2 and abundant blessing that is enjoyed thereby to give up our selves wholly and onely unto God who hath given himselfe wholly and onely to those that are in covenant with him Mete unto God as hee metes to you As hee maketh a covenant with you to give himself wholly to you so doe you devote and consecrate your selves your wit strength gifts and all to be wholly for him Doe not as the Israelites Psalm 81. God offered himselfe to them but they would have none of him God is a God to us and not to the world let us be a people unto him and not to the world The covenant between God and us must bee as the covenant between man and wife Hosea 3.3 Thou shalt be for me and I will be for thee The Lord takes it ill when as Isai 57.8 his people run after other lovers and commit fornication with Idols and with the world Live therefore unto him who lives and works all things for us and for our salvation To teach us in all our straits and necessities to flie unto this Vse 3 covenant that the Lord hath made with us to claim the right and interest that we have in him and to look unto him for succour in all the distresses that we meet withall Goe unto him and say Thou art our God now we stand in need of thy help all creatures cannot yeeld it doe not thou therefore faile us Look unto this promise I will be a God unto thee This course the Church taketh Isai 63.15.16 Isai 63.15.16 and by vertue of his covenant they plead for mercy in their great misery Doubtlesse thou art our Father look down c. This also the Church pleads with God in time of famine Jer. 14.21 Jerem. 14.21 Break not covenant with us it is thou the Lord our God that must give rain c. This is a sweet plea for every child of God to plead with the Lord by Vse 4 To teach us how we ought to walk in an holy fellowship with God without estrangednesse seeing he hath made a covenant with us and given himselfe to us Take heed of causing estrangednesse between God and us As friends that are in covenant the one with the other are carefull to shun all offences whereby they might grieve one another or cause any alienation of affection between them so should it be with us God doth nothing to grieve us he deales lovingly kindly and mercifully with us and therefore expostulates with his people Micah 6.3 Wherein have I grieved thee Lay against me the matter of accusation Oh that we could say the like unto him But let us labour so to walk in all holy fellowship and care to please him in reverence and feare of him that we may not doe any thing but that which is acceptable in his sight It may also direct us how to walk towards every person in the Trinity seeing they all enter into covenant with us Let us carry our selves to the Father as children in feare of him with faith depending upon him walk before him in child-like obedience Let us labour to honour the Son who hath abased himselfe to redeem us unto himselfe 1 Cor. 6. last 1 Cor. 6. last And seeing the holy Ghost is our Sanctifier and Comforter labour to walk as the Temples of the holy Ghost keeping our vessels in holinesse and honour that he may delight to dwell in us and take heed of grieving the holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed to the day of redemption and submit your selves to his gracious directions in all things Vse 5 A ground of infinite comfort
to every faithfull soule thou mayst say the Lord is my God hee is my own It is somewhat to say we have an house of our own necessaries of our own bread of our own to eat cloathes of our own to put on so as wee need not goe to others to supply our wants but what a blessing is this that the soul may say I have a God of mine own God is my God It is the misery of the men of the world that they are forced to speak of God as of the God of another people as Laban Gen. 31.29 The God of your Fathers and Pharaoh Exod. 10.16 Pray to the Lord your God c. They cannot speak of God as their own God But this is the felicity of the people of God that they can challenge an interest in God and say as David Psalm 63.1 Psalm 63.1 O God thou art my God This is more then if we could say as Psal 50.10 11. Psalm 50.10 11. That all the beasts upon a thousand mountaines are mine Value therefore this blessing The greater God is in himselfe the greater blessing and consolation it is to us he being wholly ours All the nations of the earth are as the drop of a bucket unto him yea as nothing Isai 40.12.15 17. All the great things which the world admires at and gazes upon they are all nothing in comparison of him And therefore God being so infinite what an infinite blessing is it to have him for our God In Gen. 15. Gen. 15. Abraham asketh God Lord what wilt thou give mee The Lord answers him I will give thee my selfe take me as thine use me as thine The same he speaks of every faithfull child of Abraham Vse me and acknowledge me and all my power Grace and mercy and kindnesse as thine own See how David was affected with this 1 Chro. 17.20 21 22.24 Thus we have taken a little view of this great blessing of the covenant I will be a God unto thee But because this is the main and principall Promise of the covenant being Substantia foederis as Junius call it Anima foederis as Paraeus Caput foederis as Musculus calls it therefore we will a little further sift into this promise and see what it may contain within the bowels of it Now if we would know what this implies when the Lord sayes I will be God unto thee wee must first consider what it is to be God and then we shall see what it is that he promiseth to be God unto us Now to be God implies these three things 1. To bee All-sufficient both to his own Being and Blessednesse and to the blessednesse of the creature 2. To have all that blessednesse and sufficiency that is in him from himselfe and not from another 3. To be God over all to have dominion and soveraignty over all as Rom. 9. To apply these things to the point in hand That God will be a God to us implies these three things 1. That he will be an All-sufficient God to us 2. That he will be all this good to us from himself and from no other 3. That he will be God over us to bring us again under the first dominion as Micah 4.8 Micah 4.8 to rule over us and govern us according to his will First for the first that God will be an All-sufficient God to us this is a part of his covenant that he will be to us a full blessing so as that we shall bee wanting in nothing that is good for us Hence it is Gen. 17.7 that when God tells Abraham He will be his God and the God of his seed if Abraham should now ask what that is saith God verse 1. I am God All-sufficient and also my goodnesse and sufficiency is thine I will bee enough to thee thou shalt need no more Hence also is that in Jeremy 31.14 I will satiate your soule with fatnesse and my people shall be satisfied with goodnesse saith the Lord. God is enough to them that are his Reason Because he is sufficient to his own blessednesse and therefore much more unto ours He needs no creature to adde unto him The greater any one is in state and dignity the more he stands in need of Psalm 16.3 to be a sufficient fulnesse unto him That is too little for a Prince which is enough for a private man Now God is the most excellent Being and therefore that which is sufficient for himselfe must needs much more be so for us That water which fills the sâ—a will much more fill a cup and therefore said David when he enjoyed God My cup runneth over Psal 23. Thirdly because what ever good is in the creature is more eminently and abundantly in God himselfe hee is the Fountain and they are the Cisterns What ever good is in Angels or Men or other creatures is more abundantly in God And therefore if all the good of all creatures joyned together were able to satisfie and to be sufficient for a man as we would think it were then is God much more Thirdly there is in God a sutablenesse to the desires of the soul of man It is the happinesse of the creature to have a thing suitable to it Now the soule being made after the Image of God it is best satisfied with God and nothing else can satisfie it As no creature satisfied Adam till Eve was made that was suitable to him Similitude breeds content The soul is a spirit and dâ—sires spirituall things Now God is a Spirit Again the soule is of an intelligâ—nt nature reaching after the knowledge of high and hidden things Now God is light and wisdome to sati fie the soule in this by filling it with light by the knowledge of himselfe Again the soule is an immortall substance which dies not and the desires of it are immortall So is God therein satisfying our soules dâ—sires Fourthly if God be our God then all the creatures are ours and for our good If God bee ours then all that is his is ours now all the creatures are his Hence saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 3. end All things are yours As when a virgin marrieth a Prince his riches glory and all are for her good So God having taken us into covenant with himselfe all that hee is and hath is for our comfort and blessednesse As God is able thus to be an All-sufficient God to us so he will be to those that are his First because it is the nature of goodnesse to bee communicative of it self and therefore God being good he will let out himself unto his people He cannot satisfie himself unlesse he doe it Secondly the Lords end in taking us into covenant with himselfe is to make us an happy and blessed people which wee cannot be but onely by the enjoyment of God himself blessednesse standing in a confluence of all good which cannot be found but in God alone There is in man himselfe nothing but vanity and misery he
is able to make up all to them that they are cut short of Our discontents therefore doe not arise from the change of our condition in outward things but because we want our fellowship with God If we doe not finde a sufficiency it is because we doe not injoy him our all-sufficient good What is the cure then We must stirre up our faith and consider our Covenant thinke with our selves what God hath promised to be to us even our God our all-sufficient good If wee had faith but as a graine of Mustard seed and did exercise our faith in this promise and live by it wee might command these stormes of discontent which trouble us to be at peace and be still We might then say as Psal 42.11 Psal 42.11 Why art thou cast downe within me O my soule c. Hast not thou an all-sufficient good a God to injoy Here then is the way to true contentation Labour to enjoy God live upon him he is the rest of the soule an all-sufficient good Vse 2 It may be a rule of triall whereby we may in some part discerne whether we doe indeed enjoy God in the outward comforts of this life which we doe partake in Many will aske the question Whether doe I injoy God in the blessings I have Here is one thing whereby it may be knowne God is an all-sufficient good to them that doe enjoy him he fills all things with his fulnesse He maketh every thing a full blessing when he comes to us in it It is contentfull Doe we then finde that the things which we have are sufficient for us and doe they bring a kind of satiety and fulnesse with them so that we are satisfied with our portion this is because God is in it and fills the blessing with his fulnesse and so makes it to fill us and makes us say with Jacob I have enough therefore when wee are not satisfied with what we have it is a signe that God hath left the creature and then it proves an empty and windy vanitie to us So much satiety so much of God in every blessing For direction where to pitch our affections and settle the desires Vse 3 of our soule when we would find contentment in any blessing Set our hearts there where we may be sure to find that which will fill the desires of them Contentment is that which all seeke for but they seeke not aright fasten therefore the affections of the soule on God and on him alone Set not your hearts on riches Psal 62.10 Psal 62.10 Lâ—y not out your money for that which is not bread Isai 55.1 2. and your silver for that which satisfies not Nothing can fill the heart but the fulnesse of God For comfort unto all those that are in Covenant with God to Vse 4 you I may say as Moses to the people of Israel Deut. 33.29 Deut. 33.29 Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord And as David Psal 33.12 Psal 33.12 Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord. Take notice therefore of your blessednesse This is a blessednesse that hath the confluence of all good in it Let others blesse themselves in their wealth dignitie in titles and places of honour and in their power and authoritie over men this is a poore and miserable blessednesse But let us say as Psal 144.15 Blessed are they whose God is the Lord Rejoyce therefore in your portion you have an all-sufficient God to save you from all kinde of evill to minister to you all kinde of good to worke all your workes for you and in you and the time will shortly come when you shall say I have enough my cup runs over But we see many that professe to be in Covenant with God Object that live as poore contemptible lives feele as many wants and lie under as many troubles as any other For the present I say in a word thus 1. Answ That the time of the full enjoyment of this promise is not yet come 2. Peradventure Gods owne people sometimes walke not in the way of the Covenant for as there is the blessing of the Covenant so also the way wherein they must walke and they starting out of the way misse of the blessing 3. The lives of Gods people are not to be judged of by their outward appearance but by their inward state and condition many a man lives poorely for outward things in this world and yet finds more sufficiency and fulnesse in that estate then many a man that hath barnes full and fares deliciously every day For first they have necessaries as well as they that have more though but little before-hand They have every day a certain provision prepared for them As the King of Babylon provided for Jeremiah 2 Chron. 36. 2 Chron. 36. Again though Gods servants have many times but little yet they have as much comfort in that little as those that have greater abundance Psal 37.16 They have as much peace quiet of heart and conscience as free from feare and care as chearfull and comfortable and finde as good a savour in that homely provision they feed upon as others in their honey-combe And whence is all this but from hence that the fulnesse of God is in that little which they enjoy There is a full blessing in it God hath put himselfe into it and though it be but little and mean in shew yet it is much in substance And lastly If Gods servants want at any time he sees a little to be better for them then more abundance not because God cannot fulfill their necessitie or is not willing he is able to supply their wants and will in due time administer all Grace to them God is a sufficient God to his people and therefore blessed are the people that are in such a case yea blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. 2. As God will be a sufficient God unto us so he will be all this to us from himselfe God hath his all-sufficiency from himselfe therefore called Jehovah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is the first cause of his own blessednesse and communicates all blessednesse to his people from himselfe Man may communicate good to man the Father to the children a Minister to his people one neighbour to another but he cannot doe it from himselfe but as he hath first received from God The vessell may give you water but not from it selfe but what it hath from the fountaine the fountaine onely gives it from it selfe So it is between God and the creature God is the fountaine of living waters who immediately communicates all to his people and thus the Lord will be to them as he promises Isai 44.24 Isai 44.24 I am the Lord that maketh all things that stretcheth out the heavens alone and spreadeth abroad the earth by my selfe There is the force of the promise that whereas the enemies
were mighty and the people of God thought it impossible that they should be redeemed out of Captivitie God taketh a resemblance from the worke of Creation and applyes it to the worke of their redemption that as he stretched out the heavens alone and spread abroad the earth by himselfe so by himselfe alone he would worke out salvation for his people So Isai 59.16 Isai 59.16 God speaketh like a man that looketh that others should come and helpe him but none came therefore his owne arme brought salvation and sustained his people Israel The Lord alone will be a sufficient blessing to his people Hence Isai 45.7 Isai 45.7 The Lord saith that he formes light and creates darknesse he makes peace and creates evill Sometimes God so creates evill that if it be asked whence it comes or what is the originall of it we must answer as Isai 47.11 we cannot tell whence it cometh but onely from the Lords immediate hand The Lord makes it evident that it cometh from him that men are forced to say as Jehoram 2 Kings 6.33 2 King 6.33 This evill is of the Lord or as the Magicians Exod. 8.19 This is no other but the finger of God So on the contrary the Lord so workes from himselfe in the communicating of his goodnesse and mercy to his people that they may see and plainly perceive that it is the immediate hand of God that hath wrought all This may be made manifest both first in the want of outward meanes and secondly in the injoyment of them First In the want of meanes here God steps in and makes a supply and becomes all things unto his people sometimes God withholds from his people the meanes of life and yet they live that it may appeare that our life is not in the meanes but in God that he is our life and the length of our dayes as Deut. 30.20 Deut. 30.20 And that in him we live and move and have our being Acts 17. Thus Moses when he had neither bread nor water for fortie dayes yet he lived and was as strong as though he had daily eaten his appointed food So also was it with Elijah and our Saviour Christ Mat. 4.2 So also with the people of Israel God suffered them to be hungry and yet they did not famish that it might appeare that man lives not by bread onely but by every word of God Deut. 8.3 Hence is that in Isai 41.17 18.20 Isai 41.17 18.20 The Lord will open rivers in the high places and fountaines in the valleyes for the poore and needy c. And for what end will the Lord doe this that they may know and consider that the hand of the Lord hath done this c. Thus was the Lord good to the Israelites in the wildernesse he was all things to them First they had no setled habitation but the Lord was an habitation unto them Psal 90.1 Psal 90.1 Againe they had no ordinary bread for fortie yeares together and yet they were preserved alive that they might know that the Lord was the God of their welfare as Moses saith Deut. 29.6 Deut. 29.6 Againe they had no meanes of renewing their cloathing and yet they wanted not as Deut. 29.5 Their cloathes waxed not old upon them nor their shooes upon their feet Againe they were often to journey and travell by night as well as by day and they knew not one foot of the way they should goe therefore the Lord himselfe was a guide unto them He went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud and in a pillar of fire by night Exod. 13.21 Exod. 13.21 Therein the Lord fulfilled that which he speakes Isai 48.17 Isai 48.17 I the Lord thy redeemer lead thee in the way wherein thou shouldest goe Hence is that in Deut. 32.10.12 The Lord alone led him and there was no strange God with him He alone provided for them he alone fed them he alone conducted them he alone did all for them As it is thus in temporall benefits so also in spirituall blessings the Lord is from himselfe all in all unto his people In Ezek. 11.16 Ezek. 11.16 the Lord tells them that he would carry them into captivitie and now lest they should be discouraged for want of the Temple and Ordinances therefore the Lord promises that he will be a Sanctuary unto them he will supply unto them the want of publique ordinances from himselfe Hence is that in Isai 54.17 Isai 54.17 it is said that they shall be taught of God and Rom. 8.26 Rom. 8.26 that the spirit helpes the infirmities of Gods people when the servants of God would pray but they cannot the Spirit himselfe maketh up their wants and fills their hearts with groanes which pierce the heavens So when they are to speake before the adversaries of Gods truth and they know not how to answer then the Lord puts an answer into their mouthes as Mat. 10.20 Mat. 10.20 So also in the preaching of the Word the Lord himselfe puts words into the mouthes of his servants that whereas they may say as Moses Exod. 4.10 I am of a stammering tongue and cannot speake or as Jer. cap. 1.6 I am a childe c. yet the Lord is a mouth unto them and they speake words not which mans wisdome teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth 1 Cor. 2.13 1 Cor. 2.13 that they which heare them are forced to say God is in you of a truth So also in the comfort and peace that God giveth unto his servants he giveth it not as the world giveth by abundance of earthly comforts and outward prosperitie but when all things threaten trouble yet then he gives peace from himselfe Joh. 14.27 Joh. 14.27 Secondly Consider how God is all to his people from himselfe even in the possession enjoyment of his good blessings sometimes the Lord continues to us the meanes of life and yet so workes and orders all that the benefit and blessing is evidently seene to come not from them but from the Lord alone And this he maketh to appeare divers wayes First Sometimes God lets us enjoy the creature and yet wee want the blessing for a season till he command a blessing to come Sometimes we have raine but not the raine of blessing yet afterwards he causeth it to come in mercy and to become a blessing The Sunne shineth in the firmament but we want the heat of it the warmth and quickning power of it is withheld to let us see that it is not the Sunne but the Lord by which we doe enjoy the blessing We cast our seed into the ground but it doth not prosper afterward it growes and flourisheth Sometimes we carry out much and bring in little what is the reason It is to let us see the truth of that 1 Cor. 3.7 1 Cor. 3.7 that it is the Lord which giveth the increase Sometimes we carry out little and bring in
see that we abiding with him in the places he hath set us in he will be with us and blesse us so as we shall want nothing that is good For direction to all such as desire to find the accomplishment Vse 3 of this gracious promise of God to his people that God will be from himselfe an all-sufficient good to them this is to teach them how to walk that they may find this blessing performed to thâ—m let them betake themselves to God alone and cast themselves wholly upon him Let them make him all unto them let them make it appeare that they look after nothing in heaven but him nor desire any thing in the earth in comparison of him as Psal 73.25 Psal 73.25 And then when thâ—ir hearts are taken off from these râ—eds and broken staves which they râ—sted on when it is with thâ—m as the Prophet speaketh Isai 17.7 8. that they look unto tâ—eir maker and not to the creature not to thâ—ir own devices and projects but onely to the holy One of Israel then will the Lord appeare in his glory and will make it manifest that from himselfe he will be an all-sufficient good to his people Let all other things be to us as though they were not use them as though we used them not see a fulnesse of all things in God Let us cast our selves upon the bounty kindnesse and all-sufficiency of the Lord And then will he arise and help us and doe for us according to our need Imitate the practise of Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 20. when hee saw himselfe destitute of help Our eyes saith he are unto thee O Lord we know not what to doe Let the Lord sâ—e that our hearts are withdrawn from the creature and those helps which we leaned upon and that we doe faithfully relie upon him and then will hee ride upon the heavens for our help as Deut. 33.26 Deut. 33.26 and say This is a people that will not lie they have cast themselves upon mee and therefore I will not faile them nor forsake them I will be an all-sufficient good unto them For comfort unto godly and faithfull parents that having Vse 4 come over hither have here spent their estates by which they might have provided comfortably for their children they have come hither for the name of Christ that they might enjâ—y him in the means of his worship and though they doe here find grace and mercy from the Lord and a spirituall advantage to their souls yet they meet with losses troubles and straits for the outward man that they can now doe little for them What shall parents now doe What shall children doe Here is comfort look to the all-sufficient God that from himselfe will be all in all to his people Though there bee no blessing in the hand of the Parent yet there is in the hand of the Lord. What hee would have done for the children by the hand of the Parents he wil now doe it from himselfe by his own hand It is said of Isaac that after the death of Abraham God blâ—ssed him Gen. 25.11 Gen. 25.11 If Isaac prosper whiles Abraham lives he might seem to be upholden by the substance of his father But when Abraham was dâ—ad then it was evident that the blessing upon Isaac came from the Lord So whiles the Parents estates continue children might seem to bee enriched by them but when their fathers estates are wasted and come to nothing and yet the children are provided for and prosper then it appeares to bee from the Lord. Lâ—t therefore both parents and children depend upâ—n him and live by faith in him who wil be a Father to them an all-sufficient good to those that trust in him 3. Now to the third and last particular in this promise I will be your God To be God implies soveraignty and superiority over all To be over all as Rom. 9.5 Rom 9.5 and above all aâ— Ephes 4.6 Ephes 4.6 This therefore is also comprehended in the promise That hee wil bee God over us and above us to rule us to command us to direct and order our wayes for us That though he doe advance and set us up on high when he takes us into covenant with himselfe as Deut. 26.18 19. yet so as that he wil be Lord and Gâ—d over us as Pharaoh said to Joseph when he advanced him to that high honour Yet saith he on the Kings Throne I will bee above thee So though God do lift up his people by entring into covenant with them so that all the world are but servants to minister unto them for their good yet will the Lord still retain his soveraignty over them and bee exalted above them As he wil be above all his â—nemies in that wherein they deale proudly as hee was above the Egyptians Exod. 18.11 to breake them in peeces with a rod of Iron So hee will bee above his owne people to rule them with a golden Scepter And this is a blessing of the covenant of grace Now this benefit implies these things First that the Lord will bring his people from under the power and dominion of other Lords which have gotten the superiority over them and bring them into subjection unto himselfe alone so that whereas they might say concerning the time before as Isai 26.13 Other Lords have had dominion over us besides thee yet now they shall rule over them no more but they shall be subject to him only Hence saith the Lord Joel 3.3 4 Joel 3.3 4. c They have cast lots for my people c. And what have you to doe with me O Tyre and Zydon and all the coast of Palestine will you render mee a recompence c. The meaning is as if God should speak to the enemies of his Church You have trampled upon my people and dealt cruelly with them and this you have done in revenge against me because I have plagued you Will you thus recompence me I will break you in peeces and deliver my pâ—ople from under yâ—ur power As a King when he makeâ—h a covenant with a people to be King over them he then covenants with them to save them out of the haâ—ds of all their enemies to suffer no foraigne power to tyrannize over thâ—m So it is here the Lord promiseth that no tyrant shall rule over his people neither sinne nor Satan nor the world nor the lust of their own hearts but he himselfe will rule over them 2. When he hath delivered us from our enemies then he will be God over us to command us and appoint us what wee shall doe to please him Though he communicate himselfe to us in all his goodnesse grace and mercy yet he will not lose his soveraignty over us In Exod. 4.16 Exod. 4.16 Moses was called a God unto Aaron because he was to command appoint and direct Aaron in all and Aaron was to execute all according to the direction received from Moses So the Lord
him or for him not for our selves but for him mourning that we have pierced him and grieved his Spirit by our sinnes 5. An heart willing to forgive and to doe good unto those that have done evill against us Mat. 6.14 Mat. 6.14 when wee cannot onely forbeare them but forgive them and beare a loving heart to them that have been unloving towards us This disposition of heart in us springs from an higher fountaine of grace which hath been shed downe upon us in forgiving our sinnes When the heart can reason with it selfe to suppresse revengefull desires when they are stirring in us and can argue as Mat. 18. and Eph. 4. Mat. 18. Eph. 4. the Lord is willing to forgive me my debts and ought not I also to forgive my fellow-servant that hath offended me Such a disposition of heart is a fruit and token of the forgivenesse of our sinnes Mat. 6.14 The grace that hath been shewed us in the forgivenesse of our sinnes workes an answerable disposition in us making us ready to forgive the sinnes of our brethren 6. A free and full confession of sinne when we deale openly with the Lord freely willing to open all our whole heart before the Lord discovering knowne sinnes secret sinnes the most prevailing beloved and inward corruptions willing to take the shame of all unto our selves and still to be more vile in our selves that mercy might be glorified in our forgivenesse When we can bring out the whole pack and not keepe a sin back so farre as wee know any thing by our selves but lay all open and naked before the face of God till there be no more to be found such confession hath a promise of forgivenesse 1 Joh. 1.9 1 Joh. 1.9 There may be a forced confession as was that of Saul when he was so fully convinced of his sinne that he would no longer deny it 1 Sam. 15. And of Judas who out of extremitie of horror and rage of conscience was made to confesse his wickednesse in betraying innocent bloud There may be also a formall superficiall and partiall confession when we doe in a generall fashion confesse our selves sinners which confession hath no promise of forgivenes because these confessions are ever accompanied first with a desire if possible to maintaine our own innocency secondly with a spirit of unbeliefe and misgiving heart fearing lest our own mouth should judge us and wee become witnesses against our selves Thirdly with a spirit of pride loath to confesse our selves to be so vile as we must acknowledge our selves to be if we should confesse all our sinnes against our selves But when a man is willing to search out all his sin unto the last that he may lay open all his heart and confesse all his iniquitie against himselfe before the Lord being vile in his own eyes and desiring to be more vile loathing himselfe for all his abominations of such an one that can thus come before the Lord in humble confession of his sinnes I doubt not to say unto him Goe thy way in peace thy sin is forgiven thee If God give us a heart thus humbly to confesse it is unto us a signe there is in God a heart mercifully to forgive Exhortation to all the Saints that have tasted of this rich grace Vse 6 in the forgivenes of their sinnes Let them ascribe glory unto him that hath shewed this mercy on them extolling that grace which hath forgiven them this the Lord lookes for he would have his grace glorified by us Eph. 1.6 Ephes 1.6 The Lord himselfe publisheth this as his own glory that he is a God forgiving iniquitie transgression and sin Exod. 34.6 Exod. 34.6 And the servants of God have herein given glory unto him as Micah 7.18 Micah 7.18 Who is a God like unto thee who passeth by the transgression of the remnant of thine heritage We should make the praise of this grace to ring through the whole world that heaven and earth may take notice of it and wonder at the grace that hath been shewed on us This grace can never be sufficiently glorified by us To teach us willingly to become servants unto this God of all Vse 7 Grace who dealeth thus mercifully with his people See Hos 14.5 Hos 14.5 When the Lord there promiseth to heale the rebellions of his people by taking away their iniquities from them marke what this workes in them ver 9. What have wee say they any more to doe with Idolls with our former sinnes we will serve them them no more we will henceforth serve thee our gracious God which promisest to heale all our backslidings His will wee be him will wee serve And thus much of the second Benefit The third Benefit of the Covenant is the renewing and sanctifying of our natures by the graces of the Spirit The Lord having first justified us by his grace in the forgivenesse of our sinnes he theâ— goes on to sanctifie us that we might be an holy people unto him to serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all our dayes Luk. 1. Luke 1. When he hath made us imputedly righteous he will have us inherently righteous also And by the promise of this benefit the Lord answers another scruple which his people might be subject unto We might thinke with our selves this is indeed a great benefit which the Lord hath promised hithâ—rto namely to forgive all my sin But though the Lord should performe all this mercy unto mee forgiving unto me all my former sins unto this day yet I have such a vile sinfull nature within mee that I shall returne and sin againe as wickedly as ever I did before and so shall bring a new guiltinesse upon my self Hereto the Lord answers No it shall not be I will renew alter and change that sinfull and wicked nature that is in you I will make your heart a new heart so as you shall be enabled to doe my will and walk in my wayes I will sanctifie you to be an holy and pretious people to my self This renovation and sanctification of our nature stands first in cleansing away our sinfull corruption and then in an infusion and filling of us with the holy graces of the Spirit As a vessell which wee intend for any honourable use first wee scoure and rinse out the filth that is in it and then we sweeten it with other things and so make it fit for service and use Satan had defiled us with his loathsome filthinesse but so many as the Lord sets apart unto himselfe to be vessels of honour in his house those hee cleanseth from all filthinesse of flesh and spirit and seasoneth them with all the sweet and gracious gifts of his Spirit Hence it is that we are said to be made partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 2 Peter 1.4 and to be renewed with the renâ—wing of the holy Ghost Titus 3.5 And we are said to be created new in Christ Jesus Eph. 2.10 because
yet would live in hatred of their brother ver 9. They would say they loved God yet loved not their brethren 1 Ioh. 4.20 Now against these Sayers as I may call them that were all in profession and in word saying Lord Lord but not doing his will against these I say the Apostle opposeth these others which had the true work of sanctification in their heart and tells us that hereby we know c. Namely if we doe not onely say we love the brethren but doe indeed love them c. hereby we know that we are passed from death to life Thus by these expressions taken out of the Apostles own mouth we see clearely who they are whom the Apostle meaneth by this we namely not we onely who have received that immediate witnesse of the Spirit assuring us of our election and justification but we also which have this work of sanctification wrought in our hearts by the holy Ghost Quest But some may say why should we goe about to evidence our justification by our sanctification rather then our sanctification by our justification Ans Because though they goe both together in time yet they are not both alike in respect of manifestation Our sanctification is more manifest to us then is our justification It s easier discerned First because our sanctification is the work of the Spirit whose part it is as was said before to make known unto us the hid things of God for which cause he is called the Spirit of Revelation c. Eph. 1.17 Secondly because our sanctification is a work within us wrought in out own hearts Our justification is an act of God without us God not imputing to us our iniquities but our sanctification is an inward work wrought in a mans own bowels of which he hath and cannot but have a sensible feeling in himselfe Obj. But by this reason may some say a man may as well know his justification as his sanctification because we are justified by faith and faith is an inward Grace planted in the heart as well as any other sanctifying Grace which springs therefrom And therefore we may know our justification by our faith as well as by our sanctification Answ True so farre as we discerne our faith we may thereby discerne our justification also But this makes for us not against us Though this withall is to be considered that faith being as the root of all other Graces is more hidden then they are as the root of the tree is more hidden in the earth then the body or branches but this we stand not upon This therefore we would grant that a man may know his justification by his faith but this toucheth not the point in hand For when we goe about to try our justification by our sanctification and by qualifications inherent in us in this way of tryall faith is excluded as much as any other sanctifying Graces be And the meaning of those that doe oppose this way of evidencing by our sanctification is to remove all evidence by any thing in our selves whether by faith or by any other Grace and to urge only the immediate revelation of the Spirit The summe is that this is a safe way of tryall being laid down unto us by the Lord himselfe in the Word And it is a possible way in as much as our sanctification is more evident then our justification this being an act of God without us as was said before and that a work within us which we feele and finde in our own soules Would we then know whether we be of the number of those that are saved by the blood of the Covenant we need not for this ascend up into heaven to search the book of Gods election nor need we to goe down into the lower parts of the earth for any there to tell us that we are deliveâ—ed thence but goe down into our own hearts and if we finde this work of sanctification there wrought then what Moses said of Israel Blessed art thou O Israel a people saved by the Lord the same may be truly said of us Our salvation is begun we have the seale of it the earnest the first fruits which shall at length bring the full possession of the whole harvest Blessed therefore are they which are undefiled in their way saith David which walk in the Law of the Lord Psal 119.1 Blessed are the pure in heart Matth. 5.8 Those that have innocent hands and a pure heart shall surely ascend into the mountaine of the Lord and stand in his holy place Psal 24.3 4. Such as these shall never be moved or confounded Psal 15. end But if in our hearts we doe still nourish impurity if we be fleshly carnall such as have not the Spirit then have we no part nor portion in that salvation which the Covenant brings unto Gods people without holinesse no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 No unrighteous person no uncleane thing shall enter into Gods Kingdome 1 Cor. 6. Quest But how shall we discern our sanctification to be right sincere and sound Answ 1. By the extent of it It goes over the whole man soule body and spirit 1 Thes 5.23 and therefore compared to leaven Matth. 13.33 which runnes through the dough till all bee leavened As corruption had defiled all so Grace sanctifies all The minde which was darknesse before is now light in the Lord to know and understand the will of God and to discerne things that differ The judgement made to approve the good which is known the will to desire and endeavour after the doing of it The conscience is made watchfull and tender fearefull to offend The affections ordered aright to love the things which God loveth and to hate the things which he hateth The body is made an instrument to execute and doe that which is holy and good Both body and spirit are Gods set to doe the things that please him by which he may be glorified 1 Cor. 6. all that is within us and without us is imployed to praise God 2. True Sanctification as it doth sanctifie the whole man so it doth forme the heart to a closing with the whole will of God without exception or reservation when God writes his Law in our hearts he writes all his Commandements there as he wrote all of them before in the Tables of stone and they being all written in the heart now we love all the Commandements of it saying as Paul The Law is holy and just and good now his Commandements are not burthenous or grievous all are equall and right we love all embrace all and labour to practice all duties of holinesse towards God duties of love and righteousnesse towards men goe hand in hand in the life of a sanctified Christian He makes account he hath done but half his duty if either of these be omitted He counts himselfe as debtor to God and man to glorifie God and procure the good of men and desires to keep a cleare conscience
unto him to bee kept by him unto salvation according to his Covenant and promise And thus is this part of the Covenant made up betwixt God and us and the soule now sayes within it selfe I that was sometimes an enemy he hath now reconciled unto himselfe I that was in times past without God without Christ without promise without Covenant without hope none of Gods people not under mercy yet now I have God for my God Christ is my peace in him I have obtained mercy and am now become one of Gods people the Covenant of his peace now belongs unto me the Lord also is become my salvation and here the soule rests and is satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse saying as Jacob The Lord hath had mercy on me therefore I have enough I have all that my heart hath desired Gen. 33.11 Thus we see how faith closeth with the first part of the Covenant that God will be a God of mercy unto us to blesse us with blessings of peace c. 2. Concerning the other part of it wherein God offers himselfe unto us to be a God over us to rule us and govern us in obedience to his will faith works the soule to a closing with this also The converting sinner having tasted the fruit of his own former wayes and finding how bitter and evill it is that he hath sinned doth now desire to resign up himself to the Lords government being willing to deny his own will and to take up the Lords yoke and to be subject thereunto he now sayes no more who is Lord over me Psa 12. He doth no longer look at himself as his own to live to himself after his own minde and will but being weary of his own wayes and finding it sufficient and too much that he hath spent the time past in the lusts of the flesh now he commits himselfe to the Lords government taking him to be a God over him to rule and order him in all his wayes The Covenant which passeth betwixt God and us is like that which passeth between a King and his people the King promiseth to rule and govern in mercy and in righteousnesse and they againe promise to obey in loyalty and in faithfulnesse faith sets up God upon his throne and sayes Let the Lord reigne for ever and ever reigne thou over mee O Lord and lead me in the way which leads unto thee And this doth faith work in us by these or the like meanes 1. Faith looks at the manner of Gods invitation and call when he invites us to come and enter into Covenant with him he doth not offer himselfe to be a God to us to blesse us without being a God over us to order and govern us but links these two both together If we will have his blessing his peace we must bee under his Dominion Look as in a Common-wealth or Kingdom none hath the benefit of the Law but those that subject themselves to the Law none have the protection of authority but those that obey it so here God doth not promise to pardon our sins leaving us still at our own liberty to live as we list but if he doe at all make a Covenant with us he will be a God to us as well to rule us as to save us To say live as yee will sinne as yee will and yet you shall be saved is the Devils Covenant not Gods and therefore it is that when the Lord calls us into a Covenant with himselfe he bids us come out from among the wicked separate your selves and touch no uncleane thing saith the Lord 2 Cor. 6.17 and in this way he promises to receive us and to be a God unto us How vile soever we have been before time it hinders us not from entring into Covenant with God but if we will now become his people we must henceforth walke no more as we had wont to doe we must henceforth be separate from our uncleannesse Ephes 4.17 Esay 1. ver 6.7 8. Come let us reason together let us make an agreement but withall wash you make you clean c. This is the Lords manner of invitation so that faith sees a necessity of submitting to Gods authority because it may not take hold of one part of the Covenant without the other If we will have God to bee our God to pardon us and to blesse us wee must have him a God over us to govern us after his own will 2. Faith opens the understanding convincing us by arguments how just how equall and reasonable it is that God should rule and we obey by faith we see the invisible things of God that is his eternall power and Godhead which before we saw not by faith we see him in his Excellency and Majesty cloathed with glory and honour riding upon the Heavens attended upon with thousand thousands of Angels ministring unto him By faith we see him moderating the whole world by his wisdome and power Psal 103. We look at him as King of Kings as Prince of all the Rulers of the earth Neither doe we by faith thus see God as he is in himselfe but as he is to us as having power in his hand either to save or destroy so that there is no resisting we know now that if we fall upon that stone by our rebellion it will grinde us to powder now there is no more question made who shall have the dominion though in times past we had said this man shall not reign over us Luk. 19. yet now it is our chiefe desire that his Kindome may come into us and beare sway in us Faith sets before us also the benefits and kindnesse of God towards us and so perswades us by those mercies of God to give up our selves as a sacrifice in humble obedience unto his will Rom. 12.1 Faith reasoneth in the heart as David did I will prayse thee O Lord with my whole heart yea I will glorifie thy name for ever for great is thy mercy towards me thou hast delivered my soule from the lowest grave Psal 86.12 13. Faith makes us speak to God as the Israelites did to Gideon when he had delivered them out of the hand of the Midianites Come say they unto him and reign over us both thou and thy son for thou hast delivered us out of the hand of Midian Iudg. 8.22 Now God is counted worthy of all honour and service Apoc. 4.7 5.12.13 Worthy to be exalted and glorified thus faith urgeth it as a thing most reasonable that God so glorious in himselfe having power over us to save or destroy and when he might have destroyed us yet hath saved us from so great a death and prepared for us so great salvation should be glorified by us wee submitting our selves unto the obedience of his will 3. Faith makes us look at the Lords government as a mercifull goverment bringing peace and blessing unto those that are under it it looks at this King of Israel as a mercifull King
makes us to flie from God and to stand afarre off Exod. 20. The Gospel only draws us and brings us unto God This commandement therefore Come unto me that is believe in me being so alluring and drawing as it is must needs be a commandement not of the law but of the Gospel 8. If the law do command faith in Christ then it commands things contrary as namely to look for life by our own personall working and to look for life not by our own working but by anothers That law which binds us to personall fulfilling of it doth not also send us to another to have it fulfilled in him but the law commands us personall obedience to fulfill the commandements in our own persons It urgeth us thus Thou shalt love Thou shalt not lust Thou thy selfe must fulfill all these things and no other for thee but faith looks for these things to be done for us by another and therefore cannot be commanded in the Law By the law the righteousnesse of the righteous shall be upon himself and the man that doth these things shall live in them but by faith the righteousnesse of Christ is upon others even upon those that doe believe faith therefore is not commanded in the Law 9. That which confounds the two Covenants is not to bee admitted but that the commandement commanding faith is a commandement of the law doth confound the two Covenants Law and Gospel and therefore is not to be admitted as true If the commandement commanding faith be a commandement of the law this must needs make a confusion betwixt Law and Gospel so as these two sayâ—ngs Doe and live and Believe and live shall be in effect all one both of them legall one as well as the other which to affirm is to confound things as different as heaven and earth Now that by this opinion this confusion must of necessâ—ty follow I shew thus When a promise is annexed to a commandement the commandement and promise are ever of the same kind either both Legall or both Evangelicall The nature and kind of the promise doth depend upon and follow the nature and kind of the commandement which goes before it The quality of the commandement doth qualifie and distinguish the promise annexed to make it either Legall or Evangelicall For when the Lord saith doe this and live and when he saith believe in Christ and live the life promised is for substance one and the same in both promises yet these promises do differ because the commandement which goes before as the condition of the promise is different in the one and in the other Doing being a Legall commandement Believing being Evangelicall the ground therefore of difference in the promises is from the diffâ—rence of the commandâ—ment which is the condition of the promise so that when it s said Doe this and live Here the promise of life is legall because the commandement of doing is legall on the other side when it s said Believe and live here the promise of life is Evangelicall because the commandement of believing is Evangelicall But if we make the commandement of believing to be legall then the promise of life upon condition of believing must be legall also and then there is no difference left betwixt these two do and live and believe and live which confounds Law and Gospel heaven and earth and makes the two Covenants all one Papists turn the Covenant of grace into a Covenant of works This doth the contrary turning the Covenant of works into a Covenant of grace Chemnitius speaking of the point of justification brings in Andradius his conceit which is this That utraque justitia Legis Fidei c. both righteousnesses both the righteousnesse of the Law and the righteousnesse of Faith doth consist in observatione Legis in the observation of the Law only with this difference that when the Law is fulfilled by the unregenerate then it is justitia Legis the righteousnesse of the Law when by the regenerate then it is justitia Fidei the righteousnesse of Faith Like hereto is this Doctrine that the commandement of faith is a commandement of the Law for then both Covenants both Law and Gospel must stand in observatione fidei in the duty of believing only perhaps the maintainers of this opinion will make a difference thus That that faith which is wrought by the commandement is the faith of the law or Covenant of works and that faith which is wrought by the promise is the faith of the Covenant of grace But as he notwithstanding his distinction of men regenerate and unregenerate doth in effect confound both Covenants changing the Covenant of grace into a Covenant of works So doe these notwithstanding their distinction of commandement and promise they confound both Covenants changing the Covenant of works which stands in doing into a Covenant of grace which stands in believing and so by this Doctrine one of the principall differences betwixt the two Covenants is taken away the one requiring works the other faith the one doing the other believing 10. This is confirmed further by that which is spoken of our Saviour Christ in Mark 1.14 15. where it is said of him that he came preaching the Gospel not the Law but the Gospel and saying Repent and believe the Gospel here the commandement to believe is directly called a preaching of the Gospel and therefore it is a commandement of the Gospel and not of the Law Other Reasons might be added as namely if faith be commanded in the law then a man may be saved by a work of the Law and cannot be saved without it Secondly That this opinion makes the righteousnesse of the law and the righteousnesse of faith to be all one if faith be a duty of the law c. Thirdly What the law commands it commands it as a work but faith is not requird as a work being everywhere in the Gospel opposed to working But these I passe by the other may suffice Thus farre then we are come that the putting of faith as a condition of life in the Covenant of grace doth no whit derogate from the freenesse of grace First Because the gift of faith flows from the same purpose of grace towards us as life it selfe doth Secondly Because faith is an Evangelicall grace of the Gospel not of the Law Thirdly I adde this also that it derogates nothing from grace because faith receives all the blessings of salvation promised only from the hand of grace alone we acknowledge no such condition as by which we might receive life from the hand of justice as putting a price into our hand to be a meritorious cause of life such a condition could not indeed stand with grace but the condition we put is both received by grace is by grace wrought in us and doth also receive all from grace and therefore doth nothing derogate from the grace of the Covenant The Apostle cleares this in that one short speech of his in
should have said unto us you have once broken my Covenant and yet if you will at last fulfill my Law which I gave unto you I will yet accept you as just unto life yet we could not have done it the condition was too hard for us to perform If we had been held close to this condition of fulfilling the Law we should have missed of life for ever The Lord therefore seeing and pittying of our infirmity was pleased to propound unto us another condition saying unto us only beleive Beleive on my son trust on my grace and thou shalt be saved herein the Lord hath condescended to our weaknesse taking compassion of our infirmities laying upon us no other burthen but this Beleeve my promise accept my grace and rest upon it and this thy faith shall save thee Thou shalt never perish 3. It serves for comfort to all Gods faithfull ones that have beleived through grace if you have received this first gift if it be given you to beleeve you shall not fail of a second gift even the gift of eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord Though your repentance be lesse then to equall the measure of your sins though your obedience be imperfect yea though your faith it selfe be weak also yet if it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unfained syncere and sound this your faith is accepted of God and is imputed to you for righteousnesse Those that are of faith are blessed with faithfull Abraham saith the Apostle Gal. 3.9 Blessed is shee that beleeveth saith the Angell Luke 1.45 and the Son of God comes in as a third witnesse testifying that whosoever beleeveth in him shall not perish but is passed from death to life Iohn 3. Here are three witnesses from heaven and earth all witnessing the blessed estate of such as do beleive Faith is well termed precious faith 1 Pet. 1.2 Pet. 1.1 because it makes us partakers of all the precious blessings of grace which are contained in the Covenant The faithfull are inheritours of all the priviledges which God hath promised to his chosen and therefore it is that they are called heires of promise Heb. 6.17 and heires of blessing 1 Pet. 3.9 You beleevers be exhorted to see and owne your blessednesse take notice of the great things the Lord hath done for you he hath made a covenant with you even a Covenant of peace and blessing and life for ever God is become your God he will be all things unto you and when all helpes under heaven fail you yet from himselfe he will do you good all your sins are forgiven you his spirit is yours to lead you to sanctifie you and to heal the evils that be in you he will uphold you in that state wherein you stand and will keep you that you shall never perish and will at last bring you to a full injoyment of himselfe in his heavenly Kingdome where you shall for ever blesse him and be made blessed by him and shall rejoyce before him with joy unspeakable and glorious pluck up your hearts therefore and be glad lift up your heads strengthen the weak hands and the feeble knees serve the Lord with gladnesse and joyfulnesse of spirit considering the day of our salvation draweth neer though now for a time you may be in heavinesse through manifold temptations and afflictions in this evill world yet faint not you being partakers of that precious faith you have the holy and faithfull God in Covenant with you to love you to blesse you and to save you and yet a little while and he that shall come will come and receive you to himselfe and then you shall fully know what it is to have beleived and to have been in Covenant with God what it is to have God to be your God when you shall see him and enjoy him as he is Only nourish your faith and live by faith make much of this precious grace cherish it by thinking often on the promises and of that grace which hath been shewed upon you from on high study to walke worthy of that mercy received and in so doing wait for the end of your faith the salvation of your soule 4. If faith be the condition of the Covenant then woe to all unbeleevers that go on in their impenitency and unbeleife Their unbeleife deprives them of that good which the Lord hath by his Covenant promised to his people they have no part nor portion in God they are without God without Christ without Covenant without promise without mercy their sins are unpardoned they are under the curse the wrath of God abides upon them there is nothing to take it away from them but if they abide in unbeleif wrath abides upon them for ever There is a wrath wherby God is angry with his own people but that anger lasts but for a little season it is but for a moment Isai 4.7 8. it passeth away and abides not upon them but the unbeleiver hath wrath abiding on him for ever John 3.36 In Iude 5. it is said that God afterwards destroyed those Israelites that beleived not when once they had had the means of grace made known then not beleiving God afterwards destroyed them you that tread in the steps of their unbeleif you are little troubled to thinke what misery is comming upon you as not knowing that you are in danger but you are under wrath your judgement hastneth and your damnation sleepeth not be awakened therefore be thinke your selves and consider what your end will be by your unbeleif you put a bar to exclude your selves from the blessing of life promised to Gods people you thus continuing the Lord neither will nor can save you You will thinke this an hard saying but you will finde it too true God cannot lye Titus 1.2 much lesse can he forswear but God hath sworne this that such shall never enter into his rest Psal 95. and Hebr. 3. ult In Mat. 13. ult It s said Christ did not many great works in his owne country for their unbeleifes sake But in Marke 6.5 it s said hee could not doe them he neither did them nor could do them unbeleif stops the course and diverts the stream of Gods goodnesse from comming unto us Christs usuall speech to those that expected any blessing from him was this According to your faith be it unto you faith makes all things possible Marke 6.23 It will reverse the sentence of death which is passed upon us and bring us back unto life but unbeleife makes it impossible so that we cannot be saved The Lord can do nothing against his own counsell and will and he hath concluded this with himselfe to save none but such as beleive and that whosoever beleeveth not shall perish all you unbeleevers consider this your unbeleefe will bee your destruction Secondly Is there such a work of faith in bringing us into Covenant with God and in enabling us to walk in Covenant with him 1. This serves to direct all the people of God
I come down unto you Nay he would not cease this work to save his life Neh. 6.11 When David was giving direction concerning the building of the Temple The work is great saith he And why great because it is not for man but for the Lord 1 Chron. 29.1 and 22.5 The men of the world look at their own things as the great things which they must attend unto the things of God are with them things of lesse value they preferre their own things before the things of Jesus Christ But those that are the Lords people must remember that they have given themselves unto the Lord 2 Cor. 8.5 so as they are not their own any more but the Lords and to be for themselves no further then may stand with his honour no further to seek their own things then may be for the Lord and not against the Lord. Here then first we must preferre his commandements before the commandements and wills of men resolving with the Apostles to obey God rather then men Secondly doe his work in the first â—â—â—e not first for our selves and then for God as the manner is but see that God be first served remembring the words of our blessed Saviour that he which loves himselfe or any other thing 〈◊〉 then Christ is not worthy of him Thirdly offer our best things to God to be for his service and honour the best of our time the best of our children the best of our substance the fat of our wheat and of our wine must be for the Lord. Prov. 3.9 Honour God with thy riches and with the first of all thine encrease the first are usually the best and most desired Mich. 7.1 And therefore when we give the first and best unto God God counteth himselfe honoured by us when we bring him the leane and the scabbie the lame and the blind things of no worth the Lord is then despised in our eyes Mal. 1. 4. If we will honour God as his people should doe we must stand for his honour in times of generall declining when all seeme to neglect him and lay his honour in the dust When People Nations and Languages shall fall down and worship the golden Image which Nebuchadnezar the King sets up then to despise the Kings commandement and to worship our God alone this is indeed to honour him When we shall be forbidden to make prayer unto our God Then with Daniel to have our Window open towards Jerusalem and to make our prayer before him is an honouring of him When we serve him only in times of generall Reformation living in a Land of uprightnesse when it is an honour to our selves to conforme to those that are faithfull with God in these times its more doubtfull whether we seek to honour God or to honour our selves but in corrupt times of generall Apostacy when the world turns their back upon God then to cleave to him and stand for his worship then to say with Joshuah Let all the world chuse whom they will serve but I and my house will serve the Lord this is to honour him indeed and to give him glory before the face of the whole world see Ezek. 44.12 13 15. 5. If we will exalt God we must rest upon his help at dead lifts when all other helps faile us in greatest straits when we know not which way to turn us when we see no help either in heaven or earth but in him alone Herein Jehoshaphat gave glory to God when he knew not what to doe then were his eyes towards the Lord 2 Chron. 20. Thus the three Children when cast into the fiery Furnace and Daniel when thrown into the Lyons Den yet then they believed that the God whom the served was able to deliver them Dan. 3. And thus Moses honoured God at the Red Sea when all was desperate in the eye of flesh and blood yet Moses by the power of faith then believed a deliverance should come Stand still saith he and see the salvation of God God is greatly honoured by us when we trust upon him in such desperate times 6. If we will honour God we must be exceeding carefull to keep our vowes and promises which we have made unto him walk circumspectly according to the Covenant we have entred into We see how the Lord sometimes blames Israel for despising his Covenant which they had made with him Ezek. 16.59 we cannot neglect our Covenant with him but it will argue a neglect of God himselfe Thou hast despised me saith the Lord to David when he had despised the Commandement which he had promised to observe 2 Sam. 12 9.10 We commonly deale with our promises to God as we doe with those which we make to our little children we think to please them with promises for the present but neither mind greatly what we say unto them nor take any care to performe as thinking they will never remember what we say unto them any longer then whiles we are speaking But would we deale so with our Prince would not he count it a sleighting of him if having bound our selves by promise to performe such a service to him we should have no care to performe Be sure the Lord will require the promises we have made unto him Hast thou then opened thy mouth unto the Lord know thou canst not goe back Judg. 11. Thou canst not neglect thy promise to God without a neglect of God himselfe 7. If we will honour God we must lie under the authority of every word of his and conforme our selves to his example labouring to become followers of him in imitating the vertues of God which hee hath set before us to walk by It s a part of that honour which children owe to their parents to obey their commands and to imitate their godly example in well doing we cannot honour God more then when we are humbled at his feet to receive his word Deut. 33.3 suffering his word to rule in our hearts so as we dare not goe against it in any thing trembling to sinne against it Esay 66. and when we renounce the manners of the world seeking to become followers of God as deare children this is to set him up as honoured by us Ephes 5. 8. In a word if we will honour God we must contend in his cause with much striving being zealous for him and for the defence of his Word Truth Gospel Kingdome and whatsoever concerns his honour not yeelding or giving place one hour Gal. 2. not leaving an hoofe behind us Exod. 10.26 standing out to the utmost in the things of his Kingdome And when we have done all that we can do still magnifie his grace that he wil vouchsafe to admit such as we be to minister unto him even as David did when as he had shewed a great deale of zeale in furnishing the house of God having given of his own cost an hundred thousand Talents of Gold and an hundred thousand Talents of Silver 1 Chron. 22.14 and had withall
them as matters beyond beliefe Those that publish these things of our peace and salvation may say with the Prophet Lord who hath believed our report Esay 53.1 We look at these things as things of which there is no certainty we heare of them but we believe them not This is evident by our little seeking after them our little minding of them that we doe no more comfort our selves in the remembrance of them and rejoyce in the hope of them These things are plaine evidences that either we believe them not or our faith concerning them is very small Fulnesse of faith concerning these would bring on fulnesse of joy to rejoyce under the hope of the glory of God and would cause us to presse hard towards the mark so running that we might obtaine Let us shame our selves before the Lord for this our unbeliefe shall he promise and not perform shall he speak to us and write to us and sweare to us and seale to all with his own seale and we not believe him Let God be true though every man be a lyar consider how by our unbeliefe we doe both cast dishonour upon the Lord and weaken our own comfort which we might be filled with through believing Vse 2. Is the Covenant and promises of it so sure This then may minister a ground of strong consolation unto all such as have given up themselves unto God to be a people in Covenant with him Let them know Gods Covenant is sure and cannot faile them you that are such lift up your heads comfort your hearts strengthen the weak hands and feeble knees Look upwards and rejoyce in the expectation of those great things which are laid up for you They are so great that you can hardly believe them yet they are sure as the promise Covenant and Oath of a faithfull God can make them When you see uncertainty and unstability of all things riches goe away friends forsake strength failes Let your stay and comfort be that yet Gods Covenant failes not the riches of the world may be consumed but his grace is an abiding substance other friends may hide themselves and stand afarre off in the day of affliction but the Lord will not forsake his people and though strength decay and life be ready to depart yet he will be the strength of our heart and our portion for ever Heaven and earth shall sooner passe away then on tittle of his Covenant shall fall Could we in our meditations dwell more upon the certainty of this Covenant which is so perfect and sure in all points it would much help to uphold us in our greatest failings Sometimes things are so crosse and contrary to that which God hath promised that his promise seemes to be but winde and vanity and lies his word speaks good to us but his dealing is quite contrary There are great words but little done we see little but sinne and misery and corruption in our selves with chastisement and affliction from God we enjoy not the blessing promised It is with us as it was with Gideon when the Angel uttered those comfortable words unto him The Lord is with thee thou valiant man Ah saith Gideon Is the Lord with us why then is all this evill come upon us where are all his miracles our Fathers told us of the Lord hath now forsaken us Judges 6.13 So it was with David he had the promise of the Kingdome made unto him by Samuel who also anoynted him thereunto but before he came to the possession of it he met with so many crosse haps and contrary events that David began to think all Samuels words to be but lies he concludes All men are lyars and Samuel himselfe is no better Thus it is with us we meet with many sad crosses and hard events which seeme quite contrary to the promise of God These make us to feare and doubt of the promise and not only to say with David All men are lyars but with Jeremy to say to God himselfe Be not thou as a lyar unto me Jer. 15.18 As if all the promises of God were quasht and come to nought But consider though your faith may be thus exercised for a season yet Gods promise is faithfull and sure These are times in which God comes to us as he came to Abraham to prove him God made Abraham a promise that of his seed Christ should come in whom all Nations should be blessed this promise God never meant to reverse yet he will try Abrahams faith he will see whether Abraham can believe this and hold unto it when a sore shock and plunge comes which shall seeme quite to overturn and dash all Here therefore to try Abraham God bids him goe and sacrifice his Sonne here reason saith to Abraham this is against the promise for if Isaac be sacrificed how can the Messias come out of his seed but Abraham believes though he cannot tell how yet doubtlesse God will fulfill his promise and so he did Thus God will try the faith of his servants seeming to work clean contrary to his promise yet not as intending to break it but intending to try their faith to see whether they can then believe the promise when all things make against it In such times our work is to stirre up our faith believing the firmnesse and stability of the Covenant of God assuring our selves that heaven shall sooner be confounded with earth and turn into a Chaos again the Sun shall sooner be turned into darknesse the fire shall sooner cease to burn the mighty Rocks and Mountaines shall sooner be thrown out of their places then the promise of God shall faile which is a sure foundation which cannot bee removed Whatsoever therefore the work of God seemes to pretend yet judge of Gods intent by his promise whatsoever falls out in the way Gods intent Gods end is to fulfill his Covenant that 's sure eye this end and hold fast to the conclusion which God makes in his promise and though you cannot answer the argument which reason will frame out of those things which sence suggests yet hold the conclusion Gods promise is sure his Covenant failes not here rest and waite for it Helps hereunto 1. Consider that all Gods people that have gone before us which doe now inherite the promises and have them in possession have met with the same discouragements as we doe They were tryed in their faith and patience before they came to enjoy the blessing Heb. 6.11.12 c and the same things are fulfilled in the rest of our bretheren which are now in the world 1 Pet. 5. they have their shakings doubts and feares as well as we Be not therefore discouraged 2. See that the promises of God be precious unto you so have the children of God esteemed them as of great and precious things 2 Pet. 1.4 they are pearls unto those that are owners of them Matth. 7.6 the more we prize them the more may we assure our selves of our part in
hereof it is that all the blessings of the Covenant are said to be everlasting forgivenesse of sinnes is everlasting being once forgiven they are never remembred any more Ier. 31.33 The peace and joy which comes thereby is everlasting also your peace shall no man take from you Ioh. 16. and our joy is everlasting Esay 35.10 our salvation is an everlasting salvation Esay 45.17 our life is an everlasting life Ioh. 3.16 All the blessings of the Covenant are to continue not only like Iosephs blessing to the end of the everlasting hills Gen. 49.26 but for ever and for ever This new Covenant of grace is like the new heavens and new earth which shall never wax old nor vanish away Esay 66.22 Hence it is that baptisme is but once administred because the Covenant is but once made the promise of it being given once and for ever The supper is often administred because of the many breaches on our part and the manifold weaknesses of our faith which we are subject unto the Lord being pleased in that Sacrament to renue the seale of his Covenant towards us for the setling of our faith and the stablishing of us in the assurance of his grace which hath been so often witnessed to us in the renuing of the Seale of the Covenant but baptisme being the Seale of our enterance into Covenant with God is but once administred because the Covenant is but once made and being once made stands fast for ever The Reasons why this Covenant is everlasting are these Reas 1. From Gods vnchangablenesse he is a God that changeth not and therefore whom he loves once he loves for ever and to the end Joh. 13. his gifts and calling by grace are without repentance Rom. 11.29 his love is everlasting Jer. 31.3 his kindnesse is everlasting Esay 54.8 and his goodnesse shall be everlasting towards them that he takes in Covenant with him Object If this reason hold that the Covenant of grace is therefore everlasting because God is unchangeable then by the same argument the Covenant of works may be proved to be everlasting also so that that Covenant should not have been broken Answ It followeth not because the Covenant of works speaking of the accomplishment of it by man with whom it was made was not built upon Gods purpose within himselfe but was left to the liberty and will of man either to fulfill it or break it as himselfe would but the Covenant of grace is built upon Gods immutable purpose which cannot change The Apostle joynes these two together purpose and Grace 2 Tim. 1.9 to give us to understand that all the wayes of his grace which he leads his people into and therefore also this way of his Covenant is according to his eternall purpose within himselfe Herein that first Covenant was not as this latter is and therefore though the one was broken yet the other cannot Secondly This may be added also that that first Covenant in respect of the substance of it is unchangeable and everlasting and it is the unchangeablenesse of it which doth condemne all the Sonnes of Adam and did bring Christ from heaven to fulfill it for those which should believe Gods unchangeable justice will not suffer any unjust person to live in so much that either we must have Christ to fulfill the justice of that Covenant for us or else for the breach of it we must perish for ever None but righteous ones saith justice shall have life the reward of righteousnesse This justice in God is unalterable and changeth not and thus farre there is little or no difference between the one Covenant and the other but both are alike but here is the difference that in the Covenant of works God promised life to Adam in case he obeyed but did not promise to uphold him in a way of obedience to the end that he might not misse of the life promised Whereas in the Covenant of grace God doth not only promise life to those that doe believe but promiseth that their faith shall not faile and that he will keep them by faith unto salvation and preserve them to his heavenly Kingdome The promises therefore of this Covenant are larger and better then of that other this being made with none but with those that the purpose of his grace doth reach unto He makes this Covenant with his chosen Psal 89.3 and with them only It is revealed to many but made up with few even with those that are vessels of mercy prepared unto glory thirdly In the Covenant of works distinguish these two First the terme substance or heads of the Covenant propounded and agreed upon betwixt God and man secondly The fulfilling or violation of it by man with whom it was made The substance of the Covenant is one the fulfilling of it is another The substance of it doe this and live is not changed though the fulfilling of it by Adam did faile as well it might because God never promised him to cause him to fulfill it but only to give him life in case he did work therein But in the Covenant of Grace both these are promised one as well as the other the Lord not only promising life to those that doe believe but that he will uphold us in the faith unto the end And hereupon it follows that though in the Covenant of works man failed in his duty yet the Covenant on Gods part remaines inviolate for if God give life upon obedience performed or inflict death upon disobedience God doth in so doing performe this Covenant towards man this being all that God promised in that Covenant but in the Covenant of Grace there can be no totall breach on our part so as to dissolve the Covenant betwixt God and us but it will import a failing of the Covenant on Gods part also because he hath promised us to keep us with him for ever and gives this as the reason why his Covenant with us shall be everlasting namely because he will put his feare unto our hearts so that we shall never depart away from him so that if the Lord should now suffer his Covenant-people wholly to depart and to break Covenant with him there must follow some change of minde in God as having thoughts of love towards us when he took us into Covenant with him and of dislike when he suffers us to depart from him but there is no such change in God therefore this his Covenant with us is everlasting Reas 2. From the everlasting mediation and intercession of Christâ— who for ever stands betwixt God and us to make up all breaches which might be made by our default As he hath obtained an eternall redemption for us Heb. 9.12 and hath brought in an everlasting righteousnesse for us Dan. 9.24 So doth he sit at the right hand of the Father and lives for ever to make eternall intercession for us Rom. 8.34 And by this intercession of his we continue for ever in favour with God and the Covenant