purchased possession Act. 20.18 whether it be in grace or glory and therefore Christ looks upon all graces and all priviledges as part of his due from God the Father and that they should be bestowed upon them for whom he laid down a price And therefore we read that though Christ while he was upon earth was a man of sorrows and had little comfort in this World yet he did take delight in this the fulfilling of the promises unto him in the conversion of Souls and perfecting Saints When the Woman of Samaria was converted he said Luk. 16.20 'T was his meat and drink to do the will of his father he rejoyced in spirit that souls were converted and that the mysteries of the Gospel were revealed unto babes And Joh. 11.15 when he called Lazarus from the Grave they said he is dead and he said I was glad for your sakes to this end that you might believe he rejoiceth that there was an opportunity to add unto their faith and that it might grow and increase one degree more It was the joy of his heart to see of the travel of his soul Isa 53. And there are three things that Christ hath respect unto herein 1 His sufferings past and therefore he doth in his intercession always sprinkle his blood before the mercy seat his blood is a speaking blood he hath laid down the price and therefore surely he expects the purchase 2 It is the joy of his heart now he is in Heaven to see the graces of his people grow and flourish it is the meat that he is said to seed upon as we see Cant. 5.2 I have mingled my wine with my milk and eat my honey c. and thou art the fairest amongst women thou hast ravished me with one of thine eyes c. It 's a joy to the Angels when a soul is converted and a joy to the Ministers the Angels upon earth when they grow in grace and stand fast in the faith And if the servants and children of the Bridegroom rejoyce in it how much doth the Bridegroom himself rejoyce in it 3 In reference to the glory that is to come at the day of Judgement he comes to be admired in his saints 1 Thes 1. and afterwards he doth present the Church unto God the Father which some conceive to be the giving up of his Kingdom that God may be all in all and he shall have an eternal glory that shall be reflexed upon him from the Saints who shall sing for ever hallelujah unto him who is the head and King of Saints Therefore all these promises are made first unto him and do principally belong unto him and he is most concerned in them that if they be not fulfilled he shall be the greatest loser by them lose his sufferings past and his delight for the present and his glory to come so that in the performance of them God hath a special respect to Christ and they belong unto us and are fulfilled unto us only as we are in Christ and no otherways 2. There is in these promises an active and a passive a giving and a receiving 1 They are made unto Christ as the giver and unto us only as those that must receive all things from him the Oil is poured first upon his head Isa 53. and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand of his fulness we receive grace for grace he hath given him power over-all flesh John Ephes 5. Heb. 12.2 that he may give eternal life unto those that are given him he gives repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of sins he washeth them and sanctifies them for he is the prince of life Act. 3.15 the author and the finisher of our faith the Captain of our salvation that in all things he may have the preheminence 2 The passive part of these belong unto the Saints but it is as they are one with him and as they have an interest in all this grace received by their head that it may by him be dispensed unto them for 1 Joh. 5.11 he hath laid up all their life in him for all the promises are made unto his seed though in a different order and in different respects some promises made formally to him and some promises fulfilled in his members Object 2 This will bring Christ under both Covenants for we heard before Gal. 4.4 that he came under the Covenant of works he was made under the Law and now this Doctrine doth bring him also under the Covenant of Grace Answ Indeed no meer man can stand under both Covenants Gal. 4. no more than he can be born of two Mothers The two Covenants are the two Mothers and a man can no more be under both Covenants than it 's possible for him to grow upon a double root to be a member of the first and at the same time to be a member of the second Adam But the Lord Jesus Christ came under both Covenants Tit. 1.2 2 Tim. 1.9 1 The Covenant of Grace was made with him from all eternity and therefore there is a promise made and eternal life given us before the World began and it was in this Covenant that Souls were given to Christ all that he should save and therefore he hath a Book of Life Rev. 13.8 Those that were given him in Covenant he took their names and upon this Covenant he did rejoyce in the habitable parts of the earth before there was either earth or inhabitant Prov. 8.31 And it was the Covenant of Grace that was first made and was first intended as being stablished between God and Christ before the World began as a Parent may make a Covenant or take a Lease in behalf of his Child before he is born or in being but this Covenant was not actually to take place it being a Covenant of reconciliation and in the hand of a Mediator till the first Covenant was broken and then comes in the manifestation of the second Covenant life and immortality being brought to light by the Gospel 2 But when this Covenant was to take place Christ finds all mankind under the Covenant of their Creation and that broken and they brought under the curse of it and now the Covenant of Grace cannot take place unless he will come under the first Covenant and thereby abolish it the sin against the first Covenant could never be pardoned unless he be made sin and the curse of the first Covenant could never be satisfied unless he be made a Curse and the Covenant it self never abolished for any unless he be made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law as a Covenant that they may be translated Gal. 4.5 Only there is this difference Christ being under both Covenants man was first under the Covenant of Works and Christ came in in the second place as our surety standing in our stead paying our debt and therefore he puts his name to our bond
c. which is to dispute and gather conclusions from false and corrupt premises because they were hearers of the word though they were not doers yet from this false principle they did reason and argue all their life time that their state was good and so did the foolish builders Mat. 7.22 Lord we have prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils we have eat and drank in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets therefore there is no doubt but we shall attain an entrance at his coming and so the soul is under a fallacy all his days and this is the great deceit of the old Serpent to deceive a man in reference to his eternal state for as Satan by his instruments doth endeavour to beguile you in the matters of truth Col. 2.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he deceives a man by false reasonings so also he endeavours to deceive a man in matter of his state that he might deceive himself by false reasonings also and upon this ground it mainly is that there is that extraordinary aversness in the hearts of men unto the duty of self-examination and a far greater aversness to the examination of a mans state than of his actions for there are many men that will make conscience to review their actions and consider their ways and yet these very men are willing to go upon a supposition in the matter of their spiritual states and to be content to take that for granted though it be the ground of all And here we are to consider also that many that are true Believers may not know that there is a distinct interest in the persons to be had they in general do believe in God and close with Christ who is offered them in the promise but as for such a distinct title unto all the persons it is a thing that they are not acquainted with it seems it was this that Christ reproved in his Disciples Joh. 14.1 Ye believe in God believe also in me their faith in the acting of it was not so distinct and particular as it ought to have been As it is in witnessing there is many a man that never knew that there was a distinct witness of all the persons in the hearts of the Saints and therefore they did never look out for any such thing so it is in the point of faith also but now this is a truth discovered to you and the Lord will expect the fruit of Gospel-discoveries he will come and demand fruit of his Vineyard and he doth expect it he it is with whom Heb. 4.13 in the word read or preached that you have to do he looks what power it hath upon your hearts after it is dispensed 1 We are to consider that the way by which we can come to have an interest in all the persons is by closing with the Son for it is our union with the Son that as it gives us a title unto all good things so it gives us in the first place an union with all the persons and it intitles us unto them all it is he that hath the Son hath the Father also 1 Joh. 2.23 and he that hath not the Son hath not the Father for it is only the blessing of the second Covenant and it comes upon none but those that are in Covenant as the promises come upon none but those that are heirs of promise therefore we should first inquire whether we be one with the Son or no. Now there is no union with him but by believing in him for it is the eating the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood that gives us life by him Joh. 6.54 Now though believing be an act of the whole soul for the subject of faith is the whole soul with the heart man believes yet it is specially seated in the will as unbelief also is specially seated there There is a double infidelity 1 Purae negationis of pure negation which some have said is no sin but yet if there is a command to believe then bare not-believing is a sin because it is the transgression of the Law 2 Pravae dispositionis of depraved disposition and that lyes mainly in the will Now when the will opens aright it is unto two things 1 It does consent to receive and accept of Christ upon his own terms not only Christ with his righteousness but Christ with his graces not only Christ with his priviledges but Christ with his inconveniencies Christ to all the ends for which the Father hath ordained him he would have him glorified in them all in his heart 2 With the same hand of faith that he doth receive whole Christ he doth give up whole self unto Christ again so that he is his own no more but put out of his own power for ever and he rejoyceth in this that I am my beloveds as well as my beloved is mine he would have his happiness in him and he would enjoy nothing apart from him for ever he would live in him and bear fruit in him and work for him and be into him and that to eternity for he saith to him as Ruth to her mother-in-law Where thou goest I will go where thou lodgest I will lodge thy people shall be my people thy God my God and where thou dyest I will dye c. Where there hath been such an acceptation and such a resignation there the work of faith is wrought with power and he that is thus one with the Son is thereby madelone with the Father also for our union is by him as our access and communion also is all by him with the Father 2 If a man be intitled unto the persons there will be drawings out of his heart towards each person for there is an impression of the love of them all left upon the soul We love him because he loved us first and this love will warm our hearts with love again there will be the workings of it in the soul though there be not the witnessing 1 Joh. 4.19 for Phil. 1.6 there is a good work begun and it 's begun by all the persons and it is to glorifie the persons mainly in the hearts of Believers and therefore such workings the Lord will draw forth in them O that ever God the Father should give his Son to me Joh. 3. God so loved the world and that I should be called the Son of God that the Son should lay down his life for me should bear my sins and my sorrows that his Spirit should abide in me inlightning mine eyes renewing me in the spirit of my mind there will be such a spiritual warmth wrought in the soul towards all these persons because there is a principle of the love of them all kindled in the soul But yet 3 There will never be the fulness of assurance till the persons that have given you an interest in themselves do also themselves witness their interest 1 Joh. 5.7 and they will surely do
produce any such effect but rather the contrary for it doth forbid sin upon the highest penalties it has upon it an impress of the Holiness of God and is contrary to sin in all things being holy and just and good and in its proper causality does work holiness in the hearts of men and a conformity unto the will of God as the rule of Goodness as it appears in the Saints all the grace that they have is nothing else but the Law written in their hearts which is the grand promise of the new Covenant 2 There is causa per accidens an accidental cause when the effect flows not from the nature of the cause but from something else that does by accident cleave to it so the Apostle says knowledge puffs up all true knowledge is humbling and there is nothing that a man can know either of God or himself but it does afford him great ground of abasement and self-denial but yet through the lusts of men sin takes occasion by the knowledge that should humble him to lift him up so fountains are hottest in the Winter and the fire by reason of the cold of the circumstant air not that the Winter does add heat to either by its own nature but by accident and occasionally inclose the one and draw forth the other so the Gospel meeting with the lusts of men who either reject the Gospel or else do turn the grace of God into wantonness thence it becomes the savour of death unto death not of it self nor in its own nature for it is the word of life and salvation so does the Law draw forth sin not of its own nature for it forbids it and curseth it but yet sin takes occasion by the Law and through many things that do adhere and cleave to the man by the Law it does become the more exceeding sinful Let us therefore come unto the proper causes how it comes to pass that sin by the Law which is good should take such an occasion of evil The causes are many 1. One cause of it is lust There are in lust many things from whence it flows but especially these 1 Lust is carried towards its object with earnestness violence and vehemency there is a lifting up of the soul to vanity and the hearts going after covetousness and therefore some render that of Laban when Jacob departed and he saw that the hope of his gain was gone Gen. 31.20 Deut. 29.19 Amos 2.7 Eph. 4.19 Jude 11. that he stole away the heart of Laban And as a godly mans desires are for God and Grace so a wicked mans desires are after sin and he thirsts and pants after it and it is therefore exprest by greediness as we may see it in Shechem Amnon and Ahab after Naboth's Vineyard All these set forth the violence of lust how fully the soul of man is carried after sinful objects and the ground is because sin looks upon sinful objects as the husband of the soul as the chief good and therefore is carried after them modo infinito in an infinite manner as a God therefore they are said to serve mammon and their God is their belly and they are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God Rom. 7. and therefore desire them infinitely the sinner is never satisfied but like the barren womb crys give give his desire is as Hell and the Grave it never has enough Now whatever comes in the way as a bar unto that which his soul does so infinitely desire it is no wonder if his heart rise against it with an answerable violence If Naboth come in the way of Ahab's Covetousness his life is little enough to make satisfaction and if any man stand in the way of Haman's honour his life and the life of a whole Nation is but a fit sacrifice to expiate so great an offence Now the Law of God putting a stop upon such vast desires therefore the hearts of men do rise up against the Law in opposition answerable to the desire that sin hath unto the object from which it is stopt by the prohibition of the Law 2 Lusts are proud and do swell the heart and cause it to be lifted up Psal 10.4 The wicked through the pride of his countenance doth not seek after God Obed. 3 The pride of thy heart has deceived thee And this fills the heart with a great deal of obstinacy and stoutness of spirit against God and contempt and scorn of whatever comes in his way to resist it as we see in Pharaoh even against the Lord himself Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice And answerable unto a mans pride and exaltation of spirit such is the rising of his heart against any thing that makes against him and the more full of lust any man is the more the pride of his heart is drawn forth for he is thereby made the more conformable to the Devil who saith I am a God and so do all mens lusts say and therefore the heart is lifted up as a God answerable to the pride of a man such is his impatience 3 Lust is resolute this proceeds from the two former it will go on whatever come of it Ephes 2.3 Hos 9. in despight of all opposition There are wills of the flesh as great resolutions as if there were many wills in one as a wild ass alone by it self i. e. that has neither rider to command it nor bridle to restrain it will venture any-where Jer. 8.7 They go on in their own ways as the horse rushes into the battel Christ warns Judas The son of man goeth indeed as it is written but wo to him by whom the son of man is betrayed it had been good for that man that he had never been born And yet Judas went forth and from that time he sought an opportunity to betray him If the Lord make hedges about a soul yet he will labour to tread down all with the greatest resolution and with the highest contempt as we may see it in Pharaoh after all his plagues yet his heart was hardened that is his will remained obstinate and he resolved not to yield unto God come what will come yea though death to himself and destruction upon his Kingdom did ensue And therefore they say What thou speakest to us in the name of the Lord we will not do Jer. 44.16 but we will do whatever proceeds out of our own mouths And if any thing come in the way to cross them in this resolution men resolve to oppose it see it in Saul 1 Sam. 22.17 Go and kill the Priests of Jehovah which some have made to be the sin against the Holy Ghost and Job 15.26 They do prepare themselves thick-bossed bucklers they resolve to make resistance they harden their hearts and stiffen their necks though the law of God set the sin and the evil before them yet men despise it and fear not the danger let it be of temporal judgment they say
justifie themselves in an evil way and to extenuate their sins and they do call light darkness and darkness light evil good and good evil and they love to have Prophets that should call them so also Now comes the Law as a glass and that discovers duty and makes men to see their sins and the duties that they hate and the evil of the sin which they love and delight in The Law is in Scripture resembled unto a glass and a glass it is two ways as it discovers duty and so it is of use in four things Jam. 1.24 1 As a glass it shews to a man that holiness â—â—â—â—ure and life that God did give unto him and require of him in his state of innocency which condition man has lost now and if a man look into the nature and lives of the best men he can find only some vestigia and poor beginnings of it which are not indicia veteris hominis but rudimenta novi not indices of the old man but rudiments of the new 2 Christ was our surety made under the Law and answered the precept and the curse and the Lord rather required if we may compare it that the precept should be fulfilled than the curse be born because the principal intention of the Lords giving the Law was obedience to the precept and not the suffering of the curse now all that holiness that was required of Christ and performed by him either in nature or life we may behold in the Law thus the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us there is in our justification a commutation of the person but not of the righteousness 3 The Law is unto the Saints a glass that shews them the obedience that the Lord doth require of them the Gospel indeed gives grace to obey but the Gospel requires no other obedience but that which the Law does discover as a rule a man must look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therein Psal 119.6 I shall not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments c. 4 It is the glass of perfection in the life to come Joh. 3.2 When he shall appear we shall be like him There shall be a perfect conformity in nature and life in us unto the Law in all things and we shall be every one of us living Scripture and walking Bibles for the word of the Lord is written in the heart and turned into grace enduring for ever c. Here indeed we have little conformity to the Law of God but hereafter our holiness shall be perfected 2. By the Law is the knowledg of sin when the commandment came sin revived and I died As a glass set before a man discovers his spots and as the light coming into a dark place shews our filthiness that before was hid An unregenerate man would never see his sin nor search himself nor turn into his own heart and try his ways if the Law did not make these discoveries All reflex thoughts he hates and if at any time he be forced into them and hath a glimpse of himself that does affright him that he does begin to see his own ugliness and deformity and smell the savour of his own filthiness even the sepulcher that is within him he doth immediately turn from it as an unpleasing sight which he is no ways willing to behold and fix his eyes upon Jam. 1. Beholding his natural face in a glass he forgets what manner of man he was Though he may remember the notions of a Sermon that are speculative to adorn his understanding yet the discoveries of his own sin and self in a Sermon he doth quickly forget and therein the main forgetfulness of a hearer of the Law lyes Now the Law has a constraining power and sets a mans sins in order before him and makes a man see his own vileness and holds it to his eyes that he cannot look off it but he crys out Psal 50. my iniquity is always before me as it was with Judas his sin in betraying innocent blood was still so present with him that he chose strangling rather than any income of comfort from any creature he quickly returned the thirty pieces of silver again So let all unregenerate men go from one creature to another and build Cities like Cain and add to their recreation and pleasures of sin yet still the sight of sin is by the light in this glass set before them and haeret lateri lethalis arundo the mortal dart sticks in his side 8. It forces men to a self-judgment and condemnation for sin and an expectation of the judgment of God for it Every natural man is willing to acquit himself and to put off the thoughts of judgment to put far from them the evil day and to say I shall sit as a lady for ever and shall see no sorrow or cry peace peace when sudden destruction comes upon him For there doth two evils go with a way of sinning Isa 2.1 1 a hard heart 2 a spirit of deep sleep that a man is willing to sleep and not to wake to see his danger as one that lyes down in the middle of the sea Prov. 23.34 or as one that sleeps on the top of a mast but a gracious heart troubles himself for sin and lays the judgment of God to the sin and labours to bring his heart to a trembling frame under the sense of it Joh. 11. as we see in Josiah and in Christ himself and so do all the godly if any affliction befall a child of God if he be judged of God he does clear God in it Psal 51.4 Rom. 3. and willingly takes the blame upon himself that he may justifie God but the property of a 〈◊〉 regenerate man is to justifie God but the property of an unregenerate man is to justifie himself and to condemn God Job 40.8 Says the Apostle Paul is God unrighteous I speak as a man Says Job Wilt thou disanull my judgment wilt thou condemn me that thou maist be righteous It is the disposition that is in the heart of men by nature to condemn God that they may justifie themselves Now the Law of God comes in with the coaction of it and that forces this man to judg himself and to fill him with fear and expectation of wrath Rom. 3.20 That all flesh may become guilty that they may appear and acknowledge themselves guilty before God Rom. 7 Sin revived and I died that is seeing self in a state of death and this is called the spirit of fear Rom. 8.15 and a receiving of judgment Heb. 10. This we may see in the Devils they know there is a time of torment coming wrath unto which they are reserved and they believe it and tremble and that never-dying worm that shall be in Hell is nothing else but from this coaction of the Law and the spirit of God setting a mans sins in order before him whereon there follows
they grow above ground the more they spread under ground lop them continually that they grow not above and they will by degrees wither and die Grace doth grow by the actings of it and so does sin and if a man should have Grace in his heart and yet never bring forth fruit though it could not wholly die because it it an immortal seed upheld by the Spirit of Grace yet it would never thrive There is a double way that the Devil takes to increase sin in a wicked man 1 He doth infuse all the devillishness into them that he can the Devil entred into Judas and put it into his heart to betray Christ the wicked one toucheth them 2 All that wickedness that is in them he does act and draw forth to the utmost And there is a double way of the decay of Grace 1 By stirring up and strengthning the contrary principle of sin 2 By hindering Grace from acting in all things and so though it be immortal seed yet in the degrees of it it will decay So it is here the Spirit of God infusing a new principle and restraining and hindering the actings of the old by this means sin dies by degrees and the heart is weaned and taken off from it and this is done by the Law SECT IV. The Subservience of the Law to the Gospel as it is a Rule § 1. WE have thus far considered the Law as it is in its subservience to the Gospel as a glass discovering sin and as a bridle restraining it now we come to the third Consideration as it is a Rule to guide and direct a man in all the ways of obedience and it is a Rule within and a Rule without 1. It is a Rule within that is the Spirit of God given by the Gospel or the second Covenant doth make use of the Law of God as an Instrument of Conversion and so plants in a man a rule of holiness and obedience in his own heart a principle of conformity unto the will of God in all things The Law indeed cannot do this of it self looked upon as a Covenant alone for so it is a dead letter but as it is in the hand of the Spirit Rom. 7.9 The saving knowledge of the Law is brought in by a secret and yet sacred blast of the Spirit of God breaking in and blowing when he listeth Now that the Law is an instrument in the hand of the Spirit for the conversion of souls is plain 1 Every part of the Word of God has a converting power if the Spirit of God be pleased to concur with it for every part of the Word of God is seed to beget as well as milk and strong meat to nourish if any part of the Word of God be ingrafted in the heart it will change the stock of what nature soever 2 It is that which is attributed to the Law Psal 19.7 The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul Indeed there is some difference about the word converting some say it is reviving or returning the soul when going down to the pit thou sayest Return again but it is returning from sin as well as sorrow and therefore Act. 7.38 called verba viva vivificantia living and life-giving oracles which give life here and bring to life hereafter 3 That is the promise of the new Covenant I will put my Law into their hearts and write it in their inward parts for no man has by nature the Law of God in his heart for the image of sin and the law of sin is upon the heart of man by nature Gen. 6.5 Rom. 12.2 1 The Law of the Lord is by sin blotted out of the hearts of men that image of God and conformity unto his will is taken away which they had at first and they have a new law the law of sin there 2 It is the Law put into the heart by the Spirit of God that is the rule of all a mans inward obedience and conformity unto God Adam had the Law written in his heart not only a Law without but inward dispositions conformable to it within and when man had blotted it out God wrote it in tables of stone but now he will put it into the hearts of men so that they shall have an inward principle answerable to the Law-rule without and whatever he does require in the Law something within shall answer to it but this Law is put in by the hand of God 3 In Conversion God does put in the whole Law into the heart of man what Law is it but the Moral Law that which is a Rule of a mans way without is the Rule of a mans heart within and God will put it so therein that it shall never be blotted out again by sin for he will write it there that it may remain Litera scripta manet c. but more particularly observe 1. That no man hath in him the Law of God by nature but all are enemies unto the Law in their minds they are not subject unto it neither can be and therefore the Apostle says Rom. 8.7 When the Commandment came c. it was a coming Commandment not of his own fetching it is therefore said to be a voice crying behind us This is the way walk in it for every man by nature hath another law the law of sin the law of his members which stands in opposition to the law of his mind the image he has upon him is the image of the Devil and he has contrary dispositions in his inward man unto God and to the will of God in all things not formed by the word Rom. 12.2 2. That which is written there is the Moral Law There are two great principal parts of a mans holiness Faith and Obedience and because the ground of Obedience is Faith therefore it is commonly called in Scripture the Obedience of Faith and answerable unto these are the two great principal parts of the Word there are the precepts of the Law and the promises of the Gospel and both these the Lord makes an ingrafted word the foundation of a mans faith is the Promise and thereby a man is made partaker of the Divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 and the foundation of a mans obedience is the Precept for in the regeneration we are renewed after the image of him that created it therefore writing the Law in the heart is a renewing of the image of God which in Adam we had lost and that was a knowledge of the whole will of God in whatever concerned Gods glory and his own duty and he had an inward ability and disposition of soul in all things to submit himself thereunto with cheerfulness So that in the fall the Law of God that was written in our hearts that was stamped upon us and concreated with us was utterly blotted out and now the renewing of this Law in our inward man is our regeneration a putting the same dispositions within us that were
mercy to thousands in them that love him and keep his commandments Thus God extends Covenant-mercy not only to parents but to their children also and that to succeeding generations and we must not limit the grace of God for that were to limit the holy One of Israel For Answer hereto 1 if the meaning here be of the priviledges of the Covenant which are conveyed by the parents unto the child then if any of them were godly from the beginning of the world this Scripture will intail Church-priviledges upon them by a lineal descent unto the end of the world for it 's likely there shall not be a thousand generations from the beginning of the world to the end thereof because these are called the latter times wherefore this is but a certain for an uncertain number and therefore in this case we must know where to stop there must be a period put that a man may be able to say none of them was holy in the second third or fourth generation and therefore now the federal holiness that was this mans or this childs is expired 2 If it should be understood of Church-priviledges and a federal holiness that descends upon the child from the parents then how shall this promise and threatning be both made good for it may be some of the Ancestors have been godly but the immediate parents are wicked and profane why may we not as well and much rather say that God will visit the iniquity of the immediate parents upon the children as that he will shew mercy unto the children for the grace and holiness of their remote parents 3 Of what mercy soever it 's thus understood whether of saving mercies or of outward blessings it 's plain that it 's only unto those children which walk in the same ways of holiness with their parents for God will visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children and if his hatred to children to the third and fourth generation be of them that walk in the ways and wickedness of the fathers then his mercy to thousands is upon them that walk in the ways of their fathers obedience So much I conceive the last words imply vers 6. Shewing mercy to them that love me and that keep my commandments if this be the meaning it will be easily granted that the children of godly parents who walk in the same ways of holiness with their parents shall obtain mercy from God unto many succeeding generations but that is nothing to the thing in hand which does suppose children to grow wicked and to degenerate from the holiness of their parents and yet men would infer that their fathers priviledges do unto many generations descend unto them which I conceive is far from the scope and intent of the Holy Ghost Object 2 But the Israelites were circumcised though their immediate parents were wicked of which the instances before given are many and therefore our children should be baptized though the immediate parents be wicked and if the profaneness of a Jew did not prejudice the childs right why then should the profaneness of a Christian take away the childs title are not our priviledges as large as theirs In answer hereto Answ 1 of Circumcision there was no set Officer appointed by God to administer it and therefore commonly the parents did it and it 's plain by those that write their stories that women did it commonly now there being no set Officer to administer it there was no set Officer to suspend it But in the Christians Baptism it 's not so there is a set Officer who is to administer it with judgment and as he is to deny it to none to whom it belongs so he is to dispense it to none but such to whom it belongs 2 The Lord took the whole Nation of the Jews into a Church-covenant and they became a peculiar people unto him and whoever was born of that Nation was therefore born a Church-member and had right unto the priviledges of the Church it is not so with any other people under Heaven there is something more required to make a man a Church-member than barely to be born of such a Nation and therefore while they continued Church-members though they were never so profane and wicked this could not prejudice the priviledge of the Church And though such deserve to be cast out yet as long as the Church doth through negligence or connivence continue such in a state of membership they cannot deny them the priviledge of members but yet it doth appear that now under the Gospel many men that live in the Church are not true members of the Church or if they be cast out then they and their children are justly deprived of the priviledges of members because it doth not belong unto them and though the posterity of Ismael and Esau did use Circumcision after they were separated from the Church of God yet it was unto them only a vain and an empty sign and no Church-ordinance neither was it unto them a Church-priviledge any longer than they continued Church-members 3 This seems to be demonstrative that none are to be looked upon as within the Covenant and to have right unto the seals but Church-members and that the Church-membership of children is a priviledge that they receive from their immediate parents only and that it 's not barely a parents being baptized and making a profession of Christ that doth de jure give him a right to membership and therefore if parents profess Christ and yet are not to be looked upon as members of the Church then Calvins rule I think will hold He that is not a Church-member himself cannot convey a right of membership unto his children Here are three things to be proved 1. That none have a right to the seals of the Covenant but those that are members of the Church This Calvin in an Epistle to Mr. Knox clearly asserts Semper attentè cavendum est ne profanetur hujus mysterii sanctitas quod fieri certum est si promiscuè alicui conceditur vel quispiam recipitur qui inter legitimos Ecclesiae cives numerari nequeat Therefore they that are baptized must be Cives Ecclesiae those that have a title to membership for the Ordinance of Baptisme is profaned if it be applied unto any other and the clear grounds of it are these The scals are the priviledges of Church-members only and if they be administred unto any whose priviledge they are not they are certainly profaned for Christ admitted none but Disciples Act. 2. and his Disciples afterward admitted none but Disciples They that believed were of one heart and they continued in breaking of bread and prayer c. and afterwards when the Church grew more corrupt and more remiss that such were admitted who did manifest they had no right unto this priviledge they were looked upon as spots in their feasts and it was judged a dishonour unto that Church And for this cause in the primitive times
glorifie the three Persons in the Trinity in the hearts of Believers and this appears plainly by Eph. 1.3 7 13. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus in whom we have redemption through his blood and have attained unto an inheritance in whom after you believed you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise So that to honour the Persons and to exalt them in the hearts of Believers is one great and main intendment of the Gospel and therefore if your faith close not with them you cross one great and main end of the Gospel of grace and that must be done not only in receiving of blessings and benefits from the Trinity in common but that a man take special notice of the distinct works of them all what is done by the Father and what is done by the Son that in that blessing the person from whence it comes may be highly exalted in the soul therefore we do read of distinct acts of faith exercised upon the Son Joh. 14.1 Joh. 5.23 and the Father You believe in God believe also in me that all men may honour the Son even as they honour the Father 3 As the order of their working doth follow the order of their subsisting as the School-men observe the works of the Father being first and then the works of the Son so it 's in the work of grace and all the benefits of it attributed to God the Father are first in order of Nature and then those that are attributed to the Son and therefore Adoption being the act of the Father is by some asserted to be first in order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by grace before Redemption which is an act of the Son and of Sanctification Forbes of Justification p. 28. which is an act of the Holy Ghost and this very consideration will give a man great light into the order of all spiritual blessings that we receive by virtue of the new Covenant for the order of the blessings are answerable to the order of the workings of those persons from whence they flow 1 Joh. 4.16 2. Believers should exercise love towards all three Persons God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwells in God and God in him There is a walking in love and a dwelling therein as a man dwells in his own house there is not only a love of the Son as says Christ Joh. 15.9 So I have loved you continue you in my love but there is a love of the Father also that the soul is to look upon as distinct Joh. 14.23 Joh. 16.27 If any man love me and keep my words my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you becaâ—â—â— you have loved me 1 It is a great comfort and honour unto the Saints that they are come unto the innumerable company of Angels and unto the Souls of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 And the promise is made good to them Zac. 3.7 They have places or galleries to walk in amongst them that stand by and that they can walk in the love of Angels and of the general Assembly of the Church of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven but much more to walk in the love of all the Persons that they are come unto Jesus they are come to the Mediator of the new Covenant to the blood of sprinkling and unto God the Judge of all and so can walk in the apprehension of the love of them all and it 's a great comfort that they can go to them all in prayer grounded upon the particular love of them all the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit Rev. 1.4 5. Grace and peace be with you from him that is and was and is to come and from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne and from Jesus the faithful and true witness And the soul tastes the love of the Father in giving his Son and the love of the Son in that he loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 2 That we might testifie our love to each Person distinctly and suitable unto the love with which they have loved us 1 let us fear to offend them all not only fear to offend God the Father because our God is a consuming fire and it 's a great and terrible name Ezech. 21.10 the Lord our God but also fear to offend God the Son our Saviour Take heed of him obey his voice provoke him not for my name is in him it is the rod of my son which it contemneth as every tree c. And Eph. 2.4 30. fear to grieve or quench the Spirit or resist his motions 2 Perform duties by arguments and motives drawn from the love of them all Joh. 14.23 If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will make our abode with him he that has my commandments and keeps them he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him 3 Give glory unto them all being affected with their love particularly that the soul may say Glory be unto the Father Son and Holy Ghost according to the intent of the Gospel that as we were baptized in the Name of them all so we may give glory to them all in a Gospel-sense And the truth is as this should be the great and principal object of our faith so it should be of our love also the highest love we can love God with is to love him for himself we may love God for his benefits and his blessings but yet that is not true love unless the highest love be set upon the persons Plus diligere famulum quam sponsum meretricis amor est Aust To love the servant more than the Bridegroom is adulterous love 3. As in the work of Faith the Soul is to be exercised upon all the Persons so also in the point of Assurance which is an addition unto Faith we should wait for the Witness and the sealing of them all because all of them set their seals unto the Evidences of the Saints The scope of the Epistle of John is 1 Joh. 5.7 that the Saints may know that they have Eternal Life and there are Witnesses some in Heaven and some in Earth but yet the Testimonies that these give all of them are in the heart of a Believer for so it is said He that believes hath the witness within himself the Father the Word and the Spirit Vers 10. and these three persons in Heaven give a distinct witness unto the assurance of the Saints in their own hearts there are three seals that are set unto it though it 's true that a man knowing the Love of
Earth and therefore thoughts of God do secretly steal away his heart with a sweet and unspeakable delight as it is with a man in the pleasures of sin his soul is stoln away with the thoughts of them insensibly much more is it so with the thoughts of God as the Lord having chosen us doth rejoyce over us as a Bridegroom over his Bride Hephzibath much more should we rejoyce in him as our portion There are two things wherein joy is exercised 1 Contemplation when a man takes a view of the happiness of his own condition by reason of his interest as Nebuchadnezzar doth Is not this great Babel that I have built and Jezebel to Ahab Dost not thou now govern Israel So a Saint Is not the Lord my portion in the land of the living 2 There is a dilatation in joy it doth enlarge the heart and thereby prepares it for the entertainment of the object for it doth transport or carry a man beyond himself as we see in Davids dancing before the Ark and the Saints should be much in rejoycing in God for the joy of the Lord is your strength 7. Make your boast of God glory and triumph in him Psal 97.7 My soul shall make her boast of God as it 's said of wicked men that boast themselves in their vain gods c. so a Saint should make his boast in God and say I have made a sweet choice I have a goodly heritage and undervalue all other Beloveds in comparison of your own There is no God like unto our God Make your challenge to the men of the world and bid them bring forth all the gods of the world and let them be compared with Jehovah there is none like the Lord therefore in thy choice bless thy soul that there is no rock like our Rock this God is our God and there is none besides him triumph over all thy enemies and their opposition In thy strength we shall tread down our enemies bear your selves high upon your God despise them say The virgin daughter of Sion hath laughed thee to scorn we care not though they be gathered together against us they shall fall for God is with us Job 5.22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth c. And this is to have a self-sufficiency and to have a mans mind conformed to the greatness of his interest these things can never be known but by experience and practice nunquam futurum ut quis speculativè tantùm fiat Christianus none ever became a Christian by speculation only Vse 4 § 4. See and observe from hence the happy condition of the Saints that they have an interest in the alsufficiency of God Psal 144. ult Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. It 's a special duty that lies upon the people of God to maintain in themselves high thoughts of their own interest and the excellency of their condition and a special step to bring men in to God is to have their thoughts raised and a high esteem of the blessed condition of them that have an interest in him and here consider 1. It 's the highest way of honouring God that can be in this life It 's a great honour to God for a man to see so much excellency in him as to chuse him at the first sight but many a man that doth so may afterwards fall from his former apprehensions and then his former affections do wax cold as there is many a man makes choice of Christ and calls him the chiefest often thousand and yet afterwards it may be said to him Where is the blessedness you spake of Gal. 4.15 it is still the same it was in it self but it was not so in their apprehensions it 's said many of the followers of Christ went back from him Joh. 6. and the Apostle speaks of men that do draw back Heb. 10.39 Heb. 10.39 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subauditur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Grot. We are not subductionis filii in which is an Hebraism and it signifies two things 1 Men excellent or eminent in any thing addicted or inclined unto it are said to be the sons of it as 2 Sam. 2.7 there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sons of valour men eminent in it 2 It signifies a man destinated and appointed unto it as 1 Sam. 20.31 Saul saith of David he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a son of death a man judged and appointed unto death Now there are some men that are the sons of Apostasie men that are of themselves addicted and inclined to it and they are by God judged to it of old ordained Jude 4. and it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is subductio a secret withdrawment in an unobserved way not an Apostasie from the profession of the Truth but a receding of the affections and the inward dispositions of the soul they recoil for as Job 31.27 he speaks of a mans heart being secretly enticed and so there is a secret withdrawment of the inward man and blessed is that Christian who keeps up his esteem of spiritual things and that his apprehensions of them rise rather than fall for love is grounded upon esteem and as a mans apprehensions do decay so will his affections also Now this is the highest love that can be when a man upon second thoughts reflex thoughts can approve and applaud his own choice and can bless himself in his heart and say I would not have it otherwise so doth Paul shew his love to Christ I have and I do Phil. 3.7 yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus c. and so do the men of the world shew their love unto the things of the word Psal 49.18 While he lived he blessed his soul and they are looked upon as the blessed and happy men by all the world c. that if a man were to chuse his own lot he would be in such a mans condition but a godly man if he had all the estates and conditions of the world before him yet he would chuse and prefer this before them all to have an interest in God As reflex acts do most fully shew the setling of the soul in a sinful way that a man doth approve of it afterwards as by continuing impenitent in it it is manifest as the Devil non invenit locum poenitentiae ergo nec veniae Bernard so there is nothing that doth shew the establishment of the soul so much upon God as this doth that a man can reflect and take a review and say I would not have it otherwise for all the world as these reflex thoughts of our interest in God are most comfortable unto us so they are most honourable unto God also 2. It 's this that doth make a man to set light by the scorns and derisions that are put upon him by the world it 's
true that such are counted the only fools men of low thoughts and weak spirits that cannot please themselves with the face and glory of the times as other men do but the Saint saith when he makes comparisons and that is one way of exercising of faith There is no Rock but our God Deut. 32. Jer. 14.22 their rock is not as our Rock the enemies themselves being judges the soul dares to compare with them all Are there any amongst the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are called vanity quia non subsistunt non prosunt because they neither subsist nor profit so the soul says Look upon all the gods of the world Can they do this as Saul said in a brag when he had almost ruined the Kingdom for David saith it was weak he bore up the pillars of it will the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards c. is there any comparison between the happiness that you enjoy under me and what you are like to do under him 1 Sam. 22.7 17. And so the Saints of God say and therefore they are content as a worldly man is populus mihi sibilat at mihi plaudo and that 's enough let the men of the world take their portion but they are not like the portion of Jacob Jer. 10.16 and therefore whatever they are in other mens esteem so long as they are blessed in their own they are happy Nemo aliorum sensu miser est sed suo ideò non possunt cujuscunque falso judicio esse miseri qui sunt verè suâ conscientiâ beati c. Salv. pag. 8. Although wicked men upon earth can see no happiness in God it doth no way abate the happiness of the Saints in glory who enjoy it nay it doth the rather heighten it when they consider that so many thousands have their portion in vanity and yet Esa 44.20 cannot deliver their own souls and say Is there not a lye in my right hand then a man doth bless himself and saith Who made me to differ As this will be a special part of the misery of the wicked at the last day to see Abraham and Isaac and many come from the East and the West and sit down with them in the Kingdom of Heaven and they themselves thrust out for the happiness of the Saints is a great means to aggravate the misery of the wicked In die judicii gloriam beatorum videbunt poena eorum non minuitur sed augebitur 1 Propter invidiam de eorum foelicitate dolentes 2 Propter privationem quòd ipsi talem gloriam amiserunt Aquin. sup quaest 98. art 9. so it will be a special part of the happiness of the Saints that they shall see the misery of the ungodly poenas videbunt damnatorum contraria juxta se therefore they shall see the misery of the wicked ut beatitudo illis magìs complaceat c. Aquin. sup quaest 93. art 1. and the same happiness in a measure is in this life begun that the people of God are so far from envying the happiness of the wicked that they pity them much more to consider how they are fed as a lamb in a large place unto the slaughter-time and how their portion is in vain things and they have made lyes their resting place 3. This gives unto the soul in all its necessities and straits a city of refuge a place of retreat when it is put upon any distress or when it is under any pursuit whatsoever and the Saints are sometimes greatly distressed as 1 Sam. 30.6 David was and then they make their retreat unto the strong holds Zac. 9.12 satis praesidii in uno Deo When a man is pursued by the thoughts of his own heart then that which is his portion the man retires to and in the bosom thereof he lyes down as we see in Haman his heart was unquiet he needed a cordial for lust is tender and it can bear nothing now he retires to something to refresh him Hest 5.11 he talks of the glory of his riches the multitude of his children and all the things wherein the King had promoted him and how he had advanced him above the rest of the Princes c. and by this he doth make a recruit unto his unquiet spirit for it is from a mans chief good that in any trouble a mans cordial must be fetched and so it is with a godly man also Prov. 18.10 11. The name of the Lord is a strong tower and the rich mans wealth is his strong tower they have each of them in all difficulties and dangers a retiring place suitable unto what is their chief good and here is the misery of an ungodly man that when dangers come his retiring place will not support him but the storm doth sweep away his refuge of lyes and the waters overflow his hiding place Esa 28.17 as a man that in a storm gets to a shelter but there is an interpluvium it doth drop upon a man and haply wet him the more in a storm he casts anchor but the anchor comes home and is not able to be a stay unto his tossed vessel they do hang all their hopes upon a nail and it 's not fastned in a sure place and so it doth not uphold the burden Esa 22.23 but it 's never so with the Saints when they are pursued with temptations with guilt with fears on the right hand and on the left Prov. 18.10 yet Prov. 18.10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous run to it and are safe the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it doth signifie to be exalted that is to be set on high out of reach and so out of the fear of danger it is not only a strong place munitus fortified sed sublimis very high Rev. 21.12 16. Rev. 21.12 16. it is a great and a high wall that had twelve foundations and therefore must needs be strong and impregnable and for the height it was 12000 furlongs and this wall is nothing else but that in Zac. 2.5 The Lord will be a wall of defence unto them that he that is within this wall and hath gotten under this shelter need not fear 4. It 's this that will keep and guard the heart from going out unto any thing else whatsoever it be because a man hath high thoughts of his sufficiency in God alone for the true reason why men do go out to any thing else is because they believe not the alsufficiency of God and the reason why the Saints that do believe in truth have sallyings of heart out to the creatures is because there is something wanting in their faith in this particular Phil. 4.7 Phil. 4.7 there is a peace of God which is a quieting of the soul in the wisdom and alsufficiency of God when in his way we have committed all unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it doth guard
plainly that they did seek a country so when we see the Saints of God to seek after no creature-sufficiency and not to place their happiness and the stay of their lives upon them it is a plain argument that they have their sufficiency in something else there is something else that doth bear up and elevate their spirits which can be nothing else but the acting of their souls upon the alsufficiency of God Vse 5 § 5. All you that have an interest in the alsufficiency of God walk before him and be upright Gen. 17.1 2. for what need a man to turn aside to any other what need had he to hasten after another god Psal 16.4 If the alsufficiency of God be yours he that is self-sufficient for his own happiness surely he will be alsufficient for yours and therefore there is no need to wander after the pleasures of sin or the comforts of the creatures if there be no defect to be supplied what need had we to call in any other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perfect good seems to be alsufficient Aristot If there be a perfect good it must needs be sufficient for that is perfect unto which nothing can be added if the creatures be added unto the Lord he is never the more perfect therefore if the creatures are wanting there is no defect no deficiency in him and if we need no other why should we trouble our selves to make out to another to do any thing in vain we count it folly to take in many things for that which may be supplied in one frustra fit per plura c. therefore keep God to thee and thou shalt want nothing Here is a double duty required from the alsufficiency of God to all his Covenant-people 1. To walk with God Walk before me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before my face in conspectu meo as in my sight as being under mine eye in whatever thou dost put thy hand unto There are three expressions take in a mans whole duty towards God in the way and in the course of his conversation 1 Walking with God Gen. 5.24 Enoch walked with God 1 It is a term of reconciliation that the enmity between God and the man is taken away for they are friends that walk together Amos 3.3 2. Two cannot walk together unless they be agreed so that a man must be in a state of reconciliation 2 It 's a term of communion that in a mans way he should have fellowship with God in his whole course and in all the actions of his life for that is a mans walk and therefore 2 Cor. 6.16 when the Lord hath communion with his people he is said to walk with us and when we have communion with God we are said to walk with him Luther extra causam justificationis nemo potest bona opera satis magnificè commendare Luth. and a man is to walk with God not only in religious duties but also in all the common and ordinary actions of his life a man should not only do what the Lord doth command but he should do it unto the same end for which it was commanded and that is that he might enjoy communion with God therein 2 There is a following of God or a walking after him Num. 14.24 it 's called following of the Lamb that implies three things 1 A walking by rule for a man must go no where but where he sees the footsteps of God before him 2 It is coming up unto the exactness of the rule that he doth follow the Lord exactly he doth not miss one step where he sees God to have gone before him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this Eph. 5.15 is walking circumspectly 3 It is walking with God unto the end and so it implies a perseverance it is not a going a part of the way after God and then to turn back from following him but it is to follow after him and to continue unto the end and so it is said That the Lord called Abraham to his foot Esa 41.1 and this is to follow the Lord fully or as it is in the Original implevit post me he did fulfil after me c. 3 There is a walking before God that is with a constant respect unto his all-seeing eye he sees the eye of God always upon him and he sees that to be a holy eye that no sin can scape it nothing can blind it all things are naked and open before it and he that doth observe it it is unto this end that he may judge it that he may give unto every man according as his works shall be and that 's the meaning Luke 15.21 I have sinned against heaven and before thee by Heaven the Learned do understand the presence of God who doth dwell in Heaven and therefore Psal 73.9 They do set their mouth against heaven Mollet Ad veram sapientiam pertinet ut Deum praesentem cuncta inspicientem jugiter attendamus Carth. that is contra Deum audacter sese efferunt Mat. 21.25 The Baptism of John was it from Heaven or from men that is from God and that was the great thing that without regard unto the greatness of God and his glory without respect unto his presence and his holiness and his all-seeing eye he sinned against him and that did affect him and that also did cut the heart of David I have done this evil in thy sight and yet I had no fear of thy glorious presence and thy all-seeing eye so that there are these six things necessary to a mans walking as becomes a Saint in reference unto God 1 he must be in a state of reconciliation 2 he must walk by rule 3 he must go to the exactness of the rule 4 he must persevere and continue unto the end and not turn away and draw back 5 he must have an eye upon the presence of God and his eye in all he doth 6 he must do all this that he may enjoy fellowship and communion with the Lord in his whole course 2. That we be upright or perfect with him there is a perfection of the Saints in this life even while their souls are imperfect Heb. 12.23 and it consists in two things 1 When the soul in its choice and bent cleaves unto God alone and goes out after no other Psal 18.29 God will be yours if you will be his you must be unto him and to no other Hos 3.3 God can admit of no Corrivals with him 2 When there is a perfection in the inward man all grace is there in truth the whole new man the whole Law of God is written in the heart he respects the whole Law of God leaves none of his Commandments out in his practice it 's not enough to know the will of God but there must be a doing of his will his practice must answer his knowledge and when all these are in you and abound then you are said to be perfect