besides the waiting of a Christian upon him who hath made the promises doth make him yet more patient and hopefull and this is a fourth use of conditional promises 5. They are of use to work all these qualifications in us to which the blessings are promised By the exceeding precious promises we are made partakers of the Divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 and this is no small work or use of these promises that from them should spring all our gracious qualifications for the Lord having promised such blessings in them these promises being received and enjoyed and meditated on by us we beholding them and the glory of the Lord Jesus in them are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 this great power there is in the promises to help an end the work of God in the soul of a Christian so that though they were never given to bring us to Christ yet to this end they were given to work all those qualifications in us to which the blessings are promised 6. They are of use to provoke and stirre up Christians to all such duties to which blessings are promised they stirre them up effectually The Lord maketh a Promise 2 Cor. 6.17 18. that such as touch no unclean thing he will receive them and be a father to them and they shall be his sons And mark what use the Apostle maketh of this conditional promise chap. 7.1 Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit perfecting holinesse in the fear of God Implying that the having of these promises stirreth up Gods people unto duties and the Lord is wont to breath in them and so to set forward the work of cleansing in the hearts and wayes of his servants 7. They are of use further to strengthen faith for the Lord that hath made such promises will accomplish them for his servants Genes 32.9 10. Jacob there putteth the Lord in minde of his promise and saith O God of my father Abraham God of my father Isaac and the Lord which said unto me Return unto thy Countrey and to thy kindred and I will deal well with thee and he was now returned according to the appointment of God but what now doth he plead the condition minde in the next words I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant Yet now though hepleadeth not any worth at all yet seeing the Lord hath promised such a mercy to him he prayeth for it vers 11. Deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my brother thus his faith is strengthened though he doth not plead his worthinesse to receive mercy So also do absolute promises strengthen faith and the prayer of faith 2 Sam. 7.13.14 c. the Lord there promiseth David that he would build him an house and that he would not take his mercy from his Children this stirreth up and strengtheneth the faith of David vers 28 29. Now O Lord thou art that God and thy words be true and thou hast promised this goodnesse unto thy servant therefore now let it please thee to blesse the house of thy servant c. this well ordered and sure Covenant of God was all his stay and all his salvation though his house was not so with God 2 Sam 23.5 So when the Lord promiseth to heal the back-slidings of his people Hosea 14.4 their hearts are strengthened to come unto the Lord and to say O Lord thy words are true let it please thee to heal the back-slidings of thy servants Thus by the promises of God the faith and faithfull prayers of Gods servants are both of them strengthned together Now let me further say thus much Let us rightly discerne what use to make of the principal part of the Scriptures take heed you do not close with promises before you have Jesus Christ specially take heed you make not use of promises to a qualification to give you your part in Jesus Christ neither be taken aside to make account that the Lord did give you himself gratiously in a conditional promise for these are aberrations from the Covenant of Grace Consider therefore well what the Promises be and what use the Lord would have us to make of them It is not for a woman to take her husbands inheritance before she take his person and you know that all the blessings and all the promises are as it were the Inheritance of the Lord Jesus given unto him and to no other but in his name and therefore there is not any Soul under Heaven that can challenge his right in Christ at the first by any promise till Christ first be given if you know that you are in Christ you may then know that the promises are yours otherwise you shall not be able to know your right in Christ by your right in the promises and therefore do not turn them upside down beyond the scope and intendment of the Covenant of Grace we may take occasion by them to admire the goodnesse and grace of God as David did Psal 31.19 O how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee thus ought we to consider of them and whither to look that we might enjoy them and the blessings in them If you shall say We have been converted and we have had gratious changes wrought within us be not deceived such work may reach no farther then conviction and you may come at the last to turn your backs upon Jesus Christ Consider therefore did ever the Lord give himself to be one with you whensoever the Lord doth strike up the bond of Union it is in an absolute and free-promise of his grace Trust not therefore unto every leaning of your Souls upon conditional promises for so you may build upon a Covenant made upon a work and in the end you and your Covevenant will fail together but when you read how the Lord hath made such promises to such and such qualifications then consider that those things are indeed requisite to be found in you but who is there in heaven or earth that is able to work them in you there is none but Jesus Christ and unlesse you have him to be in you you cannot have any of these things wrought in you But will a poor Soul say I am not able to reach the Lord Jesus Christ therefore all the promises of the Gospel do fall heavy upon a man and he seeth that they are too burdensome and weighty for him he doth not say Here is the qualification and here is the blessing promised to it and therefore I will take it to my self but one that is taught of God doth forthwith go and pray unto God that he will set him in the way of those blessings and that so he will make him partaker of them he prayeth that God will give him his
formerly they have pitched upon their good duties they will now pitch it upon Jesus Christ but still it is the same faith for the root is not yet burnt up their old corruption still remaineth in them and so here is your old faith translated from one object to another it was fastened before upon duties and reformations and now upon Jesus Christ And now a man is ready to plead and say If God had not loved me he would never have set me upon such reformations nor have enlarged me with such comforts as he hath done if he had not been well pleased with me in Jesus Christ but though he may be sometimes burnt up touching his hope in reformation yet he will translate his faith to Jesus Christ but how came you to do that brother Why I saw my hopes in my own reformation would not serve my turn and therefore I believed in Jesus Christ and now shall nothing draw me from Jesus Christ nor pull me from my confidence for I have built upon some word of God and some promise of his unto such reformation as I have set upon and is not this true faith in Jesus Christ This is far from true faith it is no other but a strong fallacy whereby the Devil doth cheat men and in truth this faith is but a faith of a mans own making that I may so speak it is no more but a spirit of burning at the best that hath burnt up his confidence in his own works and taught him to resolve to believe on Jesus Christ 4. There are a fourth sort that fall far short of Jesus Christ also and yet go beyond all these they go beyond works and beyond this faith also which we have spoken of which was not a lively faith in Jesus Christ whereby we are justified but men justifie themselves by it God doth not justifie them now this fourth sort come plainly to see that their faith is shaken and they dare not look God in the face to justifie the truth of their faith before him It is true many an heavenly spirited man cannot tell what will become of him nor can he tell whether his faith be sound but many an hypocrite also is so far convinced that he cannot tell what will become of him nor can he say that his faith is right nor that he is able to believe what faith the soul now in such a case as this He will say I see it is not my reformation nor my faith that will serve the turn what is it then I see that now I must wait upon Christ that I may believe and unto him must I seek for help Is not this soul in a state of everlasting fellowship with Jesus Christ Truly this is that which the Lord many times bringeth the souls of his servants unto but he leaveth them not here if he mean to do them good For I would examine again how camest thou to wait upon Jesus Christ Thou hast been driven out of conceit of thy former faith and so hast been forced and hast seen a necessity to wait upon Jesus Christ for faith or else thou canst not believe force of argument hath constrained thee thus far If thou hast taken up a course of waiting only upon this ground here is a spark of old Adam still kept alive in thee thou art able to seek and wait upon Jesus Christ and yet I cannot promise thee that thou hast any part or portion in him But a soul will say Hath not the Lord made gracious promises to all those that seek for him Hath he not said that all they are blessed that wait for him Isa 30.18 and am not I wrapped up hereby in a bundle of grace and peace Mind you there is no promise of life made to such as wait and seek in their own strength who being driven unto it have taken it up by their own resolutions though I grant it is true that every one that waiteth for and seeketh the Lord aright is driven unto it by the Lord but if ever the Lord mean to save you he will rend as it were the caul from the heart I mean he will pluck away all the confidence that you have built upon as a man would rend the entrails of a beast from him so the Lord will bring you to a flat denial of your selves and that you have neither good will nor deed as of your selves and you know not what God will do with you but this you know that whatsoever he doth he is most righteous When the Spirit of God cometh as a Comforter he will in this manner convince the soul of a man that he hath heretofore hung upon his reformations for hope and comfort but now he is brought plainly to see and flatly to deny that he had not so much as one drop of the fatness of the true Olive in him when he most trusted unto his own excellencies Now a man being thus far brought on doth not only deny himself in his Judgement but in his will and is ready to say as David sometimes did If the Lord say he hath no pleasure in me here I am let him do unto me as seemeth him good the Lord is righteous in all that cometh upon me this only the soul hath for his support in such a case the Lord is able to do all for me that I stand in need of If he shew me no mercy he is just if he be gracious I shall live to praise him Now when a mans will is thus subdued that he hath no will of his own to be guided by but the will of God this is true brokenness of heart when not only the judgement but the heart and will is broken The soul being thus convinced that neither his working nor believing nor waiting nor seeking as of himself will do him any good there is no mercy that he can challenge for any goodness sake of his own then cometh the Holy Ghost in some declaration of Gods free Love and taketh possession of the heart and then the soul beginneth to pant after Jesus Christ and nothing in heaven but him nor in the earth besides him The soul being thus wrought upon beginneth to put forth it self towards the Lord Jesus but the Holy Ghost had taken possession before and so helpeth our infirmities Rom. 8.26 27. he alone must help us and no other observe it I pray you for it is most necessary to know it to be impossible that a conditional promise should save the soul A man is convinced that there is no condition will quiet his spirit until the grace of God in Christ be manifested to him This is the first Use The second Use may give light touching a controversie if it be stirring in the Country I know not whether it be I fear it is and yet hope that if matters were rightly understood there would be no material difference for if the Question be not about grace but about the discerning of grace you will
toward us as he saith Joh. 16.26 27. I say not that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you Then doth he keep us in this estate And which is a farther work of the Son for this purpose he will send us his holy Spirit as He told his Disciples Joh. 16.7 It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you Thus as the Father sent the Son so will the Son send the Spirit and in the mean while he doth preserve us until the Spirit come and then he preserveth us by his Spirit Now sometimes he makes his people tarry longer before he send the Spirit in this kind of dispensation but we leave the times and seasons thereof unto the free purpose of the grace of God but I say mean while the Son preserveth us Joh. 6.39 This is the Fathers will that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing So Joh. 17.12 Those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost He keeps us in a waiting frame of spirit so that we cannot but thirst after him and long for him and mourn for the want of him and then a bruised reed shall he not break and smoaking flax shall he not quench until he bring forth judgement unto victory Mat. 12.20 Thus hath the Lord Jesus promised to keep us and this he doth perform 1. Partly by praying for us Luk. 22.31 32. Simon Simon Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy saith fail not so Joh. 17.11 20 21 22 23 c. Holy Father keep through thy own Name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are c. and this is the eternal efficacy of the Son whereby every beleeving soul is kept until he do finde fulness of accomplishment of his spiritual desires and though we may be many waies wanting in prayer for our selves yet he will give us his Spirit to pray within us with sighs and groans that cannot be expressed 2. And as he ' will keep us by his prayer so secondly by his ruling Providence for all power is given unto him both in heaven and in earth Mat. 28.18 and this power he doth employ to preserve his servants from all the delusions of the sons of men The Prophet Ezekiel complains of some that thrust away and shoulder out the people of God Ezek. 34.21 22 c. but saith the Lord I will set up one shepherd over them and he shall feed them even my servant David vers 23 25. They shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods None of all the delusions of Antichrist none of all the power of Tyrants not all the flattering world nor all the persecuting world shall be able to shoulder off the Saints of God from him 2 Tim. 1.12 I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day and the Lord Jesus engageth both his own power and his Fathers power for this end Joh. 10.28 29. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall they pluck them out of my hand my Father which gave them me is greater then all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand Thus have you seen how Jesus Christ gives himself unto Abraham and to his seed to become one with us to lead a miserable life and dye an accursed death thereby to redeem us from all our enemies unto a state of liberty by an invaluable price even by himself And having thus had the Father drawing us unto Christ though the Father said little unto the soul who had been about him all this while and so leaves the soul in no small distress as the Fathers work is Power so the Sons work is Liberty and he revealeth to us our redemption and reveals it so that the soul is set in an earnest longing after Christ in whom there is a way to the Father and a great mourning after him hungring for him so that nothing in heaven nor earth can satisfie him in which case the Lord doth give such strength and constancy unto the soul in looking towards Christ as encourageth him to expect refreshing in the end though at present he looks at all that he hath attained as a parable in comparison of what he would further enjoy in communion with Jesus Christ but it often befals the servants of God as it did the Disciples of Christ they were put unto new demurrs and doubtings We thought say they it had been he that should have restored the kingdome to Israel Luk. 24.21 these were Simon and Cleophas if it had not been He where was the comfort and blessed hope of rest which they looked for in Jesus Christ we thought it had been he a sign it was a demurr and dispute in them whether it was Gods grace in them or Christ that had been with them yea or no whilest they are at this debate in themselves Jesus himself comes unto them and reproves them for their unbelief and chargeth them to tarry at Jerusalem and there to wait for the promise of the Father And thus doth the Lord Jesus teach us to know the Father and reveals him to us by strengthning us unto all such holy duties as he calleth us unto and though we be many times affraid to pray to hear to come to Christian conference yet the Lord will not suffer us to refrain but we must pray and confer and hear and when we have used all he teacheth us to know that it is not in all these as of themselves to work any thing in us nor doth he suffer us to content our selves in any thing wrought in us but causeth us to thirst after more of himself in every Ordinance until the Spirit comes in a plentiful measure according to all the latitude of our desires after Christ Jesus Now for the Use of this Vse 1 in the first place If so be the work of the Son be such a work of redemption then certainly our state is a state of bondage before we be thus redeemed yea it is such a state of bondage as wherein we lie bound under Gods Law and under sin under Gods wrath and curse under the Devil and death and under the power of this world and all these enemies have power over us to carry us captive unto sin and misery so that great is the misery we lie under if we knew our misery few know it but are ready to say with those Joh. 8.33 We were never in bondage to any oh poor hearts then were you never redeemed to this very day if thou never yet knewest thy bondage thou never yet knewest thy Redeemer the Lord will never so dishonour his own work as to pay so great a price to
unless the Lord come in with his immediate power above the power of any Ordinance all that you have received amounteth not to the faith of Gods elect and unless it be the Spirit of God that enlighteneth we have received no saving light and when he doth come to seal up Jesus Christ unto our souls he ever speaketh in some promise of the free grace of God for the Lord justifieth no man upon an imperfect righteousness but in that work doth ever declare himself to be just and a justifier of him that is of the faith of Jesus Rom. 3.26 therefore seeing in this work he sitteth upon a throne to declare his own righteousness there is no place now for our righteousness to appear hence it is that if he justifie it is freely by his grace Rom. 3.23 thus God dealt with Abraham when he shewed him the innumerable stars of heaven and told him So shall thy seed be He believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness Gen. 15.5 it was the free grace of God which he mentioneth unto him But suppose the Lord should reveal a work unto you as a work there is in every soul that is justified if you should see any work in your soul yet unless the Spirit of God should above the power of the work breathe in it it is not possible that it should beget a Divine Faith it is only the work of the Spirit of God it is he also that shews you your acceptance with God and that manifesteth your sanctification and makes it a sign unto you of your justification otherwise neither word nor work can set on a promise with power upon the soul until the Holy Ghost confirm it it is his immediate work What then Object doth the Spirit do this immediately without the word No Answ if he speak peace unto the soul he ever doth it in some word of promise and if he testifie our acceptance it is in some word and in that respect it is mediate but he doth set on a power above the word and in that respect I call it immediate and therefore if a man shall seek to hammer out any thing by his own knowledge though he may add to his knowledge yet he can do nothing to the begetting of faith unless the Lord come in by a power above the word and when he doth speak in any word of his grace he doth not in the first place speak to you of your own righteousness but first convinceth you that you are a chief sinner as when he said to Saul Why persecutest thou me when he sends his Spirit it is first to convince the world of sin Joh. 16.8 9 c. and what of your sanctification next no of your justification next he will convince the world of righteousness that is of his righteousness and afterward of judgement and that is sometimes put for sanctification Mat. 12.20 A bruised reed shall he not break and smoaking flax shall he not quench until he bring forth judgement into victory But it is the Spirit that doth all this and therefore let not men deceive themselves in any conclusions that they can make for their enlightened conscience is but a creature and unless the Lord come in with a greater light then your conscience will afford you all will be but lost work unto your souls you will build but castles in the air which in time of temptation will vanish away In the third place Use 3 this may teach all the servants of God that have received in any measure the first fruits of the Spirit to know that they have received an earnest of an everlasting possession that Spirit will never leave you till you become a full vessel and running over if he have given you one promise he will give you more and if he have given you Christ he will with him give you all things else In the fourth and last place Use 4 it may teach us That if we have received Christ and our hope be in him never to rest until we do more fully and clearly see that the Lord is our God until the Holy Ghost do fill your hearts with more power and stamp more of the image of Christ in you grow more and more sensible how dead and insufficient you are unto any thing that is good be meek and lowly in heart think meanly of your selves you cannot pray you cannot preach you cannot of your selves perform any Christian duty it is Christ that must work all our works for us know therefore that if you be lively and active it is because your life is hid with Christ in God he it is that stirreth up your faith to look up unto Christ to expect all help from his hand Sometimes you must look to be severed from the world and the more clear the truths of God are unto you the more they are hidden from the world for if a man cannot look upon a candle how shall he look upon a torch and much less upon the shining Sun Therefore it behoveth all the servants of God to grow up in the power of God and the strength of his might not holding forth insolency of Spirit nor uncharitable censoriousness such things are far off from expressing the Spirit of Christ but it is the part of the servants of Christ to be faithful meck lowly humble and couragious in the waies of the Lord and when you have done all be contented to be counted the off-scouring of the world as 1 Cor. 4.9 for it must be the part of all that fear God to take heed that you give none occasion to any to speak evil of us for if we do consider the great hope of our calling how should it cast holy shame upon our faces that we walk so unworthy of our calling for if there be any work of God upon our hearts it is no transient work if God begin He will perfect until the day of Christ the work of grace is an uncessant work but as in the first creation the Spirit of God hatched upon the face of the waters till the work of Creation was perfected so doth the Lord by his Spirit in his Saints he doth not leave hatching in their hearts till he hath separated light from darkness and made every thing fruitful in the soul We must not rest therefore in former weak beginnings but if we be born of God and under a Covenant of grace we must look to grow up in all well pleasing unto God that we may not be strangers to any of all the heavenly works of the grace of God but that we may grow up to abound in fruitfulness in them all Thus having explained Second Branch of the Doctrine how the Lord gives himself in a Covenant of grace unto Abraham and to his seed we now come unto the second part of the Doctrine which is that he received Abraham and his seed to be a peculiar people unto himself which although we have spoken somewhat unto in
which is Christ And so by him are all the Promises and Blessings of the Covenant conveyed unto Abraham and to his seed his faithful seed all the world over and therefore he is called the Mediator of a better Covenant Heb. 7.22 meaning the Covenant of Grace Heb. 3.6 These three things do contain the sum of the Covenant of Grace and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and would therefore be plainly discovered unto Christians As 1. What is the meaning of this that God gave himself unto Ahraham 2. How doth he take Abraham and his seed and make them his People 3. How doth he take Jesus Christ and make him the surety of the Covenant between them both For the Covenant is established and so is a firm and sure and everlasting Covenant Now in this gift that God gave himself unto Abraham Observe 3. things 1. The Blessing given 2. The Order in which it was given 3. The manner of giving it 1. In the Blessing given when God doth by Covenant give himself to be a God it doth imply 2. things 1. That God doth give himself the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost the whole Nature of God and all the Persons of the Godhead with all the Attributes of that Nature and all the Offices of those Persons For it is not a confused God that vanisheth away in a general imagination but God distinctly considered in his Persons Attributes Properties c. thus the Lord giveth himself to Abrabam and to his seed I will be a Father unto you 2 Cor. 6.28 and that is not spoken to the Jewes only but unto all the Israel of God He giveth the Son also Isa 9.6 Vnto us a Son is born c. and God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 And for the Holy Spirit This is my Covenant with them Joh. 16.7 13. saith the Lord Isa 59.21 My Spirit that is upon thee and my words that I have put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed from henceforth and for ever and this is it which the Apostle also saith Gal. 4.6 God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father thus the Lord giveth himself unto his servants from one generation to another If therefore the Lord God the Father give himself he will not be wanting to draw his people unto the Son Joh. 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him And what is the chief business and work that the Son hath to do about us No man can have fellowship with the Father but he must have fellowship with Jesus Christ so our Saviour himself saith Joh. 14.6 No man can come unto the Father but by me this therefore the Lord Jesus Christ will do for all the elect seed of Abraham He will open their eyes to see that the Father did not draw them to Damnation nor utter desolation but unto Salvation by him this hath he promised to do And if it be the work of the Spirit of God to establish us both in the Father and the Son then will he convince the world of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment Joh. 16.8 to 11. and so will stablish our hearts in the Comforts of the Lord our God and this is that which the Apostle prayeth for the Ephesians chap. 3.16 That the Lord would grant unto them according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with might by his spirit in the inner man and hence it cometh to passe that what the Lord would have us to do he is present by his Spirit to teach us and to strengthen us and so to do it for us All these things doth the Lord work for Abraham and for his seed so that look what is meet for a Father to do or for a Brother to do or for the Spirit of God to do that will the Lord do unto his elect ones and so he giveth all his Attributes and they are even God himself and therefore when Moses desired to see his Glory and he desired it from the Grace that God had shewed him Exod. 34.6 the Lord proclaimed his Name before him Jehovah Jehovah strong merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth thus doth the Lord give himself and all the Persons in the Godhead as they are called and Attributes they are no more nor other then God himself 2. And as God himself is implyed so when God is given by Covenant all the Ordinances and Creatures and Works of God are given also For so it was in all Covenants of old time when Jehosaphat maketh a Covenant with Ahab King of Israel 2 King 22.4 then I am as thou art and my people as thy people and my ho ses as thy horses and all that he hath is for Ahabs service as the King goeth so goeth his strength So thus it doth come to passe that if the Lord of Hosts be for us and give himself unto us then also doth he give us his eternal Election and Redemption and whatsoever he hath wrought for the salvation of his Elect He hath not so dealt with any Nation Psal 147.20 but only with the Israel of God unto them hath he given his Lawes and shewed them his Judgments And for his Creatures they are all given to be for his people to whom he hath given himself If God be a God unto Abraham then shall all Gods people be sor him Melchizedeck shall blesse him Aner Eshchol and Mamre shall be confederates with him The Sun Moon and Stars shall fight in their courses for the people of God the Sea shall give way unto them to passe through it on dry ground What ailed you ye streams of Jordan to go backward Why all the creatures of God must stoop unto the people of God when he is in Covenant with them this is that which the Lord promiseth unto his people Hos 2.18 to 22. when the Lord shall marry them to him in faithfulness In that day saith the Lord I will make a Covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of the heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and I will break the bow and the sword and the battel out of the earth and I will make them to lie down safely And it shall come to passe in that day I will hear the Heavens and they shall hear the Earth and the earth shall hear the Corn and the Wine and the Oyl and they shall hear Jezreel Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours 1 Cor. 3.22 This is the large Gift of Gods Covenant Nay and which is wonderful and beyond all comprehension when I say all the creatures and ordinances of God are ours the very expression of the phrase doth
sanctification of the best hypocrite under heaven they may go far and yet at length fall away this is no Arminianism but if you search the Scriptures diligently you will finde these things to be true But such instances deceive the Arminians There is a fourth Difference between the Covenant of Works and of Grace in reâ—pect of the Mediator Diff. 4. Gal. 3.19 The Law was given and ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator Moses was a mediator according to their Works and this our Saviour telleth the Jews Joh. 5.45 You have one that accuseth you even Moses in whom ye trust and as for Jesus Christ if he be given to be their Redeemer it is but according to their works if they shall obey his voice but if they shall sin against him he will overthrow them body and soul into the nethermost Hell But now in the Covenant of Grace Jesus Christ hath obtained a more excellent ministery to be the Mediator of a better Covenant stablished upon better promises Heb. 8.6 Thus we see in this first Use the difference between the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace I might in the second place from hence also gather an Argument against the whole Body of Arminianism Use 2 for they look at no gift of God but meerly upon the Faith or Works of the creature foreseen if you speak of Election they tell you it is of Faith foreseen if of Glory it is upon condition of perseverance but we see how contrary it is unto this truth of God for he giveth himself first before he giveth any thing else accompanying salvation he gave us Christ in his eternal Counsel before Election and so doth he also in our Effectual calling not Faith before Christ to enable us to choose whether we will have him or not have him but he is God and first giveth himself and with himself Faith and so worketh our wils unto himself not otherwise leaving it to us to choose whether we will have him to be our God or no. Many things in Popery and Arminianssm come to be confuted from hence for in truth they hold forth no more but a Covenant of Works and if we will not grant Faith and good Works to be the cause of all the blessed gifts of God they will take it marvellously unkindly but they were as good deliver unto us another Gospel This may also serve to teach the people of God to bear a gracious respect unto those that are under a Covenan tof Works Vse 3 and not forthwith to condemn them as if there were no hope of their salvation for God never calleth any unto fellowship with himself in a Covenant of Grace but ordinarily he first bringeth them into a Covenant of Works The ignorant look to be saved by their good prayers and by their good serving of God After God may terrifie and humble their souls with the sense of their palpable wickedness Then they may reform and trust in their performances and then God may burn up all such false confidence Therefore those that are under a Covenant of Works may belong unto the Lord as well as thy self pray for them therefore Paul was under a Covenant of Works Steven prayeth for him and as most conceive that prayer was effectual unto his Conversion and Paul was as dear unto the Lord as Steven himself was Men under a Covenant of Works the Lord may bring them home unto himself by dashing all their works in pieces and shewing them the presidence of their spirit and the Lord will also come and pluck away the caul from their hearts and then they will have none in heaven but Christ nor in the earth in comparison of him and then the Holy Ghost convinceth them of this sin above all their other sins that they have not beleeved on Jesus Christ Do not therefore censure any such as to say there is no likelihood that they should ever come to have fellowship with Christ for if the Lord make them to fall down before him and to yeeld up their spirits unto the Lord in holy reverence and fear these have now received some fecret smoking affections besides a Spirit of burning which the Lord will not quench It may serve in the next place to clear up our judgements in sundry passages that do concern the Covenant of Grace Use 4 by Answers unto these six Questions following 1. Quest What is the first Gift that ever the Lord giveth unto his Elect First of all he giveth himself the Father Answ and the Son and the Holy Spirit this is the Foundation and if you shall lay Faith in the Foundation before these the foundation will lie uneasily and the spirit of a true Christian shall not lie long in peace Christ must therefore be first and with him Faith cometh in to receive him first he will make a Covenant with us and put his holy Spirit within us which worketh in us Faith and Fear that we never shall depart from him He giveth us his Son and all things else in him he giveth us in him pardon of sins in our Justification and in him some degrees of Glory also and in him right unto all the Promises of the Covenant no other Foundation but him take him first therefore for he is the first thing given But whether doth not the Lord give us some saving preparations before Jesus Christ Object Reserving due honour to such gracious and precious Saints as may be otherwise minded Answ I confess I do not discern that the Lord worketh and giveth any saving preparation in the heart till he give union with Christ for if the Lord do give any saving Qualification before Christ then the soul may be in the state of salvation before Christ and that seemeth to be prejudicial unto the Grace and Truth of Jesus Christ for if there be no Name under heaven given whereby we must be saved but only Jesus Christ nor his Name but in a way of fellowship with him then it seemeth to me apparently to follow that whatsoever saving work there be in the soul it is not there before Christ be there It is true John Baptist was sent to subdue all flesh by a Spirit of Burning which burneth up carnal confidence in the Covenant of Abraham and all their fruits of righteousness here were indeed preparations for Christ but these were not saving they were still children of wrath ye serpents ye generation of vipers notwithstanding all this Further John did indeed dispense poverty of Spirit unto which a saving Promise was made but then Jesus Christ was there also whether they knew it or knew it not that is not greatly material in this Argument but if the Kingdome of Heaven was there Jesus Christ was there first otherwise it will prove dishonourable unto the Name of Christ Indeed there is a saving preparation before consolation in Christ and the manifestation of our gracious union with him but for our first union there are no steps
no small matter to be cut off from Adam that 's contrary to nature Rom. 11.24 as saith the Apostle For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive-tree this is marvelous strong work when the Spirit of God cometh to act contrary things to nature for nature is fully possessed that what God commandeth I am able to do it nature will not be perswaded to the contrary If I hear God command any thing I will do it saith a carnal heart and if I cannot do it I will believe and if I cannot believe I will wait that I may believe this is still but nature Now when the Lord cometh indeed to engraft us into Jesus Christ this is quite contrary to nature Why wherein is it so contrary to nature I answer whereas nature is active for it self now it cometh to passe that whereas a soul hath been stirring and busie in his own strength at length the Spirit of God by the mighty power of his Grace being shed abroad into the soul doth burn up root and branch not only the root of Abraham's Covenant but all the fatness of the root of the wild Olive by which we are fat and lively to spiritual work in our apprehensions so that we work in our own strength untill the Lord come and cut us quite down and make us to see that there is not in us the least good thought as of our selves and therefore unless the Lord be wonderfully gracious to us we cannot be saved till it come unto this the soul is not fit for Jesus Christ Thus the Spirit of God may work powerfully in the hearts men and burn up their root and branch and this a spirit of burning may do and yet leave the soul in a damnable condition for ought I know and such as many a soul may be in and yet never come to enjoy saving fellowship with Jesus Christ Therefore as this is one arm of God stretched forth for the salvation of his people when he draweth them home to Jesus Christ so 2. Secondly there is a further work of God when he giveth the spirit of adoption which reacheth beyond all the former work he hath cut us off from our selves and now we stand in a state quite contrary to nature and if any saving-work be wrought in us it is quite contrary to nature if any thing fall upon the heart and soul of a man to bring his will to this passe to lie down at Gods feet that he knoweth not what to do and yet whatsoever the Lord calleth him unto he is willing if it were possible to be done he would run through fire and water to do it but he findeth himself unable to do any thing and now he will tell you that to believe is as impossible for him as to build a world Why then bid him wait wait saith he I but I cannot wait and if I seek the Lord I cannot find him and I see others of the servants of God wrought upon graciously but dead hearted I nothing will work upon me Now in such a case as this the Spirit of adoption cometh into the heart of a Christian and taketh possession of the soul for Jesus Christ and so draweth the soul unto Jesus Christ and maketh it there to stay and there to lie down and to be willing to be drawn yet neerer and neerer to Jesus Christ and to be carried an end by him to take all from him and to give all the glory to him This spirit of Adoption doth give a man a son-like frame to lie prostrate at his Fathers will like unto the Prodigal son Luk. 15.17 18 19. who when he came unto himself and saw how unable he was to provide for himself and how unworthy he was that his father should do any thing for him he came and lay down as it were at the feet of his father for he is unable and unworthy of any mercy now this stooping of the heart unto God and yielding unto him to do with us as seemeth good in his own eyes is such a prostration of the heart wherein the Lord hath taken possession of the soul that now a man is led unto fellowship with Jesus Christ that there is none in heaven but him none in the earth in comparison of him that the soul desireth after and now a man waiteth upon Christ to see what he will do for him and though he cannot tell you that he waiteth yet he doth wait that he may be helped of God to depend upon him thus he receiveth all from Christ and giveth all unto Christ This is the Fathers drawing of the soul which is expounded to be the hearing and learning of the Father of which John speaketh chap. 6.45 He that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me which is when the Lord hath drawn the soul out of his natural corruptions legal reformations pretences of faith and waiting upon Christ in his own strength for faith if it be wanting then when the soul doth lie at his feet to disposed of according to the will of God and is in some measure subject unto the Lord though not so much as he could be desirous he were and therefore now the soul doth not content and bless himself in his faith not any other gifts or works of his own but yieldeth himself humbly unto the Lord to work in him both will and deed of his own good pleasure and to teach him how to seek and wait and believe and long after Jesus Christ these things he waiteth for otherwise until he be thus taught of God the soul will alway think that he can do something and is not able to come out of himself to an utter denial of himself but if any man will come unto Christ he must deny himself even all his own gifts and parts and good works whatsoever for a man is never utterly denied until there be nothing left of which a man can say This I am able to do or this is an excellent thing in me and when it cometh unto this passe then will the soul lie down at the will of God and acknowledge that if the Lord would never shew him mercy just and righteous are his judgements Now when the soul and will of a Christian are convinced of these things as well as his judgement that now he waiteth upon Christ as well that he may be able to wait and seek the Lord as he doth for any other good thing from the Lord he waiteth now upon the Lord for a poor spirit and cannot perk up himself as a bruised reed cannot do Thus when it cometh unto saving-work the will and soul of a man is so cast down that a man cannot tell what to make of himself but there he lieth to see what the Lord will do with him whether he will reach forth the hand of salvation unto him In this case the soul
work of some enemy to deceive him though he all this while seeth his need of Christ and hath none in heaven but him none in earth in comparison of him of the want of whom he is sensible yet the soul knows not whether all this humiliation which is wrought in him come from the wrath or mercy of God and whether God hath not in all this given him only a taste of the very torments of Hell and the pledge of them to his everlasting perdition Thus may the poor soul be affraid notwithstanding all this gracious work wrought in him above all the power of the creature though the Lord hath not said much of it unto him yet he hath done it and happy we that ever the Lord hath owned us so far Now here is the special work of the Son he doth bring us back again to the Father and reveals what the Father hath done unto us even his rich grace that hath taken all this pains with us for as no man knows the Son but the Father so neither doth any man know the Father but the Son and be to whom the Son will reveal him Mat. 11.27 So that the Lord Jesus doth enlighten the soul by the anointing of his blessed Spirit to see what it is that the Lord hath done for him in mercy which heretofore he thought was done in wrath whence the soul begins to see the Fathers love even the goodness of a God in what hath passed upon him far beyond what he could have asked or thought for And therefore now begins with some more hope and liberty to call God Father for from this work of the Son there doth arise the two characters of a Son in the soul both which are comprized in this one that is liberty and there is a double liberty wherein a son doth stand 1. First He hath ease from all his doubtful fears or at least from a great part of the burden of them some refocilations some kind of quietness falleth upon the heart of a wearyed sinner whence the heart is eased beyond his thoughts although as yet his comfort stands rather in expectation then in actual fruition as our Saviour saith Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28.29 He doth not promise sudden rest He will give you present ease but learn of me for I am meek and lowly and you shall find rest unto your souls The Lord will give rest unto the souls of his people at the present he gives them ease and an expectation of much more plentiful fruition of rest and peace which they have begun to taste of And how doth the Lord ease the soul in such a case so as that they feel the burden a great deal lighter How doth the Son quiet and still and refresh the soul Is it by the sight of his own hungering and thirsting after righteousness What saith the Lord in such a case Or how doth he satisfie the soul He telleth us plainly where our satisfaction is Joh. 7.37 38 39. If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink So that if a man thirst how shall he satisfie himself in his thirsting This is the main question in many a soul May I not draw consolation out of this that I do thirst after the Lord Jesus You shall find that the Lord doth not bid me go satisfie my self by seeing my thirst If a man shall say I am exceeding thirsty and I shall tell him that he is a man of a healthful constitution because a man in a Frenzy is thirsty and knows it not this will not satisfie his thirst How therefore comes the soul to be freed of his burdens He thirsteth after Christ and none of all the creatures can quench his thirst therefore our Saviour proclaims this in the last and great day of the Feast when most of the Jewes were present for this Feast lasted eight days If any man be now athirst and not satisfied with all the Ordinances they had now enjoyed he doth not send them back again nor doth he bid them satisfie themselves with their own thirstings neither doth he tell them that their blessedness lyeth in that they do thirst though there be a blessedness in it but how then shall they be satisfied Let him come to me and drink So that this is the Christian Liberty which the Lord brings us unto when he works in us unquenchable desires after Christ if you would comfort a soul and tell him you do thirst after Christ that you could not have done if Christ had not wrought it in your soul you say true and there may be more in such a soul then he is aware of yet Christ is not wont to leave the soul to quench his thirst with his thirst but you will say Is not hungering and thirsting a sign of health For a surfetted body doth not hunger true yet the Lord doth not direct the soul to content himself with his own act but Come unto me But will the Lord Jesus give him drink He promiseth that he will Let him come to me and drink And he saith moreover He that believeth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of water of life this he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified so as that which now the Son doth is not the proper characteristical work of the Spirit but Jesus Christ doth come unto the soul and comforts it in some measure and which is a second degree of liberty giveth some liberty of hope that the Lord will at the length be pleased to fill him with his blessed Spirit which the Lord did more abundantly pour out upon the Disciples after his Resurrection And there is yet a more abundant fulfilling of all when he doth come unto the proper work of the Spirit and therefore he distinguisheth his own work from the work of the Spirit Joh. 14.16 17 18. and 16.7 13. he saith of himself that He will not leave them comfortless but he putteth this difference between his own work and the work of the Spirit Joh. 16.25 Hitherto I have spoken unto you in parables but the time comes when I shall shew you plainly of the Father yet he had spoken much unto them and told them that he loved them and that the Father loved them but all is but a kind of parable in comparison of what the Lord will further reveal when he doth more fully send forth his Spirit into their hearts In the mean while himself setteth on some word or other of his grace whereby he gives the soul such a taste of himself more then reprobates can have as makes him thirst after more and more of Christ until he be satisfied with the riches of the grace of God 3. Thirdly When the Son hath thus brought us unto the Father and shewed us his fatherly love
the Spirit comes in the mouth of the Word and the Word in the mouth of the Spirit take heed therefore of all Revelations in which the Word of God is silent for the Spirit of God will speak Scripture to you when he comes he will not bring a new Gospel and new Revelations but he alwaies speaks in the Word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is given unto us therefore if any Spirit shall speak and not according to the Word it is but a delusion rest not therefore in any assurance nor revelation unless thou hast a word for it In the third and last place Use 3 This may teach and exhort us in Justification to look for no word but such as holdeth forth some absolute Promise of Free-grace for the Lord looketh for no work in our Justification but the Works of the Son it is the work of his free grace to justifie the ungodly therefore if any man having been in desperate anguish of soul have built his faith upon some Promise made unto some such work as he findeth in himself this is no other but a legal righteousness for when the Lord doth pronounce Grace in a way of Justice he will pronounce it unto that soul that he is most ungodly and that he himself doth justifie him freely for example take that promise which we read Acts 10.43 44. To him give all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever beleeveth on him shall receive remission of sins there is a promise of remission of sins unto them which believe But was this faith in them before Nay but while he spake these words the Holy Ghost fell upon all them which heard the word and this Holy Ghost it was that did beget that Faith by this Promise whereby they did receive the Promise So in like manner if the Lord do promise that he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall finde mercy as Prov. 28.13 if he doth manifest his free grace in such a promise to any soul that soul will look at his old confessions as marvellous poor works and will not challenge this mercy promised by vertue of them for when the Holy Ghost doth apply a conditional promise to the soul he doth work the condition by the promise in the soul therefore when the Lord comes to testifie his acceptance of our persons it is freely of his Grace and thou canst not build any thing thereof upon any of thy works and if he do acknowledge our sanctification in any word of his grace he will let us see that every such gift or work of grace is freely given unto us so as that we shall be ready after all this to say with David Who are we or what are our fathers houses that the Lord should ever accept such as we are and such poor sacrifices as we offer unto him Thus having spoken of three distinct Works wherein the Holy Ghost doth give himself unto the soul to wit 1. In a work of Inhabitation 2. In a work of Sanctification 3. In a work of Revelation It now remaineth The fourth work of the Spirit that we speak unto the fourth work wherein the Holy Ghost gives himself unto the soul and that is a work of Consolation This is one of the great Characters of the Holy Ghost and this the Lord Jesus doth in special ascribe unto the Spirit Joh. 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter so vers 26. and this is no other but the Spirit of Truth Joh. 15.26 thus doth he stile the Holy Ghost the Comforter Why had the disciples no comfort before think you was there no comfort in the Fathers drawing them to Christ and revealing Christ in them Mat. 16.17 Was there no comfort in Christ his revealing the Father to them doubtless there is comfort in all these works the work of the Father mentioned in Joh. 6.44 is the same with what we read Isai 54.13 All thy children shall be taught of God and great shall be the peace of thy Children though it be but peace for the future yet light is sowen for the righteous herein and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.11 there is some ground-work of light and comfort in the Fathers work and some sparkles of it do appear for the Father reveals the Son and the Son is no sooner seen but hope is seen for Jesus Christ is our hope 1 Tim. 1.1 and hope it self I mean the grace of hope is a comfortable blessing so that the soul hath supportance in the very work of our being drawn to Jesus Christ and moreover the Father addeth further comfort in his Justifying grace for by it we have peace with God Rom. 5.1 and chap. 8.34 it is God that justifies who shall condemn such gracious supports and more then transient tastings of his mercy not such as hypocrites may have but such as do more or less stay with the Saints and people of God so that at the least there doth ever remain a seed of consolation in the hearts of all those whom God hath by his Spirit drawn home unto his Son And when the Son receives the soul he doth amplifie this comfort he reveals the Fathers work unto the soul Mat. 16.16 17. Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona flesh and bloud hath not revealed this unto thee but my Father which is in heaven and Luk. 10.20 Rejoyce in this because your names are written in heaven So that there is consolation also in the work of the Son but you shall finde it true that it is by the Holy Ghost that both of them work and that either of them comfort the soul with those beginnings of consolation that afterwards break forth into more abundant riches of increase But what doth the Holy Ghost do more 1. For Answer He doth bear witness with a more abundant measure of consolation Rom. 14.17 The kingdome of God is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost He doth so clearly reveal our acceptance through the righteousness of Christ that from thence springeth peace unto the soul which groweth up until it passeth understanding and bringeth us unto joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 therefore he is called by way of eminency The Comforter because when he comes he doth so clearly ratifie unto you your righteousness to be in Jesus Christ 2. Secondly The comfort of the Holy Ghost is more constant and abiding as Christ speaking of the Comforter promiseth unto his Apostles Joh. 16.22 I will see you again and your heart shall rejoyce and your joy shall no man take from you not but that God may sometimes eclipse it for the trial of his servants yet ordinarily it is more constant and leaveth faith even then more constant and firm Nehem. 8.10 The joy of the Lord is your strength when the Holy Ghost taketh in hand to comfort his people he doth abundantly strengthen them with his consolations 3. Thirdly As