but because they are under the Law As there were two in Aâ—rahams house the Bond-woman and the Free-woman Hagar and Sarah So in these Gospel Times there will be some that shall be freely for the Grace of God and the Covenant of Grace some again that will turn in to the Covenant of works and be Legal and Mosaical And If that we be Legal and Mosaical in these Gospel times we shall be more Lâ—gal â—nd more Mosaical than before As when a Servant was bound and the year of freedom came and he might go free and would not then his ear was bor'd and he was to be a servant for ever So now for what is our Gospel time but a time of Spiritual freedom And if men will be servants still and under the Law still their ears are bor'd and they are more Mosaical and more Legal than before But friends This ought not to be for you know what the Lord saith from Heaven concerning Christ Hear ye him Once in the 3d. of Matth. ye have those words from Heaven over Christ This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And a second time ye have those words at the Transfiguration in the 17 of Matth. 5. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him Why are those words hear ye him added here In the 3d. of Matth. these words are not added but only thus This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased There 't is not said hear ye him but in the 17 of Matth. 't is said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him Why is hear ye him added here Why if you look into the former verse ye find Peter answered and said unto Jesus Lord it is good for us to be here if thou wilt let us make here three Tabernacles one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elias Moses gave out the Law and Elias restored the Law now they being present now comes the voice hear ye him That is not Moses not Elias but now hear ye him in opposition to Moses in opposition unto Elias hear ye him And if you look into the 7th of the Rom. you shall find that now in these Gospel times we are to be dead unto the Law which the Apostle clears by a very great similitude Saith he Know ye not Brethren how that the Law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the Law to her Husband so long as he liveth but if the Husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her Husband So then if while her husband liveth she be married to another man she shall be called an Adulteress but if her husband be dead she is free from that Law so that she is no Adulteress though she be married to another man Wherefore my Brethren ye also are become dead to the Luw by the body of Christ that ye should be marryed to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God Ye are married to another therefore ye are dead to the Law dead how dead why ye are freed from the Law he expresses it so elsewhere freed from the Law How so What are we freed from the Commandment of the Law From the precept of the Law No saith the Apostle The Commandment is hâ—ly and just and good How then are we freed from the Law Why you are free from the Vail of the Law 2 Cor. 3. And you are free from the Dominion of the Law Ye are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. 6. And ye are free from the Pedagogy of the Law the Law is not your School-master to bring to Christ Gal. 3. And ye are free from the Covenant of the Law as a Covenant And thus are ye in these Gospel times dead to the Law and free But now though we are thus dead and be thus free yet possibly a man may be too Legal in these Gospel times That 's the Second 3. But then thirdly When may a man be said to be Legal or Mosaical in opposition to this Mediator Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant And when may a man be said to be Evangelical in opposition to Moses the Mediator of the Old Covenant Or in short What is the Way and Spirit of the Old and of the New Testament and wherein do they differ First of all An Old Testament legal Spirit is a servile spirit that serveth God upon the account of wages or reward mostly chiefly or onely An Evangelical Gospel spirit is a Filial spirit Moses therefore the Head of that Covenant is called a Servant and Jesus the Head of this Covenant is called a Son Moses as a Servant Christ as a Son Heb. 3. And if you look into Rom. 8. you shall find it s said there by way of difference For ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again unto fear So you read it but the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye have not received the spirit of Servitude again or a servile Spirit or the spirit of Servants But ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Compare this with Gal. 4. and you shall see the opposition doth not lie between the Spirit of Adoption and Bondage but Servitude v. 6. Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Aâ—ba Fâ—ther wherefore thou art no more a Servant but a Son In the 1. verse Now I say that the heir as long as he is a Child differeth nothing from a Servant though he be Lord of all but is under Tutors and Governours until the time appointed of the Father But when the fulness of the time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Women made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into yâ—ur hearâ—s crying Abba Father wherefore thou art nâ— mâ—re a Serv nt So that it is a servile spirit and the spirit of a servant that is here opposed to this Adoption And would you know the difference between the spirit of a Servant and the spirit of a Son Why a Servant serves for wages and a Son serves out of love and duty And are there not many in these times of the Gospel that do serve God onely or mâ—stly upon the account of wages and reward Ye know what men ordinarily say What need ye be so strict in your life you may go to Heaven with less ado So then it seems 't is Heaven that is their measure of obedience Why because men are legal and serve God upon the account of wages 'T is Heaven and Reward and Wages that 's the business Why because men are legal I grant It is lawful to have an eye to the recompence of
the first 2. Jesus was and is the fittest person in the World to mediate between God and us There was no creature fit to Umpire the business between God and us and therefore Job saith well at the 9th Chap. 33. verse Neither is there any dayes-man betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both Man was not fit to mediate because man is the person offending Angels not fit to mediate for the shoulder of an Angel could not bear the weight of Mediation-Work neither could an Angel satisfie God the Father not fit for this work the first person in the Trinity for he was the person offended The Holy Ghost not fit for this work for 't is his work to apply the blood of this mediation so then there is none other fit but Christ fit Jesus fit The fittest person For first of all he is the person appointed by the Father If a man will undertake to mediate between two and be not chosen thereunto he is not fit for it but if chosen then he is fit Why Jesus is the person chosen mine elect Servant saith the Father Whom I have chosen I have given him for a Covenant unto the People Isa 42. 2. He was and is the fittest person to mediate between God and us for he is a middle person partaking of Gods nature and of mans Extreams are joyn'd together by a middle who more fit to mediate between two then he that is a middle between them 3. He is the fittest person for he is the fittest to make reconciliation between God and us to reconcile God to us and us unto God First He is the fittest to reconcile God to us for that God might be reconciled he must be satisfied his Justice satisfied and his Anger satisfied Now Jesus Christ was God and Man as Man he ought to satisfie but could not as God he could satisfie but he ought not but as God-man he both could and ought and so the fittest And again 2. Who more fit to reconcile God unto us then he that was the most fit to intercede that had credit and favour and love with the Father Now Jesus lay in the bosome of his Father This is my beloved Son and I was the Fathers delight saith he in the 8th of Prov. Therefore the most fit to intercede and so to reconcile God unto us 3. Who more fit to reconcile God to us then he that was fit to be a surety to undertake for us If a man come to mediate with a person offended for another Saith the person offended but will you undertake he shall do so no more Yes Why then I am willing Now Jesus is called our surety in the 8th Heb. He undertakes that though we have broken with God already we shall break no more and therefore the fittest person to reconcile God to us But secondly the fittest person also to reconcile us to God 1. Who more fit to reconcile us to God then he that can change our natures Now Jesus is able to change our nature I find saith Paul a Law in my Members rebelling against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity unto the Law of sin which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death then I thank God through Jesus Christ And Rom. 8.2 The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death And 2. Who more fit to reconcile us to God then he that can beget good thoughts in us concerning God So long as a man hath hard thoughts of God he will never be reconciled to God Now Jesus Christ lay in the bosome of his Father and can tell the Soul what volumes of Love there were and are in the bosome of the Father for it from all eternity and so can beget love in the Soul towards God and so able to reconcile the Soul to God You have it clearly in John 1.18 he lay in the bosome of the Father c. 3. And then to say no more but this Who more fit to reconcile us to God then he that can give the Holy Ghost into our Souls For as God is reconciled to us by the blood of Christ so we are reconciled to God by the Spirit of Christ Now Jesus gives the Spirit I will send the Comforter saith Christ so that he he is the fittest person in all the world to reconcile God to us and to reconcile us to God and so the fittest person in all the world to mediate between God and us And so you have the second thing 3. But then thirdly As Jesus is the fittest person to mediate between God and us so he hath undertaken this work of Mediation and he will certainly carry it on unto due perfection First I say he hath undertaken it and therefore he is called the Mediator 1 Tim. 2.5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the man Christ Jesus and he alone is the Mediator I confess indeed the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is given to Moses and Moses in the 3d. of Gal. is called a a Mediator The Law was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator vers 19. that is not Christ But the Law was ordained by Angels in the hand that is by the Ministry of a Mediator Christ was not the Minister of Angels Moses was and therefore Moses is to be understood here The same word that is used concerning Christ is used here But now although Moses was a Mediator a Typical Mediator and did stand between God and the people as in the 5th of Deut. to deliver out the Law unto them vers 5. I stood between the Lord and you at that time to shew you the word of the Lord. Though I say Moses is called a Mediator because he stood between God and the people to give and deliver out the Law to them yet you never find that Moses is called a Mediator in a way of Redemption or satisfaction or paying of any ransome so Jesus onely is In the 1 Tim. 2. There is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransome for all And so in the 9th Heb. For this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament For what cause Why vers 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered up himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God and for this cause is he the Mediator It is never said so of Moses No but Christ the Mediator and he onely the Mediator in a way of satisfaction and redemption and paying of a price Well thus he hath undertaken the work And certainly he will carry on his work of Mediation unto due perfection for saith the Apostle he is faithfull in all his house as Moses was Moses a Servant he as a Son Moses the
there is no knowledge of God the Father he doth reveal the Father thereby you know the Father And thereby also you know your selves for three things are required to the knowledge of our selves We must know our sins our misery thereby and our inability for to help our selves know but Christ crucified you know your sins you know your misery thereby and you know your inability to help your selves And thereby you shall know men for the more I know the worth of a man the more I know him and the more I know the difference between man and man the more I know men know but Christ crucified and you know the worth of a man and you never know the worth of a soul or of a man but by knowing Christ crucified thereby you know I say God and you know your selves and you know men 2. Thereby you shall have your hearts drawn out and ingaged to Jesus Christ When I am lift up I will draw all men after me One would think that the scandal of the Cross should drive men from Christ but there is wisdome and power in Christ crucified which draws men unto Christ Wisdome draws it drew the Queen of Sheba to behold Solomon a greater then Solomon is here Love draws it drew Rebecca unto Isaac here is love indeed in Christ crucified Christ crucified is the most drawing thing in the world where Love and Wisdome and Power and Strength and all meet thereby I say your hearts shall be drawn out and ingaged to Jesus Christ 3. Thereby also your lusts and temptations shall be fully mortified and subdued There are three sorts of lusts the lusts of the eye the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life that John speaks of the Devil tempted Adam and Eve by all these by the lust of the eye They saw thâ— Apple that it was fair to look on by the lusâ— of the flesh that the Apple was good to eat and by the pride of life The Devil told them that iâ— they eat they should be like unto God and he prevailed with Adam and with Eve And accordingly he sets upon the second Adam and thought to have carried him too he tempted him by all these He tempted him by the lusts of the flesh Turâ— these stones into bread By the lusts of theâ— eye He shewed him all the Glory of the World He tempted him by the pride of life All this will I givâ— thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me but here he missd his prize and so shal he do when he comeâ— and tempts you if you do but keep close to a crucified Christ in the time of your temptations for by faith we quench all the fiery darts of the Devil and where are they quenched but in the blood oâ— Jesus You blow out a candle and it is easily lighâ— again but if you quench it in blood it is not so easily light again if you blow out a temptation or a sin by a Resolution it is easily lighted again but quench iâ— in the blood of Jesus and it is not so easily light again 4. Thereby also you shall dye unto all your own righteousness There is no such way in the world to dye unto our own righteousness as by the knowledge of a crucified Christ as in that place of the Philippians I account all things loss c. 5. Thereby also you shall be able to deny your selves in all things in one thing as well as another Possibly a man may deny himself in one thing that he may seek himself in another I may deny my self in meats and drinks that I may have the more money deny my self in prodigality that I may seek my self in covetousness It is possible that a man may deny himself in one thing that he may seek himself in another a man may deny his pride in one thing that he may be proud in another But now the sight of a crucified Christ will teach us to deny our selves in every thing And therefore the Apostle Paul pressing the Philippians unto humility and self-denyal he opens before them the sufferings of Christ 6. By your knowledg of Christ crucified you shall grow in Grace in one Grace as well as in another grow in Assurance and yet in Repentance grow in Repentance and yet in Assurance The sight of Christ crucified is a friend unto your Repentance and a friend unto your Assurance Saith the Apostle Grow in grace not in this or that Grace but Grace in the general Grow in Grace and in the knowledg of Christ so that the knowledge of Christ crucified is that whereby you shall grow in one grace as well as in another 7. Thereby also your hearts shall be established in opposition to all sufferings and afflictions It will incourage you to suffer and it will inable you to suffer Nichodemus came by Night when he first came to Christ but after he had seen Christ upon the Cross and seen the sufferings of Christ how boldly did he own Christ then The sight of a suffering Christ will both incourage to suffer and inable to suffer All our sufferings are either outward or inward If my sufferings and afflictions be outward the sight of a suffering Christ will make me suffer If my afflictions be inward and spiritual what is there that will quiet the Conscience of a poor trembling soul but Christ crucified Thereby I say you shall be established in opposition unto all your sufferings and afflictions inward and outward 8. Thereby also you shall have boldness in all your addresses unto God the Father Wherefore saith the Apostle Let us come with boldness to the Throne of Grace Why For we have an High-Priest An High-Priest there is the sufferings of Christ Thereby you have boldness in all your addresses to God the Father 9. Thereby even by the knowledge of Christ crucified you shall be possest of Christ You know many things and yet you do not possess them by your knowledge of them But know Christ crucified and you are possest of Christ Saith the Apostle My little Children of whom I travel in birth again until Christ be formed in you Christ formed in you that is till the knowledge of Christ be formed in you The knowledge of Christ brings one into the possession of Christ 10. Yea thereby you shall be furnished and prepared for every good word and work For what is the death and suffering of Christ but Officina virtutum the Shop of Vertues Do you want Faith Christ crucified is the Object of your Faith and the Cause of it as you have heard Are you full of fears Are you afraid because of the Law and the avenger of blood that is following you at the heels Do but look upon Christ crucified and there you see the City of refuge So many wounds in Christ so many Cities of refuge Are you impatient and froward why the sight of a patient Christ will make you patient Are you proud The spirit of an
I shall not run through all these differences priviledges only fall in with this 24 verse And to Jesus that is ye are come to Jesus tâ— Mediator of the New Covenant and to the bloâ— of sprinkling that is ye are come to the blood sprinkling that speaketh better things then that Abel From which two Priviledges with the connection I take up these Observations Observ 1. That there is a New Covenant strickâ— with the children of men 2. That Jesus is the Mediator of this New Câ—venant 3. That now in these Gospel times we are 〈◊〉 come to Moses the Mediator of the Old but unâ—â— Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant And 4. That thus coming unto Jesus the Mediatâ— of the New Covenant we are also come unto tâ—â— blood of sprinkling that speaketh better thing then that of Abel Doct. I shall begin with the first There is new Covenant stricken with the children of meâ— It was alwayes Gods way to deal with man iâ— the way of a Covenant that is the most suitablâ— to man the most honourable for man and the moâ— amicable and friendly from the beginning therefore so it was no sooner was man made but Goâ— entred into Covenant with him In the day thâ—â— thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death And then a Covenant he made with the World by Noah And then a Covenant he made with Abraham And then a Covenant he made with the Jews at Mount Sinai It hath alwayes been Gods way to deal with man in the way of a Covenant but now in these latter dayes he hath stricken a New Covenant with the children of men A New Covenant will I make with the house of Israel saith the Lord by way of promise Jer. 31. A New Covenant hath the Lord made with the house of Israel by way of fullfilment and accomplishment Heb. 8. So that there is a New Covenant stricken with the children of men For the opening of which Argument 1. We must enquire what this Covenant is 2. Why and upon what account it is called a New Covenant And 3. What are the wayes and properties of this New Covenant 4. Who are the Subjects of this Covenant and persons that God doth strike this Covenant with 5. We will a little inquire into the benefits thereof 6. Labour to shew you what a man should do to get into Covenant with God and in case he be in Covenant with God how he should walk as becometh one that is in Covenant with the great God Here is matter enough to discourse on many exercises but though with difficulty I shall dispatch all in this one 1. And first of all if you aske me what this Covenant is take this description of the Covenant that now we are in It is that mutual agreement between God and Man whereby God the Father doth ingage himself to shew mercy love and kindness to Christ anâ— to his Seed Christ ingaging both for himself anâ— for his Seed to be obedient unto God the Father First I say it is a mutual agreement and herein a Covenant differs from a Law A Law properly is a commandment with penalty No sooner waâ— man made but he was under a Law to be obedient unto God his Maker and in case he broke it God by the Law of Nature might punish him But then when God said unto him In the day thaâ— thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death then God entered into Covenant man accepting thereof Thâ— Child is obliged by the Law of Nature to obey hiâ— Parents yet this is no Covenant but a law of Nature for here is no agreement But the Wife is obliged to obey her Husband and this is a Covenant why because it is by mutual agreement So that I say this Covenant First is a mutual agreement between God and Man But 2. It is that agreement whereby God the Father doth ingage himself to shew kindness grace and mercy to Christ and to his Seed Unto Christ himself he doth ingage Isa 42. 〈◊〉 the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will bold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles If thou wilt undertake the work of the Mediator I do ingage and promise to thee I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and I will hold thine hand and I will keep thee And the Father doth ingage unto Christ and his Seed too for saith he unto Christ If thy children forsake my Law and walk not in my Judgements If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgression with the Rod and their iniquity with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take away which is plainly spoken unto Christ as you read in the 89 Psalm from the 26. v. unto the 30. So that I say it is that agreement whereby God the Father doth ingage himself to shew kindness grace and mercy unto Christ and his Seed On the other side Christ ingages both for himself and for his Seed to be obedient unto God the Father Christ ingages for himself and therefore saith he in the 40. Psalm verse 6. Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not desire c. Then said I Lo I come in the Volume of the Book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy Law is within my heart They are the words of Christ Then said I that is then promised I. Paulus Fagius observes that the Hebrew hath no one proper word for Promise but where God is said to Promise the word in the Hebrew is onely so God said God spake And indeed if any man will take the pains to consult the Hebrew and our English Translation together he shall find it true I 'le give you some instances and so pass over Deut. 1.11 The Lord God of your Fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are and bless you as he hath promised you Heb. as he hath said So in the 1 Kings 8.56 Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised Heb. according to all that he hath said So in the 2 Chron. 6.10 The Lord therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken for I am risen up in the room of David my Father anâ— am set on the Throne of Israel as the Lord hatâ— promised Heb. as the Lord hath said So aâ— the 16. verse Now therefore O Lord God of Israel keep with thy Servant David my Father thaâ— which thou hast promised him Hebr. that whicâ— thou hast said to him So here in the 40. Psalm Then said I that is then promised I then ingageâ— I unto God the Father saying Lo I come in thâ— the Volume of the Book it is written of me herâ— Christ ingages for himself And he ingaged also for his Seed therefore Psâ— 16. O my Soul thou hast said unto the Lord saiâ— by way
Hebrew is they gave the hand under King Solomon they gave their hand by way of Covenant and they gave their hand under King Solomon in a a way of submission So when we enter into Covenant with the Lord we give our hand under God and therefore if you desire to get into Covenant do these things Quest Well but suppose I be in Covenant with God as I hope I am What should I do that I may walk as becometh one that is in Covenant with the great God Answ First of all If you be in Covenant indeed with the Lord then God hath honoured you he hath exalted you and honoured you greatly and if God have honoured you why should not you honour God Now first the more you fall down at the feet of the fulness of Christ in the sense of your own unworthiness inability and insufficiency the more you honour God There is one saith John who is mightier then I whose shooe latchet I am not worthy to unloose 2. The more you cry up those Ordinances and wayes of God that are decryed by the World the more you honour God 3. The more you keep close to God in declining times the more you honour God 4. The more you trust God at a dead lift when all means fails and when a sentence of death is upon all the means the more you honour God 5. The more you serve God contrary to your own disposition and reaâ—h the services of God over the head of your own dispositions the more you honour God 6. And the more that you do prefer the things of God in time of competition above other things the more you honour God 7. And the more you part with your much for Gods lesser the more you honour God What is Honour Honour is a testimony of anothers Excellency Now when I can part with my much for Gods little his little truths and things I do testifie an excellency in God I say the more you can part with your much for Gods little the more you honour God 8. And the more you do keep close to the Name and Faith of God and Christ even where Satans Throne is the more you honour God Now then hath the Lord honoured you and taken you into Covenant with himself then surely it is your duty for to honour God and by these several particulars you may honour God 2. If the Lord have made and stricken a Covenant with you then Friends give me leave to say to you Why should you be solicitous for your own things If you be in Covenant with the Lord and God in Covenant with you God will take care of your things therefore why should you be solicitous about your owne things God is in Covenant with you he will take care of yours And upon this account in case there be any losse upon the things of God why should you not be as much affected for that losse as for your owne losses For if you be in Covenant with God and God with you Gods things are yours and your things are Gods Gods things are yours Why then should you not be as much touched with the losse of any thing that concerns God as with any thing that concerns your selves Yea Why should not God have the use of all yours God is in Covenant with you and you have the use of Gods things his Wisdome his Power his Mercy Why Because he is in Covenant with you and you are in Covenant with him Why then should not God have the use of your thing also your Name and your Estate and your Body and your Time If you be in Covenant with God and God be in Covenant with you yours are Gods and Gods are yours why should not God have the use of yours as you think to have the use of Gods 3. If God be in Covenant with you and you be in Covenant with God then why should you not live at an higher rate then the best of the Jews did You are in a better Covenant then the Jews were though for substance the same as you heard yet you are in a better Covenant and shall not your lives be better You have a better Mediator and shall not your lives be better You have better Promises and shall not your lives be better Your state now is called Grace to That The Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth comes by Christ John 1. Chap. Look therefore upon the Jews look into the Old Testament and look upon the best of them and think with your selves am I in a better Covenant Oh then how am I ingaged to live better Oh that our lives were more exalted upon this account Why should not our lives be better and we live at a higher Rate 4. If you be in Covenant with the Lord and the Lord in Covenant with you then be sure of this That you be true to God be true to God in the matter of his Worship the Covenant stricken between God and you is a Conjugal Covenant A Woman though she will admit another man into the house with her Husband yet she will not admit him into the bed that is a breach of Covenant Now the Worship of God is the bed wherein Christ doth bed with a Soul and therefore if you look into the Old Testament you shall find that Idolatry is accounted Adultry and Harlotry Why Because they took Idols and men into the bed with God Would you walk then as those that are in Covenant with the Lord away with every thing of mans out of Christs bed Remember it is a conjugal Covenant Whatsoever is of mans coming into the Worship of the Lord which is the Lords bed is against your Covenant When God speaks of a Covenant he saith Thou shalt be for me and I will be for thee Hos 3. Chap. 5. And to conclude all if you be in Covenant with the Lord and the Lord with you indeed go away and walk humbly and be very thankfull When the Lord made a Covenant with Abraham Abraham saith he go thoughout the Land and behold it in the breadth thereof and in the length thereof so say I hath the Lord entered into Covenant with you go into the Land of the Covenant behold the length thereof and the breadth thereof and what God hath promised in that Covenant behold it in the length thereof and the breadth thereof and thus will your heart be affected and raised to thankfulness Thus Davids heart was raised for saith he Lord though thou makest not my house to grow this is my salvation I am in Covenant with thee And so you may say Lord thou makest not my Family to grow I have never a Child this is my salvation I am in Covenant with thee though thou makest not my house to grow but I am poor and my house is pulled down or burnt down this is my salvation the Lord be praised the Lord is in Covenant with me thus do and you shall be thankful And this is
workings of the Law first Yet notwithstanding if I will lay a necessity upon such a precedency of a legal work before I do come to Christ then I am too legal 7. In the times of the Old Testament men did then upon any great discovery of God flie from God as when God gave out the Law they fled from God And when Christ did a great work before Peter Lord saith he depart from me for I am a sinful man But now in the Gospel the greater the discovery is the more a Gospel Spirit doth draw near to God Oh 't is good for me to be here saith he 8. The time of the Old Testament was a time of the Letter And therefore if a man of a legal spirit can but perform his duty according to the Letter of the Commandment he is satisfied But the times of the New Testament are the times of the Spirit We are not Ministers of the Letter but of the Spirit And therefore a Gospel spirit though he can perform his duty according to the Letter of the Command yet if he don't attain the spirit in it he is unsatisfied 9. To say no more in it but this In the times of the Old Testament God spake by Visions and Dreams and Signs But now in these latter days he hath spoken by his Son and we have a more sure word of Prophesie whereunto we do well that we take heed So that thus you see that there is a difference and what the difference is between the way of the Old and New Testament between an Old Testament and a New Testament spirit Fâ—urthly But then 4ly Suppose now that I have recourse too much to Mâ—ses in these Gospel times and not enough unto Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant Suppose I be legal in these Gospel times is there any great danger in it Much very much And I pray consider it that we may be all found upon Gospel ground in this Gospel day Danger I say much For I. The more legal you are in Gospel times the more sinful you will be and the less able for to live unto God 1. The more sinful you will be For saith the Apostle Let not sin reign in your mortal body for ye are not under the Law but under Grace And the less able you will be to live unto God For saith the Apostle Gal. 2.19 I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God Till ye be dead unto the Law you will never live unto God and in the Rom. 7. Ye are become dead to the Law by the body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit untr God Dead unto the Law That ye may bring forth fruit unto God Never think of bringing forth fruit unto God while you are upon a legal ground and come not off fully to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant 'T is observed that the Law was given out twice in Tables of Stone And the first time that they were given out God did cut out the Tables of Stone and he himself did write the Law with his own Finger in those Tables The second time Moses cut out the Tables of Stone and Moses wrote the words of the Commandment upon those Tables In the 34. of Exod. Hew thee two Tables of Stone like unto the first saith God Well so he did at the 28. v. And he wrote upon the Tables the words of the Covenant the Ten Commandments The first Tables were of Gods own making and the writing was of Gods own Finger The second Tables were of Moses framing and Moses writing and yet the first were broken the second kept What should be the Reason One would think that the first Tables should have been kept as a holy thing rather then the second but the first were broken and the second kept why For a good reason saith Austine because when the Commandment was given in the first Tables then God appeared in a dreadful way with Thundring and Lightning When God gave out the Commandments again the Lord appeared in a way of Grace The Lord proclaimed unto Moses Exod 34. The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands Thus God proclaimes himself as a gracious and merciful God and when the Law comes out now 't is kept No such way to keep the Commandments of the Law as from the consideration of the free grace and mercy of God When the Law comes out with a Gospel hand I then it 's kept and the Commandment not broken So that I say the more Legal you are the more sinful you will be and the less able you will be for to live unto God 2. The more Legal you are the more opposite you are to your own assurance to a full setled assurance of your interest in God and Christ We have not received the Spirit of bondage you read it again to fear but the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Assurance is a work of the Comforter but the Spirit of servitude 't is opposite to the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father 't is a great Enemy unto true assurance Now is it not a miserable thing for a man or woman to be always fluctuating and never to have assurance setled The more Legal you are the more opposite to your own assurance But 3. Though you do serve and worship the true God yet if you worship him in a Legal way your worship will be Antichristian For what 's Antichrist and who is Antichrist The Apostle John tells you in the 1 Epist 4.3 Every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that Spirit of Antichrist whereof you have heard that it should come But shall Antichrist deny Christ to be come in the flesh in so many terms No He shall not deny the Incarnation of Christ for he shall sit in the Temple of God How then shall Antichrist deny Christ to be come â—n the flesh He shall set up such a Worship as was before Christ came in the flesh As in the time of the Old Testament before Christ came in the flesh there was an outward glorious and a pompous Worship so shall Antichrist have As in the time of the Old Testament before Christ came in the flesh there was a Temple and a great Cathedral so shall Antichrist have As in the time of the Old Testament before Christ came in the flesh there was a High-Priest and Priests and Levites so shall Antichrist have As in the time of the Old Testament before Christ came in the flesh there were Copes and Ephods and Linnen Coats so shall Antichrist have As in the time of the Old Testament before Christ came in the flesh there were Candles and Tapers and Musick in the Temple so shall Antichrâ—st have As in the
some taste But how this work of Meditation is to be carried on with sweetness I reserve for the next Exercise only for the present you have heard what a profitable thing it is to meditate on the things of God What now remains but to get up and be thinking and meditating on God and the things of God The Work and Way of Meditation SERM. VIII HAving show'd how sweet and profitable the work of Meditation is to meditate on God and the things of God we came the last day to this Question or Objection But if the work of Meditation be so sweet and profitable What shall we do that this work of Meditaon may be carried on with sweetness and profit I am a stranger to this work of Meditation I have often read the Scriptures and not meditated on them I have often heard the Word and not meditated thereon I have sometimes begun to meditate but finding it a hard work I have left it off again And sometimes I have thought that this work is incumbent onely upon Students and Preachers But if it be our duty to meditate on God and the things of God what shall we do that the work of holy Meditation may be carried on with profit and with sweetness For answer hereunto four or five things I shall speak unto First I shall labour to shew you that it is our duty to meditate on God and the things of God 2. That this work of Meditation is every Mans work and every Dayes work And such a work as is Consistent wiâ—h evâ—ry busiâ—â—ss and condition 3. I shall lay down some means for the right performance of this work 4. Give you some Rules and Directions how this work of Meditation should be carried on with sweetness and profit in a right manner And then draw forth some Arguments or Motives to press you all hereunto I. First It is our work and duty to meditate on God and the things of God Will you instance according to our Explication at the first Will you instance in the Nature Titles and Attributes of God Why it is our work and duty so to meditate on God For wicked men are blamed that God is not in all their thoughts If they be blamed for this that God is not in all their thoughts then surely God is to be in all our thoughts Good and holy men are commended and rewarded for this They that feared the Lord spake often one to another and a book of Remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord and that Thought on his Name They are commended and they are rewarded In the day when God makes up his Jewels they shall be found among them Mal. 3. And who doth not know that it is our duty to praise the Lord not onely to be thankful to God upon the account of benefits received but to praâ—se the Lord upon the account of his own Excellencies and how should the heart be tun'd and framed unto this praising of God but by meditation on the Name and Nature and Titles of God Psal 48. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised v â— How doth he tune his heart to this praise We have thâ—ught of thy loving kindness O God The more that the heart of any man is laid in with meditation the more pregnant will his words be in the praises of God So that thus then it is our duty for to meditate upon this account But Secondly Will you instance in Christ the Son of God As it is our work and duty to meditate on the Nature Titles and Attributes of God so to spend and to lay out our thoughts upon Christ the Son of God You may observe therefore that this word Behold is oftener prefixed and set before the Mystery of Christ than before any other Depth or Mystery in Scripture And why so But to shew that this Depth and this Mystery is that especially that calls forth our Consideration and our Meditation There are four things concerning Christ which do call for our meditation The Personal excellency of Christ The Offices of Christ The Life and The Death of Christ As for the Personal excellencies of Christ you read what the Apostle saith in the 7. c. of the Heb. v. 4. Now consider how great this man was Mechisedec the Type of Christ And if the Type were so great Christ is greater And if we are to consider the greatness of the Type much more to consider and meditate on the Greatness and Personal excellencies of Christ typified And as for the Offices of Christ you read what the Apostle saith in the 3. chap. 1. v. Wherefore holy Brethren partakers of the heavenly calling consider the Apostle and High Priest of our Profession Christ Jesus And as for the Life of Christ you know what the Apostle saith in the 12. chap. 2. v. Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith And for the Sufferings of Christ you read what follows Who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame for consider him v. 3. that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself c. So that thus then we are to meditate on God upon this account laying out and spending our thoughts and meditations upon Christ the Son of God But Thirdly Will you instance in the Word of God Why as we are to meditate on Christ the Son of God so we are to meditate on the Word of God Psal 119.15 I will meditate on thy Precepts v. 23. Thy Servant did meditate on thy Statutes v. 48. And I will meditate on thy Statutes at the 93. v. O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day The Word of God we are to meditate on to meditate on God and the things of God upon this account Now here are four things that will lead you out to meditation The exactness of the Commandment The faithfulness of the Promise The terrour of the Threatning And the weightiness of the Examples all which meet in the Scriptures and in the Word of God And accordingly we are to meditate on the Word of God upon this account Fourthly Will you instance in the Works of God VVhy as we are to meditate on the Word so we are also to meditate on the VVorks of God The work of Creation the work of Providence and the work of Redemption The works of God are sought out of all those that have pleasure in them Psal 143. I remember the dayes of old I meditate on all thy Works I muse on the work of thy hands Thus David did and thus should we also do so that thus then you see that it is our work and our duty to meditate on God and the things of God in reference to his Nature Name and Attributes In reference to his Son In reference to his VVord and in reference to the works of God And that 's the first General II. Now secondly This work of Meditation is every mans work It is every