Actions to the Touchstone and know how to manage the sword of the Spirit on all occasions against the fiery Darts of the Devil That knowing the Rule I may not be doubtful or at a loss whenever I am tempted I may not make a stand to parley but immediately summon all my forces to resist and reject the Snare being assur'd from God that the Continuance of this Warfare shall end in a most Glorious Victory He will shortly tread down Satan under my feet Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord. XXVIII The Import and Obligation of our Baptismal Covenant The renewal of it by a solemn Dedication of our selves to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit exemplify'd and recommended ALL this O my Soul which I have now resolv'd on is no more than what I am obliged to by my Vow in Baptism to renounce the Devil and his Works the Flesh and the Lusts thereof the World and Conformity to it that I may Love and Serve the Lord Agreeable to the undoubted Right which God hath in me by Creation Redemption and his innumerable other Benefits But the outward washing of Baptism and a visible profession of obedience will not save me without the Answer of a good Conscience towards God 1 Pet. chap. 3. v. 21. May I not by the consideration of my Baptismal Covenant suppose God speaking to my Conscience to this effect Will you take me for your whole Portion and Felicity And my Law for the constant Rule of your obedience And fight against the World the Flesh and the Devil to your lives end Will you believe in Jesus Christ and receive him as a Prince and Saviour And adhere to the faith and obedience of the Gospel how hazardous and difficult soever the profession and practice of it may be Will you receive the Blessed Spirit as your Teacher Sanctifier and Comforter and cherish all his Motions to enlighten purify confirm comfort and assist you 'T is my hearty consent to these Terms and resolved compliance with them which Baptism obligeth to and this is the Answer of a good Conscience towards God I have often renewed this Covenant on several Occasions but did I ever duly consider the tenor and obligation of it How have I lyed unto the God of Truth Dealt deceitfully with him and been False and Fickle Treacherous and Unfaithful to what I promised O let me now again repeat it and give up my self once more to be the Lord's more unfeignedly more firmly than ever I have hitherto done That the Bonds of God upon me may be strengthened and my Soul more throughly ingag'd to be the Lord's O help me to do it with the greatest seriousness as the most important Affair of my whole Life By thine Aid and Grace alone shall I be sincere and cordial in this surrender and Dedication of my self O breathe upon my Soul most Holy Spirit the Power of the highest that there may be no Hypocrifie or Reservation in this so weighty and solemn Transaction between God and me O most Blessed and Glorious TRINITY Father Son and Holy Spirit thy favour is my Life and thy Loving kindness is better than Life Thy Will should have been my Rule thy Word my Law thy Glory my End to please thee my principal Business and to enjoy thy Love and Presence my ultimate Felicity But I am one of thy revolted Creatures who have lost thine Image and rebell'd against thy Law slighted thy Authority and rejected thy Grace and deserve to be cast out of thy sight and banisht from thy Presence for ever Nevertheless O most merciful God and Father upon thy gracious Invitation and Call I now return to thee my rightful Lord acknowledging thee as my Almighty Wise and bountiful Creator my absolute Owner my Righteous Governour my End my Happiness and Chief Good I now accept thine offer'd Mercy I now submit to the Scepter of thy Grace and give up my self to Thee as my King and my God to rule and sanctifie me now and be my Everlasting Portion I desire to be no longer my own but Thine to whom of right I belong and ought to be devoted I yield my self to Thee O my Lord Accept and possess that which is thine own I lay my self at thy Foot at all Times and in all Conditions to be at thy dispose and in every thing to acquiesce in thy good Pleasure Deliberately resolving with unfeigned and free consent of my Will to walk before Thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life Hereby I consecrate and devote my self to be thy perpetual Avowed Servant Lord I am thy servant I am thy servant the Son of thine Handmaid Though other Lords have had dominion over me I will now make mention of thy Name and of thy Righteousness only by Jesus Christ O blessed Jesus my All-sufficient Saviour Thy dying Love infinite Condescention and matchless Grace hath at last overcome me and constrain'd me to resolve to be wholly Thine who hast redeem'd and bought me with thy most precious Blood I now acknowledge and own Thee as my Lord and my Jesus my Prophet Priest and King my Sacrifice Surety and Ransom to satisfy for my Sins and reconcile me unto God to instruct me in his Will and teach me the Mysteries of his Kingdom and the way to the Father How often hast thou open'd thine arms and called me yea beseech'd me to come unto thee and accept of Life but I refused to come I adore thy merciful Condescention that yet thou wilt receive me on such easie Terms O thou Lord of Life and Glory now accept of an unworthy helpless Sinner who flies to Thee as his only Refuge and Hope who is convinc'd that None but Christ None but Christ can make his Peace with God and save from wrath to come I acknowledge thy Title to me and my Obedience and to all I have by dying for me I desire to take thy Yoke upon me for it is Easie and thy Burthen which is Light I desire to be intirely and for ever thine in an Everlasting Covenant never to be broken To take up the Cross and follow thee whithersoever thou shalt lead me through the straight Gate and the narrow way I will reserve no Lust refuse no Labour grudge at no Suffering stick at no Difficulty so I may please and honour thee and continue in thy Love O shed abroad more of thy Love in my Heart to make all Things easie for his sake who hath loved me and washed me from my Sins in his own Blood O God the Holy Ghost I acknowledge Thee as my Great Teacher and Sanctifier and give up my self to Thee as the Author of all saving Knowledge and Holiness By Thee I have been convinc'd of my Sin against the Law of God and the Gospel of Christ and of my necessity of his Merit Satisfaction and Righteousness to justify my guilty Soul by procuring the Forgiveness of Sin and my Acceptance with God and of the
and Labour the Work he calls me to is excellent and the Reward glorious to know and love and serve and obey Him in order to Eternal Life and shall I yet be Idle Is this the Use and End of all my Time And do I know it and believe it Do I indeed believe it and yet delay and loyter and wast my precious Hours in Vanity Am I going into Eternity and entring into another World and know that I must be in Heaven or Hell for ever and have I Time to throw away Am I fit to die and to appear before my Judge or am I not Am I made meet for Heaven by pardoning Mercy and sanctifying Grace Have I the Earnest of the Spirit to witness and assure me of it Is my Interest in the Promise of Eternal Life as firm and my Evidence of it as clear as it may be made Am I not conscious to my self that much of this necessary Work is yet to be done And shall such an unprepared Soul as mine be careless and indifferent how I spend my Time SECT VII Of the Ordinances of Heaven Day and Night Summer and Winter Seed-time and Harvest their order and succession establisht by God is the effect of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness What they may teach us WHen I consider the beginning of another Year I can hardly avoid reflecting on its several parts Summer and Winter Spring and Fall Day and Night and their alternate Turns This calls me to observe and admire his Eternal Power and Godhead Wisdom and Truth who is the Great Author of this admirable variety Who hath fixed the Earth with his Foot and hanged it on nothing and setled the Luminaries of Heaven for Excellent Ends The Sun to Ruleby Day and the Moon by Night thereby to distinguish Times and Seasons to separate Day and Night Winter and Summer and consult the convenience of Man and Beast by their due Succession The Day is thine the Night also is thine thou makest Summer and Winter How wonderful is their Order Beauty and constant Course that when the Sun withdraws and the shadows of the Evening cover the Earth with darkness to conclude the Day the Moon and Stars supply the place of the absent Sun during the Night And that tho' they differ in length yet gradually lessen till they are both equal at the years end and have made the same Circuit How excellent a work of God is that quick succession to one another The supposition of a perpetual Night is a dismal gloomy thought O what will the Everlasting Darkness of the Infernal Prison be The Sun by day enlightens the Earth directs our Motion guides our Way governs our Travail assists Conversation awakens Industry warms the Earth and Air gives Life and Vigor and fruitfulness to all things under the Sun and makes the whole Inferiour Creation to rejoyce An Emblem of God's universal Goodness who is kind to all his Creatures How admirable is its Lustre how glorious is its Light how loudly doth it proclaim his Power and Wisdom who made this and the other Lights of Heaven by his powerful Word and preserves them hitherto by his daily Providence If God be now so glorious contemplated in his Works considered in the lustre of the created Sun viewed only through the Windows of Sense how much more glorious will he appear hereafter when we shall see him face to face and nothing interpose betwixt us and his incomparable Light If mine Eyes dazle to look upon the meridian Sun in what inaccessible Light must he dwell who is the Father of Lights If this lower World the common receptacle of his Friends and Enemies have so much of his Glory vouchsafed them by the Heavenly Bodies O what a place will Heaven be where shall be no Sun or Moon nor need of any but the glory of God shall lighten it and the Lamb be the Light thereof While I thus consider the Sun and the Day I must not think the Night is useless which discovers another part of the Heavens not discernable by the Day viz. the Stars and Planets refreshing the Earth cooling the Air giving necessary Rest to the Creatures c. Their order motions aspects oppositions influences are all useful and instructive The agreeable mixtures of Light and Darkness the regular succession of Day and Night within a few hours are exceeding wonderful and advantageous In other parts of the World where the Sun-beams are more direct and its heat excessive God hath made amends by the length of the Night under the Equinoctial Line it is always Twelve hours and in the more Northen parts where the Influence of the Sun is weaker the days are proportionably longer So good is God to all his Creatures in all parts of the world As the Morning and Evening answer to the day of Twenty four hours so doth Spring and Autumn to the Twelve months of the Year that we may not pass immediately from one extream to another but gradually be disposed for so great a change as is between Summer and Winter and Winter and Summer So merciful and gracious and infinitely wise is God in all his Works so that we cannot say one part of the Year is more necessary than another The Winter is as useful for the good of the Universe as the Summer In this we are supplied with what is necessary to maintain us in that And the admirable Situation of the Sun most probably in the Center of the World seems much to contribute to it If it had been at a farther distance from us our Earth would have been in a manner desolate because the Influence of the Sun could not have been considerable And if it had been nearer the Stars above would have wanted Light and this Earth under been burnt up The Excellent Order which it hath now obeyed for above six Thousand Years is also wonderful The Sun never stood still but once and that by a Miracle tho' much inferiour to that of it's daily Progress What a Subject is here to admire the Power Goodness Wisdom and Faithfulness of God Lord what is Man For whom thou dost all this And because I find every Year that the Day dies into Night the Summer into Winter and Herbs and Plants lose their Beauty and Verdure and shed their Blossoms may I not hence learn to consider and prepare for my own Approaching Change In Prosperity Health and Ease and Life to expect and make Provision for Trouble Sickness Pain and Death as every Wise Man in Summer would do for Winter and work with all my Might while it is called to day while the Light continues because the Night of Darkness is at hand when none can work SECT VIII Of Evils to be expected in this Year the Wisdom and Mercy of God in concealing from us the Knowledge of future Events NOT only few and uncertain but Evil likewise are the Days of the Years of my Life may every one say with the Patriarch Jacob. A
Misery will be as far from an End as when he first began to feel it It will then be but the Beginning of Sorrows which will Never Never Never End Think O my Soul that this is the Portion of the Sinners Cup this is the Wages of Sin and the certain Doom of final Impenitence and Unbelief 'T is no Politick Cheat or Melancholly Dream but the express repeated Word of God and Christ the Holy Prophets and Apostles and the Voice of Reason too Supposing but the Immortality of the Soul and the Power of Self-Reflection the Punishment of Sinners must needs be Everlasting as carrying continually an Hell within them unless God work a Miracle to prevent it which there is no Ground to imagine he will or Shadow of Reason why he should God hath pawn'd his Truth and his (*) Deut. 32. c. 40 41. Eternity to execute this Sentence of his threatned Wrath. He is a God of Infinite Mercy 't is true but he hath told us how far his Merey shall extend He will not exercise one Attribute to the dishonour and the disparagement of the rest That obstinate and impenitent Sinners shall thus perish is not because the goodness and mercy of God are not infinite but because his other Perfections are so viz. His Holiness Justice Truth Soveraignty and Wisdom Was it Wisdom and Goodness to annex such a Penalty to the violaion of his Law and can it be inconsistent with them to inflict his threatned wrath Shall we suppose God to uphold his Dominion and Government by a Falshood to keep the World in awe by the menaces of such punishment as shall no where never be executed Is it unlikely that God should exercise so much severity and is it not as improbable that his repeated Word and Oath should prove false Is it not a righteous thing with God as the Governour of the World thus to punish the obstinate Despisers of his Grace who slighted his Authority disobeyed his Law affronted his Soveraignty derided his Power denied his Truth contradicted his Holiness and joined Issue with the Devil to pull him from his Throne who abused his Patience and Long-suffering and scorned all his threatnings who thrust away their own happiness and would not take warning who burst all his bands asunder and broke through all obstructions and would not be stopt in their course of Vanity and Folly or so much as consider the danger who rejected his calls to Repentance and refused his Mercy when it was offered and preferred a Lust before his favour and the Pleasures and Profits of this World before the Heavenly Glory and notwithstanding all the methods of his Grace and the checks of his Providence and of their own Conscience they will go on they will dye Let me O my Soul adore the Soveraign Justice of God in all his Judgments and tremble at the threatnings of that Eternal Wrath which so few consider or believe till 't is too late Let the foresight and the fear of such an intollerable endless Punishment be a means to save me from it Let me herein read the evil of Sin and learn to abhor and avoid it Let me pity and warn and counsel and pray for those of my Relations and Acquaintance who live in Sin and run the Hazard of this Eternal Ruin Let me not envy the foolish Mirth and momentany Prosperity of the Wicked whose present Joy must e're long expire and an Everlasting Destruction succeed in its room (*) Job 20. Chap. 4 5. How short is the Joy of the Hypocrite and the Triumph of the Wicked is but for a Moment Let me fear and dread every thing that leads to this dismal Issue and improve every thing that may help me to escape it And by Consequence let me less value all the Good and Evil of this present Life judge of all things by this Light be patient under Temporal Calamities and thank God that it is not Hell and thank him more that present Sufferings do help to save me from Eternal Ones Whatever I can suffer in this World let my Condition be never so dark and sad and afflicted it is not it cannot be such but that every one of the Damned would think it an infinite Happiness to exchange with me and be as I am Let me think of those Exquisite and Eternal Flames to cure my Impatience under the sharpest Tryals and Afflictions I may now suffer Did I believingly Consider an Everlasting Hell * Qui non expergiscitur ad haec Tonitrua jam non dormit sed mortuus est S. Augustine I should not think much of any thing that is required to prevent it The severest Exercises of Religion the strictest Temperance the nicest Chastity the largest Charity the greatest Self-denial all the Hardships of Repentance and Mortification and Continuance therein to the Death tho' for many Years more than I am like to live would be reckon'd easie as well as just if set in the Ballance against the Eternal Mischiefs of the Damned What will not Men do and suffer to prevent a Temporal Death They will endure a painful Course of Physick tear out their very Bowels by Purges and Vomits and are content to be cut and scarrified and to suffer any thing almost to save their Lives But how little will they do to be saved from the Wrath to come One would think they should have no Rest or Peace or be able to live a quiet Hour 'till they had made some Provision against the Hazard of this Eternal Destruction and look upon all Men as their Friends or Enemies according to the Help or Hindrance they received from them in reference to it But the direct Contrary is every where apparent Men are careless and secure jovial and merry in the Way that leads to Hell and esteem and love and chuse that Company that will help to bring them to this Place of Torment Yea such is their Stupidity and strange Perverseness that they will not suffer to be told of their Danger If you tell them that by such a Course or such an Action they will lose so much Money or their Lives will be in Danger they reckon it an Obligation will take it kindly and return you Thanks But when they are told by such Courses and Actions they will lose their Souls and the Favour of God and the Hopes of Heaven and must perish for Ever this they will not receive they despise the Message and scorn and hate the Messenger are displeased and angry at such Faithfulness O bless the Lord O my Soul for any good hope through Grace of escaping this Intolerable and Endless Misery And let all that is within me bless his Holy Name I have deserved the same endless and unsupportable Wrath which Thousands are now under and shall be under to all Eternity but he did not suffer me to fall into it To be delivered out of those Torments after many Years Misery would be thought an admirable unspeakable Kindness
glorified in his Saints and admired in and by all them that believe * 2 Thess chap. 1. He was put to shame in the days of his Flesh made himself of no Reputation and accounted unworthy to live But when he comes again he will put on a Garment of Vengeance to repay Fury to the Enemies of his Cross and make his wicked Despisers rise again to shame and everlasting contempt They that once bowed the knee to him in mockery and shaked their heads at him in derision shall then see every knee how before him of things in Heaven things in Earth and under the Earth Angels Men and Devils in subjection to him as Lord and King Pilate who condem'd him as his Prisoner shall appear before him as his rightful Judge and know that he was another-guess King and Monarch than the Roman Emperor The false Witnesses who accused him of Blasphemy shall be impeach'd by one another and their own guilty Consciences before his Bar with the other Jews who once drag'd him before their Tribunal and be confounded to stand before his Judgment-Seat His Crucifiers shall behold him on a Throne of Glory whom they Nailed to an infamous Cross They shall be astonish'd to behold him sitting at the Right Hand of God whose Hands they bound whose Body they scourg'd whose Side they pierc'd They who Crown'd him with Thorns shall with all the World behold him with a Crown of Glory They that spit on him and smote him on the face with the fist of wickedness shall have their own faces covered with Confusion They that approved his Condemnation to Death as a Criminal shall be sentenced from His mouth as their Judge to Everlasting Destruction They that scourged him as a Malefactor shall be beaten with many stripes They that made him stagger under the weight of his Cross shall sink under the guilt and punishment of despising it They that Nailed him to the accursed Tree between Thieves and Robbers shall be sentenc'd to endless Punishment in much worse Company They who gave him Gall and Vinegar to drink shall not be able to get a drop of water to cool their own Tongues Where then shall the Wicked and Ungodly of the Christian World appear who Crucifie the Son of God afresh since he hath declared himself to be so by his Resurrection and the Mission of the Holy Ghost and fulfilling his threatned Vengeance on the Nation of the Jews c. If the Jews shall have a sorer Condemnation than ignorant Heathens who never heard of Christ never saw his Miracles or were inform'd of his Doctrine How shall we escape For he will come again as a Conqueror and Judge and not as a Sufferer and a Surety as he came at first and tho' he was numbred with Transgressors and made his Grave with the Wicked at his first Appearance he shall hereafter be attended with the shouts of Angels who excell in strength and the joyful Acclamations of his Saints glittering as the Light and paying Homage to Him as the Judge of Quick and Dead He whom we have despised shall then be encompass'd with a dezling Glory that will confound us He whom we have affronted will be cloathed with a Majesty that shall astonish us He whom we have offended shall be armed with Power and with Wrath to punish us and all that continue to lift up the Heel against him shall then be made his Footstool all that refuse to kiss the Sceptre of his Grace shall be broken in pieces by his Iron Rod. The Holy Scripture doth frequently and expresly assure us that he will thus come again and for these ends He is exalted and gone to Heaven as the Head of his Church and the King of Glory and when he foretold his Ascension he gave a promise of his Return The Heavens are to contain him till the Restitution of all things By his Providence and by his holy Spirit he now carries on the Designs of his Death and when these are accomplish'd he will appear to the Joy of Believers and the Confusion of the Wicked He is entred as our * Heb. c. 6.19 20. c. 10.20 Foerunner within the Veil to prepare Mansions and to take possession for us and will not always leave us in this dark and defiling World He knoweth our Sorrows and heareth our Prayers and bottles our Tears takes notice of our Groans and in all our Afflictions he is afflicted Being reconciled by his Death at his first coming we shall be saved by his Life since he lives to make good his word of coming again How comfortable is the News of it how joyful will be the Meeting to such as expect and prepare to see him when the Sea and the Graves shall yield up their Dead and all the Prisoners of Hope lift up their heads arise go up and meet the Lord in the Air and ascend with him to the Heavenly Glory But who can express how dismal a Sight this will be to the Secure and the Impenitent to all who die in their sins to behold their Judge who formerly offered to be their Saviour upon a glorious Throne and all the Children of Adam summon'd before his Tribunal to have nothing to answer against his Charge and no way to escape his condemning Sentence They despised him as a Lamb offer'd his Sacrifice to take away the Sins of the World but shall no longer do so when he comes as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to devour and destroy the Enemies of his Cross Now they will not own him for their Lord but shall then find he is so by the Vengeance he will execute As a Jesus as a Saviour they rejected him making light of his Salvation despising his Mercy refusing his Grace but the neglected Gospel will then be a more killing Letter than the Law He who by his Embassadors doth now intreat Sinners to be reconciled will then be as deaf to their Intreaties as they have been to His. Because they would not turn at his Reproof hearken to the Call of his Word and obey its Voice they must hear the Sentence of Condemnation and feel the Execution of it whether they will or no yea the Blood of his Cross will upbraid accuse and plead against them And whatsoever foolish Evasions they now make to continue in security they shall then be Speechless and Self-condemned Nothing will be able to hide them from the amazing Presence of their Judge or from the Wrath of the Lamb. He then will inflict an intolerable and righteous Vengeance an Everlasting Destruction upon all the ignorant and ungodly World The Greatest the Stoutest the Boldest of them shall then be humbled and stand before Christ's Tribunal upon an equal Level with the Meanest seized with horror filled with guilt anguish and despair and find to their eternal Confusion that the Judge is no respecter of Persons but every man shall receive according to his works The Mighty shall not be spared for his Greatness
nor the Mean man for his Poverty O Fool O Wretch that I am shall many then say who now brave it out in Pride and Vanity unconcern'd about a future Judgment not to be persuaded by the Terrors of the Lord which I was so often warn'd and foretold of What Refuge of Hope can I now flie to What can I say for my self What can I do to escape to die to exist no longer I would have no compassion on my own Soul I would not so much as consider its danger I shall now find none from Christ I can expect none His Mercy is gone and gone for ever I am lost undone tormented and must eternally be so O the Amazement Horror and Despair of self-condemned Sinners in that day of Vengeance O my Soul what is there of greater Consequence or of greater Certainty from the Word of God than that I must appear to Judgment when Christ shall come again Lord teach me to believe it firmly to consider it often to lay it seriously to heart to act under the Influence and Power of it as long as I live that at the Great Resurrection from the Dead I may lift up my head with a joyful Hope and find the Judge to be my Friend my Advocate my Jesus and not my Enemy and Destroyer XXIII Meditations of the Glory of Christ in his Glorified Saints and of the thankful Admiration of Believers when He shall come again from Heaven which shall be continued to all Eternity THE Terror of our Lord's Appearance to Judgment cannot be greater to the Wicked than the Comfort and Joy of it will be to the Saints When they shall see Him whom their Souls love ascend with him to Heaven and be welcom'd according to his Promise with those endearing words * Mat. 25. Come ye blessed Children of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the World 'T was for your sakes I assumed Flesh lived on Earth and died on the Cross to purchase this Glorious Kingdom for you which I now come to give you the Possession of 'T was for this I prayed and suffered on Earth for this I interceded ever since in Heaven I was heard in that Prayer accepted in those Sufferings and my Intercession granted that where I am you may be also to behold my Glory Come therefore good and faithful Servants enter into your Lord's joy O what ravishing words will these be What an Ecstasie of Love and Kindness is implied in them What matter of rejoycing may it now give me to admit the Hope that my Blessed Savior will say such words as these to me and bid me stand upon his Right Hand among his Sheep O what an exulting frame of Soul will such Expressions raise How shall all my Doubts and Fears and Sorrows be scattered in a moment and cease for ever O Glorious Day when my blessed Lord shall thus publickly acknowledge me for his own and plead my Cause against all the Accusations of Satan and the malicious Calumnies of all his Instruments when I shall be able to say of all my sins and sufferings as my Lord upon the Cross It is finished it is finished My warfare being accomplish'd being more than Conqueror over all through him who loved me and died for me and now is come to wipe away all tears from mine eyes as it were with the Napkin that was bound about his Head when laid in the Grave all being the fruit of his meritorious Death Then shall I have nothing more to fear or wish or beg I shall offend provoke and dishonour him no more or by my folly and scandal discredit his holy Name and Gospel but by consummate Holiness be fitted to rejoyce in his Presence and Love and celebrate his Praise for ever I shall never more lament his Absence or complain of his Anger never see a cloud on his Face or a frown in his Look any more Now I must wait and pray struggle and strive labour and suffer desire and expect believe and hope c. but then perfect Rest and Holiness Love and Joy Vision and Fruition Bliss and Glory unutterable and everlasting shall take place All the Attributes of God all the wonderful Perfections of Christ will then be glorified in Believers and admired by them His invariable Truth will then be honoured which they trusted to and waited for for now they shall know and find they did not wait in vain They hop'd in his Word and ventur'd their Salvation upon it and now they shall receive the end of their Faith and Hope infinitely beyond what they ever expected or believed The Glory of Divine Wisdom will then appear when the Constitution Administration and Design of the Mediator's Kingdom shall be fully known in the admirable Order and Beauty of every part of it with the exact Tendency of all the particulars to one Glorious End and the whole Undertaking crown'd with so blessed an Issue What is now a Mystery even to Believers themselves and hath a Veil upon it shall then no longer be so all the Riddles of God's Grace and Providence shall be plainly understood O how transporting a View must it needs be when the Glory of all the Divine Attributes which God intended to accomplish in and by Christ shall be manifest to his Redeemed Saints The whole method of our Salvation will then appear to be the fruit of unserchable Wisdom when we shall all see the Reality and Substance and entire Scheme of all that God designed in and by him all that was typified of him and foretold concerning him in the Old Testament How will it all appear to be the manifold Wisdom of God! Ephes 3.10 As in uniting Heaven and Earth together in the Person of our Moderator fulfilling the truth of a terrible Threatning in his Death and by the same way accomplishing * Vid. Mr. Charnock of the Divine Attribute Wisdom many gracious Promises satisfying Justice and at the same time shewing Mercy manifesting infinite Grace and Kindness by shedding of Blood conquering Death by dying and disarming the Law by Obedience to it c. afterwards subduing the World to the Faith of the Gospel by the foolishness of Preaching making men wise to Salvation by the Knowledge of the Cross and spreading that Faith the more by all the opposition made against it c. How wonderfully will a clear View of these things discover and glorifie the Wisdom of God! But the Love and Grace of Christ the infinite Goodness and Compassion of God will then be magnified in an especial manner What but Sovereign Love in the whole Contrivance and Council of God about our Redemption What admirable Love and Grace in the whole Management of that design What unparallel'd kindness in the Accomplishment of it by the Sacrifice of the Son of God And how Glorious will this Love appear when he shall come again to give us the full Harvest of all his Purchase With what admiring Thankfulness