upon his heart and upon his shoulders This is that Jesus who is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS 3. As our Lord and King A King shall reigne in righteousness in him shall the Gentiles trust Zach. 9.9 Shout O daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh Isa 9.6 The Government shall be on his shoulder God hath more care of his Saints than to leave the government of them on their own shoulder Is not her King in her He is a King to gather them a King to govern them a King to defend and save them to save them from their temporal enemies the sons of violence the men of this evil world from their spiritual enemies to save them from their sins Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Matth. 1.21 'T is a mercy to be under government under government and under protection What would become of us were there no King in Israel Where there 's no King all are kings more kings than men Sathan will be king every lust will be a lord as many kings as there are devils and sins Whither would our unruly hearts carry us How easily would our wily and potent enemies ruine us What tyrannie would sin exercise within What cruelty should we suffer from without Whither should we wander where should we fix What peace what order what stability Whence should counsel and protection and salvation come were there no Lord over us 'T is a mercy to be under government but to be under such a government under a king and such a King such a wise and potent King such a meek and merciful King such an holy and a righteous King O what a wonder of mercy Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an asses colt c. Zach. 9.9 He is just having salvation as a Priest he hath purchased as a King he bestows his salvation He comes not to get but to give not to give Lawes only but to give Gifts unto men and he gives like a King Palmes Crowns and Thrones salvation to his people by the remission of their sins Oh how unthankful oh how foolish is this rebellious world Impatient of subjection shake off the yoke groan under duty under discipline We will not have this man to rule over us Who then shall save you hard to be a Christian strict laws severe discipline no liberty Is this thy complaint that is wo is me I am so limited and hedg'd in on all hands that there 's no liberty left me to be miserable if I will be his I must be happy Let fools inherit their own folly but let Israel rejoyce in him that made him let the children of Zion be joyful in their King for the Lord taketh pleasure in his people he will beautifie the meek with salvation Lift up your heads O ye Gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in Who is this King of glory the Lord of hosts yea the Lord our righteousness he is the King of glory The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us Praise ye the Lord. Come all ye Nimrods ye mighty hunters on the earth come all ye sons of Anak ye seed of the Giants come all ye sons of Belial ye seed of the Adulterer and of the whore come all ye Ishmaelites and Ammonites ye Moabites and Hagarenes associate confederate take counsel together smite with the tongue bite with the teeth push with the horn kick with the heel come all ye gates of hell and powers of darkness thou dragon with all thy armies with all thy fiery darts and instruments of death come thou king of terrors with thy fatal dart the Virgin the Daughter of Zion hath despised you all she hath laughed you to scorn the Daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at you her King is in the midst of her the Lord is her King he will save her 4. As our head and husband He that is given to be head over all things to the Church is given to be the head of the Church Eph. 1.22,23 and of every member in particular 1 Cor. 11.3 Believers are all joyned to the Lord 1 Cor. 6.17 United in Christ as fellow members united unto Christ as their common head From which all the body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Coloss 2.19 they are married to Christ 2 Cor. 11.2 I have espoused you to one husband From this Union follows 1. A Communication of Influences 2. A Complication of Interests 1. A Communication of Influences Having nourishment ministred Christ our head is our fountain of life Our head is our heart also out of it are the Issues of life from him we live and are nourished and maintained in life He is our Joseph all the treasures of the holy Land are with him In him are hid all the treasures of Wisdome and Knowledge Coloss 2.3 It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Coloss 1.19 He is the onely begotten Son of God full of grace and truth Here note 1. What grace there is in Christ The Schools tell us that in him there is a three-fold grace 1. Gratia Unionis The Grace of Union The humane Nature of Christ hath received the high grace or favour to be personally united to the second person in the God-head by vertue of which Union the fulness of the Godhead is said to dwell in him bodily Bodily that is personally or substantially in opposition to the types and shaddows of the Old Testament in which God in a figure is said to dwell God is said to dwell in the Tabernacle in the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple but in these he dwelt onely as figures and shaddows of the humane nature of Christ In Christ he dwells not in a figure but personally and substantially As Christ Coloss 2.17 is called the Body in opposition to the types of old which were but the shaddow so bodily here notes not a figurative but a personal inhabitation Christ is the body not a shaddow and God dwells in him bodily that is substantially and not in a shaddow 2. Gratia Habitualis Habitual Grace All those moral perfections wherein stands the holiness of his nature The love and fear of God his humility meekness patience in summe his perfect conformity to the Image and whole Will of God Such an high Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 3. Gratia Capitis or that honour which is given to him to be head of the Church 2. How Christ is said to be full of grace there is a twofold fulness of grace 1. Ex parte ipsius gratiae In respect of grace it self thus he is said to be full of grace that hath all grace and
wise Physician hath respect both to the need and to the strength of the Patient Isa 57.16 I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth lest the Spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made The Apostle tells the Saints Heb. 10. that they have need of patience and their experience tells them they have need of something to exercise their patience And their needs are different some are knotty pieces and need more others are tender and upon them less will serve The stubborn Childe must have more stripes the shaking of the rod will do more on some spirits then the smart of it on others but all need something Let him onely that is without sin say I have no need of shame and sorrow The Lord will neither over nor under do every one shall have his load and no more No more than they can bear and no less than their need requires The Lord delights not in his childrens tears he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men but yet he had rather they cry then perish Wonder not Christians that your tender Lord puts you to pain and that your pains are so sharp and so many Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things It 's a mercy that he will chastise you may put your corrections among your mercies His breakings of you are his blessings his woundings are your cures and by your own as by your Lords stripes you are healed And when you shall review and read over all his darker providences and behold the wisdome tenderness which is attempered with his severities evidenced in his laying on so much and yet no more than was needful you will then write down with the Psalmist Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me O my Lord let me not want thy staff nor thy rod neither a friend nor an enemy neither a calm nor a storm neither food nor medicine if my disease be too strong for my Physick let me have yet a stronger potion if my wanton heart will not yet be tamed put on more fetters an heavier load load upon load weight upon weight and till thou seest let me never say it is enough Let me never be sick of my remedy till I be cured of my disease Let me rather suffer by the hand of a Devil than perish by the hand of a lust Spare not Lord cease not Lord to smite thy servant till thou hast thereby smitten down all mine enemies Peace plenty ease what that I may have to spend upon my lusts to wax wanton against my God hanc pacem nolo Pain trouble want any thing rather than peace upon such terms Correct me O Lord yet in judgment but not in thy fury lest I be consumed and brought to nothing 4. The Cross hath its special comforts 2 Cor. 1.3,4,5,6,7 Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ And whether we be afflicted it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer or whether we be comforted it is for your consolation and salvation and our hope of you is stedfast knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation The comforts of the Cross are often the sweetest and the fullest that the Saints ever taste on this side the crown The first draught is often bitter the green cross is heavy and 't is necessary it should be so As 't is with some medicinal waters it works by its weight it must be an heavy yoke that will tame an unruly neck if it gall not it will not heal 't is the smart of the rod that stills the Childe Think not your burthens will lie easie when first laid on and think not much if they do not The first conflict with temptations may put you to an harder brunt then you are aware It must be so that it may be for your good afterward So my Physick will work I am content it make me sick Tribulation worketh patience that it cannot do unless it pains It is observable that 't is not said the cross worketh patience but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tribulation the pinching of the cross or the pain the cross puts us to this is patience a quiet bearing that pain which the flesh when touched puts us to When we feel the thorns and the nails when the iron enters into our souls when it pricks and smarts then 't will work The green cross is heavy a prison or a wilderness will look uncouth at the first but when your Lord comes in and visits you then the sweet the pleasure comes and the more frowns at the threshold the more kisses you may expect afterwards Christ doth not always meet his Saints in the Porch the Devils Parlour the inner prison is his banquetting house the Dungeon his Wine-cellar there they drink and are satisfied The Stocks and the Rack are the organs that make them the sweetest Musick Many a Saint hath been sadly disappointed at the first hoping to meet with Christ at the door but behold a dreadful fight behold sin lieth at the door all his sins all that ever he did against Christ all his unthankfulness unfaithfulness unkindness rebellion against his Lord stand forth and stare him in the face Christians beware of sin now it will meet you in the day of adversity the cross will tell you all that ever you did I remember my faults this day now I remember all my pleasant things my Sabbaths my Ordinances my Liberty the dear society I once enjoy'd but trifled and wasted away O my pride and my wantonness my idleness my earthliness my hypocrisie wherefore are you come thus to affright and torment me Lord whether am I come O how dreadful is this place Is this my prison-entertainment Are these my prison-consorts O what an hard lodging am I like to have with such companions O the wormwood and the gall a dark habitation a bitter cup indeed is now given unto me Is this the comfort of the cross are these the sweets so much talked of Yet be not dismayed as roughly as thou art handled at the door 't is better within the Devil is going out in this storm thy sins meet thee now but 't is only to shake hands and part after this agony expect the Angels to come and minister to thee Complain not if thou yet find no sweet thou hast not drank deep enough the next draught the sugar may come in the next room thou maist meet thy Lord and then tell me if it be short of all that hath been told
the Promise should be a sure Foundation yet thou mayest not build upon another mans ground What though the grace and mercies of God are infinite yet Doggs may not catch at the Childrens bread Thou hast not right nor title to the Promise therefore cease thy pretended claim The Triumph of Faith in the clearness of the Bâ—lievers Evidences But O my soul wherefore shouldst thou doubt Whose Image and Superscription is this Dost thou not bear upon thee the marks of the Lord Jesus I have given up my name to him and taken hold of his Covenant and therefore may claim an interest Esay 56.4 I have accepted the matter and closed with the Mediator and subscribed to the conditions of the Covenant and therefore cannot question but it is mine The Lord hath offered to be my God and I have took hold of his offer Psal 73.25,26 I have taken him as God and given him the supremacy O my soul look round about thee in Heaven and in Earth is there any thou dost esteem or value in comparison of God Phil. 3.8 Is there any thou dost love like him or take that content or felicity in that thou dost in him Phil. 1 20 Are not thy chief desires and designes to glorifie and enjoy him Thou canst not deny but it is truly thus Psal 26.8 and 84 1,2,3 Psal 27.4 and 119.57 Psa 119 38 2 Cor. 5.8 Act. 24.16 with Rom. 6.19 Luke 14.33 Psal 16 5,6 I am sure nothing but God will content me I am never so well in all the world as in his company My soul seeketh him above all and rests in him alone as my satisfactory Portion He offereth to take me as one of his people and I have resigned my self accordingly to him as his and have put both my Inward and Outward man under his Government and given up All to his dispose and am resolved to be content with him as my Allsufficient happiness John 1.12 Besides I have taken him in his own way through Christ whom he hath tendered to me as my Head and Husband and I have accordingly solemnly and deliberately taken him Luke 14.26 to the end Matth. 11.29 Phil. 3.9 2 Tim. 1.12 O my soul dost not thou know thy often debates hast thou not put Christ and all the world into the ballance hast thou not cast up the cost and reckoned upon the Cross and willingly put thy neck under Christs yoke and ventured thy salvation upon Christ alone and trusted him with all thy happiness and all thy hopes hast thou not over and over resolved to take him with what comes and that he shall be enough though in the loss of all things 1 Cor. 1.20 Thou canst not but know that these have been the transactions between Christ and thee and therefore he is thine and all the Promises Yea and Amen to thee through him Act. 20.21 Rom. 2.7 And for the terms of the Covenant I love and like them my soul embraceth them neither do I desire to be saved in any other way then by repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ and sincere obedience to his Goâ—pel Phil. 3. â— to the 10. 2 Cor. 5.7 2 Cor. 4.18 1 Thes 1.9 10. Tit. 2.13 Heb. 10 34. 11.35 I am willing to go out of my flesh and do look unto Jesu for righteousness and strength and trust my salvation wholly in this bottome I am content to deal upon trust and venture all in hopes of what is to come and to tarry till the next world for my preferment I am willing to wait till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and have laid up my happiness on the other side the Grave Rom. 7.24 Gal. 5.17 And though my sins be many yet I should belye mine own knowledge if I should say they were not my constant trouble and burthen and the enemies against which I daily watch and with whom my soul hath no peace Psal 39.1 17.3 Mine own heart knoweth that I hate them and desire and endeavour their utter destruction and do resolve against them all and am willing to use all Gods means that I know to mortifie them Psal 119.101,104 Rom. 7.15,16 c. 1 Cor. 9.26,27 1 John 1.9 Rom 6.16 Psal 119.6 Psal 119.5 30,173 Mat. 6.33 2 Cor. 5.9 'T is too true that I often fall and fail yet my conscience beareth me witness that I confess and bewail it and do not ordinarily and deliberately allow my self in any sin whatsoever against my knowledge And though my obedience be miserably lame yet O Lord thou knowest that I have respect unto all thy commandments and do strive to come up to what thou requirest The Holy Ghost is witness and my conscience also that I first seek the Kingdome of God and the righteousness thereof and that it is my chief care to please God and keep from sin Psa 18.23 19.13 119.133 Matt. 5.6 Speak Oh my soul Is not holiness thy design dost thou not thirst for it and follow after it dost thou not in thy setled choice prefer the holy wayes of God before all the pleasures and delights of sin Psal 119.14,15,16 111,112 Thou knowest it is thus and therefore no more disputing thou hast sincerely taken hold of Gods Covenant and without controversie it must be thine O my God I see thou hast been at work with my soul I find the prints I see the footsteps Surely this is the finger of God I am thy Servant O Lord truly I am thy Servant Psal 116.16 Psal 16.2 and my soul hath said unto the Lord Thou art my Lord. It must be so Wouldst thou ever set thy mark upon anothers goods or shall God disown his own workmanship My name is written in Heaven Thou hast written thy Name upon my heart and therefore I cannot question but thou hast my name on thine heart I have chosen thee O Lord as my happiness and heritage and therefore I am sure thou hast chosen me 1 John 4.19 for I could not have loved thee except thou hadst loved me first O my Lord discern I pray thee whose are these the signet the bracelets and the staffe I know thou wilt acknowledge them 1 Pet. 1.3 And now blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who of his abundant mercy hath begotten me again to a lively hope Faith makes its claim to all the benefits of the Covenant and stirs up the soul to joy and thankfulness in sequentib And thou my soul believe and wait look through the window and cry through the lattice and rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God a a Hab. 2.3 The Vision is for an appointed time wait for it It will come in the end will not tarry b b Jam. 5 7. Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of the Earth Be thou also patient He hath long patience and wilt
I know thou hast prescribed for the Death and utter Destruction of all my Corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign my Heart to thee that madest it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeignedly desire Grace from thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practice this my resolution through thy Assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this World rather then to turn from thee to the wayes of sin and that I will watch against all its Temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity least they should withdraw my Heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the Temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy Grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous Rags I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength The Terms to which we must turn are either ultimate or mediate And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most Graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost who must be thus accepted I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck or my Soul under the feet of thy most sacred Majesty I do here take thee the Lord Jehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my portion and chief good and do give up my self body and soul for thy servant promising and vowing to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life The mediate terms are either principal or less principal The Principal is Christ the Mediator who must thus be embraced And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the onely means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the onely New and Living Way by which Sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in a marriage covenant to him O blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bestead poor and wretched and miserable and blinde and naked a most loathsome polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory But sith such is thine unparallel'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine Offices I renounce mine own unworthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdome and do here take thee for mine onely Guide I renounce mine own will and take thy Will for my Law And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here covenant with thee to take my lot as it falls with thee and by thy grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me The less Principles are the Laws of Christ which must be thus accepted And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy holy Laws as the Rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdome I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoke and set my Shoulder to thy Burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as holy just and good I solemnly take them as the rule of my words thoughts and actions promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Onely because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest That unallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation bebeseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood therein thou wouldest discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father That ever thou shouldest find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to thee O God the holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned about my heart from sin to God O dreadful Jehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant-friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant-servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on earth let it be ratified in Heaven CHAP. XX and Last An exhortation to the Saints COme ye People beloved you that are highly favoured The Lord is with you Blessed are you amongst men and women The Likes are fallen to you in a pleasant place yea you have a goodly heritage Come and enter upon your Lot let your hearts be glad let your glory rejoyce but that your joy may be full hearken to these following counsels Make sure your interest in the Covenant Rejoyce not in that that 's none of thine Make sure all lies upon this Your life all the comforts and concernments of it both your eternal safety hereafter and your success in all the parts of your Christian course here depend on your interest in the Covenant VVhat have you if Christ be not yours and what have you in Christ if you be not in Covenant whence are your hopes either of mercy at last or of prospering in any thing at present but from the Covenant of Promise And what have you thence if your name be not in it Oh give not rest to your selves till this be put out of doubt what ever duties you perform what ever ease or hope you finde hereupon what ever transportation of affection you feel in your hearts in the midst of all enquiry But am I in Covenant How shall I know that you 'll say why make a strict and narrow enquiry whether those special graces already mentioned be wrought upon you Common mercies though even these be Covenant mercies to the Saints yet