admirable is it for God to speak so kindly to us through the pacifying Blood of the Covenant that silenc'd the terrours of the old and setled the tenderness of the new 2. His Goodness is seen in the Nature and Tenor of the new Covenant There are in this richer Streams of Love and Pity The language of one was die if thou Sin that of the other live if thou believest †Turreti ser p. 33. The old Covenant was founded upon the obedience of Man the new is not founded upon the inconstancy of Mans Will but the firmness of Divine Love and the valuable Merit of Christ The head of the first Covenant was Humane and mutable the head of the second is Divine and immutable The Curse due to us by the breach of the first is taken off by the indulgence of the second * Rom 8.1 We are by it snatcht from the Jaws of the Law to be wrapt up in the bosom of Grace †Rom. 6.14 For you are not under the Law but under Grace from the Curse and condemnation of the Law to the sweetness and forgiveness of Grace Christ bore the one being made a Curse for us * Gal. 3.13 that we might enjoy the sweetness of the other By this we are brought from Mount Sinai the Mount of Terrour to Mount Sion the Mount of Sacrificing the Type of the great Sacrifice †Heb. 12.18 22. That Covenant brought in Death upon one offence this Covenant offers Life after many offences * Rom. 5.16 â—7 That involved us in a Curse and this enricheth us with a Blessing The breaches of that expell'd us out of Paradise and the embracing of this admits us into Heaven This Covenant demands and admits of that Repentance whereof there was no mention in the first That demanded Obedience not Repentance upon a failure and though the exercises of it had been never so deep in the fall'n Creature nothing of the Laws severity had been remitted by any vertue of it Again the first Covenant demanded exact Righteousness but conveyed no cleansing vertue upon the contracting any filth The first demands a continuance in the Righteousness conferr'd in Creation the second imprints a gracious heart in Regeneration I will pour clean Water upon you I will put a new Spirit within you was the voice of the second Covenant not of the first Again as to Pardon Adams Covenant was to punish him not to pardon him if he fell That threatned Death upon Transgression this remits it That was an Act of Divine Soveraignty declaring the will of God this is an Act of Divine Grace passing an Act of Oblivion on the Crimes of the Creature That as it demanded no Repentance upon a failure so it promised no Mercy upon guilt That convened our Sin and condemned us for it this clears our guilt and comforts us under it The first Covenant related us to God as a Judge every transgression against it forfeited his indulgence as a Father The second delivers us from God as a condemning Judge to bring us under his Wing as an affectionate Father In the one there was a dreadful frown to scare us in the other a healing Wing to cover and relieve us Again in regard of Righteousness That demanded our performance of a Righteousness in and by our selves and our own strength This demands our acceptance of a Righteousness higher than ever the standing Angels had The Righteousness of the first Covenant was the Righteousness of a Man the Righteousness of the second is the Righteousness of a God †2 Cor. 5.21 Again in regard of that Obedience it demands it exacts not of us as a necessary condition the Perfection of Obedience but the sincerity of Obedience an uprightness in our intention not an unspottedness in our action an integrity in our aims and an industry in our compliance with Divine Precepts * Gen. 17.1 Walk before me and be thou perfect i. e. sincere What is hearty in our actions is accepted and what is defective is over-looked and not charg'd upon us because of the Obedience and Righteousness of our surety The first Covenant rejected all our services after Sin the services of a Person under the sentence of Death are but dead services This accepts our imperfect services after Faith in it That administred no strength to obey but supposed it This supposeth our inability to obey and confers some strength for it †Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes Again in regard of the Promises * Heb. 8.6 The old Covenant had good but the new hath better Promises of justification after guilt and sanctification after filth and glorification at last of the whole Man In the first there was provision against guilt but none for the removal of it Provision against filth but none for the cleansing of it Promise of happiness implied but not so great a one as that Life and Immortality in Heaven brought to light by the Gospel †2 Tim. 1.10 Why said to be brought to light by the Gospel because it was not only buried upon the fall of Man under the Curses of the Law but it was not so obvious to the conceptions of Man in his Innocent State Life indeed was implied to be promised upon his standing but not so glorious an immortality disclosed to be reserved for him if he stood As it is a Covenant of better Promises so a Covenant of sweeter Comforts Comforts more choice and Comforts more durable An everlasting Consolation and a good hâ—pe are the fruits of Grace i. e. the Covenant of Grace * 2 Thes 2.16 In the whole there is such a love disclosed as cannot be exprest The Apostle leaves it to every Mans mind to conceive it if he could what manner of love the Fâ—ther hath bâ—stowed upon us that we should be call'd the Sons of God †1 Joh. 3.1 It inâ—â—ates us in such a manner of the love of God as he bears to his Son the Image of his Person * John 17 2â— That the World may know that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me 3. This Goodness appears in the choice gift of himsâ—lf which he hath made over in this Covenant You know how it runs in Scripture I will be their God and they shall be my People †Gen. 17.7 A propriety in the Deity is made over by it As he gave the Blood of his Son to Seal the Covenant so he gave himself as the Blessing of the Covenant He is not ashamed to be called their God * Jer. 32.38 Though he be environ'd with Millions of Angels and presides over them in an unexpressible glory he is not ashamed of his condescensions to Man and to pass over himself as the propriety of his People as well as to take them to be his 'T is a diminution of the sense of the place to understand it of
from no other cause but the unchangeableness of his Nature The reason why Men stand not to their Covenant is because they are not always the same I am that is I am the same before the Creation of the World and since the creation of the World before the entrance of Sin and since the entrance of Sin before their going into Egypt and whiles they remain in Egypt * Spanhe Synta part 1. p. 39. The very Name Jehovah bears according to the Grammatical Order a mark of Gods Unchangeableness It never hath any thing added to it nor any thing taken from it It hath no Plural Number no Affixes a Custom peculiar to the Eastern Languages It never changes its letters as other words do * Petav. Theol Dogmat. Tom. 1. cap 6. § 6.7 8. That only is a true being which hath not only an eternal Existence but stability in it That is not truly a Being that never remains in the same state All things that are changed cease to be what they were and begin to be what they were not and therefore cannot have the title truly applied to them they are they are indeed but like a River in a continual Flux that no man ever sees the same let his eye be fixed upon one place of it the water he sees slides away and that which he saw not succeeds in its place let him take his eye off but for the least moment and fix it there again and he sees not the same that he saw before All sensible things are in a perpetual stream that which is sometimes this and sometimes that is not because it is not always the same whatsoever is changed is something now which it was not alway But of God it is said I am which could not be if he were changeable for it may be said of him he is not as well he is because he is not what he was If we say not of him he was nor he will be but only he is whence should any change arrive He must invincibly remain the same of whose Nature Perfections Knowledge and Will it cannot be said it was as if it were not now in him or it shall be as if it were not yet in him But he is because he doth not only exist but doth alway exist the same I am that is I receive from no other what I am in my self He depends upon no other in his Essence Knowledge Purposes and therefore hath no changing Power over him 2. If God were changeable He could not be the most perfect Being God is the most perfect Being and possesses in himself infinite and essential Goodness Mat. 5.48 Your heavenly Father is perfect If he could change from that Perfection he were not the highest Exemplar and Copy for us to write after If God doth change it must be either to a greater Perfection than he had before or to a less mutatio perfectiva vel amissiva If he changes to acquire a Perfection he had not then he was not before the most excellent Being necessarily He was not what he might be there was a defect in him and a privation of that which is better than what he had and was and then he was not alway the best and so was not alway God and being not alway God could never be God for to begin to be God is against the Notion of God Not to a less perfection than he had that were to change to imperfection and to lose a perfection which he possessed before and cease to be the best Being for he would lose some good which he had and acquire some evil which he was free from before So that the soveraign Perfection of God is an invincible Bar to any change in him For which way soever you cast it for a change his supream Excellency is impaired and nulled by it For in all change there is something from which a thing is changed and something to which it is changed so that on the one part there is a loss of what it had and on the other part there is an acquisition of what it had not If to the better he was not perfect and so was not God if to the worse he will not be perfect and so be no longer God after that change If God be changed his change must be voluntary or necessary if voluntary he then intends the change for the better and chose it to acquire a Perfection by it The Will must be carried out to any thing under the notion of some Goodness in that which it desires Since Good is the Object of the desire and will of the Creature Evil cannot be the Object of the desire and will of the Creator And if he should be changed for the worse when he did really intend the better it would speak a defect of Wisdom and a mistake of that for good which was evil and imperfect in it self and if it be for the better it must be a motion or change for something without himself that which he desireth is not possessed by himself but by some other There is then some good without him and above him which is the end in this change for nothing acts but for some end and that end is within it self or without it self If the end for which God changes be without himself then there is something better than himself Besides if he were voluntarily changed for the better why did he not change before If it were for want of Power he had the imperfection of weakness If for want of knowledge of what was the best Good he had the imperfection of Wisdom he was ignorant of his own Happiness If he had both Wisdom to know it and Power to effect it it must be for want of Will He then wanted that love to himself and his own Glory which is necessary in the supream Being Voluntarily he could not be changed for the worse he could not be such an Enemy to his own Glory there is nothing but would hinder its own Imperfection and becoming worse Necessarily he could not be changed for that necessity must arise from himself and then the difficulties spoken of before will recurr or it must arise from another He cannot be bettered by another because nothing hath any good but what it hath received from the hands of his bounty and that without loss to himself nor made worse if any thing made him worse it would be Sin but that cannot touch his Essence or obscure his Glory but in the design and nature of the Sin it self Job 35.6 7. If thou sinnest what dost thou against him Or if thy Transgressions be multiplyed what dost thou unto him If thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receives he at thy hand He hath no addition by the Service of Man no more than the Sun hath of Light by a multitude of Torches kindled on the Earth nor any more impair by the Sins of Men than the Light of the Sun hath by mens
which is past And tho' God be said to forget in Scripture and not to know his People and his People pray to him to remember them as if he had forgotten them Psal 119 49. This is improperly ascrib'd to God * Bradward As God is said to repent when he changes things according to his Counsel beyond the expectation of men so he is said to forget when he defers the making good his Promise to the Godly or his Threatnings to the Wicked this is not a defect of Memory belonging to his mind but an act of his Will When he is said to remember his Covenant 't is to Will Grace according to his Covenant when he is said to forget his Covenant 't is to intercept the influences of it whereby to punish the Sin of his People and when he is said not to know his People 't is not an absolute forgetfulness of them but withdrawing from them the Testimonies of his Kindness and clouding the Signs of his favour so God in Pardon is said to forget Sin not that he ceaseth to know it but ceaseth to punish it 'T is not to be meant of a simple forgetfulness or a lapse of his Memory but of a Judicial Forgetfulness so when his People in Scripture Pray Lord Remember thy Word unto thy Servant no more is to be understood but Lord fulfil thy Word and Promise to thy Servant 3. He knows things Present Heb. 4.13 All things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do This is grounded upon the Knowledg of himself 't is not so difficult to know all Creatures exactly as to know himself because they are finite but himself is infinite he knows his own Power and therefore every thing through which his Omnipotence is diffus'd all the acts and objects of it not the least thing that is the Birth of his Power can be conceal'd from him he knows his own Goodness and therefore every object upon which the warm beams of his Goodness strike he therefore knows distinctly the properties of every Creature because every Property in them is a Ray of his Goodness he is not only the efficient but the exemplary cause therefore as he knows all that his Power hath wrought as he is the efficient so he knows them in himself as the pattern As a Carpenter can give an account of every part and passage in a House he hath built by consulting the Model in his own mind whereby he built it He looked upon all things after he had made them and pronounc'd them good Gen. 1.3 full of a natural goodness he had endowed them with he did not ignorantly pronounce them so and call them good whether he knew them or not and therefore he knows them in particular as he knew them all in their first Presence Is there any reason he should be ignorant of every thing now present in the World or that any thing that derives an existence from him as a free cause should be concealed from him If he did not know things present in their particularities many things would be known by man yea by Beasts which the infinite God were ignorant of and if he did not know all things present but only some 't is possible for the most Blessed God to be deceived and be miserable Ignorance is a Calamity to the Understanding He could not prescribe Laws to his Creatures unless he knew their Natures to which those Laws were to be suited no not natural Ordinances to the Sun Moon and Heavenly Bodies and inanimate Creatures unless he knew the vigour and vertue in them to execute those Ordinances for to prescribe Laws above the nature of things is inconsistent with the Wisdom of Government he must know how far they were able to obey whether the Laws were suted to their ability And for his rational Creatures Whether the Punishments annext to the Law were proper and suited to the Transgression of the Creature 1. First He knows all Creatures from the highest to the lowest the least as well as the greatest He knows the Ravens and their young ones Job â—â— 41. the Drops of Rain and Dew which he hath begotten Job 38. â—â— every Bird in the Air as well as any man doth what he hath in a Cage at home Psal 50.11 I know all the Fowls in the Mountains and the wild Beasts in the Field which some read creeping things The Clouds are numbred in his Wisdom Job 38.37 every Worm in the Earth every drop of Rain that falls upon the ground the flakes of Snow and the knots of Hail the Sands upon the Sea-shore the Hairs upon the Head 't is no more absurd to imagine that God knows them than that God made them they are all the effects of his Power as well as the Stars which he calls by their Names as well as the most glorious Angel and blessed Spirit he knows them as well as if there were none but them in particular for him to know the least things were framed by his Art as well as the greatest the least things partake of his goodness as well as the greatest he knows his own Arts and his own Goodness and therefore all the Stamps and Impressions of them upon all his Creatures he knows the immediate causes of the least and therefore the effects of those causes Since his knowledg is infinite it must extend to those things which are at the greatest distance from him to those which approach nearest to not Being since he did not want Power to Create he cannot want Understanding to know every thing he hath Created the dispositions qualities and vertues of the minutest Creature Nor is the Vnderstanding of God embas'd and suffers a diminution by the Knowledg of the vilest and most inconsiderable things Is it not an imperfection to be ignorant of the nature of any thing and can God have such a defect in his most perfect Understanding Is the Understanding of man of an impurer Alloy by knowing the nature of the rankest Poysons by understanding a Fly or a small Insect or by considering the deformity of a Toad Is it not generally counted a note of a Dignified mind to be able to Discourse of the Nature of them Was Solomon who knew all from the Cedar to the Hysop debas'd by so Rich a Present of Wisdom from his Creator Is any Glass defil'd by presenting a Deformed Image Is there any thing more vile than the imaginations which are only evil and continually doth not the mind of man descend to the mud of the Earth play the Adulterer or Idolater with mean objects suck in the most unclean things yet God knows these in all their circumstances in every appearance inside and outside Is there any thing viler than some thoughts of men than some actions of men their unclean Beds and Gluttonous Vomiting and Luciferian Pride yet do not these fall under the Eye of God in all their Nakedness The Second Person 's taking
affection to thy Isaac is extinguish'd by the more powerful flame of affection to my Will and Command I now accept thee and count thee a meet subject of my choicest Benefits or now I know that is I have made known and manifested the Faith of Abraham to himself and to the World Thus Paul uses the word know 1 Cor. 2.2 I have determined to know nothing that is to declare and teach nothing to make known nothing but Christ Crucified or else now I know that is I have an evidence and experiment in this noble fact that thou fearest me God often condescends to our capacity in speaking of himself after the manner of men as if he had as men do known the inward affections of others by their outward actions 4. God knows all the Evils and Sins of Creatures 1. God knows all Sin This follows upon the other If he knows all the actions and thoughts of Creatures he knows also all the Sinfulness in those acts and thoughts This Zophar infers from Gods punishing men Job 11.11 for he knows vain man he sees his wickedness also he knows every man and sees the wickedness of every man He looks down from Heaven and beholds not only the filthy persons but what is filthy in them Psal 14.2 3. all Nations in the World and every man of every Nation none of their iniquity is hid from his eyes He searches Jerusalem with Candles Jer. 16.17 God follows Sinners step by step with his eye and will not leave searching out till he hath taken them a Metaphor taken from one that searches all Chinks with a Candle that nothing can be hid from him He knows it distinctly in all the parts of it how an Adulterer rises out of his Bed to commit Uncleanness what contrivances he had what steps he took every circumstance in the whole progress not only evil in the bulk but every one of the blacker spots upon it which may most aggravate it If he did not know Evil how could he permit it order it punish it or pardon it Doth he permit he knows not what Order to his own holy ends what he is ignorant of Punish or pardon that which he is uncertain whether it be a Crime or no Cleanse me saith David from my secret faults Ps 19.12 secret in regard of others secret in regard of himself how could God cleanse him from that whereof he was ignorant He knows Sins before they are committed much more when they are in act he foreknew the Idolatry and Apostacy of the Jews what Gods they would serve in what measure they would provoke him and violate his Covenant Deut. 31.20 21. he knew Judas his Sin long before Judas his actual existence foretelling it in the Psalms and Christ predicts it before he acted it He sees Sins future in his own permitting Will he sees Sins present in his own supporting act As he knows things possible to himself because he knows his own power so he knows things practicable by the Creature because he knows the Power and Principles of the Creature Fotherby Atheoma p. 132. This Sentiment of God is naturally writ in the fears of Sinners upon Lightning Thunder or some Prodigious operation of God in the World what is the Language of them but that he sees their Deeds hears their words knows the inward sinfulness of their hearts that he doth not only behold them as a meer Spectator but considers them as a just Judg. And the Poets say that the Sins of men leapt into Heaven and were writ in Parchments of Jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cross Anthol dec 1. cap. 395 p. 101. scelus in terram geritur in coelo scribitur sin is acted on Earth and recorded in Heaven God indeed doth not behold Evil with the approving eye he knows it not with a practical knowledg to be the Author of it but with a speculative Knovvledg so as to understand the sinfulness of it or a knovvledg simplicis intelligentiae of simple intelligence as he permits them not positively vvills them he knovvs them not vvith a knovvledg of assent to them but dissent from them Evil pertains to a dissenting act of the mind and an aversive act of the Will and vvhat tho' evil formally taken hath no distinct Conception because it is a privation a Defect hath no Being and all knovvledg is by the apprehension of some Being vvould not this lye as strongly against our ovvn knovvledg of Sin Sin is a privation of the rectitude due to an act and vvho doubts mans knovvledg of Sin by his knovving the act he knovvs the deficiency of the act the subject of evil hath a Being and so hath a conception in the mind that vvhich hath no Being cannot be knovvn by it self or in it self but vvill it follovv that it cannot be knovvn by its contrary as vve knovv darkness to be a privation of light and folly to be a privation of vvisdom God knovvs all good by himself because he is the Soveraign good Is it strange then that he should knovv all evil since all evil is in some natural good 2. The manner of Gods knowing Evil is not so easily known And indeed as vve cannot comprehend the Essence of God tho' it is easily intelligible that there is such a Being so vve can as little comprehend the manner of Gods Knovvledg tho' vve cannot but conclude him to be an intelligent Being a pure Understanding knovving all things As God hath a higher manner of Being than his Creatures so he hath another and higher manner of knovving and vve can as little comprehend the manner of his knovving as vve can the manner of his Being But as to the manner Doth not God knovv his ovvn Lavv and shall he not knovv hovv much any action comes short of his Rule he cannot knovv his ovvn Rule vvithout knovving all the deviations from it He knovvs his ovvn Holiness and shall he not see hovv any action is contrary to the Holiness of his ovvn nature Doth not God knovv every thing that is true and is it not true that this or that is evil and shall God be ignorant of any Truth Hovv doth God knovv that he cannot lye but by knovving his ovvn Veracity Hovv doth God knovv that he cannot Dye but by knovving his ovvn Immutability and by knovving those he knovvs vvhat a Lye is he knovvs vvhat Death is so if Sin never had been if no Creature had ever been God vvould have knovvn vvhat Sin vvas because he knovvs his ovvn Holiness because he knevv vvhat Lavv vvas fit to be appointed to his Creatures if he should Create them and that that Lavv might be transgrest by them God knovvs all good all goodness in himself he therefore hath a foundation in himself to knovv all that comes short of that goodness that is opposite to that Holiness As if Light vvere capable of Understanding it vvould knovv Darkness only by knovving it self by knovving it self it vvould
value and virtue of the Redeemers Merit which God from the beginning intended to magnifie The Value of it in taking off so much successive Guilt and the Virtue of it in washing away so much daily filth Th◠Wisdom of God hereby keeps up the Credit of Imputed Righteousness and manifests the Immense Treasure of the Redeemers Merit to pay such daily Debts Were we perfectly Sanctified we should stand upon our own Bottom and imagine no need of the continual and repeated Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ for our Justification We should confide in Inherent Righteousness and slight Imputed If God should take off all Remainders of Sin as well as the Guilt of it we should be apt to forget that we are Fallen Creatures and that we had a Redeemer But the Reliques of Sin in us mind us of the necessity of some higher strength to set us right They mind us both of our own Misery and the Redeemers perpetual benefit God by this keeps up the Dignity and Honour of our Saviours Blood to the height and therefore sometimes lets us see to our own cost what filth yet remains in us for the employment of that Blood which we should else but little think of and less admire Our Gratitude is so small to God as well as Man that the first Obligations are soon forgot if we stand not in need of fresh ones successively to second them we should lose our Thankful Remembrance of the first virtue of Christs Blood in washing us if our Infirmities did not mind us of fresh Reiterations and Applications of it Ours Saviours Office of Advocacy was erected especially for Sins committed after a Justified and Renewed state * 1 John 2.1 We should scarce remember we had an Advocate and scarce make use of him without some sensible Necessity but our Remainders of Sin discover our Impotency and an impossibility for us either to expiate our Sin or conform to the Law which necessitates us to have recourse to that Person whom God hath appointed to make up the breaches between God and us So the Apostle wraps up himself in the Covenant of Grace and his Interest in Christ after his conflict with Sin Rom. 7. ult I thank God through Jesus Christ Now after such a Body of Death a Principle within me that sends up daily steams yet as long as I serve God with my Mind as long as I keep the main Condition of the Covenant there is no Condemnation †Rom. 8.1 Christ takes my part procures my acceptance and holds the Band of Salvation firm in his hands The brightness of Christs Grace is set off by the darkness of our Sin We should not understand the Soveraignty of his Medicines if there were no Reliques of Sin for him to exercise his Skill upon The Physicians Art is most experimented and therefore most valued in Relapses as dangerous as the former Disease As the Wisdom of God brought our Saviour into Temptation that he might have Compassion to us so it permits us to be overcome by Temptation that we might have due Valuations of him 3. God hereby often engageth the Soul to a greater Industry for his glory The highest Persecutors when they have become Converts have been the greatest Champions for that Cause they both hated and opprest The Apostle Paul is such an Instance of this that it needs no enlargement By how much they have failed of answering the end of their Creation in glorifying God by so much the more they summon up all their Force for such an end after their Conversion to restore as much as they can of that Glory to God which they by their Sin had robb'd him of Their Sins by the order of Divine Wisdom prove Whetstones to sharpen the edge of their Spirits for God Paul never remembred his Persecuting Fury but he doubled his Industry for the Service of God which before he trampled under his feet The further we go back the greater Leap many times we take forward Our Saviour after his Resurrection put Peter upon the exercise of that Love to him which had so lately shrunk his head out of Suffering ‖ Iohn 21.15 16 17. and no doubt but the consideration of his base Denial together with a reflection upon a gracious Pardon engag'd his Ingenuous Soul to stronger and fiercer flames of Affection A Believers Courage for God is more sharpned oftentimes by the shame of his Fall He endeavours to repair the faults of his Ingratitude and Disingenuity by larger and stronger steps of Obedience As a Man in a fight having been foil'd by his Enemy reassumes new Courage by his Fall and is many times oblig'd to his Foil both for his Spirit and his Victory A gracious Heart will upon the very motions to sin double its Vigor as well as by good ones It is usually more quickned both in its motion to God and for God by the Temptations and Motions to Sin which run upon it This is another Good the Wisdom of God brings forth from Sin 4. Again Humility towards God is another Good Divine Wisdom brings forth from the Occasion of Sin By this God beats down all good opinion or our selves Hezekiah was more humbled by his fall into Pride than by all the Distress he had been in by Senacharibs Army 2 Chron. 32.26 Peters Confidence before his Fall gave way to an humble Modesty after it You see his Confidence Mark 14.24 Though all should be offended in thee yet will not I and you have the mark of his Modesty John 21.17 't is not then Lord I will love thee to the death I will not start from thee but Lord thou knowest that I love thee I cannot assure my self of any thing after this Miscarriage but Lord thou knowest there is a Principle of Love in me to thy Name He was asham'd that himself who appeared such a Pillar should bend as meanly as a Shrub to a Temptation The reflection upon Sin lays a Man as low as Hell in his Humiliation as the Commission of Sin did in the Merit When David comes to exercise Repentance for his Sin he begins it from the Well-head of Sin * Psal 51.5 his Original Corruption and draws down the streams of it to the last commission Perhaps he did not so seriously humble himself for the Sin of his Nature all his days so much as at that time at least we have not such Evidences of it And Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart not only for the Pride of his Act †2 Chron. 32.26 but for the Pride in the Heart which was the Spring of that Pride in Act in shewing his Treasures to the Babylonish Ambassadors God lets Sin continue in the Hearts of the best in this World and sometimes gives the Reins to Satan and a Man 's own Corruption to keep up a sense of the ancient Sale we made of our selves to both II. In regard of our selves Herein is the wonder of Divine
all affections to sin lye down in Sorrow and bewail what he hath done amiss against so tender a God Can you expect that any man that Promises you a great honour or a rich donative should demand less of you than to trust his word bear an affection to him and return him kindness Can any less be expected by a Prince than obedience from a pardoned Subject and a redeemed Captive If you have injured any man in his Body Estate Reputation would you not count it a reasonable Condition for the partaking of his Clemency and Forgiveness to express a hearty sorrow for it and a resolution not to fall into the like Crime again Such are the Conditions of the Gospel suted to the Consciences of men 5. The Wisdom of God appears in that this condition was only likely to attain the end There are but two Common Heads appointed by God Adam and Christ By one we are made a living Soul by the other a quickning Spirit By the one we are made sinners by the other we are made righteous Adam fell as a Head and all his members his whole Issue and Posterity fell with him because they proceeded from him by natural Generation But since the second Adam can not be our Head by natural Generation there must be some other way of engrafting us in him and uniting us to him as our Head which must be Moral and Spiritual this can not rationally be conceived to be by any other way than What is sutable to a reasonable Creature and therefore must be by an act of the Will Consent and Acceptance and owning the terms setled for an Admission to that Union And this is that we properly call Faith and therefore called a receiving of him John 1.12 Now this Condition of enjoying the Fruits of Redemption could not be a bare Knowledge for that is but only an act of the Understanding and doth not in itself include the act of the Will and so would have united only one Faculty to him not the whole Soul But Faith in an act both of the Understanding and Will too and principally of the Will which doth presuppose an act of the Understanding For there cannot be a Perswasion in the Will without a Proposition from the Understanding The Understanding must be convinced of the truth and goodness of a thing before the Will can be perswaded to make any motion towards it and therefore all the Promises Invitations and Proffers are suted to the Understanding and Will To the Understanding in regard of Knowledge to the Will in regard of Appetite to the Understanding as true to the Will as good To the Understanding as practical and influencing the Will 2. Nor could it be an intire Obedience That as was said before would have made the Creature have some matter of boasting and this was not sutable to the Condition he was sunk into by the fall Besides mans Nature being corrupted was rendered uncapable to obey and unable to have one thought of a due Obedience 2 Cor. 3.5 When man turned from God and upon that was turned out of Paradise his return was impossible by any strength of his own his Nature was as much corrupted as his re-entrance into Paradise was prohibited That Covenant whereby he stood in the garden required a perfection of action and intention in the observance of all the Commands of God But his Fall had crack'd his Ability to recover happiness by the terms and condition of an intire Obedience yet man being a person governable by a Law and capable of happiness by a Covenant if God would restore him and enter into a Covenant with him we must suppose it to have some Condition as all Covenants have That Condition could not be works because mans Nature was polluted Indeed had God reduced mans Body to the dust and his Soul to nothing and framed another man he might have govern'd him by a Covenant of Works But that had not been the same man that had revolted and upon his revolt was stain'd and disabled But suppose God had by any transcendent Grace wholly purified him from the stain of his former Transgression and restored to him the strength and ability he had lost might he not as easily have rebelled again And so the Condition would never have been accomplisht the Covenant never have been performed and Happiness never have been enjoyed There must be some other Condition then in the Covenant God would make for mans Security Now Faith is the most proper for receiving the Promise of Pardon of Sin Belief of those promises is the first natural reflection that a Malefactor can make upon a pardon offered him and acceptance of it is the first consequent from that beliefe Hence is Faith entitled a perswasion of and embraceing the Promises Heb 11.13 and a receiving the atonement Rom. 5.11 Thus the Wisdom of God is apparent in annexing such a Condition to the Covenant whereby man is restored as answers the end of God for his glory the State Conscience and necessity of Man and had the greatest congruity to his recovery 9. This Wisdom of God is manifest in the manner of the publishing and propagating this Doctrine of Redemption 1. In the gradual discoveries of it Flashing a great light in the face of a suddain is amazing should the Sun glare in our Eye in all its brightness on a suddain after we have been in a thick darkness it would blind us instead of comforting us So great a work as this must have several digestions God first reveals of what Seed the Redeeming Person should be the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 Then of what Nation Gen. 26.4 then of what Tribe Gen. 49.12 of the Tribe of Judah then of what Family the family of David then what works he was to do what sufferings to undergoe The first Predictions of our Saviour were obscure Adam could not well see the Redemption in the Promise for the punishment of death which succeeded in the Threatning the Promise exercised his Faith and the Obscurity and bodily Death his Humility The Promise made to Abraham was clearer than the Revelations made before yet he could not tell how to reconcile his Redemption with his Exile God supported his Faith by the Promise and exercised his Humility by making him a Pilgrim and keeping him in a perpetual dependance upon him in all his motions The Declarations to Moses are brighter than those to Abraham The delineations of Christ by David in the Psalms more illustrious than the former And all those exceeded by the Revelations made to the Prophet Isaiah and the other Prophets according as the Age did approach wherein the Redeemer was to enter into his Office God wrapt up this Gospel in a multitude of Types and Ceremonies fitted to the Infant state of the Church Gal. 4.3 An Infant State is usually affected with sensible things yet all those Ceremonies were fitted to that great end of the Gospel which he would bring forth in
Justice abus'd his Goodness done injury to all those Attributes which are necessary to his relief It was not so in Creation nothing was uncapable of disobliging God from bringing it into Being The Dust which was the Matter of Adams Body needâ—d only the extrinsick Power of God to form it into a Man and inspire it with a living Soul It had not render'd it self obnoxious to Divine Justice nor was capable to excite any disputes between his Perfections But after the entrance of Sin and the merit of Death thereby there was a resistance in Justice to the free Remission of Man God was to exercise a Power over himself to answer his Justice and pardon the Sinner as well as a power over the Creature to reduce the Run-away and Rebel Unless we have recourse to the Infiniteness of Gods Power the infiniteness of our Guilt will weigh us down We must consider not only that we have a mighty Guilt to press us but a mighty God to relieve us In the same act of his being our Righteousness he is our Strength In the Lord have I righteousness and strength Isai 45.24 2. In the sense of Pardon When the Soul hath been wounded with the sense of sin and its Iniquities have star'd it in the face the raising the Soul from a despairing condition and lifting it above those Waters which terrified it to cast the light of Comfort as well as the light of Grace into a heart covered with more than an Egyptian Darkness is an act of his Infinite and Creating Power Isai 57.19 I create the fruit of the lips peace Men may wear out their Lips with numbring up the Promises of Grace and Arguments of Peace but all will signifie no more without a Creative Power than if all Men and Angels should call to that White upon the Wall to shine as splendidly as the Sun God only can create Jerusalem and every Child of Jerusalem a rejoycing * Isai 65.18 A Man is no more able to apply to himself any word of Comfort under the sense of Sin than he is able to Convert himself and turn the proposals of the Word into gracious Affections in his heart To restore the joy of Salvation is in Davids Judgment an act of Soveraign Power equal to that of creating a clean heart Psal 51.10 12. Alas 't is a state like to that of Death as Infinite Power can only raise from Natural death so from a Spiritual death also from a Comfortless death In his favour there is life in the want of his Favour there is death The Power of God hath so placed Light in the Sun that all Creatures in the World all the Torches upon Earth kindled together cannot make it Day if that doth not rise so all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth are not competent Chirurgions for a wounded Spirit The cure of our Spiritual Ulcers and the pouring in Balm is an Act of Soveraign Creative Power 'T is more visible in silencing a Tempestuous Conscience than the Power of our Saviour was in the stilling the stormy Winds and the roaring Waves As none but Infinite Power can remove the Guilt of Sin so none but Infinite Power can remove the Despairing sense of it III. This Power is evident in the preserving Grace As the Providence of God is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Creation so the preservation of Grace is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Regeneration To keep a Nation under the Yoke is an act of the same Power that subdu'd it 'T is this that strengthens Men in suffering against the Fury of Hell †Colos 1.13 't is this that keeps them from falling against the force of Hell the Fathers hand John 10.29 His strength abates and moderates the violence of Temptations his Staff sustains his People under them his Might defeats the Power of Satan and bruiseth him under a Believers feet The Counterworkings of Indwelling Corruption the reluctances of the Flesh against the breathings of the Spirit the fallacy of the Senses and the rovings of the Mind have ability quickly to stifle and extinguish Grace if it were not maintain'd by that Powerful blast that first inbreathed it No less Power is seen in perfecting it than was in planting it ‖ 2 Pet. 1.3 no less in fulfilling the work of Faith than in ingrafting the Word of Faith 2 Thess 1.11 The Apostle well understood the Necessity and Efficacy of it in the preservation of Faith as well as in the firâ—t infusion when he expresses himself in those terms of a Greatness or Hyperbole of Power his Mighty Power or the Power of his Might Ephes 1.19 The Salvation he bestows and the Strength whereby he effects it are joyned together in the Prophets Song Isai 12.2 The Lord is my strength and my salvation And indeed God doth more magnifie his Power in continuing a Believer in the World a weak and half-rigg'd Vessel in the midst of so many Sands whereon it might split so many Rocks whereon it might dash so many Corruptions within and so many Temptations without than if he did immediately transport him into Heaven and cloth him with a perfectly Sanctified Nature To Conclude What is there then in the World which is destitute of Notices of Divine Power Every Creature affords us the Lesson all acts of Divine Government are the marks of it Look into the Word and the manner of its propagation instructs us in it your Changed Natures your Pardoned Guilt your Shining Comfort your quell'd Corruptions the standing of your staggering Graces are sufficient to preserve a sense and prevent a forgetfulness of this great Attribute so necessary for your support and conducing so much to your comfort Vses I. Of Information and Instruction 1. If Incomprehensible and Infinite Power belongs to the Nature of God then Jesus Christ hath a Divine Nature because the Acts of Power proper to God are ascribed to him This Perfection of Omnipotence doth unquestionably pertain to the Deity and is an incommunicable Property and the same with the Essence of God He therefore to whom this Attribute is ascribed is essentially God This is challenged by Christ in conjunction with Eternity Revel 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty This the Lord Christ speaks of himself He who was equal with God proclaims himself by the Essential title of the Godhead part of which he repeats again verse 11. and this is the Person which walks in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks the Person that was dead and now lives vers 17 18. which cannot possibly be meant of the Father the first Person who can never come under that denomination of having been dead Being therefore adorn'd with the same Title he hath the same Deity and though his Omnipotence be only positively asserted v. 8. yet his Eternity being asserted v. 11 17. it inferreth
the Eye of his Justice that Ephraim might not be his unwise Son and stay long in the place of the breaking forth of Children i. e. That he should speedily reclaim himself and not continue in the way of destruction God hath no need to abuse any he doth not lie to the Sons of men if he would have men perish he could easily destroy them and have done it long ago He did not leave the woman Jezabel in being nor lengthned out her time but as a space to Repent Revelations 2.21 That she might reflect upon her ways and devote her self seriously to his service and her own happiness His patience stands between the offending Creature and Eternal misery a long time that men might not foolishly throw away their Souls and be damned for their impenitency by this he shews himself ready to receive men to mercy upon their return To what purpose doth he invite men to Repentance if he intended to deceive them and damn them after they Repent 3. He doth exercise Patience for the propagation of Mankind If God punished every sin presently there would not only be a period put to Churches but to the World without Patience Adam had sunk into Eternal anguish the first moment of his provocation and the whole World of Mankind in his loynes had perished with him and never seen the light If this perfection had not interposed after the first sin God had lost his end in the Creation of the World which he Created not in vain but formed it to be inhabited Isa 45.18 It had been inconsistent with the wisdom of God to make a world to be inhabited and destroy it upon sin when it had but two principal inhabitants in it the reason of his making this earth had been insignificant He had not had any upon earth to Glorifie him without erecting another World which might have proved as sinful and as quickly wicked as this God should have alwayes been pulling down and rearing up creating and annihilating one world would have come after another as wave after wave in the Sea His Patience stept into support the honour of God and the continuance of men without which one had been in part impaired and the other totally lost 4. He doth exercise Patience for the continuance of the Church If he be not patient toward sinners what stock would there be for believers to spring up from He bears with the provoking carriage of men evil men because out of their loynes he intends to extract others which he will form for the glory of his grace He hath some unborn that belong to the election of Grace which are to be the seed of the worst of men Jeroboam the chief incendiary of the Israelites to Idolatry had an Abijah in whom was found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel 1 King 14.13 Had Ahaz been snapt in the first act of his wickedness the Israelites had wanted so good a Prince and so good a man as Hezekiah a branch of that wicked predecessor What Gardiner cuts off the thornes from the Rose-bush till he hath gathered the Roses And men do not use to burn all the Crab-tree but preserve a Stock to engraft some sweet fruit upon There could not have been a Saint in the Earth nor consequently in Heaven had it not been for this perfection He did not destroy the Israelites in the Wilderness that he might keep up a Church among them and not extinguish the whole seed that were heirs of the promises and Covenant made with Abraham Had God punished men for their sins as soon as they had been committed none would have lived to have been better none could have continued in the World to honour him by their virtues Manasseh had never been a convert and many brutish men had never been changed from beasts to Angels to praise and acknowledge their Creator Had Peter received his due recompence upon the denyal of his Master he had never been a Martyr for him Nor had Paul been a Preacher of the Gospel nor any else and so the Gospel had not shined in any part of the world No seed would have been brought into Christ Christ is beholding immediately to this attribute for all the seed he hath in the world 'T is for his Name sake that he doth deferr his Anger and for his praise that he doth refrain from cutting us off Isa 48.9 And in the next chapter follows a Prophesie of Christ To overthrow Mankind for sin were to prevent the spreading a Church in the world A woman that is guilty of a Capital Crime and lies under a condemning sentence is reprieved from Execution for her being with child 'T is for the Child's sake the Woman is respited not for her own 'T is for the Elects sake in the loyns of transgressors that they are a long time spared and not for their own Isa 65.8 9. As the new Wine is found in the cluster and one saith destroy it not for a blessing is in it So will I do for my servants sake that I may not destroy them all as a Husband-man spares a Vine for some good clusters in it He had spoke of vengeance before yet he would reserve some from whom he would bring forth those that should be inheritors of his Mountains that he might make up his Church of Judea Jerusalem being a Mountainous place and the type of the Church in all Ages What is the reason he doth not level his Thunder at the heads of those for whose destruction he receives so many Petitions from the Souls under the Altar Rev. 6.9 10. Because God had others to write a Testimony for him in their own blood and perhaps out of the loynes of those for whom vengeance was so earnestly supplicated * Smith on the Creed p. 404. And God as the Master of a Vessel lies Patiently at Anchor till the last Passenger he expects be taken in 5. For the sake of his Church he is Patient to wicked men The tares are Patiently endured till the Harvest for fear in the plucking up the one there might be some prejudice done to the other Upon this account he spares some who are worse than others whom he crusheth by signal judgments The Jews had committed sins worse than Sodom for the confirmation of which we have God's Oath Ezek. 16.48 and more by half than Samaria or the Ten Tribes had done ver 51. Yet God spared the Jews though he destroyed the Sodomites VVhat was the reason but a larger remnant of Righteous persons more clusters of good grapes were found among them than grew in Sodom Isa 1.9 A few more Righteous in Sodom had dampt the Fire and Brimstone design'd for that place And a remnant of such in Judea was a bar to that fierceness of anger which otherwise would have quickly consumed them Had there been but Ten Righteous in Sodom Divine Patience had still bound the Arms of justice that it should not have prepared its Brimstone
notwithstanding the clamour of the sins of the multitude Judea was ripe for the sickle but God would put a lock upon the torrent of his judgments that they should not flow down upon that wicked place to make them a desolation and a curse as long as tender hearted Josiah lived who had humbled himself at the threatning and wept before the Lord 1 King 22.19 20. Sometimes he bears with wicked men that they might exercise the Patience of the Saints Rev. 14.12 The whole time of the forbearance of Antichrist in all his intrusions into the Temple of God invasions of the rights of God usurpations of the Office of Christ and besmearing himself with the blood of the Saints was to give them an opportunity of Patience God is Patient towards the wicked that by their means he might try the Righteous He burns not the wisp till he hath scowred his vessels Nor layes by the hammer till he hath formed some of his matter into an excellent fashion He useth the worst men as rods to correct his people before he sweeps the twiggs out of his house God sometimes uses the thorns of the World as a hedge to secure his Church sometimes as instruments to try and exercise it Howsoever he useth them whither for security or tryal he is Patient to them for his Churches advantage 6. When men are not brought to Repentance by his Patience he doth longer exercise it to manifest the equity of his future justice upon them As Wisdom is justified by her obedient children so is justice justified by the rebels against Patience the contempt of the later is the justification of the former The Apostles were unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that perish as well as in them that were saved by the acceptation of their message 2 Cor. 2.15 Both are fragrant to God his Mercy is Glorified by the ones acceptance of it and his Justice freed from any charge against it by the others refusal The cause of mens ruin cannot be laid upon God who provided means for their Salvation and sollicited their complyance with him What reason can they have to charge the Judge with any wrong to them who reject the tenders he makes and who hath forborn them with so much Patience when he might have censured them by his Righteous Justice upon the first crime they committed or the first refusal of his gracious offers Quanto Dei magis Judicium tardum est tanto magis justum * Minuc Felix pag. 41. After the despising of Patience there can be no suspition of an irregularity in the acts of Justice Man hath no reason to fall foul in his charge upon God if he were punished for his own sin considering the dignity of the injured person and the meanness of himself the offender But his wrath is more justified when it is poured out upon those whom he hath endured with much long suffering There is no plea against the shooting of his Arrows into those for whom this voice hath been loud and his arms open for their return As Patience while it is exercised is the silence of his justice so when it is abused it silenceth mens complaints against his justice The riches of his forbearance made way for the manifesting the treasures of his wrath If God did but a little bear with the insolencies of men and cut them off after two or three sins he would not have opportunity to shew either the power of his Patience or that of his wrath But when he hath a right to punish for one sin and yet bears with them for many and they will not be reclaimed the sinner is more inexcusable divine Justice less chargable and his wrath more powerful Rom. 9. 22. What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction The proper and immediate end of his long suffering is to lead men to repentance but after they have by their obstinacy fitted themselves for destruction he bears longer with them to magnifie his wrath more upon them and if it is not the finis operantis 't is at least the finis operis where Patience is abused Men are apt to complain of God that he deals hardly with them The Israelites seem to charge God with too much severity to cast them off when so many promises were made to the fathers for their perpetuity and preservation which is intimated Hos 2.2 Plead with your mother plead by the double repetition of the word plead Do not accuse me of being false or too rigorous but accuse your Mother your Church your Magistracy your Ministry for their spiritual fornications which have provoked me For their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intimating the greatness of their sins by the reduplication of the word lest I strip her naked I have born with her under many provocations and I have not yet taken away all her Ornaments or said to her according to the rule of divorce res tuas tibi habeto God answers their impudent charge She is not my Wife nor am I her Husband He doth not say first I am not her Husband but she is not my Wife She first withdrew from her duty by breaking the Marriage Covenant and then I ceased to be her Husband No man shall be condemned but he shall be convinced of the due desert of his sin and the justice of God's proceeding God will lay open Mens guilt and repeat the measures of his Patience to justifie the severity of his wrath Hos 7.10 Sins will testifie to their face What is in its own nature a preparation for Glory men by their obstinacy make a preparation for a more indisputable punishment We see many evidences of God's forbearance here in sparing men under those blasphemies which are audible and those prophane carriages which are visible which would sufficiently justifie an act of severity Yet when mens secret sins both in heart and action and the vast multitude of them far surmounting what can arrive to our knowledge here shall be discovered how great a lustre will it add to God's bearing with them and make his justice triumph without any reasonable demurr from the sinner himself He is long suffering here that his justice may be more publick hereafter IV. The VSE I. For Instruction 1. How is this Patience of God abused The Gentiles abused those Testimonies of it which were written in showers and fruitful seasons No Nation was ever stript of it under the most provoking Idolatries till after multiplyed spurns at it Not a person among us but hath been guilty of the abuse of it How have we contemned that which demands a reverence from us How have we requited God's waitings with rebellions while he hath continued urging and expecting our return Saul relented at David's forbearing to revenge himself when he had his prosecuting and industrious enemy in his power 1 Sam. 24.17 Thou art more Righteous
we can Pag. 123 124 They must not be of him in a corporeal shape Pag. 124 125 There will be in them a similitude of some corporeal thing in our Fancy Pag. 125 126 We ought to refine and spiritualize them Pag. 126 Right Conceptions of him a great help to Spiritual Worship Pag. 176 177 God Concurs to all the Action of his Creatures Pag. 529 His concurring to sinful actions no blemish to his Holiness Pag. 530 ad 533 Various Conditions of men a fruit of Divine Wisdom Pag. 356 Conditions of the Covenant v. Covenant Faith and Repentance Confession of sin men may have bad ends in it 93. Partial ones a practical denial of God's Omniscience Pag. 326 Conscience proves a Deity Pag. 33 ad 36 Fears and stings of it in all men upon the commission of sin Pag. 34 35 Though never so secret ibid. Cannot be totally shaken off Pag. 35 36 Comforts a man in well-doing Pag. 36 Necessary for the good of the world ibid. Terrified ones wish there were no God Pag. 52 53 Men naturally displeas'd with it when it contradicts the desires of self Pag. 71 72 Obey carnal self against the light of it Pag. 84 Accusations of it evidence God's Knowledge of all things Pag. 313 God and he only can speak peace to it when troubled Pag. 471 720 721 His Laws only reach it Pag. 724 725 756 757 Constancy in that which is good we should labour after and why Pag. 238 Nothing but an Infinite good can content the Soul Pag. 36 37 Vide Satisfaction and Soul Contingents all foreknown by God Vide Knowledge of God Contradictions cannot be made true by God Pag. 432 433 434 435 Yet this doth not overthrow God's Omnipotence ibid. 'T is an abuse of God's Power to endeavour to justifie them by it Pag. 483 Contrary qualities linkt together in the Creatures Pag. 22 351 Conversion carnal Self-love a great hindrance to it Pag. 82 There may be a conversion from sin which is not good Pag. 90 91 Men are Enemies to it Pag. 98 99 The necessity of it Pag. 100 The difficulty of it Pag. 101 God only can be the Author of it Pag. 102 655 The Wisdom of God appears in it in the Subjects Seasons and Manner of it Pag. 367 368 369 And his Power Pag. 467 ad 470 And his Holiness Pag. 516 And his Goodness Pag. 654 655 And his Soveraignty Pag. 730 ad 734 He could convert all Pag. 730 731 Not bound to convert any Pag. 732 733 The various means and occasions of it Pag. 747 748 Genuine Convictions would be promoted by right and strong Apprehensions of God's Holiness Pag. 552 553 Corruptions the Knowledge of God a a comfort under fears of them lurking in the heart Pag. 333 †The Power of God a comfort when they are strong and stirring Pag. 486 In God's People shall be subdued Pag. 770 The Remainders of them God orders for their good Pag. 362 ad 366 The Covenant of God with his People eternal 194. and unchangeable Pag. 234 235 God in Covenant an eternal good to his people Pag. 194 195 The Conditions of the Covenant of Grace evidence the Wisdom of God Pag. 388 Suited to mans lapsed state and Gods glory ibid. Opposite to that which was the cause of the Fall ibid. Suited to the common Sentiments and Customs of the World and Consciences of men Pag. 388 389 Only likely to attain the end ibid. Evidence Gods Holiness Pag. 515 516 The Wisdom of God made over to Believers in it Pag. 4â—5 And Power Pag. 485 And Holiness Pag. 552 †A Promise of Life implyed in the Covenant of Works Pag. 612 Why not exprest Pag. 614 615 The Goodness of God manifest in making a Covenant of Grace after Man had broken the first Pag. 629. In the naâ—â—◠〈…〉 â—oâ— of it Pag. 629 630 631 In the â—â—â—â—ice gift of himself made over â—n it Pag. 631 632 In its confirmation Pag. 632 Its Conditions easy reasonable necessary Pag. 533 534 535 536 It promises a more excellent Reward than the life in Paradise Pag. 642 643 Covetousness vide Riches and World Creation the Wisdom of God appears in it 347 ad 351. should be meditated upon 351. motives to it Pag. 417 ad 4â—0 His Power Pag. 439 ad 445 His Holiness Pag. 507 508 His Goodness Pag. 604 ad 615 Goodness the end and motive of it Pag. 592 593 Ascribed to Christ Pag. 472 ad 475 The Foundation of God's Dominion Pag. 707 708 Creatures evidence the Being of God 5 Pag. 14 ad 29 In their production Pag. 15 ad 21 In their harmony Pag. 21 ad 27 In pursuing their several ends Pag. 27 28 29 In their preservation Pag. 29 Were not and cannot be from Eternity Pag. 16 17 190 191 None of them can make themselves Pag. 17 18 19 Or the World Pag. 20 Subservient to one another Pag. 22 251 252 Regular uniform and constant in it Pag. 24 25 Are various Pag. 25 26 347 348 Have several Natures Pag. 27 All fight against the Atheist Pag. 42 God ought to be studied in them Pag. 45 All manifest something of God's perfections ibid. Setting them up as our end v. End Must not be worship'd v. Idolatry Used by man to a contrary end than God appointed Pag. 89 All are changeable Pag. 220 221 Therefore an immutable God to be preferred before them Pag. 237 Are nothing to God Pag. 264 Are all known by God Pag. 284 285 Shall be restored to their primitive end Pag. 205 206 207 644 645 Their beautiful order and situation Pag. 348 349 Are fitted for their several ends Pag. 349 350 None of them can be Omnipresent Pag. 251 252 Or Omnipotent Pag. 426 427 Or infinitely perfect Pag. 431 God could have made more than he hath Pag. 427 ad 430 Made them all more perfect than they are Pag. 430 Yet all are made in the best manner Pag. 431 The Power that is in them demonstrates a greater to be in God Pag. 436 Ordered by God as he pleases Pag. 455 The meanest of them can destroy us by God's order Pag. 491 768 Making different ranks of them doth not impeach God's Goodness Pag. 595 596 597 Cursed for the sin of man Pag. 609 643 What benefit they have by the Redemption of man Pag. 643 644 Cannot comfort us if God be angry Pag. 768 All subject to God Pag. 717 ad 721 All obey God Pag. 781 Curiosity in enquiries about God's Counsels Actions a great folly Pag. 192 193 'T is an injuring God's knowledge Pag. 323 'T is a contempt of Divine wisdom Pag. 404 Should not be employ'd about what God hath not reveal'd Pag. 414 The consideration of God's Soveraignty would check it Pag. 775 D. DAy how necessary Pag. 350 Death of Christ its value is from his Divine Nature Pag. 382 Vindicated the honour of the Law both as to precept penalty Pag. 383 Overturn'd the Devils Empire Pag. 385 He suffered to rescue us