is you shall have as true an inâ—erest in all my attributes for your â—ood as they are mine for my glory â—y grace to pardon you my power â—o protect you my wisdome to diâ—ect you This is a comprehensive â—romise for God to be our * God it includes all Deus meus omnia said Luther The Covenant of grace is both Faedus amicitiae conjugale a Covenant of friendship and a conjugall Covenant Abraham was in covenant with God and God stiles him his friend also it is a conjugall league Hos. 2. 19 20. Secondly God promiseth his Spirit Ioel 2. 28. John 14. 16 26. and 15. 26. and 16. 7. Luke 24. 49. Act. 1. 4. an accomplishment of which promise we have Act. 2. 23. The Spirit is called Ephes. 1. 13. The holy Spirit of promise because this was the great promise which Christ from the Father hath made unto us the giving of the holy Ghost to work in us all the good which he requireth apply all the good wch he hath promised The giving of the Spirit is a great and excellent promise of the new Testament The great promise of the old Testament was the promise of Christ Gen. 3. 16. of the Messiah all the ceremoniall Law was but a typical enlargment of that promise Christ when he was to goe out of the world promised his Spirit 1. That in this last age of the world there might be a more full discovery of the great things of the Gospel the Spirit reveals truth and stablisheth us in the truth that Gods people might know more of himself and his Son and prie more into the mysteries of the Gospel 2. There are more glorious conquests to be made in this last age of the world all the great enemies of Jesus Christ are to be vanquished Ze. 4. 7. 2 Thess. 2. 9. the sharpest sufferings are reserved for these times therefore Christ hath provided the most sovereign cordials What undaunted courage what invincible patience what ravishing consolation had the martyrs in the flames God made good this promise to them in sending his Spirit We should put our bond in sute turn promises into praiers presse God with much importunity for more of the Spirit 3. God hath promised to give us his Son The whole Covenant of grace iâ— purchased founded sealed ratified in Christs bloud Mat. 26. 28. Heb. 9. 14 15. and 13. 20. It was Gods plot from all eternity to save man in such a way as should advance all his glorious Attributes his wisdome power justice mercy compassion wrath vengeance The Covenant of grace is the most free and gracious tender of Christ and all his rich purchases to all the lost and undone sons of Adam that shall believe in him All other particular promises found in the book of God receive their confirmation by the promise of Christ God promiseth sometimes to deliver from a particular affliction to assure them that that shall be kept he makes a promise of Christ Behold a virgin shall conceive There are three things in the promise of Christ to confirm all other promises 1. Because there may be made more objections against the Lords giving of Christ then against any other promise whatsoever in that the great provoked God must come to be a suter to his vassall Jehovah must lie in a virgins womb 2. More love and compassion is shewed in that one promise of Christ then in all other promises whatsoever 3. Because this is the mother promise 2 Cor. 1. 20. Some say The conditions of the Covenant of grace are repentance faith and new obedience Sincerity alone or Evangelicall perfection is the only absolute condition of the Covenant of grace Gen. 17. â— It is called an upright heart that is straight It is also called Integrity a body that wants no members a sound heart a pure or sincere heart a single heart a simple and honest heart Evangelicall perfection is a work of Gods Spirit whereby the whole inward man is applied to God and his waies without the mixture of strange intentions or affections 2. Sincerity of singlenesse purity perfection is the whole substance and mettall of all graces which God worketh in the soul it is not any one grace as patience meeknesse but the substance of every grace faith and love unfeigned Praier which comes not out of feigned lips we must worship God in spirit and in truth Ephes. 4. 34. 3. God and the Saints have ever judged of men by this Iudge me O Lord according to mine integrity 4. The promises are made to this Ps. 119. 1. Mat. 5. 8. Characters of sincerity As preparatory or a motive to the rest to be willing and desirous to have his heart thorowly tried and searched Joh. 3. 18 19 20. Psalm 139. There are three reall marks 1. It makes the work of grace universall 1. In regard of the subject therefore it is called a new creature 2. In respect of the object abstains from all sin and performs all duty 2. It is constant 3. It presseth on to have more till it be filled with God and his waies Phil. 3. 8 9 10 11. It is a matter of great concernment for a man rightly to understand the nature of the Covenant under which he is 2 Sam. 23. 3 4. Reasons 1. Because it is the covenant which God hath respect unto in all his dealings with you Psal. 105. 8. 111. 5. 2. Else we shall never be able to understand our own state 1 Cor. 11. 28. and 2 Cor. 12. 5. Galat. 4. 23 24 25. 3. Else we shall never be able to judge a right of any of our actions neither of Gods waies to us nor ours to him Gen. 4. 4. 4. Without knowledge of the nature of the Covenant we can never understand our own sinnes we are not only breakers of the Law but transgressors of the Covenant Hosea 6. 7. Deut. 29. 21. Lev. 26. 24 25. 5. According to our Covenant such is the Spirit by which we are acted and such is our law and practice one under the first covenant is acted by the spirit of bondage one under the second is acted by the Spirit of adoption 6. We cannot else understand our mercies or afflictions whether they come from Gods love or displeasure 7. Without this we cannot understand the riches of Gods grace in the second covenant 1. That he should enter into a covenant at mans creation 2. When man had broke that to enter into a new covenant 3. To finde out such a glorious way to abolish the first covenant 4. To make it with such a glorious Head Christ 5. That the promises of this covenant should be better then those of the first covenant 8. All our terrour or comfort comes from our covenant under which we are Heb. 6. 17. 1 Pet. 3. 9. Eph. 2. 2. We are under the covenant of grace 1. If we be in the second Adam if we be willing
Cor. 2. 9. The Promise is the shell wherein the kernell is contained Ephes. 1. 20. 2 Pet. 1. 4. That Promise in the covenant of grace That God will be our portion there is a great deal more in it then we can understand God will put his fear in his peoples hearts Job 28. 16 17. Prov. 3. 13. They shall enjoy eternall life with him in heaven when this Promise comes to be accomplished it will be farre greater then we can now imagine They finde the mercies of this life double many times to what they expect Reasons 1. From our weak capacity we are not able to understand how much is laid up in a Promise the experience of Gods people is a great proof of this the longer they chew the Promise the sweeter it is 2. The infinite goodnes and bounty of God joyned with his omnipotency and all-sufficiency because God hath set his heart on his people he will give them abundantly more then they think of The Promises of God are of two sorts 1. Absolute those which the Lord hath undertaken to perform of his own free grace not only citra meritum but also citra conditionem without all supposed or pre-required conditions in us of this kinde are all those great promises of the new covenant Genesis 3. 15. and 17. 7. Isaiah 43. 25. Ezekiel 11. 19. Jeremy 31. 33. Hosea 14. 4. Joel 2. 18. I will be thy GOD I will give my Sonne I will pour out my Spirit I even I am he who blot out your iniquities for my Names sake I will take away the heart of stone and I will give an heart of flesh I will put my Law in your inward parts and write it in your hearts I will heal your backesliding and love you freely for mine anger is turned away 2. Conditional which shews what God will do upon the performance of such duties and conditions by the creature which conditions without Gods grace he is never able to perform Ier. 17. 8 9 10. These are made for the encouragement of the creature in the waies of obedience and to shew a mans inability that he may flie to Christ for strength but they doe not alwaies shew the purpose of God to give the condition or reward When once God makes a Promise though it may be a long time before it be fulfilled yet it yeelds comfortable fruit from the day of his making of it All agree that a Promise is a certain pledge of performance in due time Four other fruits grow from a Promise before it come to be accomplisht 1. It is a certain evidence of Gods love a declaration of his heart and good will outward administrations come all from Gods hand but his Promises come all from his heart his affection is set on them who have an interest in the Promises Reason All the Promises are made in and thorow Christ to Christ and then to those who are united to him 2. A Promise from the day of the date of it is a sufficient pledge to the soul to whom it is made that God will never doe them hurt but his purposes and thoughts to them are alwaies good notwithstanding the outward administrations 3. It brings preservation to the soul 1 Pet. 1. 5. It will preserve it from the assaults of the devil and the world 4. It brings present consolation to the soul in Peter where the Apostle speaks of great and precious promises he saith We rejoyce with joy unspeakable An ingagement of God in a Promise is a speciall means to support Christians in times of distresse God was ever wont to bear up the spirits of his people rather by Promises then providences First A great part of the Bible is spent in reporting Gods ingagements to his people by promise and the exemplification of his people in performing his Promises Secondly The Saints of God were wont to live by faith Ps. 56. 4. They ever fetcht consolation from the Promises as Jacob Hast thou not said and Jehosaphat 2 Chron. 2. Reasons 1. The end of God in making the Promises was to give security 2. They are a ray of his power for the creating of help he that hath a promise hath a blessing in the root of it 3. Promises issue from the love the grace and goodnesse of God and are as unchangeable as his love they are founded upon the truth and Allsufficiency of God That in Heb. 13. 5. is as full a promise as any is in the Bible it is applicable to particular cases made in the hazards of warre and difficulties of reformation it is double to shew it is a fixed truth and for time to come in the future tense in the Hebrews there is more said then is to Ioshua God saith He will not leave him nor forsake him Heb. 13. 5. there are five negatives in that little sentence All the subjects of Christs Kingdome of grace inherit all the Promises of the Covenant they are their portion 1. It is a great priviledge to be the heirs of Gods Promises and the Saints have gloried in it David saith Thy Promises have I claimed as mine heritage by faith they imbraced the Promises Heb. 11. 2. Every childe of God hath a right to all the promises 1 Tim. 4. 8. Gal. 3. 16. Rom. 9. 4. 2 Pet. 1. 4. 1. They are all made in and through Christ as branches of the Covenant of grace Objection Particular Promises were made to this or that man in a speciall case Answer No particular Promise was ever made to any for his own sake but for Christs Therefore those Promises which at first uttering of them were made to some particular person on a particular occasion were after pressed on all Gods people as that Josh. 1. Heb. 13. This is a peculiar priviledge to Gods people none but those under Christs dominion have interest in the Promises We should therefore 1. Study the Promises and know for what use and time they serve 2. Beware of weighing them by our own carnall sense and reason 3. Set faith awork let the heart rest on Gods Alsufficiency his truth wisdome faithfulnesse A good man fetcheth contentment and satisfaction to his soul in all conditions 1. From the Covenant of grace in generall 2 Sam. 23. 5. This Covenant of grace which God hath made with his people is Gods assurance office and the Saints in all their fears may and ought to go to the Covenant to assure all things to them to assure their estates and their lives 2. For particular Promises in the Covenant of grace a gracious heart looks upon every Promise as coming from the root of the Covenant of grace in Christ See Psal. 34. 10. and 37. 6. and Isa. 58. 10. and elsewhereâ— where there are divers Promiseâ— which may bring Christian contentment It is the greatest honour that 〈◊〉 creature is capable of to be taken inâ—to Covenant with God Levit. 26. 18 19. Jer. 11. 11. Zach 11. the staffe of
beauty that is the Covenant and you sin against offers of a second Covenant which the devils never did Those who are in Christ and have their covenant changed are in a happy condition 1. By this means God and thou art reconciled thy covenant is a covenant ofâ—peace Ezek. 37. 26. 2. Being once taken into the covenant thou hast interest into glorious relations God is become thy Father thy Husband thy Friend 2 Cor. 6. 16. 3. Thou hast interest into a most glorious inheritance by becoming the son of a free woman 4. Thou hast a foundation for thy faith and a ground of all thy praiers the covenant contains all the priviledges a beleeving soul can expect it is the ground of all thy praiers Jer. 31. 18. Isa. 64. 9. The people of God still plead it it upholds the soul from sinking When David came to dy God hath made with me an everlasting covenant So Christ My God my God Psal. 89. 26. 5. It is a covenant that can never be broken 2 Chron. 13. 5. Isa. 50. 7. CHAP. VII Of living and dying by Faith I. Of living by Faith FAith is a staying resting depending and relying upon the merits and satisfaction of our blessed Saviour by the vertue and merit thereof to obtain remission of sins and eternall life and all good things promised in the new covenant at the hands of God That there is such a life as the life of faith is plain Habak. 2. 4. But the just shall live by his faith The just shall live the life of grace here and of glory hereafter in and by faith Gal. 2. 20. Neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God Psal. 74. 13 14. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters That is of the chief captains and commanders under Pharaoh Thou brakest the heads of Leviathan that is Pharaoh in pieces and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wildernesse for their faith not their bellies While they were in the wildernesse they remembred Gods mercy to them at the red sea and lived by the faith of this providence of God It is a life arising from the union of God with us by his sanctifying Spirit whereby a man is able to perform actions spirituall in the Promises is the life of the spirit of Gods people The life of faith saith Mr Perkins is a true life indeed the only life The Schools dispute of faith Ministers preach of faith Professours talk of faith prophane men swear by faith but few men live by faith None can live nor rightly understand this life but the Saints of God a Promise from God is sufficient for faith to rest upon against all improbabilities whatsoever Many reasons might be given why we should rather live upon Gods Word then any thing else The first reason may be taken from Gods Alsufficiency Consider 3. Attributes in God 1. His Almighty power he can as easily perform as promise God urged this to his people when they were weak at any time Numb. 11. Is the Lords hand shortened Gen. 18. Is any thing too hard for the Lord 2. The goodnesse and love of God his promises are given to his people as fruits of his love Jer. 31. 3. 3. His truth faithfulnesse and unchangeablenesse Mal. 3. 6. The second reason may be drawn from the interest which Christ hath in him that makes the promise and in him to whom the promise is made 1. All the Promises are yea and Amen in Christ Consider 1. Christs interest in his Father who makes the Promise his Father makes them all for the Sons sake all the Promises are called the sure mercies of David Isa. 55. He being a type of Christ 2. Christ hath bought all the Promises of the Father with his own hearts bloud 2. The interest Christ hath in his people he is one with them and they one with him A third reason may be taken from the nature of faith the proper object of it is a Promise from God Heb. 11. 1. Faith sees things clearly infallibly strongly Motives to living by faith First The necessity of it 1. Take away this and you take away the only principle which distinguisheth the life of a man as a Christian from the life of other men 2. The only cause of all heart-breaking and uncomfortable sorrows which Gods people meet with in any condition is the want of this Psal. 42. 3. The want of this is one great cause if not the only cause of the unevennesse found in the conversation of Gods people Rebecca and Jacob had a direct Promise that Jacob should have the blessing yet because Esau was great with his father they used unjust means 4. Without this we can expect no benefit from the Promises though they be precious unlesse we rest our selves upon them Isa. 26. 3. Secondly It is a very becoming amiable fitting thing that we should rather live upon a word of God then any other help whatsoever No creature on earth ever attains to a self sufficiency one must have something for his support therefore it is better to take a Promise from God then to depend upon the deceitfulnesse of creature-comforts Thirdly The wonderfull gain which comes by it 1. The soul which hath but once learnt to make the Word of God a sufficient stay to it self such a one will live the easiest life that any man in the world lives It is not easily learnt for much grace is required to it but when thou hast once got it it is comfortable Such a one lives as a childe when he is in his fathers house he is never troubled with care for meat drink or cloathes the soul is at quiet when it hath learn'd to center it self upon the word 2. It is the greatest ingagement as I may say to God to help them we cannot put a greater obligation upon him then by trusting in him God will never fail such as trust in him Isa. 26. 3. Psal. 91. 9 14. Means to attain this life of faith How may a soul learn to pick a living out of the word to live by faith The life of faith is to fetch the counsell the portion and comfort of his life out of the word Ten directions how the soul may attain to live this life of faith First Nothing but a sound true living faith is a principle of this life all the Schoolmasters in the world cannot teach any creature to live by reason till it hath a reasonable soul Labour to understand the true nature of faith and get it wrought in thy soul the just man will live by his faith Secondly Every degree of saving faith will not serve a man to live comfortably and free from distempers one must have a sound faith and a plerophoâ—y and a great deal of faith for that end the