The Balm of the Covenant, Part 1
I.
That the Covenant of Grace is able to remove all the causes and grounds of a Believers trouble, be they never so great or many. This I doubt not will be convinceingly evidenced and demonstrated by the following Arguments, or undeniable Reasons.
Argument I.
Whatsoever disarms Afflictions of the only sting whereby they wound us, must needs be a compleat Relief and Remedy to the afflicted Soul.
But so doth the Covenant of Grace, it disarms Afflictions of the only sting by which they wound us.
Therefore the Covenant of Grace must needs be a compleat Relief and Remedy to the afflicted Soul.
The sting of all Afflictions, is the guilt of sin; when God smites, Conscience usually smites too: and this is it that causes all that pain and anguish in the afflicted. 'Tis plainly so in the Example of the Widow of Zarephath, 1 King. 17.18.when her son, her only son, and probably her only child died, how did that stroke of God revive guilt in her Conscience, and made the affliction piercing and intolerable! as appears by her passionate Expostulation with Elijah, who then sojourned in her house: What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? Q. d. What injury have I done thee? Didst thou come hither to observe my sins, and pray down this Judgment upon my Child for them? The death of her son revived her guilt, and so it generally doth, even in the most holy men.
When Iob looked upon his wasted body under Afflictions, every wrinkle he saw upon it, seemed to him like a witness rising up to testifie against him.Job 16.8. Thou hast filled me with wrinkles which is a witness against me, and my leaness rising up in me, beareth witness to my face.
Affliction is like a Hue and Cry after sin in the ears of Conscience, and this is the envenom'd poysonous sting and Affliction: pluck out this, and the afflicted man is presently eased, though the matter of the affliction still abide with him, and lie upon him. He is afflicted still, but not cast down by affliction; the anguish and burden is gone, though the matter of trouble remain.
This is plain both in Scripture, and in Experience. Suitable hereunto is that strange, but sweet Expression, The inhabitant shall not say I am sick, Isai. 33.24.the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities. It's not to be imagined these people had found such a fortunate Island, o… happy Climate, where no Disease could touch or invade their Bodies; no, sickness will find o… the Bodies of the best men, where ever they live; wherever sin ha… been, sickness and death will fo…low it. Heaven is the only pr…viledg'd place from these miseries but the meaning is, though the… be sick, they shall not feel th… pains and burdens of sickness they shall not say they are sick: An… why so? because their iniquitie… are forgiven. Plainly confirmin… what was before asserted, that the anguish of an Affliction is gone as soon as ever the sting of guil… is plucked out. And hence par…doning of the Soul, and healing o… the Body, are put together as co…jugate mercies: Psal. 103.1.3.Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases. When the soul is at ease, the pains of the body are next to nothing: sick…ness can cloud all natural joys, but not the joy of a Pardon.
Nay, which is yet more; pluck out but the sting of sin, and there is no horrour in Death, the King of Terrours, and worst of all outward Evils. See how the pardoned Believer triumphs over it: O death, 1 Cor. 15.55.where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? the sting of death is sin. They are words of defiance, as men use to deride and scorn a boasting insulting Enemy, when they see him cast upon his back, and his sword broken over his head.
Heus! uhi nunc fastus, alta que verba jacent?Ovid.
Where are your boasts and menaces now? O Death, thou hast lost thy sting and terrour together. Thus the pardoned Believer, with an holy gallantry of spirit, derides and contemns his disarmed Enemy Death: so then 'tis manifest, that whatever plucks out the poysonous sting of Affliction, must needs be an effectual Remedy and Cure to the afflicted person.
But this the Covenant of Grace doth, it reveals and applies Gospel-remission to them that are within the blessed bond of it. This shall be the Covenant that I wi… make with the house of Israel; Jer. 31.33, 34.I wi… forgive their iniquity, foreign It respects the propitiatory expiation of sin by Christ, who is therefore called foreign.and I will remember their sin no more. Behol… here a gracious, full, and irrevo…cable Pardon! I will forgive, o… be propitiously merciful, as tha… word imports; pointing plainly t… Christ our Propitiation, our sin… are forgiven us for his Names sake And a Pardon as full as it is free iniquity and sin,1 Joh. 2.2. & Rom. 3.25. smaller and grea…ter, are here forgiven: for Go… in the remission of his peoples sins having respect to the propitiatin… Bloud of Christ, he pardons all as well as some, that Bloud deser…ving and purchasing the most ful… and compleat Pardons for his Peo…ple. 1. Joh. 1.7. The bloud of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.
And this Covenant-pardon is a firm, as it is free and full. So ru… the expressions in the Grant, I wi… remember their sin no more: or in the Apostles words, Heb. 8.13. foreign. I will not remember them again. That is, not so remember as to impute them, o… condemn my pardoned ones for them: for the pardoned persons come no more into condemnation, Ioh. 5.24. their sins are cast into the depths of the Sea, Mica. 7.19. Sooner shall the East▪ and the West, the two opposite points of Heaven, meet, than the pardoned soul and its sins meet again in condemnation, Psal. 103.12.
Now, the case standing thus with all Gods Covenant-people, all their sins being graciously, fully, and irrevocably forgiven them, how convincingly and sweetly doth this conclusion follow, that the Covenant is a compleat Remedy to all afflicted Believers? As nothing can befal us before Christ and Pardon be ours, which is sufficient to raise us, so nothing can befal us afterwards, which should deject and sink us. This is the first benefit afflicted Believers receive from the Covenant, and this alone is enough to heal all our sorrows.
Argument II.
As the Covenant of Grace d… arms all the Afflictions of Bel…vers of the only sting by whi… they wound them; so it al… the very nature and property … their Afflictions, and turns the… from a Curse into a Blessing … them: and in so doing it becom… more than a Remedy, even a choi… Benefit and Advantage to them.
All Afflictions in their own n…ture, are a part of the Curse; the… are the consequents and punis…ments of sin; they work naturall… against our good: but when on… they are taken into the Covenan… their nature and property is alte…ed. As Waters in their subterr…nean passages meeting some ver…tuous Mineral in their course, a… thereby impregnated and endow…ed with a rare healing property … the Body; so Afflictions passing through the Covenant, receive from it an healing Vertue to our souls. They are in themselves soure and harsh, as wild Hedge-Fruits; but being ingrafted into this stock, they yield the pleasant Fruits of Righteousness. If his children break my Statutes, Psal. 89.30, 31.and keep not my Commandments, then will I visit their iniquity with the rod, and their sins with stripes: nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take away, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. Here you may see all the Rods of Affliction put into the Covenant, as Aaron's Rod was into the Ark. And hence two things necessarily follow.
(1.) That such Afflictions can do the Children of God no hurt. They may affright, but cannot hurt them: We may meet them with fear, but shall part from them with joy: An unsanctified Rod never did any man good, and a sanctified Rod never did any man hurt: He may afflict our Bodies with sickness, deny, or cut off our comfort in Children, impoverish our Estates, let loose persecutors …pon us; but in all this he really doth us no hurt, as he speaks in I… 25.6. no more hurt than a skil… Chirurgeon doth in saving his P…tients life, by cutting off a mor…fied gangren'd Member: no mo… hurt than Frosts and Snow do t… Earth in killing the rank Wee… that exhausted the sap and streng… of it, and preparing and mello… ing it to produce a fruitful crop … Corn. By these he recals o… minds from vanity, weans o… fond and ensnaring affections fro… the World, discovers and mortifi… those lusts, which gentler method and essays could not do: and … this for our hurt?
I confess Gods thoughts an… ours often differ upon this case… We measure the good and evil o… Providences by their respect t… the ease and pleasure of our flesh… but God sees this is the way to cas… our Spirits into a dead formality and in removing them, he dot… but deprive us of the occasions and instruments of spiritual mischief… and miseries, in which certainly he doth us no hurt.
(2.) But that is not all. Af…ictions once put into the Covenant, must promote the good of …he Saints: they are beneficial, as well as harmless things. We know …saith the Apostle) that all things work together for good to them that …ove God. This Promise is the Compass which sets the course and directs the motion of all the Af…ictions of the People of God; …nd no Ship at Sea obeys the Rudder so exactly, as the troubles of the Righteous do the direction of this Promise. Possibly we cannot discern this at present, but rather pre…udge the works of God, and say all these things are against us; but hereafter we shall see, and with …oy acknowledge them to be the happy instruments of our salvation.
How often hath Affliction sent …he People of God to their knees, with such Language as this! O my God, how vain and sensual hath this heart of mine been under prosperity! How did the love of the Creature, like a sluce, cut in the bank of a River, draw away the stream of my affect… ons from thee! I had gotten soft a Pillow of Creature-comfort under my head, and I easily fel… asleep, and dreamed of nothin… but rest and pleasure, in a stat… of absence from thee; but now thy Rod hath awakened me and reduced me to a right sen… of my condition. I was negl… gent or dead-hearted in th… course of my duty, but now … can pray more fervently, feelingly, and frequently than before. O it was good for me, that I hav… been afflicted. O, saith God, how well was this Rod bestow'd which hath done my poor Chil… so much good! Now I hav… more of his heart, and more o… his time and company than ever. Now I hear the voice, and see the gracious workings of the Spirit of my Child after me again, as in the days of his first love. The sum of all this you may see in the ingenuous meltings of Ephraim under a sanctified Rod, Ier. 31. 19,20. and the sounding of the …owels of mercy over him. 'Ephraim mourns at Gods feet, and God falls upon Ephraim's neck. I have been as a Beast, saith Ephraim: Thou art a dear son, a pleasant child, saith God. My bowels are troubled and pained for sin, saith Ephraim: And my bowels are troubled for thee, and my compassions rolled together, saith God. O blessed fruits of …anctified Rods! such precious ef…ects as these richly repay you for …ll the pain and anguish you feel. And thus, as the wound of a Scor…ion is healed by applying its own Oyl, so the evil of Affliction is cured by the sanctified Fruits that …t produceth when it is once put …nto the Covenant.
Argument III.
The Covenant doth not only alter the nature and property of the Saints Afflictions, but it also orderl… disposes and aptly places them in the frame of Providence, among th… other means and instruments … our salvation; so that a Counc… of Angels could never place them or the least circumstance belonging to them, more aptly and a… vantageously than it hath done▪ The knowledge of this must need quiet and fully relieve the afflicted soul: and who can doubt it that believes it to be a Covenan… ordered in all things, as the Te… speaks? Here all things, yea, th… most minute-circumstances that be…fal you, are reduced to their proper Class, and place of service; s… exactly ordered, that all the wi… dom of men and Angels know not how to mend or alter any thing to your advantage.
If a small Pin be taken out of the frame of a Watch, and placed any where else, the motion is either presently stopped, or made irregular. And as Gallen observes of the curious Fabrick of an humane Body, that if the greatest Naturalist should study an hundred years to find out a more commodious scituation, or configuration of any part thereof, it could never be done. 'Tis so here: No man can come after God, and say, this or that had been better placed or timed, than it is, if this Affliction had been spared, and such an enjoyment stood in the room of it, it had been better. All God's Providences are the results and issues of his infinite Wisdom: for he works all things according to the counsel of his own will, Eph. 1.11. The Wheels, (i. e.) the motions and revolutions of Providence, are full of Eyes;Ezek. 1.18. they are well advised, and judicious motions, Non caeco impetu volvuntur rotae; they run not at random. The most regular and excellent working, must needs follow the most deep and perfect counsel. Isai. 28▪ 29. He is deep in counsel, and excellent in working.
Now every Affliction that befals Gods covenanted People, being placed by the most wise and infinite counsel of God, in tha… very order, time, and manner in which they befal them, this very Affliction, and not that, at this very time, and not at another, (it being always a time of need▪ 1 Pet. 1.6.) and usher'd in by such fore-running occasions and circumstances; it must follow, that they all take the proper places▪ and nick exactly the fittest seasons▪ and if one of them were wanting, something would be defective in the frame of your happiness. As they now stand, they work together for your good, which displaced, they would not do.
It's said, Ier. 18.11. Behold … frame evil, and I devise a devi… ▪ It's spoken of the contrivance and frame of Afflictions, as the proper work of God. The project of i… is laid for his glory, and the eternal good of his People. It turns to their salvation, 1 Phil. 19. But oh how fain would we have this or that Affliction scrued out of the frame of Providence, conceiving it would be far better out than in. O if God had spared my Child, or my Health, it had been better for me than now it is. But this is no other than a presumptuous correcting and controlling of the Wisdom of God; and so he interprets it, Iob 40.2. He that reproveth God, let him answer it. God hath put every Affliction upon your Persons, Estates, Relations, just where you find and feel it; and that whole frame he hath put into the Covenant, in the vertue whereof it works for your salvation: and therefore let all disputings and reasonings, all murmurs and discontents cease, nothing can be better for you, than as God hath laid it; and this one would think should heal and quiet all. You your selves would mar all, by presuming to mend any thing. Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, Isai. 40.13, 14.or being his counsellour, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him the path of judgment? and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding? Well then, be satisfied 'tis best as it is; and nothing can be so advantageous to you, as God's project and contrivance, which you are so uneasie under, and dissatisfi'd about.
Argument IV.
As the Covenant sorts and ranks all your troubles into their proper Classes and places of service, so it secures the special gracious presence of God with you, in the deepest plunges of distress that can befal you; which presence is a full relief to all your troubles, or else nothing in the World is or can be so.
The very Heathens thought themselves well secured against all evils and dangers, if they had their petty houshold Gods with them in their Journeys: but the great God of Heaven and Earth hath engaged to be with his People, in all their afflictions and distresses. As a tender Father sits up himself with his sick Child, and will not leave him to the care of a Servant only; so God thinks it not enough to leave his Children to the tutelage and charge of Angels, but will be with them himself, and that in a special and peculiar way: so run the express words of the Covenant,Jer. 32.40. I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear into their hearts; and they shall not depart from me. Here he undertakes for both parts, himself and them. I will not, and they shall not.
Here is the Saints security for the gracious presence of God with them, a presence which dispels all the Clouds of affliction and sorrow, as the Sun scatters the morning Mists. The God of all consolation is with you, O poor dejected Believers, and will not such a presence turn the darkness into light round about you? There is a threefold presence of God with his Creatures.
1. Essential, which is common and necessary to all.
2. Gracious, which is peculiar to some on Earth.
3. Glorious, which is the felicity of Heaven.
The first is not the priviledge here secured; for it is necessary to all, good and bad: in him we all live, and move, and have our being. The vilest Men on Earth, yea the Beasts of the Field, and the very Devils in Hell are always in this presence of God, but it is their torment, rather than their priviledge. The last is proper to the glorified Saints and Angels. Such a presence imbodied, Saints cannot now bear; but it is his special gracious presence which is made over and secured to them in the Covenant of Grace: and this presence of God is manifested to them two ways.
1. Internally, by the Spirit.
2. Externally, by Providence.
1. Internally, by the Spirit of Grace dwelling and acting in them, this is a choice priviledge to them in the day of affliction: for hereby they are instructed and taught the meaning of the Rod. Psal. 94.12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, and teachest him out of thy law. O 'tis a blessed thing to be taught so many Lessons by the Rod, as the Spirit teacheth them! Surely they reckon it an abundant recompence of all that they suffer.Psal. 119.71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. Yea, he refreshes as well as teaches, and no Cordials revive like his.Psal. 94.19. In the multitude of the thoughts I had within me, thy comforts delight my soul. Yea, by the presence and blessing of his Spirit, our Afflictions are sanctified to subdue and purge out our corruptions.Isai. 27.9. By this shall the iniquity of Iacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away sin. Now if a man be instructed in the ends and designs of the Rod, refreshed and comforted under every stripe of the Rod, and have his sins mortified and purged by the sanctification of the Spirit upon his Afflictions; then both the burthensomness and bitterness of his Afflictions are removed and healed by the internal presence of the Spirit of God with his afflicted ones. But,
2. Besides this, God is providentially present with his People, in all their troubles, in a more external way; ordering all the circumstances of their troubles to their advantage. He orders the degree and extent of our Afflictions, still leaving us some mercies and comforts to support and refresh us, when others are cut off. In measure doth he debate with his Covenant People,Isai. 27.8. staying the rough wind in the day of the East wind. He might justly smite all our outward Comforts at once, so that Affliction should not rise up the second time: for what comfort soever hath been abused by sin, is thereby forfeited into the hand of Judgment. But the Lord knows our inability to sustain such strokes, and therefore proportions them to our strength. We have some living Relations to minister comfort to us, when mourning over our dead: He makes not a full end of all at once. Yea, and his Providence supports our frail Bodies, enabling them to endure the shocks and storms of so many Afflictions, without ruine. Surely there is as much of the care of Providence manifested in this, as there is in preserving poor crazy leaking Barks, and weather-beaten Vessels at Sea, when the Waves not only cover them, but break into them, and they are ready to founder in the midst of them.
O what a singular mercy is the gracious presence of God with men! even the special presence of that God,Eph. 4 6. who is above all, and through all, and in you all, as the Apostle speaks. Above all, in Majesty and Dominion; through all, in his most efficacious Providence; and in you all, by his Grace and Spirit. As he is above all, so he is able to command any Mercy you want, with a word of his mouth; as he is through all, so he must be intimately acquainted with all your wants, straights, and fears; and as he is in you all, so he is engaged for your support and supply, as you are the dear Members of Christ's mystical Body.
Object. But methinks I hear Gideon's Objection rolled into the way of this soveraign Consolation. If God be with us, why is all this Evil befallen us?
Sol. All what? If it had been all this rebellion and rage against God, all this apostacy and revolting more and more, all this contumacy and hardness of heart under the Rod; then it had been a weighty and stumbling Objection indeed: but to say, If God be with us, why are all these chastening corrections and temporal crosses befallen us? why doth he smite our Bodies, Children, or Estates? is an Objection no way fit to be urged by any that are acquainted with the Scriptures, or the nature and tenour of the Covenant of Grace. Is afflicting and forsaking, all one with you? must God needs hate, because he scourgeth you? I question whether Satan himself hath impudence enough to set such a Note or Comment upon Heb. 12.6. For Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
No, no, Christian, 'tis not a chastening Rod, but the denying of such a favour, and suffering men to sin with impunity, and go on prosperously in the way of their own hearts, that speaks a rejected man, as the next words, ver. 7. informs you. As he never loved you the better for your prosperity, so you may be confident he loves you never the less for your adversity: and will not this close and heal the wounds made by Affliction? What, not such a Promise as this, I will be with him in trouble, Psal. 91.15. Will not such a presence revive thee? What then can do it? Moses reckoned that a Wilderness with God, was better than a Canaan without him.Exod. 33.15. If thy presence go not with me (saith he) then carry us not hence. And if there be the Spirit of a Christian in thee, and God should give thee thine own choice, thou wouldst rather chuse to be in the midst of all these Afflictions with thy God, than back again in all thy prosperity, and among thy Children and former Comforts, without him.
Argument V.
As this Covenant assures you of Gods gracious and special presence, so it fully secures all the Essentials and Substantials of your Happiness, against all hazards and contingencies; in which security lies your full Relief and compleat Remedy against all your troubles for the loss of other things.
There be two sorts of things belonging to all God's People, viz.
1. Essentials.
2. Accidentals.
1. They have somethings which are essential to their Happiness; such are the loving kindness of God, the pardon of sin, union with Christ, and eternal salvation. And they have other things which are Accidentals, that come and go, live and die, without affecting or altering their Happiness; such are Health, Estates, Children, and all sorts of Relations and earthly Comforts. These are to our Happiness, as Leaves are to the Tree which fade and fall away without endangering the Tree; but the other as the vital Sap, without which it withers and dies at the very root. Now if it can be made out that the Covenant fully secures the former; then it will strongly follow, that it therein abundantly relieves us under all our sorrows for the latter: and that it doth so, will evidently appear, by reviewing the Covenant, wherein you shall find all these substantial and essential Mercies of Believers, fully secured against all hazards and contingencies whatsoever.
There the loving kindness of God is secured to their Souls, whatever Afflictions he lays upon their Bodies.Psal. 89.33. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not take away. And their pardon is as safe as the favour of God is; 'tis safely locks up in that Promise,Jer. 31.34. I will remember their sins no more. Yea, Heaven, together with our perseverance in the way to it, are both put out of hazard by that invaluable Promise, They shall never perish, Joh. 10.28.neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Thus are all the Essentials of a Believers Happiness secured in the Covenant; and these being safe, the loss of other enjoyments should not much affect or wound them, because if he enjoy them, they add nothing to his Happiness; and if he lose them, he is still happy in God without them. And this unriddles that AEnigmatical Expression of the Apostle,2 Cor. 6.10. As having nothing, and yet possessing all things; (i. e.) the substraction of all external things cannot make us miserable, who have Christ for our portion, and all our happiness intire in him.
If a man travelling on the Rode fall into the hands of Thieves who rob him of a few shillings, why this doth not much affect him: for though he have lost his spending Money, yet his stock is safe at home, and his Estate secure, which will yield him more. Or if a man have been at Court, and there obtain'd a Pardon for his Life, or a Grant of a Thousand pound per annum, and returning home should chance to lose his Gloves or his Handkerchief, sure if the man be in his wits, he will not take on or mourn for the loss of these Trifles, whilst the Pardon or Grant is safe. Surely these things are not worth the mentioning.
'Tis true, the loss of outward earthly things, are to a Believer real Tryals, yet they are but seeming Losses: and therefore they are expressed in the Apostles phrase with a Tanquam, 2 Cor. 6.9.sicut: As chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoycing. And if your losses be but as it were losses, your sorrows should be but as it were sorrows: Much like a Physick sickness, which we do not call a proper sickness, but as it were a sickness, because it conduceth to the health, and not the hurt of the Person; as all God's medicinal Afflictions on his People also do.
Indeed, if the stroke of God were at our Souls, to cut them off from Christ and Heaven, to raze our Names out of the Covenant, or revoke the pardon of sin; then we had cause enough to justifie the extremity of sorrow; cause enough to weep out our eyes, and break our hearts for such a dismal blow as that would be. But blessed be God you stand out of the way of such strokes as these; let God strike round about you, or lay his hand upon any other comforts you possess, he will never smite you in these essential things, which is certainly enough to allay and relieve all your other sorrows.
My Name is blotted out of the Earth, but still it is written in Heaven. God hath taken my only son from me, but he hath given his only Son for me, and to me. He hath broken off my hopes and expectations as to this World, but my hopes of Heaven are fixed, sure, and immoveable for ever. My house and heart are both in confusion and great disorder, but I have still an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things, and sure. I cannot say my son liveth, …ut I can still say I know that my Redeemer liveth. The grass wither…th, and the flower fadeth; but the word of the Lord abideth for ever, Isai. 40.8.
Argument VI.
As God strikes none of the sub…stantial Mercies of his covenan… People, so when he doth smi… their external and accidental Com…forts, the Covenant of Grace … sures them, that even those stroke… are the strokes of Love, and m… Wrath; the Wounds of a Frien… and not of an Enemy: which another singular relief to the affl…cted soul.
The most frightful thing in an Affliction, is the mark or characte… of God's Wrath which it seems … bear: take away that, and the Affl…ction is nothing.Psal. 6.1. O Lord, rebuke … not in thine anger, neither chasten … in thy hot displeasure. He doth no… deprecate the rebukes, but the a…ger of God; not his chastening but his hot displeasure. Gods a…ger is much more terrible than hi… rebuking, and his hot displeasur… than his chastening. Therefor… he intreats, that whatever God di… to him in the way of affliction, he would do nothing in the way of wrath; and then he could bear any thing from him. A mark of divine anger ingraven upon any Affliction, makes that Affliction dreadful to a gracious soul.
But if a man be well satisfied that whatever anguish there be, yet there is no anger, but that the Rod is in the Hand of Love: O how it eases the soul, and lightens the burden! Now this desirable point is abundantly cleared in the Covenant; where we find a clear Consistence, yea, a necessary Connection betwixt the Love and the Rod of God, Psal. 89.31. and Heb. 12.6. nay, so far are the Afflictions of the Saints from being marks of his Wrath, that they are the Fruits and Evidences of his Fatherly Love.
Two men walking through the Streets, see a company of Boys …ighting, one of them steps forth …nd singles out one of those Boys, …nd carries him home to correct …im; which of the two think you is that Childs Father? The c… standing thus with all Gods People, surely there is no reason fo… their despondencies whatever the… Afflictions be.
Argument VII.
Lastly, the Covenant doth no… only discover the consistence an… connection betwixt the Love an… the Rod of God, but it also giv… full satisfaction to the Saints, th… whatsoever temporary Mercy the… are deprived of, which was with in the Bond of the Covenan… when they enjoyed it, is no… lost, but shall certainly be restore… to them again with a rich im…provement, and that they shall en…joy it again to all eternity.
What a rare Model or Platfor… of Consolatory Arguments ha… the Apostle laid down, to antido… our immoderate sorrows for th… death of our dear Relatives whic… died interested in Christ and th… Covenant! I would not have yo… …gnorant, 1 Thess. 4.13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.brethren, concerning them which are asleep, v. 13. They are not dead, but asleep. Sleep is but … Parenthesis to the Labours and Travels of this Life; and it is but a partial privation, not of the ha…it, but acts of Reason, to which …pon awaking the soul returns again. Just such a thing is that …hich in believers is commonly …alled Death. And we do not …se to bewail our Friends, because …hey are fallen asleep: And there…re it no way becomes us to sor…ow as those that have no hope, or to look upon them as lost; … (as he strongly argueth and concludeth, v. 14) their restora…ion to their Bodies, yea, and to …ur enjoyment again, is fully se…red both to them and us by the Resurrection of Jesus from the …ead. The influence of his Re…rrection is by the Prophet Isaiah …ompared to the Morning-dew,Isai. 26.19. … shew that what vertue there is … the Morning-dew to cause the …nguishing Plants of the Earth to …ive and flourish, that, and much more there is in the Resurrectio… of Christ, to revive and quicke… the dead bodies of these Saints, their Bodies shall be restored by vertue of the warm animating dew or influence of his Resurrection.
Obj. But the marvellous change which the Resurrection makes up on glorified Bodies, and the long separation of many Ages betwi… us and them, seems to make it in possible for us to know them … those that were once related to … upon Earth; and if so, then tha… comfort which resulted from them as in relation to us, is perishe… with them at death.
Sol. Whatever change the R… surrection shall make on their B… dies, and the length of time betwixt our parting with them … Earth, and meeting them agai… in Heaven, shall be; neither th… one or other seem sufficient to i… form the grounds of our hope, th… we shall know them to be the ver… persons that were once so dear t… us upon Earth. There may remai… …ome lineament or property of in…ividuation whereby the acute …lorified eye may possibly discover …ho they were; or if not, yet …one can doubt but it may be dis…overed to us by revelation from God: and that one way or other …t will be discovered, is highly pro…able, because nothing will be denied to that perfect State which may contribute to, or compleat …he joy and happiness thereof, as …e cannot but think this know…edge will do. If Adam knew Eve to be flesh of his flesh, and …one of his bone, in the state of …nnocence; and if the Apostles knew Moses and Elias upon the Mount; yea, if Dives in Hell …new Abraham and Lazarus in Heaven: sure we may well allow …hat knowledge to the glorified …aints in Heaven, which we find …n the State of Innocence, or in …he sinful State on Earth, or in …he State of the Damned in Hell.
And if so, then the Covenanted Parents shall be able to say in that day, This was our Child for who… we prayed and travelled again, ti… Christ was formed in him; th… is he whom we educated for God▪ and trained up in the Nurture an… Admonition of the Lord; and now we see the fruit of our Prayers, Counsels, Catechisings, … Child of so many Prayers perishe… not. And the Covenanted Chil… shall say, This was my pious …ther, who took such care for my Soul; and this my tender Mother who, like another Monica, was ze…lously concerned for my etern… happiness. These are they th… sowed so many Prayers, which God gave them not time … reap the fruits of on Earth, b… now they shall reap the fruit an… comfort of them for ever. O joy…ful meeting in the Kingdom o… God! The joy of such a meeting abundantly recompences for a… the tears and groans of a dolorou… parting.
Now, put all this together, an… value the Arguments produced to make good the first thing pro…pounded, namely the sufficiency of the Covenant to relieve and remedy all the sorrows and losses of Believers, be they never so many, or so great; this cannot be doubted, since it hath been proved, that it Disarms all their Afflictions of the only sting by which they wound; Alters the very nature and property of their Afflictions, turning them from Curses into Blessings; Ranks and Disposes them into their proper class and place of service, so as the counsel of men and Angels could never lay them better to our advantage; Engages the gracious and special presence of God with you in all your troubles; Secures all your essential and substantial Mercies from all hazards and contingencies; Discovers a consistency, yea a connection betwixt the Rod and the Love of God; and Assures you, that whatever temporal Mercy you ever enjoy'd in, and by vertue of the Covenant, shall be restored to you again with an admirable improvement, and singular advantage. It is by all this, I say abundantly proved, that the Covenant is a soveraign and effectua Remedy to all the sorrows o… Gods People; and that it was no… Hyperbole in David's Encomium, when he call'd it his Salvation, and all his Desire. But then, as I hinted before.