The Natural Mans Case, Part 1 · Sermon 10
SERMON, X.
EPHES. 2. 12.
—And ſtrangers to the Covenants of Promiſe—
HAving formerly premiſed four concluſions that you might not harbour any ſecret conjectures and imaginations that you do belong to the covenant of grace, when you do not; I come now to give you ſome Three characters of a mans intereſt in the Covenant of Grace.trials and diſcoveries whereby you may know, whether you are the perſons that can lay a juſt claim to life and ſalvation from God through his Son Jeſus Chriſt, by vertue of his promiſe, and I ſhall compriſe them under theſe three heads:
1. You may know whether you do belong to the covenant of grace or no, in caſe you doe partake of the ſpirituall bleſſings of the covenant:
2. In caſe you have the inſeparable concomitants of the Covenant: And
3. In caſe you doe perform the conditions of the covenant of grace, which is faith; beleeve and be ſaved: if you have theſe three, you may lay an undoubted claim to the covenant of grace.
1. If you have the ſaving and ſpirituall bleſſings of the covenant of grace; and theſe are four; 1. God will be your God, and you ſhall be his people; This is the tenor of the covenant of grace, as in Jer. 31. 33. I will be their God, and they ſhall my people. I ſhall a little open this bleſſing to you, for God to be our God, it notes theſe three things: 1. It notes a ſpeciall propriety in God, which none have but the elect. 2. It notes an all-ſufficiency in God for their good. 3. It notes an abſolute authority, that God hath over them.
1. For God to be our God, it notes that God is yours in a ſpeciall way of propriety, which none but thoſe that are the children of God can have, wicked men cannot lay claim to God as their God; as Pharaoh, when he deſired Moſes to pray for him, ſayes he I have ſinned againſt the Lord your God, he could not ſay againſt the Lord my God, you that can upon Scripture grounds, lay claim to God as your God, as having a ſpeciall propriety in him, you have an intereſt in the covenant of grace.
2. For God to be your God, it notes an all-ſufficiency in God, put out for your good, as in Gen. 17. 1. ſayes God there to Abraham, I am thy God all-ſufficient walk before me, and be thou perfect; you that can look upon God as having an intereſt and propriety in God; and you finde by experience, that God is exceeding good to your ſoules in every thing, if you ſee the emptineſſe of all things in the world, and that they are but particular helps to thee, as food againſt hunger, drink againſt thirſt, cloathes againſt nakedneſſe, &c. but you finde God to be an all-ſufficient help and remedy, the chiefeſt good, ſufficing, and ſatisfying, and filling thy heart, thou that canſt look upon God, as thy all-ſufficient good, as having thy portion and intereſt in him and in none elſe; this is an undoubted evidence, that you doe belong to the Covenant of Grace.
3. For God to be your God, it notes Gods ſoveraignty and power over you, for your benefit, the Lord will reign over you, and ſubdue corruptions in you, and quell your pride, and humble your heart, and give you a meek and quiet ſpirit. If you finde that God is yours in theſe three particulars, you may comfort your heart in an unqueſtionable intereſt in the Covenant of Grace, if God be your God, and you his people, that you have given up, and devoted your ſelves wholly to the ſervice of God in every thing that you doe.
2. Another ſpeciall bleſſing of the covenant of grace is, that God hath promiſed to ſanctifie and renew your natures: as in Ezek. 36. 26, 27. ſaies God there, A new heart Ezek. 36. 26, 27.alſo will I give you, and a new ſpirit will I put within you, and will take away the ſtony hearts out of your boſomes, and will give you hearts of fleſh, and I will put my ſpirit within you, and cauſe you to walk in my ſtatutes, and you ſhall keep my judgments and do them: God will not onelyonly give us life for our happineſſe, but grace for our holineſſe; he will not only give us imputed righteouſneſſe for our juſtification, but alſo inherent righteouſneſſe for our ſanctification; now therefore examine your ſelves, have your natures ever been ſanctified, and regenerated? have you been ever waſhed with clean water, and thoſe ſtains of ſin and corruption wiped away from you? hath the beaſom of ſanctification ever ſwept your inward man, and made it not a cave for every unclean bird to lie in, but a habitation fit for the holy Ghoſt to dwell in? if it be ſo, you have a reall right to, and intereſt in the covenant of grace, for no man can have the bleſſings of the covenant, but he muſt have a beeing in the covenant of grace. It is very obſervable, that God is not only, as the covenant repreſents him, a God gracious and mercifull, ſlow to anger, and full of compaſſion, &c. but he is a holy God as well as a mercifull God; and therefore he will work holineſſe in us and expect holineſſe from us, if ever we expect to have mercy and happineſſe from him; never lay claim to God, nor expect life and happineſſe from him, as he is a mercifull God, unleſſe you reſolve to be conformable to him as he is a holy God.
Object. But here ſome may ſay, This is not ſo great a bleſſing as you ſpeak of, to be ſanctified by vertue of the covenant of grace; for there are many men that may be ſanctified by the covenant of grace, and yet never be ſaved by it; and this objection they ground upon that place in Heb. 10. 29. And they ſhall count the bloud of the covenant, wherewith they were ſanctified, an unholy thing.
Anſw. I anſwer that the ſanctification here ſpoken of, is not a true ſanctification, but onelyonly in profeſſion, in the ſight of men, not in the fight of God; it is not a ſanctification in very deed and in truth, but onelyonly in ſhew and in the judgement of men.
3. Another bleſſing of the covenant of grace, is the forgiveneſſe of our ſins: as in Jer. 3. 34. They ſhall all know me from the Ier. 31. 34.leaſt of them to the greateſt, ſaith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their ſins no more: now (beloved) can you ſay that God hath pardoned your ſins, and duplicate page duplicate page done away your offences, if ſo, then you are under the Covenant of Grace.
Object. But here ſome poor ſoul may ſay, Alas I have been a great ſinner, and have committed offences againſt God; and therefore, I fear I have no reall intereſt in the covenant of grace.
Anſw. Be not diſcouraged, for it is the glory of the covenant of grace to pardon great ſins; it puts a great deal of glory upon God, to pardon great ſins, and paſſe by great offences, as in Amos 5. 12, 15. I know Amos 5. 12, 15.(ſayes God) your manifold tranſgreſſions, and your mighty ſins: here you ſee are manifold and mighty ſins, and yet ſaies God, hate evill, and love good; it may be the Lord will be gracious to you, nay the Lord he will be gracious to you; though thou haſt manifold and mighty ſinnes, yet it is not the greatneſſe nor mightineſſe of them, but thy ſtubbornneſſe of heart, in not coming in, and cloſing with Jeſus Chriſt, that undoes thee.
4. Another bleſſing of the covenant of grace, is Gods writing his Law in our hearts, that we ſhall never depart from him, as in Jer. 31. 33. I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, I will be their God, and they ſhall be my people; that is, God will put into our hearts a ſutable frame and diſpoſition anſwerable to every command of God in his Law, that we ſhall be able to obey, obſerve, and keep it, and ſay that it is good; and then ſaies God, you ſhall never depart from me; now examine your ſelves, hath this effect beene wrought by the ſpirit of God in your hearts? hath God written the Sermons you have heard, not in your books, but in your hearts? if ſo, theſe are good evidences of your intereſt in the covenant of grace.
2. Another diſcovery or character of your intereſt in the covenant of grace is this, if you have in you the inſeparable concomitances that belong to this covenant of grace; there are ſome things that doe alwayes accompany the covenant of grace, as I ſhall inſtance in 3 or 4 particulars.
1. If you be a man under the covenant of grace, in covenant with God, then you are diſingaged from that league and covenant which you have made and contracted with your luſts, whoſoever is in covenant with God, he hath broken his league with his luſts; you cannot be in covenant with Chriſt, till you fall off from your luſts, and break off from your ſins, as in Act. 3. 25, 26. ſayes the Apoſtle, Act. 3. 25, 26.You are the children of the Prophets, and of the covenant, which God hath made with our Fathers; ſaying to Abraham, even in thy ſeed ſhall all the kindreds of the earth be bleſſed: Firſt unto you hath God raiſed up his Son Jeſus Chriſt, and him hee hath ſent to bleſſe you, in turning every one of you from your iniquities; ſo that if you are children of the covenant, the Lord will turn every one of you from your wicked wayes, and therefore you that are not turned from the evill of your courſes, that have not broken that league you have made with death and hell, you can lay no claim to the covenant of grace, as in Pſal. 50. 16. ſayes God there to the Pſal. 50. 16.wicked, What haſt thou to doe, to take my covenant into thy mouth, ſeeing thou hateſt to be reformed, and castest my words behinde thee? thou wilt not forſake thy luſts, nor leave thy ſins, and therefore what haſt thou to do to meddle with my covenant of grace? you can lay no claim to the Covenant, till you have caſt off the old man, and ſubdued and overcome your ſins and corruptions.
2. Another concomitant of the covenant of grace, that will accompany you, is this, you will be a people wholly devoted and given up to the ſervice of God. Jer. 31. I will be your God and you ſhall be my people, the covenant of grace is called an holy covenant, Luk. 1. 72. not ſo much becauſe it was made by a holy God, as becauſe it was made for the holy creature, it will make them holy that do enter into it, and therefore thoſe that are in Covenant with God, are called a holy people, and they muſt be a holy people, as in 1 Cor. 6. 20. 1 Cor. 6. 20.ſayes the Apoſtle, You are bought with a price, therefore glorifie God in your bodies and ſouls, which are Gods, and in 2 Cor. 7. 1. Seeing 2 Cor. 7. 1.therefore we have theſe promiſes, (dearly beloved) Let us cleanſe our ſelves from all filthineſſe both of fleſh and ſpirit, perfecting holineſſe in the fear of God: thoſe that are in covenant with God, they are a holy and crucified people.
3. Another concomitant is this, that man that hath a ſhare in the bleſſings of the Covenant, he doth make conſcience to walk in the wayes of the Covenant; hee will not only cloſe with the promiſe of the Covenant, but alſo make conſcience of keeping the commands of the Covenant; for the covenant of grace does not onelyonly beſtow bleſſings upon you, but require ſomething of you too, as in Eſai. 55. ſayes Eſai. 55. 3.God, Incline your ears and come unto me and hear, hearken, and your ſouls ſhall live: and I will make an everlaſting covenant with you, even the ſure mercies of David: the covenant of grace is a ſure and everlaſting covenant, but ſayes God, you ſhall come unto me firſt, and then I will make with you an everlaſting covenant: God will have you to obey him, if ever you think to have any ſhare in the covenant of grace; thoſe that, let God command what he will, will doe what they pleaſe; this argues, that they doe not belong to the covenant of grace; but if the bleſſings of the covenant of grace are given by God to you, and the concomitants of it found with you: and laſtly, the conditions of it found in you: which is faith, the only condition of the covenant of grace, beleeve and be ſaved; if God hath brought thee into a believing eſtate, that there is not one promiſe in the Goſpell, but you do beartily aſſent unto, and cloſe with: if it be thus, then you may conclude, that you do belong to the covenant of grace; And thus I have done with theſe charactars by way of tryall.
Uſe. I have only now a word or two more by way of uſe, and ſo have done with this third part of mans miſery; and the Uſe that I ſhall make of this, ſhall be for conſolation, to all thoſe whoſe hearts can bear them witneſſe, that they doe enjoy the ſaving bleſſings of the Covenant of grace, God to be their God, and they to be his people; and that God hath ſanctified and renewed your natures, and pardoned and paſſed by all your ſins and iniquities, and hath written his Law in your hearts, that you doe not depart from him; if you have the concomitants of the Covenant, that you are diſingaged from the league and covenant you have made with ſin, and death, and hell; if you are wholly devoted and given up to the ſervice of God, and doe make conſcience to walk in the ways of the Covenant; and if the conditions of the Covenant of Faith in Chriſt be found in you; if you are brought into a beleeving condition; if all theſe things be wrought in you, then hearken to the great happineſſe and benefit you enjoy, by being under the Covenant of Grace.
1. Thou haſt that which is more worth then a kings ranſome, nay then all the world, thou haſt God to be thy God which is all in all, it is more then that which was promiſed to Eſther by King Ahaſuerus, to the half of his Kingdome; you have more then the Devill promiſed to Chriſt, when he carryed him to the top of the mountain, and ſhewed him all the Kingdomes of the world and the glory of them; thou haſt more then the whole world, for thou haſt God to be thy God, and thou haſt an intereſt in the Covenant of Grace, which is a bundle of promiſes, and includes in it all the promiſes of the Goſpell, which are all yours, and you may goe and apply them to your own ſoules in whatſoever condition you are in.
2. You that are in Covenant with God, labour to admire the great condeſcenſion of God, that he would be pleaſed to proceed with you by way of a Covenant: I have read of ſome Authors that have more wondred, and ſtood amazed at this, then at any thing elſe in the World, that God that is the Soveraign Lord of all the workes of his hands, that he ſhould not rule us and command us by a Law, but deal with us by way of a Covenant, for God is not bound to give us a reward, though we ſhould ſerve him all the dayes of our lives; God might command us as we are his creatures to ſerve and obey him, to pray, read, hear, and walk holily and humbly before him, and when we have done all this, yet he might ſay to us, I will never give you heaven nor happineſſe, nor any reward at all; he might have ſaid thus to us, but he hath condeſcended ſo far, as to make a bargain with us; that if we will beleeve in his Son Jeſus Chriſt, and live holily, and walk uprightly before him, then he will be our God, and we ſhall be his people, he will write his Law in our hearts, and ſanctifie, and renew our natures, and pardon and forgive all our ſins, and give us heaven and hapnineſſe when we dye; Oh what an infinite condeſcenſion is this in God, and what unſpeakable bounty and free grace; that when he might ſay to us, you are bound to ſerve me, and obey me, and to love and fear me, but I am not bound to make a Covenant with you, and promiſe you my Son, and life, and Salvation, through him, but though I am not bound to it, yet I will give you my Son, and heaven, and happineſſe, and I will be your God, and you ſhall be my people, and I will regenerate and ſanctifie your natures; and create in you new hearts, and write my Law in your inward parts, I will freely do all this for you, ſayes God, Oh what infinite condeſcenſion and free grace and mercy is this!
3. Another great happineſſe you doe enjoy under the Covenant of Grace, is this, the Lord will pardon all the great ſinnes you commit againſt him, and accept of all the weak duties and ſervices you perform to him; though you commit great and mighty ſins, yet the Lord is gracious and mercifull, and will pardon them; the Covenant of Grace covers great ſins: as the ſea can cover a mountain as wel as a molehill; ſo the Covenant of Grace can pardon mountainous ſins as well as ſmall ones. And again, the Covenant of Grace does accept of weak and imperfect duties, nay thoſe very duties which wicked men doe perform, though they be more for the matter of them then ours are, yet by vertue of the Covenant of Grace, the Lord does accept of ours, and will not accept of theirs, as in Prov. 15. 8. the place that I quoted before, The ſacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight; a ſacrifice is a great deal more coſtly then a prayer, and yet the Lord will accept of a poore pennileſſe prayer coming from a godly man, when he will reject a coſtly Sacrifice from a wicked man; God will accept of a cup of cold water, from one in Covenant with him, when he will not accept of 10000 rivers of oile from a wicked man; he will pardon your great ſins, and accept of your weak ſervices: indeed, were you under a Covenant of works, that would require perfect obedience, but being under a Covenant of grace, the Lord accepts of ſincere, though it be imperfect obedience: and thus I have done with the third part of mans miſery, being ſtrangers to the Covenant of grace.