A Discourse of the Two Covenants, Book 2 · Chapter 3 · Section 2

A Discourse of the Two Covenants · Book 2 · Chapter 3 · Section 2

p. 165SECT. II. The Covenant as made with Believers applied.

Ʋſe 1 §. 1. NOw therefore if the Lord do enter into Covenant with his Saints, and they are all a Covenant people, and not only made a Covenant with our head for us, but with every particular man in his own perſon; then 1. Let every one of us know that it's our duty to enter our Covenant with the Lord; and this is the great end of publiſhing the Goſpel, to bring men into the bond of the Covenant. Dan. 9.27.Dan. 9.27.Dan 9:27 He ſhall confirm the Covenant with many, &c. here is a Provinical Kalender, and that Dan. 7. is an Oecumenical, which is the time from the going forth of the Commandment of Cyrus to rebuild the City and the Temple; he names the time of the final deſtruction of the Temple, and the utter deſolation of the City, after the end of ſixty two weeks, before the Meſſiah be cut off but not for himſelf; and then he ſhall confirm the Covenant with many for one week, and in the middle of the week he ſhall cauſe the daily ſacrifice to ceaſe, &c. and this is commonly interpreted of preaching the Goſpel to the Gentiles, and bringing them unto the knowledge of Chriſt.Calvin. A tacite antitheſis between the old Church and the new, which does extend through the whole world, &c. And this Preaching the Goſpel and declaring the new Covenant unto the Gentiles, and bringing them into the fellowſhip of the Myſterie is called confirming the Covenant with them, but the word in the original ſignifies praevaluit, ſuperavit; therefore it doth ſignifie that the ſecond Covenant ſhall prevail over men, and bring them in by the power thereof; and therefore when the Lord ſends forth his Goſpel,Pſal. 110.Ps 110 it is called the day of his power not that of armies to force men by conſtraint, but ſubdue their wills unto the obedience thereof, and that there ſhould be willingneſs in the day of this his power: ſo far ſhould the Covenant prevail; for the Lord hath ſtrengthned it, that it ſhould prevail upon many, and bring them into the bonds thereof: ſo that the great end of the Goſpel, and all the glorious power put forth therein, is but that the Covenant may prevail, and men ſubmit thereunto. Now if a man would enter into Covenant with God, what is required of him? O that the Lord would bring his word at this time upon any ſoul, and that I might be but inſtrumental therein, to bring you under this Covenant, that your hearts may take hold of it. The arguments to perſwade you and to plead with you are very many, and forcible, in the ſpirit of grace and power accompanying them. I may take enough from …he miſery of the former Covenant under which you muſt needs ſtand, unleſs you enter …nto this new Covenant: for it is no more poſſible for the ſame man to be under both Covenants, than it is poſſible to be born of two mothers, as has been manifeſted to you …lready out of Gal. 4.21, 23, &c.

But for the preſent I would pitch upon theſe; 1. If you come not under this Covenant, you have no intereſt in God; for the former Covenant being broken, God is become your enemy, and he is now no more your God than he is the Devils God, and the damned Spirits God, unleſs you enter into Covenant with him anew, for there is no way for you to have an intereſt in God, but by Covenant with him:Pſal. 144.Ps 144 they are a happy people whoſe God is Jehovah; and they on the contrary are a miſerable people that have not the Lord for their God, but for their enemy. Now as the Lord came to be Chriſts God, ſo he muſt be your God; and Chriſt takes a new Covenant-right unto God to this every end; he hath a double right unto all things, [1] As he is haeres natus, as it was his natural inheritance, as he had a right to whatever his Father had; for he thinks it no robbery to be equal with him; and yet he takes a new Covenant-right unto all things; [2] As he is Haeres conſtitutus, an Heir appointed by God, that he might be able to communicate the ſame unto us; ſo he takes a new covenant-right unto God, that we entring into the ſame Covenant the Lord might become our God, as he is Chriſts God: and how is God made over unto a man in this Covenant? It is in his all-ſufficiency,Gen. 17.1.Gen 17:1 ſo that look whatever ſufficiency there is in God, all this is thine, and thou mayeſt claim an intereſt in it. Now if a man had all things elſe in the world, this very conſideration would imbitter all to him, that he has no intereſt in God: as on the contrary, if a man were deprived of all things elſe, this would ſweeten all, that God is his God; as it was ſaid of Job, he loſt all that God had given him, but he had him who gave him all▪ and as Bernard ſaies, all meat is unſavoury that has not this ſalt: And ſo on the contrary, thou haſt all theſe good things, but thou haſt no intereſt in him who is the God of them all, and whoſe Love is infinitely in ſweetneſs beyond them all; for his loving kindneſs is better than life, and all the revenews of life: which appears, becauſe perfection of Happineſs p. 166in Heaven lies in God alone, when a man ſhall be taken off from all the comforts of the creatures: and though while men taſte the ſweetneſs of the creatures and the pleaſures of them, they ſeem not to find that want of God, but can be content to be without him to all eternity; yet there will come a time when men ſhall know what it is to live without God in the world, as all they do that have no intereſt in the Covenant of grace.

2. It is only in the Covenant of grace that all the perſons have undertaken peculiar offices for the good of men, and no men have benefit by them but they that are brought under this Covenant; it is for their ſake that the Father has given the Kingdom into the hand of his Son, and what benefit other men have by it, it is but as the beaſts have, and in ſome reſpect as the Devils have; they have ſome leſs degree of torment, and that's granted them for their ſakes who are heirs of promiſe, and for their ſake the ſpirit is the prorex, and has undertaken to rule under Chriſt: all the Offices of Chriſt are for their ſake, and for their good, and all the Offices of the Spirit either inlightning, convincing, ſanctifying, or comforting, they are all for their good; and the common works of the Spirit that do fall upon any wicked men in the world is by the Saints Covenant, or elſe you ſhould have no more of them (oh hear all you wicked ones) than the Devils and damned in Hell have at this day. Now the great plot of the Goſpel in the new Covenant is not only to honour the Attributes of the nature, but alſo to honour the Perſons in the hearts of men; this was the way, for the Perſons to undertake certain appropriated works in the dayes of the Goſpel in the adminiſtration of the Covenant and all the parts thereof. Now as you will have no benefit by the attributes of the divine nature, but they all make againſt you, and will at laſt day bring in their ſeveral charges againſt your ſouls that are out of this Covenant, not only the Holineſs and Juſtice of God, but even the Mercy and Patience of God will cry againſt you, Juſtice Lord, for Mercies ſake; ſo you will have no benefit by the Offices of the perſons, but they will all of them be uſed againſt you, and bring in their ſeveral charges againſt you. Chriſt as a King, a Prophet and a Prieſt, will charge thee: then ſhall the King ſay, Go ye curſed: and the Spirit of God as a Spirit, that has been convincing thee and inlightning thee in thy life time, ſhall condemn thee; and Chriſt as a Judge will condemn thee, and the Spirit of Chriſt as a Spirit of Bondage will in Hell perfectly torment thee: for as in Heaven the Spirit ſhall be perfectly a Spirit of Adoption, ſo he ſhall be in Hell perfectly a Spirit of Bondage for ever.

3. Unleſs thou art in Covenant this way, the Lord regards thee not, nor any thing that thou doſt; an inſtance of it we have, Heb. 8.9. There are Gods own people, whom he took into Covenant with himſelf, and for the outward part of the Covenant they did enter into Covenant with him, but yet their hearts did not conſent unto the terms of the Covenant; and therefore they brake the Covenant. The meaning is not, that ever they were truly and indeed ſpiritually in Covenant; for then the Covenant could never have been broken; but they were only in the Covenant externally, but their hearts did not come up unto the ſpiritual part of the Covenant; and therefore the Lord ſaies, I regard them not, I took no care for them, I made no account of them at all, whatever became of them it was all one to me, as it is with us of things that we have no regard of; and for God not to regard a man or a people is the ſum of all Judgement: whatever did befall them, the Lord pitied them not, aſſiſted them not, &c. But in the place whence it is taken, Jer. 31.33. there is ſomething more in it, it is, I Lorded it over them, when I conſider how the name Baal is uſed, Hoſ. 2.16. he did exerciſe his Lordly authority over them: when they would not be ruled by him as a Husband, he doth then lay Judgement and Chaſtiſement upon them as a Lord, he did not regard their perſons; whereas precious in the ſight of the Lord is the death of the Saints, yea he puts their Tears in his Bottle, &c. and he does pour out their blood as duſt, and their fleſh as dung, and he regards them not;Pſal. 49.Ps 49 but man though in honour, if he underſtands not, becomes like the beaſts that periſh. Without that Covenant he may be compared to the Beaſts that periſh, pardon the expreſſion, but it's ſuitable unto the intention of the Holy Ghoſt, he is unto God counted no better than a Dog that dyes in a ditch. And as it is for their perſons, ſo it is for their ſervices alſo, a man that is out of Covenant the Lord accepts nothing that he doth; unto Cain and his offering he had no reſpect. But a man in Covenant with God, the words of his mouth, the meditations of his heart, find acceptance with God, and be to him incenſe of a ſweet ſavour; their perſons and their ſervices, their ſmell is as the Wine of Lebanon,Hoſ. 14.Hos 14 according to the promiſe of acceptation; but all the ſervices of men out of the Covenant are abominable to God, as the Grapes of Sodom: all the acts performed by them that are in Covenant are as the Grapes of Lebanon; your works are very acceptable, The Sun of righteouſneſs ſhall riſe upon you with healing p. 167in his Wings: but for all others that are not in Covenant with him, the Lord does not reſpect their offering or take it with good will at their hands; but he ſaith,Mal. 2.13.Mal 2:13 To what purpoſe is the multitude of your Sacrifices, Incenſe is an abomination unto me, it is a burden, even your ſolemn aſſemblies are an offence to me, I will not ſmell in them, I am weary to bear them; and when you kill an Ox it is as if you killed a man, Iſa. 66.3.Isa 66:3and he that burns Incenſe as if he bleſſed an Idol; becauſe you have choſen your own wayes, therefore the Lord abhors you.

4. This is a matrimonial Covenant, and it is a Covenant of friendſhip; it is of this Covenant that the Lord ſaith, I will betroath you to me for ever; Hoſ. 2.Hos 2and it is the ſame Covenant which when God had entred into with Abraham, he doth call him, Abraham my friend: Wife and Friend are two of the ſweeteſt and higheſt relations: if any could prevail, it would be the Wife of thy Boſome, or thy Friend, which is as thy own ſoul. Deut. 13.6.Deut 13:6Now in this Covenant a man enters into both theſe relations with God, there is the neareſt union with him, he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit with him; there is the intereſt love of the perſons one to another, they are moſt precious one to another, and all the world beſides are but as Pebbles, to Diamonds which outſhine all other ſtones, and they are ſtill prizing the love one of another: how excellent is thy loving kindneſs, O God! it is better than life: becauſe he has ſet his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him, and love him at all times; and in the greateſt trials all true friends love moſt, forſake not one another; the fire burns hotteſt in Winter by an Antiperiſtaſis; God found Iſrael as Grapes in the Wilderneſs, ſaw her in her blood, and that was the time of love,Cant. 1.13.Song 1:13 my Love is as a bundle of Myrrh which is bitter, yet he ſhall lye between my breaſts; all true love is like wild-fire, the more you caſt water upon it, it will flame the more, Cant. 8.6. Many waters cannot quench it; true Lovers will bear any afflictions one for another; in all their afflictions he is afflicted, and when his Children are perſecuted, he ſayes, why perſecuteſt thou me? Let God, ſaith Ambroſe, turn the adverſaries of the Church againſt me, and …quench their thirſt with my blood; I had rather, ſayes Bernard, men ſhould murmur againſt …me, than againſt God. The ſoul that loves God is willing to undergo any reproach for God, and be diſhonoured, ſo God may be honoured. And there is alſo the ſweeteſt communion between friends opening their hearts one to another, and each ſtriving that they may exceed. The Lords heart is contracted towards other men, his heart is ſtraitned, he cannot diſcover himſelf to them; but there is a ſecret of his Counſel, and a ſecret of his providence; the one is in the heart, and the other upon the Tabernacle of thoſe that are in Covenant, and they pour out their whole hearts alſo to the Lord, as Hannah did, and …ly, Lord all my deſires are before thee, they keep nothing back; and there is the fulleſt …ommunication, the Lord gives up all that he has unto ſuch a ſoul,Lev. The High-Prieſt was not to marry a Harlot nor a Widow. and he ſhall inherit … things, I will be his God, all that is in God is as truly thine for thy good, as if thou hadſt infinite wiſdom, and power, and holineſs in thy own hand; and the ſoul gives up all unto God, his love, and his joy, and fear, &c. for God will not marry a Harlot, that hath any reſerve from him, but he will have all the ſtrength of the ſoul; the Apoſtle ſaies, they gave themſelves up to the Lord, their bodies were the Lords, Rom. 12.1.

5. God and the ſoul know not how to live aſunder; tell my Beloved, that I am ſick of Love: and as Auguſtin ſaith after the death of his friend Nebridius, that he was in a ſtreight deſiring to dye, becauſe he knew not how to live by halves: yet he was willing to live that his friend might not wholly dye, but might yet live in part, even in him. And truly though relations amongſt men be notions in a great meaſure, and their affections do not anſwer them, and fill them up; yet with God they are not ſo, but there is ſomething ſtill that fully anſwers every relation wherein he ſtands unto you: and whereas your relations here are but for the time of this life, it is but till God ſhall part us by death; relations unto the Lord are eternal; and it is entring into this Covenant that does inveſt thee with theſe relations. It is alſo to this Covenant that all the promiſes are annexed, they do all meet as lines in this center; and therefore till a man be in Covenant he is not an heir of the Promiſe; we that believe are Abrahams ſeed, Gal. 4.Gal 4and heirs of the promiſe; if once, by entring into Abrahams Covenant, you become his ſeed, then all the promiſes are yours, but never till then; for before, all the curſes of the firſt Covenant were thy due, but not any one promiſe of the ſecond Covenant belongs to thee, which is the Covenant under which Abraham, and David, and all the Saints do ſtand, and by which they hold their happineſs at this day; for it is the inheritance that is by promiſe; now there is no way to be made bleſſed with faithful Abraham, and to attain the ſure mercies of David, the bleſſing of the new Covenant, but by this, for they are all fruits of the Covenant, and ſtreams that flow from this Fountain.

p. 1686. and Laſtly, The Covenant of Grace is the laſt Covenant that ever God does intend to make with mankind, or tender to him: 'tis true, he did make a former Covenant, and you brake it, and the Lord has made a ſecond, but he will never add a third Covenant,Heb. 6.18.Heb 6:18 The Lord willing to ſhew the immutability of his Counſel, &c. God doth not change his Covenant becauſe he has ſworn, the oath now binds him that he cannot change; yet it was the unchangeableneſs of his purpoſe that he might manifeſt that to be the ground why he did it by an oath, that we might be aſſured the mind of God will never change to eternity; it is by this Covenant only that he intends to bring all his Sons to glory, and he will never make another; therefore as I may ſay of Chriſt, This is the laſt way Salvation, that ever God will take, He that believes in him ſhall be ſaved, but he that believes not in him, ſhall be damned. There is no hope of another, the Lord has no more Sons in his Boſom to beſtow. And as theſe be the laſt Ordinances, (and therefore in the Lords-ſupper, you ſhew forth the Lords death till he come) ſo it's here, it's the laſt Covenant that ever God will make, and if you do not accept of this, and like the terms of it, you can never have the Lord to become your God in Covenant for ever.

Now it will be ſaid, What ſhould we do, and what is required on our part that we ſhould enter into Covenant with the Lord? All Covenants muſt be by mutual conſent, and out of choice and election, and therefore ſome do derive the word in Hebrew ſignifying a Covenant from a verb which ſignifies to chuſe, becauſe a Covenant muſt be an act of choice, and therefore there muſt be ſomething done on our part; though God offer the Covenant, we muſt accept it; and that we may do the duty on our part, it's a work of almighty power, Ezec. 20.37. and I will bring you into, as the word ſignifies, I will make you to come into the bond of the Covenant. Now when the Lord in this Covenant is pleaſed to put forth the grace of it in the day of his power, there are theſe three things that he does work the ſoul to, wherein our entring into Covenant doth conſiſt, anſwerable to theſe three expreſſions; (1) Jer. 11.2. Hearken to and hear the words of the Covenant; a man doth learn and generally obſerve the terms of the Covenant, upon what terms God offers a Covenant unto him. (2) That in 2 Chron. 30.8. Give the hand to the Lord, which is a token and an expreſſion of a mans free and full conſent to it, when he does underſtand it, there is a mighty power inlightning the underſtanding, and bringing about and inclining the will to conſent to it. (3) Joſhua 24.23. Incline your hearts unto the Lord, or take up a full reſolution or purpoſe of heart to cleave to the Lord to keep this Covenant,Act 11.23.Acts 11:23 and to ſtick to the terms of it, to perform all thy duties towards God by it, and expect all from God according to it, and this is properly to enter into Covenant with the Lord.

1. You are to hear the words of it, and to know aright the terms of it; for he that enters into Covenant with the Lord, it muſt be by giving up himſelf unto God, which muſt be a reaſonable ſervice, Rom. 12.1, 2. and therefore Chriſt, when men enter upon Religion, would have them ſit down firſt and count the coſt; for if men enter not upon any duty with a right underſtanding, their hearts will again draw back, and they will forſake it; ſo here, if men underſtand not the terms of the Covenant aright, they will depart from the living God, the conſent of the Covenant muſt be a conſent without error, or elſe it is ſuppoſed, that if a man had known it before, he would not have conſented; it's ſaid of a marriage Covenant, Error circa ea quae ſunt de eſſentia contractus, vitiat contractum, &c. and a conſent with error, and when a man underſtands not what he doth, is no conſent. Now what are the Terms of this Covenant? They are theſe, 1. That you take Chriſt and cloſe with him in a work of faith, believe in him and be unto him alone: for Gal. 3. ult. We that believe are Abrahams ſeed; and it is by our following the ſteps of his faith that he becomes the Father of us all; therefore the Goſpel is ſaid to be making a marriage for his Son; Rom. 4.16. Mat 22.Rom 4:16Matt 22it's Chriſt and the ſoul that are married in this Covenant, or elſe, now is the time of betrothing, and the marriage is to come; and therefore the Church of the Jews, when they ſhall be converted, and the glorious marriage of the Lamb is come, ſhe is ſaid to be the Bride the Lambs Wife: now that ſoul that takes Chriſt for his portion, looks upon him as altogether lovely, the chiefeſt of ten thouſand, and relies upon him alone for righteouſneſs, and life, and accounts all things elſe as droſs, Phil. 3.9.Phil 3:9with an excluſive reſolution of looking to any thing elſe whatſoever; I would win him, (ſaith Paul) and be found in him alone, not having mine own righteouſneſs: this is the firſt branch upon which God offers this Covenant.

2. A man muſt deny himſelf, Mat. 16.24. and forſake alſo thy own Kindred, and thy Fathers houſe. Pſal. 45.Ps 45Now ſelf is commonly conſidered by Divines three waies, (1) As ſinful, (2) As natural, (3) As moral ſelf, religious, renewed ſelf; and all theſe muſt be denied. p. 169(1) Sinful ſelf, that is, the whole body of ſin, but ſpecially that luſt that thy heart is moſt addicted to, thy peccatum in deliciis, which the Scripture calls thine own iniquity, and the ſtumbling block of thy iniquity, there muſt be a reſerve of no ſin. (2) Natural ſelf, all thy reaſon, and natural parts, wealth, Father, and Mother, Houſe and Lands, yea and life for my name ſake; and that alwaies, [1] Habitually, in preparation of mind and reſolution of heart to give them up all unto God, when he ſhall call for them, Act. 21.13. I am ready, ſaies the Apoſtle, not only to be bound but to dye, &c. [2] And actually whenſoever the Lord calls for any thing thou haſt, if they be temptations to draw thee unto ſin, and a ſnare to thy ſoul, or if the Lord call for them as oblations to himſelf, if the Lord call thee forth to own him with them by reſigning them up; (and we know not how ſoon the Lord may call to ſuffering) if thou art a Moſes, thou muſt leave Pharaohs Court and ſuffer affliction with the people of God; and if thou art a Daniel and canſt not worſhip a falſe God nor the true God in a wrong manner, thou muſt expect to be thrown into the Lyons den; and if a Paul, thou wilt reſolve to preach a crucified Chriſt though Nero forbid it, and the powers of the world threaten bonds and impriſonment to abide thee; nay, thou maieſt expect to lay down thy life upon a block: and if thou art a Mordecai, and refuſeſt to bow to unſanctified greatneſs, or ſtoop to the luſts of men, thou muſt expect to have a Gallows prepared for thee. (3) Self renewed muſt be denied in the notion of duties; we are to perform all, but in relation to righteouſneſs we are to deny all, and account them all as droſs and dung and menſtruous rags;Exod. 28.38.Exod 28:38 and if we would have acceptance we muſt look upon the forehead of the High-Prieſt, wherein alone is written holineſs to the Lord, that we may find acceptance with him; for our righteouſneſs has ſuch an ill ſavour, that the Lord muſt abhor it, there is iniquity in our holy things, unleſs the Lord Chriſt does offer and preſent them mixed with his odours: therefore we muſt deny our righteouſneſs utterly, there muſt be a perfect ſelf-denial, as the word ſignifies, foreign.

3. A man muſt bear his yoak, Mat. 11.29. Take my yoak upon you; the Lord does not ſet a man free in the Covenant of Grace, that he ſhould turn the grace of God into licentiouſneſs; he has a yoak of obedience for the neck of every Saint, and what is that but all the duties of the Law a… …en in the hand of the Mediator? And this yoak is eaſie and profitable for a ſoul, it brings in a revenue both of pleaſure and profit; in the keeping of the Commandments is great reward; and there's ſincerity required, which is everlaſting evangelical perfection, as the Lord ſaies to Abraham, walk before me and be thou perfect: the perfection in this life that is attainable under the ſecond Covenant is ſincerity of heart, a ſuitableneſs of the will to the Law of God; though a mans actions …ome ſhort of the Law, yet he can delight in the Law, in his inward man, and has re…pect unto all the commandments, when he is willing to put his neck under the yoak of Chriſt, and neglect no known duty; for it is dangerous to ſeek eaſe in the ways of God, that the Lord would not have, as we ſee, Numb. 7.7, 8, 9. the Sons of Gerſham and Merari had Wagons to carry their burdens, but the Sons of Coah were to carry the Ark upon their ſhoulders; now they were not to take their eaſe: and David brought the Ark upon a new Cart, and the Lord was diſpleaſed and made a breach upon Ʋzzah for it, &c.

4. You muſt take heed you ſhrink not at the Croſs, but take it up; for there is a Croſs goes with the ſecond Covenant, and a man with all the bleſſings of it muſt expect affliction, Mat. 19.29. Mark 10.30. He that takes up his Croſs in loſing any thing for Chriſts ſake ſhall have a hundred fold more in this life, but with perſecutions; all the rewards of this Covenant are ſo given as there is a part of affliction and perſecution in them all, Pſal. 8.9. If thy Children forſake my way and walk not in my judgements, I will viſit their offences with a rod, but my Covenant I will not break; he does chaſtiſe every Son whom he receives to glory; if you indure not chaſtiſements you are Baſtards and not Sons: be not deceived, if you will follow Chriſt in the world, you muſt meet with a croſs, none ever went to Heaven without it, ſome of one kind and ſome of another; ſome mens enemies are they of his own Houſe, the Daughter-in-Law againſt the Mother-in-law; ſome are reviled and perſecuted by ſtrangers only by hearſay, that they are ſuch as are of ſtrict lives and holy in their converſation: Oh ſervum illum beatum, cujus emendationi Deus inſtat, cui dignatur iraſci, Tert. de Patien. c. 11. And for God to afflict a ſoul under this Covenant is an act of faithfulneſs, that the Lord may keep your graces active; for there are ſome things are preſerved in Salt, as well as others are in Sugar, and ſo doth the Lord do. Therefore he that will enter into Covenant with the Lord, muſt in this manner rightly underſtand the terms of the Covenant.

p. 1702. But yet when he doth underſtand it, this will never make up the Covenant propounded. Though in all the terms of it it is ſufficiently known, and the Lord doth call upon them from day to day; yet they are terms they like not, they conſent not unto them; therefore the Covenant is not made up between God and them, the whole Soul doth not conſent to accept of the Covenant upon the terms that God requires, they like them not, they are not willing to give the hand to the Lord, as it's called, 2 Chron. 30.7, 8. and it's alſo called being willing or conſenting, Iſa. 1.19. If you be willing and obedient, you ſhall eat the good of the Land: Till the will doth open, the ſoul of man is for ever ſhut againſt the Covenant, and it is the Lord only hath the key thereof to open the heart, as the Lord did open the heart of Lydia; elſe the Lord will ſay, I would have gathered you, but you would not. It's a Marriage Covenant, a conſent of parties is eſſential to Marriage, and where that is wanting, the Marriage is null and void; but this conſent to the Covenant muſt be free: In what is the Will ſo free, as in acts of Election? All the World cannot force the will to chuſe any thing. When men are brought into Religion by education, and have as it were a force upon them to own ſuch and ſuch principles, and forbear ſuch and ſuch practices, it's like a force upon a man by his friends to take a Wife, that ſutes the Parents advantage, but not the Childs inclination, his heart afterwards diſlikes and falls off: ſo when the terrors of death, the fear of Hell work any affection to the ways of God, this Covenant, he will promiſe any thing, and will needs enter into Covenant with God; but it is with a mixed will, his ſoul is not free. As a Mariner in a ſtorm, he will cry, Oh! caſt out the wares to ſave the Ship and his life, but it is not a free conſent, his heart ſtill hankers after his goods; ſo ſays the Soul in reference to Chriſt, If I were left to my own liberty, I would pitch here, and make the match up between Chriſt and me, the ſight of his excellencies hath ſo taken my heart: he is the chiefeſt of ten thouſand, I grant, and fairer than the daughters of men; but there is, alas! a preingagement between me and my earthly treaſure, my Parents have already provided for me, I have goods for many years, it's hard to undergo loſſes, and croſſes, and reproaches for Chriſts Name and the Goſpel, and here the ſoul ſticks and the match is never made up.

2. But a Soul that is truly in love with Chriſt, and has his Image fixed deeply upon his heart, his conſent to the terms that Chriſt propoſes, when he enters into Covenant, is univerſal, he takes Chriſt for righteouſneſs, and gives up himſelf unto him. But there is many a ſoul, that though they do conſent to many of the terms that Chriſt propoſes, and would take Chriſt for their righteouſneſs, yet they are not willing to deny themſelves, or if they do come ſo far, yet their ſelf-denial is not univerſal, it is not utterly, there is ſome ſin he cannot forſake; or if he bear Chriſts yoak, yet he would not willingly bear his Croſs. But there muſt be (1) a general conſent unto the Covenant in all the terms of it, elſe there is a treaty only, but no agreement. (2) And in the next place, this conſent muſt be perpetual and in all times, and conditions, for the Covenant is an everlaſting Covenant, and therefore the conſent to it muſt be for everlaſting, never to look for more or another, beloved, for ever: In Matrimony there is a certain kind of perpetual obligation to ſervice, the Soul muſt never draw back: For then ſurely the Lord will take no pleaſure in thee. It is a Harlot that is for luſt, and for hire, and only loves a perſon in his proſperity; but a true wife loves at all times, as a friend doth, who is ſtill as thy own Soul. Therefore all you that have been inlightned with a beam of light and love, to ſee the excellencies that are in Chriſt, let your Soul be ſtill raviſhed with his Laws, for they are better than Wine: conſent ſtill to the terms that he propoſes to you, and let neither croſſes in your way fright you on the one hand, nor carnal comforts allure you on the other, to draw you back from your beloved, for he is the chiefeſt of Ten thouſand, and his ways are holy, juſt and good.

3. Unto all this there muſt be added a full reſolution and purpoſe of heart, to obſerve all the duties that are required of us in this Covenant, and to keep cloſe unto the terms of it. Joſhua made a Covenant for the people, Joſh. 24.23, 24. and in that day they ſay, The Lord thy God will we ſerve, and his voice will we obey; and thus alſo in Jer. 50.5. they bind themſelves in a perpetual Covenant never to be forgotten, to cleave to the Lord with full purpoſe of heart; and therefore they are willing to engage themſelves in all Gods ways, to ſhew the ſincerity of their heart and purpoſe, they will ſubſcribe it,Neh. 10.6.Neh 10:6 they do bind themſelves with a curſe, and this is the anſwer of a good Conſcience, 1 Pet. 3.21. when a man doth ingage no more than the purpoſe of his heart is to perform;Jer. 32.40.Jer 32:40 Gods Covenant with us is a Covenant of ſalt, that is perpetual, Sal duraturae amicitiae ſymbolum. So Pierius. God is always mindful of his Covenant, and ſo ſhould we be of ours alſo,Jer. 11.5.Jer 11:5 as the Lord ſays, Obey my voice according to all that I command thee, ſo ſhall you be my people, and I will be your God, and I will perform the oath that I p. 171ſwore to your Fathers; and the Prophet did anſwer, Amen, O Lord, &c. ſo ſhould our ſouls do; take heed of the treachery that is in your ſpirits, that you behave not your ſelves unfaithfully in the Covenant; for though it is true, that the Covenant cannot be broken by your unfaithfulneſs (becauſe the Lord hath laid help upon one that is mighty, who is the ſurety of your Covenant) yet remember, that Covenant-breaking is a great aggravation of every ſin on your parts; and there is a quarrel of the Covenant that the Lord will certainly avenge, and the ſtripes even of a God in Covenant are terrible, even our God is a conſuming fire.Lev. 20.25.Lev 20:25

Ʋſe 2 §. 2. Having entred into Covenant with the Lord, let me now exhort you to make Conſcience to keep it, let thy heart be faithful, and ſtedfaſt in the Covenant: It is that which the Lord requires of all thoſe that do enter into Covenant with him, Exod. 19.5. If you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my Covenant, you ſhall be unto me a peculiar treaſure, Mal. 3.17.Mal 3:17my Jewels, above all people in the world: therefore being taken into Covenant, he doth expect you ſhould obſerve the breach of it, and be careful to avoid it.

1. From the nature of a Covenant, and the ends thereof; it is vinculum conſervandae fidei, the great bond and engagement that men lay upon themſelves for the being faithful in the promiſes that they make each to other. And therefore, Ezech. 20.37. it is called the bond of the Covenant; becauſe by it a man is bound unto the terms thereof; and therefore if men keep not their Covenants it deſtroys their end, and makes them of none effect; and it is an obligation that a man takes and lays upon himſelf by his own conſent; for every Covenant muſt be free and voluntary, Voluntas eſt ſpontanea, the will is moſt free: And therefore it being free and voluntary, afterwards for us to recede and go back, is the greater abomination, Ezek. 17.18. He deſpiſed the Oath by breaking the Covenant, after he had given his hand; and therefore they ſay, Let us bind our ſelves in an everlaſting Covenant, Jer. 50.5. never to be forgotten. And for a man to be unſteady and depart from his ingagement in which he hath freely bound himſelf, is the greater evil: but always Covenants have amongſt men been counted ſacred, and nature has taught men to keep them inviolable; if it had been but a mans Covenant,Gal. 3.18.Gal 3:18 no man would diſannul or add thereunto: and it was looked upon as the binding that men could not go back from, although it were never ſo much againſt their hearts to keep it, it is ſanctiſſimum humani pectoris bonum, Seneca de benefic. l. 5. to 10. and therefore, perfidi lege Aegyptiorum capite plectebantur quòd duplici tenerentur ſcelere, quòd & pietatem in Deos violarent & fidem inter homines tollerent: Diodor. Sic. l. 1. to 6.Tholoſ. de rep. l. 8. Perfidious perſons were by the law of the Egyptians beheaded, becauſe they were guilty of a double crime, impiety towards God, and unfaithfulneſs to man. Now if there be ſo much reſpect unto Covenants between man and man, how ſacred ſhould the Covenant be between God and man; the holy Covenant?

2. It is a Covenant made unto God, and there is no going back; for (1) God knows it; if he falſifie the Covenant in the leaſt, God will find it out. There is a great deal of falſeneſs of heart within us this way, Our righteouſneſs is like unto the morning dew, and as an early cloud, we promiſe and go back from our purpoſes and promiſes, and our purpoſes are broken off; we repent, and repent of our repentance; we vow,Prov. 20:25.Prov 20:25 and after our vows we make enquiry; we come out of Sodom, and yet with Lot's wife we look back; we are brought out of Egypt, and yet our hearts turn back into Egypt again. Now our Covenant being made with God he will obſerve it, though the treachery of our Spirits be carried never ſo ſecretly; and therefore, Pſal. 44.21. the Pſalmiſt ſays, God would ſearch it out, If we have forgot thy name, and ſtretched out our hands, to any ſtrange God, God will find it out, for he knows the ſecrets of our hearts; and this Covenant is a Marriage Covenant, and therefore the Lord looks upon the breaches of it with a jealous eye, which is exceeding quick-ſighted; there is no diſguiſing of ones ſelf from a true Lover, he obſerves every motion and out-going of the heart, and will not admit the leaſt deviation from the royal Law of Love; And our God is of purer eyes than to behold the leaſt iniquity, he trys the heart and the reins, by him actions are weighed. (2) God hath declared that he hates Covenant-breaking, and unſteadineſs of ſpirit therein; and he will certainly puniſh it: There is not only the mercy of the Covenant, but there is the quarrel of the Covenant: I … …eal with thee, ſays the Lord, as thou haſt done, Lev. 36.25. Ezech. 16.59.Ezek 16:59for thou haſt deſpiſed the Oath in br…ng the Covenant. That is, he would deal with them in judgment, as they had dealt with him in a way of ſinning. Quis miles a regibus hoſtibus ſtipendium captat; niſi planè transfuga & deſertor? Tert. de praeſcript. c. 12. For a man that is a ſubject to one king to be a Penſioner to an enemy, we judge it very hateful amongſt men; that wear the Livery, and take the Wages of one Maſter, and do the work of another. A ſubject to Chriſt and a penſioner to Satan is exceeding hateful to the Lord. And therefore when the Lord would expreſs the worſe ſort of ſinners, the Apoſtate Jews that did joyn with Antiochus p. 172the Vile,Dan. 11.30. Jer. 34.18.Dan 11:30Jer 34:18 he calls them thoſe that forſake the holy Covenant. God will ſurely avenge the breach of humane Covenants, as we ſee in the ſtory of Zedekiah becauſe he falſified his oath he had ſworn by God; much more will he avenge the holy Covenant, when that is broken by any; and therefore it being a Covenant made unto God, there is no dallying, it is one of the great things of God, and if we deſpiſe it and caſt it behind our back, the wrath of God will ſurely overtake us.

3. We have the higheſt patterns for our imitation, the glorious Angels; they abide in the truth, they never left their firſt habitation, they have alwaies kept their Covenant, and they ſtand before God to this day, in the Covenant of their Creation. And conſider your own Prayers,Tert. you do pray, that the will of God may be done by you on earth as it is in Heaven, do not therefore perſeverante iracundia orationem perdere: will you, by living in any ſin deſtroy your own prayers? And take, not only the example of the Angels, but the example of our Lord Chriſt, the rule and pattern of holineſs, for you to walk by; he is your Prince, your Leader, &c. all manner of terms that note out exemplarineſs, and require imitation; and he was faithful in the Covenant made with God; he doth for the active part of his obedience fulfill all righteouſneſs, and for the paſſive part he paid the utmoſt farthing, though the Lord did hide his face, and his enemies did rage and triumph over him, it was the hour of the power of darkneſs, and if the fleſh did deſire its own preſervation, yet the will of nature did give way unto the will of duty; and He did drink up the Brook in the way, Pſal. 110. ult.Ps 110that Torrent of Curſes and wrath that lay between us and glory; and therefore did lift up his head, and he is now in Heaven as Gods ſervant, and ſo ſhall be till the laſt day, that he ſhall give up the Kingdom unto God the Father; he is performing the remaining acts of his Office there and by his Spirit on Earth, and by his preſence and interceſſion in glory; and all is, that he might be a faithful High-Prieſt, and able to ſave to the uttermoſt thoſe that come unto him. But we have yet a higher pattern, and that is God the Father himſelf, he is alwayes mindful of his Covenant. Pſal. 111.5.Pſal. 9.34. Mic. 7.20. Ezech. 16.61.Ps 9:34Mic 7:20Ezek 16:61 My Covenant I will not break, for he is a faithful God, and he will perform his truth to Jacob, and his mercy unto Abraham, as he has ſworn in the days of old. And the faithfulneſs of God is infinitely ſeen in this, that the unfaithfulneſs of man cannot make the faithfulneſs of God of none effect. Says the Lord, I will give thee thy Siſters, thy elder and thy younger Siſter unto thee as Daughters, but not by thy Covenant: it is a promiſe, that though they had by doing more wickedly juſtified the Gentile nations, (and he inſtances in Sodom and Samaria,) and therefore worſe judgements▪ ſhould come upon them, yet the time would come, that the Lord would remember his Covenant that he had made with their Fathers, and he would make them the Mother-Church, and all the Gentile Churches and Nations ſhould flow unto her; and it ſhall come to paſs, that ten men out of all the Nations under Heaven ſhould lay hold on the skirt of a Jew, Zac. 8.23. but all this ſhall not be, by thy Covenant: ſic non deſciverant, ut Deus eſſet liber, Cal. and therefore it was not in reference to their keeping Covenant with God, but in remembrance of Gods Covenant with them; and therefore he refers them unto his faithfulneſs, and not to theirs; and therefore when they ſhould ſee it, they ſhould be aſhamed, and put their mouths in the duſt, to think that the Lord ſhould continue faithful unto thoſe, that had been ſo unfaithful every way to him as they had been.

4. The people of God in this life do miſs of many of the Promiſes of the ſecond Covenant, that they are not accompliſhed unto them, becauſe they do not walk exactly according to the rules of this Covenant; therefore, Pſal. 25.10. But the wayes of the Lord are mercy and truth unto them, that keep his Covenant: The mercy of the Lord is from everlaſting to everlaſting unto them that fear him; Pſal. 103.18.Ps 103:18to ſuch as keep his Covenant, and think upon his Commandments to do them; but elſe though they ſhall not fail of eternal mercy, (Chriſt is the ſurety that the Covenant ſhall not be broken) yet there be many promiſes of the Covenant, that in this life they ſhall never have accompliſhed to them, 1 Sam. 2.29. ſaies the Lord, I ſaid thy Houſe and the Houſe of thy Fathers ſhould ſtand before me for ever; but now that be far from me, ſaies the Lord, for they that honour me, I will honour, and they that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed. The promiſes of God are of two ſorts, (1) Some are abſolute, which God hath undertaken to perform of his own free grace, not only citra meritum, but alſo citra conditionem, not only without merit, but without all ſuppoſed or prerequired conditions in us, As, I will be your God, I will give you my Son, I will pour out my Spirit, I will pardon your ſins, &c. I will take away the heart of ſtone, and give a heart of fleſh: theſe are abſolute promiſes. (2) There are conditional promiſes, which ſhew what God will do upon ſuch duties performed by the creature; which are ſuch as without Gods ſpecial grace he is never able to perform; and theſe are made for the encouragement of men in a way of obedience; but they do not alwaies promiſe p. 173the purpoſe of God to give the condition of the reward: for as it is in Judgements, there are ſome conditional threatnings, which upon a change in the creature never come to paſs, Jer. 18.7 At what time, ſaies God, I ſpeak againſt a nation to pluck up and deſtroy, if that nation turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them; and if I ſpeak of a Nation or a Kingdom, to build and plant it, if it do evil in my ſight, I will repent of the good I would do unto them; ſo it is in the conditional promiſes, Novit Deus mutare decretum ſi tu non noveris em ndare delictum, God knows how to change his declared promiſe, if thou know not how to change thy ſin, which I conceive to be the meaning of all thoſe places where God is ſaid to break Covenant with his people; Numb. 14.34. You ſhall bear your iniquity even forty years, and you ſhall know my breach of promiſe, that is, by woful experience you ſhall find what a miſery it is to have ſuch glorious promiſes made unto you, but by reaſon of your unfaithfulneſs on your part, they being conditional ſhall never be performed; and ſo the Pſalmiſt has it,Pſal. 89.39.Ps 89:39 Thou haſt made void the Covenant of thy ſervant, all his poſterity were cut off from this mercy and promiſe in this life, becauſe they diſobeyed the word of the Lord and walked not in his Covenant, &c. and ſo Zach. 11.10. I will break my Covenant with them; it is ſpoken of a national Covenant, and caſting off the Nations from being a Church or people unto himſelf, wherein even the Saints muſt needs be deprived of many temporal promiſes of the Covenant, becauſe they did not walk ſtedfaſtly with God therein. And if a man ſhall conſider the example of the ſufferings of many of the Saints, as of Eli, David, Sampſon and Solomon, though they were beloved of God and in Covenant with him, yet by their unfaithfulneſs in the Covenant, how many temporal promiſes of the Covenant did they miſs?Faith is the condion of the Covenant, Foederis pacti, & obedience the condition foederis praeſtiti. Jer. 7.12. Jer. 11.5. They muſt obey that God may perform. Eſay 54.9, 10. Jer. 32.40.Jer 7:12Jer 11:5Isa 54:9Isa 54:10Jer 32:40 and how many temporal afflictions were inflicted on them? And ſo I may ſay to any ſoul that keeps Covenant with God, thy ſufferings will ſay to thee, cavendae tempeſtates & flenda naufragia, Auſtin. de Nat. & Grat. cap. 35. And thus we ſhould take heed of keeping the Covenant, or elſe, though the Lord continue faithful in reference to the promiſes of eternity, becauſe Chriſt is the ſurety, yet in regard of temporal promiſes, you may go without them, and many of them never be performed unto you.

But you will ſay, may a man that is in the Covenant of Grace break the Covenant? may the Covenant of Grace be broken as the Covenant of Works was? If it may not be broken, to what end do you exhort us to keep it? It's true, that the Covenant of Grace cannot be broken, a man that is once in Covenant is ever in Covenant, and the grounds of it are theſe.

1. The Love of God that made the Covenant is an everlaſting Love, and therefore the Covenant it ſelf is every where called an everlaſting Covenant; and the Lord ſaith; If you can bring another flood upon the Earth, and if you can ſtop the Sun in his courſe, and change the Ordinances of Heaven, then the Covenant might be broken, that he had made with his people. Therefore Rom. 8. the Apoſtle ſaies, that nothing ſhall ſeparate us from the love of God in Chriſt Jeſus our Lord; for the Lord loves us with an everlaſting Love.

2. It is a Covenant made with the perſons of men; mens perſons are firſt taken into Covenant; and there is this difference between the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works; in the later Covenant the works were taken into Covenant firſt, and then the perſon for the works ſake, and ſo long as their works continued holy, ſo long their perſons were to be accepted and find favour, and honour with the Lord, Gen. 4.7. If thou doeſt well, there is an elevation and a lifting up of the face, but if thou doſt evil curſed is thy perſon for thy works ſake; and there is an ira redundans in perſonam, wrath falling on the perſon, that doth immediately follow thereupon: but now in the Covenant of Grace it is quite contrary, mens perſons are firſt taken into Covenant and accepted, and then their works for their perſons ſake; the Lord had reſpect unto Abel and unto his offering; and therefore till the perſon be in Covenant the works are abominable before God. Now the works of the Saints may not always be accepted of God, he may be and is often diſpleaſed with the acts of his covenant-people; but yet their perſons alwayes find acceptance with him, their perſons are the ſame, I will viſit their offences with a rod, and their ſins with ſcourges; but my loving kindneſs I will not take from their perſons, my Covenant I will not break, Pſal. 89. there is an ira ſimplex, ſimple anger that doth reach to the ſin, but not to the perſon, he is never a child of wrath more after his perſon is taken into a ſtate of adoption with the Lord.

3. Their union with Chriſt is that which puts them into the ſecond Covenant, Gal. 3.29. as this union gives them intereſt in Chriſts righteouſneſs and Sonſhip, ſo it doth firſt ſtate them in the Covenant, which is the ground of all the reſt; the intendment of God was, that the union between Chriſt and them ſhould be the means to convey all this to their p. 174ſouls; all comes in by Union: Now, ſo long as the Union between Chriſt and a ſoul continues, ſo long the Covenant cannot be broken; but this Union is indiſſoluble; ſin cannot, nay death cannot ſeparate between God and a ſoul in Covenant with him; and therefore as they live, ſo they dye in the Lord, and ſleep in Jeſus.

4. The righteouſneſs of this Covenant, is an everlaſting righteouſneſs. Dan. 9. The Lord hath finiſhed tranſgreſſion, and made an end of ſin, in the great condemning power of it, and brought in everlaſting righteouſneſs, ſuch as ſin could never ſpend, for he is the ſon of righteouſneſs, the Lord of righteouſneſs, and therefore his Covenant can never be broken, ſeeing the righteouſneſs of the Covenant can never be expended.

5. Chriſt is the ſurety of this better Covenant, and therefore though we pay not the debt that we owe, he hath undertaken it, and the Lord will expect all of him, and thence he is ſaid to lay help on one that is mighty, Pſal. 89. he will take your words no more, but Chriſt is able to pay it; as he did the debt of the firſt Covenant, ſo he is able to perform the duty of the ſecond; the Lord hath ingaged him in it, and he expects all from him, as from the ſurety of the Covenant which he hath undertaken.

6. Laſtly, This Covenant can never be broken, becauſe there is an everlaſting principle of Grace begun in the Soul that doth always lay hold of the Covenant, and cleave to it, and conſent to it, and work towards it; for it is incorruptible and immortal ſeed, and therefore, Jer. 32.40. This is the Covenant I will make with you, I will write my law in your heart, &c. that you ſhall never depart from me. In a Married condition there may be many failings in a Wife, or a Husband, as neglect, diſobedience, &c. but the Marriage Covenant is never broken, till ſhe take another Husband; and the Covenant of Grace is a Marriage Covenant: Now though there be many errors and failings in a Wife, yet unleſs thou chuſe another Husband, and ſubject thy ſelf to another Lord, the Covenant between God and thee is not broken. It is a matter of wonderful conſolation, that the Covenant between us and the Lord is a Covenant of ſalt, that the ſins of the people of God, though they be many, yet they cannot break the Covenant; How ſhould the conſideration of this rich Grace and Mercy, make the Saints triumph over Death and Hell! O death where is thy ſting, O Grave where is thy victory? bleſſed be God we are more than Conquerors, through Chriſt Jeſus our Lord.

But yet you had need be exhorted, not to break this Covenant; 1. By reaſon of the falſeneſs of our own hearts;Jer. 2.24.Jer 2:24 for we are like a wild Aſſe in the wilderneſs, that doth traverſe her paths, that no hedges or fetters can hold her; in ſo much, that the Lord ſpeaks it with admiration, How weak is thy heart! Ezek. 16.30. That it's not able to hold out againſt any temptation, not able to bear any one affliction, but immediately it's ready to depart from God;Gen. 49.4.Gen 49:4 unſtable as water; there is a treachery and a perfidiouſneſs of ſpirit in the beſt of us, and therefore we had need be often called upon; Let him that thinks he ſtands, take heed leſt he fall; and let us take heed leſt any of us fall ſhort of the grace of God, and leſt there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God, Heb. 3.12. For there is nothing that the heart of man is more prone to than backſliding; and therefore we had need be often admoniſhed to keep firm to the Covenant under which we ſtand; for there is not the greateſt cheat in the World, that is in falſeneſs and unſtedfaſtneſs like our hearts; wherefore we need many bonds upon it, and ſhould have regard to the cords of love, that God ties us with to himſelf in this Covenant.

2. We had need be exhorted to it, from the ſlothfulneſs and heedleſneſs of our ſpirits in whatever is good, though we be bound unto it by ſo many bonds; the Lord hath always reſpect unto his Covenant, and we deſire he ſhould do ſo; now we had need to have reſpect always to the Covenant, and to be continually minded, that we forget not what the Lord our God requires of us, as 2 King. 10.31. it was a brand upon Jehu, That he took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord his God. Heedleſneſs in a mans carriage to God, is a high provocation, to walk with God at an adventure, without reſpect unto the Covenants and great ingagements in which you ſtand to God,Lev. 26.23. Hoſ. 7.8.Lev 26:23Hos 7:8 this is to be towards the Lord, as a Cake not turned, which is baked only on one ſide and no more; therefore we had need have the more frequent admonition, to take heed leſt any man fall ſhort of the grace of God: we ought to give the more diligent heed, leſt by any means we let ſlip the things that we have heard; and had need to be warned, to cleave to the Lord with full purpoſe of heart, and to deſire of the Lord, that he would fix and unite our hearts to fear his name, as the Pſalmiſt doth, Pſal. 86.11. Let theſe things quicken any ſecure Soul that goes on in any way of diſobedience unto God; for thou wilt pay dear at laſt for all thy wanderings from the paths of this Covenant, and thou ſhalt experience it, an evil and a bitter thing to draw back from God.

p. 1753. That you may be quickened to ſeek unto the Lord for Grace to keep this Covenant, and may acknowledge before the Lord, that the ſtability and eternity of the ſecond Covenant lies not in us, nor in the obſervation of it; for, as much as in us lies, we do break it continually; but from the eternal love of God, and the inſeparable union between Chriſt and us, and the Lord having made him the ſurety of the Covenant, therefore it ſtands; but were we left unto our ſelves, we ſhould break it every day; and every ſin in us; would ſpend all the grace of the Covenant, as it did in Adam; but there is without us a fountain for a ſupply; for truly the ſtability of the Covenant doth not proceed from our part in the Covenant, as the Lord ſays in Ezekiel, Ezek. 16.61.Ezek 16:61that the mercies he would give them, ſhould not be by their Covenant, but all proceed from his; and therefore, Hoſ. 10.12. it is, ſow in righteouſneſs, and reap in mercy; and it is foreign in ore, Hoſ. 10.12.Hos 10:12in the mouth of mercy, that is, according to the meaſure of mercy: The mercies and bleſſings of the Covenant, God doth diſpenſe, not according to the proportion of our righteouſneſs, and ſtability of the Covenant, but according to the proportion of his own grace manifeſted there; and there is no argument that is more effectual amongſt men than this. As one came unto a Prince, and deſired him to perform a Covenant and ingagement that he had made unto them, which he refuſing, being in his Robes, the Soldier touching his Purple ſaid, Imperator, hac veſte indutum mentiri nefas eſt, O Emperor, it is not lawful for him who his clothed with this Robe to lye.

4. We had need be continually minded of the Covenant, that we may fear thoſe ſins that do come neareſt a Covenant-breaking. It is true, there is no ſin of a Godly man that can break his Covenant (as I have already ſhewed you) but yet there are ſome ſins that come nearer to Covenant-breaking than others do; and in this reſpect, are to be looked upon as ſins of a very hanious nature, and of a deeper dye, &c. This is a rule, That which doth manifeſt the moſt unſoundneſs of heart, that doth break the Covenant; for the condition of the Covenant is, that a mans heart ſhould be perfect with God, Gen. 17.2. And it is one of theſe ſorts, or I may ſay, both theſe ſorts of ſinning that do come neareſt thereunto, (1) when a man doth ſin againſt light, and doth it deliberately, and with a high hand; for Eo magis peccatum quo magis voluntarium: The will is the meaſure of all ſins. The more of the Will there is in any evil, the greater the ſin is; and therefore it is made the meaſure of the ſin againſt the holy Ghoſt,Heb. 10.26.Heb 10:26 it is ſinning wilfully after a man hath received the knowledge of the truth; and in this, David came neareſt to breaking this Covenant, 1 King. 15.5. He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aſide from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, ſave only in the matter of Ʋriah. David had many other ſins lay upon him; and he ſays, his iniquities were gone over his head, and as a ſore burden for him to bear, but the Lord ſaid, he turned not aſide from the Lord in any thing but this; becauſe it was a ſtudied, plotted ſin, committed againſt knowledge; and therefore with a high hand thus to ſin, did manifeſt the greateſt unfaithfulneſs of Davids ſpirit towards God, that he did ſhow all the days of his life. (2) When a man walks on in a ſin, and lies in it a long time together unrepented of, and can act it again and again, and it is as a thread drawn through the courſe of a mans life, it comes neareſt to an unſound heart, and that denominates a man an Adulterer, or an Adultereſs, as James 4.4. as we ſee in Solomon, he lived a great while in theſe evils, and though he were beloved of the Lord, yet his heart was turn'd away from following the Lord, and he ſaid to his heart, Go to now, and I will provoke thee with wine: Now his lying and living in ſin, it is true, did not break the Covenant between God and him, yet it was the moſt dangerous ſtep to an unſound heart; and therefore came neareſt to breaking the Covenant. A godly man cannot lye, and live, and dye in any known ſin, but he may live in it long, and be continually inſnared, and turn away to folly; but the more it is thus with thee, the nearer thou doſt come unto Covenant-breaking with the Lord.

But what ſhall I do to keep Covenant with the Lord, knowing the falſeneſs and inſtability of my ſpirit, the duties are many, and it is impoſſible for me to obſerve them all? Take theſe directions.

1. Get a true heart, Heb. 10.22. Let us draw near with true heart; a true heart is a heart perfect with God, that's the condition of the Covenant; though your ways be party-coloured, yet if you have the anſwer of a good Conſcience, i. e. when your heart doth inwardly anſwer to what you do profeſs, and there is not a root of bitterneſs left in you, that draws you back from the Lord, this is a true heart: It is called the Girdle of truth, Epheſ. 6.14.Eph 6:14Epheſ. 6.14. and that is (as I ſhould underſtand it) not doctrinally, but morally, practically, full of ſtedfaſtneſs and ſtability of ſoul in the diſcharge of all the ingagements wherein we ſtand bound unto God, without ſhrinking or tergiverſation; as it is the ſin in the p. 176practice of too many profeſſors, both to God and man, there is a vein of diſſimulation runs through their converſation, they will diſſemble love to perſons, behind whoſe backs they will accuſe, and repreſent them as perſons blame-worthy; and through the ſelf-flattery that is in their ſpirits, they will ſtrive to leſſen the excellencies and vertues that are in others, that they may ſhine the more in the eſteem of men; and hereby they manifeſt, they love the praiſe of men more than the praiſe of God; and herein they may have their reward, though it will bring in but little comfort when they come to dye, or when they r…flect upon this great condition of the Covenant, which is to draw near to God with a true heart:Iſa. 11.5.Isa 11:5 For this faithfulneſs is a noble girdle, it was Chriſts, and therefore it ſhould be ours; it is this truth in the inward parts, that will keep the Covenant that it ſhall not be broken, notwithſtanding thy daily failings.

Heb. 13.9. Act. 11.23. Pſal. 86.11.Heb 13:9Acts 11:23Ps 86:112. Deſire of God a ſtabliſhed and a fixed heart: To have the heart ſtabliſhed with grace is a good thing, and with full purpoſe of heart to cleave to the Lord. And the Pſalmiſts prayer is, Ʋnite my heart to fear thy name, my heart is fixed, O God, &c. And there is not a greater ſpiritual judgment in this life, than to be given up to a light, vain, and unſtable ſoul, that is moved with every wind of Doctrine, or with every wind of temptation, when a man is carried to and fro, to have the heart ſtill fluctuating, and be ſometimes fixt upon one thing, and ſometimes upon another, and unſetled in the principles of Grace; ſuch as are unſtable ſhall not excel.

3. Exerciſe faith upon the Grace of God in this Covenant, which is eternal love, and have an eye unto the ſurety of the Covenant, in whom only it remains ſure; for it is an ordered Covenant, and therefore ſure, and for this cauſe Chriſt is called the Covenant it ſelf;Iſa. 49.6.Isa 49:6 he is given as a Covenant to the Nations, to eſtabliſh the earth, becauſe in him only all the ſtability of the Covenant is to be found. Conſider in the time of affliction what a ſweet thing it will be, and what boldneſs it will give a man before God, when he is able to ſay, Though thou haſt ſmitten us in the place of Dragons, and covered us with the ſhadow of death, Pſal. 44.17.Ps 44:17yet have we not gone back from thee, nor behaved our ſelves falſly in thy Covenant: and when at death a man ſhall look over to the common-wealth of another World, and ſhall be able to ſay, Lord, remember that I have walked before thee all my days with a perfect heart, my heart hath ſtood to the Covenant, and I have not choſen any other Lord, though in many things my ways have not been anſwerable unto the rule of the Covenant.

Ʋſe 3 §. 3. Now having entered in this manner into Covenant with God, it is our duty to have reſpect unto our Covenant, and to improve our intereſt in it in all our ways: The Covenant is to run through our whole life; for it's a Covenant for a mans life, it being a Marriage Covenant, and In matrimonio eſt perpetua quaedam ſervitus, In matrimony there is a perpetual kind of ſervitude; a Woman which hath an husband, is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth, Rom. 7.2. and David puts all his hope in the Covenant, 2 Sam. 23.5. his happineſs conſiſted in it, and all his joy and delight, his ſoul did run out upon this Covenant, and from hence all his joy came in. There are in Scripture ſeveral ways of ſinning againſt this Covenant; (1) There is tranſgreſſing the Covenant like Adam: Hoſ. 6.7.Hoſ. 6.7.Hos 6:7 There have they dealt treacherouſly againſt me, &c. which is taken Two ways, either as Adam, they have broken the Covenant in which they bound themſelves, or elſe (as Tremelius hath it) they have broken the Covenant, as if it were the Covenant of a man, and as if they had to do with man in it, and not with God. (2) It is rejecting the Covenant, 2 King. 17.15. to deſpiſe it as a poor and unworthy thing, not to be regarded by them. (3) There is forſaking the Covenant, as a thing that they are not bound by, neither will they be bound by any longer.Deut. 29.25. Mal. 2.8, 10.Deut 29:25Mal 2:8Mal 2:10 And then (4) there is corrupting the Covenant, and profaning it, They have corrupted the Covenant of Levi, that is the Covenant of life and peace, which God made with him; they have corrupted the Law, and they have profaned the Covenant, as if it were a common and ordinary thing; for to profane, is to make a thing common. (5) There is a dealing falſly in the Covenant, Pſal. 44.17. which ſignifies, to lye to a man, and deal treacherouſly with him in a Covenant made, when a man pretends fair, and doth the quite contrary, there is no truſt to him, no hold upon him. (6) There is,Deut. 4.23.Deut 4:23 Deut. 4.23. forgeting the Covenant, Take heed, ſays Moſes, leſt you forget the Covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you: Now when a man in Scripture is ſaid to forget a thing, Verba ſenſus ſignificant cum affectu & effectu, The words of ſenſe ſignifie affects and effects: God is ſaid to forget men, when he doth not appear for their help.Pſal. 13.1.Ps 13:1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, and hide thy face from my troubles? We are ſaid to forget God, when we do not honour him as God, and are not affected towards him as becomes a God; and ſo men are ſaid to forget the Covenant of God, when they have not thoſe affections as ſo great an ingagement p. 177doth require, do not know and improve their intereſt in it as they ought to do, do not make it (as David did) all their ſalvation and all their delight; and therefore 'tis ſaid, Pſal. 10.5. he is always mindful of his Covenant, that is,Pſal. 10.5.Ps 10:5 though he may ſometimes defer the promiſes of the Covenant, yet he is alwaies mindful of it, ſo as to perform it unto the heirs of promiſe in all generations, not only to one age, but to another, unto a thouſand generations. Ʋt omnes poſteri illius gratiae fierent participes, Moller. he remembers it ſo, as no Son of the Covenant ſhall go without his ſhare in the grace of the Covenant, and this is termed, 1 Chron. 16.15. Be ye always mindful of the Covenant; as he is always mindful to give unto the heirs of promiſe the mercies of the Covenant and to improve all the grace of it for them, and for their good, ſo be ye mindful to perform the duty, and to improve the intereſt you have in the Covenant, that there may be nothing in it promiſed, but that to you it may be accompliſhed; as he waits that he may be gracious to you, he takes his time to give you all the mercies of the Covenant in the ſeaſon of it; ſo do you perform the duties of the Covenant in the ſeaſon of it alſo;Eſay 30.18.Isa 30:18 that as he is willing to give you the fruits of the Covenant, ſo you may be willing to receive all the fruits of it, and not undervalue them in the leaſt meaſure; he waits, therefore do you wait for him; he is mindful, therefore be you mindful alſo; for all Covenant-ingagements are mutual, and do equally oblige both parties; and as you expect God being in Covenant with you, ſhould out of his faithfulneſs perform his ingagement; ſo he does expect that by reaſon of the ſame Covenant you ſhould perform yours alſo.

Now the improvement of the Covenant is twofold, (1) In reference to your ſelves, (2) In reference to the Lord: for there ſhould be an improvement on both parts. 1. In reference to your ſelves, remember the Covenant and improve it, and that in theſe particulars.

1. Conſider the matter of the Covenant; in it you do give unto God your perſons, and your ſervices; (1) Your perſons, 2 Cor. 8.5. they gave themſelves unto the Lord; and alſo, Eſay 63.19. We are thine; and Eſa. 44.5. One ſhall ſay I am the Lords, and another ſhall ſubſcribe with his hand to the Lord; here is a full reſignation of themſelves; and ſo doth the Church, Cant. 6.3. I am my Beloveds, and my Beloved is mine: and in a ſpecial manner the heart is to be given to the Lord: my Son give me thy heart, for where the heart is there is the man. So then a man in Covenant is to ſay, I am at liberty and at my own diſpoſe, the propriety is in another, he has poſſeſſion of me, and dominion over me, I am loſt in my ſelf for ever:Pſal. 4.3.Ps 4:3 God hath ſeparated to himſelf the man that is Godly, he has ſet him apart, and he laies claim to him as his portion; and there is no man can claim God for his portion, that is not willing to give up himſelf to obey the Lord, and to be his portion alſo: ſo that when ſin and Satan ſhall come and claim a ſhare, the ſoul aſſures him, I am not mine own, I am married already, and therefore out of mine own power, the vows of God are upon me, ſin and Satan did not make me; as I am wholly the Lords by creation, ſo I am his by ſtipulation, and my ingagement binds me to him; ſo Rom. 8.12. We are not debters to the fleſh, to live after the fleſh. I conceive it's ſpoken in reference unto our redemption by Chriſt, and all the benefits thereof, you are not your own, you are bought with a price, 2 Cor:&c. but all the benefits of our redemption are founded in the Covenant; and therefore the great ground of the debt lies in this, we are debters to God, becauſe ingaged in Covenant, but we are not debters unto the fleſh, becauſe we are not in Covenant with it.

2. As we owe our perſons ſo alſo all our ſervices unto God, and that by this Covenant: for it is anſwerable unto the electing love of God, he hath choſen us to be veſſels of mercy for the Maſters uſe, 2 Tim. 2.21.2 Tim 2:21we may no more rob God of our ſervices than we may of our ſelves, Hoſ. 3.3. the Lord ſaies, thou ſhalt not be unto another, ſo will I alſo be unto thee. And they are either in matters of neceſſity or expediency, [1] Of neceſſity, and ſo all the duties that the Lord requires in the word, that we ſhould have reſpect unto all the Commandments, this our Covenant binds upon us, and this we ſhould enforce upon our ſelves. Quaedam ſuut, quae etiam non volentes debemus. Auguſt. Joſh. 24.22, 24. Ye have choſen the Lord to ſerve him; and they ſaid, the Lord our God will we ſerve, and his voice will we obey: and David hath ſworn to keep thy tried Judgements. Pſal. 119.106. and ſo N…hem. 10.29. they did enter into a curſe to walk in the law of the Lord, and to obſerve and do all his Commandments: So that what was a duty before, they did by Covenant bind upon themſelves, and by the improvement of this Covenant a man having ſo bound himſelf, he ſhould inforce it upon himſelf, becauſe his ſervices are not his own, he belongs to another Lord, and hath given his hand unto another. [2] In things of expediency, the thing being in a mans own power; for in ſuch caſes the Covenant muſt be free and poſſible, as Jonadab the ſon of Rechab did draw his poſterity into a Covenant, p. 178and they did promiſe him not to drink Wine, nor to build Houſes, but to dwell in Tents,Jer. 35.6, 7.Jer 35:6Jer 35:7 &c. Jer. 35.6, 7. Interpreters conceive that theſe Rechabites were the poſterity of Jethro, Moſes his Father-in-law, who did come to dwell with Iſrael in the Land of Canaan, and that this was the ſame Jonadab, who was a man of great wealth and authority in Iſrael, and of noted integrity when Jehu being King made him ride with him, and askt him, is thy heart right as my heart is with thy heart? and this ſame Jonadab did bind his poſterity, and they lookt upon it though in a matter of expediency only, as obligatory and binding in the ſight of God; partly that they might ſhew themſelves to be ſtrangers in the land of Iſrael, and that they did not incorporate with them for ſecular but for ſpiritual benefits; and therefore they did not deſire to encroach upon their outward comforts; and partly, that they might be the better fitted to bear the affliction in the captivity which was ere long to come upon them, &c. So alſo it was lawful for Paul to have taken wages, but yet he did ingage himſelf not to do it, that he might cut off from them that deſired occaſion, 2 Cor. 11.7. and that he might not be burthenſom to the Churches: ſo Jacob, he engaged himſelf to God in his journey, if thou wilt bring me unto my Fathers houſe in ſafety, thou ſhalt be my God, and of all my goods I will give the tenth to thee, and this ſtone ſhall be Gods houſe, and I will build here an Altar, Gen. 28.22. and this vow Jacob had forgotten at his return, and the Lord ſent affliction upon him to mind him of his vow, the raviſhing of Dinah and the horrible rage committed upon the Shechemites, and yet Jacob ſtill forgot it, but the Lord in mercy put him in mind of it; Ariſe Jacob and go to Bethel, and build an Altar unto the God that appeared unto thee when thou fledſt from the face of thy Brother Eſau, Gen. 35.1. And it was uſual with the people of God of old, when they did pray for mercy, to vow duty, Pſal. 116.12, 13. What ſhall I render unto the Lord? I will take the cup of ſalvation: ſo it was in their Feaſts, and ſacrifices of Thankſgiving, they had a cup of ſalvation, a grace-cup; and I will pay my vows unto the Lord that I ſpake with my mouth when I was in trouble; and ſo Hannah, 1 Sam. 1.1 Sam. 1.11.1 Sam 1:1111. If thou wilt look upon the affliction of thine Hand-maid and remember me, and give me a man-child, then will I give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and there ſhall no Raſor come upon his head; and ſhe did fulfill her vow: the Lord hath heard my petition I asked of him, and his name was called Samuel, asked of God, therefore I lent him (or returned him) to the Lord as long as he lived.

2. In reſpect of the relation which this Covenant doth bring upon you, and in regard of the duties of this Relation. Now there is a fourfold relation which is the neceſſary reſult of this Covenant.Eſay 9.6. Heb. 2.Isa 9:6Heb 2 (1) Hereby Chriſt becomes your Father, and therefore he is called the everlaſting Father, and Heb. 2. we are ſaid to be his children, and he is ſaid, to ſee his ſeed and prolong his dayes upon earth: Now Chriſt becomes your Father as he is the ſecond Adam, and that is by Covenant, as well as by an Image, and therefore this Covenant binds you to honour him in this relation, Mal. 1.6. If I be your Father, where is my honour? Where is mine Image you ought to bear upon you? What impreſſion of my likeneſs is there upon you? What beam of glory do you carry about you in all your converſation? Are you denominated by the world to have my holineſs upon you, to be merciful as I am merciful, to be conformable to my law in all things? (2) It is a matrimonial Covenant, Hoſ. 2.19.Hos 2:19I will betroth thee unto me for ever, and the Lord Jeſus becomes your Husband, and his Church is therefore called his Spouſe, the Lambs Wife, and he requires faithfulneſs and fruitfulneſs, that you ſhould be unto him and to none other; for the Lord will have no Harlot nor barren Spouſe, ſhe muſt not lift up her Eyes upon any other in any wanton love, her deſire muſt be to him alone. (3) It is a Covenant of Friendſhip, and ſo by this Covenant Abraham was taken into friendſhip with God, and is called by God himſelf Abraham my friend; and Chriſt ſaith, I have not called you ſervants, but I have called you friends; for I have ſhewed you all things that I have received of my Father: now if thou haſt a friend, thou muſt behave thy ſelf friendly, thou muſt impart thy heart and thy ſecrets, and have no reſerves from thy friend, thou muſt have the ſame friends and the ſame enemies with him, elſe never pretend friendſhip, if any other perſon come at any time in competition with thy friend, thou muſt be his at all times. In foederibus eoſdem amicos & inimicos habere ſolent foederati, In Covenants the Federates have the ſame friends and enemies: Friendſhip is offenſive and defenſive, &c. we have the greateſt obligation to God, and 'tis our duty to ſtick cloſe to him at all times, and this friendſhip is in a ſpecial manner tryed in adverſity; When he is a bundle of myrrh, he ſhall lye all night between my breaſts, Cant. 1.13. and our choice ſhould be the reproaches of Chriſt, and the waters that do quench other fire do by an antiperiſtaſis become oyl to this, and make it to flame the more;Cant. 8.6.Song 8:6 it is Coals of Juniper which do burn the hotteſt; the oppoſition that a Saint meets with in the world doth but raiſe his love to Chriſt the higher. (4) It is a Covenant in p. 179which Chriſt becomes our Lord and we his ſervants; for he is the Lord that bought us; and therefore it is Pauls honour to be called the ſervant of Jeſus Chriſt: 1 Cor. 6.19.1 Cor 6:19as by the Covenant that Chriſt made with his Father he is become the Fathers ſervant, though he be the man Gods fellow, or Deo proximus, next to God; Eſay 42.1.6.Isa 42:1Isa 42:6ſo we alſo by our Covenant are become ſervants of Chriſt, therefore ſay, I muſt do his work only, and be only at his command, no man can ſerve two Maſters, much leſs may he ſerve Chriſt and divers Luſts and pleaſures; it is an abominable thing for a man to take wages of Chriſt and do the work of his enemy Satan; for no man can ſerve two Maſters, therefore from him I am to receive directions, and mine eyes are to be upon him, as the Eye of a Servant is unto the hand of his Maſter, and of a Maiden to the hand of her Miſtreſs; a mans guidance is from him, and to him, a man muſt give an account, and from him receive wages and expect a probation, and therefore ſervants nihil ſuum habere poſſunt. foreign, Ariſtot. Saluti dominorum non debent ſuam anteponere, ſays the Law, ſervants have nothing of their own, and therefore muſt make their Maſters will theirs. Herodot. has a ſtory of the ſervants of Xerxes, qui exorta tempeſtate in mare deſiliunt ut domini ſui ſaluti conſulant, who in a tempeſt leaped into the Sea to ſave their Maſter, &c. Malo in nos murmur hominum, quàm in Deum, I had rather mens murmurs ſhould be againſt us than againſt the Lord, ſaid devout Bernard. It was Luthers meat and drink, his conſtant diet to be reproached for Chriſt. All theſe relations are the immediate reſult of the Covenant, and a man ſhould improve the Covenant to inforce upon himſelf the duties that this relation brings with it; what ſhould keep a woman true to her Husband but this, The Covenant of God is upon me? and what ſhould keep the Nazarites from cutting their hair, and drinking of wine, but the vow of God upon them, and they would not break it? So that the Covenant ſhould be the great ingagement unto duty.

3. Your hearts ſhould be alwaies in ſuch a frame as to receive the mercies of the Covenant, for the Lord doth betroth the ſoul to him in righteouſneſs and in mercy. Mercy indeed hath a double riſe, either it is the iſſue of providence, or elſe of promiſe: now mercies that are the fruit and birth of the promiſes are the ſweeteſt, for they are children of the promiſe, that are children of the Covenant;Zeph. 2.2:Zeph 2:2 and the promiſe of God doth as well travel with mercy, as the threatnings of God travel with judgement; ſeek the Lord before the decree bring forth; it is not to be underſtood de decreto Dei occulto ſed promulgato, of the ſecret decree, but of the ſentence declared in Gods word, as Calv. obſerves, and ſo do the promiſes bring forth alſo; now a man that is an heir of promiſe, ſhould walk in the expectation of it, that his heart may be fit to receive it continually,Jer. 11.4, 5.Jer 11:4Jer 11:5 and that God may perform unto him all that he hath ſpoken; obey my voice, do all that I command you, that I may perform the oath which I have ſworn unto your Fathers. The true reaſon why we many times fail of the mercy is, becauſe we are not prepared for it, and our heart is not in a frame for Covenant-mercies; and therefore doth the Lord defer them, and wait to be gracious, Eſay 30. for mercy is like unto cordials given unto foul ſtomachs, which do but increaſe the peccant humour; ſometimes Deus non exaudit propitius, God doth not hear in mercy, and ſometimes exaudit iratus, he hears in wrath, &c. it will not be given in mercy, but in judgement, if unto a heart unprepared; for then duty becomes duty to us, when our hearts are prepared to receive the command, and a man can ſay, O Lord, my heart is ready; and then mercy doth become mercy, when the heart is prepared to receive it before the mercy come: and the mercy of the Covenant doth conſiſt in both giving the mercy, and preparing the heart to receive it, fitting the veſſel and then filling it. Now a frame of heart fit to receive mercies conſiſts in theſe particulars.

(1.) A believing heart relying upon the grace of the Covenant, notwithſtanding all ſeeming impoſſibilities: and ſo Abraham, though his body was dry, and Sarahs womb dead, yet foreign, he did not diſpute and reaſon the caſe pro and con, and looked not at the probability of the thing, but at the grace of the Covenant,Pſal. 118.Ps 118 and the love and power of God therein; ſo David, many bulls are come about me, they compaſs me in on every ſide, but they are extinct, as the fire among thorns, for in the name of the Lord I will deſtroy them, &c. and I ſhall not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord. As Luther, when all the world was up in arms againſt him, as it were odium & impetum totius orbis ſuſtinuit; yet he ſaith, vincet mea audacia in Chriſto ultimum illorum, & jam pallentem furorem; brevi efficiam ut anathema ſit eſſe papiſtam, My confidence in Chriſt ſhall overcome their fury: they be men that are fit to enter into Canaan, and to receive the promiſe of the Covenant, that can ſay of the ſons of Anak and the Cities walled up to Heaven, we can overcome them, they be bread for us, their defence is departed from them, their Rock is not as our Rock, &c.

(2.) When a ſoul is kept watchful and in a continual expectation of the promiſe; I watch for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning; he did expect God ſhould come;Pſal. p. 180and therefore though he did tarry, yet he would watch for him; and he doth ſet himſelf upon his watch tower;Luke 12.35.Luke 12:35 and this is for a man to ſtand having his loyns girt and his lamp burning, as one that expects the return of his Lord from the marriage, and he opens to him immediately. Surely it is ſuch a ſoul that God will pour out the mercies of the Covenant upon, he will make him ſit down to meat, and gird himſelf, and ſerve him, &c. Whereas we go without mercies many times, becauſe mercy is offered, and we are not ready to receive it, the Lord knocks and goes away again, the ſoul doth not open; a man cannot ſay my heart is prepared,Cant. 5.Song 5 looking for, and haſtning to the coming of the day of the Lord, 2 Pet. 3.13.

(3.) When a mans heart, though in expectation of the mercy, yet is weaned from it, and reſigns it unto the will of God, whether he will beſtow it or no, whether in this life he ſhall have the mercy he deſires, or whether he will pay him all in the life to come: if he have the mercy now, he does not look upon it as his portion, but only as ſolatium a ſolace, a viatick for his way; as if he be deprived of them, fit exercitium juſti, injuſti ſupplicium, Proſper de vit. contempl. He has the exerciſe of the juſt, and puniſhment of the unjuſt. And ſo David was in expectation of the Kingdom, for it was one of the ſure mercies of David, yet it is ſaid, Pſal. 131.1, 2. His heart was as a weaned child, to prepare him for that mercy: God had weaned him from it, before ever he ſhould injoy it: and it is a noble frame of heart to be always in a readineſs to reſign a mercy, before a man has the poſſeſſion of it, and to be contented to let God take as well as give, what his ſoul waits upon him for.

(4). When a man deſires a mercy no further than it may make him holy; for the Covenant of God is a holy Covenant, Luk. 1.72. and the mercies of the Covenant are foreign, Act. 13.34. which is the word that the Septuagint doth uſe, Eſay 55.3. and Luke renders it according to the tranſlation and not according to the Hebrew, that which in the Hebrew is mercies, they render holy things, and indeed mercies they cannot be, unleſs they tend to promoting holineſs in the ſoul; and when a man with Agur fears mercies, leſt they ſhould draw away his heart;Prov. 30.Prov 30 give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient; he feared the ſnare that is in proſperity, the hook that is in the bait, with which many a man is taken, and thereby drawn away from the things of God; and few are as Jehoſophat, who had Silver and Gold in abundance, and his heart was lifted up in the wayes of the Lord,2 Chro. 17.6.2 Chr 17:6 his heart was incouraged the more in a way of holineſs; and when a man deſires mercies, quae nos ornare poſſunt pariter & munire, which may as well fortifie as adorn us, Proſper. The ſoul of a child of God deſires he may have mercies that may be his defence, as well as his ornament: there are mercies that do adorn men, but they do alſo inſnare them, and betray them to the enemy; nay ſuch a ſoul deſires Heaven not ſo much for the perfection of his happineſs, as for the perfection of his holineſs, which nothing can perfect but the beatifical viſion; when he ſhall appear, we ſhall be like him, for we ſhall ſee him as he is; anſwerable to our viſion of him, ſuch will be our conformity to him. Mercies unto wicked men are ſuitable to their ſervices, they give to God unſanctified ſervices, and God does give them unſanctified rewards; and their ſervices are ſeemingly ſervices, but really ſins; ſo are the mercies that God gives them ſeeming bleſſings, but really curſes; they are indeed bleſſings in the thing, but as they draw out their corruptions ſo they are curſes unto the men. So Iratus dat amanti quod malè amat, as Auſtin ſaies, God gives it in wrath, as he did to them Quails, &c. and though they were fed to the full, yet he ſends …anneſs into their ſouls, he gave them their hearts deſire in wrath.

(5). By this Covenant you do ingage your ſelves, that whatever God beſtows in mercy, you will return again in duty; that you may injoy nothing apart from God; but as the Lord ſaith of his people in Covenant, they are his portion, ſo you alſo ſay of God, he is your God; and as all that is in him is made over unto you, ſo you will be his people, and all that is in you ſhall be made over unto him, and ſhould be laid out, or laid down for him, and you ſhall reſign to him whatever he ſhall call for; and this is for a man to hate Father and Mother, and his own life, and acknowledge as David did, of thine own have we given thee; God gave it unto them, and they do return it willingly unto God again; that which is a Samuel, asked of God, ſhall be alſo lent unto the Lord; and the ſoul never deſires or expects good from any mercy, from which God hath no glory; for a man is a ſervant to God, and it is all the Maſter's that the ſervant hath of gains; as the Law ſaith,Cant. 8.11.Song 8:11 Servi ſunt res Domini, & quicquid acquirunt, acquirunt domino, &c. Solomon had a Vineyard and he let it out to keepers, and he expected the fruits thereof, even a thouſand pieces of Silver; and of the Husbandmen to whom the Vineyard was committed the Lord expected fruits, &c. a ſoul is never ſo well pleaſed as when it brings forth fruit for God, p. 181and lays out his ſtrength to the uttermoſt, that he may bring in a revenue of glory to the Lord his God.

(6) When all the duties of the Covenant are performed by us in the fitteſt time, and in the higheſt and the beſt manner. [1] In the fitteſt time; as the Lord takes the fitteſt time to ſhow us mercy, ſo ſhould we alſo take the fitteſt time to perform our duty to him; and it's a great matter to know the ſeaſon, there is an accepted time, there is a day of ſalvation. [2] And alſo we muſt perform it in the higheſt manner, as David ſaid, It is for the Lord, and therefore the houſe muſt be magnificent; this have I done out of my poverty, though he offered the wealth of a kingdom. And the Lord ſays to Iſrael, Wouldeſt thou offer this to thy prince? I am a great king: God expects we ſhould perform all our duties with that reverence and exactneſs, as we do, when we offer any gift or preſent to a Ruler over us.

2. We are to improve the Covenant in reference unto God, for the obtaining all the mercies of the Covenant, becauſe therein the Lord hath in faithfulneſs ingaged himſelf; Debita reddit nulli debens, &c. God pays debts, and yet is debtor to none but to his own faithfulneſs. So do they, Iſa. 63.18, 19. The Lord was departed, and had ſold them into the hand of ſtrangers, and they poſſeſſed their Land, they pray, Return for thy ſervants ſake, the tribes of thy inheritance, the people of thy holineſs have poſſeſſed it but a little while, we are thine, thou never bareſt rule over them, and thy name was never called upon them, they were never a people whom thou tookeſt into Covenant, as thou haſt done unto us. And ſo Iſa. 63.9. Be not wroth very ſore, nor remember our iniquity for ever; behold, I beſeech thee, we are all thy people. Jer. 14.8, 9. O thou the hope of Iſrael, the ſaviour thereof in the time of trouble, why ſhouldeſt thou be as a ſtranger in the land, why ſhouldeſt thou be as a man aſtoniſhed, as a mighty man that cannot ſave? if thou, O Lord, art in the midſt of us, and we are called by thy name? Thy name is called upon us, we are thy people in Covenant, The Lords portion, the lot of his inheritance; for God is always mindful of his Covenant; and in purſuance thereof he doth whatever he doth in the world; if he give Chriſt, it is with reſpect to the Covenant; he hath raiſed up an horn of ſalvation, Luk. 1.72.Luke 1:72that is, a ſtrong and powerful Saviour; for he has laid help upon one that is mighty: And all is, that he might perform his Covenant unto our fathers, and to remember his holy Covenant. Chriſt and all the mercies by him, which are given to us, are a fruit of the Covenant that was made with Chriſt before the world was: Lev. 26.41, 42. if their uncircumciſed hearts be humbled, and they accept the puniſhment of their iniquity; then will I remember my Covenant with Jacob, and with Iſaac, and with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Now, How ſhould a man improve his Covenant in reference unto God?

1. Conſider rightly the latitude of Covenant mercies, and the greatneſs of them; for it is in this Covenant that all your ſalvation lies, that your hearts may be carried out anſwerable to the vaſtneſs of the loving-kindneſs of God, and that no mercy of the Covenant may be left unconſidered, and untaſted of, but that you may have a taſte that the Lord is gracious in every one of them; and that a man may ſee, that it is the weakneſs of his heart, and the lowneſs of his ſpirit, that he doth not preſs towards them all; for the Apoſtle, 2 Cor. 5.9. He labours whether preſent or abſent, foreign are ambitious.&c. habet & ſapientia ſui generis ſuperbiam, and therefore a godly man is not willing to leave out any thing, either of the graces or the priviledges of the Covenant; for they are Covenant mercies, that are the precious mercies of your lives; the flower of all the mercies of a mans life: it is therefore ſaid to be a Covenant ſtabliſhed upon better promiſes; the firſt Covenant did promiſe life for ever in Heaven, as it did threaten death for ever in Hell; but yet there are better promiſes: as he ſaid, Eſt aliud in Chriſto, formoſius ſalvatore; There is ſomething in Chriſt more beautiful than a Saviour; ſo there is ſomething in the Covenant, that is better than Heaven. (1) The Lord hath made over himſelf to us in this Covenant, He is not aſhamed to be called our God, to be a God to thee, and to thy ſeed after thee; And this is the Covenant that I will make with them; I will be their God, Jer. 31.33.Jer 31:33and they ſhall be my people: And what it is for to have Jehovah for your God: The happineſs of it you have heard, that as you are wholly his, ſo he alſo is become wholly yours; all that is within you is for God, and all that is in God is for you, and for your good. And he is your God, as he is Chriſts God; for there the Covenant-right doth firſt begin; he is my father, and your father; my God, and your God, &c. (2) He doth in this Covenant take you to be unto himſelf a peculiar people, whom he hath ſeparated unto himſelf above all people, to be unto him for a name, and for a praiſe throughout the earth, as Exod. 19.5. You ſhall be unto me a peculiar treaſure above all the people of the earth; and he doth ſay they are his portion, the Lords portion is his people, and Iſrael is the lot of his inheritance; though all the earth be his, yet he hath ſet his heart upon them, and they p. 182are dear and precious ones. (3) By this Covenant the earth ſtands, that all the creatures may ſerve the Saints, thoſe that are in Covenant with the Lord; it is the curſe of the firſt Covenant, that ſhall ſet on fire the whole frame of the world, at the laſt and great day; all the creatures ſerve the Saints, as they do ſerve God; for Chriſt hath bought the ſervices of all the creatures, and he hath in his houſe veſſels of diſhonour as well as for honour, and even the Devils and wicked men bow to him, and they ſhall worſhip one day at the Saints feet, and ſhall know that God loves them, and God makes uſe of theſe veſſels of diſhonour to fan and purifie his people, 2 King. 21.13. I will wipe them as a man doth a diſh: and I will ſhave them with a raſor, that is hired, even the King of Aſſyria: And ſome veſſels of honour God uſes for the good of his Saints; and ſo do the Angels as well as all other creatures ſerve their graces or their neceſſities, they are miniſtring ſpirits to the heirs of ſalvation. (4) By this Covenant all their ſins are pardoned, and God remembers them no more: the foundation of pardon is not only laid in the ſatisfaction of Chriſt, the foreign, price, that he hath laid down, but alſo in the free grace of God in making of the Covenant, and in the gracious acceptation of the payment of the ſurety, for you ſee that God is in Chriſt reconciling the world, there is Covenant grace that runs along with all the fruits of the death of Chriſt; ſo that even, Meritum Chriſti habet in ſe gratiam inviſceratam, The merit of Chriſt hath grace imbowelled it. (5) It is a Covenant of Communion; for it is conjugal, and in it is the neareſt Union and Communion that can be between creatures; it's a Covenant of friendſhip, and the proper effect of friendſhip is fellowſhip, 2 Cor 6.16. foreign, I will dwell in them; and walk amongſt them, which is a high degree of condeſcenſion. There are two ways of Gods communicating himſelf, the one is infinite, and to us inconceivable, ſo God doth in the myſtery of his eternal generation communicate himſelf unto his ſon; and as the Godhead doth communicate it ſelf unto the man Chriſt Jeſus in a perſonal union, ſo there is a communication of himſelf unto the Saints, and the higheſt communication that is, is in a Covenant way; there is but little that God doth impart of himſelf unto all the creatures, in compariſon of what God doth unto his Saints: there is more of his wiſdom, holineſs, goodneſs, and all his attributes that is to be ſeen in theſe, than in all the world beſides; 'tis the Saints alone that can ſhew forth the vertues of him that hath called them.1 Pet. 2.9.1 Pet 2:9 (6) By this Covenant he doth diſpenſe Grace, and Glory; [1] For Grace, To make room for that in the Soul, He will take away the heart of ſtone, and he will put his law into their hearts, Jer. 31.33. And that grace ſhall teach them to deny ungodlineſs and worldly luſts, &c. And [2] for Glory hereafter, that alſo is diſpenſed by this Covenant; for the inheritance is not by the Law, not by the firſt, but by the ſecond Covenant; they only that are heirs of promiſe, are the perſons that are ordained to Glory, and they only are the ſons of the Reſurrection, their ſervices only are accepted of God, and all the glory that he hath in this inferior world comes in by them, and it is whatever they do, even the meaneſt ſervices, not only their religious works, but their civil and natural works, which they do out of neceſſity of nature, yet having a tincture of the blood of this Covenant upon them, they are in order to an eternal reward; and whereas to all other men may be ſaid, to what purpoſe is the multitude of your ſervices? Summo dedecore vos afficiam.I accept them not, Mal. 2.3. I will ſpread dung upon your faces, that is, the dung of your faſts, and of your ſolemn ſervices, they ſhall make you but the more hateful and abominable and vile, and become a dunghill before God; that's all the fruit you ſhall have of your religious duties: But now men that are in Covenant, they can ſay, We will be abundant in the work of the Lord, for we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord, 1 Cor. 15. laſt.

2 Chron. 13.5.2 Chr 13:52. Have an eye unto the ſtability of the Covenant; it is a Covenant of Salt; Sal eſt duraturae amicitiae ſymbolum, Salt is a ſymbol of laſting friendſhip; and ſignifies here, that the Lord will never turn away from them to do them good;Jer. 32.10.Jer 32:10 it is a Covenant that we can never break, becauſe the righteouſneſs thereof can never be ſpent. And the ſtability of the Covenant lies not only in the love and mercy of God that made it, but (1) in the faithfulneſs of God who is ingaged, and cannot go back; for he is not as man, that he ſhould repent; Dan. 9 4.Dan 9:4and therefore in the Scripture he is every where ſtiled, the faithful God, that keeps Covenant and mercy for ever; and the Apoſtle ſays, God is not unfaithful to forget your work and labour of love; God is faithful and juſt to forgive us our ſins; for God is faithful, who will not ſuffer you to be tempted above what you are able: It is ſaid, Mic. 7. laſt, He will perform his mercy to Abraham, and his truth to Jacob; and he is ingaged by a double Oath, That by two immutable things, in which it is impoſſible for God to lye, we may have ſtrong conſolation. [1] By an oath to Chriſt; for he is made a Prieſt by an oath.Pſal. 110 3.Ps 110:3 [2] By an oath unto us; and therefore it is eaſier for the Mountains to remove p. 183out of their place, and to ſtay the Sun in its courſe, to change the Ordinances of Heaven, than for the Covenant of peace to be broken with his people. (2) Unto the ſurety of the Covenant: for though we fail, yet he does not fail; he did undertake under the firſt Covenant to pay all the debt we owe, and it is his righteouſneſs alone by which we ſtand righteous before God; and in the ſecond Covenant he hath undertaken to preſent us without ſpot, and to make all our ſervices acceptable and well pleaſing in his ſight; and the argument is a good one that Moſes uſes in behalf of the people of Iſrael, pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatneſs of thy mercy, as thou haſt forgiven them from Egypt even until now, for the ſins of men cannot make void the faithfulneſs of God.

3. Rejoyce in the Covenant, and make it the matter of your delight, even Covenant-mercies; for 2 Sam. 23.5. This is all my ſalvation, and all my delight, that the Lord hath made an everlaſting Covenant with me in all things ordered and ſure: the ſweetneſs doth not lie ſo much in the mercy, as in the tenure by which we hold it; it is in the Covenant; and this is the only true ground of all a Chriſtians joy, it is his whole ſalvation, and therefore ſhould be all his delight. Exod. 24.7, 8, 9. the people of Iſrael did enter into Covenant with God, Moſes read the book of the Covenant to them, and they conſented, and ſaid, all that the Lord hath ſaid, we will do; and then the glory of the Lord appeared, and they …aw the God of Iſrael, not as we ſhall ſee him in Heaven face to face, but ſome viſible manifeſtation of his preſence amongſt them there was; and he laid not his hands upon them, that is, he did not deſtroy them, but they ſaw God, and did eat and drink, that is, they rejoyced in the Covenant that they had made with God, and they ſaw that God did manifeſt unto them the ſignes of acceptance in this Covenant; and therefore they kept a holy feaſt, and did rejoyce exceedingly before the Lord; and when they entred into Covenant …n the time of Aſa, 2 Chron. 15.15. all the people rejoyced at the oath, for they had ſworn with all their heart, and they ſought God with their whole deſire, and he was found of them: it is that which the Lord expects, that men ſhould glory in him and make their …oaſt of him, that he is pleaſed to be confederate with them.

4. Plead your intereſt in Covenant mercies; for it is in the Covenant that the power of all your prayers does lie. God is not indebted unto any men in the world, but the children of the Covenant; or not ſo much unto them as to his own promiſe:Auſtin. Conf. dignaris eis quibus …mnia debita dimittis, etiam promiſſionibus tuis debitor fieri: and therefore the Lord ſaith, …ut me in remembrance, plead thou, Eſay 43.26. Pſal. 74.20.Isa 43:26Ps 74:20&c. you that are the Lords remembrancers keep not ſi…ence; have reſpect unto the Covenant, for all the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty: there is all manner of cruelty executed, and yet men hide it under …ir and ſpecious pretences, and theſe latibula impiorum, lurking places of wicked men are …alled the dark places of the earth, &c. Now in ſuch a time as this, when there was nothing …ut cruelty executed, the enemies did roar in their Congregations, and did triumph in their wickedneſs; and the more ſpoil any of them could make upon the Temple, the more famous he was; it was when Jeruſalem was taken: now what have the poor people of God to look upon? nothing but put God in remembrance of his Covenant, have reſpect unto thy Covenant; and ſo ſhould all the Saints do in their prayers, go to God and plead the uprightneſs of thy heart, in the middle of all thy failings; Lord, though thou haſt ſmitten us in the place of Dragons, and covered us with the ſhadow of death, yet have we not gone back from thee; and ſo doth Hezekiah when he comes to die, remember Lord, that I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart; and it is this that is the condition that thou haſt made of the Covenant of Grace, not a perfect way, but a heart perfect with God; and therefore men in Covenant are ſaid to plead with God for themſelves, and for the Churches, becauſe they only have an intereſt in him, and they can by grace claim mercies from God, but other men cannot: and ſo doth Chriſt manifeſt his deſires to the Father according to the Covenant, Zech. 1. And the Lord anſwered the Angel with good and comfortable words: and ſo a poor ſoul ſhall find the Lord will do with him alſo, in all his ſupplications to God and pleadings with God. He will anſwer him according to his hearts deſire.

5. Expect that God ſhall deal with thee according unto this Covenant, and ſo thou maiſt judge of all his wayes towards thee; for God does always diſpenſe himſelf unto a perſon according to the Covenant under which he ſtands: and this is that which deceives moſt men in the Church, becauſe they hear of the Covenant of Grace, and do live under the outward priviledges thereof; though for the ſtate of their perſons they be under the Covenant of works, yet they expect that Gods dealing ſhould be to them according to the tenour of the ſecond Covenant; and therefore if they do ſin and afterwards ask pardon, they conclude that God will give pardon and grace, and that what ſervices they do, find acceptance with him, and ſhall have from him a reward. It is true, with them that are in p. 184the Covenant of grace it is ſo, but this is the great deceit, when a man doth tranſire de genere in genus, and from the priviledges of the one Covenant, apply them unto a perſon that is under the other Covenant. If thou ſin thou maiſt expect pardon, and if thou do duty, thou that art under the ſecond Covenant maiſt expect acceptance, and if thou be afflicted, thou muſt look upon it as an act of the Fathers love; whom I love I rebuke and chaſten; and if thou doſt ſin look that God ſhould viſit thy offences with a rod, for God in faithfulneſs doth afflict his own children, and if the frowardneſs of thy heart be not overcome by it, he will put forth an almighty power of loving kindneſs to draw thy heart to him with the cords of thy love;Eſay 57.Isa 57 I have ſeen thy wayes and I will heal thee. Some promiſes of the Covenant are abſolute, the immediate fruits of free grace; and the ſoul may expect theſe without preparation or condition: but ſome promiſes are only upon condition; now in the Covenant thou haſt no ground to expect them without the condition be performed.

Vſe 4 §. 4. Having given up our names to God in this Covenant, given the hand to the Lord, it is a duty often to renew it, and to repeat unto a mans ſoul the ſame obligation; and here I will ſhow, (1) That it is not enough that a man do enter into Covenant with the Lord, but that he renew it often. (2) I will give you the grounds why a man ſhould renew his Covenant. (3) Shew the times when in a ſpecial manner the Lord expects it, and when it is a way to find mercy with the Lord. (4) Show you the manner how it is to be done. (5) I'le preſs it by ſetting before you the great benefits and fruits that do flow from a renewed Covenant with the Lord.

1. A man being once entred into Covenant with God, is held and obliged by that Covenant for ever; as we ſee the Devils entred into Covenant, and this Covenant they have broken in reſpect of the precept, yet they are all ſtill under the curſe of it, and ſhall be for ever, and that curſe the chains of darkneſs in which they are held; ſo man being once ingaged is for ever engaged; therefore it's his duty often to renew his Covenant: and that will appear in theſe particulars.

1. The Lord hath often renewed his Covenant with his people; he made a Covenant with Abraham, Gen. 15.18. and yet he renews his Covenant again, Gen. 17.2, 4, 7. So the Lord did take Iſrael into Covenant with himſelf, and his name was called upon them, he doth take them into their Fathers Covenant, he remembred his Covenant with Abraham and Iſaac, Exod. 6.4, 5, 7.Exod 6:4Exod 6:5Exod 6:7and he ſaith, I will take you unto me for a people, and I will be to you a God, and you ſhall know that I am the Lord your God, &c. and yet this Covenant he renews in a publick and ſolemn manner upon Mount Sinai, when out of his mouth went a fiery law, Deut. 5.2, 3.Deut. 5.2, 3.Deut 5:2Deut 5:3 He made a Covenant with us in Horeb; he made not this Covenant with our Fathers; ſome refer it unto all the Patriachs from Adam, and ſo the Covenant was the ſame; for they entred into Abrahams Covenant; but it is ſpoken in regard of the publick and glorious way of revealing it to them, beyond what it was to their Fathers, which was not revealed with that ſolemnity, and ſpeaking with, and ſeeing God face to face: or elſe by the Fathers ſome do underſtand thoſe that died in Egypt, and in the Wilderneſs, who had forgotten the Covenant of their Fathers, and the Lord did not renew it with them; and yet afterwards, Exod. 24.7, 8, 10. Moſes takes the book of the Covenant, and reads it in the audience of the people, and they ingaged themſelves to do all that the Lord had ſaid, and be obedient to his requirings, and Moſes ſprinkled the blood upon the people, and ſaid, This is the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you, and v. 11. They did eat and drink before the Lord, and ſee the glory of the God of Iſrael, and upon the people he laid not his hand, &c. and yet this is not enough, but the Lord renews his Covenant again, Deut. 29.1. The words of the Covenant which the Lord commanded Moſes, to make with the children of Iſrael in the land of Moab; beſides the Covenant that he made with them in Horeb; and v. 10. & 12. You ſtand before the Lord this day, that you ſhould enter into Covenant with the Lord, and into the oath which the Lord made with thee, to eſtabliſh thee this day for a people to himſelf, that he might be unto thee a God as he hath ſworn unto thy Fathers, &c. thus you ſee the Lord has often renewed his Covenant with his people.

2. The people of God have often renewed their Covenant alſo with him; it was not enough that they had in Moſes time been taken into Covenant ſo often, but before he died he renewed the Covenant with them, and they did ſolemnly ingage themſelves, The Lord will we ſerve, Joſh. 24.25.Josh 24:25and his voice will we obey; and he ſet up a Stone under an Oak for a witneſs againſt them,2 Chron. 15.12. 2 Chron. 29.10. 2 Chron. 34.31.2 Chr 15:122 Chr 29:102 Chr 34:31 if they ſhould hereafter deny the Lord their God. And this Covenant was renewed in the days of King Aſa, and Hezekiah, and Joſiah: and Ezra 10.3. and Nehemiah 9.38. therefore renewing of the Covenant is a duty that we owe unto the Lord, and that ingagement muſt be reiterated, &c.

2. But ſeeing that a Covenant once made doth alwayes bind a man and the force of it continues, diſtance of time doth not wear it out, why ſhould it be needful for men to renew p. 185their Covenant ſo often? The grounds of it are theſe. 1. Becauſe of the unbelief of our ſpirits, and from the infirmity of our faith; for the confirmation of our faith in the mercy and grace of the Covenant. Therefore David made it the matter and ground of all his delight, and his thoughts were wholly upon it. Why did God renew the Covenant ſo often with Abraham, but to ſtrengthen and confirm his faith therein that it was a ſure Covenant, and ſhould never be forgotten? The mercies of the Covenant are great, and the heart of man would fail and his ſpirit ſink in the expectation of them; but then he calls to mind his Covenant, and renews his Covenant-ingagements with them; and for this cauſe we receive the ſeals of the Covenant often, and every time we do ſo, we renew the Covenant between God and us; Gods ſeals are ſet to our ſeals, that this may be like unto Joſhua's ſtones, a teſtimony that we have entred into Covenant with the Lord.

2. To manifeſt the ſincerity of our hearts, that though we fail in the duty of it, yet our hearts ſtill ſtand to it, we delight in the Law according to our inward man; though we fall every day, yet ſaies a ſoul in Covenant with God, I love to think of renewing the ingagement that is between God and me; as a loving and tender Wife loves often to renew her ingagement to her Husband, and to have it much in her mind, that ſhe may not forget the Covenant of her God, ſo to ſhew that a man doth not repent, but his ingagement …s ſtill pleaſing to him, he renews it often; and if it were to do again and again, a man would do the ſame thing, if it were every hour, to let the world ſee he is not turned back from the Covenant of his God, Phil. 3.9. ſaies the Apoſtle, I ſuffered the loſs of all things, and do count them dung, &c. I have not repented of it, I am of the ſame mind ſtill, there is not in me a principle to draw back, and to depart from the living God; I am willing to renew this …ngagement ſtill. When there is an error in the contract that a man makes with another, then …f it were to do again the ſoul would not do it; ſo there is many a man that goes back from …is ingagement to God long, and per poenitentiae poenitentiam Diabolo ſatisfaciet, Tertul.By repenting …f his repentance he will ſatisfie the Devil. But a heart that is ſincere with God will renew …t again, and he would not have his ingagement broken, he ſtill cries out, Lord, I am thine, and thou art the Lord my God; ſurely thou art our Father, and thy compaſſion does not fail, but thou reneweſt it upon us every moment: Therefore I come again to give the hand to the Lord and renew my Covenant with him.

3. By reaſon of the falſeneſs of our hearts; there is ſo much treachery of ſpirit, that we are not eaſily kept within bounds, our purpoſes are eaſily broken, and men draw back from the Lord by reaſon of the falſeneſs of their hearts, and the treachery that is in them, Ezech. 16.30. How weak is thy heart? unſtable as water; and it is ſaid, that water hardly contains it ſelf within its own bounds. And therefore it was Chryſoſtoms complaint once,Gen. 49.4.Gen 49:4 and ſince it has been the complaint of many others after him, That a Miniſter did never find his …ork as he left it; and ſo does a Chriſtian complain, he does ſeldom find his heart as he left …. Now that a mans heart may be fixed, therefore the Lord takes his people into Cove…ant with himſelf, and they bind themſelves much in Covenants.

4. They renew their Covenant, that by often repeating and renewing it, it may be ſet on upon their ſpirits the more, and lay the greater ingagement upon them; for ſurely the more frequently we bind our ſelves, the faſter we are bound, and every renewal of our Covenant doth intend and ſtrengthen the obligation, and makes the deeper impreſſion upon the heart; and therefore Deut. 6.7. the Lord commands Iſrael, to teach them diligently unto their children: the word in the Hebrew is, foreign that is to ſharpen them, as you do a Knife, ſaepius ad cotem impellendum, the way to make it take the deepeſt impreſſion upon the ſoul is to ſet it on by often and frequent repetitions; becauſe of the deadneſs of our hearts, and inadvertence of ſpirit, we are apt to forget the Covenant of the Lord;Deut. 4.23.Deut 4:23 and when men are apt to forget a thing, they had need have it repeated often to them.

5. By reaſon of the forgetfulneſs of the heart; there is nothing that the ungodlineſs of a mans heart is more prone to than to forget his ingagement unto God; and therefore was that ſtrict charge laid upon them, Deut. 4.23. Take heed to your ſelves leſt you forget the Covenant which the Lord your God made with you, and make you a graven Image, &c. The happineſs of the Angels lies in this, that they both know all the duties of their Covenant, and have them alwaies in mind; for where there is no ſinfulneſs, there is no forgetfulneſs; but the miſery of man lies in this, as to the ingagement of this Covenant in many things he is ignorant of it, ſo alſo is he unmindful of it; and thence the Apoſtle ſaith, Heb. 2.1, 2. Leſt we prove leaking veſſels, &c. or as ſome will derive the word,Heb. 2.1, 2.Heb 2:1Heb 2:2 charta bibula quae Scripturam non bene continet, the word is written there as in ſinking paper, and the Ink runs abroad, that afterwards when you have writ it, you cannot read it: now things that we are willing to remember we repeat them often, and do thereby keep them in mind; as the remembrance of the creation, the mercy the Lord would not have forgotten; and for p. 186this cauſe he has appointed a weekly remembrance; and the death of Chriſt he would not have to be forgotten, and therefore he appoints us to remember it often; do this in remembrance of me; becauſe it would elſe quickly wear out of our minds; mercies and duties being for the moſt part written in our hearts as letters written upon the water, no ſooner in, but out: and therefore we read in Eſay 48.8. when the Lord would have a thing take deep impreſſion upon them, he bids them to remember it, yea bring it again to mind: O ye tranſgreſſors, not only remember it once, but often bring it again to mind, &c. Now there is a double curſe upon the memory of man. (1) There is a natural weakneſs, that it is like a Sieve that lets paſs all the Corn, and retains nothing but the Chaff. (2) There is a weakneſs that is below nature: As there is a ſtrength unto good that is ſupernatural, when a man is immediately acted by the Spirit of God, that there is in him more than the ſtrength of a man; ſo there is alſo in wayes of ſin, when a man hath an immediate concurrence of the ſpirit of the Devil,Rev. 2.10.Rev 2:10 Joh. 8.44. Ye are of your Father the Devil, and his luſts ye will do: and the Devil ſhall caſt ſome of you into priſon, that is, wicked men acted by the ſpirit of the Devil; and ſo Rev. 12.11. the Dragon is the Heathen Roman Emperours, but it is as they are acted by Satan; and therefore it is ſaid to be the old Serpent and Satan in them; for the Devil hath not in himſelf ten horns, it is the Devil working in them and acting them; ſo there is alſo a weakneſs below nature, men are apt to forget the word, and their duty which they learn out of it, but Satan comes and as an Harpy ſnatcheth away the word, that is, he adds a weakneſs below the nature, men are apt to forget it ſooner than otherwiſe they would have done, by putting into the heart contrary impreſſions: the things that we regard and take care of, we are apt to remember, but the things that we care not for, we are apt to forget; quae curant ſenes meminerunt, old men remember what they care for. Now the heart of man is leaſt ſet upon Covenant duties of any thing, and therefore had need to have its memory helped with continual and frequent repetitions of them.

6. By reaſon of the ignorance and blindneſs of the mind of man, we had need to be remembred of our Covenant, and to renew it often: we are all narrow mouthed veſſels, and receive all things from God but by drops, and light comes in upon us but by degrees in ſeveral beams, and a man looks often upon it before he can underſtand it; and therefore the Lord gives unto us line upon line, and precept upon precept, Eſay 28.10. And thence the Saints of God read over the ſame things, and be content to hear the ſame things again, becauſe they have a new view of them, they have a farther light into, and farther diſcoveries of them;Pſal. 25.14.Ps 25:14 Pſal. 25.14. The ſecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, the word in Hebrew ſignifies myſterium & arcanum, a ſecret is ſomething that cannot be known, unleſs it be by revelation, that a man by all his wiſdom and induſtry could not find out; And what is that ſecret of the Covenant? The Covenant is the ſecret, and it is with them that he may make it known unto them, therefore there is a myſterie in the dutys of the Covenant that is not revealed unto all, but it is unto them that fear him; and the Lord will do it ſuitably unto our frame; as our grace comes in by conſtant ſupplies of the Spirit of God, ſo doth our knowledge alſo, and all by a daily increaſe of light from the Spirit, and this is by a frequent repetition of the ſame act of faith, and therefore the people of God love to repeat it, and thereby they ſee farther into theſe myſteries from day to day, and they do the more exceedingly prize the mercy of the Covenant as the greateſt mercy they can injoy.

3. How is this work to be done, and what is it for a man to renew his Covenant? 1. He that will renew his Covenant with God, muſt be deeply ſenſible of the breach of Covenant, and of the unfaithfulneſs of his heart therein. It ſhould deeply humble us to conſider that no bonds ſhould hold us. If there were no other tye upon us, but that of our creation, that we had our being from him, and that out of nothing; but when unto this natural and neceſſary bond, we have added a voluntary, and have conſented unto the Lord, yet now for us to forget the Covenant of our God, and prove perfidious to him, and draw back, is this your return unto God, for his Grace in taking you into Covenant, and who doth always remember Covenant mercies for you, even then, when you forget duty to him? Is this your requital of the Lord, who in the performance of the Covenant did not ſpare his Son, when he cryed that he might be ſaved? God was ſo reſolved upon his Covenant with you, that the death of his Son was a ſacrifice of a ſweet ſmelling ſavour, and he was delighted in it, in performance of the grace of the Covenant made with you. And alſo the Lord Chriſt met with variety of diſcouragements, not only the weight of ſin in the guilt of it, which he complained of as his own, though he knew no ſin,Pſal. 40.12.Ps 40:12 but the wrath of the Father, the rage of his enemies, the hour and the power of darkneſs, the falſhood of his Diſciples; and yet when he was tempted to come down from the Croſs, he doth hold it out, that he might thereby ſhew that he loved p. 187you to the uttermoſt, and would ſave you to the utmoſt. And now for you,Prov. 20.25.Prov 20:25 after vows to make inquiry, whenas no man doth receed, or go back from the Covenant in which he hath ingaged himſelf, without infamy, and it's as odious as for a man to prove falſe to his friend, and betray him; and as unfair dealing it is, as for a Servant to run away from his Maſter, or a Soldier from his Commander, and as David ſays, by way of reproach, he hath broken his Covenant, and laid his hand upon him that was at peace with him, yea, for the Wife of a mans boſom to betray a man, and to forget the Covenant of her God, for a man to forget his Oath that he took at his Baptiſm, and as the Jews did labour to make their circumciſion uncircumciſion, and to do this unto a God, that was never a Wilderneſs to you, nor ever gives you cauſe to repent of your ingagement; ſurely hereby you ſee, not only your perfidiouſneſs and unthankfulneſs, but alſo fully to make forfeiture of all Covenant mercies, to bring upon your ſelves all the curſes of the Covenant,Gen. 2.28. Num. 14.34.Gen 2:28Num 14:34 and to put God upon breach of Covenant with you, who have behaved your ſelves ſo unfaithfully towards him; and thereby you acknowledge though you have ſubſcribed your names in the regiſter of Zion, yet you deſerve unto your perpetual ignominy, to have them expunged thence, and to be written in the earth, and given up to an everlaſting forgetfulneſs: So it was with Joſiah when he made his Covenant, his heart was tender, and he did humble himſelf before the Lord for their Covenant-breaking:2 Chron. 34.27, 31. Neh. 10.2 Chr 34:272 Chr 34:31Neh 10 And Ezra 10. it doth follow upon a great humiliation; a man that is not ſenſible of, and his heart not affected with the breach of Covenant, that man is not fit to renew his Covenant with the Lord.

2. It muſt be with a reſolution of heart to break all other Covenants; men are ſaid, Iſa. 28.15. To make a Covenant with death and hell, that is, they were as ſecure,Iſa. 28.15.Isa 28:15 and as fearleſs of it, as a man that hath a perſon in Covenant with him, whom he looks upon as his friend and fears him not; and thus they make a Covenant with ſin, and ingage themſelves to ſerve other gods: and ſo when the people renewed the Covenant in Joſhuah's time, you ſee the Command, you have choſen the Lord to ſerve him, Joſh. 24.22.Josh 24:22put away therefore your ſtrange gods; and ſo the command was to put away their ſtrange wives. Ezra.There are cords of vanity, and there are bonds of iniquity, by which men do bind themſelves: Now all theſe Covenants muſt be broken, if a man come to renew his Covenant with the Lord; for the anſwer you muſt give to the Covenant, muſt be the anſwer of a good conſcience, and that Conſcience that reſerves to it ſelf any league with ſin unbroken,1 Pet 3.21.1 Pet 3:21 is not a good conſcience before God, a Covenant that is ſinful, is in it ſelf void and a nullity, becauſe in every ſuch ingagement there is dolus, deceit and error, which are deſtroying to the nature of a Covenant, which ſhould be free and deliberate; and therefore it is in all ſuch Covenants, as with Herods Oath, they bind to nothing but repentance, for Juramentum non eſt vinculum iniquitatis; and therefore a man muſt reſolve to break Covenant with all ſinful ingagements, if he do intend to renew his Covenant with the Lord.

3. A man muſt know the terms, and read over the Articles of the Covenant anew; for no wiſe man will ſet his hand to an obligation, of which he is not well acquainted with the condition; and if there were no other cauſe nor ingagement upon man to know the will of God and their own duty, this were enough, they have bound themſelves to ſerve him, and therefore by the ſame Covenant they are bound to know the rules by which he will be ſerved; for Deo ſerviendum non eſt ex arbitrio ſed ex imperio; ſo doth Joſiah, 2 Chron. 34.30. he cauſed to be read in the ears of the people, all the words of the book of the Covenant, and then he ſtood up, and made a Covenant before the Lord to perform all the words of the Covenant written in the Book.

4. It muſt be with a free and full conſent of heart; for the Covenant in the renewing of it, muſt be as voluntary as it was in the making of it; to make fair promiſes while men are under the rod, as many do in ſickneſs, they promiſe to lead new lives, but yet return to their old ways, with the Dog, and ſtart aſide from theſe purpoſes in their proſperity like a broken bow; as when the Goths invaded Rome, the Chriſtians having ſome mercy granted them, all the Pagans would then become Chriſtians, and after proved perſecutors of them.

5. A man muſt be willing to bind himſelf in the higheſt way unto obedience thereunto. When the people did make a Covenant, they did ſtand up to the Covenant, and ſaid, Amen, Amen, and they ſwore to it, and that in a publick way with a loud voice,Duet. 25. v. laſt. Nehem. 9 v. laſt. Neh. 10.29.Neh 9Neh 10:29 with ſhoutings, and Trumpets; and they did write it down in a Book: and it's a further ingagement, to have a mans own hand againſt him, that is a great witneſs, and lays him under more guilt than any witneſs can faſten upon him; and he ſets not only his hand, but his ſeal to, and binds himſelf with a curſe, and by fearful imprecations p. 188of vengeance upon himſelf, if he did not perform it; as they did, Nehem. 10.29. deſi…e God to avenge upon themſelves their falſhood in breaking of the Covenant, and are content the threatning ſhould take place upon them, if they break it, as well as the promiſe if they keep it; and thereby they ſhew, that they deſire the Covenant ſhould abide firm,Jer. 50 5.Jer 50:5 as they ſay, Jer. 50.5. Let us joyn our ſelves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant never to be forgot.

6. It muſt be with an earneſt deſire to God for grace to keep it, and an acknowledgment of our own weakneſs and inability to perform anyone of the duties of the Covenant; for Covenants that are made upon any ſelf-dependance do not long continue, as Peters did not, when he ſaid, Though all men forſake thee, yet will not I; and though I dye with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Our promiſes of duty muſt be ſupported by Gods promiſes of grace, or elſe we ſhall ſoon fail in them; for God muſt perform the promiſes of grace, before we can perform our promiſe of ſervice; for without him we can do nothing, upon him is all our fruit found, Hoſ. 14.8. and therefore in all our Covenants we ſhould have an eye unto the promiſe that gives grace, as well as requires ſervice, and ſay with David, I will run the way of thy Commnadments, when thou ſhalt inlarge my heart; Iſa. 38.14.Isa 38:14and with Hezekiah, Lord I am weak, undertake for me. The word in the Hebrew is foreign and ſignifies to become a ſurety; and ſo ſhould we conſider, the new Covenant is in the hand of a ſurety, and to him we ſhould look for ſtrength; for the grace of the Covenant is laid up in him: ſo that there is in our Covenant with God, a double bond laid upon us, not only an obligation unto the duty injoyned, but to have recourſe unto God for grace to perform it.

4. What are the times and ſeaſons that the people of God have ſpecially obſerved in renewing of their Covenant with the Lord? that ſo a man may be able to ſay, now God calls me unto this duty: For there is a ſeaſon for every duty, and a godly man is to bring forth his fruit in the ſeaſon.Pſal. 1.3.Ps 1:3 I find in Scripture, that the ſeaſons of renewing their Covenant were commonly theſe:

1. When a man hath eminently fallen into any great ſin, or hath relapſed into former ſins that were repented of, and that we have humbled our ſouls for; and if being waſhed, we have again defiled our ſelves, and turned again to folly, then is a ſeaſon in which the Lord calls you to renew your Covenant. Peter committed a very great ſin, it being that ſin alſo which he was warned of, and took up great purpoſes and reſolutions againſt,M tt. 26 74. it was not a bare denial, but, foreign, he denies with an Oath, nay, with curſings and damnings of himſelf as the word imports, imprecating of the wrath of God, and eternal ſeparation from his preſence, if he knew the man; Now how muſt Peter come from this fall? It's called a converſion, Luk. 22.31. When thou art converted ſtrengthen thy brethren; Recovery out of ſin committed, is called a converſion: There is a two-fold converſion; (1) from a general ſtate of ſin; (2) from a particular way of ſin: for the firſt of theſe Peter had paſt, he was converted before, and Chriſt had given teſtimony to his faith, that it was true, and that it ſhould not fail; but yet there is a converſion from this particular fall, a renewing of his repentance, and as it were turning unto God again a-new, and that is ſeen in theſe two things. [1] In renewed humiliation and godly ſorrow. [2] In a renewed Covenant, and a ſolemn ingagement of reformation for the time to come; and this is required in the renewing of a mans repentance after any great and eminent fall. The ſame courſe doth Paul take, Rom. 7.16. after his conflict, he doth then renew his Covenant, and ſaith, I do break the Law, yet my heart doth ſtill cleave to the rule thereof, and acknowledge the goodneſs of it: and this conſent of ſpeaking the ſame thing that the Law doth, is properly and formally the renewing of a mans Covenant and ingagement, and ſo doth the Church after her great fall and backſliding, Cant. 6.3. I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine, he feedeth among the lillies; which I conceive to be the words of one rejoycing and triumphing in the aſſurance of his intereſt in God; but alſo they are the words of one covenanting and renewing the reconciliation of himſelf unto the Lord; as when the Lord hath departed from us, through our provocation, when he doth return to his people, he is ſaid to elect them anew: Zach. 1.17. The Lord ſhall yet comfort Sion, and ſhall yet chuſe Jeruſalem; his returning is as it were a ſecond election: So when we return to God after a ſpecial fall, it is, as it were, a new converſion: and this is a ſpecial teſtimony of the truth of a mans ſorrow, that it is according to God.

2. In time of publick humiliation; when men would divert and turn away judgement either from a nation or a perſon, then is the time for them to renew their Covenant; and this was the ground of the Covenant the Hezekiah made:2 Chron. 29.8.2 Chr 29:8 Our fathers have tranſgreſſed, and done that which was evil in the ſight of the Lord; wherefore the wrath of the Lord p. 189came upon Judah and Jeruſalem, to deſtroy them, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to aſtoniſhment, and to hiſſing; as you ſee with your eyes, our fathers have fallen by the ſword, and our ſons, and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this; now it is in my heart, to make a Covenant with the Lord God of Iſrael, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. The end of his making the Covenant, was to divert the Judgement. And ſo we read alſo in the Book of Nehemiah: and thus gracious is the Lord,Nehem. 9.38.Neh 9:38 that when he doth ſend judgement for ſin, he doth not continue the judgement, but till he doth ſee an humiliation and reformation in act; let there be but the ſerious purpoſe of reformation, and let the Covenant be renewed to ingage the ſoul thereunto, and the Lord doth remove the judgement; and when the will is in his people, he doth accept it for the deed, as David, Pſal. 32.5. I ſaid, I will confeſs my ſin unto the Lord, and the Lord forgave me my ſin; and the prodigal Son doth but ſay, I will go to my father, and while he was yet a great way off, the father met him.

3. In a time of publick reformation, when the foundations have been deſtroyed, and all things out of courſe, and a great deal of difficulty appears, and even impoſſibility in carrying on the work; yet the people of God looking upon it as a duty, have ſet upon it with full reſolution and purpoſe of heart, and have covenanted to go through with the work, notwithſtanding all oppoſition. Jehoiada made a Covenant between the Lord, and the King and the people, that they ſhould be the Lords people; here Religion was corrupted, and Dominion was uſurped, and the Lord put it into the heart of Jehoiada the Prieſt, to endeavour the reformation of both: and therefore he brought forth the Kings Son, to whom the government did rightly belong, and did ſet him up in the Throne, and depoſed Athalia the uſurping Queen; and he doth make a double Covenant, (1) A Covenant between God, and the King and the People; and in this Covenant, the King and the people do make up but one party; and they ingage themſelves to be Gods people, and the King to rule for God, as under him. (2) There is alſo a Covenant between the King and the People, that he ruling for God, and under God, they will for Conſcience ſake obey. Now my Covenant with any Magiſtrate muſt be underſtood, as being a ſecond and ſubordinate Covenant; I am ſo to keep Covenant with them, that I muſt alſo keep my Covenant with the Lord. Wherefore, after they had thus ſtrengthened themſelves by a Covenant, in the next verſe they ſet upon the work of reformation effectually; for all the people of the land went into the houſe of Baal and brake it down. And ſo did Joſiah, he made a Covenant with the Lord, To walk after the Lord, and keep his Commandments with all his heart; 2 King. 23.3, 4.2 Kgs 23:32 Kgs 23:4and then he commanded them to bring out of the Temple of the Lord, all the Veſſels that were made for Baal, &c. and wrought the moſt glorious reformation that ever 'was by any of the Kings of Judah, having his heart and hands ſtrengthened by a Covenant with the Lord.

4. As a teſtimony of a mans Thankfulneſs for any great mercy or ſpecial deliverance; or as an argument of faith that a man is to uſe unto God, when he doth pray for, and expect from God any ſpecial mercy. (1) As an argument that a man ſhould uſe unto God to obtain mercy; it is that artificial way of praying, that the Lord himſelf teaches his people, Hoſea 14.2. Take away our iniquity, and receive us graciouſly, ſo will we render the calves of our lips. Aſſur ſhall not ſave us, we will not ride upon Horſes, neither will we ſay any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our Gods; for in thee the fatherleſs find mercy, &c. And ſo Jacob alſo, Gen. 28.20, 22. he begged a bleſſing in his journey, and he doth follow the prayers he had put up with a vow, if the Lord will be with me, he ſhall be my God, and if he bring me to my Fathers houſe, this Stone ſhall be Gods Houſe, and if the Lord bleſs me with an eſtate, I will ſurely return him of his own, I will give the tenth unto thee; ſo punctual is this holy man to reſtipulate or return ſomething unto God anſwerable unto the mercy that he doth beg of God. If Hezekiah may be delivered from death, Eſay 38.20. and David from guilt,Pſal. 51.14.Ps 51:14 they promiſe to ſing aloud of ſo great a mercy, and to teach tranſgreſſors the way of God, alſo the Fathers to the Children ſhall declare his truth. When a man in deſiring the mercy doth it with a ſpiritual eye, and doth not ask amiſs, he is truly careful to perform the duty that ſuch a mercy calls for, that he may return as well as receive, for quantum à praeceptis tantum ab auribus Dei ſumus, Tertullian. When there is no obedience to God, there muſt be expected no audience by God. And therefore one ſpecial argument that the people of God do uſe in their prayers to obtain mercy, is a renewing their Covenant. (2) It is to be done in teſtimony of thankfulneſs for mercy received: and then doth a man indeed make a right uſe of a mercy, when he is bound the cloſer unto God by ſuch cords of Love; and the more the Lord doth ingage him, the more he is willing to ingage himſelf to God. A great p. 190army of Ethiopians came againſt the King of Judah with an hoſt of a thouſand thouſand men, and the Lord delivered them into his hand; now at their return they came to Jeruſalem to give God the glory of the victory, and they offered unto him of the ſpoil which they had taken, and now they enter into Covenant with the Lord to ſeek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their hearts, and with all their ſouls; and ſo the renewing of the Covenant is their return made unto God for the mercy. And ſo the Jews at their return out of Babylon, Jer. 50.4, 5. They come with weeping, and ſeek the way to Sion with their faces thitherward, and they ſay, Let us bind our ſelves unto the Lord by a perpetual Covenant never to be forgotten; ſo that in receiving and attaining the mercy, God calls for a Covenant, as alſo in returning the mercy.

5. When a man finds his heart bent to backſliding, and he is unſteady and unſtable in any good way: Moſes finding the people of Iſrael a very unſteady people, and whoſe hearts were not ſtedfaſt with the Lord, after that ſolemn Covenant with them upon Mount Sinai, he renews it again a little before his death, when they were come to the borders of the promiſed Land, and inforceth it both with the wonders that God wrought upon Pharaoh, and alſo the great miracles that he had wrought for them, when he led them through the wilderneſs forty years. And the ſame thing was the ground of Joſhua's renewing his Covenant,Joſh. 24.Josh 24 Joſh. 24. And Nehemiah finding that many of the Jews loved their ſtrange Wives, and the children that they had by them, and therefore it would be hard to perſwade them to put them away, having convinced them of the ſin, and obtained of them a promiſe that they would put them away, he doth bind them by a Covenant, which they ſubſcribe, ſeal and confirm by an Oath and a curſe; for he that will keep Covenant with God may ſometimes be ſmitten in the place of Dragons, and ſometimes his Father and his Mother may ſtand in the way of his duty to God; when he ſhould keep the Covenant, they may perſwade him to break it; now this is praiſe-worthy for a man with Levi to ſay to his Father and Mother, I have not ſeen him, not to know his own Brethren, nor his own Children.Deut. 33.9.Deut 33:9 A man had need have his heart ſtrengthned by all manner of Covenant ingagements, or elſe he will do as the children of Iſrael did about putting away their ſervants, Jer. 34.9. go back again and behave himſelf falſly and unſteadily therein.

6. When a man doth receive the Sacraments, any of the ſeals of the Covenant, it is his duty to renew the Covenant: as often as we ſet to the ſeal anew, we ſhould read over the obligation anew.Gen. 15.18.Gen 15:18 The Lord made a Covenant with Abraham, but yet Gen. 17.1, 2, &c. the Lord renews the Covenant, and the occaſion of it was, v. 10. becauſe the Lord did then inſtitute the Sacrament of Circumciſion, the ſeal of the righteouſneſs of faith, Rom. 4. when the Lord inſtitutes the ſeal he renews his Covenant, and ſo ſhould we as often as we ſet to the ſeal.Pſal. 50.5.Ps 50:5 So Pſal. 50.5. Gather my Saints together to me that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice; there is a double ſenſe given of it, ſome ſay it is a deſcription of the people of Iſrael, whom the Lord owned to be his people, becauſe in Covenant with him by ſacrifice:Exod. 24. Calvin: Sigilla & Syngraphae ſc. adminicula ad ſaciendum Dei foedus.Exod 24 others think it to be ſpoken by way of oppoſition to them that did reſt only in the outward rites, the Sacrifices that they did offer, and did never look upon them as ſigns and ſeals or adminiſtring helps to the eſtabliſhment of Gods Covenant; they did only uſe the ſacrifices unto the end for which the Lord appointed, or did look upon them as a renewing of their Covenant with God, and their ingagement unto him for their obedience. And ſo it ſhould be in every ordinance of God; theſe acts of obedience ſhould lead us unto the Covenant which is the ground of our obligation unto the ſame obedience; this is true of Baptiſm alſo,1 Pet. 3.21.1 Pet 3:21 1 Pet. 3.21. which I conceive to be an alluſion unto John's Baptiſm wherein the people firſt confeſſed their ſins and renounced them, and afterwards inquired into the work that they were to do in promiſing and ingaging themſelves unto obedience, and ſo there was a reſtipulation on their part unto God again. And ſo it is true of the Lords Supper, it is the New-Covenant or Teſtament in his blood.

Now the fruit and benefits that the people of God have found by the renewing of their Covenant are many.

1. It hath been a teſtimony to them of the truth of their repentance, Math. 3.8. John calls for fruits meet for repentance; and what is a right fruit of repentance, but to abhor the former evils we have been guilty of, and ſay, Aſhur ſhall not ſave us, &c. and to engage to perform the contrary duty; for it is not teſtimony enough of the truth of a mans repentance, that he doth abſtain from the acts of former ſins, unleſs alſo he has a teſtimony unto his own ſoul that he doth endeavour to grow in the contrary graces.

2. It is the foundation of conſolation. 2 Chron. 15.14, 15. in the time of Aſa the King of Judah, they ſwore with a loud voice, with Trumpets and Cornets, and all Judah rejoyced at the oath, for they had ſworn with all their hearts. A day of renewing Covenant with the Lord will be a day of great rejoycing and great conſolation unto the ſsoul; p. 191for it's like unto a new Wedding-day, the Covenant with God being a Matrimonial Covenant, and it brings the ſoul from its wandrings unto God again, and the ſoul ſays, I will return to my former Huſband, for it was better with me then than now.

3. It is a means to eſtabliſh and ſtay the heart, which is in it ſelf exceeding fickle and uncertain: it's unſtable as water. Joſh. 24.31. they bound themſelves by Covenant, to ſerve the Lord, and they did it all the days of Joſhua, and the Elders that had out-lived him, that had ſeen the great mercies of God unto them, and their bonds and ingagements to God. So Joſiah made them all ſtand to the Covenant, and all his days they departed not from following the Lord the God of their Fathers; for Jer. 13.11.2 Chron. 34.33.2 Chr 34:33 As a girdle cleaves to the loyns of a man, ſo have I cauſed to cleave unto me the whole houſe of Iſrael, that they might be to me for a name, and a praiſe, and a glory: there is a principle of fixing and eſtabliſhing in the Covenant, that a man is thereby bound to cleave to God with full purpoſe of heart, there is no going back, therefore it is called the bond of the Covenant.

4. It's a ſpecial means joyned with faſting and prayer to prevail with God for mercy, when a man is willing as well to ingage himſelf to duty, as he is to expect mercy from the Lord; they ſought the Lord with their whole deſire, and he was found of them, 2 Chron. 15.2 Chr 15and the Lord gave them reſt round about: and there is no more effectual way to obtain any bleſſing or mercy from God, than a renewing of Covenant and ingagement of obedience to God. And the reaſon hereof is this, becauſe the more the will renews its Covenant with God, the more ſubordinated it is to the Will of God: now God doth in a manner, to ſpeak …ith reverence, ſubmit the liberality of his mercies to a will ſubordinated to his will. Again, the more we renew our Covenant with God, the more harmonie there is between our will and the will of God: and O! what peace ariſeth hence? what contentment in …very condition? According to the tenure of the New Covenant a ſolid full will is accept… by God for the effect; and therefore the more the will renews its conſent to the Cove…nt, the more it is accepted by God.

5. It doth not only eſtabliſh the heart, but make it better: as the will becomes good …t firſt by willing what is good; ſo it is then beſt when it moſt ſtrongly wills what is beſt: …ow when doth the will more ſtrongly will what is beſt, than when it doth moſt firmly re…ew its Covenant with God, its beſt good? So many grains as there are of a deter…ined will in adhering to God, according to the terms of the Covenant, ſo many grains …ere are of ſaving grace. When the deliberation of a bended will concurs with the re…ewing of our Covenant, it always brings ſome new addition of grace: for as grace alone … firſt bends the will to enter into Covenant with God; ſo the more frequently we re…w our Covenant, the more gracious and ſanctified the will is. What more efficaciouſly …parates, yea rends the heart from beloved luſts? Doth not this moſt potently break the heart for ſin, and thence break it off from ſin? Whence ariſeth the prevalence of any ſpir…ual luſt, but from ſome defect or neglect in the renewing of our Covenant with God? Again, is not the will by ſuch renewed acts of covenanting with Chriſt, more effectually broken off from ſelf, legal ſpiritual ſelf, which is the worſt enemy Chriſt has? And O! how much doth the vigour, beauty, growth and perfection of habitual grace depend hereon? May we not juſtly then interpret that of our Lord, Matth. 7.13, 14. Enter ye in at …e ſtrait Gate, &c. of this entring into Covenant with God?

6. The frequent renewing of our Covenant which God, is that which fortifies the heart …gainſt temptations. For the more we renew our Covenant in an evangelick way, the …ore our hearts are engaged to depend on Chriſt for grace, in order to the performance of our duty: who more frequently looks up to God for actual grace to perform his duties and avoid the temptations, which may hinder him, than he who by faith frequently renews his Covenant with God? What more effectual courſe can any take to avoid the croud of temptations, which in this vain dirty world he is ſurrounded with, than by giving up his heart entirely to God? And how can this be accompliſhed, but by frequent renewings of his Covenant with God? Doth not our Lord aſſure us, Luke 16.13. That the ſoul which holds to God, will deſpiſe the unrighteous Mammon? The word foreign anſwers to foreign and ſignifies a tenacious and inviolable holding faſt of an object, againſt all thoſe that endeavour to pull it away: How doth the unrighteous Mammon by its heart-bewitching allurements, endeavour to pull off the heart from God? And what doth more confirm the heart in its holdfaſt of God, than the renewing of its Covenant?

7. Such as oft renew their Covenant with God have a great advantage for the ſtrengthning their union with Chriſt. Doth not every freſh act of the will in conſenting unto Chriſt as our Lord, bind the heart more firmly to Chriſt? And is not Chriſt hereby bound to give forth a freſh Communication of his Spirit to that ſoul, whereby its union is corroborated? What made Davids heart ſo firmly united to God, but following hard after him by p. 192frequent repetitions of his Covenant? So Pſal. 63.8. My ſoul follows hard after thee. The Hebrew foreign ſignifies firmly and intimately to adhere to God, as the Husband to the Wife. So the word notes, Gen. 2.24. Deut. 10.20. Job 41.17. Now what gives being and improvement to conjugal union, but the conjugal Covenant? Doth not then the repetition of our conjugal Covenant with Chriſt greatly ſtrengthen our union with him? So Epheſ. 5.31. Shall be joyned unto his wife: this is myſtically to be underſtood of the conjugal union between the ſoul and Chriſt, as verſ. 32. So 1 Cor. 6.17. joyned to the Lord, foreign ſignifies to be agglutinated, or joyned by glue. Our Covenant is the Glue, whereby our hearts are joyned to Chriſt.

8. The principal part of the ſouls Communion and walking with God as a friend, conſiſts in this renewing its Covenant with God. The Apoſtle exhorts us, Col. 2.6. As we have received Chriſt Jeſus, ſo to walk in him: and what doth he mean hereby? Is it not as if he had ſaid; do you not remember with what a ſtrong inviolable aſſent and conſent, you at firſt received Chriſt? What paſſionate, flaming, deep and pure affections you then had for him? How much you hugged and embraced him in the bent of your wills? What complacence and ſatisfaction you then took in thoſe mutual embracements between him and you? How ambitious you were of ſhewing all friendly and obſequious deportment towards him? O! then be exhorted to receive him afreſh day by day, by repeated conſent and Covenant, walk in him in the ſame manner and with the ſame repeated acts of election, as you at firſt received him. Herein the main of Communion lies.

9. The frequent renewing of our Covenant with God is the moſt ſoveraign means to prevent or recover the ſoul out of any courſe of backſliding. Was not this Peters ſecond converſion, enjoined by our Lord, Luke 22.31. whereby he was recovered out of that dreadful backſliding? How was he again converted, but by putting forth the ſame acts of cloſing with Chriſt in a Covenant-way, which he at firſt converſion put forth? And is not the ſoul hereby alſo preſerved from backſliding? Thus the Church, Pſal. 44.17, 18. All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falſly in thy Covenant: our heart is not turned back. Neither have we dealt falſly. foreign ſignifies to deal lyingly, treacherouſly, unfaithfully: and what kept the Church from dealing thus treacherouſly with her Lord under thoſe ſore perſecutions, but the frequent minding and repeating her firſt Covenant? How ſoon would her heart have ſtarted back, if ſhe had not bound it faſt to God by her repeated Covenants?

Laſtly, It is principium operandi, a ground of working, of reformation and emendation of life. And it is in the ſtrength of their Covenant that they go forth againſt all ſelf-love of their own hearts, and againſt all the oppoſition that they might meet withall from men. So in Nehemiah's time when they came to put away their Wives and Children, their hearts had need be ſtrengthned unto ſuch a work, and therefore by a Covenant they bind themſelves thereunto, and ſeal and ſubſcribe it, and ratifie it by an oath and a curſe: and in all their reformation in Aſa's time, and Hezekiah's, and Joſiah's, the beginning of all their great actions were undertaken by a Covenant, that thereby they might ingage themſelves unto God, and nothing might divert and turn them back from the work that they had undertaken; and therefore we ſee it is not in vain for a perſon or a people to renew their Covenant with the Lord. The Lord grant there may ever be ſuch a frame of heart in us, that we may alwayes live in the comfort of that word, the Lord has made with us an everlaſting Covenant in all things ordered and ſure, for this is all my ſalvation and all my deſire; as he ſaid, who was a man after Gods own heart; and this is the hope and conſolation of all the children of God.

p. 193CHAP. IV. The Covenant of Grace as referring to the Seed of the Faithfull.

Gen. XVII. 7.

I will eſtabliſh my Covenant between me and thee, and thy Seed after thee in their Generation, for an everlaſting Covenant, to be a God to thee, and thy Seed after thee.